Method and apparatus for adaptive logical channel prioritization in mobile communications

Abstract

This invention provides devices and network nodes that select adaptive logical channel prioritization (LCP) using an appropriate scheme. [Solution] In a mobile communication system, when at least one of the logical channels carries data with an associated packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) discard timer remaining time that is less than a threshold, the device selects a plurality of logical channels, each configured with a priority, for an uplink (UL) grant, applies an additional priority to at least one of the logical channels, then the device allocates the UL grant resources to one or more logical channels, each associated with a positive number of tokens, in descending order of priority determined based on the applied additional priority, and the device further executes a new transmission based on the allocation of the UL grant resources.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Cross - reference to related patent applications This disclosure is part of a non - provisional application claiming the benefit of priority of U.S. Patent Application No. 63 / 696,868, filed on September 20, 2024, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] This disclosure generally relates to mobile communications, and more specifically, to compliant logical channel prioritization (LCP) in mobile communications.

Background Art

[0003] Unless otherwise stated herein, the techniques described in this section are not prior art to the claims listed below and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

[0004] Wireless communication networks have grown exponentially over the years. Long-Term Evolution (LTE) systems offer high peak data rates, low latency, improved system capacity, and lower operating costs as a result of a simplified network architecture. Also known as fourth-generation (4G) systems, LTE systems also offer seamless integration with older wireless networks such as GSM®, CDMA, and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). In LTE systems, the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) includes multiple Evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB) that communicate with multiple mobile stations, each referred to as a User Equipment (UE). Alternatively, wireless networks may include hybrids of 2G / 3G / 4G systems. In the 3rd Generation Partner Project (3GPP®), the Next Generation Mobile Network (NGMN) Board decided that future NGMN activities will focus on defining end-to-end requirements for 5th Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) systems, 5G Advanced systems, and 6G systems.

[0005] LCP is a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer procedure responsible for selecting which data to transmit when available radio resources for uplink (UL) transmission are limited. In 3GPP® Release 18 for 5G NR, a priority-based token bucket algorithm was adopted for UL resource allocation in the LCP procedure, where each logical channel is associated with priority, prioritized bit rate (PBR), and bucket size duration (BSD). The basic idea is to satisfy the PBR for all selected logical channels in descending order of priority, based on whether there are tokens available in each logical channel's bucket. If any UL resources remain after the PBR for all selected logical channels has been satisfied, all selected logical channels are served in strict descending order of priority, regardless of the number of tokens in their buckets. Thus, the priority-based token bucket algorithm can achieve PBR-based fairness.

[0006] However, the current LCP procedure has several potential problems. For example, the priority-based token bucket algorithm does not consider the transmission requirements for delayed critical data on logical channels. When there is a positive number of tokens in the bucket (i.e., Bj>0), and there is delayed critical data on the selected logical channel, the selected logical channel may not be allocated resources to transmit that delayed critical data if it is a lower-priority logical channel, while other logical channels with higher priority and non-delayed critical data are allocated resources to transmit that non-delayed critical data. As a result, non-delayed critical data from other logical channels with higher priority occupies uplink resources, delaying the delayed critical data on the lower-priority logical channel (i.e., data with less remaining time), and failing to meet the delay requirement. In other words, the current LCP procedure may not ensure the timely transmission of delayed critical data, which is detrimental to applications or services requiring low latency communication, such as Extended Reality (XR), remote control and remote operation (e.g., remote surgery), industrial automation, and vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2X) applications.

[0007] Therefore, it is necessary to provide an appropriate scheme to address this problem. [Overview of the Initiative]

[0008] The following summary is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope in any way. That is, the following summary is provided to introduce the concepts, highlights, benefits, and features of the novel and non-obvious techniques described herein. Multiple implementation options will be discussed further in the detailed description. Therefore, the following summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor to be used to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0009] One object of this disclosure is to propose schemes, concepts, designs, systems, methods and / or apparatus related to adaptive LCP in mobile communications. The problems described above are thought to be avoided or otherwise mitigated by implementing one or more of the proposed schemes described herein.

[0010] In one embodiment, the device may include a transceiver that communicates wirelessly with a network node during operation. The device may also include a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver. During operation, the processor may perform operations including selecting a plurality of logical channels for a UL grant, where each of the plurality of logical channels is configured with a priority. The processor may also perform operations including applying an additional priority to at least one of the plurality of logical channels if at least one condition is met, where at least one of the plurality of logical channels carries data with a remaining time of an associated Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) discard timer that is less than a first threshold. The processor may further perform operations including allocating the resources of the UL grant to one or more of the plurality of logical channels in descending order of priority, determined based on the additional priority applied, where each of the plurality of logical channels is associated with a positive number of tokens. The processor may further perform operations including performing a new transmission to a network node via the transceiver based on the allocation of resources for the UL grant.

