Method for enhancing buffer status report

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a 5G or 6G communication system and a method for supporting a higher data transmission rate. The system and method include transmitting a first message including capability information associated with a buffer status report (BSR) to a base station; receiving, from the base station, a second message including configuration information for a low priority data triggered BSR; identifying whether at least one condition for a low priority data triggered BSR is satisfied based on the configuration information; and transmitting, to the base station, a third message including the BSR for the low priority data in a case where at least one condition for triggering the BSR by the low priority data is satisfied.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a wireless communication system, and more particularly to a method and system for discontinuous reception in a connected state. Background Art

[0002] 5G mobile communication technology defines a wide frequency band so that high transmission rates and new services are possible, and can be realized not only in "below 6 GHz" frequency bands such as 3.5 GHz, but also in "above 6 GHz" frequency bands called millimeter waves including 28 GHz and 39 GHz. In addition, it has been considered to implement 6G mobile communication technology (called super 5G system) in terahertz frequency bands (for example, 95 GHz to 3 THz frequency bands) in order to achieve a transmission rate fifty times faster than 5G mobile communication technology and an ultra-low latency one-tenth of 5G mobile communication technology.

[0003] At the beginning of the development of 5G mobile communication technology, in order to support services and meet performance requirements related to enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), and massive machine type communication (mMTC), there has been ongoing standardization on beamforming and massive MIMO for mitigating radio wave path loss in mmWave and increasing radio wave transmission distance, dynamic operation of parameter sets (e.g., operating multiple subcarrier spacings) and slot formats to support efficient use of mmWave resources, initial access technology for supporting multi-beam transmission and broadband, definition and operation of BWP (bandwidth part), new channel coding methods such as LDPC (low-density parity check) codes for large-volume data transmission and polar codes for highly reliable transmission of control information, L2 preprocessing, and network slicing for providing dedicated networks tailored for specific services.

[0004] Currently, there are ongoing discussions on the improvement and performance enhancement of initial 5G mobile communication technologies in view of the services to be supported by 5G mobile communication technologies, and there has been physical layer standardization on technologies such as: V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) for assisting driving decisions of autonomous vehicles based on information on the position and status of vehicles transmitted by vehicles and for enhancing user convenience, NR-U (Unlicensed New Radio) for system operation that is intended to comply with various regulatory-related requirements within unlicensed frequency bands, NR UE energy saving, non-terrestrial networks (NTN) as UE-satellite direct communication for providing coverage in areas where communication with terrestrial networks is not possible, and positioning.

[0005] In addition, in the air interface architecture / protocol, there is already ongoing standardization of technologies such as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) that supports new services through interconnection and convergence with other industries, IAB (Integrated Access and Backhaul) that provides nodes for network service area expansion by supporting wireless backhaul links and access links in an integrated manner, mobility enhancements including conditional handover and DAPS (Dual Active Protocol Stack) handover, and two-step random access (two-step RACH for NR) for simplifying the random access procedure. In terms of system architecture / services, standardization is also ongoing on the 5G baseline architecture (e.g., service-based architecture or service-based interface) for combining network function virtualization (NFV) and software defined network (SDN) technologies, and mobile edge computing (MEC) for receiving services based on UE location.

[0006] As 5G mobile communication systems are commercialized, the number of connected devices, which has been growing exponentially, will be connected to the communication network, and it is expected that enhanced functions and performance of 5G mobile communication systems and integrated operations of connected devices will be necessary. To this end, new research is scheduled on extended reality (XR) for effectively supporting AR (augmented reality), VR (virtual reality), MR (mixed reality), etc., 5G performance improvement and complexity reduction by utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), AI service support, metaverse service support, and drone communication.

[0007] Furthermore, such development of 5G mobile communication systems will serve as the basis for developing not only new waveforms for providing terahertz band coverage for 6G mobile communication technology, multi-antenna transmission technologies such as full-dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas, and massive antennas, metamaterial-based lenses and antennas for improving terahertz band signal coverage, high-dimensional spatial multiplexing technology using OAM (orbital angular momentum), and RIS (reconfigurable smart surfaces), but also full-duplex technology for improving the frequency efficiency of 6G mobile communication technology and improving system networks, AI-based communication technology for achieving system optimization by utilizing satellites and AI (artificial intelligence) from the design stage and internalizing end-to-end AI support functions, and next-generation distributed computing technology for realizing services at a complexity level that exceeds the limits of UE operating capabilities by utilizing ultra-high-performance communication and computing resources.

[0008] Fifth generation (5G) or New Radio (NR) mobile communications are gathering increasing momentum recently, with all global technical activities from industry and academia on various candidate technologies. Candidate enablers for 5G / NR mobile communications include massive antenna technology from traditional cellular bands up to high frequencies to provide beamforming gain and support increased capacity, new waveforms (e.g., new radio access technologies (RATs)) that flexibly accommodate various services / applications with different requirements, new multiple access schemes that support massive connectivity, etc.

[0009] In order to meet the demand for wireless data services that have increased since the deployment of 4G communication systems, efforts have been made to develop improved 5G or pre-5G (pre-5G) communication systems. Therefore, 5G or pre-5G communication systems are also called "super 4G networks" or "post-LTE systems". 5G communication systems are considered to be implemented in higher frequency (millimeter wave) bands (such as 60GHz bands) in order to achieve higher data rates. In order to reduce the propagation loss of radio waves and increase the transmission distance, beamforming, massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO), full-dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas, analog beamforming, and massive antenna technology are discussed in 5G communication systems. In addition, in 5G communication systems, system network improvements are being developed based on advanced small cells, cloud radio access networks (RANs), ultra-dense networks, device-to-device (D2D) communications, wireless backhaul, mobile networks, cooperative communications, coordinated multi-point (CoMP), receiving-end interference elimination, etc. In 5G systems, hybrid FSK and QAM modulation (FQAM) and sliding window superposition coding (SWSC) as advanced coded modulation (ACM), and filter bank multi-carrier (FBMC), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), and sparse code multiple access (SCMA) as advanced access technologies have been developed.

[0010] The Internet, a human-centered connected network in which humans generate and consume information, is now evolving into the Internet of Things (IoT), in which distributed entities (such as things) exchange and process information without human intervention. The Internet of Everything (IoE), which is a combination of IoT technology and big data processing technology through connection with cloud servers, has emerged. Since IoT implementation requires technical elements such as "sensing technology", "wired / wireless communication and network infrastructure", "service interface technology", and "security technology", sensor networks, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, machine type communication (MTC), etc. have been studied recently. Such an IoT environment can provide smart Internet technology services that create new value for human life by collecting and analyzing data generated between connected things. Through the convergence and combination between existing information technology (IT) and various industrial applications, IoT can be applied to various fields including smart homes, smart buildings, smart cities, smart cars or connected cars, smart grids, healthcare, smart appliances, and advanced medical services.

[0011] In line with this, various attempts have been made to apply 5G communication systems to IoT networks. For example, technologies such as sensor networks, machine type communications (MTC), and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications can be implemented through beamforming, MIMO, and array antennas. Cloud radio access networks (RANs) as an application of the above-mentioned big data processing technologies can also be considered as an example of the convergence between 5G technologies and IoT technologies. Summary of the invention

[0012] Technical issues

[0013] In an XR environment, since logical channels with low PDB have high priority, logical channels with high PDB are not scheduled in some cases and are dropped after the PDB.

[0014] The technical subject matter pursued in the present disclosure may not be limited to the above-mentioned technical subject matter, and other technical subject matter not mentioned may be clearly understood by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure belongs through the following description.

[0015] Technical Solution

[0016] In one embodiment, a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: sending a first message including capability information associated with a buffer status report (BSR) to a base station; receiving a second message including at least one condition for low priority data to trigger the BSR from the base station; identifying whether the UE satisfies at least one condition for low priority data to trigger the BSR; and sending a third message including the BSR to the base station if at least one condition for low priority data to trigger the BSR is met.

