Video transmission over periodic radio resources - Patents.com

Abstract

The processing circuit of the UE operates a video application, and video frames are generated in a video frame period according to the video application. Each video frame is generated within a jitter window having a jitter window length. The transceiver of the UE uses radio resources to exchange one or more video frames of the video application between the UE and a base station. The radio resources are determined by the UE based on one or more periodic resource configurations. When the processing circuit determines that data of the video frames generated during one jitter window is exchanged by using one periodic resource of the one or more periodic resource configurations, it determines to prohibit further use of the periodic radio resources according to the one or more periodic resource configurations for a prohibited interval that is a certain period of time.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure is directed to methods, apparatus, and articles in communication systems, such as 3GPP® communication systems. [Background technology]

[0002] Currently, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is working on developing technical specifications for the next generation of mobile phone technology, also known as the fifth generation (5G).

[0003] One objective is to provide a single technical framework that addresses all usage scenarios, requirements, and deployment scenarios (see, for example, Section 6 of Non-Patent Document 1), including at least enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), and massive machine type communication (mMTC). For example, deployment scenarios for eMBB include indoor hotspots, dense urban areas, rural areas, urban macro, and high-speed communications, deployment scenarios for URLLC include industrial control systems, mobile healthcare (remote monitoring, remote diagnosis, and remote treatment), real-time control of vehicles, wide-area monitoring, and smart grid control systems, and deployment scenarios for mMTC include scenarios using a large number of devices with non-time-critical data transfer, such as smart wearables and sensor networks. eMBB and URLLC services are similar in that both require very high bandwidth, but differ in that URLLC services preferably require ultra-low latency.

[0004] The second objective is to achieve forward compatibility: Backward compatibility with Long Term Evolution (LTE, LTE-A) cellular systems is not required, facilitating the introduction of entirely new system designs and / or new features. [Prior art documents] [Non-patent literature]

[0005] [Non-Patent Document 1] 3GPP TR 38.913 eg version 16.0.0 or version 17.0.0 [Non-Patent Document 2] 3GPP TS 38.300 eg v16.8.0 [Non-Patent Document 3] 3GPP TS 38.211 eg v17.1.0 [Non-Patent Document 4] ITU-R M.20183 [Non-Patent Document 5] 3GPP TS 23.501 eg v16.9.0 or v17.4.0 [Non-Patent Document 6] 3GPP TS 38.321 eg V16.6.0 [Non-Patent Document 7] 3GPP 38.321eg v16.8.0 [Non-Patent Document 8] 3GPP 38.331eg v16.8.0 [Non-Patent Document 9] TS 38.212 eg v17.1.0 [Non-Patent Document 10] 3GPP TS 38.213 eg version 17.1.0 [Non-Patent Document 11] TS 38.213 v16.7.0 [Non-Patent Document 12] 3GPP TS 38.331 eg v16.7.0 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] One non-limiting, illustrative embodiment facilitates providing a procedure for a UE to perform an improved transmission procedure. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In one embodiment, the techniques disclosed herein feature a user equipment (UE) comprising: a processing circuit for operating a video application, where video frames are generated in a video frame period according to the video application; each video frame is generated within a jitter window having a jitter window length; a transceiver for the UE uses radio resources to exchange one or more video frames of the video application between the UE and a base station; the radio resources are determined by the UE based on one or more periodic resource configurations; and when the processing circuit determines that data of a video frame of the video application generated during one jitter window has been exchanged by using one periodic resource of the one or more periodic resource configurations, the processing circuit determines to prohibit further use of periodic radio resources according to the one or more periodic resource configurations for a certain period of time.

[0008] It should be noted that the general or specific embodiments may be implemented as a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, a storage medium, or any combination thereof. For example, an integrated circuit may control a process in a UE or a base station.

[0009] Additional benefits and advantages of the disclosed embodiments and different implementations will become apparent from the specification and figures. These benefits and / or advantages can be obtained individually by the various embodiments and features of the specification and figures, and it is not necessary for all of these features to be present in order to obtain one or more of such benefits and / or advantages. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] Exemplary embodiments are explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying figures and drawings. [Figure 1] 1 illustrates an example architecture of a 3GPP NR system. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the separation of functions between NG-RAN and 5GC. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a sequence diagram of an RRC connection setup / reconfiguration procedure. [Figure 4] A schematic diagram showing the usage scenarios of enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine type communications (mMTC), and ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC). [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example 5G system architecture for a non-roaming scenario. [Figure 6] The relationship between the bandwidth portion, control resource sets (CORESETS), search space, search space set, and PDCCH candidates is shown. [Figure 7] 1 illustrates an example time domain structure in a communication system such as 5G NR, including radio frames, subframes, slots, and OFDM symbols for different subcarrier spacings. [Figure 8] 1 illustrates the exchange of video frame data using dynamically granted uplink resources requested based on periodic SR resources. [Figure 9] 1 illustrates an exchange of video frame data using a configured grant periodic uplink resource. [Figure 10] 1 illustrates the exchange of video frame data using periodic downlink resources in an SPS configuration. [Figure 11] 1 shows an exemplary and simplified structure of a UE and a gNB. [Figure 12]4 shows a structure of a UE according to an exemplary implementation of an improved transmission procedure according to the first solution; [Figure 13] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of a UE operation according to an exemplary implementation of an improved transmission procedure according to the first solution. [Figure 14] 4 shows the structure of a base station according to an exemplary implementation of an improved transmission procedure according to the first solution; [Figure 15] 4 shows a flow diagram of a base station operation according to an exemplary implementation of an improved transmission procedure according to the first solution; [Figure 16] FIG. 1 is a signaling diagram illustrating an exemplary exchange between a UE and a gNB in ​​an exemplary implementation of an improved transmission procedure according to a first solution. [Figure 17] 13 shows an exchange of video frame data using periodic uplink resources of a configured grant and applying prohibition according to an exemplary implementation of an improved transmission procedure of the first solution. [Figure 18] 13 shows an exchange of video frame data according to an exemplary implementation of an improved transmission procedure of the first solution, using periodic uplink resources of a configured grant and applying different variants of prohibition. [Figure 19] 13 shows an exchange of video frame data according to an exemplary implementation of an improved transmission procedure of the first solution, using periodic uplink resources of a configured grant and applying yet another variant of prohibition. [Figure 20] 13 shows an exchange of video frame data using periodic uplink resources of three configured grants and applying prohibition according to an exemplary implementation of an improved transmission procedure of the first solution. [Figure 21] 1 illustrates an exchange of video frame data using dynamically granted uplink resources requested based on periodic SR resources and applying prohibition, according to an exemplary implementation of an improved transmission procedure of the first solution. [Figure 22]1 shows an exchange of video frame data according to an exemplary implementation of an improved transmission procedure of the first solution, using periodic downlink resources and applying prohibition; [Figure 23] 1 illustrates an exchange of video frame data according to an exemplary implementation of an improved transmission procedure of the first solution, using dynamically granted uplink resources requested based on periodic SR resources and applying different variants of prohibition. [Figure 24] 1 shows an exchange of video frame data according to an exemplary implementation of an improved transmission procedure of the first solution, using periodic downlink resources and applying different variants of prohibition; [Diagram 25] 1 illustrates an exchange of video frame data according to an exemplary implementation of an improved transmission procedure of the first solution, using periodic uplink resources and applying the prohibition of dynamically allocated uplink transmissions; [Figure 26] 1 illustrates an exchange of video frame data according to an exemplary implementation of an improved transmission procedure of the first solution, using periodic downlink resources and applying the prohibition of dynamically allocated downlink transmissions; [Figure 27] 1 illustrates a structure of a UE according to an exemplary implementation of an improved transmission procedure according to the second solution. [Figure 28] 13 shows a flow diagram of a UE operation according to an exemplary implementation of an improved transmission procedure according to the second solution. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] <5G NR system architecture and protocol stack> 3GPP is working on the next release of fifth-generation cellular technology (known simply as 5G), which includes the development of a new radio access technology (NR) that will operate in frequencies up to 100 GHz. The first version of the 5G standard will be completed at the end of 2017, which will allow smartphones compliant with the 5G NR standard to proceed to testing and commercial deployment.

[0012] In particular, the overall system architecture envisages an NG-RAN (Next Generation - Radio Access Network) with gNBs, which terminate NG radio access user plane (SDAP / PDCP / RLC / MAC / PHY) and control plane (RRC) protocols towards the UEs. The gNBs are interconnected with each other by Xn interfaces. Furthermore, the gNBs are connected to the NGC (Next Generation Core) by a Next Generation (NG) interface, more specifically to the AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) (e.g. a specific core entity running the AMF) by an NG-C interface and to the UPF (User Plane Function) (e.g. a specific core entity running the UPF) by an NG-U interface. Figure 1 shows the architecture of an NG-RAN (see, for example, section 4 of Non-Patent Document 2).

[0013] The user plane protocol stack in NR (see, for example, section 4.4.1 of 3GPP) includes the PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol, see section 6.4 of 3GPP), RLC (Radio Link Control, see section 6.3 of 3GPP), and MAC (Medium Access Control, see section 6.2 of 3GPP), which are terminated in the gNB on the network side. In addition, a new sublayer of the access stratum (AS), SDAP (Service Data Adaptation Protocol), is introduced on top of the PDCP (see, for example, section 6.5 of 3GPP). A control plane protocol stack is also defined in NR (see, for example, section 4.4.2 of 3GPP). An overview of the functions of Layer 2 is given in section 6 of 3GPP. The functions of the RRC layer are given in section 7 of 3GPP.

[0014] The Medium Access Control (MAC) layer handles, for example, multiplexing of logical channels, and scheduling and scheduling-related functions (including handling of various numerologies).

[0015] The physical layer (PHY) is responsible for, for example, coding, PHY HARQ processing, modulation, multi-antenna processing, mapping of signals to appropriate physical time-frequency resources. Furthermore, the physical layer (PHY) handles mapping of transport channels to physical channels. The physical layer (PHY) provides services to the MAC layer in the form of transport channels. A physical channel corresponds to a set of time-frequency resources used for the transmission of a particular transport channel, and each transport channel is mapped to a corresponding physical channel. For example, the physical channels are PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel), PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel), and PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel) for the uplink, and PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel), PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), and PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel) for the downlink.

[0016] NR use cases / deployment scenarios include enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable and low latency communications (URLLC), and massive machine type communications (mMTC), which have diverse requirements in terms of data rates, latency, and coverage. For example, eMBB is expected to support peak data rates (20 Gbps downlink and 10 Gbps uplink) and user-perceived data rates that are on the order of three times higher than those offered by IMT-Advanced. In contrast, URLLC has more stringent requirements, including extremely low latency (user plane latency of 0.5 ms for uplink and downlink, respectively) and high reliability (1-10 Mbps within 1 ms). -5) is imposed. In addition, mMTC requires high connection density (1 km 2 1,000,000 devices per second), wide coverage in harsh environments, and extremely long battery life (15 years) to lower device costs may be desirable.

[0017] Thus, an OFDM numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing, OFDM symbol duration, cyclic prefix (CP) duration, number of symbols per scheduling interval) suitable for one use case may not work well for another use case. For example, low latency services may preferably require a shorter symbol duration (and therefore a larger subcarrier spacing) and / or fewer symbols per scheduling interval (also referred to as TTI) than mMTC services. Furthermore, deployment scenarios with large channel delay spreads may preferably require a longer cyclic prefix (CP) duration than scenarios with small delay spreads. To maintain a similar cyclic prefix (CP) overhead, the subcarrier spacing should be optimized depending on the delay spread. In NR, more than one value of subcarrier spacing may be supported. Thus, currently, subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, ... are considered. Symbol duration T u and the subcarrier spacing Δf is expressed by the formula Δf=1 / T u As in LTE systems, the term "resource element" can be used to denote the smallest resource unit consisting of one subcarrier for the length of one OFDM / SC-FDMA symbol.

[0018] In the new radio system 5G NR, for each numerology and carrier, a resource grid of subcarriers and OFDM symbols is defined for each of the uplink and downlink. Each element in the resource grid is called a resource element and is identified based on the frequency index in the frequency domain and the symbol position in the time domain (see Section 4 of Non-Patent Document 3). For example, uplink and downlink transmissions are organized into frames with a duration of 10 ms, and each frame is composed of 10 subframes with a duration of 1 ms each. In the implementation of 5G NR, the number of consecutive OFDM symbols per subframe depends on the setting of the subcarrier spacing. For example, when the subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz, one subframe has 14 OFDM symbols (similar to an LTE-compliant implementation assuming a normal cyclic prefix). On the other hand, when the subcarrier spacing is 30 kHz, the subframe has two slots, and each slot contains 14 OFDM symbols.

[0019] <Split of 5G NR functions between NG-RAN and 5GC> Figure 2 shows the split of functions between NG-RAN and 5GC. The logical nodes of NG-RAN are gNB or ng-eNB. The logical nodes of 5GC are AMF, UPF, and SMF.

[0020] gNB and ng-eNB handle the following main functions in particular. - Functions of radio resource management such as radio bearer control, radio admission control, connection mobility control, and dynamic resource allocation (scheduling) to the UE in both the uplink and downlink directions - IP header compression, encryption, and data integrity protection - Selection of AMF at UE attach time when routing to AMF cannot be determined from information provided by the UE - Routing user plane data to the UPF - Routing control plane information to AMF - Establishing and releasing connections - Scheduling and sending paging messages - Scheduling and transmission of system broadcast information (from AMF or OAM) - Configuring measurements and measurement reporting for mobility and scheduling - Transport-level packet marking in the uplink - Session Management - Network slicing support - QoS flow management and mapping to data radio bearers - Support for UEs in RRC_INACTIVE state - NAS message delivery function - Wireless Access Network Sharing - Dual Connection - Tight interworking between NR and E-UTRA

[0021] The Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) handles the following main functions: - Termination of Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signalling - NAS signaling security - Access Stratum (AS) security control - Core Network (CN) inter-node signaling for mobility between 3GPP access networks - Idle mode UE reachability (including control and execution of paging retransmissions) - Registration Area Management - Support for intra-system and inter-system mobility - Access Authentication - Access authentication, including roaming rights checks - Mobility management controls (subscriptions and policies) - Network slicing support - Selection of Session Management Function (SMF)

[0022] In addition, the User Plane Function (UPF) handles the following main functions: - Anchor points for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable) - External PDU session points for interconnection with data networks - Packet routing and forwarding - User plane part of packet inspection and policy rule enforcement - Traffic usage reports - An uplink classifier to support routing of traffic flows to the data network. - Branching points to support multi-homed PDU sessions - User plane QoS processing (e.g. packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement) - Validation of uplink traffic (mapping of SDF to QoS flows) - Buffering of downlink packets and triggering of downlink data notifications

[0023] Finally, the Session Management Function (SMF) handles the following major functions: - Session Management - UE IP address allocation and management - UP function selection and control - Configuration of traffic steering in the user plane function (UPF) for routing traffic to the correct destination - Policy enforcement and QoS control part - Downlink data notification

[0024] <Procedures for RRC connection setup and reconfiguration> Figure 3 shows some interactions between the UE, gNB, and AMF (5GC entity) when the UE transitions from RRC_IDLE to RRC_CONNECTED in the NAS part (see Non-Patent Document 2).

[0025] RRC is the upper layer signaling (protocol) used for the configuration of the UE and gNB. In particular, in this transition, the AMF creates the UE's context data (including, for example, PDU session context, security keys, UE radio capabilities, UE security capabilities, etc.), and sends it to the gNB by means of an Initial Context Setup Request. Next, the gNB activates the AS security with the UE, which is executed by the gNB sending a SecurityModeCommand message to the UE and the UE responding to the gNB with a SecurityModeComplete message. Thereafter, the gNB performs a reconfiguration to establish the Signaling Radio Bearer 2 (SRB2) and the Data Radio Bearer (DRB), which is by the gNB sending an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE and the gNB receiving an RRCReconfigurationComplete from the UE in response. In the case of a signaling-only connection, since the SRB2 and DRB are not established, these steps related to RRCReconfiguration are skipped. Finally, the gNB notifies the AMF by means of an Initial Context Setup Response that the setup procedure is complete.

[0026] Therefore, the present disclosure provides a 5th Generation Core (5GC) entity (e.g., AMF, SMF, etc.), comprising: a control circuit that, in operation, establishes a next generation (NG) connection with a gNodeB; and a transmitter that, in operation, transmits an initial context configuration message to the gNodeB via the NG connection to establish a signaling radio bearer between the gNodeB and a user equipment (UE). Specifically, the gNodeB transmits RRC (Radio Resource Control) signaling including an information element (IE) of resource allocation configuration to the UE via the signaling radio bearer. The UE performs uplink transmission or downlink reception based on the resource allocation configuration.

[0027] <IMT usage scenarios after 2020> Figure 4 shows some of the use cases for 5G NR. The 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) New Radio (3GPP NR) considers three envisioned use cases to support various services and applications with IMT-2020. The specifications for Phase 1 of Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) have been finalized. Current and upcoming work includes the standardization of Ultra-Reliable and Low-Latency Communications (URLLC) and Large-Scale Machine-Type Communications, in addition to further extending support for eMBB. Figure 4 shows some examples of envisioned usage scenarios for IMT beyond 2020 (see, for example, Figure 2 in Non-Patent Document 4).

[0028] URLLC use cases have stringent requirements on capabilities such as throughput, latency and availability, and are envisioned as one of the enablers of future vertical applications such as wireless control of industrial manufacturing and production processes, remote medical surgery, power distribution automation in smart grids, and transportation safety. URLLC's ultra-high reliability is supported by identifying technologies to meet the requirements set by NR URLLC in Release 15. For NR URLLC in Release 15, the main requirements include a target user plane latency of 0.5 ms on the UL (uplink) and 0.5 ms on the DL (downlink). The general URLLC requirement for a single transmission of a packet is a BLER (block error rate) of 1E-5 for a packet size of 32 bytes with a user plane latency of 1 ms.

