U.S. patent application number 15/138974 was filed with the patent office on 2016-09-08 for prioritization of energy over system throughput in a wireless communications system.
The applicant listed for this patent is Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ). Invention is credited to Mats Folke, Sara Landstrom, Mats Nordberg, Ghyslain Pelletier.
Application Number | 20160262107 15/138974 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 42829960 |
Filed Date | 2016-09-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160262107 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Nordberg; Mats ; et
al. |
September 8, 2016 |
Prioritization of Energy Over System Throughput in a Wireless
Communications System
Abstract
The present invention relates to a user equipment and a radio
base station, and to related methods of enabling the radio base
station to affect an energy saving in the system during a
connection between the user equipment and the radio base station
according to a priority level of the energy saving. The method
comprises the step of detecting a trigger received via a user
interface of the user equipment, where the trigger is associated
with the priority level of the energy saving in the system. It also
comprises transmitting an indicator of the priority level to the
radio base station, allowing the radio base station to affect the
energy saving in the system during the connection according to the
priority level, by configuring different user or system related
parameters.
Inventors: |
Nordberg; Mats; (Lulea,
SE) ; Folke; Mats; (Lulea, SE) ; Landstrom;
Sara; (Lulea, SE) ; Pelletier; Ghyslain;
(Laval, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) |
Stockholm |
|
SE |
|
|
Family ID: |
42829960 |
Appl. No.: |
15/138974 |
Filed: |
April 26, 2016 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
13576081 |
Jul 30, 2012 |
9351244 |
|
|
PCT/SE2010/050134 |
Feb 4, 2010 |
|
|
|
15138974 |
|
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W 28/0278 20130101;
H04W 72/048 20130101; H04W 52/0254 20130101; H04W 72/085 20130101;
H04W 52/0206 20130101; H04W 88/02 20130101; Y02D 30/70 20200801;
H04L 61/6022 20130101; H04M 1/72519 20130101; H04L 5/023 20130101;
H04W 88/12 20130101; H04B 7/0413 20130101; H04W 72/0493 20130101;
H04W 88/08 20130101; H04J 11/00 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04W 52/02 20060101
H04W052/02; H04B 7/04 20060101 H04B007/04; H04J 11/00 20060101
H04J011/00; H04W 28/02 20060101 H04W028/02; H04W 72/08 20060101
H04W072/08; H04L 29/12 20060101 H04L029/12; H04M 1/725 20060101
H04M001/725; H04L 5/02 20060101 H04L005/02; H04W 72/04 20060101
H04W072/04 |
Claims
1. A method, in a user equipment in a wireless communications
system, for enabling a radio base station to affect an energy
saving in the system during a connection between the user equipment
and the radio base station according to a priority level of the
energy saving, the method comprising: detecting a trigger received
via a user interface of the user equipment, wherein the trigger is
associated with the priority level of the energy saving in the
system; and transmitting an indicator of the priority level to the
radio base station, thus allowing the radio base station to affect
the energy saving in the system, during the connection, according
to the priority level.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the indicator is transmitted
during initial access of the connection, and the priority level is
indicated in a random access preamble or a user equipment
capability message.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the indicator is transmitted
after initial access of the connection, and the priority level is
indicated in a medium access control (MAC) control element, a
scheduling request, a buffer status report, or a quality of service
parameter.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: detecting an
additional trigger associated with a further priority level of the
energy saving, wherein the additional trigger is received via a
user interface of the user equipment; and transmitting an indicator
of the further priority level to the radio base station, allowing
the radio base station to further affect the energy saving in the
system during the connection according to the further priority
level.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the priority level corresponds to
one of at least two pre-determined priority levels.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving information
regarding the energy saving in the system during the connection,
from the radio base station.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the priority level indicates a
priority of the energy saving in relation to any of a throughput, a
delay, a priority, and a packet loss rate associated with the
connection.
8. A method, in a radio base station in a wireless communications
system, for affecting an energy saving in the system during a
connection between a user equipment and the radio base station
according to a priority level of the energy saving, the method
comprising: retrieving an indicator of the priority level of the
energy saving in the system; and configuring a parameter affecting
the energy saving in the system during the connection according to
the indicated priority level.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the indicator is retrieved from
the user equipment during initial access of the connection, and the
priority level is indicated in a random access preamble or a user
equipment capability message.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein the indicator is retrieved from
the user equipment after initial access of the connection, and the
priority level is indicated in a medium access control (MAC)
control element, a scheduling request, a buffer status report, or a
quality of service parameter.
11. The method of claim 8, wherein the indicator is retrieved from
a network node during initial access of the connection, and the
priority level is indicated in a user equipment subscription
parameter.
12. The method of claim 8, further comprising: receiving an
additional indicator of a further priority level of the energy
saving in the system, from the user equipment; and configuring the
parameter affecting the energy saving in the system during the
connection according to the indicated further priority level.
13. The method of claim 8, wherein the configured parameter is at
least one of a user equipment related parameter and a system
related parameter.
14. The method of claim 8, wherein the priority level corresponds
to one of at least two pre-determined priority levels.
15. The method of claim 8, further comprising transmitting
information regarding the energy saving in the system during the
connection, to the user equipment.
