PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-11317462-B2
Application Number: US-201916559849-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Apparatus, systems, and methods for transmitting large network configuration messages

Abstract:
Apparatuses, systems, and methods for a wireless device to perform methods to communicate an RRC message (such as an RRC configuration message) having a size that exceeds PDCP SDU size constraints. According to some embodiments, a base station may generate a large RRC message, e.g., by encoding an RRC configuration as a single large RRC message. The base station may then segment the RRC message, e.g., at the RRC layer or the PDCP layer, into a series of PDUs that comply with the size constraints. According to some embodiments, the base station may encode an RRC configuration as a series of RRC messages, each complying with the size constraints. The base station may further provide an indication of when a receiving user equipment should apply the RRC configuration.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An apparatus, comprising:
 a memory storing software instructions; and 
 at least one processor configured to execute the software instructions to cause the apparatus to:
 generate an RRC message; 
 segment the RRC message into a plurality of segments; 
 encapsulate the plurality of segments within a plurality of protocol data units (PDUs), wherein each PDU of the plurality of PDUs comprises one of the segments, wherein respective PDUs of the plurality of PDUs include different segment identifiers and are associated with the same transaction identifier, wherein the transaction identifier identifies the PDUs that include the segments of the RRC message; and 
 transmit one or more signals comprising the plurality of PDUs. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of PDUs are a plurality of RRC PDUs. 
     
     
       3. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of PDUs are a plurality of PDCP PDUs. 
     
     
       4. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the RRC message further comprises header information, wherein executing the software instructions further causes the apparatus to:
 duplicate the header information within a header of each PDU of the plurality of PDUs. 
 
     
     
       5. The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the header information comprises at least one of message type or transaction ID. 
     
     
       6. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein each PDU of the plurality of PDUs comprises a header, the header comprising an indication of whether the PDU is a final PDU of the plurality of PDUs. 
     
     
       7. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein each PDU of the plurality of PDUs comprises a header, the header comprising an indication of the number of PDUs in the plurality of PDUs and an index uniquely identifying the current PDU among the plurality of PDUs. 
     
     
       8. A method for communicating a radio resource control (RRC) message, the method comprising:
 by a wireless communication device:
 generating an RRC message; 
 segmenting the RRC message into a plurality of segments; 
 encapsulating the plurality of segments within a plurality of protocol data units (PDUs), wherein each PDU of the plurality of PDUs comprises one of the segments wherein respective PDUs of the plurality of PDUs include different segment identifiers and are associated with the same transaction identifier, wherein the transaction identifier identifies the PDUs that include the segments of the RRC message; and 
 transmitting one or more signals comprising the plurality of PDUs. 
 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8 , wherein the plurality of PDUs are a plurality of RRC PDUs. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 8 , wherein the plurality of PDUs are a plurality of PDCP PDUs. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 8 , wherein the RRC message further comprises header information, the method further comprising:
 duplicating the header information within a header of each PDU of the plurality of PDUs. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the header information comprises at least one of message type or transaction ID. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 8 , wherein each PDU of the plurality of PDUs comprises a header, the header comprising an indication of whether the PDU is a final PDU of the plurality of PDUs. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 8 , wherein each PDU of the plurality of PDUs comprises a header, the header comprising an indication of the number of PDUs in the plurality of PDUs and an index uniquely identifying the current PDU among the plurality of PDUs. 
     
     
       15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing software instructions that, when executed by a processor of a wireless communication device, cause the wireless communication device to:
 generate an RRC message; 
 segment the RRC message into a plurality of segments; 
 encapsulate the plurality of segments within a plurality of protocol data units (PDUs), wherein each PDU of the plurality of PDUs comprises one of the segments, wherein respective PDUs of the plurality of PDUs include different segment identifiers and are associated with the same transaction identifier, wherein the transaction identifier identifies the PDUs that include the segments of the RRC message; and 
 transmit one or more signals comprising the plurality of PDUs. 
 
     
     
       16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of PDUs are a plurality of RRC PDUs. 
     
     
       17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of PDUs are a plurality of PDCP PDUs. 
     
     
       18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the RRC message further comprises header information, wherein the software instructions, when executed further causes the wireless communication device to:
 duplicate the header information within a header of each PDU of the plurality of PDUs. 
 
     
     
       19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the header information comprises at least one of message type or transaction ID. 
     
     
       20. The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein each PDU of the plurality of PDUs comprises a header, the header comprising an indication of whether the PDU is a final PDU of the plurality of PDUs.

Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM 
     This application claims benefit of priority of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 62/755,998, titled “Apparatus, Systems, and Methods for Transmitting Large Network Configuration Messages”, filed Nov. 5, 2018, whose inventors are Haitong Sun et al., which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety as though fully and completely set forth herein. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     The present application relates to wireless devices, and more particularly to apparatus, systems, and methods for communicating large RRC messages in a fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR) network. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART 
     Wireless communication systems are rapidly growing in usage. In recent years, wireless devices such as smart phones and tablet computers have become increasingly sophisticated. In addition to supporting telephone calls, many mobile devices now provide access to the internet, email, text messaging, and navigation using the global positioning system (GPS), and are capable of operating sophisticated applications that utilize these functionalities. 
     Long Term Evolution (LTE) has become the technology of choice for the majority of wireless network operators worldwide, providing mobile broadband data and high-speed Internet access to their subscriber base. LTE defines a number of downlink (DL) physical channels, categorized as transport or control channels, to carry information blocks received from media access control (MAC) and higher layers. LTE also defines a number of physical layer channels for the uplink (UL). 
     For example, LTE defines a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) as a DL transport channel. The PDSCH is the main data-bearing channel allocated to users on a dynamic and opportunistic basis. The PDSCH carries data in Transport Blocks (TB) corresponding to a MAC protocol data unit (PDU), passed from the MAC layer to the physical (PHY) layer once per Transmission Time Interval (TTI). The PDSCH is also used to transmit broadcast information such as System Information Blocks (SIB) and paging messages. 
     As another example, LTE defines a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) as a DL control channel that carries the resource assignment for UEs that are contained in a Downlink Control Information (DCI) message. Multiple PDCCHs can be transmitted in the same subframe using Control Channel Elements (CCE), each of which includes nine sets of four resource elements known as Resource Element Groups (REG). The PDCCH employs quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK) modulation, with four QPSK symbols mapped to each REG. Furthermore, 1, 2, 4, or 8 CCEs can be used for a UE, depending on channel conditions, to ensure sufficient robustness. 
     Additionally, LTE defines a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) as a UL channel shared by all devices (user equipment, UE) in a radio cell to transmit user data to the network. The scheduling for all UEs is under control of the LTE base station (enhanced Node B, or eNB). The eNB uses the uplink scheduling grant (DCI format 0) to inform the UE about resource block (RB) assignment, and the modulation and coding scheme to be used. PUSCH typically supports QPSK and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). In addition to user data, the PUSCH also carries any control information necessary to decode the information, such as transport format indicators and multiple-in multiple-out (MIMO) parameters. Control data is multiplexed with information data prior to digital Fourier transform (DFT) spreading. 
     A proposed next telecommunications standard moving beyond the current International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced) Standards is called 5th generation mobile networks or 5th generation wireless systems, or 5G for short (otherwise known as 5G-NR for 5G New Radio, also simply referred to as NR). 5G-NR proposes a higher capacity for a higher density of mobile broadband users, also supporting device-to-device, ultra-reliable, and massive machine communications, as well as lower latency and lower battery consumption, than current LTE standards. Further, the 5G-NR standard may allow for less restrictive UE scheduling as compared to current LTE standards. Consequently, efforts are being made in ongoing developments of 5G-NR to take advantage of the less restrictive UE scheduling in order to further leverage power savings opportunities. 
     SUMMARY 
     Embodiments relate to apparatuses, systems, and methods for communicating an RRC configuration having a size that exceeds PDCP SDU size constraints. 
     According to some embodiments, a base station may encode the RRC configuration as a single large RRC message. The base station may then segment the RRC message, e.g., at the RRC layer or the PDCP layer, into a series of PDUs that comply with the size constraints. According to some embodiments, the base station may encode the RRC configuration as a series of RRC messages, each complying with the PDU size constraints. The base station may further provide an indication of when a receiving user equipment should apply the RRC configuration. 
     A method is disclosed for communicating a radio resource control (RRC) message. A wireless communication device may generate an RRC message, segment the RRC message into a plurality of segments, and encapsulate the plurality of segments within a plurality of protocol data units (PDUs), wherein each PDU of the plurality of PDUs includes one of the segments. The wireless communication device may transmit one or more signals including the plurality of PDUs. 
     In some implementations, the plurality of PDUs may be a plurality of RRC PDUs. In other implementations, the plurality of PDUs may be a plurality of PDCP PDUs. 
     In some implementations, the RRC message may further include header information. the wireless communication device may duplicate the header information within a header of each PDU of the plurality of PDUs. In some scenarios, the header information may include at least one of message type or transaction ID. 
     In some implementations, each PDU of the plurality of PDUs may include a header, the header including an indication of whether the PDU is a final PDU of the plurality of PDUs. 
     In some implementations, each PDU of the plurality of PDUs may include a header, the header including an indication of the number of PDUs in the plurality of PDUs and an index uniquely identifying the current PDU among the plurality of PDUs. 
     Systems and apparatuses are disclosed for implementing methods such as those described above. 
     The techniques described herein may be implemented in and/or used with a number of different types of devices, including but not limited to cellular phones, base stations, tablet computers, wearable computing devices, portable media players, and any of various other computing devices. 
     This Summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subject matter described in this document. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the above-described features are merely examples and should not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following Detailed Description, Figures, and Claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A better understanding of the present subject matter can be obtained when the following detailed description of various embodiments is considered in conjunction with the following drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates an example wireless communication system according to some embodiments. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates an example of a base station (BS) and an access point in communication with a user equipment (UE) device according to some embodiments. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates an example block diagram of a UE according to some embodiments. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates an example block diagram of a BS according to some embodiments. 
         FIG. 5  illustrates an example block diagram of cellular communication circuitry, according to some embodiments. 
         FIG. 6  illustrates an example method of RRC message segmentation, utilizing a series of RRC PDUs to communicate a large RRC message, according to some embodiments. 
         FIGS. 7A-7C  illustrate examples of possible RRC PDU header configurations, according to some embodiments. 
         FIG. 8  illustrates an example method of RRC message segmentation, utilizing a series of PDCP PDUs to communicate a large RRC message, according to some embodiments. 
         FIGS. 9A-C  illustrate examples of possible PDCP PDU header configurations, according to some embodiments. 
         FIGS. 10-11  illustrate example signal flows for communicating a large RRC configuration as a series of RRC messages, according to some embodiments. 
     
