Measurement of perceived quality in an inactive state

Abstract

A method for quality of experience (QoE) measurement and reporting includes receiving, by a user equipment (UE), a radio resource control (RRC) message including configuration parameters for one or more QoE configurations; receiving an RRC release message indicating that the UE will transition from an RRC connected state to an RRC inactive state; performing QoE measurements for at least a first QoE configuration of the one or more QoE configurations while the UE is in the RRC inactive state; determining to transition from the RRC inactive state to an RRC connected state; and transmitting one or more QoE measurement reports in response to determining to transition.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Reference to Related Applications This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.§ 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 191,762, filed on May 21, 2021 (the "Provisional Application"), and the This is a national phase application for PCT / US2022 / 29953 ("PCT Application") filed on May 19, 2022. This PCT Application is, contents of the provisional patent application are incorporated herein by reference. PCT application and of the provisional patent application Each are incorporated herein by reference.

Background Art

[0002] The present invention relates to 5G, the fifth generation mobile network. This is a new global wireless standard following the 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G networks. 5G enables a network designed to connect machines, objects, and devices.

[0003] More specifically, the present invention relates to the measurement and reporting of Quality of Experience (QoE), i.e., supports QoE measurements during the RRC inactive state, i.e., enables and enhances the process of QoE measurements during the RRC inactive state, and relates to a QoE mechanism.

Summary of the Invention

[0004] In one embodiment, the present invention provides a method for measuring and reporting Quality of Experience (QoE), the method comprising: receiving, by a User Equipment (UE), a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message including configuration parameters of one or more QoE configurations; receiving, by the UE, an RRC release message indicating that the UE transitions from an RRC connected state to an RRC inactive state; performing, by the UE, a QoE measurement on at least a first QoE configuration of one or more QoE configurations while the UE is in the RRC inactive state; determining, by the UE, to transition from the RRC inactive state to the RRC connected state; and transmitting, in response to determining to transition, one or more QoE measurement reports.

[0005] The method may include a step of transitioning from a radio resource control (RRC) connected state to an RRC inactive state in response to receiving an RRC release message. In this method, the radio resource control (RRC) release message includes a suspendconfig information element (IE), the suspendconfig IE includes configuration parameters for the operation of the user equipment (UE) in the RRC inactive state. Each perceived quality (QoE) configuration of one or more QoE configurations may be associated with an identifier, and the configuration parameters of one or more QoE configurations indicate an identifier associated with at least one first perceived quality (QoE) configuration. Each perceived quality (QoE) configuration of one or more QoE configurations includes a parameter indicating an identifier associated with the QoE configuration.

[0006] Preferably, the radio resource control (RRC) release message indicates at least one first identifier from one or more identifiers associated with at least one first quality-of-experience (QoE) configuration. The radio resource control (RRC) release message may include a suspendconfig information element (IE) indicating a transition of the user equipment (UE) to an RRC inactive state. The suspendconfig information element (IE) may indicate at least one first identifier associated with at least one first quality-of-experience (QoE) configuration. The suspendconfig information element (IE) may include parameters indicating a list of at least one first quality-of-experience (QoE) measurement configurations. Preferably, the configuration parameters of one or more quality-of-experience (QoE) configurations include a first parameter for QoE measurement and a second parameter for QoE reporting.

[0007] A first parameter may indicate one or more applications for quality-of-experience (QoE) measurement. A second parameter may indicate one or more periodicities for QoE reporting. In this method, the step of transitioning from a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state to an RRC connected state includes initiating a random access process, and the step of transmitting one or more QoE measurement reports is via a random access message of the random access process. The random access message may be a Msg3 message if the random access process is a four-step random access process. If the random access process is a two-step random access process, the random access message is a MsgA message. The step of transmitting one or more QoE measurement reports may be based on an uplink grant after transitioning from a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state to an RRC connected state. Preferably, the uplink grant is received after transitioning from a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state to an RRC connected state.

[0008] Preferably, a first configuration parameter of at least one first quality-of-experience (QoE) configuration of one or more first QoE configurations is associated with a first value while the user equipment (UE) is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state and a second value while the UE is in an RRC inactive state. The process of transmitting one or more quality-of-experience (QoE) measurement reports may be performed via one or more radio resource control (RRC) messages. One or more radio resource control (RRC) messages may be associated with a signaling radio bearer 4 (SRB4). One or more radio resource control (RRC) messages include a MeasurementReportAppLayer message. At least some of the configuration parameters of one or more quality-of-experience (QoE) configurations may be the same.

[0009] The method includes a measurement report in one or more perceived quality (QoE) measurement reports, which includes a measurement identifier, the measurement identifier indicating one of one or more QoE configurations to which the QoE measurement report is associated. The measurement identifier is used by the Radio Access Network (RAN) to forward the perceived quality (QoE) measurement report to the corresponding receiver. The method may further include the step of receiving a pause indicator indicating that the perceived quality (QoE) measurement report is paused after transitioning to an RRC connection state. The pause indicator may be a physical layer message. The physical layer message may be received via a downlink control channel or via a Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (CE). The pause indicator may be received via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message. A perceived quality (QoE) measurement may be performed while the QoE measurement report is paused.

[0010] The method may also include the step of receiving a restart indicator indicating the resumption of quality-of-experience (QoE) measurement reporting after transitioning to a radio resource control (RRC) connection state, where the restart indicator may be a physical layer message. Physical layer messages may be received via a downlink control channel. Preferably, restart indication messages are received via a media access control (MAC) control element (CE). Restart indications may be received via radio resource control (RRC) messages. At least one first quality-of-experience (QoE) configuration is preferably selected from one or more QoE configurations based on the requirements for QoE measurement during a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state. Alternatively, at least one first quality-of-experience (QoE) configuration may be selected from one or more QoE configurations based on the requirements for QoE reporting in response to a transition from a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state to an RRC connection state. Transmitting one or more quality-of-experience (QoE) measurement reports may be based on one or more first QoE configurations. Preferably, the radio resource control (RRC) message may be an RRC reconfiguration message. The method may further include the user equipment (UE) storing one or more quality-of-effect (QoE) measurement reports while the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0011] [Figure 1] Examples of mobile communication systems in some of the various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure are shown below. [Figure 2] Figures 2A and 2B show, respectively, examples of radio protocol stacks for the user plane and control plane, according to several aspects of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3]Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C show, respectively, exemplary mappings between logical channels and transport channels in downlink, uplink, and sidelink configurations, in some of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] Figures 4A, 4B, and 4C show, respectively, exemplary mappings between transport channels and physical channels in downlink, uplink, and sidelink configurations, according to some of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] Figures 5A, 5B, 5C, and 5D show examples of radio protocol stacks for NR sidelink communication in some, some, of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] Examples of physical signals in downlink, uplink, and sidelink are shown in some, some aspects of the various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. [Figure 7] Examples of radio resource control (RRC) states and transitions between different RRC states are shown in some of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] This disclosure shows exemplary frame structures and physical resources in some, some, of the various exemplary embodiments. [Figure 9] This disclosure shows exemplary component carrier configurations in different carrier aggregation scenarios, according to some of the various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. [Figure 10] Examples of bandwidth subconfiguration and switching are shown in some, some aspects of the various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. [Figure 11] Examples of four-step competition-based and competition-free random access processes are shown in some, some aspects of the various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. [Figure 12]Examples of two-step competition-based, non-competitive random access processes are shown below, according to some of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 13] Examples of the time and frequency structures of synchronization signals and physical broadcast channel (PBCH) blocks (SSBs) in some, some aspects of the various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure are shown. [Figure 14] Examples of SSB burst transmissions in some of several embodiments of the various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure are shown below. [Figure 15] Examples of user equipment components and base stations for transmission and / or reception, according to some, some, aspects of the various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure, are shown. [Figure 16] Examples of information elements are shown below, in some aspects of some of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 17] Examples of information elements are shown below, in some aspects of some of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 18] Examples of processes are shown below, in some aspects of the various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. [Figure 19] Examples of processes are shown below, in some aspects of the various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. [Figure 20] Examples of processes are shown below, in some aspects of the various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0012] FIG. 1 shows an example of a mobile communication system (100) according to some aspects of some of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The mobile communication system (100) can be operated by a wireless communication system operator such as a mobile network operator (MNO), a private network operator, a multiple system operator (MSO), a single Internet of Things (IoT) network operator, etc., and can provide services such as voice, data (e.g., wireless Internet access), messaging, vehicle communication services such as Vehicle to Everything (V2X) communication services, security services, mission critical services, residential services, services in commercial or industrial environments such as IoT, industrial IoT (IIoT), etc.

[0013] The mobile communication system (100) can enable various types of applications with different requirements regarding latency, reliability, throughput, etc. Examples of supported applications include enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), and massive machine type communication (mMTC). eMBB can support a stable connection with a high peak data rate and a moderate rate for cell-edge users. URLLC can support applications with stringent requirements regarding latency and reliability and moderate requirements regarding data rate. Examples of mMTC applications include networks of a vast number of IoT devices that are only sporadically active and transmit small data payloads.

[0014] A mobile communication system (100) may include a radio access network (RAN) part and a core network part. The example shown in FIG. 1 shows a next-generation RAN (NG-RAN) (105) and a 5G core network (5GC) (110) as examples of the RAN and the core network, respectively. Other examples of the RAN and the core network may be implemented without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Other examples of the RAN include an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN), a Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), etc. Other examples of the core network include an Evolved Packet Core (EPC), a UMTS core network (UCN), etc. The RAN implements a radio access technology (RAT) and exists between a user equipment (UE) (125) and the core network. Examples of such RATs include New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE) also known as Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (EUTRA), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), etc. The RAT of an exemplary mobile communication system (100) may be NR. The core network exists between the RAN and one or more external networks (e.g., a data network) and is responsible for functions such as mobility management, authentication, session management, bearer setup, and application of different quality of service (QoS). The functional layer between the UE (125) and the RAN (e.g., NG-RAN (105)) may be called the Access Stratum (AS), and the functional layer between the UE (125) and the core network (e.g., 5GC (110)) may be called the Non-Access Stratum (NAS).

