CN110012551A - User equipment and correlation technique - Google Patents

Abstract

Present disclose provides a kind of methods in user equipment (UE), comprising: in radio resource control RRC layer, determination will initiate early time data transmission EDT；The first instruction information is sent to media access control MAC layer in rrc layer, instruction MAC layer initiates the random access procedure for being used for EDT；And the random access procedure for being used for EDT is initiated in response to receiving the first instruction information in MAC layer.

Description

User equipment and related methods

technical field

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of wireless communication, and more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a user equipment and a method related to early data transmission (EDT).

Background technique

In March 2017, at the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) RAN#75 Plenary Session, a new work item on further enhancement of NarrowBand Internet of things (NB-IoT) (see RP-170852: New WID on Further NB-IoT enhancements) and a new work item on Machine Type Communication (MTC) further enhancements (see NPL: RP-170732: New WID on Even further enhanced MTC for LTE) was approved. One of the goals of these two research projects is to enhance the transmission of small data packet services, considering that the amount of data to be transmitted by small data packet services in a period of time is relatively small, such as 1000 bits, that is, through a physical layer transmission block that is However, in the existing mechanism, the data transmission can only be completed after the connection with the air interface is completed in the RRC connection state, which makes the signaling overhead for transmitting small data packets relatively large. Considering the MTC or NB-IoT The huge amount of user terminal data leads to more serious signaling overhead; at the same time, the excessive signaling overhead also leads to unnecessary user terminal energy consumption. In order to complete the transmission of small data packets with less signaling overhead and achieve energy saving of user equipment (User Equipment, UE), in the small data transmission enhancement of Release 15, it is proposed that the UE may not enter the radio resource control ( Radio Resource Control, RRC) connected state to implement data transmission, for example, small data is sent together with random access message 3 in the random access process. In the current consensus reached by 3GPP, the UE determines whether to use the small data transmission mechanism for data transmission according to several conditions of the current data transmission, such as whether the network side has configured the parameters of small data transmission, whether the UE supports small data transmission, and the data to be sent. Whether the amount of small data is less than or equal to the configured threshold, etc. The small data transmission block size threshold is configured by the base station, and the small data transmission mechanism can be used only when the amount of data to be transmitted by the UE is less than or equal to the transmission block size threshold. Each enhanced coverage level corresponds to a transport block size threshold. In addition, the random access preamble used for small data transmission is also configured for each enhanced coverage level, and is distinguished from the random access preamble used by traditional non-small data transmission mechanisms, that is, whether to use small data The transmission mechanism needs to be judged based on the parameters corresponding to the enhanced coverage level corresponding to the UE. In the conclusion reached in the current 3GPP RAN2 meeting, the UE RRC layer decides whether to use the small data transmission mechanism, and the enhanced coverage level of the UE is decided by the MAC layer. In this case, the MAC layer and RRC are required to work together. Complete the determination of whether to use the small data transfer mechanism.

The present disclosure aims to solve the problem of how to realize the interaction between the UE MAC layer and the RRC layer to realize the decision of whether to adopt the small data transmission mechanism in the system based on the enhanced coverage level.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method in a user equipment UE, including: at a radio resource control RRC layer, determining to initiate early data transmission EDT; at the RRC layer, sending a first indication to a medium access control (MAC) layer information, instructing the MAC layer to initiate a random access procedure for EDT; and in response to receiving the first indication information, the MAC layer initiates a random access procedure for EDT.

In an embodiment, the determining to initiate an EDT is performed based at least in part on the measured reference signal received power RSRP.

In an embodiment, the above method further comprises: when the enhanced coverage level climbs, comparing the amount of data to be transmitted at the MAC layer with the transport block size threshold value corresponding to the increased enhanced coverage level; and when the data to be transmitted is When the amount of data to be transmitted is greater than the transport block size threshold value corresponding to the enhanced coverage level after climbing, the MAC layer sends second indication information to the RRC layer to indicate that the EDT fails; or when the amount of data to be transmitted is less than or equal to the enhanced coverage after climbing When the threshold value of the transport block size corresponding to the level is reached, the EDT is continued at the MAC layer.

In an embodiment, the above method further comprises: when the enhanced coverage level climbs, comparing the enhanced enhanced coverage level after the climb with the maximum enhanced coverage level of the EDT at the MAC layer; when the enhanced enhanced coverage level after the climb is higher than the maximum enhanced coverage level of the EDT When the coverage level is reached, the MAC layer sends second indication information to the RRC layer to indicate that the EDT fails; or when the enhanced coverage level after climbing is lower than or equal to the maximum enhanced coverage level of the EDT, the MAC layer continues to perform EDT.

In an embodiment, the above method further includes: at the RRC layer, in response to receiving the second indication information, falling back to a non-EDT operation.

In an embodiment, the above method further includes: sending third indication information to the MAC layer at the RRC layer, instructing the MAC layer to fall back to the non-EDT operation; and in response to receiving the third indication information at the MAC layer, performing non-EDT randomization access process.

In an embodiment, the maximum enhanced coverage level of the EDT is included in the first indication information.

In an embodiment, the above method further includes: when the enhanced coverage level climbs, sending fourth indication information to the RRC layer at the MAC layer, indicating the enhanced coverage level after the climb; The amount of transmitted data is compared with the transport block size threshold value corresponding to the enhanced coverage level after climbing; and when the amount of data to be transmitted is greater than the transport block size threshold value corresponding to the enhanced coverage level after climbing, in the RRC The layer sends the third indication information to the MAC layer to indicate that the EDT fails; or when the amount of data to be transmitted is less than or equal to the transport block size threshold value corresponding to the enhanced coverage level after the climb, the RRC layer sends the fifth indication to the MAC layer. Indication information, instructing the MAC layer to continue to perform EDT.

In an embodiment, the above method further includes: performing a non-EDT random access procedure at the MAC layer in response to receiving the third indication information; or continuing to perform EDT at the MAC layer in response to receiving the fifth indication information.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a user equipment UE, comprising a transceiver, a processor, and a memory, the memory storing instructions executable by the processor to cause the UE to perform the method according to the first aspect above .

Description of drawings

The above and other features of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a flowchart of a method in a user equipment UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a user equipment according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed ways

Other aspects, advantages and salient features of the present disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In this disclosure, the terms "including" and "containing" and their derivatives are meant to include rather than limit; the term "or" is inclusive, meaning and/or.

In this specification, the various embodiments described below to describe the principles of the present disclosure are illustrative only and should not be construed in any way to limit the scope of the disclosure. The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents. The following description includes numerous specific details to assist in that understanding, but these details should be considered as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Also, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness. Furthermore, the same reference numerals are used for similar functions and operations throughout the drawings.

