Methods and devices for reducing signaling overhead

1. A method for reducing signaling overhead configured to a user equipment (UE) connected to a base station, comprising:

when the UE sends Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer messages to the base station, the UE compresses RRC layer messages to reduce signal overhead and sends the compressed RRC layer messages to the base station, wherein before compressing the RRC layer messages, the UE sends a Context Information Message to the base station; and

when the UE receives the compressed RRC layer messages from the base station, the UE decompresses the compressed RRC layer messages received from the base station;

wherein the Context Information Message further includes user identification information, logical channel identifier, and fixed physical layer resource information.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein when the UE compresses the RRC layer messages, if the Context Information Message is changed, the UE stops compressing the RRC layer messages and resends an updated Context Information Message to the base station.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein when the UE compresses the RRC layer messages, the UE removes RRC headers, and passes a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer and a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and removes Medium Access Control (MAC) headers; and

when the UE decompresses the compressed RRC layer messages received from the base station, the UE recovers the RRC headers, and passes a PDCP and a RLC layer, and recovers the MAC headers.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is performed between a RRC layer and a PDCP layer, and the method further includes a control instruction broadcasted by a communication network to decide whether to enable the method.

5. A method for reducing signaling overhead configured to a base station connected to a user equipment (UE), comprising:

when the base station receives Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer messages from the UE, the base station decompresses the compressed RRC layer messages; and

when the base station sends RRC layer messages to the UE, the base station compresses RRC layer messages to reduce signal overhead and sends the compressed RRC layer messages to the UE, wherein before compressing the RRC layer messages, the base station sends a Context Information Message to the UE;

wherein the Context Information Message further includes user identification information, logical channel identifier, and fixed physical layer resource information.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein when the base station compresses the RRC layer messages, if the Context Information Message is changed, the base station stops compressing the RRC layer messages and resends an updated Context Information Message to the UE.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein when the base station compresses the RRC layer messages, the base station removes RRC headers, and passes a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer and a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and removes Medium Access Control (MAC) headers; and

when the base station decompresses the compressed RRC layer messages received from the UE, the base station recovers the RRC headers, and passes a PDCP and a RLC layer, and recovers the MAC headers.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the method is performed between a RRC layer and a PDCP layer, and the method further includes a control instruction broadcasted by a communication network to decide whether to enable the method.

9. A user equipment (UE) for reducing signaling overhead, wherein the UE is connected to a base station through a communication network, comprising:

a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, a compression unit and a decompression unit, wherein when the UE sends RRC layer messages to the base station, the compression unit compresses the RRC layer messages to reduce signal overhead and sends the compressed RRC layer messages to the base station, wherein before the compression unit compresses the RRC layer messages, the UE sends a Context Information Message to the base station; and

when the UE receives the compressed RRC layer messages from the base station, the decompression unit decompresses the compressed RRC layer messages received from the base station;

wherein the Context Information Message further includes user identification information, logical channel identifier, and fixed physical layer resource information.

10. The UE of claim 9 , wherein when the compression unit compresses the RRC layer messages, if the Context Information Message is changed, the compression unit stops compressing the RRC layer messages and resends the updated Context Information Message.

11. The UE of claim 9 , wherein when the UE compresses the RRC layer messages, the UE removes RRC headers, and passes a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer and a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and removes Medium Access Control (MAC) headers; and

when the UE decompresses the compressed RRC layer messages received from the base station, the UE recovers the RRC headers, and passes a PDCP and a RLC layer, and recovers the MAC headers.

12. The UE of claim 9 , wherein the UE performs the compression and the decompression between a RRC layer and a PDCP layer, and the compression unit decides whether to enable the compression according to a control instruction broadcasted by the communication network.

13. A base station for reducing signaling overhead, wherein the base station is connected to a user equipment (UE) through a communication network, comprising:

a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, a compression unit and a decompression unit, wherein when the base station sends RRC layer messages to the UE, the compression unit compresses the RRC layer messages to reduce signal overhead and sends the compressed RRC layer messages to the UE, wherein before the compression unit compresses the RRC layer messages, the base station sends a Context Information Message to the UE; and

when the base station receives the compressed RRC layer messages from the UE, the decompression unit decompresses the compressed RRC layer messages received from the UE;

wherein the Context Information Message further includes user identification information, logical channel identifier, and fixed physical layer resource information.

14. The base station of claim 13 , wherein when the compression unit compresses the RRC layer messages, if the Context Information Message is changed, the compression unit stops compressing the RRC layer messages and resends the updated Context Information Message.

15. The base station of claim 13 , wherein when the base station compresses the RRC layer messages, the base station removes RRC headers, and passes a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer and a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and removes Medium Access Control (MAC) header; and

when the base station decompresses the compressed RRC layer messages received from the UE, the base station recovers the RRC headers, and passes a PDCP and a RLC layer, and recovers the MAC headers.

16. The base station of claim 13 , wherein the base station performs the compression and the decompression between a RRC layer and a PDCP layer, and the compression unit decides whether to enable the compression according to a control instruction broadcasted by the communication network.