User apparatus, method, and program

Abstract

A solution for UL packet drop is proposed.SOLUTION: A user equipment (UE) according to the present disclosure includes means for receiving, from a network device, an indication regarding discarding of uplink data, means for transmitting, to the network device, information indicating a buffer volume for a first set of uplink data to be transmitted and a first delay budget associated with the buffer volume for the first set of uplink data, and means for discarding at least a portion of the first set of uplink data based on the indication regarding discarding of uplink data and the first delay budget.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] TECHNICAL FIELD Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of telecommunications, and more particularly to methods, apparatus, and computer-readable media for communications. [Background technology]

[0002] Several techniques have been proposed to improve communication performance. Some communication services have very strict latency requirements. For example, delayed transmission of some data may render the data useless. A terminal device can also send a buffer status report (BSR) to a network device when new data arrives in its uplink (UL) buffer. The buffer status report procedure is used to provide the serving network device with information about the amount of data available for transmission in the UL buffer. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] Generally, the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for communication. [Means for solving the problem]

[0004] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, the communication method including: determining, at a terminal device, a first set of data packets to be transmitted to a network device; and transmitting, to the network device, information indicative of a first buffer status report (BSR) for the first set of data packets and a first delay budget associated with the first BSR.

[0005] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, the communication method including receiving, at a network device, information from a terminal device indicating a first buffer status report (BSR) for a first set of data packets and a first delay budget associated with the first BSR, the first set of data packets to be transmitted by the terminal device.

[0006] In a third aspect, there is provided a communication method, the communication method including: determining, in a terminal device, a first set of data packets to be transmitted to a network device; and causing the portion of the first set of data packets to be dropped in accordance with determining, based on a delay budget for the first set of data packets or an instruction from a higher layer, that the portion of the first set of data packets needs to be dropped.

[0007] In a fourth aspect, a terminal device is provided, the terminal device including: a processor unit; and a memory, coupled to the processor unit, having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by the processor unit, causing the terminal device to perform operations including: determining, at the terminal device, a first set of data packets to be transmitted to a network device; and transmitting, to the network device, information indicating a first buffer status report (BSR) for the first set of data packets and a first delay budget associated with the first BSR.

[0008] In a fifth aspect, a network device is provided. The network device includes a processor unit and a memory, coupled to the processor unit, having instructions stored thereon. The instructions, when executed by the processor unit, cause the network device to perform operations. The operations include receiving, at the network device, information from a terminal device indicating a first buffer status report (BSR) for a first set of data packets and a first delay budget associated with the first BSR. The first set of data packets are to be transmitted by the terminal device.

[0009] In a sixth aspect, there is provided a terminal device, the terminal device including: a processor unit; and a memory, coupled to the processor unit, having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by the processor unit, causing the terminal device to perform operations, the operations including: determining, at the terminal device, a first set of data packets to be transmitted to a network device; and causing the portion of the first set of data packets to be dropped in accordance with determining, based on a delay budget for the first set of data packets or an instruction from a higher layer, that the portion of the first set of data packets needs to be dropped.

[0010] In a seventh aspect, there is provided a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform a method according to any of the first, second or third aspects.

[0011] Other features of the present disclosure will become readily apparent from the following description. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent through a more detailed description of several exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure in the accompanying drawings.

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication environment in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. [Figure 2] 1 illustrates a signaling flow of a communication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3A] 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a buffer status report (BSR) media access control (MAC) control element (CE), according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3B] 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a buffer status report (BSR) media access control (MAC) control element (CE), according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3C]1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a buffer status report (BSR) media access control (MAC) control element (CE), according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3D] 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a buffer status report (BSR) media access control (MAC) control element (CE), according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 3E] 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a buffer status report (BSR) media access control (MAC) control element (CE), according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] 1 illustrates a signaling flow of a communication according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of packet dropping in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of packet dropping in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of packet dropping in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of packet dropping in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 9] 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of packet dropping in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 10] 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of packet dropping in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 11] 1 is a flowchart of an exemplary method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 12] 1 is a flowchart of an exemplary method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 13] 1 is a flowchart of an exemplary method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 14] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus suitable for practicing embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0014] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numbers represent the same or similar elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] The principles of the present disclosure will be described with reference to several exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are set forth for illustrative purposes only to aid those skilled in the art in understanding and practicing the present disclosure, and do not imply any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. The present disclosure described herein can be implemented in a variety of ways other than those described below.

[0016] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0017] As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a device capable of providing or hosting a cell or coverage area over which terminal devices can communicate. Examples of network devices include, but are not limited to, a Node B (NB or NB), an Evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), a New Radio Access Node B (gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a Radio Head (RH), a Remote Radio Head (RRH), a low-power node such as a femto node or a pico node, a satellite network device, an aircraft network device, etc. For purposes of discussion, some exemplary embodiments will be described below with reference to an eNB as an example of a network device.

[0018] As used herein, the term "terminal device" refers to any device with wireless or wired communication capabilities. Examples of terminal devices include, but are not limited to, user equipment (UE), personal computers, desktops, mobile phones, cell phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, tablets, wearable devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, Internet of Everything (IoE) devices, machine-type communication (MTC) devices, vehicle-mounted devices for V2X communication (where X represents a pedestrian, vehicle, or infrastructure / network), imaging devices such as digital cameras, gaming devices, music storage and playback devices, and internet devices that enable wireless / wired internet access and browsing. In the following description, the terms "terminal device," "communication device," "terminal," "user terminal," and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

[0019] In one embodiment, a terminal device may be connected to a first network device and a second network device. One of the first network device and the second network device may be a master node, and the other may be a secondary node. The first network device and the second network device may use different radio access technologies (RATs). In one embodiment, the first network device may be a first RAT device, and the second network device may be a second RAT device. In one embodiment, the first RAT device is an eNB, and the second RAT device is a gNB. Information related to different RATs may be transmitted to the terminal device from at least one of the first network device and the second network device. In one embodiment, first information may be transmitted from the first network device to the terminal device, and second information may be transmitted from the second network device directly to the terminal device or via the first network device. In one embodiment, information related to a configuration of the terminal device set by the second network device may be transmitted from the second network device via the first network device. Information related to a reconfiguration of the terminal device set by the second network device may be transmitted from the second network device to the terminal device directly or via the first network device.

[0020] Communications discussed herein may conform to any suitable standards, including, but not limited to, New Radio Access (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Evolution (LTE-Evolution), LTE Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), cdma2000, and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). Furthermore, communications may be performed in accordance with any currently known or future-developed generation of communications protocols. Examples of communications protocols include, but are not limited to, first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.85G, third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth-generation (5G), and sixth-generation (6G) communications protocols. The techniques described herein may be used for the wireless networks and technologies mentioned above, as well as other wireless networks and technologies.

[0021] As used herein, the term "circuit" may refer to a hardware circuit and / or a combination of a hardware circuit and software. For example, a circuit may be a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuitry with software / firmware. As a further example, a circuit may be any portion of a hardware processor with software, such as a digital signal processor, software, and memory that cooperate to perform various functions in a device, such as a terminal device or network device. In yet another example, a circuit may be a hardware circuit and / or processor, such as a microprocessor or portion of a microprocessor, that requires software / firmware for operation but may be absent when not required for operation. As used herein, the term circuit also encompasses a simple hardware circuit or processor, or portion of a hardware circuit or processor, and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware implementation.

