Packet data convergence protocol layer encoding / decoding procedure for cell-free networks

Abstract

A packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer encoding and decoding process for use in a cell-less network is disclosed. A transmitter (e.g., a user equipment (UE) or a cluster of base stations serving the UE) performs PDCP processing using a PDCP entity by: generating a cascaded set of service data units (SDUs) by cascading a plurality of SDUs for a set of protocol data units (PDUs); segmenting the cascade SDU set into one or more system PDUs in the PDU set; performing encoding using the one or more system PDUs to generate one or more redundant PDUs in the set of PDUs; and distributing the one or more system PDUs and the one or more redundant PDUs across the one or more radio link control (RLC) entities for transmission. Complementary procedures performed by a PDCP entity of a receiver (e.g., a cluster of base stations or UEs) are also disclosed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates in general to wireless communication systems, including enhancements to PDCP layer processing (e.g., PDCP layer encoding and decoding) in cellless networks. Background Technology

[0002] Wireless mobile communication technologies use various standards and protocols to transmit data between base stations and wireless communication devices. For example, wireless communication system standards and protocols may include, for instance, 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) (e.g., 4G), 3GPP New Radio (NR) (e.g., 5G), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) (often referred to as Wi-Fi within the industry organization). ® ).

[0003] As envisioned by 3GPP, different wireless communication system standards and protocols can use various radio access networks (RANs) for communication between RAN base stations (sometimes referred to as RAN nodes, network nodes, or simply nodes) and wireless communication equipment called user equipment (UEs). 3GPP RANs can include, for example, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data Rate GSM Evolution (EDGE) RAN (GERAN), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), and / or Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN).

[0004] Each RAN can use one or more Radio Access Technologies (RATs) to perform communication between the base station and the UE. For example, GERAN implements the GSM and / or EDGE RAT, UTRAN implements the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) RAT or other 3GPP RATs, E-UTRAN implements the LTE RAT (sometimes simply referred to as LTE), and NG-RAN implements the NR RAT (this NR RAT is sometimes referred to herein as the 5G RAT, 5G NR RAT, or simply NR). In some deployments, E-UTRAN may also implement the NR RAT. In some deployments, NG-RAN may also implement the LTE RAT.

[0005] The base stations used by a RAN can correspond to that RAN. An example of an E-UTRAN base station is an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) Node B (also commonly referred to as Evolved Node B, Enhanced Node B, eNodeB, or eNB). An example of an NG-RAN base station is a Next Generation Node B (sometimes also called gNode B or gNB).

[0006] The RAN provides communication services to external entities through its connection with the core network (CN). For example, E-UTRAN can utilize the evolved packet core (EPC), while NG-RAN can utilize the 5G core network (5GC). Attached Figure Description

[0007] To facilitate the identification of any particular element or action in the discussion, one or more of the most significant digits in the figure reference numerals refer to the figure number in which the element was first introduced.

[0008] Figure 1 A diagram illustrating an example of using a collection of PDUs in a real-time application scenario is provided.

[0009] Figure 2 A diagram illustrating an example of clustering in a cellless network architecture is provided.

[0010] Figure 3 The diagram illustrates various aspects of the radio protocol used in a cellless network mechanism.

[0011] Figure 4 An example of a set of PDUs corresponding to the Reed-Solomon erasure decoding mechanism is shown.

[0012] Figure 5 An example of a network topology and corresponding protocol stack based on one implementation scheme is given.

[0013] Figure 6A and Figure 6B A graph illustrating a dataset with various PDCP PDU decoding strategies and for various numbers of PDUs in the case of a stationary UE is shown.

[0014] Figure 7A and Figure 7B A graph illustrating a dataset used with various PDCP PDU decoding strategies and for various numbers of PDUs in the case of highly mobile UEs is shown.

[0015] Figure 8A A flowchart illustrating the functionality of the PDCP entity at the transmitter according to the implementation scheme discussed herein is provided.

[0016] Figure 8B A flowchart illustrating the function of the PDCP entity at the receiver according to the implementation scheme discussed herein is provided.

[0017] Figure 9A and Figure 9B The differences between the first PDCP entity processing used in the previous PDCP entity and the second PDCP entity processing used in the improved PDCP entity envisioned herein are illustrated together.

[0018] Figure 10 A diagram illustrating PDCP processing at a PDCP entity that can be used by a transmitter, according to the embodiment described herein.

[0019] Figure 11 A diagram illustrating PDCP processing at a PDCP entity that can be used by a receiver according to the embodiments described herein is shown.

[0020] Figure 12 A diagram illustrating a protocol for PDU set encoding that can be used by the PDCP entity of a transmitter according to an embodiment of this document is shown.

[0021] Figure 13 A diagram illustrating the non-integrated processing of a PDU set by a PDCP entity at the transmitter using a virtual PDU set, according to the implementation scheme herein.

[0022] Figure 14 An example is illustrated of a method for a UE served by a base station cluster to perform PDCP processing on a PDCP entity according to the implementation scheme discussed herein.

[0023] Figure 15 An example is illustrated of a method for a UE served by a base station cluster to perform PDCP processing on a PDCP entity according to the implementation scheme discussed herein.

[0024] Figure 16 An example is given of a method for performing PDCP processing on PDCP entities using a base station cluster serving a UE according to the implementation scheme discussed herein.

[0025] Figure 17 An example is given of a method for performing PDCP processing on PDCP entities using a base station cluster serving a UE according to the implementation scheme discussed herein.

[0026] Figure 18 An example architecture of a wireless communication system according to the implementation scheme disclosed herein is illustrated.

[0027] Figure 19 A system for performing signaling between a wireless device and a network device supported by a CN device, according to an embodiment disclosed herein, is illustrated. Detailed Implementation

[0028] Various implementations are described with respect to the UE. However, references to the UE are provided for illustrative purposes only. The example implementations can be used with any electronic component capable of establishing a connection to a network and configured with hardware, software, and / or firmware for exchanging information and data with the network. Therefore, the UE as described herein is used to represent any suitable electronic component. PDU collection for real-time applications

[0029] In various wireless communication system scenarios, a set of Protocol Data Units (PDUs) can be understood as (e.g., together) a group of one or more PDUs that constitute the payload of an information unit generated at the application level. For example, a set of PDUs can represent an information unit, which is a frame or video slice / tile. In various cases, such sets of PDUs are used in real-time service scenarios, such as extended reality (XR) and / or media scenarios.

[0030] In some wireless communication systems used to implement extended reality and / or media service scenarios, it is possible that packets in a PDU set are decoded / processed as a whole at the media layer. For example, a frame / video slice can be successfully decoded if all (or at least a sufficient number) of packets carrying a frame / video slice are successfully delivered to the receiver. As another example, a frame can be decoded by the client if all frames to which a frame within a group of pictures (GOP) depends are successfully received.

[0031] In these and other scenarios, a corresponding set of packets within a PDU set can be understood as having an inherent dependency on each other regarding their use at the media layer. From the perspective of the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, enhancements can be proposed for PDCP drop operations in the uplink. This enhancement can be provided as a timer-based drop operation, which, when applied, applies to / affects all Service Data Units (SDUs) / PDUs of the same PDU set.

[0032] Figure 1 Figure 100 illustrates an example of using a PDU set in a real-time application scenario. The real-time application could be, for example, a media application that transmits data corresponding to a frame / video slice 102 to a receiver over a network. This transmission may occur according to a PDU set 104, which includes one or more PDUs 106 that (ultimately) have data packets constituting the frame / video slice 102. As illustrated, a PDCP layer 108 can be used to process the PDU set 104. It is possible that the PDUs 106 (e.g., the data packets of the PDUs) have inherent dependencies among themselves (e.g., the need to successfully decode all or at least a sufficient number of PDUs 106 at the receiver to successfully recreate the frame / video slice 102 on the receiver side). As illustrated, this characteristic could be a reason for arranging the PDUs 106 within the same PDU set 104. As illustrated, the PDCP layer 108 at each of the transmitter and receiver can perform operations corresponding to the PDU set 104.

[0033] A PDU set (e.g., a PDU, its corresponding Service Data Unit (SDU), and / or a grouping of PDU sets) can be associated with a PDU Set Integration Processing Information (PSIHI) parameter. The PSIHI parameter indicates whether all PDUs within the PDU set are necessary for the application layer on the receiver side to correctly / usefully utilize the PDU set.

[0034] The implementation schemes discussed in this paper involve processing PDU sets at the PDCP layer in a manner that achieves advantages. These advantages may be useful in real-time applications, for example, in scenarios without cell communication. Some implementation schemes discussed in this paper correspond to the process of processing PDU sets associated with the PSIHI parameter = true. Some implementation schemes discussed in this paper correspond to the process of processing PDU sets associated with the PSIHI parameter = false. Clustering in cellless networks

[0035] In some wireless communication systems, cellless network architectures provide an adaptive / dynamic and UE-centric distribution of functions that can be associated with a “serving cell,” as understood in scenarios of previous cell-based network architectures (e.g., such as NR or LTE network architectures). Regarding this disclosure, it is generally understood that a UE’s “cluster” or “serving cluster” is a collection of physically and / or logically connected base stations, and functions related to serving the UE (e.g., traditional serving cell functions used in cell-based network architectures) can be distributed across these base stations. Therefore, from a certain perspective, the concept of a cluster can “substitute” for the concept of a UE’s serving cell, as understood for previous cell-based networks.

[0036] A cluster can have a one-to-one mapping with a UE. Therefore, the individual (logical) cluster of each of two UEs can be understood / identified (even when each of the two corresponding clusters consists of the same physical set of base stations). Furthermore, it should be noted that a single base station can belong to multiple clusters simultaneously, each cluster serving different UEs.

