WO2017099833A1 - Control plane enhancements over sidelink for low power devices - Google Patents

Control plane enhancements over sidelink for low power devices Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2017099833A1
WO2017099833A1 PCT/US2016/024658 US2016024658W WO2017099833A1 WO 2017099833 A1 WO2017099833 A1 WO 2017099833A1 US 2016024658 W US2016024658 W US 2016024658W WO 2017099833 A1 WO2017099833 A1 WO 2017099833A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
remote
message
relay
relaying
sidelink
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2016/024658
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Sangeetha L. Bangolae
Kyeongin Jeong
Youn Hyoung Heo
Richard C. Burbidge
Mo-Han Fong
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Intel IP Corporation
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Publication of WO2017099833A1 publication Critical patent/WO2017099833A1/en

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W76/00—Connection management
    • H04W76/10—Connection setup
    • H04W76/14—Direct-mode setup
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W76/00—Connection management
    • H04W76/20—Manipulation of established connections
    • H04W76/23—Manipulation of direct-mode connections
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02D—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES [ICT], I.E. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AIMING AT THE REDUCTION OF THEIR OWN ENERGY USE
    • Y02D30/00—Reducing energy consumption in communication networks
    • Y02D30/70—Reducing energy consumption in communication networks in wireless communication networks

Definitions

  • the present disclosure relates to proximity based services (ProSe) network and, in particular to an apparatus and a method for providing control plane
  • ProSe proximity based services
  • LTE system 3rd Generation Partnership Project
  • D2D device-to-device
  • LTE system 3rd Generation Partnership Project
  • Exploiting device-to-device (D2D) communication between nearby mobile devices improves spectrum utilization, overall throughput, and energy consumption, while enabling new peer-to-peer and location-based applications and services.
  • a primary use case driving the D2D communication is in fallback public safety networks, where D2D-enabled LTE devices must function when cellular networks are not available, or fail.
  • ProSe based D2D communication is primarily focused on public safety services.
  • the Public Safety services determined the main design vectors in LTE Rel.12 ProSe framework targeting long-range broadcast communication that is robust to interference and has a relatively low peak data rate.
  • Fig. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a ProSe system in accordance with the current enhanced LTE device to device (D2D) ProSe work item, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
  • D2D device to device
  • FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a ProSe system, operable to perform an initial attach procedure for one or more UEs in the ProSe system with an eNodeB/MME associated therewith, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
  • FIG. 3 depicts control plane enhancements over a PC5 interface that enables a PC5 based communication between a remote UE and a relay UE in a ProSe system, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
  • Fig. 4 depicts control plane enhancements over a PC5 interface that enables a sidelink radio resource control (SL-RRC) based communication between a remote UE and a relay UE in a ProSe system, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
  • SL-RRC sidelink radio resource control
  • FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for use in a remote or wearable user equipment (UE) in a ProSe system, that facilitates L2 and L3 relaying, according to the various embodiments described herein.
  • UE remote or wearable user equipment
  • Fig. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for use in a relay user equipment (UE) in a ProSe system, that facilitates L2 and L3 relaying, according to the various embodiments described herein.
  • UE relay user equipment
  • Fig. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for use in an eNodeB in a ProSe system, that facilitates L2 and L3 relaying, according to the various embodiments described herein.
  • Fig. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method for a remote UE in a ProSe system comprising a relay UE and an eNodeB associated therewith, that facilitates PC5 based communication over a PC5 interface, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
  • Fig. 9 illustrates a flowchart of a method for a remote UE in a ProSe system comprising a relay UE and an eNodeB associated therewith, that facilitates SL-RRC based communication over a PC5 interface, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
  • FIG. 1 0 illustrates a flowchart of a method for a relay UE in a ProSe system comprising a remote UE and an eNodeB associated therewith, that facilitates PC5 based communication over a PC5 interface, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
  • FIG. 1 1 illustrates a flowchart of a method for a relay UE in a ProSe system comprising a remote UE and an eNodeB associated therewith, that facilitates SL-RRC based communication over a PC5 interface, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
  • FIG. 1 2 illustrates a flowchart of a method for an eNodeB in a ProSe system comprising a remote UE and a relay UE associated therewith, that facilitates both L2 and L3 relaying over a PC5 interface, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
  • Fig. 1 3 illustrates, for one embodiment, example components of a User Equipment (UE) device.
  • UE User Equipment
  • an apparatus for use in a remote UE of a ProSe network comprising a relay UE and an eNodeB associated therewith.
  • the apparatus comprises a memory circuit configured to store a remote UE ID associated with the remote UE and a paired association ID indicating a paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE.
  • the apparatus further comprises a processing circuit configured to generate a connection request message for subsequent transmission to the relay UE, over a PC5 interface between the remote UE and the relay UE, to setup an initial connection with the relay UE in order to transfer an uplink data to the eNodeB via the relay UE, wherein the connection request message comprises the uplink data to be transmitted to the eNodeB.
  • the processing circuit is further configured to receive a connection setup message comprising resource configuration parameters of the remote UE, from the relay UE over the PC5 interface, wherein the resource configuration parameters are generated at the relay UE based on the connection request message from the remote UE, or received at the relay UE from an eNodeB associated therewith in response to the connection request message or a signal associated therewith.
  • the processing circuit is further configured to configure resources of the remote UE based on the connection setup message from the relay UE.
  • an apparatus for use in a relay UE of a ProSe network comprising a remote UE and an eNodeB associated therewith.
  • the apparatus comprises a memory circuit configured to store a relay ID associated with the relay UE and a paired association ID indicating a paired association of the relay UE with the remote UE.
  • the apparatus further comprises a processing circuit configured to receive a connection request message from the remote UE, over a PC5 interface between the remote UE and the relay UE, wherein the connection request message indicates the relay UE to setup an initial connection with the remote UE in order to transfer an uplink data from the remote UE to the eNodeB via the relay UE and wherein the connection request message comprises the uplink data to be transmitted to the eNodeB.
  • the processing circuit is further configured to activate the relay UE, and establish a connection between the relay UE and the remote UE, based on the connection request message.
  • the processing circuit is further configured to transmit a connection setup message comprising resource configuration parameters of the remote UE to the remote UE over the PC5 interface, wherein the connection setup message is generated at the relay UE based on the connection request message or received at the relay UE from an eNodeB associated therewith.
  • an apparatus for use in an eNodeB of a ProSe network comprising a remote UE and a relay UE associated therewith.
  • the apparatus comprises a processing circuit configured to receive a sidelink UE information message from the relay UE, wherein the sidelink UE information message comprises a remote U E ID of the remote U E and a paired association ID indicative of a paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE.
  • the processing circuit is further configured to generate resource configuration parameters for the relay UE and the remote UE based on the received sidelink UE information message.
  • the processing circuit is further configured to transmit a sidelink UE response message to the relay UE, wherein the sidelink UE response message comprises the generated resource configuration parameters for the the remote UE.
  • a component can be a processing circuit (e.g., a microprocessing circuit, a controller, or other processing device), a process running on a processing circuit, a controller, an object, an executable, a program, a storage device, a computer, a tablet PC and/or a user equipment (e.g., mobile phone, etc.) with a processing device.
  • a processing circuit e.g., a microprocessing circuit, a controller, or other processing device
  • a process running on a processing circuit e.g., a controller, or other processing device
  • an object running on a server and the server
  • a user equipment e.g., mobile phone, etc.
  • an application running on a server and the server can also be a component.
  • One or more components can reside within a process, and a component can be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers.
  • a set of elements or a set of other components can be described herein, in which the term "set"
  • these components can execute from various computer readable storage media having various data structures stored thereon such as with a module, for example.
  • the components can communicate via local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network, such as, the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network, or similar network with other systems via the signal).
  • a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network, such as, the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network, or similar network with other systems via the signal).
  • a component can be an apparatus with specific functionality provided by mechanical parts operated by electric or electronic circuitry, in which the electric or electronic circuitry can be operated by a software application or a firmware application executed by one or more processing circuits.
  • the one or more processing circuits can be internal or external to the apparatus and can execute at least a part of the software or firmware application.
  • a component can be an apparatus that provides specific functionality through electronic components without mechanical parts; the electronic components can include one or more processing circuits therein to execute software and/or firmware that confer(s), at least in part, the functionality of the electronic components.
  • the current Enhanced LTE Device to Device ProSe work item (i.e., 3GPP TS 23.303, "Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Proximity -based services (ProSe)") provides for communication between a remote UE and an eNodeB via a UE functioning as a communication relay (also referred to herein as "relay UE") between the remote UE and the eNodeB.
  • a relay UE functions as a Layer-3 relay (i.e.
  • the relay UE Based on one-to-one direct communication between a Remote UE, that is not served directly by E-UTRAN, including support for the relaying of unicast traffic (UL and DL) between the Remote UEs and the E-UTRAN, the ProSe UE-to-Network Relay provides a generic Layer-3 forwarding function that can relay any type of IP traffic that is relevant for public safety communication.
  • Unicast relaying Based on one-to-one direct communication between a Remote UE, that is not served directly by E-UTRAN, including support for the relaying of unicast traffic (UL and DL) between the Remote UEs and the E-UTRAN, the ProSe UE-to-Network Relay provides a generic Layer-3 forwarding function that can relay any type of IP traffic that is relevant for public safety communication.
  • eMBMS relay support One to many communication, including support for the relaying of multimedia broadcast multicast services (eMBMS) to Remote UEs served by the UE-to-network (UE-toNW) NW Relay.
  • eMBMS multimedia broadcast multicast services
  • UE-toNW UE-to-network
  • E-UTRAN Cell Global Identifier (ECGI) announcement The announcement of the ECGI by a ProSe UE-to-NW Relay allowing remote UEs served by a ProSe UE-to-NW Relay to receive the value of the ECGI of the cell serving the ProSe UE-to-NW Relay.
  • Fig. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a ProSe system 100 in accordance with the current enhanced LTE device to device ProSe work item, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
  • the ProSe network 100 comprises a remote UE 1 10, a ProSe UE-to-network relay 120, an eNodeB 1 30 and an evolved packet core (EPC) 140 associated with the eNodeB 130.
  • the eNodeB 130 together with the EPC 140 is referred to as the "network”.
  • the EPC 140 comprises a mobility management entity (MME), a serving gateway (S-GW) and a PDN gateway (PDN-GW).
  • the MME deals with the control plane of the LTE architecture.
  • the MME handles the signaling related to mobility and security for the eNodeB access.
  • the gateways for example, the Serving GW deals with the user plane of the LTE architecture.
  • the S-GW transports the IP data traffic between the User Equipment (UE) and the external networks.
  • UE User Equipment
  • the remote UE 1 10 is generally considered out-of-coverage of the network, but may use relay support, through the ProSe UE-to-network relay 120 (sometimes referred to herein as "relay UE" 120 or "relay” 120) to access the network. Alternately, in other embodiments, the remote UE 1 1 0 may be in coverage of the network.
  • the eNodeB 130 is configured to serve as a point of communication that the relay UE 120 may communicate with to access the EPC 140.
  • the primary use case driving this scenario is public safety.
  • the remote UE 1 1 0 may comprise any generic UE and a communication between the remote UE 1 1 0 and the relay UE 1 20 comprises any short range wireless
  • the remote UE 1 10 may access the network via the relay UE 120 using an interface called a "PC5" interface 150.
  • PC5 interface 1 50 is a direct communication interface between two ProSe supported devices.
  • the relay UE 120 may connect to the eNodB 130 and thereby to the EPC 140 using a legacy Uu interface 1 60 between the relay UE 120 and the eNodeB 130.
  • the eNodeB 130 may access the EPC140 using an S1 interface 180.
  • the remote UE may support connections over the PC5 interface 150 or a legacy Uu interface between the remote UE 1 10 and the eNodeB 130, simultaneously.
  • the remote UE 1 10 comprises a low power, low complexity device, for example, wearable UE such as smart watch, that preferably connects through relay UE 120 than directly connecting to the eNodeB 130 over the legacy Uu inteface to save on consumed power.
  • wearable UE such as smart watch
  • the remote UE and the relay UE are aware of their paired association (for example, using discovery procedure).
  • the remote UE 1 10 is in idle mode with respect to the radio resource control (RRC) over the Uu interface.
  • RRC radio resource control
  • the remote UE has no connection or bearers established with the network and uses PC5 interface to communicate with the network in order to save power.
  • the relay UE 120 is assumed to be in-coverage substantially all the time.
  • the introduced LTE ProSe framework may be further enhanced to support general use cases that transport any type of data communication traffic in-between UEs and also to substantially improve network performance and user experience.
  • the ProSe design is primarily focused on public safety services, while the general use cases are mainly out of scope.
  • Further enhancements to the sidelink air-interface i.e., the PC5 interface 150
  • the sidelink air-interface 150 may be used for network optimization and have a potential to improve user experience and enlarge the amount of services.
  • D2D device-to-device
  • One of general purpose of device-to-device (D2D) communication for example between the remote UE 1 10 and the relay UE 120, would be traffic management/offloading and utilization of its inherent multi-connectivity properties.
  • Empowering sidelink air-interface i.e., the PC5 interface 150
  • Empowering sidelink air-interface i.e., the PC5 interface 150
  • Embodiments disclosed herein relate to an advanced relaying capability designed to achieve better network traffic management/offloading and improved user experience.
  • the basic principle is about how a remote UE (i.e., a low power wearable UE) that is in-coverage but in idle mode connects through the PC5 interface 150 to communicate with the network via the relay UE 120.
  • the EPS bearer refers to a virtual connection between two end points, for example, a UE and a PDN-GW.
  • Alternative solutions include Layer-2 or L2 relaying, where the remote UE 1 1 0 forwards any type of IP traffic (e.g., data) to the network through the relay UE 120 using the EPS bearers established for the remote UE 120 within the network. That is, the remote UE 1 1 0 can send data that can be mapped over its own EPS bearer in the network.
  • IP traffic e.g., data
  • the remote UE 1 1 0 can send data that can be mapped over its own EPS bearer in the network.
  • power optimizations and control plane enhancements over the PC5 interface that is necessary to support L2 relaying in the remote UE 1 10 using its own bearers is not considered.
  • the existing method of one-to-one communication over the PC5 interface is rudimentary and does not offer flexibility for configuration of the sidelink (i.e., the PC5 interface 150).
  • the LTE control plane is responsible for control operations such as network attach, security control,
  • control plane corresponds to the information flow and signalling between UE, evolved- UMTS terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) or eNodeB and the EPC, which includes RRC signalling, EUTRAN signalling and Non-Access-Stratum (NAS) signalling.
  • E-UTRAN evolved- UMTS terrestrial radio access network
  • NAS Non-Access-Stratum
  • the proposed control plane enhancements enables to support L2 relaying in the ProSe system 100 and also offers flexibility in configuring the PC5 interface 150.
  • a PC5 based communication that supports both L2 relaying and L3 relaying over the PC5 interface is proposed.
  • the PC5 based communication comprises enhancing the PC5 interface using higher layer protocols of the LTE control plane, for example, non-access stratum (NAS) protocol.
  • NAS non-access stratum
  • SL-RRC sidelink radio resource control
  • the SL- RRC based communication comprises enhancing the PC5 interface using an RRC layer protocol of the LTE control plane.
  • an initial attach procedure that facilitates to register the paired association of the remote UE 1 10 and the relay UE 1 20 with the network is also proposed.
  • Fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a ProSe system 200, operable to perform an initial attach procedure for one or more UEs in the ProSe system 200 with an eNodeB/MME associated therewith, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
  • the initial attach procedure enables to register the one or more UEs with the eNodeB/MME.
  • the ProSe system 200 is similar to the ProSe system 100 in Fig. 1 .
  • the ProSe system 200 comprises a user equipment (UE) 21 0, an eNodeB 220, a mobility management entity (MME) 230 and a serving gateway (S-GW) 240.
  • UE user equipment
  • MME mobility management entity
  • S-GW serving gateway
  • the UE 210 comprises a remote UE and a relay UE having a paired association with respect to one another.
  • the procedure for the remote UE and the relay UE to register to the eNodeB/MME is the same. Therefore, the procedure for the initial attach for the remote UE and the relay UE is explained herein with respect to the UE 210 in Fig. 2.
  • the remote UE has a remote UE ID associated therewith and the relay UE has a relay UE ID associated therewith. In some embodiments, it is assumed that both the relay UE and the remote UE are aware of a paired association between them.
  • the remote UE and the relay UE may not be aware of the paired association between them.
  • the paired association between the remote UE and the relay UE is predetermined, while in other embodiments, the paired association is determined using other procedures, for example, discovery.
  • the initial attach procedure is initiated at the remote UE/relay UE when the remote UE or the relay UE in the ProSe system 200 powers on and is in coverage of the network.
  • the initial attach procedure may be performed through the relay UE over a PC5 interface between the remote UE and the relay UE. In such embodiments, the relay UE just forwards the the control signals from the remote UE to the eNodeB transparently.
  • the initial attach procedure of the UE 210 is performed as a part of a radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure of the UE 210 (i.e., when the UE has UL data to be transmitted), when the UE 210 transitions from the RRC idle mode to the RRC connected mode in order to transfer application data and other signalling.
  • RRC radio resource control
  • the initial attach procedure of the UE 210 is performed when the UE 21 0 powers on, prior to initiating the RRC connection establishment procedure at the UE 21 0.
  • the UE 210 is configured to generate an initial attach request 250 and transmit the initial attach request to the eNodeB 220 over an air interface (i.e., a Uu interface) between the UE 21 0 and the eNodeB 220.
  • the initial attach request 250 and other related control signalling over the Uu interface is performed using a radio resource control (RRC) layer protocol of a control plane of LTE, by defining RRC type messages.
  • RRC radio resource control
  • the initial attach request 250 is generated in order to register the UE 210 with the network (i.e., the eNodeB 220/MME 230).
  • the initial attach request 250 comprises the remote UE ID, an indication of a paired association of the remote UE with a relay UE and a relay UE ID of the relay UE to which the remote UE is associated with.
  • the initial attach request comprises the relay UE ID, an indication of a paired association of the relay UE with a remote UE and a remote UE ID of the remote UE to which the relay UE is associated with.
  • the eNodeB 220 is configured to receive the initial attach request from the UE 210 and generate an initial UE message 260 based thereon for subsequent transmission to the MME 230.
  • the initial UE message 260 comprises the same information as in the initial attach request 250 and is configured to forward the initial attach request 250 from the UE 210 to the MME 230.
  • the MME 230 is configured to receive the initial UE message 260 from the eNodeB 220 and is configured to register the UE 210 in the network based on the initial UE message 260. In some embodiments, the MME 230 is further configured to generate a paired association ID indicative of the paired association of the remote UE and the relay UE based on the received initial UE message 260, and transmit the paired association ID back to the eNodeB 220 via an initial attach response message 270. In some embodiments, the initial attach response message 270 is generated at the MME 230 and further comprises an indication that the attach request is accepted or that the UE 210 is registered with the network.
  • the MME 230 is configured to generate an EPS bearer ID for the remote UE and the relay UE respectively, and transmit it to the eNodeB 220 via the initial attach response message 270, for subsequent transmission to the UE 210.
  • the eNodeB 220 is configured to receive the initial attach response message 270 from the MME 230 and generate an initial attach complete message 280 based thereon for subsequent transmission to the UE 210.
  • the initial attach complete message 280 comprises the same information as in the initial attach response message 270 from the MME 230 and is configured to forward the initial attach response message 270 from the MME 230 to the UE 210.
  • the initial attach complete message 280 further comprises radio resource configuration parameters for the UE 210.
  • the radio resource configuration parameters for the UE 210 are generated at the eNodeB 220.
