Buffer Status Reporting Overhead Estimation

Abstract

According to some embodiments, a method performed by a wireless device includes obtaining one or more configuration parameters related to a format for a Buffer Status Report (BSR). The one or more configuration parameters relate to a size of one or more Radio Link Control (RLC) headers and Medium Access Control (MAC) subheaders that are to be added to an amount of data reported by the BSR. The method further includes obtaining one or more configuration parameters related to a trigger for transmitting the BSR, detecting a BSR triggering event, and transmitting the BSR according to the obtained format.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] TECHNICAL FIELD Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications, and more particularly, to buffer status reporting (BSR) overhead estimation. [Background technology]

[0002] In general, all terms used herein should be interpreted according to the ordinary meaning of the term in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and / or implied from the context in which the term is used. All references to a / an / the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. should be openly interpreted as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless otherwise specified. The steps of the methods disclosed herein need not be performed in the strict order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step, and / or it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, whenever appropriate. Similarly, the advantages of any of the embodiments may apply to any other embodiment, and vice versa. Other objects, features, and advantages of the included embodiments will become apparent from the following description.

[0003] Some applications used in wireless networks include low-latency high-rate applications. Low-latency applications such as Extended Reality (XR) and cloud gaming require bounded latency and not necessarily ultra-low latency. The end-to-end latency budget may be in the range of 20-80 ms, which is distributed across multiple components including application processing latency, transport latency, radio link latency, etc. In these applications, short transmission time intervals (TTIs) or minislots targeting ultra-low latency may not be effective.

[0004] FIG. 1 is a graph illustrating an example of frame latency measured over a radio access network (RAN), excluding application and core network latency. As shown, frame latency spikes are present in the RAN. The latency spikes occur due to momentary shortages of radio resources or inefficient radio resource allocation in response to changing frame sizes. Sources of latency spikes may include queuing delays, time-varying radio environments, time-varying frame sizes, among others. Tools that can help eliminate latency spikes would be beneficial to enable better fifth generation (5G) support for this type of traffic.

[0005] In addition to bounded latency requirements, applications such as XR and cloud gaming also require high rate transmissions. This is due to the large frame sizes that result from this type of traffic. Typical frame sizes can range from tens of kilobytes to hundreds of kilobytes. The frame arrival rate can be 60 or 120 frames per second (fps). As a specific example, a frame size of 100 kilobytes and a frame arrival rate of 120 fps can result in a rate requirement of 95.8 Mbps. Large video frames are typically fragmented into smaller Internet Protocol (IP) packets and transmitted as multiple transport blocks (TBs) across multiple TTIs in the RAN.

[0006] Figure 2 is a graph showing an example of a cumulative distribution function of the number of transport blocks required to deliver video frames having sizes ranging from 20 KB to 300 KB. For example, Figure 2 shows that the median number of TB required to deliver frames each having a size of 100 KB is 5.

[0007] The transmission of IP data over a wireless network passes through multiple protocol layers, each of which requires the creation of a protocol-specific Packet Data Unit (PDU). A PDU typically includes a header and one or more data units. It may be the case that a PDU does not include a header. A data unit is data delivered by a higher layer. For example, a Radio Link Control (RLC) PDU.

[0008] The division of an incoming data unit (Service Data Unit, SDU) into protocol layers creates a new number of PDUs (segmentation) based on varying factors. For each PDU created from each protocol layer, there are different overhead bits that are added to the transmitted data unit. Thus, the transmission of a lower layer PDU also requires the transmission of the previously added overhead bits.

[0009] In network transmission operations, it is the network scheduler that decides when transmissions occur, both for uplink transmissions (from user equipment (UE) to the network) and downlink transmissions (from the network to the UE). In downlink scheduling, the network knows how many bits are waiting in the downlink buffer to be transmitted to the UE and can make accurate scheduling decisions (taking into account factors such as radio channel quality, latency constraints, available radio resources, etc.).

[0010] For uplink scheduling, the network does not know the contents of the uplink buffers in the UE and makes scheduling decisions based on information provided by the UE. The UE provides the information using a Buffer Status Report (BSR). The BSR contains buffer information per reported Logical Channel Group (LCG). The LCG contains one or more Logical Channel Identifiers (LCIDs). The buffer size is therefore the sum of the buffered data in each of the associated LCIDs.

[0011] Buffer estimation is a specified procedure and includes the amount of buffered data at the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, the RLC layer, and the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer for a given LCID. The buffer information included in the BSR is an index value. The index is associated with a value range and is specified in the MAC specification. For example, when the UE reports index A, it means that the buffer size in bits or bytes is between the value Xmin and the value Xmax (where Xmax>Xmin). This is illustrated in Table 1, as specified in 3GPP TS 38.321.

[0012] The network scheduler then calculates the required uplink grant based on the buffer estimate and takes into account other scheduling factors similar to downlink scheduling. After the calculation, the network sends the UE the uplink grant to use for transmission. TIFF0007660716000001.tif48170

[0013] Currently, several challenges exist. For example, XR traffic is characterized by large application PDUs, which results in the UE reporting high index values ​​that lead to rather inaccurate buffer information. For example, when the UE indicates an index value of 23, the network only knows that the buffer size for the reported LCG is within 10570 bytes and 14725 bytes. Since XR traffic has low latency requirements, the network may need to allocate the maximum number of bytes to avoid additional transmissions. The drawback is that this has a direct impact on the reduction of network capacity.

[0014] An application PDU may be transmitted in one or more IP packets. However, the network usually does not know the size of the IP packets and does not know how many IP packets are associated with one application PDU. A grant smaller than the size of an IP packet leads the RLC protocol to segment the packets. Segmentation adds an extra header.

[0015] When the RLC entity prepares RLC PDUs, they are sent to the MAC, which adds a header to each RLC PDU. According to the current MAC 38.321 v16.4.0 specification, the BSR does not include the RLC header and MAC subheader in its buffer size calculations.

[0016] Because the network does not know the size of the IP packets, the number of IP packets associated with the application PDU, and whether the IP packets are segmented by RLC, it is difficult for the network to estimate the amount of headers that need to be added to the value reported by the UE. As a result, the scheduler may not know how many bits it needs to add to the estimated UE buffer when scheduling the uplink grant. If too few bits are added and the uplink grant cannot contain both the uplink buffer data and the header bits, the UE will have to request additional resources to empty the buffer, resulting in more delays being added to the completion of the data transfer.

[0017] Some scheduler implementations may add a fixed number of header bits in network scheduling, but this has the problem of being either too large and adding extra padding and network load, or too small and causing extra delays similar to those described above. Summary of the Invention

[0018] Based on the above discussion, certain challenges currently exist with respect to buffer status reporting for low latency high rate wireless applications. Certain aspects of the present disclosure and embodiments of those aspects may provide solutions to these and other challenges.

[0019] For example, certain embodiments provide network scheduler mechanisms and methods for more accurate estimation of header bits. Some embodiments include explicit information in a Buffer Status Report (BSR) about the number of data units that a user equipment (UE) has waiting in a buffer for transmission. This may typically be, for example, a data unit at a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer or an RLC Service Data Unit (SDU) at a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer. Alternatively, the UE may provide information about the number of data units in protocol layers that belong to the same application PDU and / or have the same latency bound.

[0020] In some embodiments, a set of fields is transmitted in the BSR format that helps the network learn the number of data units waiting in the queue and their size, thus allowing the network to calculate the number of headers and overhead size that will be added in the transmission, resulting in a more accurate grant to be provided to the UE.

[0021] According to some embodiments, a method performed by a wireless device includes obtaining one or more configuration parameters related to a format for a BSR. The one or more configuration parameters relate to a size of one or more RLC headers and MAC subheaders that are added to an amount of data reported by the BSR. The method further includes obtaining one or more configuration parameters related to a trigger for transmitting a BSR, detecting a BSR triggering event, and transmitting the BSR according to the obtained format.

[0022] In a particular embodiment, one or more configuration parameters related to the format of the BSR and / or the trigger for sending the BSR are obtained when a particular service is established.

[0023] In a particular embodiment, one or more configuration parameters relating to a format for the BSR and / or a trigger for sending the BSR are obtained when particular traffic is served.

[0024] In a particular embodiment, the one or more configuration parameters related to the format for the BSR include an indication of any one or more of the number of PDCP data units in a PDCP buffer, the number of PDCP data units associated with an application data unit, the number of PDCP data units associated with the same latency limit, the size of one or more PDCP data units, the size of all PDCP data units associated with the application data unit, and the size of all PDCP data units associated with the latency limit.

