Abstract:
A user equipment, UE, in a radio communication network is given a threshold time value that the UE uses to decide whether it should trigger a fast dormancy request to a network node or not. The determination of the threshold time value can be adapted so that it minimizes UE battery consumption when the load in the network node is low and at other times minimizes the load on the network node. That is, if the UE estimates that a predicted time interval until reception of a data burst is less than threshold time value it will not trigger a fast dormancy request, and if the estimated time interval is larger than the threshold time value it will trigger a fast dormancy request. Since the network typically controls state switching, there is a large benefit for the UE to comply with the scheme, otherwise the network may not obey the UEs wish to be down switched by the fast dormancy request.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    The field of the present disclosure is that of controlling transitions of operational states for a user equipment, UE, in a radio communication system. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    The number of devices, and also the number of different types of devices, that are capable of communicating via radio interfaces with radio access networks is enormous, not least due to the rapid development of mobile telephone networks and wireless computer networks. Needless to say, such radio communication capable devices now include consumer electronic apparatuses of many kinds as well as devices in more industrial fields involving, for example, machine-to-machine communication. 
         [0003]    A feature that is common to many of these types of devices is that they are powered by a very limited energy source such as a battery. An inherent problem to such devices is that of how to match the ever increasing demand for data processing capability with a limited capability of storing energy in the battery. One group of solutions to this problem involves the concept of operational states. That is, depending on the requirements of the device to provide processing capability it is possible to control the device to operate in two or more states that differ in terms of how much power is needed. For example, a device having a display screen may not need to actively display content during periods when no one is looking at the display screen. Another example is where it can be determined that processing circuitry or radio communication circuitry is not needed for specific time intervals, and therefore the device can be set to operate in a state where such circuitry is less active than in a normal state of activity. 
         [0004]    This concept of operational states has been incorporated in radio access technologies such as the third generation partnership project, 3GPP, radio communication standards. Examples of these are the cellular wideband code division multiple access, WCDMA, and the long term evolution, LTE, technologies. Other systems such as the institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers&#39;, IEEE, 802.11 standards also include a power save mode. 
         [0005]    In 3GPP systems operating according to WCDMA and LTE the different states are called radio resource control, RRC, states and include an idle state and connected states. In WCDMA there are five RRC states; Cell_DCH, Cell_FACH, URA_PCH, Cell_PCH, and Idle. Data transfer between a device, which often is denoted by the term user equipment or simply UE, and the network is only possible in Cell_FACH and Cell_DCH states. 
         [0006]    The Cell_DCH state is characterized by dedicated channels in both the uplink and the downlink. The UE location is known with an accuracy of cell level. This corresponds to continuous transmission and reception and this state has the highest battery consumption. 
         [0007]    The Cell_FACH state does not use dedicated channels and hence less control channel overhead, thus allowing better battery consumption, but at the expense of a lower uplink and downlink throughput. The UE location is known with an accuracy of cell level. 
         [0008]    URA_PCH and Cell_PCH are states in which the battery consumption is very low but still allow for reasonable fast transitions to the states in which data transfer can occur. The UE location is known with the accuracy of a so-called registration area, RA, or cell respectively, however paging is needed to reach the UE. 
         [0009]    Idle have the lowest battery consumption but the transition from idle to a state in which data transfer can occur takes the longest time. The UE location is known with an accuracy of a so-called routing area. 
         [0010]      FIG. 1   a  presents a state of the art RRC state transition scheme also referred to as channel switching scheme, as one is connect to different data channels in the states. The RRC state up-switches are typically based on radio link protocol, RLC, buffer fill level thresholds and the down-switches are typically based on inactivity timers. 
         [0011]    In LTE systems, there are two RRC states: RRC_IDLE and RRC_CONNECTED, as shown in  FIG. 1   b,  where the former corresponds to the idle state of WCDMA. The RRC_CONNCTED state corresponds to CELL_DCH of WCDMA and has three modes, continuous reception, short DRX and long DRX where DRX stands for discontinuous reception. Hence, RRC_IDLE has the lowest battery consumption and varying consumption in RRC_CONNECTED depending on the mode configuration. 