[0011] In one embodiment, a network node may include a transceiver that communicates wirelessly with a device during operation. The network node may also include a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver. The processor may, during operation, perform operations including transmitting radio resource control (RRC) signaling to the device via the transceiver, wherein the RRC signaling includes a LogicalChannelConfig information element (IE) for configuring a priority for each of a plurality of logical channels and an additional priority for at least one of the plurality of logical channels. The processor may further perform operations including receiving new transmissions from the device via the transceiver based on the allocation of UL grant resources, wherein the UL grant resources are allocated to one or more of the plurality of logical channels in descending order of priority determined based on the additional priority applied, and each of the plurality of logical channels is associated with a positive number of tokens.

[0012] While the descriptions provided herein may be in the context of specific radio access technologies, it should be noted that the proposed concepts, schemes, and any variations / derivatives thereof, including Long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, LTE-Advanced Pro, 5G, New Radio (NR), Internet of Things (IoT), and Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), 5G (B5G) and beyond, and 6G, as well as network and network topologies, may be implemented in, for, and by other types of radio access technologies, networks, and network topologies. Therefore, the scope of this disclosure is not limited to the examples described herein. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0013] The accompanying drawings are included, incorporated into, and constitute part of this disclosure to provide a further understanding of this disclosure. The drawings serve to illustrate the principles of this disclosure, along with the descriptions of the implementation. It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale, because some components may be shown in proportions different from their actual implementation size in order to clearly illustrate the concepts of this disclosure.

[0014] [Figure 1] This diagram illustrates an exemplary scenario of a priority-based token bucket algorithm for UL resource allocation in the LCP procedure under the current 5G NR framework.

[0015] [Figure 2] This diagram illustrates exemplary scenarios of communication environments in which the various solutions and schemes described in this disclosure can be implemented.

[0016] [Figure 3] This diagram illustrates an exemplary scenario of a compliant LCP procedure implemented according to this disclosure.

[0017] [Figure 4] This diagram illustrates an exemplary scenario of UL resource allocation in a compliant LCP procedure as implemented in this disclosure.

[0018] [Figure 5] This is a block diagram of an exemplary communication system implemented in this disclosure.

[0019] [Figure 6] This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process based on the implementation of this disclosure.

[0020] [Figure 7] This is a flowchart of another exemplary process implemented in this disclosure. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0021] Detailed embodiments and implementations of the claimed subject matter are disclosed herein. However, it should be understood that the disclosed embodiments and implementations are merely exemplary of the claimed subject matter, which may be embodied in various forms. However, the present disclosure should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments and implementations described herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments and implementations are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. In the following description, details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the presented embodiments and implementations. Overview

[0022] Implementations in accordance with the present disclosure relate to various techniques, methods, schemes, and / or solutions related to compliant LCP in mobile communications. According to the present disclosure, a plurality of possible solutions may be implemented separately or jointly. That is, these possible solutions may be described separately below, but two or more of these possible solutions may be implemented in one combination or another combination.

[0023] In the LCP procedure based on the current 5G NR framework, each logical channel is associated with a priority, PBR, and BSD, where the number of tokens in the bucket of each logical channel (denoted as Bj) is initialized to zero when the logical channel is established. Next, for each logical channel, the MAC entity increments Bj by the product PBR×T only before each instance of the LCP procedure, where T is the time elapsed since Bj was last incremented. If the value of Bj is greater than the bucket size (i.e., PBR×BSD), Bj is set to the bucket size. FIG. 1 shows an exemplary scenario 100 of a priority-based token bucket algorithm for UL resource allocation in the LCP procedure based on the current 5G NR framework. As shown in FIG. 1, each logical channel is configured with a priority, and a lower priority value indicates a higher priority (i.e., the priority with value = 0 is the highest and the priority with value = 3 is the lowest). After selecting a logical channel for a UL grant, resources are allocated to all selected logical channels with Bj>0 in descending order of priority, satisfying the PBR for all selected logical channels. After resource allocation, Bj of each logical channel is decremented by the total size of the MAC SDUs served to logical channel j. Next, if any UL resources remain, all selected logical channels are served in strict descending order of priority (regardless of the value of Bj) until either the data or the UL grant for that logical channel is depleted first. In the present disclosure, it should be noted that the selection of logical channels in the LCP procedure is performed according to the rules defined in the 3GPP (registered trademark) standards, and a detailed description thereof is omitted here for the sake of brevity.

[0024] The priority-based token bucket algorithm employed in the LCP procedure can achieve PBR-based fairness, but it does not consider the transmission requirements for delayed critical data in logical channels. In a case where there is a positive number of tokens in a bucket and delayed critical data exists in a low-priority logical channel, if other logical channels with higher priority exist, even if these higher-priority channels contain only non-delayed critical data, the low-priority logical channel may not be allocated resources to transmit the delayed critical data. As a result, the current LCP procedure may not guarantee the timely transmission of delayed critical data.