16. The method of claim 8, wherein the priority level indicates a
priority of the energy saving in relation to any of a throughput, a
delay, a priority, and a packet loss rate associated with the
connection.
17. A user equipment configured to be used in a wireless
communications system and to enable a radio base station to affect
an energy saving in the system during a connection between the user
equipment and the radio base station according to a priority level
of the energy saving, the user equipment comprising: a detecting
unit adapted to detect a trigger received via a user interface of
the user equipment, the trigger associated with the priority level
of the energy saving in the system; and a transmitter adapted to
transmit an indicator of the priority level to the radio base
station, allowing the radio base station to affect the energy
saving in the system during the connection according to the
priority level.
18. The user equipment of claim 17, wherein the transmitter is
adapted to transmit the indicator during initial access of the
connection, and wherein the priority level is indicated in a random
access preamble or a user equipment capability message.
19. The user equipment of claim 17, wherein the transmitter is
adapted to transmit the indicator after initial access of the
connection, and wherein the priority level is indicated in a medium
access control (MAC) control element, a scheduling request, a
buffer status report, or a quality of service parameter.
20. The user equipment of claim 17, wherein the detecting unit is
further adapted to detect an additional trigger of a further
priority level of the energy saving, the additional trigger
received via a user interface of the user equipment, and wherein
the transmitting unit is further adapted to transmit an indicator
of the further priority level to the radio base station, allowing
the radio base station to further affect the energy saving in the
system during the connection according to the further priority
level.
21. The user equipment of claim 17, wherein the priority level
corresponds to one of at least two pre-determined priority
levels.
22. The user equipment of claim 17, further comprising a receiver
adapted to receive information regarding the energy saving in the
system during the connection, from the radio base station.
23. The user equipment of claim 17, wherein the priority level
indicates a priority of the energy saving in relation to any of a
throughput, a delay, a priority, and a packet loss rate associated
with the connection.
24. A radio base station configured to be used in a wireless
communications system and to affect an energy saving in the system
during a connection between a user equipment and the radio base
station according to a priority level of the energy saving, the
radio base station comprising: a retrieving unit adapted to
retrieve an indicator of the priority level of the energy saving in
the system; and a configuring unit adapted to configure a parameter
affecting the energy saving in the system during the connection
according to the indicated priority level.
25. The radio base station of claim 24, wherein the retrieving unit
is adapted to retrieve the indicator of the priority level from the
user equipment during initial access of the connection, and wherein
the priority level is indicated in a random access preamble or a
user equipment capability message.
26. The radio base station of claim 24, wherein the retrieving unit
is adapted to retrieve the indicator from the user equipment after
initial access of the connection, and wherein the priority level is
indicated in a medium access control (MAC) control element, a
scheduling request, a buffer status report, or a quality of service
parameter.
27. The radio base station of claim 24, wherein the retrieving unit
is adapted to retrieve the indicator from a network node during
initial access of the connection, and wherein the priority level is
indicated in a user equipment subscription parameter.
28. The radio base station of claim 24, wherein the receiver is
further adapted to receive an additional indicator of a further
priority level of the energy saving in the system, from the user
equipment, and the configuring unit is further adapted to configure
the parameter affecting the energy saving in the system during the
connection according to the indicated further priority level.
29. The radio base station of claim 24, wherein the parameter is at
least one of a user equipment related parameter and a system
related parameter.
30. The radio base station of claim 24, wherein the priority level
corresponds to one of at least two pre-determined priority
levels.
31. The radio base station of claim 24, further comprising a
transmitter adapted to transmit information regarding the energy
saving in the system during the connection, to the user
equipment.
32. The radio base station of claim 24, wherein the priority level
indicates a priority of the energy saving in relation to any of a
throughput, a delay, a priority and a packet loss rate associated
with the connection.
33. A method, in a user equipment in a wireless communications
system, for affecting an energy saving in the system during a
connection between the user equipment and a radio base station
according to a priority level of the energy saving, the method
comprising: detecting a trigger received via a user interface of
the user equipment, wherein the trigger is associated with the
priority level of the energy saving in the system; and configuring
a user equipment related parameter affecting the energy saving in
the system during the connection according to the priority
level.
34. The method of claim 33, wherein the user equipment related
parameter is at least one of a user equipment capability, and a
parameter related to supported radio access technologies.
35. The method of claim 33, wherein the priority level indicates a
priority of the energy saving in relation to any of a throughput, a
delay, a priority, and a packet loss rate associated with the
connection.
36. A user equipment configured to be used in a wireless
communications system, and to affect an energy saving in the system
during a connection between the user equipment and a radio base
station according to a priority level of the energy saving, the
user equipment comprising: a receiver adapted to receive a trigger
via a user interface of the user equipment, wherein the trigger is
associated with the priority level of the energy saving in the
system; and a configuring unit, adapted to configure a user
equipment related parameter affecting the energy saving in the
system during the connection according to the priority level.
37. The user equipment of claim 36, wherein the user equipment
related parameter is at least one of a user equipment capability,
and a parameter related to supported radio access technologies.
