Method for improving resource efficiency

Abstract

The present invention generally relates to methods, apparatuses and systems for efficiently coordinating resources between different entities in a wireless network. Receiving a service data unit (SDU); dividing the SDU into a plurality of segments; transmitting the plurality of segments to a receiving device; an acknowledgement of successful transmission of one or more of the plurality of segments is sent.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications and, more particularly, to methods, devices, and systems for efficiently coordinating resources between different entities in a wireless network. Background Art

[0002] Current wireless communication networks have a variety of drawbacks, limitations, and disadvantages. Therefore, there is a need for the inventive methods, devices, and systems described herein. Summary of the invention

[0003] The present disclosure relates to a method, apparatus and system for improving coordination between different entities in a wireless network.

[0004] In some embodiments, a wireless communication method is applied to a sending device in a wireless communication system, including:

[0005] Receive a service data unit (SDU); divide the SDU into a plurality of segments; send the plurality of segments to a receiving device; send an acknowledgement of successful transmission of one or more of the plurality of segments.

[0006] In some implementations, a wireless communication method is applied to a receiving device in a wireless communication system, including:

[0007] A plurality of data unit SDU segments sent by a sending device are received at a first entity of a receiving device; the plurality of SDU segments are sent to one or more other entities of the receiving device; in response to receiving a segment among the plurality of SDU segments, an acknowledgment is sent to the sending device; and the plurality of SDU segments are assembled into a reassembled packet data convergence protocol protocol data unit PDCP PDU having a packet data convergence protocol PDCP header.

[0008] In some embodiments, a network element or UE includes a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is configured to read a code from the memory and implement the method described in any one of the above embodiments.

[0009] In some embodiments, a computer program product includes a computer readable program code stored thereon, and when the computer readable program code is executed by a processor, the processor is caused to implement the method as described in any of the above embodiments.

[0010] Other aspects and alternatives of the above-described embodiments and their implementations are described in more detail in the following figures, description and claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Figure 1 An exemplary wireless communication network is shown.

[0012] Figure 2An exemplary wireless network node is shown.

[0013] Figure 3 An exemplary user device is shown.

[0014] Figure 4 A block diagram of an embodiment of a transmitting and receiving PDCP entity is shown.

[0015] Figure 5A An exemplary PDCP PDU segment data format is shown.

[0016] Figure 5B An example PDCP PDU segment data format is shown.

[0017] Figure 5C An example PDCP PDU segment data format is shown.

[0018] Figure 5D An example PDCP PDU segment data format is shown.

[0019] Figure 6 A block diagram of an embodiment of a data transmission entity and a data receiving entity is shown.

[0020] Figure 7 A block diagram of an embodiment of a data transmission entity and a data receiving entity is shown.

[0021] Figure 8 A block diagram of an embodiment of a data transmission entity and a data receiving entity is shown.

[0022] Fig. 9 A block diagram of an embodiment of a data transmission entity and a data receiving entity is shown.

[0023] Fig.10 A block diagram of an embodiment of a data transmission entity and a data receiving entity is shown.

[0024] Fig.11A An exemplary parameter configuration is shown.

[0025] Fig. 11B An exemplary parameter configuration is shown.

[0026] Fig. 11C An exemplary parameter configuration is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] Wireless communication network

[0028] Figure 1An exemplary wireless communication network 100 is shown including a core network 110 and a radio access network (RAN) 120. The core network 110 also includes at least one mobility management entity (MME) 112 and / or at least one access and mobility management function (AMF). Other functions that may be included in the core network 110 are not described in detail. Figure 1 . RAN 120 also includes multiple base stations, such as base stations 122 and 124. The base station may include at least one evolved Node B (eNB) for 4G LTE, an enhanced LTE eNB (ng-eNB), or a next generation Node B (gNB) for 5G New Radio (NR), or any other type of signal transmission / reception device (such as a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Node B). eNB 122 communicates with MME 112 via an S1 interface. Both eNB 122 and gNB 124 may be connected to AMF 114 via an Ng interface. Each base station manages and supports at least one cell. For example, base station gNB 124 may be configured to manage and support cell 1, cell 2, and cell 3.

[0029] The gNB 124 may include a central unit (CU) and at least one distributed unit (DU). The CU and DU may be co-located at the same location, or they may be split at different locations. The CU and DU may be connected via an F1 interface. Optionally, for an eNB capable of connecting to a 5G network, it may also be divided into a CU and at least one DU, referred to as ng-eNB-CU and ng-eNB-DU, respectively. The ng-eNB-CU and ng-eNB-DU may be connected via a W1 interface.

[0030] The wireless communication network 100 may include one or more tracking areas. A tracking area may include at least one group of cells managed by a base station. For example, tracking area 1, labeled 140, includes cell 1, cell 2, and cell 3, and may further include cells that may be managed by other base stations and in Figure 1More cells not shown in the figure. The wireless communication network 100 may also include at least one UE 160. The UE may select a cell from a plurality of cells supported by the base station to communicate with the base station via an Over-The-Air (OTA) radio communication interface and resources, and when the UE 160 moves in the wireless communication network 100, the UE may reselect a cell for communication. For example, the UE 160 may initially select cell 1 to communicate with the base station 124, and then reselect cell 2 at a point in time after a certain period of time has passed. The cell selection or reselection of the UE 160 may be based on the wireless signal strength / quality and other factors in different cells.

[0031] The wireless communication network 100 may be implemented as, for example, a 2G, 3G, 4G / LTE or 5G cellular communication network. Accordingly, base stations 122 and 124 may be implemented as 2G base stations, 3G node Bs, LTE eNBs or 5G NRgNBs. UE 160 may be implemented as a mobile or fixed communication device capable of accessing the wireless communication network 100. UE 160 may include, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, a laptop computer, a tablet, a personal digital assistant, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an MTC / eMTC device, a distributed remote sensor device, a roadside assistance device, an XR device, and a desktop computer. UE 160 may also be generally referred to as a wireless communication device or a wireless terminal. UE 160 may support side link communication to another UE via a PC5 interface.

