Access Resource Selection for Small Data Transmission

Abstract

The embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an apparatus, method, device, and computer-readable storage medium for access resource selection for small data transmission (SDT). The method comprises determining one or more resources to be used for a mobile terminated type SDT procedure. Then, based on the determined one or more resources, perform a mobile terminated type SDT procedure for a second device. In this manner, separate resources can be configured for mobile originated SDT (MO-SDT) and mobile terminated SDT (MT-SDT). It is beneficial to consider that MO-SDT and MT-SDT have different assumptions / thresholds of UL data available for transmission and reference signal received power (RSRP) thresholds, which may thus affect network response or further scheduling.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0002] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of telecommunications, and more particularly to an apparatus, method, device, and computer-readable storage medium for access resource selection for small data transmission (SDT). [Background technology]

[0002] In Release 17, Mobile Originated SDT (MO-SDT) is specified to enable small packet transmission for uplink (UL) oriented packets. For the downlink (DL), Mobile Terminated SDT (MT-SDT) (i.e. DL triggered small data) may enable similar benefits. For example, signaling overhead and UE power consumption may be reduced by not transitioning to radio resource control connected mode (RRC_CONNECTED), and latency in positioning procedures may also be reduced by enabling high speed transmission of (small and infrequent) packets. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Generally, the example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for access resource selection for SDT.

[0004] In a first aspect, a first apparatus is provided, the first apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code causing, with the at least one processor, the first apparatus to at least determine one or more resources to be used for a mobile terminated type SDT procedure and to perform a mobile terminated type SDT procedure for a second apparatus based on the determined one or more resources.

[0005] In a second aspect, a method is provided, the method comprising: determining, in a first device, one or more resources to be used for a Mobile-terminated SDT procedure, and performing a Mobile-terminated SDT procedure towards a second device using the determined one or more resources.

[0006] In a third aspect, an apparatus is provided comprising means for determining one or more resources to be used for a mobile terminated type SDT procedure, and includes means for performing a mobile terminated type SDT procedure towards a second apparatus based on the determined one or more resources.

[0007] In a fourth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, causes the apparatus to carry out a method according to the second aspect.

[0008] Other features and advantages of the presently disclosed embodiments will become apparent from the following description of specific embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the presently disclosed embodiments.

[0009] Embodiments of the present disclosure are presented by way of example, and advantages thereof will be explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary environment in which exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. [Diagram 2] 1 is a signaling chart illustrating a process of access resource selection for SDT, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Diagram 3] 1 is a flowchart of an example method of access resource selection for SDT, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of an apparatus suitable for implementing exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Diagram 5] 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer-readable medium according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0011] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numbers represent the same or similar elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are provided for illustrative purposes only, to assist those skilled in the art in understanding and implementing the present disclosure, but do not imply any limitations on the scope of the present disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

[0013] 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 belongs.

[0014] References in this disclosure to "one embodiment," "embodiment," "exemplary embodiment," and the like indicate that the embodiment being described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not all embodiments need to include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, it is submitted that when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an exemplary embodiment, it is within the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments, whether or not explicitly described.

[0015] It should be understood that although the terms "first" and "second" etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish the function of the various elements. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0016] The terms used herein are for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and are not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Furthermore, it will be understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "has," "having," "includes," and / or "including," as used herein, specify the presence of 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.

[0017] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) Hardware-only circuit implementation (e.g., implementation in analog and / or digital circuits only) (b) A combination of hardware circuitry and software, where applicable. (i) A combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuitry and software / firmware. (ii) Any portion of a hardware processor with software (including a digital signal processor), software, and memory that cooperates to cause a device, such as a mobile phone or a server, to perform various functions. (c) Hardware circuitry and / or processor Such as a microprocessor or portion of a microprocessor that requires software (eg, firmware) to operate, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

[0018] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of the term in this application, including any claims. As a further example, the term circuitry, as used in this application, also encompasses merely a hardware circuit or processor (or processors), or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor, as well as its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware implementations. The term circuitry also encompasses, for example, baseband or processor integrated circuits for mobile devices, or similar integrated circuits in servers, cellular network devices, or other computing or network devices, as applicable to certain claim elements.