  • Fig. 3 depicts control plane enhancements over a PC5 interface that enables a PC5 based communication between a remote UE 31 0 and a relay UE 312 in a ProSe system 300, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
  • the proposed control plane enhancements that enables the PC5 based communication over the PC5 interface is achieved by defining control signalling, for example, PC5 messages over the PC5 interface using higher layer protocols of a control plane, for example, non-access stratum (NAS), of the LTE architecture.
  • NAS non-access stratum
  • the proposed control plane enhancements over the PC5 interface enables to perform L2 relaying and L3 relaying over the PC5 interface, in order to transfer uplink (UL) data from the remote UE 310 through the relay UE 312.
  • the proposed control plane enhancements further enables configuration of the resources of the remote UE 310 over the PC5 interface.
  • the ProSe system 300 comprises the remote UE 31 0, the relay UE 31 2, an eNodeB 314, an MME 316 and an S-GW 318.
  • the MME 316 and the S-GW 318 comprises an evolved packet core (EPC) or a "core network".
  • EPC evolved packet core
  • the eNodeB 314, the MME 316 and the S-GW 318 are together referred to as the "network".
  • an initial attach procedure 334 (as explained in Fig. 2 above) is performed for both the remote UE 31 0 and the relay UE 312, prior to initiating the UL data transfer from the remote UE 310.
  • the PC5 based communication over the PC5 interface is initiated by the remote UE 310 when the remote UE has UL data to transfer through the relay UE 312.
  • the remote UE 310 is assumed to be in idle mode in order to save power and therefore communicates with the network only using the relay UE 312 over the PC5 interface.
  • the remote UE 310 is configured to generate a PC5 direct communication request 320 for subsequent transmission to the relay UE 312 in order to indicate to the relay UE 312 that the remote UE 310 has UL data to transfer through the relay UE 312.
  • the PC5 direct communication request 320 is configured to set up an initial connection of the remote UE 310 with the relay UE 312 in order to transfer the UL data.
  • the PC5 direct communication request 320 comprises a cause value indicating UL data or mobile-originated (MO) data.
  • the relay UE 31 0 and the remote UE 312 is configured to perform a mutual authentication to confirm the paired association between the remote UE 310 and the relay UE 31 2.
  • the relay UE 31 2 is in RRC idle mode and upon receiving the PC5 direct communication request 320 from the remote UE 310, the relay UE 312 establishes its own RRC connection and enters RRC connected mode.
  • establishing the RRC connection comprises setting up the radio bearers, for example, signaling radio bearers (SRBs) for the UE in the network.
  • SRBs signaling radio bearers
  • a UE in the RRC idle mode, a UE (e.g., the relay UE 31 2) is known to the EPC but not to the eNodeB 314, whereas in the RRC connected mode, UE (e.g., the relay UE 31 2) is known both to the EPC and the eNodeB 314.
  • the remote UE 310 is further configured to generate a PC5 information transfer message 324 comprising a PC5 message for subsequent transmission to the relay UE.
  • the PC5 information transfer message 324 comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID necessary to generate the resource configuration parameters for the remote UE 31 0.
  • the PC5 information transfer message 324 further comprises an EPS bearer ID (obtained at attach on Fig. 2) associated with the remote UE 31 0 and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE 31 0 in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE 310 with the network.
  • the relay UE 31 2 Upon receiving the PC5 information transfer message 324, the relay UE 31 2 is configured to generate a sidelink UE information message 326 comprising an RRC type message or any other dedicated message for subsequent transmission to the eNodeB 314.
  • the RRC type messages comprises signals defined for communication using RRC layer protocol of the LTE architecture.
  • the relay UE 312 generates the sidelink UE information message 326 in order to transfer the contents of the PC5 information transfer message 324 from the remote UE 31 0 to the eNodeB 314.
  • the eNodeB 314 Upon receiving the sidelink UE information message 326, the eNodeB 314 generates the resource configuration parameters of the remote UE 310 based on the remote UE ID and the paired association ID in the sidelink UE information message 326, for both L2 relaying and L3 relaying. Further, for L2 relaying, the eNodeB 314 is configured to perform the service request procedure in order to establish the EPS bearers (for example, S1 -U tunnel establishment 332) of the remote UE 310 with the network, based on the sidelink UE information message 326. The eNodeB 314 is further configured to generate a sidelink UE response message 328 in response to receiving the sidelink UE information message 326, for subsequent transmission to the relay UE 312.
  • the EPS bearers for example, S1 -U tunnel establishment 332
  • the sidelink UE response message 328 comprises the generated resource configuration parameters for configuring the resources of the remote UE 31 0.
  • the sidelink UE response message 328 further comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID and a service request response that indicates the establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE 310 in the network.
  • the relay UE 312 is further configured to receive the sidelink UE response message 328 from the eNodeB 314 and generate a PC5 connection setup message 330 based thereon.
  • the PC5 connection setup message 330 comprises the contents of the sidelink UE response message 328 forwarded from the eNodeB 314.
  • the PC5 connection setup message 330 comprises the resource configuration parameters for the remote UE 31 0 and in other embodiments, for example, in L2 relaying, the PC5 connection setup message 330 further provides an indication to the remote UE 310 about the successful establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE 31 0 in the network. Once the EPS bearers of the remote UE 31 0 are established in the network, the UL data from the remote UE 31 0 can be transferred over the PC5 interface through the relay UE 31 2 using L2 relaying.
  • Fig. 4 depicts control plane enhancements over a PC5 interface that enables a sidelink radio resource control (SL-RRC) based communication between a remote UE 41 0 and a relay UE 412 in a ProSe system 400, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
  • the proposed control plane enhancements that enable the SL-RRC based communication over the PC5 interface is achieved by defining control signalling, for example, RRC type messages over the PC5 interface using RRC layer protocols of the control plane of the LTE architecture.
  • the proposed control plane enhancements over the PC5 interface enables to perform L2 relaying and L3 relaying over the PC5 interface, in order to transfer uplink (UL) data from the remote UE 410 through the relay UE 412.
  • the proposed control plane enhancements enables configuration of the resources of the remote UE 41 0 over the PC5 interface.
  • the ProSe system 400 comprises the remote UE 410, the relay UE 412, an eNodeB 414, an MME 416 and an S-GW 418.
  • the MME 41 6 and the S-GW 418 comprises an evolved packet core (EPC) or a "core network".
  • EPC evolved packet core
  • the eNodeB 414, the MME 416 and the S-GW 418 are together referred to as the "network".
  • an initial attach procedure 442 (as explained in Fig. 1 above) is performed for both the remote UE 410 and the relay UE 412, prior to initiating the UL data transfer from the remote UE 410.
  • the SL-RRC based communication over the PC5 interface is initiated by the remote UE 410 when the remote UE 410 has UL data to transfer through the relay UE 412.
  • the remote UE 410 is assumed to be in idle mode in order to save power and therefore communicates with the network only using the relay UE 312 over the PC5 interface.
  • the remote UE 410 is configured to generate an SL- RRC connection request 420 for subsequent transmission to the relay UE 412 in order to indicate to the relay UE 412 that the remote UE 41 0 has UL data to transfer through the relay UE 412.
  • the SL-RRC connection request 420 is configured to set up an initial connection of the remote UE 41 0 with the relay UE 412 in order to transfer the UL data.
  • the SL-RRC connection request 420 comprises the remote UE ID, the paired association ID (received at attach from the MME 416) and a cause value indicating UL data or mobile-originated (MO) data .
  • the relay UE 410 and the remote UE 412 are configured to perform a mutual authentication to confirm the paired association between the remote UE 410 and the relay UE 412.
  • the relay UE 41 2 is in idle mode and upon receiving the SL-RRC connection request 420 from the remote UE 410, the relay UE 412 establishes its own RRC connection and enters connected mode.
  • the relay UE 412 is further configured to generate an SL-RRC connection setup message 424 in response to the SL-RRC connection request 420 from the remote UE 41 0, for subsequent transmission to the remote UE 410.
  • the SL-RRC connection setup message 424 comprises resource configuration parameters, for example, radio resource configuration parameters of the remote UE 410.
  • the radio resource configuration parameters for the remote UE 420 are generated at the relay UE 412.
  • the SL-RRC connection setup message 424 further comprises necessary system information forwarded from the eNodeB 414 and also information about the type of relaying used for communication, for example L2 relaying or L3 relaying.
  • the remote UE Upon receiving the SL-RRC connection setup message 424, the remote UE configures its resources and generates an SL-RRC connection setup complete message 426 based thereon for transmission to the relay UE 412, for subsequent transmission to the eNodeB 414.
  • the SL-RRC connection setup complete message 426 comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID in order to generate additional resource configuration parameters necessary for the maintenance of the PC5 interface between the remote UE 410 and the relay UE 41 2.
  • the SL-RRC connection setup complete message 426 further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE 410 and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE 410 in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE 410 with the network.
  • the relay UE 412 Upon receiving the SL-RRC connection setup complete message 426, the relay UE 412 is configured to generate a sidelink UE information message 428 comprising an RRC type message or any other dedicated message for subsequent transmission to the eNodeB 414.
  • the RRC type messages comprise signals defined for communication using RRC layer protocol of the LTE architecture.
  • the relay UE 41 2 generates the sidelink UE information message 428 in order to transfer the contents of the SL-RRC connection setup complete message 426 from the remote UE 41 0 to the eNodeB 414.
  • the eNodeB 414 Upon receiving the sidelink UE information message 428, the eNodeB 414 generates the resource configuration parameters of the remote UE 410 based on the remote UE ID and the paired association ID in the sidelink UE information message 428, for both L2 relaying and L3 relaying. Further, for L2 relaying, the eNodeB 414 is configured to perform the service request procedure in order to establish the EPS bearers (for example, S1 -U tunnel establishment 440) of the remote UE 410 with the network, based on the sidelink UE information message 428.
  • the EPS bearers for example, S1 -U tunnel establishment 440
  • the eNodeB 414 is further configured to generate a sidelink UE response message 430 in response to receiving the sidelink UE information message 428, for subsequent transmission to the relay UE 312.
  • the sidelink UE response message 328 comprises the generated resource configuration parameters for configuring the resources of the remote UE 41 0.
  • the sidelink UE response message 430 further comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID and a service request response that indicates the establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE 410 in the network.
  • the relay UE 412 is further configured to receive the sidelink UE response message 430 from the eNodeB 414 and generate an SL-RRC reconfiguration message 432 based thereon, for subsequent transmission to the remote UE 410.
  • the SL-RRC reconfiguration message 432 comprises the contents of the sidelink UE response message 430 forwarded from the eNodeB 414.
  • the remote UE 41 0 configures the resources of the remote UE 410.
  • the SL-RRC reconfiguration message 432 provides an indication to the remote UE 410 about the successful establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE 410 in the network.
  • the remote UE 41 0 is further configured to generate an SL-RRC reconfiguration complete message 434 comprising an RRC type message in response to the SL-RRC reconfiguration message 432, for subsequent transmission to the relay UE 412 over the PC5 interface.
  • the SL-RRC reconfiguration complete message 434 indicates a completion of the configuration of the resources of the remote UE 41 0.
  • the relay UE 412 Upon receiving the SL-RRC reconfiguration complete message 434, the relay UE 412 is configured to generate a sidelink UE bearer establishment message 436 on behalf of the remote UE 410, for subsequent transmission to the eNodeB 414.
  • the sidelink UE bearer establishment message 436 indicates the eNodeB 414 about the successful establishment of the EPS bearers in the remote UE 410. Further, in some
  • the relay UE 412 is configured to generate an SL-RRC connection release message 438 comprising an RRC type message for subsequent transmission to the remote UE 410 over the PC5 interface.
  • the SL-RRC connection release message 438 is configured to release the connection between the remote UE 41 0 and the relay UE 412, after a certain period of inactivity over the PC5 interface.
  • the relay UE 41 2 acts as a transparent UE and is configured to forward the RRC signaling messages from the remote UE 410, for example, SL-RRC connection setup complete message 426, to the network
  • the SL-RRC connection setup complete message 426 comprising necessary parameters to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE 410 in the network, is carried within a container over the PC5 interface and is forwarded by the relay UE 412 to the eNodeB 414 for further processing.
  • forwarding RRC signaling messages of the remote UE 41 0 transparently by the relay UE 412 enables to reduce signaling overhead in the Uu interface between the relay UE 41 2 and the eNodeB 414.
  • Fig. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 500 for use in a remote or wearable user equipment (UE) in a ProSe system that facilitates L2 and L3 relaying, according to the various embodiments described herein.
  • the remote UE is described herein with reference to the remote UE 310 in Fig. 3 for PC5 based communication and with reference to the remote UE 41 0 in Fig. 4 for SL-RRC based communication.
  • the apparatus 500 includes a receiver circuit 510, a processing circuit 530, and a transmitter circuit 520. Further, in some embodiments, the apparatus 500 comprises a memory circuit 540 coupled to the processing circuit 530.
  • Each of the receiver circuit 510 and the transmitter circuit 520 are configured to be coupled to one or more antennas, which can be the same or different antenna(s).
  • the receiver circuit 510 and transmitter circuit 520 can have one or more components in common, and both can be included within a transceiver circuit, while in other aspects they are not.
  • the apparatus 500 can be included within a UE, for example, with apparatus 500 (or portions thereof) within a receiver and transmitter or a transceiver circuit of a UE.
  • the apparatus 500 could be included within the UE 210 of Fig. 2.
  • the processing circuit 530 is configured to generate an initial attach request (e.g., the initial attach request 250) and transmit the initial attach request to an eNodeB (e.g., the eNodeB 220) via the transmit circuit 520 over an air interface (i.e., a Uu interface) between the UE and the eNodeB.
  • the initial attach request message comprises an indication of a paired association of the remote UE and a relay ID of the relay UE to which the remote UE is associated with.
  • the processing circuit 530 is further configured to receive an initial attach complete message (e.g., the initial attach complete message 280) from the eNodeB via the receive circuit 510, in response to the initial attach request message.
  • the initial attach complete message from the eNodeB comprises a paired association ID indicating the paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE.
  • the apparatus 500 could be included within the remote UE 310 in Fig. 3.
  • the processing circuit 530 is configured to generate a connection request message (e.g., the PC5 direct communication request 320) for subsequent transmission to a relay UE (e.g., the relay UE 31 2) via the transmitter circuit 520, in order to indicate to the relay UE that the remote UE has UL data to transfer through the relay UE.
  • the memory circuit 540 is configured to store a remote UE ID associated with the remote UE (e.g., the remote UE 310) and a paired association ID (obtained during the initial attach procedure in Fig. 2) indicating a paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE (e.g., the relay UE 312).
  • the processing circuit 530 is further configured to generate an information transfer message (e.g., the PC5 information transfer message 324) for subsequent transmission to the relay UE (e.g., the relay UE 31 2) via the transmit circuit 520.
  • the information transfer message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID necessary to generate the resource configuration parameters for the remote UE.
  • the information transfer message further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network.
  • the processing circuit 530 is further configured to receive a connection setup message (e.g., the PC5 connection setup message 330) via a receive circuit 510 from the relay UE over the PC5 interface, in response to the information transfer message transmitted via the transmit circuit 510.
  • the connection setup message comprises resource configuration parameters of the remote UE.
  • the connection setup message further comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID and a service request response that indicates the establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE 310 in the network.
  • the resource configuration parameters, the accepted EPS bearer ID and the service request response in the connection setup message are generated at the eNodeB, and forwarded to the relay UE.
  • the apparatus 500 could be included within the remote UE 410 in Fig. 4.
  • the apparatus 500 could be included within the remote UE 410 in Fig. 4.
  • the processing circuit 530 is configured to generate a connection request message (e.g., the SL-RRC connection request message 420) for subsequent transmission to a relay UE (e.g., the relay UE 412) via the transmitter circuit 520 in order to indicate to the relay UE that the remote UE has uplink (UL) data to transfer through the relay UE.
  • the memory circuit 540 is configured to store a remote UE ID associated with the remote UE (e.g., the remote UE 410) and a paired association ID (obtained during the initial attach procedure in Fig. 2) indicating a paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE (e.g., the relay UE 412).
  • the processing circuit 530 is further configured to receive a connection setup message (e.g., SL-RRC connection setup message 424) from the relay UE via the receive circuit 51 0.
  • a connection setup message e.g., SL-RRC connection setup message 424.
  • the connection setup message comprises resource configuration parameters, for example, radio resource configuration parameters of the remote UE.
  • the processing circuit 530 is further configured to generate a connection setup complete message (e.g., an SL-RRC connection setup complete message 426) upon receiving the connection setup message, for subsequent transmission to the relay UE via the transmit circuit 520.
  • a connection setup complete message e.g., an SL-RRC connection setup complete message 426
  • the connection setup complete message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID in order to generate additional resource configuration parameters necessary for the maintenance of the PC5 interface between the remote UE and the relay UE.
  • the connection setup complete message further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network.
  • the processing circuit 530 is further configured to receive a reconfiguration message (e.g., an SL-RRC reconfiguration message 432) from the relay UE via the receive circuit 510, in response to transmitting the connection setup complete message.
  • a reconfiguration message e.g., an SL-RRC reconfiguration message 432
  • the reconfiguration message comprises the resource
  • the processing circuit 530 is further configured to generate a reconfiguration complete message (e.g., the SL-RRC reconfiguration complete message 434) in response to the reconfiguration message, for subsequent transmission to the relay UE over the PC5 interface, wherein the
  • the processing circuit 530 is further configured to receive a connection release message (e.g., SL-RRC connection release message 438) from the relay UE over the PC5 interface via the receive circuit 510.
  • the connection release message is configured to release the connection between the remote UE and the relay UE, after a certain period of inactivity over the PC5 interface.
  • Fig. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 600 for use in a relay user equipment (UE) in a ProSe system that facilitates L2 and L3 relaying, according to the various embodiments described herein.
  • the relay UE is described herein with reference to the relay UE 31 2 in Fig. 3 for PC5 based communication and with reference to the relay UE 41 2 in Fig. 4 for SL-RRC based communication.
  • the apparatus 600 includes a receiver circuit 610, a processing circuit 630, and a transmitter circuit 620. Further, in some embodiments, the apparatus 600 comprises a memory circuit 640 coupled to the processing circuit 630.
  • Each of the receiver circuit 610 and the transmitter circuit 620 are configured to be coupled to one or more antennas, which can be the same or different antenna(s).
  • the receiver circuit 610 and transmitter circuit 620 can have one or more components in common, and both can be included within a transceiver circuit, while in other aspects they are not.
  • the apparatus 600 can be included within a UE, for example, with apparatus 600 (or portions thereof) within a receiver and transmitter or a transceiver circuit of a UE.
  • the apparatus 600 could be included within the UE 210 of Fig. 2.
  • the processing circuit 630 is configured to generate an initial attach request (e.g., the initial attach request 250 in Fig. 2) and transmit the initial attach request to an eNodeB (e.g., the eNodeB 220) via the transmit circuit 620 over an air interface (i.e., a Uu interface) between the UE and the eNodeB.
  • the initial attach request message comprises an indication of a paired association of the remote UE and a relay ID of the relay UE to which the remote UE is associated with.
  • the processing circuit 630 is further configured to receive an initial attach complete message (e.g., the initial attach complete message 280 in Fig. 2) from the eNodeB via the receive circuit 610, in response to the initial attach request message.
  • the initial attach complete message from the eNodeB comprises a paired association ID indicating the paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE.
  • the apparatus 600 could be included within the relay UE 312 in Fig. 3.
  • the processing circuit 630 is configured to receive a connection request message (e.g., the PC5 direct communication request 320) from the remote UE (e.g., the remote UE 31 0) via the receive circuit 610.
  • the connection request message from the remote UE indicates the relay UE that the remote UE has uplink (UL) data to transfer through the relay UE.
