Base Stations and Transmitting / Receiving Devices

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a base station comprising: a transceiver unit; and circuitry that, in operation, controls the transceiver unit to serve a cell associated with a first Tracking Area Code (TAC), to periodically transmit in system information a TAC indicator indicating at least one TAC associated with the cell, and to transmit a trigger indicator to trigger a transceiver device to perform a system information update procedure when there is a change in the content of the system information, wherein the circuitry, in operation, prevents the transceiver unit from transmitting the trigger indicator when the cell has moved and therefore is associated with a second TAC.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This disclosure relates to the transmission and reception of signals in communication systems, such as 3GPP communication systems, and in particular to methods and apparatus for such transmission and reception. [Background technology]

[0002] Currently, the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) is working on technical specifications for the next generation of cellular technology, also known as the 5th Generation (5G).

[0003] One of the objectives is to provide a single technical framework that addresses all usage scenarios, requirements, and deployment scenarios (see, for example, Section 6 of TR38.913 Version 15.0.0), including at least enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC), and massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC). For example, eMBB deployment scenarios may include indoor hotspots, high-density urban, rural, and urban macro-high-speed environments. URLLC deployment scenarios may include industrial control systems, mobile healthcare (remote monitoring, diagnosis, and treatment), real-time control of vehicles, and wide-area monitoring and control systems for smart grids. mMTC deployment scenarios may include scenarios involving a large number of devices with non-time-critical data transfer, such as smart wearables and sensor networks. eMBB and URLLC services are similar in that they both require very high bandwidth, but differ in that URLLC services may preferably require ultra-low latency.

[0004] Achieving forward compatibility is a secondary goal. Backward compatibility to LTE (Long Term Evolution) cellular systems or LTE-A cellular systems is not required. This facilitates the introduction of entirely new system designs and / or novel features. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] One non-limiting, exemplary embodiment contributes to providing improved procedures for facilitating saving power and / or reducing signaling overhead for UEs in wireless communication networks. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In one embodiment, the technology disclosed herein comprises: a transceiver unit; and a circuit, the circuit controlling the transceiver unit to provide cells associated with tracking area codes (TACs), the tracking areas (TAs) of the TACs being stationary relative to the Earth's surface, periodically transmitting a plurality of the TACs for each public land mobile network (PLMN) in system information, receiving a location indicator from a transceiver device indicating a location of the transceiver device, and when the location of the transceiver device is notified, determining a TAC for the transceiver device from the plurality of transmitted TACs based on the notified location of the transceiver device. , characterized by a base station.

[0007] It should be noted that the general or specific embodiments may be implemented as a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, a storage medium, or any selective combination thereof.

[0008] Further benefits and advantages of the disclosed embodiments will become apparent from the specification and drawings. These benefits and / or advantages may be obtained individually by the various embodiments and features of the specification and drawings, and it is not necessary for all embodiments and features to be present in order to obtain one or more of such benefits and / or advantages. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] Exemplary embodiments will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Figure 1] Diagram of an example architecture of a 3GPP NR system [Figure 2]Diagram of an exemplary user plane and control plane architecture for LTE eNB, gNB, and UE [Figure 3] Schematic diagram showing functional separation between NG-RAN and 5GC [Figure 4] Sequence diagram of RRC connection setup / reconfiguration procedure [Figure 5] Schematic diagram showing usage scenarios for enhanced MBB (high-capacity, high-speed communications), ultra-reliable, ultra-low latency communications (URLLC), and massively simultaneous machine-type communications (mMTC). [Figure 6] Block diagram illustrating an exemplary 5G system architecture for a non-roaming scenario [Figure 7A] FIG. 1 illustrates the status of a moving cell and a stationary tracking area at a first time. [Figure 7B] FIG. 1 illustrates the status of a moving cell and a stationary tracking area at a second time after the first time. [Figure 8A] FIG. 1 shows a hard switch option for broadcasting tracking area codes when a moving cell crosses a boundary between tracking areas. [Figure 8B] Figure 1 shows soft switch options for broadcasting tracking area codes when a moving cell crosses a boundary between tracking areas. [Figure 9] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating functional components of a base station and a transceiver device according to an embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 illustrates method steps performed by a base station according to an embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 1 illustrates the situation of a moving cell crossing the boundary of two TAs, according to one embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 1 illustrates cell selection in the context of a moving cell crossing the boundary of two TAs, according to one embodiment. [Figure 13] 1 illustrates method steps performed by a transmitting and receiving device according to an embodiment. [Figure 14] FIG. 1 illustrates the situation of a moving cell crossing the boundary of two TAs, according to an embodiment where the cell is switched off or prevented from broadcasting system information. [Figure 15] FIG. 1 illustrates the situation of a moving cell crossing the boundary of two TAs, according to an embodiment that applies the hard switch option. [Figure 16] 1 illustrates method steps performed by a transmitting and receiving device according to an embodiment. [Figure 17A] Diagram showing an example of the geographic structure of multiple tracking areas [Figure 17B] FIG. 10 shows further examples of geographical structures of multiple tracking areas. [Figure 18] FIG. 1 illustrates the situation of a moving cell crossing the boundary of two TAs, according to an embodiment applying the soft switch option. [Figure 19] Diagram showing a cell served by utilizing multiple beams in the situation of a cell crossing the boundary between two TAs. [Figure 20] Diagram showing cells served by utilizing multiple beams as well as changing the serving beam in the context of cells crossing the boundary between two TAs and transmitting and receiving devices crossing the boundary. [Figure 21] FIG. 1 illustrates a method performed by a base station according to one embodiment. [Figure 22] FIG. 1 illustrates a method performed by a transceiver device according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] <5G NR system architecture and protocol stack> 3GPP is working on the next release of fifth-generation cellular technology (also known as 5G), which includes the development of New Radio Access Technology (NR) operating in the frequency range up to 100 GHz. The first version of the 5G standard was completed in late 2017, allowing for the prototyping and commercial deployment of 5G NR-compliant smartphones.

[0011] In particular, the system architecture assumes a Next Generation - Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) comprising gNBs. The gNBs provide UE-side termination of NG radio access user plane (SDAP / PDCP / RLC / MAC / PHY) and control plane (RRC) protocols. The gNBs are connected to each other via an Xn interface. The gNBs are also connected to a Next Generation Core (NGC) via a Next Generation (NG) interface, more specifically to an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) (e.g., a specific core entity that performs AMF) via an NG-C interface, and to a User Plane Function (UPF) (e.g., a specific core entity that performs UPF) via an NG-U interface. The NG-RAN architecture is shown in Figure 1 (see, e.g., 3GPP TS38.300 v15.6.0, Section 4).

[0012] Various deployment scenarios may be supported (see, for example, 3GPP TR38.801 v14.0.0). For example, 3GPP TR38.801 v14.0.0 presents a decentralized deployment scenario in which multiple base stations supporting 5G NR can be deployed (see, for example, Section 5.2 of TR38.801; a centralized deployment is shown in Section 5.4). Figure 2 illustrates an exemplary decentralized deployment scenario (see, for example, Figure 5.2.-1 of TR38.801, mentioned above) with the addition of an LTE eNB and user equipment (UE) connected to both the gNB and the LTE eNB. The new eNB for NR 5G may be referred to as a gNB, for example. An eLTE eNB is an evolved version of an eNB and supports connections to an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) and a Next Generation Core (NGC).

[0013] The NR user plane protocol stack (see, for example, 3GPP TS38.300, Section 4.4.1) includes the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) sublayer (see, for example, TS38.300, Section 6.4), the Radio Link Control (RLC) sublayer (see, for example, TS38.300, Section 6.3), and the Medium Access Control (MAC) sublayer (see, for example, TS38.300, Section 6.2), which are terminated on the network side at the gNB. A new Access Stratum (AS) sublayer (Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP)) has also been introduced on top of PDCP (see, for example, 3GPP TS38.300, Section 6.5). A control plane protocol stack has also been defined for NR (see, for example, TS38.300, Section 4.4.2). An overview of Layer 2 functions is provided in Section 6 of TS38.300. The functions of the PDCP sublayer, RLC sublayer, and MAC sublayer are listed in clauses 6.4, 6.3, and 6.2 of TS38.300, respectively. The functions of the RRC layer are listed in clause 7 of TS38.300.

[0014] For example, the Medium-Access-Control layer handles logical channel multiplexing and scheduling and scheduling-related functions, including handling various numerologies.

[0015] For example, the physical layer (PHY) is responsible for coding, PHY HARQ processing, modulation, multi-antenna processing, and mapping of signals to the appropriate physical time-frequency resources. The physical layer also handles mapping of transport channels to physical channels. The physical layer provides services to the MAC layer in the form of transport channels. A physical channel corresponds to a set of time-frequency resources used for the transmission of a particular transport channel, and each transport channel is mapped to a corresponding physical channel. One of the physical channels is the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), which is used for random access.

[0016] NR use cases / deployment scenarios may include enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), and massive machine-type communications (mMTC), which have diverse requirements in terms of data rate, latency, and coverage. For example, eMBB is expected to support peak data rates (20 Gbps in the downlink and 10 Gbps in the uplink) and effective (user-experienced) data rates approximately three times higher than those offered by IMT-Advanced. Meanwhile, URLLC imposes stricter requirements for ultra-low latency (0.5 ms user-plane latency for both UL and DL) and high reliability (1-10-5 within 1 ms). Finally, mMTC may require preferably high connection density (1,000,000 devices / km2 in urban environments), wide coverage in adverse environments, and extremely long battery life (15 years) for low-cost devices.

[0017] Therefore, OFDM numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing, OFDM symbol length, cyclic prefix (CP) length, number of symbols per scheduling interval) suitable for one use case may not be valid for another use case. For example, low-latency services may preferably require a shorter symbol length (and therefore a larger subcarrier spacing) and / or fewer symbols per scheduling interval (also referred to as TTI) than mMTC services. Furthermore, deployment scenarios with large channel delay spreads may preferably require a longer CP length than scenarios with small delay spreads. Subcarrier spacing should be optimized accordingly to maintain similar CP overhead. NR may support one or more subcarrier spacing values. Correspondingly, subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, etc. are currently considered. The symbol length Tu and subcarrier spacing Δf are directly related by the formula Δf = 1 / Tu. Similar to LTE systems, the term "resource element" can be used to mean the smallest resource unit consisting of one subcarrier for the length of one OFDM / SC-FDMA symbol.

[0018] In the new radio system 5G-NR, a resource grid of subcarriers and OFDM symbols is defined for each numerology and each carrier in the uplink and downlink. Each element of the resource grid is called a resource element and is specified based on a frequency index in the frequency domain and a symbol position in the time domain (see 3GPP TS38.211 v15.6.0).

[0019] <Functional separation between NG-RAN and 5GC in 5G NR> Figure 3 shows the functional separation between NG-RAN and 5GC. The logical node of NG-RAN is gNB or ng-eNB. 5GC has logical nodes AMF, UPF, and SMF.

[0020] In particular, the gNB and ng-eNB host the following main functions: - Radio Resource Management functions such as Radio Bearer Control, Radio Admission Control, Connection Mobility Control, dynamic allocation (scheduling) of resources to UEs in both uplink and downlink; - IP header compression, encryption, and integrity protection of data; - AMF selection at UE attach time if routing to the AMF cannot be determined from the information provided by the UE; - Routing of user plane data towards UPF; - Routing of control plane information towards AMF; - Setting up and tearing down connections; - scheduling and sending of paging messages; - Scheduling and transmission of system broadcast information (originating from AMF or Operation, Admission, Maintenance (OAM) Function); - Setting up measurements and reporting of measurements for mobility and scheduling; - Transport level packet marking in the uplink; - Session management; - Network slicing support; - QoS flow management and mapping to data radio bearers; - Support for UEs in RRC_INACTIVE state; - Non-Access Stratum (NAS) message delivery functions; - Sharing of radio access networks; - Dual connectivity; - Close cooperation between NR and E-UTRA.

[0021] The Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) hosts the following main functions: - Terminating Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling; - NAS signaling security; - Access - Stratum (AS) security control; - 3GPP Core Network (CN) inter-node signaling for mobility between access networks; - Reachability to idle mode UEs (including control and execution of paging retransmissions); - Managing the registration area; - Support for intra-system and inter-system mobility; - Access authentication; - Access authorization, including checking roaming privileges; - Mobility management control (subscription and policy); - Network slicing support; - Selection of Session Management Function (SMF).

[0022] Additionally, the User Plane Function (UPF) hosts the following main functions: - Anchor points for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (if applicable); - External PDU (Protocol Data Unit) session points for interconnection with data networks; - Packet routing and forwarding; - Packet inspection and policy rule enforcement for the user plane part; - Traffic usage reporting; - An uplink classifier that supports routing of traffic flows to a data network; - A Branching Point for supporting multi-homed PDU sessions; - QoS processing for the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement); - Verification of uplink traffic (mapping to QoS flows of SDFs); - Buffer for downlink packets and trigger function for downlink data notification.

[0023] Finally, the Session Management Function (SMF) hosts the following main functions: - Session management; - Allocation and management of IP addresses for the UE; - Selection and control of the UPF; - A traffic steering setting function in the User Plane Function (UPF) for routing traffic to appropriate destinations; - Policy enforcement and QoS for the control part; - Notification of downlink data.

[0024] <Procedures for RRC connection setup and reconfiguration> Figure 4 shows some of the interactions between the UE, gNB, and AMF (5GC entity) in the NAS part when the UE transitions from RRC_IDLE to RRC_CONNECTED (see TS38.300 v15.6.0).