         [0012]    User equipment that operates according to release 7 or earlier of the 3GPP standard specifications may send a signal connection release message to force itself to RRC Idle state. This is referred to as fast dormancy. Hence, the UE may have its own internal down-switch timer which is shorter than the network down-switch timers. This is done without the control of the network. 
         [0013]    An improvement to this is done in 3GPP release 8. The release 8 fast dormancy solution allows the UE to signal to the network that the data transmission is completed. However, in the release 8 fast dormancy the network controls the down-switch of the UE and can decide to move the UE to another RRC state than idle for example URA_PCH or not to down-switch at all. 
         [0014]    The triggering of fast dormancy from the UE may be based on different inputs. For example radio inactivity and screen status, i.e. whether a display screen is on or off.  FIG. 2  gives an example of a fast dormancy triggering situation where the inactivity timer is set to 3 seconds, and also that the display screen needs to be off for at least 3 seconds. Both conditions need to be fulfilled to trigger fast dormancy. 
         [0015]    There is always a trade of between the resource consumption, for example UE battery or processor load of a node in the network with which the UE communicates, of switching a UE from a connected state, e.g. CELL_DCH, CELL_FACH, to a standby state, e.g. CELL_PCH and URA_PCH, or staying in the connected state until next data burst is sent to or from the UE. Typically, a fast down-switch is beneficial for UE battery consumption while staying longer in the higher state is more beneficial for processor load in the network node. 
         [0016]    The time between data bursts are referred to as the Idle Time Between bursts, or ITB. Hence, at a certain ITB length the cost (in consumed resources) is the same for staying on a given state or switching down and then up to the same state. This ITB is referred to as the threshold ITB. 
         [0017]    With the increased number of UEs, particularly UEs in the form of so-called smart phones, operating in the radio networks the bottleneck has many times become the connection handling in the network nodes due to the heavy signaling the UEs have put to the network. The increased signaling is due to that the UEs want to be released from the network in order to save their battery by performing a fast dormancy, and the new applications made available to the mobile devices. 
         [0018]    Even though the network has more control of which state to send the UE to with 3GPP release 8 supported fast dormancy, e.g. instead of the UE going to Idle the network may send the UE to URA_PCH, the fast dormancy signaling from many UEs are still expected to have a significant negative impact on the resource consumption, e.g. processor load in the network nodes, and downlink power and uplink interference. 
         [0019]    The underlying problem is that fast dormancy requests from the UE are sent with the sole purpose of minimizing the UE battery consumption. The processor load in the network nodes is not taken into account by the UE, which may put a heavy burden on the network nodes, nor the resources in, e.g., radio base stations for performing the actual transmission of the signaling messages. 
         [0020]    One type of prior art solution to this is described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/322,982, where the network node load is taken into account. However, experience has shown that it is difficult to do accurate predictions of long ITBs (i.e. to detect when to down-switch) since the predictions are based only on information available in the network. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0021]    In order to mitigate at least some of the drawbacks as discussed above, there is provided in a first aspect a method in a node for controlling transitions between operational states for a user equipment, UE, in a radio access network. The operational states comprises a first state and a second state and the method comprises determining a threshold time value for use by the UE in deciding whether or not to request switching from the first state to the second state, and transmitting the threshold time value to the UE. 
         [0022]    The determination of the threshold time value can comprise obtaining a first resource consumption value representing resource consumption in the radio access network for residing in the first state, obtaining a second resource consumption value representing resource consumption in the radio access network for switching from the first state to the second state and residing in the second state. A threshold time value is then calculated that is indicative of when the first resource consumption value is equal to the second resource consumption value. The resource consumption values can, for example, be any of energy consumption in the UE, processor load in the node as well as radio bearer resources in the radio access network. 
         [0023]    In a second aspect there is provided a method in a user equipment, UE, for controlling transitions between operational states for the UE in a radio access network. The operational states comprising a first state and a second state and the method comprises receiving, from a node in the radio access network, a threshold time value, obtaining a value representing a prediction of a time interval until reception of a data burst to be handled, and transmitting to the node, if the predicted time interval is larger than the received threshold value, a request for switching from the first state to the second state. 
         [0024]    The method of the second aspect can further comprise determining, based on resource usage in the UE, whether or not a switch from the first state to the second state is desirable. In such cases, the transmission of the request for switching from the first state to the second state is further conditioned on this determination whether or not a switch from the first state to the second state is desirable. The resource usage can, for example, be any of display screen activity, battery energy level as well as radio circuitry activity. 
