US-12628079-B2 - Low-power distributed computing

Abstract

A processor has circuitry that executes instructions to cause a user equipment (UE) to perform operations. The operations include determining to offload a task to a network node. The operations include transmitting an offload request to the network node, wherein the offload request comprises a size of an expected response and a latest receipt time. The operations include determining a wakeup time that is earlier than the latest receipt time. The operations include entering a power-saving mode until the wakeup time. The operations include exiting the power-saving mode at the wakeup time. The operations include monitoring a communication channel for the expected response from the network node until the latest receipt time. Also disclosed are a UE and a method.

Inventors

• Panagiotis BOTSINIS
• Amr Abdelrahman Yousef Abdelrahman MOSTAFA
• Christian Hofmann
• Said Medjkouh
• Sameh M. ELDESSOKI
• Tarik Tabet

Assignees

• APPLE INC.

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20231207

Priority Date

20221209

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A processor comprising circuitry that executes instructions to cause a user equipment (UE) to perform operations comprising: determining to offload a task to a network node; transmitting an offload request to the network node based on the determining to offload the task, wherein the offload request comprises a size of an expected response and a latest receipt time; determining a wakeup time based at least in part on the latest receipt time; entering a power-saving mode until the wakeup time; exiting the power-saving mode at the wakeup time; and monitoring a communication channel for the expected response from the network node until the latest receipt time.
2. 2 . The processor of claim 1 , wherein determining the wakeup time comprises: prior to entering the power-saving mode, receiving a scheduling signal from the network node, wherein the scheduling signal indicates an expected time for the network node to transmit the expected response; and determining the wakeup time based at least on the expected time.
3. 3 . The processor of claim 1 , wherein determining the wakeup time comprises: estimating an expected time for the network node to transmit the expected response; and determining the wakeup time based at least on the expected time, and wherein monitoring the communication channel for the expected response comprises: transmitting a request for the expected response to the network node.
4. 4 . The processor of claim 1 , wherein the offload request comprises a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE).
5. 5 . The processor of claim 1 , the operations further comprising: transmitting, via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, a list of multiple tasks, wherein the offload request further comprises an identifier that identifies the task from the list.
6. 6 . The processor of claim 5 , wherein the task is a first task, and the operations further comprise: determining to offload a second task in the list to the network node; and multiplexing the offloading of the first task and the offloading of the second task in a frequency domain or in a time domain.
7. 7 . The processor of claim 1 , the operations further comprising: receiving the expected response from the network node; and executing an application using the expected response.
8. 8 . The processor of claim 1 , wherein the UE is configured to not monitor the communication channel while in the power-saving mode.
9. 9 . A user equipment (UE), comprising: a processor; and a transceiver coupled to the processor, wherein the processor is configured to: generate an offload request to a network node after determining to offload a task to the network node, wherein the offload request comprises: a size of an expected response and a latest receipt time for the expected response, determine a wakeup time based at least on the latest receipt time, enter a power-saving mode until the wakeup time, exit the power-saving mode at the wakeup time, and control the transceiver to monitor a communication channel for the expected response from the network node until the latest receipt time, and wherein the transceiver is configured to transmit the offload request to the network node.
10. 10 . The UE of claim 9 , wherein the transceiver receives, prior to the processor entering the power-saving mode, a scheduling signal from the network node, wherein the scheduling signal indicates an expected time for the network node to transmit the expected response, and wherein the processor determines the wakeup time based at least on the expected time.
11. 11 . The UE of claim 9 , wherein the processor estimates an expected time for the network node to transmit the expected response, wherein the processor determines the wakeup time based at least on the expected time, and wherein the transceiver transmits to the network node a request for the expected response.
12. 12 . The UE of claim 9 , wherein the offload request comprises a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE).
13. 13 . The UE of claim 9 , wherein the transceiver transmits, via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, a list of multiple tasks, and wherein the offload request further comprises an identifier that identifies the task from the list.
14. 14 . The UE of claim 13 , wherein the processor further determines to offload a second task in the list to the network node, and wherein the processor multiplexes the offloading of the task and the offloading of the second task in a frequency domain or in a time domain.
15. 15 . The UE of claim 9 , wherein the transceiver is configured to not monitor the communication channel while in the power-saving mode.
