Buffer status report

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to buffer status reporting. Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to devices, methods, apparatuses and computer readable storage media for BSR. The method comprises obtaining a configuration for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configuration defining at least: any one of the BSR MAC CE types can be used to report buffer status of a LCG, wherein the LCG ID refers to the LCG for which the buffer status is reported, and the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of the BSR MAC CE used to report buffer status of the LCG; and transmitting at least one type of BSR MAC CE to a network device based on the configuration.

Description

[0001] This divisional application is a divisional application of Chinese Patent Application No. 202380081576.2, entitled "Buffer Status Report," filed on February 24, 2023. Technical Field

[0002] Embodiments of this disclosure generally relate to the telecommunications field, and particularly to devices, methods, apparatus, and computer-readable storage media for buffer status reporting (BSR). Background Technology

[0003] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has initiated a study on enhancements to New Radio (NR) for XR (such as Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), etc.). As XR develops, Baseline Responsiveness (BSR) may need further enhancements to accommodate the characteristics of XR services, such as periodicity, multi-streaming, jitter, latency, and reliability. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Overall, the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure provide a solution for BSR.

[0005] In a first aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: acquire a configuration for at least a first type of Buffer Status Report (BSR) Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) and a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configuration defining at least: any BSR MAC CE type is capable of reporting the buffer status of a Logical Channel Group (LCG), wherein a Logical Channel Group Identifier (LCG ID) refers to the buffer status for the LCG to which it is reported, and a Logical Channel Identifier (LCID) of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG; and based on the configuration, transmit at least one type of BSR MAC CE to a network device.

[0006] In a second aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: acquire a configuration for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configuration defining at least: only the first type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer status of a first group of LCGs, and only the second type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer status of a second group of LCGs, and the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCGs; and; and based on the configuration, send at least one type of BSR MAC CE to a network device.

[0007] In a third aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: receive at least one type of BSR MAC CE from a terminal device; and determine a buffer state of the terminal device based on the at least one type of BSR MAC CE and a configuration at least for a first type of BSR MAC CE and for a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configuration at least defining that any of the BSR MAC CE types can be used to report the buffer state of an LCG, wherein the LCG ID refers to the buffer state for the LCG to which it is reported, and the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer state of the LCG.

[0008] In a fourth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: receive at least one type of BSR MAC CE from a terminal device; and determine a buffer state of the terminal device based on the at least one type of BSR MAC CE and a configuration at least for a first type of BSR MAC CE and for a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configuration at least defining: only the first type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer state of a first group of LCGs, and only the second type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer state of a second group of LCGs, and the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer state of the LCGs.

[0009] In a fifth aspect, a method is provided. The method includes: obtaining configurations for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configurations defining at least: any BSR MAC CE type can be used to report the buffer state of an LCG, where the LCG ID refers to the buffer state for the LCG to which it is reported, and the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer state of the LCG; and sending at least one type of BSR MAC CE to a network device based on the configuration.

[0010] In a sixth aspect, a method is provided. The method includes: obtaining at least a configuration for a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configuration defining at least: only the first type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer status of a first group of LCGs, and only the second type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer status of a second group of LCGs, and the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCGs; and sending at least one type of BSR MAC CE to a network device based on the configuration.

[0011] In a seventh aspect, a method is provided. The method includes: receiving at least one type of BSR MAC CE from a terminal device; and determining a buffer state of the terminal device based on the at least one type of BSR MAC CE and a configuration for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configuration at least defining that any BSR MAC CE type can be used to report the buffer state of an LCG, wherein the LCG ID refers to the buffer state for the LCG to which it is reported, and the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer state of the LCG.

[0012] In an eighth aspect, a method is provided. The method includes: receiving at least one type of BSR MAC CE from a terminal device; and determining a buffer state of the terminal device based on the at least one type of BSR MAC CE and a configuration for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configuration at least defining: only the first type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer state of a first group of LCGs, and only the second type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer state of a second group of LCGs, and the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer state of the LCGs.

[0013] In a ninth aspect, an apparatus is provided, comprising: components for acquiring configurations for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configurations defining at least: any of the BSR MAC CE types can be used to report the buffer state of an LCG, wherein a Logical Channel Group Identifier (LCGID) refers to the buffer state for the LCG to which it is reported, and the LCID of a BSR MAC CE indicates the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer state of an LCG; and components for transmitting at least one type of BSR MAC CE to a network device based on the configuration.

[0014] In a tenth aspect, an apparatus is provided, comprising: components for acquiring configurations for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configuration defining at least: only the first type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer status of a first group of LCGs, and only the second type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer status of a second group of LCGs, and the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of the BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCGs; and; and components for sending at least one type of BSR MAC CE to a network device based on the configuration.

[0015] In an eleventh aspect, an apparatus is provided, comprising: components for receiving at least one type of BSR MAC CE from a terminal device; and components for determining a buffer state of the terminal device based on at least one type of BSR MAC CE and a configuration for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configuration at least defining that any one of the BSR MAC CE types can be used to report the buffer state of an LCG, wherein the LCGID refers to the buffer state for the LCG to which it is reported, and the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer state of the LCG.

[0016] In a twelfth aspect, an apparatus is provided, comprising: components for receiving at least one type of BSR MAC CE from a terminal device; and components for determining a buffer state of the terminal device based on at least one type of BSR MAC CE and a configuration for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configuration defining at least: only the first type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer state of a first group of LCGs, and only the second type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer state of a second group of LCGs, and the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer state of the LCGs.

[0017] In a thirteenth aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored, which, when executed by at least one processor of a device, causes the device to perform the method according to the fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth aspect.

[0018] Other features and advantages of embodiments of this disclosure will also become apparent from the following description of specific embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the principles of embodiments of this disclosure by way of example. Attached Figure Description

[0019] The embodiments disclosed herein are presented by way of example, and their advantages will be explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0020] Figure 1 The illustration shows an example environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

[0021] Figure 2 A signaling diagram illustrating an example of a process according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0022] Figure 3 A flowchart of an example method of BSR according to some example embodiments of this disclosure is shown;

[0023] Figure 4 A flowchart of an example method of BSR according to some example embodiments of this disclosure is shown;

[0024] Figure 5 A flowchart of an example method of BSR according to some example embodiments of this disclosure is shown;

[0025] Figure 6 A flowchart of an example method of BSR according to some example embodiments of this disclosure is shown;

[0026] Figure 7 A simplified block diagram of a device suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown; and

[0027] Figure 8 A block diagram of an example computer-readable medium according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0028] Throughout the accompanying drawings, the same or similar reference numerals may denote the same or similar elements. Detailed Implementation

[0029] The principles of this disclosure will now be described with reference to some exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described for illustrative purposes only and to help those skilled in the art to understand and implement this disclosure, and are not intended to imply any limitation on the scope of this disclosure. The embodiments described herein can be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

[0030] In the following description and claims, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein may have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains.