[0025] RRC is a higher layer signaling protocol used to configure the UE and the gNB. In particular, with this transition, the AMF prepares UE context data (including, for example, PDU session context, security keys, UE radio capabilities, and UE security capabilities) and sends it to the gNB with an INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST. The gNB then activates AS security together with the UE. This is done by the gNB sending a SecurityModeCommand message to the UE, and the UE responding with a SecurityModeComplete message. The gNB then sends an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE, and upon receiving an RRCReconfigurationComplete from the UE, the gNB reconfigures the UE to set up a Signaling Radio Bearer 2 (SRB2) and a Data Radio Bearer (DRB). For signaling-only connections, the RRCReconfiguration steps are omitted because SRB2 and DRB are not set up. Finally, the gNB notifies the AMF that the setup procedure is complete with an INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE.

[0026] Therefore, the present disclosure provides a 5th Generation Core (5GC) entity (e.g., AMF, SMF, etc.) that includes: a control circuit that, in operation, establishes a Next Generation (NG) connection with a gNodeB; and a transmitter that, in operation, transmits an initial context setup message to the gNodeB via the NG connection so that a signaling radio bearer between the gNodeB and a user equipment (UE) is set up. Specifically, the gNodeB transmits Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, including a resource allocation configuration information element, to the UE via the signaling radio bearer. Then, the UE performs uplink transmission or downlink reception based on the resource allocation configuration.

[0027] <IMT usage scenarios from 2020 onwards> Figure 5 illustrates some use cases for 5G NR. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project New Radio (3GPP NR) is considering three use cases envisioned by IMT-2020 to support a wide variety of services and applications. The first phase of specifications for enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) has been completed. Current and future work includes standardization for ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC) and massive machine-type communications (mMTC), in addition to expanding support for eMBB. Figure 5 illustrates some example usage scenarios envisioned for IMT beyond 2020.

[0028] URLLC use cases have stringent performance requirements for throughput, latency, and availability. URLLC use cases are envisioned as one of the enablers for future applications such as wireless control of industrial production or manufacturing processes, remote medical surgery, automated power transmission and distribution in smart grids, and road safety. URLLC's ultra-high reliability is supported by identifying technologies that meet the requirements set by TR38.913. Key requirements for NR URLLC in Release 15 include a target user plane latency of 0.5 ms on the uplink (UL) and 0.5 ms on the downlink (DL). The overall URLLC requirement for a single packet transmission is a block error rate (BLER) of 1E-5 for a 32-byte packet size with a user plane latency of 1 ms.

[0029] From a physical layer perspective, reliability can be improved in many possible ways. Current reliability improvement room includes defining a separate CQI table for URLLC, more compact DCI formats, PDCCH repetition, etc. However, this room can be expanded to achieve ultra-high reliability as NR (with respect to the key requirements of NR URLLC) becomes more stable and developed. Specific use cases for NR URLLC in Release 15 include augmented reality / virtual reality (AR / VR), e-health, e-safety, and mission-critical applications.

[0030] Additionally, technology enhancements targeted by NR URLLC aim to improve latency and reliability. Technology enhancements for latency improvement include configurable numerology, non-slot-based scheduling with flexible mapping, grant-free (configured grant) uplink, slot-level repetition in the data channel, and preemption in the downlink. Preemption means that a transmission with previously allocated resources is stopped and the allocated resources are used for another transmission with a later requested lower latency / higher priority requirement. Thus, a previously allowed transmission is preempted by a later transmission. Preemption is applicable regardless of the specific service type. For example, a transmission of service type A (URLLC) may be preempted by a transmission of service type B (eMBB, etc.). Technology enhancements for reliability improvement include dedicated CQI / MCS tables for a target BLER of 1E-5.

[0031] The use case for massive machine-type communication (mMTC) is characterized by a very large number of connected devices that typically transmit relatively small amounts of data that are not sensitive to latency. These devices are required to be low cost and have very long battery life. From an NR perspective, using very narrow bandwidth portions is one solution that saves power and allows for long battery life from the UE perspective.

[0032] As mentioned above, the scope of reliability improvement in NR is expected to become broader. One of the key requirements for all cases, especially for URLLC and mMTC, is high or ultra-high reliability. Several mechanisms can improve reliability from a radio perspective and a network perspective. Generally, there are two to three key areas that can help improve reliability. These areas include compact control channel information, data channel / control channel repetition, and diversity in the frequency, time, and / or spatial domains. These areas are generally applicable to reliability improvement regardless of the specific communication scenario.

[0033] For NR URLLC, further use cases with more stringent requirements are envisioned, such as factory automation, transportation, and power distribution: high reliability (up to 10-6 level), high availability, packet sizes up to 256 bytes, time synchronization down to a few μs (depending on the use case, the value can be 1 μs or a few μs depending on the frequency range and low latency in the 0.5 ms to 1 ms range, especially for targeted user plane latency of 0.5 ms).

[0034] Furthermore, for NR URLLC, several technical enhancements may be available from the perspective of the physical layer. These technical enhancements include enhancements to the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) related to compact DCI, repetition of the PDCCH, and increased monitoring of the PDCCH. In addition, the enhancement of Uplink Control Information (UCI) is related to the enhancement of enhanced Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) and CSI feedback. There may also be enhancements to the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) related to mini-slot level hopping, and enhancements to retransmission / repetition. The term "mini-slot" refers to a Transmission Time Interval (TTI) that contains fewer symbols than a slot (a slot has 14 symbols).

[0035] <QoS Control> The Quality of Service (QoS) model of 5G is based on QoS flows and supports both QoS flows that require a guaranteed flow bit rate (Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) QoS flows) and QoS flows that do not require a guaranteed flow bit rate (non-GBR QoS flows). Therefore, at the NAS level, a QoS flow is the finest granularity QoS classification in a PDU session. A QoS flow is identified within a PDU session by a QoS Flow ID (QFI) carried in an encapsulation header over the NG-U interface.

[0036] For each UE, the 5GC establishes one or more PDU sessions. For each UE, the NG-RAN establishes at least one Data Radio Bearer (DRB) for each PDU session, e.g., as shown above with reference to Figure 4. Additional DRBs for the QoS flows of that PDU session can be configured later (when this is up to the NG-RAN). The NG-RAN maps packets belonging to different PDU sessions to different DRBs. NAS-level packet filters in the UE and the 5GC associate UL packets and DL packets with QoS flows, while AS-level mapping rules in the UE and the NG-RAN associate UL QoS flows and DL QoS flows with DRBs.

[0037] Figure 6 shows the non-roaming reference architecture for 5G NR (see TS 23.501 v16.1.0, Section 4.23). An Application Function (AF) (e.g., an external application server hosting 5G services, as illustrated in Figure 5) interacts with the 3GPP core network to provide services. For example, it accesses a Network Exposure Function (NEF) to support applications that affect traffic routing, or interacts with a policy framework (see Policy Control Function (PCF)) for policy control (e.g., QoS control). Based on the operator's deployment, Application Functions that are considered trusted by the operator can interact directly with the relevant Network Functions. Application Functions that are not authorized by the operator to directly access Network Functions interact with the relevant Network Functions using the external exposure framework via the NEF.

[0038] Figure 6 further illustrates further functional units of the 5G architecture, namely, Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), Network Repository Function (NRF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), and Data Network (DN, e.g., operator-provided services, internet access, or third-party services).

[0039] <Downlink control channel monitoring, PDCCH, DCI> Many of the functions performed by a UE involve monitoring a downlink control channel (e.g., PDCCH (see 3GPP TS38.300 v15.6.0, section 5.2.3) to receive, for example, specific control information or data intended for the UE.

[0040] Below is a non-exhaustive list of features: - Paging message monitoring function, - System information acquisition function, - Signaling monitoring operation for discontinuous reception (DRX) function, - inactivity monitoring operation for discontinuous reception (DRX) function, - receiving a random access response for the random access function; - Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer reordering function.

[0041] As described above, PDCCH monitoring is performed by a UE to identify and receive information intended for the UE, such as control information and user traffic (e.g., DCI in the PDCCH and user data in the PDSCH indicated by the PDCCH).

[0042] Control information in the downlink (which can be referred to as downlink control information, DCI) has the same purpose in 5G NR as DCI in LTE, i.e., it is a special combination of control information for scheduling, for example, a downlink data channel (e.g., PDSCH) or an uplink data channel (e.g., PUSCH). There are several different DCI formats already defined for 5G NR (see TS38.212 v15.6.0 section 7.3.1).

[0043] The PDCCH monitoring for each of the above functions serves a specific purpose and is therefore initiated for that purpose. PDCCH monitoring is typically controlled based on a timer executed at least by the UE. The timer has the purpose of controlling the PDCCH monitoring (e.g., limiting the maximum amount of time the UE monitors the PDCCH). For example, the UE does not need to monitor the PDCCH indefinitely and may stop monitoring after a certain time period, which can save power. Correspondingly, when the UE initiates PDCCH monitoring for its intended purpose, a timer may be started. Then, when the timer expires, the UE may stop PDCCH monitoring for its intended purpose, which can save power.

[0044] <5G NR Paging Procedure> In the following, a simplified and simplified example implementation of the paging functionality in 5G NR with PDCCH monitoring in its currently standardized version is described.

[0045] In 5G NR, there are two different paging procedures: a RAN-based paging procedure (e.g., a procedure based on RAN-based notification areas) and a core network-based paging procedure (see, e.g., 3GPP TS38.300 v15.6.0, TS38.304 v15.4.0, and TS38.331 v15.6.0, which refer to RAN paging and CN paging in several chapters, such as Section 9.2.5 "Paging" in TS38.300).

[0046] Paging allows the network to reach UEs in RRC_IDLE and RRC_INACTIVE states via paging messages, and to notify UEs in RRC_IDLE, RRC_INACTIVE and RRC_CONNECTED states of system information changes and public alert information (ETWS / CMAS (Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System / Commercial Mobile Alert System)) notifications via short messages. Both paging messages and short messages are addressed by the P-RNTI on the PDCCH monitored by the UE. However, the actual paging message (e.g., carrying the paging record) is sent on the PCCH (which is signaled by the PDCCH), while the short message can be sent directly on the PDCCH.

[0047] In the RRC_IDLE state, the UE monitors the paging channel for CN-initiated paging, and in the RRC_INACTIVE state, the UE also monitors the paging channel for RAN-initiated paging. However, the UE does not need to continuously monitor the paging channel; paging DRX is defined, which requires a UE in the RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE state to only monitor the paging channel during one paging occasion (PO) per DRX period (see 3GPP TS38.304 v15.3.0, e.g., Sections 6.1 and 7.1). The paging DRX period is configured by the network.

[0048] The UE's POs for CN-initiated paging and RAN-initiated paging are based on the same UE ID, resulting in overlapping POs for both. The number of different POs in a DRX cycle is configurable via system information, and the network may distribute UEs to these POs based on their IDs. A PO is a set of PDCCH monitoring opportunities and may consist of multiple time slots (e.g., subframes or OFDM symbols) in which paging DCI can be transmitted. A paging frame (PF) is a radio frame and may contain one or multiple POs or the start of a PO.

[0049] In RRC_CONNECTED state, the UE monitors the paging channel in any PO signaled in the system information for System Information (SI) change notification and / or Public Warning System (PWS) notification. In case of Bandwidth Adaptation (BA) (see TS38.300 clause 6.10), a UE in RRC_CONNECTED state monitors only the paging channel of the active BWP with a configured common search space.

[0050] When the UE receives a paging message, PDCCH monitoring can be stopped by the UE. Depending on the reason for the paging, the UE may, for example, continue to acquire system information or continue to establish an RRC connection with the base station and receive traffic / instructions from the network.

[0051] <Tracking area and tracking area code> Since the location of the UE is usually known at cell level, paging messages are usually transmitted across multiple cells within a so-called Tracking Area (TA), which may be controlled by an AMF / MME (Mobility Management Entity).

[0052] A group of neighboring gNBs may be defined as a TA. For example, this may be done during the initial deployment of a network. During the initial deployment, each gNB may be configured with its own TA. A Tracking Area Code (TAC) is a unique code assigned to each TA.

[0053] Since the network must have updated location information regarding a UE in the RRC_IDLE state in order to find out which TA a particular UE is located in, the UE may notify its current location to the network by sending a Tracking Area Update (TAU) message each time it moves between TAs.

[0054] For this purpose, when the UE attaches to the network, a list indicating the TAs that the network believes the UE is located in is obtained. When moving within the TAs indicated by this list, there is no need to execute the TAU procedure. However, when the UE moves to a TA not indicated in the above list, the TAU procedure is started.

[0055] Furthermore, a UE in the RRC_IDLE state may periodically send TAU messages even if the UE stays in the same TA. By periodically providing TAU messages, the network may be notified that the UE is still available and may receive data.

[0056] The tracking area code associated with a cell may be notified by each gNB in the system information as further described below.

[0057] <Obtaining NR System Information> Exemplary embodiments of the system information acquisition function in 5G NR with the PDCCH monitoring already briefly described above in the currently standardized version will be simply and briefly described below.

[0058] In 5G NR, system information (SI) is divided into a Master Information Block (MIB) and multiple System Information Blocks (SIBs) (see, e.g., Section 5.2 of 3GPP TS38.331 v15.6.0; see also, e.g., Section 7.3 of 3GPP TS38.300 v15.6.0; and see, e.g., Section 13 of 3GPP TS38.213 v15.6.0). The MIB is transmitted on the BCH and contains the parameters needed to retrieve SIB1 from the cell. SIB1 is transmitted periodically on the DL-SCH and contains information about availability and scheduling, such as the mapping of SIBs to SI messages, the periodicity, the SI window size of other SIBs, indicating whether one or more SIBs are provided only on demand, and, if so, the configuration needed by the UE to perform the SI request.