[0032] Although the following description focuses on Figure 1 The cellular wireless communication system shown is a cellular wireless communication system, but its principles can be applied to other types of wireless communication systems for paging wireless devices. These other types of wireless systems may include but are not limited to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee and WiMax networks, etc.

[0033] Figure 2 An embodiment of an electronic device 200 that implements a network base station (e.g., a radio access network node), a core network (CN), and / or operation and maintenance (OAM) is shown. Optionally, in an exemplary implementation, the electronic device 200 may include a wireless transmit / receive (Tx / Rx) circuit 208 to send / receive communications with a UE and / or other base stations. Optionally, in an implementation, the electronic device 200 may also include a network interface circuit 209 that communicates the base station with other base stations and / or a core network, for example, optical or wired interconnection, Ethernet, and / or other data transmission media / protocols. The electronic device 200 may optionally include an input / output (I / O) interface 206 to communicate with an operator or the like.

[0034] The electronic device 200 may also include a system circuit 204. The system circuit 204 may include a processor 221 and / or a memory 222. The memory 222 may include an operating system 224, instructions 226, and parameters 228. The instructions 226 may be configured for one or more of the processors 221 to perform the functions of the network node. The parameters 228 may include parameters to support the execution of the instructions 226. For example, the parameters may include network protocol settings, bandwidth parameters, radio frequency mapping allocations, and / or other parameters.

[0035] Figure 3 An embodiment of an electronic device implementing a terminal device 300 (e.g., a user equipment (UE)) is shown. UE 300 may be a mobile device, such as a smart phone or a mobile communication module provided in a vehicle. UE 300 may include part or all of the following: a communication interface 302, a system circuit 304, an input / output interface (I / O) 306, a display circuit 308, and a memory 309. The display circuit may include a user interface 310. System circuit 304 may include any combination of hardware, software, firmware, or other logic / circuits. For example, system circuit 304 may be implemented using one or more system on a chip (System on aChip, SoC), application-specific integrated circuit (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), discrete analog and digital circuits, and other circuits. System circuit 304 may be part of the implementation of any desired function in UE 300. As an example, the system circuit 304 may include logic that facilitates decoding and playing music and videos, such as MP3, MP4, MPEG, AVI, FLAC, AC3, or WAV decoding and playback; running applications; accepting user input; saving and retrieving application data; establishing, maintaining, and terminating cellular phone calls or data connections, as an example, for Internet connections; establishing, maintaining, and terminating wireless network connections, Bluetooth connections, or other connections; and displaying relevant information on the user interface 310. The user interface 310 and the input / output (I / O) interface 306 may include a graphical user interface, a touch-sensitive display, tactile feedback or other tactile output, voice or facial recognition input, buttons, switches, speakers, and other user interface elements. Additional examples of the I / O interface 306 may include microphones, video and still image cameras, temperature sensors, vibration sensors, rotation and orientation sensors, headphone and microphone input / output jacks, Universal Serial Bus (USB) connectors, memory card slots, radiation sensors (e.g., IR sensors), and other types of inputs.

[0036] See also Figure 3 , the communication interface 302 may include radio frequency (RF) transmit (Transmit, Tx) and receive (Receive, Rx) circuits 316, which handle the transmission and reception of signals through one or more antennas 314. The communication interface 302 may include one or more transceivers. The transceiver may be a wireless transceiver that includes modulation / demodulation circuits, digital-to-analog converters (Digital-to-Analog Converters, DAC), shaping tables, analog-to-digital converters (Analog-to-Digital Converters, ADC), filters, waveform shapers, filters, preamplifiers, power amplifiers and / or other logic for transmission and reception through one or more antennas or (for some devices) through physical (e.g., wired) media. The signals transmitted and received may follow any of a variety of formats, protocols, modulations (e.g., QPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM, or 256-QAM), frequency channels, bit rates, and encodings. As a specific embodiment, the communication interface 302 may include a transceiver supporting transmission and reception under 2G, 3G, BT, WiFi, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA) +, 4G / Long Term Evolution (LTE), and 5G standards. However, the techniques described below may be applied to other wireless communication technologies, whether produced by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), GSM Association, 3GPP2, IEEE, or other partners or standards bodies.

[0037] See also Figure 3 , the system circuit 304 may include one or more processors 321 and a memory 322. The memory 322 stores, for example, an operating system 324, instructions 326, and parameters 328. The processor 321 is configured to execute the instructions 326 to perform the desired functions of the UE 300. The parameters 328 may provide and specify configuration and operating options for the instructions 326. The memory 322 may also store any BT, WiFi, 3G, 4G, 5G, or other data that the UE 300 will send or has received through the communication interface 302. In different implementations, the system power for the UE 300 may be supplied by a power storage device such as a battery or a transformer.

[0038] Improvements in resource efficiency

[0039] Based on the current 3GPP specifications, the size of a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Packet Data Unit (PDU) can be set to a maximum of 9000 bytes, and the PDU may not be segmented in the PDCP entity. Extended Reality (XR) services can utilize larger PDCP PDUs, which can be segmented in Radio Link Control (RLC) RLC entities. Thus, in the case of PDCP duplication, the entire PDCP PDU can be sent to multiple RLC entities and segmented separately by each RLC entity. When all segments in one RLC entity are successfully sent, the RLC entity can confirm the transmission of the PDCP PDU, and the PDCP entity should instruct other RLC entities / multiple RLC entities to discard it. Under the current 3GPP specifications, no communication occurs between RLC entities. Thus, in these cases, frequency diversity gain from multiple RLC paths may not be obtained. Therefore, some segments can be successfully sent in one RLC entity, while other segments can be successfully sent in another RLC entity; however, segments successfully transmitted in different RLC entities cannot be connected. Therefore, according to the present subject matter, methods, devices and systems for achieving collaboration between different RLC entities, different MAC entities and / or different PHY entities in the case of data replication are disclosed.

