WO2014048115A1 - Method and apparatus for rrc message combining - Google Patents

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for wireless communication in a mobile device that includes transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) request message, wherein the RRC request message includes a non-access stratum (NAS) service request. Aspects of the methods and apparatus include receiving an RRC connection setup message comprising information for configuring an RRC connection. Aspects of the methods and apparatus also include transmitting an RRC connection setup completion message acknowledging the instructions for configuring the RRC connection.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR RRC MESSAGE COMBINING

CLAIM OF PRIORITY UNDER 35 U.S.C §119

[0001] The present Application for Patent claims priority to PCT Application No.

PCT/CN/2012/082469 entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR RRC MESSAGE COMBINING" filed September 29, 2012, in the Receiving Office of China (RO/CN), and assigned to the assignee hereof and hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

Field

[0002] Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to optimizing data connections for small data transfer using RRC message combining.

Background

[0003] Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, and so on. Such networks, which are usually multiple access networks, support communications for multiple users by sharing the available network resources. One example of such a network is the UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). The UTRAN is the radio access network (RAN) defined as a part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a third generation (3G) mobile phone technology supported by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The UMTS, which is the successor to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technologies, currently supports various air interface standards, such as Wideband-Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), Time Division-Code Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA), and Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD- SCDMA). The UMTS also supports enhanced 3G data communications protocols, such as High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), which provides higher data transfer speeds and capacity to associated UMTS networks.

[0004] As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, research and development continue to advance the UMTS technologies not only to meet the growing demand for mobile broadband access, but to advance and enhance the user experience with mobile communications.

[0005] Thus, aspects of this apparatus and method include optimizing data connections for small data transfer using RRC message combining, thereby improving the efficiency of wireless communication system.

SUMMARY

[0006] The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nor delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

[0007] A method for optimizing data connections for small data transfer using RRC message combining is provided. The method includes transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) request message, the RRC request message including a non-access stratum (NAS) service request. Additionally, the method includes receiving an RRC connection setup message comprising information for configuring an RRC connection. Still further, the method includes transmitting an RRC connection setup completion message acknowledging the instructions for configuring the RRC connection.

[0008] In another aspect, an apparatus for optimizing data connections for small data transfer using RRC message combining is provided. The apparatus includes a processor configured to transmit a radio resource control (RRC) request message, the RRC request message including a non-access stratum (NAS) service request. Additionally, the processor is configured to receive an RRC connection setup message comprising information for configuring an RRC connection. Still further, the processor is configured to transmit an RRC connection setup completion message acknowledging the instructions for configuring the RRC connection.

[0009] In another aspect, an apparatus for optimizing data connections for small data transfer using RRC message combining is provided that includes means for transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) request message, the RRC request message including a non-access stratum (NAS) service request. Additionally, the apparatus includes means for receiving an RRC connection setup message comprising information for configuring an RRC connection. Still further, the apparatus includes means for transmitting an RRC connection setup completion message acknowledging the instructions for configuring the RRC connection.

[0010] In yet another aspect, a computer-readable media for optimizing data connections for small data transfer using RRC message combining is provided that includes machine-executable code for transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) request message, the RRC request message including a non-access stratum (NAS) service request. Additionally, the code may be executable for receiving an RRC connection setup message comprising information for configuring an RRC connection. Still further, the code may be executable for transmitting an RRC connection setup completion message acknowledging the instructions for configuring the RRC connection

[0011] These and other aspects of the disclosure will become more fully understood upon a review of the detailed description, which follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example wireless system of aspects of the present disclosure;

[0013] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating exemplary aspect of call processing in a wireless communication system;

[0014] FIG. 3 depicts a typical data request procedure for data transmission in UMTS.

[0015] FIG. 4 depicts a data request procedure for data transmission in UMTS using

RRC combining.

[0016] FIG. 5 depicts a typical data request procedure for data transmission in LTE.

[0017] FIGs. 6-7 depict a data request procedure for data transmission in LTE using

RRC combining.

[0018] FIG. 8 is a flowchart depicting a method for data connectivity using RRC combining.

[0019] FIG. 9 is a flowchart depicting another method for data connectivity using RRC combining.

[0020] FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating additional example components of an aspect of a computer device having a call processing component according to the present disclosure;

[0021] FIG. 11 is a component diagram illustrating aspects of a logical grouping of electrical components as contemplated by the present disclosure; [0022] FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus employing a processing system to perform the functions described herein;

[0023] FIG. 13 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a telecommunications system including a UE configured to perform the functions described herein;

[0024] FIG. 14 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of an access network for use with a UE configured to perform the functions described herein;

[0025] FIG. 15 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a radio protocol architecture for the user and control planes for a base station and/or a UE configured to perform the functions described herein;

[0026] FIG. 16 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a Node B in communication with a UE in a telecommunications system configured to perform the functions described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well known structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring such concepts.

[0028] Referring to FIG. 1, in one aspect, a wireless communication system 10 is configured to facilitate transmitting vast amount of data from a mobile device to a network at a fast data transfer rate. Wireless communication system 10 includes at least one UE 14 that may communicate wirelessly with one or more network 12 via serving nodes, including, but not limited to, wireless serving node 16 over one or more wireless link 25. The one or more wireless link 25, may include, but are not limited to, signaling radio bearers and/or data radio bearers. Wireless serving node 16 may be configured to transmit one or more signals 23 to UE 14 over the one or more wireless link 25, and/or UE 14 may transmit one or more signals 24 to wireless serving node 16. In an aspect, signal 23 and signal 24 may include, but are not limited to, one or more messages, such as transmitting a data packet from the UE 14 to the network via wireless serving node 16.

[0029] In an aspect, UE 14 may include a call processing component 40, which may be configured to transmit a data to the wireless serving node 16 over wireless link 25. Specifically, in an aspect, call processing component 40 of UE 14, transmits an transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) request message to initiate a data connection, receives a RRC connection setup message, and transmits a RRC connection setup completion message.

[0030] UE 14 may comprise a mobile apparatus and may be referred to as such throughout the present disclosure. Such a mobile apparatus or UE 14 may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communications device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a terminal, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology.

[0031] Additionally, the one or more wireless nodes, including, but not limited to, wireless serving node 16 of wireless communication system 10, may include one or more of any type of network component, such as an access point, including a base station or node B, a relay, a peer-to-peer device, an authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) server, a mobile switching center (MSC), a radio network controller (RNC), etc. In a further aspect, the one or more wireless serving nodes of wireless communication system 10 may include one or more small base stations, such as, but not limited to a femtocell, picocell, microcell, or any other small base station.

