Re-enabling packet switched radio access technology blocked due to random access channel failures before backoff timer expiry

Abstract

According to some examples, a non-access stratum (NAS) timer is started and then the NAS timer is overridden or stopped in response to both: an occurrence of a predefined event, and an override counter having a value that is less than a predefined override counter maximum value. According to some examples, the predefined event may be indicative of at least one of: a measured parameter that is indicative of, or a location that is indicative of an environment within which the apparatus will successfully complete a NAS mobility registration or re-registration procedure.

Description

Qualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 1 / 63RE-ENABLING PACKET SWITCHED RADIO ACCESS TECHNOLOGY BLOCKED DUE TO RANDOM ACCESS CHANNEL FAILURES BEFORE BACKOFF TIMER EXPIRYCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] The present Application for Patent claims priority to pending Indian Application no. 202541030466, filed March 28, 2025, and assigned to the assignee hereof and hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein as if fully set forth below and for all applicable purposes.TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] This disclosure relates generally to wireless communication, and more specifically, to techniques to re-enable packet switched radio access technology that was blocked due to random access channel failures where the re-enabling occurs before backoff timer expiry.INTRODUCTION

[0003] Wireless communication requires an establishment of and maintenance of communication links between an apparatus (e.g., a user equipment) and a network entity (e.g., a base station), the communication links are subject to fading, multipath effects, degradation, and blockage. At times, the wireless channel between the apparatus and the network entity becomes too poor to successfully carry traffic and control signaling and a communication like is lost. To reestablish the link, particularly when the apparatus remains in the cell from which the link was lost, the apparatus may engage in a random access channel (RACH) procedure with the network entity. To improve the efficiency of the network, certain timers may be used to distribute the RACH procedures of multiple apparatus from trampling on each other. In instances where a communication channel was good, and failed only because an apparatus, for example, momentarily lost line of sight to a cell tower of a network entity, the communication link could be reestablished quickly. However, because the apparatus is bound to use the timers, referred to as back-off timers, to regain its connection to the network entity, undesirable delays in service reestablishment may occur. For example, a transient loss of connection lasting 2 seconds could be recovered immediately following the two seconds of out-of- service condition, but the service reestablishment might last up to 12 minutes if certain back-off timers areL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 2 / 63used. Therefore, scientists and engineers are constantly seeking ways to reduce service interruptions and reestablish service connections as quickly as possible.BRIEF SUMMARY OF SOME EXAMPLES

[0004] The systems, methods, and devices disclosed herein each have several innovative aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for the desirable attributes disclosed herein.

[0005] The following presents a summary of one or more aspects of the present disclosure, in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated features of the disclosure and is intended neither to identify key or critical elements of all aspects of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of any or all aspects of the disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of the disclosure in a form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

[0006] According to one example, an apparatus is described. The apparatus includes one or more memories and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories. The one or more processors are configured to, individually or collectively, based at least in part on information stored in the one or more memories: start a non-access stratum (NAS) timer; and override the NAS timer in response to both: an occurrence of a predefined event, and an override counter having a value that is less than a predefined override counter maximum value.

[0007] According to one example, an method at an apparatus is described. The method includes starting a non-access stratum (NAS) timer and overriding or stropping the NAS timer in response to both: an occurrence of a predefined event, and an override counter having a value that is less than a predefined override counter maximum value.

[0008] These and other aspects will become more fully understood upon a review of the detailed description, which follows. Other aspects, features, and examples will become apparent to persons having ordinary skill in the art, upon reviewing the following description of specific examples in conjunction with the accompanying figures. While features may be discussed relative to certain examples and figures below, all examples can include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, while one or more examples may be discussed as having certain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also be used in accordance with the various examples discussed herein. In a similar fashion, while examples described herein may be discussedL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 3 / 63below in terms of specific device, system, or method examples, such exemplary examples can be implemented in various devices, systems, and methods.

[0009] Details of one or more implementations of the subject matter described in this disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, aspects, and advantages will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an example of a wireless communication system according to some aspects of the disclosure.

[0011] FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of an example of a radio access network according to some aspects of the disclosure.

[0012] FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of an example of a disaggregated base station architecture according to some aspects of the disclosure.

[0013] FIG. 4 is an expanded view of an exemplary subframe, showing an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) resource grid according to some aspects of the disclosure.

[0014] FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of a public land mobile network including one representative transmission / reception antenna / antenna array and a block that is representative of PLMN infrastructure 504 in general and according to some aspects of the disclosure.

[0015] FIG. 6 is a call flow diagram of a T3411 timer process according to some aspects of the disclosure.

[0016] FIG. 7 is a call flow diagram of a T3402 timer process according to some aspects of the disclosure.

[0017] FIG. 8 is a call flow diagram of a T3511 timer process according to some aspects of the disclosure.

[0018] FIG. 9 is a call flow diagram of a T3502 timer process according to some aspects of the disclosure.

[0019] FIG. 10 is an exemplary configuration 1000 that may be utilized to override NAS back-off timers by stopping them prior to their expiry according to some aspects of the disclosure.L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 4 / 63

[0020] FIG. 11 is partitioned into FIG.11A and FIG 11B. FIG. 11 is a flow diagram depicting a process described in Table 1 herein according to some aspects of the disclosure.

[0021] FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation of an apparatus employing one or more processing systems according to some aspects of the disclosure.

[0022] FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating an example process of wireless communication at an apparatus according to some aspects of the disclosure.

[0023] FIG. 14 is a flow chart illustrating an example process of wireless communication at an apparatus according to some aspects of the disclosure.

[0024] Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is directed to some particular examples for the purpose of describing innovative aspects of this disclosure. However, a person having ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein can be applied in a multitude of different ways. Some or all of the described examples may be implemented in any device, system, or network that is capable of transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals according to one or more of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards, the IEEE 802.15 standards, the Bluetooth® standards as defined by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), or the Long Term Evolution (LTE), 3G, 4G or 5G (New Radio (NR)) standards promulgated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), among others. The described examples can be implemented in any device, system, or network that is capable of transmitting and receiving RF signals according to one or more of the following technologies or techniques: code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), spatial division multiple access (SDMA), rate- splitting multiple access (RSMA), multi-user shared access (MUSA), single-user (SU) multiple input multiple output (MIMO) and multi-user (MU)- MIMO. The described examples also can be implemented using other wireless communication protocols or RF signals suitable for use in one or more of a wireless personal area network (WPAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless wideL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 5 / 63area network (WWAN), a wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN), or an internet of things (loT) network.

[0026] The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of various concepts. However, it will be apparent to persons having ordinary skill in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some examples, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring such concepts.

[0027] While aspects and examples are described in this application by illustration to some examples, persons having ordinary skill in the art will understand that additional implementations and use cases may come about in many different arrangements and scenarios. Innovations described herein may be implemented across many differing platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and packaging arrangements. For example, aspects and / or uses may come about via integrated chip examples and other non-module-component-based devices (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail / purchasing devices, medical devices, artificial intelligence (Al) enabled devices, machine learning (ML) enabled devices, etc.). While some examples may or may not be specifically directed to use cases or applications, a wide assortment of applicability of described innovations may occur. Implementations may range a spectrum from chip-level or modular components to non- modular, non-chip-level implementations and further to aggregated, distributed, or original equipment manufacturer (OEM) devices or systems incorporating one or more aspects of the described innovations. In some practical settings, devices incorporating described aspects and features may also necessarily include additional components and features for implementation and practice of claimed and described examples. For example, transmission and reception of wireless signals necessarily includes a number of components for analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components including antenna, RF-chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffer, processor(s), interleaver, adders / summers, etc.). It is intended that innovations described herein may be practiced in a wide variety of devices, chip-level components, systems, distributed arrangements, aggregated arrangements, disaggregated arrangements (e.g., base station and / or user equipment (UE)), end-user devices, etc. of varying sizes, shapes, and constitution.L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 6 / 63

[0028] Described herein are methods and apparatus that employ techniques to re-enable packet switched radio access technology that was blocked due to transient random access channel failures where the re-enabling occurs before backoff timer expiry and therefore reduces the time in which an apparatus may experience an out of service state.

[0029] The various concepts presented throughout this disclosure may be implemented across a broad variety of telecommunication systems, network architectures, and communication standards. Referring now to FIG. 1, as an illustrative example without limitation, a schematic illustration of an example of a wireless communication system 100 according to some aspects of the disclosure is presented. The wireless communication system 100 includes three interacting domains: a core network 102, a radio access network (RAN) 104, and a user equipment (UE) 106 (e.g., of a plurality of UEs). By virtue of the wireless communication system 100, the UE 106 (also referred to herein as a wireless communication device or an apparatus) may be enabled to carry out data communication with an external data network 110, such as (but not limited to) the Internet.

[0030] The RAN 104 may implement any suitable wireless communication technology or technologies to provide radio access to the UE 106. As one example, the RAN 104 may operate according to 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) technical requirements and specifications, often referred to as 5G. As another example, the RAN 104 may operate under a hybrid of 5G NR and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (eUTRAN) standards, often referred to as Long Term Evolution (LTE). The 3GPP refers to this hybrid RAN as a next- generation RAN, or NG-RAN. As another example, the RAN 104 may operate under standards referred to as 6G by 3GPP and as International Mobile Telecommunications 2030 (IMT-2030) by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Of course, many other examples may be utilized within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0031] As illustrated, the RAN 104 includes a plurality of network entities 108. Broadly, a network entity may be implemented in an aggregated or monolithic base station architecture, or in a disaggregated base station architecture, and may include one or more of a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a radio unit (RU), a Near-Real Time (Near- RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC), or a Non-Real Time (Non-RT) RIC. In some examples, a network entity may be a network element in a radio access network responsible for radio transmission and reception in one or more cells to or from a UE. In different technologies, standards, or contexts, a network entity may variously be referredL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 7 / 63to by persons having ordinary skill in the art as a base transceiver station (BTS), a radio base station, a base station, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic service set (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), an access point (AP), a Node B (NB), an eNode B (eNB), a gNode B (gNB), a transmission and reception point (TRP), a scheduling entity, a network access point, or some other suitable terminology. In some examples, a network entity 108 may include two or more TRPs that may be collocated or non-collocated. Each TRP may communicate on the same or different carrier frequency within the same or different frequency band. In examples where the RAN 104 operates according to LTE, 5G NR, and / or 6G standards, one of the network entities may be an LTE network entity, another network entity may be a 5G NR network entity, and still another network entity may be a 6G network entity.

[0032] The RAN 104 is further illustrated supporting wireless communication for multiple mobile apparatuses, one of which may be identified as UE 106. A mobile apparatus may be referred to as user equipment (UE) in 3GPP standards, but may also be referred to by persons having ordinary skill in the art as a mobile station (MS), a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communication device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal (AT), a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a terminal, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, a scheduled entity, or some other suitable terminology. The UE 106 may be an apparatus (e.g., a mobile apparatus, a wireless communication device) that provides a user with access to network services.

[0033] Within the present disclosure, a “mobile” apparatus need not necessarily have a capability to move and may be stationary. Terms such as mobile apparatus or mobile device broadly refer to a diverse array of devices and technologies. UEs may include a number of hardware structural components sized, shaped, and arranged to help in communication; such components can include antennas, antenna arrays, RF chains, amplifiers, one or more processors, etc., electrically coupled to each other. For example, some non-limiting examples of a mobile apparatus include a mobile, a cellular (cell) phone, a smartphone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a personal computer (PC), a notebook, a netbook, a smartbook, a tablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and a broad array of embedded systems, e.g., corresponding to an “Internet of Things” (loT).L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 8 / 63

[0034] A mobile apparatus (e.g., UE 106) may additionally be an automotive or other transportation vehicle, a remote sensor or actuator, a robot or robotics device, a satellite radio, a global positioning system (GPS) device, an object tracking device, a drone, a multi-copter, a quad-copter, a remote control device, a consumer and / or wearable device, such as eyewear, a wearable camera, a virtual reality device, a smartwatch, a health or fitness tracker, a digital audio player (e.g., MP3 player), a camera, a game console, etc. A mobile apparatus may additionally be a digital home or smart home device such as a home audio, video, and / or multimedia device, an appliance, a vending machine, intelligent lighting, a home security system, a smart meter, etc. A mobile apparatus may additionally be a smart energy device, a security device, a solar panel or solar array, a municipal infrastructure device controlling electric power (e.g., a smart grid), lighting, water, etc., an industrial automation and enterprise device, a logistics controller, and / or agricultural equipment, etc. Still further, a mobile apparatus may provide for connected medicine or telemedicine support, e.g., health care at a distance. Telehealth devices may include telehealth monitoring devices and telehealth administration devices, whose communication may be given preferential treatment or prioritized access over other types of information, e.g., in terms of prioritized access for transport of critical service data and / or relevant QoS for transport of critical service data.

[0035] Wireless communication between the RAN 104 and the UE 106 may be described as utilizing an air interface. Transmissions over the air interface from a network entity (e.g., similar to network entity 108) to one or more UEs (e.g., similar to UE 106) may be referred to as downlink (DL) transmission. In accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure, the term downlink may refer to a point-to-multipoint transmission or a point-to-point transmission (e.g., groupcast, multicast, or unicast) originating at a network entity (e.g., network entity 108). Another way to describe this scheme may be to use the term broadcast channel multiplexing. Transmissions from a UE (e.g., UE 106) to a network entity (e.g., network entity 108) may be referred to as uplink (UL) transmissions. In accordance with further aspects of the present disclosure, the term uplink may refer to a point-to-point transmission originating at a UE (e.g., UE 106).

[0036] In some examples, access to the air interface may be scheduled, where a network entity (e.g., a network entity 108) allocates resources for communication among some or all devices and equipment within its service area or cell. Within the present disclosure, as discussed further below, the network entity (e.g., network entity 108) may be responsible for scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or moreL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 9 / 63scheduled entities (e.g., UEs 106). That is, for scheduled communication, a plurality of UEs 106, which may be scheduled entities, may utilize resources allocated by the network entity 108.

[0037] Network entities 108 are not the only entities that may function as scheduling entities. That is, in some examples, a UE may function as a scheduling entity, scheduling resources for one or more scheduled entities (e.g., one or more other UEs). For example, UEs may communicate directly with other UEs in a peer-to-peer or device-to-device fashion and / or in a relay configuration.

[0038] As illustrated in FIG. 1, the network entity 108 may broadcast downlink traffic 112 (also referred to as downlink data traffic) to one or more UEs 106. Broadly, the network entity 108 may be a node or device responsible for scheduling traffic (e.g., data traffic, user data traffic) in a wireless communication network, including the downlink traffic 112 and, in some examples, uplink traffic 116 (also referred to as uplink data traffic) from one or more UEs 106 to the network entity 108. On the other hand, the UE 106 (e.g., the scheduled entity) may be a node or device that receives downlink control 114 information, including but not limited to scheduling information (e.g., a grant), synchronization or timing information, or other control information from another entity in the wireless communication network such as the network entity 108. The UE 106 may further transmit uplink control 118 information, including but not limited to a scheduling request or feedback information, or other control information to the network entity 108.

