Reduction of power consumption of a terminal device in dual connectivity

1 . A communication method, comprising:

displaying, by a terminal device, a mobile network identifier “5G”;

camping, by the terminal device, on a dual-connectivity network, where the dual-connectivity network includes a long term evolution (LTE) link and a new radio (NR) link;

displaying, by the terminal device, an amount of battery time remaining of a battery of the terminal device while camping on the dual-connectivity network;

displaying, by the terminal device, a plurality of power control options, wherein for each power control option of the plurality of power control options, an amount of battery time remaining of the battery of the terminal device corresponding to selecting the power control option is displayed by the terminal device; and

in response to a user enabling a given power control option of the plurality of power control options:

turning on, by the terminal device, a switch of a power saving mode of the terminal device corresponding to the given power control option;

releasing, by the terminal device, the NR link;

updating, by the terminal device, display of the mobile network identifier from “5G” to “4G”; and

updating, by the terminal device, a displayed remaining time of the battery of the terminal device in the power saving mode.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

after releasing the NR link, performing, by the terminal device, communication over the LTE link.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the releasing the NR link comprises:

sending, by the terminal device, a first tracking area update (TAU) request message, wherein the first TAU request message carries information indicating that the terminal device does not support an NR capability.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the releasing the NR link comprises:

releasing, by the terminal device, a radio resource that is occupied on the terminal device and that is configured for connection between the terminal device and an NR access network device.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the releasing the NR link comprises:

sending, by the terminal device, a first detach attach request message, wherein the first detach attach request message is used to request to a detach operation.

6 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to turning on the switch of the power saving mode of the terminal device, disabling, by the terminal device, a 5G switch.

7 . The method according to claim 6 , further comprising:

in response to the user disabling the power saving mode of the terminal device, turning off, by the terminal device, the switch of the power saving mode of the terminal device;

in response to turning off the switch of the power saving mode of the terminal device, restoring, by the terminal device, the NR link; and

in response to restoring the NR link, enabling, by the terminal device, the 5G switch.

8 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein the restoring the NR link comprises:

sending, by the terminal device, a second tracking area update (TAU) request message, wherein the second TAU request message carries information indicating that the terminal device supports NR; or

sending, by the terminal device, a second attach request message, wherein the second attach request message carries information indicating that the terminal device supports NR.

9 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the information indicating that the terminal device supports NR is a dCNR (dual connectivity with NR supported) field.

10 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

displaying, by the terminal device, information on a first interface indicating 5G will be disabled in response to the power saving mode being enabled.

11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of power control options includes a performance mode option corresponding to a first amount of battery time remaining, a power saving mode option corresponding to a second amount of battery time remaining, and a super power saving mode option corresponding to a third amount of battery time remaining.

12 . A terminal device, comprising:

a processor; and

a computer storage medium, wherein the computer storage medium stores instructions, and in response to the processor executing the instructions, the terminal device is enabled to perform the following actions:

displaying a mobile network identifier “5G”;

camping on a dual-connectivity network, where the dual-connectivity network includes a long term evolution (LTE) link and a new radio (NR) link;

displaying an amount of battery time remaining of a battery of the terminal device while camping on the dual-connectivity network;

displaying a plurality of power control options, wherein for each power control option of the plurality of power control options, an amount of battery time remaining of the battery of the terminal device corresponding to selecting the power control option is displayed by the terminal device; and

in response to a user enabling a given power control option of the plurality of power control options:

turning on a switch of a power saving mode of the terminal device corresponding to the given power control option;

releasing the NR link;

updating display of the mobile network identifier from “5G” to “4G”; and

updating a displayed remaining time of the battery of the terminal device in the power saving mode.

13 . The terminal device according to claim 12 , wherein in response to the processor executing the instructions, the terminal device is further enabled to perform the following action:

after releasing the NR link, performing communication over the LTE link.

14 . The terminal device according to claim 12 , wherein the releasing the NR link comprises:

sending a first tracking area update (TAU) request message, wherein the first TAU request message carries information indicating that the terminal device does not support an NR capability.

15 . The terminal device according to claim 12 , wherein in response to the processor executing the instructions, the terminal device is further enabled to perform the following action:

in response to turning on the switch of the power saving mode of the terminal device, disabling a 5G switch.

16 . The terminal device according to claim 15 , wherein in response to the processor executing the instructions, the terminal device is further enabled to perform the following actions:

in response to the user disabling the power saving mode of the terminal device, turning off, by the terminal device, the switch of the power saving mode of the terminal device;

in response to turning off the switch of the power saving mode of the terminal device, restoring the NR link; and

in response to restoring the NR link, enabling the 5G switch.

17 . The terminal device according to claim 16 , wherein the restoring the NR link comprises:

sending a second tracking area update (TAU) request message, wherein the second TAU request message carries information indicating that the terminal device supports NR; or

sending a second attach request message, wherein the second attach request message carries information indicating that the terminal device supports NR.

18 . The terminal device according to claim 17 , wherein the information indicating that the terminal device supports NR is a dCNR (dual connectivity with NR supported) field.

19 . The terminal device according to claim 12 , wherein in response to the processor executing the instructions, the terminal device is further enabled to perform the following action:

displaying information indicating 5G will be disabled in response to the power saving mode being enabled.

20 . The terminal device according to claim 12 , wherein the plurality of power control options includes a performance mode option corresponding to a first amount of battery time remaining, a power saving mode option corresponding to a second amount of battery time remaining, and a super power saving mode option corresponding to a third amount of battery time remaining.