WO2018176219A1

WO2018176219A1 - System and method for paging signal collision avoidance using paging repetition and hybrid automatic repeat request (harq) combining

Info

Publication number: WO2018176219A1
Application number: PCT/CN2017/078431
Authority: WO
Inventors: Xipeng Zhu; Jiming Guo; Ruiming Zheng
Original assignee: Qualcomm Incorporated
Priority date: 2017-03-28
Filing date: 2017-03-28
Publication date: 2018-10-04

Abstract

A method for communicating paging signals in a communication system includes coupling a user equipment to a communication network over a communication channel, and selecting one paging occasion from multiple paging occasions sent by the communication network, the multiple paging occasions sent using a paging repetition pattern configured to allow the user equipment coupled to the communication network to receive the selected one paging occasion without conflicting with a paging occasion from a second communication network.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PAGING SIGNAL COLLISION AVOIDANCE USING PAGING REPETITION AND HYBRID AUTOMATIC REPEAT REQUEST (HARQ) COMBINING

TECHNICAL FIELD

The technology discussed below relates to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to paging signal reception in wireless communications. Embodiments provide for the reduction of paging signal collision, particularly in multiple communication network environments, where it would be desirable for a UE to have the ability to monitor for multiple paging occasions per communication network and minimize the possibility of paging signal collision.

INTRODUCTION

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power) . Examples of such multiple-access systems include code-division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time-division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) systems, and orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) systems.

By way of example, a wireless multiple-access communication system may include a number of base stations, each simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communication devices, each otherwise known as user equipment (UE) . A base station may communicate with one or more UEs on downlink channels (e.g., for transmissions from a base station to a UE) and uplink channels (e.g.， for transmissions from a UE to a base station) .

To reduce power consumption, a UE may selectively enter a “sleep” period or “sleep” cycle. For example, during a radio resource control (RRC) _idle state, the UE may enter a sleep mode, or sleep state and then awaken periodically to receive a paging message by, for example, listening for a paging communication, such as a paging-radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI) on the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) . The UE discontinuously monitoring the PDCCH for a P-RNTI communication to listen to a paging message during the RRC_Idle state may be referred to as discontinuous Reception (DRX) in RRC_Idle. Other radio access technology (RAT) may include other forms of sleep cycle.

The DRX_Idle state allows a UE to sleep for a period of time defined by the timing of a paging signal from the network to the UE. A paging signal may occur during a “paging cycle” and may occupy one or more communication symbols. The paging signal may also be referred to as a “paging occasion” which may be specific to a UE.

There are situations in which a single UE may be in operative communication with two different networks. Each network may have a unique radio access technology (RAT) . Alternatively, the UE may be in operative communication with a single base station over two different networks. When a UE is in operative communication with two or more networks, the UE must monitor for a paging signal from each of the networks. When a UE is monitoring multiple networks for a single paging signal from each of the multiple networks, the likelihood of paging signal collisions increases.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Various implementations of systems, methods and devices within the scope of the appended claims each have several aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for the desirable attributes described herein. Without limiting the scope of the appended claims, some prominent features are described herein.

Details of one or more implementations of the subject matter described in this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, aspects, and advantages will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims. Note that the relative dimensions of the following figures may not be drawn to scale.

One aspect of the disclosure provides a method for communicating paging signals in a communication system. Method embodiments can include coupling a user equipment to a communication network over a communication channel, and selecting one paging occasion from multiple paging occasions sent by the communication network, the multiple paging occasions sent using a paging repetition pattern configured to allow the user equipment coupled to the communication network to receive the selected one paging occasion without conflicting with a paging occasion from a second communication network.

Another aspect of the disclosure provides an apparatus for communicating paging signals in a communication system including a user equipment coupled to a communication network over a communication channel, the user equipment selecting one paging occasion from multiple paging occasions sent by the communication network, the multiple paging occasions sent using a paging repetition pattern configured to allow a user equipment coupled to the communication network to receive the selected one paging occasion without conflicting with a paging occasion from a second communication network.

Another aspect of the disclosure provides a device including means for coupling a user equipment to a communication network over a communication channel, and means for selecting one paging occasion from multiple paging occasions sent by the communication network, the multiple paging occasions sent using a paging repetition pattern configured to allow the user equipment coupled to the communication network to receive the selected one paging occasion without conflicting with a paging occasion from a second communication network.

Another aspect of the disclosure provides a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer executable code for communicating paging signals in a communication system, the code executable by a processor to couple a user equipment to a communication network over a communication channel, and select one paging occasion from multiple paging occasions sent by the communication network, the multiple paging occasions sent using a paging repetition pattern configured to allow the user equipment coupled to the communication network to receive the selected one paging occasion without conflicting with a paging occasion from a second communication network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the figures, like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various views unless otherwise indicated. For reference numerals with letter character designations such as “102a” or “102b” , the letter character designations may differentiate two like parts or elements present in the same figure. Letter character designations for reference numerals may be omitted when it is intended that a reference numeral encompass all parts having the same reference numeral in all figures.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a wireless communication system, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a device configured for use in wireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a base station configured for use in wireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a communication system including a base station and a device for use in wireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 shows a system for use in wireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 shows a system for use in wireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a timing diagram for use in wireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a timing diagram for use in wireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a timing diagram for use in wireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a timing diagram for use in wireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a timing diagram for use in wireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method for communication, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram of an apparatus for communication, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration. ” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects.

The following description provides examples, and is not limiting of the scope, applicability, or examples set forth in the claims. Changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements discussed without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Various examples may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For instance, the methods described may be performed in an order different from that described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Also, features described with respect to some examples may be combined in other examples.

Exemplary embodiments of the disclosure are directed to minimizing the occurrence of paging signal collisions when a UE is in communication with a base station over a communication network, or over two or more communication networks, or when a UE is in communication with two or more base stations on two or more communication networks.

In an exemplary embodiment, it is desirable to prevent or minimize the occurrence of paging occasion collisions when a UE is communicating concurrently over two or more RATs, referred to as concurrent RAT (CRAT) .

A UE may communicate on one or two or more RATs/networks using shared transmit/receive (Tx/Rx) resources. Currently, there are UEs that are capable of communicating over multiple networks. For example, a UE using L + L DSDS ( (Long Term Evolution) LTE + LTE Dual SIM Dual Standby) , and an LTE + CDMA 1xRTT SRLTE (Single Radio LTE) is capable of such communication. When in sleep mode, a UE periodically awakens to decode the page information of each RAT, and the periodicity can be described using a DRX cycle and wakeup occasion. The paging cycle may be referred to as a DRX cycle for a UE in RRC_IDLE or semi-connected states, e.g.， an LTE light connection or NR (new radio) RRC_INACTIVE) . These states are conditions under which the UE will periodically sleep and awaken. When referring to using DRX for paging, a UE may use DRX in idle mode to reduce power consumption. One paging occasion (PO) is a subframe where there may be a P-RNTI transmitted on the PDCCH addressing the paging message. One paging frame (PF) is one radio frame, which may contain one or multiple paging occasions. When DRX is used, the UE monitors one paging occasion per DRX cycle. A paging frame and a paging occasion is determined by the following formulae using the DRX paramerers provided in the system information.

