WO2023163630A1

WO2023163630A1 - Energy-efficient network transmit power adaptation

Info

Publication number: WO2023163630A1
Application number: PCT/SE2023/050115
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ali Nader; Andres Reial; Philipp BRUHN; Sina MALEKI; Ilmiawan SHUBHI
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
Priority date: 2022-02-22
Filing date: 2023-02-10
Publication date: 2023-08-31

Abstract

Embodiments include methods for a user equipment (UE) configured to operate in a wireless network. Such methods include receiving, from the wireless network, a configuration that includes one or more coverage-related conditions associated with an energy saving configuration that includes reduced downlink (DL) transmit power for at least a first cell of the wireless network, relative to a non-energy saving configuration. Such methods include monitoring for events associated with the coverage-related conditions while operating in a non-connected state towards the wireless network in the first cell and, when an event is detected based on the monitoring, selectively transmitting an indication of the detected event to the wireless network. Other embodiments include complementary methods for a first base station serving the first cell and for a second base station serving a second cell neighboring the first cell, as well as UEs and base stations configured to perform such methods.

Description

ENERGY-EFFICIENT NETWORK TRANSMIT POWER ADAPTATION

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to wireless networks and more specifically to techniques that facilitate a base station to utilize an energy-saving configuration with reduced downlink transmit power except during specific times when user equipment (UEs) require increased downlink transmit power to communicate with the base station.

BACKGROUND

Currently the fifth generation (“5G”) of cellular systems, also referred to as New Radio (NR), is being standardized within the Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). NR is developed for maximum flexibility to support a variety of different use cases. These include enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), machine type communications (MTC), ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC), side-link device-to-device (D2D), and several other use cases. 5G/NR was initially standardized by 3GPP in Rel-15 and continues to evolve through subsequent releases.

While the present disclosure relates primarily to 5G/NR, the following description of fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology is provided to introduce various terms, concepts, architectures, etc. that are also used in 5G/NR. LTE is an umbrella term that refers to radio access technologies developed within 3GPP and initially standardized in Release 8 (Rel-8) and Release 9 (Rel-9), also known as Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN). LTE is targeted at various licensed frequency bands and is accompanied by improvements to non-radio aspects commonly referred to as System Architecture Evolution (SAE), which includes Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network. LTE continues to evolve through subsequent releases.

An overall exemplary architecture of a network comprising LTE and SAE is shown in Figure 1. E-UTRAN 100 includes one or more evolved Node B’s (eNB), such as eNBs 105, 110, and 115, and one or more user equipment (UE), such as UE 120. As used within the 3GPP standards, “user equipment” or “UE” means any wireless communication device (e.g., smartphone or computing device) that can with 3 GPP-standard-compliant network equipment, including E- UTRAN as well as UTRAN and/or GERAN, as the third generation (“3G”) and second generation (“2G”) 3 GPP RANs are commonly known.

As specified by 3GPP, E-UTRAN 100 is responsible for all radio-related functions in the network, including radio bearer control, radio admission control, radio mobility control, scheduling, and dynamic allocation of resources to UEs in uplink (UL, i.e., UE to network) and downlink (DL, i.e., network to UE), as well as security of the communications with the UE. These functions reside in the eNBs, such as eNBs 105, 110, and 115. Each of the eNBs can serve a i geographic coverage area including one more cells, including cells 106, 111, and 115 served by eNBs 105, 110, and 115, respectively.

The eNBs in the E-UTRAN communicate with each other via the X2 interface, as shown in Figure 1. The eNBs also are responsible for the E-UTRAN interface to the EPC 130, specifically the SI interface to the Mobility Management Entities (MME) and the Serving Gateways (SGW) in EPC 130 (not shown in Figure 1). In general, the MME/S-GW handles both the overall control of the UE and data flow between the UE and the rest of the EPC. More specifically, the MME processes the signaling (e.g., control plane) protocols between the UE and the EPC, which are known as the Non-Access Stratum (NAS) protocols. The S-GW handles all Internet Protocol (IP) data packets (e.g., data or user plane) between the UE and the EPC and serves as the local mobility anchor for the data bearers when the UE moves between eNBs, such as eNBs 105, 110, and 115.

5G/NR technology shares many similarities with LTE. For example, NR uses CP-OFDM (Cyclic Prefix Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) in the DL and both CP-OFDM and DFT-spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM) in the UL. As another example, in the time domain, NR DL and UL physical resources are organized into equal-sized 1-ms subframes. A subframe is further divided into multiple slots of equal duration, with each slot including multiple OFDM-based symbols. However, time-frequency resources can be configured much more flexibly for an NR cell than for an LTE cell. For example, rather than a fixed 15-kHz OFDM sub-carrier spacing (SCS) as in LTE, NR SCS can range from 15 to 240 kHz, with even greater SCS considered for future NR releases.

Figure 2 illustrates an exemplary high-level view of the 5G network architecture, consisting of a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 299 and a 5G Core (5GC) 298. NG-RAN 299 can include a set of gNodeB’s (gNBs) connected to the 5GC via one or more NG interfaces, such as gNBs 200, 250 connected via interfaces 202, 252, respectively. In addition, the gNBs can be connected to each other via one or more Xn interfaces, such as Xn interface 240 between gNBs 200 and 250. With respect the NR interface to UEs, each of the gNBs can support frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), or a combination thereof.

NG-RAN 199 is layered into a Radio Network Layer (RNL) and a Transport Network Layer (TNL). The NG-RAN architecture, /.< ., the NG-RAN logical nodes and interfaces between them, is defined as part of the RNL. For each NG-RAN interface (NG, Xn, Fl) the related TNL protocol and the functionality are specified. The TNL provides services for user plane transport and signaling transport.

The NG-RAN logical nodes shown in Figure 1 include a central (or centralized) unit (CU or gNB-CU) and one or more distributed (or decentralized) units (DU or gNB-DU). For example, gNB 100 includes gNB-CU 110 and gNB-DUs 120 and 130. CUs are logical nodes that host higher-layer protocols and perform various gNB functions such controlling the operation of DUs. DUs are logical nodes that host lower-layer protocols and can include, depending on the functional split, various subsets of the gNB functions. As such, each of the CUs and DUs can include various circuitry needed to perform their respective functions, including processing circuitry, transceiver and/or communication interface circuitry, power supply circuitry, etc.

A gNB-CU connects to gNB-DUs over respective Fl logical interfaces, such as interfaces 122 and 132 shown in Figure 1. The gNB-CU and connected gNB-DUs are only visible to other gNBs and the 5GC as a gNB. In other words, the Fl interface is not visible beyond gNB-CU.

In addition to providing coverage via cells as in LTE, NR networks also provide coverage via “beams.” In general, a downlink (DL, i.e., network to UE) “beam” is a coverage area of a network-transmitted reference signal (RS) that may be measured or monitored by a UE. Examples of NR RS include synchronization signal/PBCH block (SSB), channel state information RS (CSI- RS), positioning RS (PRS), demodulation RS (DM-RS), phase-tracking reference signals (PTRS), etc. In general, SSB is available to all UEs regardless of radio resource control (RRC) state, while other RS (e.g., CSI-RS, DM-RS, PTRS) are associated with specific UEs that have a network connection, i.e., in RRC CONNECTED state.

One goal of 3GPP Rel-18 is improving and/or reducing network energy consumption. One general technique that has been discussed is to reduce base station (e.g., gNB) energy consumption with respect to cells and beams that are lightly loaded or serve no traffic. For example, a simple version of this technique is reducing DL transmit power in a cell or a beam serving no traffic.

SUMMARY

However, reducing DL transmit power even in the case of no served traffic can cause various problems, issues, and/or difficulties. For example, UEs perform public land mobile network (PLMN) selection, cell selection, and cell re-selection based on the measurements of SSB transmissions by the base station. Reducing the power level of base station DL transmissions - including SSB - can cause inconsistent and/or unpredictable UE behavior.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide improvements that facilitate predictable UE and network behavior during dynamic changes in base station DL transmit power, such as by providing solutions to the exemplary problems summarized above and described in more detail below.

Embodiments of the present disclosure include methods (e.g., procedures) for a UE (e.g., wireless device, MTC device, NB-IoT device, etc.) configured to operate in a wireless network. These exemplary methods can include receiving, from the wireless network, a configuration that includes one or more coverage-related conditions associated with an energy saving configuration that includes reduced DL transmit power for at least a first cell of the wireless network, relative to a non-energy saving configuration. These exemplary methods can also include monitoring for events associated with the coverage-related conditions while operating in a non-connected state towards the wireless network in the first cell. These exemplary methods can also include, when an event is detected based on the monitoring, selectively transmitting an indication of the detected event to the wireless network.

In some embodiments, selectively transmitting the indication of the detected event includes the following operations:

• receiving from the wireless network a polling request for events associated with the coverage-related conditions;

• transmitting the indication in response to the polling request when the event was detected before the polling request; and

• refraining from transmitting a response to the polling request when the event was not detected before the polling request.

In some embodiments, the polling request is received from a first base station that serves the first cell and the indication is transmitted to the first base station. In some of these embodiments, the polling request is received in SI broadcast in the first cell.

In some embodiments, the coverage-related conditions include one or more thresholds for UE measurements of one or more of the following: DL signal level, and DL signal -to-interference- and-noise ratio (SINR). Furthermore, monitoring for events can include one or more of the following operations:

• measuring DL signal level for at least the first cell and comparing measured DL signal level to the one or more thresholds; and

• measuring DL SINR for the first cell in relation to one or more neighbor cells and comparing the measured SINR to at least one of the thresholds.

In such embodiments, an event is detected when either of the following occurs: at least one measured DL signal level is less than one of the thresholds, or the measured SINR is less than one of the thresholds.

In some of these embodiments, the one or more thresholds include first and second thresholds associated with the first cell, the first threshold being greater than the second threshold. Also, first and second events are detected when the measured DL signal level for the first cell is less than the respective first and second thresholds. Additionally, respective first and second indications of the detected first and second events are selectively transmitted to the wireless network.

In some variants of these embodiments, the first threshold is associated with an energy saving configuration of a first base station serving the first cell and the second threshold is associated with an energy saving configuration of a second base station serving a second cell neighboring the first cell.

In other of these embodiments, the one or more thresholds include a first threshold associated with the first cell and a third threshold associated with neighbor cells of the first cell. In such case, the event is detected when the following occurs:

• the measured DL signal level for the first cell is less than the first threshold, and

• the measured DL signal levels for all neighbor cells are less than the third threshold or greater than the third threshold.

In some of these embodiments, selectively transmitting the indication of the detected event includes, when the measured DL signal level for the first cell is less than the first threshold but the measured DL signal strength for at least one neighbor cell is above the third threshold, refraining from transmitting the indication and reselecting to one of the neighbor cells whose measured DL signal strength is above the third threshold.

In some embodiments, the configuration also includes one or more of the following:

• one or more timing-related conditions for event reporting;

• an indication of transmission resources to be used for event reporting;

• an indication of a subset of UEs that should report events; and

• an indication of one or more DL transmit power levels used in the first cell.

In some of these embodiments, the indication is selectively transmitted using one or more of the following identified by the indication of transmission resources:

• one or more random access (RA) resources;

• one or more signals;

• one or more physical uplink channels;

• one or more bits, fields, or information elements in an uplink message; and

• a specific number of repetitions used to transmit a request to increase the DL transmit power.

In some of these embodiments the indication is selectively transmitted in accordance with the timing-related conditions, which include one or more of the following:

• a reporting period indicating a frequency at which the UE should report detected events;

• a time window for reporting after detecting an event; and

• a minimum duration since the UE last operated in a connected state towards the wireless network, after which the UE can report a detected event. In some of these embodiments, these exemplary methods can also include determining which, if any, of the indicated DL transmit power levels are feasible for the UE based on the monitoring for events (e.g., measured DL signal levels).

In some variants of these embodiments, the configuration indicates a single DL transmit power level and selectively transmitting includes refraining from transmitting the indication of the detected event when the single DL transit power level is determined to be feasible. In other variants of these embodiments, the configuration includes a plurality of DL transmit power levels and these exemplary methods also include transmitting to the wireless network an indication of which of the indicated DL transmit power levels were determined to be feasible.

Other embodiments include methods (e.g., procedures) for a first base station (e.g., RAN node, eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc., or component thereof) configured to operate in a wireless network. In general, these embodiments are complementary to the UE embodiments summarized above.

These exemplary methods can include can transmitting a configuration that includes one or more coverage-related conditions associated with an energy saving configuration that includes reduced downlink (DL) transmit power for at least a first cell of the wireless network, relative to a non-energy saving configuration. These exemplary methods can also include one of more of the following operations:

• in response to receiving no indications of events associated with the coverage-related conditions that were detected by UEs operating in a non-connected state, exiting the nonenergy saving configuration and entering the energy saving configuration for the first cell;

• in response to receiving an indication of an event associated with the coverage-related conditions that was detected by a UE operating in a non-connected state, exiting the energy saving configuration and entering the non-energy saving configuration for the first cell; and

• in response to receiving an indication of an event associated with the coverage-related conditions that was detected by a UE operating in a non-connected state, sending to a second base station serving a second cell a request to exit an energy saving configuration and/or increase DL transmit power used for the second cell.

In some embodiments, these exemplary methods can also include transmitting at least one polling request for UE-detected events associated with the coverage-related conditions. One or more indications are received in response to the at least one polling request, from respective one or more UEs that detected an event before receiving one of the at least one polling request.

In some of these embodiments, the polling request is transmitted in system information (SI) broadcast in the first cell and exiting the non-energy saving configuration is responsive to receiving no indications in response to the polling request. In other of these embodiments, transmitting the polling request includes transmitting a first polling request in the first cell and in response to receiving no indications of events in response to the first polling request, transmitting a second polling request in one or more neighbor cells to the first cell. Exiting the non-energy saving configuration and entering the energy saving configuration for the first cell can be responsive to receiving no indications in response to the second polling request.

