CN115088277B

CN115088277B - Methods, apparatus, and computer readable media for dynamic adjustment of paging subgroups

Info

Publication number: CN115088277B
Application number: CN202180003300.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: L·L·桑切斯; M·劳里德森; D·拉塞尔瓦; 吴春丽; M·I·阿什拉夫; J·P·科斯基宁; J·J·凯科康恩
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Priority date: 2021-01-11
Filing date: 2021-01-11
Publication date: 2024-06-11
Anticipated expiration: 2041-01-11
Also published as: CN115088277A; WO2022147820A8; WO2022147820A1

Abstract

Methods, apparatus, and computer readable media for dynamic adjustment of paging subgroups are disclosed. An example apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory. The at least one memory may include computer program code, and the at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform: the method further includes monitoring at least one of paging information and paging activity according to the first paging subgroup, changing from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup based at least in part on the monitored paging activity, and monitoring at least one of paging information and paging activity according to the second paging subgroup.

Description

Methods, apparatus, and computer readable media for dynamic adjustment of paging subgroups

Technical Field

Embodiments relate to methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable media for dynamic adjustment of paging subgroups.

Background

Multiple user equipment sharing Paging Occasions (POs) may be divided into multiple paging subgroups for monitoring paging activity to reduce paging false alarms, in which case the User Equipment (UE) may decode the paging channel and not find its identity, which results in waste of energy.

Disclosure of Invention

The following presents a simplified summary of example embodiments in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of various embodiments. It should be noted that this summary is not intended to identify key features of the essential elements or to define the scope of the embodiments, and its sole purpose is to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented below.

In a first aspect, an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory. The at least one memory may include computer program code, and the at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform: the method further includes monitoring for at least one of paging information and paging activity according to the first subset, changing from the first paging subset to the second paging subset based at least in part on the monitored paging activity, and monitoring for at least one of paging information and paging activity according to the second paging subset.

In some embodiments, the at least one memory and the computer program code may be further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform receiving configuration information for a plurality of paging subgroups including the first paging subgroup and the second paging subgroup. The change from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup may be further based at least in part on the configuration information.

In some embodiments, the configuration information may include an association between paging activities and a plurality of paging subgroups, the paging activities may include at least one range of numbers of consecutive paging cycles that are not paged or at least one range of numbers that are paged within a time period, and the at least one range of numbers may correspond to at least one paging subgroup of the plurality of paging subgroups.

In some embodiments, the at least one memory and the computer program code may be further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform incrementing a counter of consecutive paging cycles that are not paged in at least one of a case that they are not paged in a paging cycle and a case that establishing or recovering a connection in a paging cycle fails.

In some embodiments, the at least one memory and the computer program code may be further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform increasing a counter that was paged during a time period if a connection was established or restored during the time period.

In some embodiments, the at least one memory and the computer program code may be further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: if the counter of consecutive paging cycles that are not paged or the counter that is paged within a period of time is within a certain difference from the number corresponding to the second paging subgroup, then at least one of paging information and paging activity is monitored according to the second paging subgroup in parallel with monitoring at least one of paging information and paging activity according to the first paging subgroup before changing from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup.

In some embodiments, the at least one memory and the computer program code may be further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform according to: after changing from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup, at least one of paging information and paging activity is monitored according to the first paging subgroup in parallel with at least one of monitoring paging information and paging activity according to the second paging subgroup for at least one paging cycle.

In some embodiments, the paging information may include a paging indication, and the at least one memory and the computer program code may be further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform: at least one paged paging subgroup is determined based on the monitored paging indication.

In some embodiments, the paging information may include a paging indication, and the at least one memory and the computer program code may be further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform changing to the paging subgroup based on the monitored paging indication.

In some embodiments, the at least one memory and the computer program code may be further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform receiving assistance information including at least one of an actual paging counter and an actual paging false alarm counter.

In a second aspect, an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory. The at least one memory may include computer program code, and the at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform: the method includes monitoring paging activity of at least one user device according to a first paging subgroup, marking a change of the at least one user device from the first paging subgroup to a second paging subgroup based at least in part on the monitored paging activity of the at least one user device, and monitoring paging activity for the at least one user device according to the second paging subgroup.

In some embodiments, the at least one memory and the computer program code may also be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform: determining configuration information for a plurality of paging subgroups including a first paging subgroup and a second paging subgroup, transmitting the determined configuration information to at least one user equipment, and transmitting paging information to the at least one user equipment according to a paging subgroup of the plurality of paging subgroups marked for the at least one user. The change in the flag from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup may be further based at least in part on the configuration information.

In some embodiments, the configuration information may be determined based at least in part on the monitored paging activity of the at least one user device.

In some embodiments, the paging information may include a paging indication indicating at least one paging subgroup being paged.

In some embodiments, the paging information may include a paging indication that indicates that at least one user equipment changes to a paging subgroup.

In some embodiments, the at least one memory and the computer program code may be further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform transmitting assistance information including at least one of an actual paging counter and an actual paging false alarm counter to the at least one user equipment.

In a third aspect, a method is disclosed. The method may include monitoring at least one of paging information and paging activity according to a first paging subgroup, changing from the first paging subgroup to a second paging subgroup based at least in part on the monitored paging activity, and monitoring at least one of paging information and paging activity according to the second paging subgroup.

In some embodiments, the method may further include receiving configuration information for a plurality of paging subgroups including the first paging subgroup and the second paging subgroup. The change from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup may be further based at least in part on the configuration information.

In some embodiments, the method may further include incrementing a counter of consecutive paging cycles that are not paged in at least one of a case that they are not paged in a paging cycle and a case that establishing or recovering a connection fails in a paging cycle.

In some embodiments, the method may further comprise increasing a counter that is paged during the period of time if the connection is being paged during the period of time or if the connection is being established or restored during the period of time.

In some embodiments, the method may further include monitoring at least one of paging information and paging activity according to the second paging subgroup in parallel with at least one of paging information and paging activity monitored according to the first paging subgroup before changing from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup if the counter of consecutive paging cycles that are not paged or the counter that are paged within a time period is within a certain difference from the number range corresponding to the second paging subgroup.

In some embodiments, the method may further include monitoring at least one of paging information and paging activity according to the first paging subgroup in parallel with monitoring at least one of paging information and paging activity according to the second paging subgroup for at least one paging cycle after changing from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup.

In some embodiments, the paging information may include a paging indication, and the method may further include determining at least one paged paging subgroup based on the monitored paging indication.

In some embodiments, the paging information may include a paging indication, and the method may further include changing to a paging subgroup based on the monitored paging indication.

In some embodiments, the method may further include receiving assistance information including at least one of an actual paging counter and an actual paging false alarm counter.

In a fourth aspect, a method is disclosed. The method may include monitoring paging activity of at least one user device according to a first paging subgroup, marking a change of the at least one user device from the first paging subgroup to a second paging subgroup based at least in part on the monitored paging activity of the at least one user device, and monitoring paging activity of the at least one user device according to the second paging subgroup.

In some embodiments, the method may further include determining configuration information for a plurality of paging subgroups including the first paging subgroup and the second paging subgroup, transmitting the configuration information to the at least one user device, and transmitting the paging information to the at least one user device according to a paging subgroup of the plurality of paging subgroups marked for the at least one user device. Marking the first paging subgroup to change to the second paging subgroup may be further based at least in part on the configuration information.

In some embodiments, the method may further include transmitting assistance information including at least one of an actual paging counter and an actual paging false alarm counter to at least one user equipment.

In a fifth aspect, an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus may include means for monitoring at least one of paging information and paging activity according to a first paging subgroup, means for changing from the first paging subgroup to a second paging subgroup based at least in part on the monitored paging activity, and means for monitoring at least one of paging information and paging activity according to the second paging subgroup.

