Efficient point-to-multipoint operation in the presence of anomalous user devices

Abstract

According to an example embodiment of the present invention, there is at least one method and apparatus for performing: receiving, by at least one user device in a group of more than one user devices of a communication network, first information for being in a point-to-multipoint service group from a network node of the communication network, wherein the first information is related to an indication of channel quality measured from the at least one user device; and determining, based on the received first information, that the at least one user device is not permitted to utilize at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Teachings according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention generally relate to selectively causing user equipment to not utilize a network configuration, and more particularly, to selectively causing user equipment to not utilize a point-to-multipoint network configuration based on determined channel quality. Background Art

[0002] This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention described in the claims. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but not necessarily concepts previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, the material described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

[0003] Certain abbreviations used in the specification and / or drawings are defined as follows:

[0004] BLER: Block Error Rate

[0005] CQI: Channel Quality Indicator

[0006] CSI: Channel State Information

[0007] DL: Downlink

[0008] gNB: Next Generation (5G) Node B

[0009] HARQ: Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request

[0010] MCS: Modulation and Coding Selection

[0011] NR: New Radio (5G)

[0012] PDSCH: Physical Downlink Shared Channel

[0013] PRACH: Physical Random Access Channel

[0014] PTM: Point-to-Multipoint

[0015] PTP: Point-to-Point

[0016] PUSCH: Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0017] QoS: Quality of Service

[0018] RAN: Radio Access Network

[0019] RRC: Radio Resource Control

[0020] SC-PTM: Single-cell PTM

[0021] UE: User Equipment

[0022] At the time of this application, 3GPP has approved work items for supporting Multicast and Broadcast Systems (MBS) in Release 17 of New Radio (NR). In this context, point-to-multipoint (PTM) transmission is expected to efficiently provide MBS services to multiple users by using the same radio framework as unicast transmission. In this regard, the main focus is on strategies for achieving high efficiency and reliability to enable new use cases for PTM. Here, the application of Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) technology has received considerable support, and various options are being studied in standards body meetings and email discussions. It was agreed in the standards body meetings that HARQ-ACK feedback is supported for PTM for UEs in RRC_CONNECTED state, and detailed HARQ-ACK feedback solutions, such as ACK / NACK based and NACK only based, will be specified through further study.

[0023] In wireless technology, retransmission-based error recovery techniques are widely used to ensure reliable data transmission, even when data is received with errors. Typically, Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ), implemented in the Radio Link Control (RLC) acknowledgement mode, and Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ), implemented in the Media Access Control / Physical (MAC / PHY) radio sublayer, are used to coordinate data retransmissions to improve radio link reliability. These methods can improve the spectral efficiency of communications over fading radio channels.

[0024] Example embodiments in this disclosure aim to improve at least these operations in upcoming standard releases, such as NR releases. Summary of the Invention

[0025] This section contains examples of possible implementations and is not intended to be limiting.

[0026] In an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is an apparatus, such as a user equipment side apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory comprising computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: receive first information from a network node of the communication network by at least one user equipment in a group of more than one user equipment of the communication network; and determine, based on the received first information, that at least one user equipment is not allowed to utilize at least one feedback resource of a point-to-multipoint service group.

[0027] In another example aspect of the present invention, there is a method comprising: receiving, by at least one user device in a group of more than one user devices of a communication network, first information for being in a point-to-multipoint service group from a network node of the communication network, wherein the first information is related to an indication of a channel quality measured from the at least one user device; and determining, based on the received first information, that the at least one user device is not allowed to utilize at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group.

[0028] Another example embodiment is a method including the method of the preceding paragraph and / or an apparatus including the apparatus of the preceding paragraph, wherein the first information related to the indication of channel quality includes: at least one of a service quality indicator, a channel quality indicator, a block error rate, or a count of negative acknowledgements sent by a user equipment on at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group, and determining that at least one user equipment is not allowed to utilize the at least one feedback resource is based on a comparison result of the indication of channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment and a channel quality requirement of the at least one user equipment, wherein not allowing the at least one user equipment to utilize the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group includes: not allowing the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group to be utilized. a source that sends at least one of an acknowledgment, a negative acknowledgment, and a hybrid repeat request feedback, wherein the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group is a common feedback resource for use by permitted user equipment of the point-to-multipoint service group, wherein the channel quality requirement comprises: at least one of an indication reflecting a channel quality threshold for one of a quality of service indicator, a channel quality indicator, a block error rate, or a count of negative acknowledgments, or at least one of a timer or counter threshold, wherein determining that the at least one user equipment is not permitted to utilize the at least one feedback resource is based on at least one of: an indication of channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment being one of: equal to, below, or above a corresponding channel quality requirement threshold, wherein the determination to The at least one user equipment is not allowed to utilize the at least one feedback resource based on at least one of the following: at least during the duration of the timer, a channel quality measurement is one of the following: equal to, below, or above a threshold, or for at least a plurality of consecutive measurements during the duration of the threshold, the channel quality measurement is one of the following: equal to, below, or above the threshold, wherein based on the comparison result, a channel quality indicator of 0 is sent from the at least one user equipment to the network node using a channel state information report, wherein the channel quality indicator 0 indicates to the network node to provide control signaling to at least one of the following: deactivate negative acknowledgement feedback or deconfigure a channel state information feedback resource for the at least one user equipment, wherein the control signaling comprising dedicated signaling, the dedicated signaling being configured to configure at least one user equipment to at least one of: deactivate negative acknowledgment feedback or deconfigure channel state information resources for the at least one user equipment, and to cease sending negative acknowledgments from the at least one user equipment without additional instructions from the network node, wherein the received first information further comprises an indication that the at least one user equipment does not need to perform at least one of the following: issue hybrid automatic repeat request feedback on at least one feedback resource of a point-to-multipoint service group, or issue a channel state information report on dedicated resources for the at least one user equipment, wherein the group of more than one user equipment comprises a point-to-multipoint link adaptation group, and wherein the dedicated resource assignment is received by the at least one user equipment;and transmitting, at at least one user equipment, second information of at least one point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement in the point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement using the assigned dedicated resources, wherein the second information of at least one point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement in the point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement and at least one of an acknowledgment, a negative acknowledgment, a hybrid automatic repeat request feedback, or a request for access to a common feedback resource are used by the network node to determine whether to allow at least one user equipment to issue a hybrid automatic repeat request feedback for a point-to-multipoint service on a group common feedback resource of the group, wherein the at least one user equipment receives a request for retransmission based on at least one channel measurement or an instruction for decoding data received via the point-to-multipoint service. at least one criterion for new entry into a point-to-multipoint service; and determining, based on the criterion, whether at least one criterion for re-entry is met, for permitting at least one user equipment to re-enter the point-to-multipoint service, wherein the channel measurement comprises at least one of a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SIR) or a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, and wherein the re-entry comprises resuming utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group, and wherein upon determining that the at least one criterion for re-entry is met, issuing a scheduling request to a network node; receiving, in response to the scheduling request, activation for sending negative acknowledgment feedback on at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group; and based on the re-entry, determining, based on a distribution of data received via the point-to-multipoint service, The method comprises the steps of: transmitting a negative acknowledgement feedback on at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group based on a result of decoding a data packet received via the multipoint service, wherein after determining that at least one criterion for re-entry is met, issuing a scheduling request to a network node; receiving a resource allocation of a physical uplink shared channel resource from the network node; transmitting a request for re-entering the point-to-multipoint service group by using the physical uplink shared channel resource; receiving activation information from the network node, the activation information being used to configure at least one user equipment to issue feedback on at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group; and transmitting a negative acknowledgement on the group common feedback resource based on a result of decoding a data packet received via the multipoint service, wherein the re-entry request includes channel quality information, and a timer is started when the scheduling request is sent; after expiration of the timer, if the at least one user equipment has not re-entered the point-to-multipoint service and if the at least one readmission criterion is still met, the at least one user equipment: issues another scheduling request; and restarts the timer, wherein upon recognizing that the at least one criterion for re-entry is now met, a negative acknowledgement is issued on at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group based on a result of decoding a data packet received over the point-to-multipoint service, and / or wherein the at least one criterion for re-entry remains met for a duration of a rejoin timer that has been started after the at least one user equipment detects that the at least one criterion for re-entry is met.

[0029] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program code, the program code being executed by at least one processor to perform at least the method described in the above paragraph.

[0030] In another example aspect of the present invention, there is an apparatus comprising: means for receiving, by at least one user equipment in a group of more than one user equipment of a communication network, first information for being in a point-to-multipoint service group from a network node of the communication network, wherein the first information relates to an indication of a channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment; and means for determining, based on the received first information, that the at least one user equipment is not allowed to utilize at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group.

[0031] According to the example embodiments described in the preceding paragraphs, at least the means for receiving and the means for determining comprise a network interface and computer program code stored on a computer readable medium and executed by at least one processor.

[0032] In another exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is an apparatus, such as a network-side apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory comprising computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: receive, by a network node of a communication network, an indication of channel quality measured at at least one device from at least one user device of a point-to-multipoint service group, wherein the point-to-multipoint service group comprises more than one user device including at least one user device; determine, based on the indication of channel quality measured from at least one user device in the group of more than one user devices, that at least one user device is not allowed to utilize at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group; and, based on the determination, send first information of the determination to the at least one user device.

[0033] In another example aspect of the present invention, there is a method comprising: receiving, by a network node of a communication network, an indication of channel quality measured at at least one device from at least one user device of a point-to-multipoint service group, wherein the point-to-multipoint service group includes more than one user device including at least one user device; determining, based on the indication of channel quality measured from at least one user device in the group of more than one user devices, that at least one user device is not allowed to utilize at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group; and, based on the determination, sending first information of the determination to the at least one user device.