38. The user equipment of claim 36, wherein the priority level
indicates a priority of the energy saving in relation to any of a
throughput, a delay, a priority, and a packet loss rate associated
with the connection.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to energy saving
prioritizations in a wireless communications system. More
particularly, the present invention relates to a radio base
station, a user equipment and a method of affecting the energy
saving in the system during a connection between the user equipment
and the radio base station according to an energy saving priority
level determined by the user.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) is one
of the third generation mobile communication technologies designed
to succeed GSM. 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a project within
the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to improve the UMTS
standard to cope with future requirements in terms of improved
services such as higher data rates, improved efficiency, lowered
costs etc. The Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN)
is the radio access network of a UMTS and evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN)
is the radio access network of an LTE system. In an E-UTRAN, a user
equipment (UE) 150 is wirelessly connected to a radio base station
(RBS) 110a-c commonly referred to as an eNodeB (eNB), as
illustrated in FIG. 1a. The eNBs 110a-c are directly connected to
the core network (CN) 190 via the S1 interface. In UTRAN however,
the radio base stations or NodeBs (NB) are connected to the CN via
a Radio Network Controller (RNC) which controls the NBs connected
to it.
[0003] The trend in the evolution of wireless access technologies
is a continuously increased capacity, but also higher complexity in
order to meet the tougher throughput and delay requirements.
Coordinated multipoint transmission/reception (COMP), where signals
are simultaneously and coherently transmitted/received from/to
multiple RBSs to improve performance, and multiple-input
multiple-output (MIMO), where the performance is improved as both
the transmitter and the receiver are equipped with multiple
antennas, are two examples of elements in LTE that help reaching
high throughputs. However these elements may also increase the
energy consumption in the system.
[0004] The focus on sustainability and energy consumption in
telecommunications systems is increasing. In 3GPP LTE technology,
most energy is consumed during the phase when the eNB is in
operation. Thus, methods for reducing the energy consumption for
deployed eNBs are important. In prior art, the communications
system strives to offer each user the best possible quality of
service (QoS) within the frame of the user's subscription, and the
radio resource management algorithms prioritize highest possible
throughput and lowest possible delay and packet loss. This often
means spending more energy than strictly necessary to transfer the
data.
[0005] An environmental friendly user of e.g. an E-UTRAN may, at
least in some situations or for some connections, accept a lower
throughput or longer delay e.g. if that would reduce the energy
consumption in the system. However, a problem in the current 3GPP
standards is that there is no possibility to differentiate the
trade off between energy saving and throughput, and all UEs are
prioritizing throughput in the same way.
SUMMARY
[0006] The object of the present invention is to address some of
the problems and disadvantages outlined above, and to allow for a
change of the prioritization of energy saving in the wireless
communications system during a connection between the user
equipment and a radio base station. This would allow affecting the
energy saving in the system during the connection according to the
prioritization. This object and others are achieved by the methods
and devices according to the independent claims, and by the
embodiments according to the dependent claims.
[0007] In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention,
a method for a user equipment in a wireless communications system,
of enabling a radio base station to affect an energy saving in the
system during a connection between the user equipment and the radio
base station according to a priority level of the energy saving is
provided. The method comprises the step of detecting a trigger
received via a user interface of the user equipment. The trigger is
associated with the priority level of the energy saving in the
system. The method also comprises the step of transmitting an
indicator of the priority level to the radio base station, allowing
the radio base station to affect the energy saving in the system
during the connection according to the priority level.
[0008] In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention,
a method for a radio base station in a wireless communications
system, of affecting an energy saving in the system during a
connection between a user equipment and the radio base station
according to a priority level of the energy saving is provided. The
method comprises the steps of retrieving an indicator of the
priority level of the energy saving in the system, and configuring
a parameter affecting the energy saving in the system during the
connection according to the indicated priority level.
[0009] In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention,
a user equipment configured to be used in a wireless communications
system and to enable a radio base station to affect an energy
saving in the system during a connection between the user equipment
and the radio base station according to a priority level of the
energy saving, is provided. The user equipment comprises a
detecting unit adapted to detect a trigger received via a user
interface of the user equipment. The trigger is associated with the
priority level of the energy saving in the system. The user
equipment also comprises a transmitter adapted to transmit an
indicator of the priority level to the radio base station, allowing
the radio base station to affect the energy saving in the system
during the connection according to the priority level.
[0010] In accordance with a fourth aspect of the present invention,
a radio base station configured to be used in a wireless
communications system and to affect an energy saving in the system
during a connection between a user equipment and the radio base
station according to a priority level of the energy saving is
provided. The radio base station comprises a retrieving unit
adapted to retrieve an indicator of the priority level of the
energy saving in the system, and a configuring unit adapted to
configure a parameter affecting the energy saving in the system
during the connection according to the indicated priority
level.
[0011] In accordance with a fifth aspect of the present invention,
a method for a user equipment in a wireless communications system,
of affecting an energy saving in the system during a connection
between the user equipment and a radio base station according to a
priority level of the energy saving. The method comprises the step
of detecting a trigger received via a user interface of the user
equipment. The trigger is associated with the priority level of the
energy saving in the system. The method also comprises the step of
configuring a user equipment related parameter affecting the energy
saving in the system during the connection according to the
priority level.
[0012] In accordance with a sixth aspect of the present invention,
a user equipment configured to be used in a wireless communications
system, and to affect an energy saving in the system during a
connection between the user equipment and a radio base station
according to a priority level of the energy saving, is provided.
