WO2021227019A1

WO2021227019A1 - Managing a new radio mode at a user equipment based on throughput

Info

Publication number: WO2021227019A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/090530
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hao Zhang; Tianya LIN; Jie Hong
Original assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Current assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Priority date: 2020-05-15
Filing date: 2020-05-15
Publication date: 2021-11-18
Anticipated expiration: 2022-11-15

Abstract

In an aspect, a UE monitors throughput between the UE and a serving network while operating in accordance with at least New Radio (NR) mode. The UE detects that the throughput is below a throughput threshold for a threshold period of time based on the monitoring, and transmits at least one message to the serving network to disable the NR mode based at least in part upon the detecting. In another aspect, a UE monitors throughput between the UE and a serving network while a NR mode is disabled. The UE detects that the throughput is above a throughput threshold for a threshold period of time based on the monitoring, and transmits a message to the serving network to enable the NR mode based at least in part upon the detecting.

Description

MANAGING A NEW RADIO MODE AT A USER EQUIPMENT BASED ON THROUGHPUT

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

1. Field of the Disclosure

Aspects of the disclosure relate generally to wireless communications and to techniques and apparatuses related to managing a new radio (NR) mode at a user equipment (UE) based on throughput.

2. Description of the Related Art

Wireless communication systems have developed through various generations, including a first-generation analog wireless phone service (1G) , a second-generation (2G) digital wireless phone service (including interim 2.5G networks) , a third-generation (3G) high speed data, Internet-capable wireless service, and a fourth-generation (4G) service (e.g., Long-Term Evolution (LTE) , WiMax) . There are presently many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including cellular and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular Analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) , and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA) , frequency division multiple access (FDMA) , time division multiple access (TDMA) , the Global System for Mobile access (GSM) variation of TDMA, etc.

A fifth generation (5G) mobile standard calls for higher data transfer speeds, greater numbers of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. The 5G standard (also referred to as “New Radio” or “NR” ) , according to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, is designed to provide data rates of several tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users, with 1 gigabit per second to tens of workers on an office floor. Several hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported in order to support large sensor deployments. Consequently, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly enhanced compared to the current 4G /LTE standard. Furthermore, signaling efficiencies should be enhanced and latency should be substantially reduced compared to current standards.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nor delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

A UE may be may be capable of operating in multiple RATs at the same time. For example, a UE that can operate in both LTE and NR simultaneously is an E-UTRA-New Radio Dual Connectivity (ENDC) capable UE.

The UE may be capable of operating in a standalone (SA) or in a non-standalone (NSA) mode within a given RAT. When operating in the SA mode, the UE is able to exchange both control and data plane information with the network node and/or the core network of the given RAT (e.g., NR) . When operating in the NSA mode, the UE is communicating with network nodes of the first and second RATs. In the NSA mode, the UE can exchange data plane information with the network nodes of both the first RAT (e.g., LTE) and the second RAT (e.g., NR) . However, the control plane information is exchanged only with the network node of the first RAT (e.g., LTE) .

Irrespective of whether a multi-RAT UE is operating in SA mode or NSA mode, the multi-RAT UE will generally be capable of supporting higher throughput (e.g., a higher bandwidth or data rate) over NR (or 5GNR) as compared to LTE. However, in some UEs (e.g., UEs using a dual chip platform, such as an 855 Mobile Platform) , different modems are used to support 5GNR and LTE. In such UEs, the 5GNR modem may be associated with higher power consumption as compared to the LTE modem. UEs may often be operating in a low-throughput mode that could be supported via the LTE modem. In such cases, using the 5GNR modem to support the UE’s traffic communications in the low-throughput mode may unnecessarily consume power at the UE.

Embodiments of the disclosure are thereby directed to selectively enabling and/or disabling a 5GNR mode at the UE based on throughput monitoring. As will be explained below in more detail, toggling the 5GNR mode off or on based on throughput monitoring may provide various technical advantages, including but not limited to reducing power consumption at the UE.

In an aspect of the disclosure, a method, a computer-readable medium, and an apparatus are provided. The apparatus may be a UE. The UE may monitor throughput between the UE and a serving network while operating in accordance with at least New Radio (NR) mode. The UE may detect that the throughput is below a throughput threshold for a threshold period of time based on the monitoring. The UE may transmit at least one message to the serving network to disable the NR mode based at least in part upon the detection.

In another aspect of the disclosure, a method, a computer-readable medium, and an apparatus are provided. The apparatus may be a UE. The UE may receive a monitor throughput between the UE and a serving network while a New Radio (NR) mode is disabled. The UE may detect that the throughput is above a throughput threshold for a threshold period of time based on the monitoring. The UE may transmit a message to the serving network to enable the NR mode based at least in part upon the detection.

Aspects generally include a method, apparatus, system, computer program product, non-transitory computer-readable medium, user equipment, cIoT user equipment, base station, wireless communication device, and/or processing system as substantially described with reference to and as illustrated by the drawings, and specification.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of examples according to the disclosure in order that the detailed description that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages will be described hereinafter. The conception and specific examples disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the appended claims. Characteristics of the concepts disclosed herein, both their organization and method of operation, together with associated advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. Each of the figures is provided for the purposes of illustration and description, and not as a definition of the limits of the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication network.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a base station in communication with a UE in a wireless communication network.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary process 300 of wireless communications according to an aspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary process 400 of wireless communications according to another aspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example implementation 500 of the processes 300-400 in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example implementation 500 of the processes 300-400 in accordance with another aspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example implementation 500 of the processes 300-400 in accordance with another aspect of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual data flow diagram illustrating the data flow between different means/components in exemplary apparatuses in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus employing a processing system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purposes of providing a thorough understanding of various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring such concepts.

