CENTRAL UNIT, DISTRIBUTED UNIT, USER EQUIPMENT AND METHOD FOR DATA TRANSMISSION BASED ON APPLICATION DATA UNIT - Patent application

Abstract

The present application relates to a CU, a DU, a UE, and a method for data transmission based on an ADU. The CU receives ADU information related to a plurality of ADUs from a CN, determines DRB and ADU association information related to one or more of the plurality of ADUs associated with one or more DRBs to a DU of a network node via a CU-DU interface, and transmits the DRB and ADU association information and the ADU information to the DU via the CU-DU interface.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] TECHNICAL FIELD Embodiments of the present application generally relate to wireless communication technologies, and more particularly, to a central unit, a distributed unit, a user equipment, and a method for data transmission based on an application data unit. [Background technology]

[0002] Extended Reality (XR), including Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), as well as Cloud Gaming (CG), present new promising categories of connected devices, applications, and services. Application and traffic awareness in the Radio Access Network (RAN) is one of the key features to improve the user experience of XR services. XR services require high bitrates with bounded latency. Typically, applications require a certain minimum granularity of application data to be available on the client side before the next level of processing can begin. This minimum granularity of application data is called an "Application Data Unit" (ADU).

[0003] In the NG interface between the base station (BS) and the core network (CN), the ADU-related information is probably included in the NG-U header for each QoS flow. However, the information in the NG-U header is either deleted by the central unit (CU) of the BS or protected by the PDCP layer. Therefore, the distributed unit (DU) of the BS cannot recognize the ADU-related information for each DRB after the procedure of mapping between the QoS flow and the DRB.

[0004] Furthermore, the NR-U protocol layer is used for flow control of user data packets forwarded from the node hosting the NR PDCP to the corresponding node. Existing flow control is mainly based on the delivery status of PDCP PDUs, which is not applicable to the ADU-based QoS framework. Furthermore, the CU of the BS may provide information of downlink NR PDCP PDUs to be discarded for user data associated with a particular data radio bearer, which is also not applicable to the ADU-based QoS framework. [Prior art documents] [Non-patent literature]

[0005] [Non-Patent Document 1] 3GPP TS 38.473 [Non-Patent Document 2] 3GPP TS 38.425 [Non-Patent Document 3] 3GPP TS 38.415 Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] Some embodiments of the present application provide a central unit (CU) of a network node. The CU includes a processor and a transceiver coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to receive application data unit (ADU) information related to a plurality of application data units (ADUs) from a core network via the transceiver, determine data radio bearer (DRB) and ADU association information related to one or more of the plurality of ADUs associated with one or more data radio bearers (DRBs) to a distributed unit (DU) of the network node via a CU-DU interface, and transmit the DRB and ADU association information and the ADU information to the DU via the CU-DU interface via the transceiver.

[0007] In some embodiments, the processor is further configured to transmit, via the transceiver, the DRB and ADU association information to the DU via F1 Application Protocol (F1-AP) signaling.

[0008] In some embodiments, the processor is further configured to transmit the ADU information via the transceiver to the DU in a user plane protocol of a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocol data unit (PDU).

[0009] In some embodiments, the processor is further configured to add the ADU information in an F1 user plane (F1-U) protocol.

[0010] In some embodiments, the F1-U protocol is provided by a GPRS tunneling protocol user plane (GTP-U) extension header, and the F1-U protocol is added to a New Radio (NR) Radio Access Network (RAN) container in the GTP-U extension header, added to a new container in the GTP-U extension header, or added to a packet data unit session container in the GTP-U extension header.

[0011] In some embodiments, the processor is further configured to process the ADU information before generating the PDCP PDU and attach the ADU information to the PDCP PDU.

[0012] In some embodiments, the processor is further configured to receive, via the transceiver, flow control information based on the ADU from the DU.

[0013] In some embodiments, the processor is further configured to transmit DRB identification information (DRB identification) to the DU via the transceiver, and receive ADU-based flow control information from the DU via the transceiver via the DRB corresponding to the DRB identification information.

[0014] In some embodiments, the ADU based flow control information includes at least one of: one or more ADU sequence numbers of one or more ADUs successfully delivered to a user equipment (UE) for user data in the DRB; one or more ADU sequence numbers of one or more ADUs that were not delivered to the UE or were not sent to a lower layer of the DU; one or more packet sequence numbers that were not delivered to the UE or were not sent to a lower layer of the DU; or one or more ADU sequence numbers of one or more ADUs that were sent to a lower layer of the DU for user data related to the DRB.

