Measurement methods in SDT

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to measurement methods in SDT. Systems and methods are described for performing measurements of one or more cells during a small data transfer (SDT) process between a user equipment (UE) and a network when the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state. Beam and / or cell measurements performed during an SDT measurement period of the SDT process can be used to determine the quality of one or more corresponding cells and other possibilities. The start and end of the SDT measurement period and the manner (timing) for performing measurements within the SDT measurement period are also described. The cell quality thus determined can then be used to monitor measurement events during the SDT measurement period, which causes the UE to send a measurement report having data determined using those cell qualities, and / or send a message intended to prompt the network to change the RRC state of the UE.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application generally relates to a wireless communication system, including a wireless communication system having a user equipment (UE) capable of measuring one or more of a plurality of cells during an SDT process at the UE. Background Art

[0002] Wireless mobile communication technologies use various standards and protocols to transfer data between a base station and a wireless mobile device. Wireless communication system standards and protocols may include 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) (e.g., 4G) or New Radio (NR) (e.g., 5G); Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 standard, which is generally referred to by industry organizations as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX); and IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless local area network (WLAN), which is generally referred to by industry organizations as Wi-Fi. In a 3GPP radio access network (RAN) in an LTE system, a base station may include RAN nodes such as evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) Node B (also commonly denoted as evolved Node B, enhanced Node B, eNodeB or eNB) and / or radio network controller (RNC) in E-UTRAN, which communicates with a wireless communication device called a user equipment (UE). In a fifth generation (5G) wireless RAN, the RAN nodes may include 5G nodes, NR nodes (also called next generation Node B or g Node B (gNB)).

[0003] The RAN uses radio access technology (RAT) to communicate between RAN nodes and the UE. The RAN may include Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data Rate for GSM Evolution (EDGE) RAN (GERAN), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) and / or E-UTRAN, which provides access to communication services through a core network. Each RAN in the RAN operates according to a specific 3GPP RAT. For example, GERAN implements GSM and / or EDGE RAT, UTRAN implements Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) RAT or other 3GPP RAT, E-UTRAN implements LTE RAT, and NG-RAN implements 5G RAT. In some deployments, E-UTRAN may also implement 5G RAT.

[0004] In the present disclosure, the CN in combination with the RAN may be collectively referred to as the "network" or "wireless network". In such wireless networks, one or more RRC states of the UE may be controlled by RAN nodes (e.g., gNB) of the wireless network. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0005] To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or action, one or more of the most significant digits in the reference numerals refer to the figure number in which the element was first introduced.

[0006] Figure 1 A flowchart showing the SDT procedure between a UE and a network according to an embodiment is presented.

[0007] Figure 2 A flowchart showing the start of an SDT measurement period with an SDT measurement cycle during the SDT procedure according to an embodiment, during which SDT measurements can be made.

[0008] Figure 3 A flowchart showing the start of an SDT measurement period with an SDT measurement cycle during the SDT procedure according to an embodiment, during which SDT measurements can be made.

[0009] Figure 4 A flowchart showing the start of an SDT measurement period with an SDT measurement cycle during the SDT procedure according to an embodiment, during which SDT measurements can be made.

[0010] Figure 5 A flowchart showing the end of an SDT measurement period with an SDT measurement cycle during the SDT procedure according to an embodiment, during which SDT measurements can be made.

[0011] Figure 6 A flowchart showing the end of an SDT measurement period with an SDT measurement cycle during the SDT procedure according to an embodiment, during which SDT measurements can be made.

[0012] Figure 7 A flowchart showing the end of an SDT measurement period with an SDT measurement cycle during the SDT procedure according to an embodiment, during which SDT measurements can be made.

[0013] Figure 8 A flowchart showing the end of an SDT measurement period with an SDT measurement cycle during the SDT procedure according to an embodiment, during which SDT measurements can be made.

[0014] Figure 9 A diagram showing various arrangements of measurements during an SDT measurement cycle according to various embodiments.

[0015] Figure 10 A flowchart showing how to send an SDT measurement report during the SDT procedure according to an embodiment.

[0016] Figure 11Shows a flowchart for sending an RRC Resume Request message during the SDT process according to an embodiment.

[0017] Figure 12 Shows a method of a UE according to an embodiment.

[0018] Figure 13 Shows a method of a UE according to an embodiment.

[0019] Figure 14 Shows a method of a network according to an embodiment.

[0020] Figure 15 Shows a UE according to an embodiment.

[0021] Figure 16 Shows a network node according to an embodiment.

[0022] Figure 17 Shows a component according to an embodiment. Detailed Description

[0023] The RAN (such as NG-RAN) and / or the connected UE may implement and / or use a state machine related to the radio resource control (RRC) aspects of the UE in order to manage the RRC state of the UE in an organized and consistent manner. Thus, in NR, the UE may be in one of the RRC_CONNECTED (connected) state, the RRC_IDLE (idle) state, and the RRC_INACTIVE (inactive) state.

[0024] In the connected state, the UE has an active connection to the CN and has an RRC context established with the RAN. In this state, general data transmission may occur.

[0025] In the idle state, the UE has neither an active connection to the CN nor an RRC context established with the RAN. In this state, data transmission may not occur.

[0026] In the inactive state, the control plane (CP) aspect of the UE includes a non-access stratum (NAS) connection to the CN. However, for the RRC connection of the UE in the inactive state, the UE does not have dedicated access stratum (AS) resources (although the UE may save the RRC configuration before entering the inactive state when entering the inactive state).

[0027] In the inactive state, the user plane (UP) aspect may include that the UE does not regularly perform dedicated data transmission and / or reception. To perform such dedicated data transmission and / or reception, the UE may first transition to the connected state. For example, for downlink (DL) transmission, the base station of the RAN paging mechanism paging the UE via the RAN to trigger the UE to enter the connected mode. For uplink (UL) transmission, the UE triggers a random access channel (RACH) procedure to enter the connected mode.

[0028] The state transition from the connected state to the inactive state at the UE may be triggered by receiving an RRCRelease message from the network at the UE. The RRCRelease message may also include Suspendconfig information, which may provide configurations for the UE when in the inactive state, such as the RRC inactive radio network temporary identity (I-RNTI) for the UE, RAN paging cycle information, and RAN notification area (RNA) information, etc.

[0029] The state transition from the inactive state to the connected state at the UE may be triggered by the UE receiving an RRCResume message from the network.

[0030] The state transition from the inactive state to the idle state at the UE may be triggered by an RRCRelease message from the network. Alternatively, when the UE cannot locate the serving cell, the UE may fall to the idle state from another state. [[ID=I0]]

[0031] Finally, note that when in the inactive state or idle state, the UE may use cell selection and / or reselection to move between cells within the RNA without notifying the NG-RAN. To perform such cell selection and / or reselection (collectively discussed below as "reselection") when the UE is in the inactive state or idle state, if for example the measured power level of an adjacent cell is better than the measured power level of the current serving cell by a threshold, the UE may measure the power of the adjacent cell and reselect a new cell. When moving between RNAs accompanied by such reselection, the UE may be configured to provide the network with NAS registration updates and / or RRC RNA updates, as applicable.

[0032] The wireless communication system implementing the network discussed herein may provide a radio resource management (RRM) measurement mechanism. For example, when the UE is in the connected state, it may measure one or more beams of a cell (whether the current serving cell of the UE and / or an adjacent cell of the UE). Then, the measurement results (in the form of, for example, power values) may be averaged among each of the measured beams of the corresponding cell to derive an overall cell quality. In some cases, the UE is configured by the network to use a subset of the beams of the cell discussed in the described manner to determine the cell quality.

[0033] With these measurements, filtering may occur at two levels. A first filtering may occur at the physical layer to derive beam quality for each of one or more beams of a cell. A second filtering may then be used at the RRC level to derive cell quality by using these one or more beam qualities. Cell quality may be derived in the same manner regardless of whether the cell is the UE's current serving cell or an adjacent cell of the UE.