         [0025]    In other words, the UE is given a threshold time value that the UE will use to decide whether it should trigger a fast dormancy request or not. This has an advantage in that the amount of signaling of fast dormancy requests is reduced. The determination of the threshold time value can be adapted so that it minimizes UE battery consumption when the load in the network node is low and at other times minimizes the load on the network node. That is, if the UE estimates that the prediction of a time interval until reception of a data burst is less than threshold time value it will not trigger a fast dormancy request, and if the prediction of a time interval until reception of a data burst is larger than the threshold time value it will trigger a fast dormancy request. Since the network typically controls state switching, there is a large benefit for the UE to comply with the scheme, otherwise the network may not obey the UEs wish to be down switched by the fast dormancy request. 
         [0026]    In a third aspect there is provided a node for controlling transitions between operational states for a user equipment, UE, in a radio access network, the operational states comprising a first state and a second state. The node comprises control and communication circuitry configured to determine a threshold time value for use by the UE in deciding whether or not to request switching from the first state to the second state, and transmit the threshold time value to the UE. 
         [0027]    In a fourth aspect there is provided a user equipment, UE, for controlling transitions between operational states for the UE in a radio access network, the operational states comprising a first state and a second state. The UE comprises control and communication circuitry configured to receive, from a node in the radio access network, a threshold time value, obtain a value representing a prediction of a time interval until reception of a data burst to be handled, and transmit to the node, if the predicted time interval is larger than the received threshold value, a request for switching from the first state to the second state. 
         [0028]    In a fifth aspect and a sixth aspect there are provided computer program products comprising software instructions that, when executed in a processor, performs the method of the first and second aspects, respectively. 
         [0029]    The effects and advantages of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth aspects correspond to those described above in connection with the first and second aspects. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0030]      FIGS. 1   a  and  1   b  illustrate schematically RRC state switching, 
           [0031]      FIG. 2  is a timing diagram schematically illustrating data bursts and events in a UE, 
           [0032]      FIG. 3  illustrates schematically a communication system, 
           [0033]      FIG. 4  illustrates schematically a node in a communication system, 
           [0034]      FIG. 5  illustrates schematically a UE in a communication system, and 
           [0035]      FIGS. 6   a  and  6   b  are flow charts of methods in a node and in a UE. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       [0036]      FIG. 3  illustrates schematically a communication system in the form of a universal mobile telecommunications system, UMTS, network  300  in which the present methods and apparatuses can be implemented. It should be noted, however, that the skilled person will readily be able to perform implementations in other similar communication systems involving transmission of coded data between nodes. For example, 3GPP compliant communication systems and IEEE 802.11 based communication systems. 
         [0037]    In  FIG. 3  the UMTS network  300  comprises a core network  432  and a UMTS terrestrial radio access network, UTRAN,  303 . The UTRAN  303  comprises a number of nodes in the form of radio network controllers, RNC,  305   a,    305   b,  each of which is coupled to a set of neighbouring nodes in the form of one or more NodeB  304   a,    304   b.  Each NodeB  304  is responsible for a given geographical radio cell and the controlling RNC  305  is responsible for routing user and signalling data between that NodeB  304  and the core network  302 . All of the RNC&#39;s  305  are coupled to one another. A general outline of the UTRAN  303  is given in 3GPP technical specification TS 25.401 V3.2.0. 
         [0038]      FIG. 3  also illustrates communicating entities in the form of mobile devices or user equipment, UE,  306   a,    306   b  connected to a respective NodeB  304   a,    304   b  in the UTRAN  303  via a respective air interface  311   a,    311   b.  Mobile devices served by one Node B, such as UE  306   a  served by NodeB  304   a,  are located in a so-called radio cell. The core network  302  comprises a number of nodes represented by node  307  and provides communication services to the UEs  306  via the UTRAN  303 , for example when communicating with the Internet  309  where, schematically, a server  310  illustrates an entity with which the mobile devices  306  may communicate. As the skilled person realizes, the network  300  in  FIG. 3  may comprise a large number of similar functional units in the core network  302  and the UTRAN  303 , and in typical realizations of networks, the number of mobile devices may be very large. 
