Conflict resolution for non-terrestrial networks

Abstract

Embodiments of this disclosure relate to devices, methods, apparatus, and computer-readable storage media for resolving conflicts with NTN. [Solution] The method includes determining whether an event has occurred, the event being that the transmission of a message associated with a random access procedure has occurred since the previous transmission of the message, or that an uplink permission associated with the message has been received since the previous transmission; and determining a conflict resolution failure based on the determination in the event when a timer for monitoring the downlink control channel between a second device and a first device has expired. In this way, the problem of false declarations of conflict resolution failures at the end of the conflict resolution timer can be resolved, and network blind scheduling for MSG3 retransmissions can be achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunications, and more particularly, to devices, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for conflict resolution for non-terrestrial networks (NTN).

Background Art

[0002] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) initiated New Radio (NR) in NTN WI in Release 17. To avoid waste of power consumption of user equipment (UE), the timer for physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring may not start immediately after the start of uplink (UL) transmission because the round-trip time (RTT) may be very long in NTN.

Summary of the Invention

[0003] Generally, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for conflict resolution for NTN.

[0004] In a first aspect, a first device is provided. The first device includes at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, and 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 determine whether an event has occurred, where the event includes that the transmission of a message associated with a random access procedure has been executed after the previous transmission of the message, or an uplink grant associated with the message has been received after the previous transmission, and to determine a conflict resolution failure based on the determination in the event when a timer for monitoring a downlink control channel between the second device and the first device expires.

[0005] In a second embodiment, a method is provided, which determines whether an event has occurred, the event being that a message associated with a random access procedure has been sent since the last transmission of the message, or that an uplink permission associated with the message has been received since the last transmission; and determining, based on the determination in the event, that a conflict resolution failure has occurred when a timer for monitoring the downlink control channel between a second device and a first device has expired.

[0006] In a third aspect, an apparatus is provided which includes means for determining whether an event has occurred, the event being the transmission of a message associated with a random access procedure, which has occurred since the previous transmission of the message, or the reception of an uplink permission associated with the message, which has occurred since the previous transmission; and means for determining a conflict resolution failure based on the determination in the event when a timer for monitoring a downlink control channel between a second device and a first device has expired.

[0007] In a fourth aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided on which a computer program is stored, and the computer program, once executed by at least one processor of the device, causes the device to perform the method according to the second aspect.

[0008] Other features and advantages of the embodiments of this disclosure will also become apparent from reading the following descriptions of specific embodiments, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings illustrating the principles of the embodiments of this disclosure, for example.

[0009] Embodiments of this disclosure are presented in illustrative terms, and their advantages are described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1]This document describes an exemplary environment in which the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure may be implemented. [Figure 2] The following are time diagrams illustrating the process of resolving conflicts with NTN according to some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. [Figure 3] A flowchart illustrating an example of a conflict resolution method for NTN according to some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure is shown. [Figure 4] A simplified block diagram of a device suitable for carrying out the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure is shown. [Figure 5] Block diagrams of exemplary computer-readable media according to some embodiments of the present disclosure are shown. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] Throughout the drawing, identical or similar reference numbers represent identical or similar elements.

[0012] Next, the principles of this disclosure will be described with reference to several exemplary embodiments. These embodiments are provided solely for illustrative purposes and are intended to help those skilled in the art understand and implement this disclosure, but should not be considered to imply any limitation on the scope of this disclosure. The disclosures described herein can be implemented in a variety of ways other than those described below.

[0013] In the following description and claims, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as those generally understood by those skilled in the art to which this disclosure belongs, unless otherwise defined.

[0014] In this disclosure, references to “one embodiment,” “embodiment,” “exemplary embodiment,” etc., indicate that the described embodiments may include certain features, structures, or characteristics, but it is not necessary that every embodiment include those specific features, structures, or characteristics. Furthermore, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Moreover, when certain features, structures, or characteristics are described in relation to an exemplary embodiment, it is considered within the knowledge of those skilled in the art that such features, structures, or characteristics will be affected in relation to other embodiments, whether explicitly stated or not.

[0015] Please understand that this specification may use terms such as “first,” “second,” etc., to describe various elements. These elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used solely to distinguish the functions of various elements. Where used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the enumerated terms.

