The present disclosure relates to mobile and wireless communication networks, particularly to the Fifth Generation (5G). In particular, the disclosure is concerned with Radio Access Network (RAN) awareness of application parameters indicating a resilience of the application to consecutive transmission failures of application data. The disclosure further relates to Quality-of-Service (QoS) treatment based on these application parameters, in order to fulfill requirements imposed by new services, particularly 5G services. The disclosure presents a RAN entity, a User Equipment (UE), and methods for enabling the RAN awareness and QoS treatment.
The next generation of cellular mobile and wireless communications, namely 5G, envisions new use cases, services and applications, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) and massive machine-type communications (mMTC). Any combination of these use cases is also possible, such as ultra-reliable communications, low-latency communications, or low-latency eMBB communications.
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) within the framework of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) requires special 5G services, which include mission-critical communications. The IIoT can be part of, e.g., factory or process automation. A technological framework that can be utilized by IIoT devices is Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN). Two key requirements for mission-critical IIoT services are ultra-low latency (e.g., 1 ms) and ultra-high communication service availability (e.g., 99.9999% and higher). Packets typically arrive on a cyclic basis (e.g., every 1 ms, which is referred to as the transfer interval or cycle time). In factory automation use cases (e.g., motion control), packets must be delivered reliably and in time, since delayed or lost packets can result in downtime of the production. Nevertheless, not every packet loss may cause a service downtime. Some applications may tolerate a few packet errors or losses before the communication service is declared unavailable.
A relevant term describing such resilience to packet errors is the so-called survival time. The survival time is defined, e.g., in 3GPP TS 22.104, as the time that an application consuming a communication service may continue without an anticipated message. The survival time can also be defined as the maximum number of consecutive incorrectly received or lost messages before the communication service is deemed to be unavailable. If the survival time is exceeded, the application transitions the communication service into a down state. In this case, the production may stop (e.g., due to safety reasons) resulting in financial cost.
The 5G System (5GS) is one example of a system that can address the requirements of the aforementioned services. 5G Quality-of-Service (QoS) enforcement mechanisms are designed to address the communication service requirements, e.g., by allocating an adequate amount of radio resources. In the 5GS, a QoS flow defines the finest granularity of QoS differentiation in a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session. A QoS Flow ID (QFI) is used to identify a QoS flow. User plane traffic with the same QFI within a PDU session receives the same traffic forwarding treatment (e.g., scheduling and admission threshold). A QoS flow is characterized by a QoS profile. The QoS profiles in the current 5GS include QoS characteristics, such as packet delay budget (PDB) and packet error rate (PER), identified by a 5G QoS Identifier (5QI) and Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP). Packets inside a QoS flow are treated based on these key performance indicators (KPIs). For example, a strict delay requirement can imply a prioritized scheduling of a packet. However, current QoS enforcement mechanisms treat packets independently from each other based on the QoS profile of the QoS flow.
Two observations can be made with regard to the existing 5G QoS mechanisms:
Embodiments of the present invention aim to improve the QoS framework. An objective is to enhance the current QoS mechanisms, for example 5G QoS mechanisms, such that the 5GS, in particular the RAN, can address the requirements imposed by new 5G services in an efficient manner.
This may be done by exploiting knowledge of an application's resilience to consecutive transmission failures. To this end, packet treatment may be modified. Further, resilience parameters indicating a tolerance of an application to consecutive transmission failures of application data, particularly the survival time of the application, may be taken into account. Further, the RAN may be aware of these resilience parameters, particularly the RAN may be aware of the survival time of the application.
As detailed in the following, the survival time of the application may be translated into a communication network parameter, e.g., a 5GS parameter, which is based on the survival time of the application and RAN is made aware of such communication parameter. In addition, the application data may be processed by the communication network to be able to transmit the application data via the communication network, which may include, e.g., adding or removing packet headers, packet segmentation, or packet re-assembly. An application data can be processed by a User Plane (UP) entity, e.g., User Plane Function (UPF) in a Core Network, and RAN User Plane (UP) protocol functions, such as Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), Radio Link Control (RLC), and Medium Access Control (MAC). For the sake of simplicity, in the following, a communication network packet including the application data is referred to as application data.