[0022] As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The term "comprises" and variations thereof are intended to be open-ended, meaning "including, but not limited to." The term "based on" is intended to mean "based at least in part on." The terms "one embodiment" and "an embodiment" are intended to mean "at least one embodiment." The term "another embodiment" is intended to mean "at least one other embodiment." Terms such as "first," "second," etc. may refer to different objects or the same object. The following content may include other definitions, both explicit and implicit.

[0023] In some instances, values, procedures, or devices are referred to as "optimum," "lowest," "highest," "minimum," "maximum," etc. It is understood that such descriptions are intended to indicate choices among multiple functional alternatives used, and that such choices are not necessarily better, smaller, higher, or more preferred than other choices.

[0024] As mentioned above, latency requirements are very stringent. Enhanced UL packet dropping is required for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) (collectively referred to as "XR") traffic. XR traffic characteristics can be summarized as high throughput (10 Mbps–50 Mbps), high reliability (99%–99.999%), low latency (PDB = 10 ms–60 ms), and periodicity. For XR, packet sizes are typically large, and continuing to transmit old packets can result in significant resource waste. Packet dropping may require cross-layer design. That is, the gNB / UE needs to know the packet delay budget (PDB) and the XR application frame boundaries. For downlink (DL) scheduling, packet dropping may be an implementation issue, and the UE does not need to know whether the gNB has dropped a packet, at least at lower layers (i.e., media access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY)). For UL scheduling, the gNB needs to know whether a UL packet should be dropped and whether UL resource allocation is still required.

[0025] Furthermore, in the current New Radio (NR) specification, a BSR is triggered when any of the following events occur: (1) UL data for a logical channel belonging to an LCG becomes available at the MAC entity, (2) UL resources are allocated and the number of padding bits is equal to or greater than the size of the Buffer Status Report MAC CE and its subheader, (3) the retxBSR-Timer expires and at least one of the logical channels belonging to the LCG contains UL data, or (4) the periodicBSR-Timer expires.

[0026] 5G Quality of Service (QoS) characteristics describe the packet forwarding treatment that a QoS flow receives edge-to-edge between the UE and the UPF in terms of the following performance characteristics: resource type (Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR), delay-critical GBR, or non-GBR), priority level, packet delay budget (PDB), packet error rate (PER), averaging window (GBR and delay-critical GBR resource types only), and maximum data burst volume (MDBV) (delay-critical GBR resource type only).

[0027] As used herein, the term "Packet Delay Budget (PDB)" defines an upper bound on the time a packet may be delayed between the UE and the N6 termination point of the User Plane Function (UPF). The PDB applies to DL packets received on the N6 interface by the UPF and UL packets transmitted by the UE. For a given 5G QoS Identifier (5QI), the PDB value is the same for UL and DL. For 3GPP access, the PDB is used to support scheduling and link layer function configuration (e.g., setting scheduling priority weights and HARQ target operation points). For guaranteed GBR (QoS flows using a delay-sensitive resource type), packets delayed beyond the PDB are counted as lost if the data burst does not exceed the MDBV within the PDB period and the QoS flow does not exceed the GFBR. For GBR QoS flows with a GBR resource type that does not exceed the GFBR, 98% of packets should not be delayed beyond the PDB of the 5QI. The 5G Access Network Packet Delay Budget (5G-AN PDB) is determined by subtracting a static value of the Core Network Packet Delay Budget (CN PDB). This represents the delay from the predetermined PDB between any N6 termination point of the UPF (any UPF that may be selected for the PDU session) and the 5G-AN. The PDB of an XR traffic burst may refer to the delay budget from the time the XR traffic burst arrives at the gNB / UE to the time all data packets (or X% of the data packets, where X is a number between 0 and 100) of the XR traffic burst are successfully transmitted. An XR traffic burst may include one or more data packets. As an example, the data packets of an XR traffic burst may include interrelated information, e.g., each data packet may include part of the information of a video frame generated by an XR application. In this case, the data packets may have the same requirements as the delay budget.If the data packets of an XR traffic burst do not arrive at the gNB / UE at the same time, the arrival time of the XR traffic burst may be defined as the arrival time of the first packet or the last packet, or the average arrival time of the data packets of the XR traffic burst.

[0028] To enable packet dropping, the scheduler needs to know the file boundaries (i.e., the start and end of a packet belong to the same XR traffic burst) and the associated PDB. For a particular logical channel, the gNB / UE may determine that packets with similar arrival times and the same PDB requirements belong to the same XR traffic burst, or may do so by, for example, the header of an application data unit (ADU). As used herein, the term "application data unit (ADU)" may refer to the smallest granularity for processing application data. An ADU may be packetized into one or more Internet Protocol (IP) packets before being delivered to the gNB / UE. In one embodiment, data packets of an XR burst may contain ADU information. The scheduler should strive to successfully transmit all packets within the PDB. However, some packets may still not be transmitted in time. For UL scheduling, the gNB may derive the maximum PDB based on the QoS parameters of the UL traffic. However, because the gNB does not know the exact time when the UL packets arrive at the UE, the gNB cannot accurately determine the remaining PDB of the XR traffic burst.

[0029] In an embodiment, a solution for UL packet dropping is proposed: a terminal device determines a set of data packets to be transmitted to a network device; the terminal device transmits information to the network device; the information indicates a buffer status report for the set of data packets and a delay budget associated with the buffer status report; in this way, wasting resources is avoided by avoiding transmission of stale data.

[0030] 1 shows a schematic diagram of a communication system in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. Communication system 100, which is part of a communication network, includes terminal device 110-1, terminal device 110-2, ..., terminal device 110-N, which may be collectively referred to as "terminal device 110." The number N may be any suitable integer.

[0031] The communication system 100 further includes a network device 120. In the communication system 100, the network device 120 and the terminal device 110 can communicate data and control information with each other. The number of terminal devices and network devices shown in Figure 1 is for illustrative purposes and is not intended to imply any limitation.

[0032] Communications in communication system 100 may be implemented 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), and fifth generation (5G), 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 multiple access (OFDMA), and / or any other technology now known or developed in the future.

[0033] Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to any suitable scenario. For example, embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in a low-capability NR device. Alternatively, embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in any of the following: New Radio (NR) multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO), NR sidelink enhancements, NR systems on frequencies above 52.6 GHz, NR operation extensions to 71 GHz, narrowband-Internet of Things (NB-IoT) / enhanced Machine Type Communication (eMTC) in non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), NTNs, UE power saving enhancements, NR coverage extensions, NB-IoT and LTE-MTC, integrated access and backhaul (IAB), NR multicast and broadcast services, or multi-radio dual connectivity enhancements.

[0034] As used herein, the term "slot" refers to a dynamic scheduling unit. A slot contains a predetermined number of symbols. The term "downlink (DL) subslot" may refer to a virtual subslot built on an uplink (UL) subslot. A DL subslot may contain fewer symbols than a DL slot. In this context, a slot may refer to a regular slot containing a predetermined number of symbols, or a subslot containing fewer than a predetermined number of symbols. The term "symbol" may refer to an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol or a Discrete Fourier Transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbol.

