IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,538,375
Granted Patent B2
US 12,538,375 · App. 18/006,365 · Granted Jan 27, 2026

RRC re-establishment and radio link failure reporting in sidelink relay systems

Inventors: Peng Cheng (Beijing, CN); Karthika Paladugu (San Diego, CA); Gavin Bernard Horn (La Jolla, CA); Huichun Liu (San Diego, CA)
Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
H04W76/19H04W88/04
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,538,375
App. No.
18/006,365
Granted
Jan 27, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for RRC connection reestablishment by a remote UE. In some cases, a remote UE may be configured to detect, on at least one of a first link between a first relay UE and a first network entity or a second link between the remote UE and the first relay UE, a radio link failure (RLF) resulting in a loss of radio resource control (RRC) connection and attempt to reestablish RRC connection by performing at least one of relay selection or cell selection.

Claims (100)

1 . A method for wireless communications by a remote user equipment (UE), comprising:

detecting, on at least one of a first link between a first relay UE and a first network entity or a second link between the remote UE and the first relay UE, a radio link failure (RLF) resulting in a loss of radio resource control (RRC) connection;

attempting to reestablish RRC connection by performing relay selection to search for a suitable relay simultaneous with, before, or after cell selection to search for a suitable cell; and

initiating an RRC re-establishment procedure by sending an RRC reestablishment request message directly to:

a network entity of the suitable cell, or

a network entity via the suitable relay.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the RLF comprises an RLF on a link between the first network entity and at least one of the remote UE or first relay UE; and

a cause of the RLF relates to at least one of a start of a timer due to radio link monitoring (RLM), a maximum number of retransmissions of radio link control (RLC) is reached, a maximum number of random access channel (RACH) preamble retransmissions is reached, a security failure on a cellular link with a network entity, a reconfiguration failure, or a handover failure.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the RLF comprises an RLF on a link between the remote UE and the first relay UE; and

a cause of the RLF relates to at least one of a maximum number of retransmissions of radio link control (RLC) is reached, a reconfiguration timer expiration, a maximum number of hybrid automatic retransmission request (HARQ) transmissions is reached, an internet protocol (IP) check failure, or a handover failure.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein performing relay selection simultaneous with, before, or after cell selection comprises performing relay selection simultaneous with cell selection, and wherein initiating the RRC re-establishment procedure comprises:

responsive to finding the suitable cell before finding the suitable relay, initiating the RRC re-establishment procedure by sending the RRC reestablishment request message directly to the network entity of the suitable cell; or

responsive to finding the suitable relay before finding the suitable cell, initiating the RRC re-establishment procedure by sending the RRC reestablishment request message to the network entity via the suitable relay.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

receiving an RRC reestablishment message from at least one of the suitable cell or the suitable relay; and

sending an RRC reestablishment complete message to the suitable cell or the suitable relay.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein performing relay selection simultaneous with, before, or after cell selection comprises performing relay selection after cell selection and:

initializing a timer when beginning the cell selection; and

performing the relay selection to search for the suitable relay responsive to the timer expiring before the remote UE finds the suitable cell.

7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising performing selection along with the relay selection responsive to the timer expiring before the remote UE finds the suitable cell.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein performing relay selection simultaneous with, before, or after cell selection comprises performing relay selection before cell selection and:

initializing a timer when beginning the relay selection; and

performing the cell selection to search for the suitable cell responsive to the timer expiring before the remote UE finds the suitable relay.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising performing cell selection along with the relay selection responsive to the timer expiring before the remote UE finds the suitable relay.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the remote UE utilizes an exceptional pool of resources after detection of the RLF and before RRC reestablishment.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein:

the remote UE utilizes an exceptional pool provided by a cell in which the RLF was detected while performing the relay selection or the cell selection; and

the remote UE utilizes an exceptional pool provided by a cell in which it initiates re-establishment after finding the suitable cell or the suitable relay.

12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving signaling configuring the remote UE to, when attempting to reestablish RRC connection:

perform the cell selection and the relay selection simultaneously;

perform the relay selection before performing the cell selection; or

perform the relay selection after performing the cell selection.

13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising, after the remote UE has reestablished RRC connection with the first network entity or a second network entity, sending a report indicating the RLF.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the remote UE sends the report via a UE information response message.

15 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising providing an indication of availability of the report via an RRC setup complete message or RRC reestablishment complete message.

16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the report is sent directly to a network entity or via a relay UE.

17 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the report indicates at least one of: an RLF cause, an identification of the remote UE, measurements on the first link, or measurements associated with the first link, or measurements associated with the second link.

18 . A method for wireless communications by a network entity, comprising:

sending a report indicating a radio link failure (RLF), the report indicating to a remote user equipment (UE) to, when attempting to reestablish RRC connection, perform relay selection to search for a suitable relay simultaneous with, before, or after cell selection to search for a suitable cell;

receiving, from the remote UE, a radio resource control (RRC) reestablishment request message;

determining if the remote UE was previously connected to the network entity or another network entity via a first relay UE;

retrieving a context of the remote UE from the other network entity if the remote UE was previously connected to the other network entity; and

transmitting an RRC reestablishment message or RRC setup message to the remote UE.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein:

the determination is the remote UE was previously connected to the network entity via the first relay UE; and

the RRC reestablishment request message is received from the remote UE via a second relay UE.

