Infrastructure device, communication device and method

Abstract

A method of operating a communication device to communicate data via a wireless communication network, or a method thereof, includes receiving application layer data for transmission at a protocol stack formed by the communication device for transmitting data, the data received as a packet data unit (PDU) group from an application layer forming part of the protocol stack, or a layer of the protocol stack is configured to form application layer data into a PDU group, each PDU in the group comprising an indication that the PDU belongs to the group; and transmitting each of the PDUs in the group as one or more data segments using a physical layer of the protocol stack by controlling a transceiver of the communication device. Sending PDUs in the group includes restricting physical layer transmissions to restrict transmission of one or more data segments to correspond to transmitting each of the PDUs in the group; and determining that one of the data segments is not successfully transmitted, and in response to determining that one of the data segments is not successfully transmitted, terminating transmission of the PDU group to which the application layer PDU is to be transmitted. Thus, a restriction is applied to the transmission of PDUs in a group of PDUs at the physical layer such that a failure of the transmission of a physical layer data segment carrying a portion of one of the PDUs in the group can be used to identify any remaining portion of the PDU or the transmission of other PDUs in the group can be terminated, thus, communication resources are saved, energy is saved, and application layer data is transmitted with high reliability and low latency. In another example, the method may include determining that one of the physical layer data segments is not successfully transmitted, and in response, providing a feedback signal to the PDCP layer that the one of the physical layer data segments is not successfully transmitted, and terminating the transmission of the group of PDUs that the application layer PDUs are to be transmitted. According to this example, a feedback signal from the physical layer to at least one other layer including the PDCP layer may be used to terminate transmission of any remaining portion of the PDU and other PDUs in the PDU group.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to infrastructure equipment, communication devices (user equipment) and methods for transmitting data from an application layer as a group of packet data units (PDUs). In one example, the PDU is in the form of a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) packet data unit (PDU) and is sent using a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) protocol, although in other examples the PDU is a service data application protocol (SDAP) PDU. The present disclosure claims the Paris Convention priority of European patent application number EP22188398.6 filed on August 2, 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference. Background Art

[0002] The "background" description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the present disclosure. The work of the presently named inventors, to the extent described in this background section and in aspects of the description that may not have been prior art at the time of filing, is neither explicitly nor implicitly admitted to be prior art with respect to the present invention.

[0003] Wireless communication networks are now supporting communications with a wider range of communication devices and user equipment for a variety of applications and data traffic configurations and types. For example, the devices now supporting communications include reduced complexity devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, high-resolution video displays, virtual reality headsets, etc. Some of these different types of devices may be deployed in very large numbers, such as low-complexity devices used to support the "Internet of Things", and may generally be associated with the transmission of relatively small amounts of data with relatively high latency tolerances. Other types of devices, such as supporting high-definition video streaming, may be associated with the transmission of relatively large amounts of data with relatively low latency tolerances.

[0004] In order to provide coverage for an increasing number of devices, such as IoT, 5G radio access technology (RAT), also known as new radio (NR) systems, includes aspects designed to support connectivity within a wide variety of environments. For example, a common protocol for transmitting data as packets is called the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), which transmits data as packet data units (PDUs). In addition, at the physical layer, data transmission via a wireless access interface provided by such 5G / NR radio access technology using a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) protocol is often used. However, efficiently combining such protocols can present technical challenges. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present disclosure may help to solve or mitigate at least some of the problems discussed above.

[0006] Embodiments of the present technology may provide a method for transmitting data via a wireless communication network performed by a communication device, the method comprising: receiving application layer data for transmission at a protocol stack formed by a communication device for transmitting data, the data being received from an application layer forming part of the protocol stack as a group of packet data units (PDUs), or from a layer of a protocol stack configured to form the application layer data into a group of PDUs, each PDU in the group including an indication that the PDU belongs to the group; and transmitting each of the PDUs in the group as one or more data segments using a physical layer of the protocol stack by controlling a transceiver of the communication device. These PDU groups may be generated by the application layer itself, or may be generated from the application layer PDUs and formed into PDU groups by a PDCP layer or SDAP layer of the protocol stack. Transmitting the PDUs in the group includes: limiting physical layer transmission to limit the transmission of one or more data segments to each of the PDUs corresponding to the transmission of the group; and determining that one of the data segments was not successfully transmitted, and in response to determining that one of the data segments was not successfully transmitted, terminating the transmission of the PDU group to transmit the application layer PDU.

[0007] According to an example implementation of the first aspect, restrictions are imposed on the transmission of PDUs in a PDU group at the physical layer, so that the failure of transmitting a physical layer data segment carrying part of one of the PDUs in the group can be used to identify that the transmission of any remaining part of the PDU or other PDUs in the group can be terminated, thereby saving communication resources and transmitting application layer data with high reliability and low latency.

[0008] An implementation of the present technology according to the second aspect may include sending a PDU in a group by determining that one of the physical layer data segments was not successfully transmitted, and in response to determining that one of the physical layer data segments was not successfully transmitted, providing a feedback signal to the PDCP layer that one of the physical layer data segments was not successfully transmitted, and terminating the transmission of the PDU group in which the application layer PDU is to be transmitted. As a second aspect, the example implementation may also provide a feedback signal from the physical layer to at least one other layer (such as the PDCP layer), which feedback signal may be used to terminate the transmission of any remaining portion of the PDU and other PDUs in the PDU group, thereby saving time, saving energy, and using communication resources more efficiently.

[0009] According to the third aspect, an implementation of the present technology can control the transceiver of the communication device and use the physical layer of the protocol stack to send each PDU in a group of PDUs as one or more data segments, wherein the header of each PDU in the group includes a timestamp indicating the time when the PDU group was generated, and the timestamp is used by the receiver when discarding all PDUs in the group that have been received or have not been received within the lifetime of the PDU group but are to be received.

[0010] Respective aspects and features of the present disclosure are defined in the accompanying claims and include a communication device (UE) and infrastructure equipment and methods for operating the communication device.

[0011] It should be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are examples of the present technology, rather than limitations of the present technology. The described embodiments and additional advantages will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] A more complete understanding of the present disclosure and many of its attendant advantages will be readily appreciated as they become better appreciated by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals refer to identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which:

[0013] Figure 1 schematically represents some aspects of a 5G / new radio access technology (RAT) wireless communication system that may be configured to operate in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0014] Figure 2 Is a communication device that transfers data into and / or out of the Figure 1 A schematic block diagram of an infrastructure equipment (gNB) of a part of a wireless communication system is shown in;

[0015] Figure 3 Yes Figure 2 A schematic block diagram of an alternative representation of a communication device and infrastructure equipment shown in Figure 3 FIG. 1 shows communication of PDCP PDUs of PDUs performed in each of the communication device (UE) and the infrastructure equipment (gNB) via a protocol stack;

[0016] Figure 4 Is to lead to Figure 3 The downlink of the communication device (UE) is transmitted via Figure 3 An illustrative representation of the operations performed by the protocol stack shown in FIG. 1 to send an application layer PDU from an infrastructure device (gNB);

[0017] Figure 5 Is to lead to Figure 3 The uplink of the communication device (UE) is transmitted via Figure 3 An illustrative representation of the flow of operations performed by the protocol stack shown in FIG. 1 to send an application layer PDU from a communication device to an infrastructure equipment (gNB);

[0018] Figure 6 is adapted for use in accordance with an example implementation of the present technology Figure 3 The downlink of the communication device (UE) is transmitted via Figure 3 illustrative representation of the flow of operations performed by the protocol stack shown in FIG. 1 to send an application layer PDU from an infrastructure device (gNB);

[0019] Figure 7 is for communicating via a downlink to a communication device (UE) adapted according to an example embodiment of the present technology Figure 3 A partial flow chart, partial schematic diagram of operations performed by the protocol stack shown in FIG. 1 to send an application layer PDU from an infrastructure device (gNB);

[0020] Figure 8 is an illustration of a communication in an uplink to an infrastructure device (gNB) adapted according to an example embodiment of the present technology via Figure 3 A flowchart of operations performed by the protocol stack shown in FIG. 1 to send an application layer PDU from a communication device (UE);

[0021] Fig. 9 is for in the uplink to an infrastructure device (gNB) adapted according to an example embodiment of the present technology via Figure 3 A partial flow chart and a partial schematic diagram of the operations performed by the protocol stack shown in FIG. 1 to send an application layer PDU from a communication device (UE); and

[0022] Fig.10 is for use in an uplink to an application layer attached to a core network via an infrastructure device (gNB) adapted according to an example embodiment of the present technology via Figure 3 00100 is a partial flow chart, partial schematic diagram of an illustrative representation of operations performed by the protocol stacks of a communication device and infrastructure equipment shown in FIG. 100 for sending an application layer PDU from a communication device (UE). DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] New Radio Access Technology (5G)

[0024] exist Figure 1 An example configuration of a wireless communication network using some terminology proposed for and used in NR and 5G is shown in FIG. Figure 1In the figure, a plurality of transmission and reception points (TRPs) 10 are connected to distributed control units (DUs) 41, 42 via connection interfaces 16 represented as lines. Each of the TRPs 10 is arranged to send and receive signals via a wireless access interface within the radio frequency bandwidth available to the wireless communication network. Therefore, within the range for performing radio communications via the wireless access interface, each of the TRPs 10 forms a cell of the wireless communication network as represented by a circle 12. In this way, a wireless communication device 14 within the radio communication range provided by the cell 12 can send signals to and receive signals from the TRP 10 via the wireless access interface. Each of the distributed units 41, 42 is connected to a central unit (CU) 40 (which can be referred to as a control node) via an interface 46. The central unit 40 is then connected to a core network 20, which can contain all other functions required to send data for transmission to and from the wireless communication device, and the core network 20 can be connected to other networks 30.

[0025] If familiar Figure 1 As will be appreciated by those who have seen the wireless communication network according to the 5G standard shown in , the CU 40, DU 42 and TRP 10 refer collectively to functions conventionally performed by a network base station or (according to 5G terminology) a gNodeB (gNB). In terms of the broad top-level functionality, the term network infrastructure equipment / access node may be used to encompass these elements and the more conventional base station type elements of a wireless telecommunications system. Depending on the application at hand, the responsibility for scheduling the transmissions scheduled over the radio interface between the respective DU and the communication device may lie with the control node / central unit and / or the distributed unit / TRP.

[0026] The communication device 14 is Figure 1 1 is represented as being within the coverage area of ​​the first communication cell 12. The communication device 14 can therefore exchange signaling with the first CU 40 in the first communication cell 12 via one of the distributed units / TRPs 10 associated with the first communication cell 12. The communication device 14 can be referred to as a mobile terminal, terminal or user equipment (UE), which includes a chipset and has functions corresponding to a UE device known to operate with a wireless communication network.

