Patent Description:
In Rel-<NUM>, narrowband internet-of-things (NB-IoT) and LTE for MTC (LTE-M) were standardized to provide wide-area connectivity for IoT. The technologies in Rel-<NUM> evolved beyond the basic functionality specified in Rel-<NUM>.

<NPL>relates to the improved UL transmission efficiency and/or UE power consumption.

<NPL> relates to the D-PUR procedure for UP /CP solution.

Features of embodiments are defined in the dependent claims. Preconfigured uplink resource (PUR) is designed for NB-IoT and MTC networks in order to save power consumption for data transmission. The UE may transmit UL data in RRC_IDLE and/or RRC_INACTIVE without random access procedure and/or state transition to a connected state (e.g., RRC_CONNECTED). A method for completing a procedure for transmission using PUR may be required.

The present disclosure can have various advantageous effects.

For example, a UE can effectively determine whether UL data transmission using PUR is successful or not based on DL information. If the DL information includes only TAC MAC CE, the UE can consider that the UL data transmission using PUR is successful.

Advantageous effects which can be obtained through specific embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the advantageous effects listed above. For example, there may be a variety of technical effects that a person having ordinary skill in the related art can understand and/or derive from the present disclosure. Accordingly, the specific effects of the present disclosure are not limited to those explicitly described herein, but may include various effects that may be understood or derived from the technical features of the present disclosure.

Also, parentheses used in the present disclosure may mean "for example". In detail, when it is shown as "control information (PDCCH)", "PDCCH" may be proposed as an example of "control information". In other words, "control information" in the present disclosure is not limited to "PDCCH", and "PDDCH" may be proposed as an example of "control information". In addition, even when shown as "control information (i.e., PDCCH)", "PDCCH" may be proposed as an example of "control information".

In addition, one of the most expected <NUM> use cases relates a function capable of smoothly connecting embedded sensors in all fields, i.e., mMTC. It is expected that the number of potential Internet-of things (IoT) devices will reach <NUM> hundred million up to the year of <NUM>. An industrial IoT is one of categories of performing a main role enabling a smart city, asset tracking, smart utility, agriculture, and security infrastructure through <NUM>.

Mission critical application (e.g., e-health) is one of <NUM> use scenarios. A health part contains many application programs capable of enjoying benefit of mobile communication. A communication system may support remote treatment that provides clinical treatment in a faraway place. Remote treatment may aid in reducing a barrier against distance and improve access to medical services that cannot be continuously available in a faraway rural area. Remote treatment is also used to perform important treatment and save lives in an emergency situation. The wireless sensor network based on mobile communication may provide remote monitoring and sensors for parameters such as heart rate and blood pressure.

Here, the radio communication technologies implemented in the wireless devices in the present disclosure may include narrowband internet-of things (NB-IoT) technology for low-power communication as well as LTE, NR and <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, a first wireless device <NUM> and a second wireless device <NUM> may transmit/receive radio signals to/from an external device through a variety of RATs (e.g., LTE and NR). In <FIG>, {the first wireless device <NUM> and the second wireless device <NUM>} may correspond to at least one of {the wireless device 100a to 100f and the BS <NUM>}, {the wireless device 100a to 100f and the wireless device 100a to 100f} and/or {the BS <NUM> and the BS <NUM>} of <FIG>.

The processor(s) <NUM> may control the memory(s) <NUM> and/or the transceiver(s) <NUM> and may be configured to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts described in the present disclosure. The processor(s) <NUM> may receive radio signals including second information/signals through the transceiver(s) <NUM> and then store information obtained by processing the second information/signals in the memory(s) <NUM>. For example, the memory(s) <NUM> may store software code including commands for performing a part or the entirety of processes controlled by the processor(s) <NUM> or for performing the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts described in the present disclosure. The transceiver(s) <NUM> may be interchangeably used with radio frequency (RF) unit(s). In the present disclosure, the first wireless device <NUM> may represent a communication modem/circuit/chip.

The processor(s) <NUM> may control the memory(s) <NUM> and/or the transceiver(s) <NUM> and may be configured to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts described in the present disclosure. For example, the memory(s) <NUM> may store software code including commands for performing a part or the entirety of processes controlled by the processor(s) <NUM> or for performing the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts described in the present disclosure. In the present disclosure, the second wireless device <NUM> may represent a communication modem/circuit/chip.

As an example, one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), one or more digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), one or more programmable logic devices (PLDs), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) may be included in the one or more processors <NUM> and <NUM>. descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure may be implemented using firmware or software and the firmware or software may be configured to include the modules, procedures, or functions. Firmware or software configured to perform the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure may be included in the one or more processors <NUM> and <NUM> or stored in the one or more memories <NUM> and <NUM> so as to be driven by the one or more processors <NUM> and <NUM>. The descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure may be implemented using firmware or software in the form of code, commands, and/or a set of commands.

The one or more transceivers <NUM> and <NUM> may be connected to the one or more antennas <NUM> and <NUM> and the one or more transceivers <NUM> and <NUM> may be configured to transmit and receive user data, control information, and/or radio signals/channels, mentioned in the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure, through the one or more antennas <NUM> and <NUM>. In the present disclosure, the one or more antennas may be a plurality of physical antennas or a plurality of logical antennas (e.g., antenna ports).