  • the memory circuit 640 is configured to store a relay UE ID associated with the relay UE (e.g., the relay UE 312) and a paired association ID (obtained during the initial attach procedure in Fig. 2) indicating a paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE.
  • a relay UE ID associated with the relay UE e.g., the relay UE 312
  • a paired association ID obtained during the initial attach procedure in Fig. 2
  • the processing circuit 630 is further configured to receive an information transfer message (e.g., the PC5 information transfer message 324) from the remote UE (e.g., the remote UE 310) via the receive circuit 610.
  • the information transfer message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID necessary to generate the resource configuration parameters for the remote UE.
  • the information transfer message further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network.
  • the processing circuit 630 Upon receiving the information transfer message, the processing circuit 630 is further configured to generate a sidelink UE information message (e.g., the sidelink UE information message 326) for subsequent transmission to an eNodeB (e.g., the eNodeB 314) via the transmit circuit 620.
  • the sidelink UE information message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying.
  • the sidelink UE information message further comprises the EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and the service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE for L2 relaying.
  • the processing circuit 630 is further configured to receive a sidelink UE response message (e.g., the sidelink UE response message 328) from the eNodeB via the receive circuit 61 0.
  • the sidelink UE response message comprises resource configuration parameters of the remote UE.
  • the sidelink UE response message further comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID and a service request response that indicates the establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE 31 0 in the network.
  • the processing circuit 630 is further configured to generate and transmit a connection setup message (e.g., the PC5 connection setup message 330) via a transmit circuit 620 over the PC5 interface, in response receiving the sidelink UE response message from the eNodeB.
  • connection setup message just forwards the information in the sidelink UE response message to the remote UE.
  • the apparatus 600 could be included within the relay UE 412 in Fig. 4.
  • the processing circuit 630 is configured to receive a connection request message (e.g., the SL-RRC connection request message 420) from a remote UE (e.g., the remote UE 41 0) via the receive circuit 610.
  • the connection request message from the remote UE indicates the relay UE that the remote UE has uplink (UL) data to transfer through the relay UE.
  • the memory circuit 640 is configured to store a remote UE ID associated with the remote UE (e.g., the remote UE 41 0) and a paired association ID (obtained during the initial attach procedure in Fig. 2) indicating a paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE (e.g., the relay UE 41 2).
  • the processing circuit 630 is further configured to transmit a connection setup message (e.g., SL-RRC connection setup message 424) via the transmit circuit 620.
  • the connection setup message comprises resource configuration parameters, for example, radio resource configuration parameters of the remote UE.
  • the processing circuit 630 is further configured to receive a connection setup complete message (e.g., an SL-RRC connection setup complete message 426) via the receive circuit 610 in response to transmitting the connection setup message.
  • a connection setup complete message e.g., an SL-RRC connection setup complete message 426
  • the connection setup complete message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID necessary to generate additional resource configuration parameters necessary for the maintenance of the PC5 interface between the remote UE and the relay UE.
  • the connection setup complete message further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network.
  • the processing circuit 630 Upon receiving the connection setup complete message, the processing circuit 630 is further configured to generate a sidelink UE information message (e.g., the sidelink UE information message 428) for subsequent transmission to an eNodeB (e.g., the eNodeB 414) via the transmit circuit 620.
  • a sidelink UE information message e.g., the sidelink UE information message 428
  • an eNodeB e.g., the eNodeB 414
  • the sidelink UE information message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying.
  • the sidelink UE information message further comprises the EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and the service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE for L2 relaying.
  • the processing circuit 630 is further configured to receive a sidelink UE response message (e.g., the sidelink UE response message 430) from the eNodeB via the receive circuit 61 0.
  • the sidelink UE response message comprises resource configuration parameters of the remote UE.
  • the sidelink UE response message further comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID and a service request response that indicates the establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE 41 0 in the network.
  • the processing circuit 630 is further configured to generate and transmit a reconfiguration message (e.g., an SL-RRC reconfiguration message 432) via the transmit circuit 620, in response to receiving the sidelink UE response message from the eNodeB.
  • the reconfiguration message comprises the resource configuration parameters for configuring the resources of the remote UE, an accepted EPS bearer ID and a service request response that indicates the
  • the processing circuit 630 is further configured to receive a reconfiguration complete message (e.g., the SL-RRC reconfiguration complete message 434) via the receive circuit 610, in response to transmitting the reconfiguration message.
  • the reconfiguration complete message indicates a completion of the configuration of the resources of the remote UE.
  • the processing circuit 630 is further configured to generate a sidelink UE bearer establishment message (e.g., the sidelink UE bearer establishment message 436) for subsequent transmission to the eNodeB via the transmit circuit 620.
  • the bearer establishment message indicates a successful establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network.
  • the processing circuit 630 is further configured to generate a connection release message (e.g., SL-RRC connection release message 438) for subsequent transmission to the remote UE via the transmit circuit 620.
  • the connection release message is configured to release the connection between the remote UE and the relay UE, after a certain period of inactivity over the PC5 interface.
  • the relay UE 412 acts as a transparent UE and is configured to forward the RRC type signaling messages from the remote UE, for example, SL-RRC connection setup complete message 426, to the network transparently, upon establishing an initial connection with the remote UE.
  • FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 700 for use in an eNodeB in a ProSe system, that facilitates L2 and L3 relaying, according to the various
  • the eNodeB is described herein with reference to the eNodeB 414 in Fig. 4 for SL-RRC based communication.
  • the operation of the eNodeB is the same for PC5 based operation in Fig. 3 and the SL-RRC based communication in Fig. 4.
  • the apparatus 700 includes a receiver circuit 720, a processing circuit 730, and a transmitter circuit 710. Further, in some embodiments, the apparatus 700 comprises a memory circuit 740 coupled to the processing circuit 730.
  • Each of the receiver circuit 720 and the transmitter circuit 710 are configured to be coupled to one or more antennas, which can be the same or different antenna(s). Further, in some
  • the apparatus comprises a memory circuit 740 coupled to the processing circuit 730.
  • the receiver circuit 720 and the transmitter circuit 71 0 can have one or more components in common, and both can be included within a transceiver circuit, while in other aspects they are not.
  • the apparatus 700 can be included within an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) Node B (Evolved NodeB, eNodeB, or eNB).
  • E-UTRAN Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network
  • NodeB evolved NodeB
  • eNodeB eNodeB
  • eNB evolved NodeB
  • the receiver circuit 720, the processing circuit 730, the memory circuit 740 and the transmitter circuit 710 can be included in a same device, while in other embodiments, they can be part of different devices.
  • the apparatus 700 could be included within the eNodeB 220 of Fig. 2.
  • the processing circuit 730 is configured to receive an initial attach request (e.g., the initial attach request 250 in Fig. 2) from both a remote UE and a relay UE (represented together as UE 21 0 in Fig. 2) via the receive circuit 720.
  • the initial attach request message from the remote UE comprises an indication of a paired association of the remote UE and a relay ID of the relay UE to which the remote UE is associated with.
  • the initial attach request message from the relay UE comprises an indication of a paired association of the relay UE and a remote UE ID of the remote UE to which the relay UE is associated with.
  • the processing circuit 730 is further configured to generate an initial UE message (e.g., the initial UE message 260) based on the received initial attach request message, for subsequent transmission to a mobility management entity (MME) associated therewith via the transmit circuit 710.
  • MME mobility management entity
  • the initial UE message comprises the same information as in the initial attach request and is configured to forward the initial attach request from the UE (i.e., the remote UE or the relay UE) to the MME (e.g., the MME 230).
  • the processing circuit 730 is further configured to receive an initial attach response message (e.g., the initial attach response message 270) from the MME via the receive circuit 720.
  • the initial attach response message comprises a paired association ID indicative of the paired association of the remote UE and the relay UE generated at the MME, and an indication that the initial attach request is accepted, which are subsequently stored in the memory circuit 740.
  • the processing circuit 730 is further configured to generate and transmit an initial attach complete message (e.g., the initial attach complete message 280 in Fig. 2) via the transmit circuit 71 0, in response to receiving the initial attach response message from the MME.
  • the initial attach complete message from the eNodeB comprises a paired association ID indicating the paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE.
  • the initial attach complete message comprises the same information as in the initial attach response message from the MME and is configured to forward the initial attach response message from the MME to the UE (i.e., the relay UE or the remote UE).
  • the apparatus 700 could be included within the eNodeB 314 of Fig. 3 or the eNodeB 414 of Fig. 4. In the embodiment described herein, the apparatus 700 is assumed to be included within the eNodeB 414 of Fig. 4.
  • the processing circuit 730 is configured to receive a sidelink UE information message (e.g., the sidelink UE information message 428) from the relay UE (e.g., the relay UE 414) via the receive circuit 720.
  • the sidelink UE information message comprises a remote U E ID of the remote U E (e.g., the remote UE 41 0) and a paired association ID indicative of a paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE, necessary to generate resource configuration parameters for the relay UE and the remote UE.
  • the sidelink UE information message further comprises EPS bearer ID of the remote UE and a request to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network.
  • the processing circuit 730 Upon receiving the sidelink UE information message, the processing circuit 730 is configured to generate resource configuration parameters for the relay UE and the remote UE, and to set up the EPS bearers of the remote UE (e.g., S1 -U tunnel establishment 440) with the network. The processing circuit 730 is further configured to generate a sidelink UE response message (e.g., the sidelink UE response message 430) for subsequent transmission to the relay UE via the transmit circuit 710. In some embodiments, the sidelink UE response message comprises the generated resource configuration parameters and an accepted EPS bearer ID. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 730 is further configured to receive a sidelink UE bearer
  • the sidelink UE bearer establishment message (e.g., the sidelink UE bearer establishment message 436) from the relay UE via the receive circuit 720, in response to transmitting the sidelink UE response message.
  • the sidelink UE bearer establishment message indicates a successful establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE in the network.
  • FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method 800 for a remote UE in a ProSe system comprising a relay UE and an eNodeB associated therewith, that facilitates PC5 based communication over a PC5 interface, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
  • the PC5 based communication over a PC5 interface in some embodiments, in some
  • a remote UE ID associated with the remote UE and a paired association ID (obtained at the initial attach) that indicates a paired association between the remote UE and a relay UE is stored in the memory circuit 540 of the remote UE.
  • a PC5 direct communication request comprising an uplink (UL) data is generated at the processing circuit 530 and transmitted to the relay UE over the PC5 interface via the transmit circuit 520.
  • UL uplink
  • a PC5 information transfer message is generated at the processing circuit 530 and transmitted to the relay UE via the transmit circuit 520.
  • the PC5 information transfer message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L2 and L3 relaying, in order to generate the resource configuration parameters of the remote UE.
  • the PC5 information transfer message further comprises the EPS bearer ID for the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE in the network.
  • a PC5 connection set up message is received at the processing circuit 530 from the relay UE via the receive circuit 510, in response to the PCR information transfer message.
  • the PC5 connection set up message comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID and the resource configuration parameters of the remote UE.
  • the resources of the remote UE is configured based on the PC5 connection set up message at the processing circuit 530.
  • Fig. 9 illustrates a flowchart of a method 900 for a remote UE in a ProSe system comprising a relay UE and an eNodeB associated therewith, that facilitates SL- RRC based communication over a PC5 interface, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
  • the SL-RRC based communication over a PC5 interface is achieved by defining RRC type messages using RRC layer protocol of the LTE architecture.
  • the method 900 is described herein with reference to the apparatus 500 in Fig. 5 and the ProSe system 400 in Fig. 4. In some embodiments, the apparatus 500 is included within the remote UE of the ProSe system.
  • a remote UE ID associated with the remote UE and a paired association ID (obtained at the initial attach) that indicates a paired association between the remote UE and a relay UE is stored in the memory circuit 540 of the remote UE.
  • an SL-RRC connection request comprising an uplink (UL) data, the remote UE ID and the paired association ID is generated at the processing circuit 530 and transmitted to the relay UE via the transmit circuit 520.
  • an SL-RRC connection set up message comprising the resource configuration parameters of the remote UE is received at the processing circuit 530 via the receive circuit 510 in response to the SL-RRC connection request.
  • an SL-RRC configuration set up message is generated at the processing circuit 530 and transmitted to the relay UE via the transmit circuit 520.
  • the SL-RRC configuration set up message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L2 and L3 relaying, in order to generate the resource
  • the SL-RRC configuration set up message further comprises the EPS bearer ID for the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE in the network.
  • an SL-RRC reconfiguration message is received at the processing circuit 530 from the relay UE via the receive circuit 51 0, in response to the SL-RRC configuration set up message.
  • the SL-RRC reconfiguration message comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID and the resource configuration parameters of the remote UE.
  • the resources of the remote UE are configured based on SL-RRC reconfiguration message and an SL-RRC reconfiguration complete message is generated at the processing circuit 530 in response to the SL-RRC reconfiguration message, which is then transmitted to the relay UE via the transmit circuit 520.
  • Fig. 1 0 illustrates a flowchart of a method 1000 for a relay UE in a ProSe system comprising a remote UE and an eNodeB associated therewith, that facilitates PC5 based communication over a PC5 interface, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
  • the PC5 based communication over a PC5 interface in some embodiments, in some
  • a PC5 direct communication request comprising an uplink (UL) data is received at the processing circuit 630 from the remote UE over the PC5 interface via the receive circuit 61 0.
  • UL uplink
  • a PC5 information transfer message is received at the processing circuit 630 from the remote UE via the receive circuit 610.
  • the PC5 information transfer message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L2 and L3 relaying, in order to generate the resource configuration parameters of the remote UE.
  • the PC5 information transfer message further comprises the EPS bearer ID for the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE in the network.
  • a sidelink UE information message is generated at the
  • a sidelink UE response message is received at the processing circuit 630 from the eNodeB via the receive circuit 610, in response to transmitting the sidelink UE information message.
  • the sidelink UE response message comprises the resource configuration parameters and an accepted EPS bearer ID for the remote UE generated at the eNodeB or an MME associated therewith.
  • a PC5 connection set up message is generated at the processing circuit 630 to be transmitted to the remote UE via the transmit circuit 620, in response to receiving the sidelink UE response message.
  • the PC5 connection set up message comprises the accepted EPS bearer ID and the resource configuration parameters of the remote UE.
  • the contents of the PC5 connection setup message and the contents of the sidelink UE response message are the same.
  • Fig. 1 1 illustrates a flowchart of a method 1 1 00 for a relay UE in a ProSe system comprising a remote UE and an eNodeB associated therewith, that facilitates SL-RRC based communication over a PC5 interface, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
  • the SL-RRC based communication over a PC5 interface is achieved by defining RRC type messages using RRC layer protocol of the LTE architecture.
  • the method 1 100 is described herein with reference to the apparatus 600 in Fig. 6 and the ProSe system 400 in Fig. 4. In some embodiments, the apparatus 600 is included within the relay UE of the ProSe system.
  • a relay UE ID associated with the relay UE and a paired association ID (obtained at the initial attach) that indicates a paired association between the remote UE and a relay UE is stored in the memory circuit 640 of the relay UE.
  • an SL-RRC connection request comprising an uplink (UL) data, the remote UE ID and the paired association ID is received at the processing circuit 630 from the remote UE over the PC5 interface via the receive circuit 61 0.
  • an SL-RRC connection setup message is generated at the processing circuit 630 and transmitted to the remote UE via the receive circuit 610, in response to receiving the SL-RRC connection request from the remote UE.
  • an SL-RRC connection setup complete message is received at the processing circuit 630 from the remote UE via the receive circuit 61 0.
  • the SL-RRC configuration set up message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L2 and L3 relaying, in order to generate the resource configuration parameters of the remote UE.
  • the SL-RRC configuration set up message further comprises the EPS bearer ID for the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE in the network.
  • a sidelink UE information message is generated at the processing circuit 603 and transmitted to the eNodeB via the transmit circuit 620.
  • a sidelink UE response message is received at the processing circuit 630 from the eNodeB via the receive circuit 610, in response to transmitting the sidelink UE information message.
  • the sidelink UE response message comprises the resource configuration parameters and an accepted EPS bearer ID for the remote UE generated at the eNodeB or an MME associated therewith.
  • an SL-RRC reconfiguration message is generated at the processing circuit 630 and transmitted to the remote UE via the transmit circuit 620, in response to receiving the sidelink UE response message.
  • the SL-RRC reconfiguration message comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID and the resource configuration parameters of the remote UE.
  • the contents of the SL-RRC reconfiguration message and the contents of the sidelink UE response message are the same.
  • an SL-RRC reconfiguration complete message is received at the processing circuit 630 from the remote UE via the receive circuit 610, in response to transmitting the SL-RRC reconfiguration message.
  • Fig. 1 2 illustrates a flowchart of a method 1200 for an eNodeB in a ProSe system comprising a remote UE and a relay UE associated therewith, that facilitates both L2 and L3 relaying over a PC5 interface, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
  • the method 1200 is described herein with reference to the apparatus 700 in Fig. 7 and the eNodeB 414 in Fig. 4 for SL-RRC based communication.
  • the operation of the eNodeB is the same for PC5 based communication in Fig. 3 and the SL-RRC based communication in Fig. 4.
  • a sidelink UE information message is received at the processing circuit 730 from the relay UE via the receive circuit 720.
  • the sidelink UE information message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L2 and L3 relaying, in order to generate the resource configuration parameters of the remote UE.
  • the sidelink UE information message further comprises the EPS bearer ID for the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE in the network.
  • a sidelink UE response message is generated at the processing circuit 730, in response to receiving the sidelink UE information message and transmit the sidelink UE response message to the relay UE via the transmit circuit 710.
  • the sidelink UE response message comprises the resource configuration parameters and an accepted EPS bearer ID for the remote UE generated at the eNodeB or an MME associated therewith.
  • Fig. 13 illustrates, for one embodiment, example components of a User Equipment (UE) device 1300.
  • the UE device 1300 may include application circuitry 1302, baseband circuitry 1 304, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 1306, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 1308 and one or more antennas 1310, coupled together at least as shown.
  • RF Radio Frequency
  • FEM front-end module
  • the application circuitry 1302 may include one or more application processing circuits.
  • the application circuitry 1302 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processing circuits.
  • the processing circuit(s) may include any combination of general-purpose processing circuits and dedicated processing circuits (e.g., graphics processing circuits,
  • the processing circuits may be coupled with and/or may include memory/storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications and/or operating systems to run on the system.
  • the baseband circuitry 1304 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processing circuits.
  • the baseband circuitry 1304 may include one or more baseband processing circuits and/or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry 1306 and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 1306.
  • Baseband processing circuity 1304 may interface with the application circuitry 1302 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry 1306.
  • the baseband circuitry 1304 may include a second generation (2G) baseband processing circuit 1304a, third generation (3G) baseband processing circuit 1304b, fourth generation (4G) baseband processing circuit 1304c, and/or other baseband processing circuit(s) 1304d for other existing
  • the baseband circuitry 1304 may handle various radio control functions that
  • the radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal
  • modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 1 304 may include Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, and/or constellation
  • encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 1304 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, and/or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality.
  • LDPC Low Density Parity Check
  • the baseband circuitry 1304 may include elements of a protocol stack such as, for example, elements of an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) protocol including, for example, physical (PHY), media access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and/or radio resource control (RRC) elements.
  • EUTRAN evolved universal terrestrial radio access network
  • a central processing unit (CPU) 1304e of the baseband circuitry 1304 may be configured to run elements of the protocol stack for signaling of the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP and/or RRC layers.
  • the baseband circuitry may include one or more audio digital signal processing circuit(s) (DSP) 1304f.
  • the audio DSP(s) 1304f may be include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments.
  • Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some embodiments.
  • some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 1304 and the application circuitry 1302 may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).
  • SOC system on a chip
  • the baseband circuitry 1304 may provide for communication compatible with one or more radio technologies.