[0015] In some embodiments, the processor is further configured to transmit an ADU discard indication to the DU via the transceiver.

[0016] In some embodiments, the ADU discard indication is included in the F1-U protocol and includes at least one of an indication of one or more ADUs to be discarded or a non-critical packet to be discarded indicating at least one non-critical packet of the one or more ADUs to be discarded.

[0017] In some embodiments, the DRB and ADU association information indicates that at least one packet transmitted over one or more DRBs corresponds to the same ADU, or that at least one packet of an ADU corresponds to one or more DRBs.

[0018] In some embodiments, the ADU information includes at least one of an ADU sequence number, a packet sequence number of the packets in the ADU, an indication of the last packet of the packets in the ADU, or an indication of importance of the packets in the ADU.

[0019] Some embodiments of the present application provide a DU of a network node. The DU includes a processor and a transceiver coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to receive ADU information and DRB and ADU association information from a CU via a CU-DU interface via the transceiver, the ADU information being related to a plurality of ADUs, and the DRB and ADU association information being related to one or more of a plurality of ADUs associated with one or more DRBs to a CU of the network node via the CU-DU interface, determine ADU-based flow control information according to the ADU information and the DRB and ADU association information, and transmit the ADU-based flow control information to the CU via the transceiver.

[0020] In some embodiments, the processor is further configured to receive, via the transceiver, DRB and ADU association information from the CU via F1-AP signaling.

[0021] In some embodiments, the processor is further configured to receive, via the transceiver, the ADU information from the CU in a user plane protocol of the PDCP PDU.

[0022] In some embodiments, the ADU information is added in the F1-U protocol.

[0023] In some embodiments, the F1-U protocol is provided by a GTP-U extension header, and the F1-U protocol is added to an NR RAN container in the GTP-U extension header, added to a new container in the GTP-U extension header, or added to a packet data unit session container in the GTP-U extension header.

[0024] In some embodiments, the processor is further configured to obtain the ADU information from the GTP-U extension header, add the ADU information to a header of an existing layer or to the ADU layer, and transmit the ADU information to the UE via the transceiver.

[0025] In some embodiments, the processor is further configured to receive DRB identification information from the CU via the transceiver, and transmit ADU-based flow control information to the CU via the DRB corresponding to the DRB identification information via the transceiver.

[0026] In some embodiments, the ADU based flow control information includes at least one of: one or more ADU sequence numbers of one or more ADUs successfully delivered to a user equipment (UE) for user data in the DRB; one or more ADU sequence numbers of one or more ADUs that were not delivered to the UE or were not sent to a lower layer of the DU; one or more packet sequence numbers that were not delivered to the UE or were not sent to a lower layer of the DU; or one or more ADU sequence numbers of one or more ADUs that were sent to a lower layer of the DU for user data related to the DRB.

[0027] In some embodiments, the processor is further configured to receive an ADU discard indication from the CU via the transceiver, and discard at least one packet associated with the one or more ADUs according to the ADU discard indication.

[0028] In some embodiments, the discard indication is included in the F1-U protocol and includes at least one of an indication of one or more ADUs to be discarded, or an indication of a non-fatal packet to be discarded indicating at least one non-fatal packet of one or more ADUs to be discarded.

[0029] In some embodiments, the DRB and ADU association information indicates that at least one packet transmitted over one or more DRBs corresponds to the same ADU, or that at least one packet of an ADU corresponds to one or more DRBs.

[0030] In some embodiments, the ADU information includes at least one of an ADU sequence number, a packet sequence number of the packets in the ADU, an indication of the last packet of the packets in the ADU, or an indication of importance of the packets in the ADU.

[0031] Some embodiments of the present application provide a UE, which includes a processor and a transceiver coupled to the processor, wherein the processor is configured to receive a network packet from a DU of a network node through the transceiver, and obtain ADU information from a header of an existing layer of the network packet or from an ADU layer of the network packet, or obtain ADU information from a header of a PDCP PDU of the network packet before parsing the PDCP PDU.