The objective is achieved by embodiments of the invention as described in the enclosed independent claims. Advantageous implementations of embodiments of the invention are further defined in the dependent claims.
A first aspect of the invention provides a RAN entity, configured to receive information indicating at least one resilience parameter of an application, from a control entity, another RAN entity, and/or a UE, wherein the at least one resilience parameter is based on a tolerance of the application to transmission failures of application data, in particular consecutive transmission failures.
The control entity may be a core network (CN) entity, or a RAN controller, or a management entity. The management entity can be an Operations, Administration and Maintenance (OAM) entity, a Network Slice Management Function (NSMF) or a Network Slice Subnet Management Function (NSSMF). The UE can be any type of terminal device, e.g., a mobile terminal, a sensor, an actuator, an IoT device, or a device that may not require a user. The RAN entity of the first aspect may be a base station, e.g., a gNB, a 5G access node, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, or an IAB donor node, or a Central Unit (CU) or a Distributed Unit (DU) of a disaggregated 5G access node, a Control Plane (CP) or User Plane (UP) of an access node, or may be a UE.
By receiving the at least one resilience parameter, the RAN entity is made aware of the tolerance of the application to transmission failures, e.g., of the survival time of the application. The RAN entity can use the awareness of this tolerance to implement an appropriate QoS treatment, and/or may share the at least one resilience parameter with another entity applying the QoS treatment. In this way, the current 5G QoS mechanisms can be enhanced based on the RAN entity, such that requirements imposed by new 5G services can be addressed in an efficient manner.
In an implementation form of the first aspect, the information comprises the at least one resilience parameter, or the information identifies the at least one resilience parameter, which is configured at the RAN entity.
That means, the control entity, other RAN entity and/or UE can send the at least one resilience parameter to the RAN entity of the first aspect. Alternatively, the at least one resilience parameter is already configured—e.g., along with other resilience parameters—at the RAN entity, e.g., in a table or QoS profile. The table can be a QoS table including QoS characteristics. The control entity, other RAN entity and/or UE can in this case send an identifier to the RAN entity, which identifies the at least one resilience parameter, e.g., in the table or QoS profile, at the RAN entity of the first aspect. The information may, for instance, comprise a 5QI value to indicate the at least one resilience parameter in a corresponding QoS profile, in particular in a QoS table.
In an implementation form of the first aspect, the resilience parameter indicates a maximum tolerable number of consecutive transmission failures, or the resilience parameter indicates a survival time (ST) of the application in case of one or more transmission failures.
In this case, the at least one resilience parameter directly indicates the tolerance of the application to transmission failures. The at least one resilience parameter can be at least one parameter that is a translated version of the ST of the application.
In an implementation form of the first aspect, the resilience parameter indicates a plurality of robustness levels to be used, in particular sequentially, by the RAN entity to schedule subsequent transmissions of application data.
In this case, the at least one resilience parameter is derived from the tolerance of the application to consecutive transmission failures (i.e., is based on this tolerance), and indicates a treatment to be applied, upon a transmission failure of a packet, to further packets of transmitted application data, e.g., during the ST.
In an implementation form of the first aspect, the plurality of robustness levels comprises a plurality of target Packet Error Rates (PERs).
In particular, a plurality of PERs are indicated, which are to be applied consecutively to further transmissions (packets) of application data, e.g., during the ST of the application or the translated version of the ST of the application. For instance, the shorter the remaining ST of the application is, the lower the target PER may be for the next transmission of application data.
In an implementation form of the first aspect, the information is included in a QoS characteristic of a QoS flow.
In an implementation form of the first aspect, the information is included in a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session configuration.
In an implementation form of the first aspect, the RAN entity is further configured to provide the information and/or the at least one resilience parameter to a UE, and/or configure a survival time counter for the application at the UE based on the at least one resilience parameter.
