Patent Application
20250113253
The invention relates to wireless communications, and more particularly to apparatuses, systems, and methods for split-bearer enhancements during dual-connectivity operation, e.g., in cellular systems, such as 5G New Radio (NR) systems and beyond (e.g., 6G and/or NextG).
Wireless communication systems are rapidly growing in usage. In recent years, wireless devices such as smart phones, wearable devices or accessory devices), and tablet computers have become increasingly sophisticated. In addition to supporting telephone calls, many mobile devices now provide access to the internet, email, text messaging, and navigation using the global positioning system (GPS), and are capable of operating sophisticated applications that utilize these functionalities.
Long Term Evolution (LTE) is currently the technology of choice for the majority of wireless network operators worldwide, providing mobile broadband data and high-speed Internet access to their subscriber base. LTE was first proposed in 2004 and was first standardized in 2008. Since then, as usage of wireless communication systems has expanded exponentially, demand has risen for wireless network operators to support a higher capacity for a higher density of mobile broadband users. Thus, in 2015 study of a new radio access technology began and, in 2017, a first release of Fifth Generation New Radio (5G NR) was standardized.
5G-NR, also simply referred to as NR, provides, as compared to LTE, a higher capacity for a higher density of mobile broadband users, while also supporting device-to-device, ultra-reliable, and massive machine type communications with lower latency and/or lower battery consumption. Further, NR may allow for more flexible UE scheduling as compared to current LTE. Consequently, efforts are being made in ongoing developments of 5G-NR to take advantage of higher throughputs possible at higher frequencies.
Embodiments relate to wireless communications, and more particularly to apparatuses, systems, and methods for split-bearer enhancements during dual-connectivity operation, e.g., in cellular systems such as beyond 5G NR systems, e.g., such as NextG, 6G, and so forth systems.
For example, in some embodiments, a base station may be configured to set up a split-bearer for a UE operating in a dual-connectivity mode and connected to at least two cell groups (CGs) supported by the base station (acting as a hosting base station) and one or more corresponding base stations. The set up of the split bearer may include a ratio of a split of data to be delivered to the UE via the hosting base station and data to be delivered to the UE via the one or more corresponding base stations. Additionally, the base station may be configured to transmit, based on the ratio of the split, a first portion of the data destined for the UE via a connection with the UE and a second portion of the data destined for the UE to the one or more corresponding base stations via a connection with the one or more corresponding base stations. Further, the base station may be configured to adjust, based at least in part on one or more split-bearer quality reports received from the UE, the ratio of the split. The ratio of the split may be based on one or more of packet count, bytes, and/or throughput.
As another example, in some embodiments, a UE may be configured to set up a split-bearer with a hosting base station and one or more corresponding base stations. The set up of the split bearer may include a ratio of a split of data to be delivered to the UE via the hosting base station and data to be delivered to the UE via the one or more corresponding base stations. Additionally, the UE may be configured to receive, based on the ratio of the split, a first portion of the data via a connection with the hosting base station and a second portion of the data via a connection the one or more corresponding base stations. Further, the UE may transmit one or more split-bearer quality reports to the hosting base station. The split-bearer quality reports may be transmitted periodically in a continuous manner and/or aperiodically (e.g., event driven) based on predetermined or prespecified threshold conditions.
The techniques described herein may be implemented in and/or used with a number of different types of devices, including but not limited to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned aerial controllers (UACs), a UTM server, base stations, access points, cellular phones, tablet computers, wearable computing devices, portable media players, and any of various other computing devices.
This Summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subject matter described in this document. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the above-described features are merely examples and should not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following Detailed Description, Figures, and Claims.
A better understanding of the present subject matter can be obtained when the following detailed description of various embodiments is considered in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:
While the features described herein may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to be limiting to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims.
Various acronyms are used throughout the present disclosure. Definitions of the most prominently used acronyms that may appear throughout the present disclosure are provided below:
The following is a glossary of terms used in this disclosure:
Memory Medium—Any of various types of non-transitory memory devices or storage devices. The term “memory medium” is intended to include an installation medium, e.g., a CD-ROM, floppy disks, or tape device; a computer system memory or random-access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; a non-volatile memory such as a Flash, magnetic media, e.g., a hard drive, or optical storage; registers, or other similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium may include other types of non-transitory memory as well or combinations thereof. In addition, the memory medium may be located in a first computer system in which the programs are executed, or may be located in a second different computer system which connects to the first computer system over a network, such as the Internet. In the latter instance, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer for execution. The term “memory medium” may include two or more memory mediums which may reside in different locations, e.g., in different computer systems that are connected over a network. The memory medium may store program instructions (e.g., embodied as computer programs) that may be executed by one or more processors.
Carrier Medium—a memory medium as described above, as well as a physical transmission medium, such as a bus, network, and/or other physical transmission medium that conveys signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digital signals.
Programmable Hardware Element—includes various hardware devices comprising multiple programmable function blocks connected via a programmable interconnect. Examples include FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays), PLDs (Programmable Logic Devices), FPOAs (Field Programmable Object Arrays), and CPLDs (Complex PLDs). The programmable function blocks may range from fine grained (combinatorial logic or look up tables) to coarse grained (arithmetic logic units or processor cores). A programmable hardware element may also be referred to as “reconfigurable logic”.
Computer System (or Computer)—any of various types of computing or processing systems, including a personal computer system (PC), mainframe computer system, workstation, network appliance, Internet appliance, personal digital assistant (PDA), television system, grid computing system, or other device or combinations of devices. In general, the term “computer system” can be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combination of devices) having at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.
User Equipment (UE) (or “UE Device”)—any of various types of computer systems devices which are mobile or portable and which performs wireless communications. Examples of UE devices include mobile telephones or smart phones (e.g., iPhone™, Android™-based phones), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS™, PlayStation Portable™, Gameboy Advance™, iPhone™), laptops, wearable devices (e.g., smart watch, smart glasses), PDAS, portable Internet devices, music players, data storage devices, other handheld devices, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (e.g., drones), UAV controllers (UACs), and so forth. In general, the term “UE” or “UE device” can be broadly defined to encompass any electronic, computing, and/or telecommunications device (or combination of devices) which is easily transported by a user and capable of wireless communication.
