Signalling method

Abstract

The invention relates to methods for transmission of signalling data in cellular telecommunication networks. According to the invention, multiple radio bearers can be allocated for transferring signalling traffic, but all higher layer signalling is in any case taken through the RRC protocol. In the inventive method, MM and higher layer messages are sent using RRC DIRECT TRANSFER messages, but a separate RLC entity is set up for RRC DIRECT TRANSFER messages. In various embodiments of the invention, separate radio bearers can be set up for individual CN domains and/or upper layer protocols and/or for a group of RRC messages.

1. A method for transmitting signalling data between a cellular network and a mobile communication means in a cellular telecommunication system, comprising the steps of:
 setting up at least two signalling radio bearers for transmission of signalling traffic, and  
 configuring, through action of the cellular network, how the signalling of certain higher layer protocols is mapped to said at least two signalling radio bearers.  
 
     
     
       2. A method according to  claim 1 , additionally comprising the step of
 routing signalling traffic data units via said at least two signalling radio bearers according to predefined rules.  
 
     
     
       3. A method according to  claim 2 , wherein
 said predefined rules are set by a network element of a radio access network of the cellular telecommunication system.  
 
     
     
       4. A method according to  claim 3 , wherein
 said predefined rules are set by a radio network controller.  
 
     
     
       5. A method according to  claim 2 , wherein
 said step of routing signalling traffic data units via said at least two signalling radio bearers comprises the substep of routing signalling related to different core network domains via separate signalling radio bearers.  
 
     
     
       6. A method according to  claim 2 , wherein
 said step of routing signalling traffic data units via said at least two signalling radio bearers comprises the substep of routing signalling of a higher layer protocol via a signalling radio bearer specific to said higher layer protocol.  
 
     
     
       7. A method according to  claim 2 , wherein said step of routing signalling traffic data units via said at least two signalling radio bearers comprises the substep of routing signalling traffic of a predefined group of higher layer protocols via a signalling radio bearer corresponding to said predefined group. 
     
     
       8. A method according to  claim 2 , wherein
 said step of routing signalling traffic data units via said at least two signalling radio bearers comprises the substep of routing signalling traffic of higher layer protocols via a signalling radio bearer based on a Quality of Service parameter attached to the higher layer protocol data.  
 
     
     
       9. A method according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the steps of setting up and configuring said signalling radio bearers are performed during a radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure.  
 
     
     
       10. A method according to  claim 1 , additionally comprising the steps of:
 setting up a further signalling radio bearer during a radio resource control (RRC) connection, and  
 configuring the mapping of higher layer signalling to said further signalling radio bearer and previously existing signalling radio bearers.  
 
     
     
       11. A method according to  claim 1 , additionally comprising the step of
 later reconfiguring the mapping of higher layer signalling to said signalling radio bearers.  
 
     
     
       12. A method according to  claim 1 , additionally comprising the step of releasing a signalling radio bearer. 
     
     
       13. A network element of a radio access network of a cellular telecommunication system, wherein the improvement lies in that
 the network element is arranged to set up at least two signalling radio bearers for transmission of signalling traffic and to configure how the signalling of higher layer protocols is mapped to said signalling radio bearers.  
 
     
     
       14. A network element according to  claim 13 , wherein
 the network element is a radio network controller.  
 
     
     
       15. A mobile communication means for a cellular telecommunication system, wherein the improvement lies in that
 the mobile communication means is arranged to route radio resource control protocol messages to at least two signalling radio bearers as instructed by the cellular telecommunication system.  
 
     
     
       16. An apparatus comprising:
   a control unit; and        a processor in the control unit, the processor configured to cause the control unit to route one or more radio resource control  ( RRC )  or higher layer messages to at least two signaling radio bearers as instructed by a cellular telecommunication system.     
     
     
       17. The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause the control unit to determine a quality of service associated with at least one of the one or more RRC or higher layer messages. 
     
     
       18. The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause the control unit to route at least one of the one or more RRC or higher layer messages to a signaling radio bearer corresponding with a quality of service associated with the at least one RRC or higher layer message. 
     
     
       19. The apparatus of  claim 18 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause the control unit to determine to which of a predefined set of quality of service classes the at least one RRC or higher layer message has been assigned. 
     
     
       20. The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein separate signaling radio bearers exist for each quality of service class of the set of quality service classes, wherein the routing of one or more RRC or higher layer messages as instructed by a cellular telecommunication system further comprises routing respective messages to a signaling radio bearer associated with the quality of service class to which the message has been assigned. 
     
     
       21. The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein respective RRC or higher layer messages are associated with a core network domain, and wherein the processor is further configured to cause the control unit to route respective RRC or higher layer messages based at least in part on the core network domain with which the respective messages are associated. 
     
     
       22. The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the core network domain is a circuit switched core network domain or a packet switched core network domain, and wherein a separate signaling radio bearer exists for each of the circuit switched core network domain and the packet switched core network domain. 
     
     
       23. The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause the control unit to route respective RRC or higher layer messages to the at least two signaling radio bearers based at least in part on which of a plurality of protocols is associated with the respective messages. 
     
     
       24. The apparatus of  claim 23 , wherein a separate signaling radio bearer exists for each of the plurality of protocols. 
     
     
       25. The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause the control unit to route the one or more RRC or higher layer messages as instructed by a network element of a radio access network of the cellular telecommunication system. 
     