  • the baseband circuitry 1304 may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) and/or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN).
  • EUTRAN evolved universal terrestrial radio access network
  • WMAN wireless metropolitan area networks
  • WLAN wireless local area network
  • WPAN wireless personal area network
  • multi-mode baseband circuitry Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 1304 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol.
  • RF circuitry 1306 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium.
  • the RF circuitry 1306 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network.
  • RF circuitry 1306 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 1308 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry 1304.
  • RF circuitry 1306 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry 1304 and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 1308 for transmission.
  • the RF circuitry 1306 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path.
  • the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 1306 may include mixer circuitry 1 306a, amplifier circuitry 1306b and filter circuitry 1306c.
  • the transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 1306 may include filter circuitry 1306c and mixer circuitry 1306a.
  • RF circuitry 1306 may also include synthesizer circuitry 1306d for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 1306a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path.
  • the mixer circuitry 1306a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 1308 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 1306d.
  • the amplifier circuitry 1306b may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 1 306c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals.
  • Output baseband signals may be provided to the baseband circuitry 1304 for further processing.
  • the output baseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement.
  • mixer circuitry 1306a of the receive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.
  • the mixer circuitry 1306a of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 1306d to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 1308.
  • the baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 1304 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 1306c.
  • the filter circuitry 1306c may include a low-pass filter (LPF), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.
  • the mixer circuitry 1306a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1306a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and/or up-conversion respectively.
  • the mixer circuitry 1306a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1306a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection).
  • the mixer circuitry 1 306a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1306a may be arranged for direct down-conversion and/or direct up-conversion, respectively.
  • the mixer circuitry 1306a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1306a of the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation.
  • the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.
  • the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be digital baseband signals.
  • the RF circuitry 1306 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry 1304 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry 1306.
  • ADC analog-to-digital converter
  • DAC digital-to-analog converter
  • a separate radio IC circuitry may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the
  • the synthesizer circuitry 1306d may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable.
  • synthesizer circuitry 1306d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.
  • the synthesizer circuitry 1306d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 1306a of the RF circuitry 1306 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1306d may be a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer.
  • frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement.
  • VCO voltage controlled oscillator
  • Divider control input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 1304 or the applications processing circuit 1302 depending on the desired output frequency.
  • a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by the applications processing circuit 1302.
  • Synthesizer circuitry 1 306d of the RF circuitry 1 306 may include a divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator.
  • the divider may be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA).
  • the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio.
  • the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip- flop.
  • the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line.
  • Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line.
  • synthesizer circuitry 1 306d may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other.
  • the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO).
  • the RF circuitry 1306 may include an IQ/polar converter.
  • FEM circuitry 1308 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 1310, amplify the received signals and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 1306 for further processing.
  • FEM circuitry 1308 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by the RF circuitry 1306 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 1310.
  • the FEM circuitry 1308 may include a TX/RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation.
  • the FEM circuitry may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path.
  • the receive signal path of the FEM circuitry may include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 1306).
  • LNA low-noise amplifier
  • the transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 1308 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 1306), and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 1310.
  • PA power amplifier
  • the UE device 1300 may include additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, and/or input/output (I/O) interface.
  • additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, and/or input/output (I/O) interface.
  • Examples can include subject matter such as a method, means for performing acts or blocks of the method, at least one machine-readable medium including instructions that, when performed by a machine cause the machine to perform acts of the method or of an apparatus or system for concurrent communication using multiple communication technologies according to embodiments and examples described herein.
  • Example 1 is an apparatus for use in a remote UE of a ProSe network, comprising a memory circuit configured to store a remote UE ID associated with the remote UE and a paired association ID indicating a paired association of the remote UE with a relay UE of the ProSe network; and a processing circuit configured to generate a connection request message for subsequent transmission to the relay UE to setup an initial connection with the relay UE in order to transfer an uplink data to an eNodeB of the ProSe network via the relay UE, wherein the connection request message comprises a cause value indicating mobile-originated data; process a connection setup message, from the relay UE, comprising resource configuration parameters configured to configure resources of the remote UE, wherein the resource configuration parameters are based on the connection request message; and configure the resources of the remote UE based on the connection setup message from the relay UE.
  • Example 2 is an apparatus including the subject matter of example 1 , wherein the connection request message and the connection setup message comprise PC5 messages.
  • Example 3 is an apparatus including the subject matter of example 1 , wherein the connection request message and the connection setup message comprise RRC type messages.
  • Example 4 is an apparatus including the subject matter of examples 1 -2, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to generate an information transfer message comprising a PC5 message for subsequent transmission to the relay UE, prior to processing the connection setup message from the relay UE, wherein the information transfer message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the information transfer message further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE for L2 relaying.
  • the processing circuit is further configured to generate an information transfer message comprising a PC5 message for subsequent transmission to the relay UE, prior to processing the connection setup message from the relay UE, wherein the information transfer message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the information transfer message further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and a service request
  • Example 5 is an apparatus including the subject matter of examples 1 or 3, including or omitting elements, wherein the connection request message further comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID.
  • Example 6 is an apparatus including the subject matter of examples 1 or 3 or 5, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to generate a connection setup complete message comprising an RRC type message in response to the connection setup message, for subsequent transmission to the relay UE, wherein the connection setup complete message comprises the remote UE ID for both L3 and L2 relaying, and wherein the connection setup complete message further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish EPS bearers of the remote UE for L2 relaying.
  • the processing circuit is further configured to generate a connection setup complete message comprising an RRC type message in response to the connection setup message, for subsequent transmission to the relay UE, wherein the connection setup complete message comprises the remote UE ID for both L3 and L2 relaying, and wherein the connection setup complete message further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish
  • Example 7 is an apparatus including the subject matter of examples 1 or 3 or 5-6, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to process a reconfiguration message comprising an RRC type message from the relay UE , wherein the reconfiguration message comprises radio resource configuration parameters configured to maintain the connection between the remote UE and the relay UE over the PC5 interface for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the reconfiguration message further comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID forwarded from the eNodeB for L2 relaying, wherein the accepted EPS bearer ID indicates an establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network.
  • the processing circuit is further configured to process a reconfiguration message comprising an RRC type message from the relay UE , wherein the reconfiguration message comprises radio resource configuration parameters configured to maintain the connection between the remote UE and the relay UE over the PC5 interface for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the reconfiguration message further comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID forwarded from the eNodeB for
  • Example 8 is an apparatus including the subject matter of examples 1 or 3 or 5-7, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to generate a reconfiguration complete message comprising an RRC type message in response to the reconfiguration message, for subsequent transmission to the relay UE, wherein the reconfiguration complete message indicates a completion of the
  • Example 9 is an apparatus including the subject matter of examples 1 or 3 or 5-8, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to process a connection release message comprising an RRC type message from the relay UE, wherein the connection release message is configured to release the connection between the remote UE and the relay UE, after a certain period of inactivity over the PC5 interface.
  • Example 10 is an apparatus including the subject matter of examples 1 -9, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to generate an initial attach request message for subsequent transmission to the eNodeB, prior to generating the connection request message at the remote UE, wherein the initial attach request message is configured to register the remote UE in the network and wherein the initial attach request message comprises an indication of a paired association of the remote UE and a relay ID of the relay UE to which the remote UE is associated with.
  • Example 1 1 is an apparatus including the subject matter of examples 1 -10, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to process an attach complete message, from the eNodeB forwarded from a mobility management entity (MME) associated therewith, wherein the attach complete message comprises the paired association ID indicating the paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE and wherein the paired association ID is subsequently stored in the memory circuit of the remote UE.
  • MME mobility management entity
  • Example 12 is relay user equipment (UE) of a Proximity Services (ProSe) network comprising a memory circuit configured to store a relay ID associated with the relay UE and a paired association ID indicating a paired association of the relay UE with a remote UE of the ProSe network; a receive circuit; a transmit circuit; and a processing circuit configured to receive a connection request message from the remote UE via the receive circuit, over a PC5 interface between the remote UE and the relay UE, wherein the connection request message indicates the relay UE to setup an initial connection with the remote UE in order to transfer an uplink data from the remote UE to an eNodeB of the ProSe network via the relay UE and wherein the connection request message comprises a cause value indicating mobile-originated data; activate the relay UE, and establish a connection between the relay UE and the remote UE, based on the connection request message; and provide a connection setup message comprising resource configuration parameters of the remote UE to the transmit circuit for subsequent transmission
  • Example 13 is a relay UE including the subject matter of example 12, wherein the connection request message and the connection setup message comprise PC5 messages defined for the communication using higher layer protocols over the PC5 interface.
  • Example 14 is a relay UE including the subject matter of example 12, wherein the connection request message and the connection setup message comprise RRC type messages defined for communication using the RRC layer protocol over the PC5 interface.
  • Example 15 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12-1 3, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to process an information transfer message comprising a PC5 message from the remote UE for subsequent transmission to the eNodeB, prior to providing the connection setup message to the remote UE, wherein the information transfer message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the information transfer message further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network, during L2 relaying.
  • the processing circuit is further configured to process an information transfer message comprising a PC5 message from the remote UE for subsequent transmission to the eNodeB, prior to providing the connection setup message to the remote UE, wherein the information transfer message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the information transfer
  • Example 16 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12-1 3 or 15, including or omitting elements, wherein the connection setup message transmitted from the relay UE further comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID forwarded from the eNodeB in response to the information transfer message or a signal associated therewith during L2 relaying, wherein the accepted EPS bearer ID indicates the establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network.
  • Example 17 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12-1 3 or 15-1 6, including or omitting elements, wherein the resource configuration parameters and the accepted EPS bearer ID within the connection setup message are determined at the eNodeB and forwarded to the relay UE, in response to the information transfer message from the remote UE or a signal associated therewith.
  • Example 18 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12-1 3 or 15-1 7, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to generate a sidelink UE information message comprising an RRC type message, in response to the information transfer message from the remote UE, wherein the sidelink UE information message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the sidelink UE information message further comprises the EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and the service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE for L2 relaying.
  • the processing circuit is further configured to generate a sidelink UE information message comprising an RRC type message, in response to the information transfer message from the remote UE, wherein the sidelink UE information message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the sidelink UE information message further comprises the EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and the service request indication to initiate a service
  • Example 19 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12-1 3 or 15-1 8, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to process a sidelink UE response message comprising an RRC type message from the eNodeB, wherein the sidelink UE response message comprises the resource configuration parameters for the remote UE for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the sidelink UE response message further comprises the accepted EPS bearer ID for the remote UE for L2 relaying.
  • Example 20 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12 or 14, including or omitting elements, wherein the connection request message from the remote UE further comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID, and wherein the resource configuration parameters are determined at the relay UE based on the connection request message from the remote UE.
  • Example 21 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12 or 14 or 20, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to process a connection setup complete message comprising an RRC type message, in response to providing the connection setup message to the remote UE, wherein the connection setup complete message comprises the remote UE ID for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the connection setup complete message further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish EPS bearers of the remote UE for L2 relaying.
  • the processing circuit is further configured to process a connection setup complete message comprising an RRC type message, in response to providing the connection setup message to the remote UE, wherein the connection setup complete message comprises the remote UE ID for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the connection setup complete message further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order
  • Example 22 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12 or 14 or 20-21 , including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to generate a sidelink UE information message comprising an RRC type message for subsequent transmission to the eNodeB via the transmit circuit, in response to the connection setup complete message from the remote UE, wherein the sidelink UE information message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired
  • the sidelink UE information message further comprises the EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and the service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE for L2 relaying.
  • Example 23 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12 or 14 or 20-22, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to process a sidelink UE response message comprising an RRC type message from the eNodeB, in response to transmitting the sidelink UE information message to the eNodeB, wherein the sidelink UE response message comprises resource configuration parameters for configuring the resources of the remote UE for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the sidelink UE response message further comprises the accepted EPS bearer ID for the remote UE for L2 relaying.
  • the processing circuit is further configured to process a sidelink UE response message comprising an RRC type message from the eNodeB, in response to transmitting the sidelink UE information message to the eNodeB, wherein the sidelink UE response message comprises resource configuration parameters for configuring the resources of the remote UE for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the sidelink UE response message further comprises the accepted EPS bearer ID
  • Example 24 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12 or 14 or 20-23, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to provide a reconfiguration message comprising an RRC type message to the transmit circuit for subsequent transmission to the remote UE over the PC5 interface in response to receiving the sidelink UE response message from the eNodeB , wherein the reconfiguration message comprises radio resource configuration parameters configured to maintain the connection between the remote UE and the relay UE over the PC5 interface for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the reconfiguration message further comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID forwarded from the eNodeB in response to the connection setup complete message or a signal associated therewith for L2 relaying, wherein the accepted EPS bearer ID indicates the establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network.
  • the processing circuit is further configured to provide a reconfiguration message comprising an RRC type message to the transmit circuit for subsequent transmission to the remote UE over the PC5 interface in response to receiving the sidelink UE response
  • Example 25 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12 or 14 or 20-24, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to generate a bearer establishment message on behalf of the remote UE for subsequent transmission to the eNodeB via the transmit circuit, wherein the bearer establishment message indicates a successful establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network.
  • Example 26 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12 or 14 or 20-25, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to generate a connection release message comprising an RRC type message and provide the generated connection release message to the transmit circuit for subsequent transmission to the remote UE over the PC5 interface, in order to release the connection between the remote UE and the relay UE, after a certain period of inactivity over the PC5 interface.
  • Example 27 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12 or 14, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to forward RRC type messages from the remote UE to the eNodeB transparently, upon establishing a connection between the relay UE and the remote UE.
  • Example 28 is an apparatus for use in an eNodeB of a ProSe network comprising a remote UE and a relay UE associated therewith, comprising a processing circuit configured to process a sidelink UE information message from the relay UE, wherein the sidelink U E information message comprises a remote UE I D of the remote UE and a paired association I D indicative of a paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE; generate resource configuration parameters for the remote UE based on the sidelink UE information message; and provide a sidelink UE response message to the relay UE, wherein the sidelink UE response message comprises the generated resource configuration parameters for the remote UE.
  • Example 29 is an apparatus including the subject matter of example 28, wherein the sidelink UE information message further comprises EPS bearer I D of the remote UE and a request to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network for L2 relaying.
  • the sidelink UE information message further comprises EPS bearer I D of the remote UE and a request to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network for L2 relaying.
  • Example 30 is an apparatus including the subject matter of examples 28-29, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to set up the EPS bearers of the remote UE in the network, based on the received sidelink UE information message for L2 relaying and generate an accepted EPS bearer ID for the remote UE, for subsequent transmission to the relay UE using the sidelink UE response message.
  • Example 31 is an apparatus including the subject matter of examples 28-30, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to receive a bearer establishment message from the relay UE on behalf of the remote UE, wherein the bearer establishment message indicates a successful establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE in the network.
  • DSP digital signal processor
  • ASIC application specific integrated circuit
  • FPGA field programmable gate array
  • a general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, but, in the alternative, processor can be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine.

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Abstract

An apparatus for use in a remote UE of a ProSe network comprising a relay UE and an eNodeB associated therewith, comprising a processing circuit configured to generate a connection request message for subsequent transmission to the relay UE, over a PC5 interface between the remote UE and the relay UE, to setup an initial connection with the relay UE. The processing circuit is further configured to receive a connection setup message comprising resource configuration parameters of the remote UE, from the relay UE over the PC5 interface, in order to configure the resources of the remote UE. In addition, the processing circuit is configured to provide a connection setup complete message to the relay UE with indication for performing a service request in order to establish EPS bearers of the remote UE in the network to enable Layer 2 relaying.

Description

CONTROL PLANE ENHANCEMENTS OVER SIDELINK FOR LOW POWER
DEVICES
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.
62/266,167 filed December 1 1 , 201 5, entitled "CONTROL PLANE ENHANCEMENTS OVER SIDELINK FOR LOW POWER DEVICES", the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
FIELD
[0002] The present disclosure relates to proximity based services (ProSe) network and, in particular to an apparatus and a method for providing control plane
enhancements over sidelink for low power devices in the ProSe network.
BACKGROUND
[0003] In recent years, demand for access to fast mobile wireless data for mobile electronic devices has fueled the development of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) long term evolution (LTE) communication system (hereinafter "LTE system"). Exploiting device-to-device (D2D) communication between nearby mobile devices improves spectrum utilization, overall throughput, and energy consumption, while enabling new peer-to-peer and location-based applications and services. A primary use case driving the D2D communication is in fallback public safety networks, where D2D-enabled LTE devices must function when cellular networks are not available, or fail.
[0004] Up to date, ProSe based D2D communication is primarily focused on public safety services. The Public Safety services determined the main design vectors in LTE Rel.12 ProSe framework targeting long-range broadcast communication that is robust to interference and has a relatively low peak data rate. Further enhancements to an interface between the D2D-enabled LTE devices, that is, the sidelink, have a potential to improve user experience and enlarge the amount of services. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] Some examples of circuits, apparatuses and/or methods will be described in the following by way of example only. In this context, reference will be made to the accompanying Figures.
[0006] Fig. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a ProSe system in accordance with the current enhanced LTE device to device (D2D) ProSe work item, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
[0007] Fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a ProSe system, operable to perform an initial attach procedure for one or more UEs in the ProSe system with an eNodeB/MME associated therewith, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
[0008] Fig. 3 depicts control plane enhancements over a PC5 interface that enables a PC5 based communication between a remote UE and a relay UE in a ProSe system, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
[0009] Fig. 4 depicts control plane enhancements over a PC5 interface that enables a sidelink radio resource control (SL-RRC) based communication between a remote UE and a relay UE in a ProSe system, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
[0010] Fig. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for use in a remote or wearable user equipment (UE) in a ProSe system, that facilitates L2 and L3 relaying, according to the various embodiments described herein.
[0011] Fig. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for use in a relay user equipment (UE) in a ProSe system, that facilitates L2 and L3 relaying, according to the various embodiments described herein.
[0012] Fig. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for use in an eNodeB in a ProSe system, that facilitates L2 and L3 relaying, according to the various embodiments described herein.
[0013] Fig. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method for a remote UE in a ProSe system comprising a relay UE and an eNodeB associated therewith, that facilitates PC5 based communication over a PC5 interface, according to one embodiment of the disclosure. [0014] Fig. 9 illustrates a flowchart of a method for a remote UE in a ProSe system comprising a relay UE and an eNodeB associated therewith, that facilitates SL-RRC based communication over a PC5 interface, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
[0015] Fig. 1 0 illustrates a flowchart of a method for a relay UE in a ProSe system comprising a remote UE and an eNodeB associated therewith, that facilitates PC5 based communication over a PC5 interface, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
[0016] Fig. 1 1 illustrates a flowchart of a method for a relay UE in a ProSe system comprising a remote UE and an eNodeB associated therewith, that facilitates SL-RRC based communication over a PC5 interface, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
[0017] Fig. 1 2 illustrates a flowchart of a method for an eNodeB in a ProSe system comprising a remote UE and a relay UE associated therewith, that facilitates both L2 and L3 relaying over a PC5 interface, according to one embodiment of the disclosure.
[0018] Fig. 1 3 illustrates, for one embodiment, example components of a User Equipment (UE) device.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] In one embodiment of the disclosure, an apparatus for use in a remote UE of a ProSe network comprising a relay UE and an eNodeB associated therewith is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a memory circuit configured to store a remote UE ID associated with the remote UE and a paired association ID indicating a paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE. The apparatus further comprises a processing circuit configured to generate a connection request message for subsequent transmission to the relay UE, over a PC5 interface between the remote UE and the relay UE, to setup an initial connection with the relay UE in order to transfer an uplink data to the eNodeB via the relay UE, wherein the connection request message comprises the uplink data to be transmitted to the eNodeB. The processing circuit is further configured to receive a connection setup message comprising resource configuration parameters of the remote UE, from the relay UE over the PC5 interface, wherein the resource configuration parameters are generated at the relay UE based on the connection request message from the remote UE, or received at the relay UE from an eNodeB associated therewith in response to the connection request message or a signal associated therewith. In addition, the processing circuit is further configured to configure resources of the remote UE based on the connection setup message from the relay UE.
