Selecting buffer status reporting (BSR) format

Abstract

Embodiments include methods for a user equipment (UE) configured to transmit application data to a radio access network (RAN) node. Such methods include buffering data generated by an application hosted by the UE. The buffered data is associated with a single logical channel group (LCG). Such methods include selecting one of first, second, and third buffer status report (BSR) formats according to the following: whether the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG, and a plurality of relations between an amount of the buffered data for the LCG and a reporting range of one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format. Such methods include transmitting a BSR to the RAN node in accordance with the selected BSR format. The BSR indicates the amount of buffered data for the LCG. Other embodiments include complementary methods for a RAN node.

Description

[0001] SELECTING BUFFER STATUS REPORTING (BSR) FORMAT

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication networks, and more specifically to techniques for user equipment (UEs) to report buffered data generated by UE- hosted applications, such as extended reality (XR), cloud gaming, and other applications needing guaranteed low latency.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] Currently the fifth generation (5G) of cellular systems is being standardized within the Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). 5G is developed for maximum flexibility to support multiple and substantially different use cases. These include enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), machine type communications (MTC), ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC), side-link device-to-device (D2D), and several other use cases.

[0006] Figure 1 illustrates a high-level view of an exemplary 5G network architecture, consisting of a Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN, 199) and a 5G Core (5GC, 198). The NG-RAN can include one or more gNodeB’s (gNBs) connected to the 5GC via one or more NG interfaces, such as gNBs (100, 150) connected via respective interfaces (102, 152). More specifically, the gNBs can be connected to one or more Access and Mobility Management Functions (AMFs) in the 5GC via respective NG-C interfaces and to one or more User Plane Functions (UPFs) in 5GC via respective NG-U interfaces. The 5GC can include various other network functions (NFs), such as Session Management Function(s) (SMF).

[0007] NG RAN logical nodes (e.g., gNB 100) may include a Central Unit (CU or gNB-CU, e.g., 110) and one or more Distributed Units (DU or gNB-DU, e.g., 120, 130). CUs are logical nodes that host higher-layer protocols and perform various gNB functions such controlling the operation of DUs. DUs are decentralized logical nodes that host lower layer protocols and can include, depending on the functional split option, various subsets of the gNB functions. Each CU and DU can include various circuitry needed to perform their respective functions, including processing circuitry, communication interface circuitry e.g., transceivers), and power supply circuitry.

[0008] A gNB-CU connects to one or more gNB-DUs over respective Fl logical interfaces (e.g., 122 and 132 shown in Figure 1). However, a gNB-DU can be connected to only a single gNB- CU. The gNB-CU and its connected gNB-DU(s) are only visible to other gNBs and the 5GC as a gNB. In other words, the Fl interface is not visible beyond gNB-CU. The gNBs can be connected to each other via one or more Xn interfaces, such as Xn interface (140) between gNBs (100, 150).

[0009] Figure 2 shows another high-level view of an exemplary 5G network architecture, including an NG-RAN (299) and a 5GC (298). As shown in the figure, the NG-RAN can include gNBs e.g., 210a,b) and ng-eNBs (e.g., 220a, b) that are interconnected with each other via respective Xn interfaces. An ng-eNB is similar to a fourth generation (4G) Long-Term Evolution (LTE) eNB, except that it supports the Xn and NG interfaces rather than corresponding X2 and SI interfaces.

[0010] The gNBs and ng-eNBs are also connected via the NG interfaces to the 5GC, more specifically to AMFs ( e.g, 230a, b) via respective NG-C interfaces and to UPFs (e.g., 240a, b) via respective NG-U interfaces. Moreover, the AMFs can communicate with one or more policy control functions (PCFs, e.g., 250a, b) and network exposure functions (NEFs, e.g., 260a, b).

[0011] Each of the gNBs can support the 5GNew Radio (NR) radio interface including frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), or a combination thereof. Each of the gNBs can serve a geographic coverage area including one or more cells (e.g., 21 la-b) and, in some cases, can also use various directional beams to provide coverage in the respective cells. In general, a DL “beam” is a coverage area of a network-transmitted reference signal (RS) that may be measured or monitored by a UE. Each of ng-eNBs can support the 4G / LTE radio interface in a coverage area including one or more cells (e.g., 221a-b). Depending on the cell in which it is located, a UE (e.g., 205) can communicate with the gNB or ng-eNB serving that cell via the NR or LTE radio interface, respectively. Although Figure 2 shows gNBs and ng-eNBs separately, it is also possible that a single NG-RAN node provides both LTE and NR functionality.

[0012] To support communication from UE to RAN, a UE reports status of its buffers containing data awaiting UL transmission to the RAN. The UE reports this information in a medium access control (MAC) message called a buffer status report (BSR). The following BSR formats are used by UEs depending on various factors:

[0013] • Short BSR format (fixed size),

[0014] • Short Truncated BSR format (fixed size),

[0015] • Long Truncated BSR format (variable size), and

[0016] • Long BSR format (variable size).

[0017] After receiving a BSR, a RAN node can adjust scheduling of UE UL transmissions accordingly.

[0018] Extended Reality (XR) and cloud gaming are some of the most important 5G media applications under consideration. XR is an umbrella term that refers to all real-and-virtual combined environments and human-machine interactions generated by computer technology and wearables. It includes exemplary forms such as Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), and Virtual Reality (VR), as well as various other types that span or sit between these examples. In the following, the term “XR” also refers to cloud gaming and related applications. In general, XR services require relatively high throughput (e.g., bit rates) and a latency that is relatively low and bounded, compared to certain other services. 3 GPP Rel-17 included a study item on XR Evaluations for NR, with the main objectives being to identify the traffic model for each application of interest, the evaluation methodology and the key performance indicators of interest for relevant deployment scenarios, and to carry out performance evaluations to investigate possible standardization enhancements in follow-up study or work items in Rel-18.

[0019] SUMMARY

[0020] A 3GPP Rel-18 work item (WI) for XR introduced a new buffer status report (BSR) called Refined BSR, which is an enhancement to conventional BSRs used in earlier 3GPP releases. For example, Refined Long BSR format is an enhanced version of the conventional Long BSR format. One aspect of Refined BSR is the use of multiple tables with that map different buffer sizes to BSR indicator bits. With respect to Refined Long BSR, however, there are some problems, issues, and / or difficulties with specified conditions under which this format is selected by a UE.

[0021] An object of embodiments of the present disclosure is to improve buffer status reporting for UL packets, thereby providing, enabling, and / or facilitating solutions to exemplary problems summarized above and described in more detail below.

[0022] Some embodiments include methods (e.g., procedures) for a UE configured to transmit application data to a RAN node (e.g., gNB).

[0023] These exemplary methods include buffering data generated by an application hosted by the UE. The buffered data is associated with a single logical channel group (LCG). These exemplary methods also include selecting one of the following buffer status report (BSR) formats:

[0024] • a first BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and an amount of the buffered data for the LCG is within a reporting range of one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format;

[0025] • a second BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a first relation to the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format; and

[0026] • a third BSR format, when at least one of the following criteria apply: the first BSR format is not allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG, and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a second relation to the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format.

[0027] These exemplary methods also include transmitting a BSR to the RAN node in accordance with the selected BSR format. The BSR indicates the amount of buffered data for the LCG. Other embodiments include exemplary methods (e.g., procedures) for a RAN node e.g., gNB) configured to receive application data from a UE. These embodiments are generally complementary to UE embodiments summarized above.

[0028] These exemplary methods include receiving from the UE a BSR pertaining to buffered data generated by an application hosted by the UE. The buffered data is associated with an LCG. The received BSR has one of the following formats:

[0029] • a first BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and an amount of the buffered data for the LCG is less than or equal to a reporting range of one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format;

[0030] • a second BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a first relation to the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format; and

[0031] • a third BSR format, when at least one of the following criteria apply: the first BSR format is not allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG, and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a second relation to the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format.

[0032] The following applies to both UE and RAN node embodiments summarized above. In some embodiments, the first BSR format is a Refined Long BSR format, the second BSR format is a Long BSR format, and the third BSR format is a Short BSR format. In some embodiments, a buffer size table used for the third BSR format has a lesser reporting range than a buffer size table used for the second BSR format.

[0033] In some embodiments, the first relation is that the amount of the buffered data for the LCG is not within the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format, the second relation is that the buffered data for the LCG is not within the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format, and the received BSR has the third BSR format when both of the criteria apply.

[0034] In other embodiments, the first relation is that the amount of the buffered data for the LCG is greater than the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format, the second relation is that the buffered data for the LCG is less than the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format, and the received BSR has the third BSR format when either or both of the criteria apply.

