QoS support in UE-to-UE relays

Abstract

Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to quality of service (QoS) support in a UE-to-UE (U2U) relay. In an example method, a terminal device determines a Quality of Service (QoS) partition configuration for an End-to-End (E2E) Radio Bearer (RB) in U2U relay communications, where a first terminal device is a relay in UE-to-UE relay communications. And the terminal device sends the QoS segmentation configuration to a second terminal device, wherein the second terminal device is a sending device in an ingress hop of the first terminal device. In this manner, the configuration and adaptation of segmented data packet delay budget (PDB) in the U2U relay may be enabled and facilitated.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of communications, and more particularly to devices, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for Quality of Service (QoS) support in UE-to-UE (U2U) relaying. Background Art

[0002] For the layer 2 (L2) UE to UE relay architecture, the protocol stack is similar to the L2 UE to network relay, while the termination points of the L2 U2U relay are two remote UE devices. 3GPPR2-2306843 has described the stage 2 description of U2U relay, where the sidelink relay adaptation protocol (SRAP) sublayer is placed above the radio link control (RLC) sublayer for both the control plane and the user plane at the two PC5 interfaces. The characteristic of L2 UE to UE relay is that the L2 relay function is performed under PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol), and the two endpoints of the PDCP link are the source UE and the target UE. There are still some open issues in such UE to UE (U2U) relay communication that need to be studied in the future. Summary of the invention

[0003] In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for implementing and facilitating configuration and adaptation of QoS parameter segmentation, such as data packet delay budget (PDB) segmentation in U2U relay. Example embodiments of the present disclosure may be based on current protocols in 3GPP for a 2-hop U2U relay case, where a U2U relay UE determines and configures per-hop pdb for a first hop and a second hop. In the context of the present disclosure, a 'hop' may refer to a direct sidelink connection between two adjacent UEs in a U2U relay communication, where the UE may be a remote UE or a U2U relay UE. Example embodiments of the present invention are also applicable to multi-hop U2U relays that follow a hop-by-hop control principle. It should be noted that a 2-hop U2U relay via a single U2U relay UE is also referred to as a single-hop U2U relay, counting the number of hops of the relay.

[0004] In a first aspect, a first terminal device is provided. The first terminal device comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, causes the first terminal device to at least: determine a quality of service (QoS) split configuration for an end-to-end (E2E) radio bearer (RB) in a user equipment (UE) to UE relay communication, wherein the first terminal device is a relay in the UE to UE relay communication, and the QoS split configuration comprises at least a first set of ranges for a first portion of QoS parameters configured for the E2E RB configuration, the first portion being for an ingress hop of the first terminal device; and send the QoS split configuration to a second terminal device, the second terminal device being a sending device in an ingress hop of the first terminal device.

[0005] In a second aspect, a second terminal device is provided. The second terminal device includes at least one processor; and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second terminal device to at least: receive a quality of service (QoS) split configuration for an end-to-end (E2E) radio bearer (RB) in a user equipment (UE) to UE relay communication from a first terminal device, wherein the first terminal device is a relay in the UE to UE relay communication and is a receiving device in an egress hop of the second terminal device, and the QoS split configuration includes at least a first set of ranges for a first portion of QoS parameters configured for the E2ERB, the first portion being for an ingress hop of the first terminal device; and determine a first indication of a range in the first set of ranges for the first portion of the QoS parameters.

[0006] In a third aspect, a method is provided. The method comprises determining, at a first terminal device, a quality of service (QoS) split configuration for an end-to-end (E2E) radio bearer (RB) in a user equipment (UE) to UE relay communication, wherein the first terminal device is a relay in the UE to UE relay communication, and the QoS split configuration comprises at least a first set of ranges for a first portion of QoS parameters configured for the E2ERB configuration, the first portion being for an ingress hop of the first terminal device; and sending the QoS split configuration to a second terminal device, the second terminal device being a sending device in an ingress hop of the first terminal device.

[0007] In a fourth aspect, a method is provided. The method comprises: receiving, at a second terminal device, a quality of service (QoS) split configuration for an end-to-end (E2E) radio bearer (RB) in a user equipment (UE) to UE relay communication from a first terminal device, wherein the first terminal device is a relay in the UE to UE relay communication and is a receiving device in an egress hop of the second terminal device, and the QoS split configuration comprises at least a first set of ranges for a first portion of QoS parameters configured for the E2E RB, the first portion being for an ingress hop of the first terminal device; and determining a first indication of a range in the first set of ranges for the first portion of the QoS parameters.

[0008] In a fifth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus comprises a component for determining, at a first terminal device, a quality of service (QoS) split configuration for an end-to-end (E2E) radio bearer (RB) in a user equipment (UE) to UE relay communication, wherein the first terminal device is a relay in the UE to UE relay communication, and the QoS split configuration comprises at least a first set of ranges for a first portion of QoS parameters configured for the E2E RB configuration, the first portion being for an ingress hop of the first terminal device; and a component for sending the QoS split configuration to a second terminal device, the second terminal device being a sending device in the ingress hop of the first terminal device.

[0009] In a sixth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a component for receiving a quality of service (QoS) split configuration for an end-to-end (E2E) radio bearer (RB) in a user equipment (UE) to UE relay communication from a first terminal device, wherein the first terminal device is a relay in the UE to UE relay communication and is a receiving device in an egress hop of a second terminal device, and the QoS split configuration includes at least a first set of ranges for a first portion of QoS parameters configured for the E2E RB, the first portion being for an ingress hop of the first terminal device; and a component for determining a first indication of a range in the first portion of the QoS parameters.

[0010] In a seventh aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to at least execute the method according to any one of the third to fourth aspects above.

[0011] In an eighth aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions, which, when executed by an apparatus, causes the apparatus to at least perform a method according to any one of the third to fourth aspects above.

[0012] In a ninth aspect, a first terminal device is provided. The first terminal device comprises a determining circuit configured to determine a quality of service (QoS) split configuration for an end-to-end (E2E) radio bearer (RB) in a user equipment (UE) to UE relay communication, wherein the first terminal device is a relay in the UE to UE relay communication, and the QoS split configuration comprises at least a first set of ranges for a first portion of QoS parameters configured for the E2E RB configuration, the first portion being for an ingress hop of the first terminal device. The first terminal device comprises a sending circuit configured to send the QoS split configuration to a second terminal device, the second terminal device being a sending device in an ingress hop of the first terminal device.

[0013] In a tenth aspect, a second terminal device is provided. The second terminal device includes a receiving circuit configured to receive a quality of service (QoS) split configuration for an end-to-end (E2E) radio bearer (RB) in a user equipment (UE) to UE relay communication from a first terminal device, wherein the first terminal device is a relay in the UE to UE relay communication and is a receiving device in an egress hop of a second terminal device, and the QoS split configuration includes at least a first set of ranges for a first portion of QoS parameters configured for the E2E RB, the first portion being for an ingress hop of the first terminal device. The second terminal device includes a determining circuit configured to determine a first indication of a range in the first set of ranges for the first portion of the QoS parameters.

