User equipment and wireless communication method of user equipment

Abstract

A user equipment and a wireless communication method of the user equipment are provided. The method comprises: when a user equipment is connected to a first network and attempts to connect to a second network, sending an indication to the first network; and switching the transmission of the user equipment on the first network to the second network.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the Chinese patent application with application number 201880047280.8 and invention name “User Equipment and Wireless Communication Method of User Equipment”, which entered the Chinese national phase of the PCT international patent application with application number PCT / CN2018 / 117364 and application date on November 26, 2018. The PCT international patent application claims priority to the U.S. provisional patent application with application number 62 / 590,978 filed on November 27, 2017. Technical Field

[0002] The present disclosure relates to the field of communication systems, and in particular to a user equipment and a wireless communication method of the user equipment. Background Art

[0003] When using the dual registration (DR) mode of operation, the behavior of the user equipment (UE) is affected by the UE's lower layer capabilities. Specifically, the UE can have one of the following three lower layer capabilities:

[0004] 1. Single Receive (Rx): With this capability, the UE can actively transmit and receive in only one system (e.g., network). To check the paging channel in another system or perform any other activities in that other system, such as periodic registration updates, the UE needs to "tune away" from the current system.

[0005] 2. Dual Rx / Single Transmit (Tx): With this capability, the UE can listen to the paging channel in another system while being active in the current system. If the UE needs to respond to a paging message in the other system or perform any other activity in the other system, such as periodic registration updates, the UE again needs to "tune away" from the current system.

[0006] 3. Dual Rx / Dual Tx: With this capability, the UE can transmit and receive in two systems simultaneously.

[0007] As described above, a UE with single Rx or dual Rx / single Tx needs to “tune away” from the current system while transmitting in another system because the UE can only transmit via one radio access technology (RAT).

[0008] This means that the UE must autonomously release the connection with the current system and access another system. From the network perspective, the UE appears to be out of coverage. Although the network can handle UEs that are out of coverage, it will affect network algorithms and key performance indicators (KPIs).

[0009] Therefore, it is necessary to provide a user equipment and a wireless communication method for the user equipment to solve the above technical problems in the prior art. Summary of the Invention

[0010] The present disclosure aims to provide a user equipment and a wireless communication method for the user equipment, which can provide good connection management when the user equipment is tuned away.

[0011] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a user equipment for wireless communication includes a memory, a transceiver, and a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver. The processor is configured to, when the processor is connected to a first network and attempts to connect to a second network, control the transceiver to send an indication to the first network and switch the user equipment's transmission on the first network to the second network.

[0012] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, a wireless communication method of a user equipment includes: when the user equipment is connected to a first network and attempts to connect to a second network, sending an indication to the first network; and switching the transmission of the user equipment on the first network to the second network.

[0013] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium has instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the above method.

[0014] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a terminal device includes a processor and a memory configured to store a computer program. The processor is configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory to perform the above method.

[0015] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the user equipment and wireless communication method of the user equipment are intended to provide optimization when a user equipment (UE), such as a single receive (Rx) or dual Rx / single transmit (Tx) UE, tunes from a current system (e.g., a network) to another system using a maintain current connection pause, and when the UE returns to the other system, the UE can restore the old connection. When the UE is in the other system, the connection and / or context in the old system is stored in the network (e.g., a core network or an access network) and / or the UE. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosure or related technologies, the following drawings described in the embodiments will be briefly introduced. Obviously, these drawings are only some embodiments of the present disclosure, and ordinary technicians in this field can obtain other drawings based on these drawings without further effort.

[0017] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a user equipment for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 2 Detailed description is a flowchart illustrating a wireless communication method of a user equipment according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 3 is a block diagram of a user equipment for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 4 is a block diagram of a user equipment for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 5 is a block diagram of a system for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] The following describes the embodiments of the present disclosure in detail by referring to the accompanying drawings through the technical themes, structural features, achieved objectives and effects. Specifically, the terms in the embodiments of the present disclosure are only used for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and do not limit the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 1 In some embodiments, a user equipment (UE) 10 for wireless communication may include a processor 11, a memory 12, and a transceiver 13. The processor 11 may be configured to implement the proposed functions, processes, and / or methods described in this detailed description. Various layers of a radio interface protocol may be implemented in the processor 11. The memory 12 is operably coupled to the processor 11 and stores various information to operate the processor 11. The transceiver 13 is operably coupled to the processor 11 and transmits and / or receives radio signals.