[0035] In some embodiments, the RAN node sends and / or the UE receives an indication of whether the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG. In some of these embodiments, the BSR is a MAC CE and the indication is an additionalBSR-TableAllowed field in an RRC message. In some embodiments, the LCG is one of a plurality of LCGs configured for the UE, and other LCGs of the plurality of LCGs have no buffered data to report. In some embodiments, the application is an extended reality (XR) application and the data generated by the application has a bounded latency requirement.

[0036] Other embodiments and variants of the exemplary methods summarized above are described herein.

[0037] Other embodiments include UEs (e.g., wireless devices) and RAN nodes (e.g., base stations, eNBs, gNBs, ng-eNBs, etc., or components thereof) configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the exemplary methods described herein. Other embodiments include non-transitory, computer-readable media storing program instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, configure such UEs or RAN nodes to perform operations corresponding to any of the exemplary methods described herein.

[0038] These and other embodiments described herein embodiments may provide a RAN with more accurate buffer size information in scenarios where a single LCG has a large amount of buffered UL data to report, such as for XR services. In this manner, embodiments may avoid ambiguous, incorrect, and / or unnecessary BSRs in this scenario. At a high level, embodiments may facilitate and / or improve delivery of XR services via wireless networks (e.g., RANs).

[0039] These and other objects, features, and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent upon reading the following Detailed Description in view of the Drawings briefly described below.

[0040] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] Figures 1-2 illustrate two high-level views of an exemplary 5G network architecture.

[0042] Figure 3 shows an exemplary configuration of NR user plane (UP) and control plane (CP) protocol stacks.

[0043] Figure 4 illustrates a comparison of various characteristics or requirements between Extended Reality (XR) and other 5G applications.

[0044] Figure 5 shows an example of frame latency measured over a RAN (e.g., NG-RAN).

[0045] Figure 6 shows exemplary cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) for the number of transport blocks (TBs) on the NR PHY required to deliver video frames of various sizes.

[0046] Figure 7 shows a comparison of arrival times between XR, voice-over-IP (VoIP), and web browsing traffic.

[0047] Figures 8A-B and 9 show three exemplary buffer status report (BSR) formats.

[0048] Figure 10 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method for a UE (e.g., wireless device), according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 11 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method for a RAN node (e.g., base station, eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc.), according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0049] Figure 12 shows a communication system according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0050] Figure 13 shows a UE according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0051] Figure 14 shows a network node according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0052] Figure 15 is a block diagram of a virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments of the present disclosure may be virtualized.

[0053] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0054] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments, however, are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0055] In general, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning to a person of ordinary skill in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is expressly defined and / or implied from the context of use. All references to a / an / the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise or clearly implied from the context of use. The operations of any methods and / or procedures disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless an operation is explicitly described as following or preceding another operation and / or where it is implicit that an operation must follow or precede another operation. Any feature of any embodiment disclosed herein can apply to any other disclosed embodiment, as appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any embodiment described herein can apply to any other disclosed embodiment, as appropriate.

[0056] Furthermore, the following terms are used throughout the description given below:

[0057] • Radio Access Node: As used herein, a “radio access node” (or equivalently “radio network node,” “radio access network node,” or “RAN node”) can be any node in a radio access network (RAN) that operates to wirelessly transmit and / or receive signals. Some examples of a radio access node include, but are not limited to, a base station (e.g., gNB in a 3 GPP 5G / NR network or an enhanced or eNB in a 3GPP LTE network), base station distributed components (e.g., CU and DU), a high-power or macro base station, a low-power base station (e.g., micro, pico, femto, or home base station, or the like), an integrated access backhaul (IAB) node, a transmission point (TP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a remote radio unit (RRU or RRH), and a relay node.

[0058] • Core Network Node: As used herein, a “core network node” is any type of node in a core network. Some examples of a core network node include, e.g., a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a serving gateway (SGW), a PDN Gateway (P-GW), a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF), an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a user plane function (UPF), a Charging Function (CHF), a Policy Control Function (PCF), an Authentication Server Function (AUSF), a location management function (LMF), or the like.

[0059] • Wireless Device: As used herein, a “wireless device” (or “WD” for short) is any type of device that is capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other wireless devices. Communicating wirelessly can involve transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information through air. Unless otherwise noted, the term “wireless device” is used interchangeably herein with the term “user equipment” (or “UE” for short), with both of these terms having a different meaning than the term “network node”.

[0060] • Radio Node: As used herein, a “radio node” can be either a “radio access node” (or equivalent term) or a “wireless device.”

[0061] • Network Node: As used herein, a “network node” is any node that is either part of the radio access network (e.g., a radio access node or equivalent term) or of the core network (e.g., a core network node discussed above) of a cellular communications network. Functionally, a network node is equipment capable, configured, arranged, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the cellular communications network, to enable and / or provide wireless access to the wireless device, and / or to perform other functions (e.g., administration) in the cellular communications network.

[0062] • Node: As used herein, the term “node” (without prefix) can be any type of node that can in or with a wireless network (including RAN and / or core network), including a radio access node (or equivalent term), core network node, or wireless device. However, the term “node” may be limited to a particular type (e.g., radio access node, IAB node) based on its specific characteristics in any given context.

[0063] The above definitions are not meant to be exclusive. In other words, various ones of the above terms may be explained and / or described elsewhere in the present disclosure using the same or similar terminology. Nevertheless, to the extent that such other explanations and / or descriptions conflict with the above definitions, the above definitions should control.

[0064] Note that the description given herein focuses on a 3 GPP cellular communications system and, as such, 3GPP terminology or terminology similar to 3GPP terminology is oftentimes used. However, the concepts disclosed herein are not limited to a 3GPP system and can be applied to any communication system that may benefit from them.

[0065] 5G / NR technology shares some similarities with fourth-generation LTE. For example, NR uses CP-OFDM (Cyclic Prefix Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) in the DL and both CP-OFDM and DFT-spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM) in the UL. As another example, in the time domain, NR DL and UL physical resources are organized into equal-sized 1-ms subframes. A subframe is further divided into multiple slots of equal duration, with each slot including multiple OFDM-based symbols. An NR slot can include 14 OFDM symbols for normal cyclic prefix and 12 symbols for extended cyclic prefix. A resource block (RB) consists of a group of 12 contiguous OFDM subcarriers for a duration of a 12- or 14-symbol slot. A resource element (RE) corresponds to one OFDM subcarrier during one OFDM symbol interval.

[0066] Figure 3 shows an exemplary configuration of NR user plane (UP) and control plane (CP) protocol stacks between a UE (310), a gNB (320), and an AMF (330), such as those shown in Figures 1-2. The Physical (PHY), Medium Access Control (MAC), Radio Link Control (RLC), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layers between the UE and the gNB are common to UP and CP. PDCP provides ciphering / deciphering, integrity protection, sequence numbering, reordering, and duplicate detection for both CP and UP. In addition, PDCP provides header compression and retransmission for UP data.

[0067] On the UP side, Internet protocol (IP) packets arrive to PDCP as service data units (SDUs), and PDCP creates protocol data units (PDUs) to deliver to RLC. The Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer handles quality-of-service (QoS) including mapping between QoS flows and Data Radio Bearers (DRBs) and marking QoS flow identifiers (QFI) in UL and DL packets.

[0068] When each IP packet arrives, PDCP starts a discard timer. When this timer expires, PDCP discards the associated SDU and the corresponding PDU. If the PDU was delivered to RLC, PDCP also indicates the discard to RLC. The RLC layer transfers PDCP PDUs to the MAC through logical channels (LCH). RLC provides error detection / correction, concatenation, segmentation / reassembly, sequence numbering, reordering of data transferred to / from the upper layers. If RLC receives a discard indication from associated with a PDCP PDU, it will discard the corresponding RLC SDU (or any segment thereof) if it has not been sent to lower layers.

[0069] MAC provides mapping between LCHs and PHY transport channels, LCH prioritization, multiplexing into or demultiplexing from transport blocks (TBs), hybrid ARQ (HARQ) error correction, and dynamic scheduling (in gNB). PHY provides transport channel services to MAC and handles transfer over the NR radio interface, e.g., via modulation, coding, antenna mapping, and beam forming.

[0070] On the CP side, the non-access stratum (NAS) layer between UE and AMF handles UE / gNB authentication, mobility management, and security control. RRC sits below NAS in the UE but terminates in the gNB rather than the AMF. RRC controls communications between UE and gNB at the radio interface as well as the mobility of a UE between cells in the NG-RAN. RRC also broadcasts system information (SI) and performs establishment, configuration, maintenance, and release of DRBs and Signaling Radio Bearers (SRBs) and used by UEs. Additionally, RRC controls addition, modification, and release of carrier aggregation (CA) and dual -connectivity (DC) configurations for UEs, and performs various security functions such as key management.

