WO2020193840A1

WO2020193840A1 - Reporting power consumption of wireless device

Info

Publication number: WO2020193840A1
Application number: PCT/FI2019/050248
Authority: WO
Inventors: Daniela Laselva; Frank Frederiksen; Mads LAURIDSEN; Jorma Kaikkonen
Original assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2019-03-27
Filing date: 2019-03-27
Publication date: 2020-10-01

Abstract

There is provided a solution for reporting power consumption of a terminal device. According to an aspect, a method comprises: receiving, from an access node, a message configuring the terminal device to report power consumption of the apparatus; and in response to the received configuration, transmitting a power consumption report to the access node, the power consumption report indicating a power consumption information of the terminal device in a first state of the apparatus and/or in a second state of the terminal device different from the first state.

Description

REPORTING POWER CONSUMPTION OF WIRELESS DEVICE

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to communications in a system where a terminal device is served by one or more access nodes.

BACKGROUND

Terminal devices of modern cellular communication systems have various features that affect power consumption. For example, smart phones execute various computer program applications and incorporate a power-hungry user interface such as a touch-sensitive display. Every terminal device includes a radio modem that also incorporates various functions that consume power.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

According to an aspect, there is provided the subject matter of the independent claims. Some embodiments are defined in the dependent claims.

According to an aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for performing: receiving, from an access node, a message configuring the apparatus to report power consumption of the apparatus; and in response to the received configuration, transmitting a power consumption report to the access node, the power consumption report indicating a power consumption information of the apparatus in a first state of the apparatus and/or in a second state of the apparatus different from the first state.

In an embodiment, the power consumption information in the first state and/or in the second state comprises power consumption of at least a radio modem of the apparatus.

In an embodiment, the radio modem comprises at least one of a cellular radio modem, a non-cellular radio modem, or a radio frequency component of the apparatus.

In an embodiment, the first state and/or the second state comprise at least one of a radio communication state and a radio modem activity state.

In an embodiment, the first state and/or the second state comprise the modem activity state that comprises at least one of a deep sleep, a light sleep, a micro sleep, and an active state of the radio modem.

In an embodiment, the power consumption report comprises an information element indicating the power consumption of the apparatus in the first and/or the second state and further comprises an information element indicating the first and/or the second state.

In an embodiment, the reported power consumption comprises at least one of: measured power consumption or estimated power consumption.

In an embodiment, the first state comprises communication with a first radio access technology, and the second state comprises communication with a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology.

In an embodiment, the first state comprises reception of downlink scheduling information with a same-slot scheduling mechanism where the downlink scheduling information and associated downlink data are provided in the same time slot, and the second state comprises reception of the downlink scheduling information with a cross slot scheduling mechanism where the downlink scheduling information and associated downlink data are provided in different time slots.

In an embodiment, the means are further configured to receive, from the access node a message comprising radio communication parameters adapted to the reported power consumption of the apparatus.

In an embodiment, the means are further configured to transmit an international mobile equipment identifier or a part of the international mobile equipment identifier to the access node in connection with the power consumption report.

In an embodiment, the means are further configured to trigger the transmission of the power consumption report if the power consumption in the first state and/or the second state exceeds a determined threshold.

In an embodiment, the means are configured to receive the determined threshold from the access node.

In an embodiment, the power consumption report comprises at least one information element indicating the power consumption of the apparatus in the first state and/or the second state relative to a total power consumption of the apparatus.

In an embodiment, the means are further configured to transmit the power consumption report only once during a radio resource control connection.

According to an aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for performing: transmitting, to a terminal device, a message configuring the terminal device to report power consumption of the terminal device; and in response to the configuration, receiving from the terminal device a power consumption report, the power consumption report indicating power consumption information of the terminal device in a first state of the terminal device and/or in a second state of the terminal device different from the first state.

In an embodiment, the means are configured to determine radio communication parameters of the terminal device on the basis of the power consumption information and to transmit to the terminal device a message indicating the radio communication parameters.

In an embodiment, the means are configured to allocate radio resources to the terminal device on the basis of the power consumption information.

In an embodiment, the means are configured to allocate a length of discontinuous reception cycle of the terminal device on the basis of the power consumption information.

In an embodiment, the means are configured to transmit to the terminal device one or more thresholds that trigger the transmission of the power consumption report if the power consumption in the first state and/or the second state, respectively, exceeds the one or more thresholds.

In an embodiment, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory including a computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the performance of the apparatus.

According to an aspect, there is provided a method comprising: receiving, in a terminal device from an access node, a message configuring the apparatus to report power consumption of the terminal device; and in response to the received configuration, transmitting by the terminal device a power consumption report to an access node, the power consumption report indicating a power consumption information of the terminal device in a first state of the apparatus and/or in a second state of the terminal device different from the first state.

In an embodiment, the power consumption information in the first state and/or in the second state comprises power consumption of at least a radio modem of the terminal device.

In an embodiment, the radio modem comprises at least one of a cellular radio modem, a non-cellular radio modem, or a radio frequency component of the terminal device.

In an embodiment, the first state and/or the second state comprise at least one of a radio communication state and a radio modem activity state. In an embodiment, the first state and/or the second state comprise the radio modem activity state that comprises at least one of a deep sleep, a light sleep, a micro sleep, and an active state of the radio modem.

In an embodiment, the method further comprises receiving, by the terminal device from the access node, a message comprising radio communication parameters adapted to the reported power consumption of the terminal device.

In an embodiment, the method further comprises transmitting an international mobile equipment identifier or a part of the international mobile equipment identifier to the access node in connection with the power consumption report.

In an embodiment, the method further comprises triggering, by the terminal device, the transmission of the power consumption report if the power consumption in the first state and/or the second state exceeds a determined threshold.

In an embodiment, the determined threshold is received by the terminal device from the access node.

In an embodiment, the power consumption report comprises at least one information element indicating the power consumption of the terminal device in the first state and/or the second state relative to a total power consumption of the terminal device. In an embodiment, the terminal device transmits the power consumption report only once during a radio resource control connection.

According to another aspect, there is provided a method comprising: transmitting, by an access node to a terminal device, a message configuring the terminal device to report power consumption of the terminal device; and in response to the configuration, receiving by the access node from the terminal device a power consumption report, the power consumption report indicating power consumption information of the terminal device in a first state of the terminal device and/or in a second state of the terminal device different from the first state.

In an embodiment, the access node determines radio communication parameters of the terminal device on the basis of the power consumption information and transmits to the terminal device a message indicating the radio communication parameters.

In an embodiment, the access node allocates radio resources to the terminal device on the basis of the power consumption information.

In an embodiment, the access node allocates a length of discontinuous reception cycle of the terminal device on the basis of the power consumption information.

In an embodiment, the access node transmits to the terminal device one or more thresholds that trigger the transmission of the power consumption report if the power consumption in the first state and/or the second state exceeds the one or more thresholds.