[0014] It should be understood that the summary is not intended to identify the key features or essential features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present invention will become readily understood through the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0016] Figure 1A An example of a network environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented is shown;

[0017] Figure 1B An example of a user plane protocol stack for L2 UE-to-UE relay associated with some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0018] Figure 1C An example of a control plane protocol stack for a L2 UE-to-UE relay associated with some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0019] Figure 1D An example of end-to-end QoS for 5G ProSe layer-3 UE-to-UE relay operation associated with some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0020] Figure 2 The process flow of the method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0021] Figure 3 shows an example of a PDB partitioning configuration 300 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0022] Figure 4 shows example interactions between a transmitting UE, a U2U relay UE and a receiving UE for QoS split configuration and adjustment according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0023] Figure 5A flowchart showing a method performed by a terminal device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0024] Figure 6 A flowchart showing a method performed by a terminal device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0025] Figure 7 shows a simplified block diagram of a device 700 suitable for implementing some example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0026] Figure 8 A block diagram illustrating an example of a computer readable medium 800 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0027] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The principle of the present invention will now be described with reference to some exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration, and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation to the scope of the present disclosure. In addition to the embodiments described below, the embodiments described herein can be implemented in various ways.

[0029] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0030] References in this disclosure to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," "an example embodiment," etc., indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment necessarily includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in conjunction with an embodiment, it is considered to be within the knowledge of those skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in conjunction with other embodiments (whether or not explicitly described).

[0031] It should be understood that, although the terms "first", "second", ... etc. in front of (multiple) nouns, etc. can be used in this article to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element, and they do not limit the order of (multiple) nouns. For example, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiment, the first element can be referred to as the second element, and similarly, the second element can be referred to as the first element. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more listed terms.

[0032] The terms used herein are only used for the purpose of describing specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit exemplary embodiments. As used herein, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the singular forms "one", "an" and "the" are intended to also include plural forms. It will be further understood that when used herein, the terms "comprises", "comprising", "has", "having", "includes" and / or "including" specify the presence of features, elements and / or parts, etc., but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, parts and / or their combinations. As used herein, "at least one of the following: "a list of two or more elements" and "at least one of the list of two or more elements" and similar wording, wherein the list of two or more elements is connected by "and" or "or", refers to at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all elements.

[0033] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) hardware circuit implementation only (e.g., implementation only in analog and / or digital circuits), and (b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software such as (where applicable): (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuits and software / firmware, and (ii) hardware(ies) with software (including digital signal processor(s)) processor, software, and any portion of memory(s) that work together to enable a device such as a mobile phone or a server to perform various functions; and (c) Hardware circuit(s) and / or processor(s), such as microprocessor(s) or portions of microprocessor(s), that require software (e.g., firmware) for operation but in which the software may not be present when not required for operation.

[0034] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As another example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of only a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or its) accompanying software and / or firmware. For example and if applicable to the particular claim element, the term circuitry also covers a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0035] As used herein, the term "cellular network" refers to a network that operates according to any suitable radio access technology defined by a standard, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced LTE (LTE-A), New Radio (NR), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), etc. In addition, the communication between the terminal device and the network equipment of the cellular network can be performed according to any suitable communication protocol, including but not limited to the fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth generation (5G) communication protocol, and / or any other protocol currently known or developed in the future. The embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to various cellular networks. In view of the rapid development of communications, there are of course future types of communication technologies and systems that can implement the present disclosure. It should not be considered that the scope of the present disclosure is limited to the above-mentioned system.

[0036] As used herein, the term "network device" refers to any device in a cellular network, via which a terminal device accesses a data network and receives services exposed by other network devices of the cellular network. In some examples, the network device may include or implement network functions of a 5th generation communication system (5GS) (e.g., core network) of a cellular network. In some examples, the network device may be located in the RAN of the 5GS. The network device may be part of a base station (BS) or an access point (AP), such as a node B (node ​​B or NB), an evolved node B (eNodeB or eNB), an NRNB (also referred to as a gNB), a remote radio unit (RRU), a radio head (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a repeater, a low-power node (such as a femto), a micro node, etc., depending on the terminology and technology applied. The gNB may include a centralized unit CU and one or more distributed DUs. Femto and Pico nodes are small base stations with small coverage.

[0037] The term "terminal device" refers to a device of a communication system of a cellular network, such as a 5th generation communication system (5GS), which is capable of wireless (e.g., radio) communication with the NR-RAN of the 5GS via a Uu interface, or wireless (e.g., radio) communication with other terminal devices via a side link (SL) (also known as a PC5 interface). As an example and not a limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a wireless communication device, a user equipment (UE), a subscriber station (SS), a portable subscriber station, a mobile station (MS), or an access terminal (AT). Examples of terminal devices include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablet computers, wearable terminal devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, game terminal devices, music storage and playback devices, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop mounted devices (LMEs), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPEs), Internet of Things (IOT) devices, watches or other wearables, head mounted displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in industrial and / or automated processing chain environments), consumer electronic devices, devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "communication device", "terminal", "user equipment" and "UE" may be used interchangeably. It should be noted that the term "quality of service (QoS) partitioning" may refer, in addition to other QoS parameters, to the partitioning of the end-to-end (E2E) packet delay budget (PDB) of the E2E radio bearer (RB) configured for each hop PDB, for example, for the first and second hop in a 2-hop (or, i.e., single-hop) U2U relay communication or for individual hops in a multi-hop U2U relay communication.

[0038] As the receiving UE of the first hop, the U2U relay UE may have some knowledge of the sidelink (SL) conditions and transmission delay of a single data packet on the first hop based on, for example, SL hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) performance. However, the U2U relay UE may not be aware of the scheduling delay on the first hop because the transmitting UE may have to delay the SL transmission to the U2U relay UE, for example, it must give priority to the SL or Uu transmission or reception of other SL or Uu connections that the transmitting UE may have; or, SL congestion occurs on the first hop, affecting the SL resource allocation sent by itself in the UE autonomous resource allocation mode, which is called Mode 2 in NRSL. The transmitting UE and the U2U relay UE also need to perform data transmission according to the conditions of the first hop and the second hop to meet the E2E QoS requirements, including the E2E PDB requirements for a single PDCP message for the corresponding E2E RB to minimize packet drops. In turn, this may require frequent exchanges of the SL conditions of the first hop and the second hop between the transmitting UE and the U2U relay UE, and frequent reconfiguration of the QoS separated from the U2U relay UE to the transmitting UE. In addition, QoS segmentation of U2U relay needs to consider the support of multi-hop U2U relay, so it needs to be simple and scalable with the number of hops.

[0039] In view of this, the main purpose of the present invention is to provide a solution to support U2U relay service quality. In particular, in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a first terminal device (which is a U2U relay UE) can determine a QoS split configuration for E2E RB in U2U relay communication, and send the QoS split configuration to a second terminal device (which can be a transmitting UE or another U2U relay UE). In this way, it is possible to enable and facilitate the U2U relay UE to determine and configure QoS splitting, with an emphasis on splitting end-to-end data into the first hop and the second hop in the case of a 2-hop U2U relay and each hop of a single hop in the case of a multi-hop U2U relay.

[0040] Figure 1A An example of a network environment 100a in which an example embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented is shown. The environment 100a may be part of a communication network and include a plurality of terminal devices, such as a first terminal device 110, a second terminal device 120, and a third terminal device 130. As an example, the first terminal device 110 may be implemented as a UE-to-UE relay UE device, the second terminal device 120 may be implemented as a transmitting UE device, and the third terminal device 130 may be implemented as a receiving UE device in the case of a 2-hop U2U relay or another UE-to-UE relay UE device in the case of a multi-hop relay.

