Granted Patent B2

US 12,483,966 · App. 18/011,429 · Granted Nov 25, 2025

Inventors: Jongwoo Hong (Seoul, KR); Seungmin Lee (Seoul, KR); Seoyoung Back (Seoul, KR); Giwon Park (Seoul, KR)

Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.

H04W40/22H04W36/03H04W76/23H04W76/27H04W76/28H04W76/38H04W88/04

Abstract

Claims (51)

1 . A method comprising:

establishing, by a first device, a first radio resource control (RRC) connection with a base station;

establishing, by the first device, a PC5 connection with a second device;

starting, by the first device, a Uu data inactivity timer for data inactivity operation between the first device and the base station;

starting, by the first device, a sidelink (SL) data inactivity timer for data inactivity operation between the first device and the second device; and

releasing, by the first device, the first RRC connection between the first device and the base station, based on (i) an expiration of the Uu data inactivity timer and (ii) an expiration of the SL data inactivity timer,

wherein the first device is a device relaying communication between the second device and the base station,

wherein the Uu data inactivity timer is configured for the first device, and

wherein the SL data inactivity timer is configured for the first device.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein, based on (i) the expiration of the Uu data inactivity timer and (ii) the expiration of the SL data inactivity timer, the first RRC connection between the first device and the base station is autonomously released by the first device.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein, based on that at least one of the Uu data inactivity timer or the SL data inactivity timer does not expire, the first RRC connection between the first device and the base station is not released by the first device.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transmitting, to the second device, information related to the release of the first RRC connection based on (i) the expiration of the Uu data inactivity timer and (ii) the expiration of the SL data inactivity timer.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a relay reselection procedure of the second device or a switching procedure to a Uu link of the second device is triggered based on information related to the release of the first RRC connection.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein, based on establishment of a second RRC connection between the second device and the base station, the switching procedure to the Uu link of the second device is performed in response to the information related to the release of the first RRC connection.

7 . The method of claim 5 , wherein, based on establishment of a second RRC connection between the second device and the base station, the relay reselection procedure of the second device is performed in response to the information related to the release of the first RRC connection.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein, based on that a third device selected as a relay device of the second device by the relay reselection procedure is in an RRC_IDLE state, an RRC connection request message is transmitted by the second device to the base station through the third device.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein, based on that a third device selected as a relay device of the second device by the relay reselection procedure is in an RRC_CONNECTED state, data is transmitted by the second device to the base station through the third device.

10 . The method of claim 5 , wherein, based on that a second RRC connection between the second device and the base station is not established, the relay reselection procedure of the second device is performed in response to the information related to the release of the first RRC connection.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein, based on that a third device selected as a relay device of the second device by the relay reselection procedure is in an RRC_IDLE state, an RRC connection request message is transmitted by the second device to the base station through the third device.

12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein, based on that a third device selected as a relay device of the second device by the relay reselection procedure is in an RRC_CONNECTED state, data is transmitted by the second device to the base station through the third device.

13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, from the base station, a configuration related to the Uu data inactivity timer and a configuration related to the SL data inactivity timer.

14 . A first device comprising:

at least one transceiver;

at least one processor; and

at least one memory connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, based on being executed, cause the first device to perform operations comprising:

establishing a first radio resource control (RRC) connection with a base station;

establishing a PC5 connection with a second device;

starting a Uu data inactivity timer for data inactivity operation between the first device and the base station;

starting a sidelink (SL) data inactivity timer for data inactivity operation between the first device and the second device; and

releasing the first RRC connection between the first device and the base station, based on (i) an expiration of the Uu data inactivity timer and (ii) an expiration of the SL data inactivity timer,

wherein the first device is a device relaying communication between the second device and the base station,

wherein the Uu data inactivity timer is configured for the first device, and

wherein the SL data inactivity timer is configured for the first device.

15 . The first device of claim 14 , wherein, based on (i) the expiration of the Uu data inactivity timer and (ii) the expiration of the SL data inactivity timer, the first RRC connection between the first device and the base station is autonomously released by the first device.

16 . The first device of claim 14 , wherein, based on that at least one of the Uu data inactivity timer or the SL data inactivity timer does not expire, the first RRC connection between the first device and the base station is not released by the first device.

17 . The first device of claim 14 , wherein a relay reselection procedure of the second device or a switching procedure to a Uu link of the second device is triggered based on information related to the release of the first RRC connection.

18 . The first device of claim 17 , wherein, based on establishment of a second RRC connection between the second device and the base station, the switching procedure to the Uu link of the second device is performed in response to the information related to the release of the first RRC connection.

19 . The first device of claim 17 , wherein, based on establishment of a second RRC connection between the second device and the base station, the relay reselection procedure of the second device is performed in response to the information related to the release of the first RRC connection.

20 . A processing device comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, based on being executed, cause a first device to perform operations comprising:

establishing a first radio resource control (RRC) connection with a base station;

establishing a PC5 connection with a second device;

starting a Uu data inactivity timer for data inactivity operation between the first device and the base station;

starting a sidelink (SL) data inactivity timer for data inactivity operation between the first device and the second device; and

releasing the first RRC connection between the first device and the base station, based on (i) an expiration of the Uu data inactivity timer and (ii) an expiration of the SL data inactivity timer,

wherein the first device is a device relaying communication between the second device and the base station,

wherein the Uu data inactivity timer is configured for the first device, and

wherein the SL data inactivity timer is configured for the first device.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (13)