Handling collisions in wireless networks

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a communication method and system for converging a 5-Generation (5G) communication system for supporting higher data rates beyond a 4-Generation (4G) system with a technology for Internet of Things (IoT). The present disclosure may be applied to intelligent services based on the 5G communication technology and the IoT-related technology, such as smart home, smart building, smart city, smart car, connected car, health care, digital education, smart retail, security and safety services. Described is a method of operating a mobile terminal in a wireless communications network, the mobile terminal being arranged to communicate with a base station, the method comprising: one or more of: determining a cause of the Random Access procedure initiation following initiation of a Random Access procedure; and determining one or more transmission priority factors indicating an operating parameter of the network; and based on one or more of the determined cause of Random Access procedure initiation and the determined one or more transmission priority factors, performing one of: prioritising Random Access signal transmission over signal transmission on the uplink shared channel; prioritising signal transmission on the uplink shared channel over Random Access signal transmission; or making no change to the existing signal transmission protocol. Also described is a method of operating a base station in in a wireless communications network, the base station being arranged to communicate with a mobile terminal, the method comprising determining a prioritisation action for the mobile terminal to perform based on one or more of a determined indication and a received indication from the mobile terminal. Also described is a method and apparatus for signalling for group handover or cell re-selection in non-terrestrial networks.