[0015] A UE(125) may include wireless transmitting and receiving means for communication with one or more nodes in the RAN, one or more relay nodes, or one or more other UEs. Examples of UEs include, but are not limited to, smartphones, tablets, laptops, computers, wireless transmitting and / or receiving units in vehicles, V2X or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) devices, wireless sensors, IoT devices, and IOT devices. Other names that may be used for a UE include Mobile Station (MS), terminal equipment, terminal node, client device, and mobile device.

[0016] A RAN may include nodes (e.g., base stations) for communication with the UE. For example, the NG-RAN (105) of a mobile communication system (100) may have nodes for communication with the UE (125). Different names may be used for RAN nodes depending on the RAT used in the RAN. A RAN node may be called a node B (NB) in a RAN using a UMTS RAT. A RAN node may be called an evolved node B (eNB) in a RAN using an LTE / EUTRA RAT. In the exemplary example of the mobile communication system (100) in Figure 1, the node of the NG-RAN (105) may be either a next-generation node B (gNB) (115) or a next-generation evolved node B (Ng-eNB) (120). In this specification, the terms base station, RAN node, gNB, and ng-eNB may be used interchangeably. A gNB (115) may provide NR user plane protocol termination and control plane protocol termination to the UE (125). The ng-eNB(120) may provide E-UTRA user plane protocol termination and control plane protocol termination to the UE(125). The interface between the gNB(115) and the UE(125), or between the ng-eNB(120) and the UE(125), may be called a Uu interface. The Uu interface may be established with the user plane protocol stack and the control plane protocol stack. With respect to the Uu interface, the direction from the base station (e.g., gNB(115) or ng-eNB(120)) to the UE(125) may be called a downlink, and the direction from the UE(125) to the base station (e.g., gNB(115) or ng-eNB(120)) may be called an uplink.

[0017] The gNB(115) and ng-eNB(120) can be interconnected by an Xn interface. The Xn interface may comprise an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. The transport network layer of the Xn-U interface may be built on Internet Protocol (IP) transport, and the GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) may be used over User Datagram Protocol (UDP) / IP to carry user plane protocol data units (PDUs). Xn-U may provide unguaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and support data transfer and flow control. The transport network layer of the Xn-C interface may be built on Stream Controlled Transport Protocol (SCTP) over IP. The application layer signaling protocol is sometimes called XnAP (Xn Application Protocol). The SCTP layer may provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. In the transport IP layer, point-to-point transmission may be used to deliver signaling PDUs. The Xn-C interface can support Xn interface management, UE mobility management including context forwarding and RAN paging, and dual connectivity.

[0018] gNB(115) and ng-eNB(120) may also be connected to 5GC(110) via NG interfaces, more specifically to the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF)(130) of 5GC(110) via NG-C interfaces, and to the User Plane Function (UPF)(135) of 5GC(110) via NG-U interfaces. The transport network layer of the NG-U interface may be built over IP transport, and the GTP protocol may be used over UDP / IP to transport user plane PDUs between NG-RAN nodes (e.g., gNB(115) or ng-eNB(120)) and UPF(135). NG-U can provide unguaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs between NG-RAN nodes and UPF. The transport network layer of the NG-C interface may be built over IP transport. SCTP may be added on top of IP for reliable transport of signaling messages. The application layer signaling protocol is sometimes called NGAP (NG Application Protocol). The SCTP layer can provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. In transport, IP layer point-to-point transmission may be used to deliver signaling PDUs. The NG-C interface may provide the following functions: NG interface management, UE context management, UE mobility management, NAS message transmission, paging, PDU session management, configuration transfer, and alert message transmission.

[0019] gNB(115) or ng-eNB(120) may host one or more of the following functions: Radio resource management functions such as radio bearer control, radio admission control, connectivity mobility control, and dynamic allocation of resources to UEs on both uplink and downlink (e.g., scheduling); IP and Ethernet header compression, data encryption and integrity protection; AMF selection in UE attachments when routing to AMF is not determined from information provided by the UE; routing of user plane data toward UPF; routing of control plane information toward AMF; connection setup and release; scheduling and transmission of paging messages; scheduling and transmission of system broadcast information (e.g., originating from AMF); measurement and measurement reporting settings for mobility and scheduling; transport level packet marking on uplinks; session management, support for network slicing, QoS flow management, and mapping to data radio bearers; support for UEs in RRC inactive state; NAS message distribution function; radio access network sharing; dual connectivity; tight interaction between NR and E-UTRA; and maintenance of security and radio configuration for user plane 5G systems (5GS) cellular IoT (CIoT) optimization.

[0020] AMF(130) may host one or more of the following functions: NAS signaling termination, NAS signaling security, AS security control, CN node-to-node signaling for mobility between 3GPP access networks, idle mode UE reachability (including control and execution of paging retransmission), enrolled area management, support for intra-system and inter-system mobility, access authentication, access permissions including roaming right checks, mobility management control (enrollment and policy), network slicing support, selection of session management function (SMF), and selection of 5GS CIoT optimization.

[0021] UPF(135) may host one or more of the following functions: (where applicable) an anchor point for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point for interconnection to the data network, packet routing and forwarding, the user plane portion of packet inspection and policy rule enforcement, traffic usage reporting, an uplink classifier supporting routing of traffic flows to the data network, a branching point to support multi-homed PDU sessions, QoS processing for the user plane such as packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement, uplink traffic validation (mapping of Service Data Flows (SDFs) to QoS flows), downlink packet buffering, and downlink data notification triggering.

[0022] As shown in Figure 1, NG-RAN(105) may support a PC5 interface between two UE(125) (e.g., UE(125A) and UE(125B). On the PC5 interface, the direction of communication between two UEs (e.g., from UE(125A) to UE(125B) or vice versa) is sometimes referred to as a sidelink. Sidelink transmission and reception via the PC5 interface may be supported when UE(125) is inside and outside the NG-RAN(105) coverage, regardless of which RRC state the UE is in. Support for V2X services via the PC5 interface may be provided by NR sidelink communication and / or V2X sidelink communication.

[0023] PC5-S signaling can be used to establish unicast links using Direct Communication Request / Accept messages. A UE may self-assign its source Layer-2 ID for a PC5 unicast link, for example, based on the V2X service type. During the unicast link establishment procedure, the UE may send its source Layer-2 ID for the PC5 unicast link to a peer UE, for example, the UE that received the destination ID from the higher layer. The pair of source Layer-2 ID and destination Layer-2 ID can uniquely identify the unicast link. The receiving UE can verify that the destination ID belongs to it and accept the unicast link establishment request from the source UE. During the PC5 unicast link establishment procedure, the PC5-RRC procedure on the access layer may be called for the purpose of establishing a UE sidelink context, as well as for AS layer configuration, capability exchange, etc. PC5-RRC signaling can enable the exchange of UE capabilities and AS layer configurations, such as sidelink radio bearer configurations, between pairs of UEs on which a PC5 unicast link is established.

[0024] NR sidelink communication may support one of three types of transmission modes (e.g., unicast transmission, groupcast transmission, and broadcast transmission) for a pair of source Layer-2 IDs and destination Layer-2 IDs in an AS. Unicast transmission mode may be characterized by support for one PC5-RRC connection between peer UEs for the pair, transmission and reception of control information and user traffic between peer UEs in the sidelink, support for sidelink HARQ feedback, support for sidelink transmit power control, support for RLC acknowledgment mode (AM), and detection of radio link failure for the PC5-RRC connection. Groupcast transmission may be characterized by transmission and reception of user traffic between UEs belonging to a group in the sidelink, and support for sidelink HARQ feedback. Broadcast transmission is the transmission and reception of user traffic between UEs in the sidelink.

[0025] The Source Layer-2 ID, Destination Layer-2 ID, and PC5 Link Identifier may be used for NR sidelink communication. The Source Layer-2 ID may be link-layer identification information that identifies the device or group of devices that are receiving the sidelink communication frame. The Destination Layer-2 ID may be link-layer identification information that identifies the device that originates the sidelink communication frame. In some examples, the Source Layer-2 ID and Destination Layer-2 ID may be assigned by a management function within the core network. The Source Layer-2 ID can identify the sender of data in NR sidelink communication. The Source Layer-2 ID may be 24 bits long and may be split into two bit strings in the MAC layer, one of which may be the LSB portion (8 bits) of the Source Layer-2 ID and may be forwarded to the sender's physical layer. This can identify the source of the intended data in the sidelink control information and may be used for filtering packets at the receiver's physical layer, and the second bit string may be the MSB portion (16 bits) of the Source Layer-2 ID and may be carried in the Medium Access Control (MAC) header. This can be used for packet filtering at the receiver's MAC layer. The Destination Layer-2 ID can identify the target of the data in NR sidelink communication. In NR sidelink communication, the Destination Layer-2 ID can be 24 bits long and can be split into two bit strings at the MAC layer, one bit string which may be the LSB portion (16 bits) of the Destination Layer-2 ID and can be forwarded to the sender's physical layer. This can identify the target of the intended data in the sidelink control information and can be used for packet filtering at the receiver's physical layer, and the second bit string which may be the MSB portion (8 bits) of the Destination Layer-2 ID and can be forwarded in the MAC header.This can be used for packet filtering at the receiver's MAC layer. The PC5 link identifier can uniquely identify a PC5 unicast link in the UE for the lifetime of the PC5 unicast link. The PC5 link identifier can be used to indicate a PC5 unicast link where a side-link radio link failure (RLF) declaration has been made and the PC5-RRC connection has been released.

[0026] Figures 2A and 2B show, respectively, examples of radio protocol stacks for the user plane and control plane in some, some aspects of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 2A, the protocol stack for the user plane of the Uu interface (between UE(125) and gNB(115)) includes Service Data Adaptive Protocol (SDAP)(201) and SDAP(211), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP)(202) and PDCP(212), Radio Link Control (RLC)(203) and RLC(213), Layer-2 MAC(204) sublayers and MAC(214) sublayers, and the Physical (PHY) layer(205) and PHY layer(215) (Layer 1 is also called L1).

[0027] PHY(205) and PHY(215) provide transport channels (244) to the MAC(204) and MAC(214) sublayers. The MAC(204) and MAC(214) sublayers provide logical channels (243) to the RLC(203) and RLC(213) sublayers. The RLC(203) and RLC(213) sublayers provide RLC channels (242) to the PDCP(202) and PCP(212) sublayers. The PDCP(202) and PDCP(212) sublayers provide radio bearers (241) to the SDAP(201) and SDAP(211) sublayers. The radio bearers can be classified into two groups: data radio bearers (DRBs) for user plane data and signaling radio bearers (SRBs) for control plane data. The SDAP(201) sublayer and SDAP(211) sublayer provide QoS flow(240) to 5GC.