[0025] In view of the foregoing, this disclosure proposes several schemes relating to adaptive LCP in mobile communications. According to the schemes of this disclosure, new logical channel (LCH) parameters may be introduced to make the LCP procedure more adaptable to meet data delay requirements with limited remaining time. Specifically, the new LCH parameters may include multiple logical channel priorities configured for a single logical channel (other than allowedPHY-PriorityIndex as defined in LogicalChannelConfig IE). For example, each logical channel may be configured with a priority used as the default priority in the LCP procedure, while some logical channels may be configured with an additional priority that is applied instead of the default priority in the LCP procedure when certain conditions are met. In particular, the additional priority is higher than the default priority (e.g., the additional priority is the highest priority), so that when the additional priority is applied, the corresponding logical channel (e.g., a logical channel with delay-critical data) may be moved up in the priority of all logical channels during UL resource allocation in the LCP procedure. Furthermore, the new LCH parameters may also include a specific threshold (e.g., called priorityAdjustmentThreshold) used to determine whether an additional priority or default priority is used for the LCP procedure. Thus, by applying the scheme of this disclosure, logical channels with data having a tight remaining time on the PDCP discard timer are preferred for UL resource allocation, thereby enabling the meeting of latency requirements for applications / services requiring low-latency communication.

[0026] Figure 2 shows an exemplary scenario 200 of a communication environment in which various solutions and schemes provided in this disclosure may be implemented. Scenario 200 involves a UE 210 that wirelessly communicates with a network 220 (e.g., a wireless network including a non-terrestrial network (NTN) and TN) via at least a terrestrial network node 222 (e.g., a base station (BS) such as an eNB, gNB, or transmission / receiving point (TRP)) and / or at least a non-terrestrial network node 224 (e.g., a satellite). For example, the terrestrial network node 222 may form a TN serving cell for wireless communication with the UE 210, or the terrestrial network node 222 and the non-terrestrial network node 224 may form an NTN serving cell for wireless communication with the UE 210. In some implementations, the network 220 may be a 4G / 5G / B5G / 6G network, and the UE 210 may be a smartphone, tablet computer, laptop computer, or notebook computer. Alternatively, network 220 may be an IoT / NB-IoT / IIoT network, and UE 210 may be an IoT device such as an NB-IoT UE or an enhanced machine-type communications (eMTC) UE (e.g., a bandwidth-reduced low complexity (BL) UE or coverage-enhanced (CE) UE). In such a communication environment, UE 210, network 220, terrestrial network node 222 and / or non-terrestrial network node 224 may implement various schemes related to the adaptive LCP in mobile communications according to this disclosure, as described below. While various proposed schemes may be described below individually or separately, it should be noted that in actual implementations, some or all of the proposed schemes may be used, or otherwise implemented jointly. Naturally, each of the proposed schemes may be used, or otherwise implemented individually or separately.

[0027] Figure 3 shows an exemplary scenario 300 of a compliant LCP procedure according to an implementation of the present disclosure. In step 302, the UE receives radio resource control (RRC) signaling from the BS. Specifically, the RRC signaling includes configuring logical channels for the UE. The configuration may be contained in the LogicalChannelConfig IE in the RRC signaling. The LogicalChannelConfig IE may include legacy LCH parameters for each logical channel, such as default priority (e.g., priority 1), PBR, and BSD, where default priority, PBR, and BSD may be used for UL resource allocation. Specifically, data for a logical channel is associated with a discard timer (e.g., PDCP discardTimer), and the data is considered delay-critical data if the remaining time of the discard timer is less than the remainingTimeThreshold (i.e., a threshold for the remaining time to trigger a delay status report (DSR) for the corresponding logical channel in a logical channel group (LCG), which may be configured in the MAC-CellGroupConfig IE). If data is not sent before the discard timer expires, the data is discarded. Furthermore, LogicalChannelConfig IE may include new LCH parameters such as additional priorities (for example, called additionalPriority and set to a value such as priority 2) and specific thresholds (independent thresholds for each LCH, which may be called priorityAdjustmentThreshold), which are used to adjust the priority of logical channels for UL resource allocation.For example, the UE may first configure priority 1 as the logical channel priority for logical channel k by default, and then configure priority 2 as the logical channel priority for logical channel k when at least one of the following conditions is met: (i) logical channel k has or carries delayed critical data; (ii) logical channel k has or carries delayed critical data and the number of tokens in logical channel k (i.e., Bk) is not greater than or less than a threshold (e.g., called the token threshold); (iii) the remaining time for delayed critical data in logical channel k is not less than or greater than a certain threshold (e.g., called the priorityAdjustmentThreshold); (iv) the network instructs / configures the UE to configure priority 2 as the logical channel priority for logical channel k (e.g., via the same or a different RRC signaling).