    
    
     While the features described herein may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to be limiting to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Terms 
     The following is a glossary of terms used in this disclosure: 
     Memory Medium—Any of various types of non-transitory memory devices or storage devices. The term “memory medium” is intended to include an installation medium, e.g., a CD-ROM, floppy disks, or tape device; a computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; a non-volatile memory such as a Flash, magnetic media, e.g., a hard drive, or optical storage; registers, or other similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium may include other types of non-transitory memory as well or combinations thereof. In addition, the memory medium may be located in a first computer system in which the programs are executed, or may be located in a second different computer system which connects to the first computer system over a network, such as the Internet. In the latter instance, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer for execution. The term “memory medium” may include two or more memory mediums which may reside in different locations, e.g., in different computer systems that are connected over a network. The memory medium may store program instructions (e.g., embodied as computer programs) that may be executed by one or more processors. 
     Carrier Medium—a memory medium as described above, as well as a physical transmission medium, such as a bus, network, and/or other physical transmission medium that conveys signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digital signals. 
     Programmable Hardware Element—includes various hardware devices comprising multiple programmable function blocks connected via a programmable interconnect. Examples include FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays), PLDs (Programmable Logic Devices), FPOAs (Field Programmable Object Arrays), and CPLDs (Complex PLDs). The programmable function blocks may range from fine grained (combinatorial logic or look up tables) to coarse grained (arithmetic logic units or processor cores). A programmable hardware element may also be referred to as “reconfigurable logic”. 
     Computer System—any of various types of computing or processing systems, including a personal computer system (PC), mainframe computer system, workstation, network appliance, Internet appliance, personal digital assistant (PDA), television system, grid computing system, or other device or combinations of devices. In general, the term “computer system” can be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combination of devices) having at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium. 
     User Equipment (UE) (or “UE Device”)—any of various types of computer systems devices which are mobile or portable and which performs wireless communications. Examples of UE devices include mobile telephones or smart phones (e.g., iPhone™, Android™-based phones), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS™, PlayStation Portable™, Gameboy Advance™, iPhone™), laptops, wearable devices (e.g. smart watch, smart glasses), PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, data storage devices, or other handheld devices, etc. In general, the term “UE” or “UE device” can be broadly defined to encompass any electronic, computing, and/or telecommunications device (or combination of devices) which is easily transported by a user and capable of wireless communication. 
     Base Station—The term “Base Station” has the full breadth of its ordinary meaning, and at least includes a wireless communication station installed at a fixed location and used to communicate as part of a wireless telephone system or radio system. 
     Processing Element—refers to various elements or combinations of elements that are capable of performing a function in a device, such as a user equipment or a cellular network device. Processing elements may include, for example: processors and associated memory, portions or circuits of individual processor cores, entire processor cores, processor arrays, circuits such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), programmable hardware elements such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), as well any of various combinations of the above. 
     Channel—a medium used to convey information from a sender (transmitter) to a receiver. It should be noted that since characteristics of the term “channel” may differ according to different wireless protocols, the term “channel” as used herein may be considered as being used in a manner that is consistent with the standard of the type of device with reference to which the term is used. In some standards, channel widths may be variable (e.g., depending on device capability, band conditions, etc.). For example, LTE may support scalable channel bandwidths from 1.4 MHz to 20 MHz. In contrast, WLAN channels may be 22 MHz wide while Bluetooth channels may be 1 Mhz wide. Other protocols and standards may include different definitions of channels. Furthermore, some standards may define and use multiple types of channels, e.g., different channels for uplink or downlink and/or different channels for different uses such as data, control information, etc. 
     Band—The term “band” has the full breadth of its ordinary meaning, and at least includes a section of spectrum (e.g., radio frequency spectrum) in which channels are used or set aside for the same purpose. 
     Automatically—refers to an action or operation performed by a computer system (e.g., software executed by the computer system) or device (e.g., circuitry, programmable hardware elements, ASICs, etc.), without user input directly specifying or performing the action or operation. Thus, the term “automatically” is in contrast to an operation being manually performed or specified by the user, where the user provides input to directly perform the operation. An automatic procedure may be initiated by input provided by the user, but the subsequent actions that are performed “automatically” are not specified by the user, i.e., are not performed “manually”, where the user specifies each action to perform. For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting each field and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typing information, selecting check boxes, radio selections, etc.) is filling out the form manually, even though the computer system must update the form in response to the user actions. The form may be automatically filled out by the computer system where the computer system (e.g., software executing on the computer system) analyzes the fields of the form and fills in the form without any user input specifying the answers to the fields. As indicated above, the user may invoke the automatic filling of the form, but is not involved in the actual filling of the form (e.g., the user is not manually specifying answers to fields but rather they are being automatically completed). The present specification provides various examples of operations being automatically performed in response to actions the user has taken. 
     Approximately—refers to a value that is almost correct or exact. For example, approximately may refer to a value that is within 1 to 10 percent of the exact (or desired) value. It should be noted, however, that the actual threshold value (or tolerance) may be application dependent. For example, in some embodiments, “approximately” may mean within 0.1% of some specified or desired value, while in various other embodiments, the threshold may be, for example, 2%, 3%, 5%, and so forth, as desired or as required by the particular application. 
     Concurrent—refers to parallel execution or performance, where tasks, processes, or programs are performed in an at least partially overlapping manner. For example, concurrency may be implemented using “strong” or strict parallelism, where tasks are performed (at least partially) in parallel on respective computational elements, or using “weak parallelism”, where the tasks are performed in an interleaved manner, e.g., by time multiplexing of execution threads. 
     Various components may be described as “configured to” perform a task or tasks. In such contexts, “configured to” is a broad recitation generally meaning “having structure that” performs the task or tasks during operation. As such, the component can be configured to perform the task even when the component is not currently performing that task (e.g., a set of electrical conductors may be configured to electrically connect a module to another module, even when the two modules are not connected). In some contexts, “configured to” may be a broad recitation of structure generally meaning “having circuitry that” performs the task or tasks during operation. As such, the component can be configured to perform the task even when the component is not currently on. In general, the circuitry that forms the structure corresponding to “configured to” may include hardware circuits. 
     Various components may be described as performing a task or tasks, for convenience in the description. Such descriptions should be interpreted as including the phrase “configured to.” Reciting a component that is configured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not to invoke 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) interpretation for that component. 
     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. 
       FIGS. 1 and 2 —Communication Systems 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a simplified example wireless communication system, according to some embodiments. It is noted that the system of  FIG. 1  is merely one example of a possible system, and that features of this disclosure may be implemented in any of various systems, as desired. 