Several aspects of telecommunication systems will now be presented with reference to various apparatus and methods. These apparatus and methods will be described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, modules, components, circuits, steps, processes, algorithms, and/or the like (collectively referred to as “elements” ) . These elements may be implemented using electronic hardware, computer software, or any combination thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

By way of example, an element, or any portion of an element, or any combination of elements may be implemented with a “processing system” that includes one or more processors. Examples of processors include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs) , field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) , programmable logic devices (PLDs) , state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform the various functionality described throughout this disclosure. One or more processors in the processing system may execute software. Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, and/or the like, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.

Accordingly, in one or more example embodiments, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or encoded as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes computer storage media. Storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise a random-access memory (RAM) , a read-only memory (ROM) , an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) , compact disk ROM (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, combinations of the aforementioned types of computer-readable media, or any other medium that can be used to store computer executable code in the form of instructions or data structures that can be accessed by a computer.

It should be noted that while aspects may be described herein using terminology commonly associated with 3G and/or 4G wireless technologies, aspects of the present disclosure can be applied in other generation-based communication systems, such as 5G and later, including 5G technologies.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a wireless network 100 in which aspects of the present disclosure may be practiced. The wireless network 100 may be an LTE network or some other wireless network, such as a 5G network. The wireless network 100 may include a number of BSs 110 (shown as BS 110a, BS 110b, BS 110c, and BS 110d) and other network entities. A BS is an entity that communicates with user equipment (UEs) and may also be referred to as a base station, a 5G BS, a Node B, a gNB, a 5G NB, an access point, a transmit receive point (TRP) , and/or the like. Each BS may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term “cell” can refer to a coverage area of a BS and/or a BS subsystem serving this coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.

A BS may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, and/or another type of cell. A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A pico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allow restricted access by UEs having association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG) ) . A BS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A BS for a pico cell may be referred to as a pico BS. A BS for a femto cell may be referred to as a femto BS or a home BS. In the example shown in FIG. 1, a BS 110a may be a macro BS for a macro cell 102a, a BS 110b may be a pico BS for a pico cell 102b, and a BS 110c may be a femto BS for a femto cell 102c. A BS may support one or multiple (e.g., three) cells. The terms “eNB” , “base station” , “5G BS” , “gNB” , “TRP” , “AP” , “node B” , “5G NB”, and “cell” may be used interchangeably herein.

In some examples, a cell may not necessarily be stationary, and the geographic area of the cell may move according to the location of a mobile BS. In some examples, the BSs may be interconnected to one another and/or to one or more other BSs or network nodes (not shown) in the wireless network 100 through various types of backhaul interfaces such as a direct physical connection, a virtual network, and/or the like using any suitable transport network.

Wireless network 100 may also include relay stations. A relay station is an entity that can receive a transmission of data from an upstream station (e.g., a BS or a UE) and send a transmission of the data to a downstream station (e.g., a UE or a BS) . A relay station may also be a UE that can relay transmissions for other UEs. In the example shown in FIG. 1, a relay station 110d may communicate with macro BS 110a and a UE 120d in order to facilitate communication between BS 110a and UE 120d. A relay station may also be referred to as a relay BS, a relay base station, a relay, and/or the like.

Wireless network 100 may be a heterogeneous network that includes BSs of different types, e.g., macro BSs, pico BSs, femto BSs, relay BSs, and/or the like. These different types of BSs may have different transmit power levels, different coverage areas, and different impacts on interference in wireless network 100. For example, macro BSs may have a high transmit power level (e.g., 5 to 40 Watts) whereas pico BSs, femto BSs, and relay BSs may have lower transmit power levels (e.g., 0.1 to 2 Watts) .

A network controller 130 may couple to a set of BSs and may provide coordination and control for these BSs. Network controller 130 may communicate with the BSs via a backhaul. The BSs may also communicate with one another, e.g., directly or indirectly via a wireless or wireline backhaul.

UEs 120 (e.g., 120a, 120b, 120c) may be dispersed throughout wireless network 100, and each UE may be stationary or mobile. A UE may also be referred to as an access terminal, a terminal, a mobile station, a subscriber unit, a station, etc. A UE may be a cellular phone (e.g., a smart phone) , a personal digital assistant (PDA) , a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a tablet, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, a medical device or equipment, biometric sensors/devices, wearable devices (smart watches, smart clothing, smart glasses, smart wrist bands, smart jewelry (e.g., smart ring, smart bracelet) ) , an entertainment device (e.g., a music or video device, or a satellite radio) , a vehicular component or sensor, smart meters/sensors, industrial manufacturing equipment, a global positioning system device, or any other suitable device that is configured to communicate via a wireless or wired medium.