[0040] See also Figure 4 , an embodiment transmitting PDCP entity 401 and receiving PDCP entity 402 are shown. In this embodiment, segmentation may be introduced into the transmitting PDCP entity 401, and PDCP PDU reassembly may be introduced by the receiving PDCP entity 402. When segmentation is performed only for data and MAC-I fields, for example, each segment of the segmentation may include: a PDCP header and a corresponding data field segment, a PDCP header, a data field segment, and a MAC-I field segment; or a segmentation of a PDCP header and a MAC-I field.

[0041] When a service data unit (SDU) is received in the transmitting PDCP entity 401, a PDCP header may be added to the SDU. The transmitting PDCP entity 401 may divide the corresponding PDCP PDU into several segments and send them to one or more RLC entities. However, before sending the segments to one or more RLC entities, network coding may be performed for each segment.

[0042] Once a segment is successfully received, one of the following processes may be performed: (1) The receiving RLC entity may pass the segment to the receiving PDCP entity 402. The receiving PDCP entity 402 may send a PDCP confirmation indication to the sending PDCP entity 401. The sending PDCP entity 401 may then instruct one or more sending RLC entities to discard the received segment of the PDCP PDU; (2) The receiving RLC entity may send an RLC confirmation indication to the sending RLC entity. The sending RLC entity may confirm the segmented transmission of the PDCP PDU. The sending PDCP entity 401 may then instruct the other remaining sending RLC entities to discard the received segment of the PDCP PDU; (3) The receiving RLC entity may send an RLC confirmation indication to the sending RLC entity. The sending RLC entity may then instruct the other remaining sending RLC entity / entities to discard the received segment of the PDCP PDU.

[0043] If network coding is performed in the transmitting PDCP entity 401 , the PDCP PDU may be decoded and combined in the receiving PDCP entity 402 .

[0044] After receiving all segments of the PDCP PDU, reassembly may be performed by the receiving PDCP entity 402. During reassembly, the PDCP header may be restored, which may include removing the PDCP segmentation field by resetting the 2-bit Segment Information (SI) field within the PDCP PDU to "00", and removing the Segment Sequence Number (SSN) field and / or the Segment Offset (SO) field. The reassembly may also include concatenating the data and MAC-I fields in sequence based on the SSN and / or SO fields.

[0045] Alternatively or additionally, the RLC SDU segment may be transmitted only from one transmitting RLC entity to one receiving RLC entity. The RLC entity may be a primary RLC entity or may be an RLC entity selected based on radio quality (e.g., RSRP value, CQI, etc.) or cell load information. Once a transmission failure occurs, PDCP duplication may be triggered, and the RLC SDU segment may be sent or retransmitted from at least one transmitting RLC entity to at least one receiving RLC entity.

[0046] Alternatively or additionally, the RLC SDU segments may be transmitted from the first group of transmitting RLC entities to the first group of receiving RLC entities. Once a transmission failure occurs, the RLC SDU segments may be transmitted or retransmitted from the second group of transmitting RLC entities to the second group of receiving RLC entities.

[0047] The first RLC entity set and the second RLC entity set may be configured by the network, and the second RLC entity set may provide better Quality of Service (QoS) or higher reliability than the first RLC entity set; for example, the second group of RLC entities may have more RLC entities than the first group of RLC entities.

[0048] As described above, in the case where the PDCP PDU is reassembled from a plurality of PDCP PDU segments in the receiving PDCP entity 402, the SI field and / or the SO field may be introduced into the receiving PDCP entity 402. Figures 5A-5D In the PDCP PDU segment data format shown in Figure 5A In FIG. 5 , an embodiment PDCP PDU segment data format 500 with a 12-bit PDCP SN and a 2-bit SI is shown. Figure 5B In FIG. 5 , an example PDCP data PDU format 510 with a 12-bit PDCP SN, a 2-bit SI and a 16-bit SO is shown. Figure 5C In FIG. 5 , an example PDCP PDU segment data format 520 with an 18-bit PDCP SN and a 2-bit SI is shown. Figure 5D , an example PDCP PDU segment data format 530 with an 18-bit PDCP SN, a 2-bit SI, and a 16-bit SO is shown.

[0049] The SI field may be defined as a 2-bit field that indicates, according to the values ​​provided in Table 1, whether the PDCP PDU contains a complete PDCP PDU, or more precisely, the first segment, the middle segment, or the last segment of the PDCP PDU.

[0050] Table 1

[0051] SI Field Value illustrate 00 The data field contains the data in the PDPC PDU and all bytes of the MAC-I 01 The data field contains the first data segment in the PDCP PDU and the MAC-I 10 The data field contains the last data segment in the PDCP PDU and the MAC-I 11 The data field does not include the first or last data segment and MAC-I in the PDCP PDU.

[0052] The SSN field may indicate the sequence number of the segment of the segmented PDCP PDU. The SSN field may be encoded with consecutive integers starting from zero or one (e.g., 0, 1, 2, 3 or 1, 2, 3).

[0053] The SO field may indicate the position (in bytes) of the segmented PDCP PDU segment in the original PDCP PDU. Specifically, the SO field may indicate the position of the first byte of the PDCP PDU segment in the corresponding data field in the original PDCP PDU. For example, the first byte of the original PDCP PDU may be referred to by the SO field value "0000000000000000", where the numbering starts at zero. The SO field length may be, for example, eight bits or other bit lengths, as described in detail in the accompanying drawings. Figure 5B and 5Dshown.