The one or more transceivers <NUM> and <NUM> may convert received radio signals/channels, etc., from RF band signals into baseband signals in order to process received user data, control information, radio signals/channels, etc., using the one or more processors <NUM> and <NUM>. The one or more transceivers <NUM> and <NUM> may convert the user data, control information, radio signals/channels, etc., processed using the one or more processors <NUM> and <NUM> from the base band signals into the RF band signals. For example, the transceivers <NUM> and <NUM> can up-convert OFDM baseband signals to a carrier frequency by their (analog) oscillators and/or filters under the control of the processors <NUM> and <NUM> and transmit the up-converted OFDM signals at the carrier frequency. The transceivers <NUM> and <NUM> may receive OFDM signals at a carrier frequency and down-convert the OFDM signals into OFDM baseband signals by their (analog) oscillators and/or filters under the control of the transceivers <NUM> and <NUM>.

In the implementations of the present disclosure, a UE may operate as a transmitting device in uplink (UL) and as a receiving device in downlink (DL). In the implementations of the present disclosure, a BS may operate as a receiving device in UL and as a transmitting device in DL. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, it is mainly assumed that the first wireless device <NUM> acts as the UE, and the second wireless device <NUM> acts as the BS. For example, the processor(s) <NUM> connected to, mounted on or launched in the first wireless device <NUM> may be configured to perform the UE behavior according to an implementation of the present disclosure or control the transceiver(s) <NUM> to perform the UE behavior according to an implementation of the present disclosure. The processor(s) <NUM> connected to, mounted on or launched in the second wireless device <NUM> may be configured to perform the BS behavior according to an implementation of the present disclosure or control the transceiver(s) <NUM> to perform the BS behavior according to an implementation of the present disclosure.

The communication unit <NUM> may include a communication circuit <NUM> and transceiver(s) <NUM>. For example, the communication circuit <NUM> may include the one or more processors <NUM> and <NUM> of <FIG> and/or the one or more memories <NUM> and <NUM> of <FIG>. For example, the transceiver(s) <NUM> may include the one or more transceivers <NUM> and <NUM> of <FIG> and/or the one or more antennas <NUM> and <NUM> of <FIG>. The control unit <NUM> is electrically connected to the communication unit <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, and the additional components <NUM> and controls overall operation of each of the wireless devices <NUM> and <NUM>. For example, the control unit <NUM> may control an electric/mechanical operation of each of the wireless devices <NUM> and <NUM> based on programs/code/commands/information stored in the memory unit <NUM>.

As an example, the control unit <NUM> may be configured by a set of a communication control processor, an application processor (AP), an electronic control unit (ECU), a graphical processing unit, and a memory control processor. As another example, the memory <NUM> may be configured by a RAM, a DRAM, a ROM, a flash memory, a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory, and/or a combination thereof.

<FIG> shows another example of wireless devices to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

The first wireless device <NUM> may include at least one transceiver, such as a transceiver <NUM>, and at least one processing chip, such as a processing chip <NUM>. The processing chip <NUM> may include at least one processor, such a processor <NUM>, and at least one memory, such as a memory <NUM>. The memory <NUM> may be operably connectable to the processor <NUM>. The memory <NUM> may store various types of information and/or instructions. The memory <NUM> may store a software code <NUM> which implements instructions that, when executed by the processor <NUM>, perform the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. For example, the software code <NUM> may implement instructions that, when executed by the processor <NUM>, perform the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. For example, the software code <NUM> may control the processor <NUM> to perform one or more protocols. For example, the software code <NUM> may control the processor <NUM> may perform one or more layers of the radio interface protocol.

The second wireless device <NUM> may include at least one transceiver, such as a transceiver <NUM>, and at least one processing chip, such as a processing chip <NUM>. The processing chip <NUM> may include at least one processor, such a processor <NUM>, and at least one memory, such as a memory <NUM>. The memory <NUM> may be operably connectable to the processor <NUM>. The memory <NUM> may store various types of information and/or instructions. The memory <NUM> may store a software code <NUM> which implements instructions that, when executed by the processor <NUM>, perform the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. For example, the software code <NUM> may implement instructions that, when executed by the processor <NUM>, perform the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. For example, the software code <NUM> may control the processor <NUM> to perform one or more protocols. For example, the software code <NUM> may control the processor <NUM> may perform one or more layers of the radio interface protocol.

Referring to <FIG>, a UE <NUM> may correspond to the first wireless device <NUM> of <FIG> and/or the first wireless device <NUM> of <FIG>.

The processor <NUM> may be configured to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. The processor <NUM> may be configured to control one or more other components of the UE <NUM> to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. Layers of the radio interface protocol may be implemented in the processor <NUM>. The processor <NUM> may include ASIC, other chipset, logic circuit and/or data processing device. The processor <NUM> may be an application processor. The processor <NUM> may include at least one of a digital signal processor (DSP), a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a modem (modulator and demodulator). An example of the processor <NUM> may be found in SNAPDRAGON™ series of processors made by Qualcomm®, EXYNOS™ series of processors made by Samsung®, A series of processors made by Apple®, HELIO™ series of processors made by MediaTek®, ATOM™ series of processors made by Intel® or a corresponding next generation processor.

The SIM card <NUM> is an integrated circuit that is intended to securely store
the international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number and its related key, which are used to identify and authenticate subscribers on mobile telephony devices (such as mobile phones and computers).

<FIG> and <FIG> show an example of protocol stacks in a 3GPP based wireless communication system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

In particular, <FIG> illustrates an example of a radio interface user plane protocol stack between a UE and a BS and <FIG> illustrates an example of a radio interface control plane protocol stack between a UE and a BS. The control plane refers to a path through which control messages used to manage call by a UE and a network are transported. The user plane refers to a path through which data generated in an application layer, for example, voice data or Internet packet data are transported. Referring to <FIG>, the user plane protocol stack may be divided into Layer <NUM> (i.e., a PHY layer) and Layer <NUM>. Referring to <FIG>, the control plane protocol stack may be divided into Layer <NUM> (i.e., a PHY layer), Layer <NUM>, Layer <NUM> (e.g., an RRC layer), and a non-access stratum (NAS) layer. Layer <NUM>, Layer <NUM> and Layer <NUM> are referred to as an access stratum (AS).