In some embodiments, the coverage-related conditions include one or more thresholds for UE measurements of one or more of the following: DL signal level and DL SINR. In some of these embodiments, each indication of a detected event is received from a UE together with at least one of the following associated with the detected event: a measured DL signal level, and a measured DL SINR. In some of these embodiments, each event, for which an indication is received, is one of the following:

• at least one DL signal level measured by a UE is less than one of the thresholds; or

• DL SINR measured by a UE for the first cell in relation to one or more neighbor cells is less than one of the thresholds.

In some of these embodiments, the one or more thresholds include first and second thresholds associated with the first cell, with the first threshold being greater than the second threshold. First and second events associated with the coverage-related conditions correspond to DL signal level measured by a UE for the first cell being less than the respective first and second thresholds.

In some variants of these embodiments, exiting the energy saving configuration and entering the non-energy saving configuration for the first cell (e.g., in block 1150) is responsive to receiving an indication of a first event from a UE, while sending the request to the second base station serving the second cell (e.g., in block 1160) is responsive to an indication of a second event from a UE. Figure 9 shows an example of these variants.

In other variants of these embodiments, the one or more thresholds include a first threshold associated with the first cell and a third threshold associated with neighbor cells of the first cell. In such case, a first event associated with the coverage-related conditions corresponds to the following:

• DL signal level measured by a UE for the first cell being less than the first threshold, and

• DL signal levels measured by the UE for all neighbor cells being less than the third threshold or being greater than the third threshold.

In some of these variants, no indications of events are received from UEs whose measured DL signal level for the first cell is less than the first threshold and whose measured DL signal strength for at least one neighbor cell is above the third threshold.

In some embodiments, the configuration also includes one or more of the following: • one or more timing-related conditions for event reporting;

• an indication of transmission resources to be used for event reporting;

• an indication of a subset of UEs that should report events; and

In some of these embodiments, each indication is received (e.g., in blocks 1150-1160) using one or more of the following identified by the indication of transmission resources:

• one or more RA resources;

• one or more signals;

• one or more physical uplink channels;

• one or more bits, fields, or information elements in an uplink message; and

In some of these embodiments, each indication is received (e.g., in blocks 1150-1160) in accordance with the timing-related conditions, which include one or more of the following:

• a time window for reporting after detecting an event; and

• a minimum duration since the UE last operated in a connected state towards the wireless network, after which the UE can report a detected event.

In some of these embodiments, the configuration indicates a single DL transmit power level and no indications of events are received from UEs that determine the single DL transit power level is feasible. In other of these embodiments, the configuration indicates a plurality of DL transmit power levels and each indication of an event is received from a UE together an indication of which of the plurality of DL transmit power levels the UE determined to be feasible.

In some embodiments, these exemplary methods can also include receiving from the second base station a notification that the second base station has entered an energy saving configuration and/or reduced DL transmit power used for the second cell. The request is sent to the second base station after receiving the notification.

In some embodiments, these exemplary methods can also include, in response to entering the energy saving configuration, sending to the second base station a second notification that the first base station has entered the energy saving configuration and/or reduced DL transmit power used for the first cell. In some of these embodiments, these exemplary methods can also include, after sending the second notification, receiving from the second base station a second request to exit the energy saving configuration and/or increase DL transmit power used for the first cell. Other embodiments include methods (e.g., procedures) for a second base station (e.g., RAN node, eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc., or component thereof) configured to operate in a wireless network. In general, these embodiments are complementary to the UE and first base station embodiments summarized above.

These exemplary methods can include, while operating in an energy saving configuration that includes reduced DL transmit power for at least a second cell relative to a non-energy saving configuration, receiving from a first base station a request to exit the energy saving configuration and/or increase DL transmit power used for the second cell. These exemplary methods can include, in response to the first request, exiting the energy saving configuration and entering the non-energy saving configuration for the second cell.

In some embodiments, the request is based on an indication of an event associated with the coverage-related conditions that was detected by a UE operating in a non-connected state in a first cell served by the first base station.

In some embodiments, these exemplary methods can also include sending to the first base station a notification that the second base station has entered the energy saving configuration and/or reduced DL transmit power used for the second cell. The request is received after sending the notification. In some of these embodiments, the notification includes an indication of the reduced DL transmit power used for the second cell, based on one of the following: a reduction amount in dB; a DL transmit power level in dBm; or an index that corresponds to an entry in a pre-configured list of values known by the first and second base stations.

In some embodiments, these exemplary methods can also include receiving from the first base station a second notification that the first base station has entered the energy saving configuration and/or reduced DL transmit power used for the first cell. In some of these embodiments, these exemplary methods can also include, after receiving the second notification, sending to the first base station a second request to exit the energy saving configuration and/or increase DL transmit power used for the first cell. In some variants, the second request is based on an indication of an event associated with the coverage-related conditions that was detected by a UE operating in a non-connected state in the second cell.

Other embodiments include UEs (e.g., wireless devices, MTC devices, NB-IoT devices, or components thereof, such as a modem) and base stations (e.g., RAN nodes, eNBs, gNBs, ng- eNBs, etc., or components thereof) configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the exemplary methods described herein. Other embodiments include non-transitory, computer- readable media storing program instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, configure such UEs or base stations to perform operations corresponding to any of the exemplary methods described herein. These and other embodiments described herein can provide novel, flexible, and efficient signaling and procedures to support dynamic adaptation of base station DL transmit power in certain cells and/or beams. These techniques facilitate predictable and/or correct UE and network behavior when a base station dynamically adapts DL transmit power to reduce base station energy consumption. Thus, embodiments facilitate improved energy efficiency of wireless networks while maintaining predictable and/or correct UE behavior.

These and other objects, features, benefits, and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent upon reading the following Detailed Description in view of the Drawings briefly described below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure l is a high-level block diagram of an exemplary LTE network architecture.

Figure 2 is a high-level block diagram of an exemplary 5G/NR network architecture.

Figure 3 shows a signaling diagram for an exemplary Resource Status Reporting Initiation procedure for NG-RAN.

Figure 4 shows a signaling diagram for an exemplary Resource Status Reporting Initiation procedure for NG-RAN.

Figure 5 illustrates how dynamically reducing a base station’s DL transmit power can impact cell coverage and cell selection by UEs.

Figures 6-9 show exemplary network arrangements that illustrate various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 10 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for a UE (e.g., wireless device), according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 11 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for a first base station (e.g., eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc.), according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 12 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for a second base station (e.g., eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc.), according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 13 shows a communication system according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 14 shows a UE according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 15 shows a network node according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 16 shows host computing system according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 17 is a block diagram of a virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments of the present disclosure may be virtualized.

Figure 18 illustrates communication between a host computing system, a network node, and a UE via multiple connections, at least one of which is wireless, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments summarized above will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments, however, are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and/or is implied from the context in which it is used. All references to a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methods disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and/or where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features, and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description.

Furthermore, the following terms are used throughout the description given below:

• Radio Access Node: As used herein, a “radio access node” (or equivalently “radio network node,” “radio access network node,” or “RAN node”) can be any node in a radio access network (RAN) that operates to wirelessly transmit and/or receive signals. Some examples of a radio access node include, but are not limited to, a base station (e.g., gNB in a 3 GPP 5G/NR network or an enhanced or eNB in a 3GPP LTE network), base station distributed components (e.g., CU and DU), a high-power or macro base station, a low-power base station (e.g., micro, pico, femto, or home base station, or the like), an integrated access backhaul (IAB) node, a transmission point (TP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a remote radio unit (RRU or RRH), and a relay node. • Core Network Node: As used herein, a “core network node” is any type of node in a core network. Some examples of a core network node include, e.g., a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a serving gateway (SGW), a PDN Gateway (P-GW), a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF), an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a user plane function (UPF), a Charging Function (CHF), a Policy Control Function (PCF), an Authentication Server Function (AUSF), a location management function (LMF), or the like.

• Wireless Device: As used herein, a “wireless device” (or “WD” for short) is any type of device that is capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other wireless devices. Communicating wirelessly can involve transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information through air. Unless otherwise noted, the term “wireless device” is used interchangeably herein with the term “user equipment” (or “UE” for short), with both of these terms having a different meaning than the term “network node”.

• Radio Node: As used herein, a “radio node” can be either a “radio access node” (or equivalent term) or a “wireless device.”

• Network Node: As used herein, a “network node” is any node that is either part of the radio access network (e.g., a radio access node or equivalent term) or of the core network (e.g., a core network node discussed above) of a cellular communications network. Functionally, a network node is equipment capable, configured, arranged, and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the cellular communications network, to enable and/or provide wireless access to the wireless device, and/or to perform other functions (e.g., administration) in the cellular communications network.

• Base station: As used herein, a “base station” may comprise a physical or a logical node transmitting or controlling the transmission of radio signals, e.g., eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, en- gNB, centralized unit (CU)/distributed unit (DU), transmitting radio network node, transmission point (TP), transmission reception point (TRP), remote radio head (RRH), remote radio unit (RRU), Distributed Antenna System (DAS), relay, etc.

• Node: As used herein, the term “node” (without prefix) can be any type of node that can in or with a wireless network (including RAN and/or core network), including a radio access node (or equivalent term), core network node, or wireless device. However, the term “node” may be limited to a particular type (e.g., radio access node) based on its specific characteristics in any given context. Note that the description herein focuses on a 3 GPP cellular communications system and, as such, 3GPP terminology or terminology similar to 3GPP terminology is oftentimes used. However, the concepts disclosed herein are not limited to a 3GPP system. Furthermore, although the term “cell” is used herein, it should be understood that (particularly with respect to 5G NR) beams may be used instead of cells and, as such, concepts described herein apply equally to both cells and beams.

As mentioned above, one goal of 3GPP Rel-18 is improving and/or reducing network energy consumption. One general technique that has been discussed is to reduce base station (e.g., gNB) energy consumption with respect to cells and beams that are lightly loaded or serve no traffic. For example, a simple version of this technique is reducing DL transmit power in a cell or a beam serving no traffic.

Mobile network operators provides services via a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN). A UE performs PLMN selection according to rules defined in 3GPP TS 23.122 (vl6.11.0) and 3GPP TS 38.304 (vl6.6.0). For example, a UE selects from among PLMNs that meet a high- quality criterion that requires the UE to measure reference signal received power (RSRP) of at least -110 dBm for a cell belonging to a selected PLMN.

PLMNs typically include many cells and a UE operating in a non-connected state (e.g., RRC IDLE, RRC INACTIVE, etc.) performs cell selection among PLMN cells that exceed a minimum signal strength threshold (Qrxievmm) and a minimum signal quality threshold (Qquaimeas') specified in 3GPP TS 38.304. A UE measures cell signal strength based on Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and cell signal quality based on Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ). RSRP is measured on resource elements (REs) carrying a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) that is part of SSB, with RSRP measurements being averaged over time. RSRQ is equal to RSRP divided by Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), which is a linear average of the total received power measured over the REs within a configured time-frequency allocation.

When the non-connected UE moves between cells it performs cell reselection based on measurements on neighbor cells operating on the same frequency and/or different frequencies as the cell on which the UE is currently camping (e.g., in the non-connected state). These are referred to as intra-frequency and inter-frequency measurements, respectively.

Abase station typically broadcasts RSRP/RSRQ intra- and inter-frequency measurement thresholds in system information block 2 (SIB2). When a UE’ s intra-frequency RSRP and RSRQ measurements are above the corresponding thresholds, the UE is not required to perform interfrequency measurements. When the UE’s inter-frequency RSRP and RSRQ measurements on certain higher-priority frequencies (e.g., indicated in SIB2) are above the corresponding thresholds, the UE is not required to perform inter-frequency measurements for lower/equal priority frequencies. The UE is required to measure RSRP/RSRQ for the higher priority frequencies every 60 seconds. If the RSRP inter-frequency measurement threshold is not configured, the UE assumes that it is required to measure lower/equal priority frequencies continuously.

There are some exceptions to these measurement requirements, particularly for UEs that are assumed be located far from a border of their current cells. The base station can broadcast in SIB2 some radio resource management (RRM) relaxation criteria criterion pertaining to low mobility and/or not-at-cell-edge conditions. When the UE meets these criteria, it is allowed to further reduce intra-frequent and/or inter-frequency RRM measurements. 3GPP TS 38.304 provides further details of this arrangement.

During early development of NR, 3 GPP defined a network energy saving function in which two network nodes (e.g., gNBs) serving cells with overlapping coverage can inform each other (e.g., via network internal interfaces) about entering an energy saving state and invoke (or wake) each other from the energy saving state. 3 GPP has also defined procedures for X2AP and XnAP interfaces by which a first network node can send a Resource Status Update message informing a second network node about resources of the first network node. For example, 3GPP TS 36.423 (vl6.3.0) defines relevant X2AP procedures including Resource Status Reporting Initiation, Resource Status Reporting, EN-DC Resource Status Reporting Initiation, and EN-DC Resource Status Reporting. Likewise, 3GPP TS 38.423 (vl6.3.0) defines relevant XnAP procedures including Resource Status Reporting Initiation and Resource Status Reporting.