[0041] Figure 1BAn example 100b of a user plane protocol stack for L2 UE-to-UE relay associated with some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 1C An example 100c of a control plane protocol stack for L2 UE-to-UE relay associated with some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. As shown in 100b-100c, a sidelink relay adaptation protocol (SRAP) sublayer is placed above the radio link control (RLC) sublayer of the control plane and user plane at two PC5 interfaces. The sidelink service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and radio resource control (RRC) terminate between two L2U2U remote UEs, while SRAP, RLC, MAC, and PHY terminate at each hop in each PC5 link, where each link is between a L2 U2U remote UE and a L2 U2U relay UE.

[0042] The SRAP sublayer present in the L2 U2U remote UE and the L2 U2U relay UE can perform bearer mapping to map the end-to-end SL bearers (SRB, DRB) of the L2 U2U remote UE to the PC 5U2U relay RLC channel. The PC5 SRAP sublayer present in the L2 U2U relay terminal and the L2 U2U remote terminal supports the L2 U2U remote UE to identify the sidelink service from the source L2 U2U remote UE to the destination L2 U2U remote UE.

[0043] The identification of the L2 U2U remote UE end-to-end bearer and the remote UE ID included in the SRAP header can support associating the received packet with the RLC channel of the L2 U2U relay UE and associating the transmitted packet of the PDCP entity associated with the end-to-end radio bearer with the destination L2 U2U remote UE ID. It can also support associating the received packet of the PDCP entity associated with the end-to-end radio bearer with the source L2 U2U remote UE ID.

[0044] The PC5SRAP sublayer at the L2 U2U remote UE may support identification of the destination L2 U2U remote UE. The SRAP header of the service from the source L2 U2U remote UE to the L2 U2U relay includes an ID that can be mapped to the destination L2 U2U remote UE. The PC5SRAP sublayer at the L2 U2U relay UE supports identification of the source L2U2U remote UE. The SRAP header of the service from the L2 U2U relay UE to the destination L2 U2U remote UE includes an ID that can be mapped to the source L2 U2U remote UE.

[0045] The SRAP sublayer at the L2 U2U relay UE may perform data multiplexing from multiple RLC channels of different source L2 U2U remote UEs to the same RLC channel of the destination L2 U2U remote UE for different end-to-end bearers. The SRAP sublayer at the L2 U2U relay UE may perform data demultiplexing from the same RLC channel of the source L2 U2U remote UE to multiple RLC channels of different destination L2 U2U remote UEs for different end-to-end bearers. It should be noted that, in this document, the remote UE may also be referred to as the end UE, the source UE, the destination UE, the transmitting UE or the receiving UE.

[0046] Figure 1D An example 100d of end-to-end QoS for 5G ProSe layer 3 UE to UE relay operation associated with some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For a 5G ProSe layer 3 end UE 104d connected to another 5G ProSe layer 3 end UE 108d via a 5G ProSe layer 3 UE to UE relay 101d, the QoS requirements for relayed traffic between peer 5G ProSe layer 3 end UEs can be met by corresponding QoS control of the PC5 link between the source 5G ProSe layer 3 end UE 104d and the 5G ProSe layer 3 UE to UE relay 101d (i.e., first-hop PC5 QoS control) and QoS control of the PC5 link between the 5G ProSe layer 3 UE to UE relay 101d and the target 5G ProSe layer 3 end UE 108d (i.e., second-hop PC5 QoS control).

[0047] First-hop PC5QoS and second-hop PC5QoS can be controlled with PC5QoS rules and PC5QoS parameters (e.g., PQI, GFBR, MFBR, PC5LINK-AMBR). End-to-end QoS is only met when the QoS requirements are correctly converted and met on the two hops respectively. To achieve this, the source 5G ProSe layer 3 end UE 104d initiates the establishment or modification of the PC5 QoS flow during the layer 2 link establishment or modification process, and the source 5G ProSe layer 3 end UE 104d provides QoS information to the 5G ProSe layer 3 UE to UE relay 101d. The PC5 QoS parameters (e.g., PQI, GFBR, MFBR, PC5 LINK-AMBR) of the received QoS Info are interpreted as the end-to-end QoS requirements of the 5G ProSe layer 3 UE to UE relay 101d for the traffic sent between the source 5G ProSe layer 3 end UE 104d and the target 5G ProSe layer 3 end UE 108d.

[0048] The 5G ProSe layer-3 UE to UE relay 101d decides the PQI for the first hop PC5 QoS control and the PQI for the second hop PC5 QoS control based on its implementation. The 5G ProSe layer-3 UE to UE relay 101d provides the QoS information (including the PQI value selected by the 5G ProSe layer-3 UE to UE relay 101d for the second hop) to the target 5G ProSe layer-3 end UE 108d. After receiving the accepted QoS information of the second hop QoS from the target 5G ProSe layer-3 end UE 108d, the 5G ProSe layer-3 UE to UE relay 101d provides the QoS information (including the PQI value selected by the 5G ProSe layer-3 UE to UE relay 101d for the first hop) to the source 5G ProSe layer-3 end UE 104d taking into account the received second hop QoS.

[0049] If the source 5G ProSe layer 3 end UE 104d performs a layer 2 link modification procedure to add (multiple) new PC5 QoS flows, or to modify (multiple) existing PC5 QoS flows for IP traffic or Ethernet traffic over the PC5 reference point, the source 5G ProSe layer 3 end UE 104d may also provide (multiple) PC5 QoS rules to be added or modified to the PC5 QoS flows of the 5G ProSe layer 3 UE to UE relay 101d. The 5G ProSe layer 3 UE to UE relay 101d may generate a packet filter for use on the second hop based on the received (multiple) PC5 QoS rules.

[0050] For a 5G ProSe layer 2 end UE connected to another 5G ProSe layer 2 end UE via a 5G ProSe layer 2 end UE to UE relay, the source 5G ProSe layer 2 end UE and the target 5G ProSe layer 2 end UE may negotiate end-to-end QoS for traffic transmission between the source 5G ProSe layer 2 end UE and the target 5G ProSe layer 2 end UE. The access stratum (AS) layer is responsible for QoS splitting in the L2 U2U relay, and the relay UE is responsible for AS layer QoS splitting in the L2 U2U relay.

[0051] Figure 2 The processing flow of the method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Figures 1A-1D Describe the process flow 200. It should be understood that although reference has been made to Figures 1A to 1D The process flow 200 is described, but the process flow 200 can also be applied to other similar communication scenarios.

[0052] In process flow 200, a first terminal device 110 may determine (205) a quality of service (QoS) split configuration for an end-to-end (E2E) radio bearer (RB) in a user equipment (UE) to UE relay communication. In the context of the present disclosure, the first terminal device 110 may be a relay in the UE to UE relay communication. The QoS split configuration determined by the first terminal device 110 includes at least a first set of ranges for a first portion of QoS parameters configured for an E2E RB configuration, and the first portion is for an ingress hop of the first terminal device 110. The QoS parameters may be divided into per-hop portions. The QoS parameters may be, for example, a packet delay budget (PDB) configured for an E2E RB.

[0053] After determining the QoS split configuration, the first terminal device 110 may send the QoS split configuration to the second terminal device 120 , where the second terminal device 120 may be a sending device in an ingress hop of the first terminal device 110 .

[0054] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may receive a first indication of a range in a first set of ranges for a first portion of the QoS parameters from the second terminal device 120. Alternatively or additionally, the first indication of the range in the first set of ranges may include at least one of the following: an index of the range, a measurement of the first portion of the QoS parameters within the range.

[0055] The first terminal device 110 may receive a first indication of a range in the first set of ranges from the second terminal device 120 via a sidelink (SL) media access control (MAC) control element (CE). In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may adjust a second portion of the QoS parameters for the egress hop of the first terminal device 110 based on the first indication of the range in the first set of ranges received from the second terminal device 120.