In some embodiments, the apparatus may further include means for receiving configuration information for a plurality of paging subgroups including a first paging subgroup and a second paging subgroup. The change from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup may be further based at least in part on the configuration information.

In some embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for: the counter of consecutive paging cycles that are not paged is incremented in at least one of the case that they are not paged in the paging cycle and the case that connection establishment or restoration fails in the paging cycle.

In some embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for: the counter to be paged in the period of time is increased in case of being paged in the period of time or in case of establishing or recovering a connection in the period of time.

In some embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for: if the counter of consecutive paging cycles that are not paged or the counter that is paged during the period of time is within a certain difference from the number corresponding to the second paging subgroup, then at least one of paging information and paging activity is monitored according to the second paging subgroup before changing from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup.

In some embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for: after changing from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup, at least one of paging information and paging activity is monitored according to the first paging subgroup in parallel with at least one of monitoring paging information and paging activity according to the second paging subgroup for at least one paging cycle.

In some embodiments, the paging information may include a paging indication, and the apparatus may further include means for determining at least one paged paging subgroup based on the monitored paging indication.

In some embodiments, the paging information may include a paging indication, and the apparatus may further include means for changing to a paging subgroup based on the monitored paging indication.

In some embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for receiving assistance information comprising at least one of an actual paging counter and an actual paging false alarm counter.

In a sixth aspect, an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus may include means for monitoring paging activity of at least one user device according to a first paging subgroup, means for marking at least one user device change from the first paging subgroup to a second paging subgroup based at least in part on the monitored paging activity of the at least one user device, and means for monitoring paging activity of the at least one user device according to the second paging subgroup.

In some embodiments, the apparatus may further include means for determining configuration information for a plurality of paging subgroups including the first paging subgroup and the second paging subgroup, means for transmitting the determined configuration information to the at least one user equipment, and means for transmitting paging information to the at least one user equipment according to a paging subgroup of the plurality of paging subgroups marked for the at least one user equipment. The change in the indicia from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup may be further based at least in part on the configuration information.

In some embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for transmitting assistance information comprising at least one of an actual paging counter and an actual paging false alarm counter to at least one user equipment.

In a seventh aspect, a computer readable medium is disclosed. The computer-readable medium may include instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform: the method includes monitoring at least one of paging information and paging activity from a first paging subgroup, changing from the first paging subgroup to a second paging subgroup based at least in part on the monitored paging activity, and monitoring at least one of paging information and paging activity from the second paging subgroup.

In some embodiments, the computer-readable medium may further comprise instructions stored thereon for causing the apparatus to further perform: configuration information for a plurality of paging subgroups including a first paging subgroup and a second paging subgroup is received. The change from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup may be further based at least in part on the configuration information.

In some embodiments, the computer-readable medium may further comprise instructions stored thereon for causing the apparatus to further perform: in at least one of the case of non-paging within a paging cycle and the case of failure to establish or recover a connection within the paging cycle, a counter of consecutive paging cycles that are not paged is incremented.

In some embodiments, the computer-readable medium may further include instructions stored thereon for causing the apparatus to further perform: in the case of being paged in a period of time or in the case of establishing or recovering a connection in the period of time, the counter to be paged in the period of time is increased.

In some embodiments, the computer-readable medium may further comprise instructions stored thereon for causing the apparatus to further perform: if the counter of consecutive paging cycles that are not paged or the counter that is paged within a period of time is within a certain difference from the number corresponding to the second paging subgroup, then the at least one of paging information and paging activity is monitored according to the second paging subgroup in parallel with the at least one of paging information and paging activity being monitored according to the first paging subgroup before changing from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup.

In some embodiments, the computer-readable medium may further comprise instructions stored thereon for causing the apparatus to further perform: at least one of paging information and paging activity is monitored according to the first paging subgroup in parallel with monitoring one of paging information and paging activity according to the second paging subgroup for at least one paging cycle after changing from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup.

In some embodiments, the paging information may include a paging indication, and the computer-readable medium may further include instructions stored thereon for causing the apparatus to further perform determining at least one paged paging subgroup based on the monitored paging indication.

In some embodiments, the paging information may include a paging indication, and the computer-readable medium may further include instructions stored thereon for causing the apparatus to further perform changing to the paging subgroup based on the monitored paging indication.

In some embodiments, the computer-readable medium may further comprise instructions stored thereon for causing the apparatus to further perform receiving assistance information comprising at least one of an actual paging counter and an actual paging false alarm counter.

In an eighth aspect, a computer-readable medium is disclosed. The computer-readable medium may include instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform: the paging activity is monitored for the at least one user device according to the first paging subgroup, the at least one user device is marked for change from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup based at least in part on the monitored paging activity of the at least one user device, and the paging activity of the at least one user device is monitored according to the second paging subgroup.

In some embodiments, the computer-readable medium may further comprise instructions stored thereon for causing the apparatus to further perform: determining configuration information of a plurality of paging subgroups including a first paging subgroup and a second paging subgroup, transmitting the determined configuration information to at least one user equipment, and transmitting paging information to the at least one user equipment according to a paging subgroup of the plurality of paging subgroups marked for the at least one user equipment. The change in the indicia from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup may be further based at least in part on the configuration information.

In some embodiments, the computer-readable medium may further comprise instructions stored thereon for causing the apparatus to further perform transmitting assistance information comprising at least one of an actual paging counter and an actual paging false alarm counter to at least one user equipment.

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

Drawings

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

Fig. 1 shows an exemplary timing diagram of a dynamic adjustment process for paging subgroups in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 shows a flowchart of an example process of dynamic adjustment of paging subgroups in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 shows a histogram illustrating an example of determining a threshold for paging subgroup variation.

Fig. 4 shows a flowchart illustrating an example process for dynamic adjustment of at least one threshold in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 shows a bar graph showing a comparison of the percentages of paging false alarms for each paging cycle in the simulation.

Fig. 6 shows a bar graph showing a comparison of the paging false alarm percentages for each paging cycle and each paging subgroup in the simulation.

Fig. 7 shows the number of UEs in the paging sub group in the simulation according to an embodiment.

Fig. 8 shows a flowchart illustrating an example method for dynamic adjustment of paging subgroups in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 9 shows a flowchart illustrating an example method for dynamic adjustment of paging subgroups in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 10 shows a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for dynamic adjustment of paging subgroups in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 11 shows a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for dynamic adjustment of paging subgroups in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 12 shows a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for dynamic adjustment of paging subgroups in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 13 shows a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for dynamic adjustment of paging subgroups in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements. Repeated descriptions of the same elements will be omitted.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, some example embodiments are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following description includes specific details in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various concepts. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known circuits, techniques, and components have been shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts and features described.

Fig. 1 shows an exemplary timing diagram of a process for dynamic adjustment of paging subgroups in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to fig. 1, a UE 110 may be an example of a plurality of UEs sharing a PO, and a network 120 may include a Base Station (BS) such as in a Radio Access Network (RAN) or an Apparatus (AMF) or Mobility Management Entity (MME) such as access and mobility management functions in a Core Network (CN).

In operation 125, the network 120 may determine configuration information 130 for dividing the plurality of UEs into a plurality of paging subgroups identifiable by corresponding identities. And the plurality of paging subgroups may correspond to paging probabilities of UEs in the respective paging subgroups. The paging probability of the UE may include, for example, a number of consecutive paging cycles that have not been paged, a number of times that have been paged within a predefined period of time, a period of time between the last time the UE was paged and the last time the UE was paged, and so on.

For example, configuration information 130 may include associations between paging activities and multiple paging subgroups. Paging activity may be related to paging probability and reflect paging levels. For example, the paging activity may include at least one range of numbers of consecutive paging cycles that are not paged or at least one range of numbers that are paged within a time period, the at least one range of numbers corresponding to at least one paging sub group of the plurality of paging sub groups. For example, the configuration information 130 may include at least one threshold for paging subgroup variation. The at least one threshold may be related to at least one range of numbers of consecutive paging cycles in which a user equipment, such as UE 110, is not paged or at least one range of numbers in which UE 110 is paged, for example, during a time period. The at least one number range may correspond to at least one paging subgroup of the plurality of paging subgroups. The determination of the configuration information 130 will be described in detail later.