[0059] SIBs other than SIB1 are carried in System Information (SI) messages transmitted on the DL-SCH. SIBs with the same periodicity can be mapped to the same SI message. Each SI message is transmitted within a periodically occurring time-domain window (called the SI window, which has the same length for all SI messages). Each SI message is associated with an SI window, and the SI windows of different SI messages do not overlap.

[0060] The UE applies the SI acquisition procedure to acquire access stratum (AS) and non-access stratum (NAS) information, and applies to UEs in RRC_IDLE, RRC_INACTIVE, and RRC_CONNECTED modes. For example, the UE may apply the SI acquisition procedure during cell selection (e.g., power-on), cell reselection, recovery from out-of-coverage, reconfiguration with synchronization completed, after entering the network from another radio access technology (RAT), when receiving a notification that system information has changed (SI change notification), and when the UE does not have a valid version of the SIB stored. A modification period is used; that is, the updated SI is broadcast in the modification period after the period in which the SI change notification is sent. The modification period can be defined by multiplying the default paging cycle (for example, 230 / 640 / 1280 / 2560 ms) by a corresponding coefficient (modificationPeriodCoeff: 2 / 4 / 8 / 16), where modification period=defaultPagingCycle×modificationPeriodCoeff.

[0061] The UE receives notification of the SI modification using a short message sent with the P-RNTI over the DCI, for example as defined in TS38.331. [Table 1]

[0062] A UE in RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE state may monitor for SI change notifications on its paging occasions every DRX period (see section 5.2.2.2.2 of TS38.331). A UE in RRC_CONNECTED state monitors for SI change notifications on any paging occasion at least once per modification period if the UE is provided with a common search space in the active BWP for paging monitoring.

[0063] For SI message acquisition, one or more PDCCH monitoring opportunities are determined. These may be the same as or different from the PDCCH monitoring of SIB1. For example, the UE assumes that for each transmitted Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) in the SI window, a PDCCH for the SI message is transmitted at at least one PDCCH monitoring opportunity corresponding thereto. The SIB1 configuration provides information on the search space and other PDCCH-related parameters required by the UE to monitor the scheduling of SIB1. In particular, SIB1 may include an indicator indicating the tracking area code associated with the cell.

[0064] <Intermittent Reception (DRX) in LTE and 5G NR> Exemplary embodiments of the intermittent reception (DRX) function in 5G NR with PDCCH monitoring according to the currently standardized version are described below in a simplified and abbreviated manner.

[0065] To reduce battery consumption in the UE, a mechanism is used to minimize the time the UE spends monitoring the PDCCH, which is called the discontinuous reception (DRX) function. The DRX function can be configured for RRC_IDLE, in which case the UE uses either a specific DRX value or a default DRX value (defaultPagingCycle). The default paging cycle is broadcast in the system information and can have values ​​of 32, 64, 128, and 256 radio frames. The UE needs to wake up at one paging occasion per DRX cycle, where a paging occasion is one subframe. The DRX function can also be configured for a UE in the "RRC_CONNECTED" state; therefore, a UE in the RRC_CONNECTED state does not need to constantly monitor the downlink control channel for downlink control information (or, simply put, the UE does not need to monitor the PDCCH) (see 3GPP Technical Standard TS 36.321, 15.6.0, Chapter 5.7).

[0066] <Beamforming> Beamforming is a solution to enhance the performance of mobile networks, enabling higher spectral efficiency, improved link performance, and extended coverage. Beamforming was included in the original 3GPP Release 15 NR specifications. While traditional approaches transmit data over the entire cell area, when beamforming is applied, the data is transmitted in a relatively narrow beam.

[0067] The beams can be formed in a number of different ways, either by providing a fixed grid of beams or by using user-specific (UE-specific) beamforming.

[0068] Beamforming may be thought of as the application of multiple radiating elements transmitting the same signal at the same wavelength and phase, which combine to create a longer target stream. That is, the target stream is formed by reinforcing the waves in a particular direction. The direction of the beam may be changed by changing the phase of radiating elements with a common frequency, in which case different frequencies may be used for beam steering in different directions.

[0069] <Non-terrestrial network> NR-based operation in non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) has been considered and described in 3GPP (see, for example, 3GPP TR38.811, "Studies on NR (New Radio) for supporting non-terrestrial networks," version 15.0.0, and 3GPP TR38.821, "NR solutions for supporting non-terrestrial networks," version 0.3.0). Architectural aspects are considered in TR23.737 (3GPP TR23 737, "Studies on architectural aspects for using satellite access in 5G" (Release 17), version 17.0.0).

[0070] The benefits include the extension of NR communication services to remote locations, ships, aircraft, etc. NTNs can facilitate the deployment of NR services in underserved areas (e.g., isolated or remote areas on aircraft or ships) and underserved areas (e.g., suburban and rural areas) that cannot be covered by terrestrial NR networks, thanks to their wide service coverage capabilities and the low vulnerability of spacecraft / aircraft to physical attacks and natural disasters. Furthermore, NTNs can enhance NR service reliability by providing service continuity to passengers on mobile platforms or by ensuring service availability everywhere, especially for critical communications.

[0071] The above advantages relate to either non-terrestrial networks operating alone or to integrated terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks which may affect coverage, user bandwidth, system capacity, service reliability or availability.

[0072] A non-terrestrial network refers to a network or segment of a network that uses RF resources, for example, in a satellite. Typically, an NTN is characterized by the following system elements: an NTN terminal, which refers to a terminal for a 3GPP UE or a satellite system if the satellite does not directly serve the 3GPP UE; a service link, which refers to a radio link between the user equipment and a space / airborne platform; an airborne platform carrying a payload; a gateway connecting the space / airborne platform to the core network; and a feeder link, which refers to a radio link between the space / airborne platform and the gateway center.

[0073] The satellite or other high-altitude platform may consist only of relay functionality relaying to the feeder link from the access side to the ground station, or may include some or all of the NR radio baseband processing (e.g., part of the gNB or all of the gNB). The rest of the network and core network may be located on the ground. The satellite may also have links to other satellites (inter-satellite links (ISLs)), which may be useful if the satellite cannot reach any ground station directly.

[0074] The NTN architecture may adapt and use existing NR logical interfaces, protocols, and concepts to address, for example, long latency and / or other NTN specifications.

[0075] Transmission between terminals (UEs) may be performed via a remote radio unit including a satellite and an NTN gateway. A gNB may be located in the gateway as a scheduling device / base station. The satellite payload may implement frequency conversion and radio frequency amplification in both the uplink and downlink directions. Thus, the satellite may fold back the NR radio interface from a feeder link (between the NTN gateway and the satellite) to a service link (between the satellite and the UE) and vice versa. A satellite in this configuration is called a transparent satellite.

[0076] Transmission between terminals (UEs) may also occur via satellites that include gNBs as scheduling devices / base stations, which are called regenerative satellites.

[0077] The satellites may be in low Earth orbit (LEO), i.e., at an altitude of about 600 or 1200 km, or in geostationary orbit, i.e., at an altitude of about 35786 km. In a GEO orbit, the position of the satellite does not change substantially over time relative to the Earth's surface, whereas in a LEO orbit, the satellite moves relative to the surface.

[0078] Table 1 outlines the NTN reference scenario. The satellites can be in either GEO or LEO. If the satellite is in LEO, the beam can be steerable or move with the satellite's movement, and the satellite itself can be transparent or regenerative. [Table 2]

[0079] In NTN, the paging framework of the terrestrial network may be reused. That is, the core network may maintain and / or configure tracking areas, while the UE is unaware of how TAs are maintained or configured. That is, the UE may be registered with a TA by the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) of the core network before the UE enters RRC_IDLE mode. This may allow the UE to receive paging messages from the network as long as the UE remains in the TA where it is registered.

[0080] The UE may obtain the TAC by reading SIB1 broadcast by the gNB, and may compare the received TAC with the TAC of the registered TA to know whether it has left the registered TA. If the UE has left the registered TA, a TAU procedure may be performed to receive a new registered TA from the AMF.

[0081] <Enhanced power saving functions> It is important to consider UE power consumption to ensure that 5G NR UEs can be more power efficient than LTE, and that technologies and designs for improvement are identified and applied. 3GPP is currently investigating how to conserve UE power in NR systems, particularly NTN, taking into account latency and performance.

[0082] However, the inventors have identified further instances where the UE consumes power that are best avoided.

[0083] In an NTN with base stations located on satellites in LEO, for example, the tracking area associated with the cell served by that base station may move relative to the Earth's surface. In other words, if the satellite / cell does not change its broadcasted TAC value, the TA will sweep the Earth as the cell moves (moving tracking area). As a result, a stationary UE must continue to perform TAU in RRC_IDLE state, which results in significant TAU ​​overhead and unnecessary UE power consumption.

[0084] Alternatively, the TA may be set to be stationary relative to the Earth's surface, regardless of and independent of the location of a moving cell relative to the Earth (stationary tracking area), i.e., the TA may be set based on a geographical location on the Earth, rather than based on a coverage area across a set of base stations.

[0085] This is illustrated in Figures 7A and 7B. Figure 7A shows a situation where, at a certain time t, multiple cells C1-C12 are located near the boundary (shown by the bold line) between two tracking areas TA1 and TA2. The boundary may be set to correspond to the border between two neighboring countries A and B, for example. Figure 7B shows the same geographic area as Figure 7A at a different time t+Δt. As can be seen, cells C1-C12 have shifted a certain distance from right to left, changing their relative positions with respect to the boundary between TA1 and TA2. For example, C5, which was entirely within TA2 at time t, is partially within TA1 and TA2 at time t+Δt. Furthermore, for example, C7, which was partially within TA1 and TA2 at time t, is completely within TA1 at time t+Δt.

[0086] In the situation of stationary TAs and moving cells, the base station serving the moving cell may change its broadcasted TAC when moving from within a first TA to a second TA. For this purpose, two basic approaches are considered. First, in the so-called hard switch option, the cell is allowed to broadcast only one TAC per PLMN in SIB1. Furthermore, when the cell is moving towards the boundary between two TAs, the cell switches from broadcasting a first TAC associated with the first TA to broadcasting a second TAC associated with the second TA. This is illustrated in Figure 8A, where a cell (shown as an oval) is broadcasting a TA at time t1. A Located within TA A and T.A. B At time t2, the satellite moves to a position within the TAC A or TAC B Either of the following is reported in SIB1. A When the notification is made, TA B UE2, which is located and registered in the cell, performs the TAU procedure. B If it is located entirely within, e.g., TAC B is broadcast, and UE2 performs the TAU update procedure again.

[0087] In the hard switch option, if the cell is in a first TA, a first TAC may be announced, if the cell is in a second TA, a second TAC may be announced, and if the cell is partially in the first TA and the second TA, either the first TAC or the second TAC may be announced.

[0088] Second, in an option called the soft switch option, a cell is allowed to broadcast more than one, i.e., multiple, TACs per PLMN in SIB1. When a cell is partially located in more than one TA, more than one associated TAC may be broadcast. This is illustrated in Figure 8B, where a cell (shown as an oval) is located in a TA at time t1. ALocated within TA A and T.A. B At time t2, the satellite moves to a position within the TAC A and TAC B In this case, both TA A and T.A. B Neither UE1 nor UE2 located within the same area performs the TAU procedure.

[0089] However, in the hard switch option, the UE performs a TAU when it detects that the registered TAC is no longer broadcast in the cell, which results in a repeated TAU procedure, as further explained above, and consequently increases the overall signaling overhead and consumes UE power.

[0090] Furthermore, in the soft switch option, the gNB signaling overhead increases significantly while a cell moves from a first TA to a second TA because two or more TACs are broadcast in SIB1. Furthermore, the signaling overhead increases because the gNB may page all UEs registered to the TACs (e.g., the first TAC and the second TAC) broadcast by the gNB.

[0091] The following describes UEs, base stations, and procedures that address the above-mentioned issues for a new radio access technology that is envisioned for a 5G mobile communication system, but that may also be used in an LTE mobile communication system. Various embodiments and variations are also described. The following disclosure is facilitated by, and may be based, for example, at least in part on, the above discussion and findings.

[0092] In general, it should be noted that many assumptions have been made herein so that the principles underlying the present disclosure can be explained in a clear and understandable manner. However, these assumptions should be understood as merely examples made herein for illustrative purposes, which should not limit the scope of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the principles of the following disclosure and as set forth in the claims may be applied to different scenarios and in ways not explicitly described herein.

[0093] Furthermore, some of the terms used below, such as procedures, entities, and layers, are closely related to the terms used in the LTE / LTE-A system or the current 3GPP 5G standardization, even though the specific terms to be used in the context of new radio access technologies for upcoming 3GPP 5G communication systems have not yet been fully determined or may eventually change. Therefore, the terms may change in the future without affecting the functionality of the embodiments. Therefore, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments and their scope of protection should not be limited to the specific terms illustratively used herein due to the lack of newer or finally agreed-upon terms, but should be more broadly understood with respect to the functions and concepts underlying the functions and principles of the present disclosure.

[0094] For example, a mobile station or mobile node or user terminal or user equipment (UE) is a physical entity (physical node) in a communication network. A node may have several functional entities. A functional entity refers to a software or hardware module that implements and / or provides a set of functions to other functional entities of the same or other nodes or networks. A node may have one or more interfaces that connect the node to communication facilities or media over which the node can communicate. Similarly, a network entity may have logical interfaces that connect functional entities to communication facilities or media over which it can communicate with other functional entities or correspondent nodes.

