Data burst control for augmented reality

Abstract

A base station central unit (CU) of a base station sends to a base station distributed unit (DU) of the base station a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocol data unit (PDU) associated with a data burst and an indication that the PDCP PDU is the last PDCP PDU of the data burst.

Description

Cross Reference to Related Applications

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 521,599, filed June 16, 2023, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0002] Examples of several of the various embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0003] FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B An example mobile communication network in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented is shown.

[0004] FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B New Radio (NR) user plane and control plane protocol stacks are shown, respectively.

[0005] FIG. 3 An example of services provided between protocol layers of the NR user plane protocol stack of FIG. 2A is shown.

[0006] FIG. 4A An example downlink data flow through the NR user plane protocol stack of FIG. 2A is shown.

[0007] FIG. 4B An example format of a MAC subheader in a MAC PDU is shown.

[0008] FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B Mappings between logical channels, transport channels, and physical channels for downlink and uplink are shown, respectively.

[0009] FIG. 6 is an example diagram showing RRC state transitions of a UE.

[0010] FIG. 7 An example configuration of an NR frame into which OFDM symbols are grouped is shown.

[0011] FIG. 8 An example configuration of slots in the time and frequency domains of an NR carrier is shown.

[0012] FIG. 9 An example of bandwidth adaptation using three configured BWPs of an NR carrier is shown.

[0013] FIG. 10A Three carrier aggregation configurations with two component carriers are shown.

[0014] FIG. 10BExamples are shown of how aggregated cells can be configured into one or more PUCCH groups.

[0015] FIG. 11A Examples are shown of SS / PBCH block structure and location.

[0016] FIG. 11B Examples are shown of CSI-RS mapped in time and frequency domain.

[0017] FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B Examples are shown of three downlink and uplink beam management procedures, respectively.

[0018] FIG. 13A , FIG. 13B and FIG. 13C Four-step contention-based random access procedure, two-step contention-free random access procedure, and another two-step random access procedure, respectively, are shown.

[0019] FIG. 14A Examples are shown of CORESET configuration for bandwidth part.

[0020] FIG. 14B Examples are shown of CCE-to-REG mapping for DCI transmission on CORESET and PDCCH processing.

[0021] FIG. 15 Examples are shown of wireless devices communicating with a base station.

[0022] FIG. 16A , FIG. 16B , FIG. 16C and FIG. 16D Examples are shown of example structures for uplink and downlink transmission.

[0023] FIG. 17A is an example diagram of an aspect of embodiments of the disclosure.

[0024] FIG. 17B is an example diagram of an aspect of embodiments of the disclosure.

[0025] FIG. 18 is an example diagram of an aspect of embodiments of the disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 19 is an example diagram of an aspect of embodiments of the disclosure.

[0027] FIG. 20A and 20B is an example diagram of an aspect of embodiments of the disclosure.

[0028] FIG. 21 is an example diagram of an aspect of embodiments of the disclosure.

[0029] FIG. 22A 、 22B , 22C and 22D are example diagrams of an aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0030] FIG. 23 is an example diagram of an aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0031] FIG. 24 is an example diagram of an aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0032] FIG. 25 is an example diagram of an aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0033] FIG. 26 is an example diagram of an aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0034] FIG. 27 is an example diagram of an aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0035] FIG. 28 is an example diagram of an aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0036] FIG. 29 is an example diagram of an aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0037] FIG. 30 is an example diagram of an aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0038] FIG. 31 is an example diagram of an aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0039] FIG. 32 is an example diagram of an aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0040] FIG. 33 is an example diagram of an aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] In the present disclosure, various embodiments are presented in the form of examples of how the disclosed technology can be implemented and / or how the disclosed technology can be practiced in environments and scenarios. It will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts that various changes in form and detail can be made therein without departing from the scope of the present invention. Indeed, after reading the specification, it will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts how to implement alternative embodiments. The present embodiments should not be limited by any described exemplary embodiments. Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Limitations, features, and / or elements from the disclosed example embodiments can be combined to create additional embodiments within the scope of the present disclosure. Any figures that highlight the functionality and advantages of the present disclosure are presented for example purposes only. The disclosed architecture is sufficiently flexible and configurable to be utilized in ways other than that shown.

[0042] Embodiments can be configured to operate as needed. For example, in a wireless device, a base station, a radio environment, a network, a combination of the above, and so on, the disclosed mechanisms can be performed when certain criteria are met. Example criteria can be based at least in part on, for example, wireless device or network node configuration, traffic load, initial system setup, packet size, traffic characteristics, a combination of the above, and so on. Various example embodiments can be applied when one or more criteria are met. Thus, example embodiments that selectively implement the disclosed protocols can be implemented.

[0043] A base station can communicate with a mix of wireless devices. Wireless devices and / or base stations can support multiple technologies and / or multiple versions of the same technology. Wireless devices can have certain specific capabilities depending on the wireless device category and / or capabilities. When the present disclosure refers to a base station communicating with multiple wireless devices, the present disclosure can refer to a subset of the total wireless devices in a coverage area. For example, the present disclosure can mean a number of wireless devices that have a given capability and that are in a given sector of a base station of a given LTE or 5G version. The number of wireless devices in the present disclosure can refer to a selected number of wireless devices, and / or a subset of the total wireless devices in a coverage area that perform according to the disclosed methods, and so on. There can be multiple base stations or multiple wireless devices in a coverage area that can not comply with the disclosed methods, for example, these wireless devices or base stations can perform based on older versions of LTE or 5G technology.

[0044] In this disclosure, "a" and "an" and similar phrases will be interpreted to mean "at least one" and "one or more." Similarly, any term that ends with the suffix "(s)" will be interpreted to mean "at least one" and "one or more." In this disclosure, the term "may" is interpreted to mean "may, for example." In other words, the term "may" indicates that the phrase after the term "may" is an example of one of a number of suitable possibilities that can or can not be used in one or more of the individual embodiments. As used herein, the terms "comprises" and "consists of" recite one or more components of the element being described. The term "comprises" is interchangeable with "includes" and does not exclude the inclusion of additional components that are not listed. In contrast, "consists of" provides a complete list of the one or more components of the element being described. As used herein, the term "based on" shall not be construed as "based only on" but instead, for example, "based at least in part on." As used herein, the term "and / or" means any possible combination of the elements listed. For example, "A, B, and / or C" can mean A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; or A, B, and C.

[0045] A is called a subset of B if every element of A is also an element of B. In this specification, only non-empty sets and subsets are considered. For example, the possible subsets of B = {celll, cell2} are: {celll}, {cell2}, and {celll, cell2}. The phrase "based on" (or, equivalently, "based at least in part on") means that the phrase after the term "based on" is an example of one of a number of suitable possibilities that can or can not be used in one or more different embodiments. The phrase "in response to" (or, equivalently, "in response to at least") means that the phrase after the term "in response to" is an example of one of a number of suitable possibilities that can or can not be used in one or more different embodiments. The phrase "in dependence of" (or, equivalently, "in dependence of at least") means that the phrase after the term "in dependence of" is an example of one of a number of suitable possibilities that can or can not be used in one or more different embodiments. The phrase "employing / using" (or, equivalently, "employing / using at least") means that the phrase after the term "employing / using" is an example of one of a number of suitable possibilities that can or can not be used in one or more different embodiments.

[0046] The term "configuring" can relate to the capability of a device, whether the device is in an operational state or a non-operational state. "Configuring" can refer to a particular setting in a device that affects the operational characteristics of the device, whether the device is in an operational state or a non-operational state. In other words, hardware, software, firmware, registers, memory values, etc. can be "configured" within a device to provide the device with particular characteristics, whether the device is in an operational state or a non-operational state. The term "control message that causes" in a device can mean that the control message has parameters that can be used to configure particular characteristics in the device or parameters that can be used to implement certain actions in the device, whether the device is in an operational state or a non-operational state.

[0047] In this disclosure, a parameter (or equivalently, a field or information element: IE) can contain one or more information objects, and an information object can contain one or more other objects. For example, if parameter (IE) N contains parameter (IE) M, and parameter (IE) M contains parameter (IE) K, and parameter (IE) K contains parameter (information element) J. Then, for example, N contains K, and N contains J. In example embodiments, when one or more messages contain multiple parameters, it means that the parameter(s) of the multiple parameters are in at least one of the one or more messages, but not necessarily in each of the one or more messages.

[0048] Many of the proposed features are described as optional by using "may" or using parentheses. For brevity and readability, this disclosure does not explicitly recite every permutation that can be obtained by selecting from among the optional features described. This disclosure should be interpreted to expressly disclose all such permutations. For example, a system described as having three optional features can be embodied in seven different ways, namely having only one of the three possible features, having any two of the three possible features, or having all three of the three possible features.

[0049] Many of the elements described in the disclosed embodiments can be implemented as modules. A module is defined here as an element that performs a defined function and has a defined interface to other elements. The modules described in this disclosure can be implemented in hardware, software in combination with hardware, firmware, wetware (e.g., hardware with a biological element) or combinations thereof, all of which are behavioral equivalents. For example, a module can be implemented as a software routine in a computer language (e.g., C, C++, Fortran, Pascal, Java, Basic, Matlab, etc.) that is structured to execute on hardware, such as a general purpose central processing unit (CPU), an application specific computer, or on the parallel processing components of such a computer. A software routine can be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. It is also possible to implement some of the modules in wetware (e.g., human) or combinations of machines and wetware. The

[0050] FIG. 1A An example of a mobile communication network 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented is shown. The mobile communication network 100 can be, for example, a public land mobile network (PLMN) operated by a network operator. As shown, the mobile communication network 100 includes a core network (CN) 102, a radio access network (RAN) 104, and a wireless device 106. FIG. 1A

[0051] The CN 102 can provide an interface for the wireless device 106 to one or more data networks (DNs), such as a public DN (e.g., the Internet), a private DN, and / or an intra-operator DN. As part of the interface function, the CN 102 can establish end-to-end connections between the wireless device 106 and the one or more DNs, authenticate the wireless device 106, and provide charging functions.

[0052] ​The RAN 104 can connect the CN 102 to wireless devices 106 through radio communications via an air interface. As part of the radio communications, the RAN 104 can provide scheduling, radio resource management, and retransmission protocols. The direction of communication from the RAN 104 to the wireless devices 106 via the air interface is referred to as the downlink, and the direction of communication from the wireless devices 106 to the RAN 104 via the air interface is referred to as the uplink. Downlink transmissions can be separated from uplink transmissions using frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), and / or some combination of the two duplexing techniques.

[0053] The term “wireless device” can be used throughout this disclosure to refer to and encompass any mobile device or fixed (non-mobile) device that needs or can use wireless communication. For example, a wireless device can be a telephone, smartphone, tablet, computer, laptop, sensor, meter, wearable device, Internet of Things (IoT) device, vehicle road-side unit (RSU), relay node, automobile, and / or any combination thereof. The term “wireless device” encompasses other terms, including user equipment (UE), user terminal (UT), access terminal (AT), mobile station, handset, wireless transmit and receive unit (WTRU), and / or wireless communication device.

[0054] The RAN 104 can include one or more base stations (not shown). The term “base station” can be used throughout this disclosure to refer to and encompass: a Node-B (associated with UMTS and / or 3G standards); an evolved Node-B (eNB, associated with E-UTRA and / or 4G standards); a remote radio head (RRH); a baseband processing unit coupled to one or more RRHs; a repeater node or relay node used to extend the coverage area of a donor node; a next generation evolved Node-B (ng-eNB); a generation one Node-B (gNB, associated with NR and / or 5G standards); an access point (AP), associated with, for example, WiFi or any other suitable wireless communication standard); and / or any combination thereof. A base station can include at least one gNB-central unit (gNB-CU) and at least one gNB-distributed unit (gNB-DU).

[0055] The base stations included in the RAN 104 can include one or more sets of antennas for communicating with the wireless devices 106 over the air interface. For example, one or more of the base stations can include three sets of antennas to control three cells (or sectors), respectively. The size of a cell can be determined by a range at which a receiver (e.g., a base station receiver) can successfully receive a transmission from a transmitter (e.g., a wireless device transmitter) operating in the cell. The cells of the base stations can together provide radio coverage to the wireless devices 106 over a wide geographic area to support wireless device mobility.

[0056] In addition to three-sector sites, other implementations of base stations are possible. For example, one or more of the base stations in the RAN 104 can be implemented as a sectored site having more or less than three sectors. One or more of the base stations in the RAN 104 can be implemented as an access point, a baseband processing unit coupled to several remote radio heads (RRHs), and / or a repeater or relay node used to extend the coverage area of a donor node. A baseband processing unit coupled to RRHs can be part of a centralized or cloud RAN architecture, where the baseband processing unit can be centralized in a pool of baseband processing units or virtualized. A repeater node can amplify and rebroadcast a received radio signal from a donor node. A relay node can perform the same / similar functions as a repeater node but can decode a received radio signal from a donor node to cancel noise before amplifying and rebroadcasting the radio signal.

[0057] The RAN 104 can be deployed as a homogeneous network of macro cell base stations, each having similar antenna patterns and similar high level transmission powers. The RAN 104 can be deployed as a heterogeneous network. In a heterogeneous network, small

[0058] The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) was founded in 1998 to produce global specifications standardizing mobile communication networks similar to the mobile communication network 100 in FIG. 1A To date, 3GPP has produced specifications for three generations of mobile networks: third generation (3G) networks, referred to as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), fourth generation (4G) networks, referred to as Long Term Evolution (LTE), and fifth generation (5G) networks, referred to as 5G System (5GS). Embodiments of the present disclosure are described with reference to the RAN of a 3GPP 5G network, referred to as Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN). These embodiments can be applicable to the RAN of other mobile communication networks, such as the RAN 104 in FIG. 1A

[0059] FIG. 1B ​Another example mobile communication network 150 in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented is shown. The mobile communication network 150 may be, for example, a PLMN operated by a network operator. FIG. 1B As shown, the mobile communication network 150 includes a 5G core network (5G-CN) 152, an NG-RAN 154, and UEs 156A and 156B (collectively referred to as UE 156). This can be compared with... FIG. 1A These components are implemented and operated in the same or similar manner as the corresponding components described.

[0060] 5G-CN 152 provides UE 156 with an interface to one or more DNs, such as public DNs (e.g., the Internet), private DNs, and / or operator-internal DNs. As part of the interface functionality, 5G-CN 152 can establish end-to-end connections between UE 156 and the one or more DNs, authenticate UE 156, and provide charging functions. Compared to the CNs in 3GPP 4G networks, the foundation of 5G-CN 152 can be a service-based architecture. This means that the architecture of the nodes constituting 5G-CN 152 can be defined as network functions that provide services to other network functions via the interface. The network functions of 5G-CN 152 can be implemented in several ways, including as network elements on dedicated or shared hardware, as software instances running on dedicated or shared hardware, or as virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud-based platform).

[0061] like FIG. 1B As shown, 5G-CN 152 includes Access and Mobility Management Functions (AMF) 158A and User Plane Functions (UPF) 158B. For ease of explanation, in FIG. 1B These are shown as a single component, AMF / UPF 158. UPF 158B can act as a gateway between NG-RAN 154 and the one or more DNs. Functions that UPF 158B can perform include: packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection and user plane policy rule enforcement, service usage reporting, uplink classification supporting the routing of service flows to the one or more DNs, user plane Quality of Service (QoS) processing (e.g., packet filtering, gating, uplink / downlink rate enforcement, and uplink service authentication), downlink packet buffering, and downlink data notification triggering. UPF 158B can act as an anchor point for intra / inter-Radio Access Technology (RAT) mobility, an external Protocol (or Packet) Data Unit (PDU) session point interconnecting with the one or more DNs, and / or a pivot point supporting multihomed PDU sessions. UE 156 can be configured to receive services via a PDU session, which is a logical connection between the UE and the DN.

[0062] The AMF 158A can perform functions such as non-access stratum (NAS) signaling termination, NAS signaling security, access stratum (AS) security control, inter-CN node signaling for mobility between 3 GPP access networks, idle mode UE reachability (e.g., control and execution of paging retransmission), registration area management, intra-system and inter-system mobility support, access authentication, access authorization including check of roaming rights, mobility management control (subscription and policies), network slicing support, and / or session management function (SMF) selection. NAS can mean functionality operating between a CN and a UE, and AS can mean functionality operating between a UE and a RAN.

[0063] The 5G-CN 152 can include one or more additional network functions not shown in FIG. 1 for the sake of clarity. For example, the 5G-CN 152 can include one or more of the following: a session management function (SMF), an NR repository function (NRF), a policy control function (PCF), a network exposure function (NEF), a unified data management (UDM), an application function (AF), and / or an authentication server function (AUSF). FIG. 1B

[0064] The NG-RAN 154 can connect the 5G-CN 152 to the UEs 156 through wireless communication over the air interface. The NG-RAN 154 can include one or more gNBs, illustrated as gNB 160A and gNB 160B (collectively gNBs 160), and / or one or more ng-eNBs, illustrated as ng-eNB 162A and ng-eNB 162B (collectively ng-eNBs 162). The gNBs 160 and ng-eNBs 162 can be more generically referred to as base stations. The gNBs 160 and ng-eNBs 162 can include one or more sets of antennas for communicating with UEs 156 over the air interface. For example, one or more of the gNBs 160 and / or one or more of the ng-eNBs 162 can include three sets of antennas to respectively control three cells (or sectors). The cells of the gNBs 160 and ng-eNBs 162 can together provide radio coverage to the UEs 156 over a wide geographic area to support UE mobility.

[0065] As FIG. 1B ​As shown in FIG. 1, gNBs 160 and / or ng-eNBs 162 can be connected by means of NG interfaces to 5G-CN 152, and to other base stations over Xn interfaces. The NG and Xn interfaces can be established using direct physical connections and / or indirect connections over an underlying transport network, such as an Internet Protocol (IP) transport network. gNBs 160 and / or ng-eNBs 162 can be connected by means of Uu interfaces to UEs 156. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, gNB 160A can be connected by means of a Uu interface to UE 156A. The NG, Xn, and Uu interfaces are associated with protocol stacks. The protocol stacks associated with the interfaces can be used by the network elements in FIG. 1B As shown in FIG. 1, gNBs 160 and / or ng-eNBs 162 can be connected by means of NG interfaces to 5G-CN 152, and to other base stations over Xn interfaces. The NG and Xn interfaces can be established using direct physical connections and / or indirect connections over an underlying transport network, such as an Internet Protocol (IP) transport network. gNBs 160 and / or ng-eNBs 162 can be connected by means of Uu interfaces to UEs 156. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, gNB 160A can be connected by means of a Uu interface to UE 156A. The NG, Xn, and Uu interfaces are associated with protocol stacks. The protocol stacks associated with the interfaces can be used by the network elements in FIG. 1B The network elements in FIG. 1 are configured to exchange data and signaling messages, and can include two planes: a user plane and a control plane. The user plane can handle data of interest to a user. The control plane can handle signaling messages of interest to network elements.

[0066] gNBs 160 and / or ng-eNBs 162 can be connected by means of one or more NG interfaces to one or more AMF / UPF functions of 5G-CN 152, such as AMF / UPF 158. For example, gNB 160A can be connected by means of an NG user plane (NG-U) interface to UPF 158B of AMF / UPF 158. The NG-U interface can provide for the delivery (e.g., non-guaranteed delivery) of user plane PDUs between gNB 160A and UPF 158B. gNB 160A can be connected by means of an NG control plane (NG-C) interface to AMF 158A. The NG-C interface can provide, for example, NG interface management, UE context management, UE mobility management, transfer of NAS messages, paging, PDU session management, and configuration transfer and / or warning message transmission.

[0067] gNBs 160 can provide NR user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards UEs 156 over the Uu interface. For example, gNB 160A can provide NR user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards UE 156A over a Uu interface associated with a first protocol stack. ng-eNBs 162 can provide Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards UEs 156 over the Uu interface, where E-UTRA refers to a 3GPP 4G radio access technology. For example, ng-eNB 162B can provide E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards UE 156B over a Uu interface associated with a second protocol stack.

[0068] 5G-CN 152 is described as being configured to handle NR and 4G radio access. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that NR has the potential to connect to a 4G core network in a mode referred to as “non-standalone operation.” In non-standalone operation, the 4G core network is used to provide (or at least support) control plane functionality (e.g., initial access, mobility, and paging). Although FIG. 1B Only one AMF / UPF 158 is shown in FIG. 1, but one gNB or ng-eNB can be connected to multiple AMF / UPF nodes to provide redundancy and / or load sharing across the multiple AMF / UPF nodes.

[0069] As discussed, FIG. 2A Interfaces between network elements (e.g., Uu, Xn, and NG interfaces) in FIG. 1 can be associated with protocol stacks that the network elements use to exchange data and signaling messages. The protocol stacks can include two planes: a user plane and a control plane. The user plane can handle data of interest to users, while the control plane can handle signaling messages of interest to the network elements.

[0070] FIG. 2B and FIG. 2A FIGS. 1 and 2 show examples of NR user plane and NR control plane protocol stacks, respectively, for a Uu interface between a UE 210 and a gNB 220. FIG. 2B and FIG. 1B The protocol stacks shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 can be the same as or similar to those for a Uu interface between a UE 156A and a gNB 160A shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2A The protocol stacks shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 can be the same as or similar to those for a Uu interface between a UE 156A and a gNB 160A shown in FIG. 1.

[0071] FIG. 3 FIG. 2 shows an NR user plane protocol stack that includes five layers implemented in the UE 210 and the gNB 220. At the bottom of the protocol stack, the physical layer (PHY) 211 and 221 can provide transport services to higher layers of the protocol stack and can correspond to layer 1 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model. The next four protocols above the PHY 211 and 221 include the medium access control layer (MAC) 212 and 222, the radio link control layer (RLC) 213 and 223, the packet data convergence protocol layer (PDCP) 214 and 224, and the service data application protocol layer (SDAP) 215 and 225. These four protocols can together make up layer 2 or the data link layer of the OSI model.

[0072] FIG. 2A FIG. 2 shows an NR user plane protocol stack that includes five layers implemented in the UE 210 and the gNB 220. At the bottom of the protocol stack, the physical layer (PHY) 211 and 221 can provide transport services to higher layers of the protocol stack and can correspond to layer 1 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model. The next four protocols above the PHY 211 and 221 include the medium access control layer (MAC) 212 and 222, the radio link control layer (RLC) 213 and 223, the packet data convergence protocol layer (PDCP) 214 and 224, and the service data application protocol layer (SDAP) 215 and 225. These four protocols can together make up layer 2 or the data link layer of the OSI model. FIG. 3 and FIG. 3At the top, SDAPs 215 and 225 can perform QoS flow handling. UE 210 can receive services through a PDU session, which can be a logical connection between UE 210 and a DN. A PDU session can have one or more QoS flows. A UPF of the CN (e.g., UPF 158B) can map IP packets to the one or more QoS flows of a PDU session based on QoS requirements (e.g., in terms of delay, data rate, and / or error rate). SDAPs 215 and 225 can perform mapping / de-mapping between the one or more QoS flows and one or more data radio bearers. The mapping / de-mapping between QoS flows and data radio bearers can be determined by SDAP 225 at gNB 220. SDAP 215 at UE 210 can learn the mapping between QoS flows and data radio bearers through reflective mapping or control signaling received from gNB 220. For reflective mapping, SDAP 225 at gNB 220 can mark downlink packets with a QoS flow indicator (QFI), which can be observed by SDAP 215 at UE 210 to determine the mapping / de-mapping between QoS flows and data radio bearers.

[0073] PDCPs 214 and 224 can perform header compression / de-compression to reduce the amount of data that needs to be transmitted over the air interface, can perform ciphering / deciphering to prevent unauthorized decoding of data transmitted over the air interface, and can perform integrity protection to ensure that control messages originate from an intended source. PDCPs 214 and 224 can perform retransmission of undelivered packets, in-order delivery and reordering of packets, and removal of packets that are received in duplicate due to, for example, intra-gNB handover. PDCPs 214 and 224 can perform packet duplication to improve the likelihood that a packet is received, and remove any duplicate packets at the receiver. Packet duplication can be applicable to services that require high reliability.

[0074] Although FIG. 3 Although not shown in FIG. 2, PDCPs 214 and 224 can perform mapping / de-mapping between split radio bearers and RLC channels in a dual connectivity scenario. Dual connectivity is a technique that allows a UE to connect to two cells or, more generally, to two cell groups: a master cell group (MCG) and a secondary cell group (SCG). A split bearer is a split bearer when a single radio bearer (like one of the radio bearers provided by PDCPs 214 and 224 as a service to SDAPs 215 and 225) is handled by cell groups in dual connectivity. PDCPs 214 and 224 can map / de-map split radio bearers between RLC channels that belong to cell groups.

