Layer 2 enhancements for PDU sets with different importance

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described. In general, the described techniques provide for the establishment of an importance hierarchy for quality of service (QoS) flows. The wireless device may associate various radio link control (RLC) entities and logical channels of the QoS flow with one or more importance levels of the QoS flow. In some cases, the wireless device may map each set of protocol data units (PDUs) of the QoS flow to a respective importance level, which may affect the transmission priority of the set of PDUs. For example, a priority rule for scheduling PDUs may indicate that sets of PDUs are to be scheduled in an importance order such that a set of PDUs associated with a highest importance level is scheduled first and a set of PDUs associated with a second high importance level is scheduled second.

Description

[0001] Cross-references

[0002] This patent application claims priority to U.S. patent application No. 18 / 425,246, filed by HE et al. on January 29, 2024, entitled “LAYER-TWO ENHANCEMENTS FOR PDU SETS WITH DIFFERENT IMPORTANCE,” and U.S. provisional patent application No. 63 / 482,298, filed by HE et al. on January 30, 2023, entitled “LAYER-TWO ENHANCEMENTS FOR PDU SETS WITH DIFFERENT IMPORTANCE,” each of which is assigned to the assignee of this application, and each of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] The following relates to wireless communications, including layer two (L2) enhancements for sets of protocol data units (PDUs) having different importance. Background Art

[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content, such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and the like. These systems may be able to support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems (such as long term evolution (LTE) systems, advanced LTE (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems) and fifth generation (5G) systems (which may be referred to as new radio (NR) systems). These systems may employ techniques such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple access communication system may include one or more base stations, each of which supports wireless communication for communication devices, which may be referred to as user equipment (UE).

[0005] Some wireless communication systems may support communicating data in one or more PDUs (PDUs). In some cases, PDUs may be aggregated into PDU sets, and multiple PDU sets may be associated with the same application (e.g., each PDU set may correspond to a video frame for video playback). Different PDU sets may have different decoding standards, which may depend on application layer characteristics such as error correction. Managing the transmission characteristics of different PDU sets associated with an application may present challenges in matching these transmission characteristics with the specific implementation of the PDU set in that application. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The described techniques relate to improved methods, systems, devices, and apparatuses for supporting Layer 2 (L2) enhancements for protocol data unit (PDU) sets with different characteristics (e.g., importance). For example, the described techniques provide for establishing an importance hierarchy for a Quality of Service (QoS) flow. A wireless device may associate various Radio Link Control (RLC) entities and logical channels of the QoS flow with one or more importance levels for the QoS flow. In some cases, the wireless device may configure each RLC entity with a corresponding set of RLC parameters (e.g., one or more RLC timers) and may configure each logical channel with a common set of parameters or a corresponding set of parameters. The wireless device may map each PDU set of the QoS flow to a corresponding importance level, which may affect the priority with which the PDU set is transmitted. For example, a priority rule for scheduling PDUs may dictate that PDU sets be scheduled in order of importance (e.g., the PDU set associated with the highest importance level is scheduled first, the PDU set associated with the second highest importance level is scheduled second, and so on).

[0007] A method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE) is described. The method may include: establishing a configuration for a first QoS flow, the configuration establishing a set of multiple RLC entities; mapping PDUs in a first PDU set associated with the first QoS flow to a first RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities based on a first characteristic associated with the first PDU set, and mapping PDUs in a second PDU set associated with the first QoS flow to a second RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities based on a second characteristic associated with the second PDU set; and communicating at least a subset of the PDUs in the first PDU set, the second PDU set, or both via one or more time-frequency resources based on the mapping.

[0008] A UE for wireless communication is described. The UE may include: one or more memories storing processor-executable code; and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories. The one or more processors may be individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the UE to: establish a configuration for a first QoS flow, the configuration establishing a set of multiple RLC entities; map PDUs in a first PDU set associated with the first QoS flow to a first RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities based on a first characteristic associated with the first PDU set, and map PDUs in a second PDU set associated with the first QoS flow to a second RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities based on a second characteristic associated with the second PDU set; and based on the mapping, communicate at least a subset of the PDUs in the first PDU set, the second PDU set, or both via one or more time-frequency resources.

[0009] Another UE for wireless communication is described. The UE may include: means for establishing a configuration for a first QoS flow, the configuration establishing a set of multiple RLC entities; means for mapping PDUs in a first PDU set associated with the first QoS flow to a first RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities based on a first characteristic associated with the first PDU set, and mapping PDUs in a second PDU set associated with the first QoS flow to a second RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities based on a second characteristic associated with the second PDU set; and means for communicating at least a subset of the PDUs in the first PDU set, the second PDU set, or both via one or more time-frequency resources based on the mapping.

[0010] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a wireless device is described. The code may include instructions executable by one or more processors to: establish a configuration for a first QoS flow, the configuration establishing a set of multiple RLC entities; map PDUs in a first PDU set associated with the first QoS flow to a first RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities based on a first characteristic associated with the first PDU set, and map PDUs in a second PDU set associated with the first QoS flow to a second RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities based on a second characteristic associated with the second PDU set; and, based on the mapping, communicate at least a subset of the PDUs in the first PDU set, the second PDU set, or both via one or more time-frequency resources.

[0011] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first RLC entity may be associated with a first logical channel in a set of multiple logical channels, and the second RLC entity may be associated with a second logical channel in the set of multiple logical channels, the set of multiple logical channels being associated with the first QoS flow.

[0012] Some examples of the methods, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may further include operations, features, components, or instructions for: mapping the PDU in the first PDU set to a first subset of the one or more time-frequency resources based on a first logical channel prioritization (LCP) restriction policy associated with the first logical channel; and mapping the PDU in the second PDU set to a second subset of the one or more time-frequency resources based on a second LCP restriction policy associated with the second logical channel.

[0013] In some examples of the methods, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first logical channel may be associated with a first LCP priority, and the second logical channel may be associated with a second LCP priority.

[0014] In some examples of the methods, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first logical channel and the second logical channel may be associated with first LCP parameters that are based on one or more characteristics of the first QoS flow.

[0015] In some examples of the methods, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first LCP parameter includes a first prioritized bit rate (PBR), a first bucket size duration (BSD), or both.

[0016] Some examples of the methods, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may further include operations, features, components, or instructions for: decrementing a state variable associated with the set of multiple logical channels based on conveying at least the subset of the PDUs in the first PDU set, the second PDU set, or both.

[0017] In some examples of the methods, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first logical channel may be associated with a first LCP parameter and the second logical channel may be associated with a second LCP parameter, and the first LCP parameter, the second LCP parameter, or both may be based on one or more characteristics of the first QoS flow.

[0018] In some examples of the methods, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first LCP parameters include a first PBR, a first BSD, or both, and the second LCP parameters include a second PBR, a second BSD, or both.

[0019] In some examples of the methods, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first QoS flow, the first RLC entity, the second RLC entity, the first logical channel, and the second logical channel may be associated with a same data radio bearer.

[0020] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the third RLC entity may be associated with a third logical channel, and the first logical channel and the third logical channel may be associated with first LCP parameters.

[0021] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the first RLC entity and the second RLC entity may be associated with a first logical channel in a set of multiple logical channels, the set of multiple logical channels being associated with the first QoS flow.

[0022] In some examples of the methods, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the set of multiple RLC entities may be associated with corresponding importance levels of multiple importance levels associated with the first QoS flow, the first characteristic associated with the first PDU set may indicate that the first PDU set is associated with a first importance level of the set of multiple importance levels, and the second characteristic associated with the second PDU set may indicate that the second PDU set is associated with a second importance level of the set of multiple importance levels.

[0023] Some examples of the methods, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may further include operations, features, components, or instructions for the following actions: establishing the configuration for the first QoS flow includes: establishing a third RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities that is selected for copying one or more PDUs based on the first importance level; and the method further includes: copying the PDU in the first PDU set; and mapping the copied PDU in the first PDU set to the third RLC entity.

[0024] Some examples of the methods, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may further include operations, features, components, or instructions for: scheduling one or more first PDUs in the first PDU set for transmission via the one or more time-frequency resources; and after scheduling the one or more first PDUs, scheduling one or more second PDUs in the second PDU set for transmission via the one or more time-frequency resources, wherein the one or more second PDUs may be scheduled after the one or more first PDUs based on the first importance level being higher than the second importance level.

[0025] In some examples of the methods, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, communicating at least the subset of the PDUs in the first PDU set, the second PDU set, or both may include operations, features, components, or instructions for: discarding one or more first PDUs in the first PDU set based on the second importance level being higher than the first importance level; and discarding one or more second PDUs in the second PDU set based on the first importance level being higher than the second importance level.

[0026] In some examples of the methods, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, each RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities may be associated with a respective RLC parameter set in the multiple RLC parameter sets.

[0027] In some examples of the methods, UEs, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, each RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities may be associated with a respective segmentation buffer and a respective reassembly buffer. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] Figure 1 An example of a wireless communication system supporting layer two (L2) enhancements for protocol data unit (PDU) sets having different importances according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0029] Figure 2 An example of a wireless communication system supporting L2 enhancement for PDU sets with different importance according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0030] Figure 3A and Figure 3B An example of a mapping structure supporting L2 enhancement for PDU sets with different importance according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0031] Figure 4An example of a process flow supporting L2 enhancement for PDU sets with different importances according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0032] Figure 5 and Figure 6 A block diagram illustrating a device supporting L2 enhancement for PDU sets with different importances according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0033] Figure 7 A block diagram of a communication manager supporting L2 enhancements for PDU sets with different importance is illustrated in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure.

[0034] Figure 8 A diagram illustrating a system including a device supporting L2 enhancement for PDU sets with different importances in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0035] Figure 9 A flow chart illustrating a method of supporting L2 enhancement for PDU sets with different importance according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] In some wireless communication systems, wireless devices may communicate one or more protocol data units (PDUs) to support various applications or services. In some cases, such as when performing services associated with relatively large amounts of data, multiple PDUs may be aggregated into a PDU set. For example, a PDU set may be communicated to support playback of video frames or slices within a video frame. As applications increase in complexity and utilize larger numbers of PDUs (e.g., virtual reality (VR) services, augmented reality (AR) services, etc.), multiple PDU sets may be associated with the application. For example, the multiple PDU sets may be associated with the same quality of service (QoS) flow (e.g., a QoS flow configured for the application) and may share common QoS attributes, such as a PDU set delay budget (PSDB), a PDU set error rate (PSER), or both. In some examples, decoding standards may specify various dependencies for decoding PDUs in a PDU set, such as marking the PDU set as obsolete if at least one PDU in the PDU set is missing, or avoiding communicating the remaining PDUs in the PDU set if a PDU in the PDU set is not successfully received for the first time. However, some PDU sets of the QoS flow may be more important than other PDU sets of the QoS flow (e.g., a first PDU set may depend on a second PDU set to be successfully communicated). In some cases, the wireless device may establish an importance hierarchy for PDU sets of the QoS flow within the same QoS flow to avoid discarding PDU sets that are more important than one or more other PDU sets, which may improve communication reliability in the presence of channel congestion.