[0035] Embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below. Please refer first to FIG. 2, which illustrates a signaling chart illustrating a process 200 between a terminal device and a network device according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For discussion purposes only, process 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. Process 200 may involve terminal device 110-1 and network device 120 of FIG. 1.

[0036] The network device 120 may have information about the services or applications at the terminal device 110-1. For example, the network device 120 may obtain detailed traffic characteristics from the core network or application servers.

[0037] The terminal device 110-1 determines (2010) a first set of data packets to be transmitted to the network device 120. The first set of data packets may belong to an XR traffic burst or an ADU. The first set of data packets may include any suitable number of data packets. The terminal device 110-1 may receive the first set of data packets from a higher layer, such as a MAC layer. In some embodiments, the data packets may be ADUs. Alternatively, the data packets may be Internet Protocol (IP) packets. The data packets may be Radio Link Control (RLC) protocol data units. Alternatively, the data packets may be RLC service data units (SDUs). In other embodiments, the data packets may be MAC PDUs or MAC SDUs. The data packets may also be transport blocks (TBs). The data packets may also be code block groups (CBGs). In some embodiments, the data packets may be scheduling units.

[0038] In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine a delay budget for the XR traffic burst (2015). In some embodiments, the delay budget may be a PDB. The PDB may represent the delay budget of one or more packets. In some embodiments, the delay budget may be an air interface PDB or a 5G-AN PDB. The air interface PDB or the 5G-AN PDB may represent the delay budget of one or more packets in a radio access network. Alternatively, the delay budget may be an ADU delay budget (ADB). The ADB may represent the delay budget of an ADU. For example, the network device 120 may determine the delay budget based on UL QoS parameters. The delay budget may be a maximum delay budget. In some embodiments, the delay budget may be per QoS flow. Alternatively, the delay budget may be per logical channel.

[0039] The terminal device 110-1 transmits information to the network device 120 (2030). The information indicates a first BSR for the first set of data packets. The first BSR may indicate a data amount for the first set of data packets. The information also indicates a first delay budget associated with the first BSR. The first delay budget may be a remaining delay budget for the first set of data packets. The remaining delay budget for the first set of data packets may be a period from a time the information is transmitted to the latest time the first set of data packets is expected to be successfully transmitted. The information may be transmitted on a MAC CE. The time the information is transmitted is a time of the first symbol or the last symbol of a transmission containing the information. The first set of data packets may also be transmitted on a logical channel.

[0040] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2, the network device 120 may transmit a first instruction to the terminal device 110-1 (2020). The first instruction may inform the terminal device 110-1 to transmit a delay budget. In this case, the terminal device 110-1 may transmit / report a first BSR along with the first delay budget, i.e., the information indicates the first BSR and the first delay budget. Alternatively, if the terminal device 110-1 does not receive the first instruction, the terminal device 110-1 may transmit / report only the BSR. In some embodiments, the first instruction may be transmitted in a MAC CE. Alternatively, or additionally, the first instruction may be transmitted in downlink control information (DCI).

[0041] In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may determine a second set of data packets to be transmitted to network device 120. Again, the information may indicate a second BSR for the second set of data packets and a second delay budget associated with the second BSR. The second delay budget may be a remaining delay budget for the second set of data packets. The remaining delay budget for the second set of data packets may be a period from the time the information is transmitted to the latest time the second set of data packets is expected to be successfully transmitted. In other words, terminal device 110-1 may report multiple BSRs associated with multiple XR traffic bursts, each of the multiple BSRs associated with a delay budget. In this situation, the information may indicate a first identity of the first BSR or a first identity of the first delay budget. The information may also indicate a second identity of the second BSR or a second identity of the second delay budget. For example, the information may include a BSR ID or a delay budget ID to identify multiple XR traffic bursts having different delay budgets. The information may explicitly indicate the first identity and / or the second identity. Alternatively, the information may implicitly indicate the first identity and / or the second identity. In this case, network device 120 may explicitly determine a first identity of a first BSR or a first delay budget and a second identity of a second BSR or a second delay budget based on the information. Alternatively, network device 120 may implicitly determine a first identity of a first BSR or a first delay budget and a second identity of a second BSR or a second delay budget based on the information. For example, the identities may be implicitly determined based on the order of the BSRs or delay budgets in the information, i.e., the first BSR or the first delay budget in the information is associated with the first identity, and the second BSR or the second delay budget in the information is associated with the second identity.In one embodiment, the information may indicate a second BSR for the second set of data packets but not a delay budget associated with the second BSR, in which case the second set of data packets may have no delay budget requirement.

[0042] In some embodiments, the first delay budget or the second delay budget may also be associated with a logical channel group (LCG) ID or a logical channel (LCH) ID, in which case the first delay budget or the second delay budget may be applied to all data packets in the buffer of the associated LCG / LCH, respectively.

[0043] 3A-3E each illustrate a block diagram of a BSR MAC-CE according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Note that the BSR MAC-CE illustrated in FIGS. 3A-3E is merely an example and not a limitation. For example, the order of fields illustrated in FIGS. 3A-3E is illustrative, and the fields may be ordered in any suitable manner. The BSR MAC-CE in FIGS. 3A-3E may also include other fields not shown in these figures. In particular, FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate the structure of a short BSR, while FIGS. 3D and 3E illustrate the structure of a long BSR. As illustrated in FIGS. 3A-3C, for a short BSR, 8 bits may be used for the buffer size, and a new delay budget field is introduced. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3A, the BSR MAC CE 310 may indicate only one BSR and its delay budget. The BSR MAC CE 310 may include an LCG ID field 3110, buffer size fields 3120-1 and 3120-2 for the BSRs, and a delay budget field 3130. As shown in Figure 3B, BSR MAC CE 320 may indicate two BSRs and their delay budgets. In this case, BSR MAC CE 320 may have LCG ID field 3210, buffer size fields 3220-1 and 3220-2 for one BSR, buffer size fields 3220-3 and 3220-4 for another BSR, delay budget field 3230-1 for one delay budget, delay budget field 3230-2 for another delay budget, and reserved field 3240. As shown in Figure 3C, BSR MAC CE 330 may indicate two BSRs, only one of which has a delay budget. In this case, the BSR MAC CE 330 may have an LCG ID field 3310, buffer size fields 3320-1 and 3320-2 for the BSR, buffer size fields 3320-3 and 3320-4 for the other BSR, and a delay budget field 3330 for the delay budget.The delay budget indicated by delay budget field 3330 can be predefined or configured to be associated with a first BSR indicated by buffer size field 3320-1 or a second BSR indicated by buffer size field 3320-2. As an example, in Figures 3A-3C, delay budget fields 3130, 3230-1, 3230-2, 3330 all have 5 bits, and reserved field 3240 has 3 bits.