[0075] The RLCs 213 and 223 can perform segmentation, retransmission by automatic repeat request (ARQ), and removal of duplicate data units received from the MACs 212 and 222, respectively. The RLCs 213 and 223 can support three transmission modes: transparent mode (TM); unacknowledged mode (UM); and acknowledged mode (AM). Depending on the transmission mode the RLC is operating, the RLC can perform one or more of the functions. The RLC configuration can be per logical channel independent of numerologies and / or transmission time interval (TTI) duration. As shown in FIG. 2, the RLCs 213 and 223 can provide RLC channels as a service to the PDCPs 214 and 224, respectively. FIG. 3

[0076] The MACs 212 and 222 can perform multiplexing / demultiplexing of logical channels and / or mapping between logical channels and transport channels. Multiplexing / demultiplexing can include multiplexing / demultiplexing of data units belonging to one or more logical channels into / from Transport Blocks (TB) delivered to / from the PHYs 211 and 221. The MAC 222 can be configured to perform scheduling, scheduling information reporting, and priority handling between UEs by means of dynamic scheduling. Scheduling can be performed in the gNB 220 (at the MAC 222) for downlink and uplink. The MACs 212 and 222 can be configured to perform error correction by means of Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) (e.g., one HARQ entity per carrier in case of Carrier Aggregation (CA)), priority handling between logical channels of the UE 210 by means of logical channel prioritization, and / or padding. The MACs 212 and 222 can support one or more numerologies and / or transmission timings. In an example, mapping restrictions in the logical channel prioritization can control which numerology and / or transmission timing a logical channel can use. As shown in FIG. 2, the MACs 212 and 222 can provide logical channels as a service to the RLCs 213 and 223, respectively. FIG. 3

[0077] The PHYs 211 and 221 can perform mapping of transport channels to physical channels and of bitmaps to resource elements, as well as the digital and analog signal processing functions necessary for transmission and reception of information over the air interface. These digital and analog signal processing functions can include, for example, coding / decoding and modulation / demodulation. The PHYs 211 and 221 can perform multi-antenna mapping. As shown in FIG. 2, the PHYs 211 and 221 can provide one or more transport channels as a service to the MACs 212 and 222, respectively. FIG. 4A

[0078] FIG. 4A An example downlink data flow through the NR user plane protocol stack is shown. FIG. 4A ​​​A downlink data flow of three IP packets (IP packet 1, IP packet 2, and IP packet 3) that flow through the NR user plane protocol stack to generate two TBs at the gNB 220 is shown. The uplink data flow through the NR user plane protocol stack can be similar to the downlink data flow depicted in n , n+1 and m . The downlink data flow of three IP packets (IP packet 1, IP packet 2, and IP packet 3) that flow through the NR user plane protocol stack begins when the SDAP 225 receives the three IP packets from one or more QoS flows and maps the three packets to radio bearers. In FIG. 4A , the SDAP 225 maps IP packets IP packet 1 and IP packet 2 to a first radio bearer 402 and maps IP packet 3 to a second radio bearer 404. SDAP headers (labeled with “H” in

[0079] FIG. 4A The remaining protocol layers in FIG. 4A may perform their associated functions (e.g., as described in n ), add corresponding headers, and forward their respective outputs to the next lower layer. For example, the PDCP 224 can perform IP header compression and encryption and forward its output to the RLC 223. The RLC 223 can optionally perform segmentation (e.g., as shown in n+1 for IP packet 1) and forward its output to the MAC 222. The MAC 222 can multiplex many RLC PDUs and can attach a MAC subheader to the RLC PDUs to form a transport block. In NR, the MAC subheader can be distributed throughout the MAC PDU, as shown in m . In LTE, the MAC subheader can be located entirely at the beginning of the MAC PDU. The NR MAC PDU structure can reduce processing time and associated latency because the MAC PDU subheader can be computed before the complete MAC PDU is assembled. FIG. 4A FIG. 4A

[0080] FIG. 3 FIG. 4A FIG. 4A m FIG. 4B

[0081] FIG. 4B ​​​​​​​An example format of a MAC subheader in a MAC PDU is shown. The MAC subheader includes: an SDU length field to indicate the length of the MAC SDU to which the MAC subheader corresponds (e.g., in bytes); a logical channel identifier (LCID) field to identify the logical channel from which the MAC SDU originates to assist the process of demultiplexing; a flag (F) to indicate the size of the SDU length field; and a reserved bit (R) field for future use.

[0082] FIG. 4B A MAC control element (CE) inserted by a MAC (e.g., MAC 223 or MAC 222) into a MAC PDU is further shown. For example, FIG. 4B Two MAC CEs inserted into a MAC PDU are shown. The MAC CEs can be inserted at the beginning of a MAC PDU for downlink transmission (e.g., as shown in FIG. 5A The MAC CEs can be inserted at the end of a MAC PDU for uplink transmission. The MAC CEs can be used for in-band control signaling. Example MAC CEs include: scheduling related MAC CEs, such as buffer status reports and power headroom reports; activation / deactivation MAC CEs, such as those for PDCP duplication detection, channel state information (CSI) reporting, sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission, and activation / deactivation of previously configured components; discontinuous reception (DRX) related MAC CEs; timing advance MAC CEs; and random access related MAC CEs. There can be a MAC subheader with a similar format as described with respect to MAC SDUs before the MAC CEs, and the MAC CEs can be identified with a reserved value in the LCID field to indicate the type of control information included in the MAC CEs.

[0083] Before describing the NR control plane protocol stack, first describe the logical channels, transport channels, and physical channels and the mapping between the channel types. One or more of these channels can be used to perform functions associated with the NR control plane protocol stack described later.

[0084] FIG. 5B and FIG. 5AThe mapping between logical channels, transport channels, and physical channels is shown for the downlink and uplink separately. Information transfer takes place through channels between RLC, MAC, and PHY of the NR protocol stack. Logical channels can be used between RLC and MAC and can be classified into Control Channels, which carry control and configuration information in the NR control plane, or Traffic Channels, which carry data in the NR user plane. Logical channels can be classified as Dedicated, which are specific to a certain UE, or Common, which can be used by more than one UE. Logical channels can also be defined by the type of information they carry. The set of logical channels defined by NR includes, for example: - Parching Control Channel (PCCH), which is used to carry paging messages for paging UEs whose location is not known by the network at a cell level; - Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH), which is used to carry system information messages in the form of a Master Information Block (MIB) and several System Information Blocks (SIBs), where the system information messages can be used by UEs to obtain information about how the cell is configured and how to operate within the cell; - Common Control Channel (CCCH), which is used to carry control messages and random access; - Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH), which is used to carry control messages to / from specific UEs to configure the UEs; and - Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH), which is used to carry user data to / from specific UEs.

[0085] Transport channels are used between the MAC layer and the PHY layer and can be defined by how the information they carry is transmitted over the air interface. The set of transport channels defined by NR includes, for example: - Paging Channel (PCH), which is used to carry paging messages originating from PCCH; - Broadcast Channel (BCH), which is used to carry the MIB from BCCH; - Downlink Shared Channel (DL-SCH), which is used to carry downlink data and signaling messages, including SIBs from BCCH; - Uplink Shared Channel (UL-SCH), which is used to carry uplink data and signaling messages; and - Random Access Channel (RACH), which is used to allow UEs to contact the network without any prior scheduling.

[0086] The PHY can use physical channels to pass information between processing levels of the PHY. A physical channel can have a set of associated time-frequency resources for carrying the information of one or several transport channels. The PHY can generate control information to support low-level operations of the PHY and provide the control information to lower levels of the PHY via physical control channels (referred to as L1 / L2 control channels). The set of physical channels and physical control channels defined by NR include, for example: - a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) for carrying the MIB from the BCH; - a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) for carrying downlink data and signaling messages from the DL-SCH and paging messages from the PCH; - a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for carrying downlink control information (DCI) that can include downlink scheduling commands, uplink scheduling grants, and uplink power control commands; - a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for carrying uplink data and signaling messages from the UL-SCH and, in some cases, uplink control information (UCI) as described below; - a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) for carrying UCI that can include HARQ acknowledgements, channel quality indicators (CQIs), precoding matrix indicators (PMIs), rank indicators (RIs), and scheduling requests (SRs); and - a physical random access channel (PRACH) for random access.

[0087] Similar to physical control channels, the physical layer generates physical signals to support low-level operations of the physical layer. As FIG. 5B and FIG. 2B illustrate, the physical layer signals defined by NR include: a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a sounding reference signal (SRS), and a phase-tracking reference signal (PT-RS). These physical layer signals are described in more detail below.

[0088] FIG. 2B An example NR control plane protocol stack is shown. As FIG. 6As shown in the middle, the NR control plane protocol stack can use the same / similar first four protocol layers as the example NR user plane protocol stack. The four protocol layers include PHYs 211 and 221, MACs 212 and 222, RLCs 213 and 223, and PDCPs 214 and 224. Rather than having SDAPs 215 and 225 at the top of the stack as in the NR user plane protocol stack, the NR control plane protocol stack has radio resource control (RRC) 216 and 226 and NAS protocols 217 and 237 at the top of the NR control plane protocol stack.

[0089] The NAS protocols 217 and 237 can provide control plane functionality between the UE 210 and the AMF 230 (e.g., the AMF 158A) or, more generally, between the UE 210 and the CN. The NAS protocols 217 and 237 can provide control plane functionality between the UE 210 and the AMF 230 via signaling messages referred to as NAS messages. There is no direct path between the UE 210 and the AMF 230 through which NAS messages can pass. The NAS messages can be transported using the AS of the Uu and NG interfaces. The NAS protocols 217 and 237 can provide control plane functionality such as authentication, security, connection setup, mobility management, and session management.

[0090] The RRCs 216 and 226 can provide control plane functionality between the UE 210 and the gNB 220 or, more generally, between the UE 210 and the RAN. The RRCs 216 and 226 can provide control plane functionality between the UE 210 and the gNB 220 via signaling messages referred to as RRC messages. The RRC messages can be transported between the UE 210 and the RAN using signaling radio bearers and the same / similar PDCP, RLC, MAC, and PHY protocol layers. The MAC can multiplex control plane and user plane data into the same transport block (TB). The RRCs 216 and 226 can provide control plane functionality such as: broadcast of system information related to AS and NAS; paging initiated by the CN or RAN; establishment, maintenance, and release of an RRC connection between the UE 210 and the RAN; security functions including key management; establishment, reconfiguration, and release of signaling radio bearers and data radio bearers; mobility functions; QoS management functions; UE measurement reporting and control of the reporting; detection of and recovery from radio link failure (RLF); and / or NAS message transfer. As part of establishing an RRC connection, the RRCs 216 and 226 can establish an RRC context, which can involve configuring parameters for communication between the UE 210 and the RAN.

[0091] FIG. 1A is an example diagram illustrating RRC state transitions of a UE. The UE can be the UE 210.FIG. 2A the wireless device 106, FIG. 2B and FIG. 6 the UE 210 depicted in FIGS. FIG. 1A As shown, a UE can be in at least one of three RRC states: RRC connected 602 (e.g., RRC CONNECTED), RRC idle 604 (e.g., RRC IDLE), and RRC inactive 606 (e.g., RRC INACTIVE).

[0092] In RRC connected 602, the UE has an established RRC context and can have at least one RRC connection with a base station. The base station can be similar to one of: FIG. 1B the one or more base stations included in the RAN 104 depicted in FIGS. FIG. 2A one of the gNBs 160 or ng-eNB 162 depicted in FIGS. FIG. 2B and FIG. 1B the gNB 220 depicted in FIGS. or any other base station described in the present disclosure. The base station with which a UE is connected can have an RRC context for the UE. The RRC context, referred to as the UE context, can contain parameters for communication between the UE and the base station. These parameters can include, for example: one or more AS contexts; one or more radio link configuration parameters; bearer configuration information (e.g., related to data radio bearers, signaling radio bearers, logical channels, QoS flows, and / or PDU sessions); security information; and / or PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, and / or SDAP layer configuration information. While in RRC connected 602, mobility of a UE can be managed by the RAN (e.g., the RAN 104 or the NG-RAN 154). The UE can measure signal levels (e.g., reference signal levels) from a serving cell and neighboring cells and report these measurements to the base station currently serving the UE. The UE’s serving base station can request a handover to a cell of one of the neighboring base stations based on the reported measurements. The RRC state can transition from RRC connected 602 to RRC idle 604 through a connection release procedure 608 or to RRC inactive 606 through a connection deactivation procedure 610.

[0093] In RRC idle 604, no RRC context can be established for the UE. In RRC idle 604, the UE can have no RRC connection with the base station. While in RRC idle 604, the UE can be in a sleep state for most of the time (e.g., to conserve battery power). The UE can periodically wake up (e.g., once per discontinuous reception cycle) to monitor for paging messages from the RAN. Mobility of the UE can be managed by the UE through a procedure known as cell reselection. The RRC state can transition from RRC idle 604 to RRC connected 602 through a connection establishment procedure 612, which can involve a random access procedure, as discussed in more detail below.

[0094] In RRC inactive 606, a previously established RRC context is maintained in the UE and the base station. This allows for a fast transition to RRC connected 602 with reduced signaling overhead compared to the transition from RRC idle 604 to RRC connected 602. While in RRC inactive 606, the UE can be in a sleep state, and mobility of the UE can be managed by the UE through cell reselection. The RRC state can transition from RRC inactive 606 to RRC connected 602 through a connection resume procedure 614, or to RRC idle 604 through a connection release procedure 616, which can be the same as or similar to connection release procedure 608.

[0095] The RRC states can be associated with mobility management mechanisms. In RRC idle 604 and RRC inactive 606, mobility is managed by the UE through cell reselection. The purpose of mobility management in RRC idle 604 and RRC inactive 606 is to allow the network to be able to inform a UE of events via a paging message without having to broadcast the paging message over the entire mobile communication network. The mobility management mechanisms used in RRC idle 604 and RRC inactive 606 can allow the network to track a UE at a cell group level, such that a paging message can be broadcast on a cell in the cell group in which the UE is currently camped rather than over the entire mobile communication network. The mobility management mechanisms for RRC idle 604 and RRC inactive 606 track a UE at a cell group level. These mobility management mechanisms can use different granularities of grouping to do so. For example, there can be three levels of cell grouping granularity: a single cell; cells within a RAN area identified by a RAN area identifier (RAI); and a group of cells within a RAN area, referred to as a tracking area and identified by a tracking area identifier (TAI).

[0096] A tracking area can be used to track the UE at the CN level. The CN (e.g., CN 102 or 5G-CN 152) can provide the UE with a list of TAIs associated with the UE's registration area. If the UE moves to a cell associated with a TAI not included in the list of TAIs associated with the UE's registration area via cell reselection, the UE can perform a registration update with the CN to allow the CN to update the UE's location and provide the UE with a new UE registration area.

[0097] RAN areas can be used to track UEs at the RAN level. For a UE in an RRC inactive 606 state, a RAN notification area can be assigned to that UE. A RAN notification area can contain one or more cell identifiers, a list of RAIs, or a list of TAIs. In the example, a base station can belong to one or more RAN notification areas. In the example, a cell can belong to one or more RAN notification areas. If a UE moves via cell reselection to a cell not included in the RAN notification area assigned to that UE, the UE can perform a notification area update on the RAN to update the UE's RAN notification area.

[0098] The base station storing the RRC context for the UE, or the UE's last serving base station, may be referred to as the anchor base station. The anchor base station may maintain the RRC context for the UE at least during the period when the UE remains in the anchor base station's RAN notification area and / or during the period when the UE remains in RRC inactivity 606.

[0099] gNB, such as FIG. 5A The gNB 160 can be divided into two parts: a central unit (gNB-CU) and one or more distributed units (gNB-DU). The gNB-CU can be coupled to one or more gNB-DUs using an F1 interface. The gNB-CU can contain RRC, PDCP, and SDAP. The gNB-DU can contain RLC, MAC, and PHY.

[0100] In NR, physical signals and physical channels (about FIG. 5B and FIG. 7 The concepts discussed can be mapped to Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. OFDM is a multi-carrier communication scheme that uses... F Data is transmitted via orthogonal subcarriers (or tones). Before transmission, the data can be mapped to a series of complex symbols called source symbols (e.g., M-QAM symbols or M-PSK symbols), and is divided into... F A parallel symbol stream. FThe parallel streams of symbols can be treated as if they are in the frequency domain and used as inputs to an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) block that transforms them into the time domain. The IFFT block can take one source symbol (from each of the parallel streams of symbols) at a time and use each source symbol to modulate the amplitude and phase of one of the sine basis functions corresponding to one of the orthogonal subcarriers. The output of the IFFT block can be a sum of F F F F F F F F

[0101] FIG. 7 An example configuration of an NR frame into which OFDM symbols are grouped is shown. An NR frame can be identified by a system frame number (SFN). The SFN can repeat with a period of 1024 frames. As shown, the duration of one NR frame can be 10 milliseconds (ms) and can include 10 subframes of 1 ms duration. The subframes can be divided into slots that include, for example, 14 OFDM symbols per slot.

[0102] The duration of a slot can depend on the numerology used for the OFDM symbols of the slot. In NR, flexible numerologies are supported to accommodate different cell deployments (e.g., cells with carrier frequencies below 1 GHz, up to cells with carrier frequencies in the mmWave range). A numerology can be defined in terms of subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix duration. For numerologies in NR, the subcarrier spacing can be scaled by powers of two from a baseline subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, and the cyclic prefix duration can be scaled by powers of two from a baseline cyclic prefix duration of 4.7 μβ. For example, NR defines numerologies with the following subcarrier spacing / cyclic prefix duration combinations: 15 kHz / 4.7 μβ; 30 kHz / 2.3 μβ; 60 kHz / 1.2 μβ; 120 kHz / 0.59 μβ; and 240 kHz / 0.29 μβ.​​​​​​​​

[0103] One slot can have a fixed number of OFDM symbols (e.g., 14 OFDM symbols). Parameter sets with higher subcarrier spacing have shorter slot durations, and correspondingly more slots per subframe. FIG. 7 The slot duration and transmission structure per subframe related to parameter sets are shown (for ease of illustration, FIG. 8 not shown in FIG. 1). A subframe in NR can be used as a time reference independent of parameter sets, while a slot can be used as a unit for scheduling uplink and downlink transmissions. To support low latency, scheduling in NR can be decoupled from the slot duration, and start at any OFDM symbol, and continue for as many symbols as needed for the transmission. These partial-slot transmissions can be referred to as mini-slot or sub-slot transmissions.

[0104] FIG. 8 An example configuration of a slot in time and frequency domains of an NR carrier is shown. The slot includes resource elements (REs) and resource blocks (RBs). An RE is the smallest physical resource in NR. An RE spans one subcarrier in the frequency domain by one OFDM symbol in the time domain, as shown in FIG. 8 FIG. 1. An RB spans twelve consecutive REs in the frequency domain, as shown in FIG. 8 FIG. 1. An NR carrier can be limited to a width of 275 RBs or 275 x 12 = 3300 subcarriers. If such a limit is used, for subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, and 120 kHz, the NR carrier can be limited to 50 MHz, 100 MHz, 200 MHz, and 400 MHz, respectively, where the 400 MHz bandwidth can be set based on a bandwidth limit of 400 MHz per carrier.

[0105] FIG. 9 A single parameter set used across the entire bandwidth of an NR carrier is shown. In other example configurations, multiple parameter sets can be supported on the same carrier.

[0106] NR can support wide carrier bandwidths (e.g., up to 400 MHz for a subcarrier spacing of 120 kHz). Not all UEs can be able to receive the full carrier bandwidth (e.g., due to hardware limitations). Also, receiving the full carrier bandwidth can be prohibitive in terms of UE power consumption. In an example, to reduce power consumption and / or for other purposes, a UE can adapt the size of the UE’s receive bandwidth based on the amount of traffic the UE plans to receive. This is referred to as bandwidth adaptation.

[0107] NR defines bandwidth parts (BWPs) to support UEs that cannot receive the full carrier bandwidth and to support bandwidth adaptation. In an example, a BWP can be defined by a subset of contiguous RBs on a carrier. A UE can be configured (e.g., via an RRC layer) with one or more downlink BWPs and one or more uplink BWPs per serving cell (e.g., up to four downlink BWPs and up to four uplink BWPs per serving cell). At a given time, one or more of the configured BWPs for a serving cell can be active. The one or more BWPs can be referred to as active BWPs of the serving cell. When a serving cell is configured with a secondary uplink carrier, the serving cell can have one or more first active BWPs in the uplink carrier and one or more second active BWPs in the secondary uplink carrier.

[0108] For unpaired spectrum, a downlink BWP from a set of configured downlink BWPs can be linked with an uplink BWP from a set of configured uplink BWPs if the downlink BWP index of the downlink BWP is the same as the uplink BWP index of the uplink BWP. For unpaired spectrum, a UE can expect the center frequency of a downlink BWP to be the same as the center frequency of an uplink BWP.

[0109] For a downlink BWP in a set of configured downlink BWPs on a primary cell (PCell), a base station can configure a UE with one or more control resource sets (CORESETs) for at least one search space. A search space is a set of locations in time and frequency domain where a UE can look for control information. A search space can be a UE-specific search space or a common search space (possibly usable by multiple UEs). For example, a base station can configure a UE with a common search space on a PCell or a primary secondary cell (PSCell) in an active downlink BWP.

[0110] For an uplink BWP in a set of configured uplink BWPs, a BS can configure a UE with one or more resource sets for one or more PUCCH transmissions. A UE can receive a downlink reception (e.g., PDCCH or PDSCH) in a downlink BWP according to a configured set of parameters for the downlink BWP (e.g., subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix duration). A UE can transmit an uplink transmission (e.g., PUCCH or PUSCH) in an uplink BWP according to a configured set of parameters (e.g., subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix length of the uplink BWP).

[0111] One or more BWP indicator fields can be provided in downlink control information (DCI). The value of a BWP indicator field can indicate which BWP of a set of configured BWPs is the active downlink BWP for one or more downlink receptions. The value of the one or more BWP indicator fields can indicate the active uplink BWP for one or more uplink transmissions.

[0112] A base station can semi-statically configure a UE with a default downlink BWP within a set of configured downlink BWPs associated with a PCell. If the base station does not provide the UE with a default downlink BWP, the default downlink BWP can be the initial active downlink BWP. The UE can determine which BWP is the initial active downlink BWP based on a CORESET configuration obtained using PBCH.

[0113] A base station can configure a UE with a BWP inactivity timer value for a PCell. The UE can start or restart the BWP inactivity timer at any appropriate time. For example, the UE can start or restart the BWP inactivity timer when: a the UE detects a DCI indicating an active downlink BWP other than the default downlink BWP for a paired spectrum operation; or b the UE detects a DCI indicating an active downlink BWP or an active uplink BWP other than the default downlink BWP or the uplink BWP for an unpaired spectrum operation. If the UE does not detect a DCI within a time interval (e.g., 1 ms or 0.5 ms), the UE can run the BWP inactivity timer towards expiration (e.g., increment from zero to the BWP inactivity timer value, or decrement from the BWP inactivity timer value to zero). When the BWP inactivity timer expires, the UE can switch from the active downlink BWP to the default downlink BWP.

[0114] In an example, a base station can semi-statically configure a UE with one or more BWPs. The UE can switch an active BWP from a first BWP to a second BWP in response to receiving a DCI indicating the second BWP as the active BWP and / or in response to expiration of a BWP inactivity timer (e.g., in a case where the second BWP is a default BWP).

[0115] Downlink and uplink BWP switching (where BWP switching refers to switching from a current active BWP to a non-current active BWP) can be performed independently in a paired spectrum. In an unpaired spectrum, downlink and uplink BWP switching can be performed simultaneously. Switching between configured BWPs can occur based on RRC signaling, DCI, expiration of a BWP inactivity timer, and / or initiation of a random access.

[0116] FIG. 9 An example of bandwidth adaptation using three configured BWPs of an NR carrier is shown. A UE configured with the three BWPs can switch from one BWP to another at a switching point. In FIG. 9 In the example shown, the BWPs include: BWP 902 with a bandwidth of 40 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz; BWP 904 with a bandwidth of 10 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz; and BWP 906 with a bandwidth of 20 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 60 kHz. BWP 902 can be the initial active BWP, and BWP 904 can be the default BWP. The UE can switch between the BWPs at switching points. In FIG. 10A In the example shown, the UE can switch from BWP 902 to BWP 904 at switching point 908. The switch at switching point 908 can occur for any suitable reason, such as in response to the expiration of a BWP inactivity timer (indicating a switch to the default BWP) and / or in response to receiving a DCI indicating that BWP 904 is the active BWP. The UE can switch from active BWP 904 to BWP 906 at switching point 910 in response to receiving a DCI indicating that BWP 906 is the active BWP. The UE can switch from active BWP 906 to BWP 904 at switching point 912 in response to the expiration of a BWP inactivity timer and / or in response to receiving a DCI indicating that BWP 904 is the active BWP. The UE can switch from active BWP 904 to BWP 902 at switching point 914 in response to receiving a DCI indicating that BWP 902 is the active BWP.

[0117] If a UE is configured for a secondary cell with a default downlink BWP and a timer value in a set of configured downlink BWPs, the UE procedures for switching BWPs on the secondary cell can be the same / similar to those on the primary cell. For example, the UE can use the timer value and default downlink BWP of the secondary cell in the same / similar manner that the UE would use those values for the primary cell.

[0118] To provide higher data rates, two or more carriers can be aggregated and transmitted to / from the same UE simultaneously using carrier aggregation (CA). The aggregated carriers in CA can be referred to as component carriers (CCs). When using CA, there are many serving cells for the UE, one for each CC. The CCs can have three configurations in the frequency domain.

[0119] FIG. 4BThree CA configurations with two CCs are shown. In an intra-band contiguous configuration 1002, the two CCs are aggregated in the same frequency band (band A) and are positioned directly adjacent to each other within the band. In an intra-band non-contiguous configuration 1004, the two CCs are aggregated in the same frequency band (band A) and are separated by a gap in the band. In an inter-band configuration 1006, the two CCs are in different frequency bands (band A and band B).

[0120] In an example, up to 32 CCs can be aggregated. The aggregated CCs can have the same or different bandwidth, subcarrier spacing, and / or duplexing scheme (TDD or FDD). A serving cell for a UE using CA can have a downlink CC. For FDD, one or more uplink CCs can optionally be configured for the serving cell. The ability to aggregate more downlink carriers than uplink carriers can be useful, for example, when a UE has more data traffic in the downlink than in the uplink.