[0025] In a particular embodiment, the one or more configuration parameters associated with a trigger for transmitting a BSR include an indication of one or more of a threshold size associated with a logical channel or logical channel group buffer size, a threshold number associated with a number of buffered application data units, a threshold number associated with a number of buffered PDCP data units, a threshold size associated with all buffered PDCP data units associated with an application data unit, a threshold latency associated with all buffered PDCP data units associated with an application data unit, and a quality of service setting for a particular logical channel or corresponding service flow.

[0026] In a particular embodiment, the PDCP data unit includes one of a PDCP PDU and a PDCP SDU.

[0027] According to some embodiments, a wireless device comprises processing circuitry operable to perform any of the wireless device methods described above.

[0028] Also disclosed is a computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer readable program code, which when executed by a processing circuit is operable to perform any of the methods performed by the wireless device described above.

[0029] According to some embodiments, the method performed by the network node includes transmitting one or more configuration parameters to the wireless device related to a format for the BSR. The one or more configuration parameters relate to a size of one or more RLC headers and MAC subheaders that are added to an amount of data reported by the BSR. The method further includes transmitting one or more configuration parameters related to a trigger for transmitting the BSR to the wireless device, receiving the BSR according to the obtained format, and scheduling resources for the wireless device based on the received BSR.

[0030] In a particular embodiment, one or more configuration parameters related to the format of the BSR and / or the trigger for sending the BSR are transmitted when a particular service is established.

[0031] In a particular embodiment, one or more configuration parameters related to the format of the BSR and / or a trigger for sending the BSR are sent when particular traffic is served.

[0032] In a particular embodiment, the one or more configuration parameters related to the format for the BSR include an indication of any one or more of the number of PDCP data units in a PDCP buffer, the number of PDCP data units associated with an application data unit, the number of PDCP data units associated with the same latency limit, the size of one or more PDCP data units, the size of all PDCP data units associated with the application data unit, and the size of all PDCP data units associated with the latency limit.

[0033] In a particular embodiment, the one or more configuration parameters associated with a trigger for transmitting a BSR include an indication of one or more of a threshold size associated with a logical channel or logical channel group buffer size, a threshold number associated with a number of buffered application data units, a threshold number associated with a number of buffered PDCP data units, a threshold size associated with all buffered PDCP data units associated with an application data unit, a threshold latency associated with all buffered PDCP data units associated with an application data unit, and a quality of service setting for a particular logical channel or corresponding service flow.

[0034] In a particular embodiment, the PDCP data unit includes one of a PDCP PDU and a PDCP SDU.

[0035] According to some embodiments, a network node comprises processing circuitry operable to perform any of the network node methods described above.

[0036] Also disclosed is a computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer readable program code, which when executed by a processing circuit is operable to perform any of the methods performed by the network node described above.

[0037] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages: For example, certain embodiments avoid issues with undersized grants being given to UEs due to inaccurate BSRs, resulting in extra transmissions and delays; Certain embodiments take into account traffic type and can therefore reduce delays where there is a high need, e.g., bounded latency traffic, and where the traffic pattern is known;

[0038] For a more complete understanding of the disclosed embodiments, as well as features and advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: [Brief description of the drawings]

[0039] [Figure 1] 1 is a graph showing an example of frame latency measured across a Radio Access Network (RAN), excluding application and core network latency. [Diagram 2] 1 is a graph showing an example of a cumulative distribution function of the number of transport blocks required to deliver video frames having sizes ranging from 20 KB to 300 KB. [Diagram 3] An example of the new extended short BSR report is shown below. [Figure 4] An example of the new extended short BSR report is shown below. [Diagram 5] An example of the new extended short BSR report is shown below. [Figure 6] An example of the new extended short BSR report is shown below. [Figure 7]An example of the new extended short BSR report is shown below. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a wireless network. [Figure 9] 1 illustrates an exemplary user equipment in accordance with certain embodiments. [Figure 10] 1 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method in a wireless device, in accordance with a particular embodiment. [Figure 11] 1 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method in a network node, according to certain embodiments. [Figure 12] 1 illustrates a schematic block diagram of a wireless device and a network node in a wireless network according to a particular embodiment. [Figure 13] 1 illustrates an exemplary virtualization environment, in accordance with certain embodiments. [Figure 14] 1 illustrates an exemplary telecommunications network connected to a host computer through an intermediate network, according to certain embodiments. [Figure 15] 1 illustrates an exemplary host computer that communicates with user equipment through a base station over a partially wireless connection in accordance with certain embodiments. [Figure 16] 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in accordance with certain embodiments. [Figure 17] 1 is a flow chart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system in accordance with certain embodiments. [Figure 18] 1 is a flow chart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system in accordance with certain embodiments. [Figure 19] 1 is a flow chart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, according to certain embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0040] Based on the above discussion, certain challenges currently exist with respect to buffer status reporting for low latency high rate wireless applications. Certain aspects of the present disclosure and embodiments of those aspects may provide solutions to these and other challenges.

[0041] For example, certain embodiments provide network scheduler mechanisms and methods for more accurately estimating header bits. Some embodiments include explicit information in a Buffer Status Report (BSR) regarding the number of data units that a user equipment (UE) has waiting in a buffer for transmission.

[0042] Certain embodiments are more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: However, other embodiments are included within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, and the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as being limited to only the embodiments described herein, but rather, these embodiments are provided as examples to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0043] To improve network grant size estimation accuracy to avoid extra grant delay, certain embodiments include a new BSR format (BSR and BSR formats may be used interchangeably) that may be used by the UE when configured by the network. The network may configure the UE with the new BSR format, for example, when a particular service is established or when a particular traffic is served. In some embodiments, the network may configure the use of the new BSR format for a particular logical channel identifier (LCID) or logical channel group (LCG). In certain embodiments, the BSR format may be further configured along with the existing legacy BSR so that the network can combine information from the new BSR report and the legacy BSR report from the same UE to improve grant size accuracy.

[0044] A Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Protocol Data Unit (PDU) is a data unit that includes a PDCP header and a PDCP payload that is delivered to the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer. In the RLC, a PDCP PDU becomes an RLC SDU. Thus, there is a one-to-one relationship between PDCP PDUs and RLC SDUs. PDCP PDUs are also comparable in size to RLC SDUs. All "PDCP PDU" instances may be unambiguously replaced by "RLC SDU", in which case PDCP becomes RLC.

[0045] After a PDCP PDU is transmitted to the RLC entity, the PDCP entity does not remove the PDCP PDU from the PDCP buffer. However, this does not mean that the buffer size is the sum of the same packets in the PDCP entity and the RLC entity. A data unit is counted only once, even when it traverses different protocol layers.

[0046] The BSR format may report any one or more of the following: the number of PDCP PDUs in said PDCP buffer; The number of PDCP SDUs in the PDCP buffer (this may include an implicit or explicit indication that it relates to a PDCP SDU); · the number of PDCP PDUs in the PDCP buffer associated with one application PDU, The number of PDCP SDUs in the PDCP buffer associated with one application PDU (this may include an implicit or explicit indication that it relates to a PDCP SDU); The number of PDCP PDUs in the PDCP buffer associated with the same latency limit, The number of PDCP SDUs associated with the same latency limit (this may include an implicit or explicit indication that it relates to a PDCP SDU); the number of PDCP PDUs in the PDCP buffer associated with one application PDU with the same latency bound; The number of PDCP SDUs in the PDCP buffer associated with one application PDU with the same latency bound (this may include an implicit or explicit indication that it is related to a PDCP SDU); the number of application PDUs and the corresponding number of PDCP PDUs associated with each application PDU in the PDCP buffer; the number of Application PDUs and the corresponding number of PDCP SDUs associated with each Application PDU in the PDCP buffer (this may include an implicit or explicit indication that it relates to a PDCP SDU); The size of each PDCP PDU (number of bytes / bits), The total size (in bytes / bits) of all PDCP PDUs associated with one Application PDU, The total size (in bytes / bits) of all PDCP SDUs associated with one Application PDU, The total size (in bytes / bits) of all PDCP PDUs associated with the same latency limit, The total size (in bytes / bits) of all PDCP SDUs associated with the same latency limit, The total size (in bytes / bits) of all PDCP PDUs associated with one application PDU that have the same latency bound, The total size (in bytes / bits) of all PDCP SDUs associated with one application PDU that have the same latency bound, An index value indicating the value range of each PDCP PDU; An index value that indicates the value range of each PDCP SDU; An index value that points to the total value range of all PDCP PDUs associated with one application PDU; An index value indicating the range of values ​​for the sum of all PDCP SDUs associated with one Application PDU; An index value that points to the range of values ​​for the sum of all PDCP PDUs associated with the same latency limit; An index value that points to the range of values ​​for the sum of all PDCP SDUs associated with the same latency limit; an index value that points to the range of values ​​of the sum of all PDCP PDUs associated with one application PDU that have the same latency bound; and An index value that points to the range of values ​​for the sum of all PDCP SDUs associated with one application PDU that have the same latency bound.

