Buffer Status Report

Abstract

[0009] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a BSR device, a method, an apparatus, and a computer-readable storage medium. The method comprises: obtaining configurations for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configurations defining at least one of the BSR MAC CE types to be used to report a buffer status of an LCG, an LCG ID referring to an LCG for which the buffer status is reported, and an LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicating a type of BSR MAC CE to be used to report the buffer status of the LCG; and transmitting the at least one type of BSR MAC CE to a network device based on the configurations.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] FIELD Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of telecommunications, and more particularly to a buffer status reporting (BSR) device, method, apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium. [Background technology]

[0002] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) will begin research into XR (augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), etc.) enhancements for New Radio (NR). As XR develops, BSR may need to be further enhanced to accommodate XR service characteristics such as periodicity, multiple flows, jitter, latency, and reliability. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Generally, the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for BSR.

[0004] In a first aspect, an apparatus is provided, the apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to obtain configurations for at least a first type of buffer status reporting (BSR) medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) and for a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configurations defining at least that any one of the BSR MAC CE types can be used to report buffer status of a logical channel group (LCG), a logical channel group identifier (LCG ID) referring to the LCG for which the buffer status is reported, and a logical channel identifier (LCID) of the BSR MAC CE indicating a type of BSR MAC CE used to report buffer status of the LCG, and to transmit the at least one type of BSR MAC CE to a network device based on the configurations.

[0005] In a second aspect, an apparatus is provided comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to obtain configurations for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configurations defining at least that only the first type of BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a first set of LCGs and only the second type of BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a second set of LCGs, and an LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates a type of BSR MAC CE used to report buffer status of the LCG, and to transmit the at least one type of BSR MAC CE to a network device based on the configurations.

[0006] In a third aspect, an apparatus is provided comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to receive at least one type of BSR MAC CE from a terminal device and determine a buffer status of the terminal device based on the at least one type of BSR MAC CE and at least configurations for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE defining that any one of the BSR MAC CE types can be used to report a buffer status of an LCG, an LCG ID referring to an LCG for which the buffer status is reported, and an LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicating a type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG.

[0007] In a fourth aspect, an apparatus is provided comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to receive at least one type of BSR MAC CE from a terminal device and determine a buffer status of the terminal device based on the at least one type of BSR MAC CE and at least a configuration for at least the first type of BSR MAC CE and the second type of BSR MAC CE defining that only the first type of BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a first set of LCGs and only the second type of BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a second set of LCGs, and an LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of BSR MAC CE used to report buffer status of the LCG.

[0008] In a fifth aspect, a method is provided, the method comprising: obtaining configurations for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and for a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configurations defining at least which one of the BSR MAC CE types can be used to report a buffer status of an LCG, an LCG ID referring to the LCG for which the buffer status is reported, and an LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicating a type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG; and transmitting the at least one type of BSR MAC CE to a network device based on the configurations.

[0009] In a sixth aspect, a method is provided, the method comprising: obtaining configurations for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and for a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configurations defining at least that only the first type of BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a first set of LCGs and only the second type of BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a second set of LCGs, and an LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates a type of BSR MAC CE used to report buffer status of the LCG; and transmitting the at least one type of BSR MAC CE to a network device based on the configurations.

[0010] In a seventh aspect, a method is provided, comprising receiving at least one type of BSR MAC CE from a terminal device, and determining a buffer status of the terminal device based on the at least one type of BSR MAC CE and configurations for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE that define that any one of the BSR MAC CE types can be used to report a buffer status of an LCG, an LCG ID refers to an LCG for which the buffer status is reported, and an LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates a type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG.

[0011] In an eighth aspect, a method is provided, the method comprising receiving at least one type of BSR MAC CE from a terminal device, and determining a buffer status of the terminal device based on the at least one type of BSR MAC CE and at least a configuration for at least the first type of BSR MAC CE and the second type of BSR MAC CE that defines that only the first type of BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a first set of LCGs and only the second type of BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a second set of LCGs, and an LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of BSR MAC CE used to report buffer status of the LCGs.

[0012] In a ninth aspect, an apparatus is provided that includes: means for obtaining configurations for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and for a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configurations defining at least that any one of the BSR MAC CE types can be used to report a buffer status of an LCG, a Logical Channel Group Identifier (LCG ID) referring to the LCG for which the buffer status is reported, and an LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicating a type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG; and means for transmitting the at least one type of BSR MAC CE to a network device based on the configurations.

[0013] In a tenth aspect, an apparatus is provided that includes: means for obtaining configurations for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and for a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configurations defining at least that only the first type of BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a first set of LCGs and only the second type of BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a second set of LCGs, and an LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates a type of BSR MAC CE used to report buffer status of the LCG; and means for transmitting the at least one type of BSR MAC CE to a network device based on the configurations.

[0014] In an eleventh aspect, an apparatus is provided comprising: means for receiving at least one type of BSR MAC CE from a terminal device; and means for determining a buffer status of the terminal device based on the at least one type of BSR MAC CE and configurations for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE defining that at least one of the BSR MAC CE types can be used to report a buffer status of an LCG, an LCG ID referring to an LCG for which the buffer status is reported, and an LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicating a type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG.

[0015] In a twelfth aspect, an apparatus is provided that includes means for receiving at least one type of BSR MAC CE from a terminal device; and means for determining a buffer status of the terminal device based on the at least one type of BSR MAC CE and at least a configuration for at least the first type of BSR MAC CE and the second type of BSR MAC CE that defines that only the first type of BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a first set of LCGs and only the second type of BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a second set of LCGs, and an LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates a type of BSR MAC CE used to report buffer status of the LCGs.

[0016] In a thirteenth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform a method according to the fifth, sixth, seventh or eighth aspect.

[0017] Other features and advantages of the presently disclosed embodiments will become apparent from the following description of specific embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the presently disclosed embodiments.

[0018] Embodiments of the present disclosure are presented by way of example, and the advantages thereof will be explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0019] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary environment in which exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. [Figure 2] 1 is a signaling chart illustrating an example process according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3]1 is a flowchart of an example method of BSR according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] 1 is a flowchart of an example method of BSR according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] 1 is a flowchart of an example method of BSR according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] 1 is a flowchart of an example method of BSR according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a device suitable for practicing exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer-readable medium according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0020] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numbers may refer to the same or similar elements.

[0021] The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are set forth for illustrative purposes only, and are intended to aid those skilled in the art in understanding and practicing the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. The embodiments described herein may be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

[0022] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0023] References in this disclosure to "one embodiment," "embodiment," "exemplary embodiment," etc. indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not all embodiments need include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is believed to be within the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments, whether or not explicitly described.

[0024] As used herein, terms such as "first," "second," and the like may be used to describe various elements, but it is understood that these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0025] As used herein, "at least one of: " and "at least one of " and similar phrases where a list of two or more elements is joined by "and" or "or" mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all of the elements.