Network 120 may send configuration information 130 to UE 110. Alternatively or additionally, network 120 may send paging information 132 to UE 110. The configuration information 130 may be sent in, for example, a Radio Resource Control (RRC) release message. Or the configuration information 130 may be sent via a System Information Block (SIB) or via non-access stratum (NAS) signaling. Thus, UE 110 may monitor at least one of paging information 132 and paging activity based on configuration information 130 during RRC idle or inactive modes.

If UE 110 enters RRC idle mode for the first time, e.g., after power-on, network 120 may send UE 110 a default paging subgroup identification along with configuration information 130. The default paging subgroup identification may be based on, for example, the identity of UE 110. Alternatively or additionally, the default paging subgroup identification may depend on the UE subscription type, traffic type, etc.

The paging subgroup to which UE110 belongs when entering RRC idle or inactive mode may be the first paging subgroup. The first paging subgroup may be a default paging subgroup if UE110 enters RRC idle mode for the first time. In operation 135, UE110 may monitor at least one of paging information 132 and paging activity according to the first paging subgroup, and in parallel in operation 140, network 120 may monitor paging activity of UE110 according to the first paging subgroup. Paging subgroups assigned by UE110 may be assigned and dynamically adjusted in parallel on the UE110 side and the network 120 side. The dynamic adjustment condition based on UE110 is that it may be enabled at network 120 by, for example, messages such as attach accept (ATTACH ACCEPT) and/or tracking area update. Alternatively, paging probability information for each paging subgroup may be sent with the message.

Paging information 132 may include at least one of a paging indication and a paging message. The paging indication may be paging Downlink Control Information (DCI) and/or Paging Early Indication (PEI), which may also be referred to as Early Paging Indication (EPI). The paging indication may indicate at least one paging subgroup being paged. For example, the paging indication may indicate which of a plurality of paging sub groups to page within one paging cycle.

When UE110 monitors at least one of paging information 132 and paging activity according to the first paging subgroup in operation 135, UE110 may monitor paging DCI or PEI, for example, according to the first paging subgroup. If the first paging subgroup is found not to be paged at the PO by decoding a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), e.g., carrying paging DCI or PEI, the UE110 may not receive a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), e.g., carrying paging messages, in order to save energy. If the first paging subgroup is found to be paged at the PO by decoding a PDCCH, e.g., carrying paging DCI or PEI, then the UE110 may receive a PDSCH, e.g., carrying a paging message, to determine if the UE110 is paged.

During monitoring according to the first paging sub group in operation 135 and operation 140, UE 110 and network 120 may monitor at least one condition triggering a change in the paging sub group in parallel. The at least one condition may be based at least in part on the monitored paging activity, and the at least one condition may be further based at least in part on the configuration information 130. For example, the at least one condition may be based on a comparison between the monitored paging activity and at least one threshold in the configuration information 130.

For example, in the event that at least one threshold relates to at least one number range of consecutive paging cycles without paging, UE 110 may increment a counter of consecutive paging cycles without paging if UE 110 is not paged within one paging cycle, and network 120 may increment a counter of consecutive paging cycles without paging UE 110 if network 120 does not page UE 110 within a paging cycle.

In case UE 110 monitors that the counter of non-paged consecutive paging cycles exceeds a threshold value, thereby entering a range of numbers of non-paged consecutive paging cycles corresponding to the second paging sub group, a condition triggering a change of the paging sub group from the first paging sub group to the second paging sub group is satisfied. In this case, UE 110 may change from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup in operation 150.

The condition for triggering the change of the paging sub group from the first paging sub group to the second paging sub group is satisfied when the network 120 monitors that the counter of consecutive paging periods of the non-paging UE 110 exceeds the threshold value, thereby entering a range of numbers of consecutive paging periods of the non-paging UE 110 corresponding to the second paging sub group. In this case, in operation 160, the network 120 may mark the UE 110 to change from the first paging sub group to the second paging sub group.

Network 120 may send paging information 132 to UE 110 based on the paging subgroup marked for UE 110. For example, when the network 120 marks UEs 110 belonging to the first paging subgroup before operation 160, the network may send paging information 132 to the users 110 according to the first paging subgroup. And when the network 120 marks the UE 110 belonging to the second paging sub group after operation 160, the network may transmit paging information 132 to the UE 110 according to the second paging sub group.

For example, where the at least one threshold relates to at least one range of amounts of paging UE 110 during a time period, if UE 110 detects being paged during the time period, UE 110 may increment a counter that was paged during the time period, and if network 120 detects paging UE 110 during the time period, network 120 may increment the counter that was paging UE 110 during the time period.

In the event that UE 110 monitors that the counter paged during the period exceeds a threshold to enter a range of numbers paged during the period corresponding to the second paging sub group, a condition is satisfied that triggers a transition of the paging sub group from the first paging sub group to the second paging sub group. In this case, UE 110 may change from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup in operation 150.

In the event that the network 120 monitors that the counter of paging UEs 110 exceeds the threshold during this period and thereby enters a range of numbers of paging UEs 110 during a period corresponding to the second paging subgroup, the condition that triggers the paging subgroup to change from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup is satisfied. In this case, in operation 160, the network 120 may mark the UE 110 to change from the first paging sub group to the second paging sub group.

The time period may be defined and configured, for example, by network 120 when UE 110 is enabled based on dynamic adjustment of the paging sub group. In some embodiments, the at least one threshold may be based on other kinds of paging probabilities. For example, the at least one threshold may relate to a period of time during which no page, e.g., UE 110, is available. In some embodiments, the paging probability may be adjusted after each paging of UE 110. For example, the paging probability may be adjusted to 1/time period since UE 110 was last paged.

Or in some embodiments, a paging indication, such as paging DCI and/or PEI, included in paging information 132 may indicate that at least one UE changes to one paging sub group. For example, network 120 may change the paging subgroup of UE 110 or allow changing the paging subgroup of UE 110 via dedicated signaling in, for example, paging DCI and/or PEI. For example, UE 110 may change to a paging subgroup, e.g., a second paging subgroup, based on the monitored paging DCI and/or PEI. In addition, if the subgroup signaling is via, for example, DCI, the UE may need to start receiving and buffering PDSCH carrying paging messages while decoding PDCCH carrying DCI to check whether its paging subgroup is paged. Dynamic adjustment of paging sub-groups based on UE 110 does not increase the associated signaling overhead and may further save energy as compared to the present embodiment.

After operation 150 of UE110 changing from the first paging sub group to the second paging sub group, in operation 165, UE110 may monitor at least one of paging information 132 and paging activity according to the second paging sub group, and in parallel in operation 170, network 120 may monitor paging activity of UE110 according to the second paging sub group.

When network 120 marks that UE110 belongs to the second paging subgroup, network 120 may page UE110 using the second paging subgroup. And similar to operation 135, in operation 165, when UE110 monitors at least one of paging information 132 and paging activity according to the second paging sub group, UE110 may monitor paging DCI or PEI, for example, according to the second paging sub group. If the second paging subgroup is not found to be paged at the PO by decoding PDCCH, e.g., carrying paging DCI or PEI, then the UE110 may not receive PDSCH, e.g., carrying paging message, thereby saving energy.

As described above, the network 120 may be, for example, a BS in a RAN or an AMF in a CN. For CN level paging, in case paging for each paging sub-group is configured by the BS, the AMF may provide paging sub-group identification or paging configuration information of the UE to the relevant BS together with paging messages to ensure that the BS pages the UE using the correct paging sub-group.