The following uses the LTE mobile communication system and its subsequent evolved versions as an example application environment to specifically describe various embodiments according to the present disclosure. However, it should be pointed out that the present disclosure is not limited to the following embodiments, but can be applied to more other wireless communication systems, such as NB-IoT systems, MTC systems, and can also be used in 5G next-generation wireless communication systems ( New Radio, NR).

The base station in the present disclosure can be any type of base station, including Node B, enhanced base station eNB, or 5G communication system base station gNB, or micro base station, pico base station, macro base station, home base station, etc.; the cell can also be any of the above The cell under the type of base station. In the present disclosure, the coverage enhancement level (CoverageEnhancement level) is equivalent to the enhanced coverage level (Enhanced Coverage level) unless explicitly stated.

Combinations of work between different embodiments are also possible.

Some concepts and descriptions involved in the present disclosure are first described below. It is worth noting that some of the nomenclature in the following description are merely illustrative, not restrictive, and other nomenclature may also be made.

Enhanced coverage user (User Equipment, UE): refers to a UE within enhanced coverage, that is, the UE needs to access a cell or network through enhanced coverage functions/mechanisms.

Enhanced coverage level: In the enhanced coverage technology, the degree of coverage that needs to be enhanced is divided into multiple enhanced coverage levels. For example, in NB-IoT, the enhanced coverage level can be level 0 to 3. In some enhanced coverage methods, each enhanced coverage level may correspond to a set of different radio parameter configurations, such as random access configurations (eg, PRACH (Physical Random Access CHannel) resources). In the latest 3GPP protocol specification (technical specification 36.321ve40), when the UE's Medium Access Control (Medium Access Control) layer initiates random access, it will determine the enhancement based on the measured RSRP and received in the system information. The RSRP threshold value of the coverage level is used to judge the enhanced coverage level of the UE, and the corresponding random access resources (such as random access preamble (referred to as preamble)) and parameters (such as random access response) are selected according to the determined enhanced coverage level. window size) to initiate the random access procedure. Each enhanced coverage level may also contain a configuration of the maximum number of preamble transmissions. In a random access process, before the random access response is successfully received, when the UE uses a random access resource and parameters corresponding to an enhanced coverage level n to initiate random access and sends a preamble the number of times reaches or exceeds the current enhanced coverage level n When the corresponding maximum number of preamble transmissions is reached, the UE considers the current enhanced coverage level to be inappropriate, and at this time, the UE considers its enhanced coverage level to be the next enhanced coverage level, that is, enhanced coverage level n+1. In the next preamble transmission, the random access resources and parameters corresponding to the enhanced coverage level n+1 are used. In this disclosure, the enhanced coverage level in the random access process is referred to as an enhanced coverage level ramp.

Random Access Response (Random Access Response, RAR): the second message in the random access process. After receiving the random access preamble of the UE, the base station will respond to the reception of the random access preamble by sending a random access response message. The random access response message includes a time advance field, an uplink grant field, a UE identification field, and the like.

Message 3: The third message in the random access procedure. In the present disclosure, message 3 collectively refers to the uplink transmission sent by the UE on the uplink resource indicated by the uplink grant included in the RAR. It may refer to either the third transmission in the contention-based random access process, or the first uplink transmission after the non-contention-based random access process.

User plane optimization scheme and control plane optimization scheme:

In fact, in the communication system before R15, two optimized data transmission schemes have been supported to reduce the signaling overhead of data transmission and UE energy consumption, which is called Control Plane Cellular Evolution Packet Service Optimization (cp-CIoT-EPS -Optimisation) and User Plane Cellular Evolution Packet Service Optimization (up-CIoT-EPS-Optimisation). In the control plane cellular evolution packet service optimization scheme, the data of the application layer is included as a non-access stratum (Non Access Stratum, NAS) data packet and transmitted on the Signalling Radio Bearer (SRB) of the control plane. The signaling radio bearer before R14 refers to SRB1 or SRB1bis, for example, after the UE completes the random access procedure, the RRC connection establishment complete message includes a NAS data packet for sending. This optimization scheme may be simply referred to as a control plane optimization scheme or a control plane scheme. In the user plane cellular evolution packet service optimization scheme, the data of the application layer is still transmitted on the data radio bearer ((user) Data Radio Bearer, DRB) in the RRC connection state as in the data transmission in the traditional system, but when the data is transmitted After the transmission is completed, the UE and the eNB suspend the RRC connection (indicated by the RRC connection release message including the suspend indication), save the UE context, and enter the RRC idle state. When the UE wants to perform data transmission, the UE initiates an RRC connection recovery process to the eNB (in this process, the UE sends an RRC connection recovery request message to the base station to initiate connection recovery, and the base station sends an RRC connection recovery message to the UE to instruct it to resume the RRC connection. , and then the UE feeds back the RRC connection recovery complete message to the base station to respond), because the UE context is saved on the UE and the eNB, and its RRC connection, DRB and security can be restored through this process without re-establishing the RRC connection, DRB and security. This scheme may also be referred to as a user plane optimization scheme or a user plane scheme. The UE saves the RRC idle state of the UE context. Although it is also called the RRC idle state, it can actually be regarded as an intermediate state between the RRC idle state and the connected state. This intermediate state, in the 5G NR system, can be considered as its defined RRC inactive state (RRC_inactive).

Early Data Transmission (EDT):

The small data transmission optimization scheme in R15 is based on the above two optimization schemes and further optimized for the characteristics of small data transmission. For uplink data transmission, the optimized content is mainly to transmit small data along with message 3 in the random access process, because this optimization method can complete data transmission at an earlier time than traditional data transmission methods. Therefore, it is called early data transmission. In the present disclosure, small data (small data or small packet) may be equivalent to early data. In a cell that supports the EDT optimization scheme, the base station broadcasts the physical random access resources used by the base station to initiate the EDT, such as the random access preamble, and the threshold value of the Transport Block Size (TBS). The TBS threshold value and/or the random access resource used by the EDT is configured for each enhanced coverage level, that is, each enhanced coverage level corresponds to an EDT transport block size threshold value and/or random access parameter ( Such as physical random access resources or random access preamble group).

The process of EDT is briefly described below.

1. When the UE wants to perform uplink transmission, the UE determines whether the conditions of the EDT are met, such as whether the TBS containing the data packet is less than or equal to the TBS threshold corresponding to the current enhanced coverage level. If so, the UE uses the EDT-specific preamble. A random access procedure is initiated on a physical random access channel resource (Physical Random Access Channel, PRACH) specific to the EDT.