[0039] In addition, the uplink control 118 information, downlink control 114 information, uplink traffic 116, and / or downlink traffic 112 may be transmitted on a waveform that may be time-divided into frames, subframes, slots, and / or symbols. As used herein, a symbol may refer to a unit of time that, in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform, carries one resource element (RE) per sub-carrier. A slot may carry 7 or 14 OFDM symbols. A subframe may refer to a duration of 1 ms. Multiple subframes or slots may be grouped together to form a single frame or radio frame. Within the present disclosure, a frame may refer to a predetermined duration (e.g., 10 ms) for wireless transmissions, with each frame consisting of, for example, 10 subframes of 1 ms each. Of course, these definitions are not required, and any suitable scheme for organizing waveforms may be utilized, and various time divisions of the waveform may have any suitable duration.

[0040] In general, the network entity 108 may include a backhaul interface (not shown) for communication with a backhaul portion 120 of the wireless communication systemL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 10 / 63100. The backhaul portion 120 may provide a link between a network entity 108 and the core network 102. Further, in some examples, a backhaul network may provide interconnection between respective network entities 108. Various types of backhaul interfaces may be employed, such as a direct physical connection, a virtual network, or the like using any suitable transport network.

[0041] The core network 102 may be a part of the wireless communication system 100 and may be independent of the radio access technology used in the RAN 104. In some examples, the core network 102 may be configured according to 5G standards (e.g., 5G core (5GC)). In other examples, the core network 102 may be configured according to a 4G evolved packet core (EPC) or any other suitable standard or configuration.

[0042] Referring now to FIG. 2, as an illustrative example without limitation, a schematic illustration of an example of a radio access network (RAN) 200 according to some aspects of the disclosure is provided. In some examples, the RAN 200 may be the same as the RAN 104 described above and illustrated in FIG. 1.

[0043] The geographic region covered by the RAN 200 may be divided into a number of cellular regions (cells) that can be uniquely identified by a user equipment (UE) based on an identification broadcasted over a geographical area from one access point or network entity. FIG. 2 illustrates cells 202, 204, 206, and 208, each of which may include one or more sectors (not shown). A sector is a sub-area of a cell. All sectors within one cell are served by the same network entity. A radio link within a sector can be identified by a single logical identification belonging to that sector. In a cell that is divided into sectors, the multiple sectors within a cell can be formed by groups of antennas, with each antenna responsible for communication with UEs in a portion of the cell.

[0044] Various network entity arrangements can be utilized. For example, in FIG. 2, two network entities, referred to as base station 210 and base station 212, are shown in cells 202 and 204. A third network entity, referred to as base station 214, is shown controlling a remote radio head (RRH) 216 in cell 206. That is, a network entity can have an integrated antenna or can be connected to an antenna or RRH 216 by feeder cables. In the illustrated example, cells 202, 204, and 206 may be referred to as macrocells, as the base stations 210, 212, and 214 support cells having a large size. Further, a base station 218 is shown in the cell 208, which may overlap with one or more macrocells. In this example, the cell 208 may be referred to as a small cell (e.g., a small cell, a microcell, picocell, femtocell, home base station, home Node B, home eNode B, etc.), as the base station 218L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 11 / 63supports a cell having a relatively small size. Cell sizing can be done according to system design as well as component constraints.

[0045] It is to be understood that the RAN 200 may include any number of network entities (e.g., base stations, gNBs, TRPs, scheduling entities) and cells. Further, a relay node may be deployed to extend the size or coverage area of a given cell. The base stations 210, 212, 214, 218 provide wireless access points to a core network for any number of mobile apparatuses. In some examples, the base stations 210, 212, 214, and / or 218 may be the same as or similar to the network entity 108 described above and illustrated in FIG. 1.

[0046] FIG. 2 further includes an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) 220, which may be a drone, quadcopter, octocopter, etc. The UAV 220 may be configured to function as a base station, or more specifically as a mobile base station. That is, in some examples, a cell may not necessarily be stationary, and the geographic area of the cell may move according to the location of a mobile base station, such as the UAV 220.

[0047] Within the RAN 200, the cells may include UEs that may be in communication with one or more sectors of each cell. Further, each base station 210, 212, 214, 218, and 220 may be configured to provide an access point to a core network 102 (see FIG. 1) for all the UEs in the respective cells. For example, UEs 222 and 224 may be in communication with base station 210, UEs 226 and 228 may be in communication with base station 212, UEs 230 and 232 may be in communication with base station 214 by way of RRH 216, UE 234 may be in communication with base station 218, and UE 236 may be in communication with mobile base station 220. In some examples, the UEs 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, 232, 234, 236, 238, 240, and / or 242 may be the same as or similar to the one or more UEs 106 described above and illustrated in FIG. 1. In some examples, the UAV 220 may be a mobile network entity and may be configured to function as a UE. For example, the UAV 220 may operate within cell 202 by communicating with base station 210.

[0048] In a further aspect of the RAN 200, sidelink signals may be used between UEs without necessarily relying on scheduling or control information from a base station. Sidelink communication may be utilized, for example, in a device-to-device (D2D) network, peer-to-peer (P2P) network, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) network, vehicle-to- everything (V2X) network, and / or other suitable sidelink network. For example, two or more UEs (e.g., UEs 238, 240, and 242) may communicate with each other using sidelink signals 237 without relaying that communication through a base station. In someL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 12 / 63examples, the UEs 238, 240, and 242 may each function as a scheduling entity or transmitting sidelink device and / or a scheduled entity or a receiving sidelink device to schedule resources and communicate sidelink signals 237 therebetween without relying on scheduling or control information from a base station (e.g., a network entity). In other examples, two or more UEs (e.g., UEs 226 and 228) within the coverage area of a network entity (e.g., base station 212) may also communicate sidelink signals 227 over a direct link (sidelink) without conveying that communication through the network entity (e.g., base station 212). In this example, the base station 212 may allocate resources to the UEs 226 and 228 for the sidelink communication.

[0049] In order for transmissions over the air interface to obtain a low block error rate (BLER) while still achieving very high data rates, channel coding may be used. That is, wireless communication may generally utilize a suitable error correcting block code. In a typical block code, an information message or sequence is split up into code blocks (CBs), and an encoder (e.g., a CODEC) at the transmitting device then mathematically adds redundancy to the information message. The exploitation of this redundancy in the encoded information message can improve the reliability of the message, enabling correction for any bit errors that may occur due to the noise.

[0050] Data coding may be implemented in multiple manners. In early 5G NR specifications, user data is coded using quasi-cyclic low-density parity check (LDPC) with two different base graphs: one base graph is used for large code blocks and / or high code rates, while the other base graph is used otherwise. Control information and the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) are coded using Polar coding, based on nested sequences. For these channels, puncturing, shortening, and repetition are used for rate matching.

[0051] Aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented utilizing any suitable channel code. Various implementations of network entities and UEs may include suitable hardware and capabilities (e.g., an encoder, a decoder, and / or a CODEC) to utilize one or more of these channel codes for wireless communication.

[0052] In the RAN 200, the ability of UEs to communicate while moving, independent of their location, is referred to as mobility. The various physical channels between the UE and the RAN 200 are generally set up, maintained, and released under the control of an access and mobility management function (AMF). In some scenarios, the AMF may include a security context management function (SCMF) and a security anchor functionL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 13 / 63(SEAF) that performs authentication. The SCMF can manage, in whole or in part, the security context for both the control plane and the user plane functionality.

[0053] In various aspects of the disclosure, the RAN 200 may utilize DL-based mobility or UL-based mobility to enable mobility and handovers (i.e., the transfer of a UE’s connection from one radio channel to another). In a network configured for DL-based mobility, during a call with a network entity (e.g., an apparatus, an aggregated or disaggregated base station, a gNB, an eNB, a TRP, a scheduling entity, etc.), or at any other time, a UE may monitor various parameters of the signal from its serving cell as well as various parameters of neighboring cells. Depending on the quality of these parameters, the UE may maintain communication with one or more of the neighboring cells. During this time, if the UE moves from one cell to another, or if the signal quality from a neighboring cell exceeds that from the serving cell for a given amount of time, the UE may undertake a handoff or handover from the serving cell to the neighboring (target) cell. For example, the UE 224 may move from the geographic area corresponding to its serving cell (e.g., cell 202) to the geographic area corresponding to a neighbor cell (e.g., cell 206). When the signal strength or quality from the neighbor cell exceeds that of its serving cell for a given amount of time, the UE 224 may transmit a reporting message to its serving network entity (e.g., base station 210) indicating this condition. In response, the UE 224 may receive a handover command, and the UE may undergo a handover to the cell 206.

[0054] In a network configured for UL-based mobility, UL reference signals from each UE may be utilized by the network to select a serving cell for each UE. In some examples, the base stations 210, 212, and 214 / 216 may broadcast unified synchronization signals (e.g., unified Primary Synchronization Signals (PSSs), unified Secondary Synchronization Signals (SSSs) and unified Physical Broadcast Channels (PBCHs)). The UEs 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, and 232 may receive the unified synchronization signals, derive the carrier frequency, and slot timing from the synchronization signals, and in response to deriving timing, transmit an uplink pilot or reference signal. The uplink pilot signal transmitted by a UE (e.g., UE 224) may be concurrently received by two or more cells (e.g., base stations 210 and 214 / 216) within the RAN 200. Each of the cells may measure a strength of the pilot signal, and the radio access network (e.g., one or more of the base stations 210 and 214 / 216 and / or a central node within the core network) may determine a serving cell for the UE 224. As the UE 224 moves through the RAN 200, the RAN 200 may continue to monitor the uplink pilot signal transmitted by the UE 224.L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 14 / 63When the signal strength or quality of the pilot signal measured by a neighboring cell exceeds that of the signal strength or quality measured by the serving cell, the RAN 200 may handover the UE 224 from the serving cell to the neighboring cell, with or without informing the UE 224.

[0055] Although the synchronization signals transmitted by the base stations 210, 212, and 214 / 216 may be unified, the synchronization signal may not identify a particular cell but rather may identify a zone of multiple cells operating on the same frequency and / or with the same timing. The use of zones in 5G networks or other next generation communication networks enable the uplink-based mobility framework and improves the efficiency of both the UE and the network, since the number of mobility messages that need to be exchanged between the UE and the network may be reduced.

[0056] In various implementations, the air interface in the radio access network 200 may utilize licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or shared spectrum. Licensed spectrum provides for exclusive use of a portion of the spectrum, generally by virtue of a mobile network operator purchasing a license from a government regulatory body. Unlicensed spectrum provides for shared use of a portion of the spectrum without need for a government-granted license. While compliance with some technical rules is generally still required to access unlicensed spectrum, generally, any operator or device may gain access. Shared spectrum may fall between licensed and unlicensed spectrum, where technical rules or limitations may be required to access the spectrum, but the spectrum may still be shared by multiple operators and / or multiple radio access technologies (RATs). For example, the holder of a license for a portion of licensed spectrum may provide licensed shared access (LSA) to share that spectrum with other parties, e.g., with suitable licensee-determined conditions to gain access.

[0057] The electromagnetic spectrum is often subdivided, based on frequency / wavelength, into various classes, bands, channels, etc. In 5G NR two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz - 7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz - 52.6 GHz). It should be understood that although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as a “Sub- 6 GHz” band in various documents and articles. A similar nomenclature issue sometimes occurs with regard to FR2, which is often referred to (interchangeably) as a “millimeter wave” band in documents and articles, despite being different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz - 300 GHz) which is identified by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as a “millimeter wave” band.L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 15 / 63

[0058] The frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR studies have identified an operating band for these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125 GHz - 24.25 GHz). Frequency bands falling within FR3 may inherit FR1 characteristics and / or FR2 characteristics and thus may effectively extend features of FR1 and / or FR2 into the mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation beyond 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4-a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz - 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz - 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz - 300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0059] With the above aspects in mind, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term “sub-6 GHz” or the like if used herein may broadly represent frequencies that may be less than 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. Further, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term “millimeter wave” or the like if used herein may broadly represent frequencies that may be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1, and / or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.

[0060] Devices communicating in the radio access network 200 may utilize one or more multiplexing techniques and multiple access algorithms to enable simultaneous communication of the various devices. For example, 5G NR specifications provide multiple access for UL transmissions from UEs 222 and 224 to base station 210, and for multiplexing for DL transmissions from base station 210 to one or more UEs 222 and 224, utilizing orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP). In addition, for UL transmissions, 5G NR specifications provide support for discrete Fourier transform- spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) with a CP (also referred to as singlecarrier FDMA (SC-FDMA)). However, within the scope of the present disclosure, multiplexing and multiple access are not limited to the above schemes and may be provided utilizing time division multiple access (TDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), sparse code multiple access (SCMA), resource spread multiple access (RSMA), or other suitable multiple access schemes. Further, multiplexing DL transmissions from the base station 210 to UEs 222 and 224 may be provided utilizing time division multiplexing (TDM), code division multiplexing (CDM), frequency division multiplexing (FDM), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), sparse code multiplexing (SCM), or other suitable multiplexing schemes.L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 16 / 63

[0061] Devices in the radio access network 200 may also utilize one or more duplexing algorithms. Duplex refers to a point-to-point communication link where both endpoints can communicate with one another in both directions. Full-duplex means both endpoints can simultaneously communicate with one another. Half-duplex means only one endpoint can send information to the other at a time. Half-duplex emulation is frequently implemented for wireless links utilizing time division duplex (TDD). In TDD, transmissions in different directions on a given channel are separated from one another using time division multiplexing. That is, in some scenarios, a channel is dedicated for transmissions in one direction, while at other times the channel is dedicated for transmissions in the other direction, where the direction may change very rapidly, e.g., several times per slot. In a wireless link, a full-duplex channel generally relies on physical isolation of a transmitter and receiver, and suitable interference cancellation technologies. Full-duplex emulation is frequently implemented for wireless links by utilizing frequency division duplex (FDD) or spatial division duplex (SDD). In FDD, transmissions in different directions may operate at different carrier frequencies (e.g., within paired spectrum). In SDD, transmissions in different directions on a given channel are separated from one another using spatial division multiplexing (SDM). In other examples, full- duplex communication may be implemented within unpaired spectrum (e.g., within a single carrier bandwidth), where transmissions in different directions occur within different subbands of the carrier bandwidth. This type of full-duplex communication may be referred to herein as subband full-duplex (SBFD), also known as flexible duplex.

[0062] Deployment of communication systems, such as 5G new radio (NR) systems, may be arranged in multiple manners with various components or constituent parts. In a 5G NR system, or network, a network entity, a mobility element of a network, a radio access network (RAN) node, a core network entity, a network element, or a network equipment, such as a base station (BS), or one or more units (or one or more components) performing base station functionality, may be implemented in an aggregated or disaggregated architecture. For example, a BS (such as a Node B (NB), evolved NB (eNB), gNB, NR BS, 5G NB, access point (AP), a transmit receive point (TRP), or a cell, etc.) may be implemented as an aggregated base station (also known as a standalone BS or a monolithic BS) or a disaggregated base station.