[0037] Figure 2 A diagram illustrating an example of clustering in a cellless network architecture is provided. A first cluster 200 of the base station serves a first UE 202, and a second cluster 204 of the base station serves a second UE 206. As illustrated, the first cluster 200 includes a first base station 208 and a second base station 210, while the second cluster 204 includes a second base station 210 and a third base station 212.

[0038] Base stations within the same cluster do not necessarily need to jointly transmit to / receive from the UEs they serve. Furthermore, control plane and / or user plane functions can be dynamically distributed among base stations in the cluster.

[0039] A trunking control function (CCF) can be defined as a set of one or more logical functions used to establish and control trunking in a wireless communication system. A CCF can be a distributed entity within the wireless communication system. For example, a CCF can be distributed across one or more of the following: the core network, the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC), and / or one or more base stations of the RAN.

[0040] The CCF can dynamically develop, update, control, and schedule UE-centric connected cluster sets in certain geographic areas based on factors such as: services, latency, reliability, coverage, interference, sensing, mobility, cell load, radio resource management (RRM) related factors, radio link quality, backhaul link ideality, location, quality of service (QoS) requirements, and / or measurement reports.

[0041] In some wireless communication systems, trunking in cellless networks includes concepts such as: UE-centric trunking, CCF (Cellular Cluster Function), connected base stations (cBS) (e.g., base stations that are part of a trunk serving the UE), and adjacent unconnected base stations (uBS) (e.g., neighboring base stations of the UE that are not currently part of a trunk serving the UE). In some such systems, the CCF includes functions, protocols, message exchange capabilities, etc., that can be used for trunking establishment and / or update tasks (and other tasks). UEs and base stations may include corresponding functions, protocols, message exchange capabilities, etc., to support the use of trunking as described herein.

[0042] In wireless communication systems that implement cellless networks, cellless radio resource control (RRC) connections can be used to establish and maintain messaging protocols. This may especially mean that the RRC state of a UE is typically understood relative to the network (rather than relative to a specific serving cell).

[0043] Furthermore, such wireless communication systems for cellless networks may use one or more cluster establishment schemes corresponding to the UE's initial access and / or cluster update mechanism (e.g., controlling the composition of base stations in the cluster after the UE's initial access). These may include, for example, "greedy algorithms," downlink-based (DL), uplink-based (UL), and / or real-time methods (and any corresponding message exchange). Radio protocols in cellless networks

[0044] In some wireless communication systems, "trunking partitioning" refers to the dynamic division of a trunk serving a UE into logical sub-trunks for a specific radio bearer. This division may determine the protocol stack architecture applied to that trunk. For example, each sub-trunk may correspond to a separate Logical Communication Entity (RLC) entity. Then, base stations within the same sub-trunk may, for example, carry a copy of the same logical RLC entity for a given radio bearer.

[0045] Figure 3 A diagram illustrating various aspects of radio protocol usage in a cellless network mechanism is provided. UE 300 is served by cluster 302. Within cluster 302, there exists a first subcluster 304 corresponding to a first RLC entity 308 used between UE 300 and cluster 302, and a second subcluster 306 corresponding to a second RLC entity 310 used between UE 300 and cluster 302. The first RLC entity 308 and the second RLC entity 310 are RLC entities used by a PDCP entity 316, which corresponds to the radio bearer between UE 300 and cluster 302 and uses the illustrated cluster partitioning.

[0046] As illustrated, the first RLC entity 308 is synchronized 312 across the base stations (BS1, BS2, and BS3) of the first sub-cluster 304. This means, for example, that each of these base stations has a copy of the first RLC entity 308 and operates according to that copy, as shown. Furthermore, the second RLC entity 310 is synchronized 314 across the base stations (BS4, BS5, and BS6) of the second sub-cluster 306. This means, for example, that each of these base stations has a copy of the second RLC entity 310 and operates according to that copy, as shown. It should be noted that, as illustrated, the placement of specific base stations in the cluster into the first sub-cluster 304 or the second sub-cluster 306 can be transparent to the UE (the UE knows about the first RLC entity 308 and the second RLC entity 310 / operates according to the first RLC entity and the second RLC entity (according to the sub-cluster), without considering the specific base stations under those RLC entities / sub-clusters).

[0047] In the illustrated scenario, the first packet 318 of the radio bearer corresponding to PDCP entity 316 is processed at the first RLC entity 308. This ultimately means that the first packet 318 is transmitted between UE 300 and cluster 302 via one or more base stations in the first sub-cluster 304. Furthermore, the second packet 320 of the (same) radio bearer corresponding to PDCP entity 316 is processed at the second RLC entity 310. This ultimately means that the second packet 320 is transmitted between UE 300 and cluster 302 via one or more base stations in the second sub-cluster 306.

[0048] It is conceivable that cluster partitioning can be updated over time. The establishment and / or updating of cluster partitioning can take into account the QoS requirements and service characteristics associated with radio bearers. For example, latency constraints and / or service periodicity can be considered. These mechanisms allow the network (e.g., CCF) to optimally configure multiple connections of UEs to enabled sub-clusters of the cluster in scenarios such as non-ideal backhaul (where different partitions of the same cluster may have significantly different QoS / service management characteristics).

[0049] In some wireless communication systems, radio protocols in cellless networks utilize concepts such as trunking / sub-trunking and RLC synchronization. Functions for controlling the dynamic updating of trunking partitions and corresponding protocols for the update process can be used. PDCP data routing schemes and corresponding configurations can be used. Finally, cellless radio bearer configuration and / or message exchange procedures for radio bearer establishment can be used.

[0050] The details of the PDCP layer design and PDCP-to-RLC routing logic are discussed in the various implementation schemes disclosed herein. Implementation scheme for Reed-Solomon erasure decoding of PDU sets

[0051] An example of an efficient mechanism for using erasure correction codes (erasure decoding) on ​​symbols is the Reed-Solomon decoding mechanism. Figure 4 An example of a PDU set 400 corresponding to the use of the Reed-Solomon erasure decoding mechanism is shown. The PDU set 400 includes K system PDUs 402 and NK redundant PDUs 404 (where N represents the total number of system PDUs 402 and redundant PDUs 404 in the PDU set 400).

[0052] The generation of PDU set 400 is now explained using the Reed-Solomon mechanism. System PDU 402 together represent the raw data provided in the SDU, as distributed among system PDU 402. Then, GF(2) can be used... q The Reed-Solomon (N, K) erasure decoding on the system PDU 402 is used to decode 406, where q is the symbol size in bits, which is applied "vertically" symbol-by-symbol to K system PDUs to obtain N encoded PDUs (e.g., Figure 4 As illustrated, by using the “(N, K)RS code” shown in the figure, the decoding 406 on system PDU 402 generates NK redundant PDUs 404 on a symbol-by-symbol basis.

[0053] Then, the PDU set 400 (including both system PDU 402 and redundant PDU 404) is transmitted by the transmitter.

[0054] On the receiver side, the use of the Reed-Solomon erasure decoding mechanism illustrated in the figure enables the receiver to correct or fill up to NK erasures from the PDU set 400 (where one "erasure" corresponds to the failed reception of a PDU in the PDU set 400). This means that in the case of up to NK erasures, the receiver can still eventually recover the K original PDUs as long as any number K PDUs out of the total N encoded PDUs are successfully received. This property holds true when the transmitter transmits K successfully received PDUs without errors, and / or when the decoder at the receiver accurately understands which PDUs were successfully received and which PDUs were erased.

[0055] When PDUs have the same size, erasure codes under the Reed-Solomon scheme can be applied (for example, as shown in the figure, each PDU is divided into the same number M blocks on a block-by-block basis). Implementation scheme for PDU aggregation processing in cellless networks

[0056] The implementation scheme described herein relates to PDU set processing performed by a PDCP entity in a cellless network. Corresponding to this situation, it should be understood that the PDCP entity processes the PDU set in a specific manner, which may differ from the processing used at the PDCP entity for individual PDUs (PDUs that are not part of the PDU set). It should be noted that the functionality of the PDCP entity described herein can be understood as being performed at the PDCP layer of the underlying device.

[0057] A PDCP entity can be implemented by one node in a cluster (e.g., a base station) or in a cloud (server or edge) node. In the case of implementation in a base station, other cluster entities (e.g., other base stations) can connect to the PDCP entity using the Xn interface. In a cloud-based implementation, the PDCP entity can be accessed via a dedicated interface between the cluster node (base station) and the cloud entity (e.g., via the F1-U interface). In various implementations, the PDCP entity can be part of a RAN centralized unit (CU) or distributed unit (DU) function or part of a core network function (e.g., tightly integrated with or implemented with user plane functions (UPF)).

[0058] In the implementation discussed herein, the contents of the PDU set (e.g., SDU data) can be merged and segmented into equal-sized packets, the result of which is interpreted as representing one or more system PDUs. These are then encoded using erasure codes (e.g., using the system's Reed-Solomon erasure decoding mechanism) to generate redundant PDUs. The system PDUs and redundant PDUs can then be routed to available Radio Link Control (RLC) entities in any diversity manner provided by the cluster partitioning mechanism used in cellless communication schemes.

[0059] In various implementation schemes, the packet decoding rate, segmentation scheme, and / or routing policy can be adaptively selected by the PDCP entity in the transmitter (and if the UE is the transmitter, the network can assist the UE in making these selections for its PDCP entity).

[0060] Figure 5 A network topology 502 and a corresponding protocol stack 504 according to one implementation scheme are illustrated. Network topology 502 illustrates a UE 506 served by a base station cluster including a first base station 508, a second base station 510, a third base station 512, a fourth base station 514, a fifth base station 516, and a sixth base station 518. This cluster communicates with the UE 506 using a radio bearer corresponding to the PDCP entity 520 of protocol stack 504.