[0095] The term "base station" or "radio base station" herein refers to a physical entity in a communication network. Similar to a mobile station, a base station may have several functional entities. A functional entity refers to a software or hardware module that implements and / or provides a predetermined set of functions to other functional entities of the same or other nodes or networks. A physical entity performs several control tasks for communication devices, including one or more of scheduling and configuration. It should be noted that base station functions and communication device functions may also be integrated within a single device. For example, a mobile terminal may also implement the functions of a base station for other terminals. The term used in LTE is eNB (or eNodeB), while the term currently used in 5G NR is gNB.

[0096] The present disclosure provides apparatus and techniques that may facilitate reduced power consumption and signaling overhead.

[0097] The present disclosure provides a base station and a transceiver device as shown in FIG.

[0098] The base station 100 includes a transceiver unit 110 and a circuit 120. In operation, the circuit controls the transceiver unit 110 to serve a cell associated with a first tracking area code and to periodically transmit, in system information, a TAC indicator indicating at least one TAC associated with the cell. Further, in operation, the circuit 120 controls the transceiver unit 110 to transmit a trigger indicator for triggering the transceiver device to perform a system information update procedure when there is a change in the content of the system information, and in operation, the circuit 120 prevents the transceiver unit 110 from transmitting the trigger indicator when the cell has moved and is therefore associated with a second TAC.

[0099] For example, the base station 100 is a network node in a NR network system (gNB) or a similar communication system. The circuitry 120 is also referred to as a “control circuit” to distinguish it from circuits such as the UE circuitry 220.

[0100] The transceiver device includes a transceiver unit 210 and a circuit 220. The transceiver device 200 may be served by a base station. The transceiver unit 210, in operation, may receive a trigger indicator indicating a change in system information. Furthermore, the circuit 220, in operation, may control the transceiver unit 210 to perform a system information update procedure when the trigger indicator is received.

[0101] For example, the transceiver device 200 is a UE in an NR network. Accordingly, the transceiver unit 210 and the circuitry 220 are also referred to as a "UE transceiver unit" and "UE circuitry." However, these terms are used merely to distinguish the transceiver unit 210 and the circuitry 220 from circuits and transceivers included in other devices, such as the base station 100. The transceiver device 200 may be a terminal service, a relay device, or a similar communication device in a communication system.

[0102] FIG. 10 illustrates steps of a method according to one embodiment. The method may be performed by a base station according to one embodiment. In step S10, a TAC indicator is transmitted in system information. For example, the TAC indicator may be transmitted from the base station to the transceiver device. The TAC indicator indicates at least one tracking area code (TAC) associated with a serving cell. In step S11, the TAC indicator in the system information is modified when at least one TAC associated with the cell is changed. In step S12, it is determined whether the TAC change is due to a cell movement. If the TAC change is not due to a cell movement ("no" in step S12), a trigger indicator is broadcast in step S13 to trigger the transceiver device to perform a system information update procedure when the contents of the system information are changed. For example, the trigger indicator may be broadcast by the base station. After step S13, the method proceeds to step S10. If the TAC change is due to a cell movement ("yes" in step S12), the method proceeds to step S10. That is, if there is a change in TAC due to cell movement, broadcasting of the trigger indicator is prevented / skipped.

[0103] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 11, the moving cell (shown as an oval) is A The base station serving the cell may be located, for example, on a satellite in LEO. At t1, the base station A As mentioned above, the location of the cell on the Earth's surface changes according to the movement of the satellite relative to the surface. At time t2, the cell is partially in TA A and T.A. B At t2, the base station is located within the TAC B UE1 periodically broadcasts a TAC indicator that indicates the TA A Therefore, the AMF may be stationary within the TA. A UE2 is registered in TA BTherefore, the AMF may be stationary within the TA. B will be registered.

[0104] At t2, TAC A A second TAC (TAC) that may be different from B ) associated with a cell, triggering the SI update procedure is prevented. A TA (partially) from within B The movement of cells into the TAC B Even if the trigger indicator indicating a change in system information is associated with the trigger indicator, the trigger indicator is not broadcast.

[0105] From t1 to t2, UE1 remains in the cell and is unaware of the change in the TAC associated with the cell because no trigger indicator has been broadcast, and therefore UE1 does not perform the TAU procedure.

[0106] Furthermore, from t1 to t2, UE2 leaves the original cell and enters a new cell (due to cell movement). In this framework, UE2 reads the system information of the new cell due to the cell change. The TAC broadcast at t2 is TAC B , i.e., registered TA B Since the TAU is equal to the TAU of the UE2, the UE2 does not perform a TAU update procedure even if the cell is changed.

[0107] That is, by preventing the trigger indicator from being broadcast, neither UE1 nor UE2 needs to perform the TAU procedure, and therefore unnecessary power consumption may be reduced.

[0108] Preferably, when performing the paging procedure at t1, the base station A However, at t2, when performing the paging procedure, the base station serving the moving cell will page all UEs registered in TA B All UEs registered with TA A The cell pages all UEs registered in the TA BUpon entering the cell, the base station serving the cell will B All UEs registered with the TA may be paged, but A In other words, the base station does not need to page all UEs registered in the cell. B When inside, TA A may stop paging of UEs registered with

[0109] In other words, if the TAC changes due to cell movement, the broadcast of the trigger indicator for triggering the SI update procedure is prevented. Furthermore, in order to perform the paging procedure as described above, the base station may keep a record of the previous TAC associated with the cell.

[0110] If the transceiver device knows that the base station will not send a trigger indicator indicating a change in system information, as described above, the transceiver device may obtain SIB1 in advance if a change in TAC should be determined / detected.

[0111] FIG. 12 shows a state prior to the state shown in FIG. 11, in which the moving cell C1 (shown by the dashed line) is moved to the TA A Move from within and at time t 1.5 (C'1) is partially TA A and T.A. B Enter inside. 1.5 In this case, cell C′1 is still in TAC B and still associated with TAC A , and therefore the base station serving cell C′1 is associated with TAC A is periodically notified. 1.5 In UE3, TA B Located in TA B However, UE3 is located within the coverage area of ​​the new cell C'1 and within the coverage area of ​​the previous cell C2 (shown by the diagonal lines). UE3 is registered at time t 1.5However, if the signal strength of C2 decreases and simultaneously the signal strength of C'1 increases, UE3 may eventually perform a serving cell change from C2 to C'1.

[0112] However, C'1 is t 1.5 TAC A This change may require UE3 to perform a TAU update procedure, since cell C'1 broadcasts the TAC at which UE3 is registered. Thus, depending on whether the TAC broadcast in cell C'1 is equal to or different from the TAC at which UE3 is registered and / or depending on whether the TAC broadcast in cell C2 is equal to or different from the TAC at which UE3 is registered, UE3 decides whether to switch from cell C2 to cell C'1.

[0113] 13 illustrates steps of a method according to one embodiment. For example, the method may be performed by a transceiver device according to one embodiment. In step S20, a first tracking area code (TAC) indicator is received, the first TAC indicator indicating a first TAC associated with a first cell that may serve the transceiver device. In step S21, a second TAC indicator is received, the second TAC indicator indicating a second TAC associated with a second cell. Furthermore, in step S22, it is determined whether to switch from the first cell to the second cell depending on whether the first TAC and / or the second TAC is equal to or different from the TAC with which the transceiver device is registered.

[0114] For example, the cell reselection criteria applied when selecting a new serving cell may depend on whether the TACs advertised by the current cell and the potential new cell are equal to each other.

[0115] To this end, UE3 may receive in the system information a first TAC indicator indicating a first TAC associated with cell C2 and a second TAC indicator indicating a second TAC associated with cell C'1. For example, UE3 may receive the second TAC indicator by listening to the SI broadcast by neighboring cell C'1. Alternatively or additionally, current cell C2 may broadcast TAC indicators, i.e., both an indicator indicating its own TAC and an indicator indicating one or more TACs associated with neighboring cells.

[0116] The cell reselection criteria are defined in TS 38.304, clause 5.2.4.6 (3GPP 38.304, "User Equipment (UE) Procedures in Idle Mode and RRC Inactive State" (Release 16), Version 16.0.0), and the reselection criteria may be modified as follows: R s =Q meas,s +Q hyst -Qoffset temp +C·Serv TAC Rn =Q meas,n -Q offset -Qoffset temp +C·Neigh TAC

[0117] Qmeas,s and Qmeas,n denote the RSRP metrics used for cell reselection to the serving cell and neighboring cell, respectively. Q hyst Qoffset denotes the hysteresis value of the serving cell to prevent round-trip reselection. temp Q is a cell-specific offset that is temporarily applied to a cell after a connection establishment failure. offset indicates the offset in the cell ranking criteria of neighboring cells signaled by the network. Its value depends on whether the neighboring cells are on the same frequency as the UE's serving cell or on a different frequency.

[0118] C indicates a constant value. If the TAC value broadcast by the serving cell is associated with the registered TA, TAC is equal to 1, and if the TAC value broadcast by the serving cell is not associated with the registered TA, the Serv TAC is equal to 0. Furthermore, if the TAC value broadcast by the neighboring cell is associated with the registered TA, TAC is equal to 1, while if the TAC value broadcast by the neighboring cell is not associated with the registered TA, Neigh TAC is equal to 0.

[0119] That is, if the TAC value broadcast by a neighboring cell is not the TAC value associated with the registered TA, the reselection of the neighboring cell is delayed. This approach can prevent the reselection of a neighboring cell that broadcasts a TAC that is not associated with the registered TA.

[0120] In one embodiment, the base station may additionally or alternatively turn off the transceiver 110 or prevent the transceiver from transmitting system information when the cell is partially within the first TA and the second TA.

[0121] Figure 14 shows three cells served at a given time. A TA A Located within the Cell C TA B Located within the Cell B is partially TA A and T.A. B Located within the Cell A Well, TAC A is periodically notified, and Cell C Well, TAC B However, Cell B For example, the circuit 120 may detect that a cell is partially in the first TA. A and the second T.A. BWhen the transceiver is within the range, the transceiver can be prevented from transmitting system information.

[0122] If system information is prevented from being broadcast when a cell is not entirely within a single TA, a UE camped on a cell may still be served, but the system information cannot be read and cell selection is prevented. This approach prevents the UE from performing a TAU procedure, which may result in UE power savings and reduced signaling overhead.

[0123] In one embodiment, the moving cell is moving towards the boundary of two TAs, as shown in Figure 15. At a first time t1, the whole cell is in a first tracking area TA A and the first tracking area code TAC in the system information A At a second time t2 after the first time t1, the cell broadcasts a partial TA A and the second tracking area TA B At a second time t2, the second tracking area code TAC B is announced in the system information (hard switch option). A A stationary UE1 is located inside.

[0124] In this embodiment, in addition to or instead of the above, the AMF is A and T.A. B) to UE1. To this end, UE1 may report its location, for example, within the framework of a periodic TAU procedure. For example, UE1 may determine its location based on the readings of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) (e.g., GPS) receiver or via a Wi-Fi positioning system. In this case, characteristics of nearby Wi-Fi hotspots and / or other wireless access points may be used to determine where UE1 is located. However, the location determination is not limited to the above method, and any other method may be applied as well. For example, UE1 may obtain its location by user input.

[0125] The reported location is TA A and T.A. B Within a certain threshold distance from the boundary of , the AMF is A and T.A. B to UE 1. The threshold distance may be predetermined or may be dynamically set / determined.

[0126] In other words, an access and mobility management device (e.g., a core entity running AMF) may receive a location indicator indicating the location of a transceiver device. The access and mobility management device may also determine whether the location is within a threshold distance from a boundary between a first TA and a second TA, and if the location is within the threshold distance from the boundary, register the transceiver device in both the first TA and the second TA. Furthermore, the access and mobility management device may cause a base station to send a TAC indicator indicating the first TAC and the second TAC to the transceiver device during a procedure in which the transceiver device registers with a network.

[0127] FIG. 16 illustrates steps of a method according to one embodiment. The method may be performed by a transceiver device according to one embodiment. In step S30, a location of the transceiver device is determined. Further, in step S31, a location indicator indicating the determined location is transmitted. For example, the location indicator is transmitted to a base station. In step S32, a TAC indicator is received. The TAC indicator indicates a first tracking area code (TAC) and a second TAC during a procedure in which the transceiver device registers with a network. Further, in step S33, the transceiver device is associated with the first TAC and the second TAC.

[0128] During a paging procedure to reach a transceiver device, the access and mobility management device may send a paging request message covering either the first TA or the second TA to the base station to reach a transceiver device registered in the first TA and / or the second TA.

[0129] The access and mobility management device may send a paging request to the base station to page a transceiving device registered in a first TA when the base station is associated with a first TA. Further, the access and mobility management device may send a paging request to the base station to page a transceiving device registered in a second TA when the base station is associated with a second TA. Further, the access and mobility management node may send a paging request to the base station to page a transceiving device registered in either the first TA or the second TA when the base station is associated with the first TA and the second TA.

[0130] After receiving the paging request, the base station may send a paging message according to the received paging request.

[0131] With this approach, UE1 does not perform a TAU update procedure at time t2, regardless of the actual TAC broadcast by the base station / gNB.

[0132] However, even if UE1 is stationary, it is registered in both TAs, so it is in the tracking area TA A The mobile terminal is paged by AMF in both TA1 and TA2, which may increase signaling overhead during the paging procedure.

[0133] To reduce this effect, the geographic structure of the (stationary TA) can be configured such that a large TA is surrounded by multiple small TAs. A large TA can be a TA whose area exceeds a first threshold area, and a small TA can be a TA whose area is below a second threshold area. The first threshold area can be equal to or greater than the second threshold area.