[0044] As shown in Figures 3D and 3E, for a long BSR, m budget delay values ​​may be associated with m buffer size values, respectively. As shown in Figure 3D, m is an odd number. The BSR MAC CE 340 may include LCG ID fields 3410-1, 3410-2, 3410-3, 3410-4, 3410-5, 3410-6, 3410-7, 3410-8, buffer size fields 3420-1, 3420-2, ..., 3420-m, delay budget fields 3430-1, 3430-2, ..., 3430-m associated with the buffer size fields 3420-1, 3420-2, ..., 3420-m, respectively, and a reserved field 3440. As shown in Figure 3E, m is an even number. The BSR MAC CE 350 may include LCG ID fields 3510-1, 3510-2, 3510-3, 3510-4, 3510-5, 3510-6, 3510-7, and 3510-8, buffer size fields 3520-1, 3520-2, ..., and 3520-m, and delay budget fields 3530-1, 3530-2, ..., and 3530-(m-1), and 3530-m associated with the buffer size fields 3520-1, 3520-2, ..., and 3520-m, respectively. As an example, in Figures 3D and 3E, delay budget fields 3430-1, 3430-2, ... 3430-m and 3530-1, 3530-2, ... 3530-(m-1), 3530-m all have 4 bits, and reserved field 3440 has 4 bits.

[0045] Returning to FIG. 2 , terminal device 110-1 may transmit (2040) a second instruction to network device 120. The second instruction may indicate whether at least a portion of the first set of data packets associated with the first BSR or the first delay budget can be dropped. In some embodiments, the second instruction may indicate that at least a portion of the first set of data packets can be dropped. In this case, network device 120 may drop at least a portion of the first set of data packets. Alternatively, the second instruction may indicate that at least a portion of the first set of data packets cannot be dropped. In this case, network device 120 must transmit the remaining data packets of the first set of data packets even though the remaining data packets cannot be transmitted before the end of the first delay budget.

[0046] In another embodiment, network device 120 may determine 2050 whether to drop at least a portion of the first set of data packets based on the first delay budget. In some embodiments, network device 120 may determine 2050 whether to drop at least a portion of the first set of data packets based on whether at least a portion of the first set of data packets can be transmitted within the first delay budget. For example, if at least a portion of the first set of data packets cannot be successfully transmitted, network device 120 may determine to drop at least a portion of the first set of data packets. In an exemplary embodiment, successful transmission of a set of data packets may refer to all, or at least a certain percentage, of the set of data packets being transmitted to network device 120. In another embodiment, successful transmission of a set of data packets may refer to all, or at least a certain percentage, of the set of data packets being correctly transmitted to network device 120.

[0047] Alternatively, if at least a portion of the first set of data packets can be successfully transmitted, the network device 120 may determine not to drop at least a portion of the first set of data packets. In other embodiments, the network device 120 may determine whether to drop at least a portion of the first set of data packets based on an instruction from a higher layer. For example, the instruction from the higher layer may be an instruction from any one of the MAC layer, the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, the RRC layer, or the Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer. Alternatively, the instruction from the higher layer may be an instruction from a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) or an instruction from an application layer.

[0048] If the network device 120 may determine to drop at least a portion of the first set of data packets, the network device 120 may transmit a drop indication to the terminal device 110-1 (2060). The drop indication may be associated with the XR traffic burst. For example, the drop indication may include an identity associated with the XR traffic burst. In some embodiments, the drop indication may include any one of a BSR ID, a PDB ID, an LCG ID, or an LCH ID. The drop indication may be transmitted in a MAC CE. Alternatively, the drop indication may be transmitted in a DCI.

[0049] If the terminal device 110-1 receives a drop instruction from the network device 120, the terminal device 110-1 may flush its buffer associated with the first BSR or associated with the first delay budget (2070). In other words, the terminal device 110-1 may discard the remaining packets associated with the first BSR. The remaining data packets may include at least one data packet in the first set of data packets that has not yet been transmitted to the network device 120 or has not yet been successfully transmitted to the network device 120. In some embodiments, there may be some data packets in the first set of data packets that still need to be transmitted. For example, such data packets may include some important control information. In this case, the terminal device 110-1 may transmit a third BSR to the network device 120. The third BSR may indicate a buffer size including the amount of data of at least one data packet in the first set of data packets to be transmitted.

[0050] In network device 120, if the scheduler determines that it is not possible to allocate sufficient resources to terminal device 110-1 to successfully transmit the remaining packets before the PDB deadline, network device 120 does not allocate UL resources to terminal device 110-1 for the remaining packets.

[0051] According to the embodiment described with reference to Figure 2, it is possible to avoid wasting resources due to the transmission of old UL packets. The resource waste can be further reduced by gNB-triggered packet dropping. Since the scheduler is in the gNB, once the gNB decides to drop a packet, the gNB will not allocate any more resources to the UE.

[0052] Embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below. Please refer first to FIG. 4, which illustrates a signaling chart illustrating a process 400 between a terminal device and a network device according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For discussion purposes only, process 400 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. Process 400 may involve terminal device 110-1 and network device 120 of FIG. 1.

[0053] The terminal device 110-1 determines (4010) a first set of data packets to be transmitted to the network device. The first set of data packets may belong to an XR traffic burst. The first set of data packets may include any suitable number of data packets. The terminal device 110-1 may receive the first set of data packets from an upper layer, such as a MAC layer.

[0054] The terminal device 110-1 determines whether it is necessary to drop some of the first set of data packets based on the delay budget of the first set of data packets (4020). In some embodiments, the delay budget may be a PDB. The PDB may represent the delay budget of one or more packets. Alternatively, the delay budget may be an ADU delay budget (ADB). The ADB may represent the delay budget of an ADU.

[0055] Terminal device 110-1 may determine the delay budget based on the UL QoS parameters. Alternatively, or additionally, terminal device 110-1 may determine the delay budget based on arrival times of the first set of data packets and the QoS parameters.

[0056] In some embodiments, network device 120 may transmit a configuration indicating a data size threshold to terminal device 110-1. In this case, terminal device 110-1 may determine whether to drop the portion of the first set of data packets based on whether the size of the portion of the first set of data packets exceeds the data size threshold. If the size of the portion of the first set of data packets exceeds the data size threshold, terminal device 110-1 may determine that the portion of the first set of data packets needs to be dropped. In this case, an updated BSR is to be reported. Alternatively, if the size of the portion of the first set of data packets does not exceed the data size threshold, terminal device 110-1 may determine that the portion of the first set of data packets does not need to be dropped.

[0057] In another embodiment, the network device 120 may transmit a configuration indicating a proportional threshold to the terminal device 110-1. In this case, the terminal device 110-1 may determine whether to drop a portion of the first set of data packets based on whether the portion of the first set of data packets exceeds the proportional threshold. For example, in a situation where the proportional threshold is Y%, data packets may be dropped and an updated BSR may be reported only if more than Y% of the XR traffic burst cannot be transmitted within the delay budget, where Y is a number between 0 and 100.

[0058] Alternatively or additionally, the terminal device 110-1 determines whether it is necessary to drop some of the first set of data packets based on an instruction from a higher layer for the first set of data packets (4020). For example, the instruction from the higher layer may be NAS signaling. Alternatively, the instruction from the higher layer may be an instruction from an XR application.

