Efficient Algorithm to Reduce Power Consumption for EUTRA-New Radio Dual Connectivity RAN Parameter Measurements in 5G

Abstract

Initial deployments of 5G cellular network around the Globe has happened in Non-Standalone Mode, also known as Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (EUTRA)-New Radio (NR) Dual connectivity(EN-DC). In this mode, a User Equipment (UE) connects to one 4G Evolved Node B(eNB) that acts as a Master Node (MN) and one Next Generation 5G base station (gNB) that serves as a Secondary Node (SN). With this architecture, LTE cell becomes Master Cell Group (MCG), and NR cell becomes Secondary Cell Group (SCG). In a UE supporting EN-DC, the base station configures NR SCG addition based on NR measurement reports from UE. Due to challenges in the wireless medium, SCG addition may not be successful, and failure may happen. Frequent SCG failures would lead to unstable 5G service and would cause high power consumption in UE due to repeated NR measurements. This paper presents a technique to improve power consumption in UE and discusses different methods to handle 5G cell measurements in case of frequent SCG failures. Through extensive experiments and simulations, the proposed idea has shown a reduction in power consumption by 29.6%.