For RAN-level paging, in case paging for each paging subgroup is configured by the BS, the AMF may provide the paging subgroup identification or paging configuration information of the UE to the anchor BS of the UE along with the downlink data/paging message, and the anchor BS may forward it to a group of BSs in the RNA via an Xn interface for actual paging in the correct paging subgroup according to the RAN paging cycle configured for the UE. The AMF may learn that the UE is in RRC inactive state based on, for example, NG application protocol (NGAP) based status indication, which means that the AMF may not assume that the UE is in RRC connected mode.

For CN level or RAN level paging, the maintenance of the number related to network side paging subgroup changes may be done at the AMF. At least in the case of RAN-level paging, the RAN may notify the AMF of the occurrence of the paging and/or the occurrence of a network response to the UE paging response.

Paging subgroups are based on dynamic adjustment of UE110, which may cause UE110 to become asynchronous with network 120 due to, for example, erroneous paging reception. For example, the counter of consecutive paging cycles of non-paged UE110 counted at network 120 may be different from the counter of consecutive paging cycles of non-paged UE110 counted at network 120, or the counter of paging UE110 during the period counted by network 120 may be different from the counter of paged during the period counted at UE110, due to missing pages and/or missing page responses. This may result, for example, in network 120 marking that UE110 has changed to the second paging subgroup but user 110 is still in the first paging subgroup, or network 120 marking that user 110 is still in the first paging subgroup but UE110 has changed to the second paging subgroup. Some operations may enhance robustness against lost pages and/or lost page responses and maintain synchronization of UE110 and network 120 with respect to paging subgroups.

In some embodiments, if the counter of consecutive paging cycles that are not paged or the counter that are paged within a period of time, and the number corresponding to the second paging sub-group are within a certain difference, UE110 may monitor at least one of paging information 132 and paging activity according to the second paging sub-group in parallel with monitoring at least one of paging information 132 and paging activity according to the first paging sub-group before changing from the first paging sub-group to the second paging sub-group. For example, referring to fig. 1, prior to operation 150 of UE110 changing from the first paging sub-group to the second paging sub-group, in operation 145, UE110 may monitor at least one of paging information 132 and paging activity according to the second paging sub-group, e.g., if an unguided counter of consecutive paging cycles counted at UE110 or a counter paged during a period of time is within a certain difference from a threshold. The specific difference may be a specific number or a percentage of a specific number corresponding to the threshold value. For example, assuming that the threshold value triggering the condition of changing from the first paging sub group to the second paging sub group is 100 consecutive paging periods that are not paged, if the counter of consecutive paging periods that are not paged is less than 5 or 10, etc. than the threshold value, or the counter reaches 90% or 95% of the threshold value, etc., in this case, if the counter of consecutive paging periods that are not paged reaches 90 or 95, etc., UE110 may start to monitor at least one of paging information 132 and paging activity according to the second paging sub group, whereby UE110 may monitor at least one of paging information 132 and paging activity according to the second paging sub group in operation 145.

Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, UE 110 may monitor at least one of paging information 132 and paging activity according to the first paging sub group in parallel with monitoring at least one of paging information 132 and paging activity according to the second paging sub group for at least one paging cycle after changing from the first paging sub group to the second paging sub group. For example, referring to fig. 1, after operation 150 of UE 110 changing from the first paging sub group to the second paging sub group, in operation 155, UE 110 may monitor at least one of paging information 132 and paging activity according to the first paging sub group for an additional N paging cycles, and the value of N may be defined by network 120.

In some embodiments, UE110 may increment an unguided counter for successive paging cycles in at least one of a case where it is not paged during a paging cycle and a case where connection establishment or recovery fails during a paging cycle. For example, on the UE110 side, in case that the UE110 is not paged in one paging cycle, a counter of consecutive paging cycles that are not paged may be increased, and in case that a connection such as an RRC connection is not established or restored although the UE110 is paged in the paging cycle, a counter of consecutive paging cycles that are not paged may be increased. Accordingly, for example, on the network 120 side, in the case where the UE110 is not paged in the paging cycle, a counter of the continuous paging cycle of the non-paged UE110 may be increased, and in the case where the UE110 is paged in the paging cycle but a connection such as an RRC connection is not established or restored, a counter of the continuous paging cycle of the non-paged UE110 may also be increased.

In some embodiments, where a paging-based connection is established or restored within a time period, UE110 may increment a counter that was paged within the time period. For example, on the UE110 side, in case the UE110 is paged and a connection, e.g. a paging-based RRC connection, is established or restored accordingly, the counter paged in the time period may be increased. In the case where UE110 is paged but the connection is not established or restored, the counter may not be incremented. Thus, for example, on the network 120 side, in the event that the UE110 is paged and a connection, such as an RRC connection, based on the paging is established or restored accordingly, the counter of paging the UE110 may be incremented during that period. In the case of paging UE110 without establishing or restoring an RRC connection with UE110, the counter may not be incremented. For example, UE110 and network 120 may not count for the case where UE110 is responsible for initiating connection establishment/restoration due to uplink data, in which case no page triggers connection establishment/restoration.

Alternatively or additionally, referring to fig. 1, network 120 may send assistance information 175 to UE 110. In some embodiments, the auxiliary information 175 may be sent via DCI and/or PEI. In some embodiments, the assistance information 175 relates to the number of paging occurrences over an associated paging subgroup within a particular time. In related embodiments, the particular time may be configured by the network and/or determined based on the paging cycle. In some embodiments, if the assistance information 175 informs of the actual number of paging messages sent to a given paging sub group, the UE 110 may use the assistance information 175 to determine a false alarm counter. The actual page counter for UE 110 may be, for example, the number of times a response is received from UE 110 to a page at network 120. For example, the actual paging counter may be the number of times UE 110 is paged through network 120, counting on the network 120 side. And the actual paging false alarm counter of UE 110 may be, for example, the number of pages of the paging subgroup of UE 110 minus the actual paging counter of UE 110 at network 120.

In some embodiments, the assistance information 175 may include, for example, at least one of an actual paging counter and an actual paging false alarm counter. The actual paging counter and/or the actual paging false alarm counter may correspond to respective paging subgroups. Receiving the assistance information 175, the UE 110 may determine whether an actual paging counter and/or an actual paging false alarm counter of a paging sub group to which the UE 110 currently belongs corresponds to a target paging counter and/or a paging false alarm counter of the UE 110. For example, UE 110 may change to a paging subgroup that satisfies the target paging counter and/or the paging false alarm counter of UE 110 based on assistance information 175.

Fig. 2 shows a flowchart illustrating an example process of dynamic adjustment of paging subgroups in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As one example, the plurality of UEs may be divided into four paging subgroups identified with 1 through 4. Assume paging sub-group 1 is intended to contain UEs with the most active paging level and paging sub-group 4 is for the least active paging level of the UE. The paging level may be, for example, in terms of the number of consecutive paging cycles that are not paged, with a larger number representing a low paging level and a smaller number representing a high paging level. It is to be appreciated that a greater or lesser number of paging subgroups may be used, and alternatively, the paging level may be in terms of, for example, the number of times a UE is paged within a predetermined period of time.

For example, three thresholds may be applied to four subgroups. Threshold 12 may be used to change from paging subgroup 1 to paging subgroup 2, threshold 23 may be used to change from paging subgroup 2 to paging subgroup 3, and threshold 34 may be used to change from paging subgroup 3 to paging subgroup 4. The three thresholds may also define four number ranges corresponding to the four subgroups, respectively.

In operation 210, when the UE first enters RRC idle mode, the network may assign an initial or default paging subgroup identification X based on, for example, the UE identification. The network may provide a set of thresholds to the UE, such as threshold 12, threshold 23, and threshold 34, for changing between paging subgroups. These thresholds may be sent via RRC release messages or broadcast in system information. The UE may be, for example, UE 110 and the network may be, for example, network 120 in fig. 1.

