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US-12628206-B2 - Methods and apparatuses for a user equipment (UE) triggered secondary cell group (SCG) activation procedure

US12628206B2US 12628206 B2US12628206 B2US 12628206B2US-12628206-B2

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to methods and apparatuses for a user equipment (UE) triggered secondary cell group (SCG) activation procedure in a multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC) scenario. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method which may be performed by a UE includes: deciding whether to activate a SCG associated with a secondary node (SN), wherein the SCG has been deactivated; and in response to deciding to activate the SCG, triggering a random access (RA) procedure to the SN.

Inventors

  • Congchi ZHANG
  • Lianhai Wu
  • Mingzeng Dai
  • Le Yan

Assignees

  • LENOVO (BEIJING) LIMITED

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20210326

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to: decide whether to activate a secondary cell group (SCG) associated with a secondary node (SN), wherein the SCG has been deactivated; and trigger, in response to deciding to activate the SCG, a random access (RA) procedure to the SN.
  2. 2 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to: determine whether a master cell group (MCG) failure occurs.
  3. 3 . The UE of claim 2 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to: transmit, in response to deciding to activate the SCG and in response to determining that the MCG failure does not occur, SCG activation indication information to a master node (MN); and determine, in response to a failure occurring during transmitting the SCG activation indication information, that the MCG failure occurs.
  4. 4 . The UE of claim 2 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to: generate, in response to the MCG failure occurring, MCG failure indication information.
  5. 5 . The UE of claim 4 , wherein the MCG failure indication information is included in a message, and wherein the message comprises at least one of: a RA request message in a 4-step RA procedure; a RA request message in a 2-step RA procedure; or an uplink radio resource control (RRC) message.
  6. 6 . The UE of claim 2 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to trigger, in response to the MCG failure, a procedure to re-establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection to a master node (MN).
  7. 7 . A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to: receive configuration information regarding one or more timers from a secondary node (SN), wherein the one or more timers are associated with a deactivated state of a secondary cell group (SCG), and wherein the one or more timers relate to a random access (RA) procedure; and trigger the RA procedure to the SN.
  8. 8 . The UE of claim 7 , wherein the one or more timers include at least one of: a timer for monitoring a 4-step RA type response during the deactivated state of the SCG; a timer for a contention resolution during the deactivated state of the SCG; or a timer for monitoring a 2-step RA type response during the deactivated state of the SCG.
  9. 9 . The UE of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to: transmit, to the SN, at least one of a random access preamble or an index of the random access preamble; and start, in response to transmitting the at least one of the random access preamble and the index of the random access preamble, the timer for monitoring the 4-step RA type response.
  10. 10 . The UE of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to: determine, in response to the timer for monitoring the 4-step RA type response being expired, that the RA procedure and a SCG activation procedure are not successful.
  11. 11 . The UE of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to: receive, from the SN, a RA response message including a random access preamble identifier, wherein the random access preamble identifier matches the at least one of the random access preamble and the index of the random access preamble; and stop, in response to receiving the RA response message, the timer for monitoring the 4-step RA type response.
  12. 12 . A method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: deciding whether to activate a secondary cell group (SCG) associated with a secondary node (SN), wherein the SCG has been deactivated; and triggering, in response to deciding to activate the SCG, a random access (RA) procedure to the SN.
  13. 13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising: determining whether a master cell group (MCG) failure occurs.
  14. 14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising: triggering, in response to the MCG failure, a procedure to re-establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection to a master node (MN).
  15. 15 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising: transmitting, in response to deciding to activate the SCG and in response to determining that the MCG failure does not occur, SCG activation indication information to a master node (MN); and determining, in response to a failure occurring during transmitting the SCG activation indication information, that the MCG failure occurs.
  16. 16 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising: generating, in response to the MCG failure occurring, MCG failure indication information.
  17. 17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the MCG failure indication information is included in a message, and wherein the message comprises at least one of: a RA request message in a 4-step RA procedure; a RA request message in a 2-step RA procedure; or an uplink radio resource control (RRC) message.