[0024] The processor 11 may include an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), other chipsets, logic circuits and / or data processing devices. The memory 12 may include a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), flash memory, a memory card, a storage medium and / or other storage devices. The transceiver 13 may include a baseband circuit to process radio frequency signals. When the embodiment is implemented in software, the technology described herein may be implemented by modules (e.g., procedures, functions, etc.) that perform the functions described herein. These modules may be stored in the memory 12 and executed by the processor 11. The memory 12 may be implemented within the processor 11 or outside the processor 11. When the memory 12 is implemented outside the processor 11, the memory 12 may be communicatively coupled to the processor 11 in various ways known in the art.

[0025] Based on the edge connectivity (sidelink) technology developed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) Release 16 and later, communications between UEs involve vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications, including vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P), and vehicle-to-infrastructure / network (V2I / N). UEs communicate directly with each other through an edge connectivity interface such as the PC5 interface.

[0026] In some embodiments, the processor 11 is configured to control the transceiver 13 to send an indication to the first network and switch the transmission of the user equipment 10 on the first network to the second network when the processor 11 is connected to the first network and attempts to connect to the second network.

[0027] Figure 2 A wireless communication method 400 of the user equipment 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0028] The method 400 includes, at block 402, sending an indication to the first network when the user device 10 is connected to the first network and attempts to connect to the second network; and at block 404, switching the transmission of the user device 10 on the first network to the second network.

[0029] In some embodiments, the processor 11 is configured to switch the reception of the user equipment on the first network to the second network. Figure 3 When the transmitter 131 and the receiver 132 are shown in FIG, the processor 11 is configured to switch the transmission and reception of the user equipment 10 on the first network to the second network.

[0030] In some embodiments, when the transceiver 13 has a single-transmitting structure and a dual-receiving structure (e.g., Figure 4 When the transmitter 133 and the receivers 134 and 135 are shown, the processor 11 is configured to switch the transmission of the user equipment 10 on the first network to the second network.

[0031] In some embodiments, the processor 11 is configured to indicate second network information to the first network. The second network information includes a target network type and / or a target network identity. For example, the second network is a core network or an access network. The first network and the second network are different.

[0032] In some embodiments, one of the first network and the second network is an evolved packet core (EPC), and the other of the first network and the second network is a fifth-generation core network (5GC).

[0033] In some embodiments, one of the first network and the second network is a public land mobile network (PLMN), and the other of the first network and the second network is another PLMN. In some embodiments, each of the two PLMNs is an equivalent PLMN.

[0034] In some embodiments, after the processor 11 switches the transmission of the user device 10 on the first network to the second network, the first network suspends the user device connection and / or context of the user device 10. For example, the user device connection and / or context of the user device 10 is stored in the network and / or memory 12.

[0035] In some embodiments, the transceiver 13 is configured to receive a confirmation from the first network regarding maintenance of the user device connection and / or context of the user device 10. The processor 11 autonomously switches the transmission, or transmission and reception, of the user device 10 on the first network to the second network. In another embodiment, when the transceiver 13 receives a confirmation from the first network regarding maintenance of the user device connection and / or context of the user device 10, the processor 11 switches the transmission, or transmission and reception, of the user device 10 on the first network to the second network.

[0036] In some embodiments, when processor 11 completes communication with the second network, processor 11 switches transmission, or transmission and reception, of user equipment 10 on the second network to the first network. Transceiver 13 is configured to send another indication to the first network to restore connection with the first network. Transceiver 13 is configured to receive a confirmation from the first network regarding restoration of connection with the first network.

[0037] In some embodiments, the second network is configured to retrieve user device information from the first network. The user device information includes user device capability information. When processor 11 switches user device 10's transmission, or both transmission and reception, on the first network to the second network, processor 11 indicates the first network information to the second network. The second network is configured to obtain the first network information from the user device index if the user device index is related to the first network information. The user device index includes the first network information. In another embodiment, the first network information is mapped from the user device index.

[0038] For example, the user equipment index provides a mapping between the 5G globally unique temporary UE identity (5G-GUTI) and the 4G-GUTI. When the UE 10 moves from the 5GC to the EPC, the UE 10 needs to map the 5G-GUTI to the 4G-GUTI.