[0056] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may obtain information indicating the number of hops of the UE-to-UE relay communication during or after the establishment process of the UE-to-UE relay communication. The first terminal device 110 may then determine, based on the number of hops, a first portion of QoS parameters for the ingress hop of the first terminal device 110 to be included in the QoS split configuration.

[0057] In some embodiments, the UE-to-UE relay communication may be a two-hop relay communication, and in this case, the first terminal device 110 may determine a second QoS split configuration for the E2E RB in the UE-to-UE relay communication. The second QoS split configuration may include at least a second set of ranges for a second portion of the QoS parameters for the egress hop of the first terminal device 110.

[0058] In some embodiments, the UE-to-UE relay communication may be a multi-hop relay communication, and in this case, the first terminal device 110 may receive (230) a second QoS split configuration 204 for E2E RBs in the UE-to-UE relay communication sent (225) from the third terminal device 130. The third terminal device 130 may be a relay in the UE-to-UE relay communication and may be a receiving device in an egress hop of the first terminal device 110, and the second QoS split configuration 204 may include at least a second set of ranges for a second portion of the QoS parameters of the egress hop of the first terminal device 110.

[0059] Alternatively or additionally, in the second set of ranges, the first terminal device 110 may determine a range for a second portion of the QoS parameters for the egress hop for the first terminal device 110. The first terminal device 110 may then send a second indication of a range in the second set of ranges to the third terminal device 130. In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may further send a second indication to the second terminal device.

[0060] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may determine a range in the second set of ranges for the second portion of the QoS parameter based on the first indication received from the second terminal device 120. The first terminal device 110 may further send a second QoS split configuration 204 to the second terminal device. In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may select one of a plurality of QoS split configurations configured by the network device for UE-to-UE relay communication.

[0061] At the second terminal device 120 side, the second terminal device 120 may receive (215) a quality of service (QoS) split configuration 202 for an end-to-end (E2E) radio bearer (RB) in a user equipment (UE) to UE relay communication from the first terminal device 110. The QoS split configuration 202 received by the second terminal device 120 may be at least a first set of ranges for a first portion of QoS parameters configured for the E2E RB, the first portion being for an egress hop of the second terminal device 120. The first terminal device 110 may be a relay in the UE to UE relay communication and a receiving device in the egress hop of the second terminal device 120.

[0062] The second terminal device 120 may then determine (220) a first indication of a range in the first set of ranges for the first portion of the QoS parameters. In some embodiments, the second terminal device 120 may then send the first indication of the range to the first terminal device 110. The first indication of the range in the first set of ranges includes at least one of: an index of the range, a measurement of the first portion of the QoS parameters within the range.

[0063] In some embodiments, the second terminal device 120 may send a first indication of a range in the first set of ranges to the first terminal device 110 via a sidelink (SL) media access control (MAC) control element (CE). In some embodiments, the second terminal device 120 may receive a second QoS split configuration for E2E RBs in UE-to-UE relay communication from the first terminal device 110, and the second QoS split configuration may include at least a second set of ranges for a second portion of the QoS parameters for the egress hop for the first terminal device 110.

[0064] In some embodiments, the second terminal device 120 may receive a second indication of a range in the second set of ranges for the second portion of the QoS parameter from the first terminal device 110. The second terminal device may then adjust the first portion of the QoS parameter for the egress hop of the second terminal device 120 based on the second indication. Note that in some embodiments, the first terminal device is a U2U relay UE and the second terminal device 120 is a terminal UE in a UE-to-UE relay communication.

[0065] Figure 3 An example of a PDB split configuration 300 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In the context of the present disclosure, the proposed configuration may be based on the protocol in 3GPP for the case of a 2-hop U2U relay, where the U2U relay UE determines and configures the per-hop PDB for the first and second hops as above. The proposed configuration may also be applicable to a multi-hop U2U relay following the hop-by-hop control principle. Between adjacent transmitting UEs (which may be transmitting terminals and / or U2U relay terminals) in a U2U relay, the proposed adaptation of the PDB split may be kept local. .

[0066] like Figure 3 As shown, the U2U relay UE (e.g., the first terminal device 110) can configure the first hop transmitting end UE (e.g., the second terminal device 120) with the split PDB for the first hop for the E2E RB. The split PDB includes a set of specified PDB ranges, which can be implemented by respective (multiple) PDB thresholds and / or (multiple) PDB offsets. For example, the split PDB can include a configured per-hop PDB, a range 1 corresponding to threshold 1, a range 2 corresponding to threshold 2, and a range 3 corresponding to threshold 3. The starting point of range 1 can be simply set to zero. Range 1 can be below threshold 1, range 2 can be between threshold 1 and threshold 2, and range 3 can be between threshold 2 and threshold 3.

[0067] In some embodiments, the data packet delay monitored and measured at the transmitting terminal for the E2E RB on its respective hop (thus for each hop PDB or part of the end-to-end PDB) is in range 1, and the data packet delay can be considered to be significantly lower than expected. In some embodiments, the packet delay is in range 2, and the packet delay is considered to be in line with expectations. In some embodiments, the packet delay is in range 3, and the packet delay can be considered to be significantly higher than expected. In some embodiments, the packet delay exceeds threshold 3, and packet discard can be considered.

[0068] Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, the split PDB may include a configured per-hop PDB and offset 1, offset 2, and offset 3. In this case, threshold 1 may be the configured per-hop PDB minus offset 1 (i.e., threshold 1 = configured per-hop PDB - offset 1), threshold 2 may be the configured per-hop PDB plus offset 2 (i.e., threshold 2 = configured per-hop PDB + offset 2), and threshold 3 may be the configured per-hop PDB plus offset 3 (i.e., threshold 3 = configured per-hop PDB + offset 3). In some embodiments, the U2U relay communication is a multi-hop relay communication, and the U2U relay UE may configure per-hop PDB splitting for its ingress hop.

[0069] In some embodiments, the U2U relay UE may also indicate the PDB split configuration of the second hop to the transmitting UE. In some embodiments, the U2U relay communication is a multi-hop relay communication, and the U2U relay UE may indicate or share the PDB split configuration of its ingress hop and egress hop with its adjacent transmitting UE and / or U2U relay UE.

[0070] In some embodiments, when the packet delay on the corresponding hop measured by the sending UE is within a predetermined range, for example, range 1 or range 3, the U2U relay UE and the sending end UE (such as the sending UE on the corresponding hop (egress hop)) may indicate the range of the packet delay on the corresponding hop (or the adjacent sending UE in the multi-hop U2U relay) to each other via a side link (SL) media access control (MAC) control element (CE). In addition, the ranges may be indexed to facilitate the indication of the range between the specified ranges (i.e., indicating the ID of the range).

[0071] In some embodiments, the U2U relay UE and the transmitting end UE may adjust the per-hop PDB (part of the E2E PDB) of the corresponding egress hop from one to another based on the received SL MAC CE indicating the PDB range. For example, if the U2U relay UE receives a SL MAC CE from the transmitting end UE indicating that the expected data packet delay on the first hop is in range 1, the U2U relay UE may adjust the per-hop PDB on the second hop to the configured per-hop PDB plus offset 1 (i.e., configured per-hop PDB+offset1).