[0034] A measurement report may then be sent from the UE to the network based on the network configuration for the serving cell and / or one or more adjacent cells (as applicable, according to the network configuration). Such measurement reports may include one or more cell qualities and / or beam measurement qualities. The number of non-serving (e.g., adjacent) cells reported by the UE may be restricted or specified by the network configuration. Additionally, the network may use a whitelist and / or a blacklist to control which cells may (or may not, as applicable) have their corresponding information (whether cell or beam quality) appear in the network's measurement report (to be described) (and / or may trigger the sending of the measurement report). In some cases, the measurement report may contain measurement results such as the number of best detected beams (if the UE is configured by the network to make such a report).

[0035] When in the connected state, the UE may perform such measurements on each time slot. In other cases where connected mode discontinuous reception (CDRX) is configured at the UE, the UE may alternatively perform such measurements on each CDRX cycle.

[0036] When in the idle and / or inactive state, the UE may perform measurements according to the network configuration as described above. However, in these RRC states, there may be no mechanism for the UE to make a measurement report. Instead, these measurements may be used for cell reselection. For example, when in the idle or inactive state, when the UE determines that the quality of the current serving cell is less than a configured threshold and the quality of an adjacent cell meets a set of S criteria (which may have been previously configured by the network), the UE may reselect away from its current serving cell to use the adjacent cell as its future serving cell. For additional details on the S criteria, refer to Section 5.2.3.2 of "User Equipment (UE) procedures in Idle mode and RRC Inactive state (Release 16)" (Release 16.3.0, December 2020) of 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.304.

[0037] When in the idle state or the inactive state, the UE performs the described measurements on each discontinuous reception (DRX) paging cycle.

[0038] It has been recognized that many modern applications of a UE may implement the transmission of a small amount of data in the UP to the network. Additionally, relatively speaking, any need to transmit such a small amount of UP data may occur only infrequently. For example, a UE may need to report a single sensor reading, a small amount of text, etc., and / or report such data only at infrequent intervals. It has been recognized that in some of these cases, compared to the small amount of data to be transmitted, transitioning the UE to the connected mode to perform these small data transmissions (as described above) involves using a relatively large amount of network resources (in the form of signaling between the network and the UE, computations at each of the network and the UE, and time).

[0039] In LTE, to reduce the overhead associated with small data transmissions, certain optimizations may be made (e.g., reusing the NAS security context and relaxing any expectation for acknowledgments above the RRC layer). However, these transmissions may still require the UE to be in (moved to) the (LTE) RRC connected state.

[0040] In NR, a small data transmission (SDT) procedure may be used at a UE in the inactive state, which does not require the UE to transition from the inactive state to the connected state to perform such small data transmissions. Such an SDT procedure may provide a mechanism for transmitting UP data in the uplink (UL) direction while the UE remains in the inactive state. Additionally, it is envisioned that subsequent transmissions (in the downlink (DL) or UL) may also be economically incorporated into the SDT procedure, as will be shown (again, when the UE remains in the inactive state). Since no change from the inactive state to the connected state is required, the SDT procedure may use fewer network resources than existing methods to complete such transmissions. Finally, the SDT procedure may be a random access channel (RACH)-based procedure, or it may use preconfigured physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resources.

[0041] Additional details regarding such NR SDT procedures can be found in the 3GPP work item description RP-193252, “New Work Item on NR small data transmissions in INACTIVE state”, 3GPP TSG RAN meeting #86, Sitges, Spain, December 9 - 12, 2019.

[0042] Figure 1 A flowchart 100 of an SDT procedure 112 between a UE 102 and a network 104 according to an embodiment is shown. As shown, transmissions and receptions on the network 104 side may occur via a gNB of the network 104.

[0043] As shown in the figure, the flowchart 100 starts with the UE 102 being in the connected state 106. Then the network 104 sends an RRC Release message 108 with Suspendconfig. The RRC Release message 108 with Suspendconfig may include a Next Hop Link Counter (NCC) value and SDT configuration information. The SDT configuration information may include information such as whether the network is configured to use the SDT procedure 112, the Data Radio Bearer (DRB) associated with the SDT procedure 112 (SDT-DRB), and / or the Bandwidth Part (BWP) or other transmission resources used with the SDT procedure 112, and / or an upper limit on the UP data size that may be used with the SDT procedure 112.

[0044] Upon receiving the RRC Release message 108 with Suspendconfig, the UP operations between the UE 102 and the network 104 may be modified such that the Medium Access Control (MAC) context is reset, the Radio Link Control (RLC) for the Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB) 1 is re-established, and the SRB 2 and any Data Radio Bearers (DRBs) are suspended. Then, the UE 102 enters the inactive state 110.

[0045] Then, the flowchart 100 shows the SDT procedure 112. The SDT procedure 112 begins when the UP data to be sent according to the SDT procedure 112 arrives 114 at the UE 102 (e.g., from the application layer of the UE 102). This UP data may be for the associated SDT-DRB of the SDT procedure 112. The UE 102 may check to ensure that, for example, the UP data can be sent within any constraints provided in the SDT configuration received from the RRC Release message 108 with Suspendconfig (such as determining that the network is configured to generally receive the SDT procedure, and / or the size of the UP data is within the upper limit of any settings for the SDT procedure 112).

[0046] Then, the UE 102 may send a MAC PDU 116 to the network 104, which contains an RRC ResumeRequest message and the UP data to be sent according to the SDT procedure 112. The presence of the UP data within the MAC PDU 116 may indicate to the network 104 that the UE 102 is attempting to initiate the SDT procedure 112, thus allowing the network 104 to respond according to the shown SDT procedure 112.

[0047] The SDT procedure 112 may further include subsequent UE-specific transmission / reception 118. For example, the network 104 may provide the UE with one or more additional configured (periodic) grants to be used as part of the SDT procedure 112 (in UL and / or DL) and / or provide the UE with one or more dynamic grants (DG-SDT) (in UL or DL) to be used as part of the SDT procedure 112. These subsequent UE-specific transmission / receptions 118 may be in response to additional data transmissions triggered / inferred by, for example, the nature of the UP data that was sent from the UE 102 to the network 104 as part of the MAC PDU 116 at the start of the SDT procedure 112. The subsequent UE-specific transmission / receptions 118 may occur on one or more BWPs that are part of the SDT configuration within the RRC Release message 108 configured with Suspendconfig, and / or may be the BWP used when the UE is in the connected state 106 (the identity of which is stored when the UE moves to the inactive state 110). As shown, the subsequent UE-specific transmission / reception 118 may be a dedicated grant, specifically used by the UE 102.

[0048] The subsequent UE-specific transmission / reception 118 is optional because in some cases, the SDT procedure 112 only needs to transfer the UP data included in the MAC PDU 116 from the UE 102 to the network 104 (and no additional transmissions in UL or DL are required as part of the SDT procedure 112).

[0049] The SDT procedure 112 ends when the network 104 sends the RRC Release message 120 with Suspendconfig to the UE 102. The RRC Release message 120 with Suspendconfig may include the NCC and the SDT configuration (similar to the RRC Release message 108 with Suspendconfig), which may be used during any subsequent SDT procedure (not shown) performed, for example, after the SDT procedure 112.

[0050] Note that the entire SDT procedure 112 is performed while the UE remains in the inactive state 110.

[0051] Further note that as regarding Figure 1The described SDT procedure 112 does not show the use of any measurement or measurement reporting mechanism from UE 102 to network 104. However, in some cases, it may be desirable to have the UE (such as UE 102) provide a measurement report to the UE during / along with the use of an SDT procedure (such as SDT procedure 112) between the UE and the network (such as network 104). Such measurement reports can help the network appropriately schedule any subsequent UE-specific transmissions / receptions (such as subsequent UE-specific transmission / reception 118) that can be scheduled in the above manner during the SDT procedure; or, if the quality of one or more cells at the UE is poor / deteriorating, the network can request the UE to enter the connected state for data transmission and mobility control based on the UE measurement report.