         [0039]    Furthermore, as discussed herein, communication between the nodes in the UTRAN  303  and the mobile devices  306  may follow the protocols as specified by 3GPP high speed packet access, HSPA, specifications. 
         [0040]      FIG. 4  is a functional block diagram that schematically illustrates a node  400  that is configured to operate in a radio access network, such as the UTRAN  303  in  FIG. 3 . In the embodiment of  FIG. 4 , the node  400  represents a RNC, such as any of the RNC&#39;s  305  in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0041]    The node  400  comprises processing means, memory means and communication means in the form of a processor  402 , a memory  404  and communication circuitry  406 . The node  400  receives data bursts  412  via an incoming data path  410  and transmits data bursts  414  via an outgoing data path  408 . The data paths  410 ,  412  can be any of uplink and downlink data paths, as the skilled person will realize. 
         [0042]    The methods to be described below can be implemented in the node  400 . In such embodiments, the method actions are realized by means of software instructions  405  that are stored in the memory  404  and are executable by the processor  402 . Such software instructions  405  can be realized and provided to the node  400  in any suitable way, e.g. 
         [0043]    provided via the networks  302 ,  303  or being installed during manufacturing, as the skilled person will realize. Moreover, the memory  404 , the processor  402 , as well as the communication circuitry  406  comprise software and/or firmware that, in addition to being configured such that it is capable of implementing the methods to be described, is configured to control the general operation of the node  400  when operating in a communication system such as the system  300  in  FIG. 3 . However, for the purpose of avoiding unnecessary detail, no further description will be made in the present disclosure regarding this general operation. 
         [0044]      FIG. 5  is a functional block diagram that schematically illustrates a UE  500 , corresponding to any of the UEs  306  in  FIG. 3 . The UE  500  comprises a processor  502 , a memory  504 , radio frequency, RF, receiving and transmitting circuitry  506  and an antenna  507 . Radio communication via the antenna  507  is realized by the RF circuitry  506  controlled by the processor  502 , as the skilled person will understand. The processor  502  makes use of software instructions  505  stored in the memory  504  in order to control all functions of the UE  200 , including the functions to be described in detail below with regard to transition between operational states. In other words, at least the RF circuitry  506 , the processor  502  and the memory  504  form parts of control and communication circuitry that is configured to control transition between operational states as summarized above and described in detail below. Further details regarding how these units operate in order to perform normal functions within a communication system, such as the system  300  of  FIG. 3 , are outside the scope of the present disclosure and are therefore not discussed further. 
         [0045]    It is to be pointed out that, the UE  500  (as well as the UEs  306  in  FIG. 3 ) may be any device, mobile or stationary, enabled to communicate over a radio channel in a radio communication network, for instance but not limited to e.g. terminal, mobile phone, smart phone, sensors, meters, vehicles, household appliances, medical appliances, media players, cameras, or any type of consumer electronic, for instance but not limited to television, radio, lighting arrangements, tablet computer, laptop, or PC. 
         [0046]    Turning now to  FIGS. 6   a  and  6   b , and with continued reference to the previous figures, methods for controlling transitions between operational states for a UE will be described in some more detail.  FIG. 6   a  describes a method in a node, such as a RNC as illustrated by the RNCs  305  in  FIG. 3  and the node  400  in  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 6   b  describes a method in a UE, such as any of the UEs  306  in  FIG. 3  and the UE  500  in  FIG. 5 . Although the methods of  FIGS. 6   a  and  6   b  will be described separately it is to be understood that, being two aspects of a same concept, the methods operate in conjunction with each other. 
         [0047]    The method in the node commences with a determination step  602  in which a determination is made of a threshold time value for use by the UE in deciding whether or not to request switching from the first state to the second state. The threshold time value is then transmitted to the UE in a transmission step  604 . 
         [0048]    The determination step  602  can be realized, for example, by a number of sub-procedures that include obtaining a first resource consumption value representing resource consumption in the radio access network for residing in the first state, and obtaining a second resource consumption value representing resource consumption in the radio access network for switching from the first state to the second state and residing in the second state. Then a calculation is made of the threshold time value that is indicative of when the first resource consumption value is equal to the second resource consumption value. 