[0019] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network conforming to any suitable communication standard, such as a fifth generation (5G) system, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT), Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN), etc. Furthermore, communication between terminal devices and network devices in a communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation 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) New Radio (NR), future sixth generation (6G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols now known or developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to various communication systems. Considering the rapid development of communication, there will naturally be future types of communication technologies and systems in which the present disclosure can be embodied, which should not be understood as limiting the scope of the present disclosure only to the aforementioned systems.

[0020] As used herein, the term "network equipment" refers to a node in a communication network where a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. Depending on the terminology and technology applied, the network equipment may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP), e.g., a Node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), a NR next generation Node B (gNB), a remote radio unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, a femto, a pico, or other low power node. The RAN split architecture includes a gNB-CU (centralized unit, hosting RRC, SDAP and PDCP) that controls multiple gNB-DUs (distributed units, hosting RLC, MAC and PHY). A relay node may correspond to the DU part of an IAB node.

[0021] The term "terminal" refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example and not limitation, a terminal 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). The terminal devices may 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 playback devices, vehicle mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop embedded equipment (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPE), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearables, head mounted displays (HMD), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in industrial and / or automated processing chain contexts), consumer electronics devices, devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. The terminal devices may also correspond to the mobile termination (MT) portion of an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node (also known as a relay node). In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "communications device", "terminal", "user equipment", and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

[0022] While the functions described herein may be performed in fixed and / or wireless network nodes in various exemplary embodiments, in other exemplary embodiments, the functions may be implemented in a user equipment device (such as a mobile phone or tablet computer or laptop computer or desktop computer or mobile IoT device or fixed IoT device). This user equipment device may comprise corresponding capabilities, for example, as described in connection with the fixed and / or wireless network nodes, as appropriate. The user equipment device may be user equipment and / or a control device, such as a chipset or processor, configured to control the user equipment when installed therein. Examples of such functions include a bootstrapping server function and / or a home subscriber server, which may be implemented in the user equipment device by providing the user equipment device with software configured to cause the user equipment device to perform in terms of these functions / nodes.

[0023] 1 illustrates an exemplary communication network 100 in which an embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the communication network 100 may include a terminal device 110 (hereinafter also referred to as a UE 110 or a first device 110). The communication network 100 may further include a network device 120 (hereinafter also referred to as a gNB 120 or a second device 120). The terminal device 110 and the network device 120 may communicate with each other within the coverage of the cell 101 and the terminal device 110.

[0024] 1 is given for illustrative purposes, without implying any limitation. Communications network 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices.

[0025] As mentioned above, in order to reduce signaling overhead and latency, MO-SDT for UL transmission and MT-SDT for DL ​​transmission are proposed.

[0026] Currently, LTE specifies transmission using MO-EDT (mobile originated early data transmission), MT-EDT (mobile terminated early data transmission) and PUR (preconfigured uplink resource). In the case of MT-EDT, the UE may perform SDT for a single DL data transmission upon reception of a paging message with an MT-SDT indication without further criteria checks on the UE side if no further UL transmission is assumed.

[0027] Specifically, it is specified that in response to a paging message containing an MT-EDT indication, the UE may trigger an MO-EDT procedure for control plane (CP) Cognitive Internet of Things (CIoT) Evolved Packet System (EPS) optimization or for user plane (UP) CIoT EPS optimization if higher layers request establishment or resumption of an RRC connection for a mobile terminated call.

[0028] As known, the SDT procedure is a procedure that allows data transmission while remaining in RRC inactive mode (RRC_INACTIVE). In Release 17, MO-SDT is enabled on a radio bearer basis and can be initiated by the UE only if there is less than a configured amount of UL data waiting for transmission across all SDT enabled radio bearers, the measured RSRP in a cell is above a configured threshold, and valid resources for SDT transmission are available.