[0031] In this disclosure, references to "an embodiment," "embodiment," "example embodiment," etc., indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment must include that particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Furthermore, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Moreover, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, those skilled in the art will recognize that, whether explicitly described or not, combining it with other embodiments to affect such a feature, structure, or characteristic is within the knowledge of those skilled in the art.

[0032] It should be understood that although the terms “first,” “second,” etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one element from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments, a first element can be referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element can be referred to as a first element. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0033] As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar wording (where a list of two or more elements is combined with “and” or “or”) means at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all of the elements.

[0034] As used herein, unless explicitly stated otherwise, “responding to A” does not mean that the step is performed immediately after “A” occurs, but may include one or more intermediate steps.

[0035] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are also intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “has,” “having,” “includes,” and / or “including” as used herein specify the presence of the stated features, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0036] As used in this application, the term "circuit system" may refer to one or more or all of the following:

[0037] (a) Pure hardware circuit implementation (such as implementation using only analog and / or digital circuit systems), and

[0038] (b) A combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (if applicable):

[0039] (i) A combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuitry and software / firmware, and

[0040] (ii) Any part of a hardware processor (including one or more digital signal processors), software, and memory (one or more) that works together to enable a device (such as a mobile phone or a server).

[0041] (to perform various functions), and

[0042] (c) (one or more) hardware circuits and / or (one or more) processors, such as (one or more) microprocessors or a portion thereof, which require software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but may be absent when not required for operation.

[0043] The definition of "circuit system" applies to all uses of the term in this application (including in any claim). As another example, as used herein, the term "circuit system" also covers only hardware circuitry or a processor (or processors), or a portion of hardware circuitry or a processor and its accompanying software and / or firmware. For example, if applicable to a particular claim element, the term "circuit system" also covers baseband integrated circuits or processor integrated circuits for mobile devices, or similar integrated circuits in servers, cellular network devices, or other computing or network devices.

[0044] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that conforms to any suitable communication standard, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-A Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), Enhanced Machine-Type Communication (eMTC), etc. Furthermore, communication between terminal devices and network devices in a communication network can be performed according to any suitable intergenerational communication protocol, including but not limited to first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth-generation (5G), sixth-generation (6G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of this disclosure can be applied to various communication systems. Given the rapid development of communications, there will naturally be future types of communication technologies and systems that can utilize this disclosure for implementation. This should not be construed as limiting the scope of this disclosure to the systems described above.

[0045] As used herein, the terms “network equipment,” “radio network equipment,” and / or “radio access network equipment” refer to a node in a communication network through which terminal equipment accesses the network and receives services. Network equipment can refer to a base station (BS) or access point (AP), such as a Node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), an NRNB (also known as a gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a Remote Radio Header (RRH), a relay, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, a low-power node (such as a femtosecond or picosecond), a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-terrestrial network equipment (such as satellite network equipment), low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites and geostationary orbit (GEO) satellites, aircraft network equipment, etc., depending on the terminology and technology applied. In some example embodiments, a low Earth orbit (RAN) split architecture includes a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU). In some other example embodiments, a portion or all of the radio access network equipment may be mounted on an airborne or spaceborne NTN vehicle.

[0046] The term "terminal device" refers to any end device capable of wireless communication. By way of example and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), subscriber station (SS), portable subscriber station, mobile station (MS), or access terminal (AT). Terminal devices may include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, Voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable terminal devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminal devices (such as digital cameras), gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback devices, in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop embedded devices (LEE), laptop mounted devices (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPE), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearable devices, head-mounted displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in industrial and / or automated processing chain environments), consumer electronics devices, devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. The terminal device may also correspond to the mobile terminal (MT) portion of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms "terminal device," "communication device," "terminal," "user equipment," and "UE" are used interchangeably.

[0047] As used herein, the terms “resource,” “transmission resource,” “resource block,” “physical resource block” (PRB), “uplink resource,” or “downlink resource” can refer to any resource used to perform communication (e.g., communication between a terminal device and a network device), such as time-domain resources, frequency-domain resources, spatial-domain resources, code-domain resources, or any other resources that enable communication. In the following, unless explicitly stated otherwise, resources in both the frequency and time domains will be used as examples of transmission resources to describe some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure. It should be noted that the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0048] Figure 1 An example communication network 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented is shown. Figure 1 As shown, the communication network 100 may include a terminal device 110. In the following text, the terminal device 110 may also be referred to as a UE.

[0049] The communication network 100 may also include a network device 120. Hereinafter, the network device 120 may also be referred to as a gNB or eNB. The terminal device 110 may communicate with the network device 120.

[0050] It should be understood that Figure 1 The number of network devices and terminal devices shown is for illustrative purposes and does not imply any limitation. Communication network 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices.

[0051] In some example embodiments, the link from network device 120 to terminal device 110 may be referred to as a downlink (DL), and the link from terminal device 110 to network device 120 may be referred to as an uplink (UL). In the DL, network device 120 is a transmitting (TX) device (or transmitter), and terminal device 110 is a receiving (RX) device (or receiver). In the UL, terminal device 110 is a TX device (or transmitter), and network device 120 is an RX device (or receiver).

[0052] Communication in communication environment 100 can be implemented according to any suitable communication protocol(s), including but not limited to cellular communication protocols such as first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), fifth-generation (5G), and sixth-generation (6G), wireless local area network communication protocols such as IEEE 802.11, and / or any other currently known or to be developed in the future. Furthermore, communication can utilize any suitable wireless communication technology, including but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), Discrete Fourier Transform Spread Spectrum OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM), and / or any other currently known or to be developed in the future.

[0053] As mentioned above, BSR may need further enhancements to accommodate the characteristics of XR services, especially low latency requirements.

[0054] Several BSR formats have been defined in the specification. For example, a BSR format can refer to a short BSR and a short truncated BSR MAC, a long BSR and a long truncated BSR, and an extended short BSR and an extended short truncated BSR MAC CE. Essentially, a BSR can indicate the amount of buffer data associated with one or more LCGIDs. The amount of buffer data can be indicated by the buffer size associated with a specific buffer size table.