[0059] In some embodiments, if some of the first set of data packets cannot be transmitted before a first time point, terminal device 110-1 may determine that some of the first set of data packets are to be dropped. The first time point may be determined based on a delay budget. For example, terminal device 110-1 may determine to drop packets no later than time Td-T1, where Td is the end of the delay budget and T1 is the minimum required duration between the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) and its scheduling DCI. By way of example only, as shown in FIG. 5, the first set of data packets (e.g., data packets 560-1 and 560-2) arrive at time point 520, and the delay budget ends at time point 530. Terminal device 110-1 may transmit a BSR in slot 540. The PUSCH transmission opportunity may include slots 550-1 and 550-2. 5, data packet 560-2 can be transmitted in slot 550-1, which is within delay budget period 510, but data packet 560-1 needs to be transmitted in slot 550-2, which is outside delay budget period 510. In this case, terminal device 110-1 may decide to drop data packet 560-2. In one embodiment, the first point in time is time Td-T1, and in another embodiment, the first point in time is time 530.

[0060] In another embodiment, the terminal device 110-1 may determine that a portion of the first set of data packets is dropped if there is at least one hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback or if at least one new data indicator (NDI) associated with at least one data packet in the portion of the first set of data packets is not received before a second time point, where the second time point is determined based on a delay budget. For example, the terminal device 110-1 may determine to drop packets at time Td-T2, where Td is the end of the delay budget, T2 is the time at which the terminal device 110-1 receives an UL grant scheduling a PUSCH, and the corresponding HARQ-ACK cannot be transmitted before the end of the delay budget. By way of example only, as shown in FIG. 6, the first set of data packets (e.g., data packets 660-1 and 660-2) arrive at time point 620, and the delay budget ends at time point 630. The terminal device 110-1 may transmit a BSR in slot 640. The PUSCH transmission opportunities may include slots 650-1 and 650-2. As shown in FIG. 6, data packet 660-1 can be transmitted in slot 650-1, which is within delay budget period 610, and data packet 660-2 must be transmitted in slot 650-2, which is within delay budget period 610. However, the opportunity to transmit data packet 660-2 or NDI HARQ feedback may be in slot 670, which is outside delay budget period 610. In this case, terminal device 110-1 may decide to drop data packet 660-2. In one embodiment, the second point in time is time Td-T2, and in another embodiment, the second point in time is time 630.

[0061] In some embodiments, if at least one retransmission of at least one data packet in the portion of the first set of data packets cannot be transmitted before a third point in time, the terminal device 110-1 may determine that the portion of the first set of data packets is to be dropped, where the third point in time is determined based on a delay budget. For example, the terminal device 110-1 may determine to drop a packet at time Td-T3, where Td is the end of the delay budget and T3 is the time at which the terminal device 110-1 receives an UL grant scheduling a retransmission of the data packet, the retransmission being later than the end of the delay budget. By way of example only, as shown in FIG. 7, the first set of data packets (e.g., data packets 760-1 and 760-2) arrive at time 720 and the delay budget ends at time 730. The terminal device 110-1 may transmit a BSR in slot 740. The PUSCH transmission opportunity may include slots 750-1 and 750-2. 7, data packet 760-1 may be transmitted in slot 750-1, which is within delay budget period 710, and data packet 760-2 must be transmitted in slot 750-2, which is within delay budget period 710. The opportunity to transmit HARQ feedback for data packet 760-2 or NDI may be slot 770. However, the opportunity to retransmit data packet 760-2 or NDI may be slot 780, which is outside delay budget period 710. In this case, terminal device 110-1 may decide to drop data packet 760-2. In one exemplary embodiment, the third point in time is time Td-T3, and in another embodiment, the third point in time is time 730.

[0062] If the terminal device 110-1 determines to drop some data packets in the first set of data packets, the terminal device 110-1 may send a BSR to the network device 120 (4030). The BSR may indicate to the network device that some data packets will be dropped. The BSR may indicate the amount of data remaining in the first set of data packets after some of the first set of data packets have been dropped. For example, if the terminal device 110-1 determines to drop some data packets but still has data to send, a BSR report may be sent. In one embodiment, if it is determined that all of the remaining data packets in the first set of data packets will be dropped, the terminal device may indicate a BSR with a buffer size of zero.

[0063] Alternatively, if the terminal device 110-1 determines to drop all remaining data packets of the first set of data packets, the terminal device 110-1 may flush a buffer associated with the first set of data packets. In other words, the terminal device 110-1 may discard the remaining packets associated with the first BSR. The remaining data packets in the first set of data packets include all data packets in the first set of data packets that have not yet been transmitted to the network device 120. In this case, the terminal device 110-1 may transmit a drop indication to the network device 120 (4040). The drop indication may indicate that all remaining data packets are to be dropped. In some embodiments, the drop indication may be transmitted in the MAC CE. Alternatively, the drop indication may be transmitted in the uplink control information (UCI).

[0064] In some embodiments, after the terminal device 110-1 determines and / or reports a packet drop, if the terminal device 110-1 still has at least one uplink resource allocation (e.g., a configuration grant (CG)-PUSCH or a dynamic grant (DG)-PUSCH scheduled before the terminal device 110-1 sent the drop instruction), the terminal device 110-1 may skip this resource allocation (i.e., not transmit on the allocated resources), and the network device 120 may schedule other UEs to utilize these resources.

[0065] In some embodiments, only resources within a time window may be dropped. For example, a time window from T4 to T5, where T4 and T5 are integer numbers of OFDM symbols or milliseconds after the terminal device 110-1 sends a drop indication or after the end of the delay budget. Also, T4 may be zero, and T5 may be the end of the delay budget. In the case of dynamic scheduling, if an UL grant is received before the terminal device 110-1 sends a drop indication and a scheduled PUSCH occurs after the UE sends the drop indication, the associated PUSCH may be skipped. In the case of a configured grant, CG-PUSCH opportunities in the time window from T4 to T5 may be skipped. Optionally, T5 may be (T6-Tp-delta). where T6 is the period of the CG setting or the time interval between two XR traffic bursts (e.g., equal to 1 / FPS seconds, where FPS represents frames per second and FPS is 30 / 60 / 90 / 120), Tp is the maximum delay budget, and delta is a value set by the gNB (optionally, delta can correspond to arrival time jitter). For example, Figure 8 shows a situation assuming T4 = 0 after the delay budget ends. The jitter range refers to the range of possible XR burst arrival times; the exact arrival time cannot be predicted before packet arrival, but it will not exceed the range. In cases where jitter is taken into account, T6 may be, on average, the time interval between two adjacent XR traffic bursts. In cases where jitter does not exist or is ignored, T6 may be the time interval between two adjacent XR traffic bursts, and delta may be zero.

[0066] In some embodiments, the PUSCH that is canceled may be for the first transmission of the dropped data packets. By way of example only, as shown in FIG. 9, a first set of data packets (e.g., data packets 960-1 and 960-2) arrive at time 9520, and the delay budget ends at time 9930. As shown in FIG. 9, data packet 960-1 is scheduled or configured to be transmitted on the PUSCH in slot 950-1, which is within delay budget period 910, while data packet 960-2 is scheduled or configured to be transmitted on the PUSCH in slot 950-2, which has already exceeded the delay budget end. In this case, terminal device 110-1 may decide to skip the PUSCH transmission in slot 950-2.

