Cell prioritization for cell (re)selection in wireless communication systems

1. A method performed by a user equipment (UE) for cell selection while the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) Inactive state, the method comprising:

receiving, by the UE while connected to a 5 th Generation Core (5GC) network, a target Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) frequency carrier indication via UE-specific downlink (DL) control signaling, the target E-UTRA frequency carrier indication being associated with a target core network (CN) type and redirecting the UE to a target E-UTRA frequency carrier;

transitioning from an RRC Connected state to an E-UTRA RRC Inactive state based on the UE-specific DL control signaling;

selecting a suitable cell in a plurality of suitable cells associated with the target E-UTRA frequency carrier while the UE is in the E-UTRA RRC Inactive state, wherein the suitable cell is selected without determining a suitable CN type for the UE; and

after selecting the suitable cell, determining an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network as the suitable CN type for the UE.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the suitable cell comprises selecting the suitable cell based on the UE's serving network.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

camping on the suitable cell; and

receiving supported CN types of the UE's serving network via broadcast system information from the suitable cell.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

camping on the suitable cell;

determining to change an operating CN type of the UE from the 5GC to the EPC while the UE is camping on the suitable cell; and

discarding stored RRC Inactive Context and transitioning from the E-UTRA RRC Inactive state to an RRC Idle state.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the RRC Connected state is a New Radio (NR) RRC Connected state or an E-UTRA RRC Connected state.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the UE-specific DL control signaling is an E-UTRA RRCConnectionRelease message or a New Radio (NR) RRCRelease message.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the EPC network as the suitable CN type comprises determining the EPC network as the suitable CN type based on the selected suitable cell and the UE-specific DL control signaling.

8. A method for a base station that communicates with a user equipment (UE) for cell (re)selection, the method comprising:

sending to the UE a first offset value and a second offset value to be used by the UE when the UE performs measurement on a signal strength and a signal quality of a candidate cell in a cell (re)selection procedure,

wherein the UE adds the first offset value to the measurement after determining that the candidate cell supports at least a 5 th Generation Core (5GC) network connection, and the UE subtracts the second offset value from the measurement when the candidate cell does not support the 5GC network connection.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the candidate cell that does not support the 5GC network connection comprises a candidate cell that supports an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network connection.

10. A user equipment (UE), comprising:

one or more non-transitory computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon; and

at least one processor coupled to the one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, and configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:

receive, by the UE while connected to a 5 th Generation Core (5GC) network, a target Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) frequency carrier indication via UE-specific downlink (DL) control signaling, the target E-UTRA frequency carrier indication being associated with a target core network (CN) type and redirecting the UE to a target E-UTRA frequency carrier;

transition from a radio access control (RRC) Connected state to an E-UTRA RRC Inactive state based on the UE-specific DL control signaling;

select a suitable cell in a plurality of suitable cells associated with the target E-UTRA frequency carrier while the UE is in the E-UTRA RRC Inactive state, wherein the suitable cell is selected without determining a suitable CN type for the UE; and

after selecting the suitable cell, determine an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network as the suitable CN type for the UE.

11. The UE of claim 10 , wherein selecting the suitable cell comprises selecting the suitable cell based on the UE's serving network.

12. The UE of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:

camp on the suitable cell; and

receive supported CN types of the UE's serving network via broadcast system information from the suitable cell.

13. The UE of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:

camp on the suitable cell;

determine to change an operating CN type of the UE from the 5GC to the EPC while the UE is camping on the suitable cell; and

discard stored RRC Inactive Context and transition from the E-UTRA RRC Inactive state to an RRC Idle state.

14. The UE of claim 10 , wherein:

the RRC Connected state is a New Radio (NR) RRC Connected state or an E-UTRA RRC Connected state.

15. The UE of claim 10 , wherein: the UE-specific DL control signaling is an E-UTRA RRCConnectionRelease message or a New Radio (NR) RRCRelease message.

16. The UE of claim 10 , wherein determining the EPC network as the suitable CN type comprises determining the EPC network as the suitable CN type based on the selected suitable cell and the UE-specific DL control signaling.