CN104969600B

CN104969600B - Electricity saving method, user equipment and base station

Info

Publication number: CN104969600B
Application number: CN201380001703.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 胡振兴; 熊新
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2013-03-25
Filing date: 2013-03-25
Publication date: 2019-03-26
Anticipated expiration: 2033-03-25
Also published as: WO2014153698A1; CN104969600A

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention discloses a kind of electricity saving method, user equipment and base stations, are related to field of communication technology, which comprises user equipment (UE) receives the monitoring that first base station is sent and indicates information；The UE carries out data transmission according to the physical downlink control channel PDCCH monitored instruction information and monitor the second base station with second base station；If the UE and second base station are within the set time without business data transmission, the monitoring suspension information that the UE receives the first base station or second base station is sent, wherein the monitoring abort message that the first base station is sent is sent after the first base station receives the data transmission message that second base station is sent；The UE is according to the PDCCH for monitoring and stopping information and ceasing listening for second base station.The present invention is suitable for user equipment and monitors simultaneously the data transmission of the PDCCH of multiple base stations.

Description

Power saving method, user equipment and base station

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a power saving method, a user equipment, and a base station.

Background

With the development of mobile communication technology and the large-scale deployment of 3G (3 rd Generation, third Generation mobile communication technology) and 4G (4 rd Generation, fourth Generation mobile communication technology) networks, high-rate data services bring a rich and colorful application experience to people. Due to the large-scale growth of user population, operators propose a scenario of small cell deployment in order to cope with the sharp growth of mobile data traffic. That is, in a place with many mobile users, cells with a Small coverage area, such as Small cells (Small cells) and Small enbs (Small evolved Node bs), which may also be referred to as secondary base stations, are deployed at a high density, so that more users can enjoy high-rate data services. Meanwhile, in order to simplify mobility management of a UE (User Equipment) under the same coverage of a Macro enb (Macro evolved Node B) and a micro base station, a control plane connection of the UE may be maintained under the Macro base station, and a User plane transmission may be maintained under the micro base station. Therefore, the UE can utilize the wider bandwidth of the micro base station to carry out data transmission, and the mobility management problem caused when the UE moves among the micro base stations is also simplified.

In the small cell deployment scenario, the UE needs to monitor data transmission on PDCCH channels of two base stations at the same time, which consumes more power than monitoring a PDCCH channel of a single base station, resulting in waste of UE power.

Disclosure of Invention

The power saving method, the user equipment and the base station are provided, the problem of electric energy waste caused when the user equipment UE monitors data transmission on PDCCH channels of two base stations simultaneously in a small cell deployment scene can be solved, and electric energy is saved for the UE.

In a first aspect, a power saving method is provided, including:

user Equipment (UE) receives monitoring indication information sent by a first base station;

the UE monitors a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) of a second base station according to the monitoring indication information and performs data transmission with the second base station;

if the UE and the second base station have no service data transmission within a set time, the UE receives monitoring suspension information sent by the first base station or the second base station, wherein the monitoring suspension information sent by the first base station is sent after the first base station receives a data transmission message sent by the second base station;

and the UE stops monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station according to the monitoring suspension information.

In a first possible implementation manner, after the UE stops monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station according to the monitoring suspension information, the method further includes: and the UE sends Sounding Reference Signals (SRS) to the second base station at preset time intervals.

Wherein the listening indication information includes: first monitoring indication information, where the first monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station immediately; or, second monitoring indication information, where the second monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station after a set time interval; or, third monitoring indication information, where the third monitoring indication information is used to indicate a starting time at which the UE switches to monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station, and the starting time is represented by a system frame number SFN and a subframe sub-frame.

Wherein, the monitoring indication information and the monitoring suspension information are carried in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, a Media Access Control (MAC) message, a physical layer message or a physical layer signal for transmission.

In a second aspect, a power saving method is provided, including:

the method comprises the steps that a first base station sends monitoring indication information to User Equipment (UE), so that the UE monitors a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) of a second base station according to the monitoring indication information and carries out data transmission with the second base station;

the first base station receives a data transmission message sent by the second base station, wherein the data transmission message is sent by the second base station and the UE when no service data is transmitted in a set time;

and the first base station sends monitoring suspension information to the UE, so that the UE stops monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station according to the monitoring suspension information.

In a first possible implementation manner, before the first base station sends the listening indication information to the UE, the method further includes: and the first base station receives a transmission request message sent by the second base station, wherein the transmission request message is used for informing the first base station that the second base station has service data to send to the UE.

Further, before the first base station sends the listening suspension information to the UE, the method further includes: the first base station determines whether to stop the UE from monitoring data transmission on the PDCCH of the second base station according to network load or network requirements;

the sending, by the first base station, the listening suspension information to the UE includes: and if the UE is determined to stop monitoring the data transmission on the PDCCH of the second base station, the first base station sends monitoring suspension information to the UE.

With reference to the second aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in a second possible implementation manner, after the first base station sends the listening indication information to the UE, the method further includes: and the first base station sends a transmission permission message to the second base station, so that the second base station performs data transmission with the UE according to the transmission permission message.

With reference to the second aspect, the first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, or the second possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in a third possible implementation manner, the monitoring indication information and the monitoring suspension information are carried in a radio resource control RRC message, a medium access control MAC message, or a physical layer message or a signal and are sent.