[0028] Next, in step 304, as will be described in detail in the following embodiments, the UE performs an adaptive LCP procedure using new LCH parameters for preferred handling of logical channels with data having a tight remaining time on the PDCP discard timer. Specifically, the adaptive LCP procedure includes a process of UL resource allocation for new transmissions with UL grants (e.g., configured grants received via the same or different RRC signaling, or dynamic grants received via Downlink Control Information (DCI)), the UL resource allocation is handled with an order of logical channel priorities adjusted based on additional priorities and a specific threshold (e.g., called priorityAdjustmentThreshold). In step 306, the UE multiplexes MAC service data units (SDUs) that service the logical channels in MAC protocol data units (PDUs). Next, in step 308, the MAC PDUs are transmitted to the physical layer (or Layer-1 (L1)) through the transport channel for new transmissions to the BS based on the UL grants.

[0029] More specifically, the UL resource allocation process may involve two rounds of resource allocation. First, when a new transmission is performed, the MAC entity in the UE may consider a PDCP SDU associated with a logical channel to be priority-adjustable if the logical channel is configured with a priorityAdjustmentThreshold and the PDCP SDU has a remaining PDU set time (i.e., remaining time of the associated PDCP discard timer) that is less than the priorityAdjustmentThreshold. In the first round of resource allocation, the MAC entity in the UE may allocate resources to a logical channel as follows: Of all the data available for this transmission, if a logical channel has a priority-adjustable PDCP SDU at the time of the first symbol of this transmission, the MAC entity applies an additional priority to this logical channel. Subsequently, logical channels selected for UL grants where Bj > 0 (Bj is maintained for each logical channel j) are allocated resources in descending order of priority (determined based on the additional priority applied). If the PBR of a logical channel is set infinitely, the MAC entity may allocate resources for all data available for transmission on the logical channel before satisfying the PBR of a lower-priority logical channel. The MAC entity may then decrement Bj by the total size of the MAC SDUs served on the logical channel j above.

[0030] If any resources remain after the first round of resource allocation, the process may proceed to a second round of resource allocation. Specifically, in the second round of resource allocation, the MAC entity may apply the default priority to a logical channel if the logical channel had additional priority applied in the first round of resource allocation and does not have any remaining priority-adjustable PDCP SDUs (i.e., this logical channel no longer has / carries delayed critical data). Subsequently, all logical channels selected for a UL grant are served in strict descending priority order (regardless of the Bj value) until either the data for that logical channel or the UL grant is exhausted first. For the second round of resource allocation, logical channels to which equal priority has been applied should be served equally.

[0031] In some implementations, when a new transmission is performed, the MAC entity in the UE may first check whether the logical channel is configured with priorityAdjustmentThreshold and whether it has available PDCP SDUs for this transmission. If the first check is positive, the MAC entity may then check whether the PDCP entity associated with this logical channel is configured with pdu-SetDiscard (i.e., a parameter indicating PDU set-based discarding), or whether the remaining PDU set time of the PDCP SDU evaluated at the time of the first symbol of this transmission (i.e., the shortest remaining time until discardTimer expiration among the remaining times of all PDCP SDUs belonging to the same PDU set) is less than priorityAdjustmentThreshold. Additionally or optionally, if the first check is positive, the MAC entity may then check whether the PDCP entity associated with this logical channel is not configured with pdu-SetDiscard and whether the remaining discardTimer time of the PDCP SDU evaluated at the time of the first symbol of this transmission is less than priorityAdjustmentThreshold. If either of the results of the second check is true, the MAC entity may consider this PDCP SDU to be priority adjustable. Later, in the UL resource allocation process, the MAC entity in the UE may check whether a logical channel has a priority adjustable PDCP SDU, and if so, may apply additionalPriority to this logical channel.

[0032] In some implementations, additional priorities may apply to all data in the corresponding logical channel (e.g., logical channel k).

[0033] In some implementations, additional priority may apply only to delayed critical data in the corresponding logical channel (e.g., logical channel k).

[0034] In some implementations, additional priority can be higher than the default priority (i.e., the numerical value of the additional priority is less than or not greater than the numerical value of the default priority).

[0035] In some implementations, the token threshold can be configured in LogicalChannelConfig IE or another RRC signaling method.

[0036] In some implementations, a specific threshold (e.g., called priorityAdjustmentThreshold) may be configured in LogicalChannelConfig IE or another RRC signaling.

[0037] In some implementations, the network may instruct / configure the UE to configure priority 2 as the logical channel priority for logical channel k after the network receives a delayed status report (DSR) from the UE.

