1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a radio link control (RLC) status protocol data unit (PDU) format and, more particularly, to an enhanced RLC STATUS PDU format for use in a wireless communication network.
2. Description of Related Art
In current UMTS RLC specification, STATUS PDUs are specified to inform the sender RLC entity the acknowledgment information of the RLC AMD (Acknowledge Mode Data) PDUs received at the receiver peer entity. Based on the information, the sender decides to retransmit the negative acknowledged PDUs or to move its transmission window forward based on the procedure specified in the specification. The STATUS PDU could be event triggered or triggered based on the specified timer. The transmission of STATUS PDU should be on time in order to avoid the deadlock/stall situation of the transmission window at the sender peer entity.
In current E-UTRA RLC specification, segmentation of the RLC PDU is introduced. As shown in
D/C Field (Length=1 bit)
The D/C field indicates the type of PDU. Specifically, the PDU is a AMD PDU when D/C field=0, and the PDU is a control PDU when D/C field=1.
The CPT field indicates the type of control PDU. Currently, it is specified that the control PDU is a STATUS PDU when CPT field is 000.
Acknowledgement SN (ACK_SN) Field (Length=10 bits):
The ACK_SN field indicates the SN (sequence number) of the next not received AMD PDU which is not reported as missing in the STATUS PDU. When the transmitting side of an AM RLC entity receives a STATUS PDU, it interprets that all AMD PDUs up to but not including the AMD PDU with SN=ACK_SN have been received by its AM RLC entity, excluding those AMD PDUs indicated in the STATUS PDU with NACK_SN and portions of AMD PDUs indicated in the STATUS PDU with NACK_SN, SOstart and Soend.
The interpretation of the E1 field is to indicate that a set of NACK_SN, E1 and E2 does not follow when E1 is 0, and to indicate that a set of NACK_SN, E1 and E2 does follow when E1 is 1.
The NACK_SN field indicates the SN of the AMD PDU (or portions of it) that has been detected as lost at the receiver.
Extension Bit 1 (E1) Field that Follows the Aforementioned E1 Field of 1
The interpretation of the E2 field is to indicate a set of SOstart and SOend does not follow when E2 is 0, and indicate a set of SOstart and SOend does follow when E2 is 1.
The SOstart field (together with the SOend field) indicates the portion of the AMD PDU with SN=NACK_SN (the NACK_SN for which the SOstart is related to) that has been detected as lost at the receiving side of the AM RLC entity. Specifically, the SOstart field indicates the position of the first byte of the portion of the AMD PDU in bytes within the data field of the AMD PDU.
The SOend field (together with the SOstart field) indicates the portion of the AMD PDU with SN=NACK_SN (the NACK_SN for which the SOend is related to) that has been detected as lost at the receiver. Specifically, the SOend field indicates the position of the last byte of the portion of the AMD PDU in bytes within the data field of the AMD PDU. A special SOend value “111111111111111” is used to indicate that the missing portion of the AMD PDU includes all bytes to the last byte of the AMD PDU.
With the above STATUS PDU format, the receiver RLC entity may inform the sender RLC entity the acknowledgment information of the RLC AMD PDUs received at the receiver. For example, when a sender transmits ten AMD PDUs with SN=1 to 10 to a receiver and the AMD PDU with SN=2 and the 10-40 bytes portion of the AMD PDU with SN=3 are not received at the receiver, the receiver will respond a STATUS PDU as follows for indicating the missing of AMD PDU:
D/C=1
CPT=000
ACK_SN=1
E1=1
indicating missing PDU with SN=2
NACK_SN=2
E1=1
E2=0
indicating missing 10-40 bytes of PDU with SN=3
NACK_SN=3
E1=0
E2=1
SOstart=10
SOend=40
Another example is given as follows to further demonstrate the use of the STATUS PDU. A sender transmits ten AMD PDUs with SN=1 to 10 to a receiver and the AMD PDU with SN=2 and the 10-40 bytes portion and 100-120 bytes portion of the AMD PDU with SN=3 are not received at the receiver. The receiver will respond a STATUS PDU as follows for indicating the missing of AMD PDU:
D/C=1
CPT=000
ACK_SN=11
E1=1
indicating missing PDU with SN=2
NACK_SN=2
E1=1
E2=0
indicating missing 10-40 bytes of PDU with SN=3
NACK_SN=3
E1=1
E2=1
SOstart=10
SOend=40
indicating missing 100-120 bytes of PDU with SN=3
NACK_SN=3
E1=0
E2=1
SOstart=100
SOend=120
It can be seen that the aforementioned STATUS PDU may include two identical NACK_SN fields (NACK_SN=3) for indicating the same missing PDU (with SN=3). This causes a bandwidth waste, as duplicated NACK_SN fields are included in the STATUS PDU, which need extra 10 bits of data length. If the number of missing portions of the AMD PDU increases, the number of duplicated NACK_SN fields included in the STATUS PDU also increases, resulting in a serious bandwidth waste.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an enhanced RLC STATUS PDU format for use in a wireless communication network to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.