The user equipment comprises a receiver adapted to receive a
trigger via a user interface of the user equipment. The trigger is
associated with the priority level of the energy saving in the
system. The user equipment also comprises a configuring unit,
adapted to configure a user equipment related parameter affecting
the energy saving in the system during the connection according to
the priority level.
[0013] An advantage of embodiments of the present invention is that
a user may indicate how the energy saving in the system should be
prioritized in relation to the connection performance during a
specific connection. This would allow the network to implement
mechanisms that save energy in accordance with what the user
equipment has indicated, instead of prioritizing QoS regardless of
the energy consumption as in prior art.
[0014] Furthermore, an advantage of embodiments of the present
invention is that they allow a user in a wireless communications
system to make an active choice to be environmental friendly in a
flexible way, e.g. via the user interface of the user equipment,
thereby supporting a decrease of the system energy consumption from
a wider perspective than just the user's own battery
consumption.
[0015] Still another advantage of embodiments of the present
invention is that they allow for feeding back information to the
user equipment regarding the actual energy saving during the
connection.
[0016] A further advantage of embodiments of the present invention
is that they allow the user to start with one prioritization of the
energy saving in relation to the connection capacity during a
connection, and to change the prioritization during the same
connection if needed.
[0017] A further advantage of embodiments of the present invention
is that they allow the user equipment to control activities, such
as the choice of UE capability or radio access technology, which
affect the system wide energy consumption.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] FIG. 1a illustrates schematically a part of a conventional
wireless communication system wherein the present invention may be
implemented.
[0019] FIG. 1b illustrates schematically the steps traversed during
initial access before the radio bearer is setup and user plane data
can be exchanged, according to prior art.
[0020] FIGS. 2a-b are flowcharts of the method performed by the
user equipment according to embodiments of the present
invention.
[0021] FIGS. 3a-b are flowcharts of the method performed by the
radio base station according to embodiments of the present
invention.
[0022] FIG. 4 illustrates schematically a radio base station and a
user equipment according to embodiments of the present
invention.
[0023] FIG. 5a is a flowchart of the method performed by the user
equipment according to embodiments of the present invention.
[0024] FIG. 5b illustrates schematically a user equipment according
to embodiments of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0025] In the following, the invention will be described in more
detail with reference to certain embodiments and to accompanying
drawings. For purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific
details are set forth, such as particular scenarios, techniques,
etc., in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present
invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art
that the present invention may be practised in other embodiments
that depart from these specific details.
[0026] Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the
functions and means explained herein below may be implemented using
software functioning in conjunction with a programmed
microprocessor or general purpose computer, and/or using an
application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). It will also be
appreciated that while the current invention is primarily described
in the form of methods and devices, the invention may also be
embodied in a computer program product as well as in a system
comprising a computer processor and a memory coupled to the
processor, wherein the memory is encoded with one or more programs
that may perform the functions disclosed herein.
[0027] The present invention is described herein by way of
reference to particular example scenarios. In particular
embodiments of the invention are described in a non-limiting
general context in relation to an E-UTRAN. It should though be
noted that the invention and its exemplary embodiments may also be
applied to other types of radio access networks such as UTRAN,
WiMax and GSM.
[0028] If it would be possible for a user to make an active choice
to be environmental friendly when communicating through a radio
access network, which could e.g. mean trading connection throughput
for energy savings in the network, this would help to decrease the
network energy consumption from a wider perspective than just the
user's own battery consumption. Although there is functionality in
the network that can reduce the UE's battery consumption such as
discontinuous reception (DRX), there is currently no way to allow
e.g. a different DRX parameter setting for a specific UE when the
user of the UE wants to prioritize energy savings more than the
default DRX settings allow. It is not possible to distinguish a
user that prioritizes energy saving in relation to e.g. throughput,
and therefore it is of no use to implement mechanisms in the
network that allows for different prioritization of energy saving
versus throughput.
[0029] In embodiments of the present invention, the problem of not
being able to take into account the users' preferences of energy
saving in a wireless communication system, and thereby allowing for
a trade off between energy saving and performance, is addressed by
a solution where the users' prioritization of energy saving in
relation to other QoS parameters for a connection, such as
throughput, delay, packet loss rate, and the priority of the UE
(i.e. the priority when it comes to admission control and
scheduling for the UE connection e.g.) is signaled from the user
equipment (UE) to the eNBs. This allows the eNBs to tune parameter
settings and radio resource management algorithms in line with the
users' prioritization, and thus to affect the energy consumption in
the system in different ways for different UE connections.
