Patent Description:
With development of communications technologies, an M2M (Machine-to-Machine/Man, machine-to-machine) communications system emerges. As shown in <FIG>, the M2M communications system is a network-based system architecture focusing on intelligent interaction between devices. An M2M technology provides a means of real-time data transmission between systems, remote devices, and/or individuals, and a wireless communications module is built inside a device in the M2M communications system, to implement functions such as performing monitoring, commanding and dispatching, data collection, and measurement on the device. <CIT> describes systems and methods for receiving data from a radio network by a terminal. The therein described methods include: receiving downlink data while the terminal operates according to a first discontinuous period; transmitting a response message with respect to the downlink data; and operating according to a second discontinuous period after transmitting the response message. <CIT> describes methods and apparatus for controlling discontinuous reception on a mobile device and in particular to control a short discontinuous reception timer in response to receipt of a medium access control control element. The therein described methods and apparatus include stopping, restarting or maintaining the short discontinuous reception timer.

<CIT> describes systems and methods for operating a base station node of a radio access network. In it basic, generic form the therein described method comprises communicating information over a radio interface between the base station node and a wireless terminal which operates with discontinuous reception.

Currently, the M2M communications system is widely applied to many scenarios, such as smart metering, environment monitoring, and remote monitoring. For example, in a smart metering scenario, a device in the M2M communications system needs to periodically monitor and report use of water, electricity, and gas. When a user does not pay bills, the device remotely cuts off energy supply, and may update subscription information after a house tenant changes.

In a running process, the device in the M2M communications system needs to monitor downlink scheduling data, and the device in the M2M communications system is powered by a battery. If the device is always in a state of monitoring the downlink scheduling data, power consumption of the device is relatively large; or if the device is always in a state of not monitoring the downlink scheduling data, the downlink scheduling data cannot be received in a timely manner. During monitoring of downlink scheduling data, it is apparently inappropriate to consider only timely receiving of the downlink scheduling data without considering power consumption of a device. Likewise, it is also apparently inappropriate to consider only power consumption of a device without considering timely receiving of the downlink scheduling data.

Therefore, how to better balance a relationship between power saving of a device and timely receiving of downlink scheduling data is an urgent problem that needs to be resolved in the M2M communications system.

Aspects of the present invention provide a downlink scheduling data sending method, and an apparatus as defined by the independent claims, so as to reduce power consumption of a device in an M2M communications system without affecting timely receiving of downlink scheduling data by the device, and better balance a relationship between.

power saving of the device and timely receiving of the downlink scheduling data. Further embodiments are provided in the dependent claims. Further embodiments of the description not falling under the scope of protection of the claims are provided for explanatory purpose only.

According to a first aspect, a downlink scheduling data monitoring method according to claim <NUM> is provided.

According to a second aspect, a base station according to independent claim <NUM> is provided.

According to a third aspect, a computer-readable storage medium according to claim <NUM> is provided.

According to a fourth aspect, a computer program according to claim <NUM> is provided.

Further aspects a provided in the dependent claims.

In the prior art, even though a timer expires, downlink scheduling data is monitored by using a DRX monitoring cycle whose duration is in a unit of second or millisecond, and consequently, power consumption is relatively large, and a relationship between power saving of a device and timely receiving of the downlink scheduling data cannot be balanced. However, in the embodiments of the present invention, after it is determined that the timer expires, the downlink scheduling data is monitored by using the first DRX monitoring cycle whose duration is in a unit of minute or hour, and in this way, not only power consumption is reduced, but also the downlink scheduling data can be monitored.

To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the following clearly and completely describes the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Apparently, the described embodiments are some but not all of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by persons of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Technologies described in this specification may be applied to various communications systems, for example, current <NUM> and <NUM> communications systems, an LET (Long Term Evolution, Long Term Evolution) communications system, and a next-generation communications system, for example, a GSM (Global System for Mobile communications, Global System for Mobile Communications), a CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access, Code Division Multiple Access) system, a TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access, Time Division Multiple Access) system, a WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access Wireless, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) system, an FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Addressing, Frequency Division Multiple Access) system, an OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) system, a single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) system, a GPRS (General Packet Radio Service, general packet radio service) system, and other such communications systems.

