DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

FIG. 1 : The Basic Invention

[0038] FIG. 1 shows a telecommunications network generally indicated as 10 having a radio network controller (RNC) 12 , base stations (BS) 14 , 16 and user equipment (UE) 18 , 20 , 22 . The base station 14 has a base station power control loop module 14 a shown in FIG. 2 , and the UE 18 , 20 , 22 has receiver equipment 18 a and a user equipment power control loop module 18 b shown in FIG. 3 . In operation, the radio network controller 12 provides packets during a packet session to the UE 18 , 20 , 22 via the base stations 14 , 16 .

[0039] The present invention features an interface protocol for providing a discontinuous radio link for the UE 18 , 20 , 22 in the telecommunications network 10 while receiving packets during a packet service mode, wherein the UE 18 , 20 , 22 enters into a discontinuous reception mode by receiving, either a) two or more slots (see FIGS. 4 - 6 ) of a radio frame and powering down its radio receiver 18 a for the remaining slots of the radio frame, or b) one or more frames (see FIG. 7 ) based on the predefined activity period by the network and powering down the receiver 18 a for the remaining time of the packet transfer session. The configuration of the telecommunications network 10 in FIG. 1 may be used in implementing either methods of the present invention.

[0040] Packet transmission may be defined to start in one out of every K radio frames. The two or more slots may be consecutive or non-consecutive slots in the radio frame. In a discontinuous period, the UE 18 , 20 , 22 may wait either a fixed or variable discontinuous period of time.

FIG. 2 : The Base Station 14

[0041] FIG. 2 shows the base station 14 , which is also known herein as Node B. The base station power control loop module 14 a is shown as part of the base station 14 . The base station power control loop module 14 a may be implemented using hardware, software or a combination thereof. In a software embodiment, a typical microprocessor-based design may be used. As a person skilled in the art would appreciate, the microprocessor-based design would typically include a more expensive processor, ROM, RAM, input/output and data and address lines for coupling the same. The scope of the invention is not intended to be limited to any particular software implementation of the base station power control loop module 14 a. A person skilled in the art after reading the patent application as a whole would appreciate how to implement any of the aforementioned module in hardware, software, or a combination thereof.

[0042] The base station 14 includes many other circuit elements which are not shown or described, but which are all known in the art.

FIG. 3 : The UE 18

[0043] FIG. 3 shows the UE 18 which includes the user equipment receiver circuitry 18 a and the user equipment power control loop module 18 b.

[0044] The user equipment receiver circuitry 18 a is known in the art, and the scope of the invention is not intended to be limited to any particular implementation thereof.

[0045] The user equipment power control loop module 18 b is shown as part of the base station 14 , and may be implemented using hardware, software or a combination thereof. In a software embodiment, a typical microprocessor-based design may be used. As a person skilled in the art would appreciate, the microprocessor-based design would typically include a more expensive processor, ROM, RAM, input/output and data and address lines for coupling the same. The scope of the invention is not intended to be limited to any particular software implementation of the user equipment power control loop module 18 b. A person skilled in the art after reading the patent application as a whole would appreciate how to implement any of the aforementioned module in hardware, software, or a combination thereof.

[0046] The user equipment 18 includes many other circuit elements which are not shown or described, but which are all known in the art.

Neighbor Measurements and Power Control

[0047] FIG. 4 shows is diagram of the proposed power control and neighbor measurement scheme generally indicated as 100 where 2 consecutive slots are received. The lines 102 , 104 , 106 , 108 , 110 , 112 , 114 from a downlink (DL) to an uplink (UL) indicate that transmit power control information (TPC) is received from the network and it is used to control the transmission power of an uplink transmission.

[0048] In effect, to overcome problems in neighbor measurements, in one embodiment of the present invention the active period would consist of 2 or more consecutive slots 120 , 122 , 124 , 126 , 128 , 130 , 132 , 134 . This algorithm for the active period could also be adaptive, e.g. when the UE realizes the environment is changing too fast it increases it's activity for measurement purposes, e.g. searching new cells. When the radio conditions are reasonably stable, the search of new cells can be reduced or even stopped. Further, when the radio conditions are stable, new cells are not likely to appear so updating of found cells can be reasonably fast. Another option could be that no consecutive slots are to be received but e.g. every 3rd or 5th slot is received.