[0020] In one embodiment of the disclosure, an apparatus for use in a relay UE of a ProSe network comprising a remote UE and an eNodeB associated therewith is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a memory circuit configured to store a relay ID associated with the relay UE and a paired association ID indicating a paired association of the relay UE with the remote UE. The apparatus further comprises a processing circuit configured to receive a connection request message from the remote UE, over a PC5 interface between the remote UE and the relay UE, wherein the connection request message indicates the relay UE to setup an initial connection with the remote UE in order to transfer an uplink data from the remote UE to the eNodeB via the relay UE and wherein the connection request message comprises the uplink data to be transmitted to the eNodeB. The processing circuit is further configured to activate the relay UE, and establish a connection between the relay UE and the remote UE, based on the connection request message. The processing circuit is further configured to transmit a connection setup message comprising resource configuration parameters of the remote UE to the remote UE over the PC5 interface, wherein the connection setup message is generated at the relay UE based on the connection request message or received at the relay UE from an eNodeB associated therewith.
[0021] In one embodiment of the disclosure, an apparatus for use in an eNodeB of a ProSe network comprising a remote UE and a relay UE associated therewith is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a processing circuit configured to receive a sidelink UE information message from the relay UE, wherein the sidelink UE information message comprises a remote U E ID of the remote U E and a paired association ID indicative of a paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE. The processing circuit is further configured to generate resource configuration parameters for the relay UE and the remote UE based on the received sidelink UE information message. In addition, the processing circuit is further configured to transmit a sidelink UE response message to the relay UE, wherein the sidelink UE response message comprises the generated resource configuration parameters for the the remote UE.
[0022] The present disclosure will now be described with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout, and wherein the illustrated structures and devices are not necessarily drawn to scale. As utilized herein, terms "component," "system," "interface," "circuit" and the like are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, hardware, software (e.g., in execution), and/or firmware. For example, a component can be a processing circuit (e.g., a microprocessing circuit, a controller, or other processing device), a process running on a processing circuit, a controller, an object, an executable, a program, a storage device, a computer, a tablet PC and/or a user equipment (e.g., mobile phone, etc.) with a processing device. By way of illustration, an application running on a server and the server can also be a component. One or more components can reside within a process, and a component can be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. A set of elements or a set of other components can be described herein, in which the term "set" can be interpreted as "one or more."
[0023] Further, these components can execute from various computer readable storage media having various data structures stored thereon such as with a module, for example. The components can communicate via local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network, such as, the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network, or similar network with other systems via the signal).
[0024] As another example, a component can be an apparatus with specific functionality provided by mechanical parts operated by electric or electronic circuitry, in which the electric or electronic circuitry can be operated by a software application or a firmware application executed by one or more processing circuits. The one or more processing circuits can be internal or external to the apparatus and can execute at least a part of the software or firmware application. As yet another example, a component can be an apparatus that provides specific functionality through electronic components without mechanical parts; the electronic components can include one or more processing circuits therein to execute software and/or firmware that confer(s), at least in part, the functionality of the electronic components.
[0025] Use of the word exemplary is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion. As used in this application, the term "or" is intended to mean an inclusive "or" rather than an exclusive "or". That is, unless specified otherwise, or clear from context, "X employs A or B" is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B, then "X employs A or B" is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances. In addition, the articles "a" and "an" as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean "one or more" unless specified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singular form. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms "including", "includes", "having", "has", "with", or variants thereof are used in either the detailed description and the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term
"comprising."
[0026] In the following description, a plurality of details is set forth to provide a more thorough explanation of the embodiments of the present disclosure. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form rather than in detail in order to avoid obscuring embodiments of the present disclosure. In addition, features of the different embodiments described hereinafter may be combined with each other, unless specifically noted otherwise.
[0027] The current Enhanced LTE Device to Device ProSe work item (i.e., 3GPP TS 23.303, "Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Proximity -based services (ProSe)") provides for communication between a remote UE and an eNodeB via a UE functioning as a communication relay (also referred to herein as "relay UE") between the remote UE and the eNodeB. Under the current Enhanced LTE Device to Device ProSe work item, a relay UE functions as a Layer-3 relay (i.e. an IP router), and the following functions are to be supported by the relay UE: • Unicast relaying: Based on one-to-one direct communication between a Remote UE, that is not served directly by E-UTRAN, including support for the relaying of unicast traffic (UL and DL) between the Remote UEs and the E-UTRAN, the ProSe UE-to-Network Relay provides a generic Layer-3 forwarding function that can relay any type of IP traffic that is relevant for public safety communication.
• eMBMS relay support: One to many communication, including support for the relaying of multimedia broadcast multicast services (eMBMS) to Remote UEs served by the UE-to-network (UE-toNW) NW Relay.
• E-UTRAN Cell Global Identifier (ECGI) announcement: The announcement of the ECGI by a ProSe UE-to-NW Relay allowing remote UEs served by a ProSe UE-to-NW Relay to receive the value of the ECGI of the cell serving the ProSe UE-to-NW Relay.
[0028] Fig. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a ProSe system 100 in accordance with the current enhanced LTE device to device ProSe work item, according to one embodiment of the disclosure. The ProSe network 100 comprises a remote UE 1 10, a ProSe UE-to-network relay 120, an eNodeB 1 30 and an evolved packet core (EPC) 140 associated with the eNodeB 130. In some embodiments, the eNodeB 130 together with the EPC 140 is referred to as the "network". In some embodiments, the EPC 140 comprises a mobility management entity (MME), a serving gateway (S-GW) and a PDN gateway (PDN-GW). In some embodiments, the MME deals with the control plane of the LTE architecture. The MME handles the signaling related to mobility and security for the eNodeB access. The gateways, for example, the Serving GW deals with the user plane of the LTE architecture. The S-GW transports the IP data traffic between the User Equipment (UE) and the external networks. As shown in Fig. 1 , the remote UE 1 10 is generally considered out-of-coverage of the network, but may use relay support, through the ProSe UE-to-network relay 120 (sometimes referred to herein as "relay UE" 120 or "relay" 120) to access the network. Alternately, in other embodiments, the remote UE 1 1 0 may be in coverage of the network. The eNodeB 130 is configured to serve as a point of communication that the relay UE 120 may communicate with to access the EPC 140. The primary use case driving this scenario is public safety. The remote UE 1 1 0 may comprise any generic UE and a communication between the remote UE 1 1 0 and the relay UE 1 20 comprises any short range wireless
communication. [0029] The remote UE 1 10 may access the network via the relay UE 120 using an interface called a "PC5" interface 150. PC5 interface 1 50 is a direct communication interface between two ProSe supported devices. Also, the relay UE 120 may connect to the eNodB 130 and thereby to the EPC 140 using a legacy Uu interface 1 60 between the relay UE 120 and the eNodeB 130. The eNodeB 130 may access the EPC140 using an S1 interface 180. In the embodiments where the remote UE is in coverage of the network, the remote UE may support connections over the PC5 interface 150 or a legacy Uu interface between the remote UE 1 10 and the eNodeB 130, simultaneously. In some embodiments, the remote UE 1 10 comprises a low power, low complexity device, for example, wearable UE such as smart watch, that preferably connects through relay UE 120 than directly connecting to the eNodeB 130 over the legacy Uu inteface to save on consumed power. In the embodiments described herein, it is assumed that the remote UE and the relay UE are aware of their paired association (for example, using discovery procedure). Further, in some embodiments, it is assumed that the remote UE 1 10 is in idle mode with respect to the radio resource control (RRC) over the Uu interface. In other words, the remote UE has no connection or bearers established with the network and uses PC5 interface to communicate with the network in order to save power. The relay UE 120 is assumed to be in-coverage substantially all the time.
[0030] The introduced LTE ProSe framework may be further enhanced to support general use cases that transport any type of data communication traffic in-between UEs and also to substantially improve network performance and user experience. Up to date, the ProSe design is primarily focused on public safety services, while the general use cases are mainly out of scope. Further enhancements to the sidelink air-interface (i.e., the PC5 interface 150) may be used for network optimization and have a potential to improve user experience and enlarge the amount of services. One of general purpose of device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example between the remote UE 1 10 and the relay UE 120, would be traffic management/offloading and utilization of its inherent multi-connectivity properties. Empowering sidelink air-interface (i.e., the PC5 interface 150) and exploiting new dimension of connectivity may bring additional benefits to mobile broadband and MTC applications, establishing principles of underlay network operation. [0031] Embodiments disclosed herein relate to an advanced relaying capability designed to achieve better network traffic management/offloading and improved user experience. The basic principle is about how a remote UE (i.e., a low power wearable UE) that is in-coverage but in idle mode connects through the PC5 interface 150 to communicate with the network via the relay UE 120. One way to achieve this is by L3 relaying, using the agreed Layer-3 Relay (i.e., IP router) to forward any type of IP traffic (e.g., data) from the remote UE 1 10 to the network using the EPS bearers of the relay UE 120. The relay UE 120 can have only a limited number of EPS bearers established and therefore, using the EPS bearers of the relay UE 120 to forward the IP traffic from the remote UE 1 10 limits the capacity of the network. In some embodiments, the EPS bearer refers to a virtual connection between two end points, for example, a UE and a PDN-GW.
[0032] Alternative solutions include Layer-2 or L2 relaying, where the remote UE 1 1 0 forwards any type of IP traffic (e.g., data) to the network through the relay UE 120 using the EPS bearers established for the remote UE 120 within the network. That is, the remote UE 1 1 0 can send data that can be mapped over its own EPS bearer in the network. In the current LTE system (as of Release 13), power optimizations and control plane enhancements over the PC5 interface that is necessary to support L2 relaying in the remote UE 1 10 using its own bearers is not considered. Further, in the current LTE system, the existing method of one-to-one communication over the PC5 interface is rudimentary and does not offer flexibility for configuration of the sidelink (i.e., the PC5 interface 150).
[0033] In the embodiments described herein, different methods for control plane enhancements over the PC5 interface 150 is proposed. The LTE control plane is responsible for control operations such as network attach, security control,
authentication, setting up of bearers, and mobility management. In some embodiments, the control plane corresponds to the information flow and signalling between UE, evolved- UMTS terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) or eNodeB and the EPC, which includes RRC signalling, EUTRAN signalling and Non-Access-Stratum (NAS) signalling.
[0034] In some embodiments, the proposed control plane enhancements enables to support L2 relaying in the ProSe system 100 and also offers flexibility in configuring the PC5 interface 150. In particular, in one embodiment of the disclosure, a PC5 based communication that supports both L2 relaying and L3 relaying over the PC5 interface is proposed. In some embodiments, the PC5 based communication comprises enhancing the PC5 interface using higher layer protocols of the LTE control plane, for example, non-access stratum (NAS) protocol. In another embodiment of the disclosure, a sidelink radio resource control (SL-RRC) based communication that supports both L2 relaying and L3 relaying over the PC5 interface is proposed. In some embodiments, the SL- RRC based communication comprises enhancing the PC5 interface using an RRC layer protocol of the LTE control plane. In yet another embodiment of the disclosure, an initial attach procedure that facilitates to register the paired association of the remote UE 1 10 and the relay UE 1 20 with the network is also proposed.
[0035] Fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a ProSe system 200, operable to perform an initial attach procedure for one or more UEs in the ProSe system 200 with an eNodeB/MME associated therewith, according to one embodiment of the disclosure. In some embodiments, the initial attach procedure enables to register the one or more UEs with the eNodeB/MME. The ProSe system 200 is similar to the ProSe system 100 in Fig. 1 . The ProSe system 200 comprises a user equipment (UE) 21 0, an eNodeB 220, a mobility management entity (MME) 230 and a serving gateway (S-GW) 240. In some embodiments, the UE 210 comprises a remote UE and a relay UE having a paired association with respect to one another. The procedure for the remote UE and the relay UE to register to the eNodeB/MME is the same. Therefore, the procedure for the initial attach for the remote UE and the relay UE is explained herein with respect to the UE 210 in Fig. 2.
[0036] The remote UE has a remote UE ID associated therewith and the relay UE has a relay UE ID associated therewith. In some embodiments, it is assumed that both the relay UE and the remote UE are aware of a paired association between them.
However, in other embodiments, the remote UE and the relay UE may not be aware of the paired association between them. In some embodiments, the paired association between the remote UE and the relay UE is predetermined, while in other embodiments, the paired association is determined using other procedures, for example, discovery. The initial attach procedure is initiated at the remote UE/relay UE when the remote UE or the relay UE in the ProSe system 200 powers on and is in coverage of the network. In the embodiments where the remote UE is out of coverage of the network, the initial attach procedure may be performed through the relay UE over a PC5 interface between the remote UE and the relay UE. In such embodiments, the relay UE just forwards the the control signals from the remote UE to the eNodeB transparently. In some embodiments, for example, in the relay UE, the initial attach procedure of the UE 210 is performed as a part of a radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure of the UE 210 (i.e., when the UE has UL data to be transmitted), when the UE 210 transitions from the RRC idle mode to the RRC connected mode in order to transfer application data and other signalling. However, in other embodiments, the initial attach procedure of the UE 210 is performed when the UE 21 0 powers on, prior to initiating the RRC connection establishment procedure at the UE 21 0.
[0037] Once UE 210 powers on and is in coverage with the network, the UE 210 is configured to generate an initial attach request 250 and transmit the initial attach request to the eNodeB 220 over an air interface (i.e., a Uu interface) between the UE 21 0 and the eNodeB 220. In some embodiments, the initial attach request 250 and other related control signalling over the Uu interface is performed using a radio resource control (RRC) layer protocol of a control plane of LTE, by defining RRC type messages. The initial attach request 250 is generated in order to register the UE 210 with the network (i.e., the eNodeB 220/MME 230). For a remote UE, in some embodiments, the initial attach request 250 comprises the remote UE ID, an indication of a paired association of the remote UE with a relay UE and a relay UE ID of the relay UE to which the remote UE is associated with. For a relay UE, in some embodiments, the initial attach request comprises the relay UE ID, an indication of a paired association of the relay UE with a remote UE and a remote UE ID of the remote UE to which the relay UE is associated with. The eNodeB 220 is configured to receive the initial attach request from the UE 210 and generate an initial UE message 260 based thereon for subsequent transmission to the MME 230. In some embodiments, the initial UE message 260 comprises the same information as in the initial attach request 250 and is configured to forward the initial attach request 250 from the UE 210 to the MME 230.
[0038] The MME 230 is configured to receive the initial UE message 260 from the eNodeB 220 and is configured to register the UE 210 in the network based on the initial UE message 260. In some embodiments, the MME 230 is further configured to generate a paired association ID indicative of the paired association of the remote UE and the relay UE based on the received initial UE message 260, and transmit the paired association ID back to the eNodeB 220 via an initial attach response message 270. In some embodiments, the initial attach response message 270 is generated at the MME 230 and further comprises an indication that the attach request is accepted or that the UE 210 is registered with the network. In some embodiments, the MME 230 is configured to generate an EPS bearer ID for the remote UE and the relay UE respectively, and transmit it to the eNodeB 220 via the initial attach response message 270, for subsequent transmission to the UE 210. The eNodeB 220 is configured to receive the initial attach response message 270 from the MME 230 and generate an initial attach complete message 280 based thereon for subsequent transmission to the UE 210. In some embodiments, the initial attach complete message 280 comprises the same information as in the initial attach response message 270 from the MME 230 and is configured to forward the initial attach response message 270 from the MME 230 to the UE 210. In some embodiments, the initial attach complete message 280 further comprises radio resource configuration parameters for the UE 210. In some
embodiments, the radio resource configuration parameters for the UE 210 are generated at the eNodeB 220.
[0039] Fig. 3 depicts control plane enhancements over a PC5 interface that enables a PC5 based communication between a remote UE 31 0 and a relay UE 312 in a ProSe system 300, according to one embodiment of the disclosure. In some embodiments, the proposed control plane enhancements that enables the PC5 based communication over the PC5 interface is achieved by defining control signalling, for example, PC5 messages over the PC5 interface using higher layer protocols of a control plane, for example, non-access stratum (NAS), of the LTE architecture. In some embodiments, the proposed control plane enhancements over the PC5 interface enables to perform L2 relaying and L3 relaying over the PC5 interface, in order to transfer uplink (UL) data from the remote UE 310 through the relay UE 312. In some embodiments, the proposed control plane enhancements further enables configuration of the resources of the remote UE 310 over the PC5 interface. The ProSe system 300 comprises the remote UE 31 0, the relay UE 31 2, an eNodeB 314, an MME 316 and an S-GW 318. In some embodiments, the MME 316 and the S-GW 318 comprises an evolved packet core (EPC) or a "core network". In some embodiments, the eNodeB 314, the MME 316 and the S-GW 318 are together referred to as the "network". In some embodiments, it is assumed that an initial attach procedure 334 (as explained in Fig. 2 above) is performed for both the remote UE 31 0 and the relay UE 312, prior to initiating the UL data transfer from the remote UE 310.
[0040] In some embodiments, the PC5 based communication over the PC5 interface is initiated by the remote UE 310 when the remote UE has UL data to transfer through the relay UE 312. The remote UE 310 is assumed to be in idle mode in order to save power and therefore communicates with the network only using the relay UE 312 over the PC5 interface. The remote UE 310 is configured to generate a PC5 direct communication request 320 for subsequent transmission to the relay UE 312 in order to indicate to the relay UE 312 that the remote UE 310 has UL data to transfer through the relay UE 312. In some embodiments, the PC5 direct communication request 320 is configured to set up an initial connection of the remote UE 310 with the relay UE 312 in order to transfer the UL data. In some embodiments, the PC5 direct communication request 320 comprises a cause value indicating UL data or mobile-originated (MO) data. In some embodiments, the relay UE 31 0 and the remote UE 312 is configured to perform a mutual authentication to confirm the paired association between the remote UE 310 and the relay UE 31 2. In some embodiments, the relay UE 31 2 is in RRC idle mode and upon receiving the PC5 direct communication request 320 from the remote UE 310, the relay UE 312 establishes its own RRC connection and enters RRC connected mode. In some embodiments, establishing the RRC connection comprises setting up the radio bearers, for example, signaling radio bearers (SRBs) for the UE in the network. In some embodiments, in the RRC idle mode, a UE (e.g., the relay UE 31 2) is known to the EPC but not to the eNodeB 314, whereas in the RRC connected mode, UE (e.g., the relay UE 31 2) is known both to the EPC and the eNodeB 314.
[0041] The remote UE 310 is further configured to generate a PC5 information transfer message 324 comprising a PC5 message for subsequent transmission to the relay UE. In some embodiments, for example, for both L2 relaying and L3 relaying, the PC5 information transfer message 324 comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID necessary to generate the resource configuration parameters for the remote UE 31 0. For L2 relaying, however, the PC5 information transfer message 324 further comprises an EPS bearer ID (obtained at attach on Fig. 2) associated with the remote UE 31 0 and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE 31 0 in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE 310 with the network. Upon receiving the PC5 information transfer message 324, the relay UE 31 2 is configured to generate a sidelink UE information message 326 comprising an RRC type message or any other dedicated message for subsequent transmission to the eNodeB 314. In some embodiments, the RRC type messages comprises signals defined for communication using RRC layer protocol of the LTE architecture. In some embodiments, the relay UE 312 generates the sidelink UE information message 326 in order to transfer the contents of the PC5 information transfer message 324 from the remote UE 31 0 to the eNodeB 314.