In operation 215, the UE and the network may initialize a counter of the non-paging consecutive paging cycle to 0. The counter of the non-paging consecutive paging cycle may be a counter of the non-paging consecutive paging cycle from the UE side perspective, and the counter of the non-paging consecutive paging cycle may be a counter of the non-paging UE of the consecutive paging cycle from the network side perspective. The continuous paging cycle counter and the continuous paging cycle non-paging cycle UE counter herein may be collectively referred to as a continuous paging cycle non-paging counter.

In operation 220, the UE may monitor at least one of paging information and paging activity, and the network may monitor paging activity in parallel according to paging subgroup X.

In operation 225, the UE and the network may check whether the UE is paged at the PO. If the UE is not paged ("NO" branch of operation 225), a counter for the non-paging of consecutive paging cycles may be incremented in operation 230. Or if the RRC connection is not established or restored despite the network paging the UE at the PO, the no branch of operation 225 may be determined, which may enhance robustness against lost paging and/or lost paging responses, and thus in operation 230 the counter of consecutive paging cycles not being paged may be incremented.

In operation 235, the UE and the network may check whether paging subgroup X is the least active paging level, e.g., paging subgroup 4. If the UE is currently in paging subgroup 4 ("yes" branch of operation 235), the UE may remain in paging subgroup 4 in operation 240. And the UE and the network may monitor in operation 220 according to the paging sub group 4.

If the UE is not currently in paging subgroup 4 ("no" branch of operation 235), the UE and the network may compare the counter of non-paging for consecutive paging cycles to a threshold value for paging subgroup (x+1) from the current paging subgroup X to the next lower active paging level in operation 245. For example, if the UE is currently in paging sub group 2, the UE and the network may compare the counter of non-paging for consecutive paging cycles to a threshold 23.

If the non-paging counter of the consecutive paging cycle does not exceed the corresponding threshold in operation 245 ("no" branch of operation 245), the UE and the network may monitor according to paging subgroup X in operation 220.

If the non-paging counter of the consecutive paging cycle exceeds the corresponding threshold in operation 245 ("yes" branch of operation 245), then in operation 250 the UE may change from paging subgroup X to paging subgroup (x+1) and the network may flag this change. And thus in operation 220, the UE and the network may monitor according to the paging subgroup (x+1). Further, in operation 220, the UE may continuously monitor at least one additional paging cycle, e.g., N, from paging subgroup X, the N value being defined by the network, after changing from paging subgroup X to paging subgroup (x+1).

If the UE is paged (the "Yes" branch of operation 225), the UE and the network may check whether paging subgroup X is the most active paging level, e.g., paging subgroup 1. Alternatively, if an RRC connection is established or restored based on paging, the yes branch of operation 225 may be determined, which may enhance robustness against lost paging and/or lost paging responses.

If the UE is currently in paging sub group 1 ("yes" branch of operation 255), the UE may remain in paging sub group 1 in operation 260 when the UE next enters RRC idle mode. And the UE and the network may initialize an ungepping counter of consecutive paging cycles to 0 in operation 215.

If the UE is not currently in paging sub group 1 ("NO" branch of operation 255), then the UE may go to the next higher active paging level paging sub group (X-1) in operation 265 when the UE next enters RRC idle mode. And the UE and the network may initialize an ungepping counter of consecutive paging cycles to 0 in operation 215.

Fig. 3 shows a histogram illustrating an example of determining a threshold value for paging subgroup variation. Configuration information may be determined based at least in part on the monitored paging activity of the at least one UE. For example, at least one threshold included in the configuration information may be determined as a trade-off between the number of UEs in the paging sub-group and the similarity between the sub-group paging levels. If grouping UEs with similar paging probabilities results in many UEs in the paging subgroup, there may be a risk of the UEs receiving and decoding paging messages unnecessarily, since some other UEs in the paging subgroup are being paged. On the other hand, if an even distribution of UEs per subgroup is prioritized, the increased risk of paging false alarms may be due to the fact that UEs with very different paging levels may be grouped together.

As shown in fig. 3, in order to select a set of compromised thresholds, a histogram of the distance between two consecutive paging messages for each UE may be used, for example. In the histogram shown in fig. 3, the axis of abscissa (x-axis) refers to the number of POs or paging cycles between two consecutive paging messages of each UE (e.g., UE 110 and other individual UEs in fig. 1), which may define the distance between two POs containing paging messages of each UE, such as UE 110 and other individual UEs. The vertical axis (y-axis) of the histogram defines the probability of occurrence of a particular distance (i.e., the number of paging occasions) in percent. For example, distance 50 on the x-axis occurs at about 0.07% of the time, while distance 20 occurs at about 0.15% of the time.

Values between two "peaks", e.g., values at "valleys", such as 14, 30, and 75, may be selected as thresholds for paging subgroup changes for the UE. These three thresholds may divide the UE into four paging subgroups 1 to 4. Assume paging subgroup 1 contains UEs with the most active paging level and paging subgroup 4 is for the least active paging level UEs. According to the example shown in fig. 3, the threshold 12 to change from paging subgroup 1 to paging subgroup 2 may be 14, the threshold 23 to change from paging subgroup 2 to paging subgroup 3 may be 30, and the threshold to change from paging subgroup 3 to paging subgroup 4 may be 75.

The three thresholds may also define four number ranges corresponding to the four subgroups 1 to 4, respectively. For example, paging subgroup 1 may include UEs with consecutive paging cycle non-paging counters in the range of values 0 to 14, paging subgroup 2 may include UEs with consecutive paging cycle non-paging counters in the range of values 15 to 30, paging subgroup 3 may include UEs with consecutive paging cycle non-paging counters in the range of values 31 to 75, and paging subgroup 4 may include UEs with consecutive paging cycle non-paging counter number exceeding 75.

In some embodiments, a network, such as network 120 in fig. 1, may decide to allocate two paging subgroups sharing a threshold. For example, if there are many high paging-level UEs, sub-groups 1 and 2 may be assigned the same threshold. The UE may select between the two subgroups 1 and 2, for example, based on whether the identity of the UE is odd or even.

For example, if the network considers the paging sub group to be unbalanced in number of UEs, or if the newly calculated at least one threshold is far different from the old threshold, the at least one threshold may be dynamically adjusted by the network and transmitted to the UE. This may be achieved by periodically recalculating the histogram and at least one threshold and updating them when certain conditions are met.

Fig. 4 shows a flowchart illustrating an example process of dynamic adjustment of at least one threshold in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. This example process may be implemented at a network, such as network 120 in fig. 1. 1. As shown in fig. 4, in operation 410, the network may determine an initial at least one threshold, which may be implemented with reference to the description with respect to fig. 3.

In operation 415, the network may send at least one threshold to the UE. The transmission of the at least one threshold may be via an RRC release message or by broadcast.

In operation 420, the network may track counters of non-paging UEs for consecutive paging cycles, respectively, during the duration. And a timer may be used in operation 425 to determine if the duration has elapsed.

If the duration has not elapsed and thus the timer has not expired in operation 425 ("no" branch of operation 425), the network may continue to keep track of the counter of non-paging UEs for successive paging cycles in operation 420. In operation 425, if the duration has elapsed and thus the timer expires ("yes" branch of operation 425), the network may calculate at least one new threshold from a new histogram created based on the distance between two consecutive pages of each UE, which may be implemented with reference to the description of fig. 3.

In operation 435, the network may compare the difference between the at least one new threshold and the corresponding at least one old threshold to a certain degree. The certain degree may be a certain percentage of the corresponding at least one old threshold, e.g. 10%, 20%, etc. If the difference has not exceeded the certain level in operation 435, the network may continue to track the counters of non-paged UEs for successive paging cycles, respectively, and run a timer from zero in operation 420.

