Abstract: A generic access control procedure is proposed. Every action that is subject to access control is associated with an access category, and each access category is in turn associated with a set of access control parameters. From the APP layer, a UE detects an action that is subject to access control. The UE obtains and stores access categorization rules. In NAS layer, the UE determines the access category for the action. The UE then determines the set of access control parameters for the action. In AS layer, the UE finally applies the set of access control parameters to the action and makes a barring decision for the action. By defining a generic access control procedure and separating access control functions into NAS layer and AS layer, the generic access control is simplified and extendible.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods are provided for on-demand system information (SI) delivery. In one novel aspect, an indicator in the minimum system information (MSI) indicates whether an SI or an SI group is delivered with broadcast or unicast. In one embodiment, the UE receives a MSI, obtains from the MSI the other SI (OSI) delivery mode indicator, and sends an on-demand SI request if the OSI delivery mode indicates the unicast delivery mode, otherwise acquires OSI information in a predefined or scheduled period if the OSI delivery mode indicates the broadcast delivery mode. In one embodiment, the delivery mode is unicast and the SI request is sent at a timing or resource explicitly configured in a SI change notification message. In another embodiment, the delivery mode is broadcast and updated SI is obtained based on the scheduling information included in the SI change notification message.

Abstract: A method of inter-cell interference coordination is provided for UE measurements and network access procedure. In a first embodiment, a UE in idle mode performs measurements on received radio signals applying a simplified radio resource restriction for interference coordination. The UE determines the restricted radio resource without receiving explicit measurement configuration. In a second embodiment, during various phases of a network access procedure, the UE indicates its interference status and/or additional interference information to its serving base station to enhance interference coordination. In a third embodiment, the UE in connected mode performs measurements on both interference-protected transmission resources and non-interference-protected transmission resources. The UE measurement results are used for scheduling, radio link monitoring, and/or mobility management to increase radio spectrum efficiency and to improve user experience.

Abstract: A method of system information (SI) acquisition with reduced signaling overhead is proposed. To reduce SI broadcast overhead, the quantity of periodic SI broadcast and the frequency of on-demand SI acquisition need to be reduced. In order to reduce the quantity of periodic SI broadcasting, on-demand SI delivery is enabled. With on-demand SI delivery, signaling overhead is proportional to the frequency of SI acquisition. From the network side, the base stations proactively provide SI delivery options and delivers SI over unicast or scheduled broadcast. From the UE side, UE determines how to acquire SI, i.e., by listening to broadcast or by sending an on-demand request via existing procedures such as a random-access procedure over a random-access channel (RACH).

Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure provide a method that includes receiving a measurement configuration message indicating a predetermined number. A measurement event is defined based on the predetermined number of signal beams from a serving base station and the predetermined number of signal beams from a neighboring base station. The method also includes identifying a first number of best signal beams from the serving base station and a second number of best signal beams from the neighboring base station, where the first number and the second number are equal to or less than the predetermined number. The method further includes determining whether the measurement event occurs based on the first number of best signal beams from the serving base station and the second number of best signal beams from the neighboring base station, and sending a measurement report when the measurement event occurs.

Abstract: A method of system information (SI) acquisition with reduced signaling overhead is proposed. To reduce SI broadcast overhead, the quantity of periodic SI broadcast and the frequency of on-demand SI acquisition need to be reduced. To reduce the frequency of on-demand SI acquisition, rather than always re-acquire SI when serving cell changes, UE is enabled to reuse stored SI information elements across different cells. More specifically, a novel concept of SI ID is introduced to be associated with an area that applies the same SI configuration. UE can reuse stored SI information elements if the stored SI information elements are valid based on the SI ID and validity check.

Abstract: A novel and efficient connected mode cell reselection procedure is proposed to improve the mobility performance for user equipments (UEs) configured with extended connected mode Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle in LTE systems. A UE-centric mobility mechanism with which a UE performs cell reselection in RRC connected mode is proposed. The UE is allowed to select a target cell without handover signaling in the source cell and when needed to initiate signaling with the target cell, for which signal quality is much better. In this way, handover failures due to failed signaling in the source cell can be avoided. More specifically, the proposed mobility mechanism reduces signaling overhead and is inherently robust towards different DRX cycle settings, i.e., longer DRX cycles do not cause more failures, or more overhead, or more battery consumption.