[0052] For example, the receipt of such measurement reports can allow the network to schedule such authorizations for subsequent UE-specific transmissions / receptions based on the strength of the current serving cell, such that a higher confidence that the UE will be able to use such authorizations can be maintained. For example, if the strength of the serving cell is relatively weak, the network can schedule any authorizations for subsequent UE-specific transmissions / receptions conservatively (e.g., by only providing the UE with one or a few DG-SDTs that are relatively close in time). If reselection occurs at the UE, this can help avoid situations where more aggressively / timely allocated authorizations are wasted (and / or network resources are used to reclaim such authorizations). On the other hand, if the strength of the UE's current serving cell is reported by the UE as relatively strong (such that reselection is less likely to occur in the near future), the network can schedule such authorizations for subsequent UE-specific transmissions / receptions more aggressively (e.g., by using CG-SDT, which may be periodic in nature and thus imply a longer overall lifetime).

[0053] In some embodiments, if the strength of the current serving cell is reported as weak, the network can reconfigure the UE to enter the connected state for mobility control and data transmission scheduling.

[0054] In other embodiments, the measurements made by the UE during the SDT procedure can be used by the UE to determine its own actions to attempt to, for example, re-enter the connection mode with the network (such as in the case where the UE determines based on these measurements that there is a risk of falling into the RLF condition). For example, when the quality of one or more cells at the UE is poor and a radio link failure (RLF) is detected, to counteract this poor quality, the UE itself can trigger cell selection / reselection and perform an RRC connection reconstruction or RRC resume procedure in the newly selected cell.

[0055] Accordingly, the following discussion in this document addresses functions associated with the UE performing and / or reporting RRM measurements at the UE in one or more cells (e.g., the current serving cell and / or one or more neighboring cells) during the SDT procedure. The performance of such measurements by the UE during the SDT procedure may be referred to herein as "SDT measurements", and the measurements themselves may be referred to as "SDT measurements". Additionally, the reporting of such SDT measurements by the UE to the network may be referred to herein as "SDT measurement reporting".

[0056] In some cases where the SDT procedure between the UE and the network is used, SDT measurements may be performed during a certain period of the SDT procedure, which may be referred to as the "SDT measurement period". In some cases, such an SDT measurement period may start running after a part of the SDT procedure has been completed.

[0057] Figure 2 FIG. 200 shows a flowchart of the start 224 of an SDT measurement period 208 having an SDT measurement period during the SDT procedure 206 according to an embodiment, during which SDT measurements may be performed. In Figure 2 the embodiment, the UE 202 and the network 204 may execute the SDT procedure 206.

[0058] As part of the SDT procedure 206, the UE may send a preamble / MsgA 210 according to the initial access procedure of the SDT procedure 206. According to the illustration, the preamble / MsgA 210 represents an alternative case of two possible RACHs for initial access in the SDT procedure, where the "preamble" part corresponds to using a 4-step RACH and the "MsgA" part corresponds to a 2-step RACH. In some embodiments, Msg2 and Msg3 (for a 4-step RACH) 212 may be used between the UE 202 and the network 204. Finally, the end of the RACH procedure is shown as Msg4 / MsgB 214, where the "Msg4" part corresponds to using a 4-step RACH and the "MsgB" part corresponds to a 2-step RACH.

[0059] Regarding Figure 1 the case shown, it may be that a MAC PDU containing an RRCResumeRequest and UP data (such as Figure 1 the MAC PDU 116) may be sent in Msg3 corresponding to Msg2 and Msg3 (for a 4-step RACH) 212, or in MsgA corresponding to Msg4 / MsgB 214 in the case of using a 2-step RACH.

[0060] Although Figure 2And (subsequent figures) illustrate using the RACH procedure to initiate the SDT procedure 206, but it should be understood that the SDT procedure can be configured to alternatively transmit UL data using pre-configured PUSCH resources. In this case, a MAC PDU containing the RRCResumeRequest and UP data (such as Figure 1 MAC PDU 116) can be transmitted on the configured PUSCH resource.

[0061] In addition, although the first SDT procedure can use the RACH procedure, it is contemplated that any subsequent SDT procedures can be scheduled according to the PUSCH configuration received during (or after, separate from) the first SDT procedure.

[0062] Then, the network 204 can send a Hold Dedicated Data Rx / Tx Indication 216, which can indicate to the UE the dedication of any resources (such as subsequent UE dedicated transmission / reception 218) for use by the UE 202.

[0063] Then, the SDT procedure 206 continues to its termination (in Figure 2 this case, which is caused by the RRCRelease message 220). Although the SDT procedure 206 continues, subsequent UE dedicated transmission / reception 218 (similar to Figure 1 subsequent UE dedicated transmission / reception 118) can be performed.

[0064] As shown in state 222, the UE 202 can be either 1) held in the inactive state or 2) dropped to the idle state, corresponding to the nature of the RRCRelease message 220.

[0065] In Figure 2 this case, the start 224 of the SDT measurement period corresponding to the preamble / MsgA 210 has been shown. In other words, in some cases, the SDT measurement period may start when transmitting the preamble / MsgA 210 to the network 204 (e.g., the UE starts performing SDT measurements), where the start 224 of the SDT measurement period occurs together with the preamble in the case of a 4-step RACH and with MsgA in the case of a 2-step RACH.

[0066] Figure 3 A flowchart 300 of the start 310 of the SDT measurement period having an SDT measurement period 308 during the SDT procedure 306 according to an embodiment is shown, during which SDT measurements can be performed. In Figure 3 this embodiment, the UE 302 and the network 304 can perform the SDT procedure 306.

[0067] Figure 3 The flowchart 300 ofFigure 2 The flowchart 200 is different because the start 310 of the SDT measurement period corresponding to Msg4 / MsgB 312 has been shown. In other words, in some cases, the SDT measurement period 308 may start when the UE 302 receives Msg4 / MsgB 312 (e.g., the UE starts performing SDT measurements), or it may start when the RACH procedure is successfully completed, where the start 310 of the SDT measurement period occurs together with Msg4 in the case of a 4-step RACH and together with MsgB in the case of a 2-step RACH. In this way, the UE only performs SDT measurements for any subsequent UE-specific transmission / reception during this period (thus using generally fewer UE resources than Figure 2 the embodiment shown).

[0068] Figure 4 A flowchart 400 is shown that has a start 410 of an SDT measurement period 408 during an SDT procedure 406 according to an embodiment, during which SDT measurements can be made. In Figure 4 the embodiment, the UE 402 and the network 404 can perform the SDT procedure 406.

[0069] Figure 4 The flowchart 400 is different from Figure 2 the flowchart 200 because the start 410 of the SDT measurement period has been shown to correspond to a Hold Dedicated Data Rx / Tx Indication 412. In other words, in some cases, the SDT measurement period 408 may start when a Hold Dedicated Data Rx / Tx Indication 412 indicating the dedicated authorization used at the UE 302 is received (e.g., the UE starts performing SDT measurements).

[0070] In some cases where an SDT procedure may be used between the UE and the network, once a certain part of the SDT procedure has been completed, the SDT measurement period of the SDT procedure ends (e.g., the UE stops performing SDT measurements). In some cases, the end of the SDT measurement period may correspond to the termination of the SDT procedure.

[0071] Figure 5 A flowchart 500 is shown that has an end 510 of an SDT measurement period 508 during an SDT procedure 506 according to an embodiment, during which SDT measurements can be made. In Figure 5 the embodiment, the UE 502 and the network 504 can perform the SDT procedure 506.

[0072] In Figure 5 it has been shown the end 510 of the SDT measurement period 508. In Figure 5In an embodiment, the end 510 of the SDT measurement period corresponds to the reception of the RRC Release message 512 and the use of the state 514 (e.g., resuming the inactive state and / or descending to the idle state, corresponding to the nature of the RRC Release message 512). In other words, in some cases, when the RRC Release message 512 is received, the SDT measurement period 508 may end (e.g., the UE stops performing SDT measurements).

[0073] Figure 6 FIG. 600 shows a flowchart of the end 610 of the SDT measurement period having an SDT measurement period 608 during the SDT process 606 according to an embodiment, during which SDT measurements can be performed. In Figure 6 an embodiment, the UE 602 and the network 604 can perform the SDT process 606.

[0074] In Figure 6 it has been shown the end 610 of the SDT measurement period 608. In addition, the RRC Resume message 612 is used to transition the UE 602 to the connected state 614 at the end of the SDT process 606.

