System and method for reducing continuous packet loss for delay-critical services

Abstract

A method implemented by a base station, the method comprising: determining a reliability requirement for a packet to be transmitted to a wireless device. The reliability requirement is determined at least in part based on consecutive packet losses associated with at least one previously transmitted packet. Based on the reliability requirement, the packet is transmitted to the wireless device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications and, more particularly, to systems and methods for reducing consecutive packet losses for delay critical traffic. Background Art

[0002] The present disclosure relates to providing new functions in existing radio access networks (RANs) such as 2G, 3G and 4G, and in future RANs such as 5G, 6G, etc. The scope of the functions is about providing new radio interface scheduling functions in connections for industrial applications, including downlink (DL) and uplink (UL).

[0003] The Evolved Packet System (EPS) is an evolved 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) packet-switched domain consisting of the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) and the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN).

[0004] Figure 1 An overview of the non-roaming EPC architecture for 3GPP access is shown. The architecture is defined in 3GPP TS 23.401, which also provides definitions of packet data network gateways (PDN gateways), serving gateways (SGWs), policy and charging rules functions (PCRFs), mobility management entities (MMEs), and mobile devices (e.g., user equipment (UE)), and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio access E-UTRAN includes one or more eNodeBs (eNBs).

[0005] Figure 2 The overall E-UTRAN architecture is shown. E-UTRAN is further defined in, for example, 3GPP TS 36.300 and includes an eNB that provides an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) user plane, including a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), a radio link control (RLC), a media access channel (MAC) and a physical layer (PHY), and a control plane protocol termination toward the UE via a radio resource control (RRC). The main function of the present invention is the MAC scheduler in the MAC protocol layer.

[0006] With the development of radio access and packet core networks, standardization work for the next generation RAN (NG-RAN) and 5G core (5GC) is ongoing. For example, 3GPP TS 23.501 and 3GPP TS 23.502 include stage 2 descriptions.

[0007] Figure 3A 5G system architecture using service-based representation as disclosed in TS 23.501 V15.0.0 is shown. (R)AN, UE and the air interface between them are relevant to the present disclosure.

[0008] Figure 4 A gNode (gNB) such as Figure 3 The internal architecture of a base station (gNB) supporting new radio (NR) radio access technology (RAT) in an (R)AN is shown. The gNB may be referred to as NG-RAN. 3GPP TS 38.401 includes the stage 2 description of NG-RAN.

[0009] Figure 4 It is assumed that both high layer split (HLS) and control plane and user plane split (CP-UP split) have been adopted in the gNB. The MAC scheduler in the MAC protocol layer in the DU is particularly relevant to the present disclosure.

[0010] Quality of Service (QoS) principles have been developed in different mobile network generations in 3GPP. The main principles related to QoS in EPS and 5G System (5GS) are discussed below.

[0011] QoS is managed in EPS at a per-bearer level from the Core Network (CN). The eNB is responsible for establishing radio bearers, radio resource management and enforcing QoS according to the bearer QoS profile - over the radio interface, which may include LTE Uu, for example, in the downlink, and over the transport network in the uplink. Figure 5 An overview of the QoS framework in EPS is shown. A bearer including a QoS profile is established from the PDN GW in the CN, and QoS is enforced in the PDN GW and eNB for the downlink and in the UE and eNB for the uplink.

[0012] Many services and subscribers share the same radio and network resources. For example, real-time services such as voice and video share the same resources with non-real-time services such as Internet browsing and file downloading. One challenge in this area is how to ensure the bit rate, packet delay, packet loss and other QoS requirements of real-time services. 3GPP EPS (i.e. both E-UTRAN and EPC) provides efficient QoS mechanisms to ensure that the user experience of different services sharing the same resources is acceptable. Examples of such mechanisms provided in 3GPP include:

[0013] Service separation: Different service types receive different treatments in the network (queuing, etc.);

[0014] 3GPP provides both relative QoS and absolute QoS (using guaranteed bit rate);

[0015] GBR (guaranteed bit rate) based admission control is used to reserve resources before admitting traffic to the network or denying traffic in other ways;

[0016] • Policy (PCC) can determine what treatment to apply to a traffic flow.

[0017] 3GPP defines the concept of PDN. PDN is in most cases an Internet Protocol (IP) network, such as the Internet or an operator IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) service network. PDN has one or more names, each of which is defined in a string called an Access Point Name (APN). A Packet Gateway (PGW) is a gateway for one or more PDNs. A UE can have one or more PDN connections. A PDN connection is a logical IP tunnel between a UE and a PGW, providing the UE with access to the PDN. The establishment of a PDN connection is initiated by the UE.

[0018] Each PDN connection consists of one or more bearers. Section 4.7.2 of 3GPP TS 23.401 includes a description of the bearer concept. A bearer uniquely identifies a traffic flow that receives common QoS treatment between a UE and a PGW. Each bearer on a specific access has a unique bearer ID. On a 3GPP access, a bearer is end-to-end between a UE and a PGW. Each PDN connection has at least one bearer, which is called a default bearer. All additional bearers on a PDN connection are called dedicated bearers.

[0019] The bearer carries traffic in the form of IP packets or non-IP packets. Filters define what traffic is carried on the bearer. A filter is an n-tuple, where each element in the tuple contains a value, range, or wildcard. An n-tuple is also called an IP flow. An example of a 5-tuple is (dst IP=83.50.20.110, src IP=145.45.68.201, dst port=80, src port=*, prot=TCP). The 5-tuple defines the source and destination IP addresses, source and destination ports, and the protocol. The source port is a wildcard. Traffic that matches this 5-tuple filter will be all TCP traffic from IP=145.45.68.201 to IP=83.50.20.110 and port=80. A traffic flow template (TFT) contains one or more filters. Each bearer has a TFT. A bearer within a PDN connection and access may lack an explicit TFT. This bearer is typically the default bearer. Implicitly, such a bearer has a TFT with a single filter that matches all packets.

[0020] There are two types of bearers: GBR bearers and non-GBR bearers. Each EPS bearer is associated with the following QoS parameters: QoS Class Identifier (QCI) and Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP). GBR bearers are additionally associated with bitrate parameters for guaranteed bit rate (GBR) and maximum bit rate (MBR). Non-GBR bearers do not have bearer-level bitrate parameters. Instead, there is an aggregation push for all non-GBR bearers using the aggregate maximum bit rate (AMBR). Access Point Name-Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate (APN-AMBR) is defined per subscriber and APN, and User Equipment-Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate (UE-AMBR) is defined per subscriber.

[0021] Quality Control Information (QCI) is signaled from the CN to the eNB and defines specific characteristics to be applied to all traffic on that bearer. These characteristics may include: resource type (GBR or non-GBR), priority, packet delay budget (PDB), packet error loss rate, maximum burst size (for some GBR QCIs), and data rate averaging window (for some GBR QCIs).

[0022] QoS is managed in 5GS at each QoS flow level from CN. For example, NG-RAN such as gNB or ng-eNB is responsible for establishing radio bearers for QoS flows, radio resource management, and promoting QoS according to QoS flow profiles - through the radio interface in downlink and the transport network in uplink. Figure 6 An overview of the QoS framework in 5GS is shown. A QoS flow including a QoS profile is established between the User Plane Function (UPF) in 5GC and the UE.

[0023] 5GS defines a new term called Protocol Data Unit (PDU) Session, which is very similar to the PDN connection described above. One difference is that each PDU Session between UPF and NG-RAN typically has only a single N3 / NG-U tunnel (GTP-U tunnel). This means that the mapping of different services / QoS flows to radio bearers is implemented in NG-RAN. For example, a radio bearer can carry one or more QoS flows. QoS flow is the finest granularity of QoS differentiation in a PDU session. Each QoS flow is associated with QoS parameters, which are used to implement correct service forwarding processing. Each packet belongs to a QoS flow, and a PDU session can carry one or more QoS flows.

[0024] QoS flow level QoS parameters can be either non-dynamic or dynamic. The non-dynamic case is very similar to the QCI concept in EPS, but is called 5G QoS Identifier (5QI). This means that the 5QI is signaled from the 5GC to the NG-RAN and defines the main characteristics of the QoS flow. The dynamic case is slightly different because in this case additional characteristics are also signaled from the 5GC to the NG-RAN. These signaled characteristics can include priority level, packet delay budget, packet error rate, delay criticality, averaging window and maximum data burst size.

[0025] Advanced connectivity solutions are essential to support industry development and its mission-critical industrial activities as well as less critical communication needs. Some emerging technology tools and their applications are digital twins, smart workspaces, smart robots, and virtual assistants. Examples of enabling technologies are virtual and augmented reality, data augmentation, additive manufacturing, and IoT platforms.

[0026] The main drivers for wireless connectivity include:

[0027] Replace (or avoid) cables, which are expensive to deploy and maintain / troubleshoot.

[0028] Connecting machine or equipment parts that are not possible or impractical to connect via wires (e.g., fast-moving parts).

[0029] Preventive maintenance and big data analysis by connecting a large number of sensors.

[0030] The industry expectation driving the implementation of 5G technology within operational technology is economies of scale.

[0031] The connectivity requirements of manufacturing use cases are very diverse. Most of the identified industrial automation use cases are currently connected via fixed industrial networks. Typical use cases in this area are motion control, robotic control, production lines and process control. Current wireless connectivity use cases today typically have less critical features such as monitoring and parameterization. In an automotive manufacturing plant, the traffic mainly consists of real-time traffic, which is carried by protocols with a highly integrated protocol stack (e.g. the Profinet real-time stack). The TCP / IP protocol stack is mainly used to carry messages related to startup configuration, notifications and non-critical alarm messages; this type of traffic will increase with preventive monitoring. Therefore, the connectivity requirements are very use case and application specific.

[0032] Latency is expected to be a major deciding factor as to whether a use case can be deployed using LTE or if NR is required. For critical automation use cases, having a guaranteed upper bound on latency is also very important; packets need to arrive on time or they will be considered lost.

[0033] Mobile broadband is the use case that mobile operators are currently profitable in, and therefore it is a use case for them to optimize their networks, and it is also a use case for their suppliers to optimize their products.

[0034] Mobile broadband services are mainly video and network services. Excellent network performance is a very important factor in customer satisfaction, but there are no strict service quality requirements; applications (and consumers) are adaptive and can usually tolerate changes in network performance.

[0035] Most services are carried over transport protocols with reliable message delivery, such as TCP. This means that packet loss is usually only visible to applications when network throughput drops. Applications usually adapt to this throughput change dynamically. Thus, there are no strict requirements for packet loss, but soft requirements for providing a good end-user experience. Similarly, there are no strict network latency requirements. Although there is a relationship between latency and TCP throughput, jitter is usually tolerable. However, packet loss has a greater negative impact on TCP throughput than jitter. As such, 3GPP systems use network-internal retransmissions, such as hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) retransmissions, to deliver packets without an upper limit on latency.

[0036] In contrast to MBB applications, many industrial applications are non-adaptive control systems with strict network performance requirements.

[0037] Some industrial applications consider a communication system to be unusable if the quality of service required by the application is not met. In this context, QoS usually means the ability to successfully deliver packets within a specific upper packet delay budget, and the requirement is usually expressed as a target reliability, which is calculated as a percentage value of the number of transmitted packets successfully delivered within the packet delay budget required by the target application divided by the total number of transmitted packets.

[0038] The tolerance of an application to unsuccessful packet delivery depends in part on the number of consecutively lost application packets that the application can accept before taking emergency measures (e.g., emergency shutdown and production stoppage). The time during which an application can manage certain packet losses without taking emergency measures is called the survival time. The survival time depends on the application implementation and varies widely between different industries and use cases, from 10 seconds down to 10 milliseconds, 1 millisecond, or even 0 milliseconds. Table 5.2.1 of 3GPP TR 22.104 discloses some examples.

[0039] For applications with a time to live equal to 0ms, the reliability requirement (e.g., 10^-6) is the probability that a packet is not delivered in time. Retransmissions within the network (e.g., HARQ retransmissions) may be feasible as long as the complete packet can be delivered within the packet delay budget. If the system fails to deliver the packet in time, the application will consider the packet lost, and in the absence of any time to live, the system will be immediately considered unavailable.

[0040] For applications with a lifetime greater than 0ms, there are not one but two reliability requirements to consider:

[0041] 1. The probability of failure of each individual group (denoted as P1);

[0042] 2. The probability of more than X consecutive unsuccessful groupings (expressed as P X ), where X depends heavily on the survival time.

[0043] If the probability of more than X consecutive packets failing is, for example, 10^-6, then the probability of each individual packet failing may be higher than this probability. If the two error events are independent, then P X =(P1) X .

[0044] For example, an application may accept that one packet is not successfully delivered within the packet delay budget, but if two consecutive packets are not successfully delivered, the application will take emergency measures.