[0026] As used herein, unless expressly stated, performing a step "in response to A" does not indicate that the step is performed immediately upon the occurrence of "A," but rather may include one or more intervening steps.

[0027] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, as used herein, the terms "comprises," "comprising," "has," "having," "includes," and / or "including" will be understood to specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components, etc., but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0028] As used herein, the term "circuitry" means (a) a hardware-only circuit implementation (such as an implementation in analog-only and / or digital circuitry); (b) (where applicable) (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuitry and software / firmware; and (ii) a combination of software and hardware circuitry, such as a portion of a hardware processor with software (including a digital signal processor), software, and memory, that work together to perform various functions on a device such as a mobile phone or server; and (c) May refer to one or more or all of a hardware circuit or processor, such as a microprocessor or part of a microprocessor, that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but that may be absent when not required for operation.

[0029] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also refers to merely a hardware circuit or processor (or processors). Implementationor part of a hardware circuit or processor and (or to them) Accompanying software and / or firmware A too The term circuitry also covers, for example, baseband or processor integrated circuits for mobile devices, or similar integrated circuits in servers, cellular network devices, or other computing or network devices, if applicable to the particular claim element.

[0030] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network conforming to any suitable communication standard, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), or Enhanced Machine-Type Communications (eMTC). Furthermore, communications between terminal devices and network devices within a communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation of communication protocols, including, but not limited to, first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth-generation (5G), sixth-generation (6G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols currently known or developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development of communications, there will naturally be future types of communication technologies and systems in which the present disclosure may be embodied. This should not be understood as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the systems described above.

[0031] As used herein, the terms "network device," "radio network device," and / or "radio access network device" refer to a node in a communications network through which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. A network device may, depending on the terminology and technology applied, be, for example, a Node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also referred to as a gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a Remote Radio Head (RRH), a relay, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a low-power node such as a femto or pico node, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-terrestrial network device such as a satellite network device, a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite, and Geosynchronous This may refer to a base station (BS) or access point (AP), which may be a geostationary orbit (GEO) satellite, an airborne network device, etc. In some exemplary embodiments, a low earth orbit (RAN) split architecture includes a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU). In other exemplary embodiments, some of the radio access network devices, or all of the radio access network devices, may be mounted on an airborne or space-borne NTN vehicle.

[0032] The term "terminal device" refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), subscriber station (SS), portable subscriber station, mobile station (MS), or access terminal (AT). Terminal devices include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable terminal devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback equipment, in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop embedded equipment (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPE), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearables, head-mounted displays (HMD), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and other wireless devices operating in industrial and / or automated processing chain contexts), consumer electronic devices, devices operating in commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. Terminal devices may also correspond to the mobile termination (MT) portion of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "communication device", "terminal", "user equipment", and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

[0033] As used herein, the terms "resource," "transmission resource," "resource block," "physical resource block (PRB)," "uplink resource," or "downlink resource" may refer to any resource for performing communication, e.g., communication between a terminal device and a network device, such as, for example, a resource in the time domain, a resource in the frequency domain, a resource in the spatial domain, a resource in the code domain, or any other resource that enables communication. Hereinafter, unless explicitly stated, both frequency domain and time domain resources are used as examples of transmission resources to describe some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. It is noted that the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0034] 1 illustrates an exemplary communication network 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the communication network 100 may include a terminal device 110. Hereinafter, the terminal device 110 may also be referred to as a UE.

[0035] The communication network 100 may further include a network device 120. Hereinafter, the network device 120 may also be referred to as a gNB or an eNB. The terminal device 110 may communicate with the network device 120.

[0036] 1 is given for illustrative purposes, without any limitation being implied. Communications network 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices.

[0037] In some demonstrative embodiments, the link from network device 120 to terminal device 110 may be referred to as the downlink (DL), while the link from terminal device 110 to network device 120 may be referred to as the uplink (UL). In the DL, network device 120 is the transmit (TX) device (or transmitter) and terminal device 110 is the receive (RX) device (or receiver). In the UL, terminal device 110 is the TX device (or transmitter) and network device 120 is the RX device (or receiver).

[0038] Communications in communication environment 100 may be conducted according to any suitable communications protocol, including, but not limited to, cellular communications protocols such as first generation (1G), second generation (2G), third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), fifth generation (5G), sixth generation (6G), wireless local network communications protocols such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, and / or any other protocols now known or developed in the future. Furthermore, communications may utilize any suitable wireless communications technology, including, but not limited to, code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division duplex (FDD), time division duplex (TDD), multiple input multiple output (MIMO), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM), and / or any other technology now known or developed in the future.

[0039] As explained above, the BSR may need to be further enhanced to accommodate the characteristics of XR services, especially low latency requirements.

[0040] The specification defines multiple BSR formats. For example, a BSR format may refer to a short BSR and a short truncated BSR MAC, a long BSR and a long truncated BSR, an extended short BSR and an extended short truncated BSR MAC CE. Essentially, a BSR may indicate the amount of buffered data associated with one or more LCG IDs. The amount of buffered data may be indicated by a buffer size associated with a particular buffer size table.

[0041] For short BSR and short truncated BSR, only the BSR of one LCG is reported, which consists of a 3-bit length LCG ID field, a 5-bit length buffer size field, and consists of It has a fixed length of 8 bits.

[0042] Long BSR / Long Truncated BSR can report the BSR of one or more LCGs. LCG ID can have a 3-bit field and can report up to 8 LCGs.

[0043] For XR technology, it is being discussed whether one or more new BSR tables with finer granularity, i.e., buffer size tables, should be added for XR, and whether reporting of delay information should be included in the BSR.

[0044] Therefore, when there are other logical channels (LCHs) configured in the UE, for example, signaling radio bearers (SRBs) or other services in addition to the XR service, it is not clear how the LCHs will work together with or without the new BSR table. Furthermore, the newly added BSR table may also need to define the representation of buffered data.

[0045] The solution of the present disclosure proposes a mechanism for BSR, particularly XR. In this solution, optionally, terminal device 110 may acquire configurations for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE. The configurations may be acquired in the same message or in different messages. The configurations may be pre-configured in terminal device 110. The configurations may define at least that any one of the BSR MAC CE types may be used to report the buffer status of an LCG, where the LCG ID refers to the LCG for which the buffer status is reported. In other words, the buffer status of any given LCG among multiple LCGs may use any BSR format to report the buffer status of that LCG. The LCID of the BSR MAC CE may indicate the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG. In an embodiment, the LCID may be present in the BSR MAC CE.

[0046] As another option, terminal device 110 may obtain configurations for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE. The configurations may be obtained in the same message or in different messages. The configurations may be pre-configured in terminal device 110. The configurations may define at least that only the first type of BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status for a first set of LCGs and only the second type of BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status for a second set of LCGs.

[0047] Based on this configuration, the terminal device 110 transmits at least one type of BSR MAC CE to the network device 120 .