[0032] Referring to Fig. 2, in one aspect of the present apparatus and method, a wireless communication system 10 is configured to include wireless communications between network 12 and UE 14. The wireless communications system may be configured to support communications between a number of users. Fig. 2 illustrates a manner in which wireless serving node 16, located in network 12 communicates with UE 14. The wireless communication system 10 can be configured for downlink message transmission or uplink message transmission over wireless link 25, as represented by the up/down arrows between network 12 and UE 14.

[0033] In an aspect, within the UE 14 resides a call processing component 40. The call processing component 40 may be configured, among other things, to include a RRC request transmitting component 42 capable of transmitting a RRC request message, where the RRC request message includes a non-access stratum (NAS) service request. In other words, the RRC request transmitting component 42 is configured to transmit a RRC request message to network 12 via wireless serving node 16 over wireless link 25.

[0034] In another aspect, the call processing component 40 may be configured, among other things, to include a RRC connection setup receiving component 43 capable of receiving an RRC connection setup message comprising information for configuring an RRC connection. In other words, the RRC connection setup receiving component 43 is configured to receive a RRC connection setup message from network 12 via wireless serving node 16 over wireless link 25.

[0035] In yet another aspect, the call processing component 40 may be configured, among other things, to include a RRC connection setup completion transmitting component 44 capable of transmitting an RRC connection setup completion message acknowledging the instructions for configuring the RRC connection. In other words, the RRC connection setup completion transmitting component 44 is configured to transmit a RRC connection setup completion message to network 12 via wireless serving node 16 over wireless link 25.

[0036] Fig. 3 depicts a typical data request procedure for data transmission in UMTS.

Fig. 3 shows communications among a UE 302, an Radio Network Controller (RNC) 304, an Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) support node (SGSN) 306, and a gateway GPRS support node (GGSN)/serving gateway (SGW)/packet data network gateway (PGW) 308. As shown at 312, the UE 302 and RNC 304 perform a random access procedure. The UE 302 and RNC 304 may then establish an RRC connection, as shown at 314. A NAS service connection may then be established, as shown at 316. During this process, a NAS protocol data unit (PDU) is transmitted. Next, a security context is established, as shown at 318. A user plane connection may then be established, as shown at 320, including data radio bearer setup and Iu establishment (the connection between RNC and GGSN/SGW/PGW. As shown in Figure 3, approximately 20 signaling message are required to setup an connection for transmitting data.

[0037] Turning now to Fig. 4, an optimized data request procedure using RRC message combining for UMTS is shown. By combining NAS signaling, security, and radio bearer establishment into the RRC connection establishment procedure, overhead associated with establishing a data connection is reduced. Again, communications are among and between a UE 402, an RNC 404, an SGSN 406, and a GGSN/SGW/PGW 408. As shown , UE 402 begins in idle mode. As shown at 411, the UE 402 and RNC 404 perform a RRC message combining support procedure and at 412, the UE 402 and RNC 404 then perform a random access procedure. UE 402 may then transmit an RRC connection request to the RNC 404, as shown at 414. The RRC connection request may include selected PLMN, IDNNS, START_PS, Cause, or NAS PDU.

[0038] The eNB/RNC 404 may broadcast RRC message combining related information in system information to the UE 402. The RRC message combining related information indicates that the eNB/RNC supports RRC message combining. One option of indicating that the eNB/RNC supports RRC message combining includes reserving a block of random access preambles for the UE to indicate RRC message combining is to be used. Another option of indicating that the eNB/RNC supports RRC message combining includes providing an indication to indicate the RRC message combining is supported. Afterwards, the eNB/RNC 404 may receive message (Msg) 1 from the UE 402 indicating RRC message combining is to be utilized and the eNB/RNC 404 may provide a larger size Msg 3 to UE 402 and performs the remaining steps of procedure below with RRC combining.

[0039] It should be noted that if both UE 402 and eNB/RNC 404 support RRC message combining and if the UE 402 path loss can support a larger payload size, the UE 402 initiates the new service request procedure as show in Fig 4 and Fig.6. Among the new procedure, UE may use reserved preamble in Msg 1 to indicate RRC message combining is supported. Otherwise, UE 402 follows legacy procedure for RRC connection establishment.

[0040] Still further, upon receipt of the RRC connection request, including the NAS

PDU, RNC 404 may transmit a NAS service request to the SGSN 406, as shown at 416. The service request may include the network service access point identifier (NSAPI) of the Machine-Type Communication (MTC) bearer.

[0041] The SGSN 406 may respond with a common ID, as shown at 418. The SGSN may also transmit a security mode command to the RNC, as shown at 420, concurrently with a radio access bearer (RAB) assignment request, as shown at 422. The RNC 404 then transmits an RRC connection setup message to the UE 402, as shown at 424. This message may include the signaling radio bearer (SRB), data radio bearer (DRB) for MTC, security mode command (SMC), and measurement control information. The SRB, DRB and measurement control information in RRC Connection Setup message may be encrypted by the security parameters in the SMC. The UE 402 may respond with an RRC connection setup complete message, as shown at 426, include an SMC response, DRB establishment acknowledgment, and measurement acknowledgement. The RNC may then submit to the SGSN, a security mode response and RAB assignment response, as shown at 428, 430. The SGSN and the GGSN/SGW/PGW then update the PDP context, as shown at 432.

[0042] RRC message combining can also be used to minimize overhead in LTE network communications. Fig. 5 depicts a typical service request procedure for data transmission in LTE. Communications are shown among a UE 501, and eNodeB 503, an MME 505, an S-GW 507, and a P-GW 509. As shown at 510, an RRC connection procedure is performed between the UE 501 and the eNodeB 503. The eNodeB 503 then forwards a service request to the MME, as shown at 512. The MME responds with an initial context setup request, as shown at 514. This message provides information about configuring the UE to the eNodeB, including the S-GW address and uplink security context. The eNodeB and the UE then perform security configuration operations, as shown at 516. Next, the UE and the eNodeB may perform RRC connection reconfiguration in order to setup the data radio bearer, as shown at 518. Following setup of the DRB, the UE is able to transmit uplink small data packets, as shown at 519. The eNodeB may forward an initial context setup response to the MME, as shown at 520, data bearer modification may occur among the MME, S-GW, and P- GW, as shown at 522, and the downlink data packets can then be properly routed to the UE.