2. When the base station receives the EDT-specific preamble on the EDT-specific PRACH resource, and knows that the UE is initiating the EDT process, the base station will allocate an uplink license that can be used for small data transmission in the RAR.

3. After receiving the RAR, the UE judges whether the uplink grant in the RAR is enough to accommodate the entire small data packet. If so, the UE includes the small data in message 3 and the RRC message together with the RRC message to perform uplink transmission on the resources corresponding to the uplink grant. ; If not, the UE falls back to the traditional non-EDT process, that is, the small data packet is not included in the message 3 and transmitted together, that is, only the RRC message is transmitted in the message 3 to request the RRC connection establishment/restoration. Data is transmitted after RRC connection establishment/restoration. Preferably, the entire transport block including the small data packet refers to the entire transport block including the small data and the RRC message in message 3 and its corresponding MAC header. Alternatively, the entire transport block containing the small data packets refers to small data Packet Data Covergence Protocol (PDCP) Service Data Units (SDUs) or PDCP PDUs and RRC messages.

In the following embodiments of the present disclosure, indication (indicate/indication) and notification (notify/notification) or inform/information (inform/information) can be interchanged. The UE may refer to an NB-IoT UE, a Bandwidth Reduced Low Complexity (BL) UE, or a UE in enhanced coverage (enhanced coverage), or may be other UEs such as 5G NR UEs.

The following embodiments of the present disclosure specifically describe how the UE determines (continues to) use the EDT mechanism based on the enhanced coverage level and the enhanced coverage level climbing in the random process. Through the following embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE can The coverage level determines whether to use EDT, and selects the corresponding random access resource preamble, so that the base station receiving the preamble can know whether the UE uses EDT and its enhanced coverage level according to the preamble, so as to allocate the appropriate RAR and subsequent transmission process. and its transmission parameters such as the number of transmission repetitions.

In the present disclosure, the data to be transmitted refers to the total amount of available data to be sent in the uplink buffer, or is described as the size of the MAC PDU formed by the data to be sent in the uplink buffer plus the resulting MAC header. Alternatively, it may also refer to the PDCP SDU/PDU in the uplink buffer.

FIG. 1 shows a flowchart of a method 100 in a user equipment UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 100 includes the following steps.

In step S110, at the radio resource control RRC layer, it is determined that the early data transmission EDT is to be initiated.

In step S120, the RRC layer sends first indication information to the medium access control MAC layer, instructing the MAC layer to initiate a random access procedure for EDT.

In step S130, a random access procedure for EDT is initiated at the MAC layer in response to receiving the first indication information.

In a non-limiting example, in step S110, determining that EDT is to be initiated may be performed based at least in part on the measured reference signal received power RSRP.

In a non-limiting example, see example 1 below, the method 100 may further include: when the enhanced coverage level climbs, the amount of data to be transmitted at the MAC layer and the transport block size threshold value corresponding to the increased enhanced coverage level Compare. When the amount of data to be transmitted is greater than the transport block size threshold value corresponding to the enhanced coverage level after climbing, the MAC layer sends second indication information to the RRC layer, indicating that the EDT fails. When the amount of data to be transmitted is less than or equal to the transport block size threshold value corresponding to the enhanced coverage level after climbing, EDT is continued at the MAC layer.

In a non-limiting example, see, eg, Example 3 below, the method 100 may further include: when the enhanced coverage level climbs, comparing the climbed enhanced coverage level to the maximum enhanced coverage level of the EDT at the MAC layer. When the enhanced coverage level after climbing is higher than the maximum enhanced coverage level of the EDT, the MAC layer sends second indication information to the RRC layer, indicating that the EDT fails. When the enhanced coverage level after the climb is lower than or equal to the maximum enhanced coverage level of the EDT, the EDT is continued at the MAC layer.

In a non-limiting example, the method 100 may further include: at the RRC layer, in response to receiving the second indication information, falling back to non-EDT operation.

In a non-limiting example, the method 100 may further include: sending third indication information to the MAC layer at the RRC layer, instructing the MAC layer to fall back to non-EDT operation; and performing non-EDT operation at the MAC layer in response to receiving the third indication information The random access procedure of EDT.

In a non-limiting example, the maximum enhanced coverage level of the EDT may be included in the first indication information.

In a non-limiting example, see example 2 below, the method 100 may further include: when the enhanced coverage level climbs, sending fourth indication information to the RRC layer at the MAC layer, indicating the enhanced coverage level after the climb; and at the RRC layer In response to receiving the fourth indication information, the amount of data to be transmitted is compared with the transport block size threshold value corresponding to the increased enhanced coverage level. When the amount of data to be transmitted is larger than the transport block size threshold value corresponding to the enhanced coverage level after climbing, the RRC layer sends third indication information to the MAC layer, indicating that the EDT fails. When the amount of data to be transmitted is less than or equal to the transport block size threshold value corresponding to the increased enhanced coverage level, the RRC layer sends fifth indication information to the MAC layer, instructing the MAC layer to continue to perform EDT.

In a non-limiting example, the method 100 may further include: in response to receiving the third indication information at the MAC layer, performing a non-EDT random access procedure; or in response to receiving the fifth indication information at the MAC layer, continuing to perform EDT .

The specific implementation of the method 100 is described below with reference to specific examples.

Example 1:

In this example, the operation for the UE supporting EDT to determine whether to use the EDT mechanism for data transmission includes one or more of the following:

Operation 1: The UE RRC layer determines whether or not to initiate EDT according to at least the measured RSRP. Here, determining whether to initiate the EDT may also be based on other conditions.

The "other conditions" may include one or more of the following conditions, but are not limited to the following, the UE determines to initiate EDT when the following conditions are met:

Condition 1: The non-access stratum NAS requests to establish an RRC connection for EDT and the UE supports EDT based on the control plane scheme;

Condition 2: NAS requests to restore RRC connection for EDT and UE supports EDT based on user plane scheme and UE saves security parameter values for EDT. The security parameter value may be a nextHopChainingCount value.

Condition 3: The NAS indicates that the request (establish/resume RRC connection request) applies to EDT. The NAS may determine whether EDT is applicable based on the reason for the request or the type of request (eg, data only, non-signaling, short message service, call type, mobile origination type, mobile termination type, etc.). The present disclosure is not limited to these situations.

Condition 4: The system information block SIB type 2 contains the PRACH configuration for EDT, that is, the cell where the UE resides currently supports EDT transmission and broadcasts the parameter configuration of EDT transmission.

Condition 5: The amount of data to be sent can be transmitted in one transmission, that is, the amount of data to be sent is less than or equal to the transport block size threshold corresponding to the current enhanced coverage level of the UE.