[0032] In some embodiments, the ADU information includes at least one of an ADU sequence number, a packet sequence number of the packets in the ADU, an indication of the last packet of the packets in the ADU, or an indication of importance of the packets in the ADU.

[0033] Some embodiments of the present application provide a method of a network node. The network node includes a CU and a DU. The method includes: receiving ADU information related to a plurality of ADUs from a core network by the CU; determining DRB and ADU association information related to one or more of the plurality of ADUs associated with one or more DRBs to a DU of the network node via a CU-DU interface by the CU; and transmitting the DRB and ADU association information and the ADU information related to the one or more DRBs to the DU via the CU-DU interface via the CU.

[0034] In some embodiments, the method further includes a step of receiving, by the DU, DRB and ADU association information and ADU information related to one or more DRBs from the CU via a CU-DU interface, a step of determining, by the DU, ADU-based flow control information according to the ADU information related to the one or more DRBs and the DRB and ADU association information, and a step of sending, by the DU, the ADU-based flow control information to the CU.

[0035] To explain how the advantages and features of the present application may be obtained, the application will be described by reference to specific embodiments thereof that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. These drawings depict only exemplary embodiments of the present application and therefore should not be considered as limiting its scope. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0036] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system according to some embodiments of the present application. [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram of a wireless communication system according to some embodiments of the present application. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of message transmission between a CU and a DU according to some embodiments of the present application. [Figure 4]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack between a UE and a BS including a CU and a DU according to some embodiments of the present application. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack between a UE and a BS including a CU and a DU according to some embodiments of the present application. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of message transmission between a CU and a DU according to some embodiments of the present application. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of message transmission between a CU and a DU according to some embodiments of the present application. [Figure 8] 1 is a flow diagram of a method for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 9A] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a CU according to some embodiments of the present application. [Figure 9B] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a DU according to some embodiments of the present application. [Figure 9C] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a UE according to some embodiments of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0037] The detailed description of the accompanying drawings is intended as an illustration of a preferred embodiment of the present application, and is not intended to represent the only form in which the present application may be practiced. It is to be understood that the same or equivalent functions may be accomplished by different embodiments that are intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the present application.

[0038] Reference will now be made in detail to some embodiments of the present application, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The embodiments of the present application may be provided in a network architecture that employs various service scenarios, such as, but not limited to, 3GPP 3G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced (LTE-A), 3GPP 4G, 3GPP 5G NR (New Radio), etc. It is expected that the terms described in the present application may change with the development of 3GPP (registered trademark, hereinafter the same) and related communication technologies, but this should not affect the principle of the present application.

[0039] 1, a wireless communication system 100 may include user equipment (UE) 101, base station (BS) 102, and core network (CN) 103. Although a particular number of UEs 101, BSs 102, and CNs 103 are shown in FIG. 1, it is contemplated that any number of UEs 101, BSs 102, and CNs 103 may be included in the wireless communication system 100.

[0040] The CN 103 may include a core Access and Mobility management Function (AMF) entity. The BS 102, which may communicate with the CN 103, may operate or act under the control of the AMF entity. The CN 103 may further include a User Plane Function (UPF) entity communicatively coupled to the AMF entity.

[0041] The BSs 102 may be distributed across a geographic region. In some embodiments of the present application, the BSs 102 may be referred to as access points, access terminals, bases, base units, macro cells, Node-Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs), gNBs, home Node-Bs, relay nodes, or devices, or may be described using other terms used in the art. Generally, the BSs 102 are part of a radio access network that may include one or more controllers communicatively coupled to one or more corresponding BSs.

[0042] UE 101 may include computing devices such as, but not limited to, desktop computers, laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablet computers, smart televisions (e.g., televisions connected to the Internet), set-top boxes, game consoles, security systems (including security cameras), in-vehicle computers, network devices (e.g., routers, switches, and modems), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and the like.

[0043] According to some embodiments of the present application, UE 101 may include, for example, but is not limited to, a portable wireless communication device, a smartphone, a cellular phone, a flip phone, a device having a subscriber identity module, a personal computer, a selective call receiver, a wireless sensor, a monitoring device, or any other device capable of transmitting and receiving communication signals over a wireless network.