[0075] In Figure 6 an embodiment, the end 610 of the SDT measurement period corresponds to the reception of the RRC Resume message 612 and the transition to the connected state 614, corresponding to the RRC Resume message 612. In other words, in some cases, when the RRC Resume message 612 is received, the SDT measurement period 608 may end (e.g., the UE stops performing SDT measurements).

[0076] Figure 7 FIG. 700 shows a flowchart of the end 710 of the SDT measurement period having an SDT measurement period 708 during the SDT process 706 according to an embodiment, during which SDT measurements can be performed. In Figure 7 an embodiment, the UE 702 and the network 704 can perform the SDT process 706.

[0077] In Figure 7 it has been shown the end 710 of the SDT measurement period 708. In addition, Figure 7 the SDT process 706 of Figure 5 is not a message indicating the end of the SDT process 706 (such as Figure 6 the RRC Release message 512 in

[0078] UE 702 may have set the T319 timer in connection with an initial access procedure indicated by one or more of the preamble / MsgA 714, Msg2, and Msg3 (for 4-step RACH) 716, and Msg4 / MsgB 718, which constitute, for example, similar messages as described with respect to Figure 2 In some cases, the timer waits, for example, for an RRCRelease message or an RRCResume message (such as, for example, in Figure 5 and Figure 6 ) to stop the timer. However, in the flowchart 700 of Figure 7 , no such message arrives at the UE 702, and thus the T319 timer expiration 712 eventually occurs.

[0079] In the embodiment of Figure 7 , the end 710 of the SDT measurement period corresponds to the T319 timer expiration 712 at the UE. In other words, in some cases, at the time of the T319 timer expiration 712, the SDT measurement period 708 may end (e.g., the UE stops performing SDT measurements).

[0080] Figure 8 FIG. 800 shows a flowchart of the end 810 of an SDT measurement period having an SDT measurement period 808 during an SDT process 806 according to an embodiment, during which SDT measurements can be made. In the embodiment of Figure 8 , the UE 802 and the network 804 may perform the SDT process 806.

[0081] In Figure 8 , the end 810 of the SDT measurement period of the SDT measurement period 808 has been shown. Further, Figure 8 the SDT process 806 of Figure 5 is not a message indicating the end of the SDT process 806 (such as the RRCRelease message 512 in Figure 6 or the RRCResume message 612 in

[0082] In the embodiment of Figure 8 , the end 810 of the SDT measurement period corresponds to the cell change 812 at the UE. In other words, in some cases, at the time of a cell change 812 (e.g., cell reselection), the SDT measurement period 808 may end (e.g., the UE stops performing SDT measurements).

[0083] Figure 9FIG. 900 shows various arrangements of measurements during an SDT measurement period 902 according to various embodiments. The SDT measurement period 902 may be an SDT measurement period corresponding to the embodiments discussed herein, where the SDT measurement period start 904 and / or the SDT measurement period end 906 are as described herein. During the SDT measurement period 902, SDT measurements (e.g., measurements of the serving cell and / or one or more neighboring cells during the SDT measurement period) may occur according to any one of a paging cycle 908, an SDT-PDCCH monitoring occasion 910, an SDT discontinuous reception (SDT-DRX) cycle 912, or an SDT measurement period 914.

[0084] In the case of the paging cycle 908, the UE may have been configured with DRX settings corresponding to the UE's periodic monitoring of a downlink control channel (e.g., a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)) for paging messages from the network. Between such monitoring occasions, the UE may enter a low-power state. Thus, the UE may be able to perform SDT measurements during such monitoring occasions of the paging cycle 908, which also occur during the SDT measurement period 902.

[0085] In the case of the SDT-PDCCH monitoring occasion 910, the UE may have been configured with dedicated scheduling during the SDT procedure (e.g., an authorization has been configured for a subsequent UE dedicated transmission / reception 118). During the SDT procedure, the UE may monitor the SDT-PDCCH related to these authorizations during the SDT procedure. When performing this monitoring, the UE may also perform SDT measurements. Note that while solid bars within the SDT measurement period 902 are used to show the use of the SDT-PDCCH monitoring occasion 910 to show this SDT-PDCCH monitoring (and thus the SDT measurement) during the SDT measurement period 902, the UE may perform SDT-PDCCH monitoring (and thus the SDT measurement) during less than the entire SDT measurement period 902 and as configured by the network.

[0086] In the case of the SDT-DRX cycle 912, the UE may have been configured by the network with the SDT-DRX cycle 912. This SDT-DRX cycle 912 may be different from the paging cycle that may be used (individually) between the UE and the network (e.g., comparing the SDT-DRX cycle 912 with the paging cycle 908). The network may configure the UE to use the SDT-DRX cycle 912 to arrange for the UE to monitor the SDT-PDCCH during the SDT procedure (e.g., during the monitoring occasion of the SDT-DRX cycle 912 that occurs during the SDT procedure). In addition, the UE may perform SDT measurements during the monitoring occasion according to this SDT-DRX cycle 912 that occurs during the SDT measurement cycle 902. In this way, the UE may be configured by the network to perform SDT measurements periodically within the SDT measurement cycle 902.

[0087] In the case of the SDT measurement cycle 914, the UE may have been configured by the network to perform SDT measurements according to one or more measurement occasions. This configuration may be specific to the performance of the SDT measurements (and does not involve, for example, the monitoring of PDCCH or SDT-PDCCH, as in the embodiments related to the paging cycle 908, the SDT-PDCCH monitoring occasion 910, and / or the SDT-DRX cycle 912, respectively). It is expected that the network may configure these measurement occasions to be periodic (as shown in the figure), but this is not required. The SDT measurement cycle may be configured at the UE via either an RRCRelease message or the system information block (SIB) of the serving cell of the UE.

[0088] Once the UE has made measurements during the SDT measurement cycle (and according to any applicable arrangements for measuring during that cycle, as shown with respect to Figure 9 ), the UE can continue to use such measurements in the previously described manner to calculate the quality of one or more cells and / or one or more beams for which these measurements were made.

[0089] In some cases, the UE may use such determined quality to prepare and send an SDT measurement report to the network. Figure 10 A flowchart 1000 for sending an SDT measurement report 1010 during an SDT procedure 1006 according to an embodiment is shown. The SDT procedure 1006 may be any SDT procedure described herein.

[0090] As shown in the figure, the UE 1002 continues to perform SDT measurements during the SDT measurement cycle 1016. The UE 1002 may be configured to detect one or more measurement events (or the occurrence of one or more measurement events) during the SDT measurement cycle 1016 that trigger the sending of a measurement report to the network.

[0091] In a first example, network 1004 may have (previously) configured a quality threshold for the current serving cell of UE 1002. In this example, a measurement event occurs when the quality of the serving cell determined by UE 1002 is less than (or in some implementations, less than or equal to) the threshold. UE 1002 may send an SDT measurement report 1010 to network 1004 in response to the occurrence of this measurement event.

[0092] As another example, network 1004 may have (previously) configured a quality threshold for the current serving cell of UE 1002 and a quality threshold for neighboring cells. In this example, a measurement event occurs when the quality of the serving cell determined by UE 1002 is less than (or in some implementations less than or equal to) the serving cell threshold and when the quality of the neighboring cell determined by UE 1002 is greater than (or in some implementations, greater than or equal to) the neighboring cell threshold. UE 1002 may send an SDT measurement report 1010 to network 1004 in response to the occurrence of this measurement event.

[0093] As yet another example, measurements occur even when the UE determines (e.g., based on a radio link monitoring (RLM) process operating at the UE concurrently / during the SDT measurement period 1016) that it may experience RLF on its current serving cell in the near future. UE 1002 may send an SDT measurement report 1010 to network 1004 in response to the occurrence of this measurement event.

[0094] Thus, flowchart 1000 shows that during the SDT measurement period 1016, measurement events 1008 such as those previously described occur. As shown, UE 1002 accordingly prepares and sends an SDT measurement report 1010 to network 1004.