[0054] See also Figure 6 , the RLC SDU may be segmented in each transmitting RLC entity, and each transmitting RLC entity may send the RLC SDU segments to the corresponding receiving RLC entity. Interaction between receiving RLC entities may be supported so that the receiving RLC entity of the data receiving entity 602 may receive one or more RLC PDUs from one or more other RLC entities of the data transmitting entity 601. RLC SDU segments from different RLC entities may be connected or combined in the receiving RLC entity of the data receiving entity 602 to improve the connection success rate and reduce the RLC retransmission rate. In this example, for the same RLC SDU, the SN of the RLC PDU in different RLC entities should be the same (for example, the SN of the RLC PDU is set to the SN of the RLC SDU). When PDCP duplication is activated, the receiving RLC entity of the data receiving entity 602 may deliver the successfully received RLC SDU segments to one or more other RLC entities.

[0055] When a segment in one RLC entity is successfully transmitted, the receiving RLC entity may confirm the transmission of the RLC PDU to the sending RLC entity, and the sending RLC entity may deliver an RLC confirmation to one or more other sending RLC entities to discard the RLC SDU segment or stop RLC SDU segment retransmission.

[0056] See also Figure 7 , the RLC SDU may be segmented in each transmitting RLC entity, and each transmitting RLC entity may send the RLC SDU segments to the corresponding receiving RLC entity. The interaction between the receiving MAC entity of the data receiving entity 702 and multiple receiving RLC entities may be supported so that RLC SDU segments from different transmitting RLC entities may be connected or combined in the receiving RLC entity of the data receiving entity 702. In this embodiment, for the same RLC SDU, the SN of the RLC PDU in different RLC entities should be the same (for example, the SN of the RLC PDU is set to the SN of the RLC SDU). When PDCP copies are transmitted directly or via a PDCP entity, the receiving MAC entity of the data receiving entity 702 may transmit successfully received RLC SDU segments to multiple RLC entities.

[0057] For the connection or combination of segments in the receiving RLC entity, one of the following operations may be performed. In an optional embodiment, the PDCP entity may indicate a predefined RLC segment length to the RLC entity, and the RLC entity may perform segmentation based on the indicated predefined length. This optional embodiment may allow simple linking of RLC segments. In another optional embodiment, the segment length may be determined by each RLC entity. The RLC entity may combine the RLC PDU into an RLC SDU based on the SI / SN / SO field. In some cases, the RLC PDU fields may overlap with different lengths, so the receiving RLC entity should combine them byte by byte. Through this optional embodiment, the RLC SDU segments may be combined based on the SN / SI / SO fields in the RLC PDU. For example, when based on the SO field, the receiving RLC may know which byte in the RLC SDU the successfully received RLC PDU corresponds to.

[0058] Based on the interaction between the receiving RLC entities, after concatenating or combining the PDUs from all RLC entities, only the RLC SDU segments that were not successfully received may be triggered for retransmission (ie, RLC NAK is sent to the sending RLC entity).

[0059] Based on the foregoing description, the RLC entities may be able to interoperate with each other. For example, once a receiving RLC entity successfully receives a segment, the segment may be directly delivered to other receiving RLC entities or delivered to a master entity or forwarded indirectly by a PDCP entity. Therefore, RLC SDU segments from different RLC entities may be connected or combined, and only RLC SDU segments that have not been received by any RLC entity should be retransmitted. That is, if an RLC SDU segment from one RLC entity is successfully transmitted, the RLC entity may indicate to other RLC entities to stop retransmitting the RLC SDU segment by sending RLC segment information or sending an indication in a status packet. Therefore, transmission efficiency may be improved and transmission delay may be reduced.

[0060] The SN, SI, and SO fields are defined in 3GPP TS 38.322 as follows. The SN field may have a configurable length of 12 bits or 18 bits for AMD PDU. For UMD PDU, the SN field may have a configurable length of 6 bits or 12 bits. The SN field may indicate the sequence number of the corresponding RLC SDU. For RLC A M, the sequence number may increase by 1 for each RLC SDU. For RLC UM, the sequence number may increase by one for each segmented RLC SDU.

[0061] The SI field may have a length of 2 bits. The SI field may indicate whether the RLC PDU contains a complete RLC SDU or the first, middle, or last segment of the RLC SDU according to the values ​​provided in Table 2 below.

[0062] Table 2

[0063] SI Field Value illustrate 00 The data field contains all bytes of the RLC SDU 01 The data field contains the first segment of the RLC SDU 10 The data field contains the last segment of the RLC SDU 11 The data field contains neither the first nor the last segment of the RLC SDU.

[0064] The SO field may have a length of 16 bits. The SO field may indicate the position of the RLC SDU segment in the original RLC SDU in bytes. Specifically, the SO field may indicate the position in the original RLC SDU corresponding to the first byte of the RLC SDU segment in the data field. The first byte of the original RLC SDU may be referred to by the SO field value "0000000000000000", i.e., the numbering starts from 0.

[0065] When a MAC SDU in one RLC entity is successfully transmitted, the receiving MAC entity may confirm (e.g., HARQ confirmation) the transmission of the MAC PDU to the sending MAC entity, and the sending MAC entity may deliver the HARQ confirmation to one or more other sending MAC entities to discard the MAC SDU or stop MAC SDU retransmission.

[0066] Alternatively or in addition, when a segment in one RLC entity is successfully transmitted, the receiving RLC entity may confirm the transmission of the RLC PDU to the sending RLC entity (e.g., RLC ARQ), and the sending RLC entity may deliver an RLC confirmation to one or more other sending RLC entities to discard the RLC SDU segment or stop retransmission of the RLC SDU segment.