Figure 3 shows a signaling diagram for an exemplary Resource Status Reporting Initiation procedure for NG-RAN. In this procedure, a first NG-RAN node can request a one-time or periodic reporting of load measurements by a second NG-RAN node. The first NG-RAN node initiates the procedure by sending a RESOURCE STATUS REQUEST message via Xn-AP to the second NG-RAN node, requesting to start, stop, or add cells to a measurement report. The RESOURCE STATUS REQUEST message also indicates the type of load metrics the second NG- RAN node should measure and report. Depending on the particular contents of the RESOURCE STATUS REQUEST message, the RESOURCE STATUS RESPONSE message by the second NG-RAN node can include one or more of the following:

• Load information on a per SSB coverage area granularity, such as radio resource status per SSB coverage area and composite available capacity per SSB coverage area;

• Load information on a per network slice granularity, such as slice available capacity per network slice; and

• Load information on a per cell granularity, such as TNL capacity indication, number of active UEs, and number of RRC connections. After a successful Resource Status Reporting Initiation procedure, the second NG-RAN node reports the results of the requested (and admitted/agreed) measurements once or periodically via the Resource Status Reporting procedure. Figure 4 shows a signaling diagram for an exemplary Resource Status Reporting Initiation procedure for NG-RAN. In this procedure, the second NG- RAN node reports the results of the measurements in a RESOURCE STATUS UPDATE message via Xn-AP.

As mentioned above, the UE performs the various measurements for PLMN selection, cell selection, and cell reselection on RS transmitted by the base station, such as SSB transmitted by a gNB. When the base station enters an energy saving configuration by reducing DL transmit power in a low-traffic cell or beam, this reduction also applies to SSB transmitted in the cell or beam. This can cause inconsistent UE behavior for PLMN/cell selection and cell reselection, as well as increased load on base stations serving neighboring cells.

Figure 5 illustrates how dynamically reducing a base station’s DL transmit power can impact cell coverage and cell selection by UEs. Base station 1 (510, also referred to as first base station) provides cell 1 and dynamically switches between a normal configuration that includes a normal DL TX power and an energy saving configuration that includes a reduced DL TX power. The nominal coverage of cell 1 changes according to the DL TX power used by base station 1. Base station 2 (520, also referred to as second base station) provides cell 2 based on a normal configuration that includes a normal DL TX power. UE B (540) camps in cell 2 while in a nonconnected state.

UE A (530) is positioned relatively near the edge of cell l’s coverage with normal DL TX power, and camps in cell 1 when base station 1 uses the normal configuration. When base station 1 switches to the energy saving configuration with reduced DL TX power, UE A measures higher RSRP/RSRQ for cell 2 than for cell 1. This can cause UE A to reselect from cell 1 to cell 2, provided that the UE’s measurements for cell 2 meets relevant thresholds. If base station 2 is of a different PLMN than base station 1, UE A will also select this different PLMN.

Base station 1 may switch to the energy saving configuration, for example, when certain beams comprising cell 1 have no UEs in RRC CONNECTED state. As another example, base station 1 may switch to the energy saving configuration even when there is UE traffic (e.g., in RRC CONNECTED state) so long as UEs reporting the weakest DL measurements are well inside cell l’s coverage area for normal DL TX power. By switching to the energy saving configuration that includes a reduced DL TX power, base station 1 has effectively reduced the UE traffic that it can serve and pushed this unserved UE traffic to neighboring cells and base stations. Moreover, since certain UEs are forced to reselect different cells with lower RSRP/RSRQ measurements, this switching reduces the quality of service (QoS) experienced by these UEs. Thus, the network operator is forced to choose between two undesirable alternatives: excessive network energy consumption and poor QoS to certain UEs.

Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure provide novel, flexible, and efficient signaling and procedures to support dynamic adaptation of a base station’s DL TX power in a cell and/or a beam to a level (optionally including a margin) needed to provide adequate coverage to locations of UEs actually present in the cell and/or beam, rather than hypothetical levels configured during deployment assuming worst case scenarios. Embodiments facilitate improved energy efficiency of wireless networks while maintaining predictable and/or correct UE behavior.

Furthermore, although some UE signaling is required, the amount can be controlled by the network by carefully selecting conditions under which the UEs must signal (e.g., respond to polls by the network) their conditions needed by the network for dynamic adaptation of DL transmit power. For example, UE signaling can be limited based on predefined criteria, such that UEs only respond if they are unable to be served due to an actual or planned reduction in DL transmit power.

At a high level, embodiments involve signaling between a UE and a base station for controlling the base station output power. The base station can poll (e.g., via broadcast) whether there are UEs in non-connected states (e.g., RRC IDLE, RRC INACTIVE) that are operating beyond a particular transmission or reception threshold in a cell. If the base station receives no poll responses, the base station can enter an energy saving configuration for the cell, in which the base station uses a reduced DL transmit power in the cell. Additionally or alternately, UEs in non-connected states can report events based on measured DL signal level in relation to one or more thresholds, which can correspond to cell coverage when different DL transmit powers are used. Based on event reports, a base station can increase (or decrease) its DL transmit power in a cell.

Some embodiments also involve signaling between base stations to inform about entering/exiting energy saving configurations with reduced DL transmit power. In some embodiments, the signaling can include an amount of DL transmit power reduction being used. In some embodiments, a base station may request another base station to exit an energy saving configuration and/or increase its DL transmit power in a cell served by the other base station, optionally including the requested amount of increase. Additionally, base stations can inform and/or negotiate polling thresholds and/or event thresholds associated with their respective cells. In this manner, embodiments can increase, optimize, and/or maximize energy savings across multiple base stations while ensuring that UEs can be served without overloading any particular base station.

Embodiments can be summarized as follows. In some embodiments, a first base station broadcasts a polling signal (or message) to which UEs in non-connected states (e.g., RRC IDLE, RRC INACTIVE) respond within a time window when they meet certain coverage-related conditions. In some embodiments, a condition is that the UE’s measured DL signal level (e.g., RSRP or SINR) is below a network-configured threshold. In some embodiments, a condition is that the UE is located within a network-configured area or region.

In some embodiments, the first base station can configure one or more of the following:

• the coverage-related conditions (e.g., threshold);

• the time window for response when the conditions are met,

• an amount of DL transmit power reduction to be used when no responses are received within the time window, and

• resources to be used for a polling response.

In some embodiments, the first base station can configure any of the above periodically or in response to a certain event, such as when the UE leaves a connected state (e.g., RRC CONNECTED) and enters a non-connected state.

In some embodiments, the first base station can reduce the DL transmit power used in the cell when it receives no poll responses within the time window. Likewise, the first base station can maintain (or refrain from reducing) the DL transmit power used in the cell when it receives at least one poll response within the time window. In some embodiments, the polling signal can be integrated and/or coordinated with paging transmissions to UEs in non-connected states.

In other embodiments, the first base station broadcasts an event reporting configuration to be used by UEs. The events to be reported by UEs involve coverage-related conditions. For example, an event is that a UE enters a particular area (e.g., coverage of a particular beam). Another exemplary event is that is that the UE’s measured DL signal level (e.g., RSRP or SINR) is below a network-configured threshold.

In some embodiments, the first base station can increase the DL transmit power used in the cell when it receives an event report from a UE in accordance with the configuration. Likewise, the first base station can maintain (or refrain from increasing) the DL transmit power used in the cell when it does not receive an event report from a UE. In some embodiments, the first base station can inform a second base station that it is operating in an energy saving configuration that includes a reduced DL transmit power in a first cell, which may be neighboring a second cell served by the second base station. In some variants, the first base station can also inform the second base station about an amount of reduction of DL transmit power in the first cell, e.g., relative to a normal DL transmit power.

In some embodiments, the second base station can receive an event report from a UE operating in the second cell and based on the event report, request the first base station to increase the DL transmit power used in the first cell. In some variants, the second base station can indicate an amount of increase for the DL transmit power in the first cell.

For example, the event report may indicate that the UE is moving towards the first cell but is out of coverage of the reduced DL transmit power currently being used in the first cell. The event report can be based on any of the conditions summarized above, but in relation to the second cell rather than the first cell.

In general, UE embodiments correspond and/or are complementary to base station embodiments summarized above. In some embodiments, upon receiving a polling signal (or message) broadcast by the first base station, a UE in a non-connected state (e.g., RRC IDLE, RRC INACTIVE) responds within a time window when the UE meets certain coverage-related conditions. The coverage-related conditions can be any of those summarized above for base station embodiments. In some embodiments, the UE can receive from the first base station a configuration that includes one or more of the following:

• the coverage-related conditions (e.g., threshold),

• the time window for response when the conditions are met,

• resources to be used for a polling response.

In other embodiments, the UE can receive from the first base station an event reporting configuration to be used by at least the UE. The events to be reported by the UE involve coverage-related conditions, including any of the coverage-related conditions summarized above. When the UE meets one or more of the coverage-related conditions, the UE sends an event report according to the event reporting configuration.

In some variants, the UE can send the first base station an event report concerning a first cell served by the first base station, which can cause the first base station to increase the DL transmit power used in the first cell. In some variants, the UE can send a second base station an event report concerning a second cell served by the first base station, which can cause the second base station to request the first base station to increase the DL transmit power used in the first cell. Alternately or additionally, a second event report (e.g., pertaining to different conditions) can cause the second base station to increase the DL transmit power used in the second cell.

In some embodiments, the UE can perform any of the above-described operations while in the non-connected state, i.e., without exiting the non-connected state and entering the connected state.

Embodiments will now be described in more detail below. Although embodiments are described in the context of a base station’s energy saving configuration with reduced DL transmit power for a cell, the base station’s energy saving configuration may apply to multiple cells, subsets of a cell coverage area (e.g., one or more beams), all or a subset of carriers used in a cell (e.g., certain carriers, certain bandwidth parts of a carrier, etc.), all or a subset of channels transmitted in a cell, all or a subset of information carried on certain channels transmitted in a cell, etc. For example, a base station maintain normal DL transmit power (and normal coverage) for one or more frequency channels while reducing DL transmit power (and coverage) for one or more other frequency channels.

Figure 6 shows an exemplary network arrangement that illustrates some embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 6 shows base station 1 (610, also referred to as first base station) serving cell 1 (also referred to as first cell), with UE A (630) and UE B (640) located in the coverage area of cell 1.

Initially, the first base station is in a non-energy saving configuration in which it uses a normal DL transmit power for cell 1. This results in a cell 1 coverage denoted by the dashed ellipse. When the first base station wants to enter an energy saving configuration (at least for cell 1), it broadcasts a polling signal in cell 1. In general, the polling signal is arranged or configured to reach all UEs operating in non-connected states in the normal coverage area of cell 1.

In some variants, the polling signal can be transmitted as part of the Master Information Block (MIB), e.g., using a currently reserved bit in MIB. In other variants, the polling signal can be a specific synchronization sequence in SSB, e.g., a specific PSS or SSS. In other variants, the polling signal can be transmitted as part of an existing SIB, e.g., SIB1. In other variants, the polling signal can be transmitted as part of a SIB newly defined to carry such a signal and (optionally) other information related to network energy saving.

In other variants, the polling signal can be transmitted as part of a signal used for UEs in non-connected states (e.g., RRC IDLE, RRC INACTIVE), such as a specific tracking RS (TRS) sequence, a paging DCI, a paging early indicator (PEI) DCI, a PDCCH short message, etc. In other variants, the polling signal can be transmitted in a new type of DCI defined for this purpose (e.g., new DCI format, such as 2 7). In some embodiments, the polling may be integrated and/or coordinated with an existing paging framework. As a more specific example, the polling signal may be transmitted via a mechanism similar to SI update signaling, using a bit in the paging DCI. When a UE monitors its assigned paging occasion (PO), it will receive the polling after paging PDCCH reception. Alternatively, the polling signal may be embedded in the paging message itself, additionally specifying a cell or portion of a cell (e.g., beams) where the polling applies.

In other embodiments, the polling signal may be separate from paging, e.g., using a different period than paging and/or be common for all UEs in the cell. The polling occasions may be located near certain POs to reduce energy consumption for at least UEs that are assigned those POs. Alternatively, polling can be done during pre-configured occasions, such as one or more specific POs that include the polling signal. For example, the polling occasions can be preconfigured based on a 3 GPP specification or based on higher-layer (e.g., RRC) broadcast or unicast signaling configuration, NAS signaling, etc. More generally, even if separate from paging, polling occasions can (but are not required to) be partially or fully overlapping with POs.

In some embodiments, the first base station can provide to UEs (e.g., via broadcast) a polling response configuration that includes one or more of the following:

• coverage-related conditions (e.g., thresholds) that trigger a UE response when met,

• one or more timing-related conditions for response,

• a subset of UEs to which the coverage- and/or timing-related conditions apply,

• an amount of DL transmit power reduction (e.g., 3dB, 5dB, etc.) to be used by the first base station when no responses are received, and

• resources to be used for a poll response.

An example coverage-related condition is that the UE’s measured DL signal level (e.g., Rxlev, RSRP) is below a threshold. In such case, the configuration can include the threshold, or multiple thresholds if applicable. In some embodiments, the UE poll response can include a DL signal level measured by the UE in the first cell. Based on this information, the first base station can determine the configured threshold(s) that triggered the response.

Another example coverage-related condition is that the UE’s measured signal -to- interference-and-noise ratio (SINR) is below a threshold. In general, SINR represents a relation between RSRP of the UE’s serving cell and neighbor cells. In some embodiments, the UE poll response can include one or more measured SINRs. This can be used by the network to detect serving cell coverage constraints.

Another example coverage-related condition is that the UE is located within a network- configured area or region. In such case, the configuration can include an indication of the area, such as an index associated with a beam that covers the area. In some variants, the configuration can include indications of multiple beams and respective thresholds associated with the multiple beams.

Other coverage-related conditions can pertain to neighbor cells, e.g., thresholds associated with neighbor cells or beams of neighbor cells. For example, if measured DL signal level for a neighbor cell (or beam) is above a threshold, the UE can reselect to that cell (or beam) and carry on operation, rather than responding to a poll in the first cell.

In some embodiments, the coverage-related conditions can include logic that combines coverage-related conditions for the first (polled) cell and/or coverage-related conditions for neighbor cells. For example, the UE should respond to the poll only if the conditions are met for all (discoverable) neighbor cells. In this case, the condition for each neighbor cell is the UE’s measured DL signal level for that neighbor cell (or a beam of the cell) is less than a threshold. As another example, the UE should respond to the poll when the measured DL signal level for the first (polled) cell is below a first threshold and the measured DL signal levels for all (discoverable) neighbor cells are above a second threshold (which may be the same or different than the first threshold). If no poll response is received, the first base station can infer that all non-connected UEs can be served by the first cell or a neighbor cell, and reduce the DL transmit power in the first cell accordingly.