Some UEs may be considered machine-type communication (MTC) or evolved or enhanced machine-type communication (eMTC) UEs. “MTC” may refer to MTC or eMTC. MTC UEs include, for example, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, location tags, etc., that may communicate with a base station, another device (e.g., remote device) , or some other entity. A wireless node may provide, for example, connectivity for or to a network (e.g., a wide area network such as Internet or a cellular network) via a wired or wireless communication link. Some UEs may be considered Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, and/or may be implemented as NB-IoT (narrowband internet of things) devices. IoT UEs, eMTC UEs, coverage enhancement (CE) mode UEs, bandwidth-limited (BL) UEs, and other types of UEs that operate using diminished power consumption relative to a baseline UE may be referred to herein as cellular IoT (cIoT) UEs. Some UEs may be considered a Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) . UE 120 may be included inside a housing that houses components of UE 120, such as processor components, memory components, and/or the like.

In general, any number of wireless networks may be deployed in a given geographic area. Each wireless network may support a particular RAT and may operate on one or more frequencies. A RAT may also be referred to as a radio technology, an air interface, and/or the like. A frequency may also be referred to as a carrier, a frequency channel, and/or the like. Each frequency may support a single RAT in a given geographic area in order to avoid interference between wireless networks of different RATs. In some cases, 5G RAT networks may be deployed.

In some examples, access to the air interface may be scheduled, wherein a scheduling entity (e.g., a base station) allocates resources for communication among some or all devices and equipment within the scheduling entity’s service area or cell. Within the present disclosure, as discussed further below, the scheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more subordinate entities. That is, for scheduled communication, subordinate entities utilize resources allocated by the scheduling entity. Access to the air interface may be controlled, for example, using a unified access control (UAC) system in which UEs are associated with an access identity (e.g., an access class and/or the like) , which may aim to ensure that certain high-priority UEs (e.g., emergency response UEs, mission critical UEs, and/or the like) can access the air interface even in congested conditions. Updates to the UAC parameters (e.g., priority levels associated with access identities, which access identities are permitted to access the air interface, and/or the like) may be provided for cIoT UEs using a message, such as a paging message or a direct indication information, which may conserve battery power of cIoT UEs.

Base stations are not the only entities that may function as a scheduling entity. That is, in some examples, a UE may function as a scheduling entity, scheduling resources for one or more subordinate entities (e.g., one or more other UEs) . In this example, the UE is functioning as a scheduling entity, and other UEs utilize resources scheduled by the UE for wireless communication. A UE may function as a scheduling entity in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network, and/or in a mesh network. In a mesh network example, UEs may optionally communicate directly with one another in addition to communicating with the scheduling entity.

Thus, in a wireless communication network with a scheduled access to time–frequency resources and having a cellular configuration, a P2P configuration, and a mesh configuration, a scheduling entity and one or more subordinate entities may communicate utilizing the scheduled resources.

As indicated above, FIG. 1 is provided merely as an example. Other examples may differ from what is described with regard to FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram 200 of a design of base station 110 and UE 120, which may be one of the base stations and one of the UEs in FIG. 1. Base station 110 may be equipped with T antennas 234a through 234t, and UE 120 may be equipped with R antennas 252a through 252r, where in general T ≥ 1 and R ≥ 1.

At base station 110, a transmit processor 220 may receive data from a data source 212 for one or more UEs, may select a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for each UE based at least in part on channel quality indicators (CQIs) received from the UE, process (e.g., encode and modulate) the data for each UE based at least in part on the MCS selected for the UE, and provide data symbols for all UEs. Transmit processor 220 may also process system information (e.g., for semi-static resource partitioning information (SRPI) , and/or the like) and control information (e.g., CQI requests, grants, upper layer signaling, and/or the like) and provide overhead symbols and control symbols. Transmit processor 220 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., the cell-specific reference signal) and synchronization signals (e.g., the primary synchronization signal (PSS) and secondary synchronization signal (SSS) ) . A transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, the control symbols, the overhead symbols, and/or the reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide T output symbol streams to T modulators (MODs) 232a through 232t. Each modulator 232 may process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for orthogonal frequency divisional multiplexing (OFDM) and/or the like) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 232 may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. T downlink signals from modulators 232a through 232t may be transmitted via T antennas 234a through 234t, respectively. According to various aspects described in more detail below, the synchronization signals can be generated with location encoding to convey additional information.

At UE 120, antennas 252a through 252r may receive the downlink signals from base station 110 and/or other base stations and may provide received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) 254a through 254r, respectively. Each demodulator 254 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 254 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM and/or the like) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 256 may obtain received symbols from all R demodulators 254a through 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, and provide detected symbols. A receive (RX) processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for UE 120 to a data sink 260, and provide decoded control information and system information to a controller/processor 280. A channel processor may determine reference signal received power (RSRP) , received signal strength indicator (RSSI) , a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) , a channel quality indicator (CQI) , and/or the like.

On the uplink, at UE 120, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from a data source 262 and control information (e.g., for reports comprising RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, CQI, and/or the like) from controller/processor 280. Transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for one or more reference signals. The symbols from transmit processor 264 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 if applicable, further processed by modulators 254a through 254r (e.g., for DFT-s-OFDM, CP-OFDM, and/or the like) , and transmitted to base station 110. At base station 110, the uplink signals from UE 120 and other UEs may be received by antennas 234, processed by demodulators 232, detected by a MIMO detector 236 if applicable, and further processed by a receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by UE 120. Receive processor 238 may provide the decoded data to a data sink 239 and the decoded control information to controller/processor 240. Base station 110 may include communication unit 244 and communicate to network controller 130 via communication unit 244. Network controller 130 may include communication unit 294, controller/processor 290, and memory 292.

