Base station method and apparatus for subsequent transmissions during inactivity in wireless communications - Patents.com

Abstract

A base station (BS) is described that includes a processor configured to perform operations. In an exemplary embodiment, the operations include receiving initial data from a UE in an RRC_INACTIVE state while the UE does not transition from the RRC_INACTIVE state to an RRC_CONNECTED state. Additionally, the operations include transmitting a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for UE-dedicated scheduling for transmission or reception of subsequent data during an active period while the UE is in the RRC INACTIVE state. Further, the operations include receiving or transmitting transmission of the subsequent data based on the dedicated scheduling. The operations further include transmitting one or more configurations for transmission or reception of the subsequent data. The one or more configurations are transmitted as part of an RRC release message. The one or more configurations are transmitted as part of a system information block (SIB).

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates generally to wireless technologies, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for subsequent data transmission in a base station (BS) while a user equipment (UE) is in an inactive state. [Background technology]

[0002] In wireless communication networks, 5G New radio (NR) provides faster networks with higher capacity that can facilitate the control of Internet of Things (IoT) such as remote devices in applications where real-time network performance is critical. As the demand for faster data exchange and seamless communication increases, it has become crucial to reduce latency and battery consumption in supporting such demand while maintaining the performance of 5G NR technology.

[0003] 5G NR supports three RRC states, including RRC CONNECTED, RRC INACTIVE, and RRC IDLE. The 5G NR protocol stack includes a control plane and a user plane, providing connectivity between the UE and a gNB or a core network (CN). For the control plane for the Release-15 INACTIVE state, the UE has a non-access stratum (NAS) connection to the CN. In addition, the UE does not have dedicated access stratum (AS) resources, and the UE maintains the RRC configuration before the UE entered the INACTIVE state. For the user plane for the Release-15 INACTIVE state, the UE cannot perform any dedicated data transmission / reception. If the UE has dedicated data transmission / reception, the UE should enter the CONNECTED state. Specifically, for DL ​​data transmission, the gNodeB pages the UE via a RAN paging mechanism to trigger the UE to enter the CONNECTED state. For uplink (UL) data transmission, the UE triggers a RACH procedure and enters the CONNECTED state. In terms of mobility for the Release-15 INACTIVE state, a UE in INACTIVE state can move within the RNA (i.e., RAN Notification Area) without notifying the NG-RAN. The cell selection / reselection procedures are the same as in the RRC_IDLE state.

[0004] There are three general state transition scenarios between the INACTIVE and CONNECTED states. First, the state transition from CONNECTED to INACTIVE involves RRC release with suspend information. The state transition from INACTIVE to CONNECTED involves RRC resume procedure. The state transition from INACTIVE to IDLE involves (1) RRC release and (2) abnormal case (unable to find cell for camping).

[0005] UEs with small and infrequent data transmissions are generally kept in RRC_INACTIVE state by the network. Traffic from instant messaging services and smartphone applications such as push notifications from mobile applications are some examples of small and infrequent data traffic. Connection setup and subsequent release to INACTIVE state occurs for each data transmission, resulting in unnecessary power consumption and signaling overhead.

[0006] Usually, uplink or downlink (DL) transmission is accompanied by feedback transmission in DL / UL (e.g., TCP ACK, or RLC status report). If the UE performs an initial UL transmission and then returns directly to INACTIVE state, the NW must perform RAN paging to trigger the UE to return to CONNECTED state for feedback reception when the NW transmits feedback in the downlink direction. Such a procedure may eliminate the advantage of direct transmission in INACTIVE state.

[0007] Therefore, there is a need for an enhanced mechanism for a UE to continue to monitor potential NW scheduling after the first data transmission in INACTIVE state, thereby reducing the data transmission latency and the amount of signaling overhead incurred during state transitions, which can thus leverage the advantages of direct transmission in INACTIVE state. Summary of the Invention

[0008] A method and apparatus are described from the perspective of a base station. In an exemplary embodiment, a base station having a processor configured to perform operations including receiving initial data from a UE is in an RRC_INACTIVE state while the UE does not transition from an RRC_INACTIVE state to an RRC_CONNECTED state. The operations further include transmitting a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for UE dedicated scheduling for transmission or reception of subsequent data during an active period while the UE is in the RRC INACTIVE state. The operations further include receiving or transmitting transmission of the subsequent data based on the dedicated scheduling.

[0009] In some embodiments, the processor is further configured to perform operations including transmitting one or more settings for transmission or reception of subsequent data, hi some embodiments, the one or more settings are transmitted as part of an RRC release message.

[0010] In some other embodiments, the one or more configurations are transmitted as part of a System Information Block (SIB).

[0011] In some embodiments, the processor is further configured to perform operations including transmitting an indication indicating a setting to use from among one or more of the settings for transmitting or receiving subsequent data.

[0012] In some embodiments, the processor is further configured to perform operations including transmitting a value of an active period timer, the value of the timer being part of the one or more configurations, and monitoring of the PDCCH for subsequent data transmission or reception stops upon expiration of the active period timer.

[0013] In some embodiments, the processor:

[0014] The device is further configured to perform actions including transmitting default settings for subsequent data transmission or reception.

[0015] In some embodiments, the processor:

[0016] The UE is further configured to perform operations including transmitting an active period start indication from the base station after the initial data transmission, wherein monitoring of the PDCCH for subsequent data transmission or reception is stopped upon receipt of the active period stop indication at the UE.

[0017] In some embodiments, the processor:

[0018] The method is further configured to perform operations including: after the initial data transmission, transmitting an active period start indication to the UE, the start indication including a value of the active period timer, and wherein monitoring of the PDCCH for subsequent data transmission or reception stops upon expiration of the active period timer.

[0019] In some embodiments, the initiation indication is layer 1 (L1) signaling.

[0020] In some other embodiments, the initiation indication is a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE).

[0021] In some other embodiments, the initiation indication is RRC signaling, the RRC signaling including one or more settings for transmission or reception of subsequent data.