[0045] Figure 7 An example of how two different applications experience the same sequence of events is shown, where the application sends application packets AG, but the communication system is unable to successfully deliver packets B, C, E, F, and G within the expiration time. In the example shown, the survival time of one application is equal to 0ms, while the survival time of the other application is greater than 0ms. As long as packet B is not successfully delivered, the application with a survival time equal to 0ms considers the system unavailable. In this example, the application with a survival time greater than 0ms can tolerate two consecutive unsuccessful packets, but if three consecutive packets are unsuccessful, the communication system is considered unavailable. Thus, it will be considered that the system is still available when packet B and when packet C is not successfully delivered and then packet D is successful, so even if packets B and C are lost, the device will not consider the communication service to be down.

[0046] But when three consecutive packets (such as packets E, F, and G) are not successfully delivered to the device, the industrial application in the device will consider the communication service unavailable. This may cause the industrial application to initiate an emergency shutdown of a production unit or production line, for example, to avoid damage to machinery, products, or personnel.

[0047] The RAN scheduler feature distributes the radio interface and radio base station (RBS) resources between the various user and control data flows requesting transmission in the cell. It prioritizes robust system control signaling and retransmission of user data. It enables users to be multiplexed and scheduled in time and frequency, making efficient use of spectrum and hardware resources to optimize user throughput and cell capacity.

[0048] Scheduling, also called dynamic resource allocation, is done dynamically for each Transmission Time Interval (TTI) of 1 ms in a standard LTE system.For each upcoming TTI, the scheduler determines the users to be assigned the radio interface and RBS resources.

[0049] For more evolved LTE systems or systems involving NR technology, the TTI in question may have a different size and be shorter than 1 ms.

[0050] The scheduler considers inputs such as UE-reported channel quality information (CQI), acknowledgement (ACK) / non-acknowledgement (NACK), amount of data each UE wants to transmit, available UL / DL bandwidth, bearer priority / QCI, etc. when determining which UEs to schedule for upcoming TTIs, the amount of resources to allocate to each UE, and what transport block size (TBS) and transport format to use for each UE.

[0051] The main responsibility of the scheduler is to maximize the number of users that meet their QoS requirements and to maximize spectrum / resource efficiency. A set of scheduling algorithms are used to achieve this goal:

[0052] Round-Robin Scheduling Algorithm: This scheduler algorithm distributes the same number of resource blocks to all users. This is simple, but it can lead to very unfair resource allocation, where users at the edge of the cell get the same number of resources as users in the center, resulting in huge differences in throughput.

[0053] Proportional Fair Scheduling Algorithm: This scheduler addresses the main weakness of the round-robin scheduler, which is fairness. This scheduler allocates resources to users based on a priority mechanism. The priority of a user is inversely proportional to the amount of data that the user can transmit in the previous communication phase. In this way, the scheduler algorithm ensures that all users are treated fairly in terms of throughput rather than in terms of allocated resources.

[0054] Delay-based scheduler: This scheduling algorithm is designed primarily for VoIP or conversational video services. Such services are characterized by a significant degradation in QoS when a packet exceeds its packet delay budget (PDB) without the improvement that comes from an arrival time even faster than the PDB. The delay-based scheduler exploits these characteristics to improve spectral efficiency in mixed scenarios with both best-effort and Voice over IP (VoIP) services. The scheduler allocates resources to best-effort services before VoIP users reach their PDBs and allocates resources to VoIP users when their PDBs are in danger of being violated. In this way, the scheduler is able to maximize the throughput of best-effort services while protecting the PDBs of VoIP services.

[0055] There are some issues. For example, the link adaptation mechanism is designed to target a specific reliability for an individual transmission. Therefore, when the link adaptation makes a decision about an upcoming new transmission, the success or failure of previously transmitted packets / messages belonging to the same data flow and UE is not considered. This means that only a specific reliability for an individual packet can be targeted / considered. Then, for the next packet, the same reliability is targeted. Many industrial applications have built-in time to live, which means that they can afford to lose a packet occasionally, but not more than n consecutive packets (n>0).

[0056] Existing products and algorithms are not designed to exploit this knowledge to consider the aggregate reliability and robustness across multiple transmissions belonging to the same data flow. Summary of the invention

[0057] Certain aspects of the present disclosure and embodiments thereof may provide solutions to these or other challenges. For example, according to certain embodiments, improvements to radio resource management mechanisms for cellular systems suitable for handling delay-critical services are provided. For example, certain embodiments may be implemented in cellular systems implementing Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or New Radio (NR) radio technologies.

[0058] According to some embodiments, a method implemented by a base station includes determining a reliability requirement for a packet to be transmitted to a wireless device. The reliability requirement is determined at least in part based on consecutive packet losses associated with at least one previously transmitted packet. Based on the reliability requirement, the packet is transmitted to the wireless device.

[0059] According to some embodiments, a base station includes processing circuitry configured to determine a reliability requirement for a packet to be transmitted to a wireless device. The reliability requirement is determined based at least in part on consecutive packet losses associated with at least one previously transmitted packet. Based on the reliability requirement, the processing circuitry is configured to transmit the packet to the wireless device.

[0060] According to some embodiments, a method implemented by a base station includes determining a reliability requirement for a packet to be transmitted from a wireless device. The reliability requirement is determined at least in part based on consecutive packet losses associated with at least one previously transmitted packet. The base station instructs the wireless device to transmit the packet in accordance with the reliability requirement.

[0061] According to some embodiments, the base station includes processing circuitry configured to determine a reliability requirement for a packet to be transmitted from a wireless device. The reliability requirement is determined based at least in part on consecutive packet losses associated with at least one previously transmitted packet. The processing circuitry is configured to instruct the wireless device to transmit the packet in accordance with the reliability requirement.

[0062] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages. For example, one technical advantage may be that certain embodiments may be implemented as part of a link adaptation function in an eNodeB (eNB) / GNodeB (gNB) scheduler. Thus, the scheduler will be able to adjust the robustness of individual transmissions / packets belonging to the same data stream, with the goal of successfully delivering at least one successful transmission / packet within a given time (transmission interval + life time). Another technical advantage may be that, rather than being able to target only a specific block error rate (BLER) for each individual packet, certain embodiments enable the BLER target for consecutive packets to be adjusted by using knowledge of how many consecutive packet losses can be tolerated and the current consecutive packetization success rate for a particular data stream.

[0063] As another technical advantage, for applications with very stringent requirements, certain embodiments may be used to provide further robustness to continued transmissions in the event that a single transmission is lost.

[0064] Yet another technical advantage may be that certain embodiments may be used to relax the robustness of a transmission as long as a packet is successfully delivered in order to increase system capacity. Thus, once a packet is lost, the robustness of successive packets may be increased to avoid successive packet losses and the device believing that the communication service is unavailable.

[0065] If the system does not implement this feature, the application-level reliability (the probability of more than X consecutive packets failing (denoted as P X )) depends on the probability of each individual packet failure (denoted as P1). For independent error events, P X =(P1) X , but error events are usually not independent, which means that P X Higher than (P1) X. However, a technical advantage may be that certain embodiments may be used to provide better application-level reliability (lower Px) using the same P1, or to provide the same application-level reliability using a higher P1, compared to a system not implementing the disclosed features. Using a higher P1 means that fewer resources (e.g., time resources, frequency resources, and / or power resources) must be used to serve a user equipment (UE), thereby increasing system capacity. For example, a less conservative link adaptation may generally be used, and a more conservative link adaptation may be used only when packet loss is detected.

[0066] Other advantages may be apparent to those skilled in the art.Some embodiments may have none, some, or all of the advantages described. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0067] For a more complete understanding of the disclosed embodiments and their features and advantages, reference is now made to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0068] Figure 1 An overview of the non-roaming Evolved Packet Core (EPC) architecture for 3GPP access is shown;

[0069] Figure 2 shows the overall Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) architecture;

[0070] Figure 3 A 5G system architecture using service-based representation as disclosed in TS 23.501 V15.0.0 is shown;

[0071] Figure 4 The internal architecture of a gNodeB (gNB), such as a base station supporting New Radio (NR) RAT, is shown;

[0072] Figure 5 An overview of the Quality of Service (QoS) framework in the Evolved Packet System (EPS) is shown;

[0073] Figure 6 An overview of the QoS framework in 5GS is shown;

[0074] Figure 7 shows an example of how two different applications experience the same sequence of events;

[0075] Figure 8 shows an example implementation of taking into account consecutive packet losses as an input to link adaptation for new transmissions of the same data stream in accordance with certain embodiments;

[0076] Fig. 9shows an example implementation of taking into account consecutive packet losses as an input to link adaptation for new transmissions and retransmissions of the same data stream in accordance with certain embodiments;

[0077] Fig.10 illustrates an example wireless network in accordance with certain embodiments;

[0078] Fig.11 illustrates an example network node according to certain embodiments;

[0079] Fig.12 An example wireless device according to certain embodiments is shown;

[0080] Fig.13 illustrates an example user device according to certain embodiments;

[0081] Fig.14 illustrates a virtualized environment according to some embodiments, in which functionality implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized;

[0082] Fig.15 shows a telecommunications network connected to a host computer via an intermediate network according to certain embodiments;

[0083] Fig.16 A generalized block diagram of a host computer communicating with a user device via a base station over a partially wireless connection in accordance with certain embodiments is shown;

[0084] Fig.17 A method implemented in a communication system according to an embodiment is shown;

[0085] Fig.18 Another method implemented in a communication system according to an embodiment is shown;

[0086] Fig.19 Another method implemented in a communication system according to an embodiment is shown;

[0087] Fig. 20 Another method implemented in a communication system according to an embodiment is shown;

[0088] Fig.21 An example method of a base station according to certain embodiments is shown;

[0089] Fig. 22 illustrates an exemplary virtual computing device according to some embodiments;

[0090] Fig.23 Another example method of a base station according to certain embodiments is shown;

[0091] Fig.24 Another exemplary virtual computing device according to certain embodiments is shown;

[0092] Fig.25 An example method of a wireless device according to some embodiments is shown; and

[0093] Fig.26 Another exemplary virtual computing device in accordance with certain embodiments is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0094] Some embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, other embodiments are also included within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, and the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein; on the contrary, these embodiments are provided as examples to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0095] Generally, all terms used in this article will be interpreted according to their common meaning in the relevant technical field, unless different meanings are clearly given and / or different meanings are implied from the context in which they are used. Unless otherwise clearly stated, all references to one / one / described element, device, assembly, member, step, etc. will be openly interpreted as referring to at least one example in element, device, assembly, member, step, etc. The steps of any method disclosed herein do not have to be implemented in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is clearly described as after or before another step, and / or it is implied that a step must be after or before another step. As long as it is suitable, any feature of any embodiment disclosed herein can be applied to any other embodiment. Similarly, any advantage of any embodiment can be applied to any other embodiment, and vice versa. From the following description, other purposes, features and advantages of the attached embodiments will be apparent.

[0096] In some embodiments, the more general term "network node" may be used, and the term "network node" may correspond to any type of radio network node or any network node that communicates with a UE (directly or via another node) and / or with another network node. Examples of network nodes are NodeB, MeNB, ENB, network node belonging to an MCG or SCG, base station (BS), multi-standard radio (MSR) radio node (e.g., MSR BS), eNodeB, gNodeB, network controller, radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), relay, donor node control relay, base transceiver station (BTS), access point (AP), transmission point, transmission node, RRU, RRH, node in a distributed antenna system (DAS), core network node (e.g., mobile switching center (MSC), MME, etc.), operation and management (O&M), operation support system (OSS), self-optimizing network (SON), positioning node (e.g., evolved serving mobile positioning center (E-SMLC)), minimized drive test (MDT), test equipment (physical node or software), etc.

[0097] In some embodiments, the non-limiting term user equipment (UE) or wireless device may be used and may refer to any type of wireless device that communicates with a network node and / or another UE in a cellular or mobile communication system. Examples of UEs are target devices, device-to-device (D2D) UEs, machine-type UEs or UEs capable of machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, PDAs, PADs, tablet computers, mobile terminals, smart phones, notebook embedded devices (LEEs), notebook mounted devices (LMEs), USB dongles, UE category M1, UE category M2, ProSe UEs, V2V UEs, V2X UEs, and the like.

[0098] Furthermore, terms such as base station / gNodeB and UE should be considered non-restrictive and especially do not imply a hierarchical relationship between the two; generally, "gNodeB" can be considered as device 1, "UE" can be considered as device 2, and the two devices communicate with each other through a certain radio channel. In the following, a transmitter or a receiver can be a gNB or a UE.

[0099] According to certain embodiments, the behavior of the scheduler is adjusted to be aware of consecutive packet losses for a particular UE and / or bearer / data flow. Additionally or optionally, certain embodiments apply various methods to reduce the risk of consecutive packet losses (to which industrial applications are sensitive) beyond the range supported by existing link adaptation mechanisms. Industrial applications are particularly sensitive to consecutive packet losses. This means that industrial applications can perceive packet delivery with higher reliability compared to systems that do not use various methods to reduce consecutive packet losses.

[0100] According to certain embodiments, some assumptions may apply:

[0101] For a particular data flow, the radio access network (RAN) is aware of the required reliability and packet delay budget in terms of the maximum number of consecutive packets that may be lost by means of, by way of example and not limitation: standards, configuration (e.g., as part of the Quality Control Information (QCI) / 5G QoS Identifier (5GQI) profile, signaled from the Core Network (CN) to the RAN as a specific Information Element (IE), machine learning, etc.