[0027] Embodiments of the present technology relate to configurations of wireless communication networks and communication devices for transmitting data at high data rates and low latency. For example, the wireless communication network may be Figure 1. An example of such data for communication at high data rates and low latency is data produced by an application layer for generating augmented reality (XR) data representing a visual enhancement of a viewing scene with a graphical image for viewing by a camera or head mounted headset display. Augmented reality is a known technology and has an abbreviation that will be used herein, which is XR. 3GPP projects (such as those identified in RP-213587) are exploring technologies for sending XR data for applications. The research will be based on Release 17 TR 38.838, corresponding Release 17 work from SA4 (in accordance with SP-210043), and Release 18 work from SA2 (in accordance with SP-211166). Aspects being studied include:

[0028] Objectives of XR perception in RAN (RAN2):

[0029] - Study and identify XR traffic (both UL and DL) characteristics, QoS metrics and application layer attributes that are beneficial for gNB awareness.

[0030] - Study how the above information can assist XR specific traffic processing.

[0031] XR specific power saving targets (RAN1, RAN2):

[0032] - Study XR specific power saving techniques to adapt to XR service characteristics (periodicity, multi-stream, jitter, latency, reliability, etc.). Focus on the following techniques:

[0033] o C-DRX enhancement.

[0034] o PDCCH monitoring enhancements.

[0035] Targets for XR-specific capacity improvements (RAN1, RAN2):

[0036] - Research mechanisms to provide more efficient resource allocation and scheduling for XR service characteristics (periodicity, multi-stream, jitter, latency, reliability, etc.). Emphasis is placed on the following mechanisms:

[0037] o Semi-persistent signaling (SPS) and configuration grant (CG) enhancements;

[0038] o Dynamic scheduling / authorization enhancements.

[0039] In order to send data at a high data rate with low latency, a concept called a packet data unit (PDU) group has been proposed. A PDU is a packet data unit, and as its name suggests, it is a data unit sent using different layers of the 3GPP system including the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) sublayer. PDCP PDUs are sent between peer entities in order to ensure the transmission of data that serves a specific application. In order to send data (such as data that can be used to serve XR applications) at a high data rate and low latency, the concept of a PDU group has been proposed. As specified in TS 238.700-60, which forms the SA2 specification of 3GPP, a PDU group consists of one or more PDUs carrying a payload of an information unit generated at the application layer (e.g., a frame or video slice for an XRM service), which have the same importance requirements at the application layer. The application layer requires all PDUs in a PDU group to be successfully received so that any information of the application layer PDU is useful. In some cases, when some PDUs are being lost, the application layer can still recover parts of the information unit. In connection with the present disclosure, multimodal data is also defined, which is defined to describe input data from different kinds of devices / sensors or output data to different kinds of destinations (e.g., one or more UEs) required for the same task or application. Multimodal data consists of more than one unimodal data, and there is a strong correlation between the unimodal data. Unimodal data can be regarded as one type of data.

[0040] Figure 2 and Figure 3 The following example instructions are provided: Figure 1 The elements of the communication system shown in are configured to support application layer procedures for transmitting data using PDU groups. Figure 2 Also shown in Figure 1 Components shown in FIG. 1 are labeled with the same numerical designations, and thus descriptions of these components will not be repeated for the sake of brevity.

[0041] like Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown in FIG. 1 , UE 200 sends data from application layer 320 (which may be, for example, an XR application) to gNB 202, although corresponding operations for sending application layer PDUs on the uplink are performed. gNB 202 may be Figure 1 The wireless communication network or more specifically the radio access network of the wireless communication network is formed by the TRP 120, DU 140 and CU 160. Transmitting data via the wireless access interface 250 at the application layer uses the physical layer (PHY 212) of the wireless access interface provided by the wireless communication network and other layers in the protocol stack as will be described below.

[0042] Figure 2 Provided Figure 1 A more detailed illustration of the components shown in FIG. Figure 2 In the example, TRP 120 corresponds approximately to Figure 1 10 and, as a simplified representation, includes a transmitter 126, a receiver 124 and a controller or control processor 122 that is operable to control the transmitter 126 and the receiver 124 to provide a cell provided by the TRP 120 (for clarity, the Figure 2 One or more UEs (not shown) within the device send and receive radio signals. Figure 2 As shown in , the TRP 120 is connected to the DU 140 via a physical interface 130, which may be, for example, a fiber optic cable. Thus, the network interface 130 provides a communication link for data and signaling traffic from the TRP 120 via the DU 140 and the CU 160 to the core network 400. The interface 150 between the DU 140 and the CU 160 is referred to as an F1 interface, which may be a physical interface or a logical interface. The F1 interface 150 between the DU 140 and the CU 160 may operate in accordance with specifications 3GPP TS 38.470 and 3GPP TS 38.473, and may be formed by an optical fiber or other wired or wireless high-bandwidth connection. The connection between the TRP 120 and the core network 400 may generally be referred to as a backhaul, which includes the physical interface 130 from the TRP 120 to the DU 140 and the F1 interface 150 from the DU 140 to the CU 160.

[0043] like Figure 2 As shown in FIG. 1 , the TRP 120 may be configured to send downlink radio signals and receive uplink radio signals from the UE 200 via a direct wireless communication link 250, which may be a Uu interface in one example. The UE 200 is shown to include a transmitter 226, a receiver 224, and a controller 222, which is configured to control the transmitter 226 and the receiver 224 to send uplink signals to the TRP 120 and receive downlink signals from the TRP 120 through the wireless communication link 250 formed between the UE 200 and the TRP 120.

[0044] The transmitters 126, 226 and the receivers 124, 224 and other transmitters, receivers and transceivers described for the examples and embodiments of the present disclosure may include radio frequency filters and amplifiers and signal processing components and devices to transmit and receive radio signals according to, for example, the 5G / NR standard. The controllers 122, 222 and other controllers described for the examples and embodiments of the present disclosure may be, for example, a microprocessor, a CPU or a dedicated chipset configured to execute instructions stored on a computer-readable medium (such as a non-volatile memory). The processing steps described herein may be performed by, for example, a microprocessor in combination with a random access memory, the microprocessor operating according to instructions stored on a computer-readable medium. For ease of presentation, in Figure 2 The transmitter, receiver and controller are schematically shown as separate elements in the figure. However, it will be understood that the functions of these elements can be provided in various different ways, such as using one or more appropriately programmed programmable computers, or one or more appropriately configured application specific integrated circuits / circuits / chips / chip sets.

[0045] As mentioned above, the TRP 120, DU 140, and CU 160 may collectively form a gNB 202, which is an example of infrastructure equipment of a wireless communication infrastructure network. Therefore, references to a UE 200 in communication with the TRP 120 may alternatively be considered as references to a UE 200 in communication with the gNB 202. Furthermore, it should be understood that the UE 200 is an example of a communication device or wireless transceiver unit. As will be understood, the infrastructure equipment / TRP / base station / gNB and the UE / communication device will typically include various other elements associated with their operating functions.

[0046] According to an example embodiment, the transmission of application layer data is adapted by configuring the protocol stack 302 of the communication protocol to indicate that the data being transmitted in a particular PDU belongs to a particular PDU group, or to constrain or restrict these other layers in the protocol stack to only transmit data as PDUs from a PDU group. Figure 3 As shown in FIG. 1 , the control processor 222 ( Figure 2) executes program code to form a protocol stack 302, which includes a physical layer 312, a medium access control layer 314, a radio link control layer 316, a PDCP layer 318, a SDAP layer 319, and an application layer 320. Correspondingly, on the network side, the gNodeB is 202, and the control processor 122 executes program code to form a protocol stack 330, which includes a physical layer 332, a medium access controller 334, a radio link control layer 336, a PDCP layer 338, and a SDAP layer 339. As will be understood, the corresponding application layer 340 and PDCP layer 342 can operate at a connection point in communication with the application layer 320 in the UE 200, which is connected by a packet data bearer 344, which is operating via the core network 400 using the interface 260 between the gNB 202 and the core network 400.

[0047] As will be explained in the following description, according to example embodiments, data from the application layer 320 on the UE 200 is sent to and received from the gNB 202 via the protocol stacks 302, 330. More specifically, data from the application layer 320, 340 is formed and sent as PDUs to lower layers such as the PDCP layer 318, 338 as PDU groups 342, 344, 346, each PDU group including a plurality (m) of PDUs 352. As will be appreciated, PDUs are first generated in the application layer 320, 340 and then generated in each layer (when the layer sends a packet to its lower layer), the term PDU is used for sending packets. When a layer receives a packet from its upper layer, the term service data unit SDU is used.

[0048] exist Figure 4 and Figure 5 An example diagram of a conventional arrangement for sending application layer PDUs for downlink and uplink, respectively, is shown in FIG. Figure 4 In the example shown in FIG. 4 , an application layer PDU 400 is sent from gNB 202 to UE 200 on the downlink via protocol stacks 302, 330. Figure 4 As shown in FIG. 1 , an example PDU group 342 generated from a PDU or PDU group at the application layer 340 is sent via the core network to the gNB and then via the SDAP layer 339, PDCP layer 338, RLC layer 336, MAC layer 334, and physical layer 332. Figure 44, segmentation information identifying a PDU group 442 is included in a field 460 within each of the PDCP PDUs 452, which identifies that the PDU belongs to a particular PDU group 442. Each of the PDUs 452 in the PDU group 442 is transmitted from the PDCP layer 338 as a plurality of RLC segments 462. Each of the RLC segments 462 is transmitted as a MAC transport block 472. The MAC transport block 472 includes a header 480 that includes information about multiplexing of data associated with different UEs in the downlink.

[0049] according to Figure 4 In the example shown in FIG. 4 , an application layer PDU 400 is sent from a gNB 202 to a UE 200 via different layers of the protocol stack 302, 330, wherein a PDU group 442 includes a segment of a large application layer PDU 400. Figure 4 As shown in , the application layer PDU 400 generated at the XR codec is segmented into smaller PDUs 452 of size 1500 octets to fit the transmission size of the IP packet. An indicator may be assigned in the PDCP layer 338 to indicate the segment number of the application layer PDU 452. The PDCP PDU 452 may then be segmented by the RLC sublayer to fit into a MAC transport block (TB) 462. For downlink transmissions, the gNB 202 may multiplex data from multiple UEs 482, 484, 486 in a transmit interval, which is a time allocation for transmitting application layer data from the radio access interface. The MAC transport block 472 is then fed to the HARQ entity 490, where the HARQ process transmits the transport block as partial segments through a transmitter under the control of the control circuitry of the gNB 202. According to Figure 4 In the example shown in , the segments 452 of the PDU group 442 may not be traceable at the lower layers due to, for example, segmentation in RLC and HARQ and subsequent data multiplexing in the MAC sublayer. Therefore, in this conventional approach, feedback for successful / unsuccessful PDU transmission / reception may be introduced only in the PDCP layer and only after the PDU is processed and combined through the different layers. As described above, any feedback in the PDCP layer may be too late because there are delays related to the RTT (Round Trip Time) over the air interface, the processing time in each sublayer in the UE and gNB, the transmission delay between the CU (PDCP) and DU (RLC, MAC) and possibly the RU (PHY layer).