Abstract: Apparatus and method are provided to configure two-tier identifiers for serving cells of a UE configured with inter-eNB carrier aggregation (CA). In one novel aspect, cell group identifiers are configured. The cell group identifier is a super set of one or more uplink group identifiers that are associated with serving cells served by the same base station. In one embodiment, different MAC entities are associated with different cell group identifiers. The UE performs uplink alignment, monitoring and management procedures linking to the cell group identifier. In another novel aspect, a group TAG, which is a super set identifier of one or more cell TAGs associated with serving cells served by the same base station, is configured. In one embodiment, the UE performs uplink alignment procedure based on the status of the group TAG, which is determined based on the status of the cell TAGs associated with the group TAG.

Abstract: Apparatus and method are provided to configure two-tier identifiers for serving cells of a UE configured with inter-eNB carrier aggregation (CA). In one novel aspect, cell group identifiers are configured. The cell group identifier is a super set of one or more uplink group identifiers that are associated with serving cells served by the same base station. In one embodiment, different MAC entities are associated with different cell group identifiers. The UE performs uplink alignment, monitoring and management procedures linking to the cell group identifier. In another novel aspect, a group TAG, which is a super set identifier of one or more cell TAGs associated with serving cells served by the same base station, is configured. In one embodiment, the UE performs uplink alignment procedure based on the status of the group TAG, which is determined based on the status of the cell TAGs associated with the group TAG.

Abstract: A novel and efficient DRX operation mechanism is proposed to maintain the reliability and energy efficiency for NB-IOT systems. In NB-IOT systems, the length of a NB-PDCCH (with repetition) and the interval between two NB-PDCCHs are extended and can be reconfigured by eNB for each UE. The eNB can also adaptively adjusts the DRX parameters accordingly. NB-IOT UE monitors the NB-PDCCH in DRX ON duration, which is configured in number of NB-PDCCHs. Specifically, if a DRX timer duration is configured by the eNB in units of a PDCCH period, the UE should calculate the timer in terms of number of PDCCH user-specific search spaces (USSs), or in terms of PDCCH subframes by multiplying the number of PDCCH periods with the PDCCH repetition level.

Abstract: A method of implicit signaling to support In-Device coexistence interference avoidance is provided. A UE sends an IDC interference indication to an eNB. The indication indicates that a serving frequency becomes unusable due to a coexistence interference problem. The indication does not explicitly indicate a frequency index or a frequency location of the unusable serving frequency. The eNB determines the serving frequency as unusable in an implicit manner. The eNB also determines an implied unusable frequency region based on the received IDC indication. The implied unusable frequency region is between the serving frequency and the ISM band. In one advantageous aspect, the eNB configures a condition for the UE, such that the UE is refrained from sending IDC interference indications unless the condition is satisfied.

Abstract: A method of reporting UE measurement state information in RLF report is provided. A UE performs radio measurements of a serving cell and neighbor cells in a mobile communication network. The UE evaluates a measurement reporting criteria and attempts to access the network to deliver a measurement report if the criteria is met. The UE then detects a radio link failure or a handover failure event and reconnects to the network by performing RRC reestablishment or RRC establishment. Finally, the UE transmits a failure event report to the network. The failure event report comprises UE measurement state information corresponds to the failure event. The UE measurement state information helps the network to determine whether to apply corrective actions to mitigate the failure.

Abstract: In order to establish a RRC connection and perform data transmission over an established DRB, a UE is required to complete a network entry procedure. For control plane latency (CPL), besides a random-access procedure, UE triggers two 3-way handshakes with eNB for RRC setup procedure and with MME for NAS setup procedure, which comprises a sequential execution of a list of individual signaling and processing. In one novel aspect, for latency reduction, the sequential execution is broken as to allow overlapping of the two procedures, e.g. lump RRC and NAS request under a new flexible RAN architecture, i.e. eNB/MME of the new RAT can be collocated. Lump request also requires certain SNR, so a big enough uplink grant can be scheduled. For the responses, out-of-sequence delivery is also possible as long as the execution dependency is clearly specified.