[0043] Figs. 6 and 7 depict a data connection setup using RRC message combining for

LTE. As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the number of messages required to establish a connection is reduced. As in Fig. 5, communications are shown among a UE 601/701, and eNodeB 603/703, an MME 605/705, an S-GW 607, and a P-GW 609. As shown, eNodeB 603 may broadcast the list of reserved preambles for small data MTC at 602. If UE 601 supports the new service request with RRC message combining procedure, UE 601 may transmit reserved preambles if the path loss is not large at 604. Additionally, the UE 601 and eNodeB may then perform a random access response at 606. After which, as shown at 610, the UE may transmit an RRC Connection Request message the eNodeB. In contrast to the typical operation illustrated in Fig. 5, this initial message from the UE to the eNodeB may include a NAS service request and selected PLMN- Identity and registered MME. As shown at 612, a service request is forwarded from the eNodeB to the MME, which responds with an initial context setup request, shown at 614.

[0044] The eNodeB may then forward an RRC connection setup message to the UE, as shown at 616. This message may include information related to security context, measurement control, SRB, and DRB assignment. The SRB, DRB in RRC Connection Setup may be encrypted by the security parameters in the SMC. The UE may respond, as shown at 618, with an RRC connection setup complete message acknowledging all of the information provided in the RRC connection setup message by the eNodeB. As shown in Fig. 6, at least 4 RRC signaling message are saved using the novel RRC combining techniques described herein.

[0045] In some cases, the MME may reject the service request from the UE for various reasons (e.g., authentication failure, absence of UE context at MME, etc.). In this case, the MME may send a service reject message in response to the UE's service request as shown at 713 in Fig. 7. Once the eNodeB receives a Downlink NAS transport message (that includes a service reject in its NAS PDU) instead of the initial context setup request, it can detect MME's rejection of the UE's request. Therefore, it falls back to the normal RRC connection establishment procedure by configuring only SRB1 in the RRC connection setup without RRC combining, as shown at 715, 717. Once the SRB1 is established, the eNodeB forwards the NAS message (service reject) to the UE, as shown at 721. MME's request for releasing the UE context (UE context release command shown at 719) to eNodeB should be processed after delivering the service reject to the UE. Note that the MME is agnostic to the call flow optimizations between the UE and eNodeB illustrated in Figs 6 and 7.

[0046] In general, small data packets require very short radio connections. Therefore, the connection can be quickly released once the small data transaction is completed. In LTE, the eNodeB makes a decision to release a connection and this is typically using a traffic inactivity timer which may not be efficient for small data packets. For this reason, a UE initiated connection release method can be introduced. A simple way is to introduce a "RRC connection release request" message that the UE can send to the eNodeB once it detects the end of a small data transmission (or after receiving the proper acknowledgement message).

[0047] Fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method for optimizing data connectivity by using RRC combining. The method shown in Fig. 8 may be performed, for example, by a UE, such as UE 702 or UE 901. As shown at 802, the UE may transmit an RRC request message to initiate a data connection. The RRC request message includes a service request. For example, in the case of a UMTS network, the service request may include a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) protocol data unit (PDU). In the case of a LTE network, the service request may include, for example, a NAS service request message.

[0048] As shown at 803, the UE may receive an RRC connection setup message providing information for configuring the RRC connection, thereby establishing DRB and Access Stratum (AS) security. For example, the RRC connection setup message may include NAS securing signaling information, data radio bearer establishment parameters, measurement control parameters, and/or other parameters. As shown at 804, the UE may transmit an RRC connection setup completion message acknowledging the setup information.

[0049] Fig. 9 depicts another example of a method for optimizing data connectivity by using RRC combining. The method shown in Figure 9 may be performed, for example, by a network entity, such as an RNC or an eNodeB. As shown at 902, the network entity may receive an RRC connection request from a UE, for example. The request may include a service request, such as a NAS PDU or other NAS service request message. Upon request of the RRC connection request, the network entity may forward the service request to a network entity, as shown at 904. For example, in the case of a UMTS network, the service request may be forwarded to an SGSN. In the case of an LTE network, the service request may be forwarded to an MME.

[0050] The network entity may receive one or more parameters for configuring the UE, as shown at 906. For example, in the case of an UMTS network, an RNC may receive a common identifier, a security code command, a radio access bearer assignment request, and/or other parameters. In the case of an LTE network, for example, an eNodeB may receive parameters such as the address of the networks S-GW, security context information, etc. Upon receipt of the parameters, the network entity may transmit an RRC connection setup message to the UE, providing parameters for establishing a data connection between the UE and the network entity, as shown at 908. For example, the RRC connection setup message may include SRB, DRB, security context, measurement control, and/or other parameters. As shown at 908, the network entity receives an RRC connection setup complete message from the UE, indicating that the setup is complete. [0051] Referring to Fig. 10, in one aspect, UE 14 and/or wireless serving node 16 of

Figs. 1 and/or 2 may be represented by a specially programmed or configured computer device 1000, wherein the special programming or configuration includes call processing component 40, as described herein. For example, for implementation as UE 14 (Fig. 2), computer device 1000 may include one or more components for computing and transmitting a data from a UE 14 to network 12 via wireless serving node 16, such as in specially programmed computer readable instructions or code, firmware, hardware, or some combination thereof. Computer device 1000 includes a processor 1002 for carrying out processing functions associated with one or more of components and functions described herein. Processor 1002 can include a single or multiple set of processors or multi-core processors. Moreover, processor 1002 can be implemented as an integrated processing system and/or a distributed processing system.

[0052] Computer device 1000 further includes a memory 1004, such as for storing data used herein and/or local versions of applications being executed by processor 1002. Memory 1004 can include any type of memory usable by a computer, such as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), tapes, magnetic discs, optical discs, volatile memory, non- volatile memory, and any combination thereof.

[0053] Further, computer device 1000 includes a communications component 1006 that provides for establishing and maintaining communications with one or more parties utilizing hardware, software, and services as described herein. Communications component 1006 may carry communications between components on computer device 1000, as well as between computer device 1000 and external devices, such as devices located across a communications network and/or devices serially or locally connected to computer device 1000. For example, communications component 1006 may include one or more buses, and may further include transmit chain components and receive chain components associated with a transmitter and receiver, respectively, or a transceiver, operable for interfacing with external devices. For example, in an aspect, a receiver of communications component 1006 operates to receive one or more data frames 52 via a wireless serving node 16, which may be a part of memory 1004. Also, for example, in an aspect, a transmitter of communications component 1006 operates to transmit data from UE 14 to a network 12 via a wireless serving node 16 over wireless link 25.