In the 3GPP LTE system, the Layer <NUM> is split into the following sublayers: MAC, RLC, and PDCP. In the 3GPP NR system, the Layer <NUM> is split into the following sublayers: MAC, RLC, PDCP and SDAP. The PHY layer offers to the MAC sublayer transport channels, the MAC sublayer offers to the RLC sublayer logical channels, the RLC sublayer offers to the PDCP sublayer RLC channels, the PDCP sublayer offers to the SDAP sublayer radio bearers. The SDAP sublayer offers to <NUM> core network quality of service (QoS) flows.

In the 3GPP NR system, the main services and functions of the MAC sublayer include: mapping between logical channels and transport channels; multiplexing/demultiplexing of MAC SDUs belonging to one or different logical channels into/from transport blocks (TB) delivered to/from the physical layer on transport channels; scheduling information reporting; error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) (one HARQ entity per cell in case of carrier aggregation (CA)); priority handling between UEs by means of dynamic scheduling; priority handling between logical channels of one UE by means of logical channel prioritization; padding. A single MAC entity may support multiple numerologies, transmission timings and cells. Mapping restrictions in logical channel prioritization control which numerology(ies), cell(s), and transmission timing(s) a logical channel can use.

Different kinds of data transfer services are offered by MAC. To accommodate different kinds of data transfer services, multiple types of logical channels are defined, i.e., each supporting transfer of a particular type of information. Each logical channel type is defined by what type of information is transferred. Logical channels are classified into two groups: control channels and traffic channels. Control channels are used for the transfer of control plane information only, and traffic channels are used for the transfer of user plane information only. Broadcast control channel (BCCH) is a downlink logical channel for broadcasting system control information, paging control channel (PCCH) is a downlink logical channel that transfers paging information, system information change notifications and indications of ongoing public warning service (PWS) broadcasts, common control channel (CCCH) is a logical channel for transmitting control information between UEs and network and used for UEs having no RRC connection with the network, and dedicated control channel (DCCH) is a point-to-point bi-directional logical channel that transmits dedicated control information between a UE and the network and used by UEs having an RRC connection. Dedicated traffic channel (DTCH) is a point-to-point logical channel, dedicated to one UE, for the transfer of user information. A DTCH can exist in both uplink and downlink. In downlink, the following connections between logical channels and transport channels exist: BCCH can be mapped to broadcast channel (BCH); BCCH can be mapped to downlink shared channel (DL-SCH); PCCH can be mapped to paging channel (PCH); CCCH can be mapped to DL-SCH; DCCH can be mapped to DL-SCH; and DTCH can be mapped to DL-SCH. In uplink, the following connections between logical channels and transport channels exist: CCCH can be mapped to uplink shared channel (UL-SCH); DCCH can be mapped to UL-SCH; and DTCH can be mapped to UL-SCH.

The RLC sublayer supports three transmission modes: transparent mode (TM), unacknowledged mode (UM), and acknowledged node (AM). The RLC configuration is per logical channel with no dependency on numerologies and/or transmission durations. In the 3GPP NR system, the main services and functions of the RLC sublayer depend on the transmission mode and include: transfer of upper layer PDUs; sequence numbering independent of the one in PDCP (UM and AM); error correction through ARQ (AM only); segmentation (AM and UM) and re-segmentation (AM only) of RLC SDUs; reassembly of SDU (AM and UM); duplicate detection (AM only); RLC SDU discard (AM and UM); RLC re-establishment; protocol error detection (AM only).

In the 3GPP NR system, the main services and functions of the PDCP sublayer for the user plane include: sequence numbering; header compression and decompression using robust header compression (ROHC); transfer of user data; reordering and duplicate detection; in-order delivery; PDCP PDU routing (in case of split bearers); retransmission of PDCP SDUs; ciphering, deciphering and integrity protection; PDCP SDU discard; PDCP re-establishment and data recovery for RLC AM; PDCP status reporting for RLC AM; duplication of PDCP PDUs and duplicate discard indication to lower layers. The main services and functions of the PDCP sublayer for the control plane include: sequence numbering; ciphering, deciphering and integrity protection; transfer of control plane data; reordering and duplicate detection; in-order delivery; duplication of PDCP PDUs and duplicate discard indication to lower layers.

In the 3GPP NR system, the main services and functions of the RRC sublayer include: broadcast of system information related to AS and NAS; paging initiated by 5GC or NG-RAN; establishment, maintenance and release of an RRC connection between the UE and NG-RAN; security functions including key management; establishment, configuration, maintenance and release of signaling radio bearers (SRBs) and data radio bearers (DRBs); mobility functions (including: handover and context transfer, UE cell selection and reselection and control of cell selection and reselection, inter-RAT mobility); QoS management functions; UE measurement reporting and control of the reporting; detection of and recovery from radio link failure; NAS message transfer to/from NAS from/to UE.

<FIG> shows a frame structure in a 3GPP based wireless communication system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

The frame structure shown in <FIG> is purely exemplary and the number of subframes, the number of slots, and/or the number of symbols in a frame may be variously changed. In the 3GPP based wireless communication system, OFDM numerologies (e.g., subcarrier spacing (SCS), transmission time interval (TTI) duration) may be differently configured between a plurality of cells aggregated for one UE. For example, if a UE is configured with different SCSs for cells aggregated for the cell, an (absolute time) duration of a time resource (e.g., a subframe, a slot, or a TTI) including the same number of symbols may be different among the aggregated cells. Herein, symbols may include OFDM symbols (or CP-OFDM symbols), SC-FDMA symbols (or discrete Fourier transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols).