[0063] FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of an example disaggregated base station 300 architecture according to some aspects of the disclosure. The disaggregated base station 300 architecture may include one or more central units (CUs) 310 that can communicateL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 17 / 63directly with a core network 320 via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 320 through one or more disaggregated base station units (such as a Near-Real Time (Near-RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) 325 via an E2 link, or a Non-Real Time (Non-RT) RIC 315 associated with a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) Framework 305, or both). A CU 310 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 330 via respective midhaul links, such as an Fl interface. The DUs 330 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 340 via respective fronthaul links. The RUs 340 may communicate with respective UEs 342 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, the UE 342 may be simultaneously served by multiple RUs 340. UE 342 may be the same or similar to any of the UEs or scheduled entities illustrated and described in connection with FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, for example.

[0064] Each of the units, i.e., the CUs 310, the DUs 330, the RUs 340, as well as the Near-RT RICs 325, the Non-RT RICs 315, and the SMO Framework 305, may include one or more interfaces or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units, or an associated processor or controller providing instructions to the communication interfaces of the units, can be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via the transmission medium. For example, the units can include a wired interface configured to receive or transmit signals over a wired transmission medium to one or more of the other units. Additionally, the units can include a wireless interface, which may include a receiver, a transmitter or transceiver (such as a radio frequency (RF) transceiver), configured to receive or transmit signals, or both, over a wireless transmission medium to one or more of the other units.

[0065] In some aspects, the CU 310 may host one or more higher layer control functions.Such control functions can include radio resource control (RRC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and the like. Each control function can be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by the CU 310. The CU 310 may be configured to handle user plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit - User Plane (CU-UP)), control plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit - Control Plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some implementations, the CU 310 can be logically split into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. The CU-UP unit can communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP unit via an interface, such as the El interface when implemented in an O-RANL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 18 / 63configuration. The CU 310 can be implemented to communicate with the DU 330, as necessary, for network control and signaling.

[0066] The DU 330 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions to control the operation of one or more RUs 340. In some aspects, the DU 330 may host one or more of a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and one or more high physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation, and demodulation, or the like) depending, at least in part, on a functional split, such as those defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In some aspects, the DU 330 may further host one or more low-PHY layers. Each layer (or module) can be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU 330, or with the control functions hosted by the CU 310.

[0067] Lower-layer functionality can be implemented by one or more RUs 340. In some deployments, an RU 340, controlled by a DU 330, may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functions, or low-PHY layer functions (such as performing fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse FFT (IFFT), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, or the like), or both, based at least in part on the functional split, such as a lower layer functional split. In such an architecture, the RU(s) 340 can be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communication with one or more UEs 342. In some implementations, real-time and non-real-time aspects of control and user plane communication with the RU(s) 340 can be controlled by the corresponding DU 330. In some scenarios, this configuration can enable the DU(s) 330 and the CU 310 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture, such as a vRAN architecture.

[0068] The SMO Framework 305 may be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO Framework 305 may be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements which may be managed via an operations and maintenance interface (such as an 01 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO Framework 305 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as an open cloud (O-Cloud) 390) to perform network element life cycle management (such as to instantiate virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as an 02 interface). Such virtualized network elements can include, but are not limited to, CUs 310, DUs 330, RUsL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 19 / 63340 and Near-RT RICs 325. In some implementations, the SMO Framework 305 can communicate with a hardware aspect of a 3G RAN, such as an open eNB (O-eNB) 311, via an 01 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO Framework 305 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 340 via an 01 interface. The SMO Framework 305 also may include a Non-RT RIC 315 configured to support functionality of the SMO Framework 305.

[0069] The Non-RT RIC 315 may be configured to include a logical function that enables non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updates, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the Near-RT RIC 325. The Non-RT RIC 315 may be coupled to or communicate with (such as via an Al interface) the Near-RT RIC 325. The Near-RT RIC 325 may be configured to include a logical function that enables near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via data collection and actions over an interface (such as via an E2 interface) connecting one or more CUs 310, one or more DUs 330, or both, as well as an O-eNB, with the Near-RT RIC 325.

[0070] In some implementations, to determine (e.g., derive, generate) AI / ML models to be deployed in the Near-RT RIC 325, the Non-RT RIC 315 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from external servers. Such information may be utilized by the Near-RT RIC 325 and may be received at the SMO Framework 305 or the Non- RT RIC 315 from non-network data sources or from network functions. In some examples, the Non-RT RIC 315 or the Near-RT RIC 325 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the Non-RT RIC 315 may monitor long-term trends and patterns for performance and employ AI / ML models to perform corrective actions through the SMO Framework 305 (such as reconfiguration via 01) or via creation of RAN management policies (such as Al policies).

[0071] Various aspects of the present disclosure will be described with reference to an OFDM waveform, schematically illustrated in FIG. 4. It should be understood by persons having ordinary skill in the art that the various aspects of the present disclosure may be applied to an SC-FDMA waveform in substantially the same way as described hereinbelow. That is, while some examples of the present disclosure may focus on an OFDM link for clarity, it should be understood that the same principles may be applied as well to SC-FDMA waveforms.L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 20 / 63

[0072] Referring now to FIG. 4, an expanded view of an exemplary subframe 402 is illustrated, showing an OFDM resource grid 404 according to some aspects of the disclosure. However, as persons having ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate, the physical (PHY) transmission structure for any particular application may vary from the example described here, depending on any number of factors. Here, time is in the horizontal direction with units of OFDM symbols; and frequency is in the vertical direction with units of subcarriers of the carrier.

[0073] The resource grid 404 may be used to schematically represent time-frequency resources for a given antenna port. That is, in a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) implementation with multiple antenna ports available, a corresponding multiple number of resource grids 404 may be available for communication. The resource grid 404 is divided into multiple resource elements (REs) 406. An RE, which is 1 subcarrier x 1 symbol, is the smallest discrete part of the time-frequency grid and contains a single complex value representing data from a physical channel or signal. Depending on the modulation utilized in a particular implementation, each RE may represent one or more bits of information. In some examples, a block of REs may be referred to as a physical resource block (PRB) or more simply a resource block (RB) 408, which contains any suitable number of consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. In one example, an RB may include 12 subcarriers, a number independent of the numerology used. In some examples, depending on the numerology, an RB may include any suitable number of consecutive OFDM symbols in the time domain.

[0074] A set of continuous or discontinuous resource blocks may be referred to herein as a Resource Block Group (RBG), subband, or bandwidth part (BWP). A set of subbands or BWPs may span the entire bandwidth. Scheduling of wireless communication devices (e.g., V2X devices, sidelink devices, or other UEs, hereinafter generally referred to as UEs) for downlink, uplink, or sidelink transmissions may involve scheduling one or more resource elements 406 within one or more subbands or bandwidth parts (BWPs). Thus, a UE generally utilizes only a subset of the resource grid 404. In some examples, an RB may be the smallest unit of resources that can be allocated to a UE. Thus, the more RBs scheduled for a UE, and the higher the modulation scheme chosen for the air interface, the higher the data rate for the UE. The RBs may be scheduled by a network entity (e.g., an aggregated or disaggregated base station, gNB, eNB, TRP, scheduling entity, etc.) or may be self-scheduled by a UE / sidelink device implementing D2D sidelink communication.L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 21 / 63

[0075] In this illustration, the RB 408 is shown as occupying less than the entire bandwidth of the subframe 402, with some subcarriers illustrated above and below the RB 408. In a given implementation, the subframe 402 may have a bandwidth corresponding to any number of one or more RBs 408. Further, in this illustration, the RB 408 is shown as occupying less than the entire duration of the subframe 402, although this is merely one possible example.

[0076] Each 1 ms subframe 402 may consist of one or multiple adjacent slots. In the example shown in FIG. 4, one subframe 402 includes four slots 410, as an illustrative example. In some examples, a slot may be defined according to a specified number of OFDM symbols with a given cyclic prefix (CP) length. For example, a slot may include 7 or 14 OFDM symbols with a nominal CP. An additional example may include minislots, sometimes referred to as shortened transmission time intervals (TTIs), having a shorter duration (e.g., one to three OFDM symbols). These mini-slots or shortened transmission time intervals (TTIs) may in some cases be transmitted occupying resources scheduled for ongoing slot transmissions for the same or for different UEs. Any number of resource blocks may be utilized within a subframe or slot.

[0077] An expanded view of slot 410 illustrates that the slot 410 includes a control region 412 and a data region 414. In general, the control region 412 may carry control channels, and the data region 414 may carry data channels. In some examples, a Uu slot (e.g., slot 410) may contain all DE, all UE, or at least one DE portion and at least one UE portion. The structures illustrated in FIG. 4 are merely exemplary in nature, and different slot structures may be utilized, and may include one or more of each of the control region(s) and data region(s).

[0078] Although not illustrated in FIG. 4, the various REs 406 within a RB 408 may be scheduled to carry one or more physical channels, including control channels, shared channels, data channels, etc. Other REs 406 within the RB 408 may also carry pilots or reference signals. These pilots or reference signals may provide for a receiving device to perform channel estimation of the corresponding channel, which may enable coherent demodulation / detection of the control and / or data channels within the RB 408.

[0079] In some examples, the slot 410 may be utilized for broadcast, multicast, groupcast, or unicast communication. For example, a broadcast, multicast, or groupcast communication may refer to a point-to-multipoint transmission by one device (e.g., a network entity, UE, or other similar device) to other devices. Here, a broadcast communication is delivered to all devices, whereas a multicast or groupcastL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 22 / 63communication is delivered to multiple intended recipient devices. A unicast communication may refer to a point-to-point transmission by one device to a single other device.

[0080] In an example of cellular communication over a cellular carrier via a Uu interface, for a DL transmission, the network entity may allocate one or more REs 406 (e.g., within the control region 412) of the slot 410 to carry DL control information including one or more DL control channels, such as a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), to one or more UEs (e.g., scheduled entities). The PDCCH carries downlink control information (DCI) including but not limited to power control commands (e.g., one or more open loop power control parameters and / or one or more closed loop power control parameters), scheduling information, a grant, and / or an assignment of REs for DL and UL transmissions. The PDCCH may further carry hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback transmissions such as an acknowledgment (ACK) or negative acknowledgment (NACK). HARQ is a technique well-known to persons having ordinary skill in the art, where the integrity of packet transmissions may be checked at the receiving side for accuracy, e.g., utilizing any suitable integrity checking mechanism, such as a checksum or a cyclic redundancy check (CRC). If the integrity of the transmission is confirmed, an ACK may be transmitted, whereas if not confirmed, a NACK may be transmitted. In response to a NACK, the transmitting device may send a HARQ retransmission, which may implement chase combining, incremental redundancy, etc.

[0081] The network entity may further allocate one or more REs 406 (e.g., in the control region 412 or the data region 414) of the Uu slot 410 to carry other DL signals, such as a demodulation reference signal (DMRS); a phase-tracking reference signal (PT-RS); a channel state information (CSI) reference signal (CSI-RS); and a synchronization signal block (SSB). SSBs may be broadcast at regular intervals based on a periodicity (e.g., 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, or 160 ms). An SSB includes a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast control channel (PBCH). A UE may utilize the PSS and SSS to achieve radio frame, subframe, slot, and symbol synchronization in the time domain, identify the center of the channel (system) bandwidth in the frequency domain, and identify the physical cell identity (PCI) of the cell.

[0082] The PBCH in the SSB may further include a master information block (MIB) that includes various system information, along with parameters for decoding a system information block (SIB). The SIB may be, for example, a SystemlnformationType 1L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 23 / 63(SIB1) that may include various additional system information. The MIB and SIB1 together provide the minimum system information (MSI) for initial access. Examples of system information transmitted in the MIB may include, but are not limited to, a subcarrier spacing (e.g., default downlink numerology), system frame number, a configuration of a PDCCH control resource set (CORESET) (e.g., PDCCH CORESETO), a cell barred indicator, a cell reselection indicator, a raster offset, and a search space for SIB1. Examples of remaining minimum system information (RMSI) transmitted in the SIB1 may include, but are not limited to, a random access search space, a paging search space, downlink configuration information, and uplink configuration information. A network entity may transmit other system information (OSI) as well.

[0083] In an UL transmission, the UE (e.g., scheduled entity) may utilize one or more REs 406 of the Uu slot 410 to carry UL control information (UCI) including one or more UL control channels, such as a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), to the scheduling entity. UCI may include a variety of packet types and categories, including pilots, reference signals, and information configured to enable or assist in decoding uplink data transmissions. Examples of uplink reference signals may include a sounding reference signal (SRS) and an uplink DMRS. In some examples, the UCI may include a scheduling request (SR), i.e., request for the scheduling entity to schedule uplink transmissions. In response to the SR transmitted on the UCI, the scheduling entity may transmit downlink control information (DCI) that may schedule resources for uplink packet transmissions. UCI may also include HARQ feedback, channel state feedback (CSF), such as a CSI report, a measurement report (e.g., a Layer 1 (LI) measurement report), or any other suitable UCI.

[0084] In addition to control information, one or more REs 406 (e.g., within the data region 414) of the Uu slot 410 may be allocated for data traffic. Such data traffic may be carried on one or more traffic channels, such as, for a DL transmission, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH); or for a UL transmission, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). In some examples, one or more REs 406 within the data region 414 may be configured to carry other signals, such as one or more SIBs and DMRSs. In some examples, the PDSCH may carry a plurality of SIBs, not limited to SIB 1, discussed above. For example, the OSI may be provided in these SIBs, e.g., SIB2 and above.

[0085] In an example of sidelink communication over a sidelink carrier via a PC5 interface, the control region 412 of the slot 410 may include a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) including sidelink control information (SCI) transmitted by anL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 24 / 63initiating (transmitting) sidelink device (e.g., Tx V2X device or other Tx UE) towards a set of one or more other receiving sidelink devices (e.g., Rx V2X device or other Rx UE). The data region 414 of the slot 410 may include a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) including sidelink data traffic transmitted by the initiating (transmitting) sidelink device within resources reserved over the sidelink carrier by the transmitting sidelink device via the SCI. Other information may further be transmitted over various REs 406 within slot 410. For example, sidelink MAC-CEs may be transmitted in the data region 414 of the slot 410. In addition, HARQ feedback information may be transmitted in a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) within the slot 410 from the receiving sidelink device to the transmitting sidelink device. In addition, one or more reference signals, such as a sidelink SSB, a sidelink CSI-RS, a sidelink SRS, and / or a sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS) may be transmitted within the slot 410.