[0029] From a physical layer perspective, there are several possible ways to improve reliability. Current scope for improving reliability includes the definition of a separate CQI table for URLLC, more compact DCI formats, PDCCH repetition, etc. However, as NR becomes more stable and developed (for a key requirement of NR URLLC), the scope for achieving ultra-high reliability may increase. Specific use cases for NR URLLC in Release 15 include augmented reality / virtual reality (AR / VR), eHealth, eSafety, and mission-critical applications.

[0030] Furthermore, technology enhancements targeted by NR URLLC target latency improvement and reliability improvement. Technology enhancements for latency improvement include configurable numerology, non-slot-based scheduling with flexible mapping, grant-free (configured grant) uplink, slot-level repetition of data channel, and downlink preemption. Preemption means that a transmission for which resources are already allocated is aborted and the already allocated resources are used for another transmission with smaller latency / higher priority requirement requested later. Thus, an already granted transmission is preempted by a later transmission. Preemption applies regardless of service type. For example, a transmission of service type A (URLLC) can be preempted by a transmission of service type B (eMBB, etc.). Technology enhancements related to reliability improvement include dedicated CQI / MCS tables for a target BLER of 1E-5.

[0031] The mMTC (Massive Machine Type Communication) use case is characterized by a very large number of connected devices transmitting relatively small amounts of data that are generally not sensitive to latency. The devices are required to be low cost and have extremely long battery life. From an NR perspective, utilizing very narrow bandwidth portions is one possible solution to achieve power saving from the UE perspective to enable long battery life.

[0032] As mentioned above, it is expected that the scope of reliability in NR will expand. One key requirement for all cases, especially for URLLC and mMTC, is high or ultra-high reliability. Several mechanisms can be considered to improve reliability from a radio perspective and from a network perspective. In general, there are several key areas that can help improve reliability. These areas include compact control channel information, data channel / control channel repetition, diversity related to frequency domain, time domain, and / or spatial domain. These areas are generally applicable to reliability, regardless of the specific communication scenario.

[0033] For NR URLLC, further use cases with more stringent requirements have been identified, such as factory automation, transportation, and power distribution. The more stringent requirements include higher reliability (up to 10 times faster) depending on the use case. 6 These include: high-speed, low latency, high-speed (high-speed), higher availability, packet sizes up to 256 bytes, time synchronization to the order of a few microseconds (values ​​range from 1 μs to a few μs depending on the frequency range), and low latency in the order of 0.5-1 ms, with a target user plane latency of 0.5 ms in particular.

[0034] Furthermore, for NR URLLC, several technical enhancements have been identified from the physical layer perspective. In particular, enhancements related to the PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) include compact DCI, PDCCH repetition, and increased PDCCH monitoring. Also, enhancements related to the UCI (Uplink Control Information) include HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) enhancements and CSI feedback enhancements. Also, PUSCH enhancements related to minislot level hopping and retransmission / repetition enhancements have been recognized. The term "minislot" refers to a TTI (Transmission Time Interval) that contains fewer symbols than a slot (a slot contains 14 symbols).

[0035] <QoS Control> The 5G QoS (Quality of Service) model is based on QoS flows and supports both QoS flows that require a guaranteed flow bit rate (GBR QoS flows) and QoS flows that do not require a guaranteed flow bit rate (non-GBR QoS flows). Therefore, at the NAS level, a QoS flow is the finest granularity for QoS differentiation in a PDU session. A QoS flow is identified within a PDU session by a QoS flow ID (QFI) that is transmitted in the encapsulation header through the NG-U interface.

[0036] The 5GC establishes one or more PDU sessions per UE. The NG-RAN can establish at least one data radio bearer (DRB) per UE together with the PDU session and then configure additional DRBs for the QoS flows of that PDU session as described above, for example with reference to Figure 3 (when to configure is determined by the NG-RAN). The NG-RAN maps packets belonging to different PDU sessions to different DRBs. UL and DL packets are associated with QoS flows by NAS-level packet filters in the UE and 5GC, and UL and DL QoS flows are associated with DRBs by AS-level mapping rules in the UE and NG-RAN.

[0037] FIG. 5 shows the non-roaming reference architecture of 5G NR (see, for example, section 4.2.3 of 3GPP 5). Application Functions (AFs) (e.g., external application servers handling 5G services exemplarily described in FIG. 4) interact with the 3GPP core network to provide services. For example, they support application influence on traffic routing, access Network Exposure Functions (NEFs), and interact with a policy framework (see Policy Control Function (PCF)) for policy control (e.g., QoS control). Based on the operator's deployment, application functions (AFs) that are considered trusted by the operator can be allowed to interact directly with the relevant network functions (Network Functions). Application functions (AFs) that are not allowed by the operator to directly access network functions interact with the relevant network functions using an external exposure framework via the NEF.

[0038] Figure 5 shows further functional units of the 5G architecture: Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), Network Repository Function (NRF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), and Data Network (DN) (e.g. operator's services, internet access, or third-party services). All or part of the core network functions and application services may be located and executed in a cloud computing environment.

[0039] Thus, in the present disclosure, an application server (e.g., an AF in a 5G architecture) is provided which, when operated, comprises: a transmitter which sends a request including QoS requirements for at least one of URLLC, eMBB, and mMTC services to at least one of the functions of a 5GC (e.g., NEF, AMF, SMF, PCF, UPF, etc.) to establish a PDU session including a radio bearer between a gNodeB and a UE in accordance with the QoS requirements; and a control circuit which, when operated, performs a service using the established PDU session.

[0040] <Bandwidth part - BWP> The NR system supports a maximum channel bandwidth that is much wider than the 20 MHz bandwidth of LTE (e.g., 100 MHz). LTE also supports wideband communication through carrier aggregation (CA) of component carriers up to 20 MHz. Defining a wider channel bandwidth in NR allows frequency resources to be dynamically allocated by scheduling, which can be done more efficiently and flexibly than the carrier aggregation operation of LTE, where activation / deactivation is based on MAC control elements. Having a single wideband carrier also benefits in terms of less control overhead, since only a single control signaling is required (carrier aggregation requires separate control signaling for each aggregated carrier).

[0041] Additionally, similar to LTE, NR can also support aggregation of multiple carriers through carrier aggregation or dual connectivity.

[0042] Since UEs do not always require high data rates, the use of wide bandwidths can lead to high idle power consumption, both in terms of RF and baseband signal processing. In this regard, the newly developed NR bandwidth portion concept provides the means to operate UEs with bandwidths smaller than the configured channel bandwidth, providing an energy-efficient solution despite the support for wideband operation. Low-end terminals that cannot access the full NR bandwidth can benefit from it.

[0043] A bandwidth portion (BWP) is a subset of the total cell bandwidth of a cell, defined, for example, by the location and number of contiguous physical resource blocks (PRBs). Bandwidth portions can also be defined separately for uplink and downlink. Furthermore, each bandwidth portion can be associated with a specific OFDM numerology, for example subcarrier spacing or cyclic prefix. For example, bandwidth adaptation is achieved by configuring BWPs in the UE and informing the UE which of the configured BWPs is the currently active BWP.

[0044] Exemplarily, in 5G NR, a specific BWP is configured only for a UE in the RRC_Connected state. For example, BWPs other than the initial BWP (e.g., one each for UL and DL) only exist for a UE in the connected state. In order to support initial data exchange between the UE and the network, for example, during the process of transitioning the UE from the RRC_IDLE state or the RRC_INACTIVE state to the RRC_CONNECTED state, the initial DL BWP and the initial UL BWP are configured with minimum system information.

[0045] A UE can be configured with multiple BWPs (e.g., up to four BWPs per serving cell as currently defined in NR), but a UE can only have one active DL BWP at a time.

[0046] For details on BWP operation, see section 5.15 of non-patent document 6.

[0047] Switching between configured BWPs can be realized in various ways. The operation of the bandwidth portion in the uplink and downlink is defined in 5G NR compliant implementations in clause 5.15 of 3GPP TS 2.0.2013-01001. BWPs can be switched, for example, by downlink control information (DCI) (e.g., using the bandwidth portion indicator in DCI format 0_1 ​​(UL grant) and DCI format 1_1 (DL schedule)), by using the BWP inactivity timer, by using RRC signaling, by the MAC entity itself at the start of the random access procedure. For a primary cell (PCell), the initial BWP is the BWP used for initial access, and the default BWP is the initial BWP unless another initial BWP is explicitly configured. For a secondary cell (SCell), the initial BWP is always explicitly configured and a default BWP can also be configured. When a default BWP is configured in a serving cell, the active BWP is switched to the default BWP when the inactivity timer associated with that cell expires.

[0048] Some DCI formats do not include a BWP ID (such as formats 0_0 and 1_0), while in other DCI formats the number of bits for the BWP ID is RRC configurable and can be 0 bits, 1 bit or 2 bits (such as formats 0_1, 0_2, 1_1, 1_2).

[0049] Figure 6 shows a scenario where three different BWPs are configured: BWP1 with a frequency bandwidth of 40 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, BWP2 with a frequency bandwidth of 10 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, and BWP3 with a frequency bandwidth of 20 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 60 kHz. The different BWPs can be configured, for example, using appropriate information elements of the RRC protocol. A carrier bandwidth portion is a contiguous set of physical resource blocks selected from a contiguous subset of common resource blocks of a given numerology (u) in a given carrier.

[0050] According to an exemplary 5G NR compatible implementation in line with 3GPP TS 2013-01-13, different RRCReconfiguration information elements can be used.

[0051] <Control information - Search space set> The PDCCH is monitored by the UE to identify and receive information intended for the UE, such as control information and user traffic (eg, DCI on the PDCCH and user data on the PDSCH indicated by the PDCCH).

[0052] The control information in the downlink (which may be referred to as, for example, downlink control information (DCI)) has essentially the same purpose in 5G NR as DCI in LTE, i.e., it is a special set of control information for, for example, scheduling a downlink data channel (e.g., PDSCH) or an uplink data channel (e.g., PUSCH). In an exemplary 5G NR-compliant implementation, there are a number of different DCI formats already defined (see 3GPP TS 2013-010363, section 7.3.1). An overview is given in the following table: [Table 1]

[0053] In 5G NR, the PDCCH is transmitted in a radio resource region called the Control Resource Set (CORESET). In LTE, the concept of a CORESET does not exist explicitly. Instead, the LTE PDCCH uses the entire carrier bandwidth in the first 1-3 OFDM symbols (4 in the narrowest case). In contrast, the 5G NR CORESET can occur anywhere in the carrier's frequency range, at any position within the slot, although the UE is not expected to handle a CORESET outside the active bandwidth portion (BWP).

[0054] Thus, the UE performs a PDCCH monitoring operation, for example as defined in clauses 10 and 11 of 3GPP TS 2010-0105611. As exemplarily defined therein, the UE monitors a set of PDCCH candidates, which is defined in terms of a PDCCH search space set. The search space set can be a common search space set (CSS set) or a UE-specific search space set (USS set).

[0055] As exemplarily defined in section 10.1 of 3GPP TS 2010-010366, the UE monitors PDCCH candidates in one or more of the following CSS and USS sets: - the Type0-PDCCH CSS set by pdcch-ConfigSIB1 in MIB or searchSpaceSIB1 in PDCCH-ConfigCommon or searchSpaceZero in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for the DCI format with CRC scrambled by SI-RNTI on the primary cell of the MCG; - the Type0A-PDCCH CSS set by the searchSpaceOtherSystemlnformation of PDCCH-ConfigCommon for the DCI format with CRC scrambled by SI-RNTI on the primary cell of the MCG; - the Type1-PDCCH CSS set by the ra-SearchSpace in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for DCI formats with CRC scrambled by RA-RNTI, MsgB-RNTI, or TC-RNTI on the primary cell; - the Type2-PDCCH CSS set by the pagingSearch Space in PDCCH-ConfigCommon for DCI formats with CRC scrambled by P-RNTI on the primary cell of the MCG; - a Type3-PDCCH CSS set by SearchSpace in PDCCH-Config with searchSpaceType=common for DCI formats with CRC scrambled by INT-RNTI, SFI-RNTI, TPC-PUSCH-RNTI, TPC-PUCCH-RNTI, TPC-SRS-RNTI, or CI-RNTI and, for the primary cell only, by C-RNTI, MCS-C-RNTI, CS-RNTI, or PS-RNTI; - a USS set configured by SearchSpace in PDCCH-Config with searchSpaceType=ue-Specific for a DCI format with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI, MCS-C-RNTI, SP-CSI-RNTI, CS-RNTI, SL-RNTI, SL-CS-RNTI, or SL semi-persistent scheduling V-RNTI

[0056] The search space sets are monitored in one or more CORESETs on the active DL BWP on each activated serving cell for which PDCCH monitoring is configured using the corresponding search space set, and monitoring means decoding each PDCCH candidate according to the monitored DCI format.

[0057] Conceptually, Fig. 6 exemplarily illustrates the relationship between bandwidth portions, CORESETs, search spaces, search space sets, and PDCCH candidates that a UE can monitor. As is evident from Fig. 6, one CORESET is shown per BWP, but multiple CORESETs are possible. Each CORESET may have several search spaces of one or more PDCCH candidates of a particular aggregation level (such as AL2, AL4, or AL8), which may be grouped into search space sets, such as common SS sets and UE-specific SS sets.

[0058] <Time domain in 5G NR> In the time domain, 5G NR transmissions are organized into frames of length 10 ms, each divided into 10 equally sized subframes of length 1 ms. The subframes are divided into one or more slots, each consisting of 14 OFDM symbols. The duration of the slots (in milliseconds) depends on the numerology. For example, for a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, NR slots have the same structure as LTE subframes with a normal cyclic prefix. The subframe in 5G NR serves as a numerology-independent time reference, which is especially useful when multiple numerologies are mixed on the same carrier, while the slot is a typical dynamic scheduling unit. This frame structure on which 3GPP 5G NR communication is based is exemplarily shown in Figure 7.

[0059] 5G NR offers multiple slot formats, where the slot format indicates how each symbol in a slot is used. The slot format defines which symbols in a particular slot are used for uplink and which symbols are used for downlink. In LTE TDD, if a subframe (corresponding to a slot in NR) is configured for DL ​​or UL, all symbols in that subframe must be used as DL or UL. However, in NR, each of the symbols in a slot can be configured differently as DL or UL. There are also flexible symbols that can be configured as DL or UL. In an exemplary 5G NR-compliant implementation, the gNB uses a slot format indicator (SFI) to inform the UE of the slot format to be used (see also Section 11.1.1 of 3GPP TS 2.0). For example, the slot format indicator includes an index value associated with the slot format (e.g., in the form of a table).

[0060] <Uplink control information and scheduling requests in 5G NR> While downlink control information is carried by the PDCCH (see above), uplink control information (UCI) can be transmitted on the PUCCH or PUSCH depending on the situation. Uplink control information can be channel state information (CSI), ACK / NACK information, and scheduling requests. Not all of these need to be carried in one PUCCH transmission. For example, CSI may be carried alone, ACK / NACK may be carried alone, SR may be carried alone, or CSI and ACK / NACK may be carried together on the PUCCH.

[0061] There are several different PUCCH formats that can be used to transmit UCI, and currently there are five PUCCH formats, 0 through 4. Of these, two formats, 0 and 2, are sometimes called short PUCCH formats, since they occupy a maximum of two OFDM symbols. Often, the last one or two OFDM symbols of a slot are used for PUCCH transmission, e.g., to transmit a hybrid ARQ acknowledgment (ACK / NACK) for a downlink data transmission.

[0062] Formats 1, 3 and 4 are sometimes called long PUCCH formats because they occupy between 4 and 14 OFDM symbols. The reason for having a longer duration than the previous two formats is coverage. If a duration of one or two OFDM symbols does not provide enough received energy for reliable reception, a longer duration is needed and one of the long PUCCH formats can be used.

[0063] The PUCCH format to use can be determined based on, for example, how many bits of UCI to transmit and how many symbols (PUCCH duration) are available, as shown exemplarily in the following table (see, for example, section 6.3.2 of non-patent document 3):

[0064] The UCI can be transmitted on the PUCCH flexibly in the time and frequency domains using specially allocated radio resources, e.g., PUCCH resource sets. A maximum of four sets of PUCCH resources can be configured in the UE, and the PUCCH resource set is associated with a PUCCH resource set index. In particular, a PUCCH resource set includes at least four PUCCH resource configurations, each of which includes the PUCCH format to be used and all transmission parameters required for that format. Such resource configuration can be done by various information elements of the RRC protocol layer, such as the PUCCH-Config information element (see, e.g., Section 6.3.2 of Non-Patent Document 12).

[0065] As mentioned above, a UE may be configured with up to four PUCCH resource sets, each corresponding to a particular range of UCI feedback to transmit. For example, PUCCH resource set 0 may handle up to 2 bits of UCI payload and therefore only includes PUCCH formats 0 and 1, while the remaining PUCCH resource sets may include any PUCCH format other than formats 0 and 1.

[0066] The current reporting of UCI on PUCCH is defined in 3GPP TS 2.0, Section 9.2.

[0067] The PUCCH resource may include one or more of the following parameters: PUCCH resource index Index of the first PRB (Physical Resource Block) before frequency hopping and without frequency hopping Index of the first PRB after frequency hopping Intra-slot frequency hopping indication PUCCH format setting

[0068] PUCCH resources are assigned by the gNB differently for each UE. The UE uses the preconfigured PUCCH resources without coordination with the gNB. Assigning different PUCCH resources to the UE ensures that the UEs can use these resources simultaneously without colliding or interfering with each other.