[0095] The SDT measurement report 1010 may include data determined using the quality of the one or more cells, which quality is calculated using SDT measurements as described above. For example, the SDT measurement report 1010 may include the quality of the serving cell of UE 1002. In some cases, the beam index of the best measurement of the serving cell and / or the quality of that beam may also be indicated.

[0096] The SDT measurement report 1010 may include the quality of neighboring cells of UE 1002. In some cases, an indication of the identity of the neighboring cell, the beam index of the best measurement of the neighboring cell, and / or the quality of that beam may also be indicated. Additionally, it is expected that this information may be indicated for multiple neighboring cells of UE 1002.

[0097] The SDT measurement report 1010 may include an indication bit corresponding to the quality of the serving cell of the UE. For example, by presenting a status, this bit may inform the network 1004 that the serving cell of the UE 1002 is weak and / or deteriorating, while another status informs the network 1004 of the opposite situation (e.g., the serving cell of the UE 1002 is not weak or not deteriorating).

[0098] The SDT measurement report 1010 may include the expected (or desired) RRC state of the UE. For example, the UE 1002 may use SDT measurements to determine that its current serving cell is weak and thus it may experience RLF if it does not move to a connected state with the network 1004. Therefore, the UE 1002 may include an indication that it desires (or hopes) to change to a connected state.

[0099] It is contemplated that any possible subset of the data described and shown regarding the SDT measurement report 1010 may provide a measurement report.

[0100] The network 1004 may receive the SDT measurement report 1010 from the UE 1002 and respond in various ways. For example, in the above manner, the information in the SDT measurement report 1010 may be used to schedule such authorizations for subsequent UE-specific transmissions / receptions based on the quality of the UE serving cell. Additionally, it is also contemplated that the network 1004 may use the data found in the SDT measurement report 1010 to determine to perform messaging with the UE 1002 such that the UE 1002 moves to a different RRC state. For example, in the flowchart 1000, in response to the data in the SDT measurement report 1010, the network 1004 determines to send an RRC Resume message 1012 to the UE 1002 such that the UE 1002 moves to a connected state 1014.

[0101] Figure 10 It is shown that the SDT measurement period 1016 is terminated by detecting a measurement event 1008. This may be the case in some embodiments (e.g., in the case where the UE expects to move to a connected mode soon based on the transmission of the SDT measurement report 1010). However, in other embodiments, the SDT measurement period 1016 may continue until another reason for terminating the SDT measurement period 1016 occurs, as described above.

[0102] In some cases, the UE may use the cell quality determined using SDT measurements to take its own actions to attempt to, for example, re-enter a connected mode with the network. Figure 11 A flowchart 1100 for transmitting an RRC Resume Request message 1116 during an SDT process 1106 according to an embodiment is shown. The SDT process 1106 may be any SDT process as described herein.

[0103] As shown, UE 1102 continues to perform SDT measurements during SDT measurement period 1114. UE 1102 may be configured to detect, during SDT measurement period 1114, one or more measurement events that trigger a response from UE 1102. For example, network 1104 may have (previously) configured thresholds for UE 1102's current serving cell, may have (previously) configured thresholds for UE 1102's current serving cell and neighboring cells for joint evaluation, and / or UE 1102 may use SDT measurements to determine in the above manner that RLF on the serving cell is possible. Accordingly, flowchart 1100 shows the occurrence of such measurement events 1108 during SDT measurement period 1114.

[0104] As shown, in response to measurement event 1108, UE 1102 prepares and sends RRC Resume Request message 1116 to network 1104 to attempt to re-enter the connected state with the network. In Figure 11 an embodiment, network 1104 responds with RRC Resume message 1112, after which UE enters connected state 1110.

[0105] Since being placed in connected state 1110, UE may utilize additional signaling with network 1104 that is available when in connected state 1110 (such as more robust signaling aimed at handling potentially weak serving cells, network handovers from serving cell to neighboring cell, etc.).

[0106] It is contemplated that in some embodiments, instead of using RRC Resume Request message 1116, UE 1102 may alternatively send an RRC Reestablishment Request message to trigger network 1104 to move UE 1102 to connected state 1110. In this case, network 1104 may respond with an RRC Reestablishment message in the same location instead of RRC Resume message 1112 and then continue with the RRC (re)establishment process with UE 1102 such that UE 1102 ends up in connected state 1110.

[0107] In the case where a measurement event (such as measurement event 1108) that causes UE to send an RRC Resume Request message or an RRC Reestablishment Request message occurs, SDT measurement period 1114 ends upon sending such a request.

[0108] Figure 12Method 1200 of a UE according to an embodiment is shown. Method 1200 includes initiating 1202 a radio network, namely the SDT process. The SDT process can be performed when the UE is in an inactive state.

[0109] Method 1200 further includes performing 1204 measurements of a plurality of cells of the radio network during an SDT measurement period of the SDT process.

[0110] Method 1200 further includes determining 1206 the respective quality of the plurality of cells of the radio network based on the measurements of the plurality of cells during the SDT measurement period.

[0111] Method 1200 further includes detecting 1208 a measurement event according to one or more of the respective quality of the plurality of cells during the SDT measurement period.

[0112] Method 1200 further includes sending 1210 a measurement report to the network in response to detecting the measurement event, the measurement report having data determined using one or more of the respective quality of the plurality of cells of the radio network.

[0113] In some embodiments of method 1200, the plurality of cells includes the serving cell of the UE and neighboring cells among the plurality of cells.

[0114] In some embodiments of method 1200, the measurement event is based on the quality of the serving cell among the plurality of cells. In some such embodiments, the measurement event is further based on the quality of neighboring cells among the plurality of cells.

[0115] In some embodiments of method 1200, the measurement event is based on the RLM of the serving cell among the plurality of cells.

[0116] In some embodiments of method 1200, the data includes the quality of the serving cell among the plurality of cells. In some such embodiments, the data further includes the beam index of the beam of the serving cell among the plurality of cells. In further such embodiments, the data further includes the quality of neighboring cells of the plurality of cells and the beam index of the beam of neighboring cells among the plurality of cells.

[0117] In some embodiments of method 1200, the data includes an indication bit corresponding to the quality of the serving cell among the plurality of cells.

[0118] In some embodiments of method 1200, the data includes the expected RRC state of the UE.

[0119] In some embodiments of method 1200, the SDT measurement period begins when the UE sends the first message of the SDT-RACH process.

[0120] In some embodiments of method 1200, when the SDT-RACH procedure is successfully completed at the UE, the SDT measurement period begins.

[0121] In some embodiments of method 1200, when the UE receives an indication of a dedicated grant to be used after the SDT-RACH procedure from the radio network, the SDT measurement period begins.

[0122] In some embodiments of method 1200, when the UE receives one of an RRCRelease message and an RRCResume message, the SDT measurement period ends.

[0123] In some embodiments of method 1200, when the T319 timer at the UE expires, the SDT measurement period ends.

[0124] In some embodiments of method 1200, when the UE performs reselection away from the serving cell of the UE, the SDT measurement period ends.

[0125] In some embodiments of method 1200, when a measurement event occurs, the SDT measurement period ends.

[0126] In some embodiments of method 1200, measurements are performed according to the paging cycle of the UE during the SDT measurement period.

[0127] In some embodiments of method 1200, measurements are performed according to the configuration of the radio network during the SDT measurement period for monitoring the SDT-PDCCH.

[0128] In some embodiments of method 1200, measurements are performed according to the SDT-DRX cycle during the SDT measurement period. In some of these embodiments, the SDT-DRX period is configured at the UE by the radio network.

[0129] In some embodiments of method 1200, measurements are performed according to the SDT measurement period configured at the UE by the radio network during the SDT period. In some of these embodiments, the SDT measurement period is configured at the UE by the radio network via one of an RRCRelease message and the SIB of the serving cell of the plurality of cells.

[0130] Embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus that includes means for performing one or more elements of method 1200. The apparatus can be, for example, the apparatus of UE 1500 described below.

[0131] Implementations contemplated herein include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media that include instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of method 1200. The non-transitory computer-readable media can be, for example, the memory 1506 of the UE 1500 as described below and / or the peripherals 1704, the memory / storage device 1714, and / or the database 1720 of the component 1700 as described below.