Controller/processor 240 of base station 110, controller/processor 280 of UE 120, and/or any other component (s) of FIG. 2 may perform one or more techniques associated with UAC parameter updating, as described in more detail elsewhere herein. For example, controller/processor 240 of base station 110, controller/processor 280 of UE 120, and/or any other component (s) of FIG. 2 may perform or direct operations of various processes as described herein.

Memories

242 and 282 may store data and program codes for BS 110 and UE 120, respectively. A scheduler 246 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/or uplink.

As indicated above, FIG. 2 is provided merely as an example. Other examples may differ from what is described with regard to FIG. 2.

A UE may be capable of operating in multiple radio access technologies (RATs) . For example, a UE may be capable of operating in a first RAT (e.g., NR) and in a second RAT (e.g., LTE) . These are merely examples, and first and second RATs may be any of the RATs currently known (e.g., WiMax, CDMA, WCDMA, UTRA, Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) , GSM, FDMA, GSM, TDMA, etc. ) .

Also, a UE may be may be capable of operating in multiple RATs at the same time. For example, a UE that can operate in both LTE and NR simultaneously is an E-UTRA-New Radio Dual Connectivity (ENDC) capable UE. Note that ENDC is an example of Multi-RAT DC (MRDC) capability. In general, when an MRDC capable UE is operating in two RATs, it may be communicating with a base station (e.g., eNB) of a first RAT (e.g., LTE) and with a base station (e.g., gNB) of a second RAT (e.g., NR) . In some designs, MRDC capability (or lack thereof) may be indicated by the UE to the network via a Dual Connectivity with New Radio (DCNR) bit in an Attach message (e.g., DCNR bit = 1 to indicate DCNR mode enabled, and DCNR bit = 0 to indicate DCNR mode disabled) .

Note that even if a UE is able to operate in first and second RATs, it may be limited in the bands that it can operate. For example, LTE defines bands 1–88 and NR defines bands n1–n95 in frequency range (FR) 1 and n257–n268 in FR2. A UE may be limited in the LTE bands and/or limited in the NR bands it supports. Also, even if the UE is capable of supporting a given LTE band (referred to herein, for ease of reference, as band X) and a given NR band (referred to herein, for ease of reference, as band Y) , it may not be capable of simultaneously supporting band X and band Y, that is, the UE may not be MRDC capable in band X and band Y as only certain band combinations may be supported in MRDC for a given UE.

For ease of reference, when a UE is capable of operating in a first band of a first RAT (e.g., LTE) and in a second band of a second RAT (e.g., NR) simultaneously, the UE may be referred to as being MRDC capable in first and second RATs. Note that the first and second bands may or may not overlap. When the UE operates in the first RAT, it may communicate with a network node (e.g., base station, eNB, etc. ) of the first RAT. Similarly, when the UE operates in the second RAT, it may communicate with a network node (e.g., base station, gNB, etc. ) of the second RAT.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary process 300 of wireless communications according to an aspect of the disclosure. The process 300 of FIG. 3 is performed by UE 120.

At 302, UE 120 (e.g., antenna (s) 252a... 252r, MIMO detector 256, receive processor 258, etc. ) monitors throughput between the UE and a serving network while operating in accordance with at least New Radio (NR) mode. In some designs, the UE at 302 is operating in accordance with NSA mode with DCNR enabled (e.g., DCNR=1) . In other designs, the UE at 302 is operating in accordance with SA mode with 5GNR enabled. In some designs, the monitoring at 302 may be implemented as a background procedure while UE 120 engages in normal communication with the serving network. In some designs, the monitoring at 302 monitors the throughput specifically in an uplink direction based on an amount of data pending for transmission within a transmission buffer at the UE. In other designs, the monitoring at 302 may also monitor downlink throughput.

At 304, UE 120 (e.g., controller/processor 280, etc. ) detects that the throughput is below a throughput threshold for a threshold period of time based on the monitoring. In some designs, the monitoring at 302 monitors the throughput as an instantaneous throughput over the threshold period of time, such that the detection at 304 is based on the instantaneous throughput (e.g., the throughput is below the throughput threshold across the entire threshold period of time) . In other designs, the monitoring at 302 monitors the throughput as an average throughput over the threshold period of time, such that the detection at 304 is based on the average throughput (e.g., the throughput is not necessarily below the throughput threshold across the entire threshold period of time, but the average throughput is) . In a specific example, the threshold period of time may be in a range between about 1 second and about 60 seconds (e.g., in some designs, about 30 seconds) .

At 306, UE 120 (e.g., antenna (s) 252a... 252r, modulators 254a… 254r, TX MIMO detector 266, transmit processor 264, etc. ) transmits at least one message to the serving network to disable the NR mode based at least in part upon the detecting. For example, in a scenario where the UE is operating in accordance with NSA mode, the at least one message (e.g., an Attach request message, a TAU request message, etc. ) may be transmitted to disable DCNR mode (e.g., DCNR=0) . In another example, in a scenario where the UE is operating in accordance with SA mode, the at least one message (e.g., a deregistration message sent to an SA cell of the serving network, and an Attach request message and/or TAU request message sent to an LTE cell of the serving network) may be configured to disable the NR mode so as to force the UE to transition to LTE only mode.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary process 400 of wireless communications according to another aspect of the disclosure. The process 400 of FIG. 4 is performed by UE 120.