The current enhanced coverage level of the UE may be determined by the RRC according to the measured RSRP and the RSRP threshold value obtained from the system information for determining the enhanced coverage level. An example is as follows: if the range of the enhanced coverage level supported by the system is 0 to N, if the RSRP threshold th_N of the enhanced coverage level N is configured and the measured RSRP is less than the threshold value th_N and the UE supports the enhanced coverage level N, the UE or The UE RRC layer considers that it is in the enhanced coverage level N; otherwise, if the RSRP threshold th_N-1 of the enhanced coverage level N-1 is configured and the measured RSRP is less than the threshold value th_N-1 and the UE supports the enhanced coverage level N-1, Then the UE or the UE RRC layer considers it to be in the enhanced coverage level N-1; otherwise, if the RSRP threshold th_N of the enhanced coverage level N-2 is configured and the measured RSRP is less than the threshold value th_N-2 and the UE supports the enhanced coverage level N -2, the UE or the UERRC layer considers that it is in the enhanced coverage level N-2; and so on, otherwise if the RSRP threshold th_1 of the enhanced coverage level 1 is configured and the measured RSRP is less than the threshold th_1, then the UE or UE The RRC layer considers it to be in enhanced coverage level 1; otherwise it is considered to be in enhanced coverage level 0.

Operation 2: If the RRC determines to initiate EDT in operation 1, that is, if the UE is initiating/performing EDT or the UE is initiating/performing RRC connection recovery/establishment of EDT, the RRC sends the first indication information to the MAC layer. The first indication information is used to inform the MAC layer that the RRC layer initiates EDT transmission and/or instruct the MAC layer to initiate a random access procedure for EDT. The "RRC sends the first indication information" may also be described as "RRC sends an EDT random access indication" or "RRC informs the MAC layer to initiate EDT", etc., the description thereof is not limited in the present disclosure.

Operation 3: If the first indication information from the RRC layer in operation 2 is received, the MAC layer initiates a random access procedure for EDT. The initiating a random access procedure for EDT refers to initiating a random access procedure using random access parameters dedicated to EDT. The random access parameters here can be physical random access resources, random access preamble, RAR window size, contention resolution timer, maximum number of message 3 transmissions (retransmissions), and the uplink grant (or message 3 transmission) allowed in RAR transfer block size, etc.

Because each enhanced coverage level corresponds to a preamble group, the UE MAC layer needs to select one of the preamble groups corresponding to the enhanced coverage level according to the current enhanced coverage level of the UE when sending the preamble. In operation 3, preferably, the current enhanced coverage level of the UE may be determined by the UE by comparing the measured RSRP with the RSRP threshold value obtained from the system information for determining the enhanced coverage level (see 3GPP Technical specification document 36.321ve0), alternatively, the MAC layer may also be obtained from the RRC layer, that is, in operation 2, the RRC layer will also inform the MAC layer of the enhanced coverage level of the current UE determined in operation 1.

Operation 4: In the random access process for EDT, when the RAR reception is unsuccessful, if the enhanced coverage level climb occurs, the MAC layer compares the amount of data to be transmitted with the current (post-climbed) UE's enhanced coverage level. The transport block size threshold (PRACH-TBS-EDT) determines whether the following preamble retransmission is used for EDT. If the amount of data to be transmitted is larger than the corresponding transport block size threshold of the enhanced coverage level, the MAC layer sends (or indicates) the second indication information to the RRC layer. Continue the selection of random access resources when three indication information (see operation 5) is present. The second indication information is used to indicate that the above-mentioned total amount of data to be transmitted is greater than the transmission block size threshold value and EDT cannot be performed, or it can also be directly described as EDT is not applicable and needs to be rolled back, or EDT fails. Wait. If the amount of data to be transmitted is less than or equal to the transport block size threshold of the corresponding enhanced coverage level, the MAC continues the random access process for EDT, that is, continues the selection of random access resources. At this time, the MAC layer does not report to the RRC. The layer sends the second indication information. The selection of random access resources in the above process is further described as: if the MAC layer does not send the second indication information to the RRC layer, the selection of random access resources is continued (the random access resources here refer to the random access resources used for EDT). access resources), otherwise the selection of random access resources is not performed until the third indication information from the RRC layer is received (the random access resources here refer to random access resources that are not dedicated to EDT).

The enhanced coverage level climbing can be described as: when the variable coverage enhanced preamble transmission count value (PREAMBLE_TRANSMISSION_COUNTER_CE) is equal to the maximum number of enhanced coverage preamble attempts (maxNumPreambleAttemptCE) corresponding to the current UE enhanced coverage level n (maxNumPreambleAttemptCE) plus 1, if the UE and the serving cell both If the next enhanced coverage level n+1 is supported, the UE considers that the current enhanced coverage level of the UE is the next enhanced coverage level n+1.

Alternatively, the second indication information further includes the enhanced coverage level of the current UE.

Operation 5: When receiving the second indication information from the MAC layer in an ongoing RRC process for EDT, the RRC layer determines to perform rollback and cancel the initiated EDT. The fallback refers to the fallback from the current procedure for EDT to the non-EDT random access procedure and/or the RRC connection establishment/restoration procedure, and the traditional non-EDT random access procedure or RRC connection establishment/restoration procedure is applied. The process enters the RRC connected state to realize data transmission. Alternatively, operation 5 further includes the RRC sending third indication information to the MAC layer, where the third indication information is used to instruct the MAC layer to fall back to the non-EDT operation. More precisely, it is used to instruct the MAC layer to use a non-EDT operation mode (continue) to perform the random access procedure. The third indication information may also be referred to as a non-EDT random access indication or a fallback indication, the name of which is not limited in the present disclosure.

Operation 6: When receiving the third indication information from the RRC layer, the MAC performs a fallback to non-EDT, and continues the random access procedure for non-EDT. The performing random access for non-EDT refers to performing a random access procedure using random access parameters not dedicated to EDT.

Alternatively, the example 1 further includes, if the MAC layer receives the first indication information from the RRC layer, the MAC layer considers that the random access procedure is for EDT; otherwise, if the MAC layer does not receive the first indication information from the RRC layer If the MAC layer receives the third indication information from the RRC layer, the MAC layer considers that the random access procedure is not used for EDT.

It is worth noting that when the MAC layer falls back from the random access process used for EDT to the traditional random access process that is not EDT, the random access process is the same random access process, that is, the random access process in the random access process. The relevant counters such as the number of preamble transmissions are not reset.

Example 2:

The difference between Example 2 and Example 1 is that in Example 2, when an enhanced coverage level change/climb occurs, the determination operation of whether to continue the EDT process is determined according to the comparison between the amount of data to be transmitted and the transport block size threshold value of the corresponding enhanced coverage level. is done at the RRC layer, whereas in example 1, the operation is done at the MAC layer.