20 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

receiving an RRC reestablishment complete message from the remote UE, via a same route used by the network entity to send the RRC reestablishment message.

21 . The method of claim 20 , further comprising, upon receipt of the RRC reestablishment compete message:

reconfiguring a radio link control (RLC) and adaptation layer for the remote UE and the second relay UE; and

signaling the first relay to release an adaptation layer configuration related to the remote UE.

22 . The method of claim 18 , wherein:

the determination is the remote UE was previously connected to the other network entity via the first relay UE.

23 . The method of claim 22 , further comprising:

retrieving a context of the remote UE from the other network entity.

24 . The method of claim 23 , further comprising:

receiving an RRC reestablishment complete message from the remote UE; and

signaling the other network entity to release a context of the remote UE.

25 . The method of claim 18 , wherein:

the determination is the remote UE was previously connected to the other network entity via a first relay UE; and

the RRC reestablishment request message is received directly from the remote UE.

26 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

retrieving a context of the remote UE from the other network entity.

27 . The method of claim 25 , further comprising:

receiving an RRC reestablishment complete message from the remote UE; and

signaling the other network entity to release a context of the remote UE.

28 . The method of claim 18 , wherein:

the determination is the remote UE was previously connected to the other network entity via a first relay UE; and

the RRC reestablishment request message is received from the remote UE via a second relay UE.

29 . The method of claim 28 , further comprising:

retrieving a context of the remote UE from the other network entity.

30 . The method of claim 25 , further comprising:

receiving an RRC reestablishment complete message from the remote UE via the second relay; and

signaling the other network entity to release a context of the remote UE.

31 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising, providing the remote UE an exceptional pool of resources, wherein the remote UE utilizes the exceptional pool of resources provided by the network entity at least for signaling the RRC reestablishment request message.

32 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the network entity receives the report via a UE information response message.

33 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising determining availability of the report via an RRC setup complete message or RRC reestablishment complete message.

34 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the report is sent directly to the network entity or via a relay UE.

35 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the report indicates at least one of: an RLF cause, an identification of the remote UE, measurements on the first link, or measurements associated with the first link, or measurements associated with the second link.

36 . An apparatus for wireless communications by a remote user equipment (UE), comprising:

at least one processor and a memory configured to

detect, on at least one of a first link between a first relay UE and a first network entity or a second link between the remote UE and the first relay UE, a radio link failure (RLF) resulting in a loss of radio resource control (RRC) connection;

attempt to reestablish RRC connection by performing relay selection to search for a suitable relay simultaneous with, before, or after cell selection to search for a suitable cell; and

initiate an RRC re-establishment procedure by sending an RRC reestablishment request message directly to a network entity of the suitable cell or initiating the RRC re-establishment procedure by sending the RRC reestablishment request message to a network entity via the suitable relay.

37 . The apparatus of claim 36 , wherein the at least one processor and the memory configured to perform relay selection to search for the suitable relay simultaneous with, before, or after cell selection to search for the suitable cell comprises the at least one processor and the memory configured to perform one of the relay selection or the cell selection and further comprising the at least one process and the memory configured to:

initialize a timer when beginning the one of the relay selection or the cell selection;

perform an other of the relay selection or the cell selection responsive to the timer expiring before the one of the relay selection or the cell selection results in finding a suitable relay or suitable cell.

38 . The apparatus of claim 36 , wherein the at least one processor and the memory configured to perform relay selection to search for the suitable relay simultaneous with, before, or after cell selection to search for the suitable cell comprises the at least one processor and the memory configured to perform the relay selection simultaneous with the cell selection and further comprising the at least one process and the memory configured to:

responsive to finding the suitable cell before finding the suitable relay, initiate the RRC re-establishment procedure by sending the RRC reestablishment request message directly to the network entity of the suitable cell; or

responsive to finding the suitable relay before finding the suitable cell, initiating the RRC re-establishment procedure by sending the RRC reestablishment request message to the network entity via the suitable relay.

39 . An apparatus for wireless communications by a network entity, comprising:

at least one processor and a memory configured to

send a report indicating a radio link failure (RLF), the report indicating to a remote user equipment (UE) to, when attempting to reestablish RRC connection, perform relay selection to search for a suitable relay simultaneous with, before, or after cell selection to search for a suitable cell; and

receive, from the remote UE, a radio resource control (RRC) reestablishment request message;

determine if the remote UE was previously connected to the network entity or another network entity via a first relay UE;

retrieve a context of the remote UE from the other network entity if the remote UE was previously connected to the other network entity; and

transmit an RRC reestablishment message or RRC setup message to the remote UE.

40 . The apparatus of claim 39 , the at least one processor and the memory configured to send a report indicating the RLF providing the remote UE an exceptional pool of resources, wherein the remote UE utilizes the exceptional pool of resources provided by the network entity at least for signaling the RRC reestablishment request message.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 27, 2023
From: CHENG, PENG; PALADUGU, KARTHIKA; HORN, GAVIN BERNARD; LIU, HUICHUN
To: QUALCOMM INCORPORATED
Reel/Frame 062515/0072 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20230269809A1 · Aug 24, 2023
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