[0034] Another example embodiment is a method including the method of the preceding paragraph and / or an apparatus including the apparatus of the preceding paragraph, wherein the indication of channel quality includes at least one of a quality of service indicator, a channel quality indicator, a block error rate, or a count of negative acknowledgements sent by a user equipment on at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group, wherein the indication of channel quality includes at least one of a quality of service indicator, a channel quality indicator, a block error rate, or a count of negative acknowledgements from the user equipment on at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group, wherein the determining includes: determining that at least one user equipment is not allowed to utilize the at least one feedback resource is based on the indication of channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment and the channel quality of the at least one user equipment. The method further comprises: determining a comparison result of the requirements, wherein not allowing at least one user equipment to utilize at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group comprises: not allowing at least one of an acknowledgment, a negative acknowledgment, and a hybrid repeat request feedback to be transmitted using the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group, wherein the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group is a common feedback resource used by permitted user equipment of the point-to-multipoint service group, wherein the channel quality requirement comprises: at least one of an indication reflecting a channel quality threshold for one of a quality of service indicator, a channel quality indicator, a block error rate, or a negative acknowledgment count, or at least one of a timer or counter threshold, wherein determining that the at least one user equipment is not allowed to utilize the at least one feedback resource is based on at least one of the following: Item: An indication of channel quality measured from at least one user equipment is one of the following: equal to, lower than, or higher than a corresponding channel quality requirement threshold, wherein determining that at least one user equipment is not allowed to utilize at least one feedback resource is based on at least one of the following: a channel quality measurement is one of the following: equal to, lower than, or higher than a threshold at least for a duration of a timer, or a channel quality measurement is one of the following: equal to, lower than, or higher than a threshold for at least a plurality of consecutive measurements during the duration of the threshold, wherein based on the comparison result, a channel state information report is transmitted to the at least one user equipment, wherein the transmission causes the network node to at least one of the following: provide control signaling to disable negative acknowledgement-only feedback, or cancel the configuration to The method further comprises: providing channel state information feedback resources for at least one user equipment, wherein the control signaling comprises dedicated signaling for configuring the at least one user equipment to at least one of: deactivate negative acknowledgement-only feedback or deconfigure the channel state information resources for the at least one user equipment, wherein the information for not allowing utilization of the at least one feedback resource over a point-to-multipoint service comprises an indication that the at least one user equipment will not perform at least one of the following: send hybrid automatic repeat request feedback on at least one feedback resource of a point-to-multipoint service group for hybrid automatic repeat request feedback, or send channel state information reports on dedicated resources for the at least one user equipment, wherein the group of more than one user equipment comprises a point-to-multipoint link adaptation group,wherein a dedicated resource assignment is transmitted with at least one user equipment, wherein the assigned dedicated resource is used to transmit, at the at least one user equipment, second information of at least one point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement in the point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement, wherein the second information of the at least one point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement, or at least one of an acknowledgment, a negative acknowledgment, a hybrid automatic repeat request feedback, or a request to access a common feedback resource, is used by the network node to determine whether to allow the at least one user equipment to issue a hybrid automatic repeat request feedback for the point-to-multipoint service on a group common feedback resource of the group, based at least on the channel measurement and an instruction on whether to decode data received via the point-to-multipoint service, to transmit at least one criterion for re-entering the point-to-multipoint service to at least one user equipment; and wherein based on the criterion it is possible to identify whether the at least one criterion for re-entry is met, so as to permit the at least one user equipment to re-enter the point-to-multipoint service, wherein the channel measurement comprises at least one of a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SIR) or a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, and wherein the re-entry comprises resuming utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group, wherein based on the at least one criterion for re-entry being met, the method comprises: receiving a scheduling request from the at least one user equipment; transmitting, as a response to the scheduling request, an activation for issuing a negative acknowledgement feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group from the network node; and based on and receiving a negative acknowledgement feedback on at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group based on a result of decoding a data packet received via the point-to-multipoint service, wherein at least one criterion for at least one user equipment to re-enter the point-to-multipoint service is used, wherein the information includes at least one of the following: at least one channel quality measurement of the point-to-multipoint service, or data received by the at least one user equipment via the point-to-multipoint service; and determining whether the at least one criterion for re-entry is met based on the information, for granting the at least one user equipment to re-enter the point-to-multipoint service, wherein a scheduling request is received from the at least one user equipment; and transmitting activation information with the at least one user equipment to issue a feedback on a common negative acknowledgement resource. feedback; and based on the re-entry, receiving a negative acknowledgment from at least one user equipment on a group common negative acknowledgment-only resource based on a result of decoding a data packet transmitted over the point-to-multipoint service, wherein based on at least one criterion being satisfied at the at least one user equipment, receiving a scheduling request from the at least one user equipment; issuing an authorization for use of a physical uplink shared channel resource to the at least one user equipment; receiving a request to re-enter the point-to-multipoint service group from the at least one user equipment; issuing activation information to the at least one user equipment, the activation information being used to configure the at least one user equipment to send feedback on at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group; and based on the result of decoding the data packet transmitted over the point-to-multipoint service,receiving a negative acknowledgement from at least one user equipment on a common negative acknowledgement resource, wherein the request includes channel quality information, and / or wherein the at least one criterion must remain satisfied for the duration of a rejoin timer period that the at least one user equipment had started upon detecting that the at least one readmission criterion is satisfied.

[0035] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program code, the program code being executed by at least one processor to perform at least the method described in the above paragraph.

[0036] In another example aspect of the present invention, there is an apparatus comprising: a component for receiving, by a network node of a communication network, an indication of channel quality measured at at least one device from at least one user device of a point-to-multipoint service group, wherein the point-to-multipoint service group comprises more than one user device including at least one user device; a component for determining, based on the indication of channel quality measured from at least one user device in the group of more than one user devices, that at least one user device is not allowed to utilize at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group; and a component for sending first information of the determination to the at least one user device based on the determination.

[0037] According to the example embodiments described in the above paragraphs, at least the means for maintaining or establishing, the means for determining, and the means for sending include a network interface and computer program code stored on a computer readable medium and executed by at least one processor.

[0038] A communication system includes a network-side device and a user equipment-side device for performing the above operations. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0039] The above and other aspects, features and benefits of various embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent through the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals are used to represent similar or equivalent elements. The accompanying drawings are illustrated to facilitate a better understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure and are not necessarily drawn to scale. In the accompanying drawings:

[0040] Figure 1 shows the spectrum efficiency distribution of various SC-PTM transmission schemes;

[0041] Figure 2 A block diagram illustrating one possible and non-limiting exemplary system in which exemplary embodiments of the present invention may be practiced;

[0042] Figure 3 A high-level flow chart illustrating a proposed method (detecting abnormal UEs and exiting a PTM group) according to an example embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0043] Figure 4 Another high-level flow chart of the proposed method (UE re-enters the PTM group) according to an example embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0044] Figure 5 Another high-level flow chart illustrating additional possible implementation combinations according to example embodiments of the present invention; and

[0045] Figure 6A and Figure 6B Each illustrates a method that may be performed by an apparatus according to an example embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0046] In example embodiments of the present invention disclosed herein, at least one method and apparatus are presented for selectively preventing user equipment from utilizing a point-to-multipoint network configuration based on determined channel quality.

[0047] Similar to the above-mentioned wireless technologies, retransmission-based error recovery techniques are widely utilized to ensure reliable transmission of data even though the data is received with errors. Typically, automatic repeat request (ARQ) implemented for radio link control (RLC) acknowledgement mode and hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) implemented in the media access control / physical (MAC / PHY) radio sublayer are used to regulate the retransmission of data to improve the reliability of the radio link. These methods can improve the spectral efficiency of communications over radio fading channels. The example embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to improving at least these operations in upcoming standard versions such as NR versions. One purpose of the example embodiments of the present invention is to propose a mechanism and apparatus for performing detection and processing of the following situation: wherein even the QoS standards of UEs in very good channel conditions cannot be met due to UEs in poor channel conditions in a multicast group.

[0048] For MBS, 3GPP has studied the potential use of HARQ to improve the reliability of point-to-multipoint (PTM) radio transmissions, but so far they have only been deployed in PTP service delivery. The results of this study show that HARQ can improve transmission in the presence of errors. However, when there are a large number of UEs consuming MBS services, there are many HARQ ACK / NACK feedback messages, resulting in high signaling overhead and resource inefficiency. Typically, the so-called "enhanced outer loop link adaptation (eOLLA)" technology is used as an alternative technology to obtain the required reliability level, which adjusts the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) to increasingly conservative settings based on the worst-positioned UE. However, for the same number of UEs (where eOLLA is not reactive), burst errors may occur - errors that occur at intervals in short bursts (due to fading and power drops), resulting in the loss of protocol data units. Therefore, maintaining a reasonably efficient MCS and data retransmission via HARQ (for lost / decoded data units) are crucial to improving the reliability of the link. As Figure 1 As shown, our results also show that in the presence of a relatively large audience, in an urban environment with an average of 20 UEs per cell, for the expected 5G-NR SC-PTM simulation results, using only slowly varying MCS while relying on adaptive retransmission via HARQ to handle fast fading variations can achieve higher spectral efficiency compared to schemes such as eOLLA that control reliability without HARQ.

[0049] Figure 1 The spectral efficiency distribution of various SC-PTM transmission schemes is shown in FIG. Figure 1 As shown, in Figure 1 1A shows a BLER target of 1% without HARQ; Figure 1 1B shows the first Tx BLER target 30%, HARQ; and Figure 1 As shown in 1C, the residual BLER target is 1%, HARQ.

[0050] However, operation using HARQ can lead to issues with HARQ feedback overhead, particularly with larger audiences. One approach gaining significant support is NACK-only HARQ feedback, a scheme in which the network provides common uplink radio resources (e.g., the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) or the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH)) that can be used for NACK transmission by any UE that cannot decode the associated PDSCH. While this is highly efficient, as it avoids scaling up the UL overhead as the audience grows, and the gNB can use only energy detection to understand whether any UE has requested a retransmission for a particular packet, it is impossible for the gNB to understand the error rate of individual UEs based on this feedback on the common resources. With ACK / NACK feedback on UE-specific resources, the gNB can understand the error rate of each individual UE and perform link adaptation accordingly. Therefore, when using NACK-only HARQ feedback, UEs must provide additional feedback on the channel or service delivery quality to facilitate efficient link adaptation for PTM transmissions.

[0051] In one possible approach, there may be a method for efficient PTM operation using UE-triggered CSI reporting, where NACK feedback from UEs receiving PTM services is transmitted on group-common feedback resources, i.e., a NACK-only HARQ mode of operation. According to an example embodiment of the present invention, to facilitate efficient link adaptation, the network signals a PTM-CSI measurement configuration to the UE, consisting of a reliability criterion and parameters for measurement. Whenever a UE is not satisfied with its reliability, it issues a scheduling request to the gNB to obtain resources for PTM-CSI transmission. In response, the UE receives an allocation of UL resources on which it can transmit its PTM-CSI report. The gNB receives the PTM-CSI report, adapts the MCS accordingly, and configures periodic PTM-CSI reporting for that UE (until further notification). If any other UE previously reported PTM-CSI because it was not satisfied with reliability in the past, but now because the gNB has been performing MCS selection in response to that UE's PTM-CSI report, the gNB tells that UE to stop sending PTM-CSI reports. In this way, only a few UEs in the cell report PTM-CSI for the gNB to perform link adaptation.

[0052] In addition to the efficiency of the proposed method, in some cases, the channel conditions of a UE or multiple UEs may be significantly worse than those of other UEs (e.g., UEs near the cell edge). These UEs may not be satisfied with the reliability of the PTM service, i.e., the reliability criteria for the PTM service may not be met, and may request retransmissions by issuing a NACK on the group common feedback resource or on at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group, and may also report CQI values that are significantly lower than those of UEs with better channel conditions. In such cases, in addition to retransmissions, since the gNB adapts the PTM transmission (i.e., MCS selection) based on the UEs in the PTM group with the worst channel conditions, QoS service requirements (such as delay budget) of the service may not be met even for UEs with better channel conditions due to the excessive number of retransmissions and / or the lack of time / frequency resources for the low MCS values corresponding to the CQI values reported by the UEs with worse channel conditions.