In this example, the operation for the UE supporting EDT to determine whether to use the EDT mechanism for data transmission includes one or more of the following:

Operation 1: The UE RRC layer determines whether or not to initiate EDT according to at least the measured RSRP. Here, determining whether to initiate the EDT may also be based on other conditions.

The "other conditions" may include one or more of the following conditions, but are not limited to the following, the UE determines to initiate EDT when the following conditions are met:

Condition 1: The non-access stratum NAS requests to establish an RRC connection for EDT and the UE supports EDT based on the user plane scheme;

Condition 2: NAS requests to restore RRC connection for EDT and UE supports EDT based on user plane scheme and UE saves security parameter values for EDT. The security parameter value may be a nextHopChainingCount value.

Condition 3: The NAS indicates that the request (establish/resume RRC connection request) applies to EDT. The NAS may determine whether EDT is applicable based on the reason for the request or the type of request (eg, data only, non-signaling, short message service, call type, mobile origination type, mobile termination type, etc.). The present disclosure is not limited to these situations.

Condition 4: The system information block SIB type 2 contains the PRACH configuration for EDT, that is, the cell where the UE resides currently supports EDT transmission and broadcasts the parameter configuration of EDT transmission.

Condition 5: The amount of data to be sent can be transmitted in one transmission, that is, the size of the MAC PDU formed by the data to be sent in the uplink buffer plus the resulting MAC header is less than or equal to the transmission corresponding to the current enhanced coverage level of the UE Block size threshold value.

The current enhanced coverage level of the UE may be determined by the RRC according to the measured RSRP and the RSRP threshold value obtained from the system information for determining the enhanced coverage level. An example is as follows: if the range of the enhanced coverage level supported by the system is 0 to N, if the RSRP threshold th_N of the enhanced coverage level N is configured and the measured RSRP is less than the threshold value th_N and the UE supports the enhanced coverage level N, the UE or The UE RRC layer considers that it is in the enhanced coverage level N; otherwise, if the RSRP threshold th_N-1 of the enhanced coverage level N-1 is configured and the measured RSRP is less than the threshold value th_N-1 and the UE supports the enhanced coverage level N-1, Then the UE or the UE RRC layer considers it to be in the enhanced coverage level N-1; otherwise, if the RSRP threshold th_N of the enhanced coverage level N-2 is configured and the measured RSRP is less than the threshold value th_N-2 and the UE supports the enhanced coverage level N -2, the UE or the UERRC layer considers that it is in the enhanced coverage level N-2; and so on, otherwise if the RSRP threshold th_1 of the enhanced coverage level 1 is configured and the measured RSRP is less than the threshold th_1, then the UE or UE The RRC layer considers it to be in enhanced coverage level 1; otherwise it is considered to be in enhanced coverage level 0.

Operation 2: If the RRC determines to initiate EDT in operation 1, that is, if the UE is initiating/performing EDT or the UE is initiating/performing RRC connection recovery/establishment of EDT, the RRC sends the first indication information to the MAC layer. The first indication information is used to inform the MAC layer that the RRC layer initiates EDT transmission and/or instruct the MAC layer to initiate a random access procedure for EDT. The "RRC sends the first indication information" may also be described as "RRC sends an EDT random access indication" or "RRC informs the MAC layer to initiate EDT", etc. The first indication information may also be referred to as EDT indication for short, and this disclosure does not Qualify its description.

Operation 3: If the first indication information from the RRC layer in operation 2 is received, the MAC layer initiates a random access procedure for EDT. The initiating a random access procedure for EDT refers to initiating a random access procedure using random access parameters dedicated to EDT. The random access parameters here can be physical random access resources, random access preamble, RAR window size, contention resolution timer, maximum number of message 3 transmissions (retransmissions), and the uplink grant (or message 3 transmission) allowed in RAR transfer block size, etc.

Because each enhanced coverage level corresponds to a preamble group, the UE MAC layer needs to select one of the preamble groups corresponding to the enhanced coverage level according to the current enhanced coverage level of the UE when sending the preamble. In operation 3, preferably, the current enhanced coverage level of the UE may be determined by the UE by comparing the measured RSRP with the RSRP threshold value obtained from the system information for determining the enhanced coverage level (see 3GPP Technical specification document 36.321ve0), alternatively, the MAC layer may also be obtained from the RRC layer, that is, in operation 2, the RRC layer will also inform the MAC layer of the enhanced coverage level of the current UE determined in operation 1.

Operation 4: In the random access process for EDT, when the RAR reception is unsuccessful, the MAC layer sends (or indicates) fourth indication information to the RRC layer if the enhanced coverage level climbs. The fourth indication information is used to indicate that the enhanced coverage level change/climb occurs, or it is understood as a request to continue the EDT. Optionally, the MAC layer continues the selection of random access resources when receiving the third indication information from the RRC layer (see operation 5), that is, the MAC layer interrupts the ongoing random access before receiving the third indication information. The entry process, or described as the MAC layer delays the selection of random access resources until the third indication information from the RRC layer is received.

The enhanced coverage level climbing can be described as: when the variable coverage enhanced preamble transmission count value (PREAMBLE_TRANSMISSION_COUNTER_CE) is equal to the maximum number of enhanced coverage preamble attempts (maxNumPreambleAttemptCE) corresponding to the current UE enhanced coverage level n (maxNumPreambleAttemptCE) plus 1, if the UE and the serving cell both If the next enhanced coverage level n+1 is supported, the UE considers that the current enhanced coverage level of the UE is the next enhanced coverage level n+1.

Alternatively, the fourth indication information further includes the enhanced coverage level of the current UE.

Operation 5: When receiving the fourth indication message from the MAC layer during an ongoing RRC procedure for EDT, the RRC layer compares/re-evaluates the amount of data to be transmitted and the current (post-climb) UE's enhanced coverage The transport block size threshold (PRACH-TBS-EDT) corresponding to the level determines whether the following random access/RRC procedure is used for EDT. If the amount of data to be transmitted is larger than the corresponding transport block size threshold value of the enhanced coverage level, the RRC layer determines to perform a fallback and cancel the EDT that has been initiated. The fallback refers to the fallback from the current procedure for EDT to the non-EDT random access procedure and/or the RRC connection establishment/restoration procedure, and the traditional non-EDT random access procedure or RRC connection establishment/restoration procedure is applied. The process enters the RRC connected state to realize data transmission. Optionally, the method further includes sending third indication information to the MAC layer; the third indication information is used to instruct the MAC layer to fall back to the non-EDT operation. More precisely, it is used to instruct the MAC layer to use a non-EDT operation mode (continue) to perform the random access procedure. The third indication information may also be referred to as a non-EDT random access indication or a fallback indication, the name of which is not limited in the present disclosure. If the amount of data to be transmitted is less than or equal to the transport block size threshold value of the corresponding enhanced coverage level, the RRC continues the process for EDT, and indicates fifth indication information to the MAC layer, which is used to instruct the MAC layer to continue to use The random access procedure of EDT. The fifth indication information may actually be equivalent to the first indication information, and both are used to indicate that the MAC random access procedure is for EDT, or described as currently in the EDT procedure.