At 402, UE 120 (e.g., antenna (s) 252a... 252r, MIMO detector 256, receive processor 258, etc. ) monitors throughput between the UE and a serving network while operating in accordance with an NR mode is disabled. In some designs, the UE at 302 is operating in accordance with NSA mode with DCNR disabled (e.g., DCNR=0) . In other designs, the UE at 302 is operating in accordance with SA mode in LTE only mode. In some designs, the monitoring at 302 may be implemented as a background procedure while UE 120 engages in normal communication with the serving network. In some designs, the monitoring at 402 monitors the throughput specifically in an uplink direction based on an amount of data pending for transmission within a transmission buffer at the UE. In other designs, the monitoring at 402 may also monitor downlink throughput.

At 404, UE 120 (e.g., controller/processor 280, etc. ) detects that the throughput is below a throughput threshold for a threshold period of time based on the monitoring. In some designs, the throughput threshold and the threshold period of time at 404 are the same as the throughput threshold and the threshold period of time at 304 of FIG. 3. In other designs, the throughput threshold and/or the threshold period of time at 404 may be different than the throughput threshold and the threshold period of time at 304 of FIG. 3 (e.g., the criteria for disabling 5GNR mode need not be the same as the criteria for enabling 5GNR mode) . In some designs, the monitoring at 402 monitors the throughput as an instantaneous throughput over the threshold period of time, such that the detection at 404 is based on the instantaneous throughput (e.g., the throughput is below the throughput threshold across the entire threshold period of time) . In other designs, the monitoring at 402 monitors the throughput as an average throughput over the threshold period of time, such that the detection at 404 is based on the average throughput (e.g., the throughput is not necessarily above the throughput threshold across the entire threshold period of time, but the average throughput is) . In a specific example, the threshold period of time may be in a range between about 1 second and about 60 seconds (e.g., in some designs, about 30 seconds) .

At 406, UE 120 (e.g., antenna (s) 252a... 252r, modulators 254a… 254r, TX MIMO detector 266, transmit processor 264, etc. ) transmits at least one message to the serving network to enable the NR mode based at least in part upon the detecting.. For example, in a scenario where the UE is operating in accordance with NSA mode, the at least one message (e.g., an Attach request message, a TAU request message, etc. ) may be transmitted to enabling the NR mode by enabling DCNR mode (e.g., DCNR=1) . In another example, in a scenario where the UE is operating in accordance with SA mode, the at least one message (e.g., a registration message sent to an SA cell of the serving network) may be configured to disable the LTE only mode so as to force the UE to transition to NR only mode.

Referring to FIG. 3, in some designs, the transmission at 306 may be based upon the detection at 304 in conjunction with at least one secondary condition. For example, if a display screen of the UE is off and/or the UE is locked, this information combined with a low throughput condition may function to trigger disablement of NR5G mode so as to save power at the UE. Similarly, in some designs, the transmission at 406 may be based upon the detection at 404 in conjunction with at least one secondary condition. For example, if a display screen of the UE is turned off and/or the UE is unlocked, this information combined with a high throughput condition may function to trigger enablement of NR5G mode so as to increase throughput capacity at the UE

At 504 (e.g., as in 302-304 of FIG. 3) , UE 120 monitors throughput associated with NR5G data traffic and/or control signaling while the UE is operating in accordance in NSA mode with NR5G enabled (e.g., DCNR=1) , and determines the monitored throughput to be below a throughput threshold for a threshold period of time. As noted above, in an example, the monitored throughput may be monitored in terms of instantaneous or average throughput. As noted above, in another example, monitored throughput may comprise be monitored in terms of uplink throughput, downlink throughput, or a combination thereof. In an example, the NR5G data traffic and/or control signaling monitored at 504 may comprise NR5G data traffic transferred between the UE and an NR cell (not shown) , NR5G-related signaling such as secondary cell group (SCG) signaling over LTE cell 110, or a combination thereof.

At 506 (e.g., as in 306 of FIG. 3) , UE 120 transmits an Attach request message (DCNR=0) to LTE cell 110 to disable the NR mode based on the detection from 504, and LTE cell 110 responds with an Attach accept message at 508. At this point, the NR mode has been disabled based on the DCNR mode being disabled.

At 510, UE 120 exchanges LTE data traffic and/or control signaling with LTE cell 110 while the UE is operating in accordance in NSA mode with NR5G disabled (e.g., DCNR=0) .

At 512 (e.g., as in 402-404 of FIG. 4) , UE 120 monitors throughput associated with the LTE data traffic and/or control signaling exchanged at 510, and determines the monitored throughput to be above a throughput threshold for a threshold period of time. As noted above, the throughput threshold and/or threshold period of time at 512 may be the same or different from the throughput threshold and/or threshold period of time at 504. As noted above, in an example, the monitored throughput may be monitored in terms of instantaneous or average throughput. As noted above, in another example, monitored throughput may comprise be monitored in terms of uplink throughput, downlink throughput, or a combination thereof.