[0071] After a UE is powered ON it will be in the RRC IDLE state until an RRC connection is established with the network, at which time the UE will transition to RRC CONNECTED state (e.g., where data transfer can occur). The UE returns to RRC IDLE after the connection with the network is released. In RRC IDLE state, the UE’s radio is active on a discontinuous reception (DRX) schedule configured by upper layers. During DRX active periods (also referred to as “DRX On durations”), an RRC IDLE UE receives SI broadcast in the cell where the UE is camping, performs measurements of neighbor cells to support cell reselection, and monitors a paging channel on PDCCH for pages from 5GC via gNB. An NR UE in RRC IDLE state is not known to the gNB serving the cell where the UE is camping. However, NR RRC includes an RRC_INACTIVE state in which a UE is known (e.g., via UE context) by the serving gNB. RRC INACTIVE has some properties similar to a “suspended” condition used in LTE.

[0072] In general, extended reality (XR) refers to all real-and-virtual combined environments and human-machine interactions generated by computer technology and wearables. It is an umbrella term for different environment types including Virtual reality (VR), Augmented reality (AR), Mixed reality (MR), and environment types lying between these. The levels of virtuality range from partially sensory inputs to fully immersive VR.

[0073] 5G / NR is designed to support applications demanding high rate and low latency in line with the requirements for supporting XR and cloud gaming applications. 3 GPP Rel-17 includes a study item (SI) on XR Evaluations for NR. The main objectives are to identify the traffic model for each application of interest and the evaluation methodology and the key performance indicators of interest for relevant deployment scenarios, and to carry out performance evaluations accordingly in order to investigate possible standardization enhancements in potential follow-up SI or work item (WI). Edge Computing (EC) can be a network architecture enabler for XR. In general, EC facilitates deployment of cloud computing capabilities and service environments close to the cellular radio access network (RAN). It can provide benefits such as lower latency and higher bandwidth for user-plane (UP, e.g., data) traffic, as well as reduced backhaul traffic to the 5G core network (5GC). 3GPP is also studying prospects for several new services on application architecture for enabling Edge Applications, as further described in 3GPP TR 23.758 (vl7.0.0).

[0074] Figure 4 illustrates a high-level comparison of various characteristics requirements for XR and other 5G applications. In particular, Figure 4 shows a comparison of latency, reliability, and data rate requirements for URLLC, streaming, and EC-based XR. While URLLC services have extreme requirements of 1-ms latency and of 10'5, EC-based XR can have relaxed requirements of 5-10 ms latency and 10'4reliability. However, XR services can require a much higher bite rate than either URLLC or streaming, (e.g., due to codec inefficiency). XR traffic can also be very dynamic, e.g., due to eye / viewport tracking.

[0075] XR requires bounded latency but not necessarily ultra-low latency. However, the end-to- end latency (or packet delay) budget (e.g., 20-80 ms) must be distributed over several components including application processing latency, transport latency, radio link latency, etc. For these applications, short transmission time intervals (TTIs) or mini slots may not be effective.

[0076] In general, XR traffic is relatively periodic in arrival time but average data rate requirement and dominant transmission direction (e.g., UL or DL) is dependent on the particular XR-related service. Table 2 below gives an exemplary characterization of XR services by data rate (or throughput) requirements and dominant transmission direction.

[0077] Table 2.

[0078] Figure 5 shows an example of frame latency measured over a radio access network (RAN, e.g., NG-RAN), excluding latencies of application and core network (CN, e.g., 5GC). This measured RAN latency is highly variable across three different users (i.e., 1-3) and time (i.e., 0- 1.6 s), with some spikes as high as 30 ms. The sources for the latency spikes may include queuing delay, time-varying radio environments, time-varying frame sizes, etc. Techniques that can mitigate, reduce, and / or eliminate such latency spikes are beneficial to NG-RAN support for XR traffic requiring bounded and / or predictable latency.

[0079] As briefly mentioned above, XR applications typically require high data rates. This is due to both high frame refresh rates and large video frame sizes that may range from tens to hundreds of kilobytes (kB). As a concrete example, a frame size of 100 kB and a frame refresh rate of 120 Hz can lead to a data rate requirement of 95.8 Mb / s.

[0080] Large video frames are usually fragmented into smaller IP packets and transmitted as several transport blocks (TBs) over several TTIs in RAN. Figure 6 shows exemplary cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) for the number of transport blocks (TBs) on the NR PHY required to deliver a video frame of size ranging from 20 to 300 kB. For example, Figure 6 shows that for video frames of size 200 kB, the median number of TBs is 5 but in ~5% of the cases, 15 or more TBs are required to deliver a 200-kB video frame. A 1-ms TTI and 100-MHz carrier bandwidth is assumed in Figure 6.

[0081] Figure 7 shows a comparison of arrival times between XR, voice-over-IP (VoIP), and web browsing traffic. The characteristics of XR traffic arrival time is quasi-periodic and generally predictable. This is similar to VoIP but different than web browsing, in which arrival is very unpredictable. However, the size of XR traffic (e.g., video frames) is much larger than VoIP traffic and can vary across arrivals due to dynamics of content and human motion. As such, XR traffic shares some characteristics with web browsing traffic.

[0082] As briefly mentioned above, a UE reports the status of its buffers containing data waiting for UL transmission to the RAN. The UE reports this information in a MAC -layer control element (CE) called a buffer status report (BSR). The following BSR formats are used by UEs depending on various factors:

[0083] • Short BSR format (fixed size),

[0084] • Short Truncated BSR format (fixed size),

[0085] • Long Truncated BSR format (variable size), and

[0086] • Long BSR format (variable size).

[0087] After receiving a BSR, a RAN node can adjust scheduling of UE UL transmissions accordingly.

[0088] Figure 8 A shows the format used for short and short truncated BSRs. This format includes a single octet carrying three (3) bits indicating a logical channel group (LCG) ID for which data is buffered, and five (5) bits indicating a size of the data buffered for the LCG ID.

[0089] Figure 8B shows the format used for long and long truncated BSRs. This format includes one octet (Oct 1) that includes a bitmap in which each bit maps to a particular LCG ID, and multiple octets (2 to m+1) indicating sizes of buffered data for various LCG IDs. A bit value of “1” indicates that buffered data for the corresponding LCG ID is reported in one of octets 2 to m+1, while a bit value of “0” indicates that buffered data for the corresponding LCG ID is not reported. There are three (3) types of BSRs: regular, periodic, and padding. A regular BSR is triggered if UL data, for a logical channel which belongs to an LCG, becomes available to the MAC entity and one of the following is true:

[0090] • this UL data belongs to a logical channel with higher priority than the priority of any logical channel containing available UL data which belong to any LCG; or

[0091] • none of the logical channels which belong to an LCG contains any available UL data.

[0092] When more than one LCG has data available for transmission, the UE uses the long BSR format and reports all LCGs which have data. In contrast, a UE uses short BSR format when only one LCG has data available for transmission.

[0093] Periodic BSR is configured by the RAN (e.g., serving gNB), including a reporting period. Similar to regular BSR, when more than one LCG has data available for transmission, the UE uses the long BSR format and reports all LCGs which have data. In contrast, a UE uses short BSR format when only one LCG has data available for transmission.

[0094] Padding BSR is an opportunistic method for the UE to provide buffer status information to the RAN when a MAC-layer PDU contains a number of padding (i.e., non-data) bits equal or larger than one of the BSR formats. In this case, the UE replaces the padding bits with a padding BSR having a format that corresponds to (i.e., is no larger than) the number of padding bits. Note that one MAC PDU can contain no more than one BSR MAC CE.

[0095] Additionally, the padding BSR format depends on the number of logical channels that have data available for transmissions. When more than one LCG has data for transmission, the padding BSR uses a short truncated, long, or long truncated BSR format, depending on the number of available padding bits. When only one LCG has data for transmission, the padding BSR uses the short BSR format.

[0096] An application protocol data unit (PDU, e.g. a video frame) may be divided into multiple lower-layer packets, such as IP packets. All IP packets associated with a single application PDU are referred to as a “PDU set.” More specifically, 3GPP TR 23.700-60 (vl 8.0.0) specifies that a “PDU set” is composed of one or more PDUs carrying the payload of one unit of information generated at the application level (e.g. a frame or video slice for XRM Services, as used in 3GPP TR 26.926 (vl9.1.0). In some cases, all PDUs in a PDU set are needed by the application in order to use the corresponding information unit. In other cases, the application can still recover all or part of the information unit, even when one or more of the PDUs of the PDU set are missing.

[0097] 3 GPP has previously agreed that each PDU set may be assigned a PDU set importance (PSI) indicator whose value corresponds to level of importance of a PDU set within a quality-of- service (QoS) flow associated with an application. In other words, PSI indicates how useful the PDU set is for the application, with low importance PDU sets be more amenable to discard by the network than high importance PDU sets, which should be retained.

