Implementation of attachment for passive IoT device communication with ambient energy source

1 . A reader node comprising:

a memory storing computer readable instructions; and

processing circuitry configured to execute the computer readable instructions to cause the reader node to,

receive an association response message from a radio access network (RAN) node, the association response message including

attachment information corresponding to at least one associated energy-harvesting (EH) user equipment (UE) device and the reader node, and

attachment timer information indicating a configured monitoring time period; and

transmit an attachment acknowledgement message to the RAN node in response to the association response message.

2 . The reader node of claim 1 , wherein the association response message includes an identifier associated with each of the at least one associated EH UE device, a first stored energy threshold, and a second stored energy threshold.

3 . The reader node of claim 2 , wherein the reader node is further caused to:

disable a configured operation duty cycle of the reader node in response to the association response message; and

monitor for data transmitted by the at least one associated EH UE device during the configured monitoring time period.

4 . The reader node of claim 3 , wherein the reader node is further caused to:

receive the data transmitted by the at least one associated EH UE device during the configured monitoring time period; and

forward the received data to the RAN node.

5 . The reader node of claim 3 , wherein the reader node is further caused to:

resume operation of the reader node using the configured operation duty cycle in response to the configured monitoring time period expiring.

6 . The reader node of claim 1 , wherein the reader node is further caused to:

receive data from the at least one associated EH UE device during a configured sub-time period of the configured monitoring time period; and

transmit a monitoring period extension message to the at least one associated EH UE device in response to the data received during the configured sub-time period, the monitoring period extension message indicating the configured monitoring time period has been extended to an extended monitoring time period.

7 . The reader node of claim 6 , wherein the reader node is further caused to:

receive new data transmitted by the at least one associated EH UE device during the extended monitoring time period;

determine whether to extend the extended monitoring time period based on the new data; and

forward the new data to the RAN node.

8 . An energy-harvesting (EH) user equipment (UE) device comprising:

at least one energy harvesting circuitry configured to collect energy;

a memory storing computer readable instructions; and

processing circuitry configured to execute the computer readable instructions to cause the device to,

transmit an association request message based on an energy level of the collected energy;

receive an association response message from a radio access network (RAN) node, the association response message including attachment information, the attachment information including information identifying at least one assigned reader node, attachment timer information indicating a configured monitoring time period of the at least one assigned reader node, a first stored energy threshold, and a second stored energy threshold, the first stored energy threshold being less than the second stored energy threshold; and

transmit data to the at least one assigned reader node during the configured monitoring time period based on the energy level of the collected energy and the first stored energy threshold.

9 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the device is further caused to:

determine whether the configured monitoring time period has expired; and

transmit the data to the at least one assigned reader node during the configured monitoring time period in response to the energy level of the collected energy exceeding the first stored energy threshold and the configured monitoring time period having not expired.

10 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the device is further caused to:

transmit the data to the RAN node in response to the energy level of the collected energy exceeding the second stored energy threshold and the configured monitoring time period having expired.

11 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the device is further caused to:

transmit the data to the at least one assigned reader node during a configured sub-time period of the configured monitoring time period; and

receive a monitoring period extension message from the at least one assigned reader node in response to the transmitted data, the monitoring period extension message indicating the configured monitoring time period has been extended to an extended monitoring time period.

12 . The device of claim 11 , wherein the device is further caused to:

transmit new data to the at least one assigned reader node during the extended monitoring time period based on a current energy level of the collected energy and the first stored energy threshold, in response to the received monitoring period extension message.

13 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the at least one energy harvesting circuitry is configured to collect the energy from at least one of:

ambient radio frequency energy, kinetic energy, solar energy, thermal energy, or any combinations thereof.

14 . A method of operating a reader node, the method comprising:

receiving an association response message from a radio access network (RAN) node, the association response message including

attachment information corresponding to at least one associated energy-harvesting (EH) user equipment (UE) device and the reader node, and

attachment timer information indicating a configured monitoring time period; and

transmitting an attachment acknowledgement message to the RAN node in response to the association response message.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the association response message includes an identifier associated with each of the at least one associated EH UE device, a first stored energy threshold, and a second stored energy threshold.

16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

disabling a configured operation duty cycle of the reader node in response to the received association response message; and

monitoring for data transmitted by the at least one associated EH UE device during the configured monitoring time period.

17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

receiving the data transmitted by the at least one associated EH UE device during the configured monitoring time period; and

forwarding the data to the RAN node.

18 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

resuming operation of the reader node using the configured operation duty cycle in response to the configured monitoring time period expiring.

19 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

receiving data from the at least one associated EH UE device during a configured sub-time period of the configured monitoring time period; and

transmitting a monitoring period extension message to the at least one associated EH UE device in response to the data received during the configured sub-time period, the monitoring period extension message indicating the configured monitoring time period has been extended to an extended monitoring time period.

20 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

receiving new data transmitted by the at least one associated EH UE device during the extended monitoring time period;

determining whether to extend the extended monitoring time period based on the new data; and

forwarding the new data to the RAN node.