WO2013067677A1

WO2013067677A1 - Methods, devices and computer program products for enhanced scheduling request transmission to improve resource efficiency

Info

Publication number: WO2013067677A1
Application number: PCT/CN2011/081884
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chunyan Gao; Jing HAN; Wei Bai; Haiming Wang
Original assignee: Renesas Mobile Corporation
Priority date: 2011-11-07
Filing date: 2011-11-07
Publication date: 2013-05-16

Abstract

Several procedures for restricting transmission of scheduling requests are proposed. According to one procedure, a base period for sending scheduling requests to a network control element is determined based on a base scheduling request configuration parameter, and determining a final period for sending the scheduling requests is determined based on the base period and an additional scheduling request configuration parameter. According to another procedure, triggering of a scheduling request is restricted until the amount of data in a buffer for data transmission exceeds a predetermined threshold. According to a further procedure, transmission of scheduling requests is restricted based on the cycle for discontinuing reception.

Description

METHODS, DEVICES AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR ENHANCED SCHEDULING REQUEST TRANSMISSION TO IMPROVE

RESOURCE EFFICIENCY

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to methods, devices and computer program products for enhanced scheduling request transmission to improve resource efficiency.

Background

The following meanings for the abbreviations used in this specification apply:

ARQ Automatic Repeat Request

BSR Buffer Status Report

CQI Channel Quality Indicator

DL Downlink

DRX Discontinuous Reception

eNB Enhanced Node B. Name for Node B in LTE

ID Identity

LCID Logical Channel ID

LTE Long Term Evolution

LTE-A Long Term Evolution Advanced

M2M Machine to Machine

MTC Machine Type Communication

PHICH Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel .

PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel

PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

RACH Random Access Channel

RAN Radio Access Network

SI Study Item SR Scheduling Request

TDM Time Division Multiplexing

UE User Equipment

UL Uplink

UL-SCH Uplink Synchronization Channel

Embodiments of the invention relate to LTE-Advanced system, which will be part of 3GPP LTE Rel-11. More specifically, it is focused on small data transmission, as applied for example in MTC (Machine Type Communication) and enhanced diverse data transmission topics in LTE-Advanced system.

A objective to achieve small data transmissions is to provide more efficient management of system resources (e.g . UL control channel resources) for connected mode UEs that are temporarily inactive, facilitating potentially larger user populations in connected mode.

One important use case of the UEs which will be temporarily inactive is MTC UEs. MTC (Machine Type Communication), also called M2M (Machine to Machine), means machine-to-machine communication, thus automated data exchange between machines. In this connection, RAN overload should be avoided in order to avoiding to protect normal legacy UEs and RAN efficiency should be improved when huge number of MTC devices are accessed. Small data transmission is one of defined features of MTC, and this is also one of prioritized features/requirements. Besides the small size, another feature of the traffic is that it is intermitted, i.e., there can be large time interval between two transmissions. It has been shown that in such a case, reserved UL control resource, e.g ., SR resource and CQI resource for such UEs can be a waste.

As specified in TR 36.213, currently the SR resource is configured by assigning a period and one subframe offset, and this is determined by the RRC parameter sr-Configlndex. The period can be 1ms, 2ms, 5ms, 10ms, 20ms, 40ms or 80ms as shown in table 1 below (representing table 10.1.5- 1 from TR 36.213 V10.3.0 (2011-09)). Table 1 : UE-specific SR periodicity and subframe offset configuration

For UEs with some intermitted traffic with large arrival interval, like background traffic and IM traffic, the SR period can be set large. However, even with large SR period, e.g ., 80ms, the usage rate of SR is still low for some traffic type.

Moreover, the Scheduling Request (SR) is used for requesting UL-SCH resources for new transmission, then it means, for some traffic type, where the packet is very small and the traffic arrives discontinuously, the SR is required each time the data arrives. In case, no SR available in corresponding subframe, RACH will be triggered to send the request. Considering that the packet is small, such requests can be seen as very inefficient. And in case of many MTC devices in the system with such traffic, the RACH will be overloaded.

Both of the two problems motivate the enhancement to current SR design . Summary

The present invention addresses such situation and proposes in exemplary embodiments, new solutions for enhancement of SR transmissions to improve the resource efficiency.