[0134] An example of such a geographical arrangement of TAs is shown in Figures 17A and 17B, which show four large TAs (TA1-TA4) separated from each other by multiple smaller TAs (ta) (for clarity, only three ta are labeled in the figures).

[0135] Although the large and small TAs are illustrated as rectangles, the shape of the tracking area may be a shape other than a rectangle. For example, the shape of the tracking area may follow the shape of the border of an adjacent country.

[0136] The large tracking area TA and the small tracking area ta may be configured such that each of the two large tracking areas is not adjacent to each other, but is separated from each other by one or more small tracking areas.

[0137] According to this configuration, if a UE is registered in at least two TAs because its location is close to the boundary of two tracking areas, the UE will be paged in more than one tracking area, but the total area of ​​the tracking areas in which the UE is registered will be reduced compared to when the UE is registered in two large tracking areas, so paging overhead can be reduced.

[0138] In one embodiment, the moving cell is moving towards the boundary of two TAs, as shown in Figure 18. Specifically, at time t1, the cell is in the first tracking area TA A Located within the cell and TA A The first tracking area code TAC associated with A At a second time t2 after the first time t1, the cell broadcasts a partial TA A and the second tracking area TA B Located within the cell and TA B TAC associated with A and the second tracking area code TAC B The first transmitting / receiving device UE1 broadcasts both the TA A The second transmitting / receiving device UE2 is stationarily located within the TA B UE1 is stationary within the TA by AMF. A UE2 is registered with TA by AMF. B is registered.

[0139] UE1 stays in the cell from t1 to t2. At t2, the base station transmits and receives TAC A and TAC B However, the base station does not transmit a trigger indicator indicating a change in the system information. B UE1's system information update procedure may be prevented due to not knowing the additional association to UE1.

[0140] During the paging procedure at t1, the base station A During the paging procedure at time t2, the base station sends a paging message to the UE registered in TA, specifically UE1. B UE and TA registered with AIn the illustrated example, UE1 is paged during the paging procedure at time t1. Furthermore, in the illustrated embodiment, UE1 and UE2 are paged during the paging procedure at time t2.

[0141] This allows the intended paging of the UE at t1 and t2, in which case the base station transmission of the trigger indicator is prevented, so that the UE can transmit the TAC to the moving cell. B Do not perform the system information update procedure for additional associations.

[0142] In one embodiment, additionally or alternatively, the base station circuitry controls the transceiver to serve the cell using multiple beams, as shown in Figure 19. As in the previous embodiment, the cell is partially within the first tracking area TA at time t2. A Also within the second tracking area TA B In addition, the base station serving the cell is also located within the TAC. A and TAC B will be notified.

[0143] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 19, the first TAC, i.e., TAC A is broadcast using the beams of the first subset (beams #1 to #5), and the beams of the first subset are A Additionally, a second TAC, i.e., TAC B is broadcast using the second subset of beams (beams #9 to #13), and the second subset of beams in the claims is B Furthermore, the first and second TACs, i.e., TAC A and TAC B is broadcast using the beams of the third subset (beams #6 to #8), and the beams of the third subset are partially TA A and T.A. B Located inside.

[0144] As in the previous embodiment, the circuitry of the base station serving the cell may be configured to detect when the cell has moved and is therefore in a second TA. B This prevents the transceiver from transmitting a trigger indicator indicating a change in system information when the mobile station begins to associate with the mobile station.

[0145] By broadcasting both TACs at t2, the signaling overhead of the broadcast may be reduced since the two TACs are only broadcast in a subset of the cell's beams. Cells located entirely within a single TA broadcast the TAC associated with that single TA.

[0146] For example, at t2, it may not be necessary to page the UE using all beams during the paging procedure. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 19, beams #1 to #5, i.e., beams of the first subset, are used to page the UE. A Furthermore, beams #9 to #13, i.e., beams in the second subset, can be used for paging UEs registered in TA. B Furthermore, beams #6 to #8, i.e., beams in the third subset, can be used to page UEs registered in the TA. A or T.A. B The UE may be used to page UEs registered with the UE.

[0147] Although the paging procedure using TAC broadcasting and a subset of beams has been described above for the situation where a cell is on the border of two TAs, the same approach may also be applied when a cell is partially located within three or more TAs.

[0148] For example, a cell may be located partially within three TAs. This may be the case when the cell is located at the intersection of three adjacent TAs. In this situation, the circuitry may control the transceiver to broadcast a first TAC using beams of a first subset located within the first TA, broadcast a second TAC using beams of a second subset located within the second TA, and broadcast a third TAC using beams of a third subset located within the third TA. Furthermore, the circuitry may control the transceiver to broadcast the first TAC, the second TAC, and the third TAC using beams of a fourth subset located partially within the first TA, the second TA, and the third TA. Furthermore, the circuitry may control the transceiver to broadcast the first TAC and the second TAC using beams of a fifth subset located partially within the first TA and the second TA, but not the third TA. Further, the circuitry may control the transceiver unit to broadcast the first TAC and the third TAC using a sixth subset of beams that are partially located within the first TA and the third TA but not within the second TA. Further, the circuitry may control the transceiver unit to broadcast the second TAC and the third TAC using a seventh subset of beams that are partially located within the second TA and the third TA but not within the first TA. In other words, the circuitry may control the transceiver unit to broadcast TACs associated with TAs that have an overlapping area with the serving area of ​​the beams.

[0149] Similarly, beams in the first subset may be used to page UEs registered in the first TA, beams in the second subset may be used to page UEs registered in the second TA, and beams in the third subset may be used to page UEs registered in the third TA. Furthermore, beams in the fourth subset may be used to page UEs registered in the first TA, the second TA, or the third TA, beams in the fifth subset may be used to page UEs registered in the first TA or the second TA, beams in the sixth subset may be used to page UEs registered in the first TA or the third TA, and beams in the seventh subset may be used to page UEs registered in the second TA or the third TA.

[0150] However, as mentioned above, the present disclosure is not limited to two or three adjacent TAs, but may apply to four, five, or any other number of TAs having an overlapping area with a cell served by a base station.

[0151] This approach may enable a reduction in broadcasting and paging overhead since only a subset of beams is used for broadcasting TAC and / or paging the desired UE.

[0152] In one embodiment, the transmitting and receiving device may determine its location and mobility state and, in response, transmit a location indicator to the base station indicating its location.

[0153] For example, the transceiver device may obtain its location using GNSS receiver readings. The location of the transceiver device may be obtained multiple times. Based on the location, the transceiver device may determine whether it is in a high mobility state, a medium mobility state, or a stationary state. For example, the transceiver device may determine that it is in a high mobility state if its speed is equal to or greater than a first threshold. Furthermore, the transceiver device may determine that it is in a medium mobility state if its speed is equal to or greater than a second threshold but less than the first threshold. Furthermore, the transceiver device may determine that it is in a stationary state if its speed is below the second threshold.

[0154] The second threshold may be preset or dynamically set. For example, the second threshold may be set to a speed of 5 km / h, 10 km / h, 15 km / h, or any other speed. Furthermore, the first threshold may be preset or dynamically set. For example, the first threshold may be set to a speed of 100 km / h, 200 km / h, or 300 km / h, or any other speed greater than the second threshold.

[0155] If the transceiver device determines that it is stationary, it reports its location, for example, within the framework of a periodic TAU procedure. Once the AMF knows the location, it can then initiate a paging procedure by sending a paging request message to the base station, including the reported location of the transceiver device. The base station then transmits the paging message using only a subset of its beams. The beams used to transmit the paging message are determined according to the reported location of the transceiver device.

[0156] For example, the transceiving device may be paged by using only the beam having a coverage area that includes the reported location, or alternatively, the transceiving device may be paged using the beam having a coverage area that includes the reported location and beams adjacent to that beam.

[0157] Additionally or alternatively, the transmitting / receiving device may report the current beam ID and / or cell ID to enable determination of which beam should be used during the paging procedure.

[0158] Furthermore, the transceiver device may determine its mobility state based on the number of beams or cells it changes over a certain period of time. For example, if the transceiver device changes beams less than twice during a certain period of time, the transceiver device may determine that it is in a stationary state. Furthermore, if the transceiver device changes beams three times during a certain period of time, the transceiver device may determine that it is in a medium mobility state. Furthermore, if the transceiver device changes beams four or more times during a certain period of time, the transceiver device may determine that it is in a high mobility state. The specific period of time may be, for example, 10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, or any other period of time.

[0159] In one embodiment, the base station broadcasts a soft combining indicator that indicates whether all of the multiple beams are associated with the same TAC. For example, the soft combining indicator can be a dedicated one-bit notification broadcast in the MIB. The indicator indicates "true" if soft combining is possible and "false" if soft combining is not possible.

[0160] When soft combining is possible, the transmitting / receiving device may, for example, determine the content of the system information from transmissions received from multiple beams. This may only be possible if the multiple beams transmit the same content in the system information. That is, soft combining is possible if the beams transmit the same TAC.

[0161] When a cell is passing through a boundary between TAs, multiple beams may broadcast different TACs, for example, as shown in Figure 19. Therefore, when a cell passes through a boundary between TAs, soft combining is not possible, and therefore the soft combining indicator indicates "false." Note that soft combining of MIBs / SIBs received from the same beam at different time instances may be possible even if the soft combining indicator indicates "false."

[0162] Alternatively, instead of broadcasting a soft combining indicator, the base station may broadcast a mapping indicator in the system information, which indicates the mapping between multiple beams and the TAC broadcasted by each beam. In other words, the base station may inform the transceiver which beam broadcasts which TAC.

[0163] This approach may allow a transmitting and receiving device to perform soft combining using transmissions from multiple beams of the same cell.

[0164] In one embodiment, the moving cell may be served by a base station using multiple beams, for example as shown in Figure 20. As with the previous embodiment, the base station may also serve a tracking area TA A and T.A. B Depending on the position of the beam relative to the boundary of the TAC, different subsets of beams may be used to broadcast different TACs. A is announced on Beam #1 to Beam #5, and TAC A and TAC B is announced on Beam #6 to Beam #8, and TAC B will be announced in Beams #9 to #13.

[0165] UE3 was initially a TA A located within the TA A When the UE 3 moves at high speed (i.e., the mobility state is high mobility state), the UE 3 changes the beam without changing the cell, and the TA A and T.A.B In the illustrated example, UE 3 moves from within the coverage area of ​​beam #8 to within the coverage area of ​​beam #11.

[0166] UE3 does not acquire system information when moving from Beam#8 to Beam#11. Because the serving cell does not change, UE3 does not know about the change in TA and does not receive paging messages during the paging procedure.

[0167] However, when the soft combining indicator is broadcast by the base station, if the soft combining indicator indicates "false", i.e., when different beams transmit different contents of the system information, i.e., when the cell is moving across the TA boundary and the UE 3 determines that its mobility state is a high mobility state, the UE 3 may monitor the broadcast of the system information, and the UE 3 monitors the broadcast of the system information to receive a TAC indicator included in the system information. If the broadcast TAC is different from the TAC with which the UE 3 is registered, a TAU procedure is performed. Also, if the soft combining indicator indicates "false" and the mobility state of the UE 3 is a high mobility state, the UE 3 may perform a TAU procedure when a change of the serving beam is detected.

[0168] 21 shows steps of a method performed by a base station according to one embodiment. In step S100, the base station (gNB) projects a cell onto the Earth's surface using multiple beams. In other words, the cell is configured by multiple beams. In step S101, it is determined whether the cell has passed through a boundary between two or more TAs.

[0169] If the cell crosses the boundary of multiple TAs (step S101: yes), the method proceeds to step S102.

[0170] In step S102, a soft combining indicator ("soft_combine") is set to "false" in the MIB. Further, in step S103, the gNB broadcasts different TAC values ​​in SIB1 using different beams depending on the positions of the beams relative to the TA. In step S104, it is determined whether a paging request for paging the UE is received from the AMF.

[0171] If no paging request has been received (step S104: "no"), the process proceeds to step S101. However, if the gNB receives a paging request from the AMF to page the UE, then in step S105 it is determined whether the location of the UE to be paged is known by the gNB, i.e., whether information about the location of the UE to be paged is available to the gNB.

[0172] If the location of the UE is known ("yes" in step S105), then in step S107 the UE is paged using a specific beam. For example, the UE may be paged using a beam whose coverage area includes the UE's location. On the other hand, if the gNB does not know the location of the UE to be paged ("no" in step S105), then in step S107 the gNB pages the UE using all beams mapped to the TA in which the UE is registered. After step S106 or step S107, the method proceeds again to step S101.

[0173] If the cell does not pass through the boundary of multiple TAs (step S101: no), the process proceeds to step S108, where the gNB sets a soft combining indicator (soft_combine) to true to indicate that soft combining is possible. Further, in step S109, the same TAC is broadcast using all beams of the cell. In step S110, it is determined whether a paging request for paging the UE has been received from the AMF.

[0174] If no paging request has been received (“no” in step S110), the process proceeds to step S101. However, if the gNB receives a paging request from the AMF to page the UE, in step S115 it is determined whether the location of the UE to be paged is known by the gNB, i.e., whether information about the location of the UE to be paged is available to the gNB.

[0175] If the UE's location is known ("yes" in step S111), then in step S112 the UE is paged using a specific beam. For example, the UE may be paged using a beam whose coverage area includes the UE's location. On the other hand, if the gNB does not know the location of the UE to be paged ("no" in step S111), then in step S113 the gNB pages the UE using all beams of the cell. After step S112 or step S113, the method proceeds again to step S101.

