Patent Application
20240340802
The present invention relates to the field of wireless communication systems or networks, like a third generation partnership project, 3GPP, system or network, more specifically to the operation and/or control of user devices for such a network which include a mains-independent power source. Embodiments relate to a user device which includes a mains-independent power source and provides assistance information, like information indicating the user device to be mains-independent and/or a status of its mains-independent the power source. Further embodiments relate to a user device which includes a mains-independent power source and adapts one or more of its operation procedures dependent on a status of the mains-independent power source.
For data transmission a physical resource grid may be used. The physical resource grid may comprise a set of resource elements to which various physical channels and physical signals are mapped. For example, the physical channels may include the physical downlink, uplink and sidelink shared channels, PDSCH, PUSCH, PSSCH, carrying user specific data, also referred to as downlink, uplink and sidelink payload data, the physical broadcast channel, PBCH, and the physical sidelink broadcast channel, PSBCH, carrying for example a master information block, MIB, and one or more system information blocks, SIBs, one or more sidelink information blocks, SLIBs, if supported, the physical downlink, uplink and sidelink control channels, PDCCH, PUCCH, PSSCH, carrying for example the downlink control information, DCI, the uplink control information, UCI, and the sidelink control information, SCI, and physical sidelink feedback channels, PSFCH, carrying PC5 feedback responses. The sidelink interface may support a 2-stage SCI which refers to a first control region containing some parts of the SCI, also referred to as the 1st stage SCI, and optionally, a second control region which contains a second part of control information, also referred to as the 2nd stage SCI.
For the uplink, the physical channels may further include the physical random-access channel, PRACH or RACH, used by UEs for accessing the network once a UE synchronized and obtained the MIB and SIB. The physical signals may comprise reference signals or symbols, RS, synchronization signals and the like. The resource grid may comprise a frame or radio frame having a certain duration in the time domain and having a given bandwidth in the frequency domain. The frame may have a certain number of subframes of a predefined length, e.g., 1 ms. Each subframe may include one or more slots of 12 or 14 OFDM symbols depending on the cyclic prefix, CP, length. A frame may also have a smaller number of OFDM symbols, e.g., when utilizing shortened transmission time intervals, sTTI, or a mini-slot/non-slot-based frame structure comprising just a few OFDM symbols.
The wireless communication system may be any single-tone or multicarrier system using frequency-division multiplexing, like the orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing, OFDM, system, the orthogonal frequency-division multiple access, OFDMA, system, or any other Inverse Fast Fourier Transform, IFFT, based signal with or without Cyclic Prefix, CP, e.g., Discrete Fourier Transform-spread-OFDM, DFT-s-OFDM. Other waveforms, like non-orthogonal waveforms for multiple access, e.g., filter-bank multicarrier, FBMC, generalized frequency division multiplexing, GFDM, or universal filtered multi carrier, UFMC, may be used. The wireless communication system may operate, e.g., in accordance with the LTE-Advanced pro standard, or the 5G or NR, New Radio, standard, or the NR-U, New Radio Unlicensed, standard.
The wireless network or communication system depicted in
In mobile communication networks, for example in a network like that described above with reference to
When considering two UEs directly communicating with each other over the sidelink, both UEs may be served by the same base station so that the base station may provide sidelink resource allocation configuration or assistance for the UEs. For example, both UEs may be within the coverage area of a base station, like one of the base stations depicted in
It is noted that the information in the above section is only for enhancing the understanding of the background of the invention and, therefore, it may contain information that does not form conventional technology that is already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.
Starting from the above, there may be a need for improvements or enhancements of operation of user devices in a wireless communication system or network, having a mains-independent power source.
According to an embodiment, a user device, UE, for a wireless communication system may have: one or more antennas, a signal processor connected to the antenna, wherein the signal processor is to perform one or more operations, and a mains-independent power source connected to the signal processor to provide power to the signal processor for performing the one or more operations, wherein the UE is to
Another embodiment may have a base station for a wireless communication system, wherein the base station is to serve one or more user devices, UEs, wherein the UE has a mains-independent power source for a signal processor of the UE to provide power to the signal processor for performing one or more operations, wherein the base station is to receive from the UE information indicating
According to another embodiment, a wireless communication system may have one or more user devices, UEs, according to the invention as mentioned above and/or one or more base stations according to the invention as mentioned above.
According to another embodiment, a method for operating a user device, UE, for a wireless communication system, the UE having one or more antennas, a signal processor connected to the antenna, wherein the signal processor is to perform one or more operations, and a mains-independent power source connected to the signal processor to provide power to the signal processor for performing the one or more operations, may have the steps of:
According to another embodiment, a method for operating a base station for a wireless communication system may have the steps of: serving one or more user devices, UEs, wherein the UE has a mains-independent power source for a signal processor of the UE to provide power to the signal processor for performing one or more operations, receiving from the UE information indicating
Still another embodiment may have a non-transitory digital storage medium having stored thereon a computer program for performing the methods for operating a user device, UE, or a base station according to the invention as mentioned above when the computer program is run by a computer.
Embodiments of the present invention are now described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Embodiments of the present invention are now described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the same or similar elements have the same reference signs assigned.
In a wireless communication network, like the one described above with reference to
In the following description, reference is made to a battery-powered device and to an energy-harvesting device. The battery-powered device is a device, like a user device or UE, including a mains-independent power source having an energy storage that is charged by temporarily connecting the energy storage device, like the battery, to an external charging device. On the other hand, the energy-harvesting device is a device, like a user device or UE, including a mains-independent power source having an energy storage that is charged by an energy-harvester.
Both of the just-mentioned devices, the energy-harvesting device and the battery-powered device have quite stringent power constraints, and among the mentioned UEs, an energy-harvesting UE may have even more stringent power constraints than a battery-powered UE. The mentioned UEs may have charging times and active times which need to be taken into account for a proper communication, for example, over the 3GPP radio interface, like the Uu interface, or when performing certain operational procedures. In other words, the mentioned UEs may not be capable of being active all the time, rather, dependent on the type of energy storage device, there may be active times when a normal operation is possible and inactive times, when, for example, a power level or energy level provided by the energy storage device may not be sufficient for performing certain desired operations.