Various aspects of examples of the invention are set out in the claims.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a base period for sending scheduling requests to a network control element is determined based on a base scheduling request configuration parameter, and a final period for sending the scheduling requests is determined based on the base period and an additional scheduling request configuration parameter. According to a second aspect of the present invention, an amount of data in a buffer for data transmission is checked, and triggering of a scheduling request is restricted until the amount of data in the buffer for data transmission exceeds a predetermined threshold. According to a third aspect of the present invention, discontinuing reception is performed, wherein a cycle for discontinuing reception is defined, the cycle including an inactive time and an active time, and transmission of scheduling requests is restricted based on the cycle for discontinuing reception.

Hence, according to aspects of the present invention, transmission of scheduling requests is restricted in certain conditions.

Thus, according to embodiments of the present invention, SR transmissions are enhanced, so that the resource efficiency improved. In addition, the proposed solutions also enable UE power saving.

Brief description of drawings For a more complete understanding of example embodiments of the present invention, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which :

Fig . 1 schematically illustrates a UE according to a first embodiment of the present invention,

Fig . 2 shows a flow chart of a process performed by the UE according to the first embodiment,

Fig . 3 shows a flow chart of a further process performed by the UE according to the first embodiment, Fig . 4 schematically illustrates a eNB according to the first embodiment of the present invention,

Fig . 5 shows a flow chart of a process performed by the eNB according to the first embodiment,

Fig . 6 schematically illustrates a UE according to a second embodiment of the present invention,

Fig . 7 shows a flow chart of a process performed by the UE according to the second embodiment,

Fig . 8 schematically illustrates a eNB according to the second embodiment of the present invention, Fig . 9 shows a flow chart of a process performed by the eNB according to the second embodiment, Fig . 10 schematically illustrates a UE according to a third embodiment of the present invention,

Fig . 11 shows a flow chart of a process performed by the UE according to the third embodiment, and

Figs. 12 to 14 shows some example for the relationship between a DRX cycle and SR transmission according to the third embodiment.

Description of exemplary embodiments

Exemplary aspects of the invention will be described herein below. It is to be noted that the following exemplary description refers to an environment of the LTE system (long term evolution) and/or local area networks thereof. However, it is to be understood that this serves for explanatory purposes only. Other systems differing from the LTE system can be adopted .

Fig . 1 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a user equipment (UE) 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is noted that the UE, and the corresponding apparatus according to the embodiment may consist only of parts of the UE, so that the apparatus may be installed in an UE, for example. Moreover, also the UE is only an example and may be replaced by another suitable network element.

The UE 1 according to this embodiment comprises a processor 11 and a memory 12. The memory comprises a computer program, wherein the memory 12 and the computer program are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to perform several operations as described below by referring to Fig. 2. Optionally, the UE 1 may also comprise an interface 13 for providing connections to other network elements. Moreover, the processor 11, the memory 12 and the interface 13 may be interconnected by a suitable connection 14, e.g ., a bus or the like. Moreover, it is noted that the apparatus may comprise more than one processor, more than one memory and/or more than one interface, if this is suitable for a particular structure.

Fig . 2 shows a flow chart for describing the basic operations according to the first embodiment, which may be performed by the UE 1 shown in Fig 1. In particular, in step S21 a base period for sending scheduling requests to a network control element based on a base scheduling request configuration parameter is determined . In step S22, a final period for sending the scheduling requests based on the base period and an additional scheduling request configuration parameter is determined . That is, the base period for the scheduling requests (SR) (such as the SR periodicity described above in connection with table 1) is determined according to a base scheduling request (SR) configuration parameter such as the SR configuration index I_SR described above in connection with table 1. Based on this base period and a new additional scheduling request configuration parameter, a final period is determined .

Optionally, in similar way also a scheduling request subframe offset may be determined based on the additional scheduling request configuration parameter, as shown in the flow chart of Fig . 3. In step S31, a base scheduling request subframe offset based on the base scheduling request configuration parameter, and in step S32, a final scheduling request subframe offset is determined based on the base scheduling request subframe offset and the additional scheduling request configuration parameter.

This is described in the following in more detail according to a specific example of the first embodiment. As described above, according to the first embodiment, the SR period is extended by introducing one new parameter, which may be defined as Γ.