The object of the present invention is to provide an enhanced RLC STATUS PDU format for use in a wireless communication network for saving required bandwidth to transmit the acknowledgement information and effectively transmitting the status reporting information.
According to a feature of the invention, there is provided an enhanced RLC (Radio Link Control) STATUS PDU (Protocol Data Unit) format for use in a wireless communication network in which a sender transmits AMD PDUs, each said AMD PDU having an SN (Sequence Number), to a receiver, and the receiver responds a STATUS PDU to the sender for informing acknowledge information of the AMD PDUs received at the receiver. The enhanced RLC STATUS PDU format comprises: an ACK_SN (Acknowledgement SN) field, for indicating the SN of a next AMD PDU which is not received and not reported as missing in the STATUS PDU; and an E1 field, for indicating that a set of NACK_SN (Negative Acknowledgement SN), E1, and E2 fields does not follow when it is a first value, or indicating that the set of NACK_SN, E1, and E2 fields follows when it is a second value. For the set of NACK_SN, E1, and E2 fields that follows the E1 field of second value, the NACK_SN field is provided for indicating the AMD PDU that has been detected as lost at the receiver, and the E2 field is provided for indicating that a set of SOstart, SOend, and E2 fields does not follow for the NACK_SN when it is the first value, or indicating that a set of SOstart, SOend, and E2 fields follows for the NACK_SN when it is the second value. For the set of SOstart, SOend, and E2 fields that follows the E2 field of second value, the SOstart field is provided for indicating a position of the first byte in the portion of the AMD PDU in bytes within a data field of the AMD PDU with SN=NACK_SN, for which the SOstart is related to, that has been detected as lost at the receiver, and the SOend field is provided for indicating a position of the last byte in the portion of the AMD PDU in bytes within a data field of the AMD PDU with SN=NACK_SN, for which the SOend is related to, that has been detected as lost at the receiver.
According to another feature of the invention, there is provided an enhanced RLC STATUS PDU (Protocol Data Unit) format for use in a wireless communication network in which a sender transmits AMD PDUs, each said AMD PDU having an SN to a receiver, and the receiver responds an STATUS PDU to the sender for informing acknowledge information of the AMD PDUs received at the receiver. The enhanced RLC STATUS PDU format comprises: an ACK_SN field, for indicating the SN of a next AMD PDU which is not received and not reported as missing in the STATUS PDU; and an E1 field, for indicating that a set of NACK_SN_Offset, E1, and E2 fields does not follow when it is a first value, or indicating that the set of NACK_SN_Offset, E1, and E2 fields follows when it is a second value. For the set of NACK_SN_Offset, E1, and E2 fields that follows the E1 field of second value, the NACK_SN_Offset field is provided for indicating an offset to the ACK_SN of an AMD PDU that has been detected as lost at the receiver, and the E2 field is provided for indicating that a set of SOstart, SOend, and E2 fields does not follow for the NACK_SN_Offset when it is the first value, or indicating that a set of SOstart, SOend, and E2 fields follows for the NACK_SN Offset when it is the second value. For the set of SOstart, SOend, and E2 fields that follows the E2 field of second value, the SOstart field is provided for indicating a position of the first byte in the portion of the AMD PDU in bytes within a data field of the AMD PDU with SN resulted from ACK_SN and NACK_SN_Offset, for which the SOstart is related to, that has been detected as lost at the receiver, and the SOend field is provided for indicating a position of the last byte in the portion of the AMD PDU in bytes within a data field of the AMD PDU with SN resulted from ACK_SN and NACK_SN_Offset, for which the SOend is related to, that has been detected as lost at the receiver.