[0055] For short BSRs and short truncated BSRs, only one BSR for an LCG is reported (with a fixed length of 8 bits), and the BSR includes an LCG ID field with a length of 3 bits and a buffer size field with a length of 5 bits.

[0056] Long BSRs / long truncated BSRs can report the BSRs of one or more LCGs. LCGIDs can have a 3-bit field and can report up to 8 LCGs.

[0057] For XR technology, it has been discussed whether one or more new BSR tables (i.e., buffer size tables) with finer granularity need to be added for XR, and whether to include reports of latency information in the BSR.

[0058] Therefore, besides XR services, it is unclear when other logical channels (LCHs) (e.g., Signal Radio Bearer (SRB) or other services) configured for the UE exist, and how LCHs with or without the new BSR tables will work together. Furthermore, utilizing the newly added BSR tables may require defining a representation of the buffer data.

[0059] The solution disclosed herein proposes a mechanism for BSR (particularly for XR). In this solution, as an option, terminal device 110 can acquire configurations for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE. This configuration can be acquired in the same message or different messages. This configuration can be pre-configured to terminal device 110. The configuration can at least define that any BSR MAC CE type can be used to report the buffer state of an LCG, where the LCG ID refers to the buffer state for the LCG to which it is reported. In other words, the buffer state of any given LCG among a plurality of LCGs can be used to report the buffer state on that LCG using any of the BSR formats. The LCID of the BSR MAC CE can indicate the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer state of the LCG. In one embodiment, the LCID can exist within the BSR MAC CE.

[0060] Alternatively, terminal device 110 can acquire configurations for at least the first type of BSR MAC CE and the second type of BSR MAC CE. This configuration can be acquired in the same message or different messages. This configuration can be pre-configured to terminal device 110. This configuration can at least define that only the first type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer status of the first group of LCGs, and only the second type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer status of the second group of LCGs.

[0061] Based on this configuration, terminal device 110 sends at least one type of BSR MAC CE to network device 120.

[0062] In this way, a mechanism is provided for the coexistence of LCH / LCGs configured with a traditional BSR buffer size table associated with a traditional type of BSR MAC CE and a new BSR buffer size table associated with a new type of BSR MAC CE.

[0063] The exemplary embodiments of this disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0064] Now for reference Figure 2 This illustrates signaling diagram 200 for communication according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 2 As shown, signaling diagram 200 involves terminal device 110 and network device 120. For discussion purposes, refer to... Figure 1 To describe signaling diagram 200.

[0065] Assume that multiple types of BSR MAC CEs can be used for buffer status reporting, namely, the first type of BSR MAC CE (which can be called a traditional BSR MAC CE) and the second type of BSR MAC CE (which can be called a new BSR MAC CE). The type of BSR MAC CE can be indicated by the LCID of the BSR MAC CE. For example, there are 64 LCIDs. LCIDs 0-31 can be used to indicate from which LCH the buffer data was reported, and LCIDs 32-64 can be used to indicate the type of BSR MAC CE. Here, LCID can also refer to Extended Logical Channel ID (eLCID).

[0066] The first type of BSR MAC CE can be associated with one or more traditional buffer size tables, and the second type of BSR MAC CE can be associated with one or more new buffer size tables or both traditional buffer size tables and one or more new buffer size tables, which can follow a similar format that includes LCGID to indicate which LCH / (which or which) LCG is being reported.

[0067] Terminal device 110 can acquire BSR configurations for at least the first type of BSR MAC CE and the second type of BSR MAC CE. For example, such as Figure 2 As shown, terminal device 110 can receive (202) BSR configuration from network device 120, for example, via higher-layer signaling (e.g., via RRC signaling). It should be understood that this configuration can be predefined in the specification, which means that terminal device 110 can know the BSR configuration at least for the first type of BSR MAC CE and for the second type of BSR MAC CE without explicit signaling from network device 120.

[0068] Then, terminal device 110 can send (204) at least one type of BSR MAC CE to network device 120 based on the configuration for at least the first type of BSR MAC CE and the second type of BSR MAC CE.

[0069] Between steps 202 and 204, the terminal device can determine, based on this configuration, which type of BSR MAC CE or both types of BSR MAC CE should be applied to report the buffer status of a given LCG. For example, depending on the configuration, the buffer status of a particular LCG can be reported only with a particular type of BSR MAC CE. As another example, if, depending on the configuration, both BSR MAC CEs can be used to report the buffer status of a particular LCG, the configuration can provide rules for selecting which BSR MAC CE to use, as described later.

[0070] The BSR configuration, at least for the first type of BSR MAC CE and the second type of BSR MAC CE, can define which type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer status of which LCG. The configuration for which BSR MAC CE to use can also be for a logical channel (LCH), where the LCH is configured for an LCG. Therefore, terminal device 110 can determine which type of BSR MAC CE to use to report the buffer status of which LCG. Based on this configuration, the behavior of terminal device 110 can be further discussed as follows.

[0071] In some example embodiments, the BSR configuration for at least the first type of BSR MAC CE and the second type of BSR MAC CE can be defined such that: any one of the BSR MAC CE types can be used to report the buffer status of an LCG, where the LCG ID refers to the buffer status for the LCG being reported. The LCID of the subheader of the BSR MAC CE can indicate the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG.

[0072] In this scenario, the first LCG ID used in the first type of BSR MAC CE and the second LCG ID used in the second type of BSR MAC CE can be associated with the same LCG in the same group containing one or more LCHs, or they can point to the same LCG in the same group containing one or more LCHs. For example, LCG ID 1 used in the first type of BSR MAC CE and LCG ID 1 used in the second type of BSR MAC CE point to the same LCG. That is, the first LCG ID and the second LCG ID can have the same index.

[0073] The LCID of a BSR MAC CE can indicate which type of BSR MAC CE is used, and the reported LCG does not necessarily require other indications to indicate which buffer size table is used. This allows buffer sizes for the same LCG to be reported via a first type of BSR MAC CE and / or a second type of BSR MAC CE, where the LCID of the BSR MAC CE tells which buffer size table is used.

[0074] Furthermore, the first type of BSR MAC CE can be associated with one or more buffer size tables in the first group, and the second type of BSR MAC CE can be associated with one or more buffer size tables in the second group.

