Transmit Radio Resource Control Information

Abstract

Methods, apparatuses, and systems for transmitting radio resource control (RRC) layer information without causing complex processing in a lower layer are described. In one exemplary aspect, a wireless communication method includes scrambling at least a portion of a first radio resource configuration (RRC) message by a base station based on a seed associated with a mobile device before cyclic redundancy check (CRC) attachment. The method further includes transmitting, by the base station, at least a portion of the first RRC message through a corresponding channel at a layer lower than a radio link control layer or a media access control layer.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This patent application generally relates to wireless communication. Background Art

[0002] Mobile communication technology is pushing the world towards an increasingly interconnected and networked society. The rapid growth of mobile communication and technological advancements have led to a greater demand for capacity and connectivity. Other aspects, such as energy consumption, device cost, spectral efficiency, and latency, are also important for meeting the requirements of various communication scenarios. Various technologies are being discussed, including new methods for providing higher quality of service, longer battery life, and improved performance. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This patent application particularly describes a technique for transmitting radio resource control (RRC) layer information without causing complex processing in the lower layers.

[0004] In one exemplary aspect, a wireless communication method is disclosed. The method includes scrambling at least a portion of a first radio resource configuration (RRC) message by a base station based on a seed associated with a mobile device before cyclic redundancy check (CRC) attachment. The method further includes the base station transmitting the at least a portion of the first RRC message at a layer below the radio link control layer or the media access control layer via a corresponding channel.

[0005] In another exemplary aspect, a wireless communication method is disclosed. The method includes a mobile device receiving at least a portion of a first radio resource configuration (RRC) message at a layer below the radio link control layer or the media access control layer via a corresponding channel. The at least a portion of the first RRC message is scrambled before cyclic redundancy check (CRC) attachment based on a seed associated with the mobile device. The method further includes descrambling a second message to determine information about the RRC layer.

[0006] The following examples list the techniques preferably implemented by some embodiments. In some embodiments, at least a portion of the first RRC message is scrambled based on a pseudo-random number generated according to the seed. In some embodiments, the layer includes the media access control (MAC) layer or the physical layer. In some embodiments, at least a portion of the first RRC message includes downlink control information (DCI). The corresponding channel includes the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). The PDCCH may not have any corresponding uplink or downlink data channels. In some embodiments, at least a portion of the first RRC message is included in one or more MAC protocol data units (PDUs). The corresponding channel includes the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0007] In some embodiments, the seed is predefined based on an identifier of the mobile device. In some embodiments, the identifier includes an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), a Globally Unique Temporary Identifier (GUTI), and a SAE-Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (S-RMSI).

[0008] In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting, by a base station to a mobile station, a second RRC message before transmitting at least a portion of the first RRC message, wherein the second RRC message includes the seed. In some embodiments, the method further includes notifying the mobile device that at least a portion of the first RRC message will be transmitted at a layer lower than the Radio Link Control layer or the Medium Access Control layer. In some embodiments, the corresponding channel bears information indicating whether at least a portion of the first RRC message has changed compared to a previous message.

[0009] In some embodiments, the method includes transmitting, by a physical channel, an acknowledgement of the second RRC message from the mobile device to the base station with a first time domain offset. In some embodiments, the method includes transmitting, by a physical channel, a transaction identifier of at least a portion of the first message from the mobile device to the base station with a second time domain offset. The transaction identifier may be included in X bits of a MAC Control Element (CE), where X is associated with the maximum value of the transaction identifier. In some embodiments, the first time domain offset or the second time domain offset is predefined.

[0010] In another example aspect, a communication device is disclosed. The device includes a processor configured to implement the above-described method.

[0011] In yet another example aspect, a computer program storage medium is disclosed. The computer program storage medium includes code stored thereon. When executed by a processor, the code causes the processor to implement the described method.

[0012] These and other aspects are described in this application. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] Figure 1 is a flowchart representation of a wireless communication method according to the present technology.

[0014] Figure 2 is a flowchart representation of another wireless communication method according to the present technology.

[0015] Figure 3 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system to which the techniques according to one or more embodiments of the present technology can be applied.

[0016] Figure 4 is a block diagram representation of a part of a radio station to which one or more embodiments of the present technology can be applied. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] The chapter titles used in this application are for readability only and do not limit the scope of the embodiments and technologies disclosed in each chapter to that chapter. Some features are described using examples of 5G wireless protocols. However, the applicability of the disclosed technologies is not limited to 5G wireless systems.