[0132] Implementations contemplated herein include an apparatus that includes logic components, modules, or circuits for performing one or more elements of method 1200. The apparatus can be, for example, the apparatus of the UE 1500 as described below.

[0133] Implementations contemplated herein include an apparatus that includes: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media, the computer-readable media including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform one or more elements of method 1200. The apparatus can be, for example, the apparatus of the UE1500 as described below.

[0134] Implementations contemplated herein include signals as described in or related to one or more elements of method 1200.

[0135] Implementations contemplated herein include a computer program that includes instructions, where execution of the program by a processing element causes the processing element to perform one or more elements of method 1200. The instructions can be, for example, the instructions 1712 of the component 1700 as described below.

[0136] Figure 13 Method 1300 of a UE according to an implementation is shown. Method 1300 includes a start 1302 of a wireless network, i.e., an SDT process. The SDT process can be performed when the UE is in an inactive state.

[0137] Method 1300 further includes performing 1304 measurements of a plurality of cells of the wireless network during an SDT measurement period of the SDT process.

[0138] Method 1300 further includes determining 1306 the respective quality of the plurality of cells of the wireless network based on the measurements of the plurality of cells during the SDT measurement period.

[0139] Method 1300 further includes detecting 1308 a measurement event according to one or more of the respective quality of the plurality of cells during the SDT measurement period.

[0140] Method 1300 further includes sending, in response to detecting a measurement event, one of an RRC Resume Request message and an RRC Reestablishment Request message to the network.

[0141] In some embodiments of method 1300, the plurality of cells includes the serving cell of the UE and neighboring cells among the plurality of cells.

[0142] In some embodiments of method 1300, the measurement event is based on the quality of the serving cell among the plurality of cells. In some of these embodiments, the measurement event is further based on the quality of neighboring cells among the plurality of cells.

[0143] In some embodiments of method 1300, the measurement event is based on the RLM of the serving cell among the plurality of cells.

[0144] In some embodiments of method 1300, the SDT measurement period begins when the UE sends the first message of the SDT-RACH procedure.

[0145] In some embodiments of method 1300, the SDT measurement period begins when the SDT-RACH procedure is successfully completed at the UE.

[0146] In some embodiments of method 1300, the SDT measurement period begins when the UE receives an indication of a dedicated authorization to be used after the SDT-RACH procedure from the radio network.

[0147] In some embodiments of method 1300, the SDT measurement period ends when one of an RRC Resume Request message and an RRC Reestablishment Request message is sent.

[0148] In some embodiments of method 1300, measurements are performed according to the paging period of the UE during the SDT measurement period.

[0149] In some embodiments of method 1300, measurements are performed according to the configuration of the radio network during the SDT measurement period for monitoring the SDT-PDCCH.

[0150] In some embodiments of method 1300, measurements are performed according to the SDT-DRX cycle during the SDT measurement period. In some of these embodiments, the SDT-DRX period is configured at the UE by the radio network.

[0151] In some embodiments of method 1300, measurements are performed during an SDT cycle according to an SDT measurement cycle configured at the UE by the wireless network. In some of these embodiments, the SDT measurement cycle is configured at the UE by the wireless network via one of an RRC Release message and an SIB of the serving cell of the plurality of cells.

[0152] Embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus that includes means for performing one or more elements of method 1300. The apparatus can be, for example, the apparatus of UE 1500 as described below.

[0153] Embodiments contemplated herein include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media that include instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of method 1300. The non-transitory computer-readable media can be, for example, the memory 1506 of UE1500 as described below and / or the peripherals 1704, memory / storage device 1714, and / or database 1720 of component 1700 as described below.

[0154] Embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus that includes logic components, modules, or circuits for performing one or more elements of method 1300. The apparatus can be, for example, the apparatus of UE 1500 as described below.

[0155] Embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus that includes: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media that include instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform one or more elements of method 1300. The apparatus can be, for example, the apparatus of UE 1500 as described below.

[0156] Embodiments contemplated herein include signals as described in or related to one or more elements of method 1300.

[0157] Embodiments contemplated herein include a computer program that includes instructions, where execution of the program by a processing element will cause the processing element to perform one or more elements of method 1300. The instructions can be, for example, the instructions 1712 of component 1700 as described below.

[0158] Figure 14 Method 1400 of a network according to an embodiment is shown. Method 1400 includes performing an SDT procedure 1402 when the UE is in an inactive state.

[0159] Method 1400 further includes receiving, during the SDT procedure, a measurement report 1404 having reporting data from a UE.

[0160] Method 1400 further includes scheduling, during the SDT procedure, one or more authorizations for the UE based on the reporting data of the measurement report for the UE 1406.

[0161] In some embodiments of method 1400, the reporting data includes the quality of one or more cells of a radio network.

[0162] In some embodiments of method 1400, the reporting data includes an indication bit corresponding to the quality of the serving cell of the UE.

[0163] In some embodiments of method 1400, the reporting data includes the expected RRC state of the UE.

[0164] Embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus that includes means for performing one or more elements of method 1400. The apparatus can be, for example, the apparatus of network node 1600 described below.

[0165] Embodiments contemplated herein include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media that include instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of method 1400. The non-transitory computer-readable media can be, for example, the memory 1606 of network node 1600 described below and / or the peripherals 1704, memory / storage device 1714, and / or database 1720 of component 1700 described below.

[0166] Embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus that includes logic components, modules, or circuits for performing one or more elements of method 1400. The apparatus can be, for example, the apparatus of network node 1600 described below.

[0167] Embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus that includes: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media that include instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform one or more elements of method 1400. The apparatus can be, for example, the apparatus of network node 1600 described below.

[0168] Embodiments contemplated herein include signals as described in or related to one or more elements of method 1400.

[0169] The embodiments contemplated herein include a computer program that includes instructions, where execution of the program by a processing element will cause the processing element to perform one or more elements of method 1400. These instructions can be, for example, the instructions 1712 of component 1700 as described below.

[0170] Figure 15 is a block diagram of a configurable exemplary UE 1500 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, including by executing instructions corresponding to any of the exemplary methods and / or processes described herein on a computer-readable medium. The UE 1500 includes one or more processors 1502, a transceiver 1504, a memory 1506, a user interface 1508, and a control interface 1510.

[0171] The one or more processors 1502 can include, for example, an application processor, an audio digital signal processor, a central processing unit, and / or one or more baseband processors. Each of the one or more processors 1502 can include internal memory and / or can include an interface for communicating with external memory (including memory 1506). The internal or external memory can store software code, programs, and / or instructions for execution by the one or more processors 1502 to configure and / or facilitate the UE 1500 to perform various operations, including the operations described herein. For example, execution of the instructions can configure the UE 1500 to communicate using one or more wired or wireless communication protocols (including one or more wireless communication protocols standardized by 3GPP, such as those commonly referred to as 5G / NR, LTE, LTE-A, UMTS, HSPA, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, etc.) or any other current or future protocol that can be used in conjunction with the one or more transceivers 1504, user interface 1508, and / or control interface 1510. As another example, the one or more processors 1502 can execute program code stored in memory 1506 or other memory corresponding to MAC, RLC, PDCP, and RRC layer protocols standardized by 3GPP (e.g., for NR and / or LTE). As yet another example, the processor 1502 can execute program code stored in memory 1506 or other memory, which, together with the one or more transceivers 1504, implements corresponding PHY layer protocols, such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), and single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA).

[0172] Memory 1506 may include memory regions for the one or more processors 1502 to store variables used in the protocols, configurations, controls, and other functions of the UE 1500 (including operations corresponding to or including any of the exemplary methods and / or processes described herein). Additionally, memory 1506 may include non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic RAM), or a combination thereof. Further, memory 1506 may interact with memory slots through which removable memory cards of one or more formats (e.g., SD cards, memory sticks, compact flash, etc.) may be inserted and removed.

