System and method for optimizing procedure of changing primary cell in secondary cell group

Abstract

Systems, methods, apparatuses, or computer readable media for optimizing a primary cell (PSCell) change procedure for a secondary cell group are presented. A wireless communication device may identify a failure occurring in a procedure of changing from a first PSCell in a source secondary communication node to a second PSCell in a target secondary communication node. The wireless communication device may send a first message including first information related to the failure.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, including but not limited to systems and methods for optimizing a primary cell (PSCell) change procedure in a secondary cell group. Background Art

[0002] The third generation partnership project (3GPP), a standardization organization, is currently specifying a new radio interface called 5G New Radio (5GNR) and the next generation packet core network (NG-CN or NGC). 5G NR will have three main components: 5G access network (5G-AN), 5G core network (5GC) and user equipment (UE). To facilitate the implementation of different data services and requirements, the elements of 5GC (also called network functions) have been simplified, and some of them are software-based so that they can be adapted as needed. Summary of the invention

[0003] The example embodiments disclosed herein are directed to solving problems related to one or more problems raised in the prior art, and to providing additional features, which will become apparent by reference to the detailed description below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. According to various embodiments, example systems, methods, devices, and computer program products are disclosed herein. However, it should be understood that these embodiments are presented in an exemplary and non-restrictive manner, and it is obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art who reads the present disclosure that various modifications can be made to the disclosed embodiments while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0004] At least one aspect is directed to a system, method, device, or computer-readable medium for optimizing a primary cell (PSCell) change process for a secondary cell group. A primary communication node may receive a first message from a wireless communication device, the first message including first information, the first information being related to a failure in a process of changing from a first PSCell in a source secondary communication node to a second PSCell in a target secondary communication node. The primary communication node may send a second message to a source or target secondary communication node where the failure occurred, the second message including a report with second information.

[0005] In some embodiments, the first information may include at least one of the following items: information of the first PSCell; information of the cell that failed as the first PSCell or the second PSCell; the type of failure; measurement of the first PSCell and / or the second PSCell; an indicator indicating whether the first and / or second PSCell being measured is a conditional PSCell addition and change (CPAC) candidate PSCell; a timer associated with the failure; one or more most recently received CPAC execution conditions; or a list of one or more most recently configured CPAC candidate PSCells.

[0006] In some embodiments, the second information may include at least one of the following items: a cell group identifier (CGI) of the first PSCell; a cell in which the CGI failed, the cell in which the CGI failed is the first PSCell or the second PSCell; a container for the first information; a maximum number of PSCells to be prepared; a list of candidate PSCells; or an arrival probability of the wireless communication device toward a target secondary communication node.

[0007] At least one other aspect is directed to a system, method, apparatus, or computer-readable medium for optimizing a primary cell (PSCell) change process for a secondary cell group. A source secondary communication node may receive a third message from a wireless communication device, the third message including third information, the third information being related to a failure that occurred in a process of changing from a first PSCell in the source secondary communication node to a second PSCell in a target secondary communication node. The target secondary communication node may send a sixth message to the primary communication node, the sixth message including a report having sixth information.

[0008] In some embodiments, the fifth information may include at least one of the following items: information of the first PSCell; information of the failed cell, the information of the failed cell is the first PSCell; the type of failure; measurement of the first PSCell and / or the second PSCell; an indicator indicating whether the first and / or second PSCell being measured is a conditional PSCell change (CPAC) candidate PSCell; a timer associated with the failure; one or more most recently received CPAC execution conditions; or a list of one or more most recently configured CPAC candidate PSCells.

[0009] In some embodiments, the sixth information may include at least one of the following items: a cell group identifier (CGI) of the first PSCell; a cell where the CGI failed, the cell where the CGI failed is the first PSCell; a container for the first information; a maximum number of PSCells to be prepared; a list of candidate PSCells; or an arrival probability of the wireless communication device toward a target secondary communication node.

[0010] At least one other aspect is directed to a system, method, apparatus, or computer-readable medium for optimizing a primary cell (PSCell) change process for a secondary cell group. A wireless communication device may identify a failure in a process of changing from a first PSCell in a source secondary communication node to a second PSCell in a target secondary communication node. The wireless communication device may send a first message including first information related to the failure.

[0011] In some embodiments, the first information may include at least one of the following: information of the first PSCell; information of the cell that failed as the first PSCell or the second PSCell; the type of failure; measurement of the first PSCell and / or the second PSCell; an indicator indicating whether the first and / or second PSCell being measured is a conditional PSCell addition and change (CPAC) candidate PSCell; a timer associated with the failure; one or more most recently received CPAC execution conditions; or a list of one or more most recently configured CPAC candidate PSCells.

[0012] In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may send a first message to the primary communication node. In some embodiments, in response to receiving the first message, the primary communication node may analyze the first information; generate a report related to the failure including the second information; and send a second message including the report to the source or target secondary communication node where the failure occurred.

[0013] In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may send a first message to a source secondary communication node. In some embodiments, in response to receiving the first message, the source secondary communication node may analyze the first information; generate a report including the second information related to the failure; and send a third message including the report to the primary communication node. The report may also be sent to a target secondary communication node where the failure occurred.

[0014] In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may send a first message to the target secondary communication node. In some embodiments, in response to receiving the first message, the target secondary communication node may analyze the first information; generate a report including the second information related to the failure; and send a fourth message including the report to the primary communication node. In some embodiments, the report may also be sent to the source secondary communication node where the failure occurred.

