Relay UE RRC Timer Extension for Indirect Connection Setup

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing wireless communication systems face challenges in establishing RRC connections with base stations via relay UEs, leading to increased latency due to timers expiring before successful connection is established, especially when the relay UE is in an RRC idle or inactive state.

Innovation Solution

Implementing timers and RRC connection status information provided by the relay UE to manage RRC connection procedures, allowing the remote UE to extend the connection attempt before the timer expires, thereby reducing latency.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the remote UE attempts to establish an RRC connection with the base station via the relay UE, then the connection can be established through indirect path, but the timer may expire before successful connection is established due to additional latency

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveRRC connection establishment successVSAvoidconnection establishment time

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The base station provides timer extension information to the relay UE in advance, before the actual RRC connection establishment attempt. This allows the relay UE to compensate for the additional latency introduced by the indirect communication path, ensuring the timer does not expire during the extended connection establishment process.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The relay UE acts as an intermediary between the remote UE and the base station. It receives timer extension information from the base station and uses this information to manage the RRC connection establishment process, compensating for the additional time required for indirect communication.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Use of energy by moving object

If the relay UE is in RRC idle or inactive state, then power consumption is reduced and network resources are saved, but the RRC connection establishment latency increases due to state transition requirements

Engineering Contradiction:

Improverelay UE power consumptionVSAvoidconnection establishment time

Core Design Contradiction:

Use of energy by moving objectVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The base station provides timer extension information to the relay UE in advance, allowing the relay UE to remain in idle or inactive state longer without worrying about timer expiration. When connection establishment is needed, the extended timer accommodates the additional time required for state transition and connection setup.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The timer duration is made dynamic and adaptable based on the relay UE's RRC state. The base station can provide different timer extension values depending on whether the relay UE is in idle, inactive, or connected state, allowing optimal balance between power consumption and connection establishment speed.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentUS12604350B2RRC timer for layer 2 UE-to-network relay

Publication Date: 2026.04.14 QUALCOMM INC

AI summary

A method, apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium for wireless communication at a first user equipment (UE) is provided. The UE receives an indication of one or more timers associated with a radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or an RRC connection re-establishment procedure with a network entity via a relay. The UE transmits a request associated with an RRC connection to a second UE to be relayed to the network entity and monitors for a response from the network entity based on the one or more timers associated with the RRC connection establishment procedure or the RRC connection re-establishment procedure via the second UE as the relay.