     As shown, the example wireless communication system includes a base station  102 A which communicates over a transmission medium with one or more user devices  106 A,  106 B, etc., through  106 N. Each of the user devices may be referred to herein as a “user equipment” (UE). Thus, the user devices  106  are referred to as UEs or UE devices. 
     The base station (BS)  102 A may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or cell site (a “cellular base station”) and may include hardware that enables wireless communication with the UEs  106 A through  106 N. 
     The communication area (or coverage area) of the base station may be referred to as a “cell.” The base station  102 A and the UEs  106  may be configured to communicate over the transmission medium using any of various radio access technologies (RATs), also referred to as wireless communication technologies, or telecommunication standards, such as GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), 5G new radio (5G NR), HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1×RTT, 1×EV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), etc. Note that if the base station  102 A is implemented in the context of LTE, it may alternately be referred to as an ‘eNodeB’ or ‘eNB’. Note that if the base station  102 A is implemented in the context of 5G NR, it may alternately be referred to as ‘gNodeB’ or ‘gNB’. 
     As shown, the base station  102 A may also be equipped to communicate with a network  100  (e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider, a telecommunication network such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN), and/or the Internet, among various possibilities). Thus, the base station  102 A may facilitate communication between the user devices and/or between the user devices and the network  100 . In particular, the cellular base station  102 A may provide UEs  106  with various telecommunication capabilities, such as voice, SMS and/or data services. 
     Base station  102 A and other similar base stations (such as base stations  102 B . . .  102 N) operating according to the same or a different cellular communication standard may thus be provided as a network of cells, which may provide continuous or nearly continuous overlapping service to UEs  106 A-N and similar devices over a geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards. 
     Thus, while base station  102 A may act as a “serving cell” for UEs  106 A-N as illustrated in  FIG. 1 , each UE  106  may also be capable of receiving signals from (and possibly within communication range of) one or more other cells (which might be provided by base stations  102 B-N and/or any other base stations), which may be referred to as “neighboring cells”. Such cells may also be capable of facilitating communication between user devices and/or between user devices and the network  100 . Such cells may include “macro” cells, “micro” cells, “pico” cells, and/or cells which provide any of various other granularities of service area size. For example, base stations  102 A-B illustrated in  FIG. 1  might be macro cells, while base station  102 N might be a micro cell. Other configurations are also possible. 
     In some embodiments, base station  102 A may be a next generation base station, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or “gNB”. In some embodiments, a gNB may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and/or to a NR core (NRC) network. In addition, a gNB cell may include one or more transmission and reception points (TRPs). In addition, a UE capable of operating according to 5G NR may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs. 
     Note that a UE  106  may be capable of communicating using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, the UE  106  may be configured to communicate using a wireless networking (e.g., Wi-Fi) and/or peer-to-peer wireless communication protocol (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi peer-to-peer, etc.) in addition to at least one cellular communication protocol (e.g., GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1×RTT, 1×EV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), etc.). The UE  106  may also or alternatively be configured to communicate using one or more global navigational satellite systems (GNSS, e.g., GPS or GLONASS), one or more mobile television broadcasting standards (e.g., ATSC-M/H or DVB-H), and/or any other wireless communication protocol, if desired. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates user equipment  106  (e.g., one of the devices  106 A through  106 N) in communication with a base station  102  and an access point  112 , according to some embodiments. The UE  106  may be a device with both cellular communication capability and non-cellular communication capability (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and so forth) such as a mobile phone, a hand-held device, a computer or a tablet, or virtually any type of wireless device. 
     The UE  106  may include a processor that is configured to execute program instructions stored in memory. The UE  106  may perform any of the method embodiments described herein by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively, or in addition, the UE  106  may include a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (field-programmable gate array) that is configured to perform any of the method embodiments described herein, or any portion of any of the method embodiments described herein. 
     The UE  106  may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols or technologies. In some embodiments, the UE  106  may be configured to communicate using, for example, CDMA2000 (1×RTT/1×EV-DO/HRPD/eHRPD), LTE/LTE-Advanced, or 5G NR using a single shared radio and/or GSM, LTE, LTE-Advanced, or 5G NR using the single shared radio. The shared radio may couple to a single antenna, or may couple to multiple antennas (e.g., for MIMO) for performing wireless communications. In general, a radio may include any combination of a baseband processor, analog RF signal processing circuitry (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or digital processing circuitry (e.g., for digital modulation as well as other digital processing). Similarly, the radio may implement one or more receive and transmit chains using the aforementioned hardware. For example, the UE  106  may share one or more parts of a receive and/or transmit chain between multiple wireless communication technologies, such as those discussed above. 
     In some embodiments, the UE  106  may include separate transmit and/or receive chains (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol with which it is configured to communicate. As a further possibility, the UE  106  may include one or more radios which are shared between multiple wireless communication protocols, and one or more radios which are used exclusively by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, the UE  106  might include a shared radio for communicating using either of LTE or 5G NR (or LTE or 1×RTTor LTE or GSM), and separate radios for communicating using each of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Other configurations are also possible. 
       FIG. 3 —Block Diagram of a UE 
       FIG. 3  illustrates an example simplified block diagram of a communication device  106 , according to some embodiments. It is noted that the block diagram of the communication device of  FIG. 3  is only one example of a possible communication device. According to embodiments, communication device  106  may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop, notebook, or portable computing device), a tablet and/or a combination of devices, among other devices. As shown, the communication device  106  may include a set of components  300  configured to perform core functions. For example, this set of components may be implemented as a system on chip (SOC), which may include portions for various purposes. Alternatively, this set of components  300  may be implemented as separate components or groups of components for the various purposes. The set of components  300  may be coupled (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to various other circuits of the communication device  106 . 
     For example, the communication device  106  may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash  310 ); an input/output interface such as connector I/F  320  (e.g., for connecting to a computer system; dock; charging station; input devices, such as a microphone, camera, keyboard; output devices, such as speakers; etc.); the display  360 , which may be integrated with or external to the communication device  106 ; cellular communication circuitry  330 , such as for 5G NR, LTE, GSM, etc.; and short to medium range wireless communication circuitry  329  (e.g., Bluetooth™ and WLAN circuitry). In some embodiments, communication device  106  may include wired communication circuitry (not shown), such as a network interface card, e.g., for Ethernet. 
     The cellular communication circuitry  330  may couple (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas  335  and  336  as shown. The short to medium range wireless communication circuitry  329  may also couple (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas  337  and  338  as shown. Alternatively, the short to medium range wireless communication circuitry  329  may couple (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to the antennas  335  and  336  in addition to, or instead of, coupling (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to the antennas  337  and  338 . The short to medium range wireless communication circuitry  329  and/or cellular communication circuitry  330  may include multiple receive chains and/or multiple transmit chains for receiving and/or transmitting multiple spatial streams, such as in a multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) configuration. 