[0086] The physical channels described above are generally multiplexed and mapped to transport channels for handling at the medium access control (MAC) layer. Transport channels carry blocks of information called transport blocks (TB). The transport block size (TBS), which may correspond to a number (e.g., a quantity) of bits of information, may be a controlled parameter based on the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and the number of RBs in a given transmission.

[0087] The channels or carriers described above in connection with FIGs. 1 - 4 are not necessarily all of the channels or carriers that may be utilized between a scheduling entity and scheduled entities, and persons having ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other channels or carriers may be utilized in addition to those illustrated, such as other traffic, control, and feedback channels.

[0088] FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of a public land mobile network (PLMN) 500 including one representative transmission / reception antenna / antenna array 502 (e.g., at a top of the illustrated tower) and a block that is representative of PLMN infrastructure 504 in general and according to some aspects of the disclosure. Of course, the schematic representation is an oversimplification of a PLMN 500 and is presented for ease of illustration and not limitation. Those persons having skill in the art will understand the omitted details of the structure and operation of the PLMN infrastructure 504, accordingly a detailed description of the structure and operation of the PLMN infrastructure 504 is omitted for the sake of brevity.

[0089] The PLMN 500 is depicted in an environment 501 that includes features that temporarily block a line of sight between the antenna / antenna array 502 and variousL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 25 / 63moving ones of a plurality of apparatus 514, 518, 520, 522 (e.g., user equipment, wireless devices, mobile device, scheduled entities, sidelink entities, etc.) according to some aspects of the disclosure. The features of the environment 501 include a mountain 506 having a tunnel opening 508 and a roadway 510 (or train tracks, not shown) leading into and out of the tunnel 512 via the tunnel opening 508. A first apparatus 514 (e.g., a UE carried in a vehicle, or the vehicle configured as a mobile device) is depicted as exiting the tunnel 512 via the tunnel opening 508. In the illustration, the first apparatus 514 is depicted as an automobile for ease of illustration and not limitation. Other examples of vehicles include trains, trucks, bicycles, motorcycles, etc. Furthermore, the first apparatus 514 need not be limited to any mechanical mode of conveyance; for example, the first apparatus 514 may be a handheld mobile device being carried on foot through the tunnel 512 by a user.

[0090] For the sake of simplicity of explanation, it may be understood that within the tunnel 512, in the example of FIG. 5, there are no repeaters or other type of technology that would permit one way or two way communication between the PEMN infrastructure 504 and the first apparatus 514 via the antenna / antenna array 502. Therefore, although the first apparatus 514 may have registered successfully with a 5G (NR) or 4G (ETE) network prior to entering the tunnel 512, once the first apparatus 514 enters the tunnel 512 and while the first apparatus 514 traverses the tunnel 512, the mountain 506 blocks or severely attenuates or degrades the signaling (e.g., traffic and control) that may be sought to be exchanged between the antenna / antenna array 502 and the first apparatus 514. During the attenuated or degraded (e.g., generally poor) signaling, the first apparatus 514 may experience a random access channel (RACH) failure in response to attempting to send uplink signaling to the NR or LTE network via the PLMN infrastructure 504 or in response to attempting to reconnect with the NR or LTE network after a period of inactivity.

[0091] Another feature in the environment 501 of FIG. 5 that may cause attenuated or degraded (e.g., generally poor) signaling (e.g., due to blockage) is the building 516. For ease of description, it may be understood that the mountain 506 is not in the line of sight between the antenna / antenna array 502 and the building 516. Therefore, a second apparatus 518 (e.g., user equipment, wireless devices, mobile device, scheduled entities, sidelink entities, etc.) traveling on a road between the antenna / antenna array 502 and the building 516 may be in continuous one way or two way communication with the PLMN infrastructure 504 via the antenna / antenna array 502. In this example, it may beL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 26 / 63understood that the second apparatus 518 may have registered successfully with the 5G (NR) or the 4G (LTE) network. Because the path of the second apparatus 518 does not traverse any locations having features that would attenuate or degrade the signaling, the second apparatus 518 may avoid a RACH failure in response to attempting to send uplink signaling to the NR or LTE network via the PLMN infrastructure 504 or in response to attempting to reconnect with the NR or LTE network after a period of inactivity.

[0092] However, a third apparatus 520 (e.g., user equipment, wireless devices, mobile device, scheduled entities, sidelink entities, etc.) carried by its user along a street on a far- side of the building 516 may experience a RACH failure in response to attempting to send uplink signaling to the NR or LTE network via the PLMN infrastructure 504 or in response to attempting to reconnect with the NR or LTE network after a period of inactivity. This much may be true, because, while the third apparatus 520 is traversing the street on the far side of the building 516, and until the third apparatus 520 emerges from zone within which the signaling between the third apparatus 520 and the antenna / antenna array 502 is attenuated or degraded, the third apparatus 520 may experience a RACH failure in response to attempting to send uplink signaling to the NR or LTE network via the PLMN infrastructure 504 or in response to attempting to reconnect with the NR or LTE network after a period of inactivity.

[0093] Furthermore, a fourth apparatus 522 (e.g., user equipment, wireless devices, mobile device, scheduled entities, sidelink entities, etc.) is depicted as entering and traveling up and down within an elevator (not shown) in an elevator shaft 524 within the building 516. Entering an elevator (in an elevator shaft) is only one example of a situation in which an apparatus may encounter an environment leading to temporarily attenuated or degraded signaling. Other examples may include, but are not limited to, entering / leaving a subway station, a subway tunnel, a garage, or a lengthy bridge (with degraded service toward its midpoint). As with the previous apparatuses, it may be understood that the fourth apparatus 522, prior to entering the elevator in the elevator shaft 524, was registered successfully with a NR or LTE network. However, as explained above, the RF signal sought to be transmitted or received in the elevator in the elevator shaft 524 may be poor. The poor quality may cause a RACH failure when device wants to send any uplink data to network or wants to reconnect after a period of inactivity.

[0094] Issues may arise in the situations described above and any other situations where an apparatus (e.g., user equipment, wireless devices, mobile device, scheduled entities, sidelink entities, etc.) may experience an out of signal event lasting less than an amountL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 27 / 63of time set in a timer configured to cause the apparatus to wait for a predetermined amount of time after a RACH access procedure failure before attempting the RACH access procedure again (e.g., wait for a backoff time).

[0095] For example, an apparatus in an elevator or carried by a user on a hike may encounter a brief (e.g., 2-4 sec) out of signal (OOS) event. If such an encounter occurred and the apparatus utilized a T3411 timer or a T3511 timer, which in some examples may be set to 10 seconds, the apparatus could not recover service faster than (sooner than) 10 seconds, even though the apparatus would have been able to recover service after the brief 2-4 seconds associated with the OOS event.

[0096] By way of another example, an apparatus in a tunnel or on a high-speed train encounter an OOS event lasting on the order of 1-2 min, and may reach the maximum attempt counter value too quickly such that the apparatus would enable a long back-off timer resulting in a wait of 12 minutes (i.e., an attempt to repeat a RACH procedure would be blocked for 12 minutes), even though the apparatus would have been able to recover service after the 1-2 minutes associated with the OOS event.

[0097] A legacy behavior for a pending mobility management procedure employed in response to a lower layer (e.g., Layer 1) failure or a RACH rejection with abnormal cause, entails having an apparatus start a first back-off timer, referred to as a short back-off timer hereinafter. Here, the word “short” is used to distinguish the first timer from a second timer, referred to hereinafter as a long back-off timer. The short back-off timer may have a duration of, for example, 10 seconds. Examples of a short back-off timer include a T3411 timer (utilized in connection with 4G RAT) and a T3511 timer (utilized in connection with 5G RAT).

[0098] Upon expiry of the short back-off timer, the apparatus may re-attempt the connection process (e.g., re-attempt the RACH procedure). In the event of another lower layer failure or another RACH rejection with abnormal cause, the apparatus may reset and restart the short back-off timer. The cycle of repeated attempts following the failure / rej ection may be repeated up to a maximum value of repeat attempts. The number of repeat attempts may be stored in a counter referred to herein as a ShortTimer Stop Counter. There may be one ShortTimer Stop Counter or there may be respective ShortTimer Stop Counters for each RAT employed by the apparatus (e.g., a 4G ShortTimer Stop Counter and a 5G ShortTimer Stop Counter). Accordingly, while the number of repeat attempts is less than a predefined maximum value, the cycle of attempt, followed by failure / rejection, followed by re-attempt may be repeated.L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 28 / 63

[0099] Once an attempt counter has reached the maximum value, the legacy behavior causes the apparatus to start the long back-off timer. The long back-off timer may have a duration of, for example, 12 minutes. Examples of a long back-off timer include a T3402 timer (utilized in connection with 4G RAT) and a T3502 timer (utilized in connection with 5G RAT). Both the short back-off timer(s) and the long back-off timer(s) may be referred to as non-access stratum (NAS) back-off timers. Once a failure or rejection occurs in association with a PLMN associated with a particular RAT (e.g., a 4G RAT, a 5G RAT), the apparatus disables the particular RAT.

[0100] Described herein are aspects related to stopping a NAS back-off timer prior to its expiry, re-enabling a disabled RAT, and re-attempting a RACH procedure sooner than if the apparatus waited to the expiry of the NAS back-off timer. The stopping may be in response to an occurrence of a predefined event which may be indicative of a situation / environment, in which the apparatus could recover service faster than if the apparatus waited until expiry of the NAS back-off timer before re-attempting a RACH procedure (e.g., before re-attempting a mobility re-registration procedure). Regarding the certain event, it has been observed that NAS back-off timers appear to be configured for tracking area level events. However, RACH failures happen at the cell level and given an availability to an apparatus of cell level signal (SNR, RSRP) information, the aspects described herein may provide an improvement in service recovery time experienced by the apparatus, for example by performing a successful RACH prior to expiry of a given NAS back-off timer.

[0101] According to some aspects of the disclosure, an apparatus (e.g., user equipment, wireless devices, mobile device, scheduled entities, sidelink entities, etc.) may stop the NAS back-off timer, re-enable the RAT (which previously experienced the failure or rejection) and initiate the RACH procedure (e.g., the mobility re-registration procedure). The certain events may be events that tend to indicate that the RACH procedure will be met with success (not failure or rejection). Accordingly, stopping the NAS back-off timer prior to its expiry, re-enabling the RAT, and initiating the RACH procedure (in response to an indication that the RACH procedure may be successful) may make it possible for the apparatus to recover service sooner than if the apparatus waited to the expiry of the NAS back-off timer, before again attempting the RACH procedure.

[0102] FIG. 6 is a call flow diagram of a present T3411 timer (e.g., a 4G ShortTimer - NAS Back-Off Timer) process 600 according to some aspects of the disclosure. The T3411 timer may be used during an Attach procedure and during a Tracking Area UpdateL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 29 / 63(TAU) procedure. The T3411 timer may be utilized to manage retries when an apparatus 602 (e.g., a UE) encounters issues such as network failures, rejected messages, or failed attempts. Utilization of the T3411 timer ensures that the apparatus 602 does not tie up time-frequency resources by continually attempting to execute (e.g., retry) Attach procedures and Tracking Area Update procedures in response to the failures of these procedures. Utilizing the T3411 timer (in conjunction with the T3402 4G LongTimer described below) ensures that following a procedure failure, the apparatus 602 waits for a predefined time (e.g., a back-off time) before reattempting the failed procedure.

[0103] In addition to the network entity 604 configuring the times (e.g., durations) of the T3411 timer and the T3402 timer to the apparatus 602, a network entity 604 may also configure respective numbers of attempts that the apparatus 602 is able to perform in response to failures of the attempted procedures. The limit to the number of respective attempts prevents the apparatus 602 from continually looping through failed attempts at the Attach procedure and Tracking Area Update procedure. According to one example, a duration of a T3411 timer (a 4G ShortTimer) may be about 10 seconds, a maximum number of ShortTimerAttemps may be about 5, a duration of a T3402 timer (a 4G LongTimer) may be about 12 minutes. Of course, the preceding list is merely exemplary and not limiting. The values (e.g., durations) of the timers and the number of repeat attempts may be preconfigured to the apparatus 602 or dynamically configured to the apparatus 802.

[0104] Using the T3411 timer and the T3402 timer enables an efficient retry mechanism at the apparatus 602. According to some aspects, the T3411 timer may manage a quantity of short waiting periods between retries to quickly recover from transient issues, for example, while the T3402 timer may enforce a quantity of long waiting periods between retries to avoid excessive signaling from the apparatus 602 and permit equitable sharing of the network by all apparatuses utilizing the network in a given PLMN, for example.

[0105] In greater detail, the call flow diagram for utilization of the T3411 timer (e.g., the 4G ShortTimer, the 4G NAS Back-Off Timer) process 600 illustrates an apparatus 602 and a network entity 604. An example of the network entity 604 in the context of a 4G system may be a mobility management entity (MME). At block 606, the apparatus 602 may register with a 4G network (e.g., a 4G LTE network). At block 608, the apparatus 602 may set a ShortTimer Stop Counter to zero (e.g., initialize or reset the ShortTimer Stop Counter to be equal to 0).L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 30 / 63

[0106] At 610, the apparatus 602 may transmit an Attach request or Tracking Area Update request to the network entity 604. At block 612, a RACH failure or abnormal connection release from the network entity 604 occurs. At block 614, the apparatus 602 may determine if the ShortTimer Stop Counter is equal to a ShortTimer Stop Counter maximum value. The ShortTimer Stop Counter maximum value may be pre-configured to the apparatus 602 and stored in a memory or may be dynamically configured to the apparatus 602.

[0107] In response to the ShortTimer Stop Counter being equal to its maximum value at block 614, the apparatus 602 would begin a T3402 LongTimer process 700, such as the process described in association with a T3402 timer as shown and described in connection with FIG. 7. In response to the ShortTimer Stop Counter being less than its maximum value at block 614, the apparatus 602 would start the T3411 timer at block 616.

[0108] The apparatus 602 would wait for the expiry of the T3411 timer at block 618. At block 620, the T3411 timer would expire. In response to the T3411 timer expiring at block 620, the apparatus 602 would retry transmitting the Attach request or the Tracking Area Update request at 622. However, at block 626, the apparatus receives no response from the network entity 604.

[0109] Thereafter, at block 628 the apparatus 602 may increment the ShortTimer Stop Counter (e.g., by 1). The apparatus 602 may then retry the Attach request procedure or Tracking Area Update request procedure at block 630 by returning to block 614.

[0110] At block 614, if the incrementing of the ShortTimer Stop Counter at block 628 resulted in the ShortTimer Stop Counter being made equal to the maximum value, then from block 614, the apparatus 602 would execute the call flow diagram of a T3402 timer (e.g., a 4G LongTimer - NAS Back-Off Timer) as shown and described in connection with FIG. 7.

[0111] FIG. 7 is a call flow diagram of a present T3402 timer (e.g., a 5G LongTimer - NAS Back-Off Timer) process 700 according to some aspects of the disclosure. The apparatus 602 and the network entity 604, as shown and described in connection with FIG. 6, are the same apparatus 602 and network entity 604 shown and described in connection with FIG. 7. In fact, the T3402 timer process 700 may be reached from block 614 of the T3411 timer process 600 of FIG. 6.