With reference to the second aspect, the first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the second possible implementation manner of the second aspect, or the third possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner, the monitoring indication information includes: first monitoring indication information, where the first monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station immediately; or, second monitoring indication information, where the second monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station after a set time interval; or, third monitoring indication information, where the third monitoring indication information is used to indicate a starting time at which the UE switches to monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station, and the starting time is represented by a system frame number SFN and a subframe sub-frame.

In a third aspect, a user equipment is provided, including:

a receiving unit, configured to receive monitoring indication information sent by a first base station;

a monitoring unit, configured to monitor a physical downlink control channel PDCCH of the second base station according to the monitoring indication information received by the receiving unit;

a data transmission unit, configured to perform data transmission with the second base station on the PDCCH monitored by the monitoring unit;

the receiving unit is configured to receive monitoring suspension information sent by the first base station or the second base station when the data transmission unit does not transmit service data within a set time;

a stopping unit, configured to stop monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station according to the monitoring suspension information received by the receiving unit.

In a first possible implementation manner, the user equipment further includes: a sending unit, configured to send a sounding reference signal SRS to the second base station at preset time intervals after the stopping unit stops monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station.

Wherein, the listening indication information received by the receiving unit includes: first monitoring indication information, where the first monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station immediately; or, second monitoring indication information, where the second monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station after a set time interval; or, third monitoring indication information, where the third monitoring indication information is used to indicate a starting time at which the UE switches to monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station, and the starting time is represented by a system frame number SFN and a subframe sub-frame.

The monitoring indication information received by the receiving unit and the monitoring suspension information received by the receiving unit are carried in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, a Media Access Control (MAC) message, a physical layer message or a physical layer signal and are transmitted.

In a fourth aspect, a base station is provided, comprising:

a sending unit, configured to send monitoring indication information to a user equipment UE, so that the UE monitors a physical downlink control channel PDCCH of a second base station according to the monitoring indication information, and performs data transmission with the second base station;

a receiving unit, configured to receive a data transmission message sent by the second base station, where the data transmission message is sent by the second base station and the UE when there is no service data transmission within a set time;

the sending unit is configured to send monitoring suspension information to the UE, so that the UE stops monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station according to the monitoring suspension information.

In a first possible implementation manner, before the sending unit sends the listening indication information to the UE, the receiving unit is further configured to: and receiving a transmission request message sent by the second base station, wherein the transmission request message is used for informing the base station that the second base station has service data to send to the UE.

Further, the base station further includes: a determining unit, configured to determine whether to stop monitoring, by the UE, data transmission on the PDCCH of the second base station according to a network load or a network requirement; the sending unit is specifically configured to: sending monitoring suspension information to the UE when the UE is determined to stop monitoring data transmission on the PDCCH of the second base station.

With reference to the fourth aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a second possible implementation manner, the sending unit is further configured to: and sending a transmission permission message to the second base station so that the second base station performs data transmission with the UE according to the transmission permission message.

With reference to the fourth aspect, the first possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, or the second possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a third possible implementation manner, the monitoring indication information received by the receiving unit and the monitoring suspension information received by the receiving unit are carried in a radio resource control RRC message, a medium access control MAC message, or a physical layer message or a signal and sent.

With reference to the fourth aspect, the first possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the second possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, or the third possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner, the receiving unit receives the listening indication information, where the listening indication information includes: first monitoring indication information, where the first monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station immediately; or, second monitoring indication information, where the second monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station after a set time interval; or, third monitoring indication information, where the third monitoring indication information is used to indicate a starting time at which the UE switches to monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station, and the starting time is represented by a system frame number SFN and a subframe sub-frame.

In a fifth aspect, a user equipment is provided, including:

the receiver is used for receiving monitoring indication information sent by the first base station;

the processor is used for monitoring a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) of a second base station according to the monitoring indication information received by the receiver and carrying out data transmission with the second base station;

the receiver is configured to receive monitoring suspension information sent by the first base station or the second base station when the processor has no service data transmission within a set time;

the processor is configured to stop monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station according to the monitoring suspension information received by the receiver.

In a first possible implementation manner, the user equipment further includes: a transmitter, configured to transmit a sounding reference signal SRS to the second base station at a preset time interval after the processor stops monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station.

Wherein the listening indication information received by the receiver includes: first monitoring indication information, where the first monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station immediately; or, second monitoring indication information, where the second monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station after a set time interval; or, third monitoring indication information, where the third monitoring indication information is used to indicate a starting time at which the UE switches to monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station, and the starting time is represented by a system frame number SFN and a subframe sub-frame.

Wherein, the monitoring indication information received by the receiver and the monitoring suspension information received by the receiver are carried in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, a Media Access Control (MAC) message, a physical layer message or a physical layer signal for transmission.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a base station comprising:

a transmitter, configured to send monitoring indication information to a user equipment UE, so that the UE monitors a physical downlink control channel PDCCH of a second base station according to the monitoring indication information, and performs data transmission with the second base station;

a receiver, configured to receive a data transmission message sent by the second base station, where the data transmission message is sent by the second base station and the UE when there is no service data transmission within a set time;

the transmitter is configured to transmit monitoring suspension information to the UE, so that the UE stops monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station according to the monitoring suspension information.

In a first possible implementation manner, before the transmitter transmits the listening indication information to the user equipment UE, the receiver is further configured to: and receiving a transmission request message sent by the second base station, wherein the transmission request message is used for informing the base station that the second base station has service data to send to the UE.