For example, the energy storage of a battery-powered UE may provide for a certain time power or energy that is at or above a level allowing at least basic operations of the UE. A certain operation may require a certain amount of power or energy over the entire operation time during so that, in case the energy level in the battery falls short of the required amount of energy during the operation time, the certain operation may not be completed. Thus, with regard to the certain operation the UE may not be active until the energy storage has been recharged by connecting the battery to an external charging device to at least the energy/power level required for the operation. In a similar way, dependent on the type of energy harvesting employed by an energy-harvesting UE, it may not be always possible to charge or maintain the energy storage at the required energy or power level allowing for carrying out the certain operation. Thus, with regard to the certain operation the UE may not be active until the energy storage has been recharged by the harvester to at least the energy/power level required for the operation.
The problem with battery-powered UEs and energy-harvesting UEs is that, in general, the wireless communication network is not aware that such UEs have mains-independent power sources. For example, when considering a sensor network including a plurality of sensors which communicate with the wireless communication network, like the 3GPP network, over the Uu interface or over the sidelink interface, some of the sensors may be permanently connected to a power source while others are battery-powered or obtain the energy from energy-harvesting devices. For example, a sensor associated with an electronic device or a machine may obtain its operating power from a power source of the electronic device or machine. For example, in case of vehicular UEs, the UE may be connected to a power source of the vehicle, like its battery, and, therefore, it is considered a UE that is permanently connected to a power source. On the other hand, a user device being associated with a temperature sensor which, in turn, is mounted at a certain location for sensing a temperature of, e.g., a heating device, is not connected to any other power source so that in this case, a battery-powered UE or an energy-harvesting UE is employed.
As mentioned above, dependent on how the UEs are provided with electrical power, the active/inactive times may vary significantly. For example, a UE being permanently connected to an independent power source may be operated constantly, while battery-powered UEs or energy-harvesting UEs may only be operated during their active time i.e., when sufficient energy or power is provided by the energy storage device for a certain operation to be carried out. The problem is that the wireless communication network has no knowledge about whether a UE has a mains-independent power source or has a power source connected to an external power device permanently so that the wireless communication network may not react to certain situations in case battery-powered UEs or energy-harvesting UEs are not able to provide sufficient energy for a certain operation without being recharged. In other words, conventional wireless communication networks are not able to cope with the constraints encountered in battery-powered UEs and energy-harvesting UEs, like the constraint that such devices may not be capable of being active for a certain time due to limitations in the available energy or power to perform a desired operation, like performing a certain transmission or reception of data.
Thus, there is a need for providing improvements or enhancements when operating user devices in a wireless communication network which include a mains-independent power source.
The present invention addresses the above-described problems by providing an approach in accordance with which a UE having a mains-independent power source, like the above-mentioned battery-powered UE or the above-mentioned energy-harvesting UE, provides information to the wireless communication network, for example assistance information, which indicates the UE to be mains-independent and/or a status of the mains-independent power source. Also, the UE may adapt one or more operation procedures dependent on the status of the mains-independent power source.
Also, an approach is provided in accordance with which a network entity, like a base station or another UE with which the battery-powered UE or the energy-harvesting UE communicates over a sidelink, receives the above-mentioned information, namely that the UE is mains-independent or the status of the mains-independent power source, and uses this information for controlling the communication of the UE with other devices in the network and/or for controlling one or more some operation procedures of the UE.
Embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in a wireless communication system as depicted in
The present invention provides a user device, UE, for a wireless communication system, comprising:
In accordance with embodiments, the UE is to signal the information
In accordance with embodiments, the information indicating the status of the mains-independent power source comprises one or more of the following:
In accordance with embodiments, the health status of the mains-independent power source comprises one or more of the following:
In accordance with embodiments, the mains-independent power source comprises an energy storage device.
In accordance with embodiments, the energy storage device, e.g., a battery or an accumulator, is chargeable by connecting the energy storage device to an external charging device.
In accordance with embodiments, the information indicating the status of the mains-independent power source comprises one or more of the following:
In accordance with embodiments, the UE is an energy harvesting UE and comprises an energy harvesting device for charging the energy storage device, e.g., a battery or an accumulator or a capacitor, without the need to connect the energy storage device to an external charging device.
In accordance with embodiments, the energy harvesting device comprises one of more of the following:
In accordance with embodiments, the information indicating the status of the mains-independent power source comprises one or more of the following:
In accordance with embodiments, the recovery comprises one or more of the following:
In accordance with embodiments, the UE is to estimate the recovery of the energy storage device using one or more of the following:
In accordance with embodiments, the UE is to report one or more operating parameters of the energy harvesting device to a network entity, like a base station or another UE, for allowing the network entity to estimate the recovery of the energy storage device, the operating parameters including one or more of the following:
In accordance with embodiments, the time for which the UE is able to perform the one or more operations indicates one or more of the following:
In accordance with embodiments, the UE is to signal to the one or more entities of the wireless communication system a UE power or energy consumption level, like an average power consumption over a certain configured or preconfigured time window, or for a certain configured or preconfigured operation, e.g., a transmission burst.
In accordance with embodiments, the one or more operations comprise one or more of the following:
In accordance with embodiments, the UE is to adapt one or more of the following procedures dependent on a status of the mains-independent power source:
In accordance with embodiments,
In accordance with embodiments, the UE is to skip one or more DRX occasions and/or paging occasions which, after completing the one or more operations, occur during the recovery time.
In accordance with embodiments, the UE is to report the skipping of a DRX occasion and/or a paging occasion to one or more entities of the wireless communication system, like a base station or a core network entity, e.g., by using a Random Access CHannel, RACH, or by collecting skipped DRX occasions and/or paging occasions and reporting once the energy storage device is charged to a power or energy level at or above the configured or preconfigured threshold.
In accordance with embodiments, reporting the skipping of DRX occasions and/or a paging occasions includes one or more of the following:
In accordance with embodiments, in case a charging state or a health status of the energy storage device is at or below the configured or preconfigured threshold, the UE is to perform one or more of the following actions:
In accordance with embodiments, in case a health status of the energy storage device is at or below the configured or preconfigured threshold, the UE is to change from a mobile initiated communication, MICO, mode to a network initiated communication, NICO, mode.
In accordance with embodiments, the UE is to prolong the DRX ON duration by triggering a DRX inactivity timer only if a certain condition of the energy storage device is fulfilled, e.g., a power or energy level is above a configured or preconfigured threshold.