Base Station—The term “Base Station” has the full breadth of its ordinary meaning, and at least includes a wireless communication station installed at a fixed location and used to communicate as part of a wireless telephone system or radio system.
Processing Element (or Processor)—refers to various elements or combinations of elements that are capable of performing a function in a device, such as a user equipment or a cellular network device. Processing elements may include, for example: processors and associated memory, portions or circuits of individual processor cores, entire processor cores, processor arrays, circuits such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), programmable hardware elements such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA), as well any of various combinations of the above.
Channel—a medium used to convey information from a sender (transmitter) to a receiver. It should be noted that since characteristics of the term “channel” may differ according to different wireless protocols, the term “channel” as used herein may be considered as being used in a manner that is consistent with the standard of the type of device with reference to which the term is used. In some standards, channel widths may be variable (e.g., depending on device capability, band conditions, etc.). For example, LTE may support scalable channel bandwidths from 1.4 MHz to 20 MHz. In contrast, WLAN channels may be 22 MHz wide while Bluetooth channels may be 1 Mhz wide. Other protocols and standards may include different definitions of channels. Furthermore, some standards may define and use multiple types of channels, e.g., different channels for uplink or downlink and/or different channels for different uses such as data, control information, etc.
Band—The term “band” has the full breadth of its ordinary meaning, and at least includes a section of spectrum (e.g., radio frequency spectrum) in which channels are used or set aside for the same purpose.
Wi-Fi—The term “Wi-Fi” (or WiFi) has the full breadth of its ordinary meaning, and at least includes a wireless communication network or RAT that is serviced by wireless LAN (WLAN) access points and which provides connectivity through these access points to the Internet. Most modern Wi-Fi networks (or WLAN networks) are based on IEEE 802.11 standards and are marketed under the name “Wi-Fi”. A Wi-Fi (WLAN) network is different from a cellular network.
3GPP Access—refers to accesses (e.g., radio access technologies) that are specified by 3GPP standards. These accesses include, but are not limited to, GSM/GPRS, LTE, LTE-A, and/or 5G NR. In general, 3GPP access refers to various types of cellular access technologies.
Non-3GPP Access—refers any accesses (e.g., radio access technologies) that are not specified by 3GPP standards. These accesses include, but are not limited to, WiMAX, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, WLAN, and/or fixed networks. Non-3GPP accesses may be split into two categories, “trusted” and “untrusted”: Trusted non-3GPP accesses can interact directly with an evolved packet core (EPC) and/or a 5G core (5GC) whereas untrusted non-3GPP accesses interwork with the EPC/5GC via a network entity, such as an Evolved Packet Data Gateway and/or a 5G NR gateway. In general, non-3GPP access refers to various types on non-cellular access technologies.
Automatically—refers to an action or operation performed by a computer system (e.g., software executed by the computer system) or device (e.g., circuitry, programmable hardware elements, ASICs, etc.), without user input directly specifying or performing the action or operation. Thus, the term “automatically” is in contrast to an operation being manually performed or specified by the user, where the user provides input to directly perform the operation. An automatic procedure may be initiated by input provided by the user, but the subsequent actions that are performed “automatically” are not specified by the user, i.e., are not performed “manually”, where the user specifies each action to perform. For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting each field and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typing information, selecting check boxes, radio selections, etc.) is filling out the form manually, even though the computer system must update the form in response to the user actions. The form may be automatically filled out by the computer system where the computer system (e.g., software executing on the computer system) analyzes the fields of the form and fills in the form without any user input specifying the answers to the fields. As indicated above, the user may invoke the automatic filling of the form, but is not involved in the actual filling of the form (e.g., the user is not manually specifying answers to fields but rather they are being automatically completed), though the user may choose to revoke or revise the automatically filled form for accuracy or certain optimization. The present specification provides various examples of operations being automatically performed in response to actions the user has taken.
Approximately—refers to a value that is almost correct or exact. For example, approximately may refer to a value that is within 1 to 10 percent of the exact (or desired) value. It should be noted, however, that the actual threshold value (or tolerance) may be application dependent. For example, in some embodiments, “approximately” may mean within 0.1% of some specified or desired value, while in various other embodiments, the threshold may be, for example, 2%, 3%, 5%, and so forth, as desired or as required by the particular application.
Concurrent—refers to parallel execution or performance, where tasks, processes, or programs are performed in an at least partially overlapping manner. For example, concurrency may be implemented using “strong” or strict parallelism, where tasks are performed (at least partially) in parallel on respective computational elements, or using “weak parallelism”, where the tasks are performed in an interleaved manner, e.g., by time multiplexing of execution threads.
Various components may be described as “configured to” perform a task or tasks. In such contexts, “configured to” is a broad recitation generally meaning “having structure that” performs the task or tasks during operation. As such, the component can be configured to perform the task even when the component is not currently performing that task (e.g., a set of electrical conductors may be configured to electrically connect a module to another module, even when the two modules are not connected). In some contexts, “configured to” may be a broad recitation of structure generally meaning “having circuitry that” performs the task or tasks during operation. As such, the component can be configured to perform the task even when the component is not currently on. In general, the circuitry that forms the structure corresponding to “configured to” may include hardware circuits.
Various components may be described as performing a task or tasks, for convenience in the description. Such descriptions should be interpreted as including the phrase “configured to.” Reciting a component that is configured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not to invoke 35 U.S.C. § 112 (f) interpretation for that component.
As shown, the example wireless communication system includes a base station 102A which communicates over a transmission medium with one or more wireless devices, such as user devices 106A, 106B, etc., through 106N, as well as accessory devices, such as user devices 107A, 107B. Each of the user devices may be referred to herein as a “user equipment” (UE). Thus, the user devices 106 and 107 are referred to as UEs or UE devices.
The base station (BS) 102A may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or cell site (a “cellular base station”) and may include hardware that enables wireless communication with the UEs 106A through 106N as well as UEs 107A and 107B.