[0028] The main services and functions of the MAC(204) or MAC(214) sublayer include: mapping between logical channels and transport channels; multiplexing / demultiplexing MAC service data units (SDUs) belonging to one or different logical channels to / from transport blocks (TBs) delivered to / from the physical layer on the transport channel; scheduling information reporting; error correction with Hybrid Automatic Retransmission Request (HARQ) (one HARQ entity per cell in the case of carrier aggregation (CA)); priority processing between UEs by dynamic scheduling; priority processing between logical channels of a single UE by LCP (Logical Channel Prioritization); priority processing between duplicate resources of a single UE; and padding. A single MAC entity may support multiple numerologies, transmission timings, and cells. Mapping constraints in logical channel prioritization control which numerologies, cells, and transmission timings a logical channel can use (multiple of each).

[0029] The HARQ feature can ensure delivery between peer entities in Layer 1. When the physical layer is not configured for downlink / uplink spatial multiplexing, a single HARQ process may support one TB; when the physical layer is configured for downlink / uplink spatial multiplexing, a single HARQ process may support one or more TBs.

[0030] The RLC(203) or RLC(213) sublayer may support three transmit modes: Transparent Mode (TM), Unacknowledged Mode (UM), and Acknowledgment Mode (AM). The RLC configuration may be per logical channel, independent of numerology and / or transmit duration, and an Automatic Retransmission Request (ARQ) may operate for either the numerology and / or transmit duration in which the logical channel is configured.

[0031] The main services and functions of the RLC(203) sublayer or RLC(213) sublayer depend on the transmission mode (e.g., TM, UM, or AM) and may include: forwarding of upper-layer PDUs, sequence numbering independent of that in PDCP (UM and AM), error correction by ARQ (AM only), segmentation (AM and UM) and resegmentation (AM only) of RLC SDUs, reassembly of SDUs (AM and UM), duplicate detection (AM only), RLC SDU discarding (AM and UM), RLC re-establishment, and protocol error detection (AM only).

[0032] An automatic retransmission request within the RLC(203) sublayer or RLC(213) sublayer may have the following characteristics: the ARQ retransmits an RLC SDU segment or RLC SDU segment based on an RLC status report; polling for RLC status reports may be used when required by the RLC; and an RLC receiver may also trigger an RLC status report after detecting a missing RLC SDU segment or RLC SDU segment.

[0033] The main services and functions of the PDCP(202) sublayer or PDCP(212) sublayer may include: data transfer (user plane or control plane), PDCP sequence number (SN) maintenance, header compression and decompression using the Robust Header Compression (ROHC) protocol, header compression and decompression using the EHC protocol, encryption and decryption, integrity protection and integrity verification, timer-based SDU discarding, routing for split bearers, duplication, reordering and in-order delivery, out-of-order delivery, and duplicate discarding.

[0034] The main services and functions of SDAP(201) or SDAP(211) include mapping between QoS flows and data radio bearers, and marking of QoS flow IDs (QFIs) in both downlink and uplink packets. A single protocol entity of SDAP may be configured for each individual PDU session.

[0035] As shown in Figure 2B, the protocol stack of the control plane of the Uu interface (between UE(125) and gNB(115)) includes a PHY layer (Layer 1), the MAC, RLC, and PDCP sublayers of Layer-2 as described above, plus the RRC(206) and RRC(216) sublayers. The main services and functions of the RRC(206) and RRC(216) sublayers on the Uu interface include: broadcasting system information about the AS and NAS; paging initiated by 5GC or NG-RAN; establishing, maintaining, and releasing RRC connections between the UE and NG-RAN (including adding, modifying, and releasing carrier aggregation, and adding, modifying, and releasing dual connectivity in or between E-UTRA and NR); security functions including key management; establishing, configuring, maintaining, and releasing SRB and DRB; mobility functions (including handover and context forwarding, control of UE cell selection and reselection, and inter-RAT mobility); QoS management functions; UE measurement reporting and reporting control; detection and recovery of radio link failures; and forwarding NAS messages to / from the NAS and from the UE. The NAS(207) and NAS(227) layers are control protocols (terminated at the AMF on the network side) that perform functions such as authentication, mobility management, and security control.

[0036] Sidelink-specific services and functions on the RRC sublayer of the Uu interface include: configuring sidelink resource allocation via system information or dedicated signaling; reporting UE sidelink information; measuring configuration and reporting for sidelinks; and reporting UE-assisted information about SL traffic patterns(s).

[0037] Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C show exemplary mappings between logical channels and transport channels in downlink, uplink, and sidelink, respectively, in some of several aspects of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Different types of data transfer services may be provided by the MAC. Each logical channel type may be defined by the type of information being transferred. Logical channels can be classified into two groups: control channels and traffic channels. Control channels may be used only for the transfer of control plane information. A Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH) is a downlink channel for broadcasting system control information. A Paging Control Channel (PCCH) is a downlink channel for carrying paging messages. A Common Control Channel (CCCH) is a channel for transmitting control information between the UE and the network. This channel may be used for UEs that do not have an RRC connection to the network. A Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH) is a point-to-point bidirectional channel for transmitting dedicated control information between the UE and the network and may be used by UEs with an RRC connection. Traffic channels may be used only for the transfer of user plane information. A Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH) is a point-to-point channel dedicated to one UE for the transfer of user information. DTCHs can exist on both uplinks and downlinks. A Sidelink Control Channel (SCCH) is a sidelink channel for transmitting control information (e.g., PC5-RRC and PC5-S messages) from one UE to another. A Sidelink Traffic Channel (STCH) is a sidelink channel for transmitting user information from one UE to another. A Sidelink Broadcast Control Channel (SBCCH) is a sidelink channel for broadcasting sidelink system information from one UE to another.

[0038] Downlink transport channel types include broadcast channels (BCH), downlink shared channels (DL-SCH), and paging channels (PCH). BCHs can be characterized by a fixed, predefined transport format and the requirement to be broadcast across the entire coverage area of ​​a cell, either as a single message or by beamforming different BCH instances. DL-SCHs can be characterized by: support for HARQ; support for dynamic link adaptation by varying modulation, encoding, and transmit power; the possibility of broadcasting across the entire cell; the possibility of using beamforming; support for both dynamic and semi-static resource allocation; and support for UE Discontinuous Reception (DRX) to enable UE power saving. DL-SCHs can be characterized by: support for HARQ; support for dynamic link adaptation by varying modulation, encoding, and transmit power; the possibility of broadcasting across the entire cell; the possibility of using beamforming; support for both dynamic and semi-static resource allocation; and support for UE Discontinuous Reception (DRX) to enable UE power saving. A PCH may be characterized by: support for UE discontinuous reception (DRX) to enable UE power saving (DRX cycles are indicated to the UE by the network); the need to be broadcast across the cell's coverage area, either as a single message or by beamforming different BCH instances; and mapping to physical resources that can also be dynamically used for traffic / other control channels.

[0039] In the downlink, the following connections may exist between the logical channel and the transport channel: BCCH may be mapped to BCH; BCCH may be mapped to DL-SCH; PCCH may be mapped to PCH; CCCH may be mapped to DL-SCH; DCCH may be mapped to DL-SCH; and DTCH may be mapped to DL-SCH.

[0040] Uplink transport channel types include uplink shared channels (UL-SCH) and random access channels (RACH). UL-SCH may be characterized by the possibility of using beamforming, support for dynamic link adaptation by avoiding transmit power and potentially modulation and coding, support for HARQ, and support for both dynamic and semi-static resource allocation. RACH may be characterized by limited control information and a risk of collision.

[0041] In the uplink, the following connections may exist between the logical channel and the transport channel: CCCH may be mapped to UL-SCH; DCCH may be mapped to UL-SCH; and DTCH may be mapped to UL-SCH.

[0042] Sidelink transport channel types include sidelink broadcast channels (SL-BCH) and sidelink shared channels (SL-SCH). SL-BCH may be characterized by a predefined transport format. SL-SCH may be characterized by support for unicast transmission; groupcast transmission; broadcast transmission; support for both UE autonomous resource selection and scheduled resource allocation by NG-RAN; support for both dynamic and semi-static resource allocation by NG-RAN when a UE is allocated resources; and support for HARQ, dynamic link adaptation through changes in transmit power, modulation, and coding.

[0043] In a sidelink, the following connections may exist between the logical channel and the transport channel: SCCH may be mapped to SL-SCH; STCH may be mapped to SL-SCH; and SBCCH may be mapped to SL-BCH.

[0044] Figures 4A, 4B, and 4C illustrate exemplary mappings between transport channels and physical channels in downlink, uplink, and sidelink, respectively, in some of several aspects of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Examples of downlink physical channels include PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel), PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), and PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel). PCH and DL-SCH transport channels are mapped to PDSCH. BCH transport channels are mapped to PBCH. No transport channels are mapped to PDCCH, and DCI (Downlink Control Information) is transmitted through PDCCH.

[0045] Examples of physical uplink channels include PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel), PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel), and PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel). A UL-SCH transport channel may be mapped to PUSCH, and a RACH transport channel may be mapped to PRACH. No transport channel is mapped to PUCCH, and UCI (Uplink Control Information) is transmitted via PUCCH.

[0046] Physical channels in a sidelink include PSSCH (Physical Sidelink Shared Channel), PSCCH (Physical Sidelink Control Channel), PSFCH (Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel), and PSBCH (Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel). The Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) may indicate resources and other transmission parameters used by the UE for the PSSCH. The Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH) may transmit the TB of the data itself, as well as control information for HARQ procedures and CSI feedback triggers. At least six OFDM symbols in a slot may be used for PSSCH transmission. The Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH) may carry HARQ feedback via the sidelink from the UE that is the intended recipient of the PSSCH transmission to the UE that performed the transmission. The PSFCH sequence may be transmitted within a single PRB that is repeated across two OFDM symbols near the end of the sidelink resource in the slot. The SL-SCH transport channel may be mapped to PSSCH. The SL-BCH may be mapped to PSBCH. No transport channel is mapped to PSFCH, but SFCI (Sidelink Feedback Control Information) may be mapped to PSFCH. No transport channel is mapped to PSCCH, but SCI (Sidelink Control Information) may be mapped to PSCCH.