Further, the base station further includes: a processor, configured to determine whether to stop the UE from monitoring data transmission on the PDCCH of the second base station according to a network load or a network requirement; the transmitter is specifically configured to: sending monitoring suspension information to the UE when the UE is determined to stop monitoring data transmission on the PDCCH of the second base station.

With reference to the sixth aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, in a second possible implementation manner, the sending unit is further configured to: and sending a transmission permission message to the second base station so that the second base station performs data transmission with the UE according to the transmission permission message.

With reference to the sixth aspect, the first possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, or the second possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, in a third possible implementation manner, the monitoring indication information received by the receiver and the monitoring suspension information received by the receiver are carried in a radio resource control RRC message, a medium access control MAC message, or a physical layer message or a signal and sent.

With reference to the sixth aspect, the first possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the second possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, or the third possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner, the listening indication information received by the receiver includes: first monitoring indication information, where the first monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station immediately; or, second monitoring indication information, where the second monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station after a set time interval; or, third monitoring indication information, where the third monitoring indication information is used to indicate a starting time at which the UE switches to monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station, and the starting time is represented by a system frame number SFN and a subframe sub-frame.

In the existing small cell deployment scenario, user equipment UE needs to monitor data transmission on PDCCHs of a macro base station (first base station) and a micro base station (second base station) at the same time, and cannot achieve reasonable power saving. Compared with the prior art, the embodiment of the invention ensures that the user equipment UE only monitors the PDCCH of the first base station in most of time; when the second base station has data transmission with the UE, the UE receives monitoring indication information sent by the first base station and monitors a PDCCH (physical downlink control channel) of the second base station according to the monitoring indication information; and after the data transmission between the UE and the second base station is finished, the UE receives monitoring suspension information sent by the first base station or the second base station and stops monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station. Therefore, the UE can monitor only the PDCCH of the first base station in most of time, and compared with the method of monitoring the PDCCHs of the two base stations all the time, the electric quantity consumption of the UE is reduced.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings needed for the embodiments or the prior art descriptions will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method provided by another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method provided by another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method provided by another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 and fig. 6 are schematic structural diagrams of a user equipment according to another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 and fig. 8 are schematic structural diagrams of a base station according to another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 and fig. 10 are schematic structural diagrams of a user equipment according to another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 and 12 are schematic structural diagrams of a base station according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

In order to make the advantages of the technical solutions of the present invention clearer, the present invention is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal power saving method, as shown in fig. 1, the method includes:

101. and the user equipment UE receives monitoring indication information sent by the first base station.

102. And the UE monitors a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) of a second base station according to the monitoring indication information and performs data transmission with the second base station.

103. And if the UE and the second base station have no service data transmission within the set time, the UE receives monitoring suspension information sent by the first base station or the second base station.

For example, when the second base station finds that no service data is transmitted in the preset time, the second base station sends monitoring suspension information to the UE, and the UE stops monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station after receiving the monitoring suspension information; or, when the second base station finds that no service data is transmitted in the preset time, the second base station sends a related message to the first base station to inform the first base station, the first base station sends monitoring suspension information to the UE, and the UE stops monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station after receiving the monitoring suspension information.

104. And the UE stops monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station according to the monitoring suspension information.

Optionally, after the UE stops monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station, in order to maintain uplink synchronization with the second base station, the method further includes: the UE sends an SRS (Sounding Reference Signal) to the second base station; and the UE receives TA (Timing Advance) fed back by the second base station.

Wherein the listening indication information includes: first monitoring indication information, where the first monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station immediately, that is, the UE monitors the PDCCH of the second base station immediately after receiving the first monitoring indication information; or, second monitoring indication information, where the second monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station after the interval setting time, that is, after receiving the second monitoring indication information, the UE waits for a period of time and then monitors the PDCCH of the second base station; or, the third monitoring indication information is used to indicate a starting time when the UE switches to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station, that is, the third monitoring indication information includes a time point, and specifies that the UE monitors the PDCCH of the second base station at the time point, where the starting time is represented by an SFN (System frame number) and a sub-frame, for example, the starting time is represented in the form of an SFN + sub-frame.

Wherein, the monitoring indication information and the monitoring suspension information are carried in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, a Media Access Control (MAC) message, a physical layer message, or a physical layer signal for transmission.

It should be noted that the UE is controlled by the first base station and the second base station, the control plane connection of the UE is maintained under the first base station, the user plane transmission of the UE is maintained under the second base station, the first base station may be a Macro base station Macro eNB, and the second base station may be an auxiliary base station under the first base station.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a power saving method, as shown in fig. 2, the method includes:

201. the method comprises the steps that a first base station sends monitoring indication information to User Equipment (UE), so that the UE monitors a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) of a second base station according to the monitoring indication information and carries out data transmission with the second base station.

202. And the first base station receives the data transmission message sent by the second base station.

Wherein. And the data transmission message is sent when no service data is transmitted between the second base station and the UE within a set time.

203. And the first base station sends monitoring suspension information to the UE so that the UE stops monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station according to the monitoring suspension information.

Optionally, before the first base station sends the monitoring indication information to the UE, the method further includes: and the first base station receives a transmission request message sent by the second base station, wherein the transmission request message is used for informing the first base station that the second base station has service data to send to the UE.