[0029] It is expected that MT-SDT will also be introduced. Therefore, resource selection may also need to be specified for MT-SDT. MO-SDT resource reuse may not be optimal for MT-SDT since the UE may not know how much and what kind of traffic will be transmitted in DL and the UL data amount for MT-SDT may be different from MO-SDT. Therefore, resource selection for MT-SDT may need to be further considered.

[0030] The present disclosure provides a solution for access resource selection for SDT. In this solution, the UE can determine one or more resources to be used for a mobile terminated type SDT procedure and perform a mobile terminated type SDT procedure for a second device based on the determined one or more resources. In this way, separate resources can be configured for MO-SDT and MT-SDT. It is beneficial to consider that MO-SDT and MT-SDT have different assumptions / thresholds of UL data available for transmission and Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) thresholds, which may thus affect the network response or further scheduling.

[0031] The principles and implementations of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to Fig. 2, which illustrates a signaling chart illustrating a process 200 of access resource selection for SDT according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For illustrative purposes, the process 200 will be described with reference to Fig. 1. The process 200 may include a UE 110 and a gNB 120.

[0032] As shown in FIG. 2, when a transmission is to be performed from UE 110 in an MT-SDT procedure, UE 110 may determine 210 one or more resources to be used for the MT-SDT procedure.

[0033] In some example embodiments, a set of resources allocated for a normal non-SDT random access (RA) process may be used for the MT-SDT procedure.

[0034] Optionally, if UE 110 determines that uplink data other than a common control channel (CCCH) message should not be transmitted in a random access procedure message, such as Message 3 (MSG3) or Message A (MSG A), UE 110 may use a set of resources allocated for a normal non-SDT random access process for the MT-SDT procedure.

[0035] As another option, UE 110 may use the set of resources allocated for normal non-SDT random access process for MT-SDT procedure regardless of whether there is UL data transmission in the random access procedure message. The network may recognize the start of SDT procedure upon reception of the UE's ID in MSG3 or MSG A, and thus the network may know that the UE will not be transitioned to RRC connected mode.

[0036] It is also possible that UE 110 determines that uplink data should not be transmitted on a data radio bearer (DRB) configured for SDT, and UE 110 may use the set of resources allocated for normal non-SDT random access processes for the MT-SDT procedure.

[0037] In some example embodiments, the set of resources used for the SDT RA procedure may be used for the MT-SDT procedure.

[0038] Specifically, if UE 110 determines that there is a UL data transmission for MT-SDT in a random access procedure message such as MSG3 or MSGA (or in other words, there is no UL data pending for transmission on RBs configured for SDT), or regardless of whether there is a UL data transmission for MT-SDT in the random access procedure message, UE 110 may use the set of resources allocated for the SDT RA procedure for the MT-SDT procedure.

[0039] Alternatively, UE 110 may receive an indication of which resources should be used for the MT-SDT procedure, for example from gNB 120. The resources used for the MT-SDT procedure may be configured by gNB 120 and indicated to UE 110 via a paging message or a broadcasted message.

[0040] Additionally, in some example embodiments, one or more MT-SDT-specific RACH resources may be configurable. If UE 110 determines that at least one criterion for initiating an MT-SDT procedure is met while at least one criterion for initiating an MO-SDT procedure is not met, UE 110 may use the one or more MT-SDT-specific RACH resources for the MT-SDT procedure.

[0041] If at least one criterion for initiating an MO-SDT procedure is also met, UE 110 may also use one or more MO-SDT RACH resources for the MT-SDT procedure. It is also possible that UE 110 may always be forced to use one or more MT-SDT specific RACH resources at the start of an MT-SDT procedure, even if at least one criterion for initiating an MO-SDT procedure is met.

[0042] As another option, one or more MT-SDT specific RACH resources may also be used for MT-SDT procedures when UE 110 has no UL data or has UL data with data capacity less than a configured capacity threshold.