[0015] In some embodiments, the second information may include at least one of the following items: a cell group identifier (CGI) of the first PSCell; a cell that fails to be the CGI of the first PSCell or the second PSCell; a container also including the first information; a maximum number of PSCells to be prepared; a list of candidate PSCells; or an arrival probability of the wireless communication device toward a target secondary communication node. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Various example embodiments of the present solution are described in detail below with reference to the following figures or diagrams. The figures are provided for illustrative purposes only, and the figures only describe example embodiments of the present solution to facilitate the reader's understanding of the present solution. Therefore, the figures should not be regarded as limiting the breadth, scope or applicability of the present solution. It should be noted that for clarity and ease of description, these figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.

[0017] Figure 1 illustrates an example cellular communication network in which the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0018] Figure 2 illustrates a block diagram of example base station and user equipment apparatus according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0019] Figure 3 A communication diagram illustrating a process for generating secondary cell group (SCG) failure information for a conditional primary cell (PSCell) addition and change (CPAC) of a secondary cell group according to an illustrative embodiment;

[0020] Figure 4 A communication diagram illustrating a process for communicating a secondary cell group (SCG) failure report between a master node (MN) and a failed secondary node (SN) according to an illustrative embodiment;

[0021] Figure 5 A communication diagram illustrating a process of transmitting a secondary cell group (SCG) failure report between a master node (MN), a source secondary node (SN), and a failed SN according to an illustrative embodiment;

[0022] Figure 6 A communication diagram illustrating a process of transmitting a secondary cell group (SCG) failure report between a master node (MN), a failed secondary node (SN), and a target SN according to an illustrative embodiment; and

[0023] Figure 7 A flow chart of a method of optimizing a primary cell (PSCell) change procedure for a secondary cell group is illustrated in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] Various example embodiments of the present solution are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings so that a person of ordinary skill in the art can make and use the present solution. As will be apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art after reading this disclosure, various changes or modifications may be made to the examples described herein without departing from the scope of the present solution. Therefore, the present solution is not limited to the example embodiments and applications described and illustrated herein. In addition, the specific order or hierarchy of the steps in the methods disclosed herein are merely example methods. Based on design preferences, the specific order or hierarchy of the steps of the disclosed methods or processes may be rearranged while still within the scope of the present solution. Therefore, a person of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the methods and techniques disclosed herein present various steps or actions in an example order, and unless otherwise expressly stated, the present solution is not limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

[0025] 1. Mobile communication technology and environment

[0026] Figure 1 An example wireless communication network and / or system 100 is illustrated in which the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the following discussion, the wireless communication network 100 may be any wireless network, such as a cellular network or a narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) network, and is referred to herein as "network 100." This example network 100 includes a base station 102 (hereinafter referred to as "BS 102"; also referred to as a wireless communication node) and a user equipment device 104 (hereinafter referred to as "UE 104"; also referred to as a wireless communication device) that may communicate with each other via a communication link 110 (e.g., a wireless communication channel), and a cluster of cells 126, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, and 140 covering a geographic area 101. In Figure 1 1, BS 102 and UE 104 are contained within the respective geographic boundaries of cell 126. Each of the other cells 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, and 140 may include at least one base station operating within its allocated bandwidth to provide adequate wireless coverage to its intended users.

[0027] For example, BS 102 may operate under the allocated channel transmission bandwidth to provide sufficient coverage to UE 104. BS 102 and UE 104 may communicate via downlink radio frames 118 and uplink radio frames 124, respectively. Each radio frame 118 / 124 may be further divided into subframes 120 / 127, which may include data symbols 122 / 128. In the present disclosure, BS 102 and UE 104 are described herein as non-limiting examples of "communication nodes", which may generally practice the methods disclosed herein. According to various embodiments of the present solution, such communication nodes may have the capability of wireless and / or wired communication.

[0028] Figure 2 A block diagram of an example wireless communication system 200 for transmitting and receiving wireless communication signals (e.g., OFDM / OFDMA signals) according to some embodiments of the present solution is illustrated. The system 200 may include components and elements configured to support known or conventional operating features, which need not be described in detail herein. In an illustrative embodiment, the system 200 may be used to communicate with a wireless communication environment (such as a Figure 1 The wireless communication environment 100 of the present invention may be used to communicate (eg, transmit and receive) data symbols, as described above.

[0029] System 200 generally includes a base station 202 (hereinafter referred to as "BS202") and a user equipment 204 (hereinafter referred to as "UE204"). BS202 includes a BS (base station) transceiver module 210, a BS antenna 212, a BS processor module 214, a BS memory module 216, and a network communication module 218, each of which is coupled and interconnected via a data communication bus 220 as needed. UE204 includes a UE (user equipment) transceiver module 230, a UE antenna 232, a UE memory module 234, and a UE processor module 236, each of which is coupled and interconnected via a data communication bus 240 as needed. BS202 communicates with UE 204 via a communication channel 250, which can be any wireless channel or other medium suitable for transmitting the data described herein.

[0030] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the system 200 may also include Figure 2 . It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the various illustrative blocks, modules, circuits, and processing logic described in relation to the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in hardware, computer-readable software, firmware, or any actual combination thereof. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability and compatibility of hardware, firmware, and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are generally described in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware, or software depends on a specific application and the design constraints imposed on the entire system. Personnel familiar with the concepts described herein can implement such functionality in an appropriate manner for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure.