Referring to <FIG>, downlink and uplink transmissions are organized into frames. Each frame has Tf = <NUM> duration. Each frame is divided into two half-frames, where each of the half-frames has <NUM> duration. Each half-frame consists of <NUM> subframes, where the duration Tsf per subframe is <NUM>. Each subframe is divided into slots and the number of slots in a subframe depends on a subcarrier spacing. Each slot includes <NUM> or <NUM> OFDM symbols based on a cyclic prefix (CP). In a normal CP, each slot includes <NUM> OFDM symbols and, in an extended CP, each slot includes <NUM> OFDM symbols. The numerology is based on exponentially scalable subcarrier spacing Δf = <NUM>u*<NUM>.

Table <NUM> shows the number of OFDM symbols per slot Nslotsymb, the number of slots per frame Nframe,uslot, and the number of slots per subframe Nsubframe,uslot for the normal CP, according to the subcarrier spacing Δf = <NUM>u*<NUM>.

Table <NUM> shows the number of OFDM symbols per slot Nslotsymb, the number of slots per frame Nframe,uslot, and the number of slots per subframe Nsubframe,uslot for the extended CP, according to the subcarrier spacing Δf = <NUM>u*<NUM>.

A slot includes plural symbols (e.g., <NUM> or <NUM> symbols) in the time domain. For each numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing) and carrier, a resource grid of Nsize,ugrid,x*NRBsc subcarriers and Nsubframe,usymb OFDM symbols is defined, starting at common resource block (CRB) Nstart,ugrid indicated by higher-layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling), where Nsize,ugrid,x is the number of resource blocks (RBs) in the resource grid and the subscript x is DL for downlink and UL for uplink. NRBsc is the number of subcarriers per RB. In the 3GPP based wireless communication system, NRBsc is <NUM> generally. There is one resource grid for a given antenna port p, subcarrier spacing configuration u, and transmission direction (DL or UL). The carrier bandwidth Nsize,ugrid for subcarrier spacing configuration u is given by the higher-layer parameter (e.g., RRC parameter). Each element in the resource grid for the antenna port p and the subcarrier spacing configuration u is referred to as a resource element (RE) and one complex symbol may be mapped to each RE. Each RE in the resource grid is uniquely identified by an index k in the frequency domain and an index l representing a symbol location relative to a reference point in the time domain. In the 3GPP based wireless communication system, an RB is defined by <NUM> consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain.

In the 3GPP NR system, RBs are classified into CRBs and physical resource blocks (PRBs). CRBs are numbered from <NUM> and upwards in the frequency domain for subcarrier spacing configuration u. The center of subcarrier <NUM> of CRB <NUM> for subcarrier spacing configuration u coincides with 'point A' which serves as a common reference point for resource block grids. In the 3GPP NR system, PRBs are defined within a bandwidth part (BWP) and numbered from <NUM> to NsizeBWP,i-<NUM>, where i is the number of the bandwidth part. The relation between the physical resource block nPRB in the bandwidth part i and the common resource block nCRB is as follows: nPRB = nCRB + NsizeBWP,i, where NsizeBWP,i is the common resource block where bandwidth part starts relative to CRB <NUM>. The BWP includes a plurality of consecutive RBs. A carrier may include a maximum of N (e.g., <NUM>) BWPs. A UE may be configured with one or more BWPs on a given component carrier. Only one BWP among BWPs configured to the UE can active at a time. The active BWP defines the UE's operating bandwidth within the cell's operating bandwidth.

In the present disclosure, the term "cell" may refer to a geographic area to which one or more nodes provide a communication system, or refer to radio resources. A "cell" as a geographic area may be understood as coverage within which a node can provide service using a carrier and a "cell" as radio resources (e.g., time-frequency resources) is associated with bandwidth which is a frequency range configured by the carrier. The "cell" associated with the radio resources is defined by a combination of downlink resources and uplink resources, for example, a combination of a DL component carrier (CC) and a UL CC. The cell may be configured by downlink resources only, or may be configured by downlink resources and uplink resources. Since DL coverage, which is a range within which the node is capable of transmitting a valid signal, and UL coverage, which is a range within which the node is capable of receiving the valid signal from the UE, depends upon a carrier carrying the signal, the coverage of the node may be associated with coverage of the "cell" of radio resources used by the node. Accordingly, the term "cell" may be used to represent service coverage of the node sometimes, radio resources at other times, or a range that signals using the radio resources can reach with valid strength at other times.

In CA, two or more CCs are aggregated. A UE may simultaneously receive or transmit on one or multiple CCs depending on its capabilities. CA is supported for both contiguous and non-contiguous CCs. When CA is configured, the UE only has one RRC connection with the network. At RRC connection establishment/re-establishment/handover, one serving cell provides the NAS mobility information, and at RRC connection re-establishment/handover, one serving cell provides the security input. This cell is referred to as the primary cell (PCell). The PCell is a cell, operating on the primary frequency, in which the UE either performs the initial connection establishment procedure or initiates the connection re-establishment procedure. Depending on UE capabilities, secondary cells (SCells) can be configured to form together with the PCell a set of serving cells. An SCell is a cell providing additional radio resources on top of special cell (SpCell). The configured set of serving cells for a UE therefore always consists of one PCell and one or more SCells. For dual connectivity (DC) operation, the term SpCell refers to the PCell of the master cell group (MCG) or the primary SCell (PSCell) of the secondary cell group (SCG). An SpCell supports PUCCH transmission and contention-based random access, and is always activated. The MCG is a group of serving cells associated with a master node, comprised of the SpCell (PCell) and optionally one or more SCells. The SCG is the subset of serving cells associated with a secondary node, comprised of the PSCell and zero or more SCells, for a UE configured with DC. For a UE in RRC_CONNECTED not configured with CA/DC, there is only one serving cell comprised of the PCell. For a UE in RRC_CONNECTED configured with CA/DC, the term "serving cells" is used to denote the set of cells comprised of the SpCell(s) and all SCells. In DC, two MAC entities are configured in a UE: one for the MCG and one for the SCG.