[0037] To support establishing a hierarchical structure for QoS flows, the wireless device may associate various radio link control (RLC) entities and logical channels of the QoS flow with one or more characteristics (e.g., importance levels) of the QoS flow. For example, each characteristic may be associated with a corresponding RLC entity and a corresponding logical channel (a one-to-one association), or may be associated with a corresponding RLC entity and a common logical channel (a many-to-one association). In some cases, the wireless device may configure each RLC entity with a corresponding set of RLC parameters (e.g., one or more RLC timers), and may configure each logical channel with a common set of parameters or a corresponding set of parameters. The wireless device may map each PDU set of the QoS flow to a corresponding characteristic from a set of characteristics, which may affect the priority with which the PDU set is transmitted. For example, a priority rule for scheduling PDUs may dictate that PDU sets be scheduled in order of importance (e.g., the PDU set associated with the highest importance level is scheduled first, the PDU set associated with the second highest importance level is scheduled second, and so on). Such techniques may improve the reliability of delivering data for an application by reducing the likelihood that one or more important PDUs of the application will be dropped.

[0038] Various aspects of the present disclosure are first described in the context of a wireless communication system. Aspects of the present disclosure are further illustrated by and described with reference to mapping structures and process flows. Aspects of the present disclosure are further illustrated by and described with reference to apparatus diagrams, system diagrams, and flow diagrams related to Layer 2 (L2) enhancements for PDU sets with different importances.

[0039] Figure 1 An example of a wireless communication system 100 that supports L2 enhancements for PDU sets with different importances according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The wireless communication system 100 may include one or more network entities 105, one or more UEs 115, and a core network 130. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may be a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, an Advanced LTE (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pro network, a New Radio (NR) network, or a network operating according to other systems and radio technologies, including future systems and radio technologies not explicitly mentioned herein.

[0040] The network entities 105 may be dispersed throughout a geographic area to form the wireless communication system 100 and may include devices that take different forms or have different capabilities. In various examples, the network entities 105 may be referred to as network elements, mobility elements, radio access network (RAN) nodes, or network equipment, among other nomenclature. In some examples, the network entities 105 and the UEs 115 may communicate wirelessly via one or more communication links 125 (e.g., radio frequency (RF) access links). For example, the network entities 105 may support a coverage area 110 (e.g., a geographic coverage area) within which the UEs 115 and the network entities 105 may establish one or more communication links 125. The coverage area 110 may be an example of a geographic area within which the network entities 105 and the UEs 115 may support signal communication according to one or more radio access technologies (RATs).

[0041] The UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout the coverage area 110 of the wireless communication system 100, and each UE 115 may be stationary or mobile or both stationary and mobile at different times. The UEs 115 may be devices that take different forms or have different capabilities. Figure 1 Some example UEs 115 are illustrated in FIG. The UEs 115 described herein may be capable of supporting communication with various types of devices such as Figure 1 Other UEs 115 or network entities 105 are shown communicating.

[0042] As described herein, a node of the wireless communication system 100 (which may be referred to as a network node or wireless node) may be a network entity 105 (e.g., any network entity described herein), a UE 115 (e.g., any UE described herein), a network controller, an apparatus, a device, a computing system, one or more components, or another suitable processing entity configured to perform any of the techniques described herein. For example, the node may be a UE 115. As another example, the node may be a network entity 105. As another example, a first node may be configured to communicate with a second node or a third node. In one aspect of this example, the first node may be a UE 115, the second node may be a network entity 105, and the third node may be a UE 115. In another aspect of this example, the first node may be a UE 115, the second node may be a network entity 105, and the third node may be a network entity 105. In other aspects of this example, the first node, the second node, and the third node may be different relative to these examples. Similarly, references to UE 115, network entity 105, apparatus, device, computing system, etc. may include disclosure of UE 115, network entity 105, apparatus, device, computing system, etc. as nodes. For example, a disclosure that UE 115 is configured to receive information from network entity 105 also discloses that the first node is configured to receive information from the second node.

[0043] In some examples, network entities 105 can communicate with core network 130, or with each other, or both. For example, network entities 105 can communicate with core network 130 via one or more backhaul communication links 120 (e.g., according to S1, N2, N3, or other interface protocols). In some examples, network entities 105 can communicate with each other via backhaul communication links 120 (e.g., according to X2, Xn, or other interface protocols), either directly (e.g., directly between network entities 105) or indirectly (e.g., via core network 130). In some examples, network entities 105 can communicate with each other via midhaul communication links 162 (e.g., according to a midhaul interface protocol) or fronthaul communication links 168 (e.g., according to a fronthaul interface protocol), or any combination thereof. Backhaul communication links 120, midhaul communication links 162, or fronthaul communication links 168 can be or include one or more wired links (e.g., electrical links, fiber optic links), one or more wireless links (e.g., radio links, wireless optical links), etc., or various combinations thereof. UE 115 may communicate with core network 130 via communication link 155 .

[0044] One or more of the network entities 105 described herein may include or may be referred to as a base station 140 (e.g., a transceiver base station, a radio base station, an NR base station, an access point, a radio transceiver, a Node B, an eNodeB (eNB), a next-generation Node B, or a gigabit Node B (any of which may be referred to as a gNB), a 5G NB, a next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), a Home Node B, a Home eNodeB, or other suitable terminology). In some examples, the network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140) may be implemented in a converged (e.g., monolithic, standalone) base station architecture that may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single network entity 105 (e.g., a single RAN node, such as the base station 140).

[0045] In some examples, the network entity 105 can be implemented in a disaggregated architecture (e.g., a disaggregated base station architecture, a disaggregated RAN architecture) that can be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed between two or more network entities 105, such as an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open RAN (O-RAN) (e.g., a network configuration sponsored by the O-RAN Alliance), or a virtualized RAN (vRAN) (e.g., a cloud RAN (C-RAN)). For example, the network entity 105 can include one or more of the following: a central unit (CU) 160, a distributed unit (DU) 165, a radio unit (RU) 170, a RAN intelligent controller (RIC) 175 (e.g., a near real-time RIC (near RT RIC), a non-real-time RIC (non-RT RIC)), a service management and orchestration (SMO) 180 system, or any combination thereof. The RU 170 may also be referred to as a radio head, smart radio head, remote radio head (RRH), remote radio unit (RRU), or transmit receive point (TRP). One or more components of the network entity 105 in the disaggregated RAN architecture may be co-located, or one or more components of the network entity 105 may be located in distributed locations (e.g., separate physical locations). In some examples, one or more network entities 105 of the disaggregated RAN architecture may be implemented as virtual units (e.g., virtual CU (VCU), virtual DU (VDU), virtual RU (VRU)).

[0046] The functional split between CU 160, DU 165, and RU 170 is flexible and can support different functionalities depending on which functions (e.g., network layer functions, protocol layer functions, baseband functions, RF functions, and any combination thereof) are performed at CU 160, DU 165, or RU 170. For example, a functional split of the protocol stack can be employed between CU 160 and DU 165 such that CU 160 can support one or more layers of the protocol stack and DU 165 can support one or more different layers of the protocol stack. In some examples, CU 160 can host higher protocol layer (e.g., Layer 3 (L3), Layer 2 (L2)) functionality and signaling (e.g., Radio Resource Control (RRC), Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP)). The CU 160 may be connected to one or more DUs 165 or RUs 170, and the one or more DUs 165 or RUs 170 may host lower protocol layers, such as Layer 1 (L1) (e.g., physical (PHY) layer) or L2 (e.g., RLC layer, medium access control (MAC) layer) functionality and signaling, and may each be at least partially controlled by the CU 160. Additionally or alternatively, a functional split of the protocol stack may be employed between the DU 165 and the RU 170, such that the DU 165 may support one or more layers of the protocol stack and the RU 170 may support one or more different layers of the protocol stack. The DU 165 may support one or more different cells (e.g., via one or more RUs 170). In some cases, the functional split between the CU 160 and the DU 165 or between the DU 165 and the RU 170 may be within the protocol layer (e.g., some functions of the protocol layer may be performed by one of the CU 160, DU 165, or RU 170, while other functions of the protocol layer may be performed by a different one of the CU 160, DU 165, or RU 170). The CU 160 may be further functionally split into CU control plane (CU-CP) and CU user plane (CU-UP) functions. The CU 160 may be connected to one or more DUs 165 via midhaul communication links 162 (e.g., F1, F1-c, F1-u), and the DU 165 may be connected to one or more RUs 170 via fronthaul communication links 168 (e.g., an open fronthaul (FH) interface). In some examples, midhaul communication link 162 or fronthaul communication link 168 may be implemented according to an interface (e.g., a channel) between layers of a protocol stack supported by respective network entities 105 that communicate via such communication links.

[0047] In some wireless communication systems (e.g., wireless communication system 100), the infrastructure and spectrum resources used for radio access may support wireless backhaul link capabilities to supplement wired backhaul connections, thereby providing an IAB network architecture (e.g., to core network 130). In some cases, in an IAB network, one or more network entities 105 (e.g., IAB nodes 104) may be partially controlled by each other. One or more IAB nodes 104 may be referred to as a donor entity or IAB donor. One or more DUs 165 or one or more RUs 170 may be partially controlled by one or more CUs 160 associated with a donor network entity 105 (e.g., donor base station 140). One or more donor network entities 105 (e.g., IAB donors) may communicate with one or more additional network entities 105 (e.g., IAB nodes 104) via supported access and backhaul links (e.g., backhaul communication link 120). The IAB node 104 may include an IAB mobile terminal (IAB-MT) controlled (e.g., scheduled) by the DU 165 of the coupled IAB donor. The IAB-MT may include an independent set of antennas for relaying communications with the UE 115, or may share the same antennas of the IAB node 104 (e.g., of the RU 170) for access via the DU 165 of the IAB node 104 (e.g., referred to as a virtual IAB-MT (vIAB-MT)). In some examples, the IAB node 104 may include a DU 165 that supports communication links with additional entities (e.g., IAB node 104, UE 115) within a relay chain or configuration (e.g., downstream) of the access network. In such cases, one or more components of the decomposed RAN architecture (e.g., one or more IAB nodes 104 or components of the IAB node 104) may be configured to operate according to the techniques described herein.

[0048] Where the techniques described herein are applied to the context of a disaggregated RAN architecture, one or more components of the disaggregated RAN architecture may be configured to support L2 enhancements for PDU sets of different importance as described herein. For example, some operations described as being performed by a UE 115 or a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140) may additionally or alternatively be performed by one or more components of the disaggregated RAN architecture (e.g., an IAB node 104, a DU 165, a CU 160, a RU 170, a RIC 175, a SMO 180).

[0049] UE 115 may include or may be referred to as a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a handheld device, or a subscriber device, or some other suitable terminology, where "device" may also be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, etc. UE 115 may also include or may be referred to as a personal electronic device, such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a personal computer. In some examples, UE 115 may include or may be referred to as a wireless local loop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet of Everything (IoE) device, or a machine type communication (MTC) device, etc., which may be implemented in various objects, such as appliances or vehicles, meters, etc.

[0050] The UE 115 described herein may be capable of communicating with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115, which may sometimes act as relays, as well as network entities 105 and network equipment including macro eNBs or gNBs, small cell eNBs or gNBs, or relay base stations, etc. Figure 1 shown.