In the following, an application architecture in this application is described, so as to help persons skilled in the art have a better understanding.

The present invention may be applied to a Gb architecture, and only a ready timer may be used in the Gb architecture. As shown in <FIG>, in a scenario in which only the ready timer is used, within a time period in which the ready timer does not expire, downlink scheduling data is monitored by using a second DRX (Discontinuous Reception, discontinuous reception) monitoring cycle, and within a time period after the ready timer expires, the downlink scheduling data is monitored by using a first DRX monitoring cycle. Further, an RDR timer may be used. As shown in <FIG>, within a time period in which neither the ready timer nor the RDR timer expires, the downlink scheduling data is monitored by using the second DRX monitoring cycle, and within a time period after the ready timer expires, the downlink scheduling data is monitored by using the first DRX monitoring cycle. In this case, when the ready timer expires, the RDR timer needs to stop even though the RDR timer does not expire. In <FIG>, a case in which the ready timer expires, but the RDR timer does not expire is described. Certainly, when the ready timer expires, the RDR timer may have expired. As shown in <FIG>, within a time period in which neither the ready timer nor the RDR timer expires, the downlink scheduling data is monitored by using the second DRX monitoring cycle; within a time period in which the ready timer does not expire, but the RDR timer expires, the downlink scheduling data is monitored by using a third DRX monitoring cycle; and within a time period after the ready timer expires, the downlink scheduling data is monitored by using the first DRX monitoring cycle.

The first DRX monitoring cycle is in a unit of minute or hour, and both the second DRX monitoring cycle and the third DRX monitoring cycle are in a unit of millisecond or second. The second DRX monitoring cycle may be the same as or different from the third DRX monitoring cycle.

The present invention may be applied to an S1 architecture, and only an RDR timer may be used in the S1 architecture. As shown in <FIG>, in a scenario of the RDR timer, within a time period in which the RDR timer does not expire, downlink scheduling data is monitored by using a second DRX monitoring cycle, and within a time period after the RDR timer expires, the downlink scheduling data is monitored by using a first DRX monitoring cycle.

It should be noted that, a ready timer is a timer that is maintained by both a terminal and a core network. The core network herein may refer to an SGSN (Serving GPRS Support Node, serving support node, GPRS (General Packet Radio service, general packet radio service)). The terminal starts the ready timer after sending a last uplink LLC data packet, and the core network starts the ready timer after receiving the last uplink LLC data packet. An RDR timer is a timer that is set by both a terminal and a base station. On a terminal side, the terminal starts the RDR timer after sending a last uplink MAC layer data packet and receiving positive feedback information for the MAC layer data packet from the base station. After a ready timer on the terminal side expires, if the RDR timer does not expire, the terminal stops the RDR timer, and releases a connection on the terminal side. On a base station side, the base station starts the RDR timer after receiving the last uplink MAC layer data packet sent by the terminal and sending the positive feedback information for the MAC layer data packet to the terminal. In the Gb architecture, after a base station receives a paging message delivered by a core network, if an RDR timer does not expire, the RDR timer stops, and a connection to a terminal is released. If the timer expires, the base station releases a connection to the terminal. In the S1 architecture, after an RDR timer expires, a base station initiates a connection release request to a core network, and the core network releases an S1 connection to the terminal, and the base station releases an air interface connection to the terminal.

The following describes preferred implementations of the present invention in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that, the preferred embodiments described herein are merely used to describe and explain the present invention, but are not intended to limit the present invention. In addition, the embodiments in this application and features in the embodiments may be mutually combined if they do not conflict with each other.

The following describes the embodiments of the present invention in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to <FIG>, in an embodiment of the present invention, a procedure of monitoring downlink scheduling data is as follows:.

Duration of the first DRX monitoring cycle is in a unit of minute or hour.