Based on the new parameter of and the original SR index, the period of SR transmission and the subframe offset can be determined as following :

- New period P'= N * P where P is the original period derived from I_SR (i .e., the original period as indicated as "SR periodicity" in table 1). - New subframe offset N'_offset= (P_offset)*P+N_offset, where N_offset is the original offset derived from I_SR (i .e., the original offset as indicated as "SR subframe offset" or "N_0FFSET,SR" in table 1).

N and P_offset are determined by the parameter Γ, e.g ., based on the following table 2 :

Table 2. Mapping from parameter to extended period and offset

It is noted that the base scheduling request configuration parameter (e.g . ISR described above may be defined for a plurality of apparatuses (UEs) in common, and the additional scheduling request configuration parameter (e.g ., the parameter Γ described above) may defined for each apparatus individually. In this way, one SR resource with current configuration (i .e., based on the SR configuration index I_SR only) can be shared by a plurality of apparatuses (UEs) . The configuration can be effected by an eNB, for example, or by another suitable network control element as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

Fig . 4 shows an eNB 5 as an example for an apparatus which carries out the SR configuration . The eNB 4 according to this embodiment comprises a processor 41 and a memory 42. The memory comprises a computer program, wherein the memory 42 and the computer program are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to perform several operations as described below by referring to Fig . 5. Optionally, similar as in case of the UE 1 shown in Fig . 1, the eNB 4 may also comprise an interface 43 for providing connections to other network elements. Moreover, the processor 41, the memory 42 and the interface 43 may be inter-connected by a suitable connection 44, e.g ., a bus or the like. Moreover, it is noted that the apparatus may comprise more than one processor, more than one memory and/or more than one interface, if this is suitable for a particular structure.

Fig . 5 shows a flow chart for describing the basic operations according to the first embodiment for the SR configuration, which may be performed by the eNB 4 shown in Fig 4. In step S51, the base scheduling request configuration parameter (e.g ., SR configuration index I_SR) is defined, which is used for determining the base period (e.g . SR periodicity or P) for sending scheduling requests from a network device (e.g ., UE 1 shown in Fig . 1) . In step S52, the additional scheduling request configuration parameter (e.g ., Γ) is defined, which is used for determining the final period (Ρ') for sending the scheduling request based on the base period and the additional scheduling request configuration parameter ( ) .

As mentioned above, optionally the eNB 4 may define ISR for a plurality of network elements (e.g ., UEs) in common, but Γ individually for each network element.

This proposal allows a very flexible SR period configuration, which can be a multiple of any current period . With the period be multiple of current setting, one SR resource with current configuration can be shared by multiple new UEs.

In addition, the proposal according to the first embodiment can be easily introduced, since the existing mechanism uses the parameter I_SR, which is still used according to the first embodiment, and only an additional parameter is defined . That is, UEs, which support the new feature, can be configured with the new parameter, while the UEs, which do not support this feature, can be configured without this new parameter. Since the configuration is UE-specific, no compatibility problem will occur. Hence, the introduction of the new feature does not have an impact on legacy UEs.

In a detailed technical implementation of the first embodiment, according to the mapping example shown table 2, if the SR resource with SR_index of 75 which results in 80ms period is still too small for some MTC UEs, then this resource now can be shared by multiple UEs, e.g ., by setting I'=3, 4, 5, 6 for four UEs separately, they will share this SR resource in TDM way, i .e., these UEs will use a 320 ms period for transmission the SR and the offsets are 0 ms ,80 ms , 160 ms and 240 ms respectively.

It is noted that according to the first embodiment, the base scheduling request configuration parameter (e.g ., SR configuration index I_SR) and additional scheduling request configuration parameter (e.g ., Γ) are used for determining both the SR period and the subframe offset. However, the invention is not limited to this, and only the SR period may be determined on the two parameters (I_SR and Γ) . That is, alternatively, no subframe offset may be applied, or a subframe offset may be set independently from the SR period . Next, a second embodiment is described by referring to Figs. 6 to 9. According to the second embodiment, a restriction for SR transmission is introduced . Fig . 6 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a user equipment (UE) 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Similar as mentioned above in connection with Fig. 1, the corresponding apparatus according to the embodiment may consist only of parts of the UE, so that the apparatus may be installed in an UE, for example. Moreover, also the UE is only an example and may be replaced by another suitable network element.