[0051] The UE 115 and the network entity 105 can wirelessly communicate with each other via one or more communication links 125 (e.g., access links) using resources associated with one or more carriers. The term "carrier" can refer to a collection of RF spectrum resources having a physical layer structure defined for supporting the communication link 125. For example, a carrier used for the communication link 125 can include a portion of an RF spectrum band (e.g., a bandwidth portion (BWP)) that operates according to one or more physical layer channels for a given radio access technology (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR). Each physical layer channel can carry acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronization signals, system information), control signaling for coordinating carrier operations, user data, or other signaling. The wireless communication system 100 can support communications with the UE 115 using carrier aggregation or multi-carrier operation. Depending on the carrier aggregation configuration, the UE 115 can be configured with multiple downlink component carriers and one or more uplink component carriers. Carrier aggregation can be used for both frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD) component carriers. Communication between the network entity 105 and other devices may refer to communication between those devices and any portion (e.g., entity, sub-entity) of the network entity 105. For example, the terms "send," "receive," or "communicate" when referring to the network entity 105 may refer to any portion of the network entity 105 (e.g., base station 140, CU 160, DU 165, RU 170) of the RAN communicating with another device (e.g., directly or via one or more other network entities 105).

[0052] The signal waveform transmitted via the carrier may include multiple subcarriers (e.g., using a multicarrier modulation (MCM) technique such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM)). In a system employing MCM techniques, a resource element may refer to the resource of one symbol period (e.g., the duration of one modulation symbol) and one subcarrier, in which case the symbol period and subcarrier spacing may be inversely related. The number of bits carried by each resource element may depend on the modulation scheme (e.g., the order of the modulation scheme, the coding rate of the modulation scheme, or both), such that a relatively high number of resource elements (e.g., in the transmission duration) and a relatively high order of the modulation scheme may correspond to a relatively high communication rate. Wireless communication resources may refer to a combination of RF spectrum resources, time resources, and spatial resources (e.g., spatial layers or beams), and the use of multiple spatial resources may increase the data rate or data integrity used for communication with UE 115.

[0053] The time interval for the network entity 105 or the UE 115 may be expressed as a multiple of a basic time unit, which may be, for example, a sampling period T s =1 / (Δf max ·N f ) seconds, where Δf max It can represent the supported subcarrier spacing, and N f The supported discrete Fourier transform (DFT) size may be indicated. Time intervals of communication resources may be organized according to radio frames, each having a specified duration (e.g., 10 milliseconds (ms)). Each radio frame may be identified by a system frame number (SFN) (e.g., ranging from 0 to 1023).

[0054] Each frame may include a plurality of consecutively numbered subframes or time slots, and each subframe or time slot may have the same duration. In some examples, a frame may be divided (e.g., in the time domain) into subframes, and each subframe may be further divided into a certain number of time slots. Alternatively, each frame may include a variable number of time slots, and the number of time slots may depend on the subcarrier spacing. Each time slot may include a certain number of symbol periods (e.g., depending on the length of the cyclic prefix appended in front of each symbol period). In some wireless communication systems 100, the time slot may be further divided into a plurality of mini-time slots associated with one or more symbols. Excluding the cyclic prefix, each symbol period may be associated with one or more (e.g., N f The duration of a symbol period may depend on the subcarrier spacing or the operating frequency band.

[0055] A subframe, slot, mini-slot, or symbol may be the smallest scheduling unit (e.g., in the time domain) of the wireless communication system 100 and may be referred to as a Transmit Time Interval (TTI). In some examples, the TTI duration (e.g., the number of symbol periods in a TTI) may be variable. Additionally or alternatively, the smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communication system 100 may be dynamically selected (e.g., in a burst of a shortened TTI (sTTI)).

[0056] According to various techniques, physical channels may be multiplexed using carriers for communication. Physical control channels and physical data channels may be multiplexed for signaling over downlink carriers, for example, using one or more of time division multiplexing (TDM), frequency division multiplexing (FDM), or hybrid TDM-FDM techniques. A control region (e.g., a control resource set (CORESET)) of a physical control channel may be defined by a set of symbol periods and may extend across the system bandwidth of a carrier or a subset of the system bandwidth. One or more control regions (e.g., CORESETs) may be configured for a set of UEs 115. For example, one or more of UEs 115 may monitor or search the control region for control information according to one or more search space sets, and each search space set may include one or more control channel candidates in one or more aggregation levels arranged in a cascaded manner. The aggregation level of a control channel candidate may refer to the amount of control channel resources (e.g., control channel elements (CCEs)) associated with coded information for a control information format having a given payload size. The search space sets may include a common search space set configured for transmitting control information to multiple UEs 115 and a UE-specific search space set for transmitting control information to a specific UE 115 .

[0057] In some examples, network entities 105 (e.g., base stations 140, RUs 170) can be mobile and, therefore, provide communication coverage for mobile coverage areas 110. In some examples, different coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies can overlap, but the different coverage areas 110 can be supported by the same network entity 105. In some other examples, overlapping coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies can be supported by different network entities 105. The wireless communication system 100 can include, for example, a heterogeneous network in which different types of network entities 105 provide coverage for various coverage areas 110 using the same or different radio access technologies.

[0058] The wireless communication system 100 can be configured to support ultra-reliable communication or low-latency communication or various combinations thereof. For example, the wireless communication system 100 can be configured to support ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC). The UE 115 can be designed to support ultra-reliable or low-latency or critical functions. Ultra-reliable communication can include private or group communications and can be supported by one or more services (such as push-to-talk, video, or data). Support for ultra-reliable, low-latency functions can include prioritization of services, and such services can be used for public safety or general commercial applications. The terms "ultra-reliable," "low latency," and "ultra-reliable low latency" are used interchangeably herein.

[0059] In some examples, a UE 115 can be configured to support communication directly with other UEs 115 via a device-to-device (D2D) communication link 135 (e.g., according to a peer-to-peer (P2P), D2D, or sidelink protocol). In some examples, one or more UEs 115 in a group performing D2D communication can be within a coverage area 110 of a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, a RU 170), which can support aspects of such D2D communication configured by the network entity 105 (e.g., scheduled by the network entity). In some examples, one or more UEs 115 in such a group can be outside the coverage area 110 of the network entity 105 or can otherwise be unable or not configured to receive transmissions from the network entity 105. In some examples, a group of UEs 115 communicating via D2D communication can support a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each UE 115 transmits to each of the other UEs 115 in the group. In some examples, network entity 105 may facilitate scheduling of resources for D2D communications. In some other examples, D2D communications may be performed between UEs 115 without involving network entity 105.

[0060] In some systems, the D2D communication link 135 can be an example of a communication channel (such as a sidelink communication channel) between vehicles (e.g., UE 115). In some examples, the vehicles can communicate using vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, or some combination thereof. The vehicles can signal information related to traffic conditions, signal scheduling, weather, safety, emergency situations, or any other information related to the V2X system. In some examples, the vehicles in the V2X system can communicate with roadside infrastructure (such as roadside units) or communicate with the network via one or more network nodes (e.g., network entity 105, base station 140, RU 170) using vehicle-to-network (V2N) communication, or both.

[0061] The core network 130 may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC), which may include at least one control plane entity (e.g., a mobility management entity (MME), an access and mobility management function (AMF)) for managing access and mobility and at least one user plane entity (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW), a packet data network (PDN) gateway (P-GW), or a user plane function (UPF)) for routing packets or interconnecting to external networks. The control plane entity may manage non-access stratum (NAS) functions such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management for UEs 115 served by network entities 105 (e.g., base stations 140) associated with the core network 130. User IP packets may be delivered through the user plane entity, which may provide IP address allocation and other functions. The user plane entity may be connected to the IP services 150 of one or more network operators. IP services 150 may include access to the Internet, an intranet, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), or packet-switched streaming services.

[0062] The wireless communication system 100 can operate using one or more frequency bands that can range from 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300 gigahertz (GHz). Generally speaking, the region from 300 MHz to 3 GHz is referred to as the ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band because the wavelengths range from about one decimeter to one meter in length. UHF waves can be blocked or redirected by buildings and environmental features (which can be referred to as clusters), but these waves can penetrate structures sufficiently for a macro cell to provide service to a UE 115 located indoors. Communication using UHF waves can be associated with smaller antennas and a shorter range (e.g., less than 100 kilometers) than communication using the lower frequencies and longer waves in the high frequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portions of the spectrum below 300 MHz.

[0063] The wireless communication system 100 can utilize licensed and unlicensed RF spectrum bands. For example, the wireless communication system 100 can use unlicensed bands (such as the 5 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band) to employ Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), LTE Unlicensed (LTE-U) radio access technology, or NR technology. When operating using unlicensed RF spectrum bands, devices such as the network entity 105 and the UE 115 can employ carrier sensing for conflict detection and avoidance. In some examples, operations using unlicensed bands can be based on carrier aggregation configuration (e.g., LAA) in combination with component carriers operating using licensed bands. Operations using unlicensed spectrum can include downlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, P2P transmissions, or D2D transmissions, among others.

[0064] A network entity 105 (e.g., base station 140, RU 170) or UE 115 may be equipped with multiple antennas that can be used to employ techniques such as transmit diversity, receive diversity, multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) communications, or beamforming. The antennas of the network entity 105 or UE 115 may be located within one or more antenna arrays or antenna panels, which may support MIMO operations or transmit or receive beamforming. For example, one or more base station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located at an antenna assembly, such as an antenna tower. In some examples, the antennas or antenna arrays associated with the network entity 105 may be located at different geographical locations. The network entity 105 may include an antenna array having a set of multiple rows and columns of antenna ports that the network entity 105 can use to support beamforming for communications with the UE 115. Similarly, the UE 115 may include one or more antenna arrays that may support various MIMO or beamforming operations. Additionally or alternatively, the antenna panels may support RF beamforming for signals transmitted via the antenna ports.

[0065] The network entity 105 or the UE 115 may use MIMO communication to exploit multipath signal propagation and improve spectral efficiency by sending or receiving multiple signals via different spatial layers. Such a technique may be referred to as spatial multiplexing. The multiple signals may be sent, for example, by a transmitting device via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Similarly, the multiple signals may be received by a receiving device via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Each of the multiple signals may be referred to as a separate spatial stream and may carry information associated with the same data stream (e.g., the same codeword) or different data streams (e.g., different codewords). Different spatial layers may be associated with different antenna ports for channel measurement and reporting. MIMO techniques include single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO), in which multiple spatial layers are transmitted to the same receiving device, and multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO), in which multiple spatial layers are transmitted to multiple devices.

[0066] Beamforming (which may also be referred to as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception) is a signal processing technique that can be used at a transmitting device or a receiving device (e.g., a network entity 105, a UE 115) to shape or steer an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam, a receive beam) along a spatial path between the transmitting device and the receiving device. Beamforming can be achieved by combining signals communicated via antenna elements of an antenna array so that some signals propagating along a particular orientation relative to the antenna array experience constructive interference, while other signals experience destructive interference. Adjustments to signals communicated via antenna elements can include the transmitting device or the receiving device applying an amplitude offset, a phase offset, or both to signals carried via antenna elements associated with the device. The adjustments associated with each of these antenna elements can be defined by a set of beamforming weights associated with a particular orientation (e.g., relative to the antenna array of the transmitting device or the receiving device or relative to some other orientation).

