Enhanced radio resource control connection setup procedure

Abstract

Example embodiments of this disclosure relate to an enhanced radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment process. The method includes: receiving from a second device, via at least one system information block (SIB), an indication for supporting fast RRC connection establishment and a plurality of RRC connection configurations; receiving a configuration index from the second device during a random access procedure; and, if it is determined that a first device is capable of fast RRC connection establishment based on the RRC connection configuration, sending to the second device a media access control-control element (MAC-CE) enabling fast RRC connection establishment, the RRC connection configuration being selected from a plurality of RRC connection configurations based on the configuration index.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure generally relate to the telecommunications field, and more specifically, to methods, apparatus, devices, and computer-readable storage media for an enhanced radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment process. Background Technology

[0002] The RRC connection establishment process is crucial for establishing a connection between the User Equipment (UE) and the Radio Access Network (RAN). RRC connection establishment involves the establishment of Signal Radio Bearer 1 (SRB1). This process is also used to transmit Initial Non-Access Stratum (NAS) Specific Information / Messages from the UE to the network. Summary of the Invention

[0003] In a first aspect of this disclosure, a first apparatus is provided. The first apparatus includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus to at least: receive from a second apparatus via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment and a plurality of configurations for RRC connection establishment; if it is determined that a configuration index has been received from the second apparatus during a random access procedure, perform fast RRC connection establishment based on the RRC connection configuration selected from a plurality of RRC connection configurations based on the configuration index; and transmit to the second apparatus during the random access procedure another indication that the first apparatus's RRC establishment is complete.

[0004] In a second aspect of this disclosure, a second apparatus is provided. The second apparatus includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus to at least: transmit to a first apparatus via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment and a plurality of RRC connection configurations; transmit a configuration index to the first apparatus during a random access procedure; and receive from the first apparatus during a random access procedure another indication that the first apparatus's RRC establishment is complete.

[0005] In a third aspect of this disclosure, a first apparatus is provided. The first apparatus includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus to at least: receive from a second apparatus via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment, a plurality of RRC connection configurations, and one or more criteria for selecting the RRC connection configuration; select an RRC connection configuration from the plurality of RRC connection configurations based on the one or more criteria; perform fast RRC connection establishment based on the selected RRC connection configuration; and transmit to the second apparatus via a random access procedure message another indication that the first apparatus's RRC establishment is complete.

[0006] In a fourth aspect of this disclosure, a second apparatus is provided. The second apparatus includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus to at least: transmit to a first apparatus via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment, a plurality of RRC connection configurations, and one or more criteria for selecting the RRC connection configuration; and receive from the first apparatus, during a random access procedure, another indication that the first apparatus's RRC establishment is complete.

[0007] In a fifth aspect of this disclosure, a first apparatus is provided. The first apparatus includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus to at least: receive from a second apparatus via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment and a plurality of RRC connection configurations; receive a configuration index from the second apparatus during a random access procedure; and, if it is determined that the first apparatus is capable of fast RRC connection establishment based on an RRC connection configuration selected from a plurality of RRC connection configurations based on the configuration index, send to the second apparatus a Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) enabling fast RRC connection establishment.

[0008] In a sixth aspect of this disclosure, a second apparatus is provided. The second apparatus includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus to at least: transmit to a first apparatus via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment and a plurality of RRC connection configurations; transmit a configuration index to the first apparatus during a random access procedure; and receive from the first apparatus a Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) capable of fast RRC connection establishment.

[0009] In a seventh aspect of this disclosure, a method is provided. The method includes: receiving from a second device via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment and a plurality of configurations for RRC connection establishment; performing Fast RRC connection establishment based on an RRC connection configuration selected from a plurality of RRC connection configurations based on the configuration index, if it is determined that a configuration index has been received from the second device during a random access procedure; and transmitting to the second device another indication that the RRC establishment of the first device is complete during the random access procedure.

[0010] In an eighth aspect of this disclosure, a method is provided. The method includes: transmitting to a first device via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment and a plurality of RRC connection configurations; transmitting a configuration index to the first device during a random access procedure; and receiving from the first device during the random access procedure another indication that the first device's RRC establishment is complete.

[0011] In a ninth aspect of this disclosure, a method is provided. The method includes: receiving from a second device via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment, a plurality of RRC connection configurations, and one or more criteria for selecting the RRC connection configuration; selecting an RRC connection configuration from the plurality of RRC connection configurations based on the one or more criteria; performing fast RRC connection establishment based on the selected RRC connection configuration; and transmitting to the second device another indication that the RRC establishment of the first device is complete via a random access procedure message.

[0012] In a tenth aspect of this disclosure, a method is provided. The method includes: transmitting to a first device via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment, a plurality of RRC connection configurations, and one or more criteria for selecting the RRC connection configuration; and receiving from the first device, during a random access procedure, another indication that the RRC establishment of the first device is complete.

[0013] In the eleventh aspect of this disclosure, a method is provided. The method includes: receiving from a second device via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment and a plurality of RRC connection configurations; receiving a configuration index from the second device during a random access procedure; and if it is determined that a first device is capable of fast RRC connection establishment based on an RRC connection configuration selected from a plurality of RRC connection configurations based on the configuration index, then sending a Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) enabling fast RRC connection establishment to the second device.

[0014] In a twelfth aspect of this disclosure, a method is provided. The method includes: transmitting to a first device via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment and a plurality of RRC connection configurations; transmitting a configuration index to the first device during a random access procedure; and receiving from the first device a Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) capable of fast RRC connection establishment.

[0015] In a thirteenth aspect of this disclosure, a first apparatus is provided. The first apparatus includes: components for receiving, via at least one System Information Block (SIB) from a second apparatus, an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment and a plurality of configurations for RRC connection establishment; components for performing fast RRC connection establishment based on an RRC connection configuration selected from a plurality of RRC connection configurations based on the configuration index, if it is determined that a configuration index has been received from the second apparatus during a random access procedure; and components for transmitting to the second apparatus another indication that the RRC establishment of the first apparatus is complete during the random access procedure.

[0016] In a fourteenth aspect of this disclosure, a second apparatus is provided. The second apparatus includes: components for transmitting to a first apparatus via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment and a plurality of RRC connection configurations; components for transmitting a configuration index to the first apparatus during a random access procedure; and components for receiving from the first apparatus another indication that the RRC establishment of the first apparatus is complete during the random access procedure.

[0017] In a fifteenth aspect of this disclosure, a first apparatus is provided. The first apparatus includes: components for receiving, via at least one System Information Block (SIB) from a second apparatus, an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment, a plurality of RRC connection configurations, and one or more criteria for selecting the RRC connection configuration; components for selecting an RRC connection configuration from the plurality of RRC connection configurations based on the one or more criteria; components for performing fast RRC connection establishment based on the selected RRC connection configuration; and components for transmitting to the second apparatus via a random access procedure message another indication that the RRC establishment of the first apparatus is complete.

[0018] In a sixteenth aspect of this disclosure, a second apparatus is provided. The second apparatus includes: components for transmitting to a first apparatus via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment, a plurality of RRC connection configurations, and one or more criteria for selecting the RRC connection configuration; and components for receiving from the first apparatus, during a random access procedure, another indication that the first apparatus has completed RRC establishment.

[0019] In a seventeenth aspect of this disclosure, a first apparatus is provided. The first apparatus includes: components for receiving, via at least one System Information Block (SIB) from a second apparatus, an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment and a plurality of RRC connection configurations; components for receiving a configuration index from the second apparatus during a random access procedure; and components for: if it is determined that the first apparatus is capable of fast RRC connection establishment based on an RRC connection configuration selected from a plurality of RRC connection configurations based on the configuration index, then sending a Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) indicating the capability for fast RRC connection establishment to the second apparatus.

[0020] In an eighteenth aspect of this disclosure, a second apparatus is provided. The second apparatus includes: components for transmitting to a first apparatus via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment and multiple RRC connection configurations; components for transmitting a configuration index to the first apparatus during a random access procedure; and components for receiving from the first apparatus a Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) capable of fast RRC connection establishment.

[0021] In a nineteenth aspect of this disclosure, a computer-readable medium is provided. The computer-readable medium includes instructions stored thereon for causing a device to perform at least the method according to a seventh aspect.

[0022] In a twentieth aspect of this disclosure, a computer-readable medium is provided. The computer-readable medium includes instructions stored thereon for causing a device to perform at least the method according to the eighth aspect.

[0023] In a twenty-first aspect of this disclosure, a computer-readable medium is provided. The computer-readable medium includes instructions stored thereon for causing a device to perform at least the method according to the ninth aspect.

[0024] In a twenty-second aspect of this disclosure, a computer-readable medium is provided. The computer-readable medium includes instructions stored thereon for causing a device to perform at least the method according to the tenth aspect.

[0025] In a twenty-third aspect of this disclosure, a computer-readable medium is provided. The computer-readable medium includes instructions stored thereon for causing a device to perform at least the method according to an eleventh aspect.

[0026] In the twenty-fourth aspect of this disclosure, a computer-readable medium is provided. The computer-readable medium includes instructions stored thereon for causing a device to perform at least the method according to the twelfth aspect.

