METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ROBUST SMALL DATA TRANSMISSION IN A WIRELESS NETWORK

1 . A method for receiving Small Data Transmission from a base station in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:

receiving a paging notification from a base station while in inactive state;

performing signal quality measurement;

sending a message comprising at least a channel quality indication report to said base station in response to the received paging notification; and

receiving a message from the base station comprising downlink data, said message being transmitted using a modulation scheme selected by said base station on the basis of said reported channel quality indication.

2 . The method according to claim 1 wherein the signal quality indication is reported in a msg3 message, and downlink data are received in a msg4 message.

3 . A The method according to claim 1 wherein the signal quality indication is reported in a msgA message, and downlink data are received in a msgB message.

4 . A The method according to claim 1 wherein the signal quality indication is reported on a Physical Uplink Shared Channel using a resource grant configured by the base station prior to entering RRC Inactive state.

5 . The method according to claim 1 further comprising receiving a message comprising initial downlink data from the base station prior to reporting channel quality indication, wherein said initial downlink data are transmitted using a preconfigured low modulation scheme.

6 . The method according to claim 1 wherein the message sent in response to the received paging notification further comprises at least one neighboring beam indication.

7 . An apparatus for receiving Small Data Transmission from a base station in a wireless communication network, comprising a processor coupled with a memory in which computer-executable instructions are stored, said instructions, when executed by said processor, being configured to cause performance of operations comprising:

receiving a paging notification from a base station while in inactive state;

performing signal quality measurement;

sending a message comprising at least a channel quality indication report to said base station in response to the received paging notification; and

receiving a message from the base station comprising downlink data, said message being transmitted using a modulation scheme selected by said base station on the basis of said reported channel quality indication.

8 . User equipment comprising an apparatus for receiving Small Data Transmission according to claim 7 .

9 . A method for sending Small Data Transmission to a user equipment in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:

sending a paging notification to a user equipment,

receiving a response message to said paging notification, the message comprising at least a radio signal quality indicator report measured by said user equipment,

transmitting a message comprising downlink data to said user equipment, said message being transmitted using a modulation scheme selected according to said received radio signal quality indicator.

10 . The method according to claim 9 wherein the signal quality indication is received in a msgA message, and downlink data is sent in a msgB message.

11 . The method according to claim 9 wherein the signal quality indication is received in a msg3 message, and downlink data is sent in a msg4 message.

12 . The method according to claim 9 wherein the signal quality indication is received on a Physical Uplink Shared Channel using a resource grant configured prior to entering RRC Inactive state.

13 . The method according to claim 9 transmitting Small Data on at least two beams when said message received in response to the paging notification further comprises at least a neighboring beam indication.

14 . An apparatus for transmitting Small Data Transmission to a user equipment in a wireless communication network, comprising a processor coupled with a memory in which computer-executable instructions are stored, said instructions, when executed by the processor, are configured to perform operations comprising:

sending a paging notification to a user equipment,

receiving a response message to said paging notification, the message comprising at least a radio signal quality indicator report measured by said user equipment,

transmitting a message comprising downlink data to said user equipment, said message being transmitted using a modulation scheme selected according to said received radio signal quality indicator.

15 . The apparatus for transmitting Small Data Transmission according to claim 14 , wherein the apparatus is a base station.

16 . A system for performing Small Data Transmission in a wireless network comprising a base station and a user equipment, wherein said base station comprises a processor coupled with a memory in which computer-executable instructions are stored, said instructions being configured to, when executed by the processor cause performance of operations comprising:

sending a paging notification to said user equipment,

receiving a response message to said paging notification, the message comprising at least a radio signal quality indicator report measured by said user equipment,

transmitting a message comprising downlink data to said user equipment, said message being transmitted using a modulation scheme selected according to said received radio signal quality indicator, and

wherein said user equipment comprises a processor coupled with a memory in which computer program instructions are stored, said instructions being configured to implement acts of:

receiving a paging notification from a base station while in inactive state,

performing signal quality measurement,

sending a message comprising at least a channel quality indication report to said base station in response to the received paging notification, and

receiving a message from the base station comprising downlink data, said message being transmitted using a modulation scheme selected by said base station based on said reported channel quality indication.