The UE can thus set up the ST counter, and may also apply a QoS treatment based on the received resilience parameter.
In an implementation form of the first aspect, the RAN entity is further configured to, if a transmission failure occurs in a semi-persistently scheduled (SPS) transmission of application data to and/or from a UE, provide control information to the UE, wherein the control information comprises a dynamic resource allocation to override or extend a configured resource allocation for a subsequent SPS transmission of application data to and/or from the UE, wherein the dynamic resource allocation provides a higher redundancy for the subsequent transmission than the configured resource allocation.
The subsequent SPS transmission may in particular be the next SPS transmission. The RAN entity of the first aspect is thus able to increase a redundancy and thus a robustness for the next transmission of application data, in order to reduce the chances of a downtime of the application. Higher redundancy provides higher robustness to a transmission. The RAN entity is thus able to implement a QoS treatment even for critical services and applications.
In an implementation form of the first aspect, the RAN entity is further configured to determine the dynamic resource allocation based on the at least one resilience parameter.
That means, the robustness of the subsequent, e.g., the next, transmission can be adapted based on the tolerance of the application to consecutive transmission failures. For instance, if the next transmission is critical (e.g., in case the application does not tolerate another transmission failure) the maximum robustness (redundancy) can be applied.
In an implementation form of the first aspect, the dynamic resource allocation includes at least one of: a downlink (DL) assignment, an uplink (UL) grant, a sidelink (SL) grant.
That is, the QoS treatment applied by the RAN entity works for DL, UL and SL transmission of application data.
In an implementation form of the first aspect, the RAN entity is further configured to detect the transmission failure, and/or receive feedback from a UE indicating the transmission failure.
In an implementation form of the first aspect, the dynamic resource allocation provides the higher redundancy for the subsequent transmission by at least one of: increasing a number of resources for the subsequent transmission, increasing a number of retransmissions for the subsequent transmission, increasing a number of antennas to be used for the subsequent transmission, adapting a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) for the subsequent transmission, increasing a transmission power for the subsequent transmission.
In an implementation form of the first aspect, the RAN entity is a UE.
A second aspect of the invention provides a UE configured to, if a transmission failure occurs in a SPS transmission of application data to and/or from the UE, receive control information, wherein the control information comprises a dynamic resource allocation to override or extend a configured resource allocation for a subsequent SPS transmission of application data to and/or from the UE, wherein the dynamic resource allocation provides a higher redundancy for the subsequent transmission than the configured resource allocation.
The subsequent SPS transmission can in particular be the next transmission. The UE of the second aspect is thus able to increase a redundancy and thus a robustness for the next transmission of application data, in order to reduce the chances of a downtime of the application. Higher redundancy provides higher robustness to a transmission. The UE is thus able to implement a QoS treatment even for critical services and applications.
In an implementation form of the second aspect, the dynamic resource allocation includes at least one of: a downlink assignment, an uplink grant, a sidelink grant.
In an implementation form of the second aspect, the dynamic resource allocation provides the higher redundancy for the subsequent transmission by at least one of: increasing a number of resources for the subsequent transmission, increasing a number of retransmissions for the subsequent transmission, increasing a number of antennas to be used for the subsequent transmission, adapting a MCS for the subsequent transmission, increasing a transmission power for the subsequent transmission.
In an implementation form of the second aspect, the UE is further configured to receive information indicating at least one resilience parameter of an application from a RAN entity, wherein the at least one resilience parameter is based on a tolerance of the application to transmission failures of application data, in particular consecutive transmission failures, and set up a survival time counter for the application based on the information and/or the at least one resilience parameter.
In this way, the UE of the second aspect is made aware of the tolerance of the application to transmission failures, in particular the at least one resilience parameter indicating said tolerance. The at least one resilience parameter may be a maximum tolerable number of transmission failures or may be a ST of the application.