[0018] Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) is one of the three main usage scenarios of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) communication technology. URLLC plays a key role in many fields such as factory automation, smart cities, autonomous driving, public safety, and other wireless communication services. The core performance metric of URLLC is the Packet Error Rate (PER), where the information transmission reliability is 10 to the power of -5, and the end-to-end (e2e) transmission latency is 1 ms or less.

[0019] Due to the complex processing of multiple protocol layers (such as the Radio Resource Control (RRC), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), Radio Link Control (RLC), Media Access Control (MAC), and Physical (PHY) layers) at the sending and receiving ends, some Layer 3 Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages (such as resource configuration messages, handover messages, etc.) become performance bottlenecks for URLLC. In addition, the air interface latency and the ambiguity of the RRC message verification time exacerbate the performance issues.

[0020] Currently, to meet the performance requirements of URLLC, the above RRC messages are usually sent with a relatively long time advance. However, this results in a waste of time-frequency resources. Considering the high reliability and performance requirements of URLLC services, existing methods may lead to a scarcity of communication resources.

[0021] The technologies disclosed herein can be implemented in various embodiments to reduce the latency of transmitting and / or receiving RRC messages. The disclosed technologies can also help minimize or eliminate the waste of resources in such transmissions. Figure 1 is a flowchart representation of a wireless communication method 100 according to the present technology. Method 100 includes, at operation 102, scrambling at least a portion of a first Radio Resource Configuration (RRC) message by a base station based on a seed associated with a mobile device before physical layer operations (such as CRC attachment). Method 100 further includes, at operation 104, transmitting at least a portion of the first RRC message by the base station through a corresponding channel at a layer below the Radio Link Control layer or the Media Access Control layer.

[0022] Figure 2is a flowchart representation of a wireless communication method 200 according to the present technology. The method 200 includes, at operation 202, receiving, by a mobile device, at a layer below the radio link control layer or the media access control layer, at least a portion of a first radio resource configuration (RRC) message over a corresponding channel. Based on a seed associated with the mobile device, at least a portion of the first RRC message is scrambled before physical layer operations (such as CRC attachment). The method 200 further includes, at operation 204, descrambling a second message to determine information regarding the RRC layer.

[0023] The following examples list techniques preferably implemented by some embodiments. In some embodiments, at least a portion of the first RRC message is scrambled based on a pseudo-random number generated according to a seed. Scrambling a portion of the RRC message based on a pseudo-random number increases the security level of the content. In some embodiments, the layer includes the media access control (MAC) layer or the physical layer. For example, at least a portion of the first RRC message is included in downlink control information (DCI), and the corresponding channel includes the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). The PDCCH may not have any corresponding uplink or downlink data channel. As another example, at least a portion of the first RRC message is included in one or more MAC protocol data units (PDUs), and the corresponding channel includes the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0024] In some embodiments, the seed is predefined according to an identifier of the mobile device. The identifier may include an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI), a globally unique temporary identifier (GUTI), a SAE-temporary mobile subscriber identity (S-RMSI).

[0025] In some embodiments, the base station transmits a second RRC message to the mobile station before transmitting at least a portion of the first RRC message. The seed may be included in the second RRC message. In some embodiments, the base station notifies the mobile device that at least a portion of the first RRC message will be transmitted at a layer below the radio link control layer or the media access control layer. In some embodiments, the corresponding channel carries information indicating whether at least a portion of the first RRC message has changed compared to a previous message.

[0026] In some embodiments, the mobile device transmits an acknowledgement of the second RRC message to the base station with a first time domain offset over a physical channel. In some embodiments, the mobile device transmits a transaction identifier of at least a portion of the first message to the base station with a second time domain offset over a physical channel. The transaction identifier may be included in X bits of a MAC control element (CE), where X is associated with the maximum value of the transaction identifier. In some embodiments, the first time domain offset or the second time domain offset is predefined.

[0027] Some examples of the disclosed technology are described in the following example embodiments.

[0028] Embodiment 1

[0029] Currently, RRC messages need to undergo complex processing through multiple protocol layers. For example, messages need to be encrypted and integrity protected at the PDCP layer. In the RLC layer, messages are segmented or concatenated and may need to be retransmitted one or more times. In the MAC layer, logical channel multiplexing can be performed on the messages. The PHY layer requires cyclic redundancy check (CRC) attachment, channel coding, modulation, etc. Then, after all these processing steps are completed, the messages are transmitted to the user equipment (UE), which increases a large amount of overhead and increases the transmission delay of the messages.