[0050] Similarly, Figure 5 The transmission of application layer PDU 500 on the uplink from UE 200 to gNB 202 is shown. Figure 5 Provides Figure 4The examples shown for the downlink in correspondence to the examples for the uplink. Figure 5 , the application layer PDU 500 is segmented into smaller PDUs 552 of size 1500 octets to fit the transmission size of the IP packet, and the PDU 552 may form part of the PDU group 542. As will be explained below, the example implementation may be configured to provide an indicator that may be assigned in the PDCP layer 318 or the SDAP layer 319 to indicate the segment number of the application layer PDU 552. The PDC PPDU 552 may then be segmented by the RLC sublayer to fit into the MAC transport block 562. For uplink transmission, the UE 200 may multiplex data from different logical channels 582, 584, 586 based on the uplink grant and the priority of the data in a transmission interval, which is a time allocation for transmitting application layer data from the uplink of the wireless access interface. As for the downlink, the MAC transport block 572 is then fed to the HARQ entity 590, and the HARQ process is performed by the control circuit of the UE 200, thereby performing its own segmentation. Thus, similarly, for the downlink, feedback of successful application layer PDU segmentation may be introduced in the PDCP layer, but if one PDU in a PDU group is not successfully received, this may be too late to avoid wasting resources of lower layers, in particular resources of the physical layer 312.

[0051] As referenced above Figures 2 to 4 As shown, PDU groups 342, 344, 346 contain segmented PDUs 352 of application layer PDUs 320, 340. For example, XR services may require very high data rates and low latency, and if one PDU from the PDU group is lost, the entire PDU group may not be available, and the remaining segments may be discarded. Therefore, conventional methods of waiting for feedback of segments successfully or unsuccessfully sent at higher layers cannot meet the requirements of low latency and high data rates. This is due to the fact that by the time feedback is received in the upper layer, all segments may have been sent by the transmitter, or the remaining segments may exceed the packet delay budget (PDB). For example, the technical problem is to save power and / or capacity by not sending the remaining PDUs in the PDU group if the PDUs sent earlier in the PDU group are not received.

[0052] There is a possibility that application layer PDUs can be sent across different QoS flows, which can have the same relationship as the PDU group of the application PDU, for example, the I frame in the video packet can be mapped to a separate QoS flow compared to the P frame of the video. In addition, the audio associated with the video is mapped to a separate QoS flow. The Service Data Application Protocol (SDAP) layer in the RAN will then perform the mapping of the QoS flows to the DRBs. In this case, a single DRB or separate DRBs are configured. The result of a separate DRB for the RAN may be that if the I frame is not received correctly, the P frame or related audio needs to be discarded (the same as the PDU group of the application PDU). Therefore, according to an example implementation as described below, the PDU group can be carried on a single DRB or multiple DRBs.

[0053] Example embodiments may provide a method for transmitting data via a wireless communication network performed by a communication device, the method comprising: receiving application layer data for transmission at a protocol stack formed by the communication device for transmitting data, the data being received from an application layer forming part of the protocol stack as a group of packet data units (PDUs), or from a layer of the protocol stack configured to form the application layer data into a group of PDUs, each PDU in the group including an indication that the PDU belongs to the group; and transmitting each of the PDUs in the group as one or more data segments using a RAN or access layer protocol stack by controlling a transceiver of the communication device. Transmitting the PDUs in the group comprises: limiting physical layer transmission to limit transmission of the one or more data segments to each of the PDUs in the group corresponding to transmission; and determining that one of the data segments was not successfully transmitted, and in response to determining that one of the data segments was not successfully transmitted, terminating transmission of the group of PDUs to transmit the application layer PDUs. In this way, restrictions are imposed on the transmission of PDUs in a PDU group at the physical layer, so that the failure to transmit a physical layer data segment carrying part of one of the PDUs in the group can be used to identify that the transmission of any remaining part of the PDU or other PDUs in the group can be terminated, thereby saving communication resources, saving energy and transmitting application layer data with high reliability and low latency.

[0054] Example implementations may also include determining that one of the physical layer data segments was not successfully transmitted, and in response, providing a feedback signal to one or more other layers of the protocol stack that one of the physical layer data segments was not successfully transmitted, and terminating the transmission of the PDU group in which the application layer PDU was to be transmitted. According to this example, the feedback signal from the physical layer to at least one other layer (such as the PDCP layer) can be used to terminate the transmission of any remaining portion of the PDU and other PDUs in the PDU group, thereby saving time, saving energy, and using communication resources more efficiently.

[0055] In the following example implementation, an example of generating application layer data at the application layer of the protocol stack as an application layer PDU received by the next layer of the protocol stack will be provided. In one example, the application layer PDU includes XR data, and the application layer executes the XR application. In the following example, the application layer PDU is then received by the PDCP layer of the protocol stack as the next layer, which forms the application layer PDU into one of a plurality of PDU groups for transmission via the lower layer of the protocol stack, as will be explained. However, in other examples, the application layer data may be received by the service data application protocol (SDAP) layer as the next layer of the protocol stack to be transmitted via other lower layers of the protocol stack (which may also include the PDCP layer), although in other examples, the SDAP layer may pass the PDU group to the PDCP layer and then the PDU group may be passed to the RLC layer. In addition, in some examples, the application layer may form the application layer data into a PDU group for transmission, and then the PDU group is passed to the SDAP and / or PDCP layer to be transmitted via other lower layers of the protocol stack.

[0056] Embodiments of the present technology may provide examples of solutions that provide early feedback or no feedback. To enable lower layer feedback, as a first step, the protocol stacks in both the UE and the corresponding gNB may be adapted to provide certain restrictions so that the application PDU segmentation is identifiable in the lower layers.

[0057] Figure 6 A diagram illustrating an example implementation of the following is provided: Figure 4 The example shown in FIG. 1 corresponds to sending an application layer PDU on the downlink, where feedback is provided from the HARQ process at the physical layer 332. Figure 4 The parts in the figure are marked with the same number. Figure 7 Provides illustrations and Figure 6 FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example embodiment corresponding to the operation of , wherein feedback is provided from a lower layer to the PDCP layer to terminate the transmission of a PDU group, as will be described below. Figure 4 The downlink transmission of the application layer PDU is shown in Figure 6 The application layer PDU 600 in the MAC transport block 680 is transmitted as a PDU 652 forming one of a plurality of PDU groups 642. At the PDCP layer 338, segmentation information 660 is added to each of the PDUs 652 in the group 642 to identify the group to which the PDU 652 belongs. At the RLC layer 336, each PDU 652 is divided into RLC segments 662, which are then mapped onto a MAC transport block 680. However, unlike Figure 4Unlike the example shown in , in order to provide early feedback, the transport block 680 at the MAC layer is directed by the gNB 202 to only a single UE 682. However, according to an example embodiment, the segmentation information of the PDU 660 is carried at the RLC layer 336 and the MAC transport block 680 in a header 682, which is also delivered to the physical layer 332. In this example, the MAC transport block is restricted to carry PDUs from one UE, and thus the PDCP layer can use the failure to transmit the PDU or the HARQ segments of the PDU to terminate the transmission of other PDUs in the group.

[0058] Where corresponding parts are marked with the same numerical numerals Figure 7 As shown in FIG. 1 , gNB 202 sends application layer packet 600 to UE 200 via application layer 340, PDCP layer 338, RLC layer 336, MAC layer 324, and physical layer 332. Figure 7 , the physical layer 332 includes multiple HARQ processes 700, which are sending HARQ-ACK segments to a receiving HARQ process 704 through a wireless access interface 702. Figure 6 As illustrated, each layer of the protocol stack 330 processes the data it receives from the layer above. Starting with the application layer 340, an application layer PDU 600 is generated, which is passed to the PDCP layer 338 as represented by the arrow at 740. The PDCP layer 338 generates PDCP PDUs in groups 738, which are passed to the RLC layer 336, which in turn generates RLC segments 736 of the data, which are passed to the MAC layer 334. The MAC layer 334 generates MAC transport blocks 734 from the RLC segments 736 and passes these to the HARQ process 700. Each of the HARQ segments is sent to the UE 200 using the HARQ process 700. A receive HARQ process 704 receives each HARQ segment and generates a HARQ-ACK for feedback from the UE 200 to the gNB 202 as a HARQ-ACK feedback transmission 706 via the wireless access interface in accordance with conventional arrangements. On the transmitter side, the gNB 202 includes a portion of the HARQ processing monitoring process 710. According to an example embodiment, if the monitoring process 710 detects a negative HARQ segment transmission, the HARQ monitoring process 710 terminates the transmission of the PDU segment and provides a feedback signal 720 from the physical layer 332 to the MAC layer 334 to discard the remaining transport blocks from the MAC layer. The MAC layer 334 also provides a feedback signal 722 to the RLC layer to terminate the transmission of the RLC segment, and an additional feedback signal 724 is sent from the RLC layer 336 to the PDCP layer 338 to provide an indication that the transmission of the remaining PDUs in the group can be terminated.

[0059] according to Figure 6 and Figure 7 In an example embodiment of the present invention, the control processing performed in the gNB 202 by the controller 122 executing program code or dedicated hardware can be adapted to include mapping RLC segments onto MAC transport blocks instead of multiplexing data of different UEs into the same transport block. At the physical layer 332, HARQ processes are pre-allocated and these HARQ processes wait for feedback before recycling to the same HARQ process number. According to Figure 6 In an example implementation of , no HARQ enhancement is required and the focus is on the configuration aspect. In this case, the NTN procedure without HARQ feedback signaling configuration becomes the basis. However, even if scheduling all RLC segments can provide some compensation, it may be more restrictive for the gNB to schedule data transmission from a single UE in a transport block.

[0060] A corresponding example for uplink transmission of application layer packets from UE 200 to gNB 202 is as follows Figure 8 and Fig. 9 Similar to downlink transmission, Figure 8 Illustration of the adaptation Figure 5 The protocol stack shown in Figure 1 is limited to the lower layers of the protocol stack. Fig. 9 In the embodiment, restrictions are performed to ensure that PDU groups are indicated to the MAC layer, the RLC layer and the physical layer so that the transmission of the PDU group can be terminated using early feedback, where one or more HARQ-ACK segments are indicated as not being received (HARQ NACK).

