PDCP Keep-Alive Signaling for Unresponsive UE Release
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for detecting radio link failures in user equipment (UE) are inefficient, particularly when there is no data transmission or high uplink interference, leading to resource wastage and reduced spectrum efficiency due to continuous scheduling of downlink data to unresponsive UEs.
Innovation Solution
Implementing keep alive reporting using PDCP control PDU with a reserved bit to indicate UE status, and maintaining a keep alive missed threshold to initiate a user equipment release transaction when consecutive keep alive packets are not received, allowing for early detection and resource conservation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing methods for detecting radio link failures are used, then detection capability is maintained, but resource wastage increases and spectrum efficiency decreases due to continuous scheduling to unresponsive UEs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic keep alive signaling where the UE sends signals at configured intervals to indicate its status. This periodic action allows the network to detect unresponsive UEs without continuous monitoring, reducing resource wastage while maintaining detection capability. The network configures a periodicity for keep alive signals, and failure to receive these periodic signals triggers detection of unresponsive state.
2Reliability
If keep alive reporting is implemented, then unresponsive UE detection is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional signaling mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent reuses existing PDCP control PDU structures and reserved bits for keep alive reporting, making the existing signaling mechanism serve multiple functions. Instead of creating a completely new signaling protocol, the invention utilizes the universality of PDCP control PDUs to carry both traditional control information and keep alive status indicators, thereby improving detection capability without proportionally increasing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The UE autonomously generates and transmits keep alive signals based on configured parameters without requiring network initiation for each check. The UE self-manages the periodic reporting, using its own resources to indicate its status. This self-service approach reduces the signaling burden on the network while maintaining effective detection capability.
3Reliability
If continuous downlink scheduling is performed, then data transmission completeness is maintained, but spectrum efficiency decreases due to transmission to unresponsive UEs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the UE sends periodic keep alive signals to confirm its responsiveness status to the network. The network uses this feedback to determine whether to continue or suspend downlink scheduling. When keep alive signals are not received, the network infers the UE is unresponsive and adjusts scheduling accordingly, maintaining transmission completeness for responsive UEs while improving spectrum efficiency by avoiding transmissions to unresponsive UEs.
Data Source
AI summary
A system can communicate broadband cellular communications with a user equipment. The system can direct the user equipment to perform iterations of transmitting a keep alive report periodicity signal according to a packet data convergence protocol protocol data unit format. The system can, in response to determining that a consecutive threshold number of keep alive report periodicity signals of the iterations of transmitting the keep alive report periodicity signal has not been received, initiate a user equipment release transaction with regard to the user equipment.