[0017] In one embodiment, the capability information includes at least one of a capability for supporting a BSR triggered by low priority data and a capability for supporting dual logical channel (LCH) priorities.

[0018] In one embodiment, the second message further includes configuration information about uplink scheduling, configuration information about data radio bearers (DRBs), configuration information about logical channels (LCHs) associated with the DRBs, and information about dual logical channel (LCG) priorities.

[0019] In one embodiment, the condition for low priority data to trigger a BSR includes at least one parameter configured as an indicator for low priority data to trigger a BSR, a threshold associated with a transmission time of uplink data, and information about a logical channel priority.

[0020] Beneficial Effects

[0021] The present disclosure provides an effective and efficient method for buffer status reporting in a wireless communication system.

[0022] Advantageous effects obtainable from the present disclosure may not be limited to the above-mentioned effects, and other effects that are not mentioned may be clearly understood by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains through the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 A flow chart of a method is shown, which shows a flow chart of a method associated with triggering a buffer status report.

[0024] Figure 2 A flow chart of a method associated with dual priority levels for logical channels is shown.

[0025] Figure 3 A block diagram of a user equipment in a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0026] Figure 4 A block diagram of a base station in a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of the various embodiments of the present disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in understanding, but these details are considered to be exemplary only. Therefore, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes and modifications may be made to the various embodiments described herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and structures may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

[0028] The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the present disclosure. Therefore, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of various embodiments of the present disclosure is provided for illustrative purposes only and not for the purpose of limiting the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0029] It should be understood that the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to "a component surface" includes reference to one or more of such surfaces.

[0030] The term "substantially" means that the features, parameters or values ​​described need not be achieved precisely, but deviations or changes (including, for example, tolerances, measurement errors, measurement precision limitations and other factors known to those skilled in the art) may occur in amounts that do not negate the effect that the features are intended to provide.

[0031] It is known to those skilled in the art that the blocks of a flowchart (or sequence diagram) and the combination of flowcharts can be represented and executed by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be loaded on a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or a programmable data processing device. When the loaded program instructions are executed by the processor, they create a method for performing the functions described in the flowchart. Because computer program instructions can be stored in a computer-readable memory that can be used for a special-purpose computer or a programmable data processing device, an article of manufacture that performs the functions described in the flowchart can also be created. Because computer program instructions can be loaded on a computer or a programmable data processing device, when executed as a process, they can perform the operations of the functions described in the flowchart.

[0032] The blocks of the flowchart may correspond to a module, segment or code containing one or more executable instructions that implement one or more logical functions, or may correspond to a portion thereof. In some cases, the functions described by the blocks may be performed in an order different from the order listed. For example, two blocks listed in order may be performed simultaneously or in reverse order.

[0033] In this specification, the words "unit", "module", etc. may refer to software components or hardware components, such as, for example, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) that can perform a function or operation. However, "unit", etc. are not limited to hardware or software. Units, etc. may be configured to reside in an addressable storage medium or drive one or more processors. Units, etc. may refer to software components, object-oriented software components, class components, task components, processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, program code segments, drivers, firmware, microcodes, circuits, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, or variables. The functions provided by components and units may be a combination of smaller components and units, and may be combined with other components and units to form larger components and units. Components and units may be configured to drive one or more processors or devices in a secure multimedia card.

[0034] Before the detailed description, terms or definitions necessary for understanding the present disclosure are described. However, these terms should be interpreted in a non-limiting manner.

[0035] A “base station (BS)” is an entity that communicates with a user equipment (UE) and may be referred to as a BS, base transceiver station (BTS), Node B (NB), evolved NB (eNB), access point (AP), 5G NB (5GNB), or gNB.

[0036] A “UE” is an entity communicating with a BS and may be referred to as a UE, a device, a mobile station (MS), a mobile equipment (ME), or a terminal.

[0037] CA / Multiple Connections

[0038] The fifth generation wireless communication system supports independent operation mode as well as dual connectivity (DC). In DC, a multi-Rx / Tx UE can be configured to utilize resources provided by two different nodes (or NBs) connected via a non-ideal backhaul. One node acts as a master node (MN) and the other node acts as a secondary node (SN). MN and SN are connected via a network interface, and at least MN is connected to the core network. NR also supports multi-RAT dual connectivity (MR-DC) operation, whereby the UE in RRC_CONNECTED is configured to utilize radio resources provided by two different schedulers, which are located in two different nodes connected via a non-ideal backhaul and provide E-UTRA (ie, if the node is an ng-eNB) or NR access (ie, if the node is a gNB). In NR, for a UE in RRC_CONNECTED that is not configured with CA / DC, there is only one serving cell including a primary cell. For a UE in RRC_CONNECTED configured with CA / DC, the term "serving cell" is used to refer to a cell set including a special cell and all secondary cells. In NR, the term Master Cell Group (MCG) refers to a set of serving cells associated with a primary node, including a PCell and optionally one or more SCells. In NR, the term Secondary Cell Group (SCG) refers to a set of serving cells associated with a secondary node, including a PSCell and optionally one or more SCells. In NR, PCell (primary cell) refers to a serving cell in an MCG operating on the primary frequency, where the UE performs an initial connection establishment procedure or initiates a connection reestablishment procedure. In NR for UEs configured with CA, an Scell ​​is a cell that provides additional radio resources on top of a special cell. Primary SCG cell (PSCell) refers to a serving cell in an SCG, where the UE performs random access when performing a Reconfiguration using a Sync procedure. For dual connectivity operation, the term SpCell (i.e., special cell) refers to the PCell of an MCG or the PSCell of an SCG, otherwise the term special cell refers to the PCell.

[0039] Random Access

[0040] In the 5G wireless communication system, random access (RA) is supported. Random access (RA) is used to achieve uplink (UL) time synchronization. RA is used by non-synchronized UEs in the RRC connected state during initial access, handover, radio resource control (RRC) connection reestablishment process, scheduling request transmission, secondary cell group (SCG) addition / modification, beam failure recovery, and data or control information transmission in the UL. Several types of random access procedures are supported, such as contention-based random access, contention-free random access, and each of these can be a 2-step or 4-step random access.

[0041] BWP Operation

[0042] In the fifth generation wireless communication system, bandwidth adaptation (BA) is supported. With BA, the receiving and transmitting bandwidth of the UE does not need to be as large as the bandwidth of the cell, and can be adjusted: the width can be commanded to change (for example, shrink during low activity periods to save power); the position can be moved in the frequency domain (for example, to increase scheduling flexibility); and the subcarrier spacing can be commanded to change (for example, to allow different services). A subset of the total cell bandwidth of a cell is called a bandwidth part (BWP). BA is implemented by configuring the RRC-connected UE with a BWP and informing the UE which BWP of the configured BWP is currently the active BWP. When BA is configured, the UE only has to monitor the PDCCH on one active BWP, that is, it does not have to monitor the PDCCH on the entire DL frequency of the serving cell. In the RRC connected state, the UE is configured with one or more DL and UL BWPs for each configured serving cell (ie PCell or SCell). For an activated serving cell, there is always one active UL and DLBWP at any point in time. BWP switching of the serving cell is used to activate an inactive BWP and deactivate an active BWP at one time. BWP switching is controlled by the PDCCH indicating a downlink allocation or uplink grant, by the bwp-InactivityTimer, by RRC signaling or by the media access control (MAC) entity itself when initiating a random access procedure. After the addition of a SpCell or the activation of an SCell, the DL BWP and UL BWP indicated by firstActiveDownlinkBWP-Id and firstActiveUplinkBWP-Id, respectively, are active without receiving a PDCCH indicating a downlink allocation or uplink grant. The active BWP of the serving cell is indicated by RRC or PDCCH. For unpaired spectrum, the DL BWP is paired with the UL BWP, and BWP switching is common for both UL and DL. After the BWP inactivity timer expires, the UE switches the active DL BWP to the default DL BWP or the initial DL BWP (if no default DL BWP is configured).