In accordance with embodiments, in case the condition is not fulfilled, the UE is to signal to one or more entities of the wireless communication system that the DRX ON duration is not prolonged or that the DRX inactivity timer is not triggered.
In accordance with embodiments, the UE is to
In accordance with embodiments, the UE has a certain minimum control channel monitoring capability, like a minimum and/or maximum PDCCH or PSCCH monitoring capability, the certain minimum and/or maximum control channel monitoring capability depending on the status of the mains-independent power source.
In accordance with embodiments, the UE is to report the status of the mains-independent power source to one or more entities of the wireless communication system, like a base station, and receive the minimum and/or maximum control channel monitoring capability from the entity of the wireless communication system.
In accordance with embodiments, the UE is determine the minimum control channel monitoring capability using the status of the mains-independent power source, and report the determined minimum control channel monitoring capability to one or more entities of the wireless communication system, like a base station.
In accordance with embodiments, the minimum control channel monitoring capability comprises one or more of the following:
In accordance with embodiments,
In accordance with embodiments, the UE is to deactivate monitoring the search spaces in accordance with a configured or preconfigured deactivation order.
In accordance with embodiments, the UE is to choose a deactivation order from a plurality of configured or preconfigured deactivation orders under consideration of a power or energy consumption level.
In accordance with embodiments, the UE is to inform one or more entities of the wireless communication system, like a base station, that the UE is to recover energy, and receive from the entity of the wireless communication system a control channel skipping configuration or one or more new search spaces to monitor for control channel monitoring occasions, thereby giving the UE time to recharge.
In accordance with embodiments, if the charging state of the energy storage device drops under a certain configured or preconfigured threshold, the UE is to
In accordance with embodiments, the UE is to deactivate the one or more measurements and/or reports in accordance with a configured or preconfigured deactivation order,
In accordance with embodiments, the UE is to choose a deactivation order from a plurality of configured or preconfigured deactivation orders.
In accordance with embodiments, the UE is to send a report to the one or more entities of the wireless communication system, like a base station, which specifies which measurements the UE is able to perform further and/or which measurements the UE is not able to perform further at a current condition of the energy storage device, like a current power or energy level or a current recovery rate or time.
In accordance with embodiments, responsive to the report, the UE is to receive from the entity of the wireless communication system one or more of the following:
In accordance with embodiments, the report includes a bit map and refers to measurement features such as one or more of the following:
The present invention provides a base station for a wireless communication system,
In accordance with embodiments, responsive to the received information, the base station is to adapt one or more of the following:
In accordance with embodiments, responsive to the received information, the base station is to adapt one or more of the following operational procedures performed by the UE:
In accordance with embodiments, the base station is to perform one or more of the following:
In accordance with embodiments, the base station is to serve one or more energy harvesting user devices, UEs, wherein the energy harvesting UE comprises an energy storage device for a signal processor of the UE to provide power to the signal processor for performing one or more operations, and an energy harvesting device for charging the energy storage device without the need to connect the energy storage device to an external charging device.
In accordance with embodiments, the UE comprise a user device, UE, according to the present invention.
The present invention provides a wireless communication system, comprising a one or more user devices, UEs, according to the present invention and/or one or more base stations according to the present invention.
In accordance with embodiments, the UE comprise one or more of the following: a power-limited UE, or an energy-harvesting UE or a hand-held UE, like a UE used by a pedestrian, and referred to as a Vulnerable Road User, VRU, or a Pedestrian UE, P-UE, or an on-body or hand-held UE used by public safety personnel and first responders, and referred to as Public safety UE, PS-UE, or an IoT UE, e.g., a sensor, an actuator or a UE provided in a campus network to carry out repetitive tasks and requiring input from a gateway node at periodic intervals, or a mobile terminal, or a stationary terminal, or a cellular IoT-UE, or a vehicular UE, or a vehicular group leader UE, GL-UE, or a scheduling UE, S-UE, or an IoT or narrowband IoT, NB-IoT, device, or a ground based vehicle, or an aerial vehicle, or a drone, or a moving base station, or road side unit, RSU, or a building, or any other item or device provided with network connectivity enabling the item/device to communicate using the wireless communication network, e.g., a sensor or actuator, or any other item or device provided with network connectivity enabling the item/device to communicate using a sidelink the wireless communication network, e.g., a sensor or actuator, or any sidelink capable network entity.
In accordance with embodiments, the base station comprises one or more of the following: a macro cell base station, or a small cell base station, or a central unit of a base station, or a distributed unit of a base station, or an Integrated Access and Backhaul, IAB, node, or a road side unit, RSU, or a UE, or a group leader UE, GL-UE, or a relay or a remote radio head, or an AMF, or an SMF, or a core network entity, or mobile edge computing, MEC, entity, or a network slice as in the NR or 5G core context, or any transmission/reception point, TRP, enabling an item or a device to communicate using the wireless communication network, the item or device being provided with network connectivity to communicate using the wireless communication network.
The present invention provides a method for operating a user device, UE, for a wireless communication system, the UE comprising one or more antennas, a signal processor connected to the antenna, wherein the signal processor is to perform one or more operations, and a mains-independent power source connected to the signal processor to provide power to the signal processor for performing the one or more operations, the method comprising:
The present invention provides a method for operating a base station for a wireless communication system,
Embodiments of the first aspect of the present invention provide a computer program product comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, causes the computer to carry out one or more methods in accordance with the present invention.
In accordance with embodiments, the signal processor 402 of UE 400 may perform certain operations, for example one or more operations including the transmission and reception of data over the interfaces 416 and/or 418 as well as measurements on the resources used for the communication. The signal processor 402 may perform digital signal processing and/or analog signal processing and may include auxiliary support circuits, for example voltage rectifiers and power amplifiers as well as sensors and/or actuators and other analog circuitries. To be able to perform the one or more operations, the signal processor 402 draws from the mains-independent power source 404 a power level or energy level as required to perform the one or more operations, e.g., in accordance with a predefined performance requirement.
In accordance with embodiments, the mains-independent power source 404 includes an energy storage device, like a battery 420, for storing energy to be provided to/drawn by the signal processor 402.