     In some embodiments, as further described below, cellular communication circuitry  330  may include dedicated receive chains (including and/or coupled to, e.g., communicatively, directly or indirectly, dedicated processors and/or radios) for multiple RATs (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR). In addition, in some embodiments, cellular communication circuitry  330  may include a single transmit chain that may be switched between radios dedicated to specific RATs. For example, a first radio may be dedicated to a first RAT, e.g., LTE, and may be in communication with a dedicated receive chain and a transmit chain shared with an additional radio, e.g., a second radio that may be dedicated to a second RAT, e.g., 5G NR, and may be in communication with a dedicated receive chain and the shared transmit chain. 
     The communication device  106  may also include and/or be configured for use with one or more user interface elements. The user interface elements may include any of various elements, such as display  360  (which may be a touchscreen display), a keyboard (which may be a discrete keyboard or may be implemented as part of a touchscreen display), a mouse, a microphone and/or speakers, one or more cameras, one or more buttons, and/or any of various other elements capable of providing information to a user and/or receiving or interpreting user input. 
     The communication device  106  may further include one or more smart cards  345  that include SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) functionality, such as one or more UICC(s) (Universal Integrated Circuit Card(s))  345 . 
     As shown, the SOC  300  may include processor(s)  302 , which may execute program instructions for the communication device  106  and display circuitry  304 , which may perform graphics processing and provide display signals to the display  360 . The processor(s)  302  may also be coupled to memory management unit (MMU)  340 , which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor(s)  302  and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory  306 , read only memory (ROM)  350 , NAND flash memory  310 ) and/or to other circuits or devices, such as the display circuitry  304 , short range wireless communication circuitry  229 , cellular communication circuitry  330 , connector I/F  320 , and/or display  360 . The MMU  340  may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or set up. In some embodiments, the MMU  340  may be included as a portion of the processor(s)  302 . 
     As noted above, the communication device  106  may be configured to communicate using wireless and/or wired communication circuitry. The communication device  106  may be configured to perform methods to communicate network configuration messages with a cellular network. 
     As described herein, the communication device  106  may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features for a communication device  106  to communicate network configuration messages with a cellular network. The processor  302  of the communication device  106  may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), processor  302  may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition) the processor  302  of the communication device  106 , in conjunction with one or more of the other components  300 ,  304 ,  306 ,  310 ,  320 ,  329 ,  330 ,  340 ,  345 ,  350 ,  360  may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein. 
     In addition, as described herein, processor  302  may include one or more processing elements. Thus, processor  302  may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of processor  302 . In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processor(s)  302 . 
     Further, as described herein, cellular communication circuitry  330  may include one or more processing elements to communicate network configuration messages with a cellular network. The cellular communication circuitry  330  may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium) and/or by operating an ASIC or other circuitry. For example, cellular communication circuitry  330  may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of cellular communication circuitry  330 . In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of cellular communication circuitry  330 . 
       FIG. 4 —Block Diagram of a Base Station 
       FIG. 4  illustrates an example block diagram of a base station  102 , according to some embodiments. It is noted that the base station of  FIG. 4  is merely one example of a possible base station. As shown, the base station  102  may include processor(s)  404  which may execute program instructions for the base station  102 . The processor(s)  404  may also be coupled to memory management unit (MMU)  440 , which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor(s)  404  and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory  460  and read only memory (ROM)  450 ) or to other circuits or devices. 
     The base station  102  may include at least one network port  470 . The network port  470  may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide a plurality of devices, such as UE devices  106 , access to the telephone network as described above in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
     The network port  470  (or an additional network port) may also or alternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility related services and/or other services to a plurality of devices, such as UE devices  106 . In some cases, the network port  470  may couple to a telephone network via the core network, and/or the core network may provide a telephone network (e.g., among other UE devices serviced by the cellular service provider). 
     In some embodiments, base station  102  may be a next generation base station, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or “gNB”. In such embodiments, base station  102  may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and/or to a NR core (NRC) network. In addition, base station  102  may be considered a 5G NR cell and may include one or more transition and reception points (TRPs). In addition, a UE capable of operating according to 5G NR may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs. 
     The base station  102  may include at least one antenna  434 , and possibly multiple antennas. The at least one antenna  434  may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with UE devices  106  via radio  430 . The antenna  434  communicates with the radio  430  via communication chain  432 . Communication chain  432  may be a receive chain, a transmit chain or both. The radio  430  may be configured to communicate via various wireless communication standards, including, but not limited to, 5G NR, LTE, LTE-A, GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, etc. 
     The base station  102  may be configured to communicate wirelessly using multiple wireless communication standards. In some instances, the base station  102  may include multiple radios, which may enable the base station  102  to communicate according to multiple wireless communication technologies. For example, as one possibility, the base station  102  may include an LTE radio for performing communication according to LTE as well as a 5G NR radio for performing communication according to 5G NR. In such a case, the base station  102  may be capable of operating as both an LTE base station and a 5G NR base station. As another possibility, the base station  102  may include a multi-mode radio which is capable of performing communications according to any of multiple wireless communication technologies (e.g., 5G NR and Wi-Fi, LTE and Wi-Fi, LTE and UMTS, LTE and CDMA2000, UMTS and GSM, etc.). 
     As described further subsequently herein, the BS  102  may include hardware and software components for implementing or supporting implementation of features described herein, including communicating network configuration messages with one or more devices, such as the UE devices  106 . The processor  404  of the base station  102  may be configured to implement or support implementation of part or all of the methods described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, the processor  404  may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), or a combination thereof. Alternatively (or in addition) the processor  404  of the BS  102 , in conjunction with one or more of the other components  430 ,  432 ,  434 ,  440 ,  450 ,  460 ,  470  may be configured to implement or support implementation of part or all of the features described herein. 
     In addition, as described herein, processor(s)  404  may be comprised of one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in processor(s)  404 . Thus, processor(s)  404  may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of processor(s)  404 . In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processor(s)  404 . 
     Further, as described herein, radio  430  may be comprised of one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in radio  430 . Thus, radio  430  may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of radio  430 . In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of radio  430 . 
       FIG. 5 : Block Diagram of Cellular Communication Circuitry 
