WO2025171520A1

WO2025171520A1 - User equipment handover by receiving network parameters over a release message

Info

Publication number: WO2025171520A1
Application number: PCT/CN2024/077195
Authority: WO
Inventors: Peng Cheng; Dan Wu; Dawei Zhang; Wei Zeng; Haitong Sun; Haijing Hu; Seung Hee Han; Hong He; Jie Cui; Chunxuan Ye
Original assignee: Apple Inc
Current assignee: Apple Inc
Priority date: 2024-02-14
Filing date: 2024-02-14
Publication date: 2025-08-21
Anticipated expiration: 2026-08-14

Abstract

This disclosure is directed to handover operations for switching connection of user equipment (UE) from a cell (e.g., base station) to a network energy saving (NES) cell. The UE, the cell, and the NES cell may communicate based on a radio resource control (RRC) protocol. The UE may be initially connected to the cell, and then switch to connect to the NES cell. The UE may perform this handover operation based on receiving at least a part of network parameters associated with and/or previously broadcasted by the NES cell from the cell. In some embodiments, the UE may remain connected to a wireless (e.g., cellular) communication network when connected to the cell and/or the NES cell.

Description

USER EQUIPMENT HANDOVER BY RECEIVING NETWORK PARAMETERS OVER A RELEASE MESSAGE

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication, and more specifically to accommodating power saving techniques employed by a network energy saving (NES) cell, by other cells, and user equipment.

An NES cell may save power by not broadcasting at least a portion of network parameters typically broadcasted by a cell (e.g., a non-NES cell) for user equipment to access and connect to the NES cell. However, to connect to the NES cell, the user equipment may nevertheless use at least some of the portion of network parameters.

SUMMARY

A summary of certain embodiments disclosed herein is set forth below. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a brief summary of these certain embodiments and that these aspects are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Indeed, this disclosure may encompass a variety of aspects that may not be set forth below.

In one embodiment, an apparatus may include processing circuitry that is configured to connect to a first cell based on first network parameters and receive a release message from the first cell. Connecting to a cell may include wirelessly connecting with a radio access network (RAN) over a wireless communication link. The processing circuitry may be configured to cause a user equipment (UE) to establish, maintain or disconnect, a wireless communication link with a RAN based on network parameters. The processing circuitry may generate signaling to establish a wireless communication link. The release message may include a first portion of second network parameters associated with connecting to a second cell. The second network parameters may include one or more data fields. The processing circuitry may disconnect (e.g., disconnect) from the first cell based on the release message, receive a second portion of the second network parameters from the second cell, and connect to the second cell based on at least one data field of the first portion of the second network parameters corresponding to at least one data field of the second portion of the second network parameters.

In another embodiment, a computer-implemented method is described. The computer-implemented method may include receiving, by processing circuitry, a release message from a first cell. The release message may include at least a first portion of a system information block (SIB) of a second cell or at least a first portion of wake-up signal (WUS) parameters of the second cell. The computer-implemented method may include receiving, by the processing circuitry, a master information block (MIB) of the second cell from the second cell. The MIB may include at least a second portion of the SIB of the second cell or at least a second portion of the WUS parameters of the second cell. The computer-implemented method may include connecting, by the processing circuitry, to the second cell based on at least one data field of the first portion of the SIB corresponding to at least one data field of the second portion of the SIB, or at least one data field of the first portion of the wake-up signal parameters corresponding to at least one data field of the second portion of the wake-up signal parameters.

In yet another embodiment, a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of a first cell is described. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media may store instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to connect user equipment based on first network parameters, receive, from a second cell, an indication of at least a portion of second network parameters associated with connecting to the second cell, and transmit a release message to the user equipment. The release message may include the portion of second network parameters.

Various refinements of the features noted above may exist in relation to various aspects of the present disclosure. Further features may also be incorporated in these various aspects as well. These refinements and additional features may exist individually or in any combination. For instance, various features discussed below in relation to one or more of the illustrated embodiments may be incorporated into any of the above-described aspects of the present disclosure alone or in any combination. The brief summary presented above is intended only to familiarize the reader with certain aspects and contexts of embodiments of the present disclosure without limitation to the claimed subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various aspects of this disclosure may be better understood upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings described below in which like numerals refer to like parts.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example user equipment (UE) , according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a functional diagram of an example UE, according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an example transmitter of a UE, according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an example receiver of a UE, according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an example communication system, according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an example communication system, according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an example handover operation, according to embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an example handover operation, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

When introducing elements of various embodiments of the present disclosure, the articles “a, ” “an, ” and “the” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising, ” “including, ” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements. Additionally, it should be understood that references to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” of the present disclosure are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Use of the terms “approximately, ” “near, ” “about, ” “close to, ” and/or “substantially” should be understood to mean including close to a target (e.g., design, value, amount) , such as within a margin of any suitable or contemplatable error (e.g., within 0.1 %of a target, within 1%of a target, within 5%of a target, within 10%of a target, within 25%of a target, and so on) . Moreover, it should be understood that any exact values, numbers, measurements, and so on, provided herein, are contemplated to include approximations (e.g., within a margin of suitable or contemplatable error) of the exact values, numbers, measurements, and so on. Additionally, the term “set” may include one or more. That is, a set may include a unitary set of one member, but the set may also include a set of multiple members. The term “connecting” may comprise operably and/or communicatively coupling (e.g., UE communicatively coupling with a RAN via a wireless communication link) . The term “disconnecting” and “releasing” may comprise communicatively decoupling (e.g., UE communicatively decoupling from the RAN) . The term “cell” may refer to operational characteristics of a network node, such as a base station (BS) . A network energy saving (NES) cell ( “NES cell” ) may refer to operational characteristics that include energy-saving features of a base station.

This disclosure is directed to handover operations for switching connection of user equipment (UE) from a cell (e.g., base station) to an NES cell. The UE, the cell, and the NES cell may communicate based on a radio resource control (RRC) protocol. One or more base stations may manage a cell (e.g., NES cell) and may communicate with the UE. In some embodiments, the NES cell may have a reduced power consumption compared to the cell. The UE may connect to (e.g., camp in) the cell or the NES cell to establish a connection and communicate with the RAN.

In particular, the UE may initially connect to the cell. The cell may transmit at least a portion of network parameters to the UE for connecting to the NES cell. As such, the UE may be enabled to connecting to the NES cell based on receiving, from the cell, the portion of network parameters. The UE may receive a second portion (e.g., a remaining portion) of the network parameters from the NES cell. Accordingly, the UE may connect to the NES cell based on receiving (e.g., using) the network parameters from the cell and the NES cell. For example, the UE may apply (e.g., use) the network parameters to connect to the NES cell.

The network parameters may include frequency priority values, wake-up signal (WUS) parameters for connecting to the NES cell, a master information block (MIB) and a type 1 system information block (SIB1) based on Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards and the RRC protocol. The frequency priority values may indicate preferred frequency channels for connecting to the NES cell. The WUS parameters may include random-access channel (RACH) parameters for requesting and/or receiving information based on the 3GPP standards, downlink and uplink frequencies for communicating the RACH parameters and/or receiving wake-up signals, area and/or time validity (e.g., validity data, validity information) , and/or physical cell identity (PCI) of a target cell, among other things.

The MIB may include an indication of a bandwidth for establishing connection to the NES cell and/or time periods associated with transmitting and/or receiving various data fields of the NES cell. The SIB1 may include a value tag, time validity (e.g., validity data, validity information) , area validity (e.g., validity data, validity information) , time periods associated with transmitting and/or receiving other types of system information blocks (SIBs) , and/or PCI of the target cell, among other things associated with the NES cell.

In some embodiments, the NES cell may periodically broadcast the MIB. Additionally or alternatively, the NES cell may not broadcast the SIB1. In some embodiments, instead, the cell may transmit the frequency priority values, at least a portion of the WUS parameters, at least a portion of the SIB1, or any combination thereof, of the NES cell. In particular, the cell may transmit such data with a release message (e.g., an RRC release message) to the UE. As such, the UE may receive the network parameters for connecting to the NES cell based on receiving (e.g., using) the broadcasted MIB from the NES cell and the SIB1 of the NES cell from the cell. Accordingly, the UE may disconnect from the cell based on the release message, search for the broadcasted MIB of the NES cell, and/or connect to the NES cell upon receiving the MIB.

In some embodiments, the cell may be connected to multiple NES cells. When releasing a UE, the cell may send a release message to the UE that includes a portion of the network parameters of two or more NES cells. The UE may receive the portion of the network parameters of the two or more NES cells, and one or more MIBs broadcasted by one or multiple NES cells. In some embodiments, each NES cell may have different network parameters. The UE may select a NES cell based on comparing the received portions of the network parameters of each of the two or more NES cells and the one or more received MIBs (e.g., validating one or more network parameters) . In this manner, the UE may connect to a selected NES cell of the one or multiple NES cells based on the comparison.