[0067] In some embodiments, the canceled PUSCH may be for a retransmission of a dropped data packet. By way of example only, as shown in FIG. 10 , a first set of data packets (e.g., data packets 1060-1 and 1060-2) arrive at time 1020, and the delay budget ends at time 1030. As shown in FIG. 10 , data packet 1060-1 is scheduled or configured to transmit on a PUSCH in slot 1050-1, which is within the delay budget period 1010, and data packet 1060-2 is scheduled or configured to transmit on a PUSCH in slot 1050-2, which is also within the delay budget period 1010. The opportunity to receive a HARQ-ACK or NDI associated with data packet 1060-2 may be slot 1070. However, if a retransmission is indicated, the opportunity for retransmission of data packet 1060-2 may be slot 1080, which is outside the delay budget period 1010. In this case, the terminal device 110-1 may decide to skip the PUSCH in slot 1080.

[0068] According to the embodiment described with reference to Fig. 4, it is possible to avoid wasting resources by transmitting old UL packets. Since the UE has more accurate information of the UL traffic, it can trigger packet drops more accurately. It is beneficial to avoid wrong decisions that may degrade the user experience.

[0069] In some embodiments, packet dropping can occur without an explicit drop instruction. In other words, the terminal device 110-1 and the network device 120 can independently determine whether to drop the data packets of the first set of data packets. In this manner, the implicit packet dropping scheme can save signaling overhead. For example, the terminal device 110-1 and the network device 120 can determine whether to drop packets based on a pre-configured drop rule. For example, if the terminal device 110-1 determines that sufficient UL resources have not been scheduled or configured to successfully transmit the remaining packets before the end of the delay budget, the terminal device 110-1 may decide to drop the remaining packets (i.e., flush the buffer). If the network device 120 determines that the scheduler cannot allocate sufficient resources to the terminal device 110-1 to successfully transmit the remaining packets before the end of the delay budget, the network device 120 does not allocate UL resources to the UE for the remaining data packets. Therefore, there is no explicit drop instruction sent by the gNB or the UE.

[0070] 11 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary method 1100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 1100 may be implemented in any suitable device. For illustrative purposes only, the method 1100 may be implemented in the terminal device 110-1 shown in FIG. 1.

[0071] In block 1110, the terminal device 110-1 determines a first set of data packets to be transmitted to the network device 120. The first set of data packets may belong to an XR traffic burst or an ADU. The first set of data packets may include any suitable number of data packets. The terminal device 110-1 may receive the first set of data packets from a higher layer, such as a MAC layer. In some embodiments, the data packets may be ADUs. Alternatively, the data packets may be Internet Protocol (IP) packets. The data packets may be Radio Link Control (RLC) protocol data units. Alternatively, the data packets may be RLC service data units (SDUs). In other embodiments, the data packets may be MAC PDUs or MAC SDUs. The data packets may also be transport blocks (TBs). The data packets may also be code block groups (CBGs). In some embodiments, the data packets may be scheduling units.

[0072] In block 1120, the terminal device 110-1 transmits to the network device 120 information indicating a first buffer status report (BSR) for the first set of data packets and a first delay budget associated with the first BSR. The first BSR may indicate a data amount for the first set of data packets. The information also indicates a first delay budget associated with the first BSR. The first delay budget may be a remaining delay budget for the first set of data packets. The remaining delay budget for the first set of data packets may be a period from a time the information is transmitted to the latest time the first set of data packets is expected to be successfully transmitted. The information may be transmitted on a MAC CE. The time the information is transmitted is a time of the first symbol or the last symbol of a transmission containing the information. The first set of data packets may also be transmitted on a logical channel.

[0073] In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may determine a second set of data packets to be transmitted to the network device. In this case, terminal device 110-1 may transmit information further indicating a second BSR for the second set of data packets and a second delay budget associated with the second BSR. The second delay budget may be a remaining delay budget for the second set of data packets. The remaining delay budget for the second set of data packets may be a period from the time the information is transmitted to the latest time the second set of data packets is expected to be successfully transmitted.

[0074] In some embodiments, the information may indicate a first identity of a first BSR or a first delay budget. Alternatively, or additionally, the information may indicate a second identity of a second BSR or a second delay budget.

[0075] In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may receive from network device 120 a first indication to transmit a first delay budget.

[0076] In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may transmit a second indication to network device 120 regarding whether it can drop at least a portion of the first set of data packets associated with the first BSR or the first delay budget. In some embodiments, the second indication may indicate that it can drop at least a portion of the first set of data packets. In this case, network device 120 may drop at least a portion of the first set of data packets. Alternatively, the second indication may indicate that it cannot drop at least a portion of the first set of data packets. In this case, network device 120 needs to transmit the remaining data packets of the first set of data packets even though it cannot transmit the remaining data packets before the end of the first delay budget. In some embodiments, the information includes an identity of a logical channel group or an identity of a logical channel.

[0077] In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may receive a drop indication associated with a first BSR or a first delay budget from network device 120. In this case, terminal device 110-1 may flush a buffer associated with the first BSR or the first delay budget based on the drop indication.

[0078] In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may transmit a third BSR to network device 120, the third BSR being associated with at least one data packet in the first set of data packets.

[0079] 12 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary method 1200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 1200 may be implemented in any suitable device. For illustrative purposes only, the method 1200 may be implemented in the network device 120 shown in FIG. 1.

[0080] At block 1210, network device 120 receives information from terminal device 110-1 indicating a first buffer status report (BSR) for a first set of data packets and a first delay budget associated with the first BSR. The first set of data packets are to be transmitted by the terminal device. In some embodiments, network device 120 may further receive information indicating a second BSR for a second set of data packets and a second delay budget associated with the second BSR, where the second set of data packets are to be transmitted by the terminal device. In this case, network device 120 may determine a first identity of the first BSR or first delay budget and a second identity of the second BSR or second delay budget based on the information.

[0081] In some embodiments, network device 120 may transmit a first indication to terminal device 110-1 to transmit the first delay budget. In some embodiments, network device 120 may receive a second indication regarding whether it can drop at least a portion of a first set of data packets associated with the first BSR or the first delay budget. In some embodiments, the second indication may indicate that it can drop at least a portion of the first set of data packets. In this case, network device 120 may drop at least a portion of the first set of data packets. Alternatively, the second indication may indicate that it cannot drop at least a portion of the first set of data packets. In this case, network device 120 needs to transmit the remaining data packets of the first set of data packets even though it cannot transmit the remaining data packets before the end of the first delay budget.

[0082] In some embodiments, the information includes a logical channel group identity or a logical channel identity.

[0083] In some embodiments, network device 120 may determine whether to drop at least a portion of the first set of data packets based on a first delay budget, in which case, if at least a portion of the first set of data packets is to be dropped, network device 120 may send a drop indication associated with the first BSR or the first delay budget to terminal device 110-1.

[0084] In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine whether to drop at least some of the first set of data packets based on one of: whether at least some of the first set of data packets can be transmitted within a first delay budget; or an indication from a higher layer.

[0085] In some embodiments, the network device 120 may determine the first delay budget based on the information, or may determine the first delay budget based on an uplink Quality of Service (QoS) parameter.

[0086] 13 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary method 1300 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 1300 may be implemented in any suitable device. For illustrative purposes only, the method 1300 may be implemented in the terminal device 110-1 shown in FIG. 1.

[0087] In block 1310, end device 110-1 determines a first set of data packets to be transmitted to the network device.

[0088] In block 1320, terminal device 110-1 determines whether any of the first set of data packets needs to be dropped based on the delay budget for the first set of data packets or higher layer instructions.

