System and method for request multiplexing
A method for operating a user equipment (UE) includes detecting that a first request type of a first request is not a beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) and based thereon, selecting a first random access resource for transmitting the first request, wherein the first random access resource is selected from a first subset of one or more random access resources, and wherein random access resources in the first subset are associated with a communications beam serving the UE, and transmitting, by the UE to an access node, the first request in the first random access resource.
1. A method, comprising:
receiving, by a user equipment (UE) from a source access node, a first configuration indicating a first random access resource and a random access preamble for transmitting a handover request, the first random access resource being from a first subset of one or more random access resources, the first subset of one or more random access resources associated with the UE, the UE being served by a communications beam, the first random access resource and the random access preamble allocated by a target access node;
receiving, by the UE from the source access node, a second configuration indicating a second random access resource for transmitting a beam failure recovery request (BFRQ), the second random access resource being from a second subset of one or more random access resources, the second subset of one or more random access resources being unassociated with the communications beam serving the UE;
transmitting, by the UE to the source access node, the handover request including the random access preamble in the first random access resource; and
transmitting, by the UE to the source access node, the BFRQ including the random access preamble in the second random access resource.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first subset of one or more random access resources and the second subset of one or more random access resources are mutually exclusive.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the random access preamble is UE-specific.
4. The method of claim 1 , the BFRQ and the handover request being multiplexed such that the random access preamble is used to convey information about the BFRQ and the handover request.
5. A method, comprising:
transmitting, by a source access node to a user equipment (UE), a first configuration indicating a first random access resource and a random access preamble for transmitting a handover request, the first random access resource being from a first subset of one or more random access resources, the first subset of one or more random access resources associated with the UE, the UE being served by a communications beam, the first random access resource and the random access preamble allocated by a target access node;
transmitting, by the source access node to the UE, a second configuration indicating a second random access resource for transmitting a beam failure recovery request (BFRQ), the second random access resource being from a second subset of one or more random access resources;
receiving, by the source access node from the UE, the handover request including the random access preamble in the first random access resource;
receiving, by the source access node from the UE, the BFRQ including the random access preamble in the second random access resource;
determining, by the source access node, that the second random access resource is unassociated with the communications beam serving the UE; and
determining, by the source access node, that the BFRQ is requesting beam failure recovery.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
sending, by the source access node to the UE, a response responsive to the handover request.
7. A user equipment (UE) comprising:
at least one processor; and
a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the at least one processor, the programming including instructions that cause the UE to:
receive, from a source access node, a first configuration indicating a first random access resource and a random access preamble for transmitting a handover request from, the first random access resource being a first subset of one or more random access resources, the first subset of one or more random access resources associated with the UE, the UE being served by a communications beam, the first random access resource and the random access preamble allocated by a target access node;
receive, from the source access node, a second configuration indicating a second random access resource for transmitting a beam failure recovery request (BFRQ), the second random access resource being from a second subset of one or more random access resources, the second subset of one or more random access resources being unassociated with the communications beam serving the UE;
transmit, to the source access node, the handover request including the random access preamble in the first random access resource; and
transmit, to the source access node, the BFRQ including the random access preamble in the second random access resource.
8. The UE of claim 7 , wherein the first subset of one or more random access resources and the second subset of one or more random access resources are mutually exclusive.
9. A source access node comprising:
at least one processor; and
a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the at least one processor, the programming including instructions that cause the source access node to:
transmit, to a user equipment (UE), a first configuration indicating a first random access resource and a random access preamble for transmitting a handover request, the first random access resource being from a first subset of one or more random access resources, the first subset of one or more random access resources associated with the UE, the UE being served by a communications beam, the first random access resource and the random access preamble allocated by a target access node;
transmit, to the UE, a second configuration indicating a second random access resource for transmitting a beam failure recovery request (BFRQ), the second random access resource being from a second subset of one or more random access resources;
receive, from the UE, the BFRQ including the random access preamble in the second random access resource;
receive, from the UE, the handover request including the random access preamble in the first random access resource;
determine that the second random access resource is unassociated with the communications beam serving the UE; and
determine that the BFRQ is requesting beam failure recovery.
10. The source access node of claim 9 , wherein the programming further includes instructions that cause the source access node to:
send, to the UE, a response responsive to the handover request.