[0072] On the other hand, if the U2U relay UE receives a MAC CE from the transmitting UE indicating that the expected packet delay on the first hop is in range 3, the U2U relay UE may adjust the per-hop PDB on the second hop to the configured per-hop PDB minus offset 2 (i.e., configured per-hop PDB - offset 2). Therefore, simple QoS split configuration and local hop-by-hop adjustment may be achieved, and it also supports multi-hop U2U relays. For example, the configured per-hop PDB may be set equal to the E2E PDB divided by the number of hops. Offset 1 and Offset 2 may be set to half of the configured per-hop PDB, and Offset 3 may be set equal to the configured per-hop PDB.

[0073] Figure 4 An example interaction between a transmitting UE, a U2U relay UE, and a receiving UE for QoS split configuration and adjustment according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. It should be noted that the process flow 400 can be regarded as another example of the process flow 200. For example, the U2U relay UE 404 can be one of the example devices of the first terminal device 110, and the transmitting UE 402 and the receiving UE 406 can be example devices of the second terminal device 120 and the third terminal device 130. It should be understood that these devices are described for illustration purposes only, and no limitation on the scope of the present disclosure is suggested.

[0074] At 405, a U2U relay connection may be established between a transmitting UE 402 and a receiving UE 406 via a U2U relay UE 404. At 410, the transmitting UE 402 may have an identification of an end-to-end (E2E) radio bearer (RB) and an associated QoS profile. The QoS profile may include an end-to-end (E2E) packet delay budget.

[0075] At 415, the transmitting UE 402 may send or indicate the identity of the E2E RB and the associated QoS profile to the U2U relay UE 404. At 420, upon receiving the identity of the E2E RB and the associated QoS profile from the transmitting UE 402, the U2U relay UE 404 may determine a QoS split configuration for the E2E RB in the U2U relay connection, and the QoS split configuration may include a set of ranges. At 425, the U2U relay UE 404 may then send the QoS split configuration of the E2E RB to the transmitting UE 402.

[0076] At 430, after receiving the QoS split configuration from the U2U relay UE 404, the transmitting UE 402 may determine that the expected packet delay over the hop between the U2U relay UE 404 and the transmitting UE 402 is within the indication of range i among the range set. At 435, the transmitting UE 402 may then transmit the indication of range i to the U2U relay UE 404.

[0077] Steps 430 and 435 may also be initiated from the U2U relay UE 404 to the receiving UE 406 (or its neighboring U2U relay UE in the case of multi-hop U2U relay) to determine and indicate the range of packet delays measured at the next hop. The receiving UE 406 may then dynamically adjust the per-hop PDB of the first hop, as in step 440. Thus, the need to reconfigure QoS segmentation may be avoided as long as the relay connection and QoS profile remain unchanged.

[0078] The adaptation is simple and can be scalable to support multi-hop U2U relay. It may happen that even when the E2EPDB of a packet is exceeded, a packet may still be relayed. There may be a situation where both hops in the case of a double hop or multiple consecutive hops in the case of a multi-hop are in bad condition and may not meet the E2EPDB. This situation can be handled with a best effort on each sending UE of the U2U relay connection.

[0079] Alternatively or additionally, a certain predefined subset of the set of ranges indicates that the ranges in the predefined subset may be optional, such as Figure 3 2, unless the range from outside the previously indicated subset to the inside (such as Figure 3 When the transition from range 1 to range 2 is described in . For example, according to Figure 3 In the embodiment of the present invention, at step 435 , the transmitting UE 402 may indicate range 1. When the transmitting UE 402 determines at step 430 that the expected packet delay on the first hop returns to range 2, the transmitting UE 402 may indicate range 2 to the U2U relay UE 404 .

[0080] At 440 , upon receiving an indication of a range i of hops between the transmitting UE 402 and the U2U relay UE 404 , the U2U relay UE 404 may adjust the PDB for hops between the U2U relay UE 404 and the receiving UE 406 .

[0081] In a multi-hop U2U relay scenario, the number of hops between the transmitting UE 402 and the receiving UE 406 may be communicated to all U2U relay UEs 404 during or after the E2E multi-hop relay connection establishment. The U2U relay UEs may use this information to determine the per-hop PDB in step 420. Alternatively or additionally, the transmitting UE 402 may calculate the per-hop PDB and communicate this information to the U2U relay UEs during the process of performing step 415.

[0082] In a multi-hop U2U relay scenario, in addition to the neighboring U2U relay UEs of the egress hop, the U2U relay UE 404 may also indicate the range of its egress hop to the transmitting UE 402 or the neighboring U2U relay UEs of the ingress hop. Therefore, the U2U relay UE may adjust the egress hop of the PDB based on the range of expected data packet delays on the egress hops of its neighboring UEs (such as the transmitting UE 402 or other U2U relay UEs).

[0083] In a multi-hop U2U relay scenario, in addition to adjusting the PDB of the egress hop as shown in step 440, the U2U relay UE 404 (as the transmitting UE on its egress hop) may also adjust the packet delay range that the U2U relay UE 404 will indicate to the neighboring U2U relay UEs of its egress hop. The adjustment of the packet delay range may be based on the indicated range received from the transmitting UE 402 or the neighboring U2U relay UEs of its ingress hop at step 435. For example, if the transmitting UE 402 or the neighboring U2U relay UE indicates range 1, while the U2U relay UE in question estimates that the expected packet delay range on the egress hop is range 2, then the range indicated to the neighboring U2U relay UEs of the egress hop may be adjusted to range 1, because the low packet delay in an earlier hop may relax the PDB of the next hop if the current hop does not consume more packet delay.

[0084] In some embodiments, the U2U relay UE 404 may predict an increase in the PDB of its egress hop (e.g., due to a higher channel busy rate (CBR)) and notify the sending UE and / or other UEs in the multi-hop U2U relay of the predicted PDB range. In addition, the U2U relay UE 404 may indicate the range of the PDB adjusted on the second hop to the sending UE 402. When steps 420 and 425 are performed once, reconfiguration of QoS segmentation can be avoided.

[0085] The setting of the range can allow minimizing per-hop data packet drops, because the maximum per-hop data packet delay or threshold 3 in the above example can be set to the maximum limit of the E2E PDB. In a multi-hop U2U relay scenario, threshold 3 can be set to a multiple of the E2E PDB divided by the number of hops.

[0086] In some embodiments, in addition to or in lieu of a range, step 435 may indicate a value of a measured packet delay, and the range may be used to trigger the sending of step 435. This process may allow for tighter tuning of the per-hop PDB. In some embodiments, a base station (BS) or a network function (such as a policy control function (PCF)) may provide one or more (e.g., a list) of PDB split configurations to UE 402 to UE 406.

[0087] In some embodiments, different PDB partition configurations (i.e., different ranges, thresholds) may be assigned to different types of services or relay types or bearer types. For example, PDB partition configuration #1 may be assigned to service ID #1, and PDB partition configuration #2 may be assigned to service ID #2. As a U2U relay connection (with two or more hops) is established or updated, the PDB partition configurations may be exchanged between the entities involved.

[0088] Figure 5 A flow chart of a method 500 performed by a terminal device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For discussion purposes, the method 500 will be described from the perspective of the first terminal device 110 with reference to FIG. 1 . The method 500 includes operations 502 and 504 .

[0089] In operation 502, the first terminal device 110 may determine a quality of service (QoS) split configuration for an end-to-end (E2E) radio bearer (RB) in a user equipment (UE) to UE relay communication, wherein the first terminal device 110 is a relay in the UE to UE relay communication, and the QoS split configuration includes at least a first set of ranges for a first part of QoS parameters configured for the E2E RB, the first part being used for an ingress hop of the first terminal device 110.