[0054] Additionally, computer device 1000 may further include a data store 1008, which can be any suitable combination of hardware and/or software, that provides for mass storage of information, databases, and programs employed in connection with aspects described herein. For example, data store 1008 may be a data repository for applications not currently being executed by processor 1002.

[0055] Computer device 1000 may additionally include a user interface component

1009 operable to receive inputs from a user of computer device 1000, and further operable to generate outputs for presentation to the user. User interface component 1009 may include one or more input devices, including but not limited to a keyboard, a number pad, a mouse, a touch-sensitive display, a navigation key, a function key, a microphone, a voice recognition component, any other mechanism capable of receiving an input from a user, or any combination thereof. Further, user interface component 1009 may include one or more output devices, including but not limited to a display, a speaker, a haptic feedback mechanism, a printer, any other mechanism capable of presenting an output to a user, or any combination thereof.

[0056] Furthermore, computer device 1000 may include, or may be in communication with, call processing component 40, which may be configured to perform the functions described herein.

[0057] Referring to Fig. 11, an example system 1100 is displayed for transmitting vast amount of data from a mobile device to a network. For example, system 1100 can reside at least partially within UE 14 of Figs. 1 and 2. It is to be appreciated that system 1100 is represented as including functional blocks, which can be functional blocks that represent functions implemented by a processor, software, or combination thereof (e.g., firmware). For example, system 1100 may be implemented via processor 1002, memory 1004, communications component 1006, and data store 1008 of Fig. 10, and for example, processor 1002 executing software stored by memory 1004 and/or data store 1008.

[0058] Example system 1100 includes a logical grouping 1101 of electrical components that can act in conjunction. For instance, logical grouping 1101 can include an electrical component 1102 for transmitting a RRC request to initiate data connection including NAS service request. In an aspect, electrical component 1102 may include RRC request transmitting component 42 (Fig. 2).

[0059] Additionally, logical grouping 1101 can include an electrical component 1103 for receiving a RRC connection setup providing information for configuring a RRC connection. In an aspect, electrical component 1103 may include RRC connection setup receiving component 43 (Fig. 2). [0060] In an additional aspect, logical grouping 1101 can include an electrical component 1104 for increasing a transmission length of a CRC field. In an aspect, electrical component 1104 may include transmitting a RRC connection setup completion message acknowledging setup information. In an aspect, electrical component 1104 may include RRC connection setup completion transmitting component 44 (Fig. 2).

[0061] Electrical components 1102-1104 may correspond to one or more components in

Fig. 2, and such components may be separate physical components, components implemented by processor 82 (Fig. 10), or a combination thereof.

[0062] Additionally, system 1100 can include a memory 1108 that retains instructions for executing functions associated with the electrical components 1102-1104, stores data used or obtained by the electrical components 1102-1104, etc. While shown as being external to memory 1108, it is to be understood that one or more of the electrical components 1102-1104 can exist within memory 1108. In one example, electrical components 1102-1104 can comprise at least one processor, or each electrical component 1102-1104 can be a corresponding module of at least one processor. Moreover, in an additional or alternative example, electrical components 1102-1104 can be a computer program product including a computer readable medium, where each electrical component 1102-1104 can be corresponding code.

[0063] Fig. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus 1200 employing a processing system 1214. Apparatus 1200 may be configured to include, for example, wireless communication system 10 (Fig. 2) and/or call processing component 40 (Fig. 2) implementing the components described above, such as, but not limited to the RRC request transmitting component 42, RRC connection setup receiving component 43, and RRC connection setup completion transmitting component 44, as described above. In this example, the processing system 1214 may be implemented with a bus architecture, represented generally by the bus 1202. The bus 1202 may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specific application of the processing system 1214 and the overall design constraints. The bus 1202 links together various circuits including one or more processors, represented generally by the processor 1204, and computer-readable media, represented generally by the computer-readable medium 1206. The bus 1202 may also link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further. A bus interface 1208 provides an interface between the bus 1202 and a transceiver 1210. The transceiver 1210 provides a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. Depending upon the nature of the apparatus, a user interface 1212 (e.g., keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick) may also be provided.

[0064] The processor 1204 is responsible for managing the bus 1202 and general processing, including the execution of software stored on the computer-readable medium 1206. The software, when executed by the processor 1204, causes the processing system 1214 to perform the various functions described infra for any particular apparatus. The computer-readable medium 1206 may also be used for storing data that is manipulated by the processor 1204 when executing software.

[0065] The various concepts presented throughout this disclosure may be implemented across a broad variety of telecommunication systems, network architectures, and communication standards. By way of example and without limitation, the aspects of the present disclosure illustrated in Fig. 13 are presented with reference to a UMTS system 1300 employing a W-CDMA air interface. A UMTS network includes three interacting domains: a Core Network (CN) 1304, a UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) 1302, and User Equipment (UE) 1310. UE 1310 may be configured to include, for example, the call processing component 40 (Fig. 2) implementing the components described above, such as, but not limited to the RRC request transmitting component 42, RRC connection setup receiving component 43, and RRC connection setup completion transmitting component 44, as described above. In this example, the UTRAN 1302 provides various wireless services including telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, and/or other services. The UTRAN 1302 may include a plurality of Radio Network Subsystems (RNSs) such as an RNS 1307, each controlled by a respective Radio Network Controller (RNC) such as an RNC 1306. Here, the UTRAN 1302 may include any number of RNCs 1306 and RNSs 1307 in addition to the RNCs 1306 and RNSs 1307 illustrated herein. The RNC 1306 is an apparatus responsible for, among other things, assigning, reconfiguring and releasing radio resources within the RNS 1307. The RNC 1306 may be interconnected to other RNCs (not shown) in the UTRAN 1302 through various types of interfaces such as a direct physical connection, a virtual network, or the like, using any suitable transport network.