[0047] Figures 5A, 5B, 5C, and 5D illustrate examples of radio protocol stacks for NR sidelink communication in some aspects of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The AS protocol stack for the user plane (i.e., for the STCH) in the PC5 interface may consist of SDAP, PDCP, RLC, and MAC sublayers and a physical layer. The user plane protocol stack is shown in Figure 5A. The AS protocol stack for the SBCCH in the PC5 interface may consist of RRC, RLC, MAC sublayers and a physical layer, as shown below in Figure 5B. To support the PC5-S protocol, as shown in Figure 5C, the PC5-S is placed on top of the PDCP, RLC, and MAC sublayers and the physical layer in the control plane protocol stack for the SCCH for PC5-S. The control plane AS protocol stack for the SCCH for RRC in the PC5 interface consists of RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC sublayers and a physical layer. The control plane protocol stack for the SCCH for RRC is shown in Figure 5D.

[0048] Sidelink radio bearers (SLRBs) can be classified into two groups: sidelink data radio bearers (SL DRBs) for user plane data and sidelink signaling radio bearers (SL SRBs) for control plane data. Separate SL SRBs using different SCCHs may be configured for PC5-RRC and PC5-S signaling, respectively.

[0049] The MAC sublayer may provide the following services and functions via the PC5 interface: radio resource selection, packet filtering, priority processing between uplink and sidelink transmissions to a given UE, and sidelink CSI reporting. Due to logical channel prioritization constraints in the MAC, only sidelink logical channels belonging to the same destination may be multiplexed into the MAC PDU for each unicast, groupcast, and broadcast transmission that may be associated with the destination. For packet filtering, an SL-SCH MAC header containing portions of both the source Layer-2 ID and destination Layer-2 ID may be added to the MAC PDU. A logical channel identifier (LCID) contained within the MAC subheader may uniquely identify a logical channel within a range of combinations of source Layer-2 ID and destination Layer-2 ID.

[0050] RLC sub-layer services and functions may be supported for sidelinks. Both RLC UM (Unacknowledged Mode) and AM (Acknowledged Mode) may be used for unicast transmissions, while UM alone may be used for groupcast or broadcast transmissions. In the case of UM, only unidirectional transmission may be supported for groupcast and broadcast.

[0051] PDCP sub-tier services and functions for the Uu interface may be supported for sidelinks, but with some limitations (out-of-order delivery may only be supported for unicast transmissions, and duplicates may not be supported on the PC5 interface).

[0052] The SDAP sublayer may provide the following services and functions via the PC5 interface: mapping between QoS flows and sidelink data radio bearers; and for one of the unicast, groupcast, and broadcast associated with a destination, there may be one SDAP entity per destination.

[0053] The RRC sublayer may provide the following services and functions via the PC5 interface: forwarding PC5-RRC messages between peer UEs, maintaining and releasing PC5-RRC connections between two UEs, and detecting sidelink radio link failures for PC5-RRC connections based on instructions from MAC or RLC. A PC5-RRC connection may be a logical connection between two UEs for a pair of source Layer-2 IDs and destination Layer-2 IDs, and may be considered established after the corresponding PC5 unicast link is established. There may be a one-to-one correspondence between a PC5-RRC connection and a PC5 unicast link. A UE may have multiple PC5-RRC connections with one or more UEs that have different pairs of source Layer-2 IDs and destination Layer-2 IDs. Separate PC5-RRC procedures and messages may be used by a UE to forward sidelink configurations, including UE capabilities and SL-DRB configurations, to a peer UE. Both peer UEs may exchange their own UE capabilities and sidelink configurations using separate bidirectional procedures in both sidelink directions.

[0054] Figure 6 shows exemplary physical signals in downlink, uplink, and sidelink in some, some aspects of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. A Demodulation Reference Signal (DM-RS) may be used in downlink, uplink, and sidelink and may be used for channel estimation. The DM-RS is a UE-specific reference signal and may be transmitted with the physical channel in the downlink, uplink, or sidelink and may be used for channel estimation and coherent detection of the physical channel. A Phase-Tracking Reference Signal (PT-RS) may be used in downlink, uplink, and sidelink and may be used to track the phase and mitigate performance loss due to phase noise. The PT-RS may be used primarily to estimate and minimize the impact of common phase error (CPE) on system performance. Due to its phase noise characteristics, the PT-RS signal may have a low density in the frequency domain and a high density in the time domain. The PT-RS may occur in combination with the DM-RS and when the network is configured to have a PT-RS. A positioning reference signal (PRS) can be used downlink for positioning using different positioning techniques. The PRS can be used to measure the delay of downlink transmissions by correlating the received signal from the base station with a local replica in the receiver. A channel status information reference signal (CSI-RS) can be used downlink and sidelink. Among other applications, the CSI-RS can be used for channel status estimation, Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurement for mobility and beam management, and time / frequency tracking for demodulation. While the CSI-RS can be configured UE-specifically, multiple users may share the same CSI-RS resource. The UE can determine CSI reports and transmit them uplink to the base station using PUCCH or PUSCH. CSI reports can be carried in the sidelink MAC CE.Primary Synchronization Signals (PSS) and Secondary Synchronization Signals (SSS) can be used for radio frame synchronization. PSS and SSS can be used for cell discovery procedures during initial attachment or for mobility purposes. Sounding Reference Signals (SRS) can be used on the uplink for uplink channel estimation. Similar to CSI-RS, SRS can act as a QCL reference for other physical channels so that other physical channels can be configured and transmitted by quasi-collocation with SRS. Sidelink PSS (S-PSS) and Sidelink SSS (S-SSS) can be used on the sidelink for sidelink synchronization.

[0055] Figure 7 shows examples of radio resource control (RRC) states and transitions between different RRC states in some of several aspects of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. A UE can be in one of three RRC states: RRC connected state (710), RRC idle state (720), and RRC inactive state (730). After power-on, a UE can be in the RRC idle state (720), in which case the UE can establish a connection to the network, transfer data, and / or make / receive voice calls using initial access and through the RRC connection establishment procedure. As soon as the RRC connection is established, the UE can be in the RRC connected state (710). The UE can transition from the RRC idle state (720) to the RRC connected state (710), or from the RRC connected state (710) to the RRC idle state (720), using the RRC connection establishment / release procedure (740).

[0056] The RRC inactive state (730) may be used to reduce the signaling load and latency caused by frequent transitions from the RRC connected state (710) to the RRC idle state (720) when the UE frequently sends small amounts of data. In the RRC inactive state (730), the AS context can be stored by both the UE and the gNB. This can result in a faster state transition from the RRC inactive state (730) to the RRC connected state (710). The UE may transition from the RRC inactive state (730) to the RRC connected state (710), or from the RRC connected state (710) to the RRC inactive state (730), using the RRC connection restart / deactivation procedure (760). The UE may transition from the RRC inactive state (730) to the RRC idle state (720) using the RRC connection release procedure (750).

[0057] Figure 8 shows exemplary frame structures and physical resources in some of several aspects of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Downlink, uplink, or sidelink transmissions may be organized into frames having a duration of 10ms, consisting of 10 ms subframes. Each subframe may consist of 1, 2, 4, ... slots, and the number of slots per subframe may depend on the subcarrier interval of the carrier on which the transmission is performed. Slot durations may be 14 symbols with a normally cyclic prefix (CP) and 12 symbols with an extended CP, and may scale in time as a function of the subcarrier interval used, such that there are an integer number of slots in one subframe. Figure 8 shows a resource grid in the time domain and frequency domain. Each element of the resource grid comprises one symbol in time and one subcarrier in frequency, and is called a resource element (RE). A resource block (RB) may be defined as 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain.

[0058] In some examples, and through non-slot-based scheduling, packet transmission may occur across a portion of a slot, for example, between two, four, or seven OFDM symbols, sometimes called minislots. Minislots may be used for low-latency applications such as URLLC and for operation in unlicensed bands. In some embodiments, minislots may also be used for fast, flexible scheduling of services (e.g., preemption of URLLC on an eMBB).

[0059] Figure 9 shows exemplary component carrier configurations in different carrier aggregation scenarios, according to some of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. In carrier aggregation (CA), two or more component carriers (CCs) may be aggregated. A UE may receive or transmit simultaneously on one or more CCs, depending on its capabilities. CA may be supported for both continuous and discontinuous CCs in the same or different bands, as shown in Figure 9. gNBs and UEs may communicate using a serving cell. A serving cell may be associated with at least one downlink CC (e.g., it may be associated with only one downlink CC, or it may be associated with both a downlink CC and an uplink CC). A serving cell may be a primary cell (PCell) or a secondary cell (SCell).

[0060] The UE may adjust the timing of its uplink transmission using an uplink timing control procedure. A timing advance (TA) may be used to adjust the uplink frame timing relative to the downlink frame timing. The gNB may determine the desired timing advance setting and provide it to the UE. Using the given TA, the UE can determine its uplink transmission timing relative to its observed downlink receive timing.

[0061] In an RRC connection state, the gNB may be responsible for maintaining the timing advance and keeping L1 synchronized. Serving cells that have uplinks to which the same timing advance applies and use the same timing reference cell are grouped in a Timing Advance Group (TAG). A TAG may contain at least one serving cell with configured uplinks. The mapping of serving cells to TAGs may be configured by the RRC. In the case of a primary TAG, the UE may use a PCell as the timing reference cell, except for shared spectral channel access, in which case an SCell may also be used as a timing reference cell, depending on the circumstances. In a secondary TAG, the UE may use any of the activated SCells of this TAG as the timing reference cell and does not need to change it unless necessary.

[0062] Timing advance updates can be signaled to the UE by the gNB via MAC CE commands. Such commands may restart a TAG-specific timer that can indicate whether L1 can be synchronized or not; when the timer is running, L1 can be considered synchronized; otherwise, L1 can be considered asynchronous (in which case uplink transmissions can only occur over PRACH).