[0047] In some embodiments, the triggering mechanisms for the BSR format may be the same as those currently specified in TS 38.321 v16.4.0. In addition, some embodiments include any one or more of the following additional trigger mechanisms: The buffer size of a configured LCID or LCG exceeds a configured threshold, The buffer size of a configured LCID or LCG falling below a configured threshold, The number of buffered application PDUs exceeds a configured threshold; The number of buffered application SDUs exceeds a configured threshold; The number of buffered application PDUs is below a configured threshold; the number of buffered application SDUs is less than a configured threshold; The total size of all PDCP PDUs associated with one Application PDU for a configured LCID or LCG exceeds a configured threshold; The total size of all PDCP SDUs associated with one Application PDU for a configured LCID or LCG exceeds a configured threshold; The total size of all PDCP PDUs associated with one Application PDU for a configured LCID or LCG falls below a configured threshold; The total size of all PDCP SDUs associated with one Application PDU for a configured LCID or LCG is less than a configured threshold; The waiting time in the buffer of a PDCP PDU associated with one application PDU exceeds a configured threshold; The waiting time in the buffer of a PDCP SDU associated with one application PDU exceeds a configured threshold; The waiting time in the buffer of a PDCP PDU associated with one application PDU is less than a configured threshold; The waiting time in the buffer of a PDCP SDU associated with one application PDU is less than a configured threshold; and · One or more specific LCIDs or corresponding QoS flows are configured.

[0048] Below are described examples of BSR formats and how they map to the information described in the sections above. These examples should not be considered limiting. There may be many different BSR format alternatives that are not described below, and for each example, different information may be added at different lengths.

[0049] In a first example, the legacy extended short BSR format is reused to include the number of data units, e.g., the number of PDCP PDUs. In this example, the maximum number of data units that can be indicated is seven. Further, the size of the indicated data units follows. In this example, no LCG or LCID is indicated, so the information corresponds to the LCID configured to use this type of BSR format. If more LCIDs are configured to use this type of BSR, another BSR format may be required.

[0050] An example of the new extended short BSR report is shown in Figure 3. The data unit field is shown as the leftmost octet.

[0051] As a non-limiting example, the short BSR report format can be extended to include a data unit with more bits so that all the information of the LCG or LCID and buffer size is included. An example is shown in FIG.

[0052] Another example of the new extended short BSR report is shown in Figure 4. The data unit field and the LCG or LCID field are shown in the first octet.

[0053] Another variant is shown in Figure 5, which includes one LCG ID (or LCID) field with 3 bits, followed by a new Number of Data Units field with 5 bits. The Number of Data Units field can indicate up to 32 data units served. In addition, the buffer size of the reported data units can be included. In this example, one byte is used for this purpose, but it can be larger.

[0054] Another variation is shown in Figure 6. The example shown shows the number of application PDUs and the corresponding number of data units associated with each of them, as well as the buffer size.

[0055] In yet another alternative, as shown in FIG. 7, multiple LCGs or LCIDs are indicated, for example four, and both the number of data units and buffer size are indicated.

[0056] FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary wireless network according to certain embodiments. The wireless network may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, and / or radio network, or other similar type of system. In some embodiments, the wireless network may be configured to operate according to a particular standard or other type of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, certain embodiments of the wireless network may implement communication standards such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards, wireless local area network (WLAN) standards such as the IEEE 802.11 standard, and / or any other suitable wireless communication standards such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, and / or ZigBee standards.

[0057] The network 106 may include one or more backhaul networks, core networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTN), packet data networks, optical networks, wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks that enable communication between devices.

[0058] The network node 160 and the WD 110 comprise various components, which are described in more detail below. These components cooperate to provide network node and / or wireless device functionality, such as providing wireless connectivity in a wireless network. In different embodiments, a wireless network may comprise any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals, whether via wired or wireless connections.

[0059] A network node, as used herein, refers to a device capable of, set up, configured, and / or operable to communicate, directly or indirectly, with wireless devices and / or other network nodes or equipment in a wireless network to enable and / or provide wireless access to wireless devices and / or to perform other functions (e.g., administration) in the wireless network.

[0060] Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., wireless access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR Node Bs (gNBs)). Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or in other words, their transmit power level) and therefore may also be referred to as femto, pico, micro, or macro base stations.

[0061] A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node that controls a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station, such as a centralized digital unit, and / or a remote radio unit (RRU), which may be referred to as a remote radio head (RRH). Such a remote radio unit may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna-integrated radio. A part of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as a node in a distributed antenna system (DAS). Still further examples of network nodes include MSR equipment, such as a multi-standard radio (MSR) BS, a network controller, such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a transmission point, a transmission node, a multi-cell / multicast coordination entity (MCE), a core network node (e.g., MSC, MME), an O&M node, an OSS node, a SON node, a positioning node (e.g., E-SMLC), and / or an MDT.

[0062] As another example, a network node may be a virtual network node, as described in more detail below, but more generally, a network node may represent any suitable device (or group of devices) capable of, configured to, and / or operable to enable and / or provide wireless devices with access to a wireless network or to provide some service to wireless devices that have accessed the wireless network.

[0063] In Figure 8, network node 160 includes processing circuitry 170, device readable medium 180, interface 190, ancillary equipment 184, power source 186, power circuitry 187, and antenna 162. Although network node 160 shown in the example wireless network of Figure 8 may represent a device including the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise network nodes having different combinations of components.

[0064] It should be understood that a network node comprises any suitable combination of hardware and / or software necessary to implement the tasks, features, functions, and methods disclosed herein. Moreover, although the components of network node 160 are depicted as a single box located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in reality a network node may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component (e.g., device readable medium 180 may comprise multiple separate hard drives as well as multiple RAM modules).

[0065] Similarly, the network node 160 may be assembled from multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and an RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), each of which may have its own respective components. In some scenarios in which the network node 160 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., a BTS component and a BSC component), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple Node Bs. In such scenarios, each unique Node B and RNC pair may be considered as a single separate network node in some instances.

[0066] In some embodiments, network node 160 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate device-readable media 180 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 162 may be shared by the RATs). Network node 160 may also include multiple sets of the various shown components for different wireless technologies, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, integrated into network node 160. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or sets of chips and other components within network node 160.

[0067] The processing circuitry 170 is configured to perform any of the decision, computation, or similar operations (e.g., some acquisition operations) described herein as being provided by a network node. These operations performed by the processing circuitry 170 may include processing information acquired by the processing circuitry 170, for example, by transforming the acquired information into other information, comparing the acquired or transformed information with information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the acquired or transformed information and as a result of the processing making a decision.

[0068] The processing circuitry 170 may comprise one or more combinations of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resources, or combinations of hardware, software, and / or coded logic operable to provide network node 160 functionality, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 160 components, such as device readable medium 180.

[0069] For example, processing circuitry 170 may execute instructions stored on device-readable medium 180 or in memory within processing circuitry 170. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 170 may include a system-on-chip (SOC).

[0070] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 170 may include one or more of a radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 172 and a baseband processing circuitry 174. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 172 and the baseband processing circuitry 174 may be on separate chips (or chipsets), boards, or units, such as a radio unit and a digital unit. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the RF transceiver circuitry 172 and the baseband processing circuitry 174 may be on the same chip or set of chips, board, or unit.

[0071] In some embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being provided by a network node, base station, eNB, or other such network device may be performed by the processing circuitry 170 executing instructions stored in the device-readable medium 180, or in memory within the processing circuitry 170. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry 170 without executing instructions stored in a separate or distinct device-readable medium, such as in a hardwired manner. In any of those embodiments, the processing circuitry 170 may be configured to perform the described functionality, whether or not it executes instructions stored in a device-readable storage medium. Benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry 170 alone or other components of the network node 160, but are enjoyed by the network node 160 as a whole, and / or by end users and the wireless network in general.

[0072] The device readable medium 180 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer readable memory, including, but not limited to, persistent storage, solid state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., flash drive, compact disk (CD) or digital video disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and / or computer executable memory device that stores information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuit 170. The device readable medium 180 may store any suitable instructions, data or information, including applications including one or more of computer programs, software, logic, rules, codes, tables, etc., and / or other instructions that may be executed by the processing circuit 170 and utilized by the network node 160. The device readable medium 180 may be used to store any calculations performed by the processing circuit 170 and / or any data received via the interface 190. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 170 and the device-readable medium 180 may be considered to be integrated.