[0066] Communication between a UE 1310 and a Node B 1308 may be considered as including a physical (PHY) layer and a medium access control (MAC) layer. Further, communication between a UE 1310 and an RNC 1306 by way of a respective Node B 1308 may be considered as including a radio resource control (RRC) layer. In the instant specification, the PHY layer may be considered layer 1 ; the MAC layer may be considered layer 2; and the RRC layer may be considered layer 3. Information hereinbelow utilizes terminology introduced in the RRC Protocol Specification, 3GPP TS 25.331 v9.1.0, incorporated herein by reference.

[0067] The geographic region covered by the RNS 1307 may be divided into a number of cells, with a radio transceiver apparatus serving each cell. A radio transceiver apparatus is commonly referred to as a Node B in UMTS applications, but may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a base station (BS), a base transceiver station (BTS), a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic service set (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), an access point (AP), or some other suitable terminology. For clarity, three Node Bs 1308 are shown in each RNS 1307; however, the RNSs 1307 may include any number of wireless Node Bs. The Node Bs 1308 provide wireless access points to a CN 1304 for any number of mobile apparatuses. Examples of a mobile apparatus include a cellular phone, a smart phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a notebook, a netbook, a smartbook, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a satellite radio, a global positioning system (GPS) device, a multimedia device, a video device, a digital audio player (e.g., MP3 player), a camera, a game console, or any other similar functioning device. The mobile apparatus is commonly referred to as a UE in UMTS applications, but may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communications device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a terminal, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology. In a UMTS system, the UE 1310 may further include a universal subscriber identity module (USIM) 1311, which contains a user's subscription information to a network. For illustrative purposes, one UE 1310 is shown in communication with a number of the Node Bs 1308. The DL, also called the forward link, refers to the communication link from a Node B 1308 to a UE 1310, and the UL, also called the reverse link, refers to the communication link from a UE 1310 to a Node B 1308.

[0068] The CN 1304 interfaces with one or more access networks, such as the UTRAN

1302. As shown, the CN 1304 is a GSM core network. However, as those skilled in the art will recognize, the various concepts presented throughout this disclosure may be implemented in a RAN, or other suitable access network, to provide UEs with access to types of CNs other than GSM networks.

[0069] The CN 1304 includes a circuit- switched (CS) domain and a packet-switched

(PS) domain. Some of the circuit-switched elements are a Mobile services Switching Centre (MSC), a Visitor location register (VLR) and a Gateway MSC. Packet- switched elements include a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) and a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN). Some network elements, like EIR, HLR, VLR and AuC may be shared by both of the circuit-switched and packet- switched domains. In the illustrated example, the CN 1304 supports circuit-switched services with a MSC 1312 and a GMSC 1314. In some applications, the GMSC 1314 may be referred to as a media gateway (MGW). One or more RNCs, such as the RNC 1306, may be connected to the MSC 1312. The MSC 1312 is an apparatus that controls call setup, call routing, and UE mobility functions. The MSC 1312 also includes a VLR that contains subscriber-related information for the duration that a UE is in the coverage area of the MSC 1312. The GMSC 1314 provides a gateway through the MSC 1312 for the UE to access a circuit- switched network 1316. The GMSC 1314 includes a home location register (HLR) 1315 containing subscriber data, such as the data reflecting the details of the services to which a particular user has subscribed. The HLR is also associated with an authentication center (AuC) that contains subscriber-specific authentication data. When a call is received for a particular UE, the GMSC 1314 queries the HLR 1315 to determine the UE's location and forwards the call to the particular MSC serving that location.

[0070] The CN 1304 also supports packet-data services with a SGSN 1318 and a

GGSN/SGW/PGW 1320. GPRS, which stands for General Packet Radio Service, is designed to provide packet-data services at speeds higher than those available with standard circuit-switched data services. The GGSN/SGW/PGW 1320 provides a connection for the UTRAN 1302 to a packet-based internet network 1322. The packet- based internet network 1322 may be the Internet, a private data network, or some other suitable packet-based network. The primary function of the GGSN/SGW/PGW 1320 is to provide the UEs 1310 with packet-based network connectivity. Data packets may be transferred between the GGSN/SGW/PGW 1320 and the UEs 1310 through the SGSN 1318, which performs primarily the same functions in the packet-based domain as the MSC 1312 performs in the circuit- switched domain. [0071] An air interface for UMTS may utilize a spread spectrum Direct-Sequence Code

Division Multiple Access (DS-CDMA) system. The spread spectrum DS-CDMA spreads user data through multiplication by a sequence of pseudorandom bits called chips. The "wideband" W-CDMA air interface for UMTS is based on such direct sequence spread spectrum technology and additionally calls for a frequency division duplexing (FDD). FDD uses a different carrier frequency for the UL and DL between a Node B 1308 and a UE 1310. Another air interface for UMTS that utilizes DS-CDMA, and uses time division duplexing (TDD), is the TD-SCDMA air interface. Those skilled in the art will recognize that although various examples described herein may refer to a W-CDMA air interface, the underlying principles may be equally applicable to a TD- SCDMA air interface.

[0072] An HSPA air interface includes a series of enhancements to the 3G/W-CDMA air interface, facilitating greater throughput and reduced latency. Among other modifications over prior releases, HSPA utilizes hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), shared channel transmission, and adaptive modulation and coding. The standards that define HSPA include HSDPA (high speed downlink packet access) and HSUPA (high speed uplink packet access, also referred to as enhanced uplink, or EUL).

[0073] HSDPA utilizes as its transport channel the high-speed downlink shared channel

(HS-DSCH). The HS-DSCH is implemented by three physical channels: the high-speed physical downlink shared channel (HS-PDSCH), the high-speed shared control channel (HS-SCCH), and the high-speed dedicated physical control channel (HS-DPCCH).

[0074] Among these physical channels, the HS-DPCCH carries the HARQ

ACK/NACK signaling on the uplink to indicate whether a corresponding packet transmission was decoded successfully. That is, with respect to the downlink, the UE 1310 provides feedback to the node B 1308 over the HS-DPCCH to indicate whether it correctly decoded a packet on the downlink.

[0075] HS-DPCCH further includes feedback signaling from the UE 1310 to assist the node B 1308 in taking the right decision in terms of modulation and coding scheme and precoding weight selection, this feedback signaling including the CQI and PCI.

[0076] "HSPA Evolved" or HSPA+ is an evolution of the HSPA standard that includes

MIMO and 64-QAM, enabling increased throughput and higher performance. That is, in an aspect of the disclosure, the node B 1308 and/or the UE 1310 may have multiple antennas supporting MIMO technology. The use of MIMO technology enables the node B 1308 to exploit the spatial domain to support spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and transmit diversity.