[0027] It should be understood that the summary portion is not intended to identify key or essential features of the embodiments of this disclosure, nor is it intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Other features of this disclosure will become readily apparent from the following description. Attached Figure Description

[0028] Some exemplary embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 An example communication environment in which example embodiments of this disclosure may be implemented is shown; Figure 2A A diagram illustrating an example of a random access procedure is shown; Figure 2B A diagram illustrating an example of the RRC connection establishment process is shown; Figure 3 Signaling diagrams of communications according to some example embodiments of this disclosure are shown; Figure 4 Signaling diagrams of communications according to some example embodiments of this disclosure are shown; Figure 5 Signaling diagrams of communications according to some example embodiments of this disclosure are shown; Figure 6 A flowchart is shown illustrating a method implemented at a first device according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 7 A flowchart is shown illustrating a method implemented at a second device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 8 A flowchart is shown illustrating a method implemented at a first device according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 9 A flowchart is shown illustrating a method implemented at a second device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 10 A flowchart is shown illustrating a method implemented at a first device according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 11 A flowchart is shown illustrating a method implemented at a second device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 12 A simplified block diagram of a device suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown; and Figure 13 A block diagram of an example computer-readable medium according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0029] Throughout the accompanying drawings, the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements. Detailed Implementation

[0030] The principles of this disclosure will now be described with reference to some exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described for illustrative purposes only and to assist those skilled in the art in understanding and implementing this disclosure, and do not imply any limitation on the scope of this disclosure. The embodiments described herein can be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

[0031] In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains.

[0032] References to "an embodiment," "embodiment," "example embodiment," etc., in this disclosure indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment needs to include that particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Furthermore, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Additionally, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is believed that its influence on such feature, structure, or characteristic in conjunction with other embodiments is within the knowledge of those skilled in the art, whether explicitly described or not.

[0033] It should be understood that although various elements may be described herein using terms such as "first," "second," etc., preceding nouns, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another, and they do not restrict the order of the nouns. For example, a first element may be referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element may be referred to as a first element, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0034] As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar wording, wherein a list of two or more elements, combined with “and” or “or”, means at least one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all of the elements.

[0035] As used herein, unless explicitly stated otherwise, the “responding to A” action does not necessarily indicate that the action is performed immediately after “A” occurs, and may include one or more intermediate steps.

[0036] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are also intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” “having,” “containing,” and / or “comprising” as used herein specify the presence of the stated features, elements, and / or components, etc., but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0037] As used in this application, the term "circuit system" may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) Hardware circuit implementation only (such as implementation only in analog and / or digital circuit systems), and (b) A combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (if applicable): (i) A combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuitry with software / firmware, and (ii) Any part of a hardware processor with software (including digital signal processors, software, and memory, which work together to enable devices such as mobile phones or servers to perform various functions), and (c) Hardware circuitry and / or processors, such as one or more microprocessors or a portion thereof, which require software (e.g., firmware) to operate, but may be absent when the software is not required to operate.

[0038] This definition of circuit system applies to all uses of the term in this application (including any claim). As another example, as used in this application, the term circuit system also covers only the implementation of hardware circuitry or a processor (or processors) or a portion thereof and its accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuit system also covers, for example and if applicable to elements of a particular claim, baseband integrated circuits or processor integrated circuits for mobile devices or similar integrated circuits in servers, cellular network devices or other computing or networking devices.

[0039] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that conforms to any suitable communication standard, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-A Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), etc. Furthermore, communication between terminal devices and network devices in a communication network can be performed according to any suitable generation of communication protocol, including but not limited to first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth-generation (5G), 5.5G, sixth-generation (6G) communication protocols and / or any other currently known or future-developed protocols. Embodiments of this disclosure can be applied to a variety of communication systems. Given the rapid development of communications, there will certainly be future types of communication technologies and systems that embody the future types of this disclosure. This disclosure should not be construed as limiting its scope to the aforementioned systems.

[0040] As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node in a communications network through which terminal devices access the network and receive services. Network devices can refer to base stations (BS) or access points (APs), such as Node B (or NB), evolved Node B (eNode B or eNB), NR NB (also known as gNB), Remote Radio Unit (RRU), Radio Head (RH), Remote Radio Head (RRH), relay, Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, low-power node (such as femtosecond), picosecond, non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-terrestrial network equipment (such as satellite network equipment, low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, and geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) satellites), spacecraft network equipment, etc., depending on the terminology and technology applied. In some example embodiments, the Radio Access Network (RAN) split architecture includes a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU) at the IAB donor node. The IAB node includes a mobile terminal (IAB-MT) portion that behaves similarly to a UE toward its parent node, and the DU portion of the IAB node behaves similarly to a base station toward the next-hop IAB node.

[0041] The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device capable of wireless communication. By way of example and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), subscriber station (SS), portable subscriber station, mobile station (MS), or access terminal (AT). Terminal devices can include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, Voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable terminal devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and recycle bins, in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop-mounted devices (LMEs), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPEs), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearable devices, head-mounted displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in the context of industrial and / or automated processing chains), consumer electronic devices, devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. The terminal device may also correspond to the mobile terminal (MT) portion of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms "terminal device," "communication device," "terminal," "user equipment," and "UE" are used interchangeably.

[0042] As used herein, the terms “resource,” “transmission resource,” “resource block,” “physical resource block” (PRB), “uplink resource,” or “downlink resource” can refer to any resource used to perform communication, such as communication between a terminal device and a network device, including time-domain resources, frequency-domain resources, spatial-domain resources, code-domain resources, or any other combination of time-domain, frequency-domain, spatial, and / or code-domain resources that enable communication. In the following, unless explicitly stated otherwise, resources in the frequency and time domains will be used as examples of transmission resources used to describe some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. Note that the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0043] The exemplary embodiments of this disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0044] Figure 1 An example communication network 100 in which exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented is shown. For example... Figure 1 As shown, the communication network 100 may include a first device 110, which may be, for example, a terminal device. In some example embodiments, the terminal device may also be discussed as a UE.

[0045] The communication network 100 may also include a second device 120, which may be, for example, a network device. In some example embodiments, the network device may be discussed as a BS, gNB, or eNB.

[0046] The service area provided by the second device 120 is called a cell. Within cell 102, the first device 110 can communicate with the second device 120. The cell currently serving the first device 110 can be considered the serving cell 102.

[0047] The communication network 100 may also include a third device 130, which may be, for example, a network device. In some example embodiments, the network device may be discussed as a BS, gNB, or eNB.

[0048] In some embodiments, the second device 120 and the third device 130 operate as a gNB Distributed Unit (DU) and a gNB Centralized Unit (CU), respectively, each with specific functions within the serving RAN. The DU can handle lower-level functions closer to the radio elements, while the CU can manage higher-level functions and coordinate multiple DUs to optimize network performance. This functional separation between the gNB CU and gNB DU allows for a more flexible and scalable radio access network architecture.

[0049] In some scenarios, the second device 120 and the third device 130 can be considered as the same network node.

[0050] In the following description, for illustrative purposes, some exemplary embodiments are depicted in which the first device 110 operates as a terminal device and the second device 120 operates as a network device. However, in some exemplary embodiments, the operations described in relation to the terminal device may be implemented at the network device or other devices, and the operations described in relation to the network device may be implemented at the terminal device or other devices.

[0051] In some example embodiments, if the first device 110 is a terminal device and the second device 120 is a network device, the link from the second device 120 to the first device 110 is referred to as a downlink (DL), and the link from the first device 110 to the second device 120 is referred to as an uplink (UL). In the DL, the second device 120 is a transmitting (TX) device (or transmitter), and the first device 110 is a receiving (RX) device (or receiver). In the UL, the first device 110 is a TX device (or transmitter), and the second device 120 is an RX device (or receiver).

[0052] It should be understood that Figure 1 The number of network devices and terminal devices shown is given for illustrative purposes and does not imply any limitation. The communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices.

[0053] Communication in communication environment 100 can be implemented according to any suitable communication protocol, including but not limited to cellular communication protocols such as first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), fifth-generation (5G), and sixth-generation (6G), wireless local area network communication protocols such as IEEE 802.11, and / or any other currently known or future-developed protocols. Furthermore, communication can utilize any suitable wireless communication technology, including but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDM), Discrete Fourier Transform Extended OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM), and / or any other currently known or future-developed technologies.

[0054] To establish an RRC connection, the UE must perform a random access procedure via the Random Access Channel (RACH). Two types of random access procedures are supported: contention-based random access (CBRA) and contention-free or non-contention-based random access (CFRA).

[0055] In contention-based random access, the UE randomly selects a preamble from a pool of preambles shared with other UEs. This means that the UE has the potential risk of selecting the same preamble as another UE and subsequently experiencing a conflict or contention. The gNB uses a contention resolution mechanism to handle this type of access request. In this process, the outcome is random, and not all random access is successful. CBRA is also known as the four-step RACH process.

[0056] Figure 2A A diagram illustrating an example of a random access (RA) procedure is shown. As shown, in step 1, UE 210 sends a preamble to the appropriate beam of gNB 220 in message 1 (MSG1). In step 2, upon receiving the preamble, gNB 210 applies the Temporary Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (TC-RNTI) and uplink and downlink scheduling resources. Then, gNB 210 sends a random access response (RAR) via message 2 (MSG2) through the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH). This response includes the RA preamble identifier, timing alignment information, initial uplink grant, and TC-RNTI. A single PDSCH can carry the RAR to multiple UEs. After UE 210 sends the preamble, it monitors the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and waits for the RAR within the response window.

[0057] If UE 210 receives a response containing an RA preamble identifier, and this RA preamble identifier is the same as the identifier contained in the sent RA preamble, then the response is successful. UE 210 then sends uplink scheduling information.

