阅读说明：本技术 功率管理报告 (Power management reporting ) 是由 T·恩托南 S·图尔蒂南 吴春丽 S·阿科拉 于 2021-05-07 设计创作，主要内容包括：本公开的示例实施例涉及功率管理报告以及用于增强针对功率降低的报告的设备、方法、装置和计算机可读存储介质。该方法包括：如果确定针对报告要被应用于第一设备的服务小区中的至少一个服务小区的功率降低的需求,在第一设备处基于与功率降低相关的至少一个参数来确定用于该服务小区中的至少一个服务小区的报告方案；以及基于该报告方案,向第二设备传输功率管理报告,该功率管理报告包含关于功率降低的信息。以此方式,终端设备可以及时且可靠的方式向网络设备报告输出功率降低,并且功率降低报告可以依据功率降低等级,基于不同的报告方案来被传输。这样,可以避免无线电链路故障,并且可以改善终端设备的传输。(Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to power management reporting and devices, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for enhancing reporting for power reduction. The method comprises the following steps: determining, at the first device, a reporting scheme for at least one of the serving cells of the first device based on at least one parameter related to power reduction if a need to report a power reduction to be applied to the at least one of the serving cells is determined; and transmitting a power management report to the second device based on the reporting scheme, the power management report containing information about the power reduction. In this way, the terminal device may report the output power reduction to the network device in a timely and reliable manner, and the power reduction report may be transmitted based on different reporting schemes depending on the power reduction level. In this way, radio link failures can be avoided and the transmission of the terminal device can be improved.)

1. A first device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code;

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to:

if a need for reporting a power reduction to be applied to at least one of the serving cells of the first device is determined, determining a reporting scheme for the at least one of the serving cells based on at least one parameter related to the power reduction; and

transmitting a power management report to the second device based on the reporting scheme, the power management report including information about the power reduction.

2. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is further caused to:

determining a value of the power reduction;

comparing the value to a first threshold for triggering reporting of the power reduction; and

determining that the need exists for reporting the power reduction to be applied to the at least one of the serving cells if it is determined that the value exceeds the first threshold.

3. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is further caused to:

transmitting the power management report to a third device different from the second device if it is determined that at least one of the serving cells of the first device is managed by the third device.

4. The first device of claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter indicates at least one of:

a value of the power reduction;

a power reduction level associated with the at least one of the serving cells of the first device;

selecting, by the first device, a first beam for performing a random access procedure;

selecting, by the first device, a second beam for performing a scheduling request procedure;

a number of scheduling requests transmitted by the first device, the scheduling requests configured to initiate the scheduling request procedure; and

dedicated resources available for reporting the power reduction.

5. The first device of claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter indicates a value of the power reduction, and

wherein the first device is caused to determine the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter by:

comparing the value with a second threshold for triggering a random access procedure, the second threshold being higher than the first threshold for triggering reporting of the power reduction;

determining the reporting scheme based on the random access procedure if it is determined that the value exceeds the second threshold; and

determining the reporting scheme based on a scheduling request procedure if it is determined that the value does not exceed the second threshold.

6. The first device of claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter indicates a level of power reduction associated with the at least one of the serving cells of the first device, an

Wherein the first device is caused to determine the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter by:

determining that the power reduction is to be applied to all serving cells of the first device;

comparing a power reduction level associated with a respective serving cell of the first device to a first threshold level; and

determining the reporting scheme based on the random access procedure if it is determined that all serving cells of the first device are associated with corresponding power reduction levels exceeding the first threshold level.

7. The first device of claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter indicates a first beam selected for performing a random access procedure, and

wherein the first device is caused to determine the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter by:

determining a power reduction level for the first beam; and

determining the reporting scheme based on the random access procedure if it is determined that the level of power reduction does not exceed a first predetermined threshold level.

8. The first device of claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter indicates a value of the power reduction, and

wherein the first device is caused to determine the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter by:

comparing the value with a third threshold value, the third threshold value being used to trigger a random access preamble for initiating a random access procedure, the third threshold value being higher than the first threshold value used to trigger reporting of the power reduction;

determining to transmit the random access preamble to the second device immediately after determining a need to report the power reduction if the value is determined to exceed the third threshold; and

determining to transmit the random access preamble to the second device upon occurrence of data to be scheduled at the first device if it is determined that the value does not exceed the third threshold.

9. The first device of claim 8, wherein the first device is caused to transmit the power management report by:

transmitting the power management report during the stochastic process.

10. The first device of any of claims 5 to 9, wherein the random access procedure is a 4-step random access procedure, and

wherein the first device is caused to transmit the power management report by:

transmitting a random access preamble to the second device;

receiving a message from the second device indicating resources allocated for transmission; and

transmitting the power management report to the second device on the allocated resources.

11. The first device of claim 10, wherein the random access preamble indicates a power reduction for the first device, and the random access preamble causes the second device to allocate resources on a serving cell of the first device on which transmit power is not degraded by the power reduction.

12. The first device of any of claims 5 to 8, wherein the random access procedure is a 2-step random access procedure, and

wherein the first device is caused to transmit the power management report by:

transmitting the power management report on a pre-configured resource.

13. The first device of claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter indicates a power reduction level associated with the at least one of the serving cells of the first device, the at least one of the serving cells comprises a first serving cell managed by the second device, and a scheduling request procedure between the first device and the second device is performed on the first serving cell, and

wherein the first device is caused to determine the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter by:

determining the reporting scheme based on the scheduling request procedure if it is determined that the level of power reduction of the first serving cell does not exceed a second threshold level.

14. The first device of claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter indicates a second beam selected for performing a scheduling request procedure, and

wherein the first device is caused to determine the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter by:

determining a power reduction level for the second beam; and

determining the reporting scheme based on the scheduling request procedure if it is determined that the level of power reduction does not exceed a second predetermined threshold level.

15. The first device of claim 13 or 14, wherein if the reporting scheme is determined based on the scheduling request procedure, the first device is caused to transmit the power management report by:

transmitting a scheduling request for resource allocation to the second device;

receiving a response from the second device indicating the allocated resources for transmission; and

transmitting the power management report to the second device on the allocated resources.

16. The first device of claim 15, wherein the scheduling request indicates a power reduction of the first device, and

wherein the first device is caused to receive the response by:

receiving the response from the second device indicating the resources allocated on a serving cell of the first device on which transmit power is not degraded by the power reduction.

17. The first device of claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter indicates a value of the power reduction, and

wherein the first device is caused to determine the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter by:

comparing the value with a fourth threshold for triggering a scheduling request for initiating a scheduling request procedure, the fourth threshold being higher than the first threshold for triggering reporting of the power reduction;

determining to transmit the scheduling request for resource allocation to the second device immediately after determining the need to report the reduced power if the value is determined to exceed the fourth threshold; and

determining to transmit the scheduling request for resource allocation to a second device upon occurrence of data to be scheduled at the first device if it is determined that the value does not exceed the fourth threshold.

18. The first device of claim 17, wherein the first device is caused to transmit the power management report by:

transmitting the power management report during the scheduling request procedure.

19. The first device of claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter indicates a number of scheduling requests transmitted by the first device, the scheduling requests configured for initiating a scheduling request procedure between the first device and the second device, and

wherein the first device is caused to determine the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter by:

determining the reporting scheme based on a random access procedure if it is determined that the number of scheduling requests transmitted by the first device exceeds a maximum number for transmitting the scheduling requests.

20. The first device of claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter indicates dedicated resources available for reporting the power reduction, and the dedicated resources are preconfigured by the second device, and

wherein the first device is caused to determine the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter by:

determining the reporting scheme based on a random access procedure if it is determined that dedicated resources for the random access procedure are available for reporting the power reduction.

21. The first device of claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter indicates dedicated resources available for reporting the power reduction, and the dedicated resources are preconfigured by the second device, and

wherein the first device is caused to determine the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter by:

determining the reporting scheme based on a scheduling request procedure if it is determined that dedicated resources for the scheduling request procedure are available for reporting the power reduction.

22. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to transmit the power management report containing information about the power reduction by:

transmitting the power management report including the power reduction value.