[0176] FIG. 22 illustrates steps of a method performed by a transceiver device (UE) according to one embodiment, in which the transceiver device is in RRC_IDLE state and moves to a new cell different from the current serving cell (S200).

[0177] In step S201, it is determined whether the received soft combining indicator (soft_combine) indicates "true", i.e., whether the indicator indicates that soft combining is possible, i.e., whether all beams of the cell transmit the same TAC in the system information.

[0178] If the soft combining indicator does not indicate "true" ("no" in step S201), the method proceeds to step S202. In step S202, the UE retrieves SIB1 broadcast by the gNB from the serving beam and obtains a list of TACs (TAC list) from SIB1. In step S203, it is determined whether the UE is still within the TA where it is registered. This may be performed by comparing the TAC associated with the UE with the TACs indicated in the obtained TAC list.

[0179] If the UE is no longer in the registered TA (step S203: "no"), the TAU procedure is performed and the UE is registered in a new TA in step S204. The method then proceeds to step S205. If the UE is still in the registered TA (step S203: "yes"), the method proceeds directly to step S205.

[0180] In step S205, it is determined whether the UE is a stationary UE. For example, this may be performed as described in more detail above. For example, the UE may be determined to be stationary if its velocity is below a threshold. The velocity may be obtained, for example, from GNSS sensor readings.

[0181] If it is determined that the UE is stationary ("yes" in step S205), the TAU procedure is performed in step S206, and the UE is registered in a new TA. If it is determined that the UE is not stationary ("no" in step S205), the broadcast of system information is monitored by the UE. In other words, the UE periodically checks the contents of the broadcasted SIB1. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may check SIB1 upon detection of a beam change.

[0182] In step S208, the UE monitors the transmission of a paging message from the network. In addition, in step S209, it is determined whether a new cell is selected as the serving cell. If it is determined that the UE will not reselect a new cell ("no" in step S209), the process proceeds to step S205. On the other hand, if it is determined that the UE will select a new cell ("yes" in step S209), the process proceeds to step S200 again.

[0183] If the soft combining indicator (soft_combine) in the MIB indicates "true" ("yes" in step S201), proceed to step S210, where the UE soft-combines SIB1s from different beams to obtain a TAC list. In step S211, it is determined whether the UE is still within the registered TA. This can be performed by comparing the TAC associated with the UE with the TACs indicated in the obtained TAC list.

[0184] If the UE is no longer in the registered TA ("no" in step S211), a TAU procedure is performed and the UE is registered in a new TA in step S212. The method then proceeds to step S213. If the UE is still in the registered TA ("yes" in step S211), the method proceeds directly to step S213.

[0185] In step S213, it is determined whether the UE is a stationary UE. For example, this may be performed as described in more detail above. For example, the UE may be determined to be stationary if its velocity is below a threshold. The velocity may be obtained, for example, from GNSS sensor readings.

[0186] If it is determined that the UE is stationary ("yes" in step S213), the TAU procedure is performed in step S214, and the UE is registered in a new TA. If it is determined that the UE is not stationary ("no" in step S213), the broadcast of system information is monitored by the UE. In other words, the UE periodically checks the contents of the broadcasted SIB1. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may check SIB1 upon detection of a beam change.

[0187] In step S215, the UE monitors the transmission of a paging message from the network. In addition, in step S216, it is determined whether a new cell has been selected as the serving cell. If it is determined that the UE will not reselect a new cell ("no" in step S216), the process proceeds to step S213. On the other hand, if it is determined that the UE has selected a new cell ("yes" in step S216), the process proceeds to step S200 again.

[0188] As described above, devices and methods are provided that enable a reduction in power consumption and signaling overhead in a communication network. Although the above description is primarily applicable to a UE in RRC_IDLE state, which is a state in which a Tracking Area (TA) is configured for the UE, the described methods are also applicable to a UE in RRC_INACTIVE state, in which the TA is replaced by a RAN-based Notification Area (RNA).

[0189] A base station is provided, comprising: a transceiver unit; and circuitry, in operation, for controlling the transceiver unit to serve a cell associated with a first tracking area code (TAC), to periodically transmit a TAC indicator in system information indicating at least one TAC associated with the cell, and to transmit a trigger indicator for triggering the transceiver device to perform a system information update procedure when there is a change in the content of the system information, wherein the circuitry, in operation, prevents the transceiver unit from transmitting the trigger indicator when the cell has moved and therefore is associated with a second TAC.

[0190] In some embodiments, the base station is configured to operate on a satellite.

[0191] For example, a base station may be configured to operate on a satellite in low earth orbit (LEO).

[0192] In some embodiments, the second TAC is different from the first TAC.

[0193] In some embodiments, the first TAC is associated with a first tracking area (TA), the second TAC is associated with a second TA, and the first TA and second TA are stationary.

[0194] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit, when operating, receives a location indicator indicating a location of the transceiver device, and the circuit, when operating, controls the transceiver unit to send a TAC indicator indicating the first TAC and the second TAC to the transceiver device during a procedure in which the transceiver device registers with the network if the location is within a threshold distance from a boundary between the first TA and the second TA, thereby registering the first TA and the second TA to the transceiver device.

[0195] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit, when operating, receives a location indicator indicating a location of the transceiver device, and the circuit, when operating, determines whether the location is within a predetermined distance from a boundary between a first TA and a second TA, and if the location is within a threshold distance from the boundary between the first TA and the second TA and the transceiver device is registered in the first TA and the second TA, controls the transceiver unit to send a TAC indicator indicating the first TAC and the second TAC to the transceiver device during a procedure in which the transceiver device registers with the network.

[0196] In some embodiments, the cell movement is from a first TA to a second TA.

[0197] For example, the cell movement may be from within a first TA to within a second TA.

[0198] In some embodiments, a first TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is in a first TA, a second TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is in a second TA, and the first TAC and / or the second TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is partially in the first TA and the second TA.

[0199] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit, in operation, receives a paging request to page a transceiver device registered in a first TA when the cell is within the first TA, receives a paging request to page a transceiver device registered in the second TA when the cell is within the second TA, receives a paging request to page a transceiver device registered in either the first TA or the second TA when the cell is partially within the first TA and the second TA, and transmits a paging message in accordance with the received paging request.

[0200] In some embodiments, the circuitry, when operational, controls the transceiver to serve a cell using multiple beams, associating a first subset of the multiple beams located within a first TA with a first TAC, associating a second subset of the multiple beams located within a second TA with a second TA, and associating a third subset of the multiple beams located partially within the first TA and the second TA with the first and / or second TAC.

[0201] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit, in operation, receives a location indicator indicating the location of the transceiver device, and the circuit, in operation, determines at least one of a plurality of beams using the location of the transceiver device and controls the transceiver unit to transmit a paging message using at least one of the plurality of beams determined by the circuit.

[0202] For example, the transceiver may be controlled to transmit a paging message using only at least one of the multiple beams.

[0203] In some embodiments, in operation, the transceiver unit broadcasts a first TAC indicator indicating the first TAC using a first subset of beams, a second TAC indicator indicating the second TAC using a second subset of beams, and a third TAC indicator indicating the first TAC and / or the second TAC using a third subset of beams.

[0204] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit, in operation, broadcasts a soft combining indicator that indicates whether multiple beams are all associated with the same TAC.

[0205] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit, in operation, broadcasts a mapping indicator indicating a mapping between a plurality of beams and a first and / or second TAC associated with the beams.

[0206] In some embodiments, a first TAC is associated with the cell when the cell is within a first TA, and a second TAC is associated with the cell when the cell is within a second TA, and the circuitry, in operation, turns off the transceiver or prevents the transceiver from transmitting system information when the cell is partially within the first TA and the second TA.

[0207] Further provided is a method for serving a cell associated with a first Tracking Area Code (TAC), periodically transmitting in system information a TAC indicator indicating at least one TAC associated with the cell, transmitting a trigger indicator for triggering a transmitting / receiving device to perform a system information update procedure when there is a change in the content of the system information, wherein transmission of the trigger indicator is prevented when the cell becomes associated with a second TAC due to cell movement.

[0208] In some embodiments, the method is performed by a base station.

[0209] For example, the base station may be configured to operate on a satellite.

[0210] For example, a base station may be configured to operate on a satellite in low earth orbit (LEO).

[0211] In some embodiments, the second TAC is different from the first TAC.

[0212] In some embodiments, the first TAC is associated with a first tracking area TA, the second TAC is associated with a second TA, and the first TA and second TA are stationary.

[0213] In some embodiments, the method includes receiving a location indicator indicating a location of the transceiver device, and if the location is within a threshold distance from a boundary between the first TA and the second TA and therefore the transceiver device is registered in the first TA and the second TA, transmitting a TAC indicator indicating the first TAC and the second TAC to the transceiver device during a procedure in which the transceiver device registers with the network.

[0214] In some embodiments, the method includes receiving a location indicator indicating a location of a transceiver device, determining whether the location is within a predetermined distance from a boundary between a first TA and a second TA, and if the location is within a threshold distance from the boundary between the first TA and the second TA such that the transceiver device is registered in the first TA and the second TA, transmitting a TAC indicator indicating the first TAC and the second TAC to the transceiver device during a procedure in which the transceiver device registers with the network.

[0215] In some embodiments, the cell movement is from a first TA to a second TA.

[0216] For example, the cell movement may be from within a first TA to within a second TA.

[0217] In some embodiments, a first TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is in a first TA, a second TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is in a second TA, and the first TAC and / or the second TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is partially in the first TA and the second TA.

[0218] In some embodiments, the method includes receiving a paging request to page a transmitting and receiving device registered in a first TA when the cell is within a first TA, receiving a paging request to page a transmitting and receiving device registered in the second TA when the cell is within a second TA, receiving a paging request to page a transmitting and receiving device registered in either the first TA or the second TA when the cell is partially within the first TA and the second TA, and transmitting a paging message in accordance with the received paging request.

[0219] In some embodiments, the method includes using multiple beams to serve a cell, associating a first subset of the multiple beams located within a first TA with a first TAC, associating a second subset of the multiple beams located within a second TA with a second TA, and associating a third subset of the multiple beams located partially within the first TA and the second TA with the first and / or second TAC.

[0220] For example, the method may include receiving a location indicator indicating the location of the transmitting / receiving device, determining at least one of a plurality of beams using the location of the transmitting / receiving device, and transmitting a paging message using at least one of the determined plurality of beams.

[0221] In some embodiments, the method includes broadcasting a first TAC indicator indicative of a first TAC using a first subset of beams, broadcasting a second TAC indicator indicative of a second TAC using a second subset of beams, and broadcasting a third TAC indicator indicative of the first TAC and / or the second TAC using a third subset of beams.

[0222] In some embodiments, the method includes broadcasting a mapping indicator indicating a mapping between a plurality of beams and a first and / or second TAC associated with the beams.

[0223] In some embodiments, a first TAC is associated with a cell when the cell is in a first TA and a second TAC is associated with the cell when the cell is in a second TA, and the method includes turning off serving to the cell or preventing transmission of system information when the cell is partially in the first TA and the second TA.

[0224] Further provided is a transceiver device comprising: a transceiver unit that, in operation, receives in system information a first tracking area code (TAC) indicator indicating a first TAC associated with a first cell serving the transceiver device, and receives in system information a second TAC indicator indicating a second TAC associated with a second cell; and circuitry that, in operation, determines whether to switch from the first cell to the second cell depending on whether the first TAC is equal to or different from a TAC with which the transceiver device is registered and / or depending on whether the second TAC is equal to or different from a TAC with which the transceiver device is registered.

[0225] In one embodiment, the second TAC is different from the first TAC.

[0226] In one embodiment, a first TAC is associated with a first tracking area (TA), a second TAC is associated with a second TA, and the first TA and second TA are stationary.

[0227] In one embodiment, the transceiver unit, in operation, transmits a location indicator indicating the location of the transceiver device, and receives a TAC indicator indicating the first TAC and the second TAC during a procedure in which the transceiver device registers with the network if the location is within a threshold distance from a boundary between the first TA and the second TA, thereby causing the transceiver device to be registered in the first TA and the second TA.

[0228] In an embodiment, the cell movement is from a first TA to a second TA.

[0229] For example, the cell movement may be from within a first TA to within a second TA.

[0230] In one embodiment, if the cell is in a first TA, a first TAC is associated with the cell, if the cell is in a second TA, a second TAC is associated with the cell, and if the cell is partially in the first TA and the second TA, the first TAC and / or the second TAC is associated with the cell.

[0231] In one embodiment, a cell is served using multiple beams, where a first subset of the multiple beams located within a first TA is associated with a first TAC, a second subset of the multiple beams located within a second TA is associated with a second TAC, and a third subset of the multiple beams located partially within the first TA and the second TA is associated with the first and / or second TAC.

[0232] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit, in operation, transmits a location indicator indicative of the location of the transceiver device and receives paging messages via at least one of the plurality of beams.

[0233] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit, in operation, receives a soft combining indicator that indicates whether all of the multiple beams are associated with the same TAC.

[0234] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit, in operation, receives a mapping indicator indicating a mapping between a plurality of beams and a first and / or second TAC associated with the beams.

[0235] In some embodiments, a first TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is in a first TA, and a second TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is in a second TA.

[0236] Further provided is a method for receiving, in system information, a first tracking area code (TAC) indicator indicating a first TAC associated with a first cell serving the transceiver device, receiving, in the system information, a second TAC indicator indicating a second TAC associated with a second cell, and determining whether to switch from the first cell to the second cell depending on whether the first TAC is equal to or different from the TAC at which the transceiver device is registered and / or depending on whether the second TAC is equal to or different from the TAC at which the transceiver device is registered.

[0237] In one embodiment, the method is performed by a transmitting and receiving device.