[0067] The wireless communication system 100 may be a packet-based network operating according to a layered protocol stack. In the user plane, communications at the bearer or PDCP layer may be IP-based. The RLC layer may perform packet segmentation and reassembly for communication via logical channels. The MAC layer may perform priority handling and multiplexing of logical channels into transport channels. The MAC layer may also support retransmission using error detection, error correction, or both to improve link efficiency. In the control plane, the RRC layer may provide for the establishment, configuration, and maintenance of RRC connections between the UE 115 and the network entity 105 or core network 130 for radio bearers supporting user plane data. The PHY layer may map transport channels to physical channels.

[0068] In some wireless communication systems (such as wireless communication system 100), a wireless device (e.g., UE 115 or network entity 105) may communicate one or more protocol data unit (PDU) sets to support various applications or services. As applications increase in complexity and utilize larger numbers of PDUs, multiple PDU sets may be associated with the same quality of service (QoS) flow (e.g., a QoS flow configured for the application) and may share common QoS attributes (e.g., a PDU set delay budget (PSDB) or a PDU set error rate (PSER)). In some examples, a decoding standard may specify various dependencies for decoding PDUs in a PDU set, such as marking a PDU set as obsolete if at least one PDU in the PDU set is missing, or avoiding communicating the remaining PDUs in the PDU set if a PDU in the PDU set is not successfully received for the first time. However, some PDU sets in the QoS flow may be more important than other PDU sets in the QoS flow (e.g., a first PDU set may depend on a second PDU set being successfully communicated). In some cases, the wireless device may establish an importance hierarchy for PDU sets of the same QoS within the same QoS flow to avoid discarding PDU sets that are more important than one or more other PDU sets, which may improve communication reliability in the presence of channel congestion.

[0069] To support establishing a hierarchical structure for QoS flows, the wireless device may associate various RLC entities and logical channels of the QoS flow with one or more characteristics of the QoS flow. For example, each characteristic may be associated with a corresponding RLC entity and a corresponding logical channel (a one-to-one association), or may be associated with a corresponding RLC entity and a common logical channel (a many-to-one association). The wireless device may map each PDU set of the QoS flow to a corresponding characteristic from a set of characteristics, which may affect the priority with which the PDU set is sent. For example, a priority rule for scheduling PDUs may indicate that PDU sets are to be scheduled in order of importance (e.g., the PDU set associated with the highest importance level is scheduled first, the PDU set associated with the second highest importance level is scheduled second, and so on). Such techniques may improve the reliability of data delivered to an application by reducing the likelihood that one or more important PDUs of the application will be dropped.

[0070] Figure 2 An example of a wireless communication system 200 that supports L2 enhancement for PDU sets with different importance according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The wireless communication system 200 can implement one or more aspects of the wireless communication system 100. For example, the wireless communication system 200 may include a network entity 105-a and a UE 115-a, which may be reference entities. Figure 1Examples of corresponding devices described. The wireless communication system 200 may include a data transmission 205 communicated between the network entity 105-a and the UE 115-a. The data transmission 205 may be associated with a QoS flow 210, which may include higher protocol layer functionality and signaling, such as SDAP 215 and PDCP 220, which may be referenced. Figure 1 Examples of corresponding features described. For example, the QoS flow 210 may be associated with (e.g., assigned to) a DRB of the wireless communication system 200 based on a data radio bearer (DRB) mapping via the SDAP 215. Additionally or alternatively, the DRB associated with the QoS flow 210 may be associated with one or more aspects of the QoS flow 210 (such as the importance level 235, the RLC entity 225, the logical channel 230, or a combination thereof). For example, the network device may establish a DRB and assign the QoS flow 210 to the DRB, which may result in the RLC entity 225 and the logical channel 230 of the QoS flow 210 being associated with the DRB (e.g., the same DRB). In some examples, one or more other QoS flows (e.g., associated with a corresponding set of importance levels) may be multiplexed with the QoS flow 210 and assigned to the same DRB via the SDAP 215. In some examples, a data packet (e.g., a service data unit (SDU)) may have a PDCP header added via PDCP 220 (e.g., for a transmitting PDCP entity), or may have a PDCP header removed via the PDCP (e.g., for a receiving PDCP entity).

[0071] In some examples, data transmission 205 may include multiple PDU sets 240 (e.g., PDU set 240-a and PDU set 240-b) to convey data associated with an application or service. PDU set 240 may include one or more PDUs 245 that share common QoS attributes (e.g., PDU set delay budget (PSDB), PDU set error rate (PSER), or both). For example, PDU set 240-a may include PDU 245-a-1, PDU 245-a-2, and one or more additional PDUs 245-a (e.g., n number of PDUs 245-a, depicted by PDU 245-an), and PDU set 240-b may include PDU 245-b-1, PDU 245-b-2, and one or more additional PDUs 245-b (e.g., n number of PDUs 245-b, depicted by PDU 245-bn). Additionally or alternatively, PDU sets 240 associated with the same application may share common QoS attributes, such as PSDB, PSER, priority, guaranteed bit rate (GBR), maximum data burst size (MDBV), or a combination thereof. In some cases, a wireless device (e.g., a network entity 150-a or a UE 115-a) may communicate a PDU set 240 as an integrated unit of an application. As an example, a PDU set 240 may include multiple PDUs 245, each associated with a video frame or a slice of a video frame of the application.

[0072] PDU set 240-a and PDU set 240-b may be associated with various decoding criteria (e.g., according to a PDU set integration indication) based on the specific implementation of the application associated with the PDU set 240. For example, the decoding criteria may indicate that if at least one PDU 245 in the PDU set 240 is not successfully communicated, the PDU set 240 is considered outdated (e.g., an all-or-nothing criterion). As another example, the decoding criteria may indicate that if the first PDU 245 in the PDU set 240 is not successfully communicated, the remaining PDUs 245 in the PDU set 240 are to be avoided from being communicated (e.g., a criterion that is valid until first lost). In some cases, the decoding criteria may relate to an application layer (AL) forward error correction (FEC) encoding process such that a subset of the PDUs 245 in the PDU set 240 is available for decoding the PDU set 240 (e.g., where the number of PDUs in the subset of PDUs 245 depends on the redundancy rate of the FEC).

[0073] In some cases, PDU sets 240 associated with the same application may have different importance levels for the application (e.g., importance may be a respective characteristic of each PDU set 240). For example, data associated with PDU set 240-b may depend on successfully communicating data associated with PDU set 240-a, which may indicate that PDU set 240-a has greater importance than PDU set 240-b. In some examples, multiple importance levels 235 may be configured within the same QoS flow (e.g., QoS flow 210), and the PDU sets 240 of the QoS flow may be associated with respective importance levels of the multiple importance levels 235. For example, QoS flow 210 may include importance level 235-a and importance level 235-b, and the wireless device may map PDU set 240-a to importance level 235-a and may map PDU set 240-b to importance level 235-b. In some cases, because importance level 235-a is higher than importance level 235-b, PDU set 240-a may have higher communication reliability than PDU set 240-b. For example, in the presence of channel congestion, the transmitting device may discard PDU set 240-b before discarding PDU set 240-a based on importance level 235-a and importance level 235-b. As another example, the transmitting device may schedule PDU set 240-a for transmission before scheduling PDU set 240-b for transmission, which may increase the likelihood that PDU 245-a in PDU set 240-a will be communicated within the delivery deadline. It should be noted that the QoS flow 210 may include any number of importance levels 235, and is not limited to Figure 2 The two importance levels are depicted in 235.

[0074] In some examples, the wireless device (e.g., network entity 105-a or UE 115-a) may associate importance levels 235 with corresponding RLC entities 225 of QoS flow 210. For example, the wireless device may configure importance level 235-a and importance level 235-b using RLC entity 225-a and RLC entity 225-b, respectively (e.g., forming an RLC branch within QoS flow 210). Additionally or alternatively, the wireless device may configure importance level 235 using one or more logical channels 230. For example, logical channel 230-a may be mapped to importance level 235-a, and logical channel 230-b may be mapped to importance level 235-b (e.g., a one-to-one mapping between importance levels 235 and logical channels 230, such as Figure 2 In another example, each of the importance levels 235 may share a common logical channel 230, as shown in FIG. Figure 3B Further described.

[0075] In some cases, each RLC entity 225 may be associated with a respective set of RLC parameters for communicating a PDU set 240. Such parameters may include an assembly timer (e.g., t-assembly) indicating the duration for communicating each PDU 245 in the PDU set 240, one or more timers associated with timing for feedback communication (e.g., t-StatusProhibit, t-PollRetransmit, and t-pollByte), or a combination thereof, and may be set according to the associated importance level 235. For example, because importance level 235-a is higher than importance level 235-b, RLC entity 225-a may be configured with a longer assembly timer (e.g., to reduce the likelihood that PDUs 245 in the PDU set 240 will be discarded) and a shorter feedback timer (e.g., to increase the periodicity of feedback communication) than RLC entity 225-b. Additionally or alternatively, each RLC entity 225 may be associated with a respective segmentation buffer (e.g., an uplink buffer), a respective reassembly buffer (e.g., a downlink buffer), or both.

[0076] In some examples, such as when each importance level 235 is associated with a corresponding logical channel 230, the wireless device can configure each logical channel 230 using a corresponding logical channel prioritization (LCP) barring policy. The LCP barring policy can indicate one or more carriers for transmitting the PDUs 245 in the PDU set 240 mapped to the logical channel 230. For example, the LCP barring policy of the logical channel 230-a can indicate that the PDUs 245-a in the PDU set 240-a are transmitted via a low-band carrier according to the importance level 235-a, which can support higher communication reliability. In some examples, the wireless device can configure the logical channel 230-a and the logical channel 230-b using the same priority level (e.g., the priority configured for the QoS flow 210) or different priority levels for scheduling the PDU set 240.

[0077] In a first example, each logical channel 230 of the QoS flow 210 may share a common set of LCP parameters corresponding to one or more characteristics of the QoS flow 210. For example, the logical channel 230-a and the logical channel 230-b may be associated with a common priority bit rate (PBR), a common bucket size duration (BSD), or both, which may be based on one or more characteristics of the QoS flow 210, such as the GBR and MDBV of the QoS flow 210. Additionally or alternatively, the logical channel 230-a and the logical channel 230-b may share common state variables (e.g., B j) to schedule one or more PDUs 245 according to the LCP restriction policy of the logical channel 230-a and the logical channel 230-b. For example, during the LCP process for both the logical channel 230-a and the logical channel 230-b, the common state variable may be incremented (e.g., as a function of the common PBR). As part of the LCP process, the wireless device may determine how to allocate resources indicated by a resource grant to the PDU sets 240 associated with different logical channels 230 upon receiving the resource grant (e.g., the UE 115-a receives an uplink grant from the network entity 105-a).