23. The first device of claim 1, wherein the power reduction to be applied comprises a power management maximum power reduction of the first device, and the power management report comprises a power management maximum power reduction report, and

wherein the first device is caused to transmit the power management report by:

transmitting the power management maximum power reduction report via a dedicated MAC control element or together with a MAC control element for power headroom reporting.

24. The first device of any of claims 1-23, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

25. A second device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code;

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to:

receiving a power management report from a first device, the power management report containing information about a power reduction to be applied to at least one of serving cells of the first device; and

controlling transmission on a second serving cell of the first device based on the information.

26. The second device of claim 25, wherein the at least one of the serving cells is managed by the second device or a third device, and

wherein the second device is caused to control the transmission by:

obtaining a value of the power reduction from the information; and

controlling transmission on at least one of the serving cells if it is determined that a transmit power on the at least one serving cell is degraded due to the power reduction based on the value of the power reduction and a type of the at least one of the serving cells managed by the second device.

27. The second device of claim 25, wherein the second device is caused to receive the power management report by:

receiving the power management report during a random access procedure or a scheduling request procedure with the first device.

28. The second device of claim 27, wherein the random access procedure comprises a 2-step random access procedure, and

wherein the second device is caused to receive the power management report by:

receiving the power management report on a preconfigured resource.

29. The second device of claim 27, wherein the random access procedure comprises a 4-step random access procedure, and

wherein the second device is further caused to:

receiving a random access preamble from the first device; and

transmitting a message to the first device indicating resources allocated for transmissions to be scheduled between the first device and the second device, and

wherein the second device is caused to receive the power management report by:

receiving the power management report on the allocated resources.

30. The second device of claim 29, wherein the random access preamble indicates the power reduction of the first device, and

wherein the second device is caused to transmit the message indicating the allocated resources for the transmission by:

transmitting a message indicating resources on a serving cell managed by the second device on which transmit power is not degraded due to the power reduction.

31. The second device of claim 27, wherein the power management report is received during the scheduling request procedure, and

wherein the second device is further caused to:

receiving a scheduling request from the first device; and

transmitting a response to the first device indicating the resources allocated for transmission between the first device and the second device, and

wherein the second device is caused to receive the power management report by:

receiving the power management report on the allocated resources.

32. The second device of claim 31, wherein the scheduling request indicates the power reduction of the first device, and

wherein the second device is caused to transmit the response indicating the allocated resources for the transmission by:

transmitting the message indicating resources on a serving cell managed by the second device on which transmit power is not degraded due to the power reduction.

33. The second device of claim 25, wherein the second device is caused to receive the power management report by:

the power management report is received via a dedicated MAC control element or together with a MAC control element for power headroom reporting.

34. The second device of claim 25, wherein the second device is caused to control the transmission by:

performing at least one of the following if it is determined that the transmit power on the second serving cell is degraded due to the power reduction:

releasing the second serving cell; and

deactivating the second serving cell.

35. The second device of claim 25, wherein the second device is further caused to:

transmitting the power management report to a third device that manages the at least one of the serving cells of the first device.

36. The second device of any of claims 25 to 35, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

37. The second device of claim 26 or 36, wherein the third device comprises a network device.

38. A method, comprising:

if a need for reporting a power reduction to be applied to at least one of the serving cells of a first device is determined, determining, at the first device, a reporting scheme for at least one of the serving cells based on at least one parameter related to the power reduction; and

transmitting a power management report to the second device based on the reporting scheme, the power management report including information about the power reduction.

39. The method of claim 38, further comprising:

determining a value of the power reduction;

comparing the value to a first threshold for triggering reporting of the power reduction; and

determining that the need exists for reporting the power reduction to be applied to the at least one of the serving cells if it is determined that the value exceeds the first threshold.

40. The method of claim 38, further comprising:

transmitting the power management report to a third device different from the second device if it is determined that the at least one of the serving cells of the first device is managed by the third device.

41. The method of claim 38, wherein the at least one parameter indicates at least one of:

a value of the power reduction;

a power reduction level associated with the at least one of the serving cells of the first device;

selecting, by the first device, a first beam for performing a random access procedure;

selecting, by the first device, a second beam for performing a scheduling request procedure;

a number of scheduling requests transmitted by the first device; and

dedicated resources available for reporting the power reduction.

42. The method of claim 38, wherein the at least one parameter indicates a value of the power reduction, and

wherein determining the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter comprises:

comparing the value with a second threshold for triggering a random access procedure, the second threshold being higher than the first threshold for triggering reporting of the power reduction;

determining the reporting scheme based on the random access procedure if it is determined that the value exceeds the second threshold; and

determining the reporting scheme based on the scheduling request procedure if it is determined that the value does not exceed the second threshold.

43. The method of claim 38, wherein the at least one parameter indicates a level of power reduction associated with the at least one of the serving cells of the first device, and

wherein determining the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter comprises:

determining that the power reduction is to be applied to all serving cells of the first device;

comparing a power reduction level associated with a respective serving cell of the first device to a first threshold level; and

determining the reporting scheme based on the random access procedure if it is determined that all serving cells of the first device are associated with corresponding power reduction levels exceeding the first threshold level.

44. The method of claim 38, wherein the at least one parameter indicates a first beam selected for performing a random access procedure, and

wherein determining the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter comprises:

determining a power reduction level for the first beam; and

determining the reporting scheme based on the random access procedure if it is determined that the level of power reduction does not exceed a first predetermined threshold level.

45. The method of claim 38, wherein the at least one parameter indicates a value of the power reduction, and

wherein determining the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter comprises:

comparing the value with a third threshold value, the third threshold value being used to trigger a random access preamble for initiating a random access procedure, the third threshold value being higher than the first threshold value used to trigger reporting of the power reduction;

determining to transmit the random access preamble to the second device immediately after determining the need to report the power reduction if it is determined that the value exceeds the third threshold; and

determining to transmit the random access preamble to the second device upon occurrence of data to be scheduled at the first device if it is determined that the value does not exceed the third threshold.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein transmitting the power management report comprises:

transmitting the power management report during the stochastic process.

47. The method according to any of claims 42-46, wherein the random access procedure is a 4-step random access procedure, and

wherein transmitting the power management report comprises:

transmitting a random access preamble to the second device;

receiving a message from the second device indicating resources allocated for transmission; and

transmitting the power management report to the second device on the allocated resources.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the random access preamble indicates the power reduction of the first device, and the random access preamble causes the second device to allocate resources on a serving cell of the first device on which transmit power is not degraded by the power reduction.

49. The method according to any of claims 42 to 45, wherein the random access procedure is a 2-step random access procedure, and

wherein transmitting the power management report comprises:

transmitting the power management report on a pre-configured resource.

50. The method of claim 38, wherein the at least one parameter indicates a power reduction level associated with the at least one of the serving cells of the first device, the at least one of the serving cells comprises a first serving cell managed by the second device, and a scheduling request procedure between the first device and the second device is performed on the first serving cell, and

wherein determining the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter comprises:

determining the reporting scheme based on the scheduling request procedure if it is determined that the level of power reduction of the first serving cell does not exceed a second threshold level.

51. The method of claim 38, wherein the at least one parameter indicates a second beam selected for performing a scheduling request procedure, and

wherein determining the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter comprises:

determining a power reduction level for the second beam; and

determining the reporting scheme based on the scheduling request procedure if it is determined that the level of power reduction does not exceed a second predetermined threshold level.

52. The method of claim 50 or 51, wherein transmitting the power management report if the reporting scheme is determined based on the scheduling request procedure comprises:

transmitting a scheduling request for resource allocation to the second device;

receiving a response from the second device indicating the allocated resources for transmission; and

transmitting the power management report to the second device on the allocated resources.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein the scheduling request indicates the power reduction of the first device, and

wherein receiving the response comprises:

receiving the response from the second device indicating the resources allocated on a serving cell of the first device on which transmit power is not degraded by the power reduction.

54. The method of claim 38, wherein the at least one parameter indicates a value of the power reduction, and

wherein determining the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter comprises:

comparing the value with a fourth threshold for triggering a scheduling request for initiating a scheduling request procedure, the fourth threshold being higher than the first threshold for triggering the power reduction report;

determining to transmit the scheduling request for resource allocation to the second device immediately after determining the need to report the reduced power if it is determined that the value exceeds the fourth threshold; and

determining to transmit the scheduling request for resource allocation to a second device upon occurrence of data to be scheduled at the first device if it is determined that the value does not exceed the fourth threshold.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein transmitting the power management report comprises:

transmitting the power management report during the scheduling request procedure.