Further, after the first base station sends the listening indication information to the UE, the method further includes: and the first base station sends a transmission permission message to the second base station, so that the second base station performs data transmission with the UE according to the transmission permission message. Optionally, the transmission permission message may carry a starting time of data scheduling performed by the second base station, and after receiving the transmission permission message, the second base station performs data transmission with the UE at the specified time.

Optionally, before the first base station sends the listening suspension information to the UE, the method further includes: and the first base station determines whether to stop the UE from monitoring the data transmission on the PDCCH of the second base station according to the network load or the network requirement.

Further, if it is determined that the UE stops monitoring data transmission on the PDCCH of the second base station, the first base station sends monitoring suspension information to the UE.

Optionally, the monitoring indication information includes: first monitoring indication information, where the first monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station immediately, that is, the UE monitors the PDCCH of the second base station immediately after receiving the first monitoring indication information; or, second monitoring indication information, where the second monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station after the interval setting time, that is, after receiving the second monitoring indication information, the UE waits for a period of time and then monitors the PDCCH of the second base station; or, the third monitoring indication information is used to indicate a starting time when the UE switches to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station, that is, the third monitoring indication information includes a time point, and specifies that the UE monitors the PDCCH of the second base station at the time point, where the starting time is represented by an SFN (System frame number) and a sub-frame, for example, the starting time is represented in the form of an SFN + sub-frame.

In the existing small cell deployment scenario, user equipment UE needs to monitor data transmission on PDCCHs of a macro base station (first base station) and a micro base station (second base station) at the same time, and cannot achieve reasonable power saving. Compared with the prior art, the embodiment of the invention ensures that the user equipment UE only monitors the PDCCH of the first base station in most of time; when the second base station and the UE have data transmission, the first base station sends monitoring indication information to the UE to indicate the UE to monitor a PDCCH of the second base station; and after the data transmission between the UE and the second base station is finished, the second base station informs the first base station, and the first base station sends monitoring suspension information to the UE to instruct the UE to stop monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station. Therefore, the UE can monitor only the PDCCH of the first base station in most of time, and compared with the method of monitoring the PDCCHs of the two base stations all the time, the electric quantity consumption of the UE is reduced.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a power saving method, as shown in fig. 3, the method includes:

301. and the micro base station sends a transmission request message to the macro base station.

It should be noted that, in the implementation scenario of this embodiment, both the macro base station and the micro base station control the same UE, and this embodiment is only an example of a case where the macro base station is connected to one micro base station. Optionally, the method in this embodiment is also applicable to a case where the macro base station accesses multiple micro base stations. For example, a macro base station may access a plurality of micro base stations, and the service data is sent to the micro base stations through the macro base station and then sent to the UE through the micro base stations. The UE always preferentially monitors data transmission on a PDCCH of the macro base station, when the micro base station has data, the micro base station sends a transmission request message to the macro base station, and then the macro base station informs the UE to monitor the micro base station. Namely, the UE realizes the discontinuous reception of the micro base station through the scheduling interaction of the macro base station to the micro base station and the UE.

302. And the macro base station sends monitoring indication information to the UE according to the transmission request message.

Wherein the monitoring indication information is used for indicating the UE to monitor data transmission on a PDCCH of a micro base station. For example, the listening indication information may include: first monitoring indication information, where the first monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the micro base station immediately, that is, the UE monitors the PDCCH of the micro base station immediately after receiving the first monitoring indication information; or, second monitoring indication information, where the second monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the micro base station after a set time interval, that is, after receiving the second monitoring indication information, the UE waits for a period of time and then monitors the PDCCH of the micro base station; or, the third monitoring indication information is used to indicate a starting time when the UE switches to monitor the PDCCH of the micro base station, that is, the third monitoring indication information includes a time point, and specifies that the UE monitors the PDCCH of the micro base station at the time point, where the starting time is represented by an SFN (System Frame Number) and a sub-Frame, for example, the starting time is represented in the form of an SFN + sub-Frame.

The monitoring indication information may be carried in a radio resource control RRC message, a medium access control MAC message, a physical layer message, or a physical layer message signal and transmitted.

303. And the macro base station receives the confirmation message fed back by the UE.

And the confirmation message is sent after the UE correctly receives the monitoring indication information sent by the macro base station.

304. The macro base station sends a transmission permission message to the micro base station.

Optionally, the transmission permission message may carry an initial time of data scheduling performed by the micro base station, and after receiving the transmission permission message, the micro base station performs data transmission with the UE at the specified time.

305. And the UE monitors the PDCCH of the micro base station according to the monitoring indication information and performs data transmission with the micro base station.

It should be noted that, after receiving the listening indication information in step 302, the UE may perform step 305 without waiting until step 303 and step 304 are performed.

306. And when the data needing to be transmitted does not exist within the set time, the micro base station sends monitoring suspension information to the UE.

For example, the micro base station may set a specific time length when the UE initially accesses the micro base station. And in the process of data transmission between the micro base station and the UE, if the time length of no data transmission between the micro base station and the UE is greater than or equal to the set specific time length, sending monitoring suspension information to the UE.

The non-service data transmission in the set time period may be that data transmission is finished or data transmission fails.

Optionally, the monitoring suspension information is carried in a radio resource control RRC message, a media access control MAC message, a physical layer message, or a physical layer signal and sent.

Optionally, when there is no data to be transmitted within a set time, the micro base station may also send a data transmission message to the macro base station, notify the macro base station of the current data transmission state, and the macro base station determines whether the UE needs to stop monitoring the micro base station according to a network load or a network requirement; and when the UE is required to stop monitoring the micro base station, the macro base station sends monitoring suspension information to the UE.