A paging frame is given by:

SFN mod T ＝ (T div N) * (UE_ID mod N)

Index i_spointing to PO from subframe pattern defined in Table 1 below is derived from:

i_s＝ floor (UE_ID/N) mod Ns

System information DRX parameters stored in a UE are updated locally in the UE whenever the DRX parameter values are changed in the system information. If the UE has no International mobile station identity (IMSI) identifier, for example, when making an emergency call without using USIM, the UE uses as a default identity UE_ID＝0 in the PF and i_sformulas above.

The following parameters are used for the calculation of the PF and i_s:

T: DRX cycle of the UE. T is determined by the shortest of the UE specific DRX value, if allocated by upper layers, and a default DRX value broadcast in the system information. If a UE specific DRX is not configured by upper layer, the default value is applied.

nB: 4T, 2T, T, T/2, T/4, T/8, T/16, T/32.

N: min (T, nB)

Ns: max (1, nB/T)

UE_ID: IMSI mod 1024.

IMSI is given as a sequence of digits of type integer (0.. 9) , IMSI in the formulae above is interpreted as a decimal integer number, where the first digit given in the sequence represents the highest order digit. For example, IMSI＝12 (digit1＝1, digit2＝2) . In this example, this is interpreted as the decimal integer “12” , not “1x16+2＝18” .

In each paging occasion and/or paging frame, the UE monitors the PDCCH channel to determine whether there is a paging communication to receive. Each paging communication may carry one or multiple paging records to one or multiple UEs. A paging record is the payload for the UE to receive.

Table 1

Subframe Patterns

FDD:

Ns	PO when i_s＝0	PO when i_s＝1	PO when i_s＝2	PO when i_s＝3
1	9	N/A	N/A	N/A
2	4	9	N/A	N/A
4	0	4	5	9

TDD (all UL/DL configurations) :

Ns	PO when i_s＝0	PO when i_s＝1	PO when i_s＝2	PO when i_s＝3
1	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
2	0	5	N/A	N/A
4	0	1	5	6

In a particular example, LTE, CDMA2000, Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) and likely future 5G NR (new radio) will likely share the same, or a similar, page cycle value set which, in an exemplary embodiment, may be defined as 320ms *2^N, where N is a configurable integer, typically configured as 2 or 3. A paging offset in each paging cycle may be derived from the International mobile station identity (IMSI) identifier for a UE and paging channel capacity related parameters. For example, for LTE, the UE wakeup occasion is defined in section 7 of 3GPP TS36.304.

In a particular example, for a multi-SIM (subscriber identity module) UE, if the intra-cycle paging offsets derived from two IMSI identifiers are the same, the paging occasion collision would be consistent given the similar DRX cycle value set shared by the two RATs that the UE is monitoring. In this case, the UE can only receive the paging signal from one network at each paging occasion, except in situations where the UE has multiple receivers.

A voice call may be referred to as “5G voice” when provided over a 5G network, and may be provided by a dual standby UE (similar to SRLTE) . The potential dual standby scenarios may include, for example, 5G + 4G, 5G PS + 3G/2G CS. When such a UE performs either a mobile originated (MO) or a mobile terminated (MT) voice call, the UE typically tunes its Tx/Rx to a voice capable RAT, e.g.， a 4G or 3G/2G network, to perform the call. In such an instance, the UE monitors the paging signals of both the 5G network and the voice capable RAT network.

Paging occasion collision may be more frequent in a single SIM multiple standby UE if the two networks are synchronized and the paging offset calculation rules for the two networks are similar.

An existing DSDS (dual SIM dual standby) UE may resolve paging occasion collisions by selectively monitoring a paging signal, e.g.， by monitoring a first receive network A for paging signals during an even paging cycle and monitoring a second receive network B for paging signals during an odd paging cycle. Using this type of paging signal monitoring, when network retransmission of the paging signal occurs, a UE can still receive paging signals from both networks at the expense of longer MT (mobile terminated) service delay and higher paging failure probability. However, different networks have different re-paging strategy, so this solution may not work reliably in all situations.

In an exemplary embodiment, a UE can request a paging occasion or a paging occasion offset to minimize the possibility of paging signal collision. Alternatively, a paging occasion can be repeated by the network without a request by the UE to minimize the possibility of paging signal collision. There is also a possibility that a paging resource may be unavailable at the paging occasion.

A UE monitors a network for a paging signal at a particular paging occasion that is unique to the UE. However, at the time of that paging occasion, the network may not have sufficient resources to send a paging signal to the UE, e.g.， due to paging channel overload, spectrum sharing or another reason. Further, for a specific UE, the paging performance may be worse for certain scenarios such as in a condition where the downlink (DL) channel may be compromised.

Similarly, this issue may be alleviated if a UE could request a paging occasion or paging occasion offset, or if the paging occasion can be repeated by the network. There is also a possibility that a paging message may be too small or not reliable.

In an LTE network, a paging message is sent on the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) without UE feedback using channel quality indication/hybrid automatic repeat request (CQI/HARQ) . The term HARQ refers to a combination of high-rate forward error-correcting coding and ARQ error-control. In standard ARQ, redundant bits are added to data to be transmitted using an error-detecting (ED) code such as a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) . A receiver detecting a corrupted message will request a new message from the sender. In Hybrid ARQ, the original data is encoded with a forward error correction (FEC) code, and the parity bits are either immediately sent along with the message or only transmitted upon request when a receiver detects an erroneous message. To ensure the paging reliability, the paging message is sent using a low modulation and coding scheme (MCS) , which may make the paging message too small to carry some critical information, e.g.， caller ID in CSFB. With enlarged paging message size, the paging message can be used in following new cases.

A small downlink (DL) data transmission in RRC_INACTIVE or RRC_IDLE, and a DL signaling transmission, e.g.， SIP (session initiation protocol) INVITE, MTC device triggering, and system information. As used herein, the term “system information” refers to 3GPP terminology, and in particular, refers to 3GPP TS 36.331, which describes a message containing network system information broadcast on the broadcast control channel (BCCH) . In CDMA2000, the system information is sent on the paging channel, which can be similar to the sending of system information in a 5G communication system.

In an exemplary embodiment, the paging message size may be enlarged and/or the reliability may be increased by repetition and hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) combining.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 100 in accordance with various aspects of the disclosure. The wireless communications system 100 includes base stations 105, UEs 115, and a core network 130. The core network 130 may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The base stations 105 interface with the core network 130 through a first set of backhaul links 132 (e.g., S1, etc. ) and may perform radio configuration and scheduling for communication with the UEs 115, or may operate under the control of a base station controller (not shown) . In various examples, the base stations 105 may communicate, either directly or indirectly (e.g.， through core network 130) , with each other over a second set of backhaul links 134 (e.g.， X1, etc. ) , which may be wired or wireless communication links.