[0078] In some cases, the wireless device may schedule PDU sets 240 according to a priority rule based on importance levels 235. For example, the wireless device may schedule PDU 245-a in PDU set 240-a for transmission via one or more resources indicated in the resource grant, and may schedule PDU 245-b in PDU set 240-b for transmission via one or more remaining resources indicated in the resource grant after scheduling PDU set 240-a because importance level 235-a is higher than importance level 235-b. In some other examples, the wireless device (e.g., network entity 105-a or UE 115-a) may determine how much data from each importance level 235 to allocate to fill the resource grant and may determine the order in which to multiplex the data into the resource grant. In some cases, the wireless device may include PDUs 245 from different RLC entities 225 in different MAC sub-PDUs (e.g., PDU 245-a from RLC entity 225-a and PDU 245-b from RLC entity 225-b). After filling the resource grant, the wireless device may decrement a common state variable (e.g., B) based on the total amount of data scheduled for the resource grant across each of the RLC entities 225 (e.g., associated with each of the logical channels 230). j ).

[0079] In a second example, a first wireless device (e.g., a network device such as a RAN node or network entity 105-a) may configure a corresponding LCP parameter set for each logical channel 230. For example, the first wireless device may identify one or more characteristics of the QoS flow 210 (e.g., GBR and MDBV provided by the core network) and may determine a corresponding PBR, a corresponding BSD, or both for each logical channel 230 based on an importance level 235 associated with each logical channel 230. In some cases, a second wireless device may receive a resource grant (e.g., UE 115-a receives an uplink grant) and may perform an LCP procedure based on an LCP restriction policy for the logical channel 230-a, the logical channel 230-b, or both. For example, the logical channel 230-a may perform the LCP procedure using a first state variable, and the logical channel 230-b may perform the LCP procedure using a second state variable.

[0080] Figure 3A and Figure 3B An example of a mapping structure 301 and a mapping structure 302 are respectively illustrated to support L2 enhancement for PDU sets with different importance according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The mapping structure 301 and the mapping structure 302 can implement one or more aspects of the wireless communication system 200. For example, the mapping structure 301 and the mapping structure 302 may include a QoS flow 305, an SDAP 310, a PDCP 315, one or more RLC entities 320, one or more logical channels 325, and one or more importance levels 330, which may be as described in reference. Figure 2 Corresponding examples of corresponding features described.

[0081] Figure 3AA mapping structure 301 is depicted, which can be an example of selectively duplicating one or more PDU sets 335 based on an importance level 330. For example, a network device (e.g., a RAN node, a network entity 105, etc.) can select an importance level 330-a and can configure the importance level 330-a for PDCP duplication. In some examples, PDCP duplication can support duplication of data packets of the PDU set 335 between multiple RLC entities 320 associated with the same DRB. For example, if the importance level 330-a is configured for PDCP duplication, the wireless device can map the PDU set 335-a associated with the importance level 330-a to both the RLC entity 320-a-1 and the RLC entity 320-a-2. The RLC entity 320-a-1 and the RLC entity 320-a-2 can be associated with different physical channels, such as different component carriers or connection entities (e.g., in a dual connectivity arrangement). Additionally, the wireless device may schedule the PDU set 335-a twice according to both the logical channel 325-a-1 and the logical channel 325-a-2 (e.g., using the LCP restriction policy of the logical channel 325-a-1 and the logical channel 325-a-2). In some cases, the network device may not configure PDCP duplication for the importance level 330-b, and the PDU set 335-b may be mapped and scheduled according to a single RLC entity 320-b and a single logical channel 325-b. In some examples, such as when each logical channel 325 of the QoS flow 305 shares a common set of LCP parameters, the network device may avoid configuring selective duplication for the importance level 330 of the QoS flow 305 (e.g., setting the shared parameters may be unclear). In some other examples, such as when each logical channel 325 of the QoS flow 305 corresponds to a corresponding set of LCP parameters, the network device may configure selective duplication for one or more importance levels 330 of the QoS flow.

[0082] Figure 3B A mapping structure 302 is depicted, which can be an example of one or more RLC entities 320 sharing a common logical channel 325. For example, RLC entity 320-a and RLC entity 320-b can be associated with different importance levels 330 (e.g., importance level 330-a and importance level 330-b, respectively, which can be examples of characteristics of a PDU set) and can each be associated with a logical channel 325-c (e.g., the shared logical channel 325). In some examples, RLC entity 320-a and RLC entity 320-b can be associated with respective RLC parameter sets (e.g., reference Figure 2330-b). The logical channel 325-c may correspond to a set of LCP parameters (such as PBR and BSD) based on one or more characteristics of the QoS flow 305 (such as GBR and MDVB). Additionally or alternatively, the PDU set 335-a and the PDU set 335-b may share a common logical channel 325. For example, the LCP restriction policy and common state variables of the logical channel 325-c may be used during the LCP process to schedule data packets corresponding to both a first characteristic of the PDU set 335-a (e.g., indicating that the PDU set 335-a is associated with importance level 330-a) and a second characteristic of the second PDU set 335-b (e.g., indicating that the PDU set 335-b is associated with importance level 330-b). In some cases, the wireless device may follow a priority rule for scheduling the PDU sets 335 (e.g., scheduling PDU sets 335 associated with higher importance levels 330 first), or the wireless device may determine how much data from each importance level 330 to multiplex for transmission. For example, since each PDU set 335 is associated with a common logical channel 325-c, the wireless device can multiplex PDU sets 335 of different RLC entities 320 (e.g., PDU set 335-a of RLC entity 320-a and PDU set 335-b of RLC entity 320-b) into the same MAC sub-PDU.

[0083] Figure 4 An example of a process flow 400 for supporting L2 enhancement for PDU sets with different importance according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The process flow 400 can implement one or more aspects of the wireless communication system 100 and the wireless communication system 200. For example, the process flow 400 can include a wireless device 405 and a wireless device 410, each of which can be a reference Figure 1 The wireless device 405 may establish one or more importance levels for QoS flows, which may be reference levels. Figure 2 An example of importance level 235 for the described QoS flow 210. Alternative examples of the following can be implemented where some of the processes are performed in a different order than described or not performed. In some cases, the process may include additional features not mentioned below, or additional processes may be added.

[0084] At 415, the wireless device 405 may establish multiple RLC entities. In some cases, establishing the multiple RLC entities may include establishing RLC entities associated with corresponding importance levels from a set of multiple importance levels. For example, each importance level from the multiple importance levels may be associated with a single RLC entity from the multiple RLC entities. As another example, the wireless device may select an importance level for PDCP duplication and may associate multiple RLC entities with the selected importance level. In some cases, each RLC entity may be associated with a corresponding logical channel for a QoS flow. For example, a first RLC entity may be associated with a first logical channel, and a second RLC entity may be associated with a second logical channel. In some other cases, multiple RLC entities may share a common logical channel for a QoS flow. For example, the first RLC entity and the second RLC entity may each be associated with a first logical channel. In some examples, the QoS flow, the importance level of the QoS flow, the RLC entity for the QoS flow, and the logical channel for the QoS flow may be associated with the same DRB.

[0085] At 420, the wireless device 405 may map one or more PDU sets to RLC entities for the QoS flow. For example, the wireless device 405 may map PDUs in a first PDU set to a first RLC entity based on a first characteristic of the first PDU set associated with the QoS flow (e.g., the importance level of the first PDU set). Additionally, the wireless device 405 may map PDUs in a second PDU set to a second RLC entity based on a second characteristic of the second PDU set associated with the QoS flow (e.g., the importance level of the second PDU set). In some cases, if PDCP duplication is configured for the associated importance level, the PDUs in the PDU set may be duplicated. For example, the wireless device 405 may duplicate the PDUs in the first PDU set and, based on the first importance level being selected for duplication, map the duplicated PDUs to a third RLC entity associated with the first importance level. In some cases, each RLC entity for a QoS flow may be associated with a corresponding set of RLC parameters (e.g., RLC timers), a corresponding segmentation buffer (e.g., an uplink buffer), and a corresponding reassembly buffer (e.g., a downlink buffer).

[0086] At 425, the wireless device 405 may perform an LCP process to schedule PDUs in the first PDU set, the second PDU set, or both for communication via one or more time-frequency resources (e.g., to fill a resource grant). In some cases, performing the LCP process may be based on an LCP restriction policy of a logical channel associated with the first PDU set and the second PDU set. For example, the wireless device 405 may map the PDUs in the first PDU set to a first subset of one or more time-frequency resources based on a first LCP restriction policy for the first logical channel, and may map the PDUs in the second PDU set to a second subset of one or more time-frequency resources based on a second LCP restriction policy for the second logical channel. Additionally or alternatively, as part of the LCP process, the wireless device 405 may determine a scheduling priority for the first PDU set and the second PDU set. For example, because the first importance level is greater than the second importance level, the wireless device 405 may schedule the PDUs in the first PDU set for transmission, and may schedule the PDUs in the second PDU set for transmission after scheduling the first PDU set. In some other cases, the wireless device 405 can determine the amount of data from each importance level and the order in which to multiplex the data to schedule the data for communication. The wireless device 405 can associate PDUs from different RLC entities with different MAC sub-PDUs (e.g., if the RLC entities are associated with corresponding logical channels), or can associate PDUs from different RLC entities with the same MAC sub-PDU (e.g., if the RLC entities share a common logical channel). In some examples, a first logical channel can be associated with a first LCP priority and a second logical channel can be associated with a second LCP priority, where the first LCP priority and the second LCP priority can be the same or different.

[0087] In some cases, the logical channels of a QoS flow may share a common LCP parameter set. For example, a first logical channel and a second logical channel may be associated with the same PBR, the same BSD, or both, which may be set based on one or more characteristics of the QoS flow (such as the GBR and MDVB of the QoS flow). In such an example, the wireless device 405 may decrement a common state variable (e.g., associated with each logical channel of the QoS flow) based on the total amount of data scheduled across each RLC entity. In some other cases, the logical channels of a QoS flow may be associated with corresponding LCP parameter sets. For example, a first logical channel may be associated with a first PBR, a first BSD, or both, and a second logical channel may be associated with a second PBR, a second BSD, or both. In some cases, such as when a first importance level is selected for PDCP duplication, the first logical channel and a third logical channel associated with a third RLC entity may be associated with the same LCP parameter set.

[0088] At 430, the wireless device 405 may discard one or more PDUs based on the importance level of the QoS flow. For example, in the presence of channel congestion, the wireless device 405 may determine which PDUs should be discarded based on their importance levels. In some examples, the wireless device may discard one or more first PDUs in the first PDU set based on the second importance level being higher than the first importance level. In some other examples, the wireless device may discard one or more second PDUs in the second PDU set based on the first importance level being higher than the second importance level.

[0089] At 435, wireless device 405 and wireless device 410 may communicate data. For example, wireless device 405 may communicate at least a subset of PDUs in the first PDU set, the second PDU set, or both via one or more time-frequency resources according to an LCP process and an RLC mapping.