According to another aspect, there is provided a computer program product embodied on a computer-readable medium and comprising a computer program code readable by a computer, wherein the computer program code configures the computer to carry out a computer process comprising: receiving, in a terminal device from an access node, a message configuring the apparatus to report power consumption of the terminal device; and in response to the received configuration, transmitting a power consumption report to the access node, the power consumption report indicating a power consumption information of the terminal device in a first state of the apparatus and/or in a second state of the terminal device different from the first state.

According to another aspect, there is provided a computer program product embodied on a computer-readable medium and comprising a computer program code readable by a computer, wherein the computer program code configures the computer to carry out a computer process comprising: transmitting, to a terminal device, a message configuring the terminal device to report power consumption of the terminal device; and in response to the configuration, receiving in an access node from the terminal device a power consumption report, the power consumption report indicating power consumption information of the terminal device in a first state of the terminal device and/or in a second state of the terminal device different from the first state.

One or more examples of implementations are set forth in more detail in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

In the following some embodiments will be described with reference to the attached drawings, in which

Figure 1 illustrates an example of a wireless network to which embodiments of the invention may be applied;

Figures 2 and 3 illustrate embodiments for reporting power consumption of a terminal device and for controlling radio communication parameters on the basis of the reported power consumption;

Figure 4 illustrates an embodiment of a process for triggering power consumption reporting;

Figure 5 illustrates a signaling diagram of a procedure for performing the power consumption reporting according to some embodiments of the invention; and

Figures 6 and 7 illustrate apparatuses according to some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SOME EMBODIMENTS

The following embodiments are exemplifying. Although the specification may refer to "an", "one", or "some" embodiment(s) in several locations of the text, this does not necessarily mean that each reference is made to the same embodiment(s), or that a particular feature only applies to a single embodiment. Single features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide other embodiments.

In the following, different exemplifying embodiments will be described using, as an example of an access architecture to which the embodiments may be applied, a radio access architecture based on long term evolution advanced (LTE Advanced, LTE- A) or new radio (NR) (or can be referred to as 5G), without restricting the embodiments to such an architecture, however. It is obvious for a person skilled in the art that the embodiments may also be applied to other kinds of communications networks having suitable means by adjusting parameters and procedures appropriately. Some examples of other options for suitable systems are the universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) radio access network (UTRAN or E-UTRAN), long term evolution (LTE, the same as E-UTRA), wireless local area network (WLAN or WiFi), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), Bluetooth®, personal communications services (PCS), ZigBee®, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), systems using ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, sensor networks, mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) and Internet Protocol multimedia subsystems (IMS) or any combination thereof.

Figure 1 depicts examples of simplified system architectures only showing some elements and functional entities, all being logical units, whose implementation may differ from what is shown. The connections shown in Figure 1 are logical connections; the actual physical connections may be different. It is apparent to a person skilled in the art that the system typically comprises also other functions and structures than those shown in Figure 1.

The embodiments are not, however, restricted to the system given as an example but a person skilled in the art may apply the solution to other communication systems provided with necessary properties.

The example of Figure 1 shows a part of an exemplifying radio access network.

Figure 1 shows user devices 100 and 102 configured to be in a wireless connection on one or more communication channels in a cell with an access node 104 (such as (e/g)NodeB) providing the cell. The physical link from a user device to a (e/g)NodeB is called uplink (UL) or reverse link and the physical link from the (e/g)NodeB to the user device is called downlink or forward link. It should be appreciated that (e/g)NodeBs or their functionalities may be implemented by using any node, host, server or access point etc. entity suitable for such a usage. Said node 104 may be referred to as network node 104 or network element 104 in a broader sense.

A communications system typically comprises more than one (e/g)NodeB in which case the (e/g)NodeBs may also be configured to communicate with one another over links, wired or wireless, designed for the purpose. These links may be used for signaling purposes. The (e/g)NodeB is a computing device configured to control the radio resources of communication system it is coupled to. The (e/g)NodeB includes or is coupled to transceivers. From the transceivers of the (e/g)NodeB, a connection is provided to an antenna unit that establishes bi-directional radio links to user devices. The antenna unit may comprise a plurality of antennas or antenna elements. The (e/g)NodeB is further connected to core network 110 (CN or next generation core NGC). Depending on the system, the counterpart on the CN side can be a user plane function (UPF) (this may be 5G gateway corresponding to serving gateway (S-GW) of 4G) or access and mobility function (AMF) (this may correspond to mobile management entity (MME) of 4G).

The user device 100, 102 (also called UE, user equipment, user terminal, terminal device, mobile terminal, etc.) illustrates one type of an apparatus to which resources on the air interface are allocated and assigned, and thus any feature described herein with a user device may be implemented with a corresponding apparatus, such as a part of a relay node. An example of such a relay node is an integrated access and backhaul (LAB) -node (a.k.a. self-backhauling relay).

The user device typically refers to a portable computing device that includes wireless mobile communication devices operating with or without a subscriber identification module (SIM), including, but not limited to, the following types of devices: a mobile station (mobile phone), smartphone, personal digital assistant (PDA), handset, device using a wireless modem (alarm or measurement device, etc.), laptop and/or touch screen computer, tablet, game console, notebook, and multimedia device. It should be appreciated that a user device may also be a nearly exclusive uplink-only device, of which an example is a camera or video camera loading images or video clips to a network. A user device may also be a device having capability to operate in Internet of Things (loT) network which is a scenario in which objects are provided with the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to- computer interaction. The user device (or in some embodiments mobile terminal (MT) part of the relay node) is configured to perform one or more of user equipment functionalities. The user device may also be called a subscriber unit, mobile station, remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal or user equipment (UE) just to mention but a few names or apparatuses.

Various techniques described herein may also be applied to a cyber-physical system (CPS) (a system of collaborating computational elements controlling physical entities). CPS may enable the implementation and exploitation of massive amounts of interconnected 1CT devices (sensors, actuators, processors microcontrollers, etc.) embedded in physical objects at different locations. Mobile cyber physical systems, in which the physical system in question has inherent mobility, are a subcategory of cyber physical systems. Examples of mobile physical systems include mobile robotics and electronics transported by humans or animals. It should be understood that, in Figure 1, user devices may have one or more antennas. The number of reception and/or transmission antennas may naturally vary according to a current implementation.

Additionally, although the apparatuses have been depicted as single entities, different units, processors and/or memory units (not all shown in Figure 1) may be implemented.