In accordance with embodiments, UE 400 may include a terminal 422 by which the UE 400 may be connected temporarily to an external power source 424 to allow charging the battery 420 once its power/energy level drops below a certain threshold. In accordance with the first embodiments, UE 400 is also referred to as a battery-powered UE.
In accordance with further embodiments, instead of having a battery that is recharged by temporarily connecting it to the external power source 424, the UE 400 may include an energy-harvesting device or harvester 426 for charging the battery 420 so that there is no need to connect the battery 420 to an external power source 424. In accordance with embodiments, the harvester 426 may harvest energy from motion, like a mechanical energy converter such as a piezoelectric generator or a dynamo or an alternator or a generator or a small windmill. In accordance with other embodiments, the harvester may harvest energy from radiation, like a solar module. In accordance with yet other embodiments, the harvester may harvest energy from chemical reactions, like a small hydrogen fuel cell. In accordance with further embodiments, the harvester may harvest energy from a radio signal, like the radio signal from the base station or another UE in the proximity, e.g., by magnetic induction. In accordance with yet further embodiments, the harvester may harvest energy from a temperature difference, like a Peltier element. A UE 400 including a harvester 426 is referred to in the following also as an energy-harvesting UE.
In accordance with yet further embodiments, UE 400 may include both the terminal 422 and the harvester 426 so that battery 420 may be charged both by energy obtained by the harvester 426 and by energy received from the external power source 424.
In accordance with other embodiments, no energy storage device may be provided in the mains-independent power source 404, and the UE 400 may be a device which only wakes up when enough power is generated, e.g., in case the harvester 426 generates sufficient energy.
In either of the above embodiments, due to the nature of the mains-independent power source 404, only a temporary operation of the UE 400 is possible or, stated differently, a continuous or uninterrupted operation of the UE is not possible.
To address the problems encountered in conventional wireless communication networks, namely that the network entities to which the UE 400 may be connected are not aware about potential energy constraints due to an energy/power level the battery 420 is able to provide to the signal processor, in accordance with the present invention, UE 400 signals to the wireless communication network, for example to the gNB 412 or to the sidelink UE 414 that UE 400 is a device having the mains-independent power source 404, thereby informing the other network entities about the situation and allowing them to cope with the potential constraints experienced when the power level/energy level of the battery 420 may be assumed to be below a certain threshold for performing a certain operation by the UE 400.
In accordance with further embodiments, UE 400 may signal to the other network entities information representing the status of the mains-independent power source 404, for example the status of the battery 420, or certain information about the functionality of the harvester 426, or information indicating whether UE 400 is connected to the external power source or not.
In accordance with yet further embodiments, UE 400, dependent on the status of the mains-independent power source 404 may also control one or more operational procedures to be performed by the signal processor so as to adapt any processing by or operation of the UE to the status of the power source 404, for example to a power/energy level that may be provided by the battery 420, or the amount of power/energy that may be provided to charge or sustain the battery by means of the harvester 426 or when connecting it to the external power source 424.
Thus, UE 400 may perform one or more of the following operations:
In accordance with embodiments, UE 400 may signal the above-described information, namely whether it is a device having a mains-independent power source and/or the status of the mains-independent power source at certain times, for example at configured or preconfigured times like when connecting or re-connecting to the wireless communication network or system. For example, when connecting or reconnecting to the network in accordance to the random access channel, RACH, procedure, the information may be included in the message Msg1 or in the message Msg3 of the RACH procedure in case of a four-step RACH procedure, or in the message MsgA in case of a two-step RACH procedure. In accordance with other embodiments, the information may be provided by the UE over the Uu interface 416 and the PC5 interface 418 with a configured or preconfigured periodicity. In accordance with other embodiments, the information may be provided by UE 400 to the respective network entities 412, 414 in response to one or more configured or preconfigured criteria. The criteria may include, e.g., one or more of the following:
In accordance with embodiments, the information indicating the status of the mains-independent power source 404 may include one or more of the following:
In accordance with embodiments, the above-mentioned times or time periods during which the UE 400 is able to provide a certain power level or energy level may be indicated or reported to the network in terms of achievable transmit, Tx, time and/or receive, Rx, time. In other words, it may be indicated that the UE is active or inactive for transmitting or receiving over the interface or for performing respective measurements.
Furthermore, the UE 400 may provide information on a future point in time when it is able to transmit or receive, e.g., the point in time that it has enough energy harvested as to perform this action. In addition, The UE 400 may also inform the network or another UE about a possible duration of a transmission and/or reception as well as provide further parameters on either of its transmission and/or reception configuration. E.g., it may provide information on the possible frequency bandwidth it supports for a transmission and/or reception.
In accordance with further embodiments, also a maximum achievable transmit power may be indicated to the network entities. This enables to adjust the transmit power and other parameters, such as the Modulation and Coding Scheme, MCS, accordingly. For example, the network may consider that the UE is only capable to reach a certain transmit power level and lower the code rate instead of increasing the transmit power in the UL grant, so that the transmission from the UE may be received successfully. Furthermore, the network may optimize the power spectral density of the transmission or reception by reconfiguring the UE to use a lower/higher channel bandwidth, e.g., 5 MHz channel bandwidth, so that the UE uses its transmit power or receiver amplification as efficient as possible.
In accordance with embodiments, the health status of the mains-independent power source 404 may be signaled by UE 400 to the gNB 412 and/or to the UE 414 over the respective interfaces 416, 418. For example, an age of the mains-independent power source 404, or an age of the battery 420 may be signaled, for example, on the basis of a known manufacturing date of the respective device. The network entities receiving this information may judge that the power source 404 has reached a certain age so that it is more or increasingly likely than an original full charge capacity is no longer reachable. For example, based on empirical data, the network entities may consider a power source 404 of a certain age to have a certain percentage of an original maximum charge capacity, so that, based on the knowledge about the maximum possible power level/energy level available at the UE 400, respective operations with the UE 400 may be controlled, for example, certain operations exceeding the power level that may be provided by UE 400 may be omitted or replaced by similar operations with less power requirements. For example, the network may increase the measurement intervals or PDCCH monitoring intervals. In another example, the network may prefer a lower code rate (MCS) or smaller bandwidth instead of increasing the transmit power when the reception quality drops. Furthermore, the network may also shorten a DRX ON duration.