[0061] like Figure 8 As shown in Figure 5 The example shown in FIG. 8 corresponds to an application layer PDU 800 transmitted on the uplink, wherein feedback is provided from a HARQ process at the physical layer 312 of the UE 200, wherein the controller circuit 222 controls the transmitter 226 and the receiver 224 to transmit data as HARQ segments under the control of the controller circuit 222, which implements the protocol stack 302 as described above. Also present in FIG. Figure 5 The parts in the same figure have the same number labels. Figure 5 8, the application layer PDU 800 is transmitted as a PDU 852 forming one of a plurality of PDU groups 842. At the PDCP layer 318, segmentation information 860 is added to each of the PDUs 852 in the group 842 to identify the group to which the PDU 852 belongs. At the RLC layer 316, each PDU 852 is divided into RLC segments 862, which are then mapped onto MAC transport blocks 880 for uplink transmission. Figure 7As described above, in order to provide early feedback, a transmission block 880 at the MAC layer is sent on a logical channel so that Figure 8 As shown in FIG. 1 , each RLC segment is formed into a MAC transport block 880, 882 and transmitted on a separate logical channel 886, 890. Each of the MAC transport blocks 880, 882 includes a header 884, 888 identifying the PDU and the PDU group to which the PDU belongs. Thus, according to an example embodiment, the segmentation information of the PDU 860 is carried at the RLC layer 316 and the MAC transport blocks 880, 882 in the header 884, 888, which is also delivered to the physical layer 312. Thus, the failure to transmit a segment (HARQ segment) of a MAC transport block can be used to terminate the transmission of a PDU group.

[0062] Where corresponding parts are marked with the same numerical numerals Fig. 9 As shown in FIG. 8 , UE 200 sends application layer packet 800 to gNB 202 via application layer 320, SDAP layer, PDCP layer 318, RLC layer 316, MAC layer 314, and physical layer 312. Fig. 9 , the physical layer 312 includes multiple HARQ processes 900, which are sending HARQ segments to a receiving HARQ process 904 via a wireless access interface 902. Figure 6 , Figure 7 and Figure 8As illustrated, each layer of the protocol stack 302 processes the data it receives from the layer above. The application layer 320 generates application layer PDUs 800, which are passed to the PDCP layer 318, as represented by the arrow at 920. The PDCP layer 318 generates PDCP PDUs in groups 918, which are passed to the RLC layer 316, which in turn generates RLC segments 916 of the data, which are passed to the MAC layer 314. The MAC layer 314 generates MAC transport blocks 914 from the RLC segments 916 and passes these to the HARQ processes 900. Each of the HARQ processes generates HARQ segments, and each of the HARQ segments is sent to the UE 200 using the HARQ processes 900. The receive HARQ process 904 receives each HARQ segment and generates a HARQ-ACK to be fed back from the gNB 202 to the UE 200 as a HARQ-ACK feedback transmission 906 via the wireless access interface according to conventional arrangements. On the transmitter side, the UE 200 includes a portion of the HARQ processing monitoring process 910. According to an example embodiment, if the monitoring process 910 detects a negative HARQ segment transmission, the HARQ monitoring process 910 terminates the transmission of the PDU segment and provides a feedback signal 940 from the physical layer 312 to the MAC layer 314 to discard the remaining transport blocks from the MAC layer 314. The MAC layer 314 also provides a feedback signal 942 to the RLC layer 316 to terminate the transmission of the RLC segment and provides an additional feedback signal 946 to the PDCP layer 318 to terminate the transmission of the remaining PDUs in the group of PDUs in the group. The feedback is also passed to the application layer to discard the remaining PDUs in the PDU group.

[0063] According to the example implementations described above, at least the RRC layer, the MAC layer, and the physical layer are configured by, for example, RRC signaling, so that the PDU segment is identifiable by these layers, so that the HARQ feedback process can provide these layers with an indication of unsuccessful transmission of the PDU in the PDU group. In some examples, the PDU segment can be mapped to a dedicated radio bearer (DRB) and a logical channel (LCH), and the MAC transport block can contain the RLC segment of the same PDCP PDU. According to these examples, the HARQ process can be reserved for a specific transport block.

[0064] Window Management

[0065] In some examples, the HARQ process may detect that the last segment of the PDU group has failed. In this example, there may be no pending actions in the receiving HARQ process because all other HARQ segments may have been reassembled and passed as a transport block to the MAC layer. The MAC layer can then forward the RLC PDU to the RLC layer. However, it may happen that these segments are still in the RLC / PDCP buffer and it is worthwhile to propagate feedback at the HARQ layer to the upper layers so that the data from the RLC / PDCP buffer can be discarded. This can save unnecessary packet processing.

[0066] However, window management is required to ensure that the packets in the window are associated with the PDU group. The sliding window mechanism will help to discard the correct packets. Therefore, according to an example embodiment, in order to assist in identifying the window of relevant segments to the HARQ, MAC and RLC layers, the PDCP sequence number (SN) associated with the PDU in the PDU group or a shortened form of the PDCP SN and the number / position of the PDU in the PDU group are included in the PDCP header.

[0067] Interleaved PDU

[0068] According to some example embodiments, interleaving of PDUs may be applied from within or across PDU groups. This approach works when a single DRB is used, and packets are shuffled so that the overall PDB is still maintained, and the feedback mechanism is still useful, because there may be PDUs in the PDU group that are still in the buffer and the radio capacity is also utilized. This approach will ensure that feedback is timely and also ensure that capacity in terms of uplink grants and downlink scheduling is not wasted.

[0069] Multiple TBs in one TTI

[0070] When multiple transport blocks are sent in a Transmission Time Interval (TTI), data belonging to different UEs may be scheduled for transmission on the downlink. For uplink transmissions, a UE may send more than one transport block containing data associated with different logical channels or different PDUs from the same or different PDU groups.

[0071] PDU group mapped to a DRB

[0072] According to some example embodiments, it may be assumed that all PDUs in a PDU group may be mapped to the same DRB. Thus, example embodiments may be used to define a one-to-one mapping between PDU sessions that generate application PDUs, where the PDUs are segmented and mapped to a single DRB in the PDCP layer. Furthermore, in the RLC layer, one DRB is mapped to one RLC channel / logical channel (except for dual connectivity).

[0073] PDU groups mapped to more than one DRB

[0074] According to other example embodiments, there is a possibility that the PDUs in a PDU group are mapped to different DRBs. In this example, there is awareness of I / P / B frames or multimodal streams in the RAN. In this case, the identifier in the PDCP header should indicate the relationship or mapping between the DRBs, for example, by the associated DRB index. For example, an I frame may be mapped to one DRB, and a P / B frame may be mapped to another DRB and the associated audio is mapped to a third DRB. In this case, RRC signaling may assign DRB IDs #6, 7, 8, respectively, and a new PDCP entity may be created for each DRB. In one embodiment, the PDCP header indicates an indication linking the packet to another DRB identifier (ID). Therefore, if there is an error in the packet associated with DRB ID 6, it may not make sense to send the associated packets for DRB IDs 7 and 8, and it is better to discard these packets. This discard of packets should work independently on the receiver side because the receiver has enough information to discard. The problem is the relationship between the PDCP SNs assigned between different DRBs. One solution is to include the DRB ID and PDCP SN of another DRB, i.e., the packet generated for DRB ID 6 includes DRB ID 7 and the associated PDCP SN of the PDCP SDU associated with the PDCP SDU of DRB ID 6. This requires a PDCP entity created for different DRBs to coordinate the PDCP SN. Alternatively, the mechanism is moved to the Service Data Application Protocol (SDAP) layer. Thus, according to an example embodiment, for one DRB case, the PDCP SN is also included in the associated PDU in the PDU group, but since a single DRB is used, no DRB ID is required.

[0075] In one embodiment, discarding occurs in the PDCP layer, ie, feedback is sent at the PDCP layer.

[0076] In another embodiment, no new configuration is introduced, i.e., the MAC TB and HARQ segments may contain packets from the same or different PDU groups. No feedback mechanism is introduced. However, the PDCP layer of the transmitter includes a combination of the following information in each PDCP PDU:

[0077] 1. Timestamp of the packet generation time

[0078] 2. The lifetime of the PDU The sender can estimate this time based on the RTT, the processing time of each layer (PHY, MAC, RLC sublayer) in the sender and receiver + additional processing time for CU and DU segmentation (mainly for UL) and return delay, and the required packet delay budget (PDB).

[0079] 3. The number of PDUs in the PDU group and the exact number / position of that specific PDU in the PDU group

[0080] Based on this information, the receiver in the PDCP layer can discard the earlier received PDU in the PDU group. This method does not stop the transmission of the remaining packets, but allows the earlier or future received packets to be discarded. This can prompt the receiver not to send packets of the PDU group because the radio conditions may be opposite for the uplink and downlink. This function can also be implemented in SDAP instead of PDCP.

[0081] The SDAP layer can be used for all parts related to the PDCP layer.

[0082] Example implementations are Fig.10 It is shown in Figures 3 to 9 Parts that appear in the same table have the same numerical designations. Fig.10 As shown in FIG. 1 , UE 200 transmits application layer packets 800 to gNB 202 via application layer 320, SDAP layer 319, PDCP layer 318, RLC layer 316, MAC layer 314, and physical layer 312. As for the example embodiments already described above, physical layer 312 includes multiple HARQ processes 900 that transmit HARQ segments to receiving HARQ process 904 via radio access interface 902. Application layer 320 generates application layer PDUs 800 that are delivered to PDCP layer 318 as represented by the arrow at 920. PDCP layer 318 generates PDCP PDUs in groups 918 that are delivered to RLC layer 316, which in turn generates RLC segments (or SDUs) 916 of data that are delivered to MAC layer 314. The MAC layer 314 generates MAC transport blocks 914 from the RLC segments 916 and passes these to the HARQ processes 900. Each of the HARQ processes generates a HARQ segment and each of the HARQ segments is sent by the UE 200 using the HARQ process 900. The receive HARQ process 904 receives each HARQ segment and generates a HARQ-ACK to be fed back from the gNB 202 to the UE 200 as a HARQ-ACK feedback transmission 906 via the wireless access interface in accordance with conventional arrangements. Accordingly, correspondingly, on the receiver side, the gNB physical layer 332 receives the MAC transport blocks and passes 1034 each transport block to the MAC layer 324 which reforms data segments (SDUs) 1036 of the RLC layer 336 which are passed to the RLC layer 336 which reforms the PDUs which are passed 1038 to the PDCP layer 338. As shown in FIG. Fig.10As shown in , the PDCP layer 338 then sends 1040 the PDCP PDU to the application layer 340 via the packet data bearer 342, as described above.

[0083] like Fig.10 As shown in and according to the example, each of the PDUs 1050 in each group of PDUs includes a header 1060, which includes at least an indication of a timestamp 1062 of the time when the PDU group was generated. Therefore, the application layer 340 can determine whether any PDU in the group has exceeded the usage time. If the application layer receives one of the PDUs with a timestamp that has exceeded the usage time, the application layer can send a feedback signal to the PDCP layer 320, 338, which in turn can clear the transmission and reception of resources at each layer in each of the protocol stacks 320, 330 to discard the data segments and data units that have been sent / received or are to be sent / received at each layer.

[0084] In other embodiments, the timestamp 1062 is maintained in the PDCP / SDAP layer, which is set and sent by the sending PDCP / SDAP entity and is acted upon by the receiving PDCP / SDAP entity, because the PDCP / SDAP entity can be responsible for radio delays. Therefore, if this is the last packet in the group that is missing a timestamp or received after the timer expires, the PDCP or SDAP entity can tell the application layer to discard the packets that have been received belonging to the same PDU group. The PDCP entity / layer already has a discard timer that applies to the overall delay and not to the PDU group. An embodiment may include a new timer / timestamp for packets belonging to a PDU group, which is used to discard all PDUs in the group that have exceeded their lifetime relative to the timer.