[0038] Figure 4 illustrates an exemplary scenario 400 of UL resource allocation in a compliant LCP procedure according to the implementation of this disclosure. As shown in Figure 4, each logical channel is configured with a (default) priority, for example, a priority of value = 0 is the highest priority, and a priority of value = 3 is the lowest priority, where a logical channel with priority = 3 has buffered delay-critical data within it. Specifically, when the (smallest) remaining time of the running PDCP discardTimer among all buffered PDCP SDUs for the logical channel is smaller than a newly introduced threshold (e.g., priorityAdjustmentThreshold), the logical channel with priority = 3 is then assigned an additional priority = 1, which replaces / overrides the default priority = 3. That is, the additional priority moves the logical channel up in priority, and as long as the logical channel has the additional priority applied and has a positive number of tokens (i.e., Bj > 0), the UE may allocate resources to the logical channel with delay-critical data. Example Implementation

[0039] Figure 5 shows an exemplary communication system 500 having an exemplary communication device 510 and an exemplary network device 520, as an implementation of the present disclosure. Each of the communication device 510 and the network device 520 can perform various functions to implement the schemes, techniques, processes and methods described herein in relation to adaptive LCP in mobile communications, including the scenarios / schemes described above and processes 600 and 700 described below.

[0040] The communication device 510 may be part of an electronic device that may be a dual-steer device including one or more UEs, such as a portable or mobile device, a wearable device, a wireless communication device, or a computing device. For example, the communication device 510 may be implemented in a smartphone, a smartwatch, a personal digital assistant, an electronic control unit (ECU) in a vehicle, a digital camera, or a computing device such as a tablet computer, laptop computer, or notebook computer. The communication device 510 may also be part of a machine-type device that may be an IoT, NB-IoT, eMTC, or IIoT UE, such as a fixed or stationary device, a home device, a roadside unit (RSU), a wired communication device, or a computing device. For example, the communication device 510 may be implemented in a smart thermostat, a smart refrigerator, a smart door lock, a wireless speaker, or a home control center. Alternatively, the communication device 510 may be implemented in the form of one or more integrated circuit (IC) chips, such as, for example, one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, one or more reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors, or one or more composite instruction set computing (CISC) processors. The communication device 510 may include, for example, a processor 512, and at least some of those components shown in Figure 5. The communication device 510 may further include one or more other components not relevant to the proposed scheme of this disclosure (e.g., an internal power supply, a display device, and / or a user interface device), and such components of the communication device 510 are therefore not shown in Figure 5 and not described below for simplicity and brevity.

[0041] The network device 520 may be part of an electronic device that can be a network node such as a satellite, BS, small cell, router, or gateway in a 4G / 5G / B5G / 6G, NR, IoT, NB-IoT, or IIoT network. Alternatively, the network device 520 may be implemented in the form of one or more IC chips, such as one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, or one or more RISC or CISC processors, for example, but not limited to these. The network device 520 may include at least some of those components shown in Figure 5, such as a processor 522. The network device 520 may further include one or more other components not relevant to the proposed scheme of this disclosure (e.g., an internal power supply, a display device, and / or a user interface device), and such components of the network device 520 are therefore not shown in Figure 5 and not described below for simplicity and brevity.

[0042] In one embodiment, each of processors 512 and 522 may be implemented as one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, or one or more CISC processors. That is, although the singular form “processor” is used herein to refer to processors 512 and 522, each of processors 512 and 522 may include multiple processors in some implementations of this disclosure and a single processor in other implementations. In another embodiment, each of processors 512 and 522 may be implemented as hardware (and optionally, firmware) with electronic components including, for example, one or more transistors, one or more diodes, one or more capacitors, one or more resistors, one or more inductors, one or more memristors, and / or one or more varactors, configured and arranged to serve a particular purpose of this disclosure. In other words, in at least some implementations, each of processors 512 and 522 is an application-specific machine specifically designed, deployed, and configured to perform specific tasks in devices (represented, for example, by communication device 510) and network nodes (represented, for example, by network device 520) according to various implementations of the present disclosure.

[0043] In some implementations, the communication device 510 may also include a transceiver 516 coupled to the processor 512 and capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data. In some implementations, the transceiver 516 may be capable of wirelessly communicating with different types of UEs and / or wireless networks of different RATs. In some implementations, the transceiver 516 may be equipped with multiple antenna ports (not shown), such as four antenna ports. That is, the transceiver 516 may be equipped with multiple transmitting antennas and multiple receiving antennas for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communication. In some implementations, the network device 520 may also include a transceiver 526 coupled to the processor 522. The transceiver 526 may include a transceiver capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data. In some implementations, the transceiver 526 may be capable of wirelessly communicating with different types of UEs of different RATs. In some implementations, the transceiver 526 may be equipped with multiple antenna ports (not shown), such as four antenna ports. That is, the transceiver 526 may be equipped with multiple transmitting antennas and multiple receiving antennas for MIMO wireless communication.