307. The UE stops monitoring data transmission on the PDCCH of the micro base station.

Optionally, if the monitoring suspension information sent to the UE is sent by the macro base station, after the UE stops monitoring the PDCCH of the micro base station, the macro base station further needs to send an indication message to the micro base station to notify the micro base station that the UE has stopped monitoring the PDCCH of the micro base station. The purpose of this step is: the micro base station is enabled to know whether the UE monitors the data transmission of the PDCCH of the micro base station currently, if the micro base station does not know that the UE stops monitoring the data transmission of the PDCCH of the micro base station, the micro base station can directly send data to the UE when the micro base station has data, and the UE cannot receive the data at the moment, so that data sending errors can occur.

Optionally, after the UE stops monitoring the micro base station, the UE may also periodically send the SRS to the micro base station and obtain the TA fed back by the micro base station, and maintain uplink synchronization with the micro base station through the above steps.

It should be noted that the power saving method described in the embodiment of the present invention is also applicable to a UE under multiple carriers, that is, the UE may simultaneously access one macro base station and multiple micro base stations, and the method in the embodiment schedules the UE among multiple base stations to achieve power saving of the UE.

In the existing small cell deployment scenario, User Equipment (UE) needs to monitor data transmission on PDCCHs of a macro base station and a micro base station at the same time, and reasonable power saving cannot be achieved. Compared with the prior art, the embodiment of the invention ensures that the UE only monitors the PDCCH of the macro base station in most time; when the micro base station and the UE have data transmission, the micro base station sends a transmission request message to the macro base station; the macro base station sends monitoring indication information to the UE after receiving the transmission request message; the UE monitors the PDCCH of the micro base station according to the monitoring indication information; and after the data transmission between the UE and the micro base station is finished, the UE receives the monitoring suspension information sent by the micro base station and stops monitoring the PDCCH of the micro base station. Therefore, the UE can only monitor the PDCCH of the macro base station in most of time, and compared with the method of monitoring the PDCCHs of two base stations all the time, the electric quantity consumption of the UE is reduced.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a power saving method, as shown in fig. 4, the method includes:

401. and when the macro base station detects that the micro base station has service data, sending monitoring indication information to the UE.

The monitoring indication information is used for indicating the UE to monitor a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) of the micro base station. For example, the listening indication information includes: first monitoring indication information, where the first monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the micro base station immediately, that is, the UE monitors the PDCCH of the micro base station immediately after receiving the first monitoring indication information; or, second monitoring indication information, where the second monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the micro base station after a set time interval, that is, after receiving the second monitoring indication information, the UE waits for a period of time and then monitors the PDCCH of the micro base station; or, the third monitoring indication information is used to indicate a starting time when the UE switches to monitor the PDCCH of the micro base station, that is, the third monitoring indication information includes a time point, and specifies that the UE monitors the PDCCH of the micro base station at the time point, where the starting time is represented by an SFN (System Frame Number) and a sub-Frame, for example, the starting time is represented in the form of an SFN + sub-Frame.

The monitoring indication information may be carried in a radio resource control RRC message, a medium access control MAC message, a physical layer message, or a physical layer signal.

402. And the macro base station receives the confirmation message fed back by the UE.

403. The macro base station sends a transmission permission message to the micro base station.

Optionally, the transmission permission message may carry an initial time of data scheduling performed by the micro base station, and after receiving the transmission permission message, the micro base station performs data transmission with the UE at the specified time. For example, the specified time may be: data scheduling is carried out immediately after the transmission permission message is received; or after receiving the transmission permission message, performing data scheduling after waiting for a time interval according to the information carried in the transmission permission message; or, after receiving the transmission permission message, performing data scheduling at a specific time point according to information carried in the transmission permission message, where the time point may be represented by an SFN (System Frame Number) and a subframe, and for example, the start time is represented in the form of SFN + subframe.

404. And the UE monitors the PDCCH of the micro base station according to the monitoring indication information and performs data transmission with the micro base station.

For example, it should be noted that, after receiving the listening indication information in step 401, the UE may perform step 404 without waiting until after performing steps 402 and 403.

405. And when the data needing to be transmitted does not exist within the set time, the micro base station sends monitoring suspension information to the UE.

406. The UE stops monitoring data transmission on the PDCCH of the micro base station.

407. And the micro base station sends a notification message to the macro base station to notify the macro base station that the UE stops monitoring the PDCCH of the micro base station.

It should be noted that the purpose of this step is to make the macro base station know that the UE has no longer monitored the data transmission of the micro base station, so that when the micro base station has data to arrive, the macro base station will perform step 401 again. The situation that when the micro base station has data, the macro base station directly sends the data to the micro base station, and the micro base station cannot send the data to the UE is avoided.

