Conditional Configuration Management in User Equipment

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current wireless communication systems face inefficiencies in conditional handover and secondary node addition/change procedures due to latency and improper configuration management, leading to network inefficiencies and increased radio link failures.

Innovation Solution

Implementing techniques that allow user equipment (UE) to determine whether received configurations from the base station should be added as new or modify existing configurations, using configuration identifiers to manage conditional procedures, and providing a full set of conditional configurations to avoid ambiguity.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If immediate SN addition/change procedures are used without conditional checks at UE, then configuration management is simpler, but latency increases and procedure failure probability increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprocedure success rateVSAvoidhandover latency
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by pre-configuring conditional handover parameters and candidate target cell information at the UE before actual handover is needed. The source base station prepares handover configuration data including multiple candidate targets and their associated conditions, storing them in the UE's buffer. When handover is triggered, the UE can immediately execute based on pre-evaluated conditions, eliminating the need for real-time signaling exchange during the handover moment, thus reducing latency while maintaining reliability through pre-validated configurations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Reliability

If conditional procedures with UE-checked conditions are implemented, then handover failure risk is reduced, but configuration management complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvehandover failure rateVSAvoidconfiguration management complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies segmentation by dividing the handover configuration into multiple independent candidate target cell configurations, each with its own evaluation conditions and execution parameters. Instead of managing one complex conditional handover configuration, the UE receives and stores multiple segmented configurations for different candidate targets. Each configuration is self-contained with specific measurement conditions, making the overall system more manageable while improving reliability through diversified handover options.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies inversion by reversing the traditional handover control flow. Instead of the network controlling handover execution and the UE passively following commands, the patent enables the UE to autonomously evaluate pre-configured conditions and independently decide when to execute handover to which candidate target. This inversion of control authority reduces network signaling overhead and simplifies real-time configuration management while maintaining high reliability through UE-based conditional evaluation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

3Measurement precision

If configuration identifiers are used to track and manage conditional configurations at UE, then configuration accuracy improves, but messaging overhead increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveconfiguration identification accuracyVSAvoidmessaging overhead
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies taking out by extracting the configuration identification function from detailed configuration data. Instead of transmitting complete handover configuration parameters repeatedly for tracking and management, the patent uses compact configuration identifiers (such as cell IDs or predefined indices) that uniquely represent each candidate target configuration. These extracted identifiers are embedded in measurement reports and handover execution messages, enabling accurate configuration tracking with minimal messaging overhead while maintaining precise configuration identification.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentEP3850904B1Adding and modifying conditional configurations at a user device
Publication Date: 2024.01.31 GOOGLE LLC
  • EP3850904B1 patent drawingFigure 1A
  • EP3850904B1 patent drawingFigure 1B
  • EP3850904B1 patent drawingFigure 1C~2

AI summary

Base stations and user devices (UEs) of this disclosure implement techniques for managing conditional configurations, which enable a UE to determine whether, when the UE receives a conditional configuration from a base station of a RAN, the UE should add the received configuration as a new configuration, or instead use the received configuration to modify an existing configuration. In different implementations, the RAN may provide the UE with configuration identifiers for this purpose, or may provide the UE with a full list of conditional configurations each time the RAN configures the UE for a conditional procedure.