[0043] In some example embodiments, the UL grant (either one-shot or periodic CG (Configured Grant) type) may be provided via a paging message for the UE 110 to perform UL transmission in the MT-SDT procedure. Optionally, the indication of UL permission via the paging message may be limited to only cells to which the UE 110 was sent in RRC_INACTIVE mode, or may be left to the network side implementation.

[0044] In some exemplary embodiments, the UE 110 may indicate that the procedure is initiated for MT-SDT by a logical channel identifier (LCID) at the medium access control (MAC) layer, even if a non-SDT resume RRC message is used and / or a non-SDT RACH resource is used. For example, the LCID may be referred to as the LCID used to identify a CCCH service data unit (SDU).

[0045] Specifically, for example, if UE 110 determines that it should not transmit uplink data or should transmit uplink data where the data capacity is less than a threshold capacity, UE 110 may indicate via the LCID that a procedure is initiated for MT-SDT when a non-SDT resume RRC message is used and / or when a non-SDT RACH resource is used.

[0046] 2, once the one or more resources to be used for the MT-SDT procedure are determined, the UE 110 may perform the MT-SDT procedure for the second device by using the determined one or more resources, at 220. For example, the MT-SDT procedure may be performed after paging with an MT-SDT indication.

[0047] In this way, separate resources can be configured for the MO-SDT and the MT-SDT. It is instructive to consider that the MO-SDT and the MT-SDT have different assumptions / thresholds of UL data available for transmission and Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) thresholds, which may therefore affect the network response or further scheduling.

[0048] 3 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 300 of access resource selection for SDT according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 300 may be implemented in the first device 110 as shown in FIG. 1. For illustrative purposes, the method 300 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0049] At 310, the first device determines one or more resources to be used for a mobile terminated small data transmission (SDT) procedure.

[0050] In some demonstrative embodiments, the first device may determine the one or more resources based on a set of resources allocated for non-SDT random access procedures.

[0051] In some demonstrative embodiments, if the first device determines that no uplink data other than the common control channel message should be transmitted in the random access procedure message, the first device may determine one or more resources based on a set of resources allocated for non-SDT random access procedures.

[0052] In some demonstrative embodiments, if the first device determines that uplink data should not be transmitted on a DRB configured for SDT, the first device may determine one or more resources based on a set of resources allocated for non-SDT random access procedures.

[0053] In some demonstrative embodiments, the first device may determine the one or more resources based on a set of resources allocated for the SDT random access procedure.

[0054] In some example embodiments, if the first device determines that uplink data associated with a mobile terminated type SDT procedure should be transmitted in a random access procedure message, the first device may determine one or more resources based on a set of resources allocated for the SDT random access procedure.

[0055] In some demonstrative embodiments, the first device may receive from the second device an indication of one or more resources to be used for a mobile-terminated SDT procedure and determine the one or more resources based on the indication.

[0056] In some exemplary embodiments, the indication is received via a paging message or dedicated signaling.

[0057] In some demonstrative embodiments, the first device may obtain a set of random access resources designated for a mobile terminated type SDT procedure. If the first device determines that at least one criterion for initiating a mobile terminated type SDT procedure is met while at least one criterion for initiating a mobile originated type SDT procedure is not met, the first device may determine one or more resources based on the set of random access resources designated for the mobile terminated type SDT procedure.

[0058] In some exemplary embodiments, the first device may obtain a set of random access resources designated for a mobile terminated type SDT procedure. If the first device determines that no uplink data is to be transmitted or that uplink data with a data capacity less than a threshold capacity is to be transmitted, the first device may determine one or more resources based on the set of random access resources designated for the mobile terminated type SDT procedure.

[0059] In some exemplary embodiments, the first device may obtain a set of random access resources designated for a mobile terminated type SDT procedure. If the first device determines that at least one criterion for initiating a mobile terminated type SDT procedure is met while at least one criterion for initiating a mobile originated type SDT procedure is met, the first device may determine based on at least one of the set of random access resources designated for the mobile terminated type SDT procedure or the set of random access resources designated for the mobile originated type SDT procedure.