[0061] Furthermore, based on the cluster division that has already occurred for the bearers in the cluster: the first base station 508 and the second base station 510 constitute the first sub-cluster 522 corresponding to the first RLC entity 524 of the protocol stack 504; the third base station 512, the fourth base station 514 and the fifth base station 516 constitute the second sub-cluster 526 corresponding to the second RLC entity 528 of the protocol stack 504, and the sixth base station 518 constitutes the third sub-cluster 530 corresponding to the third RLC entity 532 of the protocol stack 504.

[0062] PER k The value can be interpreted as representing the PDU error rate of the k-th sub-cluster / RLC. Therefore, as... Figure 5 As illustrated, communication between UE 506 and first sub-cluster 522 using first RLC entity 524 may occur according to first PDU error rate 534 (PER1), communication between UE 506 and second sub-cluster 526 using second RLC entity 528 may occur according to second PDU error rate 536 (PER2), and communication between UE 506 and third sub-cluster 530 using third RLC entity 532 may occur according to third PDU error rate 538 (PER3).

[0063] In one example, UE 506 runs a real-time application (e.g., a cloud-based XR application) based on low-latency communication parameters. Because UE 506 supports connections to the three sub-clusters illustrated in the figure, it has three RLC buffers. The network may have non-ideal backhaul between sub-clusters, making joint pre-decoding operations impractical. Furthermore, due to the applicable low-latency parameters, relatively few Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) retransmissions may be available, resulting in a relatively high PDCP PDU error rate in some cases. Under this general understanding, the following two scenarios can be considered:

[0064] In the first scenario, UE 506 can be considered stationary. In this case, PER1=PER2=PER3=1%. This scenario corresponds to a block error rate (BLER) of 10% with one retransmission.

[0065] In the second scenario, UE 506 can be highly mobile. In this case, PER1=10%, PER2=20%, PER3=30%. This could represent an example of relatively unreliable communication under low latency constraints, where, for example, there is no possibility of retransmission.

[0066] Various strategies can be considered within these scenarios. In the first such strategy, communication with UE 506 occurs via a single RLC / subcluster (one of subcluster 522, subcluster 526, and subcluster 530). This strategy provides optimal reliability and the lowest PDU error rate. In this case, data is not reused, meaning the data rate factor is 1.0.

[0067] In the second such strategy, communication with UE 506 is conducted via all RLCs / subclusters (through all first subclusters 522, second subclusters 526, and third subclusters 530), where packets are repeatedly transmitted across all three RLCs / subclusters (three copies are transmitted for each PDU, and one copy is transmitted for each RLC / subcluster). The data rate factor in this case is 1 / 3.

[0068] In a third such strategy, communication with UE 506 is conducted via all RLCs / subclusters (through all first subclusters 522, second subclusters 526, and third subclusters 530) and uses erase block decoding. In this case, various data rate factors (e.g., rate 2 / 3, rate 1 / 2, rate 1 / 3) can be employed, depending on the configuration used for the erase block decoding process.

[0069] The scenario corresponding to each of these strategies can be analyzed based on the success probability of PDU set delivery compared to the corresponding radio resource consumption. This relationship can then be compared between each scenario.

[0070] For the analysis presented in this paper, it can be assumed that the success / failure of each PDU transmission is independent of other transmissions. Furthermore, it should be understood that the given modeling is most reasonable when PDUs are distributed across a small number of code block groups (CBGs) in a transport block, and in which case these PDUs can be independently delivered to the upper layer if the physical layer (PHY) cyclic redundancy check (CRC) checks of those corresponding CBGs are successful.

[0071] Figure 6A and Figure 6B Figure 600 illustrates a dataset using various PDCP PDU decoding strategies and for varying numbers of PDUs in the case of a stationary UE. It should be noted that... Figure 6A and Figure 6B The difference lies in the y-axis scaling, and the data corresponding to the various strategies covered in the dataset is placed... Figure 6A and Figure 6B On one and / or the other (where the y-axis scaling has been determined to fit the data).

[0072] Figure 6A and Figure 6B The network topology of the results illustrated in the figure can be assumed to be in Figure 5 Examples and about Figure 5 Describe the network topology. It can be assumed that in a given static UE scenario, PER1=1%, PER2=1%, and PER3=1%.

[0073] In the illustrated cases, sending 602 using block coding at 1 / 2 rate provides 100% success for all illustrated PDU numbers, and sending 604 using block coding at 2 / 3 rate provides a very close success rate for all illustrated PDU numbers. It should also be noted that sending 604 using block coding at 2 / 3 rate consumes approximately half the resources of the repetition scheme 606, while providing better performance for the illustrated PDU numbers.

[0074] The results are also presented here for transmitting 608 using block coding at 1 / 3 rate and for transmitting PDUs using a single optimal RLC 610.

[0075] Figure 7A and Figure 7B Figure 700 illustrates a dataset used with various PDCP PDU decoding strategies and for varying numbers of PDUs in the context of highly mobile UEs. It should be noted that... Figure 7A and Figure 7B The difference lies in the y-axis scaling, and the data corresponding to the various strategies covered in the dataset is placed... Figure 7A and Figure 7B On one and / or the other (where the y-axis scaling has been determined to fit the data).

[0076] Figure 7A and Figure 7B The network topology of the results illustrated in the figure can be assumed to be in Figure 5 Examples and about Figure 5Describe the network topology. It can be assumed that in a given highly mobile UE scenario, PER1=10%, PER2=20%, and PER3=30%.

[0077] In the illustrated case, transmitting 702 using block coding at rate 1 / 2 provides a near 100% success rate for all illustrated PDU counts, while using repetition 704 practically fails. It should also be noted that transmitting 702 using block coding at rate 1 / 2 consumes fewer radio resources in all cases than using repetition 704.

[0078] The results are also presented here for PDU transmission using 2 / 3 rate block coding transmission 706, 1 / 3 rate block coding transmission 708, and a single optimal RLC 710.

[0079] Figure 8A and Figure 8B The functionality of the PDCP entity according to the implementation scheme discussed herein is illustrated. Figure 8A A flowchart 800 illustrates the functionality of the PDCP entity at transmitter 802 according to the implementation scheme discussed herein.

[0080] First, the PDCP entity begins with SDU sorting in the transmit buffer for any received PDCP SDUs, step 804. Then, the PDCP entity performs header compression, step 806.

[0081] Then, the PDCP entity determines whether the 808 SDU is used for the PDU set.

[0082] The following is a flowchart discussing the process by which the PDCP entity determines the use of an 808 SDU for a PDU set. The PDCP entity performs SDU concatenation 810 by concatenating the SDUs used for the PDU set together.

[0083] The PDCP entity can then perform integrity protection 812 on the cascaded SDU set. This can be done by generating authentication codes (e.g., Message Authentication Code (MAC-I) for data integrity) for the multiple SDUs to be used in the cascaded SDU set. The PDCP entity can then cascade the authentication codes together with the multiple SDUs within the cascaded SDU set.

[0084] The PDCP entity can then perform encryption 814 across cascaded SDU sets.

[0085] The PDCP entity can then perform segmentation 816 on the cascaded SDU set. This segmentation 816 can produce K system PDUs in the PDU set, where each system PDU includes a portion of the data included in the cascaded SDU set. It should be noted that this segmentation 816 is not required to occur at the original boundary of the SDUs used for the PDU set.

[0086] The PDCP entity can then perform erase decoding 818 across K system PDUs. Erasure decoding 818 can be, for example, a Reed-Solomon erase code across K system PDUs. Erasure decoding 818 can generate multiple redundant PDUs, such that the total number of system PDUs plus the total number of redundant PDUs constitutes a total of N PDUs in the PDU set (where the number of redundant PDUs is therefore understood as NK).

[0087] The PDCP entity can then add 820 to the PDCP header for each of the N PDUs in the PDU set.

[0088] The PDCP entity can then perform routing / repetition of N PDUs across one or more RLC entities for transmission purposes. If the transmitter is a UE, this could mean that each of the N PDUs is sent to a sub-cluster serving the UE, corresponding to a correspondingly selected RLC entity. If the transmitter is a network entity (e.g., a base station cluster), this could mean that each of the N PDUs is distributed to a sub-cluster of the base station cluster corresponding to the respective selected RLC entity for transmission to the UE. It should be noted that in some cases, repetition of one or more PDUs from the PDU set can be used.

[0089] The following is a flowchart discussing the scenario where the PDCP entity determines that an 808 SDU is not used in the PDU set. The PDCP entity may perform integrity protection 824, encryption 826, and / or PDU header appending 828 on the SDU to generate PDUs corresponding to the PDCP SDU (and where these PDUs are not part of the formal PDU set as discussed herein). The PDCP entity then performs routing / repeating 830 on these PDUs.

[0090] Figure 8B A flowchart 832 illustrates the function of the PDCP entity at receiver 834 according to the embodiment discussed herein. It should be noted that flowchart 832 is derived from... Figure 8B bottom to Figure 8B The tops are arranged in order.

[0091] First, the PDCP entity can perform PDCP header removal 836 across the received PDUs. These received PDUs are then placed in the receive buffer 838.

[0092] The PDCP entity can then determine whether 840 PDU is a PDU set.

[0093] The following is a flowchart discussing the scenario where the PDCP entity determines that PDU 808 is part of a PDU set. The PDCP entity can then perform erase decoding 842 across the received PDUs, such that the set of K system PDUs in the PDU set is reconstructed. Erasure decoding 842 can be, for example, Reed-Solomon erase decoding. Erasure decoding 842 can occur across multiple PDUs in the PDU set (at least NK, where N represents the number of PDUs in the PDU set sent by transmitter 802) to return to the K system PDUs.

[0094] The PDCP entity can then perform a packetization 844 of K system PDUs. This (re)packetization can represent the cascaded SDU set as initially understood at transmitter 802.

[0095] The PDCP entity can then perform decryption of the cascaded SDU set 846.

