Method and apparatus for radio resource control procedures
View Patent ↗A system and method for addressing RLC unrecoverable errors experienced by User Equipment (UE) in a wireless network help the network to resolve the errors without shifting the UE into an Idle mode and dropping voice calls. A measurement event provides the buffer occupancy and identifies the affected radio bearer to the network. If the state of the bearer is not changed, the UE provides a Signaling Connection Release Indication message or a Radio Bearer Release Indication message to the network, the latter message identifying the radio bearer to be released without taking down the entire signaling connection for the domain.
1. A method in a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
operating in a Dedicated Channel State (CELL_DCH);
if circuit-switched and packet-switched radio access bearers exist simultaneously in a connection state and there is a Radio Link Control (RLC) error on at least one Packet Switched (PS) Radio Access Bearer (RAB),
releasing radio resources of the at least one packet-switched radio access bearer; and
sending, via the UE after releasing the radio resources, a message comprising data relating to the RLC error to a network equipment and information for the network equipment to release the at least one packet-switched radio access bearer,
wherein the message includes an information element identifying a cause relating to the RLC error, the message sent to the network equipment does not initiate a cell update procedure, and the message is a Signaling Connection Release Indication (SCRI) message.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sending a message occurs while the UE maintains the connection state of the circuit-switched radio access bearer.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
running a timer indicative of a duration for the UE to wait for the RLC error to be corrected.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the message is to release all radio access bearers for a Packet Switched (PS) domain active in the UE.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cause indicates an RLC unrecoverable error on Radio Bearer 5 (RB5) and up.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the RLC error is an RLC unrecoverable error.
7. A method in a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
identifying at least one packet-switched radio bearer experiencing a Radio Link Control (RLC) unrecoverable error;
operating in a Dedicated Channel State (CELL_DCH);
determining if all active radio bearers for the UE are experiencing RLC errors;
releasing radio resources of the at least one packet-switched radio bearer;
sending, via the UE after releasing the radio resources, a message comprising an information element identifying a cause relating to the RLC unrecoverable error to a network equipment, wherein:
if the determining is affirmative, the message is to release all radio access bearers for the UE, the message does not initiate a cell update procedure, and the message is a Signaling Connection Release Indication (SCRI) message, and
if the determining is negative, the message is for the network equipment to release only the at least one packet-switched radio bearer and the message is a Radio Bearer Release Indication (RBRI) message.
8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising, before the sending to the network equipment:
sending data relating to the RLC unrecoverable error to the network equipment, the data including an identification of the at least one packet-switched radio bearer.
9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising, before the sending to the network equipment, determining that a timer has expired and the RLC error remains.
10. A method in a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
operating in a Dedicated Channel State (CELL_DCH);
determining the existence of a Radio Link Control (RLC) error on at least one packet-switched radio bearer;
sending to a network equipment a reporting message indicative of the RLC error;
running a timer indicative of a duration for the UE to wait for the RLC error to be corrected;
determining that the timer expires and the RLC error is not corrected;
releasing radio resources of the at least one packet-switched radio bearer; and
sending, via the UE after releasing the radio resources, to the network equipment a Signaling Connection Release Indication (SCRI) message with an information element, the information element identifying a cause relating to the RLC error, and the SCRI message does not initiate a cell update procedure.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the cause is indicative of an RLC unrecoverable error on Radio Bearer 5 (RB5) and up.
12. A User equipment (UE), comprising:
one or more processors configured to cause the UE to:
operate in a Dedicated Channel State (CELL_DCH);
determine if circuit-switched and packet-switched radio access bearers exist simultaneously in a connection state and there is a Radio Link Control (RLC) error on at least one packet-switched radio bearer;
release, in response to the determination, radio resources of the at least one packet-switched radio bearer; and
after releasing the radio resources, send a Signaling Connection Release Indication (SCRI) message to a network equipment while maintaining the connection state of the circuit-switched radio access bearer, wherein the SCRI message includes data relating to the RLC error, the data including an information element identifying a cause relating to the RLC error, and the SCRI message does not initiate a cell update procedure.
13. The UE of claim 12 , further comprising:
a timer indicative of a duration for the UE to wait for the RLC error to be corrected.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the message is to release only the at least one packet-switched radio bearer and provides an identification of the at least one packet-switched radio bearer.