At 514 (e.g., as in 406 of FIG. 4) , UE 120 transmits an Attach request message (DCNR=1) to LTE cell 110 to enable the NR mode based on the detection from 512, and LTE cell 110 responds with an Attach accept message at 516. At this point, the NR mode has been re-enabled based on the DCNR mode being re-enabled. Accordingly, NR5G communications can now resume as in 504.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example implementation 600 of the processes 300-400 in accordance with another aspect of the disclosure. The process 600 of FIG. 6 corresponds to the process 5 of FIG. 5 except that the Attach request messages at 506 and 514 are replaced with TAU request messages at 606 and 614, respectively, and the Attach accept messages at 508 and 516 are replaced with TAU accept messages at 608 and 616, respectively. Accordingly, the process 600 demonstrates that different message types can be used to toggle the NR mode on or off in various embodiments. The process 600 is otherwise similar to the process 500 of FIG. 5, and as such will not be described further for the sake of brevity.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example implementation 700 of the processes 300-400 in accordance with another aspect of the disclosure.

At 702, UE 120 exchanges NR5G data traffic and/or control signaling with SA cell 110-2 while the UE is operating in accordance in SA mode with NR5G enabled.

At 704 (e.g., as in 302-304 of FIG. 3) , UE 120 monitors throughput associated with the NR5G data traffic and/or control signaling exchanged at 702, and determines the monitored throughput to be below a throughput threshold for a threshold period of time. As noted above, in an example, the monitored throughput may be monitored in terms of instantaneous or average throughput. As noted above, in another example, monitored throughput may comprise be monitored in terms of uplink throughput, downlink throughput, or a combination thereof.

At 706 (e.g., as in 306 of FIG. 3) , UE 120 transmits a deregistration message to SA cell 110-2 to disable the NR mode based on the detection from 704, and SA cell 110-2 responds with a deregistration accept message at 708. At this point, the NR mode has been disabled.

At 710 (e.g., as in 306 of FIG. 3) , UE 120 transmits an Attach request message (DCNR=0) to LTE cell 110-1 to enable LTE mode (in this context, LTE ‘only’ mode since NR mode has been disabled) based on the detection from 704, and LTE cell 110-1 responds with an Attach accept message at 712. At this point, the NR mode has been disabled, and UE 120 has activated LTE mode.

At 714, UE 120 exchanges LTE data traffic and/or control signaling with LTE cell 110-1 while the UE is operating in accordance in SA mode with NR5G disabled.

At 716 (e.g., as in 402-404 of FIG. 4) , UE 120 monitors throughput associated with the LTE data traffic and/or control signaling exchanged at 714, and determines the monitored throughput to be above a throughput threshold for a threshold period of time. As noted above, the throughput threshold and/or threshold period of time at 716 may be the same or different from the throughput threshold and/or threshold period of time at 704. As noted above, in an example, the monitored throughput may be monitored in terms of instantaneous or average throughput. As noted above, in another example, monitored throughput may comprise be monitored in terms of uplink throughput, downlink throughput, or a combination thereof.

At 718 (e.g., as in 406 of FIG. 4) , UE 120 transmits a registration request message to SA cell 110-2 to enable the NR mode based on the detection from 716, and SA cell 110-2 responds with a registration accept message at 720. At this point, the NR mode has been re-enabled based on the DCNR mode being re-enabled. Accordingly, NR5G communications can now resume as in 702.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual data flow diagram 800 illustrating the data flow between different means/components in

exemplary apparatuses

802 and 880 in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. The apparatus 802 may be a UE (e.g., UE 120) in communication with an apparatus 880, which may be a base station (e.g., base station 110) .

The apparatus 802 includes a transmission component 804, which may correspond to transmitter circuitry in UE 120 as depicted in FIG. 2, including controller/processor 280, antenna (s) 252a... 252r, modulators (s) 254a... 254r, TX MIMO processor 266, TX processor 264. The apparatus 802 further includes throughput monitoring component 806, which may correspond to processor circuitry in UE 120 as depicted in FIG. 2, including controller/processor 280, etc. The apparatus 802 further includes a reception component 808, which may correspond to receiver circuitry in UE 120 as depicted in FIG. 2, including controller/processor 280, antenna (s) 252a... 252r, demodulators (s) 254a... 254r, MIMO detector 256, RX processor 258.

The apparatus 880 includes a reception component 882, which may correspond to receiver circuitry in BS 110 as depicted in FIG. 2, including controller/processor 240, antenna (s) 234a... 234r, demodulators (s) 232a... 232r, MIMO detector 236, RX processor 238, communication unit 244. The apparatus 880 further includes a processing component 884, which may correspond to processor circuitry in BS 110 as depicted in FIG. 2, including controller/processor 240. The apparatus 880 further includes a transmission component 886, which may correspond to transmission circuitry in BS 110 as depicted in FIG. 2, including e.g., controller/processor 240, antenna (s) 234a... 234r, modulators (s) 232a... 232r, Tx MIMO processor 230, TX processor 220, communication unit 244.

Referring to FIG. 8, the transmission component 804 transmits NR5G and/or LTE data traffic and control signaling to reception component 884, and the transmission component 886 likewise transmits NR5G and/or LTE data traffic and control signaling to reception component 808. The throughput monitoring component 806 monitors throughput associated with the uplink and/or downlink NR5G and/or LTE data traffic and control signaling. Based on the throughput monitoring of the throughput monitoring component 806, the apparatus 802 toggles an NR mode on or off via message (s) exchanged with the base station 880 (which in some contexts such as FIG. 7 may be representative of multiple network cells) . For example, the messaging may comprise registration request, deregistration request, TAU request and/or Attach request messages sent by the transmission component 804 to the reception component 882 and processed by the processing component 884, as well as registration accept, deregistration accept, TAU accept and/or Attach accept messages sent by the transmission component 886 to back to the reception component 808.