56. The method of claim 38, wherein the at least one parameter indicates a number of scheduling requests transmitted by the first device, the scheduling requests configured for initiating a scheduling request procedure between the first device and the second device, and

wherein determining the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter comprises:

determining the reporting scheme based on a random access procedure if it is determined that the number of the scheduling requests transmitted by the first device exceeds a maximum number for transmitting the scheduling requests.

57. The method of claim 38, wherein the at least one parameter indicates dedicated resources available for reporting the power reduction, and the dedicated resources are preconfigured by the second device,

wherein determining the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter comprises:

determining the reporting scheme based on a random access procedure if it is determined that dedicated resources for the random access procedure are available for reporting the power reduction.

58. The method of claim 38, wherein the at least one parameter indicates dedicated resources available for reporting the power reduction, and the dedicated resources are preconfigured by the second device, and

wherein determining the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter comprises:

determining the reporting scheme based on a scheduling request procedure if it is determined that dedicated resources for the scheduling request procedure are available for reporting the power reduction.

59. The method of claim 38, wherein transmitting the power management report including information about the power reduction comprises:

transmitting the power management report including the power reduction value.

60. The method of claim 38, wherein the power reduction to be applied comprises a power management maximum power reduction of the first device and the power management report comprises a power management maximum power reduction report, and transmitting the power management report comprises:

transmitting the power management maximum power reduction report via a dedicated MAC control element or together with a MAC control element for power headroom reporting.

61. The method of any of claims 38-60, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

62. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a second device, a power management report from a first device, the power management report containing information about a power reduction to be applied to at least one of serving cells of the first device; and

controlling transmission on a second serving cell of the first device based on the information.

63. The method of claim 62, wherein the at least one of the serving cells is managed by the second device or a third device, and

wherein controlling the transmission comprises:

obtaining a value of the power reduction from the information; and

controlling transmission on at least one of the serving cells if it is determined that a transmit power on the at least one serving cell is degraded due to the power reduction based on the value of the power reduction and a type of the at least one of the serving cells managed by the second device.

64. The method of claim 62, wherein receiving the power management report comprises:

receiving the power management report during a random access procedure or a scheduling request procedure with the first device.

65. The method of claim 64, wherein the random access procedure comprises a 2-step random access procedure, an

Wherein receiving the power management report comprises:

receiving the power management report on a preconfigured resource.

66. The method of claim 64, wherein the random access procedure comprises a 4-step random access procedure, and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a random access preamble from the first device; and

transmitting a message to the first device indicating resources allocated for transmissions to be scheduled between the first device and the second device, and

wherein receiving the power management report comprises:

receiving the power management report on the allocated resources.

67. The method of claim 66, wherein the random access preamble indicates the power reduction of the first device, and

wherein transmitting a message indicating resources allocated to the transmission comprises:

transmitting a message indicating resources on a serving cell managed by the second device on which transmit power is not degraded due to the power reduction.

68. The method of claim 64, wherein the power management report is received during the scheduling request process, and

wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a scheduling request from the first device; and

transmitting a response to the first device indicating the resources allocated for transmission between the first device and the second device, and

wherein receiving the power management report comprises:

receiving the power management report on the allocated resources.

69. The method of claim 68, wherein the scheduling request indicates the power reduction of the first device, and

wherein transmitting the response indicating the allocated resources for the transmission comprises:

transmitting the message indicating resources on a serving cell managed by the second device on which transmit power is not degraded due to the power reduction.

70. The method of claim 62, wherein receiving the power management report comprises:

the power management report is received via a dedicated MAC control element or together with a MAC control element for power headroom reporting.

71. The method of claim 62, wherein controlling the transmission comprises:

performing at least one of the following if it is determined that the transmit power on the second serving cell is degraded due to the power reduction:

releasing the second serving cell; and

deactivating the second serving cell.

72. The method of claim 62, further comprising:

transmitting the power management report to a third device that manages the at least one of the serving cells of the first device.

73. The method of any of claims 62-72, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

74. The method of claim 63 or 73, wherein the third device comprises a network device.

75. An apparatus, comprising:

means for determining a reporting scheme for at least one of the serving cells of the first device based on at least one parameter related to the power reduction if a need to report a power reduction to be applied to the at least one of the serving cells is determined; and

means for transmitting a power management report to the second device based on the reporting scheme, the power management report including information about the power reduction.

76. An apparatus, comprising:

means for receiving a power management report from a first device, the power management report containing information about a power reduction to be applied to at least one of serving cells of the first device; and

means for controlling transmission on a second serving cell of the first device based on the information.

77. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method of any of claims 38 to 61.

78. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least a method according to any one of claims 62 to 74.

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of telecommunications, and more particularly, to an apparatus, method, device, and computer-readable storage medium for reporting power reduction.

Background

As the number of online services has increased dramatically year by year, the desire for bandwidth has been endless. The millimeter wave (mmW) spectrum offers the possibility to use most of the contiguous bandwidth to address high throughput applications. Thus, the 5 th generation (5G) New Radio (NR) spectrum ranges far beyond the previous 4 th generation (4G) spectrum, which ranges from 400MHz to 6 GHz-a well-known frequency range 1(FR 1). In the millimeter wave 5G NR, the frequency range 2(FR2) includes frequencies between 24GHz to 52.6GHz, and extension of the NR operation into the range of 52.6 to 114GHz is being discussed at present. However, operating with high gain antennas at such high frequencies has raised concerns about user health.

There are standards on the millimeter wave regime that specify and specify the maximum power for a User Equipment (UE). Since frequencies below 100GHz are non-ionizing, health concerns are limited to thermal heating of body tissue while the body tissue absorbs electromagnetic millimeter wave energy. The millimeter wave frequencies produce penetration depths below 1mm, so that possible thermal damage is limited to the skin surface and the eyes. Most of the energy is absorbed within the first 0.4mm of human skin at 42 GHz.

Disclosure of Invention

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide solutions for reporting output power reduction.

In a first aspect, a first device is provided. The first device includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device at least to: if a need for reporting a power reduction to be applied to at least one of the serving cells of the first device is determined, determining a reporting scheme for the at least one serving cell based on at least one parameter related to the power reduction; and transmitting a power management report to the second device based on the reporting scheme, the power management report containing information about the power reduction.

In a second aspect, a second apparatus is provided. The second device includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus at least to: receiving a power management report from the first device, the power management report containing information about a power reduction to be applied to at least one of the serving cells of the first device; and controlling transmission on a second serving cell of the first device based on the information.

In a third aspect, a method is provided. The method comprises the following steps: if a need for reporting a power reduction to be applied to at least one of the serving cells of the first device is determined, determining, at the first device, a reporting scheme for the at least one serving cell based on at least one parameter related to the power reduction; and transmitting a power management report to the second device based on the reporting scheme, the power management report containing information about the power reduction.

In a fourth aspect, a method is provided. The method comprises the following steps: receiving, at the second device, a power management report from the first device, the power management report containing information about a power reduction to be applied to at least one of the serving cells of the first device; and controlling transmission on a second serving cell of the first device based on the information.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: means for determining a reporting scheme for at least one of the serving cells of the first device based on at least one parameter related to power reduction if a need to report a power reduction to be applied to the at least one serving cell is determined; and means for sending a power management report containing information about the power reduction to the second device based on the reporting scheme.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: means for receiving a power management report from the first device, the power management report containing information about a power reduction to be applied to at least one of the serving cells of the first device; and means for controlling transmission on a second serving cell of the first device based on the information.

In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, having stored thereon a computer program, which, when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform the method according to the third aspect.

In an eighth aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored which, when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform the method according to the fourth aspect.

Other features and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure will also be apparent from the following description of specific embodiments, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of embodiments of the disclosure.

Drawings

Embodiments of the present disclosure are presented below in an exemplary sense with reference to the drawings, and their advantages are explained in more detail, wherein

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

fig. 2 illustrates a maximum allowed EIRP, which depends on the separation distance between the terminal device and the user, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 shows a signaling diagram illustrating a process for reporting a power reduction, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for reporting a power reduction, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 shows a signaling diagram illustrating a process for reporting an output power reduction, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 shows a signaling diagram illustrating a process for reporting an output power reduction, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 7 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for reporting a power reduction, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 shows a simplified block diagram of a device suitable for implementing an example embodiment of the present disclosure; and

fig. 9 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer-readable medium in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements.