[0058] If UE 210 does not receive a response or fails to verify the response within the RA response window, the response fails. In this case, if the number of RA attempts is less than the upper limit, UE 210 retryes the RA. Otherwise, the RA fails.

[0059] In step 3, UE 210 sends uplink scheduling information via the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) through message 3 (MSG3). The signaling messages and information sent by UE 210 vary in different RA scenarios; some examples are listed here: - Initial RRC connection establishment: An RRCSetupRequest message (carrying the NAS UE_ID) is sent via the Common Control Channel (CCCH) at the RLC layer using TM. The message is not segmented.

[0060] -RRC Connection Re-establishment: An RRC re-establishment request message (without NSA message) is sent via CCCH at the RLC layer using TM. The message is not segmented.

[0061] - Handover: If the UE accesses the target cell and no dedicated preamble is available during handover, a contention-based RA is triggered instead of a non-contention-based RA. The RRC handover confirmation message and C-RNTI are sent via the dedicated control channel (DCCH). A buffer status report (BSR) may also be carried if necessary.

[0062] - Other scenarios: At least send the UE's C-RNTI.

[0063] In step 4, after UE 210 sends MSG3, the contention resolution timer starts. gNB 220 assists UE 210 in contention resolution by using C-RNTI on PDCCH or UE Contention Resolution Identifier IE on PDSCH.

[0064] In this scenario, UE 210 continues to monitor the PDCCH until the timer expires, and considers the contention resolved successfully and stops the timer if any of the following conditions are met: UE 210 obtains C-RNTI via PDCCH.

[0065] UE 210 obtains the TC-RNTI via PDCCH, and the MAC Protocol Data Unit (PDU) is successfully decoded. Specifically, the UE Contention Resolution Identifier (IE) received via PDSCH is the same as that carried in the MSG3 sent by UE 210.

[0066] If the contention resolution timer expires, UE 210 considers the contention resolution to have failed. Then, if the number of RA attempts has not yet reached its limit, UE 210 executes RA again. If the number of RA attempts has reached its limit, the RA procedure fails.

[0067] Figure 2B A diagram illustrating an example of the RRC connection establishment process is shown.

[0068] As shown in the figure, when UE 210 is in RRC_IDLE and has obtained the necessary system information, UE 210 can initiate this process when the upper layer requests to establish an RRC connection. UE 210 can configure the RRCSetupRequest message as follows: 1> Set ue-Identity; 2> Set establishmentCause to mps-PriorityAccess.

[0069] UE 210 can send (205) RRCSetupRequest to gNB 220. When UE 210 receives (215) RRCSetup (RRC Establishment) from gNB 220, the UE can perform the following actions: - Perform the cell group configuration process based on the received masterCellGroup; - Perform the radio bearer configuration process based on the received radioBearerConfig; ... - If T331 is running: Stop timer T331; - Entering the RRC_CONNECTED state.

[0070] Then, UE 210 can send (225) an RRCSetupComplete message to gNB 220 with the following: - ng-5G-S-TMSI-value; - electedPLMN-Identity; ... - Submit the RRCSetupComplete message to the lower layer for transmission.

[0071] In some scenarios, multiple UEs are performing RRC connection establishment procedures to simultaneously enter the RRC connection state. During the RRC connection establishment process, messages carrying common (for all UEs) configurations and UE-specific (for UEs) configurations can be exchanged separately between the UE and the NW.

[0072] The dedicated configurations are rarely physical layer-related; the remaining configurations, such as cellGroupConfig and SRB / DRB configurations, are common to all UEs. With only 10% dedicated configuration sent, one-to-one messages can be exchanged between the UE and the NW. This one-to-one communication is efficient only in rare scenarios where the UE's arrival at the NW is uncertain, and therefore, whenever any UE arrives at the NW, the UE and NW can exchange messages individually to establish an RRC connection. However, when a large number of UEs simultaneously establish RRC connections with the NW, each UE communicates with the NW individually and shares approximately 90% of the common configuration. This method of communication between the UE and NW via separate message sending and receiving (approximately 90% common configuration, only about 10% dedicated configuration) incurs significant overhead.

[0073] Another key issue in the distributed architecture is that the UE initiates interaction with the NW via the DU, and the DU communicates with the CU. Here, the DU indicates the UE's arrival to the CU, then the CU provides all common configurations to the DU, and then the DU (adding common and a few private configurations) sends it to the UE. This UE->DU->CU->DU->UE message transmission involves significant overhead in terms of resources, NW power consumption, and time latency associated with these message exchanges.

[0074] Therefore, we will discuss how to optimize the overhead (resources, UE and NW latency and energy) involved in the RRC connection establishment process.

[0075] According to some example embodiments of this disclosure, a solution for an enhanced radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment process is provided. In this solution, a second device 120 sends an instruction for supporting fast RRC connection establishment and multiple configurations for RRC connection establishment to a first device 110 via at least one SIB. The first device 110 performs fast RRC connection establishment based on the RRC connection configuration, which is selected based on a configuration index indicated by the second device 120 or based on one or more certain criteria. Then, the first device 110 indicates to the second device 120 that the RRC establishment is complete during a random access procedure.

[0076] Now for reference Figure 3 ,Should Figure 3 Signaling diagram 300 for communication is shown according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For example... Figure 3 As shown, signaling diagram 300 relates to a first device 110, a second device 120, and a third device 130. For discussion purposes, reference is made to... Figure 1 To describe signaling diagram 300. In conjunction with... Figure 3 In the process-related scenarios, the second device 120 and the third device 130 can respectively act as a gNB distributed unit (DU) and a gNB centralized unit (CU).

[0077] like Figure 3 As shown, the second device 120 can send (302) master information block (MIB) to the first device 110.

[0078] In some embodiments, the second device 120 may broadcast (304) via SIB1 an indication for supporting fast RRC connection establishment and multiple configurations for RRC connection establishment (e.g., which may be referred to as rrConnConfig-Profiles). For example, the indication for supporting fast RRC connection establishment may be a new information element (IE) "FastConnEstablishment" and may be a flag indicating that fast connection establishment is supported.

[0079] Multiple configurations for establishing an RRC connection can be indicated by the IE "rrConnConfig-Profiles", which can carry all the configurations needed to establish an RRC connection more quickly. Different profiles can have different attribute values, such as Radio Link Control (RLC), Media Access Control (MAC), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), etc.

[0080] In addition to the Quick RRC Connection Establishment Support Indication and multiple configurations for RRC Connection Establishment, the second device 120 may also broadcast (304) one or more criteria for selecting an RRC Connection Establishment configuration, which enables the first device 110 to select a configuration / profile for Quick Connection Establishment.

[0081] The criteria may include, for example, the distance between the first device and the second device, the type of service to be established by the first device and the second device, and / or the type of the first device.

[0082] In some example embodiments, the second device 120 may broadcast (304) an indication for supporting fast RRC connection establishment in SIB1, since SIB1 is a mandatory SIB and is read by all UEs. If other information, such as the multiple configurations for RRC connection establishment and one or more criteria for selecting the RRC connection establishment configuration mentioned above, results in overhead in SIB1, the second device 120 may broadcast the multiple configurations for RRC connection establishment and one or more criteria via one or more other SIBs.

[0083] SIB1 is a mandatory SIB, and UEs always read SIB1 to establish RRC connections. Therefore, the presence of the IE "FastConnEstablishment" in SIB1 can be an indication of fast connection establishment support for all UEs. Later, interested and capable UEs can read other SIBs targeting the IE "rrConnConfig-Profiles" to establish fast RRC connections.

[0084] like Figure 3 As shown, the second device 120 can broadcast (306) multiple configurations and one or more quasi-tests established for the RRC connection via SIB2.

[0085] It should be understood that the multiple configurations for RRC connection establishment may include, for example, one or more common configurations indicated by the IE "cellGroupConfig->common" and at least one dedicated configuration indicated by the IE "cellGroupConfig->dedicated". One or more common configurations can be configured for all UEs, and at least one dedicated configuration can be configured for one or more certain UEs. Therefore, the second device 120 may also broadcast indications and one or more common configurations for supporting fast RRC connection establishment in SIB1, and at least one dedicated configuration and other criteria in one or more other SIBs.

[0086] Then, the first device 110 can read (308) the received MIB and one or more SIBs.

[0087] During this phase, the third device 130 may send (310) access control policy and admission status to the second device 120, which may indicate that the information regarding the UE access control and admission status refers to the state in which the third device 130 is still accepting the UE.

[0088] In some examples, the third device 130 may periodically send access control policies and admission states to the second device 120. In other examples, the third device 130 may send access control policies and admission states to the second device 120 as needed. That is, whenever there is any change in the CU state used to grant / deny any UE, the third device 130 may send this information to the second device 120. This information enables the second device 120 to perform admission control for incoming UEs without interacting with the third device 130 each time.

[0089] The RA process can be initiated by the first device 110. During the RA process, the first device 110 sends an RA request (312) to the second device 120 via MSG1.

[0090] Upon receiving MSG1, the second device 120 sends (314) RAR to the first device 110.

[0091] In some embodiments, within the RAR, the second device 120 may indicate a configuration index for the RRC connection establishment configuration, allowing the first device 110 to select the RRC connection establishment configuration to be used for the fast RRC connection establishment process. For example, the second device 110 may determine the configuration index based on an estimate of the timing advance (TA) of the first device 110. It is also possible that the second device 120 may provide the first device 110 with one or more dedicated configurations associated with the RRC connection establishment via the RAR.

