Early activation of discontinuous reception

A terminal device configured to:

• configure a data connection on a wireless link between the terminal device and a network based on a first control signal native to a first layer of a transmission protocol stack associated with the wireless link,
• participate in a data communication via the data connection,
• receive a second control signal native to a second layer of the transmission protocol stack, the second layer being arranged lower in hierarchy of the transmission protocol stack than the first layer, and
• in response to receiving the second control signal:
• activate a discontinuous reception for the data communication,
• wherein the second layer is implemented by the Physical Layer of the transmission protocol stack.

A base station configured to:

• configure a data connection on a wireless link between the terminal device and the network based on a first control signal native to a first layer of a transmission protocol stack associated with the wireless link,
• participate in a data communication via the data connection,
• transmit a second control signal native to a second layer of the transmission protocol stack, the second layer being arranged lower in hierarchy of the transmission protocol stack than the first layer, and
• in response to transmitting the second control signal:
• activate a discontinuous reception for the data communication,
• wherein the second layer is implemented by the Physical Layer of the transmission protocol stack.