In some embodiments, the UE can also include the DL signal level measured for one or more (e.g., strongest) neighbor cells (or beams) in the poll response. Such information enables the first base station to assess whether the UE can find another suitable cell for service if the DL transmit power of the polled cell were reduced.

In some embodiments, the timing-related conditions for response can include a time window for response when the coverage-related conditions are met. In some embodiments, the timing-related conditions can include a reporting period (e.g., seconds, minutes, etc.), indicating a frequency at which UEs should perform reporting (possibly subject to additional reporting criteria). The periodic configuration may be preferably used in low network load conditions. When too many UEs begin responding to polls, the first base station may increase the reporting period and/or eliminate the periodic reporting.

In some embodiments, the timing-related conditions can include a minimum duration since the UE was last in a connected state towards the network. In such embodiments, a non-connected UE responds to a poll only if has been in the non-connected state for at least the minimum duration (and, if configured, a coverage-related condition is met).

In some embodiments, only specific UEs are configured to respond to the polling. For example, the first base station may want to poll UEs of reduced reception capability (e.g., RedCap devices) under a first set of conditions and UEs with other capability (e.g., eMBB) under a second set of conditions.

In some embodiments, UEs can be pre-configured with a list (or table) of possible amounts of DL transmit power reduction, and the configuration can include an index to an entry in the list. In other embodiments, the amount of DL transmit power reduction can be implicit based on specification. In other embodiments, the configuration can include multiple options of DL transmit power reduction, with the UE being able to indicate a preferred one of the options in the poll response. In any case, any amount of DL transmit power reduction can be indicated by a difference (e.g., in dB) from a reference value (e.g., full or normal DL transmit power) or an actual DL transmit power (e.g., in dBm).

In some embodiments, if the amount of reduction in DL transmit power is known by the UE (e.g., included in the configuration), the UE’s response may indicate whether the amount of reduction is feasible for the UE. In some embodiments, when the amount of reduction is feasible, the UE can indicate this implicitly by not responding to the poll. The choice between implicit and explicit poll response may be configurable by the first base station (e.g., in the configuration). In another example, if multiple DL transmit power reduction options are indicated (e.g., in the poll or in the configuration), the UE response can indicate which option(s) are feasible for the UE.

In some embodiments, when the first base station polls a UE in the first cell and the UE does not respond, the first base station can subsequently poll the UE in other cells served by the first base station. In some variants, the first base station can request a second base station to poll the UE in cells served by the second base station. In some further variants, the first base station can poll the UE in a tracking area associated with the first cell.

In some embodiments, the first base station can set one or more coverage- and/or timing- related conditions and/or decide on DL transmit power changes in the first cell based on information exchanged with other base stations that serve neighboring cells. The first base station can, for example, use the existing Resource Status Reporting procedures shown in Figures 3-4 to receive load information from a second base station via the Xn interface. The first base station may use this information to decide on how much to reduce the DL transmit power in the first cell while avoiding overloading neighbor cell(s) served by the second base station. This overloading can occur, for example, when UEs reselect to the neighbor cell(s) and subsequently transition to the connected state with the second base station. The first base station can use other existing or newly defined procedures to negotiate with the second base station for the coverage- and/or timing-related conditions. Some e

In some embodiments, the first base station can poll while operating in the energy saving configuration with reduced DL transmit power in the first cell, such as illustrated in Figure 6. This type of polling enables the first base station to determine need to return to a non-energy saving configuration. Alternately or additionally, the first base station can poll while operating in the nonenergy saving configuration with increased (or normal) DL transmit power in the first cell. This type of polling enables the first base station to explore opportunities for DL transmit power reduction.

In some embodiments, polling can be performed frequently in the energy saving configuration and no UEs are connected or anticipated in the first cell. In such case, no cell-edge UEs are present at most polling occasions so no or very few UEs are impacted on average. Conversely, polling can be performed less frequently in the non-energy saving configuration, when some UEs are anticipated to be present but impact to those UEs is reduced by less frequent polling. In some embodiments, polling is performed by the first base station when at least a threshold amount of time has passed since observing any UEs with link conditions or other parameters indicating a need for increased DL transmit power in the first cell.

In some embodiments, the polling response configuration can indicate the resources to be used for poll response by UEs, such as one or more of the following:

• specific RA resources, e.g., preamble, sequence, cyclic shift, time/frequency location, channel, etc.;

• specific signal, e.g., specific Zadoff Chu sequence, a transmission with a specific DMRS pattern, etc.;

• specific physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resource;

• specific bit, field, or IE in UCI, a MAC message, or an RRC message; and

• specific number of repetitions (e.g., of a RA preamble) to ensure that the request reaches the intended recipient (e.g., first base station).

Alternately, UEs can be pre-configured (e.g., by specification) with an indication of resources to be used for poll responses, including any of the resources listed above. As another alternative, the broadcast poll can indicate resources to be used for poll responses, including any of the resources listed above.

Figure 7 shows another exemplary network arrangement that illustrates some embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 7 shows base station 1 (610, also referred to as first base station) serving cell 1 (also referred to as first cell), with UE A (630) and UE B (640) located in the coverage area of cell 1. In this arrangement, the first base station is initially operating in the energy saving configuration with a reduced DL transmit power in the first cell. The coverage associated with this reduced DL transmit power is indicated by the dashed ellipse.

When operating in the energy saving configuration, the first base station broadcasts in the first cell an indication that UEs should report events that meet certain coverage- and/or timing-related conditions, which may be the same as or different than the poll response conditions discussed above. In some embodiments, the first base station can provide to UEs (e.g., via broadcast) an event reporting configuration that can include any of the configuration information discussed above, except that the configuration information relates to event reporting (i.e., without polling) rather than to poll responses.

An example coverage-related condition is that the UE’s measured DL signal level (e.g., RSRP or SINR) is below a threshold. This threshold can be associated with the reduced DL transmit power (e.g., the dashed ellipse). When UE B moves in a direction away from the first base station, its measured DL signal level drops below the threshold, causing UE B to send an event report to the first base station. The event report can be sent in any of the same ways a UE sends a poll response to the first base station, discussed above.

Based on the event reports from UE B, the first base station detects and/or determines that UE B is at or near the coverage limit of the reduced DL transmit power used in the energy saving configuration. In response, the first base station can increase the DL transmit power in the first cell, either to a normal level (i.e., full power) or only an amount needed to provide adequate coverage to UE B.

In some embodiments, UEs are not required to enter connected state to report events, but rather can make the report in a non-connected state (e.g., RRC IDLE, RRC INACTIVE). In different variants, this can be pre-configured, specified in the configuration, etc.

In some embodiments, only specific UEs are configured to report events. For example, the first base station may want UEs of reduced reception capability (e.g., RedCap devices) to report events according to a first set of conditions and UEs with other capability (e.g., eMBB) to report events according to a second set of conditions.

Figure 8 shows another exemplary network arrangement that illustrates other embodiments of the present disclosure. In this arrangement, base station 1 (810, also referred to as first base station) serves cell 1 (also referred to as first cell) with a coverage area shown by the solid ellipse. The first base station broadcasts in the first cell an indication that UEs should report events that meet certain conditions. Base station 2 (820, also referred to as second base station) serves cell 2 (also referred to as second cell) which is adjacent to cell 1.

In some embodiments, the first base station can provide to UEs (e.g., via broadcast) an event reporting configuration that can include any of the configuration information discussed above, except that the configuration information relates to event reporting (i.e., without polling) rather than to poll responses. For example, the configuration can include event reporting conditions like the ones discussed above. An example coverage-related condition is that the UE’s measured DL signal level (e.g., RSRP or SINR) is below a threshold. This threshold is illustrated in Figure 8 by the dashed ellipse. When UE A moves in a direction away from the first base station towards the second cell, its measured DL signal level drops below the threshold, causing UE A to send an event report to the first base station. The event report can be sent in any of the ways discussed above.

When UE A sends the event report, the second base station is operating in the energy saving configuration with a reduced DL transmit power in the second cell. The second cell coverage associated with this reduced DL transmit power is indicated by the dashed ellipse. In the embodiments illustrated by Figure 8, the second base station informs the first base station when it enters (or will enter) the energy saving configuration at least for the second cell.

Based on this notification and the event report from UE A, the first base station sends a request for the second base station to exit the energy saving configuration and/or increase the DL transmit power in the second cell. In response to this request, the second base station can exit the energy saving configuration and increase the DL transmit power at least for the second cell.

Note that the first base station can also request the second base station to increase DL transmit power in cell 1 for other reasons, such as excessive load detected at boundary between cells 1-2. In some embodiments, the second base station can inform the first base station about the amount of reduction in DL transmit power in cell 1. As such, when the first base station asks for increased power from the second base station either based on internal stimuli (e.g., excessive load at cell edge) or on UE request, the first base station can include an amount of increase in the request to the second base station.

In some embodiments, multiple events (and associated conditions) can be configured by the second base station for different purposes. For example, the first base station may configure a first event for adapting the DL transmit power level in the first cell and a second event associated with adapting the DL transmit power level in the second cell.

Figure 9 shows another exemplary network arrangement that illustrates these embodiments of the present disclosure. Base stations 1-2, cells 1-2, and UE A in Figure 9 are substantially similar to corresponding items shown in Figure 8. In this example, the first base station broadcasts two event reporting thresholds: a first threshold associated with cell 1 and a second threshold associated with cell 2. The first threshold can correspond to a coverage of cell 1 when the first base station is in an energy saving configuration with reduced DL transmit power. The second threshold can be substantially similar to the threshold discussed above in relation to Figure 8. The two thresholds are illustrated with ellipses in Figure 9. In general, UEs do not need to be aware of the relationship between the different events and base stations. Initially, the first base station is operating in the energy saving configuration at least for cell 1. When UE A moves in a direction away from the first base station, its measured DL signal level drops below the first threshold, causing UE A to send a first event report to the first base station. This first event report causes the first base station to increase its DL transmit power in the first cell, resulting in the coverage shown by the solid ellipse in Figure 9.

When UE A continues moving in the direction away from the first base station towards the second cell, its measured DL signal level drops below the second threshold, causing UE A to send a second event report to the first base station. The first and second event reports can be sent in any of the ways discussed above in relation to Figure 7.

When UE A sends the second event report, the second base station is operating in the energy saving configuration with a reduced DL transmit power in the second cell. The second cell coverage associated with this reduced DL transmit power is indicated by the dashed ellipse. Like the embodiments illustrated by Figure 8, the second base station informs the first base station when it enters (or will enter) the energy saving configuration at least for the second cell.

Based on this notification and the second event report from UE A, the first base station sends a request for the second base station to exit the energy saving configuration and/or increase the DL transmit power in the second cell. In response to this request, the second base station can exit the energy saving configuration and increase the DL transmit power at least for the second cell.

Note that the inter-base station signaling in Figure 9 can also include the first base station informing the second base station that it is operating in the energy saving configuration for cell 2, and the second base station sending the first base station a request to exit the energy saving configuration and increase DL transmit power for cell 2. As discussed above for other embodiments, the first and second base stations can inform each other about the amount of reduction in DL transmit power in their respective cells, such that requests for increase can include an amount of increase.

In some embodiments, the UE refrains from transmitting an event report when a condition is fulfilled, if the UE identifies other beams/cells from which it can receive service. In such case, the UE only transmits an event report when its measured DL signal strength in neighbor cells/beams are below the threshold(s). In some embodiments, the configuration for event reporting can including minimum thresholds for alternate coverage. In this manner, the second base station can control event reporting behavior by UEs, thereby avoiding excessive event reports by UEs in a cell.

In some embodiments, the inter-base station coordination illustrated in Figures 8-9 can be extended to a larger group of cells served by more than two base stations. Based on the absence of event reports or poll responses from cell-edge UEs in the group of cells, the base stations can reduce DL transmit power in the group of cells concurrently and/or in a coordinated manner. For example, this could involve a network node or function that coordinates the various base stations’ entry to and exit from energy saving configuration with reduced DL transmit power level in the group of cells. In such case, there will be signaling between the base stations and the coordinator, similar to the signaling between base stations illustrated by Figures 8-9.

In some embodiments, dynamic switching between a normal configuration with normal DL transmit power and an energy saving configuration with reduced DL transmit power (and corresponding signaling discussed above) can be limited to cells operating in certain frequency bands. For example, the dynamic switching can be limited to frequency bands introduced or specified after a particular date or in a particular 3GPP release. In other words, cells in frequency bands that existed before the particular date or the particular 3GPP release can operate in the normal configuration but not in the energy saving configuration. In this manner, backward compatibility is maintained with all UEs that existed before the particular date or the particular 3GPP release, and new UEs introduced after the particular date or that support the particular 3GPP release will be aware of configuration switching capability based on cell frequency band.

The embodiments described above can be further illustrated with reference to Figures 10- 12, which show exemplary methods (e.g., procedures) for a UE, a first base station, and a second base station, respectively. Put differently, various features of the operations described below correspond to various embodiments described above. Furthermore, the exemplary methods shown in Figures 10-12 can be used cooperatively to provide various benefits, advantages, and/or solutions to problems, including those described herein. Although Figures 10-12 show specific blocks in particular orders, the operations of the exemplary methods can be performed in different orders than shown and can be combined and/or divided into blocks with different functionality than shown. Optional blocks or operations are indicated by dashed lines.

In particular, Figure 10 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for a UE configured to operate in a wireless network (e.g., E-UTRAN, NG-RAN), according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The exemplary method shown in Figure 10 can be performed by a UE (e.g., wireless device, MTC device, NB-IoT device, modem, etc. or component thereof) such as described elsewhere herein.

