Patent Application
20250106844
The present disclosure relates to wireless communications, and in particular, to delay-aware buffer status reporting in wireless communications.
The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 5G standard is the fifth generation standard of mobile communications, addressing a wide range of use cases from enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) to ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) to massive machine type communications (mMTC). 5G (also referred to as New Radio (NR)) includes the New Radio (NR) access stratum interface and the 5G Core Network (5GC). The NR physical and higher layers are reusing parts of the 4G (4th Generation, also referred to as Long Term Evolution (LTE)) specification, and to that add needed components for new use cases.
Low-latency high-rate applications such as extended Reality (XR) and cloud gaming are use cases in the 5G era. XR may refer to all real-and-virtual combined environments and human-machine interactions generated by computer technology and wearables. It is an umbrella term for different types of realities including Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), and the areas interpolated among them. The levels of virtuality range from partially sensory inputs to fully immersive VR.
5G NR is designed to support applications demanding high rate and low latency in line with the requirements posed by the support of XR and cloud gaming applications in NR networks. The 3GPP has conducted studies on XR evaluations for NR. Some objectives of the studies are to identify the traffic model for each application of interest, the evaluation methodology and the key performance indicators of interest for relevant deployment scenarios, and to carry out performance evaluations accordingly in order to investigate possible standardization enhancements.
Low-latency applications like XR and cloud gaming may require bounded latency, not necessarily ultra-low latency. The end-to-end latency budget may be in the range of 20-80 ms, which may need to be distributed over several components including application processing latency, transport latency, radio link latency, etc. For these applications, short transmission time intervals (TTIs) or mini-slots targeting ultra-low latency may not be effective.
In addition to bounded latency requirements, applications like XR and cloud gaming also require high rate transmission. This can be seen from the large frame sizes originated from this type of traffic. The typical frame sizes may range from tens of kilobytes to hundreds of kilobytes. The frame arrival rates may be 60 or 120 frames per second (fps). As an example, a frame size of 100 kilobytes and a frame arrival rate of 120 fps can lead to a rate requirement of 95.8 Mbps.
A large video frame is usually fragmented into smaller IP packets and transmitted as several transport blocks (TBs) over several transmission time intervals (TTIs) in the RAN.
The characteristics of XR traffic arrival are quite distinct from typical web-browsing and VoIP (voice over internet protocol) traffic, as shown in
The wireless device (WD) reports to the network the buffer status waiting for transmission in the MAC Control Element (CE) Buffer Status Report (BSR). There are 4 different BSR formats which WDs can send to the network: a Short BSR format (fixed size); a Short Truncated BSR format (fixed size); a Long Truncated BSR format (variable size); and a Long BSR format (variable size). The short BSR and short truncated BSR format are shown in
There are three types of BSRs: regular BSR, periodic BSR, and padding BSR.
The regular BSR is triggered if uplink (UL) data, for a logical channel which belongs to a logical channel group (LCG), becomes available to the MAC entity; and either this UL data belongs to a logical channel with higher priority than the priority of any logical channel containing available UL data which belong to any LCG; or none of the logical channels which belong to an LCG contains any available UL data. When more than one LCG has data available for transmission, then the WD uses the long BSR format and reports all LCGs which have data. However, if only one LCG has data, the short BSR format is used.
The periodic BSR is configured by the network. When configured, the WD periodically reports the BSR. When more than one LCG has data available for transmission, then the WD uses the long BSR format and reports all LCGs which have data. However, if only one LCG has data, the short BSR format is used.
The padding BSR is an opportunistic method to provide buffer status information to the network when the MAC PDU would contain a number of padding bits equal to or larger than one of the BSR formats. In this case, the WD would add the padding BSR replacing the corresponding padding bits. In this case, the BSR format to be used depends on the number of padding bits, the number of logical channels which have data for transmissions, and the size of the BSR format. When more than one LCG has data for transmission, one of the following three formats is used: the short truncated BSR, the long BSR, or the long truncated BSR. The selection of the BSR format depends on the number of available padding bits. When only one LCG has data for transmission, then the short BSR format is used.
A principle of all forementioned BSR types is having information of data size in a buffer with static prioritization indication included in LCG. However, in an XR application which may be very delay-sensitive and at the same time, video frame size and remaining latency budget may be time-varying, the Legacy BSR may not be sufficient for appropriate delay-aware scheduling to prioritize grant allocation. “Legacy,” as used herein, may generally refer to a procedure/format known in the art at the time of the filing of the present disclosure and/or may be a procedure/format upon which an improvement is made.
In particular,
Existing BSR includes only the buffer size per LCG, i.e., the aggregated buffer size in a set of logical channel identities (LCIDs). This will only indicate to a network a time-varying size of application data, e.g., video frame. However, different application data may have a time-varying latency budget due to a different queuing delay, grant timing, and/or transmission time so that a network should be able to consider those to prioritize and differentiate a grant size for different users in the same cell, for different flows, or different LCIDs in the same user. The legacy LCID prioritization process, i.e., the WD process to select the LCIDs from which data will be taken from their buffer, does not consider delay, however. For example, in the multi-user scenario depicted in
Some embodiments advantageously provide methods and apparatuses for delay-aware buffer status reporting.