[0077] Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) is a term generally used to refer to multi-antenna technology, that is, multiple transmit antennas (multiple inputs to the channel) and multiple receive antennas (multiple outputs from the channel). MIMO systems generally enhance data transmission performance, enabling diversity gains to reduce multipath fading and increase transmission quality, and spatial multiplexing gains to increase data throughput.

[0078] Spatial multiplexing may be used to transmit different streams of data simultaneously on the same frequency. The data steams may be transmitted to a single UE 1310 to increase the data rate or to multiple UEs 1310 to increase the overall system capacity. This is achieved by spatially precoding each data stream and then transmitting each spatially precoded stream through a different transmit antenna on the downlink. The spatially precoded data streams arrive at the UE(s) 1310 with different spatial signatures, which enables each of the UE(s) 1310 to recover the one or more the data streams destined for that UE 1310. On the uplink, each UE 1310 may transmit one or more spatially precoded data streams, which enables the node B 1308 to identify the source of each spatially precoded data stream.

[0079] Spatial multiplexing may be used when channel conditions are good. When channel conditions are less favorable, beamforming may be used to focus the transmission energy in one or more directions, or to improve transmission based on characteristics of the channel. This may be achieved by spatially precoding a data stream for transmission through multiple antennas. To achieve good coverage at the edges of the cell, a single stream beamforming transmission may be used in combination with transmit diversity.

[0080] Generally, for MIMO systems utilizing n transmit antennas, n transport blocks may be transmitted simultaneously over the same carrier utilizing the same channelization code. Note that the different transport blocks sent over the n transmit antennas may have the same or different modulation and coding schemes from one another.

[0081] On the other hand, Single Input Multiple Output (SIMO) generally refers to a system utilizing a single transmit antenna (a single input to the channel) and multiple receive antennas (multiple outputs from the channel). Thus, in a SIMO system, a single transport block is sent over the respective carrier. [0082] Referring to Fig. 14, an access network 1400 in a UTRAN architecture is illustrated. The multiple access wireless communication system includes multiple cellular regions (cells), including cells 1402, 1404, and 1406, each of which may include one or more sectors. The multiple sectors can be formed by groups of antennas with each antenna responsible for communication with UEs in a portion of the cell. For example, in cell 1402, antenna groups 1412, 1414, and 1416 may each correspond to a different sector. In cell 1404, antenna groups 1418, 1420, and 1422 each correspond to a different sector. In cell 1406, antenna groups 1424, 1426, and 1428 each correspond to a different sector. The cells 1402, 1404 and 1406 may include several wireless communication devices, e.g., User Equipment or UEs, which may be in communication with one or more sectors of each cell 1402, 1404 or 1406. For example, UEs 1430 and 1432 may be in communication with Node B 1442, UEs 1434 and 1436 may be in communication with Node B 1444, and UEs 1438 and 1440 can be in communication with Node B 1446. Here, each Node B 1442, 1444, 1446 is configured to provide an access point to a CN 204 (see Fig. 13) for all the UEs 1430, 1432, 1434, 1436, 1438, 1440 in the respective cells 1402, 1404, and 1406. Node Bs 1442, 1444, 1446 and UEs 1430, 1432, 1434, 1436, 1438, 1440 respectively may be configured to include, for example, the call processing component 40 (Fig. 2) implementing the components described above, such as, but not limited to the RRC request transmitting component 42, RRC connection setup receiving component 43, and RRC connection setup completion transmitting component 44, as described above.

[0083] As the UE 1434 moves from the illustrated location in cell 1404 into cell 1406, a serving cell change (SCC) or handover may occur in which communication with the UE 1434 transitions from the cell 1404, which may be referred to as the source cell, to cell 1406, which may be referred to as the target cell. Management of the handover procedure may take place at the UE 1434, at the Node Bs corresponding to the respective cells, at a radio network controller 206 (see Fig. 13), or at another suitable node in the wireless network. For example, during a call with the source cell 1404, or at any other time, the UE 1434 may monitor various parameters of the source cell 1404 as well as various parameters of neighboring cells such as cells 1406 and 1402. Further, depending on the quality of these parameters, the UE 1434 may maintain communication with one or more of the neighboring cells. During this time, the UE 1434 may maintain an Active Set, that is, a list of cells that the UE 1434 is simultaneously connected to (i.e., the UTRA cells that are currently assigning a downlink dedicated physical channel DPCH or fractional downlink dedicated physical channel F-DPCH to the UE 1434 may constitute the Active Set).

[0084] The modulation and multiple access scheme employed by the access network

1400 may vary depending on the particular telecommunications standard being deployed. By way of example, the standard may include Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB). EV-DO and UMB are air interface standards promulgated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) as part of the CDMA2000 family of standards and employs CDMA to provide broadband Internet access to mobile stations. The standard may alternately be Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) employing Wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA) and other variants of CDMA, such as TD-SCDMA; Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) employing TDM A; and Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, and Flash-OFDM employing OFDM A. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE Advanced, and GSM are described in documents from the 3GPP organization. CDMA2000 and UMB are described in documents from the 3GPP2 organization. The actual wireless communication standard and the multiple access technology employed will depend on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

[0085] The radio protocol architecture may take on various forms depending on the particular application. An example for an HSPA system will now be presented with reference to Fig 15.

[0086] Referring to Fig. 15 an example radio protocol architecture 1500 relates to the user plane 1502 and the control plane 1504 of a user equipment (UE) or node B/base station. For example, architecture 1500 may be included in a UE such as a wireless device. The radio protocol architecture 1500 for the UE and node B is shown with three layers: Layer 1 1506, Layer 2 1508, and Layer 3 1510. Layer 1 1506 is the lowest lower and implements various physical layer signal processing functions. As such, Layer 1 1506 includes the physical layer 1507. Layer 2 (L2 layer) 1508 is above the physical layer 1507 and is responsible for the link between the UE and node B over the physical layer 1507. Layer 3 (L3 layer) 1510 includes a radio resource control (RRC) sublayer 1515. The RRC sublayer 1515 handles the control plane signaling of Layer 3 between the UE and the UTRAN.