Operation 6: When the MAC layer receives the third indication information or the fifth indication information from the RRC layer, the MAC layer continues the selection of random access resources to continue the ongoing random access procedure. It can also be described that the MAC layer delays the selection of random access resources until it receives the indication information (the third indication information or the fifth indication information) from the RRC layer. The continued selection of random access resources is further described as: if the MAC receives the fifth indication information, the selection of random access resources is continued (the random access resources here refer to random access resources used for EDT), Otherwise, if the third indication information from the RRC layer is received, the selection of random access resources is performed (the random access resources here refer to the random access resources not used exclusively for EDT). In this operation, when receiving the third indication information from the RRC layer, the MAC performs a fallback to the non-EDT, and continues the random access procedure for the non-EDT. The performing random access for non-EDT refers to performing a random access procedure using random access parameters not dedicated to EDT.

Alternatively, in Example 2, it also includes that, if the MAC layer receives the first indication information or the fifth indication information from the RRC layer, the MAC layer considers that the random access procedure is for EDT; otherwise, if the MAC layer receives When the third indication information from the RRC layer is reached, the MAC layer considers that the random access procedure is not used for EDT.

It is worth noting that when the MAC layer falls back from the random access process used for EDT to the traditional random access process that is not EDT, the random access process is the same random access process, that is, the random access process in the random access process. The relevant counters such as the number of preamble transmissions are not reset.

Example 3

The difference between Example 3 and Example 1 is that in Example 3, when an enhanced coverage level change/climb occurs, the MAC layer determines whether to continue the EDT process according to the first indication information and the current (post-climbed) enhanced coverage level of the UE; In step 1, the MAC determines whether to continue the EDT procedure according to the comparison of the amount of data to be transmitted and the transport block size threshold value of the current (post-climbing) UE's enhanced coverage level.

In this example, the operation for the UE supporting EDT to determine whether to use the EDT mechanism for data transmission includes one or more of the following:

Operation 1: The UE RRC layer determines whether or not to initiate EDT according to at least the measured RSRP. Here, determining whether to initiate the EDT may also be based on other conditions.

The "other conditions" may include one or more of the following conditions, but are not limited to the following, the UE determines to initiate EDT when the following conditions are met:

Condition 1: The non-access stratum NAS requests to establish an RRC connection for EDT and the UE supports EDT based on the user plane scheme;

Condition 2: NAS requests to restore RRC connection for EDT and UE supports EDT based on user plane scheme and UE saves security parameter values for EDT. The security parameter value may be a nextHopChainingCount value.

Condition 3: The NAS indicates that the request (establish/resume RRC connection request) applies to EDT. The NAS may determine whether EDT is applicable based on the reason for the request or the type of request (eg, data only, non-signaling, short message service, call type, mobile origination type, mobile termination type, etc.). The present disclosure is not limited to these situations.

Condition 4: The system information block SIB type 2 contains the PRACH configuration for EDT, that is, the cell where the UE resides currently supports EDT transmission and broadcasts the parameter configuration of EDT transmission.

Condition 5: The amount of data to be sent can be transmitted in one transmission, that is, the amount of data to be sent is less than or equal to the transport block size threshold corresponding to the current enhanced coverage level of the UE.

The current enhanced coverage level of the UE may be determined by the RRC according to the measured RSRP and the RSRP threshold value obtained from the system information for determining the enhanced coverage level. An example is as follows: if the range of the enhanced coverage level supported by the system is 0 to N, if the RSRP threshold th_N of the enhanced coverage level N is configured and the measured RSRP is less than the threshold value th_N and the UE supports the enhanced coverage level N, the UE or The UE RRC layer considers that it is in the enhanced coverage level N; otherwise, if the RSRP threshold th_N-1 of the enhanced coverage level N-1 is configured and the measured RSRP is less than the threshold value th_N-1 and the UE supports the enhanced coverage level N-1, Then the UE or the UE RRC layer considers it to be in the enhanced coverage level N-1; otherwise, if the RSRP threshold th_N of the enhanced coverage level N-2 is configured and the measured RSRP is less than the threshold value th_N-2 and the UE supports the enhanced coverage level N -2, the UE or the UERRC layer considers that it is in the enhanced coverage level N-2; and so on, otherwise if the RSRP threshold th_1 of the enhanced coverage level 1 is configured and the measured RSRP is less than the threshold th_1, then the UE or UE The RRC layer considers it to be in enhanced coverage level 1; otherwise it is considered to be in enhanced coverage level 0.

Operation 2: If the RRC determines to initiate EDT in operation 1, that is, if the UE is initiating/performing EDT or the UE is initiating/performing RRC connection recovery/establishment of EDT, the RRC sends the first indication information to the MAC layer. The first indication information is used to inform the MAC layer that the RRC layer initiates EDT transmission and/or instruct the MAC layer to initiate a random access procedure for EDT. The "RRC sends the first indication information" may also be described as "RRC sends an EDT random access indication" or "RRC informs the MAC layer to initiate EDT", etc., the description thereof is not limited in the present disclosure.

In this example, the first indication information further includes a maximum enhanced coverage level at which EDT can be used. The maximum enhanced coverage level with EDT is used to indicate the maximum enhanced coverage level with which the random access procedure can be initiated/continued with the EDT parameter. It can be further understood as: if the enhanced coverage level of the current UE is less than or equal to the maximum enhanced coverage level of the EDT that can be used, the random access procedure for EDT can be initiated/continued; otherwise, if the enhanced coverage level of the current UE is greater than the maximum enhanced coverage level of the EDT When the maximum enhanced coverage level of the EDT can be used, the random access procedure for EDT cannot be initiated/continued. The maximum enhanced coverage level that can use the EDT is determined by the RRC layer according to the data amount to be transmitted by the current UE and the comparison result of the corresponding transport block size thresholds for each enhanced coverage level received in the system information. That is, on the basis of satisfying the above "other conditions", if the amount of data to be transmitted is less than or equal to the transport block size threshold Tn corresponding to enhanced coverage level n but greater than the transport block size threshold corresponding to enhanced coverage level n+1 When the limit value is T(n+1), RRC considers that the maximum enhanced coverage level that can use EDT is n. In another case, if the amount of data to be transmitted is less than or equal to the transport block size threshold Tn corresponding to the enhanced coverage level n, where n is the maximum enhanced coverage level supported by the UE and/or the serving cell, then RRC considers that the maximum enhanced coverage level for which EDT can be used is n.