[0075] In some examples, the reported buffer sizes for different LCGs in a BSR MAC CE of a given type can be associated with different buffer size tables. Which buffer size table(s) applies to which LCG or LCH can be configured by the network.

[0076] As an option, the first set of one or more buffer size tables and the second set of one or more buffer size tables may not overlap. Alternatively, the first set of one or more buffer size tables may have a full range of buffer sizes, and therefore the first set of one or more buffer size tables and the second set of one or more buffer size tables may at least partially overlap. The second set of one or more buffer size tables can provide finer granularity for a specific range of buffer sizes compared to the granularity of the first set of one or more buffer size tables.

[0077] In this case, the buffer size table associated with each BSR MAC CE sent is indicated by one of the first group of one or more LCIDs associated with the first type of BSR MAC CE, or by one of the second group of one or more LCIDs associated with the second type of BSR MAC CE.

[0078] Terminal device 110 can determine which buffer size table is used based on the following rules. These rules can be included in the configuration.

[0079] As an option, the buffer size table selected for an LCH or LCG is, for example, in the case of a certain type of BSR MAC CE, a table that provides the minimum difference between the amount of buffer data and the buffer size value indicated by the buffer size index, because this difference can vary due to quantization. That is, the difference in actual buffer data for different types of BSR MAC CEs can vary due to different quantizations of different types of BSR MAC CEs (or buffer size tables associated with different types of BSR MAC CEs). For example, suppose a first type of BSR MAC CE can be used to indicate buffer state x, while the reported actual buffer state at the LCG / LCH is y. Further suppose a second type of BSR MAC CE can be used to indicate buffer state z, where z is closer to y than x. In this case, the second type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer state of that LCG / LCG.

[0080] As an alternative, if the buffer size of the reported LCH / LCG falls outside the range of the buffer size table associated with the second type of BSR MAC CE, the terminal device 110 may fall back to the buffer size table associated with the first type of BSR MAC CE, and vice versa. That is, the terminal device 110 may determine that the buffer size table associated with the first type of BSR MAC CE will be used instead of the buffer size table associated with the second type of BSR MAC CE.

[0081] As mentioned above, traditionally, long BSRs / long truncated BSRs can report BSRs for one or more LCGs. The LCGID can have a 3-bit field and can report up to 8 LCGs. For long BSRs, when all reported LCHs / LCGs use the same buffer size table, a BSR MAC CE corresponding to that buffer size table is used. Similarly, for new types of BSR MAC CEs, the LCG ID can be used to indicate which LCGs are reported, and the buffer status for each LCG can be reported based on one or more new buffer size tables (e.g., one or more traditional BSR buffer size tables associated with traditional types of BSR MAC CEs and / or one or more new BSR buffer size tables associated with new types of BSR MAC CEs).

[0082] If not all reported LCH / LCGs use the same buffer size table, then as many BSR MAC CEs as are needed for reporting LCH / LCGs with buffered data (i.e., non-zero) are triggered, and each LCH / LCG is reported in a BSR where its LCID matches the required buffer size table.

[0083] Alternatively, a single BSR MAC CE can be used to report different LCH / LCGs for which different buffer size tables are applied. Which buffer size table applies to which LCH / LCG can be configured by network device 120. Based on this configuration, network device 120 knows which buffer size table will be used for which LCH / LCG in the BSR MAC CE.

[0084] In other words, a non-zero buffer size for an LCH / LCG with buffered data can only be reported once. If a zero buffer size is indicated or there is no buffer size for an LCGID (via LCGID bit mapping) in any of the BSR MAC CEs, then network device 120 can know that no data is buffered for an LCH / LCG.

[0085] Due to the described table selection rules(one or more), it is possible to report a more accurate buffer size for(one or more) LCH / (one or more) LCG using the minimum quantization error.

[0086] In some other example embodiments, the BSR configuration for at least the first type of BSR MAC CE and the second type of BSR MAC CE can be defined such that only the first type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer status of the first group of LCGs, and only the second type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer status of the second group of LCGs. LCG groups may not overlap. The LCID of the sub-header of the BSR MAC CE may indicate the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCGs.

[0087] In this case, the LCGID used in the first type of BSR MAC CE (e.g., conventional BSR MAC CE) and the LCGID used in the second type of BSR MAC CE (e.g., new BSR MAC CE) are configured separately, such that a separate LCGID is used to apply the LCH / LCG of the conventional buffer size table associated with the first type of BSR MAC CE and to apply the LCH / LCG of the new buffer size table associated with the second type of BSR MAC CE.

[0088] Therefore, LCH / LCGs configured to apply the new buffer size table only use the new BSR MACCE format with the new LCID. The new BSR MACCE may support only the new buffer size table, which may also cover the traditional buffer size range, or it may support both the traditional and new buffer size tables, or it may support only the new buffer size table, which is different from the traditional buffer size table.

[0089] In some example embodiments, the buffer size table associated with each BSR MAC CE may be indicated by one of one or more LCIDs from a first set associated with a first type of BSR MAC CE, or by one of one or more LCIDs from a second set associated with a second type of BSR MAC CE.

[0090] Compared to the scenario where any BSR MAC CE type can be used to report the buffer status of the same LCG, the option of a separate LCG ID pool allows for a greater number of different LCGs that can be used with both the first and second types of BSR MAC CE. This can provide, for example, a separate LCG for each LCH.

[0091] In this configuration, terminal device 110 can determine the type of BSR MAC CE to be used for reporting the buffer status of LCGs, for example, based on the LCG whose buffer status needs to be reported. The network can then determine which LCGs are associated with which type of BSR MAC CE based on this configuration.

[0092] When the same LCH is configured as part of two LCG IDs, the BSR can be reported twice, for example, using both the traditional BSR MAC CE format and the new BSR MAC CE format. Alternatively, the terminal device 110 can be left to select which buffer size table presents the smaller quantization error and select the corresponding type of BSR MAC CE accordingly.

[0093] Alternatively, for example, this configuration can be further defined such that terminal device 110 may use the traditional BSR MAC CE (i.e., the first type) for LCH / LCG only when no delay information report is configured for LCH / LCG. Alternatively, network device 120 may configure terminal device 110 to use the traditional BSR MAC CE for LCH / LCG only when no delay information report is configured for LCH / LCG. Otherwise, the new BSR MAC CE will be used.

[0094] In one embodiment, the delay information defines the delay or latency requirements for data buffered in the LCG / LCH. In one embodiment, the delay information is included in the transmitted BSR MAC CE.