[0092] In some other embodiments, the second device 120 may decide to allow the UE to select the RRC connection establishment configuration to be used for the fast RRC connection establishment procedure using one or more criteria broadcast via SIBs (e.g., via one or more SIBs sent in actions 304 and / or 306). In this case, the second device 120 may not send any information via RAR. This indicates to the first device 110 that the first device 110 can select the RRC connection establishment configuration itself using the criteria.

[0093] Then, the first device 110 can establish an SRB1 for fast RRC connection establishment by using an RRC connection establishment configuration based on a configuration index received from the RAR or selected via one or more criterions of the SIB. That is, in this phase, the first device 110 can configure itself using the RRC connection establishment configuration and is ready to send an RRCSetupComplete message instead of an RRCSetupRequest, which means that the first device 110 is ready to enter the RRC connection state.

[0094] After SRB1 has been established, the first device 110 sends a scheduled transmission (318) to the second device 120 via MSG3, which may include an indication that the RRC establishment is complete, the identifier of the first device 110 and the reason for the RRC connection establishment, which can help the NW perform admission control.

[0095] Based on the access control policy and admission status received from the third device 130 and the reasons received from MSG3, the second device 120 can check (320) whether the first device 110 is allowed to access the cell managed by the second device 120.

[0096] At this stage, the second device 120 can distinguish between the (322) RRCSetupRequest message and the RRCSetupComplete message using different LCIDs. This enhanced method is necessary because not all UEs can establish a fast RRC connection. Therefore, those UEs can send the RRCSetupRequest message as MSG3 to the NW, and the NW can distinguish between incoming messages and UE responses / interests at this step and act accordingly. That is, the LCID of the RRCSetupRequest message is different from the LCID of the RRCSetupComplete message.

[0097] Then, if the second device 120 determines that the first device 110 is allowed to access the cell managed by the second device 120 based on the access control policy and admission status received from the third device 130 and the reason received from the MSG3, the second device 120 may send (324) contention resolution to the first device 110 via the MSG4.

[0098] Upon receiving MSG4, the first device 110 enters (326) RRC connection mode.

[0099] As described above, the second device 120 can provide one or more dedicated configurations for the first device 110 via SIB or RAR. It should be understood that the second device 120 can also change at least a portion of one or more dedicated configurations. That is, the second device 120 can change the configuration via any dedicated signaling and release these dedicated configurations to be allocated to the UE.

[0100] In this solution, significant savings in resources, latency, and energy can be achieved for both the UE and the NW by sending the RRCSetupComplete message instead of the RRCSetupRequest message in MSG 3.

[0101] Now for reference Figure 4 ,Should Figure 4Signaling diagram 400 for communication is shown according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For example... Figure 4 As shown, signaling diagram 400 relates to a first device 110, a second device 120, and a third device 130. For discussion purposes, reference is made to... Figure 1 To describe signaling diagram 400. In conjunction with... Figure 4 In the process-related scenarios, the second device 120 and the third device 130 can respectively act as a gNB distributed unit (DU) and a gNB centralized unit (CU).

[0102] In the following text, reference will be made to Figure 4 Another example describing enhanced RRC connection establishment.

[0103] like Figure 4 As shown, the second device 120 can send a (402) master information block (MIB) to the first device 110.

[0104] Then, similar to Figure 3 During the process, the second device 120 can broadcast via SIB instructions to support fast RRC connection establishment and multiple configurations for RRC connection establishment (e.g., which may be referred to as rrConnConfig-Profiles).

[0105] For example, an indication to support fast RRC connection establishment could be a new information element (IE) "FastConnEstablishment" or a flag indicating support for fast connection establishment.

[0106] Multiple configurations for establishing an RRC connection can be indicated by the IE "rrConnConfig-Profiles", which can carry all the configurations needed to establish an RRC connection more quickly. Different profiles can have different attribute values, such as Radio Link Control (RLC), Media Access Control (MAC), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), etc.

[0107] In this example, the difference is that the second device 120 may broadcast indications for supporting fast RRC connection establishment and one or more common configurations for RRC connection establishment, i.e., indicated, for example, by IE “cellGroupConfig->common”. The second device 120 may not broadcast any one or more criteria for selecting the RRC connection establishment configuration and at least one indicated private configuration.

[0108] In some example embodiments, the second device 120 may broadcast (404) via SIB1 to indicate support for fast RRC connection establishment and one or more common configurations for RRC connection establishment.

[0109] In some other embodiments, the second device 120 may broadcast (404) an indication to support fast RRC connection establishment via SIB1, and broadcast (406) one or more common configurations for RRC connection establishment via another SIB (e.g., SIB2).

[0110] The reason for this embodiment is that SIB1 is a mandatory SIB and is read by all UEs. Transmitting multiple configurations for establishing an RRC connection via SIB1 can result in overhead in SIB1. Therefore, the second device 120 can broadcast multiple configurations for establishing an RRC connection via other SIBs.

[0111] Then, the first device 110 can read (408) the received MIB and one or more SIBs.

[0112] During this phase, the third device 130 may send (410) access control policy and admission status to the second device 120, which may indicate that the information regarding the UE access control and admission status refers to the state in which the third device 130 is still accepting the UE.

[0113] In some examples, the third device 130 may periodically send access control policies and admission states to the second device 120. In other examples, the third device 130 may send access control policies and admission states to the second device 120 as needed. That is, whenever there is any change in the CU state used to grant / deny any UE, the third device 130 may send this information to the second device 120. This information enables the second device 120 to perform admission control for incoming UEs without interacting with the third device 130 each time.

[0114] The RA process can be initiated by the first device 110. During the RA process, the first device 110 sends an RA request (412) to the second device 120 via MSG1.

[0115] Upon receiving MSG1, the second device 120 sends (414) RAR to the first device 110.

[0116] In this RAR, the second device 120 can indicate a configuration index for the RRC connection establishment configuration, allowing the first device 110 to select the RRC connection establishment configuration to use for the fast RRC connection establishment process. For example, the second device 110 can determine the configuration index based on an estimate of the timing advance (TA) of the first device 110. It should be understood that the configuration index here can refer to a common RRC connection establishment configuration, as there is no dedicated RRC connection establishment configuration for the first device 110.

[0117] The enhanced RAR with the configuration index is an indication to the first device 110 that the second device 120 is recommending a fast RRC connection establishment with the provided configuration index. That is, the first device 110 can know (416) the recommendation for a fast RRC connection establishment.

[0118] Then, if the first device 110 is able to establish a fast RRC connection, the first device 110 may continue with (418) establishing a fast RRC connection. Alternatively, the first device 110 may also roll back by sending an RRCSetupRequest message.

[0119] If the first device 110 is interested in or able to establish a fast RRC connection, the first device 110 may send (420) to the second device 120 a fast RRC connection establishment response with the identifier of the first device 110 and a newly proposed MAC-CE for the reason for the RRC connection establishment, which can help the NW perform admission control.

[0120] Since it is a MAC-CE message, the second device 120 can process (422) the message itself without interacting with the third device 130 and send (424) contention resolution MAC-CE to the first device 110.

[0121] During this phase, based on the access control policy and admission status received from the third device 130 and the reason received from MAC-CE, the second device 120 can check (426) whether the first device 110 is allowed to access the cell managed by the second device 120.

[0122] If the second device 120 determines, based on the access control policy and admission status received from the third device 130 and the reason, that the first device 110 is allowed to access the cell managed by the second device 120, the second device 120 may optionally send (428) one or more dedicated configurations for the first device 110 to the first device 110.

[0123] Then, the first device 110 may configure (430) its lower layer using one or more configurations and / or one or more dedicated configurations obtained from the SIB.

[0124] After sending (432) an indication that RRC establishment is complete to the second device 120, the first device 110 enters (434) RRC connection mode.

[0125] As mentioned above, broadcasting information (such as multiple configurations) via SIB can be an overhead for NW. Therefore, to make the scheme more efficient, NW can enable and disable fast RRC connection establishment as needed.

[0126] Now for reference Figure 5 ,Should Figure 5 Signaling diagram 500 for communication is shown according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For example... Figure 5 As shown, signaling diagram 500 relates to a first device 110, a second device 120, and a third device 130. For discussion purposes, reference is made to... Figure 1 To describe signaling diagram 500. In conjunction with... Figure 5 In the process-related scenarios, the second device 120 and the third device 130 can respectively act as a gNB distributed unit (DU) and a gNB centralized unit (CU).

[0127] For example, certain thresholds can be configured to enable the fast RRC connection establishment process. For instance, in certain scenarios, such as busy airports or railway stations, the number of RRC connection establishment requests may suddenly increase after a train arrives or an aircraft lands. The NW can then decide to enable fast RRC connection establishment. Therefore, a threshold can refer to the number of RRC connection establishment requests.

[0128] For example, if the NW (i.e., the second device 120 or the third device 130) determines that the number of RRC connection establishment requests exceeds a threshold number within a certain period of time, the NW may decide (502) to enable fast RRC connection establishment.

[0129] Then, the second device 120 can broadcast (504) instructions and corresponding configurations via SIB to support fast RRC connection establishment, and the first device 110 can read the SIB and continue (506) fast RRC connection establishment. This process has been referenced... Figure 3 and Figure 4 The description has been provided and will be omitted here.

[0130] After a period of time, if the number of RRC connection establishment requests falls below a threshold number for a certain period of time, or in some cases, during NW release updates or site restart scenarios, the NW (i.e., the second device 120 or the third device 130) may decide (506) to fall back to the conventional method. That is, fast RRC connection establishment may be disabled.