     
       26. The apparatus of  claim 25 , wherein the network element comprises a radio network controller. 
     
     
       27. The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause the control unit to receive a RRC connection setup message comprising an indication of a number of signaling radio bearers to be established, an indication of one or more radio link control parameters needed for each of the signaling radio bearers to be established, and an indication of which RRC or higher layer messages are mapped to each of the signaling radio bearers to be established. 
     
     
       28. The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause the control unit to receive a radio bearer setup message associated with a signaling radio bearer to be established, the radio bearer setup message comprising instructions for routing at least one of the RRC or higher layer messages to the associated signaling radio bearer. 
     
     
       29. The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the one or more RRC or higher layer messages are selected from a mobility manager layer message, a connection management layer message, a session management layer message, or a packet switched domain mobility management layer message. 
     
     
       30. An apparatus comprising:
   a control unit; and        a processor in the control unit, the processor configured to cause the control unit to route one or more radio resource control  ( RRC )  protocol messages to at least two signaling radio bearers as instructed by a cellular telecommunications system.     
     
     
       31. The apparatus of  claim 30 , wherein the one or more RRC protocol messages comprise one or more messages generated by a RRC layer and one or more messages generated by at least one layer higher than the RRC layer. 
     
     
       32. The apparatus of  claim 31 , wherein the one or more messages generated by the at least one layer higher than the RRC layer are selected from a mobility management layer message, a connection management layer message, a session management layer message, or a packet switched domain mobility management layer message. 
     
     
       33. The apparatus of  claim 31 , wherein at least one of the at least two signaling radio bearers is associated with the one or more RRC protocol messages generated by the RRC layer. 
     
     
       34. The apparatus of  claim 31 , wherein at least one of the at least two signaling radio bearers is associated with the one or more RRC protocol messages generated by the at least one layer higher than the RRC layer. 
     
     
       35. An apparatus comprising:
   a control unit; and        a processor in the control unit, the processor configured to cause the control unit to route one or more higher layer protocol messages to at least three signaling radio bearers as instructed by a cellular telecommunication system.     
     
     
       36. The apparatus of  claim 35 , wherein at least one of the one or more higher layer protocol messages comprises a message generated by a radio resource control ( RRC )  protocol layer.   
     
     
       37. The apparatus of  claim 36 , wherein at least two of the at least three signaling radio bearers are associated with the RRC protocol layer message. 
     
     
       38. The apparatus of  claim 37 , wherein one of the signaling radio bearers associated with the RRC protocol layer message is configured for unacknowledged mode transfer of the RRC protocol layer message. 
     
     
       39. The apparatus of  claim 37 , wherein one of the signaling radio bearers associated with the RRC protocol layer message is configured for acknowledged mode transfer of the RRC protocol layer message. 
     
     
       40. The apparatus of  claim 36 , wherein at least one of the one or more higher layer protocol messages comprises a message generated by a protocol layer higher than the RRC protocol layer. 
     
     
       41. The apparatus of  claim 40 , wherein at least one of the at least three signaling radio bearers is associated with the message generated by a protocol layer higher than the RRC protocol layer. 
     
     
       42. A network element of a radio access network of a cellular telecommunication system, wherein the improvement lies in that the network element comprises:
   means for setting up at least two signaling radio bearers for transmission of signaling traffic and means for configuring how the signaling of higher layer protocols is mapped to the signaling radio bearers.     
     
     
       43. A mobile communication means for a cellular telecommunication system, wherein the improvement lies in that the mobile communication means comprises:
   means for routing radio resource control protocol messages to at least two signaling radio bearers as instructed by the cellular telecommunication system.     
     
     
       44. An apparatus comprising:
   a mobile communications device; and        a control unit in the mobile communications device configured to route messages to at least two signaling radio bearers as instructed by a cellular telecommunication system.     
     
     
       45. The apparatus of  claim 44  wherein the messages comprise one or more radio resource control and higher layer protocol messages. 
     
     
       46. The apparatus of  claim 45 , wherein the messages are routed according to predefined rules. 
     
     
       47. The apparatus of  claim 46 , wherein the predefined rules are set by a network element of a radio access network of the cellular telecommunication system. 
     
     
       48. The apparatus of  claim 44 , wherein the control unit is further configured to route messages of a higher layer protocol to a signaling radio bearer specific to the higher layer protocol. 
     
     
       49. The apparatus of  claim 44 , wherein the control unit is further configured to route messages of a predefined group of higher layer protocols to a signaling radio bearer corresponding to the predefined group. 
     
     
       50. The apparatus of  claim 44 , wherein the control unit is further configured to route messages of higher layer protocols to a signaling radio bearer based on a Quality of Service parameter attached to the higher layer protocol data. 
     
     
       51. The apparatus of  claim 50 , wherein the control unit is further configured to check at least one Quality of Service class, wherein a separate radio bearer is set up for each of the at least one Quality of Service class. 
     
     
       52. A method comprising:
   in a user equipment, routing one or more radio resource control protocol messages to at least two signaling radio bearers as instructed by a network.     
     
     
       53. The method of  claim 52 , wherein the one or more radio resource control protocol messages comprise higher layer protocol data, such that routing the one or more radio resource control protocol messages comprises routing higher layer protocol data to the at least two signaling radio bearers as instructed by the network. 
     
     
       54. The method of  claim 53 , further comprising routing the higher layer protocol data based on a Quality of Service parameter attached to the higher layer protocol data. 
     
     
       55. The method of  claim 52 , further comprising routing the one or more radio resource control protocol messages based on a Quality of Service parameter attached to the radio resource control protocol message.