[0121] When using CA, one of the aggregated cells for a UE can be referred to as a primary cell (PCell). The PCell can be the serving cell to which the UE initially connects at RRC connection setup, reestablishment, and / or handover. The PCell can provide NAS mobility information and security input to the UE. A UE can have different PCells. In the downlink, the carrier corresponding to the PCell can be referred to as the downlink primary CC (DL PCC). In the uplink, the carrier corresponding to the PCell can be referred to as the uplink primary CC (UL PCC). Other aggregated cells for a UE can be referred to as secondary cells (SCells). In an example, SCells can be configured after the PCell is configured for a UE. For example, SCells can be configured through an RRC connection reconfiguration procedure. In the downlink, the carrier corresponding to an SCell can be referred to as a downlink secondary CC (DL SCC). In the uplink, the carrier corresponding to an SCell can be referred to as an uplink secondary CC (UL SCC).

[0122] Configured SCells for a UE can be activated and deactivated based on, for example, traffic and channel conditions. Deactivation of an SCell can mean stopping PDCCH and PDSCH reception on the SCell, and stopping PUSCH, SRS, and CQI transmission on the SCell. Activation and deactivation of SCells can be indicated by RRC signaling. FIG. 10BThe MAC CE is used to activate and deactivate configured SCells. For example, the MAC CE can use a bitmap (e.g., one bit per SCell) to indicate which SCells for the UE (e.g., in a subset of configured SCells) are activated or deactivated. Configured SCells can be deactivated in response to the expiration of a SCell deactivation timer (e.g., one SCell deactivation timer per SCell).

[0123] Downlink control information for a cell (such as scheduling assignment and scheduling grant) can be transmitted on the cell corresponding to the assignment and grant, a process known as self-scheduling. A cell's DCI can be transmitted on another cell, a process known as cross-carrier scheduling. Uplink control information used for aggregation cells (e.g., HARQ acknowledgments and channel state feedback such as CQI, PMI, and / or RI) can be transmitted on the PCell's PUCCH. For a large number of aggregation downlink CCs, the PCell's PUCCH may become overloaded. Cells can be divided into multiple PUCCH groups.

[0124] FIG. 10B This illustrates an example of how aggregated cells can be configured into one or more PUCCH groups. PUCCH group 1010 and PUCCH group 1050 can each include one or more downlink CCs. FIG. 10B In the example, PUCCH group 1010 includes three downlink CCs: PCell 1011, SCell 1012, and SCell 1013. PUCCH group 1050 in this example includes three downlink CCs: PCell 1051, SCell 1052, and SCell 1053. One or more uplink CCs can be configured as PCell 1021, SCell 1022, and SCell 1023. One or more other uplink CCs can be configured as primary SCells (PSCell) 1061, SCell 1062, and SCell 1063. Uplink control information (UCI) related to the downlink CCs of PUCCH group 1010 (shown as UCI 1031, UCI 1032, and UCI 1033) can be transmitted in the uplink of PCell 1021. Uplink control information (UCI) related to the downlink CC of PUCCH group 1050 (shown as UCI 1071, UCI 1072, and UCI 1073) can be transmitted in the uplink of PSCell 1061. In the example, if FIG. 5AWithout the depicted aggregation of cells being divided into PUCCH groups 1010 and PUCCH groups 1050, a single uplink PCell transmits UCI related to the downlink CC, and the PCell can become overloaded. By dividing the transmission of UCI between PCell 1021 and PSCell 1061, overloading can be prevented.

[0125] A cell comprising a downlink carrier and an optional uplink carrier can be assigned a physical cell ID and a cell index. The physical cell ID or the cell index can identify the downlink carrier and / or the uplink carrier of the cell, e.g., depending on the context in which the physical cell ID is used. The physical cell ID can be determined using a synchronization signal transmitted on a downlink component carrier. The cell index can be determined using an RRC message. In this disclosure, the physical cell ID can be referred to as a carrier ID, and the cell index can be referred to as a carrier index. For example, when this disclosure refers to a first physical cell ID of a first downlink carrier, this disclosure can mean that the first physical cell ID is used for a cell comprising the first downlink carrier. The same / similar concept can apply to, e.g., carrier activation. When this disclosure indicates that a first carrier is activated, this specification can mean that a cell comprising the first carrier is activated.

[0126] In CA, the multi-carrier nature of the PHY can be exposed to the MAC. In an example, a HARQ entity can operate on a serving cell. Transport blocks can be generated according to assignments / grants per serving cell. Transport blocks and potential HARQ retransmissions of the transport blocks can be mapped to serving cells.

[0127] In downlink, a base station can transmit (e.g., unicast, multicast, and / or broadcast) one or more reference signals (RSs) to a UE (e.g., PSS, SSS, CSI-RS, DMRS, and / or PT-RS, as shown in FIG. 5B In uplink, a UE can transmit one or more RSs to a base station (e.g., DMRS, PT-RS, and / or SRS, as shown in FIG. 11A A PSS and an SSS can be transmitted by a base station and used by a UE to synchronize the UE to the base station. The PSS and the SSS can be provided in a synchronization signal (SS) / physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block including the PSS, the SSS, and the PBCH. A base station can periodically transmit a burst of SS / PBCH blocks.

[0128] FIG. 11A Examples of structures and locations of SS / PBCH blocks are shown. A burst of SS / PBCH blocks can include one or more SS / PBCH blocks (e.g., 4 SS / PBCH blocks, as shown in FIG. 11AA burst can be transmitted periodically (e.g., every 2 frames or 20 ms). A burst can be limited to a half frame (e.g., a first half frame with a duration of 5 ms). It should be understood that FIG. 11A are examples, and these parameters (number of SS / PBCH blocks per burst, periodicity of bursts, burst location within a frame) can be configured based on, for example: a carrier frequency of a cell in which the SS / PBCH blocks are transmitted; a numerology or subcarrier spacing of the cell; configuration by the network (e.g., using RRC signaling); or any other suitable factor. In an example, a UE can assume a subcarrier spacing of SS / PBCH blocks based on a carrier frequency being monitored, unless the radio network configures the UE to assume a different subcarrier spacing.

[0129] An SS / PBCH block can span one or more OFDM symbols in the time domain (e.g., 4 OFDM symbols, as shown in the example of FIG. 3A) and can span one or more subcarriers in the frequency domain (e.g., 240 contiguous subcarriers). The PSS, SSS, and PBCH can have a common center frequency. The PSS can be transmitted first and can span, for example, 1 OFDM symbol and 127 subcarriers. The SSS can be transmitted after the PSS (e.g., two symbols later) and can span 1 OFDM symbol and 127 subcarriers. The PBCH can be transmitted after the PSS (e.g., spanning the next 3 OFDM symbols) and can span 240 subcarriers. FIG. 11B

[0130] A UE can not know the location of an SS / PBCH block in the time and frequency domains (e.g., in the case that the UE is searching for a cell). To find and select a cell, the UE can monitor a carrier for a PSS. For example, the UE can monitor a frequency location within the carrier. If the PSS is not found after a certain duration (e.g., 20 ms), the UE can search for the PSS at a different frequency location within the carrier, as indicated by a synchronization raster. If the PSS is found at a certain location in the time and frequency domains, the UE can determine the location of the SSS and PBCH based on a known structure of the SS / PBCH block, respectively. The SS / PBCH block can be a cell-defining SS block (CD-SSB). In an example, a primary cell can be associated with a CD-SSB. The CD-SSB can be located on a synchronization raster. In an example, cell selection / searching and / or reselection can be based on a CD-SSB.

[0131] ​An SS / PBCH block can be used by a UE to determine one or more parameters of a cell. For example, a UE can determine a physical cell identifier (PCI) of a cell based on a sequence of a PSS and a SSS, respectively. A UE can determine a location of a frame boundary of a cell based on a location of an SS / PBCH block. For example, an SS / PBCH block can indicate that it has been transmitted according to a transmission pattern in which SS / PBCH blocks in the transmission pattern are a known distance from a frame boundary.

[0132] A PBCH can use QPSK modulation and can use forward error correction (FEC). The FEC can use polar coding. One or more symbols spanned by a PBCH can carry one or more DMRSs for demodulating the PBCH. A PBCH can include an indication of a current system frame number (SFN) of a cell and / or an SS / PBCH block timing index. These parameters can help a UE synchronize in time with a base station. A PBCH can include a master information block (MIB) for providing one or more parameters to a UE. The MIB can be used by a UE to locate remaining minimum system information (RMSI) associated with a cell. The RMSI can include a system information block type 1 (SIB1). The SIB1 can contain information needed by a UE to access a cell. A UE can use one or more parameters of the MIB to monitor a PDCCH that can be used to schedule a PDSCH. The PDSCH can include the SIB1. The SIB1 can be decoded using parameters provided in the MIB. A PBCH can indicate that the SIB1 is not present. Based on the PBCH indicating that the SIB1 is not present, a UE can point to a frequency. The UE can search for an SS / PBCH block at the frequency to which the UE points.

[0133] A UE can assume that one or more SS / PBCH blocks transmitted with a same SS / PBCH block index are quasi co-located (QCLed) (e.g., have a same / similar Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average gain, average delay, and / or spatial Rx parameter). A UE can not assume QCL for SS / PBCH block transmissions with different SS / PBCH block indices.

[0134] SS / PBCH blocks (e.g., those within a half frame) can be transmitted in spatial directions (e.g., using different beams spanning a coverage area of a cell). In an example, a first SS / PBCH block can be transmitted in a first spatial direction using a first beam and a second SS / PBCH block can be transmitted in a second spatial direction using a second beam.

[0135] In an example, a base station can transmit multiple SS / PBCH blocks within a frequency range of a carrier. In an example, a first PCI of a first SS / PBCH block of the multiple SS / PBCH blocks can be different from a second PCI of a second SS / PBCH block of the multiple SS / PBCH blocks. The PCIs of the SS / PBCH blocks transmitted in different frequency locations can be different or the same.

[0136] A CSI-RS can be transmitted by a base station and used by a UE to acquire channel state information (CSI). A base station can configure a UE with one or more CSI-RS for channel estimation or any other suitable purpose. A base station can configure a UE with one or more of the same / similar CSI-RS. A UE can measure the one or more CSI-RS. A UE can estimate a downlink channel state and / or generate a CSI report based on measurements of the one or more downlink CSI-RS. A UE can provide the CSI report to the base station. A base station can use feedback provided by a UE (e.g., estimated downlink channel state) to perform link adaptation.

[0137] A base station can semi-statically configure a UE with one or more CSI-RS resource sets. A CSI-RS resource can be associated with a location in time and frequency domain and a periodicity. A base station can selectively activate and / or deactivate a CSI-RS resource. A base station can indicate to a UE that a CSI-RS resource in a CSI-RS resource set is activated and / or deactivated.

[0138] A base station can configure a UE to report CSI measurements. A base station can configure a UE to provide a CSI report periodically, aperiodically, or semi-persistently. For periodic CSI reporting, a UE can be configured with a timing and / or periodicity of multiple CSI reports. For aperiodic CSI reporting, a base station can request a CSI report. For example, a base station can instruct a UE to measure a configured CSI-RS resource and provide a CSI report related to the measurements. For semi-persistent CSI reporting, a base station can configure a UE to periodically transmit and selectively activate or deactivate a periodic report. A base station can configure a UE with a CSI-RS resource set and a CSI report using RRC signaling.

[0139] A CSI-RS configuration can contain one or more parameters indicating, for example, up to 32 antenna ports. A UE can be configured to employ a same OFDM symbol for a downlink CSI-RS and a control resource set (CORESET) when the downlink CSI-RS and the CORESET are spatially QCLed and resource elements associated with the downlink CSI-RS are outside of physical resource blocks (PRBs) configured for the CORESET. A UE can be configured to employ a same OFDM symbol for a downlink CSI-RS and a SS / PBCH block when the downlink CSI-RS and the SS / PBCH block are spatially QCLed and resource elements associated with the downlink CSI-RS are outside of PRBs configured for the SS / PBCH block.

[0140] A downlink DMRS can be transmitted by a base station and used by a UE for channel estimation. For example, a downlink DMRS can be used for coherent demodulation of one or more downlink physical channels (e.g., PDSCH). An NR network can support one or more variable and / or configurable DMRS patterns for data demodulation. At least one downlink DMRS configuration can support a front-loaded DMRS pattern. A front-loaded DMRS can be mapped on one or more OFDM symbols (e.g., one or two adjacent OFDM symbols). A base station can semi-statically configure a UE with a number (e.g., a maximum number) of front-loaded DMRS symbols for a PDSCH. A DMRS configuration can support one or more DMRS ports. For example, for single-user MIMO, a DMRS configuration can support up to eight orthogonal downlink DMRS ports per UE. For multi-user MIMO, a DMRS configuration can support up to 4 orthogonal downlink DMRS ports per UE. A radio network can support (e.g., at least for CP-OFDM) a common DMRS structure for downlink and uplink, where a DMRS location, a DMRS pattern, and / or a scrambling sequence can be the same or different. A base station can transmit a downlink DMRS and a corresponding PDSCH using a same precoding matrix. A UE can use the one or more downlink DMRSs for coherent demodulation / channel estimation of the PDSCH.

[0141] In an example, a transmitter (e.g., a base station) can use a precoder matrix for a portion of a transmission bandwidth. For example, the transmitter can use a first precoder matrix for a first bandwidth and a second precoder matrix for a second bandwidth. The first precoder matrix and the second precoder matrix can be different based on the first bandwidth being different from the second bandwidth. A UE can assume a same precoding matrix is used across a set of PRBs. The set of PRBs can be denoted as a precoding resource block group (PRG).

[0142] A PDSCH can contain one or more layers. A UE can assume that at least one symbol with DMRS is present on a layer of the one or more layers of the PDSCH. A higher layer can configure up to 3 DMRSs for a PDSCH.

[0143] Downlink PT-RS can be transmitted by a base station and used by a UE for phase- noise compensation. Whether a downlink PT-RS is present or not can depend on RRC configuration. The presence and / or pattern of a downlink PT-RS can be configured on a UE-specific basis using a combination of RRC signaling and / or association with one or more parameters (e.g., modulation and coding scheme (MCS)) that can be indicated by DCI for other purposes. When configured, the dynamic presence of a downlink PT-RS can be associated with one or more DCI parameters including at least MCS. An NR network can support multiple PT-RS densities defined in time and / or frequency domain. When present, a frequency-domain density can be associated with at least one configuration of a scheduled bandwidth. A UE can employ a same precoding for a DMRS port and a PT-RS port. The number of PT-RS ports can be fewer than the number of DMRS ports in a scheduled resource. A downlink PT-RS can be confined in a scheduled time / frequency duration for a UE. A downlink PT-RS can be transmitted on a symbol to facilitate phase tracking at a receiver.

[0144] A UE can transmit an uplink DMRS to a base station for channel estimation. For example, a base station can use an uplink DMRS for consistent demodulation of one or more uplink physical channels. For example, a UE can transmit an uplink DMRS with a PUSCH and / or a PUCCH. An uplink DM-RS can span a similar frequency range as a frequency range associated with a corresponding physical channel. A base station can configure a UE with one or more uplink DMRS configurations. At least one DMRS configuration can support a front-loaded DMRS pattern. A front-loaded DMRS can be mapped on one or more OFDM symbols (e.g., one or two adjacent OFDM symbols). One or more uplink DMRSs can be configured to be transmitted at one or more symbols of a PUSCH and / or a PUCCH. A base station can semi-statically configure a UE with a number (e.g., a maximum number) of front-loaded DMRS symbols of a PUSCH and / or a PUCCH that the UE can use to schedule a single-symbol DMRS and / or a double-symbol DMRS. An NR network can support a common DMRS structure (e.g., for cyclic prefix orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (CP-OFDM)) for downlink and uplink, where a DMRS location, a DMRS pattern, and / or a scrambling sequence for a DMRS can be the same or different.

[0145] A PUSCH can contain one or more layers, and a UE can transmit at least one symbol with a DMRS present on a layer of the one or more layers of the PUSCH. In an example, a higher layer can configure up to three DMRSs for a PUSCH.

[0146] Uplink PT-RS (which can be used by a base station for phase tracking and / or phase noise compensation) can or can not be present depending on RRC configuration of the UE. The presence and / or pattern of uplink PT-RS can be configured on a UE- specific basis by a combination of RRC signaling and / or one or more parameters used for other purposes (e.g., modulation and coding scheme (MCS)) that can be indicated by DCI. When configured, dynamic presence of uplink PT-RS can be associated with one or more DCI parameters containing at least MCS. A radio network can support multiple uplink PT-RS densities defined in time / frequency domain. When present, a frequency domain density can be associated with at least one configuration of a scheduled bandwidth. A UE can employ a same precoding for DMRS ports and PT-RS ports. A number of PT-RS ports can be fewer than a number of DMRS ports in a scheduled resource. For example, uplink PT-RS can be confined in a scheduled time / frequency duration for the UE.

[0147] The UE can transmit SRS to the base station for channel state estimation to support uplink channel-dependent scheduling and / or link adaptation. The SRS transmitted by the UE allows the base station to estimate the uplink channel state at one or more frequencies. The scheduler at the base station can use the estimated uplink channel state to assign one or more resource blocks to uplink PUSCH transmissions from the UE. The base station can semi-statically configure the UE using one or more SRS resource sets. For each SRS resource set, the base station can configure the UE using one or more SRS resources. SRS resource set suitability can be configured by higher-layer (e.g., RRC) parameters. For example, when higher-layer parameters indicate beam management, SRS resources in one or more SRS resource sets (e.g., having the same / similar time-domain behavior, periodic, aperiodic, etc.) can be transmitted at certain times (e.g., simultaneously). The UE can transmit one or more SRS resources from the SRS resource set. The NR network can support aperiodic, periodic, and / or semi-persistent SRS transmissions. The UE can transmit SRS resources based on one or more trigger types, wherein the one or more trigger types may include higher-layer signaling (e.g., RRC) and / or one or more DCI formats. In the example, at least one DCI format may be used for the UE to select at least one configured SRS resource set from one or more configured SRS resource sets. SRS trigger type 0 may refer to SRS triggered based on higher-layer signaling. SRS trigger type 1 may refer to SRS triggered based on one or more DCI formats. In the example, when PUSCH and SRS are transmitted in the same time slot, the UE can be configured to transmit SRS after the transmission of PUSCH and the corresponding uplink DMRS.

[0148] The base station can semi-statically configure the UE using one or more SRS configuration parameters indicating at least one of the following: SRS resource configuration identifier; number of SRS ports; temporal behavior of SRS resource configuration (e.g., indication of periodic, semi-persistent, or aperiodic SRS); time slot, micro-time slot, and / or subframe level periodicity; offset of periodic and / or aperiodic SRS resources; number of OFDM symbols in SRS resources; initiation OFDM symbols for SRS resources; SRS bandwidth; frequency hopping bandwidth; cyclic shift; and / or SRS sequence ID.

[0149] Antenna ports are defined such that a channel through which one symbol on an antenna port is conveyed can be inferred from a channel through which another symbol on the same antenna port is conveyed. If a first symbol and a second symbol are transmitted on the same antenna port, a receiver can infer the channel used to convey the second symbol on the antenna port from the channel used to convey the first symbol on the antenna port (e.g., a fading gain, a multipath delay, and / or the like). A first antenna port and a second antenna port can be referred to as quasi co-located (QCLed) if one or more large scale properties of the channel through which a first symbol on the first antenna port is conveyed can be inferred from the channel through which a second symbol on the second antenna port is conveyed. The one or more large scale properties can include at least one of: a delay spread; a Doppler spread; a Doppler shift; an average gain; an average delay; and / or a spatial receive (Rx) parameter.

[0150] Channels using beamforming require beam management. Beam management can include beam measurement, beam selection, and beam indication. A beam can be associated with one or more reference signals. For example, a beam can be identified by one or more beamformed reference signals. A UE can perform downlink beam measurement based on a downlink reference signal (e.g., a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS)) and generate a beam measurement report. The UE can perform a downlink beam measurement procedure after establishing an RRC connection with a base station.

[0151] FIG. 11B An example of a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) mapped in time and frequency domains is shown. FIG. 11B A square shown in FIG. 1 can represent a resource block (RB) within a bandwidth of a cell. A base station can transmit one or more RRC messages containing CSI-RS resource configuration parameters indicating one or more CSI-RSs. One or more of the following parameters can be configured for a CSI-RS resource configuration by higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC and / or MAC signaling): a CSI-RS resource configuration identity, a number of CSI-RS ports, a CSI-RS configuration (e.g., symbol and resource element (RE) locations in a subframe), a CSI-RS subframe configuration (e.g., subframe locations, offset, and periodicity in a radio frame), a CSI-RS power parameter, a CSI-RS sequence parameter, a code division multiplexing (CDM) type parameter, a frequency density, a transmission comb, a quasi co-location (QCL) parameter (e.g., QCL- scramblingidentity, crs-portscount, mbsfn-subframeconfiglist, csi-rs-configZPid, qcl-csi-rs-configNZPid), and / or other radio resource parameters.

[0152] FIG. 11B The three beams shown can be configured for use in a UE-specific configuration. FIG. 11B The diagram shows three beams (beam #1, beam #2, and beam #3), with the possibility of configuring more or fewer beams. CSI-RS1101 can be assigned to beam #1, which can be transmitted on one or more subcarriers in the RB of the first symbol. CSI-RS1102 can be assigned to beam #2, which can be transmitted on one or more subcarriers in the RB of the second symbol. CSI-RS1103 can be assigned to beam #3, which can be transmitted on one or more subcarriers in the RB of the third symbol. By using frequency division multiplexing (FDM), the base station can use other subcarriers in the same RB (e.g., those not used to transmit CSI-RS 1101) to transmit another CSI-RS associated with a beam of another UE. By using time domain multiplexing (TDM), the beam for a UE can be configured such that the beam for the UE uses symbols from beams of other UEs.

[0153] CSI-RS, such as FIG. 12A Those shown (e.g., CSI-RS 1101, 1102, 1103) can be transmitted by the base station and used by the UE for one or more measurements. For example, the UE can measure the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) configured with CSI-RS resources. The base station can configure the UE using a reporting configuration, and the UE can report RSRP measurements to the network (e.g., via one or more base stations) based on the reporting configuration. In the example, the base station can determine one or more Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) states containing multiple reference signals based on the reported measurement results. In the example, the base station can indicate one or more TCI states to the UE (e.g., via RRC signaling, MAC CE, and / or DCI). The UE can receive downlink transmissions with a receive (Rx) beam determined based on the one or more TCI states. In the example, the UE may or may not have beam correspondence capability. If the UE has beam correspondence capability, the UE can determine the spatial domain filter for the transmit (Tx) beam based on the spatial domain filter corresponding to the Rx beam. If the UE does not have beam correspondence capability, the UE can perform an uplink beam selection procedure to determine the spatial domain filter for the Tx beam. The UE can perform the uplink beam selection procedure based on one or more Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) resources configured for the UE by the base station. The base station can select and indicate the UE's uplink beam based on measurements of one or more SRS resources transmitted by the UE.

[0154] In a beam management procedure, a UE can assess (e.g., measure) the channel quality of one or more beam pair links, including a beam pair link of a transmission beam transmitted by a base station and a reception beam received by the UE. Based on the assessment, the UE can transmit a beam measurement report indicating one or more beam pair quality parameters, including, for example, one or more beam identifications (e.g., beam indices, reference signal indices, etc.), RSRP, precoding matrix indicator (PMI), channel quality indicator (CQI), and / or rank indicator (RI).

[0155] FIG. 12B Three examples of downlink beam management procedures are shown: Pl, P2, and P3. Procedure Pl can enable UE measurements of transmission (Tx) beams of a transmission reception point (TRP) (or multiple TRPs), for example, to support selection of one or more base station Tx beams and / or UE Rx beams (shown as ellipses in the top and bottom rows of Pl, respectively). Beamforming at the TRP can include a Tx beam sweep for a set of beams (shown as ellipses rotating in a counterclockwise direction, indicated by dashed arrows, in the top row of Pl and P2). Beamforming at the UE can include an Rx beam sweep for a set of beams (shown as ellipses rotating in a clockwise direction, indicated by dashed arrows, in the bottom row of Pl and P3). Procedure P2 can be used to enable UE measurements of Tx beams of a TRP (shown as ellipses rotating in a counterclockwise direction, indicated by dashed arrows, in the top row of P2). The UE and / or base station can perform procedure P2 using a smaller set of beams than used in procedure Pl, or using narrower beams than used in procedure Pl. This can be referred to as beam refinement. The UE can perform procedure P3 for Rx beam determination by using the same Tx beams at the base station and sweeping Rx beams at the UE.

[0156] FIG. 13AExamples of three uplink beam management procedures are shown: U1, U2, and U3. Procedure U1 can be used to enable the base station to perform measurements on the UE’s Tx beams, e.g., to support selection of one or more UE Tx beams and / or base station Rx beams (shown as ellipses in the top and bottom rows of U1, respectively). Beamforming at the UE can include, e.g., a Tx beam sweep from a set of beams (shown as ellipses rotating in a clockwise direction indicated by dashed arrows in the bottom row of U1 and U3). Beamforming at the base station can include, e.g., an Rx beam sweep from a set of beams (shown as ellipses rotating in a counterclockwise direction indicated by dashed arrows in the top row of U1 and U2). When the UE uses a fixed Tx beam, procedure U2 can be used to enable the base station to adjust its Rx beam. The UE and / or base station can perform procedure U2 using a smaller set of beams than used in procedure P1, or using narrower beams than used in procedure P1. This can be referred to as beam refinement. The UE can perform procedure U3 to adjust its Tx beam when the base station uses a fixed Rx beam.

[0157] A UE can initiate a beam failure recovery (BFR) procedure based on detecting a beam failure. The UE can transmit a BFR request (e.g., a preamble, UCI, SR, MAC CE, etc.) based on initiation of the BFR procedure. The UE can detect a beam failure based on a determination that a quality of a beam pair link of an associated control channel is not satisfactory (e.g., has an error rate above an error rate threshold, has a received signal power below a received signal power threshold, expiration of a timer, etc.).