[0238] In one embodiment, the cell movement is from a first TA to a second TA.

[0239] For example, the cell movement may be from within a first TA to within a second TA.

[0240] In one embodiment, if the cell is in a first TA, a first TAC is associated with the cell, if the cell is in a second TA, a second TAC is associated with the cell, and if the cell is partially in the first TA and the second TA, the first TAC and / or the second TAC is associated with the cell.

[0241] In one embodiment, a cell is served using multiple beams, where a first subset of the multiple beams located within a first TA is associated with a first TAC, a second subset of the multiple beams located within a second TA is associated with a second TAC, and a third subset of the multiple beams located partially within the first TA and the second TA is associated with the first and / or second TAC.

[0242] In some embodiments, the method includes transmitting a location indicator indicative of the location of the transmitting and receiving device and receiving a paging message via at least one of the plurality of beams.

[0243] In some embodiments, the method includes receiving a soft combining indicator that indicates whether all of the multiple beams are associated with the same TAC.

[0244] In some embodiments, the method includes receiving a mapping indicator indicating a mapping between a plurality of beams and a first and / or second TAC associated with the beams.

[0245] In some embodiments, a first TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is in a first TA, and a second TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is in a second TA.

[0246] Further provided is a transceiver device comprising: a circuit that, in operation, determines a location of the transceiver device; and a transceiver unit that, in operation, transmits a location indicator indicative of the determined location and receives a TAC indicator indicative of a first tracking area code (TAC) and a second TAC during a procedure in which the transceiver device is registered with a network, wherein the circuit, in operation, associates the transceiver device with the first TAC and the second TAC.

[0247] In one embodiment, the second TAC is different from the first TAC.

[0248] In one embodiment, the first TAC is associated with a first tracking area TA, the second TAC is associated with a second TA, and the first TA and second TA are stationary.

[0249] In one embodiment, the transceiver unit, in operation, transmits a location indicator indicating the location of the transceiver device, and receives a TAC indicator indicating the first TAC and the second TAC during a procedure in which the transceiver device registers with the network if the location is within a threshold distance from a boundary between the first TA and the second TA, thereby causing the transceiver device to be registered in the first TA and the second TA.

[0250] In one embodiment, the cell movement is from a first TA to a second TA.

[0251] For example, the cell movement may be from within a first TA to within a second TA.

[0252] In one embodiment, if the cell is in a first TA, a first TAC is associated with the cell, if the cell is in a second TA, a second TAC is associated with the cell, and if the cell is partially in the first TA and the second TA, the first TAC and / or the second TAC is associated with the cell.

[0253] In one embodiment, a cell is served using multiple beams, where a first subset of the multiple beams located within a first TA is associated with a first TAC, a second subset of the multiple beams located within a second TA is associated with a second TAC, and a third subset of the multiple beams located partially within the first TA and the second TA is associated with the first and / or second TAC.

[0254] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit, in operation, transmits a location indicator indicative of the location of the transceiver device and receives paging messages via at least one of the plurality of beams.

[0255] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit, in operation, receives a soft combining indicator that indicates whether all of the multiple beams are associated with the same TAC.

[0256] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit, in operation, receives a mapping indicator indicating a mapping between a plurality of beams and a first and / or second TAC associated with the beams.

[0257] In some embodiments, a first TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is in a first TA, and a second TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is in a second TA.

[0258] Further provided is a method for determining a location of a transceiver device, transmitting a location indicator indicative of the determined location, and receiving a TAC indicator indicative of a first Tracking Area Code (TAC) and a second TAC during a procedure in which the transceiver device registers with a network, wherein the transceiver device is associated with the first TAC and the second TAC.

[0259] In one embodiment, the method is performed by a transmitting and receiving device.

[0260] In one embodiment, the cell movement is from a first TA to a second TA.

[0261] For example, the cell movement may be from within a first TA to within a second TA.

[0262] In one embodiment, if the cell is in a first TA, a first TAC is associated with the cell, if the cell is in a second TA, a second TAC is associated with the cell, and if the cell is partially in the first TA and the second TA, the first TAC and / or the second TAC is associated with the cell.

[0263] In one embodiment, a cell is served using multiple beams, where a first subset of the multiple beams located within a first TA is associated with a first TAC, a second subset of the multiple beams located within a second TA is associated with a second TAC, and a third subset of the multiple beams located partially within the first TA and the second TA is associated with the first and / or second TAC.

[0264] In some embodiments, the method includes transmitting a location indicator indicative of the location of the transmitting and receiving device and receiving a paging message via at least one of the plurality of beams.

[0265] In some embodiments, the method includes receiving a soft combining indicator that indicates whether all of the multiple beams are associated with the same TAC.

[0266] In some embodiments, the method includes receiving a mapping indicator indicating a mapping between a plurality of beams and a first and / or second TAC associated with the beams.

[0267] In some embodiments, a first TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is in a first TA, and a second TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is in a second TA.

[0268] Further provided is a base station comprising: a transceiver unit; and circuitry, in operation, for controlling the transceiver unit to serve cells associated with tracking area codes (TACs), to periodically transmit in system information a TAC indicator indicating at least one TAC associated with the cell, and to transmit a trigger indicator for triggering the transceiver device to perform a system information update procedure when there is a change in the content of the system information, wherein the circuitry, in operation, turns off the transceiver unit or prevents the transceiver unit from transmitting the system information when the cell is partially within the first tracking area and the second tracking area.

[0269] In some embodiments, the base station is configured to operate on a satellite.

[0270] For example, a base station may be configured to operate on a satellite in low earth orbit (LEO).

[0271] In some embodiments, the second TAC is different from the first TAC.

[0272] In some embodiments, the first TAC is associated with a first tracking area TA, the second TAC is associated with a second TA, and the first TA and second TA are stationary.

[0273] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit, when operating, receives a location indicator indicating a location of the transceiver device, and the circuit, when operating, controls the transceiver unit to send a TAC indicator indicating the first TAC and the second TAC to the transceiver device during a procedure in which the transceiver device registers with the network if the location is within a threshold distance from a boundary between the first TA and the second TA, thereby registering the first TA and the second TA to the transceiver device.

[0274] In some embodiments, a first TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is in a first TA, a second TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is in a second TA, and the first TAC and / or the second TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is partially in the first TA and the second TA.

[0275] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit, in operation, receives a paging request to page a transceiver device registered in a first TA when the cell is within the first TA, receives a paging request to page a transceiver device registered in the second TA when the cell is within the second TA, receives a paging request to page a transceiver device registered in either the first TA or the second TA when the cell is partially within the first TA and the second TA, and transmits a paging message in accordance with the received paging request.

[0276] In some embodiments, the circuitry, when operational, controls the transceiver to serve a cell using multiple beams, associating a first subset of the multiple beams located within a first TA with a first TAC, associating a second subset of the multiple beams located within a second TA with a second TAC, and associating a third subset of the multiple beams located partially within the first TA and the second TA with the first and / or second TAC.

[0277] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit, in operation, receives a location indicator indicating the location of the transceiver device, and the circuit, in operation, determines at least one of a plurality of beams using the location of the transceiver device and controls the transceiver unit to transmit a paging message using at least one of the plurality of beams determined by the circuit.

[0278] For example, the transceiver may be controlled to transmit a paging message using only at least one of the multiple beams.

[0279] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit, in operation, broadcasts a soft combining indicator that indicates whether multiple beams are all associated with the same TAC.

[0280] Further provided is a method for serving a cell associated with a first tracking area code (TAC), periodically transmitting in system information a TAC indicator indicating at least one TAC associated with the cell, and transmitting a trigger indicator for triggering a transmitting / receiving device to perform a system information update procedure when there is a change in the content of the system information, wherein transmission of the system information is prevented if the cell is partially within the first tracking area and the second tracking area.

[0281] In some embodiments, the second TAC is different from the first TAC.

[0282] In some embodiments, the first TAC is associated with a first tracking area TA, the second TAC is associated with a second TA, and the first TA and second TA are stationary.

[0283] In some embodiments, the method includes receiving a location indicator indicating a location of the transceiver device, and if the location is within a threshold distance from a boundary between the first TA and the second TA and therefore the transceiver device is registered in the first TA and the second TA, transmitting a TAC indicator indicating the first TAC and the second TAC to the transceiver device during a procedure in which the transceiver device registers with the network.

[0284] In some embodiments, a first TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is in a first TA, a second TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is in a second TA, and the first TAC and / or the second TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is partially in the first TA and the second TA.

[0285] In some embodiments, the method includes receiving a paging request to page a transmitting and receiving device registered in a first TA when the cell is within a first TA, receiving a paging request to page a transmitting and receiving device registered in the second TA when the cell is within a second TA, receiving a paging request to page a transmitting and receiving device registered in either the first TA or the second TA when the cell is partially within the first TA and the second TA, and transmitting a paging message in accordance with the received paging request.

[0286] In some embodiments, the method includes using multiple beams to serve a cell, associating a first subset of the multiple beams located within a first TA with a first TAC, associating a second subset of the multiple beams located within a second TA with a second TA, and associating a third subset of the multiple beams located partially within the first TA and the second TA with the first and / or second TAC.

[0287] In some embodiments, the method includes receiving a location indicator indicating a location of the transmitting / receiving device, determining at least one of a plurality of beams using the location of the transmitting / receiving device, and transmitting a paging message using at least one of the determined plurality of beams.

[0288] For example, a paging message may be transmitted using only at least one of the multiple beams.

[0289] In some embodiments, the method includes reporting a soft combining indicator that indicates whether all of the multiple beams are associated with the same TAC.

[0290] A base station is further provided, comprising: a transceiver unit; and circuitry that, in operation, controls the transceiver unit to serve cells associated with tracking area codes (TACs) using a plurality of beams and periodically transmits a TAC indicator in system information indicating at least one TAC associated with the cell, wherein the circuitry, in operation, associates a first subset of the plurality of beams located within a first tracking area (TA) with the first TAC, associates a second subset of the plurality of beams located within a second TA with the second TAC, and associates a third subset of the plurality of beams partially located within the first TA and the second TA with either the first TAC or the second TAC, and the circuitry, in operation, prevents the transceiver unit from transmitting system information using beams of the third subset.

[0291] In some embodiments, the circuitry, in operation, controls the transceiver to transmit a trigger indicator to trigger the transceiver device to perform a system information update procedure when there is a change in the content of the system information.

[0292] In some embodiments, the base station is configured to operate on a satellite.

[0293] For example, a base station may be configured to operate on a satellite in low earth orbit (LEO).

[0294] In some embodiments, the second TAC is different from the first TAC.

[0295] In some embodiments, the first TA and the second TA are stationary.

[0296] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit, when operating, receives a location indicator indicating a location of the transceiver device, and the circuit, when operating, controls the transceiver unit to send a TAC indicator indicating the first TAC and the second TAC to the transceiver device during a procedure in which the transceiver device registers with the network if the location is within a threshold distance from a boundary between the first TA and the second TA such that the transceiver device is registered in the first TA and the second TA.

[0297] In some embodiments, a first TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is in a first TA, a second TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is in a second TA, and the first TAC and / or the second TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is partially in the first TA and the second TA.

[0298] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit, in operation, receives a paging request to page a transceiver device registered in a first TA when the cell is within the first TA, receives a paging request to page a transceiver device registered in the second TA when the cell is within the second TA, receives a paging request to page a transceiver device registered in either the first TA or the second TA when the cell is partially within the first TA and the second TA, and transmits a paging message in accordance with the received paging request.

[0299] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit, in operation, receives a location indicator indicating the location of the transceiver device, and the circuit, in operation, determines at least one of a plurality of beams using the location of the transceiver device and controls the transceiver unit to transmit a paging message using at least one of the plurality of beams determined by the circuit.

[0300] For example, the transceiver may be controlled to transmit a paging message using only at least one of the multiple beams.

[0301] In some embodiments, the transceiver unit, in operation, broadcasts a soft combining indicator that indicates whether multiple beams are all associated with the same TAC.

[0302] Further provided is a method for using a plurality of beams to serve cells associated with tracking area codes (TACs), periodically transmitting in system information a TAC indicator indicating at least one TAC associated with the cell, associating a first subset of the plurality of beams located within a first tracking area (TA) with the first TAC, associating a second subset of the plurality of beams located within a second TA with the second TAC, associating a third subset of the plurality of beams partially located within the first TA and the second TA with either the first TAC or the second TAC, and preventing transmission of system information using beams of the third subset.

[0303] In some embodiments, the base station is configured to operate on a satellite.

[0304] For example, a base station may be configured to operate on a satellite in low earth orbit (LEO).

[0305] In some embodiments, the method includes transmitting a trigger indicator to trigger the transmitting and receiving devices to perform a system information update procedure when there is a change in the content of the system information.

[0306] In some embodiments, the second TAC is different from the first TAC.

[0307] In some embodiments, the first TA and the second TA are stationary.

[0308] In some embodiments, the method includes receiving a location indicator indicating a location of the transceiver device, and if the location is within a threshold distance from a boundary between the first TA and the second TA such that the transceiver device is registered in the first TA and the second TA, transmitting a TAC indicator indicating the first TAC and the second TAC to the transceiver device during a procedure in which the transceiver device registers with the network.

[0309] In some embodiments, a first TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is in a first TA, a second TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is in a second TA, and the first TAC and / or the second TAC is associated with a cell if the cell is partially in the first TA and the second TA.

[0310] In some embodiments, the method includes receiving a paging request to page a transmitting and receiving device registered in a first TA when the cell is within a first TA, receiving a paging request to page a transmitting and receiving device registered in the second TA when the cell is within a second TA, receiving a paging request to page a transmitting and receiving device registered in either the first TA or the second TA when the cell is partially within the first TA and the second TA, and transmitting a paging message in accordance with the received paging request.