With the foregoing in mind, FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example UE 10 (e.g., an electronic device) , according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The UE 10 may include, among other things, one or more processors 12 (collectively referred to herein as a single processor for convenience, which may be implemented in any suitable form of processing circuitry) , memory 14, nonvolatile storage 16, a display 18, input structures 22, an input/output (I/O) interface 24, a network interface 26, and a power source 29. The various functional blocks shown in FIG. 1 may include hardware elements (including circuitry) , software elements (including machine-executable instructions) or a combination of both hardware and software elements (which may be referred to as logic) . The processor 12, memory 14, the nonvolatile storage 16, the display 18, the input structures 22, the input/output (I/O) interface 24, the network interface 26, and/or the power source 29 may each be connected directly or indirectly (e.g., through or via another component, a communication bus, a network) to one another to transmit and/or receive data between one another. It should be noted that FIG. 1 is merely one example of a particular implementation and is intended to illustrate the types of components that may be present in the UE 10.

The UE 10 may include any suitable computing device, including a desktop or notebook computer, a portable electronic or handheld electronic device such as a wireless electronic device or smartphone, a tablet, a wearable electronic device, and other similar devices. For example, the UE 10 may include an edge computing device. In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE 10 may include an access point, such as a cell, a router (e.g., a wireless or Wi-Fi router) , a hub, a switch, and so on. It should be noted that the processor 12 and other related items in FIG. 1 may be embodied wholly or in part as software, hardware, or both. Furthermore, the processor 12 and other related items in FIG. 1 may be a single contained processing module or may be incorporated wholly or partially within any of the other elements within the UE 10. The processor 12 may be implemented with any combination of general-purpose microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs) , field programmable gate array (FPGAs) , programmable logic devices (PLDs) , controllers, state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware components, dedicated hardware finite state machines, or any other suitable entities that may perform calculations or other manipulations of information. The processors 12 may include one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, or both, and perform the various functions described herein.

In the UE 10 of FIG. 1, the processor 12 may be operably coupled with a memory 14 and a nonvolatile storage 16 to perform various algorithms. Such programs or instructions executed by the processor 12 may be stored in any suitable article of manufacture that includes one or more tangible, computer-readable media. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media may include the memory 14 and/or the nonvolatile storage 16, individually or collectively, to store the instructions or routines. The memory 14 and the nonvolatile storage 16 may include any suitable articles of manufacture for storing data and executable instructions, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, rewritable flash memory, hard drives, and optical discs. In addition, programs (e.g., an operating system) encoded on such a computer program product may also include instructions that may be executed by the processor 12 to enable the UE 10 to provide various functionalities.

In certain embodiments, the display 18 may facilitate users to view images generated on the UE 10. In some embodiments, the display 18 may include a touch screen, which may facilitate user interaction with a user interface of the UE 10. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the display 18 may include one or more liquid crystal displays (LCDs) , light-emitting diode (LED) displays, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) displays, or some combination of these and/or other display technologies.

The input structures 22 of the UE 10 may enable a user to interact with the UE 10 (e.g., pressing a button to increase or decrease a volume level) . The I/O interface 24 may enable UE 10 to interface with various other electronic devices, as may the network interface 26. In some embodiments, the I/O interface 24 may include an I/O port for a hardwired connection for charging and/or content manipulation using a standard connector and protocol, such as the Lightning connector, a universal serial bus (USB) , or other similar connector and protocol.

The network interface 26 may include, for example, one or more interfaces for a personal area network (PAN) , such as an ultra-wideband (UWB) or anetwork, a local area network (LAN) or wireless local area network (WLAN) , such as a network employing one of the IEEE 802.11x family of protocols (e.g., ) , and/or a wide area network (WAN) (e.g., MBB network) , such as any standards related to the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) , including, for example, a 3^rd generation (3G) cellular network, universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) , 4^th generation (4G) cellular network, Long Term (LTE) cellular network, Long Term Evolution License Assisted Access (LTE-LAA) cellular network, 5^th generation (5G) cellular network, and/or New Radio (NR) cellular network, a 6^th generation (6G) or greater than 6G cellular network, a satellite network, a non-terrestrial network, and so on. In particular, the network interface 26 may include, for example, one or more interfaces for using a Release-15 cellular communication standard of the 5G specifications that include the millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency range (e.g., 24.25-300 gigahertz (GHz) ) and/or any other cellular communication standard release (e.g., Release-16, Release-17, any future releases) that define and/or enable frequency ranges used for wireless communication.

The network interface 26 of the UE 10 may allow communication over the aforementioned networks (e.g., 5G, 6G, Wi-Fi, LTE-LAA, and so forth) . In some embodiments, the network interface 26 may include a transceiver 30 for communication over the aforementioned networks. The UE 10 may connect to a wireless (e.g., cellular) communication network supported by one or more cells and/or NES cells via the network interface 26. For example, the transceiver 30 may connect to, maintain a connection to, disconnect from, and/or switch connections between multiple cells. The UE 10 may receive network parameters to establish and/or maintain the connections with the cells, as will be appreciated.

The network interface 26 may also include one or more interfaces for, for example, broadband fixed wireless access networks (e.g., ) , mobile broadband Wireless networks (mobile ) , asynchronous digital subscriber lines (e.g., ADSL, VDSL) , digital video broadcasting-terrestrialnetwork and its extension DVB Handheldnetwork, ultra-wideband (UWB) network, alternating current (AC) power lines, and so forth. The power source 29 of the UE 10 may include any suitable source of power, such as a rechargeable lithium polymer (Li-poly) battery and/or an alternating current (AC) power converter.

FIG. 2 is a functional diagram of an example UE. The UE may be UE 10 of FIG. 1, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the processor 12, the memory 14, the transceiver 30, a transmitter 52, a receiver 54, and/or antennas 55 (illustrated as 55A-55N, collectively referred to as an antenna 55) may be connected directly or indirectly (e.g., through or via another component, a communication bus, a network) to one another to transmit and/or receive signals (e.g., data) between one another.

The UE 10 may include the transmitter 52 and/or the receiver 54 that respectively enable transmission and reception of signals (e.g., user data) between the UE 10 and an external device via, for example, a network (e.g., including cells or access points) or a direct connection. As illustrated, the transmitter 52 and the receiver 54 may be combined into the transceiver 30. The UE 10 may also have one or more antennas 55A-55N electrically coupled to the transceiver 30. The antennas 55A-55N may be configured in an omnidirectional or directional configuration, in a single-beam, dual-beam, or multi-beam arrangement, and so on. Each antenna 55 may be associated with one or more beams and various configurations.

In some embodiments, multiple antennas of the antennas 55A-55N of an antenna group or module may be connected to a respective transceiver 30 and each emit radio frequency signals that may constructively and/or destructively combine to form a beam. The UE 10 may include multiple transmitters, multiple receivers, multiple transceivers, and/or multiple antennas as suitable for various communication standards. In some embodiments, the transmitter 52 and the receiver 54 may transmit and receive information via other wired or wireline systems or means. While the present disclosure refers to the transmitter 52 and/or the receiver 54 as a cellular transmitter and/or cellular receiver, it should be understood that, as discussed above, the transmitter 52 and/or the receiver 54 may additionally or alternatively communicate with any other suitable communication network or device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an example transmitter 52 (e.g., transmit circuitry) , according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the transmitter 52 may receive outgoing data 60 in the form of a digital signal to be transmitted via the one or more antennas 55. A digital filter (e.g., filter circuitry and/or software) of the transmitter 52 may remove components from the digital signal that are outside of a desired frequency range. In some cases, the digital filter may be tuned to (e.g., filter components outside of) a certain frequency range or fixed step size, such as a radio frequency (RF) channel bandwidth (e.g., 5 MHz, 10 MHz, and so on) . In other cases, the digital filter may be tuned to any allocable bandwidth (e.g., 1 MHz or less, 5 MHz or less, 10 MHz or less, and so on) . The digital filter may include any suitable filter that performs digital signal processing, including, for example, a linear filter, a causal filter, a time-invariant filter, a stable filter, a finite impulse response (FIR) filter, and so on. A digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 62 of the transmitter 52 may convert the digital signal to an analog signal, and a modulator 64 may combine the converted analog signal with a carrier signal to generate a radio wave. A power amplifier (PA) 66 receives the modulated signal from the modulator 64. The power amplifier 66 may amplify the modulated signal to a suitable level to drive transmission of the signal via the one or more antennas 55. A filter 68 (e.g., filter circuitry and/or software) of the transmitter 52 may then remove undesirable noise from the amplified signal to generate transmitted signal 70 to be transmitted via the one or more antennas 55. The filter 68 may include any suitable filter or filters to remove the undesirable noise from the amplified signal, such as a bandpass filter, a bandstop filter, a low pass filter, a high pass filter, and/or a decimation filter.