[0067] See also Figure 8 , the receiving RLC entity of the data receiving entity 802 may send the RLC SDU segment to the receiving RLC PDCP entity of the data receiving entity 802. The receiving PDCP entity may perform RLC SDU segment concatenation or combination. The receiving PDCP entity of the data receiving entity 802 may indicate to the receiving RLC entity to retransmit the RLC SDU segment that was not successfully received. In this embodiment, for the same RLC SDU, the SN of the RLC PDU in different RLC entities should be the same (e.g., the SN of the RLC PDU is set to the SN of the RLC SDU).

[0068] For the combination and connection of the data receiving entity 802 in the receiving entity PDCP, one of the following selections may be performed. In an optional embodiment, the PDCP entity may indicate a predefined RLC segment length to the RLC entity, and the RLC entity may perform segmentation based on the indicated length. This optional embodiment may allow the RLC segments to be simply connected. In another optional embodiment, the segment length may be determined by each RLC entity. The RLC entity may combine the RLC PDU into an RLC SDU based on the SI / SN / SO field. In some cases, the RLC PDU fields may overlap with different lengths, so the receiving RLC entity should combine them byte by byte. Through this other optional embodiment, the RLC SDU segmentation may be combined based on the SN / SI / SO field in the RLC PDU. For example, when based on the SO field, the receiving RLC may know which byte in the RLC SDU the successfully received RLC PDU corresponds to.

[0069] See also Fig. 9 , data duplication or segmentation may be performed in the RLC layer. That is, the transmitting RLC entity of the data transmission entity 901 may send RLC PDU copies to multiple MAC entities of the data transmission entity 901 corresponding to multiple cells for more reliable transmission. This may occur before the RLC PDU copies are sent and / or network coding may be performed.

[0070] As an alternative or supplement, the transmitting RLC entity of the data transmission entity 901 may split the RLC PDU into multiple groups, and may respectively send the multiple RLC PDU groups to multiple MAC entities corresponding to multiple cells for transmission for higher throughput.

[0071] When RLC PDUs are received from multiple receiving MAC entities corresponding to multiple cells, the receiving RLC entity of the data receiving entity 902 may concatenate or combine them into RLC SDUs. RLC PDU retransmission may be triggered only when the RLC PDU is not successfully received by all MAC entities.

[0072] If network coding is performed in the transmitting RLC entity of the data transmission entity 901 , the RLC PDU may be network decoded in the receiving RLC entity and then combined in the RLC entity of the data receiving entity 902 .

[0073] The RLC status PDU may be sent by the master MAC entity or by any one of the MAC entities. In this case, since the RLC PDUs may be concatenated or combined in the same RLC entity, the frequency diversity gain from multiple data paths may be improved. That is, if an RLC SDU segment is successfully sent from any one of the MAC entities to the receiving RLC entity, the RLC SDU segment may be successfully received and may be used for RLC SDU concatenation or combination.

[0074] When a MAC PDU is successfully received, the receiving MAC entity may send it to one or more other receiving MAC entities to stop HARQ retransmissions when RLC duplication is activated (direct delivery or delivery via an RLC entity).

[0075] When a MAC PDU is successfully received, the receiving MAC entity may confirm (e.g., HARQ confirmation) the transmission of the MAC PDU to the sending MAC entity, and the sending MAC entity may send a HARQ confirmation to one or more other sending MAC entities to discard the MAC SDU or stop MAC SDU retransmission.

[0076] Alternatively or additionally, the RLC SDU segment may be transmitted from only one transmitting MAC entity to one receiving MAC entity. The MAC entity may be a primary MAC entity or a MAC entity selected based on radio quality (e.g., RSRP value, CQI, etc.) or cell load information. Once a transmission failure occurs, RLC duplication may be triggered, and RLC SDU segments may be sent or retransmitted from more than one transmitting MAC entity to at least one receiving MAC entity.

[0077] Alternatively or additionally, the RLC SDU segments are sent from the first group of transmitting MAC entities to the first group of receiving MAC entities. Once a transmission failure occurs, the RLC SDU segments may be sent or retransmitted from the second group of transmitting MAC entities to the second group of receiving MAC entities.

[0078] The first group of MAC entities and the second group of MAC entities may be configured by the network, and the second group of MAC entities may provide better QoS or higher reliability than the first group of MAC entities; for example, the second group of MAC entities may have more MAC entities than the first group of MAC entities.

[0079] See also Fig.10, data duplication or segmentation may be performed in the MAC layer. That is, the sending MAC entity of the data transmission entity 1001 may send MAC PDU copies to multiple physical (PHY) entities corresponding to multiple cells for more reliable transmission. This may occur before the MAC PDU copies are sent and / or network coding may be performed. When MAC PDUs with the same LC-ID, the same SN or PDU ID are received from different MAC entities, the receiving MAC entity of the data receiving entity 1002 may connect or combine them into a MAC SDU.

[0080] As an alternative or supplement, the transmitting MAC entity of the data transmission entity 1001 may divide the MAC PDU into multiple groups, and may respectively send the multiple groups of MAC PDUs to multiple PHY entities corresponding to multiple cells to obtain higher throughput.

[0081] If network coding is performed in the sending MAC entity of the data transmitting entity 1001 , the MAC PDU may be network decoded and then network decoded in the receiving MAC entity of the data receiving entity 1002 .

[0082] When a MAC PDU is successfully received, the receiving PHY entity may send it to one or more other receiving PHY entities when MAC duplication is activated for soft combining.

[0083] When any one of the PHY entities successfully decodes the MAC PDU, the receiving MAC entity will send a HARQ confirmation to the sending MAC entity to stop retransmission. The HARQ ACK / NACK can be sent by the master PHY entity or by any of the other PHY entities of one or more cells. That is, if the MAC PDU is successfully sent to any receiving PHY entity of the data receiving entity 1002, it can be successfully received and the frequency diversity gain can be increased.