[0102] The techniques described herein apply to application messages that are either fragmented or unfragmented within the RAN (e.g., by a gNB or eNB).

[0103] • When stated below, retransmission will refer to retransmission implemented by the RAN, such as Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ), or Radio Link Control (RLC) retransmission.

[0104] The time-to-live window mentioned below corresponds to the sum of the transmission time or packet delay budget of a single application packet plus the time-to-live of the application. Within the time-to-live window, at least one application packet needs to be successfully delivered to the application so that the communication service is not considered to be out of service.

[0105] In one example, the lifetime of an industry application is provided to the eNB / gNB as part of the QCI profile configuration associated with the bearer established to carry the associated application traffic.

[0106] Certain embodiments described herein recognize that:

[0107] -Single packets may be lost, but not consecutive packets.

[0108] o In case of packet loss, the RAN can adapt the transmission of consecutive packets to reduce the probability of consecutive packet loss.

[0109] o The RAN has information about the time-to-live window and / or reliability requirements of consecutive packets and adapts the individual transmissions (P1, P2, ..., P X).

[0110] While current scheduling solutions consider only one packet at a time, rather than achieving reliability for multiple related / dependent packets over time, the techniques disclosed herein include the introduction of P2, ..., P X , and considers the aggregate reliability of consecutive packets with certain dependencies over time. The benefit of this approach is that in order to achieve a certain P X , and unrealized P X But trying to achieve the same P using only P1 X Compared with the system, P1 can be reduced.

[0111] - In a specific embodiment, a time-to-live window reflecting the industry applied time-to-live, and accordingly the number of consecutive packets that may be lost, may be configured in the eNB as part of the QCI profile or signaled as part of the quality of service parameters.

[0112] According to some embodiments, a method for reducing consecutive packet losses may include:

[0113] · Step 1a : For a particular data flow associated with a particular UE, the eNB / gNB may be configured or otherwise informed of the packet delay budget, how many consecutive packets an application utilizing the data flow can afford to lose, and the time between single packet delivery (P1) and consecutive packet delivery (P X ) reliability requirements and other QoS-related criteria.

[0114] · Step 1b : In addition or as an alternative to step 1a, the eNB / gNB may be configured with or have knowledge of a "time-to-live window" during which a certain reliability requirement needs to be met. Successful packet delivery is assumed in order to reset the time-to-live window. The eNB / gNB can use knowledge of this time-to-live window to estimate how many consecutive packets it can afford to lose during this time-to-live window while still meeting the reliability requirements of the data flow.

[0115] · Step 2 : When a transmission is unsuccessful, the eNB / gNB will determine, based on the packet delay budget and / or known time-to-live window and / or application time-to-live, whether PDCP, HARQ and / or RLC retransmissions can be undertaken without the packet arriving too late to the application and being considered lost. If all attempted retransmissions are unsuccessful or do not complete in time (late packet = lost packet), the eNB will consider the packet to be unsuccessfully delivered.

[0116] It depends on how many consecutive packets can be lost and the target reliability requirement P for consecutive packets. X, the eNB / gNB may consider increasing the reliability of the first retransmission or one of the additional retransmissions (see below for some example methods). For example, if there is no time to live for an application, the time to live window will be equal to the packet delay budget of a single transmission, and the eNB must then ensure successful delivery on the first shot or with as many retransmissions as can be afforded within the packet delay budget.

[0117] · Step 3 : For the next transmission eNB / gNB of the UE and data flow (i.e. new data / message / packet), the eNB / gNB shall consider the P X The eNB / gNB may use information about the target reliability of the next transmission and / or the time-to-live window, and the estimated number of remaining transmissions before exceeding the maximum number of consecutive packets that may be lost and / or within the time-to-live window to determine the target reliability of the next transmission. Based on this information, the eNB / gNB may target a higher reliability for the next transmission in order to achieve P X The eNB / gNB may adjust the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) used for the transmission, or use packet repetition (as defined in 3GPP Rel-15).

[0118] · Step 4 : If the next transmission is also unsuccessful, the eNB / gNB determines how many retransmissions can be undertaken and also considers whether the eNB / gNB needs to increase reliability, for example by selecting a different MCS for each retransmission, depending on whether further consecutive packets may be lost. If further consecutive packets may not be lost, this increases the need for the eNB / gNB to ensure successful delivery of the packet within the packet delay budget, thereby achieving reliability of Px and / or time-to-live window.

[0119] Methods to improve (re)transmission reliability include, but are not limited to:

[0120] -Use a more robust MCS;

[0121] -Increase UE / eNB transmission power;

[0122] - Use grouped repetition;

[0123] -Blanking of interfering transmission points;

[0124] - Joint transmission from multiple transmission points;

[0125] - Exploiting antenna diversity (eg, using transmit diversity instead of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)).

[0126] · Step 5: The eNB / gNB considers the next transmission to be successful. It determines that the number of consecutive lost packets is currently zero for the UE and data stream in question, and the eNB / gNB can therefore adjust the MCS to a certain initial level for a given type of data stream. According to certain embodiments, additional considerations that may also be taken into account include:

[0127] In certain embodiments, if there are more unsuccessful consecutive transmissions than a certain threshold associated with a given data flow, the eNB / gNB may trigger an alarm or notification and indicate the affected data flow and / or associated UE. For example, the threshold may be configured to trigger an alarm when the QCI is no longer met or when the QCI is still met but a certain number of consecutive transmissions have been lost and thus the time-to-live limit is approaching. Observing the number of consecutive packet losses is also useful for statistical information.

[0128] In certain embodiments, where the eNB / gNB serves multiple UEs using the same radio resources, and when the UEs have data flows of the same priority, the eNB / gNB may take into account how many consecutive packets have been lost for each UE. The eNB / gNB may further take this information into account when deciding the scheduling weight associated with each UE (and data flow) for the next scheduling opportunity. A UE that has at least one consecutive packet not successfully received will be given a higher weight than a UE of the same priority (e.g., as part of a QoS profile) that has not lost any packets.

[0129] In a specific embodiment, if packet replication across multiple data paths is used, the eNB / gNB can compensate for one path being down by increasing the reliability of transmission on the remaining paths for the affected UE. This can be applied to single UEs using dual connectivity or carrier aggregation type packet replication, as well as devices equipped with two or more active UEs (or should we say radio chains or similar including dual sim dual active as well), where the eNB / gNB is aware of the status of all connections. The time to live window reflecting the industry applied time to live, and accordingly the number of consecutive packets that may be lost, can be configured in the eNB as part of the QCI profile or signaled as part of the quality of service parameters.

[0130] In a specific embodiment, for UL transmission, when the eNB / gNB detects that the number of retransmissions that can be performed within the packet delay budget has been performed and the packet has not been successfully delivered, it can send an ACK for the relevant HARQ process together with a toggled NDI on the DCI to make the UE flush the HARQ buffer. The UE can be configured according to the standard to skip UL transmission instead of sending padding.

[0131] In certain embodiments, for UEs and / or data flows where the eNB / gNB detects that a DL or UL transmission was unsuccessful and has exceeded the applied time to live, the eNB / gNB may consider changing the priority of the associated transmission in the other direction (UL or DL) and give higher priority to other data flows of the same or different UEs that are still successful and / or within their time to live. In an alternative, the eNB / gNB may even stop granting to a UE that has exceeded its time to live unless it receives a BSR indicating new data or detects new data in the DL buffer.

[0132] In certain embodiments, for UEs and / or data flows for which the eNB / gNB detects that a DL or UL transmission is unsuccessful, the eNB / gNB may consider improving the reliability of the associated transmission in the other direction (UL or DL).

[0133] Figure 8 An example implementation of taking consecutive packet losses into account as input for link adaptation of new transmissions of the same data stream in accordance with certain embodiments is shown. At step 102, a first packet is received. A reliability requirement is applied to a single packet transmission P1. At step 104, DL / UL transmissions are processed.

[0134] At step 106, it is determined whether the transmission was successful. If the transmission was successful, then at step 108, the rest counter (L) for consecutive packet losses is set to 0. At step 110, a new packet is available for transmission. At step 112, the counter is used for consecutive packet losses to determine the reliability requirement P for the next packet. L+1 At step 114 the transmission of the new packet is carried out and the method returns to step 104 where the DL / UL transmission is processed.

[0135] Returning to step 106, if it is determined that the transmission of the first packet is unsuccessful, the method proceeds to step 116, where it is determined whether retransmission of the first packet is available. If retransmission is available, retransmission is performed at step 118. Conversely, if retransmission is not available, the packet / data is discarded and the transmission is considered unsuccessful, and at step 120, a counter for consecutive packet losses is incremented so that L equals L+1. The method then returns to step 110, where it is again determined that a new packet is available for transmission. At step 112, a counter is used for consecutive packet losses to determine the reliability requirement P for the next packet. L+1 At step 114 the transmission of the new packet is carried out and the method returns to step 104 where the DL / UL transmission is processed.

[0136] Fig. 9An example implementation of taking consecutive packet losses into account as an input to link adaptation for new transmissions and retransmissions of the same data stream in accordance with certain embodiments is shown. At step 202, a first packet is received. A reliability requirement is applied to a single packet transmission P1. At step 204, DL / UL transmissions are processed.

[0137] In step 206, it is determined whether the transmission was successful. If the transmission was successful, then in step 208, the remaining counter (L) for consecutive packet losses is set to 0. In step 210, a new packet is available for transmission. In step 212, the counter is used for consecutive packet losses to determine the reliability requirement P for the next packet. L+1 At step 214, transmission of the new packet is performed and the method returns to step 204 where DL / UL transmission is processed.

[0138] Returning to step 206, if it is determined that the transmission of the first packet is unsuccessful, the method proceeds to step 216, where it is determined whether retransmission of the first packet is available. If retransmission is available, then in step 220, the counter for consecutive packet losses is used to determine the reliability requirement of the retransmission. Then, in step 222, the retransmission is implemented.

[0139] If, on the other hand, it is determined at step 216 that retransmission is not available, the packet / data is discarded and the transmission is considered unsuccessful, and a counter for consecutive packet losses is incremented at step 224 so that L equals L+1. The method then returns to step 210 where it is again determined that a new packet is available for transmission. At step 212, the counter is used for consecutive packet losses to determine the reliability requirement P for the next packet. L+1 At step 214, transmission of the new packet is performed and the method returns to step 204 where DL / UL transmission is processed.

[0140] Fig.10 A wireless network according to some embodiments is shown. Although the subject matter described herein can be implemented in any suitable type of system using any suitable components, the embodiments disclosed herein are related to wireless networks (e.g. Fig.10 For simplicity, Fig.10The wireless network in FIG. 3 depicts only network 306, network nodes 360 and 360b, and wireless devices 310, 310b, and 310c. In practice, the wireless network may also include any additional elements suitable for supporting communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device and another communication device (e.g., a landline, a service provider, or any other network node or terminal device). In the components shown, network node 360 ​​and wireless device 310 are depicted with additional details. The wireless network may provide communication and other types of services to one or more wireless devices to facilitate wireless devices to access and / or use services provided by or via the wireless network.

[0141] A wireless network may include any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular and / or radio network or other similar type of system, and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular and / or wireless network or other similar type of system. In some embodiments, a wireless network may be configured to operate according to a particular standard or other type of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, a particular embodiment of a wireless network may implement a communication standard such as a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standard; a wireless local area network (WLAN) standard such as an IEEE 802.11 standard; and / or any other suitable wireless communication standard such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, and / or ZigBee standards.

[0142] The network 306 may include one or more backhaul networks, core networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTN), packet data networks, optical networks, wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks to enable communication between devices.

[0143] The network node 360 ​​and the wireless device 310 include various components described in more detail below. These components work together to provide network node and / or wireless device functions, such as providing wireless connections in a wireless network. In various embodiments, a wireless network may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals over a wired or wireless connection.

[0144] Fig.11A network node 160 according to certain embodiments is shown. As used herein, a network node refers to a device that is capable of, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and / or with other network nodes or devices in a wireless network to enable and / or provide wireless access to a wireless device and / or implement other functions (e.g., management) in the wireless network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, node Bs, evolved node Bs (eNBs), and NR node Bs (gNBs)). Base stations can be classified based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, in different terms, their transmission power levels), and can then also be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station can be a relay node or a relay donor node that controls a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station, such as a centralized digital unit and / or a remote radio unit (RRU), sometimes referred to as a remote radio head (RRH). Such a remote radio unit may be integrated with an antenna as an antenna-integrated radio, or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna-integrated radio. The parts of the distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS). However, further examples of network nodes include multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment, such as an MSR BS, a network controller, such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a transmission point, a transmission node, a multi-cell / multicast coordination entity (MCE), a core network node (e.g., MSC, MME), an O&M node, an OSS node, a SON node, a positioning node (e.g., E-SMLC) and / or an MDT. As another example, a network node may be a virtual network node as described in more detail below. However, more generally, a network node may represent any suitable device (or group of devices) that is capable of, configured, arranged and / or operable to enable and / or provide access to a wireless network by a wireless device, or to provide a certain service to a wireless device that has accessed a wireless network.