[0022] In some embodiments, the processor:

[0023] and further configured to perform operations including scrambling a PDCCH for UE dedicated scheduling for transmission or reception of subsequent data during the active period based on the TC-RNTI type, I-RNTI type, or CG-RNTI type of the RNTI.

[0024] In another aspect of the present disclosure, embodiments of the present disclosure also provide the methods described above.

[0025] The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals indicate similar elements and in which: [Brief description of the drawings]

[0026] [Figure 1] 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system according to some embodiments. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 illustrates a base station (BS) in communication with a User Equipment (UE) device according to some embodiments. [Diagram 3] 1 is an example block diagram of a UE according to some embodiments. [Figure 4] 1 is an example block diagram of a BS according to some embodiments. [Diagram 5] 1 is an example block diagram of a cellular communication circuit according to some embodiments. [Figure 6] 1 is a diagram of some embodiments of a UE triggered transition from an RRC_INACTIVE state to an RRC_CONNECTED state according to some embodiments. [Figure 7A] 1A-1D are diagrams of some embodiments of a conventional procedure, according to some embodiments. [Figure 7B] 1 is a diagram of some embodiments of small data transmission according to some embodiments. [Figure 8] 1A-1D are diagrams of several embodiments of uplink / downlink transmission and feedback transmission according to some embodiments. [Figure 9A] 1A-1D are diagrams of some embodiments of a configuration for transmitting / receiving subsequent data, according to some embodiments. [Figure 9B] 1A-1D are diagrams of some embodiments of a configuration for transmitting / receiving subsequent data, according to some embodiments. [Figure 9C] 1A-1D are diagrams of some embodiments of a configuration for transmitting / receiving subsequent data, according to some embodiments. [Figure 10] 1A-1D are diagrams of some embodiments of UE behavior during a subsequent active period in an INACTIVE state, according to some embodiments. [Figure 11] 1 is a diagram of some embodiments of UE actions based on a triggered measurement event according to some embodiments. [Figure 12] 1 is a diagram of some embodiments of UE actions based on a triggered measurement event according to some embodiments. [Figure 13] 1 is a diagram of some embodiments of UE actions based on a triggered measurement event according to some embodiments. [Figure 14] 1 is a diagram of some embodiments of UE actions based on a triggered measurement event according to some embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0027] A method and apparatus are described that allows an apparatus of a device to monitor potential network scheduling after an initial data transmission while the UE is in an INACTIVE state. A base station receives initial data from a UE in an RRC_INACTIVE state while the UE does not transition from an RRC_INACTIVE state to an RRC_CONNECTED state. The base station transmits a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for UE dedicated scheduling for transmission or reception of subsequent data during an active period while the UE is in the RRC INACTIVE state. The base station receives or transmits the transmission of subsequent data based on the dedicated scheduling. In this manner, the UE can continue to monitor potential network scheduling after the initial data transmission while the UE is in the INACTIVE state, thereby reducing data transmission latency and the amount of signaling overhead incurred during state transitions. Thus, this enhanced mechanism can exploit the benefits of data transmission while the UE is in the INACTIVE state without transitioning from an RRC_INACTIVE state to an RRC_CONNECTED state.

[0028] In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough description of the embodiments of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiments of the present invention can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known components, structures and techniques are not shown in detail so as not to obscure the understanding of the present description.

[0029] Reference herein to "some embodiments" or "embodiments" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase "in some embodiments" in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiments.

[0030] In the following description and claims, the terms "coupled" and "connected," along with their derivatives, may be used. It should be understood that these terms are not intended as synonyms for each other. "Coupled" is used to indicate that two or more elements, which may or may not be in direct physical or electrical contact with each other, co-operate or interact with each other. "Connected" is used to indicate the establishment of communication between two or more elements that are coupled to each other.

[0031] The processes illustrated in the following figures are performed by processing logic that may include hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, etc.), software (such as that executed on a general-purpose computer system or dedicated machine), or a combination of both. Although the processes are described below in terms of some sequential operations, it should be understood that some of the operations described may be performed in different orders. Furthermore, some operations may be performed in parallel rather than sequentially.

[0032] The terms "server," "client," and "device" are intended to refer to data processing systems generally, rather than to any particular form factor of a server, client, and / or device.

[0033] Figure 1 illustrates a simplified exemplary wireless communication system according to some embodiments. It should be noted that the system of Figure 1 is merely one example of a possible system, and that the features of the present disclosure may be implemented in any of a variety of systems, as desired.

[0034] As shown in the figure, the exemplary wireless communication system includes a base station 102A that communicates over a transmission medium with one or more user devices 106A, 106B, etc. through 106N. Each of the user devices may be referred to herein as a "user equipment" (UE). Accordingly, the user devices 106 are referred to as UEs or UE devices.

[0035] The base station (BS) 102A may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or a cell site (cellular base station) and may include hardware that enables wireless communication with the UEs 106A-106N.

[0036] A communication area (or coverage area) of a base station may be referred to as a "cell." The base station 102A and the UE 106 may be configured to communicate over a transmission medium using any of a variety of Radio Access Technologies (RATs), also referred to as wireless communication technologies or telecommunication standards, such as GSM (e.g., associated with a WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interface), UMTS, LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), 5G New Radio (5G NR), HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), etc. It should be noted that if the base station 102A is implemented in the context of LTE, the base station 102A may alternatively be referred to as an "eNodeB" or "eNB." It should be noted that if the base station 102A is implemented in the context of 5G NR, the base station 102A may alternatively be referred to as a "gNodeB" or "gNB."

[0037] As shown in the figure, the base station 102A may also be equipped to communicate with a network 100 (e.g., a cellular service provider's core network, a telecommunications network such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and / or the Internet, among other possibilities). Thus, the base station 102A may facilitate communications between user devices and / or between the user devices and the network 100. In particular, the cellular base station 102A may provide various telecommunications capabilities to the UE 106, such as voice, SMS, and / or data services.

[0038] Base station 102A and other similar base stations (such as base stations 102B...102N) operating according to the same or different cellular communication standards may thus be provided as a network of cells that can provide continuous or near-continuous overlapping services to UEs 106A-106N and similar devices over a geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.