In accordance with further embodiments, UE 400 may indicate a ratio of the maximum power that the mains-independent power source is still capable to deliver, e.g., due to corruption or aging effects.
In accordance with other embodiments, instead of judging the potential full charge capacity, UE 400 may explicitly indicate a current or actual full charge capacity of the power source 404, for example, by indicating a percentage of a known maximum charge capacity to which UE 400 is capable to charge battery 420. In accordance with yet other embodiments, the health status may be signaled as a number of charging cycles already performed or as a number of charging cycles left for the power source, like a charging countdown, and on the basis of the number of charging processes already performed or the number of charging processes remaining, the respective network entities may judge an age and an associated actual maximum of full capacity achievable by the battery. On the basis thereof, the operations to be performed with regard to UE 400 may be controlled. In accordance with further embodiments, the usage of the power source 404 may be signaled, for example, by indicating an average current, power or voltage, a maximum current, power or voltage, or a minimum current, power or voltage, on the basis of which the network entities may judge to what extent the battery 420 of the UE 400 may be charged, i.e., what the actual full charge capacity or the achievable full charge capacity may be.
In accordance with yet further embodiments, UE 400 may indicate to the network entities that it is no longer able to perform in accordance with predefined performance parameters, like a peak performance for a certain operation because an actual charge of the power source, an actual temperature thereof or an age thereof is beyond a certain threshold. In other words, in case the UE 400 detects a power source 404 not being able to sustain a required power/energy for a normal operation, it may indicate this to the network. This power mode may avoid voltage drops and a malfunction of the UE. For example, the UE may lower its clock and perform operations slower. Hence, the network may assume accordingly longer processing times for, e.g., PDCCH and/or PDSCH and/or PUSCH and/or PUCCH and/or CSI. This may also referred to as a relaxed UE processing timeline or as a relaxation of one or more processing times for the signal processor, e.g. due to the clock reduction, which may cause the signal processor to perform at least certain operations slower. In particular for the downlink, the maximum number of blind decodes per slot may be reduced, a longer time between the PDCCHs may be assumed. For the uplink, a longer PUSCH preparation time may be assumed by the network. Hence, causing the network to provide the DCI scheduling a PUSCH accordingly earlier. Furthermore, the network may prefer lower transmit power in order to avoid a voltage drop at the UE. Furthermore, the above-mentioned power saving techniques may be combined with a bandwidth reduction that may be applied in certain frequency bands, e.g., the UE may be configured to use a 5 MHz bandwidth in FR1. Another power saving technique that may be used is to reduce the UEs peak data rate, which may also be in combination with usage in a certain frequency band, e.g., in FR1. This may also be configured with a restricted bandwidth for PDSCH and/or PUSCH or with a restricted processing timeline as mentioned above.
In accordance with further embodiments, the information about the status of the mains-independent power source 404 as provided to the network entities 412 and/or 414 may indicate a recovery of the battery 420 or energy storage device, and/or a time for which the UE 400 is able to perform the one or more operations, which may be indicated as an active time of the UE in terms of transmit time and/or receive time, as mentioned above. In accordance with embodiments, the information about the recovery may include a recovery rate of the battery 420 indicating how fast the harvester 426 or external charger 424 is able to recharge or recover the battery to provide a power level or energy level, which allows UE 402 to perform a certain operation. In accordance with other embodiments, the recovery information may indicate a recovery time or rate of the battery 420, for example, in terms of active Rx seconds or Tx seconds recovered per hour or in terms of the ratio between active Rx seconds and Tx seconds. The recovery time or rate indicates a time the energy storage device, like the battery 420, requires to recover from a latest operation in such a way that it may provide again power or energy at a level allowing the UE to perform further operations. In accordance with other examples, the recovery time or rate may indicate the duration it takes the battery to reach a configured or preconfigured power or energy level.
UE 400 may estimate the recovery of the battery 420 based on one or more of the following information concerning the harvester 426:
Based on the recovery information, the respective network entities are aware of a current or actual status of the battery 420 and a time period until when a certain level is achieved so that the network entities may control UE 400 to perform certain operations at appropriate times when sufficient energy may be provided by the battery 420.
In accordance with other embodiments, rather than estimating the recovery at the UE 400, UE 400 may actually send the operation parameters of the harvester 426, like the above-mentioned actual harvesting current or power, the minimum harvesting current or power, the average harvesting current or power to the gNB 412 or to the SL-UE 414 which, on the basis of the received information may determine the recovery time or recovery rate of the battery 420 of UE 400. Furthermore, the UE may derive the recovery time or recovery rate of the battery itself, and send this information directly to the network.
In the above embodiments reference has been made to a time during which the UE is able to perform the one or more operations. In accordance with embodiments, this time may be indicated as a certain percentage of a certain time duration, like a transmit time or a receive time. This means that during a certain time duration, like the transmit time, UE 400 may not be capable to provide over the entire duration sufficient energy for performing a certain operation, like sending bursts of data or receiving data, rather, this may only be possible during a certain fraction or percentage of the time duration. UE 400 may charge itself via the external charge 424 or the harvester 426, however, the available power may not be high enough to run complex operations over the entire or whole time, like the entire transmit time. Hence, UE 400 may only perform an operation for a certain duration or part of the time and then has to wait for a certain duration until the required power/energy level is reached again. In accordance with other embodiments, rather than indicating a certain percentage of the certain time duration, also a ratio between an operating time of the UE, i.e., the time during which the UE is actually able to perform the operation, and a recovering time of the UE is indicated, namely the time during which the battery 420 is charged to a sufficient power or energy level by the charger 424 or the harvester 426 to perform the operation.
In accordance with other embodiments, UE 400 may signal how long the charger/harvester 424/426 is able to sustain a certain power or energy level needed for performing a certain operation. For example, when considering again the above-mentioned certain time duration, like a transmit time, a certain fraction or percentage of this time may be indicated which, in this embodiment, signals to the other entities that for this percentage of time sufficient energy is available at the UE 400 for performing the desired operation. Likewise, also a ratio between the operational time during which the charger/harvester 424/426 sustains the required power or energy level in the battery 420 and a recovering time may be indicated during which the charger/harvester 420 charges the battery 420.