[0039] In some embodiments, the 5G-GUTI is mapped to the 4G-GUTI as follows: The 5GC's MCC is mapped to the EPC's (i.e., 4G system) MCC. The 5GC's MNC is mapped to the EPC's MNC. The 5GC's AMF Area ID is mapped to the EPC's MME Group ID. The 5GC's AMF Set ID and AMF Pointer are mapped to the EPC's MME Code. The 5GC's 5G-TMSI is mapped to the EPC's M-TMSI. The MCC and MNC have the same field size as in earlier 3GPP systems. The 5G-TMSI is 32 bits long. The AMF Area ID is 16 bits long. The AMF Set ID is 4 bits long. The AMF Pointer is 4 bits long.

[0040] Figure 5 7 is a block diagram of an example system 700 for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiments described herein may be implemented into a system using any suitably configured hardware and / or software. Figure 5 A system 700 is shown that includes at least a radio frequency (RF) circuit 710, a baseband circuit 720, an application circuit 730, a memory / storage device 740, a display 750, a camera 760, a sensor 770, and an input / output (I / O) interface 780 coupled to one another as shown.

[0041] Application circuitry 730 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processors may include any combination of general-purpose processors and specialized processors, such as a graphics processor or an application processor. The processors may be coupled to a memory / storage device and configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage device to enable various applications and / or operating systems to run on the system.

[0042] The baseband circuitry 720 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor may include a baseband processor. The baseband circuitry may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via RF circuitry. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation, encoding, decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may provide communications compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may support communications with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) and / or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), and wireless personal area networks (WPANs). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

[0043] In various embodiments, baseband circuitry 720 may include circuitry that operates with signals that are not strictly considered to be at baseband frequencies. For example, in some embodiments, baseband circuitry may include circuitry that operates with signals having an intermediate frequency that is between the baseband frequency and the radio frequency.

[0044] RF circuitry 710 may enable communication with a wireless network using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate communication with a wireless network.

[0045] In various embodiments, RF circuitry 710 may include circuitry that operates with signals that are not strictly considered to be at radio frequencies. For example, in some embodiments, RF circuitry may include circuitry that operates with signals having an intermediate frequency that is between baseband frequency and radio frequency.

[0046] In various embodiments, the transmitter circuitry, control circuitry, or receiver circuitry discussed above with respect to user equipment, eNBs, or gNBs may be embodied in whole or in part in one or more of the RF circuitry, baseband circuitry, and / or application circuitry. As used herein, "circuitry" may refer to, be a portion of, or include an ASIC, electronic circuitry, processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and / or memory (shared, dedicated, or group) that executes one or more software or firmware programs, combinatorial logic circuitry, and / or other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, electronic device circuitry may be implemented in one or more software or firmware modules, or the functionality associated with the circuitry may be implemented by one or more software or firmware modules.

[0047] In some embodiments, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit, application circuit, and / or memory / storage device may be implemented together on a system on a chip (SOC).

[0048] The memory / storage device 740 can be used to load and store data and / or instructions for the system, for example. The memory / storage device of one embodiment can include any combination of suitable volatile memory (e.g., dynamic random access memory (DRAM)) and / or non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory).

[0049] In various embodiments, the I / O interface 780 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with the system and / or peripheral component interfaces designed to enable interaction with the system. The user interface may include, but is not limited to, a physical keyboard or keypad, a touchpad, a speaker, a microphone, etc. The peripheral component interface may include, but is not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, and a power interface.

[0050] In various embodiments, sensor 770 may include one or more sensing devices to determine environmental conditions and / or location information related to the system. In some embodiments, the sensors may include, but are not limited to, gyroscope sensors, accelerometers, proximity sensors, ambient light sensors, and positioning units. The positioning unit may also be part of, or interact with, baseband circuitry and / or RF circuitry to communicate with components of a positioning network (e.g., global positioning system (GPS) satellites).

[0051] In various embodiments, the display 750 may include a display such as a liquid crystal display and a touch screen display. In various embodiments, the system 700 may be a mobile computing device, such as, but not limited to, a laptop computing device, a tablet computing device, a netbook, an ultrabook, a smartphone, etc. In various embodiments, the system may have more or fewer components and / or a different architecture. Where appropriate, the methods described herein may be implemented as a computer program. The computer program may be stored on a storage medium such as a non-transitory storage medium.

[0052] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the user equipment and wireless communication method of the user equipment are intended to provide optimization when a user equipment (UE), such as a single Rx or dual Rx / single Tx UE, uses the keep current connection to suspend tuning from the current system (e.g., the network) to another system, and when the UE returns to the other system, the UE can restore the old connection. While the UE is in the other system, the connection and / or context in the old system is stored in the network (e.g., the core network or access network) and / or the UE. The embodiments of the present disclosure are a combination of technologies / processes that can be adopted in the 3GPP specifications to create a final product.