[0042] Upon receiving the sidelink UE information message 326, the eNodeB 314 generates the resource configuration parameters of the remote UE 310 based on the remote UE ID and the paired association ID in the sidelink UE information message 326, for both L2 relaying and L3 relaying. Further, for L2 relaying, the eNodeB 314 is configured to perform the service request procedure in order to establish the EPS bearers (for example, S1 -U tunnel establishment 332) of the remote UE 310 with the network, based on the sidelink UE information message 326. The eNodeB 314 is further configured to generate a sidelink UE response message 328 in response to receiving the sidelink UE information message 326, for subsequent transmission to the relay UE 312. In some embodiments, the sidelink UE response message 328 comprises the generated resource configuration parameters for configuring the resources of the remote UE 31 0. For L2 relaying, the sidelink UE response message 328 further comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID and a service request response that indicates the establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE 310 in the network.
[0043] The relay UE 312 is further configured to receive the sidelink UE response message 328 from the eNodeB 314 and generate a PC5 connection setup message 330 based thereon. In some embodiments, the PC5 connection setup message 330 comprises the contents of the sidelink UE response message 328 forwarded from the eNodeB 314. In some embodiments, the PC5 connection setup message 330 comprises the resource configuration parameters for the remote UE 31 0 and in other embodiments, for example, in L2 relaying, the PC5 connection setup message 330 further provides an indication to the remote UE 310 about the successful establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE 31 0 in the network. Once the EPS bearers of the remote UE 31 0 are established in the network, the UL data from the remote UE 31 0 can be transferred over the PC5 interface through the relay UE 31 2 using L2 relaying.
[0044] Fig. 4 depicts control plane enhancements over a PC5 interface that enables a sidelink radio resource control (SL-RRC) based communication between a remote UE 41 0 and a relay UE 412 in a ProSe system 400, according to one embodiment of the disclosure. In some embodiments, the proposed control plane enhancements that enable the SL-RRC based communication over the PC5 interface is achieved by defining control signalling, for example, RRC type messages over the PC5 interface using RRC layer protocols of the control plane of the LTE architecture. In some embodiments, the proposed control plane enhancements over the PC5 interface enables to perform L2 relaying and L3 relaying over the PC5 interface, in order to transfer uplink (UL) data from the remote UE 410 through the relay UE 412. In some embodiments, the proposed control plane enhancements enables configuration of the resources of the remote UE 41 0 over the PC5 interface. The ProSe system 400 comprises the remote UE 410, the relay UE 412, an eNodeB 414, an MME 416 and an S-GW 418. In some embodiments, the MME 41 6 and the S-GW 418 comprises an evolved packet core (EPC) or a "core network". In some embodiments, the eNodeB 414, the MME 416 and the S-GW 418 are together referred to as the "network". In some embodiments, it is assumed that an initial attach procedure 442 (as explained in Fig. 1 above) is performed for both the remote UE 410 and the relay UE 412, prior to initiating the UL data transfer from the remote UE 410.
[0045] In some embodiments, the SL-RRC based communication over the PC5 interface is initiated by the remote UE 410 when the remote UE 410 has UL data to transfer through the relay UE 412. The remote UE 410 is assumed to be in idle mode in order to save power and therefore communicates with the network only using the relay UE 312 over the PC5 interface. The remote UE 410 is configured to generate an SL- RRC connection request 420 for subsequent transmission to the relay UE 412 in order to indicate to the relay UE 412 that the remote UE 41 0 has UL data to transfer through the relay UE 412. In some embodiments, the SL-RRC connection request 420 is configured to set up an initial connection of the remote UE 41 0 with the relay UE 412 in order to transfer the UL data. In some embodiments, the SL-RRC connection request 420 comprises the remote UE ID, the paired association ID (received at attach from the MME 416) and a cause value indicating UL data or mobile-originated (MO) data . In some embodiments, the relay UE 410 and the remote UE 412 are configured to perform a mutual authentication to confirm the paired association between the remote UE 410 and the relay UE 412.
[0046] In some embodiments, the relay UE 41 2 is in idle mode and upon receiving the SL-RRC connection request 420 from the remote UE 410, the relay UE 412 establishes its own RRC connection and enters connected mode. The relay UE 412 is further configured to generate an SL-RRC connection setup message 424 in response to the SL-RRC connection request 420 from the remote UE 41 0, for subsequent transmission to the remote UE 410. In some embodiments, the SL-RRC connection setup message 424 comprises resource configuration parameters, for example, radio resource configuration parameters of the remote UE 410. In some embodiments, the radio resource configuration parameters for the remote UE 420 are generated at the relay UE 412. In some embodiments, the SL-RRC connection setup message 424 further comprises necessary system information forwarded from the eNodeB 414 and also information about the type of relaying used for communication, for example L2 relaying or L3 relaying.
[0047] Upon receiving the SL-RRC connection setup message 424, the remote UE configures its resources and generates an SL-RRC connection setup complete message 426 based thereon for transmission to the relay UE 412, for subsequent transmission to the eNodeB 414. In some embodiments, for example, for both L2 relaying and L3 relaying, the SL-RRC connection setup complete message 426 comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID in order to generate additional resource configuration parameters necessary for the maintenance of the PC5 interface between the remote UE 410 and the relay UE 41 2. In some embodiments, for example, in L2 relaying, the SL-RRC connection setup complete message 426 further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE 410 and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE 410 in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE 410 with the network. Upon receiving the SL-RRC connection setup complete message 426, the relay UE 412 is configured to generate a sidelink UE information message 428 comprising an RRC type message or any other dedicated message for subsequent transmission to the eNodeB 414. In some embodiments, the RRC type messages comprise signals defined for communication using RRC layer protocol of the LTE architecture. In some embodiments, the relay UE 41 2 generates the sidelink UE information message 428 in order to transfer the contents of the SL-RRC connection setup complete message 426 from the remote UE 41 0 to the eNodeB 414.
[0048] Upon receiving the sidelink UE information message 428, the eNodeB 414 generates the resource configuration parameters of the remote UE 410 based on the remote UE ID and the paired association ID in the sidelink UE information message 428, for both L2 relaying and L3 relaying. Further, for L2 relaying, the eNodeB 414 is configured to perform the service request procedure in order to establish the EPS bearers (for example, S1 -U tunnel establishment 440) of the remote UE 410 with the network, based on the sidelink UE information message 428. The eNodeB 414 is further configured to generate a sidelink UE response message 430 in response to receiving the sidelink UE information message 428, for subsequent transmission to the relay UE 312. In some embodiments, the sidelink UE response message 328 comprises the generated resource configuration parameters for configuring the resources of the remote UE 41 0. For L2 relaying, the sidelink UE response message 430 further comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID and a service request response that indicates the establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE 410 in the network.
[0049] The relay UE 412 is further configured to receive the sidelink UE response message 430 from the eNodeB 414 and generate an SL-RRC reconfiguration message 432 based thereon, for subsequent transmission to the remote UE 410. In some embodiments, the SL-RRC reconfiguration message 432 comprises the contents of the sidelink UE response message 430 forwarded from the eNodeB 414. Upon receiving the SL-RRC reconfiguration message 432, the remote UE 41 0 configures the resources of the remote UE 410. In some embodiments, the SL-RRC reconfiguration message 432 provides an indication to the remote UE 410 about the successful establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE 410 in the network. Once the EPS bearers of the remote UE 41 0 are established in the network, the UL data from the remote UE 41 0 can be transferred over the PC5 interface through the relay UE 31 2 using L2 relaying. [0050] In some embodiments, the remote UE 41 0 is further configured to generate an SL-RRC reconfiguration complete message 434 comprising an RRC type message in response to the SL-RRC reconfiguration message 432, for subsequent transmission to the relay UE 412 over the PC5 interface. In some embodiments, the SL-RRC reconfiguration complete message 434 indicates a completion of the configuration of the resources of the remote UE 41 0. Upon receiving the SL-RRC reconfiguration complete message 434, the relay UE 412 is configured to generate a sidelink UE bearer establishment message 436 on behalf of the remote UE 410, for subsequent transmission to the eNodeB 414. In some embodiments, the sidelink UE bearer establishment message 436 indicates the eNodeB 414 about the successful establishment of the EPS bearers in the remote UE 410. Further, in some
embodiments, the relay UE 412 is configured to generate an SL-RRC connection release message 438 comprising an RRC type message for subsequent transmission to the remote UE 410 over the PC5 interface. In some embodiments, the SL-RRC connection release message 438 is configured to release the connection between the remote UE 41 0 and the relay UE 412, after a certain period of inactivity over the PC5 interface.
[0051] In some embodiments, the relay UE 41 2 acts as a transparent UE and is configured to forward the RRC signaling messages from the remote UE 410, for example, SL-RRC connection setup complete message 426, to the network
transparently, upon establishing an initial connection with the remote UE 41 0. For example, in L2 relaying, the SL-RRC connection setup complete message 426 comprising necessary parameters to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE 410 in the network, is carried within a container over the PC5 interface and is forwarded by the relay UE 412 to the eNodeB 414 for further processing. In some embodiments, forwarding RRC signaling messages of the remote UE 41 0 transparently by the relay UE 412 enables to reduce signaling overhead in the Uu interface between the relay UE 41 2 and the eNodeB 414.
[0052] Fig. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 500 for use in a remote or wearable user equipment (UE) in a ProSe system that facilitates L2 and L3 relaying, according to the various embodiments described herein. The remote UE is described herein with reference to the remote UE 310 in Fig. 3 for PC5 based communication and with reference to the remote UE 41 0 in Fig. 4 for SL-RRC based communication. The apparatus 500 includes a receiver circuit 510, a processing circuit 530, and a transmitter circuit 520. Further, in some embodiments, the apparatus 500 comprises a memory circuit 540 coupled to the processing circuit 530. Each of the receiver circuit 510 and the transmitter circuit 520 are configured to be coupled to one or more antennas, which can be the same or different antenna(s). In some embodiments, the receiver circuit 510 and transmitter circuit 520 can have one or more components in common, and both can be included within a transceiver circuit, while in other aspects they are not. In various embodiments, the apparatus 500 can be included within a UE, for example, with apparatus 500 (or portions thereof) within a receiver and transmitter or a transceiver circuit of a UE.
[0053] For the initial attach procedure, the apparatus 500 could be included within the UE 210 of Fig. 2. During the initial attach procedure, the processing circuit 530 is configured to generate an initial attach request (e.g., the initial attach request 250) and transmit the initial attach request to an eNodeB (e.g., the eNodeB 220) via the transmit circuit 520 over an air interface (i.e., a Uu interface) between the UE and the eNodeB. In some embodiments, the initial attach request message comprises an indication of a paired association of the remote UE and a relay ID of the relay UE to which the remote UE is associated with. The processing circuit 530 is further configured to receive an initial attach complete message (e.g., the initial attach complete message 280) from the eNodeB via the receive circuit 510, in response to the initial attach request message. In some embodiments, the initial attach complete message from the eNodeB comprises a paired association ID indicating the paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE.
[0054] For PC5 based communication, in some embodiments, the apparatus 500 could be included within the remote UE 310 in Fig. 3. For PC5 based communication, the processing circuit 530 is configured to generate a connection request message (e.g., the PC5 direct communication request 320) for subsequent transmission to a relay UE (e.g., the relay UE 31 2) via the transmitter circuit 520, in order to indicate to the relay UE that the remote UE has UL data to transfer through the relay UE. In some embodiments, the memory circuit 540 is configured to store a remote UE ID associated with the remote UE (e.g., the remote UE 310) and a paired association ID (obtained during the initial attach procedure in Fig. 2) indicating a paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE (e.g., the relay UE 312).
[0055] The processing circuit 530 is further configured to generate an information transfer message (e.g., the PC5 information transfer message 324) for subsequent transmission to the relay UE (e.g., the relay UE 31 2) via the transmit circuit 520. In some embodiments, for example, for both L2 relaying and L3 relaying, the information transfer message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID necessary to generate the resource configuration parameters for the remote UE. For L2 relaying, however, the information transfer message further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network. The processing circuit 530 is further configured to receive a connection setup message (e.g., the PC5 connection setup message 330) via a receive circuit 510 from the relay UE over the PC5 interface, in response to the information transfer message transmitted via the transmit circuit 510. In some embodiments, for example, for both L2 relaying and L3 relaying, the connection setup message comprises resource configuration parameters of the remote UE. For L2 relaying, the connection setup message further comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID and a service request response that indicates the establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE 310 in the network. In some embodiments, the resource configuration parameters, the accepted EPS bearer ID and the service request response in the connection setup message are generated at the eNodeB, and forwarded to the relay UE.
[0056] For SL-RRC based communication, in some embodiments, the apparatus 500 could be included within the remote UE 410 in Fig. 4. For SL-RRC based
communication, the processing circuit 530 is configured to generate a connection request message (e.g., the SL-RRC connection request message 420) for subsequent transmission to a relay UE (e.g., the relay UE 412) via the transmitter circuit 520 in order to indicate to the relay UE that the remote UE has uplink (UL) data to transfer through the relay UE. In some embodiments, the memory circuit 540 is configured to store a remote UE ID associated with the remote UE (e.g., the remote UE 410) and a paired association ID (obtained during the initial attach procedure in Fig. 2) indicating a paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE (e.g., the relay UE 412). The processing circuit 530 is further configured to receive a connection setup message (e.g., SL-RRC connection setup message 424) from the relay UE via the receive circuit 51 0. In some embodiments, the connection setup message comprises resource configuration parameters, for example, radio resource configuration parameters of the remote UE.
[0057] The processing circuit 530 is further configured to generate a connection setup complete message (e.g., an SL-RRC connection setup complete message 426) upon receiving the connection setup message, for subsequent transmission to the relay UE via the transmit circuit 520. In some embodiments, for example, for both L2 relaying and L3 relaying, the connection setup complete message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID in order to generate additional resource configuration parameters necessary for the maintenance of the PC5 interface between the remote UE and the relay UE. For L2 relaying, the connection setup complete message further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network.
[0058] The processing circuit 530 is further configured to receive a reconfiguration message (e.g., an SL-RRC reconfiguration message 432) from the relay UE via the receive circuit 510, in response to transmitting the connection setup complete message. In some embodiments, the reconfiguration message comprises the resource
configuration parameters for configuring the resources of the remote UE, an accepted EPS bearer ID and a service request response that indicates the establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE in the network. The processing circuit 530 is further configured to generate a reconfiguration complete message (e.g., the SL-RRC reconfiguration complete message 434) in response to the reconfiguration message, for subsequent transmission to the relay UE over the PC5 interface, wherein the
reconfiguration complete message indicates a completion of the configuration of the resources of the remote UE. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 530 is further configured to receive a connection release message (e.g., SL-RRC connection release message 438) from the relay UE over the PC5 interface via the receive circuit 510. In some embodiments, the connection release message is configured to release the connection between the remote UE and the relay UE, after a certain period of inactivity over the PC5 interface.
[0059] Fig. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 600 for use in a relay user equipment (UE) in a ProSe system that facilitates L2 and L3 relaying, according to the various embodiments described herein. The relay UE is described herein with reference to the relay UE 31 2 in Fig. 3 for PC5 based communication and with reference to the relay UE 41 2 in Fig. 4 for SL-RRC based communication. The apparatus 600 includes a receiver circuit 610, a processing circuit 630, and a transmitter circuit 620. Further, in some embodiments, the apparatus 600 comprises a memory circuit 640 coupled to the processing circuit 630. Each of the receiver circuit 610 and the transmitter circuit 620 are configured to be coupled to one or more antennas, which can be the same or different antenna(s). In some embodiments, the receiver circuit 610 and transmitter circuit 620 can have one or more components in common, and both can be included within a transceiver circuit, while in other aspects they are not. In various embodiments, the apparatus 600 can be included within a UE, for example, with apparatus 600 (or portions thereof) within a receiver and transmitter or a transceiver circuit of a UE.
[0060] For the initial attach procedure, the apparatus 600 could be included within the UE 210 of Fig. 2. During the initial attach procedure, the processing circuit 630 is configured to generate an initial attach request (e.g., the initial attach request 250 in Fig. 2) and transmit the initial attach request to an eNodeB (e.g., the eNodeB 220) via the transmit circuit 620 over an air interface (i.e., a Uu interface) between the UE and the eNodeB. In some embodiments, the initial attach request message comprises an indication of a paired association of the remote UE and a relay ID of the relay UE to which the remote UE is associated with. The processing circuit 630 is further configured to receive an initial attach complete message (e.g., the initial attach complete message 280 in Fig. 2) from the eNodeB via the receive circuit 610, in response to the initial attach request message. In some embodiments, the initial attach complete message from the eNodeB comprises a paired association ID indicating the paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE.
[0061] For PC5 based communication, in some embodiments, the apparatus 600 could be included within the relay UE 312 in Fig. 3. For PC5 based communication, the processing circuit 630 is configured to receive a connection request message (e.g., the PC5 direct communication request 320) from the remote UE (e.g., the remote UE 31 0) via the receive circuit 610. In some embodiments, the connection request message from the remote UE indicates the relay UE that the remote UE has uplink (UL) data to transfer through the relay UE. In some embodiments, the memory circuit 640 is configured to store a relay UE ID associated with the relay UE (e.g., the relay UE 312) and a paired association ID (obtained during the initial attach procedure in Fig. 2) indicating a paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE.
[0062] The processing circuit 630 is further configured to receive an information transfer message (e.g., the PC5 information transfer message 324) from the remote UE (e.g., the remote UE 310) via the receive circuit 610. In some embodiments, for example, for both L2 relaying and L3 relaying, the information transfer message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID necessary to generate the resource configuration parameters for the remote UE. For L2 relaying, however, the information transfer message further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network. Upon receiving the information transfer message, the processing circuit 630 is further configured to generate a sidelink UE information message (e.g., the sidelink UE information message 326) for subsequent transmission to an eNodeB (e.g., the eNodeB 314) via the transmit circuit 620. In some embodiments, the sidelink UE information message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying.
[0063] In addition, the sidelink UE information message further comprises the EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and the service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE for L2 relaying. The processing circuit 630 is further configured to receive a sidelink UE response message (e.g., the sidelink UE response message 328) from the eNodeB via the receive circuit 61 0. In some embodiments, for example, for both L2 relaying and L3 relaying, the sidelink UE response message comprises resource configuration parameters of the remote UE. For L2 relaying, the sidelink UE response message further comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID and a service request response that indicates the establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE 31 0 in the network. The processing circuit 630 is further configured to generate and transmit a connection setup message (e.g., the PC5 connection setup message 330) via a transmit circuit 620 over the PC5 interface, in response receiving the sidelink UE response message from the eNodeB. In some embodiments, connection setup message just forwards the information in the sidelink UE response message to the remote UE.
[0064] For SL-RRC based communication, in some embodiments, the apparatus 600 could be included within the relay UE 412 in Fig. 4. For SL-RRC based communication, the processing circuit 630 is configured to receive a connection request message (e.g., the SL-RRC connection request message 420) from a remote UE (e.g., the remote UE 41 0) via the receive circuit 610. In some embodiments, the connection request message from the remote UE indicates the relay UE that the remote UE has uplink (UL) data to transfer through the relay UE. In some embodiments, the memory circuit 640 is configured to store a remote UE ID associated with the remote UE (e.g., the remote UE 41 0) and a paired association ID (obtained during the initial attach procedure in Fig. 2) indicating a paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE (e.g., the relay UE 41 2). The processing circuit 630 is further configured to transmit a connection setup message (e.g., SL-RRC connection setup message 424) via the transmit circuit 620. In some embodiments, the connection setup message comprises resource configuration parameters, for example, radio resource configuration parameters of the remote UE.