One or more components of the apparatus 802 and apparatus 880 may perform each of the blocks of the algorithm in the aforementioned flowcharts of FIGS. 3-7. As such, each block in the aforementioned flowcharts of FIGS. 3-7 may be performed by a component and the apparatus 802 and apparatus 880 may include one or more of those components. The components may be one or more hardware components specifically configured to carry out the stated processes/algorithm, implemented by a processor configured to perform the stated processes/algorithm, stored within a computer-readable medium for implementation by a processor, or some combination thereof.

FIG. 9 is a diagram 900 illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus 802 employing a processing system 914. The processing system 914 may be implemented with a bus architecture, represented generally by the bus 924. The bus 924 may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specific application of the processing system 914 and the overall design constraints. The bus 924 links together various circuits including one or more processors and/or hardware components, represented by the processor 904, the

components

804, 806 and 808, and the computer-readable medium /memory 906. The bus 924 may also link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further.

The processing system 914 may be coupled to a transceiver 910. The transceiver 910 is coupled to one or more antennas 920. The transceiver 910 provides a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The transceiver 910 receives a signal from the one or more antennas 920, extracts information from the received signal, and provides the extracted information to the processing system 914, specifically the reception component 808. In addition, the transceiver 910 receives information from the processing system 914, specifically the transmission component 804, and based on the received information, generates a signal to be applied to the one or more antennas 920. The processing system 914 includes a processor 904 coupled to a computer-readable medium /memory 906. The processor 904 is responsible for general processing, including the execution of software stored on the computer-readable medium /memory 906. The software, when executed by the processor 904, causes the processing system 914 to perform the various functions described supra for any particular apparatus. The computer-readable medium /memory 906 may also be used for storing data that is manipulated by the processor 904 when executing software. The processing system 914 further includes at least one of the

components

804, 806 and 808. The components may be software components running in the processor 904, resident/stored in the computer readable medium /memory 906, one or more hardware components coupled to the processor 904, or some combination thereof. The processing system 914 may be a component of the UE 120 of FIG. 2 and may include the memory 282, and/or at least one of the TX processor 264, the RX processor 258, and the controller/processor 280.

In one configuration, the apparatus 802 (e.g., a UE) for wireless communication includes means for monitoring throughput between the UE and a serving network while operating in accordance with at least New Radio (NR) mode, means for detecting that the throughput is below a throughput threshold for a threshold period of time based on the monitoring, and means for transmitting at least one message to the serving network to disable the NR mode based at least in part upon the detecting.

In another configuration, the apparatus 802 (e.g., a UE) for wireless communication includes means for monitoring throughput between the UE and a serving network while a New Radio (NR) mode is disabled, means for detecting that the throughput is above a throughput threshold for a threshold period of time based on the monitoring, and means for transmitting a message to the serving network to enable the NR mode based at least in part upon the detecting.

The aforementioned means may be one or more of the aforementioned components of the apparatus 802 and/or the processing system 914 of the apparatus 802 configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means. As described supra, the processing system 914 may include the TX processor 264, the RX processor 258, and the controller/processor 280.

As used herein, the term “component” is intended to be broadly construed as hardware, firmware, and/or a combination of hardware and software. As used herein, a processor is implemented in hardware, firmware, and/or a combination of hardware and software.

As used herein, satisfying a threshold may, depending on the context, refer to a value being greater than the threshold, greater than or equal to the threshold, less than the threshold, less than or equal to the threshold, equal to the threshold, not equal to the threshold, and/or the like.

It will be apparent that systems and/or methods described herein may be implemented in different forms of hardware, firmware, and/or a combination of hardware and software. The actual specialized control hardware or software code used to implement these systems and/or methods is not limiting of the aspects. Thus, the operation and behavior of the systems and/or methods were described herein without reference to specific software code-it being understood that software and hardware can be designed to implement the systems and/or methods based, at least in part, on the description herein.

Even though particular combinations of features are recited in the claims and/or disclosed in the specification, these combinations are not intended to limit the disclosure of various aspects. In fact, many of these features may be combined in ways not specifically recited in the claims and/or disclosed in the specification. Although each dependent claim listed below may directly depend on only one claim, the disclosure of various aspects includes each dependent claim in combination with every other claim in the claim set. A phrase referring to “at least one of” a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. As an example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c, as well as any combination with multiples of the same element (e.g., a-a, a-a-a, a-a-b, a-a-c, a-b-b, a-c-c, b-b, b-b-b, b-b-c, c-c, and c-c-c or any other ordering of a, b, and c) .