[0090] Figure 5 A block diagram 500 illustrates a device 505 that supports L2 enhancement for PDU sets with different importances according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 505 may be an example of aspects of a general device as described herein, which may be a reference to a device 505 that supports L2 enhancement for PDU sets with different importances according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 1 An example of a UE 115 or a network entity 105 is depicted. The device 505 may include an input component 510, an output component 515, and a communication manager 520. The device 505 may also include a processor. Each of these components may communicate with each other (eg, via one or more buses).

[0091] Input component 510 can manage input signals for device 505. For example, input component 510 can identify input signals based on interaction with a modem, keyboard, mouse, touch screen, or similar device. These input signals can be associated with user input or processing at other components or devices. In some cases, input component 510 can utilize an operating system, such as or another known operating system to handle the input signals. The input component 510 can transmit aspects of these input signals to other components of the device 505 for processing. For example, the input component 510 can send input signals to the communication manager 520 to support L2 enhancements for PDU sets with different importance. In some cases, the input component 510 can be as described in reference Figure 8 Components of I / O controller 810 are described.

[0092] The output component 515 can manage output signals of the device 505. For example, the output component 515 can receive signals from other components of the device 505 (such as the communication manager 520) and can send these signals to other components or devices. In some specific examples, the output component 515 can send the output signals for display in a user interface, for storage in a database or data repository, for further processing at a server or server cluster, or for any other process at any number of devices or systems. In some cases, the output component 515 can be as described in reference to Figure 8 Components of I / O controller 810 are described.

[0093] The communication manager 520, the input component 510, the output component 515, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be examples of means for performing various aspects of L2 enhancement for PDU sets of different importance as described herein. For example, the communication manager 520, the input component 510, the output component 515, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may support methods for performing one or more of the functions described herein.

[0094] In some examples, the communication manager 520, the input component 510, the output component 515, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof can be implemented in hardware (e.g., in a communication management circuit). The hardware can include a processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, a microcontroller, discrete gate or transistor logic components, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof configured as or otherwise supporting components for performing the functions described in this disclosure. In some examples, the processor and a memory coupled to the processor can be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., by executing instructions stored in the memory by the processor).

[0095] Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the communication manager 520, input component 510, output component 515, or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may be implemented in code executed by a processor (e.g., as communication management software or firmware). If implemented in code executed by a processor, the functionality of the communication manager 520, input component 510, output component 515, or various combinations thereof or components thereof may be performed by a general-purpose processor (e.g., configured as or otherwise supporting means for performing the functions described in this disclosure), a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, a microcontroller, or any combination of these or other programmable logic devices.

[0096] In some examples, communication manager 520 can be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receive, obtain, monitor, output, send) using or otherwise cooperating with input component 510, output component 515, or both. For example, communication manager 520 can receive information from input component 510, transmit information to output component 515, or integrate with input component 510, output component 515, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

[0097] According to examples disclosed herein, a communication manager 520 can support wireless communications at a wireless device. For example, the communication manager 520 can be configured to function as, or otherwise support, a component for establishing a configuration for a first QoS flow that establishes a set of multiple RLC entities. The communication manager 520 can be configured to function as, or otherwise support, a component for mapping a first PDU set associated with the first QoS flow to a first RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities based on a first characteristic associated with the first PDU set, and mapping a second PDU set associated with the first QoS flow to a second RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities based on a second characteristic. The communication manager 520 can be configured to function as, or otherwise support, a component for communicating, based on the mapping, at least a subset of the PDUs in the first PDU set, the second PDU set, or both, via one or more time-frequency resources.

[0098] By including or configuring a communication manager 520 according to examples as described herein, the device 505 (e.g., a processor controlling the input component 510, the output component 515, the communication manager 520, or a combination thereof or otherwise coupled thereto) may support techniques for more efficiently utilizing communication resources by reducing the likelihood that important sets of PDUs will be dropped during communications.

[0099] Figure 6 A block diagram 600 illustrates a device 605 that supports L2 enhancement for PDU sets with different importances according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The device 605 may be an example of aspects of the device 505 or a general device as described herein, which may be referenced. Figure 1 An example of a UE 115 or a network entity 105 is depicted. The device 605 may include an input component 610, an output component 615, and a communication manager 620. The device 605 may also include a processor. Each of these components may communicate with each other (eg, via one or more buses).

[0100] Input component 610 can manage input signals for device 605. For example, input component 610 can identify input signals based on interaction with a modem, keyboard, mouse, touch screen, or similar device. These input signals can be associated with user input or processing at other components or devices. In some cases, input component 610 can utilize an operating system, such as or another known operating system to handle the input signals. The input component 610 can transmit aspects of these input signals to other components of the device 605 for processing. For example, the input component 610 can send input signals to the communication manager 620 to support L2 enhancements for PDU sets with different importance. In some cases, the input component 610 can be as described in reference Figure 8 Components of I / O controller 810 are described.

[0101] The output component 615 can manage output signals of the device 605. For example, the output component 615 can receive signals from other components of the device 605 (such as the communication manager 620) and can send these signals to other components or devices. In some specific examples, the output component 615 can send the output signals for display in a user interface, for storage in a database or data repository, for further processing at a server or server cluster, or for any other process at any number of devices or systems. In some cases, the output component 615 can be as described in reference to Figure 8 Components of I / O controller 810 are described.

[0102] Device 605 or its various components can be examples of components for performing various aspects of L2 enhancement for PDU sets with different importances as described herein. For example, communication manager 620 can include importance level association component 625, PDU mapping component 630, data communication component 635, or any combination thereof. Communication manager 620 can be an example of various aspects of communication manager 520 as described herein. In some examples, communication manager 620 or its various components can be configured to use or otherwise cooperate with input component 610, output component 615, or both to perform various operations (e.g., receive, obtain, monitor, output, send). For example, communication manager 620 can receive information from input component 610, transmit information to output component 615, or be integrated in combination with input component 610, output component 615, or both to obtain information, output information, or perform various other operations as described herein.

[0103] According to examples disclosed herein, a communication manager 620 can support wireless communications at a wireless device. An importance level associating component 625 can be configured as or otherwise support means for establishing a configuration for a first QoS flow, the configuration establishing a set of multiple RLC entities. A PDU mapping component 630 can be configured as or otherwise support means for mapping PDUs in a first PDU set associated with the first QoS flow to a first RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities based on a first characteristic associated with the first PDU set, and mapping PDUs in a second PDU set associated with the first QoS flow to a second RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities based on a second characteristic associated with the second PDU set. A data communication component 635 can be configured as or otherwise support means for communicating at least a subset of the PDUs in the first PDU set, the second PDU set, or both via one or more time-frequency resources based on the mapping.

[0104] Figure 7 A block diagram 700 illustrates a communication manager 720 that supports L2 enhancement for PDU sets with different importances, in accordance with one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The communication manager 720 can be an example of aspects of the communication manager 520, the communication manager 620, or both, as described herein. The communication manager 720 or its various components can be examples of means for performing various aspects of L2 enhancement for PDU sets with different importances, as described herein. For example, the communication manager 720 can include an importance level association component 725, a PDU mapping component 730, a data communication component 735, a PDU duplication component 740, a PDU discard component 745, a PDU scheduling component 750, a variable adjustment component 755, or any combination thereof. Each of these components can communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0105] According to examples as disclosed herein, a communication manager 720 can support wireless communications at a wireless device. An importance level associating component 725 can be configured as or otherwise support means for establishing a configuration for a first QoS flow, the configuration establishing a set of multiple RLC entities. A PDU mapping component 730 can be configured as or otherwise support means for mapping PDUs in a first PDU set associated with the first QoS flow to a first RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities based on a first characteristic associated with the first PDU set, and mapping PDUs in a second PDU set associated with the first QoS flow to a second RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities based on a second characteristic associated with the second PDU set. A data communication component 735 can be configured as or otherwise support means for communicating at least a subset of the PDUs in the first PDU set, the second PDU set, or both via one or more time-frequency resources based on the mapping.

[0106] In some examples, the first RLC entity is associated with a first logical channel in a set of multiple logical channels, and the second RLC entity is associated with a second logical channel in the set of multiple logical channels, the set of multiple logical channels being associated with the first QoS flow.

[0107] In some examples, the PDU mapping component 730 can be configured as or otherwise support means for mapping the PDU in the first PDU set to a first subset of the one or more time-frequency resources based on a first LCP restriction policy associated with the first logical channel. In some examples, the PDU mapping component 730 can be configured as or otherwise support means for mapping the PDU in the second PDU set to a second subset of the one or more time-frequency resources based on a second LCP restriction policy associated with the second logical channel.

[0108] In some examples, the first logical channel is associated with a first LCP priority and the second logical channel is associated with a second LCP priority.

[0109] In some examples, the first logical channel and the second logical channel are associated with first LCP parameters, and the first LCP parameters are based on one or more characteristics of the first QoS flow.

[0110] In some examples, the first LCP parameter includes a first PBR, a first BSD, or both.

[0111] In some examples, the variable adjustment component 755 may be configured as or otherwise support means for decrementing a state variable associated with the set of multiple logical channels based on conveying at least the subset of the PDUs in the first PDU set, the second PDU set, or both.

[0112] In some examples, the first logical channel is associated with a first LCP parameter, and the second logical channel is associated with a second LCP parameter. In some examples, the first LCP parameter, the second LCP parameter, or both are based on one or more characteristics of the first QoS flow.

[0113] In some examples, the first LCP parameters include a first PBR, a first BSD, or both, and the second LCP parameters include a second PBR, a second BSD, or both.

[0114] In some examples, to support communicating at least the subset of the PDUs in the first PDU set, the second PDU set, or both, the PDU discard component 745 can be configured as or otherwise support means for discarding one or more first PDUs in the first PDU set based on the second importance level being higher than the first importance level. In some examples, to support communicating at least the subset of the PDUs in the first PDU set, the second PDU set, or both, the PDU discard component 745 can be configured as or otherwise support means for discarding one or more second PDUs in the second PDU set based on the first importance level being higher than the second importance level.

[0115] In some examples, the PDU scheduling component 750 can be configured as or otherwise support a component for scheduling one or more first PDUs in the first PDU set for transmission via the one or more time-frequency resources. In some examples, the PDU scheduling component 750 can be configured as or otherwise support a component for scheduling one or more second PDUs in the second PDU set for transmission via the one or more time-frequency resources after scheduling the one or more first PDUs, wherein the one or more second PDUs are scheduled after the one or more first PDUs based on the first importance level being higher than the second importance level.

[0116] In some examples, establishing the configuration for the first QoS flow includes: establishing a third RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities selected for duplicating one or more PDUs based on the first importance level; and the method further includes, in some examples, duplicating the PDUs in the first PDU set. In some examples, mapping the duplicated PDUs in the first PDU set to the third RLC entity.

[0117] In some examples, the third RLC entity is associated with a third logical channel.In some examples, the first logical channel and the third logical channel are associated with first LCP parameters.

[0118] In some examples, the first RLC entity and the second RLC entity are associated with a first logical channel in a set of multiple logical channels, the set of multiple logical channels being associated with the first QoS flow.

[0119] In some examples, each RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities is associated with a corresponding RLC parameter set in the multiple RLC parameter sets.

[0120] In some examples, each RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities is associated with a respective segmentation buffer and a respective reassembly buffer.