[0112] Like the T3411 timer, the T3402 timer may be used during an Attach procedure and during a Tracking Area Update procedure. Like the T3411 timer, the T3402 timer may be utilized to manage retries when the apparatus 602 encounters issues such asL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 31 / 63network failures, rejected messages, or failed attempts. The description of the utilization of the T3402 timer was explained in connection with the description of the T3411 timer and will not be repeated for the sake of brevity.

[0113] Turning to call flow diagram of the T3402 timer process 700, at block 706, the apparatus 602 may determine that the T3411 timer had expired, and the ShortTimer Stop Counter was equal to its maximum value (see block 614 of FIG. 6).

[0114] At block 708 the apparatus 602 may start the T3402 timer.

[0115] The apparatus 602 would wait for the expiry of the T3402 timer at block 710. At block 720, the T3402 timer would expire. In response to the T3402 timer expiring at block 720, the apparatus 602 would retry transmitting the Attach request or the Tracking Area Update request at 714. At least two things may happen in response to transmitting the Attach request or the Tracking Area Update request at 714. The at least two alternatives are indicate by dashed lines. In some instances, at 716, the apparatus 602 could receive from the network entity 604, an Attach complete or a Tracking Area Update complete message. In other instances, no response may be received at block 718.

[0116] FIG. 8 is a call flow diagram of a present T3511 timer (e.g., a 5G ShortTimer - NAS Back-Off Timer) process 800 according to some aspects of the disclosure. The T3511 timer may be used during an Initial Registration procedure and during a Mobility Registration procedure. The T3511 timer may be utilized to manage retries when an apparatus 802 encounters issues such as network failures, rejected messages, or failed attempts. Utilization of the T3511 timer ensures that the apparatus 802 does not tie up time-frequency resources by continually attempting to execute (e.g., retry) Initial Registration procedures and Mobility Registration procedures in the face of the failures of these procedures. Utilizing the T3511 timer (in conjunction with the T3502 5G LongTimer described below) ensures that following a procedure failure, the apparatus 802 waits for a predefined time (e.g., a back-off time) before reattempting the failed procedure.

[0117] In addition to a network configuring the times (e.g., durations) of the T3511 and T3502 timers to the apparatus 802, a network entity 804 may also configure respective numbers of attempts that the apparatus 802 is able to perform in response to failures of the attempted procedures. The limit to the number of respective attempts prevents the apparatus 802 from continually looping through failed attempts at the Initial Registration procedure and Mobility Registration procedure. According to one example, a duration of a T3511 timer (a 5G ShortTimer) may be about 10 seconds, a maximum number ofL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 32 / 63ShortTimerAttemps may be about 5, a duration of a T3502 timer (a 5G LongTimer) may be about 12 minutes. Of course, the preceding list is merely exemplary and not limiting. The values (e.g., durations) of the timers and the number of repeated attempts may be preconfigured to the apparatus 802 or dynamically configured to the apparatus 802.

[0118] Using the T3511 timer and the T3502 timer enables an efficient retry mechanism at the apparatus 802. According to some aspects, the T3511 timer may manage a quantity of short waiting periods between retries to quickly recover from transient issues, for example, while the T3502 timer may enforce a quantity of long waiting periods between retries to avoid excessive signaling from the apparatus 802 and permit equitable sharing of the network by all apparatuses utilizing the network in a given PLMN, for example.

[0119] In greater detail, the call flow diagram for utilization of the T3511 timer (e.g., the 5G ShortTimer, the 5G NAS Back-Off Timer) process 800 illustrates an apparatus 802 and a network entity 804. An example of the network entity 804 in the context of a 5G system may be an AMF. At block 806, the apparatus 802 may register with a 5G network (e.g., a 5G NR network). At block 808, the apparatus 802 may set a ShortTimer Stop Counter to zero (e.g., initialize or reset the ShortTimer Stop Counter to be equal to 0).

[0120] At 810, the apparatus 802 may transmit a 5G Initial Registration request or a 5G Mobility Registration request to the network entity 804. However, shown, a RACH failure or abnormal connection release from the network entity 804 may occur at block 812. At 814, in response to the RACH failure or abnormal connection release from the network 804 at block 812, the apparatus 802 may determine if the ShortTimer Stop Counter is equal to a ShortTimer Stop Counter maximum value. The ShortTimer Stop Counter maximum value may be pre-configured to the apparatus 802 and stored in a memory or may be dynamically configured to the apparatus 802.

[0121] In response to the ShortTimer Stop Counter being equal to its maximum value at block 814, the apparatus 802 would begin a 5G LongTimer process, such as the process described in association with a T3502 timer as shown and described in connection with FIG. 9. In response to the ShortTimer Stop Counter being less than its maximum value at block 814, the apparatus 802 would start the T3511 timer at block 816.

[0122] The apparatus 802 would wait for the expiry of the T3511 timer at block 818. At block 820, the T3511 timer would expire. In response to the T3511 timer expiring at block 820, the apparatus 802 may retry transmitting the Initial Registration request or the Mobility Registration request at 822. However, in the example of FIG. 8, the apparatus 802 ma receive no response from the network 804, as shown at block 826.L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 33 / 63

[0123] Thereafter, at block 828 the apparatus 802 may increment the ShortTimer Stop Counter (e.g., by 1). The apparatus 802 may then retry the Initial Registration request procedure or the Mobility Registration request procedure at block 830 by returning to block 814.

[0124] At block 814, if the incrementing of the ShortTimer Stop Counter at block 828 resulted in the ShortTimer Stop Counter being made equal to the maximum value, then from block 814, the apparatus 802 would execute the call flow diagram of a T3502 timer (e.g., a 5G LongTimer - NAS Back-Off Timer) as shown and described in connection with FIG. 9.

[0125] FIG. 9 is a call flow diagram of a present T3502 timer (e.g., a 5G LongTimer - NAS Back-Off Timer) process 900 according to some aspects of the disclosure. The apparatus 802 and the network entity 804, as shown and described in connection with FIG. 8 are the same apparatus 802 and network entity 804 shown and described in connection with FIG. 9. In fact, the T3502 timer process 900 may be reached from block 814 of the T3511 timer process 800 of FIG. 8.

[0126] Like the T3511 timer, the T3502 timer may be used during an Initial Registration procedure and during a Mobility Registration procedure. Like the T3511 timer, the T3502 timer may be utilized to manage retries when the apparatus 802 encounters issues such as network failures, rejected messages, or failed attempts. The description of the utilization of the T3502 timer was explained in connection with the description of the T3511 timer and will not be repeated for the sake of brevity.

[0127] Turning to call flow diagram of the T3502 timer process 900, at block 906, the apparatus 802 may determine that the T3511 timer had expired, and the ShortTimer Stop Counter was equal to its maximum value (see block 814 of FIG. 8). The T3502 timer may be started at block 908.

[0128] The apparatus 802 would wait for the expiry of the T3502 timer at block 910. At block 912, the T3502 timer would expire. In response to the T3502 timer expiring at block 912, the apparatus 802 would retry transmitting the 5G Initial Registration request or the Mobility Registration request at 914. At least two things may happen in response to transmitting the 5G Initial Registration request or the Mobility Registration request at 914. The at least two alternatives are indicated by dashed lines. In some instances, at 916, the apparatus 802 would receive from the network entity 804, an Initial Registration complete or a Mobility Registration complete message. In other instances, no response may be received at block 918.L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 34 / 63

[0129] The aspects of FIGs. 6, 7, 8, and 9 include examples of legacy behavior.According to some aspects of the disclosure, an apparatus 602 may stop a NAS back-off timer, such as any of the T3411 timer, T3402 timer, T3511 timer, and T3502 timer, reenable a RAT associated with a given PLMN (e.g., which may have previously experienced the failure or rejection and been disabled by the apparatus 602) and initiate a RACH procedure (e.g., the Attach procedure as shown and described in connection with FIGs. 6 and 7, or the Initial Registration or Mobility Registration or Re-registration procedure as shown and described in connection with FIGs. 8 and 9. The NAS back-off timer may be stopped in response to various events that would tend to indicate that the RACH procedure will be met with success (not the previous failure or rejection). Accordingly, stopping the NAS back-off timer prior to its expiry, re-enabling the RAT, and initiating the RACH procedure (in response to observing an event that tends to indicate that the RACH procedure may be successful) may make it possible for the apparatus 602 to recover service sooner than if the apparatus 602 waited to the expiry of the NAS back-off timer before again attempting the RACH procedure.

[0130] FIG. 10 is an exemplary configuration 1000 that may be utilized to override NAS back-off timers (NAS MO) by stopping them prior to their expiry according to some aspects of the disclosure. The configuration may be referred to herein as an OverrideNASBackoffTimer? 1002 configuration. The OverrideNASBackoffTimer? 1002 configuration may include the following parameters (e.g., information elements): a maximum number of ShortTimer overrides parameter (referred to herein as MaxNumShortTimerOverride 1010), a maximum number of LongTimer overrides parameter (referred to herein as MaxNumLongTimerOverride 1020), a ShortTimer event parameter (referred to herein as ShortTimerEvent 1030), a LongTimer event parameter (referred to herein as LongTimerEvent 1040), and an access technology parameter (e.g., an indicator of a type of RAT) (referred to herein as an AccessTechnology 1050).

[0131] The MaxNumShortTimerOverride 1010 parameter may define the maximum number of attempts to override a T3411 timer or a T3511 timer (e.g., a ShortTimer) due to lower layer failures before reaching the maximum value of a given Attempt Counter. The value of the MaxNumShortTimerOverride 1010 parameter may be, in some examples, equal to 1 or 2 (see, e.g., note 1011). Other values are within the scope of the disclosure. The MaxNumShortTimerOverride 1010 parameter may be reset upon the given Attempt Counter reaching its maximum value (e.g., its predefined maximum value) (see, e.g., note 1012).L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 35 / 63

[0132] The MaxNumLongTimerOverride 1020 parameter may define the maximum number of attempts to override a T3402 timer or a T3502 timer (e.g., a LongTimer) while the T3402 timer or the T3502 timer, respectively, is running. The value of the MaxNumLongTimerOverride 1020 parameter may be, in some examples, equal to 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 (see, e.g., note 1021). Other values are within the scope of the disclosure.

[0133] The ShortTimerEvent 1030 parameter may define one or more events that qualify an apparatus (e.g., a user equipment, a wireless device, a mobile device, a scheduled entity, a sidelink entity, etc.) to attempt to override a NAS back-off timer (e.g., a ShortTimer). According to some aspects, the events may include one or more of: an indication that a new cell is selected by lower layer within the same Tracking Area Identity (TAI) list (see, e.g., note 1031); a determination that, for a same cell (for one cell), an RSRP value has changed by more than a predetermined delta value, for example, an apparatus (e.g., a UE) may determine that in a same cell, the RSRP has changed by an amount greater than 3 dBm to 5 dBm (i.e., change > A (=3 to 5 dBm)), additionally the delta value may be configurable (see, e.g., note 1032); and one or more other events, such as, but not limited to an indication that an apparatus is exiting an elevator, exiting a tunnel, exiting a garage, or is entering an environment where signals are sufficient to successfully complete a RACH procedure (see, e.g., note 1033). Of course, the preceding lists are exemplary and not limiting, other measurable parameters and detectable events that would tend to indicate an ability of the apparatus to successfully complete a RACH procedure are within the scope of the disclosure.

[0134] The LongTimerEvent 1040 parameter may define events that qualify an apparatus (e.g., a UE) to attempt the override of a NAS back-off timer (e.g., a LongTimer). According to some aspects, the events may include one or more of: a detection of a new cell (see, e.g., note 1041); a determination that, for a same cell (for one cell), an RSRP value has changed by more than a predetermined delta value, for example, an apparatus (e.g., a UE) may determine that in a same cell, the RSRP has changed by an amount greater than 3 dBm to 5 dBm (i.e., change > A (=3 to 5 dBm)), additionally the delta value may be configurable (see, e.g., note 1042); a determination that a location of an apparatus has changed by more than a predefined distance (a) relative to the location of the apparatus at a start of a T3402 timer or a T3502 timer (e.g., a LongTimer), for example an indication that a location of the apparatus has changed by > a (= 10 Km) compared to start of the T3402 timer or the T3502 timer (here the greater the change in distance the more likely that the apparatus has exited an area within which signals are blocked orL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 36 / 63degraded (e.g., signals are poor) and entered an area within which a RACH procedure may be successfully completed) (e.g., a significant displacement) (see, e.g., note 1043); and one or more other events, such as, but not limited to an indication that an apparatus is exiting an elevator, exiting a tunnel, exiting a garage, or is entering an environment where signals are sufficient to successfully complete a RACH procedure (see, e.g., note 1044). Of course, the preceding lists are exemplary and not limiting, other measurable parameters and detectable events that would tend to indicate an ability of the apparatus to successfully complete a RACH procedure are within the scope of the disclosure.

[0135] The AccessTechnology 1050 parameter may define a RAT or plurality of RATs that may be exercisable (e.g., disable / enable a 4G RAT associated with a given PLMN) in connection with the overriding of a NAS back-off timer. According to some aspects, the values of the AccessTechnology 1050 parameter may include, but are not limited to: 4G (see, e.g., note 1051); 5G (see, e.g., note 1052); and both 4G and 5G (see, e.g., note 1053). Of course, the preceding list is exemplary and not limiting, other access technologies are within the scope of the disclosure.

[0136] Table 1, below, presents examples of timer behaviors, where the timers (e.g., NAS back-off timers) are able (configured) to be overridden in connection with examples described herein.While Timer is Upon Timer Start Condition Stop Condition Running Expiry -T3411 -Low layer failure, Listen / Register to -Lower layer selects Attempt -Timeout, ShortTimerEvent new cell in new TAI pending -T35 / 11-Abnormal NAS ShortTimers rejection cause (see, e.g., List of -ShortTimerEvent mobility ShortTimerEvent occurs in procedure AND 1030, FIG. 10) combination with the ShortTimer Stop -ShortTimer Stop Counter < StopCounter MAX< MAX value- UE increments-UE increments ShortTimer Stop ShortTimer Stop Counter afterCounter after ShortTimer isShortTimer is stoppedstopped-T3402 -ShortTimer Stop Listen / Register to NA Attempt Counter reaches LongT imerEvent pending -T3502MAX value NAS LongTimersL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 37 / 63-ShortTimer (see, e.g., List of mobility Override Counter LongT imerEvent procedure reaches MAX 1040, FIG. 10)value-LongTimerEvent-UE disables occurs in5G RAT capability combination withOR LongTimer4G RAT capability Counter< MAX-UE ResetsLongTimer -UE incrementsCounter LongTimerCounter-UE Remove RATdisablement, ifany-UE attempts NASmobilityprocedure

[0137] FIG. 11 is partitioned into FIG.11A and FIG 11B. FIG. 11 is a flow diagram depicting a process 1100 described in Table 1, above, and according to some aspects of the disclosure. According to some aspects, the process 1100 may be performed at an apparatus (e.g., a user equipment, a wireless device, a mobile device, a scheduled entity, sidelink entity, etc.) At block 1102, the apparatus may initialize counters, including, for example: a ShortTimer Attempt Counter, a ShortTimer Stop Counter, and a LongTimer Counter. The initial values are set to 0 in the example but could be set to any integer number. A ShortTimer Attempt Counter Maximum (MAX) value, a ShortTimer Stop Counter MAX value, and a LongTimer Counter MAX value may be preconfigured on the apparatus or may be dynamically configured to the apparatus. A network entity may configure the various counter MAX values.