         [0049]    As mentioned above, the resource consumption values can, for example, be any of energy consumption in the UE, processor load in the node as well as radio bearer resources in the radio access network. Which of these resource consumption values to use depends on the specific load situation in the system. Typically, when the system load is moderate to high, greater emphasis can be put on, e.g., processor load in the node and when the system load is low, minimizing UE battery consumption can be prioritized. That is, the method in the node can comprise the following sequence of steps for selecting resource consumption values: 
         [0050]    A value representing system load in the radio access network is obtained. Based on this value representing system load, a weighted selection is made of which resource consumption values to obtain such that when the system load is low, a value representing energy consumption in the UE is weighted higher than values representing processor load in the node and values representing radio bearer resources, and when the system load is high, a value representing energy consumption in the UE is weighted lower than values representing processor load in the node and values representing radio bearer resources. 
         [0051]    When implementing the method in a node in a 3GPP WCDMA system, the first operational state can be any one of the RRC states CELL_DCH or CELL_FACH, and the second operational state can be any one of the RRC states URA_PCH, CELL_PCH or IDLE. When implementing the method in a node in a 3GPLTE system, the first operational state can be the RRC state RRC_CONNECTED, and the second operational state can be the RRC state RRC_IDLE. In such implementations, the transmission  604  of the threshold time value can be realized by performing RRC signaling using an information element containing the threshold time value. Alternatively, the transmission  604  of the threshold time value can be realized by way of providing the threshold time value such that it is readable by a software application running in the UE. 
         [0052]    The method in the UE commences with a reception step  652  in which a threshold time value is received from the node. A prediction of a time interval until reception of a data burst to be handled is then obtained in an obtaining step  654 . The prediction can be performed by using a prediction algorithm suitable for the specific implementation. Then, if the predicted time interval is larger than the received threshold value, a request for switching from the first state to the second state is transmitted to the node in a transmission step  656 . There are several prediction or classification algorithms that can be useful for this application. A typical example is the J48 tree classifier. 
         [0053]    The method in the UE can also comprise making a determination, based on resource usage in the UE, whether or not a switch from the first state to the second state is desirable. The transmission of the request for switching from the first state to the second state is then further conditioned on this determination whether or not a switch from the first state to the second state is desirable. The resource usage can be any of display screen activity, battery energy level as well as radio circuitry activity. 
         [0054]    When implementing the method in a UE in a 3GPP WCDMA system, the first operational state can be any one of the RRC states CELL_DCH or CELL_FACH, and the second operational state can be any one of the RRC states URA_PCH, CELL_PCH or IDLE. When implementing the method in a UE in a 3GPLTE system, the first operational state can be the RRC state RRC_CONNECTED, and the second operational state can be the RRC state RRC_IDLE. In such implementations, the reception  652  of the threshold time value can be realized via RRC signaling using an information element containing the threshold time value. Alternatively, the reception  652  of the threshold time value can be realized by way of a software application running in the UE. 
         [0055]    Similarly, in such 3GPP systems, the transmission of the request for switching from the first state to the second state can comprise performing RRC signaling of an information element containing the request for switching from the first state to the second state or causing a software application running in the UE to transmit the request for switching from the first state to the second state. 
         [0056]    To summarize some advantages, at least for the implementations in the 3GPP WCDMA and LTE environments, it can be noted that due to the fact that the signaling message addition, i.e. the transmission of the threshold time value, is only required in the downlink, this makes this solution backwards compatible for previous released UEs. 
         [0057]    Moreover, variations on the above described methods can include the use of two different threshold time values. That is, the node can determine and transmit two threshold time values, CD_T fd , and CF_T fd . The first to be used when the UE is in the CELL_DCH state and the second is to be used when the UE is in the CELL_FACH state. These two thresholds are then used by the UE to determine whether it should issue a fast dormancy request to the network. When the UE concludes that the current data burst has ended, by e.g. an empty RLC data buffer for a certain time period, and then if the UE predicts that it will have a data burst within CD_T fd  if the UE is currently in CELL_DCH, or CF_T fd  if the UE is currently in CELL_FACH, it should not issue a fast dormancy request. However, if the UE predicts that the time to next data burst is larger than these threshold time values it shall issue a fast dormancy request.