[0158] A UE can measure a quality of a beam pair link using one or more reference signals (RSs) including one or more SS / PBCH blocks, one or more CSI-RS resources, and / or one or more demodulation reference signals (DMRSs). The quality of the beam pair link can be based on one or more of a block error rate (BLER), an RSRP value, a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) value, a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) value, and / or a CSI value measured on a RS resource. A base station can indicate that a RS resource is quasi co-located (QCLed) with one or more DM-RS of a channel (e.g., a control channel, a shared data channel, etc.). The one or more DMRS of the RS resource and the channel can be QCLed when channel characteristics (e.g., Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread, spatial Rx parameters, fading, etc.) from transmissions to the UE via the RS resource are similar or the same as channel characteristics from transmissions to the UE via the channel.

[0159] A network (e.g., a gNB and / or a network’s ng-eNB) and / or a UE can initiate a random access procedure. A UE in an RRC_IDLE state and / or an RRC_INACTIVE state can initiate a random access procedure to request a connection setup to the network. A UE can initiate a random access procedure from an RRC_CONNECTED state. A UE can initiate a random access procedure to request uplink resources (e.g., for an uplink transmission of an SR when no PUCCH resources are available) and / or to acquire uplink timing (e.g., when an uplink synchronization status is not synchronized). A UE can initiate a random access procedure to request one or more system information blocks (SIBs) (e.g., other system information, like SIB2, SIB3, and / or the like). A UE can initiate a random access procedure for a beam failure recovery request. A network can initiate a random access procedure for a handover and / or for establishing a time alignment of an SCell addition.

[0160] FIG. 13A A four-step contention-based random access procedure is shown. Prior to initiating the procedure, a base station can transmit a configuration message 1310 to a UE. FIG. 13A The shown procedure includes the transmission of four messages: Msg 1 1311, Msg 2 1312, Msg 3 1313, and Msg 4 1314. Msg 1 1311 can comprise and / or be referred to as a preamble (or random access preamble). Msg 2 1312 can comprise and / or be referred to as a random access response (RAR).

[0161] The configuration message 1310 can be transmitted, for example, using one or more RRC messages. The one or more RRC messages can indicate one or more random access channel (RACH) parameters to the UE. The one or more RACH parameters can include at least one of: general parameters for one or more random access procedures (e.g., RACH-configGeneral); cell-specific parameters (e.g., RACH-ConfigCommon); and / or dedicated parameters (e.g., RACH-configDedicated). The one or more RRC messages can be broadcasted or multicast by the base station to one or more UEs. The one or more RRC messages can be UE-specific (e.g., a dedicated RRC message transmitted to a UE in an RRC_CONNECTED state and / or an RRC_INACTIVE state). The UE can determine time-frequency resources and / or an uplink transmission power for transmitting Msg 1 1311 and / or Msg 3 1313 based on the one or more RACH parameters. Based on the one or more RACH parameters, the UE can determine a reception timing and a downlink channel for receiving Msg 2 1312 and Msg 4 1314.

[0162] The one or more RACH parameters provided in configuration message 1310 may indicate one or more physical RACH (PRACH) timings available for transmitting Msg 11311. These one or more PRACH timings may be predefined. The one or more RACH parameters may indicate one or more available sets of one or more PRACH timings (e.g., prach-ConfigIndex). The one or more RACH parameters may indicate an association between (a) one or more PRACH timings and (b) one or more reference signals. The one or more RACH parameters may indicate an association between (a) one or more preambles and (b) one or more reference signals. The one or more reference signals may be SS / PBCH blocks and / or CSI-RS. For example, the one or more RACH parameters may indicate the number of SS / PBCH blocks mapped to PRACH timings and / or the number of preambles mapped to SS / PBCH blocks.

[0163] The one or more RACH parameters provided in configuration message 1310 can be used to determine the uplink transmission power of Msg 1 1311 and / or Msg 3 1313. For example, the one or more RACH parameters can indicate a reference power for preamble transmission (e.g., the received target power and / or the initial power of the preamble transmission). One or more power offsets indicated by the one or more RACH parameters may exist. For example, the one or more RACH parameters can indicate: power ramp step size; power offset between SSB and CSI-RS; power offset between transmissions of Msg 1 1311 and Msg 3 1313; and / or power offset values ​​between preamble groups. The one or more RACH parameters can indicate one or more thresholds upon which the UE can determine at least one reference signal (e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS) and / or uplink carrier (e.g., normal uplink (NUL) carrier and / or supplementary uplink (SUL) carrier).

[0164] Msg 1 1311 can include one or more preamble transmissions (e.g., a preamble transmission and one or more preamble retransmissions). An RRC message can be used to configure one or more preamble groups (e.g., group A and / or group B). A preamble group can contain one or more preambles. The UE can determine a preamble group based on a path loss measurement and / or a size of Msg 3 1313. The UE can measure an RSRP of one or more reference signals (e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS) and determine at least one reference signal with an RSRP above an RSRP threshold (e.g., rsrp-ThresholdSSB and / or rsrp-ThresholdCSI-RS). The UE can select at least one preamble associated with the one or more reference signals and / or a selected preamble group, for example, if an association between the one or more preambles and the at least one reference signal is configured by the RRC message.

[0165] The UE can determine a preamble based on the one or more RACH parameters provided in the configuration message 1310. For example, the UE can determine a preamble based on a path loss measurement, an RSRP measurement, and / or a size of Msg 3 1313. As another example, the one or more RACH parameters can indicate: a preamble format; a maximum number of preamble transmissions; and / or one or more thresholds for determining one or more preamble groups (e.g., group A and group B). The base station can use the one or more RACH parameters to configure an association between one or more preambles and one or more reference signals (e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS) for the UE. If the association is configured, the UE can determine a preamble included in Msg 1 1311 based on the association. Msg 1 1311 can be transmitted to the base station via one or more PRACH occasions. The UE can use one or more reference signals (e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS) for selecting a preamble and for determining a PRACH occasion. The one or more RACH parameters (e.g., ra-ssb-OccasionMaskIndex and / or ra-OccasionList) can indicate an association between a PRACH occasion and the one or more reference signals.

[0166] If no response is received after a preamble transmission, the UE can perform a preamble retransmission. The UE can increase the uplink transmission power for the preamble retransmission. The UE can select an initial preamble transmission power based on a path loss measurement value and / or a target received preamble power configured by the network. The UE can determine to retransmit the preamble and can ramp up the uplink transmission power. The UE can receive one or more RACH parameters (e.g., PREAMBLE_POWER_RAMPING_STEP) indicating a ramping step for the preamble retransmission. The ramping step can be an amount of incremental increase of the uplink transmission power for the retransmission. The UE can ramp up the uplink transmission power if the UE determines the same reference signal (e.g., SSB and / or CSI-RS) as the previous preamble transmission. The UE can count a number of preamble transmissions and / or retransmissions (e.g., PREAMBLE_TRANSMISSION_COUNTER). For example, if the number of preamble transmissions exceeds a threshold value (e.g., preambleTransMax) configured by the one or more RACH parameters, the UE can determine that the random access procedure is not successfully completed.

[0167] Msg 2 1312 received by the UE can include a RAR. In some scenarios, Msg 2 1312 can include multiple RARs corresponding to multiple UEs. Msg 2 1312 can be received after or in response to the transmission of Msg 1 1311. Msg 2 1312 can be scheduled on a DL-SCH and indicated on a PDCCH using a random access RNTI (RA-RNTI). Msg 2 1312 can indicate that Msg 1 1311 was received by the base station. Msg 2 1312 can include a time alignment command that can be used by the UE to adjust the transmission timing of the UE, a scheduling grant for transmission of Msg 3 1313, and / or a temporary cell RNTI (TC-RNTI). After transmitting a preamble, the UE can start a time window (e.g., ra-ResponseWindow) to monitor the PDCCH for Msg 2 1312. The UE can determine when to start the time window based on the PRACH occasion used by the UE to transmit the preamble. For example, the UE can start the time window one or more symbols after the last symbol of the preamble (e.g., at the first PDCCH occasion starting from the end of the preamble transmission). The one or more symbols can be determined based on a numerology. The PDCCH can be in a common search space (e.g., Type1-PDCCH common search space) configured by an RRC message. The UE can identify the RAR based on a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI). The RNTI can be used depending on one or more events that initiated the random access procedure. The UE can use a random access RNTI (RA-RNTI). The RA-RNTI can be associated with the PRACH occasion in which the UE transmitted the preamble. For example, the UE can determine the RA-RNTI based on: an OFDM symbol index; a slot index; a frequency domain index; and / or a UL carrier indicator of the PRACH occasion. An example of the RA-RNTI can be as follows: RA-RNTI = 1 + s_id + 14 × t_id + 14 × 80 × f_id + 14 × 80 × 8 × ul_carrier_id where s_id can be an index of the first OFDM symbol of the PRACH occasion (e.g., 0 ≤ s_id < 14), t_id can be an index of the first slot of the PRACH occasion in a system frame (e.g., 0 ≤ t_id < 80), f_id can be an index of the PRACH occasion in the frequency domain (e.g., 0 ≤ f_id < 8), and ul_carrier_id can be a UL carrier used for the preamble transmission (e.g., 0 for a NUL carrier and 1 for a SUL carrier).

[0168] The UE can transmit Msg 3 1313 in response to successfully receiving Msg 2 1312 (e.g., using the resources identified in Msg 2 1312). Msg 3 1313 can be used, for example, to FIG. 13B contention resolution in the contention-based random access procedure shown in FIG. 13. In some scenarios, multiple UEs can transmit the same preamble to the base station, and the base station can provide a RAR corresponding to the UEs. A collision can occur if the multiple UEs interpret the RAR as corresponding to themselves. Contention resolution (e.g., using Msg 3 1313 and Msg 4 1314) can be used to increase the likelihood that a UE does not use the identity of another UE by mistake. To perform contention resolution, the UE can include a device identifier in Msg 3 1313 (e.g., a TC-RNTI included in Msg 2 1312 and / or any other suitable identifier if a C-RNTI is assigned).

[0169] Msg 4 1314 can be received after or in response to the transmission of Msg 3 1313. If a C-RNTI is included in Msg 3 1313, the base station will address the UE on the PDCCH using the C-RNTI. If the UE’s unique C-RNTI is detected on the PDCCH, it is determined that the random access procedure is successfully completed. If a TC-RNTI is included in Msg 3 1313 (e.g., if the UE is in RRC IDLE state or is not otherwise connected to the base station), Msg 4 1314 will be received using the DL-SCH associated with the TC-RNTI. If the MAC PDU is successfully decoded and the MAC PDU contains a UE contention resolution identity MAC CE that matches or otherwise corresponds to the CCCH SDU sent (e.g., transmitted) in Msg 3 1313, the UE can determine that contention resolution is successful and / or the UE can determine that the random access procedure is successfully completed.

[0170] The UE can be configured with Supplemental Uplink (SUL) carriers and Normal Uplink (NUL) carriers. Initial access (e.g., random access procedure) can be supported on the uplink carriers. For example, the base station can configure two separate RACH configurations for the UE: one for the SUL carrier and another for the NUL carrier. To enable random access in a cell configured with an SUL carrier, the network can indicate which carrier (NUL or SUL) to use. For example, the UE can determine the SUL carrier if the measured quality of one or more reference signals is below a broadcast threshold. Uplink transmissions during the random access procedure (e.g., Msg 1 1311 and / or Msg 3 1313) can be preserved on the selected carrier. In one or more cases, the UE can switch uplink carriers during the random access procedure (e.g., between Msg 1 1311 and Msg 3 1313). For example, the UE can determine and / or switch uplink carriers for Msg 1 1311 and / or Msg 3 1313 based on channel clarity assessment (e.g., listen before speaking).

[0171] FIG. 13A This illustrates a two-step contention-free random access procedure. (Compared to...) FIG. 13B Similar to the four-step contention-based random access procedure shown, the base station can transmit configuration message 1320 to the UE before the procedure is initiated. Configuration message 1320 may be similar to configuration message 1310 in some respects. FIG. 13A The program shown involves the transmission of two messages: Msg 1 1321 and Msg 2 1322. Msg 1 1321 and Msg 2 1322 can be similar in some respects to... FIG. 13A The Msg 1 1311 and Msg2 1312 are shown. (As from...) FIG. 13B and FIG. 13B It will be understood that a contention-free random access procedure may not include messages such as Msg 3 1313 and / or Msg 4 1314.

[0172] It can be initiated for beam failure recovery, other SI requests, SCell addition and / or handover. FIG. 13B The contention-free random access procedure is illustrated. For example, the base station may indicate or assign a preamble to the UE for Msg 1 1321. The UE may receive the preamble indication (e.g., ra-PreambleIndex) from the base station via PDCCH and / or RRC.

[0173] After transmitting the preamble, the UE can start a time window (e.g., ra-Response Window) to monitor the PDCCH for the RAR. In the case of beam failure recovery request, the base station can configure the UE with a separate time window and / or a separate PDCCH in the search space indicated by the RRC message (e.g., recoverySearchSpaceId). The UE can monitor the PDCCH transmission addressed to the Cell RNTI (C-RNTI) on the search space. In FIG. 13C In the contention-free random access procedure shown, the UE can determine that the random access procedure is successfully completed after or in response to the transmission of Msg 1 1321 and the reception of the corresponding Msg 2 1322. For example, the UE can determine that the random access procedure is successfully completed if the PDCCH transmission is addressed to the C-RNTI. For example, the UE can determine that the random access procedure is successfully completed if the UE receives a RAR containing a preamble identifier corresponding to the preamble transmitted by the UE and / or the RAR contains a MAC subPDU with the preamble identifier. The UE can determine that the response is an indication of an acknowledgement of the SI request.

[0174] FIG. 13A Another two-step random access procedure is shown. Similar to the random access procedure shown in FIG. 13B and FIG. 13C The base station can transmit a configuration message 1330 to the UE prior to the initiation of the procedure. The configuration message 1330 can be similar in some aspects to the configuration message 1310 and / or the configuration message 1320. FIG. 13A The procedure shown contains the transmission of two messages: Msg A 1331 and Msg B 1332.

[0175] The Msg A 1331 can be transmitted by the UE in an uplink transmission. The Msg A 1331 can contain one or more transmissions of a preamble 1341 and / or one or more transmissions of a transport block 1342. The transport block 1342 can contain content similar to and / or equivalent to the content of the Msg 3 1313 shown. FIG. 13A The transport block 1342 can contain UCI (e.g., SR, HARQ ACK / NACK, etc.). The UE can receive the Msg B 1332 after or in response to the transmission of the Msg A 1331. The Msg B 1332 can contain content similar to and / or equivalent to the content of the Msg 2 1312 (e.g., RAR) and / or FIG. 13B and FIG. 13A the Msg 4 1314 shown. FIG. 13C

[0176] ​UE can initiate [activities] on licensed spectrum and / or unlicensed spectrum. FIG. 13A The two-step random access procedure is used in the UE. The UE may determine whether to initiate a two-step random access procedure based on one or more factors. The one or more factors may be: the radio access technology being used (e.g., LTE, NR, etc.); whether the UE has a valid TA; cell size; the UE's RRC status; the type of spectrum (e.g., licensed vs. unlicensed); and / or any other suitable factors.

[0177] The UE can determine the radio resources and / or uplink transmission power of the preamble 1341 and / or transport block 1342 included in Msg A 1331 based on the two-step RACH parameters included in configuration message 1330. The RACH parameters can indicate the modulation and coding scheme (MCS), time-frequency resources, and / or power control of the preamble 1341 and / or transport block 1342. The time-frequency resources (e.g., PRACH) for the transmission of the preamble 1341 and the time-frequency resources (e.g., PUSCH) for the transmission of the transport block 1342 can be multiplexed using FDM, TDM, and / or CDM. The RACH parameters enable the UE to determine the receive timing and downlink channel for monitoring and / or receiving Msg B 1332.

[0178] Transport block 1342 may contain data (e.g., delay-sensitive data), a UE identifier, security information, and / or device information (e.g., International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI)). The base station may transmit Msg B 1332 as a response to Msg A 1331. Msg B 1332 may contain at least one of the following: a preamble identifier; a timing advanced command; a power control command; uplink grant (e.g., radio resource allocation and / or MCS); a UE identifier for contention resolution; and / or an RNTI (e.g., a C-RNTI or a TC-RNTI). The UE can determine that the two-step random access procedure was successfully completed if: the preamble identifier in Msg B 1332 matches the preamble transmitted by the UE; and / or the UE identifier in Msg B 1332 matches the UE identifier in Msg A 1331 (e.g., transport block 1342).

[0179] The UE and the base station can exchange control signaling. The control signaling may be referred to as L1 / L2 control signaling and may originate from the PHY layer (e.g., Layer 1) and / or the MAC layer (e.g., Layer 2). The control signaling may include downlink control signaling transmitted from the base station to the UE and / or uplink control signaling transmitted from the UE to the base station.

[0180] Downlink control signaling can include: a downlink scheduling assignment; an uplink scheduling grant indicating uplink radio resources and / or a transport format; time slot format information; pre-emption indication; power control command; and / or any other suitable signaling. A UE can receive downlink control signaling in a payload transmitted by a base station on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). The payload transmitted on the PDCCH can be referred to as downlink control information (DCI). In some scenarios, the PDCCH can be a group common PDCCH (GC-PDCCH) common to a group of UEs.

[0181] A base station can attach one or more cyclic redundancy check (CRC) parity bits to a DCI in order to facilitate detection of transmission errors. When a DCI is intended for a UE (or a group of UEs), the base station can scramble the CRC parity bits with an identifier of the UE (or an identifier of the group of UEs). Scrambling the CRC parity bits with an identifier can include modulo-2 addition (or exclusive-OR operation) of the identifier value and the CRC parity bits. The identifier can include a 16-bit value of a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI).

[0182] DCIs can be used for different purposes. The purpose can be indicated by a type of RNTI used to scramble the CRC parity bits. For example, a DCI with CRC parity bits scrambled with a paging RNTI (P-RNTI) can indicate paging information and / or a system information change notification. The P-RNTI can be predefined as "FFFE" in hexadecimal. A DCI with CRC parity bits scrambled with a system information RNTI (SI-RNTI) can indicate a broadcast transmission of system information. The SI-RNTI can be predefined as "FFFF" in hexadecimal. A DCI with CRC parity bits scrambled with a random access RNTI (RA-RNTI) can indicate a random access response (RAR). A DCI with CRC parity bits scrambled with a cell RNTI (C-RNTI) can indicate a dynamically scheduled unicast transmission and / or a trigger of PDCCH-ordered random access. A DCI with CRC parity bits scrambled with a temporary cell RNTI (TC-RNTI) can indicate contention resolution (e.g., similar to a PDCCH order response). FIG. 14AMsg 3 1313 (e.g., Msg 3 of the Msg 3 1313 shown). Other RNTIs configured to the UE by the base station can include: configured scheduling RNTI (CS-RNTI), transmission power control PUCCH RNTI (TPC-PUCCH-RNTI), transmission power control PUSCH RNTI (TPC-PUSCH-RNTI), transmission power control SRS RNTI (TPC-SRS-RNTI), interruption RNTI (INT-RNTI), slot format indication RNTI (SFI-RNTI), semi-persistent CSI RNTI (SP-CSI-RNTI), modulation and coding scheme cell RNTI (MCS-C-RNTI), and / or the like.

[0183] Depending on the purpose and / or content of the DCI, the base station can transmit DCI having one or more DCI formats. For example, DCI format 0_0 can be used for scheduling of PUSCH in a cell. DCI format 0_0 can be a fallback DCI format (e.g., with a compact DCI payload). DCI format 0_1 can be used for scheduling of PUSCH in a cell (e.g., with a larger DCI payload than DCI format 0_0). DCI format 1_0 can be used for scheduling of PDSCH in a cell. DCI format 1_0 can be a fallback DCI format (e.g., with a compact DCI payload). DCI format 1_1 can be used for scheduling of PDSCH in a cell (e.g., with a larger DCI payload than DCI format 1_0). DCI format 2_0 can be used for providing slot format indication to a group of UEs. DCI format 2_1 can be used for informing a group of UEs of physical resource blocks and / or OFDM symbols where the UE can assume no transmission is expected to the UE. DCI format 2_2 can be used for transmission of a transmission power control (TPC) command for PUCCH or PUSCH. DCI format 2_3 can be used for transmission of a group of TPC commands for SRS transmission by one or more UEs. DCI formats for new functions can be defined in future releases. DCI formats can have different DCI sizes, or can share the same DCI size.

[0184] After scrambling the DCI with the RNTI, the base station can process the DCI with channel coding (e.g., polar coding), rate matching, scrambling, and / or QPSK modulation. The base station can map the coded and modulated DCI on resource elements used and / or configured for the PDCCH. Based on a payload size of the DCI and / or a coverage range of the base station, the base station can transmit the DCI via the PDCCH occupying a number of contiguous control channel elements (CCEs). The number of contiguous CCEs (referred to as an aggregation level) can be 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and / or any other suitable number. A CCE can contain a number of groups of resource elements (REGs) (e.g., 6). A REG can contain a resource block in an OFDM symbol. The mapping of the coded and modulated DCI on the resource elements can be based on a mapping of CCEs and REGs (e.g., CCE-to-REG mapping).

[0185] FIG. 14B An example of CORESET configuration of a bandwidth part is shown. The base station can transmit DCI via the PDCCH on one or more control resource sets (CORESETs). A CORESET can contain time-frequency resources in which a UE attempts to decode DCI using one or more search spaces. The base station can configure a CORESET in the time-frequency domain. In an example, a first CORESET 1401 and a second CORESET 1402 occur at a first symbol in a slot. The first CORESET 1401 overlaps in the frequency domain with the second CORESET 1402. A third CORESET 1403 occurs at a third symbol in the slot. A fourth CORESET 1404 occurs at a seventh symbol in the slot. A CORESET can have different numbers of resource blocks in the frequency domain. FIG. 15

[0186] FIG. 1A An example of CCE-to-REG mapping for DCI transmission on CORESET and PDCCH processing is shown. The CCE-to-REG mapping can be interleaved mapping (e.g., for the purpose of providing frequency diversity) or non-interleaved mapping (e.g., for the purpose of facilitating interference coordination and / or frequency-selective transmission of control channels). The base station can perform different or the same CCE-to-REG mapping for different CORESETs. A CORESET can be associated with a CCE-to-REG mapping by RRC configuration. A CORESET can be configured with an antenna port quasi-co-location (QCL) parameter. The antenna port QCL parameter can indicate QCL information for a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) used for PDCCH reception in the CORESET.

[0187] ​A base station can transmit to a UE an RRC message containing configuration parameters of one or more CORESETs and one or more search space sets. The configuration parameters can indicate an association between a search space set and a CORESET. A search space set can contain a set of PDCCH candidates formed by CCEs at a given aggregation level. The configuration parameters can indicate: a number of PDCCH candidates to be monitored per aggregation level; a PDCCH monitoring periodicity and a PDCCH monitoring pattern; one or more DCI formats to be monitored by the UE; and / or whether a search space set is a common search space set or a UE-specific search space set. A set of CCEs in a common search space set can be predefined and known to the UE. A set of CCEs in a UE-specific search space set can be configured based on an identity (e.g., C-RNTI) of the UE.

[0188] As shown in FIG. 1B A UE can determine time-frequency resources of a CORESET based on the RRC message. The UE can determine a CCE-to-REG mapping (e.g., interleaved or non-interleaved and / or mapping parameters) of the CORESET based on the configuration parameters of the CORESET. The UE can determine a number of search space sets configured on the CORESET (e.g., up to 10) based on the RRC message. The UE can monitor a set of PDCCH candidates according to the configuration parameters of the search space sets. The UE can monitor a set of PDCCH candidates in one or more CORESETs for detecting one or more DCIs. The monitoring can include decoding one or more PDCCH candidates in the set of PDCCH candidates according to the monitored DCI formats. The monitoring can include decoding DCI contents of one or more PDCCH candidates with possible (or configured) PDCCH locations, possible (or configured) PDCCH formats (e.g., a number of CCEs, a number of PDCCH candidates in a common search space, and / or a number of PDCCH candidates in a UE-specific search space), and possible (or configured) DCI formats. The decoding can be referred to as blind decoding. The UE can determine that a DCI is valid for the UE in response to a CRC check (e.g., a scrambled bit of CRC parity bits of a DCI matching an RNTI value). The UE can process information contained in the DCI (e.g., scheduling assignment, uplink grant, power control, slot format indication, downlink preemption, and / or the like).

[0189] A UE can transmit uplink control signaling (e.g., uplink control information (UCI)) to a base station. Uplink control signaling transmissions can contain a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement for a received DL-SCH transport block. The UE can transmit the HARQ acknowledgement after receiving the DL-SCH transport block. Uplink control signaling can contain channel state information (CSI) indicating a channel quality of a physical downlink channel. The UE can transmit the CSI to the base station. Based on the received CSI, the base station can determine transmission format parameters (e.g., containing a multiple antenna and beamforming scheme) for downlink transmissions. Uplink control signaling can contain a scheduling request (SR). The UE can transmit an SR indicating that uplink data is available for transmission to the base station. The UE can transmit UCI (e.g., HARQ acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK), CSI report, SR, etc.) via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The UE can transmit uplink control signaling via the PUCCH using one of several PUCCH formats.