[0311] In some embodiments, the method includes receiving a location indicator indicating a location of the transmitting / receiving device, determining at least one of a plurality of beams using the location of the transmitting / receiving device, and transmitting a paging message using at least one of the determined plurality of beams.

[0312] For example, a paging message may be transmitted using only at least one of the multiple beams.

[0313] In some embodiments, the method broadcasts a soft combining indicator that indicates whether multiple beams are all associated with the same TAC.

[0314] Further provided is a base station comprising: a transceiver unit that, in operation, receives a location indicator indicative of a location of a transceiver device; and circuitry that, in operation, controls the transceiver unit to serve a cell using a plurality of beams, determine at least one of the plurality of beams using the location of the transceiver device, and transmit a paging message using at least one of the plurality of beams determined by the circuitry.

[0315] In some embodiments, the base station is configured to operate on a satellite.

[0316] For example, a base station may be configured to operate on a satellite in low earth orbit (LEO).

[0317] For example, the transceiver may be controlled to transmit a paging message using only at least one of the multiple beams.

[0318] Further provided is a method for serving a cell using a plurality of beams, receiving a location indicator indicating a location of a transmitting / receiving device, determining at least one of the plurality of beams using the location of the transmitting / receiving device, and transmitting a paging message using the determined at least one of the plurality of beams.

[0319] For example, a paging message may be transmitted using only at least one of the determined beams.

[0320] Further provided is a transceiver device comprising: a circuit that, in operation, controls the transceiver unit to transmit a location indicator indicating the location of the transceiver device; and a transceiver unit that, in operation, receives a paging message using at least one of a plurality of beams of the serving cell depending on the location of the transceiver device.

[0321] Further provided is an access and mobility management device comprising: a transceiver unit that receives a location indicator indicative of a location of a transceiver device; and circuitry that, in operation, determines whether the location is within a threshold distance from a boundary between a first tracking area (TA) and a second TA, and if the location is within the threshold distance from the boundary, registers the transceiver device with both the first TA and the second TA, and controls the transceiver unit to transmit a TAC indicator indicative of the first tracking area code (TAC) and the second TAC during a procedure in which the transceiver device is registered with a network.

[0322] For example, the TAC indicator may be transmitted to a base station.

[0323] In one embodiment, during a paging procedure to reach the transceiver device, the circuit, in operation, controls the transceiver unit to send a paging request message to a base station covering either the first TA or the second TA.

[0324] In one embodiment, the circuitry, when operational, causes the transceiver to transmit a paging request to page a transceiver device registered in a first TA when the cell is within the first TA, to transmit a paging request to page a transceiver device registered in a second TA when the cell is within the second TA, and to transmit a paging request to page a transceiver device registered in either the first TA or the second TA when the cell is partially within the first TA and the second TA.

[0325] There is further provided a method for receiving a location indicator indicating a location of a transceiver device, determining whether the location is within a threshold distance from a boundary between a first tracking area (TA) and a second TA, and if the location is within the threshold distance from the boundary, registering the transceiver device with both the first TA and the second TA, and transmitting a TAC indicator indicating the first tracking area code (TAC) and the second TAC during a procedure in which the transceiver device is registered with a network.

[0326] For example, the TAC indicator may be transmitted to a base station.

[0327] In one embodiment, during a paging procedure to reach the transceiver device, the method includes sending a paging request message to the base station covering either the first TA or the second TA.

[0328] In one embodiment, the method includes transmitting a paging request to page a transmitting and receiving device registered in a first TA when the cell is within the first TA, transmitting a paging request to page a transmitting and receiving device registered in the second TA when the cell is within the second TA, and transmitting a paging request to page a transmitting and receiving device registered in either the first TA or the second TA when the cell is partially within the first TA and the second TA.

[0329] Furthermore, there is provided a network system including a transmission / reception device according to any one of the above embodiments and a base station according to any one of the above embodiments.

[0330] Further, there is provided a network system comprising: a base station according to any one of the above embodiments; and an access and mobility management device according to any one of the above embodiments.

[0331] Further, there is provided a network system comprising: a transceiver device according to any one of the above embodiments; and an access and mobility management device according to any one of the above embodiments.

[0332] Further, a network system is provided comprising a transceiver device according to any one of the above embodiments, a base station according to any one of the above embodiments, and an access and mobility management device according to any one of the above embodiments.

[0333] The present disclosure can be realized by software, hardware, or software in conjunction with hardware. Each functional block described in the above embodiments may be partially or entirely realized as an LSI (Large Scale Integration), which is an integrated circuit (IC), and each process described in the above embodiments may be partially or entirely controlled by a single LSI or a combination of LSIs. The LSI may be composed of individual chips, or may be composed of a single chip that includes some or all of the functional blocks. The LSI may have data inputs and outputs. Depending on the level of integration, an LSI may be referred to as an IC, system LSI, super LSI, or ultra LSI. The integration method is not limited to LSIs, and may be realized using dedicated circuits, general-purpose processors, or dedicated processors. Furthermore, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), which can be programmed after LSI fabrication, or a reconfigurable processor, which allows the connections and settings of circuit cells within an LSI to be reconfigured, may also be used. The present disclosure may be realized as digital or analog processing. Furthermore, if an integrated circuit technology that can replace LSI emerges due to advances in semiconductor technology or other derivative technologies, it is natural that such technology can be used to integrate functional blocks. The application of biotechnology is also a possibility.

[0334] The present disclosure may be implemented in any type of apparatus, device, or system having a communication function (collectively referred to as a communication apparatus).

[0335] Non-limiting examples of communication devices include telephones (e.g., cell phones, smartphones), tablets, personal computers (PCs) (e.g., laptops, desktops, notebooks), cameras (e.g., digital still cameras / video cameras), digital players (e.g., digital audio players / video players), wearable devices (e.g., wearable cameras, smart watches, tracking devices), game consoles, digital book readers, telehealth / telemedicine devices, communication-enabled vehicles (e.g., cars, airplanes, ships), and combinations of the above devices.

[0336] Communications equipment is not limited to portable or mobile equipment, but also includes non-portable or fixed equipment, devices, and systems of any kind, such as smart home devices (appliances, lighting equipment, smart meters or metering devices, control panels, etc.), vending machines, and any other "things" that may exist on an Internet of Things (IoT) network.

[0337] Communications include data communications via cellular systems, wireless LAN systems, communications satellite systems, etc., as well as data communications via combinations of these.

[0338] A communications device also includes devices such as controllers and sensors connected or coupled to a communications device that performs the communications functions described in this disclosure, such as controllers and sensors that generate control and data signals used by the communications device to perform the communications functions of the communications device.

[0339] The communication apparatus also includes infrastructure facilities, such as base stations, access points, and any other apparatus, device, or system that communicates with or controls the various apparatuses listed above, but are not limited to these.

Claims

1. a transmitter / receiver; a circuit; The circuit By controlling the transmitting and receiving unit, providing cells associated with a Tracking Area Code (TAC), the Tracking Area (TA) of said TAC being stationary with respect to the surface of the Earth; periodically transmitting a plurality of said TACs for each public land mobile network (PLMN) in system information; receiving a location indicator from a transmitting and receiving device indicative of a location of the transmitting and receiving device; If the location of the transmitting / receiving device is notified, the circuitry determines a TAC for the transmitting / receiving device from the transmitted plurality of TACs based on the notified location of the transmitting / receiving device. Base station.

2. the cell is associated with a first TAC and a TAC indicator indicative of at least one TAC; The circuit By controlling the transmitting and receiving unit, transmitting a trigger indicator for triggering a transmitting / receiving device to perform a system information update procedure when there is a change in the content of the system information; the circuitry prevents the transceiver from transmitting the trigger indicator when the cell has moved and is therefore associated with a second TAC. The base station of claim 1 .

3. the second TAC is different from the first TAC; The base station of claim 2.

4. the first TAC is associated with a first Tracking Area (TA); the second TAC is associated with a second TA; the first TA and the second TA are stationary; The base station according to claim 2 or 3.

5. When the transceiver receives a location indicator indicating the location of the transceiver device, the circuit controls the transceiver unit to transmit a TAC indicator indicating the first TAC and the second TAC to the transceiver device during a procedure in which the transceiver device is registered in a network, when the location is within a threshold distance from a boundary between the first TA and the second TA and the transceiver device is registered in the first TA and the second TA; The base station of claim 4.

6. The cell movement is a movement from the first TA to the second TA. The base station according to claim 4 or 5.

7. If the cell is within a first TA, the first TAC is associated with the cell; If the cell is within the second TA, the second TAC is associated with the cell; If the cell is partially within the first TA and the second TA, the first TAC and / or the second TAC is associated with the cell; The base station according to any one of claims 4 to 6.

8. The transmitting / receiving unit receiving a paging request to page a transmitting / receiving device registered in the first TA when the cell is within the first TA; receiving a paging request to page a transmitting / receiving device registered in the second TA when the cell is within the second TA; receiving a paging request to page a transmitting / receiving device registered in either the first TA or the second TA when the cell is partially within the first TA and the second TA; transmitting a paging message in accordance with the received paging request; The base station according to any one of claims 4 to 7.

9. The circuit comprises: controlling the transceiver to serve the cell using multiple beams; Associating a first subset of the plurality of beams located within the first TA with the first TAC; Associating a second subset of the plurality of beams located within the second TA with the second TA; associating a third subset of the plurality of beams that is partially located within the first TA and the second TA with the first TAC and / or the second TAC; The base station according to any one of claims 4 to 8.

10. the transceiver receives a location indicator indicating a location of the transceiver device; The circuit comprises: determining at least one of the plurality of beams using the position of the transmitting and receiving device; controlling the transceiver unit to transmit a paging message using at least one of the plurality of beams determined by the circuit; The base station of claim 9.

11. The transmitting / receiving unit broadcasting a first TAC indicator indicative of the first TAC using the first subset of beams; broadcasting a second TAC indicator indicative of the second TAC using the second subset of beams; broadcasting a third TAC indicator indicating the first TAC and / or the second TAC using the third subset of beams; The base station according to claim 9 or 10.

12. The transceiver unit broadcasts a soft combining indicator indicating whether all of the plurality of beams are associated with the same TAC. The base station according to any one of claims 9 to 11.

13. The transceiver unit broadcasts a mapping indicator indicating a mapping between the plurality of beams and the first TAC and / or the second TAC associated with the plurality of beams. The base station according to any one of claims 9 to 11.

14. If the cell is within the first TA, the first TAC is associated with the cell; If the cell is within the second TA, the second TAC is associated with the cell; the circuitry turns off the transceiver unit or prevents the transceiver unit from transmitting system information when the cell is partially within the first TA and the second TA. The base station according to any one of claims 4 to 6.

15. A transmitting / receiving device, comprising: a transmitter / receiver; a circuit; The circuit By controlling the transmitting and receiving unit, communicating in a cell served by a base station associated with a Tracking Area Code (TAC), the Tracking Area (TA) of said TAC being stationary relative to the surface of the Earth; receiving, in system information, a plurality of the TACs for each public land mobile network (PLMN); transmitting a location indicator to the base station indicative of the location of the transmitting / receiving device; If the location of the transmitting / receiving device is transmitted, a TAC of the transmitting / receiving device is determined from the plurality of TACs based on the transmitted location of the transmitting / receiving device. Sending and receiving devices.

16. 1. A method performed by a base station, comprising: providing cells associated with a Tracking Area Code (TAC), the Tracking Area (TA) of said TAC being stationary with respect to the surface of the Earth; periodically transmitting a plurality of said TACs for each public land mobile network (PLMN) in system information; receiving a location indicator from a transmitting and receiving device indicative of a location of the transmitting and receiving device; When the location of the transmitting / receiving device is notified, determining a TAC of the transmitting / receiving device from the plurality of TACs transmitted based on the notified location of the transmitting / receiving device. method.

17. 1. A method performed by a transmitting and receiving device, comprising: communicating in a cell served by a base station associated with a Tracking Area Code (TAC), the Tracking Area (TA) of said TAC being stationary relative to the surface of the Earth; receiving, in system information, a plurality of the TACs for each public land mobile network (PLMN); transmitting a location indicator to the base station indicative of the location of the transmitting / receiving device; If the location of the transmitting / receiving device is transmitted, a TAC of the transmitting / receiving device is determined from the plurality of TACs based on the transmitted location of the transmitting / receiving device. method.

18. An integrated circuit for controlling processing of a base station, the processing comprising: providing cells associated with a Tracking Area Code (TAC), the Tracking Area (TA) of said TAC being stationary with respect to the surface of the Earth; periodically transmitting a plurality of said TACs for each public land mobile network (PLMN) in system information; receiving a location indicator from a transmitting and receiving device indicative of a location of the transmitting and receiving device; When the location of the transmitting / receiving device is notified, determining a TAC of the transmitting / receiving device from the plurality of TACs transmitted based on the notified location of the transmitting / receiving device. Integrated circuit.

19. An integrated circuit that controls processing of a transmitting / receiving device, the processing comprising: communicating in a cell served by a base station associated with a Tracking Area Code (TAC), the Tracking Area (TA) of said TAC being stationary relative to the surface of the Earth; receiving, in system information, a plurality of the TACs for each public land mobile network (PLMN); transmitting a location indicator to the base station indicative of the location of the transmitting / receiving device; If the location of the transmitting / receiving device is transmitted, a TAC of the transmitting / receiving device is determined from the plurality of TACs based on the transmitted location of the transmitting / receiving device. Integrated circuit.

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