       FIG. 5  illustrates an example simplified block diagram of cellular communication circuitry, according to some embodiments. It is noted that the block diagram of the cellular communication circuitry of  FIG. 5  is only one example of a possible cellular communication circuit. According to embodiments, cellular communication circuitry  330  may be include in a communication device, such as communication device  106  described above. As noted above, communication device  106  may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop, notebook, or portable computing device), a tablet and/or a combination of devices, among other devices. 
     The cellular communication circuitry  330  may couple (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas  335   a - b  and  336  as shown (in  FIG. 3 ). In some embodiments, cellular communication circuitry  330  may include dedicated receive chains (including and/or coupled to, e.g., communicatively, directly or indirectly, dedicated processors and/or radios) for multiple RATs (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR). For example, as shown in  FIG. 5 , cellular communication circuitry  330  may include a modem  510  and a modem  520 . Modem  510  may be configured for communications according to a first RAT, e.g., such as LTE or LTE-A, and modem  520  may be configured for communications according to a second RAT, e.g., such as 5G NR. 
     As shown, modem  510  may include one or more processors  512  and a memory  516  in communication with processors  512 . Modem  510  may be in communication with a radio frequency (RF) front end  530 . RF front end  530  may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, RF front end  530  may include receive circuitry (RX)  532  and transmit circuitry (TX)  534 . In some embodiments, receive circuitry  532  may be in communication with downlink (DL) front end  550 , which may include circuitry for receiving radio signals via antenna  335   a.    
     Similarly, modem  520  may include one or more processors  522  and a memory  526  in communication with processors  522 . Modem  520  may be in communication with an RF front end  540 . RF front end  540  may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, RF front end  540  may include receive circuitry  542  and transmit circuitry  544 . In some embodiments, receive circuitry  542  may be in communication with DL front end  560 , which may include circuitry for receiving radio signals via antenna  335   b.    
     In some embodiments, a switch  570  may couple transmit circuitry  534  to uplink (UL) front end  572 . In addition, switch  570  may couple transmit circuitry  544  to UL front end  572 . UL front end  572  may include circuitry for transmitting radio signals via antenna  336 . Thus, when cellular communication circuitry  330  receives instructions to transmit according to the first RAT (e.g., as supported via modem  510 ), switch  570  may be switched to a first state that allows modem  510  to transmit signals according to the first RAT (e.g., via a transmit chain that includes transmit circuitry  534  and UL front end  572 ). Similarly, when cellular communication circuitry  330  receives instructions to transmit according to the second RAT (e.g., as supported via modem  520 ), switch  570  may be switched to a second state that allows modem  520  to transmit signals according to the second RAT (e.g., via a transmit chain that includes transmit circuitry  544  and UL front end  572 ). In some scenarios, cellular communication circuitry  330  may receive instructions to transmit according to both the first RAT (e.g., as supported via modem  510 ) and the second RAT (e.g., as supported via modem  520 ) simultaneously. In such scenarios, switch  570  may be switched to a third state that allows modem  510  to transmit signals according to the first RAT (e.g., via a transmit chain that includes transmit circuitry  534  and UL front end  572 ) and modem  520  to transmit signals according to the second RAT (e.g., via a transmit chain that includes transmit circuitry  544  and UL front end  572 ). 
     In some embodiments, the cellular communication circuitry  330  may be configured to perform methods to communicate network configuration messages with a cellular network as further described herein. 
     As described herein, the modem  510  may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features, as well as the various other techniques described herein. The processors  512  may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), processor  512  may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition) the processor  512 , in conjunction with one or more of the other components  530 ,  532 ,  534 ,  550 ,  570 ,  572 ,  335  and  336  may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein. 
     In addition, as described herein, processors  512  may include one or more processing elements. Thus, processors  512  may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of processors  512 . In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processors  512 . 
     As described herein, the modem  520  may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features, as well as the various other techniques described herein. The processors  522  may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), processor  522  may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition) the processor  522 , in conjunction with one or more of the other components  540 ,  542 ,  544 ,  550 ,  570 ,  572 ,  335  and  336  may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein. 
     In addition, as described herein, processors  522  may include one or more processing elements. Thus, processors  522  may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of processors  522 . In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processors  522 . 
     In some embodiments, the cellular communication circuitry  330  may include only one transmit/receive chain. For example, the cellular communication circuitry  330  may not include the modem  520 , the RF front end  540 , the DL front end  560 , and/or the antenna  335   b.  As another example, the cellular communication circuitry  330  may not include the modem  510 , the RF front end  530 , the DL front end  550 , and/or the antenna  335   a.  In some embodiments, the cellular communication circuitry  330  may also not include the switch  570 , and the RF front end  530  or the RF front end  540  may be in communication, e.g., directly, with the UL front end  572 . 
     In some embodiments, the cellular communication circuitry  330  may couple (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to a plurality of antennas  336 . For example, each of the FR front end  530  and the RF front end  540  may be connected to a respective antenna  336 , e.g., via a respective UL front end  572 . 
     Large RRC Message Size for 5G NR 
     In NR, the size of RRC messages, such as RRC configuration messages, in some circumstances, may be very large, e.g., due to beam level configuration, among other factors. For example, with maximum values for a one-cell configuration case, example information elements (IEs) of an RRC configuration message may have the following sizes: RACH-ConfigDedicated may be approximately 7 Kbytes; CSI-RS-ResourceConfigMobility may be approximately 1 Kbyte; MeasObjectNR may be approximately 3 Kbytes; and CSI-MeasConfig may be approximately 150 KBytes per carrier. For a multiple-cell configuration case, the RRC configuration message size may be much larger. 
     According to traditional approaches (e.g., existing cellular standards, such as LTE), RCC messages may be capped at a maximum size that is insufficient to support such configurations. For example, 3GPP currently defines a maximum size of a PDCP SDU as 9000 bytes. This means that the maximum size of one RRC message is also constrained to 9 Kbytes according to such existing definitions. 
       FIGS. 6-7 —Segmenting a Large RRC Message Across RRC PDUs 
     To address these limitations, a large RRC message may be divided into several RRC PDUs for transmission. For each RRC PDU, the size may be restricted to comply with a maximum PDCP SDU size limitation (e.g., 9 Kbytes). For example, a communications system including at least one base station (e.g., gNB), such as the base station  102 , and at least one mobile device, such as the UE  106 , may support RRC message segmentation and concatenation at the RRC layer. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates an example of RRC message segmentation, utilizing a series of RRC PDUs to communicate a large RRC message (such as an RRC configuration message), according to some embodiments. As shown in  FIG. 6 , a transmitting device, such as a base station  102  (and/or other network component) or a UE  106 , may generate an RRC message for transmission to a receiving device, such as the UE  106  or the base station  102 . For example, the transmitting device may encode an RRC configuration as a single RRC message  600 , e.g., at the RRC layer. The RRC message  600  may include, e.g., RRC configuration parameters  616  for the receiving device, as well as various header information, such as a message type  612  (e.g., RRC-MessageType) and/or a transaction identifier  614  (e.g., RRC-TransactionIdentifier). However, it should be understood that the method described in connection with  FIG. 6  may also be applied to RRC messages containing information other than an RRC configuration. 
     The transmitting device may then segment the encoded RRC message, e.g., in response to a determination that the RRC message meets (or exceeds) a threshold size. As illustrated, the RRC message  600  is segmented into three segments (segment # 1 , segment # 2 , and segment # 3 ). However, it should be understood that, in other scenarios, the RRC message  600  may be segmented into other numbers of segments. For example, the RRC message  600  may be segmented into any number of segments that is appropriate, e.g., to ensure that each segment accommodates packet size constraints, such as a maximum PDCP SDU size. In some scenarios, the RRC message  600  may be segmented into segments of equal size. In other embodiments, one or more of the segments may differ in size. 