The power amplifier 66 and/or the filter 68 may be referred to as part of a radio frequency front end (RFFE) , and more specifically, a transmit front end (TXFE) of the UE 10. Additionally, the transmitter 52 may include any suitable additional components not shown, or may not include certain of the illustrated components, such that the transmitter 52 may transmit the outgoing data 60 via the one or more antennas 55. For example, the transmitter 52 may include a mixer and/or a digital up converter. As another example, the transmitter 52 may not include the filter 68 if the power amplifier 66 outputs the amplified signal in or approximately in a desired frequency range (such that filtering of the amplified signal may be unnecessary) .

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an example receiver 54 (e.g., receiver circuitry) , according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the receiver 54 may receive received signal 80 from the one or more antennas 55 in the form of an analog signal. A low noise amplifier (LNA) 82 may amplify the received analog signal to a suitable level for the receiver 54 to process. A filter 84 (e.g., filter circuitry and/or software) may remove undesired noise from the received signal, such as cross-channel interference. The filter 84 may also remove additional signals received by the one or more antennas 55 that are at frequencies other than the desired signal. The filter 84 may include any suitable filter or filters to remove the undesired noise or signals from the received signal, such as a bandpass filter, a bandstop filter, a low pass filter, a high pass filter, and/or a decimation filter. The low noise amplifier 82 and/or the filter 84 may be referred to as part of the RFFE, and more specifically, a receiver front end (RXFE) of the UE 10.

A demodulator 86 may remove a radio frequency envelope and/or extract a demodulated signal from the filtered signal for processing. An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 88 may receive the demodulated analog signal and convert the signal to a digital signal of incoming data 89 to be further processed by the UE 10. A digital filter (e.g., filter circuitry and/or software) of the receiver 54 may remove components from the digital signal that are outside of a desired frequency range to generate incoming data 89 to be further processed by the UE 10. In some cases, the digital filter may be tuned to (e.g., filter components outside of) a certain frequency range or fixed step size, such as an RF channel bandwidth (e.g., 5 MHz, 10 MHz, and so on) . In other cases, the digital filter may be tuned to any allocable bandwidth (e.g., 1 MHz or less, 5 MHz or less, 10 MHz or less, and so on) . The digital filter may include any suitable filter that performs digital signal processing, including, for example, a linear filter, a causal filter, a time-invariant filter, a stable filter, a finite impulse response (FIR) filter, and so on. Additionally, the receiver 54 may include any suitable additional components not shown, or may not include certain of the illustrated components, such that the receiver 54 may receive the received signal 80 via the one or more antennas 55. For example, the receiver 54 may include a mixer and/or a digital down converter.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an example communication system 100. The communication system 100 may include the UE 10 of FIG. 1 connected to a wireless (e.g., cellular) communication network 102 supported by a cell 104 and a first NES cell 106, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The cell 104 and the first NES cell 106 may include any suitable electronic device, such as a communication hub or network node (e.g., BS) , that facilitates, supports, and/or implements the wireless communication network 102.

The cell 104 may have a first cell coverage area 105 (e.g., geographic coverage area) and the first NES cell 106 may have a second cell coverage area 107. In the depicted embodiment, the first cell coverage area 105 may have a wider radius than a radius of the second cell coverage area 107. For example, the first cell coverage area 105 may include at least a portion of the second cell coverage area 107. In some embodiments, the UE 10, a BS of the cell 104, and a BS of the first NES cell 106 may communicate using the RRC protocol. It should be appreciated that in alternative or additional embodiments, the UE 10, the cell 104, and the first NES cell 106 may communicate using any other viable communication protocol.

As discussed above with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2, the UE 10 may include the processor 12 and antennas 55 to connect to, maintain a connection to, disconnect from, and/or switch connections between multiple cells. The cell 104 may include an Evolved NodeB (eNodeB) cell, Next Generation NodeB (gNodeB or gNB) cell, a 6G cell, a beyond 6G cell, or any other viable cell. The cell 104 may provide 4G/LTE coverage and/or 5G/NR coverage, among other possibilities, including 6G or beyond 6G coverage, via the wireless communication network 102 to the UE 10. In some embodiments, the first NES cell 106 may include an eNodeB cell, a gNodeB cell, a 6G cell, and/or a beyond 6G cell, among other possibilities, and may provide 4G/LTE coverage, 5G/NR coverage, 6G coverage, and/or beyond 6G coverage, via the wireless communication network 102 to the UE 10.

The cell 104 and the first NES cell 106 may each include similar components to those shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 with respect to the UE 10, including one or more processors 12, the memory 14, the storage 16, the transceiver 30, the transmitter 52, the receiver 54, and the associated circuitry shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. It should be understood that while the present disclosure may use 5G/NR as an example specification or standard, the embodiments disclosed herein may apply to other suitable specifications or standards (e.g., such as the 4G/LTE specification, a sub-4G specification, a beyond 5G specification, such as a 6G specification, and so on) . Moreover, the wireless communication network 102 may include any suitable number of cells 104 (e.g., one or more cells 104, four or more cells 104, ten or more cells 104, and so on) .

The cell 104 may connect to the UE 10 by establishing a first connection link 108 and may connect to the first NES cell 106 based on a second connection link 110. In some embodiments, the connection link 110 may include an Xn radio interface, such as when at least one of the cells 104, 106 include gNodeBs or 5G cells. The Xn radio interface may coordinate communications between the cells 104 and 106. For example, the Xn radio interface may include a protocol to facilitate the communications between the cells 104 and 106 to communicate data and/or perform various operations (e.g., handover operations) .

The cell 104 may have the first cell coverage area 105 including at least a portion of the second cell coverage area 107 of the first NES cell 106. The cell 104 may broadcast (e.g., periodically broadcast) first network parameters for connecting to the cell 104. The first network parameters may include first frequency priority values, first WUS parameters, a first MIB, and/or a first SIB1 to enable the UE 10 to establish the connection link 108 with the cell 104. The UE 10 may connect to the cell 104 based on receiving (e.g., using) the first network parameters. It should be appreciated that multiple UEs other than the UE 10 (not shown for simplicity) may receive the first network parameters broadcasted by the cell 104.

In some embodiments, the first frequency priority values may indicate preferred frequency channels for connecting to the cell 104. The first WUS parameters may include the RACH parameters for requesting and receiving information from the cell 104, downlink and uplink frequencies for communicating the RACH parameters and receiving wake-up signals with the cell 104, area and/or time validity of the first WUS parameters, and/or PCI of the cell 104, among other things.

Moreover, the first MIB may include an indication of a bandwidth for establishing a connection, such as the connection link 108, with the cell 104 and/or time periods associated with transmitting and/or receiving various data fields of the cell 104, among other things. For example, the cell 104 may periodically broadcast the first MIB based on a first time period. Moreover, the first SIB1 may include a value tag, time validity information, area validity information, time periods associated with transmitting and/or receiving other types of SIBs, and/or the PCI of the cell 104, among other things, associated with the cell 104. For example, the cell 104 may periodically broadcast the first SIB1 based on a second time period.

With the foregoing in mind, the UE 10 may connect to the first NES cell 106 based on receiving (e.g., using) second network parameters associated with connecting to the first NES cell 106. The cell 104 (e.g., instead of the first NES cell 106) may transmit (e.g., directionally transmit) a portion of the second network parameters to the UE 10. For example, the cell 104 may transmit a release message (e.g., RRC release message) including the portion of the second network parameters to the UE 10 (e.g., when releasing the UE 10) .

Moreover, the first NES cell 106 may broadcast (e.g., periodically broadcast) a second portion (e.g., remaining portion) of the second network parameters to enable the UE 10 to establish a third connection link 112 with the first NES cell 106. It should be appreciated that multiple UEs other than the UE 10 (not shown for simplicity) may receive the second network parameters broadcasted by the first NES cell 106. As such, the UE 10 may receive a portion of the second network parameters from the cell 104 and may receive the second portion of the second network parameters from the first NES cell 106.

In particular, the second network parameters may include second frequency priority values, second WUS parameters, a second MIB, and/or a second SIB1 to enable the UE 10 to establish the third connection link 112 with the first NES cell 106. The second MIB may include an indication of a bandwidth for establishing the third connection link 112 with the first NES cell 106 and/or time periods associated with transmitting and/or receiving various data fields of the first NES cell 106.

