CONNECTION CONTROL FOR MACHINE TYPE COMMUNICATION (MTC) DEVICES
Technology for switching a user equipment (UE) from a lightweight radio resource control (RRC) connection to a legacy RRC connection is disclosed. A radio base station can determine that the UE is to switch from the lightweight RRC connection with the radio base station to the legacy RRC connection with the radio base station, wherein the UE is configured to perform small data transmissions when the lightweight RRC connection is established for the UE. The radio base station can instruct the UE to perform a service request procedure in order for the UE to transition from the lightweight RRC connection to the legacy RRC connection. The radio base station can receive a service request message from the UE when the service request procedure is initiated at the UE, wherein the radio base station is configured to facilitate switching the UE from the lightweight RRC connection to the legacy RRC connection.
1 . An apparatus of a network node, the apparatus comprising circuitry configured to:
determine, at the network node, that a user equipment (UE) is to switch from a lightweight radio resource control (RRC) connection with the network node to a legacy RRC connection with the network node, wherein the UE is configured to perform small data transmissions when the lightweight RRC connection is established for the UE;
instruct the UE to perform a service request procedure in order for the UE to transition from the lightweight RRC connection to the legacy RRC connection; and
receive, from the UE, a service request message when the service request procedure is initiated at the UE, wherein the network node is configured to facilitate switching the UE from the lightweight RRC connection to the legacy RRC connection.
2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to:
monitor, at the network node, the small data transmissions for the UE; and
determine that the UE is to switch from the lightweight RRC connection to the legacy RRC connection when the small data transmissions for the UE are above a defined threshold.
3 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the circuitry is configured to monitor the small data transmissions for the UE by monitoring a number of media access control (MAC) packet data units (PDUs) that are transmitted from the UE.
4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to instruct the UE to stop using the lightweight RRC connection and initiate the service request procedure via an RRC connection setup message or an RRC connection reconfiguration message sent from the network node to the UE, wherein the RRC connection setup message or the RRC connection reconfiguration message includes an information element (IE) indicating for the UE to switch from the lightweight RRC connection to the legacy RRC connection.
5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to determine that the UE is to switch from the lightweight RRC connection to the legacy RRC connection when applications in a defined category are initialized at the UE.
6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to determine that the UE is to choose from the lightweight RRC connection or the legacy RRC connection based on an estimated amount of time for the UE to transmit data from a transmission buffer of the UE.
7 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to:
receive, at the network node, a general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP)-C message from a serving gateway (SGW), the GTP-C message indicating that a level of small data maintained in a buffer at the SGW for the UE is greater than a defined threshold; and
determine that the UE is to switch from the lightweight RRC connection to the legacy RRC connection based on the level of small data maintained in the buffer at the SGW for the UE.
8 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to determine to switch the UE from the lightweight RRC connection to the legacy RRC connection when the UE continues to request resources for an uplink (UL) transmission after expiry of a small data activity timer maintained at the network node.
9 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to:
receive, at the network node, a general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP)-C message from a serving gateway (SGW), the GTP-C message indicating that downlink data for the UE continues to be accumulated in an SGW buffer after expiry of a small data activity timer maintained at the SGW; and
determine to switch the UE from the lightweight connection to the legacy RRC connection when the downlink data for the UE continues to be accumulated in the SGW buffer after expiry of the small data activity timer.
10 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to instruct the UE to stop using the lightweight RRC connection and initiate the service request procedure via a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) sent from the network node to the UE.
11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the MAC CE includes bearer identity (ID) information for the legacy RRC connection and updated radio configuration information.
12 . An apparatus of a network node, the apparatus comprising one or more processors configured to:
receive, from a user equipment (UE), a lightweight connection setup request for initiating a lightweight radio resource control (RRC) connection with the network node for the UE, wherein the UE is configured to perform small data transmissions when the lightweight RRC connection is established for the UE;
determine, at the network node, whether to reject the lightweight connection setup request received from the UE;
send, to the UE, a lightweight connection setup reject message when the network node determines to reject the lightweight connection setup request, the lightweight connection setup reject message including an instruction for the UE to establish the legacy RRC connection with the network by initiating a service request procedure at the UE; and
receive, from the UE, a service request message when the service request procedure is initiated at the UE, wherein the network node is configured to facilitate establishment of the legacy RRC connection for the UE.
13 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine to reject the lightweight connection setup request based on historical data transmissions by the UE.
14 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to configure a list of access point names (APNs) for which the UE is permitted to use the lightweight RRC connection, wherein the network node is configured to send the list of APNs in an Open Mobile Alliance-Management Object (OMA-MO) using OMA Device Management (OMA-DM) functionality.
15 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to configure a list of applications for which the UE is permitted to use the lightweight RRC connection, wherein the network node is configured to send the list of applications in an Open Mobile Alliance-Management Object (OMA-MO) using OMA Device Management (OMA-DM) functionality.
16 . At least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium having instructions embodied thereon for switching a user equipment (UE) from a lightweight radio resource control (RRC) connection to a legacy RRC connection, the instructions when executed cause a radio base station to perform the following:
determining, using at least one processor of a radio base station, that the UE is to switch from the lightweight RRC connection with the radio base station to the legacy RRC connection with the radio base station, wherein the UE is configured to perform small data transmissions when the lightweight RRC connection is established for the UE;
instructing, using the at least one processor of the radio base station, the UE to perform a service request procedure in order for the UE to transition from the lightweight RRC connection to the legacy RRC connection; and
receiving, using the at least one processor of the radio base station, a service request message from the UE when the service request procedure is initiated at the UE, wherein the radio base station is configured to facilitate switching the UE from the lightweight RRC connection to the legacy RRC connection.
17 . The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 16 , further comprising instructions which when executed by the at least one processor of the radio base station performs the following:
monitoring the small data transmissions for the UE; and
determining that the UE is to switch from the lightweight RRC connection to the legacy RRC connection when the small data transmissions for the UE are above a defined threshold.
18 . The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 16 , further comprising instructions which when executed by the at least one processor of the radio base station performs the following: determining to switch the UE from the lightweight RRC connection to the legacy RRC connection when the UE continues to request resources for an uplink (UL) transmission after expiry of a small data activity timer maintained at the network node.
19 . The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the UE is instructed to stop using the lightweight RRC connection and initiate the service request procedure via a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) sent from the network node to the UE.
20 . The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 16 , further comprising instructions which when executed by the at least one processor of the radio base station performs the following: configuring a list of applications for which the UE is permitted to use the lightweight RRC connection, wherein the radio base station is configured to send the list of applications in an Open Mobile Alliance-Management Object (OMA-MO) using OMA Device Management (OMA-DM) functionality.