The base stations 105 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 115 via one or more base station antennas. Each of the base station 105 sites may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. In some examples, base stations 105 may be referred to as a base transceiver station, a radio base station, an access point, a radio transceiver, a NodeB, eNodeB (eNB) , Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, or some other suitable terminology. The geographic coverage area 110 for a base station 105 may be divided into sectors making up only a portion of the coverage area (not shown) . The wireless communications system 100 may include base stations 105 of different types (e.g.， macro and/or small cell base stations) . There may be overlapping geographic coverage areas 110 for different technologies.

In some examples, the wireless communications system 100 may be one or more of an LTE/LTE-Anetwork and a 5G or NR (new radio) network. In LTE/LTE-Anetworks, the term evolved Node B (eNB) or in a 5G or NR network, the term millimeter wave B (mWB) may be generally used to describe the base stations 105, while the term UE may be generally used to describe the UEs 115. The wireless communications system 100 may be a Heterogeneous LTE/LTE-Aand 5G network in which different types of eNBs and/or mWBs provide coverage for various geographical regions. For example, each eNB, mWB, or base station 105 may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a small cell, and/or other types of cell. The term "cell" is a 3GPP term that can be used to describe a base station, a carrier or component carrier associated with a base station, or a coverage area (e.g.， sector, etc. ) of a carrier or base station, depending on context. In some examples, the wireless communications system 100 may be, or may include a millimeter wave communication network.

A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g.， several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions with the network provider. A small cell is a lower-powered base station, as compared with a macro cell, that may operate in the same or different (e.g.， licensed, unlicensed, etc. ) frequency bands as macro cells. Small cells may include pico cells, femto cells, and micro cells according to various examples. A pico cell may cover a relatively smaller geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions with the network provider. A femto cell also may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g.， a home) and may provide restricted access by UEs having an association with the femto cell (e.g.， UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG) , UEs for users in the home, and the like) . An eNB for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro eNB. An eNB for a small cell may be referred to as a small cell eNB, a pico eNB, a femto eNB or a home eNB. An eNB may support one or multiple (e.g., two, three, four, and the like) cells (e.g.， component carriers) .

The wireless communications system 100 may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the base stations may have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the base stations may have different frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations may not be aligned in time. The techniques described herein may be used for either synchronous or asynchronous operations.

The communication networks that may accommodate some of the various disclosed examples may be packet-based networks that operate according to a layered protocol stack. In the user plane, communications at the bearer or Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer may be IP-based. A Radio Link Control (RLC) layer may perform packet segmentation and reassembly to communicate over logical channels. A Medium Access Control (MAC) layer may perform priority handling and multiplexing of logical channels into transport channels. The MAC layer may also use Hybrid ARQ (HARQ) to provide retransmission at the MAC layer to improve link efficiency. In the control plane, the Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol layer may provide establishment, configuration, and maintenance of an RRC connection between a UE 115 and the base stations 105 or core network 130 supporting radio bearers for the user plane data. At the Physical (PHY) layer, the transport channels may be mapped to Physical channels.

The UEs 115 are dispersed throughout the wireless communications system 100, and each UE 115 may be stationary or mobile. A UE 115 may also include or be referred to by those skilled in the art as a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communications device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology. A UE 115 may be a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, or the like. A UE 115 may be able to communicate with one or more of various types of base stations and network equipment including macro eNBs, small cell eNBs, mWBs, relay base stations, and the like. A UE 115 may also be able to communicate with other UEs either within or outside the same coverage area of a base station via D2D communications.

The communication links 125 shown in wireless communications system 100 may include uplink (UL) transmissions from a UE 115 to a base station 105, and/or downlink (DL) transmissions, from a base station 105 to a UE 115. The downlink transmissions may also be called forward link transmissions while the uplink transmissions may also be called reverse link transmissions. Each communication link 125 may include one or more carriers, where each carrier may be a signal made up of multiple sub-carriers or component carriers (e.g.， waveform signals of different frequencies) modulated according to the various radio technologies described above. Each modulated signal may be sent on a different sub-carrier and may carry control information (e.g.， reference signals, control channels, etc. ) , overhead information, user data, etc. The communication links 125 may transmit bidirectional communications using FDD (e.g.， using paired spectrum resources) or TDD operation (e.g., using unpaired spectrum resources) . Frame structures for FDD (e.g.， frame structure type 1) and TDD (e.g.， frame structure type 2) may be defined.

In some embodiments of the system 100, base stations 105 and/or UEs 115 may include multiple antennas for employing antenna diversity schemes to improve communication quality and reliability between base stations 105 and UEs 115. Additionally or alternatively, base stations 105 and/or UEs 115 may employ multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) techniques that may take advantage of multi-path environments to transmit multiple spatial layers carrying the same or different coded data.

Wireless communications system 100 may support directional synchronization signal for millimeter wave detection and synchronization. For example, a millimeter wave base station (mWB) 105 may transmit a directional synchronization signal in a sweeping pattern to UEs 115 within its coverage area 110. The base station 105 may configure a narrowband signal of the synchronization signal to convey correlation information, such as location information (e.g.， based on cell ID information included or conveyed in the narrowband signal) , for a wideband signal of the synchronization signal. Hereinafter, information regarding the properties of the wideband signal may be referred to as correlation information. The base station 105 may link the wideband signal to the location of the narrowband signal. In some examples, the identification information of the base station 105 may be included or conveyed in the narrowband signal. The identification information may convey the location information, e.g.， the UE 115 may perform a function based on the base station 105 identification number and/or access a lookup table. The base station 105 may send the wideband signal component of the synchronization signal according to the correlation information in the narrowband signal.

A UE 115 may receive the narrowband signal of the synchronization signal for the millimeter wave communication network and determine the correlation information associated with the wideband signal from the narrowband signal. For example, the UE 115 may identify the base station 105 sending the narrowband signal, may determine the base station 105 identity based on the frequency of the narrowband signal, etc., to determine the correlation information. The UE 115 may use the correlation information to identify and receive the wideband signal. In some examples, the UE 115 may determine timing information based on the narrowband signal and/or the wideband signal components of the synchronization signal, e.g.， system timing, frame boundary/length timing, etc.

In an exemplary embodiment, a UE may be operatively coupled to a base station using a millimeter wave communication link that may use multiple beams. The multiple beams may be directional such that they are separated by a few degrees.

One or more UEs 115 may be in communication with a base station 105 over each beam. When a UE 115 is operatively communicating with a base station 105 over a beam, that beam may be referred to as a serving beam. The serving beam communicates all information between the UE 115 and the base station 105, including, for example, synchronization, timing, beam information, data, etc.

In an exemplary embodiment, a UE 115 may be in operative communication with two or more base stations 105 over two different communication networks, also referred to using the terminology radio access technology (RAN) . Alternatively, a UE 115 may be in operative communication with one base station 105 over two different communication networks. When a UE is in communication with two or more base stations 105 over two different communication networks, or in communication with one base station 105 over two different communication networks, it is desirable for the UE to be able to discern the paging signals from the two different networks.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram 200 of a device 115-a for use in wireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The device 115-a may be an example of one or more aspects of a UE 115 described with reference to FIG. 1. The device 115-a may include a receiver module 205, a paging module 210, and/or a transmitter module 215. The device 115-a may also be or include a processor (not shown) . Each of these modules may be in communication with each other.