Additionally or alternatively, the second MIB may include additional information for validating the portion of the second network parameters received (e.g., previously received) by the UE 10 from the cell 104. The additional information of the second MIB may include the area and/or time validity of the second WUS parameters, area and/or time validity of the second SIB1, the value tag of the second SIB1, and/or PCI of the first NES cell 106, among other things. For example, the first NES cell 106 may periodically broadcast the second MIB during a second time period.

In some embodiments, the second frequency priority values may indicate preferred frequency channels for connecting to the first NES cell 106. The second WUS parameters may include RACH parameters for requesting and receiving information from the first NES cell 106, downlink and uplink frequencies for communicating the RACH parameters and receiving wake-up signals with the first NES cell 106, the area and/or time validity of the second WUS parameters, and/or the PCI of the first NES cell 106, among other things.

Moreover, the second SIB1 may include the value tag, the time validity, the area and/or time validity, time periods associated with transmitting and/or receiving other types of SIBs, and/or PCI of the first NES cell 106, among other things, associated with the first NES cell 106. In some embodiments, the first NES cell 106 may not broadcast the second SIB1.

Instead, the cell 104 (e.g., instead of the first NES cell 106) may transmit (e.g., directionally transmit) the second frequency priority values, at least a portion of the second WUS parameters, and/or at least a portion of the second SIB1, to the UE 10. The cell 104 may transmit such data with a release message (e.g., an RRC release message) to the UE 10 (e.g., when releasing the UE 10) . Accordingly, the UE 10 may establish the third connection link 112 with the first NES cell 106 based on receiving (e.g., using) the second network parameters. In some embodiments, the connection links 108 and/or 112 may include NR-Uu radio interfaces in the case that the first NES cell 106 includes a gNodeB or 5G cell. The NR-Uu radio interface may coordinate communications between the UE 10 and the cells 104 and/or 106. For example, the NR-Uu radio interface may include a protocol to facilitate the communications between the UE 10 and the cells 104 and/or 106 to communicate data and/or perform various operations (e.g., handover operations) .

In some cases, the cell 104 may generate the release message based on receiving (e.g., using) the portion of the second network parameters from the first NES cell 106. The cell 104 may designate one or more data fields of the release message to the portion of the second network parameters. For example, the release message may include a number of data fields. Moreover, each data field include a number of data bits (e.g., 2 or less, 4 or less, 8 or less, 16 or less, 32 or less, 32 or more, and so on) . As such, the cell 104 may designate a number of data bits (e.g., 2 or less, 3 or less, 4 or less, 5 or less, 6 or less, 7 or less, 8 or less, 16 or less, 16 or more, and so on, among other possibilities) of one or more of the data fields to one or more of the second frequency priority values, at least a portion of the second WUS parameters, and/or at least a portion of the second SIB1. In different cases, the cell 104 may include a different combination of the second frequency priority values, at least a portion of the second WUS parameters, and/or at least a portion of the second SIB1with the data fields. Alternatively or additionally, the cell 104 may designate a different number of data bits to each of the second frequency priority values, at least a portion of the second WUS parameters, and/or at least a portion of the second SIB1.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an example communication system 120. The communication system 120 may include the UE 10 of FIG. 1 connected to a wireless (e.g., cellular) communication network 122 supported by the cell 104, the first NES cell 106, a second NES cell 124, and a third cell 126, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The cell 104 and the first NES cell 106 are described above. The second NES cell 124 and the third cell 126 may include any suitable electronic device, such as a communication hub or node, that facilitates, supports, and/or implements the wireless communication network 122.

The cell 104 may have the first cell coverage area 105, the first NES cell 106 may have the second cell coverage area 107, the second NES cell 124 may have a third cell coverage area 125, and the third cell 126 may have a fourth cell coverage area 127. In the depicted embodiment, the first cell coverage area 105 may be wider than the second cell coverage area 107, the third cell coverage area 125, and the fourth cell coverage area 127. For example, the first cell coverage area 105 may include at least a portion of the second cell coverage area 107, the third cell coverage area 125, and/or the fourth cell coverage area 127. In some embodiments, the UE 10, the cell 104, the first NES cell 106, the second NES cell 124, and the third cell 126 may communicate using the RRC protocol. It should be appreciated that in alternative or additional embodiments, the UE 10, the cell 104, the first NES cell 106, the second NES cell 124, and/or the third cell 126 may communicate using any other viable communication protocol.

In some embodiments, the second NES cell 124 may include Next Generation NodeB (gNodeB or gNB) cell, a 6G cell, a beyond 6G cell, among other possibilities, and may provide 5G/NR coverage via the wireless communication network 122 to the UE 10. The third cell 126 may include an eNodeB cell, a gNodeB cell, a 6G cell, and/or beyond 6G cell, or any other cell. The third cell 126 may provide 4G/LTE coverage, 5G/NR coverage, 6G coverage, and/or beyond 6G coverage, among other possibilities, via the wireless communication network 122 to the UE 10.

The second NES cell 124 and the third cell 126 may each include at least some of the components of the UE 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, including one or more processors 12, the memory 14, the storage 16, the transceiver 30, the transmitter 52, the receiver 54, and the associated circuitry shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. It should be understood that while the present disclosure may use 5G/NR as an example specification or standard, the embodiments disclosed herein may apply to other suitable specifications or standards (e.g., such as the 4G/LTE specification, a sub-4G specification, a beyond 5G specification, such as a 6G specification, and so on) . Moreover, the wireless communication network 122 may include additional cells not shown for simplicity. In some embodiments, the wireless communication network 122 may include the wireless communication network 102 discussed above with respect to FIG. 5.

The cell 104 may connect to the UE 10 by establishing a first connection link 108, connect to the first NES cell 106 based on a second connection link 110, connect to the second NES cell 124 by establishing a fourth connection link 130, and connect to the third cell 126 by establishing a fifth connection link 132. For example, the connection links 130 and/or 132 may include Xn radio interfaces, such as when at least one of the cells 104, 106, 124, 126 include gNodeBs or 5G cells.

As discussed above, the UE 10 may establish the third connection link 112 with the first NES cell 106. Moreover, the UE 10 may connect to the second NES cell 124 based on receiving (e.g., using) third network parameters associated with connecting to the second NES cell 124. The cell 104 (e.g., instead of the second NES cell 124) may transmit (e.g., directionally transmit) a portion of the third network parameters to the UE 10. For example, the cell 104 may transmit a release message (e.g., RRC release message) including the portion of the second network parameters to the UE 10.

Moreover, the second NES cell 124 may broadcast (e.g., periodically broadcast) a second portion (e.g., remaining portion) of the third network parameters to enable the UE 10 to establish a sixth connection link 134 with the second NES cell 124. For example, the connection link 134 may include an NR-Uu radio interface in the case that the first NES cell 106 is a gNodeB or 5G cell. It should be appreciated that the connection links 108, 110, 112, 130, 132, and 134 may be referred to as radio interfaces, such as Uu interfaces, NR-Uu interfaces, Xn interfaces, or any combination thereof. Moreover, it should be appreciated that multiple UEs other than the UE 10 (not shown for simplicity) may receive the third network parameters broadcasted by the second NES cell 124. As such, the UE 10 may receive a portion of the third network parameters from the cell 104 and may receive the second portion of the second network parameters from the second NES cell 124.

In particular, the third network parameters may include third frequency priority values, third WUS parameters, a third MIB, and a third SIB1 to enable the UE 10 to establish a connection with the second NES cell 124. The third MIB may include an indication of a bandwidth for establishing connection with the second NES cell 124 and/or time periods associated with transmitting and/or receiving various data fields of the second NES cell 124.

Additionally or alternatively, the third MIB may include additional information for validating the portion of the third network parameters received (e.g., previously received) by the UE 10 from the cell 104. The additional information of the third MIB may include the area and/or time validity of the third WUS parameters, area and/or time validity of the third SIB1, the value tag of the third SIB1, and/or PCI of the second NES cell 124, among other things. For example, the second NES cell 124 may periodically broadcast the third MIB during a third time period.

In some embodiments, the third frequency priority values may indicate preferred frequency channels for connecting to and/or connecting to the second NES cell 124. The third WUS parameters may include RACH parameters for requesting and receiving information from the second NES cell 124, downlink and uplink frequencies for communicating the RACH parameters and receiving wake-up signals with the second NES cell 124, the area and/or time validity of the third WUS parameters, and/or the PCI of the second NES cell 124, among other things.