The communication area (or coverage area) of the base station may be referred to as a “cell.” The base station 102A and the UEs 106/107 may be configured to communicate over the transmission medium using any of various radio access technologies (RATs), also referred to as wireless communication technologies, or telecommunication standards, such as, LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), 5G new radio (5G NR), NextG, 6G, etc. Note that if the base station 102A is implemented in the context of LTE, it may alternately be referred to as an ‘eNodeB’ or ‘eNB’. Note that if the base station 102A is implemented in the context of 5G NR, NextG, and/or 6G, it may alternately be referred to as ‘gNodeB’ or ‘gNB’.
As shown, the base station 102A may also be equipped to communicate with a network 100 (e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider, a telecommunication network such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN), and/or the Internet, among various possibilities). Thus, the base station 102A may facilitate communication between the user devices and/or between the user devices and the network 100. In particular, the cellular base station 102A may provide UEs 106/107 with various telecommunication capabilities, such as voice, SMS and/or data services.
Base station 102A and other similar base stations (such as base stations 102B . . . 102N) operating according to the same or a different cellular communication standard may thus be provided as a network of cells, which may provide continuous or nearly continuous overlapping service to UEs 106A-N and similar devices over a geographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.
Thus, while base station 102A may act as a “serving cell” for UEs 106/107 as illustrated in
In some embodiments, base station 102A may be a next generation base station, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR), a NextG, and/or a 6G base station, or “gNB”. In some embodiments, a gNB may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and/or to a NR/NextG, and/or 6G core (NRC) network. In addition, a gNB cell may include one or more transition and reception points (TRPs). In addition, a UE capable of operating according to 5G NR. 6G, and/or NextG may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.
Note that a UE 106/107 may be capable of communicating using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, the UE 106/107 may be configured to communicate using a wireless networking (e.g., Wi-Fi) and/or peer-to-peer wireless communication protocol (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi peer-to-peer, etc.) in addition to at least one cellular communication protocol (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, etc.). The UE 106/107 may also or alternatively be configured to communicate using one or more global navigational satellite systems (GNSS, e.g., GPS or GLONASS), one or more mobile television broadcasting standards (e.g., ATSC-M/H or DVB-H), and/or any other wireless communication protocol, if desired. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.
Note that accessory devices 107A/B may include cellular communication capability and hence are able to directly communicate with cellular base station 102A via a cellular RAT. However, since the accessory devices 107A/B are possibly one or more of communication, output power, and/or battery limited, the accessory devices 107A/B may in some instances selectively utilize the UEs 106A/B as a proxy for communication purposes with the base station 102Aand hence to the network 100. In other words, the accessory devices 107A/B may selectively use the cellular communication capabilities of its companion device (e.g., UEs 106A/B) to conduct cellular communications. The limitation on communication abilities of the accessory devices 107A/B may be permanent, e.g., due to limitations in output power or the RATs supported, or temporary, e.g., due to conditions such as current battery status, inability to access a network, or poor reception.
The UE 106/107 may include a processor that is configured to execute program instructions stored in memory. The UE 106/107 may perform any of the method embodiments described herein by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively, or in addition, the UE 106/107 may include a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (field-programmable gate array) that is configured to perform any of the method embodiments described herein, or any portion of any of the method embodiments described herein.
The UE 106/107 may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols or technologies. In some embodiments, the UE 106 may be configured to communicate using, for example, LTE/LTE-Advanced, 5G NR, or NextG/6G using a single shared radio and/or LTE, LTE-Advanced, 5G NR, or NextG/6G using the single shared radio. The shared radio may couple to a single antenna, or may couple to multiple antennas (e.g., for MIMO) for performing wireless communications. In general, a radio may include any combination of a baseband processor, analog RF signal processing circuitry (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or digital processing circuitry (e.g., for digital modulation as well as other digital processing). Similarly, the radio may implement one or more receive and transmit chains using the aforementioned hardware. For example, the UE 106/107 may share one or more parts of a receive and/or transmit chain between multiple wireless communication technologies, such as those discussed above.
In some embodiments, the UE 106/107 may include separate transmit and/or receive chains (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol with which it is configured to communicate. As a further possibility, the UE 106/107 may include one or more radios which are shared between multiple wireless communication protocols, and one or more radios which are used exclusively by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, the UE 106/107 might include a shared radio for communicating using either of 5G NR/6G/NextG, and separate radios for communicating using each of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Other configurations are also possible.
The base station 102 may include at least one network port 270. The network port 270 may be configured to couple to a telephone network and provide a plurality of devices, such as UE devices 106, access to the telephone network as described above in
The network port 270 (or an additional network port) may also or alternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility related services and/or other services to a plurality of devices, such as UE devices 106. In some cases, the network port 270 may couple to a telephone network via the core network, and/or the core network may provide a telephone network (e.g., among other UE devices serviced by the cellular service provider).
In some embodiments, base station 102 may be a next generation base station, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR)/6G/NextG base station, or “gNB”. In such embodiments, base station 102 may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and/or to a NR/6G/NextG core (NRC) network. In addition, base station 102 may be considered a 5G NR/NextG/6G cell and may include one or more transition and reception points (TRPs). In addition, a UE capable of operating according to 5G NR/6G/NextG may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.
The base station 102 may include at least one antenna 234, and possibly multiple antennas. The at least one antenna 234 may be configured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with UE devices 106 via radio 230. The antenna 234 communicates with the radio 230 via communication chain 232. Communication chain 232 may be a receive chain, a transmit chain or both. The radio 230 may be configured to communicate via various wireless communication standards, including, but not limited to, 6G/NextG, 5G NR, LTE, LTE-A, Wi-Fi, etc.