The components of the device 115-a may, individually or collectively, be implemented using one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) adapted to perform some or all of the applicable functions in hardware. Alternatively, the functions may be performed by one or more other processing units (or cores) , on one or more integrated circuits. In other examples, other types of integrated circuits may be used (e.g.， Structured/Platform ASICs, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) , and other Semi-Custom ICs) , which may be programmed in any manner known in the art. The functions of each module may also be implemented, in whole or in part, with instructions embodied in a memory, formatted to be executed by one or more general or application-specific processors.

The receiver module 205 may receive information such as packets, user data, and/or control information associated with various information channels (e.g.， control channels, data channels, etc. ) . The receiver module 205 may receive messages from a millimeter wave base station 105 including information associated with synchronization signaling and communication scheduling information. Information may be passed on to the paging module 210, and to other components of the device 115-a.

The paging module 210 may manage paging communication information and may determine based on the paging communication information periods when the device 115-a may enter a sleep mode and awaken to receive a paging signal. The paging module 210 may receive, via the receiver module 205, information relating to paging communications, and may generate paging instructions for the device 115-a.

The transmitter module 215 may transmit the one or more signals received from other components of the device 115-a. The transmitter module 215 may transmit information such as packets, user data, and/or control information to a serving cell. The transmitter module 215 may send messages to a millimeter wave base station 105 in conjunction with various synchronization signaling operations, e.g.， random access procedures, and other information. In some examples, the transmitter module 215 may be collocated with the receiver module 205 in a transceiver module.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram 300 of a base station 105-a for use in wireless communication, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The base station 105-a may be an example of one or more aspects of a base station 105 described with reference to FIG. 1. The base station 105-a maybe a millimeter wave base station, and may also be referred to as an mWB. The base station 105-a may include a receiver module 305, a paging module 310, and/or a transmitter module 315. The base station 105-a may also be or include a processor (not shown) . Each of these modules may be in communication with each other.

The components of the base station 105-a may, individually or collectively, be implemented using one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) adapted to perform some or all of the applicable functions in hardware. Alternatively, the functions may be performed by one or more other processing units (or cores) , on one or more integrated circuits. In other examples, other types of integrated circuits may be used (e.g.， Structured/Platform ASICs, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) , and other Semi-Custom ICs) , which may be programmed in any manner known in the art. The functions of each module may also be implemented, in whole or in part, with instructions embodied in a memory, formatted to be executed by one or more general or application-specific processors.

The receiver module 305 may receive information such as packets, user data, and/or control information associated with various information channels (e.g.， control channels, data channels, etc. ) . The receiver module 305 may receive messages from a device 115 including communication information, and other parameters. Information may be passed on to the paging module 310, and to other components of the base station 105-a.

The paging module 310 may manage paging communications for the base station 105-a and may generate paging signals and paging occasions for transmission to a UE 115. The paging module 310 may receive, via the receiver module 305, information from a device 115.

The transmitter module 315 may transmit the one or more signals received from other components of the base station 105-a. The transmitter module 315 may transmit information such as packets, user data, and/or control information to a device 115. The transmitter module 315 may send messages to a device 115 in conjunction with various synchronization signaling operations, e.g.， random access procedures, paging communication information, and other information. In some examples, the transmitter module 315 may be collocated with the receiver module 305 in a transceiver module.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram 400 of a communication system including a base station 105-c and a device 115-c for use in wireless communication, in accordance with various examples. The base station 105-c may be an example of one or more aspects of a base station 105 described with reference to FIG. 1. It may also be an example of a base station 105-a described with reference to FIG. 3.

The device 115-c may be an example of one or more aspects of a UE 115 described with reference to FIG. 1. It may also be an example of a device 115-a described with reference to FIG. 2.

The device 115-c may be in bi-directional wireless communication with the base station 105-c. In an exemplary embodiment, the device 115-c may be in bi-directional wireless communication with the base station 105-c over a first communication channel 403 and over a second communication channel 405. In an exemplary embodiment, the first communication channel 403 may be associated with a first communication network and the second communication channel 405 may be associated with a second communication network. Alternatively, a UE 115-c may be in communication with two different base stations over two different communication channels associated with two different communication networks. In an exemplary embodiment, a first communication network may be associated with a first radio access technology (RAT 1) and a second communication network may be associated with a second radio access technology (RAT 2) . In exemplary embodiments described herein, the UE 115-c has the ability to enter sleep mode and awaken to reliably receive a paging signal over the first communication channel 403 and a paging signal over the second communication channel 405.

FIG. 5 shows a system 500 for use in wireless communication, in accordance with various examples. The system 500 may include a base station 105-d, which may be an example of the base station 105 of FIG. 1. The base station 105-e may also be an example of one or more aspects of base stations 105 of FIGS. 3 and/or 4. The base station 105-d may comprise communication circuitry 530. Some of the operational elements of the communication circuitry 530 may be omitted for ease of description, and are known to those having ordinary skill in the art.

The base station 105-d may generally include components for bi-directional voice and data communications including components for transmitting communications and components for receiving communications. The base station 105-d may include an antenna 512 coupled to the communication circuitry 530. The antenna 512 may comprise one or more antenna elements, may comprise an array, or a phased array, of antenna elements, and may comprise one or more directional and/or omni-directional antenna elements. The communication circuitry 530 may be configured to establish a communication channel with a device 115 (not shown) . In an exemplary embodiment, the communication channel may comprise the communication channel 403 and the communication channel 405.

The communication circuitry 530 may comprise a baseband system 532 and a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) 533, operatively coupled together over a bi-directional connection 538. The baseband system 532 may comprise a processor 536, a memory 537 (including software (SW) 539) , and a paging module 510, which may communicate, directly or indirectly, with each other (e.g.， via one or more buses 535) . The RFIC 533 may comprise an intermediate frequency (IF) sub-system 526 and a transceiver module 528 operatively coupled together over a bi-directional connection 541. In an exemplary embodiment, the transceiver module 528 may be configured to communicate over millimeter wave (mmw) frequencies or non-millimeter wave (mmw) frequencies. The transceiver module 528 may communicate bi-directionally, via the antenna (s) 512 and/or one or more wired or wireless links, with one or more networks, as described above. For example, the transceiver module 528 may communicate bi-directionally with devices 115 (not shown) . The transceiver module 528 may include a modem to modulate the packets and provide the modulated packets to the antenna (s) 512 for transmission, and to demodulate packets received from the antenna (s) 512. While the base station 105-d may include a single antenna 512 the base station 105-d may have multiple antennas capable of concurrently transmitting and/or receiving multiple wireless transmissions via carrier aggregation techniques, for example. The transceiver module 528 may be capable of concurrently communicating with one or more devices 115 via multiple component carriers.