[0030] To reduce the processing complexity and transmission delay, the transmitting end (e.g., the base station) can scramble the information bits included in the RRC message using one or more pseudo-random numbers. In some embodiments, the number of pseudo-random numbers is equal to the number of information bits of the RRC message. One or more pseudo-random numbers can be generated based on a seed and a predefined pseudo-random number generator. In some embodiments, the transmitting end (e.g., the base station) can transmit the seed to the receiving end (e.g., the UE) in another RRC message to notify the UE of the seed in advance. In some embodiments, the seed is predefined according to UE-related identification numbers (such as International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), Globally Unique Temporary Identifier (GUTI), SAE-Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (S-RMSI), etc.).

[0031] After scrambling is completed, the base station can transmit the information bits in the downlink control information (DCI) in the corresponding channel (such as the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH)). Here, the PDCCH may not have any corresponding data channels, including the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) and the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). The information bits included in the DCI can be further processed (such as CRC attachment, channel coding, and / or modulation) before being transmitted to the UE.

[0032] In some embodiments, the transmitting end (e.g., the base station) notifies the receiving end (e.g., the UE) in advance that the information bits of the RRC message will be carried by a lower layer (e.g., the PHY layer). In some embodiments, the base station sends such a notification in the RRC message, which may optionally include a seed for scrambling. In some embodiments, two separate RRC messages can be used to send the notification and the seed respectively. For example, the notification and the seed can be carried in one or two RRC messages. In some embodiments, an additional field can be added to the DCI to indicate whether the information bits carried by the PDCCH have changed compared to the previous transmission.

[0033] The receiving end (e.g., UE) may first detect an RRC message including a notification and / or a seed. Based on the notification, the UE then decodes the DCI transmitted via the PDCCH using one or more pseudo-random numbers corresponding to the seed. In some embodiments, the number of pseudo-random numbers is equal to the number of data bits after the PDCCH is decoded. In some embodiments, an additional field in the DCI indicates whether the information bits carried by the PDCCH have changed compared to the previous DCI. If there is no change, the detected data may be discarded.

[0034] Compared with existing methods for transmitting RRC information, the methods described herein do not require complex processing in layers such as the PDCP layer, the RLC layer, and the MAC layer, thus greatly reducing the transmission delay of RRC messages. Since there is no need to transmit RRC information with a long timing advance, time-frequency resources can also be saved.

[0035] The techniques disclosed herein allow the transmission of RRC information to bypass complex processing in the PDCP layer, the RLC layer, and / or the MAC layer while still providing security for the RRC information. For example, a non-target UE may attempt to decode the RRC information by eavesdropping on the information transmitted on the PDCCH of the target UE. However, since the non-target UE does not have a UE-specific seed, even if it can successfully decode the PDCCH of the target UE, it cannot correctly descramble the information bits.

[0036] Embodiment 2

[0037] In some embodiments, the transmitting end (e.g., the base station) may use the lower layer to transmit some information bits of the RRC message. That is, the RRC message may be divided into two or more parts, and at least one part may be transmitted using the PHY layer. This is appropriate when some information bits in the RRC message change faster than the rest. For example, security-related information usually changes slowly, while fields related to resource allocation change more frequently. The fast-changing part may be carried by the lower layer instead to avoid complex processing and reduce the transmission delay.

[0038] In some embodiments, a transmitting end (e.g., a base station) may use one or more pseudo-random numbers to scramble some of the information bits (e.g., the fast-changing part) included in an RRC message. In some embodiments, the number of pseudo-random numbers is equal to the number of information bits to be transmitted. One or more pseudo-random numbers may be generated based on a seed and a predefined pseudo-random number generator. In some embodiments, the transmitting end (e.g., a base station) may transmit the seed to a receiving end (e.g., a UE) in another RRC message so as to notify the UE of the seed in advance. In some embodiments, the seed is predefined according to a UE-related identification number such as an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), a Globally Unique Temporary Identifier (GUTI), a SAE-Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (S-RMSI), etc.