[0145] exist Fig.11 In FIG. 3 , the network node 360 ​​includes a processing circuit 370, a device readable medium 380, an interface 390, an auxiliary device 384, a power supply 386, a power supply circuit 387, and an antenna 362. Fig.11The network node 360 ​​shown in the example wireless network of can represent a device including the combination of hardware components shown, but other embodiments can include network nodes with different combinations of components. It should be understood that the network node includes any suitable combination of hardware and / or software required to implement the tasks, features, functions, and methods disclosed herein. In addition, although the components of the network node 360 ​​are depicted as a single box located in a larger box, or nested in multiple boxes, in practice, the network node may include multiple different physical components that constitute a single illustrated component (for example, the device readable medium 380 may include multiple separate hard drives and multiple RAM modules).

[0146] Similarly, the network node 360 ​​may be composed of multiple physically separated components (e.g., NodeB components and RNC components, or BTS components and BSC components, etc.), each of which may have its own components. In a specific scenario where the network node 360 ​​includes multiple separated components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separated components may be shared between multiple network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, in some instances, each unique NodeB and RNC pair may be considered as a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 360 ​​may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such an embodiment, some components may be replicated (e.g., separate device-readable media 380 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 362 may be shared by RATs). The network node 360 ​​may also include multiple groups of various illustrated components for different wireless technologies (e.g., GSM, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wireless technologies) integrated into the network node 360. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or chipsets and other components within network node 360 ​​.

[0147] The processing circuit 370 may be configured to perform any determination, calculation, or similar operation (e.g., certain acquisition operations) described herein as being provided by the network node. Such operations performed by the processing circuit 370 may include processing information acquired by the processing circuit 370, for example, by converting the acquired information into other information, comparing the acquired information or the converted information with information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the acquired information or the converted information and making determinations as a result of the processing.

[0148] The processing circuit 370 may include a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of coded logic, software, and / or hardware operable to provide network node 360 ​​functionality, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 360 ​​components (e.g., device readable medium 380). For example, the processing circuit 370 may execute instructions stored in the device readable medium 380 or in a memory within the processing circuit 370. Such functionality may include any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 370 may include a system on a chip (SOC).

[0149] In some embodiments, processing circuitry 370 may include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 372 and baseband processing circuitry 374. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 372 and baseband processing circuitry 374 may be on separate chips (or chipsets), boards, or units, such as a radio unit and a digital unit. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 372 and baseband processing circuitry 374 may be on the same chip or chipset, board, or unit.

[0150] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein provided by a network node, base station, eNB, or other such network device may be implemented by executing instructions stored on a device-readable medium 380 or a memory within the processing circuit 370 by the processing circuit 370. In an optional embodiment, some or all of the functions may be provided by the processing circuit 370 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable medium, such as in a hardwired manner. In any of these embodiments, the processing circuit 370 may be configured to implement the described functions regardless of whether the instructions stored on the device-readable storage medium are executed. The benefits provided by such functions are not limited to separate processing circuits 370 or other components of the network node 360, but are enjoyed by the network node 360 ​​as a whole and / or by end users and wireless networks in general.

[0151] Device readable medium 380 may include any form of volatile or non-volatile computer readable memory, including but not limited to permanent memory, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., flash drive, compact disk (CD) or digital video disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and / or computer executable storage device that stores instructions, data and / or information that can be used by processing circuit 370. Device readable medium 380 may store any suitable instructions, data or information, including computer programs, software, applications (including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc.), and / or other instructions that can be executed by processing circuit 370 and utilized by network node 360. Device readable medium 380 may be used to store any calculations performed by processing circuit 370 and / or any data received via interface 390. In some embodiments, processing circuit 370 and device readable medium 380 may be considered integrated.

[0152] Interface 390 is used for wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between network node 360, network 306 and / or wireless device 310. As shown, interface 390 includes port / terminal 394 to send and receive data, such as sending data to network 306 and receiving data from network 306 through wired connection. Interface 390 also includes radio front-end circuit 392, which can be coupled to antenna 362 or as part of antenna 362 in some embodiments. Radio front-end circuit 392 includes filter 398 and amplifier 396. Radio front-end circuit 392 can be connected to antenna 362 and processing circuit 370. Radio front-end circuit can be configured to adjust the signal communicated between antenna 362 and processing circuit 370. Radio front-end circuit 392 can receive digital data sent to other network nodes or wireless devices through wireless connection. Radio front-end circuit 392 can use the combination of filter 398 and / or amplifier 396 to convert digital data into radio signals with appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters. Radio signals can then be sent via antenna 362. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 362 may collect radio signals, which may then be converted to digital data by radio front end circuitry 392. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 370. In other embodiments, the interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0153] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 360 ​​may not include a separate radio front end circuit 392, and instead, the processing circuit 370 may include the radio front end circuit and may be connected to the antenna 362 without the need for a separate radio front end circuit 392. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or part of the RF transceiver circuit 372 may be considered part of the interface 390. In other embodiments, the interface 390 may include one or more ports or terminals 394, the radio front end circuit 392, and the RF transceiver circuit 372 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the interface 390 may communicate with the baseband processing circuit 374, which is part of the digital unit (not shown).

[0154] Antenna 362 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. Antenna 362 may be coupled to radio front-end circuit 390 and may be any type of antenna capable of wirelessly sending and receiving data and / or signals. In some embodiments, antenna 362 may include one or more omnidirectional, sector or panel antennas operable to send / receive radio signals between, for example, 2 GHz and 66 GHz. Omnidirectional antennas may be used to send / receive radio signals in any direction, sector antennas may be used to send / receive radio signals of devices within a specific area, and panel antennas may be line of sight antennas for sending / receiving radio signals on a relative straight line. In some instances, using more than one antenna may be referred to as MIMO. In some embodiments, antenna 362 may be separated from network node 360 ​​and may be connected to network node 360 ​​via an interface or port.

[0155] Antenna 362, interface 390 and / or processing circuit 370 can be configured to implement any receiving operation and / or certain acquisition operations described herein as being implemented by a network node. Any information, data and / or signal can be received from a wireless device, another network node and / or any other network device. Similarly, antenna 362, interface 390 and / or processing circuit 370 can be configured to implement any sending operation described herein as being implemented by a network node. Any information, data and / or signal can be sent to a wireless device, another network node and / or any other network device.

[0156] The power circuit 387 may include or be coupled to a power management circuit and may be configured to provide power to the components of the network node 360 ​​for implementing the functions described herein. The power circuit 387 may receive power from a power source 386. The power source 386 and / or the power circuit 387 may be configured to provide power to the various components of the network node 360 ​​in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at the voltage and current levels required by each respective component). The power source 386 may be included in the power circuit 387 and / or the network node 360, or may be located outside the power circuit 387 and / or the network node 360. For example, the network node 360 ​​may be connected to an external power source (e.g., an electrical outlet) via an input circuit or interface (e.g., a cable), whereby the external power source supplies power to the power circuit 387. As another example, the power supply 386 may include a power source in the form of a battery or a battery pack, which is connected to or integrated in the power circuit 387. If the external power source fails, the battery may provide backup power. Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices, may also be used.

[0157] Alternative embodiments of network node 360 ​​may include, in addition to Fig.11 , which components may be responsible for providing certain aspects of the functionality of the network node, including any functionality described herein and / or any functionality required to support the subject matter described herein. For example, network node 360 ​​may include a user interface device to allow information to be input into network node 360 ​​and to allow information to be output from network node 360. This may allow a user to perform diagnostics, maintenance, repair, and other management functions for network node 360.

[0158] Fig.12A wireless device 160 according to certain embodiments is shown. As used herein, a wireless device refers to a device that is capable of, configured, arranged and / or operable to wirelessly communicate with a network node and / or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise specified, the term "wireless device" may be used interchangeably with a user equipment (UE) herein. Wireless communication may involve sending and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves and / or other types of signals suitable for transmitting information through the air. In some embodiments, a wireless device may be configured to send and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, a wireless device may be designed to send information to a network on a predetermined schedule when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to a request from the network. Examples of wireless devices include, but are not limited to, smart phones, mobile phones, cellular phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, game consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback devices, wearable terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablet computers, notebook computers, notebook embedded devices (LEEs), notebook installed devices (LMEs), smart devices, wireless customer premise equipment (CPEs), vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, etc. The wireless device may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, such as by implementing 3GPP standards for sidelink communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), and vehicle-to-everything (V2X), and in this case may be referred to as a D2D communication device. As another specific example, in an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, a wireless device may represent a machine or other device that implements monitoring and / or measurement and sends the results of such monitoring and / or measurement to another wireless device and / or network node. In this case, the wireless device may be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may be referred to as an MTC device in the 3GPP context. As a specific example, the wireless device may be a UE that implements the 3GPP Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) standard. Specific examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering equipment (e.g., electricity meters), industrial machinery, or household or personal appliances (e.g., refrigerators, televisions, etc.), personal wearable devices (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other scenarios, the wireless device may represent a vehicle or other device that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting its operating status or other functions associated with its operation. The wireless device as described above may represent an endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may be referred to as a wireless terminal. In addition, the wireless device as described above may be mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobile device or a mobile terminal.

[0159] As shown, the wireless device 310 includes an antenna 311, an interface 314, a processing circuit 320, a device-readable medium 330, a user interface device 332, an auxiliary device 334, a power supply 336, and a power supply circuit 337. The wireless device 310 may include multiple groups of one or more of the illustrated components for different wireless technologies supported by the wireless device 310, such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, to name a few. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or chipsets as other components within the wireless device 310.

[0160] Antenna 311 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals, and connected to interface 314. In some optional embodiments, antenna 311 can be separated from wireless device 310 and can be connected to wireless device 310 through an interface or port. Antenna 311, interface 314 and / or processing circuit 320 can be configured to implement any receiving or sending operation described herein as being implemented by a wireless device. Any information, data and / or signal can be received from a network node and / or another wireless device. In some embodiments, radio front end circuit and / or antenna 311 can be considered as an interface.

[0161] As shown, the interface 314 includes a radio front-end circuit 312 and an antenna 311. The radio front-end circuit 312 includes one or more filters 318 and an amplifier 316. The radio front-end circuit 314 is connected to the antenna 311 and the processing circuit 320, and can be configured to adjust the signals communicated between the antenna 311 and the processing circuit 320. The radio front-end circuit 312 can be coupled to the antenna 311 or as part of the antenna 311. In some embodiments, the wireless device 310 may not include a separate radio front-end circuit 312; instead, the processing circuit 320 may include a radio front-end circuit and may be connected to the antenna 311. Similarly, in some embodiments, part or all of the RF transceiver circuit 322 may be considered as part of the interface 314. The radio front-end circuit 312 may receive digital data sent to other network nodes or wireless devices via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuit 312 may use a combination of filters 318 and / or amplifiers 316 to convert the digital data into a radio signal with appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters. The radio signal may then be sent via the antenna 311. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 311 may collect radio signals, which may then be converted to digital data by radio front end circuit 312. The digital data may be passed to processing circuit 320. In other embodiments, the interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0162] The processing circuit 320 may include a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of encoded logic, software, and / or hardware operable to provide wireless device 310 functionality, either alone or in conjunction with other wireless device 310 components (e.g., device readable medium 330). Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example, the processing circuit 320 may execute instructions stored in the device readable medium 330 or in a memory within the processing circuit 320 to provide the functionality disclosed herein.

[0163] As shown, the processing circuit 320 includes one or more of the RF transceiver circuit 322, the baseband processing circuit 324, and the application processing circuit 326. In other embodiments, the processing circuit may include different components and / or different combinations of components. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 320 of the wireless device 310 may include a SOC. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuit 322, the baseband processing circuit 324, and the application processing circuit 326 may be on a separate chip or chipset. In an optional embodiment, part or all of the baseband processing circuit 324 and the application processing circuit 326 may be combined into one chip or a group of chips, and the RF transceiver circuit 322 may be on a separate chip or chipset. In another optional embodiment, part or all of the RF transceiver circuit 322 and the baseband processing circuit 324 may be on the same chip or chipset, and the application processing circuit 326 may be on a separate chip or chipset. In yet other alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuit 322, baseband processing circuit 324, and application processing circuit 326 may be combined into the same chip or chipset. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuit 322 may be part of interface 314. RF transceiver circuit 322 may condition RF signals for processing circuit 320.

[0164] In some embodiments, some or all of the functions implemented by the wireless device described herein may be provided by the processing circuit 320 executing instructions stored on the device readable medium 330, which in some embodiments may be a computer readable storage medium. In an optional embodiment, some or all of the functions may be provided by the processing circuit 320, for example in a hardwired manner, without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable storage medium. In any of these specific embodiments, the processing circuit 320 may be configured to implement the described functions regardless of whether the instructions stored on the device readable storage medium are executed. The benefits provided by such functions are not limited to the separate processing circuit 320 or other components of the wireless device 310, but are enjoyed by the wireless device 310 as a whole and / or by the end user and the wireless network in general.