In the prior art, even though a timer expires, downlink scheduling data is monitored by using a DRX monitoring cycle whose duration is in a unit of second or millisecond, and consequently, power consumption is relatively large, and a relationship between power saving of a device and timely receiving of the downlink scheduling data cannot be balanced. However, in this embodiment of the present invention, after it is determined that the timer expires, the downlink scheduling data is monitored by using the first DRX monitoring cycle whose duration is in a unit of minute or hour, and in this way, not only power consumption is reduced, but also the downlink scheduling data can be monitored.

In this embodiment of the present invention, there are multiple manners of monitoring, by using the first DRX monitoring cycle, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station. For example, the following several manners may be used:
monitoring, by using the first DRX monitoring cycle according to a scheduling identifier in an idle state or a scheduling identifier in a connected state, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

In three scenarios shown in <FIG>, <FIG> in a Gb architecture, after a ready timer expires, all terminals return to an idle state. In this case, the monitoring, by using a first DRX monitoring cycle, downlink scheduling data sent by a base station may include: monitoring, by using the first DRX monitoring cycle according to the scheduling identifier in an idle state, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

In a scenario shown in <FIG> in an S1 architecture, after an RDR timer expires, a terminal may return to a long sleep state in an idle state, or may be still in a long sleep state in a connected state.

In the scenario shown in <FIG>, after the RDR timer expires, if the terminal returns to a long sleep state in an idle state, the monitoring, by using a first DRX monitoring cycle, downlink scheduling data sent by a base station may include: monitoring, by using the first DRX monitoring cycle according to the scheduling identifier in an idle state, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

After the RDR timer expires, if the terminal returns to a long sleep state in a connected state, the monitoring, by using a first DRX monitoring cycle, downlink scheduling data sent by a base station may include: monitoring, by using the first DRX monitoring cycle according to the scheduling identifier in a connected state, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

In this embodiment of the present invention, before the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station is monitored by using the first DRX monitoring cycle, the method further includes the following operation:.

Certainly, further, the terminal may send the supported first DRX monitoring cycle to a core network device.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the timer described in step <NUM> may include only a ready timer (Ready Timer). As shown in <FIG>, the ready timer is configured to determine that the terminal is switched from a ready state to a standby state. That is, before the ready timer expires, the terminal is in a ready state, and after the ready timer expires, the terminal is in a standby state.

If only the ready timer is included, the starting a timer may include:.

Certainly, an RDR timer (Timer) may be further included. As shown in <FIG>, the RDR timer is configured to determine that the terminal is switched from a connected state to a long sleep state. That is, when the RDR timer does not expire, the terminal is in a connected state, and after the RDR timer expires, the terminal is in a long sleep state. The long sleep state includes a long sleep state in an idle state or a long sleep state in a connected state.

In this case, the starting a timer may include:
starting the ready timer and the RDR timer, where a time of starting the ready timer is earlier than a time of starting the RDR timer.

Although both the ready timer and the RDR timer are included, the determining that the timer expires may include:
determining that the ready timer expires.

That is, although both the ready timer and the RDR timer are included, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station may be monitored by using the first DRX monitoring cycle provided that the ready timer expires. In this case, if the ready timer expires, but the RDR timer does not expire, the RDR timer needs to stop, and a connection is released.

The foregoing describes a case in which the timer includes only a ready timer, or includes both a ready timer and an RDR timer. However, in actual application, the timer may include only an RDR timer. In this case, in the S1 architecture shown in <FIG>, the starting a timer may include:.

When the timer includes only the RDR timer, and the terminal is in a long sleep state in a connected state after the RDR expires, before the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station is monitored by using the first DRX monitoring cycle, the method further includes the following operations:.

In this case, there are multiple manners of monitoring, by using the first DRX monitoring cycle, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station. Optionally, the following manner may be used:
monitoring, at the DRX monitoring moment, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

There are multiple manners of determining the initial monitoring moment. Optionally, the following manner may be used:.

The foregoing describes a case in which after the timer starts, it is determined that the timer expires. Certainly, a case in which after the timer starts, the timer does not expire exists. The following describes the case in which the timer does not expire.