Moreover, the third SIB1 may include the value tag, the time validity, the area and/or time validity, time periods associated with transmitting and/or receiving other types of SIBs, and/or the PCI of the second NES cell 124, among other things, associated with the second NES cell 124. In some embodiments, the second NES cell 124 may not broadcast the third SIB1.

Instead, the cell 104 (e.g., instead of the second NES cell 124) may transmit (e.g., directionally transmit) the third frequency priority values, at least a portion of the third WUS parameters, and/or at least a portion of the third SIB1, to the UE 10. The cell 104 may transmit such data with a release message (e.g., an RRC release message) to the UE 10 (e.g., when releasing the UE 10) . Accordingly, the UE 10 may connect to the second NES cell 124 based on receiving (e.g., using) the third network parameters.

The UE 10 may connect to the third cell 126 based on receiving (e.g., using) fourth network parameters associated with connecting to the third cell 126. The cell 104 (e.g., instead of the third cell 126) may transmit (e.g., directionally transmit) a portion of the fourth network parameters to the UE 10. For example, the cell 104 may transmit a release message (e.g., RRC release message) including the portion of the second network parameters to the UE 10.

Moreover, the third cell 126 may broadcast (e.g., periodically broadcast) a second portion (e.g., remaining portion) of the fourth network parameters to enable the UE 10 to establish a connection with the third cell 126. It should be appreciated that multiple UEs other than the UE 10 (not shown for simplicity) may receive the fourth network parameters broadcasted by the third cell 126. As such, the UE 10 may receive a portion of the fourth network parameters from the cell 104 and may receive the second portion of the second network parameters from the third cell 126.

In particular, the fourth network parameters may include fourth frequency priority values, fourth WUS parameters, a fourth MIB, and a fourth SIB1 to enable the UE 10 to establish a connection with the third cell 126. The fourth MIB may include an indication of a bandwidth for establishing connection with the third cell 126 and/or time periods associated with transmitting and/or receiving various data fields of the third cell 126.

Additionally or alternatively, the fourth MIB may include additional information for validating the portion of the fourth network parameters received (e.g., previously received) by the UE 10 from the cell 104. The additional information of the fourth MIB may include the area and/or time validity of the fourth WUS parameters, area and/or time validity of the fourth SIB1, the value tag of the fourth SIB1, and/or PCI of the third cell 126, among other things. For example, the third cell 126 may periodically broadcast the fourth MIB during a fourth time period.

In some embodiments, the fourth frequency priority values may indicate preferred frequency channels for connecting to the third cell 126. The fourth WUS parameters may include RACH parameters for requesting and receiving information from the third cell 126, downlink and uplink frequencies for communicating the RACH parameters and receiving wake-up signals with the third cell 126, the area and/or time validity of the fourth WUS parameters, and/or the PCI of the third cell 126, among other things.

Moreover, the third SIB1 may include the value tag, the time validity, the area and/or time validity, time periods associated with transmitting and/or receiving other types of SIBs, and/or PCI of the third cell 126, among other things, associated with the third cell 126. In some embodiments, the third cell 126 may not broadcast the fourth SIB1.

Instead, the cell 104 (e.g., instead of the third cell 126) may transmit (e.g., directionally transmit) the fourth frequency priority values, at least a portion of the fourth WUS parameters, and/or at least a portion of the fourth SIB1, to the UE 10. The cell 104 may transmit such data with a release message (e.g., an RRC release message) to the UE 10 (e.g., when releasing the UE 10) . Accordingly, the UE 10 may connect to the third cell 126 based on receiving (e.g., using) the fourth network parameters.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method 140 for an example handover operation. The UE 10, the cell 104, the first NES cell 106, the second NES cell 124, and the third cell 126 described above may perform the handover operation of the method 140 for disconnecting the UE 10 from the cell 104 and connecting the UE 10 to the first NES cell 106, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. In particular, the UE 10 may connect to the first NES cell 106 based on receiving (e.g., using) at least a portion of the second network parameters of the first NES cell 106 from the cell 104, as will be appreciated.

Any suitable devices (e.g., controllers) that may control components of the UE 10, the wireless communication networks 102 or 122, the cell 104, the first NES cell 106, the second NES cell 124, and/or the third cell 126, such as their respective processors 12, may perform the method 140. In some embodiments, the method 140 may be implemented by executing instructions stored in tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media, such as the respective memories 14 or storage devices 16, using the respective processors 12. For example, the method 140 may be performed at least in part by one or more software components, such as an operating system of the UE 10, the wireless communication network 102 or 122, the cell 104, the first NES cell 106, the second NES cell 124, and the third cell 126, and the like.

Although the UE 10, the cell 104, the first NES cell 106, the second NES cell 124, and the third cell 126 are shown in FIG. 7, the method 140 may be performed using additional UEs (not shown for simplicity) and/or additional or less cells (not shown for simplicity) . While the method 140 is described using steps in a specific sequence, it should be understood that the present disclosure contemplates that the described steps may be performed in different sequences than the sequence illustrated, and certain described steps may be skipped or not performed altogether.

Additionally, it should be understood that signals may be transmitted by respective transmitters 52 of the UE 10, the cell 104, the first NES cell 106, the second NES cell 124, and/or the third cell 126. Moreover, signal may be received by the respective receivers 54 of the UE 10, the cell 104, the first NES cell 106, the second NES cell 124, and/or the third cell 126.

For example, the processors 12 of the UE 10 and/or the cells 104, 106, 124, and/or 126 may each cause the respective transmitters 52 and/or receivers 54 to transmit and receive signals to connect to, maintain a connection to, disconnect from, and switch connections between multiple cells 104, 106, 124, and/or 126 via the antennas 55. In some embodiments, the memory 14 and/or the storage 16 of the UE 10 and/or the cells 104, 106, 124, and/or 126 may store and/or retrieve the network parameters (e.g., the received network parameters) .

In process block 142, the UE 10 is connected to the cell 104 in an RRC connected state. In some embodiments, the UE 10 may connect to (or maintain the connection to) the cell 104 based on receiving (e.g., using) the first network parameters associated with connecting to the cell 104. As discussed above, the first network parameters may include the first MIB and the first SIB1. Moreover, the cell 104 may broadcast the first MIB and the first SIB1. In some cases, multiple UEs other than the UE 10 (not shown for simplicity) may receive the first network parameters broadcasted by the cell 104. In some embodiments, the UE 10 is connected to the cell 104 in an RRC connected state based on receiving (e.g., using) the first network parameters broadcasted by the cell 104.

In process block 144, any of the cells 104, 106, 124, and/or 126 may receive an indication to connect the UE 10 to the first NES cell 106. By way of example, in some cases, any of the cells 104, 106, 124, and/or 126 may determine a load traffic of the wireless communication networks 102 and/or 122. The load traffic of the cells 104, 106, 124, and/or 126 may each include respective downlink and/or uplink signals and/or respective amounts of data transmission and reception. The cells 104, 106, 124, and/or 126 may determine whether one or more of the cells 104, 106, 124, and/or 126 have a load traffic higher than a threshold. In some embodiments, the cell 104 and/or the cell 104 in combination with any of the cells 104, 106, 124, and/or 126 may coordinate the load traffic of the cells 104, 106, 124, and/or 126. For example, the cell 104 may transmit a request to receive load traffic to the cells 104, 106, 124, and/or 126, and receive an indication of the load traffic in response. In some embodiments, the cells 104, 106, 124, and/or 126 may determine the load traffic of the wireless communication networks 102 and/or 122 (e.g., process block 144) before the UE 10 being connected to the cell 104 in the RRC connected state (e.g., process block 142) .

In alternative or additional cases, the UE 10 may transmit the indication requesting to be released from the cell 104 and/or connect to a different cell. Alternatively or additionally, any of the cells 104, 106, 124, and/or 126 may receive the indication to connect the UE 10 to the first NES cell 106 based on detecting that the UE 10 is moving out of the cell coverage area 105 of the cell 104 and/or moving in the cell coverage area 107 of the first NES cell 105, among other possibilities.

In some embodiments, the cell 104 may determine the load traffic on each of the cells 104 and 106 associated with the wireless communication network 102 of FIG. 5. In alternative or additional embodiments, the cell 104 may determine the load traffic on each of the cells 104, 106, 124, and 126 associated with the wireless communication network 102 of FIG. 6. In yet alternative or additional embodiments, the cell 104 may determine the load traffic on each of the cells 104, 106, 124, and 126 associated with the wireless communication networks 102 and 104 of FIGS. 5 and 6.