[0039] After scrambling is completed, the base station may transmit a selected part of the information bits in the downlink control information (DCI) in a corresponding channel (e.g., the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH)). Here, the PDCCH may not have any corresponding data channels, including the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) and the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). The information bits included in the DCI may be further processed (e.g., CRC attachment, channel coding, and / or modulation) before being transmitted to the UE.

[0040] In some embodiments, the transmitting end (e.g., a base station) notifies the receiving end (e.g., a UE) in advance that some of the information bits of the RRC message will be carried by a lower layer (e.g., the PHY layer). In some embodiments, the base station sends such a notification in an RRC message, which may optionally include a seed for scrambling. In some embodiments, two separate RRC messages may be used to send the notification and the seed respectively. For example, the notification and the seed may be carried in one or two RRC messages. In some embodiments, an additional field may be added to the DCI to indicate whether the information bits carried by the PDCCH have changed compared with the previous transmission.

[0041] The receiving end (e.g., a UE) may first detect the RRC message including the notification and / or the seed. Based on this notification, the UE then decodes the DCI transmitted through the PDCCH using one or more pseudo-random numbers corresponding to the seed. In some embodiments, the number of pseudo-random numbers is equal to the number of data bits after the PDCCH is decoded. In some embodiments, the additional field in the DCI indicates whether the information bits carried by the PDCCH have changed compared with the previous DCI. If there is no change, the detected data may be discarded.

[0042] In some embodiments, the base station can flexibly change the PDCCH payload by configuring the fields carried in the PDCCH, so that the partial information bits of the RRC carried in the PDCCH have the same payload size as other control data carried in the PDCCH in traditional PDSCH / PUSCH scheduling. In this way, the detection complexity at the receiving end can be reduced.

[0043] Embodiment 3

[0044] In some embodiments, the transmitting end (e.g., the base station) can transmit at least a part of the information bits of the RRC message as a MAC PDU on a corresponding channel (such as the PDSCH). The MAC PDU can include two parts: a MAC sub-header and a MAC control element (CE). The MAC sub-header includes at least one logical channel index and one or more reserved bits. For example, if the MAC sub-header includes 8 bits and the logical channel index occupies 6 bits, the other 2 bits are regarded as reserved bits. The logical channel index is the index corresponding to the MAC CE; different types of MAC CEs have different logical channel indexes. The MAC CE can include X bits. X can be a value associated with the number of bits transmitted in the MAC PDU. For example, the number of bits transmitted in the MAC PDU is K, and X can be determined as

[0045] In some embodiments, the base station scrambles at least a part of the information bits of the RRC carried in the MAC CE using one or more pseudo-random numbers. The number of pseudo-random numbers can be X (i.e., the number of bits of the MAC CE). One or more pseudo-random numbers can be generated based on a seed and a predefined pseudo-random number generator. In some embodiments, the transmitting end (e.g., the base station) can transmit the seed to the receiving end (e.g., the UE) in another RRC message to notify the UE of the seed in advance. In some embodiments, the seed is predefined according to the UE-related identification number (such as the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), the Globally Unique Temporary Identifier (GUTI), the SAE-Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (S-RMSI), etc.).

[0046] In some embodiments, the transmitting end (e.g., the base station) notifies the receiving end (e.g., the UE) in advance that the information bits of the RRC message will be carried by a lower layer (such as the MAC layer). In some embodiments, the base station sends such a notification in the RRC message, which can optionally include the seed for scrambling. In some embodiments, two separate RRC messages can be used to send the notification and the seed respectively. For example, the notification and the seed can be carried in one or two RRC messages. In some embodiments, an additional field can be added to the PDU to indicate whether the information bits carried in the PDSCH have changed compared with the previous transmission.

[0047] Here, the information bits do not need to be processed by the PDCP layer or the RLC layer, thus reducing the processing delay and overhead. Since the information bits are sent by the MAC PDU, it is convenient to use incremental redundancy to improve the transmission reliability in case of transmission failure.