[0165] The processing circuit 320 may be configured to perform any determination, calculation, or similar operation described herein as being performed by the wireless device (e.g., certain acquisition operations). Such operations performed by the processing circuit 320 may include processing information acquired by the processing circuit 320, for example, by converting the acquired information into other information, comparing the acquired information or the converted information with information stored by the wireless device 310, and / or performing one or more operations based on the acquired information or the converted information and making a determination as a result of the processing.

[0166] Device-readable medium 330 is operable to store computer programs, software, applications (including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc.), and / or other instructions that can be executed by processing circuit 320. Device-readable medium 330 may include computer memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM) or read-only memory (ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., compact disk (CD) or digital video disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable storage device that stores instructions, data, and / or information that can be used by processing circuit 320. In some embodiments, processing circuit 320 and device-readable medium 330 may be considered integrated.

[0167] The user interface device 332 may provide a component that allows a human user to interact with the wireless device 310. This interaction may be in a variety of forms, such as visual, auditory, tactile, and the like. The user interface device 332 may be operable to generate output to the user, and to allow the user to provide input to the wireless device 310. The type of interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface device 332 installed in the wireless device 310. For example, if the wireless device 310 is a smart phone, the interaction may be performed via a touch screen; if the wireless device 310 is a smart meter, the interaction may be performed through a screen that provides usage (e.g., the number of gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audible alarm (e.g., if smoke is detected). The user interface device 332 may include input interfaces, devices, and circuits, as well as output interfaces, devices, and circuits. The user interface device 332 may be configured to allow information to be input to the wireless device 310, and connected to the processing circuit 320 to allow the processing circuit 320 to process the input information. The user interface device 332 may include, for example, a microphone, a proximity sensor or other sensor, a key / button, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USB port, or other input circuits. The user interface device 332 is also configured to allow information to be output from the wireless device 310, and to allow the processing circuit 320 to output information from the wireless device 310. The user interface device 332 may include, for example, a speaker, a display, a vibration circuit, a USB port, a headphone jack, or other output circuits. Using one or more input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits of the user interface device 332, the wireless device 310 can communicate with an end user and / or a wireless network, and allow them to benefit from the functionality described herein.

[0168] The auxiliary device 334 is operable to provide more specific functionality that is not typically implemented by a wireless device. This may include specialized sensors for taking measurements for various purposes, interfaces for additional types of communications such as wired communications, etc. The inclusion and type of components of the auxiliary device 334 may vary depending on the embodiment and / or scenario.

[0169] In some embodiments, the power source 336 may be in the form of a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources may also be used, such as an external power source (e.g., an electrical outlet), a photovoltaic device, or a power cell. The wireless device 310 may also include a power circuit 337 for delivering power from the power source 336 to various parts of the wireless device 310 that require power from the power source 336 to perform any functions described or indicated herein. In some embodiments, the power circuit 337 may include a power management circuit. The power circuit 337 may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source; in this case, the wireless device 310 may be connected to an external power source (e.g., an electrical outlet) via an input circuit or interface (e.g., a power cable). In some embodiments, the power circuit 337 may also be operable to deliver power from an external power source to the power source 336. This may, for example, charge the power source 336. The power circuit 337 may perform any formatting, conversion, or other modification of the power from the power source 336 so that the power is suitable for the various components of the wireless device 310 to which the power is supplied.

[0170] Fig.13 One embodiment of a UE in accordance with various aspects described herein is shown. As used herein, a user equipment or UE does not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the associated device. Rather, a UE may represent a device that is intended to be sold to or operated by a human user but may not be associated with a particular human user or may not initially be associated with a particular human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended to be sold to or operated by an end user but may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter). UE 400 may be any UE identified by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a NB-IoT UE, a Machine Type Communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE. As Fig.13 As shown, UE 400 is an example of a wireless device configured for communication according to one or more communication standards promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 3GPP's GSM, UMTS, LTE and / or 5G standards. As mentioned above, the terms wireless device and UE can be used interchangeably. Therefore, although Fig.13 It is a UE, but the components discussed here are also applicable to wireless devices and vice versa.

[0171] exist Fig.13In the embodiment, UE 400 includes processing circuit 401, which is operatively coupled to input / output interface 405, radio frequency (RF) interface 409, network connection interface 411, memory 415 (including random access memory (RAM) 417, read-only memory (ROM) 419 and storage medium 421, etc.), communication subsystem 431, power supply 433 and / or any other components, or any combination thereof. Storage medium 421 includes operating system 423, application 425 and data 427. In other embodiments, storage medium 421 may include other similar types of information. Some UEs may utilize Fig.13 All components shown may be used, or only a subset of these components may be used. The level of integration between components may vary from one UE to another. In addition, some UEs may contain multiple instances of components, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0172] exist Fig.13 , processing circuit 401 may be configured to process computer instructions and data. Processing circuit 401 may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operable to execute machine instructions stored in memory as a machine-readable computer program, such as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logic and appropriate firmware; one or more stored programs, general-purpose processors (such as microprocessors or digital signal processors (DSPs)) and appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, processing circuit 401 may include two central processing units (CPUs). Data may be information in a form suitable for use by a computer.

[0173] In the depicted embodiment, the input / output interface 405 may be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, an output device, or an input and output device. The UE 400 may be configured to use an output device via the input / output interface 405. The output device may use the same type of interface port as the input device. For example, a USB port may be used to provide input to and output from the UE 400. The output device may be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, a transmitter, a smart card, another output device, or any combination thereof. The UE 400 may be configured to use an input device via the input / output interface 405 to allow a user to capture information into the UE 400. The input device may include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a webcam, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional board, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smart card, etc. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor for sensing input from a user. For example, the sensor can be an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, another similar sensor, or any combination thereof. For example, the input device can be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.

[0174] exist Fig.13 In the embodiment of the present invention, the RF interface 409 can be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as transmitters, receivers, and antennas. The network connection interface 411 can be configured to provide a communication interface to the network 443a. The network 443a can cover a wired and / or wireless network, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another similar network, or any combination thereof. For example, the network 443a can include a Wi-Fi network. The network connection interface 411 can be configured to include a receiver and a transmitter interface for communicating with one or more other devices through a communication network according to one or more communication protocols (e.g., Ethernet, TCP / IP, SONET, ATM, etc.). The network connection interface 411 can implement receiver and transmitter functions suitable for communication network links (e.g., optical, electrical, etc.). The transmitter and receiver functions can share circuit components, software, or firmware, or alternatively, can be implemented separately.

[0175] RAM 417 can be configured to interface with processing circuit 401 via bus 402 to provide storage or caching of data or computer instructions during the execution of software programs such as operating systems, applications, and device drivers. ROM 419 can be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processing circuit 401. For example, ROM 419 can be configured to store unchanged low-level system code or data for basic system functions, such as basic input and output (I / O), startup, or receiving keystrokes stored in non-volatile memory from a keyboard. Storage medium 421 can be configured to include storage such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disk, optical disk, floppy disk, hard disk, removable cassette, or flash drive. In one example, storage medium 421 can be configured to include operating system 423; application 425, such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine, or another application; and data file 427. The storage medium 421 may store any of a variety of individual operating systems or combinations of operating systems for use by the UE 400 .

[0176] The storage medium 421 may be configured to include multiple physical drive units, such as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), a floppy drive, a flash memory, a USB flash drive, an external hard drive, a thumb drive, a pen drive, a key drive, a high-density digital versatile disk (HD-DVD) optical drive, an internal hard drive, a Blu-ray optical drive, a holographic digital data storage (HDD) optical drive, an external micro dual in-line memory module (DIMM), a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), an external micro DIMM SDRAM, a smart card memory (e.g., a subscriber identity module or a removable user identity (SIM / RUIM) module), other memory, or any combination thereof. The storage medium 421 may allow the UE 400 to access computer executable instructions, applications, etc. stored on a temporary or non-temporary storage medium in order to unload data or upload data. An article (e.g., an article utilizing a communication system) may be tangibly embodied in the storage medium 421, which may include a device-readable medium.

[0177] exist Fig.13In the embodiment of the present invention, the processing circuit 401 may be configured to communicate with the network 443b using the communication subsystem 431. The network 443a and the network 443b may be the same one or more networks or different one or more networks. The communication subsystem 431 may be configured to include one or more transceivers for communicating with the network 443b. For example, the communication subsystem 431 may be configured to include one or more transceivers for communicating with the network 443b according to one or more communication protocols (e.g., IEEE802.4, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, etc.) and one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another wireless device, UE or base station of a radio access network (RAN)). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 433 and / or a receiver 435 so as to respectively implement a transmitter or receiver function suitable for a RAN link (e.g., frequency allocation, etc.). In addition, the transmitter 433 and the receiver 435 of each transceiver may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively, may be implemented separately.

[0178] In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of the communication subsystem 431 may include data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communication (e.g., Bluetooth), near-field communication, location-based communication (e.g., using a global positioning system (GPS) to determine location), another similar communication function, or any combination thereof. For example, the communication subsystem 431 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication. The network 443b may include a wired and / or wireless network, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another similar network, or any combination thereof. For example, the network 443b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and / or a near-field network. The power supply 413 may be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to the components of the UE 400.

[0179] The features, benefits and / or functions described herein may be implemented in one of the components of UE 400, or may be distributed between multiple components of UE 400. In addition, the features, benefits and / or functions described herein may be implemented in any combination of hardware, software or firmware. In one example, the communication subsystem 431 may be configured to include any components described herein. In addition, the processing circuit 401 may be configured to communicate with any such component via the bus 402. In another example, any such component may be represented by program instructions stored in a memory, and when the processing circuit 401 executes, these program instructions implement the corresponding functions described herein. In another example, the functions of any such component may be distributed between the processing circuit 401 and the communication subsystem 431. In another example, the non-computationally intensive functions of any such component may be implemented in software or firmware, and the computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0180] Fig.14 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualized environment 500 in which functionality implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In this context, virtualization means creating a virtual version of an apparatus or device that may include virtualized hardware platforms, storage devices, and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization may be applied to a node (e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) or a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device, or any other type of communication device) or a component thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components (e.g., via one or more applications, components, functions, virtual machines, or containers executed on one or more physical processing nodes in one or more networks).

[0181] In some embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual environments 500 hosted by one or more hardware nodes 530. Furthermore, in embodiments where the virtual nodes are not radio access nodes or do not require radio connectivity (e.g., core network nodes), the network nodes may be fully virtualized.

[0182] These functions may be implemented by one or more applications 520 (optionally, the applications 520 may be referred to as software instances, virtual devices, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.), which are operable to implement some features, functions, and / or benefits of some embodiments disclosed herein. The applications 520 run in a virtualized environment 500, which provides hardware 530 including processing circuits 560 and memory 590. The memory 590 contains instructions 595 executable by the processing circuits 560, whereby the applications 520 are operable to provide one or more features, benefits, and / or functions disclosed herein.

[0183] The virtualized environment 500 includes general-purpose or special-purpose network hardware devices 530, which include a collection of one or more processors or processing circuits 560, which may be commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, specialized application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuit, including digital or analog hardware components or special-purpose processors. Each hardware device may include a memory 590-1, which may be a non-permanent memory for temporarily storing software or instructions 595 executed by the processing circuit 560. Each hardware device may include one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 570, also known as network interface cards, which include a physical network interface 580. Each hardware device may also include a non-temporary, permanent machine-readable storage medium 590-2, in which instructions and / or software 595 executable by the processing circuit 560 are stored. The software 595 may include any type of software, including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers 550 (also referred to as hypervisors), software for executing virtual machines 540, and software that enables them to perform the functions, features and / or benefits described in conjunction with some of the embodiments described herein.

[0184] The virtual machine 540 includes virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interfaces, and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 550 or virtualization layer. Different embodiments of instances of the virtual device 520 may be implemented on one or more virtual machines 540 and may be implemented in different ways.

[0185] During operation, processing circuitry 560 executes software 595 to instantiate a virtualization layer or virtualization layer 550, which may sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). Virtualization layer 550 may present a virtual operating platform to virtual machines 540 that appears to be networked hardware.

[0186] like Fig.14 As shown, hardware 530 can be an independent network node with common or specific components. Hardware 530 can include antenna 5225, and some functions can be implemented through virtualization. Optionally, hardware 530 can be part of a larger hardware cluster (e.g., in a data center or customer premise equipment (CPE)), where many hardware nodes work together and are managed by management and orchestration (MANO) 5100, which oversees the life cycle management of application 520.

[0187] Virtualization of hardware is referred to in some contexts as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV can be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry-standard high-volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage (which can be located in data centers and customer premises equipment).

[0188] In the context of NFV, a virtual machine 540 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executed on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the virtual machines 540, and that portion of the hardware 530 on which the virtual machine executes, whether hardware dedicated to the virtual machine and / or hardware shared by the virtual machine with other virtual machines 540, forms a separate virtual network element (VNE).

[0189] Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function (VNF) is responsible for handling specific network functions running in one or more virtual machines 540 on top of the hardware networking infrastructure 530 and corresponds to Fig.14 Application 520.

[0190] In some embodiments, one or more radio units 5200 (each radio unit 5200 includes one or more transmitters 5220 and one or more receivers 5210) may be coupled to one or more antennas 5225. The radio unit 5200 may communicate directly with the hardware node 530 through one or more appropriate network interfaces, and may be used in conjunction with virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio functionality, such as a radio access node or base station.