In some embodiments, a network node is configured to communicate with a wireless device (WD) (also referred to as a “UE” or “user equipment”). In some embodiments, the network node is configured to receive a buffer status report from the WD. In some embodiments, the buffer status report is based on: a queue duration of at least one queued data packet, and a packet data buffer (PDB) duration of a logical channel associated with the at least one queued data packet. In some embodiments, the network node is further configured to determine a scheduling grant to the WD based on the buffer status report.
In some embodiments, the buffer status report includes at least one delay group index. In some embodiments, each of the at least one delay group index is associated with: at least one time value, and at least one queued data packet.
In some embodiments, the buffer status report includes a corresponding buffer status parameter for each of the at least one delay group index. In some embodiments, the buffer status parameter is based on a total size of queued data packets associated with each of the at least one delay group index.
In some embodiments, the scheduling grant is based on the total size of queued data packets associated with the delay group index having a lowest time value.
In some embodiments, a method is implemented in a network node that is configured to communicate with a wireless device (WD). In some embodiments, the method includes receiving a buffer status report from the WD. In some embodiments, the buffer status report is based on: a queue duration of at least one queued data packet, and a packet data buffer (PDB) duration of a logical channel associated with the at least one queued data packet. In some embodiments, the method includes determining a scheduling grant to the WD based on the buffer status report.
In some embodiments, the buffer status report includes at least one delay group index. In some embodiments, each of the at least one delay group index is associated with: at least one time value; and at least one queued data packet.
In some embodiments, the buffer status report includes a corresponding buffer status parameter for each of the at least one delay group index. In some embodiments, the buffer status parameter is based on a total size of queued data packets associated with each of the at least one delay group index.
In some embodiments, the scheduling grant is based on the total size of queued data packets associated with the delay group index having a lowest time value.
In some embodiments, a wireless device (WD) is configured to communicate with a network node. In some embodiments, the WD is configured to determine a queue duration for at least one of a plurality of queued data packets. In some embodiments, each of the plurality of queued data packets is associated with a logical channel of a plurality of logical channels. In some embodiments, each of the plurality of logical channels is associated with a packet data buffer (PDB) duration. In some embodiments, the WD is configured to send a buffer status report to the network node. In some embodiments, the buffer status report is based on: the determined queue duration of the at least one queued data packet, and the PDB duration of the logical channel associated with the at least one queued data packet.
In some embodiments, the buffer status report includes at least one delay group index. In some embodiments, the at least one delay group index is associated with at least one time value.
In some embodiments, the WD is further configured to associate the at least one queued data packet to a corresponding delay group index. In some embodiments, the associating includes: determining a difference between the queue duration of the at least one queued data packet and the PDB duration of the logical channel associated with the at least one queued data packet, comparing the difference to the at least one time value of at least one delay group index, and mapping the at least one queued data packet to a delay group index based on the comparison.
In some embodiments, for each delay group index included in the buffer status report, the buffer status report includes a corresponding buffer status parameter. In some embodiments, the buffer status parameter is based on a total size of queued data packets associated with the delay group index.
In some embodiments, the buffer status report includes at least one of: a logical channel indication and a logical channel group indication.
In some embodiments, a method is implemented in a wireless device (WD) that is configured to communicate with a network node. In some embodiments, the method includes determining a queue duration for at least one of a plurality of queued data packets. In some embodiments, each of the plurality of queued data packets is associated with a logical channel of a plurality of logical channels. In some embodiments, each of the plurality of logical channels is associated with a packet data buffer (PDB) duration. In some embodiments, the method includes sending a buffer status report to the network node. In some embodiments, the buffer status report is based on: the determined queue duration of the at least one queued data packet, and the PDB duration of the logical channel associated with the at least one queued data packet.
In some embodiments, the buffer status report includes at least one delay group index. In some embodiments, the at least one delay group index is associated with at least one time value.
In some embodiments, the method further includes associating the at least one queued data packet to a corresponding delay group index. In some embodiments, the associating includes determining a difference between the queue duration of the at least one queued data packet and the PDB duration of the logical channel associated with the at least one queued data packet, comparing the difference to the at least one time value of at least one delay group index, and mapping the at least one queued data packet to a delay group index based on the comparison.
In some embodiments, for each delay group index included in the buffer status report, the buffer status report includes a corresponding buffer status parameter. In some embodiments, the buffer status parameter is based on a total size of queued data packets associated with the delay group index.
In some embodiments, the buffer status report includes at least one of: a logical channel indication and a logical channel group indication.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a network node configured to communicate with a wireless device (WD) in a wireless communication system is provided. The network node is configured to receive a buffer status report from the WD, the buffer status report including queue information for a first protocol data unit (PDU) set, the first PDU set including at least one queued packet. The network node is configured to determine a scheduling grant for the WD based on the queue information and at least one packet delay budget (PDB) left value associated with the first PDU set. The network node is configured to cause transmission of the scheduling grant to the WD, and receive at least one uplink transmission of the at least one queued packet from the WD according to the scheduling grant.