The UE 6 according to this embodiment comprises a processor 61 and a memory 62. The memory comprises a computer program, wherein the memory 62 and the computer program are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to perform several operations as described below by referring to Fig . 7. In addition, the UE 6 also comprises a buffer 65 for data transmission, as will be explained in the following. The buffer 65 may be a separate element or may actually also be part of the processor 61, for example. Optionally, the UE 6 may also comprise an interface 63 for providing connections to other network elements. Moreover, the processor 61, the memory 62 and the interface 63 may be inter-connected by a suitable connection 64, e.g., a bus or the like. Moreover, it is noted that the apparatus may comprise more than one processor, more than one memory and/or more than one interface, if this is suitable for a particular structure.

Fig . 7 shows a flow chart for describing the basic operations according to the first embodiment, which may be performed by the UE 6 shown in Fig 6. In particular, the amount of data in the buffer for data transmission is checked, and triggering of a scheduling request is restricted until the amount of data in the buffer for data transmission exceeds a predetermined threshold . In more detail, according to the example shown in Fig. 7, in step S71 the data amount A in the buffer 65 is obtained. In step S72, the obtained data amount A is compared with a threshold Tl . If the data amount A is lower than the threshold Tl, the process proceeds to step S73, and triggering of SR is restricted. However, if the data amount A is higher than the threshold Tl in step S72, then the process proceeds to step S74, and triggering of SR is allowed. To be noted that the value for Tl should be configured considering the delay requirement of the traffic, or, the threshold rule is applied only when the delay timer is not expired.

Thus, according to second embodiment, to avoid SR transmission for arrival of small data packet, a restriction for the SR transmission is introduced, namely such that , e.g., only if the BSR (buffer status report, as an example for the data amount A in the buffer mentioned above) is larger than a threshold (e.g., Tl described above), UE should trigger SR.

Optionally, the above-described scheme may only be used for a specific identity to which the data is to be transmitted . This, the scheme may only be applied for some pre-configured or just fixed LCID (Logical Channel ID), e.g., the logical channel without strict delay requirement. In addition, triggering of a scheduling request may only be allowed when the amount of data A in the buffer for data transmission exceeds the predetermined threshold Tl and when no uplink grant is available.

The configuration can be effected by an eNB, for example, or by another suitable network control element as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

Fig . 8 shows an eNB 8 as an example for an apparatus which carries out the SR configuration. The eNB 8 according to this embodiment comprises a processor 81 and a memory 82. The memory comprises a computer program, wherein the memory 82 and the computer program are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to perform several operations as described below by referring to Fig . 9. Optionally, the eNB 8 may also comprise an interface 83 for providing connections to other network elements. Moreover, the processor 81, the memory 82 and the interface 83 may be inter-connected by a suitable connection 84, e.g., a bus or the like. Moreover, it is noted that the apparatus may comprise more than one processor, more than one memory and/or more than one interface, if this is suitable for a particular structure.

Fig . 9 shows a flow chart for describing the basic operations according to the first embodiment for the SR configuration, which may be performed by the eNB 8 shown in Fig 8. In step S91, the predetermined threshold (Tl) is defined which is to be used by a network device to restrict triggering of a scheduling request until an amount of data in a buffer for data transmission of the network device exceeds a predetermined threshold. Optionally, in step S92, the specific identity (e.g ., LCID mentioned above) is defined, to which data is to be transmitted, for which the restriction is to be carried out.

Thus, the solution according to the second embodiment, serves to only allow UE to send the SR when large amount of data is waiting for transmission. Though at eNB side, it can delay the scheduling to avoid small packet transmission, it can not avoid the SR/RACH transmission from UE side, so it is not sufficient. While the threshold method is more efficient for service which is not sensitive to delay. The implementation of the second embodiment can be realized by configuring one buffer threshold for UE. Then, the UE will check the threshold first before sending SR. The buffer threshold (Tl mentioned above) can be configured based on the delay requirement of the service and the load status in the system .