The base station 105-d may include a paging module 510, which may perform the functions described above for the paging module 310 of base stations 105 of FIGS. 1, 3, and/or 4. In an exemplary embodiment, the paging module 510 may be configured to communicate with a device 115 to inform the device 115, and other devices 115 on the communication channel 403 and/or the communication channel 405, of communication information destined for a UE 115.

The memory 537 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM) . The memory 537 may store computer-readable, computer-executable software/firmware code 539 containing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor 536 to perform various functions described herein (e.g.， perform synchronization operations, synchronize reference timing parameters, sending communication scheduling information, paging operations, etc. ) . Alternatively, the computer-readable, computer-executable software/firmware code 539 may not be directly executable by the processor 536 but cause a computer (e.g.， when compiled and executed) to perform functions described herein. The processor 536 may include an intelligent hardware device, e.g.， a central processing unit (CPU) , a microcontroller, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , etc.

FIG. 6 shows a system 600 for use in wireless communication, in accordance with various examples. The system 600 may include a device 115-d, which may be an example of the UE 115 of FIG. 1. The device 115-d may also be an example of one or more aspects of devices 115 of FIGS. 2, and/or 4. The device 115-d may comprise communication circuitry 630. Some of the operational elements of the communication circuitry 630 may be omitted for ease of description, and are known to those having ordinary skill in the art.

The device 115-d may generally include components for bi-directional voice and data communications including components for transmitting communications and components for receiving communications. The device 115-d may include an antenna 612 coupled to the communication circuitry 630. The antenna 612 may comprise one or more antenna elements, may comprise an array, or a phased array, of antenna elements, and may comprise one or more directional and/or omni-directional antenna elements. The communication circuitry 630 may be configured to establish a communication channel with a base station 105 (not shown) . In an exemplary embodiment, the communication channel may comprise the communication channel 403 and/or the communication channel 405.

The communication circuitry 630 may comprise a baseband system 632 and a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) 633 operatively coupled together over a bi-directional connection 638. The baseband system 632 may comprise a processor 636, a memory 637 (including software (SW) 639) , and a paging module 610, which each may communicate, directly or indirectly, with each other (e.g.， via one or more buses 635) . The RFIC 633 may comprise an intermediate frequency (IF) sub-system 626 and a transceiver module 628 operatively coupled together over a bi-directional connection 641. In an exemplary embodiment, the transceiver module 628 may be configured to communicate over millimeter wave (mmw) frequencies or over non-millimeter wave frequencies. The transceiver module 628 may communicate bi-directionally, via the antenna (s) 612 and/or one or more wired or wireless links, with one or more networks, as described above. For example, the transceiver module 628 may communicate bi-directionally with base stations 105 (not shown) , with other UEs 115, and/or with devices 115 with reference to FIG. 1, 2, 3, or 4. The transceiver module 628 may include a modem to modulate the packets and provide the modulated packets to the antenna (s) 612 for transmission, and to demodulate packets received from the antenna (s) 612. While the UE 115-d may include a single antenna 612 for the communication circuitry 630, the UE 115-d may have multiple antennas capable of concurrently transmitting and/or receiving multiple wireless transmissions via carrier aggregation techniques, for example. The transceiver module 628 may be capable of concurrently communicating with one or more base stations 105 via multiple component carriers.

The device 115-d may include a paging module 610, which may perform the functions described above for the paging module 210 of devices 115 of FIGS. 1, 2, and/or 4. In an exemplary embodiment, the paging module 610 may be configured to communicate with a base station 105 to receive and process paging information that may allow the device 115-d to enter and awaken from an inactive state, over two communication channels on two different communication networks.

The memory 637 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM) . The memory 637 may store computer-readable, computer-executable software/firmware code 639 containing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor 636 to perform various functions described herein (e.g.， perform synchronization operations, synchronize reference timing parameters, receiving communication scheduling information, paging operations, etc. ) . Alternatively, the computer-readable, computer-executable software/firmware code 639 may not be directly executable by the processor 636 but cause a computer (e.g.， when compiled and executed) to perform functions described herein. The processor 636 may include an intelligent hardware device, e.g.， a central processing unit (CPU) , a microcontroller, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , etc.

FIG. 7 is a timing diagram 700 for use in wireless communication, in accordance with various examples. The timing diagram 700 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of increasing the reliability of a paging signal using intra-paging cycle repetition. The horizontal axis represents time and shows two exemplary paging cycles, a first paging cycle (N) 702 and a second paging cycle (N+1) 704. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the first paging cycle 702 shows a first paging occasion 712 and a second paging occasion 714. The first paging occasion 712 is separated from the beginning of the first paging cycle 702 by a paging offset period 722. The second paging cycle 704 shows a first paging occasion 716 and a second paging occasion 718. The offset between the beginning of the second paging cycle 704 and the first paging occasion 716 is not shown for clarity.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the second paging occasion 714 is separated from the first paging occasion 712 by a paging repetition period, Tr, 724. In an exemplary embodiment, the term “Nr” refers to the paging repetition times per paging cycle, and in this exemplary embodiment, Nr＝2. The paging repetition period, Tr, between the second paging occasion 718 and the first paging occasion 716, in the second paging cycle 704 is not shown for clarity.

In the current LTE communication standard, a paging message is sent only once in each paging cycle. The likelihood of a UE receiving a paging message can be increased dramatically if the paging message is sent multiple times in a paging cycle. The paging message being sent multiple times in a paging cycle may be referred to as paging repetition, or a paging repetition pattern.

In an exemplary embodiment, a base station 105 can send a paging signal to a UE multiple times, where Nr >1. In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 7, “Nr” is 2, and the paging repetition period, Tr, is DRX/Nr. As mentioned above, the duration of DRX may be 320ms *2^N, where N is a configurable integer, typically configured as 2 or 3.

However, the UE 115 monitors any one of the paging occasions in a cycle for paging collision avoidance and power saving. The paging offset 722, and the specifics of a paging cycle can be configured and calculated in similar way as existing LTE. In this exemplary embodiment, the paging repetition period (Tr) or the paging repetition times per cycle (Nr) can be defined to enable multiple paging occasions in a paging cycle.

A UE may request multiple paging occasions per paging cycle, or the network (e.g.， a base station) may initiate the multiple paging occasions per paging cycle. The multiple paging occasions may be sent in a paging repetition pattern from which a UE selects one paging occasion to monitor for a paging message from the multiple paging occasions. If the UE fails in detecting the paging indication in the selected paging occasion (e.g. due to paging channel resource not being available) , the UE may continue to monitor other repeated paging occasions of the paging cycle.

FIG. 8 is a timing diagram 800 for use in wireless communication, in accordance with various examples. The timing diagram 800 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of increasing the reliability of a paging signal using inter-paging cycle repetition. The horizontal axis represents time and shows two exemplary paging cycles, a first paging cycle (N) 802 and a second paging cycle (N+1) 804. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the first paging cycle 802 shows a first paging occasion 812 and the second paging cycle 804 shows a second paging occasion 814. The first paging occasion 812 is separated from the beginning of the first paging cycle 802 by a paging offset period 822. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the second paging occasion 814 occurs in the second paging cycle 804 and is separated from the first paging occasion 812 by a paging repetition period, Tr, 824.