Therefore, after the timer starts, the method further includes the following operation:
when it is determined that the timer does not expire, monitoring, by using a second DRX monitoring cycle, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

Duration of the second DRX monitoring cycle is in a unit of millisecond or second.

That is, after the timer expires, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station is monitored by using the first DRX monitoring cycle, and before the timer expires, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station is monitored by using the second DRX monitoring cycle.

Before the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station is monitored by using the second DRX monitoring cycle, the method further includes the following operation:.

Certainly, when the timer does not expire, three cases exist. For example, the timer includes only a ready timer, or includes only an RDR timer, or includes both a ready timer and an RDR timer. The following separately gives description.

When the timer includes only the ready timer, the determining that the timer does not expire may include:.

Alternatively, when the timer includes only the RDR timer, the determining that the timer does not expire may include:.

Alternatively, when the timer includes the ready timer and the RDR timer, the starting a timer may include:.

However, when it is determined that the ready timer does not expire, the RDR timer may expire, or may not expire. When the ready timer does not expire, and the RDR timer does not expire either, the monitoring, by using a second DRX monitoring cycle, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station may include:
monitoring, by using the second DRX monitoring cycle according to a scheduling identifier in a connected state, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

Certainly, when the ready timer does not expire, but the RDR timer expires, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station needs to be monitored by using a third DRX monitoring cycle according to a scheduling identifier in an idle state.

Duration of the third DRX monitoring cycle is in a unit of millisecond or second.

It should be noted that, the second DRX monitoring cycle may be the same as or different from the third DRX monitoring cycle. This is not specifically limited herein.

In this embodiment of the present invention, before the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station is monitored by using the third DRX monitoring cycle, the method further includes the following operation:.

In this embodiment of the present invention, there are multiple manners of starting the timer. Optionally, the following manner may be used:
starting the ready timer and/or the RDR timer, where the ready timer is configured to determine that the terminal is switched from a ready state to a standby state, and the RDR timer is configured to determine that the terminal is switched from a connected state to a long sleep state.

There are multiple manners of starting the ready timer. Optionally, the following manner may be used:
starting the ready timer when a last uplink LLC (Logical Link Control, logical link control) data packet is sent.

There are multiple manners of starting the RDR timer. Optionally, the following manner may be used:
starting the RDR timer when positive feedback information for a last uplink MAC (Medium Access Control, Media Access Control) layer data packet is received.

When monitoring the downlink scheduling data, for example, after obtaining a P-RNTI (Paging Radio Network Temporary Identifier, paging radio network temporary identifier) by means of monitoring, the terminal reads a paging record on a paging resource indicated by the P-RNTI. If there is a paging record that includes the identifier of the terminal, it indicates that the terminal is paged. If there is no paging record that includes the identifier of the terminal, it indicates that the terminal is not paged.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the downlink scheduling data is downlink data, or may be a paging message, and certainly, may be in another form. This is not specifically limited herein.

In this embodiment of the present invention, before the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station is monitored by using the first DRX monitoring cycle, the method further includes the following operations:.

The scheduling identifier in a connected state is in many forms, and optionally, may be a TBF (Temporary Block Flow, temporary block flow), or may be a C-RNTI (Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier, cell radio network temporary identifier).

The scheduling identifier in an idle state is also in many forms, and optionally, may be a UE-dedicated scheduling identifier in an idle state, for example, a TLLI (Temporary Logical Link Identifier, temporary logical link identifier), an S-TMSI (SAE Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity, SAE temporary mobile subscriber identity, SAE (System Architecture Evolution, system architecture evolution)), a P-TMSI (PS Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity, PS temporary mobile subscriber identity, PS (Packet Switched, packet switched)), an IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identification Number, international mobile subscriber identity), or an IMSI mod N, or may be a common scheduling identifier in an idle state, for example, a P-RNTI (Paging Radio Network Temporary Identifier, paging radio network temporary identifier).