[0087] In the user plane, the L2 layer 1508 includes a media access control (MAC) sublayer 1509, a radio link control (RLC) sublayer 1511, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) 1513 sublayer, which are terminated at the node B on the network side. Although not shown, the UE may have several upper layers above the L2 layer 1508 including a network layer (e.g., IP layer) that is terminated at a PDN gateway on the network side, and an application layer that is terminated at the other end of the connection (e.g., far end UE, server, etc.).

[0088] The PDCP sublayer 1513 provides multiplexing between different radio bearers and logical channels. The PDCP sublayer 1513 also provides header compression for upper layer data packets to reduce radio transmission overhead, security by ciphering the data packets, and handover support for UEs between node Bs. The RLC sublayer 1511 provides segmentation and reassembly of upper layer data packets, retransmission of lost data packets, and reordering of data packets to compensate for out-of-order reception due to hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ). The MAC sublayer 1509 provides multiplexing between logical and transport channels. The MAC sublayer 1509 is also responsible for allocating the various radio resources (e.g., resource blocks) in one cell among the UEs. The MAC sublayer 1509 is also responsible for HARQ operations.

[0089] Fig. 16 is a block diagram of a communication system 1600 including a Node B

1610 in communication with a UE 1650, where Node B 1610 may be an entity within network 12 and the UE 1650 may be UE 14 according to the aspect described in Fig. 2. In the downlink communication, a transmit processor 1620 may receive data from a data source 1612 and control signals from a controller/processor 1640. The transmit processor 1620 provides various signal processing functions for the data and control signals, as well as reference signals (e.g., pilot signals). For example, the transmit processor 1620 may provide cyclic redundancy check (CRC) codes for error detection, coding and interleaving to facilitate forward error correction (FEC), mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M- quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM), and the like), spreading with orthogonal variable spreading factors (OVSF), and multiplying with scrambling codes to produce a series of symbols. Channel estimates from a channel processor 1644 may be used by a controller/processor 1640 to determine the coding, modulation, spreading, and/or scrambling schemes for the transmit processor 1620. These channel estimates may be derived from a reference signal transmitted by the UE 1650 or from feedback from the UE 1650. The symbols generated by the transmit processor 1620 are provided to a transmit frame processor 1630 to create a frame structure. The transmit frame processor 1630 creates this frame structure by multiplexing the symbols with information from the controller/processor 1640, resulting in a series of frames. The frames are then provided to a transmitter 1632, which provides various signal conditioning functions including amplifying, filtering, and modulating the frames onto a carrier for downlink transmission over the wireless medium through antenna 1634. The antenna 1634 may include one or more antennas, for example, including beam steering bidirectional adaptive antenna arrays or other similar beam technologies.

[0090] At the UE 1650, a receiver 1654 receives the downlink transmission through an antenna 1652 and processes the transmission to recover the information modulated onto the carrier. The information recovered by the receiver 1654 is provided to a receive frame processor 1660, which parses each frame, and provides information from the frames to a channel processor 1694 and the data, control, and reference signals to a receive processor 1670. The receive processor 1670 then performs the inverse of the processing performed by the transmit processor 1620 in the Node B 1610. More specifically, the receive processor 1670 descrambles and despreads the symbols, and then determines the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by the Node B 1610 based on the modulation scheme. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates computed by the channel processor 1694. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data, control, and reference signals. The CRC codes are then checked to determine whether the frames were successfully decoded. The data carried by the successfully decoded frames will then be provided to a data sink 1672, which represents applications running in the UE 1650 and/or various user interfaces (e.g., display). Control signals carried by successfully decoded frames will be provided to a controller/processor 1690. When frames are unsuccessfully decoded by the receiver processor 1670, the controller/processor 1690 may also use an acknowledgement (ACK) and/or negative acknowledgement (NACK) protocol to support retransmission requests for those frames.

[0091] In the uplink, data from a data source 1678 and control signals from the controller/processor 1690 are provided to a transmit processor 1680. The data source 1678 may represent applications running in the UE 1650 and various user interfaces (e.g., keyboard). Similar to the functionality described in connection with the downlink transmission by the Node B 1610, the transmit processor 1680 provides various signal processing functions including CRC codes, coding and interleaving to facilitate FEC, mapping to signal constellations, spreading with OVSFs, and scrambling to produce a series of symbols. Channel estimates, derived by the channel processor 1694 from a reference signal transmitted by the Node B 1610 or from feedback contained in the midamble transmitted by the Node B 1610, may be used to select the appropriate coding, modulation, spreading, and/or scrambling schemes. The symbols produced by the transmit processor 1680 will be provided to a transmit frame processor 1682 to create a frame structure. The transmit frame processor 1682 creates this frame structure by multiplexing the symbols with information from the controller/processor 1690, resulting in a series of frames. The frames are then provided to a transmitter 1656, which provides various signal conditioning functions including amplification, filtering, and modulating the frames onto a carrier for uplink transmission over the wireless medium through the antenna 1652.

[0092] The uplink transmission is processed at the Node B 1610 in a manner similar to that described in connection with the receiver function at the UE 1650. A receiver 1635 receives the uplink transmission through the antenna 1634 and processes the transmission to recover the information modulated onto the carrier. The information recovered by the receiver 1635 is provided to a receive frame processor 1636, which parses each frame, and provides information from the frames to the channel processor 1644 and the data, control, and reference signals to a receive processor 1638. The receive processor 1638 performs the inverse of the processing performed by the transmit processor 1680 in the UE 1650. The data and control signals carried by the successfully decoded frames may then be provided to a data sink 1639 and the controller/processor, respectively. If some of the frames were unsuccessfully decoded by the receive processor, the controller/processor 1640 may also use an acknowledgement (ACK) and/or negative acknowledgement (NACK) protocol to support retransmission requests for those frames.

[0093] The controller/processors 1640 and 1690 may be used to direct the operation at the Node B 1610 and the UE 1650, respectively. For example, the controller/processors 1640 and 1690 may provide various functions including timing, peripheral interfaces, voltage regulation, power management, and other control functions. The computer readable media of memories 1642 and 1692 may store data and software for the Node B 1610 and the UE 1650, respectively. A scheduler/processor 1646 at the Node B 1610 may be used to allocate resources to the UEs and schedule downlink and/or uplink transmissions for the UEs. [0094] In a typical machine-to-machine (M2M) traffic pattern, a UE sends/receives only a small amount of data. Even though only a small amount of data is exchanged, the service request procedure for transitioning from idle to connected mode is a cause of much overhead for small data transmission. The apparatus and methods described herein seek to minimize the overhead by using RRC message combining for small data transmission optimization for UMTS and LTE.