The exemplary method can include the operations of block 1010, in which the UE can receive, from the wireless network, a configuration that includes one or more coverage-related conditions associated with an energy saving configuration that includes reduced DL transmit power for at least a first cell of the wireless network, relative to a non-energy saving configuration. The exemplary method can also include the operations of block 1020, in which the UE can monitor for events associated with the coverage-related conditions while operating in a nonconnected state towards the wireless network in the first cell. The exemplary method can also include the operations of block 1040, in which when an event is detected based on the monitoring, the UE can selectively transmit an indication of the detected event to the wireless network.

In some embodiments, selectively transmitting the indication of the detected event in block 1040 includes the following operations (denoted with corresponding sub-block numbers):

• (1041) receiving from the wireless network a polling request for events associated with the coverage-related conditions;

• (1042) transmitting the indication in response to the polling request when the event was detected before the polling request; and

• (1043) refraining from transmitting a response to the polling request when the event was not detected before the polling request.

In some embodiments, the coverage-related conditions include one or more thresholds for UE measurements of one or more of the following: DL signal level, and DL signal -to-interference- and-noise ratio (SINK). Furthermore, monitoring for events in block 1020 can include one or more of the following operations, labelled with corresponding sub-block numbers:

• (1021) measuring DL signal level for at least the first cell and comparing measured DL signal level to the one or more thresholds; and

• (1022) measuring DL SINK for the first cell in relation to one or more neighbor cells and comparing the measured SINR to at least one of the thresholds.

In some of these embodiments, the one or more thresholds include first and second thresholds associated with the first cell, the first threshold being greater than the second threshold. Also, first and second events are detected when the measured DL signal level for the first cell is less than the respective first and second thresholds. Additionally, respective first and second indications of the detected first and second events are selectively transmitted to the wireless network (e.g., in block 1040).

In some variants of these embodiments, the first threshold is associated with an energy saving configuration of a first base station serving the first cell and the second threshold is associated with an energy saving configuration of a second base station serving a second cell neighboring the first cell. Figure 9 shows an example of these variants.

In some of these embodiments, selectively transmitting the indication of the detected event in block 1040 can include the operations of sub-block 1044, where when the measured DL signal level for the first cell is less than the first threshold but the measured DL signal strength for at least one neighbor cell is above the third threshold, the UE can refrain from transmitting the indication and reselect to one of the neighbor cells whose measured DL signal strength is above the third threshold.

• one or more timing-related conditions for event reporting;

• an indication of transmission resources to be used for event reporting;

• an indication of a subset of UEs that should report events; and

In some of these embodiments, the indication is selectively transmitted (e.g., in block 1040) using one or more of the following identified by the indication of transmission resources:

• one or more random access (RA) resources;

• one or more signals;

• one or more physical uplink channels;

• one or more bits, fields, or information elements in an uplink message; and

In some of these embodiments the indication is selectively transmitted (e.g., in block 1040) in accordance with the timing-related conditions, which include one or more of the following:

• a time window for reporting after detecting an event; and

In some of these embodiments, the one or more DL transmit power levels are indicated by one of the following: respective reduction amounts in dB; respective DL transmit power levels in dBm; or respective indices that corresponds to entries in a pre-configured list of values known by the UE and the wireless network.

In some of these embodiments, the exemplary method also includes the operations of block 1030, where the UE can determine which, if any, of the indicated DL transmit power levels are feasible for the UE based on the monitoring for events (e.g., measured DL signal levels).

In some variants of these embodiments, the configuration indicates a single DL transmit power level and the selectively transmitting operations in block 1040 include the operations of sub-block 1045, where the UE can refrain from transmitting the indication of the detected event when the single DL transit power level is determined to be feasible (e.g., in block 1030).

In other variants of these embodiments, the configuration includes a plurality of DL transmit power levels and the exemplary method also includes the operations of block 1050, in which the UE can transmit to the wireless network an indication of which of the indicated DL transmit power levels were determined to be feasible (e.g., in block 1030). This can include an indication that none of the plurality of indicated DL transmit power levels were determined to be feasible.

In addition, Figure 11 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for a first base station configured to operate in a wireless network, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The exemplary method shown in Figure 11 can be performed by a base station (e.g., RAN node, eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc., or component thereof) such as described elsewhere herein.

The exemplary method can include the operations of block 1110, in which the first base station can transmit a configuration that includes one or more coverage-related conditions associated with an energy saving configuration that includes reduced downlink (DL) transmit power for at least a first cell of the wireless network, relative to a non-energy saving configuration. The exemplary method can include also include one or more of the following operations, labelled with corresponding block numbers:

• (1140) in response to receiving no indications of events associated with the coverage- related conditions that were detected by UEs operating in a non-connected state, exiting the non-energy saving configuration and entering the energy saving configuration for the first cell;

• (1150) in response to receiving an indication of an event associated with the coverage- related conditions that was detected by a UE operating in a non-connected state, exiting the energy saving configuration and entering the non-energy saving configuration for the first cell; and • (1160) in response to receiving an indication of an event associated with the coverage- related conditions that was detected by a UE operating in a non-connected state, sending to a second base station serving a second cell a request to exit an energy saving configuration and/or increase DL transmit power used for the second cell.

In some embodiments, the exemplary method can also include the operations of block 1120, where the first base station can transmit at least one polling request for UE-detected events associated with the coverage-related conditions. One or more indications are received in response to the at least one polling request, from respective one or more UEs that detected an event before receiving one of the at least one polling request.

In some of these embodiments, a first polling request is transmitted in system information (SI) broadcast in the first cell and exiting the non-energy saving configuration and entering the energy saving configuration for the first cell (e.g., in block 1140) is responsive to receiving no indications of events in response to the first polling request.

In other of these embodiments, transmitting the polling request in block 1120 includes the operations of sub-blocks 1121-1122, where the first base station can transmit a first polling request in the first cell and in response to receiving no indications of events in response to the first polling request, transmit a second polling request in one or more neighbor cells to the first cell. Exiting the non-energy saving configuration and entering the energy saving configuration for the first cell (e.g., in block 1140) can be responsive to receiving no indications in response to the second polling request.

In some of these embodiments, the one or more thresholds include first and second thresholds associated with the first cell, with the first threshold being greater than the second threshold. First and second events associated with the coverage-related conditions correspond to DL signal level measured by a UE for the first cell being less than the respective first and second thresholds. In some variants of these embodiments, exiting the energy saving configuration and entering the non-energy saving configuration for the first cell (e.g., in block 1150) is responsive to receiving an indication of a first event from a UE, while sending the request to the second base station serving the second cell (e.g., in block 1160) is responsive to an indication of a second event from a UE. Figure 9 shows an example of these variants.

• one or more timing-related conditions for event reporting;

• an indication of transmission resources to be used for event reporting;

• an indication of a subset of UEs that should report events; and

• one or more RA resources;

• one or more signals;

• one or more physical uplink channels;

• one or more bits, fields, or information elements in an uplink message; and

• a time window for reporting after detecting an event; and

• a minimum duration since the UE last operated in a connected state towards the wireless network, after which the UE can report a detected event. In some of these embodiments, the one or more DL transmit power levels are indicated (i.e., in the configuration) by one of the following: respective reduction amounts in dB; respective DL transmit power levels in dBm; or respective indices that corresponds to entries in a preconfigured list of values known by the UE and the wireless network.

In some of these embodiments, the configuration indicates a single DL transmit power level and no indications of events are received from UEs that determine the single DL transit power level is feasible (e.g., based on measured DL signal levels). In other of these embodiments, the configuration indicates a plurality of DL transmit power levels and each indication of an event is received from a UE together an indication of which of the plurality of DL transmit power levels the UE determined to be feasible. This can include an indication that none of the plurality of indicated DL transmit power levels are feasible.

In some embodiments, the exemplary method can also include the operations of block 1130, where the first base station can receive from the second base station a notification that the second base station has entered an energy saving configuration and/or reduced DL transmit power used for the second cell. The request is sent to the second base station (e.g., in block 1160) after receiving the notification. Figures 8-9 show examples of these embodiments. In some of these embodiments, the notification includes an indication of the reduced DL transmit power used for the second cell, based on one of the following: a reduction amount in dB; a DL transmit power level in dBm; or an index that corresponds to an entry in a pre-configured list of values known by the first and second base stations.

In some embodiments, the exemplary method can also include the operations of block 1170, where in response to entering the energy saving configuration (e.g., in block 1140), the first base station can send to the second base station a second notification that the first base station has entered the energy saving configuration and/or reduced DL transmit power used for the first cell. In some of these embodiments, the exemplary method can also include the operations of block 1180, where after sending the second notification, the first base station can receive from the second base station a second request to exit the energy saving configuration and/or increase DL transmit power used for the first cell. For example, the second request can be responsive to the second base station receiving an indication of an event associated with a coverage-related conditions that was detected by a UE operating in a non-connected state in the second cell.

In addition, Figure 12 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for a second base station configured to operate in a wireless network, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The exemplary method shown in Figure 12 can be performed by a base station (e.g., RAN node, eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc., or component thereof) such as described elsewhere herein. The exemplary method can include the operations of block 1220, where while operating in an energy saving configuration that includes reduced DL transmit power for at least a second cell relative to a non-energy saving configuration, the second base station can receive from a first base station a request to exit the energy saving configuration and/or increase DL transmit power used for the second cell. The exemplary method can include the operations of block 1230, where in response to the first request, the second base station can exit the energy saving configuration and enter the non-energy saving configuration for the second cell.

In some embodiments, the request is based on an indication of an event associated with the coverage-related conditions that was detected by a UE operating in a non-connected state in a first cell served by the first base station. Figures 8-9 show examples of these embodiments.

In some embodiments, the exemplary method can also include the operations of block 1210, where the second base station can send to the first base station a notification that the second base station has entered the energy saving configuration and/or reduced DL transmit power used for the second cell. The request is received (e.g., in block 1220) after sending the notification. In some of these embodiments, the notification includes an indication of the reduced DL transmit power used for the second cell, based on one of the following: a reduction amount in dB; a DL transmit power level in dBm; or an index that corresponds to an entry in a pre-configured list of values known by the first and second base stations.

In some embodiments, the exemplary method can also include the operations of block 1240, where the second base station can receive from the first base station a second notification that the first base station has entered the energy saving configuration and/or reduced DL transmit power used for the first cell. In some of these embodiments, the exemplary method can also include the operations of block 1250, where after receiving the second notification, the second base station can send to the first base station a second request to exit the energy saving configuration and/or increase DL transmit power used for the first cell. In some variants, the second request can be responsive to receiving an indication of an event associated with the coverage-related conditions that was detected by a UE operating in a non-connected state in the second cell (e.g., based on measured DL signal level).

Although various embodiments are described herein above in terms of methods, apparatus, devices, computer-readable medium and receivers, the person of ordinary skill will readily comprehend that such methods can be embodied by various combinations of hardware and software in various systems, communication devices, computing devices, control devices, apparatuses, non-transitory computer-readable media, etc.

Figure 13 shows an example of a communication system 1300 in accordance with some embodiments. In this example, communication system 1300 includes a telecommunication network 1302 that includes an access network 1304 (e.g., RAN) and a core network 1306, which includes one or more core network nodes 1308. Access network 1304 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 13 lOa-b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 1310), or any other similar 3 GPP access node or non-3GPP access point. Network nodes 1310 facilitate direct or indirect connection of UEs, such as by connecting UEs 1312a-d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 1312) to core network 1306 over one or more wireless connections.

Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, communication system 1300 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and/or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. Communication system 1300 may include and/or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and/or other similar type of system.

UEs 1312 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes 1310 and other communication devices. Similarly, network nodes 1310 are arranged, capable, configured, and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with UEs 1312 and/or with other network nodes or equipment in telecommunication network 1302 to enable and/or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and/or to perform other functions, such as administration in telecommunication network 1302.

In the depicted example, core network 1306 connects network nodes 1310 to one or more hosts, such as host 1316. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. Core network 1306 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 1308) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and/or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of core network node 1308. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and/or a User Plane Function (UPF).

Host 1316 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of access network 1304 and/or telecommunication network 1302, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. Host 1316 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio/video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

As a whole, communication system 1300 of Figure 13 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and/or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

In some examples, telecommunication network 1302 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, telecommunication network 1302 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to telecommunication network 1302. For example, telecommunication network 1302 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and/or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC)/Massive loT services to yet further UEs.

In some examples, UEs 1312 are configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to access network 1304 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from access network 1304. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e., being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

In the example, hub 1314 communicates with access network 1304 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 1312c and/or 1312d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 1310b). In some examples, hub 1314 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, hub 1314 may be a broadband router enabling access to core network 1306 for the UEs. As another example, hub 1314 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 1310, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in hub 1314. As another example, hub 1314 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, hub 1314 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, hub 1314 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which hub 1314 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and/or after adding additional local content. In still another example, hub 1314 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular in if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

Hub 1314 may have a constant/persistent or intermittent connection to network node 1310b. Hub 1314 may also allow for a different communication scheme and/or schedule between hub 1314 and UEs (e.g., UE 1312c and/or 1312d), and between hub 1314 and core network 1306. In other examples, hub 1314 is connected to core network 1306 and/or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, hub 1314 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over access network 1304 and/or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with network nodes 1310 while still connected via hub 1314 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, hub 1314 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to/from the UEs from/to network node 1310b. In other embodiments, hub 1314 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 1310b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and/or end point for certain data channels.