According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, at least one PDB left value corresponds to a difference between at least one queue duration of the at least one queued packet and at least one PDB associated the first PDU set. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the queue information included in the buffer status report includes at least one of: at least one queue duration corresponding to the at least one queued packet, at least one PDB left value associated with the at least one queued packet, at least one PDB left value associated with the first PDU set, at least one delay group index associated with the at least one queued packet, the at least one delay group index corresponding to at least one range of PDB left values, and at least one total packet size value associated with the at least one delay group index. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the buffer status report includes a corresponding buffer status parameter for each of the at least one delay group index, the buffer status parameter being based on a total size of queued packets associated with each of the at least one delay group index. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the scheduling grant is based on the total size of queued packets associated with the delay group index having a lowest time value. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the network node is further configured to receive at least one other buffer status report from at least one other WD, and the determining of the scheduling grant for the WD being further based on the at least one other buffer status report and at least one packet delay budget (PDB) left value associated with at least one PDU set of the at least one other WD. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the at least one PDB is associated with at least one of: at least one logical channel, at least one buffer, or at least one quality of service, QoS, requirement.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method implemented in a network node is provided. The method includes receiving a buffer status report from the WD, the buffer status report including queue information for a first protocol data unit (PDU) set, the first PDU set including at least one queued packet, determining a scheduling grant for the WD based on the queue information and at least one packet delay budget (PDB) left value associated with the first PDU set, causing transmission of the scheduling grant to the WD, and receiving at least one uplink transmission of the at least one queued packet from the WD according to the scheduling grant.
According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the at least one PDB left value corresponds to a difference between at least one queue duration of the at least one queued packet and at least one PDB associated the first PDU set. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the queue information included in the buffer status report includes at least one of: at least one queue duration corresponding to the at least one queued packet, at least one PDB left value associated with the at least one queued packet, at least one PDB left value associated with the first PDU set, at least one delay group index associated with the at least one queued packet, the at least one delay group index corresponding to at least one range of PDB left values, and at least one total packet size value associated with the at least one delay group index. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the buffer status report includes a corresponding buffer status parameter for each of the at least one delay group index, the buffer status parameter being based on a total size of queued packets associated with each of the at least one delay group index. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the scheduling grant is based on the total size of queued packets associated with the delay group index having a lowest time value. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the method further comprises receiving at least one other buffer status report from at least one other WD, and the determining of the scheduling grant for the WD being further based on the at least one other buffer status report and at least one packet delay budget (PDB) left value associated with at least one PDU set of the at least one other WD. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the at least one PDB is associated with at least one of: at least one logical channel, at least one buffer, or at least one quality of service, QoS, requirement.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a wireless device configured to communicate with a network node in a wireless communication system is provided. The wireless device is configured to determine a buffer status report, the buffer status report including queue information for a first protocol data unit (PDU) set, the first PDU set including at least one queued packet. The wireless device is configured to receive, from the network node, a scheduling grant based on the queue information and at least one packet delay budget (PDB) left value associated with the first PDU set. The wireless device is configured to cause transmission of at least one uplink transmission of the at least one queued packet according to the scheduling grant.
According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the at least one PDB left value corresponds to a difference between at least one queue duration of the at least one queued packet and at least one PDB associated with the first PDU set. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the queue information included in the buffer status report includes at least one of: at least one queue duration corresponding to at least one queued packet, at least one PDB left value associated with the at least one queued packet, at least one PDB left value associated with the first PDU set, at least one delay group index associated with the at least one queued packet, the at least one delay group index corresponding to at least one range of PDB left values, and at least one total packet size value associated with the at least one delay group index. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the buffer status report includes a corresponding buffer status parameter for each of the at least one delay group index, the buffer status parameter being based on a total size of queued packets associated with each of the at least one delay group index. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the scheduling grant for the WD is based on at least one other buffer status report associated with at least one other WD and at least one packet delay budget (PDB) left value associated with at least one PDU set of the at least one other WD. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the at least one PDB is associated with at least one of: at least one logical channel, at least one buffer, or at least one quality of service, QoS, requirement.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method implemented in a wireless device is provided. The method includes determining a buffer status report, the buffer status report including queue information for a first protocol data unit (PDU) set, the first PDU set including at least one queued packet, receiving, from the network node, a scheduling grant based on the queue information and at least one packet delay budget (PDB) left value associated with the first PDU set, and causing transmission of at least one uplink transmission of the at least one queued packet according to the scheduling grant.
According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the at least one PDB left value corresponds to a difference between at least one queue duration of the at least one queued packet and at least one PDB associated with the first PDU set. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the queue information included in the buffer status report includes at least one of: at least one queue duration corresponding to at least one queued packet, at least one PDB left value associated with the at least one queued packet, at least one PDB left value associated with the first PDU set, at least one delay group index associated with the at least one queued packet, the at least one delay group index corresponding to at least one range of PDB left values, and at least one total packet size value associated with the at least one delay group index. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the buffer status report includes a corresponding buffer status parameter for each of the at least one delay group index, the buffer status parameter being based on a total size of queued packets associated with each of the at least one delay group index. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the scheduling grant for the WD is based on at least one other buffer status report associated with at least one other WD and at least one packet delay budget (PDB) left value associated with at least one PDU set of the at least one other WD. According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the at least one PDB is associated with at least one of: at least one logical channel, at least one buffer, or at least one quality of service, QoS, requirement.