<FIG> shows a data flow example in the 3GPP NR system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

Referring to <FIG>, "RB" denotes a radio bearer, and "H" denotes a header. Radio bearers are categorized into two groups: DRBs for user plane data and SRBs for control plane data. The MAC PDU is transmitted/received using radio resources through the PHY layer to/from an external device. The MAC PDU arrives to the PHY layer in the form of a transport block.

In the PHY layer, the uplink transport channels UL-SCH and RACH are mapped to their physical channels physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) and physical random access channel (PRACH), respectively, and the downlink transport channels DL-SCH, BCH and PCH are mapped to physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and PDSCH, respectively. In the PHY layer, uplink control information (UCI) is mapped to physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and downlink control information (DCI) is mapped to physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). A MAC PDU related to UL-SCH is transmitted by a UE via a PUSCH based on an UL grant, and a MAC PDU related to DL-SCH is transmitted by a BS via a PDSCH based on a DL assignment.

An RRC state indicates whether an RRC layer of the UE is logically connected to an RRC layer of the E-UTRAN. In LTE/LTE-A, when the RRC connection is established between the RRC layer of the UE and the RRC layer of the E-UTRAN, the UE is in the RRC connected state (RRC_CONNECTED). Otherwise, the UE is in the RRC idle state (RRC_IDLE). In NR, the RRC inactive state (RRC_INACTIVE) is additionally introduced. RRC_INACTIVE may be used for various purposes. For example, the massive machine type communications (MMTC) UEs can be efficiently managed in RRC_INACTIVE. When a specific condition is satisfied, transition is made from one of the above three states to the other.

A predetermined operation may be performed according to the RRC state. In RRC_IDLE, public land mobile network (PLMN) selection, broadcast of system information (SI), cell re-selection mobility, core network (CN) paging and discontinuous reception (DRX) configured by NAS may be performed. The UE shall have been allocated an identifier (ID) which uniquely identifies the UE in a tracking area. No RRC context stored in the BS.

In RRC_CONNECTED, the UE has an RRC connection with the network (i.e., E-UTRAN/NG-RAN). Network-CN connection (both C/U-planes) is also established for UE. The UE AS context is stored in the network and the UE. The RAN knows the cell which the UE belongs to. The network can transmit and/or receive data to/from UE. Network controlled mobility including measurement is also performed.

Most of operations performed in RRC_IDLE may be performed in RRC_INACTIVE. But, instead of CN paging in RRC_IDLE, RAN paging is performed in RRC_INACTIVE. In other words, in RRC_IDLE, paging for mobile terminated (MT) data is initiated by core network and paging area is managed by core network. In RRC _INACTIVE, paging is initiated by NG-RAN, and RAN-based notification area (RNA) is managed by NG-RAN. Further, instead of DRX for CN paging configured by NAS in RRC _IDLE, DRX for RAN paging is configured by NG-RAN in RRC INACTIVE. Meanwhile, in RRC INACTIVE, 5GC-NG-RAN connection (both C/U-planes) is established for UE, and the UE AS context is stored in NG-RAN and the UE. NG-RAN knows the RNA which the UE belongs to.

Preconfigured uplink resource (PUR) is designed for NB-IoT and MTC networks in order to save power consumption for data transmission. The network may configure PUR for predictable traffic patterns to a UE in an idle state (e.g., RRC_IDLE) and/or an inactive state (e.g., RRC_INACTIVE). The UE may transmit UL data in RRC_IDLE and/or RRC_INACTIVE without random access procedure and/or state transition to a connected state (e.g., RRC_CONNECTED).

Regarding transmission using PUR, the followings have been agreed.

As described below, the current PUR design may always require to monitor PDCCH. When DL information is to be delivered on PDSCH, the UE may first monitor PDCCH to acquire PDSCH scheduling information. Then, the UE may receive the DL information via PDSCH scheduled by the PDCCH.

<FIG> shows an example of a general procedure for transmission using PUR.

In order to receive the acknowledgement for UL data transmission using PUR, the UE would monitor PDCCH. Then, if further information such as timing advance command (TAC) MAC control element (CE) is to be delivered on PDSCH, the UE may monitor PDSCH using the scheduling information in PDCCH.

<FIG> shows another example of a general procedure for transmission using PUR.

In summary, after transmitting UL data using PUR, the UE may determine completion of the UL data transmission based on acknowledgement for UL data transmission using PUR.

The acknowledgement for UL data transmission using PUR may be L1 signaling acknowledgement received via PDCCH. The UE may determine that the UL data transmission using PUR is successful upon receiving the L1 signaling acknowledgement via PDCCH, and the procedure for the UL data transmission using PUR may be considered as completed without monitoring PDSCH.

Alternatively, the acknowledgement for UL data transmission using PUR may be L3 signaling acknowledgement received via PDSCH. The UE may first monitor PDCCH which schedules PDSCH, and may receive the acknowledgement for UL data transmission using PUR via PDSCH. The UE may determine that the UL data transmission using PUR is successful upon receiving the L3 signaling acknowledgement via PDSCH, and the procedure for the UL data transmission using PUR may be considered as completed.

Meanwhile, as the configuration related to PUR may be maintained for a long period of time, updating UL timing is important to avoid data transmission failures due to unsynchronized UL transmission and to save power. In some cases, even though the UE receives L1 signaling acknowledgement via PDCCH for determining completion of the procedure for the UL data transmission using PUR, if the UE requires uplink timing alignment, the UE may receive TAC MAC CE via PDSCH for uplink timing alignment. The procedure for the UL data transmission using PUR can end after receiving the TAC MAC CE.