[0089] If a portion of the first set of data packets needs to be dropped, terminal device 110-1 causes the portion of the first set of data packets to be dropped, in block 1330. In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may determine a delay budget based on the arrival times of the first set of data packets and the QoS parameters.

[0090] In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may determine that a portion of the first set of data packets is to be dropped if the portion of the first set of data packets cannot be transmitted before a certain time point, where the time point is determined based on a delay budget. In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may determine that a portion of the first set of data packets is to be dropped if at least one hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback or at least one new data indicator (NDI) associated with at least one data packet in the portion of the first set of data packets cannot be received before a certain time point, where the time point is determined based on a delay budget.

[0091] In some embodiments, if at least one retransmission of at least one data packet in the portion of the first set of data packets cannot be transmitted before a certain point in time, terminal device 110-1 may determine that the portion of the first set of data packets is to be dropped, where the point in time is determined based on a delay budget.

[0092] In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may receive a configuration indicating a data size threshold from network device 120. In this case, terminal device 110-1 may determine whether to drop the portion of the first set of data packets based on whether the size of the portion of the first set of data packets exceeds the data size threshold.

[0093] In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may receive a configuration indicating a proportional threshold from network device 120. In this case, terminal device 110-1 may determine whether to drop a portion of the first set of data packets based on whether the portion of the first set of data packets exceeds the proportional threshold.

[0094] In some embodiments, terminal device 110-1 may transmit a BSR to network device 120 indicating the amount of data remaining in the first set of data packets after a portion of the first set of data packets has been dropped.

[0095] In some embodiments, if all remaining data packets of the first set of data packets need to be dropped, terminal device 110-1 may flush a buffer associated with the first set of data packets, and may further send a drop indication to network device 120 indicating that all remaining data packets of the first set of data packets are to be dropped.

[0096] In some embodiments, if there is an uplink transmission opportunity after the decision to drop some of the first set of data packets, terminal device 110-1 may cause the uplink transmission opportunity to be skipped.

[0097] In some embodiments, the terminal device includes circuitry configured to determine a first set of data packets to be transmitted to the network device and to transmit information to the network device indicating a first buffer status report (BSR) for the first set of data packets and a first delay budget associated with the first BSR.

[0098] In some embodiments, the terminal device includes circuitry further configured to receive, from network device 120, a first indication for transmission of the first delay budget.

[0099] In some embodiments, the terminal device includes circuitry further configured to determine a second set of data packets to be transmitted to the network device, the terminal device including circuitry configured to transmit information by transmitting information further indicating a second BSR for the second set of data packets and a second delay budget associated with the second BSR.

[0100] In some embodiments, the information indicates a first identity of a first BSR or a first delay budget and a second identity of a second BSR or a second delay budget.

[0101] In some embodiments, the terminal device includes circuitry further configured to transmit to the network device a second indication regarding whether at least a portion of the first set of data packets associated with the first BSR or the first delay budget can be dropped.

[0102] In some embodiments, the information includes a logical channel group identity or a logical channel identity.

[0103] In some embodiments, the terminal device includes circuitry further configured to receive, from the network device, a drop indication associated with the first BSR or the first delay budget, and flush a buffer associated with the first BSR or the first delay budget based on the drop indication.

[0104] In some embodiments, the terminal device includes circuitry further configured to transmit a third BSR to the network device, the third BSR being associated with at least one data packet in the first set of data packets that needs to be transmitted.

[0105] In some embodiments, the network device includes circuitry configured to receive, from a terminal device, information indicating a first buffer status report (BSR) for a first set of data packets and a first delay budget associated with the first BSR, the first set of data packets being to be transmitted by the terminal device.

[0106] In some embodiments, the network device includes circuitry further configured to transmit, to the terminal device, a first indication for transmission of the first delay budget.

[0107] In some embodiments, the network device includes circuitry configured to receive the information by receiving information further indicating a second BSR for a second set of data packets and a second delay budget associated with the second BSR, the second set of data packets being to be transmitted by the terminal device.

[0108] In some embodiments, the network device includes circuitry configured to determine, based on the information, a first identity of a first BSR or a first delay budget and a second identity of a second BSR or a second delay budget.

[0109] In some embodiments, the network device includes circuitry configured to receive a second indication regarding whether at least a portion of the first set of data packets associated with the first BSR or the first delay budget can be dropped.

[0110] In some embodiments, the information includes a logical channel group identity or a logical channel identity.

[0111] In some embodiments, the network device includes circuitry configured to determine whether to drop at least a portion of the first set of data packets based on the first delay budget, and to send a drop indication associated with the first BSR or the first delay budget to the terminal device in accordance with a determination that at least a portion of the first set of data packets are to be dropped.

[0112] In some embodiments, the network device includes circuitry configured to determine whether to drop at least some of the first set of data packets by determining whether to drop at least some of the first set of data packets based on one of: whether at least some of the first set of data packets can be transmitted within a first delay budget; or an instruction from a higher layer.

[0113] In some embodiments, the network device includes circuitry configured to determine the first delay budget based on the information or to determine the first delay budget based on an uplink Quality of Service (QoS) parameter.

[0114] In some embodiments, the terminal device includes circuitry configured to: determine, in the terminal device, a first set of data packets to be transmitted to the network device; and, in accordance with determining that some of the first set of data packets need to be dropped based on a delay budget for the first set of data packets or an instruction from an upper layer, drop some of the first set of data packets.

[0115] In some embodiments, the terminal device includes circuitry further configured to determine a delay budget based on the first set of arrival times of the data packets and the QoS parameters.

[0116] In some embodiments, the terminal device includes circuitry further configured to determine whether a portion of the first set of data packets needs to be dropped based on a delay budget for the first set of data packets by determining that the portion of the first set of data packets is to be dropped in accordance with a determination that the portion of the first set of data packets cannot be transmitted before a point in time determined based on the delay budget.

[0117] In some embodiments, the terminal device includes circuitry further configured to determine whether a portion of the first set of data packets needs to be dropped based on a delay budget for the first set of data packets by determining that the portion of the first set of data packets is to be dropped in accordance with a determination that the portion of the first set of data packets cannot be transmitted before a point in time determined based on the delay budget.

[0118] In some embodiments, the terminal device includes circuitry further configured to determine whether the portion of the first set of data packets needs to be dropped based on a delay budget for the first set of data packets by determining that the portion of the first set of data packets is to be dropped in accordance with a determination that there is at least one Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback or a determination that at least one New Data Indicator (NDI) associated with at least one data packet in the portion of the first set of data packets cannot be received before a time determined based on the delay budget.

[0119] In some embodiments, the terminal device includes circuitry further configured to determine, based on a delay budget for the first set of data packets, whether the portion of the first set of data packets needs to be dropped by determining that the portion of the first set of data packets is dropped in accordance with a determination that at least one retransmission of at least one data packet in the portion of the first set of data packets cannot be transmitted before a time determined based on the delay budget.

[0120] In some embodiments, the terminal device includes circuitry further configured to receive a setting from the network device indicating a data size threshold and determine whether the portion of the first set of data packets needs to be dropped based on whether a size of the portion of the first set of data packets exceeds the data size threshold.