[0173] The one or more transceivers 1504 may include radio frequency transmitter and / or receiver circuitry that facilitates communication of the UE 1500 with other devices supporting similar wireless communication standards and / or protocols. For example, the one or more transceivers 1504 may include switches, mixer circuitry, amplifier circuitry, filter circuitry, and synthesizer circuitry. Such RF circuitry may include a receive signal path having circuitry that down-converts an RF signal received from a front-end module (FEM) and provides a baseband signal to a baseband processor of the one or more processors 1502. The RF circuitry may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry for up-converting a baseband signal provided by the baseband processor and providing an RF output signal for transmission to the FEM. The FEM may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry configured to operate on an RF signal received from one or more antennas, amplify the received signal, and provide an amplified version of the received signal to the RF circuitry for further processing. The FEM may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify a transmit signal provided by the RF circuitry for transmission by one or more antennas. In various embodiments, amplification through the transmit or receive signal paths may be accomplished only in the RF circuitry, only in the FEM, or in both the RF circuitry and the FEM circuitry. In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry may include a TX / RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operations.

[0174] In some exemplary embodiments, the one or more transceivers 1504 include transmitters and receivers that enable the UE 1500 to communicate with various 5G / NR networks according to various protocols and / or methods proposed for standardization by 3GPP and / or other standards bodies. For example, such functionality may operate in cooperation with the one or more processors 1502 to implement the PHY layer based on OFDM, OFDMA, and / or SC-FDMA techniques, as described herein with reference to other figures.

[0175] The user interface 1508 can take various forms according to specific embodiments, or may not exist in the UE 1500. In some embodiments, the user interface 1508 includes a microphone, a speaker, a slidable button, a pressable button, a display, a touchscreen display, a mechanical or virtual keypad, a mechanical or virtual keyboard, and / or any other user interface features typically present on a mobile phone. In other embodiments, the UE 1500 can include a tablet computing device having a larger touchscreen display. In such embodiments, one or more of the mechanical features of the user interface 1508 can be replaced by equivalent or functionally equivalent virtual user interface features (e.g., virtual keypad, virtual buttons, etc.) implemented using the touchscreen display, as is familiar to those of ordinary skill in the art. In other embodiments, the UE 1500 can be a digital computing device, such as a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a workstation, etc., which includes a mechanical keyboard that can be integrated, disassembled, or removable according to specific exemplary embodiments. Such digital computing devices can also include a touchscreen display. Many exemplary embodiments of the UE 1500 having a touchscreen display are capable of receiving user input, such as input related to the exemplary methods and / or processes described herein or known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

[0176] In some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE 1500 includes an orientation sensor that can be used in various ways by the features and functions of the UE 1500. For example, the UE 1500 can use the output of the orientation sensor to determine when the user has changed the physical orientation of the touchscreen display of the UE 1500. The indication signal from the orientation sensor can be used for any application program executed on the UE 1500, such that the application program can automatically change the orientation of the screen display (e.g., from portrait to landscape) when the indication signal indicates an approximately 90-degree change in the physical orientation of the device. In this way, the application program can keep the screen display in a user-readable manner regardless of the physical orientation of the device. Additionally, the output of the orientation sensor can be used in conjunction with various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0177] The control interface 1510 can take various forms according to specific embodiments. For example, the control interface 1510 can include an RS-232 interface, an RS-485 interface, a USB interface, an HDMI interface, a Bluetooth interface, an IEEE (“FireWire”) interface, an I 2 C interface, a PCMCIA interface, etc. In some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the control interface 1260 can include an IEEE 802.3 Ethernet interface, as described above. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the control interface 1510 can include an analog interface circuit that includes, for example, one or more digital-to-analog (D / A) converters and / or analog-to-digital (A / D) converters.

[0178] Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the above list of features, interfaces, and radio communication standards is merely exemplary and not limited to the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, the UE 1500 may include more functions than Figure 15 shown, including, for example, video and / or still image cameras, microphones, media players, and / or recorders. Additionally, the one or more transceivers 1504 may include circuitry for communicating using additional radio communication standards including Bluetooth, GPS, and / or others. Further, the one or more processors 1502 may execute software code stored in the memory 1506 to control such additional functions. For example, the directional speed and / or position estimates output from a GPS receiver may be used by any application executed on the UE 1500, including the various exemplary methods and / or computer-readable media according to the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0179] Figure 16 is a block diagram of an exemplary configurable network node 1600 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, including by executing instructions corresponding to any of the example methods and / or processes described herein on a computer-readable medium.

[0180] The network node 1600 includes one or more processors 1602, a radio network interface 1604, a memory 1606, a core network interface 1608, and other interfaces 1610. The network node 1600 may include, for example, a base station, eNB, gNB, access node, or components thereof.

[0181] The one or more processors 1602 may include any type of processor or processing circuitry and may be configured to execute one of the methods or processes disclosed herein. The memory 1606 may store software code, programs, and / or instructions that are executed by the one or more processors 1602 to configure the network node 1600 to perform various operations, including those described herein. For example, the execution of such stored instructions may configure the network node 1600 to communicate with one or more other devices using protocols according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, including one or more of the methods and / or processes described above. Additionally, the execution of such stored instructions may also configure and / or facilitate the network node 1600 to communicate with one or more other devices using other protocols or protocol layers, such as one or more of the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, and RRC layer protocols standardized by 3GPP for LTE, LTE-A, and / or NR, or any other higher layer protocol used in conjunction with the radio network interface 1604 and the core network interface 1608. By way of example and not limitation, the core network interface 1608 includes the S1 interface, and the radio network interface 1604 may include the Uu interface, as standardized by 3GPP. The memory 1606 may also store variables used in the protocols, configurations, controls, and other functions of the network node 1600. Accordingly, the memory 1606 may include non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory, hard disk, etc.), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic RAM), network-based (e.g., "cloud") storage devices, or a combination thereof.

[0182] The radio network interface 1604 may include a transmitter, a receiver, signal processors, ASICs, antennas, beamforming units, and other circuitry that enables the network node 1600 to communicate with other equipment (in some embodiments, such as a plurality of compatible user equipment (UE)). In some embodiments, the network node 1600 may include various protocols or protocol layers, such as the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, and RRC layer protocols standardized by 3GPP for LTE, LTE-A, and / or 5G / NR. According to additional embodiments of the present disclosure, the radio network interface 1604 may include a PHY layer based on OFDM, OFDMA, and / or SC-FDMA technologies. In some embodiments, the functions of such a PHY layer may be provided collaboratively by the radio network interface 1604 and the one or more processors 1602.

[0183] The core network interface 1608 may include a transmitter, a receiver, and other circuitry that enables the network node 1600 to communicate with other equipment in a core network (in some embodiments, such as a circuit-switched (CS) and / or packet-switched core (PS) network). In some embodiments, the core network interface 1608 may include an S1 interface standardized by 3GPP. In some embodiments, the core network interface 1608 may include one or more interfaces to one or more SGWs, MMEs, GSNs, GSNs, and other physical devices, the one or more interfaces including functionality known to those of ordinary skill in the art present in GERAN, UTRAN, E-UTRAN, and CDMA2000 core networks. In some embodiments, these one or more interfaces may be multiplexed together on a single physical interface. In some embodiments, the lower layer of the core network interface 1608 may include one or more of asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), Internet protocol over Ethernet (IP), SDH over fiber, T1 / E1 / PDH over copper, microwave radio, or other wired or wireless transmission technologies known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

[0184] The other interface 1610 may include a transmitter, a receiver, and other circuitry that enables the network node 1600 to communicate with external networks, computers, databases, etc. for operating, managing, and maintaining the network node 1600 or other network equipment operably connected thereto.

[0185] Figure 17 is a block diagram showing a component 1700 capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable medium or a computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and performing any one or more of the methods discussed herein. Specifically, Figure 17 shows a schematic diagram of hardware resources 1702, including one or more processors 1706 (or processor cores), one or more memory / storage devices 1714, and one or more communication resources 1724, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 1716. For embodiments in which node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 1722 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices / sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 1702.

[0186] The processor 1706 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP) (such as a baseband processor), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, a processor 1708 and a processor 1710.

[0187] The memory / storage device 1714 may include a main memory, a disk memory, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage device 1714 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid state memory, etc.