According to a further feature of the invention, there is provided an enhanced RLC STATUS PDU format for use in a wireless communication network in which a sender transmits AMD PDUs, each said AMD PDU having a SN, to a receiver, and the receiver responds an STATUS PDU to the sender for informing acknowledge information of the AMD PDUs received at the receiver. The enhanced RLC STATUS PDU format comprises: an ACK_SN field, for indicating the SN of a next AMD PDU which is not received and not reported as missing in the STATUS PDU; and an E1 field, for indicating that a set of NACK_SN, E1 and E2 fields does not follow when it is a first value, indicating that the set of NACK_SN, E1 and E2 fields follows when it is a second value, indicating that a bitmap follows when it is a third value, or indicating that a set of NACK_SN, Nr_NACK_PDU and E1 fields follows when it is a fourth value. For the set of NACK_SN, E1, and E2 fields that follows the E1 field of second value, the NACK_SN field is provided for indicating the AMD PDU that has been detected as lost at the receiver, and the E2 field is provided for indicating that a set of SOstart, SOend, and E2 fields does not follow for the NACK_SN when it is the first value, or indicating that the set of SOstart, SOend, and E2 fields follows for the NACK_SN when it is the second value. For the set of SOstart, SOend, and E2 fields that follows the E2 field of second value, the SOstart field is provided for indicating a position of the first byte in the portion of the AMD PDU in bytes within a data field of the AMD PDU with SN=NACK_SN, for which the SOstart is related to, that has been detected as lost at the receiver, and the SOend field is provided for indicating a position of the last byte in the portion of the AMD PDU in bytes within a data field of the AMD PDU with SN=NACK_SN, for which the SOend is related to, that has been detected as lost at the receiver.
According to still a further feature of the invention, there is provided an enhanced RLC STATUS PDU format for use in a wireless communication network in which a sender transmits-AMD PDUs, each said AMD PDU having an SN to a receiver, and the receiver responds an STATUS PDU to the sender for informing acknowledgement information of the AMD PDUs received at the receiver. The enhanced RLC STATUS PDU format comprises: an ACK_SN field, for indicating the SN of a next AMD PDU which is not received and not reported as missing in the STATUS PDU; and an E1 field, for indicating that a set of F, NACK_SN, and E1 fields does not follow when it is a first value, or indicating that a set of F, NACK_SN, and E1 fields follows when it is a second value. For the set of F, NACK_SN, and E1 fields that follows the E1 field of 1, the F field is provided for indicating that an E2 field follows when it is the first value, or indicating an Nr_NACK_PDU field follows when it is the second value, and the NACK_SN field is provided for indicating the SN of a AMD PDU or a portion thereof that has been detected as lost at the receiver. The E2 field that follows the F field of first value indicates that a set of SOstart, SOend, and E2 fields does not follow for the NACK_SN when it is the first value, or indicates that the set of SOstart, SOend, and E2 fields follows for the NACK_SN when it is the second value. The SOstart field is provided for indicating a position of the first byte in the portion of the AMD PDU in bytes within a data field of the AMD PDU with SN=NACK_SN, for which the SOstart is related to, that has been detected as lost at the receiver. The SOend field is provided for indicating a position of the last byte in the portion of the AMD PDU in bytes within the data field of the AMD PDU with SN=NACK_SN, for which the SOend is related to, that has been detected as lost at the receiver. The Nr_NACK_PDU field that follows the F field of second value indicates the number of consecutive missing AMD PDUs followed from or started from the AMD PDU indicated by the NACK_SN field.
Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
a D/C field of length=1 bit for indicating the type of PDU, in which the PDU is a AMD PDU when D/C field=0, and the PDU is a control PDU when D/C field=1;
a CPT field of length=3 bits for indicating the type of control PDU, in which the control PDU is specified as a STATUS PDU when CPT field is 000;
an Acknowledgement SN (ACK_SN) field of length=10 bits for indicating the SN of the next not received AMD PDU which is not reported as missing in the STATUS PDU at the receiver 22, in which when the sender 21 receives a STATUS PDU, it interprets that all AMD PDUs up to but not including the AMD PDU with SN=ACK_SN have been received by the receiver 22, excluding those AMD PDUs indicated in the STATUS PDU with NACK_SN and portions of AMD PDUs indicated in the STATUS PDU with NACK_SN, SOstart and SOend;
an Extension bit 1 (E1) field of length=1 bit for indicating a set of NACK_SN, E1 and E2 fields does not follow when it is 0, and indicating a set of NACK_SN, E1 and E2 fields does follow when it is 1;
a Negative Acknowledgement SN (NACK_SN) field of Length=10 bits for indicating the SN of the AMD PDU (or portions of it) that has been detected as lost at the receiver 22;
an Extension bit 1 (E1) field of length=1 bit which follows the aforementioned E1 field of 1;
an Extension bit 2 (E2 ) field of length=1 bit for indicating that a set of SOstart, SOend and E2 fields does not follow for this NACK_SN when it is 0, and indicating that a set of SOstart, SOend and E2 fields does follow for this NACK_SN when it is 1;
an SO start (SOstart) field of length=15 bits for indicating the position of the first byte of the missing portion of the AMD PDU in bytes, so that the SOstart field (together with the SOend field) indicates the portion of the AMD PDU with SN=NACK_SN (the NACK_SN for which the SOstart is related to) that has been detected as lost at the receiver 22;
an SO end (SOend) field of length=15 bits for indicating the position of the last byte of the missing portion of the AMD PDU in bytes, so that the SOend field (together with the SOstart field) indicates the portion of the AMD PDU with SN=NACK_SN (the NACK_SN for which the SOend is related to) that has been detected as lost at the receiver 22; and
an Extension bit 2 (E2) field of length=1 bit which follows the aforementioned E2 field of 1.
It is to be appreciated that the designated values of the above fields are arbitrary and are presented here in specific values for illustrative purpose only.
With the above enhanced STATUS PDU format, the receiver 22 may inform the sender 21 the acknowledgment information of the AMD PDUs received at the receiver 22. For example, a sender 21 transmits ten AMD PDUs with SN=1 to 10 to a receiver 22 and the AMD PDU with SN=2 and the 10-40 bytes portion and 100-120 bytes portion of the AMD PDU with SN=3 are not received at the receiver 22, the receiver 22 will respond a STATUS PDU as follows for indicating the missing of AMD PDU:
D/C=1
CPT=000
ACK_SN=11
E1=1
indicating missing PDU with SN=2
NACK_SN=2
E1=1
E2=0
indicating missing 10-40 bytes of PDU with SN=3
NACK_SN=3
E1=0
E2=1
SOstart=10
SOend=40
E2=1
indicating missing 100-120 bytes of PDU with SN=3
SOstart=100
SOend=120
E2=0
It can be seen that the STATUS PDU includes only one NACK_SN field (NACK_SN=3) for indicating the missing AMD PDU with SN=3 even there are two missing portions (10-40 bytes and 100-120 bytes) in the AMD PDU with SN=3. Therefore, in comparison with the prior art which uses a STATUS PDU including two identical NACK_SN fields (NACK_SN=3) for indicating two missing portions of the-same AMD PDU (with SN=3), the use of the inventive enhanced STATUS PDU can significantly reduce the amount of data to be transmitted for status reporting, thereby saving the precious bandwidth.