[0048] In this way, a mechanism is provided for coexistence of LCH / LCG configured with legacy BSR buffer size tables associated with legacy type BSR MAC CEs and new BSR buffer size tables associated with new type BSR MAC CEs.

[0049] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0050] Reference is now made to Figure 2, which illustrates a signaling chart 200 for communication in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated in Figure 2, signaling chart 200 includes terminal device 110 and network device 120. For purposes of discussion, reference is made to Figure 1, which illustrates signaling chart 200.

[0051] Assume that multiple types of BSR MAC CEs may be used for buffer status reporting: a first type of BSR MAC CE that may be referred to as a legacy BSR MAC CE, and a second type of BSR MAC CE that may be referred to as a new BSR MAC CE. The type of BSR MAC CE may be indicated by the LCID of the BSR MAC CE. For example, there are 64 LCIDs. LCIDs 0 to 31 may be used to indicate from which LCH the buffered data is reported, and LCIDs 32 to 64 may be used to indicate the type of BSR MAC CE. LCID in this specification may also refer to extended logical channel ID (eLCID).

[0052] A first type of BSR MAC CE may be associated with a legacy buffer size table and a second type of BSR MAC CE may be associated with a new buffer size table, or may be associated with both a legacy buffer size table and a new buffer size table, and may follow a similar format including an LCG ID to indicate which LCH / LCG is being reported.

[0053] Terminal device 110 may obtain a BSR configuration for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and for a second type of BSR MAC CE. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, terminal device 110 receives 202 a BSR configuration from network device 120, e.g., via higher layer signaling, e.g., RRC signaling. This configuration may be predefined in a specification, which should be understood to mean that terminal device 110 may recognize this BSR configuration for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and for a second type of BSR MAC CE without explicit signaling from network device 120.

[0054] Thereafter, terminal device 110 may transmit at least one type of BSR MAC CE to network device 120 based on the configuration for at least the first type of BSR MAC CE and the second type of BSR MAC CE (204).

[0055] Between steps 202 and 204, the terminal device may determine, based on the configuration, which type of BSR MAC CE to apply or whether to apply both types of BSR MAC CE to report the buffer status of a given LCG. For example, per configuration, the buffer status of a particular LCG may be reported only by a particular type of BSR MAC CE. As another example, if both BSR MAC CEs are available for use in reporting the buffer status of a particular LCG per configuration, the configuration may provide rules for selecting the BSR MAC CE to use, as described below.

[0056] The BSR configuration for at least the first type BSR MAC CE and the second type BSR MAC CE may define which type of BSR MAC CE can be used to report the buffer status of which LCG. The configuration of which BSR MAC CE to use can also be done for a logical channel (LCH), where the LCH is configured in the LCG. Thus, the terminal device 110 can derive which type of BSR MAC CE to use to report the buffer status of which LCG. Based on the configuration, the behavior of the terminal device 110 may be further discussed below.

[0057] In some exemplary embodiments, the BSR configuration for at least the first type BSR MAC CE and for the second type BSR MAC CE may define at least one of the BSR MAC CE types that may be used to report the buffer status of the LCG, and the LCG ID refers to the LCG for which the buffer status is reported. The LCID in the subheader of the BSR MAC CE may indicate the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG.

[0058] In this case, a first LCG ID used in a first type BSR MAC CE and a second LCG ID used in a second type BSR MAC CE may be associated with or point to the same LCG including the same set of one or more LCHs. For example, an LCG ID1 used in a first type BSR MAC CE and an LCG ID1 used in a second type BSR MAC CE may point to the same LCG. That is, the first LCG ID and the second LCG ID may be assigned the same index.

[0059] The LCID of the BSR MAC CE may indicate which type of BSR MAC CE is being used, and no other indication is necessarily required for the reported LCG to indicate which buffer size table is being used. This allows the buffer size of the same LCG to be reported either via a first type BSR MAC CE and / or a second type BSR MAC CE, and the LCID of the BSR MAC CE will tell which buffer size table was used.

[0060] Additionally, a first type of BSR MAC CE may be associated with a first set of one or more buffer size tables, and a second type of BSR MAC CE may be associated with a second set of one or more buffer size tables.

[0061] In some examples, the buffer sizes reported for different LCGs in a BSR MAC CE type may be associated with different buffer size tables. Which buffer size tables are applicable to which LCGs or LCHs can be configured by the network.

[0062] Optionally, the first set of one or more buffer size tables and the second set of one or more buffer size tables may not overlap. Alternatively, the first set of one or more buffer size tables may have a full range of buffer sizes, and therefore the first set of one or more buffer size tables and the second set of one or more buffer size tables may at least partially overlap. The one or more buffer size tables in the second set may be smaller than the one or more buffer size tables in the first set. Target Specific category Surrounded by In contrast, finer granularity Buffer size may be provided.

[0063] In this case, the buffer size table associated with each transmitted BSR MAC CE is indicated by one of a first set of one or more LCIDs associated with the BSR MAC CE of the first type or by one of a second set of one or more LCIDs associated with the BSR MAC CE of the second type.

[0064] Terminal device 110 may determine which buffer size table to use based on the following rules: The rules may be included in the configuration.

[0065] Optionally, the buffer size table selected for one LCH or LCG is, for example, for a particular type of BSR MAC CE, the table that minimizes the difference between the amount of buffered data and the buffer size value indicated by the buffer size index, because this difference may vary due to quantization. That is, due to different quantizations for different types of BSR MAC CEs (or buffer size tables associated with different types of BSR MAC CEs), the difference from the actual buffered data may vary for different types of BSR MAC CEs. For example, assume that a first type of BSR MAC CE may be used to indicate buffer status x, while the actual buffer status in the reported LCG / LCH is y. Furthermore, a second type of BSR MAC CE may be used to indicate buffer status z, where z is closer to y than x. In this case, the second type of BSR MAC CE may be used to report the buffer status of that LCG / LCG.

[0066] As another option, if the buffer size of the LCH(s) / LCG(s) to be reported is outside the range of the buffer size table associated with the second type BSR MAC CE, terminal device 110 may fall back to the buffer size table associated with the first type BSR MAC CE, or vice versa. That is, terminal device 110 may determine that the buffer size table associated with the first type BSR MAC CE should be used instead of the buffer size table associated with the second type BSR MAC CE.

[0067] As described above, in legacy, long BSR / long truncated BSR can report BSRs of one or more LCGs. The LCG ID may have a 3-bit field, allowing up to eight LCGs to be reported. For long BSR, if all reported LCHs / LCGs use the same buffer size table, the BSR MAC CE corresponding to that buffer size table is used. Similarly, for new type BSR MAC CEs, the LCG ID is used to indicate which LCG is being reported, and the buffer status of each LCG can be reported based on a new buffer size table (e.g., one or more legacy BSR buffer size tables associated with the legacy type BSR MAC CE and / or one or more new BSR buffer size tables associated with the new type BSR MAC CE).