     The transmitting device may package the segments as a series of RRC PDUs, e.g., by adding an RRC header to each of the segments. Specifically, each RRC PDU may include a payload including a respective segment of the encoded RRC message  600 . As illustrated, the payload of RRC PDU  622  includes (e.g., consists of) segment # 1 , the payload of RRC PDU  624  includes segment # 2 , and the payload of RRC PDU  626  includes segment # 3 . The header may include information to facilitate further processing of the RRC PDU by the transmitting device and/or by the receiving device. 
     After generating the series of RRC PDUs at the RRC layer, the transmitting device may further process the RRC PDUs (e.g., through PDCP, RLC, MAC, and PHY layers) and transmit the resulting packet(s) to the receiving device. 
     Upon receiving the packet(s), the receiving device may extract the RRC PDUs (e.g., through PHY, MAC, RLC, and PDCP layers). The receiving device may, e.g., at the RRC layer, store extracted RRC PDU(s) (or their payloads) until all RRC PDUs in the series have been received. Upon extracting the RRC PDUs, the receiving device may, e.g., at the RRC layer, reassemble the RRC message. For example, the receiving device may extract and concatenate the payloads of the RRC PDUs (e.g., the RRC message segments). The headers of the RRC PDUs may include information to assist in properly concatenating the payloads. 
     The concatenated payloads from the entire series of RRC PDUs should constitute the entire encoded RRC message  600 . Thus, once the payloads have been concatenated, the receiving device may decode the RRC message  600 . 
     In response to PDCP or RLC re-establishment, the RRC layer of the receiving device may discard any stored payloads extracted from the RRC PDUs (e.g., the RRC message segments). 
       FIGS. 7A-7C  illustrate examples of possible RRC PDU header configurations, according to some embodiments. 
       FIG. 7A  illustrates a first example of the series of RRC PDUs including  622 ,  624 , and  626 , as shown in  FIG. 6 . In the example of  FIG. 7A , the header of each of the RRC PDUs may include an end-marker indicating whether the respective RRC PDU is the final RRC PDU in the series. For example, an end-marker field within the RRC PDU header may have a first value (e.g., “1”) when the RRC PDU is the last RRC PDU in the series (including instances when the RRC message was not segmented). As illustrated, the RRC PDU  626  includes an end-marker field having the first value, indicating that the RRC PDU  626  is the final RRC PDU in the series. The end-marker field may have a second value (e.g., “0”) when the RRC PDU is not the last RRC PDU in the series. As illustrated, the RRC PDUs  622  and  624  each include an end-marker field having the second value. In some embodiments, the RRC PDU header may include additional information (not shown). 
     Upon extracting the RRC PDUs, the receiving device may, e.g., at the RRC layer, utilize the values of the end-marker fields in reassembling the RRC message. For example, the receiving device may extract and store the payloads of the RRC PDUs (e.g., the RRC message segments) until receiving an RRC PDU that has a header including an end-marker field indicating the RRC PDU is the final RRC PDU in the series. For example, the receiving device may determine whether the end marker of a received RRC PDU has the first value (e.g., “1”) or the second value (e.g., “0”). If the end-marker has the second value, the receiving device may store the payload, e.g., in order with previously stored payloads. If the end-marker has the first value—thus indicating the end of the series of RRC PDUs—the receiving device may concatenate the payload of the RRC PDU with the stored payloads and decode the resulting RRC message. 
       FIG. 7B  illustrates a second example of the series of RRC PDUs including  622 ,  624 , and  626 , as shown in  FIG. 6 . In the example of  FIG. 7B , the header of each of the RRC PDUs may include the end-marker field as described with regard to  FIG. 7A . The header may also include a message type field and/or a transaction identifier field, identifying a message type and/or a transaction identifier of the RRC message  600 . For example, the message type field may include the message type  612  and the transaction identifier field may include the transaction identifier  614 . 
     Upon extracting the RRC PDUs, the receiving device may, e.g., at the RRC layer, utilize the values included in the headers in reassembling the RRC message. For example, when reassembling the RRC message  600 , the receiving device may concatenate only those RRC PDU payloads having the appropriate (e.g., the same) message type and transaction identifier. Thus, inclusion of the message type and transaction identifier fields may allow the transmitting device to intersperse the RRC PDUs containing the RRC message  600  among other RRC PDUs having another message type and/or another transaction identifier. However, this comes at the cost of including additional overhead resulting from the additional header bits included in each RRC PDU. 
       FIG. 7C  illustrates a third example of the series of RRC PDUs including  622 ,  624 , and  626 , as shown in  FIG. 6 . In the example of  FIG. 7C , the header of each of the RRC PDUs may include an index field and a count field. Specifically, the count field may indicate the total number of RRC PDUs included in the series—e.g., the total number of RRC PDUs that contain a segment of the current encoded RRC message or the total number of segments into which the encoded RRC message was split. As illustrated in  FIG. 7C , each of the three RRC PDUs  622 ,  624 , and  626  includes a count field having a value of 3. The index field may uniquely identify each RRC PDU within the series and may, e.g., indicate the position of the RRC PDU within the series. As illustrated in  FIG. 7C , the RRC PDU  622  includes an index field having a value of 1, the RRC PDU  624  includes an index field having a value of 2, and the RRC PDU  626  includes an index field having a value of 3. 
     Upon extracting the RRC PDUs, the receiving device may, e.g., at the RRC layer, store the payloads of the RRC PDUs until each segment has been received. For example, the RRC layer may store the payloads until it has received RRC PDUs having each index value up to the value of the count field. Once all of the segments have been concatenated (as indicated by the index and count fields), the receiving device may decode the resulting RRC message. 
     Although the headers illustrated in  FIG. 7C  may require more header data in each RRC PDU header than the headers illustrated in  FIG. 7A , the headers of  FIG. 7C  may provide an additional means of verifying that all segments of the RRC message  600  have been received. Additionally, the index values may allow the RRC layer of the receiving device to reconstruct the encoded RRC message even if the segments are received out of order. 
     In some scenarios, the headers of the RRC PDUs of  FIG. 7C  may include additional information, such as the message type and transmission identifier fields discussed with regard to  FIG. 7B . 
     The methods demonstrated by  FIGS. 6-7  offer the benefit of allowing the segmentation and concatenation of the RRC message  600  to be performed entirely at the RRC layer, without any modification to other layers as present in legacy systems, while still complying with a 9 Kbyte limit in PDCP SDU size. 
       FIG. 8 —Segmenting a Large RRC Message Across PDCP PDUs 
     As an alternative means to address the limitations of the prior art, a large RRC message may be packaged as a single large RRC PDU, which may then be divided into several PDCP SDUs, which may then be further processed for transmission. For each PDCP SDU, the size may be restricted to comply with a maximum size limitation (e.g., 9 Kbytes). For example, a communications system including at least one base station (e.g., gNB), such as the base station  102 , and at least one mobile device, such as the UE  106 , may support RRC message segmentation and concatenation at the PDCP layer. 
       FIG. 8  illustrates an example of RRC message segmentation, utilizing a series of PDCP PDUs to communicate a large RRC message (such as an RRC configuration message), according to some embodiments. As shown in  FIG. 8 , a transmitting device, such as a base station  102  (and/or other network component) or a UE  106 , may generate an RRC message for transmission to a receiving device, such as the UE  106  or the base station  102 . For example, the transmitting device may encode an RRC configuration as a single RRC message  800 , e.g., at the RRC layer. The RRC message  800  may include, e.g., RRC configuration parameters  816  for the receiving device, as well as various header information, such as a message type  812  (e.g., RRC-MessageType) and/or a transaction identifier  814  (e.g., RRC-TransactionIdentifier). In some scenarios, the RRC message  800  may be similar, or identical, to the RRC message  600  of  FIG. 6 . It should be understood that the method described in connection with  FIG. 8  may also be applied to RRC messages containing information other than an RRC configuration. 