  18. 18 . A method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving configuration information regarding one or more timers from a secondary node (SN), wherein the one or more timers are associated with a deactivated state of a secondary cell group (SCG), and wherein the one or more timers relate to a random access (RA) procedure; and triggering the RA procedure to the SN.
  19. 19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the one or more timers include at least one of: a timer for monitoring a 4-step RA type response during the deactivated state of the SCG; a timer for a contention resolution during the deactivated state of the SCG; or a timer for monitoring a 2-step RA type response during the deactivated state of the SCG.
  20. 20 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising: transmitting, to the SN, at least one of a random access preamble or an index of the random access preamble; and starting, in response to transmitting the at least one of the random access preamble and the index of the random access preamble, the timer for monitoring the 4-step RA type response.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present application generally relates to wireless communication technology, and especially to methods and apparatuses for a user equipment (UE) triggered secondary cell group (SCG) activation procedure in a multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC) scenario. BACKGROUND Next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) supports a multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC) operation. In a MR-DC scenario, a user equipment (UE) with multiple transceivers may be configured to utilize resources provided by two different nodes connected via non-ideal backhauls. Wherein one node may provide new radio (NR) access and the other one node may provide either evolved-universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access (UTRA) (E-UTRA) or NR access. One node may act as a master node (MN) and the other node may act as a secondary node (SN). The MN and SN are connected via a network interface (for example, Xn interface as specified in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard documents), and at least the MN is connected to the core network. Currently, in a 3GPP 5G system or network, details of a UE triggered SCG activation procedure in a MR-DC scenario have not been discussed in 3GPP 5G technology yet. SUMMARY Some embodiments of the present application provide a method, which may be performed by a UE. The method includes: deciding whether to activate a SCG associated with a SN, wherein the SCG has been deactivated; and in response to deciding to activate the SCG, triggering a random access (RA) procedure to the SN. Some further embodiments of the present application provide a method, which may be performed by a UE. The method includes: receiving configuration information regarding one or more timers from a SN, the one or more timers are associated with a deactivated state of a SCG, and the one or more timers relate to a RA procedure; and triggering the RA procedure to the SN. Some embodiments of the present application provide an apparatus. The apparatus includes: a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions, a receiving circuitry; a transmitting circuitry; and a processor coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable medium, the receiving circuitry and the transmitting circuitry, wherein the computer-executable instructions cause the processor to implement any of the abovementioned methods performed by a UE. Some embodiments of the present application provide a method for wireless communications. The method may be performed by a radio access network (RAN) node, e.g., a SN. The method includes: receiving, from a UE, a message including MCG failure indication information; and transmitting, to a MN, another message including the MCG failure indication information. Some embodiments of the present application provide a method, which may be performed by a RAN node, e.g., a MN. The method includes: receiving, from a SN, a message including MCG failure indication information; and transmitting, to the SN, another message including modified configuration information. Some embodiments of the present application provide a method, which may be performed by a RAN node, e.g., a SN. The method includes: transmitting configuration information regarding one or more timers to a UE, wherein the one or more timers are associated with a deactivated state of a SCG, and wherein the one or more timers relate to a RA procedure; and receiving a RA request message from the UE. Some embodiments of the present application provide an apparatus for wireless communications. The apparatus comprises: a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions; a receiving circuitry; a transmitting circuitry; and a processor coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable medium, the receiving circuitry and the transmitting circuitry, wherein the computer-executable instructions cause the processor to implement any of the abovementioned methods performed by a RAN node. The details of one or more examples are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to describe the manner in which advantages and features of the application can be obtained, a description of the application is rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which are illustrated in the appended drawings. These drawings depict only example embodiments of the application and are not therefore to be considered limiting of its scope. FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system in accordance with some embodiments of the present application; FIG. 2 is a contention-based random access (CBRA) procedure with 4-step random access (RA) type according to some embodiments of the present application; FIG. 3 is a CBRA procedure with 2-step RA type according to some emb