The base station 102 may be configured to communicate wirelessly using multiple wireless communication standards. In some instances, the base station 102 may include multiple radios, which may enable the base station 102 to communicate according to multiple wireless communication technologies. For example, as one possibility, the base station 102 may include an LTE or 5G NR radio for performing communication according to LTE/5G NR as well as a 6G/NextG radio for performing communication according to 6G/NextG. In such a case, the base station 102 may be capable of operating as both an LTE/5G NR base station and a 6G/NextG base station. As another possibility, the base station 102 may include a multi-mode radio which is capable of performing communications according to any of multiple wireless communication technologies (e.g., 5G NR and Wi-Fi, LTE and Wi-Fi, 6G/NextG and Wi-Fi, etc.).
As described further subsequently herein, the BS 102 may include hardware and software components for implementing or supporting implementation of features described herein. The processor 204 of the base station 102 may be configured to implement or support implementation of part or all of the methods described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, the processor 204 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), or a combination thereof. Alternatively (or in addition) the processor 204 of the BS 102, in conjunction with one or more of the other components 230, 232, 234, 240, 250, 260, 270 may be configured to implement or support implementation of part or all of the features described herein.
In addition, as described herein, processor(s) 204 may be comprised of one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in processor(s) 204. Thus, processor(s) 204 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of processor(s) 204. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processor(s) 204.
Further, as described herein, radio 230 may be comprised of one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in radio 230. Thus, radio 230 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of radio 230. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of radio 230.
The server 104 may be configured to provide a plurality of devices, such as base station 102. UE devices 106, and/or UTM 108, access to network functions, e.g., as further described herein.
In some embodiments, the server 104 may be part of a radio access network, such as a 5G New Radio (5G NR) radio access network and/or a 6G or NextG radio access network. In some embodiments, the server 104 may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and/or to a NR core (NRC) network.
As described further subsequently herein, the server 104 may include hardware and software components for implementing or supporting implementation of features described herein. The processor 344 of the server 104 may be configured to implement or support implementation of part or all of the methods described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, the processor 344 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), or a combination thereof. Alternatively (or in addition) the processor 344 of the server 104, in conjunction with one or more of the other components 354, 364, and/or 374 may be configured to implement or support implementation of part or all of the features described herein.
In addition, as described herein, processor(s) 344 may be comprised of one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in processor(s) 344. Thus, processor(s) 344 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of processor(s) 344. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processor(s) 344.
For example, the communication device 106/107 may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash 410), an input/output interface such as connector I/F 420 (e.g., for connecting to a computer system; dock; charging station; input devices, such as a microphone, camera, keyboard; output devices, such as speakers; etc.), the display 460, which may be integrated with or external to the communication device 106/107, and wireless communication circuitry 430. The wireless communication circuitry 430 may include a cellular modem 434 such as for 6G/NextG, 5G NR. LTE, LTE-A, etc., and short to medium range wireless communication logic 436 (e.g., Bluetooth™ and WLAN circuitry). In some embodiments, communication device 106/107 may include wired communication circuitry (not shown), such as a network interface card, e.g., for Ethernet.
The wireless communication circuitry 430 may couple (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas 435a, 435b, and 435c (e.g., 435a-c) as shown. The wireless communication circuitry 430 may include local area network (LAN) logic 432, the cellular modem 434, and/or short-range communication logic 436. The LAN logic 432 may be for enabling the UE device 106/107 to perform LAN communications, such as Wi-Fi communications on an 802.11 network, and/or other WLAN communications. The short-range communication logic 436 may be for enabling the UE device 106/107 to perform communications according to a short-range RAT, such as Bluetooth or UWB communications. In some scenarios, the cellular modem 434 may be a lower power cellular modem capable of performing cellular communication according to one or more cellular communication technologies.
In some embodiments, as further described below, cellular modem 434 may include dedicated receive chains (including and/or coupled to, e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly. dedicated processors and/or radios) for multiple RATs (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE/5G NR and a second receive chain for 6G/NextG). In addition, in some embodiments, cellular modem 434 may include a single transmit chain that may be switched between radios dedicated to specific RATs. For example, a first radio may be dedicated to a first RAT, e.g., 5G NR or LTE, and may be in communication with a dedicated receive chain and a transmit chain shared with an additional radio, e.g., a second radio that may be dedicated to a second RAT, e.g., 6G/NextG, and may be in communication with a dedicated receive chain and the shared transmit chain.
The communication device 106/107 may also include and/or be configured for use with one or more user interface elements. The user interface elements may include any of various elements, such as display 460 (which may be a touchscreen display), a keyboard (which may be a discrete keyboard or may be implemented as part of a touchscreen display), a mouse, a microphone and/or speakers, one or more cameras, one or more buttons, and/or any of various other elements capable of providing information to a user and/or receiving or interpreting user input.
The communication device 106/107 may further include one or more smart cards 445 that include SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) functionality, such as one or more UICC(s) (Universal Integrated Circuit Card(s)) cards 445. Note that the term “SIM” or “SIM entity” is intended to include any of various types of SIM implementations or SIM functionality, such as the one or more UICC(s) cards 445, one or more eUICCs, one or more eSIMs, either removable or embedded, etc. In some embodiments, the UE 106/107 may include at least two SIMs. Each SIM may execute one or more SIM applications and/or otherwise implement SIM functionality. Thus, each SIM may be a single smart card that may be embedded, e.g., may be soldered onto a circuit board in the UE 106/107, or each SIM 410 may be implemented as a removable smart card. Thus, the SIM(s) may be one or more removable smart cards (such as UICC cards, which are sometimes referred to as “SIM cards”), and/or the SIMS 410 may be one or more embedded cards (such as embedded UICCs (eUICCs), which are sometimes referred to as “eSIMs” or “eSIM cards”). In some embodiments (such as when the SIM(s) include an eUICC), one or more of the SIM(s) may implement embedded SIM (eSIM) functionality; in such an embodiment, a single one of the SIM(s) may execute multiple SIM applications. Each of the SIMs may include components such as a processor and/or a memory; instructions for performing SIM/eSIM functionality may be stored in the memory and executed by the processor. In some embodiments, the UE 106/107 may include a combination of removable smart cards and fixed/non-removable smart cards (such as one or more eUICC cards that implement eSIM functionality), as desired. For example, the UE 106/107 may comprise two embedded SIMs, two removable SIMs, or a combination of one embedded SIMs and one removable SIMs. Various other SIM configurations are also contemplated.