[0039] Thus, as shown in FIG. 1, base station 102A may function as a "serving cell" for UEs 106A-106N, and each UE 106 may also receive signals from (where possible within range of) one or more other cells (which may be provided by base stations 102B-102N and / or any other base stations), which may be referred to as "neighboring cells." Such cells may also facilitate communication between user devices and / or between user devices and network 100. Such cells may include "macro" cells, "micro" cells, "pico" cells, and / or cells providing any of various other granularities of service area size. For example, base stations 102A-102B shown in FIG. 1 may be macro cells, and base station 102N may be a micro cell. Other configurations are possible.

[0040] In some embodiments, the base station 102A may be a next generation base station, such as a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or "gNB." In some embodiments, the gNB may be connected to a conventional Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network and / or an NR Core (NRC) network. In addition, a gNB cell may include one or more Transition and Reception Points (TRPs). In addition, a UE capable of operating according to 5G NR may be connected to one or more TRPs in one or more gNBs.

[0041] It should be noted that the UE 106 may be capable of communicating using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, the UE 106 may be configured to communicate using at least one cellular communication protocol (e.g., GSM, UMTS (e.g., associated with a WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interface), LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), etc.) in addition to wireless networking (e.g., Wi-Fi) and / or peer-to-peer wireless communication protocols (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi peer-to-peer, etc.). The UE 106 may additionally or alternatively be configured to communicate using one or more Global Navigational Satellite Systems (GNSS, e.g., GPS or GLONASS), one or more mobile television broadcast standards (e.g., ATSC-M / H or DVB-H), and / or any other wireless communication protocols, if desired. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including three or more wireless communication standards) are also possible.

[0042] 2 shows user equipments 106A and 106B that can communicate directly with each other (also known as device-to-device or sidelink). Sidelink communication can utilize dedicated sidelink channels and sidelink protocols to facilitate direct communication between the devices. For example, a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) can be used for actual data transmission between the devices, a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) can be used to carry sidelink control information (SCI), a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) can be used for HARQ feedback information, and a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH) can be used for synchronization. Further details are discussed in other sections.

[0043] In addition, sidelink communications can be used for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-person (V2P), vehicle-to-network (V2N), and other types of direct communications.

[0044] According to some embodiments, the UE 106A may also communicate with the base station 102 via uplink and downlink communications. Each of the UEs may be a device with cellular communication capabilities, such as a mobile phone, a handheld device, a computer, or a tablet, or virtually any type of wireless device. The UEs 106A-B may include a processor configured to execute program instructions stored in a memory. The UEs 106A-B may perform any of the method embodiments described herein by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or in addition, the UEs 106A-B may include a programmable hardware element, such as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), configured to perform any of the method embodiments described herein, or any portion of any of the method embodiments described herein.

[0045] The UEs 106A-B may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols or technologies. In some embodiments, the UEs 106A-B may be configured to communicate, for example, using CDMA2000 (1xRTT / 1xEV-DO / HRPD / eHRPD) or LTE using a single shared radio, and / or using GSM or LTE using a single shared radio. The shared radio may be coupled to a single antenna or may be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., for MIMO) to perform wireless communication. In general, a radio may include any combination of a baseband processor, analog RF signal processing circuitry (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or digital processing circuitry (e.g., for digital modulation and other digital processing). Similarly, the radio may implement one or more receive and transmit chains using the hardware described above. For example, the UEs 106A-N may share one or more portions of the receive and / or transmit chains between multiple wireless communication technologies, such as those described above.

[0046] In some embodiments, the UEs 106A-B may include separate transmit and / or receive chains (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol with which the UE is configured to communicate. As a further possibility, the UEs 106A-B may include one or more radios shared among multiple wireless communication protocols and one or more radios used exclusively by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, the UEs 106A-B may include a shared radio for communicating using either LTE or 5G NR (or LTE or 1xRTT, or LTE or GSM), and a separate radio for communicating using each of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Other configurations are possible.

[0047] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary simplified block diagram of a communication device 106, according to some embodiments. It should be noted that the communication device block diagram of FIG. 3 is merely one example of a possible communication device. According to an embodiment, the communication device 106 may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or station, a wireless device or station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop computer, a notebook computer, or a portable computing device), a tablet, and / or a combination of devices, among other devices. As shown in the figure, the communication device 106 may include a set of components 300 configured to perform a core function. For example, the set of components may be implemented as a System On Chip (SOC) that may include parts for various purposes. Alternatively, the set of components 300 may be implemented as separate components or groups of components for various purposes. The set of components 300 may be (e.g., communicatively coupled, directly or indirectly) to various other circuits of the communication device 106.

[0048] For example, communication device 106 may include various types of memory (including, for example, NAND flash 310), input / output interfaces such as connector I / F 320 (e.g., for connecting to a computer system, a dock, a charging station, input devices such as a microphone, a camera, a keyboard, output devices such as a speaker, etc.), a display 360 that may be integrated with communication device 106 or may be external to communication device 106, cellular communication circuitry 330 for 5G NR, LTE, GSM, etc., and near-medium range wireless communication circuitry 329 (e.g., Bluetooth and WLAN circuitry). In some embodiments, communication device 106 may include wired communication circuitry (not shown), such as a network interface card for Ethernet.

[0049] The cellular communication circuitry 330 may be communicatively coupled (e.g., directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas 335 and 336, as shown. The near-medium range wireless communication circuitry 329 may also be communicatively coupled (e.g., directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas 337 and 338, as shown. Alternatively, the near-medium range wireless communication circuitry 329 may be communicatively coupled (e.g., directly or indirectly) to antennas 335 and 336 in addition to or instead of being communicatively coupled (e.g., directly or indirectly) to antennas 337 and 338. The near-medium range wireless communication circuitry 329 and / or the cellular communication circuitry 330 may include multiple receive chains and / or multiple transmit chains for receiving and / or transmitting multiple spatial streams, such as in a Multiple-Input Multiple Output (MIMO) configuration.