[0053] It is therefore an object of example embodiments according to the present invention to provide a mechanism for detecting and handling situations where even the QoS criteria of UEs in very good channel conditions cannot be met due to UEs in poor channel conditions in the multicast group.

[0054] Notice:

[0055] In the context of inter-cell handover, the network may configure certain thresholds, e.g., on received signal strength that trigger certain actions and measurement reports from the UE to the network (e.g., measuring and reporting neighboring cells to which the UE may handover); and

[0056] CSI reporting with a CQI index of 0 is used by the UE to indicate that the UE considers that even the lowest MCS is insufficient to serve the UE in the case of PTP transmission in NR and LTE.

[0057] In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, at least one method is provided for detecting situations where the QoS criteria for a PTM service cannot be met even for UEs with very good channel conditions due to UEs in a multicast group with poor channel conditions. The method also provides for identifying the UEs with poor channel conditions that are causing this problem, a mechanism for excluding these UEs from the PTM group, and techniques for re-admitting them to ongoing PTM sessions if their channel conditions improve sufficiently or the situation in the cell (e.g., due to a reduction in load) allows them to be readmitted to the PTM group. For simplicity, UEs with poor channel conditions will be referred to as "outlier UEs" hereafter. Similarly, the group of UEs receiving PTM services (excluding "outlier UEs") will be referred to as the "PTM Link Adaptation Group (PTM LA Group)". When performing LA and retransmissions, the gNB should only consider ACK / NACK and / or CSI reports from UEs in the PTM LA group.

[0058] Before describing in detail exemplary embodiments of the present invention, please refer to Figure 2 , which illustrates a simplified block diagram of various electronic devices that are suitable for use in practicing the example embodiments of the present invention.

[0059] Figure 2 A block diagram of one possible and non-limiting exemplary system in which exemplary embodiments of the present invention may be practiced is shown. Figure 2 In the embodiment, the user equipment (UE) 10 and the Figure 2 Wireless network 1 or network 1 in wireless communication. Figure 2 The wireless network 1 or network 1 in the embodiment may include a communication network such as a mobile network, for example the mobile network 1 or the first mobile network disclosed herein. Figure 2 Any reference to wireless network 1 in the present disclosure may be considered a reference to any wireless network disclosed herein. Figure 2 The wireless network 1 in the present invention may also include hard-wired features that may be required by the communication network. A UE is a wireless, typically mobile device that can access a wireless network. For example, a UE may be a mobile phone (also known as a "cellular" phone) and / or a computer with mobile terminal functionality. For example, a UE or mobile terminal may also be a portable, pocket-sized, handheld, computer-embedded, or vehicle-mounted mobile device that performs voice signaling and / or data exchanges with the RAN.

[0060] The UE 10 includes one or more processors DP 10A, one or more memories MEM 10B, and one or more transceivers TRANS 10D interconnected by one or more buses. Each of the one or more transceivers TRANS 10D includes a receiver and a transmitter. In addition, each of the transceivers 10D can be associated with a subscriber identity module 10E. However, this is not limiting, and the inclusion of a SIM and / or subscriber identity module is not a requirement for operation according to the example embodiments of the present invention disclosed herein. The subscriber identity module 10E can be associated with two or more identity subscriber modules (SIM A and SIM B), such as Figure 2 As shown, each SIM is configured to perform operations including the example embodiments of the present invention disclosed herein. The one or more buses may be address, data, or control buses and may include any interconnection mechanism, such as a series of wires on a motherboard or integrated circuit, optical fiber or other optical communication devices, etc. One or more transceivers TRANS 10D may optionally be connected to one or more antennas for communication 11 and 18 with NN 12 and NN 13, respectively. One or more memories MEM 10B include computer program code PROG 10C. UE 10 communicates with NN 12 and / or NN 13 via wireless link 11.

[0061] NN 12 (NR / 5G Node B, Evolved NB or LTE equipment) is connected to the network such as Figure 2The NN 12 is a network node, such as a primary or secondary base station (e.g., for NR or LTE Long Term Evolution), for communicating with wireless devices such as the UE 10. The NN 12 provides access to wireless devices such as the UE 10 to the wireless network 1. The NN 12 includes one or more processors DP 12A, one or more memories MEM 12C, and one or more transceivers TRANS 12D interconnected by one or more buses. According to an example embodiment, these TRANS 12D may include an X2 and / or Xn interface for performing the example embodiments of the present invention. Each of the one or more transceivers TRANS 12D includes a receiver and a transmitter. The one or more transceivers TRANS 12D may optionally be connected to one or more antennas for communicating with the UE 10 via at least a link 11. The one or more memories MEM 12B and the computer program code PROG 12C are configured to, together with the one or more processors DP 12A, cause the NN 12 to perform one or more of the operations described herein. NN 12 may communicate with another gNB or eNB or a device such as NN 13, such as via link 14. In addition, link 11, link 14 and / or any other link may be wired, wireless, or both, and may implement, for example, an X2 or Xn interface. In addition, link 11 and / or link 14 may pass through other network devices, such as, but not limited to, NCE / SGW / AMF / UPF devices, such as Figure 2 NCE / MME / SGW / UDM / PCF / AMM / SMF 14. The NN 12 may perform functions of an MME (Mobility Management Entity) or an SGW (Serving Gateway), such as a user plane function, and / or perform access management functions for LTE and similar functions for 5G.

[0062] NN 13 may be associated with a mobile-capable device such as an AMF or SMF. Furthermore, NN 13 may include an NR / 5G Node B or possibly an evolved NB base station, such as a primary or secondary node base station (e.g., for NR or LTE Long Term Evolution) that communicates with devices such as NN 12 and / or UE 10 and / or wireless network 1. NN 13 includes one or more processors DP 13A, one or more memories MEM 13B, one or more network interfaces, and one or more transceivers TRANS 12D, interconnected via one or more buses. According to an example embodiment, these network interfaces of NN 13 may include X2 and / or Xn interfaces for performing example embodiments of the present invention. Each of the one or more transceivers TRANS 13D includes a receiver and a transmitter that may optionally be connected to one or more antennas. The one or more memories MEM 13B include computer program code PROG 13C. For example, one or more memories MEM 13B and computer program code PROG 13C are configured to, together with one or more processors DP 13A, cause the NN 13 to perform one or more of the operations as described herein. The NN 13 may communicate with another mobile function device and / or an eNB (such as the NN 12 and the UE 10) or any other device using, for example, the link 11 or another link. Figure 2 The link 14 shown may be used for communication between NN 12 and NN 13. These links may be wired or wireless or both and may implement, for example, an X2 or Xn interface. In addition, as described above, link 11 and / or link 14 may pass through other network devices such as, but not limited to, NCE / MME / SGW devices, such as Figure 2 NCE / MME / SGW / UDM / PCF / AMM / SMF 14.

[0063] Figure 2 The one or more buses of the device may be address, data, or control buses and may include any interconnection mechanism, such as a series of wires on a motherboard or integrated circuit, optical fiber or other optical communication equipment, a wireless channel, etc. For example, one or more transceivers TRANS 12D, TRANS 13D, and / or TRANS 10D may be implemented as a remote radio head (RRH), where the other elements of the NN 12 are physically located in a different location from the RRH, and the one or more buses 157 may be implemented in part as fiber optic cables to connect the other elements of the NN 12 to the RRH.

[0064] Note that although Figure 2Network nodes such as NN 12 and NN 13 are shown, but any of these nodes may incorporate or be incorporated into an eNodeB or eNB or gNB, such as for LTE and NR, and still be configured to perform the example embodiments of the present invention.

[0065] Furthermore, note that while the description herein indicates that a "cell" performs functions, it should be understood that the gNB and / or user equipment and / or mobility management function equipment that form a cell will perform these functions. Furthermore, a cell forms part of a gNB, and multiple cells can exist per gNB.

[0066] The wireless network 1 or any network it may represent may or may not include NCE / MME / SGW / UDM / PCF / AMM / SMF 14, which may include (NCE) network control element functions, MME (Mobility Management Entity) / SGW (Serving Gateway) functions, and / or Serving Gateway (SGW), and / or MME (Mobility Management Entity), and / or SGW (Serving Gateway) functions, and / or User Data Management Function (UDM), and / or PCF (Policy Control) functions, and / or Access and Mobility Management (AMM) functions, and / or Session Management (SMF) functions, and / or Authentication Server (AUSF) functions, and it provides connection to another network, such as a telephone network and / or a data communication network (e.g., the Internet), and it is configured to perform any 5G and / or NR operations in addition to or instead of other standard operations at the time of this application. NCE / MME / SGW / UDM / PCF / AMM / SMF 14 may be configured to perform operations according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention in LTE, NR, 5G, and / or any standard-based communication technology implemented or discussed at the time of this application. Furthermore, it is noted that operations performed by NN 12 and / or NN 13 according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention may also be performed at NCE / MME / SGW / UDM / PCF / AMM / SMF 14.

[0067] The NCE / MME / SGW / UDM / PCF / AMM / SMF 14 includes one or more processors DP 14A, one or more memories MEM 14B, and one or more network interfaces (N / WI / F) interconnected via one or more buses coupled to links 13 and / or 14. According to an exemplary embodiment, these network interfaces may include X2 and / or Xn interfaces for performing exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The one or more memories MEM 14B include computer program code PROG 14C. The one or more memories MEM 14B and the computer program code PROG 14C are configured to, together with the one or more processors DP 14A, cause the NCE / MME / SGW / UDM / PCF / AMM / SMF 14 to perform one or more operations required to support operations according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

[0068] Wireless network 1 can implement network virtualization, which is the process of combining hardware and software network resources and network functions into a single software-based management entity (virtual network). Network virtualization involves platform virtualization, which is often combined with resource virtualization. Network virtualization can be divided into external and internal. External network virtualization combines many networks or parts of networks into a virtual unit, while internal network virtualization provides network-like functions to software containers on a single system. Note that at some levels, the virtualized entities generated by network virtualization are still implemented using hardware such as processors DP 10, DP 12A, DP 13A and / or DP 14A and memories MEM 10B, MEM 12B, MEM 13B and / or MEM 14B, and such virtualized entities also produce technical effects.

[0069] The computer-readable memories MEM 12B, MEM 13B, and MEM 14B may be of any type suitable for the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory, and removable memory. The computer-readable memories MEM 12B, MEM 13B, and MEM 14B may be components for performing storage functions. The processors DP 10, DP 12A, DP 13A, and DP 14A may be of any type suitable for the local technical environment and, as non-limiting examples, may include one or more of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. The processors DP 10, DP 12A, DP 13A, and DP 14A may be components for performing functions, such as controlling the UE 10, NN 12, NN 13, and other functions described herein.