[0044] In some embodiments of the present application, the UE 101 may include, for example, but not limited to, a wearable device such as a smart watch, a fitness band, an optical head mounted display, etc. Additionally, the UE 101 may be referred to as a subscriber unit, a mobile, a mobile station, a user, a terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a fixed terminal, a subscriber station, a user terminal, or a device, or described using other terms used in the art. The UE 101 may communicate directly with the BS 102 via uplink communication signals.

[0045] The wireless communication system 100 may conform to any type of network capable of transmitting and receiving wireless communication signals. For example, the wireless communication system 100 may conform to a wireless communication network, a cellular telephone network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) based network, a code division multiple access (CDMA) based network, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) based network, a long term evolution (LTE) network, a 3GPP based network, a 3GPP 5G network, a satellite communication network, a high altitude platform network, and / or other communication networks.

[0046] In some embodiments of the present application, the wireless communication system 100 complies with the 3GPP protocol 5G New Radio (NR) or 3GPP protocol 5G NR-light (or reduced capability NR UE), and the BS 102 transmits data on the downlink (DL) using an OFDM modulation scheme and the UE 101 transmits data on the uplink (UL) using a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) or OFDM scheme. However, more broadly, the wireless communication system 100 may implement any other open or proprietary communication protocol, for example, WiMAX, among other protocols.

[0047] In some embodiments of the present application, the UE 101 and the BS 102 may communicate using other communication protocols, such as the IEEE 802.11 family of wireless communication protocols. Additionally, in some embodiments of the present application, the UE 101 and the BS 102 may communicate over a licensed spectrum, while in other embodiments, the UE 101 and the BS 102 may communicate over an unlicensed spectrum. This application is not intended to be limited to any particular wireless communication system architecture or protocol implementation. In further embodiments of the present application, the BS 102 may communicate with the UE 101 using 3GPP 5G protocols.

[0048] 2 is a block diagram of a wireless communication system 100 according to some embodiments of the present application. In some embodiments, the BS 102 may include a central unit (CU) 1021 and a distributed unit (DU) 1023. The CU 1021 may communicate with the CN 103 via an interface 109 (e.g., an NG interface) and may communicate with the DU 1023 via a CU-DU interface 108 (e.g., an F1 interface). The DU 1023 may communicate with the CU 1021 via the interface 108 and may communicate with the UE 101 via an interface 107 (e.g., a Uu interface).

[0049] 3 is a schematic diagram of a message transmission in the wireless communication system 100 according to some embodiments of the present application. In some embodiments, the CU 1021 may receive application data unit (ADU) information 1022 from the CN 103. The ADU information 1022 may relate to multiple application data units (ADUs).

[0050] In some embodiments, the CU 1021 may determine data radio bearer (DRB) and application data unit (ADU) association information 1020 associated with one or more of a plurality of ADUs associated with one or more data radio bearers (DRBs) to the DU 1023. The CU 1021 may transmit the DRB and ADU association information 1020 to the DU 1023 via the CU-DU interface 108 between the CU 1021 and the DU 1023. In other words, the DU 1023 may receive the DRB and ADU association information 1020 from the CU 1021 via the CU-DU interface 108. In some embodiments, the DRB and ADU association information 1020 may indicate that (1) at least one packet transmitted over one or more DRBs corresponds to the same ADU, or (2) at least one packet of an ADU corresponds to one or more DRBs.

[0051] For example, an ADU may represent a group of pictures (GOP) for a video service. GOPs are grouped together in a way that improves the visual outcome of a video sequence. GOPs include various types of intra-coded pictures (I-frames), predictively coded pictures (P-frames), B-predictively coded pictures (B-frames), etc. As another example, an ADU may represent I-frames and P-frames, FOV (Field of View) streams and omnidirectional streams, video / depth and pose / control, video streams and audio streams.

[0052] In some embodiments, the CU 1021 may send the DRB and ADU association information 1020 to the DU 1023 via F1 Application Protocol (F1-AP) signaling during a DRB setup related procedure or a DRB modification related procedure. In particular, the F1-AP signaling including the DRB and ADU association information 1020 may be a UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST (specified in 3GPP TS 38.473) message or a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST (specified in 3GPP TS 38.473) message.