[0031] According to some embodiments, the UE transceiver 230 may be referred to herein as an "uplink" transceiver 230, which includes a radio frequency (RF) transmitter and an RF receiver, each of which includes circuitry coupled to an antenna 232. A duplex switch (not shown) may alternately couple the uplink transmitter or receiver to the uplink antenna in a time duplex manner. Similarly, according to some embodiments, the BS transceiver 210 may be referred to herein as a "downlink" transceiver 210, which includes an RF transmitter and an RF receiver, each of which includes circuitry coupled to an antenna 212. The downlink duplex switch may alternately couple the downlink transmitter or receiver to the downlink antenna 212 in a time duplex manner. The operation of the two transceiver modules 210 and 230 may be coordinated in time such that while the downlink transmitter is coupled to the downlink antenna 212, the uplink receiver circuitry is coupled to the uplink antenna 232 to receive transmissions on the wireless transmission link 250. Instead, the operation of the two transceivers 210 and 230 may be coordinated in time such that while the uplink transmitter is coupled to the uplink antenna 232, the downlink receiver is coupled to the downlink antenna 212 to receive transmissions over the wireless transmission link 250. In some embodiments, there is tight time synchronization between changes in duplex direction with minimal guard times.

[0032] The UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 are configured to communicate via a wireless data communication link 250 and cooperate with an appropriately configured RF antenna arrangement 212 / 232 that can support a specific wireless communication protocol and modulation scheme. In some illustrative embodiments, the UE transceiver 210 and the base station transceiver 210 are configured to support industry standards such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and emerging 5G standards, etc. However, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not necessarily limited to specific standards and associated protocols in application. Instead, the UE transceiver 230 and the base station transceiver 210 can be configured to support alternative or additional wireless data communication protocols, including future standards or variants thereof.

[0033] According to various embodiments, for example, BS 202 may be an evolved Node B (eNB), a serving eNB, a target eNB, a femtocell or a microcell. In some embodiments, UE 204 may be embodied in various types of user equipment, such as mobile phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablet computers, laptop computers, wearable computing devices, etc. Processor modules 214 and 236 may be implemented with general-purpose processors, content addressable memories, digital signal processors, application specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, any suitable programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof, which are designed to perform the functions described herein. In this way, the processor may be implemented as a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a state machine, etc. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors and a digital signal processor core, or any other such configuration.

[0034] Furthermore, the steps of the methods or algorithms described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be directly embodied in hardware, firmware, software modules executed by the processor modules 214 and 236, respectively, or any practical combination thereof. The memory modules 216 and 234 may be implemented as RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. In this regard, the memory modules 216 and 234 may be coupled to the processor modules 210 and 230, respectively, so that the processor modules 210 and 230 may read information from and write information to the memory modules 216 and 234, respectively. The memory modules 216 and 234 may also be integrated into their respective processor modules 210 and 230. In some embodiments, the memory modules 216 and 234 may each include a cache memory for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during the execution of instructions to be executed by the processor modules 210 and 230, respectively. Memory modules 216 and 234 may also each include non-volatile memory for storing instructions to be executed by processor modules 210 and 230, respectively.

[0035] The network communication module 218 generally represents the hardware, software, firmware, processing logic and / or other components of the base station 202, which enables bidirectional communication between the base station transceiver 210 and other network components and communication nodes configured to communicate with the base station 202. For example, the network communication module 218 can be configured to support Internet or WiMAX services. In a typical deployment, the network communication module 218 provides an 802.3 Ethernet interface so that the base station transceiver 210 can communicate with a traditional Ethernet-based computer network, but is not limited to this. In this way, the network communication module 218 can include a physical interface for connecting to a computer network (e.g., a mobile switching center (MSC)). The terms "configured for", "configured to" and their variations used herein with respect to a specified operation or function refer to a device, component, circuit, structure, machine, signal, etc. that is physically constructed, programmed, formatted and / or arranged to perform a specified operation or function.

[0036] The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model (referred to herein as the "Open Systems Interconnection Model") is a concept and logical layout that defines network communications used by systems (e.g., wireless communication devices, wireless communication nodes) that are open for interconnection and communication with other systems. The model is divided into seven subcomponents or layers, each of which represents a conceptual set of services provided by its upper and lower layers. The OSI model also defines a logical network and effectively describes computer packet transmission by using different layer protocols. The OSI model may also be referred to as a seven-layer OSI model or a seven-layer model. In some embodiments, the first layer may be a physical layer. In some embodiments, the second layer may be a media access control (MAC) layer. In some embodiments, the third layer may be a radio link control (RLC) layer. In some embodiments, the fourth layer may be a packet data aggregation protocol (PDCP) layer. In some embodiments, the fifth layer may be a radio resource control (RRC) layer. In some embodiments, the sixth layer may be a non-access stratum (NAS) layer or an Internet Protocol (IP) layer, and the seventh layer is another layer.

[0037] 2. System and method for optimizing primary cell and secondary cell change process

[0038] The primary cell (PSCell) change process of conditional secondary cell groups between secondary nodes (SNs) can be performed according to the protocol. However, abnormal situations for this process cannot be autonomously identified and recovered. This paper proposes a system and method for optimizing the PSCell change process to solve these technical challenges.

[0039] In such a setting, a self-optimizing network (SON) in a long-term evolution (LTE) system can be used to support deployment and performance optimization of the system. Mobility robustness optimization (MRO) can be one of the most important features in SON. MRO may aim to detect and enable correction of mobility-related problems that degrade user experience and waste network resources, such as connection failures due to intra-radio access technology (RAT) or inter-RAT mobility, unnecessary handovers to another RAT, and inter-RAT ping-pong, etc.