[0060] In some demonstrative embodiments, if the first device determines an indication that a set of random access resources designated for the mobile terminated type SDT procedure should be used at the start of the mobile terminated type SDT procedure, the first device may determine one or more resources based on the set of random access resources designated for the mobile terminated type SDT procedure.

[0061] In some demonstrative embodiments, the first device may determine the one or more resources based on an uplink grant configured by the second device.

[0062] At 320, the first device performs a mobile terminated type SDT procedure toward the second device based on the determined one or more resources.

[0063] In some exemplary embodiments, the first device may indicate that a mobile terminated type SDT procedure is initiated by a logical channel identifier when a non-SDT radio resource control message is used or when a set of resources allocated for a non-SDT random access procedure is used.

[0064] In some example embodiments, if the first device determines that uplink data should not be transmitted or that the uplink data should be transmitted with a data capacity less than the threshold capacity, the first device may indicate that a mobile terminated type SDT procedure is initiated by a logical channel identifier when a non-SDT radio resource control message is used or when a set of resources allocated for a non-SDT random access procedure is used.

[0065] In some exemplary embodiments, the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

[0066] In some demonstrative embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing method 300 (e.g., implemented in UE 110) may comprise means for performing each step of method 300. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuit or a software module.

[0067] In some demonstrative embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for determining one or more resources to be used for a mobile-terminated type SDT procedure and means for performing a mobile-terminated type SDT procedure toward a second device based on the determined one or more resources.

[0068] 4 is a simplified block diagram of an apparatus 400 suitable for implementing an embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus 400 may be provided to implement a communication apparatus, for example, a UE 110 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the apparatus 400 includes one or more processors 410, one or more memories 440 coupled to the processor 410, and a communication module 440 coupled to the processor 410.

[0069] The communication module 440 is for bidirectional communication. The communication module 440 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interface may represent any interface necessary for communication with other network elements. In some exemplary embodiments, the communication module 440 may include at least one antenna.

[0070] The processor 410 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and may include one or more of the following, as non-limiting examples: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital reference signal processors (DSPs), and processors based on multi-core processor architectures. The device 400 may have multiple processors, such as application specific integrated circuit chips that are slaved in time to a clock that synchronizes the main processor.

[0071] The memory 420 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) 424, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disks, compact disks (CDs), digital video disks (DVDs), and other magnetic and / or optical storage. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 422 and other volatile memories that do not persist during power-down durations.

[0072] The computer program 430 includes computer-executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 410. The program 430 may be stored in the ROM 420. The processor 410 may load the program 430 into the RAM 420 to perform any suitable actions and operations.

[0073] The embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented by the program 430 such that the device 400 may execute any process of the present disclosure as described with reference to Figures 2 and 3. The embodiment of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

[0074] In some embodiments, the program 430 may be tangibly included in a computer-readable medium, which may be included in the device 400 (such as memory 420) or other storage accessible by the device 400. The device 400 may load the program 430 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 422 for execution. The computer-readable medium may include any type of tangible non-volatile storage, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. Figure 5 shows an example of a computer-readable medium 500 in the form of a CD or DVD. The computer-readable medium has the program 430 stored thereon.

[0075] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software that may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Although various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representations, it should be understood that the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuits or logic, general-purpose hardware or controllers, or some combination thereof, or other computing devices, as non-limiting examples.

[0076] The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in a program module, that execute on a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform the method 300 as described above with reference to FIG. 3. Generally, a program module includes routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split among program modules as desired in various embodiments. The machine-executable instructions for a program module may be executed in a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, the program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0077] The program codes for carrying out the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, so that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, implement the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams. The program codes may be executed entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partially on the machine, partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0078] In the context of the present disclosure, computer program code or associated data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus, or processor to perform the various processes and operations as described above. Examples of carriers include reference signals, computer readable media, etc.

[0079] The computer-readable medium may be a computer-readable reference signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, device, or apparatus, or any suitable combination of the above. More specific examples of the computer-readable storage medium include an electrical connection with one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof.