5G enables using multiple input - multiple output (MIMO) antennas, many more base stations or nodes than the LTE (a so-called small cell concept), including macro sites operating in co-operation with smaller stations and employing a variety of radio technologies depending on service needs, use cases and/or spectrum available. 5G mobile communications supports a wide range of use cases and related applications including video streaming, augmented reality, different ways of data sharing and various forms of machine type applications, including vehicular safety, different sensors and real-time control. 5G is expected to have multiple radio interfaces, namely below 6GHz, cmWave and mmWave, and also being integradable with existing legacy radio access technologies, such as the LTE. Integration with the LTE may be implemented, at least in the early phase, as a system, where macro coverage is provided by the LTE and 5G radio interface access comes from small cells by aggregation to the LTE. In other words, 5G is planned to support both inter-RAT operability (such as LTE-5G) and inter-Rl operability (inter-radio interface operability, such as below 6GHz - cmWave, below 6GHz - cmWave - mmWave). One of the concepts considered to be used in 5G networks is network slicing in which multiple independent and dedicated virtual sub-networks (network instances) may be created within the same infrastructure to run services that have different requirements on latency, reliability, throughput and mobility.

The current architecture in LTE networks is fully distributed in the radio and fully centralized in the core network. The low latency applications and services in 5G require to bring the content close to the radio which leads to local break out and multi access edge computing (MEC). 5G enables analytics and knowledge generation to occur at the source of the data. This approach requires leveraging resources that may not be continuously connected to a network such as laptops, smartphones, tablets and sensors. MEC provides a distributed computing environment for application and service hosting. It also has the ability to store and process content in close proximity to cellular subscribers for faster response time. Edge computing covers a wide range of technologies such as wireless sensor networks, mobile data acquisition, mobile signature analysis, cooperative distributed peer-to-peer ad hoc networking and processing also classifiable as local cloud/fog computing and grid/mesh computing, dew computing, mobile edge computing, cloudlet, distributed data storage and retrieval, autonomic self-healing networks, remote cloud services, augmented and virtual reality, data caching, Internet of Things (massive connectivity and/or latency critical), critical communications (autonomous vehicles, traffic safety, real-time analytics, time-critical control, healthcare applications).

The communication system is also able to communicate with other networks, such as a public switched telephone network or the Internet 112, or utilize services provided by them. The communication network may also be able to support the usage of cloud services, for example at least part of core network operations may be carried out as a cloud service (this is depicted in Figure 1 by "cloud" 114). The communication system may also comprise a central control entity, or a like, providing facilities for networks of different operators to cooperate for example in spectrum sharing.

Edge cloud may be brought into radio access network (RAN) by utilizing network function virtualization (NVF) and software defined networking (SDN). Using edge cloud may mean access node operations to be carried out, at least partly, in a server, host or node operationally coupled to a remote radio head or base station comprising radio parts. It is also possible that node operations will be distributed among a plurality of servers, nodes or hosts. Application of cloudRAN architecture enables RAN real time functions being carried out at the RAN side and non-real time functions being carried out in a centralized manner.

It should also be understood that the distribution of labor between core network operations and base station operations may differ from that of the LTE or even be non-existent. Some other technology advancements probably to be used are Big Data and all-IP, which may change the way networks are being constructed and managed. 5G (or new radio, NR) networks are being designed to support multiple hierarchies, where MEC servers can be placed between the core and the base station or nodeB (gNB). It should be appreciated that MEC can be applied in 4G networks as well.

5G may also utilize satellite communication to enhance or complement the coverage of 5G service, for example by providing backhauling. Possible use cases are providing service continuity for machine-to-machine (M2M) or Internet of Things (loT) devices or for passengers on board of vehicles, or ensuring service availability for critical communications, and future railway/maritime/aeronautical communications. Satellite communication may utilize geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite systems, but also low earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems, in particular mega-constellations (systems in which hundreds of (nano) satellites are deployed). Each satellite 106 in the mega-constellation may cover several satellite-enabled network entities that create on ground cells. The on-ground cells may be created through an on-ground relay node or by a gNB located on-ground or in a satellite.

It is obvious for a person skilled in the art that the depicted system is only an example of a part of a radio access system and in practice, the system may comprise a plurality of (e/g)NodeBs, the user device may have an access to a plurality of radio cells and the system may comprise also other apparatuses, such as physical layer relay nodes or other network elements, etc. At least one of the (e/g)NodeBs or may be a Home(e/g)nodeB. Additionally, in a geographical area of a radio communication system a plurality of different kinds of radio cells as well as a plurality of radio cells may be provided. Radio cells may be macro cells (or umbrella cells) which are large cells, usually having a diameter of up to tens of kilometers, or smaller cells such as micro-, femto- or picocells. The (e/g)NodeBs of Figure 1 may provide any kind of these cells. A cellular radio system may be implemented as a multilayer network including several kinds of cells. Typically, in multilayer networks, one access node provides one kind of a cell or cells, and thus a plurality of (e/g)NodeBs are required to provide such a network structure.

For fulfilling the need for improving the deployment and performance of communication systems, the concept of "plug-and-play" (e/g)NodeBs has been introduced. Typically, a network which is able to use "plug-and-play" (e/g)Node Bs, includes, in addition to Home (e/g)NodeBs (H(e/g)nodeBs), a home node B gateway, or HNB-GW (not shown in Figure 1). A HNB Gateway (HNB-GW), which is typically installed within an operator’s network may aggregate traffic from a large number of HNBs back to a core network.

Power consumption of the terminal device is a critical factor affecting the battery life and user experience. The terminal device itself may include various functions that monitor and control the power consumption. Since the radio communication involves two entities and since the network control radio resources and parameters of the terminal device, the network also affects the power consumption of the terminal device.

Figure 2A illustrates a flow diagram of a process for reporting power consumption of the terminal device. The process may be executed in the terminal device, e.g. as a computer process. Referring to Figure 2A, the process comprises: transmitting a power consumption report to an access node (block 200), the power consumption report indicating power consumption information of the apparatus in a first state and/or in a second state different from the first state; and receiving (block 202), from the access node, radio communication parameters adapted to the reported power consumption of the apparatus.

Figure 2B illustrates a flow diagram of an alternative process for reporting the power consumption of the terminal device. Referring to Figure 2B, the process comprises by the terminal device: receiving (block 210), from an access node, a message configuring the terminal device to report power consumption of the apparatus; and in response to the received configuration, transmitting (block 200) a power consumption report to an access node, the power consumption report indicating a power consumption information of the apparatus in a first state and/or in a second state different from the first state.

Figure 3A illustrates a process corresponding to that of Figure 2A executed in the access node that receives the power consumption reports. The process of Figure 3A may also be executed as a computer process. Referring to Figure 3A, the process comprises: receiving (block 300), from the terminal device, the power consumption report indicating the power consumption information of the terminal device in the first state and/or the second state; determining (block 302) radio communication parameters of the terminal device on the basis of the power consumption information; and transmitting (block 304), to the terminal device, a message indicating the radio communication parameters.