[0098] A 3 GPP Rel-18 work item (WI) for XR introduced a new buffer status reporting format called Refined BSR, which is an enhancement to legacy BSR and uses the same handling as the legacy reporting options discussed above. Figure 9 shows an example Refined Long BSR format. Similar to Figure 8B, octet 1 includes a bitmap in which each bit maps to a particular LCG ID, while octets 3 to m+2 indicating sizes of buffered data for various LCG IDs. A bit value of “1” in octet 1 indicates that buffered data for the corresponding LCG ID is reported in one of octets 3 to m+2, while a bit value of “0” indicates that buffered data for the corresponding LCG ID is not reported.

[0099] In addition, octet 2 in Figure 9 includes a bitmap in which each bit maps to a particular LCG ID. A bit value of “1” in octet 2 indicates that the buffer sizes specified in a first table (e.g., for legacy long format) of 3GPP TS 38.321 are used to set the value of the Buffer Size field for the corresponding LCG ID, while a bit value of “0” in octet 2 indicates that the buffer sizes specified in a second table (e.g., for refined long format) of 3GPP TS 38.321 are used to set the value of the Buffer Size field for the corresponding LCG ID. The first and second tables may be identified in specification text. Put more simply, each bit in octet 2 points to a buffer size table used to map sizes of buffered data to the buffer size bit field of the corresponding LCG ID in one of octets 3 to m+2.

[0100] The following text from 3GPP TS 38.321 (vl8.0.0) section 5.4.5 specifies some conditions under which a UE chooses between a Long BSR, a Refined Long BSR, and a Short BSR: *** Begin 3GPP TS 38.321 text ***

[0101] 1> if for at least one LCG configured with additionalBSR-Table Allowed, the amount of UL data available for transmission is within the buffer sizes specified in Table 6.1.3.1-3: 2> report Refined Long BSR for all LCGs which have data available for transmission;

[0102] 1> else:

[0103] 2> if more than one LCG has data available for transmission when the MAC PDU containing the BSR is to be built:

[0104] 3>report Long BSR for all LCGs which have data available for transmission.

[0105] 2> else:

[0106] 3 > report Short BSR.

[0107] *** End 3GPP TS 38.321 text ***

[0108] To summarize the above procedural text, when an LCG with buffered (i.e., UL) data is configured with the field additionalBSR-Table Allowed, this indicates that Refined Long BSR format is allowed for reporting buffer size for that LCG. More specifically, when allowed, the UE selects Refined Long BSR format when the amount of buffered data for the LCG is within the range of the buffer size table used for Refined Long BSR. When the amount of buffered data for the LCG is not within the range of the buffer size table used for Refined Long BSR, the UE selects Short BSR format when only one LCG needs to be reported and Long BSR format otherwise.

[0109] However, this selection logic does not properly address the scenario of the amount of buffered data for the LCG being greater than the range of the buffer size table used for Refined Long BSR. In this scenario, when only one LCG has data, the UE will select Short BSR format, which has a six-bit field for buffer size compared to the eight-bit field for buffer size used in Long and Refined Long BSR format. As such, Short BSR format has a lower buffer size reporting range than Refined Long BSR format, so selecting Short BSR format when the amount of buffered data is too much for Refined Long BSR can cause the UE to provide inaccurate and / or incorrect buffer size information to its serving RAN node.

[0110] Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure provide flexible and efficient techniques for a UE to select a Long BSR format when only one LCG has buffered data and the amount of buffered data for the LCG is greater than the range of the buffer size table used for Refined Long BSR.

[0111] Embodiments may provide various benefits and / or advantages. For example, embodiments may provide the RAN with more accurate buffer size information in scenarios where a single LCG has a large amount of buffered data to report, such as for XR services. In this manner, embodiments may avoid ambiguous, incorrect, and / or unnecessary BSRs in this scenario. At a high level, embodiments may facilitate delivery of XR services via wireless networks (e.g., RANs).

[0112] Some embodiments can be based on procedural text in a 3 GPP specification. The following provides exemplary procedural text for 3GPP TS 38.321, with underline indicating text added to version 18.0.0 and strikethrough indicating text deleted from version 18.0.0.

[0113] *** Begin 3GPP TS 38.321 text ***

[0114] 1> if for at least one LCG configured with additionalBSR-TableAllowed, the amount of UL data available for transmission is within the buffer sizes specified in Table 6.1.3.1-3: 2> report Refined Long BSR for all LCGs which have data available for transmission;

[0115] 1> else:

[0116] 2> if more than one LCG has data available for transmission when the MAC PDU containing the BSR is to be built:

[0117] 3>report Long BSR for all LCGs which have data available for transmission.

[0118] 2> else:

[0119] 3>if the LCG is configured with additionalBSR-TableAllowed: 4>report Long BSR.

[0120] 3>else:

[0121] 44 >report Short BSR.

[0122] *** End 3GPP TS 38.321 text ***

[0123] To summarize the above procedural text, when the following conditions exist:

[0124] • a single LCG has buffered UL data to report,

[0125] • the LCG is configured with the field additionalBSR-TableAllowed indicating that Refined Long BSR format can be used,

[0126] • the amount of buffered UL data for the LCG is not within a reporting range of the buffer size table used for Refined Long BSR, the UE selects Long BSR format instead of Short BSR format, as done conventionally. On the other hand, when a single LCG has buffered UL data to report and the LCG is not configured with the field additionalBSR-TableAllowed, the UE selects Short BSR format.

[0127] The above procedural text may be implemented by a UE as an algorithm using any appropriate combination of hardware and software, such as UE hardware and software described in relation to other figures herein.

[0128] These embodiments can be expressed more generally in the context of a UE configured to transmit application data to a RAN node. The UE buffers data generated by an application hosted by the UE. The buffered data comprises a plurality of sets of protocol data units (PDUs), and each buffered PDU set is associated with a logical channel group (LCG). When the following conditions exist:

[0129] • a single LCG has buffered UL data to report,

[0130] • the LCG is configured such that reporting the buffered UL data via a first buffer status report (BSR) format is allowed, and

[0131] • the amount of buffered UL data for the LCG is not within a reporting range of the first BSR format, the UE selects a second BSR format. On the other hand, when the following conditions exist:

[0132] • the single LCG has buffered UL data to report,

[0133] • the LCG is configured such that reporting the buffered UL data via the first BSR format is not allowed, and

[0134] • the amount of buffered UL data for the LCG is not within a reporting range of the first BSR format, the UE selects a third BSR format, which has a lesser reporting range than the second BSR format. In contrast, the UE selects the first BSR format when the following conditions exist: • a single LCG has buffered UL data to report,

[0135] • the LCG is configured such that reporting the buffered UL data via a first BSR format is not allowed, and

[0136] • the amount of buffered UL data for the LCG is within a reporting range of the first BSR format.

[0137] In other embodiments, the UE’s selection of the second BSR format can be based on the following conditions:

[0138] • a single LCG has buffered UL data to report,

[0139] • the LCG is configured such that reporting the buffered UL data via a first buffer status report (BSR) format is allowed, and

[0140] • the amount of buffered UL data for the LCG is greater than a reporting range of the first BSR format.

[0141] On the other hand, the UE selects the third BSR format when the single LCG has buffered UL data to report and either of the following conditions exists:

[0142] • the LCG is configured such that reporting the buffered UL data via the first BSR format is not allowed, or

[0143] • the amount of buffered UL data for the LCG is less than a reporting range of the first BSR format.

[0144] These embodiments can also be specified as procedural text in a 3GPP specification. The following provides exemplary procedural text for 3GPP TS 38.321, with underline indicating text added to version 18.0.0 and strikethrough indicating text deleted from version 18.0.0.

[0145] *** Begin 3GPP TS 38.321 text ***

[0146] 1> if for at least one LCG configured with additionalBSR-Table Allowed, the amount of UL data available for transmission is within the buffer sizes specified in Table 6.1.3.1-3: 2> report Refined Long BSR for all LCGs which have data available for transmission;

[0147] 1> else:

[0148] 2> if more than one LCG has data available for transmission when the MAC PDU containing the BSR is to be built:

[0149] 3>report Long BSR for all LCGs which have data available for transmission.

[0150] 2> else:

[0151] 3>if the LCG is configured with additional SR-Table Allowed and the amount of UL data available for transmission is greater than the buffer sizes specified in Table 6, 1,3, 1-3:

[0152] 4>report Long BSR.

[0153] 3>else: 3^L>report Short BSR.

[0154] *** End 3GPP TS 38.321 text ***

[0155] The above procedural text may be implemented by a UE as an algorithm using any appropriate combination of hardware and software, such as UE hardware and software described in relation to other figures herein.