[0050] In some embodiments, as described further below, the cellular communication circuitry 330 may include (e.g., communicatively include and / or are directly or indirectly coupled to dedicated processors and / or radios) dedicated receive chains for multiple radio access technologies (RATs) (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR). Additionally, in some embodiments, the cellular communication circuitry 330 may include a single transmit chain that may be switched between radios dedicated to a particular RAT. For example, a first radio may be dedicated to a first RAT, e.g., LTE, and may communicate with a dedicated receive chain and a transmit chain shared with an additional radio, e.g., a second radio, which may be dedicated to a second RAT, e.g., 5G NR, and may communicate with a dedicated receive chain and a shared transmit chain.

[0051] Communications device 106 may also include and / or be configured for use with one or more user interface elements, which may include any of a variety of elements, such as a display 360 (which may be a touchscreen display), a keyboard (which may be a separate keyboard or may be implemented as part of the touchscreen display), a mouse, a microphone and / or speaker, one or more cameras, one or more buttons, and / or any of a variety of other elements capable of providing information to a user and / or receiving or interpreting user input.

[0052] The communication device 106 may further include one or more smart cards 345 that include Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) functionality, such as one or more UICC(s) (Universal Integrated Circuit Card(s)) cards 345.

[0053] As shown, the SOC 300 may include a processor(s) 302 that may execute program instructions for the communication device 106, and a display circuit 304 that may perform graphic processing and provide display signals to a display 360. The processor(s) 302 may be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 340 that may be configured to receive addresses from the processor(s) 302 and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 306, read only memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310) and / or other circuits or devices, such as the display circuit 304, the near field communication circuit 229, the cellular communication circuit 330, the connector I / F 320, and / or the display 360. The MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, the MMU 340 may be included as part of the processor(s) 302 .

[0054] As described above, the communication device 106 may be configured to communicate using wireless and / or wired communication circuitry. The communication device 106 may also be configured to determine physical downlink shared channel scheduling resources for the user equipment device and the base station. Furthermore, the communication device 106 may be configured to group and select CCs from the wireless link and determine a virtual CC from the selected group of CCs. The wireless device may also be configured to perform physical downlink resource mapping based on an aggregate resource matching pattern of the group of CCs.

[0055] As described herein, the communication device 106 may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features for determining physical downlink shared channel scheduling resources for the communication device 106 and the base station. The processor 302 of the communication device 106 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored in a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), the processor 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Alternatively (or in addition), the processor 302 of the communication device 106 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein in conjunction with any one or more of the other components 300, 304, 306, 310, 320, 329, 330, 340, 345, 350, 360.

[0056] Additionally, as described herein, the processor 302 may include one or more processing elements. Thus, the processor 302 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of the processor 302. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include a circuit (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of the processor(s) 302.

[0057] Further, as described herein, the cellular communication circuitry 330 and the near field communication circuitry 329 may each include one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in the cellular communication circuitry 330, and similarly, one or more processing elements may be included in the near field communication circuitry 329. Thus, the cellular communication circuitry 330 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of the cellular communication circuitry 330. In addition, each integrated circuit may include a circuit (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of the cellular communication circuitry 230. Similarly, the near field communication circuitry 329 may include one or more ICs configured to perform the functions of the near field communication circuitry 32. In addition, each integrated circuit may include a circuit (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of the near field communication circuitry 329.

[0058] 4 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a base station 102 according to some embodiments. It should be noted that the base station of FIG. 4 is merely one example of a possible base station. As shown, the base station 102 may include a processor(s) 404 capable of executing program instructions for the base station 102. The processor(s) 404 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 440, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor(s) 404 and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read-only memory (ROM) 450) or other circuits or devices.

[0059] The base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. The network port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide access to the telephone network to multiple devices, such as the UE devices 106, as described above in Figures 1 and 2.

[0060] Network port 470 (or additional network ports) may also or alternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, such as, for example, a core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and / or other services to multiple devices, such as UE device 106. In some cases, network port 470 may be coupled to a telephone network via the core network and / or the core network may provide telephone services (e.g., among other UE devices serviced by the cellular service provider).

[0061] In some embodiments, the base station 102 may be a next generation base station, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or "gNB." In such embodiments, the base station 102 may be connected to a conventional evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or an NR core (NRC) network. In addition, the base station 102 may be considered a 5G NR cell and may include one or more transition and reception points (TRPs). In addition, a UE capable of operating according to 5G NR may be connected to one or more TRPs in one or more gNBs.

[0062] The base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434, and possibly multiple antennas. The at least one antenna 434 may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with the UE device 106 via the radio 430. The antenna 434 communicates with the radio 430 via a communication chain 432. The communication chain 432 may be a receive chain, a transmit chain, or both. The radio 430 may be configured to communicate via various wireless communication standards, including, but not limited to, 5G NR, LTE, LTE-A, GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, etc.

[0063] The base station 102 may be configured to communicate wirelessly using multiple wireless communication standards. In some cases, the base station 102 may include multiple radios that may enable the base station 102 to communicate according to multiple wireless communication technologies. For example, in one possibility, the base station 102 may include an LTE radio for performing communications according to LTE and a 5G NR radio for performing communications according to 5G NR. In such a case, the base station 102 may be capable of operating as both an LTE base station and a 5G NR base station. In another possibility, the base station 102 may include a multimode radio that may perform communications according to any of multiple wireless communication technologies (e.g., 5G NR and Wi-Fi, LTE and Wi-Fi, LTE and UMTS, LTE and CDMA2000, UMTS and GSM, etc.).

[0064] As described further herein below, the BS 102 may include hardware and software components for implementing or supporting the implementation of the features described herein. The processor 404 of the base station 102 may be configured to implement or support some or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored in a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, the processor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or as a combination thereof. Alternatively (or in addition), the processor 404 of the BS 102 may be configured to implement or support some or all of the features described herein together with one or more of the other components 430, 432, 434, 440, 450, 460, 470.

[0065] Additionally, as described herein, the processor(s) 404 may be comprised of one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included within the processor(s) 404. Thus, the processor(s) 404 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of the processor(s) 404. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include a circuit (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of the processor(s) 404.

[0066] Further, as described herein, the radio 430 may be comprised of one or more processing elements. In other words, the one or more processing elements may be included within the radio 430. Thus, the radio 430 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of the radio 430. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of the radio 430.

