Communications device, infrastructure equipment and methods for controlling cell reselection of non-public-network cells
A method of selecting a cell by a communications device in a wireless communications network comprises receiving from the wireless communications network an indication of a range of physical cell identifiers associated with one or more cells belonging to one or more non-public networks which form part of the wireless communications network which also includes public network cells, detecting signals received from a serving cell and signals received from one or more candidate cells in order to determine whether to remain attached to a currently serving cell or to reselect one of the candidate cells according to a cell reselection procedure when in an idle mode in which the communications device is not transmitting data to or receiving data from the wireless communications network.
1. A method of selecting a cell by a communications device in a wireless communications network, the method comprising:
receiving, by the communications device, from the wireless communications network an indication of a range of physical cell identifiers associated with one or more cells belonging to one or more non-public networks which form part of the wireless communications network but which are separate from cells of a public network also included in the wireless communications network,
detecting, by the communications device, signals received from a serving cell and signals received from one or more candidate cells in order to determine whether to reselect one of the candidate cells according to a cell reselection procedure when in a mode in which the communications device is not transmitting data to or receiving data from the wireless communications network, the signals received from the serving cell being received separately from the indication of the range of physical cell identifiers,
selecting, based on the signals received from the serving cell and the one or more candidate cells, one of the candidate cells,
detecting a physical cell identifier of the selected candidate cell,
determining whether the physical cell identifier is within the range of physical cell identifiers received from the wireless communications network, and
either attaching to the selected candidate cell, or rejecting the selected candidate cell depending on whether the communications device is configured to attach to one or more of the non-public networks or not.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the communications device is configured to transmit data to or to receive data from the public network cells of the wireless communication network and not the non-public cells, and the determining whether the physical cell identifier is within the range of physical cell identifiers received from the wireless communications network, comprises:
determining that the physical cell identifier is within the range of the physical cell identifiers of the cells of the non-public networks,
rejecting the selected candidate cell, and
selecting another candidate cell.
3. The method of claim 2 , the method comprising:
determining that the physical cell identifier is not within the range of the physical cell identifiers of the cells of the non-public networks, the selected candidate being a cell of the public network part, and
selecting the candidate cell to which the communications should attach.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the communications device is configured to transmit data to and to receive data from the cells of one or more of the non-public networks of the wireless communication network, and the determining whether the physical cell identifier is within the range of physical cell identifiers received from the wireless communications network comprises:
determining that the physical cell identifier is within the range of the physical cell identifiers of the cells of the non-public networks, and
selecting the candidate cell to which the communications should attach for transmitting data to or receiving data from the non-public network.
5. The method of claim 4 , the method comprising:
determining that the physical cell identifier is not within the range of the physical cell identifiers of the cells of the non-public networks, the selected candidate being a cell of the public network part, and
rejecting the selected candidate cell, and
selecting another candidate cell.
6. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
receiving from the wireless communications network an indication of redirection information, the redirection information including one or more of physical cell identifiers which the communications device should select as a candidate for selection if the selected candidate cell is rejected by the communications device.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the indication of the redirection information is received from the wireless communications network as part of a radio resource control signalling.
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the one or more of physical cell identifiers of the redirection information identify cells with a shared frequency of a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network.
9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the redirection information includes a list of closed access group which can be accessed by the communications device.
10. The method of claim 6 , wherein the redirection information includes an update of the range of physical cell identifiers associated with the one or more cells belonging to one or more non-public network which was received from the wireless communications network.
11. The method of claim 6 , wherein the redirection information includes a range of non-public network cell physical cell identifiers which the UE is allowed to access.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the redirection information is specific to the communications device.
13. The method of claim 6 , wherein the redirection information includes a range of non-public network cell physical cell identifiers which the UE is not allowed to access.
14. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
transmitting to the wireless communications network an automatic neighbour report indicating one or more identifiers of the one or more non-public networks which neighbour the currently selected cell.
15. A method of selecting a cell by a communications device in a wireless communications network, the method comprising:
detecting, by the communications device, signals received from a serving cell and signals received from one or more candidate cells in order to reselect one of the candidate cells according to a cell reselection procedure when in a mode in which the communications device is not transmitting data to or receiving data from the wireless communications network,
selecting, based on the signals received from the serving cell and the one or more candidate cells, one of the candidate cells, wherein the selected candidate cell is a cell belonging to a non-public network and is separate from cells belonging to a public network, and the selecting the candidate cell to which the communications should attach for transmitting data to or receiving data from the non-public network comprises:
receiving, by the communications device, system information broadcast from the selected candidate cell, the system information broadcast being received separately from the signals received from the serving cell and the one or more candidate cells,
detecting from a first information element from the system information, that the cell is barred to communications devices, and
detecting from a second information element of the system information whether the selected candidate cell is barred to communications devices not configured to access the non-public network and configured to access the non-public network, and
either attaching to the selected candidate cell, or rejecting the selected candidate cell depending on whether the communications device is configured to attach to the non-public networks or not.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the communications device is configured to transmit data to and to receive data from the cells of one or more of the non-public networks of the wireless communication network, the attaching to the selected candidate cell comprises
selecting the candidate cell to which the communications should attach for transmitting data to or receiving data from the non-public network.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the first information element forms part of a master information block transmitted for detection first by the communications device, and the second information element forms part of a system information block received after the master information block.
18. The method of claim 17 , comprising:
declaring that a candidate cell is barred based on the indication provided by either the first or the second information elements.
19. A communications device for receiving data from a wireless communications network, the communications device comprising:
receiver circuitry configured to receive signals transmitted via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network,
transmitter circuitry configured to transmit signals via the wireless access interface, and
controller circuitry configured to control the receiver circuitry;
to receive from the wireless communications network an indication of a range of physical cell identifiers associated with one or more cells belonging to one or more non-public network which form part of the wireless communications network but which are separate from cells of a public network also included in the wireless communications network,
to detect signals received from a serving cell and signals received from one or more candidates cells in order to reselect one of the candidates cells according to a cell reselection procedure when in a mode in which the communications device is not transmitting data to or receiving data from the wireless communications network, the signals received from the serving cell being received separately from the indication of the range of physical cell identifiers,
to select, based on the signals received from the serving cell and the one or more candidate cells, one of the candidate cells,
to detect a physical cell identifier of the selected candidate cell,
to determine whether the physical cell identifier is within the range of physical cell identifiers received from the wireless communications network, and
to either attach to the selected candidate cell, or to reject the selected candidate cell depending on whether the communications device is configured to attach to one or more of the non-public networks or not.
20. The communications device of claim 19 , wherein the controller circuitry is configured with the receiver circuitry:
to transmit data to or to receive data from the public network cells of the wireless communication network and not the non-public cells, and
to determine whether the physical cell identifier is within the range of physical cell identifiers received from the wireless communications network, by determining that the physical cell identifier is within the range of the physical cell identifiers of the cells of the non-public networks, rejecting the selected candidate cell, and selecting another candidate cell.