[0069] The transmission of scheduling requests using PUCCH is defined in section 9.2.4 of 3GPP TS 21.2006.02 ...

[0070] In this respect, the configuration of such SR resources may be performed by different information elements of the RRC protocol layer, such as the SchedulingRequestConfig and SchedulingRequestResourceConfig information elements (see, for example, section 6.3.2 of 3GPP TS 2012-20110112 (http: / / www.rrc.rfc2012011052) and (see, for example, section 6.3.2 of 3GPP TS 2012-2011052)).

[0071] Briefly, a scheduling request is basically a flag issued by a user equipment to request uplink resources from the uplink scheduler of the base station. Since the device requesting the resources does not have PUSCH resources available, the scheduling request is transmitted on the PUCCH using a PUCCH resource that is preconfigured and periodically reoccurs exclusively for the UE. The serving base station can then allocate radio resources to the user equipment.

[0072] Unlike LTE, 5G NR supports the configuration of multiple scheduling requests from one device. A logical channel can be mapped to zero or more scheduling request configurations. This provides the gNB with information that the device has data waiting to be transmitted, as well as the type of data that is waiting to be transmitted. This information can be useful for the gNB to take into account the different traffic types that 5G NR is designed to support. For example, the gNB may want to schedule the user equipment for transmission of latency-critical information but not for transmission of non-latency-critical information.

[0073] Each device can be assigned a dedicated PUCCH scheduling request resource with a periodicity ranging from every 2 OFDM symbols to support latency critical services to every 80 ms for low overhead. Only one scheduling request can be transmitted at a given time, i.e. in case of multiple logical channels with data to transmit, one exemplary action is to trigger the scheduling request corresponding to the highest priority logical channel. Until a grant is received from the gNB, requests can only be made in the following repeated resources, up to a configurable upper limit. It is also possible to configure an inhibit timer that controls how often a scheduling request can be transmitted. In case of multiple scheduling request resources, both of these configurations are done per scheduling request resource.

[0074] <SPS in the downlink and configured grant in the uplink> In the downlink, the gNB can dynamically allocate resources to the UE via the C-RNTI on the PDCCH (e.g., see DCI above). Similarly, in the uplink, the gNB can dynamically allocate resources to the UE via the C-RNTI on the PDCCH (e.g., see DCI above). In addition to dynamically allocating downlink and uplink resources, scheduling extensions are also provided in 5G NR, and resource allocation in 5G NR can be implemented based on semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) in the downlink and configured grant (CG) in the uplink.

[0075] In the downlink, the semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) feature adopted in 5G NR is a further development of the SPS adopted in the previous communication system LTE, and can be applied to both the uplink and downlink. Furthermore, in LTE, SPS configuration is generally dedicated to a single device. If that device does not require the assigned periodic resources (e.g., data is transmitted only in case of a specific event such as a collision warning), the SPS resources not used by the UE are wasted.

[0076] According to one exemplary 5G NR compliant implementation, the RRC defines the relevant parameters of the SPS. To configure the downlink semi-persistent transmission, the RRC information element SPS-Config is defined in 3GPP TS 2011-0101661. For example, the RRC defines the periodicity of the configured downlink allocation, the number of HARQ processes, the MCS, etc.

[0077] DL SPS supports different periodicities, e.g., common to all subcarrier spacings (SCS) or dependent on the subcarrier spacing. An example of the periodicity when dependent on the SCS, as currently defined in Non-Patent Document 12, is shown below: For 15KHz SCS: {1,2,3,...,640}ms For 30KHz SCS: 0.5×{1,2,3,...,1280}ms For 60KHz SCS: 0.25×{1,2,3,...,2560}ms For 120KHz SCS: 0.125×{1,2,3,...,5120}ms

[0078] A UE may have several (e.g. up to 8) active configured downlink allocations for one BWP of a serving cell. If multiple are configured, then: - The network decides which of these configured downlink allocations are active at a time (including all allocations).

[0079] - Each configured downlink assignment is activated individually using a DCI command, and deactivation of a configured downlink assignment is done using a DCI command, which can deactivate a single configured downlink assignment or multiple configured downlink assignments together.

[0080] The PDCCH addressed to the CS-RNTI can signal and activate the configured downlink allocation, while the PDCCH addressed to the CS-RNTI can indicate that the downlink allocation can be implicitly reused until deactivated according to a periodicity defined by the RRC. If necessary, retransmissions are scheduled explicitly, e.g. on the PDCCH.

[0081] SPS is particularly useful for periodic downlink data transmissions, such as Voice over IP (VoIP) services: the base station configures SPS radio resources, and the UE can use these periodic radio resources without using an additional scheduling request procedure.

[0082] Uplink data transmission typically requires resources to be requested by the UE, followed by a packed scheduling decision and resource allocation at the scheduler (e.g., base station). This allocation cycle introduces additional delays and signaling. The delay in radio resource allocation between the UE and the base station can be avoided by allowing the UE to use radio resources without requesting them from the base station in advance. This can be implemented by the so-called Configured Grant (CG).

[0083] Furthermore, by using configured grants, multiple devices (UEs) may be allowed to share periodic radio resources (which facilitates reducing waste of periodic radio resources compared to LTE SPS). On the other hand, it is also possible for the gNB to define periodic radio resources in such a way that they are not shared or are not shared completely among multiple UEs. The gNB assigns configured grant radio resources to one or more UEs, and the UEs randomly utilize these periodic radio resources when they need to transmit data (e.g., small data). By using CGs, the network can eliminate packet transmission delays caused by a specific scheduling request procedure that must otherwise be performed before data can be transmitted. This may also improve the utilization of the assigned periodic radio resources.

[0084] In 3GPP Release 16 and Release 17, two types of grant-free configuration schemes are supported: Type 1 and Type 2 (see section 10.3 of 3GPP 2016 / 02 / 11). According to this exemplary implementation of 3GPP 2016 / 02 / 11, using Type 1 CG, the RRC provides the uplink configured grant, including, for example, its periodicity, directly to the UE.

[0085] In type 2 configured grant, RRC defines the periodicity of the uplink configured grant and a PDCCH message addressed to the UE's CS-RNTI signals the uplink configured grant to activate or deactivate it. The PDCCH addressed to the CS-RNTI indicates that the uplink grant can be implicitly reused according to the periodicity defined by RRC until it is deactivated. In other words, additional L1 signaling (e.g. PDCCH) is introduced and the uplink is semi-persistently scheduled by an RRC-based uplink grant that is activated / deactivated by the (de)activation DCI. RRC provides the higher layer parameters for the CG configuration.

[0086] In either case, according to an exemplary 3GPP implementation, the RRC provides the grant configuration to the UE through a higher layer parameter called ConfiguredGrantConfig (see section 6.3.2 “Radio resource control information elements” of 3GPP TS 2012-010621).

[0087] The resource configuration of the CG may include, for example, physical resources in the time domain and / or frequency domain, and / or reference signal (RS) parameters. The configuration parameters may further include a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and / or a repetition number and / or a cycle period and / or a transport block size.

[0088] Retransmissions other than repetition are assigned explicitly via the PDCCH or by setting a retransmission timer.

[0089] For UL CG, different periodicities are supported and can depend on the subcarrier spacing. An example of a periodicity currently defined in 3GPP TS 2.0, as dependent on the SCS, is given below:

[0090] For 15KHz SCS: Multiples of 1ms to 640ms, or multiples of 2 symbols (1 / 7ms), or multiples of 7 symbols (0.5ms) For 30KHz SCS: Multiples of 1 / 2ms to 640ms, or multiples of 2 symbols (1 / 14ms), or multiples of 7 symbols (0.25ms) XR - Extended Reality in Release 18 A 3GPP study item concerns extended reality (XR) in RAN 1 and RAN 2. The objective is to provide efficient communication for augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR) and cloud gaming. In particular, technologies for XR are being studied, for example to address XR service characteristics such as periodicity, multiple flows, jitter, latency, reliability, etc. The considered XR applications require high data rates in downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) and have relatively tight packet delay budgets (PDB).

[0091] Furthermore, some XR applications run on devices with limited energy sources, such as wearable glasses or handheld devices, so energy efficiency is a key concern.

[0092] XR applications use a variety of data traffic including video streams. Video frames are very large and have a variety of sizes. Video frames arrive over a time window and are therefore characterized as quasi-periodic. Furthermore, the period of the time window is non-integer in terms of radio frames / slots / symbols. Packet size: For high definition video streams, the frame size of an 8K video after compression will be around 1Mbit, which will result in a larger packet size. · Various sizes: Frame sizes can vary depending on whether they are I-frames or P-frames / B-frames. Period: Video streams typically produce 60 / 90 / 120 FPS, which correspond to periods of 16.667ms, 11.111ms and 8.333ms respectively. Jitter: Frame packets arrive at the gNB / UE over a time window of [-4,4] ms or more. Latency budgets: Latency budgets for delivering XR packets can be tight, e.g., 10ms for ARA / R and 15ms for cloud gaming. <Further improvements> Above we have briefly presented considerations for XR. However, current 5G NR releases cannot efficiently support XR traffic, e.g., video streams, due to, for example, non-integer periodicity of video packets, variable packet arrival times, and large and variable packet sizes.

[0093] The UE may use dynamic scheduling for XR traffic. In an example for the uplink, a scheduling request is first transmitted from the UE to the base station to request uplink resources. The base station may then transmit on an appropriate downlink control channel (e.g., PDCCH) a dynamic uplink grant to the UE to be used for transmitting the uplink XR traffic. In the downlink, the base station may transmit on an appropriate downlink control channel (e.g., PDCCH) a downlink resource assignment indicating the downlink resources the base station will use to transmit the downlink XR traffic. Thus, using dynamic scheduling for XR traffic increases signaling overhead and increases UE power consumption since the UE must monitor PDCCH opportunities more frequently. It also increases network power consumption for DL ​​and UL grants and corresponding PDCCH transmissions.

[0094] Fig. 8 illustrates such a solution. In particular, Fig. 8 illustrates an exemplary scenario, according to which the UE has no periodic CG resources available in the uplink and must request uplink resources using a scheduling request. In this regard, the UE has a scheduling request configuration with periodic uplink resources for transmitting the scheduling request via an uplink control channel, e.g., PUCCH. The SR resource is exemplarily assumed to have a period of 4 ms. A 60 fps video stream is assumed, such that a video frame is generated every 1 / 60=16.6666 ms. The video frames are generated at the UE side through a jitter window of 8 ms. Fig. 8 illustrates a situation in which four video frames arrive at different times within the respective jitter windows.

[0095] As can be seen from Figure 8, when a video frame arrives within the jitter window, the UE will use the next SR uplink opportunity to send a scheduling request to the base station. When the base station receives the scheduling request, it can dynamically grant the UE appropriate uplink resources and send a corresponding uplink grant (denoted as DCI in Figure 8) to the UE. The UE can then use the granted uplink resources to transmit the video frame to the base station at the appropriate time.

[0096] Unused periodic SR uplink resources are shown as empty boxes, periodic SR uplink resources used for SR transmission are shown as striped boxes, and further striped boxes indicate dynamically allocated uplink resources for transmitting video frames.

[0097] To avoid dynamic scheduling of XR traffic, periodically configured resources such as SPS or CG can be used for delivery of XR data (see, e.g., the above discussion on SPS, CG, 5G NR). However, such an approach may require reserving excessive resources, which is resource and power inefficient and reduces the number of devices supported by the network.

[0098] FIG. 9 shows an example scenario that is an alternative to the SR scenario of FIG. 8. For ease of illustration and understanding, similar assumptions are made as in FIG. 8, including a jitter window of 8 ms, and a CG uplink resource period of 4 ms. FIG. 9 shows an over-provisioning of CG uplink resources for transmitting a 60 fps video stream in the uplink. The UE knows, at least at its application layer, when the jitter window occurs. FIG. 9 shows a situation where four video frames arrive at different times within their respective jitter windows and are then transmitted by the available CG uplink resources, either inside or outside the jitter window. Unused periodic CG uplink resources are shown as empty boxes, and periodic CG uplink resources used for transmitting video frames are shown as striped boxes.

[0099] As is clear from Fig. 9, it is assumed here for illustrative purposes that there is only one active CG setting with a period of 4 ms. The period of the CG uplink resource (4 ms) and the period of the video frame (16.6666 ms) do not match, and the generation of the CG uplink resource shifts relative to the jitter window in which the video frame is generated.

[0100] To avoid long latency in video frame transmission, sufficient opportunity is provided for UE to transmit video frames as early as possible. In this example, we assume an uplink configured grant with a period of 4 ms. Over-provisioning CG resources can achieve low latency but reduces resource utilization.

[0101] Furthermore, FIG. 10 shows that SPS downlink resources are over-provisioned so that the UE can receive the video stream (again at 60 fps). For ease of illustration and explanation, we make the same assumptions as in FIG. 9, including a jitter window of 8 ms and a periodicity of SPS downlink resources of 4 ms. FIG. 10 shows the arrival of frames 1-4 at the base station. From the UE's perspective, the UE does not necessarily know the location of the jitter window, nor does it know when the video frames are generated at the base station. Rather, the UE periodically monitors all periodic downlink resources according to the illustrated SPS configuration, and can receive the XR video frames 1-4 shown in FIG. 10. As is evident from FIG. 10, the video frames arrive (e.g., are generated) at the base station within the jitter window, but may be transmitted by the base station outside the jitter window.

[0102] However, XR and video streams are just a specific example scenario in which the above drawbacks exist. Other scenarios exist. Thus, the present invention and its solutions do not apply only to XR and video streams.

[0103] The inventors have therefore found the possibility of providing an improved transmission procedure making it possible to avoid one or more of the above mentioned drawbacks.The invention relates to a number of different solutions and variants for such an improved transmission procedure.

[0104] <Embodiment> In the following, UEs, base stations, and respective procedures that meet these needs are described for new radio access technologies envisaged in 5G mobile communication systems, but which can also be used in conventional LTE mobile communication systems or future mobile communication systems. Different implementations and variations are also described. The following disclosure is prompted by, and is based, for example, at least in part, on the discussions and findings above.

[0105] In general, it should be noted that many assumptions are made herein so as to explain the principles underlying the present disclosure in a clear, concise, and easy-to-understand manner. However, these assumptions should be understood as merely examples made herein for the purpose of explanation, and are not necessarily essential to the present invention, and therefore do not limit the scope of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the principles of the following disclosure and the principles described in the claims can be applied in different scenarios and in ways not explicitly described herein.

[0106] Furthermore, although the specific terminology used in the context of new radio access technologies for upcoming communication systems has not yet been fully determined or may eventually change, some of the terms such as procedures, entities, layers, etc. used below are closely related to the terminology used in LTE / LTE-A systems or in the current 3GPP 5G standardization. Thus, the terminology may change in the future, but without affecting the respective features and functionality of the embodiments. Therefore, it will be recognized by those skilled in the art that the embodiments and their scope of protection should not be limited to the specific terminology used illustratively herein due to the lack of newer or finally agreed upon terms, but should be more broadly understood in terms of the functions and concepts underlying the solutions described in the present disclosure.

[0107] For example, a mobile station or mobile node or user terminal or user equipment (UE) is a physical entity (physical node) in a communication network. A node may have several functional entities. A functional entity refers to a software or hardware module that implements a given set of functions and / or provides a given set of functions to other functional entities of the same node or another node or network. A node may have one or more interfaces that attach it to a communication facility or medium through which it can communicate. Similarly, a network entity may have logical interfaces that attach a functional entity to a communication facility or medium through which it can communicate with another functional entity or a corresponding node.

[0108] The term "base station" or "radio base station" in this specification refers to a physical entity in a communication network. Similar to a mobile station, a base station may have several functional entities. A functional entity refers to a software or hardware module that implements a given set of functions and / or provides a given set of functions to other functional entities of the same node or another node or network. A physical entity performs several control tasks for communication devices, including one or more of scheduling and configuration. It should be noted that the functions of a base station and those of a communication device may be integrated in a single device. For example, a mobile terminal may also perform the functions of a base station for other terminals. The terminology used in LTE is eNB (or eNodeB), and the terminology currently used in 5G NR is gNB. Furthermore, a base station may be a gNB in ​​a Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) NR system.

[0109] The communication between the UE and the base station is generally standardized and may be defined by different layers such as PHY, MAC, RRC, etc. (see Background section above).

[0110] The expression "configured resources" in this specification is intended to cover one or both of "periodic radio resources" (also called "periodic resources") in the uplink and in the downlink. The term "periodic radio resources" as used in this application is intended to be broadly understood as referring to radio resources that occur periodically in time (e.g. in the time domain and / or frequency domain).

[0111] These "configured resources" (e.g., "periodic radio resources") can be assigned to the UE (or UEs) in advance by the corresponding base station (serving the UE) and are therefore already configured and usable by the UE and the base station without the UE having to request the radio resources first. In other words, the base station does not have to assign these resources individually. Correspondingly, the configured resources in the downlink can be used by the base station to transmit downlink data to the UE and may also be referred to as semi-persistent (SPS) resources, or SPS downlink resources. One exemplary implementation of such configured downlink resources is presented above with respect to the SPS of 3GPP 5G. Furthermore, the configured resources in the uplink can be used by the UE to transmit uplink data to the base station and may also be referred to as configured grant (CG), or CG uplink grant. One exemplary implementation of such configured uplink resources is presented above with respect to the CG of 3GPP 5G.

[0112] The expression "jitter window" as used herein can be understood to refer to a characteristic of how video frames are generated for video applications. Video frames are not generated at specific periodic times, but quasi-periodically, i.e., over a time window in which the cells are periodic. Other possible expressions can be "time window", "video frame generation window", "packet arrival window", or "frame arrival window" or similar expressions.