If the difference exceeds the certain level in operation 435, the network may adjust at least one old threshold to at least one new threshold and transmit the at least one new adjusted threshold to the UE in operation 415.

Simulations may be performed to evaluate the performance of embodiments of the present disclosure. In the simulation, there are 100 UEs and 10 different UE paging probabilities, the intervals are 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.5%, 1%, 2%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 30%, so 10 UEs correspond to one probability. 100 UEs are divided into 4 paging subgroups 1 to 4. The threshold is determined according to the example shown in fig. 3, with the threshold 12 changed from paging subgroup 1 to paging subgroup 2 being 14, the threshold 23 changed from paging subgroup 2 to paging subgroup 3 being 30, and the threshold 34 changed from paging subgroup 3 to paging subgroup being 75 for paging subgroup 4. The procedure proceeds for 10000 paging cycles.

As a baseline, assume that the UE is randomly assigned a subgroup identification based on the UE's identification and that the paging subgroup is static during simulation. By "static" it is meant that the UE does not change between paging subgroups.

An upper bound is created to serve as a reference for the evaluation and it represents the minimum paging false alarm that can be achieved. In this case, the UEs are assigned to paging subgroups based on known UE paging probabilities. Thus, in the simulation, 25 UEs of the most active paging level are assigned to paging subgroup 1, 25 UEs of the next active paging level are assigned to paging subgroup 2, the next 25 UEs are assigned to paging subgroup 3, and 25 UEs of the lowest active paging level are assigned to paging subgroup 4. This case is also assumed to be static during the simulation.

Fig. 5 shows a bar graph illustrating a comparison of the percentage of paging false alarms per paging cycle in the simulation. As shown in fig. 5, the UE suffers from a 80.24% of the time paging false alarm when paging subgroups are randomly allocated. The upper case provides a 47.51% paging false alarm, exhibiting an increase of 40.8% ((80.24-47.51)/80.24) compared to the random subpacket. This embodiment provides an increment of approximately 38% ((80.24-49.96)/80.24) compared to random grouping, and not far from the increment provided by the upper limit, which shows the maximum achievable increment.

Fig. 6 shows a bar graph illustrating a comparison of the paging false alarm percentages for each paging cycle and each paging subgroup in the simulation. In the upper case, the paging false alarm is reduced in the 4 paging subgroups and the reduction is more significant for subgroups 3 and 4. This is due to the fact that: by grouping UEs with lower probability of being paged, the risk of receiving a paging false alarm is greatly reduced.

In this embodiment, UEs with lower active paging levels (allocated in paging sub-groups 2, 3 and 4) have much lower paging false alarms, but at the cost of increased paging false alarms for paging sub-group 1. The overall paging false alarm is significantly reduced.

Fig. 7 shows the number of UEs in the paging sub group in the simulation according to an embodiment. The number of UEs in paging subgroup 1 averages approximately 45, the number of UEs in paging subgroup 2 averages approximately 10, the number of UEs in paging subgroup 3 averages approximately 15, and the number of UEs in paging subgroup 4 averages approximately 30. The paging sub group is shown to be balanced in number of UEs according to this embodiment.

Fig. 8 shows a flowchart illustrating an example method 800 for dynamic adjustment of paging subgroups in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The example method 800 may be performed, for example, at an apparatus such as the UE 110.

Referring to fig. 8, an example method 800 may include an operation 810 of monitoring at least one of paging information and paging activity according to a first paging sub group, an operation 820 of changing from the first paging sub group to a second paging sub group based at least in part on the monitored paging activity, and an operation 830 of monitoring at least one of paging information and paging activity according to a second paging sub group.

For details of operation 810, reference is made to the above description of at least operation 135 and operation 220, and a repetitive description thereof is omitted herein.

For details of operation 820, reference is made to the above description regarding at least operation 150 and operation 250, and a repetitive description thereof is omitted herein.

For details of operation 830, reference is made to the above description of at least operation 165 and operation 220, and a repeated description thereof is omitted here.

In one embodiment, the example method 800 may further include an operation of receiving configuration information for a plurality of paging subgroups including a first paging subgroup and a second paging subgroup, and the operation of changing from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup may be further based at least in part on the configuration information. For more details, reference is made at least to the description above regarding the configuration information 130 and the operations 150 and 250, and a duplicate description is omitted herein.

In one embodiment, the configuration information may include an association between paging activities and a plurality of paging subgroups, the paging activities may include at least one range of numbers of consecutive paging cycles that are not paged or at least one range of numbers that are paged within a time period, and the at least one range of numbers may correspond to at least one paging subgroup of the plurality of paging subgroups. For more details, reference is made to the above description about at least the configuration information 130 and fig. 3, and a repetitive description thereof is omitted herein.

In one embodiment, the example method 800 may further include an operation of incrementing a counter of consecutive paging cycles that are not paged in at least one of a case that they are not paged in a paging cycle and a case that connection establishment or recovery fails in a paging cycle. For more details, reference is made to the above description of at least operation 135 and operation 230, and a repetitive description thereof is omitted herein.

In one embodiment, the example method 800 may further include the operation of increasing a counter that is paged during a time period if the connection is being paged during the time period or if the connection is being established or restored during the time period. For more details, reference is made to the above description of at least operation 135, and a repeated description thereof is omitted herein.

In one embodiment, the example method 800 may further include the following operations: if the consecutive paging cycle counter that is not paged or the counter that is paged within the time period has a certain difference from the range of numbers corresponding to the second paging subgroup, at least one of paging information and paging activity is monitored according to the second paging subgroup in parallel with at least one of monitoring paging information and paging activity according to the first paging subgroup before changing from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup. For more details, reference is made to the above description of at least operations 135 and 145, and a repetitive description thereof is omitted herein.

In one embodiment, the example method 800 may further include the following operations: after changing from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup, at least one of paging information and paging activity is monitored according to the first paging subgroup in parallel with at least one of monitoring paging information and paging activity according to the second paging subgroup for at least one paging cycle. For more details, reference is made to the above description of at least operations 155 and 165, and a repetitive description thereof is omitted herein.

In one embodiment, the paging information may include a paging indication, and the example method 800 may further include an operation of determining at least one paging subgroup to be paged based on the monitored paging indication. For more details, reference is made to the above description at least regarding the paging information 132, and a repetitive description thereof is omitted here.

In one embodiment, the paging information may include a paging indication, and the example method 800 may further include an operation to change to a paging subgroup based on the monitored paging indication. For more details, reference is made to the above description at least regarding the paging information 132, and a repeated description thereof is omitted herein.

In one embodiment, the example method 800 may further include an operation of receiving assistance information including at least one of an actual paging counter and an actual paging false alarm counter. For more details, reference is made to at least the above description of the auxiliary information 175, and a repetitive description thereof is omitted here.

Fig. 9 shows a flowchart illustrating an example method 900 for dynamic adjustment of paging subgroups in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The example method 900 may be performed, for example, at a device included in, for example, the network 120.

Referring to fig. 9, the example method 900 may include an operation 910 of monitoring paging activity of at least one user device according to a first paging sub-group, an operation 920 of marking a change of the at least one user device from the first paging sub-group to a second paging sub-group based at least in part on the monitored paging activity of the at least one user device, and an operation 930 of monitoring paging activity of the at least one user device according to the second paging sub-group.

For details of operation 910, reference is made to the above description of at least operation 140 and operation 220, and a repeated description thereof is omitted here.

For details of operation 920, reference is made to the above description of at least operation 160 and operation 250, and a repeated description thereof is omitted herein.

For details of operation 930, reference is made to the above description of at least operation 170 and operation 220, and a repeated description thereof is omitted here.