[0030] According to embodiments of the present invention, the eNB
retrieves an indicator of how the UE wants to prioritize energy
saving in the system during a connection, i.e. an indicator of a
priority level, and configures a parameter that affects the energy
saving in the network during the connection according to the
indicated priority level. The prioritization of the energy saving
may be a binary setting with two possible priority levels. One
priority level may indicate a high priority of the energy saving,
thus corresponding to the environmental friendly, or "green" choice
of the user, and the other priority level may indicate that energy
saving is not prioritized, which thus corresponds to the "normal"
case. Alternatively, there may be more than two priority levels
defined. Each priority level may indicate a certain priority of the
energy saving in relation to e.g. the throughput, and/or delay, and
may correspond to different configurations of parameters performed
by the eNB. The different eNB parameter configurations may thus
affect the energy saving in different ways according to the
relevant priority level. For instance at a first priority level,
corresponding to a somewhat higher priority level of the energy
saving than in the "normal" case, the DRX parameter may be
configured by the eNB to somewhat reduce the energy consumption at
the expense of capacity or delay. For the following priority
levels, each one corresponding to an increased priority of the
energy saving in relation to the connection performance, an
additional parameter may be configured by the eNB in order to
increase the energy savings at the expense of performance such as
throughput, delay, priority of the UE, and/or packet loss rate.
Both the UE and the network can use this scale of priority levels
to indicate the trade-off between energy saving and performance
that they are currently making in their communication.
[0031] There are several parameters that may be configured by the
eNB to affect the energy saving in the system. The parameters may
be UE related, such as parameters for DRX, QoS, paging, Channel
Quality Information (CQI), Uplink Power Control (ULPC), Dedicated
scheduling request (D-SR), Timing Adjustment Interval (TAI),
measurement reports, and/or Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)
resources etc., and/or they may be system related, such as the DTX
parameters, scheduling parameters, and thresholds for the
activation of measurements, carrier aggregation (allowing a UE to
simultaneously receive and/or transmit over multiple carriers which
leads to a manifold increase in the data rate), COMP, MIMO, or
activation of additional radio base stations, antennas, or
relays/repeaters. If e.g. the eNB changes the user related QoS
settings for a connection, such that the QoS requirements are
lowered in accordance with the energy saving priority level that
the UE has indicated, the total capacity that the system needs to
provide will be reduced. This in turn allows complex and energy
consuming algorithms, radio base stations, and relays e.g. to be
inactivated, which will thus affect the system wide energy
consumption. Another possibility is to change the system related
thresholds and triggers for activating algorithms and network parts
such as radio base stations and relays. A higher threshold for the
activation would also allow a higher energy saving at the expense
of the connection performance. Parameters such as scheduling
resource intervals, and DTX parameters affects directly the delay
of the connection, and what RAT that is used may also indirectly
affect the delay. The amount of used radio base stations, antennas
and relays, which is dependent on the thresholds for activation of
such extra resources, will rather affect the throughput.
[0032] As already described above, the eNB retrieves an indicator
of how the UE wants to prioritize energy saving in the system
during a connection. The indicator might be retrieved from the UE,
as in the first and second embodiments described below. In these
embodiments it is the UE that transmits an indicator of the
priority level to the eNB either during initial access, or after
initial access when the UE is in connected mode. The UE transmits
the indicator when it detects a trigger associated with the
priority level, received via the user interface (UI) of the UE. The
user is thus able to easily trigger the energy saving
prioritization through the UI of the UE in these embodiments. The
user's choice of priority level for the energy saving could for
example be made by pushing a button on the UI, where the button
represents the "green" option of prioritizing energy saving higher
than connection performance such as throughput. Alternatively, the
user's choice may be done via a menu based UI, or by adding for
instance a star symbol to the end of the phone number before
pressing the dial button.
[0033] In the first embodiment of the present invention, the
indicator is retrieved from the UE during initial access of the
connection. The advantage of receiving the indication early, as in
this embodiment, is that it makes network management decisions
efficient. FIG. 1b illustrates the different steps of the initial
access procedure that a user initiates when it is in idle mode and
wants to become connected. The steps comprise random access,
authentication, and transfer of UE capabilities, and are followed
by the setup of a Data Radio Bearer, DRB and a change from idle to
connected mode for the UE.
[0034] There are two alternatives for the UE to transmit the energy
saving priority indicator to the eNB in this first embodiment, i.e.
during initial access: [0035] 1. The indicator may be transmitted
when performing random access (RA). The RA serves as an uplink
control procedure to enable the UE to access the network. Since the
initial access attempt cannot be scheduled by the network, the RA
procedure is by definition contention based. The UE transmits the
RA preamble in order to obtain uplink synchronization prior to any
transmission of user data. One alternative may therefore be to
reserve certain time slots or frequency or code resources for the
indication of the priority level. Alternatively parts of the RA
preamble number space may be used. [0036] 2. The indicator may be
transmitted during the transfer of UE capabilities in the initial
access. One alternative is to create a new UE capability for the
priority level of the energy saving. This UE capability may then be
transmitted to the eNB in a UE capability message, thus indicating
the priority level.
[0037] In a second embodiment of the present invention, the
indicator is retrieved from the UE after initial access, i.e. when
the UE is in connected mode and a DRB has been set up. The
advantage of this embodiment is that it allows the user to change
its energy saving priority when the connection has already been set
up. There are four alternatives for how to indicate the priority
level in this second embodiment: [0038] 1. A first alternative is
to create a new Medium Access Control (MAC) control element, i.e. a
new element in the MAC header, which will indicate the UE's
priority level. Several code points can be allowed in the MAC
control element, which will allow for more than two priority
levels. [0039] 2. A second alternative is to use a scheduling
request (SR) to indicate a priority level. A UE that wants to
initiate uplink transmission must first request uplink resources by
transmitting an SR on the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH).