Detailed Description

The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to a few exemplary embodiments. It is understood that these examples are described for illustrative purposes only and to aid those skilled in the art in understanding and enabling the present disclosure, and do not imply any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. The present disclosure described herein may be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

In the following specification and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

In the present disclosure, references to "one embodiment," "an example embodiment," etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an example embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "has," "having," "includes" and/or "including," when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following:

(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as in analog-only and/or digital circuits) and

(b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (as applicable):

(i) combinations of analog and/or digital hardware circuit(s) and software/firmware and

(ii) any portion of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s), software, and memory(s) that work together to cause a device such as a mobile phone or server to perform various functions) and

(c) hardware circuit(s) and/or processor(s) that require software (e.g., firmware) for operation, such as microprocessor(s) or a portion of microprocessor(s), but software may not be present when software is not required for operation.

This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As another example, the term circuitry, as used in this application, also encompasses implementations of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuitry also encompasses, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that conforms to any suitable communication standard, such as a fifth generation (5G) system, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT), and so forth. Further, communication between the terminal device and the network devices in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocol, including, but not limited to, first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, future fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR) communication protocols, and/or any other protocol currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to various communication systems. Given the rapid growth in the field of communications, there will of course be future types of communication technologies and systems that may be used to implement the present disclosure. It should not be considered as limiting the scope of the disclosure to only the foregoing systems.

As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. Depending on the terminology and technology applied, a network device may refer to a Base Station (BS) or an Access Point (AP), e.g. a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), an NR next generation NodeB (gnb), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a Radio Head (RH), a Remote Radio Head (RRH), a relay, a low power node such as femto, pico, etc. It is allowed to define the network device as part of the gNB, such as e.g. in case of CU/DU separation, the network device is defined as a gNB-CU or a gNB-DU.

The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device capable of wireless communication. By way of example, and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, User Equipment (UE), Subscriber Station (SS), portable subscriber station, Mobile Station (MS), or Access Terminal (AT). The end devices may include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable end devices, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture end devices such as digital cameras, gaming end devices, music storage and playback devices, in-vehicle wireless end devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop installation devices (LMEs), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), internet of things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearable devices, Head Mounted Displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., tele-surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and/or other wireless devices operating in industrial and/or automated processing chain environments), Consumer electronics devices, devices operating on commercial and/or industrial wireless networks, and the like. The terminal equipment may also correspond to the Mobile Terminal (MT) part of an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node (also known as a relay node). In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "communication device", "terminal", "user equipment" and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

While the functionality described herein may be performed in fixed and/or wireless network nodes in various example embodiments, in other example embodiments, the functionality may be implemented in a user equipment device (such as a cellular phone or tablet computer or laptop computer or desktop computer or mobile IoT device or fixed IoT device). For example, the user equipment device may be provided with the respective capabilities described in connection with the fixed and/or radio network node(s), where appropriate. The user equipment device may be a user equipment and/or a control device, such as a chipset or processor, configured to control the user equipment when installed in the user equipment. Examples of such functions include a bootstrapping server function and/or a home subscriber server, which from the point of view of these functions/nodes may be implemented in a user equipment device by providing the user equipment device with software configured to cause the user equipment device to execute.

As described above, in the wireless communication network, there are two frequency ranges, i.e., the frequency range 1 from 400MHz to 6GHz (FR1) and the frequency range 2 from 24GHz to 114GHz (FR 2). For serving cells operating at relatively high frequencies (e.g., at and above FR2), they require high gain antennas to maintain the link budget. However, high gain antennas direct a significant amount of energy to the user, which may be present. Current government exposure guidelines are used to prevent health problems due to thermal effects. For frequencies below 6GHz (e.g., LTE), Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) has been used to determine the exposure threshold. SAR levels measure the energy absorbed by a human body when exposed to an electromagnetic field. According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the SAR limit in the United states is 1.6W/kg on average over 1g of organizations, while in Europe, the SAR limit is 2W/kg on average over 10g of organizations. 1g average provides finer resolution for studies of human energy absorption. Even 1g of tissue is actually a considerable volume in the millimeter wave regime with penetration depths less than 1 mm. It is difficult to define a meaningful volume for SAR assessment, and it is currently generally accepted to use Power Density (PD) instead of SAR to set the exposure limit at millimeter wave frequencies. Thus, it is a planar energy distribution, not a volumetric energy distribution.

To protect user health, Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE) specifications specify MPE thresholds, and terminal devices must always comply with MPE. Therefore, if the user is close to the antenna or the user is exposed to a radiation beam, the terminal device has to reduce its output power. The maximum EIRP allowed for a terminal device is related to the separation distance between the terminal device and the user's body. Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE) is a specification for PD for the millimeter wave regime. The FCC and International non-ionizing radiation protection Commission (ICNIRP) have set a threshold for MPE of 10W/m2(1mW/cm2) at 6GHz or between 10GHz and 100GHz, respectively. The energy absorbed by the human body increases as a function of the distance to the terminal device. Thus, to comply with MPE limitations, a terminal device may have to reduce its output power if the user is close to the antenna. Fig. 2 shows an allowable maximum EIRP according to a separation distance between a terminal device and a user. As shown in fig. 2, the peak EIRP is allowed to decrease by more than 20dBm for a PC3 UE when the user almost touches the antenna.

On the other hand, the reduction in the maximum allowable EIRP greatly affects the range of the UE, thereby degrading the signal quality (e.g., CQI, RSRP, RSRQ, etc.) received from the serving cell 130. There is a concern that a significant reduction in output power (at least 20dB for PC3 users) may result in a loss of connection with the base station (gNB) and a Radio Link Failure (RLF) since the UE can hardly successfully send any information to the network via the link, which will eventually trigger the RLF at the UE or network side, but will typically take more than 1 second. Currently, a terminal device may trigger a power management maximum power reduction (P-MPR) event and send a report based on a reporting procedure of a Power Headroom Report (PHR), but only include an indication to apply P-MPR, and not report an exact P-MPR value to a network. However, the required power reduction may be too high to maintain the current link, or the power reduction may be applied before the network knows the power reduction event. Therefore, if a signal is transmitted using a link requiring a P-MPR application, the signal including the report from the terminal device may not reach the network device. Even if in some cases a power down event can reach the network device, it can only be transmitted in a delayed manner. This is because a PHR-only event does not trigger a buffer status request report at the UE and thus does not trigger a scheduling request for reporting the event. In this case, the report cannot be reported until data transmission occurs at the terminal device. After transmitting the report, the terminal device may still disconnect from the network due to the power reduction.

Embodiments of the present invention therefore propose a method for rapidly reporting power reduction events occurring at a terminal device. The report of power reduction may be in the form of a power management maximum power reduction (P-MPR) report within existing signaling or entirely new signaling. When a power down event is triggered, the terminal device may select a reporting scheme based on at least one of the power down level, configuration parameters of the terminal device, and network conditions, and transmit a power management report including information about the power down event to the network device based on the reporting scheme. In this way, the terminal device can report the output power reduction to the network in a timely and reliable manner, which in turn can assist the terminal device in scheduling transmissions on different serving cells. In this way, radio link failures can be avoided and the transmission of the terminal device can be improved.

Fig. 1 illustrates an example communication network 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. As shown in fig. 1, communication network 100 includes terminal devices 110-1 and 110-2 (collectively referred to as first device 110, or alternatively referred to as first devices 110-1 and 110-2). The communication network 100 also includes second devices 120-1 and 120-2 (which may also be referred to collectively below as second device 120 or as second device 120-1 and third device 120-2, respectively). The first device 110 may communicate with the second device 120. For example, the first device 110 may be served by at least one of the serving cells 130-1 to 130-4 (collectively referred to as serving cells 130) managed by the second device 120. The second device 120-1 and the second device 120-2 may communicate with each other.