As noted above, in some embodiments, the UE 106/107 may include two or more SIMs. The inclusion of two or more SIMs in the UE 106/107 may allow the UE 106/107 to support two different telephone numbers and may allow the UE 106/107 to communicate on corresponding two or more respective networks. For example, a first SIM may support a first RAT such as LTE, and a second SIM 410 support a second RAT such as 5G NR. Other implementations and RATs are of course possible. In some embodiments, when the UE 106/107 comprises two SIMs, the UE 106/107 may support Dual SIM Dual Active (DSDA) functionality. The DSDA functionality may allow the UE 106/107 to be simultaneously connected to two networks (and use two different RATs) at the same time, or to simultaneously maintain two connections supported by two different SIMs using the same or different RATs on the same or different networks. The DSDA functionality may also allow the UE 106/107 to simultaneously receive voice calls or data traffic on either phone number. In certain embodiments the voice call may be a packet switched communication. In other words, the voice call may be received using voice over LTE (VOLTE) technology, voice over NR (VONR) technology, and/or voice over IP (VOIP). In some embodiments, the UE 106/107 may support Dual SIM Dual Standby (DSDS) functionality. The DSDS functionality may allow either of the two SIMs in the UE 106/107 to be on standby waiting for a voice call and/or data connection. In DSDS, when a call/data is established on one SIM, the other SIM is no longer active. In some embodiments, DSDx functionality (either DSDA or DSDS functionality) may be implemented with a single SIM (e.g., a eUICC) that executes multiple SIM applications for different carriers and/or RATs.
As shown, the SOC 400 may include processor(s) 402, which may execute program instructions for the communication device 106 and display circuitry 404, which may perform graphics processing and provide display signals to the display 460. The processor(s) 402 may also be coupled to memory management unit (MMU) 440, which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor(s) 402 and translate those addresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 406, read only memory (ROM) 450, NAND flash memory 410) and/or to other circuits or devices, such as the display circuitry 404, short to medium range wireless communication circuitry 429, cellular communication circuitry 430, connector I/F 420, and/or display 460. The MMU 440 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or set up. In some embodiments, the MMU 440 may be included as a portion of the processor(s) 402.
As noted above, the communication device 106 may be configured to communicate using wireless and/or wired communication circuitry. The communication device 106 may be configured to perform methods for split-bearer enhancements during dual-connectivity operation, as further described herein.
As described herein, the communication device 106/107may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features for a communication device 106/107 to communicate a scheduling profile for power savings to a network. The processor 402 of the communication device 106/107may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), processor 402 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition) the processor 402 of the communication device 106, in conjunction with one or more of the other components 400, 404, 406, 410, 420, 429, 430, 440, 445, 450, 460 may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein.
In addition, as described herein, processor 402 may include one or more processing elements. Thus, processor 402 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of processor 402. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processor(s) 402.
Further, as described herein, cellular communication circuitry 430 and short to medium range wireless communication circuitry 429 may each include one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in cellular communication circuitry 430 and, similarly, one or more processing elements may be included in short to medium range wireless communication circuitry 429. Thus, cellular communication circuitry 430 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of cellular communication circuitry 430. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of cellular communication circuitry 430. Similarly, the short to medium range wireless communication circuitry 429 may include one or more ICs that are configured to perform the functions of short to medium range wireless communication circuitry 429. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of short to medium range wireless communication circuitry 429.
The cellular communication circuitry 530 may couple (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas 535a-c (which may be antennas 435a-c of
As shown, modem 510 may include one or more processors 512 and a memory 516 in communication with processors 512. Modem 510 may be in communication with a radio frequency (RF) front end 530. RF front end 530 may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, RF front end 530 may include receive circuitry (RX) 532 and transmit circuitry (TX) 534. In some embodiments, receive circuitry 532 may be in communication with downlink (DL) front end 550, which may include circuitry for receiving radio signals via antenna 535a.
Similarly, modem 520 may include one or more processors 522 and a memory 526 in communication with processors 522. Modem 520 may be in communication with an RF front end 540. RF front end 540 may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, RF front end 540 may include receive circuitry 542 and transmit circuitry 544. In some embodiments, receive circuitry 542 may be in communication with DL front end 560, which may include circuitry for receiving radio signals via antenna 535b.
In some embodiments, a switch 570 may couple transmit circuitry 534 to uplink (UL) front end 572. In addition, switch 570 may couple transmit circuitry 544 to UL front end 572. UL front end 572 may include circuitry for transmitting radio signals via antenna 535c. Thus, when cellular communication circuitry 530 receives instructions to transmit according to the first RAT (e.g., as supported via modem 510), switch 570 may be switched to a first state that allows modem 510 to transmit signals according to the first RAT (e.g., via a transmit chain that includes transmit circuitry 534 and UL front end 572). Similarly, when cellular communication circuitry 530 receives instructions to transmit according to the second RAT (e.g., as supported via modem 520), switch 570 may be switched to a second state that allows modem 520 to transmit signals according to the second RAT (e.g., via a transmit chain that includes transmit circuitry 544 and UL front end 572).
In some embodiments, the cellular communication circuitry 530 may be configured to perform methods for split-bearer enhancements during dual-connectivity operation, as further described herein.
As described herein, the modem 510 may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features or for time division multiplexing UL data for NSA NR operations, as well as the various other techniques described herein. The processors 512 may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), processor 512 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition) the processor 512, in conjunction with one or more of the other components 530, 532, 534, 550, 570, 572, 535a-c may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein.
In addition, as described herein, processors 512 may include one or more processing elements. Thus, processors 512 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of processors 512. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processors 512.
As described herein, the modem 520 may include hardware and software components for implementing the above features for split-bearer enhancements during dual-connectivity operation, e.g., in 5G NR systems and beyond (e.g., NextG, 6G, and so forth), as well as the various other techniques described herein. The processors 522 may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or in addition), processor 522 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition) the processor 522, in conjunction with one or more of the other components 540, 542, 544, 550, 570, 572, 535a-c may be configured to implement part or all of the features described herein.