[0131] Then, the first device 110 can receive (508) the MIB and SIB1 including legacy content, and read (510) the MIB and SIB1 used for legacy RRC connection establishment.

[0132] As described above, the proposed solution enables the UE and NW to establish RRC connections in a highly efficient manner. As an enhanced SIB, the RACH procedure provides the UE with all the configurations required for RRC connection establishment. It eliminates overhead (resources, time, and energy for both the UE and NW) by eliminating the need for messages. This is equivalent to saving 4 messages per UE (2 for the air interface and 2 for the F1AP). Therefore, the savings in the scenario where many UEs are attempting to establish RRC connections will be substantial.

[0133] Figure 6 A flowchart of an example method 600 implemented at a first device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For the purposes of discussion, [the following will be discussed]. Figure 1 The angle description method of the first device 110 in the middle is 600.

[0134] In block 610, the first device 110 receives from the second device, via at least one System Information Block (SIB), an instruction for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment and multiple configurations for RRC connection establishment.

[0135] At box 620, if it is determined that a configuration index was received from the second device during the random access procedure, then at box 630, the first device 110 performs a fast RRC connection establishment based on an RRC connection configuration selected from multiple RRC connection configurations based on the configuration index.

[0136] In box 640, the first device 110 sends another indication to the second device during the random access procedure that the first device's RRC establishment is complete.

[0137] In some example embodiments, method 600 further includes receiving, via SIB1, an indication for supporting fast RRC connection establishment and multiple RRC connection configurations.

[0138] In some example embodiments, method 600 further includes: receiving an indication for supporting fast RRC connection establishment via SIB1; and receiving multiple RRC connection configurations via one or more other SIBs.

[0139] In some example embodiments, the plurality of RRC connection configurations include at least one of the following: one or more public RRC connection configurations; one or more RRC connection configurations dedicated to the first device.

[0140] In some example embodiments, method 600 further includes receiving a configuration index from a second device via a random access response after initiating a random access procedure.

[0141] In some example embodiments, method 600 further includes receiving one or more RRC connection configurations dedicated to the first device in a random access response.

[0142] In some example embodiments, method 600 further includes sending another indication of RRC establishment completion to the second device via message 3 during the random access process.

[0143] In some example embodiments, method 600 further includes sending a reason for the establishment of a fast RRC connection to a second device, along with another indication that the RRC establishment is complete.

[0144] In some example embodiments, method 600 further includes: if it is determined that a contention resolution instruction has been received from the second device via message 4, then entering an RRC connection state.

[0145] In some example embodiments, the first device includes a terminal device, and the second device includes a network node.

[0146] Figure 7 A flowchart of an example method 700 implemented at a second device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For the purposes of discussion, [the following will be discussed]. Figure 1 The angle description method 700 of the second device 120 in the middle.

[0147] In block 710, the second device 120 sends instructions and multiple RRC connection configurations to the first device via at least one System Information Block (SIB) to support the establishment of a Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection.

[0148] In box 720, the second device 120 sends a configuration index to the first device during the random access procedure.

[0149] In box 730, the second device 120 receives another indication from the first device during the random access procedure that the first device's RRC establishment is complete.

[0150] In some example embodiments, method 700 further includes sending an instruction for supporting fast RRC connection establishment and multiple RRC connection configurations to a first device via SIB1.

[0151] In some example embodiments, method 700 further includes: sending an indication to a first device via SIB1 to support fast RRC connection establishment; and sending multiple RRC connection configurations to the first device via one or more other SIBs.

[0152] In some example embodiments, the plurality of RRC connection configurations include at least one of the following: one or more public RRC connection configurations; one or more RRC connection configurations dedicated to the first device.

[0153] In some example embodiments, method 700 further includes: determining the RRC connection configuration to be used by the first device based on an estimate of the timing advance of the first device; and sending a configuration index from the second device via a random access response after the random access procedure is initiated from the first device.

[0154] In some example embodiments, method 700 further includes sending one or more RRC connection configurations dedicated to the first device in a random access response.

[0155] In some example embodiments, method 700 further includes: during the random access process, receiving, via message 3, another indication that RRC establishment is complete and the reason for fast RRC connection establishment from the first device.

[0156] In some example embodiments, method 700 further includes determining the completion of RRC establishment of the first device based on a logical channel identifier associated with a transmission that indicates the completion of RRC establishment.

[0157] In some example embodiments, method 700 further includes: receiving an access control policy and an admission status from a third device, the access control policy and admission status indicating at least whether the first device is allowed to access a cell managed by the second device; and performing admission control based on the access control policy, admission status, and reason.

[0158] In some example embodiments, access control policies and admission states are received from the third device periodically or based on changes in admission at the third device.

[0159] In some example embodiments, method 700 further includes sending one or more updates to RRC connection configurations to the first device via a dedicated message.

[0160] In some example embodiments, the first device includes a terminal device, and the second device includes a network node.

[0161] Figure 8 A flowchart of an example method 800 implemented at a first device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For the purposes of discussion, [the following will be discussed]. Figure 1 The angle description method 800 of the first device 110 in the middle.

[0162] In block 810, the first device 110 receives from the second device via at least one system information block (SIB) an instruction for supporting the establishment of a Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection, multiple RRC connection configurations, and one or more criteria for selecting an RRC connection configuration.

[0163] At box 820, the first device 110 selects an RRC connection configuration from a plurality of RRC connection configurations based on one or more criteria.

[0164] At box 830, the first device 110 performs fast RRC connection establishment based on the selected RRC connection configuration.

[0165] In box 840, the first device 110 sends another indication to the second device via a random access procedure message that the first device's RRC establishment is complete.

[0166] In some example embodiments, method 800 further includes receiving, via SIB1, an indication for supporting fast RRC connection establishment, multiple RRC connection configurations, and one or more criteria.

[0167] In some example embodiments, method 800 further includes: receiving an indication for supporting fast RRC connection establishment via SIB1; and receiving multiple RRC connection configurations and one or more quasi-tests via one or more other SIBs.

[0168] In some example embodiments, the plurality of RRC connection configurations include at least one of the following: one or more public RRC connection configurations; one or more RRC connection configurations dedicated to the first device.

[0169] In some example embodiments, one or more criteria include at least one of the following: the distance between the first device and the second device, the type of service to be established by the first device and the second device, and the type of the first device.

[0170] In some example embodiments, method 800 further includes sending another indication of RRC establishment completion to the second device via message 3 of the random access procedure.

[0171] In some example embodiments, method 800 further includes sending a second device an indication of the reason for the establishment of the fast RRC connection and the completion of the RRC establishment.

[0172] In some example embodiments, method 800 further includes: if it is determined that a contention resolution instruction has been received from the second device via message 4, then entering an RRC connection state.

[0173] In some example embodiments, the first device includes a terminal device, and the second device includes a network node.

[0174] Figure 9 A flowchart of an example method 900 implemented at a second device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For the purposes of discussion, [the following will be discussed]. Figure 1 The second device 120 in the method of angle description 900.

[0175] In block 910, the second device 120 sends to the first device via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment, multiple RRC connection configurations, and one or more criteria for selecting the RRC connection configuration.

[0176] In box 920, the second device 120 receives another indication from the first device during the random access procedure that the RRC establishment of the first device is complete.

[0177] In some example embodiments, method 900 further includes sending, via SIB1, an indication for supporting fast RRC connection establishment, multiple RRC connection configurations, and one or more criteria to the first device.

[0178] In some example embodiments, method 900 further includes: sending an indication to a first device via SIB1 to support fast RRC connection establishment; and sending a plurality of RRC connection configurations and one or more quasi-tests to the first device via one or more other SIBs.

[0179] In some example embodiments, the plurality of RRC connection configurations include at least one of the following: one or more public RRC connection configurations; one or more RRC connection configurations dedicated to the first device.

[0180] In some example embodiments, method 900 further includes receiving, during the random access process, another indication of RRC establishment completion and the reason for fast RRC connection establishment from the first device via message 3.

[0181] In some example embodiments, method 900 further includes determining RRC establishment completion of the first device based on a logical channel identifier associated with a transmission that indicates RRC establishment completion.

[0182] In some example embodiments, method 900 further includes: receiving an access control policy and an admission status from a third device, the access control policy and admission status indicating at least whether the first device is allowed to access a cell managed by the second device; and performing admission control based on the access control policy, admission status, and reason.

[0183] In some example embodiments, access control policies and admission states are received from the third device periodically or based on changes in admission at the third device.

[0184] In some example embodiments, method 900 further includes sending one or more updates to RRC connection configurations to the first device via a dedicated message.

[0185] In some example embodiments, the first device includes a terminal device, and the second device includes a network node.

[0186] Figure 10 A flowchart of an example method 1000 implemented at a first device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For the purposes of discussion, [the following will be discussed]. Figure 1 The angle description method 1000 of the first device 110 in the middle.

[0187] At block 1010, the first device 110 receives from the second device, via at least one system information block (SIB), an instruction for supporting the establishment of a Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection and multiple RRC connection configurations.

[0188] At box 1020, the first device 110 receives a configuration index from the second device during the random access procedure.

[0189] At box 1030, if it is determined that the first device is capable of establishing a fast RRC connection based on an RRC connection configuration selected from multiple RRC connection configurations based on a configuration index, then at box 1040, the first device 110 sends a Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) to the second device that enables the establishment of a fast RRC connection.