[0070] As described above, in exemplary embodiments of the present invention, at least one method is provided for detecting a situation where the QoS criteria for a PTM service cannot be met even for UEs in very good channel conditions due to UEs in poor channel conditions in a multicast group, identifying the UEs in poor channel conditions that are causing this problem, a mechanism for excluding these UEs from the PTM group, and techniques for re-admitting them to ongoing PTM sessions if their channel conditions improve sufficiently or the situation in the cell (e.g., due to a reduction in load) allows them to be re-admitted to the PTM group. When performing LA and retransmission, the gNB should only consider ACK / NACK and / or CSI reports from UEs in the PTM LA group.

[0071] The process includes the following steps:

[0072] 1) Detecting abnormal UEs and removing them from the PTM LA group: Detection of abnormal UEs can be performed on either the UE or the gNB side. Different actions are recommended depending on where the detection occurs.

[0073] a) Detection on the gNB side: The gNB may detect that the UE’s QoS service requirements are not being met and observe that some UEs report CQI values that are significantly lower than others, while in parallel the gNB may receive a large number of NACKs on the UE’s group common feedback resources. The gNB may use a threshold CQI value configured based on the QoS service requirements and / or cell load. outlier If the UE repeatedly reports a CQI less than outlier The CQI value, for example, in N outlier K in a CQI report outlier times, or in a certain period of time T outlier-gNB If the UE is continuously reported within 10 days, the gNB can detect that the UE is an abnormal UE. outlier and N outlier or timer T outlier-gNB It can also be configured to be implementation specific. After discovering an abnormal UE, the gNB will notify the UE that it shall not use the common feedback resources or at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group for HARQ feedback, and may also not issue CSI reports on UE-specific resources, that is, the gNB will withdraw the UE from the PTM LA group.

[0074] b) Detection on the UE side: According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, two alternatives are proposed to detect the problem of abnormal UE on the UE side. In both cases, in addition to the reliability criteria of the signaling, the UE can also be configured with a timer T outlierThe UE shall start the timer when its reliability criterion is not met and shall not stop the timer before the timer expires unless its reliability criterion is met:

[0075] i) When the timer expires, the UE may report a CQI with index 0, which indicates to the gNB that the UE's QoS service requirements cannot be met. Upon receiving CQI 0, the gNB shall notify the UE that it will no longer send NACKs on group-common NACK resources and will no longer send CSI reports on UE-specific resources, i.e., the gNB will withdraw the UE from the PTM LA group.

[0076] ii) After the timer expires, the UE may stop sending NACKs on the group common NACK resources and, if configured, may also stop periodic CSI reporting without expecting additional notification from the gNB. Since the expected CSI report is not from the UE, the gNB may be aware that the UE has removed itself from the PTM LA group;

[0077] 2) Actions to be taken after the UE is withdrawn from the PTM LA group: After the abnormal UE has withdrawn from the PTM LA group, it should:

[0078] Continue with PTM-CSI measurements; or

[0079] • Continue to attempt to decode the PTM transmission (unless / until the UE or application abandons service) and measure the reliability it can achieve with the ongoing transmission.

[0080] Continuing PTM-CSI measurements requires less processing than decoding PTM transmissions, but it provides a less accurate prediction of expected reliability.

[0081] Furthermore, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, at least two different techniques are proposed to define the UE behavior after the UE exits from the normal PTM LA group, as listed below:

[0082] a) The gNB may assign dedicated feedback resources to the exited UE in order to determine whether its channel quality is improving to the extent that the UE can be readmitted to the ongoing PTM LA group. The UE may be requested to provide ACK / NACK feedback and / or CSI reporting from the dedicated feedback resources. In the case where the UE does not decode PTM transmissions but only performs PTM-CSI measurements, ACK / NACK feedback cannot be used, so the gNB will only assign resources for CSI reporting.

[0083] b) The UE is not assigned any additional resources and only performs PTM-CSI measurements,

[0084] Or try to decode a PTM transmission in progress.

[0085] In addition, for both (a) and (b), even if the UE is not actively receiving data and is not assigned additional resources related to the PTM service on the BWP, the UE will start the BWP inactivity timer and stay on the BWP that is scheduling the PTM service;

[0086] 3) Mechanism for a UE to rejoin a PTM LA group after exiting: The readmission mechanism of the present disclosure depends on how the UE is configured after exiting a PTM LA group. According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, different mechanisms are proposed, such as those listed below:

[0087] a) If the UE is assigned UE-specific ACK / NACK and / or CSI resources after being exited from the PTM LA group, i.e., process (2-a), the gNB can determine that the channel condition of the UE has become better by observing the ACK / NACK and / or CSI reports sent by the UE. The gNB can use re-entry criteria such as target BLER (BLER re-admit ) and / or target CQI (CQI re-admit ) in order to decide whether to readmit the UE to the PTMLA group based on the type of UL resources configured for the exited UE. In addition, the gNB may use the timer T re-admit , the timer T re-admit Started when the gNB detects that the reported measurements of the abnormal UE start meeting the target criteria. If the UE continues to meet the target criteria until the timer expires, the gNB shall decide to keep the UE in the PTM LA group. If the gNB decides to put the UE back into the PTM LA group, it shall inform the UE that it can rejoin the PTM LA group that sends HARQ feedback on the group common feedback resources and is eligible to request permission to send PTM-CSI reports.

[0088] b) UE may be configured with new reliability re-entry criteria such as CQI re-join or BLER re-join . If the UE is not assigned any feedback resources after having exited the PTM LA group, i.e. the procedure at (2-b), the UE may (continuously) evaluate whether the new reliability criteria are met for the ongoing PTM session. If the reliability criteria are met, the UE may attempt to rejoin the PTM LA group by issuing a Scheduling Request (SR). After the UE issues the SR, the gNB may or may not let the UE rejoin, where the exact algorithm for the gNB decision is not within the scope of this IR. One case where the gNB may not allow the UE to be readmitted to the PTM LA group is if the gNB has recently observed a CQIre-join / BLER re-join The configuration is not up to date, meaning that a UE that previously (and recently) used this target and rejoined has reliability issues again shortly after rejoining, and the gNB has not yet updated the CQI of the UE that is requesting readmission re-join / BLER re-join .

[0089] If the gNB decides to let the UE back into the PTM LA group, it shall inform the UE that it can now send feedback on the group common feedback resources.

[0090] After issuing the SR, the UE may start the timer T re-join , and if the gNB does not let the UE join the PTM LA group, the UE can repeat the process by issuing another SR after the timer expires, provided that its reliability criteria are still met by the ongoing PTM transmission.

[0091] After rejoining the PTM LA group, the UE may follow the previously defined procedure. However, in case the UE is not satisfied with the reliability, it requests a PTM-CSI report,

[0092] c) As in option (3-b) above, the UE may be configured with a new reliability metric, such as CQI re-join or BLER re-join Unlike option (3-b) above, if the UE is not assigned any feedback resources after exiting the PTM LA group, a "silent" re-entry mode may exist. The exited UE may determine that its reception conditions are good enough, for example by comparing the current BLER with the BLER re-join Compare or compare the current CQI with CQI re-join Compare and can simply start issuing NACKs on the group common feedback resource. After rejoining, in case the UE is not satisfied with the reliability, it can follow the previously defined procedure. In this mode, the gNB does not have the capability of explicit admission control, but can only adjust the re-admission criteria (e.g. CQI re-join or BLER re-join ) to control the conditions under which the UE will rejoin.

[0093] Due to the reasons mentioned in (3-b), the exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides that after rejoining the PTM LA group, the UE should wait for a certain period of time T before requesting PTM-CSI reporting resources, if necessary. re-join,CSI .

[0094] From the UE's perspective, at least the following features can be considered as standard-related claims:

[0095] · receiving a configuration that instructs the UE not to send NACKs on common feedback resources, although the resources will still be configured, i.e. known by the UE,

[0096] · receiving a configuration indicating that the UE may start issuing NACKs on previously configured common feedback resources that were previously disabled / rejected,

[0097] Receive timer T outlier Configuration,

[0098] If T outlier When it expires, a CSI report with a CQI index of 0 is issued.

[0099] If T outlier When the time expires, the CSI report and NACK feedback on the group common resources will stop.

[0100] Configuration of reception parameters, such as CQI re-join , BLER re-join 、T re-join and T re-join,CSI , these parameters control readmission into the PTM LA group,

[0101] Issue an SR to the gNB to rejoin the ongoing PTM LA group and re-join or BLER re-join ) is satisfied and when the timer T re-join If not running or has expired, it may start the timer T re-join ,

[0102] By comparing the current value of the reliability criterion with the corresponding threshold (e.g. BLER and BLER re-join , or current CQI and CQI re-join ), and after determining that the reception condition of the group common feedback resource is good enough, start to send NACK on the group common feedback resource to perform the "silent re-entry" mode, and / or

[0103] After rejoining the ongoing PTM LA group, start timer T re-join,CSI , and request PTM-CSI reporting resources only after the timer expires (if necessary).

[0104] A flowchart indicating the high-level decisions made by the UE and gNB is shown in the figure. Figure 5 The different options that can be used in the system are shown. In particular, the figure shows which combinations of the various techniques represented under (1), (2) and (3) can be performed in the operation of the system.

[0105] Further comment, details, and options regarding the steps of the process are provided in the figures and details described herein. Figure 3 Some of these procedures are shown according to example embodiments of the present invention.

[0106] Figure 3 A high-level flow chart of a proposed method (detecting abnormal UEs and exiting PTM groups) according to an example embodiment of the present invention is shown. Figure 3 As shown in step 305, it is the beginning of the proposed method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 In step 310, it is determined whether the UE is configured with T outlier If "yes", then Figure 3 At step 330, the UE determines whether the service reliability standard is met at the UE. If the answer is "yes", the UE performs the same step 330. If the answer is "no" in step 330, the UE starts T outlier And proceed to Figure 3 Step 340. If Figure 3 If the answer in step 340 is "no", then Figure 3 As shown in step 345, determine whether option 1-bi (described below) is applicable. If this is "no", then Figure 3 As shown, use option 1-b-ii, and as Figure 3 As shown in step 355, the UE stops sending NACK and CSI reports. Figure 3 As shown in step 325, the UE is withdrawn from the PTM LA group. If the answer is "yes" in step 345, then Figure 3 As shown in step 350, the UE uses the CSI report to send CQI 0 to the gNB. Figure 3 In step 320, the gNB uses RRC signaling to disable NACK-only feedback for abnormal UEs and cancels the configuration of their CSI resources. Figure 3 At step 310, it is determined that the UE is not configured with T outlier , then Figure 3 As shown in step 315, the gNB determines whether an abnormal UE is detected. If so, this proceeds to Figure 3 Step 320 is performed, and the process of step 320 is followed.