[0073] The interface 190 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between the network node 160, the network 106, and / or the WD 110. As shown, the interface 190 includes a port / terminal 194 for sending and receiving data to and from the network 106, for example, over a wired connection. The interface 190 also includes radio front-end circuitry 192, which is coupled to the antenna 162 or, in some embodiments, may be part of the antenna 162.

[0074] The radio front-end circuit 192 comprises a filter 198 and an amplifier 196. The radio front-end circuit 192 can be connected to the antenna 162 and the processing circuit 170. The radio front-end circuit may be configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna 162 and the processing circuit 170. The radio front-end circuit 192 may receive digital data to be sent to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuit 192 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of the filter 198 and / or the amplifier 196. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 162. Similarly, upon receiving data, the antenna 162 may collect the radio signal, which is then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuit 192. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuit 170. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0075] In some alternative embodiments, the network node 160 may not include a separate radio front-end circuit 192; instead, the processing circuit 170 may comprise a radio front-end circuit and be connected to the antenna 162 without a separate radio front-end circuit 192. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or a portion of the RF transceiver circuit 172 may be considered part of the interface 190. In still other embodiments, the interface 190 may include one or more ports or terminals 194, the radio front-end circuit 192, and the RF transceiver circuit 172 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the interface 190 may communicate with a baseband processing circuit 174 that is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0076] Antenna 162 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. Antenna 162 may be coupled to radio front-end circuitry 192 and may be any type of antenna capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data and / or signals. In some embodiments, antenna 162 may include one or more omni-directional, sector, or panel antennas operable to transmit / receive wireless signals, for example, from 2 GHz to 66 GHz. An omni-directional antenna may be used to transmit / receive wireless signals in any direction, a sector antenna may be used to transmit / receive wireless signals from devices in a particular area, and a panel antenna may be a line-of-sight antenna used to transmit / receive wireless signals in a relatively straight line. In some instances, the use of more than one antenna may be referred to as MIMO. In some embodiments, antenna 162 may be separate from network node 160 and may be connectable to network node 160 through an interface or port.

[0077] The antenna 162, the interface 190, and / or the processing circuitry 170 may be configured to perform any receiving operation and / or some obtaining operation described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data, and / or signal may be received from a wireless device, another network node, and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 162, the interface 190, and / or the processing circuitry 170 may be configured to perform any transmitting operation described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data, and / or signal may be transmitted to a wireless device, another network node, and / or any other network equipment.

[0078] The power circuitry 187 may comprise or be coupled to a power management circuitry and is configured to supply power to the components of the network node 160 for performing the functions described herein. The power circuitry 187 may receive power from a power source 186. The power source 186 and / or the power circuitry 187 may be configured to provide power to the various components of the network node 160 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at voltage and current levels required for each respective component). The power source 186 may either be included in the power circuitry 187 and / or the network node 160 or may be external to the power circuitry 187 and / or the network node 160.

[0079] For example, network node 160 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., an electrical outlet) via an input circuit or interface, such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source provides power to power circuit 187. As a further example, power source 186 may comprise a power source in the form of a battery or battery pack connected to or integrated with power circuit 187. The battery may provide backup power in the event the external power source fails. Other types of power sources, such as solar cell devices, may also be used.

[0080] Alternative embodiments of network node 160 may include additional components other than those shown in Figure 8 that may be responsible for providing particular aspects of the network node's functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, network node 160 may include user interface devices that enable input of information into network node 160 and output of information from network node 160. This may enable a user to perform diagnostics, maintenance, repair, and other management functions of network node 160.

[0081] As used herein, a wireless device (WD) refers to a device capable of, arranged to, and / or operable to wirelessly communicate with network nodes and / or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise specified, the term WD may be used interchangeably with user equipment (UE) herein. Communicating wirelessly may involve transmitting and / or receiving radio signals using electromagnetic, radio, infrared, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information over the air.

[0082] In some embodiments, a WD may be configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, a WD may be designed to transmit information to a network on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to a request from the network.

[0083] Examples of WDs include, but are not limited to, smartphones, mobile phones, cell phones, voice-over-IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, gaming consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback appliances, wearable terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablets, laptop computers, laptop embedded equipment (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPE), in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, etc. A WD may support device-to-device (D2D) communications, for example, by implementing 3GPP standards for sidelink communications, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), and vehicle-to-everything (V2X), in which case it may be referred to as a D2D communications device.

[0084] As yet another specific example, in an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, a WD may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another WD and / or a network node. The WD may in this case be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may be referred to as an MTC device in the 3GPP context. As an example, the WD may be a UE that implements the 3GPP Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) standard. Examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or household or personal appliances (e.g., refrigerators, televisions, etc.), personal wearables (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.).

[0085] In other scenarios, the WD may represent a vehicle or other equipment capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions related to its operation. The WD described above may represent an endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may be referred to as a wireless terminal. Additionally, the WD described above may be mobile, in which case the device may be referred to as a mobile device or mobile terminal.

[0086] As shown, wireless device 110 includes antenna 111, interface 114, processing circuitry 120, device-readable medium 130, user interface equipment 132, auxiliary equipment 134, power source 136, and power circuitry 137. WD 110 may include multiple sets of one or more of the illustrated components for different wireless technologies that WD 110 supports, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, just to name a few. These wireless technologies may be integrated on the same or different chip or chipset as other components in WD 110.

[0087] Antenna 111 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to send and / or receive wireless signals and is connected to interface 114. In some alternative embodiments, antenna 111 may be separate from WD 110 and connectable to WD 110 through an interface or port. Antenna 111, interface 114, and / or processing circuit 120 may be configured to perform any receiving or transmitting operation described herein as being performed by a WD. Any information, data, and / or signal may be received from a network node and / or another WD. In some embodiments, the wireless front-end circuit and / or antenna 111 may be considered an interface.

[0088] As shown, the interface 114 comprises a radio front-end circuit 112 and an antenna 111. The radio front-end circuit 112 comprises one or more filters 118 and an amplifier 116. The radio front-end circuit 112 is connected to the antenna 111 and the processing circuit 120 and is configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna 111 and the processing circuit 120. The radio front-end circuit 112 may be coupled to the antenna 111 or may be part of the antenna 111. In some embodiments, the WD 110 may not include a separate radio front-end circuit 112, rather the processing circuit 120 may comprise a radio front-end circuit and be connected to the antenna 111. Similarly, in some embodiments, some or all of the RF transceiver circuit 122 may be considered part of the interface 114.

[0089] The radio front-end circuit 112 may receive digital data to be sent to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuit 112 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 118 and / or amplifiers 116. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 111. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 111 may collect the radio signal, which is then converted to digital data by the radio front-end circuit 112. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuit 120. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0090] Processing circuitry 120 may comprise one or more combinations of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and / or coded logic operable, alone or in conjunction with other WD 110 components such as device readable medium 130, to provide the functionality of WD 110. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry 120 may execute instructions stored on device readable medium 130 or in memory within processing circuitry 120 to provide the functionality disclosed herein.

[0091] As shown, the processing circuitry 120 includes one or more of an RF transceiver circuitry 122, a baseband processing circuitry 124, and an application processing circuitry 126. In other embodiments, the processing circuitry may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 120 of the WD 110 may comprise a SOC. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry 122, the baseband processing circuitry 124, and the application processing circuitry 126 may be on separate chips or chipsets.

[0092] In alternative embodiments, some or all of the baseband processing circuitry 124 and the application processing circuitry 126 may be combined into one chip or set of chips, and the RF transceiver circuitry 122 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In further alternative embodiments, some or all of the RF transceiver circuitry 122 and the baseband processing circuitry 124 may be on the same chip or set of chips, and the application processing circuitry 126 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In yet other alternative embodiments, some or all of the RF transceiver circuitry 122, the baseband processing circuitry 124, and the application processing circuitry 126 may be combined within the same chip or chip set. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry 122 may be part of the interface 114. The RF transceiver circuitry 122 may condition the RF signals for the processing circuitry 120.

[0093] In particular embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being performed by a WD may be provided by processing circuitry 120 executing instructions stored on device-readable medium 130, which in particular embodiments may be a computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry 120 without executing instructions stored on a separate or distinct device-readable storage medium, such as in a hardwired manner.