[0188] The communication resources 1724 may include an interconnect or network interface component or other suitable device to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1704 or one or more databases 1720 via the network 1718. For example, the communication resources 1724 may include a wired communication component (e.g., for coupling via a Universal Serial Bus (USB)), a cellular communication component, an NFC component, components (e.g., low power consumption), components and other communication components.

[0189] The instructions 1712 may include software, programs, applications, applets, applications, or other executable code for causing at least any one of the processors 1706 to execute any one or more of the methods discussed herein. The instructions 1712 may reside, in whole or in part, in at least one of the processors 1706 (e.g., within the cache memory of the processor), the memory / storage device 1714, or any suitable combination thereof. Additionally, any part of the instructions 1712 may be transmitted from any combination of the peripheral devices 1704 or the database 1720 to the hardware resources 1702. Accordingly, the memories of the processors 1706, the memory / storage device 1714, the peripheral devices 1704, and the database 1720 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0190] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more of the operations, techniques, processes, and / or methods described herein. For example, the baseband circuitry described above in connection with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples described herein. As another example, the circuitry associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc. described above in connection with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples shown herein.

[0191] Unless otherwise expressly stated, any one of the above-described embodiments may be combined with any other embodiment (or combination of embodiments). The foregoing description of one or more specific embodiments provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise forms disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings, or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.

[0192] Embodiments and specific implementations of the systems and methods described herein may include various operations, which may be embodied in machine-executable instructions to be executed by a computer system. The computer system may include one or more general-purpose or special-purpose computers (or other electronic devices). The computer system may include hardware components that include specific logic components for performing the operations, or may include a combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0193] It should be recognized that the systems described herein include a description of specific embodiments. These embodiments may be combined into a single system, partially incorporated into other systems, divided into multiple systems, or otherwise partitioned or combined. In addition, it is contemplated that the parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. of one embodiment may be used in another embodiment. For the sake of clarity, these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. are described in only one or more embodiments, and it should be recognized that unless otherwise specifically stated herein, these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. may be combined with or substituted for the parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. of another embodiment.

[0194] It is well known that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of inadvertent or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly explained to the user.

[0195] Although the foregoing has been described in considerable detail for purposes of clarity, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be made without departing from the principles of the disclosure. It should be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing both the processes and apparatuses described herein. Accordingly, the embodiments of the disclosure are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive, and the specification is not limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: initiating a small data transmission (SDT) process with a radio network; wherein the SDT process is performed when the UE is in an inactive state; performing measurements of a plurality of cells of the radio network during an SDT measurement period of the SDT process; determining respective qualities of the plurality of cells of the radio network based on the measurements of the plurality of cells during the SDT measurement period; detecting a measurement event based on one or more of the respective qualities of the plurality of cells during the SDT measurement period, wherein the measurement event is based on a first quality of a serving cell among the plurality of cells and a second quality of an adjacent cell among the plurality of cells; and sending a measurement report to the network in response to detecting the measurement event, the measurement report having data determined using one or more of the respective qualities of the plurality of cells of the radio network.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of cells includes a serving cell of the UE and adjacent cells among the plurality of cells.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the measurement event is based on radio link monitoring (RLM) of a serving cell among the plurality of cells.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the data includes the quality of a serving cell among the plurality of cells.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the data further includes a beam index of a beam of the serving cell among the plurality of cells.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the data further includes the quality of an adjacent cell among the plurality of cells and a beam index of a beam of the adjacent cell among the plurality of cells.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the data includes an indication bit corresponding to the quality of a serving cell among the plurality of cells.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the data includes an expected radio resource control (RRC) state of the UE.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the SDT measurement period starts when the UE sends a first message of an SDT random access channel (RACH) (SDT-RACH) process.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the SDT measurement period starts when an SDT random access channel (RACH) (SDT-RACH) process is successfully completed at the UE.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the SDT measurement period starts when the UE receives an indication of a dedicated authorization to be used after an SDT random access channel (RACH) (SDT-RACH) process from the radio network.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the SDT measurement period ends when the UE receives one of an RRCRelease message and an RRCResume message.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the SDT measurement period ends when a T319 timer at the UE expires.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the UE performs reselection away from the serving cell of the UE, the SDT measurement period ends.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the measurement event occurs, the SDT measurement period ends.

16. The method according to claim 1, wherein the measurement is performed according to the paging cycle of the UE during the SDT measurement period.

17. The method according to claim 1, wherein the measurement is performed according to the configuration of the radio network during the SDT measurement period for monitoring the SDT physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) (SDT-PDCCH).

18. The method according to claim 1, wherein the measurement is performed according to the SDT discontinuous reception (DRX) (SDT-DRX) cycle during the SDT measurement period.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the SDT-DRX cycle is configured at the UE by the radio network.

20. The method according to claim 1, wherein the measurement is performed according to the SDT measurement cycle configured at the UE by the radio network during the SDT cycle.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the SDT measurement cycle is configured at the UE by the radio network via one of an RRC Release message and a system information block (SIB) of the serving cell among the plurality of cells.

22. A method performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: initiating a small data transmission (SDT) process with a radio network; wherein the SDT process is performed when the UE is in an inactive state; performing measurements on a plurality of cells of the radio network during an SDT measurement period of the SDT process; determining corresponding qualities of the plurality of cells of the radio network based on the measurements of the plurality of cells during the SDT measurement period; detecting a measurement event based on one or more of the corresponding qualities of the plurality of cells during the SDT measurement period, wherein the measurement event is based on a first quality of a serving cell among the plurality of cells and a second quality of an adjacent cell among the plurality of cells; and sending one of an RRC Resume Request message and an RRC Reestablishment Request message in response to detecting the measurement event.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein the plurality of cells includes a serving cell of the UE and adjacent cells among the plurality of cells.

24. The method according to claim 22, wherein the measurement event is based on radio link monitoring (RLM) of a serving cell among the plurality of cells.

25. The method according to claim 22, wherein the SDT measurement period starts when the UE sends a first message of an SDT random access channel (RACH) (SDT-RACH) process.

26. The method according to claim 22, wherein when the SDT random access channel (RACH) (SDT-RACH) procedure is successfully completed at the UE, the SDT measurement period starts.

27. The method according to claim 22, wherein when the UE receives an indication of a dedicated grant to be used after the SDT random access channel (RACH) (SDT-RACH) procedure from the radio network, the SDT measurement period starts.

28. The method according to claim 22, wherein when one of the RRCResumeRequest message and the RRCReestablishmentRequest message is sent, the SDT measurement period ends.

29. The method according to claim 22, wherein the measurement is performed according to the paging period of the UE during the SDT measurement period.

30. The method according to claim 22, wherein the measurement is performed according to the configuration of the radio network during the SDT measurement period for monitoring the SDT physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) (SDT-PDCCH).

31. The method according to claim 22, wherein the measurement is performed according to the SDT discontinuous reception (DRX) (SDT-DRX) period during the SDT measurement period.

32. The method according to claim 31, wherein the SDT-DRX period is configured at the UE by the radio network.

33. The method according to claim 22, wherein the measurement is performed according to the SDT measurement period configured at the UE by the radio network during the SDT period.

34. The method according to claim 33, wherein the SDT measurement period is configured at the UE by the radio network via one of an RRCRelease message and a system information block (SIB) of a serving cell among the plurality of cells.

35. A method performed in a radio network, comprising: performing a small data transmission (SDT) procedure when a user equipment (UE) is in an inactive state; receiving, during the SDT procedure, a measurement report having reported data from the UE, wherein the measurement report is sent by the UE in response to a measurement event, and wherein the measurement event is based on a first quality of a serving cell among a plurality of cells and a second quality of an adjacent cell among the plurality of cells; and scheduling, by the UE, one or more grants for the UE based on the reported data of the measurement report during the SDT procedure.

36. The method according to claim 35, wherein the reported data includes the quality of one or more cells of the radio network.

37. The method according to claim 35, wherein the reported data includes an indication bit corresponding to the quality of the serving cell of the UE.

38. The method according to claim 35, wherein the reported data includes the expected radio resource control (RRC) state of the UE.

Images