Figure 3B illustrates a process corresponding to that of Figure 2B executed in the access node that receives the power consumption reports. The process of Figure 3B may also be executed as a computer process. Referring to Figure 3B, the process comprises transmitting (block 310), to the terminal device, a message configuring the terminal device to report power consumption of the terminal device; and in response to the configuration, receiving from the terminal device a power consumption report, the power consumption report indicating power consumption information of the terminal device in a first state and/or in a second state different from the first state.

In an embodiment, the first state and/or the second state comprise at least one of a radio communication state and a radio modem activity state. The radio modem activity state may comprise at least one of a deep sleep, a light sleep, a micro-sleep and an active state of the radio modem.

Embodiments described herein provide the capability of reporting the power consumption of the terminal device. The power consumption may be reported for one or more specific components of the terminal device, or for the terminal device as a whole. For example, the terminal device may report the power consumption for one or more components of a radio modem of the terminal device. The one or more components can include for example a cellular modem (for example, LTE or 5G), non-cehular modem (for example, a WiFi modem), and/or radio frequency (RF) processing components of the terminal device.

Additionally or alternatively, power consumption may be reported specifically for another hardware of the terminal device, e.g. an application processor or a display screen.

In an embodiment, the power consumption is reported based on the measured power consumption and/or based on estimated power consumption. The measured power consumption may reflect the power consumption as measured by the terminal device. The estimated power consumption may reflect an estimate of the power consumption of the terminal device. The terminal device may store power consumption reference values for the various states and the estimate may be based on the detection of the terminal device in a determined state and retrieving the stored power consumption reference value for the determined state from a memory. The terminal device may update power consumption reference values and estimates through measurements or through firmware or software updates. Furthermore, estimation methods employed by the terminal device may be changed or updated through software updates.

Reporting the power consumption of the terminal device under various states provides the access node or another network entity managing the radio communication parameters of the terminal device with detailed information on the power consumption of the terminal device, e.g. compared with a solution where the terminal device reports only its total power consumption. Thus, the network entity has better capability of adapting the radio communication parameters of the terminal device. Figures 2A and 2B illustrate some embodiments of the states for which the power consumption may be reported. Let us next describe some of the embodiments. In the embodiments, the power consumption reported in the power consumption report comprises power consumption of at least a radio modem of the apparatus. In some embodiments, the reported power consumption of the radio modem comprises power consumption of baseband circuitries and radio frequency circuitries of the radio modem, e.g. power consumption of the following circuitries of the radio modem: layer 3 digital signal processing, layer 2 digital signal processing, physical layer (layer 1) analog and digital signal processing, analog amplifier(s) such as a power amplifier and a power supply circuit of the power amplifier.

Let us next describe some embodiments of the first and second state where the states are radio communication states. In an embodiment, one of the radio communication states is a state of processing a downlink signal, and the respective power consumption report indicates the power consumption of the apparatus when processing the downlink signal (block 216). For example, the downlink signal may comprise a downlink control channel such as a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of 3GPP specifications. The terminal device may report the power consumption for various states of processing the PDCCH, e.g. the power consumption for different numbers of blind PDCCH decoding candidates. Different terminal devices may have different capabilities of handling the different numbers of the blind PDCH candidates, and the network entity such as the access node may utilize this information when adapting the radio communication parameters. For example, if the power consumption reports indicate that the power-efficiency of the terminal device for managing a high number of blind PDCCH candidates is low, the network entity may reduce the number of blind PDCCH candidates of the terminal device.

In an embodiment, block 216 comprises reporting the power consumption for one or more discontinuous reception (DRX) states, e.g. short DRX cycle and long DRX cycle. The network entity may then optimize the DRX cycle length, on duration and/or an inactivity timer to ensure the terminal device’s power consumption is optimized. By monitoring the reported power consumption for different DRX states, the network entity may gather information on the DRX configuration most efficient for the terminal device. The network entity may also align the DRX and radio resource management (RRM) measurement configurations to minimize events where the terminal device awakes from a sleep state to carry out the measurements in cases where the terminal device is not optimized to do so itself. Accordingly, the network entity may allocate a length of a DRX of the terminal device on the basis of the power consumption report.

In an embodiment, the first state comprises communication on a first bandwidth, and the second state comprises communication on a second bandwidth different from the first bandwidth (block 210). In other words, the terminal device may report its power consumption when receiving and/or transmitting on various bandwidths.

In an embodiment, the first state comprises communication on a first number of component carriers, and the second state comprises communication on a second number of component carriers different from the first number of component carriers (block 212). In other words, the terminal device may report its power consumption when receiving and/or transmitting on various numbers of component carriers. The number of component carriers may relate to carrier aggregation specified in the 3GPP specifications or to a coordinated multipoint communications.

In an embodiment, the first state comprises communication by using a first number of antenna elements, and the second state comprises communication by using a second number of antenna elements different from the first number of antenna elements. In other words, the terminal device may report its power consumption when receiving and/or transmitting by using various numbers of antenna elements. The number of antenna elements may relate to spatial multiplexing and/or beamforming, for example.

In an embodiment, the first state comprises a first sleep state of the terminal device, and the second state comprises a second sleep state of the terminal device different from the first sleep state. In other words, the terminal device may report its power consumption in various sleep states such as deep sleep, micro sleep, and light sleep.

In an embodiment, the first state comprises communication with a first throughput, and the second state comprises communication with a second RAT different from the first RAT (block 218). The first RAT and the second RAT may both be cellular RATs such as a 5G RAT and a 3G or as 4G RAT. One of the first RAT and the second RAT may be a cellular RAT, and the other one may be a non-cellular RAT such as a RAT based on 802.11 specifications. The information on the power consumption of the terminal device with different RAT may then be used by the access node to select and configure a RAT for the terminal device to use in the communication with the access node. In an embodiment, one of the first state and the second state is a radio signal measurement state. The terminal device may measure its power consumption when performing radio signal measurements such as measuring a synchronization signal, a reference signal, or when measuring the channel conditions of a radio channel.

In an embodiment of block 210 and 310, one of a plurality of configurations may be indicated. For example, the terminal device may be configured to carry out the power consumption measurements and reporting for a radio resource control (RRC) connection in which case the configuration may be valid for the duration of the RRC connection or until reconfigured or terminated during the RRC connection. The reconfiguration may be explicit reconfiguration by the access node or a timer-based reconfiguration or termination. As another example of the plurality of configurations, a logged measurement configuration may be specified in which the terminal device may be configured to perform the power consumption measurements irrespective of the RRC connection state. In such a case, the terminal device may measure the power consumption in one or more states while the terminal device is not connected to the access node or any other access node and log the power consumption measurements. Upon a determined reporting trigger is set, the terminal device may connect to an access node and transmit the logged measurement report(s).

In an embodiment of block 210 and 310, the access node may provide the terminal device with states for which the terminal device is configured to report the power consumption. The states may form a subset of all the states of the terminal device, e.g. a subset of radio communication states. The terminal device may report the power consumption for the configured states or a subset of configured states. For example, the access node or the terminal device may have ranked the states in the order of priority, and the subset of configured states reported may comprises a determined number of highest priority configured states.

