IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,574,990
Granted Patent B2
US 12,574,990 · App. 17/875,921 · Granted Mar 10, 2026

Hierarchical mobility

Inventors: Heechoon Lee (San Diego, CA); Hung Dinh Ly (San Diego, CA); Tingfang Ji (San Diego, CA); Gavin Bernard Horn (La Jolla, CA); Karthika Paladugu (San Diego, CA); Ozcan Ozturk (San Diego, CA)
Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
H04W76/27H04B7/06952H04W8/02H04W16/28H04W56/001H04W68/02
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,574,990
App. No.
17/875,921
Filed
Jul 28, 2022
Granted
Mar 10, 2026
Kind
B2
Art Unit
2464
USPC
370/350
Abstract

Techniques are described herein for signaling procedures that use a hierarchical mobility, which may be applied when a user equipment (UE) is operating in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state or the RRC idle state. A wireless communication system may be configured with a plurality of areas in which one or more networks are established for communicating certain types of signals. Examples of the areas associated with networks may include a tracking area (TA), a radio access network area code (RAN-AC), a radio access network based notification area (RNA). A synchronization signal or a paging signal may be transmitted using a first set of communication resources in a first area, while the synchronization signal or the paging signal may be transmitted using a second set of communication resources in a second area different than the first set of communication resources.

Claims (83)

1 . A method for wireless communication, comprising:

identifying that a user equipment enters a radio resource control inactive state or a radio resource control idle state based at least in part on establishing a radio resource control connection;

identifying data to be communicated with the user equipment operating in the radio resource control inactive state or the radio resource control idle state based at least in part on identifying that the user equipment enters the radio resource control inactive state or the radio resource control idle state;

identifying a single-frequency network area associated with the user equipment operating in the radio resource control inactive state or the radio resource control idle state based at least in part on identifying the data; and

transmitting, by a base station in a set of communication resources, one or more network synchronization signals or one or more network paging signals within the single-frequency network area based at least in part on identifying the single-frequency network area associated with the user equipment, the one or more network synchronization signals or the one or more network paging signals being associated with the single-frequency network area, wherein the set of communication resources is identified based at least in part on an identifier of the single-frequency network area, and wherein the one or more network synchronization signals or the one or more network paging signals are communicated using a single-beam signal above 6 GHz.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

wherein the identified set of communication resources for transmission of the one or more network synchronization signals or the one or more network paging signals is different than communication resources of neighboring network areas.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the single-frequency network area is associated with a radio resource control state of the user equipment.

4 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

establishing the radio resource control connection with the user equipment.

5 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

identifying that the user equipment is operating in a radio resource control connected state based at least in part on transmitting the one or more network synchronization signals or the one or more network paging signals within the single-frequency network area; and

transmitting the data to be communicated to the user equipment based at least in part on identifying that the user equipment is operating in the radio resource control connected state.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving an indication of a radio access network based notification area established by the user equipment, wherein identifying the single-frequency network area is based at least in part on the indication of the radio access network based notification area received from the user equipment.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the user equipment operates in the radio resource control inactive state; and

the single-frequency network area is a radio access network area code defined by a network.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the user equipment operates in the radio resource control inactive state; and

the single-frequency network area is a radio access network based notification area established by the user equipment.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the user equipment operates in the radio resource control idle state; and

the single-frequency network area is a tracking area.

10 . An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

one or more processors;

memory coupled with the one or more processors; and

instructions stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors, individually or in any combination, to cause the apparatus to:

identify that a user equipment enters a radio resource control inactive state or a radio resource control idle state based at least in part on establishing a radio resource control connection;

identify data to be communicated with the user equipment operating in the radio resource control inactive state or the radio resource control idle state based at least in part on identifying that the user equipment enters the radio resource control inactive state or the radio resource control idle state;

identify a single-frequency network area associated with the user equipment operating in the radio resource control inactive state or the radio resource control idle state based at least in part on identifying the data; and

transmit, by a base station in a set of communication resources, one or more network synchronization signals or one or more network paging signals within the single-frequency network area based at least in part on identifying the single-frequency network area associated with the user equipment, the one or more network synchronization signals or the one or more network paging signals being associated with the single-frequency network area, wherein the set of communication resources is identified based at least in part on an identifier of the single-frequency network area, and wherein the one or more network synchronization signals or the one or more network paging signals are communicated using a single-beam signal above 6 GHZ.

11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to:

wherein the identified set of communication resources for transmission of the one or more network synchronization signals or the one or more network paging signals is different than communication resources of neighboring network areas.