[0190] In some example embodiments, method 1000 further includes receiving, via SIB1, an indication for supporting fast RRC connection establishment and multiple RRC connection configurations.

[0191] In some example embodiments, method 1000 further includes: receiving an indication for supporting fast RRC connection establishment via SIB1; and receiving multiple RRC connection configurations via one or more other SIBs.

[0192] In some example implementations, multiple RRC connection configurations include one or more common RRC connection configurations.

[0193] In some example embodiments, method 1000 further includes: receiving a configuration index from a second device via a random access response after initiating a random access procedure.

[0194] In some example embodiments, method 1000 further includes sending a MAC-CE capable of establishing a fast RRC connection to a second device via message 3.

[0195] In some example embodiments, method 1000 further includes: sending, together with the MAC-CE, the identifier of the first device and the reason for establishing a fast RRC connection to the second device as an indication of establishing a fast RRC connection.

[0196] In some example embodiments, method 1000 further includes: after receiving contention resolution MAC-CE from the second device via message 4, receiving one or more RRC connection configurations dedicated to the first device from the second device.

[0197] In some example embodiments, method 1000 further includes: performing fast RRC connection establishment based on an RRC connection configuration selected based on a configuration index and / or one or more RRC connection configurations dedicated to the first device; and sending another indication to the second device that the RRC establishment of the first device is complete.

[0198] In some example embodiments, the first device includes a terminal device, and the second device includes a network node.

[0199] Figure 11 A flowchart of an example method 1100 implemented at a second device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For the purposes of discussion, [the following will be discussed]. Figure 1 The angle description method 1100 of the second device 120 in the middle.

[0200] At block 1110, the second device 120 sends an instruction for supporting the establishment of a Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection and multiple RRC connection configurations to the first device via at least one System Information Block (SIB).

[0201] At box 1120, the second device 120 sends a configuration index to the first device during the random access procedure.

[0202] At box 1130, the second device 120 receives from the first device a Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) capable of establishing a fast RRC connection.

[0203] In some example embodiments, method 1100 further includes sending an instruction for supporting fast RRC connection establishment and a plurality of RRC connection configurations to a first device via SIB1.

[0204] In some example embodiments, method 1100 further includes: sending an indication to a first device via SIB1 to support fast RRC connection establishment; and sending a plurality of RRC connection configurations to the first device via one or more other SIBs.

[0205] In some example implementations, multiple RRC connection configurations include one or more common RRC connection configurations.

[0206] In some example embodiments, method 1100 further includes sending a configuration index to the first device via a random access response after initiating a random access procedure from the first device.

[0207] In some example embodiments, method 1100 further includes receiving a MAC-CE from the first device via message 3, which enables fast RRC connection establishment.

[0208] In some example embodiments, method 1100 further includes receiving, together with MAC-CE, an identifier of the first device and a reason for establishing a fast RRC connection from the first device.

[0209] In some example embodiments, method 1100 further includes: receiving an access control policy and an admission status from a third device, the access control policy and admission status indicating at least whether the first device is allowed to access a cell managed by the second device; and performing admission control based on the access control policy, admission status, and reason.

[0210] In some example embodiments, access control policies and admission states are received from the third device periodically or based on changes in admission at the third device.

[0211] In some example embodiments, method 1100 further includes: if an access control policy, a transaction admission status, and a reason indicating that the first device is allowed to access the second device are determined, after receiving a contention resolution MAC-CE from the second device via message 4, sending one or more RRC connection configurations dedicated to the first device.

[0212] In some example embodiments, method 1100 further includes receiving, from the first device, another indication that the RRC establishment of the first device is complete.

[0213] In some example embodiments, the first device includes a terminal device, and the second device includes a network node.

[0214] In some example embodiments, a first means capable of performing any of the methods in method 600 (e.g., Figure 1 The first device 110 may include a component for performing the corresponding operation of method 600. This component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the component may be implemented in a circuit system or a software module. The first device may be implemented as... Figure 1 The first device 110 or included in Figure 1 In the first device 110.

[0215] In some example embodiments, the first device includes: components for receiving, via at least one System Information Block (SIB) from the second device, an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment and a plurality of configurations for RRC connection establishment; components for performing fast RRC connection establishment based on an RRC connection configuration selected from a plurality of RRC connection configurations based on the configuration index if it is determined that a configuration index has been received from the second device during a random access procedure; and components for transmitting to the second device another indication that the first device's RRC establishment is complete during the random access procedure.

[0216] In some example embodiments, the first device further includes a component for receiving, via SIB1, an instruction for supporting fast RRC connection establishment and a plurality of RRC connection configurations.

[0217] In some example embodiments, the first device further includes: components for receiving, via SIB1, an indication for supporting fast RRC connection establishment; and components for receiving multiple RRC connection configurations via one or more other SIBs.

[0218] In some example embodiments, the plurality of RRC connection configurations include at least one of the following: one or more public RRC connection configurations; one or more RRC connection configurations dedicated to the first device.

[0219] In some example embodiments, the first device further includes a component for receiving a configuration index from the second device via a random access response after initiating a random access procedure.

[0220] In some example embodiments, the first device further includes a component for receiving one or more RRC connection configurations dedicated to the first device in a random access response.

[0221] In some example embodiments, the first device further includes a component for sending another indication of RRC establishment completion to the second device via message 3 during the random access process.

[0222] In some example embodiments, the first device further includes: sending a reason for establishing a fast RRC connection to the second device.

[0223] In some example embodiments, the first device further includes a component for entering an RRC connection state if it is determined that a contention resolution instruction has been received from the second device via message 4.

[0224] In some example embodiments, the first device includes a terminal device, and the second device includes a network node.

[0225] In some example embodiments, a second means capable of performing any of the methods in method 700 (e.g., Figure 1 The second device 120 may include a component for performing the corresponding operation of method 700. This component can be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the component can be implemented in a circuit system or a software module. The second device can be implemented as... Figure 1 The second device 120 or included in Figure 1 The second device 120 in the middle.

[0226] In some example embodiments, the second device includes: components for transmitting to the first device via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment and a plurality of RRC connection configurations; components for transmitting a configuration index to the first device during a random access procedure; and components for receiving from the first device another indication that the first device's RRC establishment is complete during a random access procedure.

[0227] In some example embodiments, the second device further includes a component for sending, via SIB1, an instruction to support fast RRC connection establishment and multiple RRC connection configurations to the first device.

[0228] In some example embodiments, the second device further includes: components for sending an indication to the first device via SIB1 to support fast RRC connection establishment; and components for sending multiple RRC connection configurations to the first device via one or more other SIBs.

[0229] In some example embodiments, the plurality of RRC connection configurations include at least one of the following: one or more public RRC connection configurations; one or more RRC connection configurations dedicated to the first device.

[0230] In some example embodiments, the second device further includes: components for determining the RRC connection configuration to be used by the first device based on an estimate of the timing advance of the first device; and components for sending a configuration index from the second device via a random access response after a random access procedure is initiated from the first device.

[0231] In some example embodiments, the second device further includes a component for sending one or more RRC connection configurations dedicated to the first device to the first device in a random access response.

[0232] In some example embodiments, the second device further includes: a component for receiving, via message 3, another indication of RRC establishment completion and a reason for fast RRC connection establishment during random access.

[0233] In some example embodiments, the second device further includes a component for determining the completion of the RRC establishment of the first device based on a logical channel identifier associated with a transmission that is another indication of RRC establishment completion.

[0234] In some example embodiments, the second device further includes: a component for receiving an access control policy and an admission status from a third device, the access control policy and admission status indicating at least whether the first device is allowed to access a cell managed by the second device; and a component for performing admission control based on the access control policy, admission status, and reason.

[0235] In some example embodiments, access control policies and admission states are received from the third device periodically or based on changes in admission at the third device.

[0236] In some example embodiments, the second device further includes a component for sending one or more updates to the RRC connection configuration to the first device via a dedicated message.

[0237] In some example embodiments, the first device includes a terminal device, and the second device includes a network node.

[0238] In some example embodiments, a first means capable of performing any of the methods in method 800 (e.g., Figure 1 The first device 110 may include a component for performing a corresponding operation of method 800. This component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the component may be implemented in a circuit system or a software module. The first device may be implemented as... Figure 1 The first device 110 or included in Figure 1 In the first device 110.

[0239] In some example embodiments, the first device includes: components for receiving from the second device via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment, a plurality of RRC connection configurations, and one or more criteria for selecting the RRC connection configuration; components for selecting an RRC connection configuration from the plurality of RRC connection configurations based on one or more criteria; components for performing fast RRC connection establishment based on the selected RRC connection configuration; and components for sending to the second device via a random access procedure message another indication that the first device's RRC establishment is complete.

[0240] In some example embodiments, the first device further includes a component for receiving, via SIB1, an indication for supporting fast RRC connection establishment, multiple RRC connection configurations, and one or more criteria.

[0241] In some example embodiments, the first device further includes: components for receiving, via SIB1, an indication for supporting fast RRC connection establishment; and components for receiving, via one or more other SIBs, multiple RRC connection configurations and one or more calibrators.

[0242] In some example embodiments, the plurality of RRC connection configurations include at least one of the following: one or more public RRC connection configurations; one or more RRC connection configurations dedicated to the first device.

[0243] In some example embodiments, one or more criteria include at least one of the following: the distance between the first device and the second device, the type of service to be established by the first device and the second device, and the type of the first device.

[0244] In some example embodiments, the first device further includes a component for sending another indication of RRC establishment completion to the second device via message 3 of the random access procedure.