Therefore, a method for completing a procedure for UL data transmission using PUR with TAC MAC CE may be required. Furthermore, for some non-claimed cases, it may be
beneficial if the UE directly acquire DL information on PDSCH without monitoring PDCCH to reduce power consumption and quickly acquire the DL information on PDSCH.

The following drawings are created to explain specific embodiments of the present disclosure. The names of the specific devices or the names of the specific signals/messages/fields shown in the drawings are provided by way of example, and thus the technical features of the present disclosure are not limited to the specific names used in the following drawings.

<FIG> shows an example of a method performed by a wireless device configured to operate in a wireless communication system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

In step S1200, the wireless device receives, from a network, a configuration of PUR.

In some implementations, the configuration of PUR may be received via dedicated RRC signaling or L2 signaling (i.e., MAC CE) or L1 signaling (i.e., DCI). The configuration of PUR may be received in RRC_CONNECTED or RRC_IDLE or RRC INACTIVE.

In some implementations, the configuration of PUR may further include information on DL transmission associated with UL data transmission using the PUR. The information on the DL transmission may include at least one of the DL grant and/or DL assignment. The information on the DL transmission may include DL reception time, the number of slots per radio frame, subframe intervals, etc. The DL reception time may be absolute time or the associated time with UL data transmission.

In step S1210, while in RRC idle state and/or RRC inactive state, the wireless device i) performs UL data transmission using the PUR to the network, ii) attempts to acquire DL information on PDSCH from the network, and iii) based on the DL information including only TAC MAC CE, considers that the UL data transmission using the PUR is successful.

In some implementations, the DL information including only the TAC MAC CE may be considered as an acknowledgement for the UL data transmission.

In some implementations, the TAC MAC CE may consist of a single octet including a timing advance group (TAG) identity field and a TAC field.

In some implementations, the wireless device may further indicate to an upper layer of the wireless device that the UL data transmission using the PUR is successful.

In some implementations, the DL information may be scheduled by scheduling information received from the network. The scheduling information may be received via the configuration of the PUR. The scheduling information may be received via L1 signaling, L2 signaling, broadcast signaling or dedicated RRC signaling. The scheduling information may include time information regarding the UL data transmission. The scheduling information may include scheduling parameters for the PDSCH, comprising at least one of SFN, a number of slots per radio frame, a slot number in a frame for the PDSCH, a starting point of the radio frame for the PDSCH, a starting PRB of PDSCH, and/or a number of subframes indicating an interval after the UL data transmission using the PUR.

In some implementations, PDCCH may not be monitored for acquiring the DL information.

In some non-claimed implementations, based on the DL information not being acquired and/or the DL information indicating that the UL data transmission using the PUR has failed, the wireless device may perform a PUR transmission failure procedure. For example, it may be determined that the DL information is not acquired based on expiry of a timer without acquiring any DL information. The timer may start upon performing the UL data transmission using the PUR to the network. For example, it may be determined that the DL information is not acquired based on no information being acquired during a certain number of subframes.

In some implementations, the wireless device may be in communication with at least one of a mobile device, a network, and/or autonomous vehicles other than the wireless device.

Furthermore, the method in perspective of the wireless device described above in <FIG> may be performed by first wireless device <NUM> shown in <FIG>, the wireless device <NUM> shown in <FIG>, the first wireless device <NUM> shown in <FIG> and/or the UE <NUM> shown in <FIG>.

More specifically, the wireless device comprises at least one transceiver, at least processor, and at least one computer memory operably connectable to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, based on being executed by the at least one processor, perform operations.

The operations comprise receiving, from a network, a configuration of PUR.

The operations comprise, while in RRC idle state and/or RRC inactive state, i) performing UL data transmission using the PUR to the network, ii) attempting to acquire DL information on PDSCH from the network, and iii) based on the DL information including only TAC MAC CE, considering that the UL data transmission using the PUR is successful.

In some implementations, the TAC MAC CE may consist of a single octet including a TAG identity field and a TAC field.

In some implementations, the operations may further comprise indicating to an upper layer of the wireless device that the UL data transmission using the PUR is successful.

In some non-claimed implementations, PDCCH may not be monitored for acquiring the DL information.

In some implementations, based on the DL information not being acquired and/or the DL information indicating that the UL data transmission using the PUR has failed, the wireless device may perform a PUR transmission failure procedure. For example, it may be determined that the DL information is not acquired based on expiry of a timer without acquiring any DL information. The timer may start upon performing the UL data transmission using the PUR to the network. For example, it may be determined that the DL information is not acquired based on no information being acquired during a certain number of subframes.

Furthermore, the method in perspective of the wireless device described above in <FIG> may be performed by control of the processor <NUM> included in the first wireless device <NUM> shown in <FIG>, by control of the communication unit <NUM> and/or the control unit <NUM> included in the wireless device <NUM> shown in <FIG>, by control of the processor <NUM> included in the first wireless device <NUM> shown in <FIG> and/or by control of the processor <NUM> included in the UE <NUM> shown in <FIG>.

More specifically, an apparatus for configured to operate in a wireless communication system (e.g., wireless device) comprises at least processor, and at least one computer memory operably connectable to the at least one processor. The at least one processor is configured to perform operations comprising acquiring a configuration of PUR, and while in RRC idle state and/or RRC inactive state, i) controlling the wireless device to perform UL data transmission using the PUR to the network, ii) attempting to acquire DL information on PDSCH from the network, and iii) based on the DL information including only TAC MAC CE, considering that the UL data transmission using the PUR is successful.