In addition, as described herein, processors 522 may include one or more processing elements. Thus, processors 522 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform the functions of processors 522. In addition, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processors 522.
In some embodiments, the 5G core network (CN) may be accessed via (or through) a cellular connection/interface (e.g., via a 3GPP communication architecture/protocol) and a non-cellular connection/interface (e.g., a non-3GPP access architecture/protocol such as Wi-Fi connection).
Note that in various embodiments, one or more of the above-described network entities may be configured to perform methods for split-bearer enhancements during dual-connectivity operation, e.g., as further described herein.
Thus, the baseband processor architecture 700 allows for a common 5G-NAS for both 5G cellular and non-cellular (e.g., non-3GPP access). Note that as shown, the 5G MM may maintain individual connection management and registration management state machines for each connection. Additionally, a device (e.g., UE 106) may register to a single PLMN (e.g., 5G CN) using 5G cellular access as well as non-cellular access. Further, it may be possible for the device to be in a connected state in one access and an idle state in another access and vice versa. Finally, there may be common 5G-MM procedures (e.g., registration, de-registration, identification, authentication, as so forth) for both accesses.
Note that in various embodiments, one or more of the above-described functional entities of the 5G NAS and/or 5G AS may be configured to perform methods for split-bearer enhancements during dual-connectivity operation, e.g., in 5G NR systems and beyond (e.g., NextG, 6G, and so forth), e.g., as further described herein.
In current implementations, in a dual connectivity split-bearer setup, a base station hosting a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) entity needs to split a data stream at a PDCP layer. Thus, a first portion of the data stream goes to a local Radio Link Control (RLC) layer of the base station and a second portion is forward via an Xn interface towards a corresponding base station hosting another cell group and fed into an RLC layer of the corresponding base station. At the UE, two streams are received, via a primary (or master) cell group (MCG/PCG) RLC and secondary cell group (SCG) RLC. The two streams are joined at the PDCP layer and the UE performs PDCP reordering to ensure that packets are delivered in-sequence to higher layers. Note that the hosting base station may be either the PCG or the SCG. Likewise, the corresponding base station may be the other of the PCG or the SCG. In other words, either of a PCG or an SCG may determine to split a bearer and become host for the split-bearer.
For example,
Note that a decision to split a bearer is challenging and currently only aided by an Xn flow control mechanism that uses downlink data delivery status reports from the corresponding base station to the hosting base station. Then, based on the reports, the hosting base station decides how much data to forward to the corresponding base station to utilize the additional bandwidth in an optimal way, but at the same time avoid overshooting an amount of data to forward as that can lead to congestion in the corresponding base station and additional latency due to a longer lasting PDCP reordering at the UE side. Further, it can be difficult for the hosting base station if the corresponding base station connection decreases in performance quickly, e.g., due to temporary blockage or the corresponding base station's load conditions, resulting in forwarding too much data to the corresponding base station. Additionally, UE reported layer 3 (L3) measurements of cell groups are relatively slow and cannot solve temporary issues such as load conditions.
Therefore, improvements are desired.
Embodiments described herein provided systems, methods, and mechanisms for split-bearer enhancements during dual-connectivity operation, including systems, methods and mechanisms for a split-bearer quality report and split-bearer PDCP retransmissions across cell groups. For example, a UE may provide instantaneous support information directly to a hosting base station about a corresponding base station's link quality, e.g., via an SCG quality information report in a PCG split-bearer setup or a PCG quality information report in an SCG split-bearer setup. Such a scheme allows for direct UE feedback towards a hosting base station and may be more efficient (and faster) than an Xn flow control algorithm and may avoid unnecessary forwarding of data to a corresponding base station (and/or corresponding base stations) when the corresponding base station's link is (and/or the corresponding base stations' links are) struggling over-the-air. Further, this scheme avoids congestion and resulting longer packet latencies causes by PDCP re-ordering at the UE side. As another example, a UE may report PDCP reordering information directly to a hosting base station for PDCP retransmission. The hosting base station RLC entity and one or more corresponding base stations' RLC entities may operate in un-acknowledged mode (UM) while a hosting base station's PDCP entity may retain (e.g., keep) PDCP PDUs until PDCP acknowledgments are received from the UE. Further, a function at the hosting PDCP entity for split-bearer operation may decide whether missing packets will be re-transmitted via the hosting base station or a corresponding base station(s). Such a scheme may enable the opportunity for a missing packet to be re-transmitted via a different cell group. In the scheme, the UE may send a PDCP status report instead of sending an RLC acknowledgment mode (AM) status report to the hosting base station and other RLC AM status reports to corresponding base stations. The PDCP status report may indicate which PDCP sequence number (SN) is blocking reordering and/or which SNs are missing. The hosting base station knows whether a specific SN was sent by the hosting base station or one of the corresponding base stations and may decide to re-send the specific SN via the other link instead of trying a number of RLC retransmissions over a struggling link.
In some instances, split-bearer quality reports may aid a hosting base station (whether the hosting base station is a primary cell group (PCG) or a secondary cell group (SCG)) to immediately adjust a split (e.g., an amount of data forwarded to one or more corresponding base stations) between the hosting base station and the corresponding base stations. For example, split-bearer quality reports may be layer 1 (L1) measurements and/or channel quality indicator (CQI) reports for the corresponding base stations (e.g., other cell groups). Such split-bearer quality reports may be reported by the UE in a continuous manner to the hosting base station to enable the hosting base station to monitor the corresponding base stations' link qualities. As another example, split-bearer quality reports may be block error rate (BLER) reports sent from the UE to the hosting base station via a Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (CE) and/or via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. BLER reports may include BLER statistics from before and/or after hybrid automatic repeat requests (HARQ). The UE may report the BLER statistics directly towards the hosting base station and/or the UE may report BLER events based on network configured threshold. As a further example, split-bearer quality reports may include PDCP split ratio anomalies. The hosting base station may send PDCP assistance information via PDCP control PDUs and/or RRC signaling. The PDCP assistance information may include split ratio based on packet count, bytes, and/or throughput and the PDCP assistance information can be sent by the hosting base station, corresponding base stations, or both. The UE may observe the split ratio (e.g., based on packet count, bytes, and/or throughput received from the hosting base station and the corresponding base stations) and report anomalies (e.g., a specified deviation from the indicated split ratio) to the hosting base station as split-bearer quality reports. As a yet further example, the UE may report reordering information (e.g., which PDCP SN is blocking the reordering, which SNs are missing, and so forth) as split-bearer quality reports. As noted above, the hosting base station knows whether those SNs are sent by the hosting base station or the corresponding base stations and can adjust its split/forwarding based on the split-bearer quality reports. As an additional example, the UE may report packet/byte count and/or throughput statistics for each cell group (e.g., the hosting base station and the corresponding base stations) as split-bearer quality reports. In addition, the UE may indicate a preferred split ratio based on the UE's internal state (e.g., battery or thermal status) in-band via PDCP Control signaling as a split-bearer quality report.