[0048] Embodiment 4

[0049] After the receiving end (e.g., UE) receives the information bits of the RRC message (carried in the lower layer), the receiving end transmits the RRC transaction identifier corresponding to the information bits to the transmitting end (e.g., the base station). For example, the transaction identifier is defined as k. The UE includes the identifier k in one of the allocated MAC PDUs and transmits it using the corresponding channel (e.g., PUSCH). The MAC PDU can include two parts: a MAC sub-header and a MAC control element (CE). The MAC sub-header includes at least one logical channel index and one or more reserved bits. For example, if the MAC sub-header includes 8 bits and the logical channel index occupies 6 bits, the other 2 bits are regarded as reserved bits. The logical channel index is the index corresponding to the MAC CE; different types of MAC CEs have different logical channel indices. The MAC CE can include X bits. X can be a value associated with the maximum value of the transaction identifier, which can be predefined. For example, the maximum value of the transaction identifier is K, and X can be determined as These X bits (or at least a part of the X bits) can be used to indicate the transaction identifier of the UE. The following are two example methods of transmitting the transaction identifier:

[0050] Method 1 : The UE uses a part of the X bits to indicate the transaction identifier, and the remaining bits are set to zero. For example, bits in the X bits can be used to indicate the transaction identifier. In a specific example, K = 4. The transaction identifier corresponding to the information bits of the RRC is "01". When X = 8, two bits are used to represent the transaction identifier, and the other bits are set to 0. Therefore, the MAC CE includes "00000001".

[0051] Method 2:The UE also uses a part of X bits to indicate the transaction identifier, and the remaining bits are set to zero. For example, K bits out of the X bits can be used to indicate the transaction identifier. In a specific example, K = 4. The transaction identifier corresponding to the information bits of the RRC is "11". When X = 8, four bits are used to represent the transaction identifier, and the other bits are set to 0. Thus, the MAC CE includes "00001000", which uses the fourth bit to indicate the value 3. Similarly, different values of "01" can be indicated as "00000010" using the second bit from the right. In another specific example, the UE receives two sets of information bits corresponding to two RRC messages. The transaction identifiers are "01" and "11" respectively. When X = 8, four bits are used to indicate the two identifiers. Thus, the MAC CE includes "00001010", where "00001000" is used to indicate the value "11", and "00000010" is used to indicate the value "01". As shown in the specific examples, since Method 2 allows more bits to be used to transmit the transaction identifier, multiple transaction identifiers can be indicated in a single MAC PDU.

[0052] In particular, considering that the NR technology supports the Central Unit (CU)-Distributed Unit (DU) split. In the CU-DU split architecture, the PDCP is located in the CU. Therefore, the transaction identifier sent by the UE can only be obtained after being processed by the CU, and MAC-related processing is used in the DU. Using the technology disclosed herein, the transaction identifier sent by the UE can be directly obtained by the DU, thereby bypassing the CU to reduce latency and overhead.

[0053] Embodiment 5

[0054] When the UE receives the RRC information sent by the base station, the RRC information can be transmitted in the PDCCH (as shown in Embodiment 1) or the PDSCH (as shown in Embodiment 2). The UE can transmit an acknowledgement (ACK) in time (t1 + t2) in response to the RRC information, where t1 represents the last symbol of the PDCCH or PDSCH carrying the RRC information correctly received by the UE, and t2 represents the time domain offset value known to both the transmitter and the receiver. For example, the offset t2 can be in units of symbols and indicates a delay of t2 symbols.

[0055] In some embodiments, the transaction identifier corresponding to the RRC information is defined as k. The UE can transmit the first available PUCCH or PUSCH resource for the transaction identifier at time (t1 + t2 + t3). Here, t3 is another time domain offset value known to both the transmitter and the receiver. For example, the offset t3 can be in units of symbols and indicates a delay of t3 symbols.

[0056] In some embodiments, if there are available PUSCH resources at (t1 + t2 + t3), the UE uses the available resources in the PUSCH to transmit the identifier. That is, the PUSCH is given a higher priority than the PUCCH. The base station can pre-configure the resources (e.g., the location and length of the resources) for transmitting the transaction identifier. The UE processes the transaction identifier using coding, modulation, and / or rate matching and maps the processed transaction identifier to the pre-configured resources. In some embodiments, when there is existing user data in the pre-configured resource location, the user data can be replaced by the transaction identifier. When there are no available resources in the PUSCH, the UE can transmit the transaction identifier via the PUCCH using a similar operation.

[0057] Here, when there are no available resources on the PUSCH, the transaction identifier can be transmitted. When there are available PUSCH resources, the transaction identifier is directly mapped to the PUSCH as physical layer signaling. Therefore, no additional bits are required to represent the logical channel index, reducing overhead and processing latency.