[0049] FIG. 5 shows one more detailed example of a structure of a frame of a downlink dedicated physical channel (DPCH) 200 . Each frame of length 10 ms is split into 15 slots 202 , 204 , . . . , 220 , . . . , 230 , each having a length T _slot =2560 chips, corresponding to one power-control period. As shown, the slot 220 contains a dedicated physical data channel (DPDCH) having data 1 with N _datal bits, a dedicated physical control channel (DPCCH) having TPC with N _TPC bits and TFCI with N _TFCI bits, a DPDCH having data 2 with N _data2 bits, and a DPCCH having a pilot with N _pilot bits.

[0050] Within one downlink DPCH, dedicated data generated at Layer 2 and above, i.e. the dedicated transport channel (DCH), is transmitted in time-multiplex with control information generated at Layer 1 (known pilot bits, TPC commands and the TFCI). The downlink DPCH can thus be seen as a time multiplex of a downlink DPDCH and a downlink DPCCH.

Indication of Discontinuous Reception Periods Using TFCI Fields

[0051] FIG. 6 shows a diagram of a series of frames generally indicated as 300 and the usage of the TFCI fields for the indication of discontinuous reception periods. The series of frames 300 includes a last frame 302 where data has been transmitted, and the TFCI changes to indicate that packets will end in a next frame and a discontinuous reception and transmission period 304 with a last idle frame 304 a where no data has been transmitted, and the TFCI changes to indicate that packets will start in a next frame.

[0052] In operation, in order for the UE 18 , 20 , 22 in FIG. 1 to know reliably the status of its own packet data connection, there is a signalling mechanism between the radio control network 12 and the UE 18 , 20 , 22 to inform the UE when the packet transmission occurs.

[0053] Information signalling the end of data packet for the UE 18 , 20 , 22 can be indicated, e.g., by changing the TFCI field in the last frame 302 to an agreed state with the radio control network 12 ( FIG. 1 ). After this the UE 18 , 20 , 22 is monitoring TPC commands and the TFCI field status (see FIG. 5 ) in the discontinuous period or mode 304 , and responding to the TPC commands from the radio network controller 12 accordingly. The start of a new packet transmission is indicated again by changing the TFCI field status (See FIG. 5 ) in the previous frame 304 a before packet data frame(s), and the UE 18 , 20 , 22 will decode it when monitoring the TPC command from node B (the base station 14 ( FIG. 1 )) as well. This feature assumes that the DPCCH channel includes the TFCI and TPC fields as shown in FIG. 5 , which can all be utilized, or alternatively a subset of them.

[0054] Based on the detection of the start of the discontinuous period 304 , the UE 18 , 20 , 22 ( FIG. 1 ) switches off all or part of the reception circuitry 18 a ( FIG. 3 ) for part of the radio frame. In the example above, 2 slots out of 15 in the radio frame 200 ( FIG. 5 ) are received, and during the remaining 13 slots the reception circuitry 18 a is switched off. This provides an advantage in that, by receiving the 2 slots, the UE 18 , 20 , 22 can keep the power control loop running, while also receiving the advantage of a power saving by having the receiver circuitry 18 a switched off for the remaining 13 slots. By way of example, the reader is referred to a known power control procedure that can be used as described in a technical document entitled, 3G TS 25.214 (FDD, Physical layer procedures).

[0055] Alternatively, embodiments are envisioned wherein only every 3rd or 5th slot is received out of the 15 slots in a given radio frame, to achieve considerable power savings.

[0056] The actual change of the TFCI bits may be implemented in the base station 14 , 16 ( FIG. 1 ) based on the information concerning packet data connection, as well as the radio network controller 12 ( FIG. 1 ). The scope of the invention is not intended to be limited to what device in the network changes the TFCI bits.

[0057] In other words, when looking at battery improvement calculations one recognizes that DPCCH gating provides a very attractive way to save battery power in the receiver (rx) side battery consumption, which can be implemented as follows:

[0058] In operation, packet transmission cannot start in any frame after gating is started. It can only start e.g. in every Kth frame. Thus, in this case the rx side has to decode the whole frame only in every Kth frame. In the frames inbetween, the rx would have to wake up only during those slots that are transmitted during gating. The controller 12 of the network 10 would signal this parameter K to the UE 18 , 20 , 22 along with the other DPCCH gating parameters.

[0059] Moreover, looser handover measurement requirements may be defined during gating. For example, during gating it may be required that the UE 18 , 20 , 22 perform handover measurements only for those cells in the neighbor list, for which an initial search has already being done, since the initial search might be difficult to do during gating. Other handover measurements may also work even during gating. The DPCCH gating is most likely to be used only with low speeds, about 3 km/h, since with higher speeds one gets more performance degradation due to slower power control cycles. Thus, if the UE 18 , 20 , 22 is slowly moving, then there is not likely to be a need to do the initial search for new cells very often. If avoiding this will save battery times, when nothing is being transmitted, then the benefit for battery consumption can be exploited.