[0084] Optionally, the MAC PDU may be sent from only one transmitting PHY entity to one receiving PHY entity. The PHY entity may be a primary PHY entity, or a PHY entity selected based on radio quality (e.g., RSRP value, CQI, etc.) or cell load information. Once a transmission failure occurs, MAC duplication may be triggered, and the MAC PDU may be sent or resent from more than one transmitting PHY entity to more than one receiving PHY entity.

[0085] Alternatively or additionally, the MAC PDU may be transmitted from the first group of transmitting PHY entities to the first group of receiving PHY entities. Once a transmission failure occurs, the MAC PDU may be transmitted or retransmitted from the second group of transmitting PHY entities to the second group of receiving PHY entities.

[0086] The first group of PHY entities and the second group of PHY entities may be configured by the network, and the second group of PHY entities may provide better QoS or higher reliability than the first group of PHY entities; for example, the second group of PHY entities may have more PHY entities than the first group of PHY entities.

[0087] See also Figures 11A-11C , provides an example parameter configuration of a MAC control element (CE). A first MAC CE (e.g., Fig.11A ) may be used to identify a parameter set indicating the presence of each parameter included in the parameter set. A second MAC CE corresponding to the first MAC CE (e.g., Fig. 11B ) may include configurations for each parameter, which may include one or more parameter configurations. Based on the mode, one or more levels of the MAC CE structure may be defined; for example, if the nth MAC CE indicates whether a parameter or a set of parameters exists, and if so, the (n+1)th level MAC CE provides the relevant configuration.

[0088] exist Fig.11A In the example, parameter set 1 can contain up to x*8+7 parameters. Each bit of the MAC CE can indicate whether a parameter configured by a parameter exists in the corresponding MAC CE. That is, a set bit ("1") can indicate that a parameter exists, while an unset bit ("0") can indicate that a parameter does not exist. The last bit of the MAC CE can be used as an extension indicator. The default value of the extension indicator can be "0", where a value of "1" indicates that an additional Octet can be attached to the MAC CE to indicate that additional parameters can exist.

[0089] exist Fig.11A The MAC CE parameter presence indicator of parameter set 1 shown in FIG. 1 can be identified by LC-ID or by a higher-level MAC CE. A higher-level MAC CE can be used to indicate whether to follow Fig.11A The MAC CE of the parameter presence indicator of the parameter set x shown in , where x=1...n.

[0090] See also Fig. 11B , the parameters can be included in parameter set 1. That is, Fig. 11B In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 , only parameter 1 and parameter 3 exist.

[0091] See also Fig. 11C ,like Fig. 11B As shown in (first-level MAC CE), only parameters 1 and 3 exist; Fig. 11BAs shown in the first-level MAC CE, only parameter 1 and parameter 3 exist. Assuming that parameter 1 can be defined as 5 bits in length and parameter 3 can be defined as 6 bits in length, the configurations of parameter 1 and parameter 3 are included in the second-level MAC CE for parameter configuration. The padding bit can be used as follows: Fig. 11C Octet (ie, 8-bit) alignment shown in .

[0092] The above description and accompanying drawings provide specific example embodiments and implementations. However, the described embodiments may be embodied in various different forms, and the subject matter covered or claimed is intended to be interpreted as not being limited to any example embodiment set forth herein. A reasonably wide range of the subject matter claimed or covered is contemplated. Among other things, for example, the subject matter may be implemented as a method, device, component, system, or non-transient computer-readable medium for storing computer code. Therefore, the embodiment may, for example, take the form of hardware, software, firmware, storage medium, or any combination thereof. For example, the method embodiment described above may be implemented by a component, device, or system including a memory and a processor by executing a computer code stored in a memory.

[0093] Throughout the specification and claims, terms may have nuanced meanings that are implied or suggested by the context beyond the explicitly stated meanings. Likewise, the phrases "in one embodiment / implementation" as used in this application do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and the phrases "in another embodiment / implementation" as used herein do not necessarily refer to different embodiments. For example, the claimed subject matter is intended to include, in whole or in part, combinations of the illustrated embodiments.

[0094] In general, terms may be understood at least in part from their use in context. For example, terms as used herein, such as "and", "or" or "and / or", may include multiple meanings that may depend at least in part on the context in which such terms are used. Typically, "or", if used in an association list, such as A, B or C, is intended to mean A, B and C used in an inclusive sense herein, as well as A, B or C used in an exclusive sense herein. In addition, the term "one or more", as used herein, may be used to describe any feature, structure or characteristic in a singular sense, or may be used to describe a combination of features, structures or characteristics in a plural sense, depending at least in part on the context. Similarly, terms such as "one", "a", or "the" may be understood to convey singular use or to convey plural use, depending at least in part on the context. In addition, the term "based on" may be understood to not necessarily be intended to convey a set of exclusive factors, and may alternatively allow the presence of additional factors that do not need to be explicitly described, again at least in part based on the context.

[0095] References throughout this specification to features, advantages, or similar language do not imply that all features and advantages that can be achieved with the present solution should be or are included in any single implementation thereof. Rather, language referring to such features and advantages should be understood to mean that a particular feature, advantage, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present solution. Thus, discussion of features and advantages and similar language throughout this specification may, but does not necessarily, refer to the same implementation.

[0096] In addition, the described features, advantages, and characteristics of the present solution may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Based on the description herein, one of ordinary skill in the relevant art will recognize that the present solution may be practiced without one or more of the specific features or advantages of a particular embodiment. In other embodiments, additional features and advantages may be recognized in certain embodiments that may not be present in all embodiments of the present solution.

[0097] The subject matter of the present disclosure may also relate to or include the following aspects and other aspects:

[0098] The first aspect includes a wireless communication method applied to a sending device in a wireless communication system, including: receiving a service data unit SDU; dividing the SDU into multiple segments; sending the multiple segments to a receiving device; and sending confirmation of successful transmission of one or more segments among the multiple segments.