[0096] The PDCP entity can then perform integrity verification 848 on the cascaded SDU set. This can be done using authentication codes (e.g., MAC-I) that also exist in the cascaded SDU set for use with the multiple SDUs in the cascaded SDU set.

[0097] The PDCP entity can then perform the decomposition 850, which decomposes the cascaded SDU set back into individual SDUs.

[0098] The following is a flowchart discussing the case where the PDCP entity determines that PDU 808 is not part of the PDU set. The PDCP entity can perform decryption 856, integrity verification 858, and duplicate discarding 860 on the PDU to generate an SDU corresponding to the PDU.

[0099] For the remainder of flowchart 832, the process is identical regardless of whether the received PDUs belong to the same PDU set. The PDCP entity reorders the SDUs as needed 852. Then, the PDCP entity performs header decompression on these SDUs 854.

[0100] Figure 9A and Figure 9B The differences between the first PDCP entity processing used in the previous PDCP entity and the second PDCP entity processing used in the improved PDCP entity disclosed herein are illustrated together. Figure 9AIllustration 900 is shown corresponding to the previous PDCP entity, while Figure 9B Figure 936 illustrates the corresponding improved PDCP entity.

[0101] Figure 9A Figure 900 illustrates an SDU set 902 that has undergone 5G PDCP processing 904. SDU 902 includes a first SDU 906, a second SDU 908, a third SDU 910, a fourth SDU 912, a fifth SDU 914, and a sixth SDU 916. As shown, the first SDU 906, the second SDU 908, and the third SDU 910 are used in a first PDU set 918, and the fifth SDU 914 and the sixth SDU 916 are used in a second PDU set 920.

[0102] As shown in the figure, as the result of 5G PDCP processing 904, SDU 902 is processed into PDU 922 according to the one-to-one correspondence. The first SDU 906 is processed into the first PDU 924, the second SDU 908 is processed into the second PDU 926, the third SDU 910 is processed into the third PDU 928, the fourth SDU 912 is processed into the fourth PDU 930, the fifth SDU 914 is processed into the fifth PDU 932, and the sixth SDU 916 is processed into the sixth PDU 934.

[0103] It should be noted that under 5G PDCP processing 904, the processing of SDUs used for the PDU set (e.g., the first SDU 906 or the fifth SDU 914) is equivalent to the processing that occurs for SDUs not used for the PDU set (e.g., the fourth SDU 912). No special processing occurs for SDUs used for the PDU set.

[0104] Figure 9B Figure 936 illustrates an SDU set 938 undergoing an improved PDCP process 940 corresponding to the embodiment disclosed herein. SDU 938 includes a first SDU 942, a second SDU 944, a third SDU 946, a fourth SDU 948, a fifth SDU 950, and a sixth SDU 952. As shown, the first SDU 942, the second SDU 944, and the third SDU 946 are used for the first PDU set 918, and the fifth SDU 950 and the sixth SDU 952 are used for the second PDU set 920.

[0105] As shown in the figure, as a result of the improved PDCP processing 940, SDU 938 is processed into multiple PDUs 958, which are not necessarily the same number as SDU 938 (in all cases, a one-to-one correspondence between SDUs and PDUs is not expected). This may occur due to implementations of processing SDUs for PDU sets as described herein, which do not require a one-to-one correspondence between SDUs and PDUs.

[0106] For example, since the first SDU 942, the second SDU 944, and the third SDU 946 are used for the first PDU set 954, they are processed according to the PDCP process for SDUs of the same PDU set (e.g., processes discussed herein). In the illustrated case, this process produces two PDUs, namely the first PDU 960 and the second PDU 962, which constitute the first PDU set 954. Furthermore, since the fifth SDU 950 and the sixth SDU 952 are used for the second PDU set 956, they are processed according to the PDCP process for SDUs of the same PDU set (e.g., processes discussed herein). In the illustrated case, this process produces four PDUs, namely the fourth PDU 966, the fifth PDU 968, the sixth PDU 970, and the seventh PDU 972, which constitute the second PDU set 956.

[0107] It should be noted that, as shown in the figure, the concept of the running PDU set entity remains the same before and after the improved PDCP process 940 (the improved PDCP process 940 does not modify the number of PDU sets).

[0108] It should also be noted that SDUs not used in the PDU set can be processed on a one-to-one basis. For example, as illustrated in the figure, the fourth SDU 948 (which is not used in the PDCP set) is processed as the third PDU 964.

[0109] Figure 10 Figure 1000 illustrates PDCP processing at a PDCP entity that can be used by a transmitter according to an embodiment of this document. In some embodiments, the transmitter may be a UE using a PDCP entity. In some embodiments, the transmitter may be (collectively) a base station cluster using a PDCP entity.

[0110] As illustrated, the first SDU 1002, the second SDU 1004, and the third SDU 1006 are processed at the PDCP layer for transmission. Each of the first SDU 1002, the second SDU 1004, and the third SDU 1006 consists of a header and a payload. The first SDU 1002, the second SDU 1004, and the third SDU 1006 are SDUs used for the same PDU set 1008.

[0111] Then, each SDU (first SDU 1002, second SDU 1004, and third SDU 1006) in the SDU set 1008 is concatenated to generate a concatenated SDU set 1010. In some embodiments, as illustrated, an authentication code (e.g., MAC-I 1012) may be generated for multiple SDUs in the concatenated SDU set 1010 and concatenated with them. Therefore, it should be understood that Figure 1000 ultimately continues with the concatenation of MAC-I 1012 in the concatenated SDU set 1010, and depending on the embodiment, the concatenated SDU set may or may not include an authentication code.

[0112] In some implementations, once generated, the cascaded SDU set 1010 can be encrypted (not explicitly illustrated in Figure 1000).

[0113] Then, Figure 1000 further illustrates segmenting the cascaded SDU set 1010 into a number of K system PDUs 1014 in the PDU set 1008. Each system PDU in the system PDUs 1014 comprises a portion of the cascaded SDU set 1010. Each system PDU in the system PDUs 1014 may have the same size. In the illustrated case, K=3; however, in other embodiments, K may take other values ​​(e.g., K=1, K=2, K=4, K=5, etc.).

[0114] Then, encoding is performed using system PDU 1014 to generate NK redundant PDUs (where N represents the total number of PDUs in PDU set 1008 that will eventually be transmitted by the transmitter). The encoding performed using system PDU 1014 to generate redundant PDUs 1016 can be, for example, Reed-Solomon coding as discussed herein. The result of the encoding is a total of N PDUs for transmission.

[0115] Then, the PDCP header 1018 can be added to each of the N PDUs, and these PDUs can be sent. The transmission of the N PDUs can be distributed across one or more RLC entities of the transmitter (e.g., in a manner discussed elsewhere in this document).

[0116] Figure 11 Figure 1100 illustrates PDCP processing at a PDCP entity that can be used by a receiver according to an embodiment of this document. In some embodiments, the receiver may be a UE using a PDCP entity. In some embodiments, the receiver may be (collectively) a base station cluster using a PDCP entity.

[0117] As illustrated in the figure, each of the following PDUs—first 1102, second 1104, third 1106, fourth 1108, fifth 1110, sixth 1112, seventh 1114, eighth 1116, and ninth 1118—is received at the receiver (and can be received / considered by the receiver in this order). Each of these PDUs is associated with a value K (e.g., in the PDCP header used for the PDUs) indicating the number of system PDUs within any set of PDUs to which the PDU belongs. It should be noted that, as in the cases of first PDU 1102 and seventh PDU 1114, K=1, indicating that these PDUs represent individual PDUs that do not belong to any set of PDUs. For those PDUs where K>1 (e.g., PDUs that are PDUs within a set of PDUs), another value S (e.g., as may exist in the PDCP header used for the PDUs) indicates the index of the set of PDUs to which the PDU belongs. This index allows the receiver to match / correspond to other PDUs in the same PDU set (if applicable).

[0118] As illustrated, the first PDU 1102 is processed first. Since K=1 for the first PDU 1102, the receiver knows that it is a separate PDU that does not belong to any PDU set. Therefore, packet 1120 is not required for the first PDU 1102, and the first PDU 1102 is passed to form the first SDU 1126, as illustrated.

[0119] Then, the second PDU 1104 is processed. Since K=3 for the second PDU 1104, the receiver knows that the second PDU 1104 belongs to the PDU set with three system PDUs. Furthermore, the receiver knows that the index S of the PDU set is 2. Therefore, the receiver knows that when it receives three (unique) PDUs with S=2, it can decode the second concatenated SDU set 1122 corresponding to the PDU set with S=2.

[0120] Then, the third PDU 11064 is processed. Since K=3 for the third PDU 1106, the receiver knows that the third PDU 1106 belongs to the PDU set with three system PDUs. Furthermore, the receiver knows that the index S of the PDU set is 1. Therefore, the receiver knows that when it receives three (unique) PDUs with S=1, it can decode the first concatenated SDU set 1124 corresponding to the PDU set with S=1.

[0121] Then, the fourth PDU 1108 is processed. Since S=2 for the fourth PDU 1108, the receiver knows that the fourth PDU 1108 is in the same PDU set as the already received second PDU 1104 with S=2. Furthermore, the transmitter identifies the fourth PDU 1108 as different from the second PDU 1104 already received in this PDU set (P6≠P5, see example). Therefore, the receiver understands that once K=3 unique PDUs for the PDU set are received, the fourth PDU 1108 can be used with the second PDU 1104 to decode the second concatenated SDU set 1122 corresponding to the PDU set with S=2.

[0122] Then, the fifth PDU 1110 is processed. Since S=2 for the fifth PDU 1110, the receiver knows that the fifth PDU 1110 is in the same PDU set as the already received second PDU 1104 and fourth PDU 1108 with S=2. Furthermore, the transmitter identifies the fifth PDU 1110 as different from the second PDU 1104 and fourth PDU 1108 already received in this PDU set (P8≠P6≠P5, see illustration). Therefore, the receiver understands that the fifth PDU 1110 can be used with the second PDU 1104 and fourth PDU 1108 to decode the second concatenated SDU set 1122 corresponding to the PDU set with S=2.