[0085] As mentioned above, in some examples, the header may also include an indication of a lifetime, which may also be expressed as a maximum usage time of the PDUs in the PDU group relative to their generation time. The lifetime / maximum usage time may be used to determine whether the PDUs in the group have exceeded the lifetime / maximum usage time relative to the PDU generation time.

[0086] According to other examples, the header of each of the PDUs in the group includes an indication of the position of each PDU in the PDU group and / or an indication of the total number of PDUs in the group. This information can be used to identify the number of PDUs in the group that have not yet been sent / received, and therefore to identify whether it is beneficial to signal to the PDCP layer 320, 330 that the PDU group can be discarded. For example, if the PDU in the group that is detected as having an error and / or not received is the last PDU in the group, the application layer 340 can determine that the cost in terms of communication resources and energy consumed in signaling that the PDU group should be discarded will be greater than the cost gained by not sending / receiving the PDUs in the group that have not been sent so far.

[0087] In another embodiment, configuration restrictions are used together with the above information included in the PDCP / SDAP header.Based on the above information, PDCP can discard the earlier received packet and indicate to the lower layer to provide feedback to the sender or discard the data on the next received MAC TB or HARQ process.

[0088] CBG linked to PDU group

[0089] According to another example embodiment, a transport block may be decomposed into multiple code blocks, where the code blocks are arranged into code block groups (CBGs) based on the RRC configuration. The number of configurable CBGs per transport block may be 2, 4, and 8. If the receiver does not decode all code block groups (CBGs), it may indicate to the sender to resend any specific erroneous CBGs instead of the entire transport block.

[0090] Assuming that one PDU is mapped to one logical channel, multiple PDUs corresponding to multiple logical channels (from the same PDU group) can be generated, and then each logical channel can be mapped to one CBG in the transport block, thus sending a TB containing a single or multiple logical channels (ie, corresponding to the same PDU group). If a CBG fails and cannot be retransmitted in time, any remaining data of the PDU group will be discarded without being sent, i.e. terminated early.

[0091] According to an example embodiment, a logical channel may be mapped to a set of dedicated HARQ processes, which is a restriction introduced for scheduling the transmission of PDUs in a PDU group and then generating HARQ feedback or CBG feedback for the PDUs in the PDU group.

[0092] The following numbered paragraphs provide additional example aspects and features of the present technology:

[0093] Paragraph 1. A method for transmitting data by a communication device via a wireless communication network, the method comprising:

[0094] receiving, at a protocol stack formed by a communication device for transmitting data, application layer data for transmission, the data being received from an application layer forming part of the protocol stack as a group of packet data units (PDUs), or from a layer of the protocol stack configured to form the application layer data as groups of PDUs, each PDU in the group comprising an indication that the PDU belongs to the group,

[0095] Each of the PDUs in the group is sent as one or more data segments using a physical layer of a protocol stack by controlling a transceiver of the communication device, wherein sending the PDUs in the group using the physical layer of the protocol stack comprises:

[0096] restricting physical layer transmission to restrict transmission of one or more data segments to each of the PDUs in the group corresponding to transmission, and

[0097] It is determined that one of the data segments was not successfully transmitted, and in response to determining that one of the data segments was not successfully transmitted, transmission of the PDU group is terminated so that an application layer PDU is to be transmitted.

[0098] Paragraph 2. The method according to paragraph 1, comprising:

[0099] receiving each of the PDUs in the PDU group at a radio link control, RLC, layer of the protocol stack,

[0100] At the RLC layer, multiple RLC segments are formed for each PDU for transmission.

[0101] receiving each of the RLC segments at a medium access control MAC layer,

[0102] At the MAC layer, a MAC transport block is formed from each RLC segment for transmission, and

[0103] Each of the MAC transport blocks is received at a physical layer, wherein sending the PDUs in the group comprises:

[0104] The method of claim 10, wherein the method comprises: transmitting each MAC transport block using a physical layer to transmit one or more data segments by controlling a transceiver of the communication device to transmit each of the PDUs in the group using a physical layer, wherein limiting the physical layer transmission to limit the transmission of the one or more data segments to each of the PDUs in the group corresponding to transmitting the PDUs in the group comprises:

[0105] Physical layer transmission of the one or more data segments to be transmitted per MAC transport block is limited to include data from one of the PDUs in the group.

[0106] Paragraph 3. The method of paragraph 2, wherein transmitting each of the PDUs in the group using a physical layer of a protocol stack comprises:

[0107] Executing a plurality of hybrid automatic repeat request protocol HARQ processes, wherein the one or more data segments are a plurality of HARQ segments, and each MAC transport block is divided into a plurality of HARQ segments transmitted via a radio access interface of a wireless communication network, and determining that one of the data segments is not successfully transmitted comprises:

[0108] Determining from a HARQ-ACK received in response to each HARQ segment sent whether the HARQ segment is successfully sent, and determining that one of the data segments is not successfully sent includes: determining from the HARQ-ACK that one of the HARQ segments is not successfully sent, and in response, terminating the sending of a PDU group that is to transmit an application layer PDU, wherein the failure to send a HARQ segment as part of the sending of a MAC transport block indicates that the PDU group is unsuccessfully transmitted.

[0109] Paragraph 4. A method according to paragraph 3, wherein limiting the physical layer transmission to limit the transmission of the one or more data segments to each corresponding to transmitting the PDU in the group includes limiting each MAC transport block to carry one of the RLC segments for one logical channel.

[0110] Paragraph 5. The method according to paragraph 3 includes: identifying that a HARQ-ACK segment has not been successfully received, and terminating the sending of any HARQ segment for a HARQ process that has not been sent, and terminating the sending of at least part of a MAC transport block that has not been sent, and terminating the sending of any RLC segment that has not been sent, and terminating the sending of any PDU in the group that has not been successfully sent, and determining that an application layer PDU has not been successfully sent.

[0111] Paragraph 6. A method according to paragraphs 1 or 2, wherein transmitting each of the PDUs in the group using a physical layer of a protocol stack comprises:

[0112] Generating a plurality of code blocks grouped into a code block group from each MAC transport block, each MAC transport block being divided into a plurality of code blocks in the code block group and transmitted via a wireless access interface of a wireless communication network, and determining that one of the data segments was not successfully transmitted comprises:

[0113] Determining whether the code blocks are successfully transmitted and determining that one of the data segments is not successfully transmitted includes determining that one of the code blocks is not successfully transmitted and, in response, terminating transmission of the PDU group that is to transmit the application layer PDU.

[0114] Paragraph 7. A method according to paragraphs 1 to 6, wherein the protocol stack includes a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, and receiving application layer data for transmission includes:

[0115] receiving application layer data at the PDCP layer, and

[0116] Application layer data is formed into PDU groups.

[0117] Paragraph 8. A method according to any one of paragraphs 1 to 6, wherein the protocol stack includes a service data application protocol (SDAP) layer, and receiving application layer data for transmission includes:

[0118] receiving application layer data at the SDAP layer, and

[0119] Application layer data is formed into PDU groups.

[0120] Paragraph 9. A method for transmitting data by a communication device via a wireless communication network, the method comprising:

[0121] receiving, at a protocol stack formed by a communication device for transmitting data, application layer data for transmission, the data being received from an application layer forming part of the protocol stack as a group of packet data units (PDUs) or from another layer of the protocol stack configured to form the application layer data into groups of PDUs, each PDU in the group comprising an indication that the PDU belongs to the group,

[0122] Each of the PDUs in the group is transmitted as one or more data segments using a physical layer of a protocol stack by controlling a transceiver of the communication device, wherein transmitting the PDUs in the group comprises:

[0123] determining that one of the physical layer data segments was not successfully transmitted, and

[0124] In response to determining that one of the physical layer data segments was not successfully transmitted, providing a feedback signal to an application layer or another layer of a protocol stack forming a PDU group that one of the physical layer data segments was not successfully transmitted, and

[0125] The transmission of the PDU group is terminated at one or more layers of the protocol stack.

[0126] Paragraph 10. The method according to paragraph 9, comprising:

[0127] receiving each of the PDUs in the PDU group at a radio link control, RLC, layer of the protocol stack,

[0128] At the RLC layer, multiple RLC segments are formed for each PDU for transmission.

[0129] receiving each of the RLC segments at a medium access control MAC layer,

[0130] At the MAC layer, a MAC transport block is formed from each RLC segment for transmission, and

[0131] Each of the MAC transport blocks is received at a physical layer, wherein sending the PDUs in the group comprises:

[0132] Sending each MAC transport block using a physical layer by controlling a transceiver of the communication device to send one or more data segments, wherein providing a feedback signal to an application layer or the other layer of a protocol stack that one of the physical layer data segments was not successfully transmitted comprises:

[0133] Providing feedback signals from the physical layer to the MAC layer, from the MAC layer to the RLC layer, and from the RLC layer to the other layer or the application layer, and terminating the transmission of the PDU group at one or more layers of the protocol stack includes

[0134] terminate the transmission of any remaining MAC transport blocks or parts thereof,

[0135] terminate the transmission of any remaining RLC segments or portions thereof, and

[0136] Terminates the transmission of any remaining PDUs or parts thereof of the group.

[0137] Paragraph 11. A method according to paragraph 9 or 10, wherein transmitting each of the PDUs in the group using a physical layer of a protocol stack comprises:

[0138] Executing a plurality of hybrid automatic repeat request protocol HARQ processes, wherein the one or more data segments are a plurality of HARQ segments, and each MAC transport block is divided into a plurality of HARQ segments transmitted via a radio access interface of a wireless communication network, and determining that one of the data segments is not successfully transmitted comprises:

[0139] Determining from a HARQ-ACK received in response to each HARQ segment sent whether the HARQ segment is successfully sent, and determining that one of the data segments is not successfully sent includes: determining from the HARQ-ACK that one of the HARQ segments is not successfully sent, and in response, terminating the sending of a PDU group that is to transmit an application layer PDU, wherein the failure to send a HARQ segment as part of the sending of a MAC transport block indicates that the PDU group is unsuccessfully transmitted.

[0140] Paragraph 12. The method according to paragraph 11 includes: identifying that a HARQ-ACK segment has not been successfully received, and terminating the sending of any HARQ segment for a HARQ process that has not been sent, and terminating the sending of at least part of a MAC transport block that has not been sent, and terminating the sending of any RLC segment that has not been sent, and terminating the sending of any PDU in the group that has not been successfully sent, and determining that an application layer PDU has not been successfully sent.

[0141] Paragraph 13. A method according to paragraph 9 or 10, wherein transmitting each of the PDUs in the group using a physical layer of a protocol stack comprises:

[0142] Generating a plurality of code blocks grouped into a code block group from each MAC transport block, each MAC transport block being divided into a plurality of code blocks in the code block group and transmitted via a wireless access interface of a wireless communication network, and determining that one of the data segments was not successfully transmitted comprises:

[0143] Determining whether the code blocks are successfully transmitted and determining that one of the data segments is not successfully transmitted includes determining that one of the code blocks is not successfully transmitted and, in response, terminating transmission of the PDU group that is to transmit the application layer PDU.

