Method for establishing a communication between a user equipment and a radio network

• US 20020071480A1
• Filed: 09/06/2001
• Published: 06/13/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WSOU Investments, LLC (WSOU Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Vialen, Jukka, Marjelund, Pekka
• Granted Patent: US 7,433,334 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/141
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/0866 using a dedicated channel for access
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/22 Processing or transfer of terminal data, e.g. status or physical capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/245 from a network towards a terminal

Abstract

The present invention proposes a method for improving the performance of random access when establishing a communication link between a user equipment (UE) and a radio network (UTRAN), said method comprising the step of: transmitting a random access message (RAM) from said user equipment (UE) to said radio network (UTRAN), wherein said radio random access message (RAM) contains information describing a functional capability (UE₁₃ CAPABILITY) of said user equipment (UE). Thereby, the network knows the capabilities of the terminal as early as possible and can thus optimize all functions performed by the network to be in conformity with the terminal capabilities.

Claims

1. A method for performing a random access when establishing a communication link between a user equipment (UE) and a radio network (UTRAN), said method comprising the step of:

transmitting a random access message (RAM) from said user equipment (UE) to said radio network (UTRAN), wherein said random access message (RAM) contains information describing a functional capability (UE_CAPABILITY) of said user equipment (UE).

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said random access message (RAM) is transmitted on the random access channel (RACH).

3. A method according to claim 2, further comprising a step of performing a preprocessing before transmitting said random access message, said preprocessing comprising at least the steps of

acquiring synchronization to a cell of said network and

listening to the broadcast control channel of said cell to obtain the information relating to said random access channel.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein said preprocessing comprises the further steps of

selecting at least preamble spreading code/message scrambling code, a spreading factor for a message part,

estimating a downlink path loss and determining the required uplink transmit power,

selecting an access slot and signature from available access slots and signatures,

transmitting a preamble, and

detecting an acquisition indicator.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein said information describing functional capabilities (UE_CAPABILITY) of said user equipment (UE) consist of at least one of the following parameters:

output power (maximum average output power of the user equipment and spectral mask),

downlink multi-code capability (capability of supporting multi-code in downlink),

uplink multi-code capability (capability of supporting multi-code in uplink),

multi-code service multiplexing capability (capability to multiplex services on separate set of physical channels),

maximum number of dedicated channels (DCH;

s) (maximum number of simultaneously multiplexed transport channels),

carrier raster,

frequency bands (capability to support other frequency bands than the core band used in a UMTS band),

UTRA mode capability (FDD only, TDD only, FDD/TDD),

multi-mode support (UTRA, GSM, other systems),

variable duplex distance (FDD) (support for other channel spacing than 190 MHz),

chip rate (FDD) (support for other chip rates than 4.096 Mcps),

spreading factor (FDD) (support for spreading factors lower than

     16),

channel coding and interleaving (support for service specific channel coding),

number of radio links in macro diversity (FDD),

transport channels (support for other transport channels and combinations than mandatory ones),

inter system handover capability (capability to measure and handover to other systems),

revision level,

supported ciphering algorithm,

UE short message capability,

UE multicast service capability,

UE group call capability, and

an SMS field indicating the time needed for the mobile station to switch from one radio channel to another, perform a neighbour cell power measurement, and switch from that radio channel to another channel.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein said random access message (RAM) is a radio resource control (RRC) message.

7. A method according to claim 6, wherein said radio resource control (RRC) message is selected from the following group of messages:

radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment request, RRC connection re-establishment request, handover request (soft handover, hard handover, or handover between UTRAN and GSM), cell update request, URA update request, SRNS relocation request.

8. A method according to claim 1, wherein said random access message (RAM) is a medium access control (MAC) message.

9. A method according to claim 1, wherein said information describing functional capabilities (UE_CAPABILITY) of said user equipment (UE) included in said radio resource control message are selected ones.

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein said selected part is preselected upon manufacturing said user equipment (UE).

11. A method according to claim 9, wherein said selected part is selectable by an operator of said user equipment (UE), depending on respectively favored functional features.

12. A method according to claim 9, wherein said selected part is selected automatically according to information received by said terminal device via a broadcast control channel (BCCH) of a cell of said radio network (UTRAN).

14. A user equipment according to claim 13, wherein said random access message (RAM) is transmitted on the random access channel (RACH).

16. A radio network control device according to claim 15, wherein said random access message (RAM) is received on the random access channel (RACH).

17. A radio network control device (RNC) according to claim 15 or 16, wherein said radio network control device is arranged to read said capability information and to establish said communication link using said information contained in said random access message (RAM).

13. A user equipment (UE) for establishing a communication link to a radio network (UTRAN), comprising:

transmitting means (4) for transmitting a random access message (RAM) to said radio network (UTRAN); and

inserting means (3) for inserting an information describing a functional capability (UE_CAPABILITY) of said user equipment (UE) into said random access message (RAM).

15. A radio network control device (RNC) for establishing a communication link to a user equipment (UE), comprising:

receiving means (1A, 1B) for receiving a random access message (RAM) from said user equipment (UTRAN); and

extracting means (2A, 2B) for extracting an information describing a functional capability (UE_CAPABILITY) of said user equipment (UE) from said random access message (RAM).

18. A telecommunication system (UMTS) having a core network (CN) and a radio network (UTRAN), comprising:

at least one user equipment (UE) comprising transmitting means (4) for transmitting a random access message (RAM) to said radio network (UTRAN), and inserting means (3) for inserting an information describing a functional capability (UE_CAPABILITY) of said user equipment (UE) into said random access message (RAM); and

at least one radio network control device (RNC) comprising receiving means (1A, 1B) for receiving said random access message (RAM) from said user equipment (UTRAN), and extracting means (2A, 2B) for extracting said capability information of said user equipment (UE) from said random access message (RAM).