[0068] If not all reported LCHs / LCGs use the same buffer size table, then as many BSR MAC CEs as there are buffer size tables required to report LCHs / LCGs that have buffered data (i.e., are non-zero) are triggered, and each LCH / LCG is reported in the BSR whose LCID matches the required buffer size table.

[0069] Alternatively, a single BSR MAC CE can be used to report different LCHs / LCGs that apply different buffer size tables. Which buffer size table is applicable to which LCH / LCG can be configured by network device 120. Based on the configuration, network device 120 knows which buffer size table should be used for which LCH / LCG in the BSR MAC CE.

[0070] In other words, a non-zero buffer size for an LCH / LCG with buffered data can be reported only once. Network device 120 may know that an LCH / LCG has no buffered data if a zero buffer size is indicated in all BSR MAC CEs or if there is no buffer size for the LCG ID (via the LCG ID bitmap).

[0071] The described table selection rules allow for more accurate reporting of buffer sizes for LCH / LCG while minimizing quantization errors.

[0072] In some other example embodiments, the BSR configuration for at least the first type BSR MAC CE and for the second type BSR MAC CE may define that at least only the first type BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a first set of LCGs and only the second type BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a second set of LCGs. The sets of LCGs may not overlap. The LCID in the subheader of the BSR MAC CE may indicate the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG.

[0073] In this case, the LCG ID used by the first type BSR MAC CE (e.g., legacy BSR MAC CE) and the LCG ID used by the second type BSR MAC CE (e.g., new BSR MAC CE) are configured separately, whereby separate LCG IDs are used for the LCH / LCG that applies the legacy buffer size table associated with the first type BSR MAC CE and the LCH / LCG that applies the new buffer size table associated with the second type BSR MAC CE.

[0074] As a result, an LCH / LCG configured to apply the new buffer size table will use only the new BSR MAC CE format with the new LCID. The new BSR MAC CE may support only the new buffer size table, which may also cover the legacy buffer size range, or may support both the legacy and new buffer size tables, or may support only the new buffer size table, which is different from the legacy buffer size table.

[0075] In some example embodiments, the buffer size table associated with each BSR MAC CE may be indicated by one of a first set of one or more LCIDs associated with the BSR MAC CE of a first type or by one of a second set of one or more LCIDs associated with the BSR MAC CE of a second type.

[0076] Compared to a scenario where either one of the BSR MAC CE types can be used to report buffer status for the same LCG, a BSR MAC CE of the first type and a BSR MAC CE of the second type can be used to report buffer status for the same LCG. Use of The number of different LCGs available for may be larger with this option of a separate LCG ID pool, which may provide, for example, a separate LCG for each LCH.

[0077] In this case, terminal device 110 may determine the type of BSR MAC CE to be used to report the buffer status of an LCG, for example, based on the LCG for which the buffer status is to be reported. The network may know, based on the configuration, which LCG is associated with which type of BSR MAC CE.

[0078] When the same LCH is configured as part of two LCG IDs, the BSR may be reported twice, for example, in the legacy BSR MAC CE format and the new BSR MAC CE format. Alternatively, the terminal device 110 may be tasked with choosing which buffer size table indicates the smaller quantization error and selecting the corresponding type of BSR MAC CE accordingly.

[0079] Alternatively, or optionally, for example, the configuration may further define that terminal device 110 may use the legacy BSR MAC CE (i.e., the first type) for the LCH / LCG only when delay information reporting is not configured for the LCH / LCG. Or, network device 120 may simply configure terminal device 110 to use the legacy BSR MAC CE for the LCH / LCG only when delay information reporting is not configured for the LCH / LCG. Otherwise, the new BSR MAC CE is used.

[0080] In an embodiment, the delay information defines the delay or latency requirements for data buffered in the LCG / LCH. In an embodiment, the delay information is included in the transmitted BSR MAC CE.

[0081] As shown in FIG. 2, after receiving at least one type of BSR MAC CE, network device 120 may determine 206 a buffer status of an associated LCG / LCH at terminal device 110 based on the BSR configuration for at least the first type of BSR MAC CE and the second type of BSR MAC CE.

[0082] For example, network device 120 may determine, in at least one type of BSR MAC CE based on the LCID of the received BSR MAC CE, a buffer size table associated with the received BSR MAC CE. Network device 120 may then determine a buffer status of an associated LCG / LCH at terminal device 110 based on the buffer size indicated in the received BSR MAC CE and the determined buffer size table.

[0083] In some demonstrative embodiments, an example of a buffer size table associated with a second type BSR MAC CE (e.g., a new BSR MAC CE) may be listed below: It should be understood that the buffer size table associated with the second type BSR MAC CE may not be limited to the examples listed below.

[0084] [Table 1]

[0085] Furthermore, the BSR MAC CE format of the second type BSR MAC CE (e.g., new BSR MAC CE) may be configured with an LCID in the subheader and an LCG ID bitmap, whereby the buffer size index of the LCG may be reported (a bit in the bitmap is set to 1). Optionally, the BSR MAC CE format of the second type BSR MAC CE may also have a field for remaining time information of the reported LCG, configured to report the remaining time information. The buffer size index may be mapped to a different buffer size table.

[0086] As explained above, the solution of the present disclosure proposes a mechanism for coexistence of LCH / LCG configured with one or more legacy buffer size tables and one or more new buffer size tables, while also providing a mechanism for fallback to one or more legacy buffer size tables for LCH / LCG configured with one or more new buffer size tables.

[0087] If a separate LCG ID pool can support more LCG IDs, that is, only the first type of BSR MAC CE may be used to report the buffer status of the first set of LCGs, and only the second type of BSR MAC CE may be used to report the buffer status of the second set of LCGs. degree, For example, for each LCH Individual LCG can be supported .

[0088] If a common LCG ID pool is supported, i.e., if any one of the BSR MAC CE types is used and can report the buffer status of the LCG, the terminal device 110 may be allowed to use one or more legacy buffer size tables without any other additional signaling, using the LCID in the subheader of the BSR MAC CE to indicate the use of the new BSR MAC CE.

[0089] 3 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 300 of BSR according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 300 may be implemented in terminal device 110, as illustrated in FIG. 1. For purposes of discussion, method 300 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

[0090] At 310, terminal device 110 obtains configurations for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and for a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configurations defining at least that any one of the BSR MAC CE types can be used to report buffer status of an LCG, an LCG ID referring to the LCG for which the buffer status is reported, and an LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicating the type of BSR MAC CE used to report buffer status of the LCG.

[0091] In step 320, the terminal device 110 transmits at least one type of BSR MAC CE to the network device based on the configuration.

[0092] In some example embodiments, a first type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a first set of one or more buffer size tables, and a second type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a second set of one or more buffer size tables.

[0093] In some example embodiments, the first set of one or more buffer size tables and the second set of one or more buffer size tables do not overlap.

