Method and device for performing fast fallback in order to avoid link disconnection in wireless access system supporting millimeter wave (mmWave)

• US 10,313,950 B2
• Filed: 09/21/2015
• Issued: 06/04/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Choi, Kukheon, Chung, Jaehoon, Hahn, Genebeck, Lee, Eunjong, Kim, Jinmin, Noh, Kwangseok
• Primary Examiner(s): Anwar, Mohammad S
• Application Number:
  US15/329,978
• Publication Number:
  US 20170272998A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,352 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0072 of resource information of target access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0079 in case of hand-off failure or rejection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup

Abstract

The present invention relates to a wireless access system supporting a millimeter wave (mmWave), and provides methods for performing a fast fallback in order to avoid a link disconnection and devices supporting the same. As an embodiment of the present invention, a method for performing a fast fallback by a terminal in a wireless access system supporting a millimeter wave (mmWave) may comprise the steps of: establishing radio resource control (RRC) connections with a mmWave base station and a legacy base station, respectively; receiving downlink data transmitted from the mmWave base station; receiving, from the legacy base station, resource-related information associated with a resource to be allocated for a fast fallback; detecting whether a non-light of sight (NLoS) transition occurs in a mmWave link with the mmWave base station; and when the NLoS transition occurs, transmitting a fallback request message to the legacy base station in order to perform the fast fallback.

Claims

1. A method of performing a fast fallback at a user equipment (UE) in a wireless access system supporting millimeter wave (mmWave), the method performed by the UE and comprising:

establishing radio resource control (RRC) connections with each of an mmWave base station (BS) and a legacy BS;

receiving downlink data from the mmWave BS;

receiving, from the legacy BS, information related to resources to be allocated for the fast fallback, wherein the information is received periodically and includes downlink transmit power strength information of the legacy BS;

detecting whether non-line of sight (NLoS) transition occurs in an mmWave link with the mmWave BS;

determining whether to transmit a fallback request message based on the downlink transmission power strength information of the legacy BS in order to perform a fast fallback to the legacy BS in response to the NLoS transition being detected; and

receiving downlink data from the legacy BS after the fallback request message is transmitted and the fast fallback to the legacy BS is performed,

wherein the UE maintains the RRC connection with the mmWave BS after performing the fast fallback to the legacy BS.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information includes a temporary cell identifier.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the information further includes resource allocation information for allocating a resource region in which the fallback request message is transmitted.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fallback request message includes sequence number (SN) status transfer information, UE-aggregate maximum bit rate (AMBR) information, UE security capability information and an access stratum (AS) security base key for the legacy BS.

5. A user equipment (UE) for performing fast fallback in a wireless access system supporting millimeter wave (mmWave), the UE comprising:

a transmitter;

a receiver; and

a processor that controls the transmitter and the receiver to support fast fallback,

wherein the processor;

controls the transmitter and the receiver to establish radio resource control (RRC) connections with each of an mmWave base station (BS) and a legacy BS,

controls the receiver to receive downlink data from the mmWave BS,

controls the receiver to receive, from the legacy BS, information related to resources to be allocated for the fast fallback, wherein the information is received periodically and includes downlink transmit power strength information of the legacy BS,

detects whether non-line of sight (NLoS) transition occurs in an mmWave link with the mmWave BS,

determines whether to transmit a fallback request message based on the downlink transmission power strength information of the legacy BS in order to perform a fast fallback to the legacy BS in response to the NLoS transition being detected, and

controls the receiver to receive downlink data from the legacy BS after the fallback request message is transmitted and the fast fallback to the legacy BS is performed,

wherein the UE maintains the RRC connection with the mmWave BS after performing the fast fallback to the legacy BS.

6. The UE according to claim 5, wherein the information includes a temporary cell identifier and downlink transmit power strength information of the legacy BS.

7. The UE according to claim 6, wherein the information further includes resource allocation information for allocating a resource region in which the fallback request message is transmitted.

8. The UE according to claim 5, wherein the fallback request message includes sequence number (SN) status transfer information, UE-aggregate maximum bit rate (AMBR) information, UE security capability information and access stratum (AS) security base key for the legacy BS.