[0053] For example, DRB and ADU association information 1020 is provided in the DRB to Be Setup List information element (IE) of the DRB to Be Setup List below. In particular, when DRB '#1' is set up, the ADU associated DRB (i.e., DRB '#2') is also indicated. In other words, DRB '#1' and the ADU associated DRB (i.e., DRB '#2') correspond to the same ADU.

[0054] [Table 1]

[0055] As another example, the DRB and ADU association information 1020 is provided in a separate IE in the ADU associated DRBs List below. In particular, the separate IE includes the ADU association ID (i.e., ADU association IDs '#1' and '#2'). In this example, it is shown that DRB '#1' and DRB '#2' are associated with the ADU with ID '#1', and DRB '#3' and DRB '#4' are associated with the ADU with ID '#2'. In other words, DRB '#1' and DRB '#2' correspond to the same ADU, and DRB '#3' and DRB '#4' correspond to the same ADU.

[0056] [Table 2]

[0057] In some embodiments, the CU 1021 may send ADU information 1022 to the DU 1023 via the CU-DU interface 108. The ADU information 1022 may be associated with one or more DRBs to the DU 1023. The ADU information 1022 may include at least one of: (1) an ADU sequence number, (2) a packet sequence number of the packets of the ADU, (3) an indication of the last packet of the packets of the ADU, or (4) an indication of the importance of the packets of the ADU.

[0058] The ADU sequence number may be a sequence number of the ADU. The packet sequence numbers of the packets of the ADU may be sequence numbers of each packet in the ADU. The last packet indication of the packets of the ADU may indicate the last packet of the ADU. The importance indication of the packets of the ADU may indicate (a) whether the packet is critical or non-critical, or (b) a level of importance of the packet.

[0059] In some embodiments, the CU 1021 may send the ADU information 1022 to the DU 1023 in a user plane protocol of each Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Protocol Data Unit (PDU), and the CU may add the ADU information 1022 in an F1-U protocol, which may be provided by a GPRS Tunneling Protocol User Plane (GTP-U) extension header.

[0060] In some implementations, the F1-U protocol may be added to the NR Radio Access Network (RAN) container of the GTP-U extension header (specified in 3GPP TS 38.425). The ADU information 1022 may be added after the QoS flow to DRB mapping procedure and the PDCP layer processing. In other words, the ADU information 1022 may be added for each PDCP PDU.

[0061] A new frame format carrying ADU information 1022 for each packet may be introduced on the NR user plane protocol. For example, the following new frame format USER DATA WITH ADU INFORMATION carrying ADU information 1022 for each packet is introduced on the NR user plane protocol.

[0062] [Table 3]

[0063] In some implementations, the F1-U protocol may be added to a new container in the GTP-U extension header. In some implementations, the F1-U protocol may be added to a PDU session container in the GTP-U extension header (specified in 3GPP TS 38.415).

[0064] In some embodiments, the DU 1023 may obtain the ADU information 1022 from the GTP-U extension header. The DU 1023 may add the ADU information 1022 to (1) the header of an existing Layer 2 layer (e.g., PDCP layer, RLC layer, and MAC layer) or (2) a new Layer 2 layer, which may be an ADU layer. The DU 1023 may send the ADU information 1022 to the UE 101 based on the header of the existing Layer 2 layer or the new Layer 2 layer. The UE 101 may receive a network packet from the DU 1023 and obtain the ADU information 1022 from the header of the existing Layer 2 layer of the network packet or from the ADU layer of the network packet.

[0065] For example, when the DU 1023 adds ADU information 1022 to a new Layer 2 layer (i.e., ADU layer), the protocol stack 401 between the UE 101 and the BS 102 (including the CU 1021 and the DU 1023) is shown in FIG. 4. In this example, the ADU layer is between the RLC layer and the MAC layer. The ADU information 1022 is transmitted between the CU 1021 and the DU 1023 based on the GTP-U layer. The ADU information 1022 is transmitted between the DU 1023 and the UE 101 based on the ADU layer.

[0066] In some embodiments, the CU 1021 may process the ADU information 1022 before generating the PDCP PDU and may attach the ADU information 1022 to the PDCP PDU. The UE 101 may obtain the ADU information 1022 from the PDCP PDU of the network packet before processing the PDCP PDU.