[0067] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary simplified block diagram of cellular communication circuitry according to some embodiments. It should be noted that the block diagram of the cellular communication circuitry in FIG. 5 is merely one example of possible cellular communication circuitry. According to an embodiment, the cellular communication circuitry 330 may be included in a communication device, such as the communication device 106 described above. As noted above, the communication device 106 may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless base station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop, notebook, or portable computing device), a tablet, and / or a combination of devices, among other devices.

[0068] The cellular communication circuitry 330 may be (e.g., communicatively coupled, directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas 335a-b and 336, as shown (in FIG. 3). In some embodiments, the cellular communication circuitry 330 may include dedicated receive chains (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR) for multiple RATs (e.g., including a dedicated processor and / or radio and / or communicatively coupled, directly or indirectly, to a dedicated processor and / or radio). For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the cellular communication circuitry 330 may include a modem 510 and a modem 520. The modem 510 may be configured for communication according to a first RAT, such as LTE or LTE-A, and the modem 520 may be configured for communication according to a second RAT, such as 5G NR.

[0069] As shown, the modem 510 may include one or more processors 512 and memory 516 in communication with the processor 512. The modem 510 may be in communication with a Radio Frequency (RF) front end 530. The RF front end 530 may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving wireless signals. For example, the RF front end 530 may include receive circuitry (RX) 532 and transmit circuitry (TX) 534. In some embodiments, the receive circuitry 532 may be in communication with a downlink (DL) front end 550, which may include circuitry for receiving wireless signals via an antenna 335a.

[0070] Similarly, the modem 520 may include one or more processors 522 and a memory 526 in communication with the processor 522. The modem 520 may be in communication with an RF front end 540. The RF front end 540 may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving wireless signals. For example, the RF front end 540 may include receive circuitry 542 and transmit circuitry 544. In some embodiments, the receive circuitry 542 may be in communication with a DL front end 560, which may include circuitry for receiving wireless signals via the antenna 335b.

[0071] In some embodiments, the switch 570 may couple the transmit circuitry 534 to an uplink (UL) front end 572. Additionally, the switch 570 may couple the transmit circuitry 544 to the UL front end 572. The UL front end 572 may include circuitry for transmitting wireless signals via the antenna 336. Thus, when the cellular communication circuitry 330 receives an instruction to transmit according to a first RAT (e.g., as supported via the modem 510), the switch 570 may be switched to a first state that enables the modem 510 to transmit signals according to the first RAT (e.g., via a transmit chain that includes the transmit circuitry 534 and the UL front end 572). Similarly, when the cellular communication circuitry 330 receives an instruction to transmit according to a second RAT (e.g., as supported via the modem 520), the switch 570 may be switched to a second state that enables the modem 520 to transmit signals according to the second RAT (e.g., via a transmit chain that includes the transmit circuitry 544 and the UL front end 572).

[0072] As described herein, the modem 510 may include hardware and software components that implement the above features or various other techniques for selecting periodic resource portions for user equipment devices and base stations, as well as various other techniques described herein. The processor 512 may be configured to perform some or all of the features described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored in a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), the processor 512 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Alternatively (or in addition), the processor 512 may be configured to perform some or all of the features described herein in conjunction with one or more of the other components 530, 532, 534, 550, 570, 572, 335, and 336.

[0073] In addition, as described herein, the processor 512 may include one or more processing elements. Thus, the processor 512 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of the processor 512. In addition, each integrated circuit may include a circuit (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of the processor 512.

[0074] As described herein, the modem 520 may include hardware and software components for implementing the above functionality for selecting a periodic resource on a wireless link between a UE and a base station, as well as various other techniques described herein. The processor 522 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored in a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), the processor 522 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Alternatively (or in addition), the processor 522 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein in conjunction with one or more of the other components 540, 542, 544, 550, 570, 572, 335, and 336.

[0075] Additionally, as described herein, processor 522 may include one or more processing elements. Thus, processor 522 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processor 522. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processor 522.

[0076] 6 illustrates a state transition from RRC_INACTIVE state 610 to RRC_CONNECTED state 620 triggered by a UE (e.g., 602). The RRC_INACTIVE state 610 hides the radio connection state from the core network to reduce signaling overhead and tunnel establishment between the radio network and the core network. In a smartphone, for example, background applications such as instant messengers frequently continue to exchange data with the network to keep the connection alive even when the smartphone screen is turned off.

[0077] The network (e.g., 604) can command the UE 602 to transition to the RRC_INACTIVE state 610 with an RRC release message containing "suspendConfig." When the UE needs to transition from the RRC_INACTIVE state 610 to the RRC_CONNECTED state 620, resumption of the suspended RRC connection can be initiated by higher layers to perform an RNA update, or by the RRC layer, or by RAN paging from the NG-RAN. The RRC connection resumption procedure reactivates AS security and reestablishes the SRB(s) and DRB(s).

[0078] The procedure for transitioning from RRC_INACTIVE state 610 to RRC_CONNECTED state 620 is triggered by the UE either when the UE 602 has uplink data, for example in response to paging. While the UE 602 is in the RRC_INACTIVE state, the UE triggers the RRC connection reactivation procedure by sending a RRCResumeRequest to the network (e.g., a base station or gNB 604). While in the RRC_INACTIVE state, the UE 602 remains CM-CONNECTED. Upon receiving the RRCResumeRequest 612, the network 604 retrieves the UE context request 616 based on the UE context ID, performs the necessary mobility actions, and responds with a UE context response 618. Upon receiving the RRCResume 614, the UE 602 confirms the successful completion of the RRC connection resumption procedure by sending a RRCResumeComplete (DCCH) message 622 on SRB1 using AM mode.