[0040] Multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC) may be a generalization of internal Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) dual connectivity (DC). In E-UTRA DC, a user equipment (UE) with multiple receivers and transmitters (Rx / Tx) functions may be configured to utilize resources provided by two different nodes connected via a non-ideal backhaul, one node providing new radio (NR) access and the other providing E-UTRA or NR access. One node may act as a master node (MN) and the other node as a secondary node (SN). The MN and the SN may be connected via a network interface, and at least the MN may be connected to the core network.

[0041] Conditional PSCell addition can be a PSCell addition process performed when (multiple) PSCell addition conditions are met. Conditional PSCell change can be a PSCell change process performed when (multiple) PSCell execution conditions are met. Inter-SN conditional PSCell change can be a PSCell change process from a source PSCell in a source SN to a target PSCell in a target SN.

[0042] Regarding PSCell change failure, the failure may be caused by the following three situations: (1) PSCell change is too late; (2) PSCell change is too early; or (3) change to the wrong PSCell. In the first case, a secondary cell group (SCG) failure may occur after the UE stays in the PSCell for a long time, and a suitable different PSCell can be found based on the measurements reported by the UE. In the second case, SCG failure may occur shortly after a successful PSCell change from the source PSCell to the target PSCell, or PSCell change failure may occur during the PSCell change process. Based on the measurements reported by the UE, the source PSCell may still be a suitable PSCell. In the third case, SCG failure may occur shortly after a successful PSCell change from the source PSCell to the target PSCell, or PSCell change failure may occur during the PSCell change process. In this case, a suitable PSCell different from the source PSCell or the target PSCell can be found based on the measurements reported by the UE.

[0043] When a failure of the conditional PSCell addition and change (CPAC) procedure occurs, the UE may send SCG failure information to the network to indicate the failure. For MR-DC deployment in NG-RAN networks, the UE may send SCG failure information to the MN. The MN may then analyze the received SCG failure information and may generate an SCG failure information report to the SN where the failure occurred.

[0044] In some embodiments, the UE may send SCG failure information to the source SN. The source SN may then analyze the received SCG failure information and generate an SCG failure information report to the MN, and the MN may transmit the SCG failure information to the SN where the failure occurred (target SN). In some embodiments, the UE may send SCG failure information to the target SN. The target SN may then analyze the received SCG failure information and generate an SCG failure information report to the MN, and the MN may transmit the SCG failure information to the SN where the failure occurred (source SN).

[0045] A. Generate SCG failure information for CPAC

[0046] See now Figure 3 , depicts a communication diagram of a process 300 for generating secondary cell group (SCG) failure information for primary cell (PSCell) addition and change (CPAC) of conditional secondary cell groups. The process 300 may be used to generate SCG failure information by a UE due to a CPAC failure performed by the UE 305 and the network 310.

[0047] At step 315, UE 305 may detect an SCG failure in the network. The SCG failure may be caused by a failure of a CPAC process. At step 320, UE 305 may trigger a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration process between UE 305 and network 310 to select a suitable next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) cell. At step 325, UE 305 may send SCG failure information to network 310 to indicate detailed information about the SCG failure related to CPAC.

[0048] More specifically, the SCG failure information related to CPAC includes at least one of the following items: information of the previous SN cell (previousPSCellId); information of the failed SN cell (failedPSCellId); SN cause value of SCG failure (SCGFailureType), such as CPAC failure; PSCell measurement in case of SCG failure (MeasResultSCG-Failure); an indication of whether the measured PSCell is a CPAC candidate PSCell; SCG failure timer (timeSCGFailure); the latest received CPAC execution condition; and the latest configured CPAC candidate PSCell list, etc.

[0049] B. SCG failure information report transmission between MN and SN in the first scenario

[0050] See now Figure 4 , depicts a communication diagram of a process 400 for transmitting a secondary cell group (SCG) failure report between a master node (MN) and a failed secondary node (SN). For this scenario, SCG failure information can be sent by UE 405 to MN 410, and MN 410 can transmit the SCG failure information report to failed SN 415.

[0051] At step 420, UE 405 may send SCG failure information related to CPAC to MN 410. More specifically, the SCG failure information related to CPAC may include at least one of the following items: information of the previous SN cell (previousPSCellId); information of the failed SN cell (failedPSCellId); SN cause value of SCG failure (SCGFailureType), such as CPAC failure; PSCell measurement in case of SCG failure (MeasResultSCG-Failure); indication of whether the measured PSCell is a CPAC candidate PSCell; SCG failure timer (timeSCGFailure); the latest received CPAC execution condition; and the list of the latest configured CPAC candidate PSCells, etc.

[0052] At step 425, after receiving the SCG failure information, the MN 410 may analyze the SCG failure information and generate an SCG failure information report. More specifically, the SCG failure information report may include at least one of the following items: source PSCellCGI (cell group identifier); failed PSCell CGI; SCG failure information report container (with SCG failure information as shown above); the maximum number of PSCells to be prepared; candidate PSCell list; and the arrival probability of the UE toward the candidate target SN, etc.