Furthermore, the method in perspective of the wireless device described above in <FIG> may be performed by a software code <NUM> stored in the memory <NUM> included in the first wireless device <NUM> shown in <FIG>.

More specifically, at least one computer readable medium (CRM) stores instructions that, based on being executed by at least one processor, perform operations comprising acquiring a configuration of PUR, and while in RRC idle state and/or RRC inactive state, i) controlling the wireless device to perform UL data transmission using the PUR to the network, ii) attempting to acquire DL information on PDSCH from the network, and iii) based on the DL information including only TAC MAC CE, considering that the UL data transmission using the PUR is successful.

<FIG> shows an example of a method performed by a wireless device and a network node configured to operate in a wireless communication system to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

In step S1300, a network node transmits, to a wireless device, a configuration of PUR.

In some implementations, the configuration of PUR may be transmitted via dedicated RRC signaling or L2 signaling (i.e., MAC CE) or L1 signaling (i.e., DCI). The configuration of PUR may be received in RRC_CONNECTED or RRC_IDLE or RRC INACTIVE.

In step S13 <NUM>, while the wireless device is in RRC idle state and/or RRC inactive state, the network node receives UL data transmission using the PUR from the wireless device.

In step S1320, the network node transmits, to the wireless device, DL information including only TAC MAC CE.

In some implementations, the DL information may be scheduled by scheduling information transmitted to the wireless device. The scheduling information may be transmitted via the configuration of the PUR. The scheduling information may be transmitted via L1 signaling, L2 signaling, broadcast signaling or dedicated RRC signaling. The scheduling information may include time information regarding the UL data transmission. The scheduling information may include scheduling parameters for the PDSCH, comprising at least one of SFN, a number of slots per radio frame, a slot number in a frame for the PDSCH, a starting point of the radio frame for the PDSCH, a starting PRB of PDSCH, and/or a number of subframes indicating an interval after the UL data transmission using the PUR.

In step S1330, the wireless device considers that the UL data transmission using the PUR is successful based on the DL information including only the TAC MAC CE.

Furthermore, the method in perspective of the network node described above in <FIG> may be performed by the network node, which is represented by the second wireless device <NUM> shown in <FIG>, the device <NUM> shown in <FIG>, and/or the second wireless device <NUM> shown in <FIG>.

More specifically, the network node comprises at least one transceiver, at least processor, and at least one computer memory operably connectable to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, based on being executed by the at least one processor, perform operations comprising transmitting, to a wireless device, a configuration of a PUR, and while the wireless device is in RRC idle state and/or an RRC inactive state, i) receiving, from the wireless device, UL data transmission using the PUR, and ii) transmitting, to the wireless device, DL information including only TAC MAC CE. The UE data transmission using the PUR is considered as successful based on the DL information including only the TAC MAC CE.

<FIG> shows an example of a method for acquiring DL information on PDSCH in RRC_IDLE and/or RRC_INACTIVE to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

In step S1400, the UE receives PUR configuration from the network.

In some implementations, the network may configure PUR via dedicated RRC signaling or L2 signaling (i.e., MAC CE) or L1 signaling (i.e., DCI) in RRC_CONNECTED or RRC IDLE or RRC INACTIVE.

In some implementations, the network may also configure DL transmission information associated with UL transmission using PUR. The DL transmission information may include at least one of the DL grant and/or DL assignment. The DL transmission information may include DL reception time, the number of slots per radio frame, subframe intervals, etc. The DL reception time may be the absolute time and/or the associated time with UL transmission.

In step S1410, the UE receives PDSCH scheduling information from the network.

In some implementations, the PDSCH scheduling information may be delivered with the PUR configuration.

In some implementations, the PDSCH scheduling information may be delivered via L1 signaling, L2 signaling, broadcast signaling and/or dedicated RRC signaling.

In some implementations, the PDSCH scheduling information may include absolute time and/or the associated time with UL transmission.

In some implementations, the PDSCH scheduling information may include scheduling parameters for PDSCH. The scheduling parameters for PDSCH may include at least one of SFN, the number of slots per radio frame, slot number in the frame, the starting point of radio frame for PDSCH, the starting PRB of PDSCH, and/or the number of subframes indicating the interval after transmission using PUR.

In some implementations, the UE may perform connection release procedure with the network. The UE may receive RRC release message from the network. Upon receiving the RRC release message, the UE may enter RRC_IDLE and/or RRC INACTIVE.

In step S <NUM>, the UE transmits UL data using PUR to the network.

In some implementations, the UE may start a timer upon transmitting UL data. The MAC layer or RRC layer of the UE may maintain the timer. Upon expiry of the timer without acquiring any DL information, the UE may consider the UL transmission using PUR has failed.

In step S1430, the UE attempts to acquire DL information on PDSCH.

In some implementations, the UE may refer the PDSCH scheduling information received in step S1410. In this case, the UE may not need to monitor PDCCH for acquiring DL information on PDSCH.

According to the invention, if the PDSCH scheduling information received in step S1410 is not available, the UE may monitor PDCCH for acquiring DL information on PDSCH.

In some implementations, the DL information may include at least one of acknowledgement of UL transmission, TAC MAC CE, coverage enhancement level, DL user data information, etc..

According to the invention, if the DL information includes TAC MAC CE and does not include acknowledgement of UL transmission, the UE may consider the UL transmission using PUR is successful. In other words, if the DL information only includes TAC MAC CE, the UE may consider that UL transmission using PUR is successful based on the DL information only including the TAC MAC CE.

<FIG> shows an example of TAC MAC CE to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

The TAC MAC CE is identified by MAC PDU subheader with logical channel ID (LCID).

The TAC MAC CE has a fixed size and consists of a single octet defined as follows:.