In one embodiment, the example method 900 may further include determining configuration information for a plurality of paging subgroups including a first paging subgroup and a second paging subgroup, transmitting the determined configuration information to at least one user device, and transmitting paging information to the at least one user device according to a paging subgroup of the plurality of paging subgroups marked for the at least one user device, and may further change from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup based at least in part on the configuration information marking. For more details, reference is made to the above description regarding at least operation 125, paging information 132, configuration information 130, and operation 160 and operation 250, and a repeated description thereof is omitted herein.

In one embodiment, the configuration information may include an association between paging activities and a plurality of paging subgroups, the paging activities may include at least one range of numbers of consecutive paging cycles that are not paged or at least one range of numbers that are paged within a time period, and the at least one range of numbers may correspond to at least one paging subgroup of the plurality of paging subgroups. For more details, reference is made to the above description about at least the configuration information 130 and fig. 1, and a repetitive description thereof is omitted herein.

In one embodiment, the configuration information may be determined based at least in part on the monitored paging activity of the at least one user device. For more details, reference is made to the above description about at least the configuration information 130 and fig. 3 and 4, and a repetitive description thereof is omitted herein.

In one embodiment, the paging information may include a paging indication indicating that at least one paging sub group is paged. For more details, reference is made to the above description at least regarding the paging information 132, and a repetitive description thereof is omitted here.

In one embodiment, the paging information may include a paging indication that indicates that at least one user device changes to a paging subgroup. For more details, reference is made to the above description at least regarding the paging information 132, and a repeated description thereof is omitted herein.

In one embodiment, the example method 900 may further include an operation of transmitting assistance information including at least one of an actual paging counter and an actual paging false alarm counter to at least one user equipment. For more details, reference is made to at least the above description of the auxiliary information 175, and a repetitive description thereof is omitted here.

Fig. 10 shows a block diagram of an apparatus for dynamic adjustment of paging subgroups in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, the apparatus may be at least a portion of UE 110 in the above example.

As shown in fig. 10, the example apparatus 1000 may include at least one processor 1010 and at least one memory 1020 that may include computer program code 1030. The at least one memory 1020 and the computer program code 1030 may be configured to, with the at least one processor 1010, cause the apparatus 1000 to perform at least the example method 800 described above.

In various example embodiments, the at least one processor 1010 in the example apparatus 1000 may include, but is not limited to, at least one hardware processor including: at least one microprocessor, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU); a portion of at least one hardware processor; and any other suitable special purpose processor such as those developed based on, for example, field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). In addition, the at least one processor 1010 may also include at least one other circuit or element not shown in fig. 10.

In various example embodiments, the at least one memory 1020 in the example apparatus 1000 may include various forms of at least one storage medium, such as volatile memory and/or non-volatile memory. Volatile memory can include, for example, but is not limited to, random Access Memory (RAM), cache memory, and the like. The non-volatile memory may include, but is not limited to, for example, read Only Memory (ROM), hard disk, flash memory, and the like. Further, at least memory 820 may include, but is not limited to, an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination thereof.

Furthermore, in various example embodiments, the example apparatus 1000 may also include at least one other circuit, element, and interface, such as at least one I/O interface, at least one antenna element, and so forth.

In various example embodiments, the circuits, components, elements, and interfaces comprising the at least one processor 1010 and the at least one memory 1020 in the example apparatus 1000 may be coupled together in any suitable manner, e.g., electrically, magnetically, optically, electromagnetically, etc., via any suitable connection, including, but not limited to, buses, crossbars, wiring, and/or wireless lines.

It is understood that the structure of the apparatus on the UE 110 side is not limited to the above-described example apparatus 1000.

Fig. 11 shows a block diagram of an apparatus for dynamic adjustment of paging subgroups in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, the apparatus may be at least a portion of the network 120 in the above example.

As shown in fig. 11, an example apparatus 1100 may include at least one processor 1110 and at least one memory 1120 that may include computer program code 1130. The at least one memory 1120 and the computer program code 1130 may be configured to, with the at least one processor 1110, cause the apparatus 1100 to perform at least one of the above-described example methods 900.

In various example embodiments, the at least one processor 1110 in the example apparatus 1100 may include, but is not limited to, at least one hardware processor comprising: at least one microprocessor, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU); a portion of at least one hardware processor; and any other suitable special purpose processor such as those developed based on, for example, field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). In addition, the at least one processor 1110 may also include at least one other circuit or element not shown in fig. 11.

In various example embodiments, the at least one memory 1120 in the example apparatus 1100 may include various forms of at least one storage medium, such as volatile memory and/or non-volatile memory. Volatile memory can include, for example, but is not limited to, random Access Memory (RAM), cache memory, and the like. The non-volatile memory may include, but is not limited to, for example, read Only Memory (ROM), hard disk, flash memory, and the like. Further, at least memory 1120 may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination thereof.

Furthermore, in various example embodiments, the example apparatus 1100 may also include at least one other circuit, element, and interface, such as at least one I/O interface, at least one antenna element, and so forth.

In various example embodiments, the circuits, components, elements, and interfaces in the example apparatus 1100 including the at least one processor 1110 and the at least one memory 1120 may be coupled together via any suitable connection including, but not limited to, buses, crossbars, wires, and/or wireless lines, in any suitable manner, such as electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, etc.

It is to be appreciated that the structure of the network-side device 120 is not limited to the example device 1100 described above.

Fig. 12 shows a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for dynamic adjustment of paging subgroups in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, the device may be at least a portion of UE 110 in the above examples.

As shown in fig. 12, the example apparatus 1200 may include means 1210 for performing operation 810 of the example method 800, means 1220 for performing operation 820 of the example method 800, and means 1230 for performing operation 830 of the example method 800. In one or more other example embodiments, at least one I/O interface, at least one antenna element, etc. may also be included in the example device 1200.

In some example embodiments, examples of the apparatus in example apparatus 1200 may include circuitry. For example, an example of apparatus 1210 may include circuitry configured to perform operation 810 of example method 800, an example of apparatus 1220 may include circuitry configured to perform operation 820 of example method 800, and an example of apparatus 1230 may include circuitry configured to perform operation 830 of example method 800. In some example embodiments, examples of the device may also include software modules and any other suitable functional entities.

Fig. 13 shows a block diagram of an apparatus for dynamic adjustment of paging subgroups in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, the device may be at least part of the network 120 in the above example.

As shown in fig. 13, the example apparatus 1300 may include means 1310 for performing operation 910 of the example method 900, means 1320 for performing operation 920 of the example method 900, and means 1330 for performing operation 930 of the example method 900. In one or more other example embodiments, at least one I/O interface, at least one antenna element, etc., may also be included in the example device 1300.

In some example embodiments, examples of the apparatus in example device 1300 may include circuitry. For example, an example of apparatus 1310 may include circuitry configured to perform operation 910 of example method 900, an example of apparatus 1320 may include circuitry configured to perform operation 920 of example method 900, and an example of apparatus 1330 may include circuitry configured to perform operation 930 of example method 900. In some example embodiments, examples of the apparatus may also include software modules and any other suitable functional entities.

The term "circuitry" throughout this disclosure may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) Pure hardware circuit implementations (such as implementations in analog and/or digital circuits only); (b) A combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (as applicable) (i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuitry and software/firmware and (ii) a hardware processor and software (including digital signal processors), software, and any portion of memory, that cooperate to cause a device (such as a mobile phone or server) to perform various functions; and (c) hardware circuitry and/or a processor, such as a microprocessor or a portion of a microprocessor, that requires software (e.g., firmware) to operate, but which may not occur when operation is not required. This definition of circuitry applies to one or all uses of this term in this disclosure, including one or all uses in any claims. As a further example, as used in this disclosure, the term circuit also encompasses hardware-only circuits or processor(s) or implementations of hardware circuits or portions of processors and their (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuitry also encompasses a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit or server for a mobile device, a cellular network equipment, or a similar integrated circuit in other computing or network devices if applicable to the claim elements.