[0080] Furthermore, although operations are shown in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring such operations to be performed in the particular order shown, or in sequential order, or that all of the shown operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In some situations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, although some specific implementation details are included in the above description, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Some features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

[0081] Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure, as defined by the appended claims, is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. At least one processor; at least one memory containing computer program code, The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to cause the first device, using the at least one processor, to at least: determining one or more resources to be used for a mobile terminated small data transmission (SDT) procedure; The first device causes a second device to perform the Mobile Terminated Type SDT procedure based on the determined one or more resources.

2. The first device of claim 1 , wherein the first device determines the one or more resources by determining the one or more resources based on a set of resources allocated to a non-SDT random access procedure.

3. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device determines the one or more resources by determining the one or more resources based on a set of resources allocated to a non-SDT random access procedure in accordance with a determination that no uplink data other than a common control channel message is transmitted in a random access procedure message.

4. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device determines the one or more resources according to a determination that uplink data is not transmitted on a data radio bearer (DRB) configured for SDT, by determining the one or more resources based on a set of resources allocated to a non-SDT random access procedure.

5. The first device of claim 1 , wherein the first device determines the one or more resources by determining the one or more resources based on a set of resources allocated to an SDT random access procedure.

6. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device determines the one or more resources by determining the one or more resources based on a set of resources allocated to an SDT random access procedure according to a determination that uplink data associated with the mobile terminated type SDT procedure is transmitted in a random access procedure message.

7. The first device comprises: receiving from the second device an indication of the one or more resources to be used for the Mobile Terminated SDT procedure; and determining the one or more resources based on the instruction; The first device of claim 1 , further comprising: a first device configured to determine the one or more resources.

8. The first device of claim 7 , wherein the indication is received via a paging message or dedicated signaling.

9. The first device comprises: obtaining a set of random access resources designated for said Mobile Terminated SDT procedure; and by determining, according to a determination that at least one criterion for initiating a mobile terminated type SDT procedure is met while at least one criterion for initiating a mobile originated type SDT procedure is not met, the one or more resources based on the set of random access resources designated for the mobile terminated type SDT procedure; The first device of claim 1 , further comprising: a first device configured to determine the one or more resources.

10. The first device comprises: obtaining a set of random access resources designated for said Mobile Terminated SDT procedure; and determining the one or more resources based on the set of random access resources designated for the Mobile Terminated SDT procedure in accordance with a determination that there is no uplink data to be transmitted or that there is uplink data to be transmitted having a data capacity below a threshold capacity; The first device of claim 1 , further comprising: a first device configured to determine the one or more resources.

11. The first device comprises: obtaining a set of random access resources designated for said Mobile Terminated SDT procedure; and by determining the one or more resources based on at least one of the set of random access resources designated for the mobile terminated type SDT procedure or the set of random access resources designated for the mobile originated type SDT procedure according to a determination that at least one criterion for initiating a mobile terminated type SDT procedure is met while at least one criterion for initiating a mobile originated type SDT procedure is met, The first device of claim 1 , further comprising: a first device configured to determine the one or more resources.

12. The first device comprises:

11. The first apparatus of claim 10, further comprising: determining the one or more resources based on a set of random access resources designated for the mobile terminated type SDT procedure in accordance with a determination that the set of random access resources designated for the mobile terminated type SDT procedure is an indication that the set of random access resources should be used at the initiation of the mobile terminated type SDT procedure.

13. 2. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device determines the one or more resources by determining the one or more resources based on an uplink grant configured by the second device.

14. 2. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device indicates that the mobile terminated type SDT procedure is initiated by a logical channel identifier when a non-SDT radio resource control message is used or when a set of resources allocated for a non-SDT random access procedure is used.

15. 2. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device indicates that the mobile terminated type SDT procedure is initiated by a logical channel identifier when a non-SDT radio resource control message is used or when a set of resources allocated for a non-SDT random access procedure is used according to a determination that there is no uplink data to transmit or there is uplink data to transmit having a data capacity less than a threshold capacity.