The eNB will select the resource blocks to be assigned to the user
and will return a scheduling grant (SG). Once the UE has received
the SG it can start uplink data transmission on the assigned uplink
resources. It may e.g. be possible to use time division for the SR
PUCCH resources, such that sending an SR in one slot may indicate a
high priority of the energy saving, and sending an SR in another
slot may indicate no priority of the energy saving. If e.g. four
different priority levels of the energy saving is preferred, every
fourth time slot may be interpreted as one specific priority level.
It is thus implicitly understood that the first PUCCH resource
after the network allocation corresponds to energy level 0 and the
next to energy level 1, etc. A UE that does not prioritize energy
savings can send in all time slots. An alternative solution is to
reserve two bits for the SR, where one code point could be reserved
for the indicator of the energy saving priority level. With this
alternative, the energy saving can only be turned on and off, as
there are only two possible priority levels. [0040] 3. A third
alternative is to use the buffer status report (BSR) to indicate a
preferred priority level. Buffer status reporting is used by the UE
to report to the eNB the amount of data stored in its buffers for
transmission. The eNB uses these reports to allocate resources to
the UE, and to prioritize resource allocation between different
UEs. The UE triggers a regular BSR when uplink data becomes
available for transmission and if this data belongs to a logical
channel group (LCG) with higher priority than those for which data
already existed in the buffer, or if the UE buffers were empty just
before this new data became available for transmission. One
possibility for the indication of priority level, is thus to couple
a certain LCG to an energy saving priority level. When this energy
saving priority level is triggered in the UE, a BSR indicating that
data has arrived for this LCG will thus implicitly indicate the
corresponding energy saving priority level. This embodiment allows
for two or more priority levels. [0041] 4. A fourth alternative is
to use a QoS parameter such as a QoS class identifier (QCI) to
indicate the priority level of the energy saving. After initial
access, the UE may request that the radio bearer should be modified
and may suggest other QoS settings to be used. Some of the QCI
values are predefined, but it is possible to define a number of new
QCI values to implement one or several energy saving levels.
[0042] In an embodiment of the present invention applied to a GSM
system or UMTS, the priority level may be indicated in a radio
resource control (RRC) connection establishment, in a temporary
block flow establishment, or in a packet data control (PDP) context
activation.
[0043] In the first and second embodiment described above, the
indicator is thus retrieved from the UE, or rather transmitted from
the UE to the eNB sometime during or after initial access, when the
UE receives a user initiated trigger. However, a user may choose to
have an energy saving subscription for its UE, in order to be
environmental friendly by default. The advantage of this embodiment
is that the user will not need to trigger the priority level of the
energy saving for each connection. The indicator may thus, in a
third embodiment of the present invention, be retrieved from a node
in the network instead of from the UE. The user is more or less
locked to this commitment, and the UE context may provide
information about the UE energy saving priority level. The eNB thus
retrieves a UE subscription parameter that indicates the energy
saving priority level from a network node during initial access,
instead of from the UE.
[0044] From a network point of view, it may be beneficial if the
user is not allowed to switch back and forth between different
priority levels too often while actively communicating. However, as
the energy saving preference of the users may change over time,
users should have the possibility to modify the energy saving
priority level at least on a transfer, session or connection
granularity. It may e.g. be crucial for a user to retrieve a
certain document as fast as possible while sitting in a meeting,
whereas at another point in time downloading the same document for
later use makes it possible for the user to accept longer download
times in favor of energy savings.
[0045] In one fourth embodiment of the present invention, it may
thus be possible to let a user with an environmental friendly
subscription that supports high priority of the energy saving by
default, to switch to low priority at initial access, using similar
mechanisms as the ones described for the first embodiment above
(i.e. transmitting an indicator using RA preamble or UE
capability). Alternatively, a user with a "normal"
non-environmental friendly subscription, may indicate a first
priority level during initial access (similarly to the first
embodiment above using RA preamble or UE capability for the
indication), but may then indicate a changed priority level during
the connection, using similar mechanisms as described in second
embodiment above (new MAC control element, the SR, the BSR, or a
QoS parameter).
[0046] In an example of the fourth embodiment described above, the
UE may detect a first trigger associated with e.g. high priority of
the energy saving, and will therefore transmit an indicator of the
high priority to the eNB, e.g. by using the RA preamble during
initial access, which will allow the eNB to act accordingly e.g. by
configuring a threshold for activating MIMO enabling a lower
throughput and a lower energy consumption. The UE may subsequently
detect a second trigger during the same connection, associated with
another priority level of the energy saving in the system, e.g. no
priority of the energy saving, and will thus during the same
connection transmit a second indicator to the eNB which will enable
the system to switch back to "normal" mode, where connection
performance is prioritized regardless of the energy consumption.
The eNB will receive this second priority level indicator, e.g. in
a scheduling request, and may thus reconfigure the threshold for
for instance activating MIMO in order to prioritize high throughput
instead of low energy consumption.
[0047] In still another embodiment of the present invention,
information about how much energy that has been saved during the
connection may be transmitted from the eNB to the UE. The advantage
of this is embodiment is to let the users know how much energy they
have saved. Direct feedback after a call with an estimate of the
energy saving through SMS is one way to implement this embodiment.