Fig . 10 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a user equipment (UE) 10 according to a third embodiment of the present invention. It is noted that the UE, and the corresponding apparatus according to the embodiment may consist only of parts of the UE, so that the apparatus may be installed in an UE, for example. Moreover, also the UE is only an example and may be replaced by another suitable network element. The UE 10 according to this embodiment comprises a processor 101 and a memory 102. The memory comprises a computer program, wherein the memory and the computer program are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to perform several operations as described below by referring to Fig. 11. Optionally, the UE 10 may also comprise an interface 103 for providing connections to other network elements. Moreover, the processor 101, the memory 102 and the interface 103 may be interconnected by a suitable connection 104, e.g ., a bus or the like. Moreover, it is noted that the apparatus may comprise more than one processor, more than one memory and/or more than one interface, if this is suitable for a particular structure.

Fig . 11 shows a flow chart for describing the basic operations according to the third embodiment, which may be performed by the UE 10 shown in Fig 10. In particular, as indicated in step Si l l, the UE 10 is configured to perform discontinuing reception (DRS), wherein a cycle for discontinuing reception is defined, and the cycle includes an inactive time and an active time. In step SI 12, transmission of scheduling requests is restricted based on the cycle for discontinuing reception.

For example, the transmission of scheduling requests (SR) may be restricted such that a scheduling request is triggered only once during the inactive time in the cycle for discontinuing reception at the most, or a scheduling request is triggered only during the active time in the cycle for discontinuing reception.

In the following, the example, in which scheduling request is triggered only once during the inactive time in the cycle for discontinuing reception at the most is described in more detail . That is, according to this example, no more than one SR is triggered in DRX inactive time per DRX cycle (ON+OFF). Optionally, in case there are multiple chances for SR transmission in one DRX cycle according to SR configuration, only the last one in the inactive time (or the one in the ON duration;) is allowed to send SR. In case there is no chance for SR transmission in one DRX cycle according to SR configuration, then one RACH transmission can be triggered in one DRX cycle to send the SR if some condition satisfied, e.g., new data arrival, or/and the buffer threshold in exceeded, or/and the prohibit timer is exceeded;

In Fig . 12, some examples of the above solution are listed. The first row indicates the DRX cycle, wherein the active time ("ON") is emphasized. In the second to fourth rows, a narrow solid arrow indicates a valid SR, whereas a dashed arrow indicates an invalid SR. The first example shown in the second row only allows one trigger for SR per DRX cycle and it is triggered in the last possible chance in the inactive time. The second example shown in the third row only puts such limitation to inactive time, while in ON duration, such restriction is removed . That is, according to this example, an SR may be triggered without considering any limitation. The third example shown in the fourth row shows an implementation where SR period is longer than the DRX cycle, and in case no SR resource is available, RACH is triggered in inactive time. That is, for example, RACH may be triggered if no SR resource is available and a buffer threshold (similar as described in connection with the first embodiment) is exceeded . It is noted that triggering of RACH is represented by a wide solid arrow.

Fig . 13 shows a further example for implementing the above example of the third embodiment and the following operation of UE and eNB, where a narrow solid arrow represents a valid SR transmission, a dashed arrow means an invalid SR (i.e., configured SR resource but where SR transmission is not allowed), while a dotted arrow directed downwards denotes an UL grant for UEs. In this example, one UE is assigned the periodic SR resource, however, due to the DRX pattern configured and the restriction rule for SR transmission, only some SR resource is seen as valid, this helps reduce unnecessary SR transmission. The SR resource left unused due to this limitation is known to eNB and it can be assigned to other UEs for aperiodical PUCCH transmission. Then, based on the SR transmission which is close in time to the DRX ON duration, the UL grant can be sent to UE in DRX ON duration. After that, it is possible that the UL data can be sent together with some UL feedback signaling for DL transmission in same subframe (which is indicated by rectangle in the fourth row)., this also helps to reduce small data transmission.

In the following, the example, in which a scheduling request is triggered only during the active time in the cycle for discontinuing reception is described in more detail by referring to Fig . 14.

Fig . 14, shows, that an SR is triggered only in DRX ON duration. In this example, the DRX cycle is two times that of the SR period, and SR is triggered only in the DRX ON duration.

The solutions according to the examples of the third embodiment as described above help to avoid too small packet from the following three aspects: - It is possible to integrate the UL feedback which needs to be sent to eNB for the corresponding DL transmission in ON duration, together with the UL data transmission. This will reduce the required number of UL transmissions.