[0156] Various features of the embodiments described above correspond to various operations illustrated in Figures 10-11, which show exemplary methods (e.g., procedures) for a UE and a RAN node, respectively. In other words, various features of the operations described below correspond to various embodiments described above. Furthermore, the exemplary methods shown in Figures 10-11 can be used cooperatively to provide various benefits, advantages, and / or solutions to problems described herein. Although Figures 10-11 show specific blocks in particular orders, the operations of the exemplary methods can be performed in different orders than shown and can be combined and / or divided into blocks having different functionality than shown. Optional blocks or operations are indicated by dashed lines.

[0157] In particular, Figure 10 shows an exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for a UE configured to transmit application data to a RAN node, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The exemplary method can be performed by a UE (e.g., wireless device, loT device, etc.) such as described elsewhere herein.

[0158] The exemplary method includes the operations of block 1020, where the UE buffers data generated by an application hosted by the UE. The buffered data is associated with a single logical channel group (LCG). The exemplary method also includes the operations of block 1030, where the UE selects one of the following buffer status report (BSR) formats:

[0159] • a first BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and an amount of the buffered data (also referred to as “buffer size”) for the LCG is within a reporting range of one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format;

[0160] • a second BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a first relation to the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format; and

[0161] • a third BSR format, when at least one of the following criteria apply: the first BSR format is not allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG, and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a second relation to the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format; and

[0162] The exemplary method also includes the operations of block 1040, where the UE transmits a BSR to the RAN node in accordance with the selected BSR format. The BSR indicates the amount of buffered data for the LCG. In some embodiments, the first BSR format is a Refined Long BSR format, the second BSR format is a Long BSR format, and the third BSR format is a Short BSR format. In some embodiments, a buffer size table used for the third BSR format has a lesser reporting range than a buffer size table used for the second BSR format.

[0163] In some embodiments, the first relation is that the amount of the buffered data for the LCG is not within the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format, the second relation is that the buffered data for the LCG is not within the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format, and the third BSR format is selected when both of the criteria apply. An example of these embodiments was discussed above.

[0164] In other embodiments, the first relation is that the amount of the buffered data for the LCG is greater than the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format, the second relation is that the buffered data for the LCG is less than the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format, and the third BSR format is selected when either or both of the criteria apply. An example of these embodiments was discussed above.

[0165] In some embodiments, the exemplary method also includes the operations of block 1010, where the UE receives from the RAN node an indication of whether the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG. In some of these embodiments, the BSR is a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) and the indication is an additionalBSR- TableAllowed field in a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0166] In some embodiments, the first BSR format includes the following:

[0167] • a first octet of bits, wherein a first bit in the first octet indicates the LCG;

[0168] • a third octet, which indicates the amount of the buffered data for the LCG; and

[0169] • a second octet of bits, wherein a first bit in the second octet indicates one of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first format, wherein the indicated buffer size table maps amounts of buffered data for the LCG to respective values of the third octet.

[0170] Figure 9 shows an example of these embodiments. In some of these embodiments, first and second values of the first bit in the second octet indicate respective first and second buffer size tables with respective first and second reporting ranges, and the second BSR format is selected when the amount of the buffered data for the LCG is greater than the larger of the first and second reporting ranges.

[0171] In some embodiments, the exemplary method also includes the operations of blocks 1050- 1060, wherein in response to the BSR in block 1040, the UE receives from the RAN node a grant of uplink resources and transmits at least a portion of the buffered data to the RAN node, using the granted uplink resources. In some embodiments, the buffered data comprises a plurality of sets of protocol data units (PDUs), and each buffered PDU set is associated with the LCG. In some embodiments, the LCG is one of a plurality of LCGs configured for the UE, and other LCGs of the plurality of LCGs have no buffered data to report.

[0172] In some embodiments, the application is an extended reality (XR) application and the data generated by the application has a bounded latency requirement.

[0173] In addition, Figure 11 shows an exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for a RAN node configured to receive application data from a UE, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The exemplary method can be performed by a RAN node (e.g., base station, eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc., or component thereof) such as described elsewhere herein.

[0174] The exemplary method includes the operations of block 1120, where the RAN node receives from the UE a BSR pertaining to buffered data generated by an application hosted by the UE. The buffered data is associated with an LCG. The received BSR has one of the following formats:

[0175] • a first BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and an amount of the buffered data (or buffer size) for the LCG is less than or equal to a reporting range of one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format;

[0176] • a second BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a first relation to the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format; and

[0177] • a third BSR format, when at least one of the following criteria apply: the first BSR format is not allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG, and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a second relation to the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format.

[0178] In some embodiments, the first BSR format is a Refined Long BSR format, the second BSR format is a Long BSR format, and the third BSR format is a Short BSR format. In some embodiments, a buffer size table used for the third BSR format has a lesser reporting range than a buffer size table used for the second BSR format.

[0179] In some embodiments, the first relation is that the amount of the buffered data for the LCG is not within the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format, the second relation is that the buffered data for the LCG is not within the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format, and the received BSR has the third BSR format when both of the criteria apply. An example of these embodiments was discussed above. In other embodiments, the first relation is that the amount of the buffered data for the LCG is greater than the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format, the second relation is that the buffered data for the LCG is less than the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format, and the received BSR has the third BSR format when either or both of the criteria apply. An example of these embodiments was discussed above.

[0180] In some embodiments, the exemplary method also includes the operations of block 1110, where the RAN node sends to the UE an indication of whether the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG. In some of these embodiments, the BSR is a MAC CE and the indication is an additionalBSR-Table Allowed field in an RRC message.

[0181] In some embodiments, the first BSR format includes the following:

[0182] • a first octet of bits, wherein a first bit in the first octet indicates the LCG;

[0183] • a third octet, which indicates the amount of the buffered data for the LCG;

[0184] • a second octet of bits, wherein a first bit in the second octet indicates one of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first format, wherein the indicated buffer size table maps amounts of buffered data for the LCG to respective values of the third octet.

[0185] Figure 9 shows an example of these embodiments. In some of these embodiments, first and second values of the first bit in the second octet indicate respective first and second buffer size tables with respective first and second reporting ranges, and the received BSR has the second BSR format when the amount of the buffered data for the LCG is greater than the larger of the first and second reporting ranges.

[0186] In some embodiments, the exemplary method also includes the operations of blocks 1050- 1060, wherein in response to the BSR in block 1040, the UE receives from the RAN node a grant of uplink resources and transmits at least a portion of the buffered data to the RAN node, using the granted uplink resources.

[0187] In some embodiments, the buffered data comprises a plurality of sets of PDUs, and each buffered PDU set is associated with the LCG. In some embodiments, the LCG is one of a plurality of LCGs configured for the UE, and other LCGs of the plurality of LCGs have no buffered data to report.

[0188] In some embodiments, the application is an extended reality (XR) application and the data generated by the application has a bounded latency requirement.

[0189] Although various embodiments are described above in terms of methods, techniques, and / or procedures, the person of ordinary skill will readily comprehend that such methods, techniques, and / or procedures can be embodied by various combinations of hardware and software in various systems, communication devices, computing devices, control devices, apparatuses, non-transitory computer-readable media, computer program products, etc.

[0190] Figure 12 shows an example of a communication system 1200 in accordance with some embodiments. In this example, communication system 1200 includes a telecommunication network 1202 that includes an access network 1204 (e.g., RAN) and a core network 1206, which includes one or more core network nodes 1208. Access network 1204 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 1210a-b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 1210), or any other similar 3 GPP access nodes or non-3GPP access points. Moreover, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof.

[0191] For example, in some embodiments, telecommunication network 1202 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in telecommunication network 1202 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any node in telecommunication network 1202, including one or more network nodes 1210 and / or core network nodes 1208.

[0192] Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (O-RU), an open distributed unit (O-DU), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O-CU- CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an Al, Fl, Wl, El, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. Network nodes 1210 facilitate direct or indirect connection of UEs, such as by connecting UEs 1212a-d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 1212) to core network 1206 over one or more wireless connections.

[0193] Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, communication system 1200 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, 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. Communication system 1200 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0194] UEs 1212 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes 1210 and other communication devices. Similarly, network nodes 1210 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with UEs 1212 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in telecommunication network 1202 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in telecommunication network 1202.

[0195] In the depicted example, core network 1206 connects network nodes 1210 to one or more hosts, such as host 1216. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. Core network 1206 includes one or more core network nodes (e.g., 1208) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of core network node 1208. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0196] Host 1216 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of access network 1204 and / or telecommunication network 1202, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. Host 1216 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server. As a whole, communication system 1200 of Figure 12 enables connectivity between UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0197] In some examples, telecommunication network 1202 is a cellular network that implements 3 GPP standardized features. Accordingly, telecommunication network 1202 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to telecommunication network 1202. For example, telecommunication network 1202 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) / Massive loT services to yet further UEs.