In addition to using the 10-bit absolute SN value in the Negative Acknowledgement SN (NACK_SN) field for indicating the missing AMD PDU, as shown in
In addition to having the Extension bit 1 (E1) field of length=1 bit for indicating whether a set of NACK_SN, E1 and E2 follows or not, an alternative approach is to define an Extension bit 1 (E1) field of length=2 bits for indicating that, as shown in
For the two-bit E1=10, the 9-bit Nr_NACK_PDU is defined as number of the consecutive missing AMD PDUs followed from this NACK_SN AMD PDU or as number of the consecutive missing AMD PDUs started from this NACK_SN. In this preferred embodiment, the Nr-NACK_PDU is defined as number of the consecutive missing AMD PDUs followed from this NACK_SN AMD PDU. In case if consecutive AMD PDUs are missing at the receiver 22, the combination could indicate the missing AMD PDUs efficiently. With such a two-bit E1 field, an example is given as follows for illustration. A sender 21 transmits ten AMD PDUs with SN=1 to 10 to a receiver 22 and the AMD PDUs with SN=2 to 9 are not received at the receiver 22; i.e., only the AMD PDUs with SN=1, 10 are correctly received. The receiver 22 will respond a STATUS PDU as follows for indicating the missing of AMD PDUs:
D/C=1
CPT=000
ACK_SN=11
E1=10
indicating missing consecutive PDUs with SN=2-9
NACK_SN=2
Nr_NACK_PDU=7
E1=00
The Nr_NACK_PDU given in the example indicates the number of the consecutive missing AMD PDUs followed from the NACK_SN AMD PDU. The Nr_NACK_PDU value is equal 8 in the above example if it indicates the number of the consecutive missing AMD PDUs started from the NACK_SN AMD PDU. A further example is given as follows. A sender 21 transmits ten AMD PDUs with SN=1 to 10 to a receiver 22 and the AMD PDUs with SN=2, 3, 5, 7-9, the 10-20 bytes portion of the AMD PDU with SN=4, and the 5-120 bytes portion of the AMD PDU with SN=6 are not received at the receiver 22. The receiver 22 will respond a STATUS PDU as follows for indicating the missing of AMD PDUs:
D/C=1
CPT=000
ACK_SN=11
E1=10
indicating missing consecutive PDUs with SN=2-9
NACK_SN=2
Nr_NACK PDU=7
E1=11
indicating missing 10-20 bytes of AMD PDU with SN=4
NACK_SN=4
E1=11
E2=1
SOstart=10
SOend=20
E2=0
indicating missing 5-120 bytes of AMD PDU with SN=6
NACK_SN=6
E1=00
E2=1
SOstart=5
SOend=120
E2=0
It can be seen that the use of two-bit E1 field for indicating-that a set of NACK_SN, Nr_NACK_PDU and E1 fields follows can avoid repeating a plurality of NACK_SN when there are consecutive missing AMD PDUs, thereby saving required bandwidth to transmit the status reporting information.
As shown in
With such an E1 field, the receiver 22 may efficiently inform the sender 21 the acknowledgment information of the AMD PDUs received at the receiver 22. For example, a sender 21 transmits ten AMD PDUs with SN=1 to 10 to a receiver 22 and the AMD PDUs with SN=2 to 9 are not received at the receiver.22; i.e., only the AMD PDUs with SN=1, 10 are correctly received. The receiver 22 will respond a STATUS PDU as follows for indicating the missing of AMD PDUs:
D/C=1
CPT=000
ACK SN=11
E1=1
indicating missing consecutive PDUs with SN=2-9
F=1
NACK_SN=2
Nr_NACK PDU=7
E1=0
Another example is given as follows for illustration. A sender 2-1 transmits ten AMD PDUs with SN=1 to 10 to a receiver 22 and the AMD PDU with SN=2 is not received at the receiver 22. The receiver 22 will respond a STATUS PDU as follows for indicating the missing of AMD PDU:
D/C=1
CPT=000
ACK_SN=11
E1=1
indicating missing PDU with SN=2
F=0
NACK_SN=2
E2=0
It can be seen that the use of the E1 field for indicating whether a set of F, NACK_SN and E1 fields follows or not can also avoid repeating a plurality of NACK_SN when there are consecutive missing AMD PDUs, thereby saving required bandwidth to transmit the status reporting information.
Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.
This application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/006,249, entitled “ENHANCED RLC STATUS PDU FORMAT” filed Jan. 3, 2008 under 35 USC & 119(e)(1).
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
61006249 | Jan 2008 | US |