[0094] In any of those embodiments, whether or not executing instructions stored on a device-readable storage medium, processing circuitry 120 may be configured to perform the described functions, and benefits provided by such functions are enjoyed by WD 110, and / or by end users and wireless networks generally, but not limited to processing circuitry 120 alone or other components of WD 110.

[0095] Processing circuitry 120 may be configured to perform any of the decision, calculation, or similar operations (e.g., some of the acquisition operations) described herein as being performed by a WD. These operations as performed by processing circuitry 120 may include processing information acquired by processing circuitry 120, for example, by converting the acquired information into other information, comparing the acquired or converted information to information stored by WD 110, and / or performing one or more operations based on the acquired or converted information and as a result of said processing making a decision.

[0096] The device-readable medium 130 may be operable to store computer programs, software, applications (including one or more of logic, rules, codes, tables, etc.), and / or other instructions that may be executed by the processing circuit 120. The device-readable medium 130 may include computer memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM) or read-only memory (ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., compact disc (CD) or digital video disc (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory device that stores information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuit 120. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 120 and the device-readable medium 130 may be integrated.

[0097] The user interface devices 132 may provide components that allow a human user to interact with the WD 110. Such interaction may be of many forms, such as visual, auditory, tactile, etc. The user interface devices 132 may be operable to produce output to a user and to allow a user to provide input to the WD 110. The type of interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface devices 132 installed on the WD 110. For example, if the WD 110 is a smartphone, the interaction may be via a touch screen, if the WD 110 is a smart meter, the interaction may be through a screen that provides usage (e.g., number of gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audible alarm (e.g., if smoke is detected).

[0098] The user interface device 132 may include input interfaces, devices, and circuits, as well as output interfaces, devices, and circuits. The user interface device 132 is configured to allow input of information to the WD 110 and is connected to the processing circuit 120 to allow the processing circuit 120 to process the input information. The user interface device 132 may include, for example, a microphone, proximity or other sensors, keys / buttons, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USB port, or other input circuitry. The user interface device 132 is also configured to allow output of information from the WD 110 and to allow the processing circuit 120 to output information from the WD 110. The user interface device 132 may include, for example, a speaker, a display, vibration circuitry, a USB port, a headphone interface, or other output circuitry. Using one or more input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits of the user interface device 132, the WD 110 may communicate with an end user and / or a wireless network, allowing the end user and / or the wireless network to benefit from the functionality described herein.

[0099] The auxiliary device 134 is operable to provide more specific functionality that may not generally be implemented by a WD. It may comprise specialized sensors for taking measurements for various purposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as wired communication, etc. The inclusion of components of the auxiliary device 134 and the types of components of the auxiliary device 134 may vary depending on the embodiment and / or scenario.

[0100] The power source 136 may be in the form of a battery or battery pack in some embodiments. Other types of power sources may also be used, such as an external power source (e.g., an electrical outlet), a photovoltaic device, or a battery. The WD 110 may further include a power circuit 137 for delivering power from the power source 136 to various portions of the WD 110 that require power from the power source 136 to perform any of the functions described or indicated herein. The power circuit 137 may include a power management circuit in some embodiments.

[0101] Power circuitry 137 may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source, in which case WD 110 may be connectable to the external power source (such as an electrical outlet) via an interface such as an input circuit or power cable. Power circuitry 137 may also be operable in some embodiments to deliver power from the external power source to power source 136. This may be for charging power source 136, for example. Power circuitry 137 may perform any formatting, conversion, or other modification on the power from power source 136 to make it suitable for the respective components of WD 110 being powered.

[0102] Although the subject matter described herein may be implemented in any suitable type of system using any suitable components, the embodiments disclosed herein are described with respect to a wireless network, such as the exemplary wireless network illustrated in FIG. 8. For simplicity, the wireless network of FIG. 8 illustrates only the network 106, the network nodes 160 and 160b, and the WDs 110, 110b, and 110c. In practice, the wireless network may further include any additional elements suitable for supporting communication between wireless devices, or between a wireless device and another communication device, such as a landline telephone, a service provider, or any other network node or end device. Of the illustrated components, the network node 160 and the wireless device (WD) 110 are described in more detail. The wireless network may provide communication and other types of services to one or more wireless devices to facilitate the wireless device's access to the wireless network and / or use of services provided by or via the wireless network.

[0103] FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary user equipment according to certain embodiments. User equipment or UE as used herein does not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates an associated device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to or operation by a human user, but may not be associated with or may not initially be associated with a particular human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to or operation by an end user, but may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter). The UE 200 may be any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including an NB-IoT UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE. The UE 200 illustrated in Figure 9 is an example of a WD configured for communication according to one or more communications standards promulgated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as the 3GPP GSM, UMTS, LTE, and / or 5G standards. As previously mentioned, the terms WD and UE may be used interchangeably. Thus, although Figure 9 is a UE, the components discussed herein are equally applicable to a WD and vice versa.

[0104] In FIG. 9, UE 200 includes processing circuitry 201 operatively coupled to input / output interface 205, radio frequency (RF) interface 209, network connection interface 211, memory 215 (including random access memory (RAM) 217, read only memory (ROM) 219, storage medium 221, etc.), communication subsystem 231, power source 213, and / or any other components or any combination of the above. Storage medium 221 includes operating system 223, application programs 225, and data 227. In other embodiments, storage medium 221 may include other similar types of information. A particular UE may use all of the components shown in FIG. 9, or only a subset of the components. The level of integration between components may vary from UE to UE. Additionally, some UEs may include multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0105] In Fig. 9, the processing circuit 201 may be configured to process computer instructions and data. The processing circuit 201 may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operable to execute machine instructions stored in memory as a machine-readable computer program, such as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.), programmable logic with appropriate firmware, one or more pre-programmed, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP) with appropriate software, or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuit 201 may include two central processing units (CPUs). The data may be information in a format suitable for use by a computer.

[0106] In the depicted embodiment, the input / output interface 205 may be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, an output device, or an input / output device. The UE 200 may be configured to use an output device via the input / output interface 205.

[0107] An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a USB port may be used to provide input to and output from the UE 200. An output device may be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smart card, another output device, or any combination of the above.

[0108] The UE 200 may be configured to use input devices via the input / output interface 205 to allow a user to capture information into the UE 200. The input devices may include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a webcam, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smart card, etc. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor for sensing input from the user. The sensor may be, for example, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, a light sensor, a proximity sensor, another similar sensor, or any combination thereof. For example, the input device may be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and a light sensor.

[0109] In FIG. 9, the RF interface 209 may be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components, such as a transmitter, a receiver, and an antenna. The network connection interface 211 may be configured to provide a communication interface to a network 243a. The network 243a may encompass a wired and / or wireless network, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a communication network, another similar network, or any combination of the above. For example, the network 243a may include a Wi-Fi network. The network connection interface 211 may be configured to include a receiver and a transmitter interface used to communicate with one or more other devices over a communication network according to one or more communication protocols, such as Ethernet, TCP / IP, SONET, ATM, etc. The network connection interface 211 may implement receiver and transmitter functions suitable for a communication network link (e.g., optical, electrical, etc.). The transmitter and receiver functions may share circuit components, software or firmware, or may be otherwise realized separately.

[0110] RAM 217 may be configured to interface to processing circuit 201 via bus 202 for storing or caching data or computer instructions during execution of software programs, such as an operating system, application programs, and device drivers. ROM 219 may be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processing circuit 201. For example, ROM 219 may be configured to store invariant low-level system code or data for basic system functions, such as basic input / output (I / O), booting, or receiving keystrokes from a keyboard, that is stored in non-volatile memory.

[0111] The storage medium 221 may be configured to include memory, such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disk, optical disk, floppy disk, hard disk, removable cartridge, or flash drive. In one example, the storage medium 221 may be configured to include an operating system 223, an application program 225, such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine, or another application, and data files 227. The storage medium 221 may store any of a wide variety of different operating systems or combinations of operating systems for use by the UE 200.

[0112] The storage medium 221 may be configured to include multiple physical drive units, such as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), floppy disk drive, flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high density digital versatile disk (HD-DVD) optical disk drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disk drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disk drive, external mini dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smart card memory such as a subscriber identity module or removable user identity (SIM / RUIM) module, other memory, or any combination of the above. The storage medium 221 may enable the UE 200 to access, offload data, or upload data, computer executable instructions, application programs, and the like, stored in a temporary or non-transitory memory medium. An article of manufacture, such as an article of manufacture utilizing a communication system, may be tangibly embodied in the storage medium 221, and the storage medium 221 may comprise a device-readable medium.