[0113] The term "prohibited" as used herein can be understood as not supposed to do or use something, for example, using a resource. The term "prohibited" is often used together with a prohibition period or duration, which means that the "prohibition" is limited in time and after the prohibition period ends, it is again permitted to do or use what was prohibited. Other possible terms could be "skip", "not allowed", "abandon" or similar terms.

[0114] The term "monitoring" or "monitoring" may be broadly understood as a process of attempting to decode possible candidates for receiving a DCI message, for example, based on a particular format. Such decoding attempts may also be referred to as blind decoding.

[0115] 11 shows a general simplified exemplary block diagram of a user equipment (also referred to as a communication device) and a scheduling device (here assumed to be located in a base station, e.g. an LTE eNB (also referred to as an ng-eNB) or a 5G NR gNB), in which the UE and the eNB / gNB communicate with each other via (wireless) physical channels, respectively, using a transceiver.

[0116] A communication device may include a transceiver and a processing circuit. The transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter and / or function as a receiver and a transmitter. The processing circuit may be one or more hardware such as one or more processors or any LSI. There is an input / output point (or node) between the transceiver and the processing circuit, through which the processing circuit may control the transceiver in operation, i.e., control the receiver and / or the transmitter to exchange receive / transmit data. The transceiver may include an RF (radio frequency) front, including one or more antennas, amplifiers, RF modulators / demodulators, etc., as a transmitter and receiver. The processing circuit may perform control tasks such as controlling the transceiver to transmit user data and control data provided by the processing circuit and / or to receive user data and control data that are further processed by the processing circuit. The processing circuit may also be responsible for performing other processes such as judgments, decisions, calculations, measurements, etc. The transmitter may be responsible for performing the process of transmission and other processes related thereto. The receiver may be responsible for performing the process of reception and other processes related thereto (such as monitoring the channel).

[0117] In the following, various solutions of the improved transmission procedure are described. In this connection, an improved UE, an improved base station, and an improved integrated circuit are presented, which participate separately or together in the improved transmission procedure. Corresponding methods of the UE operation and the base station operation are also provided. Integrated circuits correspond to the UE and the base station and their respective operations.

[0118] <First Solution> As a first solution, an improved transmission procedure is presented here.

[0119] Figure 12 shows a simplified exemplary UE structure according to an exemplary implementation of an improved transmission procedure of the first solution, which may be implemented based on the general UE structure described in relation to Figure 11. The various structural elements of the UE shown in this Figure 12 may be interconnected with each other, e.g., by means of corresponding input / output nodes (not shown), e.g., for exchanging control and user data and other signals. The UE may include further structural elements, which are not shown for purposes of illustration.

[0120] As can be seen from FIG. 12, the UE may include a video application operating circuit and a video frame generating circuit, a video frame transceiver for transmitting and receiving video frames, and an inhibition circuit capable of accessing periodic resources.

[0121] In this case, as will become apparent from the disclosure below, the UE receiver may be exemplarily configured to at least partially perform one or more of the following: receive video frames, receive information regarding jitter windows operating at the base station, etc.

[0122] In this case, as will become apparent from the disclosure below, the processing circuitry of the UE may be exemplarily configured to at least partially perform one or more of: running a video application, generating video frames, determining when to prohibit use of further periodic resources, prohibiting use of further periodic resources, etc.

[0123] In this case, as will become apparent from the disclosure below, the UE transmitter may be exemplarily configured to at least partially perform one or more of the following: transmit video frames, transmit information regarding timing of jitter windows operating at the UE, etc.

[0124] One exemplary procedure, disclosed in further detail below, is implemented by a UE including: A processing circuit of the UE operates a video application, where video frames are generated in a video frame period according to the video application. Each video frame is generated within a jitter window having a jitter window length. A transceiver of the UE uses radio resources to exchange one or more video frames of the video application between the UE and a base station. The radio resources are determined by the UE based on one or more periodic resource configurations. When the processing circuit determines that data of a video frame of the video application generated during one jitter window has been exchanged using one periodic resource of the one or more periodic resource configurations, the processing circuit determines to prohibit further use of periodic radio resources according to the one or more periodic resource configurations for a certain period of time.

[0125] A corresponding exemplary method includes the following steps performed by the UE. operating a video application, where video frames are generated at a video frame period according to the video application, each video frame being generated within a jitter window having a jitter window length; using radio resources for exchanging one or more video frames of a video application between the UE and the base station, the radio resources being determined by the UE based on one or more periodic resource configurations; determining, when determining that data of a video frame of the video application generated during one jitter window has been exchanged by using one periodic resource of the one or more periodic resource configurations, to prohibit further use of the periodic radio resource according to the one or more periodic resource configurations for a certain period of time;

[0126] A sequence diagram corresponding to an exemplary UE operation according to the above-mentioned UE and UE method is shown in FIG. 13. As is clear from the figure, the UE operates a video application, which operates based on video frames. Furthermore, the UE exchanges video frames based on radio resources, which may include transmitting the video frames to a base station and may include receiving the video frames from the base station. The UE then determines whether the data of the video frames (whether received or transmitted) have been exchanged using periodic resources. If so ("Yes" in FIG. 13), the UE prohibits further use of periodic radio resources according to one or more periodic resource configurations for a certain period of time.

[0127] Although not shown in FIG. 13, after the expiration of the inhibit period, the inhibit ends and the UE is again allowed to use the (previously inhibited) periodic resources in accordance with one or more periodic resource configurations.

[0128] The improved transmission procedure described above achieves the objectives and overcomes some of the drawbacks discussed above. For example, resource utilization is improved since unused periodic resources are prohibited, and therefore it is clear to both parties (i.e., UE and BS) that these prohibited radio resources will not be used by the communication partner. With regard to the prohibited downlink resources, the UE knows that the base station is prohibited (i.e., not allowed) to transmit video frames in the periodic resources, and thus can save power since it does not need to monitor the prohibited periodic resources in the downlink. Furthermore, there is no possibility that the UE will erroneously decode information detected in those periodic downlink resources. Furthermore, in one example, the UE does not need to send a negative acknowledgement (NACK) for the unused periodic downlink resources as feedback to the base station.

[0129] Also, with regard to the prohibited uplink resources of the configured grant, the base station also knows that the UE is prohibited (i.e., not allowed) to transmit video frames in the periodic CG resources, and does not need to monitor the prohibited periodic CG resources in the uplink, thus saving power. Moreover, the base station is also unlikely to erroneously decode information detected in those periodic uplink resources. Moreover, in one example, the base station does not need to send a negative acknowledgement (NACK) for the unused periodic uplink resources as feedback to the UE.

[0130] With regard to prohibited uplink resources for scheduling requests, the base station knows that the UE is prohibited (i.e., not allowed) to transmit a scheduling request in the SR uplink resources and does not need to monitor the prohibited SR uplink resources, thus saving power. Moreover, there is no possibility that the base station will erroneously decode the information detected in those periodic SR uplink resources as a real SR and grant the uplink / downlink resources to the UE.

[0131] Some example implementations of the improved transmission procedure also involve the base station to which the UE is currently connected (e.g., referred to as the serving base station because the base station serves the UE), and thus the improved transmission procedure also provides for an improved base station to participate in the procedure.

[0132] Figure 14 illustrates a simplified exemplary base station structure according to an exemplary implementation of an improved transmission procedure that can be implemented based on the general base station structure described in relation to Figure 11. The various structural elements of the base station illustrated in Figure 14 can be interconnected with each other, for example, by corresponding input / output nodes (not shown), for example, to exchange control and user data and other signals. Although not shown for illustrative purposes, the base station can include further structural elements.

[0133] As is apparent from FIG. 14, the base station includes a video application operating circuit and a video frame generating circuit, a video frame transceiver for transmitting and receiving video frames, and an inhibition circuit capable of accessing periodic resources.

[0134] In this case, as will become apparent from the disclosure below, the base station receiver may be exemplarily configured to at least partially perform one or more of receiving from the UE video frames, information regarding timing of jitter windows operating at the UE, etc.

[0135] In this case, as will become apparent from the disclosure below, the processing circuitry of the base station may be illustratively configured to at least partially perform one or more of: running a video application, generating video frames, determining when to prohibit use of further periodic resources, prohibiting use of further periodic resources, etc.

[0136] In this case, as will become apparent from the disclosure below, the base station transmitter may be illustratively configured to at least partially perform one or more of the following: transmit video frames, transmit information regarding jitter windows operating at the base station, etc.

[0137] One exemplary procedure, disclosed in further detail hereinafter, is implemented by a base station including: a processing circuit operates a video application, where video frames are generated in a video frame period according to the video application; each video frame is generated within a jitter window having a jitter window length; a transceiver uses radio resources to exchange one or more video frames of the video application between the UE and the base station; the radio resources are determined by the base station based on one or more periodic resource configurations; when the processing circuit determines that data of a video frame of the video application generated during one jitter window has been exchanged by using one periodic resource of the one or more periodic resource configurations, the processing circuit determines to prohibit further use of periodic radio resources according to the one or more periodic resource configurations for a certain period of time.

[0138] A corresponding method includes the following steps, which are performed by a base station. operating a video application, where video frames are generated at a video frame period according to the video application, each video frame being generated within a jitter window having a jitter window length; using radio resources for exchanging one or more video frames of a video application between the UE and the base station, the radio resources being determined by the base station based on one or more periodic resource configurations; determining, when it is determined that data of a video frame of the video application generated during one jitter window has been exchanged by using one periodic resource of the one or more periodic resource configurations, to prohibit further use of the periodic radio resource according to the one or more periodic resource configurations for a certain period of time.

[0139] A corresponding sequence diagram of an exemplary base station operation in accordance with the above-described base station and corresponding method is shown in Figure 15. This sequence diagram illustrates an exemplary and simplified implementation of the base station method presented above.

[0140] FIG. 16 shows a simplified exemplary interaction between an improved UE and an improved base station of the above-mentioned improved transmission procedure of the first solution. FIG. 16 shows a continuous exchange of two video frames (whether downlink or uplink). It further shows how during the exchange, both sides (UE and BS: shown as gNB in ​​FIG. 16 for example) prohibit further use of periodic resources for a prohibited period. After that, i.e. after the prohibited period has ended, the next video frame can be exchanged between the UE and the base station using the periodic resources.

[0141] Therefore, the above mentioned advantages can be achieved at the UE and BS sides.

[0142] The following describes more specific implementations and variations of the operation of the above-mentioned first solution, which are mainly shown from the UE side, but also apply correspondingly to the base station side.

[0143] In the following, the solution and its variants and implementations are described based on a video stream exchanging video frames between a UE and a base station. In one example, the video application is an extended reality (XR) application presented above for 5G NR.

[0144] However, this is only one example of a scenario in which the solution can be applied. The solution can also be applied to scenarios other than video, i.e. where data is exchanged at a certain periodicity, for example through a generation window (such as a jitter window in the case of video frames). Other scenarios are quasi-periodic data exchanges, including for example data from monitoring or sensing applications such as smart meters, environmental monitoring, agricultural monitoring, etc.

[0145] However, for ease of explanation, the following exemplarily assumes that the UE and base station operate a video application that involves an exchange of video frames in the downlink and / or uplink, the video frames being generated at a particular video frame periodicity (e.g., based on a frame-per-second (fps) of the video stream, 60 fps, 90 fps, 120 fps, etc., or another suitable number) that depends on the video application.

[0146] Furthermore, while the video frames themselves are periodic (see fps above), the generation of the video frames is assumed to be quasi-periodic, occurring at some point during a time window, exemplarily referred to herein as the "jitter window."

[0147] According to this solution, periodic resources are available for the exchange of video frames, which are configured using one or more periodic resource configurations, each periodic resource configuration configuring a set of periodic resources that are usable for the exchange of video frames.

[0148] The solution relates to three different types of periodic resources, including Semi-Persistent Scheduling (SPS) resources in the downlink, Configured Grant resources in the uplink, and Scheduling Request (SR) resources in the uplink. In the following, the solution is described with respect to all three types of periodic resources. The UE and base station may implement and support the solution for all three cases. However, this is not required. Rather, the solution may apply to only one of the three types or to a combination of two or three types. The resulting operation of the UE and base station will support only one of the three types or a combination of two or three types.

[0149] Thus, the SPS downlink resource configuration configures a set of periodic downlink resources usable by the base station to transmit downlink data to the UE without transmitting individual downlink scheduling information from the base station over the DCI. The uplink resource configured grant configures a set of periodic uplink resources usable by the UE to transmit uplink data to the base station without a prior scheduling request from the UE to the base station and without transmitting individual scheduling information from the base station over the DCI. The scheduling request uplink resource configuration configures a set of periodic uplink resources usable by the UE to transmit a scheduling request to the base station without a prior scheduling request from the UE to the base station and without transmitting individual scheduling information from the base station over the DCI.

[0150] The base station may be responsible for configuring the periodic resources used for exchanging video frames and provides corresponding information regarding one or more periodic resource configurations to the UE.

[0151] In one example, only one set of periodic resources is configured that can be used to transmit video frames. In another example, two or more sets of periodic resources are configured, each of which can be used to transmit a video frame. Using two or more sets of periodic resources increases the flexibility of how the periodic resources are configured. Furthermore, different periodic resource sets can be configured to be available near the jitter window, which can further improve resource utilization.

[0152] According to these solutions, the use of some periodic radio resources is prohibited in order to save power and free prohibited periodic radio resources. In particular, the data of a video frame is exchanged using periodic resources from one of the configured periodic resource configurations. Once the data of a video frame is exchanged, no further video frame data needs to be exchanged until the next video frame is generated within the next jitter window. Thus, only the periodic resource or resources available after the next video frame are needed, while the periodic resources immediately after the transmission of the previous video frame are no longer needed and their use can be prohibited, thereby realizing a clear and deterministic behavior in the UE and the base station regarding these unused periodic resources.

[0153] The following implementation of the solution applies to the transmission of video frames in the uplink using periodic uplink radio resources of a configured grant. Correspondingly, one or more periodic resource configurations outlined above correspond to one or more uplink resource configured grants. The UE determines suitable periodic uplink resources provided by one of the available CGs to generate video frames of a video application and transmit data of the generated video frames to the base station. The UE then transmits data of the generated video frames to the base station using the determined periodic uplink resources of one uplink resource configured grant. As a result, for example, when the UE determines that data of the generated video frames of a video application has been successfully transmitted to the base station using the periodic uplink resources, the UE also determines to prohibit the use of further periodic uplink resources according to any one of the available uplink resource configured grants for a prohibition period.

[0154] The following implementation of the solution is applied to the transmission of video frames in the downlink using periodic downlink radio resources of an SPS downlink configuration. In particular, the one or more periodic resource configurations outlined above correspond to one or more semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) downlink resource configurations. The UE monitors the periodic downlink resources provided by the SPS configuration to receive video frames of a video application from a base station. At a certain point in time, the UE receives data of a video frame from a base station using the periodic downlink resources provided by any of the available SPS downlink resource configurations. As a result, for example, when the UE determines that data of a video frame has been successfully received from a base station in the periodic downlink resources, the UE also decides to prohibit the use of further periodic downlink resources according to any one of the one or more SPS downlink resource configurations for a prohibited period. Thus, the UE does not need to monitor further periodic downlink resources for downlink data of a video frame from a base station during the prohibited period.

[0155] In one exemplary variant thereof, the UE also does not need to transmit uplink control information regarding reception feedback for potential downlink data received according to the further periodic downlink resource to the base station, considering that downlink transmission of data is not permitted, and from the base station's point of view, the base station does not need to monitor the uplink resource for corresponding uplink control information regarding reception feedback.

[0156] The following implementation of the present solution applies to the transmission of video frames in the uplink using radio resources dynamically allocated by the base station in response to a scheduling request from the UE. In particular, the one or more periodic resource configurations outlined above correspond to one or more scheduling request (SR) uplink resource configurations. The UE is configured with periodic scheduling request (SR) uplink resources for sending a scheduling request to the base station according to one or more SR uplink resource configurations. The UE generates a video frame of a video application, and if there are no suitable (periodic or dynamically allocated) uplink resources for transmitting data of the generated video frame, the UE requests uplink resources from the base station. For this purpose, the UE first determines periodic SR uplink resources according to one of the one or more SR uplink resource configurations, and then transmits a scheduling request to the base station using the determined periodic SR uplink resources according to one SR uplink resource configuration. After receiving the dynamic grant of uplink resources, the UE can transmit data of the generated video frame to the base station using the uplink resources dynamically granted by the base station. As a result, for example, when the UE determines that data of a video frame has been successfully transmitted to the base station in its dynamically allocated uplink resources, the UE also decides to prohibit further use of periodic SR resources in accordance with one or more SR uplink resource configurations for a prohibition time period.

[0157] The inhibit time length may start from a received message (eg DCI) allocating UL resources, or from the actual transmission of the remaining video frame data.

[0158] The solutions so far have been described in that the prohibition on periodic radio resource usage is carried out for a certain period of time. In the following exemplary implementations, this prohibition period is explained in more detail.

[0159] More specifically, the inhibit period is such that it ends before the radio resources according to the one or more periodic resource configurations are used to exchange data of a subsequent video frame of the video application, the subsequent video frame being immediately after the video frame that triggered the inhibit. In other words, the inhibit time should not be so long that the next video frame cannot be transmitted in a timely manner.

[0160] In the following, various examples are presented. The exemplary implementations of these examples are first described in the context of configured grant uplink resources, i.e., a scenario in which a UE transmits video frames on the uplink to a base station. However, these various examples and their underlying concepts apply equally to implementations related to periodic SR uplink resources and periodic SPS downlink resources.