[0094] In some example embodiments, the buffer size table associated with each transmitted BSR MAC CE is indicated by one of a first set of one or more LCIDs associated with the BSR MAC CE of the first type or by one of a second set of one or more LCIDs associated with the BSR MAC CE of the second type.

[0095] In some demonstrative embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine the type of BSR MAC CE to be used to report the buffer status of the LCG, determining the type of BSR MAC CE to be used to report the buffer status of the LCG, the amount of data buffered in the LCG, and the type of BSR MAC CE to be used to report the buffer status of the LCG. Using Based on the difference with the buffer size value indicated by the buffer size index.

[0096] In some example embodiments, the BSR MAC CE that minimizes the difference between the amount of buffered data and the buffer size value indicated by the buffer size index is determined to be used to report the buffer status.

[0097] In some exemplary embodiments, terminal device 110 determines whether the amount of data buffered in the LCG is greater than the second type of BSR MAC CE Use of The LCG may determine that the LCG is outside the range of one or more buffer size tables available for the LCG and determine to report the buffer status of the LCG by using a first type BSR MAC CE.

[0098] In some exemplary embodiments, terminal device 110 determines that a first buffer size table is applicable for reporting buffer status of multiple LCGs, and determines a type of BSR MAC CE associated with the buffer size table that corresponds to the first buffer size table. Using It may report the buffer status of multiple LCGs.

[0099] In some exemplary embodiments, terminal device 110 determines that different buffer size tables associated with different BSR MAC CE formats are required to report buffer status for multiple LCGs with non-zero buffer sizes, and Using It may report the buffer status of multiple LCGs.

[0100] In some example embodiments, the number of BSR MAC CEs corresponds to the number of different buffer size tables required to report the buffer status of one or more LCGs with non-zero buffer sizes, and each BSR MAC CE comprises an LCID corresponding to the buffer size table required for the reported LCG.

[0101] In some example embodiments, multiple BSR MAC CEs are sent to report the buffer status of one or more LCGs by using different buffer size tables.

[0102] In some demonstrative embodiments, the terminal device 110 may refrain from using the first type of BSR MAC CE to report buffer status for an LCG when delay information reporting is configured for that LCG or for a logical channel within that LCG.

[0103] 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 400 of BSR according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 400 may be implemented in terminal device 110, as illustrated in FIG. 1. For purposes of discussion, method 400 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

[0104] At 410, terminal device 110 obtains configurations for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and for a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configurations defining at least that only the first type of BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a first set of LCGs and that only the second type of BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a second set of LCGs, and that the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of BSR MAC CE used to report buffer status of the LCG.

[0105] At 420, the terminal device 110 transmits at least one type of BSR MAC CE to the network device based on the configuration.

[0106] In some example embodiments, a first type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a first set of one or more buffer size tables, and a second type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a second set of one or more buffer size tables.

[0107] In some exemplary embodiments, the second set of one or more buffer size tables comprises at least one of the one or more buffer size tables of the first set.

[0108] In some example embodiments, the buffer size table associated with each transmitted BSR MAC CE is indicated by one of a first set of one or more LCIDs associated with the BSR MAC CE of the first type or by one of a second set of one or more LCIDs associated with the BSR MAC CE of the second type.

[0109] In some exemplary embodiments, a first type BSR MAC CE and a second type BSR MAC CE Use of The number of different LCGs available for a scenario in which any one of the BSR MAC CE types may be used to report buffer status for the same LCG. in More than that, each LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates a different buffer size table used in the BSR MAC CE.

[0110] In some demonstrative embodiments, terminal device 110 may determine the type of BSR MAC CE to be used to report the buffer status of the LCG, the determining being based on the LCG for which the buffer status is to be reported.

[0111] In some demonstrative embodiments, the terminal device 110 may determine that the logical channel LCH for which buffer status is to be reported is associated with an LCG that requires a first type of BSR MAC CE and with an LCG that requires a second type of BSR MAC CE, and may transmit both types of BSR MAC CE to the network device to report the buffer status of the LCH.

[0112] 5 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 500 of BSR according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 500 may be implemented in network device 120, as illustrated in FIG. 1. For purposes of discussion, method 500 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

[0113] At 510, the network device 120 receives at least one type of BSR MAC CE from the terminal device 110.

[0114] At 520, network device 120 determines a buffer status of the terminal device based on at least one type of BSR MAC CE and at least a configuration for a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE that defines that any one of the BSR MAC CE types can be used to report the buffer status of the LCG, the LCG ID refers to the LCG for which the buffer status is reported, and the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG.

[0115] In some example embodiments, a first type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a first set of one or more buffer size tables, and a second type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a second set of one or more buffer size tables.

[0116] In some example embodiments, the first set of one or more buffer size tables and the second set of one or more buffer size tables do not overlap.

[0117] In some demonstrative embodiments, network device 120 may determine a buffer size table associated with a BSR MAC CE received in at least one type of BSR MAC CE based on the LCID of the received BSR MAC CE, and determine a buffer status based on at least the buffer size table.

[0118] In some exemplary embodiments, multiple BSR MAC CEs Using According to determining receipt of the buffer status of multiple LCGs, network device 120 may determine different buffer size tables associated with different BSR MAC CE formats required to report the buffer status of multiple LCGs having non-zero buffer sizes.

[0119] 6 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 600 of BSR according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 600 may be implemented in network device 120, as illustrated in FIG. 1. For purposes of discussion, method 600 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

[0120] At 610 , the network device 120 receives at least one type of BSR MAC CE from the terminal device 110 .

[0121] At 620, network device 120 determines a buffer status of the terminal device based on at least one type of BSR MAC CE and at least a configuration for a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE that defines that only a first type of BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a first set of LCGs and only a second type of BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a second set of LCGs, and the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of BSR MAC CE used to report buffer status of the LCGs.

[0122] In some example embodiments, a first type BSR MAC CE is associated with a first set of one or more buffer size tables, and a second type BSR MAC CE is associated with a second set of one or more buffer size tables, the second set of one or more buffer size tables comprising at least one of the one or more buffer size tables of the first set.

[0123] In some demonstrative embodiments, network device 120 may determine a buffer size table associated with a BSR MAC CE received in at least one type of BSR MAC CE based on the LCID of the received BSR MAC CE, and determine a buffer status based on at least the buffer size table.

[0124] In some demonstrative embodiments, the network device 120 transmits buffer status of logical channels LCH associated with an LCG that requires a first type of BSR MAC CE and an LCG that requires a second type of BSR MAC CE to both types of BSR MAC CEs. Using can be received.

[0125] In some demonstrative embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing method 300 (e.g., implemented in terminal device 110) may include means for performing each step of method 300. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuit configuration or a software module.