[0107] Figure 4 A high-level flow chart of another proposed method (UE rejoining a PTM group) according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown. Figure 4 As shown in step 400, the method according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention begins. Figure 4As shown in step 405, after the UE is exited from the PTM LA group, the UE decodes the ongoing PTM transmission or only performs PTM-CSI measurement. Figure 4 As shown in step 410, determine whether to use option 2-a as described in this article. If the answer is "yes", then Figure 4 As shown in step 415, the gNB assigns dedicated ACK / NACK and / or CSI reporting resources to the UE. Figure 4 As shown in step 420, it is determined whether the channel conditions of the UE are sufficient for the gNB to re-admit the UE into the PTM LA group. If "No" here, the operation returns to Figure 4 If the answer is "yes" in step 420, then Figure 4 As shown in step 425 of , the gNB reactivates the UE to send feedback on the common NACK-only resource, and Figure 4 As shown in step 465 in , the UE rejoins the PTM LA group.

[0108] If in Figure 4 If the answer at step 410 is "no", then option 2-b disclosed herein applies. Figure 4 As shown in step 445, the UE determines whether the ongoing PTM transmission meets the readmission criteria. If "No", the operation returns to Figure 4 Step 445. If the answer is "yes", then Figure 4 As shown in step 440, it is determined whether option 3-b disclosed herein is applied. If the answer is "no", the operation proceeds to Figure 4 Step 450 is performed, wherein the UE starts to send NACKs on the group common resources, and step 465 as described above is performed. Figure 4 If the answer at step 440 is “yes”, then Figure 4 As shown in step 435, the UE starts T re-join , and then proceed to step 430. Figure 4 At step 430, if T re-join Expiration, the operation proceeds to Figure 4 Step 445, as described above. In addition, if Figure 4 If the answer at step 440 is “yes”, then as shown in step 455, the UE sends an SR to the gNB and then proceeds to step 460. Figure 4 At step 460, the gNB determines whether to readmit the UE to the PTM group, and if so, the operation proceeds to step 425 as described above. Figure 4 At step 460, if the answer is "no", the operation proceeds to step 430, as described above. Figure 4 As shown in step 470, stop Figure 4 The operation shown.

[0109] Figure 5 A high-level flow chart illustrating additional possible implementation combinations according to example embodiments of the present invention is shown. Figure 5 The present invention comprises three parts, including part (1) detecting and withdrawing abnormal UEs from the PTM LA group; part (2) actions taken after withdrawing the UE from the PTM LA group; and part (3) a mechanism for the withdrawn UE to rejoin the PTM LA group. As shown in part (1), sub-part (a) is the gNB detecting and withdrawing the UE from the PTM LA group; sub-part (bi) is the UE detecting and explicitly indicating CQI 0 to the gNB, followed by the gNB withdrawing the UE from the PTM LA group; and sub-part (b-ii) is the UE detecting and withdrawing the UE from the PTM LA group without explicit signaling to the gNB. Figure 5 These subsections of section (1) are related to Figure 5 Sub-part 2(A) and sub-part 2(B) of part (2) are connected. In sub-part 2(A), the UE determines the PTM-CSI based on the channel measurement, and Figure 5 In sub-section 2(B) of , the UE determines the PTM-CSI based on decoding the PTM transmission.

[0110] Figure 5 Sub-part 2(A) of part (2) is connected to 2(A)(a), where UE-specific resources for CSI reporting are configured by the gNB, and to 2(A)(b), where no additional UL resources are configured for the UE.

[0111] However, Figure 5 Sub-part 2(B) of part (2) is connected to 2(B)(a), where UE-specific resources for ACK / NACK and / or CSI reporting are configured by the gNB, and is connected to 2(B)(b), where no additional UL resources are configured for the UE.

[0112] also, Figure 5 Subsection 2(A)(a) of section (2) is connected to Figure 5 In subsection 3(A)(a), the BLER is used by the gNB re-admit and / or CQI re-admit To detect and allow the UE to rejoin the PTMLA group.

[0113] Figure 5 Subsection 2(A)(b) of section 2 is connected to Figure 5Subsections 3(A)(b) and 3(A)(c) of section (3) of the present invention. In subsection 3(A)(b), the UE uses BLER re-join and / or CQI re-join To detect and send SR to gNB. In subsection 3(A)(c), BLER is used by UE re-join and / or CQI re-join To perform silent re-entry to the PTM LA group.

[0114] Figure 5 Subsection 2(B)(a) of section 2 is connected to Figure 5 In sub-section 3(B)(a), CQI is used by gNB re-admit To detect and allow the UE to rejoin the PTM LA group.

[0115] However, Figure 5 Subsection 2(B)(b) of section 2 is connected to Figure 5 Subsections 3(B)(b) and 3(B)(c) of section (3).

[0116] In subsection 3(B)(b), the CQI is used by the UE re-join To detect and send SR to gNB. In subsection 3, CQI is used by UE to re-join to perform a silent re-entry.

[0117] In subsection 3(B)(c), the CQI is used by the UE re-join to perform a silent re-entry.

[0118] Furthermore, at least with respect to the above disclosure Figure 3 、 Figure 4 and Figure 5 The process:

[0119] · Regarding step 1-a: After discovering the outlier UE, the gNB may configure the UE using dedicated RRC (re)configuration signaling such that the UE is informed that it shall not send NACKs on the group-common feedback resources (PUCCH or PRACH) and that the UE shall also no longer send (PTM-)CSI reports on the UE-specific PUCCH resources. The group-common NACK feedback resources will remain configured for use by the remaining UEs, although they are deactivated for that particular outlier UE. This may be crucial when the UE wants to rejoin the PTM LA group, depending on which of the proposed rejoining mechanisms is used, since if the resources were allocated in a persistent manner, the gNB may not need to indicate the resources to the UE again after rejoining, either absolutely or using persistent rules, e.g. on how the resources are derived from the DCI indicating the corresponding PDSCH transmission. Thereafter, the gNB may reallocate the UE-specific PUCCH or PUSCH resources that may have been used for CSI reporting for other purposes; and

[0120] Regarding step 1-b: the gNB may use UE-specific RRC (re)configuration to configure the timer T outlier If a system implements both options (1-a) and (1-b), the timer configuration may indicate that the method proposed in (1-b) is used in the system instead of (1-a):

[0121] o Regarding step 1-bi: The CQI with index 0 is used by the UE to indicate that the UE considers that even the lowest MCS is not robust enough to meet the QoS service criteria and will exit the PTM LA group. As in (1-a), the gNB may configure the UE using a dedicated RRC (re)configuration message in such a way that the UE is informed that it shall not send NACKs on the group-common feedback resources (PUCCH or PRACH) and that the UE shall no longer send PTM-related CSI reports from UE-specific PUCCH or PUSCH resources. The group-common NACK feedback resources will remain as configured for the UE for use by other UEs still in the PTM LA group, although it is deactivated for this (and other) outlier UEs, and

[0122] o Regarding step 1-b-ii: Upon detecting a missed CSI report from a UE, the gNB does not issue any RRC (re)configuration message and is free to use the UE-specific resources (PUCCH or PUSCH) used for CSI reporting by the non-delisted UE for other purposes.

[0123] In both cases, it is expected that the abnormal UE has been configured to report CSI periodically, and the mechanism proposed herein according to example embodiments of the present invention may also be applied, such as if PTM-specific CSI reporting is not part of the system implementation.

[0124] Note that according to the present disclosure, the operations performed in the steps according to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention may include:

[0125] Regarding step 2-a: UE-specific feedback resources may be configured as PUCCH or PRACH for ACK / NACK reporting, and / or PUSCH or PUCCH for CSI reporting. The CSI reporting period is reserved as implementation-specific and is outside the scope of the exemplary embodiments of this invention;

[0126] Regarding step 2-b: In this step, the UE can only wait to rejoin the PTM LA group while trying to decode the current PTM transmission or perform only PTM-CSI channel measurements;

[0127] Regarding step 3-a: If the UE follows step (2-a) but not step (2-b), this step may be performed. If the gNB decides to put the UE back into the PTM LA group, then in addition to reconfiguring or disabling UE-specific ACK / NACK and possibly PTM-CSI resources, it should use RRC (re)configuration to inform the UE that it can now send NACK feedback on group-common PUCCH resources. Afterwards, the UE should follow the normal operation of the PTM group, e.g., as proposed;

[0128] Regarding step 3-b: If the UE follows step (2-b) but not step (2-a), this step may be performed. Through RRC (re)configuration signaling, the UE may be configured with a new reliability criterion, such as the serving BLER target BLER re-join or required CQI CQI re-join , conveniently combined with a margin, e.g. reflecting the fact that the UE itself cannot trigger a retransmission. In the case that the UE is actually part of a PTM group, its NACK feedback will help it to have a better BLER or CQI than in the current state where it is not allowed to issue NACK feedback. Therefore, the system does not expect the UE to be able to achieve the QoS service BLER target or the required CQI, which is why a new target is introduced in this step that can be configured to be slightly higher than the original BLER target or lower than the original CQI target.

[0129] When the UE determines that the ongoing PTM session now meets the new reliability criteria, it attempts to rejoin the PTM LA group by issuing a SR. According to current standards, the minimum PUCCH resource can carry two bits in addition to the SR bit. If the UE does not need these two bits for PTP HARQ feedback, it can utilize them (flip either of them to "1") to explicitly indicate that it requests to rejoin the PTM LA group. Alternatively, this can be a two-step approach, in which the UE indicates its desire to rejoin a specific PTM LA group in the first PUSCH transmission granted by the gNB in response to a legacy SR.

[0130] After deciding to readmit the UE to the PTM LA group, the gNB shall use RRC (re)configuration to inform the UE that it can now send feedback on the group common feedback resources. If the UE does not receive RRC reconfiguration after sending the SR, it may start the timer T re-join (configured by RRC signaling), and after the timer expires, if needed and if the criteria allowing this are met, another SR is sent.

[0131] Furthermore, it can be seen that it has been proposed that after rejoining a PTM LA group, the UE should wait for a certain period of time T before requesting PTM-CSI reporting uplink resources. re-join,CSI The purpose of the waiting period is for the UE to make accurate measurements and be able to issue a CQI report that will correctly reflect the current channel conditions. Example embodiments of the present invention provide that T re-join,CSI The UE can be notified explicitly via RRC signaling, or T re-join,CSI It can be derived from the previous configuration on how to calculate CQI according to the usual CQI reporting configuration;

[0132] Regarding step 3-c: If the UE follows step (2-b) but does not follow step (2-a), this step may be performed. As in the case of (3-b), the UE may be configured via RRC (re)configuration signaling with a new reliability criterion BLER re-join or CQI re-join and / or

[0133] T re-join,CSI It should be configured as described in step (3-b).