[0191] In some embodiments, some signaling may be effected using a control system 5230 , which may optionally be used for communications between the hardware node 530 and the radio unit 5200 .

[0192] Fig.15 A telecommunications network is shown connected to a host computer via an intermediary network according to some embodiments.

[0193] refer to Fig.15According to an embodiment, a communication system includes a telecommunication network 610, such as a cellular network of the 3GPP type, which includes an access network 611 (e.g., a radio access network) and a core network 614. The access network 611 includes a plurality of base stations 612a, 612b, 612c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs, or other types of wireless access points, each of which defines a corresponding coverage area 613a, 613b, 613c. Each base station 612a, 612b, 612c may be connected to the core network 614 via a wired or wireless connection 615. A first UE 691 located in the coverage area 613c may be configured to be wirelessly connected to the corresponding base station 612c or to be paged by the corresponding base station 612c. A second UE 692 in the coverage area 613a may be wirelessly connected to the corresponding base station 612a. Although multiple UEs 691, 692 are shown in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to situations where a unique UE is located in the coverage area or a unique UE is connected to the corresponding base station 612.

[0194] The telecommunications network 610 itself is connected to a host computer 630, which may be embodied in the hardware and / or software of a stand-alone server, a cloud-enabled server, a distributed server, or as a processing resource in a server farm. The host computer 630 may be owned or controlled by a service provider, or may be operated by or on behalf of a service provider. The connections 621 and 622 between the telecommunications network 610 and the host computer 630 may extend directly from the core network 614 to the host computer 630, or may pass through an optional intermediate network 620. The intermediate network 620 may be one of a public, private, or managed network, or a combination of multiple thereof; the intermediate network 620 (if any) may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, the intermediate network 620 may include two or more sub-networks (not shown).

[0195] Fig.15The communication system generally realizes the connection between the connected UE 691, 692 and the host computer 630. The connection can be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 650. The host computer 630 and the connected UE 691, 692 are configured to communicate data and / or signaling through the OTT connection 650, using the access network 611, the core network 614, any intermediate network 620 and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. The OTT connection 650 can be transparent in terms of the fact that the participating communication devices through which the OTT connection 650 passes do not know the routes of the uplink and downlink communications. For example, the base station 612 may not be or need not be informed of the past routes of the incoming downlink communications of the data from the host computer 630 to be forwarded (e.g., switched) to the connected UE 691. Similarly, the base station 612 does not need to know the future routes of the outgoing uplink communications from the UE 691 toward the host computer 630.

[0196] Fig.16 A host computer is shown communicating with a user device via a base station over a partially wireless connection according to some embodiments. Fig.16 710 is a computer system that is used to describe an example implementation of a UE, a base station, and a host computer discussed in the previous paragraphs according to an embodiment. In the communication system 700, the host computer 710 includes hardware 715, the hardware 715 includes a communication interface 716, and the communication interface 716 is configured to establish and maintain a wired or wireless connection with the interface of different communication devices of the communication system 700. The host computer 710 also includes a processing circuit 718, which has storage and / or processing capabilities. In particular, the processing circuit 718 may include a combination of one or more programmable processors, application specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or devices (not shown) suitable for executing instructions. The host computer 710 also includes software 711, which is stored in the host computer 710 or can be accessed by the host computer 710 and can be executed by the processing circuit 718. The software 711 includes a host application 712. The host application 712 is operable to provide services to a remote user (e.g., a UE 730 connected via an OTT connection 750 terminated at the UE 730 and the host computer 710). When providing services to remote users, the host application 712 may provide user data transmitted using the OTT connection 750 .

[0197] The communication system 700 also includes a base station 720 provided in the telecommunication system, which includes hardware 725 enabling it to communicate with the host computer 710 and the UE 730. The hardware 725 may include a communication interface 726 for establishing and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with the interface of different communication devices of the communication system 700, and a radio interface 727 for establishing and maintaining communication with the coverage area ( Fig.16 The communication interface 726 may be configured to facilitate a connection 760 with the host computer 710. The connection 760 may be a direct connection, or it may pass through a core network (eg, a wireless network) of the telecommunications system. Fig.16 720) and / or traverse one or more intermediate networks external to the telecommunications system. In the illustrated embodiment, the hardware 725 of the base station 720 also includes processing circuitry 728, which may include one or more programmable processors, application specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or a combination of devices (not shown) suitable for executing instructions. The base station 720 also includes software 721 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

[0198] The communication system 700 also includes the UE 730 already mentioned. Its hardware 735 may include a radio interface 737, which is configured to establish and maintain a wireless connection 770 with a base station serving the coverage area where the UE 730 is currently located. The hardware 735 of the UE 730 also includes a processing circuit 738, which may include a combination of one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or devices suitable for executing instructions (not shown). The UE 730 also includes software 731, which is stored in the UE 730 or accessible by the UE 730 and can be executed by the processing circuit 738. The software 731 includes a client application 732. The client application 732 is operable to provide services to human or non-human users via the UE 730 with the support of the host computer 710. In the host computer 710, the executing host application 712 can communicate with the executing client application 732 via an OTT connection 750 terminated at the UE 730 and the host computer 710. When providing services to users, client application 732 may receive request data from host application 712 and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection 750 may transmit both request data and user data. Client application 732 may interact with the user to generate the user data it provides.

[0199] It should be noted that Fig.16 The host computer 710, base station 720 and UE 730 shown can be respectively Fig.15 The host computer 630, one of the base stations 612a, 612b, 612c, and one of the UEs 691, 692 may be similar or identical. That is, the internal workings of these entities may be similar to Fig.16 As shown, and independently, the surrounding network topology can be as Fig.15 shown.

[0200] exist Fig.16In FIG. 7 , an OTT connection 750 is abstractly drawn to illustrate communication between a host computer 710 and a UE 730 via a base station 720, without explicitly mentioning any intermediate devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices. The network infrastructure may determine the routing, which may be configured to hide the routing from the UE 730 or from the service provider operating the host computer 710, or from both. When the OTT connection 750 is active, the network infrastructure may further make decisions by which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., based on load balancing considerations or reconfiguration of the network).

[0201] The wireless connection 770 between the UE 730 and the base station 720 is consistent with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of the OTT service provided to the UE 730 using the OTT connection 750, where the wireless connection 770 forms the last leg. More specifically, the teachings of these embodiments can improve data rates, delays, and / or power consumption, and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time, relaxed restrictions on file size, better responsiveness, and / or extended battery life.

[0202] In order to monitor data rates, delays, and other factors improved by one or more embodiments, a measurement process may be provided. There may also be an optional network function for reconfiguring the OTT connection 750 between the host computer 710 and the UE 730 in response to changes in the measurement results. The network function and / or measurement process for reconfiguring the OTT connection 750 may be implemented in the software 711 and hardware 715 of the host computer 710 or in the software 731 and hardware 735 of the UE 730 or in both. In an embodiment, a sensor (not shown) may be deployed in or associated with a communication device through which the OTT connection 750 passes; the sensor may participate in the measurement process by providing the values ​​of the monitoring quantities exemplified above, or by providing the values ​​of other physical quantities from which the software 711, 731 can calculate or estimate the monitoring quantities. The reconfiguration of the OTT connection 750 may include message formats, retransmission settings, preferred routes, etc.; the reconfiguration does not need to affect the base station 720, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to the base station 720. Such processes and functions are known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, the measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling to facilitate host computer 710 measurements of throughput, propagation time, latency, etc. The measurements may be implemented as follows: software 711 and 731 use the OTT connection 750 to cause messages (particularly empty or "dummy" messages) to be transmitted while it monitors propagation time, errors, etc.

[0203] Fig.17is a flow chart showing a method implemented in a communication system according to an embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE, which can be reference Fig.15 and Fig.16 In order to simplify the present disclosure, this section will only include the host computer, base station and UE described in the present disclosure. Fig.17 . In step 810, the host computer provides user data. In sub-step 811 of step 810 (which may be optional), the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 820, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step 830 (which may be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure, the base station transmits the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the host computer to the UE. In step 840 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

[0204] Fig.18 is a flow chart showing a method implemented in a communication system according to an embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE, which can be reference Fig.15 and Fig.16 In order to simplify the present disclosure, this section will only include the host computer, base station and UE described in the present disclosure. Fig.18 Reference is made to the accompanying drawings of the present invention. In step 910 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional sub-step (not shown), the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 920, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. According to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure, the transmission may pass through a base station. In step 930 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

[0205] Fig.19 is a flow chart showing a method implemented in a communication system according to an embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE, which can be reference Fig.15 and Fig.16 In order to simplify the present disclosure, this section will only include the host computer, base station and UE described in the present disclosure. Fig.19. In step 1010 (which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or optionally, in step 1020, the UE provides user data. In sub-step 1021 (which may be optional) of step 1020, the UE provides user data by executing a client application. In sub-step 1011 (which may be optional) of step 1010, the UE executes a client application, which provides user data in response to the received input data provided by the host computer. When providing user data, the executed client application may also consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner of providing user data, the UE initiates transmission of user data to the host computer in sub-step 1030 (which may be optional). In step 1040 of the method, according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure, the host computer receives user data transmitted from the UE.

[0206] Fig. 20 is a flow chart showing a method implemented in a communication system according to an embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE, which can be reference Fig.15 and Fig.16 In order to simplify the present disclosure, this section will only include the host computer, base station and UE described in the present disclosure. Fig. 20 In step 1110 (which may be optional), according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. In step 1120 (which may be optional), the base station initiates a transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step 1130 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

[0207] Fig.21 A method 1200 is depicted for improving network efficiency by a network node 360 ​​according to certain embodiments. The method begins at step 1202 when the network node 360 ​​determines a reliability requirement for a packet to be transmitted to a wireless device 310. The reliability requirement may be determined based at least in part on consecutive packet losses associated with at least one previously transmitted packet. At step 1204, based on the reliability requirement, the network node 360 ​​transmits the packet to the wireless device 310. In certain embodiments, the network node 360 ​​is a base station.

[0208] In a particular embodiment, the reliability requirement includes a time-to-live window during which a desired quality of service (QoS) level must be met. When the desired QoS level is met, at least one packet is successfully delivered during the time-to-live window.

[0209] In certain embodiments, network node 360 ​​determines the number of packets that can be lost during the time-to-live window.

[0210] In certain embodiments, the time-to-live window includes the sum of the transmission time of the packet or the packet delay budget and the time-to-live of the application.

[0211] In certain embodiments, network node 360 ​​obtains the time-to-live window as part of the QoS profile configuration.

[0212] In a particular embodiment, the QoS profile configuration is associated with a bearer established to carry a flow associated with packets.

[0213] In a particular embodiment, the packet is a new data packet within a data flow comprising said at least one previously transmitted packet.

[0214] In certain embodiments, network node 360 ​​adjusts a block error rate BLER target for a packet based on a reliability requirement.

[0215] In certain embodiments, when determining the reliability requirement for a packet to be transmitted to the wireless device, the network node 360 ​​determines an estimated number of remaining transmissions to be transmitted within the time-to-live window and determines the reliability requirement based on the estimated number of remaining transmissions.

[0216] In certain embodiments, the network node 360 ​​adjusts the modulation and coding scheme MCS of the packet based on the reliability requirements.

[0217] In particular embodiments, the network node 360 ​​determines that transmission of the at least one previously transmitted packet was unsuccessful, and determines the reliability requirement based on the unsuccessful transmission of the at least one previously transmitted packet.

[0218] In certain embodiments, reliability requirements are applied to retransmissions of packets.

[0219] In a particular embodiment, the retransmission comprises a Packet Data Convergence Protocol, a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request, or a Radio Link Control retransmission.

[0220] In certain embodiments, network node 360 ​​adjusts the transmission power of packets based on reliability requirements.

[0221] In certain embodiments, the network node 360 ​​blanks interfering transmission points based on reliability requirements.

[0222] In certain embodiments, network node 360 ​​transmits packets from multiple transmission points based on reliability requirements.

[0223] In certain embodiments, the network node 360 ​​determines that a threshold number of unsuccessful consecutive transmissions have occurred and takes at least one action selected from: triggering an alarm; triggering a notification; and collecting statistics related to packet loss.

[0224] In certain embodiments, the network node 360 ​​determines that the at least one previously transmitted packet was not successfully transmitted, and prioritizes transmission of the packet to the wireless device 310 over transmission of another packet.

[0225] In certain embodiments, when transmitting packets based on reliability requirements, network node 360 ​​transmits the packets using repetitions based on the reliability requirements.

[0226] In certain embodiments, when transmitting packets based on reliability requirements, network node 360 ​​transmits the packets using transmit diversity instead of MIMO based on the reliability requirements.

[0227] In a particular embodiment, the network node includes an eNB or a gNB.

[0228] Fig. 22 A wireless network (e.g., Fig.10 Schematic block diagram of a virtual device 1300 in a wireless network (such as a wireless network shown in FIG. 1 ). The device may be in a wireless device or a network node (such as Fig.10 The apparatus 1300 is operable to perform the reference Fig.21 The example methods described may also implement any other processes or methods disclosed herein. It should also be understood that Fig.21 The method is not necessarily performed solely by the apparatus 1300. At least some operations of the method may be implemented by one or more other entities.