[0126] In some demonstrative embodiments, an apparatus comprises means for obtaining a configuration for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and for a second type of BSR MAC CE, the configuration defining at least that any one of the BSR MAC CE types may be used to report a buffer status of an LCG, an LCG ID referring to the LCG for which the buffer status is reported, and an LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicating a type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG; and means for transmitting the at least one type of BSR MAC CE to a network device based on the configuration.

[0127] In some example embodiments, a first type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a first set of one or more buffer size tables, and a second type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a second set of one or more buffer size tables.

[0128] In some example embodiments, the first set of one or more buffer size tables and the second set of one or more buffer size tables do not overlap.

[0129] In some example embodiments, the buffer size table associated with each transmitted BSR MAC CE is indicated by one of a first set of one or more LCIDs associated with the BSR MAC CE of the first type or by one of a second set of one or more LCIDs associated with the BSR MAC CE of the second type.

[0130] In some demonstrative embodiments, the apparatus may also comprise means for determining a type of BSR MAC CE to be used to report buffer status of the LCG, the determining including determining a buffer status based on the amount of data buffered in the LCG and the type of BSR MAC CE to be used to report buffer status of the LCG. Using Based on the difference in the amount of data that can be reported.

[0131] In some example embodiments, the BSR MAC CE that has the smallest difference between the amount of data buffered and the amount of data that can be reported is determined to be used to report the buffer status.

[0132] In some exemplary embodiments, the device also determines whether the amount of data buffered in the LCG is greater than the amount of data buffered in the second type of BSR MAC CE. Use of and means for determining that a buffer size of the LCG is outside the range of one or more buffer size tables available for the LCG, and means for determining to report the buffer status of the LCG by using a first type BSR MAC CE.

[0133] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus also determines that a first buffer size table is applicable to reporting buffer status of multiple LCGs, and determines a type of BSR MAC CE associated with the buffer size table corresponding to the first buffer size table. Using and means for reporting buffer status of multiple LCGs.

[0134] In some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus also determines that different buffer size tables associated with different BSR MAC CE formats are required to report buffer status for multiple LCGs with non-zero buffer sizes, and Using Means may be provided for reporting buffer status of multiple LCGs.

[0135] In some example embodiments, the number of BSR MAC CEs corresponds to the number of different buffer size tables required to report the buffer status of one or more LCGs with non-zero buffer sizes, and each BSR MAC CE comprises an LCID corresponding to the required buffer size table for the reported LCG.

[0136] In some example embodiments, multiple BSR MAC CEs are transmitted to report the buffer status of one or more LCGs by using different buffer size tables.

[0137] In some demonstrative embodiments, the apparatus may also comprise means for refraining from using the first type BSR MAC CE to report buffer status of an LCG when delay information reporting is configured for that LCG or for a logical channel within that LCG.

[0138] In some demonstrative embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing method 400 (e.g., implemented in terminal device 110) may include means for performing each step of method 400. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuit configuration or a software module.

[0139] In some demonstrative embodiments, an apparatus comprises means for obtaining at least a configuration for a first type BSR MAC CE and for a second type BSR MAC CE, the configuration defining at least that only the first type BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a first set of LCGs and only the second type BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a second set of LCGs, and an LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates a type of BSR MAC CE used to report buffer status of the LCG; and means for transmitting the at least one type BSR MAC CE to a network device based on the configuration.

[0140] In some example embodiments, a first type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a first set of one or more buffer size tables, and a second type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a second set of one or more buffer size tables.

[0141] In some exemplary embodiments, the second set of one or more buffer size tables comprises at least one of the one or more buffer size tables of the first set.

[0142] In some example embodiments, the buffer size table associated with each transmitted BSR MAC CE is indicated by one of a first set of one or more LCIDs associated with the BSR MAC CE of the first type or by one of a second set of one or more LCIDs associated with the BSR MAC CE of the second type.

[0143] In some exemplary embodiments, a first type BSR MAC CE and a second type BSR MAC CE Use ofThe number of different LCGs available for a scenario in which any one of the BSR MAC CE types may be used to report buffer status for the same LCG. in More than that, each LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates a different buffer size table used in the BSR MAC CE.

[0144] In some demonstrative embodiments, the apparatus may also comprise means for determining a type of BSR MAC CE to be used to report the buffer status of the LCG, the determining being based on the LCG for which the buffer status is to be reported.

[0145] In some demonstrative embodiments, the apparatus may also comprise means for determining that a logical channel LCH for which a buffer status is to be reported is associated with an LCG that requires a first type of BSR MAC CE and with an LCG that requires a second type of BSR MAC CE, and for transmitting both types of BSR MAC CE to the network device to report the buffer status of the LCH.

[0146] In some demonstrative embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing method 500 (e.g., implemented in network device 120) may include means for performing each step of method 500. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in circuitry or a software module.

[0147] In some demonstrative embodiments, an apparatus comprises means for receiving at least one type of BSR MAC CE from a terminal device; and means for determining a buffer status of the terminal device based on the at least one type of BSR MAC CE and a configuration for at least a first type of BSR MAC CE and a second type of BSR MAC CE defining that any one of the BSR MAC CE types can be used to report a buffer status of an LCG, an LCG ID referring to an LCG for which the buffer status is reported, and an LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicating a type of BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG.

[0148] In some example embodiments, a first type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a first set of one or more buffer size tables, and a second type of BSR MAC CE is associated with a second set of one or more buffer size tables.

[0149] In some example embodiments, the first set of one or more buffer size tables and the second set of one or more buffer size tables do not overlap.

[0150] In some demonstrative embodiments, the apparatus may also comprise means for determining, based on an LCID of the received BSR MAC CE, a buffer size table associated with the received BSR MAC CE in at least one type of BSR MAC CE, and means for determining a buffer status based on at least the buffer size table.

[0151] In some exemplary embodiments, the device also includes a plurality of BSR MAC CEs. UsingThe method may include determining, according to a determination of receipt of the buffer status of the plurality of LCGs, different buffer size tables associated with different BSR MAC CE formats required for reporting the buffer status of the plurality of LCGs having non-zero buffer sizes.

[0152] In some demonstrative embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing method 600 (e.g., implemented in network device 120) may include means for performing each step of method 600. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in circuitry or a software module.

[0153] In some demonstrative embodiments, an apparatus comprises means for receiving at least one type of BSR MAC CE from a terminal device; and means for determining a buffer status of the terminal device based on the at least one type of BSR MAC CE and at least a configuration for at least the first type of BSR MAC CE and for the second type of BSR MAC CE defining that only the first type of BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a first set of LCGs and only the second type of BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a second set of LCGs, and an LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates a type of BSR MAC CE used to report buffer status of the LCGs.

[0154] In some example embodiments, a first type BSR MAC CE is associated with a first set of one or more buffer size tables, and a second type BSR MAC CE is associated with a second set of one or more buffer size tables, the second set of one or more buffer size tables comprising at least one of the one or more buffer size tables of the first set.