Referring to <FIG>, in an embodiment of the present invention, a procedure of sending downlink scheduling data is as follows:.

Duration of the first sending cycle is in a unit of minute or hour.

In this embodiment of the present invention, there are multiple manners of determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first DRX monitoring cycle. Optionally, the following manner may be used:.

That is, if the downlink scheduling data directly carries the first DRX monitoring cycle, it may be directly determined, according to the first DRX monitoring cycle, that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first DRX monitoring cycle. If the downlink scheduling data does not carry the first DRX monitoring cycle, a type of the downlink scheduling data may be determined. If the type of the downlink scheduling data is a paging message, it is determined that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first DRX monitoring cycle.

The foregoing two cases are applied to scenarios shown in <FIG>, <FIG> in a Gb architecture, and is also applied to a scenario in which after an RDR timer expires, a terminal is in an idle state and that is shown in <FIG>.

Certainly, when an RDR timer expires, it may be determined that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first DRX monitoring cycle.

After an RDR timer in an S1 architecture expires, when the terminal is in a long sleep state in a connected state, it may be determined, by adding the first DRX monitoring cycle to the downlink scheduling data, that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first DRX monitoring cycle; or
it may be determined, by determining that the RDR expires, that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first DRX monitoring cycle.

Therefore, in this embodiment of the present invention, before the downlink scheduling data is sent to the terminal by using the first sending cycle, the method further includes the following operations:.

The following manner may be used to determine that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first discontinuous reception DRX monitoring cycle:
when it is determined that the RDR timer expires, determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first DRX monitoring cycle.

In this embodiment of the present invention, before the downlink scheduling data is sent to the terminal by using the first sending cycle, the method further includes the following operations:.

In this embodiment of the present invention, before the downlink scheduling data is sent to the terminal by using the first sending cycle, the method further includes:.

In this embodiment of the present invention, there are multiple manners of determining the initial sending moment. Optionally, the following manner may be used:.

The foregoing manner of determining the DRX sending moment is applied to a case in which when an RDR timer expires in the S1 architecture, the terminal is still in a long sleep state in a connected state.

In the foregoing description, it is determined that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first DRX monitoring cycle. Certainly, the terminal may monitor the downlink scheduling data by using a second DRX monitoring cycle. In this case, the base station needs to send the downlink scheduling data by using a second sending cycle corresponding to the second DRX monitoring cycle. Therefore, in this embodiment of the present invention, before it is determined that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first discontinuous reception DRX monitoring cycle, the method further includes the following operation:
determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using a second DRX monitoring cycle, and sending the downlink scheduling data to the terminal by using a second sending cycle.

Duration of the second sending cycle is in a unit of millisecond or second.

In this embodiment of the present invention, there are multiple manners of determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the second DRX monitoring cycle. Optionally, the following manner may be used:.

Certainly, for scenarios shown in <FIG>, when the downlink scheduling data is downlink data, the terminal may not monitor the downlink scheduling data by using the second DRX monitoring cycle. Further, when an RDR timer starts and does not expire, it is determined that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the second DRX monitoring cycle. Therefore, in this embodiment of the present invention, before the downlink scheduling data is sent to the terminal by using the second sending cycle, the method further includes the following operations:.

In this embodiment of the present invention, before the downlink scheduling data is sent to the terminal by using the second sending cycle, the method further includes the following operations:.

In <FIG>, within a time period in which a ready timer does not expire, but an RDR timer expires, the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using a third DRX monitoring cycle. Therefore, in this embodiment of the present invention, before the downlink scheduling data is sent to the terminal by using the first sending cycle, the method further includes the following operation:
when it is determined that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using a third DRX monitoring cycle, sending the downlink scheduling data to the terminal by using a third sending cycle.

Duration of the third sending cycle is from a millisecond range to a second range.

In this embodiment of the present invention, before it is determined that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the third DRX monitoring cycle, the method further includes the following operations:.

