US-12628233-B2 - Small data transmission control

US12628233B2US 12628233 B2US12628233 B2US 12628233B2US-12628233-B2

Abstract

There are provided apparatuses, methods and computer program products. In accordance with an embodiment, there is disclosed a method including determining whether initiating a transmission of a signaling message using a small data transmission procedure is allowed in an inactive state of a user equipment; based on the determination causing the user equipment either to perform: transmitting the signaling message using the small data transmission procedure in the inactive state; or transmitting the signaling message using a procedure other than the small data transmission procedure.

Inventors

Benoist Pierre Sebire
Tero Henttonen
Jussi-Pekka Koskinen
Samuli Heikki TURTINEN

Assignees

NOKIA TECHNOLOGIES OY

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20201016

Claims (20)

1 . A user equipment, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment to perform at least the following: determine whether initiating a transmission of a signaling message using a small data transmission procedure is allowed in an inactive state of the user equipment; based on the determination, causing the user equipment either to perform either: transmit the signaling message using the small data transmission procedure in the inactive state; or transmit the signaling message using a procedure other than the small data transmission procedure; obtain an indication from a wireless communication network about an availability and an order of transmission of each of more than one signalling radio bearer to be used in the transmission of the message with the small data transmission procedure; based on the indication, select the order of transmission between an uplink data and radio resource control data on the basis of priority defined for uplink data and radio resource control data; and divide the signaling message that is longer than a maximum length into segments having length smaller than or equal to the maximum length.
2 . The user equipment according to claim 1 , wherein the user equipment is further caused to perform at least the following: obtain one or more messages for transmission to a wireless communication network, said one or more messages having a cause of the message; and use the cause in the determining, wherein if the cause belongs to a set of causes allowed to use the small data transmission procedure in the inactive state, including the message in the signaling message to be transmitted.
3 . The user equipment according to claim 1 , wherein the user equipment is further caused to perform at least the following: obtain from a wireless communication network information of one or more causes of messages allowed for transmission with the user equipment to the wireless communication network in the inactive state of the user equipment.
4 . The user equipment according to claim 1 , wherein the user equipment is further caused to perform at least the following: obtain indication of a type of a container into which message is included for transmission.
5 . The user equipment according to claim 1 , wherein at least one condition is one or more of the following: maximum length of the message; priority of the message; or segmentation of the message to smaller segments enabled or disabled.
6 . The user equipment according to claim 1 , wherein the user equipment is further caused to perform at least the following: obtain the information of one or more causes of messages from the wireless communication network in a message causing the user equipment to change to the inactive state.
7 . The user equipment according to claim 1 , wherein the user equipment is further caused to perform at least the following: examine a flag indicative of whether any user equipment originated signalling is allowed to use the small data transmission procedure.
8 . The user equipment according to claim 1 , wherein the user equipment is further caused to perform at least the following: transmit the message as a radio resource control message using a signalling radio bearer indicated to be used in the transmission of the message; and include indication of the cause of the message to the radio resource control message.
9 . The user equipment according to claim 1 , wherein the user equipment is further caused to perform at least the following: receive a release message from a wireless communication network to change the state of the user equipment to the inactive state from a state different from the inactive state; and obtain at least one of said information of one or more allowed message causes at least one condition from the release message.
10 . The user equipment according to claim 1 , wherein a combined size of the uplink data and radio resource control data is greater than a maximum length defined for the inactive state.
11 . An apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: determine whether to enable transmission of a signaling message with a user equipment using a small data transmission procedure in an inactive state of the user equipment; based on the determination, provide an indication to one or more user equipment if transmission of a signaling message with the user equipment using the small data transmission procedure in an inactive state of the user equipment is enabled; communicate an indication from a wireless communication network about an availability and an order of transmission of each of more than one signalling radio bearer to be used in the transmission of the message with the small data transmission procedure; and transmit an indication of a type of a container into which a message shall be included for transmission with the small data transmission procedure; wherein based on the indication from the wireless communication network, the order of transmission is selected between an uplink data and radio resource control data on the basis of priority defined for uplink data and radio resource control data.
12 . The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to perform at least the following: categorize at least one message cause among a plurality of message causes as allowed for transmission utilizing the small data transmission procedure by a with the user equipment in a wireless communication network when the user equipment is in an inactive state; and transmit the indication of the at least one message cause to one or more user equipment.
13 . The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to perform at least the following: define at least one condition for a message allowed to be transmitted utilizing the small data transmission procedure in the inactive state.
14 . The apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein said at least one other condition comprises one or more of the following: maximum length of the message; priority of the message; or segmentation of the message to smaller segments enabled or disabled.
15 . The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to perform at least the following: transmit a release message to the user equipment to change the state of the user equipment to the inactive state from a state different from the inactive state; and include at least one of said information of one or more allowed message causes at least one condition to the release message.
16 . The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to perform at least the following: inform one or more of the following: which radio resource control messages are allowed to use inactive state data transmission; whether a special radio resource control container or existing messages are used; or if any user equipment originated signalling is allowed.
17 . A user equipment, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment to perform at least the following: determine whether initiating a transmission of a signaling message using a small data transmission procedure is allowed in an inactive state of the user equipment; based on the determination, cause the user equipment either to perform either: transmit the signaling message using the small data transmission procedure in the inactive state; or transmit the signaling message using a procedure other than the small data transmission procedure; obtain an indication from a wireless communication network about an availability and an order of transmission of each of more than one signalling radio bearer to be used in the transmission of the message with the small data transmission procedure; based on the indication, select the order of transmission between an uplink data and radio resource control data on the basis of priority defined for uplink data and radio resource control data; and obtain indication of a type of a container into which message is included for transmission.