[0113] In FIG. 9, the processing circuit 201 may be configured to communicate with the network 243b using the communication subsystem 231. The network 243a and the network 243b may be the same network or networks, or different networks or networks. The communication subsystem 231 may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with the network 243b. For example, the communication subsystem 231 may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication, such as another WD, UE, or base station of a radio access network (RAN), according to one or more communication protocols, such as IEEE 802.2, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, etc. Each transceiver may include a transmitter 233 and / or a receiver 235 that respectively realizes a transmitter function or a receiver function (e.g., frequency allocation, etc.) suitable for the RAN link. Additionally, the transmitter 233 and receiver 235 of each transceiver may share circuit components, software, or firmware, or may be implemented separately.

[0114] In an example embodiment, the communication capabilities of the communication subsystem 231 may include data communications, voice communications, multimedia communications, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communications, location-based communications such as using a global positioning system (GPS) to determine location, another similar communication capability, or any combination of the above. For example, the communication subsystem 231 may include cellular communications, Wi-Fi communications, Bluetooth communications, and GPS communications. The network 243b may encompass wired and / or wireless networks, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a communications network, another similar network, or any combination of the above. For example, the network 243b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and / or a near-field network. The power source 213 may be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to the components of the UE 200.

[0115] The features, benefits, and / or functions described herein may be implemented in one of the components of the UE 200 or split across multiple components of the UE 200. Furthermore, the features, benefits, and / or functions described herein may be implemented in any combination of hardware, software, or firmware. In one example, the communication subsystem 231 may be configured to include any of the components described herein. Furthermore, the processing circuitry 201 may be configured to communicate with any of such components through the bus 202. In another example, any of such components may be represented by program instructions stored in memory that, when executed by the processing circuitry 201, perform the corresponding functions described herein. In another example, the functions of any of such components may be split between the processing circuitry 201 and the communication subsystem 231. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware, and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0116] 10 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method in a wireless device according to a particular embodiment. In a particular embodiment, one or more steps of FIG. 10 may be performed by the wireless device 110 described with respect to FIG.

[0117] The method begins at step 1012, where a wireless device (e.g., wireless device 110) obtains one or more configuration parameters related to a format for a BSR. The one or more configuration parameters relate to a size of one or more RLC headers and MAC subheaders to be added to the amount of data reported by the BSR.

[0118] In a particular embodiment, the one or more configuration parameters related to the format for the BSR include an indication of any one or more of the number of PDCP data units in a PDCP buffer, the number of PDCP data units associated with an application data unit, the number of PDCP data units associated with the same latency limit, the size of one or more PDCP data units, the size of all PDCP data units associated with the application data unit, and the size of all PDCP data units associated with the latency limit.

[0119] In step 1014, the wireless device obtains one or more configuration parameters related to a trigger for transmitting a BSR.

[0120] In a particular embodiment, the one or more configuration parameters associated with a trigger for transmitting a BSR include an indication of one or more of a threshold size associated with a logical channel or logical channel group buffer size, a threshold number associated with a number of buffered application data units, a threshold number associated with a number of buffered PDCP data units, a threshold size associated with all buffered PDCP data units associated with an application data unit, a threshold latency associated with all buffered PDCP data units associated with an application data unit, and a quality of service setting for a particular logical channel or corresponding service flow.

[0121] In a particular embodiment, the PDCP data unit includes one of a PDCP PDU and a PDCP SDU.

[0122] In a particular embodiment, one or more configuration parameters related to the format of the BSR and / or the trigger for sending the BSR are obtained when a particular service is established.

[0123] In a particular embodiment, one or more configuration parameters relating to a format for the BSR and / or a trigger for sending the BSR are obtained when particular traffic is served.

[0124] In step 1016, the wireless device detects a BSR triggering event. For example, the wireless device may detect any of the triggering events described above.

[0125] In step 1018, the wireless device transmits the BSR according to the obtained format. A particular advantage is that the BSR contains more accurate information that network nodes can use to make improved scheduling decisions.

[0126] Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the method 1000 of Figure 10. Additionally, one or more steps in the method of Figure 10 may be performed in parallel or in any suitable order.

[0127] 11 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method in a network node according to a particular embodiment. In a particular embodiment, one or more steps of FIG. 11 may be performed by the network node 160 described with respect to FIG.

[0128] The method begins at step 1112, where a network node (e.g., network node 160) transmits one or more configuration parameters related to a format for a BSR to a wireless device. The one or more configuration parameters relate to a size of one or more RLC headers and MAC subheaders to be added to the amount of data reported by the BSR.

[0129] In a particular embodiment, the one or more configuration parameters related to the format for the BSR include an indication of any one or more of the number of PDCP data units in a PDCP buffer, the number of PDCP data units associated with an application data unit, the number of PDCP data units associated with the same latency limit, the size of one or more PDCP data units, the size of all PDCP data units associated with the application data unit, and the size of all PDCP data units associated with the latency limit.

[0130] In step 1114, the network node transmits one or more configuration parameters associated with a trigger for transmitting a BSR to the wireless device. In a particular embodiment, the one or more configuration parameters associated with a trigger for transmitting a BSR include an indication of one or more of a threshold size associated with a logical channel or logical channel group buffer size, a threshold number associated with a number of buffered application data units, a threshold number associated with a number of buffered PDCP data units, a threshold size associated with all buffered PDCP data units associated with the application data unit, a threshold latency associated with all buffered PDCP data units associated with the application data unit, and a quality of service setting for a particular logical channel or corresponding service flow.

[0131] In a particular embodiment, one or more configuration parameters related to the format of the BSR and / or the trigger for sending the BSR are transmitted when a particular service is established.

[0132] In a particular embodiment, one or more configuration parameters related to the format of the BSR and / or the trigger for sending the BSR are sent when particular traffic is served.

[0133] In a particular embodiment, the PDCP data unit includes one of a PDCP PDU and a PDCP SDU.

[0134] In step 1116, the network node receives the BSR according to the obtained format, and in step 1118, the network node schedules resources for the wireless device based on the received BSR. A particular advantage is that the network node can improve scheduling parameters based on the information that is the BSR.

[0135] Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the method 1100 of Figure 11. In addition, one or more steps in the method of Figure 11 may be performed in parallel or in any suitable order.

[0136] FIG. 12 shows a schematic block diagram of two apparatuses in a wireless network (e.g., the wireless network shown in FIG. 8). The apparatuses include a wireless device and a network node (e.g., the wireless device 110 and the network node 160 shown in FIG. 8). The apparatuses 1600 and 1700 are operable to perform the example methods described with reference to FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, respectively, and possibly any other process or method disclosed herein. It should also be understood that the methods of FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 are not necessarily performed solely by the apparatuses 1600 and / or 1700. At least some operations of the methods may be performed by one or more other entities.

[0137] The virtual devices 1600 and 1700 may comprise processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs), special purpose digital logic, etc. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory, cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. The program code stored in the memory, in some embodiments, includes program instructions for implementing one or more communication and / or data communication protocols, as well as instructions for performing one or more of the techniques described herein.

[0138] In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause the receiving module 1602, the determining module 1604, the transmitting module 1606, and any other suitable units of the device 1600 to perform corresponding functions according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. Similarly, the processing circuitry described above may be used to cause the receiving module 1702, the determining module 1704, the transmitting module 1706, and other suitable units of the device 1700 to perform corresponding functions according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0139] 12, the apparatus 1600 includes a receiving module 1602 configured to obtain one or more configuration parameters related to a format for a BSR and / or a trigger for transmitting a BSR in accordance with any of the embodiments and examples described herein. The determining module 1604 is configured to detect a BSR triggering event in accordance with any of the embodiments and examples described herein. The transmitting module 1606 is configured to transmit a BSR in accordance with any of the embodiments and examples described herein.

[0140] 12, the apparatus 1700 includes a receiving module 1702 configured to receive a BSR according to any of the embodiments and examples described herein. A determining module 1704 is configured to determine scheduling parameters according to any of the embodiments and examples described herein. A transmitting module 1706 is configured to transmit configuration parameters related to a format for the BSR and / or a trigger for transmitting the BSR to a wireless device according to any of the embodiments and examples described herein.

[0141] FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 300 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In this context, virtualizing means creating a virtual version of an apparatus or device, which may include virtualizing a hardware platform, storage devices, and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to a node (e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized wireless access node) or to a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device, or any other type of communication device) or components thereof, and relates to implementations in which at least a portion of the functionality is realized as one or more virtual components (e.g., via one or more applications, components, functions, virtual machines, or containers running on one or more physical processing nodes in one or more networks).