- By limiting that only one SR can be triggered in the inactive time (OFF duration) of one DRX cycle, or allow SR only in the active time (ON duration) of one DRX cycle, it is possible to accumulate the UL packets before sending SR, which helps to reduce the possibility of sending small data traffic. - By limiting SR to the last SR resource in the inactive time, it is possible to effect the UL scheduling or/and PHICH in ON duration together with DL transmission, so that the active time of UL for DL detection may be reduced. The embodiments described above may be combined. For example, the reduction of the SR period as defined in the first embodiment may be applied to the second and third embodiments, so that the SR period is extended and the SR transmission is extended, for example by applying also a threshold .

Moreover, the embodiments described above are implemented with respect to data transmission in MTC or M2M, but the invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to any case in which a scheduling request has to be sent. Furthermore, the UEs only examples for network devices. Also, the use case that the UEs described in the embodiments are operated in connected mode and may be temporarily inactive is only an example. However, the present invention is not limited to these cases and can be applied to any network device which requires to sent scheduling requests.

Furthermore, also the eNBs described above are only examples for network control elements. The specific operations for performing the SR configuration, configuration of the threshold Tl and the like may also be carried out by another network control element, for example by a network element on a higher level in a network, in a central manner for the whole network or the like.

Embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in software, hardware, application logic or a combination of software, hardware and application logic. The software, application logic and/or hardware generally, but not exclusively, may reside on the devices' modem module. In an example embodiment, the application logic, software or an instruction set is maintained on any one of various conventional computer-readable media. In the context of this document, a "computer-readable medium" may be any media or means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate or transport the instructions for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer or smart phone, or user equipment.

The present invention relates in particular but without limitation to mobile communications, for example to environments under LTE, WCDMA, WIMAX and WLAN and can advantageously be implemented in user equipments or smart phones, or personal computers connectable to such networks. That is, it can be implemented as/in chipsets to connected devices, and/or modems or other modules thereof.

If desired, at least some of different functions discussed herein may be performed in a different order and/or concurrently with each other. Furthermore, if desired, one or more of the above-described functions may be optional or may be combined.

According to a further aspect of certain embodiments of the invention, an apparatus is provided comprising

means for determining a base period for sending scheduling requests to a network control element based on a base scheduling request configuration parameter, and

means determining a final period for sending the scheduling requests based on the base period and an additional scheduling request configuration parameter.

According to another aspect of certain embodiments of the invention, an apparatus is provided comprising

means for defining a base scheduling request configuration parameter for determining a base period for sending scheduling requests from a network device, and means for defining an additional scheduling request configuration parameter for determining a final period for sending the scheduling request based on the base period and the additional scheduling request configuration parameter.

According to an even further aspect of certain embodiments of the invention, an apparatus is provided comprising

checking the amount of data in a buffer for data transmission, and restricting triggering of a scheduling request until the amount of data in the buffer for data transmission exceeds a predetermined threshold .

means for defining a predetermined threshold which is to be used by a network device to restrict triggering of a scheduling request until an amount of data in a buffer for data transmission of the network device exceeds a predetermined threshold .

means for performing discontinuing reception, wherein a cycle for discontinuing reception is defined, the cycle including an inactive time and an active time, and

means for restricting transmission of scheduling requests based on the cycle for discontinuing reception.

It is to be understood that any of the above modifications can be applied singly or in combination to the respective aspects and/or embodiments to which they refer, unless they are explicitly stated as excluding alternatives.

Although various aspects of the invention are set out in the independent claims, other aspects of the invention comprise other combinations of features from the described embodiments and/or the dependent claims with the features of the independent claims, and not solely the combinations explicitly set out in the claims.

It is also noted herein that while the above describes example embodiments of the invention, these descriptions should not be viewed in a limiting sense. Rather, there are several variations and modifications which may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. An apparatus comprising

at least one processor

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

determining a base period for sending scheduling requests to a network control element based on a base scheduling request configuration parameter, and

determining a final period for sending the scheduling requests based on the base period and an additional scheduling request configuration parameter.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the additional scheduling request configuration parameter indicates a multiple for multiplying the base period .

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein

the at least one memory and the computer program is configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform

determining a base scheduling request subframe offset based on the a base scheduling request configuration parameter, and

determining a final scheduling request subframe offset based on the base scheduling request subframe offset and the additional scheduling request configuration parameter.

4. The apparatus according to any one of the claims 1 to 3, wherein

the base scheduling request configuration parameter is defined for a plurality of apparatuses in common, and the additional scheduling request configuration parameter is defined for each apparatus individually.