In accordance with further embodiments, UE 400 may signal to the network entities a maximum, minimum, or average UE power or energy consumption level, like an average power consumption over a certain configured or preconfigured time window or for a certain configured or preconfigured operation, like for performing a transmission burst. Based on this information, namely the consumption level, the network entity may judge, together with further knowledge about the capacity of the battery 420, whether further operations of the same power consumption level are possible or whether it is more likely that the battery power/energy level dropped to a level at which such operations are no longer possible. This allows the network entities to control operation of the UE 400 in such a way that for any required operations efficient energy is available at the UE400.
In the embodiments described above, reference has been made, quite generally, to the UE 400 requiring a certain amount of power or energy to perform a certain operation. In accordance with embodiments, the one or more operations to be performed by the UE may include the following, but are not limited to such operations:
In the embodiments described above, it has been indicated that the UE 400 communicates with the gNB 412, however, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments. Rather, UE 400 may also be a sidelink, SL, UE that communicates directly using the sidelink or PC5 interface 418, with a further sidelink UE 414. UE 400 may operate either in mode 1 in accordance with which it receives the scheduling information regarding the resources to be used for the sidelink communication from gNB 412, or it may operate in mode 2 and perform an autonomous sensing operation for determining available resources in a sidelink resource pool for a communication with the other sidelink UEs.
As described above with reference to
For UEs with a limited or finite power supply, like UE 400 including a battery 420 that needs to be recharged regularly by connection to the external power source 424 or by the harvester 426, since they are not connected to a constant power supply but rely on their battery, power saving is important. Such UEs may include so-called vulnerable road users, VUEs, like a pedestrian UE, P-UE, or first responder devices for public safety use cases, or IoT devices, like general IoT UEs or industrial IoT UEs. For these types of UEs.
To reduce the power consumption at a UE in NR, the discontinuous reception, DRX, is employed on the Uu interface 416 and on the sidelink 418. For NR, for example, further details of the DRX operation on the Uu interface 416 are defined in 3GPP TS 38.321. DRX is a mechanism where the UE 400 goes into a sleep mode for a certain period of time, during which it does not transmit or receive any data. UE 400 wakes up for another period of time, where it may transmit and receive data.
In
During the ON durations 452, e.g., at the beginning thereof, UE 400 may monitor a control channel for paging occasions, Pos.
In accordance with embodiments, UE 400 may adapt the DRX/paging procedure dependent on how long it takes to recharge the energy storage to a level which allows the UE to operate, for example to perform a certain operation. In other words, UE 400, in general, starts or performs a certain operation only in case a power or energy level provided by the battery 420 is at or above a configured or preconfigured threshold that is necessary for reliably performing or completing the operation in question. Performing such an operation, naturally, consumes power from battery 420, and in accordance with embodiments the DRX procedure and/or the paging procedure is adapted dependent on the so-called recovery time of the battery 420. The recovery time is the time required, after performing one or more operations which consumed energy from battery 420, for charging the battery 420, either by connecting it to the external power source 424 or by operating the harvester 426, back to a power or energy level that is sufficient for the UE to become active, i.e., to perform a certain operation.
In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, UE 400 may consider a recovery time of the battery 420 in such a way that one or more DRX occasions and/or paging occasions that occur after the operation that drained the battery 420 was completed and that occurred during the recovery time of the battery 420 are skipped. For example, when considering
In accordance with embodiments, UE 400 may report the skipping of the DRX occasion and/or paging occasion to the gNB 412 or to the SL-UE 414. For example, when reporting the skipping of the respective occasions to the gNB 412 or to a core network entity, UE may report this skipping by using the random access channel, RACH. In accordance with other embodiments, instead of signaling each skipped occasion separately to the respective network entities, UE 400 may collect all occasions skipped by UE 400 during the recovery time and, once the battery 420 is charged back to the needed energy/power level, UE 400 may report the skipped occasions to the network entity. The network may determine from the skipping pattern how long the UE needs to recover and adapt DRX and/or paging occasions accordingly.
In accordance with embodiments, skipping the respective occasions may include indicating the actual number of skipped occasions to the network, or indicating a time since a first occasion was skipped or since the last occasion was skipped, or indicating a bitmap of DRX occasions where the skipped or monitored DRX occasions are indicated, e.g., a bitmap being represented as a dense vector, or a bitmap being represented as a sparse vector. From the number of skipped occasions or the time of the first skip the network may determine a duration that it takes the UE to recover from previous monitoring times and adapt the DRX and/or paging procedures accordingly.
In accordance with further embodiments, the UE 400 may modify the DRX procedure by changing the DRX ON/OFF durations dependent on a charging state or health status of the battery 420 or the power supply 404. UE 400, responsive to determining or estimating that the charge status or health status that is at or below a certain threshold, performs one or more of the following actions:
By shortening the DRX ON duration/increasing the DRX OFF duration, UE 400 reduces the number of resources to monitor for a signaling directed to the UE, like a paging, and by shortening the inactivity timer, also a duration is reduced during which the UE stays on after a paging occasion at the beginning of a DRX ON duration, thereby lengthening the time during which the UE is in the OFF duration during which the charger/harvester 424/426 may charge the battery 420 to a needed energy/power level. By signaling or transmitting the charging state of the battery 420, a gNB may determine or estimate that the UE 400 operating in accordance with the principles of the present invention and shortened its DRX ON duration/increased its DRX OFF duration by a known amount. Thereby the gNB may adapt the times at which a paging occasion is actually transmitted so as to avoid a waste of resources which are not monitored by UE 400 because of the reduced energy/power level available from battery 420.
In accordance with yet other embodiments, in case the health status or the charging state of the battery 420 of UE 400 is at or below a configured or preconfigured threshold, UE 400 may change from the mobile initiated communication, MICO, mode to a network initiated, NICO, mode. In the NICO mode, UE 400 is activated only by providing a wakeup signal, for example from the gNB 412 or via the PC 5 interface 418 from UE 414, during the DRX ON duration so that UE 400 does not waste any power in case it suffers from a bad battery condition, like a charging level below a certain threshold, which is in contrast to the MICO mode, which is mobility initiated. For this, the network may put one or more UEs in a low-power mode, and configure the UEs, e.g., by using a timer, to check for a wakeup signal (WUS) at a certain point in time and/or at certain time intervals and/or at certain regular time intervals. Furthermore, in case a NICO mode is not supported by the network, the MICO mode may be enhanced by configuring certain synchronized re-registration timers, which trigger the UE to wake up in certain time intervals.