[0090] In operation 504 , the first terminal device 110 may transmit the QoS split configuration to the second terminal device 120 , which is a transmitting device in an ingress hop of the first terminal device 110 .

[0091] In some example embodiments, terminal device 110 may receive a first indication of a range in a first set of ranges for a first portion of QoS parameters from second terminal device 120. The first indication of the range in the first set of ranges comprises at least one of an index of the range or a measurement of the first portion of QoS parameters within the range. The first indication of the range in the first set of ranges may be received via a sidelink (SL) medium access control (MAC) control element (CE).

[0092] The first terminal device 110 may adjust a second portion of the QoS parameter of the egress hop of the first terminal device 110 based on the first indication of a range in the first set of ranges received from the second terminal device 120 .

[0093] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 can determine the QoS split configuration by obtaining information indicating the number of hops of UE-to-UE relay communication during or after the establishment process of the UE-to-UE relay communication, and determining a first part of the QoS parameters of the ingress hop of the first terminal device 110 to be included in the QoS split configuration based on the number of hops.

[0094] In some embodiments, when the UE-to-UE relay communication is a two-hop relay communication, the first terminal device 110 may determine a second QoS splitting configuration for the E2E RB in the UE-to-UE relay communication, wherein the second QoS splitting configuration includes at least a second set of ranges for a second part of the QoS parameters of the egress hop of the first terminal device 110.

[0095] Alternatively or additionally, in the case where the UE-to-UE relay communication is a multi-hop relay communication, the first terminal device 110 may receive a second QoS splitting configuration for the E2E RB in the UE-to-UE relay communication from a third terminal device 130, wherein the third terminal device 130 is a relay in the UE-to-UE relay communication and is a receiving device in the egress hop of the first terminal device, and the second QoS splitting configuration includes at least a second set of ranges for a second part of the QoS parameters for the egress hop of the first terminal device 110.

[0096] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may determine, in the second set of ranges, a range for the second portion of the QoS parameters for the egress hop of the first terminal device 110. The first terminal device 110 may then send a second indication of the range in the second set of ranges to the third terminal device 130. In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may send the second indication to the second terminal device 120.

[0097] In some embodiments, the range in the second set of ranges for the second portion of the QoS parameters may be further determined based on the first indication received from the second terminal device 120. In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may send the second QoS split configuration to the second terminal device 120.

[0098] In some embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may determine the QoS split configuration by selecting one of a plurality of QoS split configurations configured by the network device for UE-to-UE relay communication. The second terminal device 120 may be a terminal UE or a relay in UE-to-UE relay communication.

[0099] Figure 6 A flow chart of a method 600 performed by a terminal device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. For discussion purposes, the method 600 will be described from the perspective of the second terminal device 120 with reference to FIG. 1 . The method 600 includes operations 602 and 604 .

[0100] In operation 602, the second terminal device 120 may receive a quality of service (QoS) split configuration for an end-to-end (E2E) radio bearer (RB) in a user equipment (UE) to UE relay communication from the first terminal device 110, wherein the first terminal device is a relay in the UE to UE relay communication and is a receiving device in an egress hop of the second terminal device 120, and the QoS split configuration includes at least a first set of ranges for a first part of QoS parameters configured for the E2E RB, the first part being used for the egress hop of the second terminal device 120.

[0101] At operation 604, the second terminal device 120 may determine a first indication of a range in the first set of ranges for the first portion of the QoS parameters and send the first indication of the range to the first terminal device 110. In some embodiments, the first indication of the range in the first set of ranges includes at least one of an index of the range or a measurement of the first portion of the QoS parameters within the range.

[0102] In some embodiments, a first indication of a range in the first set of ranges is sent by the second terminal device 120 via a sidelink (SL) media access control (MAC) control element (CE). In some embodiments, the second terminal device 120 may receive a second QoS split configuration for E2E RBs in UE-to-UE relay communication from the first terminal device 110, the second QoS split configuration including at least a second set of ranges for a second portion of QoS parameters for an egress hop of the first terminal device 110.

[0103] In some embodiments, the second terminal device 120 may receive a second indication of a range in the second set of ranges for the second portion of the QoS parameter from the first terminal device 110. The second terminal device 120 may adjust the first portion of the QoS parameter for the egress hop of the second terminal device 120 based on the second indication. The second terminal device 120 may be a terminal UE in a UE-to-UE relay communication.

[0104] In some embodiments, an apparatus capable of executing method 500 (eg, first terminal device 110) may include components for executing corresponding steps of method 500. These components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, these components may be implemented in a circuit or a software module.

[0105] In some embodiments, the apparatus includes means for determining, at a first terminal device, a quality of service (QoS) split configuration for an end-to-end (E2E) radio bearer (RB) in a user equipment (UE) to UE relay communication, wherein the first terminal device is a relay in the UE to UE relay communication, and the QoS split configuration includes at least a first set of ranges for a first portion of QoS parameters configured for an E2E RB configuration, the first portion being for an ingress hop of the first terminal device. The apparatus includes means for sending the QoS split configuration to a second terminal device, the second terminal device being a sending device in an ingress hop of the first terminal device.

[0106] In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second terminal device, a first indication of a range in a first set of ranges for a first portion of QoS parameters. The first indication of the range in the first set of ranges comprises at least one of: an index of the range, a measurement of the first portion of QoS parameters within the range. In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for receiving the first indication of the range in the first set of ranges via a sidelink (SL) media access control (MAC) control element (CE).

[0107] In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for adjusting a second portion of the QoS parameters for an egress hop of the first terminal device based on a first indication of a range in the first set of ranges received from the second terminal device. In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for causing the first terminal device to determine a QoS split configuration by: obtaining information indicating a number of hops of the UE-to-UE relay communication during or after a process of establishing the UE-to-UE relay communication; and determining, based on the number of hops, a first portion of the QoS parameters for an ingress hop of the first terminal device to be included in the QoS split configuration.

[0108] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes a component for determining a second QoS split configuration for E2E RBs in UE-to-UE relay communications when the UE-to-UE relay communications are two-hop relay communications, wherein the second QoS split configuration includes at least a second set of ranges for a second portion of QoS parameters for an egress hop for a first terminal device.

[0109] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes a component for receiving, from a third terminal device, a second QoS split configuration for E2E RB in UE-to-UE relay communication, when the UE-to-UE relay communication is a multi-hop relay communication, wherein the third terminal device is a relay in the UE-to-UE relay communication and is a receiving device in an egress hop of the first terminal device, and the second QoS split configuration includes at least a second set of ranges for a second portion of the QoS parameters for the egress hop of the first terminal device.

[0110] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes means for determining, in a second set of ranges, a range for a second portion of the QoS parameters for an egress hop for the first terminal device. In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes means for sending a second indication of the range in the second set of ranges to a third terminal device. In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes means for sending the second indication to the second terminal device.

[0111] In some embodiments, the range in the second set of ranges for the second portion of the QoS parameters may also be determined based on the first indication received from the second terminal device.In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for sending the second QoS split configuration to the second terminal device.

[0112] In some example embodiments, the device includes a component for enabling a first terminal device to determine a QoS split configuration by selecting one QoS split configuration among multiple QoS split configurations configured by a network device for UE-to-UE relay communication. The second terminal device may be a terminal UE or a relay in the UE-to-UE relay communication.

[0113] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing other steps in some embodiments of method 500. In some embodiments, these means comprise at least one processor and at least one memory comprising computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the performance of the device.

