RRC Paging Acknowledgment Under Cell Congestion
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Solution Overview
Problem
The transition procedures for reduced capability devices from RRC Idle/RRC Inactive to RRC Connected states consume unnecessary energy due to repeated attempts to establish connections in congested networks, leading to inefficient resource allocation and battery drain.
Innovation Solution
Network nodes proactively inform user devices about congestion, using a one-bit ACK paging flag to avoid service requests during random access procedures, allowing devices to acknowledge without transitioning to RRC Connected state.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If user devices repeatedly attempt to establish connections during random access procedures in congested networks, then connection establishment reliability is improved, but device energy consumption increases and battery life decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The network node performs preliminary action by proactively informing the user device about congestion conditions before the device initiates a service request. The network sends a paging message indicating it is unable to serve the device for the triggered service, allowing the device to anticipate failure and avoid unnecessary connection establishment attempts, thereby reducing energy consumption while maintaining connection reliability through proper network coordination.
2Reliability
If user devices repeatedly attempt to establish connections during random access procedures in congested networks, then connection establishment reliability is improved, but the duration of random access procedures increases
Solution Approach 1:
The network node sends a preliminary paging message to inform the user device about congestion conditions before the device initiates a service request. This allows the device to understand beforehand that connection establishment is not feasible, enabling it to terminate the random access procedure early without attempting multiple unsuccessful connection attempts, thereby reducing the overall duration while maintaining reliability through proper network signaling.
3Adaptability or versatility
If network nodes serve all incoming service requests during random access procedures, then service availability is improved, but network resource allocation efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The network node performs preliminary assessment and informs the user device about congestion conditions before full service request processing. By sending a paging message indicating inability to serve the device for the triggered service, the network avoids wasting resources on unsuccessful connection attempts while still maintaining service availability for devices that can be properly served, thereby improving resource allocation efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The network node provides feedback to the user device about the current network state and service availability through the paging message. This feedback mechanism allows the device to adjust its behavior accordingly, terminating the random access procedure when service is not available, which improves network resource allocation efficiency by preventing futile connection attempts while maintaining service availability where possible.
Data Source
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AI summary
Techniques of preserving UE and network resources while performing a paging procedure during cell congestion that includes a network node informing a UE if the cell to which the UE is attempting to access is too congested to serve the UE. For example, when a gNB, serving a cell, receives from, e.g., an access and mobility function (AMF), a paging request indicating a request for the gNB to serve a UE, the gNB first performs a pro-active admission control operation to determine whether there are sufficient resources to serve the UE. When there is too much congestion, the gNB may not admit the UE to the cell; in this case, the gNB sends RAN raging with a paging flag indicating that the gNB will not serve the UE. The UE in response does not trigger a service request, but rather sends an ACK paging over RRC to the gNB, which in turn notifies the AMF of non-service and that the UE is present.