[0079] 7B shows an extension of the embodiment 700 described in the present disclosure in contrast to the conventional procedure (e.g., FIG. 7A) for the transmission 710 of subsequent data when the UE 702 is in the INACTIVE state 706. In contrast to the conventional procedure, the embodiment 700 described in the present disclosure can be used for the subsequent transmission 710 when the UE 702 is in the INACTIVE state after the initial data transmission 708, thereby avoiding the network 704 performing RAN paging to trigger the UE 702 to enter the CONNECTED state for feedback reception. The described embodiment 700 enables data (e.g., small data) transmission in the RRC_INACTIVE state without a state transition to the RRC_CONNECTED state. In this way, UE energy efficiency can be improved when small data is transmitted in the RRC INACTIVE state.

[0080] As shown in FIG. 8, an uplink (UL) or downlink data transmission is accompanied by a feedback transmission (e.g., a TCP ACK, or an RLC status report). If the UE 802 performs an initial UL transmission while in the INACTIVE state, it then returns to the INACTIVE state. After the UE returns to the INACTIVE state, when the network transmits feedback in the downlink direction, the network must perform RAN paging to trigger the UE to enter the CONNECTED state for feedback reception. Such a procedure undermines the advantage of direct transmission in the INACTIVE state. In contrast, the embodiments described herein allow the UE to continue to monitor the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for UE-dedicated scheduling for a period (i.e., active period) for potential subsequent data transmission or reception after the UE performs an initial uplink (UL) data transmission. The network can control the transmission or reception of subsequent data based on an explicit configuration or timer-based control.

[0081] FIG. 9A illustrates a communication flow 900 between a UE 902 and a network 904, according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, for example, the UE 902 receives a Radio Resource Control (RRC) release message from the base station 904 at 906. The RRC release message includes a suspend configuration to transition the UE to an RRC_INACTIVE state 908. After the UE 902 receives the RRC release message, the UE 902 enters the RRC_INACTIVE state 908. The UE 902 then performs an initial data transmission at 910 while the UE is in the RRC_INACTIVE state 908, without transitioning from the RRC_INACTIVE state to an RRC_CONNECTED state. While the UE is in the RRC INACTIVE state 908, the UE 902 monitors a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for UE dedicated scheduling for transmission or reception of subsequent data during an active period 912. The UE 902 then performs transmission or reception of subsequent data based on monitoring the PDCCH.

[0082] In some other embodiments, the base station 904 receives initial data from the UE 902 in the RRC_INACTIVE state 908 while the UE 902 does not transition from the RRC_INACTIVE state 908 to an RRC_CONNECTED state. The base station 904 transmits a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for UE dedicated scheduling for transmission or reception of subsequent data during an active period 912 while the UE 902 is in the RRC INACTIVE state 908. The base station 904 receives or transmits the transmission of the subsequent data based on the dedicated scheduling.

[0083] In some other embodiments, the base station 904 transmits an indication indicating which of one or more of the settings to use for subsequent data transmission or reception.

[0084] 9B illustrates a communication flow 920 between a UE 902 and a network 904, according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, the UE 902 receives one or more configurations for subsequent data transmission or reception from the base station 904. In these embodiments, the one or more configurations are received as part of an RRC release message at 922. In these embodiments, the one or more configurations are also received as part of a system information block (SIB) at 924. The SIB is broadcast by the base station 904.

[0085] In some embodiments, the UE receives an indication from the base station indicating which of one or more of the configurations to use for subsequent data transmission or reception.

[0086] 9C illustrates a communication flow 940 between a UE 902 and a network 904 according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, the UE 902 receives 942 a value of an active period timer 924. The value of the timer 924 is part of one or more configurations. The UE 902 then stops monitoring the PDCCH for subsequent data transmission or reception upon expiration of the active period timer 924.

[0087] In some embodiments, the base station 904 transmits a value of an active period timer. The timer value is part of one or more configurations. Monitoring of the PDCCH for subsequent data transmission or reception stops upon expiration of the active period timer. In some embodiments, the base station 904 transmits a default configuration for subsequent data transmission or reception.

[0088] In some embodiments, the UE 902 applies default settings for subsequent data transmission or reception.

[0089] In some embodiments (see FIG. 9A), the UE 902 receives an active period start indication from the base station 904 after the initial data transmission 910, at 914. The UE 902 stops monitoring the PDCCH for subsequent data transmission or reception upon receiving an active period stop indication from the base station 904, at 916.

[0090] In some embodiments (see FIG. 9C), the UE 902 receives an active period start indication from the base station after the initial data transmission. The start indication includes a value for the active period timer 924. The UE stops monitoring the PDCCH for subsequent data transmission or reception upon expiration of the active period timer 924.

[0091] In some embodiments, the base station 904 transmits an active period start indication from the base station after the initial data transmission, and monitoring of the PDCCH for subsequent data transmission or reception stops upon receipt of the active period stop indication at the UE.

[0092] In some embodiments, the base station 904 sends an active period start indication to the UE after the initial data transmission. The start indication includes an active period timer value. Monitoring of the PDCCH for subsequent data transmission or reception stops upon expiration of the active period timer.

[0093] In some embodiments, the initiation indication is Layer 1 (L1) signaling.

[0094] In some other embodiments, the initiation indication is a media access control (MAC) control element (CE).

[0095] In some embodiments, the initiation indication is RRC signaling, the RRC signaling including one or more settings for transmission or reception of subsequent data.

[0096] In some embodiments, the baseband 904 scrambles the PDCCH for UE dedicated scheduling for subsequent data transmission or reception during an active period based on the TC-RNTI type, I-RNTI type, or CG-RNTI type of the RNTI.

[0097] In some embodiments, the UE validates the PDCCH for UE-dedicated scheduling for transmission or reception of subsequent data during the active period based on the TC-RNTI type, I-RNTI type, or CG-RNTI type of the RNTI. The UE behavior while the UE is in the active period is the same as the conventional one in CONNECTED mode. For example, the UE-dedicated scheduling can be scrambled via one or more RNTIs: (1) TC-RNTI (assigned by the network via the initial transmission), (2) I-RNTI or shortened I-RNTI, and (3) CG-RNTI (if the initial transmission is performed via a prior CG resource based on one or more prior CG configurations). The one or more prior CG configurations refer to a pre-configured physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resource configuration.