[0053] At step 430, the MN may send an SCG failure information report to the failed SN via XnAP signaling. In addition, the failed SN 415 may be the SN where the SCG failure occurs. More specifically, the XnAP signaling may be one of the following: an SCG failure information report (SCG FAILURE INFORMATION REPORT) message; an S-NODE MODIFICATION REQUEST message; and an S-NODE ADDITION REQUEST message, etc. Using the SCG failure information report, the failed SN may identify the failure and recover from the failure.

[0054] C. SCG failure information report transmission between MN and SN in the second scenario

[0055] See now Figure 5, depicts a communication diagram of a process 500 for transmitting a secondary cell group (SCG) failure report between a master node (MN), a source secondary node (SN), and a failed SN. For this scenario, a UE 505 may directly send SCG failure information to a source SN 515, and the source SN 515 may send the SCG failure information report to a MN 510. The MN 510 may transmit the SCG failure information report to a failed SN 520. In this scenario, the SCG failure may occur in a target SN.

[0056] In step 525, the UE 505 may send CPAC-related SCG failure information to the source SN 515. More specifically, the CPAC-related SCG failure information includes at least one of the following items: information of the previous SN cell (previousPSCellId); information of the failed SN cell (failedPSCellId); SN cause value of SCG failure (SCGFailureType), such as CPAC failure; PSCell measurement in the case of SCG failure (MeasResultSCG-Failure); an indication of whether the measured PSCell is a CPAC candidate PSCell; an SCG failure timer (timeSCGFailure); the latest received CPAC execution condition; and a list of the latest configured CPAC candidate PSCells, etc.

[0057] At step 530, after receiving the SCG failure information, the source SN 515 may analyze the SCG failure information and generate an SCG failure information report. More specifically, the SCG failure information report may include at least one of the following items: source PSCellCGI (cell group identifier); failed PSCell CGI; SCG failure information report container (with SCG failure information as shown above); the maximum number of PSCells to be prepared; candidate PSCell list; and the arrival probability of the UE toward the candidate target SN, etc.

[0058] At step 535, the source SN 515 may send the SCG failure information report to the MN 510 via XnAP signaling. More specifically, the XnAP signaling may be one of the following: an S-NODE MODIFICATION REQUIRED message; an S-NODE CHANGE REQUIRED message; and an SCG FAILURE TRANSFER message, etc. At step 540, at step 540, the MN 510 may transmit the SCG failure information report to the failed SN 520. With the SCG failure information report, the failed SN 520 may identify the failure and recover from the failure. D. SCG failure information report transmission between MN and SN (scenario 3)

[0059] See now Figure 6 , depicts a communication diagram of a process 600 for transmitting a secondary cell group (SCG) failure report between a master node (MN), a failed secondary node (SN), and a target SN. For this scenario, the SCG failure information may be sent directly by the UE 605 to the target SN 620. The target SN 620 may send the SCG failure information report to the MN 610. The MN 610 may transmit the SCG failure information report to the failed SN 615. In this case, the SCG failure may occur in the source SN.

[0060] At step 625, the UE 605 may send the SCG failure information related to CPAC to the target SN 620. More specifically, the SCG failure information related to CPAC may include at least one of the following items: information of the previous SN cell (previousPSCellId); information of the failed SN cell (failedPSCellId); SN cause value of SCG failure (SCGFailureType), such as CPAC failure; PSCell measurement in case of SCG failure (MeasResultSCG-Failure); an indication of whether the measured PSCell is a CPAC candidate PSCell; an SCG failure timer (timeSCGFailure); the latest received CPAC execution condition; the latest configured CPAC candidate PSCell list, etc.

[0061] At step 630, after receiving the SCG failure information, the target SN 620 may analyze the SCG failure information and generate an SCG failure information report. More specifically, the SCG failure information report may include at least one of the following items: source PSCellCGI (cell group identifier); failed PSCell CGI; SCG failure information report container (with SCG failure information as shown above); the maximum number of PSCells to be prepared; candidate PSCell list; and the arrival probability of the UE toward the candidate target SN, etc.

[0062] At step 635, the target SN 620 may send the SCG failure information report to the MN 610 via XnAP signaling. More specifically, the XnAP signaling may be one of the following: an S-NODE MODIFICATION REQUIRED message; an S-NODE CHANGE REQUIRED message; and an SCG FAILURE TRANSFER message, etc.

[0063] At step 640, the MN 610 may transmit an SCG failure information report to the failed SN 615. With the SCG failure information report, the failed SN may recognize the failure and recover from the failure.

[0064] In summary, the UE may send SCG failure information related to CPAC to the MN. Then, the MN may analyze the received SCG failure information and generate an SCG failure information report to the failed SN. In some embodiments, the UE may send SCG failure information related to CPAC to the source SN, the source SN analyzes the received SCG failure information and generates an SCG failure information report to the MN, and the MN transmits the SCG failure information to the failed SN (target SN). In some embodiments, the UE may send SCG failure information related to CPAC to the target SN. Then, the target SN analyzes the received SCG failure information and generates an SCG failure information report to the MN, and the MN transmits the SCG failure information to the failed SN (source SN).

[0065] Typically, SCG failure information related to CPAC may include at least one of the following items: information of the previous SN cell (previousPSCellId); information of the failed SN cell (failedPSCellId); SN cause value of SCG failure (SCGFailureType), such as CPAC failure; PSCell measurement in the case of SCG failure (MeasResultSCG-Failure); an indication of whether the measured PSCell is a CPAC candidate PSCell; SCG failure timer (timeSCGFailure); the latest received CPAC execution condition; and a list of the latest configured CPAC candidate PSCells, etc.