The cells 104, 106, 124, and/or 126 may have one or more load traffic thresholds and/or may each have a respective load traffic threshold. As such, the cell 104 may reduce a load traffic of either of the cells 104, 106, 124, and/or 126 having a load traffic higher than or equal to the one or more load traffic thresholds and/or the respective load traffic threshold. Alternatively or additionally, the cell 104 may reduce a load traffic of either of the cells 104, 106, 124, and/or 126 having a load traffic higher than or equal to an average by more than an average deviation threshold.

The cell 104 may reduce the load traffic by performing a handover operation to switch connection of the UE 10 from a first cell (e.g., the cell 104) with high load traffic to a different cell (e.g., either of the cells 106, 124, or 126) having a lower load traffic (e.g., perform load balancing) . The cell 104 may monitor the load traffic of the wireless communication network 102 and/or 122 continuously and/or periodically. Alternatively or additionally, the cell 104 may monitor the load traffic of the wireless communication network 102 and/or 122 based on receiving (e.g., using) a command and/or determining a triggering event to dynamically allocate (or reallocate) the resources (e.g., the cells 104, 106, 124, and/or 126) .

By way of example, in the depicted embodiment, the cell 104 may determine to handover the UE 10, connected thereto, to the first NES cell 106 or the second NES cell 124. In some cases, the cell 104 may handover the UE 10 to the first NES cell 106 or the second NES cell 124 based on the cell 104 having a higher than or equal to a first threshold, the first NES cell 106 and the second NES cell 124 having a load traffic below a second threshold, or both, among other possibilities. The first threshold and/or the second threshold may include any of the thresholds described above, among other possibilities.

In process block 146, the cell 104 and the first NES cell 106 may communicate a portion of the second network parameters associated with connecting to the first NES cell 106. The portion of the second network parameters may include the second frequency priority values for communicating with the first NES cell 106, the second WUS parameters, the area and/or time validity of the second WUS parameters, the value tag of the second SIB1, the area and/or time validity of the second SIB1, or any combination thereof, among other possibilities. Additionally or alternatively, the portion of the second network parameters may include the entirety of second SIB1.

In some cases, the cell 104 may transmit a request for the second network parameters (e.g., the portion of the second network parameters) to the first NES cell 106. In response, the first NES cell 106 may transmit the portion of the second network parameters to the cell 104. In alternative or additional cases, the first NES cell 106 may transmit the portion of the second network parameters to the cell 104 without receiving the request. For example, the first NES cell 106 may proactively transmit the portion of the second network parameters based on the cell 104 having a higher than or equal traffic load compared to the first threshold and/or the first NES cell 106. Alternatively or additionally, the first NES cell 106 may proactively transmit the portion of the second network parameters based on the first NES cell 106 having a load traffic below the second threshold.

Moreover, in some cases, the first NES cell 106 may generate the portion of the second network parameters. For example, the first NES cell 106 may generate one or more data fields including the second WUS parameters, the area and/or time validity of the second WUS parameters, the value tag of the second SIB1, the area and/or time validity of the second SIB1, or any combination thereof. In alternative or additional cases, the first NES cell 106 may transmit the entirety of second SIB1 to the cell 104. In turn, the cell 104 may use the received second SIB1 to generate the portion of the second network parameters.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, the cell 104 and/or the first NES cell 106 may operate based on Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) . In such embodiments, the cell 104 and/or the first NES cell 106 may each have a centralized unit (CU) level and a distributed unit (DU) level. For example, the CU level may perform operations including network management and the DU level may perform operations including data communication handling with the UE 10 and/or other cells.

The cell 104 and/or the first NES cell 106 may use the CU level to communicate the portion of the second network parameters and/or the entire second SIB1. The cell 104 and/or the first NES cell 106 may communicate the portion of the second network parameters and/or the entire second SIB1 in one or more data fields using an application protocol (e.g., an Xn Application Protocol) . For example, the cell 104 and/or the first NES cell 106 may communicate the portion of the second network parameters and/or the entire second SIB1 by communicating setup request, response message, node parameter update request, node parameter acknowledge message, or any combination thereof, among other data field, when performing CU level operations.

In some cases, the CU level of the cell 104 may communicate with the DU level of the first NES cell 106. Alternatively or additionally, the DU level of the cell 104 may communicate with the CU level of the first NES cell 106. In such cases, the cells 104 and 106 may communicate the portion of the second network parameters and/or the entire second SIB1 by communicating a parameter update, among other data fields, of the application protocol (e.g., an Xn Application Protocol) when communicating between the CU level and the DU level.

In process block 148, the cell 104 and the second NES cell 124 may communicate a portion of third network parameters associated with connecting to the second NES cell 124. The portion of the third network parameters may include third frequency priority values for communicating with the second NES cell 124, third WUS parameters for connecting to the second NES cell 124, area and/or time validity of the third WUS parameters, a value tag of a third SIB1 of the second NES cell 124, area and/or time validity of the third SIB1, or any combination thereof, among other possibilities. Additionally or alternatively, the portion of the third network parameters may include the entirety of third SIB1.

In some cases, the cell 104 may transmit a request for the third network parameters (e.g., the portion of the third network parameters) to the second NES cell 124. In response, the second NES cell 124 may transmit the portion of the third network parameters to the cell 104. In alternative or additional cases, the second NES cell 124 may transmit the portion of the third network parameters to the cell 104 without receiving the request. For example, the second NES cell 124 may proactively transmit the portion of the third network parameters based on the cell 104 having a higher than or equal traffic load compared to the first threshold and/or the second NES cell 124. Alternatively or additionally, the second NES cell 124 may proactively transmit the portion of the third network parameters based on the second NES cell 124 having a load traffic below the second threshold (or a third threshold) .

Moreover, in some cases, the second NES cell 124 may generate the portion of the third network parameters. For example, the second NES cell 124 may generate one or more data fields including the third WUS parameters, the area and/or time validity of the third WUS parameters, the value tag of the third SIB1, the area and/or time validity of the third SIB1, or any combination thereof. In alternative or additional cases, the second NES cell 124 may transmit the entirety of third SIB1 to the cell 104. In turn, the cell 104 may use the received third SIB1 to generate the portion of the third network parameters.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, the cell 104 and/or the second NES cell 124 may operate based on NG-RAN. In such embodiments, the cell 104 and/or the second NES cell 124 may each have a CU level and a DU level. For example, the CU level may perform operations including network management and the DU level may perform operations including data communication handling with the UE 10 and/or other cells.

The cell 104 and/or the second NES cell 124 may use the CU level to communicate the portion of the third network parameters and/or the entire third SIB1. The cell 104 and/or the second NES cell 124 may communicate the portion of the third network parameters and/or the entire third SIB1 in one or more data fields using an application protocol (e.g., an Xn Application Protocol) . For example, the cell 104 and/or the second NES cell 124 may communicate the portion of the third network parameters and/or the entire third SIB1 by communicating the setup request, response message, the node parameter update request, the node parameter acknowledge message, or any combination thereof, among other data field, when performing CU level operations.

In some cases, the CU level of the cell 104 may communicate with the DU level of the second NES cell 124. Alternatively or additionally, the DU level of the cell 104 may communicate with the CU level of the second NES cell 124. In such cases, the cells 104 and 106 may communicate the portion of the third network parameters and/or the entire third SIB1 by communicating a parameter update, among other data fields, of the application protocol (e.g., an Xn Application Protocol) when communicating between the CU level and the DU level.

In process block 150, the cell 104 transmits a release message (e.g., an RRC release message) including the portion of the second network parameters and the portion of the third network parameters. The release message may indicate disconnecting the UE 10 from the cell 104. As such, the UE 10 may transition to an idle state based on receiving (e.g., using) the release message.

As discussed above, the portion of the second network parameters may include the second frequency priority values, the second WUS parameters, the area and/or time validity of the second WUS parameters, the value tag of the second SIB1, the area and/or time validity of the second SIB1, or any combination thereof, among other possibilities. Moreover, the portion of the third network parameters may include third frequency priority values, the third WUS parameters, the area and/or time validity of the third WUS parameters, the value tag of the third SIB1, the area and/or time validity of the third SIB1, or any combination thereof, among other possibilities. Additionally or alternatively, the portion of the second network parameters may include the entirety of second SIB1 and/or the portion of the third network parameters may include the entirety of third SIB1.

As discussed above, the cell 104 may generate the release message based on receiving (e.g., using) the portion of the second network parameters from the first NES cell 106. The cell 104 may designate one or more data fields of the release message to the portion of the second network parameters. For example, the release message may include a number of data fields. Moreover, each data field include a number of data bits (e.g., 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and so on) . As such, the cell 104 may designate a number of data bits (e.g., 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 16, 17, and so on, among other possibilities) of one or more of the data fields to one or more of the second frequency priority values, the second WUS parameters, the area and/or time validity of the second WUS parameters, the value tag of the second SIB1, and/or the area and/or time validity of the second SIB1.