In accordance with yet further embodiments, UE 400 may modify the DRX ON/OFF duration in such a way that the DRX ON duration 452 is prolonged by triggering the DRX inactivity timer only in case a certain condition of the battery 420 is fulfilled, for example in case an energy or power level is above a configured or preconfigured threshold. In other words, in case the battery 420 yields a power or energy level that is short of the configured or preconfigured threshold, the DRX inactivity timer is not triggered so that UE 400 remains active only during the ON duration and the OFF duration is not shortened, as is shown at the center of
Regarding the recovery time, in accordance with embodiments UE 400 may determine the recovery time by itself or, in accordance with other embodiments, the recovery time may be estimated at the network side, for example by the gNB or by a core network entity, and forwarded to the UE 400 which, then, in response to the received recovery time, adapts the DRX/paging procedure in a way as described above.
In accordance with further embodiments of the present invention, dependent on the status of the main independent power source 404 of UE 400, UE 400 may select a certain minimum control channel monitoring capability, like a minimum and/or maximum PDCCH or PSCCH monitoring capability. In accordance with embodiments, UE 400 may determine the minimum control channel monitoring capability on the basis of information about the status of its mains-independent power source 404 and report the determined minimum control channel monitoring capability to the one or more entities of the wireless communication system. In accordance with other embodiments, the minimum control channel monitoring capability may be determined by one or more of the network entities, for example on the basis of the information the respective entities received about the status of the power source 404 from UE 400. The determined minimum control channel monitoring capability is returned to UE 400.
In accordance with embodiments, one or more of the following properties of the minimum or maximum control channel monitoring capability may be modified dependent on the status of the power source 404 or battery 420 of UE 400.
In accordance with other embodiments, for adjusting a control channel monitoring procedure, UE 400 may deactivate one or more search spaces. UE 400 monitors a plurality of search spaces for the control channel monitoring occasions. The search space, like a CORSET, may include one or more resources on which the network transmits control information for the respective UEs served by a base station. By monitoring the search space UE 400 may determine a control message that is directed to UE 400. In accordance with embodiments, if a charging state, like a power or energy level of the battery 420 drops under a certain configured or preconfigured threshold, UE 400 may deactivate the monitoring of one or more of the search spaces for control channel monitoring occasions, thereby reserving time, for example, for operating the charger/harvester 424/426 to recharge battery 420. The deactivated search spaces may be signaled to the network so as to avoid, for example, that gNB 412 sends control information directed to UE 400 to a search space or on resources of a search space which are no longer monitored by UE 400. In accordance with embodiments, UE 400 may deactivate the monitoring of the search spaces in accordance with a configured or preconfigured deactivation order. For example, the search spaces may be ordered according to their priority. The priority may be determined based on certain rules at the UE, e.g., type of search space, DCI formats to monitor, or it may be configured by the network, e.g., search space index, or it may be determined based on the order of configuration, e.g., first configured search spaces have an higher priority than later configured search spaces. In accordance with further embodiments, more than one deactivation order may be provided and UE 400 may select one of the available deactivation orders while considering the power or energy consumption level so that, for example, depending on the energy/power status the UE may monitor certain search space subsets given by the deactivation order. In particular, that may mean that at a moderate power the UE may still monitor two search space per DCI format 1_1 and 1_2 but if the power drops a bit it may prefer monitoring three search spaces for DCI format 1_1 but no search space for format 1_2, and if the power drops even further it may go down to only one search space for DCI format 1_1.
In accordance with yet further embodiments, UE 400 may inform the network about a situation in which it needs to recover energy, for example by informing the network about the status of the power source 404 in a way as described in detail above, and, responsive to such a signaling, UE 400 may receive a certain control channel skipping configuration or one or more new search spaces to monitor for control channel monitoring occasions which are provided such that the UE is given time to recharge battery 420. For example, a new search space may be an existing search space having an increased periodicity and providing for less blind decoding attempts. For example, when providing a certain control channel skipping configuration to UE 400 a number of occasions that UE 400 has to monitor may be reduced so that the time duration between respective ON durations, like DRX ON durations, is increased, thereby giving the UE more time to recharge the battery 420.
In accordance with yet other embodiments, UE 400 may adjust one or more measurement procedures dependent on a status of the power source 404. For example, UE 400 may deactivate one or more measurements, like a secondary cells, SCell, measurement, and/or deactivate or reduce a frequency of measurement reporting dependent on the charging state of the battery 420. For example in case it drops under a certain configured or preconfigured threshold, the number of reports may be decreased or an interval between reports may be increased.
In accordance with embodiments, UE 400 may deactivate the one or more measurements and/or reportings in accordance with a configured or preconfigured deactivation order. Embodiments allow UE to choose a deactivation order from a plurality of configured or preconfigured deactivation orders. For example, each deactivation order may be such that measurements are deactivated dependent on the power/energy requirements of the measurements so that, for example, initially the highest power consuming measurements are deactivated, for example in a step-wise manner downwards to a lower-most consumption level. In accordance with other embodiments, initially, also measurements may be deactivated in accordance with a certain priority the measurements have associated therewith so that, initially, low priority measurements may be deactivated before higher priority measurements.
UE 400 may signal the deactivation of the one or more measurements to the network, thereby specifying either which measurements the UE 400 is still able to perform and/or which measurements the UE is not able to perform, at least at an actual condition of the battery device 420. This information allows the network, like gNB 412 or SL-UE 414 to configure UE 400 only with measurements the UE is capable to confirm given the actual charging status of the battery 420. Moreover, given the information from the UE 400, the network does not expect receiving measurement results for certain measurements already triggered by the network to be performed by UE 400. In accordance with further embodiments, responsive to an indication which measurements UE 400 is able to perform/not to perform, the UE may receive a list of measurements and/or reports to be activated and/or deactivated at the UE 400, or a list of relaxation measures, like a reduced frequency of performing the measurements and/or the reporting, or for one or some or all types of measurements an individual new measurement configuration, being adapted to the actual power situation at UE 400. The types of measurements may include the above mentioned BFD measurements, intra-frequency RRM measurements, inter-frequency RRM measurements and CSI measurements.