In an implementation form of the second aspect, the UE is further configured to report Channel State Information (CSI) to the RAN entity in case of a transmission failure of application data.
In an implementation form of the second aspect, the UE is further configured to report the CSI, in particular determine a content of the CSI, based on the state of the survival time counter.
A third aspect of the invention provides a method performed by a RAN entity, wherein the method comprises receiving information indicating at least one resilience parameter of an application, from a control entity, another RAN entity, and/or a UE, wherein the at least one resilience parameter is based on a tolerance of the application to transmission failures of application data, in particular consecutive transmission failures.
The method of the third aspect may have implementation forms according to the implementation forms of the RAN entity of the first aspect. Accordingly, the method of the third aspect and its implementation forms achieve the same advantages and effects as the RAN entity of the first aspect and its respective implementation forms.
A fourth aspect of the invention provides a method performed by a UE, wherein the method comprises, if a transmission failure occurs in a SPS transmission of application data to and/or from the UE, receiving control information, wherein the control information comprises a dynamic resource allocation to override or extend a configured resource allocation for a subsequent SPS transmission of application data to and/or from the UE, wherein the dynamic resource allocation provides a higher redundancy for the subsequent transmission than the configured resource allocation.
The method of the fourth aspect may have implementation forms according to the implementation forms of the UE of the second aspect. Accordingly, the method of the fourth aspect and its implementation forms achieve the same advantages and effects as the UE of the second aspect and its respective implementation forms.
A fifth aspect of the invention provides a UE configured to receive information indicating at least one resilience parameter of an application from a RAN entity, wherein the at least one resilience parameter is based on a tolerance of the application to transmission failures of application data, in particular consecutive transmission failures, and to set up a survival time counter for the application based on the information and/or the at least one resilience parameter.
The UE of the fifth aspect is made aware of the tolerance of the application to transmission failures, in particular the at least one resilience parameter indicating said tolerance. The at least one resilience parameter may be a maximum tolerable number of transmission failures or may be a ST of the application. The UE of the fifth aspect can accordingly implement a QoS treatment based on the at least one resilience parameter.
In an implementation form of the fifth aspect, the information comprises the at least one resilience parameter, or the information identifies the at least one resilience parameter, which is configured at the UE.
In an implementation form of the fifth aspect, the resilience parameter indicates a maximum tolerable number of consecutive transmission failures, or the resilience parameter indicates a survival time (ST) of the application in case of one or more transmission failures.
In an implementation form of the fifth aspect, the resilience parameter indicates a plurality of robustness levels to be used, in particular sequentially, by the UE to schedule subsequent transmissions of application data.
In an implementation form of the fifth aspect, the plurality of robustness levels comprises a plurality of target PER.
In an implementation form of the fifth aspect, the information is included in a QoS characteristic of a QoS flow.
In an implementation form of the fifth aspect, the information is included in a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session configuration.
A sixth aspect of the invention provides a RAN entity configured to, if a transmission failure occurs in a SPS transmission of application data to and/or from a UE, provide control information to the UE, wherein the control information comprises a dynamic resource allocation to override or extend a configured resource allocation for a subsequent SPS transmission of application data to and/or from the UE, wherein the dynamic resource allocation provides a higher redundancy for the subsequent transmission than the configured resource allocation.
The subsequent SPS transmission may in particular be the next SPS transmission. The RAN entity of the sixth aspect is able to increase a redundancy and thus a robustness for the next transmission of application data, in order to reduce the chances of a downtime of the application. Higher redundancy provides higher robustness to a transmission. The RAN entity is thus able to implement a QoS treatment even for critical services and applications.
In an implementation form of the sixth aspect, the dynamic resource allocation provides the higher redundancy for the subsequent transmission by at least one of: increasing a number of resources for the subsequent transmission, increasing a number of retransmissions for the subsequent transmission, increasing a number of antennas to be used for the subsequent transmission, adapting a MCS for the subsequent transmission, increasing a transmission power for the subsequent transmission.