In different cases, the cell 104 may include a different combination of the second frequency priority values, at least a portion of the second frequency priority values, the second WUS parameters, the area and/or time validity of the second WUS parameters, the value tag of the second SIB1, and/or the area and/or time validity of the second SIB1. Alternatively or additionally, the cell 104 may designate a different number of data bits to each of the second frequency priority values, the second WUS parameters, the area and/or time validity of the second WUS parameters, the value tag of the second SIB1, and/or the area and/or time validity of the second SIB1.

In process block 152, the UE 10 may enter or transition to the idle state. The UE 10 may become disconnected from the cell 104. The UE 10 may store the portion of the second network parameters and the portion of the third network parameters received with the release message. For example, the processor 12 may store the portion of the second network parameters and the portion of the third network parameters on the memory 14 and/or storage 16. The UE 10 may monitor for broadcasted MIBs to connect to a subsequent cell based on the portion of the second network parameters and the portion of the third network parameters when in the idle state.

In process block 154, the first NES cell 106 broadcasts the second MIB and the UE 10 may receive the second MIB. In some cases, the UE 10 may have a closer distance to the first NES cell 106 compared to the second NES cell 124. For example, the UE 10 may be in motion and may become closer to the first NES cell 106 compared to the second NES cell 124 when the first NES cell 106 broadcasts the second MIB. In specific cases, multiple UEs other than the UE 10 (not shown for simplicity) may receive the second MIB broadcasted by the first NES cell 106.

As mentioned above, the second MIB may include an indication of a bandwidth for establishing connection with the first NES cell 106, time periods associated with transmitting and/or receiving various data fields of the first NES cell 106. Additionally or alternatively, the second MIB may include additional information for validating the portion of the second network parameters received (e.g., previously received) by the UE 10 from the cell 104. The additional information of the second MIB may include the area and/or time validity of the WUS parameters, the area and/or time validity of the second SIB1, the value tag of the second SIB1, or any combination thereof, among other things. For example, the first NES cell 106 may periodically broadcast the second MIB based on a second time period.

In process block 156, the UE 10 connects to the first NES cell 106 based on the second MIB and the portion of the second network parameters. The UE 10 may determine that second MIB corresponds to the stored information received via the release message to connect to the first NES cell 106. For example, the bandwidth for establishing connection with the first NES cell 106 received with the second MIB may correspond to the second frequency priority values received with the release message.

Alternatively or additionally, the area and/or time validity of the WUS parameters received with the second MIB may correspond to the area and/or time validity of the second WUS parameters received with release message. Alternatively or additionally, the area and/or time validity of the second SIB1 received with the second MIB may correspond to the area and/or time validity of the second SIB1 received with release message. Alternatively or additionally, the value tag of the second SIB1 received with the second MIB may correspond to the value tag of the second SIB1 of the second SIB1 received with release message.

In some cases, in process block 156, the second NES cell 124 may also broadcast the third MIB and the UE 10 may receive the third MIB. However, at process block 156, the UE 10 may select to connect to the first NES cell 106 and not to the second NES cell 124. In specific cases, the UE 10 may determine that the area and/or time validity of the third WUS parameters, the value tag of the third SIB1, and/or the area and/or time validity of the third SIB1 may be expired.

For example, a time period (or time validity) associated with using the third WUS parameters and/or third SIB1 may be expired. Alternatively or additionally, the UE 10 may be outside an area (associated with the area validity) associated with using the third WUS parameters and/or third SIB1. Alternatively or additionally, the second NES cell 124 may have an updated third SIB1, and therefore the UE 10 may determine that a received value tag associated with the third SIB1 is different from the stored value tag of the third SIB1 (e.g., previously received with the release message at process block 150) . Alternatively or additionally, the bandwidth for establishing connection with the second NES cell 124 received with the third MIB may be different from the third frequency priority values received with the release message.

The UE 10 may initiate a random access procedure associated with the first NES cell 106. In process block 158, the UE 10 may transmit a RACH signal to the first NES cell 106 requesting for additional system information. The UE 10 may transmit the RACH signal to connect to the first NES cell 106. The UE 10 may transmit the RACH signal based on RACH parameters associated with the second WUS parameters. The RACH signal may request transmission of the entire SIB1, one or multiple other SIBs (e.g., on-demand SIBs) , or both. In process block 160, the first cell 106 may transmit the requested information to the UE 10. In particular, the first cell 106 may transmit the entire SIB1 and/or the on-demand SIBs.

At process block 162, the UE 10 may connect to the first NES cell 106. The UE 10 may establish the connection based on the second network parameters received via the release message and the second MIB, as well as the requested entire SIB1 and/or the on-demand SIBs. As such, at process block 164, the UE 10 may be at RRC connected state to complete the handover operation. At process block 166, the UE 10 and the first NES cell 106 may communicate data based on the connection.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method 190 of an example handover operation of a UE. In some embodiments, the UE 10 may perform the handover operations of the method 190 to identify and connect to the first NES cell 106 of FIGS. 5 or 6 based on receiving (e.g., using) the portion of network parameters from the cell 104 associated with connecting to the first NES cell 106, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Any suitable device (e.g., a controller) that may control components of the UE 10, such as the processor 12, may perform the method 190. In some embodiments, the method 190 may be implemented by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory 14 or storage 16, using the processor 12. For example, the method 190 may be performed at least in part by one or more software components, such as an operating system of the UE 10, one or more software applications of the UE 10, and the like. While the method 190 is described using steps in a specific sequence, it should be understood that the present disclosure contemplates that the described steps may be performed in different sequences than the sequence illustrated, and certain described steps may be skipped or not performed altogether.

In process block 192, the processor 12 receives the RRC release message from the cell 104. The UE 10 may be connected to the cell 104 when the processor 12 receives the RRC release message. For example, the UE 10 may maintain an RRC connected state with the cell 104 based on the first network parameters. The processor 12 may process the RRC release message. The processor 12 may release the RRC connected state with the first cell based on the release message.

Moreover, as discussed above, the RRC release message may include at least a portion of the second network parameters of the first NES cell 106. For example, the RRC release message may include the second frequency priority values, the second WUS parameters , the area and/or time validity of the second WUS parameters, the value tag of the second SIB1, area and/or time validity of the second SIB1, or any combination thereof, among other possibilities. Additionally or alternatively, the portion of the second network parameters may include the entirety of second SIB1. In some cases, the processor 12 may store the received portion of the second network parameters in the memory 14 and/or storage 16.

In process block 194, the processor 12 receives the second MIB from the first NES cell 106. The second MIB may include the area and/or time validity of the second WUS parameters, the area and/or time validity of the second SIB1, the value tag of the second SIB1, or any combination thereof, among other things. Additionally or alternatively, the second MIB may include the additional information for validating the portion of the second network parameters received (e.g., previously received) by the UE 10 from the cell 104. The additional information of the second MIB may include area and/or time validity of the second WUS parameters, area and/or time validity of the second SIB1, the value tag of the second SIB1, or any combination thereof, among other things. For example, the first NES cell 106 may periodically broadcast the second MIB based on a second time period.

In process block 196, the processor 12 determines whether the RRC release message includes at least a portion of the second SIB1 of the first NES cell 106. The processor 12 proceeds to the process block 198 when the RRC release message does not include the second SIB1 of the first NES cell 106. The process block 198 may be discussed below. The processor 12 proceeds to the process block 200 when the RRC release message includes at least a portion of the second SIB1 of the first NES cell 106.

At process block 200, the processor 12 determines whether the area validity of the second SIB1 included with the second MIB matches with the area validity of the second SIB1 included with the RRC release message. In some embodiments, the processor 12 may compare data values associated with two or more parameters (e.g., the area validity of the second SIB1 included with the second MIB and the area validity of the second SIB1 included with the RRC release message) to determine whether they match. The processor 12 proceeds to the process block 198 when the area validity information of the second SIB1 included with the second MIB and the RRC release message does not match. The processor 12 proceeds to the process block 202 when the area validity information of the second SIB1 included with the second MIB and the RRC release message match.

At process block 202, the processor 12 determines whether the RRC release message includes the value tag of the second SIB1. The processor 12 proceeds to the process block 208 when the RRC release message does not include the value tag of the second SIB1. The process block 208 may be discussed below. The processor 12 proceeds to the process block 204 when the RRC release message includes the value tag of the second SIB1.