[0043] RRC Status

[0044] In the fifth generation wireless communication system, RRC can be in one of the following states: RRC_IDLE, RRC_INACTIVE and RRC_CONNECTED. When an RRC connection has been established, the UE is in the RRC_CONNECTED state or the RRC_INACTIVE state. If this is not the case, that is, no RRC connection is established, the UE is in the RRC_IDLE state. The RRC state can be further described as follows:

[0045] In RRC_IDLE, UE-specific discontinuous (DRX) can be configured by upper layers. The UE monitors the short message sent with the paging RNTI (P-RNTI) via DCI; monitors the paging channel for CN paging using the 5G-S-temoprary mobile subscriber identity (5G-S-TMSI); performs neighbor cell measurements and cell (re)selection; obtains system information and can send SI requests (if configured); performs logging of available measurements together with location and time for UEs configured for logged measurements.

[0046] In RRC_INACTIVE, UE-specific DRX may be configured by upper layers or the RRC layer; the UE stores the UE inactive AS context; the RAN-based notification area is configured by the RRC layer. The UE monitors short messages sent via DCI with P-RNTI; monitors the paging channel for CN paging using 5G-S-TMSI and RAN paging using full-RNTI; performs neighbor cell measurements and cell (re)selection; performs RAN-based notification area updates periodically and when moving outside the configured RAN-based notification area; obtains system information and may send SI requests (if configured); performs logging of available measurements together with location and time for UEs configured for logged measurements.

[0047] In RRC_CONNECTED, the UE stores the AS context and the transmission of unicast data to / from the UE occurs. The UE monitors short messages sent over DCI with P-RNTI (if configured); monitors the control channel associated with the shared data channel to determine whether data is scheduled for it; provides channel quality and feedback information; performs neighbor cell measurements and measurement reports; and obtains system information.

[0048] PDCCH

[0049] In the fifth generation wireless communication system, the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) is used to schedule DL transmissions on the PDSCH and UL transmissions on the physical downlink shared channel (PUSCH), wherein the downlink control information (DCI) on the PDCCH includes: downlink assignments containing at least the modulation and coding format, resource allocation and hybrid ARQ information related to the DL-SCH; uplink scheduling grants containing at least the modulation and coding format, resource allocation and hybrid ARQ information related to the UL-SCH. In addition to scheduling, the PDCCH can be used to: activate and deactivate configured PUSCH transmissions with configured grants; activate and deactivate PDSCH semi-persistent transmissions; notify one or more UEs of the time slot format; notify one or more UEs of physical resource blocks (PRBs) and OFDM symbols, where the UE can assume that no transmission is intended for the UE; transmission of TPC commands for PUCCH and PUSCH; transmission of one or more TPC commands for SRS transmission by one or more UEs; switch the active bandwidth portion of the UE; initiate a random access procedure. The UE monitors the PDCCH candidate set in the configured monitoring occasions in one or more configured control resource sets (CORESETs) according to the corresponding search space configuration. A CORESET consists of a set of PRBs with a duration of 1 to 3 OFDM symbols. Resource units Resource element groups (REGs) Control channel elements (CCEs) are defined in a CORESET, where each CCE consists of a group of REGs. The control channel is formed by aggregation of CCEs. Different code rates for the control channel are achieved by aggregating different numbers of CCEs. Interleaved and non-interleaved CCE to REG mapping are supported in a CORESET. Polarization coding is used for PDCCH. Each resource element group carrying PDCCH carries its own DMRS. QPSK modulation is used for PDCCH.

[0050] In the fifth generation wireless communication system, the GNB signals a list of search space configurations for each configured BWP of the serving cell, where each search configuration is uniquely identified by a search space identifier. The search space identifier is unique in the BWP of the serving cell. The gNB explicitly signals the identifier of the search space configuration to be used for a specific purpose (such as paging reception, SI reception, random access response reception) for each configured BWP. In NR, the search space configuration includes parameters Monitoring-periodicity-PDCCH-slot, Monitoring-offset-PDCCH-slot, Monitoring-symbols-PDCCH-within-slot and duration. The UE uses the parameters PDCCH monitoring periodicity (Monitoring-periodicity-PDCCH-slot), PDCCH monitoring offset (Monitoring-offset-PDCCH-slot) and PDCCH monitoring mode (Monitoring-symbols-PDCCH-within-slot) to determine the PDCCH monitoring timing within the time slot. The PDCCH monitoring opportunities exist in slots 'x' to x+duration, where the slot with number 'x' in the radio frame with number 'y' satisfies the following equation:

[0051] (y*(number of slots in a radio frame)+x-(Monitoring-Offset-PDCCH-Slot))mod(Monitoring-periodicity-PDCCH-slot)=0;

[0052] The starting symbol of the PDCCH monitoring opportunity in each slot with a PDCCH monitoring opportunity is given by Monitoring-symbols-PDCCH-within-slot. The length of the PDCCH monitoring opportunity (in symbols) is given in the corset associated with the search space. The search space configuration includes an identifier of the coreset configuration associated with it. The GNB signals a list of coreset configurations for each configured BWP of the serving cell, where each coreset configuration is uniquely identified by a coreset identifier. The coreset identifier is unique within the BWP of the serving cell. Note that each radio frame has a duration of 10ms. A radio frame is identified by a radio frame number or a system frame number. Each radio frame comprises a number of slots, where the number of slots in a radio frame and the duration of a slot depend on the subcarrier spacing. The duration of the slots depending on the radio frame and the number of slots in the radio frame for each supported SCS are predefined in NR. Each coreset configuration is associated with a list of TCI (Transmission Configuration Indicator) states. Each TCI state configures a DL RS ID (SSB or CSI RS). The gNB signals a list of TCI states corresponding to the coreset configuration via RRC signaling. One of the TCI states in the TCI state list is activated by the gNB and indicated to the UE. The TCI state indicates the DL TX beam that the GNB uses to transmit PDCCH in the PDCCH monitoring opportunity of the search space (the DL TX beam is quasi-co-located with the SSB / CSI RS of the TCI state).

[0053] Downlink Scheduling

[0054] In the downlink, the gNB can dynamically allocate resources to the UE via the C-RNTI on the PDCCH. The UE always monitors the PDCCH to find possible allocations when its downlink reception is enabled (an activity managed by DRX when configured). When CA is configured, the same C-RNTI applies to all serving cells.

[0055] The gNB may preempt an ongoing PDSCH transmission of one UE with a delay critical transmission to another UE. The gNB may configure the UE to monitor for interrupted transmission indications using the INT-RNTI on the PDCCH. If a UE receives an interrupted transmission indication, the UE may assume that the resource elements included in the indication carry no information useful to the UE, even if some of these resource elements have been scheduled to the UE.

[0056] In addition, with semi-persistent scheduling (SPS), the gNB can allocate downlink resources for initial HARQ transmission to the UE: RRC defines the periodicity of the configured downlink allocation, and the PDCCH addressed to the CS-RNTI can signal and activate the configured downlink allocation, or deactivate it; that is, the PDCCH addressed to the CS-RNTI indicates that the downlink allocation can be implicitly reused according to the periodicity defined by RRC until deactivation. When needed, retransmissions are explicitly scheduled on the PDCCH.