[0099] The second aspect comprises the method according to the first aspect, further comprising: performing network coding on each of the plurality of segments.

[0100] The third aspect includes a method for wireless communication, which is applied to a receiving device in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: receiving, at a first entity of the receiving device, multiple data unit SDU segments sent by a sending device; sending the multiple SDU segments to one or more other entities of the receiving device; sending a confirmation to the sending device in response to receiving a segment among the multiple SDU segments; and assembling the multiple SDU segments into a reorganized packet data convergence protocol protocol data unit PDCP PDU having a packet data convergence protocol PDCP header.

[0101] A fourth aspect comprises the method according to any preceding aspect, wherein the plurality of SDU segments is one of a plurality of Radio Link Control (RLC) entities of a transmitting device.

[0102] A fifth aspect includes the method according to any of the preceding aspects, further comprising: delivering the plurality of SDU segments to a PDCP entity.

[0103] A sixth aspect includes the method according to any preceding aspect, wherein the acknowledgement is sent from a PDCP entity of the receiving device.

[0104] A seventh aspect comprises the method according to any preceding aspect, wherein the confirmation indication is sent by an RLC entity.

[0105] The eighth aspect includes a method according to any of the preceding aspects, further comprising: receiving a PDCP confirmation indication from a receiving packet data convergence protocol PDCP entity of a receiving device, the PDCP confirmation indication being used to indicate that one of a plurality of segments has been successfully received; and indicating that a segment received by a sending radio link control RLC entity of a sending device has been successfully discarded.

[0106] The ninth aspect includes the method according to any of the previous aspects, and also includes: removing the PDCP segmentation field by resetting the segmentation information field of the reorganized PDCP PDU; and removing the segment sequence number SSN field, or removing the segment offset SO field.

[0107] The tenth aspect includes a method according to any of the preceding aspects, the method further comprising: sequentially connecting the data field and the media access control interface MAC-I field of the reorganized PDCP PDU based on the segment sequence number SSN field and / or the segment offset SO field.

[0108] An eleventh aspect includes a method according to any preceding aspect, wherein each of the plurality of SDU segments comprises a segment sequence number SSN field that is consecutively numbered; and the plurality of SDU segments are reassembled based on the segment sequence number field.

[0109] The twelfth aspect includes a method according to any of the preceding aspects, wherein a segment offset field included in the plurality of SDU segments is used to indicate the positions of the plurality of segments in an original unsegmented SDU, and the plurality of SDU segments are reassembled based on the segment offset field.

[0110] A thirteenth aspect comprises a method according to any of the preceding aspects, wherein a plurality of SDU segments are received by a plurality of medium access control MAC entities and transmitted between a plurality of radio link control RLC entities of a receiving device and combined or connected in a receiving RLC entity of the receiving device.

[0111] A fourteenth aspect comprises a method according to any preceding aspect, wherein a plurality of SDU segments are received by a plurality of different transmitting RLC entities of a transmitting device and are combined or concatenated in a receiving RLC entity of a receiving device.

[0112] A fifteenth aspect includes a method according to any preceding aspect, wherein multiple SDU segments are combined or concatenated based on a predefined RLC segment length.

[0113] A sixteenth aspect includes a method according to any preceding aspect, wherein a plurality of SDU segments are combined or concatenated based on: a segment offset field contained in the plurality of SDU segments, the segment offset field indicating a location of the plurality of segments in an original unsegmented SDU.

[0114] A seventeenth aspect includes a method according to any of the preceding aspects, wherein each SDU segment of the plurality of SDU segments includes a consecutively numbered segment sequence number SSN field; and the plurality of SDU segments are combined or concatenated based on the segment sequence number SSN field.

[0115] An eighteenth aspect includes a method according to any of the preceding aspects, further comprising: in response to unsuccessful reception of an RLC SDU from a radio link control RLC entity, sending a retransmission indication from the PDCP entity of the receiving device to the RLC entity of the receiving device.

[0116] A nineteenth aspect comprises a method according to any preceding aspect, wherein a plurality of SDU segments are received from a plurality of different RLC entities and are combined or concatenated in a receiving PDCP entity of a receiving device.

[0117] A twentieth aspect includes a method according to any preceding aspect, wherein a plurality of SDU segments are combined or concatenated based on a predefined RLC segment length.

[0118] A twenty-first aspect includes a method according to any of the preceding aspects, wherein multiple SDU segments are combined or connected based on: a segment offset field included in the multiple SDU segments, the segment offset field being used to indicate the position of the multiple segments in an original unsegmented SDU.

[0119] A twenty-second aspect includes a method according to any of the preceding aspects, wherein each of the plurality of SDU segments includes a consecutively numbered segment sequence number SSN field; and the plurality of SDU segments are reassembled based on the segment sequence number field.

[0120] The twenty-third aspect includes a method according to any of the preceding aspects, wherein the SDU is the original SDU; and further includes: copying the original SDU; and sending the original SDU and the copied original SDU to multiple media access control MAC entities corresponding to multiple cells of the sending device.

[0121] The twenty-fourth aspect includes a method according to any of the preceding aspects, wherein the SDU is the original SDU; and also includes: splitting the original SDU into a first packet data convergence protocol PDCP group and a second PDCP group; sending the first PDCP group to a first media access control MAC entity, and sending the second PDCP group to a second media access control MAC entity, the first MAC entity and the second MAC entity corresponding to multiple cells of the sending device.

[0122] The twenty-fifth aspect includes a method according to any of the preceding aspects, wherein the SDU is an original SDU; and further includes: copying the original SDU; and sending the original SDU and the copied original SDU to multiple physical PHY entities corresponding to multiple cells of the sending device.