[0134] Figure 6A and Figure 6B Each illustrates a method that may be performed by an apparatus according to an example embodiment of the present invention.

[0135] Figure 6AOperations that may be performed by a device such as, but not limited to, Figure 2 UE 10) and other devices. Figure 6A As shown in step 610, at least one user equipment in a group of more than one user equipment of a communication network receives first information for being in a point-to-multipoint service group from a network node of the communication network. Figure 6A As shown in step 620, the first information is related to an indication of channel quality measured from at least one user equipment. Then, as Figure 6A As shown in step 630, based on the received first information, it is determined that at least one user equipment is not allowed to utilize at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group.

[0136] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraphs, the first information related to the indication of channel quality includes at least one of a service quality indicator, a channel quality indicator, a block error rate, or a count of negative acknowledgements sent by the user equipment on at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group, and determining that at least one user equipment is not allowed to utilize the at least one feedback resource is based on a comparison result of the indication of channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment and the channel quality requirement of the at least one user equipment.

[0137] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraph, not allowing at least one user equipment to utilize at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group includes: not allowing the use of at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group to issue at least one of confirmation, negative confirmation, and hybrid repeat request feedback.

[0138] According to the exemplary embodiment described in the above paragraphs, the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group is a common feedback resource used by permitted user equipments of the point-to-multipoint service group.

[0139] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraph, the channel quality requirement includes: at least one of an indication of a channel quality threshold for one of a quality of service indicator, a channel quality indicator, a block error rate, or a count of negative acknowledgements, or at least one of a timer or counter threshold.

[0140] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraph, determining that at least one user equipment is not allowed to utilize at least one feedback resource is based on at least one of the following: an indication of channel quality measured from at least one user equipment is one of the following: equal to, lower than, or higher than a corresponding channel quality requirement threshold.

[0141] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraph, determining that at least one user equipment is not allowed to utilize at least one feedback resource is based on at least one of the following: at least within the duration of the timer, the channel quality measurement is one of the following: equal to, below or above a threshold, or at least within multiple consecutive measurements, the channel quality measurement is one of the following: equal to, below or above the threshold.

[0142] According to the example embodiments described in the above paragraphs, based on the comparison result, a channel quality indicator 0 of a channel quality indicator bit is sent from at least one user equipment to a network node using a channel state information report, wherein the channel quality indicator 0 indicates that the network node provides control signaling to perform at least one of the following: deactivate negative acknowledgement feedback, or deconfigure channel state information feedback resources for at least one user equipment.

[0143] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraphs, the control signaling includes dedicated signaling, and the dedicated signaling is used to configure at least one user equipment to perform at least one of the following: deactivate negative acknowledgement feedback, or cancel the configuration of channel state information resources of at least one user equipment.

[0144] According to the example embodiments described in the above paragraphs, sending of negative acknowledgements from at least one user equipment is stopped without additional instructions from the network node.

[0145] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraph, the received first information also includes an indication that at least one user device will not perform at least one of the following: issuing a hybrid automatic repeat request feedback on a common feedback resource or on at least one feedback resource of a point-to-multipoint service group, or issuing a channel state information report on a dedicated resource of at least one user device.

[0146] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraphs, the group of more than one user equipment comprises a point-to-multipoint link adaptation group.

[0147] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraphs, a dedicated resource assignment is received by at least one user equipment; and second information of at least one point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement in the point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement is transmitted at at least one user equipment using the assigned dedicated resources, wherein the second information of at least one point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement in the point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement and at least one of an acknowledgment, a negative acknowledgment, a hybrid automatic repeat request feedback, or a request for access to a common feedback resource are used by a network node to determine whether to allow at least one user equipment to send hybrid automatic repeat request feedback for a point-to-multipoint service on the group common feedback resources of the group.

[0148] According to the example embodiments described in the above paragraphs, at least one user device receives at least one criterion for re-entering a point-to-multipoint service based on at least one channel measurement or an instruction for decoding data received via the point-to-multipoint service; and based on the criterion, determines whether the at least one re-entry criterion is met to permit the at least one user device to re-enter the point-to-multipoint service.

[0149] According to the example embodiment described in the preceding paragraph, wherein the channel measurement comprises at least one of a signal to interference and noise ratio or a reference signal received power measurement, and wherein reentry comprises resuming utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group.

[0150] According to the example embodiments described in the above paragraphs, upon determining that at least one re-entry criterion is satisfied, a scheduling request is issued to a network node; as a response to the scheduling request, activation for sending negative acknowledgment feedback on at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group is received from the network node; and based on the re-entry, negative acknowledgment feedback is sent on at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group according to a result of decoding a data packet received via the point-to-multipoint service.

[0151] According to the example embodiments described in the above paragraphs, after determining that at least one re-entry criterion is met, a scheduling request is issued to a network node; a resource allocation of physical uplink shared channel resources is received from the network node; a request to re-enter the point-to-multipoint service group is issued using the physical uplink shared channel resources; activation information is received from the network node, the activation information being used to configure at least one user equipment to send feedback on at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group common feedback resource; and a negative acknowledgement is sent on the group common feedback resource based on a result of decoding a data packet received via the multipoint service.

[0152] According to the example embodiment described in the preceding paragraph, the request for re-entry includes channel quality information.

[0153] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraphs, a timer is started when a scheduling request is issued; after the timer expires, if the at least one user equipment has not re-entered the point-to-multipoint service, and if at least one readmission criterion is still met, the at least one user equipment: sends another scheduling request; and restarts the timer.

[0154] According to the example embodiments described in the preceding paragraphs, a negative acknowledgement is issued on at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group based on a result of decoding a data packet received over the point-to-multipoint service after recognizing that at least one criterion for re-entry is now met.

[0155] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraphs, the at least one criterion for reentry remains satisfied during the duration of a rejoin timer that has been started after at least one user equipment detects that the at least one criterion for reentry is satisfied.

[0156] A non-transitory computer readable medium ( Figure 2 MEM 10A) stores program code ( Figure 2 PROG 10C in the program code is executed by at least one processor ( Figure 2 DP 10A and / or SIM 10E) in the processor executes to perform at least the operations described in the above paragraphs.

[0157] According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention as described above, there is an apparatus comprising: a communication network (such as Figure 2 At least one user equipment (e.g. Figure 2 UE 10 in the communication network), from the network node (such as Figure 2 NN 12 and / or NN 13) receive (as Figure 2 TRANS 10D, MEM 10B, PROG 10C and DP 10A and / or SIM 10E in the point-to-multipoint service group) for first information in the point-to-multipoint service group, wherein the first information is related to an indication of a channel quality measured from at least one user equipment; and for determining (e.g., based on the received first information) Figure 2 TRANS 10D, MEM 10B, PROG 10C and DP 10A and / or SIM 10E) in which at least one user equipment is not allowed to utilize at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group.

[0158] In an exemplary aspect of the invention according to the above paragraphs, at least the means for receiving and the means for determining and the means for sending comprise a non-transitory computer readable medium [MEM 10B] encoded with a computer program [PROG 10C] executable by at least one processor [DP 10A and / or SIM 10E].

[0159] Figure 6B It shows that it can be made by, for example, but not limited to Figure 2 The operations performed by the network nodes NN 12 and / or NN 13 or eNB and other network devices. Figure 6B As shown in step 650, based on Figure 2 As shown in step 660, it is determined that at least one user equipment is not allowed to utilize at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group based on the indication of the channel quality. Figure 2As shown in step 670, based on the determination, the determined first information is sent to at least one user equipment.

[0160] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraph, the indication of channel quality includes at least one of a service quality indicator, a channel quality indicator, a block error rate, or a count of negative acknowledgements sent by the user equipment on at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group.

[0161] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraph, the indication of channel quality includes at least one of a service quality indicator, a channel quality indicator, a block error rate, or a count of negative acknowledgements from the user equipment on at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group.

[0162] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraph, the determining includes: determining that at least one user equipment is not allowed to utilize at least one feedback resource is based on a comparison result of an indication of channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment and a channel quality requirement of the at least one user equipment.

[0163] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraph, not allowing at least one user equipment to utilize at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group includes: not allowing at least one of confirmation, negative confirmation, and hybrid repeat request feedback to be issued using at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group.

[0164] According to the exemplary embodiment described in the above paragraphs, the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group is a common feedback resource used by permitted user equipments of the point-to-multipoint service group.

[0165] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraph, the channel quality requirement includes: at least one of an indication of a channel quality threshold for one of a quality of service indicator, a channel quality indicator, a block error rate, or a count of negative acknowledgements, or at least one of a timer or counter threshold.

[0166] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraph, determining that at least one user equipment is not allowed to utilize at least one feedback resource is based on at least one of the following: an indication of channel quality measured from at least one user equipment is one of the following: equal to, lower than or higher than a corresponding channel quality requirement threshold.

[0167] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraph, determining that at least one user equipment is not allowed to utilize at least one feedback resource is based on at least one of the following: a channel quality measurement is one of the following: equal to, below or above a threshold value at least for the duration of the timer, or the channel quality measurement is one of the following: equal to, below or above a threshold value at least for multiple consecutive measurements.

[0168] According to the example embodiments described in the preceding paragraphs, a channel state information report is transmitted to at least one user equipment based on the comparison result, wherein the transmission causes the network node to at least one of: provide control signaling to disable negative acknowledgement-only feedback, or deconfigure channel state information feedback resources for at least one user equipment.

[0169] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraphs, the control signaling includes dedicated signaling, and the dedicated signaling is used to configure at least one user equipment to perform at least one of the following: deactivate negative acknowledgement-only feedback, or cancel the configuration of channel state information resources of at least one user equipment.

[0170] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraphs, the information for not allowing the utilization of at least one feedback resource on the point-to-multipoint service includes an indication that at least one user equipment does not need to perform at least one of the following: using a common feedback resource for hybrid automatic repeat request feedback or at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group to issue a hybrid automatic repeat request feedback, or using a dedicated resource for at least one user equipment to issue a channel state information report.

[0171] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraphs, the group of more than one user equipment comprises a point-to-multipoint link adaptation group.

[0172] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraphs, a dedicated resource assignment is transmitted to at least one user equipment, wherein the assigned dedicated resources are used to transmit second information of at least one point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement in the point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement at the at least one user equipment, wherein the second information of at least one point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement in the point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement, or at least one of an acknowledgment, a negative acknowledgment, a hybrid automatic repeat request feedback, or a request for access to a common feedback resource, is used by a network node to determine whether to allow at least one user equipment to issue a hybrid automatic repeat request feedback for a point-to-multipoint service on the group common feedback resource of the group.

[0173] According to the example embodiments described in the above paragraphs, at least one criterion for re-entering the point-to-multipoint service is communicated to at least one user device based at least on channel measurements and instructions on whether to decode data received via the point-to-multipoint service; and based on the criterion, it is possible to identify whether the at least one criterion for re-entry is met to permit at least one user device to re-enter the point-to-multipoint service.