In an embodiment, triggering the power consumption reporting may be conditioned by a measured radio channel quality. The terminal device may estimate the radio channel quality and, upon determining that the quality is above a determined threshold level, the reporting is triggered. In this manner, the terminal device may reduce the power consumption related to the reporting because a lower transmit power is required under good channel conditions. The channel quality may be estimated based on measuring a received signal strength of a signal received from the access node, e.g. a reference signal reception power (RSRP). In an alternative embodiment, the power consumption reporting is triggered when a transmit power of the terminal device is below a determined threshold, provided that there is power consumption information to report.

In an embodiment, performing the power consumption measurements is triggered if an uplink transmit power of the terminal device is above a determine threshold level. In this way, the terminal device may reduce measurement impact on the power consumption. This embodiment enables triggering power consumption measurements in one state based on a trigger in a different state. The one state may be the application processor executing a determined application or the display screen being on, while the different state may be the RRC connection state or PUSCH transmission state of the terminal device.

In the embodiments where the network entity receives the information on the power consumption associated with various amounts of allocated resources, the network entity may optimize the use of the resource by learning how the different amounts of allocated resources impact the power consumption of the terminal device. The throughput is considered to be proportional to the amount of allocated resources. Let us assume, for example, that reported increase in the power consumption when activating a second carrier or serving cell is less than twice. Then, the network may determine that it is more power-efficient to allocate the multiple carriers to the terminal device than to maintain the terminal device on one carrier. Accordingly, the throughput vs. power consumption may be optimized. On the other hand, if the power consumption for adding the second carrier is greater than twice, the network entity may decide to save power by maintaining the allocation of only one carrier. The same applies to the other resources: if the power consumption per allocated resource unit decreases, the network entity may determine to allocate a further resource to the terminal device; and if the power consumption per allocated resource unit increases, the network entity may determine not to allocate a further resource to the terminal device. Allocating more resources in the case where it improves the power-efficiency of the terminal device also enables faster clearing of transmission buffers which expedites the possibility of the terminal device to enter a sleep state, e.g. DRX. Accordingly, the network entity allocate radio resources to the terminal device on the basis of the power consumption report and the reported power consumption of the terminal device in the different states of the terminal device.

In an embodiment, the first state comprises processing a signal of a first signaling mechanism, and the second state comprises processing a signal of a second signaling mechanism (block 217). The access node may support multiple signaling mechanism that induce different power consumption in the terminal device. An example of such signaling mechanisms is a scheduling mechanism. The first communication state may comprise reception of downlink scheduling information with a same-slot scheduling mechanism where the downlink scheduling information and associated downlink data are provided in the same time slot, and the second communication state may comprise reception of the downlink scheduling information with a cross-slot scheduling mechanism where the downlink scheduling information and associated downlink data are provided in different time slots. For example, if the terminal device has a capability of entering micro-sleep defined in the 3GPP documents, cross-slot scheduling would improve power-efficiency of the terminal device. The micro-sleep refers to capability of entering a sleep state upon decoding a PDCCH of a time slot with the knowledge that the time slot will not carry data for the terminal device. With the cross-slot scheduling where the PDCCH indicates whether or not a following time slot carries data for the terminal device, the terminal device knows the presence/absence of the downlink data in the time slot before the time slot begins. With the same-slot scheduling mechanism, the PDCCH indicates the presence/absence of the data for the terminal device in the same time slot which causes the terminal device to receive and buffer the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) just in case it contains data for the terminal device.

In an embodiment, the first and second signaling mechanisms are both cross slot scheduling mechanisms. For example, there may be zero or more time slots between the time slot carrying the downlink scheduling information and the time slot comprising the scheduled downlink data. In the first signaling mechanism the number of time slots there between is one value (e.g. zero) and, in the second signaling mechanism, the number of time slots there between is another value (e.g. one).

Table 1 below illustrates an example of a database that may be maintained by the network entity for the terminal device. The database may be generated and updated on the basis of the power consumption reports received from the terminal device. In Table 1, 'x' denotes the power consumption value reported by the terminal device for each radio communication state. The database may be complete or incomplete, depending on which radio communication states the terminal device has reported.

Table 1

In Table 1, PDSCH refers to physical downlink shared channel which is a downlink data channel, PUCCH refers to physical uplink control channel, and PUSCH refers to a physical uplink shared channel which is a data channel. N1 and N2 refer to arbitrary numbers supported by the system specification. Bandwidth, throughput, the number of antennas, and the number of component carriers may be specified separately for downlink and uplink in Table 1. When reporting the power consumption when performing the uplink transmission (PUSCH or PUCCH), the terminal device may also report a transmit power level applied. Knowledge of the transmit power level together with the power consumption may be used by the access node in block 302.

In an embodiment, the power consumption report comprises an information element indicating the power consumption of the apparatus in the first state and further comprises an information element indicating the first radio communication state. In a similar manner, the power consumption report comprises an information element indicating the power consumption of the apparatus in the second state and further comprises an information element indicating the second state.

The terminal device may measure either relative or absolute power consumption. The relative power consumption may refer to a relation of the power consumption of the radio modem to the total power consumption or to a relation of the power consumption of the radio modem to a maximum power consumption of the radio modem.

The terminal device may measure the power consumption as an average over a determined period of time, e.g. a determined number of time slots or symbols, or the power consumption may be an instantaneous snapshot of the power consumption. The terminal device may operate in multiple states during the determined period of time, and the terminal device may record the states as well as the power consumption in each state during the period of time. Alternatively, the terminal device may record the states and the average power consumption over the period of time but not the detailed power consumption in each state separately. Then, the terminal device may report the measured power consumption(s) and the states to the access node. The period of time may thus be fixed and independent of the state transitions of the terminal device. In another embodiment, the terminal device may measure the power consumption over the determined period of time with the condition that the terminal device remains in the same state, e.g. the same radio resource connection state.

In addition to the power consumption measurement, the terminal device may store a record comprising statistics on how often it is in a specific radio communication state. Such a record may be reported in the power consumption report.

In an embodiment, the terminal device is configured to measure the power consumption in an idle state or an inactive state and to report the power consumption upon moving to a connected state. The terminal device may further measure the power consumption in the connected state and report the power consumption in the connected state. In an embodiment, the reporting of the power consumption is triggered if the power consumption in a (radio communication) state exceeds a determine threshold. Figure 4 illustrates such a process. The terminal device may measure its power consumption (block 400) in one or more of the above-described states during its operation. The power consumption may include at least the power consumption of the radio modem or a part of the radio modem, as described above. While performing the measurements, the terminal device may compare the measured power consumption with a reporting threshold (block 402). If the power consumption in a radio communication state exceeds the reporting threshold, the process may proceed to block 404 in which the terminal device flags the power consumption and the radio communication state for reporting. In the next reporting opportunity, e.g. when switching to the connected state, the terminal device may report the flagged power consumption and indicate the corresponding radio communication state.