[0190] There can be five PUCCH formats, and the UE can determine a PUCCH format based on a size of the UCI (e.g., a number of uplink symbols of the UCI transmission and a number of UCI bits). PUCCH format 0 can have a length of one or two OFDM symbols and can include two or fewer bits. The UE can use PUCCH format 0 to transmit UCI in a PUCCH resource if more than one or two symbols are transmitted and a number of HARQ-ACK information bits (HARQ-ACK / SR bits) with positive or negative SR is one or two. PUCCH format 1 can occupy a number between four and fourteen OFDM symbols and can include two or fewer bits. The UE can use PUCCH format 1 if four or more symbols are transmitted and the number of HARQ-ACK / SR bits is one or two. PUCCH format 2 can occupy one or two OFDM symbols and can include more than two bits. The UE can use PUCCH format 2 if more than one or two symbols are transmitted and the number of UCI bits is two or more. PUCCH format 3 can occupy a number between four and fourteen OFDM symbols and can include more than two bits. The UE can use PUCCH format 3 if four or more symbols are transmitted, the number of UCI bits is two or more, and the PUCCH resource does not include an orthogonal cover code. PUCCH format 4 can occupy a number between four and fourteen OFDM symbols and can include more than two bits. The UE can use PUCCH format 4 if four or more symbols are transmitted, the number of UCI bits is two or more, and the PUCCH resource includes an orthogonal cover code.

[0191] A base station can transmit configuration parameters of multiple PUCCH resource sets to a UE using, for example, RRC messages. The multiple PUCCH resource sets (e.g., up to four sets) can be configured on an uplink BWP of a cell. A PUCCH resource set can be configured with: a PUCCH resource set index; a plurality of PUCCH resources (e.g., pucch-Resourceid) with a PUCCH resource identified by a PUCCH resource identifier; and / or a number (e.g., a maximum number) of UCI information bits that a UE can transmit using one of the plurality of PUCCH resources in the PUCCH resource set. When configured with multiple PUCCH resource sets, a UE can select one of the multiple PUCCH resource sets based on a total bit length of UCI information bits (e.g., HARQ-ACK, SR, and / or CSI). If the total bit length of UCI information bits is two or less, the UE can select a first PUCCH resource set with a PUCCH resource set index equal to “0”. If the total bit length of UCI information bits is greater than two and less than or equal to a first configured value, the UE can select a second PUCCH resource set with a PUCCH resource set index equal to “1”. If the total bit length of UCI information bits is greater than the first configured value and less than or equal to a second configured value, the UE can select a third PUCCH resource set with a PUCCH resource set index equal to “2”. If the total bit length of UCI information bits is greater than the second configured value and less than or equal to a third value (e.g., 1406), the UE can select a fourth PUCCH resource set with a PUCCH resource set index equal to “3”.

[0192] After determining a PUCCH resource set from the multiple PUCCH resource sets, a UE can determine a PUCCH resource for UCI (HARQ-ACK, CSI, and / or SR) transmission from the PUCCH resource set. The UE can determine the PUCCH resource based on a PUCCH resource indicator in a DCI (e.g., with DCI format 1_0 or 1_1) received on a PDCCH. The three-bit PUCCH resource indicator in the DCI can indicate one of eight PUCCH resources in the PUCCH resource set. Based on the PUCCH resource indicator, the UE can transmit the UCI (HARQ-ACK, CSI, and / or SR) using the PUCCH resource indicated by the PUCCH resource indicator in the DCI.

[0193] FIG. 15 An example of a wireless device 1502 in communication with a base station 1504 in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure is shown. The wireless device 1502 and the base station 1504 can be part of a mobile communication network, such as the mobile communication network 100, shown. FIG. 15 The mobile communication network 100,FIG. 2A The mobile communication network 150 or any other communication network shown. FIG. 2B Only one wireless device 1502 and one base station 1504 are illustrated in FIG. 15, but it will be understood that a mobile communication network can include more than one UE and / or more than one base station, with the same or similar configuration as those shown. FIG. 3 The mobile communication network 150 or any other communication network shown.

[0194] The base station 1504 can connect the wireless device 1502 to a core network (not shown) through radio communication over the air interface (or radio interface) 1506. The communication direction from the base station 1504 to the wireless device 1502 over the air interface 1506 is known as the downlink, and the communication direction from the wireless device 1502 to the base station 1504 over the air interface is known as the uplink. Downlink transmissions can be separated from uplink transmissions using FDD, TDD, and / or some combination of the two duplexing techniques.

[0195] In the downlink, data to be sent from the base station 1504 to the wireless device 1502 can be provided to a processing system 1508 of the base station 1504. The data can be provided to the processing system 1508 by, for example, a core network. In the uplink, data to be sent from the wireless device 1502 to the base station 1504 can be provided to a processing system 1518 of the wireless device 1502. The processing system 1508 and the processing system 1518 can implement layer 3 and layer 2 OSI functionality to process the data for transmission. Layer 2 can include, for example, an SDAP layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, and a MAC layer with respect to FIG. 4A 、 FIG. 2B 、 FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B Layer 2. Layer 3 can include an RRC layer with respect to FIG. 3 .

[0196] After processing by the processing system 1508, the data to be sent to the wireless device 1502 can be provided to a transmission processing system 1510 of the base station 1504. Similarly, after processing by the processing system 1518, the data to be sent to the base station 1504 can be provided to a transmission processing system 1520 of the wireless device 1502. The transmission processing system 1510 and the transmission processing system 1520 can implement layer 1 OSI functionality. Layer 1 can include a PHY layer with respect to FIG. 4A 、 FIG. 2A 、 FIG. 2B and FIG. 3 Layer 1. For transmission processing, the PHY layer can perform, for example, forward error correction coding of transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping of transport channels to physical channels, modulation of physical channels, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) or multi-antenna processing, and so on.

[0197] At base station 1504, receiving processing system 1512 can receive uplink transmissions from wireless device 1502. At wireless device 1502, receiving processing system 1522 can receive downlink transmissions from base station 1504. Receiving processing systems 1512 and 1522 can implement Layer 1 OSI functions. Layer 1 may include information about... FIG. 4A , FIG. 15 , FIG. 15 and FIG. 16A The PHY layer. For receive processing, the PHY layer can perform tasks such as error detection, forward error correction decoding, deinterleaving, demapping of the transport channel to the physical channel, demodulation of the physical channel, MIMO or multi-antenna processing, etc.

[0198] like FIG. 16A As shown, wireless device 1502 and base station 1504 may include multiple antennas. These multiple antennas can be used to perform one or more MIMO or multi-antenna techniques, such as spatial multiplexing (e.g., single-user MIMO or multi-user MIMO), transmit / receive diversity, and / or beamforming. In other examples, wireless device 1502 and / or base station 1504 may have a single antenna.

[0199] Processing systems 1508 and 1518 may be associated with memory 1514 and memory 1524, respectively. Memory 1514 and memory 1524 (e.g., one or more non-transitory computer-readable media) may store computer program instructions or code that can be executed by processing systems 1508 and / or 1518 to perform one or more of the functions discussed in this application. Although FIG. 16B Although not shown, the transmission processing system 1510, transmission processing system 1520, receiving processing system 1512 and / or receiving processing system 1522 may be coupled to a memory (e.g., one or more non-transitory computer-readable media) storing computer program instructions or code that can be executed to perform one or more of their respective functions.

[0200] The processing system 1508 and / or the processing system 1518 can include one or more controllers and / or one or more processors. The one or more controllers and / or one or more processors can include, for example, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and / or other programmable logic device, discrete gate and / or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, on-board memories, or any combination thereof. The processing system 1508 and / or the processing system 1518 can perform at least one of signal coding / processing, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that can enable the wireless device 1502 and the base station 1504 to operate in a wireless environment.

[0201] The processing system 1508 and / or the processing system 1518 can be connected to one or more peripheral devices 1516 and one or more peripheral devices 1526, respectively. The one or more peripheral devices 1516 and the one or more peripheral devices 1526 can include software and / or hardware that provides features and / or functionality, such as a speaker, a microphone, a keyboard, a display, a touchpad, a power supply, a satellite transceiver, a universal serial bus (USB) port, a hands-free headset, a frequency modulation (FM) radio unit, a media player, an Internet browser, an electronic control unit (e.g., for a motor vehicle), and / or one or more sensors (e.g., an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a temperature sensor, a radar sensor, a lidar sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a light sensor, a camera, and / or the like). The processing system 1508 and / or the processing system 1518 can receive user input data from and / or provide user output data to the one or more peripheral devices 1516 and / or the one or more peripheral devices 1526. The processing system 1518 in the wireless device 1502 can receive power from a power supply and / or can be configured to distribute the power to the other components in the wireless device 1502. The power supply can include one or more power supplies such as a battery, a solar cell unit, a fuel cell unit, or any combination thereof. The processing system 1508 and / or the processing system 1518 can be connected to GPS chipset 1517 and GPS chipset 1527, respectively. The GPS chipset 1517 and the GPS chipset 1527 can be configured to provide geographic location information of the wireless device 1502 and the base station 1504, respectively.

[0202] FIG. 16CAn example structure for uplink transmission is shown. A baseband signal representing a physical uplink shared channel can perform one or more functions. The one or more functions can include at least one of: scrambling; modulating scrambled bits to generate complex-valued symbols; mapping complex-valued modulation symbols onto one or several transmission layers; transform precoding to generate complex-valued symbols; precoding of complex-valued symbols; mapping of precoded complex-valued symbols to resource elements; generating a complex-valued time-domain single-carrier frequency-division multiple access (SC-FDMA) or CP-OFDM signal for an antenna port; and so on. In an example, when transform precoding is enabled, a SC-FDMA signal for uplink transmission can be generated. In an example, when transform precoding is not enabled, a CP-OFDM signal for uplink transmission can be generated by FIG. 16D mapping of complex-valued modulation symbols onto one or several transmission layers; precoding of complex-valued modulation symbols for transmission on layers; mapping of precoded complex-valued modulation symbols to resource elements; generating a complex-valued time-domain OFDM signal for an antenna port; and so on. These functions are shown as examples, and other mechanisms are contemplated to be implemented in various embodiments.

[0203] FIG. 17A Another example structure for modulation and upconversion of a baseband signal to a carrier frequency is shown. The baseband signal can be a complex-valued OFDM baseband signal for an antenna port. Filtering can be employed prior to transmission.

[0204] FIG. 17B An example structure for downlink transmission is shown. A baseband signal representing a physical downlink channel can perform one or more functions. The one or more functions can include: scrambling of coded bits in a codeword to be transmitted on a physical channel; modulating scrambled bits to generate complex-valued modulation symbols; mapping complex-valued modulation symbols onto one or several transmission layers; precoding of complex-valued modulation symbols for transmission on layers on an antenna port; mapping of complex-valued modulation symbols to resource elements for an antenna port; generating a complex-valued time-domain OFDM signal for an antenna port; and so on. These functions are shown as examples, and other mechanisms are contemplated to be implemented in various embodiments.

[0205] FIG. 17A Another example structure for modulation and upconversion of a baseband signal to a carrier frequency is shown. The baseband signal can be a complex-valued OFDM baseband signal for an antenna port. Filtering can be employed prior to transmission.

[0206] A wireless device can receive, from a base station, one or more messages (e.g., RRC messages) containing configuration parameters of a plurality of cells (e.g., a primary cell, a secondary cell). The wireless device can communicate with at least one base station (e.g., two or more base stations in dual connectivity) via the plurality of cells. The one or more messages (e.g., as part of the configuration parameters) can contain parameters of physical layer, MAC layer, RLC layer, PCDP layer, SDAP layer, RRC layer for configuring the wireless device. For example, the configuration parameters can contain parameters for configuring physical layer and MAC layer channels, bearers, etc. For example, the configuration parameters can contain parameters indicating values of timers for physical layer, MAC layer, RLC layer, PCDP layer, SDAP layer, RRC layer, and / or communication channels.

[0207] A timer can start running once it is started and continue running until it is stopped or until it expires. A timer can be started if it is not running or restarted if it is running. A timer can be associated with a value (e.g., a timer can start or restart from a certain value or can start from zero and expire once it reaches the value). The duration of a timer can not be updated until the timer is stopped or expires (e.g., due to BWP switching). A timer can be used to measure a time period / window of a procedure. When the specification refers to embodiments and procedures related to one or more timers, it should be understood that there are multiple ways of implementing the one or more timers. For example, it should be understood that one or more of the multiple ways of implementing a timer can be used to measure a time period / window of a procedure. For example, a random access response window timer can be used to measure a time window for receiving a random access response. In an example, instead of the start and expiration of a random access response window timer, a time difference between two timestamps can be used. When a timer is restarted, the measurement process of the time window can be restarted. Other example implementations can be provided to restart the measurement of the time window.

[0208] FIG. 17B and FIG. 20A A packet flow employing multi-connectivity (e.g., dual connectivity, multi-connectivity, tight interworking, etc.) is shown. FIG. 20B is an example diagram of a protocol structure of a wireless device 170 (e.g., UE) utilizing CA and / or multi-connectivity, in accordance with an aspect of the embodiments. FIG. 18 is an example diagram of a protocol structure of a plurality of base stations utilizing CA and / or multi-connectivity, in accordance with an aspect of the embodiments. The plurality of base stations can include a master node MN 1730 (e.g., master node, master base station, master gNB, master eNB, etc.) and a secondary node SN 1750 (e.g., secondary node, secondary base station, secondary gNB, secondary eNB, etc.). The master node 1730 and the secondary node 1750 can work together to communicate with the wireless device 170.

[0209] When a wireless device 170 is configured for multi-connectivity (e.g., via an RRC reconfiguration message), a wireless device 170 that can support multiple reception / transmission functions in an RRC connected state can be configured to utilize radio resources provided by multiple schedulers of multiple base stations. The multiple base stations can be interconnected via a non-ideal or ideal backhaul (e.g., an Xn interface, an X2 interface, etc.). The base stations involved in multi-connectivity for a certain wireless device can perform at least one of two different roles: a base station can act as a master base station or a secondary base station. In multi-connectivity, a wireless device can be connected to one master base station and one or more secondary base stations. In an example, a master base station (e.g., MN 1730) can provide a wireless device (e.g., wireless device 170) with a master cell group (MCG) that includes a master cell and / or one or more secondary cells. A secondary base station (e.g., SN 1750) can provide a wireless device (e.g., wireless device 170) with a secondary cell group (SCG) that includes a primary secondary cell (PSCell) and / or one or more secondary cells.

[0210] In multi-connectivity, the radio protocol architecture employed by a bearer can depend on how the bearer is setup. In an example, three different types of bearer setup options can be supported: MCG bearers, SCG bearers, and / or split bearers. A wireless device can receive / transmit packets of an MCG bearer via one or more cells of an MCG, and / or can receive / transmit packets of an SCG bearer via one or more cells of an SCG. Multi-connectivity can also be described as having at least one bearer that is configured to use radio resources provided by a secondary base station. Multi-connectivity can or can not be configured / implemented in some example embodiments.

[0211] In an example, a wireless device (e.g., wireless device 170) can: transmit and / or receive packets of an MCG bearer via an SDAP layer (e.g., SDAP 1710), a PDCP layer (e.g., NR PDCP 1711), an RLC layer (e.g., MN RLC 1714), and a MAC layer (e.g., MN MAC 1718); transmit and / or receive packets of a split bearer via an SDAP layer (e.g., SDAP 1710), a PDCP layer (e.g., NR PDCP 1712), one of a primary or secondary RLC layer (e.g., MN RLC 1715, SN RLC 1716), and one of a primary or secondary MAC layer (e.g., MN MAC 1718, SN MAC 1719); and / or transmit and / or receive packets of an SCG bearer via an SDAP layer (e.g., SDAP 1710), a PDCP layer (e.g., NR PDCP 1713), an RLC layer (e.g., SN RLC 1717), and a MAC layer (e.g., MN MAC 1719).

[0212] In an example, a master base station (e.g., MN 1730) and / or a secondary base station (e.g., SN 1750) can: transmit / receive packets for MCG bearers via a master or secondary node SDAP layer (e.g., SDAP 1720, SDAP 1740), a master or secondary node PDCP layer (e.g., NR PDCP 1721, NR PDCP 1742), a master node RLC layer (e.g., MN RLC 1724, MN RLC 1725), and a master node MAC layer (e.g., MN MAC 1728); transmit / receive packets for SCG bearers via a master or secondary node SDAP layer (e.g., SDAP 1720, SDAP 1740), a master or secondary node PDCP layer (e.g., NR PDCP 1722, NR PDCP 1743), a secondary node RLC layer (e.g., SN RLC 1746, SN RLC 1747), and a secondary node MAC layer (e.g., SN MAC 1748); transmit / receive packets for split bearers via a master or secondary node SDAP layer (e.g., SDAP 1720, SDAP 1740), a master or secondary node PDCP layer (e.g., NR PDCP 1723, NR PDCP 1741), a master or secondary node RLC layer (e.g., MN RLC 1726, SN RLC 1744, SN RLC 1745, MN RLC 1727), and a master or secondary node MAC layer (e.g., MN MAC 1728, SN MAC 1748).

[0213] In multi-connectivity, a wireless device can be configured with one MAC entity for a primary base station (e.g., MN MAC 1718) and other MAC entities for secondary base stations (e.g., SN MAC 1719). In multi-connectivity, the configured set of serving cells for a wireless device can include two subsets: a MCG including serving cells of a primary base station, and a SCG including serving cells of secondary base stations. For the SCG, one or more of the following configurations can apply: at least one cell of the SCG has a configured UL CC, and at least one cell of the SCG, referred to as a primary secondary cell (PSCell, PCell of the SCG, or sometimes referred to as PCell), is configured with PUCCH resources; there can be at least one SCG bearer or one split bearer when the SCG is configured; upon detecting a physical layer problem or a random access problem on the PSCell, or after a number of NR RLC retransmissions associated with the SCG has been reached, or upon detecting an access problem on the PSCell during a SCG addition or a SCG change: an RRC connection re-establishment procedure can not be triggered, UL transmissions to cells of the SCG can be stopped, the primary base station can be informed by the wireless device of a SCG failure type, for split bearers, DL data transfer on the primary base station can be maintained; NR RLC Acknowledged Mode (AM) bearers can be configured for split bearers; a PCell and / or a PSCell can or can not be de-activated; a SCG change procedure (e.g., using security key change and RACH procedure) can be used to change the PSCell; and / or a change of bearer type between a split bearer and a SCG bearer, or a simultaneous configuration of a SCG and a split bearer, can or can not be supported.

[0214] With respect to interactions between a primary base station and a secondary base station for multi-connectivity, one or more of the following can apply: the primary base station and / or the secondary base station can maintain RRM measurement configuration for the wireless device; the primary base station can decide to request the secondary base station to provide additional resources (e.g., serving cells) for the wireless device (e.g., based on received measurement reports, traffic conditions, and / or bearer types); upon receiving the request from the primary base station, the secondary base station can create / modify a container that can result in configuring additional serving cells for the wireless device (or determine that the secondary base station has no resources available to do so); for UE capability coordination, the primary base station can provide (partial) AS configuration and UE capabilities to the secondary base station; the primary base station and the secondary base station can exchange information about UE configuration by employing RRC containers (inter-node messages) carried via Xn messages; the secondary base station can initiate reconfiguration of the secondary base station’s existing serving cells (e.g., towards PUCCH of the secondary base station); the secondary base station can decide which cell is the PSCell within the SCG; the primary base station can change or not change the content of the RRC configuration provided by the secondary base station; in the case of SCG addition and / or SCG SCell addition, the primary base station can provide recent (or latest) measurement results for one or more SCG cells; the primary base station and the secondary base station can receive information of SFN and / or subframe offset of each other from OAM and / or via the Xn interface (e.g., for the purpose of DRX alignment and / or identification of measurement gaps). In an example, when a new SCG SCell is added, dedicated RRC signaling can be used to send system information required for the CA cell, except for the SFN obtained from the MIB of the PSCell of the SCG.

[0215] One or more applications in the present specification can include at least one of the following: advanced media services; high data rate low latency (HDRLL) services; virtual reality (VR) services; augmented reality services; extended reality (XR) services; haptic / multimodal communication services; streaming services (e.g., video, audio); multimedia telephony services of IMS (MTSI); multimedia broadcast and multicast services (MBMS); multicast broadcast services (MBS); and the like.

[0216] Extended reality (XR) can refer to all real-virtual combinations of environments and human-machine interactions generated by computer technology and wearable devices. XR can be a general term for different types of reality.

[0217] Virtual reality (VR) can be a rendered version of the delivered visual and audio scene. The rendering can be designed to simulate the visual and aural sensory stimuli of the real world as naturally as possible as the observer or user moves within the limits of the application-defined bounds. Virtual reality can often, but not necessarily, require the user to wear a head-mounted display (HMD) that completely replaces the user's field of view with simulated visual components and earphones to provide accompanying audio to the user. Some form of head and motion tracking of the user in VR can often also be required to allow the simulated visual and audio components to be updated so as to ensure that objects and sound sources remain consistent with the user's movements from the user's perspective.

[0218] Augmented reality (AR) can be the artificial generation of objects or content that is provided to the user in addition to or overlaid on their current environment. Such additional information or content can often be visual and / or audible information and its observation of its current environment can be direct, without intermediate sensing, processing, and rendering, or indirect, where its perception of its environment can be relayed via sensors and can be augmented or processed.

[0219] Mixed reality (MR) can be an advanced form of AR in which some virtual elements can be inserted into a physical scene to provide the illusion that these elements are part of the real scene.

[0220] Other terms used in the context of XR can be immersion (i.e., the feeling of being surrounded by a virtual environment) and presence (i.e., providing the feeling of being physically and spatially in a virtual environment). Presence can provide meaningful minimum performance requirements for different technologies such as tracking, latency, persistence, resolution, and optics.

[0221] Field of view can be the angle of the visual field expressed in degrees measured from the focal point.

[0222] In an example, media and XR technology can employ different types of media, e.g., I, P, and B frames. I-frames (intra-coded pictures) can be complete images, such as JPG or BMP image files. P-frames (predicted pictures) can keep track of changes from the previous frame. For example, in a scene where a car moves across a fixed background, only the movement of the car needs to be encoded. The encoder does not need to store the unchanging background pixels in the P-frame, saving space. P-frames are also known as delta-frames. B-frames (bidirectional predicted pictures) can employ a technique that saves space by specifying its content using the difference between the current frame and both the previous and the next frame.

[0223] Some applications (e.g., XR and media (XRM) services) PDUs can have dependencies on each other. PDUs (e.g., I-frames) that other PDUs (e.g., P-frames, B-frames) depend on can be expected to be more important and can be transmitted first. However, in some applications (e.g., XR and media (XRM) services), P-frames and B-frames can also be important because I-frames build fluent video and the loss of those P-frames and B-frames causes QoE jitter that is no less than abandoning the entire service. In some other applications (e.g., XRM services), P-frames and B-frames can be used to enhance high definition, e.g., from 720p to 1080p. When network resources are not available to transmit all service data, dropping those P-frames and B-frames can be important to keep the service meaningful.

[0224] A PDU set can contain one or more PDUs that carry a payload of an information unit generated at an application level (e.g., a frame or a video of an XR and media service). In some embodiments, all PDUs in a PDU set can be needed by an application layer to use the corresponding information unit. In other embodiments, the application layer can still recover part or all of the information unit when some PDUs are lost. A PDU set can have several types (e.g., Type A and Type B). Type A and Type B can have different importance or priority. In an example, a Type A PDU set can contain one or more I-frames that have importance or priority, and a Type B PDU set can contain one or more P / B-frames that do not have importance or priority. In an example, a Type A PDU set can contain one or more I-frames, and a Type B PDU set can contain one or more P / B-frames. A Type A PDU set and a Type B PDU set can have the same importance or priority. In an example, a PDU set can contain an indication of an ending PDU of the PDU set. The ending PDU can be the same as the last PDU of a data burst, or can be the last PDU of a particular PDU set, such as PDU Set 1 or PDU Set 2.

[0225] In an example, multi-modal data can be employed to describe input data from different kinds of devices / sensors or output data to different kinds of destinations (e.g., one or more UEs) required for the same task or application. Multi-modal data can consist of more than one single-modal data, and there can be strong dependencies between each single-modal data. A single-modal data can be considered as a type of data.

[0226] A data burst can contain a set of multiple PDUs generated and sent by an application in a short period of time. A data burst is / contains a set of PDUs generated and sent by an application in a short period of time, e.g., a few seconds, a few minutes, or a few hours. FIG. 18 and FIG. 3The data burst contains one or more PDU sets as illustrated in the middle. The data burst contains a data burst end indication. The data burst period for XR can contain at least one of the following: 66.66 milliseconds, 33.33 milliseconds, 22.22 milliseconds, 16.66 milliseconds, 16.67 milliseconds, 13.88 milliseconds, 11.11 milliseconds, and 8.33 milliseconds, and so on.

[0227] In an example, a data burst can contain a plurality of PDUs associated with one or more PDU sets. The data burst can contain a set of PDUs generated / received / transmitted consecutively, without a time gap (e.g., a time gap longer than a certain period) between any two consecutive PDUs in the set of PDUs. After a data burst of one or more PDU sets is generated / received / transmitted, a network node (e.g., a core network node, a base station, a gNB-CU, a gNB-DU, a wireless device, and so on) can not generate / receive / transmit a PDU in the one or more PDU sets for a certain time interval (e.g., a time interval longer than a certain period) or for a period longer than the time interval. In an example, in response to determining an end of a data burst of one or more PDU sets, the network node can determine / expect and / or can be confident that the network node will not generate / receive / transmit a PDU in the one or more PDU sets.

[0228] In both uplink and downlink, XR awareness helps optimize base station radio resource scheduling and can rely at least on the concepts of PDU sets and data bursts. A data burst can contain a plurality of PDUs belonging to one or more PDU sets.