Another is to report once a week or once a month, or to make the
statistics available on the phone so that the user can see its
current energy saving.
[0048] In a further embodiment of the present invention, the UE may
itself--when it receives a trigger associated with a priority
level, i.e. when it is triggered by a user to prioritize energy
saving--configure a UE related parameter in order to affect the
energy saving in the system during the connection according to the
priority level associated with the trigger. One parameter that the
UE could use to reduce energy consumption, is the UE capability.
The UE may state that it is compatible with another LTE release
than it actually is (for instance being compatible with LTE release
8 instead of its actual LTE release 10, if LTE 8 is more energy
efficient than LTE 10), by indicating that it belongs to another UE
capability group than it actually does. Another UE capability
parameter that the UE may configure to allow for energy savings in
the network, is the supported RAT parameter. It may e.g. exclude
certain RATs from its list of supported RATs, to avoid using energy
consuming RATs.
[0049] FIG. 2a is a flowchart of the method performed by the UE
according to embodiments of the present invention. The method
comprises the following steps: [0050] 210: Detecting a trigger
associated with the priority level of the energy saving in the
system. The trigger is received via a UI of the UE, and may e.g.
correspond to trigger generated when the user of the UE is pushing
a button on the UI, where the button represents the "green" option
of prioritizing energy saving higher than connection performance
such as throughput. The user may e.g. trigger a new prioritization
of the energy saving before the set up of a new connection, but it
may also be done during a connection. [0051] 220: Transmit an
indicator of the priority level to the radio base station. This is
performed to allow the radio base station to affect the energy
saving in the system during the connection according to the
priority level. In the first embodiment described above, the
indicator is transmitted during initial access of the connection,
and the priority level may be indicated in either a RA preamble or
in a UE capability message. This may be used when the user has
triggered the new priority level before or at the same time as a
connection is set up. In the second embodiment described above, the
indicator is transmitted after initial access, and the priority
level may be indicated in either a new MAC control element, an SR
resource, a BSR, or a QoS parameter. This alternative is used when
the user has triggered the new prioritization during a
connection.
[0052] FIG. 2b is a flowchart of the method performed by the UE
according to another embodiment of the present invention, where the
method comprises the following steps in addition to steps 210 and
220 described with reference to FIG. 2a: [0053] 230: Detecting an
additional trigger associated with another priority level of the
energy saving in the system than the previous priority level
triggered in step 210. The additional trigger is also received via
a UI of the UE. [0054] 240: Transmit an indicator of the new
priority level to the radio base station, in order for the radio
base station to affect the energy saving according to the new
priority level. In this embodiment, the user may start with a first
priority level, triggered e.g. at connection set up in step 210. At
a later stage during the connection, the user either wants to step
up the priority level of the energy saving in order to be more
environmental friendly at the expense of e.g. throughput, or the
user wants to step back to a less energy saving priority level,
e.g. because he suddenly needs better throughput. [0055] 250: The
UE may receive feedback information regarding how much energy that
has been saved in the system during the connection from the radio
base station.
[0056] The amount of priority levels may be either two, or more
than two. In both cases, the first level is the "no priority"
level, indicating that the energy saving should not be prioritized,
and the connection should be handled in the "normal" way, thus
meaning that connection performance is prioritized regardless of
the energy consumption. The next level could either be a "high
priority" level, or there could be several priority levels to
indicate different levels of energy saving in relation to the
connection performance, such as the connection throughput, delay,
priority and/or packet loss rate, as described above.
[0057] FIG. 3a is a flowchart of the method performed by the eNB
according to embodiments of the present invention. It comprises the
following steps: [0058] 310: Retrieve an indicator of the priority
level of the energy saving in the system during the connection. In
the first and second embodiments described above, it is the UE that
transmits the indicator to the eNB. This is also described with
reference to FIG. 2a above. In the third embodiment described
above, the eNB retrieves the indicator from a network node that
stores subscriber data for the UEs. The priority level is indicated
in a subscription parameter retrieved by the eNB during initial
access, when the user has chosen an energy saving subscription for
its UE. [0059] 320: Configure a parameter affecting the energy
saving in the system during the connection according to the
indicated priority level. If there are more than two priority
levels, each priority level may be coupled to the configuration of
a certain parameter. The parameters may be UE related, such as the
DRX parameters, and the QoS parameters, and/or they may be system
related, such as the DTX parameters, scheduling parameters, and
thresholds for the activation of measurements, carrier aggregation,
COMP, MIMO, or activation of additional radio base stations,
antennas, or relays/repeaters.
[0060] FIG. 3b illustrates schematically the method of the network
node according to another embodiment of the present invention. In
this embodiment the method comprises the following steps in
addition to steps 310 and 320 described with reference to FIG. 3a:
[0061] 330: Receive an additional indicator of a further priority
level of the energy saving in the system during the connection,
from the UE. The user has triggered that he wants to change to a
new priority level. This step corresponds to step 240 described
above. In another exemplary embodiment than the one described in
step 240, the eNB may retrieve a first indicator of a first
priority level from a network node, which is the case when the UEs
subscription decides the "default" priority level for this UE. The
user may then trigger that he would not like to prioritize energy
saving during a call, e.g. because he suddenly needs better
throughput, and the eNB will then receive a second indicator of a
new priority level from the UE. [0062] 340: Configure the parameter
affecting the energy saving in the system during the connection
according to the indicated new priority level. The same list of
possible parameters as mentioned above in step 320 may be
configured. [0063] 350: Transmit information regarding the energy
saving in the system during the connection, to the UE. This step
corresponds to step 250 in the UE described above.