[0016] The terms used herein are intended solely to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to be limited to illustrative embodiments. Where used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural form unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Where used herein, the terms "comprises," "comprising," "has," "having," "includes," and / or "including" specify the presence of the described features, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0017] As used in this application, the term “circuit configuration” may mean one or more or all of the following: (a) Hardware-only circuit implementation (implementation using only analog and / or digital circuit configurations, etc.) (b) A combination of hardware circuits and software, such as the following (where applicable): (i) A combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuits(s) and software / firmware, (ii) Any part of a hardware processor(s), software, and memory(s) that uses software (including digital signal processors(s)) to cooperate in causing a device such as a mobile phone or server to perform various functions, (c) Hardware circuits(s) that require software (e.g., firmware) for operation, and / or processors(s), such as microprocessors(s) or parts of microprocessors(s), however, software may be omitted if it is not necessary for operation.

[0018] This definition of circuit configuration applies to all use of the term in this application, including all claims. Further examples include, as used in this application, the term circuit configuration encompasses not only a mere hardware circuit or processor (or more processors), but also embodiments of a hardware circuit or processor, and any accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuit configuration also encompasses, for example, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device, or a similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network device, or other computing or network device, where applicable to a particular claim element.

[0019] As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network conforming to any appropriate communication standard, such as fifth-generation (5G) systems, Long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-A, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), and Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT). Furthermore, communication between terminal devices and network devices within a communication network may be carried out in accordance with any preferred 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, and next-generation fifth-generation (5G) New Radio (NR) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of this disclosure can be applied to a variety of communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will, of course, be future communication technologies and systems that can embody this disclosure. This disclosure should not be considered to be limited to the aforementioned systems only.

[0020] As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network, through which terminal devices access and receive services from the network. Depending on the terminology and technology applied, a network device may refer to a base station (BS) or access point (AP), for example, a node B (NodeB or NB), an advanced node B (eNodeB or eNB), an NR next-generation node B (gNB), a remote radio unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, or a low-power node such as femto and pico. A RAN partitioned architecture comprises a gNB-CU (centralized unit, hosting RRC, SDAP, and PDCP) controlling multiple gNB-DUs (distributed units, hosting RLC, MAC, and PHY). A relay node may correspond to the DU portion of an IAB node.

[0021] The term "terminal device" refers to any end device that can be capable of wireless communication. By way of illustration and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), subscriber station (SS), mobile 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, game terminal devices, music storage and playback devices, in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer premise equipment (CPE), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearables, 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), household electronics, devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. A terminal device may also correspond to the mobile terminal (MT) part of an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node (also known as a relay node). In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "communication device", "terminal", "user equipment", and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

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

[0023] Figure 1 shows an exemplary communication network 100 that can implement embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 1, the communication network 100 may include a terminal device 110 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as UE110 or first device 110). The communication network 100 may further include a network device 120 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as gNB120 or second device 120). If the communication network 100 refers to NTN, then the network device 120 or the segment of the network device 120 can be considered to be located on a satellite. The network device 120 can manage cell 102. The terminal device 110 and the network device 120 can communicate with each other within the reception area of ​​cell 102.

[0024] The number of network devices and terminal devices shown in Figure 1 should be understood to be given for illustrative purposes only, without implying any limitation. The communication network 100 may have any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices.

[0025] Currently, the round-trip time between the UE and the gNB (UE-gNB RTT) is introduced for the start of several timers for NTN, and thus it is agreed that the UE only needs to start monitoring the PDCCH after the RTT.

[0026] Furthermore, in message 3 (MSG3) transmitted over NTN, a random access conflict resolution timer is started, and it is agreed that after the end of MSG3 transmission and the UE-gNB RTT estimated by the UE, the random access conflict resolution timer is restarted every time a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) retransmission is performed at the first symbol.

[0027] Since the UE-gNB RTT is introduced, after the MSG3 retransmission, the conflict resolution timer started by the previous MSG3 (re)transmission may end before restarting after the RTT, which may lead to an unintended declaration of conflict resolution failure. In that case, the UE may perform a retry with preamble transmission or declare a random access failure if the maximum number of attempts is reached. In this situation, since the UE may stop monitoring the PDCCH after the end of the conflict resolution timer, the information transmitted from the gNB before the additional conflict resolution timer starts may be lost.