     The transmitting device may package the RRC message  800  as a single large RRC PDU  818 . Thus, the RRC PDU  818  may have a payload including the entire RRC message  800 . The RRC PDU  818  may, in some scenarios also include other information, such as a header (not shown). The RRC PDU  818  may then be passed from the RRC layer of the transmitting device to the PDCP layer of the transmitting device. In some scenarios, additional information may be separately passed from the RRC layer to the PDCP layer, such as the values of the message type field  812  and/or the transmission identifier field  814 . 
     Upon receiving the RRC PDU  818 , the PDCP layer may segment it into a plurality of PDCP SDUs, e.g., in response to a determination that the RRC PDU  818  meets (or exceeds) a threshold size. As illustrated, the RRC PDU is segmented into three PDCP SDUs (PDCP SDU # 1 , PDCP SDU # 2 , and PDCP SDU # 3 ). However, it should be understood that, in other scenarios, the RRC PDU  818  may be segmented into other numbers of PDCP SDUs. For example, the RRC PDU  818  may be segmented into any number of PDCP SDUs that is appropriate, e.g., to ensure that each PDCP SDU accommodates packet size constraints, such as a maximum PDCP SDU size. In some scenarios, the RRC PDU  818  may be segmented into PDCP SDUs of equal size. In other embodiments, one or more of the PDCP SDUs may differ in size. 
     The transmitting device may package the PDCP SDUs as a series of PDCP PDUs, e.g., by adding to each of the PDCP SDUs a PDCP header and possibly one or more additional fields, such as a Message Authentication Code—Integrity (MAC-I) field. Specifically, each PDCP PDU may include a payload including a respective PDCP SDU containing a segment of the RRC message  800 . As illustrated, the payload of PDCP PDU  822  includes (e.g., consists of) PDCP SDU # 1 , the payload of PDCP PDU  824  includes PDCP SDU # 2 , and the payload of PDCP PDU  826  includes PDCP SDU # 3 . The header may include information to facilitate further processing of the PDCP PDU by the transmitting device and/or by the receiving device. 
     After generating the series of PDCP PDUs at the PDCP layer, the transmitting device may further process the PDCP PDUs (e.g., through RLC, MAC, and PHY layers) and transmit the resulting packet(s) to a receiving device. Each PDCP PDU may be individually ciphered and integrity protected. 
     Upon receiving the packet(s), the receiving device may extract the PDCP PDUs (e.g., through PHY, MAC, and RLC layers), and may unpack their payloads; e.g., the PDCP SDUs representing segments of the RRC PDU  818 . The receiving device may, e.g., at the PDCP layer, store extracted PDCP PDUs, or their PDCP SDU payloads, until all PDCP PDUs in the series have been received. Upon receiving all of the PDCP SDUs, the receiving device may, e.g., at the PDCP layer, concatenate the PDCP SDUs to reassemble the single RRC PDU  818 . The headers of the PDCP PDUs may include information to assist in properly concatenating the PDCP SDUs. 
     Once the PDCP SDUs have been concatenated to reassemble the RRC PDU  818 , the receiving device may pass the RRC PDU  818  from the PDCP layer to the RRC layer. 
     The PDCP layer may discard any PDCP SDUs that have not yet been delivered to the higher layers upon the occurrence of PDCP Re-establishment and/or PDCP Entity Release. 
     Upon receiving the RRC PDU  818 , the RRC layer of the receiving device may decode the RRC message  800 . 
       FIGS. 9A-C  illustrate examples of possible PDCP PDU header configurations, according to some embodiments. 
       FIG. 9A  illustrates a first example of a series of PDCP PDUs  822 ,  824 , and  826 , as shown in  FIG. 8 . In the example of  FIG. 9A , the header of each of the PDCP PDUs may include an end-marker indicating whether the respective PDCP PDU is the final PDCP PDU in the series. For example, an end-marker field within the PDCP PDU header may have a first value (e.g., “1”) when the PDCP PDU is the last PDCP PDU in the series (including instances when the RRC PDU  818  was not segmented). As illustrated, the PDCP PDU  826  includes an end-marker field having the first value, indicating that the PDCP PDU  826  is the final PDCP PDU in the series. The end-marker field may have a second value (e.g., “0”) when the PDCP PDU is not the last PDCP PDU in the series. As illustrated, the PDCP PDUs  822  and  824  each include an end-marker field having the second value. In some embodiments, the PDCP PDU header may include additional information, such as a PDCP sequence number (SN) field. 
     Upon extracting the PDCP PDUs, the receiving device may, e.g., at the PDCP layer, utilize the values of the end-marker fields in reassembling the RRC PDU  818 . For example, the receiving device may extract and store the payloads of the PDCP PDUs (e.g., the PDCP SDUs) until receiving a PDCP PDU that has a header including an end-marker field indicating the PDCP PDU is the final PDCP PDU in the series. For example, the receiving device may determine whether the end marker of a received PDCP PDU has the first value (e.g., “1”) or the second value (e.g., “0”). If the end-marker has the second value, the receiving device may store the payload, e.g., in order with previously stored payloads. If the end-marker has the first value—thus indicating the end of the series of PDCP PDUs—the receiving device may concatenate the payload of the PDCP PDU with the stored payloads and pass the resulting RRC PDU  818  to the RRC layer. 
     In some scenarios, the end-marker field may utilize an existing field (e.g., a reserved bit) that is already present in a PDCP PDU header as defined by legacy systems (e.g., LTE standards). Thus, including the end-marker within the PDCP PDU header may allow proper concatenation of the PDCP SDUs without adding any overhead bits to the PDCP PDU. 
       FIG. 9B  illustrates a second example of the series of PDCP PDUs including  822 ,  824 , and  826 , as shown in  FIG. 8 . In the example of  FIG. 9B , the header of each of the PDCP PDUs may include the end-marker field as described with regard to  FIG. 9A . The header may also include a message type field and/or a transaction identifier field, identifying a message type and/or a transaction identifier of the RRC message  800 . For example, the message type field may include the message type  812  and the transaction identifier field may include the transaction identifier  814 . As noted above, the values of these fields may be provided to the PDCP layer by the RRC layer. 
     Upon extracting the PDCP PDUs, the receiving device may, e.g., at the PDCP layer, utilize the values included in the headers in reassembling the RRC PDU  818 . For example, when reassembling the RRC PDU  818 , the receiving device may concatenate only those PDCP PDU payloads having the appropriate (e.g., the same) message type and transaction identifier. Thus, inclusion of the message type and transaction identifier fields may allow the transmitting device to intersperse the PDCP PDUs containing segments of the RRC message  800  among other PDCP PDUs having another message type and/or another transaction identifier. However, this comes at the cost of including additional overhead resulting from the additional header bits included in each PDCP PDU. 
       FIG. 9C  illustrates a third example of the series of PDCP PDUs including  822 ,  824 , and  826 , as shown in  FIG. 8 . In the example of  FIG. 9C , the header of each of the PDCP PDUs may include an index field and a count field. Specifically, the count field may indicate the total number of PDCP PDUs included in the series—e.g., the total number of PDCP PDUs that contain a segment of the RRC PDU  818  or the total number of segments into which the RRC PDU  818  was split. As illustrated in  FIG. 9C , each of the three PDCP PDUs  822 ,  824 , and  826  includes a count field having a value of 3. The index field may uniquely identify each PDCP PDU within the series and may, e.g., indicate the position of the PDCP PDU within the series. As illustrated in  FIG. 9C , the PDCP PDU  822  includes an index field having a value of 1, the PDCP PDU  824  includes an index field having a value of 2, and the PDCP PDU  826  includes an index field having a value of 3. 
     Upon extracting the PDCP PDUs, the receiving device may, e.g., at the PDCP layer, store the payloads of the PDCP PDUs (e.g., the PDCP SDUs) until all PDCP PDUs in the series have been received. For example, the PDCP layer may store the payloads until it has received PDCP PDUs having each index value up to the value of the count field. Once all of the PDCP SDUs have been concatenated (as indicated by the index and count fields), the receiving device may pass the resulting RRC PDU  818  to the RRC layer. 
     Although the headers illustrated in  FIG. 9C  may require more header data in each PDCP PDU header than the headers illustrated in  FIG. 9A , the headers of  FIG. 9C  may provide an additional means of verifying that all segments of the RRC message  800  have been received. Additionally, the index values may allow the PDCP layer of the receiving device to reconstruct the RRC PDU  818  even if the segments are received out of order. 
     In some scenarios, the headers of the PDCP PDUs of  FIG. 9C  may include additional information, such as the message type and transmission identifier fields discussed with regard to  FIG. 9B . 
     The methods demonstrated by  FIGS. 8-9  offer the benefit of allowing the segmentation and concatenation of the RRC message  800  to be performed entirely at the PDCP layer, without any modification to other layers as present in legacy systems, while still complying with a 9 Kbyte limit in PDCP SDU size. Additionally, in some implementations, the PDCP layer may be better suited than the RRC layer to performing segmentation and concatenation functions. 
       FIGS. 10-11 —Multiple RRC Messages for a single RRC Configuration 