[0155] In some demonstrative embodiments, the apparatus may also comprise means for determining, based on an LCID of the received BSR MAC CE, a buffer size table associated with the received BSR MAC CE in at least one type of BSR MAC CE, and means for determining a buffer status based on at least the buffer size table.

[0156] In some exemplary embodiments, the device also includes both types of BSR MAC CE Using , means for receiving a buffer status of a logical channel LCH associated with an LCG that requires a BSR MAC CE of the first type and with an LCG that requires a BSR MAC CE of the second type.

[0157] FIG. 7 is a simplified diagram of a device 700 suitable for implementing exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. was made 1. The device 700 may be provided to implement a communications device that is, for example, the first terminal device 110 or the second terminal device 120 illustrated in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 700 includes one or more processors 710, one or more memories 720 coupled to the processors 710, and one or more communications modules 740 coupled to the processors 710.

[0158] The communications module 740 is for bidirectional communication. The communications module 740 has one or more communications interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communications interfaces may represent any interface necessary for communication with other network elements. In some demonstrative embodiments, the communications module 740 may include at least one antenna.

[0159] The processor 710 may be of any type suitable for the local technology network, including, by way of non-limiting example, one or more of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. The device 700 may have multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips, slaved in time to a clock that synchronizes the main processor.

[0160] The memory 720 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 724, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disks, compact disks (CDs), digital video disks (DVDs), optical disks, laser disks, and other magnetic and / or optical storage devices. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 722 and other volatile memories that do not persist during power-off periods.

[0161] The computer program 730 includes computer-executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 710. The instructions of the program 730 may include instructions for performing the operations / acts of some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The program 730 may be stored in a memory, such as the ROM 724. The processor 710 may perform any appropriate operations and processes by loading the program 730 into the RAM 722.

[0162] An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented by a program 730, such that the device 700 may perform any process of the present disclosure, as discussed with reference to Figures 2 to 6. An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented by hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

[0163] In some exemplary embodiments, the program 730 may be tangibly contained in a computer-readable medium that may be included within the device 700 (such as in memory 720) or other storage device accessible by the device 700. The device 700 may load the program 730 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 722 for execution. In some exemplary embodiments, the computer-readable medium may include any type of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. The term "non-transitory" as used herein is not a limitation regarding the permanence of data storage (e.g., RAM vs. ROM), but rather a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible as opposed to a signal).

[0164] 8 illustrates an example of a computer readable medium 800, which may be in the form of a CD, DVD, or other optical storage disc. The computer readable medium 800 has the program 730 stored thereon.

[0165] In general, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software that may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. While various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described using block diagrams, flowcharts, or some other graphical representations, it should be understood that the blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in, by way of non-limiting example, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller, or other computing device, or combinations thereof.

[0166] Some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium, such as a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, that execute on a target physical or virtual processor device to perform any of the methods described above. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or divided among program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed in local or distributed devices. In distributed devices, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0167] Program code for carrying out the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that when executed by the processor or controller, the program code causes the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be performed. The program code may execute entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partially on the machine, partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0168] In the context of the present disclosure, computer program code or associated data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus, or processor to perform the various processes and operations as described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer-readable media, etc.

[0169] The computer-readable medium may be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer-readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0170] Furthermore, although operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring such operations to be performed in the particular order shown, or in the sequence shown, or even that all of the illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desired results. In certain situations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, while the above discussion includes several specific implementation details, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure, but rather as a description of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Unless expressly stated otherwise, certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless expressly stated otherwise, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments individually or in any suitable subcombination.

[0171] Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure, as defined in the appended claims, is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. 1. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; When executed by the at least one processor, the apparatus comprises at least: obtaining a configuration for at least a first type of Buffer Status Reporting (BSR) Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) and for a second type of BSR (MAC) CE, said configuration comprising at least: defining that any one of the BSR MAC CE types can be used to report the buffer status of a logical channel group LCG, a logical channel group identifier LCG ID refers to the LCG for which the buffer status is reported, and a logical channel identifier LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of the BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG; and at least one memory storing instructions that cause the network device to transmit at least one type of BSR MAC CE based on the configuration.

2. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first type BSR MAC CE is associated with a first set of one or more buffer size tables, and the second type BSR MAC CE is associated with a second set of one or more buffer size tables.

3. 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the first set of one or more buffer size tables and the second set of one or more buffer size tables do not overlap.

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

5. 5. The apparatus of claim 1, further adapted to determine a type of the BSR MAC CE to be used for reporting the buffer status of the LCG, said determining being based on a difference between an amount of data buffered in the LCG and a buffer size value indicated by a buffer size index with a BSR MAC CE of a given type.

6. 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the BSR MAC CE for which a difference between the amount of buffered data and the buffer size value indicated by the buffer size index is smallest is determined to be used to report the buffer status.

7. further adapted to determine that the amount of data buffered in the LCG is outside the range of one or more buffer size tables available for use with the second type BSR MAC CE; The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, adapted to determine to report the buffer status of the LCG by using the first type of BSR MAC CE.

8. further adapted to determine that a first buffer size table is applicable for reporting the buffer status of a plurality of LCGs; 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is adapted to report the buffer status of the plurality of LCGs together with the type of BSR MAC CE associated with a buffer size table corresponding to the first buffer size table.

9. determining that different buffer size tables associated with different BSR MAC CE formats are required to report the buffer status of multiple LCGs with non-zero buffer sizes; The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 8, adapted to report the buffer status of the multiple LCGs with multiple BSR MAC CEs.

10. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the number of the plurality of BSR MAC CEs corresponds to a number of different buffer size tables needed to report the buffer status of one or more LCGs having non-zero buffer sizes, and each BSR MAC CE comprises an LCID corresponding to a buffer size table needed for the reported LCG.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the multiple BSR MAC CEs are transmitted to report the buffer status of the one or more LCGs by using different buffer size tables.

12. 12. The apparatus of claim 1, further adapted to refrain from using the first type BSR MAC CE for reporting buffer status of an LCG when delay information reporting is configured for the LCG or for a logical channel within the LCG.

13. 1. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; When executed by the at least one processor, the apparatus comprises at least: obtaining a configuration for at least a first type of Buffer Status Reporting BSR Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) and for a second type of BSR MAC CE, said configuration comprising at least: Only the first type BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a first set of LCGs, and only the second type BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a second set of LCGs; A logical channel identifier LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of the BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG; and at least one memory storing instructions that cause the network device to transmit at least one type of BSR MAC CE based on the configuration.

14. 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the first type BSR MAC CE is associated with a first set of one or more buffer size tables, and the second type BSR MAC CE is associated with a second set of one or more buffer size tables.

15. 15. The apparatus of claim 13 or 14, wherein the second set of one or more buffer size tables comprises at least one of the one or more buffer size tables of the first set.

16. 16. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein a buffer size table associated with each transmitted BSR MAC CE is indicated by one of a first set of one or more LCIDs associated with the first type BSR MAC CE or by one of a second set of one or more LCIDs associated with the second type BSR MAC CE.