[0095] After receiving at least one type of BSR MAC CE, such as Figure 2As shown, network device 120 can determine (206) the buffer state of the relevant LCG / LCH at terminal device 110 based on the configuration of the BSR at least for the first type of BSR MAC CE and for the second type of BSR MAC CE.

[0096] For example, network device 120 can determine a buffer size table associated with the received BSR MAC CE in at least one type of BSR MAC CE based on the LCID of the received BSR MAC CE. Then, network device 120 can determine the buffer status of the relevant LCG / LCH at terminal device 110 based on the buffer size indicated in the received BSR MAC CE and the determined buffer size table.

[0097] In some example embodiments, an example of a buffer size table associated with a second type of BSR MAC CE (e.g., a new BSR MAC CE) may be listed below. It should be understood that the buffer size table associated with a second type of BSR MAC CE is not limited to the example listed below.

[0098]

[0099]

[0100] Furthermore, the BSR MAC CE format of the second type of BSR MAC CE (e.g., the new BSR MAC CE) can be configured with LCID and LCGID bit mappings in the subheader, thereby enabling the reporting of buffer size indices for (or more) LCGs (with their bits set to 1 in the bit mapping). Optionally, the BSR MAC CE format of the second type of BSR MAC CE may also have a field for reporting remaining time information for the reported LCGs (or more) that is configured to report remaining time information. The buffer size index can be mapped to a different buffer size table.

[0101] As described above, the solution disclosed herein proposes a mechanism for the coexistence of LCH / LCGs configured with one or more traditional buffer size tables and one or more new buffer size tables. Simultaneously, a mechanism for fallback to one or more traditional buffer size tables configured for the LCH / LCG with one or more new buffer size tables is also implemented.

[0102] If a single LCGID pool can support more LCGIDs, that is, only the first type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer status of the first group of LCGs, and only the second type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer status of the second group of LCGs. More fine-grained buffer size reporting can be supported, for example, for individual LCGs per LCH.

[0103] When a public LCGID pool is supported, i.e., any BSR MAC CE type can be used to report the buffer status of the LCG, the terminal device 110 can use one or more traditional buffer size tables, where the LCID in the subheader of the BSR MAC CE indicates the use of a new BSR MAC CE without additional signaling.

[0104] Figure 3 A flowchart of an example method 300 for BSR according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Method 300 can be implemented as follows: Figure 1 The terminal device 110 shown is implemented here. For discussion purposes, reference will be made to... Figure 1 Description method 300.

[0105] At 310, terminal device 110 acquires at least configurations for a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configurations defining at least that any BSR MAC CE type can be used to report the buffer status of an LCG, where the LCG ID refers to the buffer status for the LCG to which it is reported, and the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG.

[0106] At 320, terminal device 110 sends at least one type of BSR MACCE to network device based on this configuration.

[0107] In some example embodiments, a first type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a first set of one or more buffer size tables, and a second type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a second set of one or more buffer size tables.

[0108] In some example embodiments, the first set of one or more buffer size tables and the second set of one or more buffer size tables do not overlap.

[0109] In some example embodiments, the buffer size table associated with each BSR MAC CE sent is indicated by one of one or more LCIDs from a first set associated with a first type of BSR MAC CE, or by one of one or more LCIDs from a second set associated with a second type of BSR MAC CE.

[0110] In some example embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine the type of BSRMAC CE to be used for reporting the buffer status of LCG, based on the difference between the amount of buffer data on LCG in the case of a given type of BSR MAC CE and the buffer size value indicated by the buffer size index.

[0111] In some example embodiments, a BSR MAC CE that provides the minimum difference between the amount of buffer data and the buffer size value indicated by the buffer size index is determined to be used for reporting the buffer status.

[0112] In some example embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine that the amount of buffer data on the LCG falls outside the range of one or more buffer size tables that can be used with a second type of BSR MAC CE; and determine that the buffer status of the LCG should be reported by using a first type of BSR MAC CE.

[0113] In some example embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine that a first buffer size table is suitable for reporting the buffer status of multiple LCGs; and use a BSR MACCE type associated with the buffer size table corresponding to the first buffer size table to report the buffer status of multiple LCGs.

[0114] In some example embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine that different buffer size tables associated with different BSR MAC CE formats are needed to report the buffer status of multiple LCGs with non-zero buffer sizes; and utilize multiple BSR MAC CEs to report the buffer status of multiple LCGs.

[0115] In some example embodiments, the number of multiple BSR MAC CEs corresponds to the number of different buffer size tables required to report the buffer status of one or more LCGs with non-zero buffer sizes, and each BSR MAC CE includes an LCID corresponding to the required buffer size table for the reported LCG.

[0116] In some example implementations, multiple BSR MAC CEs are sent using different buffer size tables to report the buffer status of one or more LCGs.

[0117] In some example embodiments, when delay information reporting is configured for LCG or for logical channels within LCG, terminal device 110 can avoid using the first type of BSR MAC CE to report the buffer status of LCG.

[0118] Figure 4 A flowchart of an example method 400 for BSR according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Method 400 can be implemented as follows: Figure 1 The terminal device 110 shown is implemented here. For discussion purposes, reference will be made to... Figure 1 Description method 400.

[0119] At 410, terminal device 110 acquires at least configurations for a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configurations defining at least: only the first type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer status of a first group of LCGs, and only the second type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer status of a second group of LCGs, and the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of LCGs.

[0120] At 420, terminal device 110 sends at least one type of BSR MACCE to network device based on this configuration.

[0121] In some example embodiments, a first type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a first set of one or more buffer size tables, and a second type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a second set of one or more buffer size tables.

[0122] In some example embodiments, the second set of one or more buffer size tables includes at least one buffer size table from the first set of one or more buffer size tables.

[0123] In some example embodiments, the buffer size table associated with each BSR MAC CE sent is indicated by one of one or more LCIDs from a first set associated with a first type of BSR MAC CE, or by one of one or more LCIDs from a second set associated with a second type of BSR MAC CE.

[0124] In some example embodiments, the number of different LCGs available for the first type of BSR MAC CE and the second type of BSR MAC CE is greater than the number of cases in which any BSR MAC CE type can be used to report the buffer status of the same LCG, wherein each LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates a different buffer size table used in the BSR MAC CE.

[0125] In some example embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine the type of BSRMAC CE to be used for reporting the buffer status of an LCG, the determination being based on the LCG whose buffer status is to be reported.