     As an alternative solution to the limitations of the prior art, a cellular network may separate one RRC configuration into multiple RRC messages, e.g., at the transmitting device. 
       FIG. 10  illustrates a first example of communicating multiple RRC messages for a single RRC configuration. In this example, instead of encoding an RRC configuration as a single RRC message that is later segmented, the base station (or other network element) may instead separate the RRC configuration into multiple RRC messages. Each RRC message may contain a portion of the RRC configuration, but may comply with any maximum size constraints. 
     As shown in  FIG. 10 , a base station, such as the base station  102 , or other network device, may, at  1002 , generate RRC configuration information and segment the information into a plurality of information sets. At  1004 , the base station  102  may transmit a first RRC message  1004  to a receiving device, such as the UE  106 . The first RRC message  1004  may include a first of the information sets. An RRC PDU header of the first RRC message  1004  may include an end-marker field (e.g., similar to that described in connection with  FIG. 7A ). The end-marker field of the first RRC message  1004  may indicate that the first RRC message  1004  is not the final RRC message of the series (e.g., may have a value of “0”). 
     At  1006 , the UE  106  may receive and decode the first RRC message  1004 . The UE  106  may store the RRC configuration information included in the first RRC message  1004  (e.g., the first of the information sets). In response to the end-marker field of the first RRC message  1004 , the UE  106  may not apply the RRC configuration specified by the first RRC message  1004 , but may instead continue to await further RRC message(s). 
     At  1008 , the base station  102  may transmit to the UE  106  a second RRC message  1008 , which may include a second of the information sets. An RRC PDU header of the second RRC message  1008  may include an end-marker field, indicating that the second RRC message  1008  is not the final RRC message of the series (e.g., may have a value of “0”). 
     At  1010 , the UE  106  may receive and decode the second RRC message  1008 . The UE  106  may store the RRC configuration information included in the second RRC message  1008  (e.g., the second of the information sets). The UE  106  may continue to await further RRC message(s), e.g., in response to the end-marker field of the second RRC message  1008 . 
     At  1012 , the base station  102  may transmit to the UE  106  a third RRC message  1012 , which may include a third of the information sets. An RRC PDU header of the third RRC message  1012  may include an end-marker field, indicating that the third RRC message  1012  is the final RRC message of the series (e.g., may have a value of “1”). 
     At  1014 , the UE  106  may receive and decode the third RRC message  1012 . Upon determining that the third RRC message  1012  includes an end-marker field indicating that the third RRC message  1012  is the final RRC message of the series, the UE  106  may internally apply the RRC configuration specified by the series of RRC messages  1004 ,  1008 , and  1012 . Thus, the end-marker field may serve the function of indicating when the receiving device should implement the RRC configuration. 
       FIG. 11  illustrates a second example of communicating multiple RRC messages for a single RRC configuration. As in  FIG. 10 , the base station (or other network element) may separate the RRC configuration into multiple RRC messages. Each RRC message may contain a portion of the RRC configuration, but may comply with any maximum size constraints. 
     As shown in  FIG. 11 , a base station, such as the base station  102 , or other network device, may, at  1102 , generate RRC configuration information and segment the information into a plurality of information sets. At  1104 , the base station  102  may transmit a first RRC message  1104  to a receiving device, such as the UE  106 . The first RRC message  1104  may include a first of the information sets. Similarly, the base station  102  may transmit a second RRC message  1108 , including a second of the information sets, and a third RRC message  1112 , including a third of the information sets. However, in contrast to  FIG. 10 , RRC PDU headers of the RRC messages  1104 ,  1108 , and  1112  may not include an end-marker field. Instead, the transmitting device may transmit an additional message, following transmission of all of the RRC messages that include a portion of the RRC configuration. The additional message may be referred to as an RRC activation message  1116 . 
     The receiving device may receive and decode each RRC message  1104 ,  1108 , and  1112 , at  1106 ,  1110 , and  1114 , respectively, and may store the RRC configuration information included in each of the RRC messages. The receiving device may also, at  1118 , receive and decode the RRC activation message  1116 . In response to the RRC activation message  1116 , the receiving device may internally apply the RRC configuration specified by the series of RRC messages  1104 ,  1108 , and  1112 . Thus, the RRC activation message  1116  may serve the function of indicating when the receiving device should implement the RRC configuration. 
     In connection with any of the foregoing methods, the receiving device may report to the cellular network, e.g., during initial connection, that the UE is capable of supporting one or more of the disclosed methods. 
     Example Implementations 
     Examples of the methods and systems disclosed herein may be illustrated in the following implementations. 
     A method for receiving a radio resource control (RRC) configuration, may include: by a wireless communication device: receiving one or more signals comprising a plurality of PDUs; extracting a plurality of payloads from respective PDUs of the plurality of PDUs; concatenating the plurality of payloads into an RRC message comprising information defining the RRC configuration; decoding the RRC message; and configuring the UE according to the RRC configuration. 
     In some implementations, the plurality of PDUs may be a plurality of RRC PDUs. In some implementations, the plurality of PDUs may be a plurality of PDCP PDUs. 
     In some implementations, the RRC message may further include header information, wherein each PDU of the plurality of PDUs includes at least a subset of the header information of the RRC message. 
     In some implementations, the header information may include at least one of message type or transaction ID. 
     In some implementations, the header information may include an indication of whether the PDU is a final PDU of the plurality of PDUs. 
     In some implementations, each PDU of the plurality of PDUs may include a header, the header including an indication of the number of PDUs in the plurality of PDUs and an index uniquely identifying the current PDU among the plurality of PDUs. 
     Embodiments of the present disclosure may be realized in any of various forms. For example, some embodiments may be realized as a computer-implemented method, a computer-readable memory medium, or a computer system. Other embodiments may be realized using one or more custom-designed hardware devices such as ASICs. Still other embodiments may be realized using one or more programmable hardware elements such as FPGAs. 
     In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium may be configured so that it stores program instructions and/or data, where the program instructions, if executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform a method, e.g., any of the method embodiments described herein, or, any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or, any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein, or, any combination of such subsets. 
     In some embodiments, a device (e.g., a UE  106  or a base station  102 ) may be configured to include a processor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium, where the memory medium stores program instructions, where the processor is configured to read and execute the program instructions from the memory medium, where the program instructions are executable to implement any of the various method embodiments described herein (or, any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or, any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein, or, any combination of such subsets). The device may be realized in any of various forms. 
     Although the embodiments above have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20190904
Publication Date: 20220426
Grant Date: 20220426
Priority Date: 20181105
Inventors: ZHANG, DAWEI
XU, FANGLI
HU, HAIJING
XING, LONGDA
SHIKARI, MURTAZA A.
Gurumoorthy, Sethuraman
KODALI, Sree Ram
NIMMALA, SRINIVASAN
LOVLEKAR, SRIRANG A.
OU, XU
CHEN, YUQIN
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04W72/23", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W28/065", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W48/12", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W76/27", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W48/12", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W80/08", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0053", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W80/08", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W76/27", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W72/042", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W48/12", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W80/08", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04L5/0053", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 70459231