[0060] Of course, as a default it is always possible for the operator to use K=1, which means that continuous decoding is required at rx side. One possibility would be that if K=1, then normal handover measurement requirements are valid, as discussed below.

Method B: Higher Layer Scheduling Scheme

[0061] FIG. 7 shows a diagram of a higher layer signalling scheme generally indicated as 400 for discontinuous reception to define the activity period. The higher layer signalling scheme 400 includes packet channel reception frames 402 , a discontinuous reception and transmission period 404 , packet channel reception frames 406 , a discontinuous reception and transmission period 408 and packet channel reception frames 410 . The packet channel reception frames 402 , 406 , 410 is when the receiver circuitry of the UE 18 , 20 , 22 ( FIG. 1 ) has to be on all the time. The discontinuous reception and transmission periods 404 , 408 is when the receiver circuitry of the UE 18 , 20 , 22 ( FIG. 1 ) can be off for part of the time. The discontinuous reception and transmission period 404 , includes intermittent frames 404 a, 404 b, 404 c, 404 d (every Kth frame) when the UE 18 , 20 , 22 ( FIG. 1 ) has to detect whether packet transmission starts again.

[0062] In one embodiment, the radio network controller 12 ( FIG. 1 ) defines the period where the UE 18 , 20 , 22 needs to perform a decoding of a frame(s) or a few slots in order to detect if the packet transmission is active. The UE 18 , 20 , 22 will be notified while decoding the frame that it consists of data targeted to it by having correct CRC result. If the frame does not consist of data for the UE, then a CRC error will occur. If not, the next active period will follow after an agreed period of time. There is no limitation on how long the packet transmission period can be, and the period is triggered to the point where the last transmitted frame has occurred. It's only an agreement issue whether it is the start or the end of the last frame, and will have no impact to the procedure in general.

[0063] The non-receiving state can be either a fixed period type, e.g the activity is occurring after a predefined period which is same during the connection unless the network is changing it, or the period can vary in order to the limit possible EMC radiation levels. In this case, both the radio network controller 12 and the UE 18 , 20 , 22 will perform an algorithm randomizing the discontinuous reception period, as shown and described in more in detail in relation to FIGS. 8 - 9 . However, in the case of a frame based method, when the discontinuity period is reasonably long (e.g. 30 ms or upwards) the UE may switch on the transmitter smoothly in order to reduce the EMC radiation levels.

[0064] In FIG. 7 , the invention is described for the case where the active period is fixed. In case of a random period, a value of N is calculated continuously by the radio network controller 12 and the UE 18 , 20 , 22 during the connection.

[0065] For a random non-receiving period, the radio network controller 12 will also define the period where the UE needs to perform a decoding of a frame or a few slots in order to detect if the packet transmission is active or not. When the packet transmission is not active, the next active period will follow after a random period (N) of radio frames. This value of N is signalled from the network to UE 18 , 20 , 22 similar as in the case in fixed period.

DPCCH Gating Method Allowing Both tx and rx Side Battery Life Improvement Avoiding Unnecessary Continuous Decoding

[0066] As discussed above, to avoid the requirement of continuous decoding of each frame in the downlink (DL), in the present invention one defines that there is some information delivered to UE 18 , 20 , 22 ( FIG. 1 ) that packet transmission is not supposed to start in any frame after gating is started. The packet transmission could start only e.g. in every Kth frame. Thus, the TFCI bits ( FIG. 5 ) would exist in all slots only in those particular frames. In the frames in between, the TFCI bits do not have to exist in every slot, since TFCI decoding would not be done in those slots. In the frames inbetween, the rx would have to wake up only for every 3 ^rd slot with 1/3 gating, or every 5 ^th slot with 1/5 gating, for making signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) estimation and decoding TPC symbols, so that the inner loop power control continues working.

[0067] As shown in FIG. 7 , the radio network controller 12 defines the period where the UE 18 , 20 , 22 needs to perform a decoding of the whole frame in order to detect if the packet transmission is active. If not, the next active period will follow after agreed period of time. There is no limitation on how long the packet transmission period can be after it has started. The period is triggered to the point where last transmitted frame has occurred. The only issue is whether it is the start or the end of the last frame.