[0067] For example, based on the protocol stack 402 illustrated in FIG. 5, the CU 1021 generates the ADU information 1022 after the SDAP layer processing and before the PDCP layer processing. Then, the CU 1021 attaches the ADU information 1022 to the PDCP PDU. After the packet transmission between the CU 1021 and the DU 1023, the UE 101 obtains the ADU information 1022 before the PDCP layer processing. Then, the UE 101 processes the ADU information 1022 after the PDCP layer processing and before the SDAP layer processing.

[0068] In some embodiments, after sending the DRB and ADU association information 1020 and the ADU information 1022, the CU 1021 or the DU 1023 may perform ADU-based flow control according to the DRB and ADU association information 1020 and the ADU information 1022.

[0069] In some embodiments, since an ADU packet may be serviced by multiple DRBs between the CU 1021 and the DU 1023, ADU-based flow control information related to the ADU-based flow control may be provided via one of the F1-U protocols of the DRBs (i.e., GTP-U tunnels). In particular, the CU 1021 may select one of the F1-U protocols of the DRBs for providing the ADU-based flow control information, and thus the DU 1023 may generate and provide the ADU-based flow control information to the CU 1021 based on the selected one of the F1-U protocols of the DRBs.

[0070] 6 is a schematic diagram of message transmission between the CU 1021 and the DU 1023 according to some embodiments of the present application. In some embodiments, the CU 1021 may select a specific DRB for the DU 1023 to provide ADU-based flow control information from the DRBs between the CU 1021 and the DU 1023. The CU 1021 may send the DRB identification information 1024 of the specific DRB to the DU 1023, so that the DU 1023 may generate and provide ADU-based flow control information via the specific DRB.

[0071] In some embodiments, the ADU-based flow control information is carried in a user plane protocol of a particular DRB (e.g., within a GTP-U extension header of a particular DRB) and may include at least one of: (1) information of one or more ADUs that were successfully delivered to the UE 101; (2) information of one or more ADUs that were sent to a lower layer of the DU 1023; (3) information of one or more ADUs that were not delivered to the UE 101; or (4) information of one or more ADUs that were not sent to a lower layer of the DU 1023.

[0072] For example, the information of one or more ADUs successfully delivered to the UE 101 may include one or more ADU sequence numbers of one or more ADUs successfully delivered to the UE 101 for user data in the DRB. The information of one or more ADUs sent to the DU lower layer 1023 may include one or more ADU sequence numbers of one or more ADUs not delivered to the UE or not sent to the DU lower layer. The information of one or more ADUs not delivered to the UE 101 may include one or more packet sequence numbers not delivered to the UE or not sent to the DU lower layer. The information of one or more ADUs not sent to the DU 1023 lower layer may include one or more ADU sequence numbers of one or more ADUs sent to the DU lower layer for user data related to the DRB.

[0073] 7 is a schematic diagram of message transmission between the CU 1021 and the DU 1023 according to some embodiments of the present application. In some embodiments, when an IP packet belonging to one particular ADU is too slow (i.e., the queue time of the IP packet exceeds a threshold), the CU 1021 may send an ADU discard indication 1026 to the DU 1023. The DU 1023 may perform discarding of the ADU according to the ADU discard indication 1026.

[0074] In particular, the ADU discard indication 1026 may be included in the F1-U protocol and may include at least one of (1) one or more ADUs to be discarded, or (2) an indication of a non-fatal packet to be discarded, indicating at least one non-fatal packet of one or more ADUs to be discarded. Upon receiving the ADU discard indication 1026, the DU 1023 may discard all buffered or available packets of all associated DRBs of the ADU indicated by the sequence number, or the DU 1023 may discard all packets of the ADU that are marked as non-fatal according to the indication of a non-fatal packet to be discarded. For example, a new frame format USER DATA WITH ADU INFORMATION below is introduced on the NR user plane protocol, which carries the ADU information 1022 about each packet.

[0075] [Table 4]

[0076] 8 shows a flow diagram of a method for wireless communication according to some embodiments of the present application. Referring to FIG. 8, a method 800 is performed by a CU and a DU of a network node (e.g., a CU 1021 and a DU 1023 of a BS 102) in some embodiments of the present application.

[0077] In some embodiments, an operation S801 is performed to receive, by a CU, ADU information associated with a plurality of ADUs from a core network. An operation S802 is performed to determine, by the CU, DRB and ADU association information associated with one or more of a plurality of ADUs associated with one or more DRBs to a DU of a network node via a CU-DU interface. An operation S803 is performed to transmit, by the CU, the DRB and ADU association information and the ADU information associated with the one or more DRBs to the DU via the CU-DU interface.

