Random access procedure for dual connectivity
AssigneeIntel IP Corporation
InventorSeunghee Han
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In dual connectivity, a UE is served by cells are operated in different eNBs with one eNB designated as the master eNB (MeNB) and the other as a secondary eNB (SeNB). A random access procedure is described by which a UE connected to an MeNB may attempt to acquire access to an SeNB cell. The procedure may utilize the backhaul connection between the SeNB and the MeNB so that the random access response may be transmitted over an MeNB cell.
Claims24
A user equipment (UE) device, comprising:
- a radio transceiver to provide air interfaces to a master evolved Node B (MeNB) and a secondary evolved Node B (SeNB) that provide MeNB and SeNB cells, respectively;
- and
- processing circuitry connected to the radio transceiver to:
- initiate a random access procedure by transmitting a random access preamble to the SeNB and the MeNB;
- receive a random access response (RAR) over the MeNB cell,
- distinguish between an RAR received in response to the random access preamble transmitted to the SeNB and an RAR received in response to the random access preamble transmitted to the MeNB by using separately derived random access radio network temporary network identifiers (RA-RNTIs).
A method for operating a user equipment (UE) device, comprising:
- receiving communications from a master evolved Node B (MeNB) and a secondary evolved Node B (SeNB) over MeNB and SeNB cells, respectively;
- initiating a random access procedure by transmitting a random access preamble to the SeNB and the MeNB;
- receiving a random access response (RAR) over the MeNB cell;
- and,
- distinguishing between an RAR received in response to the random access preamble transmitted to the SeNB and an RAR received in response to the random access preamble transmitted to the MeNB by using separately derived random access radio network temporary network identifiers (RA-RNTIs).
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of a user equipment (UE) to perform operations to configure the UE to:
- receive communications from a master evolved Node B (MeNB) and a secondary evolved Node B (SeNB) over MeNB and SeNB cells, respectively;
- initiate a random access procedure by transmitting a random access preamble to the SeNB and the MeNB;
- receive a random access response (RAR) over the MeNB cell;
- and;
- distinguish between an RAR received in response to the random access preamble transmitted to the SeNB and an RAR received in response to the random access preamble transmitted to the MeNB by using separately derived random access radio network temporary network identifiers (RA-RNTIs).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.