In the existing small cell deployment scenario, User Equipment (UE) needs to monitor data transmission on PDCCHs of a macro base station and a micro base station at the same time, and reasonable power saving cannot be achieved. Compared with the prior art, the embodiment of the invention ensures that the UE only monitors the PDCCH of the macro base station in most time; when the micro base station and the UE have data transmission, the macro base station sends monitoring indication information to the UE; the UE monitors the PDCCH of the micro base station according to the monitoring indication information; after the data transmission between the UE and the micro base station is finished, the UE receives monitoring suspension information sent by the micro base station and stops monitoring the PDCCH of the micro base station; and the micro base station informs the macro base station that the UE does not monitor the PDCCH of the micro base station any more. Therefore, the UE can only monitor the PDCCH of the macro base station in most of time, and compared with the method of monitoring the PDCCHs of two base stations all the time, the electric quantity consumption of the UE is reduced.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a user equipment UE50, as shown in fig. 5, the user equipment 50 includes:

a receiving unit 51, configured to receive monitoring indication information sent by a first base station;

a monitoring unit 52, configured to monitor a physical downlink control channel PDCCH of the second base station according to the monitoring indication information received by the receiving unit 51;

a data transmission unit 53, configured to perform data transmission with the second base station on the PDCCH monitored by the monitoring unit 52;

the receiving unit 51 is configured to receive monitoring suspension information sent by the first base station or the second base station when the data transmission unit 53 has no service data transmission within a set time;

a stopping unit 54, configured to stop monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station according to the monitoring suspension information received by the receiving unit 51.

Further, as shown in fig. 6, the user equipment 50 further includes:

a sending unit 55, configured to send a sounding reference signal SRS to the second base station at preset time intervals after the stopping unit 54 stops monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station.

The listening indication information received by the receiving unit 51 includes: first monitoring indication information, where the first monitoring indication information is used to indicate that the UE50 monitors the PDCCH of the second base station immediately; or, second monitoring indication information, where the second monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE50 to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station after a set time interval; or, third monitoring indication information, where the third monitoring indication information is used to indicate a starting time at which the UE50 switches to monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station, and the starting time is represented by a system frame number SFN and a subframe sub frame.

The monitoring indication information received by the receiving unit 51 and the monitoring suspension information received by the receiving unit 51 are carried in a radio resource control RRC message, a medium access control MAC message, a physical layer message, or a physical layer signal and transmitted.

In the existing small cell deployment scenario, the UE50 needs to monitor data transmission on the PDCCHs of the macro base station (first base station) and the micro base station (second base station) at the same time, and cannot achieve reasonable power saving. Compared with the prior art, the embodiment of the invention enables the user equipment UE50 to monitor the PDCCH of the first base station only in most of time; when the second base station has data transmission with the UE50, the UE50 receives monitoring indication information sent by the first base station, and monitors the PDCCH of the second base station according to the monitoring indication information; after the data transmission between the UE50 and the second base station is completed, the UE50 receives the monitoring suspension message sent by the first base station or the second base station, and stops monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station. Therefore, the UE50 can monitor only the PDCCH of the first base station in most of time, and compared with monitoring the PDCCHs of two base stations all the time, the power consumption of the UE50 is reduced.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a base station 60, as shown in fig. 7, where the base station 60 includes:

a sending unit 61, configured to send monitoring indication information to a user equipment UE, so that the UE monitors a physical downlink control channel PDCCH of a second base station according to the monitoring indication information, and performs data transmission with the second base station;

a receiving unit 62, configured to receive a data transmission message sent by the second base station, where the data transmission message is sent by the second base station and the UE when there is no service data transmission within a set time;

the sending unit 61 is configured to send monitoring suspension information to the UE, so that the UE stops monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station according to the monitoring suspension information.

Further, before the sending unit 61 sends listening indication information to the user equipment UE, the receiving unit 62 is further configured to: and receiving a transmission request message sent by the second base station, where the transmission request message is used to notify the base station 60 that the second base station has service data to send to the UE.

Further, the sending unit 61 is further configured to: and sending a transmission permission message to the second base station so that the second base station performs data transmission with the UE according to the transmission permission message.

Further, as shown in fig. 8, the base station 60 further includes:

a determining unit 63, configured to determine whether to stop the UE from monitoring data transmission on the PDCCH of the second base station according to a network load or a network requirement; the sending unit 61 is specifically configured to:

sending monitoring suspension information to the UE when the UE is determined to stop monitoring data transmission on the PDCCH of the second base station.

The monitoring indication information received by the receiving unit 62 and the monitoring suspension information received by the receiving unit 62 are carried in a radio resource control RRC message, a medium access control MAC message, or a physical layer message or a signal and transmitted.

The listening indication information received by the receiving unit 62 includes: first monitoring indication information, where the first monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station immediately; or, second monitoring indication information, where the second monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station after a set time interval; or, third monitoring indication information, where the third monitoring indication information is used to indicate a starting time at which the UE switches to monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station, and the starting time is represented by a system frame number SFN and a subframe sub-frame.

In the existing small cell deployment scenario, user equipment UE needs to monitor data transmission on PDCCHs of a macro base station (base station 60) and a micro base station (second base station) at the same time, and cannot achieve reasonable power saving. Compared with the prior art, the embodiment of the invention ensures that the user equipment UE only monitors the PDCCH of the base station 60 in most of time; when the second base station has data transmission with the UE, the base station 60 sends monitoring indication information to the UE to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station; after the data transmission between the UE and the second base station is completed, the second base station notifies the base station 60, and the base station 60 sends monitoring suspension information to the UE to instruct the UE to stop monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station. Therefore, the UE can only monitor the PDCCH of the base station 60 in most of time, and compared with the method of monitoring the PDCCHs of two base stations all the time, the power consumption of the UE is reduced.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a user equipment UE70, as shown in fig. 9, where the user equipment 70 includes:

a receiver 71, configured to receive monitoring indication information sent by a first base station;

a processor 72, configured to monitor a physical downlink control channel PDCCH of a second base station according to the monitoring indication information received by the receiver 71, and perform data transmission with the second base station;

the receiver 71, configured to receive monitoring suspension information sent by the first base station or the second base station when the processor 72 has no service data transmission within a set time;

the processor 72 is configured to stop monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station according to the monitoring suspension information received by the receiver 71.