It should be noted that, the third sending cycle may be the same as or different from the second sending cycle. This is not specifically limited herein.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the first DRX monitoring cycle, the second DRX monitoring cycle, and the third DRX monitoring cycle that are sent by the base station to the terminal may be determined by the base station, or may be sent by a core network. Certainly, another manner may be used, and this is not specifically limited herein.

Referring to <FIG>, a schematic diagram of a terminal is provided in an embodiment of the present invention. The terminal includes a starting unit <NUM>, a determining unit <NUM>, and a monitoring unit <NUM>.

The starting unit <NUM> is configured to start a timer.

The determining unit <NUM> is configured to determine that the timer expires.

The monitoring unit <NUM> is configured to: after the determining unit <NUM> determines that the timer expires, monitor, by using a first discontinuous reception DRX monitoring cycle, downlink scheduling data sent by a base station.

Duration of the first DRX monitoring cycle is in a unit of minute or hour. Optionally, the monitoring unit <NUM> is configured to:
monitor, by using the first DRX monitoring cycle according to a scheduling identifier in an idle state or a scheduling identifier in a connected state, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

The terminal further includes a receiving unit <NUM>. The receiving unit <NUM> is configured to receive a first DRX monitoring cycle that is sent by the base station in a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner and that is supported by the base station, and the determining unit <NUM> is further configured to use the first DRX monitoring cycle supported by the base station as the first DRX monitoring cycle; or.

Optionally, the timer includes a ready timer (Ready Timer), and the ready timer is configured to determine that the terminal is switched from a ready state to a standby state.

The timer further includes a reduced downlink control signal reception RDR timer (RDR Timer), and the RDR timer is configured to determine that the terminal is switched from a connected state to a long sleep state.

The starting unit <NUM> is configured to start the ready timer and the RDR timer, where a time of starting the ready timer is earlier than a time of starting the RDR timer.

The determining unit <NUM> is configured to determine that the ready timer expires.

Optionally, the timer includes an RDR timer (RDR Timer), and the RDR timer is configured to determine that the terminal is switched from a connected state to a long sleep state.

The determining unit <NUM> is further configured to: determine an initial monitoring moment; and
determine a DRX monitoring moment according to the initial monitoring moment, where the DRX monitoring moment is a moment at a distance of N first DRX monitoring cycles from the initial monitoring moment, and N is a positive integer greater than or equal to <NUM>.

The monitoring unit <NUM> is configured to monitor, at the DRX monitoring moment, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

Optionally, that the determining unit <NUM> determines an initial monitoring moment is specifically:.

The determining unit <NUM> is further configured to determine that the timer does not expire.

The monitoring unit <NUM> is further configured to: when the determining unit <NUM> determines that the timer does not expire, monitor, by using a second DRX monitoring cycle, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

The terminal further includes a receiving unit <NUM>. The receiving unit <NUM> is configured to receive a second DRX monitoring cycle that is sent by the base station in a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner and that is supported by the base station, and the determining unit <NUM> is further configured to use the second DRX monitoring cycle supported by the base station as the second DRX monitoring cycle; or.

Optionally, the timer includes a ready timer, and the ready timer is configured to determine that the terminal is switched from a ready state to a standby state.

The monitoring unit <NUM> is configured to monitor, by using the second DRX monitoring cycle according to a scheduling identifier in an idle state, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

Optionally, the timer includes an RDR timer, and the RDR timer is configured to determine that the terminal is switched from a connected state to a long sleep state.

The monitoring unit <NUM> is configured to monitor, by using the second DRX monitoring cycle according to a scheduling identifier in a connected state, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

Optionally, the timer includes a ready timer and an RDR timer, the ready timer is configured to determine that the terminal is switched from a ready state to a standby state, and the RDR timer is configured to determine that the terminal is switched from a connected state to a long sleep state.

That the determining unit <NUM> determines that the timer does not expire is specifically:
determining that the ready timer does not expire.

The determining unit <NUM> is further configured to determine that the RDR timer does not expire.

The determining unit <NUM> is further configured to determine that the RDR timer expires.