[0161] According to a first example, the prohibition period ends at the end of a set prohibition period, which starts with reference to the periodic resource used to exchange data of the video frame. It is therefore assumed that a prohibition period of a certain length is predefined, for example set by the base station. This prohibition period of a certain length can start after the transmission of the video frame data using the periodic resource and spans a certain length. Depending on the length of the prohibition period and which periodic resource is used for the transmission of the video frame data, the duration of the prohibition can cover a different number of periodic resources and can overlap or not overlap the next jitter window.

[0162] Thus, the UE has a proper association between each of the different CGs (and their periodic resources) and the inhibit time lengths. As mentioned above, in one example, the base station may be responsible for determining the association and its contents and providing it to the UE, for example using the RRC protocol.

[0163] An exemplary implementation of a CG uplink resource scenario is shown in Fig. 17. As is evident from this figure, similar assumptions are made as in Fig. 9. For example, assume that the UE is configured with a set of periodic CG uplink resources, configured grant CG1, with a period of 4 ms. Video frames are associated with a video stream with 60 fps and are generated within a jitter window with a length of 8 ms. Further exemplary, assume that the prohibited time length for use with configured grant CG1 is configured to be half the length of the video period, i.e., 8.3333 ms. Video frame 1 is generated within the jitter window and the next suitable CG1 periodic resource is used by the UE to transmit the video frame data to the base station. The prohibited time starts at the end of the CG1 periodic resource used to transmit the data of video frame 1, and thus covers the occurrence of the next two CG1 periodic resources. These prohibited CG uplink resources are marked with a cross in the diagram of Fig. 17. From the base station's perspective, since the base station has received the data of video frame 1 on the CG1 resources and is aware of the prohibited time length and the UE's behavior, it knows that the following two CG1 resources are prohibited and will not be used by the UE to transmit data in the uplink. In response, the base station can stop monitoring the two prohibited CG1 uplink resources.

[0164] The above UE and BS operations are correspondingly applied and performed for the transmission of data of video frames 2, 3, and 4 from the UE to the base station. As is evident from Fig. 17, depending on the occurrence of the periodic resource during which the video frame data is transmitted to the base station, the inhibited time may end well before the start of the next jitter window (e.g., video frames 1, 2) or may partially overlap with the next jitter window (e.g., video frame 3).

[0165] In one example implementation, the associations between different SR / CG / SPS settings and their respective prohibition time values ​​can be commonly defined for use for SR, SPS, and CG, or separate associations between different SR / CG / SPS settings and their respective prohibition time values ​​can be defined for use for SR, SPS, and CG, thus increasing the flexibility of the settings.

[0166] According to a second example of how to implement the inhibit period, knowledge of the jitter window timing is used. In particular, instead of using a fixed and therefore constant inhibit period, the inhibit period dynamically extends until the beginning of the next jitter window. The second example is shown in FIG. 18, which is based on the same assumptions as in FIG. 17 above. As before, video frame 1 is generated within the jitter window and the UE uses the next suitable CG1 periodic resource to transmit the video frame data to the base station. The inhibit time starts at the end of the CG1 periodic resource used to transmit the data of video frame 1 and ends at the beginning of the next jitter window (where the next video frame 2 is generated). In this particular case, the inhibit time therefore covers the occurrence of the next two CG1 periodic resources, which are marked with a cross in FIG. 18. From the base station's point of view, the base station receives the data of video frame 1 in the CG1 resource. The base station knows that the inhibit time extends until the beginning of the next jitter window and can therefore stop monitoring the two inhibited CG1 uplink resources.

[0167] The above UE and BS operations are performed correspondingly applied to the transmission of data of video frames 2, 3, and 4 from the UE to the base station. As is clear from Fig. 18, the length of the inhibited time varies according to the occurrence of periodic resources for transmitting video frame data to the base station. As a result, the inhibited period can cover a different number of CG periodic resources (e.g., three CG periodic resources in case of the inhibited period related to video frame 2).

[0168] A third example of a method for implementing a prohibited period is very similar to the second example in that knowledge of the jitter window timing is used. However, instead of defining the start of the next jitter window as the end of the prohibited period (as in the second example), the third example defines the start of the first occurring periodic resource that overlaps the next jitter window as the end of the prohibited period. Alternatively, instead of the first occurring periodic resource, the second occurring periodic resource, the third occurring periodic resource, ..., or the penultimate occurring periodic resource, or the last occurring periodic resource within the next jitter window can be defined as the end of the prohibited period. This allows a large number of CG periodic resources to be prohibited while facilitating the maintenance of low latency delays, since at least one periodic resource located within the jitter window is available for transmitting video frame data.

[0169] This third example is shown in Fig. 19, which is based on the same assumptions as Fig. 17 and Fig. 18 above. As before, video frame 1 is generated within the jitter window, and the UE transmits the video frame data to the base station using the next suitable CG1 periodic resource. The prohibited time starts at the end of the CG1 periodic resource used to transmit the data of video frame 1 and ends at the start of the second CG1 periodic resource in time within the next jitter window (in which the next video frame 2 is generated). In this particular case, the prohibited time covers the occurrence of the next three CG1 periodic resources, which are marked with crosses in Fig. 19. The last prohibited CG1 periodic resource is entirely within the next jitter window. In this particular example, the data of video frame 2 is generated such that it can be transmitted in the first prohibited CG1 periodic resource, but instead it has to be transmitted using the second CG1 resource of this jitter window, which incurs a small delay. On the other hand, more periodic resources can be prohibited, possibly with a small delay, which increases the possibility of saving power on the UE and BS side.

[0170] The second and third examples above are based on knowledge of the jitter window timing. The following variations and implementations address how the UE and the base station obtain the necessary knowledge of the jitter window timing. With regard to the jitter window on the UE side, the UE runs a video application and therefore has the necessary knowledge of the jitter window timing at least on the application layer running the video application. In one example, information on the jitter window timing can be provided from this UE application layer to the UE layer responsible for handling the prohibition, which can be done by appropriate inter-layer communication in the UE.

[0171] As an alternative to this inter-layer communication, the layer of the UE that handles the prohibition can estimate the timing of the jitter window. For example, for the estimation, the UE layer can use the time of arrival of the video frames from the UE application layer. Furthermore, as an improved example, the initial estimate of the timing of the jitter window can also be updated by the UE layer to take into account the arrival of further video frames. Furthermore, the UE layer can take into account further information (if available), such as one or more of the periodicity of the video frames, the jitter window length, etc.

[0172] The above-mentioned knowledge about the timing of the jitter window operating in the UE is also available on the base station side, for example obtained during the establishment of a video application between the UE and the base station. If the timing of the jitter window operating in the UE is not notified to the base station during the establishment of the application, the UE can also inform the base station about the timing of the jitter window separately. In a further alternative, the base station can try to estimate the jitter timing window based on available information such as reception of video frames.

[0173] A further implementation of the above first example of a method for implementing a prohibited period is presented below in connection with Fig. 20. In this particular implementation, instead of configuring the UE with only one set of periodic CG uplink resources CG1 of the configured grant, it is exemplarily assumed that the UE is configured with three separate sets of periodic uplink resources corresponding to configured grants CG1, CG2, and CG3 for transmitting video frame data. This exemplary scenario in Fig. 20 further assumes that each of the three periodic CG resources has the same period of 16 ms (i.e., approximately the same period as the period of a video frame, 16.6666 ms).

[0174] Furthermore, different prohibited time lengths are set for different configured grants. In this example, the different prohibited time lengths relate to different timings of the periodic resources of the CGs with respect to the jitter window. For example, the prohibited time length associated with CG1 is relatively long since its periodic resources are located at the beginning of the jitter window. Correspondingly, the prohibited time length associated with CG3 is relatively short since its periodic resources are located at the end of the jitter window. Finally, the prohibited time length associated with CG2 is set to be between CG1 and CG3. In FIG. 20, it is exemplarily assumed that the three prohibited time values ​​end at the same time, here shortly before the start of the next jitter window. However, this is merely an example and the different prohibited time lengths can be set to end at different times.

[0175] As is evident from FIG. 20, video frame 1 is generated within the jitter window and the UE transmits the video frame data to the base station using the next suitable periodic CG resource. In this particular case, this resource is the periodic resource provided by CG2. Correspondingly, the prohibited time is the time associated with CG2 and therefore starts at the end of the CG2 periodic resource used to transmit the data of video frame 1 and therefore covers the occurrence of the next CG3 periodic resource. In the illustration of FIG. 20, the prohibited CG uplink resource of CG3 is marked with a cross. From the base station's perspective, since the base station has received the data of video frame 1 on the CG2 resource and is aware of the prohibited time length associated with CG2, the base station knows that the subsequent CG3 resource is prohibited and will not be used by the UE to transmit data in the uplink. Correspondingly, the base station can stop monitoring the prohibited CG3 uplink resource.

[0176] The above UE and BS operations are correspondingly applied and performed for the transmission of data of video frames 2, 3 and 4 from the UE to the base station. As is clear from Fig. 20, the data of video frame 2 is generated within the time transmittable by the periodic resource provided by CG1. Therefore, the applied prohibited time length is the time length associated with CG1, thus covering the occurrence of the next two periodic resources (here CG2 and CG3).

[0177] The data for video frame 3 is generated towards the end of the jitter window, so the next available periodic resource is provided by CG3 outside the jitter window, and therefore the prohibited time length that applies is the time length associated with CG3, however in this case no further periodic CG resources are covered.

[0178] The above example is based on a scenario where it may not be possible to match the period of a video frame (e.g., 16.6666 ms for 60 fps) with a configurable period of a periodic resource (e.g., a multiple of 1 ms). As a result, the timing of the occurrence of the periodic resource and the jitter window will shift relative to each other over time. As a result, the prohibition time values ​​preset in the first example (see, e.g., Figures 17 and 20) may no longer be optimal during the video stream.

[0179] For example, at the beginning of the example of FIG. 20, a long inhibit time for CG1 may be adequate to cover a large portion of the remaining video frame period. However, over time, the periodic resource for CG1 may be located outside or at the end of the jitter window rather than at the beginning of the jitter window (compare the position of CG1 in FIG. 20 at the time frame 4 is generated). This may result in less maximum power savings and reduced resource efficiency, as the length of each inhibit time may no longer be aligned with the next jitter window. In one example, the relatively long inhibit time associated with CG1 may cause long delays in the transmission of video frame data.

[0180] Therefore, to overcome this problem, a further advantageous implementation is provided.

[0181] According to one exemplary implementation, it is possible to (e.g., periodically) reset the inhibit time values ​​associated with the different periodic resources to correct for the relative misalignment over time and thus become better aligned again. The base station may redetermine the inhibit time lengths of the different CGs. For example, the base station may take into account the updated timing of the periodic resources of CG1 and the intended end of the inhibit period for the next jitter window to determine the appropriate length of the inhibit time length. The updated inhibit time lengths of CG2 and CG3 may be redetermined by the base station in a manner similar or similar to that described for CG1.

[0182] In addition, the base station may also determine when to update the inhibit time length and send a corresponding configuration message to the UE.

[0183] Instead of redetermining different inhibit time lengths only at the base station as described above, in another exemplary implementation, the UE and the base station each independently redetermine the inhibit time length in a synchronized manner. Both the UE and the base station have the necessary information in this respect. For example, the UE and the base station know the period of the video frames and the respective period of the periodic resource, and can therefore determine the offset amount that occurs for each frame period (i.e., 0.6666 ms in the exemplary scenario of FIG. 20). The inhibit time length can be corrected in time based on this offset amount. The UE and the base station can take the initial setting of the inhibit time value as a reference, and then update it at appropriate intervals, such as every x video frame periods (x is a positive integer). Based on this implementation, the base station does not need to send updated configuration information regarding the updated inhibit time value.

[0184] In an implementation of the present solution that uses awareness of the jitter window timing, the prohibited period is dynamically extended relative to the jitter window (or two of the periodic resources within the jitter window), so the relative shift over time between the occurrence of the periodic resources and the jitter window timing is less of an issue.

[0185] Moreover, in the future it may be possible to set the period of the periodic resource exactly the same as the period of the video frame, in which case the fundamental problem mentioned above will not occur: the occurrence of the periodic resource and the timing of the jitter window are synchronized in time with each other, so there is no need to correct the relative deviation.

[0186] Above, three different examples are given of how the inhibit period can be implemented, but are primarily described with respect to periodic uplink resources provided by configured grants. However, as explained below, the three different examples and their underlying concepts apply equally to implementations relating to periodic SR uplink resources and periodic SPS downlink resources.

[0187] The following implementation is described in the context of using the inhibit time value set according to the first example above in a scenario in which periodic SR uplink resources and subsequent resources dynamically allocated by the base station to the UE are used to transmit video frame data in the uplink to the base station. This is described in the context of Fig. 21, which is exemplarily based on similar assumptions as those described in the context of Fig. 8. According to the first example, the inhibit period ends at the end of the set inhibit period, the inhibit period starts with respect to the dynamically allocated uplink resources used to transmit the data of the video frame and has a pre-configured length.

[0188] Thus, the UE has a proper association between each of the different SR uplink resource configurations (and their periodic resources) and the inhibit time lengths. As mentioned above, in one example, the base station may be responsible for determining the association and its contents and providing it to the UE, for example, using the RRC protocol.

[0189] As is evident from FIG. 21, it is exemplarily assumed that the UE is configured with a set of SR uplink resources SR1 with a periodicity of 4 ms. The UE generates a video frame 1 and transmits a corresponding scheduling request in the next available periodic SR resource (here SR1). The base station allocates uplink resources, for example using DCI. The UE then transmits the data of frame 1 using the dynamically allocated uplink resources. The prohibition time starts at the end of this dynamically allocated uplink resource carrying the video frame data and spans a length associated with the SR configuration (here SR1). In this particular case, the prohibition time covers one further instance of the SR uplink resources of the SR configuration SR1. In the illustration of FIG. 21, the prohibited SR uplink resources are crossed out. From the base station's perspective, since the base station has received the data of video frame 1 in the dynamically allocated uplink resources and is aware of the length of the prohibition time and the UE's behavior, the base station knows that the subsequent SR uplink resource SR1 is prohibited and will not be used by the UE to transmit another scheduling request in the uplink. Therefore, the base station can stop monitoring the prohibited SR uplink resources.

[0190] The above UE and BS operations are similarly applied and performed for the transmission of data of video frames 2, 3, and 4 from the UE to the base station. As is evident from Fig. 21, the inhibit time can end well before the start of the next jitter window.

[0191] The following implementation will be described in relation to using the prohibition time value set according to the above-mentioned first example in a scenario where the base station transmits video frame data to the UE using periodic SPS downlink resources. This will be described in relation to Fig. 22, which is exemplarily based on assumptions similar to those described in relation to Fig. 10. According to the first example, the prohibition period ends at the end of the set prohibition period that starts with reference to the periodic SPS downlink resources used to transmit the data of the video frame.

[0192] Correspondingly, the UE has an appropriate association between each of the different SPS downlink configurations (and their periodic resources) and the inhibit time length. As mentioned above, in one example, the base station may be responsible for determining the association and its contents and providing it to the UE, for example, using the RRC protocol.

[0193] As is clear from FIG. 22, it is exemplarily assumed that the UE is configured with one set of SPS downlink resources SPS1 with a periodicity of 4 ms. The base station generates video frame 1 and transmits the video frame data to the UE using the next appropriate SPS periodic resource. The prohibition time starts at the end of this SPS downlink resource carrying the video frame data and spans the length associated with the SPS downlink configuration SPS1. Thus, in this particular case, the prohibition time covers two further instances of the SPS downlink resources of the SPS configuration SPS1. In the illustration of FIG. 22, the two prohibited SPS downlink resources are crossed out. From the UE's perspective, since the UE has received the data of video frame 1 in the SPS downlink resources and is aware of the prohibition time length and the base station's operation, the UE station knows that the following two SPS downlink resources are prohibited and will not be used by the base station to transmit further video frame data. Thus, the UE can stop monitoring the prohibited SPS downlink resources.

[0194] The above UE and BS operations are similarly applied and performed for the transmission of data of video frames 2, 3, and 4 from the base station to the UE. As is evident from Fig. 22, depending on the occurrence of periodic SPS downlink resources transmitting video frame data to the UE, the inhibit time may end well before the start of the next jitter window, or may even overlap partially with the next jitter window.

[0195] Figure 23 shows that the above concept is applied to a scenario in which periodic SR resources and dynamically allocated uplink resources are used to transmit video frame data. In the example illustration of Figure 23, it is assumed that the inhibit period extends until the start of the next jitter window.

[0196] Figure 24 illustrates the above concept applied to a scenario in which SPS downlink resources are used to transmit video frame data. In the exemplary illustration of Figure 24, it is assumed that the inhibit period extends until the start of the next jitter window.

[0197] The following implementation of the first solution is related to a scenario in which only a part of the video frame data can be conveyed by the periodic SPS resource or the periodic CG resource. In particular, the data size of the video stream frame may vary and may be very large. Therefore, the periodic CG resource or the periodic SPS resource may not be enough to transmit all the video frame data.

[0198] According to one example implementation, the remaining data of a video frame that could not be transmitted by the periodic SPS / CG resource is transmitted using one or more dynamically allocated transmissions.

[0199] In one example, the inhibition time mechanism described above in connection with periodic SPS or CG resources may be triggered by these periodic SPS or CG resources even if they do not carry all video frame data. As a result, further periodic SPS / CG resources of the available SPS / CG configuration are inhibited for a certain period of time according to one of the various implementations and variations described above. The remaining video frame data may be exchanged independently in DL / UL using resources dynamically allocated by the base station.