[0064] Schematically illustrated in FIG. 4 and according to
embodiments of the present invention, is the eNB 110 and the UE
150. The UE 150 comprises a detecting unit 151, adapted to detect
the trigger received via a UI of the UE. The trigger is associated
with the priority level of the energy saving in the system, that
the user wants. The UE 150 also comprises a transmitter 152 adapted
to transmit the indicator of the priority level to the eNB 110. The
transmission of the indicator to the eNB will allow the eNB to
affect the energy saving in the system during the connection
according to the priority level. The transmitter 152 may be adapted
to transmit the indicator to the eNB during or after initial
access, as described above. The detecting unit 151 may be further
adapted to detect an additional trigger of a new priority level of
the energy saving, where the additional trigger is received via a
UI of the UE. In that case the transmitting unit 152 is further
adapted to transmit an indicator of the further priority level to
the radio base station, allowing the radio base station to further
affect the energy saving in the system during the connection
according to the further priority level. The user may thus change
its prioritization during the connection in this embodiment.
Furthermore, the UE may comprise a receiver 153 adapted to receive
information regarding the energy saving in the system during the
connection, from the radio base station.
[0065] The eNB 110 comprises a retrieving unit 111 adapted to
retrieve the indicator of the priority level of the energy saving
in the system during the connection, and a configuring unit 112
adapted to configure a parameter affecting the energy saving in the
system during the connection according to the indicated priority
level. The indicator may be received from the UE during or after
initial access, as described in the first and second embodiment
above. During initial access the RA preamble or a UE capability
message may be used to indicate the priority level. After initial
access, the priority level may be indicated in a MAC control
element, a scheduling request, a buffer status report, or a quality
of service parameter. The indicator may also be retrieved from a
network node during initial access, as described above in the third
embodiment. The receiver 111 may be further adapted to receive an
additional indicator of another priority level of the energy saving
in the system during the connection, from the UE. In this case the
configuring unit 112 is further adapted to configure the parameter
affecting the energy saving in the system during the connection
according to the indicated further priority level. The parameter
that the eNB configures may be a UE related parameter and/or a
system related parameter. The UE related parameter may be one or
more of a DRX parameter, and a QoS parameter. The system related
parameter may be one or more of a DTX parameter, or a threshold for
activating algorithms, additional radio base stations, antennas, or
relays. The eNB 110 may also comprise a transmitter 113 adapted to
transmit information regarding the energy saving in the system
during the connection, to the UE.
[0066] FIG. 5a is a flowchart of the method performed by the UE
according to embodiments of the present invention. The method
comprises the following steps: [0067] 210: Detect a trigger
received via a UI of the UE, where the trigger is associated with
the priority level of the energy saving in the system. This is the
same step as described above with reference to FIG. 2a. [0068] 260:
Configure a UE related parameter affecting the energy saving in the
system during the connection according to the priority level. In
this embodiment, the UE may itself configure a parameter that will
affect the energy saving in the system. The UE related parameter
may be a UE capability parameter, such as a parameter related to
supported radio access technologies.
[0069] FIG. 5b illustrates schematically a UE according to
embodiments of the present invention. The UE 150 comprises a
receiver 151 adapted to receive a trigger via a UI of the UE, as
described above with reference to FIG. 3a. It also comprises a
configuring unit 154, adapted to configure a UE related parameter
affecting the energy saving in the system during the connection
according to the priority level.
[0070] The above mentioned and described embodiments are only given
as examples and should not be limiting to the present invention.
Other solutions, uses, objectives, and functions within the scope
of the invention as claimed in the accompanying patent claims
should be apparent for the person skilled in the art.
ABBREVIATIONS
[0071] 3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Program [0072] BSR Buffer
Status Report [0073] CN Core Network [0074] COMP Coordinated
Multipoint (transmission/reception) [0075] DRB Data Radio Bearer
[0076] DRX Discontinuous Reception [0077] DTX Discontinuous
Transmission [0078] eNB evolved Node B [0079] E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN
[0080] LCH Logical Channel [0081] LCG Logical Channel Grouping
[0082] LTE Long Term Evolution [0083] MAC Medium Access Control
[0084] MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output [0085] MME Mobility
Management Entity [0086] NAS Non Access Stratum [0087] NB NodeB
[0088] PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel [0089] QCI QoS Class
Identifier [0090] QoS Quality of Service [0091] RA Random Access
[0092] RAN Radio Access Network [0093] RAT Radio Access
Technologies [0094] RBS Radio Base Station [0095] RNC Radio Network
Controller [0096] SG Scheduling Grant [0097] SR Scheduling Request
[0098] UE User Equipment [0099] UMTS Universal Mobile
Telecommunications System [0100] UTRAN Universal Terrestrial
RAN
* * * * *