[0121] Figure 8 A diagram illustrating a system 800 including a device 805 that supports L2 enhancement for PDU sets with different importance according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 805 may be an example of or include components of the device 505, device 605, or a general device as described herein, which may be referenced. Figure 1 An example of a UE 115 or network entity 105 is depicted. The device 805 may include components for two-way voice and data communications, including components for sending and receiving communications, such as a communications manager 820, an I / O controller 810, a database controller 815, a memory 825, a processor 830, and a database 835. These components may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one or more buses (e.g., bus 840).

[0122] I / O controller 810 can manage input signals 845 and output signals 850 of device 805. I / O controller 810 can also manage peripheral devices that are not integrated into device 805. In some cases, I / O controller 810 can represent a physical connection or port to an external peripheral device. In some cases, I / O controller 810 can utilize an operating system such as or another known operating system. Additionally or alternatively, I / O controller 810 can represent or interact with a modem, keyboard, mouse, touch screen, or similar device. In some cases, I / O controller 810 can be implemented as part of a processor. In some examples, a user can interact with device 805 via I / O controller 810 or via hardware components controlled by I / O controller 810.

[0123] Database controller 815 can manage the storage and processing of data in database 835. Database 835 can be external to device 805, can be temporarily or permanently connected to device 805, or can be a data storage component of device 805. In some cases, a user can interact with database controller 815. In other cases, database controller 815 can operate automatically without user interaction. Database 835 can be an example of a persistent data repository, a single database, a distributed database, multiple distributed databases, a database management system, or an emergency backup database.

[0124] The memory 825 may include random access memory (RAM) and ROM. The memory 825 may store computer-readable, computer-executable software including instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform the various functions described herein. In some cases, the memory 825 may include a BIOS, etc., which may control basic hardware or software operations, such as interaction with peripheral components or devices.

[0125] The processor 830 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic components, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof). In some cases, the processor 830 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some other cases, the memory controller may be integrated into the processor 830. The processor 830 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 825 to perform various functions (e.g., supporting L2-enhanced functions or tasks for PDU sets with different importance).

[0126] According to examples disclosed herein, a communication manager 820 may support wireless communications at a wireless device. For example, the communication manager 820 may be configured to function as, or otherwise support, a component for establishing a configuration for a first QoS flow that establishes a set of multiple RLC entities. The communication manager 820 may be configured to function as, or otherwise support, a component for mapping PDUs in a first PDU set associated with the first QoS flow to a first RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities based on a first characteristic associated with the first PDU set, and mapping PDUs in a second PDU set associated with the first QoS flow to a second RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities based on a second characteristic associated with the second PDU set. The communication manager 820 may be configured to function as, or otherwise support, a component for communicating, based on the mapping, at least a subset of the PDUs in the first PDU set, the second PDU set, or both, via one or more time-frequency resources.

[0127] By including or configuring a communication manager 820 according to examples as described herein, the device 805 can support techniques for more efficiently utilizing communication resources by reducing the likelihood that important sets of PDUs will be dropped during communications.

[0128] Figure 9 A flowchart illustrating a method 900 for supporting L2 enhancement for PDU sets with different importance according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The operations of the method 900 may be implemented by a general device or components thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 900 may be implemented by a device as described in reference to Figures 1 to 8 The general purpose device described herein performs the functions described herein. In some examples, the general purpose device may execute an instruction set to control the functional elements of the general purpose device to perform the functions described herein. Additionally or alternatively, the general purpose device may use dedicated hardware to perform various aspects of the functions described herein.

[0129] At 905, the method may include establishing a configuration for a first QoS flow, the configuration establishing a set of multiple RLC entities. The operations of 905 may be performed according to examples disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 905 may be performed as described in reference to Figure 7 The described importance level association component 725 executes.

[0130] At 910, the method may include mapping PDUs in a first PDU set associated with the first QoS flow to a first RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities based on a first characteristic associated with the first PDU set, and mapping PDUs in a second PDU set associated with the first QoS flow to a second RLC entity in the set of multiple RLC entities based on a second characteristic associated with the second PDU set. The operations of 910 may be performed according to examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 910 may be performed by reference to Figure 7 The described PDU mapping component 730 performs.

[0131] At 915, the method may include: based on the mapping, communicating at least a subset of the PDUs in the first PDU set, the second PDU set, or both via one or more time-frequency resources. The operations of 915 may be performed according to examples disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 915 may be performed as described in reference to Figure 7 The data communication component 735 performs as described.

[0132] The following provides an overview of various aspects of the disclosure:

[0133] Aspect 1: A method for wireless communication at a wireless device, the method comprising: establishing a configuration for a first QoS flow, the configuration establishing multiple RLC entities; mapping PDUs in a first PDU set associated with the first QoS flow to a first RLC entity of the multiple RLC entities based at least in part on a first characteristic associated with a first PDU set associated with the first QoS flow, and mapping PDUs in a second PDU set to a second RLC entity of the multiple RLC entities based at least in part on a second characteristic associated with a second PDU set associated with the first QoS flow; and communicating at least a subset of the PDUs in the first PDU set, the second PDU set, or both via one or more time-frequency resources based at least in part on the mapping.

[0134] Aspect 2: The method according to aspect 1, wherein the first RLC entity is associated with a first logical channel among a plurality of logical channels, and the second RLC entity is associated with a second logical channel among the plurality of logical channels, and the plurality of logical channels are associated with the first QoS flow.

[0135] Aspect 3: According to the method of Aspect 2, the method further includes: mapping the PDU in the first PDU set to a first subset of the one or more time-frequency resources at least partially based on a first LCP restriction policy associated with the first logical channel; and mapping the PDU in the second PDU set to a second subset of the one or more time-frequency resources at least partially based on a second LCP restriction policy associated with the second logical channel.

[0136] Aspect 4: The method according to any one of aspects 2 to 3, wherein the first logical channel is associated with a first LCP priority, and the second logical channel is associated with a second LCP priority.

[0137] Aspect 5: The method according to any one of aspects 2 to 4, wherein the first logical channel and the second logical channel are associated with first LCP parameters, and the first LCP parameters are based at least in part on one or more characteristics of the first QoS flow.

[0138] Aspect 6: The method according to aspect 5, wherein the first LCP parameter includes a first PBR, a first BSD, or both.

[0139] Aspect 7: The method of aspect 5, further comprising: decrementing a state variable associated with the plurality of logical channels based at least in part on communicating at least the subset of the PDUs in the first PDU set, the second PDU set, or both.

[0140] Aspect 8: A method according to Aspect 2, wherein the first logical channel is associated with a first LCP parameter and the second logical channel is associated with a second LCP parameter, and the first LCP parameter, the second LCP parameter, or both are based at least in part on one or more characteristics of the first QoS flow.

[0141] Aspect 9: The method according to aspect 8, wherein the first LCP parameter includes a first PBR, a first BSD, or both, and the second LCP parameter includes a second PBR, a second BSD, or both.

[0142] Aspect 10: The method according to any one of aspects 2 to 3, wherein the first QoS flow, the first RLC entity, the second RLC entity, the first logical channel and the second logical channel are associated with the same data radio bearer.

[0143] Aspect 11: The method according to aspect 1, wherein the first RLC entity and the second RLC entity are associated with a first logical channel of a plurality of logical channels, the plurality of logical channels being associated with the first QoS flow.

[0144] Aspect 12: A method according to Aspect 1, wherein the multiple RLC entities are associated with corresponding importance levels among multiple importance levels associated with the first QoS flow, the first characteristic associated with the first PDU set indicates that the first PDU set is associated with the first importance level among the multiple importance levels, and the second characteristic associated with the second PDU set indicates that the second PDU set is associated with the second importance level among the multiple importance levels.

[0145] Aspect 13: A method according to Aspect 12, wherein the PDU subset that conveys at least the first PDU set, the second PDU set, or both further includes: discarding one or more first PDUs in the first PDU set based at least in part on the second importance level being higher than the first importance level; or discarding one or more second PDUs in the second PDU set based at least in part on the first importance level being higher than the second importance level.

[0146] Aspect 14: The method according to Aspect 12 further includes: scheduling one or more first PDUs in the first PDU set for transmission via the one or more time-frequency resources; and after scheduling the one or more first PDUs, scheduling one or more second PDUs in the second PDU set for transmission via the one or more time-frequency resources, wherein the one or more second PDUs are scheduled after the one or more first PDUs at least in part based on the first importance level being higher than the second importance level.

[0147] Aspect 15: A method according to Aspect 12, wherein establishing the configuration for the first QoS flow includes: establishing a third RLC entity among the multiple RLC entities, which is selected for copying one or more PDUs based at least in part on the first importance level; and the method further includes: copying the PDUs in the first PDU set; and mapping the copied PDUs in the first PDU set to the third RLC entity.

[0148] Aspect 16: The method according to aspect 15, wherein the third RLC entity is associated with a third logical channel, and the first logical channel and the third logical channel are associated with first LCP parameters.

[0149] Aspect 17: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 16, wherein each RLC entity of the plurality of RLC entities is associated with a corresponding RLC parameter set of a plurality of RLC parameter sets.

[0150] Aspect 18: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 17, wherein each RLC entity of the plurality of RLC entities is associated with a respective segmentation buffer and a respective reassembly buffer.

[0151] Aspect 19: A UE for wireless communication, the UE comprising: one or more memories storing processor-executable code; and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the first UE to perform a method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 17.

[0152] Aspect 19: A UE for wireless communication, the UE comprising at least one component for performing the method according to any one of aspects 1 to 17.

[0153] Aspect 20: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a wireless device, the code comprising instructions executable by one or more processors to perform the method according to any one of aspects 1 to 17.

[0154] It should be noted that the methods described herein describe possible implementations, and that the operations and steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible. Furthermore, aspects of two or more of these methods may be combined.

[0155] Although aspects of LTE, LTE-A, LTE-APro, or NR systems may be described for example purposes, and LTE, LTE-A, LTE-APro, or NR terminology may be used throughout much of the description, the techniques described herein may also be applicable to networks other than LTE, LTE-A, LTE-APro, or NR networks. For example, the techniques described may be applicable to various other wireless communication systems, such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, and other systems and radio technologies not explicitly mentioned herein.

[0156] The information and signals described herein may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips referred to throughout the specification may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0157] The various illustrative blocks and components described in conjunction with the disclosure herein may be implemented or executed using a general purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a CPU, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic components, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration).

[0158] The functions described herein may be implemented using hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or codes of a computer-readable medium or sent using one or more instructions or codes of a computer-readable medium. Other examples and specific implementations are within the scope of this disclosure and the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, the functions described herein may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hard wiring, or a combination of any of these. Features that implement the functions may also be physically located at different locations, including being distributed so that parts of the functions are implemented at different physical locations.