[0057] If the dynamically allocated downlink reception overlaps in time, the dynamically allocated downlink reception overrides the configured downlink allocation in the same serving cell. Otherwise, downlink reception is assumed according to the configured downlink allocation (if activated). For a given BWP of a serving cell, a UE may be configured with up to 8 active configured downlink allocations. When more than one is configured:

[0058] - the network decides which of these configured downlink allocations are active at one time (including all of them); and

[0059] - Each configured downlink allocation is activated individually using a DCI command, and deactivation of a configured downlink allocation is done using a DCI command, which can deactivate a single configured downlink allocation or jointly deactivate multiple configured downlink allocations.

[0060] Uplink Scheduling

[0061] In the uplink, the gNB can dynamically allocate resources to the UE via the C-RNTI on the PDCCH. The UE always monitors the PDCCH to find possible grants for uplink transmission when its downlink reception is enabled (an activity managed by DRX when configured). When CA is configured, the same C-RNTI applies to all serving cells.

[0062] The gNB may cancel a PUSCH transmission, or a repetition of a PUSCH transmission, or an SRS transmission of a UE for another UE with a delay critical transmission. The gNB may configure the UE to monitor for a cancelled transmission indication using the CI-RNTI on the PDCCH. If the UE receives a cancelled transmission indication, the UE shall cancel the PUSCH transmission or the SRS transmission overlapping with the resources indicated by the cancellation from the earliest symbol overlapping with the resources. In addition, with the configured grant, the gNB may allocate uplink resources for initial HARQ transmissions and HARQ retransmissions to the UE. Two types of configured uplink grants are defined:

[0063] - For Type 1, RRC directly provides the configured uplink grant (including periodicity).

[0064] -For type 2, RRC defines the periodicity of the configured uplink grant, and the PDCCH addressed to the CS-RNTI can signal and activate the configured uplink grant, or deactivate it; that is, the PDCCH addressed to the CS-RNTI indicates that the uplink grant can be implicitly reused according to the periodicity defined by RRC until deactivation.

[0065] If the UE is not configured with enhanced intra-UE overlapping resource prioritization, the dynamically allocated uplink transmissions override the configured uplink grants in the same serving cell if they overlap in time. Otherwise, uplink transmissions are assumed to be made according to the configured uplink grants (if activated).

[0066] If the UE is configured with enhanced intra-UE overlapping resource prioritization, in case a configured uplink grant transmission overlaps in time with a dynamically allocated uplink transmission or with another configured uplink grant transmission in the same serving cell, the UE prioritizes the transmission based on a comparison between the highest priority of the logical channels that have data to be transmitted and are multiplexed or can be multiplexed in the MAC protocol data unit (PDU) associated with the overlapping resources. Similarly, in case a configured uplink grant transmission or a dynamically allocated uplink transmission overlaps in time with a scheduling request transmission, the UE prioritizes the transmission based on a comparison between the priority of the logical channel that triggered the scheduling request and the highest priority of the logical channels that have data to be transmitted and are multiplexed or can be multiplexed in the MAC PDU associated with the overlapping resources. In case a MAC PDU associated with the de-prioritized transmission has been generated, the UE keeps it stored to allow the gNB to schedule a retransmission. The UE may also be configured by the gNB to transmit the stored MAC PDU as a new transmission using subsequent resources configured by the same configured uplink grant when no explicit retransmission grant is provided by the gNB.

[0067] Retransmissions other than repetitions are explicitly assigned via the PDCCH or via configuration of a retransmission timer.

[0068] For a given BWP for a serving cell, a UE may be configured with up to 12 active configured uplink grants. When more than one is configured, the network decides which of these configured uplink grants are active at a time (including all of them). Each configured uplink grant may be either type 1 or type 2. For type 2, activation and deactivation of configured uplink grants are independent between serving cells. When more than one type 2 configured grant is configured, each configured grant is activated individually using a DCI command, and deactivation of a type 2 configured grant is done using a DCI command, which may deactivate a single configured grant or jointly deactivate multiple configured grants.

[0069] When configuring the SUL, the network should ensure that an active configured uplink grant on the SUL does not overlap in time with another active configured uplink grant on another UL configuration.

[0070] For both dynamic grants and configured grants, for a transport block, two or more repetitions may be in one slot, or across slot boundaries in consecutive available slots, with each repetition being in one slot. For both dynamic grants and configured grant type 2, the number of repetitions can also be indicated dynamically in L1 signaling. The dynamically indicated number of repetitions shall override the RRC configured number of repetitions, if both are present.

[0071] Logical Channel Prioritization (LCP)

[0072] In NR, the UE has an uplink rate control function that manages the sharing of uplink resources between logical channels. The RRC controls the uplink rate control function by giving each logical channel priority, a prioritized bit rate (PBR) and a buffer size duration (BSD). In addition, mapping restrictions can be configured. With the LCP restrictions in the MAC, the RRC can restrict the mapping of logical channels to parameter sets, PUSCH transmission duration, configured grant configurations, subsets of configured cells, and control whether a logical channel can utilize resources allocated by a grant configured with type 1 or whether a logical channel can utilize a dynamic grant indicating a certain physical priority. With such restrictions, it then becomes possible to reserve parameter sets with, for example, the maximum subcarrier spacing and / or the shortest PUSCH transmission duration for URLLC services. In addition, the RRC can associate logical channels with different scheduling request (SR) configurations, for example, to provide more frequent SR opportunities to URLLC services. The uplink rate control function ensures that the UE serves the logical channels in the following order:

[0073] 1. All relevant logical channels in descending priority order up to their PBR;

[0074] 2. For the remaining resources allocated by the grant, all relevant logical channels are in descending priority order.

[0075] In case PBRs are all set to zero, the first step is skipped and the logical channels are served in a strict priority order: the UE maximizes the transmission of higher priority data.

[0076] Mapping restrictions tell the UE which logical channels are relevant for the received grant. If no mapping restrictions are configured, all logical channels are considered.

[0077] If more than one logical channel has the same priority, the UE shall serve them equally.

[0078] Buffer Status Report

[0079] In NR, the Buffer Status Report (BSR) procedure is used to provide the serving gNB with information about the amount of UL data in the MAC entity. The RRC configures the following parameters to control the BSR:

[0080] -periodicBSR-Timer;

[0081] -retxBSR-Timer;

[0082] -logicalChannelSR-DelayTimerApplied;

[0083] -logicalChannelSR-DelayTimer;

[0084] -logicalChannelSR-Mask;

[0085] -logicalChannelGroup.

[0086] Each logical channel can be assigned to an LCG using logicalChannelGroup. The maximum number of LCGs is eight. A BSR shall be triggered if any of the following events occurs:

[0087] -UL data for logical channels belonging to a Logical Channel Group (LCG) becomes available to the MAC entity; and

[0088] - the UL data belongs to a logical channel having a higher priority than any logical channel containing available UL data belonging to any LCG; or

[0089] - None of the logical channels belonging to the LCG contains any available UL data.

[0090] In this case, the BSR is hereinafter referred to as the “regular BSR”;

[0091] - UL resources are allocated and the number of padding bits is equal to or greater than the size of the Buffer Status Report MAC CE plus its subheader, in which case the BSR is referred to as a "padding BSR" in the following;

[0092] - retxBSR-Timer expires and at least one of the logical channels belonging to the LCG contains UL data, in which case the BSR is referred to as "Normal BSR" in the following;

[0093] - The periodicBSR-Timer expires, in which case the BSR is referred to as a "periodic BSR" in the following.

[0094] For a regular BSR, the MAC entity shall:

[0095] 1> If BSR is triggered for a logical channel configured by upper layers with logicalChannelSR-DelayTimerApplied with value true:

[0096] 2>Start or restart logicalChannelSR-DelayTimer.

[0097] 1> Otherwise:

[0098] 2>Stop logicalChannelSR-DelayTimer if running.

[0099] For regular and periodic BSRs, the MAC entity shall:

[0100] 1> If more than one LCG has data available for transmission when a MAC PDU containing a BSR is to be constructed:

[0101] 2> Report the long BSR of all LCGs that have data available for transmission.