[0142] In some embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual environments 300 hosted by one or more of the hardware nodes 330. Additionally, in embodiments where the virtual nodes are not wireless access nodes or do not require wireless connectivity (e.g., core network nodes), the network nodes may be fully virtualized.

[0143] The functionality may be realized by one or more applications 320 (which may alternatively be referred to as software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) that operate to provide some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein. The applications 320 are run in a virtualization environment 300 that provides hardware 330 with processing circuitry 360 and memory 390. The memory 390 includes instructions 395 that are executable by the processing circuitry 360, thereby causing the applications 320 to operate to provide one or more of the features, benefits, and / or functions disclosed herein.

[0144] The virtualization environment 300 includes a general-purpose or dedicated network hardware device 330 that includes a set of one or more processors or processing circuitry 360, which may be a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processor, a dedicated application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or any other type of processing circuitry including digital or analog hardware components or dedicated processors. Each hardware device may include memory 390-1, which may be a non-persistent memory that temporarily stores instructions 395 or software executed by the processing circuitry 360. Each hardware device may include one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 370, also known as network interface cards, that include physical network interfaces 380. Each hardware device may also include a non-transitory, persistent, machine-readable storage medium 390-2 on which software 395 and / or instructions executable by the processing circuitry 360 are stored. The software 395 may include any type of software, including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers 350 (also called hypervisors), software for running virtual machines 340, and software that enables it to perform the functions, features and / or benefits described in connection with some of the embodiments described herein.

[0145] A virtual machine 340 may include virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interfaces, and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 350 or hypervisor. Different embodiments of the virtual appliance 320 instances may be implemented in one or more of the virtual machines 340, and the implementations may be done in different ways.

[0146] During operation, processing circuitry 360 executes software 395 to instantiate a hypervisor or virtualization layer 350, which is sometimes referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). Virtualization layer 350 may present a virtual operating platform that looks like networking hardware to virtual machines 340.

[0147] 13, the hardware 330 may be a standalone network node having general or specific components. The hardware 330 may include an antenna 3225 and may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, the hardware 330 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g., in a data center or customer premises equipment (CPE)) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via a management and orchestration (MANO) 3100 that oversees, among other things, the lifecycle management of the application 320.

[0148] Hardware virtualization is referred to in some contexts as network functions virtualization (NFV). NFV can be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry-standard high-volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage that may be located in data centers and customer premises equipment.

[0149] In the context of NFV, a virtual machine 340 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if the programs were running on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each virtual machine 340 and the portion of hardware 330 on which it runs, whether that hardware is dedicated to that virtual machine and / or hardware that the virtual machine shares with other virtual machines 340, forms a separate Virtual Network Element (VNE).

[0150] Further in the context of NFV, a Virtual Network Function (VNF) is responsible for handling a specific network function running in one or more virtual machines 340 on top of the hardware networking infrastructure 330 and corresponds to application 320 in FIG. 18.

[0151] In some embodiments, one or more radio units 3200, each including one or more transmitters 3220 and one or more receivers 3210, may be coupled to one or more antennas 3225. The radio units 3200 may communicate directly with the hardware nodes 330 via one or more appropriate network interfaces, or may be used in combination with virtualization components, such as radio access nodes or base stations, to provide wireless capabilities to the virtualization nodes.

[0152] In some embodiments, some signaling may be accomplished using the control system 3230, which may alternatively be used for communication between the hardware nodes 330 and the wireless unit 3200.

[0153] Referring to Fig. 14, according to one embodiment, a communication system includes a communication network 410, such as a 3GPP type cellular network, including an access network 411, such as a wireless access network, and a core network 414. The access network 411 comprises a number of base stations 412a, 412b, 412c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs, or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 413a, 413b, 413c. Each base station 412a, 412b, 412c can be connected to the core network 414 through a wired or wireless connection 415. A first UE 491 located in the coverage area 413c is configured to wirelessly connect to the corresponding base station 412c or to be paged by the corresponding base station 412c. A second UE 492 in the coverage area 413a can be wirelessly connected to the corresponding base station 412a. Although multiple UEs 491, 492 are shown in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to situations where a single UE is in the coverage area or is connected to a corresponding base station 412.

[0154] The communication network 410 itself is connected to a host computer 430, which may be embodied in hardware and / or software of a standalone, cloud-implemented, or distributed server, or as a processing resource in a server farm. The host computer 430 may be owned or controlled by a service provider, or may be operated by or on behalf of the service provider. The connections 421 and 422 between the communication network 410 and the host computer 430 may extend directly from the core network 414 to the host computer 430, or may proceed through an optional intermediate network 420. The intermediate network 420 may be one of a public network, a private network, or a hosted network, or a combination of two or more of them, and if present, the intermediate network 420 may be a backbone network or the Internet, and in particular the intermediate network 420 may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).

[0155] The communication system of FIG. 14 generally enables connectivity between connected UEs 491, 492 and a host computer 430. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 450. The host computer 430 and connected UEs 491, 492 are configured to communicate data and / or signaling via the OTT connection 450 using the access network 411, the core network 414, any intermediate network 420, and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. The OTT connection 450 may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which the OTT connection 450 passes are unaware of the routing of the uplink and downlink communications. For example, the base station 412 may not or does not need to be informed about the past routing of incoming downlink communications, including data originating from the host computer 430, to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to the connected UE 491. Similarly, the base station 412 does not need to be aware of the future routing of outgoing uplink communications originating from the UE 491 towards the host computer 430.

[0156] FIG. 15 illustrates an exemplary host computer that communicates with user equipment via a base station via a partially wireless connection according to a particular embodiment. Next, an exemplary implementation according to an embodiment of the UE, base station and host computer discussed in the previous paragraph will be described with reference to FIG. 15. In the communication system 500, the host computer 510 comprises hardware 515 including a communication interface 516 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with interfaces of different communication devices of the communication system 500. The host computer 510 further comprises a processing circuit 518 that may have storage and / or processing capabilities. Among other things, the processing circuit 518 may comprise one or more programmable processors, application specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or combinations thereof (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The host computer 510 further comprises software 511 stored in or accessible by the host computer 510 and executable by the processing circuit 518. The software 511 includes a host application 512. The host application 512 may be operable to provide services to a remote user, such as a UE 530, that connects via an OTT connection 550 that terminates at the UE 530 and the host computer 510. In providing services to the remote user, the host application 512 may provide user data that is transmitted using the OTT connection 550.

[0157] The communication system 500 further includes a base station 520, which comprises hardware 525 provided within the communication system and enabling communication with the host computer 510 and the UE 530. The hardware 525 may include a communication interface 526 for setting up and maintaining wired or wireless connections with interfaces of different communication devices of the communication system 500, as well as a wireless interface 527 for setting up and maintaining at least a wireless connection 570 with a UE 530 located in a coverage area (not shown in FIG. 15) served by the base station 520. The communication interface 526 may be configured to facilitate a connection 560 to the host computer 510. The connection 560 may be direct, or the connection 560 may pass through a core network (not shown in FIG. 15) of the communication system and / or one or more intermediate networks outside the communication system. In the illustrated embodiment, the hardware 525 of the base station 520 further includes processing circuitry 528, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or combinations thereof (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The base station 520 further has software 521 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

[0158] The communication system 500 further includes the UE 530 already mentioned. The hardware 535 of the UE 530 may include a wireless interface 537 configured to set up and maintain a wireless connection 570 with a base station serving a coverage area in which the UE 530 is currently located. The hardware 535 of the UE 530 further includes a processing circuit 538, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or combinations thereof (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The UE 530 further includes software 531 stored on or accessible by the UE 530 and executable by the processing circuit 538. The software 531 includes a client application 532. The client application 532 may be supported by the host computer 510 and operable to provide services to a human or non-human user via the UE 530. At the host computer 510, an executing host application 512 may communicate with an executing client application 532 via the UE 530 and an OTT connection 550 that terminates at the host computer 510. In providing services to a user, the client application 532 may receive request data from the host application 512 and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 550 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The client application 532 may interact with the user to generate the user data to provide.

[0159] It should be noted that the host computer 510, base station 520 and UE 530 shown in Figure 15 may be similar or equivalent to the host computer 430, one of the base stations 412a, 412b, 412c and one of the UEs 491, 492, respectively, of Figure 13. That is, the internal workings of these entities may be as shown in Figure 15, and alternatively, the surrounding network topology may be that of Figure 13.