[0114] In some embodiments, an apparatus capable of executing method 600 (eg, second terminal device 120) may include components for executing corresponding steps of method 600. These components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, these components may be implemented in a circuit or a software module.

[0115] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes means for receiving a quality of service (QoS) split configuration for an end-to-end (E2E) radio bearer (RB) in a user equipment (UE) to UE relay communication from a first terminal device, wherein the first terminal device is a relay in the UE to UE relay communication and is a receiving device in an egress hop of a second terminal device, and the QoS split configuration includes at least a first set of ranges for a first portion of QoS parameters configured for the E2E RB, the first portion being for an ingress hop of the first terminal device.

[0116] In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for determining a first indication of a range in a first set of ranges for a first portion of QoS parameters. In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for sending the first indication of the range to the first terminal device. In some embodiments, the first indication of the range in the first set of ranges comprises at least one of: an index of the range, a measurement of the first portion of the QoS parameters within the range.

[0117] In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for sending, via a sidelink (SL) media access control (MAC) control element (CE), a first indication of a range in the first set of ranges. In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a first terminal device, a second QoS split configuration for E2ERB in UE-to-UE relay communications, the second QoS split configuration comprising at least a second set of ranges for a second portion of QoS parameters for an egress hop for the first terminal device.

[0118] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes means for receiving, from a first terminal device, a second indication of a range in a second set of ranges for a second portion of a QoS parameter. In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes means for adjusting, based on the second indication, a first portion of a QoS parameter for an egress hop of a second terminal device. The apparatus may be an end UE in a UE-to-UE relay communication.

[0119] In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing other steps in some embodiments of method 600. In some embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory comprising computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the performance of the apparatus.

[0120] Figure 7 A simplified block diagram of a device 700 suitable for implementing some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The device 700 may be configured to implement a communication device, such as the first terminal device 110 and the second terminal device 120 shown in FIG. 1 . As shown, the device 700 includes one or more processors 710, one or more memories 720 coupled to the processor 710, and one or more communication modules 740 coupled to the processor 710.

[0121] The communication module 740 is used for two-way communication. The communication module 740 has at least one antenna for facilitating communication. The communication interface may represent any interface necessary to communicate with other network elements.

[0122] Processor 710 may be of any type suitable for the local technology network and may include one or more of the following: 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, as non-limiting examples. Device 700 may have multiple processors, such as application specific integrated circuit chips that are time slaved to a clock that synchronizes a main processor.

[0123] The memory 720 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 724, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disk, compact disk (CD), digital video disk (DVD), and other magnetic storage and / or optical storage. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 722 and other volatile memories that will not last for the duration of a power outage.

[0124] Computer program 730 includes computer executable instructions executed by associated processor 710. Program 730 may be stored in ROM 724. Processor 710 may perform any suitable actions and processes by loading program 730 into RAM 722.

[0125] The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by a program 730, so that the device 700 may execute the Figures 2 to 6 Any process of the present disclosure discussed. The embodiments of the present invention can also be implemented by hardware, or a combination of software and hardware.

[0126] In some example embodiments, the program 730 may be tangibly embodied in a computer-readable medium that may be included in the device 700 (such as in the memory 720) or in other storage devices accessible by the device 700. The device 700 may load the program 730 from the computer-readable medium to the RAM 722 for execution. The computer-readable medium may include any type of tangible non-volatile storage, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc.

[0127] Figure 8 800 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The computer readable medium 800 has a program 730 stored thereon. Figure 8 Although computer-readable medium 800 is described in the form of a CD or DVD, computer-readable medium 800 may be in any other form suitable for carrying or maintaining program 830.

[0128] In general, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. 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 various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other graphical representations, it should be understood that, as non-limiting examples, the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuits or logic, general hardware or controllers or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0129] The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, that are executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform the above-referenced Figure 5 or Figure 6 Method 500 or method 600. Typically, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform specific tasks or implement specific abstract data types. The functionality of program modules can be combined or divided between program modules as needed in different embodiments. Machine executable instructions for program modules can be executed in local or distributed devices. In distributed devices, program modules can be located in local and remote storage media.

[0130] The program code for performing the method of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device, so that these program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions / operations specified in the flow chart and / or block diagram to be implemented. The program code may be executed entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partially on the machine, partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0131] In the context of the present disclosure, computer program codes or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus or processor to perform the above different processes and operations. Examples of carriers include signals, computer readable media, etc.

[0132] The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. The computer readable medium may include, but is not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, devices, or devices, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of computer readable storage media will include an electrical connection with one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. As used herein, the term "non-transitory" is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal), and a limitation on the persistence of data storage (e.g., RAM versus ROM).

[0133] Further, although the operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be construed as requiring the specific order shown or in a sequential order to perform these operations, or to perform all described operations, to achieve the desired result. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing can be advantageous. Similarly, although several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these should not be interpreted as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but as descriptions of features that can be dedicated to a particular embodiment. Certain features described in the context of a separate embodiment may also be implemented in a single embodiment in combination. On the contrary, the different features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments individually or in any suitable sub-combination.

[0134] Although the disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological actions, it is to be understood that the disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or actions described above. Instead, the specific features and actions described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

[0135] In some aspects, a first terminal device is provided, including: at least one processor; and At least one memory, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions, and when the instructions are executed by at least one processor, the first terminal device at least: determining a quality of service (QoS) split configuration for an end-to-end (E2E) radio bearer (RB) in a user equipment (UE) to UE relay communication, wherein a first terminal device is a relay in the UE to UE relay communication, and the QoS split configuration comprises at least a first set of ranges for a first portion of QoS parameters configured for an E2E RB configuration, the first portion being for an ingress hop of the first terminal device; and The QoS split configuration is sent to the second terminal device, where the second terminal device is a sending device in the ingress hop of the first terminal device.

[0136] In some aspects, the first terminal device is further caused to: receive a first indication of a range in the first set of ranges for the first portion of the QoS parameters from the second terminal device.

[0137] In some aspects, the first indication of a range in the first set of ranges comprises at least one of: an index of the range, a measurement of a first portion of the QoS parameters within the range.

[0138] In some aspects, the first indication of a range in the first set of ranges is received via a sidelink (SL) media access control (MAC) control element (CE).

[0139] In some aspects, the first terminal device is further caused to: adjust a second portion of the QoS parameters for the egress hop of the first terminal device based on a first indication of a range in the first set of ranges received from the second terminal device.

[0140] In some aspects, the first terminal device is further enabled to determine the QoS split configuration by: obtaining information representing the number of (multiple) hops of UE-to-UE relay communication during or after the establishment process of the UE-to-UE relay communication; and based on the number of (multiple) hops, determining a first part of the QoS parameters for the ingress hop of the first terminal device to be included in the QoS split configuration.

[0141] In some aspects, the first terminal device is further enabled to: determine a second QoS splitting configuration for E2E RB in UE-to-UE relay communication when the UE-to-UE relay communication is a two-hop relay communication, wherein the second QoS splitting configuration includes at least a second set of ranges for the second part of the QoS parameters for the egress hop of the first terminal device; or receive a second QoS splitting configuration for E2E RB in UE-to-UE relay communication from a third terminal device when the UE-to-UE relay communication is a multi-hop relay communication, wherein the third terminal device is a relay in the UE-to-UE relay communication and is a receiving device in the egress hop of the first terminal device, and the second QoS splitting configuration includes at least a second set of ranges for the second part of the QoS parameters for the egress hop of the first terminal device.