[0245] In some example embodiments, the first device further includes a component for sending to the second device a reason for the establishment of the fast RRC connection and another indication that the RRC establishment is complete.

[0246] In some example embodiments, the first device further includes a component for entering an RRC connection state if it is determined that a contention resolution instruction has been received from the second device via message 4.

[0247] In some example embodiments, the first device includes a terminal device, and the second device includes a network node.

[0248] In some example embodiments, a second means capable of performing any of the methods in method 900 (e.g., Figure 1 The second device 120 may include a component for performing the corresponding operation of method 900. This component can be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the component can be implemented in a circuit system or a software module. The second device can be implemented as... Figure 1 The second device 120 or included in Figure 1 The second device 120 in the middle.

[0249] In some example embodiments, the second device includes: components for transmitting to the first device via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment, multiple RRC connection configurations, and one or more criteria for selecting RRC connection configurations; and components for receiving from the first device another indication that the first device's RRC establishment is complete during a random access procedure.

[0250] In some example embodiments, the second device further includes a component for sending, via SIB1, an indication for supporting fast RRC connection establishment, multiple RRC connection configurations, and one or more criteria to the first device.

[0251] In some example embodiments, the second device further includes: components for sending an indication to the first device via SIB1 to support fast RRC connection establishment; and components for sending multiple RRC connection configurations and one or more calibrators to the first device via one or more other SIBs.

[0252] In some example embodiments, the plurality of RRC connection configurations include at least one of the following: one or more public RRC connection configurations; one or more RRC connection configurations dedicated to the first device.

[0253] In some example embodiments, the second device further includes: a component for receiving, via message 3, another indication of the completion of RRC establishment and a reason for the establishment of a fast RRC connection during random access.

[0254] In some example embodiments, the second device further includes a component for determining the completion of the RRC establishment of the first device based on a logical channel identifier associated with a transmission that is another indication of RRC establishment completion.

[0255] In some example embodiments, the second device further includes: a component for receiving an access control policy and an admission status from a third device, the access control policy and admission status indicating at least whether the first device is allowed to access a cell managed by the second device; and a component for performing admission control based on the access control policy, admission status, and reason.

[0256] In some example embodiments, access control policies and admission states are received from the third device periodically or based on changes in admission at the third device.

[0257] In some example embodiments, the second device further includes a component for sending one or more updates to the RRC connection configuration to the first device via a dedicated message.

[0258] In some example embodiments, the first device includes a terminal device, and the second device includes a network node.

[0259] In some example embodiments, a first device capable of performing any of the methods in method 1000 (e.g., Figure 1 The first device 110 may include a component for performing a corresponding operation of method 1000. This component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the component may be implemented in a circuit system or a software module. The first device may be implemented as... Figure 1The first device 110 or included in Figure 1 In the first device 110.

[0260] In some example embodiments, the first device includes: components for receiving from the second device via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment and a plurality of RRC connection configurations; components for receiving a configuration index from the second device during a random access procedure; and components for sending a Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) capable of fast RRC connection establishment to the second device if it is determined that the first device is capable of fast RRC connection establishment based on an RRC connection configuration selected from a plurality of RRC connection configurations based on the configuration index.

[0261] In some example embodiments, the first device further includes a component for receiving, via SIB1, an instruction for supporting fast RRC connection establishment and a plurality of RRC connection configurations.

[0262] In some example embodiments, the first device further includes: components for receiving, via SIB1, an indication for supporting fast RRC connection establishment; and components for receiving multiple RRC connection configurations via one or more other SIBs.

[0263] In some example implementations, multiple RRC connection configurations include one or more common RRC connection configurations.

[0264] In some example embodiments, the first device further includes a component for receiving a configuration index from the second device via a random access response after initiating a random access procedure.

[0265] In some example embodiments, the first device further includes a component for sending a MAC-CE capable of establishing a fast RRC connection to the second device via message 3.

[0266] In some example embodiments, the first device further includes a component for sending, together with the MAC-CE, an identifier of the first device and a reason for establishing a fast RRC connection to the second device as an indication of fast RRC connection establishment.

[0267] In some example embodiments, the first device further includes a component for receiving one or more RRC connection configurations dedicated to the first device from the second device after receiving a contention resolution MAC-CE from the second device via message 4.

[0268] In some example embodiments, the first device further includes: components for performing fast RRC connection establishment based on an RRC connection configuration selected based on a configuration index and / or one or more RRC connection configurations specific to the first device; and components for sending another indication to the second device that the RRC establishment of the first device is complete.

[0269] In some example embodiments, the first device includes a terminal device, and the second device includes a network node.

[0270] In some example embodiments, a second means capable of performing any of the methods in method 1100 (e.g., Figure 1 The second device 120 may include components for performing the corresponding operations of method 1100. These components can be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components can be implemented in a circuit system or a software module. The second device can be implemented as... Figure 1 The second device 120 or included in Figure 1 The second device 120 in the middle.

[0271] In some example embodiments, the second device includes: components for transmitting to the first device via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment and multiple RRC connection configurations; components for transmitting a configuration index to the first device during a random access procedure; and components for receiving from the first device a Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) capable of fast RRC connection establishment.

[0272] In some example embodiments, the second device further includes a component for sending, via SIB1, an instruction to support fast RRC connection establishment and multiple RRC connection configurations to the first device.

[0273] In some example embodiments, the second device further includes: components for sending an indication to the first device via SIB1 to support fast RRC connection establishment; and components for sending multiple RRC connection configurations to the first device via one or more other SIBs.

[0274] In some example implementations, multiple RRC connection configurations include one or more common RRC connection configurations.

[0275] In some example embodiments, the second device further includes a component for sending a configuration index to the first device via a random access response after a random access procedure is initiated from the first device.

[0276] In some example embodiments, the second device further includes a component for receiving a MAC-CE capable of establishing a fast RRC connection from the first device via message 3.

[0277] In some example embodiments, the second device further includes a component for receiving, together with the MAC-CE, an identifier of the first device and a reason for the establishment of the fast RRC connection from the first device.

[0278] In some example embodiments, the second device further includes: a component for receiving an access control policy and an admission status from a third device, the access control policy and admission status indicating at least whether the first device is allowed to access a cell managed by the second device; and a component for performing admission control based on the access control policy, admission status, and reason.

[0279] In some example embodiments, access control policies and admission states are received from the third device periodically or based on changes in admission at the third device.

[0280] In some example embodiments, the second device further includes components for: if an access control policy, a transaction admission status, and a reason indicating that the first device is allowed to access the second device are determined, after receiving a contention resolution MAC-CE from the second device via message 4, sending one or more RRC connection configurations dedicated to the first device.

[0281] In some example embodiments, the second device further includes a component for receiving, from the first device, another indication that the RRC establishment of the first device is complete.

[0282] In some example embodiments, the first device includes a terminal device, and the second device includes a network node.

[0283] Figure 12 This is a simplified block diagram of a device 1200 suitable for implementing an example embodiment of the present disclosure. The device 1200 can be provided to implement a communication device, such as... Figure 1 The first device 110 or the second device 120 are shown. As shown, device 1200 includes one or more processors 1210, one or more memories 1220 coupled to processor 1210, and one or more communication modules 1240 coupled to processor 1210.

[0284] Communication module 1240 is used for bidirectional communication. Communication module 1240 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interface can represent any interface necessary for communication with other network elements. In some example embodiments, communication module 1240 may include at least one antenna.

[0285] As a non-limiting example, processor 1210 can be any type suitable for a local technology network and can include one or more of the following: general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP), and processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. Device 1200 can have multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips that are time-dependent on a clock of a synchronous main processor.

[0286] Memory 1220 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 1224, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disk, optical disc (CD), digital video disc (DVD), optical disc, laser disc, and other magnetic and / or optical storage. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 1222 and other volatile memories that will not persist during power-off periods.

[0287] Computer program 1230 includes computer-executable instructions that are executed by an associated processor 1210. The instructions of program 1230 may include instructions for performing operations / actions of some example embodiments of this disclosure. Program 1230 may be stored in memory, such as ROM 1224. Processor 1210 can perform any suitable actions and processes by loading program 1230 into RAM 1222.

[0288] Example embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented using program 1230, enabling device 1200 to perform operations as shown in Figures 2 to 3. Figure 11 Any process discussed in this disclosure. Exemplary embodiments of this disclosure may also be implemented in hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

[0289] In some example embodiments, program 1230 may be tangibly contained in a computer-readable medium, which may be included in device 1200 (such as in memory 1220) or other storage devices accessible to device 1200. Device 1200 may load program 1230 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 1222 for execution. In some example embodiments, the computer-readable medium may include any type of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. As used herein, the term "non-transitory" is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not tactile), rather than a limitation of the persistence of data storage (e.g., RAM versus ROM).

[0290] Figure 13An example of a computer-readable medium 1300, which may be in the form of a CD, DVD, or other optical storage disc, is shown. A program 1230 is stored on the computer-readable medium 1300.

[0291] Generally, the various embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuitry, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while others may be implemented in firmware or software executable by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Although various aspects of the embodiments of this disclosure are shown and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other graphical representation, it should be understood that, as non-limiting examples, the blocks, apparatuses, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuitry or logic, general-purpose hardware or controllers or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0292] Some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium, such as a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in a program module that executes on a device on a target entity or virtual processor, to perform any of the methods described above. Typically, a program module includes routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc., that perform a particular task or implement a particular abstract data type. In various embodiments, the functionality of a program module can be combined or split among program modules as needed. The machine-executable instructions for a program module can execute within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, the program module can reside on both local and remote storage media.