[0159] Computer-readable medium includes both non-transient computer storage media and communication media, and it includes any medium that promotes a computer program to be transferred from one location to another location.Non-transient storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a general or special-purpose computer.By way of example and not limitation, non-transient computer-readable medium can include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, compact disc (CD) ROM or other optical disc storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage device or can be used for carrying or storing desired program code components and any other non-transient medium that can be accessed by a general or special-purpose computer or a general or special-purpose processor in the form of an instruction or data structure.Moreover, any connection is appropriately referred to as computer-readable medium.For example, if software is sent from a website, server or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL) or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio and microwave, then coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio and microwave are included in the definition of computer-readable medium. As used herein, disk and optical disc include CD, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc. Magnetic disk can reproduce data magnetically, and optical disc can reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0160] As used herein, including in the claims, "or" used in a list of items (e.g., a list of items followed by a phrase such as "at least one of" or "one or more of") indicates an inclusive list, so that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Moreover, as used herein, the phrase "based on" should not be interpreted as a reference to a closed set of conditions. For example, an example step described as "based on condition A" can be based on both condition A and condition B without departing from the scope of this disclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase "based on" should be interpreted in the same manner as the phrase "based at least in part on."

[0161] The term "determining" encompasses a variety of actions, and thus, "determining" may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (such as via looking up in a table, database, or other data structure), ascertaining, and the like. Furthermore, "determining" may include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data stored in a memory), etc. Furthermore, "determining" may include parsing, retrieving, selecting, choosing, establishing, and other such similar actions.

[0162] In the drawings, similar components or features may have the same reference number. In addition, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference number with a dash and a second reference number to distinguish between similar components. If only the first reference number is used in the specification, the description applies to any of the similar components having the same first reference number, regardless of the second or subsequent reference numbers.

[0163] The description set forth herein in conjunction with the accompanying drawings describes example configurations and does not represent all examples that may be implemented or within the scope of the claims. The term "example" as used herein means "serving as an example, instance, or illustration," rather than "preferred" or "having advantages over other examples." The detailed description includes specific details to provide an understanding of the described technology. However, these technologies may be practiced without these specific details. In some cases, known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring the concepts of the described examples.

[0164] The description herein is provided to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make or use the present disclosure. Various modifications to the present disclosure will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein, but should be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, the user equipment (UE) comprising: one or more memories storing processor-executable code; and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the UE to: establishing a configuration for a first quality of service flow, the configuration establishing a plurality of radio link control entities; mapping protocol data units in a first protocol data unit set associated with the first quality of service flow to a first radio link control entity of the plurality of radio link control entities based at least in part on a first characteristic associated with the first protocol data unit set, and mapping protocol data units in a second protocol data unit set associated with the first quality of service flow to a second radio link control entity of the plurality of radio link control entities based at least in part on a second characteristic associated with the second protocol data unit set; as well as Based at least in part on the mapping, at least a subset of the protocol data units in the first set of protocol data units, the second set of protocol data units, or both are communicated via one or more time-frequency resources.

2. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the first radio link control entity is associated with a first logical channel among a plurality of logical channels, and the second radio link control entity is associated with a second logical channel among the plurality of logical channels, the plurality of logical channels being associated with the first quality of service flow.

3. The UE of claim 2, wherein the one or more processors are further operable, individually or collectively, to execute the code to cause the UE to: mapping the protocol data units in the first set of protocol data units to a first subset of the one or more time-frequency resources based at least in part on a first logical channel prioritization restriction policy associated with the first logical channel; and The protocol data units in the second set of protocol data units are mapped to a second subset of the one or more time-frequency resources based at least in part on a second logical channel prioritization restriction policy associated with the second logical channel.

4. The UE of claim 2, wherein the first logical channel is associated with a first logical channel prioritization priority, and the second logical channel is associated with a second logical channel prioritization priority.

5. The UE of claim 2, wherein the first logical channel and the second logical channel are associated with a first logical channel prioritization parameter, the first logical channel prioritization parameter being based at least in part on one or more characteristics of the first quality of service flow. 6 . The UE of claim 5 , wherein the first logical channel prioritization parameter comprises a first priority bit rate, a first bucket size duration, or both.

7. The UE of claim 5 , wherein the one or more processors are further operable, individually or collectively, to execute the code to cause the UE to: Based at least in part on communicating at least the subset of the protocol data units in the first set of protocol data units, the second set of protocol data units, or both, state variables associated with the plurality of logical channels are decremented.

8. The UE according to claim 2, wherein: The first logical channel is associated with a first logical channel prioritization parameter, and the second logical channel is associated with a second logical channel prioritization parameter; and The first logical channel prioritization parameter, the second logical channel prioritization parameter, or both are based at least in part on one or more characteristics of the first quality of service flow.

9. The UE of claim 8, wherein the first logical channel prioritization parameter comprises a first priority bit rate, a first bucket size duration, or both, and the second logical channel prioritization parameter comprises a second priority bit rate, a second bucket size duration, or both.

10. The UE of claim 2, wherein the first quality of service flow, the first radio link control entity, the second radio link control entity, the first logical channel, and the second logical channel are associated with a same data radio bearer.

11. The UE of claim 1, wherein the first radio link control entity and the second radio link control entity are associated with a first logical channel of a plurality of logical channels, the plurality of logical channels being associated with the first quality of service flow.

12. The UE according to claim 1, wherein: the plurality of radio link control entities being associated with respective importance levels of a plurality of importance levels associated with the first quality of service flow; the first characteristic associated with the first set of protocol data units indicating that the first set of protocol data units is associated with a first importance level of the plurality of importance levels; and The second characteristic associated with the second set of protocol data units indicates that the second set of protocol data units is associated with a second importance level of the plurality of importance levels.

13. The UE according to claim 12, wherein: To communicate at least the subset of the protocol data units in the first set of protocol data units, the second set of protocol data units, or both, the one or more processors are individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the UE to: discarding one or more first protocol data units in the first set of protocol data units based at least in part on the second importance level being higher than the first importance level; or One or more second protocol data units in the second set of protocol data units are discarded based at least in part on the first importance level being higher than the second importance level.

14. The UE of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are further operable, individually or collectively, to execute the code to cause the UE to: scheduling one or more first protocol data units in the first set of protocol data units for transmission via the one or more time-frequency resources; and After scheduling the one or more first protocol data units, one or more second protocol data units in the second set of protocol data units are scheduled for transmission via the one or more time-frequency resources, wherein the one or more second protocol data units are scheduled after the one or more first protocol data units based at least in part on the first importance level being higher than the second importance level.

15. The UE according to claim 12, wherein: To establish the configuration for the first quality of service flow, the one or more processors are individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the UE to: establishing a third radio link control entity of the plurality of radio link control entities based at least in part on being selected for duplicating one or more protocol data units at the first importance level; and The one or more processors, individually or collectively, are further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to: copying the protocol data unit in the first protocol data unit set; as well as The copied protocol data units of the first set of protocol data units are mapped to the third radio link control entity.

16. The UE according to claim 15, wherein: The first radio link control entity is associated with a first logical channel, and the third radio link control entity is associated with a third logical channel; and The first logical channel and the third logical channel are associated with a first logical channel prioritization parameter.

17. The UE of claim 1, wherein each radio link control entity of the plurality of radio link control entities is associated with a corresponding radio link control parameter set of a plurality of radio link control parameter sets.

18. The UE of claim 1, wherein each radio link control entity of the plurality of radio link control entities is associated with a corresponding segmentation buffer and a corresponding reassembly buffer.

19. A method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: establishing a configuration for a first quality of service flow, the configuration establishing a plurality of radio link control entities; mapping protocol data units in a first protocol data unit set associated with the first quality of service flow to a first radio link control entity of the plurality of radio link control entities based at least in part on a first characteristic associated with the first protocol data unit set, and mapping protocol data units in a second protocol data unit set associated with the first quality of service flow to a second radio link control entity of the plurality of radio link control entities based at least in part on a second characteristic associated with the second protocol data unit set; as well as Based at least in part on the mapping, at least a subset of the protocol data units in the first set of protocol data units, the second set of protocol data units, or both are communicated via one or more time-frequency resources.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the first radio link control entity is associated with a first logical channel of a plurality of logical channels, and the second radio link control entity is associated with a second logical channel of the plurality of logical channels, the plurality of logical channels being associated with the first quality of service flow.

21. The method according to claim 20, further comprising: mapping the protocol data units in the first set of protocol data units to a first subset of the one or more time-frequency resources based at least in part on a first logical channel prioritization restriction policy associated with the first logical channel; as well as The protocol data units in the second set of protocol data units are mapped to a second subset of the one or more time-frequency resources based at least in part on a second logical channel prioritization restriction policy associated with the second logical channel.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the first logical channel is associated with a first logical channel prioritization priority and the second logical channel is associated with a second logical channel prioritization priority.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein the first logical channel and the second logical channel are associated with a first logical channel prioritization parameter, the first logical channel prioritization parameter being based at least in part on one or more characteristics of the first quality of service flow.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the first logical channel prioritization parameter comprises a first priority bit rate, a first bucket size duration, or both.

25. The method of claim 23, further comprising: Based at least in part on communicating at least the subset of the protocol data units in the first set of protocol data units, the second set of protocol data units, or both, state variables associated with the plurality of logical channels are decremented.

26. The method of claim 20, wherein: The first logical channel is associated with a first logical channel prioritization parameter, and the second logical channel is associated with a second logical channel prioritization parameter; and The first logical channel prioritization parameter, the second logical channel prioritization parameter, or both are based at least in part on one or more characteristics of the first quality of service flow.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the first logical channel prioritization parameter comprises a first priority bit rate, a first bucket size duration, or both, and the second logical channel prioritization parameter comprises a second priority bit rate, a second bucket size duration, or both.

28. The method of claim 19, wherein: the plurality of radio link control entities being associated with respective importance levels of a plurality of importance levels associated with the first quality of service flow; the first characteristic associated with the first set of protocol data units indicating that the first set of protocol data units is associated with a first importance level of the plurality of importance levels; and The second characteristic associated with the second set of protocol data units indicates that the second set of protocol data units is associated with a second importance level of the plurality of importance levels.

29. A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, the user equipment (UE) comprising: means for establishing a configuration for a first quality of service flow, the configuration establishing a plurality of radio link control entities; means for mapping protocol data units in a first protocol data unit set associated with the first quality of service flow to a first radio link control entity of the plurality of radio link control entities based at least in part on a first characteristic associated with the first protocol data unit set, and mapping protocol data units in a second protocol data unit set associated with the first quality of service flow to a second radio link control entity of the plurality of radio link control entities based at least in part on a second characteristic associated with the second protocol data unit set; and Means for communicating at least a subset of the protocol data units in the first set of protocol data units, the second set of protocol data units, or both, via one or more time-frequency resources based at least in part on the mapping.

30. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a wireless device, the code comprising instructions executable by one or more processors to: establishing a configuration for a first quality of service flow, the configuration establishing a plurality of radio link control entities; mapping protocol data units in a first protocol data unit set associated with the first quality of service flow to a first radio link control entity of the plurality of radio link control entities based at least in part on a first characteristic associated with the first protocol data unit set, and mapping protocol data units in a second protocol data unit set associated with the first quality of service flow to a second radio link control entity of the plurality of radio link control entities based at least in part on a second characteristic associated with the second protocol data unit set; and Based at least in part on the mapping, at least a subset of the protocol data units in the first set of protocol data units, the second set of protocol data units, or both are communicated via one or more time-frequency resources.

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