[0044] In some implementations, the communication device 510 may further include a memory 514 coupled to a processor 512 and accessible by the processor 512, in which data can be stored. In some implementations, the network device 520 may further include a memory 524 coupled to a processor 522 and accessible by the processor 522, in which data can be stored. Each of the memories 514 and 524 may include a certain type of random access memory (RAM), such as dynamic RAM (DRAM), static RAM (SRAM), thyristor RAM (T-RAM), and / or zero-capacitor RAM (Z-RAM). Alternatively or additionally, each of the memories 514 and 524 may include a certain type of read-only memory (ROM), such as a mask ROM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), and / or electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM). Alternatively, or additionally, each of memory 514 and memory 524 may include certain types of non-volatile random-access memory (NVRAM), such as flash memory, solid-state memory, ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM), magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM), and / or phase-change memory.

[0045] Each of the communication device 510 and the network device 520 may be a communication entity capable of communicating with each other using the various schemes proposed in this disclosure. For illustrative purposes, without limitation, a description of the capabilities of the communication device 510 as an UE and the network device 520 (e.g., BS) as a network node is provided below with respect to processes 600 and 700. Exemplary process

[0046] Figure 6 shows an exemplary process 600 according to an implementation of the present disclosure. Process 600 may be a partial or complete exemplary implementation of the above scenario / scheme relating to adaptive LCP in mobile communications. Process 600 may represent an embodiment of the implementation of features of the communication device 510. Process 600 may include one or more operations, actions or functions as indicated by one or more of blocks 610 to 640. The various blocks of process 600 are shown as separate blocks, but may be divided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or deleted depending on the desired implementation. Furthermore, the blocks of process 600 may be executed in the order shown in Figure 6, or alternatively, in a different order. Process 600 may be implemented by or in the communication device 510 or any suitable UE or machine type device. For illustrative purposes only and without limitation of scope, process 600 is described below in the context of the communication device 510 as a UE and the network device 520 as a network node (e.g., a BS such as a gNB). Process 600 may start in block 610.

[0047] In block 610, process 600 may involve the processor 512 of the communication device 510 selecting multiple logical channels for the UL grant. Process 600 may proceed from block 610 to block 620.

[0048] In block 620, process 600 may involve processor 512 applying an additional priority to at least one of a plurality of logical channels if at least one condition is met, the first of which is that at least one of the plurality of logical channels carries data with an associated PDCP discard timer remaining time smaller than a first threshold (e.g., called priorityAdjustmentThreshold). Process 600 may proceed from block 620 to block 630.

[0049] In block 630, process 600 may involve processor 512 allocating UL grant resources to one or more logical channels in descending order of priority, determined based on additional priorities applied, where each of the logical channels is associated with a positive number of tokens. Process 600 may then proceed from block 630 to block 640.

[0050] In block 640, process 600 may involve processor 512 performing a new transmission to network device 520 via transceiver 516 based on the allocation of UL grant resources.

[0051] In some implementations, process 600 may further involve processor 512 applying a priority as the default priority for each of the multiple logical channels, with the exception of at least one of the multiple logical channels to which an additional priority has been applied.

[0052] In some implementations, priority, additional priority, and first threshold may be configured in the LogicalChannelConfig IE of the RRC signaling received from network device 520.

[0053] In some implementations, if at least one condition is met, additional priority may be applied to all data in at least one of multiple logical channels.

[0054] In some implementations, additional priority may be higher than the primary priority.

[0055] In some implementations, the first condition may further specify that the data is a PDCP SDU, and that a PDCP entity associated with at least one of multiple logical channels does not consist of a parameter indicating PDU set-based discard (e.g., pdu-SetDiscard).

[0056] In some implementations, at least one condition may further include a second condition that at least one of the multiple logical channels carries a PDCP SDU with a remaining PDU set time less than a first threshold.

[0057] In some implementations, the remaining time for a PDU set is the shortest remaining time until the expiration of the associated PDCP discard timer among the remaining times of all PDCP SDUs belonging to the same PDU set as the PDCP SDU.

[0058] In some implementations, the second condition may further specify that a PDCP entity associated with at least one of several logical channels consists of a parameter indicating PDU set-based discard (e.g., pdu-SetDiscard).

[0059] In some implementations, the first condition may further stipulate that the remaining time of an associated PDCP discard timer, which is smaller than the first threshold, is evaluated to the time of the first symbol of a new transmission.

[0060] In some implementations, the second condition may further stipulate that the remaining PDU set time of a PDCP SDU smaller than the first threshold is evaluated to the time of the first symbol of a new transmission.

[0061] In some implementations, process 600 may further involve processor 51 applying priority to at least one of the logical channels and allocating the remaining resources of the UL grant to the logical channels in strict descending order of priority if there are remaining resources for the UL grant after the allocation of UL grant resources, and at least one of the multiple logical channels no longer carries data with an associated PDCP discard timer remaining time or PDU set remaining time less than the first threshold.