[0123] At this point, since the transmitter has K=3 (unique) PDUs (second PDU 1104, fourth PDU 1108, and fifth PDU 1110) for the PDU set (S=2), the transmitter can continue to decode the second concatenated SDU set 1122 of S=2 (using each of the received second PDU 1104, fourth PDU 1108, and fifth PDU 1110).

[0124] Then, the sixth PDU 1112 is processed. Since S=1 for the sixth PDU 1112, the receiver knows that the sixth PDU 1112 is in the same PDU set as the already received third PDU 1106 with S=1. Furthermore, the transmitter identifies the sixth PDU 1112 as different from the already received third PDU 1106 in this PDU set (P3≠P2, see illustration). Therefore, the receiver understands that once the K=3 unique PDUs for the PDU set are received, the sixth PDU 1112 can be used with the third PDU 1106 to decode the first concatenated SDU set 1124 corresponding to the PDU set with S=1.

[0125] Then, the seventh PDU 1114 is processed. The seventh PDU 1114 is identified as a copy of the first PDU 1102 (P1=P1, see example) and is therefore discarded.

[0126] Then, the eighth PDU 1116 is processed. Since S=1 for the eighth PDU 1116, the receiver knows that the eighth PDU 1116 is in the same PDU set as the already received third PDU 1106 and sixth PDU 1112 with S=1. Furthermore, the transmitter identifies the eighth PDU 1116 as different from the already received third PDU 1106 and sixth PDU 1112 in this PDU set (P4≠P3≠P2, see illustration). Therefore, the eighth PDU 1116 can be used with the third PDU 1106 and sixth PDU 1112 to decode the first concatenated SDU set 1124 corresponding to the PDU set with S=1.

[0127] At this point, since the transmitter has K=3 (unique) PDUs (third PDU 1106, sixth PDU 1112, and eighth PDU 1116) for the PDU set (S=1), the transmitter can continue to decode the first concatenated SDU set 1124 of S=1 (using each of the received third PDU 1106, sixth PDU 1112, and eighth PDU 1116).

[0128] Then, the ninth PDU 1118 is processed. Since S=2 for the fifth PDU 1110, the receiver knows that the fifth PDU 1110 is in the same PDU set as the already received second PDU 1104, fourth PDU 1108, and fifth PDU 1110, all with S=2. Furthermore, since K=3 for the PDU set (S=2), and since the receiver has already received three unique PDUs (second PDU 1104, fourth PDU 1108, and fifth PDU 1110) for the second concatenated SDU set 1122 that can be decoded from it, the ninth PDU 1118 is not absolutely necessary. Therefore, the ninth PDU 1118 is discarded.

[0129] In an alternative scenario, where the receiver fails to correctly receive one of the second PDU 1104, the fourth PDU 1108, or the fifth PDU 1110, the ninth PDU 1118 may have served as its replacement. This would mean that K=3 PDUs in the PDU set of S=2 would still be received, thus allowing decoding of the second concatenated SDU set 1122 despite the earlier failure to receive one of the second PDU 1104, the fourth PDU 1108, or the fifth PDU 1110.

[0130] Figure 1000 illustrates the decoding (e.g., erase decoding) and packet reassembly (as already discussed) processes that can be performed when K PDUs from a PDU set are received. This results in the decoding of the first concatenated SDU set 1124 and the second concatenated SDU set 1122.

[0131] At this point, decryption and / or integrity verification can be performed on the first concatenated SDU set 1124 and / or the second concatenated SDU set 1122. For example, the first concatenated SDU set 1124 and / or the second concatenated SDU set 1122 can be decrypted once decoded. Furthermore, the receiver can retrieve an authentication code from one of the corresponding SDUs in the first concatenated SDU set 1124 and / or the second concatenated SDU set 1122 for use with any of the SDUs in either the first concatenated SDU set 1124 and / or the second concatenated SDU set 1122, and use this authentication code to authenticate the corresponding SDUs.

[0132] Then, each of the first concatenated SDU set 1124 and the second concatenated SDU set 1122 is decomposed into its respective SDUs. As illustrated, the first concatenated SDU set 1124 is decomposed into the second SDU 1128, the third SDU 1130, the fourth SDU 1132, and the fifth SDU 1134, while the second concatenated SDU set 1122 is decomposed into the sixth SDU 1136 and the seventh SDU 1138. No decomposition occurs corresponding to the first SDU 1126 because it is not part of the PDU set that requires such decomposition.

[0133] Then, based on the SDU order, reordering and header decompression can be performed as needed. As illustrated, the SDUs are reordered from the first SDU 1126 to the seventh SDU 1138 according to the correct SDU order shown. Header decompression can also be performed on each SDU.

[0134] Figure 12 Figure 1200 illustrates a protocol for PDU set encoding that can be used by the PDCP entity of transmitter 1202 according to an embodiment herein. As illustrated, the PDCP entity can be used to process concatenated SDU sets 1206 (e.g., as described herein) for transmission.

[0135] The PDCP entity can execute K selection 1204 to determine the number of system PDUs in the PDU set after PDU set segmentation 1208, and then perform PDU set segmentation accordingly.

[0136] The PDCP entity can also perform N selection 1210 to determine the total number N of PDUs to be transmitted. N can be selected to achieve the desired K / N decoding rate of the PDU erasure decoding 1212 of the PDU set. The PDU erasure decoding 1212 encodes K system PDUs to generate NK redundant PDUs, so that the PDU set has a total of N encoded PDUs, as illustrated in the figure.

[0137] At position 1214 in the PDCP header, the PDCP header is added to each of the N encoded PDUs. This type of PDCP header may include the PDCP PDU ID, the K value, and / or the PDU set ID S (e.g., if K > 1).

[0138] As illustrated in the figure, RLC ratio selection 1216 is then performed. As part of RLC ratio selection 1216, the PDCP entity can select the ratio to be used during PDU routing 1222 to distribute packets / PDUs across the RLC used by the transmitter.

[0139] When transmitter 1202 is a UE, it can receive network signaling 1218 including one or more suggested ratios 1220 (e.g., one or more suggested values ​​of RLC ratio), which can be used for the purpose of RLC ratio selection 1216. This signaling can be considered as part of Layer 3 (L3) scheduling.

[0140] Then, during PDU routing 1222, packets / PDUs are distributed across the RLC used by the transmitter. The illustrated case uses RLC entity 1224 1...M.

[0141] In some implementations involving the use of the recommended ratio 1220, recommended values ​​for the RLC ratio can be provided for specific radio bearers. These recommendations can reflect the QoS requirements of the radio bearer. For example, for radio bearers with low-latency services, these ratios can be based on short-term capacity predictions for the corresponding subcarriers. The recommended values ​​for the RLC ratio can be provided within Radio Resource Control (RRC) control messages or using agreed-upon protocol mechanisms.

[0142] The method of selecting the RLC ratio in the RLC ratio selection 1216 stage (including determining whether to consider the value recommended by the network, if applicable) may depend on the device implementation.

[0143] In some implementations, the device performing RLC ratio selection 1216 may consider instantaneous and / or statistical RLC buffer status information, service history, Layer 1 (L1) measurements, and / or Layer 3 (L3) measurements. The timing of applying RLC ratio selection 1216 can also be performed at the device level, and may vary depending on the specific device implementation.

[0144] Figure 13 Figure 1300 illustrates a non-integrated processing of a PDU set by a PDCP entity at a transmitter using a virtual PDU set, according to an embodiment of this document. In some embodiments, the transmitter may be a UE using a PDCP entity. In some embodiments, the transmitter may be (collectively) a base station cluster using a PDCP entity.

[0145] In some implementations, the PSIHI of a PDU set can be equal to false. This can indicate, for example, that a group / SDU of the PDU set can independently have a value for the application. Figure 1300 illustrates the case where there is an SDU 1302 for a PDU set with PSIHI=false.

[0146] In some such cases, a virtual PDU set can be used. The virtual PDU set may correspond to a subset of the SDUs used for the PDU set, and this subset can then be jointly encoded at the PDCP layer before transmission (e.g., by erasure decoding, as discussed herein).

[0147] For example, Figure 1300 illustrates that SDU 1302 for a PDU set can be split such that they correspond to multiple virtual PDU sets. In some cases, the transmitter can determine 1304 the multiple virtual PDU sets to be used for this purpose. As illustrated, this determination can be based on, for example, the target PDU error rate and / or packet error rate at a lower layer.

[0148] The transmitter splits SDU 1302 into separate packets for each virtual PDU set. Figure 1300 corresponds to the case of using three virtual PDU sets. As illustrated, SDU 1302 is split into a first subset 1308, a second subset 1310, and a third subset 1312, where the first subset 1308 is understood as the SDU set for the first virtual PDU set 1314, the second subset 1310 is understood as the SDU set for the second virtual PDU set 1316, and the third subset 1312 is understood as the SDU set for the third virtual PDU set 1318.

[0149] Then, PDCP PDU set processing 1320, as discussed herein, can be performed (independently) for each virtual PDU set of SDUs.

[0150] In some implementations, at the receiver's (corresponding) PDCP entity, the virtual PDU set can be processed as a separate PDU set and then combined back into the original packets of SDU 1302 used for the original PDU set. To facilitate this, information about any splitting into virtual PDU sets can be relayed from the transmitter PDCP layer to the receiver PDCP layer (e.g., via a transmit (Tx) PDCP to receive (Rx) PDCP link that may not be visible above the PDCP layer).