In an implementation form of the sixth aspect, the RAN entity is further configured to receive information indicating at least one resilience parameter of an application, from a control entity, another RAN entity, and/or a UE, wherein the at least one resilience parameter is based on a tolerance of the application to transmission failures of application data, in particular consecutive transmission failures.
In an implementation form of the sixth aspect, the RAN entity is further configured to determine the dynamic resource allocation based on at least one resilience parameter.
In an implementation form of the sixth aspect, the dynamic resource allocation includes at least one of: a downlink assignment, an uplink grant, a sidelink grant.
In an implementation form of the sixth aspect, the RAN entity is further configured to detect the transmission failure, and/or receive feedback from a UE indicating the transmission failure.
In an implementation form of the sixth aspect, the RAN entity is a UE.
A seventh aspect of the invention provides a method performed by a RAN entity, the method comprising, if a transmission failure occurs in a SPS transmission of application data to and/or from a UE, providing control information to the UE, wherein the control information comprises a dynamic resource allocation to override or extend a configured resource allocation for a subsequent SPS transmission of application data to and/or from the UE, wherein the dynamic resource allocation provides a higher redundancy for the subsequent transmission than the configured resource allocation.
The method of the seventh aspect may have implementation forms according to the implementation forms of the RAN entity of the sixth aspect. Accordingly, the method of the seventh aspect and its implementation forms achieve the same advantages and effects as the RAN entity of the sixth aspect and its respective implementation forms.
It has to be noted that all devices, elements, units and means described in the present application could be implemented in the software or hardware elements or any kind of combination thereof. All steps which are performed by the various entities described in the present application as well as the functionalities described to be performed by the various entities are intended to mean that the respective entity is adapted to or configured to perform the respective steps and functionalities. Even if, in the following description of specific embodiments, a specific functionality or step to be performed by external entities is not reflected in the description of a specific detailed element of that entity which performs that specific step or functionality, it should be clear for a skilled person that these methods and functionalities can be implemented in respective software or hardware elements, or any kind of combination thereof.
The above described aspects and implementation forms of the present invention will be explained in the following description of specific embodiments in relation to the enclosed drawings, in which
Embodiments of the invention may be implemented by introducing resilience parameters indicating the tolerance of the application to consecutive packet errors (e.g., based on its survival time) to the QoS framework and/or realizing in the RAN an adaptive reliability scheme based on the tolerance of the application to consecutive packet errors (e.g., based on its survival time).
As a result, the spectral efficiency and/or system capacity of the 5GS can be increased, e.g., by avoiding overprovisioning of RAN resources to support mission-critical services.
The RAN entity 100 may comprise processing circuitry (not shown) configured to perform, conduct or initiate various operations of the device 100 described herein. The processing circuitry may comprise hardware and software. The hardware may comprise analog circuitry or digital circuitry, or both analog and digital circuitry. The digital circuitry may comprise components such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), or multi-purpose processors. In one embodiment, the processing circuitry comprises one or more processors and a non-transitory memory connected to the one or more processors. The non-transitory memory may carry executable program code which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the RAN entity 100 to perform, conduct or initiate the operations or methods described herein.
The RAN entity 100 is configured to receive information 101, which indicates at least one resilience parameter 102 of an application 103. The information 101 may be received by the RAN entity 100 from a control entity 104, e.g., from a CN entity, from another RAN entity 105, and/or from a UE 106. The at least one resilience parameter 102 is based on a tolerance of the application 103 to transmission failures of application data, in particular consecutive transmission failures. This means that the at least one resilience parameter 102 may indicate (directly) the tolerance of the application 103 to the transmission failures, or may be derived from (depend on) the tolerance of the application 103 to the transmission failures.