[0063] A UE with a single timing advance capability for CA can simultaneously receive and / or transmit on multiple CCs corresponding to multiple serving cells (multiple serving cells grouped into one TAG) that share the same timing advance. A UE with multiple timing advance capabilities for CA can simultaneously receive and / or transmit on multiple CCs corresponding to multiple serving cells (multiple serving cells grouped into multiple TAGs) that have different timing advances. NG-RAN may ensure that each TAG contains at least one serving cell. A non-CA-enabled UE can receive on a single CC and transmit on a single CC corresponding to only one serving cell (one serving cell within one TAG).

[0064] In the case of a CA, the multi-carrier nature of the physical layer may be exposed at the MAC layer, and one HARQ entity may be required for each serving cell. When a CA is configured, the UE may have one RRC connection to the network. During RRC connection establishment / re-establishment / handover, one serving cell (e.g., PCell) may provide NAS mobility information. Depending on the UE's capabilities, SCells may be configured to form a set of serving cells together with PCells. A configured set of serving cells for a UE may consist of one PCell and one or more SCells. Reconfiguration, addition, and removal of SCells may be performed by the RRC.

[0065] In a dual connectivity scenario, the UE may consist of a master cell group (MCG) for communication with the master base station, a secondary cell group (SCG) for communication with the secondary base stations, and multiple cells, each having two MAC entities—one MAC entity for the MCG for communication with the master base station and one MAC entity for the SCG for communication with the secondary base stations.

[0066] Figure 10 shows examples of bandwidth subconfiguration and switching in some, some, some aspects of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. A UE may be configured using one or more Bandwidth Parts (BWPs) (1010) on a given component carrier. In some examples, one of the one or more Bandwidth Parts may be active at one time. The active Bandwidth Part may define the operating bandwidth of the UE within the operating bandwidth of the cell. For initial access and until the configuration of the UE in the cell is received, an initial Bandwidth Part (1020) determined from system information may be used. Bandwidth Adaptation (BA) may adjust the receive and transmit bandwidth of the UE, for example, through BWP switching (1040), so that it is not as large as the cell bandwidth. For example, the width may be instructed to change (e.g., to shrink during periods of low activity to conserve power), the location may move in the frequency domain (e.g., to increase scheduling flexibility), and the subcarrier spacing may be instructed to change (e.g., to enable different services). The first active BWP(1020) may be the active BWP during RRC(re)configuration for PCell or activation of SCell.

[0067] For each downlink BWP or uplink BWP in a set of downlink BWPs, the UE may be given the following configuration parameters: subcarrier spacing (SCS), cyclic prefix, common RB and several consecutive RBs, the index within the set of downlink BWPs or uplink BWPs by their respective BWP-Id, a set of BWP common parameters, and a set of BWP-specific parameters. A BWP may be associated with OFDM numerology according to the subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix configured for that BWP. In a serving cell, the UE may be provided by the default downlink BWP among the configured downlink BWPs. If the UE is not provided with a default downlink BWP, the default downlink BWP may be the initial downlink BWP.

[0068] A downlink BWP can be associated with a BWP inactivity timer. If the BWP inactivity timer associated with an active downlink BWP expires and a default downlink BWP is configured, the UE may perform a BWP switch to the default BWP. If the BWP inactivity timer associated with an active downlink BWP expires and no default downlink BWP is configured, the UE may perform a BWP switch to the initial downlink BWP.

[0069] Figure 11 shows examples of a four-step competition-based and competition-free random access process in several aspects of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 12 shows examples of a two-step competition-based, competition-free random access process in several aspects of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. A random access procedure may be triggered by several events, such as initial access from an RRC stopped state, RRC connection reproducibility procedures, downlink or uplink data arrival during an RRC connection state where the uplink synchronization status is "asynchronous", uplink data arrival during an RRC connection state when no PUCCH resources are available for a Scheduling Request (SR), SR failure, requests by the RRC during synchronous reconfiguration (e.g., handover), transitions from an RRC inactive state, establishing time alignment of secondary TAGs, requests for other system information (SI), Beam Failure Recovery (BFR), and consistent uplink listen before talk (LBT) failures on the PCell.

[0070] Two types of random access (RA) procedures may be supported: a 4-step RA type with MSG1 and a 2-step RA type with MSGA. Both types of RA procedures may support contention-based random access (CBRA) and contention-free random access (CFRA), as shown in Figures 11 and 12.

[0071] The UE may select the type of random access at the start of a random access procedure based on the network configuration. When no CFRA resource is configured, the RSRP threshold may be used by the UE to select between a 2-step RA type and a 4-step RA type. If a 4-step RA type CFRA resource is configured, the UE can perform random access in the 4-step RA type. If a CFRA resource is configured for a 2-step RA type, the UE can perform random access in the 2-step RA type.

[0072] A 4-step RA type MSG1 may consist of a preamble on PRACH. After sending MSG1, the UE may monitor for a response from the network within a configured window. In the case of CFRA, a dedicated preamble for sending MSG1 may be allocated by the network, and upon receiving a Random Access Response (RAR) from the network, the UE may terminate the random access procedure as shown in Figure 11. In the case of CBRA, upon receiving a random access response, the UE may send MSG3 using the uplink grant scheduled in the random access response and monitor for conflict resolution as shown in Figure 11. If conflict resolution is unsuccessful after sending MSG3, the UE may return to sending MSG1.

[0073] A two-step RA type MSGA may include a preamble on PRACH and a payload on PUSCH. After the MSGA transmission, the UE may monitor for responses from the network within a configured window. In CFRA, a dedicated preamble and PUSCH resources may be configured for the MSGA transmission, and upon receiving a network response, the UE may terminate the random access procedure as shown in Figure 12. In CBRA, if conflict resolution is successful upon receiving a network response, the UE may terminate the random access procedure as shown in Figure 12, while if a fallback indication is received in MSGB, the UE may perform an MSG3 transmission using the uplink grant scheduled during the fallback indication and monitor for conflict resolution. If conflict resolution is unsuccessful after the MSG3 (re)transmission, the UE may return to the MSGA transmission.

[0074] Figure 13 shows examples of the time and frequency structure of a Synchronization Signal and Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) block (SSB) in several aspects of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. An SS / PBCH block (SSB) may consist of a Primary Synchronization Signal and a Secondary Synchronization Signal (PSS, SSS), each occupying one symbol and 127 subcarriers (e.g., subcarrier numbers 56-182 in Figure 13), and a PBCH (spanning three OFDM symbols and 240 subcarriers, but leaving unused portion in the middle for the SSS on one symbol, as shown in Figure 13). The possible time positions of an SSB within a half-frame may be determined by the subcarrier spacing, and the periodicity of the half-frame in which the SSB is transmitted may be configured by the network. During a half-frame, different SSBs may be transmitted in different spatial directions (i.e., using different beams across the cell's coverage area).

[0075] The PBCH may be used to carry the Master Information Block (MIB) used by the UE during cell discovery and initial access procedures. The UE may first decode the PBCH / MIB to receive other system information. The MIB may provide the terminal with the parameters necessary to obtain SIB1 (System Information Block 1), more specifically, the information necessary to monitor the PDCCH for scheduling the PDSCH carrying SIB1. In addition, the MIB may indicate cell closure status information. The MIB and SIB1 may be collectively referred to as minimum system information (SI), and SIB1 may be referred to as remaining minimum system information (RM SI). Other system information blocks (SIBs) (e.g., SIB2, SIB3, ..., SIB10, and SIBpos) may be referred to as other SIs. Other SIs may be broadcast periodically on the DL-SCH, broadcast on demand on the DL-SCH (e.g., in response to requests from UEs in the RRC idle, RRC inactive, or RRC connected state), or transmitted on the DL-SCH in a manner exclusive to UEs in the RRC connected state (e.g., in response to requests from UEs in the RRC connected state if configured by a network, or if the UE has an active BWP that does not constitute a common search space).

[0076] Figure 14 shows examples of SSB burst transmissions in some of several embodiments of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. An SSB burst may contain N SSBs, each of which may correspond to a beam. An SSB burst may be transmitted according to a periodicity (e.g., an SSB burst period). During a competition-based random access process, the UE may perform a random access resource selection process, in which the UE first selects an SSB before selecting an RA preamble. The UE may select an SSB having an RSRP above a configured threshold. In some embodiments, the UE may select any SSB if no SSB with an RSRP above the configured threshold is available. A set of random access preambles may be associated with an SSB. After selecting an SSB, the UE may select a random access preamble from the set of random access preambles associated with the SSB and transmit the selected random access preamble to initiate the random access process.

[0077] In some embodiments, one of the N beams may be associated with a CSI-RS resource. The UE can measure the CSI-RS resource and select a CSI-RS having an RSRP above a configured threshold. The UE can select a random access preamble corresponding to the selected CSI-RS and initiate the random access process by sending the selected random access process. If no random access preamble exists associated with the selected CSI-RS, the UE can select a random access preamble corresponding to a pseudo-collocated SSB on the selected CSI-RS.

[0078] In some embodiments, based on UE measurements of CSI-RS resources and UE CSI reports, the base station can determine a Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) state and indicate the TCI state to the UE, which can then use the indicated TCI state for receiving downlink control information (e.g., via PDCCH) or data (e.g., via PDSCH). The UE may use the indicated TCI state to use the appropriate beam for receiving data or control information. The indication of the TCI state may be the use of an RRC configuration or a combination of RRC signaling and dynamic signaling (e.g., via a MAC control element (MAC CE) and / or based on the value of a field in downlink control information that schedules downlink transmissions). The TCI state may indicate a quasi-collocation (QCL) relationship between a downlink reference signal such as CSI-RS and a DM-RS associated with a downlink control or data channel (e.g., PDCCH or PDSCH, respectively).

[0079] In some embodiments, the UE may consist of a list of up to M TCI-State configurations, where M may depend on the capabilities of the UE, using physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) configuration parameters to decode the PDSCH according to the detected PDCCH having a DCI intended for the UE and a given serving cell. Each TCI-State may include parameters for configuring a QCL relationship between one or two downlink reference signals and the DM-RS ports of the PDSCH, the DM-RS ports of the PDCCH, or the CSI-RS ports of a CSI-RS resource. The pseudo-collocation relationship may consist of one or more RRC parameters. The type of pseudo-collocation corresponding to each DL RS can take one of the following values: "QCL-Type A": {Doppler shift, Doppler spread, mean delay, delay spread}, "QCL-Type B": {Doppler shift, Doppler spread}, "QCL-Type C": {Doppler shift, mean delay}, "QCL-Type D": {Spatial Rx parameter}. The UE may receive activation commands (e.g., MAC CE) used to map TCI states to code points in the DCI fields.