[0121] In some embodiments, the terminal device includes circuitry further configured to receive a setting from the network device indicating a proportional threshold and determine whether a portion of the first set of data packets needs to be dropped based on whether the portion of the first set of data packets exceeds the proportional threshold.

[0122] In some embodiments, the terminal device includes circuitry further configured to transmit a BSR to the network device indicating an amount of data remaining in the first set of data packets after a portion of the first set of data packets has been dropped.

[0123] In some embodiments, the terminal device includes circuitry further configured to, in accordance with a determination that all remaining data packets of the first set of data packets need to be dropped, flush a buffer associated with the first set of data packets and send a drop indication to the network device indicating that all remaining data packets of the first set of data packets are to be dropped.

[0124] In some embodiments, the terminal device includes circuitry further configured to skip an uplink transmission opportunity in accordance with a determination that there is an uplink transmission opportunity after the decision to drop a portion of the first set of data packets.

[0125] Figure 14 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 1400 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. Apparatus 1400 may be considered a further exemplary implementation of terminal device 110 and network device 120 shown in Figure 1. Thus, apparatus 1000 may be implemented in, or at least as part of, terminal device 110 or network device 120.

[0126] As shown, the apparatus 1400 includes a processor 1410, a memory 1420 coupled to the processor 1410, a suitable transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) 1440 coupled to the processor 1410, and a communication interface coupled to the TX / RX 1440. The memory 1420 stores at least a portion of a program 1430. The TX / RX 1440 is for bidirectional communication. The TX / RX 1440 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, although in practice, the access nodes described herein may have multiple antennas. The communication interface may represent any interface required for communication with other network elements, such as an X2 interface for bidirectional communication between eNBs, an S1 interface for communication between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) / Serving Gateway (S-GW) and an eNB, a Un interface for communication between an eNB and a Relay Node (RN), or a Uu interface for communication between an eNB and a terminal device.

[0127] The program 1430 may be considered to include program instructions that, when executed by an associated processor 1410, enable the device 1400 to operate in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, as discussed herein with reference to FIGS. 2-14. The embodiments herein may be implemented by computer software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware executable by the processor 1410 of the device 1400. The processor 1410 may be configured to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure. Additionally, the combination of the processor 1410 and the memory 1420 may constitute a processing means 1550 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0128] Memory 1420 may be of any type suitable for the local technology network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology (e.g., but not limited to, computer-readable non-transitory storage media, semiconductor-based storage devices, magnetic storage devices and systems, optical storage devices and systems, fixed and removable memory, etc.). Although only one memory 1420 is shown in device 1400, device 1400 may include multiple physically distinct memory modules. Processor 1410 may be of any type suitable for the local technology network and may include, by way of example and not limitation, 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 configuration. Device 1400 may have multiple processors, e.g., application-specific integrated circuit chips time-slaved to a clock synchronized with a master processor.

[0129] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented by hardware, while other aspects may be implemented by firmware or software that may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or illustrated by some other pictorial representation, and it will be understood that the blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented by, for example, but not limited to, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing device, or combinations thereof.

[0130] The present disclosure further provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer-readable, non-transitory storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as instructions included in program modules. The instructions execute on a target real or virtual processor device to perform, for example, the processes or methods described above with reference to any of Figures 4-10. Typically, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or split among program modules as desired. The machine-readable instructions of the program modules may be executed in local or distributed devices. In distributed devices, the program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0131] Program code for carrying out the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, and when executed by the processor or controller, the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams are performed. The program code may run entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, as a separate software package, partially on the machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0132] The above-described program code may be embodied on a machine-readable medium, which may be any tangible medium that contains or stores a program used by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine-readable medium may be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. The machine-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. Even more specific examples of machine-readable storage media include 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.

[0133] Although operations have been described in a particular order, it should not be understood that performing these operations in the particular order or sequence shown, or performing all of the operations shown, is required to achieve desired results. In some situations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, while the above discussion includes several specific implementation details, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Some features that are described in the context of individual embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

[0134] 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 by 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. A user equipment (UE), means for receiving instructions from a network device regarding discarding uplink data; means for transmitting information to the network device indicating a buffered amount of a first set of uplink data to be transmitted and a first delay budget associated with the buffered amount of the first set of uplink data; means for discarding at least a portion of the first set of uplink data based on the instruction regarding discarding the uplink data and the first delay budget. User equipment.

2. The information further includes logical channel group information; the logical channel group information, the buffer amount of the first set of uplink data, and the first delay budget are included in the information in association with each other; The user device of claim 1 .

3. the first delay budget relates to a period of time from the time the information is transmitted to the latest time the first set of uplink data is expected to be successfully transmitted. The user device of claim 1 .

4. and means for determining whether to discard a portion of the first set of uplink data or to discard all of the first set of uplink data based on the instruction regarding the discarding of the uplink data and the first delay budget. The user device of claim 1 .

5. The information is transmitted in a MAC CE. The user device of claim 1 .

6. means for receiving data size threshold information from the network device; means for discarding at least a portion of the first set of uplink data based on the instruction regarding discarding the uplink data, the buffered amount of the first set of uplink data, the threshold information, and the first delay budget. The user device of claim 1 .

7. the information further indicating a buffered amount of a second set of uplink data to be transmitted and a second delay budget associated with the buffered amount of the second set of uplink data. The user device of claim 1 .

8. the information includes a first identity of the first set of uplink data or the first delay budget, and a second identity of the second set of uplink data or the second delay budget.

8. A user device according to claim 7.

9. 1. A method performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving an instruction from the network device regarding discarding the uplink data; transmitting, to the network device, information indicating a buffered amount of a first set of uplink data to be transmitted and a first delay budget associated with the buffered amount of the first set of uplink data; discarding at least a portion of the first set of uplink data based on the instruction regarding discarding the uplink data and the first delay budget. method.

10. The information further includes logical channel group information; the logical channel group information, the buffer amount of the first set of uplink data, and the first delay budget are included in the information in association with each other; 10. The method of claim 9.

11. the first delay budget relates to a period of time from the time the information is transmitted to the latest time the first set of uplink data is expected to be successfully transmitted.

10. The method of claim 9.

12. determining whether to discard a portion of the first set of uplink data or to discard all of the first set of uplink data based on the instruction regarding discarding the uplink data and the first delay budget.

10. The method of claim 9.

13. The information is transmitted in a MAC CE.

10. The method of claim 9.

14. receiving data size threshold information from the network device; discarding at least a portion of the first set of uplink data based on the instruction regarding discarding the uplink data, the buffered amount of the first set of uplink data, the threshold information, and the first delay budget.

10. The method of claim 9.

15. the information further indicating a buffered amount of a second set of uplink data to be transmitted and a second delay budget associated with the buffered amount of the second set of uplink data.

10. The method of claim 9.

16. the information includes a first identity of the first set of uplink data or the first delay budget, and a second identity of the second set of uplink data or the second delay budget.

16. The method of claim 15.

17. A user equipment (UE) receiving an instruction from the network device regarding discarding the uplink data; transmitting, to the network device, information indicating a buffered amount of a first set of uplink data to be transmitted and a first delay budget associated with the buffered amount of the first set of uplink data; discarding at least a portion of the first set of uplink data based on the instruction regarding discarding the uplink data and the first delay budget. program.

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