In this exemplary embodiment, in an inter-cycle paging repetition (Nr≤1, Tr≥DRX) , a UE 115 selects a suitable paging occasion to monitor in successive paging cycles to minimize or avoid paging occasion collision. To reduce the inter-cycle repetition caused MT (mobile terminated) service delay, a UE 115 could request a short DRX cycle by the non-access stratum (NAS) or the radio resource control (RRC) . In this exemplary embodiment, the paging repetition period (Tr) and the paging repetition times per cycle (Nr) are defined to enable multiple paging occasions in a paging cycle. In this exemplary embodiment, Nr≤1, Tr≥DRX which defines multiple paging occasions over successive paging cycles.

FIG. 9 is a timing diagram 900 for use in wireless communication, in accordance with various examples. The timing diagram 900 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of increasing the reliability of a paging signal using inter-paging cycle repetition, multiplexed with new paging (e.g.， a paging signal intended for another UE) . The horizontal axis represents time and shows two exemplary paging cycles, a first paging cycle (N) 902 and a second paging cycle (N+1) 904. The first paging cycle 902 shows a first paging occasion 912 and the second paging cycle 904 shows a second paging occasion 914, similar to FIG. 8. The first paging occasion 912 is separated from the beginning of the first paging cycle 902 by a paging offset period 922. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, an incoming new paging occasion 916, which may be intended for a UE different than the UE for which the

paging occasions

912 and 914 are intended, is received during the second paging cycle 904. As also shown in FIG. 8, the second paging occasion 914 occurs in the second paging cycle 904 and is separated from the first paging occasion 912 by a paging repetition period, Tr, 924. In addition, as shown in FIG. 9, the incoming new paging occasion 916 is multiplexed with the second paging occasion 914 during the second paging cycle 904. The incoming new paging occasion 916 is shown as a paging occasion 918 after being multiplexed with the second paging occasion 914.

In an exemplary embodiment, if Tr ＝ n *DRX, where n is a integer, the second paging occasion 914 may be multiplexed with the incoming new paging occasion 916 (e.g. a paging occasion intended for another UE) , as received by the UE in a second RAN (RAN 2) in the second paging cycle 904. If multiplexing is not used, the incoming new paging occasion 916 would be sent in a third paging cycle N+2 (not shown) , which may increase the MT service delay.

FIG. 10 is a timing diagram 1000 for use in wireless communication, in accordance with various examples. The timing diagram 1000 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of increasing the reliability of a paging signal using inter-paging cycle repetition, multiplexed with new paging (e.g.， for another UE) , and where the paging signal associated with the UE may be offset from the new paging signal destined for a different UE. The horizontal axis represents time and shows two exemplary paging cycles, a first paging cycle (N) 1002 and a second paging cycle (N+1) 1004. The first paging cycle 1002 shows a first paging occasion 1012 and the second paging cycle 1004 shows a second paging occasion 1014. The first paging occasion 1012 is separated from the beginning of the first paging cycle 1002 by a paging offset period 1022. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, an incoming new paging occasion 1016, which may be intended for a UE different than the UE for which the paging occasions 1012 and 1014 are intended, is received during the second paging cycle 1004. The second paging occasion 1014 occurs in the second paging cycle 1004 and is separated from the first paging occasion 1012 by a paging repetition period, Tr, 1024 plus an offset 1025. The offset 1025 separates the second paging occasion 1014 (the paging occasion for the subject UE) from the incoming new paging occasion 1016 (the paging occasion for a different UE) , which is shown as paging occasion 1018 once received during the second paging cycle 1004. As mentioned in FIG. 9, the incoming new paging occasion 1016 is multiplexed with the second paging occasion 1014 during the second paging cycle 1004, but, as shown in FIG. 10, the second paging occasion 1014 is offset from the incoming new paging occasion 1018 by the offset 1025.

In an exemplary embodiment, the offset 1025 may be an offset with respect to n*DRX, as shown in FIG. 10. The offset 1025 may be a duration of m subframes, where m is an integer, could be configured as negative, as 0 or as any position value.

In this exemplary embodiment, the repeated paging occasion (e.g.， 1014) may be sent either in the same or in a different subframe from that of the original paging occasion (e.g.， 1012) .

FIG. 11 is a timing diagram 1100 for use in wireless communication, in accordance with various examples. The timing diagram 1100 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of combining paging signals using a paging modification period. The horizontal axis represents time and shows two exemplary paging modification periods, a first paging modification period (M) 1102 and a second paging modification period (M+1) 1104. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the first paging modification period 1102 shows a first paging occasion 1112 and a second paging occasion 1114. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the second paging occasion 1114 is separated from the first paging occasion 1112 by a paging repetition period, Tr, 1124. In an exemplary embodiment, the term “Nr” refers to the paging repetition times per paging cycle, and in this exemplary embodiment, Nr＝2.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the second paging modification period 1104 shows a first paging occasion 1116 and a second paging occasion 1118, although the paging repetition period, Tr, is omitted for clarity. In an exemplary LTE communication system, system information may be sent multiple times in a broadcast control channel (BCCH) modification period. A UE performs HARQ combination to improve receiving reliability and message size. A similar HARQ combining mechanism can be reused for paging by defining a paging control channel (PCCH) modification period as a paging modification period, with exemplary embodiments of a paging modification period being shown as the first paging modification period (M) 1102 and the second paging modification period (M+1) 1104.

A PCCH modification period has following properties. The same paging signals are repeatedly sent in the PCCH modification period. For example, the paging occasion 1114 contains the same paging information as the paging occasion 1112 in the first paging modification period (M) 1102, and the paging occasion 1118 contains the same paging information as the paging occasion 1116 in the second paging modification period (M) 1104. The paging records for multiple UEs may be multiplexed in a single paging message. To ensure the paging messages in one PCCH modification period are identical, a paging record received by a RAN in a PCCH modification period, such as first paging modification period (M) 1102, should only be multiplexed and sent in the second paging modification period (M+1) 1104.

Further, the PCCH modification period is independent of a paging cycle. Accordingly, each PCCH modification period may include one or multiple paging cycles. It is also possible that one paging cycle may include one or multiple PCCH modification periods. A UE may combine the paging repetitions in the PCCH modification period by HARQ combining, thereby defining a PCCH modification period to enable HARQ combining for the repeated transmission of paging messages.

Configuration Signaling.

The paging repetition period and the PCCH modification period may be configured per cell in terms of system information. Because the paging occasion collision may be UE specific, the paging repetition period may also be configured by dedicated RRC/NAS signaling. If the network could detect the persistent paging collision or frequent paging resource unavailable, the network may configure the paging monitoring parameters without UE request. Otherwise, UE should request the paging configuration by NAS or RRC.

NAS-based configuration for CN paging.

A UE may request paging repetition by NAS in either of following ways.