A more complete understanding of the present embodiments, and the attendant advantages and features thereof, will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:
Before describing in detail example embodiments, it is noted that the embodiments reside primarily in combinations of apparatus components and processing steps related to delay-aware buffer status reporting. Accordingly, components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.
As used herein, relational terms, such as “first” and “second,” “top” and “bottom,” and the like, may be used solely to distinguish one entity or element from another entity or element without necessarily requiring or implying any physical or logical relationship or order between such entities or elements. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the concepts described herein. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes” and/or “including” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
In embodiments described herein, the joining term, “in communication with” and the like, may be used to indicate electrical or data communication, which may be accomplished by physical contact, induction, electromagnetic radiation, radio signaling, infrared signaling or optical signaling, for example. One having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that multiple components may interoperate and modifications and variations are possible of achieving the electrical and data communication.
In some embodiments described herein, the term “coupled,” “connected,” and the like, may be used herein to indicate a connection, although not necessarily directly, and may include wired and/or wireless connections.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the concepts described herein. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes” and/or “including” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
The term “network node” used herein can be any kind of network node comprised in a radio network which may further comprise any of base station (BS), radio base station, base transceiver station (BTS), base station controller (BSC), radio network controller (RNC), g Node B (gNB), evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB), Node B, multi-standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, multi-cell/multicast coordination entity (MCE), relay node, donor node controlling relay, radio access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, Remote Radio Unit (RRU) Remote Radio Head (RRH), a core network node (e.g., mobile management entity (MME), self-organizing network (SON) node, a coordinating node, positioning node, MDT node, etc.), an external node (e.g., 3rd party node, a node external to the current network), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), a spectrum access system (SAS) node, an element management system (EMS), etc. The network node may also comprise test equipment. The term “radio node” used herein may be used to also denote a wireless device (WD) such as a wireless device (WD) or a radio network node.
In some embodiments, the non-limiting terms wireless device (WD) or a user equipment (UE) are used interchangeably. The WD herein can be any type of wireless device capable of communicating with a network node or another WD over radio signals, such as wireless device (WD). The WD may also be a radio communication device, target device, device to device (D2D) WD, machine type WD or WD capable of machine to machine communication (M2M), low-cost and/or low-complexity WD, a sensor equipped with WD, Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or a Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) device etc.
Also, in some embodiments the generic term “radio network node” is used. It can be any kind of a radio network node which may comprise any of base station, radio base station, base transceiver station, base station controller, network controller, RNC, evolved Node B (eNB), Node B, gNB, Multi-cell/multicast Coordination Entity (MCE), relay node, access point, radio access point, Remote Radio Unit (RRU) Remote Radio Head (RRH).
Note that although terminology from one particular wireless system, such as, for example, 3GPP LTE and/or New Radio (NR), may be used in this disclosure, this should not be seen as limiting the scope of the disclosure to only the aforementioned system. Other wireless systems, including without limitation Wide Band Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), may also benefit from exploiting the ideas covered within this disclosure.
Note further, that functions described herein as being performed by a wireless device or a network node may be distributed over a plurality of wireless devices and/or network nodes. In other words, it is contemplated that the functions of the network node and wireless device described herein are not limited to performance by a single physical device and, in fact, can be distributed among several physical devices.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
Referring to the drawing figures, in which like elements are referred to by like reference numerals, there is shown in
Also, it is contemplated that a WD 22 can be in simultaneous communication and/or configured to separately communicate with more than one network node 16 and more than one type of network node 16. For example, a WD 22 can have dual connectivity with a network node 16 that supports LTE and the same or a different network node 16 that supports NR. As an example, WD 22 can be in communication with an eNB for LTE/E-UTRAN and a gNB for NR/NG-RAN.
A network node 16 (eNB or gNB) is configured to include a grant scheduling unit 24 which is configured to perform one or more network node 16 functions as described herein such as with respect to scheduling grants for uplink transmission for WD 22, e.g., based on buffer status reports (BSRs) received from WD 22. A wireless device 22 is configured to include a BSR unit 26 which is configured to perform one or more wireless device 22 functions as described herein such as with respect to determining buffer status reports based on delay information associated with queued data packets and logical channels of WD 22.
Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the WD 22 and network node 16 discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to
The communication system 10 includes a network node 16 provided in a communication system 10 and including hardware 28 enabling it to communicate with the WD 22. The hardware 28 may include a radio interface 30 for setting up and maintaining at least a wireless connection 32 with a WD 22 located in a coverage area 18 served by the network node 16. The radio interface 30 may be formed as or may include, for example, one or more RF transmitters, one or more RF receivers, and/or one or more RF transceivers. The radio interface 30 includes an array of antennas 34 to radiate and receive signal(s) carrying electromagnetic waves. In one or more embodiments, network node 16 may include a communication interface (not shown) for communication with other entities such as core network entities, and/or communicating over the backhaul network.