At 1010, a UE, such as UE 106, may have a dual connectivity setup with a hosting base station 102a and one or more corresponding base stations 102b-n. The dual connectivity setup may be initiated by the UE 106 via request and/or command and/or may be initiated by hosting base station 102a. At 1012, hosting base station 102a (and/or one of and/or one or more of the corresponding base stations 102b-n) may (optionally) provide UE 106 with split assistance information, e.g., via PDCP control PDUs and/or RRC signaling. The PDCP assistance information may include split ratio based on packet count, bytes, and/or throughput. Note that the split ratio may be determined by the hosting base station 102a, e.g., based on observed network conditions, based on a request from UE 106, e.g., based on UE observed network conditions, and/or based on a command from UE 106, e.g., based on UE observed network conditions. The base station 102a may receive downlink data 1014 from the network and perform PDCP splitting of the data at 1016, e.g., based on the split ratio as determined at 1012 and/or 1010. Thus, a portion of the data may be transmitted from hosting base station 102a to UE 106 (e.g., DL PDCP PDU 1 at 1018). Further, hosting base station 102a may forward PDCP data (e.g., DL PDCP PDU 2 at 1020a and DL PDCP PDU 3 at 1022a) to the corresponding base stations 102b-n, e.g., via a backhaul connection which may be wired or wireless (e.g., satellite links, cellular links, and/or WiFi links, in at least some instances). As shown, an initial transmission of DL PDCP PDU 2 (e.g., 1020b) from one of base stations 102b-n may fail to be delivered to UE 106. UE 106 may provide split-bearer quality report 1024 to base station 102a. The split bearer quality report 1024 may include information as described above. At 1026, based on the split-bearer quality report, the base station 102a may adjust splitting of the split-bearer, e.g., based on split-bearer quality report 1024. Note that split-bearer quality report may be one or more split-bearer quality reports sent by UE 106 in a periodic (e.g., continuous manner at pre-determined time intervals) manner or an aperiodic (e.g., based on an occurrence of one or more conditions) manner. Thus, base host station 102a may transmit DL PDCP PDU 4 (e.g., 1028) to UE 106 instead of forwarding it to one of the corresponding base stations 102b-n. Further, DL PDCP PDU 2 may be retransmitted (e.g., 1020c) and DL PDCP PDU 3 (e.g., 1022b) may be transmitted from one of the corresponding base stations 102b-n, thereby avoiding a delay in transmission of DL PDCP PDU 4. At 1028, UE 106 may perform PDCP re-ordering and perform in order delivery at 1030.
At 1202, a hosting base station, such as base station 102a, may set up a split-bearer for a UE, such as UE 106, operating in a dual-connectivity mode and connected to at least two cell groups (CGs) supported by the hosting base station and one or more corresponding base stations, such as base stations 102b and 102n. The set up of the split bearer may include a ratio of a split of data to be delivered to the UE via the hosting base station and data to be delivered to the UE via the one or more corresponding base stations. In some instances, the hosting base station may be a primary cell group (PCG). In some instances, the hosting base station may be a secondary cell group.
At 1204, the hosting base station may transmit, based on the ratio of the split, a first portion of the data to the UE via a connection with the UE and a second portion of the data to the one or more corresponding base stations via a connection with the one or more corresponding base stations, e.g., to be sent to the UE (e.g., via the one or more corresponding base stations). The first portion of data may be transmitted to the UE via a radio link control (RLC) layer connection with the UE. The second portion of data may be transmitted to the one or more corresponding base stations via a RLC layer connection with the one or more corresponding base stations.
In some instances, the connection with the one or more corresponding base stations may be and/or include a backhaul connection. The backhaul connection may be a wired connection, a wireless connection, or a combination of both. The wireless connection may be one or more of a cellular link, a satellite link, and/or a WiFi link. In some instances, the backhaul connection may be via an Xn interface. In some instances, the at least one connection to the one or more corresponding base stations may include and/or be a multi-hop link.
At 1206, the hosting base station may adjust, based at least in part on one or more split-bearer quality reports received from the UE, the ratio of the split. The ratio of the split may be based on one or more of packet count, bytes, and/or throughput. In some instances, the split-bearer quality reports may be received periodically in a continuous manner and/or aperiodically (e.g., event driven) based on predetermined or prespecified threshold conditions.
In some instances, the split-bearer quality reports may be received via a PDCP layer connection with the UE. The split-bearer quality reports may be layer 1 (L1) measurements performed at the UE on the one or more corresponding base stations, channel quality indicator (CQI) reports for the one or more corresponding base stations, and/or block error rate (BLER) reports. The BLER reports may include BLER statistics from before hybrid automatic repeat requests (HARQs) and/or the BLER reports may include BLER statics from after hybrid automatic repeat requests (HARQs). The split-bearer quality reports may be received via a Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (CE) and/or via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. In some instances, the ratio of the split may be a PDCP split ratio and the split-bearer quality reports may (also and/or additionally) be indications of PDCP split ratio anomalies. The PDCP split ratio anomalies may include a specified deviation from the split ratio. In some instances, the split-bearer quality reports may (also and/or additionally) be and/or include reordering information. The reordering information may include one or more of a sequence number (SN) of a data packet blocking reordering or SNs of missing data packets. In some instances, the split-bearer quality reports may (also and/or additionally) include one or more of packet count, byte count, or throughput statistics on a per cell group basis. In some instances, the split-bearer quality reports may (also and/or additionally) include and/or be an indication of a UE preferred split ratio. The UE preferred split ratio may be based on battery status or thermal status of the UE. In such instances, the split-bearer quality report may be received in-band via PDCP control signaling. In some instances, the split-bearer quality reports may include and/or indicate a request and/or a command to switch to a UE preferred split ratio.