[0200] In another example, the prohibition time mechanism described above in relation to periodic SPS or CG resources is not triggered by periodic SPS or CG resources that do not carry all video frame data. Instead, the prohibition time mechanism is triggered by a subsequent video frame data transmission using dynamically allocated resources. It is not necessary to trigger the prohibition based on periodic SPS / CG resources. Rather, it is more flexible to indicate the prohibition time length dynamically, as will become clear below. Implementations in this regard are described below for the SPS downlink and CG uplink cases.

[0201] Figure 25 illustrates the exchange of video frame data using periodic CG uplink resources. The scenario in Figure 25 is based on similar assumptions as the previous figure, thus assuming, for example, a 60 fps video stream, a jitter window of 8 ms, and three separate sets of periodic CG uplink resources (CG settings CG1, CG2, CG3, each with a period of 16 ms). As is evident from Figure 25, it is exemplarily assumed that video frames 1-4 are too large for the UE to transmit completely using one of the periodic CG resources.

[0202] Therefore, the UE determines whether all data of the video frame has been exchanged using the periodic CG resource. Therefore, for frame 1, the UE determines that all data of the video frame could not be transmitted in the uplink, and does not trigger the prohibition mechanism. The UE receives a dynamic uplink grant from the base station (DCI in FIG. 25), and therefore the UE can transmit the remaining data of the video frame using the dynamically allocated uplink resource.

[0203] When the remaining data of the video frame has been transmitted using the dynamically assigned uplink resources, further use of periodic uplink CG resources in accordance with the available CG settings is prohibited for a certain period of time.

[0204] As already described above for the previous implementation of the prohibition time mechanism, the prohibition period can be implemented such that the radio resources according to one or more periodic resource configurations are used to exchange data of a subsequent video frame of the video application, which subsequent video frame is immediately after the video frame that triggered the prohibition. Three different examples of how the prohibition period can be implemented have been described above, the first one being based on a preset prohibition time length (see, for example, FIG. 17), the second one being based on a flexible extension of the prohibition period until the start of the next jitter window (see, for example, FIG. 18), and the third one being based on a flexible extension of the prohibition period until the start of a periodic resource (e.g., first occurring, second occurring, etc.) that overlaps with the next jitter window (see, for example, FIG. 19). These three different examples are also applicable in a corresponding manner to prohibition periods triggered by dynamically allocated transmission of video frame data.

[0205] FIG. 25 is based on the first example and assumes a set inhibition time length. According to the first example described above, the set inhibition time length is associated with a periodic CG resource. This is also applicable to a scenario where inhibition is triggered by a dynamically allocated transmission of video frame data, i.e. by using an inhibition time length associated with a periodic CG resource used for the first incomplete transmission of video frame data. Alternatively, the applied inhibition time length is instead associated with a HARQ-ID. The HARQ protocol is an exemplary implementation of a retransmission protocol used between a UE and a base station for the exchange of data. The retransmission protocol may include, for example, multiple different retransmission protocol processes operating separately to allow retransmission of data (possibly a subsequent combination of the initially transmitted data and the retransmitted data). In the description of this particular implementation, it is exemplarily assumed that the HARQ protocol is used between the UE and the base station, and thus the dynamic uplink grant indicates the HARQ-ID (as an example of a retransmission protocol process ID) used by the UE and the base station, and the UE determines the length of the inhibition period by determining its value associated with the indicated HARQ ID.

[0206] Thus, the association between different HARQ IDs and respective prohibition time values ​​used for CG can be predefined, e.g., set by the base station. The UE then determines the prohibition time based on its indicated HARQ ID and the stored association of HARQ-IDs and prohibition values. In one example, the base station can be responsible for determining the association and its contents and providing information about the association to the UE, e.g., using the RRC protocol.

[0207] The base station can, for example, set different lengths of the inhibit period in association with different HARQ IDs. Thus, the base station can determine an appropriate inhibit time length when granting uplink resources to the UE, for example based on the timing of the uplink grant. For example, the base station can select an inhibit time length from among all available lengths associated with the HARQ ID. The base station then determines the HARQ ID associated with the selected inhibit time length and indicates the HARQ ID in the dynamic uplink grant sent to the UE.

[0208] As is evident from FIG. 25, HARQ ID 3 is associated with a relatively long inhibit time length and may be indicated by the base station to facilitate a relatively large power gain. For example, HARQ ID 3 may be indicated by the base station when the dynamic uplink grant occurs early in the video frame period (e.g., far away from the next jitter window). HARQ ID 1 is associated with a relatively short inhibit time length and thus allows for a smaller power gain. For example, HARQ ID 1 may be indicated by the base station when the dynamic uplink grant occurs late in the video frame period (e.g., shortly before the next jitter window).

[0209] The description of the UE and base station operation in relation to Figure 25 applies equally to the exchange of video frame data using periodic SPS uplink resources. Figure 26 illustrates an exemplary exchange and is based on the same assumptions as Figure 25. As is evident from Figure 26, it is exemplarily assumed that video frames 1-4 are too large for the base station to transmit in their entirety using one of the periodic SPS resources.

[0210] Therefore, the base station determines whether all data of the video frame has been exchanged using the periodic SPS resources. For frame 1, the base station determines that all data of the video frame could not be transmitted in the uplink and does not trigger the prohibition mechanism. Therefore, the base station prepares and transmits a dynamic downlink grant (DCI in FIG. 26) to the UE so that the remaining data of the video frame can be transmitted to the UE using dynamically allocated downlink resources.

[0211] When the remaining data of the video frame has been transmitted by using the dynamically granted downlink resources, further periodic use of downlink SPS resources according to the available SPS configuration is prohibited for a certain period of time.

[0212] As already explained in detail with respect to Fig. 25, the three different examples of the method of implementing the inhibit period are equally applicable to the inhibit period triggered by a dynamically allocated downlink transmission of video frame data. As a result, when using the first example, the pre-configured inhibit time length can be determined, for example, based on the associated SPS resource on which the first incomplete video frame data downlink transmission was performed. Alternatively, the applied inhibit time length is associated with a HARQ-ID. The dynamic downlink grant indicates the HARQ-ID (as an example of a retransmission protocol process ID) used by the UE and the base station, and the UE determines the length of the inhibit period by determining the value associated with the indicated HARQ ID.

[0213] Thus, the association of different HARQ IDs with respective prohibition time values ​​used for SPS can be predefined, e.g., configured by the base station. Thus, the UE determines the prohibition time based on its indicated HARQ ID and the stored association of HARQ-IDs with prohibition values. In one example, the base station can be responsible for determining the association and its contents and providing information about the association to the UE, e.g., using the RRC protocol.

[0214] The base station can, for example, set different lengths of the inhibit period in association with different HARQ IDs. Thus, when granting downlink resources to the UE, the base station can determine an appropriate inhibit time length, for example based on the timing of the downlink grant. For example, the base station can select an inhibit time length from among all available lengths associated with the HARQ ID. The base station then determines the HARQ ID associated with the selected inhibit time length and indicates the HARQ ID in the dynamic downlink grant sent to the UE.

[0215] In an exemplary implementation, the association between different HARQ IDs and respective prohibition time values ​​can be commonly defined to be used for SPS and CG, or separate association between different HARQ IDs and respective prohibition time values ​​can be defined to be used for SPS and CG, thus increasing the flexibility of the configuration.

[0216] However, as indicated above, the second and third examples of the method of implementing the inhibit period are also applicable. While Fig. 25 was based on the first example, the exemplary diagram of Fig. 26 for the SPS scenario is based on the second example, i.e., the case where the inhibit time flexibly reaches until the next jitter window. Thus, according to the second example, there is no need to rely on a previously defined association between different lengths of the inhibit period and SPS settings or HARQ-IDs. Rather, with knowledge of the timing of the jitter window, the UE and the base station can flexibly extend the inhibit length until the start of the jitter window. Thus, it is possible to inhibit more or less periodic resources. For example, comparing the examples of Fig. 25 and Fig. 26, the inhibit period of frame 3 according to the second example (see Fig. 26) allows additionally inhibiting the use of periodic SPS1 resources that overlap with the start of the jitter window related to frame 4. Here, it is exemplarily assumed that the periodic resources that overlap with the end of the inhibit period are considered to be prohibited in their entirety.

[0217] In the above implementation, it is assumed that the base station dynamically grants resources (whether DL or UL) for transmitting the remaining video frame data that could not be completely transmitted in the first SPS resource or the first CG resource.

[0218] With respect to the downlink transmission of the video frame data using the periodic SPS resource, the base station knows that not all the video frame data was transmitted in the periodic SPS resource. Thus, the base station can transmit to the UE a dynamic downlink assignment (e.g., DCI) indicating the downlink resource that the base station uses to transmit the remaining video frame data after the periodic SPS resource. In one example, the UE can determine whether the received video frame data is complete or not, for example, from the video frame data itself. Alternatively, the base station transmits together with the incomplete video frame data an appropriate indication indicating that the video frame data is incomplete. The UE monitors the corresponding downlink control channel, through which the dynamic downlink assignment is transmitted by the base station, and thus receives the dynamic downlink assignment and knows that at least further downlink transmission of the video frame data will be performed. Thus, the UE can receive the remaining video frame data via the dynamically assigned downlink resource.

[0219] For uplink transmission of video frame data using periodic CG resources, the UE knows that not all video frame data was transmitted in the periodic CG resources. When the base station receives incomplete video frame data in the periodic CG resources, it can determine whether the received video frame data is complete or not. For example, the base station can determine whether the received video frame data is complete or not from the video frame data itself. Another possibility is that the UE can transmit an appropriate indication indicating that the respective video frame data is incomplete together with the incomplete video frame data. In one example, such an indication can be in the form of a buffer status report (BSR), which indicates to the base station that there is still more video frame data in the UE's buffer. From the buffer status report, the base station can also obtain information about how much more uplink resources the UE needs to transmit all the remaining video frame data. For example, this information can be taken into account when the base station dynamically allocates uplink resources to the UE.

[0220] In either case, the base station can grant uplink resources for one or more uplink transmissions by the UE so that any remaining video frame data can be conveyed to the base station.

[0221] As mentioned above, the inhibit time mechanism is triggered by the dynamically allocated transmission of the remaining video frame data in the uplink or downlink. In one example, the start of the inhibit time length can be a received message allocating DL or UL resources (e.g., DCI). Thus, upon receiving the allocation message, the UE knows that the remaining video frame data will be exchanged based on the dynamically allocated resources and can inhibit further periodic resource usage for the inhibit time length.

[0222] According to another example, the start of the inhibition may be the actual transmission of the remaining video frame data.

[0223] As described above, the base station may decide to allow multiple uplink resource transmissions for the UE to transmit the remaining video frame data. In such a scenario, the prohibition time mechanism is triggered by the (last) transmission carrying the last part of the remaining video frame data. In other words, when the UE or base station determines that the dynamically allocated transmission of the remaining video frame data still does not carry all of the remaining video frame data, the UE or base station does not trigger the prohibition mechanism. The UE or base station again determines whether the dynamically allocated transmission of the remaining video frame data carries all of the remaining video frame data, and if so, triggers the prohibition mechanism.

[0224] <Second solution> Above, an implementation of a first solution was described in relation to Figures 25 and 26 on how to handle the problematic scenario where only a part of the video frame data can be conveyed by periodic SPS or CG resources. This above implementation was described as part of the first solution and thus as an additional mechanism layered on top of the mechanism enforcing, for example, the prohibition time of periodic SPS or CG resources. However, according to this second solution, the above implementation described in relation to Figures 25 and 26 can also be implemented as a sole independent mechanism of an improved transmission procedure, where no prohibition mechanism for periodic SPS or CG resources is present.

[0225] Figure 27 shows a simplified exemplary UE structure, which may be essentially the same as that provided in the first solution. For example, an exemplary implementation of the improved transmission procedure of the second solution may be implemented based on the general UE structure described in relation to Figure 11. The various structural elements of the UE shown in this Figure 27 may be interconnected with each other, for example with corresponding input / output nodes (not shown), for example to exchange control data and user data, as well as other signals. Although not shown for illustrative purposes, the UE may include further structural elements.

[0226] As can be seen from FIG. 27, the UE may include a video application operating circuit and a video frame generating circuit, a video frame transceiver for transmitting and receiving video frames, and an inhibition circuit capable of accessing periodic resources.

[0227] One exemplary procedure, disclosed in further detail below, is implemented by a UE including: A processing circuit of the UE operates a video application, whereby video frames are generated in a video frame period according to the video application. Each video frame is generated within a jitter window having a jitter window length. A transceiver of the UE uses radio resources to exchange one or more video frames of the video application between the UE and a base station. The radio resources are determined by the UE based on one or more periodic resource configurations. An initial portion of the video frame data can be exchanged based on the periodic resources according to one of the one or more periodic resource configurations. The remaining video frame data is exchanged using one or more dynamically allocated transmissions, as described above in connection with Figures 25 and 26.

[0228] The UE then determines, for such dynamically allocated transmission, whether the complete remaining video frame data is exchanged using this dynamically allocated transmission (whether DL or UL), and if yes, the processing circuitry determines to prohibit further use of periodic radio resources according to one or more periodic resource configurations for a period of time.

[0229] A corresponding exemplary method includes the following steps performed by the UE. operating a video application, where video frames are generated at a video frame period, each video frame being generated within a jitter window having a jitter window length; using radio resources for exchanging one or more video frames of a video application between the UE and the base station, the radio resources being determined by the UE based on one or more periodic resource configurations; exchanging a portion of a video frame using periodic radio resources according to one of the one or more periodic resource configurations; exchanging remaining video frame data using one or more dynamically allocated transmissions; For such dynamically allocated transmission, determining whether the entire remaining video frame data is exchanged using this dynamically allocated transmission (whether DL or UL); if yes, deciding to prohibit further use of periodic radio resources according to the one or more periodic resource configurations for a certain period of time.

[0230] A corresponding sequence diagram of an exemplary UE operation along with the above-mentioned UE and UE method is shown in Fig. 28. As is evident from Fig. 28, in this figure it is exemplarily assumed that the inhibit time length is implemented based on the inhibit time length that is pre-configured (first example above, e.g. see Fig. 25) and associated to the indicated HARQ ID for the dynamically assigned transmission (see Fig. 25).

[0231] One exemplary procedure is implemented by a base station to support the operation of a UE.

[0232] In relation to the first solution, variants have been described on how to implement the prohibition mechanism for dynamically allocated transmissions. These variants can be applied to the present second solution, which is simply an independent solution, as well. To avoid repetition, please refer to the above description. Briefly summarized, the second solution can be operated such that the prohibition period ends before the radio resources according to one or more periodic resource configurations are used to exchange data of a subsequent video frame of the video application, the subsequent video frame being immediately after the video frame that triggered the prohibition. Thus, any of the first to third examples of how to implement the prohibition period can be used for the second solution. Furthermore, in the case of the first example, the prohibition time length can be predefined, for example, based on the periodic resource used to exchange the first incomplete video frame data or based on the retransmission protocol process ID (e.g. HARQ-ID) indicated for the dynamically allocated transmission.

[0233] Furthermore, in one example implementation, the association between different HARQ IDs and respective prohibition time values ​​may be commonly defined to be used for SPS and CG, or may be defined separately.

[0234] Further, the UE or base station may determine whether the received or transmitted video frame data is complete, for example based on the video frame data itself or based on an appropriate indication (such as a buffer status report) transmitted together with the video frame data, as described above.

[0235] The inhibit time length may start from a received message (eg DCI) allocating DL or UL resources, or from the actual transmission of the remaining video frame data.

[0236] If the remaining video frame data is exchanged based on multiple dynamically allocated transmissions, the inhibit time mechanism is triggered by the (last) transmission carrying the last portion of the remaining video frame data.

[0237] Further aspects According to a first aspect, a user equipment is provided, including: A processing circuit of the UE operates a video application, and video frames are generated in a video frame period according to the video application. Each video frame is generated within a jitter window having a jitter window length. A transceiver of the UE uses radio resources to exchange one or more video frames of the video application between the UE and a base station. The radio resources are determined by the UE based on one or more periodic resource configurations. When the processing circuit determines that data of a video frame generated during one jitter window is exchanged by using one periodic resource of the one or more periodic resource configurations, the processing circuit determines to prohibit further use of periodic radio resources according to the one or more periodic resource configurations for a prohibited interval that is a certain period of time.

[0238] According to a second aspect provided in addition to the first aspect, the inhibit period is such that it ends before radio resources according to the one or more periodic resource configurations are used to exchange data of a subsequent video frame of a video application, the subsequent video frame being immediately following the video frame that triggered the inhibit.

[0239] In an optional implementation of the second aspect, the prohibition period is: At the end of a configured prohibited period, the start of which is based on the periodic resource used to exchange data of a video frame. At the beginning of the next jitter window, where the next jitter window is the immediate next to a jitter window, or At the start of the earliest or later occurring periodic resource of one or more periodic resource configurations that overlap with the next jitter window, Finish.

[0240] According to a third aspect provided in addition to the first or second aspect, the one or more periodic resource configurations are one or more uplink resource configured grants. When a video frame of a video application is generated, the processing circuit determines a periodic uplink resource for transmitting data of the generated video frame to a base station according to the one uplink resource configured grant. The transceiver transmits data of the generated video frame of the video application to the base station using the determined periodic uplink resource according to the one uplink resource configured grant. When the processing circuit determines that the data of the generated video frame of the video application has been transmitted to the base station using the periodic uplink resource according to the one uplink resource configured grant, the processing circuit determines to prohibit use of further periodic uplink resources according to the one or more uplink resource configured grants for a prohibition time period.

[0241] According to a fourth aspect provided in addition to the third aspect, a processing circuit comprises: - a forbidden time value associated with one uplink resource configured grant in which the periodic uplink resource is used to transmit data of the generated video frame to the base station; The period of prohibition will be determined based on the above.