[0080] Figure 15 shows examples of user equipment components and a base station for transmission and / or reception in some, some aspects of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. All or a subset of the blocks and functions in Figure 15 may be in and be performed by the user equipment (1500) and the base station (1505). An antenna (1510) may be used for transmitting or receiving electromagnetic signals. The antenna (1510) may comprise one or more antenna elements and may enable different input / output antenna configurations, including multiple input / multiple output (MIMO), multiple input / single output (MISO), and single input / multiple output (SIMO) configurations. In some embodiments, the antenna (150) may enable a large-scale MIMO configuration with tens of thousands of antenna elements. The antenna (1510) may enable other multi-antenna techniques, such as beamforming. In some examples, the UE(1500) may support only a single antenna, depending on the capabilities of the UE(1500) or the type of UE(1500) (e.g., a low-complexity UE).

[0081] The transceiver (1520) can communicate bidirectionally via an antenna (1510) and a wireless link, as described herein. For example, the transceiver (1520) may represent a wireless transceiver at a UE and communicate bidirectionally with a wireless transceiver at a base station, or vice versa. The transceiver (1520) may include a modem for modulating packets, supplying the modulated packets to the antenna (1510) for transmission, and demodulating packets received from the antenna (1510).

[0082] Memory (1530) may include RAM and ROM. Memory (1530) may store computer-readable, computer-executable code (1535) which includes instructions that cause the processor to perform various functions described herein at runtime. In some examples, memory (1530) may include a basic input / output system (BIOS) which can control basic hardware or software operations, such as interaction with peripheral components or peripheral devices, among other things.

[0083] The processor (1540) may include hardware devices having processing capabilities (e.g., general-purpose processors, DSPs, CPUs, microcontrollers, ASICs, FPGAs, programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic components, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof). In some examples, the processor (1540) may be configured to operate memory using a memory controller. In other examples, the memory controller may be integrated into the processor (1540). The processor (1540) may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in memory (e.g., memory (1530)) to cause the UE (1500) or base station (1505) to perform various functions.

[0084] The central processing unit (CPU) (1550) can perform basic arithmetic, logical, control, and input / output (I / O) operations specified by computer instructions in memory (1530). User equipment (1500) and / or base stations (1505) may include additional peripheral components such as graphics processing units (GPU) (1560) and Global Positioning System (GPS) (1570). The GPU (1560) is dedicated circuitry for rapid operation and modification of memory (1530) to accelerate the processing performance of user equipment (1500) and / or base stations (1505). GPS (1570) may be used, for example, to enable location-based services or other services based on the geographical location of user equipment (1500).

[0085] Exemplary embodiments may enable the collection of quality-of-experience (QoE) measurements for different services, including streaming services. Exemplary QoE management may collect experience parameters for streaming services, as well as augmented reality / virtual reality (AR / VR) and URLLC.

[0086] In some exemplary embodiments, QoE measurement may enable the collection of user KPI information, such as end-to-end (E2E) reliability statistics indicators.

[0087] In some examples, different types of UEs may have different QoE requirements. In some examples, QoE parameters may be defined as UE-specific and service-related. In some examples, QoE may be used as a criterion for evaluating network quality. Traditionally, metrics such as throughput, capacity, and coverage have been commonly used to evaluate the performance of network solutions. Exemplary embodiments may enable trigger, configuration, and reporting mechanisms for QoE measurement collection, including relevant entities (e.g., UEs, network entities).

[0088] In some examples, signaling-based or management-based mechanisms may be used for QoE-related signaling. In some examples, application layer measurement configurations received from the OAM or CN may be encapsulated in a transparent container, which may be forwarded to the UE in a downlink RRC message. Application layer measurements received from the upper layers of the UE may be encapsulated in a transparent container and sent to the network in an uplink RRC message.

[0089] In some cases, the RAN may be released when handing over an ongoing QoE measurement / reporting configuration to a network that does not support it, for example.

[0090] In some examples, areas may be defined and / or configured for QoE measurement and / or reporting. In some examples, for area handling, the network may track whether a UE is inside or outside an area and configure / release the configuration accordingly. In some examples, the network may track whether a UE is inside or outside an area, and the UE may manage the initiation and deactivation of QoE accordingly. In some examples, the UE may perform area checks (the UE may have area configurations) and manage the initiation and deactivation of QoE accordingly.

[0091] In some cases, QoE measurements may be supported for MBS in an RRC inactive state. In some cases, QoE measurements may be supported for MBS in an RRC idle state.

[0092] In some cases, a management-based QoE configuration may not override a signaling-based QoE configuration.

[0093] In some cases, QoE reports may be transmitted via a separate SRB (different from the current SRB) in an NR because this report may have a lower priority than other SRB transmissions.

[0094] In some cases, configuration and reporting for multiple simultaneous QoE measurements for the UE may be supported.

[0095] In some cases, RRC signaling may be used by gNB to indicate that a UE is suspending or resuming QoE reporting.

[0096] In some cases, pausing / resuming may apply to all QoE reports, or it may apply to each QoE configuration.

[0097] In some cases, QoE measurements can be configured within the RRCReconfiguration message.

[0098] In some cases, the configuration of the QoE measurement may be found in the OtherConfig information element within the RRCReconfiguration message.

[0099] In some examples, the configuration of a QoE measurement may involve a list (e.g., RRC list parameters) to allow for the configuration of multiple simultaneous measurements.

[0100] In some cases, RRC may use an ID to identify a measurement. In some cases, this ID may be a QoE reference ID.

[0101] In some cases, SRB4 can be used to send QoE reports in NRs.

[0102] In some cases, the RRC message MeasReportAppLayer can be used to send QoE reports in NRs.

[0103] In some examples, QoE support for NR may include activation via a trace function, configurations that support both signaling-based and management-based approaches, and RRC procedures that support AppLayer config and reporting.

[0104] In some cases, the UE can follow gNB commands, and the NG-RAN can emit the application layer measurement configuration to the UE by the RRC at any time, for example, if required by load or other reasons.

[0105] In some cases, the UE Inactive Access Stratum (AS) context may contain UE AS configurations for QoE (for example, they may not be released when the UE becomes inactive).

[0106] In some cases, a "QoE pause" indication from the network may be used to temporarily stop QoE reports from being sent from the UE to the network.

[0107] In some cases, regarding QoE reporting processing during RAN overload via a "QoE reporting pause indication," the application layer may be responsible for remembering the QoE report when the UE receives the QoE pause instruction.

[0108] In some cases, for QoE reporting during RAN overload via a "QoE reporting pause indication," the AS layer may be responsible for remembering the QoE report when the UE receives the QoE pause indication.

[0109] In some cases, for QoE reporting processing during RAN overload via "QoE reporting pause indication," QoE containers received from the application layer may be discarded during the pause.

[0110] In some examples, the Application Layer Measurement Collection (QoE) feature may enable the collection of application layer measurements from the UE. An exemplary supported service type could be QoE measurement collection for services such as streaming services. Both signaling-based and management-based initiation cases can be used. In the signaling-based case, Application Layer Measurement Collection may be initiated from a CN node toward a specific UE, while in the management-based case, Application Layer Measurement Collection may be initiated from an OAM targeting an area (e.g., without targeting a specific UE).

[0111] Application layer measurement configurations received from OAM or CN may be encapsulated in a transparent container, which may be forwarded to the UE in a downlink RRC message. Application layer measurement configurations received from the upper layers of the UE may also be encapsulated in a transparent container and sent to the network in an uplink RRC message. The network may release the application layer measurement configuration to the UE at any time.

[0112] In some cases, such as URLLC services, end-to-end latency can be critical, and operators can monitor and guarantee latency measurements.

[0113] In some cases, QoE management frameworks can exist in two forms: signaling-based QoE and management-based QoE. In signaling-based QoE, a QoE measurement configuration (QMC) may be distributed to RAN nodes. The QMC can specify area ranges for measurement, which may be defined via a list of cells / TA / TAI / PLMN. In management-based QoE, the OAM may distribute the QMC to RAN nodes.

[0114] In some examples, threshold-based mechanisms may be used to trigger the start and stop of QoE measurement collection. In some examples, time-based events may be used to activate QoE measurements, allowing for flexibility in activating QoE measurements within a specific period of time.

[0115] In some cases, upon receiving a "pause" indication from the network, the UE may stop reporting QoE but continue QoE measurements.

[0116] In some cases, a "QoE pause" indication from the network may be used to temporarily stop QoE reports from being sent to the network, but may not affect the collection of QoE measurements at the UE. For example, the UE may continue ongoing QoE measurements and trigger new QoE measurements at the application layer (e.g., by QoE configurations stored in the UE).

[0117] In some examples, in the event of an overload in the RAN, a base station may temporarily suspend reporting from the UE by sending an RRC message (e.g., an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message) to the relevant UE. The RRCConnectionReconfiguration message may contain a measConfigAppLayer configured in otherConfig to temporarily suspend application layer metering reporting. In some examples, the access layer may send a command to the application along with a temporary suspension request. The application can then stop reporting and, once the data in the reporting container is used, stop recording further information. The recorded data may then be retained until it is reported or when the UE request session ends.

[0118] In some cases, once an overload situation in the RAN ends, the base station may resume reporting from the UE by sending an RRC message (e.g., an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message) to the relevant UE. The RRCConnectionReconfiguration message may include a measConfigAppLayer configured to resume application layer metering reporting in otherConfig. The access layer may send a command to the application along with the resume request. The application can then resume reporting and logging if it was stopped.

[0119] In some examples, QoE measurement handling in RRC_INACTIVE may be based on measuring the same configuration during the transition from RRC_INACTIVE to RRC_CONNECTED and maintaining the QoE measurement configuration without reusing it.

[0120] In some cases, RRC segmentation may be required for submitting QoE reports.