[0198] In some examples, UEs 1212 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to access network 1204 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from access network 1204. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0199] In the example, hub 1214 communicates with access network 1204 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., 1212c and / or 1212d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 1210b). In some examples, hub 1214 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, hub 1214 may be a broadband router enabling access to core network 1206 for the UEs. As another example, hub 1214 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 1210, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in hub 1214. As another example, hub 1214 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, hub 1214 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, hub 1214 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which hub 1214 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, hub 1214 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0200] Hub 1214 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to network node 1210b. Hub 1214 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between hub 1214 and UEs (e.g., 1212c and / or 1212d), and between hub 1214 and core network 1206. In other examples, hub 1214 is connected to core network 1206 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, hub 1214 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over access network 1204 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with network nodes 1210 while still connected via hub 1214 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, hub 1214 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to network node 1210b. In other embodiments, hub 1214 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 1210b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0201] In some embodiments, UE 1212 can be configured to perform the exemplary method (e.g., procedure) shown in Figure 10, while network node 1210 can be configured to perform the exemplary method (e.g., procedure) shown in Figure 11.

[0202] Figure 13 shows a UE 1300 in accordance with some embodiments. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by 3 GPP, including a narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0203] A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific 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 which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0204] UE 1300 includes processing circuitry 1302 that is operatively coupled via bus 1304 to input / output interface 1306, power source 1308, memory 1310, communication interface 1312, and / or one or more other components not explicitly shown. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 13. The level of integration between the components may vary between UEs. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0205] Processing circuitry 1302 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in memory 1310. Processing circuitry 1302 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field- programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general -purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, processing circuitry 1302 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0206] In the example, input / output interface 1306 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into UE 1300. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device. In some embodiments, power source 1308 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. Power source 1308 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from power source 1308 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of UE 1300 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging power source 1308. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from power source 1308 to make the power suitable for the respective components of UE 1300 to which power is supplied.

[0207] Memory 1310 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, memory 1310 includes one or more application programs 1314, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 1316. Memory 1310 may store, for use by UE 1300, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0208] Memory 1310 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ Memory 1310 may allow UE 1300 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non- transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in memory 1310, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0209] Processing circuitry 1302 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using communication interface 1312. Communication interface 1312 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 1322. Communication interface 1312 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include transmitter 1318 and / or receiver 1320 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, transmitter 1318 and / or receiver 1320 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 1322) and may share circuit components, software, or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0210] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of communication interface 1312 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0211] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 1312, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0212] As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0213] A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to UE 1300 shown in Figure 13.

[0214] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE 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 UE and / or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3 GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0215] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0216] In some embodiments, UE 1300 can be configured to perform the exemplary method (e.g., procedure) shown in Figure 10.

[0217] Figure 14 shows a network node 1400 in accordance with some embodiments. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, eNBs, gNBs), and 0-RAN nodes or components of an 0-RAN node (e g., O-RU, O-DU, O-CU).

[0218] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node) and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0219] Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0220] Network node 1400 includes processing circuitry 1402, memory 1404, communication interface 1406, and power source 1408. Network node 1400 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which network node 1400 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, network node 1400 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 1404 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 1410 may be shared by different RATs). Network node 1400 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1400, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 1400.

[0221] Processing circuitry 1402 may comprise a combination of one or more 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 encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 1400 components, such as memory 1404, to provide network node 1400 functionality.

[0222] In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1402 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1402 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1412 and baseband processing circuitry 1414. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 1412 and / or baseband processing circuitry 1414 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1412 and / or baseband processing circuitry 1414 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0223] Memory 1404 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by processing circuitry 1402. Memory 1404 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions (collected denoted computer program 1404a, which may be in the form of a computer program product) capable of being executed by processing circuitry 1402 and utilized by network node 1400. Memory 1404 may be used to store any calculations made by processing circuitry 1402 and / or any data received via communication interface 1406. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1402 and memory 1404 is integrated.

[0224] Communication interface 1406 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between a network node, access network, and / or UE. As illustrated, communication interface 1406 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 1416 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. Communication interface 1406 also includes radio frontend circuitry 1418 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, antenna 1410. Radio front-end circuitry 1418 comprises filters 1420 and amplifiers 1422. Radio front-end circuitry 1418 may be connected to an antenna 1410 and processing circuitry 1402. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1410 and processing circuitry 1402. Radio front-end circuitry 1418 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. Radio front-end circuitry 1418 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1420 and / or amplifiers 1422. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 1410. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 1410 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front-end circuitry 1418. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 1402. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0225] In certain alternative embodiments, network node 1400 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 1418, instead, processing circuitry 1402 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to antenna 1410. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitry 1412 is part of communication interface 1406. In still other embodiments, communication interface 1406 includes one or more ports or terminals 1416, radio front-end circuitry 1418, and RF transceiver circuitry 1412, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and communication interface 1406 communicates with baseband processing circuitry 1414, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0226] Antenna 1410 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. Antenna 1410 may be coupled to radio front-end circuitry 1418 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, antenna 1410 is separate from network node 1400 and connectable to network node 1400 through an interface or port.

[0227] Antenna 1410, communication interface 1406, and / or processing circuitry 1402 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, antenna 1410, communication interface 1406, and / or processing circuitry 1402 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0228] Power source 1408 provides power to the various components of network node 1400 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). Power source 1408 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of network node 1400 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, network node 1400 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of power source 1408. As a further example, power source 1408 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail. Embodiments of network node 1400 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 14 for providing certain 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 1400 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into network node 1400 and to allow output of information from network node 1400. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node 1400.

[0229] In some embodiments, network node 1400 can be configured to perform the exemplary method (e.g., procedure) shown in Figure 11.

[0230] Figure 15 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1500 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 1500 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment 1500 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface.

[0231] Applications 1502 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment 1500 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein. For example, a virtual node 1502 can be configured to perform the exemplary method (e.g., procedure) shown in Figure 11.

[0232] Hardware 1504 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions (collected denoted computer program 1504a, which may be in the form of a computer program product) executable by hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input / output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 1506 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1508a and 1508b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 1508), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. Virtualization layer 1506 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 1508.

[0233] VMs 1508 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1506. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1502 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 1508, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

[0234] In the context of NFV, each VM 1508 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each VM 1508, and that part of hardware 1504 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 1508 on top of the hardware 1504 and corresponds to the application 1502.

[0235] Hardware 1504 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1504 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1504 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration function 1510, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1502. In some embodiments, hardware 1504 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 1512 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0236] The foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the disclosure. Various modifications and alterations to the described embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the teachings herein. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise numerous systems, arrangements, and procedures that, although not explicitly shown or described herein, embody the principles of the disclosure and can be thus within the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Various embodiments can be used together with one another, as well as interchangeably therewith, as should be understood by those having ordinary skill in the art.

[0237] The term unit, as used herein, can have conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices and / or electronic devices and can include, for example, electrical and / or electronic circuitry, devices, modules, processors, memories, logic solid state and / or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for carrying out respective tasks, procedures, computations, outputs, and / or displaying functions, and so on, as such as those that are described herein.

[0238] Any appropriate steps, methods, features, functions, or benefits disclosed herein may be performed through one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual apparatuses. Each virtual apparatus may comprise a number of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include Digital Signal Processor (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. 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 (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and / or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause the respective functional unit to perform corresponding functions according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0239] As described herein, device and / or apparatus can be represented by a semiconductor chip, a chipset, or a (hardware) module comprising such chip or chipset; this, however, does not exclude the possibility that a functionality of a device or apparatus, instead of being hardware implemented, be implemented as a software module such as a computer program or a computer program product comprising executable software code portions for execution or being run on a processor. Furthermore, functionality of a device or apparatus can be implemented by any combination of hardware and software. A device or apparatus can also be regarded as an assembly of multiple devices and / or apparatuses, whether functionally in cooperation with or independently of each other. Moreover, devices and apparatuses can be implemented in a distributed fashion throughout a system, so long as the functionality of the device or apparatus is preserved. Such and similar principles are considered as known to a skilled person.

[0240] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

[0241] In addition, certain terms used in the present disclosure, including the specification and drawings, can be used synonymously in certain instances (e.g., “data” and “information”). It should be understood, that although these terms (and / or other terms that can be synonymous to one another) can be used synonymously herein, there can be instances when such words can be intended to not be used synonymously.

[0242] Embodiments of the techniques and apparatus described herein also include, but are not limited to, the following enumerated examples:

[0243] Al . A method for a user equipment (UE) configured to transmit application data to a radio access network (RAN) node, the method comprising: buffering data generated by an application hosted by the UE, wherein the buffered data is associated with a single logical channel group (LCG); and selecting one of the following buffer status report (BSR) formats: a first BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and an amount of the buffered data for the LCG is within a reporting range of the first BSR format; a second BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a first relation to the reporting range of the first BSR format; and a third BSR format, when at least one of the following criteria apply: the first BSR format is not allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG, and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a second relation to the reporting range of the first BSR format; and transmitting a BSR to the RAN node in accordance with the selected BSR format, wherein the BSR indicates the amount of buffered data for the LCG.