[0160] 15, the OTT connection 550 is depicted abstractly to illustrate communication between the host computer 510 and the UE 530 via the base station 520, without explicit reference to intermediary devices and the exact routing of messages through these devices. The network infrastructure may determine the routing, and the network infrastructure may be configured to hide the routing from the UE 530, or from the service provider that operates the host computer 510, or both. The network infrastructure may also make decisions to dynamically change the routing while the OTT connection 550 is active (e.g., based on load balancing considerations or reconfiguration of the network).

[0161] The wireless connection 570 between the UE 530 and the base station 520 follows the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of the OTT service provided to the UE 530 using the OTT connection 550 of which the wireless connection 570 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the signaling overhead and reduce latency, which may provide faster Internet access for the user.

[0162] Measurement procedures may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rates, latency and other factors that one or more embodiments improve upon. There may further be an optional network function to reconfigure the OTT connection 550 between the host computer 510 and the UE 530 in response to fluctuations in the measurement results. The measurement procedures and / or the network function for reconfiguring the OTT connection 550 may be implemented in the software 511 and hardware 515 of the host computer 510, or in the software 531 and hardware 535 of the UE 530, or both. In an embodiment, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or associated with the communication devices through which the OTT connection 550 passes, and the sensors may participate in the measurement procedures by providing values ​​of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or other physical quantities based on which the software 511, 531 may calculate or estimate the monitored quantities. Reconfiguration of the OTT connection 550 may include message formats, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc., and the reconfiguration need not affect the base station 520, and the reconfiguration may be unknown or imperceptible to the base station 520. Such procedures and functions may be known and practiced in the art. In particular embodiments, the measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements by the host computer 510 of throughput, propagation time, latency, etc. Measurements may be accomplished in that software 511 and 531 send messages, particularly empty or "dummy" messages, using the OTT connection 550 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

[0163] Figure 16 is a flow chart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which may be as described with reference to Figures 14 and 15. To simplify the disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 16 are included in this section.

[0164] In step 610, the host computer provides user data. In sub-step 611 of step 610 (which may be optional), the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 620, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step 630 (which may be optional), the base station transmits the user data conveyed in the host computer initiated transmission to the UE, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 640 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

[0165] Figure 17 is a flow chart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which may be as described with reference to Figures 14 and 15. To simplify the disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 17 are included in this section.

[0166] In step 710 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional sub-step (not shown), the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 720, the host computer initiates a transmission that conveys the user data to the UE. The transmission may go through a base station in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 730 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data conveyed in the transmission.

[0167] Figure 18 is a flow chart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which may be as described with reference to Figures 14 and 15. To simplify the disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 18 are included in this section.

[0168] In step 810 (which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step 820, the UE provides user data. In sub-step 821 (which may be optional) of step 820, the UE provides the user data by executing a client application. In sub-step 811 (which may be optional) of step 810, the UE executes a client application that provides user data in response to the received input data provided by the host computer. In providing the user data, the executed client application may further take into account user input received from the user. Regardless of the particular manner in which the user data was provided, the UE begins transmitting the user data to the host computer in sub-step 830 (which may be optional). In step 840 of the method, the host computer receives the user data transmitted from the UE in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.

[0169] Figure 19 is a flow chart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE, which may be as described with reference to Figures 14 and 15. To simplify the disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 19 are included in this section.

[0170] In step 910 (which may be optional), the base station receives user data from the UE in accordance with the teachings of embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 920 (which may be optional), the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step 930 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data conveyed in the transmission initiated by the base station.

[0171] The term unit may have its conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electric devices, and / or electronic devices and may include, for example, electric and / or electronic circuits, devices, modules, processors, memories, logical solid state and / or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions, etc., for performing a respective task, procedure, computation, output, and / or display function, such as those described herein.

[0172] Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the systems and devices disclosed herein without departing from the scope of the invention. Components of the systems and devices may be integrated or separated. Further, operations of the systems and devices may be performed by more, fewer, or other components. In addition, operations of the systems and devices may be performed using any suitable logic, including software, hardware, and / or other logic. As used herein, "each" refers to each member of a set or each member of a subset of a set.

[0173] Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the methods disclosed herein without departing from the scope of the invention. The methods may include more, fewer, or other steps. In addition, the steps may be performed in any suitable order.

[0174] The above description sets forth numerous specific details. However, it should be understood that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known circuits, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure the understanding of this description. Those skilled in the art will be able to use the included description to implement the appropriate functionality without undue experimentation.

[0175] References herein to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," "exemplary embodiment," and the like indicate that the embodiment being described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, it is submitted that when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described with respect to an embodiment, it is within the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art to implement such feature, structure, or characteristic with respect to other embodiments, whether or not explicitly described.

[0176] Although the present disclosure has been described with respect to specific embodiments, modifications and substitutions of the embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the above description of the embodiments does not limit the present disclosure. Other changes, substitutions, and modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, which is defined by the following claims.

Claims

1. 1. A method performed by a wireless device, comprising: obtaining (1012) from a network node (160) one or more configuration parameters related to a format of a Buffer Status Report (BSR), the one or more configuration parameters related to a size of one or more Radio Link Control (RLC) headers and Medium Access Control (MAC) subheaders to be added to an amount of data reported by the BSR; Obtaining (1014) one or more configuration parameters from said network node (160) related to a trigger for transmitting a BSR; Detecting a BSR trigger event (1016); transmitting (1018) a BSR to said network node (160) according to the obtained format; Including, The one or more configuration parameters associated with the trigger for transmitting the BSR are obtained when traffic having specific latency requirements is served.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more configuration parameters related to the format for the BSR are obtained when a service associated with the particular latency requirement is established.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more configuration parameters related to the format for the BSR are obtained when the traffic having the particular latency requirement is served.

4. The one or more configuration parameters related to a format for the BSR are: the number of Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) data units in the PDCP buffer; the number of PDCP data units associated with the application data unit; The number of PDCP data units associated with the same latency limit, The size of one or more PDCP data units; the size of all PDCP data units associated with the application data unit; and 2. The method of claim 1, including an indication of any one or more of the sizes of all PDCP data units associated with a latency bound.

5. The one or more configuration parameters associated with the trigger for transmitting a BSR include: a threshold size associated with a logical channel or logical channel group buffer size; A threshold number associated with the number of buffered application data units; A threshold number associated with the number of buffered PDCP data units; A threshold size associated with all buffered PDCP data units associated with the application data unit; a threshold latency associated with all buffered PDCP data units associated with the application data unit; and 10. The method of claim 1, comprising indicating one or more of a quality of service setting for a particular logical channel or corresponding service flow.

6. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the PDCP data unit comprises one of a PDCP protocol data unit (PDU) and a PDCP service data unit (SDU).

7. A wireless device (110) comprising a processing circuit (120), said processing circuit (120) operable to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. 1. A method performed by a network node, the method comprising: transmitting (1112) one or more configuration parameters to the wireless device related to a format of a Buffer Status Report (BSR), the one or more configuration parameters related to a size of one or more Radio Link Control (RLC) headers and Medium Access Control (MAC) subheaders to be added to an amount of data reported by the BSR; transmitting (1114) to the wireless device one or more configuration parameters associated with a trigger for transmitting a BSR; receiving (1116) the BSR according to the obtained format; scheduling resources for the wireless device based on the received BSR (1118); Including, The one or more configuration parameters associated with the trigger for transmitting the BSR are transmitted when traffic having specific latency requirements is served.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the one or more configuration parameters related to the format for the BSR are transmitted when a service associated with the particular latency requirement is established.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the one or more configuration parameters related to the format for the BSR are transmitted when the traffic having specific latency requirements is served.

11. The one or more configuration parameters related to a format for the BSR are: the number of Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) data units in the PDCP buffer; the number of PDCP data units associated with the application data unit; The number of PDCP data units associated with the same latency limit, The size of one or more PDCP data units; the size of all PDCP data units associated with the application data unit; and 9. The method of claim 8, including an indication of any one or more of the sizes of all PDCP data units associated with a latency bound.

12. The one or more configuration parameters associated with the trigger for transmitting a BSR include: a threshold size associated with a logical channel or logical channel group buffer size; A threshold number associated with the number of buffered application data units; A threshold number associated with the number of buffered PDCP data units; A threshold size associated with all buffered PDCP data units associated with the application data unit; a threshold latency associated with all buffered PDCP data units associated with the application data unit; and 10. The method of claim 8, comprising indicating one or more of a quality of service setting for a particular logical channel or corresponding service flow.

13. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the PDCP data unit comprises one of a PDCP protocol data unit (PDU) and a PDCP service data unit (SDU).

14. A network node (160) comprising a processing circuit (170), said processing circuit (170) being operable to perform the method according to any one of claims 8 to 13.

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