Further, as shown in fig. 10, the user equipment 70 further includes:

a transmitter 73, configured to transmit a sounding reference signal SRS to the second base station at preset time intervals after the processor 72 stops monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station.

The listening indication information received by the receiver 71 includes: first monitoring indication information, where the first monitoring indication information is used to indicate that the UE70 monitors the PDCCH of the second base station immediately; or, second monitoring indication information, where the second monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE70 to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station after a set time interval; or, third monitoring indication information, where the third monitoring indication information is used to indicate a starting time at which the UE70 switches to monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station, and the starting time is represented by a system frame number SFN and a subframe sub frame.

The monitoring indication information received by the receiver 71 and the monitoring suspension information received by the receiver 71 are carried in a radio resource control RRC message, a medium access control MAC message, a physical layer message, or a physical layer signal and transmitted.

The workflow of the user equipment 70 provided by the embodiment of the present invention refers to the description of the foregoing method embodiment, and is not repeated here.

In the existing small cell deployment scenario, the UE70 needs to monitor data transmission on the PDCCHs of the macro base station (first base station) and the micro base station (second base station) at the same time, and cannot achieve reasonable power saving. Compared with the prior art, the embodiment of the invention enables the user equipment UE70 to monitor the PDCCH of the first base station only in most of time; when the second base station has data transmission with the UE70, the UE70 receives monitoring indication information sent by the first base station, and monitors the PDCCH of the second base station according to the monitoring indication information; after the data transmission between the UE70 and the second base station is completed, the UE70 receives the monitoring suspension message sent by the first base station or the second base station, and stops monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station. Therefore, the UE70 can monitor only the PDCCH of the first base station in most of time, and compared with monitoring the PDCCHs of two base stations all the time, the power consumption of the UE70 is reduced.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a base station 80, as shown in fig. 11, where the base station 80 includes:

a transmitter 81, configured to send monitoring indication information to a user equipment UE, so that the UE monitors a physical downlink control channel PDCCH of a second base station according to the monitoring indication information, and performs data transmission with the second base station;

a receiver 82, configured to receive a data transmission message sent by the second base station, where the data transmission message is sent by the second base station and the UE when there is no service data transmission within a set time;

the transmitter 81 is configured to transmit monitoring suspension information to the UE, so that the UE stops monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station according to the monitoring suspension information.

Further, before the transmitter 81 transmits listening indication information to the user equipment UE, the receiver 82 is further configured to: and receiving a transmission request message sent by the second base station, where the transmission request message is used to notify the base station 80 that the second base station has service data to send to the UE.

Further, the transmitter 81 is further configured to: and sending a transmission permission message to the second base station so that the second base station performs data transmission with the UE according to the transmission permission message.

Further, as shown in fig. 12, the base station 80 further includes:

a processor 83, configured to determine whether to stop the UE from monitoring data transmission on the PDCCH of the second base station according to a network load or a network requirement; the transmitter 81 is specifically configured to:

The monitoring indication information received by the receiver 82 and the monitoring suspension information received by the receiver 82 are carried in a radio resource control RRC message, a medium access control MAC message, or a physical layer message or signal and transmitted.

The listening indication information received by the receiver 82 includes: first monitoring indication information, where the first monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station immediately; or, second monitoring indication information, where the second monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station after a set time interval; or, third monitoring indication information, where the third monitoring indication information is used to indicate a starting time at which the UE switches to monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station, and the starting time is represented by a system frame number SFN and a subframe sub-frame.

The working flow of the base station 80 provided by the embodiment of the present invention refers to the description of the foregoing method embodiment, and is not repeated here.

In the existing small cell deployment scenario, user equipment UE needs to monitor data transmission on PDCCHs of a macro base station (base station 80) and a micro base station (second base station) at the same time, and cannot achieve reasonable power saving. Compared with the prior art, the embodiment of the invention ensures that the user equipment UE only monitors the PDCCH of the base station 80 in most of time; when the second base station has data transmission with the UE, the base station 80 sends monitoring indication information to the UE to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station; after the data transmission between the UE and the second base station is completed, the second base station notifies the base station 80, and the base station 80 sends monitoring suspension information to the UE to instruct the UE to stop monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station. Therefore, the UE can only monitor the PDCCH of the base station 80 in most of time, and compared with the method of monitoring the PDCCHs of two base stations all the time, the power consumption of the UE is reduced.

The user equipment and the base station provided in the embodiments of the present invention may implement the method embodiments provided above, and for specific function implementation, reference is made to the description in the method embodiments, which is not repeated herein. The power saving method, the user equipment and the base station provided by the embodiment of the invention can be suitable for the user equipment to monitor the data transmission of the PDCCHs of a plurality of base stations at the same time, but are not limited to the method.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that all or part of the processes of the methods of the embodiments described above can be implemented by a computer program, which can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and when executed, can include the processes of the embodiments of the methods described above. The storage medium may be a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), or the like.