[0053] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that each of the units, algorithms, and steps described and disclosed in the embodiments of the present disclosure is implemented using electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are executed in hardware or software depends on the application conditions and design requirements of the technical solution.

[0054] A person skilled in the art may use different methods to implement the functionality of each specific application, and such implementation should not exceed the scope of this disclosure. A person skilled in the art should understand that since the operating processes of the above-mentioned systems, devices, and units are basically the same, he / she can refer to the operating processes of the systems, devices, and units in the above-mentioned embodiments. For ease of description and simplicity, these operating processes will not be described in detail.

[0055] It should be understood that the systems, devices, and methods disclosed in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in other ways. The above embodiments are merely exemplary. The division of units is based solely on logical functions, and other divisions may exist in the implementation. Multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system. It is also possible to omit or skip certain features. On the other hand, the mutual coupling, direct coupling, or communicative coupling shown or discussed operates indirectly or communicatively through some ports, devices, or units in an electrical, mechanical, or other manner.

[0056] Units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. Units shown may or may not be physical units, i.e., located in a single location or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be used depending on the purpose of the embodiment. Furthermore, each functional unit in each embodiment may be integrated into a physically separate processing unit or into a single processing unit comprising two or more units.

[0057] If the software functional unit is implemented, used, and sold as a product, the software functional unit can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution proposed in the present disclosure can be basically or partially implemented in the form of a software product. Alternatively, a part of the technical solution that is beneficial to traditional technology can be implemented in the form of a software product. The software product in the computer is stored in a storage medium, which includes a plurality of commands for a computing device (such as a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to run all or some of the steps disclosed by the embodiments of the present disclosure. The storage medium includes a USB disk, a mobile hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a floppy disk, or other media capable of storing program code.

[0058] While the present disclosure has been described in connection with what are considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is intended to cover various arrangements commensurate with the broadest interpretation of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A wireless communication method for a user equipment, the method comprising: When the user equipment is connected to a first network and attempts to connect to a second network, sending an indication to the first network; as well as Switching transmission of the user equipment on the first network to the second network.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Switch the reception of the user equipment on the first network to the second network.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: When the user equipment has a single transmission structure and a single reception structure, the method includes: switching the transmission and reception of the user equipment on the first network to the second network.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein When the user equipment has a single-transmitting structure and a dual-receiving structure, the method includes: switching transmission of the user equipment on the first network to the second network.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: The second network information is indicated to the first network.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein: The second network information includes a target network type and / or a target network identity.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein One of the first network and the second network is an evolved packet core (EPC), and the other of the first network and the second network is a fifth generation core network (5GC).

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein One of the first network and the second network is a PLMN, and the other of the first network and the second network is another PLMN.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein Each of the two PLMNs is an equivalent PLMN.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein After switching transmissions of the user equipment on the first network to the second network, the first network suspends the user equipment connection and / or context of the user equipment.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: A confirmation is received from the first network regarding maintenance of the user equipment connection and / or context of the user equipment.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein Also includes: Autonomously switch the transmission, or the transmission and reception, of the user equipment on the first network to the second network.

13. The method according to claim 11, further comprising: When the user equipment receives confirmation from the first network regarding maintenance of the user equipment connection and / or context of the user equipment, transmission, or transmission and reception of the user equipment on the first network is switched to the second network.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, further comprising: The communication with the second network is completed, and the sending, or the sending and receiving, of the user equipment on the second network is switched to the first network.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising: Another indication is sent to the first network to restore connection with the first network.

16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising: A confirmation is received from the first network regarding restoration of connectivity with the first network.

17. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein The second network is configured to retrieve user equipment information from the first network.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein The user equipment information includes user equipment capability information.

19. The method according to claim 17 or 18, further comprising: The transmission, or the transmission and reception, of the user equipment on the first network is switched to the second network, and the first network information is indicated to the second network.

20. The method according to claim 17 or 18, wherein The second network is configured to obtain the first network information from the user equipment index if the user equipment index is related to the first network information.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein The user equipment index includes the first network information.

22. The method according to claim 20, wherein The first network information is mapped from the user equipment index.

23. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 22.

24. A terminal device, comprising: A processor and a memory configured to store a computer program, the processor being configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 22.

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