Option N1: A UE indicates the paging monitoring parameters (e.g.， DRX cycle, offset) of another RAT/network the UE is connected to (e.g.， in an LTE + NR dual standby mode, the UE indicates its LTE paging occasions to the NR system) .

Option N2: A UE directly requests a paging repetition period and/or paging repetition times per paging cycle.

The current LTE tracking area update (TAU) procedure supports paging cycle requests by a UE. The UE may request paging cycle and paging repetition together. The core network (CN) (e.g.， a mobility management entity (MME) or an access and mobility management function (AMF) ) may reply to the UE with the paging monitoring parameters, e.g.， a paging cycle, a paging repetition period (or paging repetition times per paging cycle) , intra-cycle offset, a PCCH modification period, etc. In this manner, NAS based signaling for paging parameters may be determined.

RRC-based configuration for RAN paging.

In a semi-connected state, e.g.， LTE light connection, or NR RRC_INACTIVE (inactive state) , the paging is initiated by the RAN. In this case, the UE may request the negotiation of paging parameters by an RRC in, for example, the following ways.

Option R1: A UE indicates the paging monitoring parameters (e.g.， cycle, offset) of another RAT/network the UE is connected to (e.g. LTE + NR dual standby UE indicates its LTE paging monitoring parameters to NR) .

Option R2: A UE directly requests a paging repetition period and/or paging repetition times per paging cycle.

A primary RAN node replies to the UE request with the paging monitoring parameters, e.g.， paging cycle, paging repetition period (or paging repetition times per paging cycle) , intra cycle offset, PCCH modification period, etc. In this manner, RRC based signaling for paging parameters is determined.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart 1200 illustrating an example of a method for communication, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The blocks in the method 1200 can be performed in or out of the order shown, and in some embodiments, can be performed at least in part in parallel.

In block 1202, a UE couples to at least one communication network. For example, a UE may couple to a first RAN over a first communication channel 403 or may couple to a second RAN over the communication channel 405.

In block 1204, a UE selects one of multiple paging signals from the communication network. For example, a UE may select from one of two or more received paging occasions in a single paging cycle, a UE may select one of two or more received paging occasions in two successive paging cycles, a UE may select one of two or more received paging occasions in a single paging cycle or in two successive paging cycles with a new paging occasion multiplexed in with the existing successive paging occasion, a UE may select one of two or more received paging occasions in a single paging cycle or in two successive paging cycles with a new paging occasion multiplexed in with the existing successive paging occasion where the existing successive paging occasion is offset from the new paging occasion, and/or the UE may select one of two or more received paging occasions in a paging modification period using a form of HARQ combining.

FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram of an apparatus 1300 for communication, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The apparatus 1300 comprises means 1302 for coupling to at least one communication network. In certain embodiments, the means 1302 for coupling to at least one communication network can be configured to perform one or more of the function described in operation block 1202 of method 1200 (FIG. 12) . In an exemplary embodiment, the means 1302 for coupling to at least one communication network may comprise a UE coupling to a first RAN over a first communication channel 403 or coupling to a second RAN over the communication channel 405.

The apparatus 1300 further comprises means 1304 for selecting one of two or more received paging signals from the at least one communication network. In certain embodiments, the means 1304 for selecting one of two or more received multiple paging signals from the at least one communication network can be configured to perform one or more of the function described in operation block 1204 of method 1200 (FIG. 12) . In an exemplary embodiment, the means 1304 for selecting one of two or more received multiple paging signals from the at least one communication network may comprise a UE selecting one of two or more received paging occasions in a single paging cycle, a UE selecting one of two or more received paging occasions in two successive paging cycles, a UE selecting one of two or more received paging occasions in a single paging cycle or in two successive paging cycles with a new paging occasion multiplexed in with the existing successive paging occasion, a UE selecting one of two or more received paging occasions in a single paging cycle or in two successive paging cycles with a new paging occasion multiplexed in with the existing successive paging occasion where the existing successive paging occasion is offset from the new paging occasion, and/or a UE selecting one of two or more received paging occasions in a paging modification period using a form of HARQ combining.

Techniques described herein may be used for various wireless communications systems such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and other systems. The terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably. A CDMA system may implement a radio technology such as CDMA2000, Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) , etc. CDMA2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. IS-2000 Releases 0 and A are commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1x, 1x, etc. IS-856 (TIA-856) is commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD) , etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. A TDMA system may implement a radio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) . An OFDMA system may implement a radio technology such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) , Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA) , IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) , IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX) , IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM. TM.， etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) . 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are new releases of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, and GSM are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP) . CDMA2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2) . The techniques described herein may be used for the systems and radio technologies mentioned above as well as other systems and radio technologies, including cellular (e.g.， LTE) communications over an unlicensed and/or shared bandwidth. The description above, however, describes an LTE/LTE-Asystem for purposes of example, and LTE terminology is used in much of the description above, although the techniques are applicable beyond LTE/LTE-Aapplications.

The detailed description set forth above in connection with the appended drawings describes examples and does not represent the only examples that may be implemented or that are within the scope of the claims. The terms "example" and "exemplary, " when used in this description, mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration, " and not "preferred" or "advantageous over other examples. " The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques. These techniques, however, may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and apparatuses are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the described examples.

Information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative blocks and components described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g.， a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are within the scope and spirit of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, functions described above can be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or combinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may also be physically located at various positions, including being distributed such that portions of functions are implemented at different physical locations. As used herein, including in the claims, the term "and/or, " when used in a list of two or more items, means that any one of the listed items can be employed by itself, or any combination of two or more of the listed items can be employed. For example, if a composition is described as containing components A, B, and/or C, the composition can contain A alone； B alone； C alone； A and B in combination； A and C in combination； B and C in combination； or A, B, and C in combination. Also, as used herein, including in the claims, "or" as used in a list of items (for example, a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as "at least one of" or "one or more of" ) indicates a disjunctive list such that, for example, a list of "at least one of A, B, or C" means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e.， A and B and C) .

Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code means in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL) , or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include compact disc (CD) , laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD) , floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media.

As used in this description, the terms “component, ” “database, ” “module, ” “system, ” and the like are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device may be a component. One or more components may reside within a process and/or thread of execution, and a component may be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components may execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components may communicate by way of local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g.， data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network such as the Internet with other systems by way of the signal) .

