Granted Patent B2

US 12,588,097 · App. 17/862,263 · Granted Mar 24, 2026

Inventors: Vivek G. Gupta (San Jose, CA); Sridhar Prakasam (Woodside, CA)

Assignee: Apple Inc.

H04W76/27H04W68/005H04W76/30

Abstract

Claims (73)

1 . A method comprising:

processing, at a user equipment (UE) side device, while operating in a fifth generation mobility management (5GMM)-CONNECTED mode with a radio resource control (RRC) inactive indication and in a RRC_INACTIVE state, a paging message of a network, the paging message indicating that transmission of downlink data is available and is to use one or more radio bearers configured for small data transmission (SDT);

initiating, at the UE side device, while operating in the 5GMM-CONNECTED mode with the RRC inactive indication and in the RRC_INACTIVE state, reception of the downlink data based on the paging message and a configuration, wherein the configuration is defined in association with the 5GMM-CONNECTED mode with the RRC inactive indication and with the RRC_INACTIVE state and indicates the one or more radio bearers to use for the reception;

determining, at the UE side device, after the downlink data is received, to continue operating in the 5GMM-CONNECTED mode with the RRC inactive indication and in the RRC_INACTIVE state;

processing, at the UE side device, a service accept message associated with a service request for transmitting data;

determining, at the UE side device, based on the service accept message, that the RRC_INACTIVE state is to be maintained; and

continuing, at the UE side device, to operate in the 5GMM-CONNECTED mode with the RRC inactive indication and in the RRC_INACTIVE state.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

processing, while operating in the 5GMM-CONNECTED mode and prior to a transition to the 5GMM-CONNECTED mode with the RRC inactive indication and a transition to the RRC_INACTIVE state, the configuration from the network,

wherein the configuration is indicated by an access stratum (AS) layer to a non-access stratum (NAS) layer.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the configuration indicates at least one of: an information size, an information priority, or a number of radio bearers to which the configuration applies.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

causing a signaling radio bearer zero (SRB0) to remain in an active state;

causing, a signaling radio bearer other than SRB0 to transition to a suspended state; and

causing a data radio bearer (DRB), to transition to the suspended state.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a first trigger to transfer uplink data;

determining that the uplink data has a classification associated with the configuration; and

causing, while in the RRC_INACTIVE state, a transmission of the uplink data on a data radio bearer (DRB).

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining that a data radio bearer (DRB) is unavailable to transmit uplink data;

initiating a service request procedure corresponding to the service request;

transitioning to an RRC_CONNECTED state;

processing the service accept message based on the service request procedure, wherein the service accept message indicates that the RRC INACTIVE state is to be maintained; and

remaining in the 5GMM-CONNECTED mode with the RRC inactive indication.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a trigger to transfer non access stratum (NAS) signaling information;

determining that the NAS signaling information has a classification associated with the configuration; and

causing, while in the RRC_INACTIVE state, a transmission of the NAS signaling information on a signaling radio bearer (SRB).

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transitioning a data radio bearer (DRB) from a suspended state to a resumed state,

wherein the downlink data is received on the DRB.

9 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, upon execution operations comprising:

Processing, at a user equipment (UE) side device, while a non-access stratum (NAS) layer is in a fifth generation mobility management (5GMM)-CONNECTED mode with a radio resource control (RRC) inactive indication and an access stratum (AS) layer of a user equipment (UE) is in a RRC_INACTIVE state, a paging message of a network, the paging message indicating that transmission of downlink data is available and is to use one or more radio bearers configured for small data transmission (SDT);

initiating, at the UE side device, while the NAS layer is in the 5GMM-CONNECTED mode with the RRC inactive indication and the AS layer is in the RRC_INACTIVE state, reception of the downlink data based on the paging message and a configuration, wherein the configuration is defined in association with the 5GMM-CONNECTED mode with the RRC inactive indication and with the RRC_INACTIVE state and indicates the one or more radio bearers to use for the reception;

determining, at the UE side device, after the downlink data is received, that the NAS layer is to remain in the 5GMM-CONNECTED mode with the RRC inactive indication and the AS layer is to remain in the RRC_INACTIVE state;

processing, at the UE side device, a service accept message associated with a service request for transmitting data;

determining, at the UE side device, based on the service accept message, that the RRC_INACTIVE state is to be maintained; and

maintaining, at the UE side device, the NAS layer in the 5GMM-CONNECTED mode with the RRC inactive indication and the AS layer in the RRC_INACTIVE state.

