Telecommunications apparatuses and methods

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses for activating a vehicular-capable terminal to connect to a base station and/or road side unit. Accordingly a vehicular-capable terminal which would otherwise be in idle mode can then participate in vehicular communications, if appropriate.

1 . A method of activating a vehicular-capable terminal in a mobile telecommunications system, the mobile telecommunications system comprising One or more base stations operable to communicate with the vehicular-capable terminal and one or more road side units operable to communicate with the vehicular-capable terminal, wherein the method is performed a first road side unit of the one or more road side units and comprises:
 detecting the presence of the vehicular-capable terminal;   upon detection of the presence of the vehicular-capable terminal, notifying a first base station of the one or more base stations of the presence of the vehicular-capable terminal; and   upon notification of the presence of the vehicular-capable terminal, instructing the vehicular-capable terminal to connect to the first base station by transmitting an activation message,   wherein the activation message is addressed to a group of terminals comprising the vehicular-capable terminal, and   wherein, in response to the activation message, the vehicular-capable terminal activates a connection with the first base station and/or with the first road side unit.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the activation message is a paging message. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the paging message is addressed to all terminals within range of the first base station anchor all vehicular-capable terminals within range of the first base station. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the paging message is addressed all vehicular-capable terminals within range of the first base station using at least one of:
 a mobile subscriber identifier allocated for paging vehicular-capable terminals or to terminals associated with vulnerable road users; or   a network temporary identifier allocated for paging vehicular-capable terminals or to terminals associated with vulnerable road users.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the activation message is comprised in a system information message transmitted by the first base station. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 transmitting the activation message upon detection that the presence of the vehicular-capable terminal is in an area of the first road side unit that is associated with a safety risk for the vehicular-capable terminal.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein
 the safety risk for the vehicular-capable terminal is determined based on presence information for one or more terminal other than the vehicular-capable terminal in the vicinity of the first road side unit.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein, upon activation of the connection with the first base station, the vehicular-capable terminal exchanges vehicular related data with the first road side unit. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein activating a connection with the first base station comprises activating a connection with the first base station and not with an element in a core network portion of the mobile telecommunications system. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein, upon activation of the connection with the first base station, the vehicular-capable terminal exchanges vehicular related data with the first road side unit while the terminal is not connected to an element in a core network portion of the mobile telecommunications system. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 ,
 wherein notifying the first base station of the presence of the vehicular-capable terminal comprises sending a notification message to the first base station, and   wherein the notification message does not include an individual identifier for the vehicular-capable terminal.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicular-capable terminal is a vulnerable road user (VRU) terminal. 
     
     
         13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the connection with the first base station is a Radio Resources Control (RRC) connection. 
     
     
         15 - 16 . (canceled) 
     
     
         17 . A first road side unit configured to activate a vehicular-capable terminal in a mobile telecommunications system, the mobile telecommunications system comprising one or more base stations operable to communicate with the vehicular-capable terminal and one or more road side units, including the first road side unit, operable to communicate with the vehicular-capable terminal, wherein the first road side unit comprises:
 a transceiver; and   a controller configured to:
 detect the presence of the vehicular-capable terminal; 
 upon detection of the presence of the vehicular-capable terminal, notify a first base station of the one or more base stations of the presence of the vehicular-capable terminal; and 
 upon notification of the presence of the vehicular-capable terminal, instruct the vehicular-capable terminal to connect to the first base station by transmitting an activation message, 
 wherein the activation message is addressed to a group of terminals comprising the vehicular-capable terminal, 
 wherein, in response to the activation message, the vehicular-capable terminal activates a connection with the first base station and/or with the first road side unit. 
   
     
     
         18 . The first road side unit of  claim 17 , Wherein the activation message comprises one of:
 a paging message that is addressed to all terminals within range of the first base station, or   a paging message that is addressed to all vehicular-capable terminals within range of the first base station using at least one of:
 a mobile subscriber identifier allocated for paging vehicular-capable terminals or to terminals associated with vulnerable road users; or 
 a network temporary identifier allocated for paging vehicular-capable terminals or to terminals associated with vulnerable road users. 
   
     
     
         19 . The first road side unit of  claim 17 , wherein the controller is further configured to transmit the activation message upon detection that the presence of the vehicular-capable terminal is in an area of the first road side unit that is associated with a safety risk for the vehicular-capable terminal. 
     
     
         20 . The first road side unit of  claim 19 , wherein the safety risk for the vehicular-capable terminal is determined based on presence information for one or more terminal other than e vehicular-capable terminal in the vicinity of the first road side unit. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the vehicular-capable terminal is a vulnerable road user (VRU) terminal. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the connection with the first base station is a Radio Resources Control (RRC) connection. 
     
     
         23 . A non-transitory computer readable product containing instructions for a method of activating a vehicular-capable terminal in a mobile telecommunications system, the mobile telecommunications system comprising one or more base stations operable to communicate with the vehicular-capable terminal and one or more road side units operable to communicate with the vehicular-capable terminal, wherein the method is performed a first road side unit of the one or more road side units and comprises:
 detecting the presence of the vehicular-capable terminal;   upon detection of the presence of the vehicular-capable terminal, notifying a first base station of the one or more base stations of the presence of the vehicular-capable terminal; and   upon notification of the presence of the vehicular-capable terminal, instructing the vehicular-capable terminal to connect to the first base station by transmitting an activation message,   wherein the activation message is addressed to a group of terminals comprising the vehicular-capable terminal,   wherein, in response to the activation message, the vehicular-capable terminal activates a connection with the first base station and/or with the first road side unit.