Granted Patent B2

US 12,574,847 · App. 17/593,551 · Granted Mar 10, 2026

Inventors: Zhibin Wu (Cupertino, CA); Chunxuan Ye (San Diego, CA); Dawei Zhang (Cupertino, CA); Fangli Xu (Beijing, CN); Haijing Hu (Cupertino, CA); Haitong Sun (Cupertino, CA); Hong He (Cupertino, CA); Jie Cui (Cupertino, CA); Wei Zeng (Cupertino, CA); Yang Tang (Cupertino, CA); Yuqin Chen (Beijing, CN)

Assignee: APPLE INC.

H04W52/0232H04W72/1263H04W92/18

Abstract

Claims (32)

1 . A method, performed by a first user equipment (UE), of configuring link-specific discontinuous reception (DRX), the method comprising:

receiving in a system information block (SIB) a sidelink DRX configuration as a cell-specific sidelink DRX configuration;

processing the sidelink DRX configuration configured by a network, the sidelink DRX configuration comprising a first on-duration parameter;

signaling over a PC5 interface with a second UE, a link-specific DRX configuration for a link-specific DRX cycle, the link-specific DRX configuration including a link-specific on-duration parameter,

wherein sidelink active time of the first UE includes time corresponding to the first on-duration parameter and the link-specific on-duration parameter; and

starting the link-specific DRX cycle in response to MAC control element layer 2 triggering from another UE.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising establishing between the first UE and the second UE a unicast communication link based on the link-specific DRX configuration.

3 . The method of claim 2 , in which the link-specific DRX configuration is applied for both the first UE and the second UE of the unicast communication link.

4 . The method of claim 1 , in which the signaling comprises a PC5-RRC message.

5 . The method of claim 1 , in which the signaling comprises sidelink DRX MAC control element layer 2 signaling.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving the sidelink DRX configuration through Uu-RRC signaling.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising retrieving the sidelink DRX configuration that is preconfigured when the first UE is not in network coverage or unable to retrieve the sidelink DRX configuration via a serving base station.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising switching between short and long link-specific sidelink DRX cycles.

9 . The method of claim 1 , in which the link-specific DRX configuration includes a link-specific DRX inactivity timer parameter.

10 . The method of claim 9 , in which the link-specific DRX inactivity timer parameter configures an inactivity timer of the first UE, the method further comprising checking, in response to expiration of the inactivity timer, data activity on a sidelink with the second UE to start the link-specific DRX cycle.

11 . The method of claim 1 , in which the PC5 interface is a first PC5 interface and the link-specific DRX configuration for a link-specific DRX cycle comprises a first link-specific DRX configuration for a first link-specific DRX cycle, the method further comprising signaling over a second PC5 interface with a third UE, a second link-specific DRX configuration for a second link-specific DRX cycle.

12 . A method, performed by a first user equipment (UE), of operating sidelink DRX based on multiple different discontinuous reception (DRX) configurations:

determining a common DRX configuration for sidelink groupcast and broadcast communication configured by a network, the common DRX configuration comprising a first on-duration parameter, wherein the common DRX configuration is a cell-specific sidelink DRX configuration;

determining a link-specific DRX configuration for sidelink unicast communication with a second UE, the link-specific DRX configuration comprising a second on-duration parameter,

wherein sidelink active time of the first UE includes time corresponding to the first on-duration parameter and the second on-duration parameter; and

starting the link-specific DRX cycle in response to MAC control element layer 2 triggering from another UE.

13 . The method of claim 12 , in which the common DRX configuration for sidelink groupcast and broadcast is commonly configured for all UEs involved in sidelink groupcast and broadcast communication in proximity to each other.

14 . The method of claim 12 , in which the first UE when determining the link-specific DRX configuration, chooses a configuration to maximize overlapping time between onDuration periods of link-specific DRX and common DRX cycles.

15 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising adopting a parameter of the common DRX configuration for re-use in configuration of the sidelink unicast communication with a second UE.

16 . The method of claim 15 , in which the parameter is an inactivity parameter.

17 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium including instructions that when executed by a first user equipment (UE) for configuring link-specific discontinuous reception (DRX), cause the UE to:

receiving in a system information block (SIB) a sidelink DRX configuration as a cell-specific sidelink DRX configuration;

process the sidelink DRX configuration configured by a network, the sidelink DRX configuration comprising a first on-duration parameter;

signal over a PC5 interface with a second UE, a link-specific DRX configuration for a link-specific DRX cycle, the link-specific DRX configuration including a link-specific on-duration parameter,

wherein sidelink active time of the first UE includes time corresponding to the first on-duration parameter and the link-specific on-duration parameter; and

start the link-specific DRX cycle in response to MAC control element layer 2 triggering from another UE.

18 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , in which the instructions further configure the UE to establish between the first UE and the second UE a unicast communication link based on the link-specific DRX configuration.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (27)