[0078] An operation S804 is executed to receive DRB and ADU association information and ADU information related to one or more DRBs from the CU via the CU-DU interface by the DU. An operation S805 is executed to determine ADU-based flow control information by the DU according to the ADU information related to one or more DRBs and the DRB and ADU association information. An operation S806 is executed to transmit ADU-based flow control information to the CU via the CU-DU interface by the DU.

[0079] 9A to 9C show example block diagrams of a CU 1021, a DU 1023, and a UE 101 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0080] 9A, the CU 1021 may include at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium (not shown in FIG. 9A), a processor 10211, and a transceiver 10213. The processor 10211 may be electrically coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable medium (not shown in FIG. 9A) and the transceiver 10213.

[0081] In this figure, elements such as the processor 10211 and the transceiver 10213 are shown in the singular, but the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. In certain embodiments of the present disclosure, the CU 1021 may further include an input device, a memory, and / or other components.

[0082] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may store computer-executable instructions to cause a processor to perform procedures as described above for the CU 1021. For example, the computer-executable instructions, when executed, cause the processor 10211 to interact with the transceiver 10213 to perform operations associated with the CU 1021 illustrated in Figures 2-8.

[0083] As shown in FIG. 9B, the DU 1023 may include at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium (not shown in FIG. 9B), a processor 10231, and a transceiver 10233. The processor 10231 may be electrically coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable medium (not shown in FIG. 9B) and the transceiver 10233.

[0084] In this figure, elements such as the processor 10231 and the transceiver 10233 are shown in the singular, but the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. In certain embodiments of the present disclosure, the DU 1023 may further include an input device, a memory, and / or other components.

[0085] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may store computer-executable instructions to cause a processor to perform procedures related to the DU 1023 as described above. For example, the computer-executable instructions, when executed, cause the processor 10231 to interact with the transceiver 10233 to perform operations related to the DU 1023 illustrated in FIG. 2 to FIG. 8.

[0086] 9C, the UE 101 may include at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium (not shown in FIG. 9C), a processor 1011, and a transceiver 1013. The processor 1011 may be electrically coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable medium (not shown in FIG. 9C) and the transceiver 1013.

[0087] In this figure, elements such as the processor 1011 and the transceiver 1013 are shown in the singular, but the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. In certain embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE 101 may further include input devices, memory, and / or other components.

[0088] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may store computer-executable instructions to cause a processor to perform procedures as described above for UE 101. For example, the computer-executable instructions, when executed, cause the processor 1011 to interact with the transceiver 1013 to perform operations for UE 101 illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 4, and 5.

[0089] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the operations of the methods described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Furthermore, in some aspects, the steps of the method may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and / or instructions on a non-transitory computer readable medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.

[0090] Although the present disclosure has been described with its specific embodiments, it is apparent that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, various components of the embodiments may be interchanged, added, or substituted in other embodiments. Also, not all elements of each figure are necessary for the operation of the disclosed embodiments. For example, a person skilled in the art of the disclosed embodiments is enabled to make and use the teachings of the present disclosure by simply adopting the elements of the independent claims. Thus, the embodiments of the present disclosure described herein are intended to be illustrative and not limiting. Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0091] As used herein, the words "includes," "including," or any other variation thereof, are intended to include a non-exclusive inclusion such that a process, method, product, or apparatus that includes a list of elements does not include only those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, product, or apparatus. An element preceded by "a," "an," etc., does not, absent further constraints, exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, product, or apparatus that includes the element. Also, the word "another" is defined as at least a second or more. As used herein, the words "having," etc. are defined as "including."