[0121] In some examples, when a QoE measurement is configured, a configuration container may be sent from the CAM and then sent to the UE as a transparent container in an RRC reconfiguration message. The container may be forwarded to the application layer within the UE by an AT command. When the application has a report to send, it may be communicated to the RRC layer within the UE by an AT command and then sent to the network in an RRC message. The gNB can then forward it to a measurement acquisition entity that can analyze the measurement.

[0122] In some cases, the core network (CN) can initiate the activation of QoE measurements configured by the OAM and send the QoE measurement configuration to the NG-RAN node. The UE AS layer can then send the QoE measurement configuration to the UE application layer.

[0123] In some examples, the UE application layer may generate a QoE report and transmit it to the UE AS layer. The UE AS layer may transmit the QoE report to an NG-RAN node via a separate signaling radio bearer (SRB). In some examples, this report may have a lower priority than other SRB transmissions. The NG-RAN node may transmit the QoE report to a configured final destination (e.g., TCE / MCE).

[0124] In some cases, QoE measurement can be configured in the RRCReconfiguration message. In some cases, QoE measurement configuration may occur within OtherConfig in RRCReconfiguration.

[0125] In some cases, it may be possible to configure several simultaneous QoE measurements in the UE. In some cases, the measurements may be RRCs configured by a list. In some cases, the configuration of QoE measurements by a list may be used to take advantage of the configuration of multiple simultaneous measurements. An example of QoE configuration for RRCReconfiguration as part of OtherConfig is shown in Figure 16.

[0126] In some examples, there may be assurance and other automated functions that use a QoE measurement collection (QMC) mechanism. To enable multiple simultaneous measurements and temporary stop / restart QMCs, the ability to provide QoE references both inside and outside the container may be required. In some examples, multiple assurance and automated functions may need to have different QoE data from the same UE, thus requiring multiple simultaneous QMCs from each UE. In some examples, when multiple QMCs are requested by different consumers, the reported data may need to be sent to different consumers. The base station may need to have a mapping between QoE references and consumer addresses. The base station may not need to open the reporting container and may decode the data to find the QoE references.

[0127] In some cases, QoE references can be used to link reports to specific configurations so that gNBs know where to forward them.

[0128] In some examples, the QoE reference parameter may specify a network request session. The QoE reference may be globally unique. In some examples, the MCC MNC QMC ID may be configured such that the MCC and MNC are accompanied by a trace activation request from the management system to identify a single PLMN encompassing the management system, and the QMC ID may be a 3-byte Octet String. In some examples, the QMC ID may be generated by the management system or operator. In some examples, it may be used to identify QoE measurement collection jobs at traffic nodes and measurement collection centers. In some examples, the QoE reference may be configured together with the QoE configuration.

[0129] In some cases, RRC messages containing QoE files can be quite large. In some cases, there may be limitations on the QoE configuration.

[0130] In some cases, QoE reports may be sent in a separate RRC message, MeasReportAppLayer. MeasReportAppLayer messages can be used to indicate measurement results. An example is shown in Figure 17.

[0131] In some cases, a QoE reference may need to be added for reporting purposes, as it may be used in the gNB for routing reports to the correct recipients. In some cases, the UE may send a QoE reference in the RRC message along with the QoE report.

[0132] Quality of Experience (QoE) measurement and reporting is a critical functionality for a variety of services and applications, including streaming, virtual / augmented reality (VR / AR), and URLLC applications. Multiple QoE configurations may be configured for a UE. A QoE configuration may include parameters for QoE measurement and / or QoE reporting. In certain application / QoE configurations, QoE measurement may be required to be performed by the UE during an RRC inactive state and to be transmitted when the UE transitions to an RRC connected state. Existing QoE mechanisms may not support QoE measurement during an RRC inactive state. Exemplary embodiments enable and / or enhance the process for QoE measurement during an RRC inactive state.

[0133] In the exemplary embodiment shown in Figure 18, the UE may receive one or more RRC messages (e.g., one or more RRC reconfiguration messages) containing configuration parameters for one or more QoE configurations. In some examples, some of the parameters of one or more QoE configurations may be common among one or more configurations. In some examples, at least a portion of the parameters of a QoE configuration may be specific to that QoE configuration. In some examples, the QoE configurations in one or more QoE configurations may be identified / associated with identifiers. In some examples, the configuration parameters of one or more QoE configurations may comprise identifiers associated with one or more QoE configurations (e.g., parameters indicating identifiers). The one or more QoE configuration parameters may comprise one or more first parameters used by the UE for QoE measurement and / or QoE report generation. For example, one or more first parameters may indicate one or more applications for which QoE is measured and / or indicate measurement parameters / KPIs to be used by the UE to perform the QoE measurement. One or more QoE configuration parameters may include one or more second parameters (e.g., periodicity, size of QoE report, etc.) used by the UE to report the QoE report.

[0134] While in the RRC connected state, the UE may receive an RRC release message. An RRC release message may indicate a transition of the UE from the RRC connected state to the RRC inactive state. For example, an RRC release message may include a suspend config IE indicating a transition of the UE from the RRC connected state to the RRC inactive state. The suspend config IE may include configuration parameters used by the UE for its operation during the RRC inactive state. For example, the suspend config IE may include parameters for RAN notification area (RNA) updates (RNAU), one or more RNTIs for operation during the RRC inactive state (e.g., short RNTI and full RNTI), RAN paging cycles, one or more timer values ​​(e.g., timers associated with RNAU), etc. In response to receiving an RRC release message, and based on the RRC release message including the suspend config IE, the UE may transition from the RRC connected state to the RRC inactive state.

[0135] The UE may perform QoE measurements while the RRC is inactive. The UE may perform QoE measurements on one or more first QoE configurations out of one or more QoE configurations. In some examples, one or more first QoE configurations may be selected (e.g., by a base station) from one or more QoE configurations. The selection of one or more first QoE configurations may be based on the application associated with one or more first QoE configurations and / or on whether QoE measurements are required for the corresponding configuration / application while the RRC is inactive. In some examples, the UE may determine one or more first QoE configurations out of one or more QoE configurations based on and / or in response to an RRC release message. For example, an RRC release message (e.g., suspendconfig IE in an RRC release message) may indicate one or more first QoE configurations, and for example, one or more parameters in an RRC release message may indicate one or more first identifiers of one or more first QoE configurations. For example, an RRC release message may include a list parameter (e.g., a list-type RRC parameter) that indicates one or more first QoE configurations (e.g., by indicating their identifiers). In some examples, a UE can perform QoE measurements for one or more first QoE configurations and store the QoE measurements in a corresponding QoE report. The UE may send a corresponding QoE report after (e.g., in response to) a transition from an RRC inactive state to an RRC connected state.

[0136] In some examples, an RRC release message may indicate an update / reconfiguration of one or more configuration parameters of a QoE configuration (e.g., one or more QoE configurations used for QoE measurement). For example, a parameter of a QoE configuration may have a first value for the UE (e.g., for QoE measurement) when the UE is operating in an RRC-connected state, and a second value for the UE (e.g., for QoE configuration) when the UE is operating in an RRC-inactive state. An example is shown in Figure 20. In some examples, an RRC release message may include one or more offset parameters, and the UE may determine a second value for the QoE configuration parameter based on the first value of the parameter in the RRC-connected state and the offset parameter. In some examples, an RRC release message may indicate at least one index, which may identify a new value for one or more parameters of the QoE configuration while the UE is in an RRC-inactive state.

[0137] The UE may decide to transition from an RRC inactive state to an RRC connected state. For example, the UE may receive application layer data that triggers the transition from an RRC inactive state to an RRC connected state. In response to the decision to transition from an RRC inactive state to an RRC connected state, the UE may send one or more QoE measurement reports. In some examples, one or more QoE measurement reports may be based on QoE measurements performed while the UE is in an RRC inactive state. QoE measurement reports may be associated with identifiers. In some examples, a QoE measurement report may include parameters indicating identifiers related to the QoE measurement / report. Identifiers associated with a QoE report may be used by the RAN / gNB to forward the QoE report to the corresponding recipient. The UE may send one or more QoE reports based on one or more RRC messages (e.g., including a MeasurementReportAppLayer message). One or more QoE reports may be associated with a first signaling radio bearer (e.g., SRB4). In some examples, a first SRB may have a lower priority than one or more second SRBs (e.g., SRBs associated with other indications / reports (e.g., RLFs) sent by the UE via RRC signaling). The UE may multiplex one or more QoE reports in the uplink transport block, and multiplexing one or more QoE reports may be based on the priority of the first SRB (e.g., using a logical channel prioritization procedure in the MAC layer). One or more QoE measurement reports may be associated with one or more first QoE configurations. For example, one or more QoE measurement reports may be based on measurements performed by the UE during an RRC inactive state. In some examples, the UE may store one or more QoE measurement reports while the UE is in an RRC inactive state and send one or more stored QoE measurement reports after transitioning to an RRC connected state. In some examples, the UE may transition from an RRC inactive state to an RRC connected state based on a random access process.In the example shown in Figure 19, the UE may send one or more QoE reports based on random access messages in a random access process, for example, based on Msg3 in a 4-step random access process, or based on MsgA in a 2-step random access process. In some examples, the UE may send one or more QoE measurement reports based on uplink grants (e.g., configured grants or dynamic grants) received by the UE after transitioning from an RRC inactive state to an RRC connected state.

[0138] In some examples, a UE may receive signaling (e.g., physical layer signaling, MAC CE, or RRC signaling received via a control channel) indicating the pause / resume of QoE measurement reporting and / or the pause / resume of QoE measurement execution. In some examples, the pause / resume signaling may be received by a UE in an RRC connected state (e.g., after the UE transitions from an RRC idle state to an RRC connected state, or before the UE transitions to an RRC inactive state). In some examples, the pause / resume signaling may be received by a UE in both an RRC inactive state (e.g., a state that pauses / resumes measurements via paging) and an RRC connected state.

[0139] In an exemplary embodiment, a user device (UE) may receive a radio resource control (RRC) message containing configuration parameters for one or more QoE configurations. The UE may receive an RRC release message indicating that the UE is transitioning from an RRC connected state to an RRC inactive state. While the UE is in the RRC inactive state, the UE may perform QoE measurements on at least one or more first QoE configurations among the one or more QoE configurations. The UE may decide to transition from the RRC inactive state to the RRC connected state. In response to deciding to transition, the UE may transmit one or more QoE measurement reports.