[0028] The solution of the present disclosure proposes a mechanism for determining conflict resolution failure. In this solution, the UE can determine whether an event has occurred, and the event includes whether the transmission of a message associated with the random access procedure has been performed after the previous transmission of the message or whether an uplink grant associated with the message has been received after the previous transmission. Next, the UE can determine conflict resolution failure based on the determination in the event when the timer for monitoring the downlink control channel between the second device and the first device ends. In this way, the problem of false declaration of conflict resolution failure at the end of the conflict resolution timer can be solved, and network blind scheduling of MSG3 retransmission can be realized.

[0029] The principles and embodiments of this disclosure are described in detail below with reference to Figure 2, which shows a time diagram illustrating a conflict resolution process 200 for NTN according to some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. For illustrative purposes, process 200 is described with reference to Figure 1. Process 200 may include UE110 and gNB120.

[0030] Refer to Figure 2 here. At time T1, UE110 may transmit MSG3 using the random access procedure. The transmission of MSG3 at T1 may be the initial transmission or a retransmission of MSG3. As described above, since UE-gNB RTT210 is introduced, the conflict resolution timer may start after UE-gNB RTT210, i.e., at time T2. Within the duration of the conflict resolution timer 220, UE110 may monitor PDCCH for UL authorization from gNB120. UL authorization may be associated with the retransmission of MSG3.

[0031] The conflict resolution timer terminates at time T5. Before the conflict resolution timer terminates, UE110 can determine whether an uplink permission was received after the transmission of MSG3, i.e., after time T1, or whether a further transmission of MSG3 was performed. In some exemplary embodiments, a further transmission of MSG3 may be referred to as a retransmission of MSG3.

[0032] If the uplink permission is received after the transmission of MSG3, for example at time T3, or if further transmission of MSG3 is performed, for example at time T4, then UE110 can determine that no conflict resolution failure occurred when the timer expires, i.e., at time T5, and therefore UE110 may continue monitoring PDCCH after the end of the conflict resolution timer.

[0033] In some exemplary embodiments, if uplink permission is received after the transmission or retransmission of MSG3 has occurred, UE110 may continue to monitor PDCCH even after the conflict resolution timer has finished. In some exemplary embodiments, UE110 may also monitor PDCCH during the estimated UE-gNB RTT230, even if the conflict resolution timer has not yet started. In some other exemplary embodiments, UE110 may only monitor PDCCH after the UE-gNB RTT, when the conflict resolution timer is started or restarted.

[0034] In some exemplary embodiments, a new timer can be introduced for potential blind scheduling that starts upon or after receiving a PDCCH for MSG3 retransmission. UE110 can monitor the PDCCH during the duration of the new timer. Unlike the conflict resolution timer, the end of this new timer may not result in a declaration of conflict resolution failure. UE110 can stop monitoring the PDCCH upon the end of this new timer. Using the new timer, the conflict resolution timer can be stopped upon receiving a PDCCH for MSG3 retransmission or MSG3 transmission without affecting the blind scheduling of gNB120.

[0035] It should be understood that the new timer may also be associated with other behaviors for PDCCH monitoring in UE110, other than for MSG3 retransmission or reception of PDCCH after MSG3 retransmission.

[0036] In some exemplary embodiments, examples illustrating the possible impacts of the mechanism proposed in the specification can be shown below. [Table 1]

[0037] In some exemplary embodiments, the following are other examples illustrating the possible effects of the mechanism proposed in the specification. [Table 2]

[0038] In some exemplary embodiments, further examples illustrating the possible effects of the mechanism proposed in the specification may be shown below. [Table 3]

[0039] The solution disclosed herein can resolve the issue of false declarations of conflict resolution failures at the end of the conflict resolution timer and enable network blind scheduling of MSG3 retransmissions.

[0040] Figure 3 shows a flowchart of Method 300, an exemplary method for resolving conflicts with NTN according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 300 can be implemented with the first device 110 shown in Figure 1. For illustrative purposes, Method 300 is described with reference to Figure 1.

[0041] In 310, the first device determines whether an event has occurred, the event including whether the sending of a message associated with a random access procedure occurred after the previous sending of the message, or whether an uplink permission associated with the message was received after the previous sending.

[0042] In 320, when the timer for monitoring the downlink control channel between the second device and the first device has finished, the first device determines, based on the determination in the event, that the conflict resolution has failed.