In the embodiment shown, the hardware 28 of the network node 16 further includes processing circuitry 36. The processing circuitry 36 may include a processor 38 and a memory 40. In particular, in addition to or instead of a processor, such as a central processing unit, and memory, the processing circuitry 36 may comprise integrated circuitry for processing and/or control, e.g., one or more processors and/or processor cores and/or FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Array) and/or ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuitry) adapted to execute instructions. The processor 38 may be configured to access (e.g., write to and/or read from) the memory 40, which may comprise any kind of volatile and/or nonvolatile memory, e.g., cache and/or buffer memory and/or RAM (Random Access Memory) and/or ROM (Read-Only Memory) and/or optical memory and/or EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory).
Thus, the network node 16 further has software 42 stored internally in, for example, memory 40, or stored in external memory (e.g., database, storage array, network storage device, etc.) accessible by the network node 16 via an external connection. The software 42 may be executable by the processing circuitry 36. The processing circuitry 36 may be configured to control any of the methods and/or processes described herein and/or to cause such methods, and/or processes to be performed, e.g., by network node 16. Processor 38 corresponds to one or more processors 38 for performing network node 16 functions described herein. The memory 40 is configured to store data, programmatic software code and/or other information described herein. In some embodiments, the software 42 may include instructions that, when executed by the processor 38 and/or processing circuitry 36, causes the processor 38 and/or processing circuitry 36 to perform the processes described herein with respect to network node 16. For example, processing circuitry 36 of the network node 16 may include grant scheduling unit 24 which is configured to perform one or more network node 16 functions as described herein such as with respect to scheduling grants for uplink transmission for WD 22, e.g., based on buffer status reports (BSRs) received from WD 22.
The communication system 10 further includes the WD 22 already referred to. The WD 22 may have hardware 44 that may include a radio interface 46 configured to set up and maintain a wireless connection 32 with a network node 16 serving a coverage area 18 in which the WD 22 is currently located. The radio interface 46 may be formed as or may include, for example, one or more RF transmitters, one or more RF receivers, and/or one or more RF transceivers. The radio interface 46 includes an array of antennas 48 to radiate and receive signal(s) carrying electromagnetic waves.
The hardware 44 of the WD 22 further includes processing circuitry 50. The processing circuitry 50 may include a processor 52 and memory 54. In particular, in addition to or instead of a processor, such as a central processing unit, and memory, the processing circuitry 50 may comprise integrated circuitry for processing and/or control, e.g., one or more processors and/or processor cores and/or FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Array) and/or ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuitry) adapted to execute instructions. The processor 52 may be configured to access (e.g., write to and/or read from) memory 54, which may comprise any kind of volatile and/or nonvolatile memory, e.g., cache and/or buffer memory and/or RAM (Random Access Memory) and/or ROM (Read-Only Memory) and/or optical memory and/or EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory).
Further, hardware 44 includes one or more buffers 55 (collectively referred to as buffer 55). Buffer 55 is configured to temporarily store data queued for transmission. Buffer 55 may be a module/component in communication with processing circuitry 50 and/or radio interface 46, and/or may be part of processing circuitry 50 and/or radio interface 46. Buffer 55 may be one or more locations in memory 54.
The WD 22 may further comprise software 56, which is stored in, for example, memory 54 at the WD 22, or stored in external memory (e.g., database, storage array, network storage device, etc.) accessible by the WD 22. The software 56 may be executable by the processing circuitry 50. The software 56 may include a client application 58. The client application 58 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via the WD 22.
The processing circuitry 50 may be configured to control any of the methods and/or processes described herein and/or to cause such methods, and/or processes to be performed, e.g., by WD 22. The processor 52 corresponds to one or more processors 52 for performing WD 22 functions described herein. The WD 22 includes memory 54 that is configured to store data, programmatic software code and/or other information described herein. In some embodiments, the software 56 and/or the client application 58 may include instructions that, when executed by the processor 52 and/or processing circuitry 50, causes the processor 52 and/or processing circuitry 50 to perform the processes described herein with respect to WD 22. For example, the processing circuitry 50 of the wireless device 22 may include BSR unit 26 which is configured to perform one or more wireless device 22 functions as described herein such as with respect to determining buffer status reports based on delay information associated with queued data packets and logical channels of WD 22.
In some embodiments, the inner workings of the network node 16 and WD 22 may be as shown in
The wireless connection 32 between the WD 22 and the network node 16 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. More precisely, the teachings of some of these embodiments may improve the data rate, latency, and/or power consumption and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time, relaxed restriction on file size, better responsiveness, extended battery lifetime, etc. In some embodiments, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve.
Although
In some embodiments, the buffer status report includes at least one delay group index, each of the at least one delay group index being associated with: at least one time value, and at least one queued data packet.
In some embodiments, the buffer status report includes a corresponding buffer status parameter for each of the at least one delay group index, the buffer status parameter being based on a total size of queued data packets associated with each of the at least one delay group index.
In some embodiments, the scheduling grant is based on the total size of queued data packets associated with the delay group index having a lowest time value.
In some embodiments, the buffer status report includes at least one delay group index where the at least one delay group index is associated with at least one time value.
In some embodiments, wireless device 22 is further configured to associate the at least one queued data packet to a corresponding delay group index. The associating includes determining a difference between the queue duration of the at least one queued data packet and the PDB duration of the logical channel associated with the at least one queued data packet, comparing the difference to the at least one time value of at least one delay group index, and mapping the at least one queued data packet to a delay group index based on the comparison.