<FIG> shows an example of TAC MAC CE including acknowledgement of UL transmission to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

The UE may receive TAC MAC CE including TAC. The TAC MAC CE may also include an acknowledgement bit (denoted as "A" in <FIG>). If the acknowledgement field indicates the UL transmission using PUR has failed, the UE may apply UL timing advance and perform PUR transmission failure procedure.

<FIG> shows another example of TAC MAC CE including acknowledgement of UL transmission to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

The UE may receive TAC MAC CE including TAC. The TAC MAC CE may also include an acknowledgement field (denoted as "A" in <FIG>), UE-specific RNTI and timing advance group identifier (TAG-ID). The UE may apply UL timing advance when the UE information matches the UE-specific RNTI or TAG-ID.

Back to <FIG>, in step S1440, if the UE does not acquire any DL information on PDSCH and/or the DL information indicates that the UL transmission using PUR has failed, the UE performs PUR transmission failure procedure.

In some implementations, the UE may determine that no DL information has acquired on PDSCH by expiry of the timer which has started on UL transmission.

In some implementations, the UE may determine that no DL information has acquired if no information has acquired during a certain number of subframes.

<FIG> shows an example of transmission using PUR for the control plane cellular IoT (CIoT) evolved packet system (EPS)/<NUM> system (5GS) optimizations to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

Transmission using PUR for control plane CIoT EPS optimization, and for control plane CIoT 5GS optimization is characterized as below:.

In step S1800, the UE has determined that the PUR resource can be used (e.g., PUR enabled in the cell, valid time alignment, etc.).

In step S1810, the UE transmits RRCEarlyDataRequest message including UL user data in a NAS message (e.g., dedicatedInfoNas) over the PUR resource.

If the UL data are too large to be included in RRCEarlyDataRequest, the UE can use the PUR resource to transmit RRCConnectionRequest. The procedure will fall back to the legacy RRC connection establishment procedure, a new cell radio network temporary identity (C-RNTI) can be assigned.

After step S1810, the (ng-)eNB may request the UE to abort the transmission using PUR by sending a Layer <NUM> fallback indication.

In step S1820, the MO-EDT procedure for control plane CIoT EPS/5GS optimizations is performed.

In step S1830, if the (ng-)eNB is aware that there is no pending DL data or signaling, the (ng-)eNB can send a Layer <NUM> ACK optionally containing a Time Advance Adjustment to the UE to update the TA and terminate the procedure.

In step S1832, if the (ng-)eNB is aware that there is no further data or signaling, the (ng-)eNB can send a Time Advance Command to update the TA and terminate the procedure.

In step S1834, the (ng-)eNB may transmit RRCEarlyDataComplete message which may optionally including DL user data in a NAS message (e.g., dedicatedInfoNAS). A Time Advance Command can also be included.

If the MME/AMF or the (ng-)eNB decides to move the UE to RRC_CONNECTED mode, RRCConnectionSetup message is sent in steps S1830 to S1834 to fall back to the legacy RRC connection establishment procedure, a new C-RNTI can be assigned. The (ng-)eNB will discard the zero-length NAS PDU received in RRCConnectionSetupComplete message.

If none of Layer <NUM> Acknowledgement, MAC Time advance Command, RRCEarlyDataComplete and, in case of fallback, RRCConnectionSetup is received in response to RRCEarlyDataRequest, the UE considers the UL data transmission not successful.

In step S1840, S1/AN release procedure is performed.

<FIG> shows an example of transmission using PUR for the user plane CIoT EPS optimization to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied. <FIG> shows an example of transmission using PUR for the user plane CIoT 5GS optimization to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

Transmission using PUR for user plane CIoT EPS optimization, and for user plane CIoT 5GS optimization are characterized as below:.

In steps S1900/S2000, the UE has validated the PUR resource according to the configured criteria.

In steps S1910/S2010, the UE transmits RRCConnectionResumeRequest message together with UL user data over the PUR resource.

If the user data are too large to be fully included in the transmission using PUR, the UE can use PUR to transmit RRCConnectionResumeRequest and a segment of the user data. The procedure will fall back to the legacy RRC Connection Resume procedure, and a new C-RNTI can be assigned.

After steps S1910/S2010, the (ng-)eNB may request the UE to abort the transmission using PUR by sending a Layer <NUM> fallback indication.

In steps S1920/S2020, MO-EDT procedure for user plane CIoT EPS/5GS optimizations is performed.

In step S1930/S2030, the (ng-)eNB may transmitRRCConnectionRelease message optionally together with DL user data. A Time Advance Command can also be included.

If the MME/AMF or the (ng-)eNB decides to move the UE to RRC_CONNECTED mode, RRCConnectionResume message is sent in steps S <NUM>/S2030 to fall back to the RRC connection resume procedure. In that case, the RRCConnectionResume message is integrity protected and ciphered with the keys derived in steps S1900/S2000 and the UE ignores the NextHopChainingCount included in the RRCConnectionResume message. A new C-RNTI can be assigned. DL data can be transmitted on DTCH multiplexed with the RRCConnectionResume message. In addition, an RRCConnectionSetup can also be sent in steps S1930/S2030 to fall back to the RRC connection establishment procedure.

Claim 1:
A method performed by a wireless device (<NUM>) configured to operate in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:
receiving (S1400) from a base station a configuration of a preconfigured uplink resource, PUR;
initiating (S1420) Uplink, UL, transmission using the PUR, while the wireless device is in radio resource control, RRC, IDLE or RRC INACTIVE;
monitoring (S1430) a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, to acquire downlink, DL, data from a physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH, after the UL transmission using the PUR; and
based on the DL data including only a timing advance command, TAC, media access control, MAC, control element, CE, considering (S1440) that the UL transmission using the PUR is successful.