Wireless telecommunications apparatus and methods

1. A method of operating a terminal device in a wireless telecommunications network comprising the terminal device and a base station, wherein the wireless telecommunications network supports a random access procedure comprising an exchange of random access procedure messages between the terminal device and the base station, wherein at least one of the random access procedure messages is a variable size uplink message; wherein the method comprises:

receiving from the base station an instruction to perform the random access procedure, wherein the instruction to perform the random access procedure comprises an indication of a message size to be used by the terminal device for the variable size uplink message during the random access procedure; and

performing the random access procedure by exchanging random access procedure messages with the base station, including transmitting the uplink message of variable size with a size corresponding to the indicated message size received from the base station.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication of the message size to be used by the terminal device for the variable size uplink message is conveyed explicitly in information received from the base station in association with the instruction to perform the random access procedure.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the instruction to perform the random access procedure is associated with an indication of a random access preamble signature sequence to be used by the terminal device in an uplink message to initiate the random access procedure, and wherein the indication of the message size to be used by the terminal device for the variable size uplink message is conveyed implicitly by the indicated random access preamble signature sequence, whereby different random access preamble signature sequences correspond with different sizes for the variable size message in accordance with a predefined association.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication of the message size to be used by the terminal device for the variable size uplink message is conveyed implicitly by a context for performing the random access procedure, whereby different contexts for performing the random access procedure correspond with different sizes for the variable size message in accordance with a predefined association.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication of the message size to be used by the terminal device for the variable size uplink message is conveyed implicitly by information content included in the instruction to perform the random access procedure to convey other information, whereby different information contents for the other information correspond with different sizes for the variable size message in accordance with a predefined association.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information content included in the instruction to perform the random access procedure to convey other information comprises an indication of a radio resource control configuration for the terminal device, whereby different radio resource control configurations correspond with different sizes for the variable size message in accordance with a predefined association.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the random access procedure messages comprise at least a first message, a second message, and a third message, wherein the first message comprises an uplink message conveying a random access preamble signature sequence from the terminal device to the base station to initiate the random access procedure, the second message is a downlink message transmitted in response to the first message and conveying an indication of an allocation of uplink radio resources to be used by the terminal for transmitting the third message, and the third message is the variable-size uplink message.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication of a message size to be used by the terminal device for the variable size uplink message during the random access procedure comprises an indication of a transport block size, TBS, to be used for the variable size uplink message during the random access procedure.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the instruction to initiate a random access procedure is received from the base station while the terminal device is in a radio resource control connected mode of operation with respect to the base station.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the instruction to initiate a random access procedure comprises a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, order.

11. A terminal device for use in a wireless telecommunications network comprising the terminal device and a base station, wherein the wireless telecommunications network supports a random access procedure comprising an exchange of random access procedure messages between the terminal device and the base station, wherein at least one of the random access procedure messages is a variable size uplink message; wherein the terminal device comprises a controller unit and a transceiver unit configured such that the terminal device is operable to:

receive from the base station an instruction to perform the random access procedure, wherein the instruction to perform the random access procedure comprises an indication of a message size to be used by the terminal device for the variable size uplink message during the random access procedure; and

perform the random access procedure by exchanging random access procedure messages with the base station, including transmitting the uplink message of variable size with a size corresponding to the indicated message size received from the base station.

12. Integrated circuitry for a terminal device for use in a wireless telecommunications network comprising the terminal device and a base station, wherein the wireless telecommunications network supports a random access procedure comprising an exchange of random access procedure messages between the terminal device and the base station, wherein at least one of the random access procedure messages is a variable size uplink message, wherein the integrated circuitry comprises a controller element and a transceiver element configured to operate together such that the terminal device is operable to:

receive from the base station an instruction to perform the random access procedure, wherein the instruction to perform the random access procedure comprises an indication of a message size to be used by the terminal device for the variable size uplink message during the random access procedure; and

perform the random access procedure by exchanging random access procedure messages with the base station, including transmitting the uplink message of variable size with a size corresponding to the indicated message size received from the base station.

13. Integrated circuitry for a base station for use in a wireless telecommunications network comprising the base station and a terminal device, wherein the wireless telecommunications network supports a random access procedure comprising an exchange of random access procedure messages between the terminal device and the base station, wherein at least one of the random access procedure messages is a variable size uplink message, wherein the integrated circuitry comprises a controller element and a transceiver element configured to operate together such that the base station is operable to:

transmit to the terminal device an instruction to perform the random access procedure, wherein the instruction to perform the random access procedure comprises an indication of a message size to be used by the terminal device for the variable size uplink message during the random access procedure; and

engage in the random access procedure for the terminal device by exchanging random access procedure messages with the terminal device, including receiving the uplink message of variable size with a size corresponding to the indicated message size transmitted to the terminal device.