[0058] Figure 3 An example of a wireless communication system 300 is shown, in which techniques according to one or more embodiments of the present technology can be applied. The wireless communication system 300 may include one or more base stations (BS) 305a, 305b, one or more wireless devices 310a, 310b, 310c, 310d, and a core network 325. The base stations 305a, 305b may provide wireless services to the wireless devices 310a, 310b, 310c, and 310d in one or more wireless sectors. In some embodiments, the base stations 305a, 305b include directional antennas to generate two or more directional beams to provide wireless coverage in different sectors.

[0059] The core network 325 may communicate with one or more base stations 305a, 305b. The core network 325 provides connections to other wireless communication systems and wired communication systems. The core network may include one or more service subscription databases to store information related to the subscribed wireless devices 310a, 310b, 310c, and 310d. The first base station 305a may provide wireless services based on a first radio access technology, while the second base station 305b may provide wireless services based on a second radio access technology. Depending on the deployment scenario, the base stations 305a and 305b may be co-located and cooperate, or may be installed separately on-site. The wireless devices 310a, 310b, 310c, and 310d may support multiple different radio access technologies.

[0060] Figure 4is a block diagram representation of a portion of a radio station to which one or more embodiments of the present technology can be applied. A radio station 405, such as a base station or a wireless device (or UE), can include processor electronics 410, such as a microprocessor that implements one or more wireless technologies presented in the present application. The radio station 405 can include transceiver electronics 415 to transmit and / or receive wireless signals via one or more communication interfaces such as an antenna 420. The radio station 405 can include other communication interfaces for transmitting and receiving data. The radio station 405 can include one or more memories (not explicitly shown) configured to store information such as data and / or instructions. In some implementations, the processor electronics 410 can include at least a portion of the transceiver electronics 415. In some embodiments, at least some of the disclosed technologies, modules, or functions are implemented using the radio station 405.

[0061] It should be understood that the present application discloses technologies that can be embodied in various embodiments to transmit RRC layer information without causing complex processing in the PDCP layer, RLC layer, and / or MAC layer, thereby reducing processing overhead and latency. The disclosed technologies also use a UE-specific scrambling mechanism to ensure the security of information. The disclosed embodiments and other embodiments, modules, and functional operations described in the present application can be implemented in digital electronic circuits, or in computer software, firmware, or hardware (including the structures disclosed in the present application and their structural equivalents), or in a combination of one or more of them. The disclosed embodiments and other embodiments can be implemented as one or more computer program products, i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on a computer-readable medium for execution by, or to control the operation of, a data processing apparatus. The computer-readable medium can be a machine-readable storage device, a machine-readable storage substrate, a storage device, a composition affecting a machine-readable propagated signal, or a combination of one or more of them. The term "data processing apparatus" encompasses all apparatuses, devices, and machines for processing data, such as including programmable processors, computers, or multiple processors or multiple computers. In addition to the hardware, the apparatus can also include code that creates an execution environment for the computer programs being discussed, e.g., code constituting processor firmware, protocol stacks, database management systems, operating systems, or a combination of one or more of them. A propagated signal is an artificially generated signal, e.g., a machine-generated electrical, optical, or electromagnetic signal that is generated for encoding information to be transmitted to a suitable receiver apparatus.

[0062] A computer program (also known as a program, software, software application, script, or code) can be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program does not necessarily correspond to a file in a file system. The program can be stored in a part of a file that holds other programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup language file), in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules, subroutines, or portions of code). A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers, which may be located at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.

[0063] The processes and logical flows described in this application can be executed by one or more programmable processors that execute one or more computer programs by operating on input data and generating output to perform functions. The processes and logical flows can also be executed by dedicated logic circuitry, and the apparatus can also be implemented as dedicated logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

[0064] For example, processors suitable for executing a computer program include general-purpose and special-purpose microprocessors, as well as any one or more processors of any type of digital computer. Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory or a random access memory or both. The basic elements of a computer are a processor for executing instructions and one or more memory devices for storing the instructions and data. Generally, a computer will also include one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic disks, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks, or the computer will be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to a mass storage device, or both. However, a computer need not have such devices. Computer-readable media suitable for storing computer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, media, and memory devices, which include, for example, semiconductor memory devices such as EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, dedicated logic circuitry.

[0065] Although this patent application contains many details, these details should not be construed as limiting the scope of any invention or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features of particular embodiments that may be specific to a particular invention. Certain features described in the context of separate embodiments in this patent application may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, the various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented separately in multiple embodiments or in any suitable sub-combination. Moreover, although the above features may be described as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, in some cases, one or more features from a claimed combination may be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may cover a sub-combination or a variant of a sub-combination.