[0151] In the uplink, specific submodules of the PDCP layer can be introduced to adaptively select multiple virtual PDU sets (where PSIHI = false) for each PDU set. In the downlink, virtual PDU sets can be formed based on the available SDUs of the same PDU set in the PDCP buffer.

[0152] In some implementations, each virtual PDU set can be processed independently by the PDCP layer using the same process used for PDU sets (e.g., as described herein). In such cases, the parameters N, K, etc., provided for PDU decoding can be optimized individually for each virtual PDU set.

[0153] Figure 14A method 1400 for a UE serving a base station cluster to perform PDCP processing on a PDCP entity, according to an implementation scheme discussed herein, is illustrated. Method 1400 includes: generating a concatenated SDU set 1402 by concatenating multiple SDUs for a PDU set. Method 1400 further includes: segmenting the concatenated SDU set 1404 into one or more system PDUs in the PDU set. Method 1400 further includes: performing encoding 1406 using the one or more system PDUs to generate one or more redundant PDUs in the PDU set. Method 1400 further includes: distributing 1408 the one or more system PDUs and the one or more redundant PDUs across one or more RLC entities for transmission to one or more sub-clusters in the base station cluster corresponding to one or more RLC entities.

[0154] In some implementations of method 1400, a cascaded SDU set is further generated by: generating an authentication code for multiple SDUs; and cascading the authentication code with the multiple SDUs within the cascaded SDU set.

[0155] In some implementations, method 1400 further includes encrypting the cascaded SDU set before segmenting it.

[0156] In some implementations of method 1400, the encoding includes Reed-Solomon erasure encoding.

[0157] In some embodiments of method 1400, each of one or more system PDUs and each of one or more redundant PDUs has the same size.

[0158] In some implementations, method 1400 further includes: determining the number of one or more system PDUs.

[0159] In some implementations, method 1400 further includes: determining the total number of one or more system PDUs and redundant PDUs.

[0160] In some implementations, method 1400 further includes: selecting an RLC ratio, wherein one or more system PDUs and one or more redundant PDUs are distributed across RLC entities according to the RLC ratio. In some such implementations, method 1400 further includes: receiving a proposed RLC ratio from the cluster, wherein the RLC ratio is selected by the UE according to the proposed RLC ratio.

[0161] In some implementations of method 1400, the PDU set includes a virtual PDU set.

[0162] Figure 15A method 1500 for a UE serving a base station cluster to perform PDCP processing on a PDCP entity, according to an implementation scheme discussed herein, is illustrated. Method 1500 includes: receiving 1502 one or more PDUs from a PDU set corresponding to one or more RLC entities of one or more sub-clusters of the base station cluster. Method 1500 further includes: performing 1504 decoding using the one or more PDUs in the PDU set to generate a concatenated SDU set, based on determining that the number of the one or more PDUs is greater than or equal to the number of system PDUs in the PDU set. Method 1500 further includes: decomposing 1506 the concatenated SDU set into multiple SDUs for the PDU set. Method 1500 further includes: providing 1508 the multiple SDUs to a higher-layer protocol entity of the UE.

[0163] In some implementations, method 1500 further includes: retrieving an authentication code for a plurality of SDUs from a cascaded set of SDUs; and using the authentication code to authenticate the plurality of SDUs.

[0164] In some implementations, method 1500 further includes: decrypting the concatenated SDU set before decomposing it.

[0165] In some implementations of method 1500, decoding includes Reed-Solomon erasure decoding.

[0166] In some implementations of method 1500, each of one or more PDUs has the same size.

[0167] In some implementations of method 1500, the PDU set includes a virtual PDU set.

[0168] Figure 16 A method 1600 for performing PDCP processing on PDCP entities in a base station cluster serving a UE according to an embodiment discussed herein is illustrated. Method 1600 includes generating a concatenated SDU set 1602 by concatenating multiple SDUs for a PDU set. Method 1600 further includes segmenting the concatenated SDU set 1604 into one or more system PDUs in the PDU set. Method 1600 further includes performing encoding 1606 using the one or more system PDUs to generate one or more redundant PDUs in the PDU set. Method 1600 further includes distributing 1608 the one or more system PDUs and the one or more redundant PDUs across one or more RLC entities corresponding to one or more sub-clusters of the base station cluster for transmission to the UE.

[0169] In some implementations, method 1600 further includes: generating an authentication code for a plurality of SDUs; and concatenating the authentication code with the plurality of SDUs within a concatenated set of SDUs.

[0170] In some implementations, method 1600 further includes encrypting the cascaded SDU set before segmenting it.

[0171] In some implementations of method 1600, the encoding includes Reed-Solomon erasure encoding.

[0172] In some embodiments of method 1600, each of one or more system PDUs and each of one or more redundant PDUs has the same size.

[0173] In some implementations, method 1600 further includes: determining the number of one or more system PDUs.

[0174] In some implementations, method 1600 further includes: determining the total number of one or more system PDUs and redundant PDUs.

[0175] In some implementations, method 1600 further includes: selecting an RLC ratio, wherein one or more system PDUs and one or more redundant PDUs are distributed across an RLC entity according to the RLC ratio. In some such implementations, method 1600 further includes: receiving a proposed RLC ratio from a UE, wherein the RLC ratio is selected by a PDCP entity based on the proposed RLC ratio.

[0176] In some implementations, method 1600 further includes: receiving an RLC ratio from a CCF for base station clusters, wherein one or more system PDUs and one or more redundant PDUs are distributed across RLC entities according to the RLC ratio.

[0177] In some implementations of method 1600, the PDU set includes a virtual PDU set.

[0178] Figure 17 A method 1700 for performing PDCP processing on a PDCP entity in a base station cluster serving a UE according to the implementation scheme discussed herein is illustrated. Method 1700 includes: receiving 1702 one or more PDUs from a PDU set corresponding to one or more RLC entities of one or more sub-clusters of the base station cluster. Method 1700 further includes: performing 1704 decoding using the one or more PDUs in the PDU set to generate a concatenated SDU set based on determining that the number of the one or more PDUs is greater than or equal to the number of system PDUs in the PDU set. Method 1700 further includes: decomposing 1706 the concatenated SDU set into multiple SDUs for the PDU set. Method 1700 further includes: providing 1708 multiple SDUs to a higher-layer protocol entity of the base station cluster.

[0179] In some implementations, method 1700 further includes: retrieving an authentication code for a plurality of SDUs from a cascaded set of SDUs; and using the authentication code to authenticate the plurality of SDUs.

[0180] In some implementations, method 1700 further includes: decrypting the concatenated SDU set before decomposing it.

[0181] In some implementations of method 1700, decoding includes Reed-Solomon erasure decoding.

[0182] In some implementations of method 1700, each of one or more PDUs has the same size.

[0183] In some implementations of method 1700, the PDU set includes a virtual PDU set.

[0184] Figure 18 An example architecture of a wireless communication system 1800 according to an embodiment disclosed herein is illustrated. The following description is for an example wireless communication system 1800 operating in conjunction with LTE system standards and / or 5G or NR system standards provided by 3GPP technical specifications.

[0185] like Figure 18 As shown, the wireless communication system 1800 includes UE 1802 and UE 1804 (but any number of UEs may be used). In this example, UE 1802 and UE 1804 are exemplified as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices capable of connecting to one or more cellular networks), but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device configured for wireless communication.

[0186] UE 1802 and UE 1804 can be configured to be communicatively coupled to RAN 1806. In implementations, RAN 1806 can be NG-RAN, E-UTRAN, etc. UE 1802 and UE 1804 utilize connections (or channels) with RAN 1806 (shown as connection 1808 and connection 1810, respectively), where each connection includes a physical communication interface. RAN 1806 may include one or more base stations (such as base station 1812 and base station 1814) implementing connection 1808 and connection 1810.

[0187] In this example, Connection 1808 and Connection 1810 are air interfaces that implement this type of communication coupling and can conform to the RAT used by RAN 1806, such as LTE and / or NR, for example.

[0188] In some implementations, UE 1802 and UE 1804 may also exchange communication data directly via sidelink interface 1816. UE 1804 is shown configured to access an access point (shown as AP 1818) via connection 1820. By way of example, connection 1820 may include a local wireless connection, such as a connection conforming to any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein AP 1818 may include Wi-Fi. ® Router. In this example, AP 1818 can connect to another network (e.g., the Internet) without using CN 1824.

[0189] In the implementation, UE 1802 and UE 1804 may be configured to communicate with each other or with base station 1812 and / or base station 1814 on a multi-carrier communication channel using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals according to various communication technologies, such as, but not limited to, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication technology (e.g., for downlink communication) or single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) communication technology (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communication), but the scope of the implementation is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signal may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0190] In some implementations, all or some of the base stations in base station 1812 or base station 1814 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network. Furthermore, or in other implementations, base station 1812 or base station 1814 may be configured to communicate with each other via interface 1822. In implementations where the wireless communication system 1800 is an LTE system (e.g., when CN 1824 is an EPC), interface 1822 may be an X2 interface. This X2 interface may be defined between two or more base stations (e.g., two or more eNBs, etc.) connected to the EPC and / or between two eNBs connected to the EPC. In implementations where the wireless communication system 1800 is an NR system (e.g., when CN 1824 is a 5GC), interface 1822 may be an Xn interface. The Xn interface is defined between two or more base stations (e.g., two or more gNBs, etc.) connected to the 5GC, between a base station 1812 (e.g., a gNB) connected to the 5GC and an eNB, and / or between two eNBs connected to the 5GC (e.g., CN 1824).

[0191] RAN 1806 is shown communicatively coupled to CN 1824. CN 1824 may include one or more network elements 1826 configured to provide various data and telecommunications services to customers / subscribers (e.g., users of UE 1802 and UE 1804) connected to CN 1824 via RAN 1806. Components of CN 1824 may be implemented in a single physical device or a separate physical device, including components for reading and executing instructions from machine-readable or computer-readable media (e.g., non-transitory machine-readable storage media).