[0174] According to the example embodiment described in the preceding paragraph, wherein the channel measurement includes at least one of a signal to interference and noise ratio, or a reference signal received power measurement, and wherein reentry includes resuming utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group.

[0175] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraphs, wherein based on at least one criterion for re-entry being met, the method includes: receiving a scheduling request from at least one user equipment; transmitting, as a response to the scheduling request, activation for issuing negative acknowledgment feedback on at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group from the network node; and receiving negative acknowledgment feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group based on a result of decoding a data packet received via the point-to-multipoint service, based on the re-entry.

[0176] According to the example embodiments described in the above paragraphs, at least one criterion for at least one user device to re-enter a point-to-multipoint service is used, wherein information includes at least one of the following: at least one channel quality measurement of the point-to-multipoint service, or data received by at least one user device via the point-to-multipoint service; and determining whether the at least one criterion for re-entry is met based on the information, for permitting the at least one user device to re-enter the point-to-multipoint service.

[0177] According to the example embodiments described in the above paragraphs, a scheduling request is received from at least one user device; activation information is transmitted with at least one user device, the activation information being used to send feedback on common negative acknowledgment resources; and based on reentry, a negative acknowledgment is received from at least one user device on a group common negative acknowledgment-only resource based on a result of decoding a data packet transmitted via a point-to-multipoint service.

[0178] According to the example embodiments described in the above paragraphs, a scheduling request is received from at least one user device based on at least one criterion being satisfied at at least one user device; an authorization for use of physical uplink shared channel resources is issued to at least one user device; a request to re-enter a point-to-multipoint service group is received from at least one user device; activation information is issued to at least one user device, the activation information being used to configure at least one user device to issue feedback on at least one feedback resource of a common negative acknowledgment resource of the point-to-multipoint service group; and a negative acknowledgment is received from at least one user device on the common negative acknowledgment resource based on a result of decoding a data packet transmitted via the point-to-multipoint service.

[0179] According to the example embodiment described in the preceding paragraph, the request includes channel quality information.

[0180] According to the example embodiment described in the above paragraphs, wherein at least one criterion must remain satisfied during the duration of a rejoin timer period that at least one user equipment has started after detecting that at least one readmission criterion is satisfied.

[0181] According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention as described above, there is an apparatus, comprising: a device for a network node (such as Figure 2 NN 12 and / or NN 13) receive (as Figure 2 TRANS 12D and / or TRANS 13D, MEM 12B and / or MEM13B, PROG 12C and / or PROG 13C and DP 12A and / or DP 13A), by the communication network (such as Figure 2 Network nodes in network 1) (such as Figure 2 NN 12 and / or NN 13 in the point-to-multipoint service group receives a packet from at least one user equipment (such as UE 10 in the figure) in at least one user equipment (such as Figure 2 means for determining (as a function of the user equipment level) an indication of a channel quality measured at a UE 10 in the group of more than one user equipment, wherein the point-to-multipoint service group comprises more than one user equipment including at least one user equipment of the communication network, comprising: means for determining (as a function of the user equipment level) an indication of a channel quality measured at at least one user equipment in the group of more than one user equipment Figure 2 13D, MEM 12B and / or MEM 13B, PROG 12C and / or PROG 13C, and DP 12A and / or DP 13A) at least one user equipment is not allowed to utilize at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group; and a component for issuing (e.g., Figure 2 TRANS 12D and / or TRANS 13D, MEM 12B and / or MEM 13B, PROG 12C and / or PROG 13C and DP 12A and / or DP 13A) are components of the determined first information.

[0182] In an example aspect of the invention according to the above paragraphs, at least the means for maintaining or establishing, the means for determining, and the means for issuing comprise a non-transitory computer readable medium [MEM 12B and / or MEM 13B] encoded with a computer program [PROG 12C and / or PROG 13C] executable by at least one processor [DP 12A and / or DP 13A].

[0183] It is believed that the advantages brought about by applying the techniques of the present disclosure according to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention may include that UEs in sufficiently good channel conditions are not affected by UEs in poor channel conditions in the PTM group and their QoS service requirements can be met. Additional advantages may include that UEs that exit from the PTM LA group can rejoin the PTM LA group with minimal effort if their channel conditions improve or other system constraints allow.

[0184] Furthermore, according to example embodiments of the present invention, there is a circuit system for performing operations according to the example embodiments of the present invention disclosed herein. The circuit system may include any type of circuit system, including content encoding circuit system, content decoding circuit system, processing circuit system, image generation circuit system, data analysis circuit system, etc. Furthermore, the circuit system may include discrete circuit system, application specific integrated circuit system (ASIC) and / or field programmable gate array circuit system (FPGA), etc., and a processor specifically configured by software to perform the corresponding functions, or a dual-core processor with software and a corresponding digital signal processor, etc. Furthermore, the necessary inputs to the circuit system and the necessary outputs from the circuit system, the functions performed by the circuit system, and the interconnection of the circuit system with other components, which may include other circuit systems (possibly via inputs and outputs), are provided to perform the example embodiments of the present invention described herein.

[0185] According to example embodiments of the present invention disclosed in this application, the provided “circuitry” may include at least one or more or all of the following:

[0186] (a) Hardware circuit implementation only (such as implementation only in analog and / or digital circuitry)

[0187] now);

[0188] (b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software such as (as applicable):

[0189] (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuits and software / firmware; and

[0190] (ii) any portion of a hardware processor(s) with software, including digital signal processor(s), software, and memory(s), which work together to cause a device such as a mobile phone or server to perform various functions, such as those disclosed herein.

[0191] functions or operations of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention disclosed herein; and

[0192] (c) Hardware circuit(s) and / or processor(s), such as microprocessor(s) or portion(s) of microprocessor(s), which requires software (e.g., firmware)

[0193] But when the software is not needed to operate, the software can be absent.”

[0194] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is sufficient circuitry for performing at least the novel operations disclosed in this application, and "circuitry" as used herein refers to at least the following:

[0195] (a) Hardware circuit implementation only (such as implementation only in analog and / or digital circuitry)

[0196] present); and

[0197] (b) a combination of circuitry and software (and / or firmware) such as (as applicable):

[0198] (i) a combination of processor(s), or (ii) portions of processor / software(s), including digital signal processor(s), software, and memory(s) that work together to enable a device such as a mobile phone or server to perform various functions; and

[0199] (c) Circuitry that requires software or firmware to operate, such as microprocessor(s) or portion(s) of microprocessor(s), even if the software or firmware is not physically present.

[0200] This definition of "circuitry" applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term "circuitry" would also cover only an implementation of a processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a processor and its accompanying software and / or firmware. For example, the term "circuitry" would also cover a baseband integrated circuit or applications processor integrated circuit for a mobile phone, or a similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network device, or other network device, if applicable to the particular claim element.

[0201] In general, various embodiments may be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuitry, software, logic, or any combination thereof. For example, some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software, which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device, although the invention is not limited thereto. Although various aspects of the invention may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other illustrations, it should be clearly understood that, as non-limiting examples, the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuitry or logic, general-purpose hardware or a controller or other computing device, or some combination thereof.

[0202] Embodiments of the present invention may be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit modules. Generally speaking, the design of integrated circuits is a highly automated process. Complex and powerful software tools are used to convert a logic-level design into a semiconductor circuit design ready to be etched and formed on a semiconductor substrate.

[0203] The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. All of the embodiments described in this "Detailed Description" are example embodiments provided to enable persons skilled in the art to make or use the invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention which is defined by the claims.

[0204] The foregoing description has provided by way of exemplary and non-limiting examples a complete and informative description of the best method and apparatus presently contemplated by the inventors for carrying out the invention. However, various modifications and adaptations may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. Nevertheless, all such and similar modifications of the teachings of this invention will still fall within the scope of this invention.

[0205] It should be noted that the terms "connected," "coupled," or any variations thereof, refer to any direct or indirect connection or coupling between two or more elements, and may encompass the presence of one or more intermediate elements between two elements that are "connected" or "coupled" together. The coupling or connection between elements may be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. As used herein, two elements may be considered to be "connected" or "coupled" together through the use of one or more wires, cables, and / or printed electrical connections, and through the use of electromagnetic energy, such as electromagnetic energy having wavelengths in the radio frequency, microwave, and optical (visible and invisible) regions, as several non-limiting and non-exhaustive examples.

[0206] In addition, some features of the preferred embodiments of the present invention may be used without corresponding use of other features. Therefore, the above description should be considered as merely illustrative of the principles of the present invention, rather than limiting the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for communication, comprising: receiving, by at least one user equipment of a group of more than one user equipment of a communication network, first information for being in a point-to-multipoint service group from a network node of the communication network, wherein the first information relates to an indication of channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment; determining, based on the received first information, that the at least one user equipment is not allowed to send at least one of an acknowledgment, a negative acknowledgment, and a hybrid repeat request feedback using a common feedback resource used by permitted user equipments in the point-to-multipoint service group, and sending a channel quality indicator 0 of a channel quality indicator bit from the at least one user equipment to the network node using a channel state information report, wherein the channel quality indicator 0 indicates to the network node to provide control signaling to: deactivate negative acknowledgment feedback, and deconfigure a channel state information feedback resource for the at least one user equipment; The at least one user equipment continues to decode data packets received from the point-to-multipoint service and to make at least one channel measurement.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first information related to the indication of the channel quality comprises: at least one of a quality of service indicator, a channel quality indicator, a block error rate, or a count of negative acknowledgements sent by the at least one user equipment on the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group, and The method comprises: Determining that the at least one user equipment is not allowed to utilize the at least one feedback resource is based on a comparison of the indication of the channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment and a channel quality requirement of the at least one user equipment.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the channel quality requirement comprises: One of the quality of service indicator, channel quality indicator, block error rate, or count of negative acknowledgements reflects at least one of an indication of the channel quality threshold or at least one of a timer or counter threshold.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the determining that the at least one user equipment is not allowed to utilize the at least one feedback resource is based on at least one of the following: The indication of the channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment is one of: equal to, below, or above a corresponding channel quality requirement threshold.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the determining that the at least one user equipment is not allowed to utilize the at least one feedback resource is based on at least one of the following: At least for the duration of the timer, the channel quality measurement is one of: equal to, below, or above the threshold, or At least within a plurality of consecutive measurements, the channel quality measurement is one of: equal to, below, or above the threshold.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the control signaling comprises dedicated signaling, and the dedicated signaling is used to configure the at least one user equipment to perform at least one of the following: deactivate negative acknowledgement feedback, or cancel the configuration of channel state information resources of the at least one user equipment.

7. The method according to claim 1, comprising: In the absence of additional instructions from the network node, sending negative acknowledgements from the at least one user equipment is stopped.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the received first information further comprises an indication that the at least one user equipment does not perform at least one of the following: sending hybrid automatic repeat request feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group, or A channel state information report is issued on dedicated resources for the at least one user equipment.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the group of more than one user equipment comprises a point-to-multipoint link adaptation group.