16. 16 . A method, comprising: by a user equipment (UE), determining to offload a task to a network node; transmitting an offload request to the network node based on the determination to offload the task, wherein the offload request comprises a size of an expected response and a latest receipt time; determining a wakeup time based at least in part on the latest receipt time; entering a power-saving mode until the wakeup time; exiting the power-saving mode at the wakeup time; and monitoring a communication channel for the expected response from the network node until the latest receipt time.
17. 17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising: entering the power-saving mode upon detecting that the latest receipt time has passed.
18. 18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the offload request further comprises a number of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) retransmissions, and wherein the method further comprises: before the latest receipt time, receiving the expected response from the network node via the number of HARQ retransmissions.
19. 19 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising: receiving the expected response using a downlink resource determined by configured scheduling.
20. 20 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising: receiving the expected response using a downlink resource determined by dynamic scheduling.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to Greek Patent Application No. 20220101022, filed on Dec. 9, 2022, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND Wireless communication networks provide integrated communication platforms and telecommunication services to wireless user devices. Example telecommunication services include telephony, data (e.g., voice, audio, and/or video data), messaging, and/or other services. The wireless communication networks have wireless access nodes that exchange wireless signals with the wireless user devices using wireless network protocols, such as protocols described in various telecommunication standards promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Example wireless communication networks include time division multiple access (TDMA) networks, frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) networks, Long Term Evolution (LTE), and Fifth Generation New Radio (5G NR). The wireless communication networks facilitate mobile broadband service using technologies such as OFDM, multiple input multiple output (MIMO), advanced channel coding, massive MIMO, beamforming, and/or other features. When a user device, such as a user equipment (UE), establishes connection with an access node, the user device can perform Mobile Terminated (MT) communication with the access node. MT communication generally refers to communication received by and terminating at a mobile terminal. In order for the user device to remain reachable in MT communication, the user device is typically configured to regularly monitor certain communication channels, thereby consuming power. SUMMARY In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, a processor has circuitry that executes instructions to cause a UE to perform operations. The operations include determining to offload a task to a network node. The operations include transmitting an offload request to the network node based on the determining to offload the task, wherein the offload request includes a size of an expected response and a latest receipt time. The operations include determining a wakeup time based at least on the latest receipt time. The operations include entering a power-saving mode until the wakeup time. The operations include exiting the power-saving mode at the wakeup time. The operations include monitoring a communication channel for the expected response from the network node until the latest receipt time. In some implementations, determining the wakeup time includes: prior to entering the power-saving mode, receiving a scheduling signal from the network node, wherein the scheduling signal indicates an expected time for the network node to transmit the expected response; and determining the wakeup time based at least on the expected time. In some implementations, determining the wakeup time includes: estimating an expected time for the network node to transmit the expected response; and determining the wakeup time based at least on the expected time. Further, monitoring the communication channel for the expected response includes: transmitting a request for the expected response to the network node. In some implementations, the offload request includes a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE). In some implementations, the operations further include transmitting, via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, a list of multiple tasks. Further, the offload request includes an identifier that identifies the task from the list. In some implementations, the task is a first task. The operations further include: determining to offload a second task in the list to the network node; and multiplexing the offloading of the first task and the offloading of the second task in a frequency domain or in a time domain. In some implementations, the operations further include receiving the expected response from the network node; and executing an application using the expected response. In some implementations, the UE is configured to not monitor the communication channel while in the power-saving mode. In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, a UE includes a processor and a transceiver coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to generate an offload request to a network node after determining to offload a task to the network node. The offload request includes: a size of an expected response and a latest receipt time for the expected response. The processor is configured to determine a wakeup time based at least on the latest receipt time. The processor is configured to enter a power-saving mode until the wakeup time and exit the power-saving mode at the wakeup time. The processor is configured to control the transceiver to monitor a communication channel for the expected response from the network node until the latest receipt time. The transceiver is configured to transmit the offload req