In a carrier aggregation scenario, the first device 110 may be simultaneously served by more than one serving cell, including one primary cell and at least one secondary cell. In this case, the serving cells 130-1 to 130-4 may be controlled by different second devices 120-1 and 120-2, respectively. For example, the serving cells 130-1 and 130-2 may be controlled by the second device 120-1, while the serving cells 130-3 and 130-4 may be controlled by the second device 120-2. In a dual connectivity scenario, the serving cells 130-1 and 130-2 may be grouped into a Master Cell Group (MCG), with the serving cell 130-1 acting as the master cell, and the serving cells 130-3 and 130-4 may be grouped into a Secondary Cell Group (SCG). In another case, the serving cells 130-1 to 130-4 may operate over a frequency range. For example, the serving cells 130-1 and 130-2 may be FR2 type serving cells, and the serving cells 130-3 and 130-4 may be FR1 type serving cells.

It should also be understood that the number of network devices, terminal devices, and serving cells shown in fig. 1 are given for illustrative purposes and do not imply any limitations.

Depending on the communication technology, network 100 may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network, a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) network, a Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) network, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) network, a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) network, or any other network. The communications discussed in network 100 may conform to any suitable standard including, but not limited to, new radio access (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-evolution, LTE-advanced (LTE-a), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), CDMA2000, and global system for mobile communications (GSM), among others. Further, the communication may be performed in accordance with any generation of communication protocols now known or later developed. Examples of communication protocols include, but are not limited to, first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, and fifth generation (5G) communication protocols. The techniques described herein may be used for the wireless networks and radio technologies described above as well as other wireless networks and radio technologies. For clarity, certain aspects of the techniques are described below for LTE, and LTE terminology is used in much of the description below.

In the network 100, the first device 110 and the second device 120 may communicate with each other via beams transmitted along unobstructed paths. For example, the first device 110-1 may communicate with the second device 120-2 via a beam transmitted via a line-of-sight (LOS) path, and in this case, the peak of the Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) of the first device 110 is approximately +34 dBm. In some cases, the body of the user of the first device 110 may be exposed to the radiation beam. For example, the user of the first device 110-2 blocks the path of the beam transmitted to the second device 120 and the user's body is exposed to the radiation beam.

The principles and implementations of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to fig. 3-7. Fig. 3 illustrates a signaling diagram of a process for reporting a power reduction, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For discussion purposes, the process 300 will be described with reference to fig. 1. Process 300 may involve first device 110 and second device 120.

Such as byAs described above in connection with fig. 1 and 2, in the event that the first device 110 is required to reduce its output power, the first device 110 may trigger a power reduction event, including an immediate reduction in output power or a reduction in output power that is to be reduced. Depending on the power reduction level of the output power, the first device 110 determines 310 that there is a need to report the power reduction to the second device 120. In some embodiments, the first device may determine a value of power reduction Δ P and compare the value Δ P to a preconfigured threshold (e.g., first threshold P) for triggering a power reduction report₁) And (6) comparing. For example, the first threshold value P₁May be configured by the second device 120. If the value Δ P exceeds the first threshold value P₁The first device 110 may determine that the power reduction event may result in a degradation of the transmit power on the serving cell 130 of the first device 110 and there is a need to report the power reduction to the second device 120.

To transmit the power management report, the first device 110 determines 320 a reporting scheme based on at least one parameter related to power reduction. In some embodiments, the reporting scheme may be determined based on a random access procedure or a scheduling request procedure, which will be discussed in detail below. The first device 110 transmits 330 a power management report to the second device 120 based on the reporting scheme. Upon receiving the power management report from the first device 110, the second device 120 obtains the information included in the report. The information relates to a power reduction to be applied to at least one of the serving cells 130. The second device 120 then controls 340 transmissions on the serving cell 130 of the first device 110 based on the information.

Fig. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for reporting a power reduction, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 400 may be implemented at a terminal device, such as the first device 110 described with reference to fig. 1.

At 410, if the first device 110 determines that there is a need to report a power reduction to be applied to the at least one serving cell 130, the first device 110 determines a reporting scheme for the at least one serving cell based on at least one parameter related to the power reduction.

As described above, the first device 110 may determine whether the reporting scheme is based on a random access procedure or a scheduling request procedure according to one or more parameters. For a serving cell 130 managed by the second device 120, if the level of power reduction (such as the value of the power reduction) of the first device 110 exceeds a threshold level of power reduction associated with the serving cell 130, the transmit power on the respective serving cell may degrade, resulting in a radio link failure.

In some embodiments, the parameters used to determine the reporting scheme in 410 may include a value of power reduction Δ P of the first device 110. The first device 110 may compare the value Δ P with a threshold (e.g., a second threshold P) for triggering a random access procedure₂) And (6) comparing. Second threshold value P₂Above a first threshold value P₁. If the value Δ P exceeds a second threshold value P₂The first device 110 determines that the reporting scheme is based on a random access procedure. If the value Δ P does not exceed the second threshold value P₂The first device 110 determines that the reporting scheme is based on the scheduling request procedure.

In some embodiments, the parameter may indicate a level of power reduction (e.g., a small number or a few dB) associated with the serving cells 130-1 to 130-4 of the first device 110. The first device 110 may determine that the power reduction is to be applied to all serving cells 130-1 to 130-4. In this case, the first device 110 may determine the reporting scheme based on the random access procedure, since the transmit power requirement of the random access procedure may be lower or less stringent than the scheduling request procedure. In another case, the first device 110 may associate the respective power reduction levels associated with the respective serving cells 130-1 through 130-4 with a first threshold level (e.g., L;)₁) And (6) comparing. If the first device 110 determines that all serving cells 130-1 to 13-4 are above the first threshold level L₁Is associated, the first device 110 determines the reporting scheme based on the random access procedure.

In some embodiments, the parameters used to determine the reporting scheme in 410 may include a power reduction level (e.g., a small number or few dB) associated with the serving cell 130. As described above, power management maximum power reduction may be primarily of the FR2 typeOn the serving cell because of their high operating frequency. The first device 110 may determine to transmit a power reduction report on a FR1 type serving cell 130. Alternatively, if the power reduction level associated with FR2 type serving cells does not exceed the threshold level, the first device 110 may determine to transmit power reduction reports on these FR2 type serving cells 130. For example, the serving cell 130-2 is pre-configured to perform a scheduling request procedure between the first device 110 and the second device 120-1, and power reduction is to be applied to the serving cell 130-2. In this case, if the first device 110 determines that the power reduction level of the serving cell 130-2 does not exceed the second threshold level L₂The first device 110 may determine that the transmit power on the serving cell 130-2 may not be degraded due to the power reduction and may successfully perform the scheduling request procedure. The first device 110 may then determine a reporting scheme based on the scheduling request procedure.

The first device 110 may prioritize and select a beam to be transmitted for performing a random access procedure and another beam to be transmitted for performing a scheduling request procedure. If no power reduction is performed on the beam transmitted to the serving cell 130, or alternatively, if the direction of the beam is not affected by the power reduction, the transmit power on the respective serving cell 130 may not be degraded by the power reduction.

In some embodiments, the parameter used to determine the reporting scheme in 410 may indicate the beam selected for performing the random access procedure, e.g., the index of the first beam prioritized by the first device 110. The first device 110 may determine that the power reduction is to be performed on the first beam or, alternatively, that the power reduction level of the first beam is too large to report a power reduction event. For example, the first device 110 may determine a power reduction level (e.g., a small number or a few dB) of the first beam and compare it to a first predetermined threshold level P_1’And (6) comparing. If the power reduction level does not exceed the first predetermined threshold level P_1’The first device 110 determines that the first beam is preferred for performing the random access procedure and may also be used for reporting a power reduction event. Alternatively, firstThe device 110 may determine whether the direction of the first beam is affected by the power reduction. If the first device 110 determines that the direction of the first beam is not affected by the power reduction, the terminal device 110 may determine the reporting scheme based on a random access procedure.

In some embodiments, the parameter used to determine the reporting scheme in 410 may indicate a beam selected for performing the scheduling request procedure, e.g., an index of a second beam prioritized by the first device 110. The first device 110 may determine whether to perform a power reduction on the second beam (e.g., a small number or a few dB), or alternatively, the power reduction level of the second beam is too great to report a power reduction event. For example, the first device 110 may determine a power reduction level of the second beam and compare it to a second predetermined threshold level P_2’And (6) comparing. If the power reduction level does not exceed the second predetermined threshold level P_2’The first device 110 determines that the second beam is preferred for performing the scheduling request procedure and may also be used for reporting the power down event. Alternatively, the first device 110 may determine whether the direction of the second beam is affected by the power reduction. If the first device 110 determines that the direction of the second beam is not affected by the power reduction, the first device 110 may determine the reporting scheme based on a scheduling request procedure. First predetermined threshold level P_1’And a second predetermined threshold level P_2’May be pre-configured by the second device 120.