[0043] In some exemplary embodiments, if the first device determines that an event has occurred, the first device can determine that no conflict resolution failure has occurred when the timer has finished.

[0044] In some exemplary embodiments, the first device can continue to monitor the downlink control channel even after the timer has finished.

[0045] In some exemplary embodiments, if the first device determines that a message has been retransmitted, the first device may continue to monitor the downlink control channel for the round-trip time between the first device and the second device before an additional timer for monitoring the downlink control channel is started.

[0046] In some exemplary embodiments, the first device may continue to monitor the downlink control channel based on an additional timer, which is associated with either the receipt of an uplink permission or the retransmission of a message.

[0047] In some exemplary embodiments, the first device may terminate the timer while simultaneously starting an additional timer associated with either receiving an uplink grant or retransmitting a message, and continue monitoring the downlink control channel for the duration of the additional timer.

[0048] In some exemplary embodiments, the message is message 3 in a random access procedure.

[0049] In some exemplary embodiments, the first device includes a terminal device, and the second device includes a network device.

[0050] In some exemplary embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing Method 300 (for example, as performed in UE110) may include means for performing each step of Method 300. These means can be implemented in any preferred form. For example, these means may be implemented in a circuit configuration or a software module.

[0051] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus includes means for determining whether an event has occurred, the event being whether the transmission of a message associated with a random access procedure has occurred since the last transmission of the message, or whether an uplink grant associated with the message has been received since the last transmission; and means for determining a conflict resolution failure based on the determination in the event when a timer for monitoring the downlink control channel between a second device and a first device has expired.

[0052] Figure 4 is a simplified block diagram of a device 400 suitable for carrying out embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 400 may be provided to carry out a communication device, for example, the UE110 shown in Figure 1. As shown in the figure, the device 400 includes one or more processors 410, one or more memories 440 coupled to the processors 410, and a communication module 440 coupled to the processors 410.

[0053] 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 interfaces may represent any interfaces necessary for communication with other network elements. In some exemplary embodiments, the communication module 440 may include at least one antenna.

[0054] The processor 410 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and may include, in non-limiting examples, one or more general-purpose computers, dedicated computers, microprocessors, digital reference signal processors (DSPs), and processors based on multicore processor architectures. The device 400 may have multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips that are time-slewn to a clock that synchronizes the main processor.

[0055] 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 discs (CDs), digital video discs (DVDs), and other magnetic and / or optical storage devices. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, random-access memory (RAM) 422, and other volatile memories that do not persist while the power is off.

[0056] The computer program 430 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 410. The program 430 may be stored in ROM 420. The processor 410 can perform any appropriate actions and processes by loading the program 430 into RAM 420.

[0057] Embodiments of the Disclosure may be implemented by program 430 so that device 400 can perform any process of the Disclosure described with reference to Figures 2 and 3. Embodiments of the Disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0058] In some embodiments, the program 430 may be tangibly contained in a computer-readable medium (such as memory 420) that may be contained within device 400, or in other storage devices accessible by device 400. 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 device, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, or DVD. Figure 5 shows an example of a computer-readable medium 500 in the form of a CD or DVD. The program 430 is stored in the computer-readable medium.

[0059] In general, various embodiments of this disclosure may be implemented in hardware, dedicated circuitry, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some embodiments may be implemented in hardware, while others may be implemented in firmware or software that can be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Various embodiments of this disclosure are illustrated and described using block diagrams, flowcharts, or some other graphical representations, but it should be understood that the blocks, devices, 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 any combination thereof, as non-limiting examples.

[0060] This disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored in a non-temporary computer-readable storage medium. This computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those contained in a program module and executed on a device on a target real or virtual processor, to perform the method 300 described above with reference to Figure 3. Generally, a program module includes routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc., that perform a specific task or implement a specific abstract data type. The functionality of program modules may be combined or divided among program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local device or within a distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may reside on both local and remote storage media.

[0061] Program code for performing the methods of this disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. This program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, or other programmable data processing device, so that when the program code is executed by the processor or controller, the functions / operations defined in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams are performed. The program code may run entirely on the machine, partially on the machine as a standalone software package, partially on the machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0062] In the context of this disclosure, computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, processor, or other device to perform the various processes and operations described above. Examples of carriers include reference signals, computer-readable media, and the like.