For instance, the at least one resilience parameter 102 may indicate a maximum tolerable number of consecutive transmission failures, and/or may indicate a ST 201 of the application 103 in case of one or more transmission failures. The at least one resilience parameter 102 may also include or be the maximum tolerable number of consecutive transmission failures and/or the ST of the application 103. In this case, it directly indicates the tolerance of the application 103 to the transmission failures. The at least one resilience parameter 102 may also indicate a plurality of robustness levels 401 (see, e.g.,
RAN treatment of arriving packets is conventionally conducted packet-wise, and does not take into account the packet correlation due to, e.g., the ST. The packet treatment is performed based on the QoS profiles and the QoS characteristics included therein. In an embodiment, the QoS characteristics 200—as shown in
Different interpretations of the ST 201 can be utilized. For example, Tsurvival=N×Tcycle, where Tsurvival is the ST 201, N is the number of tolerable consecutive packet errors and Tcycle is the cycle time, which refers to the inter-arrival time or periodicity of a packet. The ST 201 can be also included as an absolute time depending on the service, e.g., Tsurvival=1 ms. Furthermore, the cycle time may be obtained or derived from the end-to-end (E2E) latency target, e.g., packet delay budget (PDB), information, for instance, the PDB is equal or smaller than the cycle time. Accordingly, the resilience parameter can be a function of the ST 201, i.e., it can be derived considering the ST 201, e.g., x=f(Tsurvival; y) can be used as the resilience parameter, where y can be parameter obtained from the TSN traffic characteristics. An example can be x=Tsurvival/Tcycle, where x is the resilience parameter that can be communicated between network entities. The resilience parameter can be associated with a network slice, e.g., by means of a slice ID. A slice ID can be, e.g., single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI). In such a case, the ST 201 may be pre-configured for that network slice or network slice instance.
By means of this mechanism, the RAN entity 100 (and thus generally the RAN) is made aware that the application 103 can survive a certain number of consecutive packet errors and/or packet losses. In such a case, the PER 202 of the QoS characteristics 200 can be interpreted as the Error Rate within the ST (i.e., ERS for short).
The aforementioned strategy, as illustrated in
In this example, 99% of the running time the RAN operates with higher spectral efficiency (i.e., with a reliability target of p0=10−2). This is much more efficient than operating 100% of the running time with lower spectral efficiency (i.e., with a reliability target of p0=p1=10−3 or even p0=10−6).
In another implementation example, the ST 201 may be implicitly captured by the QoS characteristics 200, as shown in
In the previous implementation examples, the ST 201 and/or ST-related information 401 can be sent, as the information 101 or included in the information 101, from the CN to the RAN entity 101, e.g., via the CN-RAN interface (e.g., the N2 interface between Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) and NG-RAN, in accordance with N2 signaling procedures).
If the ST 201 is to be sent to the UE 106, NAS protocols can be used. In this example, Radio Resource Control (RRC) can configure an ST-based counter on the UE side and can also configure error-triggered Channel State Information (CSI) reporting based on the ST, e.g., ST-DL. Based on the RRC configuration, a new counter can be established at the UE 106, which can be used for, e.g., error-triggered CSI reporting.
If the communication takes place between two UEs 106, the communication on the SL can be configured based on the ST-SL, where ST-SL may be equivalent to any of the flow directions, e.g., ST-SL=ST-UL or ST-SL=ST-DL.
The information on the ST 201 can be used by the RAN, e.g., by the RAN entity 100, for admission control. For example, a PDU session with relaxed ST 201 (i.e., longer ST) may be admitted while a strict ST 201 may be rejected due to resource overload.
The ST 201 can be provided as UE-specific information. This can be the case, e.g., when the UE 106 or the TSN system 500 attached to the UE 106, has a specific service or application 103. In such a case, the ST 210 may be included as part of UE registration.