[0102] 1> Otherwise:

[0103] 2> Report short BSR.

[0104] For padding BSR, the MAC entity shall:

[0105] 1> If the number of padding bits is equal to or greater than the size of the short BSR plus its subheader but less than the size of the long BSR plus its subheader:

[0106] 2> If more than one LCG has data available for transmission when a BSR is to be constructed:

[0107] 3> If the number of padding bits is equal to the size of the short BSR plus its subheader:

[0108] 4> Report a short truncated BSR for the LCG with the highest priority logical channel which has data available for transmission.

[0109] 3> Otherwise:

[0110] 4> Reports a long truncated BSR for LCGs with logical channels that have data available for transmission in descending order of the highest priority logical channel (with or without data available for transmission) in each of these LCGs, and in case of equal priority, in ascending order of LCGID.

[0111] 2> Otherwise:

[0112] 3>Report short BSR.

[0113] 1> Otherwise if the number of padding bits is equal to or greater than the size of the long BSR plus its subheader:

[0114] 2> Report the long BSR of all LCGs that have data available for transmission.

[0115] For a BSR triggered by expiration of the retxBSR-Timer, the MAC entity considers the logical channel that triggered the BSR to be the highest priority logical channel that has data available for transmission when the BSR is triggered.

[0116] The MAC entity shall:

[0117] 1> If the Buffer Status Reporting process determines that at least one BSR has been triggered and not cancelled:

[0118] 2> If UL-SCH resources are available for new transmissions and as a result of logical channel prioritization, the UL-SCH resources can accommodate the BSR MAC CE plus its subheader:

[0119] 3> Instruct the multiplexing and assembly process to generate (one or more) BSR MAC CEs;

[0120] 3> Start or restart periodicBSR-Timer, unless all generated BSRs are long or short truncated BSRs;

[0121] 3>Start or restart retxBSR-Timer.

[0122] 2> If the regular BSR has been triggered and logicalChannelSR-DelayTimer is not running:

[0123] 3> if there are no UL-SCH resources available for new transmission; or

[0124] 3> If the MAC entity is configured with a configured uplink grant and a regular BSR is triggered for a logical channel with logicalChannelSR-Mask set to false; or

[0125] 3> If the UL-SCH resources available for new transmission do not satisfy the LCP mapping restrictions configured for the logical channel that triggered the BSR:

[0126] 4>Trigger scheduling request.

[0127] A MAC PDU shall contain at most one BSR MAC CE, even when multiple events have triggered a BSR. Regular BSRs and periodic BSRs shall take precedence over padding BSRs.

[0128] The MAC entity shall restart the retxBSR-Timer after reception of a grant for transmission of new data on any UL-SCH.

[0129] When the UL grant can accommodate all pending data available for transmission but is not sufficient to additionally accommodate a BSR MAC CE plus its subheader, all triggered BSRs may be cancelled. All BSRs triggered before the MAC PDU is assembled shall be cancelled when a MAC PDU is transmitted and this PDU includes a Long or Short BSR MAC CE containing the buffer status up to and including the last event that triggered a BSR before the MAC PDU is assembled.

[0130] Extended Reality (XR) is a term used for different types of reality and refers to all combined real and virtual environments and human-computer interactions generated by computer technology and wearable devices. It includes the following representative forms and areas interpolating between them: Augmented Reality (AR); Mixed Reality (MR); Virtual Reality (VR).

[0131] In case of XR, it is important to send packets within the Packet Delay Budget (PDB). The Packet Delay Budget (PDB) defines an upper limit on the time a packet can be delayed between the N6 termination point at the UE and the UPF. A typical PDB for VR / CG UL flows is 10ms. The PDB is 10ms or 30ms for AR UL flows, depending on the type of flow. A logical channel (LCH) with a lower PDB can have a higher priority than an LCH with a higher PDB. However, if an LCH with a higher PDB is not scheduled, packets need to be dropped after the PDB. In case of applications / services such as XR, an application layer frame or data unit (also called a PDU set) can consist of multiple IP packets. A PDU set is one or more PDUs that carry the payload of one information unit generated at the application level. In case of XR, it is important to send packets / PDUs of a data unit (or PDU set) or application layer frame within the PDB.

[0132] Assume data arrives for a high priority LCH in the buffer. The BSR is triggered. When the UE receives an UL grant and sends that data, low priority data arrives in the buffer. This does not trigger the BSR. Since the remaining time is still enough, it will not be scheduled earlier than the high priority data even if we change the LCP procedure. The UL grant arrives and the high priority data is sent. The low priority data remains in the buffer. The current BSR is not triggered for data already in the buffer.

[0133] Therefore, an enhanced method of logical channel prioritization / uplink transmission / buffer status reporting is needed.

[0134] In an embodiment of the method according to the present disclosure, it is proposed to introduce a new conventional BSR trigger as follows: (Method 1)

[0135] If UL data for a logical channel belonging to an LCG becomes available to the MAC entity (i.e., UL data for a logical channel belonging to an LCG arrives in the buffer) and enhancedBSRTrigger is configured (for the logical channel of this UL data) and the remaining delivery time of the UL data is less than the threshold, a BSR shall be triggered.

[0136] Alternatively, if UL data for a logical channel belonging to the LCG becomes available to the MAC entity (ie, UL data for a logical channel belonging to the LCG arrives at the buffer) and the remaining delivery time of the UL data is less than a threshold, a BSR shall be triggered.

[0137] Alternatively, if UL data for a logical channel belonging to an LCG becomes available to the MAC entity (i.e., UL data for a logical channel belonging to an LCG arrives in the buffer) and EnhancedBSRTrigger is configured (for the logical channel of this UL data and this logical channel has a lower priority than any logical channel containing available UL data belonging to any LCG) and the remaining delivery time of the UL data is less than the threshold, then a BSR shall be triggered.

[0138] Alternatively, if UL data for a logical channel belonging to an LCG becomes available to the MAC entity (i.e., UL data for a logical channel belonging to an LCG arrives at the buffer) and the remaining delivery time of the UL data is less than a threshold and the logical channel has a lower priority than any logical channel containing available UL data belonging to any LCG, a BSR shall be triggered.

[0139] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, enhancedBSRTrigger (which may also be known by other names, such as enhancedScheduling, enhancedSchedulingEnabled, enahncedSchedulingforXR, etc.) may be signaled on a per-LCH basis or on a per-LCG basis in an RRC reconfiguration message received from a gNB. Alternatively, enhancedBSRTrigger may be signaled on a per-resource block (RB) basis in an RRC reconfiguration message received from a gNB; in this case, enhancedBSRTrigger is considered to be configured for an LCH mapped to an RB for which enhancedBSRTrigger is signaled in the RRC reconfiguration message. Alternatively, enhancedBSRTrigger is signaled generally in an RRC reconfiguration message and applies to all LCHs / RBs. Alternatively, enhancedBSRTrigger is signaled generally in an RRC reconfiguration message per CG and applied to all LCHs / RBs of the CG.

[0140] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the threshold may be signaled on a per-LCH basis or on a per-LCG basis in an RRC reconfiguration message received from the gNB. Alternatively, the threshold may be signaled on a per-RB basis in an RRC reconfiguration message received from the gNB; in this case, the threshold is considered to be configured for the LCH mapped to the RB for which the threshold is signaled in the RRC reconfiguration message. Alternatively, the threshold is signaled generally in the RRC reconfiguration message and applies to all LCHs / RBs. Alternatively, the threshold is signaled generally in the RRC reconfiguration message per-CG and applied to all LCHs / RBs of the CG.