[0229] To efficiently handle PDUs in both UL and DL, the following information can be useful. Semi-static information provided by the core network contains at least one of the following: PDU set delay budget (PSDB); PDU set error rate (PSER); traffic parameters (e.g., periodicity); jitter information (e.g., range); and so on. Dynamic information can contain PDUs belonging to PDU sets (this includes means to determine at least PDU set boundaries) and PDUs belonging to data bursts.

[0230] As FIG. 18The illustrated example implementation shows how an Application Data Unit (ADU) / PDU set is delivered from a sender to a receiver. The ADU / PDU set may contain, for example, image files, video frames, text files, etc. For example, an ADU may contain data units generated by one or more protocols (e.g., RTP, DASH, TCP, UDP, etc.). The ADU / PDU set may be generated and / or created by a first instance of a particular application, used and / or enjoyed by a second instance of the application, or processed by the application's application server. An intermediate layer may be responsible for encapsulating and / or formatting the ADU / PDU set for delivery from the sender to the receiver. For example, the intermediate layer may provide functionality for one or more protocols (e.g., IP, etc.). After formatting the ADU / PDU set into one or more packets based on one or more protocols, the intermediate layer may forward said one or more packets to the lower layer. The lower layer may provide functionality, for example, to forward one or more packets from one node / device to another node / device via a specific interface. The second instance of the application may be located at another node / device. An ADU can be described as a PDU set. An ADU is interchangeable with a PDU set.

[0231] In such FIG. 18 In the depicted example, the upper layer (e.g., an application) in the UE can generate one or more Application Data Units (ADUs) / PDU sets. One or more ADUs can contain ADU 1 and / or ADU 2 (or PDU set 1 and / or PDU set 2). The upper layer in the UE can deliver ADU 1 / PDU set 1 and / or ADU 2 / PDU set 2 to the UE's middle layer. For the delivered ADU 1 / PDU set 1 and / or ADU 2 / PDU set 2, the UE's middle layer can process the one or more ADUs / PDU sets based on one or more protocols and can encapsulate / split the one or more ADUs / PDU sets into one or more packets. For example, one or more packets can contain packet 1 and / or packet 2. For example, if using the IP protocol, ADU 1 / PDU set 1 and / or ADU 2 / PDU set 2 can be processed into one or more IP packets. Each IP packet can contain at least a portion of at least one of the one or more ADUs. For example, packet 1 can contain at least a portion of ADU 1 / PDU set 1. For example, package 2 may contain at least a portion of ADU 2 / PDU set 2.

[0232] The intermediate layer can deliver one or more generated packets to the lower layer. The lower layer can be the Access Layer (AS), which is responsible for transmitting data between the UE and the NG-RAN. For example, the AS's SDAP entity can receive packet 1 as SDU 1 from the intermediate layer. For example, the SDAP entity can receive packet 2 as SDU 2 from the intermediate layer. The UE's AS can process and transmit SDU 1 and SDU 2. For example, the UE's AS can transmit SDU 1 and SDU 2 to the NG-RAN's AS layer. For example, the UE's AS layer's RLC entity can generate one or more PDUs from SDU 1 and SDU 2. For example, based on the amount of radio resources allocated by the NG-RAN, the AS's RLC layer can segment SDU 1 into PDU 1 and PDU 2, and segment SDU 2 into PDU 3 and PDU 4. The AS's MAC entity can receive one or more PDUs from the RLC entity. The MAC entity can transmit the received one or more PDUs to the NG-RAN.

[0233] Each layer has different functions, as mentioned above. FIG. 18 The functions described herein. The data constituting ADU 1 / PDU set 1 can be partitioned, subdivided, compressed, encrypted, reordered, multiplexed, encoded, etc. After ADU 1 / PDU set 1 and / or ADU 2 / PDU set 2 pass through these layers, the final result (e.g., one or more PDUs) can be suitable for transmission. However, the PDUs may be undecipherable (literally) for the applications associated with ADU 1 / PDU set 1 and / or ADU 2 / PDU set 2. After transmission (described in more detail below), the process can be reversed, and ADU 1 / PDU set 1 and / or ADU 2 / PDU set 2 can be on the other side (e.g., FIG. 18 The data is rebuilt at the application server in the application, making it usable by the application.

[0234] In such FIG. 19In the depicted example, the NG-RAN MAC entity can receive one or more PDUs sent by the UE. The received PDUs can be reassembled into one or more SDUs. For example, using received PDU 1 and PDU 2, the NG-RAN AS can reassemble SDU 1. For example, using received PDU 3 and PDU 4, the NG-RAN AS can reassemble SDU 2. Packet 1 of SDU 1 and Packet 2 of SDU 2 can be delivered from the NG-RAN to the core network node (e.g., UPF). The core network node can send Packet 1 and Packet 2 via the Internet to a receiver (e.g., an application server associated with ADU 1 / PDU set 1 and / or ADU 2 / PDU set 2). After receiving Packet 1 and Packet 2, the application server's intermediate layer can recover ADU 1 / PDU set 1 and ADU 2 / PDU set 2 and deliver them to the upper layer. The upper layer can perform application-specific processing on the received ADU 1 / PDU set 1 and ADU 2 / PDU set 2.

[0235] The differentiating characteristics of one or more protocol entities and / or one or more layers for one or more types of ADU / PDU sets in an application may be agnostic. For example, the AS may not consider the different characteristics of different applications. For example, the AS may not consider the differences and / or similarities and / or relationships between one or more ADU / PDU sets in an application. For example, data units in the lower layer (e.g., FIG. 19 Packet 1, SDU 1, PDU 2) can be associated with a specific application's set of ADUs / PDUs (e.g., FIG. 19 A portion of the ADU 1 / PDU set 1 is associated with the data unit. However, within the lower layers, the data unit may not be identifiable as being associated with a specific application data unit or even a specific application. At the lower layers, the data unit may simply be a series of ones and zeros, encapsulated for delivery. This application-agnostic approach (e.g., the ADU / PDU set agnostic approach) can help support independent enhancements to one or more layers and / or one or more entities. For example, by not binding the AS's operations to a particular application feature, the AS can evolve without changing the behavior of one or more applications. Due to this application-agnostic approach, the AS can support the introduction of new, later-developed applications. However, as new advanced use cases emerge and application QoS requirements become more stringent to enhance user experience, the application-agnostic ADU processing performed by the AS may not support efficient use of radio and network resources, as will be discussed in more detail below.

[0236] For example, FIG. 19 An example of an advanced application can be shown. FIG. 20AIt can be shown how to represent video (e.g., a moving sequence) input pictures. For example, in FIG. 20B the input pictures can show a rectangular object not moving, while a triangular object can move from the right to the left of the screen. Based on this moving sequence, an encoder of a high-level application can generate one or more output data. A first output data (output data 1, type A) can contain information describing details of a first input picture (input picture 1 at T = t1). A second output data (output data 2, type B) can contain information describing differences between the first input picture and a second input picture (input picture 2 at T = t2). For example, the second output data can contain information of the triangular object moving from right to left. Compared to sending the second input picture itself, sending information of changes in the picture can reduce the amount of data that needs to be transmitted. Likewise, a third output data (output data 3, type B) can contain information of changes between the second input picture and a third input picture (input picture 3 at T = t3).

[0237] In an example, a sender of a video can transmit one or more output data to a receiver. For example, one or more of the output data in FIG. 20A may be transmitted. The receiver can receive one or more of the data transmitted by the sender, and / or the receiver can not receive one or more of the data transmitted by the sender. For example, the receiver can receive the second output data, the third output data, and the fourth output data. For example, the receiver can not receive the first output data. Because the second output data includes information of changes between the first input picture and the second picture, in order to recover the second picture from the second output data, the receiver can need the first input picture. If the first output data containing the first input picture is not received, the receiver can not be able to recover the second input picture from the received second output data. Likewise, if the receiver does not have information of the second input picture, the receiver can not be able to recover the third input picture from the third output data. The availability of one or more of the output data (e.g., the second output data, the third output data, the fourth output data) can depend on the availability of one or more of the output data (e.g., the first output data).

[0238] A data burst can contain a set of multiple PDUs generated and transmitted by an application in a short period of time. A data burst is / contains one or more sets of PDUs as shown in FIG. 20B and FIG. 20B A data burst contains a data burst end indication. A data burst period of XR can contain at least one of the following: 66.66 milliseconds, 33.33 milliseconds, 22.22 milliseconds, 16.66 milliseconds, 16.67 milliseconds, 13.88 milliseconds, 11.11 milliseconds, and 8.33 milliseconds, and so on.

[0239] FIG. 21An example of a data burst 1 and a data burst 2 is shown. The data burst 1 is / contains PDU set 1, PDU set 2, and PDU set 3. The data burst 2 is / contains PDU set 4, PDU set 5, and PDU set 6. The data burst period of the data burst 1 is 16.67 milliseconds. The data burst period of the data burst 2 is 16.67 milliseconds. The data burst 1 contains a data burst end indication. The data burst 2 contains a data burst end indication. Each PDU set (i.e., PDU set 1 or PDU set 2 or PDU set 3) of the data burst 1 can contain an indication of the end PDU of the PDU set.

[0240] FIG. 21 An example of how a data burst and a data burst end indication are transmitted to a base station is shown. The data burst is / contains PDU set 1, PDU set 2, and PDU set 3. The data burst contains a data burst end indication. In an example, a user plane function (UPF) can receive the data burst from an application server (AS). The UPF can determine the end of the data burst based on an implementation specific mechanism or based on an explicit indication from the AS. The UPF can provide the data burst end indication in the general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP) user plane (GTP-U) header of the last PDU (of PDU set 3) of the data burst, as shown in FIG. 19 When the base station receives the data burst end indication in the GTP-U header, the base station understands that the PDU is the last PDU (of PDU set 3) of the data burst. The base station can trigger a power saving procedure for the wireless device.

[0241] FIG. 22A The example depicted in FIG. 1 illustrates how data generated by an application is delivered from a sender to a receiver. The data unit generated by the application can be an application data unit (ADU). The ADU can contain, for example, a picture file, a video frame, a text file, and / or the like. The ADU can be generated and / or created, for example, by a first instance of a particular application, used and / or enjoyed by a second instance of the application, or processed by an application server of the application. To reliably deliver the ADU and / or efficiently process the ADU, the ADU can be divided into one or more smaller units. For example, the one or more smaller units can be one or more protocol data units (PDUs). For a first ADU, one or more first PDUs (e.g., PDU 1, PDU 2) can be a first PDU set (e.g., PDU set 1). For a second ADU, one or more second PDUs (e.g., PDU 3, PDU 4) can be a second PDU set (e.g., PDU set 2).

[0242] In an example, an application can deliver one or more first PDUs and / or one or more second PDUs to a SDAP / PDCP entity (e.g., a SDAP entity, a PDCP entity, and / or both a SDAP entity and a PDCP entity). A first PDU (e.g., PDU 1) can be delivered from the application to the SDAP / PDCP entity. In the SDAP / PDCP entity, the first PDU can be a first SDAP SDU, a first SDAP PDU, a first PDCP SDU, and / or a first PDCP PDU. A second PDU (e.g., PDU 2) can be delivered from the application to the SDAP / PDCP entity. In the SDAP / PDCP entity, the second PDU can be a second SDAP SDU, a second SDAP PDU, a second PDCP SDU, and / or a second PDCP PDU. Similarly, PDU 3 can be a third PDCP PDU (e.g., PDCP PDU 3) and / or PDU 4 can be a fourth PDCP PDU (e.g., PDCP PDU 4).

[0243] In an example, one or more PDCP PDUs (e.g., PDCP PDUs 1, 2, 3, 4) can be delivered from the SDAP / PDCP entity to an RLC entity. The RLC layer can provide functionality to forward one or more packets from one node to another node using a MAC entity and / or a PHY entity, e.g., over a particular interface.

[0244] For example, as depicted in FIG. 22B In an example, an application in a transmitter can generate one or more PDU sets. For example, the one or more PDU sets include a first PDU set and / or a second PDU set. The application in the transmitter can deliver the one or more PDU sets to a SDAP / PDCP entity of the transmitter. The SDAP / PDCP entity can classify one or more PDUs in the one or more PDU sets, can apply header compression to the one or more PDUs to reduce a size of a header of the one or more PDUs, can apply encryption to the one or more PDUs to provide security, and / or can generate one or more PDCP PDUs.

[0245] In an example, one or more PDCP PDUs generated by the RLC entity of the transmitter can be delivered to a MAC entity of the transmitter. The MAC entity of the transmitter can transmit the one or more RLC PDUs to a MAC entity of the receiver. The MAC entity of the receiver can deliver the one or more RLC PDUs to a RLC entity of the receiver. For example, the RLC entity of the receiver can receive one or more RLC PDUs (e.g., RLC PDU 1, 2, 3, 4). The RLC entity of the receiver can recover one or more RLC SDUs (e.g., PDCP PDUs) using the one or more RLC PDUs. The RLC entity can deliver the one or more recovered PDCP PDUs to a PDCP entity of the receiver. The PDCP entity of the receiver can process the one or more received PDCP PDUs, and / or can recover one or more PDUs from the one or more PDCP PDUs. To recover a PDCP SDU (or RLC SDU) from a PDCP PDU (or RLC PDU), it can be extracting a PDCP PDU from a PDCP PDU, reassembling a PDCP PDU from a PDCP SDU.

[0246] In an example, one or more PDCP PDUs generated by the RLC entity of the transmitter can be delivered to a MAC entity of the transmitter. The MAC entity of the transmitter can transmit the one or more RLC PDUs to a MAC entity of the receiver. The MAC entity of the receiver can deliver the one or more RLC PDUs to a RLC entity of the receiver. For example, the RLC entity of the receiver can receive one or more RLC PDUs (e.g., RLC PDU 1, 2, 3, 4). The RLC entity of the receiver can recover one or more RLC SDUs (e.g., PDCP PDUs) using the one or more RLC PDUs. The RLC entity can deliver the one or more recovered PDCP PDUs to a PDCP entity of the receiver. The PDCP entity of the receiver can process the one or more received PDCP PDUs, and / or can recover one or more PDUs from the one or more PDCP PDUs. To recover a PDCP SDU (or RLC SDU) from a PDCP PDU (or RLC PDU), it can be extracting a PDCP PDU from a PDCP PDU, reassembling a PDCP PDU from a PDCP SDU.

[0247] For example, as depicted in FIG. 22, a set of PDUs can have several types (e.g., Type A and Type B as described in FIG. 22C Type A and Type B can have different importance or priority. There can be four alternatives depending on how the set of PDUs is mapped to QoS flows in NAS and how QoS flows are mapped to DRBs in AS. FIG. 22D A one-to-one mapping between the set of PDU types (e.g., Type A and Type B) in NAS and QoS flows and a one-to-one mapping between QoS flows and DRBs in AS is shown. From the perspective of the layer 2 structure, this alternative can require as many DRBs as the set of PDU types. FIG. 23A one-to-one mapping between PDU set types (e.g., Type A and Type B) in NAS and QoS flows is shown, as well as a possible multiplexing of QoS flows in one DRB in AS. From a layer 2 structure perspective, this alternative can give the same QoS to each QoS flow multiplexed in a DRB.

[0248] FIG. 24 A possible multiplexing of PDU set types (e.g., A-type and B-type) in one QoS flow in NAS and a one-to-one mapping between QoS flows and DRBs in AS is shown. From a layer 2 structure perspective, this alternative can give one QoS to each QoS flow / DRB. FIG. 23 A possible multiplexing of PDU set types in one QoS flow in NAS and a de-multiplexing of PDU set types in one QoS flow on multiple DRBs in AS is shown. From a layer 2 structure perspective, a de-multiplexing of PDU set types from one QoS flow to multiple DRBs can be needed.

[0249] FIG. 24 A split architecture of a base station is shown. A base station (BS) can be split into a base station central unit (BS-CU) and one or more base station distributed units (BS-DU). The BS-CU can be split into a base station central unit control plane (BS-CU-CP) and one or more base station central unit user planes (BS-CU-UP), which can be connected by an El interface. An Fl-C interface can connect the BS-DU and the BS-CU-CP. An Fl-U interface can connect the BS-DU and the BS-CU-UP. A wireless device can be served by the split architecture.

[0250] FIG. 20B An example is shown in which a service of an application A (e.g., video, audio, XR, VR, AR) is provided to a wireless device via a base station (BS). As shown, FIG. 26 the BS can be split into a BS-CU and one or more BS-DU. The application A can generate and send a data burst. The data burst contains one or more PDU sets, e.g., PDU set 1 and / or PDU set 2. PDU set 1 can be A-type (e.g., I-frame). PDU set 2 can be B-type (e.g., B / P-frame). The availability of PDU set 2 (B-type, e.g., B / P-frame) can depend on the availability of PDU set 1 (A-type). PDU set 1 and / or PDU set 2 can be mapped to the same QoS flow or different QoS flows. PDU set 1 and / or PDU set 2 can be mapped to the same DRB or different DRBs. One DRB can have one or more radio link control (RLC) channels and / or logical channels. The wireless device can receive the data burst containing PDU set 1 and / or PDU set 2.

[0251] In the prior art, as shown in FIG. 27 and FIG. 27 , a UPF can provide a data burst end indication in a GTP-U header of a last PDU of a last PDU set of a data burst to a BS. The last PDU set can be the last PDU set to be completed for a particular data burst transmission, which in some cases can be PDU set 2, while in other cases it can be PDU set 1. When the BS receives the data burst end indication in the GTP-U header, the BS can understand that a particular PDU is the last PDU of the data burst. The BS can use the data burst end indication to decide when to trigger a power saving mode of the wireless device (e.g., terminate a DRX active time of the wireless device). However, similarly, if the data burst end indication is included in a header of PDCP or SDAP or RLC, the MAC entity of the base station cannot interpret the indication. The MAC entity of the base station cannot understand that the current PDU is the end of the data burst. Therefore, the MAC entity of the base station cannot trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device, i.e., it is not possible to terminate the DRX active time of the wireless device. The wireless device can waste power because it stays in the active state for too long. The user experience can be degraded for the wireless device. The wireless device operating in the active mode unnecessarily can also generate unnecessary signaling.

[0252] As shown in example embodiments of FIG. 28 and FIG. 29 , a BS-CU can receive one or more packets of a wireless device from a core network node (e.g., a UPF), the one or more packets including a first indication of an end of a data burst including one or more PDU sets. The BS-CU can transmit a user data frame of the wireless device to a BS-DU, where the user data frame includes: one or more packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) PDUs associated with the data burst; and a second indication of the end of the data burst. The BS-DU can determine the end of the one or more PDCP PDUs and / or the end of the data burst based on the second indication received in the user data frame. Based on the determination, the BS-DU can trigger a power saving mode of the wireless device. The above embodiments can improve user experience and save power of the wireless device.

[0253] As shown in example embodiments of FIG. 30 / FIG. 19 / FIG. 25 / FIG. 25In an example embodiment shown in the figure, the BS-CU can receive one or more packets of a wireless device from a core network node (e.g., UPF), the one or more packets including a first indication of an end of a data burst including one or more PDU sets. The BS-CU can transmit a first user data frame of the wireless device to the BS-DU1, wherein the first user data frame includes: a first one or more packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) PDUs associated with the data burst; a second indication of the end of the data burst. The BS-DU1 can determine the end of the first one or more PDCP PDUs and / or the end of the data burst based on the second indication received in the first user data frame. Based on the determination, the BS-DU 1 can trigger a power saving mode of the wireless device. The BS-CU can transmit a second user data frame of the wireless device to the BS-DU2, wherein the second user data frame includes: a second one or more PDCP PDUs associated with the data burst; a third indication of the end of the data burst. The BS-DU2 can determine the end of the second one or more PDCP PDUs and / or the end of the data burst based on the third indication received in the second user data frame. Based on the determination, the BS-DU 2 can trigger a power saving mode of the wireless device. The above embodiments can improve user experience and save power of the wireless device.

[0254] In this specification, the term AF (application function) can be explained as an AS (application server) that can host and / or run one or more applications. A wireless device (e.g., UE) can receive services of the one or more applications. The one or more applications can include at least one of: advanced media services; high data rate low latency (HDRLL) services; virtual reality (VR) services; augmented reality services; extended reality (XR) services; haptics / multimodal communication services; streaming media services (e.g., video, audio); multimedia telephony services of IMS (MTSI) services; multimedia broadcast and multicast services (MBMS); multicast broadcast services (MBS); and / or the like.

[0255] In this specification, the term base station can include at least one of: NG-RAN, gNB, eNB, ng-eNB, NodeB, primary base station, secondary base station, access node, access point, N3IWF, relay node, and / or the like.

[0256] In this specification, the term core network node can be explained as a core network device that can include at least one of: AMF, SMF, NSSF, UPF, NRF, UDM, PCF, SoR-AF, AF, DDNMF, MB-SMF, MB-UPF, and / or the like.

[0257] In this specification, the term PDU set can be interpreted as one or more PDUs carrying a payload of one information unit generated at the application level (e.g., a frame or a video of XR and media services). In some embodiments, the application layer can need all PDUs in a PDU set to use the corresponding information unit. In other embodiments, the application layer can be able to recover a partial information unit when some PDUs are lost. A PDU set can have several types (e.g., Type A and Type B as described in FIG. 22 and above description). Type A and Type B can have different importance or priority. In an example, a Type A PDU set can contain one or more I-frames with importance or priority, and a Type B PDU set can contain one or more P / B-frames without importance or priority. In an example, a Type A PDU set can contain one or more I-frames, and a Type B PDU set can contain one or more P / B-frames. Type A PDU set and Type B PDU set can have the same importance or priority. FIG. 25

[0258] In this specification, the term ADU can be interpreted as one information unit. An information unit can be exchanged between one or more hosts serving an application. In an example, an application (e.g., an Internet browser, an instant messaging application, a video player application, etc.) can be running on a first host (e.g., a smartphone, a computer, an application server, etc.), and the same application can be running on a second host (e.g., another smartphone, a computer, an application server, etc.). The application on the first host can generate one or more information units (e.g., a picture file, a text message, etc.). Each of the one or more information units can contain one or more PDUs, and / or one or more PDUs for an information unit can be a PDU set.

[0259] In this specification, the terms PDU set, sub-QoS flow, QoS flow, and ADU can be interchangeable. That is, a PDU set can be interpreted as a sub-QoS flow, a QoS flow, or an ADU.

[0260] ​In this specification, parameters of a PDU set / sub-QoS flow / QoS flow or ADU can contain at least one of the following: QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set delay budget, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set error rate, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set arrival period and start time, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set arrival jitter, indication of QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set discard allowed, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / maximum allowed delay difference of group of associated flows / bearer, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set identifier, number of PDUs in QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set, last QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU indication in QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set bit size, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set delay information, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set importance, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set generic identifier / correlation information (e.g., generic identifier, group identifier, correlation identifier, picture group (GOP) identifier); PDU set comprehensive processing information, PDU set sequence number, indication of end PDU of PDU set, PDU sequence number within PDU set, PDU set size in bytes, PDU set importance (PSI), and the like.

[0261] In an example, the generic identifier / correlation information, e.g., (e.g., generic identifier, group identifier, correlation identifier, picture group (GOP) identifier) can indicate the relationship of QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set of certain applications, e.g., XR and media (XRM) service. The QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set (e.g., I frame) of an application, e.g., XR and media (XRM) can have dependency with another QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set (e.g., P frame, B frame) of the application, e.g., XR and media (XRM) service. In some applications, I frame can be expected to be more important than P frame and B frame. In other applications, P frame and B frame can also be as important as I frame. In some other applications, P frame and B frame can be used to enhance high definition, e.g., from 720p to 1080p.

[0262] In an example, a generic identifier / correlation information, e.g., (e.g., generic identifier, group identifier, correlation identifier, group of pictures (GOP) identifier) can also be applied to multi-modal data, which can describe input data from different kinds of devices / sensors or output data to different kinds of destinations (e.g., one or more UEs) required for the same task or application. Multi-modal data can consist of more than one single-modal data, and there can be strong dependency between each single-modal data. A single-modal data can be considered as a type of data, which can be transmitted by a QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set. The generic identifier / correlation information, e.g., (e.g., generic identifier, group identifier, correlation identifier, group of pictures (GOP) identifier) can indicate the relationship of one or more single-modal data.

[0263] FIG. 25 Example embodiments of the disclosure are depicted. FIG. 18 A core network node (e.g., UPF), a base station (BS), a wireless device (e.g., UE) in FIG. 25 This can improve system performance and / or user experience of application A of the wireless device. The wireless device can save power by, for example, receiving instructions from the network in time and accurately to enter the power saving mode.

[0264] In an example, as shown in FIG. 25 The BS can provide one or more services to the wireless device. For example, one of the one or more services can be application A, which includes one or more PDU sets, e.g., PDU set 1 and PDU set 2. As described in FIG. 22, four alternatives of PDU set to QoS flow to DRB mapping can be applied to the mapping of PDU set 1 and PDU set 2 to DRB. The DRB can include one or more RLC channels and / or one or more logical channels (LCHs). The relationship between PDU set and packet can be referred to in the above description in FIG. 25

[0265] In an example, as shown in FIG. 25 The BS can receive one or more packets of the wireless device from a core network node (e.g., UPF). The one or more packets can include a first indication of an end of a data burst. The data burst includes one or more PDU sets.

[0266] ​In an example, the one or more PDU sets can be, for example, PDU set 1 and PDU set 2. PDU set 1 can be type A (e.g., I frame). PDU set 2 can be type B (e.g., B / P frame). The availability of PDU set 2 (type B, e.g., B / P frame) depends on the availability of PDU set 1 (type A). PDU set 1 and PDU set 2 can map to the same QoS flow or different QoS flows. PDU set 1 and PDU set 2 can map to the same DRB or different DRBs. One DRB can have one or more radio link control (RLC) channels and / or logical channels. PDU set 1 can map to a RLC channel or logical channel. PDU set 2 can map to a RLC channel or logical channel (LCH).