In some instances, the split-bearer quality reports may include and/or be PDCP status reports and may be received at a PDCP entity of the hosting base station from a PDCP entity of the UE. The PDCP status reports may indicate one or more of a SN of a data packet blocking reordering and/or SNs of missing data packets. In such instances, the hosting base station may determine, based on the SN of the data packet blocking reordering and/or the SNs of missing data packets, that at least one of the one or more corresponding base stations transmitted the data packet and/or missing data packets and transmit, to the UE, the data packet and/or missing data packets on the connection with the UE.
In some instances, the hosting base station may send, to the UE, split assistance information indicating at least the ratio of the split. The split assistance information may be sent via a Packet Data Control Protocol (PDCP) protocol data unit (PDU) and/or via radio resource control signaling.
At 1302, a UE, such as UE 106, operating in a dual-connectivity mode may set up a split-bearer with a hosting base station, such as base station 102a, and one or more corresponding base stations, such as base stations 102b and 102n. The set up of the split bearer may include a ratio of a split of data to be delivered to the UE via the hosting base station and data to be delivered to the UE via the one or more corresponding base stations. In some instances, the hosting base station may be a primary cell group (PCG). In some instances, the hosting base station may be a secondary cell group. The ratio of the split may be based on one or more of packet count, bytes, and/or throughput.
At 1304, the UE may receive, based on the ratio of the split, a first portion of the data via a connection with the hosting base station and a second portion of the data via a connection the one or more corresponding base stations. The first portion of data may be received by the UE via a radio link control (RLC) layer connection with the hosting base station. The second portion of data may be received via an RLC layer connection with the one or more corresponding base stations.
At 1306, the UE may transmit one or more split-bearer quality reports to the hosting base station. In some instances, the split-bearer quality reports may be transmitted periodically in a continuous manner and/or aperiodically (e.g., event driven) based on predetermined or prespecified threshold conditions.
In some instances, the split-bearer quality reports may be transmitted via a PDCP layer connection with the hosting base station. The split-bearer quality reports may be layer 1 (L1) measurements performed at the UE on the one or more corresponding base stations, channel quality indicator (CQI) reports for the one or more corresponding base stations, and/or block error rate (BLER) reports. The BLER reports may include BLER statistics from before hybrid automatic repeat requests (HARQs) and/or the BLER reports may include BLER statics from after hybrid automatic repeat requests (HARQs). In such instances, the split-bearer quality reports may be transmitted via a Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (CE) and/or via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. In some instances, the ratio of the split may be a PDCP split ratio and the split-bearer quality reports may (also and/or additionally) be indications of PDCP split ratio anomalies. The PDCP split ratio anomalies may include a specified deviation from the split ratio. In some instances, the split-bearer quality reports may (also and/or additionally) be and/or include reordering information. The reordering information may include one or more of a sequence number (SN) of a data packet blocking reordering or SNs of missing data packets. In some instances, the split-bearer quality reports may (also and/or additionally) include one or more of packet count, byte count, or throughput statistics on a per cell group basis. In some instances, the split-bearer quality reports may (also and/or additionally) include and/or be an indication of a UE preferred split ratio. The UE preferred split ratio may be based on battery status or thermal status of the UE. In such instances, the split-bearer quality report may be received in-band via PDCP control signaling. In some instances, the split-bearer quality reports may include and/or indicate a request and/or a command to switch to a UE preferred split ratio.
In some instances, the split-bearer quality reports may include and/or be PDCP status reports and may be received at a PDCP entity of the hosting base station from a PDCP entity of the UE. The PDCP status reports may indicate one or more of a SN of a data packet blocking reordering and/or SNs of missing data packets. In such instances, the hosting base station may determine, based on the SN of the data packet blocking reordering and/or the SNs of missing data packets, that at least one of the one or more corresponding base stations transmitted the data packet and/or missing data packets and transmit, to the UE, the data packet and/or missing data packets on the connection with the UE.
In some instances, the UE may receive, from the hosting base station and/or the one or more corresponding base stations, split assistance information indicating at least the ratio of the split. The split assistance information may be sent via a Packet Data Control Protocol (PDCP) protocol data unit (PDU) and/or via radio resource control signaling.
It is well understood that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled so as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users.
Embodiments of the present disclosure may be realized in any of various forms. For example, some embodiments may be realized as a computer-implemented method, a computer-readable memory medium, or a computer system. Other embodiments may be realized using one or more custom-designed hardware devices such as ASICs. Still other embodiments may be realized using one or more programmable hardware elements such as FPGAs.
In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium may be configured so that it stores program instructions and/or data, where the program instructions, if executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform a method, e.g., any of the method embodiments described herein, or, any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or, any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein, or, any combination of such subsets.
In some embodiments, a device (e.g., a UE 106) may be configured to include a processor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium, where the memory medium stores program instructions, where the processor is configured to read and execute the program instructions from the memory medium, where the program instructions are executable to implement any of the various method embodiments described herein (or, any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or, any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein, or, any combination of such subsets). The device may be realized in any of various forms.
Any of the methods described herein for operating a user equipment (UE) may be the basis of a corresponding method for operating a base station, by interpreting each message/signal X received by the UE in the downlink as message/signal X transmitted by the base station, and each message/signal Y transmitted in the uplink by the UE as a message/signal Y received by the base station.
Although the embodiments above have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.
