An apparatus may be configured to: receive a configuration for physical downlink control channel monitoring: transmit, to a base station, a (small) data transmission: select a physical downlink control channel monitoring pattern based, at least, on the configuration and information of the data transmission; and perform, with a user equipment, physical downlink control channel monitoring based on the selected physical downlink control channel monitoring pattern. An apparatus may be configured to: transmit, to a user equipment, a configuration for physical downlink control channel monitoring: receive, from the user equipment, a (small) data transmission; select a physical downlink control channel monitoring pattern based, at least, on the configuration and at least one of: information of the data transmission, or a physical random access channel preamble received from the user equipment; and transmit, to the user equipment, a transmission based on the selected physical downlink control channel monitoring pattern.