Activity Period Randomizing

[0068] FIGS. 8 and 9 show a user equipment randomizing algorithm module 500 and a radio network controller randomizing algorithm module 600 . The user equipment randomizing algorithm module 500 and the radio network controller randomizing algorithm module 600 each may be implemented using hardware, software or a combination thereof. In a software embodiment, a typical microprocessor-based design may be used. As a person skilled in the art would appreciate, the microprocessor-based design would typically include a more expensive processor, ROM, RAM, input/output and data and address lines for coupling the same. The scope of the invention is not intended to be limited to any particular software implementation of the user equipment randomizing algorithm module 500 and the radio network controller randomizing algorithm module 600 . A person skilled in the art after reading the patent application as a whole would appreciate how to implement any of the aforementioned module in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. The scope of the invention is also intended to include the randomizing algorithm being a part of the base stations architecture.

[0069] In the third generation partnership project (3 GPP), the discussion of EMC protection is ongoing at the time of filing the present application. The proposed scheme under negotiation does not prevent the utilization of e.g. a random seed procedure for defining the exact starting time of active period. However, the proposed equations in the scheme may need slight refinement. The proposed scheme set forth in this patent application does not limit the random seed to be applicable only over 1 radio frame, but it can also be a multiple of frames.

Battery Life Calculations with Both tx and rx Gating Assumptions in UE Battery Life Calculations with tx and rx Gating

[0070] The following assumptions have been used in the simplified UE battery life calculations with tx and rx gating. By way of example, the following calculations are based on a slot-based method, and similar calculations can be made for the frame-based method.

[0071] First, the percentage of battery consumption of tx side and rx side, respectively, is assumed for certain tx power level when gating is not used. For example, if the tx power level is represented by txpwr, then this results in the following:

[0072] tx side consumes N 1 Ma @ txpwr

[0073] rx side consumes N 2 Ma

[0074] No specific data rates were assumed here either in uplink or downlink, for simplification.

[0075] Second, one calculates what the tx side battery consumption is if tx gating is used. Separate values are calculated for 1/3 gating and 1/5 gating, with the same corresponding tx power level txpwr, which resulted in the following value:

[0076] tx side consumes N 1 _gating Ma, during gating @ txpwr.

[0077] Third, one also calculates what the rx side battery consumption (average battery consumption over K frames) is if rx gating is used. Here rx is on the whole frame in every Kth frame. And in the frames inbetween, the rx is on only in every 3 ^rd slot or every 5 ^th slot, with 1/3 gating or 1/5 gating, respectively, which resulted in the following value:

[0078] rx side consumes N 2 _gating Ma, during gating.

[0079] Fourth, one calculates the overall battery life improvement, as follows: 1 ${\mathrm{Battery}}_{—}{\mathrm{life}}_{—}\mathrm{improvement}=\frac{\mathrm{N1}+\mathrm{N2}}{{\mathrm{N1}}_{—}{\mathrm{total}}_{—}\mathrm{new}+{\mathrm{N2}}_{—}{\mathrm{total}}_{—}\mathrm{new}}$

[0080] where:

N 1 _total_new=(1− DPCCH_gating_% )* N 1 + DPCCH_gating_%* N 1 _gating,

[0081] and

N 2 _total_new=(1− DPCCH_gating_%)* N 2 + DPCCH_gating_%* N 2 _gating.

UE Battery Life Improvement Calculations with tx and rx Gating

[0082] The UE battery life improvement calculations is shown with tx and rx gating, where a higher layer scheduling idea has been used, to allow battery savings also in the rx side. Values K=1, 4 and 8 are used in the calculations, where K defines that the rx side has to be on the whole frame in every Kth frame. Note, K=1 gives the same result, as was given in our previous UE battery improvement calculations, where only the tx side improvement could be achieved, since K=1 means that the rx side has to be on in every frame.

[0083] Thus Tables 1 and 2 show UE battery lifetime improvements for DCH+DSCH case, with DPCCH_gating_%=0.66, for medium range tx pwr level and high tx power level, respectively. The calculation is not made for the case for DCH only, but for the case DPCCH_gating_% =0.3, since the main point is to evaluate whether the rx gating is providing clear battery life improvement, or whether the tx only gating (K=1 case) is providing enough battery improvement alone. 1

[0084] 2

[0085] The aforementioned shows that the rx gating clearly further improves the UE battery life, and that there are more benefits from the DPCCH gating concept, if UE battery savings is provided both from the rx and tx sides.

Scope of the Invention

[0086] Accordingly, the invention comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth.

[0087] It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, and those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.