[0267] In an example, the one or more PDU sets can include at least one of the following: a QoS flow; a sub-QoS flow; a PDU set; a PDU session; an ADU; and / or the like.

[0268] In an example, the one or more PDU sets can include at least one of the following: a QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set delay budget, a QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set error rate, a QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set arrival period and start time, a QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set arrival jitter, an indication of QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set discard allowed, a maximum allowed delay difference / bearer of a group of QoS flows / sub-QoS flows / associated flows, a QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set identifier, a number of PDUs in a QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set, a last QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU indication in a QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set, a QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set bit size, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set delay information, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set importance, a QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set generic identifier / correlation information (e.g., generic identifier, group identifier, correlation identifier, group of pictures (GOP) identifier); PDU set comprehensive processing information, a PDU set sequence number, an indication of an ending PDU of a PDU set, a PDU sequence number within a PDU set, a PDU set size in bytes, a PDU set importance (PSI); and / or the like.

[0269] In an example, the one or more packets can include one or more GTP PDUs and / or one or more GTP PDU headers. In an example, the first indication can be located in the one or more GTP PDU headers.

[0270] In an example, the first indication indicates an end of the data burst containing the one or more PDU sets (e.g., PDU set 1 and PDU set 2).

[0271] In an example, the one or more packets can contain a second indication, where the second indication indicates an end PDU of a PDU set of the one or more PDU sets. The second indication can be for PDU discard purposes of the wireless device or the base station. In an example, a header of the one or more packets can contain the second indication.

[0272] In an example, as shown in FIG. 26 , the BS can generate user data based on the one or more packets received from the UPF. The user data can contain one or more PDCP PDUs. The one or more PDCP PDUs can be associated with a data burst containing one or more PDU sets. The one or more PDCP PDUs can be associated with a first DRB of the wireless device. The one or more PDU sets can be mapped to the first DRB. In an example, the one or more PDCP PDUs can contain one or more SDAP PDUs.

[0273] In an example, the BS-CU can determine an end of the data burst based on a first end indication in a GTP header of a last PDU of the data burst.

[0274] Based on the determining and the generated user data, a PDCP entity of the BS can send a user data frame of the wireless device to a lower layer of the BS (e.g., a RLC entity of the BS, a MAC entity of the BS) based on the determining and the generated user data. In an example, the user data frame can contain the one or more PDCP PDUs associated with the data burst. In an example, the user data frame can contain a third indication of an end of the data burst. The lower layer of the BS can contain the RLC entity of the BS, the MAC entity of the BS.

[0275] In an example, the third indication indicates that the one or more PDCP PDUs are last PDCP PDUs of the data burst. In an example, the third indication indicates that the data burst ends. In an example, the third indication can contain a one-bit field.

[0276] In an example, the user data frame can contain a fourth indication. The fourth indication indicates an end PDU of a PDU set of the one or more PDU sets. The fourth indication can be for PDU discard purposes of the wireless device or the base station.

[0277] In an example, a PDCP PDU of the one or more PDCP PDUs can contain the fourth indication. In an example, a header of the one or more PDCP PDUs can contain the fourth indication.

[0278] In an example, as shown in FIG. 27As shown, the BS's RLC entity can determine the end of one or more PDCP PDUs and / or the end of a data burst based on a third indication received in a user data frame. In the example, the BS's RLC entity can send a fifth indication to the BS's MAC entity indicating the end of the data burst. The BS's RLC entity can send one or more RLC PDUs of the data burst to the BS's MAC entity. The fifth indication may include a one-bit field. Based on the fifth indication, the BS's MAC entity can understand that this is the end of the data burst and determine to trigger a power-saving mode for the wireless device. In the example, the BS's MAC entity can send a Media Access Control Element (MAC CE) to the wireless device, the MAC CE indicating the triggering of a power-saving mode for the wireless device, for example, terminating DRX activity time. The wireless device can determine to terminate DRX activity time and enable power-saving mode based on the received MAC CE. This can improve the system performance and / or user experience of application A on the wireless device. The wireless device can save power.

[0279] In the example, such as FIG. 26 As shown, a third instruction can be sent from the BS's PDCP entity and / or BS's SDAP entity to the BS's MAC entity. Based on the third instruction, the BS's MAC entity can understand that this is the end of a data burst and can determine to trigger the power-saving mode of the wireless device. In the example, the BS's MAC entity can send a Media Access Control Element (MAC CE) to the wireless device, which instructs to trigger the wireless device's power-saving mode, for example, to terminate DRX activity. The wireless device can determine to terminate DRX activity and enable power-saving mode based on the received MAC CE. This can improve the system performance and / or user experience of application A on the wireless device. The wireless device can save power.

[0280] FIG. 26 and FIG. 27 Example embodiments of this disclosure are depicted. FIG. 26 The diagram illustrates core network nodes (e.g., UPF), base stations, and wireless devices. FIG. 18 The base station (UE) may include a base station central unit (BS-CU) and a base station distributed unit (BS-DU). FIG. 26 The user data frame is shown. This can improve the system performance and / or user experience of application A for wireless devices. Wireless devices can save power, for example, by receiving timely and accurate instructions from the network to enter a power-saving mode.

[0281] In the example, such as FIG. 26As shown, BS-CU and BS-DU can provide one or more services for a wireless device. For example, one of the services could be application A, containing one or more PDU sets, such as PDU set 1 and PDU set 2. As illustrated in Figure 22, four alternative schemes for mapping PDU sets to QoS flows to DRBs can be applied to the mapping of PDU set 1 and PDU set 2 to the DRB. The DRB can contain one or more RLC channels and / or one or more logical channels (LCHs). The relationship between PDU sets and packets can be defined in... FIG. 27 As described above.

[0282] In the example, such as FIG. 27 As shown, the BS-CU can receive one or more packets from a radio device from a core network node (e.g., a UPF). One or more packets may contain a first indication of the end of a data burst. A data burst contains one or more sets of PDUs.

[0283] In the example, one or more PDU sets can be, for example, PDU set 1 and PDU set 2. PDU set 1 can be type A (e.g., I-frame). PDU set 2 can be type B (e.g., B / P frame). The availability of PDU set 2 (type B, e.g., B / P frame) depends on the availability of PDU set 1 (type A). PDU set 1 and PDU set 2 can be mapped to the same QoS stream or different QoS streams. PDU set 1 and PDU set 2 can be mapped to the same DRB or different DRBs. A DRB can have one or more Radio Link Control (RLC) channels and / or logical channels. PDU set 1 can be mapped to an RLC channel or a logical channel. PDU set 2 can be mapped to an RLC channel or a logical channel (LCH).

[0284] In the example, one or more PDU sets may contain at least one of the following: QoS flow; sub-QoS flow; PDU set; PDU session; ADU, etc.

[0285] In an example, the one or more PDU sets can contain at least one of the following: QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set delay budget, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set error rate, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set arrival period and start time, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set arrival jitter, indication of QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set discard allowed, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / maximum allowed delay difference of group of associated flows / bearer, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set identifier, number of PDUs in QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set, last QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU indication in QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set bit size, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set delay information, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set importance, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set generic identifier / correlation information (e.g., generic identifier, group identifier, correlation identifier, group of pictures (GOP) identifier); PDU set comprehensive processing information, PDU set sequence number, indication of end PDU of PDU set, PDU sequence number within PDU set, PDU set size in bytes, PDU set importance (PSI), and / or the like.

[0286] In an example, the one or more packets can contain one or more GTP PDUs and / or one or more GTP PDU headers. In an example, the first indication can be located in one or more GTP PDU headers.

[0287] In an example, the first indication indicates an end of a data burst containing one or more PDU sets (e.g., PDU set 1 and PDU set 2).

[0288] In an example, the one or more packets can contain a second indication, where the second indication indicates an end PDU of a PDU set of the one or more PDU sets. The second indication can be used for PDU discard purposes of the wireless device or the base station. In an example, a header of the one or more packets can contain the second indication.

[0289] In an example, as shown in FIG. 26 , the BS-CU can generate user data based on the one or more packets received from the UPF. The user data can contain one or more PDCP PDUs. The one or more PDCP PDUs can be associated with a data burst containing one or more PDU sets. The one or more PDCP PDUs can be associated with a first DRB of the wireless device. The one or more PDU sets can be mapped to the first DRB.

[0290] In an example, the BS-CU can determine the end of the data burst based on the first end indication in the GTP header of the last PDU of the data burst.

[0291] Based on the determination and the generated user data, the BS-CU can transmit a user data frame of the wireless device to the BS-DU. In an example, the user data frame can contain one or more PDCP PDUs associated with the data burst. In an example, the user data frame can contain a third indication of the end of the data burst.

[0292] In an example, the third indication indicates that the one or more PDCP PDUs are the last PDCP PDU of the data burst. In an example, the third indication indicates that the data burst ends. In an example, the third indication can contain a one-bit field.

[0293] In an example, the user data frame can contain a fourth indication. The fourth indication indicates an end PDU of a PDU set of the one or more PDU sets. The fourth indication can be used for PDU discarding purposes of the wireless device or the base station.

[0294] In an example, a PDCP PDU of the one or more PDCP PDUs can contain the fourth indication. In an example, a header of the one or more PDCP PDUs can contain the fourth indication.

[0295] In an example, as shown in FIG. 26 , an example format of the user data frame is shown. The BS-CU can transmit the user data frame to the BS-DU with the format shown in FIG. 26 . The BS-CU can transmit the user data frame containing one or more PDCP PDUs, the third indication of the end of the data burst, the fourth indication of the end PDU of a PDU set of the one or more PDU sets to the BS-DU.

[0296] In an example, as shown in FIG. 28 , the BS-DU can determine the end of the PDCP PDU and / or the end of the data burst based on the third indication received in the user data frame. Based on the determination, the BS-DU can trigger a power saving mode of the wireless device. In an example, the BS-DU can transmit a medium access control control element (MAC CE) to the wireless device, the MAC CE indicating to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device, e.g., terminate the DRX active time. The wireless device can determine to terminate the DRX active time and turn on the power saving mode based on the received MAC CE.

[0297] In an example, as shown in FIG. 29As shown in FIG. 10, the RLC entity of the BS-DU can determine the end of one or more PDCP PDUs and / or the end of the data burst based on the third indication received in the user data frame. In an example, the RRC entity of the BS-DU can send a fifth indication to the MAC entity of the BS-DU indicating the end of the data burst. The RLC entity of the BS-DU can send one or more RLC PDUs of the data burst to the MAC entity of the BS-DU. The fifth indication can contain a one-bit field. Based on the fifth indication, the MAC entity of the BS-DU can understand that this is the end of the data burst and can determine to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device. In an example, the MAC entity of the BS-DU can send a medium access control control element (MAC CE) to the wireless device, the MAC CE indicating to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device, e.g., to terminate the DRX active time. The wireless device can determine to terminate the DRX active time and turn on the power saving mode based on the received MAC CE. This can improve the system performance and / or user experience of the application A of the wireless device. The wireless device can save power.

[0298] In an example, as shown in FIG. 11, the third indication can be sent from the PDCP entity of the BS-CU to the MAC entity of the BS-DU. Based on the third indication, the MAC entity of the BS-DU can understand that the current PDU (or other specified PDU) is the end of the data burst and can determine to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device. In an example, the MAC entity of the BS-DU can send a medium access control control element (MAC CE) to the wireless device, the MAC CE indicating to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device, e.g., to terminate the DRX active time. The wireless device can determine to terminate the DRX active time and turn on the power saving mode based on the received MAC CE. This can improve the system performance and / or user experience of the application A of the wireless device. The wireless device can save power. FIG. 27

[0299] FIG. 28 FIG. 29 and FIG. 28 depicts example embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 29 and FIG. 27 shows a core network node (e.g., UPF), a base station, and a wireless device (e.g., UE) in FIG. 28 and FIG. 29 , which can include a base station central unit (BS-CU), a base station distributed unit 1 (BS-DU1), a base station distributed unit 1 (BS-DU2). FIG. 18 shows a user data frame. This can improve the system performance and / or user experience of the application A of the wireless device. The wireless device can save power by, for example, receiving instructions in time and accurately from the network to enter the power saving mode. ​​

[0300] In an example, as shown in FIG. 28 and FIG. 29 , the BS-CU, BS-DU1, and BS-DU2 can provide one or more services to a wireless device. For example, one of the one or more services can be Application A, including one or more PDU Sets, such as PDU Set 1 and PDU Set 2. As described in FIG. 22, the four alternatives of PDU Set to QoS Flow to DRB mapping can apply to the mapping of PDU Set 1 and PDU Set 2 to a DRB. The DRB can include one or more RLC channels and / or one or more logical channels (LCHs). The relationship between PDU Sets and packets can be addressed in the above description in FIG. 28 .

[0301] In an example, as shown in FIG. 29 and FIG. 28 , the BS-CU can receive one or more packets for a wireless device from a core network node (e.g., UPF). The one or more packets can include a first indication of an end of a data burst. The data burst includes one or more PDU Sets.

[0302] In an example, the one or more PDU Sets can be, for example, PDU Set 1 and PDU Set 2. PDU Set 1 can be Type A (e.g., I-Frame). PDU Set 2 can be Type B (e.g., B / P-Frame). The availability of PDU Set 2 (Type B, e.g., B / P-Frame) depends on the availability of PDU Set 1 (Type A). PDU Set 1 and PDU Set 2 can be mapped to the same QoS Flow or different QoS Flows. PDU Set 1 and PDU Set 2 can be mapped to the same DRB or different DRBs. One DRB can have one or more Radio Link Control (RLC) channels and / or logical channels. PDU Set 1 can be mapped to a RLC channel or a logical channel. PDU Set 2 can be mapped to a RLC channel or a logical channel (LCH). PDU Set 1 and / or PDU Set 2 can be transmitted by BS-DU1 to a wireless device, as shown in FIG. 29 and FIG. 28 . PDU Set 1 and / or PDU Set 2 can be transmitted by BS-DU2 to a wireless device, as shown in FIG. 29 and FIG. 27 .

[0303] In an example, the one or more PDU Sets can include at least one of the following: a QoS Flow; a sub-QoS Flow; a PDU Set; a PDU Session; an ADU; and / or the like.

[0304] In an example, the one or more PDU sets can contain at least one of the following: QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set delay budget, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set error rate, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set arrival period and start time, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set arrival jitter, indication of QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set discard allowed, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / maximum allowed delay difference of group of associated flows / bearer, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set identifier, number of PDUs in QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set, last QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU indication in QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set bit size, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set delay information, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set importance, QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set generic identifier / correlation information (e.g., generic identifier, group identifier, correlation identifier, picture group (GOP) identifier); PDU set comprehensive processing information, PDU set sequence number, indication of end PDU of PDU set, PDU sequence number within PDU set, PDU set size in bytes, PDU set importance (PSI), and / or the like.

[0305] In an example, the one or more packets can contain one or more GTP PDUs and / or one or more GTP PDU headers. In an example, the first indication can be located in the one or more GTP PDU headers.

[0306] In an example, the first indication indicates an end of a data burst containing one or more PDU sets (e.g., PDU set 1 and PDU set 2).

[0307] In an example, the one or more packets can contain a second indication, where the second indication indicates an end PDU of a PDU set of the one or more PDU sets. The second indication can be used for PDU discard purposes of the wireless device or the base station. In an example, a header of the one or more packets can contain the second indication.

[0308] In an example, as shown in FIG. 27 and FIG. 28 , the BS-CU can generate first user data based on the one or more packets received from the UPF. The first user data can contain first one or more PDCP PDUs. The first one or more PDCP PDUs can be associated with a data burst containing one or more PDU sets. The first one or more PDCP PDUs can be associated with a first DRB of the wireless device. The one or more PDU sets can be mapped to the first DRB.

[0309] In an example, the BS-CU can determine the end of the data burst based on the first end indication in the GTP header of the last PDU of the data burst.

[0310] Based on the determination and the generated first user data, the BS-CU can transmit, to the BS-DU1, a first user data frame of the wireless device. In an example, the first user data frame can contain the first one or more PDCP PDUs associated with the data burst. In an example, the first user data frame can contain a third indication of the end of the data burst.

[0311] In an example, the third indication indicates that the first one or more PDCP PDUs are the last PDCP PDUs of the data burst. In an example, the third indication indicates that the data burst ends. In an example, the third indication can contain a one-bit field.

[0312] In an example, the first user data frame can contain a fourth indication. The fourth indication indicates an end PDU of a PDU set of the one or more PDU sets. The fourth indication can be for PDU discarding purposes of the wireless device or the base station.

[0313] In an example, a PDCP PDU of the first one or more PDCP PDUs can contain the fourth indication. In an example, a header of the first one or more PDCP PDUs can contain the fourth indication.

[0314] In an example, as shown in FIG. 29 , an example format of the first user data frame is shown. The BS-CU can transmit the first user data frame to the BS-DU1 in the format shown in FIG. 28 . The BS-CU can transmit, to the BS-DU1, the first user data frame containing the first one or more PDCP PDUs, the third indication of the end of the data burst, the fourth indication of the end PDU of the PDU set of the one or more PDU sets.

[0315] In an example, as shown in FIG. 29 and FIG. 28 , the BS-DU1 can determine the end of the first one or more PDCP PDUs and / or the end of the data burst based on the third indication received in the first user data frame. Based on the determination, the BS-DU1 can trigger a power saving mode of the wireless device. In an example, the BS-DU1 can transmit, to the wireless device, a medium access control control element (MAC CE) indicating to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device, e.g., to terminate a DRX active time. The wireless device can determine to terminate the DRX active time and turn on the power saving mode based on the received MAC CE.

[0316] In an example, asFIG. 29 and FIG. 27 As shown in and

[0317] , the RLC entity of the BS-DU1 can determine the end of the one or more PDCP PDUs and / or the end of the data burst based on the third indication received in the first user data frame. In an example, the RLC entity of the BS-DU1 can send a fifth indication to the MAC entity of the BS-DU1 indicating the end of the data burst. The RLC entity of the BS-DU1 can send the first one or more RLC PDUs of the data burst to the MAC entity of the BS-DU1. The fifth indication can contain a one-bit field. Based on the fifth indication, the MAC entity of the BS-DU1 can understand that this is the end of the data burst and can determine to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device. In an example, the MAC entity of the BS-DU1 can send a medium access control control element (MAC CE) to the wireless device, the MAC CE indicating to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device, e.g., terminate the DRX active time. The wireless device can determine to terminate the DRX active time and turn on the power saving mode based on the received MAC CE. This can improve the system performance and / or user experience of the application A of the wireless device. The wireless device can save power. FIG. 27 FIG. 28 In an example, as shown in and

[0318] , the third indication can be sent from the PDCP entity of the BS-CU to the MAC entity of the BS-DU1. Based on the third indication, the MAC entity of the BS-DU1 can understand that this is the end of the data burst and can determine to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device. In an example, the MAC entity of the BS-DU1 can send a medium access control control element (MAC CE) to the wireless device, the MAC CE indicating to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device, e.g., terminate the DRX active time. The wireless device can determine to terminate the DRX active time and turn on the power saving mode based on the received MAC CE. This can improve the system performance and / or user experience of the application A of the wireless device. The wireless device can save power. FIG. 29 FIG. 28 In an example, as shown in and

[0319] In an example, the BS-CU can determine the end of the data burst based on the first end indication in the GTP header of the last PDU of the data burst.

[0320] Based on the determination and the generated second user data, the BS-CU can transmit, to the BS-DU2, a second user data frame of the wireless device. In an example, the second user data frame can contain the second one or more PDCP PDUs associated with the data burst. In an example, the second user data frame can contain a sixth indication of the end of the data burst. The sixth indication can be the same as the third indication.

[0321] In an example, the sixth indication indicates that the second one or more PDCP PDUs are the last PDCP PDUs of the data burst. In an example, the sixth indication indicates that the data burst ends. In an example, the sixth indication can contain a one-bit field.

[0322] In an example, the second user data frame can contain a seventh indication. The seventh indication indicates an end PDU of a PDU set of the one or more PDU sets. The seventh indication can be for PDU discarding purposes of the wireless device or the base station.

[0323] In an example, a PDCP PDU of the second one or more PDCP PDUs can contain the seventh indication. In an example, a header of the second one or more PDCP PDUs can contain the seventh indication.

[0324] In an example, as shown in FIG. 29 , an example format of the second user data frame is shown. The BS-CU can transmit the second user data frame to the BS-DU2 in the format shown in FIG. 30 . The BS-CU can transmit, to the BS-DU2, the second user data frame containing the second one or more PDCP PDUs, the sixth indication of the end of the data burst, the seventh indication of the end PDU of the PDU set of the one or more PDU sets.

[0325] In an example, as shown in FIG. 27 and FIG. 30 , the BS-DU2 can determine the end of the second one or more PDCP PDUs and / or the end of the data burst based on the sixth indication received in the second user data frame. Based on the determination, the BS-DU2 can trigger a power saving mode of the wireless device. In an example, the BS-DU2 can transmit, to the wireless device, a medium access control control element (MAC CE) indicating to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device, e.g., to terminate a DRX active time. The wireless device can determine to terminate the DRX active time and turn on the power saving mode based on the received MAC CE.

[0326] In an example, asFIG. 30 and FIG. 27 As shown in FIG. 6, the RLC entity of the BS-DU2 can determine the end of the second one or more PDCP PDUs and / or the end of the data burst based on the sixth indication received in the second user data frame. In an example, the RLC entity of the BS-DU2 can send an eighth indication to the MAC entity of the BS-DU2 indicating the end of the data burst. The RLC entity of the BS-DU2 can send the second one or more RLC PDUs of the data burst to the MAC entity of the BS-DU2. The eighth indication can contain a one-bit field. Based on the eighth indication, the MAC entity of the BS-DU2 can understand that this is the end of the data burst and can determine to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device. In an example, the MAC entity of the BS-DU2 can send a medium access control control element (MAC CE) to the wireless device, the MAC CE indicating to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device, e.g., terminate the DRX active time. The wireless device can determine to terminate the DRX active time and turn on the power saving mode based on the received MAC CE. This can improve the system performance and / or user experience of the application A of the wireless device. The wireless device can save power.

[0327] In an example, as shown in FIG. 6, the sixth indication can be sent from the PDCP entity of the BS-CU to the MAC entity of the BS-DU2. Based on the sixth indication, the MAC entity of the BS-DU2 can understand that this is the end of the data burst and can determine to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device. In an example, the MAC entity of the BS-DU2 can send a medium access control control element (MAC CE) to the wireless device, the MAC CE indicating to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device, e.g., terminate the DRX active time. The wireless device can determine to terminate the DRX active time and turn on the power saving mode based on the received MAC CE from the DU2. This can improve the system performance and / or user experience of the application A of the wireless device. The wireless device can save power. FIG. 30 FIG. 18

[0328] FIG. 30 and FIG. 30 depicts an example embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 30 shows a core network node (e.g., UPF), a base station, and a wireless device (e.g., UE) in FIG. 30 , which can include a base station central unit (BS-CU), a base station distributed unit 1 (BS-DU1), a base station distributed unit 2 (BS-DU2). FIG. 27 shows a user data frame. This can improve the system performance and / or user experience of the application A of the wireless device. The wireless device can save power by, for example, receiving instructions in time and accurately from the network to enter the power saving mode. ​​

[0329] In an example, as shown in FIG. 27 , the BS-CU, BS-DU1, and BS-DU2 can provide one or more services to a wireless device. For example, one of the one or more services can be Application A, including one or more PDU sets, such as PDU Set 1 and PDU Set 2. As described in FIG. 22, the four alternatives of PDU Set to QoS Flow to DRB mapping can apply to the mapping of PDU Set 1 and PDU Set 2 to a DRB. The DRB can include one or more RLC channels and / or one or more logical channels (LCHs). The relationship between PDU Set and packet can be referred to in the above description in FIG. 30 . In an example, BS-DU1 can provide PDU Set 1 and / or PDU Set 2 to the wireless device. BS-DU2 can provide duplicated PDU Set 1 and / or PDU Set 2 to the wireless device to increase the reliability of data packet transmission. BS-DU1 can include a primary RLC entity associated with PDU Set 1 and / or PDU Set 2. BS-DU2 can include a secondary RLC entity associated with duplicated PDU Set 1 and / or PDU Set 2.

[0330] In an example, as shown in FIG. 30 , the BS-CU can receive one or more packets for a wireless device from a core network node (e.g., UPF). The one or more packets can include a first indication of an end of a data burst. The data burst includes one or more PDU sets.

[0331] In an example, the one or more PDU sets can be, for example, PDU Set 1 and PDU Set 2. PDU Set 1 can be Type A (e.g., I-frames). PDU Set 2 can be Type B (e.g., B / P-frames). The availability of PDU Set 2 (Type B, e.g., B / P-frames) depends on the availability of PDU Set 1 (Type A). PDU Set 1 and PDU Set 2 can be mapped to the same QoS flow or different QoS flows. PDU Set 1 and PDU Set 2 can be mapped to the same DRB or different DRBs. One DRB can have one or more radio link control (RLC) channels and / or logical channels. PDU Set 1 can be mapped to an RLC channel or a logical channel. PDU Set 2 can be mapped to an RLC channel or a logical channel (LCH). PDU Set 1 and / or PDU Set 2 can be transmitted by BS-DU1 to the wireless device, as shown in FIG. 30 . PDU Set 1 and / or PDU Set 2 can be transmitted by BS-DU2 to the wireless device, as shown in FIG. 30 .

[0332] In an example, the one or more PDU sets can contain at least one of the following: a QoS flow; a sub-QoS flow; a PDU set; a PDU session; an ADU; and / or the like.