5. An apparatus comprising at least one processor

and at least one memory including computer program code,

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

defining a base scheduling request configuration parameter for determining a base period for sending scheduling requests from a network device, and

defining an additional scheduling request configuration parameter for determining a final period for sending the scheduling request based on the base period and the additional scheduling request configuration parameter.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein

7. The apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, wherein

the base scheduling request configuration parameter serves to determine base scheduling request subframe offset and to determine a final scheduling request subframe offset based on the additional scheduling request configuration parameter and on the base scheduling request subframe offset.

8. The apparatus according to any one of the claims 5 to 7, wherein

defining the base scheduling request configuration parameter for a plurality of devices in common, and

defining the additional scheduling request configuration parameter for each network device individually.

9. An apparatus comprising

a buffer for data transmission,

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

checking the amount of data in the buffer for data transmission, and restricting triggering of a scheduling request until the amount of data in the buffer for data transmission exceeds a predetermined threshold .

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein

performing checking and restricting for a specific identity to which the data is to be transmitted.

11. The apparatus according to claim 9 or 10, wherein

allowing triggering of a scheduling request when the amount of data in the buffer for data transmission exceeds the predetermined threshold and when no uplink grant is available.

12. An apparatus comprising

at least one processor

defining a predetermined threshold which is to be used by a network device to restrict triggering of a scheduling request until an amount of data in a buffer for data transmission of the network device exceeds a predetermined threshold.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein

the at least one memory and the computer program is configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform defining a specific identity, to which data is to be transmitted, for which the restriction is to be carried out.

14. An apparatus comprising

at least one processor

performing discontinuing reception, wherein a cycle for discontinuing reception is defined, the cycle including an inactive time and an active time, and

restricting transmission of scheduling requests based on the cycle for discontinuing reception.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein

triggering a scheduling request only once during the inactive time in the cycle for discontinuing reception at the most.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein

the at least one memory and the computer program is configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform,

when according to a scheduling request configuration a plurality of possibilities for sending a scheduling request during the inactive time exists, allowing sending only the last scheduling request in the inactive time or sending only the scheduling request during the active time in the cycle.

17. The apparatus according to claim 15 or 16, wherein

when according to a scheduling request configuration no possibility for sending a scheduling request during one cycle for discontinuing reception exists, triggering a random access channel transmission in one cycle for discontinuing reception to send a scheduling request when a certain condition is fulfilled.

18. The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the certain condition comprises at least one of:

new data arrival,

a buffer threshold of a data transmission buffer containing data to be sent from the device is exceeded, and/or

a prohibit timer is exceeded .

19. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein

triggering a scheduling request only during the active time in the cycle for discontinuing reception.

20. A method comprising

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein

22. The method according to claim 21 or 22, further comprising

determining a base scheduling request subframe offset based on the a base scheduling request configuration parameter, and determining a final scheduling request subframe offset based on the base scheduling request subframe offset and the additional scheduling request configuration parameter.

23. The method according to any one of the claims 1 to 3, wherein

the base scheduling request configuration parameter is defined for a plurality of network devices in common, and the additional scheduling request configuration parameter is defined for each network device individually.

24. A method comprising

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein

26. The method according to claim 24 or 25, wherein

27. The method according to any one of the claims 24 to 26, further comprising

defining the base scheduling request configuration parameter for a plurality of devices in common, and defining the additional scheduling request configuration parameter for each network device individually.

28. A method comprising

29. The method according to claim 28, further comprising

30. The method according to claim 28 or 29, further comprising

31. A method comprising

32. The method according to claim 31, further comprising

defining a specific identity, to which data is to be transmitted, for which the restriction is to be carried out.

33. A method comprising

34. The method according to claim 33, further comprising triggering a scheduling request only once during the inactive time in the cycle for discontinuing reception at the most.

35. The method according to claim 34, further comprising,

36. The method according to claim 34 or 35, further comprising,

37. The method according to claim 36, wherein the certain condition comprises at least one of:

new data arrival,

a prohibit timer is exceeded .

38. The method according to claim 33, wherein

39. A computer program product comprising computer-executable components which, when executed on a computer, are configured to carry out the method as defined in any one of the claims 20 to 38.