[0229] The virtual device 1300 may include a processing circuit that may include one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware that may include a digital signal processor (DSP), dedicated digital logic, etc. The processing circuit may be configured to execute program code stored in a memory, which may include one or more types of memory, such as a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory, a cache memory, a flash memory device, an optical storage device, etc. In several embodiments, the program code stored in the memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and / or data communication protocols and instructions for executing one or more techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuit may be used to cause the determination module 1302, the transmission module 1304, and any other suitable unit of the device 1300 to implement the corresponding functions according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0230] According to some embodiments, the determination module 1302 may implement certain determination functions of the apparatus 1300. For example, the determination module 1302 may determine a reliability requirement for a packet to be transmitted to the wireless device. The reliability requirement may be determined at least in part based on consecutive packet losses associated with at least one previously transmitted packet.

[0231] According to some embodiments, the transmission module 1304 may implement certain transmission functions of the apparatus 1300. For example, the transmission module 1304 may transmit packets to the wireless device based on reliability requirements.

[0232] The term "unit" may have a conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices and / or electronic devices, and may include, for example, electrical and / or electronic circuits, devices, modules, processors, memories, logical solid-state and / or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for performing corresponding tasks, processes, calculations, output and / or display functions, etc. as those described herein.

[0233] Fig.23 A method 1400 of a network node 360 ​​according to some embodiments is depicted. The method begins at step 1402 when the network node 360 ​​determines a reliability requirement for a packet to be transmitted from a wireless device 310. The reliability requirement is determined based at least in part on consecutive packet losses associated with at least one previously transmitted packet. At step 1404, the network node 360 ​​instructs the wireless device 310 to transmit the packet in accordance with the reliability requirement.

[0234] In certain embodiments, network node 360 ​​comprises a base station.

[0235] In certain embodiments, the reliability requirement includes a time-to-live window during which the desired QoS level must be met. When the desired QoS level is met, at least one packet is successfully delivered during the time-to-live window.

[0236] In certain embodiments, network node 360 ​​determines the number of packets that can be lost during the time-to-live window.

[0237] In certain embodiments, the time-to-live window includes the sum of the transmission time of the packet or the packet delay budget and the time-to-live of the application.

[0238] In certain embodiments, the network node obtains the time-to-live window as part of the QoS profile configuration.

[0239] In a particular embodiment, the QoS profile configuration is associated with a bearer established to carry a flow associated with packets.

[0240] In a particular embodiment, the packet is a new data packet within a data flow comprising said at least one previously transmitted packet.

[0241] In certain embodiments, network node 360 ​​adjusts a block error rate BLER target for a packet based on a reliability requirement.

[0242] In particular embodiments, when determining a reliability requirement for a packet to be transmitted from a wireless device, network node 360 ​​determines an estimated number of remaining transmissions to be transmitted within a time-to-live window and determines the reliability requirement based on the estimated number of remaining transmissions.

[0243] In certain embodiments, network node 360 ​​adjusts the MCS of the packet based on reliability requirements.

[0244] In particular embodiments, the network node 360 ​​determines that transmission of the at least one previously transmitted packet was unsuccessful, and determines the reliability requirement based on the unsuccessful transmission of the at least one previously transmitted packet.

[0245] In certain embodiments, reliability requirements are applied to retransmissions of packets.

[0246] In certain embodiments, the retransmission comprises a PDCP, HARQ or RLC retransmission.

[0247] In certain embodiments, network node 360 ​​instructs the wireless device to adjust the transmission power of the packet based on the reliability requirement.

[0248] In certain embodiments, the network node 360 ​​blanks interfering transmission points based on reliability requirements.

[0249] In certain embodiments, network node 360 ​​instructs the wireless device to transmit packets from multiple transmission points based on reliability requirements.

[0250] In certain embodiments, the network node 360 ​​determines that a threshold number of unsuccessful consecutive transmissions have occurred and takes at least one action selected from: triggering an alarm; triggering a notification; and collecting statistics related to packet loss.

[0251] In certain embodiments, the network node 360 ​​determines that the at least one previously transmitted packet was not successfully transmitted, and instructs the wireless device to prioritize transmission of the packet from the wireless device over transmission of another packet.

[0252] In certain embodiments, when instructing the wireless device 310 to transmit a packet, the network node 360 ​​instructs the wireless device 310 to transmit the packet using repetitions based on the reliability requirements.

[0253] In certain embodiments, when instructing the wireless device 310 to transmit a packet, the network node 360 ​​instructs the wireless device 310 to transmit the packet using transmit diversity instead of MIMO based on reliability requirements.

[0254] In a particular embodiment, the network node includes an eNB or a gNB.

[0255] Fig.24 A wireless network (e.g., Fig.10 Schematic block diagram of a virtual device 1500 in a wireless network (such as a wireless network shown in FIG. 1 ). The device may be in a wireless device or a network node (such as Fig.10 The apparatus 1300 is operable to perform the reference Fig.23 The example methods described may also implement any other processes or methods disclosed herein. It should also be understood that Fig.23 The method is not necessarily performed solely by the apparatus 1500. At least some operations of the method may be implemented by one or more other entities.

[0256] The virtual device 1500 may include a processing circuit that may include one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware that may include a digital signal processor (DSP), dedicated digital logic, etc. The processing circuit may be configured to execute program code stored in a memory, which may include one or more types of memory, such as a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory, a cache memory, a flash memory device, an optical storage device, etc. In several embodiments, the program code stored in the memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and / or data communication protocols and instructions for executing one or more techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuit may be used to cause the determination module 1502, the indication module 1504, and any other suitable unit of the device 1500 to implement the corresponding functions according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0257] According to certain embodiments, the determination module 1502 may implement certain determination functions of the apparatus 1500. For example, the determination module 1502 may determine a reliability requirement for a packet to be transmitted from the wireless device 310. The reliability requirement is determined based at least in part on consecutive packet losses associated with at least one previously transmitted packet.

[0258] According to some embodiments, the instructing module 1504 may implement certain instructing functions of the apparatus 1500. For example, the instructing module 1504 may instruct the wireless device 310 to transmit packets according to reliability requirements.

[0259] The term "unit" may have a conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices and / or electronic devices, and may include, for example, electrical and / or electronic circuits, devices, modules, processors, memories, logical solid-state and / or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for performing corresponding tasks, processes, calculations, output and / or display functions, etc. as those described herein.

[0260] Fig.25 A method 1600 implemented by a wireless device 310, such as a UE, according to certain embodiments is depicted. The method begins at step 1602 when the wireless device determines a reliability requirement for a packet to be transmitted to a base station 360. The reliability requirement is determined based at least in part on consecutive packet losses associated with at least one previously transmitted packet. At step 1604, the wireless device transmits the packet to the base station 360 based on the reliability requirement.

[0261] Fig.26 A wireless network (e.g., Fig.10 Schematic block diagram of a virtual device 1700 in a wireless network (such as a wireless network shown in FIG. 1 ). The device may be in a wireless device or a network node (such as a wireless network). Fig.10 The apparatus 1700 is operable to perform the reference Fig.21 The example methods described may also implement any other processes or methods disclosed herein. It should also be understood that Fig.21 The method is not necessarily performed solely by the apparatus 1700. At least some operations of the method may be implemented by one or more other entities.

[0262] The virtual device 1700 may include a processing circuit that may include one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware that may include a digital signal processor (DSP), dedicated digital logic, etc. The processing circuit may be configured to execute program code stored in a memory that may include one or more types of memory, such as a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory, a cache memory, a flash memory device, an optical storage device, etc. In several embodiments, the program code stored in the memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and / or data communication protocols and instructions for executing one or more techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuit may be used to cause the determination module 1702, the transmission module 1704, and any other suitable unit of the device 1700 to implement corresponding functions according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0263] According to some embodiments, the determination module 1702 may implement certain determination functions of the apparatus 1700. For example, the determination module 1702 may determine a reliability requirement for a packet to be transmitted to the network node 360, which may include a base station. The reliability requirement may be determined at least in part based on consecutive packet losses associated with at least one previously transmitted packet.

[0264] According to some embodiments, the transmission module 1704 may implement certain transmission functions of the apparatus 1700. For example, the transmission module 1704 may transmit the packet to the base station based on reliability requirements.

[0265] The term "unit" may have a conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices and / or electronic devices, and may include, for example, electrical and / or electronic circuits, devices, modules, processors, memories, logical solid-state and / or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for performing corresponding tasks, processes, calculations, output and / or display functions, etc. as those described herein.

[0266] Example Embodiments

[0267] Example embodiment 1. A method for improving network efficiency implemented by a base station, the method comprising: determining a reliability requirement for a packet to be transmitted to a wireless device, the reliability requirement being determined at least in part based on consecutive packet losses associated with at least one previously transmitted packet; and transmitting the packet to the wireless device based on the reliability requirement.

[0268] Example Embodiment 2. The method of Embodiment 1, wherein the packet is a retransmission of the at least one previously transmitted packet.

[0269] Example embodiment 3. The method according to embodiment 2, wherein the retransmission comprises PDCP, HARQ or RLC retransmission.

[0270] Example embodiment 4. The method of any one of embodiments 2 to 3, wherein determining the reliability requirement of the packet comprises determining that a retransmission of a previously transmitted packet does not arrive too late.

[0271] Example Embodiment 5. The method of any one of Embodiments 1 to 4, wherein the packet and the at least one previously transmitted packet are in the same data stream.

[0272] Example Embodiment 6. The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 5, further comprising: adjusting a BLER target for the packet based on the reliability requirement.

[0273] Example embodiment 7. A method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 6, wherein the continuous packet loss associated with the at least one previously transmitted packet includes at least one of the following: the number of packets that can be lost while maintaining a desired quality of service level; and the current continuous packet success rate of the data stream associated with the packet.

[0274] Example Embodiment 8. The method of any one of Embodiments 1 to 7, wherein the reliability requirement comprises a time-to-live window during which a desired quality of service level must be met.

[0275] Example embodiment 9. The method of embodiment 8, further comprising: determining a number of packets that can be lost during the time-to-live window.

[0276] Example embodiment 10. The method of any one of embodiments 8 to 9, wherein the time-to-live window comprises a sum of a transmission time of the packet or a packet delay budget and a time-to-live of an application.

[0277] Example embodiment 11. The method according to embodiment 10, further comprising: obtaining the time-to-live window as part of a QCI profile configuration, the QCI profile configuration being associated with a bearer established to carry a flow associated with the packet.

[0278] Example embodiment 12. A method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 11, wherein determining the reliability requirement of the packet to be transmitted to the wireless device includes: determining an estimated number of remaining transmissions within a survival time window, and determining that the transmission of a second packet will not exceed the estimated number of remaining transmissions within the survival time window.

[0279] Example Embodiment 13. The method of any one of Embodiments 1 to 12, further comprising: adjusting the MCS of the packet based on the reliability requirement.

[0280] Example embodiment 14. The method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 13 further includes: determining that the transmission of the packet is unsuccessful, and determining how many retransmissions of the packet can be afforded and / or whether to increase or decrease the MCS of any retransmission of the packet.

[0281] Example embodiment 15. The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 14, further comprising: adjusting a transmission power of the packet and retransmitting the packet.

[0282] Example Embodiment 16. The method of any one of Embodiments 1 to 15, further comprising: blanking an interfering transmission point and retransmitting the packet.

[0283] Example Embodiment 17. The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 16, further comprising: retransmitting the packet from multiple transmission points.

[0284] Example embodiment 18. The method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 17 further includes: determining that a threshold number of unsuccessful transmissions have occurred, and taking at least one action selected from the following: triggering an alarm; triggering a notification; and collecting statistical information related to packet loss.

[0285] Example Embodiment 19. The method of any one of Embodiments 1 to 18, further comprising: determining that the packet was not successfully transmitted, and prioritizing retransmission of the packet to the wireless device over transmission of another packet to another wireless device.

[0286] Example Embodiment 20. The method of any one of Embodiments 1 to 19, further comprising: determining that the packet was not successfully transmitted, and prioritizing transmission of another packet to another wireless device over retransmission of the packet to the wireless device.

[0287] Example embodiment 21. A method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 20, wherein the network node comprises an eNB or a gNB.

[0288] Example embodiment 22. A base station for improving network efficiency, the base station comprising: a processing circuit configured to implement any steps according to any one of example embodiments 1 to 20; a power supply circuit configured to supply power to the wireless device.

[0289] Example embodiment 23. A communication system comprising a host computer, comprising: a processing circuit configured to provide user data; and a communication interface configured to forward the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the cellular network comprises a base station having a radio interface and a processing circuit, and the processing circuit of the base station is configured to implement any steps according to any one of example embodiments 1 to 20.

[0290] Example embodiment 24. The communication system according to the previous embodiment, further comprising the base station.

[0291] Example embodiment 25. The communication system according to the previous two embodiments, further comprising the UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with the base station.