[0333] In an example, the one or more PDU sets can contain at least one of the following: a QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set delay budget, a QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set error rate, a QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set arrival period and start time, a QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set arrival jitter, an indication of QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set discard allowed, a QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / group of associated flows maximum allowed delay difference / bearer, a QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set identifier, a number of PDUs in a QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set, a last QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU indication in a QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set, a QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set bit size, a QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set delay information, a QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set importance, a QoS flow / sub-QoS flow / PDU set generic identifier / correlation information (e.g., generic identifier, group identifier, correlation identifier, picture group (GOP) identifier); a PDU set comprehensive processing information, a PDU set sequence number, an indication of an ending PDU of a PDU set, a PDU sequence number within a PDU set, a PDU set size in bytes, a PDU set importance (PSI); and / or the like.

[0334] In an example, the one or more packets can contain one or more GTP PDUs and / or one or more GTP PDU headers. In an example, the first indication can be located in one or more GTP PDU headers.

[0335] In an example, the first indication indicates an end of a data burst containing one or more PDU sets (e.g., PDU set 1 and PDU set 2).

[0336] In an example, the one or more packets can contain a second indication, where the second indication indicates an ending PDU of a PDU set of the one or more PDU sets. The second indication can be used for PDU discard purposes of the wireless device or the base station. In an example, a header of the one or more packets can contain the second indication.

[0337] In an example, as FIG. 27As shown, the BS-CU can generate first user data based on one or more packets received from the UPF. The first user data can contain one or more PDCP PDUs. The first or more PDCP PDUs can be associated with a data burst containing one or more PDU sets. The first or more PDCP PDUs can be associated with a first DRB of the radio device. One or more PDU sets can be mapped to the first DRB. The first or more PDCP PDUs can be transmitted to a primary RLC entity, such as BS-DU1.

[0338] In the example, BS-CU can determine the end of a data burst based on the first end indication in the GTP header of the last PDU of the data burst.

[0339] Based on the determined and generated first user data, the BS-CU can send a first user data frame of the radio device to the BS-DU1. In an example, the first user data frame may contain a first one or more PDCP PDUs associated with a data burst. In an example, the first user data frame may contain a third indication of the end of the data burst. The third indication may be transmitted to the primary RLC entity, such as the BS-DU1.

[0340] In the example, the third indication indicates that the first or more PDCP PDUs are the last PDCPPDUs in the data burst. In the example, the third indication indicates the end of the data burst. In the example, the third indication may contain a one-bit field.

[0341] In the example, the first user data frame may contain a fourth indication. The fourth indication indicates the end of a PDU set in one or more PDU sets. The fourth indication can be used for PDU discarding purposes by a wireless device or base station.

[0342] In the example, the PDCP PDU in the first or more PDCP PDUs may contain a fourth indication. In the example, the header of the first or more PDCP PDUs may contain a fourth indication.

[0343] In the example, such as FIG. 27 The image shows an example format of the first user data frame. BS-CU can be used... FIG. 30 The format shown indicates that the first user data frame is sent to BS-DU1. BS-CU may transmit to BS-DU1 a first user data frame containing one or more PDCP PDUs, a third indication of the end of a data burst, and a fourth indication of the end PDU in one or more PDU sets.

[0344] In the example, such as FIG. 30As shown in FIG. 1, the BS-DU1 can determine the end of the first one or more PDCP PDUs and / or the end of the data burst based on the third indication received in the first user data frame. Based on the determination, the BS-DU1 can trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device. In an example, the BS-DU1 can send a medium access control control element (MAC CE) to the wireless device, the MAC CE indicating to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device, e.g., terminate the DRX active time. The wireless device can determine to terminate the DRX active time and turn on the power saving mode based on the received MAC CE.

[0345] In an example, as shown in FIG. 1, the RLC entity of the BS-DU1 can determine the end of the one or more PDCP PDUs and / or the end of the data burst based on the third indication received in the first user data frame. In an example, the RLC entity of the BS-DU1 can send a fifth indication to the MAC entity of the BS-DU1 indicating the end of the data burst. The RLC entity of the BS-DU1 can send the first one or more RLC PDUs of the data burst to the MAC entity of the BS-DU1. The fifth indication can contain a one-bit field. Based on the fifth indication, the MAC entity of the BS-DU1 can understand that this is the end of the data burst and can determine to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device. In an example, the MAC entity of the BS-DU1 can send a medium access control control element (MAC CE) to the wireless device, the MAC CE indicating to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device, e.g., terminate the DRX active time. The wireless device can determine to terminate the DRX active time and turn on the power saving mode based on the received MAC CE. This can improve the system performance and / or user experience of the application A of the wireless device. The wireless device can save power. FIG. 30 In an example, as shown in FIG. 1, the third indication can be sent from the PDCP entity of the BS-CU to the MAC entity of the BS-DU1. Based on the third indication, the MAC entity of the BS-DU1 can understand that this is the end of the data burst and can determine to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device. In an example, the MAC entity of the BS-DU1 can send a medium access control control element (MAC CE) to the wireless device, the MAC CE indicating to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device, e.g., terminate the DRX active time. The wireless device can determine to terminate the DRX active time and turn on the power saving mode based on the received MAC CE. This can improve the system performance and / or user experience of the application A of the wireless device. The wireless device can save power.

[0346] FIG. 30 In an example, as shown in FIG. 1, the third indication can be sent from the PDCP entity of the BS-CU to the MAC entity of the BS-DU1. Based on the third indication, the MAC entity of the BS-DU1 can understand that this is the end of the data burst and can determine to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device. In an example, the MAC entity of the BS-DU1 can send a medium access control control element (MAC CE) to the wireless device, the MAC CE indicating to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device, e.g., terminate the DRX active time. The wireless device can determine to terminate the DRX active time and turn on the power saving mode based on the received MAC CE. This can improve the system performance and / or user experience of the application A of the wireless device. The wireless device can save power.

[0347] In an example, as shown in FIG. 1, the third indication can be sent from the PDCP entity of the BS-CU to the MAC entity of the BS-DU1. Based on the third indication, the MAC entity of the BS-DU1 can understand that this is the end of the data burst and can determine to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device. In an example, the MAC entity of the BS-DU1 can send a medium access control control element (MAC CE) to the wireless device, the MAC CE indicating to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device, e.g., terminate the DRX active time. The wireless device can determine to terminate the DRX active time and turn on the power saving mode based on the received MAC CE. This can improve the system performance and / or user experience of the application A of the wireless device. The wireless device can save power. FIG. 31 ​As shown, the BS-CU can generate second user data based on one or more packets received from the UPF. The second user data can contain one or more second PDCP PDUs. The second or more second PDCP PDUs can be copies of one or more first PDCP PDUs. The second or more second PDCP PDUs can be associated with a data burst containing one or more PDU sets. The second or more second PDCP PDUs can be associated with a first DRB of the radio device. One or more PDU sets can be mapped to the first DRB. The second or more second PDCP PDUs can be transmitted to a secondary RLC entity, such as BS-DU2.

[0348] In the example, BS-CU can determine the end of a data burst based on the first end indication in the GTP header of the last PDU of the data burst.

[0349] Based on the determined and generated second user data, the BS-CU can send a second user data frame from the radio device to the BS-DU2. In an example, the second user data frame may contain a second or more PDCP PDUs associated with the data burst. In an example, the second user data frame may contain a sixth indication of the end of the data burst. The sixth indication may be the same as the third indication. The sixth indication may be transmitted to a secondary RLC entity, such as the BS-DU2.

[0350] In the example, the sixth indication indicates that the second or more PDCP PDUs are the last PDCPPDUs in the data burst. In the example, the sixth indication indicates the end of the data burst. In the example, the sixth indication may contain a one-bit field.

[0351] In the example, the second user data frame may contain a seventh indication. The seventh indication indicates the end of a PDU set in one or more PDU sets. The seventh indication can be used for PDU discarding purposes by a wireless device or base station.

[0352] In the example, the PDCP PDU in the second or more PDCP PDUs may contain a seventh indication. In the example, the header of the second or more PDCP PDUs may contain a seventh indication.

[0353] In the example, such as FIG. 32 The image shows an example format for a second user data frame. BS-CU can be used... FIG. 33 The format shown indicates that a second user data frame is sent to BS-DU2. BS-CU may transmit to BS-DU2 a second user data frame containing one or more second PDCP PDUs, a sixth indication of the end of a data burst, and a seventh indication of the end PDU of one or more PDU sets.

[0354] In an example, as shown in ​ BS-DU2 can determine the end of the second one or more PDCP PDUs and / or the end of the data burst based on the sixth indication received in the second user data frame. Based on the determination, BS-DU2 can trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device. In an example, BS-DU2 can send a medium access control control element (MAC CE) to the wireless device, the MAC CE indicating to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device, e.g., terminate the DRX active time. The wireless device can determine to terminate the DRX active time and turn on the power saving mode based on the received MAC CE.

[0355] In an example, as shown in ​ The RLC entity of BS-DU2 can determine the end of the second one or more PDCP PDUs and / or the end of the data burst based on the sixth indication received in the second user data frame. In an example, the RLC entity of BS-DU2 can send an eighth indication to the MAC entity of BS-DU2 indicating the end of the data burst. The RLC entity of BS-DU2 can send the second one or more RLC PDUs of the data burst to the MAC entity of BS-DU2. The eighth indication can contain a one-bit field. Based on the eighth indication, the MAC entity of BS-DU2 can understand that this is the end of the data burst and can determine to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device. In an example, the MAC entity of BS-DU2 can send a medium access control control element (MAC CE) to the wireless device, the MAC CE indicating to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device, e.g., terminate the DRX active time. The wireless device can determine to terminate the DRX active time and turn on the power saving mode based on the received MAC CE. This can improve the system performance and / or user experience of application A of the wireless device. The wireless device can save power.

[0356] In an example, as shown in ​ The sixth indication can be sent from the PDCP entity of BS-CU to the MAC entity of BS-DU2. Based on the sixth indication, the MAC entity of BS-DU2 can understand that this is the end of the data burst and can determine to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device. In an example, the MAC entity of BS-DU2 can send a medium access control control element (MAC CE) to the wireless device, the MAC CE indicating to trigger the power saving mode of the wireless device, e.g., terminate the DRX active time. The wireless device can determine to terminate the DRX active time and turn on the power saving mode based on the received MAC CE from DU2. This can improve the system performance and / or user experience of application A of the wireless device. The wireless device can save power.

[0357] In an example, as shown in ​ The PDCP entity of the BS-CU (or BS for non-split base station architecture) can configure the PDCP duplication function to provide one or more services. The PDCP entity of the BS-CU (or BS for non-split base station architecture) can activate or deactivate the configured PDCP duplication function to provide one or more services. In an example, if the PDCP entity of the BS-CU (or BS for non-split base station architecture) configures and activates the PDCP duplication function, the PDCP entity of the BS-CU (or BS for non-split base station architecture) can send a third indication to the primary RLC entity (e.g., BS-DU1, or BS for non-split base station architecture) and a sixth indication to the secondary RLC entity (e.g., BS-DU2, or BS for non-split base station architecture). In an example, if the PDCP entity of the BS-CU (or BS for non-split base station architecture) configures and activates the PDCP duplication function, the PDCP entity of the BS-CU (or BS for non-split base station architecture) can send the third indication to the MAC entity associated with the primary RLC entity (e.g., BS-DU1, or BS for non-split base station architecture) and the sixth indication to the MAC entity associated with the secondary RLC entity (e.g., BS-DU2, or BS for non-split base station architecture).

[0358] In an example, if the PDCP entity of the BS-CU (or BS for non-split base station architecture) configures or activates the PDCP duplication function only for the primary RLC entity, the PDCP entity of the BS-CU (or BS for non-split base station architecture) can send the third indication only to the primary RLC entity (e.g., BS-DU1, or BS for non-split base station architecture). In an example, if the PDCP entity of the BS-CU (or BS for non-split base station architecture) configures or activates the PDCP duplication function only for the primary RLC entity, the PDCP entity of the BS-CU (or BS for non-split base station architecture) can send the third indication only to the MAC entity associated with the primary RLC entity (e.g., BS-DU1, or BS for non-split base station architecture).

[0359] In an example embodiment, as shown in ​ A base station CU can receive one or more packets of a wireless device from a user plane function (UPF), the one or more packets including a first indication of an end of a data burst including a plurality of protocol data unit (PDU) sets. The base station CU can send a user data frame of the wireless device to a base station distributed unit (DU), where the user data frame includes: one or more packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) PDUs associated with the data burst; and a second indication of the end of the data burst.

[0360] In an example embodiment, as shown in ​ The base station DU can receive, from the base station CU, a user data frame for a wireless device, where the user data frame includes: one or more packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) PDUs associated with a data burst; and an indication of an end of the data burst.

[0361] In an example embodiment, as shown in ​ The base station CU can receive, from a user plane function (UPF), one or more packets for a wireless device, the one or more packets including a first indication of an end of a data burst including a plurality of protocol data unit (PDU) sets. The base station CU can send, to a base station distributed unit 1 (DU1), a first user data frame for the wireless device, where the first user data frame includes: a first one or more packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) PDUs associated with the data burst; and a second indication of the end of the data burst. The base station CU can send, to a base station distributed unit 2 (DU2), a second user data frame for the wireless device, where the second user data frame includes: a second one or more packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) PDUs associated with the data burst; and a third indication of the end of the data burst.

[0362] In an example, a base station central unit (CU) can receive, from a user plane function (UPF), one or more packets for a wireless device, the one or more packets including a first indication of an end of a data burst including a plurality of protocol data unit (PDU) sets. The base station CU can send, to a base station distributed unit (DU), a user data frame for the wireless device, where the user data frame includes: one or more packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) PDUs associated with the data burst; and a second indication of the end of the data burst.

[0363] In an example, the one or more packets include one or more GTP PDUs and / or one or more GTP PDU headers. The first indication is located in the one or more GTP PDU headers.

[0364] In an example, the base station CU can generate user data based on the one or more packets received from the UPF. The first indication indicates the end of the data burst including a plurality of protocol data unit (PDU) sets.

[0365] In an example, the second indication indicates that the one or more PDCP PDUs are last PDCP PDUs of the data burst. In an example, the second indication can indicate an end of the data burst.

[0366] In an example, the one or more PDCP PDUs can be associated with a first data radio bearer (DRB). The one or more PDCP PDUs can be associated with a plurality of protocol data unit (PDU) sets. The plurality of protocol data unit (PDU) sets can be mapped to the first DRB.

[0367] In an example, the data burst contains a plurality of protocol data unit (PDU) sets. The plurality of protocol data unit (PDU) sets can be mapped to one or more QoS flows. The one or more QoS flows can be mapped to a DRB.

[0368] In an example, the base station CU can determine an end of the data burst based on an end indication in a GTP header of a last PDU of the data burst.

[0369] In an example, the second indication can indicate that the one or more PDCP PDUs are an end of a data burst containing a plurality of PDU sets.

[0370] In an example, the plurality of PDU sets can contain at least one of: a PDU set delay budget; a PDU set error rate; a PDU set arrival period and start time; a PDU set arrival jitter; a PDU set discard allowed indication; a maximum allowed delay difference per bearer of a group of associated flows; PDU set dependency information (e.g., GOP size); a PDU set identification; a number of PDUs in a PDU set; a last PDU indication in a PDU set; a PDU set bit size; PDU set delay information; a PDU set importance; a PDU set identifier; PDU set dependency information (e.g., common identifier, group identifier, dependency identifier, GOP identification); PDU set integrated processing information; a PDU set sequence number; an indication of an ending PDU in a PDU set; a PDU sequence number within a PDU set; a PDU set size in bytes; a PDU set importance (PSI); and / or the like.

[0371] In an example, the base station can contain at least one of: an eNB; a gNB; an NG-RAN; and / or the like.

[0372] In an example, the base station DU can determine an end of the one or more PDCP PDUs based on the second indication received in the user data frame.

[0373] In an example, the base station DU can send a medium access control control element (MAC CE) to the wireless device, the MAC CE indicating triggering a power saving mode of the wireless device (e.g., terminating a DRX active time) and based on the second indication of the end of the data burst.

[0374] In an example, a radio link control (RLC) entity of the DU can send, to a medium access layer (MAC) entity of the base station DU, a third indication of an end of the data burst.

[0375] In an example, the MAC entity of the base station DU can send, to the wireless device, a medium access control control element (MAC CE) indicating to trigger a power saving mode of the wireless device (e.g., terminate a DRX active time) based on the third indication of the end of the data burst.

[0376] In an example, the RLC entity of the base station DU can send, to the MAC entity of the base station DU, one or more RLC PDUs of the data burst.

[0377] In an example, the second indication includes a one-bit field. In an example, the third indication includes a one-bit field.

[0378] In an example, the user data frame can include a fourth indication, where the fourth indication indicates an end PDU of a PDU set of a plurality of PDU sets.

[0379] In an example, a PDCP PDU of the one or more PDCP PDUs can include the fourth indication. A header of the one or more PDCP PDUs can include the fourth indication.

[0380] In an example, the one or more packets can include a fifth indication, where the fifth indication indicates an end PDU of a PDU set of a plurality of PDU sets.

[0381] In an example, a header of the one or more packets includes the fifth indication.

[0382] In an example, a base station can receive, from a user plane function (UPF), one or more packets of a wireless device, the one or more packets including a first indication of an end of a data burst including a plurality of protocol data unit (PDU) sets. In an example, a PDCP entity of the base station can send, to a MAC entity of the base station, a user data frame of the wireless device, where the user data frame includes: one or more packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocol data units (PDUs) associated with the data burst; and a second indication of the end of the data burst.

[0383] In an example, a base station central unit (CU) can receive, from a user plane function (UPF), one or more packets of a wireless device, the one or more packets including a first indication of an end of a data burst including a plurality of protocol data unit (PDU) sets. The base station CU can send, to a first base station distributed unit (DU), a first user data frame of the wireless device, where the first user data frame includes: a first one or more packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocol data units (PDUs) associated with the data burst; a second indication of the end of the data burst. In an example, the base station CU can send, to a second base station DU, a second user data frame of the wireless device, where the second user data frame includes: a second one or more packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocol data units (PDUs) associated with the data burst; a third indication of the end of the data burst. The first indication indicates the end of the data burst associated with the plurality of PDU sets. The second indication indicates that the first one or more PDCP PDUs are the end of the data burst. The third indication indicates that the second one or more PDCP PDUs are the end of the data burst.

[0384] In an example, a base station central unit (CU) can receive, from a user plane function (UPF), one or more packets of a wireless device, the one or more packets including a first indication of an end of a data burst including a plurality of protocol data unit (PDU) sets. The base station CU can send, to a first base station distributed unit (DU), a first user data frame of the wireless device, where the first user data frame includes: a first one or more packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocol data units (PDUs) associated with the data burst; a second indication of the end of the data burst. In an example, the base station CU can send, to a second base station DU, a second user data frame of the wireless device, where the second user data frame includes: a second one or more packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocol data units (PDUs) associated with the data burst; a third indication of the end of the data burst. The first indication indicates the end of the data burst associated with the plurality of PDU sets. The second indication indicates that the first one or more PDCP PDUs are the end of the data burst. The first one or more PDCP PDUs are associated with a first PDU set. The third indication indicates that the second one or more PDCP PDUs are the end of the data burst. The second one or more PDCP PDUs are associated with a second PDU set.

[0385] In an example, a base station central unit (CU) can receive, from a user plane function (UPF), one or more packets of a wireless device, the one or more packets including a first indication of an end of a data burst including a plurality of protocol data unit (PDU) sets. In an example, the base station CU can send, to a first base station distributed unit (DU), a first user data frame of the wireless device, where the first user data frame includes: a first one or more packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocol data units (PDUs) associated with the data burst; a second indication of the end of the data burst. In an example, the base station CU can send, to a second base station DU, a second user data frame of the wireless device, where the second user data frame includes: a second one or more packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocol data units (PDUs) associated with the data burst; a third indication of the end of the data burst.

[0386] In an example, the first indication indicates the end of the data burst associated with the plurality of PDU sets. The second indication can indicate that the first one or more PDCP PDUs are the end of the data burst. The third indication can indicate that the second one or more PDCP PDUs are the end of the data burst. The second one or more PDCP PDUs can be one or more PDCP PDUs that are a copy of the first one or more PDCP PDUs.

[0387] The above embodiments can be used in combinations, sub-combinations, and permutations of each other. Thus, some or all of the elements from one example can be used with some or all of the elements of another example to produce further variations of the above examples, which are not repeated here for the sake of brevity. These and other embodiments can be understood to be related or correlated to each other in that they can improve UE experience, UE and network power saving, and can reduce unnecessary signaling and interference. In addition, the burst end indication can be used by one or more layers of the protocol stack, with the MAC layer being an example of a protocol stack that can benefit from the use of the provided burst end indication.

Claims

1. A method comprising: The base station's central unit (CU) receives one or more General Packet Radio Service Tunneling Protocol (GTP) Data Units (PDUs) containing data bursts from the user plane function (UPF), wherein: The data burst contains a set of multiple PDUs for wireless devices; and The last of the one or more GTP PDUs contains a GTP header indicating the end of the data burst; as well as The base station CU sends the following to the base station distributed unit DU of the base station: The packet data aggregation protocol PDCP PDU is associated with the data burst; as well as The PDCP PDU is an indication of the last PDCP PDU of the data burst; Received by the base station DU: The PDCP PDU associated with the data burst; as well as The PDCP PDU is an indication of the last PDCP PDU of the data burst; The Radio Link Control (RLC) entity of the base station DU sends an indication of the termination of the data burst to the Media Access Control (MAC) entity of the base station DU. as well as The base station DU sends a Media Access Control (MAC) element CE to the wireless device, indicating the power-saving mode of the wireless device, based on the indication of the end of the data burst.

2. A method comprising: The base station central unit (CU) of the base station sends the following to the base station distributed unit (DU): Packet data aggregation protocol PDCP protocol data unit (PDU) associated with data bursts; and The PDCP PDU is an indication of the last PDCP PDU of the data burst.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the PDCP PDU is associated with a plurality of PDU sets.

4. The method according to one or more of claims 2 to 3, wherein the PDCP PDU is associated with a data radio bearer (DRB).

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the plurality of PDU sets are mapped to: the DRB; one or more Quality of Service (QoS) flows; and / or one or more QoS flows mapped to the DRB.

6. The method according to one or more of claims 2 to 5, wherein the indication of the PDCP PDU being the last PDCP PDU of the data burst includes a one-bit field.

7. The method according to one or more of claims 2 to 6, wherein the base station CU transmits a frame and / or a General Packet Radio Service Tunneling Protocol (GTP) PDU containing the PDCP PDU and the indication.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the frame and / or the GTP PDU is used for a wireless device.

9. The method according to one or more of claims 7 to 8, wherein the frame and / or the GTP PDU contains an indication that the PDCP PDU is the last PDCP PDU in the PDU set.

10. The method according to one or more of claims 2 to 9, wherein the user plane GTP GTP-U header includes the indication.

11. The method according to one or more of claims 2 to 10, wherein the data burst comprises a plurality of PDU sets.

12. The method according to one or more of claims 2 to 11, further comprising receiving by the base station CU: one or more General Packet Radio Service Tunneling Protocol (GTP) PDUs and / or the data burst.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the data burst comprises a plurality of PDU sets.

14. The method of one or more of claims 12 to 13, wherein the last GTP PDU of the one or more GTP PDUs contains an indication of the end of the data burst.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the last GTP PDU includes a GTP header indicating the end of the data burst.

16. The method of one or more of claims 12 to 15, further comprising the base station CU determining that the last GTP PDU of the one or more GTP PDUs is the end of the data burst.

17. The method of one or more of claims 12 to 16, further comprising the base station CU determining that the PDCP PDU is the last PDCP PDU of the data burst based on the fact that the last GTP PDU among the one or more GTP PDUs is the end of the data burst.

18. The method of one or more of claims 12 to 17, wherein one of the one or more GTP PDUs includes an indication of the end PDU of the PDU set in the plurality of PDU sets.

19. The method of one or more of claims 12 to 18, wherein the GTP PDU in the one or more GTP PDUs includes a GTP header, wherein the GTP header does not indicate the end of the data burst.

20. The method according to one or more of claims 2 to 19, further comprising sending a second frame and / or GTP packet for the wireless device from the base station CU to the second base station DU, the second frame and / or GTP packet containing a PDCP PDU associated with the data burst and a second indication of whether the PDCP PDU is the last PDCP PDU of the data burst.

21. A method comprising: The base station distributed unit (DU) of the base station receives the following from the base station central unit (CU) of the base station: Packet data aggregation protocol PDCP protocol data unit (PDU) associated with data bursts; and The PDCP PDU is an indication of the last PDCP PDU of the data burst.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising determining, by the base station DU, that the PDCP PDU is the last PDCP PDU of the data burst based on an indication that the PDCP PDU is the last PDCP PDU of the data burst.

23. The method according to one or more of claims 21 to 22, wherein the Radio Link Control (RLC) entity of the base station DU sends an indication of the termination of the data burst to the Media Access Control (MAC) entity of the base station DU.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein sending the indication of the end of the data burst to the MAC entity is based on the indication that the PDCP PDU is the last PDCP PDU of the data burst.

25. The method according to one or more of claims 21 to 24, further comprising sending an instruction from the base station DU to the wireless device regarding a power-saving mode of the wireless device.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the indication of sending the power-saving mode of the wireless device is based on the indication of the end of the data burst.

27. The method according to one or more of claims 21 to 26, wherein the media access control control element transmitted by the base station DU includes an indication of the power saving mode of the wireless device.

28. An apparatus comprising one or more processors and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 27.

29. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 27.

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