[0123] The twenty-sixth aspect includes a method according to any of the preceding aspects, wherein the SDU is the original SDU; and also includes: splitting the original SDU into a first packet data convergence protocol PDCP group and a second PDCP group; sending the first PDCP group to a first media access control MAC entity, and sending the second PDCP group to a second media access control MAC entity, the first MAC entity and the second MAC entity corresponding to multiple cells of the sending device.

[0124] A twenty-seventh aspect includes a device for wireless communication, comprising: a processor; and a memory communicatively connected to the processor, the memory storing a plurality of instructions executed by the processor to enable the device to implement a method according to any of the preceding aspects.

[0125] A twenty-eighth aspect includes a non-volatile computer readable medium including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, are operable to implement a method according to any of the preceding aspects.

Claims

1. A wireless communication method, applied to a transmitting device in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: Receive service data unit SDU; Divide the SDU into multiple segments; sending the plurality of segments to a receiving device; An acknowledgement of successful transmission of one or more of the plurality of segments is sent.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Each of the plurality of segments is network coded.

3. A wireless communication method, applied to a receiving device in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: Receiving, at a first entity of a receiving device, a plurality of data unit SDU segments sent by a sending device; sending the plurality of SDU segments to one or more other entities of the receiving device; sending an acknowledgement to the sending device in response to receiving a segment of the plurality of SDU segments; The plurality of SDU segments are assembled into a reassembled Packet Data Convergence Protocol Protocol Data Unit (PDCP) PDU having a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) header.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The plurality of SDU segments are received by one radio link control RLC entity among a plurality of RLC entities of the transmitting device.

5. The method according to claim 3, further comprising: The plurality of SDU segments are delivered to a PDCP entity.

6. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The acknowledgement is sent from a PDCP entity of the receiving device.

7. The method according to claim 4, wherein: An acknowledgement indication is sent by the RLC entity.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving a PDCP confirmation indication from a receiving Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) entity of the receiving device, the PDCP confirmation indication being used to indicate that one of the multiple segments has been successfully received; Indicating that the segment received by a sending radio link control RLC entity of the sending device is discarded successfully.

9. The method according to claim 3, further comprising: Removing the PDCP segmentation field by resetting the segmentation information field of the reassembled PDCP PDU; as well as Remove the Segment Sequence Number (SSN) field, or remove the Segment Offset (SO) field.

10. The method according to claim 3, further comprising: Based on the Segment Sequence Number SSN field and / or the Segment Offset SO field, the data field and the Medium Access Control Interface MAC-I field of the reassembled PDCP PDU are connected in sequence.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein: Each of the plurality of SDU segments comprises a segment sequence number SSN field that is consecutively numbered; The plurality of SDU segments are reassembled based on the segment sequence numbers.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The plurality of SDU segments are reassembled based on a segment offset field contained therein; the segment offset field indicates the positions of the plurality of segments in an original unsegmented SDU.

13. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The plurality of SDU segments are received by a plurality of medium access control MAC entities, transmitted between a plurality of radio link control RLC entities of the receiving device, and combined or connected in a receiving RLC entity of the receiving device.

14. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The plurality of SDU segments are received by a plurality of different transmitting RLC entities of the transmitting device and are combined or connected in a receiving RLC entity of the receiving device.

15. The method according to claim 13, wherein: The plurality of SDU segments are combined or concatenated based on a predefined RLC segment length.

16. The method according to claim 13, wherein: The multiple SDU segments are combined or concatenated based on: The segment offset field included in the plurality of SDU segments indicates the positions of the plurality of segments in an original unsegmented SDU.

17. The method according to claim 13, wherein: Each of the plurality of SDU segments includes a segment sequence number SSN field that is consecutively numbered; and the plurality of SDU segments are combined or connected based on the segment sequence number SSN field.

18. The method according to claim 3, further comprising: In response to unsuccessful reception of the RLC SDU from a radio link control RLC entity, a retransmission indication is sent from the PDCP entity of the receiving device to the RLC entity of the receiving device.

19. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The plurality of SDU segments are received from a plurality of different RLC entities and are combined or concatenated in a receiving PDCP entity of the receiving device.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein: The plurality of SDU segments are combined or concatenated based on a predefined RLC segment length.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the plurality of SDU segments are combined or concatenated based on: A segment offset field is included in the plurality of SDU segments, and the segment offset field is used to indicate the positions of the plurality of segments in an original unsegmented SDU.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein Each of the plurality of SDU segments comprises a segment sequence number SSN field that is consecutively numbered; The plurality of SDU segments are reassembled based on the segment sequence number field.

23. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The SDU is an original SDU; the method further includes: Copying the original SDU; The original SDU and the copied original SDU are sent to multiple media access control MAC entities corresponding to multiple cells of the sending device.

24. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The SDU is an original SDU; the method further includes: Splitting the original SDU into a first Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) group and a second PDCP group; The first PDCP group is sent to a first media access control MAC entity, and the second PDCP group is sent to a second media access control MAC entity, wherein the first MAC entity and the second MAC entity correspond to multiple cells of the sending device.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein: The SDU is an original SDU; the method further includes: Copying the original SDU; The original SDU and the copied original SDU are transmitted to a plurality of physical PHY entities corresponding to a plurality of cells of the transmitting device.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein: The SDU is an original SDU; the method further includes: Splitting the original SDU into a first Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) group and a second PDCP group; The first PDCP group is sent to a first media access control MAC entity, and the second PDCP group is sent to a second media access control MAC entity, wherein the first MAC entity and the second MAC entity correspond to multiple cells of the sending device.

27. A device for wireless communication, comprising: processor; A memory communicatively connected to the processor, the memory storing a plurality of instructions executable by the processor, wherein the processor executes the plurality of instructions to implement the method according to any one of claims 1-26.

28. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions executable by one or more processors, The instructions, when executed by the one or more processors: Implement the method according to any one of claims 1-26.

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