[0062] Figure 7 shows an exemplary process 700 according to an implementation of the present disclosure. Process 700 may be a partial or complete exemplary implementation of the above scenario / scheme relating to adaptive LCP in mobile communications. Process 700 may represent an embodiment of the implementation of features of network device 520. Process 700 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions represented by one or more of blocks 710 to 720. The various blocks of process 700 are shown as separate blocks, but may be divided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or deleted depending on the desired implementation. Furthermore, the blocks of process 700 may be executed in the order shown in Figure 7, or alternatively, in a different order. Process 700 may be implemented by or in network device 520 and any variation thereof. For illustrative purposes only and without limitation of scope, process 700 is described below in the context of communication device 510 as UE and network device 520 as network node (e.g., BS such as gNB). Process 700 may start in block 710.

[0063] In block 710, process 700 may involve the processor 522 of network device 520 transmitting RRC signaling to communication device 510 via transceiver 526, where RRC signaling includes LogicalChannelConfig information elements (IE) for configuring a priority for each of the multiple logical channels and an additional priority for at least one of the multiple logical channels. Process 700 may proceed from block 710 to block 720.

[0064] In block 720, process 700 may involve processor 522 receiving a new transmission from communication device 510 via transceiver 526 based on the allocation of UL grant resources, where UL grant resources are allocated to one or more of a plurality of logical channels in descending order of priority determined based on applicable additional priorities, and each of the plurality of logical channels is associated with a positive number of tokens.

[0065] In some implementations, descending priority may be determined based on the priority applied as the default priority for each of the multiple logical channels, with the exception of at least one of the multiple logical channels to which additional priority has been applied.

[0066] In some implementations, additional priority may be applied if at least one condition is met, the first of which is that at least one of several logical channels carries data with an associated PDCP discard timer remaining time that is less than a first threshold (e.g., called priorityAdjustmentThreshold) configured in LogicalChannelConfig IE.

[0067] In some implementations, if at least one condition is met, additional priority may be applied to all data in at least one of multiple logical channels.

[0068] In some implementations, additional priority may be higher than the primary priority.

[0069] In some implementations, the first condition may further specify that the data is a PDCP SDU, and that a PDCP entity associated with at least one of multiple logical channels does not consist of a parameter indicating PDU set-based discard (e.g., pdu-SetDiscard).

[0070] In some implementations, at least one condition may further include a second condition that at least one of the multiple logical channels carries a PDCP SDU with a remaining PDU set time less than a first threshold.

[0071] In some implementations, the remaining time for a PDU set may be the shortest remaining time until the expiration of the associated PDCP discard timer among the remaining times for all PDCP SDUs belonging to the same PDU set as the PDCP SDU.

[0072] In some implementations, the second condition may further specify that a PDCP entity associated with at least one of several logical channels consists of a parameter indicating PDU set-based discard (e.g., pdu-SetDiscard).

[0073] In some implementations, the first condition may further stipulate that the remaining time of an associated PDCP discard timer, which is smaller than the first threshold, is evaluated to the time of the first symbol of a new transmission.

[0074] In some implementations, the second condition may further stipulate that the remaining PDU set time of a PDCP SDU smaller than the first threshold is evaluated to the time of the first symbol of a new transmission.

[0075] In some implementations, if there are remaining resources for a UL grant after the allocation of UL grant resources, and at least one of the multiple logical channels no longer carries data with an associated PDCP discard timer remaining time or a PDU set remaining time less than the first threshold, then priority may be applied to at least one of the multiple logical channels, and the remaining resources for the UL grant may be allocated to the multiple logical channels in descending order of strict priority.

[0076] In view of the embodiments described above, it should be noted that by applying the scheme of this disclosure, UL resource allocation in the LCP procedure is enhanced with new LCH parameters such as additional priorities and specific thresholds (e.g., called priorityAdjustmentThreshold), thereby ensuring that logical channels carrying data with remaining time on associated PDCP discard timers smaller than a specific threshold are given priority for UL resource allocation, thereby enabling latency requirements to be met for applications / services requiring low-latency communication. Thus, a compatible LCP procedure can provide efficient and effective support for scheduling to achieve high system capacity for low-latency services such as XR services. postscript

[0077] From the foregoing, it will be understood that various implementations of the Disclosure are described herein for illustrative purposes only and can be modified in various ways without departing from the scope and spirit of the Disclosure. Accordingly, the various implementations disclosed herein are not intended to limit the true scope and spirit set forth by the following claims.

Claims

1. A transceiver that communicates wirelessly with a network node during operation; and A processor is communicatively coupled to the transceiver, so that the processor operates as follows: A procedure for selecting multiple logical channels for an uplink (UL) grant, where each of the multiple logical channels is configured with a priority; A procedure to apply an additional priority to at least one of the plurality of logical channels if at least one condition is met, wherein the at least one condition is that the at least one of the plurality of logical channels carries data with a remaining time of an associated packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) discard timer that is less than a first threshold; A procedure for allocating the UL grant resources to one or more of the plurality of logical channels in descending order of priority determined based on the applicable additional priority, wherein each of the plurality of logical channels is associated with a positive number of tokens; and A procedure for performing a new transmission to the network node via the transceiver, based on the allocation of the UL grant resources. Perform an action that includes A device equipped with the following features.