At process block 204, the processor 12 determines whether the second MIB includes the value tag of the second SIB1. The processor 12 proceeds to the process block 198 when the MIB does not include the value tag of the second SIB1. The processor 12 proceeds to the process block 206 when the MIB includes the value tag of the second SIB1.

At process block 206, the processor 12 determines whether the value tags of the second SIB1 included with the RRC release message and the MIB match. The processor 12 proceeds to the process block 198 when the value tags does not match. The processor 12 proceeds to the process block 208 when the value tags match.

At process block 208, the processor 12 connects to the first NES cell 106. In particular, the processor 12 may use the second SIB1 (or the portion of the second SIB1) received via the RRC release message and stored in the memory 14 and/or storage 16 to connects to the first NES cell 106. For example, the processor 12 and/or the UE 10 may communicate one or more RACH signals, receive responses, transition to the RRC connected state, and/or communicate data.

At process block 198, the processor 12 determines whether the area validity of the second WUS parameters is included with the RRC release message, the area validity of the second WUS parameters is included with the second MIB, and whether they match. The processor 12 proceeds to the process block 212 when the RRC release message includes the area validity of the second WUS parameters, the second MIB includes the area validity of the second WUS parameters, and received area validity information of the second WUS parameters match. The processor 12 proceeds to the process block 210 when the RRC release message does not include the area validity of the second WUS parameters, the second MIB does not include the area validity of the second WUS parameters, and/or received area validity information of the second WUS parameters do not match.

At process block 210, the processor 12 disregards the first NES cell 106 associated with the second MIB. For example, the processor 12 may determine that the second MIB, the second SIB1, and/or the second WUS parameters of the first NES cell 106 is not compatible with the handover operation. In some cases, the processor 12 may refrain from initiating a random access procedure associated with the first NES cell 106. In some cases, the processor 12 may trigger or continue monitoring for other broadcasted MIBs to connect to a subsequent cell. Alternatively, at process block 212, the processor 12 may initiate a random access procedure associated with the first NES cell 106. For example, the processor 12 attempts to connect to the first NES cell 106 based on determining that the second MIB, the second SIB1, and/or the second WUS parameters of the first NES cell 106 is compatible with the handover operation.

At process block 212, the processor 12 transmits one or more RACH signals to the first NES cell 106 requesting for the entire second SIB1, on-demand SIB1, and/or other on-demand information. Upon receiving the requested information from the first NES cell 106, the processor may proceed to the process block 214.

At process block 214, the processor 12 may connect to the first NES cell 106. For example, the processor 12 may use the second SIB1 received via the RRC release message, the second MIB, and/or the requested information at process block 212 to connect to the first NES cell 106. As such, the processor 12 and/or the UE 10 may communicate one or more RACH signals, receive responses, transition to the RRC connected state, and/or communicate data in the active state.

The specific embodiments described above have been shown by way of example, and it should be understood that these embodiments may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms. It should be further understood that the claims are not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed, but rather to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of this disclosure.

The techniques presented and claimed herein are referenced and applied to material objects and concrete examples of a practical nature that demonstrably improve the present technical field and, as such, are not abstract, intangible or purely theoretical. Further, if any claims appended to the end of this specification contain one or more elements designated as “means for [perform] ing [a function] …” or “step for [perform] ing [a function] …, ” it is intended that such elements are to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112 (f) . However, for any claims containing elements designated in any other manner, it is intended that such elements are not to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112 (f) .

It is well understood that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled so as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users.

Claims

An apparatus comprising processing circuitry configured to:

maintain a radio resource control (RRC) connected state with a first cell based on first network parameters;

process a release message from the first cell, wherein the release message comprises a first portion of second network parameters related to a second cell, the second network parameters comprising one or more data fields;

release the RRC connected state with the first cell based on the release message;

receive a second portion of the second network parameters from the second cell; and

initiate a random access procedure associated with the second cell based on at least one data field of the first portion of the second network parameters corresponding to at least one data field of the second portion of the second network parameters.
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to refrain from initiating a random access procedure associated with the second cell based on the at least one data field of the first portion of the second network parameters not corresponding to the at least one data field of the second portion of the second network parameters.
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the release message comprises at least a portion of a system information block of the second cell.
The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the second portion of the second network parameters comprises a master information block of the second cell.
The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to initiate the random access procedure associated with the second cell based on the at least one data field of the first portion of the system information block corresponding to the at least one data field of the master information block.
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first portion of the second network parameters comprises one or more frequency priority values, a first area validity of wake-up signal parameters, a first time validity of the wake-up signal parameters, a first value tag of a system information block, a first area validity of the system information block, a first time validity of the system information block, or any combination thereof.
The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the second portion of the second network parameters comprises a bandwidth for establishing connection with the second cell, a second area validity of the wake-up signal parameters, a second time validity of the wake-up signal parameters, a second value tag of the system information block, a second area validity of the system information block, a second time validity of the system information block, or any combination thereof.
The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to initiate the random access procedure associated with the second cell based on:

the one or more of frequency priority values of the first portion of the second network parameters corresponding to the bandwidth for establishing connection with the second cell;

the first area validity of the wake-up signal parameters of the first portion of the second network parameters corresponding to the second area validity of the wake-up signal parameters;

the first time validity of the wake-up signal parameters of the first portion of the second network parameters corresponding to the second time validity of the wake-up signal parameters;

the first value tag of a system information block of the second cell of the first portion of the second network parameters corresponding to the second value tag of a type 1 system information block of the second cell;

the first area validity of the system information block of the second cell of the first portion of the second network parameters corresponding to the second area validity of the type 1 system information block of the second cell; or

the first time validity of the system information block of the second cell of the first portion of the second network parameters corresponding to the second time validity of the system information block of the second cell.
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:

generate a request for an on-demand system information block, for transmission to the second cell, based on the at least one data field of the first portion of the second network parameters corresponding to the at least one data field of the second portion of the second network parameters;

process the on-demand system information block; and

initiate the random access procedure associated with the second cell based on the second network parameters and the on-demand system information block.
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second cell comprises a network energy saving cell configured to periodically broadcast a master information block, transmit on-demand system information blocks and refrain from broadcasting a system information block.
A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, by processing circuitry, a release message from a first cell, wherein the release message comprises at least a first portion of a system information block of a second cell or at least a first portion of wake-up signal parameters of the second cell;

receiving, by the processing circuitry, a master information block of the second cell from the second cell, wherein the master information block comprises at least a second portion of the system information block of the second cell or at least a second portion of the wake-up signal parameters of the second cell; and

initiating, by the processing circuitry, a random access procedure associated with the second cell based on at least one data field of the first portion of the system information block corresponding to at least one data field of the second portion of the system information block, or at least one data field of the first portion of the wake-up signal parameters corresponding to at least one data field of the second portion of the wake-up signal parameters.
The computer-implemented method of claim 11, comprising refraining, by the processing circuitry, from initiating a random access procedure associated with the second cell based on the at least one data field of the first portion of the system information block not corresponding to the at least one data field of the second portion of the system information block, and the at least one data field of the first portion of the wake-up signal parameters not corresponding to the at least one data field of the second portion of the wake-up signal parameters.
The computer-implemented method of claim 11, comprising connecting, by the processing circuitry, to the second cell based on frequency priority values of the system information block corresponding to a bandwidth of the master information block.
The computer-implemented method of claim 11, comprising connecting, by the processing circuitry, to the second cell based on a first area validity or a first time validity of the wake-up signal parameters received with the release message corresponding to a second area validity or a second time validity of the wake-up signal parameters received with the master information block.
The computer-implemented method of claim 11, comprising connecting, by the processing circuitry, to the second cell based on a first value tag, a first area validity, or a first time validity of the system information block corresponding to a second value tag, a second area validity, or a second time validity of the master information block.
Tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of a first cell storing instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to:

maintain a radio resource control (RRC) connected state with user equipment based on first network parameters;

process an indication of at least a portion of second network parameters related to a second cell; and

generate a release message for transmission to the user equipment, wherein the release message comprises the portion of the second network parameters.
The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the indication of at least the portion of the second network parameters comprises at least a portion of a system information block of the second cell.
The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the indication of at least the portion of the second network parameters comprises frequency priority values, an area validity of wake-up signal parameters, a time validity of the wake-up signal parameters, a value tag of a system information block of the second cell, an area validity of the system information block of the second cell, a time validity of the system information block of the second cell, or any combination thereof.
The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the instructions cause the processing circuitry to generate the release message by designating one or more data fields of the release message to the portion of second network parameters.
The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the instructions cause the processing circuitry to determine that a load traffic of the second cell is below a threshold, and receive the indication of at least the portion of the second network parameters from the second cell based on the load traffic of the second cell being below the threshold.