12 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein

the single-frequency network area is associated with a radio resource control state of the user equipment.

13 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to:

establish the radio resource control connection with the user equipment.

14 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to:

identify that the user equipment is operating in a radio resource control connected state based at least in part on transmitting the one or more network synchronization signals or the one or more network paging signals within the single-frequency network area; and

transmit the data to be communicated to the user equipment based at least in part on identifying that the user equipment is operating in the radio resource control connected state.

15 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to:

receive an indication of a radio access network based notification area established by the user equipment, wherein identifying the single-frequency network area is based at least in part on the indication of the radio access network based notification area received from the user equipment.

16 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein:

the user equipment operates in the radio resource control inactive state; and

the single-frequency network area is a radio access network area code defined by a network.

17 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein:

the user equipment operates in the radio resource control inactive state; and

the single-frequency network area is a radio access network based notification area established by the user equipment.

18 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein:

the user equipment operates in the radio resource control idle state; and

the single-frequency network area is a tracking area.

19 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to:

identify that a user equipment enters a radio resource control inactive state or a radio resource control idle state based at least in part on establishing a radio resource control connection;

identify data to be communicated with the user equipment operating in the radio resource control inactive state or the radio resource control idle state based at least in part on identifying that the user equipment enters the radio resource control inactive state or the radio resource control idle state;

identify a single-frequency network area associated with the user equipment operating in the radio resource control inactive state or the radio resource control idle state based at least in part on identifying the data; and

transmit, by a base station in a set of communication resources, one or more network synchronization signals or one or more network paging signals within the single-frequency network area based at least in part on identifying the single-frequency network area associated with the user equipment, the one or more network synchronization signals or the one or more network paging signals being associated with the single-frequency network area, wherein the set of communication resources is identified based at least in part on an identifier of the single-frequency network area, and wherein the one or more network synchronization signals or the one or more network paging signals are communicated using a single-beam signal above 6 GHz.

20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein:

the identified set of communication resources for transmission of the one or more network synchronization signals or the one or more network paging signals is different than communication resources of neighboring network areas.

21 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein

the single-frequency network area is associated with a radio resource control state of the user equipment.

22 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 21 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to:

establish the radio resource control connection with the user equipment.

23 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 21 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to:

identify that the user equipment is operating in a radio resource control connected state based at least in part on transmitting the one or more network synchronization signals or the one or more network paging signals within the single-frequency network area; and

transmit the data to be communicated to the user equipment based at least in part on identifying that the user equipment is operating in the radio resource control connected state.

24 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to:

receive an indication of a radio access network based notification area established by the user equipment, wherein identifying the single-frequency network area is based at least in part on the indication of the radio access network based notification area received from the user equipment.

25 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein:

the user equipment operates in the radio resource control inactive state; and

the single-frequency network area is a radio access network area code defined by a network.

26 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein:

the user equipment operates in the radio resource control inactive state; and

the single-frequency network area is a radio access network based notification area established by the user equipment.

27 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein:

the user equipment operates in the radio resource control idle state; and

the single-frequency network area is a tracking area.

28 . An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

means for identifying that a user equipment enters a radio resource control inactive state or a radio resource control idle state based at least in part on establishing a radio resource control connection;

means for identifying data to be communicated with the user equipment operating in the radio resource control inactive state or the radio resource control idle state based at least in part on identifying that the user equipment enters the radio resource control inactive state or the radio resource control idle state;

means for identifying a single-frequency network area associated with the user equipment operating in the radio resource control inactive state or the radio resource control idle state based at least in part on identifying the data; and

means for transmitting, by a base station in a set of communication resources, one or more network synchronization signals or one or more network paging signals within the single-frequency network area based at least in part on identifying the single-frequency network area associated with the user equipment, the one or more network synchronization signals or the one or more network paging signals being associated with the single-frequency network area, wherein the set of communication resources is identified based at least in part on an identifier of the single-frequency network area, and wherein the one or more network synchronization signals or the one or more network paging signals are communicated using a single-beam signal above 6 GHz.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 29, 2022
From: LEE, HEECHOON; LY, HUNG DINH; JI, TINGFANG; HORN, GAVIN BERNARD; PALADUGU, KARTHIKA; OZTURK, OZCAN
To: QUALCOMM INCORPORATED
Reel/Frame 060668/0353 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation 16732217 · Dec 31, 2019
Provisional Application 62788028 · Jan 3, 2019
Related Publication 20220369413A1 · Nov 17, 2022
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