Implicit Radio Resource Control State Transitions

A user equipment (UE) device, comprising:

• at least one antenna;
• a radio operably coupled to the at least one antenna;
• and
• a processing element operably coupled to the radio;
• wherein the processing element is configured to execute program instructions to cause the UE device to:
• establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection with a cellular base station;
• provide an indication to the cellular base station of a UE-preferred discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle length for use by the wireless device in an RRC inactive state;
• and
• responsive to providing the indication of the UE-preferred DRX cycle length, configure a DRX cycle length for use by the wireless device in the RRC inactive state.

A method, comprising:

• by a user equipment (UE) device:
• establishing a radio resource control (RRC) connection with a cellular base station;
• providing an indication to the cellular base station of a UE-preferred discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle length for use by the wireless device in an RRC inactive state;
• and
• responsive to providing the indication of the UE-preferred DRX cycle length, configuring a DRX cycle length for use by the wireless device in the RRC inactive state.