[0063] Computer-readable media may be computer-readable reference signal media or computer-readable storage media. Computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, devices, or any suitable combination thereof. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media may include electrical connections having one or more wires, portable computer diskettes, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fibers, portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination thereof.

[0064] Furthermore, although the operations are presented in a specific order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in a specific order, sequentially, or all of the operations presented, in order to obtain the desired result. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, while details of several specific embodiments are included in the above discussion, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of this disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features described in the context of separate embodiments may also be combined and implemented in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented separately or in any preferred subcombination in multiple embodiments.

[0065] While this disclosure is described using language specific to structural features and / or methodological actions, it should be understood that the disclosure as defined in the attached claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or actions described herein. Rather, the specific features and actions described herein are disclosed as exemplary forms for carrying out the claims.

Claims

1. The first device, At least one processor, At least one memory containing computer program code and Equipped with, The at least one memory and the computer program code are used by the at least one processor to send at least the first device to the first device. To determine whether an event has occurred, the event is The sending of a message associated with a random access procedure occurred after the previous sending of the message, or After the previous transmission, the uplink permission associated with the message was received. This includes determining whether the aforementioned event has occurred, When the timer for monitoring the downlink control channel between the second device and the first device has finished, a conflict resolution failure is determined based on the determination regarding the event. The first device configured to perform the following action.

2. The first device, when the conflict resolution failure occurs When the timer terminates based on the determination that the aforementioned event has occurred, it is determined that no conflict resolution failure occurred, The first device according to claim 1, which is configured to make a determination.

3. The first device further, The timer is configured to continue monitoring the downlink control channel even after its termination. The first device according to claim 2.

4. The first device is In accordance with the determination that the message has been retransmitted, the downlink control channel is continuously monitored for the round-trip time between the first device and the second device before an additional timer for monitoring the downlink control channel is started. The first device according to claim 3, which is configured to continue monitoring the downlink control channel.

5. The first device further, While terminating the aforementioned timer, an additional timer associated with either receiving the uplink permission or retransmitting the message is started. The additional timer will continue to monitor the downlink control channel within its duration. The first device according to claim 1, which is configured to perform the following.

6. The first device according to claim 1, wherein the message is message 3 in the random access procedure.

7. The first device according to claim 1, wherein the first device includes a terminal device and the second device includes a network device.

8. It is a method, To determine whether an event has occurred, the event is The sending of a message associated with a random access procedure occurred after the previous sending of the message, or After the previous transmission, the uplink permission associated with the message was received. This includes determining whether the aforementioned event has occurred, When the timer for monitoring the downlink control channel between the second device and the first device has finished, a conflict resolution failure is determined based on the determination regarding the event. The method, including the method described above.

9. Determining the failure to resolve the aforementioned conflict is Based on the determination that the aforementioned event has occurred, it is determined that no conflict resolution failure occurred when the timer has finished. The method according to claim 8, including the method described in claim 8.

10. The downlink control channel continues to be monitored even after the timer has finished. The method according to claim 8, further comprising:

11. Continuous monitoring of the downlink control channel In accordance with the determination that the message has been retransmitted, the downlink control channel continues to be monitored for the round-trip time between the first device and the second device before an additional timer for monitoring the downlink control channel is started. The method according to claim 10, including the method described in claim 10.

12. While terminating the aforementioned timer, an additional timer associated with either receiving the uplink permission or retransmitting the message is started. The monitoring of the downlink control channel continues within the duration of the additional timer. The method according to claim 8, further comprising:

13. The method according to claim 8, wherein the message is message 3 in the random access procedure.

14. The method according to claim 8, wherein the first device includes a terminal device and the second device includes a network device.

15. It is a device, A means for determining whether an event has occurred, wherein the event is The sending of a message associated with a random access procedure occurred after the previous sending of the message, or After the previous transmission, the uplink permission associated with the message was received. Means for determining whether the event has occurred, including, When the timer for monitoring the downlink control channel between the second device and the first device has finished, means for determining a conflict resolution failure based on the determination regarding the event and The apparatus comprising the above.

16. A non-temporary computer-readable medium containing program instructions for causing a device to perform at least one of the methods described in claims 9 to 16.

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