17. 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the number of different LCGs available for use with the first type BSR MAC CE and the second type BSR MAC CE is greater than scenarios in which any one of the BSR MAC CE types may be used to report buffer status of the same LCG, and each LCID of a BSR MAC CE indicates a different buffer size table to be used in the BSR MAC CE.

18. 18. The apparatus of claim 13, further adapted to determine the type of the BSR MAC CE to be used for reporting the buffer status of the LCG, wherein said determining is based on the LCG for which the buffer status is to be reported.

19. Further, the method is adapted to determine that a logical channel LCH for which the buffer status is to be reported is associated with an LCG that requires a BSR MAC CE of the first type and with an LCG that requires a BSR MAC CE of the second type; The apparatus of any one of claims 13 to 18, adapted to send both types of BSR MAC CE to the network device to report the buffer status of the LCH.

20. 1. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; When executed by the at least one processor, the apparatus comprises at least: receiving at least one type of Buffer Status Report (BSR) Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) from a terminal device; The at least one type of BSR MAC CE and at least: Any one of the BSR MAC CE types may be used to report buffer status of a logical channel group LCG, where a logical channel group identifier LCG ID refers to the LCG for which the buffer status is reported; and at least one memory storing instructions for determining a buffer status of the terminal device based on at least a configuration for a first type of BSR MAC CE and a configuration for a second type of BSR MAC CE, wherein a logical channel identifier LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of the BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG.

21. 21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the first type BSR MAC CE is associated with a first set of one or more buffer size tables, and the second type BSR MAC CE is associated with a second set of one or more buffer size tables.

22. 22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the first set of one or more buffer size tables and the second set of one or more buffer size tables do not overlap.

23. determining a buffer size table associated with a BSR MAC CE received in the at least one type of BSR MAC CE based on an LCID of the received BSR MAC CE; Apparatus according to any one of claims 20 to 22, adapted to determine said buffer status based on at least said buffer size table.

24. 24. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the apparatus is adapted to determine, according to a determination of reception of buffer statuses of a plurality of LCGs with a plurality of BSR MAC CEs, different buffer size tables associated with different BSR MAC CE formats required for reporting the buffer statuses of the plurality of LCGs having non-zero buffer sizes.

25. 1. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; When executed by the at least one processor, the apparatus comprises at least: receiving at least one type of Buffer Status Report (BSR) Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) from a terminal device; The at least one type of BSR MAC CE and at least: Only the first type BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a first set of LCGs, and only the second type BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a second set of LCGs; and at least one memory storing instructions for determining a buffer status of the terminal device based on at least configurations for the first type of BSR MAC CE and for the second type of BSR MAC CE, wherein a logical channel identifier LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of the BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG.

26. 26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the first type BSR MAC CE is associated with a first set of one or more buffer size tables, and the second type BSR MAC CE is associated with a second set of one or more buffer size tables, the second set of one or more buffer size tables comprising at least one of the one or more buffer size tables of the first set.

27. determining a buffer size table associated with a BSR MAC CE received in the at least one type of BSR MAC CE based on an LCID of the received BSR MAC CE; 27. Apparatus according to claim 25 or 26, adapted to determine said buffer status based at least on said buffer size table.

28. 27. The apparatus according to claim 25 or 26, adapted to receive, together with both types of BSR MAC CE, the buffer status of a logical channel LCH associated to an LCG that requires the first type of BSR MAC CE and to an LCG that requires the second type of BSR MAC CE.

29. 1. A method comprising: obtaining a configuration for at least a first type BSR MAC CE and for a second type BSR MAC CE, the configuration including at least: Any one of the BSR MAC CE types may be used to report buffer status of an LCG, and an LCG ID refers to the LCG for which the buffer status is being reported; obtaining an LCID of the BSR MAC CE, which defines the type of the BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG; and transmitting at least one type of BSR MAC CE to the network device based on the configuration.

30. 1. A method comprising: obtaining a configuration for at least a first type BSR MAC CE and for a second type BSR MAC CE, the configuration including at least: Only the first type BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a first set of LCGs, and only the second type BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a second set of LCGs; obtaining an LCID of the BSR MAC CE, which defines the type of the BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG; and transmitting at least one type of BSR MAC CE to the network device based on the configuration.

31. 1. A method comprising: receiving at least one type of BSR MAC CE from a terminal device; The at least one type of BSR MAC CE and at least: Any one of the BSR MAC CE types may be used to report buffer status of an LCG, and an LCG ID refers to the LCG for which the buffer status is being reported; determining a buffer status of the terminal device based on at least a configuration for a first type of BSR MAC CE and a configuration for a second type of BSR MAC CE, wherein an LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of the BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG.

32. 1. A method comprising: receiving at least one type of BSR MAC CE from a terminal device; The at least one type of BSR MAC CE and at least: Only the first type BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a first set of LCGs, and only the second type BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a second set of LCGs; determining a buffer status of the terminal device based on at least a configuration for the first type of BSR MAC CE and a configuration for the second type of BSR MAC CE, wherein an LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of the BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG.

33. 1. An apparatus comprising: means for obtaining a configuration for at least a first type BSR MAC CE and for a second type BSR MAC CE, the configuration comprising at least: Any one of the BSR MAC CE types may be used to report buffer status of an LCG, and an LCG ID refers to the LCG for which the buffer status is being reported; means for obtaining, defining that the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of the BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG; means for transmitting at least one type of BSR MAC CE to a network device based on the configuration.

34. 1. An apparatus comprising: means for obtaining a configuration for at least a first type BSR MAC CE and for a second type BSR MAC CE, the configuration comprising at least: Only the first type BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a first set of LCGs, and only the second type BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a second set of LCGs; means for obtaining, defining that the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of the BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG; means for transmitting at least one type of BSR MAC CE to a network device based on the configuration.

35. 1. An apparatus comprising: means for receiving at least one type of BSR MAC CE from a terminal device; The at least one type of BSR MAC CE and at least: Any one of the BSR MAC CE types may be used to report buffer status of an LCG, and an LCG ID refers to the LCG for which the buffer status is being reported; and means for determining a buffer status of the terminal device based on at least a configuration for a first type of BSR MAC CE and a configuration for a second type of BSR MAC CE, wherein the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of the BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG.

36. 1. An apparatus comprising: means for receiving at least one type of BSR MAC CE from a terminal device; The at least one type of BSR MAC CE and at least: Only the first type BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a first set of LCGs, and only the second type BSR MAC CE may be used to report buffer status of a second set of LCGs; and means for determining a buffer status of the terminal device based on at least a configuration for the first type of BSR MAC CE and a configuration for the second type of BSR MAC CE, wherein the LCID of the BSR MAC CE indicates the type of the BSR MAC CE used to report the buffer status of the LCG.

37. 33. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the method of claim 29, the method of claim 30, the method of claim 31, or the method of claim 32.

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