16. The first device of claim 1 , wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

17. determining, in a first device, one or more resources to be used for a Mobile Terminated Small Data Transmission (SDT) procedure; and performing the Mobile Terminated SDT procedure towards a second device based on the determined one or more resources.

18. 20. The method of claim 17, wherein determining the one or more resources comprises determining the one or more resources based on a set of resources allocated for a non-SDT random access procedure.

19. The step of determining the one or more resources further comprises:

20. The method of claim 17, comprising: determining the one or more resources based on a set of resources allocated for a non-SDT random access procedure in accordance with a determination that uplink data other than a common control channel message should not be transmitted in a random access procedure message.

20. The step of determining the one or more resources further comprises:

20. The method of claim 17, comprising: determining the one or more resources based on a set of resources allocated for a non-SDT random access procedure in accordance with a determination that uplink data should not be transmitted on a Data Radio Bearer (DRB) configured for SDT.

21. The step of determining the one or more resources further comprises:

20. The method of claim 17, comprising determining the one or more resources based on a set of resources allocated for an SDT random access procedure.

22. The step of determining the one or more resources further comprises:

18. The method of claim 17, comprising: determining the one or more resources based on a set of resources allocated for an SDT random access procedure in accordance with a determination that uplink data associated with the mobile terminated type SDT procedure should be transmitted in a random access procedure message.

23. The step of determining the one or more resources further comprises: receiving from the second device an indication of one or more resources to be used for the Mobile Terminated SDT procedure; and determining one or more resources based on the indication.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein the indication is received via a paging message or dedicated signaling.

25. The step of determining the one or more resources further comprises: obtaining a set of random access resources designated for the Mobile Terminated SDT procedure; and determining the one or more resources based on the set of random access resources designated for the mobile terminated type SDT procedure according to a determination that at least one criterion for initiating a mobile originated type SDT procedure is met while at least one criterion for initiating the mobile terminated type SDT procedure is not met.

26. The step of determining the one or more resources further comprises: obtaining a set of random access resources designated for the Mobile Terminated SDT procedure; 18. The method of claim 17, comprising: determining the one or more resources based on the set of random access resources designated for the mobile terminated type SDT procedure according to a determination that there is no uplink data to transmit or there is uplink data to transmit having a data capacity below a threshold capacity.

27. The step of determining the one or more resources further comprises: obtaining a set of random access resources designated for the Mobile Terminated SDT procedure; and determining the one or more resources based on at least one of the set of random access resources designated for the mobile terminated type SDT procedure or the set of random access resources designated for the mobile originated type SDT procedure according to a determination that at least one criterion for initiating the mobile terminated type SDT procedure is met while at least one criterion for initiating the mobile originated type SDT procedure is met.

28. The step of determining the one or more resources further comprises:

18. The method of claim 17, comprising: determining the one or more resources based on a set of random access resources designated for the mobile terminated type SDT procedure in accordance with a determination that the set of random access resources designated for the mobile terminated type SDT procedure is an indication that the set of random access resources should be used at the initiation of the mobile terminated type SDT procedure.

29. The step of determining the one or more resources further comprises:

20. The method of claim 17, comprising determining one or more resources based on an uplink grant configured by the second device.

30. 18. The method of claim 17, indicating that the mobile terminated type SDT procedure is initiated by a logical channel identifier when a non-SDT radio resource control message is used or when a set of resources allocated for a non-SDT random access procedure is used.

31. 18. The method of claim 17, wherein, in accordance with a determination that there is no uplink data to be transmitted or there is uplink data to be transmitted having a data capacity below a threshold capacity, when a non-SDT radio resource control message is used or when a set of resources allocated for a non-SDT random access procedure is used, the mobile terminated type SDT procedure is initiated by a logical channel identifier.

32. 20. The method of claim 17, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

33. means for determining one or more resources to be used for a Mobile Terminated SDT procedure; and means for performing the Mobile Terminated type SDT procedure to a second device based on the determined one or more resources.

34. A computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to any of claims 17 to 32.

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