In an embodiment, the access node provides the terminal device with one or more reporting thresholds. The reporting threshold may be common for multiple states of the terminal device, and/or at least two different reporting threshold may be provided for two different states.

In an embodiment, the power consumption report comprises an information element indicating a current power supply state of the terminal device. For example, the power supply state may indicate whether or not the terminal device is currently connected to a charger. If the network entity detects that the terminal device is connected to the charger, the network entity may disable the power-optimization of the terminal device. If the network entity detects that the terminal device is not connected to the charger, the network entity may enable the power-optimization of the terminal device. The power supply state may include a battery status of the terminal device, and the network entity may select the radio communication parameters further on the basis of the battery status.

In an embodiment, the configuration for the power consumption reporting may configure the terminal device to omit the reporting, if the battery level of the terminal device is below a determined level. As a consequence, the battery of the terminal device is saved for more critical functions.

Figure 5 illustrates a signaling diagram illustrating the cooperation between the terminal device (UE) and the network entity, e.g. the access node. Referring to Figure 5, the terminal device may be configured to measure the power consumption in the idle mode, as represented by block 500 which is an optional feature. In block 502, the terminal device establishes a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the access node. During the RRC connection, the access node may transmit to the terminal device a message comprising an information element enabling the power consumption reporting (step 504). Upon receiving the message, the terminal device may trigger the power consumption measurements during the RRC connection (optional), or trigger the transmission of the power consumption report(s) to the access node (steps 200 and 300). The terminal device may have measured the power consumption during the RRC connection even before step 504.

The power consumption may have a high correlation amongst terminal devices manufactured by the same entity, e.g. having the same radio modem. Therefore, it may be beneficial to only perform the power consumption measurements for a given phone model in a given radio access network only once. In other words, configuring ah terminal devices having the same radio modem may be waste of resources. This can be controlled by the network entity by enabling the power consumption measurements, as described above in connection with step 504. In such a case, the terminal device may start the power consumption measurements only upon receiving the enablement in step 504. Since the power consumption may be common to similar devices, the terminal device may indicate its device type in the power consumption report. In an embodiment, the access node acquires a permanent identifier of the terminal device such as a Permanent Equipment Identifier (PEI) or an international mobile equipment identifier (1ME1), or a part of the PE1/1ME1. The terminal device may report the permanent identifier through signaling to a core network or in the power consumption report. For devices that are capable of accessing a 3GPP network. The part of the 1ME1 may consist of first (8) digits of the 1ME1, also known as Type Approval Code.

In an embodiment, the terminal device transmits the power consumption report for a radio communication state only once during the RRC connection. In general, the power consumption for a specific radio communication state is not expected to change during the lifetime of the terminal device and, thus, the device-specific power consumption model at network side may be rather static after some a certain amount of measurements. The update of the database may be needed when major changes to the radio configurations are incorporated.

In an embodiment, the power consumption report comprises at least one information element indicating the power consumption of the apparatus in the respective radio communication state relative to a total power consumption of the apparatus. In this manner, the terminal device may indicate to the network element whether or not it is sensible to optimize the power consumption of the terminal device. If the reported power consumption indicates that the radio modem consumes only a minority of the total power consumption or, in other words, a relative power consumption below a threshold, the network entity may disable the power-optimization. For example, if an application processor or a graphics processor is using a vast majority of the total power, it may not be feasible to lower the user experience to have a marginal improvement in the power consumption.

Figures 6 and 7 illustrate apparatuses comprising a communication controller 10, 30 such as at least one processor or processing circuitry, and at least one memory 20, 40 including a computer program code (software) 24, 44, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code (software) are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the respective apparatus to carry out any one of the embodiments described above. Figure 6 illustrates an apparatus for the terminal device, and Figure 7 illustrates an apparatus for the access node or the network entity configuring the power consumption reporting and associated radio communication parameter optimization for the terminal device. The apparatuses of Figures 6 and 7 may be electronic devices.

Referring to Figures 6 and 7, the memory 20, 40 may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. The memory may comprise a configuration database 26, 46 for storing configuration parameters, e.g. the power consumption of the terminal device in the various states, the configuration of the terminal device for the power consumption reporting, and/or the radio communication parameters of the terminal device. The memory 20, 40 may further store a data buffer for data waiting for transmission.

Referring to Figure 6, the apparatus may further comprise a communication interface 42 comprising hardware and/or software for realizing communication connectivity according to one or more radio communication protocols. The communication interface 42 may provide the apparatus with radio communication capabilities with one or more access nodes of a wireless network. In an embodiment, the communication interface 42 comprises one or more antenna arrays providing the apparatus with capability of forming directive transmission radio beams and the reception radio beams. The communication interface may comprise standard well- known analog radio components such as an amplifier, filter, frequency-converter and circuitries, conversion circuitries transforming signals between analog and digital domains, and one or more antennas. Digital signal processing regarding transmission and reception of signals may be performed in a communication controller 30.

The apparatus may further comprise an application processor 32 executing one or more computer program applications that generate a need to transmit and/or receive data through the access nodes. The application processor may form an application layer of the apparatus. The application processor may execute computer programs forming the primary function of the apparatus. For example, if the apparatus is a sensor device, the application processor may execute one or more signal processing applications processing measurement data acquired from one or more sensor heads. If the apparatus is a computer system of a vehicle, the application processor may execute a media application and/or an autonomous driving and navigation application.

The communication controller 30 may comprise a power consumption measurement circuitry 34 configured to perform the power consumption measurement or estimation of the apparatus according to any one of the embodiments described above. The communication controller 30 may further comprise a state detection circuitry 38 configured to detect one or more states of the apparatus for the power consumption measurements and reporting. The communication controller 30 may further comprise a power consumption reporting circuitry 36 configured to generate and transmit the power consumption report upon triggering the reporting. In the embodiment where the apparatus is configured to measure the power consumption for one or more states, the communication controller may control the state detection circuitry 38 to detect the current state of the apparatus and the power consumption measurement circuitry to measure the power consumption in the current state. Upon performing the measurements, the current state and the power consumption in the current state may be stored in the configuration database 46. A similar procedure may be performed for at least one other state of the apparatus. When the power consumption reporting is performed only for specific states, the operation of the power consumption measurement circuitry may be subjected to the state detection circuitry 38. When the state detection circuitry detects a state for which the power consumption measurements is configured, the state detection circuitry may control the power consumption measurement circuitry to measure or estimate the power consumption of the apparatus. Upon performing the measurements, the current state and the power consumption in the current state may be stored in the configuration database 46. The communication controller may enable the power consumption reporting circuitry 36 upon triggering the power consumption reporting. The power consumption reporting circuitry 36 may then retrieve the stored measurements from the configuration database 46 and generate one or more power consumption reports indicating the power consumption of the apparatus in the states and, further, indicating the states in which the power consumption was measured. The power consumption reporting circuitry 36 may control the communication interface 42 to transmit the one or more power consumption reports.