[0144] Paragraph 14. A method for transmitting data by a communication device via a wireless communication network, the method comprising:

[0145] receiving application layer data for transmission at a protocol stack formed by a communication device for transmitting data, the data being received from the application layer as a group of packet data units (PDUs) or from a layer of the protocol stack configured to form the application layer data as a group of PDUs, each PDU in the group comprising an indication that the PDU belongs to the group,

[0146] By controlling the transceiver of the communication device, each of the PDUs in the group is sent as one or more data segments using the physical layer of the protocol stack, wherein the header of each of the PDUs in the group includes a timestamp indicating the time when the PDU group was generated, and the timestamp is used by the receiver when discarding all PDUs in the group that have been received or have not been received within the lifetime of the PDU group but are to be received.

[0147] Paragraph 15. A method according to paragraph 14, wherein the header of each of the PDUs in the group includes an indication of a time to live of the PDU group.

[0148] Paragraph 16. The method of paragraph 14, wherein the header of each of the PDUs in the group includes an indication of a time to live of the PDU in the group.

[0149] Paragraph 17. A method according to any of paragraphs 14, 15 or 16, wherein the header of each of the PDUs in the group includes an indication of the position of each PDU in the PDU group.

[0150] Paragraph 18. A method as described in any of paragraphs 14 to 17, wherein the header of each of the PDUs in the group includes an indication of the total number of PDUs in the group.

[0151] Paragraph 19. A method of operating infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless communication network, the method comprising:

[0152] receiving data using a protocol stack including at least a physical layer, in which the data is received as a plurality of data segments by a transceiver of a control infrastructure device, wherein the data includes a group of packet data units (PDUs), and a header of each of the PDUs in the group includes a timestamp indicating a time when the PDU group was generated,

[0153] receiving an indication that at least one of the PDUs in the group was received after the time to live, and

[0154] One or more of the data segments received at the physical layer and one or more data segments scheduled for reception are discarded at the transceiver circuit to discard all PDUs in the group that have been received or were not received within the lifetime of the PDU group but are to be received.

[0155] Paragraph 20. A method as described in paragraph 19, wherein the header of each of the PDUs in the group includes an indication of the time to live of the PDU group.

[0156] Paragraph 21. A method as described in paragraph 19, wherein the header of each of the PDUs in the group includes an indication of the time to live of the PDU in the group.

[0157] Paragraph 22. A method as described in paragraphs 19, 20 or 21, wherein the header of each of the PDUs in the group includes an indication of the position of each PDU in the PDU group.

[0158] Paragraph 23. A method as described in any of paragraphs 19 to 22, wherein the header of each of the PDUs in the group includes an indication of the total number of PDUs in the group.

[0159] Paragraph 24. A communication device for transmitting data via a wireless communication network, the communication device comprising:

[0160] a transceiver circuit configured to transmit data to the wireless communication network via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communication network, and to receive data transmitted via the wireless access interface from the wireless communication network, and

[0161] a controller circuit configured to control the transceiver circuit, and

[0162] receiving, at a protocol stack formed by a communication device for transmitting data, application layer data for transmission, the data being received from an application layer forming part of the protocol stack as a group of packet data units (PDUs), or from a layer of the protocol stack configured to form the application layer data as groups of PDUs, each PDU in the group comprising an indication that the PDU belongs to the group,

[0163] Controlling the transceiver circuit to transmit each of the PDUs in the group as one or more data segments using the physical layer of the protocol stack, wherein the controller circuit is configured to control the transceiver circuit to transmit the PDUs in the group by the following steps:

[0164] restricting physical layer transmission to restrict transmission of one or more data segments to each of the PDUs in the group corresponding to transmission, and

[0165] determining that one of the data segments was not successfully transmitted, and

[0166] In response to determining that one of the data segments was not successfully transmitted, transmission of the PDU group that is to transmit the application layer PDU is terminated.

[0167] Paragraph 25. A communication device for transmitting data via a wireless communication network, the communication device comprising:

[0168] a transceiver circuit configured to transmit data to a wireless communication network via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communication interface, and to receive data transmitted via the wireless access interface from the wireless communication network, and

[0169] A controller circuit configured to control the transceiver circuit

[0170] receiving, at a protocol stack formed by a communication device for transmitting data, application layer data for transmission, the data being received from an application layer forming part of the protocol stack as a group of packet data units (PDUs), or from a layer of the protocol stack configured to form the application layer data as groups of PDUs, each PDU in the group comprising an indication that the PDU belongs to the group,

[0171] Controlling the transceiver circuit to transmit each of the PDUs in the group as one or more data segments using the physical layer of the protocol stack, wherein the controller circuit is configured to control the transceiver circuit to transmit the PDUs in the group by the following steps:

[0172] determining that one of the physical layer data segments was not successfully transmitted, and

[0173] In response to determining that one of the physical layer data segments is not successfully transmitted, providing a feedback signal to the PDCP layer that one of the physical layer data segments is successfully transmitted, and

[0174] Terminate the transmission of the PDU group that will transmit the application layer PDU.

[0175] Paragraph 26. A method for communicating between an infrastructure device and a communication device of a wireless communication network, the method comprising:

[0176] receiving, at a protocol stack formed by infrastructure equipment for transmitting data, application layer data for transmission, the data being received as a group of packet data units (PDUs) or being received from a layer of the protocol stack configured to form the application layer data into groups of PDUs, each PDU in the group including an indication that the PDU belongs to the group,

[0177] Each of the PDUs in the group is transmitted as one or more data segments using a physical layer of a protocol stack by controlling a transceiver of the communication device, wherein transmitting the PDUs in the group comprises:

[0178] restricting physical layer transmission to restrict transmission of one or more data segments to each of the PDUs in the group corresponding to transmission, and

[0179] determining that one of the data segments was not successfully transmitted, and

[0180] In response to determining that one of the data segments was not successfully transmitted, transmission of the PDU group that is to transmit the application layer PDU is terminated.

[0181] Paragraph 27. A method for communicating between an infrastructure device and a communication device of a wireless communication network, the method comprising:

[0182] receiving, at a protocol stack formed by infrastructure equipment for transmitting data, application layer data for transmission, the data being received as a group of packet data units (PDUs) or being received from a layer of the protocol stack configured to form the application layer data into groups of PDUs, each PDU in the group including an indication that the PDU belongs to the group,

[0183] Each of the PDUs in the group is transmitted as one or more data segments using a physical layer of a protocol stack by controlling a transceiver of the communication device, wherein transmitting the PDUs in the group comprises:

[0184] determining that one of the physical layer data segments was not successfully transmitted, and

[0185] In response to determining that one of the physical layer data segments is not successfully transmitted, providing a feedback signal to the PDCP layer that one of the physical layer data segments is successfully transmitted, and

[0186] Terminate the transmission of the PDU group that will transmit the application layer PDU.

[0187] Paragraph 28. An infrastructure device of a wireless communication network for transmitting data to one or more communication devices, the infrastructure device comprising:

[0188] a transceiver circuit configured to transmit data to the one or more communication devices via a wireless access interface formed by the infrastructure equipment, and to receive the transmitted data from the one or more communication devices via the wireless access interface, and

[0189] a controller circuit configured to control the transceiver circuit, and

[0190] receiving, at a protocol stack formed by infrastructure equipment for transmitting data, application layer data for transmission, the data being received as a group of packet data units (PDUs) or being received from a layer of the protocol stack configured to form the application layer data into groups of PDUs, each PDU in the group including an indication that the PDU belongs to the group,

[0191] Controlling the transceiver circuit to transmit each of the PDUs in the group as one or more data segments using the physical layer of the protocol stack, wherein the controller circuit is configured to control the transceiver circuit to transmit the PDUs in the group by the following steps:

[0192] limiting physical layer transmission to limit transmission of one or more data segments to the transmission of each of the PDUs in the group to the communication device, and

[0193] determining that one of the data segments was not successfully transmitted, and

[0194] In response to determining that one of the data segments was not successfully transmitted, transmission of the PDU group that is to transmit the application layer PDU is terminated.

[0195] Paragraph 29. An infrastructure device of a wireless communication network for transmitting data to one or more communication devices, the infrastructure device comprising:

[0196] a transceiver circuit configured to transmit data to the one or more communication devices via a wireless access interface formed by the infrastructure equipment, and to receive the transmitted data from the one or more communication devices via the wireless access interface, and

[0197] A controller circuit configured to control the transceiver circuit

[0198] receiving, at a protocol stack formed by an infrastructure device for transmitting data, application layer data for transmission, the data being received from the application layer as a group of packet data units (PDUs), or from a layer of the protocol stack configured to form the application layer data into groups of PDUs, each PDU in the group including an indication that the PDU belongs to the group,

[0199] Controlling the transceiver circuit to transmit each of the PDUs in the group as one or more data segments using the physical layer of the protocol stack, wherein the controller circuit is configured to control the transceiver circuit to transmit the PDUs in the group by the following steps:

[0200] determining that one of the physical layer data segments was not successfully transmitted, and

[0201] In response to determining that one of the physical layer data segments is not successfully transmitted, providing a feedback signal to the PDCP layer that one of the physical layer data segments is successfully transmitted, and

[0202] Terminate the transmission of the PDU group that will transmit the application layer PDU.

[0203] Paragraph 30. A communication device for transmitting data via a wireless communication network, the communication device comprising:

[0204] a transceiver circuit configured to transmit data to a wireless communication network via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communication interface, and to receive data transmitted via the wireless access interface from the wireless communication network, and

[0205] A controller circuit configured to control the transceiver circuit

[0206] receiving application layer data for transmission using a protocol stack formed by a communication device for transmitting data, the data being received from the application layer as a group of packet data units (PDUs) or from a layer of the protocol stack configured to form the application layer data into groups of PDUs, each PDU in the group including an indication that the PDU belongs to the group, and

[0207] By controlling the transceiver of the communication device, each of the PDUs in the group is sent as one or more data segments using the physical layer of the protocol stack, wherein the header of each of the PDUs in the group includes a timestamp indicating the time when the PDU group was generated, and the timestamp is used by the receiver when discarding all PDUs in the group that have been received or have not been received within the lifetime of the PDU group but are to be received.

[0208] Paragraph 31. An infrastructure device of a wireless communication network for transmitting data to one or more communication devices, the infrastructure device comprising:

[0209] a transceiver circuit configured to transmit data to the one or more communication devices via a wireless access interface formed by the infrastructure equipment, and to receive the transmitted data from the one or more communication devices via the wireless access interface, and

[0210] A controller circuit configured to control the transceiver circuit

[0211] receiving application layer data for transmission using a protocol stack formed by infrastructure equipment for transmitting data, the data being received from the application layer as a group of packet data units (PDUs) or from a layer of the protocol stack configured to form the application layer data into groups of PDUs, each PDU in the group including an indication that the PDU belongs to the group, and

[0212] By controlling the transceiver of the communication device, each of the PDUs in the group is sent as one or more data segments using the physical layer of the protocol stack, wherein the header of each of the PDUs in the group includes a timestamp indicating the time when the PDU group was generated, and the timestamp is used by the receiver when discarding all PDUs in the group that have been received or have not been received within the lifetime of the PDU group but are to be received.