[0065] The processing circuit 630 is further configured to receive a connection setup complete message (e.g., an SL-RRC connection setup complete message 426) via the receive circuit 610 in response to transmitting the connection setup message. In some embodiments, for example, for both L2 relaying and L3 relaying, the connection setup complete message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID necessary to generate additional resource configuration parameters necessary for the maintenance of the PC5 interface between the remote UE and the relay UE. For L2 relaying, the connection setup complete message further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network. Upon receiving the connection setup complete message, the processing circuit 630 is further configured to generate a sidelink UE information message (e.g., the sidelink UE information message 428) for subsequent transmission to an eNodeB (e.g., the eNodeB 414) via the transmit circuit 620. In some
embodiments, the sidelink UE information message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying.
[0066] In addition, the sidelink UE information message further comprises the EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and the service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE for L2 relaying. The processing circuit 630 is further configured to receive a sidelink UE response message (e.g., the sidelink UE response message 430) from the eNodeB via the receive circuit 61 0. In some embodiments, for example, for both L2 relaying and L3 relaying, the sidelink UE response message comprises resource configuration parameters of the remote UE. For L2 relaying, the sidelink UE response message further comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID and a service request response that indicates the establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE 41 0 in the network.
[0067] The processing circuit 630 is further configured to generate and transmit a reconfiguration message (e.g., an SL-RRC reconfiguration message 432) via the transmit circuit 620, in response to receiving the sidelink UE response message from the eNodeB. In some embodiments, the reconfiguration message comprises the resource configuration parameters for configuring the resources of the remote UE, an accepted EPS bearer ID and a service request response that indicates the
establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE in the network. The processing circuit 630 is further configured to receive a reconfiguration complete message (e.g., the SL-RRC reconfiguration complete message 434) via the receive circuit 610, in response to transmitting the reconfiguration message. In some embodiments, the reconfiguration complete message indicates a completion of the configuration of the resources of the remote UE.
[0068] In some embodiments, the processing circuit 630 is further configured to generate a sidelink UE bearer establishment message (e.g., the sidelink UE bearer establishment message 436) for subsequent transmission to the eNodeB via the transmit circuit 620. In some embodiments, the bearer establishment message indicates a successful establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 630 is further configured to generate a connection release message (e.g., SL-RRC connection release message 438) for subsequent transmission to the remote UE via the transmit circuit 620. In some embodiments, the connection release message is configured to release the connection between the remote UE and the relay UE, after a certain period of inactivity over the PC5 interface. Further, in some embodiments, the relay UE 412 acts as a transparent UE and is configured to forward the RRC type signaling messages from the remote UE, for example, SL-RRC connection setup complete message 426, to the network transparently, upon establishing an initial connection with the remote UE.
[0069] Fig. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 700 for use in an eNodeB in a ProSe system, that facilitates L2 and L3 relaying, according to the various
embodiments described herein. The eNodeB is described herein with reference to the eNodeB 414 in Fig. 4 for SL-RRC based communication. The operation of the eNodeB is the same for PC5 based operation in Fig. 3 and the SL-RRC based communication in Fig. 4. The apparatus 700 includes a receiver circuit 720, a processing circuit 730, and a transmitter circuit 710. Further, in some embodiments, the apparatus 700 comprises a memory circuit 740 coupled to the processing circuit 730. Each of the receiver circuit 720 and the transmitter circuit 710 are configured to be coupled to one or more antennas, which can be the same or different antenna(s). Further, in some
embodiments, the apparatus comprises a memory circuit 740 coupled to the processing circuit 730. In some embodiments, the receiver circuit 720 and the transmitter circuit 71 0 can have one or more components in common, and both can be included within a transceiver circuit, while in other aspects they are not. In various embodiments, the apparatus 700 can be included within an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) Node B (Evolved NodeB, eNodeB, or eNB). In some
embodiments, the receiver circuit 720, the processing circuit 730, the memory circuit 740 and the transmitter circuit 710 can be included in a same device, while in other embodiments, they can be part of different devices.
[0070] For the initial attach procedure, the apparatus 700 could be included within the eNodeB 220 of Fig. 2. During the initial attach procedure, the processing circuit 730 is configured to receive an initial attach request (e.g., the initial attach request 250 in Fig. 2) from both a remote UE and a relay UE (represented together as UE 21 0 in Fig. 2) via the receive circuit 720. In some embodiments, the initial attach request message from the remote UE comprises an indication of a paired association of the remote UE and a relay ID of the relay UE to which the remote UE is associated with. Similarly, the initial attach request message from the relay UE comprises an indication of a paired association of the relay UE and a remote UE ID of the remote UE to which the relay UE is associated with. The processing circuit 730 is further configured to generate an initial UE message (e.g., the initial UE message 260) based on the received initial attach request message, for subsequent transmission to a mobility management entity (MME) associated therewith via the transmit circuit 710. In some embodiments, the initial UE message comprises the same information as in the initial attach request and is configured to forward the initial attach request from the UE (i.e., the remote UE or the relay UE) to the MME (e.g., the MME 230).
[0071] The processing circuit 730 is further configured to receive an initial attach response message (e.g., the initial attach response message 270) from the MME via the receive circuit 720. In some embodiments, the initial attach response message comprises a paired association ID indicative of the paired association of the remote UE and the relay UE generated at the MME, and an indication that the initial attach request is accepted, which are subsequently stored in the memory circuit 740. The processing circuit 730 is further configured to generate and transmit an initial attach complete message (e.g., the initial attach complete message 280 in Fig. 2) via the transmit circuit 71 0, in response to receiving the initial attach response message from the MME. In some embodiments, the initial attach complete message from the eNodeB comprises a paired association ID indicating the paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE. In some embodiments, the initial attach complete message comprises the same information as in the initial attach response message from the MME and is configured to forward the initial attach response message from the MME to the UE (i.e., the relay UE or the remote UE).
[0072] For PC5 based communication or for SL-RRC based communication, the apparatus 700 could be included within the eNodeB 314 of Fig. 3 or the eNodeB 414 of Fig. 4. In the embodiment described herein, the apparatus 700 is assumed to be included within the eNodeB 414 of Fig. 4. The processing circuit 730 is configured to receive a sidelink UE information message (e.g., the sidelink UE information message 428) from the relay UE (e.g., the relay UE 414) via the receive circuit 720. In some embodiments, for example, for both L2 relaying and L3 relaying, the sidelink UE information message comprises a remote U E ID of the remote U E (e.g., the remote UE 41 0) and a paired association ID indicative of a paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE, necessary to generate resource configuration parameters for the relay UE and the remote UE. For L2 relaying, the sidelink UE information message further comprises EPS bearer ID of the remote UE and a request to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network.
[0073] Upon receiving the sidelink UE information message, the processing circuit 730 is configured to generate resource configuration parameters for the relay UE and the remote UE, and to set up the EPS bearers of the remote UE (e.g., S1 -U tunnel establishment 440) with the network. The processing circuit 730 is further configured to generate a sidelink UE response message (e.g., the sidelink UE response message 430) for subsequent transmission to the relay UE via the transmit circuit 710. In some embodiments, the sidelink UE response message comprises the generated resource configuration parameters and an accepted EPS bearer ID. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 730 is further configured to receive a sidelink UE bearer
establishment message (e.g., the sidelink UE bearer establishment message 436) from the relay UE via the receive circuit 720, in response to transmitting the sidelink UE response message. In some embodiments, the sidelink UE bearer establishment message indicates a successful establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE in the network.
[0074] Fig. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method 800 for a remote UE in a ProSe system comprising a relay UE and an eNodeB associated therewith, that facilitates PC5 based communication over a PC5 interface, according to one embodiment of the disclosure. The PC5 based communication over a PC5 interface, in some
embodiments, is achieved by defining PC5 messages using higher layer protocols, for example, non-access stratum (NAS) of the LTE architecture. The method 800 is described herein with reference to the apparatus 500 in Fig. 5 and the ProSe system 300 in Fig. 3. In some embodiments, the apparatus 500 is included within the remote UE of the ProSe system. At 802, a remote UE ID associated with the remote UE and a paired association ID (obtained at the initial attach) that indicates a paired association between the remote UE and a relay UE is stored in the memory circuit 540 of the remote UE. At 804, a PC5 direct communication request comprising an uplink (UL) data is generated at the processing circuit 530 and transmitted to the relay UE over the PC5 interface via the transmit circuit 520.
[0075] At 806, a PC5 information transfer message is generated at the processing circuit 530 and transmitted to the relay UE via the transmit circuit 520. The PC5 information transfer message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L2 and L3 relaying, in order to generate the resource configuration parameters of the remote UE. For L2 relaying, the PC5 information transfer message further comprises the EPS bearer ID for the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE in the network. At 808, a PC5 connection set up message is received at the processing circuit 530 from the relay UE via the receive circuit 510, in response to the PCR information transfer message. In some embodiments, the PC5 connection set up message comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID and the resource configuration parameters of the remote UE. At 810, the resources of the remote UE is configured based on the PC5 connection set up message at the processing circuit 530.
[0076] Fig. 9 illustrates a flowchart of a method 900 for a remote UE in a ProSe system comprising a relay UE and an eNodeB associated therewith, that facilitates SL- RRC based communication over a PC5 interface, according to one embodiment of the disclosure. The SL-RRC based communication over a PC5 interface, in some embodiments, is achieved by defining RRC type messages using RRC layer protocol of the LTE architecture. The method 900 is described herein with reference to the apparatus 500 in Fig. 5 and the ProSe system 400 in Fig. 4. In some embodiments, the apparatus 500 is included within the remote UE of the ProSe system. At 902, a remote UE ID associated with the remote UE and a paired association ID (obtained at the initial attach) that indicates a paired association between the remote UE and a relay UE is stored in the memory circuit 540 of the remote UE. At 904, an SL-RRC connection request comprising an uplink (UL) data, the remote UE ID and the paired association ID is generated at the processing circuit 530 and transmitted to the relay UE via the transmit circuit 520. At 906, an SL-RRC connection set up message comprising the resource configuration parameters of the remote UE is received at the processing circuit 530 via the receive circuit 510 in response to the SL-RRC connection request.
[0077] At 908, an SL-RRC configuration set up message is generated at the processing circuit 530 and transmitted to the relay UE via the transmit circuit 520. The SL-RRC configuration set up message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L2 and L3 relaying, in order to generate the resource
configuration parameters of the remote UE. For L2 relaying, the SL-RRC configuration set up message further comprises the EPS bearer ID for the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE in the network. At 910, an SL-RRC reconfiguration message is received at the processing circuit 530 from the relay UE via the receive circuit 51 0, in response to the SL-RRC configuration set up message. In some embodiments, the SL-RRC reconfiguration message comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID and the resource configuration parameters of the remote UE. At 912, the resources of the remote UE are configured based on SL-RRC reconfiguration message and an SL-RRC reconfiguration complete message is generated at the processing circuit 530 in response to the SL-RRC reconfiguration message, which is then transmitted to the relay UE via the transmit circuit 520.
[0078] Fig. 1 0 illustrates a flowchart of a method 1000 for a relay UE in a ProSe system comprising a remote UE and an eNodeB associated therewith, that facilitates PC5 based communication over a PC5 interface, according to one embodiment of the disclosure. The PC5 based communication over a PC5 interface, in some
embodiments, is achieved by defining PC5 messages using higher layer protocols, for example, non-access stratum (NAS) of the LTE architecture. The method 1000 is described herein with reference to the apparatus 600 in Fig. 6 and the ProSe system 300 in Fig. 3. In some embodiments, the apparatus 600 is included within the relay UE of the ProSe system. At 1002, a relay UE ID associated with the relay UE and a paired association ID (obtained at the initial attach) that indicates a paired association between the remote UE and a relay UE is stored in the memory circuit 640 of the relay UE. At 1004, a PC5 direct communication request comprising an uplink (UL) data is received at the processing circuit 630 from the remote UE over the PC5 interface via the receive circuit 61 0. [0079] At 1006, a PC5 information transfer message is received at the processing circuit 630 from the remote UE via the receive circuit 610. The PC5 information transfer message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L2 and L3 relaying, in order to generate the resource configuration parameters of the remote UE. For L2 relaying, the PC5 information transfer message further comprises the EPS bearer ID for the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE in the network. At 1008, a sidelink UE information message is generated at the
processing circuit 603 and transmitted to the eNodeB via the transmit circuit 620. In some embodiments, the contents of the PC5 information transfer message and the contents of the sidelink UE information message are the same. At 101 0, a sidelink UE response message is received at the processing circuit 630 from the eNodeB via the receive circuit 610, in response to transmitting the sidelink UE information message. In some embodiments, the sidelink UE response message comprises the resource configuration parameters and an accepted EPS bearer ID for the remote UE generated at the eNodeB or an MME associated therewith. At 1 01 2, a PC5 connection set up message is generated at the processing circuit 630 to be transmitted to the remote UE via the transmit circuit 620, in response to receiving the sidelink UE response message. In some embodiments, the PC5 connection set up message comprises the accepted EPS bearer ID and the resource configuration parameters of the remote UE. In some embodiments, the contents of the PC5 connection setup message and the contents of the sidelink UE response message are the same.
[0080] Fig. 1 1 illustrates a flowchart of a method 1 1 00 for a relay UE in a ProSe system comprising a remote UE and an eNodeB associated therewith, that facilitates SL-RRC based communication over a PC5 interface, according to one embodiment of the disclosure. The SL-RRC based communication over a PC5 interface, in some embodiments, is achieved by defining RRC type messages using RRC layer protocol of the LTE architecture. The method 1 100 is described herein with reference to the apparatus 600 in Fig. 6 and the ProSe system 400 in Fig. 4. In some embodiments, the apparatus 600 is included within the relay UE of the ProSe system. At 1 102, a relay UE ID associated with the relay UE and a paired association ID (obtained at the initial attach) that indicates a paired association between the remote UE and a relay UE is stored in the memory circuit 640 of the relay UE. At 1 104, an SL-RRC connection request comprising an uplink (UL) data, the remote UE ID and the paired association ID is received at the processing circuit 630 from the remote UE over the PC5 interface via the receive circuit 61 0. At 1 106, an SL-RRC connection setup message is generated at the processing circuit 630 and transmitted to the remote UE via the receive circuit 610, in response to receiving the SL-RRC connection request from the remote UE.
[0081] At 1 108, an SL-RRC connection setup complete message is received at the processing circuit 630 from the remote UE via the receive circuit 61 0. The SL-RRC configuration set up message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L2 and L3 relaying, in order to generate the resource configuration parameters of the remote UE. For L2 relaying, the SL-RRC configuration set up message further comprises the EPS bearer ID for the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE in the network. At 1 1 10, a sidelink UE information message is generated at the processing circuit 603 and transmitted to the eNodeB via the transmit circuit 620. In some embodiments, the contents of the SL-RRC
configuration set up message and the contents of the sidelink UE information message are the same. At 1 1 12, a sidelink UE response message is received at the processing circuit 630 from the eNodeB via the receive circuit 610, in response to transmitting the sidelink UE information message. In some embodiments, the sidelink UE response message comprises the resource configuration parameters and an accepted EPS bearer ID for the remote UE generated at the eNodeB or an MME associated therewith.
[0082] At 1 1 14, an SL-RRC reconfiguration message is generated at the processing circuit 630 and transmitted to the remote UE via the transmit circuit 620, in response to receiving the sidelink UE response message. In some embodiments, the SL-RRC reconfiguration message comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID and the resource configuration parameters of the remote UE. In some embodiments, the contents of the SL-RRC reconfiguration message and the contents of the sidelink UE response message are the same. At 1 1 16, an SL-RRC reconfiguration complete message is received at the processing circuit 630 from the remote UE via the receive circuit 610, in response to transmitting the SL-RRC reconfiguration message.
[0083] Fig. 1 2 illustrates a flowchart of a method 1200 for an eNodeB in a ProSe system comprising a remote UE and a relay UE associated therewith, that facilitates both L2 and L3 relaying over a PC5 interface, according to one embodiment of the disclosure. The method 1200 is described herein with reference to the apparatus 700 in Fig. 7 and the eNodeB 414 in Fig. 4 for SL-RRC based communication. The operation of the eNodeB is the same for PC5 based communication in Fig. 3 and the SL-RRC based communication in Fig. 4. At 1202, a sidelink UE information message is received at the processing circuit 730 from the relay UE via the receive circuit 720. In some embodiments, the sidelink UE information message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L2 and L3 relaying, in order to generate the resource configuration parameters of the remote UE. For L2 relaying, the sidelink UE information message further comprises the EPS bearer ID for the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE in the network. At 1204, a sidelink UE response message is generated at the processing circuit 730, in response to receiving the sidelink UE information message and transmit the sidelink UE response message to the relay UE via the transmit circuit 710. In some embodiments, the sidelink UE response message comprises the resource configuration parameters and an accepted EPS bearer ID for the remote UE generated at the eNodeB or an MME associated therewith.
[0084] While the methods are illustrated and described above as a series of acts or events, it will be appreciated that the illustrated ordering of such acts or events are not to be interpreted in a limiting sense. For example, some acts may occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts or events apart from those illustrated and/or described herein. In addition, not all illustrated acts may be required to implement one or more aspects or embodiments of the disclosure herein. Also, one or more of the acts depicted herein may be carried out in one or more separate acts and/or phases.
[0085] Embodiments described herein may be implemented into a system using any suitably configured hardware and/or software. Fig. 13 illustrates, for one embodiment, example components of a User Equipment (UE) device 1300. In some embodiments, the UE device 1300 may include application circuitry 1302, baseband circuitry 1 304, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 1306, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 1308 and one or more antennas 1310, coupled together at least as shown.
[0086] The application circuitry 1302 may include one or more application processing circuits. For example, the application circuitry 1302 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processing circuits. The processing circuit(s) may include any combination of general-purpose processing circuits and dedicated processing circuits (e.g., graphics processing circuits,
application processing circuits, etc.). The processing circuits may be coupled with and/or may include memory/storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications and/or operating systems to run on the system.
[0087] The baseband circuitry 1304 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processing circuits. The baseband circuitry 1304 may include one or more baseband processing circuits and/or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry 1306 and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 1306. Baseband processing circuity 1304 may interface with the application circuitry 1302 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry 1306. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1304 may include a second generation (2G) baseband processing circuit 1304a, third generation (3G) baseband processing circuit 1304b, fourth generation (4G) baseband processing circuit 1304c, and/or other baseband processing circuit(s) 1304d for other existing
generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., fifth generation (5G), 6G, etc.). The baseband circuitry 1304 (e.g., one or more of baseband processing circuits 1304a-d) may handle various radio control functions that
enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 1306. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal
modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 1 304 may include Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, and/or constellation
mapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 1304 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, and/or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality.
Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functionality in other embodiments. [0088] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1304 may include elements of a protocol stack such as, for example, elements of an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) protocol including, for example, physical (PHY), media access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and/or radio resource control (RRC) elements. A central processing unit (CPU) 1304e of the baseband circuitry 1304 may be configured to run elements of the protocol stack for signaling of the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP and/or RRC layers. In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may include one or more audio digital signal processing circuit(s) (DSP) 1304f. The audio DSP(s) 1304f may be include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 1304 and the application circuitry 1302 may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).
[0089] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1304 may provide for communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 1304 may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) and/or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 1304 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.
[0090] RF circuitry 1306 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 1306 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry 1306 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 1308 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry 1304. RF circuitry 1306 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry 1304 and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 1308 for transmission. [0091] In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 1306 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the RF circuitry 1306 may include mixer circuitry 1 306a, amplifier circuitry 1306b and filter circuitry 1306c. The transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 1306 may include filter circuitry 1306c and mixer circuitry 1306a. RF circuitry 1306 may also include synthesizer circuitry 1306d for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 1306a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1306a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 1308 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 1306d. The amplifier circuitry 1306b may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 1 306c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the baseband circuitry 1304 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 1306a of the receive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.