[0126] In some example embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine that the logical channel LCH whose buffer status is to be reported is associated with an LCG that requires a first type of BSR MAC CE and an LCG that requires a second type of BSR MAC CE; and send both types of BSR MAC CEs to network devices to report the buffer status of the LCH.

[0127] Figure 5 A flowchart of an example method 500 for BSR according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Method 500 can be implemented as follows: Figure 1 The network devices shown are implemented in 120 locations. For discussion purposes, references will be made to... Figure 1 Description method 500.

[0128] At point 510, network device 120 receives at least one type of BSR MAC CE from terminal device 110.

[0129] At 520, network device 120 determines the buffer state of the terminal device based on at least one type of BSR MAC CE and a configuration for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configuration defining at least: any BSR MAC CE type can be used to report the buffer state of an LCG, where the LCG ID refers to the buffer state for the LCG to which it is reported, and the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer state of the LCG.

[0130] In some example embodiments, a first type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a first set of one or more buffer size tables, and a second type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a second set of one or more buffer size tables.

[0131] In some example embodiments, the first set of one or more buffer size tables and the second set of one or more buffer size tables do not overlap.

[0132] In some example embodiments, network device 120 may determine a buffer size table associated with a received BSR MAC CE in at least one type of BSR MAC CE based on the LCID of the received BSR MAC CE; and determine the buffer state based at least on the buffer size table.

[0133] In some example embodiments, based on the determination of the received buffer status of multiple LCGs utilizing multiple BSR MAC CEs, network device 120 can determine different buffer size tables associated with different BSR MAC CE formats required to report the buffer status of multiple LCGs having non-zero buffer sizes.

[0134] Figure 6 A flowchart of an example method 600 for BSR according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Method 600 can be implemented as follows: Figure 1 The network devices shown are implemented in 120 locations. For discussion purposes, references will be made to... Figure 1 Description method 600.

[0135] At 610, network device 120 receives at least one type of BSR MAC CE from terminal device 110.

[0136] At 620, network device 120 determines the buffer state of the terminal device based on at least one type of BSR MAC CE and a configuration for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configuration defining at least: only the first type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer state of the first group of LCGs, and only the second type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer state of the second group of LCGs, and the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer state of the LCG.

[0137] In some example embodiments, a first type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a first set of one or more buffer size tables, and a second type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a second set of one or more buffer size tables, wherein the second set of one or more buffer size tables includes at least one buffer size table from the first set of one or more buffer size tables.

[0138] In some example embodiments, network device 120 may determine a buffer size table associated with a received BSR MAC CE in at least one type of BSR MAC CE based on the LCID of the received BSR MAC CE; and determine the buffer state based at least on the buffer size table.

[0139] In some example embodiments, network device 120 may utilize two types of BSR MAC CEs to receive the buffer state of logical channel LCH associated with an LCG that requires a first type of BSR MAC CE and an LCG that requires a second type of BSR MAC CE.

[0140] In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing (e.g., implemented at terminal device 110) method 300 may include components for performing corresponding steps of method 300. These components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit system or a software module.

[0141] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes components for acquiring configurations for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configurations defining at least: any BSR MAC CE type can be used to report the buffer state of an LCG, wherein the LCG ID refers to the buffer state for the LCG to which it is reported, and the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer state of the LCG; and components for sending at least one type of BSR MAC CE to a network device based on the configuration.

[0142] In some example embodiments, a first type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a first set of one or more buffer size tables, and a second type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a second set of one or more buffer size tables.

[0143] In some example embodiments, the first set of one or more buffer size tables and the second set of one or more buffer size tables do not overlap.

[0144] In some example embodiments, the buffer size table associated with each BSR MAC CE sent is indicated by one of one or more LCIDs from a first set associated with a first type of BSR MAC CE, or by one of one or more LCIDs from a second set associated with a second type of BSR MAC CE.

[0145] In some example embodiments, the apparatus may also include a component for determining the type of BSR MAC CE to be used for reporting the buffer status of the LCG, the determination being based on the difference between the amount of buffer data on the LCG and the amount of data that may be reported in the case of a given type of BSR MAC CE.

[0146] In some example embodiments, the BSR MAC CE, which provides the minimum difference between the amount of buffered data and the amount of data that can be reported, is determined to be used for reporting the buffer status.

[0147] In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further include components for determining that the amount of buffer data on the LCG falls outside the range of one or more buffer size tables available for use with a second type of BSR MAC CE; and components for determining that the buffer status of the LCG should be reported using a first type of BSR MAC CE.

[0148] In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further include components for determining that a first buffer size table is suitable for reporting the buffer status of multiple LCGs; and components for reporting the buffer status of multiple LCGs using a BSR MAC CE type associated with a buffer size table corresponding to the first buffer size table.

[0149] In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further include components for determining different buffer size tables that need to be associated with different BSR MAC CE formats for reporting the buffer status of multiple LCGs having non-zero buffer sizes; and components for reporting the buffer status of multiple LCGs using multiple BSR MAC CEs.

[0150] In some example embodiments, the number of multiple BSR MAC CEs corresponds to the number of different buffer size tables required to report the buffer status of one or more LCGs with non-zero buffer sizes, and each BSR MAC CE includes an LCID corresponding to the required buffer size table for the reported LCG.

[0151] In some example implementations, multiple BSR MAC CEs are sent using different buffer size tables to report the buffer status of one or more LCGs.

[0152] In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further include a component for avoiding the use of a first type of BSR MAC CE to report the buffer status of the LCG when delay information reporting is configured for use in the LCG or for logical channels within the LCG.

[0153] In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing (e.g., implemented at terminal device 110) method 400 may include components for performing corresponding steps of method 400. These components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit system or a software module.

[0154] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes components for acquiring configurations for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configuration defining at least: only the first type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer status of a first group of LCGs, and only the second type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer status of a second group of LCGs, and the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCGs; and; and components for sending at least one type of BSR MAC CE to a network device based on the configuration.

[0155] In some example embodiments, a first type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a first set of one or more buffer size tables, and a second type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a second set of one or more buffer size tables.

[0156] In some example embodiments, the second set of one or more buffer size tables includes at least one buffer size table from the first set of one or more buffer size tables.

[0157] In some example embodiments, the buffer size table associated with each BSR MAC CE sent is indicated by one of one or more LCIDs from a first set associated with a first type of BSR MAC CE, or by one of one or more LCIDs from a second set associated with a second type of BSR MAC CE.