The above description is only for the specific embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope of the present invention are included in the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for conserving power, comprising:

if the UE and the second base station have no service data transmission within a set time, the UE receives monitoring suspension information sent by the first base station or the second base station, wherein the monitoring suspension information sent by the first base station is sent after the first base station receives a data transmission message sent by the second base station; the data transmission message is sent when the second base station and the UE have no service data transmission within a set time;

2. The method of claim 1, wherein after the UE stops monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station according to the monitoring suspension information, the method further comprises:

and the UE sends Sounding Reference Signals (SRS) to the second base station at preset time intervals.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the listening indication information comprises:

first monitoring indication information, where the first monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station immediately; or,

second monitoring indication information, where the second monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station after a set time interval; or,

third monitoring indication information, where the third monitoring indication information is used to indicate a starting time at which the UE switches to monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station, and the starting time is represented by a system frame number SFN and a subframe sub-frame.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the listening indication information and the listening suspension information are carried in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, a Media Access Control (MAC) message, a physical layer message, or a physical layer signal.

5. A method for conserving power, comprising:

6. The method of claim 5, wherein before the first base station sends the listening indication information to the UE, the method further comprises:

and the first base station receives a transmission request message sent by the second base station, wherein the transmission request message is used for informing the first base station that the second base station has service data to send to the UE.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein after the first base station transmits listening indication information to the UE, the method further comprises:

and the first base station sends a transmission permission message to the second base station, so that the second base station performs data transmission with the UE according to the transmission permission message.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein before the first base station sends the listening suspension information to the UE, the method further comprises:

the first base station determines whether to stop the UE from monitoring data transmission on the PDCCH of the second base station according to network load or network requirements;

the sending, by the first base station, the listening suspension information to the UE includes:

and if the UE is determined to stop monitoring the data transmission on the PDCCH of the second base station, the first base station sends monitoring suspension information to the UE.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the listening indication information and the listening suspension information are carried in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, a Media Access Control (MAC) message, or a physical layer message or signal.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein the listening indication information comprises:

11. A user device, comprising:

12. The user equipment of claim 11, wherein the user equipment further comprises:

a sending unit, configured to send a sounding reference signal SRS to the second base station at preset time intervals after the stopping unit stops monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station.

13. The ue according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the listening indication information received by the receiving unit comprises:

first monitoring indication information, wherein the first monitoring indication information is used for indicating User Equipment (UE) to monitor a PDCCH of the second base station immediately; or,

14. The UE of claim 11, wherein the listening indication information received by the receiving unit and the listening suspension information received by the receiving unit are carried in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, a Media Access Control (MAC) message, a physical layer message, or a physical layer signal.

15. A base station, comprising:

16. The base station of claim 15, wherein before the sending unit sends the listening indication information to the UE, the receiving unit is further configured to:

and receiving a transmission request message sent by the second base station, wherein the transmission request message is used for informing the base station that the second base station has service data to send to the UE.

17. The base station according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the sending unit is further configured to:

and sending a transmission permission message to the second base station so that the second base station performs data transmission with the UE according to the transmission permission message.

18. The base station of claim 15, wherein the base station further comprises:

a determining unit, configured to determine whether to stop monitoring, by the UE, data transmission on the PDCCH of the second base station according to a network load or a network requirement;

the sending unit is specifically configured to:

19. The base station of claim 15, wherein the listening indication information received by the receiving unit and the listening suspension information received by the receiving unit are carried in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, a Media Access Control (MAC) message, or a physical layer message or a signal.

20. The base station of claim 15, wherein the listening indication information received by the receiving unit comprises:

21. A user device, comprising:

22. The user equipment of claim 21, wherein the user equipment further comprises:

a transmitter, configured to transmit a sounding reference signal SRS to the second base station at a preset time interval after the processor stops monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station.

23. The ue of claim 21 or 22, wherein the listening indication information received by the receiver comprises: first monitoring indication information, wherein the first monitoring indication information is used for indicating User Equipment (UE) to monitor a PDCCH of the second base station immediately; or, second monitoring indication information, where the second monitoring indication information is used to indicate that the UE monitors the second base station after the interval set time

A PDCCH; or, third monitoring indication information, where the third monitoring indication information is used to indicate a starting time at which the UE switches to monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station, and the starting time is represented by a system frame number SFN and a subframe sub-frame.

24. The UE of claim 21, wherein the listening indication information received by the receiver and the listening suspension information received by the receiver are carried in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, a Media Access Control (MAC) message, a physical layer message, or a physical layer signal.

25. A base station, comprising:

26. The base station of claim 25, wherein before the transmitter transmits the listening indication information to the UE, the receiver is further configured to:

27. The base station according to claim 25 or 26, wherein said transmitter is further configured to:

28. The base station of claim 25, wherein the base station further comprises:

a processor, configured to determine whether to stop the UE from monitoring data transmission on the PDCCH of the second base station according to a network load or a network requirement; the transmitter is specifically configured to:

29. The base station of claim 25, wherein the receiver-received listening indication information and the receiver-received listening suspension information are carried in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, a Media Access Control (MAC) message, or a physical layer message or signal.

30. The base station of claim 25, wherein the listening indication information received by the receiver comprises: first monitoring indication information, where the first monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station immediately; or, second monitoring indication information, where the second monitoring indication information is used to indicate the UE to monitor the PDCCH of the second base station after a set time interval; or, third monitoring indication information, where the third monitoring indication information is used to indicate a starting time at which the UE switches to monitoring the PDCCH of the second base station, and the starting time is represented by a system frame number SFN and a subframe sub-frame.