2. During operation, the processor further: A procedure for applying the priority as the default priority to each of the plurality of logical channels, with the exception of at least one of the plurality of logical channels to which the additional priority is applied. The apparatus according to claim 1, which performs an operation including the following.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the priority, the additional priority, and the first threshold are configured in the LogicalChannelConfig information element (IE) of the radio resource control (RRC) signaling received from the network node.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the additional priority is applied to all data in at least one of the plurality of logical channels if at least one of the conditions is met.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the aforementioned additional priority is higher than the aforementioned priority.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first condition further specifies that the data is a PDCP service data unit (SDU), and the PDCP entity associated with at least one of the plurality of logical channels does not have a parameter configured to indicate a protocol data unit (PDU) set-based discard.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of the plurality of logical channels further includes a second condition that at least one of the plurality of logical channels carries a PDCP service data unit (SDU) with a remaining time for a protocol data unit (PDU) set smaller than the first threshold.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the remaining time for the PDU set is the shortest remaining time until the expiration of the associated PDCP discard timer among the remaining times of all PDCP SDUs belonging to the same PDU set as the PDCP SDU.

9. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the second condition further specifies that the PDCP entity associated with at least one of the plurality of logical channels is configured with a parameter indicating PDU set-based discard.

10. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the second condition further specifies that the remaining PDU set time of the PDCP SDU, which is smaller than the first threshold, is evaluated to the time of the first symbol of the new transmission.

11. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the first condition further specifies that the remaining time of the associated PDCP discard timer, which is less than the first threshold, is evaluated to the time of the first symbol of the new transmission.

12. During operation, the processor further: A procedure to apply the priority to at least one of the logical channels and allocate the remaining resources of the UL grant to the logical channels in strict descending order of priority, if there are remaining resources of the UL grant after the allocation of the resources of the UL grant, and at least one of the plurality of logical channels no longer carries data with a remaining time of the associated PDCP discard timer or a remaining time of a protocol data unit (PDU) set that is less than the first threshold. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, which performs an operation including

13. Transceivers that communicate wirelessly with the device during operation; and A processor is communicatively coupled to the transceiver, so that during operation, the processor: A procedure for transmitting radio resource control (RRC) signaling to the device via the transceiver, wherein the RRC signaling includes a LogicalChannelConfig information element (IE) for configuring a priority for each of a plurality of logical channels and an additional priority for at least one of the plurality of logical channels; and A procedure for receiving a new transmission from the device via the transceiver based on the allocation of resources for an uplink (UL) grant, wherein the resources of the UL grant are allocated to one or more of the plurality of logical channels in descending order of priority, determined based on the additional priority applied, and each of the plurality of logical channels is associated with a positive number of tokens. Perform an action that includes A network node equipped with the following features.

14. The descending order of priority is determined based on the priority applied as the default priority for each of the plurality of logical channels, with the exception of at least one of the plurality of logical channels to which the additional priority is applied, according to claim 13.

15. The network node according to claim 13, wherein the additional priority is applied if at least one condition is met, the at least one of the plurality of logical channels carries data with a remaining time of an associated packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) discard timer that is less than a first threshold configured in the LogicalChannelConfig IE.

16. The network node according to claim 15, wherein the first condition further specifies that the data is a PDCP service data unit (SDU), and the PDCP entity associated with at least one of the plurality of logical channels does not have a parameter configured to indicate a protocol data unit (PDU) set-based discard.

17. The network node according to claim 15, wherein the at least one of the plurality of logical channels further includes a second condition that at least one of the plurality of logical channels carries a PDCP service data unit (SDU) with a remaining time of protocol data unit (PDU) set smaller than the first threshold.

18. The network node according to claim 17, wherein the remaining time for the PDU set is the shortest remaining time until the expiration of the associated PDCP discard timer among the remaining times of all PDCP SDUs belonging to the same PDU set as the PDCP SDU.

19. The network node according to claim 17, wherein the second condition further specifies that the PDCP entity associated with at least one of the plurality of logical channels has a parameter configured to indicate PDU set-based discarding.

20. If, after the allocation of the UL grant's resources, there are remaining resources in the UL grant, and at least one of the plurality of logical channels no longer carries data with a remaining time of the associated PDCP discard timer or a remaining time of a protocol data unit (PDU) set that is less than the first threshold, then the priority is applied to at least one of the plurality of logical channels, and the remaining resources of the UL grant are allocated to the plurality of logical channels in descending order of strict priority. A network node according to any one of claims 15 to 19.

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