[0142] In some aspects, the first terminal device is further caused to: determine a range for a second portion of the QoS parameters for an egress hop for the first terminal device in a second set of ranges; and send a second indication of the range in the second set of ranges to a third terminal device.

[0143] In some aspects, the first terminal device is further caused to: send a second indication to the second terminal device.

[0144] In some aspects, the range in the second set of ranges for the second portion of the QoS parameters is further determined based on the first indication received from the second terminal device.

[0145] In some aspects, the first terminal device is further caused to: send the second QoS split configuration to the second terminal device.

[0146] In some aspects, the first terminal device is further caused to determine the QoS split configuration by selecting one QoS split configuration among a plurality of QoS split configurations configured by a network device for the UE-to-UE relay communication.

[0147] In some aspects, the second terminal device is a terminal UE or a relay in a UE-to-UE relay communication.

[0148] In some aspects, a second terminal device is provided, including: at least one processor; and At least one memory, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions, and when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, the second terminal device at least: receiving, from a first terminal device, a quality of service (QoS) split configuration for an end-to-end (E2E) radio bearer (RB) in a user equipment (UE) to UE relay communication, wherein the first terminal device is a relay in the UE to UE relay communication and is a receiving device in an egress hop of a second terminal device, and the QoS split configuration comprises at least a first set of ranges for a first portion of QoS parameters configured for the E2E RB, the first portion being for an ingress hop of the first terminal device; and A first indication of a range in a first set of ranges for a first portion of the QoS parameters is determined.

[0149] In some aspects, the second terminal device is further caused to: send a first indication of the range to the first terminal device.

[0150] In some aspects, the first indication of a range in the first set of ranges comprises at least one of: an index of the range, a measurement of a first portion of the QoS parameters within the range.

[0151] In some aspects, the first indication of a range in the first set of ranges is sent via a sidelink (SL) media access control (MAC) control element (CE).

[0152] In some aspects, the second terminal device is further enabled to: receive a second QoS splitting configuration for the E2E RB in the UE-to-UE relay communication from the first terminal device, the second QoS splitting configuration comprising at least a second set of ranges for a second part of the QoS parameters for the egress hop for the first terminal device.

[0153] In some aspects, the second terminal device is further enabled to: receive a second indication of a range in a second set of ranges for a second portion of the QoS parameters from the first terminal device; and adjust the first portion of the QoS parameters for the egress hop of the second terminal device based on the second indication.

[0154] In some aspects, the second terminal device is an end UE in a UE-to-UE relay communication.

[0155] In some aspects, a method is provided, comprising: determining, at a first terminal device, a quality of service (QoS) split configuration for an end-to-end (E2E) radio bearer (RB) in a user equipment (UE) to UE relay communication, wherein the first terminal device is a relay in the UE to UE relay communication, and the QoS split configuration comprises at least a first set of ranges for a first portion of QoS parameters configured for an E2E RB configuration, the first portion being for an ingress hop of the first terminal device; and The QoS split configuration is sent to the second terminal device, where the second terminal device is a sending device in the ingress hop of the first terminal device.

[0156] In some aspects, a method is provided, comprising: receiving, at a second terminal device, a quality of service (QoS) split configuration for an end-to-end (E2E) radio bearer (RB) in a user equipment (UE) to UE relay communication from a first terminal device, wherein the first terminal device is a relay in the UE to UE relay communication and is a receiving device in an egress hop of the second terminal device, and the QoS split configuration comprises at least a first set of ranges for a first portion of QoS parameters configured for the E2E RB, the first portion being for an ingress hop of the first terminal device; and A first indication of a range in a first set of ranges for a first portion of the QoS parameters is determined.

[0157] In some aspects, an apparatus is provided, comprising: means for determining, at a first terminal device, a quality of service (QoS) split configuration for an end-to-end (E2E) radio bearer (RB) in a user equipment (UE) to UE relay communication, wherein the first terminal device is a relay in the UE to UE relay communication and the QoS split configuration comprises at least a first set of ranges for a first portion of QoS parameters configured for an E2E RB configuration, the first portion being for an ingress hop of the first terminal device; and A component for sending a QoS split configuration to a second terminal device, the second terminal device being a sending device in an ingress hop of the first terminal device.

[0158] In some aspects, an apparatus is provided, comprising: means for receiving, from a first terminal device, a quality of service (QoS) split configuration for an end-to-end (E2E) radio bearer (RB) in a user equipment (UE) to UE relay communication, wherein the first terminal device is a relay in the UE to UE relay communication and is a receiving device in an egress hop of a second terminal device, and the QoS split configuration comprises at least a first set of ranges for a first portion of QoS parameters configured for the E2E RB, the first portion being for an ingress hop of the first terminal device; and Means for determining a first indication of a range in a first portion of a QoS parameter.

[0159] In some aspects, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions, which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to at least perform a method according to any one of the above.

Claims

1. A first terminal device, comprising: at least one processor; as well as at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first terminal device to at least: determining a quality of service (QoS) split configuration for an end-to-end (E2E) radio bearer (RB) in a user equipment (UE) to UE relay communication, wherein the first terminal device is a relay in the UE to UE relay communication, and the QoS split configuration comprises at least a first set of ranges for a first portion of QoS parameters configured for the E2E RB configuration, the first portion being for an ingress hop of the first terminal device; as well as The QoS segmentation configuration is sent to a second terminal device, where the second terminal device is a sending device in the ingress hop of the first terminal device.

2. The first terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the first terminal device is further configured to: A first indication of a range in the first set of ranges for the first portion of the QoS parameters is received from the second terminal device.

3. The first terminal device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first indication of the range in the first group of ranges comprises at least one of the following: an index of the range, a measurement of the first part of the QoS parameters within the range.

4. The first terminal device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the first indication of the range in the first group of ranges is received via a sidelink (SL) media access control (MAC) control element (CE).

5. The first terminal device according to claim 2, wherein the first terminal device is further configured to: A second portion of the QoS parameters for an egress hop of the first terminal device is adjusted based on the first indication of the range in the first set of ranges received from the second terminal device.

6. The first terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the first terminal device is further enabled to determine the QoS split configuration by: obtaining information indicating the number of hops of the UE-to-UE relay communication during or after an establishment procedure of the UE-to-UE relay communication; and Based on the number of hop(s), determining the first portion of the QoS parameters for the ingress hop of the first terminal device to be included in the QoS split configuration.

7. The first terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further causing the first terminal device to: In a case where the UE-to-UE relay communication is a two-hop relay communication, determining a second QoS split configuration for the E2E RB in the UE-to-UE relay communication, wherein the second QoS split configuration comprises at least a second set of ranges for the second portion of the QoS parameters for the egress hop for the first terminal device; or In the case where the UE-to-UE relay communication is a multi-hop relay communication, a second QoS splitting configuration for E2E RB in the UE-to-UE relay communication is received from a third terminal device, wherein the third terminal device is a relay in the UE-to-UE relay communication and is a receiving device in the egress hop of the first terminal device, and the second QoS splitting configuration includes at least a second set of ranges for the second part of the QoS parameters for the egress hop for the first terminal device.

8. The first terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further causing the first terminal device to: determining, within the second set of ranges, a range for the second portion of the QoS parameters for the egress hop for the first terminal device; and A second indication of the range in the second group of ranges is sent to the third terminal device.

9. The first terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the first terminal device is further configured to: Send the second indication to the second terminal device.

10. The first terminal device according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the range in the second set of ranges for the second part of the QoS parameters is further determined based on the first indication received from the second terminal device.

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