[0244] A2. The method of embodiment Al, wherein the first BSR format is a Refined Long BSR format, the second BSR format is a Long BSR format, and the third BSR format is a Short BSR format.

[0245] A3. The method of any of embodiments A1-A2, wherein the third BSR format has a lesser reporting range than the second BSR format. A4. The method of any of embodiments A1-A3, wherein the first relation is that the amount of the buffered data for the LCG is not within the reporting range of the first BSR format, the second relation is that the buffered data for the LCG is not within the reporting range of the first BSR format, and the third BSR format is selected when both of the criteria apply.

[0246] A5. The method of any of embodiments A1-A3, wherein the first relation is that the amount of the buffered data for the LCG is greater than the reporting range of the first BSR format, the second relation is that the buffered data for the LCG is less than the reporting range of the first BSR format, and the third BSR format is selected when either or both of the criteria apply.

[0247] A6. The method of any of embodiments A1-A5, further comprising receiving from the RAN node an indication of whether the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG.

[0248] A7. The method of embodiment A6, wherein the BSR is a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), and the indication is an additionalBSR-Table Allowed field in a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0249] A8. The method of any of embodiments A1-A7, wherein the first BSR format includes: a first octet of bits, wherein a first bit in the first octet indicates the LCG; a third octet, which indicates the amount of the buffered data for the LCG; a second octet of bits, wherein a first bit in the second octet indicates a buffer size table used to map amounts of buffered data for the LCG to respective values of the third octet.

[0250] A9. The method of embodiment A8, wherein first and second values of the first bit in the second octet indicate respective first and second buffer size tables with respective first and second reporting ranges, and the second BSR format is selected when the amount of the buffered data for the LCG is greater than the larger of the first and second reporting ranges.

[0251] A10. The method of any of embodiments A1-A9, further comprising: in response to the BSR, receiving from the RAN node a grant of uplink resources; and transmitting at least a portion of the buffered data to the RAN node, using the granted uplink resources. Al 1. The method of any of embodiments A1-A10, wherein the buffered data comprises a plurality of sets of protocol data units (PDUs), and each buffered PDU set is associated with the LCG.

[0252] A12. The method of any of embodiments Al-Al l, wherein the LCG is one of a plurality of LCGs configured for the UE, and other LCGs of the plurality of LCGs have no buffered data to report.

[0253] A13. The method of any of embodiments A1-A12, wherein the application is an extended reality (XR) application and the data generated by the application has a bounded latency requirement.

[0254] Bl. A method for a radio access network (RAN) node configured to receive application data from a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving from the UE a buffer status report (BSR) pertaining to buffered data generated by an application hosted by the UE, wherein the buffered data is associated with a single logical channel group (LCG) and the received BSR has one of the following BSR formats: a first BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and an amount of the buffered data for the LCG is less than or equal to a reporting range of the first BSR format; a second BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a first relation to the reporting range of the first BSR format; and a third BSR format, when at least one of the following criteria apply: the first BSR format is not allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG, and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a second relation to the reporting range of the first BSR format.

[0255] B2. The method of embodiment Bl, wherein the first BSR format is a Refined Long BSR format, the second BSR format is a Long BSR format, and the third BSR format is a Short BSR format. B3. The method of any of embodiments B1-B2, wherein the second BSR format has a greater reporting range than the third BSR format.

[0256] B4. The method of any of embodiments B1-B3, wherein the first relation is that the amount of the buffered data for the LCG is not within the reporting range of the first BSR format, the second relation is that the buffered data for the LCG is not within the reporting range of the first BSR format, and the received BSR has the third BSR format when both of the criteria apply.

[0257] B5. The method of any of embodiments B1-B3, wherein the first relation is that the amount of the buffered data for the LCG is greater than the reporting range of the first BSR format, the second relation is that the buffered data for the LCG is less than the reporting range of the first BSR format, and the received BSR has the third BSR format when either or both of the criteria apply.

[0258] B6. The method of any of embodiments B1-B5, further comprising sending to the UE an indication of whether the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG.

[0259] B7. The method of embodiment B6, wherein the BSR is a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), and the indication is an additionalBSR-Table Allowed field in a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0260] B8. The method of any of embodiments B1-B7, wherein the first BSR format includes: a first octet of bits, wherein a first bit in the first octet indicates the LCG; a third octet, which indicates the amount of the buffered data for the LCG; a second octet of bits, wherein a first bit in the second octet indicates a buffer size table used to map amounts of buffered data for the LCG to respective values of the third octet.

[0261] B9. The method of embodiment B8, wherein first and second values of the first bit in the second octet indicate respective first and second buffer size tables with respective first and second reporting ranges, and the received BSR has the second BSR format when the amount of the buffered data for the LCG is greater than the larger of the first and second reporting ranges.

[0262] BIO. The method of any of embodiments B1-B9, further comprising: in response to the BSR, sending to the UE a grant of uplink resources; and receiving at least a portion of the buffered data from the UE, using the granted uplink resources.

[0263] Bl 1. The method of any of embodiments Bl -Bl 08, wherein the buffered data comprises a plurality of sets of protocol data units (PDUs), and each buffered PDU set is associated with the LCG.

[0264] B12. The method of any of embodiments Bl-Bl 1, wherein the LCG is one of a plurality of LCGs configured for the UE, and other LCGs of the plurality of LCGs have no buffered data to report.

[0265] B13. The method of any of embodiments B1-B12, wherein the application is an extended reality (XR) application and the data generated by the application has a bounded latency requirement.

[0266] Cl . A user equipment (UE) configured to transmit application data to a radio access network

[0267] (RAN) node, the UE comprising: communication interface circuitry configured to communicate with the serving cells; and processing circuitry operatively coupled to the communication interface circuitry, whereby the processing circuitry and the communication interface circuitry are configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments Al -Al 3.

[0268] C2. A user equipment (UE) configured to transmit application data to a radio access network (RAN) node, the UE being further configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments Al -Al 3.

[0269] C3. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a user equipment (UE) configured to transmit application data to a radio access network (RAN) node, configure the UE to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments Al -Al 3.

[0270] C4. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a user equipment (UE) configured to transmit application data to a radio access network (RAN) node, configure the UE to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments Al -Al 3.

[0271] DI . A radio access network (RAN) node configured to receive application data from a user equipment (UE), the RAN node comprising: communication interface circuitry configured to communicate with the UE; and processing circuitry operatively coupled to the communication interface circuitry, whereby the processing circuitry and the communication interface circuitry are configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B 1 -B 13.

[0272] D2. A radio access network (RAN) node configured to receive application data from a user equipment (UE), the RAN node being further configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B1-B13.

[0273] D3. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a radio access network (RAN) node configured to receive application data from a user equipment (UE), configure the RAN node to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B1-B13.

[0274] D4. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a radio access network (RAN) node configured to receive application data from a user equipment (UE), configure the RAN node to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B1-B13.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method for a user equipment, UE, configured to transmit application data to a radio access network, RAN, node, the method comprising: buffering (1020) data generated by an application hosted by the UE, wherein the buffered data is associated with a single logical channel group, LCG; selecting (1030) one of the following buffer status report, BSR, formats: a first BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and an amount of the buffered data for the LCG is within a reporting range of one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format; a second BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a first relation to the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format; and a third BSR format, when at least one of the following criteria apply: the first BSR format is not allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG, and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a second relation to the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format; and transmitting (1040) a BSR to the RAN node in accordance with the selected BSR format, wherein the BSR indicates the amount of buffered data for the LCG.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first BSR format is a Refined Long BSR format, the second BSR format is a Long BSR format, and the third BSR format is a Short BSR format.

3. The method of any of claims 1-2, wherein a buffer size table used for the third BSR format has a lesser reporting range than a buffer size table used for the second BSR format.

4. The method of any of claims 1-3, wherein: the first relation is that the amount of the buffered data for the LCG is not within the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format;the second relation is that the amount of buffered data for the LCG is not within the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format; and the third BSR format is selected when both of the criteria apply.

5. The method of any of claims 1-3, wherein: the first relation is that the amount of the buffered data for the LCG is greater than the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format; the second relation is that the amount of the buffered data for the LCG is less than the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format; and the third BSR format is selected when either or both of the criteria apply.

6. The method of any of claims 1-5, further comprising receiving (1010) from the RAN node an indication of whether the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the BSR is a medium access control, MAC, control element, CE, and the indication is an additionalBSR-Table Allowed field in a radio resource control, RRC, message.

