Traffic Shaping Mechanism for UE Power Saving in Idle Mode
A method of uplink shaping and extending UE in RRC Idle Mode is proposed. The UE processes a data packet to be sent to the network. The data packet is associated with a traffic type. If the data packet belongs to a normal traffic type, then the UE enters RRC Connected mode and thereby transmitting the data packet to the network. If the data packet belongs to a background traffic type, then the UE buffers the data packet and the UE is prohibited from entering RRC Connected mode until a triggering condition is satisfied for uplink transmission. The proposed mechanism achieves power saving by reducing the activity of uplink transmission. In addition, the proposed mechanism also reduces signaling overhead to enhance network efficiency.
1 . A method, comprising:
sending one or more traffic shaping configuration parameters by a base station to a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network, wherein data packets are identified to be associated with a traffic type;
receiving a first data packet from the UE by the base station, wherein the first data packet is identified belonging to a normal traffic type and transmitted by the UE without buffering based on the traffic shaping configuration parameters; and
receiving a second data packet from the UE by the base station, wherein the second data packet is identified belonging to a background traffic type, and wherein the second data packet is buffered by the UE in an IDLE state until a triggering condition is satisfied, and wherein the trigger condition is selected by the UE from a plurality of predefined triggering conditions based on a plurality of predefined UE conditions based on the traffic shaping configuration parameters.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the triggering condition belongs to one of the following: the UE entering RRC Connected mode, fulfilling a predefined buffer, delaying the date packet for a periodicity, at least one of the buffered data packets has reached a delay bound, a channel quality is above a channel quality threshold, and a UE speed is slower than a speed threshold.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the predefined buffer size is based on at least one of a physical memory size, a number of bytes carried in each subframe, and one or more running applications on the UE.
4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the periodicity is based at least one of a prohibit time determined by the UE, a prohibit time determined by the base station, or a prohibit time determined by a mobility management entity (MME).
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein a value of the prohibit time is decided according to at least one of a paging cycle, a tracking area update timer, traffic statistics, and a default DRX cycle.
6 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the delay bound is controlled by a common value determined by the UE and/or one or more running applications on the UE.
7 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the channel quality threshold is controlled by a predefined RSRP or a predefined RSRQ or path loss value determined by the UE, by the base station, or by a mobility management entity (MME).
8 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the UE speed threshold is controlled by a predefined cell change count or physical speed or mobile state determined by the UE, by the base station, or by a mobility management entity (MME).
10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving an indication from the UE regarding whether a background traffic prohibition is applied and related parameters.
11 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising sending an RRC release timer to the UE based on the indication.
12 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising releasing the UE to an RRC Idle mode based on the indication.
13 . The method of claim 1 , sending control information related to a background traffic prohibition in the traffic shaping configuration.
14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the control information comprises information on configuring the predefined buffer size, configuring the periodicity, and/or activating/deactivating the prohibition.
15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the background traffic type is associated with UE in a background mode and/or the data packet has a low QoS requirement and/or the data packet has a small packet size.
16 . A base station in a wireless network, comprising:
a radio frequency (RF) transceiver that transmits and receives radio signal in the wireless network; and
a control circuit configured to
send one or more traffic shaping configuration parameters by a base station to a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network, wherein data packets are identified to be associated with a traffic type;
receive a first data packet from the UE by the base station, wherein the first data packet is identified belonging to a normal traffic type and transmitted by the UE without buffering based on the traffic shaping configuration parameters; and
receive a second data packet from the UE by the base station, wherein the second data packet is identified belonging to a background traffic type, and wherein the second data packet is buffered by the UE in an IDLE state until a triggering condition is satisfied, and wherein the trigger condition is selected by the UE from a plurality of predefined triggering conditions based on a plurality of predefined UE conditions based on the traffic shaping configuration parameters.
17 . The base station of claim 16 , wherein the triggering condition belongs to one of the following: the UE entering RRC Connected mode, fulfilling a predefined buffer, delaying the date packet for a periodicity, at least one of the buffered data packets has reached a delay bound, a channel quality is above a channel quality threshold, and a UE speed is slower than a speed threshold.
18 . The base station of claim 16 , wherein the control circuit receives an indication from the UE regarding whether a traffic prohibition for the background traffic type is applied and related parameters.
19 . The base station of claim 16 , wherein the control circuit sends control information related to a traffic prohibition for the background traffic type in the traffic shaping configuration.
20 . The base station of claim 19 , wherein the control information comprises information on configuring the predefined buffer size, configuring the periodicity, and/or activating/deactivating the prohibition.