The monitoring unit <NUM> is further configured to monitor, by using a third DRX monitoring cycle according to a scheduling identifier in an idle state, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

The terminal further includes a receiving unit <NUM>. The receiving unit <NUM> is configured to receive a third DRX monitoring cycle that is sent by the base station in a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner and that is supported by the base station, and the determining unit <NUM> is further configured to use the third DRX monitoring cycle supported by the base station as the third DRX monitoring cycle; or.

Optionally, the starting unit <NUM> is configured to start the ready timer and/or the RDR timer, the ready timer is configured to determine that the terminal is switched from a ready state to a standby state, and the RDR timer is configured to determine that the terminal is switched from a connected state to a long sleep state.

Optionally, that the starting unit <NUM> starts the ready timer is specifically:.

Referring to <FIG>, a schematic diagram of a terminal is provided in an embodiment of the present invention. The terminal includes a processor <NUM> and a receiver <NUM>.

The processor <NUM> is configured to start a timer.

The processor <NUM> is further configured to determine that the timer expires.

The receiver <NUM> is configured to: after the processor <NUM> determines that the timer expires, monitor, by using a first discontinuous reception DRX monitoring cycle, downlink scheduling data sent by a base station.

It should be noted that, the processor <NUM> may further perform other operations performed by the starting unit <NUM> and the determining unit <NUM> that are shown in <FIG>, and the receiver <NUM> may further perform other operations performed by the monitoring unit <NUM> and the receiving unit <NUM> that are shown in <FIG>.

Referring to <FIG>, a schematic diagram of a base station is provided in an embodiment of the present invention. The base station includes a receiving unit <NUM>, a determining unit <NUM>, and a sending unit <NUM>.

The receiving unit <NUM> is configured to receive downlink scheduling data sent by a core network device to a terminal.

The determining unit <NUM> is configured to determine that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using a first discontinuous reception DRX monitoring cycle.

The sending unit <NUM> is configured to: when the determining unit <NUM> determines that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first discontinuous reception DRX monitoring cycle, send the downlink scheduling data to the terminal by using a first sending cycle.

Optionally, the determining unit <NUM> is configured to: determine, according to the first DRX monitoring cycle carried in the downlink scheduling data, that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first DRX monitoring cycle; or
when determining that the downlink scheduling data is a paging message, determine that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first DRX monitoring cycle.

The receiving unit <NUM> is further configured to receive a last uplink Media Access Control MAC layer data packet sent by the terminal.

The sending unit <NUM> is further configured to send positive feedback information for the last uplink MAC layer data packet to the terminal.

The base station further includes a starting unit <NUM>, configured to start a reduced downlink control signal reception RDR timer when the sending unit <NUM> sends the positive feedback information for the last uplink MAC layer data packet to the terminal, where the RDR timer is configured to determine that the terminal is switched from a connected state to a long sleep state.

The determining unit <NUM> is configured to: when determining that the RDR timer expires, determine that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first DRX monitoring cycle.

The sending unit <NUM> is further configured to: send the first DRX monitoring cycle to the terminal in a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner; or send, in a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner, a first DRX monitoring cycle supported by the base station to the terminal; and/or
send, in a form of uplink data at a logical link control layer, the first DRX monitoring cycle supported by the base station to the core network device.

The determining unit <NUM> is further configured to: determine an initial sending moment; and determine a DRX sending moment according to the initial sending moment, where the DRX sending moment is a moment at a distance of N first sending cycles from the initial sending moment, and N is a positive integer greater than or equal to <NUM>.

The sending unit <NUM> is configured to send the downlink scheduling data at the DRX sending moment.

Optionally, that the determining unit <NUM> determines an initial sending moment is specifically:.

The determining unit <NUM> is further configured to determine that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using a second DRX monitoring cycle.

The sending unit <NUM> is further configured to send the downlink scheduling data to the terminal by using a second sending cycle.

Optionally, that the determining unit <NUM> determines that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using a second DRX monitoring cycle is specifically:.