Operation 3: If the first indication information from the RRC layer in operation 2 is received, the MAC layer initiates a random access procedure for EDT. The initiating a random access procedure for EDT refers to initiating a random access procedure using random access parameters dedicated to EDT. The random access parameters here can be physical random access resources, random access preamble, RAR window size, contention resolution timer, maximum number of message 3 transmissions (retransmissions), and the uplink grant (or message 3 transmission) allowed in RAR transfer block size, etc.

Because each enhanced coverage level corresponds to a preamble group, the UE MAC layer needs to select one of the preamble groups corresponding to the enhanced coverage level according to the current enhanced coverage level of the UE when sending the preamble. In operation 3, preferably, the current enhanced coverage level of the UE may be determined by the UE by comparing the measured RSRP with the RSRP threshold value obtained from the system information for determining the enhanced coverage level (see 3GPP Technical specification document 36.321ve0), alternatively, the MAC layer may also be obtained from the RRC layer, that is, in operation 2, the RRC layer will also inform the MAC layer of the enhanced coverage level of the current UE determined in operation 1.

Operation 4: In the random access process for EDT, when the RAR reception is unsuccessful, if the enhanced coverage level climb occurs, the MAC layer compares the current (post-climbed) enhanced coverage level of the UE with the maximum enhanced coverage level of the EDT (optional). Included in the first indication information) to determine whether the next preamble retransmission is used for EDT. If the enhanced coverage level of the current UE is greater than the maximum enhanced coverage level that can use EDT included in the first indication information, the MAC layer sends (or indicates) the second indication information to the RRC layer. When the third indication information from the RRC layer (see operation 5), the selection of random access resources is continued. The second indication information is used to indicate that EDT is not applicable, rollback needs to be performed, or EDT fails. If the enhanced coverage level of the current UE is less than or equal to the maximum enhanced coverage level of the EDT that can be used in the first indication information, the MAC continues the random access process for EDT, that is, continues the selection of random access resources. The MAC layer does not send the second indication information to the RRC layer. The selection of random access resources in the above process is further described as: if the MAC layer does not send the second indication information to the RRC layer, the selection of random access resources is continued (the random access resources here refer to the random access resources used for EDT). access resources), otherwise the selection of random access resources is not performed until the third indication information from the RRC layer is received (the random access resources here refer to random access resources that are not dedicated to EDT).

The enhanced coverage level climb can be described as: when the variable covers the enhanced preamble sending count value

When (PREAMBLE_TRANSMISSION_COUNTER_CE) is equal to the maximum number of enhanced coverage preamble attempts (maxNumPreambleAttemptCE) corresponding to the current enhanced coverage level n of the UE plus 1, if both the UE and the serving cell support the next enhanced coverage level n+1, the UE considers the enhanced coverage of the current UE. The level is the next enhanced coverage level n+1.

Alternatively, the second indication information further includes the enhanced coverage level of the current UE.

Operation 5: When receiving the second indication information from the MAC layer in an ongoing RRC process for EDT, the RRC layer determines to perform rollback and cancel the initiated EDT. The fallback refers to the fallback from the current procedure for EDT to the non-EDT random access procedure and/or the RRC connection establishment/restoration procedure, and the traditional non-EDT random access procedure or RRC connection establishment/restoration procedure is applied. The process enters the RRC connected state to realize data transmission. Alternatively, operation 5 further includes the RRC sending third indication information to the MAC layer, where the third indication information is used to instruct the MAC layer to fall back to the non-EDT operation. More precisely, it is used to instruct the MAC layer to use a non-EDT operation mode (continue) to perform the random access procedure. The third indication information may also be referred to as a non-EDT random access indication or a fallback indication, the name of which is not limited in the present disclosure.

Operation 6: When receiving the third indication information from the RRC layer, the MAC performs a fallback to non-EDT, and continues the random access procedure for non-EDT. The performing random access for non-EDT refers to performing a random access procedure using random access parameters not dedicated to EDT.

Alternatively, in Example 3, if the MAC layer receives the first indication information from the RRC layer, the MAC layer considers that the random access procedure is for EDT; otherwise, if the MAC layer does not receive the first indication information from the RRC layer If the MAC layer receives the third indication information from the RRC layer, the MAC layer considers that the random access procedure is not used for EDT.

It is worth noting that when the MAC layer falls back from the random access process used for EDT to the traditional random access process that is not EDT, the random access process is the same random access process, that is, the random access process in the random access process. The relevant counters such as the number of preamble transmissions are not reset.

Corresponding to the above method 100, the present disclosure provides a user equipment UE. FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a UE 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown, the UE 200 includes a transceiver 210 , a processor 220 and a memory 230 . The transceiver 210 may be used, for example, to receive configuration information of the EDT, send a random access preamble, receive a random access response, and the like. The memory 230 stores instructions executable by the processor 220 to cause the UE 200 to perform the method 100 described above in connection with FIG. 1 .

Specifically, the memory 230 stores instructions executable by the processor 220, so that the UE 200: at the radio resource control RRC layer, determine to initiate early data transmission EDT; at the RRC layer, send the first indication to the medium access control MAC layer information, instructing the MAC layer to initiate a random access procedure for EDT; and in response to receiving the first indication information, the MAC layer initiates a random access procedure for EDT.

In one example, the determining to initiate an EDT is performed based at least in part on the measured reference signal received power RSRP.

In one example, the memory 230 further stores instructions executable by the processor 220, so that the UE 200: when the enhanced coverage level climbs, the amount of data to be transmitted at the MAC layer corresponds to the increased enhanced coverage level The transport block size threshold value is compared; and when the amount of data to be transmitted is greater than the transport block size threshold value corresponding to the enhanced coverage level after climbing, the MAC layer sends second indication information to the RRC layer, indicating that the EDT fails; Or when the amount of data to be transmitted is less than or equal to the transport block size threshold value corresponding to the enhanced coverage level after climbing, EDT is continued at the MAC layer.

In one example, the memory 230 further stores instructions executable by the processor 220, so that the UE 200: when the enhanced coverage level climbs, compare the enhanced enhanced coverage level after the climb with the maximum enhanced coverage level of the EDT at the MAC layer Comparison; when the enhanced coverage level after climbing is higher than the maximum enhanced coverage level of EDT, the MAC layer sends second indication information to the RRC layer to indicate that the EDT fails; or when the enhanced coverage level after climbing is lower than or equal to the maximum enhanced coverage level of EDT When the coverage level is enhanced, EDT is continued at the MAC layer.