18 . A user equipment, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment to perform at least the following: determine whether initiating a transmission of a signaling message using a small data transmission procedure is allowed in an inactive state of the user equipment; based on the determination, cause the user equipment either to perform either: transmit the signaling message using the small data transmission procedure in the inactive state; or transmit the signaling message using a procedure other than the small data transmission procedure; obtain an indication from a wireless communication network about an availability and an order of transmission of each of more than one signalling radio bearer to be used in the transmission of the message with the small data transmission procedure; based on the indication, select the order of transmission between an uplink data and radio resource control data on the basis of priority defined for uplink data and radio resource control data; and obtain the information of one or more causes of messages from the wireless communication network in a message causing the user equipment to change to the inactive state.
19 . A user equipment, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment to perform at least the following: determine whether initiating a transmission of a signaling message using a small data transmission procedure is allowed in an inactive state of the user equipment; based on the determination, cause the user equipment either to perform either: transmit the signaling message using the small data transmission procedure in the inactive state; or transmit the signaling message using a procedure other than the small data transmission procedure; obtain an indication from a wireless communication network about an availability and an order of transmission of each of more than one signalling radio bearer to be used in the transmission of the message with the small data transmission procedure; based on the indication, select the order of transmission between an uplink data and radio resource control data on the basis of priority defined for uplink data and radio resource control data; receive a release message from a wireless communication network to change the state of the user equipment to the inactive state from a state different from the inactive state; and obtain at least one of said information of one or more allowed message causes at least one condition from the release message.
20 . A user equipment, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment to perform at least the following: determine whether initiating a transmission of a signaling message using a small data transmission procedure is allowed in an inactive state of the user equipment; based on the determination, cause the user equipment either to perform either: transmit the signaling message using the small data transmission procedure in the inactive state; or transmit the signaling message using a procedure other than the small data transmission procedure; obtain an indication from a wireless communication network about an availability and an order of transmission of each of more than one signalling radio bearer to be used in the transmission of the message with the small data transmission procedure; and based on the indication, select the order of transmission between an uplink data and radio resource control data on the basis of priority defined for uplink data and radio resource control data; wherein a combined size of the uplink data and radio resource control data is greater than a maximum length defined for the inactive state.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This patent application is a U.S. National Stage application of International Patent Application Number PCT/EP2020/079251 filed Oct. 16, 2020, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for controlling transmission of small amount of data from a user equipment to a wireless network when the user equipment is in an inactive state. BACKGROUND This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention that is recited in the claims. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section. 5G-NR (5th generation New Radio) is a new radio access technology which has been developed by the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) for the 5th generation mobile networks. 5G-NR has been specified within 3GPP to be able to coexist with 4G-LTE (Long Term Evolution) within the same spectrum. In 5G systems a mobile communication device, which may also be called as a user equipment (UE), may be in different states depending whether it is connected with the network or not. For example, when the mobile communication device does not have an active data communication connection, the mobile communication device may be in a so-called inactive state or in an idle state. If the mobile communication device had a message to be transmitted when the mobile communication device is in the inactive state, the mobile communication device should typically change the state to connected and only after that may be able to transmit the message or messages. Messages to be transmitted may not always be very long. Therefore, changing the state before transmitting the messages causes transmission of control messages for the state change and increases latency. Furthermore, such signalling also increases power consumption of the mobile communication device. Signalling overhead from the inactive state for small data packets may be a problem and may become a critical issue with more user equipment in NR not only for network performance and efficiency but also for the UE battery performance. Therefore, a mechanism to enable transmission of relatively short messages in the inactive state without changing the state might address the increased power consumption and latency. SUMMARY Some embodiments provide a method and apparatus for transmitting small amount of data from a user equipment to a wireless network when the user equipment is in an inactive state. Some embodiments are implemented in the context of the 5G communication systems and relate to a network implementation of mechanisms for determining which kind of messages can be transmitted without changing the state of the user equipment from inactive state to connected state. In particular, some embodiments relate to controlling which radio resource control (RRC) messages are allowed to use small data transmission (SDT). In accordance with an embodiment, the network indicates the RRC messages that are allowed to use SDT, including whether the RRC messages are sent using a special RRC container or the existing messages. This could also include using a different signalling radio bearer (SRB) than normally, e.g. SRB2 for a message, or including the data in a container whose type is indicated via the message. In accordance with an embodiment, the network decides and controls which RRC messages can use SDT and indicates this to the UE either via dedicated signalling or via broadcast. Following information may be indicated to the UE: which RRC messages are allowed to use SDT (also called as inactive state data transmission in this specification);If special RRC container or the existing messages are used;if any UE originated signalling (ie., no mobile oriented data, MO-data) is allowed;if size thresholds are defined for “UL data” and for “RRC message(s)” or any priority. A separate SRB could be introduced for the use of SDT in RRC_INACTIVE. According to some aspects, there is provided the subject matter of the independent claims. Some further aspects are defined in the dependent claims. The embodiments that do not fall under the scope of the claims are to be interpreted as examples useful for understanding the disclosure. According to a first aspect there is provided a user equipment comprising means for: determining whether initiating a transmission of a signaling message using a small data transmission procedure is allowed in an inactive state of the user equipment;causing, based on the determination, the user equipment to perform either:transmitting the signaling message using the small data transmission procedure in the inactive state; ortransmitting the signaling m