NR Measurement Report Pruning for VoNR EPS Fallback

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Solution Overview

Problem

IMS voice session failures occur due to inappropriate inter-RAT redirection between 4G and 5G networks during EPS fallback procedures, leading to reduced user experience and increased signaling overhead, especially when NR cells do not support VoNR or the UE lacks VoNR capabilities.

Innovation Solution

The UE generates and maintains a whitelist of NR cells that support VoNR, allowing it to prune non-supporting cells from measurement reports before sending them to the 4G network, thereby preventing redirection to cells that do not support VoNR and avoiding IMS voice session failures.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the UE includes all measured NR cells in measurement reports during EPS fallback, then the network can make informed handover decisions, but IMS voice session failures occur when redirection is performed to NR cells that do not support VoNR

Engineering Contradiction:
ImproveIMS voice session success rateVSAvoidMeasurement report completeness
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The UE performs preliminary filtering of measurement reports by removing NR cells that do not support VoNR before sending the report to the network. This preliminary action prevents the network from making erroneous handover decisions to incompatible cells, thereby ensuring IMS voice session success while maintaining measurement report utility.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Adaptability or versatility

If the network performs inter-RAT redirection between 4G and 5G during EPS fallback, then network flexibility and load balancing are improved, but unnecessary redirections occur to NR cells without VoNR support causing voice session failures

Engineering Contradiction:
ImproveNetwork redirection flexibilityVSAvoidVoice session continuity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The UE provides feedback to the network about which NR cells support VoNR by filtering measurement reports to exclude incompatible cells. This feedback mechanism enables the network to maintain redirection flexibility while avoiding voice session failures, as the network receives accurate information about cell compatibility without requiring explicit capability signaling.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

3Loss of information

If the UE sends complete measurement reports including all NR cells, then network signaling contains comprehensive information, but unnecessary signaling overhead increases when redirecting to non-VoNR supporting cells

Engineering Contradiction:
ImproveMeasurement information completenessVSAvoidNetwork signaling overhead
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The UE extracts and removes information about NR cells that do not support VoNR from measurement reports before transmission to the network. This extraction process reduces signaling overhead by eliminating unnecessary cell information that would lead to failed redirections, while preserving complete information about compatible cells for informed handover decisions.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentEP4218296B1Apparatus and method of pruning new radio cells that do not support voice over new radio from a measurement report
Publication Date: 2026.04.22 INNOPEAK TECHNOLOGY INC
  • EP4218296B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4218296B1 patent drawingFigure 2A
  • EP4218296B1 patent drawingFigure 3A

AI summary

An apparatus for wireless communication of a UE is disclosed. The apparatus may initiate, at a new radio (NR) serving cell, a voice session with an IMS. The apparatus may determine whether the first NR cell supports voice over NR (VoNR) when the voice session is initiated. The apparatus may perform an EPS fallback procedure to establish the 5 voice session with the IMS when it is determined that VoNR is not supported by the first NR cell. The apparatus may update a whitelist of NR cells that support VoNR to include the first NR cell when it is determined that the first NR cell supports VoNR.