[0242] In an optional implementation of the fourth aspect, the determination of the prohibition period based on the prohibition time value is further based on a CG-prohibition value association that associates each of the one or more uplink resource configured grants with a respective prohibition time value, optionally received from the base station, for example in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol message.

[0243] According to a fifth aspect provided in addition to the third aspect, the processing circuit determines the inhibit period based on a timing of a next jitter window.

[0244] In an optional implementation of the fifth aspect, the processing circuitry may further comprise: Information about the timing of the jitter window of the video application, optionally provided by the UE layer handling the video application to the UE layer handling the prohibition using inter-layer communication, or one or more of a video frame period and a time at which a video frame is generated in a video application; The decision will be based on:

[0245] In a further optional implementation of the fifth aspect, the transceiver transmits information regarding timing of a jitter window of a video application to a base station.

[0246] According to a sixth aspect provided in addition to one of the first to fifth aspects, the one or more periodic resource configurations are one or more semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) downlink resource configurations. A processing circuit monitors periodic downlink resources for receiving one or more video frames of a video application from a base station according to one or more SPS downlink resource configurations configured in the UE. A transceiver receives data of a video frame of the video application from a base station using the periodic downlink resources according to one of the one or more SPS downlink resource configurations. When the processing circuit determines that data of a video frame of the video application is received from a base station in the periodic downlink resources according to one SPS downlink resource configuration, the processing circuit determines to prohibit use of further periodic downlink resources according to the one or more SPS downlink resource configurations for a prohibition period.

[0247] In an optional implementation of the sixth aspect, the prohibition of using the further periodic downlink resource includes that the UE does not need to monitor the further periodic downlink resource for downlink data of video frames from the base station. In a further optional implementation, the prohibition of using the further periodic downlink resource includes that the UE does not need to transmit uplink control information to the base station regarding reception feedback for potential downlink data received according to the further periodic downlink resource.

[0248] According to a seventh aspect provided in addition to the sixth aspect, a processing circuit comprises: - a forbidden time value associated with one SPS downlink resource configuration providing a periodic downlink resource during which data of the video frame is received from the base station; The period of prohibition will be determined based on the above.

[0249] In an optional implementation of the seventh aspect, the determination of the inhibit period based on the inhibit time value is further based on an SPS-inhibit value association that associates each of the SPS downlink resource configurations with a respective inhibit time value. Optionally, the SPS-inhibit value association is received from the base station, for example in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol message.

[0250] According to an eighth aspect provided in addition to the sixth aspect, a processing circuit comprises: - the timing of the next jitter window, The period of prohibition will be determined based on the above.

[0251] In an optional implementation of the eighth aspect, the processing circuitry may further comprise: information received from a base station about the timing of the jitter window of the video application; or one or more of a video frame period and a time at which a video frame of the video application is received from the base station; The decision will be based on:

[0252] According to a ninth aspect provided in addition to any one of the first to eighth aspects, the one or more periodic resource configurations are one or more scheduling request (SR) uplink resource configurations. The UE is configured with periodic scheduling request (SR) resources for transmitting a scheduling request to a base station according to the one or more SR uplink resource configurations, and the scheduling request requests the base station to grant uplink resources to the UE. The processing circuit determines periodic SR uplink resources according to one of the one or more SR uplink resource configurations for transmitting a scheduling request to the base station, when a video frame of the video application is generated, requesting uplink resources for transmitting data of the generated video frame. The transceiver transmits the scheduling request to the base station using the periodic SR resources according to one SR uplink resource configuration. The transceiver transmits data of the generated video frame of the video application to the base station using the uplink resources dynamically granted by the base station in response to the UE transmitting the scheduling request. When the processing circuit determines that, in response to the UE transmitting a scheduling request to the base station using the periodic SR resources of one SR uplink resource configuration, data of a generated video frame of the video application is transmitted to the base station using uplink resources dynamically granted by the base station, the processing circuit determines to prohibit further use of the periodic SR resources according to the one or more SR uplink resource configurations for a prohibition time period.

[0253] According to a tenth aspect provided in addition to the ninth aspect, a processing circuit comprises: - a prohibition time value associated with one SR uplink resource configuration, where a periodic SR uplink resource was used to transmit a scheduling request to the base station; The period of prohibition will be determined based on the above.

[0254] In an optional implementation of the tenth aspect, the determination of the prohibition period based on the prohibition time value is further based on an SR-prohibition value association that associates each of the SR uplink resource configurations with a respective prohibition time value. Optionally, the SR-prohibition value association is received from the base station, for example in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol message.

[0255] According to an eleventh aspect provided in addition to the ninth aspect, the processing circuit comprises: - the timing of the next jitter window, The period of prohibition will be determined based on the above.

[0256] In an optional implementation of the eleventh aspect, the processing circuitry may further comprise: information about the timing of the jitter window of the video application provided by the UE layer handling the video application to the UE layer handling the barring using inter-layer communication, or one or more of a video frame period and a time at which a video frame is generated in a video application; The decision will be based on:

[0257] Optionally, the transceiver transmits information regarding the timing of the jitter window of the video application to the base station.

[0258] According to a twelfth aspect provided in addition to any one of the first to eleventh aspects, the processing circuit determines whether all data of a video frame of a video application has been exchanged using periodic resources according to one periodic resource configuration. If all data of the video frame of the video application has not been exchanged, remaining data of the video frame is exchanged using one or more resources dynamically granted by the base station. When the processing circuit determines that the remaining data of the video frame has been exchanged by using the dynamically granted one or more resources, the processing circuit determines that the processing circuit prohibits use of further periodic resources according to the one or more periodic resource configurations for a certain period of time.

[0259] According to a thirteenth aspect provided in addition to the twelfth aspect, the processing circuit determines the inhibit period based on an inhibit time value associated with a retransmission protocol process used to exchange remaining data of the video frame, the dynamic grant by the base station indicating the retransmission protocol process.

[0260] In an optional implementation of the thirteenth aspect, the determination of the inhibit period based on the inhibit time value is further based on a retransmission protocol-prohibit value association that associates each of the one or more retransmission protocol processes with a respective inhibit time value. Optionally, the retransmission protocol-prohibit value association is received from the base station, for example in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol message.

[0261] In a further optional implementation, if more than one resource is dynamically granted by the base station for the exchange of the remaining data of the video frame, the determination of the inhibit period is based on an inhibit value associated with a retransmission protocol process used for the last occurring exchange of the remaining data of the video frame. Optionally, the retransmission protocol process is a HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) process, and optionally the start of the inhibit period is the reception of dynamic resource control information or the transmission of the remaining data using the dynamically granted resource or resources.

[0262] According to a fourteenth aspect provided in addition to any one of the first to thirteenth aspects, the video application is an application for extended reality (XR). Furthermore, the SPS downlink resource configuration configures a set of periodic downlink resources usable by the base station to transmit downlink data to the UE without receiving individual downlink scheduling information via the downlink control information. Furthermore, the uplink resource configured grant configures a set of periodic uplink resources usable by the UE to transmit uplink data to the base station without a prior scheduling request from the UE to the base station. Furthermore, the scheduling request uplink resource configuration configures a set of periodic uplink resources usable by the UE to transmit a scheduling request to the base station without a prior scheduling request from the UE to the base station.

[0263] According to a fifteenth aspect, the method comprises the following steps performed by a user equipment (UE): operating a video application, where video frames are generated at a video frame period according to the video application, each video frame being generated within a jitter window having a jitter window length; using radio resources for exchanging one or more video frames of a video application between the UE and a base station, the radio resources being determined by the UE based on one or more periodic resource configurations; determining, when determining that data of a video frame of a video application generated during one jitter window has been exchanged by using one periodic resource of the one or more periodic resource configurations, to prohibit further use of periodic radio resources according to the one or more periodic resource configurations for a certain period of time; A method is provided that includes:

[0264] According to a sixteenth aspect, there is provided a base station comprising: a processing circuit of the base station operates a video application, and video frames are generated in a video frame period according to the video application. Each video frame is generated within a jitter window having a jitter window length. A transceiver of the base station uses radio resources to exchange one or more video frames of the video application between a UE and the base station, and the radio resources are determined by the base station based on one or more periodic resource configurations. When the processing circuit determines that data of a video frame of the video application generated during one jitter window is exchanged by using one periodic resource of the one or more periodic resource configurations, the processing circuit determines to prohibit further use of periodic radio resources according to the one or more periodic resource configurations for a prohibited interval that is a certain period of time.

[0265] According to a seventeenth aspect provided in addition to the sixteenth aspect, the one or more periodic resource configurations are one or more uplink resource configured grants. The processing circuit monitors periodic uplink resources for receiving one or more video frames of a video application from the UE according to the one or more uplink resource configured grants. The transceiver receives data of the video frames of the video application from the UE using one periodic uplink resource according to one of the uplink resource configured grants. When the processing circuit determines that data of the video frames of the video application have been received from the UE in the periodic uplink resource according to the one uplink resource configured grant, the processing circuit determines to prohibit use of further periodic uplink resources according to the one or more uplink resource configured grants for a prohibition time period.

[0266] In an optional implementation of the seventeenth aspect, the prohibition of using the further periodic uplink resource includes that the base station does not need to monitor the further periodic uplink resource for uplink data of video frames from the UE. Optionally, the prohibition of using the further periodic uplink resource further includes that the base station does not need to transmit downlink control information to the UE regarding reception feedback of potential uplink data received according to the further periodic uplink resource.

[0267] According to an eighteenth aspect provided in addition to the seventeenth aspect, a processing circuit comprises: - a prohibition time value associated with one uplink resource configured grant, during which the periodic uplink resource is used to receive data of the generated video frame from the UE; The period of prohibition will be determined based on the above.

[0268] In an optional implementation of the eighteenth aspect, the determination of the prohibition period based on the prohibition time value is further based on a CG-prohibition value association that associates each of the one or more uplink resource configured grants with a respective prohibition time value. Optionally, the CG-prohibition value association is transmitted to the UE, for example in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol message.

[0269] According to a nineteenth aspect provided in addition to the seventeenth aspect, a processing circuit comprises: - the timing of the next jitter window, The period of prohibition will be determined based on the above.

[0270] In an optional implementation, the processing circuitry may determine the timing of the next jitter window as: Information received from the UE about the timing of the jitter window of the video application, or one or more of the video frame periodicity and the time at which a video frame of the video application is received from the UE; The decision will be based on:

[0271] According to a twentieth aspect provided in addition to any one of the sixteenth to nineteenth aspects, the one or more periodic resource configurations are one or more semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) downlink resource configurations, and the processing circuit determines, when a video frame of a video application is generated, a periodic downlink resource for transmitting data of the generated video frame to the UE according to one SPS downlink resource configuration. The transceiver transmits data of the generated video frame of the video application to the UE using the determined periodic downlink resource according to one SPS downlink resource configuration. When the processing circuit determines that the data of the generated video frame of the video application has been transmitted to the UE using the periodic downlink resource according to one SPS downlink resource configuration, the processing circuit determines to prohibit use of further periodic downlink resources according to the one or more SPS downlink resource configurations for a prohibition period.

[0272] According to a twenty-first aspect provided in addition to the twentieth aspect, a processing circuit comprises: - a forbidden time value associated with one SPS downlink resource configuration providing a periodic downlink resource through which data of a video frame is transmitted to the UE; The period of prohibition will be determined based on the above.

[0273] In an optional implementation of the twenty-first aspect, the determination of the inhibit period based on the inhibit time value is further based on an SPS-inhibit value association that associates each of the SPS downlink resource configurations with a respective inhibit time value. Optionally, the SPS-inhibit value association is transmitted to the UE, for example in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol message.

[0274] According to a twenty-second aspect provided in addition to the twentieth aspect, a processing circuit comprises: - the timing of the next jitter window, The period of prohibition will be determined based on the above.

[0275] In an optional implementation of the twenty-second aspect, the processing circuitry may further comprise: Optionally, information about the timing of the jitter window of the video application provided by the BS layer handling the video application to the BS layer handling the prohibition using inter-layer communication; or one or more of a video frame period and a time at which a video frame of the video application is generated in the video application; The decision will be based on:

[0276] Optionally, the transceiver transmits information regarding the timing of a jitter window for a video application to the UE.

[0277] According to a twenty-third aspect provided in addition to any one of the sixteenth to twenty-second aspects, the one or more periodic resource configurations are one or more scheduling request (SR) uplink resource configurations. The UE is configured with periodic scheduling request (SR) resources for transmitting a scheduling request to a base station according to the one or more SR uplink resource configurations. The scheduling request requests the base station to grant uplink resources to the UE. The processing circuit monitors periodic SR uplink resources according to the one or more SR uplink resource configurations to receive a scheduling request from the UE when a video frame of a video application is generated, the scheduling request requesting uplink resources for transmitting data of the video frame. The transceiver receives the scheduling request from the UE using the periodic SR resources according to one SR uplink resource configuration. The transceiver transmits a grant of uplink resources to the UE, and receives data of the video frame of the video application from the UE using the uplink resources dynamically granted by the base station. When the processing circuit determines that data of a generated video frame of a video application has been received from the UE using uplink resources dynamically granted by the base station in response to the UE transmitting a scheduling request to the base station using periodic SR resources of one SR uplink resource configuration, the processing circuit determines to prohibit further use of periodic SR resources according to the one or more SR uplink resource configurations for a prohibition time period.

[0278] In an optional implementation form of the 23rd aspect, the prohibition on the use of further periodic SR resources includes that the base station does not need to monitor the further periodic SR resources to receive a scheduling request.

[0279] According to a twenty-fourth aspect provided in addition to the twenty-third aspect, a processing circuit comprises: - a prohibition time value associated with one SR uplink resource configuration in which periodic SR uplink resources are used to receive a scheduling request from the UE; The period of prohibition will be determined based on the above.

[0280] In an optional implementation of the twenty-fourth aspect, the determination of the prohibition period based on the prohibition time value is further based on an SR-prohibition value association that associates each of the SR uplink resource configurations with a respective prohibition time value. Optionally, the SR-prohibition value association is transmitted to the UE, for example in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol message.

[0281] According to a twenty-fifth aspect provided in addition to the twenty-third aspect, a processing circuit comprises: - the timing of the next jitter window, The period of prohibition will be determined based on the above.

[0282] In an optional implementation of the twenty-fifth aspect, the processing circuitry may further comprise: information received from the UE about the timing of the jitter window of the video application, or one or more of the periodicity of the video frames and the time at which the video frames are received from the UE; The decision will be based on:

[0283] According to a 26th aspect provided in addition to any one of the 16th to 25th aspects, the processing circuit determines whether all data of the video frame of the video application has been exchanged using periodic resources according to one periodic resource configuration. If all data of the video frame of the video application has not been exchanged, the remaining data of the video frame is exchanged using one or more resources dynamically granted by the base station. When the processing circuit determines that the remaining data of the video frame has been exchanged by using the one or more dynamically granted resources, the processing circuit determines to prohibit use of further periodic resources according to the one or more periodic resource configurations for a certain period. According to a 27th aspect provided in addition to the 26th aspect, the processing circuit determines a prohibition period and determines a retransmission protocol process associated with the determined prohibition period, the retransmission protocol process being used for exchange of the remaining data of the video frame. The transceiver transmits a dynamic grant of resources to the UE, the dynamic grant indicating the determined retransmission protocol process.

[0284] In an optional implementation of the twenty-seventh aspect, the determination of the retransmission protocol process is further based on a retransmission protocol-prohibition value association that associates each of the one or more retransmission protocol processes with a respective prohibition time value. Optionally, the retransmission protocol-prohibition value association is transmitted to the UE, for example in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol message.

[0285] Optionally, if more than one resource is dynamically granted by the base station for the exchange of the remaining data of the video frame, the determination of the inhibit period and the determination of the retransmission protocol process are performed for the last occurring exchange of the remaining data of the video frame. Optionally, the retransmission protocol process is a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) process.

[0286] According to a twenty-eighth aspect, the following steps are performed by a base station: operating a video application, where video frames are generated at a video frame period according to the video application, each video frame being generated within a jitter window having a jitter window length; using radio resources for exchanging one or more video frames of a video application between the UE and a base station, the radio resources being determined by the base station based on one or more periodic resource configurations; determining, when determining that data of a video frame of a video application generated during one jitter window has been exchanged by using one periodic resource of the one or more periodic resource configurations, to prohibit further use of periodic radio resources according to the one or more periodic resource configurations for a certain period of time; A method is provided that includes:

[0287] According to a twenty-ninth aspect, there is provided an integrated circuit for controlling a process of a user equipment, the process comprising the following steps executed by the user equipment: operating a video application, where video frames are generated at a video frame period according to the video application, each video frame being generated within a jitter window having a jitter window length; using radio resources for exchanging one or more video frames of a video application between the UE and a base station, the radio resources being determined by the UE based on one or more periodic resource configurations; determining, when determining that data of a video frame of a video application generated during one jitter window has been exchanged by using one periodic resource of the one or more periodic resource configurations, to prohibit further use of periodic radio resources according to the one or more periodic resource configurations for a certain period of time; Including, An integrated circuit is provided.

[0288] According to a 30th aspect, there is provided an integrated circuit for controlling a process of a base station, the process comprising the following steps executed by the base station: operating a video application, where video frames are generated at a video frame period according to the video application, each video frame being generated within a jitter window having a jitter window length; using radio resources for exchanging one or more video frames of a video application between the UE and a base station, the radio resources being determined by the base station based on one or more periodic resource configurations; determining, when determining that data of a video frame of a video application generated during one jitter window has been exchanged by using one periodic resource of the one or more periodic resource configurations, to prohibit further use of periodic radio resources according to the one or more periodic resource configurations for a certain period of time; Including, An integrated circuit is provided.