[0141] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, in the above operation, the remaining delivery time of the UL data corresponding to the logical channel is the minimum remaining delivery time among all UL data of the logical channel. In the case where an LCH with a PDB and an LCH without a PDB exist together, then we can regard the remaining delivery time of the LCH without a PDB as infinite. The remaining delivery time of the packet / data is basically the "PDB" (or PDU setup delay budget, i.e., PSDB) - the time elapsed since the data / packet arrived at the buffer (e.g., a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) buffer or an L2 buffer). Note that when the data / packet arrives at the PDCP buffer, a discard timer is started. The value of the discard timer is equal to the PDB or PSDB, and the discard timer expires after that time. For example, if the discard timer is started at time T and the value of the discard timer is 100ms, the discard timer will expire at T+100ms. Therefore, the remaining delivery time of the packet / data is basically the time elapsed since the discard timer of the packet / data was started. The UE can calculate the remaining delivery time when the BSR MAC CE is generated, or the UE can calculate the remaining delivery time relative to the time when the BSR MAC CE will be sent in the UL grant. Alternatively, the remaining delivery time of a packet / data is basically the 'PDB' (or PDU Setup Delay Budget, i.e. PSDB) - the time elapsed since the data / packet arrived at the NAS buffer. Alternatively, the remaining delivery time of a packet / data is basically the 'PDB' (or PDU Setup Delay Budget, i.e. PSDB) - the time elapsed since the data / packet was generated by the application layer.

[0142] Figure 1 A flowchart of a method is shown, which shows a flowchart associated with triggering a buffer status report

[0143] In the embodiment of the method according to the present disclosure, it can be illustrated by Figure 1 To explain the process.

[0144] refer to Figure 1In step 110, the UE may send (notify) the gNB about its capability to support enhanced scheduling / buffer status reporting using a UE assistance information message or some other message. The capability may be per UE, which means that the capability is not specific to any feature or frequency band or frequency range supported by the UE, alternatively, the capability may be per frequency range (FR) (FR1 / FR2-1, FR2-2, etc.). FR1 includes the frequency band from 410 MHz to 7125 MHz. FR2-1 includes the frequency band from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. FR2-2 includes the frequency band from 52.6 GHz to 71 GHz. For example, the UE may support enhanced scheduling / buffer status reporting for FR1, but it may not support enhanced scheduling / buffer status reporting for FR2, and vice versa. Alternatively, the capability may be per frequency band. The UE may support one or more frequency bands, but it may support enhanced scheduling / buffer status reporting for selective frequency bands or all of them or not support any of them.

[0145] In step 120, the UE receives an RRC reconfiguration message from the gNB. The message includes the configuration of one or more data radio bearers (DRBs) and the configuration of one or more LCHs associated with the DRBs. The message may include a mapping between logical channels and parameter sets, PUSCH transmission duration, configured grant configurations, and subsets of configured cells, and controls whether the logical channel can utilize resources allocated by a grant configured with type 1 or whether the logical channel can utilize a dynamic grant indicating a certain physical priority. The message may include a parameter / flag / indicator enhancedBSRTrigger for enhanced scheduling / buffer status reporting / enhanced scheduling for XR (as described above).

[0146] In step 130, UL data for logical channels belonging to the LCG becomes available to the MAC entity (ie, UL data for logical channels belonging to the LCG arrives at the buffer).

[0147] In step 140, a BSR shall be triggered when UL data arrives in the buffer for transmission if any of the following events occurs (note that the UE checks these events when UL data arrives in the buffer for transmission):

[0148] For example, the EnhancedBSRTrigger is configured (for the logical channel of the UL data), and the remaining delivery time of the UL data is less than a threshold. Or, the remaining delivery time of the UL data of the logical channel is less than a threshold; or, the EnhancedBSRTrigger is configured (for the logical channel of the UL data, and the logical channel has a lower priority than the priority of any logical channel containing available UL data belonging to any LCG), and the remaining delivery time of the UL data is less than a threshold; or, the remaining delivery time of the UL data of the logical channel is less than a threshold, and the logical channel has a lower priority than the priority of any logical channel containing available UL data belonging to any LCG;

[0149] or

[0150] The UL data belongs to a logical channel having a higher priority than any logical channel containing available UL data belonging to any LCG;

[0151] or

[0152] None of the logical channels belonging to the LCG contains any available UL data.

[0153] In another embodiment according to the present disclosure, it is proposed to introduce a new conventional BSR trigger as follows: (Method 2)

[0154] A BSR shall be triggered if any of the following events occurs (note that UE event a) only applies when UL data arrives in the buffer for transmission. Event b) is not limited to the time when UL data arrives in the buffer for transmission, and event b can be satisfied at any time when UL data exists in the buffer):

[0155] a) UL data for logical channels belonging to the LCG becomes available to the MAC entity (ie, UL data for logical channels belonging to the LCG arrives at the buffer); and

[0156] The UL data belongs to a logical channel having a higher priority than any logical channel containing available UL data belonging to any LCG;

[0157] or

[0158] None of the logical channels belonging to the LCG contains any available UL data;

[0159] b) UL data is available for the logical channel (i.e., UL data is present in the buffer of the logical channel), and enhancedBSRTrigger is configured (for the logical channel of the UL data), and the remaining delivery time of any UL data for the LCH is less than a threshold. Alternatively, UL data is available for the logical channel (i.e., UL data is present in the buffer of the logical channel), and the remaining delivery time of any UL data for the LCH is less than a threshold. Alternatively, UL data is available for the logical channel (i.e., UL data is present in the buffer of the logical channel), and enhancedBSRTrigger is configured (for the logical channel of the UL data), and the remaining delivery time of any UL data for the LCH is less than a threshold, and the logical channel has a lower priority than any logical channel containing available UL data belonging to any LCG.

[0160] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, enhancedBSRTrigger (which may also be known by other names, such as enhancedScheduling, enhancedSchedulingEnabled, enahncedSchedulingforXR, etc.) may be signaled on a per-LCH basis or on a per-LCG basis in an RRC reconfiguration message received from a gNB. Alternatively, enhancedBSRTrigger may be signaled on a per-RB basis in an RRC reconfiguration message received from a gNB. In this case, enhancedBSRTrigger is considered to be configured for an LCH mapped to an RB for which enhancedBSRTrigger is signaled in the RRC reconfiguration message. Alternatively, enhancedBSRTrigger is signaled generally in an RRC reconfiguration message and applies to all LCHs / RBs. Alternatively, enhancedBSRTrigger is signaled generally in an RRC reconfiguration message for each CG and is applied to all LCHs / RBs of the CG.

[0161] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the threshold may be signaled on a per-LCH basis or on a per-LCG basis in an RRC reconfiguration message received from the gNB. Alternatively, the threshold may be signaled on a per-RB basis in an RRC reconfiguration message received from the gNB; in this case, the threshold is considered to be configured for the LCH mapped to the RB for which the threshold is signaled in the RRC reconfiguration message. Alternatively, the threshold is signaled generally in the RRC reconfiguration message and applies to all LCHs / RBs. Alternatively, the threshold is signaled generally in the RRC reconfiguration message for each CG and applies to all LCHs / RBs of the CG.

[0162] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, in the above operation, the remaining delivery time of the UL data corresponding to the logical channel is the minimum remaining delivery time among all the UL data of the logical channel. In the case where an LCH with PDB and an LCH without PDB exist together, we can regard the remaining delivery time of the LCH without PDB as infinite. The remaining delivery time of the packet / data is basically "PDB (or PSDB)" - the time elapsed since the data / packet arrived at the buffer (e.g., PDCP buffer or L2 buffer). Note that when the data / packet arrives at the PDCP buffer, the discard timer is started. The value of the discard timer is equal to the PDB or PSDB, and the discard timer expires after this time. For example, if the discard timer is started at time T and the value of the discard timer is 100ms, the discard timer will expire at T+100ms. Therefore, the remaining delivery time of the packet / data is basically the time elapsed since the discard timer of the packet / data was started. The UE can calculate the remaining delivery time when the BSR MAC CE is generated, or the UE can calculate the remaining delivery time relative to the time when the BSR MAC CE will be sent in the UL grant. Alternatively, the remaining delivery time of the packet / data is essentially the "PDB (or PSDB)" - the time elapsed since the data / packet arrived at the NAS buffer. Alternatively, the remaining delivery time of the packet / data is essentially the "PDB (or PSDB)" - the time elapsed since the data / packet was generated by the application layer.