[0092] As used herein, the words "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to include a non-exclusive inclusion such that a process, method, product, or apparatus that includes a list of elements does not include only those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, product, or apparatus. An element preceded by "a," "an," etc., does not, absent further constraints, exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, product, or apparatus that includes the element. Also, the word "another" is defined as at least a second or more. As used herein, the words "including," "having," etc. are defined as "comprising." [Explanation of symbols]

[0093] 100 Wireless communication system 101 User Equipment (UE) 1011 Processor 1013 Transceiver 102 Base station (BS) 1020 Data Radio Bearer (DRB) and Application Data Unit (ADU) Association Information 1021 Central Unit (CU) 10211 processor 10213 Transceiver 1022 Application Data Unit (ADU) information 1023 Distributed Unit (DU) 10231 processor 10233 Transceiver 1024 DRB identification information 1026 ADU Destroy Indication 103 Core Network (CN) 107 Interface 108 CU-DU interface 109 Interface 401 Protocol Stack 402 Protocol Stack 800 ways

Claims

1. A central unit (CU) of a network node, A processor; a transceiver coupled to the processor; The processor, receiving application data unit (ADU) information associated with a plurality of application data units (ADUs) from a core network via the transceiver; determining data radio bearer (DRB) and ADU association information associated with one or more of the plurality of ADUs associated with one or more data radio bearers (DRBs) to a distributed unit (DU) of the network node via a CU-DU interface; A CU configured to transmit, via the transceiver, the DRB and ADU association information and ADU information related to the one or more DRBs to the DU via the CU-DU interface.

2. 2. The CU of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to transmit, via the transceiver, the DRB and ADU association information to the DU via F1 Application Protocol (F1-AP) signaling.

3. 2. The CU of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to transmit the ADU information associated with the one or more DRBs to the DU in a user plane protocol of a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Protocol Data Unit (PDU) via the transceiver.

4. The processor, The CU of claim 1 , further configured to receive ADU-based flow control information from the DU via the transceiver.

5. The processor, Transmitting DRB identification information to the DU via the transceiver; The CU according to claim 4, further configured to receive, via the transceiver, flow control information based on the ADU from the DU via a DRB corresponding to the DRB identification information.

6. The processor, The CU of claim 1 , further configured to send an ADU discard indication to the DU via the transceiver according to the ADU information associated with the one or more DRBs.

7. 2. The CU of claim 1, wherein the DRB and ADU association information indicates that at least one packet transmitted via the one or more DRBs corresponds to the same ADU, or at least one packet of an ADU corresponds to one or more DRBs.

8. A distributed unit (DU) of a network node, A processor; a transceiver coupled to the processor; The processor, receiving, via the transceiver, Data Radio Bearer (DRB) and Application Data Unit (ADU) association information and ADU information from a Central Unit (CU) via a CU-DU interface, the DRB and ADU association information relating to one or more of a plurality of ADUs associated with one or more Data Radio Bearers (DRBs) to the CU of the network node via the CU-DU interface, and the ADU information relating to the one or more DRBs to the CU; determining ADU-based flow control information according to the ADU information associated with the one or more DRBs and the DRB and ADU association information; and A DU configured to transmit flow control information based on the ADU to the CU via the transceiver.

9. 9. The DU of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to receive, via the transceiver, the DRB and ADU association information from the CU via F1 Application Protocol (F1-AP) signaling.

10. 9. The DU of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to receive the ADU information related to the one or more DRBs from the CU in a user plane protocol of a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Protocol Data Unit (PDU) via the transceiver.

11. The processor, Receive DRB identification information from the CU via the transceiver; The DU according to claim 8, further configured to transmit, via the transceiver, flow control information based on the ADU to the CU via a DRB corresponding to the DRB identification information.

12. The processor, receiving an ADU discard indication from the CU via the transceiver; The DU of claim 8, further configured to discard at least one packet associated with the one or more ADUs according to the ADU discard indication.

13. The ADU discard indication is included in an F1 user plane (F1-U) protocol; One or more ADUs to be abandoned; or 13. The DU of claim 12, comprising at least one of: an indication of discarded non-fatal packets indicating at least one non-fatal packet of the ADU that is discarded.

14. A processor; a transceiver coupled to the processor; The processor, receiving a data radio bearer (DRB) packet from a network node via the transceiver; A user equipment (UE) configured to obtain ADU information from a header of an existing layer of the packet of the DRB or from an application data unit (ADU) layer of the packet of the DRB, or to obtain the ADU information from a header of a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) packet data unit (PDU) of a network packet before processing the PDCP PDU.

15. The ADU information is ADU sequence number, The packet sequence number of the ADU packet, An indication of the last packet in the ADU, or The UE of claim 14, further comprising at least one of an indication of importance of a packet of the ADU.

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