Another example embodiment may relate to computer program code or instructions that may cause an apparatus to perform at least the methods described above. Another example embodiment may relate to a computer-readable medium having such computer program code or instructions stored thereon. In some embodiments, such computer-readable media may include at least one storage medium in various forms, such as volatile memory and/or non-volatile memory. Volatile memory can include, for example, but is not limited to, RAM, cache, and the like. The non-volatile memory may include, but is not limited to, ROM, hard disk, flash memory, etc. Nonvolatile memory may also include, but is not limited to, an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination thereof.

Throughout the specification and claims, the words "comprise," "include," "including," and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense, rather than an exclusive or exhaustive sense, unless the context clearly requires otherwise; that is, in the sense of "including but not limited to". As generally used herein, the term "coupled" refers to two or more elements that may be connected directly or through one or more intervening elements. Also, the term "coupled" as generally used herein means that two or more elements may be connected directly, or through one or more intervening elements. Furthermore, the words "herein," "above," "below," and words of similar import, when used in this specification, shall refer to this application as a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. Where the context allows, words in the specification using the singular or plural number may also include the plural or singular number, respectively. The word "or" refers to a list comprising two or more items, which word covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any item in the list, all items in the list, and any combination of items in the list.

Furthermore, conditional language, such as "may," "potentially," "possible," "for example," "illustrated," "example," etc., as used herein is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include and other embodiments do not include certain features, elements, and/or states unless specifically stated otherwise or otherwise understood in the context of use. Thus, the language of such conditions is not generally intended to imply that features, elements, and/or states are in any way necessary for one or more embodiments, or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding whether or not an author input or prompting is included or is to be performed in any particular embodiment.

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

Claims

1. A method for communication, comprising:

Monitoring at least one of paging information and paging activity in accordance with the first paging subgroup;

Changing from the first paging subgroup to a second paging subgroup based at least in part on the monitored paging activity; and

Monitoring at least one of paging information and paging activity according to the second paging subgroup;

the first paging subgroup and the second paging subgroup correspond to paging probabilities of user equipments in the respective paging subgroup;

Wherein configuration information of a plurality of paging subgroups including the first paging subgroup and the second paging subgroup is received,

The change from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup is further based at least in part on the configuration information;

Wherein the configuration information includes an association between the paging activity and the plurality of paging subgroups, and the paging activity includes at least one range of numbers of consecutive paging cycles that are not paged or at least one range of numbers that are paged within a time period, the at least one range of numbers corresponding to at least one paging subgroup of the plurality of paging subgroups;

when the counter of the non-paged continuous paging cycle of the first paging subgroup or the counter paged in the time period exceeds a threshold value and enters a range of the number of the non-paged continuous paging cycles corresponding to the second paging subgroup or the range of the number paged in the time period, a condition for triggering the paging subgroup to change from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup is satisfied.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

In the event of at least one of an unguided condition within a paging cycle or a failure to establish or recover a connection within the paging cycle, a counter of consecutive paging cycles that are not paged is incremented.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in the event that a connection is being paged during a time period or established or restored during the time period, a counter that is paged during the time period is incremented.

4. A method as claimed in claim 2 or 3, further comprising:

if the counter of the non-paged consecutive paging cycle or the counter paged during the period of time is within a certain difference from the number corresponding to the second paging subgroup, then monitoring at least one of the paging information and the paging activity according to the second paging subgroup in parallel with monitoring the at least one of the paging information and the paging activity according to the first paging subgroup before changing from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup.

5. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:

after changing from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup, at least one of the paging information and the paging activity is monitored according to the first paging subgroup in parallel with at least one of the paging information and the paging activity being monitored according to the second paging subgroup in at least one paging cycle.

6. The method of any of claims 1-3, wherein the paging information comprises a paging indication, and the method further comprises:

at least one paged paging subgroup is determined based on the monitored paging indication.

7. The method of any of claims 1-3, wherein the paging information comprises a paging indication, and the method further comprises:

Changing to a paging subgroup based on the monitored paging indication.

8. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:

Auxiliary information including at least one of an actual paging counter and an actual paging false alarm counter is received.

9. A method for communication, comprising:

Monitoring paging activity of at least one user equipment according to the first paging subgroup;

Marking a change of the at least one user equipment from the first paging subgroup to a second paging subgroup based at least in part on the monitored paging activity of the at least one user equipment; and

Monitoring paging activity of the at least one user equipment according to the second paging subgroup;

Wherein configuration information for a plurality of paging subgroups including the first paging subgroup and the second paging subgroup is determined;

transmitting the determined configuration information to the at least one user equipment, and

Transmitting paging information to the at least one user equipment according to a paging subgroup of the plurality of paging subgroups marked for the at least one user equipment,

The change in the flag from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup is further based at least in part on the configuration information;

When the user equipment monitors that the counter of the non-paged continuous paging cycle of the first paging subgroup or the counter paged in the time period exceeds a threshold value and enters a range of the number of the non-paged continuous paging cycles corresponding to the second paging subgroup or the range of the number paged in the time period, a condition for triggering the paging subgroup to change from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup is satisfied.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the configuration information is determined based at least in part on the monitored paging activity of the at least one user equipment.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the paging information comprises a paging indication indicating at least one paging subgroup being paged.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the paging information comprises a paging indication that indicates at least one user equipment to change to a paging subgroup.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

And transmitting auxiliary information comprising at least one of an actual paging counter and an actual paging false alarm counter to the at least one user equipment.

14. An apparatus for communication, comprising:

at least one processor; and

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

Monitoring at least one of paging information and paging activity in accordance with the second paging subgroup,

Wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:

configuration information for a plurality of paging subgroups including the first paging subgroup and the second paging subgroup is received,

The change from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup is further based at least in part on the configuration information; wherein the configuration information includes an association between the paging activity and the plurality of paging subgroups, and the paging activity includes at least one range of numbers of consecutive paging cycles that are not paged or at least one range of numbers that are paged within a time period, the at least one range of numbers corresponding to at least one paging subgroup of the plurality of paging subgroups;

When the counter of the non-paged continuous paging cycle of the first paging subgroup or the counter paged in the time period exceeds a threshold value and enters a range of the number of non-paged continuous paging cycles corresponding to the second paging subgroup or the range of the number paged in the time period, a condition for triggering the paging subgroup to change from the first paging subgroup to the second paging subgroup is satisfied.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:

17. The apparatus of claim 15 or 16, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:

18. The apparatus of any of claims 14 to 16, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:

19. The apparatus of any of claims 14 to 16, wherein the paging information comprises a paging indication, and the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:

20. The apparatus of any of claims 14 to 16, wherein the paging information comprises a paging indication, and the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:

Changing to a paging subgroup based on the monitored paging indication.

21. The apparatus of any of claims 14 to 16, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:

22. An apparatus for communication, comprising:

at least one processor; and

determining configuration information for a plurality of paging subgroups including the first paging subgroup and the second paging subgroup;

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:

the configuration information is determined based at least in part on the monitored paging activity of the at least one user equipment.

24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the paging information comprises a paging indication indicating at least one paging subgroup being paged.

25. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the paging information comprises a paging indication that indicates at least one user equipment to change to a paging subgroup.

26. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:

27. An apparatus for communication, comprising:

means for monitoring at least one of paging information and paging activity according to a first paging subgroup;

means for changing from the first paging subgroup to a second paging subgroup based at least in part on the monitored paging activity; and

Means for monitoring at least one of paging information and paging activity in accordance with the second paging subgroup;

28. An apparatus for communication, comprising:

Means for monitoring paging activity of at least one user equipment according to a first paging subgroup;

means for marking a change of the at least one user equipment from the first paging subgroup to a second paging subgroup based at least in part on the monitored paging activity of the at least one user equipment; and

Means for monitoring paging activity of the at least one user equipment in accordance with the second paging subgroup;

29. A computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform the process according to any one of claims 1 to 8 or any one of claims 9 to 13.