8. The method of any of claims 1-7, wherein the first BSR format includes: a first octet of bits, wherein a first bit in the first octet indicates the LCG; a third octet of bits, wherein the third octet indicates the amount of the buffered data for the LCG; and a second octet of bits, wherein a first bit in the second octet indicates one of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first format, wherein the indicated buffer size table maps amounts of buffered data for the LCG to respective values of the third octet.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein: first and second values of the first bit in the second octet indicate respective first and second buffer size tables with respective first and second reporting ranges; andthe second BSR format is selected when the amount of the buffered data for the LCG is greater than the larger of the first and second reporting ranges.

10. The method of any of claims 1-9, further comprising: in response to the BSR, receiving (1050) from the RAN node a grant of uplink resources; and transmitting (1060) at least a portion of the buffered data to the RAN node, using the granted uplink resources.

11. The method of any of claims 1-10, wherein the buffered data comprises a plurality of sets of protocol data units, PDUs, and each buffered PDU set is associated with the LCG.

12. The method of any of claims 1-11, wherein the LCG is one of a plurality of LCGs configured for the UE, and other LCGs of the plurality of LCGs have no buffered data to report.

13. The method of any of claims 1-2, wherein the application is an extended reality, XR, application and the data generated by the application has a bounded latency requirement.

14. A method for a radio access network, RAN, node configured to receive application data from a user equipment, UE, the method comprising: receiving (1120) from the UE a buffer status report, BSR, pertaining to buffered data generated by an application hosted by the UE, wherein the buffered data is associated with a single logical channel group, LCG, and the received BSR has one of the following BSR formats: a first BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and an amount of the buffered data for the LCG is less than or equal to a reporting range of one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format; a second BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a first relation to the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for first BSR format; and a third BSR format, when at least one of the following criteria apply: the first BSR format is not allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG, and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a second relation to thereporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for first BSR format.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first BSR format is a Refined Long BSR format, the second BSR format is a Long BSR format, and the third BSR format is a Short BSR format.

16. The method of any of claims 14-15, wherein a buffer size table used for the third BSR format has a lesser reporting range than a buffer size table used for the second BSR format.

17. The method of any of claims 14-16, wherein: the first relation is that the amount of the buffered data for the LCG is not within the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format; the second relation is that the amount of the buffered data for the LCG is not within the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format; and the received BSR has the third BSR format when both of the criteria apply.

18. The method of any of claims 14-16, wherein: the first relation is that the amount of the buffered data for the LCG is greater than the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format; the second relation is that the amount of the buffered data for the LCG is less than the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format, and the received BSR has the third BSR format when either or both of the criteria apply.

19. The method of any of claims 14-18, further comprising sending (1110) to the UE an indication of whether the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the BSR is a medium access control, MAC, control element, CE, and the indication is an additionalBSR-Table Allowed field in a radio resource control, RRC, message.

21. The method of any of claims 14-20, wherein the first BSR format includes:a first octet of bits, wherein a first bit in the first octet indicates the LCG; a third octet of bits, wherein the third octet indicates the amount of the buffered data for the LCG; and a second octet of bits, wherein a first bit in the second octet indicates one of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first format, wherein the indicated buffer size table maps amounts of buffered data for the LCG to respective values of the third octet.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein: first and second values of the first bit in the second octet indicate respective first and second buffer size tables with respective first and second reporting ranges; and the received BSR has the second BSR format when the amount of the buffered data for the LCG is greater than the larger of the first and second reporting ranges.

23. The method of any of claims 14-22, further comprising: in response to the BSR, sending (1130) to the UE a grant of uplink resources; and receiving (1140) at least a portion of the buffered data from the UE, using the granted uplink resources.

24. The method of any of claims 14-23, wherein the buffered data comprises a plurality of sets of protocol data units, PDUs, and each buffered PDU set is associated with the LCG.

25. The method of any of claims 14-24, wherein the LCG is one of a plurality of LCGs configured for the UE, and other LCGs of the plurality of LCGs have no buffered data to report.

26. The method of any of claims 14-25, wherein the application is an extended reality, XR, application and the data generated by the application has a bounded latency requirement.

27. User equipment, UE (205, 310, 1212, 1300, 1706) configured to transmit application data to a radio access network, RAN, node (100, 210, 220, 320, 1210, 1400, 1602, 1704), the UE comprising: communication interface circuitry (1312) configured to communicate with the RAN node; andprocessing circuitry (1302) operatively coupled to the communication interface circuitry, wherein the processing circuitry and the communication interface circuitry are configured to: buffer data generated by an application hosted by the UE, wherein the buffered data is associated with a single logical channel group, LCG; select one of the following buffer status report, BSR, formats: a first BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and an amount of the buffered data for the LCG is within a reporting range of one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format; a second BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a first relation to the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format; and a third BSR format, when at least one of the following criteria apply: the first BSR format is not allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG, and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a second relation to the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format; and transmit a BSR to the RAN node in accordance with the selected BSR format, wherein the BSR indicates the amount of buffered data for the LCG.

28. The UE of claim 27, wherein the processing circuitry and the communication interface circuitry are further configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 2-13.

29. User equipment, UE (205, 310, 1212, 1300, 1706) configured to transmit application data to a radio access network, RAN, node (100, 210, 220, 320, 1210, 1400, 1602, 1704), the UE being further configured to: buffer data generated by an application hosted by the UE, wherein the buffered data is associated with a single logical channel group, LCG; select one of the following buffer status report, BSR, formats: a first BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and an amount of the buffered data for the LCG iswithin a reporting range of one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format; a second BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a first relation to the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format; and a third BSR format, when at least one of the following criteria apply: the first BSR format is not allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG, and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a second relation to the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format; and transmit a BSR to the RAN node in accordance with the selected BSR format, wherein the BSR indicates the amount of buffered data for the LCG.

30. The UE of claim 29, being further configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 2-13.

31. Non-transitory, computer-readable medium (1310) storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry (1302) of user equipment, UE (205, 310, 1212, 1300, 1706) configured to transmit application data to a radio access network, RAN, node (100, 210, 220, 320, 1210, 1400, 1602, 1704), configure the UE to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 1-13.

32. Computer program product (1314) comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry (1302) of user equipment, UE (205, 310, 1212, 1300, 1706) configured to transmit application data to a radio access network, RAN, node (100, 210, 220, 320, 1210, 1400, 1602, 1704), configure the UE to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 1-13.

33. Radio access network, RAN, node (100, 210, 220, 320, 1210, 1400, 1602, 1704) configured to receive application data from user equipment, UE (205, 310, 1212, 1300, 1706), the RAN node comprising: communication interface circuitry (1406, 1604) configured to communicate with the UE; andprocessing circuitry (1402, 1604) operatively coupled to the communication interface circuitry, wherein the processing circuitry and the communication interface circuitry are configured to: receive from the UE a buffer status report, BSR, pertaining to buffered data generated by an application hosted by the UE, wherein the buffered data is associated with a single logical channel group, LCG, and the received BSR has one of the following BSR formats: a first BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and an amount of the buffered data for the LCG is less than or equal to a reporting range of one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format; a second BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a first relation to the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for first BSR format; and a third BSR format, when at least one of the following criteria apply: the first BSR format is not allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG, and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a second relation to the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for first BSR format.

34. The RAN node of claim 33, wherein the processing circuitry and the communication interface circuitry are further configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 15-26.

35. Radio access network, RAN, node (100, 210, 220, 320, 1210, 1400, 1602, 1704) configured to receive application data from user equipment, UE (205, 310, 1212, 1300, 1706), the RAN node being further configured to: receive from the UE a buffer status report, BSR, pertaining to buffered data generated by an application hosted by the UE, wherein the buffered data is associated with a single logical channel group, LCG, and the received BSR has one of the following BSR formats: a first BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and an amount of the buffered data for the LCG is lessthan or equal to a reporting range of one or more buffer size tables used for the first BSR format; a second BSR format, when the first BSR format is allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a first relation to the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for first BSR format; and a third BSR format, when at least one of the following criteria apply: the first BSR format is not allowed for reporting buffered data for the LCG, and the amount of the buffered data for the LCG has a second relation to the reporting range of the one or more buffer size tables used for first BSR format.

36. The RAN node of claim 35, being further configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 25-26.

37. Non-transitory, computer-readable medium (1404, 1604) storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry (1402, 1604) of a radio access network, RAN, node (100, 210, 220, 320, 1210, 1400, 1602, 1704) configured to receive application data from user equipment, UE (205, 310, 1212, 1300, 1706), configure the RAN node to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 14-26.

38. Computer program product (1404, 1604) comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry (1402, 1604) of a radio access network, RAN, node (100, 210, 220, 320, 1210, 1400, 1602, 1704) configured to receive application data from user equipment, UE (205, 310, 1212, 1300, 1706), configure the RAN node to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 14-26.

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