[0066] In addition, the SCG failure information report may include at least one of the following items: source PSCell CGI (cell group identifier); failed PSCell CGI; SCG failure information report container (with SCG failure information as shown above); the maximum number of PSCells to be prepared; candidate PSCell list; and the arrival probability of the UE towards the candidate target SN, etc.

[0067] E. Method for optimizing the primary cell (PSCell) change process of the secondary cell group

[0068] See now Figure 7 , which describes a flow chart of a method 700 for optimizing the primary cell (PSCell) change process of a secondary cell group. Method 700 can be implemented by any of the above components or performed using any of the above components, such as UE 104 or 204 or BS102 or 202. Under method 700, a wireless communication device can identify a failure (705). The wireless communication device can send a message (710). A primary communication node, a source secondary communication node, or a target secondary communication node can receive the message (715, 715', or 715"). The primary communication node, the source secondary communication node, or the target secondary communication node can analyze the information (720, 720', or 720"). The primary communication node, source secondary node, or target secondary communication node may generate a report (725, 725', or 725"). The source secondary communication node or target secondary communication node may send a message (730 or 730'). The primary communication node may receive the message (735). The primary communication node may send the message (740). The target secondary communication node may receive the message (745).

[0069] In more detail, the wireless communication device (e.g., UE 104 or 204) can sense, detect, or otherwise identify a failure (705). The failure may occur for a process of changing from a first primary cell (PSCell) of a secondary cell group in a source secondary communication node (e.g., BS102 or 202) to a second PSCell in a target secondary communication node (e.g., BS102 or 202). The failure of the PSCell change may come from: (1) a secondary cell group (SCG) failure that occurs after the wireless communication device has stayed in the PSCell for a long time; (2) an SCG failure that occurs after a successful PSCell change from a source PSCell to a target PSCell; (3) a PSCell change failure that occurs during the PSCell change process itself; (4) an SCG failure that occurs shortly after a successful PSCell change from a source PSCell to a target PSCell; or (5) a PSCell change failure that occurs during the PSCell change process, etc. After detecting the failure, the wireless communication device can detect the PSCell to obtain, derive, or otherwise generate information about the information.

[0070] The wireless communication device may provide, transmit, or otherwise send a message (710) including information about the failure. In some embodiments, the wireless communication may send the message to a primary communication node (e.g., BS102 or 202). In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may send the message to a source secondary communication node. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device may send the message to a target secondary communication node. The information about the failure may identify or include: information about the first PSCell; information about the cell that failed as the first PSCell or the second PSCell; the type of failure; measurements of the first PSCell and / or the second PSCell; an indicator indicating whether the first and / or second PSCell being measured is a conditional PSCell addition and change (CPAC) candidate PSCell; a timer associated with the failure; one or more recently received CPAC execution conditions; or a list of one or more recently configured CPAC candidate PSCells, etc.

[0071] The primary communication node may retrieve, identify, or receive a message including information related to the failure from the wireless communication device (715). The wireless communication device may have sent the message to the wireless communication node other than the source secondary communication node or the source secondary communication node. The source secondary communication node may retrieve, identify, or receive a message including information related to the failure from the wireless communication device (715'). The wireless communication device may have sent the message to the source secondary communication node other than the primary communication node or the target secondary communication node. The target secondary communication node may retrieve, identify, or receive a message including information related to the failure from the wireless communication device (715"). The wireless communication device may have sent the message to the target secondary communication node other than the primary communication node or the source secondary communication node.

[0072] The main communication node can evaluate, process, or otherwise analyze the information related to the failure in the message (720). The analysis of the information by the wireless communication node can be in response to receiving a message from a wireless communication device. In order to analyze, the main communication node can parse the information in the message and process the information. Based on the information, the main communication node can identify or determine that one of the source auxiliary communication node or the target auxiliary communication node is the place where the failure of the PSCell change occurs. By analyzing the information, the main communication node can generate, output, or otherwise generate a report related to the failure (725). When the source auxiliary communication node is identified as the place where the failure occurs, the main communication node can determine to send a message including the report to the source auxiliary communication node. Otherwise, when the target auxiliary communication node is identified as the place where the failure occurs, the main communication node can determine to send a message including the report to the target auxiliary communication node.

[0073] The source auxiliary communication node may evaluate, process, or otherwise analyze the information related to the failure in the message (720'). The analysis of the information by the wireless communication node may be in response to receiving a message from a wireless communication device. In order to perform the analysis, the source auxiliary communication node may parse the information in the message and process the information. Based on the information, the source auxiliary communication node may identify or determine that the target auxiliary communication node is where the failure of the PSCell change occurred. By analyzing the information, the source auxiliary communication node may generate, output, or otherwise generate a report related to the failure (725'). The source auxiliary communication node may provide, transmit, or otherwise send a message (730) including the report to the primary communication node.

[0074] The target secondary communication node may evaluate, process, or otherwise analyze the information related to the failure in the message (720'). The analysis of the information by the wireless communication node may be in response to receiving the message from the wireless communication device. In order to perform the analysis, the target secondary communication node may parse the information in the message and process the information. Based on the information, the target secondary communication node may identify or determine that the source secondary communication node is where the failure of the PSCell change occurred. By analyzing the information, the target secondary communication node may generate, output, or otherwise generate a report related to the failure (725'). The target secondary communication node may provide, transmit, or otherwise send a message including the report to the primary communication node (730').