10 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining that uplink data is to be transmitted to the network, wherein the uplink data has a different classification that is unassociated with the configuration;

determining that a data radio bearer (DRB) is available for a transmission of the uplink data, wherein the DRB is in a suspended state;

transitioning the DRB to a resumed state; and

transmitting, while the NAS layer is in the 5GMM-CONNECTED mode with the RRC inactive indication and the AS layer is in the RRC_INACTIVE state, the uplink data on the DRB.

11 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining that uplink data is to be transmitted to the network, wherein the uplink data has a different classification that is unassociated with the configuration;

determining that a data radio bearer (DRB) is unavailable for a transmission of the uplink data;

transitioning the AS layer to an RRC CONNECTED state; and

transmitting, while the NAS layer is in the 5GMM-CONNECTED mode and the AS layer is in the RRC_CONNECTED state, the uplink data.

12 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining that uplink data is to be transmitted to the network, wherein the uplink data has a different classification that is unassociated with the configuration; and

transmitting, to the network while the NAS layer is in the 5GMM-CONNECTED mode with the RRC inactive indication and the AS layer is in the RRC_INACTIVE state, the uplink data based on a unified access control (UAC) parameter.

13 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining that uplink data is to be transmitted to the network, wherein the uplink data has a different classification that is unassociated with the configuration;

causing, by the AS layer of the UE while the NAS layer is in the 5GMM-CONNECTED mode with the RRC inactive indication and the AS layer is in the RRC INACTIVE state, a transmission of the uplink data;

determining, by the AS layer, a failure of the transmission; and

causing, by the AS layer, a retransmission of the uplink data.

14 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, by the AS layer of the UE, an RRC release message indicating a termination of information transfer that is based on the configuration; and

indicating, by the AS layer to the NAS layer of the UE, the termination and an indication of a transition of the AS layer to an RRC_CONNECTED state.

15 . A method comprising:

generating, at a network side device and for transmission to a user equipment (UE) while a non-access stratum (NAS) layer of the UE is in a fifth generation mobility management (5GMM)-CONNECTED mode, an indication to the UE to transition an access stratum layer (AS) layer of the UE to a radio resource control (RRC) INACTIVE state;

generating, at the network side device and for transmission to the UE, a configuration defined for the NAS layer in the 5GMM-CONNECTED mode with an RRC inactive indication and the AS layer in the RRC_INACTIVE state, the configuration indicating radio bearers to use for small data transmission (SDT);

generating, at the network side device and for transmission to the UE, a paging message indicating that transmission of downlink data is available and is to use one or more of the radio bearers;

generating, at the network side device and for transmission the UE based on the configuration, the downlink data while the NAS layer is in the 5GMM-CONNECTED mode with the RRC inactive indication and the AS layer is in the RRC_INACTIVE state; and

generating, at the network side device and for transmission the UE and based on a service request of the UE for uplink transmission, a service accept message, wherein the service accept message causes the UE to remain in the 5GMM-CONNECTED mode with the RRC inactive indication and in the RRC_INACTIVE state.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the configuration indicates at least one of: an information size, an information priority, or a number of radio bearers to which the configuration applies, wherein the radio bearers include at least one of a data radio bearer (DRB) or a signaling radio bearer (SRB).

17 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

processing a service request of the UE, wherein the service request is associated with a transition of the AS layer to an RRC_CONNECTED state, and

generating, for transmission to the UE and based on the service request, an indication for the AS layer to remain in the RRC INACTIVE state.

18 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

generating, for transmission to the UE, a paging message indicating that the downlink data has a category that is associated with the configuration, wherein the downlink data is transmitted to the UE based on the paging message.

19 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the paging message excludes an identifier of at least a radio bearer of the one or more radio bearers.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (22)