Method and apparatus for performing random access procedures

1. A method of performing a random access procedure by a terminal, the method comprising:

transmitting a random access preamble to a base station;

receiving a random access response from the base station; and

performing an uplink transmission using an uplink grant from the base station,

wherein the uplink transmission is performed by using either a maximum number of HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest) transmissions parameter or a maximum number of Msg 3 (Message 3 ) HARQ transmissions parameter.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the uplink grant is included in the received random access response.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the random access preamble is selected at a MAC (Medium Access Control) layer in the terminal.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the uplink transmission includes a mobile terminal identifier.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the uplink transmission includes the uplink grant and associated HARQ information.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the uplink grant and the HARQ information are received from a lower layer with respect to the MAC layer.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the random access response triggers generation of a message that is temporarily stored and wherein the maximum number of HARQ transmissions parameter is used in deciding when to flush a buffer in the terminal.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the maximum number of HARQ transmissions parameter is used for transmissions on all HARQ processes and all logical channels except for transmission of a data unit stored in a buffer.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the maximum number of Msg 3 HARQ transmissions parameter is used for transmissions of a data unit stored in a buffer.

10. A terminal comprising:

an RRC (Radio Resource Control) layer configured to receive a maximum number of transmissions parameters; and

a MAC (Medium Access Control) layer configured to receive two kinds of maximum number of transmissions parameters from the RRC layer,

wherein a first kind of maximum number of transmissions parameter is used for transmission of data related to a random access channel (RACH) procedure, and a second kind of maximum number of transmissions parameter is used for other types of transmissions.

11. The terminal of claim 10 , wherein the transmission of data related to the RACH procedure uses a RACH MSG 3 message.

12. The terminal of claim 10 , wherein the first kind of maximum number transmissions parameter is received via system information, and the second kind of maximum number of transmissions parameter is received via a dedicated message.

13. The terminal of claim 10 , wherein the transmission of data related to the RACH procedure is defined as an uplink transmission using an uplink grant received in a RACH access response.

14. The terminal of claim 13 , wherein the RACH access response triggers generation of a message, which is temporarily stored.

15. The terminal of claim 10 , wherein the maximum number of transmissions parameters is used in deciding when to flush a buffer in the terminal.

16. The terminal claim 10 , wherein the first kind and second kind of the maximum number of transmissions parameters are configured by the RRC layer.

17. The terminal claim 10 , wherein the first kind of the maximum number of transmissions parameter is a maximum number of Msg 3 (Message 3 ) HARQ transmissions parameter for transmission of a data unit stored in a buffer.

18. The terminal claim 10 , wherein the second kind of the maximum number of transmissions parameter is a maximum number of HARQ transmissions parameter for transmissions on all HARQ processes and all logical channels except for transmission of a data unit stored in a buffer.