The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable a person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not to be limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

A method for communicating paging signals in a communication system, comprising:

coupling a user equipment to a communication network over a communication channel； and

selecting one paging occasion from multiple paging occasions sent by the communication network, the multiple paging occasions sent using a paging repetition pattern configured to allow the user equipment coupled to the communication network to receive the selected one paging occasion without conflicting with a paging occasion from a second communication network.
The method of claim 1, wherein the paging repetition pattern is requested by the user equipment.
The method of claim 1, wherein the paging repetition pattern is determined and sent by a base station associated with the communication network.
The method of claim 1, wherein the paging repetition pattern occurs in a paging cycle.
The method of claim 1, wherein the paging repetition pattern occurs over two or more successive paging cycles.
The method of claim 1, wherein the paging repetition pattern occurs over two or more successive paging cycles and is intended for the user equipment and at least one new paging occasion occurs in a second paging cycle of the two or more successive paging cycles, the at least one new paging occasion intended for a second user equipment.
The method of claim 1, wherein the paging repetition pattern occurs over two or more successive paging cycles and is intended for the user equipment and at least one new paging occasion is contained in a second paging cycle of the two or more successive paging cycles, the at least one new paging occasion intended for a second user equipment, a second one of the multiple paging occasions being offset from the at least one new paging occasion in the second paging cycle of the two or more successive paging cycles so as to avoid the new paging occasion conflicting with the selected paging occasion for the user equipment.
The method of claim 1, wherein the paging repetition pattern is contained in a paging modification period, the paging modification period comprising multiple paging occasions containing identical paging information, whereby paging records for the user equipment and a second user equipment are multiplexed in a single paging message.
The method of claim 8, wherein the multiple paging occasions occur in a paging modification period and are sent using HARQ combining.
The method of claim 1, wherein the paging repetition pattern is negotiated between a base station and the user equipment and sent to the user equipment using non-access stratum (NAS) -based signaling.
The method of claim 1, wherein the paging repetition pattern is negotiated between a base station and the user equipment and sent to the user equipment using radio resource control (RRC) -based signaling.
An apparatus for communicating paging signals in a communication system, comprising:

a user equipment coupled to a communication network over a communication channel； and

the user equipment selecting one paging occasion from multiple paging occasions sent by the communication network, the multiple paging occasions sent using a paging repetition pattern configured to allow a user equipment coupled to the communication network to receive the selected one paging occasion without conflicting with a paging occasion from a second communication network.
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the paging repetition pattern is requested by the user equipment.
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the paging repetition pattern is determined and sent by a base station associated with the communication network.
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the paging repetition pattern occurs in a paging cycle.
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the paging repetition pattern occurs over two or more successive paging cycles.
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the paging repetition pattern occurs over two or more successive paging cycles and is intended for the user equipment and at least one new paging occasion occurs in a second paging cycle of the two or more successive paging cycles, the at least one new paging occasion intended for a second user equipment.
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the paging repetition pattern occurs over two or more successive paging cycles and is intended for the user equipment and at least one new paging occasion is contained in a second paging cycle of the two or more successive paging cycles, the at least one new paging occasion intended for a second user equipment, a second one of the multiple paging occasions being offset from the at least one new paging occasion in the second paging cycle of the two or more successive paging cycles so as to avoid the new paging occasion conflicting with the selected paging occasion for the user equipment.
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the paging repetition pattern is contained in a paging modification period, the paging modification period comprising multiple paging occasions containing identical paging information, whereby paging records for the user equipment and a second user equipment are multiplexed in a single paging message.
The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the multiple paging occasions occur in a paging modification period and are sent using HARQ combining.
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the paging repetition pattern is negotiated between a base station and the user equipment and sent to the user equipment using non-access stratum (NAS) -based signaling.
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the paging repetition pattern is negotiated between a base station and the user equipment and sent to the user equipment using radio resource control (RRC) -based signaling.
A device, comprising:

means for coupling a user equipment to a communication network over a communication channel； and

means for selecting one paging occasion from multiple paging occasions sent by the communication network, the multiple paging occasions sent using a paging repetition pattern configured to allow the user equipment coupled to the communication network to receive the selected one paging occasion without conflicting with a paging occasion from a second communication network.
The device of claim 23, wherein the paging repetition pattern is requested by the user equipment.
The device of claim 23, wherein the paging repetition pattern is determined and sent by a base station associated with the communication network.
The device of claim 23, wherein the paging repetition pattern occurs in a paging cycle.
The device of claim 23, wherein the paging repetition pattern occurs over two or more successive paging cycles.
The device of claim 23, wherein the paging repetition pattern occurs over two or more successive paging cycles and is intended for the user equipment and at least one new paging occasion occurs in a second paging cycle of the two or more successive paging cycles, the at least one new paging occasion intended for a second user equipment.
The device of claim 23, wherein the paging repetition pattern occurs over two or more successive paging cycles and is intended for the user equipment and at least one new paging occasion is contained in a second paging cycle of the two or more successive paging cycles, the at least one new paging occasion intended for a second user equipment, a second one of the multiple paging occasions being offset from the at least one new paging occasion in the second paging cycle of the two or more successive paging cycles so as to avoid the new paging occasion conflicting with the selected paging occasion for the user equipment.
The device of claim 23, wherein the paging repetition pattern is contained in a paging modification period, the paging modification period comprising multiple paging occasions containing identical paging information, whereby paging records for the user equipment and a second user equipment are multiplexed in a single paging message.
The device of claim 30, wherein the multiple paging occasions occur in a paging modification period and are sent using HARQ combining.
The device of claim 23, wherein the paging repetition pattern is negotiated between a base station and the user equipment and sent to the user equipment using non-access stratum (NAS) -based signaling.
The device of claim 23, wherein the paging repetition pattern is negotiated between a base station and the user equipment and sent to the user equipment using radio resource control (RRC) -based signaling.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer executable code for communicating paging signals in a communication system, the code executable by a processor to:

couple a user equipment to a communication network over a communication channel； and

select one paging occasion from multiple paging occasions sent by the communication network, the multiple paging occasions sent using a paging repetition pattern configured to allow the user equipment coupled to the communication network to receive the selected one paging occasion without conflicting with a paging occasion from a second communication network.
The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34, wherein the paging repetition pattern is requested by the user equipment.
The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34, wherein the paging repetition pattern is determined and sent by a base station associated with the communication network.
The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34, wherein the paging repetition pattern occurs in a paging cycle.
The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34, wherein the paging repetition pattern occurs over two or more successive paging cycles.
The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34, wherein the paging repetition pattern occurs over two or more successive paging cycles and is intended for the user equipment and at least one new paging occasion occurs in a second paging cycle of the two or more successive paging cycles, the at least one new paging occasion intended for a second user equipment.
The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34, wherein the paging repetition pattern occurs over two or more successive paging cycles and is intended for the user equipment and at least one new paging occasion is contained in a second paging cycle of the two or more successive paging cycles, the at least one new paging occasion intended for a second user equipment, a second one of the multiple paging occasions being offset from the at least one new paging occasion in the second paging cycle of the two or more successive paging cycles so as to avoid the new paging occasion conflicting with the selected paging occasion for the user equipment.
The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34, wherein the paging repetition pattern is contained in a paging modification period, the paging modification period comprising multiple paging occasions containing identical paging information, whereby paging records for the user equipment and a second user equipment are multiplexed in a single paging message.
The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 41, wherein the multiple paging occasions occur in a paging modification period and are sent using HARQ combining.
The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34, wherein the paging repetition pattern is negotiated between a base station and the user equipment and sent to the user equipment using non-access stratum (NAS) -based signaling.
The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34, wherein the paging repetition pattern is negotiated between a base station and the user equipment and sent to the user equipment using radio resource control (RRC) -based signaling.