[0092] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1306a of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 1306d to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 1308. The baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 1304 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 1306c. The filter circuitry 1306c may include a low-pass filter (LPF), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.
[0093] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1306a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1306a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and/or up-conversion respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1306a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1306a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1 306a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1306a may be arranged for direct down-conversion and/or direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 1306a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 1306a of the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation.
[0094] In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternate embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RF circuitry 1306 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry 1304 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry 1306.
[0095] In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the
embodiments is not limited in this respect.
[0096] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1306d may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 1306d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.
[0097] The synthesizer circuitry 1306d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 1306a of the RF circuitry 1306 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 1306d may be a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer.
[0098] In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Divider control input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 1304 or the applications processing circuit 1302 depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by the applications processing circuit 1302.
[0099] Synthesizer circuitry 1 306d of the RF circuitry 1 306 may include a divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip- flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.
[00100] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 1 306d may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 1306 may include an IQ/polar converter.
[00101 ] FEM circuitry 1308 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 1310, amplify the received signals and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 1306 for further processing. FEM circuitry 1308 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by the RF circuitry 1306 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 1310.
[00102] In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 1308 may include a TX/RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry may include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 1306). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 1308 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 1306), and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 1310.
[00103] In some embodiments, the UE device 1300 may include additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, and/or input/output (I/O) interface.
[00104] While the apparatus has been illustrated and described with respect to one or more implementations, alterations and/or modifications may be made to the illustrated examples without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described
components or structures (assemblies, devices, circuits, systems, etc.), the terms (including a reference to a "means") used to describe such components are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any component or structure which performs the specified function of the described component (e.g., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the herein illustrated exemplary implementations of the invention.
[00105] Examples can include subject matter such as a method, means for performing acts or blocks of the method, at least one machine-readable medium including instructions that, when performed by a machine cause the machine to perform acts of the method or of an apparatus or system for concurrent communication using multiple communication technologies according to embodiments and examples described herein.
[00106] Example 1 is an apparatus for use in a remote UE of a ProSe network, comprising a memory circuit configured to store a remote UE ID associated with the remote UE and a paired association ID indicating a paired association of the remote UE with a relay UE of the ProSe network; and a processing circuit configured to generate a connection request message for subsequent transmission to the relay UE to setup an initial connection with the relay UE in order to transfer an uplink data to an eNodeB of the ProSe network via the relay UE, wherein the connection request message comprises a cause value indicating mobile-originated data; process a connection setup message, from the relay UE, comprising resource configuration parameters configured to configure resources of the remote UE, wherein the resource configuration parameters are based on the connection request message; and configure the resources of the remote UE based on the connection setup message from the relay UE.
[00107] Example 2 is an apparatus including the subject matter of example 1 , wherein the connection request message and the connection setup message comprise PC5 messages.
[00108] Example 3 is an apparatus including the subject matter of example 1 , wherein the connection request message and the connection setup message comprise RRC type messages.
[00109] Example 4 is an apparatus including the subject matter of examples 1 -2, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to generate an information transfer message comprising a PC5 message for subsequent transmission to the relay UE, prior to processing the connection setup message from the relay UE, wherein the information transfer message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the information transfer message further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE for L2 relaying.
[00110] Example 5 is an apparatus including the subject matter of examples 1 or 3, including or omitting elements, wherein the connection request message further comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID.
[00111 ] Example 6 is an apparatus including the subject matter of examples 1 or 3 or 5, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to generate a connection setup complete message comprising an RRC type message in response to the connection setup message, for subsequent transmission to the relay UE, wherein the connection setup complete message comprises the remote UE ID for both L3 and L2 relaying, and wherein the connection setup complete message further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish EPS bearers of the remote UE for L2 relaying. [00112] Example 7 is an apparatus including the subject matter of examples 1 or 3 or 5-6, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to process a reconfiguration message comprising an RRC type message from the relay UE , wherein the reconfiguration message comprises radio resource configuration parameters configured to maintain the connection between the remote UE and the relay UE over the PC5 interface for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the reconfiguration message further comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID forwarded from the eNodeB for L2 relaying, wherein the accepted EPS bearer ID indicates an establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network.
[00113] Example 8 is an apparatus including the subject matter of examples 1 or 3 or 5-7, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to generate a reconfiguration complete message comprising an RRC type message in response to the reconfiguration message, for subsequent transmission to the relay UE, wherein the reconfiguration complete message indicates a completion of the
configuration of the resources of the remote UE.
[00114] Example 9 is an apparatus including the subject matter of examples 1 or 3 or 5-8, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to process a connection release message comprising an RRC type message from the relay UE, wherein the connection release message is configured to release the connection between the remote UE and the relay UE, after a certain period of inactivity over the PC5 interface.
[00115] Example 10 is an apparatus including the subject matter of examples 1 -9, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to generate an initial attach request message for subsequent transmission to the eNodeB, prior to generating the connection request message at the remote UE, wherein the initial attach request message is configured to register the remote UE in the network and wherein the initial attach request message comprises an indication of a paired association of the remote UE and a relay ID of the relay UE to which the remote UE is associated with.
[00116] Example 1 1 is an apparatus including the subject matter of examples 1 -10, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to process an attach complete message, from the eNodeB forwarded from a mobility management entity (MME) associated therewith, wherein the attach complete message comprises the paired association ID indicating the paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE and wherein the paired association ID is subsequently stored in the memory circuit of the remote UE.
[00117] Example 12 is relay user equipment (UE) of a Proximity Services (ProSe) network comprising a memory circuit configured to store a relay ID associated with the relay UE and a paired association ID indicating a paired association of the relay UE with a remote UE of the ProSe network; a receive circuit; a transmit circuit; and a processing circuit configured to receive a connection request message from the remote UE via the receive circuit, over a PC5 interface between the remote UE and the relay UE, wherein the connection request message indicates the relay UE to setup an initial connection with the remote UE in order to transfer an uplink data from the remote UE to an eNodeB of the ProSe network via the relay UE and wherein the connection request message comprises a cause value indicating mobile-originated data; activate the relay UE, and establish a connection between the relay UE and the remote UE, based on the connection request message; and provide a connection setup message comprising resource configuration parameters of the remote UE to the transmit circuit for subsequent transmission to the remote UE over the PC5 interface, wherein the connection setup message is generated at the relay UE based on the connection request message or received at the relay UE from the eNodeB associated therewith.
[00118] Example 13 is a relay UE including the subject matter of example 12, wherein the connection request message and the connection setup message comprise PC5 messages defined for the communication using higher layer protocols over the PC5 interface.
[00119] Example 14 is a relay UE including the subject matter of example 12, wherein the connection request message and the connection setup message comprise RRC type messages defined for communication using the RRC layer protocol over the PC5 interface.
[00120] Example 15 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12-1 3, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to process an information transfer message comprising a PC5 message from the remote UE for subsequent transmission to the eNodeB, prior to providing the connection setup message to the remote UE, wherein the information transfer message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the information transfer message further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network, during L2 relaying.
[00121 ] Example 16 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12-1 3 or 15, including or omitting elements, wherein the connection setup message transmitted from the relay UE further comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID forwarded from the eNodeB in response to the information transfer message or a signal associated therewith during L2 relaying, wherein the accepted EPS bearer ID indicates the establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network.
[00122] Example 17 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12-1 3 or 15-1 6, including or omitting elements, wherein the resource configuration parameters and the accepted EPS bearer ID within the connection setup message are determined at the eNodeB and forwarded to the relay UE, in response to the information transfer message from the remote UE or a signal associated therewith.
[00123] Example 18 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12-1 3 or 15-1 7, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to generate a sidelink UE information message comprising an RRC type message, in response to the information transfer message from the remote UE, wherein the sidelink UE information message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the sidelink UE information message further comprises the EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and the service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE for L2 relaying.
[00124] Example 19 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12-1 3 or 15-1 8, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to process a sidelink UE response message comprising an RRC type message from the eNodeB, wherein the sidelink UE response message comprises the resource configuration parameters for the remote UE for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the sidelink UE response message further comprises the accepted EPS bearer ID for the remote UE for L2 relaying.
[00125] Example 20 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12 or 14, including or omitting elements, wherein the connection request message from the remote UE further comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID, and wherein the resource configuration parameters are determined at the relay UE based on the connection request message from the remote UE.
[00126] Example 21 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12 or 14 or 20, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to process a connection setup complete message comprising an RRC type message, in response to providing the connection setup message to the remote UE, wherein the connection setup complete message comprises the remote UE ID for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the connection setup complete message further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish EPS bearers of the remote UE for L2 relaying.
[00127] Example 22 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12 or 14 or 20-21 , including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to generate a sidelink UE information message comprising an RRC type message for subsequent transmission to the eNodeB via the transmit circuit, in response to the connection setup complete message from the remote UE, wherein the sidelink UE information message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired
association ID for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the sidelink UE information message further comprises the EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and the service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE for L2 relaying.
[00128] Example 23 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12 or 14 or 20-22, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to process a sidelink UE response message comprising an RRC type message from the eNodeB, in response to transmitting the sidelink UE information message to the eNodeB, wherein the sidelink UE response message comprises resource configuration parameters for configuring the resources of the remote UE for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the sidelink UE response message further comprises the accepted EPS bearer ID for the remote UE for L2 relaying.
[00129] Example 24 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12 or 14 or 20-23, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to provide a reconfiguration message comprising an RRC type message to the transmit circuit for subsequent transmission to the remote UE over the PC5 interface in response to receiving the sidelink UE response message from the eNodeB , wherein the reconfiguration message comprises radio resource configuration parameters configured to maintain the connection between the remote UE and the relay UE over the PC5 interface for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the reconfiguration message further comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID forwarded from the eNodeB in response to the connection setup complete message or a signal associated therewith for L2 relaying, wherein the accepted EPS bearer ID indicates the establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network.
[00130] Example 25 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12 or 14 or 20-24, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to generate a bearer establishment message on behalf of the remote UE for subsequent transmission to the eNodeB via the transmit circuit, wherein the bearer establishment message indicates a successful establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network.
[00131 ] Example 26 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12 or 14 or 20-25, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to generate a connection release message comprising an RRC type message and provide the generated connection release message to the transmit circuit for subsequent transmission to the remote UE over the PC5 interface, in order to release the connection between the remote UE and the relay UE, after a certain period of inactivity over the PC5 interface. [00132] Example 27 is a relay UE including the subject matter of examples 12 or 14, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to forward RRC type messages from the remote UE to the eNodeB transparently, upon establishing a connection between the relay UE and the remote UE.
[00133] Example 28 is an apparatus for use in an eNodeB of a ProSe network comprising a remote UE and a relay UE associated therewith, comprising a processing circuit configured to process a sidelink UE information message from the relay UE, wherein the sidelink U E information message comprises a remote UE I D of the remote UE and a paired association I D indicative of a paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE; generate resource configuration parameters for the remote UE based on the sidelink UE information message; and provide a sidelink UE response message to the relay UE, wherein the sidelink UE response message comprises the generated resource configuration parameters for the remote UE.
[00134] Example 29 is an apparatus including the subject matter of example 28, wherein the sidelink UE information message further comprises EPS bearer I D of the remote UE and a request to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network for L2 relaying.
[00135] Example 30 is an apparatus including the subject matter of examples 28-29, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to set up the EPS bearers of the remote UE in the network, based on the received sidelink UE information message for L2 relaying and generate an accepted EPS bearer ID for the remote UE, for subsequent transmission to the relay UE using the sidelink UE response message.
[00136] Example 31 is an apparatus including the subject matter of examples 28-30, including or omitting elements, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to receive a bearer establishment message from the relay UE on behalf of the remote UE, wherein the bearer establishment message indicates a successful establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE in the network.
[00137] Various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with aspects disclosed herein can be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other
programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform functions described herein. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, but, in the alternative, processor can be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine.
[00138] The above description of illustrated embodiments of the subject disclosure, including what is described in the Abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosed embodiments to the precise forms disclosed. While specific embodiments and examples are described herein for illustrative purposes, various modifications are possible that are considered within the scope of such embodiments and examples, as those skilled in the relevant art can recognize.
[00139] In this regard, while the disclosed subject matter has been described in connection with various embodiments and corresponding Figures, where applicable, it is to be understood that other similar embodiments can be used or modifications and additions can be made to the described embodiments for performing the same, similar, alternative, or substitute function of the disclosed subject matter without deviating therefrom. Therefore, the disclosed subject matter should not be limited to any single embodiment described herein, but rather should be construed in breadth and scope in accordance with the appended claims below.
[00140] In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described components (assemblies, devices, circuits, systems, etc.), the terms (including a reference to a "means") used to describe such components are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any component or structure which performs the specified function of the described component (e.g., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the herein illustrated exemplary implementations of the disclosure. In addition, while a particular feature may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application.

Claims

1 . An apparatus for use in a remote user equipment (UE) of a Proximity Services (ProSe) network, comprising:
a memory circuit configured to store a remote UE ID associated with the remote UE and a paired association ID indicating a paired association of the remote UE with a relay UE of the ProSe network; and
a processing circuit configured to,
generate a connection request message for subsequent transmission to the relay UE to setup an initial connection with the relay UE in order to transfer an uplink data to an eNodeB of the ProSe network via the relay UE, wherein the connection request message comprises a cause value indicating mobile- originated data;
process a connection setup message, from the relay UE, comprising resource configuration parameters configured to configure resources of the remote UE, wherein the resource configuration parameters are based on the connection request message; and
configure the resources of the remote UE based on the connection setup message from the relay UE.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the connection request message and the connection setup message comprise PC5 messages.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the connection request message and the connection setup message comprise RRC type messages.
4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to generate an information transfer message comprising a PC5 message for subsequent transmission to the relay UE, prior to processing the connection setup message from the relay UE, wherein the information transfer message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the information transfer message further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE for L2 relaying.
5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the connection request message further comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID.
6. The apparatus of any of the claims 3 or 5, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to generate a connection setup complete message comprising an RRC type message in response to the connection setup message, for subsequent transmission to the relay UE, wherein the connection setup complete message comprises the remote UE ID for both L3 and L2 relaying, and wherein the connection setup complete message further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish EPS bearers of the remote UE for L2 relaying.
7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to process a reconfiguration message comprising an RRC type message from the relay UE , wherein the reconfiguration message comprises radio resource configuration parameters configured to maintain the connection between the remote UE and the relay UE over the PC5 interface for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the reconfiguration message further comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID forwarded from the eNodeB for L2 relaying, wherein the accepted EPS bearer ID indicates an establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network.
8. A relay user equipment (UE) of a Proximity Services (ProSe) network, comprising:
a memory circuit configured to store a relay ID associated with the relay UE and a paired association ID indicating a paired association of the relay UE with a remote UE of the ProSe network;
a receive circuit;
a transmit circuit; and
a processing circuit configured to,
receive a connection request message from the remote UE via the receive circuit, over a PC5 interface between the remote UE and the relay UE, wherein the connection request message indicates the relay UE to setup an initial connection with the remote UE in order to transfer an uplink data from the remote UE to an eNodeB of the ProSe network via the relay UE and wherein the connection request message comprises a cause value indicating mobile- originated data;
activate the relay UE, and establish a connection between the relay UE and the remote UE, based on the connection request message; and
provide a connection setup message comprising resource configuration parameters of the remote UE to the transmit circuit for subsequent transmission to the remote UE over the PC5 interface, wherein the connection setup message is generated at the relay UE based on the connection request message or received at the relay UE from the eNodeB associated therewith.
9. The relay UE of claim 8, wherein the connection request message and the connection setup message comprise PC5 messages defined for the communication using higher layer protocols over the PC5 interface.
10. The relay UE of claim 8, wherein the connection request message and the connection setup message comprise RRC type messages defined for communication using the RRC layer protocol over the PC5 interface.
1 1 . The relay UE of claim 9, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to process an information transfer message comprising a PC5 message from the remote UE for subsequent transmission to the eNodeB, prior to providing the connection setup message to the remote UE, wherein the information transfer message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the information transfer message further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish the EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network, during L2 relaying.
12. The relay UE of claim 1 1 , wherein the connection setup message transmitted from the relay UE further comprises an accepted EPS bearer ID forwarded from the eNodeB in response to the information transfer message or a signal associated therewith during L2 relaying, wherein the accepted EPS bearer ID indicates the establishment of the EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network.
13. The relay UE of claim 12, wherein the resource configuration parameters and the accepted EPS bearer ID within the connection setup message are determined at the eNodeB and forwarded to the relay UE, in response to the information transfer message from the remote UE or a signal associated therewith.
14. The relay UE of any of the claims 1 1 -1 3, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to generate a sidelink UE information message comprising an RRC type message, in response to the information transfer message from the remote UE, wherein the sidelink UE information message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the sidelink UE information message further comprises the EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and the service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE for L2 relaying.
15. The relay UE of claim 14, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to process a sidelink UE response message comprising an RRC type message from the eNodeB, wherein the sidelink UE response message comprises the resource configuration parameters for the remote UE for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the sidelink UE response message further comprises the accepted EPS bearer ID for the remote UE for L2 relaying.
16. The relay UE of claim 10, wherein the connection request message from the remote UE further comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID, and wherein the resource configuration parameters are determined at the relay UE based on the connection request message from the remote UE.
17. The relay UE of claim 10, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to process a connection setup complete message comprising an RRC type message, in response to providing the connection setup message to the remote UE, wherein the connection setup complete message comprises the remote UE ID for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the connection setup complete message further comprises an EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and a service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish EPS bearers of the remote UE for L2 relaying.
18. The relay UE of claim 17, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to generate a sidelink UE information message comprising an RRC type message for subsequent transmission to the eNodeB via the transmit circuit, in response to the connection setup complete message from the remote UE, wherein the sidelink UE information message comprises the remote UE ID and the paired association ID for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the sidelink UE information message further comprises the EPS bearer ID associated with the remote UE and the service request indication to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE for L2 relaying.
19. The relay UE of claim 18, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to receive a sidelink UE response message comprising an RRC type message from the eNodeB, in response to transmitting the sidelink UE information message to the eNodeB, wherein the sidelink UE response message comprises resource configuration parameters for configuring the resources of the remote UE for both L3 relaying and L2 relaying, and wherein the sidelink UE response message further comprises the accepted EPS bearer ID for the remote UE for L2 relaying.
20. The relay UE of any of the claims 10 or 16-19, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to generate a connection release message comprising an RRC type message and provide the generated connection release message to the transmit circuit for subsequent transmission to the remote UE over the PC5 interface, in order to release the connection between the remote UE and the relay UE, after a certain period of inactivity over the PC5 interface.
21 . The relay UE of claim 10, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to forward RRC type messages from the remote UE to the eNodeB transparently, upon establishing a connection between the relay UE and the remote UE.
22. An apparatus for use in an eNodeB of a ProSe network comprising a remote UE and a relay UE associated therewith, comprising:
a processing circuit configured to, process a sidelink UE information message from the relay UE, wherein the sidelink UE information message comprises a remote UE ID of the remote UE and a paired association I D indicative of a paired association of the remote UE with the relay UE;
generate resource configuration parameters for the remote UE based on the received sidelink U E information message; and
provide a sidelink UE response message to the relay UE, wherein the sidelink UE response message comprises the generated resource configuration parameters for the remote UE.
23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the sidelink UE information message further comprises EPS bearer ID of the remote UE and a request to initiate a service request procedure for the remote UE in order to establish EPS bearers of the remote UE with the network for L2 relaying.
24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to set up the EPS bearers of the remote UE in the network, based on the received sidelink UE information message for L2 relaying and generate an accepted EPS bearer ID for the remote UE, for subsequent transmission to the relay UE using the sidelink UE response message.
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