[0192] In the implementation scheme, CN 1824 may be an EPC, and RAN 1806 may be connected to CN 1824 via S1 interface 1828. In the implementation scheme, S1 interface 1828 may be divided into two parts: an S1 user plane (S1-U) interface, which carries service data between base station 1812 or base station 1814 and the serving gateway (S-GW); and an S1-MME interface, which is the signaling interface between base station 1812 or base station 1814 and the mobility management entity (MME).

[0193] In the implementation, CN 1824 may be a 5GC, and RAN 1806 may be connected to CN 1824 via NG interface 1828. In the implementation, NG interface 1828 may be divided into two parts: an NG user plane (NG-U) interface, which carries service data between base station 1812 or base station 1814 and the User Plane Function (UPF); and an S1 control plane (NG-C) interface, which is the signaling interface between base station 1812 or base station 1814 and the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF).

[0194] Generally, application server 1830 can be an element that provides Internet Protocol (IP) bearer resources (e.g., packet-switched data services) for use with CN 1824. Application server 1830 can also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., VoIP sessions, group communication sessions, etc.) for UE 1802 and UE 1804 via CN 1824. Application server 1830 can communicate with CN 1824 via IP communication interface 1832.

[0195] Figure 19A system 1900 is illustrated according to an embodiment disclosed herein for executing signaling 1934 between a wireless device 1902 and a network device 1918 supported by a CN device 1936. System 1900 may be part of a wireless communication system as described herein. Wireless device 1902 may be, for example, a UE (User Equipment) of a wireless communication system. Network device 1918 may be, for example, a base station (e.g., an eNB, gNB, or a sixth-generation base station) of a wireless communication system.

[0196] Wireless device 1902 may include one or more processors 1904. Processor 1904 is executable instructions that enable various operations of wireless device 1902 to be performed as described herein. Processor 1904 may include one or more baseband processors, which are implemented using, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), digital signal processor (DSP), application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), controller, field-programmable gate array (FPGA) device, another hardware device, firmware device, or any combination thereof configured to perform the operations described herein.

[0197] Wireless device 1902 may include memory 1906. Memory 1906 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions 1908, which may include instructions executed, for example, by processor 1904. Instructions 1908 may also be referred to as program code or computer program. Memory 1906 may also store data used by processor 1904 and results calculated by the processor.

[0198] Wireless device 1902 may include one or more transceivers 1910, which may include radio frequency (RF) transmitter circuitry and / or receiver circuitry that uses antenna 1912 of wireless device 1902 to facilitate signaling (e.g., signaling 1934) to and / or from wireless device 1902 and other devices (e.g., network device 1918) in accordance with a corresponding RAT.

[0199] Wireless device 1902 may include one or more antennas 1912 (e.g., one, two, four or more). In embodiments with multiple antennas 1912, wireless device 1902 can fully utilize the spatial diversity of such multiple antennas 1912 to transmit and / or receive multiple different data streams on the same time-frequency resource. This behavior may be referred to as, for example, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) behavior (referring to multiple antennas used at each of the transmitting and receiving devices to implement this aspect). MIMO transmission by wireless device 1902 can be achieved according to pre-decoding (or digital beamforming) applied at wireless device 1902, which multiplexes data streams across antennas 1912 based on known or assumed channel characteristics, such that each data stream is received with appropriate signal strength relative to the others at a desired location in the spatial domain (e.g., the location of the receiver associated with that data stream). Some implementations may use a single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) approach (where all data streams are directed to a single receiver) and / or a multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) approach (where individual data streams may be directed to individual (different) receivers at different locations in the airspace).

[0200] In some implementations with multiple antennas, wireless device 1902 can implement analog beamforming technology, whereby the phase of the signal transmitted by antenna 1912 is relatively adjusted so that the (joint) transmission of antenna 1912 can be directed (this is sometimes referred to as beam control).

[0201] Wireless device 1902 may include one or more interfaces 1914. Interfaces 1914 can be used to provide input to or output to wireless device 1902. For example, wireless device 1902 as a UE may include interfaces 1914, such as microphones, speakers, touchscreens, and buttons, to allow users of the UE to make inputs and / or outputs to the UE. Other interfaces of such a UE may consist of transmitters, receivers, and other circuitry that allow the UE to communicate with other devices (e.g., in addition to the transceiver 1910 / antenna 1912 already described), and may be based on known protocols (e.g., Wi-Fi). ® and Bluetooth ® (etc.) to perform the operation.

[0202] Wireless device 1902 may include PDCP processing module 1916. PDCP processing module 1916 may be implemented via hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For example, PDCP processing module 1916 may be implemented as a processor, circuitry, and / or instructions 1908 stored in memory 1906 and executed by processor 1904. In some examples, PDCP processing module 1916 may be integrated within processor 1904 and / or transceiver 1910. For example, PDCP processing module 1916 may be implemented via a combination of software components (e.g., executed by a DSP or general-purpose processor) and hardware components (e.g., logic gates and circuitry) within processor 1904 or transceiver 1910.

[0203] The PDCP processing module 1916 can be used in various aspects of this disclosure, for example, Figure 14 and / or Figure 15 All aspects. The PDCP processing module 1916 can configure the wireless device 1902, which is a UE, to perform PDCP processing for the PDCP layer as a transmitter and / or receiver, as discussed herein.

[0204] Network device 1918 may include one or more processors 1920. Processor 1920 is executable instructions to perform various operations of network device 1918 as described herein. Processor 1920 may include one or more baseband processors, which are implemented using, for example, a CPU, DSP, ASIC, controller, FPGA device, another hardware device, firmware device, or any combination thereof configured to perform the operations described herein.

[0205] Network device 1918 may include memory 1922. Memory 1922 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions 1924, which may include instructions executed, for example, by processor 1920. Instructions 1924 may also be referred to as program code or computer program. Memory 1922 may also store data used by processor 1920 and results calculated by the processor.

[0206] Network device 1918 may include one or more transceivers 1926, which may include RF transmitter circuitry and / or receiver circuitry that uses the antenna 1928 of network device 1918 to facilitate signaling (e.g., signaling 1934) to and / or from network device 1918 and other devices (e.g., wireless device 1902) in accordance with the corresponding RAT.

[0207] Network device 1918 may include one or more antennas 1928 (e.g., one, two, four or more). In embodiments having multiple antennas 1928, network device 1918 may perform MIMO, digital beamforming, analog beamforming, beam control, etc., as described.

[0208] Network device 1918 may include one or more interfaces 1930. Interfaces 1930 can be used to provide input to or output to network device 1918. For example, network device 1918, acting as a base station, may include interfaces 1930 consisting of transmitters, receivers, and other circuitry (e.g., in addition to the transceiver 1926 / antenna 1928 already described), enabling the base station to communicate with other equipment in the core network, and / or enabling the base station to communicate with external networks, computers, databases, etc., for the purpose of operating, managing, and maintaining the base station or other equipment operatively connected to the base station. As another example, network device 1918 may communicate with CN device 1936 on interface 1946 within interface 1930 (e.g., an NG interface in the NR case, or an S1 interface in the LTE case).

[0209] Network device 1918 may include PDCP processing module 1932. PDCP processing module 1932 may be implemented via hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For example, PDCP processing module 1932 may be implemented as a processor, circuitry, and / or instructions 1924 stored in memory 1922 and executed by processor 1920. In some examples, PDCP processing module 1932 may be integrated within processor 1920 and / or transceiver 1926. For example, PDCP processing module 1932 may be implemented via a combination of software components (e.g., executed by a DSP or general-purpose processor) and hardware components (e.g., logic gates and circuitry) within processor 1920 or transceiver 1926.

[0210] The PDCP processing module 1932 can be used in various aspects of this disclosure, for example, Figure 16 and / or Figure 17 All aspects. The PDCP processing module 1932 can configure the network device 1918, which is a base station, to perform PDCP processing for the PDCP layer as part of a base station cluster (which is a transmitter) and / or as a receiver, as discussed herein.

[0211] CN device 1936 may include one or more processors 1938. Processor 1938 is executable instructions to perform various operations of CN device 1936 as described herein. Processor 1938 may include one or more baseband processors, which are implemented using, for example, a CPU, DSP, ASIC, controller, FPGA device, another hardware device, firmware device, or any combination thereof configured to perform the operations described herein.

[0212] CN device 1936 may include memory 1940. Memory 1940 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions 1942, which may include, for example, instructions executed by processor 1938. Instructions 1942 may also be referred to as program code or computer program. Memory 1940 may also store data used by processor 1938 and results calculated by the processor.

[0213] CN device 1936 may include one or more interfaces 1944. Interface 1944 can be used to provide input to or from CN device 1936. For example, CN device 1936 may communicate with network device 1918 on interface 1944 (e.g., in the case of NR, it may be an NG interface, or in the case of LTE, it may be an S1 interface).

[0214] The embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus comprising components for performing one or more elements of either method 1400 and / or method 1500. The apparatus may be, for example, a UE (such as wireless device 1902 as a UE, as described herein).

[0215] The embodiments contemplated herein include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, which include instructions for causing the electronic device to perform one or more elements of any of methods 1400 and / or 1500 when executed by one or more processors of the electronic device. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may be, for example, the memory of a UE (such as memory 1906 of a wireless device 1902 serving as a UE, as described herein).

[0216] The embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus comprising logic components, modules, or circuitry for performing one or more elements of any of methods 1400 and / or 1500. This apparatus may be, for example, a UE (such as wireless device 1902 as a UE, as described herein).

[0217] The embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform one or more elements of any of methods 1400 and / or 1500. The apparatus may be, for example, a UE (such as a wireless device 1902 as a UE, as described herein).