Referring to Figure 7, the apparatus for the access node comprises a communication interface 22 comprising hardware and/or software for realizing communication connectivity according to one or more radio communication protocols. The communication interface 22 may provide the apparatus with communication capabilities to terminal devices camping in one or more cells controlled by the access node. In an embodiment, the communication interface may comprise one or more antenna arrays providing the apparatus with capability of forming directive transmission radio beams and the reception radio beams. The communication interface may comprise standard well-known components such as an amplifier, filter, frequency- converter, (de) modulator, and encoder/decoder circuitries and one or more antennas.

The communication controller 10 comprises a radio controller circuitry 12 configured to control functions of terminal device (s) connected to the access node. The radio controller circuitry may, for example, configure the terminal device to perform the power consumption measurements (block 310). Upon receiving the power consumption measurement report(s) from the terminal device, a radio communication parameter optimizer circuitry 14 may be triggered. A power consumption analysis circuitry may analyse the measurement reports and the power consumption of the terminal device in the various states. The radio communication parameter optimizer may then determine radio communication parameters for the terminal device on the basis of the analysis. The radio controller circuitry 12 may communicate the radio communication parameters to the terminal device through the communication interface 22.

In an embodiment, at least some of the functionalities of the apparatus of Figure 7 may be shared between two physically separate devices, forming one operational entity. Therefore, the apparatus may be seen to depict the operational entity comprising one or more physically separate devices for executing at least some of the processes described with respect to the access nodes. Thus, the apparatus utilizing such shared architecture, may comprise a remote control unit (RCU), such as a host computer or a server computer, operatively coupled (e.g. via a wireless or wired network) to a remote radio head (RRH), such as a Transmission Reception Point (TRP), located in the access node, e.g. the gNB 104. Some examples of the RRH/TRP configurations are illustrated in Figures 2A and 2B. In an embodiment, at least some of the described processes may be performed by the RCU. In an embodiment, the execution of at least some of the described processes may be shared among the RRH and the RCU.

In an embodiment, the RCU may generate a virtual network through which the RCU communicates with the RRH. In general, virtual networking may involve a process of combining hardware and software network resources and network functionality into a single, software-based administrative entity, a virtual network. Network virtualization may involve platform virtualization, often combined with resource virtualization. Network virtualization may be categorized as external virtual networking which combines many networks, or parts of networks, into the server computer or the host computer (i.e. to the RCU). External network virtualization is targeted to optimized network sharing. Another category is internal virtual networking which provides network-like functionality to the software containers on a single system.

In an embodiment, the virtual network may provide flexible distribution of operations between the RRH and the RCU. In practice, any digital signal processing task may be performed in either the RRH or the RCU and the boundary where the responsibility is shifted between the RRH and the RCU may be selected according to implementation.

As used in this application, the term 'circuitry' refers to all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations, such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry, and (b) combinations of circuits and soft- ware (and/or firmware), such as (as applicable): (i) a combination of processor (s) or (ii) portions of processor(s)/software including digital signal processor(s), software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus to perform various functions, and (c) circuits, such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that require software or firmware for operation, even if the software or firmware is not physically present. This definition of 'circuitry' applies to all uses of this term in this application. As a further example, as used in this application, the term 'circuitry' would also cover an implementation of merely a processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of a processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term 'circuitry' would also cover, for example and if applicable to the particular element, a baseband integrated circuit or applications processor integrated circuit for a mobile phone or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, or another network device. In an embodiment, at least some of the processes described in connection with Figures 2A to 5 may be carried out by an apparatus comprising corresponding means for carrying out at least some of the described processes. Some example means for carrying out the processes may include at least one of the following: detector, processor (including dual-core and multiple-core processors), digital signal processor, controller, receiver, transmitter, encoder, decoder, memory, RAM, ROM, software, firmware, display, user interface, display circuitry, user interface circuitry, user interface software, display software, circuit, antenna, antenna circuitry, and circuitry. In an embodiment, the at least one processor, the memory, and the computer program code form processing means or comprises one or more computer program code portions for carrying out one or more operations according to any one of the embodiments described herein.

According to yet another embodiment, the apparatus carrying out the embodiments comprises a circuitry including at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. When activated, the circuitry causes the apparatus to perform at least some of the functionalities according to any one of the embodiments of Figures 2A to 5, or operations thereof.

The techniques and methods described herein may be implemented by various means. For example, these techniques may be implemented in hardware (one or more devices), firmware (one or more devices), software (one or more modules), or combinations thereof. For a hardware implementation, the apparatus(es) of embodiments may be implemented within one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof. For firmware or software, the implementation can be carried out through modules of at least one chip set (e.g. procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. The software codes may be stored in a memory unit and executed by processors. The memory unit may be implemented within the processor or externally to the processor. In the latter case, it can be communicatively coupled to the processor via various means, as is known in the art. Additionally, the components of the systems described herein may be rearranged and/or complemented by additional components in order to facilitate the achievements of the various aspects, etc., described with regard thereto, and they are not limited to the precise configurations set forth in the given figures, as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art.

Embodiments as described may also be carried out in the form of a computer process defined by a computer program or portions thereof. Embodiments of the methods described in connection with Figures 3 to 8 may be carried out by executing at least one portion of a computer program comprising corresponding instructions. The computer program may be in source code form, object code form, or in some intermediate form, and it may be stored in some sort of carrier, which may be any entity or device capable of carrying the program. For example, the computer program may be stored on a computer program distribution medium readable by a computer or a processor. The computer program medium may be, for example but not limited to, a record medium, computer memory, read-only memory, electrical carrier signal, telecommunications signal, and software distribution package, for example. The computer program medium may be a non-transitory medium, for example. Coding of software for carrying out the embodiments as shown and described is well within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art. In an embodiment, a computer-readable medium comprises said computer program.

Even though the invention has been described above with reference to an example according to the accompanying drawings, it is clear that the invention is not restricted thereto but can be modified in several ways within the scope of the appended claims. Therefore, all words and expressions should be interpreted broadly and they are intended to illustrate, not to restrict, the embodiment. It will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that, as technology advances, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways. Further, it is clear to a person skilled in the art that the described embodiments may, but are not required to, be combined with other embodiments in various ways.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising means for performing:

receiving, from an access node, a message configuring the apparatus to report power consumption of the apparatus; and

in response to the received configuration, transmitting a power consumption report to the access node, the power consumption report indicating a power consumption information of the apparatus in a first state of the apparatus and/or in a second state of the apparatus different from the first state.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the power consumption information in the first state and/or in the second state comprises power consumption of at least a radio modem of the apparatus.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the radio modem comprises at least one of a cellular radio modem, a non-cellular radio modem, or a radio frequency component of the apparatus.

4. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the first state and/or the second state comprise at least one of a radio communication state and a radio modem activity state.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the first state and/or the second state comprise the modem activity state that comprises at least one of a deep sleep, a light sleep, a micro-sleep, and an active state of the radio modem.

6. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the power consumption report comprises an information element indicating the power consumption of the apparatus in the first and/or the second state and further comprises an information element indicating the first and/or the second state.

7. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the reported power consumption comprises at least one of: measured power consumption or estimated power consumption.

8. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the first state comprises communication with a first radio access technology, and the second state comprises communication with a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology.

9. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the first state comprises reception of downlink scheduling information with a same-slot scheduling mechanism where the downlink scheduling information and associated downlink data are provided in the same time slot, and the second state comprises reception of the downlink scheduling information with a cross-slot scheduling mechanism where the downlink scheduling information and associated downlink data are provided in different time slots.

10. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the means are further configured to receive, from the access node a message comprising radio communication parameters adapted to the reported power consumption of the apparatus.

11. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the means are further configured to transmit an international mobile equipment identifier or a part of the international mobile equipment identifier to the access node in connection with the power consumption report.

12. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the means are further configured to trigger the transmission of the power consumption report if the power consumption in the first state and/or the second state exceeds a determined threshold.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the means are configured to receive the determined threshold from the access node.

14. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the power consumption report comprises at least one information element indicating the power consumption of the apparatus in the first state and/or the second state relative to a total power consumption of the apparatus.

15. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the means are further configured to transmit the power consumption report only once during a radio resource control connection.

16. An apparatus comprising means for performing:

transmitting, to a terminal device, a message configuring the terminal device to report power consumption of the terminal device; and

in response to the configuration, receiving from the terminal device a power consumption report, the power consumption report indicating power consumption information of the terminal device in a first state of the terminal device and/or in a second state of the terminal device different from the first state.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the means are configured to determine radio communication parameters of the terminal device on the basis of the power consumption information and to transmit to the terminal device a message indicating the radio communication parameters.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the means are configured to allocate radio resources to the terminal device on the basis of the power consumption information.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 or 18, wherein the means are configured to allocate a length of discontinuous reception cycle of the terminal device on the basis of the power consumption information.

20. The apparatus of any preceding claim 16 to 19, wherein the means are configured to transmit to the terminal device one or more thresholds that trigger the transmission of the power consumption report if the power consumption in the first state and/or the second state, respectively, exceeds the one or more thresholds.

21. The apparatus of any preceding claim 1 to 20, wherein the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory including a computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the performance of the apparatus.

22. A method comprising:

receiving, in a terminal device from an access node, a message configuring the apparatus to report power consumption of the terminal device; and

in response to the received configuration, transmitting by the terminal device a power consumption report to an access node, the power consumption report indicating a power consumption information of the terminal device in a first state of the apparatus and/or in a second state of the terminal device different from the first state.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the power consumption information in the first state and/or in the second state comprises power consumption of at least a radio modem of the terminal device.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the radio modem comprises at least one of a cellular radio modem, a non-cellular radio modem, or a radio frequency component of the terminal device.

25. The method of any preceding claim 22 to 24, wherein the first state and/or the second state comprise at least one of a radio communication state and a radio modem activity state.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the first state and/or the second state comprise the radio modem activity state that comprises at least one of a deep sleep, a light sleep, a micro-sleep, and an active state of the radio modem.

27. The method of any preceding claim 22 to 26, wherein the power consumption report comprises an information element indicating the power consumption of the apparatus in the first and/or the second state and further comprises an information element indicating the first and/or the second state.

28. The method of any preceding claim 22 to 27, wherein the reported power consumption comprises at least one of: measured power consumption or estimated power consumption.

29. The method of any preceding claim 22 to 28, wherein the first state comprises communication with a first radio access technology, and the second state comprises communication with a second radio access technology different from the first radio access technology.

30. The method of any preceding claim 22 to 29, wherein the first state comprises reception of downlink scheduling information with a same-slot scheduling mechanism where the downlink scheduling information and associated downlink data are provided in the same time slot, and the second state comprises reception of the downlink scheduling information with a cross-slot scheduling mechanism where the downlink scheduling information and associated downlink data are provided in different time slots.

31. The method of any preceding claim 22 to 30, further comprising receiving, by the terminal device from the access node, a message comprising radio communication parameters adapted to the reported power consumption of the terminal device.

32. The method of any preceding claim 22 to 31, further comprising transmitting an international mobile equipment identifier or a part of the international mobile equipment identifier to the access node in connection with the power consumption report.

33. The method of any preceding claim 22 to 32, further comprising triggering, by the terminal device, the transmission of the power consumption report if the power consumption in the first state and/or the second state exceeds a determined threshold.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the determined threshold is received by the terminal device from the access node.

35. The method of any preceding claim 22 to 34, wherein the power consumption report comprises at least one information element indicating the power consumption of the terminal device in the first state and/or the second state relative to a total power consumption of the terminal device.

36. The method of any preceding claim 22 to 35, wherein the terminal device transmits the power consumption report only once during a radio resource control connection.

37. A method comprising:

transmitting, by an access node to a terminal device, a message configuring the terminal device to report power consumption of the terminal device; and

in response to the configuration, receiving by the access node from the terminal device a power consumption report, the power consumption report indicating power consumption information of the terminal device in a first state of the terminal device and/or in a second state of the terminal device different from the first state.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the access node determines radio communication parameters of the terminal device on the basis of the power consumption information and transmits to the terminal device a message indicating the radio communication parameters.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the access node allocates radio resources to the terminal device on the basis of the power consumption information.

40. The apparatus of claim 38 or 39, wherein the access node allocates a length of discontinuous reception cycle of the terminal device on the basis of the power consumption information.

41. The apparatus of any preceding claim 37 to 40, wherein the access node transmits to the terminal device one or more thresholds that trigger the transmission of the power consumption report if the power consumption in the first state and/or the second state exceeds the one or more thresholds.

42. A computer program product embodied on a computer-readable medium and comprising a computer program code readable by a computer, wherein the computer program code configures the computer to carry out a computer process comprising:

receiving, in a terminal device from an access node, a message configuring the apparatus to report power consumption of the terminal device; and in response to the received configuration, transmitting a power consumption report to the access node, the power consumption report indicating a power consumption information of the terminal device in a first state of the apparatus and/or in a second state of the terminal device different from the first state.

43. A computer program product embodied on a computer-readable medium and comprising a computer program code readable by a computer, wherein the computer program code configures the computer to carry out a computer process comprising:

in response to the configuration, receiving in an access node from the terminal device a power consumption report, the power consumption report indicating power consumption information of the terminal device in a first state of the terminal device and/or in a second state of the terminal device different from the first state.