[0213] Paragraph 32. A communication device for transmitting data via a wireless communication network, the communication device comprising:

[0214] a transceiver circuit configured to transmit data to a wireless communication network via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communication interface, and to receive data transmitted via the wireless access interface from the wireless communication network, and

[0215] A controller circuit configured to control the transceiver circuit

[0216] receiving data using a protocol stack including at least a physical layer, in which the data is received as a plurality of data segments by a transceiver of a control infrastructure device, wherein the data includes a group of packet data units (PDUs), and a header of each of the PDUs in the group includes a timestamp indicating a time when the PDU group was generated,

[0217] receiving an indication that at least one of the PDUs in the group was received after the time to live, and

[0218] One or more of the data segments received at the physical layer and one or more data segments scheduled for reception are discarded at the transceiver circuit to discard all PDUs in the group that have been received or were not received within the lifetime of the PDU group but are to be received.

[0219] Paragraph 33. An infrastructure device of a wireless communication network for transmitting data to one or more communication devices, the infrastructure device comprising:

[0220] a transceiver circuit configured to transmit data to the one or more communication devices via a wireless access interface formed by the infrastructure equipment, and to receive the transmitted data from the one or more communication devices via the wireless access interface, and

[0221] A controller circuit configured to control the transceiver circuit

[0222] receiving data using a protocol stack including at least a physical layer, in which the data is received as a plurality of data segments by a transceiver of a control infrastructure device, wherein the data includes a group of packet data units (PDUs), and a header of each of the PDUs in the group includes a timestamp indicating a time when the PDU group was generated,

[0223] receiving an indication that at least one of the PDUs in the group was received after the time to live, and

[0224] One or more of the data segments received at the physical layer and one or more data segments scheduled for reception are discarded at the transceiver circuit to discard all PDUs in the group that have been received or were not received within the lifetime of the PDU group but are to be received.

[0225] Although the present disclosure has been described in conjunction with some embodiments, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein. In addition, although features may appear to be described in conjunction with specific embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the various features of the described embodiments may be combined in any manner suitable for implementing the present technology.

[0226] References

[0227] [1] RP-213587

[0228] [2] TR 38.838

[0229] [3] SP-210043

[0230] [4] SP-211166

[0231] [5] TS 23.700.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting data by a communication device via a wireless communication network, the method comprising: receiving, at a protocol stack formed by the communication device, application layer data for transmission, for transmitting the data, the data being received as a group of packet data units (PDUs) from an application layer forming part of the protocol stack, or a layer of the protocol stack being configured to form the application layer data into groups of PDUs, each PDU in the group comprising an indication that the PDU belongs to the group, Sending each of the PDUs in the group as one or more data segments using a physical layer of the protocol stack by controlling a transceiver of the communication device, wherein sending the PDUs in the group using the physical layer of the protocol stack comprises: limiting the physical layer transmission to limit the transmission of the one or more data segments to corresponding to each of the PDUs in the transmission group, and It is determined that one of the data segments is not successfully transmitted, and in response to determining that one of the data segments is not successfully transmitted, transmission of the PDU group that is to transmit the application layer PDU is terminated.

2. The method according to claim 1, comprising: In receiving each PDU in the PDU group at a radio link control, RLC, layer of the protocol stack, At the RLC layer, a plurality of RLC segments for transmission are formed for each PDU, receiving each of said RLC segments at a medium access control MAC layer, forming, at the MAC layer, a MAC transport block from each of the RLC segments for transmission, and receiving each MAC transport block at the physical layer, wherein sending the PDUs in the group comprises: Sending each MAC transport block using the physical layer by controlling a transceiver of the communication device to send the one or more data segments, wherein limiting the physical layer transmission to limit the transmission of the one or more data segments to corresponding to transmitting each of the PDUs in the group comprises: Physical layer transmission of the one or more data segments to be transmitted per MAC transport block is restricted to data including one of the PDUs in the group.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The sending each of the PDUs in the group using the physical layer of the protocol stack comprises: Executing a plurality of hybrid automatic repeat request protocol HARQ processes, wherein the one or more data segments are a plurality of HARQ segments in the HARQ process, and each MAC transport block is divided into a plurality of HARQ segments transmitted via a radio access interface of the wireless communication network, and determining that one of the data segments is not successfully transmitted comprises: Determining from a HARQ-ACK received in response to each HARQ segment sent whether the HARQ segment is successfully sent, and determining that one of the data segments is not successfully sent includes: determining from the HARQ-ACK that one of the HARQ segments is not successfully sent, and in response, terminating the sending of the PDU group that is to transmit the application layer PDU, the failure of sending a HARQ segment as part of the sending of the MAC transport block indicating that the PDU group was unsuccessfully transmitted.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein: Restricting the physical layer transmission to restrict the transmission of the one or more data segments to corresponding to transmitting each of the PDUs in the group includes restricting each MAC transport block to carry one of the RLC segments for one logical channel.

5. The method according to claim 3, comprising: Recognize that the HARQ-ACK segment has not been successfully received, and terminate the sending of any HARQ segment for the HARQ process that has not been sent, and terminate the sending of at least part of the MAC transport block that has not been sent, and terminate the sending of any RLC segment that has not been sent, and terminate the sending of any PDU in the group that has not been successfully sent, and determine that the application layer PDU has not been successfully sent.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Transmitting each of the PDUs in the group using the physical layer of the protocol stack comprises: Generating a plurality of code blocks grouped into a code block group from each MAC transport block, each MAC transport block being divided into the plurality of code blocks in the code block group and transmitted via a wireless access interface of the wireless communication network, and determining that one of the data segments was not successfully transmitted comprises: Determining whether a code block is successfully transmitted and determining that one of the data segments is not successfully transmitted includes determining that one of the code blocks is not successfully transmitted and, in response, terminating transmission of the PDU group that is to transmit the application layer PDU.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The protocol stack includes a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, and receiving the application layer data for transmission includes: receiving the application layer data at the PDCP layer, and The application layer data is formed into the PDU group.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The protocol stack includes a service data application protocol SDAP layer, and the receiving the application layer data for sending includes: receiving the application layer data at the SDAP layer, and The application layer data is formed into the PDU group.

9. A method for transmitting data by a communication device via a wireless communication network, the method comprising: receiving application layer data for transmission at a protocol stack formed by the communication device, the communication device being configured to transmit data, the data being received from an application layer forming part of the protocol stack as a group of packet data units (PDUs), or another layer of the protocol stack being configured to form the application layer data into groups of PDUs, each PDU in the group comprising an indication that the PDU belongs to the group, Sending each of the PDUs in the group as one or more data segments using a physical layer of the protocol stack by controlling a transceiver of the communication device, wherein sending the PDUs in the group comprises: determining that one of the physical layer data segments was not successfully transmitted, and In response to determining that one of the physical layer data segments is not successfully transmitted, providing a feedback signal to the application layer or another layer of the protocol stack forming the PDU group that one of the physical layer data segments is not successfully transmitted, and Transmission of the PDU group is terminated at one or more layers of the protocol stack.

10. The method according to claim 9, comprising: receiving each of the PDUs in the PDU group at a radio link control, RLC, layer of the protocol stack, At the RLC layer, a plurality of RLC segments for transmission are formed for each PDU, receiving each of the RLC segments at a medium access control MAC layer, forming, at the MAC layer, a MAC transport block from each of the RLC segments for transmission, and receiving each of the MAC transport blocks at the physical layer, wherein sending the PDUs in the group comprises: Sending each MAC transport block using the physical layer to send the one or more data segments by controlling a transceiver of the communication device, wherein providing a feedback signal to the application layer or the other layer of the protocol stack that one of the physical layer data segments was not successfully transmitted comprises: Providing feedback signals from the physical layer to the MAC layer, from the MAC layer to the RLC layer, and from the RLC layer to the another layer or the application layer, and terminating the transmission of the PDU group at one or more layers of the protocol stack comprises: terminate the transmission of any remaining MAC transport blocks or parts thereof, terminate the transmission of any remaining RLC segments or parts thereof, and The transmission of any remaining PDUs or parts thereof of the group is terminated.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein: Transmitting each of the PDUs in the group using the physical layer of the protocol stack comprises: Executing a plurality of hybrid automatic repeat request protocol HARQ processes, wherein the one or more data segments are a plurality of HARQ segments, and each MAC transport block is divided into a plurality of HARQ segments transmitted via a radio access interface of the wireless communication network, and determining that one of the data segments is not successfully transmitted comprises: Determining whether the HARQ segment is successfully sent from a HARQ-ACK received in response to each HARQ segment sent, and determining that one of the data segments is not successfully sent includes: determining from the HARQ-ACK that one of the HARQ segments is not successfully sent, and in response, terminating the sending of the PDU group that is to transmit the application layer PDU, the failure of sending a HARQ segment as part of the sending of the MAC transport block indicating that the PDU group is unsuccessfully transmitted.

12. The method according to claim 11, comprising: Recognize that the HARQ-ACK segment has not been successfully received, and terminate the sending of any HARQ segment for the HARQ process that has not been sent, and terminate the sending of at least part of the MAC transport block that has not been sent, and terminate the sending of any RLC segment that has not been sent, and terminate the sending of any PDU in the group that has not been successfully sent, and determine that the application layer PDU has not been successfully sent.

13. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The transmitting each of the PDUs in the group using the physical layer of the protocol stack comprises: Generating a plurality of code blocks grouped into a code block group from each MAC transport block, each MAC transport block being divided into the plurality of code blocks in the code block group and transmitted via a wireless access interface of the wireless communication network, and determining that one of the data segments was not successfully transmitted comprises: Determining whether a code block is successfully transmitted and determining that one of the data segments is not successfully transmitted includes determining that one of the code blocks is not successfully transmitted and, in response, terminating transmission of the PDU group that is to transmit an application layer PDU.

14. A method for transmitting data by a communication device via a wireless communication network, the method comprising: receiving application layer data for transmission at a protocol stack formed by the communication device, the communication device being configured to transmit the data, the data being received from the application layer as a group of packet data units (PDUs), or a layer of the protocol stack being configured to form the application layer data into groups of PDUs, each PDU in the group comprising an indication that the PDU belongs to the group, By controlling the transceiver of the communication device, each of the PDUs in the group is sent as one or more data segments using the physical layer of the protocol stack, wherein the header of each of the PDUs in the group includes a timestamp indicating the time when the PDU group was generated, so that the receiver can discard all PDUs in the group that have been received or are to be received but have not been received within the lifetime of the PDU group.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein: The header of each of the PDUs in the group comprises an indication of a time to live of the PDU group.