[0075] The report may include information generated by analyzing information (for example, generated by a primary wireless communication node, a source secondary communication node, or a target secondary communication node), which may identify or include: a cell group identifier (CGI) of a first PSCell; a cell in which the CGI failed, the cell in which the CGI failed being the first PSCell or the second PSCell; a container for the first information; a maximum number of PSCells to be prepared; a list of candidate PSCells; or an arrival probability of a wireless communication device toward a target secondary communication node, and the like.

[0076] The primary communication node may retrieve, identify, or otherwise receive a message from a source secondary communication node or a target secondary communication node (735). Upon receipt, the primary communication node may parse the message to extract or identify a report including the information related to the failure. Based on the information, the primary communication node may identify or determine that one of the source secondary communication node or the target secondary communication node is where the failure to change the PSCell occurs. When the source secondary communication node is identified as where the failure occurs, the primary communication node may determine to send a message including a report to the source secondary communication node. Otherwise, when the target secondary communication node is identified as where the failure occurs, the primary communication node may determine to send a message including a report to the target secondary communication node.

[0077] The primary communication node may provide, transmit, or otherwise send a message to a source secondary communication node or a target secondary communication node (740). The message may include a report having information from analyzing information related to the failure. If it is determined that a message is to be sent to the source secondary communication node, the primary communication node may send a message including a report from the target secondary communication node to the source secondary communication node. The source secondary communication node may then retrieve, identify, or otherwise receive a message from the primary communication node (745). If it is determined that a message is to be sent to the target secondary communication node, the primary communication node may send a message including a report from the source secondary communication node to the target secondary communication node. The target secondary communication node may then retrieve, identify, or otherwise receive a message from the primary communication node (745').

[0078] Although various embodiments of the present solution have been described above, it should be understood that they are presented only by way of example, rather than by way of limitation. Similarly, various diagrams may describe example architectures or configurations, which are provided to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to understand the example features and functions of the present solution. However, such persons will appreciate that the solution is not limited to the illustrated example architectures or configurations, but may be implemented using various alternative architectures and configurations. In addition, as will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, one or more features of an embodiment may be combined with one or more features of another embodiment described herein. Therefore, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the illustrative embodiments described above.

[0079] It should also be understood that any reference to an element using names such as "first", "second", etc. herein does not generally limit the quantity or order of these elements. On the contrary, these names can be used as a convenient means of distinguishing two or more elements or element instances in this article. Therefore, reference to a first and a second element does not mean that only two elements can be used, or that the first element must be located before the second element in some way.

[0080] In addition, those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, and symbols that may be referenced in the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0081] It will also be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that any of the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, processors, components, circuits, methods, and functions described in connection with the various aspects disclosed herein may be implemented by electronic hardware (e.g., digital implementation, analog implementation, or a combination of both), firmware, various forms of programs, or design codes incorporating instructions (which may be referred to herein as "software" or "software modules" for convenience), or any combination of these technologies. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware, firmware, and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above in general terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware, or software, or a combination of these technologies, depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. A skilled technician may implement the described functionality in various ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions will not result in a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0082] In addition, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, devices, components, and circuits described herein may be implemented in or performed by an integrated circuit (IC), which may include a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, or any combination thereof. The logic blocks, modules, and circuits may also include antennas and / or transceivers to communicate with various components within a network or within a device. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors and a DSP core, or any other suitable configuration for performing the functions described herein.

[0083] If implemented in software, the function can be stored as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Therefore, the steps of the method or algorithm disclosed herein can be implemented as software stored on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that enables it to transfer a computer program or code from one place to another. The storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such a computer-readable medium may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage device, magnetic disk storage device or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to store the required program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer.

[0084] In this document, the term "module" as used herein refers to software, firmware, hardware, and any combination of these elements for performing the associated functions described herein. In addition, for the purpose of discussion, various modules are described as discrete modules; however, as will be clear to one of ordinary skill in the art, two or more modules may be combined to form a single module that performs associated functions according to embodiments of the present solution.

[0085] In addition, in the embodiment of the present solution, memory or other storage devices and communication components can be adopted.It should be understood that, for the sake of clarity, the above description has described the embodiment of the present solution with reference to different functional units and processors.However, it is obvious that any suitable functional distribution between different functional units, processing logic elements or domains can be used without departing from the present solution.For example, the functionality performed by the separate processing logic elements or controllers can be performed by the same processing logic elements or controllers.Therefore, the reference to a specific functional unit is only a reference to the appropriate components for providing the functionality, rather than indicating a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

[0086] Various modifications to the embodiments described in the present disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but should be given the widest scope consistent with the novel features and principles disclosed herein, as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. A wireless communication method, include: receiving, by the primary communication node, a first message from the wireless communication device, the first message including first information related to a failure occurring in a process of changing from a first PSCell in a source secondary communication node to a second PSCell in a target secondary communication node; as well as The primary communication node sends a second message to the source secondary communication node or the target secondary communication node where the failure occurs, wherein the second message includes a report having second information.

2. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein the first information comprises at least one of the following items: Information of the first PSCell; Information of a failed cell, where the failed cell is the first PSCell or the second PSCell; the type of failure; Measurement of the first PSCell and / or the second PSCell; an indicator indicating whether the first PSCell and / or the second PSCell being measured is a conditional PSCell addition and change (CPAC) candidate PSCell; a timer associated with the failure; one or more of the most recently received CPAC execution conditions; or A list of one or more recently configured CPAC candidate PSCells.

3. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein the second information comprises at least one of the following items: a cell group identifier (CGI) of the first PSCell; A cell in which CGI fails, wherein the cell in which CGI fails is the first PSCell or the second PSCell; Also included is a container for said first information; The maximum number of PSCells to be prepared; A list of candidate PSCells; or An arrival probability of the wireless communication device toward the target secondary communication node.

4. A wireless communication method, include: receiving, by the source secondary communication node, a third message from a wireless communication device, the third message comprising third information related to a failure occurring in a process of changing from a first PSCell in the source secondary communication node to a second PSCell in a target secondary communication node; as well as A fourth message is sent by the source secondary communication node to the primary communication node, the fourth message including a report having fourth information.

5. The wireless communication method according to claim 4, wherein the third information comprises at least one of the following items: Information of the first PSCell; Information of a failed cell, where the failed cell is the second PSCell; the type of failure; Measurement of the first PSCell and / or the second PSCell; an indicator indicating whether the first PSCell and / or the second PSCell being measured is a conditional PSCell addition and change (CPAC) candidate PSCell; a timer associated with the failure; one or more of the most recently received CPAC execution conditions; or A list of one or more recently configured CPAC candidate PSCells.

6. The wireless communication method according to claim 4, wherein the fourth information comprises at least one of the following items: a cell group identifier (CGI) of the first PSCell; A cell in which CGI fails, wherein the cell in which CGI fails is the second PSCell; Also included is a container for said first information; The maximum number of PSCells to be prepared; A list of candidate PSCells; or An arrival probability of the wireless communication device toward the target secondary communication node. 7 . The wireless communication method according to claim 4 , wherein the report is also sent from the primary communication node to the target secondary communication node where the failure occurs.

8. A wireless communication method, include: receiving, by the target secondary communication node, a fifth message from the wireless communication device, the fifth message including fifth information related to a failure occurring in a process of changing from a first PSCell in a source secondary communication node to a second PSCell in the target secondary communication node; as well as A sixth message is sent by the target secondary communication node to the primary communication node, where the sixth message includes a report having sixth information.

9. The wireless communication method according to claim 8, wherein the fifth information comprises at least one of the following items: Information of the first PSCell; Information of a failed cell, where the failed cell is the first PSCell; the type of failure; Measurement of the first PSCell and / or the second PSCell; an indicator indicating whether the first PSCell and / or the second PSCell being measured is a conditional PSCell addition and change (CPAC) candidate PSCell; a timer associated with the failure; one or more of the most recently received CPAC execution conditions; or A list of one or more recently configured CPAC candidate PSCells.

10. The wireless communication method according to claim 8, wherein the sixth information comprises at least one of the following items: a cell group identifier (CGI) of the first PSCell; A cell in which CGI fails, wherein the cell in which CGI fails is the first PSCell; Also included is a container for said first information; The maximum number of PSCells to be prepared; A list of candidate PSCells; or An arrival probability of the wireless communication device toward the target secondary communication node.

11. The wireless communication method according to claim 8, wherein the report is also sent from the primary communication node to the source secondary communication node where the failure occurred.

12. A wireless communication method, include: identifying, by the wireless communication device, a failure that occurs with respect to a process of changing from a first PSCell in a source secondary communication node to a second PSCell in a target secondary communication node; and A first message is sent by the wireless communication device, the first message including first information related to the failure.

13. The wireless communication method according to claim 12, wherein the first information comprises at least one of the following items: Information of the first PSCell; Information of a failed cell, where the failed cell is the first PSCell or the second PSCell; the type of failure; Measurement of the first PSCell and / or the second PSCell; an indicator indicating whether the first PSCell and / or the second PSCell being measured is a conditional PSCell addition and change (CPAC) candidate PSCell; a timer associated with the failure; one or more of the most recently received CPAC execution conditions; or A list of one or more recently configured CPAC candidate PSCells.

14. The wireless communication method according to claim 12, further comprising: include: The first message is sent by the wireless communication device to the primary communication node.

15. The wireless communication method according to claim 14, wherein in response to receiving the first message, the primary communication node is configured to: generating a report related to the failure, the report comprising second information; and A second message including the report is sent to the source secondary communication node or the target secondary communication node where the failure occurs.

16. The wireless communication method according to claim 12, further comprising: include: The first message is sent by the wireless communication device to the source secondary communication node.

17. The wireless communication method according to claim 16, wherein in response to receiving the first message, the source secondary communication node is configured to: generating a report related to the failure, the report comprising second information; and sending a third message including the report to the primary communication node; The report is also sent to the target secondary communication node where the failure occurs.

18. The wireless communication method according to claim 12, further comprising: include: The first message is sent by the wireless communication device to the target secondary communication node.

19. The wireless communication method according to claim 18, wherein in response to receiving the first message, the target secondary communication node is configured to: generating a report related to the failure, the report comprising second information; and sending a fourth message including the report to the primary communication node; Wherein the report is also sent to the source secondary communication node where the failure occurred.

20. The wireless communication method according to any one of claims 15, 17 or 19, wherein the second information comprises at least one of the following items: a cell group identifier (CGI) of the first PSCell; A cell in which CGI fails, wherein the cell in which CGI fails is the first PSCell or the second PSCell; Also included is a container for said first information; The maximum number of PSCells to be prepared; A list of candidate PSCells; or An arrival probability of the wireless communication device toward the target secondary communication node.

21. A wireless communication device, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is configured to read a code from the memory and implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 20.

22. A computer program product comprising computer readable program medium code stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 20.

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