[0140] In some cases, the UE may transition from a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connected state to an RRC inactive state in response to receiving an RRC release message.

[0141] In some cases, the RRC release message may include a suspendconfig information element (IE). The suspendconfig IE may contain configuration parameters about the behavior of user equipment (UE) in an RRC inactive state.

[0142] In some examples, each Quality of Experience (QoE) configuration in one or more QoE configurations may be associated with an identifier. Configuration parameters of one or more QoE configurations may indicate identifiers of one or more Quality of Experience (QoE) configurations. In some examples, each QoE configuration in one or more QoE configurations may include a parameter indicating an identifier corresponding to the QoE configuration. In some examples, an RRC release message may indicate one or more first identifiers from one or more identifiers associated with one or more first QoE configurations.

[0143] In some examples, a Radio Resource Control (RRC) release message may include a suspendconfig information element (IE) indicating a transition of the user equipment (UE) to an RRC inactive state. In some examples, the suspendconfig information element (IE) may indicate one or more first identifiers associated with one or more first perceived quality (QoE) configurations. In some examples, the suspendconfig information element (IE) may include a parameter indicating a list of one or more first perceived quality (QoE) measurement configurations.

[0144] In some examples, the configuration parameters in a Quality of Experience (QoE) configuration may include a first parameter for QoE measurement and a second parameter for QoE reporting. In some examples, the first parameter may represent one or more applications for QoE measurement. In some examples, the second parameter may represent one or more periodicities for QoE reporting.

[0145] In some examples, the step of transitioning from a Radio Resource Control (RRC) inactive state to an RRC connected state may include initiating a random access process. The step of transmitting one or more perceived quality (QoE) measurement reports may be via a random access message of the random access process. In some examples, the random access message may be a Msg3 message if the random access process is a four-step random access process. In some examples, the random access message may be a MsgA message if the random access process is a two-step random access process.

[0146] In some examples, the process of transmitting one or more Quality of Experience (QoE) measurement reports may be based on an uplink grant after transitioning from a Radio Resource Control (RRC) inactive state to an RRC connected state. In some examples, the UE may receive an uplink grant after transitioning from a Radio Resource Control (RRC) inactive state to an RRC connected state.

[0147] In some examples, a first configuration parameter of a first QoE configuration having one or more first perceived quality of experience (QoE) may be associated with a first value while the user equipment (UE) is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state, and may be associated with a second value while the UE is in an RRC inactive state.

[0148] In some examples, the process of transmitting one or more Quality of Experience (QoE) measurement reports may be carried out via one or more Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages. In some examples, one or more Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages may be associated with a signaling radio bearer 4 (SRB4). In some examples, one or more Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages may include a MeasurementReportAppLayer message.

[0149] In some examples, at least some of the configuration parameters of one or more Quality of Experience (QoE) configurations may be the same.

[0150] In some examples, one or more measurement reports may have a measurement identifier. The measurement identifier may indicate one or more QoE configurations to which the measurement report may be associated. In some examples, the measurement identifier may be used by a radio access network (RAN) to forward the measurement report to a corresponding recipient.

[0151] In some examples, the UE may receive a pause indication after transitioning to an RRC connection state, indicating a paused Quality of Experience (QoE) measurement report. In some examples, the pause indication may be a physical layer message. In some examples, receiving a physical layer message may occur via a downlink control channel. In some examples, the pause indication message may be via a Media Access Control (MAC) control element (CE). In some examples, the pause indication may be via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message. In some examples, the Quality of Experience (QoE) measurement may be performed while the QoE measurement report is paused.

[0152] In some cases, after transitioning to an RRC connection state, the UE may receive a restart indication that the Quality of Experience (QoE) measurement report has resumed. In some cases, the restart indication may be a physical layer message. In some cases, receiving a physical layer message may occur via a downlink control channel. In some cases, the restart indication message may be via a Media Access Control (MAC) control element (CE). In some cases, the restart indication may be via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message.

[0153] In some examples, one or more first quality-of-effect (QoE) configurations may be selected from one or more QoE configurations based on the requirements for QoE measurement during a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state.

[0154] In some examples, one or more first Quality of Experience (QoE) configurations may be selected from one or more QoE configurations based on the requirements for QoE reporting in response to a transition from a Radio Resource Control (RRC) inactive state to an RRC connected state.

[0155] In some cases, submitting one or more perceived quality (QoE) measurement reports may be based on one or more first QoE configurations.

[0156] In some cases, a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message may be an RRC reconfiguration message.

[0157] In some cases, a UE can store one or more quality-of-experience (QoE) measurement reports while the UE is in an RRC inactive state.

[0158] The exemplary blocks and modules described herein in relation to various exemplary embodiments may be implemented or run using general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. Examples of general-purpose processors include, but are not limited to, microprocessors, any conventional processor, controllers, microcontrollers, or state machines. In some examples, the processor may be implemented using a combination of devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors working with a DSP core, or any other such configuration).

[0159] The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. Instructions or code may be stored or transmitted on a computer-readable medium for the implementation of the functions. Other examples of implementations of the functions disclosed herein are also within the scope of this disclosure. Implementations of functions may be via physically colocate elements or distributed elements (e.g., in various locations), including the distribution of parts of the function so that they are implemented in different physical locations.

[0160] Computer-readable media include, but are not limited to, non-temporary computer storage media. Non-temporary storage media can be accessed by general-purpose or dedicated computers. Examples of non-temporary storage media include, but are not limited to, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, compact disc (CD) ROM or other optical disc storage, magnetic disc storage or other magnetic storage devices. Non-temporary media can be used to carry or store desired program code means (e.g., instructions and / or data structures) and can be accessed by general-purpose or dedicated computers or general-purpose or dedicated processors. In some examples, software / program code may be transmitted from a remote source (e.g., a website, server, etc.) using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave. In such examples, coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are within the definition of media. The combinations in the above examples are also within the realm of computer-readable media.

[0161] As used in this disclosure, the use of the term "or" in a list of items indicates an inclusive list. A list of items may be preceded by phrases such as "at least one" or "one or more." For example, a list of at least one A, B, or C includes A or B or C or AB (i.e., A and B) or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A, B, and C). Also, as used in this disclosure, interface a list of conditions with the phrase "based on" should not be interpreted as "based solely on" the set of conditions, but rather as "based at least partially on" the set of conditions. For example, a result described as "based on condition A" may be based on both condition A and condition B without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0162] In this specification, the terms “comprise,” “include,” and “contain” may be used interchangeably, have the same meaning, and should be interpreted as comprehensive and non-restrictive. The terms “comprise,” “include,” and “contain” may be used before a list of elements to indicate that at least all of the enumerated elements in the list are present, but other elements not in the list may also be present. For example, if A includes B and C, then both {B,C} and {B,C,D} are within the scope of A.

[0163] This disclosure describes exemplary configurations that do not represent all possible implementations or configurations within the scope of this disclosure, in relation to the accompanying drawings. The term “exemplary” should not be interpreted as “preferred” or “advantageous compared to other examples,” but rather as “exemplary, instance, or example.” By reading this disclosure, including the description of embodiments and drawings, it will be understood that the technology disclosed herein can be implemented using alternative embodiments. A person skilled in the art will understand that certain features of an embodiment, or an embodiment described herein, can be combined to arrive at yet another embodiment for practicing the technology described herein. Thus, this disclosure should be given the broadest scope that is consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein, and is not limited to the examples and designs described herein.

Claims

1. A method of communication using user equipment (UE), A step of receiving a radio resource control (RRC) message that includes one or more quality-of-experience (QoE) configurations, The steps include: performing a QOE measurement based on at least one second QOE configuration parameter from the one or more QOE configurations while in an RRC connection state; The process of receiving an RRC release message indicating a transition from the RRC connected state to the RRC inactive state, The steps include: performing a QOE measurement based on at least one first QOE configuration parameter from the one or more QOE configurations while the RRC is inactive state; During the RRC inactive state, the process includes storing one or more QoE measurement reports based on the QoE measurement, The process involves transitioning from the RRC inactive state to the RRC connected state, and then transmitting the one or more QoE measurement reports stored during the RRC inactive state. Methods that include...

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of transitioning from the RRC connected state to the RRC inactive state in response to receiving the RRC release message.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the QoE measurement is an application layer measurement associated with one or more service types.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting one or more QoE measurement reports is performed via one or more RRC messages.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein one or more RRC messages are associated with a signaling radio bearer 4 (SRB4).

6. User equipment (UE), means for receiving a radio resource control (RRC) message including one or more quality-of-experience (QoE) configurations, Means for performing a QoE measurement based on at least one second QoE configuration parameter from the one or more QoE configurations while in an RRC connection state, Means for receiving an RRC release message indicating a transition from the RRC connected state to the RRC inactive state, Means for performing a QOE measurement based on at least one first QOE configuration parameter from the one or more QOE configurations while the RRC is inactive state, During the RRC inactive state, means for storing one or more QoE measurement reports based on the QoE measurement, After transitioning from the RRC inactive state to the RRC connected state, means for transmitting the one or more QoE measurement reports stored during the RRC inactive state. UE, including.

7. A method of communication by a base station, A step of transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) message including one or more quality-of-experience (QoE) configurations, wherein the one or more QoE configurations include at least one first QoE configuration parameter used to perform a QoE measurement while a user device (UE) is in an RRC inactive state, and at least one second QoE configuration parameter used to perform the QoE measurement while the UE is in an RRC connected state. The process includes sending an RRC release message indicating that the UE is transitioning from the RRC connected state to the RRC inactive state, The process involves the UE transitioning from the RRC inactive state to the RRC connected state, and then receiving one or more QoE measurement reports stored by the UE during the RRC inactive state. Methods that include...

8. A base station, Means for transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) message including one or more quality-of-experience (QoE) configurations, wherein the one or more QoE configurations include at least one first QoE configuration parameter used to perform a QoE measurement while a user device (UE) is in an RRC inactive state, and at least one second QoE configuration parameter used to perform the QoE measurement while the UE is in an RRC connected state. Means for transmitting an RRC release message indicating that the UE transitions from the RRC connected state to the RRC inactive state, After the UE transitions from the RRC inactive state to the RRC connected state, means for receiving one or more QoE measurement reports stored by the UE during the RRC inactive state. Base stations, including

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