[0163] In an embodiment of the method according to the present disclosure, the operations are as follows:

[0164] In step 1, the UE may use a UE assistance information message or some other message to notify its capability to support enhanced scheduling / buffer status reporting. The capability may be per UE. Alternatively, the capability may be per FR (FR1 / FR2, etc.). Alternatively, the capability may be per frequency band.

[0165] In step 2, the UE receives an RRC reconfiguration message from the gNB. The message includes the configuration of one or more DRBs and the configuration of one or more LCHs associated with the DRBs. The message may include a mapping between logical channels and parameter sets, PUSCH transmission duration, configured grant configuration, a subset of configured cells, and control whether the logical channel can utilize resources allocated by a grant configured with type 1 or whether the logical channel can utilize a dynamic grant indicating a certain physical priority. The message may include a parameter / flag / indicator enhancedBSRTrigger for enhanced scheduling / buffer status reporting / enhanced scheduling for XR (as described above).

[0166] In step 3, a BSR should be triggered if any of the following events occur:

[0167] a) UL data for logical channels belonging to the LCG becomes available to the MAC entity (ie, UL data for logical channels belonging to the LCG arrives at the buffer); and

[0168] The UL data belongs to a logical channel having a higher priority than any logical channel containing available UL data belonging to any LCG;

[0169] or

[0170] None of the logical channels belonging to the LCG contains any available UL data;

[0171] b) UL data is available for the logical channel (i.e., the UL data is present in the buffer of the logical channel), and the enhancedBSRTrigger for that UL data is configured (for the logical channel), and the remaining delivery time for any UL data for that LCH is less than the threshold.

[0172] Alternatively, UL data is available for the logical channel (ie, the UL data is present in the buffer of the logical channel), and the remaining delivery time of any UL data for the LCH is less than the threshold.

[0173] In an embodiment of the method according to the present disclosure, it is proposed to configure dual priority for LCH (method 3)

[0174] - Primary LCH priority and

[0175] -Secondary LCH priority

[0176] The gNB may signal the LCH priority value for the LCH in the RRC reconfiguration message. Note that in the prior art, the LCH is configured with one LCH priority. The UE may use a UE assistance information message or some other message to signal its ability to support dual LCH priorities. The capability may be per UE. Alternatively, the capability may be per FR (FR1 / FR2-1, FR2-2, etc.). FR1 includes frequency bands from 410 MHz to 7125 MHz. FR2-1 includes frequency bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. FR2-2 includes frequency bands from 52.6 GHz to 71 GHz. For example, a UE may support dual LCH priorities for FR1, but it may not support dual LCH priorities for FR2, and vice versa. Alternatively, the capability may be per band. The UE may support one or more bands, but it may support dual LCH priorities for selective bands or all of them or not support any of them.

[0177] When the remaining delivery time of any UL data of the LCH is less than a threshold, the LCH priority is changed from primary to secondary. The changed priority is used in LCP and BSR triggering and other processes in MAC that use LCH priority.

[0178] a) For LCH configured with dual priority,

[0179] - When the remaining delivery time of any UL data of this LCH is less than a threshold, the secondary LCH priority is applied to the LCH.

[0180] - When none of the UL data of this LCH has a remaining delivery time less than a threshold, applying the primary LCH priority to the LCH.

[0181] b) For LCHs not configured with dual priority,

[0182] -Apply the configured LCH priority to the LCH.

[0183] When the remaining delivery time of any UL data of the LCH is greater than (or greater than or equal to) a threshold, the MAC entity in the UE applies the primary LCH priority to the LCH in the LCP and BSR / SR processes. When the remaining delivery time of any UL data of the LCH is less than or equal to (or less than) a threshold, the MAC entity in the UE applies the secondary LCH priority to the LCH in the LCP and BSR / SR processes. The LCP / BSR / SR process was explained earlier in this disclosure.

[0184] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, in the above operation, the remaining delivery time of the UL data corresponding to the logical channel is the minimum remaining delivery time among all the UL data of the logical channel. In the case where an LCH with PDB and an LCH without PDB exist together, we can regard the remaining delivery time of the LCH without PDB as infinite. The remaining delivery time of the packet / data is basically "PDB (or PSDB)" - the time elapsed since the data / packet arrived at the buffer (e.g., PDCP buffer or L2 buffer). Note that when the data / packet arrives at the PDCP buffer, the discard timer is started. The value of the discard timer is equal to the PDB or PSDB, and the discard timer expires after this time. For example, if the discard timer is started at time T and the value of the discard timer is 100ms, the discard timer will expire at T+100ms. Therefore, the remaining delivery time of the packet / data is basically the time elapsed since the discard timer of the packet / data was started. The UE can calculate the remaining delivery time when the BSR MAC CE is generated, or the UE can calculate the remaining delivery time relative to the time when the BSR MAC CE will be sent in the UL grant. Alternatively, the remaining delivery time of the packet / data is basically the "PDB (or PSDB)" - the time elapsed since the data / packet arrived at the NAS buffer. Alternatively, the remaining delivery time of the packet / data is basically the "PDB (or PSDB)" - the time elapsed since the data / packet was generated by the application layer.

[0185] In the embodiment of the method according to the present disclosure, it can be illustrated by Figure 2 To explain. It can be an example of method 3.

[0186] Figure 2 A flow chart of a method associated with dual priority levels for logical channels is shown.

[0187] In step 210, the UE may use a UE assistance information message or some other message to notify its ability to support dual LCH priority. The capability may be per UE. Alternatively, the capability may be per FR (FR1 / FR2-1, FR2-2, etc.). FR1 includes frequency bands from 410 MHz to 7125 MHz. FR2-1 includes frequency bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. FR2-2 includes frequency bands from 52.6 GHz to 71 GHz. For example, the UE may support dual LCH priority for FR1, but it may not support dual LCH priority for FR2, and vice versa. Alternatively, the capability may be per frequency band. The UE may support one or more frequency bands, but it may support dual LCH priority for selective frequency bands or all of them or not support any of them.

[0188] In step 220, the UE receives an RRC reconfiguration message from the gNB. The message includes the configuration of one or more DRBs and the configuration of one or more LCHs associated with the DRBs. The message may include a mapping between logical channels and parameter sets, PUSCH transmission duration, configured grant configurations, subsets of configured cells, and control whether a logical channel can utilize resources allocated by a type 1 configured grant or whether a logical channel can utilize a dynamic grant indicating a certain physical priority. The message may include dual LCH priorities or a single LCH priority per LCH.

[0189] a) For LCH configured with dual priority,

[0190] - When the remaining delivery time of any UL data of this LCH is less than a threshold, the secondary LCH priority is applied to the LCH.

[0191] - When none of the UL data for this LCH has a remaining delivery time less than a threshold, the primary LCH priority is applied to the LCH

[0192] b) For LCHs not configured with dual priority,

[0193] -Apply the configured LCH priority to the LCH

[0194] In step 230, when the remaining delivery time of any UL data of the LCH is greater than (or greater than or equal to) a threshold, the MAC entity in the UE applies the primary LCH priority to the LCH in the LCP and BSR / SR processes. When the remaining delivery time of any UL data of the LCH is less than or equal to (or less than) a threshold, the MAC entity in the UE applies the secondary LCH priority to the LCH in the LCP and BSR / SR processes.

[0195] Figure 3 A UE according to an embodiment is shown.