[0138] At block 1104, the apparatus may determine if a lower layer failure, a timeout, or an abnormal rejection cause has occurred. If none of these situations occur, the process 1100 loops back on block 1104 until the lower layer failure, the timeout, or the abnormal rejection cause has occurred. Once one of the lower layer failure, the timeout, or the abnormal rejection cause occurs, the process 1100 proceeds to block 1106.L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 38 / 63

[0139] At block 1106, the apparatus may determine if the ShortTimer Attempt Counter value is less than the ShortTimer Attempt Counter MAX value. In the figure, the ShortTimer Attempt Counter MAX value is abbreviated as “Attempt MAX.” In the context of FIG. 11, a person having ordinary skill in the art will understand that the Attempt MAX identified in block 1106 is the ShortTimer Attempt Counter MAX value.

[0140] In response to determining that the ShortTimer Attempt Counter value is less than the ShortTimer Attempt Counter MAX value, the process 1100 proceeds to block 1108. At block 1108, the apparatus may start or reset and restart a / the ShortTimer. If the process 1100 is operating on a 4G PLMN network, the ShortTimer may be a T3411 timer. If the process 1100 is operating on a 5G PLMN network, the ShortTimer may be a T3511 timer.

[0141] At block 1110, the apparatus may increment the ShortTimer Attempt Counter.

[0142] At block 1112, the apparatus may listen for / register to one or more ShortTimer events, such as, but not limited to one or more of the ShortTimerEvent 1030 parameters as shown and described in connection with FIG. 10.

[0143] At block 1114, the apparatus may determine if a lower layer has selected a new cell in a new TAI. In response to determining that the lower layer has selected the new cell in the new TAI, the process 1100 may end at block 1115. In response to determining that the lower layer has not selected the new cell in the new TAI, the process 1100 may continue to block 1116.

[0144] At block 1116, the apparatus may determine if a ShortTimer event has occurred.As just indicated, examples of ShortTimer events are indicated under the ShortTimerEvent 1030 parameter as shown and described in connection with FIG. 10. The list in FIG. 10 is exemplary and not limiting. In response to determining that a ShortTimer event has occurred, the process 1100 may proceed to block 1117.

[0145] At block 1117, the apparatus may determine if the ShortTimer Stop Counter is less than the ShortTimer Stop Counter maximum value, abbreviated as “Stop MAX.” In response to the ShortTimer Stop Counter being less than the ShortTimer Stop MAX, the process 1100 may proceed from the affirmative branch of block 1117 to block 1119. At block 1119 the apparatus may stop the ShortTimer. here, the ShortTimer would be stopped prior to its expiry, the process may then proceed to block 1121, where the apparatus may increment the ShortTimer Stop Counter. Thereafter, the process 1100 may proceed to block 1123, where the apparatus may perform a NAS procedure.

[0146] Returning to block 1117, in response to the ShortTimer Stop Counter being greater than or equal to the ShortTimer Stop MAX, the process 1100 may proceed from theL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 39 / 63negative branch of block 1117 to block 1118. At block 1118 the apparatus may determine if the ShortTimer has expired. If the ShortTimer has expired, the process 1100 may proceed to block 1123, where the apparatus may perform a NAS procedure. However, if the ShortTimer had not expired, the process 1100 may return to block 1112, where the apparatus may listen for / Register to one or more ShortTimerEvent.

[0147] Returning to block 1116, in response to determining that a ShortTimer event has not occurred, the process 1100 may proceed to block 1118.

[0148] At block 1118, the apparatus may determine if the ShortTimer has expired. In response to determining that the ShortTimer has not expired (i.e., that the ShortTimer continues to operate / run), the process 1100 may return to block 1112 and continue to listen for / register to any of the one or more ShortTimer events for which the apparatus is checking. However, at block 1118, in response to determining that the ShortTimer has expired, the process 1100 may advance to block 1123, where the apparatus may perform a NAS procedure. Following the NAS procedure at block 1123, the process 1100 may return to block 1104. At block 1104, the apparatus may determine if a lower layer failure, a timeout, or an abnormal rejection cause has occurred. Assuming an occurrence of at least one of these triggers, the process 1100 will again advance to block 1106.

[0149] At block 1106, because the apparatus incremented the ShortTimer Attempt Counter at block 1110, the apparatus may again determine if the ShortTimer Attempt Counter is less than the ShortTimer attempt MAX value. As used herein, the term incremented may mean adding one to an existing value; however, incrementing by other values is within the scope of the disclosure. In this manner, the process 1100 will loop through the resetting and restarting of the ShortTimer at block 1108 until the ShortTimer Attempt Countr is no longer less than Attempt MAX.

[0150] At block 1106, in response to the ShortTimer Attempt Counter being greater than or equal to Attempt MAX, the process advances to block 1124. At block 1124, the apparatus may reset the ShortTimer Attempt Counter (e.g., set the value of the counter to zero), the process 1100 may then advance to block 1126. At block 1126, the apparatus may reset the ShortTimer Stop Counter (e.g., set the value of the counter to zero).

[0151] Thereafter, the process 1100 may advance to block 1128. At block 1128, the apparatus may disable a RAT associated with a PLMN with whom the apparatus cannot successfully complete a RACH procedure. In other words, the apparatus may disable a 4G RAT or a 5G RAT associated with a PLMN to which the apparatus has lost its connection. Thereafter, the process 1100 proceeds to point A on FIG. 11B. Turning toL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 40 / 63FIG. 1 IB, at block 1132 the apparatus may reset the LongTimer Counter. At block 1134, the apparatus may start the LongTimer. In some examples, where a 4G RAT is employed, the long LongTimer may be a T3402 timer. In other examples, where a 5G RAT is employed, the long LongTimer may be a T3502 timer. Other timers are within the scope of the disclosure.At block 1136, the apparatus may listen for / register to one or more LongTimer events, such as, but not limited to one or more of the LongTimerEvent 1040 parameters as shown and described in connection with FIG. 10.

[0152] At block 1138, the apparatus may determine if a LongTimer event has occurred.As just indicated, examples of LongTimer events are indicated under the LongTimerEvent 1040 parameter as shown and described in connection with FIG. 10. The list in FIG. 10 is exemplary and not limiting. In response to determining that a LongTimer event has not occurred, the process 1100 may proceed to block 1140. In response to determining that a LongTimer event has occurred, the process 1100 may proceed to block 1144.

[0153] Turning first to block 1140, at block 1140, the apparatus may determine if the LongTimer has expired. In response to determining that the LongTimer has not expired (i.e., that the LongTimer continues to operate / run), the process 1100 may return to the input of block 1140. Thus, the process 1100 would enter a loop until, at block 1140, until the apparatus determined that the LongTimer had expired. Once the LongTimer had expired, the process would advance from block 1140 to block 1142.

[0154] At block 1142, the apparatus may enable (e.g., re-enable) the 4G RAT capability or the 5G RAT capability if any of those capabilities were disabled at block 1128. Thereafter, the process 1100 returns to point B on FIG. 11A. From point B on FIG. 11A, the process 1100 returns to block 1102 and effectively restarts.

[0155] Turning net to block 1144, at block 1144, the apparatus may determine if the LongTimer Counter value is less than the LongTimer Counter MAX value. If response to determining that the LongTimer Counter value is not less than the LongTimer Counter MAX value (i.e., determining that the LongTimer Counter value is greater than or equal to the LongTimer Counter MAX value, the process 1100 may advance to block 1140, where the apparatus continues to determine if the LongTimer has expired. However, returning to block 1144, if the apparatus determines that the LongTimer Counter value is less than the LongTimer Counter MAX value, the process advances to block 1146, where the apparatus increments the LongTimer Counter. Thereafter, the processllOO advancesL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 41 / 63to block 1142, where the disabled RAT, if any, is once again enabled, and then onto block 1102, where the process effectively restarts.

[0156] FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation an apparatus 1200 (e.g., a user equipment, a wireless device, a mobile device, a scheduled entity, sidelink entity, etc.) employing one or more processing systems (generally represented by processing system 1214 and alternatively referred to hereinafter as processing system 1214 or one or more processing systems 1214) according to some aspects of the disclosure. The apparatus 1200 may be similar to, for example, any of the scheduled entities or UEs as shown and described in connection with FIGs. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and / or 9.

[0157] In accordance with various aspects of the disclosure, an element, any portion of an element, or any combination of elements may be implemented with a processing system 1214 that includes one or more processors (generally represented by processor 1204 and alternatively referred to hereinafter as processor 1204 or one or more processors 1204), and one or more memories (generally represented by the memory 1205 and alternatively referred to hereinafter as memory 1205 or one or more memories 1205). According to some aspects, the memory may store a plurality of pre-configured or dynamically configured parameters, including, for example, a ShortTimer duration value 1231, a LongTimer duration value 1232, a ShortTimer Stop Counter value and maximum value 1233, a ShortTimer Stop Counter value and maximum value 1235, and a LongTimer Counter value and maximum value 1236. The preceding list is exemplary and non-limiting. Examples of processor 1204 include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform the various functionality described throughout this disclosure.

[0158] In various examples, the apparatus 1200 may be configured to perform any one or more of the functions described herein. That is, the one or more processors 1204, as utilized in the apparatus 1200, may be configured to, individually or collectively, based at least in part on information stored in the one or more memories 1205, implement (e.g., perform) any one or more of the methods or processes described and illustrated, for example, in FIGs. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and / or 11.

[0159] In this example, the processing system 1214 may be implemented with a bus architecture, represented generally by the bus 1202. The bus 1202 may include anyL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 42 / 63number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specific application of the processing system 1214 and the overall design constraints. The bus 1202 communicatively couples together various circuits, including the one or more processors 1204, the one or more memories, and one or more computer-readable media (generally represented by the computer-readable medium 1206 and alternatively referred to hereinafter as the computer-readable medium 1206 or the one or more computer-readable media 1206). The bus 1202 may also link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known to persons having ordinary skill in the art and, therefore, will not be described any further.

[0160] A bus interface 1208 provides an interface between the bus 1202, transceiver circuitry 1220, and / or one or more antenna array(s) 1228. The transceiver circuitry 1220 may be, for example, wireless transceiver circuitry. The transceiver circuitry 1220 may be operational with multiple RATs (e.g., LTE, 5G NR, IEEE 1202.11 (WiFi®), etc.). The transceiver circuitry 1220 in combination with the one or more antenna array(s) 1228 may provide a means for communicating with various other apparatus, UEs, network entities, and core networks over a transmission medium (e.g., air interface).

[0161] The bus interface 1208 may also provide an interface between the bus 1202 and a user interface 1212 (e.g., keypad, display, touch screen, speaker, microphone, control features, vibration circuit / device, etc.). Of course, such a user interface 1212 is optional and may be omitted in some examples.

[0162] The one or more processors 1204 may be responsible for managing the bus 1202 and general processing, including the execution of software stored on or residing in the one or more computer-readable media 1206 or in the one or more memories 1205. Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. The software, when executed by the one or more processors 1204, causes the one or more processing systems 1214 to perform the various processes and functions described herein for any particular apparatus.

[0163] The one or more computer-readable media 1206 may be a non-transitory computer-readable media and may be referred to as computer-readable storage medium or a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The non-transitory computer-readableL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 43 / 63medium may store computer-executable code (e.g., processor-executable code). The computer executable code may include code for causing a computer (e.g., one or more processors 1204) to implement one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., in connection with FIGs. 1, 2, 3,5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and / or 11). A non-transitory computer- readable medium includes, by way of example, a magnetic storage device (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strip), an optical disk (e.g., a compact disc (CD) or a digital versatile disc (DVD)), a smart card, a flash memory device (e.g., a card, a stick, or a key drive), a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), a register, a removable disk, and any other suitable medium for storing software and / or instructions that may be accessed and read by a computer. The computer-readable medium 1206 may reside in the processing system 1214, external to the processing system 1214, or distributed across multiple entities, including the processing system 1214. The computer-readable medium 1206 may be embodied in a computer program product or article of manufacture. For example, a computer program product or article of manufacture may include a computer-readable medium in packaging materials. In some examples, the computer-readable medium 1206 may be part of the memory 1205. Persons having ordinary skill in the art will recognize how best to implement the described functionality presented throughout this disclosure depending on the particular application and the overall design constraints imposed on the overall system. The computer-readable medium 1206 and / or the memory 1205 may also be used for storing data that is manipulated by the processor 1204 when executing software.

[0164] In some aspects of the disclosure, the processor 1204 may include communication and processing circuitry 1241 configured for various functions, including, for example, communicating with a network entity (e.g., an apparatus, an aggregated or disaggregated base station, a gNB, an eNB, a TRP, a scheduling entity, etc.) as described and illustrated in any of FIGs. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and / or 11. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 1241 may include one or more hardware components that provide the physical structure that performs processes related to wireless communication (e.g., signal reception and / or signal transmission) and signal processing (e.g., processing a received signal and / or processing a signal for transmission). The communication ant processing circuitry 1241 may be configured for various other functions, including determining an occurrence of a predefined event. In some examples, the predefined event may be indicative of at least one of: a measured parameter that is indicative of, or aL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 44 / 63location that is indicative of an environment within which the apparatus will successfully complete a NAS mobility registration or re-registration procedure. In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry 1241 may be configured to perform a NAS mobility registration or re-registration procedure following the override of the NAS timer and prior to an expiry of the NAS timer. The communication and processing circuitry 1241 may further be configured to execute communication and processing instructions 1251 (e.g., software) stored, for example, on the computer-readable medium 1206 to implement one or more functions described herein.

[0165] In some aspects of the disclosure, the processor 1204 may include NAS timer circuitry 1242 that may include one or more hardware components that provide the physical structure that performs processes related to various functions, including, for example, starting a non-access stratum (NAS) timer and overriding a NAS timer. In some examples, the NAS timer may be a short NAS timer (ShortTimer) or a long NAS timer (LongTimer). In some examples, the short NAS timer may be a T3411 timer or a T3511 timer, and the long NAS timer may be a T3402 timer or a T3502 timer. In some examples, the NAS timer is one of a short NAS timer or a long NAS timer, and the predefined event may be one of: a first event that qualifies the apparatus to override the short NAS timer, or a second event the qualifies the apparatus to override the long NAS timer.