In accordance with further embodiments of the present invention, a base station is provided that receives from a UE having a mains-independent power source assistance information indicating the UE to be mains-independent and/or a status of the power source of the UE. It may use the assistance information for controlling a communication/operation of the UE.
In accordance with embodiments, gNB 412 may adapt one or more of the following:
Moreover, responsive to the received information, the gNB 412 may adapt certain procedures that are implemented for UE 400, for example, the DRX procedure, the paging procedure, the control monitoring procedure and the measurement procedure so as to adapt a configuration at the gNB 412 to any change performed by the UE 400.
For example, gNB 412 may perform one or more of the following actions:
Embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, and the respective embodiments and aspects may be implemented individually or two or more of the embodiments or aspects may be implemented in combination.
In accordance with embodiments, the wireless communication system may include a terrestrial network, or a non-terrestrial network, or networks or segments of networks using as a receiver an airborne vehicle or a space-borne vehicle, or a combination thereof.
In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, a user device comprises one or more of the following: a power-limited UE, or a hand-held UE, like a UE used by a pedestrian, and referred to as a Vulnerable Road User, VRU, or a Pedestrian UE, P-UE, or an on-body or hand-held UE used by public safety personnel and first responders, and referred to as Public safety UE, PS-UE, or an IoT UE, e.g., a sensor, an actuator or a UE provided in a campus network to carry out repetitive tasks and requiring input from a gateway node at periodic intervals, a mobile terminal, or a stationary terminal, or a cellular IoT-UE, or a vehicular UE, or a vehicular group leader (GL) UE, or a sidelink relay, or an IoT or narrowband IoT, NB-IoT, device, or wearable device, like a smartwatch, or a fitness tracker, or smart glasses, or a ground based vehicle, or an aerial vehicle, or a drone, or a moving base station, or road side unit (RSU), or a building, or any other item or device provided with network connectivity enabling the item/device to communicate using the wireless communication network, e.g., a sensor or actuator, or any other item or device provided with network connectivity enabling the item/device to communicate using a sidelink the wireless communication network, e.g., a sensor or actuator, or any sidelink capable network entity.
In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, a network entity comprises one or more of the following: a macro cell base station, or a small cell base station, or a central unit of a base station, an integrated access and backhaul, IAB, node, or a distributed unit of a base station, or a road side unit (RSU), or a remote radio head, or an AMF, or an MME, or an SMF, or a core network entity, or mobile edge computing (MEC) entity, or a network slice as in the NR or 5G core context, or any transmission/reception point, TRP, enabling an item or a device to communicate using the wireless communication network, the item or device being provided with network connectivity to communicate using the wireless communication network.
Although some aspects of the described concept have been described in the context of an apparatus, it is clear that these aspects also represent a description of the corresponding method, where a block or a device corresponds to a method step or a feature of a method step. Analogously, aspects described in the context of a method step also represent a description of a corresponding block or item or feature of a corresponding apparatus.
Various elements and features of the present invention may be implemented in hardware using analog and/or digital circuits, in software, through the execution of instructions by one or more general purpose or special-purpose processors, or as a combination of hardware and software. For example, embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in the environment of a computer system or another processing system.
The terms “computer program medium” and “computer readable medium” are used to generally refer to tangible storage media such as removable storage units or a hard disk installed in a hard disk drive. These computer program products are means for providing software to the computer system 600. The computer programs, also referred to as computer control logic, are stored in main memory 606 and/or secondary memory 608. Computer programs may also be received via the communications interface 610. The computer program, when executed, enables the computer system 600 to implement the present invention. In particular, the computer program, when executed, enables processor 602 to implement the processes of the present invention, such as any of the methods described herein. Accordingly, such a computer program may represent a controller of the computer system 600. Where the disclosure is implemented using software, the software may be stored in a computer program product and loaded into computer system 600 using a removable storage drive, an interface, like communications interface 610.
The implementation in hardware or in software may be performed using a digital storage medium, for example cloud storage, a floppy disk, a DVD, a Blue-Ray, a CD, a ROM, a PROM, an EPROM, an EEPROM or a FLASH memory, having electronically readable control signals stored thereon, which cooperate or are capable of cooperating with a programmable computer system such that the respective method is performed. Therefore, the digital storage medium may be computer readable.
Some embodiments according to the invention comprise a data carrier having electronically readable control signals, which are capable of cooperating with a programmable computer system, such that one of the methods described herein is performed.
Generally, embodiments of the present invention may be implemented as a computer program product with a program code, the program code being operative for performing one of the methods when the computer program product runs on a computer. The program code may for example be stored on a machine readable carrier.
Other embodiments comprise the computer program for performing one of the methods described herein, stored on a machine readable carrier. In other words, an embodiment of the inventive method is, therefore, a computer program having a program code for performing one of the methods described herein, when the computer program runs on a computer.
A further embodiment of the inventive methods is, therefore, a data carrier or a digital storage medium, or a computer-readable medium comprising, recorded thereon, the computer program for performing one of the methods described herein. A further embodiment of the inventive method is, therefore, a data stream or a sequence of signals representing the computer program for performing one of the methods described herein. The data stream or the sequence of signals may for example be configured to be transferred via a data communication connection, for example via the Internet. A further embodiment comprises a processing means, for example a computer, or a programmable logic device, configured to or adapted to perform one of the methods described herein. A further embodiment comprises a computer having installed thereon the computer program for performing one of the methods described herein.
In some embodiments, a programmable logic device, for example a field programmable gate array, may be used to perform some or all of the functionalities of the methods described herein. In some embodiments, a field programmable gate array may cooperate with a microprocessor in order to perform one of the methods described herein. Generally, the methods may be performed by any hardware apparatus.
While this invention has been described in terms of several embodiments, there are alterations, permutations, and equivalents which fall within the scope of this invention. It should also be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing the methods and compositions of the present invention. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims be interpreted as including all such alterations, permutations and equivalents as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21216802.5 | Dec 2021 | EP | regional |
This application is a continuation of copending International Application No. PCT/EP2022/086624, filed Dec. 19, 2022, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, and additionally claims priority from European Application No. 21216802.5, filed Dec. 22, 2021, which is also incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/EP2022/086624 | Dec 2022 | WO |
| Child | 18748527 | US |