[0218] The implementation scheme envisioned herein includes a signal as described in or associated with one or more elements of any of the methods 1400 and / or 1500.

[0219] The embodiments contemplated herein include a computer program or computer program product comprising instructions which are executed by a processor to cause the processor to perform one or more elements of any of methods 1400 and / or 1500. The processor may be a processor of the UE (such as processor 1904 as a wireless device 1902 of the UE, as described herein). These instructions may be, for example, located in the processor and / or in the memory of the UE (such as memory 1906 as a wireless device 1902 of the UE, as described herein).

[0220] The embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus comprising components for performing one or more elements of either method 1600 and / or method 1700. This apparatus may be, for example, a base station (such as network device 1918 as a base station, as described herein). Further contemplated, the apparatus may be one of many such apparatuses working together in a distributed manner to perform one or more elements of either method 1600 and / or method 1700.

[0221] The embodiments contemplated herein include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of any of methods 1600 and / or 1700. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may be, for example, the memory of a base station (such as memory 1922 of a network device 1918 acting as a base station, as described herein). Further contemplated, the electronic device may be one of many such electronic devices working in a distributed manner to perform one or more elements of any of methods 1600 and / or 1700.

[0222] The embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus comprising logic components, modules, or circuitry for performing one or more elements of any of methods 1600 and / or 1700. The apparatus may be, for example, a base station (such as network device 1918 as a base station, as described herein). Further contemplated, the apparatus may be one of many such apparatuses working in a distributed manner to perform one or more elements of any of methods 1600 and / or 1700.

[0223] The embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform one or more elements of any of methods 1600 and / or 1700. The apparatus may be, for example, a base station (such as network device 1918 as a base station, as described herein). Further contemplated, the apparatus may be one of many such apparatuses that work together in a distributed manner to perform one or more elements of any of methods 1600 and / or 1700.

[0224] The implementation scheme envisioned herein includes a signal as described in or associated with one or more elements of any of the methods in method 1600 and / or method 1700.

[0225] The embodiments contemplated herein include a computer program or computer program product comprising instructions, wherein the program is executed by a processing element to cause the processing element to perform one or more elements of any of methods 1600 and / or 1700. The processor may be a processor of a base station (such as processor 1920 of network device 1918 as a base station, as described herein). These instructions may, for example, be located in the processor and / or in the memory of the base station (such as memory 1922 of network device 1918 as a base station, as described herein). It is further contemplated that the processing element may be one of many such processing elements working together in a distributed manner to perform one or more elements of any of methods 1600 and / or 1700.

[0226] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components illustrated in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and / or methods as described herein. For example, a baseband processor as described herein in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples illustrated herein. Similarly, circuitry associated with a UE, base station, network element, etc., as described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples illustrated herein.

[0227] Unless otherwise expressly stated, any of the embodiments described above may be combined with any other embodiment (or combination of embodiments). The foregoing description of one or more specific embodiments provides illustrative and descriptive information, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. In light of the teachings above, modifications and variations are possible, or modifications and variations may be derived from practice with various embodiments.

[0228] Implementations and specific embodiments of the systems and methods described herein may include various operations embodied in machine-executable instructions to be executed by a computer system. The computer system may include one or more general-purpose or special-purpose computers (or other electronic devices). The computer system may include hardware components, including specific logical parts for performing the operations; or may include a combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0229] It should be recognized that the systems described herein include descriptions of specific implementations. These implementations may be combined into a single system, partially integrated into other systems, divided into multiple systems, or otherwise partitioned or combined. Furthermore, it is conceivable to use parameters, attributes, aspects, etc., of one implementation in one implementation. For clarity, these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc., are described only in one or more implementations, and it should be recognized that, unless expressly stated herein, these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc., may be combined with or substituted for parameters, attributes, aspects, etc., of another implementation.

[0230] As is widely recognized, the use of personally identifiable information should comply with privacy policies and practices that are generally accepted to meet or exceed industry or governmental requirements for protecting user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly explained to users.

[0231] Although the foregoing has been described in considerable detail for clarity, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications can be made without departing from the principles of the invention. It should be noted that there are many alternative ways to implement both the processes and apparatus described herein. Therefore, embodiments of the invention should be considered illustrative rather than restrictive, and this specification is not limited to the details given herein, but can be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for a user equipment (UE) serving a base station trunking system to perform PDCP processing on a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) entity, the method comprising: A concatenated SDU set is generated by concatenating multiple Service Data Units (SDUs) used for a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) set; The cascaded SDU set is segmented into one or more system PDUs in the PDU set; Encoding is performed using the one or more system PDUs to generate one or more redundant PDUs from the PDU set; as well as The one or more system PDUs and the one or more redundant PDUs are distributed across one or more Radio Link Control (RLC) entities for transmission to one or more sub-clusters in the base station cluster corresponding to the one or more RLC entities.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the cascaded SDU set is further generated by the following operations: Generate authentication codes for the multiple SDUs; and The authentication code is concatenated with the plurality of SDUs within the concatenated SDU set.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: The cascaded SDU set is encrypted before it is segmented.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the encoding comprises Reed-Solomon erasure encoding.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more system PDUs and each of the one or more redundant PDUs has the same size.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: Determine the number of PDUs in the one or more systems.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: Determine the total number of the one or more system PDUs and the redundant PDUs.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: Select an RLC ratio, wherein the one or more system PDUs and the one or more redundant PDUs are distributed across the RLC entities according to the RLC ratio.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising: The UE receives a proposed RLC ratio from the cluster, wherein the RLC ratio is selected by the UE based on the proposed RLC ratio.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the PDU set includes a virtual PDU set.

11. A method for a user equipment (UE) serving a base station trunking system to perform PDCP processing on a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) entity, the method comprising: Receive one or more PDUs from a set of Protocol Data Units (PDUs) from one or more Radio Link Control (RLC) entities corresponding to one or more sub-clusters of the base station cluster; Based on the determination that the number of the one or more PDUs is greater than or equal to the number of system PDUs in the PDU set, decoding is performed using the one or more PDUs in the PDU set to generate a cascaded service data unit (SDU) set; The cascaded SDU set is decomposed into multiple SDUs for the PDU set; as well as The plurality of SDUs are provided to the higher-level protocol entities of the UE.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the method further comprises: Retrieve the authentication codes of the plurality of SDUs from the cascaded SDU set; as well as The authentication code is used to authenticate the multiple SDUs.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the method further comprises: The cascaded SDU set is decrypted before being decomposed.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the decoding comprises Reed-Solomon erasure decoding.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein each of the one or more PDUs has the same size.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the PDU set includes a virtual PDU set.

17. A method for a base station cluster serving a user equipment (UE) to perform PDCP processing on a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) entity, the method comprising: A concatenated SDU set is generated by concatenating multiple Service Data Units (SDUs) used for a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) set; The cascaded SDU set is segmented into one or more system PDUs in the PDU set; Encoding is performed using the one or more system PDUs to generate one or more redundant PDUs from the PDU set; as well as The one or more system PDUs and the one or more redundant PDUs are distributed across one or more sub-clusters of the base station cluster to be transmitted to the UE.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the cascaded SDU set is further generated by the following operations: Generate authentication codes for the multiple SDUs; and The authentication code is concatenated with the plurality of SDUs within the concatenated SDU set.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising: The cascaded SDU set is encrypted before it is segmented.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the encoding comprises Reed-Solomon erasure encoding.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein each of the one or more system PDUs and each of the one or more redundant PDUs has the same size.

22. The method of claim 17, further comprising: Determine the number of PDUs in the one or more systems.

23. The method of claim 17, further comprising: Determine the total number of the one or more system PDUs and the redundant PDUs.

24. The method of claim 17, further comprising: Select an RLC ratio, wherein the one or more system PDUs and the one or more redundant PDUs are distributed across the RLC entities according to the RLC ratio.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising: The PDCP entity receives a proposed RLC ratio from the UE, wherein the RLC ratio is selected by the PDCP entity based on the proposed RLC ratio.

26. The method of claim 17, further comprising: The RLC ratio is received from the Cluster Control Function (CCF) for the base station cluster, wherein the one or more system PDUs and the one or more redundant PDUs are distributed across the RLC entities according to the RLC ratio.

27. The method of claim 17, wherein the PDU set includes a virtual PDU set.

28. A method for a base station cluster serving a user equipment (UE) to perform PDCP processing on Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) entities, the method comprising: Receive one or more PDUs from a set of Protocol Data Units (PDUs) from one or more Radio Link Control (RLC) entities corresponding to one or more sub-clusters of the base station cluster; Based on the determination that the number of the one or more PDUs is greater than or equal to the number of system PDUs in the PDU set, decoding is performed using the one or more PDUs in the PDU set to generate a cascaded service data unit (SDU) set; The cascaded SDU set is decomposed into multiple SDUs for the PDU set; as well as The multiple SDUs are provided to the higher-level protocol entities of the base station cluster.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising: Retrieve the authentication codes of the plurality of SDUs from the cascaded SDU set; as well as The authentication code is used to authenticate the multiple SDUs.

30. The method of claim 28, further comprising: The cascaded SDU set is decrypted before being decomposed.

31. The method of claim 28, wherein the decoding comprises Reed-Solomon erasure decoding.

32. The method of claim 28, wherein each of the one or more PDUs has the same size.

33. The method of claim 28, wherein the PDU set includes a virtual PDU set.

34. An apparatus comprising components for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 33.

35. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions for causing the electronic device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 33 when executed by one or more processors of the electronic device.

36. An apparatus comprising a logic component, module, or circuit for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 33.

37. A baseband processor for a user equipment (UE), the baseband processor being configured to cause the UE to perform one or more elements according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

38. A baseband processor for a base station, the baseband processor being configured to cause the base station to perform one or more elements according to any one of claims 17 to 33.

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