[0158] In some example embodiments, the number of different LCGs that can be used for the first type of BSR MAC CE and the second type of BSR MAC CE is greater than the number of cases in which any BSR MAC CE type can be used to report the buffer status of the same LCG, wherein each LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates a different buffer size table used in the BSR MAC CE.

[0159] In some example embodiments, the apparatus may also include components for determining the type of BSR MAC CE to be used for reporting the buffer state of the LCG, the determination being based on the LCG whose buffer state is to be reported.

[0160] In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further include components for determining the logical channel (LCH) whose buffer state is to be reported, and the LCG that requires a first type of BSR MAC CE and the LCG that requires a second type of BSR MAC CE; and components for sending both types of BSR MAC CEs to the network device for reporting the buffer state of the LCH.

[0161] In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing (e.g., implemented at network device 120) method 500 may include components for performing corresponding steps of method 500. These components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit system or a software module.

[0162] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes components for receiving at least one type of BSR MACCE from a terminal device; and components for determining a buffer state of the terminal device based on at least one type of BSR MACCE and a configuration for at least a first type of BSR MACCE and a second type of BSR MACCE, the configuration at least defining that any of the BSR MACCE types can be used to report the buffer state of an LCG, wherein the LCG ID refers to the buffer state for the LCG to which it is reported, and the LCID of the BSR MACCE indicates the type of BSR MACCE used to report the buffer state of the LCG.

[0163] In some example embodiments, a first type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a first set of one or more buffer size tables, and a second type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a second set of one or more buffer size tables.

[0164] In some example embodiments, the first set of one or more buffer size tables and the second set of one or more buffer size tables do not overlap.

[0165] In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further include components for determining a buffer size table associated with a received BSR MAC CE in at least one type of BSR MAC CE based on the LCID of the received BSR MAC CE; and components for determining a buffer state based at least on the buffer size table.

[0166] In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further include components for determining, and for determining and reporting different buffer size tables associated with different BSR MAC CE formats required for receiving and reporting the buffer states of multiple LCGs utilizing multiple BSR MAC CEs.

[0167] In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing (e.g., implemented at network device 120) method 600 may include components for performing corresponding steps of method 600. These components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in a circuit system or a software module.

[0168] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes components for receiving at least one type of BSR MACCE from a terminal device; and components for determining the buffer state of the terminal device based on at least one type of BSR MACCE and a configuration for at least a first type of BSR MACCE and a second type of BSR MACCE, the configuration defining at least: only the first type of BSR MACCE can be used to report the buffer state of a first group of LCGs, and only the second type of BSR MACCE can be used to report the buffer state of a second group of LCGs, and the LCID of the BSR MACCE indicates the type of BSR MACCE used to report the buffer state of the LCGs.

[0169] In some example embodiments, a first type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a first set of one or more buffer size tables, and a second type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a second set of one or more buffer size tables, wherein the second set of one or more buffer size tables includes at least one buffer size table from the first set of one or more buffer size tables.

[0170] In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further include components for determining a buffer size table associated with a received BSR MAC CE in at least one type of BSR MAC CE based on the LCID of the received BSR MAC CE; and components for determining a buffer state based at least on the buffer size table.

[0171] In some example embodiments, the apparatus may also include components for receiving the buffer state of a logical channel LCH associated with an LCG requiring a first type of BSR MAC CE and an LCG requiring a second type of BSR MAC CE, using two types of BSR MAC CEs.

[0172] Figure 7This is a simplified block diagram of a device 700 suitable for implementing exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 700 can be provided to implement a communication device, for example, such as... Figure 1 The first terminal device 110 or the second terminal device 120 are shown. As shown, device 700 includes one or more processors 710, one or more memories 720 coupled to processor 710, and one or more communication modules 740 coupled to processor 710.

[0173] Communication module 740 is used for bidirectional communication. Communication module 740 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interface can represent any interface required for communication with other network elements. In some example embodiments, communication module 740 may include at least one antenna.

[0174] Processor 710 can be of any type suitable for a local technology network, and by way of non-limiting example, can include one or more of the following: general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP), and processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. Device 700 can have multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips that are time-dependent on a clock synchronized with the main processor.

[0175] Memory 720 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 724, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disk, compact disc (CD), digital video disc (DVD), optical disc, laser disc, and other magnetic and / or optical storage devices. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 722 and other volatile memories that do not persist during power outages.

[0176] Computer program 730 includes computer-executable instructions that are executed by an associated processor 710. The instructions of program 730 may include instructions for performing operations / actions of some example embodiments of this disclosure. Program 730 may be stored in memory (e.g., ROM 724). Processor 710 can perform any suitable actions and processes by loading program 730 into RAM 722.

[0177] Example embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented via program 730, enabling device 700 to execute reference... Figures 2 to 6 Any process discussed in this disclosure. Exemplary embodiments of this disclosure may also be implemented in hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

[0178] In some example embodiments, program 730 may be tangibly contained in a computer-readable medium, which may be included in device 700 (such as memory 720) or other storage device accessible to device 700. Device 700 may load program 730 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 722 for execution. In some example embodiments, the computer-readable medium may include any type of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. As used herein, the term "non-transitory" refers to a limitation on the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not tactile), rather than a limitation on the persistence of data storage (e.g., RAM and ROM).

[0179] Figure 8 An example of a computer-readable medium 800, which may be in the form of a CD, DVD, or other optical storage disc, is shown. The computer-readable medium 800 has a program 730 stored thereon.

[0180] Generally, the various embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuitry, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects can be implemented in hardware, while others can be implemented in firmware or software that can be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Although various aspects of the embodiments of this disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other graphical representation, it should be understood that, as non-limiting examples, the blocks, apparatuses, systems, techniques, or methods described herein can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuitry or logic, general-purpose hardware or controllers or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0181] Some exemplary embodiments of this disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium (such as a non-transitory computer-readable medium). The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as instructions included in a program module, that execute in a device on a target physical or virtual processor to perform any of the methods described above. Typically, a program module includes routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc., that perform a particular task or implement a particular abstract data type. In various embodiments, the functionality of a program module can be combined or split among program modules as needed. The machine-executable instructions for a program module can execute within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, the program module can reside on both local and remote storage media.

[0182] Program code used to perform the methods of this disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. This program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that, when executed by the processor or controller, the program code causes the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may be executed entirely on a machine, partially on a machine, as a stand-alone software package, partially on a machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0183] In the context of this disclosure, computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus, or processor to perform the various processes and operations described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer-readable media, etc.