The base station further includes a starting unit <NUM>, configured to start an RDR timer when the sending unit <NUM> sends the positive feedback information for the last uplink MAC layer data packet to the terminal, where the RDR timer is configured to determine that the terminal is switched from a connected state to a long sleep state.

That the determining unit <NUM> determines that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using a second DRX monitoring cycle is specifically:
when determining that the downlink scheduling data is downlink data, and the RDR timer does not expire, determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the second DRX monitoring cycle.

The sending unit <NUM> is further configured to: send the second DRX monitoring cycle to the terminal in a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner; or send, in a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner, a second DRX monitoring cycle supported by the base station to the terminal; and/or
send, in a form of uplink data at a logical link control layer, the second DRX monitoring cycle supported by the base station to the core network device.

The determining unit <NUM> is further configured to determine that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using a third DRX monitoring cycle.

The sending unit <NUM> is further configured to: when the determining unit <NUM> determines that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the third DRX monitoring cycle, send the downlink scheduling data to the terminal by using a third sending cycle.

That the determining unit <NUM> determines that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using a third DRX monitoring cycle is specifically:
when determining that the downlink scheduling data is downlink data, and the RDR timer expires, determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the third DRX monitoring cycle.

The sending unit <NUM> is further configured to: send the third DRX monitoring cycle to the terminal in a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner; and/or
send the third DRX monitoring cycle to the core network device in a form of uplink data at a logical link control layer.

Referring to <FIG>, a schematic diagram of a terminal is provided in an embodiment of the present invention. The terminal includes a receiver <NUM>, a processor <NUM>, and a transmitter <NUM>.

The receiver <NUM> is configured to receive downlink scheduling data sent by a core network device to the terminal.

The processor <NUM> is configured to determine that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using a first discontinuous reception DRX monitoring cycle.

The transmitter <NUM> is configured to: when the processor <NUM> determines that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first discontinuous reception DRX monitoring cycle, send the downlink scheduling data to the terminal by using a first sending cycle.

It should be noted that, the receiver <NUM> may further perform other operations performed by the receiving unit <NUM> shown in <FIG>, the processor <NUM> may further perform other operations performed by the determining unit <NUM> and the starting unit <NUM> that are shown in <FIG>, and the transmitter <NUM> may further perform other operations performed by the sending unit <NUM> shown in <FIG>.

The present invention is described with reference to the flowcharts and/or block diagrams of the method, the device (system), and the computer program product according to the embodiments of the present invention. It should be understood that computer program instructions may be used to implement each process and/or each block in the flowcharts and/or the block diagrams and a combination of a process and/or a block in the flowcharts and/or the block diagrams. These computer program instructions may be provided for a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, an embedded processor, or a processor of any other programmable data processing device to generate a machine, so that the instructions executed by a computer or a processor of any other programmable data processing device generate an apparatus for implementing a specific function in one or more processes in the flowcharts and/or in one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable memory that can instruct the computer or any other programmable data processing device to work in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer readable memory generate an artifact that includes an instruction apparatus.

Claim 1:
A downlink scheduling data sending method, comprising:
receiving (<NUM>), by a base station, downlink scheduling data sent by a core network device to a terminal; and
when it is determined by the base station that the downlink scheduling data is a paging message,
determining, by the base station, that the terminal monitors the paging message by using a first discontinuous reception, DRX, monitoring cycle according to a scheduling identifier in the idle state,
sending (<NUM>), by the base station, the paging message to the terminal by using a first sending cycle, wherein a duration of the first sending cycle is in a unit of minute or hour,
when it is determined by the base station that the downlink scheduling data is downlink data,
determining, by the base station, that the terminal monitors the downlink data by using a second DRX monitoring cycle according to a scheduling identifier in the connected state, and
sending, by the base station the downlink data to the terminal by using a second sending cycle, wherein
a duration of the second sending cycle is shorter than the duration of the first sending cycle and in a unit of millisecond or second;
wherein before the sending the downlink data to the terminal by using the second sending cycle, the method further comprises:
sending, by the base station, the second DRX monitoring cycle to the terminal in a dedicated signalling manner.