[0196] refer to Figure 3 , the UE includes a transceiver 300, a UE controller 310, and a memory 320. The UE controller 310 may be defined as a circuit, an ASIC, or at least one processor.

[0197] The transceiver 300 may transmit and receive signals to and from another network entity or UE. The transceiver 300 may receive system information from, for example, a base station and / or another UE, and may receive a SS or a reference signal (RS).

[0198] The UE controller 310 may control the overall operation of the UE according to any embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, the UE controller 310 may control the signal flow between blocks to perform operations according to the above-mentioned figures and flowcharts.

[0199] Specifically, the UE controller 310 operates according to a control signal from a base station or a UE, and may exchange messages or signals with another UE and / or a base station.

[0200] The memory 320 may store at least one of information transmitted and received by the transceiver 300 and information generated by the UE controller 310 .

[0201] Figure 4 A base station according to an embodiment is shown.

[0202] refer to Figure 4 , the base station includes a transceiver 400, a base station controller 410 and a memory 420. The base station controller may be defined as a circuit, an ASIC or at least one processor.

[0203] The transceiver 400 may transmit and receive signals to and from another network entity or UE. For example, the transceiver may transmit system information to the UE and may transmit SS or RS.

[0204] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the base station controller 410 may control the overall operation of the base station. For example, the base station controller 410 may control the operations proposed in the present disclosure to manage and reduce interference to neighboring base stations. Specifically, the base station controller 410 may send a control signal to the UE to control the operation of the UE or exchange messages or signals with the UE.

[0205] The memory 420 may store at least one of information transmitted and received by the transceiver 400 and information generated by the base station controller 1410 .

[0206] It should be understood that, although the flowchart of the embodiment of the present application indicates each operation step by arrows, the order of these implementation steps is not limited to the order indicated by the arrows. Unless explicitly stated herein, in some implementation scenarios of the embodiment of the present application, the implementation steps in each flowchart can be performed in other orders as needed. In addition, some or all of the steps in each flowchart can include multiple sub-steps or multiple stages according to actual implementation scenarios. Some or all of these sub-steps or stages can be performed at the same time, and each of these sub-steps or stages can also be performed separately at different times. In the scenarios where the execution time is different, the execution order of these sub-steps or stages can be flexibly configured as needed, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto.

[0207] The above is only an optional implementation of some implementation scenarios of this application. It should be noted that for ordinary technicians in this field, other similar implementation methods based on the technical ideas of this application, without departing from the technical ideas of this application, also belong to the scope of protection of the embodiments of this application.

[0208] After considering the specification and practicing the invention disclosed herein, those skilled in the art will easily think of other embodiments of the present disclosure. This application is intended to cover any variation, use or adaptation of the present disclosure that follows the general principles of the present disclosure and includes technical means that are generally known or customary in the art that are not disclosed herein. The specification and examples are considered to be exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of the present disclosure are limited by the claims.

Claims

1. A method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: sending a first message including capability information associated with a buffer status report (BSR) to a base station; receiving, from the base station, a second message including configuration information for low priority data to trigger a BSR; identifying, based on the configuration information, whether at least one condition for low priority data to trigger a BSR is satisfied; as well as In case the at least one condition for triggering the BSR for the low priority data is met, a third message including the BSR for the low priority data is sent to the base station.

2. The method according to claim 1, The capability information includes at least one of information indicating whether the UE supports BSR triggered by low priority data and information indicating whether the UE supports dual logical channel (LCH) priorities.

3. The method according to claim 1, in, The configuration information includes at least one of the following: an indicator indicating whether the UE is configured to send a BSR for low priority data, a threshold value for the UE to determine whether the remaining delay time of uplink data is less than or greater than a threshold, or priority information of at least one logical channel (LCH).

4. The method according to claim 1, The conditions for triggering a BSR for low priority data include at least one of the following: uplink data for a logical channel (LCH) belonging to a logical channel group (LCG) is available, the UE is configured to send a BSR for low priority data, the remaining delay time of the uplink data is less than a predetermined threshold, the remaining delay time of the uplink data is greater than a predetermined threshold, or an LCH with a lower priority than any LCH containing other available uplink data belonging to the LCG.

5. A method performed by a base station in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a first message including capability information associated with a buffer status report (BSR); Sending a second message including configuration information for low priority data to trigger a BSR to the UE; as well as In case at least one condition for triggering a BSR for the low priority data is satisfied, a third message including a BSR for the low priority data is received from the UE.

6. The method according to claim 5, The capability information includes at least one of information indicating whether the UE supports BSR triggered by low priority data and information indicating whether the UE supports dual logical channel (LCH) priorities.

7. The method according to claim 5, in, The configuration information includes at least one of the following: an indicator indicating whether the UE is configured to send a BSR for low priority data, a threshold value for the UE to determine whether the remaining delay time of uplink data is less than or greater than a threshold, or priority information of at least one logical channel (LCH).

8. The method according to claim 5, The conditions for triggering a BSR for low priority data include at least one of the following: uplink data for a logical channel (LCH) belonging to a logical channel group (LCG) is available, the UE is configured to send a BSR for low priority data, the remaining delay time of the uplink data is less than a predetermined threshold, the remaining delay time of the uplink data is greater than a predetermined threshold, or an LCH with a lower priority than any LCH containing other available uplink data belonging to the LCG.

9. A user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the UE comprising: Transceiver; and at least one processor coupled to the transceiver and configured to: sending a first message including capability information associated with a buffer status report (BSR) to a base station, receiving from the base station a second message including configuration information for low priority data to trigger a BSR, identifying whether at least one condition for low priority data to trigger a BSR is satisfied based on the configuration information, and In case the at least one condition for triggering the BSR for the low priority data is met, a third message including the BSR for the low priority data is sent to the base station.

10. The UE according to claim 9, The capability information includes at least one of information indicating whether the UE supports BSR triggered by low priority data and information indicating whether the UE supports dual logical channel (LCH) priorities.

11. The UE according to claim 9, in, The configuration information includes at least one of the following: an indicator indicating whether the UE is configured to send a BSR for low priority data, a threshold value for the UE to determine whether the remaining delay time of uplink data is less than or greater than a threshold, or priority information of at least one logical channel (LCH).

12. The UE according to claim 9, The conditions for triggering a BSR for low priority data include at least one of the following: uplink data for a logical channel (LCH) belonging to a logical channel group (LCG) is available, the UE is configured to send a BSR for low priority data, the remaining delay time of the uplink data is less than a predetermined threshold, the remaining delay time of the uplink data is greater than a predetermined threshold, or an LCH with a lower priority than any LCH containing other available uplink data belonging to the LCG.

13. A base station in a wireless communication system, the base station comprising: Transceiver; and at least one processor coupled to the transceiver and configured to: receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a first message including capability information associated with a buffer status report (BSR), Sending a second message including configuration information for low priority data to trigger a BSR to the UE; as well as In case at least one condition for triggering a BSR for the low priority data is satisfied, a third message including a BSR for the low priority data is received from the UE.

14. The base station according to claim 13, The capability information includes at least one of information indicating whether the UE supports BSR triggered by low priority data and information indicating whether the UE supports dual logical channel (LCH) priorities, and in, The configuration information includes at least one of the following: an indicator indicating whether the UE is configured to send a BSR for low priority data, a threshold value for the UE to determine whether the remaining delay time of uplink data is less than or greater than a threshold, or priority information of at least one LCH.

15. The base station according to claim 13, The conditions for triggering a BSR for low priority data include at least one of the following: uplink data for a logical channel (LCH) belonging to a logical channel group (LCG) is available, the UE is configured to send a BSR for low priority data, the remaining delay time of the uplink data is less than a predetermined threshold, the remaining delay time of the uplink data is greater than a predetermined threshold, or an LCH with a lower priority than any LCH containing other available uplink data belonging to the LCG.

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