Abstract: A method of radio link monitoring (RLM) and radio link failure (RLF) handling over a small cell network is proposed. In a wireless network, a user equipment (UE) establishes a radio resource control (RRC) connection with a base station (eNB), which is UE anchor. The UE applies carrier aggregation for multiple component carriers (CCs) configured as multiple serving cells. The aggregated serving cells are served by the anchor eNB and other drift eNB(s). The UE performs RLM/RLF over PCELL and SCELL belonging to corresponding cell groups. When RLF happens in a serving cell, the UE and the eNB apply certain actions over the serving cell or all serving cells in the group. RLF procedures in anchor eNB and in drift eNB are proposed. Both UE side and network side behaviors are included.

Abstract: A tagging mechanism supporting different QoS categories for IP/Port services in a cellular radio network is proposed. Tags are used to differentiate different types of services and corresponding QoS requirements. At the sender side, the sender of the IP packets is able to distinguish different types of services by tagging one or multiple bits for finer QoS control. For downlink IP traffic, the tagging function can be done at the base station. For uplink IP traffic, the tagging function can be done at the UE. At the receiver side, the receiver delivers the IP packets using out-of-sequence delivery for delay sensitive packets. With tagging and out-of-sequence delivery, the delay sensitive packets can reduce CN latency and transmission latency.

Abstract: A method of adaptive transmission time interval (TTI) tuning based on TCP information is proposed. First, a procedure for TCP information delivery between eNB and TCP sender/TCP receiver is disclosed. The TCP information comprises TCP status, TCP congestion window (CWND) size, TCP round trip delay, TCP SS threshold, TCP index, and TCP event indication. Second, various methods for eNB to configure TTI with UE TCP information and/or buffer information are disclosed. A first method is saturation detection which includes buffer status based saturation detection and CWND based saturation detection. A second method is Greedy Buffer Clearing. A third method is TCP state based TTI selection method.

Abstract: A novel and efficient multi-carrier operation mechanism is proposed to maintain the capacity and reliability for NB-IOT systems. First, the functional separation on anchor NB-IOT carrier and data NB-IOT carriers is defined. Transportation of system broadcast information, including synchronization signal (NB-PSS/NB-SSS) and NB-MIB (NB-PBCH) and paging are on anchor carrier, RACH procedure and Data transmission and reception are on data carrier. Second, UE switching between anchor and data carriers. UE on anchor carrier switches to data carrier via paging, RRC signaling or cross-carrier scheduling. On the other hand, UE on data carrier switches back to anchor carrier after transmission or reception complete (right-after or after time-out).

Abstract: A method of inter-RAT failure event report is proposed. A UE detects a failure event in a first cell served by a first base station, and the first cell belongs to a first RAT. The failure event may include a radio link failure or a handover failure. The UE then performs an RRC establishment procedure with a second cell served by a second base station, and the second cell belongs to a second RAT. After the RRC establishment, the UE transmits a failure event report to the wireless network. The failure event can be a radio link failure, or be associated with a mobility command such as a handover command. By providing more reliable information in the failure event report than a network solution could provide, inter-RAT mobility performance can be improved.

Abstract: A method of reporting UE measurement state information in RLF report is provided. A UE performs radio measurements of a serving cell and neighbor cells in a mobile communication network. The UE evaluates a measurement reporting criteria and attempts to access the network to deliver a measurement report if the criteria is met. The UE then detects a radio link failure or a handover failure event and reconnects to the network by performing RRC reestablishment or RRC establishment. Finally, the UE transmits a failure event report to the network. The failure event report comprises UE measurement state information corresponds to the failure event. The UE measurement state information helps the network to determine whether to apply corrective actions to mitigate the failure.

Abstract: Methods of MDT information logging and reporting are provided. In one embodiment, a method is provided to resolve shortcomings of prior art by correlating UL measurements with QoS information to enable UL performance analysis and accurate detection of coverage problems. In another embodiment, a method is provided to resolve the shortcomings of the prior art by making DL measurements and location information collecting or logging conditional on UL measurements.