No element, act, or instruction used herein should be construed as critical or essential unless explicitly described as such. Also, as used herein, the articles “a” and “an” are intended to include one or more items, and may be used interchangeably with “one or more. ” Furthermore, as used herein, the terms “set” and “group” are intended to include one or more items (e.g., related items, unrelated items, a combination of related and unrelated items, and/or the like) , and may be used interchangeably with “one or more. ” Where only one item is intended, the phrase “only one” or similar language is used. Also, as used herein, the terms “has, ” “have, ” “having, ” and/or the like are intended to be open-ended terms. Further, the phrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least in part, on” unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Claims

A method of operating a user equipment (UE) , comprising:

monitoring throughput between the UE and a serving network while operating in accordance with at least New Radio (NR) mode;

detecting that the throughput is below a throughput threshold for a threshold period of time based on the monitoring; and

transmitting at least one message to the serving network to disable the NR mode based at least in part upon the detecting.
The method of claim 1,

wherein the UE is operating in accordance with a non-standalone (NSA) mode, and

wherein the throughput is monitored while the UE is operating in accordance with a Dull Connectivity for New Radio (DCNR) mode, and the at least one message is configured to disable the NR mode by disabling the DCNR mode.
The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one message comprises an Attach request message, a tracking area update (TAU) request message, or a combination thereof.
The method of claim 1,

wherein the UE is operating in accordance with a standalone (SA) mode, and

wherein the throughput is monitored while the UE is operating in accordance only in the NR mode, and the at least one message is configured to disable the NR mode so as to force the UE to transition to Long-Term Evolution (LTE) only mode.
The method of claim 4,

wherein the at least one message comprises a deregistration message sent to a first cell of the serving network, and

wherein the at least one message further comprises an Attach request message, a tracking area update (TAU) request message, or a combination thereof sent to another cell of the serving network.
The method of claim 1, wherein the monitoring tracks the throughput based on an amount of data pending for transmission within a transmission buffer at the UE.
The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting is triggered based on the detecting in combination at least one secondary condition.
The method of claim 7, wherein the at least one secondary condition comprises a display screen of the UE being turned off.
The method of claim 1,

wherein the monitoring monitors the throughput as an instantaneous throughput over the threshold period of time, or

wherein the monitoring monitors the throughput as an average throughput over the threshold period of time.
A method of operating a user equipment (UE) , comprising:

monitoring throughput between the UE and a serving network while a New Radio (NR) mode is disabled;

detecting that the throughput is above a throughput threshold for a threshold period of time based on the monitoring; and

transmitting a message to the serving network to enable the NR mode based at least in part upon the detecting.
The method of claim 10,

wherein the UE is operating in accordance with a non-standalone (NSA) mode, and

wherein the throughput is monitored while the UE is operating with a Dull Connectivity for New Radio (DCNR) mode, and the at least one message is configured to enable the NR mode by enabling the DCNR mode.
The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one message comprises an Attach request message, a tracking area update (TAU) request message, or a combination thereof.
The method of claim 10,

wherein the UE is operating in accordance with a standalone (SA) mode, and

wherein the throughput is monitored while the UE is operating in accordance Long-Term Evolution (LTE) only mode, and the at least one message is configured to disable the LTE only mode so as to force the UE to transition to NR only mode.
The method of claim 13,

wherein the at least one message comprises a registration message sent to a first cell of the serving network, and

wherein the at least one message further comprises an Attach request message, a tracking area update (TAU) request message, or a combination thereof sent to another cell of the serving network.
The method of claim 10, wherein the monitoring tracks the throughput based on an amount of data pending for transmission within a transmission buffer at the UE.
The method of claim 10, wherein the transmitting is triggered based on the detecting in combination at least one secondary condition.
The method of claim 16, wherein the at least one secondary condition comprises a display screen of the UE being turned on.
The method of claim 9,

wherein the monitoring monitors the throughput as an instantaneous throughput over the threshold period of time, or

wherein the monitoring monitors the throughput as an average throughput over the threshold period of time.
A user equipment (UE) , comprising:

means for monitoring throughput between the UE and a serving network while operating in accordance with at least New Radio (NR) mode;

means for detecting that the throughput is below a throughput threshold for a threshold period of time based on the monitoring; and

means for transmitting at least one message to the serving network to disable the NR mode based at least in part upon the detection.
A user equipment (UE) , comprising:

means for monitoring throughput between the UE and a serving network while a New Radio (NR) mode is disabled;

means for detecting that the throughput is above a throughput threshold for a threshold period of time based on the monitoring; and

means for transmitting a message to the serving network to enable the NR mode based at least in part upon the detection.
A user equipment (UE) , comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to:

monitor throughput between the UE and a serving network while operating in accordance with at least New Radio (NR) mode;

detect that the throughput is below a throughput threshold for a threshold period of time based on the monitoring; and

transmit at least one message to the serving network to disable the NR mode based at least in part upon the detection.
A user equipment (UE) , comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to:

monitor throughput between the UE and a serving network while a New Radio (NR) mode is disabled;

detect that the throughput is above a throughput threshold for a threshold period of time based on the monitoring; and

transmit a message to the serving network to enable the NR mode based at least in part upon the detection.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions stored thereon, for causing at least one processor in a user equipment (UE) to:

monitor throughput between the UE and a serving network while operating in accordance with at least New Radio (NR) mode;

detect that the throughput is below a throughput threshold for a threshold period of time based on the monitoring; and

transmit at least one message to the serving network to disable the NR mode based at least in part upon the detection.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions stored thereon, for causing at least one processor in a user equipment (UE) to:

monitor throughput between the UE and a serving network while a New Radio (NR) mode is disabled;

detect that the throughput is above a throughput threshold for a threshold period of time based on the monitoring; and

transmit a message to the serving network to enable the NR mode based at least in part upon the detection.