[0166] In some examples, the apparatus may be camped on a first cell and the first event is at least one of: a selection by a lower layer of a second cell, different from the first cell, the second cell being within a same tracking area identity as the first cell; a change of a reference signal received power (RSRP) in the first cell that is greater than a predefined threshold value; or an indication that a location of the apparatus at the start of the NAS timer is changing from a first environment within which a NAS mobility registration with a public land mobile network (PLMN) was lost. In some examples, the apparatus may be camped on a first cell and the second event is at least one of: a detection of entry to a second cell, different from the first cell; a change of a reference signal received power (RSRP) in the first cell that is greater than a predefined threshold value; a change to a first location of the apparatus at the start of the NAS timer to a second location of the apparatus, a difference between the first location and the second location being greater than a predefined threshold distance, the change occurring within a predefined amount of time measured from the start of the NAS timer; or an indication that the first location of the apparatus at the start of the NAS timer is changing from an environment within which a NAS mobility registration with a public land mobile network (PLMN) was lost. In someL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 45 / 63examples the indication may be at least one of: a first indication that the apparatus is exiting elevator; a second indication that the apparatus is exiting a tunnel; a third indication that the apparatus is exiting a garage; or a fourth indication that the apparatus is entering a second environment where signals are sufficient to successfully complete the NAS mobility registration. The NAS timer circuitry 1242 may further be configured to execute NAS timer instructions 1252 (e.g., software) stored, for example, on the computer-readable medium 1206 to implement one or more functions described herein.

[0167] In some aspects of the disclosure, the processor 1204 may include Attempt Counter circuitry 1243 that may include one or more hardware components that provide the physical structure that performs processes related to various functions, including, for example, counting a quantity of sets of uses of the NAS timer, each set of uses having a number of uses that is equal to a predefined attempt counter maximum value. The Attempt Counter circuitry 1243 may further be configured to execute Attempt Couter instructions 1253 (e.g., software) stored, for example, on the computer-readable medium 1206 to implement one or more functions described herein.

[0168] In some aspects of the disclosure, the processor 1204 may include Override Counter circuitry 1244 that may include one or more hardware components that provide the physical structure that performs processes related to various functions, including, for example, functions related to an override counter, and other various functions, including for example, functions related to determining whether the quantity of sets is equal to a predefined override counter maximum value, and determining if the predefined event occurring in association with an override counter value is less than or equal to the predefined override counter maximum value. The Override Counter circuitry 1244 may also be related to various other functions, including, for example, overriding the NAS timer by stopping the NAS timer prior to an expiry of the NAS timer. The Override Counter circuitry 1244 may further be configured to execute Override Counter instructions 1254 (e.g., software) stored, for example, on the computer-readable medium 1206 to implement one or more functions described herein. According to some aspects, an override counter may also be referred to as a stop counter herein. In general, the words override and stop may be considered as synonyms.

[0169] In some aspects of the disclosure, the processor 1204 may include RAT circuitry 1245 that may include one or more hardware components that provide the physical structure that performs processes related to various functions, including, for example, disabling a radio access technology (RAT) associated with a public land mobile networkL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 46 / 63(PLMN) from which a connection with the apparatus was lost in response to: an attempt counter value being equal to the predefined attempt counter maximum value, and the override counter value being equal to the predefined override counter maximum value, and enabling the RAT associated with the PLMN in response to the stopping of the NAS timer. In some examples, the NAS timer may be a short NAS timer (ShortTimer) or a long NAS timer (LongTimer). In some examples, the short NAS timer may be a T3411 timer or a T3511 timer, and the long NAS timer may be a T3402 timer or a T3502 timer. The RAT circuitry 1245 may further be configured to execute RAT instructions 1255 (e.g., software) stored, for example, on the computer-readable medium 1206 to implement one or more functions described herein.

[0170] FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating an example process 1300 (e.g., a method) of wireless communication at an apparatus (e.g., user equipment, wireless devices, a mobile devices, a scheduled entities, sidelink entities, etc.) according to some aspects of the disclosure. As described below, some or all illustrated features may be omitted in a particular implementation within the scope of the present disclosure, and some illustrated features may not be required for implementation of all embodiments. In some examples, the process 1300 may be carried out by the apparatus 1200, as shown and described in connection with FIG. 12. The apparatus may be similar to, for example, any of the apparatus, scheduled entities, UEs, etc. as shown and described in connection with FIGs.1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and / or 12. In some examples, the process 1300 may be carried out by any suitable apparatus or means for carrying out the functions or algorithm described below.

[0171] At block 1302, the apparatus may start a non-access stratum (NAS) timer. For example, the NAS timer circuitry 1242, as shown and described in connection with FIG.12, may provide a means for starting a non-access stratum (NAS) timer.

[0172] At block 1304, the apparatus may override the NAS timer in response to both: an occurrence of a predefined event, and an override counter having a value that is less than a predefined override counter maximum value. In some examples, the override counter counts a quantity of sets of uses of the NAS timer, each set of uses having a number of uses that is equal to a predefined attempt counter maximum value, the quantity of sets being equal to a predefined override counter maximum value, and the predefined event occurring in association with an override counter value being less than or equal to the predefined override counter maximum value. For example, the communication and processing circuitry 1241, in cooperation with the NAS timer circuitry 1242, the AttemptL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 47 / 63Counter circuitry 1243, and the Override Counter circuitry 1244 may provide a means for overriding the NAS timer in response to both: an occurrence of a predefined event, and an override counter having a value that is less than a predefined override counter maximum value. Alternatively, the override counter may count a quantity of sets of uses of the NAS timer, each set of uses having a number of uses that is equal to a predefined attempt counter maximum value, the quantity of sets being equal to a predefined override counter maximum value, and the predefined event occurring in association with an override counter value being less than or equal to the predefined override counter maximum value

[0173] Thereafter, the process 1300 ends.

[0174] FIG. 14 is a flow chart illustrating an example process 1400 (e.g., a method) of wireless communication at an apparatus (e.g., user equipment, wireless devices, a mobile devices, a scheduled entities, sidelink entities, etc.) according to some aspects of the disclosure. As described below, some or all illustrated features may be omitted in a particular implementation within the scope of the present disclosure, and some illustrated features may not be required for implementation of all embodiments. In some examples, the process 1400 may be carried out by the apparatus 1200, as shown and described in connection with FIG. 12. The apparatus may be similar to, for example, any of the apparatus, scheduled entities, UEs, etc. as shown and described in connection with FIGs.1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and / or 12. In some examples, the process 1400 may be carried out by any suitable apparatus or means for carrying out the functions or algorithm described below.

[0175] At block 1402, the apparatus may start a non-access stratum (NAS) timer. For example, the NAS timer circuitry 1242, as shown and described in connection with FIG.12, may provide a means for starting a non-access stratum (NAS) timer. In some examples, the NAS timer may be one of a short NAS timer or a long NAS timer, and the predefined event may be one of: a first event that qualifies the apparatus to override the short NAS timer, or a second event the qualifies the apparatus to override the long NAS timer.

[0176] According to some aspects, the apparatus may be camped on a first cell and the first event may be at least one of: a selection by a lower layer of a second cell, different from the first cell, the second cell being within a same tracking area identity as the first cell; a change of a reference signal received power (RSRP) in the first cell that is greater than a predefined threshold value; or an indication that a location of the apparatus at theL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 48 / 63starting of the NAS timer is changing from a first environment within which a NAS mobility registration with a public land mobile network (PLMN) was lost.

[0177] According to some aspects, the apparatus may be camped on a first cell and the second event may be at least one of: a detection of entry to a second cell, different from the first cell; a change of a reference signal received power (RSRP) in the first cell that is greater than a predefined threshold value; a change to a first location of the apparatus at the starting of the NAS timer to a second location of the apparatus, a difference between the first location and the second location being greater than a predefined threshold distance, the change occurring within a predefined amount of time measured from the starting of the NAS timer; or an indication that the first location of the apparatus at the starting of the NAS timer is changing from an environment within which a NAS mobility registration with a public land mobile network (PLMN) was lost.

[0178] According to some aspects, the indication may be at least one of: a first indication that the apparatus is exiting elevator; a second indication that the apparatus is exiting a tunnel; a third indication that the apparatus is exiting a garage; or a fourth indication that the apparatus is entering a second environment where signals are sufficient to successfully complete the NAS mobility registration.

[0179] At block 1404, the apparatus may override the NAS timer in response to both: an occurrence of a predefined event, and an override counter value being less than or equal to a predefined override counter maximum value. For example, the communication and processing circuitry 1241, in cooperation with the NAS timer circuitry 1242, the Attempt Counter circuitry 1243, and the Override Counter circuitry 1244 may provide a means for the NAS timer in response to both: an occurrence of a predefined event, and an override counter value being less than or equal to a predefined override counter maximum value. The predefined event may be indicative of at least one of: a measured parameter that is indicative of, or a location that is indicative of an environment within which the apparatus will successfully complete a NAS mobility registration or re-registration procedure. According to some examples, the apparatus may override the NAS timer by stopping the NAS timer prior to an expiry of the NAS timer. In some examples, the NAS timer may be a short NAS timer (ShortTimer) or a long NAS timer (LongTimer). The short NAS timer may be a T3411 timer or a T3511 timer, and the long NAS timer may be a T3402 timer or a T3502 timer.

[0180] At block 1406, the apparatus may perform a NAS mobility registration or reregistration procedure following the overriding of the NAS timer and prior to an expiryL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 49 / 63of the NAS timer. For example, the communications and processing circuitry 1241, may provide a means for performing a NAS mobility registration or re-registration procedure following the overriding of the NAS timer and prior to an expiry of the NAS timer.

[0181] At block 1408, the apparatus may disable a radio access technology (RAT) associated with a public land mobile network (PLMN) from which a connection with the apparatus was lost in response to: an attempt counter value being equal to the predefined attempt counter maximum value, and the override counter value being equal to the predefined override counter maximum value. For example, the RAT circuitry 1245 may provide a means for disabling a radio access technology (RAT) associated with a public land mobile network (PLMN) from which a connection with the apparatus was lost in response to: an Attempt Counter value being equal to the predefined attempt counter maximum value, and the override counter value being equal to the predefined override counter maximum value.

[0182] At block 1410, the apparatus may enable the RAT associated with the PLMN in response to the stopping of the NAS timer. For example, the RAT circuitry 1245 may provide a means for enabling the RAT associated with the PLMN.

[0183] Thereafter, the process 1400 ends.

[0184] In accordance with various aspects of the disclosure, an element, any portion of an element, or any combination of elements may be implemented with a processing system (e.g., 1214 in FIG. 12) that includes one or more processors (e.g., 1204 in FIG.12). The one or more processors, as utilized in the apparatus 1200, may be configured to, individually or collectively, based at least in part on information stored in one or more memories (e.g., 1205 in FIG. 12) and additionally or alternatively stored in one or more computer-readable media (1206 in FIG. 12) may implement any one or more of the methods or processes described herein and illustrated, for example, in FIGs. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and / or 11.

[0185] Of course, in the above examples, the circuitry included in the one or more processors 1204 of FIG. 12, is merely provided as an example. Other means for carrying out the described processes or functions may be included within various aspects of the present disclosure, including but not limited to the instructions stored in the one or more computer-readable media 1206 of FIG. 12, or any other suitable apparatus or means described in any one of the FIGs. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and / or 12 utilizing, for example, the processes and / or algorithms described herein in relation to FIGs. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, and / or 14.L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 50 / 63

[0186] The following provides an overview of aspects of the present disclosure:

[0187] Aspect 1: An apparatus, comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors being configured to, individually or collectively, based at least in part on information stored in the one or more memories: start a non-access stratum (NAS) timer; and override the NAS timer in response to both: an occurrence of a predefined event, and an override counter having a value that is less than a predefined override counter maximum value.

[0188] Aspect 2: The apparatus of aspect 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: override the NAS timer by stopping the NAS timer prior to an expiry of the NAS timer.

[0189] Aspect 3: The apparatus of aspect 1 or aspect 2, wherein the NAS timer is a short NAS timer (ShortTimer) or a long NAS timer (LongTimer), and the short NAS timer is a T3411 timer or a T3511 timer, and the long NAS timer is a T3402 timer or a T3502 timer.

[0190] Aspect 4: The apparatus of aspect 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: perform a NAS mobility registration or re-registration procedure following the override of the NAS timer and prior to an expiry of the NAS timer.

[0191] Aspect 5: The apparatus of any of aspect 1 through aspect 4, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: disable a radio access technology (RAT) associated with a public land mobile network (PLMN) from which a connection with the apparatus was lost in response to: an attempt counter value being equal to the predefined attempt counter maximum value, and the override counter value being equal to the predefined override counter maximum value; and enable the RAT associated with the PLMN in response to the stopping of the NAS timer.

[0192] Aspect 6: The apparatus of any of aspect 1 through aspect 5, wherein the predefined event is indicative of at least one of: a measured parameter that is indicative of, or a location that is indicative of an environment within which the apparatus will successfully complete a NAS mobility registration or re-registration procedure.

[0193] Aspect 7: The apparatus of any of aspect 1 through aspect 6, wherein the NAS timer is one of a short NAS timer or a long NAS timer, and the predefined event is one of: a first event that qualifies the apparatus to override the short NAS timer, or a second event the qualifies the apparatus to override the long NAS timer.

[0194] Aspect 8: The apparatus of aspect 7, wherein the apparatus is camped on a first cell and the first event is at least one of: a selection by a lower layer of a second cell, different from the first cell, the second cell being within a same tracking area identity asL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 51 / 63the first cell; a selection by a lower layer of a second radio access technology (RAT), different from a first RAT; a change of a reference signal received power (RSRP) in the first cell that is greater than a predefined threshold value; an RSRP of any neighbor cell is greater than a predefined threshold value; or an indication that a location of the apparatus at the start of the NAS timer is changing from a first environment within which a NAS mobility registration with a public land mobile network (PLMN) was lost.

[0195] Aspect 9: The apparatus of aspect 8, wherein the indication is at least one of: a first indication that the apparatus is exiting elevator; a second indication that the apparatus is exiting a tunnel; a third indication that the apparatus is exiting a garage; a fourth indication that the apparatus is exiting from a satellite line-of-sight blocking; a fifth indication that the apparatus is pointing to the satellite; or a sixth indication that the apparatus is entering a second environment where signals are sufficient to successfully complete the NAS mobility registration.

[0196] Aspect 10: The apparatus of any of aspect 1 through aspect 9, wherein the apparatus is camped on a first cell and the second event is at least one of: a detection of entry to a second cell, different from the first cell; a change of a reference signal received power (RSRP) in the first cell that is greater than a predefined threshold value; a change to a first location of the apparatus at the start of the NAS timer to a second location of the apparatus, a difference between the first location and the second location being greater than a predefined threshold distance, the change occurring within a predefined amount of time measured from the start of the NAS timer; or an indication that the first location of the apparatus at the start of the NAS timer is changing from an environment within which a NAS mobility registration with a public land mobile network (PLMN) was lost.