[0289] Further variations, including hardware and software implementations of the present disclosure The present disclosure can be implemented by software, by hardware, or by software cooperating with hardware. Each functional block used in the description of each embodiment above can be implemented in part or in whole by an LSI such as an integrated circuit, and each process described in each embodiment can be controlled in part or in whole by the same LSI or a combination of LSIs. The LSI can be formed as a chip individually, or a single chip can be formed to include some or all of the functional blocks. The LSI can include a data input / output unit coupled to it. Here, the LSI is also referred to as an IC (integrated circuit), a system LSI, a super LSI, or an ultra LSI depending on the degree of integration. However, the technology for implementing the integrated circuit is not limited to the LSI, and may be implemented by using a dedicated circuit, a general-purpose processor, or a dedicated processor. Furthermore, an FPGA (field programmable gate array) that can be programmed after the LSI is manufactured, or a reconfigurable processor that can reconfigure the connection and settings of the circuit cells arranged inside the LSI, can also be used. The present disclosure can be implemented as digital processing or analog processing. If, as a result of advances in semiconductor technology or other derivative technologies, LSI is replaced by a future integrated circuit technology, the future integrated circuit technology can be used to integrate the functional blocks. Biotechnology can also be applied.

[0290] The present disclosure may be implemented by any kind of apparatus, device or system having a communication capability (referred to as a communication apparatus).

[0291] A communication device may include a transceiver and processing / control circuitry. The transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter and / or function as a receiver and a transmitter. The transceiver as a transmitter and a receiver may include an RF (radio frequency) module including an amplifier, an RF modulator / demodulator, etc., and one or more antennas.

[0292] Some non-limiting examples of such communications devices include phones (e.g., cell phones, smartphones), tablets, personal computers (PCs) (e.g., laptops, desktops, notebooks), cameras (e.g., digital still / video cameras), digital players (digital audio / video players), wearable devices (e.g., wearable cameras, smart watches, tracking devices), game consoles, e-book readers, telehealth / telemedicine equipment, vehicles providing communications capabilities (e.g., cars, airplanes, ships), and various combinations thereof.

[0293] Communications devices are not limited to portable or mobile, but can also include any type of equipment, device, or system that is non-portable or stationary, such as smart home devices (e.g., appliances, lights, smart meters, control panels), vending machines, and any other "things" in the Internet of Things (IoT) network.

[0294] Communications may include, for example, exchanging data through cellular systems, wireless LAN systems, satellite systems, etc., as well as various combinations thereof.

[0295] A communications device may include devices such as a controller or a sensor coupled to the communications device to perform the communications functions described in this disclosure. For example, a communications device may include a controller or a sensor that generates control or data signals used by the communications device to perform the communications functions of the communications device.

[0296] The communications apparatus may further include infrastructure facilities, such as base stations, access points, and any other apparatus, devices, or systems that communicate with or control apparatuses such as the apparatuses in the non-limiting examples above.

[0297] (Control signal) In this disclosure, the downlink control signal (information) related to this disclosure may be a signal (information) transmitted via a PDCCH of a physical layer, or may be a signal (information) transmitted via a MAC control element (CE) or RRC of a higher layer. The downlink control signal may be a predefined signal (information).

[0298] The uplink control signal (information) related to the present disclosure may be a signal (information) transmitted via a PUCCH of the physical layer, or may be a signal (information) transmitted via a MAC CE or RRC of a higher layer. Furthermore, the uplink control signal may be a predefined signal (information). The uplink control signal may be replaced by uplink control information (UCI), 1st stage sidelink control information (SCI), or 2nd stage SCI.

[0299] (base station) In the present disclosure, the base station may be, for example, a Transmission Reception Point (TRP), a cluster head, an access point, a Remote Radio Head (RRH), an eNodeB (eNB), a gNodeB (gNB), a base station (BS), a base transceiver station (BTS), a base unit, or a gateway. Furthermore, in sidelink communication, a terminal may be employed instead of a base station. The base station may be a relay device that relays communication between an upper node and a terminal. The base station may be a roadside unit.

[0300] (uplink / downlink / sidelink) The present disclosure can be applied to any of the uplink, downlink, and sidelink.

[0301] The present disclosure may be applied to, for example, uplink channels such as PUSCH, PUCCH, and PRACH, downlink channels such as PDSCH, PDCCH, and PBCH, and sidelink channels such as the Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), the Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), and the Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

[0302] The PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, and PUCCH are examples of a downlink control channel, a downlink data channel, an uplink data channel, and an uplink control channel, respectively. The PSCCH and PSSCH are examples of a sidelink control channel and a sidelink data channel, respectively. The PBCH and PSBCH are examples of a broadcast channel, and the PRACH is an example of a random access channel.

[0303] (Data Channel / Control Channel) The present disclosure can be applied to both data channels and control channels. The channels in the present disclosure can be replaced with data channels including PDSCH, PUSCH, and PSSCH, and / or control channels including PDCCH, PUCCH, PBCH, PSCCH, and PSBCH.

[0304] (reference signal) In this disclosure, a reference signal is a signal known to both a base station and a mobile station, and each reference signal may be referred to as a Reference Signal (RS) or sometimes a pilot signal. A reference signal may be any of a DMRS, a Channel State Information - Reference Signal (CSI-RS), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), a Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS), a Cell-specific Reference Signal (CRS), and a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS).

[0305] (Time Interval) In the present disclosure, the unit of time resource is not limited to one or a combination of slots and symbols, and may be a time resource unit such as a frame, a superframe, a subframe, a slot, a time slot subslot, a minislot, or a time resource unit such as a symbol, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, a Single Carrier-Frequency Division Multiplexing Access (SC-FDMA) symbol, or another time resource unit. The number of symbols included in one slot is not limited to the number exemplified in the above-mentioned embodiment, and may be another number of symbols.

[0306] (Frequency band) The present disclosure may be applied to both licensed and unlicensed bands.

[0307] (communication) The present disclosure can be applied to any of communication between a base station and a terminal (Uu link communication), communication between terminals (sidelink communication), and communication between a vehicle and some entity (V2X: Vehicle to Everything). The channels in the present disclosure can be replaced with PSCCH, PSSCH, Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH), PSBCH, PDCCH, PUCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, and PBCH.

[0308] Furthermore, the present disclosure can be applied to any of terrestrial networks or non-terrestrial networks (NTN: Non-Terrestrial Network) that use satellites or High Altitude Pseudo Satellites (HAPS). Furthermore, the present disclosure may be applied to networks with large cell sizes or terrestrial networks with large delays compared to the symbol length or slot length, such as ultra-wideband transmission networks.

[0309] (Antenna port) An antenna port refers to a logical antenna (antenna group) formed from one or more physical antennas. In other words, an antenna port does not necessarily refer to one physical antenna, but may refer to an array antenna formed from multiple antennas. For example, the number of physical antennas forming an antenna port is not defined, and instead, the smallest unit by which a terminal can transmit a reference signal is defined as an antenna port. An antenna port may also be defined as the smallest unit for multiplication of a precoding vector weighting.

[0310] Furthermore, the various embodiments can be implemented by means of software modules executed by a processor or directly in hardware. A combination of software modules and hardware implementation is also possible. The software modules can be stored on any kind of computer-readable storage medium, for example RAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, registers, hard disks, CD-ROM, DVD, etc. Furthermore, it is to be noted that individual features of the different embodiments can be the subject of another embodiment, either individually or in any combination.

[0311] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present disclosure as set forth in the specific embodiments may be subject to numerous changes and / or modifications, and the present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims

1. 1. A communication device, comprising: a processing circuit for operating a video application, wherein, in operation, video frames are generated in accordance with the video application at a video frame period, each video frame being generated within a jitter window having a jitter window length; a transceiver that, in operation, uses radio resources to exchange one or more video frames of the video application between the communication device and a base station, the radio resources being determined by the communication device based on one or more periodic resource configurations; Equipped with When the processing circuit determines that data of a video frame of the video application generated during one jitter window has been exchanged by using one periodic resource of the one or more periodic resource configurations, the processing circuit determines to prohibit further use of the periodic radio resource according to the one or more periodic resource configurations for a prohibition period that is a certain period of time. Communications equipment.

2. the inhibit period is such that it ends before radio resources according to the one or more periodic resource configurations are used to exchange data of a subsequent video frame of the video application, the subsequent video frame being immediately following the video frame that triggered the inhibit, Optionally, the prohibition period is: at the end of a configured prohibited period, the start of which is relative to the periodic resource used for exchanging the data of the video frame, at the start of a next jitter window, said next jitter window immediately following said one jitter window, or at the start of a first occurring or a later occurring periodic resource of one of said one or more periodic resource configurations that overlaps with a next jitter window; Finish, The communication device according to claim 1 .

3. the one or more periodic resource configurations are one or more uplink resource configured grants, and the processing circuit, in operation, when the video frame of the video application is generated, determines a periodic uplink resource for transmitting data of the generated video frame to the base station according to one uplink resource configured grant; and transmitting, in operation, the data of the generated video frame of the video application to the base station using the determined periodic uplink resource according to the one uplink resource configured grant; when the processing circuitry determines that the data of the generated video frame of the video application has been transmitted to the base station using the periodic uplink resource according to the one uplink resource configured grant, the processing circuitry determines to prohibit use of further periodic uplink resources according to the one or more uplink resource configured grants for the prohibition time period. The communication device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The processing circuitry, in operation, a prohibition time value associated with the one uplink resource configured grant in which periodic uplink resources are used to transmit the data of the generated video frame to the base station; determining said prohibition period based on Optionally, the determination of the prohibition period based on the prohibition time value is further based on a CG-prohibited value association associating each of the one or more uplink resource configured grants with a respective prohibited time value, optionally the CG-prohibited value association being received from the base station, optionally in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol message. The communication device according to claim 3.

5. The processing circuitry, in operation, - the timing of the next jitter window, determining said prohibition period based on Optionally, the processing circuitry, in operation, adjusts the timing of the next jitter window. information regarding the timing of the jitter window of the video application, optionally provided by a communications device layer processing the video application to a communications device layer processing the prohibition using inter-layer communication; or one or more of the periodicity of the video frames and the time at which video frames are generated in the video application; Based on the decision, 4. The communications device of claim 3, wherein the transceiver is optionally operable, in operation, to transmit information regarding the timing of the jitter window of the video application to the base station.

6. the one or more periodic resource configurations are one or more semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) downlink resource configurations, and the processing circuitry, in operation, monitors periodic downlink resources for receiving one or more video frames of the video application from the base station according to the one or more SPS downlink resource configurations configured in the communication device; and wherein, in operation, the transceiver receives data for the video frames of the video application from the base station using periodic downlink resources in accordance with one of the one or more SPS downlink resource configurations; When the processing circuit determines that the data of the video frame of the video application is received from the base station on the periodic downlink resource according to the one SPS downlink resource configuration, the processing circuit determines to prohibit use of further periodic downlink resources according to the one or more SPS downlink resource configurations for the prohibition time period; Optionally, said prohibition of use of said further periodic downlink resource comprises said communications device not having to monitor said further periodic downlink resource for downlink data of video frames from said base station; Optionally, the prohibition of using the further periodic downlink resource comprises that the communications device does not need to transmit uplink control information to the base station regarding reception feedback for potential downlink data received according to the further periodic downlink resource. The communication device according to claim 1 .

7. The processing circuitry, in operation, a prohibition time value associated with the one SPS downlink resource configuration providing the periodic downlink resource over which the data of the video frame was received from the base station; determining said prohibition period based on Optionally, the determination of the prohibition period based on the prohibition time value is further based on an SPS-prohibition value association associating each of the SPS downlink resource configurations with a respective prohibition time value, optionally the SPS-prohibition value association being received from the base station, optionally in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol message. The communication device according to claim 6.

8. The processing circuitry, in operation, - the timing of the next jitter window, determining said prohibition period based on Optionally, the processing circuitry, in operation, adjusts the timing of the next jitter window by: information received from the base station regarding the timing of the jitter window of the video application; or one or more of the periodicity of the video frames and the time at which video frames of the video application are received from the base station; Based on the The communication device according to claim 6.

9. The one or more periodic resource configurations are one or more scheduling request (SR) uplink resource configurations, and the communication device is configured with periodic scheduling request (SR) resources for transmitting a scheduling request to the base station according to the one or more SR uplink resource configurations, and the scheduling request requests the base station to grant uplink resources to the communication device; The processing circuit, in operation, when the video frame of the video application is generated, determines a periodic SR uplink resource according to one of the one or more SR uplink resource configurations to transmit a scheduling request to the base station requesting uplink resources for transmitting the data of the generated video frame; In operation, the transceiver transmits a scheduling request to the base station using the periodic SR resource according to the one SR uplink resource configuration; and wherein the transceiver, in operation, transmits the data of the generated video frame of the video application to the base station using uplink resources dynamically granted by the base station in response to the communication device transmitting the scheduling request; when the processing circuit determines, in response to the communication device transmitting the scheduling request to the base station using the periodic SR resource of the one SR uplink resource configuration, that the data of the generated video frame of the video application has been transmitted to the base station using the uplink resource dynamically granted by the base station, the processing circuit determines to prohibit use of further periodic SR resources according to the one or more SR uplink resource configurations for the prohibition period. The communication device according to claim 1 .

10. The processing circuitry, in operation, a prohibition time value associated with the one SR uplink resource configuration, for which a periodic SR uplink resource was used to transmit the scheduling request to the base station; determining said prohibition period based on Optionally, said determination of the prohibition period based on said prohibition time value is further based on an SR-prohibition value association associating each of said SR uplink resource configurations with a respective prohibition time value, optionally said SR-prohibition value association being received from said base station, optionally in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol message.

10. The communication device of claim 9.

11. The processing circuitry, in operation, - the timing of the next jitter window, determining said prohibition period based on Optionally, the processing circuitry adjusts the timing of the next jitter window by: information about the timing of the jitter window of the video application provided by a communications device layer processing the video application to a communications device layer processing the prohibition using inter-layer communication; or one or more of the periodicity of the video frames and the time at which video frames are generated in the video application; Based on the decision, Optionally, the transceiver, in operation, transmits information regarding the timing of the jitter window of the video application to the base station.

10. The communication device of claim 9.

12. The processing circuitry, in operation, determines whether all of the data for the video frames of the video application have been exchanged using the periodic resources according to the one periodic resource configuration; If all data of the video frame of the video application has not been exchanged, remaining data of the video frame is exchanged using one or more resources dynamically granted by the base station, and when the processing circuitry determines that the remaining data of the video frame has been exchanged by using the dynamically granted one or more resources, the processing circuitry determines to prohibit further use of periodic resources according to the one or more periodic resource configurations for a certain period of time. The communication device according to claim 1 .

13. The following steps are performed by a communication device: operating a video application, wherein video frames are generated at a video frame period according to the video application, each video frame being generated within a jitter window having a jitter window length; using radio resources for exchanging one or more video frames of the video application between the communication device and a base station, the radio resources being determined by the communication device based on one or more periodic resource configurations; determining, when determining that data of a video frame of the video application generated during one jitter window has been exchanged by using one periodic resource of the one or more periodic resource configurations, to prohibit further use of periodic radio resources according to the one or more periodic resource configurations for a certain period of time; A method comprising:

14. A base station, a processing circuit for operating a video application, wherein, in operation, video frames are generated in accordance with the video application at a video frame period, each video frame being generated within a jitter window having a jitter window length; a transceiver that, in operation, uses radio resources to exchange one or more video frames of the video application between a communication device and the base station, the radio resources being determined by the base station based on one or more periodic resource configurations; Equipped with When the processing circuit determines that data of a video frame of the video application generated during one jitter window has been exchanged by using one periodic resource of the one or more periodic resource configurations, the processing circuit determines to prohibit further use of the periodic radio resource according to the one or more periodic resource configurations for a prohibition period that is a certain period of time. Base station.

15. The following steps are performed by a base station: operating a video application, wherein video frames are generated at a video frame period according to the video application, each video frame being generated within a jitter window having a jitter window length; using radio resources for exchanging one or more video frames of the video application between a communication device and the base station, the radio resources being determined by the base station based on one or more periodic resource configurations; determining, when determining that data of a video frame of the video application generated during a jitter window has been exchanged by using one periodic resource of the one or more periodic resource configurations, to prohibit further use of periodic radio resources according to the one or more periodic resource configurations for a certain period of time; A method comprising:

16. An integrated circuit for controlling a process of a communication device, in operation, said process comprising the following steps performed by said communication device: operating a video application, wherein video frames are generated at a video frame period according to the video application, each video frame being generated within a jitter window having a jitter window length; using radio resources for exchanging one or more video frames of the video application between a communication device and a base station, the radio resources being determined by the communication device based on one or more periodic resource configurations; determining, when determining that data of a video frame of the video application generated during one jitter window has been exchanged by using one periodic resource of the one or more periodic resource configurations, to prohibit further use of periodic radio resources according to the one or more periodic resource configurations for a certain period of time; Including, Integrated circuits.

17. An integrated circuit for controlling a process of a base station, said process comprising the following steps executed by said base station: operating a video application, wherein video frames are generated at a video frame period according to the video application, each video frame being generated within a jitter window having a jitter window length; using radio resources for exchanging one or more video frames of the video application between a communication device and the base station, the radio resources being determined by the base station based on one or more periodic resource configurations; determining, when determining that data of a video frame of the video application generated during a jitter window has been exchanged by using one periodic resource of the one or more periodic resource configurations, to prohibit further use of periodic radio resources according to the one or more periodic resource configurations for a certain period of time; Including, Integrated circuits.

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