In wireless communication, the number of scheduling requests transmitted between the first device 110 and the second device 120 for initiating the scheduling request procedure is limited. In some embodiments, the parameter used to determine the reporting scheme in 410 may indicate the number of scheduling requests transmitted by the first device 110. If the first device 110 determines that the number of scheduling requests being transmitted exceeds the maximum number for transmitting scheduling requests, the first device 110 may not continue to attempt to initiate the scheduling request process. In this case, the first device 110 may determine the reporting scheme based on a random access procedure.

The dedicated resources (e.g., on PUCCH) may be pre-configured by the network (such as the second device 120) for performing power reduction reporting. In some embodiments, the parameters used to determine the reporting scheme in 410 may indicate whether there are dedicated resources available to report the power reduction. If the first device 110 determines that dedicated resources dedicated to the random access procedure reporting the power reduction are available, the first device 110 may determine the reporting scheme based on the random access procedure. Similarly, if the first device 110 determines that dedicated resources dedicated to the scheduling request procedure reporting the power reduction are available, the first device 110 may determine the reporting scheme based on the scheduling request procedure.

At 420, the first device 110 transmits a power management report containing information about the power reduction to the second device 120 based on the reporting scheme. The information about the power reduction may comprise a value of the power reduction to be applied. In some embodiments, the power management report may be a power management power reduction (P-MPR) report transmitted via higher layer signaling (e.g., MAC Control Element (CE)). The MAC CE may be a common MAC CE for PHR or a dedicated or enhanced MAC CE dedicated to P-MPR.

In the case where more than one second device 120 is serving the first device 110, e.g., the first device 110-1 is served by both the second devices 120-1 and 120-2 and the transmission between the first device 110-1 and the second device 120-1 is degraded due to power reduction, the first device 110-1 may transmit a power management report to the second device 120-2 in addition to transmitting the report to the second device 120-1. Specifically, the first device 110 may determine that at least one of the serving cells 130 (such as serving cells 130-3 and 130-4) is managed by the second device 120-2 and transmit a power reduction report to the second device 120-2. Although the transmit power on the serving cells 130-3 and 130-4 is not necessarily degraded due to the output power reduction, the second device 120-2 may adjust the transmissions to be scheduled on the serving cells 130-3 and 130-4 accordingly. Knowing the transmit power degradation between the first device 110-1 and the second device 120-1, the second device 120-2 can increase data transmission on the serving cells 130-3 and 130-4, the link is relatively stable on the serving cells 130-3 and 130-4, and the transmit power is not degraded by the power management maximum power reduction.

Fig. 5 illustrates a signaling diagram of a process of reporting an output power reduction based on a random access procedure, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For discussion purposes, the process 500 will be described with reference to fig. 1. It should be understood that process 500 may include additional acts not shown and/or may omit some acts shown, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect. Further, it is to be appreciated that while primarily presented herein as being performed serially, at least a portion of the acts of process 500 may be performed contemporaneously, or in a different order than presented in fig. 5.

Similar to the process 300 shown in fig. 3, in the process 500, the first device 110 determines 505 that there is a need to report a power reduction to the second device 120. The first device 110 determines 510 a reporting scheme based on a parameter related to power reduction between the first device 110 and the second device 120. In this case, the first device 110 determines the reporting scheme based on the random access procedure. Or alternatively the random access procedure is predetermined for reporting the power reduction to be applied. The random access procedure may be contention-based random access (CBRA) or contention-free random access (CFRA). The present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

The random access procedure may include 2-step random access or 4-step random access. Both types of random access procedures support CBRA and CFRA. In the 4-step random access procedure, the first device 110 may start a Random Access (RA) procedure by transmitting a RA preamble to the second device 120. The message for transmitting the random access preamble may be referred to as "MSG 1". If the second device 120 successfully receives the RA preamble, the network device may respond with a Random Access Response (RAR) containing, for example, an identifier of the detected preamble, a time advance, a temporary cell-radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI), and an uplink grant for scheduling a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission by the first device 110. The message used to transmit the RAR may be referred to as "MSG 2". The first device 110 may then transmit the scheduled transmission, which may be referred to as "MSG 3," to the network device. If the scheduled transmission is successfully received, the second device 120 may send a contention resolution message to indicate whether there is contention or whether the transmission by the first device 110 was successful, which may be referred to as "MSG 4".

In a 2-step random procedure, the number of round trips required for the RACH procedure is reduced from 2 round trips to 1 round trip. This is accomplished by transmitting both "MSG 1" and "MSG 3" in a message called "MSGA", and further by combining "MSG 2" and "MSG 4" into a message called "MSGB". In some embodiments, if the first device 110 determines the reporting scheme based on a 2-step random access procedure, the terminal device transmits the power management report on a pre-configured resource on PUCCH, e.g. in MSG a.

In case the reporting scheme is based on a 4-step random access procedure, the first device 110 transmits 515 the RA preamble to the second device 120, i.e. in the MSG 1. In this case, the RA preamble may indicate a power reduction to be applied. For example, the RA preamble may include an indicator to indicate a power reduction of the first device 110, such as a bit in the RA preamble set to indicate a power reduction event occurring at the first device 110. The first device 110 may receive 520 a message, such as MSG2, from the second device 120 indicating the resources allocated for transmission.

In this case, the first device 110 may determine when to transmit the RA preamble to request resources for reporting the power reduction. In embodiments where the parameter indicates a value of power reduction Δ P, the first device 110 may compare the value of power reduction Δ P to a threshold (such as a third threshold P) for triggering a random access preamble₃) And (6) comparing. Third threshold value P₃May be higher than a first threshold P for triggering a power reduction report₁. If the first device 110 determines that the value ap exceeds the third threshold P₃I.e. Δ P>P₃The first device 110 may determine that the power reduction event needs to be reported immediately and thus the random access preamble needs to be transmitted. In other words, the first device 1 determines to transmit the random access preamble to the second device 120 immediately after determining the need for reporting a power reduction. Otherwise, if the first device 110 determines that the value Δ P does not exceed the third valueThreshold value P₃I.e. Δ P ≦ P₃Then the first device 110 determines to transmit the random access preamble to the second device 120 when data to be scheduled occurs at the first device 110. The first device 110 may then transmit a power reduction report during the random access procedure.

The indicator included in the RA preamble may indicate that the second device 120 allocates resources on the serving cell 130 on which the transmit power is not degraded due to power reduction. For example, knowing that a power reduction event occurred at the first device 110 that could lead to a radio link failure, the second device 120 may select an FR1 serving cell, i.e., serving cell 130-2, to use to provide resources for transmission. The first device 110 may transmit 525 a power management report to the second device 120 on the allocated resources, such as in MSG 3. Upon receiving the power management report, the second device 120 may transmit 530 the MSG4 to the first device 110. The second device 120 may control 535 transmissions on the serving cell 130 based on the information.

Fig. 6 illustrates a signaling diagram of a process for reporting an output power reduction, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For discussion purposes, the process 600 will be described with reference to fig. 1. Process 600 may involve first device 110 and second device 120. It should be understood that process 600 may include additional acts not shown and/or may omit some acts shown, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect. Further, it will be understood that although primarily presented herein as a sequential execution, at least a portion of the actions of process 600 may be performed concurrently or in a different order than presented in fig. 6.

Similar to the process 300 shown in fig. 3, in the process 600, the first device 110 determines 605 that there is a need to report a power reduction to the second device 120. The first device 110 determines 610 a reporting scheme based on a parameter related to the power reduction to be applied. In this case, the first device 110 determines the reporting scheme based on the scheduling request procedure. Or alternatively the scheduling request procedure is predetermined for reporting the power reduction to be applied.