In some embodiments, for each delay group index included in the buffer status report where the buffer status report includes a corresponding buffer status parameter and the buffer status parameter is based on a total size of queued data packets associated with the delay group index.
In some embodiments, the buffer status report includes at least one of: a logical channel indication and a logical channel group indication.
In some embodiments, the at least one PDB left value corresponds to a difference between at least one queue duration of the at least one queued packet and at least one PDB associated the first PDU set. In some embodiments, the queue information included in the buffer status report includes at least one of at least one queue duration corresponding to the at least one queued packet, at least one PDB left value associated with the at least one queued packet, at least one PDB left value associated with the first PDU set, at least one delay group index associated with the at least one queued packet, the at least one delay group index corresponding to at least one range of PDB left values, and at least one total packet size value associated with the at least one delay group index. In some embodiments, the buffer status report includes a corresponding buffer status parameter for each of the at least one delay group index, the buffer status parameter being based on a total size of queued packets associated with each of the at least one delay group index. In some embodiments, the scheduling grant is based on the total size of queued packets associated with the delay group index having a lowest time value. In some embodiments, the network node 16 is further configured to receive at least one other buffer status report from at least one other WD 22, and the determining of the scheduling grant for the WD 22 is further based on the at least one other buffer status report and at least one packet delay budget (PDB) left value associated with at least one PDU set of the at least one other WD 22. In some embodiments, the at least one PDB is associated with at least one of at least one logical channel, at least one buffer, or at least one quality of service, QoS, requirement.
In some embodiments, the at least one PDB left value corresponds to a difference between at least one queue duration of the at least one queued packet and at least one PDB associated with the first PDU set. In some embodiments, the queue information included in the buffer status report includes at least one of at least one queue duration corresponding to at least one queued packet, at least one PDB left value associated with the at least one queued packet, at least one PDB left value associated with the first PDU set, at least one delay group index associated with the at least one queued packet, the at least one delay group index corresponding to at least one range of PDB left values, and at least one total packet size value associated with the at least one delay group index. . . . In some embodiments, the buffer status report includes a corresponding buffer status parameter for each of the at least one delay group index, the buffer status parameter being based on a total size of queued packets associated with each of the at least one delay group index. In some embodiments, the scheduling grant for the WD 22 is based on at least one other buffer status report associated with at least one other WD 22 and at least one packet delay budget (PDB) left value associated with at least one PDU set of the at least one other WD 22. In some embodiments, the at least one PDB is associated with at least one of at least one logical channel, at least one buffer, or at least one quality of service, QoS, requirement.
Having described the general process flow of arrangements of the disclosure and having provided examples of hardware and software arrangements for implementing the processes and functions of the disclosure, the sections below provide details and examples of arrangements for delay-aware BSR. One or more network node 16 functions described below may be performed by one or more of processing circuitry 36, processor 38, grant scheduling unit 24, etc. One or more wireless device 22 functions described below may be performed by one or more of processing circuitry 50, processor 52, BSR unit 26, etc. As used below, wireless device 22 and WD 22 are used interchangeably below.
A delay-aware BSR framework (also referred to as delay-aware BSR) is described herein where the delay-aware BSR framework is based on a new metric of PDB_left (i.e., PDB remaining) and/or a new deadline indication in order to supplement existing short/long BSR which only considers data size and a traffic flow type. This delay-aware BSR includes time-varying PDB_left information and differentiates data in the same buffer 55 according to the information so that a network/network node 16 may make more accurate and efficient grant allocation to consider actual remaining latency information.
Some embodiments described herein can help a network to apply UL delay-aware scheduling and accurate prioritization of grant allocation between WDs 22 and data in the buffer(s) 55 having latency requirements, and can capture time-varying information of remaining latency budget to make the optimal scheduling decision instead of relying on legacy static PDB or LCG.
Some embodiments of delay-aware BSR provide for UL delay-aware scheduling when a high data rate and low latency applications are present.
A Packet Delay Budget (PDB), as used herein, may be the maximum time that can be taken to deliver a packet measured from a first point to a second point (e.g., from a sender point to a destination point). PDB may be defined as an end-to-end value, i.e., the maximum time that can be taken to deliver a packet measured from the application server to the application client, for instance. Instead of end-to-end, PDB may alternatively be measured from the point in which the packet enters the RAN until it is received by the WD 22 at a one of the RAN protocols, or when the packet is delivered from the RAN protocols to a higher layer. A packet may be, but is not limited to, an IP packet, a SDAP SDU, PDCP SDU, and/or an application data unit (ADU), for instance.
It is to be noted that, depending how PDB is measured and from which two points are taken as reference, timing information may be needed to calculate the PDB_left. PDB_left is the remaining time within which the packet should be delivered to the second point. For example, if PDB is provided end-to-end, the RAN may need to have timing related information that assists the RAN to calculate the PDB_left (maximum time RAN has to deliver that packet to the second point). In this example, the PDB_left may be: PDB (end-to-end)-elapsed time until packet reached RAN. If PDB is measured from the point the packet enters RAN until it is delivered to higher layers in the receiver side, then RAN may not require additional timing related information. As an alternative to or in addition to using PDB_left, other timing information could also be the queued time in the buffer 55, i.e., the elapsed time since the packet entered the queue.