[0098] In some embodiments, the UE monitors UE dedicated scheduling within an initial bandwidth part (BWP) and also monitors UE dedicated scheduling within a common search space for subsequent data transmission or reception during the active period.

[0099] Layer 1 (L1) behavior while the UE is in the active period is the same as in the conventional CONNECTED mode configuration. L1 does not support CA / DC, but does support Nta maintenance, power control, L1 CSI reporting, L1 ACK / NACK, BFD, etc. Transmissions are restricted to the initial BWP and / or PDCCH scheduling is only in the common search space to reduce UE complexity.

[0100] The L2 behavior while the UE is in the active period is the same as in the traditional CONNECTED mode configuration. MAC: BSR, PHR, DRX, UL / DL HARQ, TA, CG / SPS, new LCP restrictions. Regarding RLC / PDCP aspects: no support for overlapped / split bearers. SDAP follows the traditional CONNECTED mode.

[0101] For serving cell measurements, the measurement requirements are the same as for CONNECTED mode, optional support L3 filter, and optional measurement reporting. For neighbor cell measurements, they are the same as conventional IDLE / INACTIVE measurements.

[0102] In some embodiments, the RLM is the same as the CONNECTED mode RLM procedure.

[0103] In some other embodiments, it does not support RLM or is not based on a configuration.

[0104] 11 illustrates a communication flow 1100 between a UE 1102 and a base station according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, at 1108, the UE 1102 receives an indication of a start of an active period for subsequent data transmission or reception from a base station of a current cell 1104 after an initial data transmission and an indication of a measurement configuration. The measurement configuration is based on a SIB3 or SIB4 configuration associated with the UE in IDLE or INACTIVE state. The measurement configuration includes at least a predefined threshold.

[0105] In some embodiments, the UE receives dedicated signaling including measurement configuration for measurements during an active period.

[0106] 10 illustrates a communication flow 1000 between a UE 1002 and a base station. In some embodiments, the UE maintains RLM and IDLE / INACTIVE state measurements 1010. For example, if the UE radio quality is below a threshold (or RLF is triggered), the UE 1002 triggers a resumption procedure at 1008. If the UE 1002 moves to another cell 1006, the UE 1002 triggers a resumption procedure / direct data transmission at 1012 in the new accessed cell 1006.

[0107] In some embodiments, the UE 1102 determines whether one or more conditions 1110 for triggering a measurement event are met, the one or more conditions 1110 including a radio quality of the current cell being lower than a received predetermined threshold and a radio quality of the neighboring cell being higher than a predetermined threshold. In response to determining that the one or more conditions for triggering a measurement event are met, the UE 1102 performs the neighboring cell measurements.

[0108] In some embodiments, at 1112, the UE 1102 triggers a measurement report in response to determining that one or more conditions for triggering a measurement event are met. At 1114, a dedicated RRC message is received that includes an RRC Resume message. The dedicated RRC message triggers the UE 1102 to transition to a CONNECTED state 1116. The UE 1102 enters the CONNECTED state 1116. At 1118, the UE 1102 sends an RRC ResumeComplete message to a base station of the current camping cell 1104. At 1120, the UE 1102 receives a handover (HO) command to initiate a handover of the UE 1102 to the neighboring cell 1106. At 1122, the UE 1102 sends a handover Command Complete message to the base station of the neighboring cell 1106.

[0109] 12 illustrates a communication flow 1200 between a UE 1202 and a base station according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, at 1208, the UE 1202 triggers a measurement report in response to determining that one or more conditions 1212 for triggering a measurement event are met. At 1210, the UE 1202 receives a dedicated RRC message including an RRC resume message and an HO command to initiate a handover of the UE 1202 to the neighboring cell 1206. The dedicated RRC message triggers the UE 1202 to transition to a CONNECTED state 1214. The UE 1202 enters the CONNECTED state 1214. At 1216, the UE 1202 sends an RRC ResumeComplete message to the base station of the neighboring cell 1206.

[0110] 13 illustrates a communication flow 1300 between a UE 1302 and a base station according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, the UE 1302 triggers a measurement report in response to determining that one or more conditions 1308 for triggering a measurement event are met. The UE 1302 transmits 1310 an RRC resume request message to a base station of a neighboring cell 1306 or performs a data transmission.

[0111] 14 illustrates a communication flow 1400 between a UE 1402 and a base station according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, the UE 1402 sends 1408 a UE preference to the base station of the current cell 1404. The UE receives 1410 a dedicated RRC message including an RRC resume message and an HO command to initiate a handover of the UE 1402 to the neighboring cell 1406. The dedicated RRC message triggers the UE 1402 to transition to a CONNECTED state 1412. The UE enters the CONNECTED state. The UE 1402 sends an RRC ResumeComplete message to the base station of the neighboring cell 1406.

[0112] Portions of the above may be implemented in logic circuitry, such as special purpose logic circuitry, or in a microcontroller or other form of processing core executing program code instructions. Thus, the processes taught by the above discussion may be implemented in program code, such as machine executable instructions, that cause a machine executing those instructions to perform a particular function. In this context, a "machine" may be a machine that converts intermediate form (or "abstract") instructions into processor-specific instructions (e.g., abstract execution environments such as a "virtual machine" (e.g., Java Virtual Machine), an interpreter, a common language runtime, a high-level language virtual machine, etc.), and / or electronic circuitry (e.g., "logic circuitry" implemented with transistors) located on a semiconductor chip, designed to execute instructions, such as general-purpose processors and / or special purpose processors. The processes taught by the above discussion may also be implemented by (in place of or in combination with) electronic circuitry designed to execute those processes (or portions of the processes) without executing program code.

[0113] The present invention also relates to an apparatus for performing the operations described herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes or may include a general purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as any type of disk, including but not limited to floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magneto-optical disks, read only memory (ROM), RAM, EPROM, EEPROM, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions, each of which is coupled to a computer system bus.

[0114] A machine-readable medium includes any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, machine-readable media include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices, etc.