10. The method according to claim 1, comprising: receiving, by the at least one user equipment, a dedicated resource assignment; as well as Using the assigned dedicated resources, second information of at least one point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement in the point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement is transmitted at the at least one user equipment, wherein the second information of at least one point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement in the point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement and at least one of an acknowledgment, a negative acknowledgment, a hybrid automatic repeat request feedback, or a request for access to the common feedback resource are used by the network node to determine whether to allow the at least one user equipment to issue a hybrid automatic repeat request feedback for the point-to-multipoint service on the group common feedback resource of the group.

11. The method according to claim 1, comprising: receiving, by the at least one user equipment, at least one criterion for re-entering the point-to-multipoint service based on at least one channel measurement or an instruction for decoding data received via the point-to-multipoint service; as well as Based on the criterion, it is determined whether the at least one criterion for re-entry is met for permitting the at least one user equipment to re-enter the point-to-multipoint service.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one channel measurement comprises at least one of a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) or a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, and wherein the re-entry comprises resuming the utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group.

13. The method according to claim 11, comprising: issuing a scheduling request to the network node upon determining that the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied; receiving, in response to the scheduling request, activation information from the network node, the activation information for issuing negative acknowledgement feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group; as well as Based on the re-entry, the negative acknowledgement feedback is issued on the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group according to a result of decoding a data packet received through the point-to-multipoint service.

14. The method according to claim 11, comprising: issuing a scheduling request to the network node upon determining that the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied; receiving a resource allocation for a physical uplink shared channel from the network node; issuing a request for re-entry into said point-to-multipoint service group by using said resource allocation of a physical uplink shared channel; receiving activation information from the network node, the activation information being used to configure the at least one user equipment to send feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group; as well as A negative acknowledgement is issued on the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group based on a result of decoding a data packet received through the point-to-multipoint service.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the request for reentry includes channel quality information.

16. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 15, comprising: Starting a timer when the scheduling request is issued; After expiration of the timer, if the at least one user equipment has not re-entered the point-to-multipoint service, and if the at least one criterion for re-entry is met, the at least one user equipment: Issue another dispatch request; as well as Restart the timer.

17. The method according to claim 11 or 12, comprising: After determining that the at least one criterion for re-entry is met, a negative acknowledgement is issued on the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group based on a result of decoding a data packet received via the point-to-multipoint service.

18. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, wherein the at least one criterion for reentry remains satisfied during the duration of a reentry timer that has been started after the at least one user equipment detects that the at least one criterion for reentry is satisfied.

19. An apparatus for communication, comprising: at least one processor; as well as at least one memory comprising computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: receiving first information for being in a point-to-multipoint service group from a network node of a communication network, wherein the apparatus is one user equipment of a group of more than one user equipment of the communications network, and the first information relates to an indication of a channel quality measured from the apparatus; determining, based on the received first information, that the apparatus is not permitted to send at least one of an acknowledgment, a negative acknowledgment, and a hybrid repeat request feedback using a common feedback resource permitted for use by user equipments in the point-to-multipoint service group, and sending a channel quality indicator 0 of a channel quality indicator bit from the at least one user equipment to the network node using a channel state information report, wherein the channel quality indicator 0 indicates to the network node to provide control signaling to: deactivate negative acknowledgment feedback, and de-configure a channel state information feedback resource for the at least one user equipment; The apparatus continues to decode data packets received from the point-to-multipoint service and make at least one channel measurement.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the first information related to the indication of the channel quality comprises: at least one of a quality of service indicator, a channel quality indicator, a block error rate, or a count of negative acknowledgements sent from the apparatus on the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group, and The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: Based on a comparison of the indication of the channel quality measured from the apparatus and a channel quality requirement of the apparatus, it is determined that the apparatus is not permitted to utilize the at least one feedback resource.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the channel quality requirement comprises: One of the quality of service indicator, channel quality indicator, block error rate, or count of negative acknowledgements reflects at least one of an indication of the channel quality threshold or at least one of a timer or counter threshold.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the determining that the apparatus is not permitted to utilize the at least one feedback resource is based on at least one of: The indication of the channel quality measured from the apparatus is one of: equal to, below, or above a corresponding channel quality requirement threshold.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the determining that the apparatus is not permitted to utilize the at least one feedback resource is based on at least one of: At least for the duration of the timer, the channel quality measurement is one of: equal to, below, or above the threshold, or At least within a plurality of consecutive measurements, the channel quality measurement is one of: equal to, below, or above the threshold.

24. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the control signaling comprises dedicated signaling, the dedicated signaling being used to configure the apparatus to at least one of: deactivate negative acknowledgement feedback, or de-configure a channel state information resource of the apparatus.

25. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: Without additional instructions from the network node, stop sending negative acknowledgements.

26. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the received first information further comprises an indication that the apparatus does not perform at least one of the following: sending hybrid automatic repeat request feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group, or A channel state information report is issued on dedicated resources for the apparatus.

27. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the group of more than one user equipment comprises a point-to-multipoint link adaptation group.

28. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: receiving an assignment of dedicated resources; and Using the assigned dedicated resources, second information of at least one point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement in the point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement is transmitted at the device, wherein the second information of at least one point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement in the point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement and at least one of an acknowledgment, a negative acknowledgment, a hybrid automatic repeat request feedback, or a request for access to the common feedback resource are used by the network node to determine whether the device is allowed to issue a hybrid automatic repeat request feedback for the point-to-multipoint service on the group common feedback resource of the group.

29. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: receiving at least one criterion for re-entering the point-to-multipoint service based on at least one channel measurement or an instruction to decode data received via the point-to-multipoint service; and Based on the criteria, it is determined whether the at least one criterion for re-entry is met for permitting the device to re-enter the point-to-multipoint service.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the at least one channel measurement comprises at least one of a signal to interference plus noise ratio or a reference signal received power measurement, and wherein the re-entry comprises resuming the utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group.

31. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: issuing a scheduling request to the network node upon determining that the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied; receiving, in response to the scheduling request, activation information from the network node, the activation information for issuing negative acknowledgement feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group; as well as Based on the re-entry, the negative acknowledgement feedback is issued on the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group according to a result of decoding a data packet received through the point-to-multipoint service.

32. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: issuing a scheduling request to the network node upon determining that the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied; receiving a resource allocation for a physical uplink shared channel from the network node; issuing a request for re-entry into said point-to-multipoint service group by using said resource allocation of a physical uplink shared channel; receiving activation information from the network node, the activation information being configured to configure the apparatus to send feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group; as well as A negative acknowledgement is issued on the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group based on a result of decoding a data packet received through the point-to-multipoint service.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the request for reentry includes channel quality information.

34. The apparatus of any one of claims 31 to 33, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: Starting a timer when the scheduling request is issued; After expiration of the timer, if the apparatus has not re-entered the point-to-multipoint service, and if the at least one criterion for re-entry is met, the apparatus: Issue another dispatch request; as well as Restart the timer.

35. The apparatus of claim 29 or 30, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: After determining that the at least one criterion for re-entry is met, a negative acknowledgement is issued on the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group based on a result of decoding a data packet received via the point-to-multipoint service.

36. An apparatus according to any one of claims 29 to 32, wherein after detecting that the at least one criterion for re-entry is met, the at least one criterion for re-entry remains met for the duration of a re-entry timer that the apparatus has started.

37. An apparatus for communication, comprising: at least one processor; as well as at least one memory comprising computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: receiving, at the apparatus of the communication network, from at least one user equipment of a point-to-multipoint service group, an indication of a channel quality measured at the at least one equipment, wherein the point-to-multipoint service group comprises more than one user equipment including the at least one user equipment; Based on the indication of the channel quality, determining that the at least one user equipment is not permitted to transmit at least one of an acknowledgment, a negative acknowledgment, and a hybrid repeat request feedback using a common feedback resource used by permitted user equipments in the point-to-multipoint service group, and the apparatus receiving a channel quality indicator 0 of a channel quality indicator bit from the at least one user equipment, wherein the channel quality indicator 0 indicates to the apparatus that control signaling is provided to: deactivate negative acknowledgment feedback, and deconfigure a channel state information feedback resource for the at least one user equipment; Based on the determination, sending the determined first information to the at least one user equipment; as well as The data packets of the point-to-multipoint service are continuously sent to the at least one user equipment, so that the at least one user equipment continues to decode the data packets received from the point-to-multipoint service and perform at least one channel measurement.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the indication of channel quality comprises: At least one of a quality of service indicator, a channel quality indicator, a block error rate, or a count of negative acknowledgements received from the at least one user equipment on the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group.

39. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the determining is based on a comparison of the indication of the channel quality measured at the at least one user equipment and a channel quality requirement of the at least one user equipment.

40. The apparatus of any one of claims 37 to 39, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: assigning dedicated resources to the at least one user equipment, wherein the assigned dedicated resources are used to transmit, at the at least one user equipment, second information of at least one point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement in the point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement, The second information of at least one point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement in the point-to-multipoint channel state indicator measurement, or at least one of confirmation, negative confirmation, hybrid automatic repeat request feedback, or a request for access to the common feedback resource, is used by the device to determine whether to allow the at least one user equipment to issue a hybrid automatic repeat request feedback for the point-to-multipoint service on the at least one feedback resource of the point-to-multipoint service group.

41. The apparatus of any one of claims 37 to 39, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: communicating, with the at least one user equipment, at least one criterion for re-entering the point-to-multipoint service based at least on channel measurements and instructions on whether to decode data received via the point-to-multipoint service; and Based on the criterion, it can be identified whether the at least one criterion for re-entry is met, so as to permit the at least one user equipment to re-enter the point-to-multipoint service.

42. A method for communication, comprising: receiving, by a network node of a communications network, from at least one user equipment of a point-to-multipoint service group, an indication of a channel quality measured at the at least one device, wherein the point-to-multipoint service group comprises more than one user equipment including the at least one user equipment; Based on the indication of the channel quality, determining that the at least one user equipment is not allowed to send at least one of an acknowledgment, a negative acknowledgment, and a hybrid repeat request feedback using a common feedback resource used by permitted user equipments in the point-to-multipoint service group, and the network node receiving a channel quality indicator 0 of a channel quality indicator bit from the at least one user equipment, wherein the channel quality indicator 0 indicates to the network node to provide control signaling to: deactivate negative acknowledgment feedback, and deconfigure a channel state information feedback resource for the at least one user equipment; Based on the determination, sending the determined first information to the at least one user equipment; as well as The data packets of the point-to-multipoint service are continuously sent to the at least one user equipment, so that the at least one user equipment continues to decode the data packets received from the point-to-multipoint service and perform at least one channel measurement.

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