Figure 14 shows a UE 1400 in accordance with some embodiments. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded/integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by 3 GPP, including a narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) LIE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

UE 1400 includes processing circuitry 1402 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1404 to an input/output interface 1406, a power source 1408, a memory 1410, a communication interface 1412, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 14. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

Processing circuitry 1402 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in memory 1410. Processing circuitry 1402 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field- programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, processing circuitry 1402 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

In the example, input/output interface 1406 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and/or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into UE 1400. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

In some embodiments, power source 1408 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. Power source 1408 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from power source 1408 itself, and/or an external power source, to the various parts of UE 1400 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of power source 1408. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from power source 1408 to make the power suitable for the respective components of UE 1400 to which power is supplied.

Memory 1410 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, memory 1410 includes one or more application programs 1414, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 1416. Memory 1410 may store, for use by UE 1400, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

Memory 1410 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and/or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ Memory 1410 may allow UE 1400 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non- transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in memory 1410, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

Processing circuitry 1402 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using communication interface 1412. Communication interface 1412 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 1422. Communication interface 1412 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 1418 and/or a receiver 1420 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, transmitter 1418 and receiver 1420 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 1422) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of communication interface 1412 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and/or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 1412, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., an alert is sent when moisture is detected), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door/window sensor, a flood/moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and/or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to UE 1400 shown in Figure 14.

As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and/or measurements to another UE and/or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3 GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g., by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and/or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators. Figure 15 shows a network node 1500 in accordance with some embodiments. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (e.g., radio access points) and base stations (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, eNBs, and gNBs).

Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units and/or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell/multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and/or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

Network node 1500 includes a processing circuitry 1502, a memory 1504, a communication interface 1506, and a power source 1508. Network node 1500 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which network node 1500 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, network node 1500 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 1504 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 1510 may be shared by different RATs). Network node 1500 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1500, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z- wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 1500.

Processing circuitry 1502 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 1500 components, such as memory 1504, to provide network node 1500 functionality.

In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1502 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1502 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1512 and baseband processing circuitry 1514. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1512 and baseband processing circuitry 1514 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1512 and baseband processing circuitry 1514 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

Memory 1504 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and/or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by processing circuitry 1502. Memory 1504 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and/or other instructions (collectively denoted computer program product 1504a) capable of being executed by processing circuitry 1502 and utilized by network node 1500. Memory 1504 may be used to store any calculations made by processing circuitry 1502 and/or any data received via communication interface 1506. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1502 and memory 1504 is integrated.

Communication interface 1506 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and/or data between a network node, access network, and/or UE. As illustrated, communication interface 1506 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) 1516 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. Communication interface 1506 also includes radio frontend circuitry 1518 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, antenna 1510. Radio front-end circuitry 1518 comprises filters 1520 and amplifiers 1522. Radio front-end circuitry 1518 may be connected to an antenna 1510 and processing circuitry 1502. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1510 and processing circuitry 1502. Radio front-end circuitry 1518 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. Radio front-end circuitry 1518 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1520 and/or amplifiers 1522. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 1510. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 1510 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front-end circuitry 1518. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 1502. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

In certain alternative embodiments, network node 1500 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 1518, instead, processing circuitry 1502 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to antenna 1510. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitry 1512 is part of communication interface 1506. In still other embodiments, communication interface 1506 includes one or more ports or terminals 1516, radio front-end circuitry 1518, and RF transceiver circuitry 1512, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and communication interface 1506 communicates with baseband processing circuitry 1514, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

Antenna 1510 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. Antenna 1510 may be coupled to radio front-end circuitry 1518 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, antenna 1510 is separate from network node 1500 and connectable to network node 1500 through an interface or port.

Antenna 1510, communication interface 1506, and/or processing circuitry 1502 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, antenna 1510, communication interface 1506, and/or processing circuitry 1502 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and/or any other network equipment.

Power source 1508 provides power to the various components of network node 1500 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). Power source 1508 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of network node 1500 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, network node 1500 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of power source 1508. As a further example, power source 1508 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

Embodiments of network node 1500 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 15 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and/or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, network node 1500 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into network node 1500 and to allow output of information from network node 1500. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node 1500.

Figure 16 is a block diagram of a host 1600, which may be an embodiment of host 1316 of Figure 13, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, host 1600 may be or comprise various combinations hardware and/or software, including a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, container, or processing resources in a server farm. Host 1600 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

Host 1600 includes processing circuitry 1602 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1604 to an input/output interface 1606, a network interface 1608, a power source 1610, and a memory 1612. Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such as Figures 14 and 15, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of host 1600.

Memory 1612 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs 1614 and data 1616, which may include user data, e.g., data generated by a UE for host 1600 or data generated by host 1600 for a UE. Embodiments of host 1600 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. Host application programs 1614 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAC, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, heads-up display systems). Host application programs 1614 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and may periodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, host 1600 may select and/or indicate a different host for over-the-top services for a UE. Host application programs 1614 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real- Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), etc.

Figure 17 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1700 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 1700 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized.

Applications 1702 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment 1700 to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

Hardware 1704 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and/or instructions (collectively denoted computer program product 1704a) executable by hardware processing circuitry, and/or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input/output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 1706 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1708a-b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 1708), and/or perform any of the functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1706 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 1708.

VMs 1708 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1706. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1702 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 1708, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

In the context of NFV, a VM 1708 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 1708, and that part of hardware 1704 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and/or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 1708 on top of the hardware 1704 and corresponds to the application 1702.

Hardware 1704 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1704 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1704 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g., such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 1710, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1702. In some embodiments, hardware 1704 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 1712 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

Figure 18 shows a communication diagram of a host 1802 communicating via a network node 1804 with a UE 1806 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as a UE 1312a of Figure 13 and/or UE 1400 of Figure 14), network node (such as network node 1310a of Figure 13 and/or network node 1500 of Figure 15), and host (such as host 1316 of Figure 13 and/or host 1600 of Figure 16) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 18.

Like host 1600, embodiments of host 1802 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. Host 1802 also includes software, which is stored in or accessible by host 1802 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as UE 1806 connecting via an over-the-top (OTT) connection 1850 extending between UE 1806 and host 1802. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using OTT connection 1850. Network node 1804 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with host 1802 and UE 1806. Connection 1860 may be direct or pass through a core network (like core network 1306 of Figure 13) and/or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks. For example, an intermediate network may be a backbone network or the Internet.

UE 1806 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE 1806 and executable by the UE’s processing circuitry. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or operator-specific “app” that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 1806 with the support of host 1802. In host 1802, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via OTT connection 1850 terminating at UE 1806 and host 1802. In providing the service to the user, the UE's client application may receive request data from the host's host application and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection 1850 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The UE's client application may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application through OTT connection 1850.

OTT connection 1850 may extend via a connection 1860 between host 1802 and network node 1804 and via a wireless connection 1870 between network node 1804 and UE 1806 to provide the connection between host 1802 and UE 1806. Connection 1860 and wireless connection 1870, over which OTT connection 1850 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between host 1802 and UE 1806 via network node 1804, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

As an example of transmitting data via OTT connection 1850, in step 1808, host 1802 provides user data, which may be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a particular human user interacting with UE 1806. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE 1806 that shares data with host 1802 without explicit human interaction. In step 1810, host 1802 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards UE 1806. Host 1802 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by UE 1806. The request may be caused by human interaction with UE 1806 or by operation of the client application executing on UE 1806. The transmission may pass via network node 1804, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step 1812, network node 1804 transmits to UE 1806 the user data that was carried in the transmission that host 1802 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1814, UE 1806 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on UE 1806 associated with the host application executed by host 1802.

In some examples, UE 1806 executes a client application which provides user data to host 1802. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from host 1802. Accordingly, in step 1816, UE 1806 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may further consider user input received from the user via an input/output interface of UE 1806. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, UE 1806 initiates, in step 1818, transmission of the user data towards host 1802 via network node 1804. In step 1820, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, network node 1804 receives user data from UE 1806 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards host 1802. In step 1822, host 1802 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by UE 1806.

One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to UE 1806 using OTT connection 1850, in which wireless connection 1870 forms the last segment. More precisely, embodiments described herein can provide novel, flexible, and efficient signaling and procedures to support dynamic adaptation of DL transmit power used by a base station in a cell. These techniques facilitate predictable and/or correct UE and network behavior when a base station dynamically adapts DL TX power to reduce base station energy consumption. Thus, embodiments facilitate improved energy efficiency of wireless networks while maintaining predictable and/or correct UE behavior. When used in UEs and base stations (or network nodes) comprising a wireless network, embodiments increase the value of OTT services delivered via the wireless network (e.g., to the UE) to both end users and service providers.

In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by host 1802. As another example, host 1802 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, host 1802 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, host 1802 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, host 1802 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR or AR which it can broadcast, multicast or unicast to UEs. As other examples, host 1802 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time critical electrical load to balance power generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. from data collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing and/or transmitting data. In some examples, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 1850 between host 1802 and UE 1806, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in software and hardware of host 1802 and/or UE 1806. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which OTT connection 1850 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of OTT connection 1850 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of network node 1804. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like, by host 1802. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using OTT connection 1850 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

The foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the disclosure. Various modifications and alterations to the described embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the teachings herein. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise numerous systems, arrangements, and procedures that, although not explicitly shown or described herein, embody the principles of the disclosure and can be thus within the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Various embodiments can be used together with one another, as well as interchangeably therewith, as should be understood by those having ordinary skill in the art.

The term unit, as used herein, can have conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices and/or electronic devices and can include, for example, electrical and/or electronic circuitry, devices, modules, processors, memories, logic solid state and/or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for carrying out respective tasks, procedures, computations, outputs, and/or displaying functions, and so on, as such as those that are described herein.

Any appropriate steps, methods, features, functions, or benefits disclosed herein may be performed through one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual apparatuses. Each virtual apparatus may comprise a number of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include Digital Signal Processor (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as Read Only Memory (ROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause the respective functional unit to perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

As described herein, device and/or apparatus can be represented by a semiconductor chip, a chipset, or a (hardware) module comprising such chip or chipset; this, however, does not exclude the possibility that a functionality of a device or apparatus, instead of being hardware implemented, be implemented as a software module such as a computer program or a computer program product comprising executable software code portions for execution or being run on a processor. Furthermore, functionality of a device or apparatus can be implemented by any combination of hardware and software. A device or apparatus can also be regarded as an assembly of multiple devices and/or apparatuses, whether functionally in cooperation with or independently of each other. Moreover, devices and apparatuses can be implemented in a distributed fashion throughout a system, so long as the functionality of the device or apparatus is preserved. Such and similar principles are considered as known to a skilled person.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

In addition, certain terms used in the present disclosure, including the specification, drawings and embodiments thereof, can be used synonymously in certain instances, including, but not limited to, e.g., data and information. It should be understood that, while these words and/or other words that can be synonymous to one another, can be used synonymously herein, that there can be instances when such words can be intended to not be used synonymously.

Example embodiments of the techniques and apparatus described herein include, but are not limited to, the following enumerated examples: Al . A method for a user equipment (UE) configured to operate in a wireless network, the method comprising: receiving, from the wireless network, a configuration that includes one or more coverage-related conditions associated with an energy saving configuration that includes reduced downlink (DL) transmit power relative to a non-energy saving configuration; monitoring for events associated with the coverage-related conditions while operating in a non-connected state towards the wireless network in a first cell; and when an event is detected based on the monitoring, selectively transmitting an indication of the detected event to the wireless network.

A2. The method of embodiment Al, wherein selectively transmitting the indication of the detected event comprises: receiving from the wireless network a polling request for events associated with the coverage-related conditions; transmitting the indication in response to the polling request when the event was detected before the polling request; and refraining from transmitting a response to the polling request when the event was not detected before the polling request.

A3. The method of embodiment A2, wherein the polling request is received from a first base station that serves the first cell and the indication is transmitted to the first base station.

A4. The method of embodiment A3, wherein the polling request is received in system information (SI) broadcast in the first cell.

A5. The method of any of embodiments A1-A4, wherein the coverage-related conditions include one or more thresholds for UE measurements of one or more of the following: DL signal level, and DL signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR).

A6. The method of embodiment A5, wherein the indication of the detected event is transmitted to the wireless network together with at least one of the following associated with the detected event: a measured DL signal level, and a measured DL SINR.

A7. The method of any of embodiments A5-A6, wherein: monitoring for events comprises measuring DL signal level for at least the first cell and comparing measured DL signal level to the one or more thresholds; and the event is detected when at least one measured DL signal level is less than one of the thresholds.

A8. The method of embodiment A7, wherein: the one or more thresholds include first and second thresholds associated with the first cell, the first threshold being greater than the second threshold; first and second events are detected when the measured DL signal level for the first cell is less than the respective first and second thresholds; and respective first and second indications of the detected first and second events are selectively transmitted to the wireless network.

A9. The method of embodiment A8, wherein: the first threshold is associated with an energy saving configuration of a first base station serving the first cell; and the second threshold is associated with an energy saving configuration of a second base station serving a second cell neighboring the first cell.

A10. The method of embodiment A7, wherein: the one or more thresholds include a first threshold associated with the first cell and a third threshold associated with neighbor cells of the first cell; and the event is detected when the measured DL signal strength for the first cell is less than the first threshold and one of the follow applies: the measured DL signal strengths for all neighbor cells is less than the third threshold; or the measured DL signal strengths for all neighbor cells is greater than the third threshold.

Al 1. The method of embodiment A10, wherein selectively transmitting the indication of the detected event comprises, when the measured DL signal level for the first cell is less than the first threshold but the measured DL signal strength for at least one neighbor cell is above the third threshold, refraining from transmitting the indication and reselecting to one of the neighbor cells whose measured DL signal strength is above the third threshold. A12. The method of any of embodiments A5-A6, wherein: monitoring for events comprises measuring DL SINK for the first cell in relation to one or more neighbor cells, and comparing the measured SINR to the one or more thresholds; and the event is detected when the measured SINR is less than one of the thresholds.

