Improvements in and relating to telecommunication network operation

摘要

A method of controlling the activation or deactivation of a Secondary Cell Group, SCG, in a telecommunication network employing Dual Connectivity, DC, in particular Multi RAT Dual Connectivity, MR-DC, with an Master Cell Group using LTE and an SCG using New Radio (NR), comprising: detecting at least one of the following triggers: downlink data inactivity detected by a terminating node; uplink data inactivity detected by the terminating node or detected and reported by a User Equipment, UE; UE assistance information reported to a Master Node, MN or Secondary Node, SN; and mobility to the MN or the SN not supporting the SCG deactivation feature. Where the UE provides assistance information to the network via the MN or SN, this is performed by RRC signalling via SRB1 or another form of signalling via PCell. The UE assistance information can comprise information related to UL or DL inactivity, overheating, power saving or In-device coexistence, IDC. Specific UE assistance information is in the form of activity indications per Data Radio Bearer, DRB, and in the case of combined assistance information, this is in the form of a message indicating that SCG deactivation is required.