[0293] The program code used to perform the methods of this disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that when executed by the processor or controller, the program code enables the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may be executed entirely on a machine, partially on a machine, as a stand-alone software package, partially on a machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0294] In the context of this disclosure, computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus, or processor to perform the various processes and operations described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer-readable media, etc.

[0295] Computer-readable media can be computer-readable signal media or computer-readable storage media. Computer-readable media can include, but is not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, apparatuses, or devices, or any suitable combination thereof. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media will include electrical connections having one or more wires, portable computer disks, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fibers, portable optical disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination thereof.

[0296] Furthermore, although operations are described in a specific order, this should not be construed as requiring such operations to be performed in the specific order shown or in a sequential order, or to perform all shown operations to achieve the desired result. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, although several specific implementation details are included in the discussion above, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of this disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, certain features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless explicitly stated otherwise, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented individually or in any suitable sub-combination in multiple embodiments.

[0297] Although this disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological actions, it should be understood that the disclosure as defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or actions described above. Rather, the specific features and actions described above are disclosed as exemplary forms for implementing the claims.

[0298] Furthermore, the various implementations of this disclosure can be described with reference to the following terms, and their features can be combined in any reasonable manner.

[0299] Clause 1. A first apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus to at least: receive from a second apparatus via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment and a plurality of RRC connection configurations; receive a configuration index from the second apparatus during a random access procedure; and, if it is determined that the first apparatus is capable of fast RRC connection establishment based on the RRC connection configuration, send to the second apparatus a Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) enabling the fast RRC connection establishment, the RRC connection configuration being selected from the plurality of RRC connection configurations based on the configuration index.

[0300] Clause 2. The first device according to Clause 1, wherein the first device is caused to: receive, via SIB1, the indication for supporting the establishment of the fast RRC connection and the plurality of RRC connection configurations.

[0301] Clause 3. The first device according to Clause 1, wherein the first device is caused to: receive the instruction for supporting the establishment of the fast RRC connection via SIB1; and receive the plurality of RRC connection configurations via one or more other SIBs.

[0302] Clause 4. The first device according to any one of Clauses 1 to 3, wherein the plurality of RRC connection configurations includes one or more common RRC connection configurations.

[0303] Clause 5. The first device according to any one of Clauses 1 to 4, wherein the first device is caused to receive the configuration index from the second device via a random access response after initiating the random access procedure.

[0304] Clause 6. The first device as described in Clause 5, wherein the first device is caused to send the MAC-CE, which enables the establishment of the fast RRC connection, to the second device via message 3.

[0305] Clause 7. The first device as described in Clause 6, wherein the first device is caused to: send, together with the MAC-CE, to the second device an identifier of the first device and a reason for the establishment of the fast RRC connection as an indication of fast RRC connection establishment.

[0306] Clause 8. The first device according to any one of Clauses 5 to 7, wherein the first device is caused to: receive one or more RRC connection configurations dedicated to the first device from the second device after receiving a contention resolution MAC-CE from the second device via message 4.

[0307] Clause 9. The first device according to Clause 8, wherein the first device is caused to: perform the fast RRC connection establishment based on the RRC connection configuration selected based on the configuration index and / or one or more RRC connection configurations specific to the first device; and send another indication to the second device that the RRC establishment of the first device is complete.

[0308] Clause 10. The first device according to any one of Clauses 1 to 9, wherein the first device includes a terminal device and the second device includes a network node.

[0309] Clause 11. A second apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second apparatus to at least: transmit to a first apparatus via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment and a plurality of RRC connection configurations; transmit to the first apparatus a configuration index during a random access procedure; and receive from the first apparatus a Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) capable of performing the Fast RRC connection establishment.

[0310] Clause 12. The second device according to Clause 11, wherein the second device is caused to send, via SIB1, the indication for supporting the establishment of the fast RRC connection and the plurality of RRC connection configurations to the first device.

[0311] Clause 13. The second device according to Clause 11, wherein the second device is caused to: send the instruction for supporting the establishment of the fast RRC connection to the first device via SIB1; and send the plurality of RRC connection configurations to the first device via one or more other SIBs.

[0312] Clause 14. The second device according to any one of Clauses 11 to 13, wherein the plurality of RRC connection configurations includes one or more common RRC connection configurations.

[0313] Clause 15. A second device according to any one of Clauses 11 to 14, wherein the second device is caused to send the configuration index to the first device via a random access response after the random access procedure is initiated from the first device.

[0314] Clause 16. The second device according to Clause 15, wherein the second device is caused to receive, via message 3, the MAC-CE capable of establishing the fast RRC connection from the first device.

[0315] Clause 17. The second device as described in Clause 16, wherein the second device is caused to receive, together with the MAC-CE, from the first device the identifier of the first device and the reason for establishing the fast RRC connection.

[0316] Clause 18. The second apparatus according to Clause 17, wherein the second apparatus includes a distributed network node and the third apparatus includes a central network node, and wherein the second apparatus is caused to: receive from the third apparatus an access control policy and an admission status, the access control policy and admission status indicating at least whether the first apparatus is permitted to access a cell managed by the second apparatus; and perform admission control based on the access control policy, the admission status and the reason.

[0317] Clause 19. The second device as described in Clause 18, wherein the access control policy and admission status are received from the third device periodically or based on changes in admission at the third device.

[0318] Clause 20. The second device as described in Clause 18 or 19, wherein the second device is caused to: upon receiving a Contention Resolution MAC-CE from the second device via message 4, send one or more RRC connection configurations dedicated to the first device if the access control policy, the admission status, and the reason indicating that the first device is allowed to access the second device are determined.

[0319] Clause 21. The second device according to Clause 20, wherein the second device is caused to receive from the first device another indication that the RRC establishment of the first device is complete.

[0320] Clause 22. A second device according to any one of Clauses 11 to 21, wherein the first device includes a terminal device and the second device includes a network node.

[0321] Clause 23. A method comprising: receiving from a second device via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment and a plurality of RRC connection configurations; receiving from the second device a configuration index during a random access procedure; and, if it is determined that the first device is capable of fast RRC connection establishment based on the RRC connection configurations, sending to the second device a Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) enabling the fast RRC connection establishment, the RRC connection configurations being selected from the plurality of RRC connection configurations based on the configuration index.

[0322] Clause 24. A method comprising: transmitting to a first device via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment and a plurality of RRC connection configurations; transmitting a configuration index to the first device during a random access procedure; and receiving from the first device a Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) capable of performing the Fast RRC connection establishment.

[0323] Clause 25. A first apparatus comprising: components for receiving, via at least one System Information Block (SIB) from a second apparatus, an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment and a plurality of RRC connection configurations; components for receiving a configuration index from the second apparatus during a random access procedure; and components for: if it is determined that the first apparatus is capable of fast RRC connection establishment based on the RRC connection configurations, sending to the second apparatus a Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) enabling the fast RRC connection establishment, the RRC connection configurations being selected from the plurality of RRC connection configurations based on the configuration index.

[0324] Clause 26. A second apparatus comprising: components for: transmitting to a first apparatus via at least one System Information Block (SIB) an indication for supporting Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment and a plurality of RRC connection configurations; components for transmitting a configuration index to the first apparatus during a random access procedure; and components for: receiving from the first apparatus a Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) capable of performing the Fast RRC connection establishment.

[0325] Clause 27. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon for causing a device to perform at least the method described in accordance with Clause 23 or the method described in accordance with Clause 24.

Claims

1. A first device for communication, comprising: At least one processor; as well as At least one memory stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first device to at least: Receives from the second device, via at least one System Information Block (SIB), an instruction for supporting the establishment of a Fast Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection and multiple RRC connection configurations; Receive the configuration index from the second device during the random access procedure; as well as If it is determined that the first device is capable of establishing a fast RRC connection based on the RRC connection configuration, a Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) capable of establishing the fast RRC connection is sent to the second device, wherein the RRC connection configuration is selected from the plurality of RRC connection configurations based on the configuration index.

2. The first device according to claim 1, wherein the first device causes: The instruction for supporting the establishment of the fast RRC connection and the configuration of the plurality of RRC connections are received via SIB1.

3. The first device according to claim 1, wherein the first device causes: Receive the instruction via SIB1 to support the establishment of the fast RRC connection; and The plurality of RRC connection configurations are received via one or more other SIBs.

4. The first apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the plurality of RRC connection configurations includes one or more common RRC connection configurations.

5. The first device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first device causes: After initiating the random access procedure, the configuration index is received from the second device via the random access response.

6. The first device according to claim 5, wherein the first device causes: The MAC-CE, enabling the establishment of the fast RRC connection, is sent to the second device via message 3.

7. The first device according to claim 6, wherein the first device causes: Together with the MAC-CE, the identifier of the first device and the reason for the establishment of the fast RRC connection are sent to the second device as an indication of fast RRC connection establishment.

8. The first device according to claim 5, wherein the first device causes: After receiving the contention resolution MAC-CE from the second device via message 4, one or more RRC connection configurations dedicated to the first device are received from the second device.

9. The first device according to claim 8, wherein the first device causes: The fast RRC connection establishment is performed based on the RRC connection configuration, which is selected based on the configuration index and / or one or more RRC connection configurations specific to the first device; and Send another indication to the second device that the RRC establishment of the first device is complete.

10. The first device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first device includes a terminal device and the second device includes a network node.

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