At the gNB 100, when a packet loss indication is received from UE4 (e.g., NACK after performing all retransmissions, if there are retransmissions), the scheduler lists the UEs 106 with DL transmissions. The gNB 100 categorizes the UEs 106 based on traffic type—such as non-real-time (NRT) (e.g., TCP traffic), real-time (RT) for cyclic non-deterministic data, and isochronous real-time (IRT) for cyclic deterministic data with very low jitter—, ST-DL, cycle time, and failure state. The length of the bars under ST-DL indicate the duration of the ST 201 (e.g., UE3 has the longest ST 201, while UE2 has the shortest ST 201). Under the “status” mark, the number of packet losses are indicated by small bars. For instance, UE2 has 3 consecutive packet losses out of 4 tolerable consecutive packet losses (i.e., the ST 201 of UE2). Upon UE4 not receiving a packet correctly (i.e., packet loss), a NACK is sent to the gNB 100, and the gNB 100 can mark this, as illustrated in
Here, the service priority can also be taken into account. The service priority can be indicated under the QoS characteristics 200 and/or QoS profiles, e.g., Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP). As TSN communication is typically periodic, the UEs 106 may be configured for Semi-Persistent Scheduling (SPS), as shown. After a packet loss (e.g., Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) failure of the last transmission of UE4), UE4 can be switched from SPS to dynamic scheduling. This can be performed by RRC configuration or via Downlink Control Information (DCI) transmission by the gNB 100. Such configuration may override the existing SPS allocation in the corresponding subframe and/or provide additional resources to the UE 106. The UE 106, here UE4, directly after the CRC failure of the last retransmission, can switch to the expected dynamic scheduling and look for DCI in the next DL subframe. This may have the benefit of reducing the search complexity at the UE 106. As shown on the left side of
This embodiment can also have the advantage of utilizing the ST 201 to adapt computational power per link, i.e., larger ST can imply less computational power for the first packets. Thus, the 5GS can support more URLLC links.
In
Here, the gNB 100 shares ST information with the UE 106, e.g., ST-DL. Directly after DL CRC failure of the last retransmission, the ST counter 800 starts at the UE 106. Based on the counter 800, the UE 106 triggers CSI reporting to assist the gNB 100 for proper scheduling. The UE 106 can report CSI on Grant-Free (GF) UL resources allocated by the gNB 100 via RRC. The level of detail of CSI information can depend on the ST counter 800. That is, the closer the ST expiration deadline, the more detailed the CSI report sent by the UE 106.
CSI levels may differ in terms of, e.g., CQI resolution (wide band, sub-band, or even per Resource Element, RE) and number of extra parameters needed for scheduling, e.g., RSRP, RI, PMI, etc. With more detailed CSI feedback, more efficient scheduling can be applied.
Here, the service priority can also be taken into account. The service priority can be indicated under the QoS characteristics 200 and/or QoS profiles, e.g., ARP. The new resource allocation configuration can be provided via an UL-DCI. A UE-specific search space can be used to reduce the complexity of the search as also indicated in the figure. Such resource configuration may override the existing SPS configuration and/or provide additional resources to the UE 106. In case of packet loss or packet losses within the ST 201, a UE 106 can be given more resources as shown on the left side of
This embodiment can also have the advantage of utilizing ST 201 to adapt computational power per link, i.e., larger ST 201 can imply less computational power for the first packets. Thus, the 5GS can support more URLLC links.
In the aforementioned embodiments, further information can be provided on the TSN communication characteristics. For instance, the RAN, e.g., the RAN entity 100, can take into account the jitter information of the packets to estimate whether the next packet would arrive within the ST 201 or not. Considering the correlation of the packets such that a packet with jitter implies that the next packet may also come with a similar jitter, the RAN, e.g., the RAN entity, may determine whether the next packet may arrive on time, i.e., within the ST 201. If the estimation is that the next packet may not arrive within the ST 201, the RAN, e.g., the RAN entity 100, may increase the reliability of the current packet transmission to fulfill the ST requirement.