To obtain resources for performing scheduled transmissions on a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), the first device 110 transmits 615 a request for resource allocation to the second device 120. In this case, the request may be, for example, a scheduling request, and optionally, the scheduling request may indicate a power down event occurring at the first device 110. The second device 120 may transmit 620 a response indicating the allocated resources for transmission. For example, the second device 120 may transmit an uplink grant to the first device 110. The response may indicate that the second device 120 allocated resources on the serving cell 130 on which the transmit power was not degraded due to the power reduction. For example, knowing that a power reduction event occurred at the first device 110 that could lead to a radio link failure, the second device 120 may select an FR1 serving cell, i.e., serving cell 130-2, to use to provide resources for transmission. Upon receiving the response, the first device 110 may transmit 625 a power management report to the second device 120 on the allocated resources. The second device 120 may control 630 transmissions on the serving cell 130 based on the information.

In some embodiments, the first device 110 may transmit a request for allocation of resources for power management reporting immediately after determining a need for reporting a power reduction. Alternatively, in other embodiments, when data transmission is to be scheduled between the first device 110 and the second device 120, the first device 110 may transmit a request for allocation of resources for power management reporting.

To determine when to transmit a scheduling request for resources allocated for reporting a power reduction, the first device 110 may compare the value of the power reduction Δ P of the first device 110 with a threshold (e.g., a fourth threshold P) for triggering a scheduling request procedure₄) And (6) comparing. In this case, the fourth threshold value P₄May be higher than a first threshold P for triggering a power reduction report₁. If the first device 110 determines that the value ap exceeds the fourth threshold P₄I.e. Δ P>P₄The first device 110 may determine that the power down event needs to be reported immediately and thus the scheduling request needs to be transmitted. In other words, the first device 110 determines to transmit immediately after determining the need for reporting a power reductionThe scheduling request is transmitted as a request for resource allocation. Otherwise, if the first device 110 determines that the value Δ P does not exceed the fourth threshold P₄I.e. Δ P ≦ P₄Then the first device 110 determines to transmit a scheduling request to the second device 120 when data to be scheduled occurs at the first device 110.

Fig. 7 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for reporting a power reduction, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 700 may be implemented at a network device, such as the second device 120 described with reference to fig. 1.

At 710, the second device 120 receives a power management report from the first device 110. The power management report may contain information about the power reduction to be applied to at least one of the serving cells 130-1 to 130-4.

At 720, the second device 120 controls transmissions on the serving cell 130 of the first device 110 based on the information. The serving cell 130 may be managed by the second device 120-1 or 120-2.

In some embodiments, the second device 120 may obtain from this information a power reduction value Δ P and selectively obtain a cell identifier of the serving cell 130 on which the transmit power is degraded due to the power reduction. The second device 120 may then determine whether the transmit power on at least one of its serving cells 130-1 and 130-2 is degraded due to the power reduction based on the value Δ P and the FR type of the serving cell 130.

For example, the second device 120 can compare the value Δ P to a threshold of the respective power reduction associated with the serving cells 130-1 and 130-2, and if the value Δ P exceeds the threshold, the respective serving cell 130 can be determined to be affected by the power reduction, e.g., a transmit power degradation on the serving cell 130. As another example, with the value Δ P, the second device 120 may directly determine that transmission on the serving cell 130-1 is degraded, while transmission on the serving cell 130-2 is not affected by the power reduction, because the serving cell 130-1 is of the FR1 type and the serving cell 130-2 is of the FR2 type.

In some embodiments, the second device 120 may receive the power management report during a random access procedure or a scheduling request procedure with the first device 110. In the case of a 2-step random access procedure, the second device 120 may receive a power management report (i.e., MSGA) along with the random access preamble. In case of a 4-step random access procedure, the second device 120 may receive the random access preamble from the first device 110 in the MSG1, and the random access preamble may include an indicator indicating a power reduction of the first device 110. The second device 120 may transmit a message, such as MSG2, to the first device 110 indicating the resources allocated for transmissions to be scheduled between the first device 110 and the second device 120. The second device 120 may then receive the power management report in the MSG3 on the allocated resources.

In some embodiments, the second device 120 may receive the power management report during the scheduling request process. The second device 120 may receive a scheduling request from the first device 110, and the scheduling request may include an indicator indicating a power reduction of the first device 110. The second device 120 may transmit a response indicating the resources allocated for the transmission between the first device 110 and the second device 120.

In some embodiments, the resources allocated for transmission between the first device 110 and the second device 120 are determined taking into account the power reduction. For example, the second device 120 may select a resource on a serving cell on which the transmit power is not degraded due to power reduction. The second device 120 may receive the power management report on the allocated resources.

In some embodiments, the second device 120 may release or deactivate the serving cell 130 if the second device 120 determines that the transmit power on the serving cell 130 is degraded due to a power reduction. Alternatively, if the second device 120 determines that the transmit power on the serving cell 130 is degraded due to a power reduction, the second device 120 may reduce the data transmission to be scheduled on the serving cell 130.

In some embodiments, the second device 120 may transmit a power management report to another device serving the first device 110. For example, the second device 120-1 may transmit a power management report to the second device 120-2 to enable the second device 120-2 to control transmissions on the serving cells 130-3 and 130-4.

In some example embodiments, an apparatus (e.g., first device 110) capable of performing method 400 may include means for performing the various steps of method 400. These components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, these components may be implemented in circuits or software modules. The apparatus may be implemented as the first device 110 or comprised in the first device 110. In some embodiments, the components may include at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause execution of the apparatus.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises: means for determining a reporting scheme for at least one of the serving cells of the first device based on at least one parameter related to power reduction if a need to report a power reduction to be applied to the at least one serving cell is determined; and means for transmitting a power management report to the second device based on the reporting scheme, the power management report containing information about the power reduction.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises: means for determining a value of power reduction; means for comparing the value with a first threshold value, the first threshold value being used to trigger a report of a power reduction; and means for determining that there is a need to report a power reduction to be applied to the at least one service area if it is determined that the value exceeds the first threshold.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting a power management report to a third device if it is determined that at least one of the serving cells of the first device is managed by the third device different from the second device.

In some example embodiments, the parameter is indicative of at least one of: a value of power reduction; a power reduction level associated with at least one of the serving cells of the first device; selecting, by a first device, a first beam for performing a random access procedure; selecting, by the first device, a second beam for performing a scheduling request procedure; a number of scheduling requests transmitted by the first device; and dedicated resources that can be used to report power reductions.

In some example embodiments, the parameter is indicative of a value of power reduction, and the means for determining the reporting scheme based on at least one parameter comprises: means for comparing the value with a second threshold value, the second threshold value being used for triggering a random access procedure, the second threshold value being higher than the first threshold value for triggering a power reduction report; means for determining a reporting scheme based on a random access procedure if it is determined that the value exceeds a second threshold; and means for determining a reporting scheme based on the scheduling request procedure if it is determined that the value does not exceed the second threshold.

In some example embodiments, the parameter is indicative of a level of power reduction associated with at least one of the serving cells of the first device, and the means for determining the reporting scheme based on the parameter comprises: means for determining that power reduction is to be applied to all serving cells of the first device; means for comparing a power reduction level associated with a respective serving cell of the first device to a first threshold level; and means for determining a reporting scheme based on a random access procedure if it is determined that all serving cells of the first device are associated with respective power reduction levels exceeding the first threshold level.

In some example embodiments, the parameter is indicative of a first beam selected for performing a random access procedure, and the means for determining the reporting scheme based on the parameter comprises: means for determining a power reduction level of the first beam; and means for determining a reporting scheme based on a random access procedure if it is determined that the level of power reduction does not exceed the first predetermined threshold level.

In some example embodiments, the at least one parameter is indicative of a value of power reduction, and the means for determining the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter comprises: means for comparing the value with a third threshold value, the third threshold value being used to trigger a random access preamble for initiating a random access procedure, the third threshold value being higher than the first threshold value for triggering a reporting of a power reduction; means for determining to transmit the random access preamble to the second device immediately after determining a need for reporting a power reduction if it is determined that the value exceeds a third threshold; means for determining to transmit the random access preamble to the second device if it is determined that the value does not exceed the third threshold value, data to be scheduled occurring at the first device.

In some example embodiments, the means for transmitting the power management report comprises: means for transmitting a power management report during the randomization process.

In some example embodiments, the random access procedure is a 4-step random access procedure and the means for transmitting the power management report comprises: means for transmitting a random access preamble to a second device; means for receiving a message from a second device indicating resources allocated for transmission; and means for transmitting a power management report to the second device on the allocated resources.

In some example embodiments, the random access preamble indicates a power reduction of the first device and causes the second device to allocate resources on a serving cell of the first device on which the transmit power is not degraded by the power reduction.