To support a delay-aware scheduler (e.g., scheduler implemented by network node 16), a new BSR format is needed in order to provide to the network timing information about the queued packets. This timing information may be provided in different forms. It can be the time one or more packets have been queued, the time left one or more packets has against the PDB, i.e., PDB_left, or an index representing a time window such as if the one or more packets have been queued for more than a certain value and less than another value, then a specific index is indicated. The same type of table could be created for PDB_left. This is further elaborated in the following paragraphs.
When the BSR (i.e., delay-aware BSR) is triggered, the WD 22 estimates the timing information (as outlined in the paragraph above). For example purposes, the remaining PDB-PDB_left is used. The WD then estimates the PDB_left (i.e., PDB remaining) for each buffered packet in a one of the buffers, e.g., LCID or across a set of buffers, e.g., LCIDs, or across all buffers, i.e., all LCIDs. If the PDB for a certain flow is, for instance, 20 ms, the WD 22 monitors the time the packet had been queued and subtracts that from the PDB. In this example, if the packet was queued 8 ms, the PDB_left would be 12 ms. In some embodiments, the PDB_left is compared with a predefined table and/or map, e.g., a table/map stored in memory 54 and/or signaled to WD 22 by network node 16, which provides a mapping of PDB_left (e.g., PDB_left ranges, buckets, windows, etc.) to corresponding Delay Group indexes (“DGindex”). In some embodiments, each PDB_left (e.g., each PDB_left range/bucket/window/etc.) corresponds to a single DGindex. Based on this mapping, the WD 22 reports a buffer size per “DGindex” to help the network to evaluate the amount and timing of the next grant more accurately.
Alternatively, instead of providing an index, the BSR could explicitly include the calculated PDB_left. This would allow the network (e.g., network node 16) to make more accurate estimates of the timing of the delay critical data and schedule more precise grants, in time and size, since the network will know the exact time when the data meets the PDB. This however comes with the cost of overhead in signaling the BSR reports as it may require more bits to transmit a value of the PDB_left instead of just DGindexes. However, there could also be simplifications on the reported PDB_left value, to lower the required bits, as only the lower values are of interest when scheduling time critical grants. An upper bound on the reported PDB_left value could be defined so everything with a PDB_left longer than this will be reported with the max value and network considers this data as the same. In this context, a packet can be an IP packet corresponding to a SDAP or PDCP SDU/PDU, an RLC SDU, or it can also correspond to all SDUs/PDUs which are related to an Application Data Unit (ADU). One ADU is typically made of one or more IP packets.
One IP packet corresponds to one SDAP SDU, one PDCP SDU, one PDCP PDU, one RLC SDU, one or more RLC PDUs.
The network (e.g., network node 16) can then take into account the PDB_left and decide when to transmit grants and their size(s).
One difference compared to legacy BSR is that the delay-aware BSR reports the amount of data across one or more LCIDs or a set of LCIDs (i.e., LCG), which PDB or time queued in the buffer is within a certain time window. The delay-aware BSR may indicate one or more indexes and the corresponding amount of data corresponding to the reported index(es). The Legacy BSR reports the buffer size within a set of LCIDs (i.e., LCG), and the Legacy BSR provides information about the LCG index and the corresponding size. Thus, the concept of LCGs is not applicable.
The formats described in the example figures herein are only illustrative. Thus, the number of bits for each of the fields may be larger or smaller, the order of the fields may be different, or there may be additional or fewer fields (e.g., DGindexes). Depending on the number of bits and format, a “reserved” bit may also need to be introduced so the BSR is octet-aligned. However, these changes do not vary the outcome of the intended purpose of the BSR formats outlined below.
Another example BSR format according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is a shorter format that is illustrated in
If multiple DG indexes would be needed, the structure illustrated in
One or more embodiments of the present disclosure described above remove the concept of LCG or LCIDs in the BSR. However, if LCGs or LCID are reported to the network, then the BSR can report one or more LCIDs or LCGs which have data in the buffer and provide the DG indexes and the associated buffer queued in each DG for the selected LCG or LCID. In the following figures LCG and LCID could be used inter-changeably
Referring again to
An example BSR format which can keep the concept of LCGs is a BSR format that provides both, one LCG or LCID, a set of DG indexes, and the corresponding buffer status. The LCG or LCID, whichever provided, can be explicit or implicit (e.g., bitmap as illustrated in
In cases where multiple LCIDs or LCGs are to be reported, the format in
As described with respect
In another example, BSR format explicitly includes the PDB_left instead of DGindex. As in the DG index cases described above this could be performed in various ways but one such example is presented in
The WD 22 may report to the network node 16 that the WD 22 supports the delay-aware BSR and related functionality. The network node 16 may then configure the WD 22 to use the delay-aware BSR and related functionality. This may be configured, for example, via RRC signaling using, for example, one explicit bit in the configuration such as:
In scenarios in which different LCIDs carry different traffic, the use of delay-aware BSR may also be configurable for each individual LCID.