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein: The header of each of the PDUs in the group includes an indication of a time to live of the PDUs in the group.

17. The method according to claim 14, wherein: The header of each of the PDUs in the group includes an indication of the position of each PDU in the PDU group.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein: The header of each of the PDUs in the group includes an indication of a total number of PDUs in the group.

19. A method of operating infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless communication network, the method comprising: receiving data using a protocol stack, the protocol stack comprising at least a physical layer, in which the data is received as a plurality of data segments by controlling a transceiver of the infrastructure device, wherein the data comprises a group of packet data units (PDUs), and a header of each of the PDUs in the group comprises a timestamp indicating a time when the PDU group was generated, receiving an indication that at least one of the PDUs in the group was received after a time to live, and One or more of the data segments received at the physical layer and one or more data segments scheduled for reception are discarded at the transceiver circuit to discard all PDUs in the group that have been received or are to be received but have not been received within a lifetime of the PDU group.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein: The header of each of the PDUs in the group includes an indication of a time to live of the PDU group.

21. The method according to claim 19, wherein: The header of each of the PDUs in the group includes an indication of a time to live of the PDUs in the group.

22. The method according to claim 19, wherein: The header of the each of the PDUs in the group includes an indication of the position of each PDU in the PDU group.

23. The method according to claim 19, wherein: The header of the each of the PDUs in the group includes an indication of a total number of PDUs in the group.

24. A communication device for transmitting data via a wireless communication network, the communication device comprising: a transceiver circuit configured to transmit data to a wireless communication network via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communication network, and to receive data transmitted via the wireless access interface from the wireless communication network, and a controller circuit configured to control the transceiver circuit, and receiving application layer data for transmission at a protocol stack formed by the communication device, the communication device being configured to transmit the data, the data being received from an application layer forming part of the protocol stack as a group of packet data units (PDUs), or a layer of the protocol stack being configured to form the application layer data into groups of PDUs, each PDU in the group comprising an indication that the PDU belongs to the group, controlling the transceiver circuit to transmit each of the PDUs in the group as one or more data segments using a physical layer of the protocol stack, wherein the controller circuit is configured to control the transceiver circuit to transmit the PDUs in the group by: limiting the physical layer transmission to limit the transmission of the one or more data segments to corresponding to each of the PDUs in the transmission group, and determining that one of the data segments was not successfully transmitted, and In response to determining that one of the data segments was not successfully transmitted, transmission of the PDU group that is to transmit an application layer PDU is terminated.

25. A communication device for transmitting data via a wireless communication network, the communication device comprising: a transceiver circuit configured to transmit data to the wireless communication network via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communication interface, and to receive data transmitted via the wireless access interface from the wireless communication network, and A controller circuit configured to control the transceiver circuit receiving application layer data for transmission at a protocol stack formed by the communication device, the communication device being configured to transmit the data, the data being received from an application layer forming part of the protocol stack as a group of packet data units (PDUs), or a layer of the protocol stack being configured to form the application layer data into groups of PDUs, each PDU in the group comprising an indication that the PDU belongs to the group, controlling the transceiver circuit to transmit each of the PDUs in the group as one or more data segments using a physical layer of the protocol stack, wherein the controller circuit is configured to control the transceiver circuit to transmit the PDUs in the group by: determining that one of the physical layer data segments was not successfully transmitted, and In response to determining that one of the physical layer data segments is not successfully transmitted, providing a feedback signal to the PDCP layer that one of the physical layer data segments is not successfully transmitted, and The sending of the PDU group that will transmit the application layer PDU is terminated.

26. A method for communicating between an infrastructure device and a communication device of a wireless communication network, the method comprising: receiving application layer data for transmission at a protocol stack formed by the infrastructure equipment, the infrastructure equipment being configured to transmit the data, the data being received as a group of packet data units (PDUs), or a layer of the protocol stack being configured to form the application layer data into groups of PDUs, each PDU in the group comprising an indication that the PDU belongs to the group, Sending each of the PDUs in the group as one or more data segments using a physical layer of the protocol stack by controlling a transceiver of the communication device, wherein sending the PDUs in the group comprises: limiting the physical layer transmission to limit the transmission of the one or more data segments to each of the PDUs in the group corresponding to transmission, and determining that one of the data segments was not successfully transmitted, and In response to determining that one of the data segments was not successfully transmitted, transmission of the PDU group that is to transmit an application layer PDU is terminated.

27. A method for communicating between an infrastructure device and a communication device of a wireless communication network, the method comprising: receiving, at a protocol stack formed by said infrastructure equipment for sending data, application layer data for sending, said data being received from an application layer via another protocol stack as a group of packet data units (PDUs), or a layer of said protocol stack being configured to form said application layer data into said groups of PDUs, each PDU in said group comprising an indication that said PDU belongs to said group, Sending each of the PDUs in the group as one or more data segments using a physical layer of the protocol stack by controlling a transceiver of the communication device, wherein sending the PDUs in the group comprises: determining that one of the physical layer data segments was not successfully transmitted, and In response to determining that one of the physical layer data segments is not successfully transmitted, providing a feedback signal to the PDCP layer that one of the physical layer data segments is not successfully transmitted, and The sending of the PDU group that will transmit the application layer PDU is terminated.

28. An infrastructure device of a wireless communication network for transmitting data to one or more communication devices, the infrastructure device comprising: transceiver circuitry configured to transmit data to the one or more communication devices via a wireless access interface formed by the infrastructure equipment, and to receive data transmitted via the wireless access interface from the one or more communication devices, and a controller circuit configured to control the transceiver circuit, and receiving, at a protocol stack formed by the infrastructure equipment for sending the data, application layer data for sending, the data being received from the application layer via another protocol stack as a group of packet data units (PDUs), or a layer of the protocol stack being configured to form the application layer data into groups of PDUs, each PDU in the group comprising an indication that the PDU belongs to the group, controlling the transceiver circuit to transmit each of the PDUs in the group as one or more data segments using a physical layer of the protocol stack, wherein the controller circuit is configured to control the transceiver circuit to transmit the PDUs in the group by: limiting physical layer transmission to limit transmission of the one or more data segments to those corresponding to transmitting each of the PDUs in the group to the communication device, and determining that one of the data segments was not successfully transmitted, and In response to determining that one of the data segments was not successfully transmitted, transmission of the PDU group that is to transmit an application layer PDU is terminated.

29. An infrastructure device of a wireless communication network for transmitting data to one or more communication devices, the infrastructure device comprising: transceiver circuitry configured to transmit data to the one or more communication devices via a wireless access interface formed by the infrastructure equipment, and to receive data transmitted via the wireless access interface from the one or more communication devices, and A controller circuit configured to control the transceiver circuit receiving, at a protocol stack formed by said infrastructure equipment for sending said data, application layer data for sending, said data being received from an application layer as a group of packet data units (PDUs), or a layer of said protocol stack being configured to form said application layer data into said groups of PDUs, each PDU in said group comprising an indication that said PDU belongs to said group, controlling the transceiver circuit to transmit each of the PDUs in the group as one or more data segments using a physical layer of the protocol stack, wherein the controller circuit is configured to control the transceiver circuit to transmit the PDUs in the group by: determining that one of the physical layer data segments was not successfully transmitted, and In response to determining that one of the physical layer data segments is not successfully transmitted, providing a feedback signal to the PDCP layer that one of the physical layer data segments is not successfully transmitted, and The sending of the PDU group that will transmit the application layer PDU is terminated.

30. A communication device for transmitting data via a wireless communication network, the communication device comprising: a transceiver circuit configured to transmit data to the wireless communication network via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communication interface, and to receive data transmitted via the wireless access interface from the wireless communication network, and A controller circuit configured to control the transceiver circuit receiving application layer data for transmission using a protocol stack formed by the communication device for transmitting the data, the data being received from the application layer as a group of packet data units (PDUs), or a layer of the protocol stack being configured to form the application layer data into groups of PDUs, each PDU in the group comprising an indication that the PDU belongs to the group, and By controlling the transceiver of the communication device, each of the PDUs in the group is sent as one or more data segments using the physical layer of the protocol stack, wherein the header of each of the PDUs in the group includes a timestamp indicating the time when the PDU group was generated, so that the receiver can discard all PDUs in the group that have been received or are to be received but have not been received within the lifetime of the PDU group.

31. An infrastructure device of a wireless communication network for transmitting data to one or more communication devices, the infrastructure device comprising: transceiver circuitry configured to transmit data to the one or more communication devices via a wireless access interface formed by the infrastructure equipment, and to receive data transmitted via the wireless access interface from the one or more communication devices, and A controller circuit configured to control the transceiver circuit receiving application layer data for transmission using a protocol stack formed by the infrastructure equipment for transmitting the data, the data being received from the application layer as a group of packet data units (PDUs), or a layer of the protocol stack being configured to form the application layer data into groups of PDUs, each PDU in the group comprising an indication that the PDU belongs to the group, and By controlling the transceiver of the communication device, each of the PDUs in the group is sent as one or more data segments using the physical layer of the protocol stack, wherein the header of each of the PDUs in the group includes a timestamp indicating the time when the PDU group was generated, and the timestamp is used by the receiver when discarding all PDUs in the group that have been received or have not been received within the lifetime of the PDU group but are to be received.

32. A communication device for transmitting data via a wireless communication network, the communication device comprising: a transceiver circuit configured to transmit data to the wireless communication network via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communication interface, and to receive data transmitted via the wireless access interface from the wireless communication network, and A controller circuit configured to control the transceiver circuit receiving data using a protocol stack, the protocol stack comprising at least a physical layer, in which the data is received as a plurality of data segments by controlling a transceiver of an infrastructure device, wherein the data comprises a group of packet data units (PDUs), and a header of each of the PDUs in the group comprises a timestamp indicating a time when the PDU group was generated, receiving an indication that at least one of the PDUs in the group was received after a time to live, and One or more of the data segments received at the physical layer and one or more data segments scheduled for reception are discarded at the transceiver circuit to discard all PDUs in the group that have been received or are to be received but have not been received within a lifetime of the PDU group.

33. An infrastructure device of a wireless communication network for transmitting data to one or more communication devices, the infrastructure device comprising: transceiver circuitry configured to transmit data to the one or more communication devices via a wireless access interface formed by the infrastructure equipment, and to receive data transmitted via the wireless access interface from the one or more communication devices, and A controller circuit configured to control the transceiver circuit receiving data using a protocol stack, the protocol stack comprising at least a physical layer, in which the data is received as a plurality of data segments by controlling a transceiver of the infrastructure device, wherein the data comprises a group of packet data units (PDUs), and a header of each of the PDUs in the group comprises a timestamp indicating a time when the PDU group was generated, receiving an indication that at least one of the PDUs in the group was received after a time to live, and One or more of the data segments received at the physical layer and one or more data segments scheduled for reception are discarded at the transceiver circuit to discard all PDUs in the group that have been received or are to be received but have not been received within a lifetime of the PDU group.

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