In some example embodiments, the random access procedure is a 2-step random access procedure and the means for transmitting the power management report comprises: means for transmitting a power management report on a preconfigured resource.

In some example embodiments, the parameter is indicative of a power reduction level associated with at least one of the serving cells of the first device, the at least one of the serving cells including a first serving cell managed by the second device, and the scheduling request procedure between the first device and the second device is performed on the first serving cell, and the means for determining the reporting scheme based on the parameter comprises: means for determining a reporting scheme based on a scheduling request procedure if it is determined that the power reduction level of the first serving cell does not exceed the second threshold level.

In some example embodiments, the parameter indicates a second beam selected for performing the scheduling request procedure, and the means for determining the reporting scheme based on the parameter comprises: means for determining a power reduction level of the second beam; and means for determining a reporting scheme based on the scheduling request procedure if it is determined that the power reduction level does not exceed the second predetermined threshold level.

In some example embodiments, the means for transmitting the power management report according to the scheduling request based procedure determining the reporting scheme comprises: means for transmitting a scheduling request for a resource allocation to a second device; means for receiving a response from the second device indicating the allocated resources for transmission; and means for transmitting a power management report to the second device on the allocated resources.

In some example embodiments, the scheduling request indicates a power reduction of the first device, and the means for receiving the response comprises: means for receiving a response from the second device indicating resources allocated on a serving cell of the first device on which the transmit power was not degraded by the power reduction.

In some example embodiments, the at least one parameter is indicative of a value of power reduction, and the means for determining the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter comprises: means for comparing the value with a fourth threshold value, the fourth threshold value being used to trigger a scheduling request for initiating a scheduling request procedure, the fourth threshold value being higher than the first threshold value for triggering a power reduction report; means for determining to transmit a scheduling request for a resource allocation to the second device immediately after determining to report a need for reduced power if it is determined that the value exceeds a fourth threshold; and means for determining to transmit a scheduling request for resource allocation to the second device if it is determined that the value does not exceed the fourth threshold value, data to be scheduled occurring at the first device.

In some example embodiments, the means for transmitting the power management report comprises: means for transmitting a power management report during a scheduling request procedure.

In some example embodiments, the parameter indicates a number of scheduling requests transmitted by the first device, the scheduling requests configured for initiating a scheduling request procedure between the first device and the second device, and the means for determining the reporting scheme based on the parameter comprises: means for determining a reporting scheme based on a random access procedure if it is determined that the number of scheduling requests transmitted by the first device exceeds the maximum number for transmitting scheduling requests.

In some example embodiments, the parameter indicates a dedicated resource available for reporting the power reduction, and the dedicated resource is preconfigured by the second device, and the means for determining the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter comprises: means for determining a reporting scheme based on the random access procedure if it is determined that dedicated resources for the random access procedure are available for reporting the power reduction.

In some example embodiments, the parameter indicates a dedicated resource available for reporting the power reduction, and the dedicated resource is preconfigured by the second device, and the means for determining the reporting scheme based on the at least one parameter comprises: means for determining a reporting scheme based on the scheduling request procedure if it is determined that dedicated resources for the scheduling request procedure are available for reporting the power reduction.

In some example embodiments, the means for transmitting a power management report containing information about power reduction comprises: means for transmitting a power management report containing the reduced power value.

In some example embodiments, the power reduction to be applied comprises a power management maximum power reduction of the first device, and the power management report comprises a power management maximum power reduction report, and the means for transmitting the power management report comprises: means for transmitting a power management maximum power reduction report via a dedicated MAC control element or together with a MAC control element for power headroom reporting.

In some example embodiments, the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

In some example embodiments, an apparatus (e.g., second device 120) capable of performing method 700 may include means for performing the various steps of method 700. These components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, these components may be implemented in circuits or software modules. In some embodiments, the components may include at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause execution of the apparatus. The apparatus may be implemented as the second device 120 or included in the second device 120.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises: means for receiving a power management report from the first device, the power management report containing information about a power reduction to be applied to at least one of the serving cells of the first device; and means for controlling transmission on a second serving cell of the first device based on the information.

In some example embodiments, at least one of the serving cells is managed by the second device or the third device, and the means for controlling transmission comprises: means for obtaining a power reduction value from the information; and means for controlling transmission on the at least one serving cell if it is determined that the transmit power on the at least one of the serving cells managed by the second device is degraded due to the power reduction based on the value of the power reduction and the type of the serving cell.

In some example embodiments, the means for receiving a power management report comprises: means for receiving a power management report during a random access procedure or a scheduling request procedure with a first device.

In some example embodiments, the random access procedure comprises a 2-step random access procedure, and the means for receiving the power management report comprises: means for receiving a power management report on a preconfigured resource.

In some example embodiments, the random access procedure comprises a 4-step random access procedure, and the apparatus further comprises: means for receiving a random access preamble from a first device; and means for transmitting a message to the first device indicating the resources allocated for transmissions to be scheduled between the first device and the second device. The means for receiving a power management report comprises: means for receiving a power management report on the allocated resources.

In some example embodiments, the random access preamble indicates a power reduction for the first device, and the means for transmitting the message indicating the allocated resources for transmission comprises: means for transmitting a message indicating resources on a serving cell managed by the second device on which transmit power is not degraded due to the power reduction.

In some example embodiments, the power management report is received during a scheduling request procedure, and the apparatus further comprises: means for receiving a scheduling request from a first device; and means for transmitting a response to the first device indicating the allocated resources for transmission between the first device and the second device. The means for receiving a power management report comprises: means for receiving a power management report on the allocated resources.

In some example embodiments, the scheduling request indicates a power reduction of the first device, and the means for transmitting a response indicating the allocated resources for transmission comprises: means for transmitting a message indicating resources on a serving cell managed by the second device on which transmit power is not degraded due to the power reduction.

In some example embodiments, the means for receiving a power management report comprises: means for receiving a power management report via a dedicated MAC control element or together with a MAC control element for power headroom reporting.

In some example embodiments, the means for controlling the transmission comprises: means for releasing the second serving cell; and means for deactivating the second serving cell.

In some examples, the apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting a power management report to a third device managing at least one of the serving cells of the first device.

In some example embodiments, the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

In some example embodiments, the third device comprises a network device.

Fig. 8 is a simplified block diagram of a device 800 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 800 may be provided to implement a communication device, such as the first device 110 and the second device 120 shown in fig. 1. As shown, device 800 includes one or more processors 810, one or more memories 840 coupled to processors 810, and one or more transmitters and/or receivers (TX/RX)840 coupled to processors 810.

TX/RX 840 is used for bi-directional communication. TX/RX 840 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface required for communication with other network elements.

The processor 810 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network, and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. Device 800 may have multiple processors, such as application specific integrated circuit chips that are time-dependent from a clock synchronized to the main processor.

The memory 820 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memory include, but are not limited to, Read Only Memory (ROM)824, Electrically Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), flash memory, a hard disk, a Compact Disk (CD), a Digital Video Disk (DVD), and other magnetic and/or optical storage devices. Examples of volatile memory include, but are not limited to, Random Access Memory (RAM)822 and other volatile memory that will not persist during a power failure.

The computer programs 830 include computer-executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 810. The program 830 may be stored in the ROM 820. Processor 810 may perform any suitable acts and processes by loading programs 830 into RAM 820.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by way of programs 830 that may enable device 800 to perform any of the processes of the present disclosure discussed with reference to fig. 3-7. Embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

In some embodiments, program 830 may be tangibly embodied in a computer-readable medium, which may be included in device 800 (such as in memory 820) or in other storage accessible to device 800. Device 800 can load program 830 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 822 for execution. The computer readable medium may include any type of tangible, non-volatile memory, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, a hard disk, a CD, a DVD, and so forth. Fig. 9 shows an example of a computer readable medium 900 in the form of a CD or DVD. The computer readable medium has program 830 stored thereon.

In general, the various embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While various aspects of the disclosed embodiments are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that the blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product comprises computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform the methods 400 and 700 described above with reference to fig. 4 and 7. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within local or distributed devices. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage media.

Program code for performing the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram to be performed. The program code may execute entirely on the machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

In the context of the present disclosure, computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of a carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of a computer-readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Further, while operations are described in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Also, while several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

Although the disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.