[0197] Aspect 11: A method, at an apparatus, comprising: starting a non-access stratum (NAS) timer; and overriding the NAS timer in response to both: an occurrence of a predefined event, and an override counter having a value that is less than a predefined override counter maximum value.

[0198] Aspect 12: The method of aspect 11, further comprising: overriding the NAS timer by stopping the NAS timer prior to an expiry of the NAS timer.

[0199] Aspect 13: The method of aspect 11 or aspect 12, wherein the NAS timer is a short NAS timer (ShortTimer) or a long NAS timer (LongTimer), and the short NAS timer is a T3411 timer or a T3511 timer, and the long NAS timer is a T3402 timer or a T3502 timer.L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 52 / 63

[0200] Aspect 14: The method of any of aspect 11 through aspect 13, further comprising:performing a NAS mobility registration or re-registration procedure following the overriding of the NAS timer and prior to an expiry of the NAS timer.

[0201] Aspect 15: The method of any of aspect 11 through aspect 14, further comprising:disabling a radio access technology (RAT) associated with a public land mobile network (PLMN) from which a connection with the apparatus was lost in response to: an attempt counter value being equal to the predefined attempt counter maximum value, and the override counter value being equal to the predefined override counter maximum value; and enabling the RAT associated with the PLMN in response to the stopping of the NAS timer.

[0202] Aspect 16: The method of any of aspect 11 through aspect 15, wherein the predefined event is indicative of at least one of: a measured parameter that is indicative of, or a location that is indicative of an environment within which the apparatus will successfully complete a NAS mobility registration or re-registration procedure.

[0203] Aspect 17: The method of any of aspect 11 through aspect 16, wherein the NAS timer is one of a short NAS timer or a long NAS timer, and the predefined event is one of: a first event that qualifies the apparatus to override the short NAS timer, or a second event the qualifies the apparatus to override the long NAS timer.

[0204] Aspect 18: The method of aspect 17, wherein the apparatus is camped on a first cell and the first event is at least one of: a selection by a lower layer of a second cell, different from the first cell, the second cell being within a same tracking area identity as the first cell; a selection by a lower layer of a second radio access technology (RAT), different from a first RAT; a change of a reference signal received power (RSRP) in the first cell that is greater than a predefined threshold value; an RSRP of any neighbor cell is greater than a predefined threshold value; or an indication that a location of the apparatus at the start of the NAS timer is changing from a first environment within which a NAS mobility registration with a public land mobile network (PLMN) was lost.

[0205] Aspect 19: The method of aspect 18, wherein the indication is at least one of: a first indication that the apparatus is exiting elevator; a second indication that the apparatus is exiting a tunnel; a third indication that the apparatus is exiting a garage; a fourth indication that the apparatus is exiting from a satellite line-of-sight blocking; a fifth indication that the apparatus is pointing to the satellite; or a sixth indication that the apparatus is entering a second environment where signals are sufficient to successfully complete the NAS mobility registration.L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 53 / 63

[0206] Aspect 20: The method of any of aspect 11 through aspect 19, wherein the apparatus is camped on a first cell and the second event is at least one of: a detection of entry to a second cell, different from the first cell; a change of a reference signal received power (RSRP) in the first cell that is greater than a predefined threshold value; a change to a first location of the apparatus at the starting of the NAS timer to a second location of the apparatus, a difference between the first location and the second location being greater than a predefined threshold distance, the change occurring within a predefined amount of time measured from the starting of the NAS timer; or an indication that the first location of the apparatus at the starting of the NAS timer is changing from an environment within which a NAS mobility registration with a public land mobile network (PLMN) was lost.Several aspects of a wireless communication network have been presented with reference to an exemplary implementation. As persons having skill in the art will readily appreciate, various aspects described throughout this disclosure may be extended to other telecommunication systems, network architectures, and communication standards.

[0207] Aspect 21: An apparatus configured for wireless communication comprising at least one means for performing a method of any one of aspects 11 through 20.

[0208] Aspect 22: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computerexecutable code, comprising code for causing an apparatus to perform a method of any one of aspects 11 through 20.

[0209] By way of example, various aspects may be implemented within other systems defined by 3GPP, such as 6g, 5G NR, Long Term Evolution (LTE), the Evolved Packet System (EPS), the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), and / or the Global System for Mobile (GSM). Various aspects may also be extended to systems defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2), such as CDMA 2000 and / or Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO). Other examples may be implemented within systems employing IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Ultra- Wideband (UWB), Bluetooth, and / or other suitable systems. The actual telecommunication standard, network architecture, and / or communication standard employed will depend on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

[0210] Within the present disclosure, the word “exemplary” is used to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any implementation or aspect described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects of the disclosure. Likewise, the term “aspects” does not require that all aspects ofL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 54 / 63the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage, or mode of operation. The term “coupled” is used herein to refer to the direct or indirect coupling between two objects. For example, if object A physically touches object B, and object B touches object C, then objects A and C may still be considered coupled to one another — even if they do not directly physically touch each other. For instance, a first object may be coupled to a second object even though the first object is never directly physically in contact with the second object. The terms “circuit” and “circuitry” are used broadly, and intended to include both hardware implementations of electrical devices and conductors that, when connected and configured, enable the performance of the functions described in the present disclosure, without limitation as to the type of electronic circuits, as well as software implementations of information and instructions that, when executed by a processor, enable the performance of the functions described in the present disclosure.

[0211] One or more of the components, steps, features, and / or functions illustrated in FIGs. 1-14 may be rearranged and / or combined into a single component, step, feature, or function or embodied in several components, steps, or functions. Additional elements, components, steps, and / or functions may also be added without departing from novel features disclosed herein. The apparatus, devices, and / or components illustrated in FIGs. 1-14 may be configured to perform one or more of the methods, features, or steps described herein. The novel algorithms described herein may also be efficiently implemented in software and / or embedded in hardware.

[0212] It is to be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed is an illustration of exemplary processes. Based upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods may be rearranged. The method claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless specifically recited therein. While some examples illustrated herein depict only time and frequency domains, additional domains such as a spatial domain are also contemplated in this disclosure.

[0213] The previous description is provided to enable persons having skill in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to persons having skill in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended toL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 55 / 63mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more.

[0214] The word “obtain” as used herein may mean, for example, acquire, calculate, construct, derive, determine, receive, and / or retrieve. The preceding list is exemplary and not limiting. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to persons having skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “step for.”

[0215] As used herein, the term “determine” or “determining” encompasses a wide variety of actions and, therefore, “determining” can include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (such as via looking up in a table, a database, or another data structure), inferring, ascertaining, measuring, and the like. Also, “determining” can include receiving (such as receiving information), accessing (such as accessing data stored in memory), transmitting (such as transmitting information) and the like. Also, “determining” can include resolving, selecting, obtaining, choosing, establishing, and other similar actions.

[0216] As used herein, a phrase referring to “at least one of’ a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. As an example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c. As used herein, “or” is intended to be interpreted in the inclusive sense, unless otherwise explicitly indicated. For example, “a or b” may include a only, b only, or a combination of a and b. Similarly, a phrase referring to A and / or B may include A only, B only, or a combination of A and B.

[0217] As used herein, “based on” is intended to be interpreted in the inclusive sense, unless otherwise explicitly indicated. For example, “based on” may be used interchangeably with “based at least in part on,” “associated with,” or “in accordance with” unless otherwise explicitly indicated. Specifically, unless a phrase refers to “based on only ‘a,’” or the equivalent in context, whatever it is that is “based on ‘a,’” or “based at least in part on ‘a,’” may be based on “a” alone or based on a combination of “a” and one or more other factors, conditions, or information.L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 56 / 63

[0218] The various illustrative components, logic, logical blocks, modules, circuits, operations, and algorithm processes described in connection with the examples disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, firmware, software, or combinations of hardware, firmware, or software, including the structures disclosed in this specification and the structural equivalents thereof. The interchangeability of hardware, firmware and software has been described generally, in terms of functionality, and illustrated in the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits and processes described above. Whether such functionality is implemented in hardware, firmware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0219] Various modifications to the examples described in this disclosure may be readily apparent to persons having ordinary skill in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other examples without departing from the spirit or scope of this disclosure. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the examples shown herein but are to be accorded the widest scope consistent with this disclosure, the principles and the novel features disclosed herein.

[0220] Additionally, various features that are described in this specification in the context of separate examples also can be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single implementation also can be implemented in multiple examples separately or in any suitable subcombination. As such, although features may be described above as acting in particular combinations, and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.

[0221] Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. Further, the drawings may schematically depict one or more example processes in the form of a flowchart or flow diagram. However, other operations that are not depicted can be incorporated in the example processes that are schematically illustrated. For example, one or more additional operations can be performed before, after, simultaneously, or between any of the illustrated operations. In some circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various system components in the examples described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all examples, and it should be understood that the describedL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 57 / 63program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WO

Claims

Qualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 58 / 63CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. An apparatus, comprising:one or more memories; andone or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors being configured to, individually or collectively, based at least in part on information stored in the one or more memories:start a non-access stratum (NAS) timer; andoverride the NAS timer in response to both:an occurrence of a predefined event, and an override counter having a value that is less than a predefined override counter maximum value.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:override the NAS timer by stopping the NAS timer prior to an expiry of the NAS timer.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the NAS timer is a short NAS timer (ShortTimer) or a long NAS timer (LongTimer), and the short NAS timer is a T3411 timer or a T3511 timer, and the long NAS timer is a T3402 timer or a T3502 timer.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:perform a NAS mobility registration or re-registration procedure following the override of the NAS timer and prior to an expiry of the NAS timer.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:disable a radio access technology (RAT) associated with a public land mobile network (PLMN) from which a connection with the apparatus was lost in response to:an attempt counter value being equal to the predefined attempt counter maximum value, andL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 59 / 63the override counter value being equal to the predefined override counter maximum value; andenable the RAT associated with the PLMN in response to the stopping of the NAS timer.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the predefined event is indicative of at least one of: a measured parameter that is indicative of, or a location that is indicative of an environment within which the apparatus will successfully complete a NAS mobility registration or re-registration procedure.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the NAS timer is one of a short NAS timer or a long NAS timer, and the predefined event is one of:a first event that qualifies the apparatus to override the short NAS timer, or a second event the qualifies the apparatus to override the long NAS timer.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the apparatus is camped on a first cell and the first event is at least one of:a selection by a lower layer of a second cell, different from the first cell, the second cell being within a same tracking area identity as the first cell;a selection by a lower layer of a second radio access technology (RAT), different from a first RAT;a change of a reference signal received power (RSRP) in the first cell that is greater than a predefined threshold value;an RSRP of any neighbor cell is greater than a predefined threshold value; or an indication that a location of the apparatus at the start of the NAS timer is changing from a first environment within which a NAS mobility registration with a public land mobile network (PLMN) was lost.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the indication is at least one of:a first indication that the apparatus is exiting elevator;a second indication that the apparatus is exiting a tunnel;a third indication that the apparatus is exiting a garage;a fourth indication that the apparatus is exiting from a satellite line-of-sight blocking; a fifth indication that the apparatus is pointing to the satellite; orL&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 60 / 63a sixth indication that the apparatus is entering a second environment where signals are sufficient to successfully complete the NAS mobility registration.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the apparatus is camped on a first cell and the second event is at least one of:a detection of entry to a second cell, different from the first cell;a change of a reference signal received power (RSRP) in the first cell that is greater than a predefined threshold value;a change to a first location of the apparatus at the start of the NAS timer to a second location of the apparatus, a difference between the first location and the second location being greater than a predefined threshold distance, the change occurring within a predefined amount of time measured from the start of the NAS timer; oran indication that the first location of the apparatus at the start of the NAS timer is changing from an environment within which a NAS mobility registration with a public land mobile network (PLMN) was lost.

11. A method, at an apparatus, comprising:starting a non-access stratum (NAS) timer; andoverriding the NAS timer in response to both:an occurrence of a predefined event, andan override counter having a value that is less than a predefined override counter maximum value.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:overriding the NAS timer by stopping the NAS timer prior to an expiry of the NAS timer.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the NAS timer is a short NAS timer (ShortTimer) or a long NAS timer (LongTimer), and the short NAS timer is a T3411 timer or a T3511 timer, and the long NAS timer is a T3402 timer or a T3502 timer.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:performing a NAS mobility registration or re-registration procedure following the overriding of the NAS timer and prior to an expiry of the NAS timer.L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 61 / 6315. The method of claim 11, further comprising:disabling a radio access technology (RAT) associated with a public land mobile network (PLMN) from which a connection with the apparatus was lost in response to:an attempt counter value being equal to the predefined attempt counter maximum value, andthe override counter value being equal to the predefined override counter maximum value; andenabling the RAT associated with the PLMN in response to the stopping of the NAS timer.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the predefined event is indicative of at least one of: a measured parameter that is indicative of, or a location that is indicative of an environment within which the apparatus will successfully complete a NAS mobility registration or re-registration procedure.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the NAS timer is one of a short NAS timer or a long NAS timer, and the predefined event is one of:a first event that qualifies the apparatus to override the short NAS timer, or a second event the qualifies the apparatus to override the long NAS timer.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the apparatus is camped on a first cell and the first event is at least one of:a selection by a lower layer of a second cell, different from the first cell, the second cell being within a same tracking area identity as the first cell;a selection by a lower layer of a second radio access technology (RAT), different from a first RAT;a change of a reference signal received power (RSRP) in the first cell that is greater than a predefined threshold value;an RSRP of any neighbor cell is greater than a predefined threshold value; or an indication that a location of the apparatus at the start of the NAS timer is changing from a first environment within which a NAS mobility registration with a public land mobile network (PLMN) was lost.L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2502707WO 62 / 6319. The method of claim 18, wherein the indication is at least one of:a first indication that the apparatus is exiting elevator;a second indication that the apparatus is exiting a tunnel;a third indication that the apparatus is exiting a garage;a fourth indication that the apparatus is exiting from a satellite line-of-sight blocking;a fifth indication that the apparatus is pointing to the satellite; ora sixth indication that the apparatus is entering a second environment where signals are sufficient to successfully complete the NAS mobility registration.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the apparatus is camped on a first cell and the second event is at least one of:a detection of entry to a second cell, different from the first cell;a change of a reference signal received power (RSRP) in the first cell that is greater than a predefined threshold value;a change to a first location of the apparatus at the starting of the NAS timer to a second location of the apparatus, a difference between the first location and the second location being greater than a predefined threshold distance, the change occurring within a predefined amount of time measured from the starting of the NAS timer; oran indication that the first location of the apparatus at the starting of the NAS timer is changing from an environment within which a NAS mobility registration with a public land mobile network (PLMN) was lost.L&L Ref. No. QCOM-5459WO

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