The aforementioned embodiments can be adapted to different deployment architectures. For instance, if a disaggregated gNB 100 is deployed (e.g., gNB 100 is split into a central unit (CU) and distributed unit (DU), where there is an F1 interface between a CU and DU), the TSN communication characteristics (i.e., ST, cycle time, start of the packet transmission, etc.) can be communicated from the CU to the DU or DUs via F1 signaling, e.g., F1AP protocol. In case of the split of control plane and user plane, an E1 interface exists between the control plane and user plane. In such case, TSN communication characteristics can be communicated over the E1 interface. In case of master node (MN) and secondary node (SN) deployment, the information on the aforementioned TSN communication characteristics can be transmitted over the Xn interface between MN and SN. Packet duplication, e.g., Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) duplication, can be used to increase the reliability within the ST 201. For example, packet duplication may not be used for the first packet transmission; however, if the first packet is lost, packet duplication may be activated for the next packet transmission to fulfill the ST requirement.
In the following, embodiments are described, which may use the above embodiments fully or partially, and wherein some extensions are applied to new use cases.
As shown in
As shown in
In SL Mode 2, a UE 106 autonomously selects its transmission resources from resource pools and performs transport format selection to transmit SL data. There can be up to 8 transmission pools either pre-configured for out-of-coverage operation or provided by RRC signaling for in-coverage operation. Each pool can have one or more ProSe Per-Packet Priority (PPPP) values associated with it. For transmission of a MAC PDU, the UE 106 selects a transmission pool with an associated PPPP equal to the highest PPPP among the logical channels identified in the MAC PDU. The UE 106 performs sensing for selection of sidelink resources within the selected transmission pool. Based on sensing results, the UE (re)selects specific sidelink resources and may reserve periodically recurring (i.e., semi-persistent) sidelink resources. The application layer at the UE 106 sets the ProSe Per-Packet Priority (PPPP) for each packet when passing it to lower layers (PHY, MAC) for transmission. When lower layers receive the packet, they select one of the configured transmission pools (based on PPPP) and corresponding transmission parameters (Tx power, CR limit, MCS range, RB range, retransmission range) based on the PPPP and measured CBR.
In one embodiment, a ST counter 800 state can be transmitted by the application layer at the UE 106 to the lower layers together with PPPP information and/or QoS information. When lower layers have ST counter 800 information, they may select the transmission parameters not only based on the PPPP and measured CBR but also based on the state of the ST counter 800. In one embodiment, an additional parameter known as ProSe Per-Packet Reliability (PPPR) can also be used as part of the transmission parameter selection process, together with PPPP and ST counter information.
As shown in
The UE 1600 may comprise processing circuitry (not shown) configured to perform, conduct or initiate the various operations of the UE 1600 described herein. The processing circuitry may comprise hardware and software. The hardware may comprise analog circuitry or digital circuitry, or both analog and digital circuitry. The digital circuitry may comprise components such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), or multi-purpose processors. In one embodiment, the processing circuitry comprises one or more processors and a non-transitory memory connected to the one or more processors. The non-transitory memory may carry executable program code which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the UE 1600 to perform, conduct or initiate the operations or methods described herein.
The UE 1600 is configured to, if a transmission failure occurs in a SPS transmission of application data to and/or from the UE 1600, receive control information 1601, wherein the control information 1601 comprises a dynamic resource allocation 1602 to override or extend a configured resource allocation 1603 for a subsequent SPS transmission of application data to and/or from the UE 1600. The dynamic resource allocation 1602 provides a higher redundancy for the subsequent transmission than the configured resource allocation 1603.
It is to be noted the TSN communication characteristics can be included inside a Time Sensitive Communication (TSC) Assistance Information (TSCAI) or TSN communication characteristics can be referred as TSCAI. Accordingly, the at least one resilience parameter can be included in a TSCAI. The TSCAI can be thus associated with a QoS flow.
The present invention has been described in conjunction with various embodiments as examples as well as implementations. However, other variations can be understood and effected by those persons skilled in the art and practicing the claimed invention, from the studies of the drawings, this disclosure and the independent claims. In the claims as well as in the description the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. A single element or other unit may fulfill the functions of several entities or items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in the mutual different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used in an advantageous implementation.
This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/EP2019/061019, filed on Apr. 30, 2019, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/EP2019/061019 | Apr 2019 | US |
Child | 17516288 | US |