[0184] Computer-readable media can be computer-readable signal media or computer-readable storage media. Computer-readable media can include, but is not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, apparatuses, or devices, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media will include electrical connections having one or more wires, portable computer floppy disks, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fibers, portable optical disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0185] Furthermore, although operations are described in a specific order, this should not be construed as requiring the operations to be performed in the specific order shown or sequentially, or to perform all of the shown operations to obtain the desired result. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, while several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of this disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, certain features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless explicitly stated otherwise, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented individually or in any suitable sub-combination in multiple embodiments.

[0186] Although this disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological actions, it should be understood that the disclosure as defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or actions described above. Rather, the specific features or actions described above are disclosed as exemplary forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising: At least one processor; as well as At least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to perform at least the following: Acquire configurations for at least the traditional type of Buffer Status Report (BSR) Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) and the new type of BSR MAC CE, wherein the traditional type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a first buffer size table, and the new type of BSR MAC CE is associated with both the first and second buffer size tables, wherein the configurations define at least: Either the conventional type of BSR MAC CE or the new type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer status of a logical channel group (LCG), wherein the logical channel group identifier (LCG ID) refers to the buffer status for the LCG to which it is being reported. The logical channel identifier (LCID) of the conventional type BSR MAC CE and the new type BSR MAC CE indicates the type of the BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG; It is determined that the size of the buffered data of the LCG falls outside the range of the second buffer size table; as well as Based on the determination that the size of the buffered data of the LCG falls outside the range of the second buffer size table, the conventional type BSR MAC CE is sent to the network device.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the range of the first buffer size table and the range of the second buffer size table overlap.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the second buffer size table covers only a subrange of the first buffer size table.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the second buffer size table provides a finer granularity than the first buffer size table.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the buffer size table associated with each transmitted BSR MAC CE is indicated by one of one or more LCIDs from a first set associated with the conventional type of BSR MAC CE, or by one of one or more LCIDs from a second set associated with the novel type of BSR MAC CE.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the instructions stored in the at least one memory, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to perform: Determine that the first buffer size table is suitable for reporting the buffer status of multiple LCGs; and The buffer status of the plurality of LCGs is reported using the conventional type of BSR MAC CE.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the instructions stored in the at least one memory, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to perform: Determining that different buffer size tables are needed for the buffer states of multiple LCGs reporting non-zero buffer sizes; and The new type of BSR MAC CE is used to report the buffer status of the multiple LCGs.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the instructions stored in the at least one memory, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to perform: When delay information reporting is configured for LCG or for logical channels within LCG, avoid using the conventional type of BSR MAC CE to report the buffer status of the LCG.

9. A method comprising: Acquire configurations for at least the traditional type of Buffer Status Report (BSR) Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) and the new type of BSR MAC CE, wherein the traditional type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a first buffer size table, and the new type of BSR MAC CE is associated with both the first and second buffer size tables, wherein the configurations define at least: Both the traditional type of BSR MAC CE and the new type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer status of a logical channel group (LCG), where the logical channel group identifier (LCG ID) refers to the buffer status for the LCG being reported. The logical channel identifier (LCID) of the conventional type BSR MAC CE and the new type BSR MAC CE indicates the type of the BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG; It is determined that the size of the buffered data of the LCG falls outside the range of the second buffer size table; as well as Based on the determination that the size of the buffered data of the LCG falls outside the range of the second buffer size table, the conventional type BSR MAC CE is sent to the network device.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the range of the first buffer size table and the range of the second buffer size table overlap.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the second buffer size table covers only a subrange of the first buffer size table.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the second buffer size table provides a finer granularity than the first buffer size table.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the buffer size table associated with each transmitted BSR MAC CE is indicated by one of one or more LCIDs from a first set associated with the conventional type of BSR MAC CE, or by one of one or more LCIDs from a second set associated with the novel type of BSR MAC CE.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising: Determine that the first buffer size table is suitable for reporting the buffer status of multiple LCGs; as well as The buffer status of the plurality of LCGs is reported using the conventional type of BSR MAC CE.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising: Determining that different buffer size tables are needed for the buffer states of multiple LCGs reporting non-zero buffer sizes; as well as The new type of BSR MAC CE is used to report the buffer status of the multiple LCGs.

16. The method of claim 9, further comprising: When delay information reporting is configured for LCG or for logical channels within LCG, avoid using the conventional type of BSR MAC CE to report the buffer status of the LCG.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions stored therein, the instructions, when executed by at least one processor of a device, causing the device to perform at least the following: Acquire configurations for at least the traditional type of Buffer Status Report (BSR) Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) and the new type of BSR MAC CE, wherein the traditional type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a first buffer size table, and the new type of BSR MAC CE is associated with both the first and second buffer size tables, wherein the configurations define at least: Both the traditional type of BSR MAC CE and the new type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer status of a logical channel group (LCG), where the logical channel group identifier (LCG ID) refers to the buffer status for the LCG being reported. The logical channel identifier (LCID) of the conventional type BSR MAC CE and the new type BSR MAC CE indicates the type of the BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG; It is determined that the size of the buffered data of the LCG falls outside the range of the second buffer size table; as well as Based on the determination that the size of the buffered data of the LCG falls outside the range of the second buffer size table, the conventional type BSR MAC CE is sent to the network device.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the range of the first buffer size table and the range of the second buffer size table overlap.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the second buffer size table covers only a subrange of the first buffer size table.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the second buffer size table provides a finer granularity than the first buffer size table.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the buffer size table associated with each transmitted BSRMAC CE is indicated by one of one or more LCIDs from a first set associated with the conventional type of BSR MAC CE, or by one of one or more LCIDs from a second set associated with the novel type of BSR MAC CE.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions stored therein, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the device to perform: Determine that the first buffer size table is suitable for reporting the buffer status of multiple LCGs; and The buffer status of the plurality of LCGs is reported using the conventional type of BSR MAC CE.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions stored therein, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the device to perform: Determining that different buffer size tables are needed for the buffer states of multiple LCGs reporting non-zero buffer sizes; and The new type of BSR MAC CE is used to report the buffer status of the multiple LCGs.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions stored therein, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the device to perform: When delay information reporting is configured for LCG or for logical channels within LCG, avoid using the conventional type of BSR MAC CE to report the buffer status of the LCG.

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