[0292] Example embodiment 26. A communication system according to the first three embodiments, wherein: the processing circuit of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the UE includes a processing circuit configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.

[0293] Example embodiment 27. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host computer, providing user data; and at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network including the base station, wherein the base station implements any steps according to any one of example embodiments 1 to 20.

[0294] Example Embodiment 28. The method according to the previous embodiment, further comprising: transmitting the user data at the base station.

[0295] Example embodiment 29. The method according to the previous two embodiments, wherein the user data is provided at the host computer by executing a host application, the method further comprising: executing a client application associated with the host application at the UE.

[0296] Example embodiment 30. A user equipment (UE) configured to communicate with a base station, the UE comprising a radio interface and processing circuitry configured to implement the first three embodiments.

[0297] Example embodiment 31. A communication system comprising a host computer, the host computer comprising a communication interface, the communication interface being configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station, wherein the base station comprises a radio interface and a processing circuit, the processing circuit of the base station being configured to implement any steps according to any one of example embodiments 1 to 20.

[0298] Example Embodiment 32. The communication system according to the previous embodiment, further comprising the base station.

[0299] Example embodiment 33. The communication system according to the previous two embodiments, further comprising the UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with the base station.

[0300] Example embodiment 34. A communication system according to the previous three embodiments, wherein: the processing circuit of the host computer is configured to execute a host application; and the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data to be received by the host computer.

[0301] Example embodiment 35. A method implemented by a UE for improving network efficiency, the method comprising: determining a reliability requirement for a packet to be transmitted to a base station, the reliability requirement being determined at least in part based on consecutive packet losses associated with at least one previously transmitted packet; and transmitting the packet to the base station based on the reliability requirement.

[0302] Example Embodiment 36. The method of Embodiment 35, wherein the packet is a retransmission of the at least one previously transmitted packet.

[0303] Example Embodiment 37. The method of Embodiment 36, wherein the retransmission comprises a PDCP, HARQ, or RLC retransmission.

[0304] Example Embodiment 38. The method of any one of Embodiments 35 to 37, wherein determining the reliability requirement of the packet comprises determining that a retransmission of a previously transmitted packet does not arrive too late.

[0305] Example Embodiment 39. The method of any one of Embodiments 35 to 38, wherein the packet and the at least one previously transmitted packet are in the same data stream.

[0306] Example Embodiment 40. The method of any one of Embodiments 35 to 39, further comprising: adjusting a BLER target for the packet based on the reliability requirement.

[0307] Example embodiment 41. A method according to any one of embodiments 35 to 40, wherein the continuous packet loss associated with the at least one previously transmitted packet includes at least one of the following: the number of packets that can be lost while maintaining a desired quality of service level; and the current continuous packet success rate of the data stream associated with the packet.

[0308] Example Embodiment 42. The method of any one of Embodiments 35 to 41, wherein the reliability requirement comprises a time-to-live window during which a desired quality of service level must be met.

[0309] Example Embodiment 43. The method of embodiment 42, further comprising: determining a number of packets that can be lost during the time-to-live window.

[0310] Example Embodiment 44. The method of any one of Embodiments 42 to 43, wherein the time-to-live window comprises a sum of a transmission time of the packet or a packet delay budget and a time-to-live of an application.

[0311] Example Embodiment 45. The method of Embodiment 44, further comprising: obtaining the time-to-live window as part of a QCI profile configuration associated with a bearer established to carry a flow associated with the packet.

[0312] Example embodiment 46. A method according to any one of embodiments 35 to 45, wherein determining the reliability requirement of the packet to be transmitted to the base station includes: determining an estimated number of remaining transmissions within a survival time window, and determining that the transmission of a second packet will not exceed the estimated number of remaining transmissions within the survival time.

[0313] Example Embodiment 47. The method of any one of Embodiments 35 to 46, further comprising: adjusting the MCS of the packet based on the reliability requirement.

[0314] Example embodiment 48. The method according to any one of embodiments 35 to 47 further includes: determining that the transmission of the packet is unsuccessful, and determining how many retransmissions of the packet can be afforded and / or whether to increase or decrease the MCS of any retransmission of the packet.

[0315] Example embodiment 49. The method according to any one of embodiments 35 to 48, further comprising: adjusting the transmission power of the packet and retransmitting the packet.

[0316] Example embodiment 50. The method of any one of embodiments 35 to 49, further comprising: blanking an interfering transmission point and retransmitting the packet.

[0317] Example Embodiment 51. The method of any one of Embodiments 35 to 50, further comprising: retransmitting the packet from a plurality of transmission points.

[0318] Example embodiment 52. The method according to any one of embodiments 35 to 51 further includes: determining that a threshold number of unsuccessful transmissions have occurred, and taking at least one action selected from the following: triggering an alarm; triggering a notification; and collecting statistical information related to packet loss.

[0319] Example embodiment 53. The method according to any one of embodiments 35 to 52 further includes: determining that the packet was not successfully transmitted, and giving priority to retransmission of the packet to the base station over transmission of another packet to another base station.

[0320] Example embodiment 54. The method of any one of embodiments 35 to 53, further comprising: determining that the packet was not successfully transmitted, and allowing transmission of another packet to another base station to take precedence over retransmission of the packet to the base station.

[0321] Example embodiment 55. A wireless device for improving network efficiency, the wireless device comprising: a processing circuit configured to implement any steps according to any one of example embodiments 35 to 54; and a power circuit configured to supply power to the wireless device.

[0322] Example embodiment 56. A user equipment (UE) for improving network efficiency, the UE comprising: an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals; a radio front-end circuit connected to the antenna and a processing circuit and configured to adjust signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuit; the processing circuit configured to implement any steps according to any one of example embodiments 35 to 54; an input interface connected to the processing circuit and configured to allow information to be input to the UE for processing by the processing circuit; an output interface connected to the processing circuit and configured to output information that has been processed by the processing circuit from the UE; and a battery connected to the processing circuit and configured to power the UE.

[0323] Example embodiment 57. A communication system comprising a host computer, comprising: a processing circuit configured to provide user data; and a communication interface configured to forward the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE comprises a radio interface and a processing circuit, and the components of the UE are configured to implement any steps according to any of the embodiments in example embodiments 35 to 54.

[0324] Example embodiment 58. The communication system according to the previous embodiment, wherein the cellular network further comprises a base station configured to communicate with the UE.

[0325] Example embodiment 59. A communication system according to the previous two embodiments, wherein: the processing circuit of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the processing circuit of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.

[0326] Example embodiment 60. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host computer, providing user data; and at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network including the base station, wherein the UE implements any steps according to any one of example embodiments 35 to 54.

[0327] Example embodiment 61. The method according to the previous embodiment, further comprising: at the UE, receiving the user data from the base station.

[0328] Example embodiment 62. A communication system comprising a host computer, comprising: a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station, wherein the UE comprises a radio interface and a processing circuit, and the processing circuit of the UE is configured to implement any steps according to any one of example embodiments 35 to 54.

[0329] Example embodiment 63. The communication system according to the previous embodiment, further comprising the UE.

[0330] Example embodiment 64. The communication system according to the previous two embodiments further includes the base station, wherein the base station includes: a radio interface, which is configured to communicate with the UE; and a communication interface, which is configured to forward the user data carried by the transmission from the UE to the base station to the host computer.

[0331] Example embodiment 65. A communication system according to the first three embodiments, wherein: the processing circuit of the host computer is configured to execute a host application; and the processing circuit of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data.

[0332] Example embodiment 66. A communication system according to the first four embodiments, wherein: the processing circuit of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing request data; and the processing circuit of the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data in response to the request data.

[0333] Example embodiment 67. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host computer, receiving user data transmitted from the UE to the base station, wherein the UE implements any steps of any one of example embodiments 35 to 54.

[0334] Example Embodiment 68. The method according to the previous embodiment, further comprising: providing the user data to the base station at the UE.

[0335] Example embodiment 69. The method according to the previous 2 embodiments, further comprising: executing a client application at the UE, thereby providing the user data to be transmitted; and executing a host application associated with the client application at the host computer.

[0336] Example embodiment 70. According to the method of the first three embodiments, it also includes: executing a client application at the UE; and receiving input data to the client application at the UE, the input data being provided at the host computer by executing a host application associated with the client application, wherein the user data to be transmitted is provided by the client application in response to the input data.

[0337] Example embodiment 71. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host computer, receiving from the base station user data originating from a transmission that the base station has received from the UE, wherein the UE implements any steps according to any one of example embodiments 35 to 54.

[0338] Example embodiment 72. The method according to the previous embodiment, further comprising: receiving, at the base station, the user data from the UE.

[0339] Example embodiment 73. The method according to the previous 2 embodiments, further comprising: at the base station, initiating transmission of the received user data to the host computer.

[0340] Without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, the systems and devices described herein may be modified, added to, or omitted. The components of the systems and devices may be integrated or separated. In addition, the operations of the systems and devices may be implemented by more, fewer, or other components. In addition, any appropriate logic including software, hardware, and / or other logic may be used to implement the operations of the systems and devices. As used in this document, "each" refers to each member of a set or each member of a subset of a set.

[0341] Without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, the methods described herein may be modified, added or omitted. These methods may include more, less or other steps. In addition, the steps may be implemented in any appropriate order.

[0342] Although the present disclosure has been described according to certain embodiments, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that the changes and permutations of the embodiments are present. Therefore, the description of the above embodiments does not limit the present disclosure. Other changes, substitutions and variations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A method (1200) implemented by a base station (360), the method comprising: determining (1202) a reliability requirement for a packet to be transmitted to a wireless device, the reliability requirement being determined based at least in part on consecutive packet losses associated with at least one previously transmitted packet, wherein determining the reliability requirement for the packet to be transmitted to the wireless device comprises: determining an estimated number of remaining transmissions to be transmitted within a time-to-live window, and determining the reliability requirement based on the estimated number of remaining transmissions, wherein the estimated number of remaining transmissions is determined based at least on the time-to-live window and an estimate of how many consecutive packets can be tolerated to be lost before exceeding a maximum threshold number of consecutive packet losses during the time-to-live window while satisfying the reliability requirement; and Based on the reliability requirement, the packet is transmitted (1204) to the wireless device (310).

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The reliability requirement comprises a time-to-live window during which a desired quality of service (QoS) level must be met, wherein at least one packet is successfully delivered during the time-to-live window when the desired QoS level is met.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: A number of packets that can be lost during the time-to-live window is determined.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The time-to-live window includes the sum of the transmission time of the packet or the packet delay budget and the time-to-live of the application.

5. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: The time-to-live window is obtained as part of a QoS profile configuration.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein: The QoS profile configuration is associated with a bearer established to carry a flow associated with the packet.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The packet is a new data packet in a data stream comprising the at least one previously transmitted packet.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A block error rate (BLER) target for the packet is adjusted based on the reliability requirement.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A modulation and coding scheme (MCS) of the packet is adjusted based on the reliability requirement.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A determination is made that transmission of the at least one previously transmitted packet was unsuccessful, and the reliability requirement is determined based on the unsuccessful transmission of the at least one previously transmitted packet.

11. A base station (360), comprising: A processing circuit (370) configured to: determining a reliability requirement for a packet to be transmitted to a wireless device (310), the reliability requirement being determined based at least in part on consecutive packet losses associated with at least one previously transmitted packet, wherein when determining the reliability requirement for the packet to be transmitted to the wireless device, the processing circuit is configured to determine an estimated number of remaining transmissions to be transmitted within a time-to-live window, and to determine the reliability requirement based on the estimated number of remaining transmissions, wherein the estimated number of remaining transmissions is determined based at least on the time-to-live window and an estimate of how many consecutive packets can be tolerated to be lost before exceeding a maximum threshold number of consecutive packet losses during the time-to-live window while satisfying the reliability requirement; and Based on the reliability requirement, the packet is transmitted to the wireless device.

12. The base station according to claim 11, wherein: The reliability requirement comprises a time-to-live window during which a desired quality of service (QoS) level must be met, wherein at least one packet is successfully delivered during the time-to-live window when the desired QoS level is met.

13. The base station according to claim 12, wherein: The processing circuit is configured to determine a number of packets that can be lost during the time-to-live window.

14. The base station according to any one of claims 12 to 13, wherein: The time-to-live window includes the sum of the transmission time of the packet or the packet delay budget and the time-to-live of the application.

15. The base station according to claim 12, wherein: The processing circuit is configured to obtain the time-to-live window as part of a QoS profile configuration.

16. The base station according to claim 15, wherein: The QoS profile configuration is associated with a bearer established to carry a flow associated with the packet.

17. The base station according to claim 11, wherein: The packet is a new data packet in a data stream comprising the at least one previously transmitted packet.

18. The base station according to claim 11, wherein: The processing circuit is configured to adjust a block error rate (BLER) target for the packet based on the reliability requirement.

19. The base station according to claim 11, wherein: The processing circuit is configured to adjust a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) of the packet based on the reliability requirement.

20. The base station according to claim 11, wherein: The processing circuit is configured to determine that transmission of the at least one previously transmitted packet was unsuccessful, and to determine the reliability requirement based on the unsuccessful transmission of the at least one previously transmitted packet.

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