A13. The method of any of embodiments A1-A12, wherein the configuration also includes one or more of the following: one or more timing-related conditions for event reporting; an indication of transmission resources to be used for event reporting; an indication of a subset of UEs that should report events; and an indication of one or more DL transmit power levels used in the first cell.

A14. The method of embodiment A13, wherein the indication is selectively transmitted using one or more of the following identified by the indication of transmission resources: one or more random access (RA) resources; one or more signals; one or more physical uplink channels; one or more bits, fields, or information elements in an uplink message; and a specific number of repetitions used to transmit a request to increase the DL transmit power.

A15. The method of any of embodiments A13-A14, wherein the indication is selectively transmitted in accordance with the timing-related conditions, which include one or more of the following: a time window for reporting after detecting an event; a reporting period indicating a frequency at which the UE should report detected events; and a minimum duration since the UE last operated in a connected state towards the wireless network, after which the UE can report a detected event.

A16. The method of any of embodiments A13-A15, wherein the one or more DL transmit power levels are indicated by one of the following: respective reduction amounts in dB; respective DL transmit power levels in dBm; or respective indices that corresponds to entries in a pre-configured list of values known by the UE and the wireless network.

Al 7. The method of embodiment Al 6, wherein: the configuration indicates one or more DL transmit power levels that can be used when no indications of detected events are received from UEs; the method further comprises determining which, if any, of the indicated DL transmit power levels are feasible for the LE based on the monitoring for events.

A18. The method of embodiment A17, wherein: the configuration indicates a single DL transmit power level; and selectively transmitting the indication of the detected event comprises refraining from transmitting the indication of the detected event when the single DL transit power level is determined to be feasible.

Al 9. The method of embodiment Al 7, wherein: the configuration includes a plurality of DL transmit power levels; and the method further comprises transmitting to the wireless network an indication of which of the indicated DL transmit power levels were determined to be feasible.

BL A method for a first base station configured to operate in a wireless network, the method comprising: transmitting a configuration that includes one or more coverage-related conditions associated with an energy saving configuration that includes reduced downlink (DL) transmit power for one or more cells of the wireless network, relative to a non-energy saving configuration; and performing one or more of the following: in response to receiving no indications of events associated with the coverage- related conditions from UEs operating in a non-connected state, exiting the non-energy saving configuration and using the energy saving configuration for the first cell; in response to receiving an indication of an event associated with the coverage- related conditions that was detected by a UE operating in a non-connected state, exiting the energy saving configuration and using the non-energy saving configuration for the first cell; and in response to receiving an indication of an event associated with the coverage- related conditions that was detected by a UE operating in a non-connected state, sending to a second base station serving a second cell a request to exit an energy saving configuration and/or increase DL transmit power used for the second cell.

B2. The method of embodiment Bl, wherein: the method further comprises transmitting a polling request for UE-detected events associated with the coverage-related conditions; and indications are received in response to the polling request from one or more UEs that detected an event before the polling request.

B3. The method of embodiment B2, wherein the polling request is transmitted in system information (SI) broadcast in the first cell; and exiting the non-energy saving configuration is responsive to receiving no indications in response to the polling request.

B4. The method of embodiment B2, wherein transmitting the polling request comprises: transmitting a first polling request in the first cell; and in response to receiving no indications in response to the first polling request, transmitting a second polling request in one or more neighbor cells to the first cell, wherein exiting the energy saving configuration is responsive to receiving no indications in response to the second polling request.

B5. The method of any of embodiments B1-B4, wherein the coverage-related conditions include one or more thresholds for UE measurements of one or more of the following: DL signal level, and DL signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR).

B6. The method of embodiment B5, wherein each indication of a detected event is received from a UE together with at least one of the following associated with the detected event: a measured DL signal level, and a measured DL SINR.

B7. The method of any of embodiments B5-B6, wherein an event is detected when at least one measured DL signal level is less than one of the thresholds. B8. The method of embodiment B7, wherein: the one or more thresholds include first and second thresholds associated with the first cell, the first threshold being greater than the second threshold; and first and second events are detected when the measured DL signal level for the first cell is less than the respective first and second thresholds.

B9. The method of embodiment B8, wherein: exiting the energy saving configuration and using the non-energy saving configuration for the first cell is responsive to receiving an indication of a first event detected by a UE; and sending the request to the second base station serving the second cell is responsive to an indication of a second event detected by a UE.

BIO. The method of embodiment B7, wherein: the one or more thresholds include a first threshold associated with the first cell and a third threshold associated with neighbor cells of the first cell; and an event is detected when the measured DL signal strength for the first cell is less than the first threshold and one of the follow applies: the measured DL signal strengths for all neighbor cells is less than the third threshold; or the measured DL signal strengths for all neighbor cells is greater than the third threshold.

Bl 1. The method of embodiment BIO, wherein no indications of detected events are received from UEs whose measured DL signal level for the first cell is less than the first threshold and whose measured DL signal strength for at least one neighbor cell is above the third threshold.

B12. The method of any of embodiments B5-B6, wherein an event is detected when measured SINR for the first cell in relation to one or more neighbor cells is less than one of the thresholds.

B13. The method of any of embodiments B1-B12, wherein the configuration also includes one or more of the following: one or more timing-related conditions for event reporting; an indication of transmission resources to be used for event reporting; an indication of a subset of UEs that should report events; and an indication of one or more DL transmit power levels used in the first cell.

B14. The method of embodiment Bl 3, wherein each indication is received using one or more of the following identified by the indication of transmission resources: one or more random access (RA) resources; one or more signals; one or more physical uplink channels; one or more bits, fields, or information elements in an uplink message; and a specific number of repetitions used to transmit a request to increase the DL transmit power.

B15. The method of any of embodiments B13-B14, wherein each indication is received in accordance with the timing-related conditions, which include one or more of the following: a time window for reporting after detecting an event; a reporting period indicating a frequency at which the UE should report detected events; and a minimum duration since the UE last operated in a connected state towards the wireless network, after which the UE can report a detected event.

B16. The method of any of embodiments B13-B15, wherein the one or more DL transmit power levels are indicated by one of the following: respective reduction amounts in dB; respective DL transmit power levels in dBm; or respective indices that corresponds to entries in a pre-configured list of values known by the UE and the wireless network.

Bl 7. The method of embodiment Bl 6, wherein: the configuration indicates a single DL transmit power level that can be used when no indications of detected events are received from UEs; and no indications of detected events are received from UEs that determine the single DL transit power level is feasible.

B18. The method of embodiment Bl 6, wherein: the configuration indicates a plurality of DL transmit power levels that can be used when no indications of detected events are received from UEs; and each indication of a detected event is received from a UE together an indication of which of the indicated DL transmit power levels the UE determined to be feasible.

Bl 9. The method of any of embodiments Bl -Bl 8, further comprising receiving from the second base station a notification that the second base station has entered an energy saving configuration and/or reduced DL transmit power used for the second cell, wherein the request is sent after receiving the notification.

B20. The method of embodiment B 19, the notification includes an indication of the reduced DL transmit power used for the second cell, based on one of the following: a reduction amount in dB; a DL transmit power level in dBm; or an index that corresponds to an entry in a pre-configured list of values known by the first and second base stations.

B21. The method of any of embodiments B1-B20, further comprising in response to entering the energy saving configuration, sending to the second base station a second notification that the first base station has entered the energy saving configuration and/or reduced DL transmit power used for the first cell.

B22. The method of embodiment B21, further comprising receiving from the second base station a second request to exit the energy saving configuration and/or increase DL transmit power used for the first cell, wherein the second request is received after sending the second notification.

CL A method for a second base station configured to operate in a wireless network, the method comprising: while operating in an energy saving configuration that includes reduced downlink (DL) transmit power for at least a second cell relative to a non-energy saving configuration, receiving from a first base station a request to exit the energy saving configuration and/or increase DL transmit power used for the second cell; and in response to the first request, exiting the energy saving configuration and entering the non-energy saving configuration for the second cell. C2. The method of embodiment Cl, wherein the request is based on an indication of an event associated with the coverage-related conditions that was detected by a UE operating in a nonconnected state in a first cell served by the first base station.

C3. The method of any of embodiments C1-C2, further comprising sending to the first base station a notification that the second base station has entered the energy saving configuration and/or reduced DL transmit power used for the second cell, wherein the request is received after sending the notification.

C4. The method of embodiment C3, the notification includes an indication of the reduced DL transmit power used for the second cell, based on one of the following: a reduction amount in dB; a DL transmit power level in dBm; or an index that corresponds to an entry in a pre-configured list of values known by the first and second base stations.

C5. The method of any of embodiments C1-C4, further comprising receiving from the first base station a second notification that the first base station has entered the energy saving configuration and/or reduced DL transmit power used for the first cell.

C6. The method of embodiment C5, further comprising sending to the first base station a second request to exit the energy saving configuration and/or increase DL transmit power used for the first cell, wherein the second request is sent after receiving the second notification.

C7. The method of embodiment C6, wherein the second request is based on an indication of an event associated with the coverage-related conditions that was detected by a UE operating in a non-connected state in the second cell.

D2. A user equipment (UE) configured to operate in a wireless network, the UE being further configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments Al -Al 9.

D3. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a user equipment (UE) configured to operate in a wireless network, configure the UE to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments Al -Al 9. D4. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a user equipment (UE) configured to operate in a wireless network, configure the UE to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments Al -Al 9.

El . A first base station configured to operate in a wireless network, the first base station comprising: communication interface circuitry configured to communicate with one or more user equipment (UEs) and with a second base station in the wireless network; and processing circuitry operatively coupled to the communication interface circuitry, whereby the processing circuitry and the communication interface circuitry are configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B1-B22.

E2. A first base station configured to operate in a wireless network, the first base station being further configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B1-B22.

E3. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a first base station configured to operate in a wireless network, configure the first base station to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B1-B22.

E4. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a first base station configured to operate in a wireless network, configure the first base station to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B1-B22.

Fl. A second base station configured to operate in a wireless network, the second base station comprising: communication interface circuitry configured to communicate with one or more user equipment (UEs) and with a first base station in the wireless network; and processing circuitry operatively coupled to the communication interface circuitry, whereby the processing circuitry and the communication interface circuitry are configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments C1-C7.

F2. A second base station configured to operate in a wireless network, the second base station being further configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments C1-C7.

F3. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a second base station configured to operate in a wireless network, configure the second base station to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments C1-C7.

F4. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a second base station configured to operate in a wireless network, configure the second base station to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments C1-C7.

Claims

1. A method for a user equipment, UE, configured to operate in a wireless network, the method comprising: receiving (1010), from the wireless network, a configuration that includes one or more coverage-related conditions associated with an energy saving configuration that includes reduced downlink, DL, transmit power for at least a first cell of the wireless network, relative to a non-energy saving configuration; monitoring (1020) for events associated with the coverage-related conditions while operating in a non-connected state towards the wireless network in the first cell; and when an event is detected based on the monitoring, selectively transmitting (1040) an indication of the detected event to the wireless network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein selectively transmitting (1040) the indication of the detected event comprises: receiving (1041) from the wireless network a polling request for events associated with the coverage-related conditions; transmitting (1042) the indication in response to the polling request when the event was detected before the polling request; and refraining from transmitting (1043) a response to the polling request when the event was not detected before the polling request.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein one or more of the following applies: the polling request is received from a first base station that serves the first cell and the indication is transmitted to the first base station; and the polling request is received in system information, SI, broadcast in the first cell.

4. The method of any of claims 1-3, wherein: the coverage-related conditions include one or more thresholds for UE measurements of one or more of the following: DL signal level, and DL signal-to-interference-and- noise ratio, SINR; monitoring (1020) for events comprises one or more of the following: measuring (1021) DL signal level for at least the first cell and comparing measured DL signal level to at least one of the thresholds; and measuring (1022) DL SINK for the first cell in relation to one or more neighbor cells, and comparing the measured SINR to at least one of the thresholds; an event is detected when either of the following occurs: at least one measured DL signal level is less than one of the thresholds; or the measured SINR is less than one of the thresholds.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein: the one or more thresholds include first and second thresholds associated with the first cell, with the first threshold being greater than the second threshold; first and second events are detected when the measured DL signal level for the first cell is less than the respective first and second thresholds; and respective first and second indications of the detected first and second events are selectively transmitted to the wireless network.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein: the first threshold is associated with an energy saving configuration of a first base station serving the first cell; and the second threshold is associated with an energy saving configuration of a second base station serving a second cell neighboring the first cell.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein: the one or more thresholds include a first threshold associated with the first cell and a third threshold associated with neighbor cells of the first cell; and the event is detected when the following occurs: measured DL signal level for the first cell is less than the first threshold, and measured DL signal levels for all neighbor cells are less than the third threshold or greater than the third threshold.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein selectively transmitting (1040) the indication of the detected event comprises, when the measured DL signal level for the first cell is less than the first threshold but the measured DL signal strength for at least one neighbor cell is above the third threshold, refraining from transmitting (1044) the indication and reselecting to one of the neighbor cells whose measured DL signal strength is above the third threshold.

9. The method of any of claims 1-8, wherein the configuration also includes one or more of the following: one or more timing-related conditions for event reporting; an indication of transmission resources to be used for event reporting; an indication of a subset of UEs that should report events; and an indication of one or more DL transmit power levels used in the first cell.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the indication is selectively transmitted using one or more of the following identified by the indication of transmission resources: one or more random access, RA, resources; one or more signals; one or more physical uplink channels; one or more bits, fields, or information elements in an uplink message; and a specific number of repetitions used to transmit a request to increase the DL transmit power.

11. The method of any of claims 9-10, wherein the indication is selectively transmitted in accordance with the timing-related conditions, which include one or more of the following: a time window for reporting after detecting an event; a reporting period indicating a frequency at which the UE should report detected events; and a minimum duration since the UE last operated in a connected state towards the wireless network, after which the LTE can report a detected event.