The use of delay-aware BSR and its related functionality could also be implicitly configured by including one or more parameters to configure the functionality, e.g., delay-groups, or thresholds. Similarly, these parameters could be provided individually per each LCIDs or could apply to all LCIDs which are configured to use delay-aware BSR. As an example, RRC signaling from the network node 16 could provide a list of delay groups. The presence of this list may implicitly indicate to the WD 22 the use of the delay-aware BSR and its functionality. In case the solution above is used, the delay groups could, instead, be mandatory present information element (IE) when the first IE (delayAwareBSR) is present.
Each delay group may represent a range of remaining PDB of the packets within the group. The exact sizes of each delay group may be configured by the network node 16. For example, this could be configured through an RRC message, a MAC Control Element, PHY signaling, or similar signaling, which provides information regarding the remaining PDB threshold for each group.
Example A1. A network node 16 configured to communicate with a wireless device (WD) 22, the network node 16 configured to, and/or comprising a radio interface 30 and/or comprising processing circuitry 36 configured to:
Example A2. The network node 16 of Example A1, wherein:
Example A3. The network node 16 of Example A2, wherein the buffer status report includes a corresponding buffer status parameter for each of the at least one delay group index, the buffer status parameter being based on a total size of queued data packets associated with each of the at least one delay group index.
Example A4. The network node 16 of Example A3, wherein the scheduling grant is based on the total size of queued data packets associated with the delay group index having a lowest time value.
Example B1. A method implemented in a network node 16 that is configured to communicate with a wireless device (WD) 22, the method comprising:
Example B2. The method of Example B1, wherein the buffer status report includes at least one delay group index, each of the at least one delay group index being associated with:
Example B3. The method of Example B2, wherein the buffer status report includes a corresponding buffer status parameter for each of the at least one delay group index, the buffer status parameter being based on a total size of queued data packets associated with each of the at least one delay group index.
Example B4. The method of Example B3, wherein the scheduling grant is based on the total size of queued data packets associated with the delay group index having a lowest time value.
Example C1. A wireless device (WD) 22 configured to communicate with a network node 16, the WD 22 configured to, and/or comprising a radio interface 46 and/or processing circuitry 50 configured to:
Example C2. The WD 22 of Example C1, wherein the buffer status report includes at least one delay group index, the at least one delay group index being associated with at least one time value.
Example C3. The WD 22 of Example C2, wherein the WD 22 and/or radio interface 46 and/or processing circuitry 50 is/are further configured to:
Example C4. The WD 22 of Example C3, wherein for each delay group index included in the buffer status report, the buffer status report includes a corresponding buffer status parameter, the buffer status parameter being based on a total size of queued data packets associated with the delay group index.
Example C5. The WD 22 of any one of Examples C1, C2, C3, and/or C4, wherein the buffer status report includes at least one of: a logical channel indication and a logical channel group indication.
Example D1. A method implemented in a wireless device (WD) 22 that is configured to communicate with a network node 16, the method comprising:
Example D2. The method of Example D1, wherein the buffer status report includes at least one delay group index, the at least one delay group index being associated with at least one time value.
Example D3. The method of Example D2, further comprising:
Example D4. The method of Example D3, wherein for each delay group index included in the buffer status report, the buffer status report includes a corresponding buffer status parameter, the buffer status parameter being based on a total size of queued data packets associated with the delay group index.
Example D5. The method of any one of Examples D1, D2, D3, and/or D4, wherein the buffer status report includes at least one of: a logical channel indication and a logical channel group indication.
As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the concepts described herein may be embodied as a method, data processing system, computer program product and/or computer storage media storing an executable computer program. Accordingly, the concepts described herein may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects all generally referred to herein as a “circuit” or “module.” Any process, step, action and/or functionality described herein may be performed by, and/or associated to, a corresponding module, which may be implemented in software and/or firmware and/or hardware. Furthermore, the disclosure may take the form of a computer program product on a tangible computer usable storage medium having computer program code embodied in the medium that can be executed by a computer. Any suitable tangible computer readable medium may be utilized including hard disks, CD-ROMs, electronic storage devices, optical storage devices, or magnetic storage devices.
Some embodiments are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, systems and computer program products. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer (to thereby create a special purpose computer), special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable memory or storage medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
It is to be understood that the functions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the operational illustrations. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved. Although some of the diagrams include arrows on communication paths to show a primary direction of communication, it is to be understood that communication may occur in the opposite direction to the depicted arrows.
Computer program code for carrying out operations of the concepts described herein may be written in an object oriented programming language such as Python, Java® or C++. However, the computer program code for carrying out operations of the disclosure may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
Many different embodiments have been disclosed herein, in connection with the above description and the drawings. It will be understood that it would be unduly repetitious and obfuscating to literally describe and illustrate every combination and subcombination of these embodiments. Accordingly, all embodiments can be combined in any way and/or combination, and the present specification, including the drawings, shall be construed to constitute a complete written description of all combinations and subcombinations of the embodiments described herein, and of the manner and process of making and using them, and shall support claims to any such combination or subcombination.
It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein are not limited to what has been particularly shown and described herein above. In addition, unless mention was made above to the contrary, it should be noted that all of the accompanying drawings are not to scale. A variety of modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings without departing from the scope of the following claims.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2022/062849 | 12/28/2022 | WO |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63295214 | Dec 2021 | US |