In one example, the memory 230 further stores an instruction executable by the processor 220, so that the UE 200: at the RRC layer, in response to receiving the second indication information, back to the non-EDT operation.

In one example, the memory 230 further stores instructions executable by the processor 220, so that the UE 200: sends third indication information to the MAC layer at the RRC layer, instructing the MAC layer to fall back to the non-EDT operation; and at the MAC layer The layer performs a non-EDT random access procedure in response to receiving the third indication information.

In one example, the maximum enhanced coverage level of the EDT is included in the first indication information.

In an example, the memory 230 further stores an instruction executable by the processor 220, so that the UE 200: when the enhanced coverage level climbs, the MAC layer sends fourth indication information to the RRC layer, indicating the enhanced coverage after the climb level; in response to receiving the fourth indication information at the RRC layer, the amount of data to be transmitted is compared with the transport block size threshold value corresponding to the enhanced coverage level after climbing; and when the amount of data to be transmitted is greater than the enhanced coverage level after climbing When the threshold value of the transport block size corresponding to the coverage level, the RRC layer sends the third indication information to the MAC layer to indicate that the EDT fails; or when the amount of data to be transmitted is less than or equal to the transport block corresponding to the enhanced coverage level after climbing When the size is the threshold value, the RRC layer sends fifth indication information to the MAC layer, instructing the MAC layer to continue to perform EDT.

In one example, the memory 230 further stores instructions executable by the processor 220, so that the UE 200: in response to receiving the third indication information at the MAC layer, perform a non-EDT random access procedure; or at the MAC layer In response to receiving the fifth indication information, the EDT is continued.

Various aspects described above in conjunction with the method 100 , especially Examples 1-3, are also applicable to the UE 200 .

The program running on the device according to the present disclosure may be a program that causes a computer to implement the functions of the embodiments of the present disclosure by controlling a central processing unit (CPU). The program or information processed by the program may be temporarily stored in volatile memory (eg, random access memory RAM), a hard disk drive (HDD), non-volatile memory (eg, flash memory), or other memory systems.

A program for realizing the functions of the embodiments of the present disclosure can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. The corresponding functions can be realized by causing a computer system to read programs recorded on the recording medium and execute the programs. The so-called "computer system" as used herein may be a computer system embedded in the device, and may include an operating system or hardware (eg, peripheral devices). The "computer-readable recording medium" may be a semiconductor recording medium, an optical recording medium, a magnetic recording medium, a recording medium that dynamically stores a program for a short period of time, or any other recording medium readable by a computer.

The various features or functional blocks of the devices used in the above-described embodiments may be implemented or performed by electrical circuits (eg, monolithic or multi-chip integrated circuits). Circuits designed to perform the functions described in this specification may include general purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination of the above. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any existing processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The above circuit may be a digital circuit or an analog circuit. In the event that new integrated circuit technologies emerge as a result of advances in semiconductor technology to replace existing integrated circuits, one or more embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented using these new integrated circuit technologies.

Furthermore, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments. While various examples of the described embodiments have been described, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Fixed or non-mobile electronic equipment installed indoors or outdoors can be used as terminal equipment or communication equipment, such as AV equipment, kitchen equipment, cleaning equipment, air conditioners, office equipment, vending machines, and other household appliances.

As above, the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the specific structure is not limited to the above embodiments, and the present disclosure also includes any design changes that do not deviate from the gist of the present disclosure. In addition, various modifications can be made to the present disclosure within the scope of the claims, and embodiments obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present disclosure. In addition, the components described in the above-described embodiments having the same effect may be substituted for each other.

Claims (10)

1. A method in user equipment UE, comprising: In the radio resource control RRC layer, it is determined to initiate early data transmission EDT; Send first indication information to the medium access control MAC layer at the RRC layer, instructing the MAC layer to initiate a random access procedure for EDT; and In response to receiving the first indication information at the MAC layer, a random access procedure for EDT is initiated. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining to initiate an EDT is performed based at least in part on a measured reference signal received power, RSRP. 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: When the enhanced coverage level climbs, comparing the amount of data to be transmitted at the MAC layer with the transport block size threshold corresponding to the increased enhanced coverage level; and When the amount of data to be transmitted is greater than the transport block size threshold value corresponding to the enhanced coverage level after climbing, the MAC layer sends second indication information to the RRC layer, indicating that the EDT fails; or When the amount of data to be transmitted is less than or equal to the transport block size threshold value corresponding to the enhanced coverage level after climbing, EDT is continued at the MAC layer. 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: When the enhanced coverage level climbs, compare the increased enhanced coverage level with the maximum enhanced coverage level of the EDT at the MAC layer; When the enhanced coverage level after the climb is higher than the maximum enhanced coverage level of the EDT, the MAC layer sends second indication information to the RRC layer to indicate that the EDT fails; or When the enhanced coverage level after the climb is lower than or equal to the maximum enhanced coverage level of the EDT, the EDT is continued at the MAC layer. 5. The method of claim 3 or 4, further comprising: In response to receiving the second indication information, the RRC layer falls back to non-EDT operation. 6. The method of claim 3 or 4, further comprising: Sending third indication information to the MAC layer at the RRC layer, instructing the MAC layer to fall back to non-EDT operation; and In response to receiving the third indication information, the MAC layer performs a non-EDT random access procedure. 7. The method of claim 4, wherein the maximum enhanced coverage level of the EDT is included in the first indication information. 8. The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising: When the enhanced coverage level climbs, the MAC layer sends fourth indication information to the RRC layer, indicating the enhanced coverage level after the climb; In response to receiving the fourth indication information at the RRC layer, comparing the amount of data to be transmitted with the transport block size threshold value corresponding to the increased enhanced coverage level; and When the amount of data to be transmitted is greater than the transport block size threshold value corresponding to the enhanced coverage level after climbing, the RRC layer sends third indication information to the MAC layer to indicate that the EDT fails; or When the amount of data to be transmitted is less than or equal to the transport block size threshold value corresponding to the increased enhanced coverage level, the RRC layer sends fifth indication information to the MAC layer, instructing the MAC layer to continue to perform EDT. 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: In response to receiving the third indication information at the MAC layer, perform a non-EDT random access procedure; or In response to receiving the fifth indication information, the MAC layer continues to perform EDT. 10. A user equipment UE comprising a transceiver, a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions executable by the processor to cause the UE to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-9.