12. The method of any of claims 9-11, further comprising determining (1030) which, if any, of the indicated DL transmit power levels are feasible for the UE based on the monitoring for events.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein: the configuration indicates a single DL transmit power level; and selectively transmitting (1040) the indication of the detected event comprises refraining from transmitting (1045) the indication of the detected event when the single DL transit power level is determined to be feasible.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein: the configuration includes a plurality of DL transmit power levels; and the method further comprises transmitting (1050) to the wireless network an indication of which of the indicated DL transmit power levels were determined to be feasible.

15. A method for a first base station configured to operate in a wireless network, the method comprising: transmitting (1110) a configuration that includes one or more coverage-related conditions associated with an energy saving configuration that includes reduced downlink, DL, transmit power for at least a first cell of the wireless network, relative to a non-energy saving configuration; and performing one or more of the following: in response to receiving no indications of events associated with the coverage- related conditions that were detected by user equipment, UEs, operating in a non-connected state, exiting (1140) the non-energy saving configuration and entering the energy saving configuration for the first cell; in response to receiving an indication of an event associated with the coverage- related conditions that was detected by a UE operating in a non-connected state, exiting (1150) the energy saving configuration and entering the non- energy saving configuration for the first cell; and in response to receiving an indication of an event associated with the coverage- related conditions that was detected by a UE operating in a non-connected state, sending (1160) to a second base station serving a second cell a request for the second base station to exit an energy saving configuration and/or to increase DL transmit power used for the second cell.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein: the method further comprises transmitting (1120) at least one polling request for UE- detected events associated with the coverage-related conditions; and one or more indications of events are received in response to the at least one polling request, from respective one or more UEs that detected an event before receiving one of the at least one polling request.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein: a first polling request is transmitted in system information, SI, broadcast in the first cell; and exiting (1140) the non-energy saving configuration and entering the energy saving configuration for the first cell are responsive to receiving no indications of events in response to the first polling request.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein transmitting (1120) the at least one polling request comprises: transmitting (1121) a first polling request in the first cell; and in response to receiving no indications of events in response to the first polling request, transmitting (1122) a second polling request in one or more neighbor cells to the first cell, wherein exiting (1140) the energy saving configuration and entering the energy saving configuration for the first cell are responsive to receiving no indications of events in response to the second polling request.

19. The method of any of claims 15-18, wherein: the coverage-related conditions include one or more thresholds for UE measurements of one or more of the following: DL signal level, and DL signal-to-interference-and- noise ratio, SINR; and each event, for which an indication is received, is one of the following: at least one DL signal level measured by a UE is less than one of the thresholds; or

DL SINR measured by a UE for the first cell in relation to one or more neighbor cells is less than one of the thresholds.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein: the one or more thresholds include first and second thresholds associated with the first cell, with the first threshold being greater than the second threshold; and first and second events associated with the coverage-related conditions correspond to DL signal level measured by a UE for the first cell being less than the respective first and second thresholds.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein: exiting (1150) the energy saving configuration and entering the non-energy saving configuration for the first cell is responsive to receiving an indication of a first event from a UE; and sending (1160) the request to the second base station serving the second cell is responsive to receiving an indication of a second event from a UE.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein: the one or more thresholds include a first threshold associated with the first cell and a third threshold associated with neighbor cells of the first cell; and a first event associated with the coverage-related conditions corresponds to the following:

DL signal level measured by a UE for the first cell being less than the first threshold, and

DL signal levels measured by the UE for all neighbor cells being less than the third threshold or being greater than the third threshold.

23. The method of any of claims 15-22, wherein the configuration also includes one or more of the following: one or more timing-related conditions for event reporting; an indication of transmission resources to be used for event reporting; an indication of a subset of UEs that should report events; and an indication of one or more DL transmit power levels used in the first cell.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein each indication of an event is received using one or more of the following identified by the indication of transmission resources: one or more random access, RA, resources; one or more signals; one or more physical uplink channels; one or more bits, fields, or information elements in an uplink message; and a specific number of repetitions used to transmit a request to increase the DL transmit power.

25. The method of any of claims 23-24, wherein each indication of an event is received in accordance with the timing-related conditions, which include one or more of the following: a reporting period indicating a frequency at which the UE should report events; a time window for reporting after detecting an event; and a minimum duration since the UE last operated in a connected state towards the wireless network, after which the UE can report a detected event.

26. The method of any of claims 23-25, wherein one of the following applies: the configuration indicates a single DL transmit power level and no indications of events are received from UEs that determine the single DL transit power level is feasible; or the configuration indicates a plurality of DL transmit power levels and each indication of an event is received from a UE together an indication of which of the plurality of DL transmit power levels the UE determined to be feasible.

27. The method of any of claims 15-26, further comprising receiving (1130) from the second base station a notification that the second base station has entered an energy saving configuration and/or has reduced DL transmit power used for the second cell, wherein the request to exit the energy saving configuration and/or to increase DL transmit power used for the second cell is sent to the second base station after receiving the notification.

28. The method of any of claims 15-27, further comprising: in response to entering (1140) the energy saving configuration, sending (1170) to the second base station a second notification that the first base station has entered the energy saving configuration and/or has reduced DL transmit power used for the first cell; and after sending (1170) the second notification, receiving (1180) from the second base station a second request to exit the energy saving configuration and/or to increase DL transmit power used for the first cell.

29. A method for a second base station configured to operate in a wireless network, the method comprising: while operating in an energy saving configuration that includes reduced downlink, DL, transmit power for at least a second cell relative to a non-energy saving configuration, receiving (1220) from a first base station a request to exit the energy saving configuration and/or to increase DL transmit power used for the second cell; and in response to the first request, exiting (1230) the energy saving configuration and entering the non-energy saving configuration for the second cell.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the request is based on an indication of an event associated with the coverage-related conditions that was detected by a UE operating in a nonconnected state in a first cell served by the first base station.

31. The method of any of claims 29-30, further comprising sending (1110) to the first base station a notification that the second base station has entered the energy saving configuration and/or has reduced DL transmit power used for the second cell, wherein the request is received from the first base station after sending the notification.

32. The method of claim 31, the notification includes an indication of the reduced DL transmit power used for the second cell, based on one of the following: a reduction amount in dB; a DL transmit power level in dBm; or an index that corresponds to an entry in a pre-configured list of values known by the first and second base stations.

33. The method of any of claims 29-32, further comprising receiving (1240) from the first base station a second notification that the first base station has entered the energy saving configuration and/or has reduced DL transmit power used for the first cell.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein: the method further comprises, after receiving (1240) the second notification, sending (1250) to the first base station a second request to exit the energy saving configuration and/or to increase DL transmit power used for the first cell; and the second request is responsive to receiving (1245) an indication of an event associated with a coverage-related conditions that was detected by a UE operating in a nonconnected state in the second cell.

35. A user equipment, UE (120, 530, 630, 640, 830, 1312, 1400, 1806) configured to operate in a wireless network (100, 199, 1304), the UE comprising: communication interface circuitry (1412) configured to communicate with at least a first base station (105, 110, 115, 200, 250, 510, 610, 810, 1310, 1500, 1804) of the wireless network; and processing circuitry (1402) operatively coupled to the communication interface circuitry, whereby the processing circuitry and the communication interface circuitry are configured to: receive, from the wireless network, a configuration that includes one or more coverage-related conditions associated with an energy saving configuration that includes reduced downlink, DL, transmit power relative to a non-energy saving configuration; monitor for events associated with the coverage-related conditions while operating in a non-connected state towards the wireless network in a first cell; and when an event is detected based on the monitoring, selectively transmit an indication of the detected event to the wireless network.

36. The UE of claim 35, wherein the processing circuitry and the communication interface circuitry are further configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 2-14.

37. A user equipment, UE (120, 530, 630, 640, 830, 1312, 1400, 1806) configured to operate in a wireless network (100, 199, 1304), the UE being further configured to: receive, from the wireless network, a configuration that includes one or more coverage- related conditions associated with an energy saving configuration that includes reduced downlink, DL, transmit power relative to a non-energy saving configuration; monitor for events associated with the coverage-related conditions while operating in a non-connected state towards the wireless network in a first cell; and when an event is detected based on the monitoring, selectively transmit an indication of the detected event to the wireless network.

38. The UE of claim 37, being further configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 2-14.

39. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium (1410) storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry (1402) of a user equipment, UE (120, 530, 630, 640, 830, 1312, 1400, 1806) configured to operate in a wireless network (100, 199, 1304), configure the UE to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 1- 14.

40. A computer program product (1414) comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry (1402) of a user equipment, UE (120, 530, 630, 640, 830, 1312, 1400, 1806) configured to operate in a wireless network (100, 199, 1304), configure the UE to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 1-14.

41. A first base station (105, 110, 115, 200, 250, 510, 610, 810, 1310, 1500, 1804) configured to operate in a wireless network (100, 199, 1304), the first base station comprising: communication interface circuitry (1506, 1704) configured to communicate with one or more user equipment, UEs (120, 530, 630, 640, 830, 1312, 1400, 1806) and with a second base station (105, 110, 115, 200, 250, 520, 820, 1310, 1500, 1804) in the wireless network; and processing circuitry (1502, 1704) operatively coupled to the communication interface circuitry, whereby the processing circuitry and the communication interface circuitry are configured to: transmit a configuration that includes one or more coverage-related conditions associated with an energy saving configuration that includes reduced downlink, DL, transmit power for at least a first cell of the wireless network, relative to a non-energy saving configuration; and perform one or more of the following: in response to receiving no indications of events associated with the coverage-related conditions that were detected by UEs operating in a non-connected state, exit the non-energy saving configuration and enter the energy saving configuration for a first cell; in response to receiving an indication of an event associated with the coverage-related conditions that was detected by a UE operating in a non-connected state, exit the energy saving configuration and enter the non-energy saving configuration for the first cell; and in response to receiving an indication of an event associated with the coverage-related conditions that was detected by a UE operating in a non-connected state, send to the second base station a request for the second base station to exit an energy saving configuration and/or to increase DL transmit power used for the second cell.

42. The first base station of claim 41, wherein perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 16-28.

43. A first base station (105, 110, 115, 200, 250, 510, 610, 810, 1310, 1500, 1804) configured to operate in a wireless network (100, 199, 1304), the first base station being further configured to: transmit a configuration that includes one or more coverage-related conditions associated with an energy saving configuration that includes reduced downlink, DL, transmit power for at least a first cell of the wireless network, relative to a nonenergy saving configuration; and perform one or more of the following: in response to receiving no indications of events associated with the coverage- related conditions that were detected by user equipment, UEs (120, 530, 630, 640, 830, 1312, 1400, 1806) operating in a non-connected state, exit the non-energy saving configuration and enter the energy saving configuration for the first cell; in response to receiving an indication of an event associated with the coverage- related conditions that was detected by a UE operating in a non-connected state, exit the energy saving configuration and enter the non-energy saving configuration for the first cell; and in response to receiving an indication of an event associated with the coverage- related conditions that was detected by a UE operating in a non-connected state, send to a second base station (105, 110, 115, 200, 250, 520, 820, 1310, 1500, 1804) serving a second cell a request for the second base station to exit an energy saving configuration and/or to increase DL transmit power used for the second cell.

44. The first base station of claim 43, being further configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 16-28.

45. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium (1504, 1704) storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry (1502, 1704) of a first base station (105, 110, 115, 200, 250, 510, 610, 810, 1310, 1500, 1804) configured to operate in a wireless network (100, 199, 1304), configure the first base station to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 15-28.

46. A computer program product (1504a, 1704a) comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry (1502, 1704) of a first base station (105, 110, 115, 200, 250, 510, 610, 810, 1310, 1500, 1804) configured to operate in a wireless network (100, 199, 1304), configure the first base station to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 15-28.

47. A second base station (105, 110, 115, 200, 250, 520, 820, 1310, 1500, 1804) configured to operate in a wireless network (100, 199, 1304), the second base station comprising: communication interface circuitry (1506, 1704) configured to communicate with one or more user equipment, UEs (120, 530, 630, 640, 830, 1312, 1400, 1806) and with a first base station (105, 110, 115, 200, 250, 510, 610, 810, 1310, 1500, 1804) in the wireless network; and processing circuitry (1502, 1704) operatively coupled to the communication interface circuitry, whereby the processing circuitry and the communication interface circuitry are configured to: while operating in an energy saving configuration that includes reduced downlink, DL, transmit power for at least a second cell relative to a nonenergy saving configuration, receive from the first base station a request to exit the energy saving configuration and/or to increase DL transmit power used for the second cell; and in response to the first request, exit the energy saving configuration and enter the non-energy saving configuration for the second cell.

48. The second base station of claim 47, wherein the processing circuitry and the communication interface circuitry are further configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 30-34.

49. A second base station (105, 110, 115, 200, 250, 520, 820, 1310, 1500, 1804) configured to operate in a wireless network (100, 199, 1304), the second base station being further configured to: while operating in an energy saving configuration that includes reduced downlink, DL, transmit power for at least a second cell relative to a non-energy saving configuration, receive from a first base station (105, 110, 115, 200, 250, 510, 610, 810, 1310, 1500, 1804) a request to exit the energy saving configuration and/or to increase DL transmit power used for the second cell; and in response to the first request, exit the energy saving configuration and enter the nonenergy saving configuration for the second cell.

50. The second base station of claim 49, being further configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 30-34.

51. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium (1504, 1704) storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry (1502, 1704) of a second base station (105, 110, 115, 200, 250, 520, 820, 1310, 1500, 1804) configured to operate in a wireless network (100, 199, 1304), configure the second base station to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 29-34.

52. A computer program product (1504a, 1704a) comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry (1502, 1704) of a second base station (105, 110, 115, 200, 250, 520, 820, 1310, 1500, 1804) configured to operate in a wireless network (100, 199, 1304), configure the second base station to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 29-34.