[0066] Similarly, although operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be construed as requiring that the operations be performed in the particular order or sequence shown, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve the desired result. Moreover, the separation of various system components in the embodiments described in this patent application should not be construed as requiring such separation in all embodiments.

[0067] Only some embodiments and examples have been described, and other embodiments, enhancements, and variations may be made based on what is described and illustrated in this patent application.

Claims

1. A wireless communication method, comprising: before cyclic redundancy check (CRC) attachment, scrambling at least a part of a first radio resource configuration (RRC) message by a base station using a pseudo-random number generated based on a seed associated with a mobile device, wherein the seed is predefined according to an identifier of the mobile device; and transmitting, by the base station through a corresponding channel, the at least a part of the scrambled first RRC message at a layer lower than a radio link control layer or a media access control layer, wherein the at least a part of the first RRC message is transmitted without being processed in the radio link control layer.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, the layer includes a media access control (MAC) layer or a physical layer.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, the at least a part of the first RRC message is included in downlink control information (DCI).

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein, the corresponding channel includes a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein, the PDCCH does not have a corresponding uplink data channel or downlink data channel.

6. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, the at least a part of the first RRC message is included in one or more MAC protocol data units (PDUs).

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein, the corresponding channel includes a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein, the identifier includes an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI), a globally unique temporary identifier (GUTI), a SAE-temporary mobile subscriber identity (S-RMSI).

9. The method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: before transmitting the at least a part of the first RRC message, transmitting, by the base station, a second RRC message to the mobile device, wherein the second RRC message includes the seed.

10. The method according to claim 1 or 2, comprising: notifying the mobile device that the at least a part of the first RRC message will be transmitted at a layer lower than the radio link control layer or the media access control layer.

11. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, the corresponding channel carries information indicating whether the at least a part of the first RRC message has changed compared with a previous message.

12. A wireless communication method, comprising: receiving, by a mobile device through a corresponding channel, at least a part of a first radio resource configuration (RRC) message at a layer lower than a radio link control layer or a media access control layer, wherein the at least a part of the first RRC message is received without being processed in the radio link control layer, and wherein the at least a part of the first RRC message is scrambled before the receiving and using a pseudo-random number generated based on a seed associated with the mobile device before cyclic redundancy check (CRC) attachment, wherein the seed is predefined according to an identifier of the mobile device; and Descramble at least a part of the first RRC message to determine information about the RRC layer.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein, the layer includes a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer or a Physical layer.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein, at least a part of the first RRC message is included in Downlink Control Information (DCI).

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein, the corresponding channel includes a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein, the PDCCH does not have a corresponding uplink or downlink data channel.

17. The method according to claim 12, wherein, at least a part of the first RRC message is included in one or more MAC Protocol Data Units (PDUs).

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein, the corresponding channel includes a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

19. The method according to claim 12, wherein, the identifier includes an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), a Globally Unique Temporary Identity (GUTI), a SAE-Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (S-RMSI).

20. The method according to claim 12 or 13, further comprises: before receiving at least a part of the first RRC message, the mobile device receives a second RRC message from the base station, wherein the second RRC message includes the seed.

21. The method according to claim 12 or 13, comprises: receiving from the base station a notification indicating that at least a part of the first RRC message will be transmitted at a layer lower than the Radio Link Control layer or the Medium Access Control layer.

22. The method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein, the corresponding channel carries information indicating whether at least a part of the first RRC message has changed compared to a previous message.

23. The method according to claim 20, comprises: transmitting an acknowledgement of the second RRC message from the mobile device to the base station via a physical channel with a first time domain offset.

24. The method according to claim 23, comprises: transmitting a transaction identifier of at least a part of the first RRC message from the mobile device to the base station via a physical channel with a second time domain offset.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein, the transaction identifier is included in X bits of a MAC Control Element (CE), where X is associated with the maximum value of the transaction identifier.

26. The method according to claim 23, wherein, the first time domain offset is predefined.

27. The method according to claim 24, wherein, the second time domain offset is predefined.

28. A communication device, comprising a processor configured to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 27.

29. A computer program product having code stored thereon, the code when executed by a processor causes the processor to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 27.

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