[0095] Several aspects of a telecommunications system have been presented with reference to a W-CDMA system. As those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, various aspects described throughout this disclosure may be extended to other telecommunication systems, network architectures and communication standards.

[0096] By way of example, various aspects may be extended to other UMTS systems such as TD-SCDMA, High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), High Speed Packet Access Plus (HSPA+) and TD- CDMA. Various aspects may also be extended to systems employing Long Term Evolution (LTE) (in FDD, TDD, or both modes), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) (in FDD, TDD, or both modes), CDMA2000, Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Ultra- Wideband (UWB), Bluetooth, and/or other suitable systems. The actual telecommunication standard, network architecture, and/or communication standard employed will depend on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

[0097] In accordance with various aspects of the disclosure, an element, or any portion of an element, or any combination of elements may be implemented with a "processing system" or processor (Figs. 10 or 12) that includes one or more processors. Examples of processors include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform the various functionality described throughout this disclosure. One or more processors in the processing system may execute software. Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. The software may reside on a computer-readable medium 1206 (Fig. 12). The computer-readable medium 1206 (Fig. 12) may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium. A non- transitory computer-readable medium includes, by way of example, a magnetic storage device (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strip), an optical disk (e.g., compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD)), a smart card, a flash memory device (e.g., card, stick, key drive), random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), a register, a removable disk, and any other suitable medium for storing software and/or instructions that may be accessed and read by a computer. The computer-readable medium may also include, by way of example, a carrier wave, a transmission line, and any other suitable medium for transmitting software and/or instructions that may be accessed and read by a computer. The computer-readable medium may be resident in the processing system, external to the processing system, or distributed across multiple entities including the processing system. The computer- readable medium may be embodied in a computer-program product. By way of example, a computer-program product may include a computer-readable medium in packaging materials. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implement the described functionality presented throughout this disclosure depending on the particular application and the overall design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0098] It is to be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed is an illustration of exemplary processes. Based upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods may be rearranged. The accompanying method claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless specifically recited therein.

[0099] The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean "one and only one" unless specifically so stated, but rather "one or more." Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term "some" refers to one or more. A phrase referring to "at least one of a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. As an example, "at least one of: a, b, or c" is intended to cover: a; b; c; a and b; a and c; b and c; and a, b and c. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. §112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase "means for" or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase "step for."

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A method of wireless communication in a wireless communication network, comprising:

transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) request message, the RRC request message including a non-access stratum (NAS) service request;

receiving an RRC connection setup message comprising information for configuring an RRC connection; and

transmitting an RRC connection setup completion message acknowledging the information for configuring the RRC connection.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing data radio bearer (DRB), and Access Stratum (AS) security.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the RRC connection setup message includes signaling radio bearer (SRB), security code command (SMC), data radio bearer (DRB), and measurement control information.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising encrypting the SRB, the DRB, and the measurement control information in RRC Connection Setup message via security parameters from the SMC.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the RRC connection setup completion message includes a security code command (SMC) response acknowledgment, data radio bearer (DRB) establishment acknowledgment, and a measurement

acknowledgement.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication network is a UMTS network.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the NAS service request establishes a NAS connection.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the NAS service request comprises a NAS protocol data unit (PDU).

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing a security context.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing a user plane connection which includes a data radio bearer setup.

11. An apparatus of wireless communication in a wireless communication network, comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory couple to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

transmit a radio resource control (RRC) request message, the RRC request message including a non-access stratum (NAS) service request;

receive an RRC connection setup message comprising information for configuring an RRC connection; and

transmit an RRC connection setup completion message acknowledging the information for configuring the RRC connection.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to establish data radio bearer (DRB), and Access Stratum (AS) security.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the RRC connection setup message includes signaling radio bearer (SRB), security code command (SMC), data radio bearer (DRB), and measurement control information.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to encrypt the SRB, the DRB, and the measurement control information in RRC Connection Setup message by security parameters from the SMC

15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the RRC connection setup completion message includes a security code command (SMC) response acknowledgment, data radio bearer (DRB) establishment acknowledgment, and a measurement

acknowledgement.

16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the wireless communication network is a UMTS network.

17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the NAS service request establishes a NAS connection.

18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the NAS service request comprises a NAS protocol data unit (PDU).

19. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to establish a security context.

20. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to establish a user plane connection which includes a data radio bearer setup.

21. A apparatus of wireless communication in a wireless communication network, comprising:

means for transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) request message, the RRC request message including a non-access stratum (NAS) service request;

means for receiving an RRC connection setup message comprising information for configuring an RRC connection; and

means for transmitting an RRC connection setup completion message acknowledging the information for configuring the RRC connection.

22. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer readable medium comprising code executable by a computer for: transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) request message, the RRC request message including a non-access stratum (NAS) service request; receiving an RRC connection setup message comprising information for configuring an RRC connection; and

transmitting an RRC connection setup completion message acknowledging the information for configuring the RRC connection.

23. A method of wireless communication in a wireless communication network, comprising:

receiving a radio resource control (RRC) connection request including a non- access stratum (NAS) service request;

forwarding the NAS service request to a network entity;

receiving parameters for configuring a user equipment (UE);

transmitting a RRC connection setup message to the UE for providing parameters for establishing a data connection between the UE and the network entity.

24. A apparatus of wireless communication in a wireless communication network, comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory couple to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

receive a radio resource control (RRC) connection request including a non- access stratum (NAS) service request;

forward the NAS service request to a network entity;

receive parameters for configuring a user equipment (UE);

transmit a RRC connection setup message to the UE for providing parameters for establishing a data connection between the UE and the network entity

25. A apparatus of wireless communication in a wireless communication network, comprising:

means for receiving a radio resource control (RRC) connection request including a non-access stratum (NAS) service request;

means for forwarding the NAS service request to a network entity;

means for receiving parameters for configuring a user equipment (UE); means for transmitting a RRC connection setup message to the UE for providing parameters for establishing a data connection between the UE and the network entity.

26. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer readable medium comprising code executable by a computer for: receiving a radio resource control (RRC) connection request including a non- access stratum (NAS) service request;

forwarding the NAS service request to a network entity;

receiving parameters for configuring a user equipment (UE);

transmitting a RRC connection setup message to the UE for providing parameters for establishing a data connection between the UE and the network entity.