[0115] The article of manufacture can be used to store the program code. The article of manufacture storing the program code may be embodied as, but is not limited to, one or more memories (e.g., one or more flash memories, random access memories (static, dynamic, or other)), optical disks, CD-ROMs, DVD ROMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or other types of machine-readable media suitable for storing electronic instructions. The program code can also be downloaded from a remote computer (e.g., a server) to a requesting computer (e.g., a client) by a data signal embodied in a propagation medium (e.g., via a communications link (e.g., a network connection)).

[0116] The foregoing Detailed Description is presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the tools used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of operations leading to a desired result. These operations require physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, primarily for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like.

[0117] It should be noted, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise, and as will be apparent from the above discussion, discussions utilizing "selecting," "determining," "receiving," "forming," "grouping," "aggregating," "generating," "deleting," or similar terms throughout the description will be understood to refer to operations and processes of a computer system or similar electronic computing device that manipulates and converts data represented as physical (electronic) quantities in a computer system's registers or memory into other data similarly represented as physical quantities in the computer system's memory or registers, or other such information storage, transmission, or display devices.

[0118] The processes and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purpose systems can be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct a more specialized apparatus to perform the operations described. The required structure for a variety of these systems will be apparent from the description below. Moreover, the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language. It will be understood that a variety of programming languages ​​can be used to implement the teachings of the present invention as described herein.

[0119] It is understood that use of personally identifiable information should comply with privacy policies and practices generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining user privacy. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled in a manner that minimizes the risk of unintended or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of permitted uses should be clearly indicated to users.

[0120] The foregoing description describes only some exemplary embodiments of the present invention. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize from this discussion, the accompanying drawings, and the claims that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. receiving initial data from the UE in the RRC_INACTIVE state without the UE transitioning to an RRC_CONNECTED state; transmitting a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for UE dedicated scheduling for transmission or reception of subsequent data during an active period while the UE is in the RRC INACTIVE state; receiving or transmitting a transmission of the subsequent data using the transmitted PDCCH based on the dedicated scheduling; A base station (BS) comprising a processor configured to perform operations including:

2. The processor, transmitting one or more settings for said transmission or reception of said subsequent data; The BS of claim 1 , further configured to perform operations including:

3. The BS of claim 2 , wherein the one or more configurations are transmitted as part of an RRC release message.

4. The BS of claim 2 , wherein the one or more configurations are transmitted as part of a system information block (SIB).

5. The processor, transmitting an indication indicating a setting to use for said transmission or reception of said subsequent data from said one or more of said settings; The BS according to any one of claims 2 to 4, further configured to perform operations including:

6. The processor, transmitting a value of the active period timer, the value of the timer being part of the one or more configurations, and monitoring of the PDCCH for the transmission or reception of the subsequent data stops upon expiry of the active period timer; The BS of claim 2 , further configured to perform operations including:

7. The processor, transmitting default settings for said transmission or reception of said subsequent data; The BS of claim 1 , further configured to perform operations including:

8. 2. The BS of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to perform operations including transmitting an indication of a start of the active period from the base station after an initial data transmission of the UE corresponding to reception of the initial data from the UE, and wherein monitoring of the PDCCH for the transmission or reception of the subsequent data stops upon receipt of an indication of a stop of the active period at the UE.

9. The processor, sending, after an initial data transmission of the UE corresponding to reception of initial data from the UE, a start indication of the active period to the UE, the start indication including a value of a timer of the active period, and monitoring of the PDCCH for the transmission or reception of the subsequent data stops upon expiry of the timer of the active period; The BS of claim 1 configured to perform operations including:

10. The BS according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the initiation indication is a Layer 1 (L1) signaling.

11. The BS according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the start indication is a Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE).

12. The BS according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the initiation indication is an RRC signaling, the RRC signaling comprising one or more settings for the transmission or reception of the subsequent data.

13. The processor, scrambling the PDCCH for the UE dedicated scheduling for the transmission or reception of the subsequent data during an active period based on a TC-RNTI type, an I-RNTI type, or a CG-RNTI type of RNTI; The BS of claim 1 configured to perform operations including:

14. receiving initial data from the UE in the RRC_INACTIVE state without the UE transitioning to an RRC_CONNECTED state; transmitting a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for UE dedicated scheduling for transmission or reception of subsequent data during an active period while the UE is in the RRC INACTIVE state; receiving or transmitting a transmission of the subsequent data using the transmitted PDCCH based on the dedicated scheduling; A method comprising:

15. transmitting one or more settings for said transmission or reception of said subsequent data; The method of claim 14 further comprising:

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the one or more settings are transmitted as part of an RRC release message.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the one or more configurations are transmitted as part of a system information block (SIB).

18. transmitting an indication indicating a setting to use for said transmission or reception of said subsequent data from said one or more of said settings; 18. The method of any one of claims 15 to 17, further comprising:

19. transmitting a value of the active period timer, the value of the timer being part of the one or more configurations, and monitoring of the PDCCH for the transmission or reception of the subsequent data stops upon expiry of the active period timer; The method of claim 15 further comprising:

20. transmitting default settings for said transmission or reception of said subsequent data; The method of claim 14 further comprising:

21. and transmitting an active period start indication from a base station after an initial data transmission of the UE corresponding to reception of the initial data from the UE, wherein monitoring of the PDCCH for the transmission or reception of the subsequent data is stopped upon receipt of an active period stop indication at the UE. The method of claim 14.

22. sending, after an initial data transmission of the UE corresponding to reception of initial data from the UE, a start indication of the active period to the UE, the start indication including a value of a timer of the active period, and monitoring of the PDCCH for the transmission or reception of the subsequent data stops upon expiry of the timer of the active period; The method of claim 14 further comprising:

23. 23. The method of claim 21 or 22, wherein the initiation indication is Layer 1 (L1) signaling.

24. 23. The method of claim 21 or 22, wherein the initiation indication is a Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE).

25. 23. The method of claim 21 or 22, wherein the initiation indication is RRC signaling, the RRC signaling including one or more settings for transmission or reception of the subsequent data.

26. scrambling the PDCCH for the UE dedicated scheduling for the transmission or reception of the subsequent data during an active period based on a TC-RNTI type, an I-RNTI type, or a CG-RNTI type of RNTI; The method of claim 14 further comprising:

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