Uplink transmission scheduling by a communication device in a communication network

Abstract

A communication device (12) configured for use in a communication network (10). The communication device (12) receives, from the communication network (10), control signaling (22) that configures a delay-sensitive priority level (22D) according to which the communication device (12) is to prioritize a logical channel (18) if delay-sensitive traffic is 5 available on the logical channel (18). The communication device (12) prioritizes the logical channel (18) according to the control signaling (22).

Description

[0001] UPLINK TRANSMISSION SCHEDULING BY A COMMUNICATION DEVICE IN A COMMUNICATION NETWORK

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present application relates generally to a communication network and relates more particularly to uplink scheduling transmission by a communication device in such a communication network.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] A communication device operating in a 5G network may implement a medium access control (MAC) entity which receives data on one or more logical channels from a higher layer. The MAC entity schedules the received data for transmission, e.g., on one or more transport layers offered by the MAC entity to a lower layer. Such scheduling may for instance involve selecting one or more logical channels to which to allocate resources for a transmission, and then allocating resources to the selected logical channel(s), e.g., according to a prioritization of the logical channel(s).

[0006] Logical channel prioritization as implemented traditionally involves selection of the data in the different logical channels based on a pre-set priority and in a pre-set bucket size. This results in a simple and predictable method to select data from the different queues, which may be acceptable for some types of traffic, such as enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) traffic, e.g., bursty traffic with random arrival times which do not have tight timing requirements. These traditional approaches prove problematic, though, for other types of traffic, such as for extended Reality (XR) traffic, which have inherent timing requirements which need to be met to comply with the agreed quality of service (QoS).

[0007] WO2023 / 146462 suggests one approach to accommodate these traffic timing requirements. By scheduling data units for transmission with an awareness of how long each data unit has been and / or can be delayed yet still meet a timing requirement, this approach helps improve quality of service.

[0008] SUMMARY

[0009] Some embodiments herein exploit control signaling by a communication network to configure how a communication device performs logical scheduling for delay-sensitive traffic, e.g., traffic that is at risk of exceeding its maximum allowed delay. In one or more embodiments, for example, the communication network configures a delay-sensitive priority level according to which the communication device is to prioritize a logical channel if delaysensitive traffic is available on the logical channel. The communication network in this case effectively equips the communication device to adapt prioritization of the logical channel to be higher or lower, as needed to account for whether or not traffic available on the logical channel is delay-sensitive. In other embodiments, the communication network configures a delay-sensitive logical channel to which the communication device is to map delay-sensitive traffic if such traffic is available on an associated logical channel. This enables the communication device to re-map traffic to the delay-sensitive logical channel (e.g., with higher priority) if that traffic has become delay-sensitive in nature. Whether via configuration of a delay-sensitive priority level or a delay-sensitive logical channel, embodiments herein advantageously improve the ability of scheduling to account for traffic that is or has become delay-sensitive in nature, while not imposing meaningful complexity burdens on the communication device scheduling algorithm. Embodiments herein thereby ease standardization and / or implementation of delay-aware scheduling.

[0010] More particularly, embodiments herein include a method performed by a communication device configured for use in a communication network. The method comprises receiving, from the communication network, control signaling that configures a delay-sensitive priority level according to which the communication device is to prioritize a logical channel if delay-sensitive traffic is available on the logical channel. The method also comprises prioritizing the logical channel according to the control signaling.

[0011] Other embodiments herein include a method performed by a network node configured for use in a communication network. The method comprises transmitting, to a communication device, control signaling that configures a delay-sensitive priority level according to which the communication device is to prioritize a logical channel if delaysensitive traffic is available on the logical channel.

[0012] Other embodiments herein include a communication device configured for use in a communication network. The communication device is configured to receive, from the communication network, control signaling that configures a delay-sensitive priority level according to which the communication device is to prioritize a logical channel if delaysensitive traffic is available on the logical channel. The communication device is also configured to prioritize the logical channel according to the control signaling.

[0013] Other embodiments herein include a network node configured for use in a communication network. The network node is configured to transmit, to a communication device, control signaling that configures a delay-sensitive priority level according to which the communication device is to prioritize a logical channel if delay-sensitive traffic is available on the logical channel.

[0014] Embodiments herein further include corresponding apparatus, computer programs, and carriers of those computer programs.

[0015] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a communication network according to particular embodiments. Figure 2A is a block diagram of a communication network according to other particular embodiments.

[0017] Figure 2B is a timing diagram of an exemplary prioritization of a logical channel dependent on traffic availability according to particular embodiments.

[0018] Figure 3A is a block diagram of an exemplary configuration to map traffic in a delay- aware manner according to other particular embodiments.

[0019] Figure 3B is a timing diagram of an exemplary prioritization of a logical channel dependent on traffic availability according to other particular embodiments

[0020] Figure 4 is a timing diagram of an exemplary prioritization of a logical channel according to particular embodiments

[0021] Figure 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary prioritization of a logical channel according to other particular embodiments

[0022] Figure 6 is a logic flow diagram of a method performed by a communication device according to particular embodiments.

[0023] Figure 7 is a logic flow diagram of a method performed by a network node according to particular embodiments

[0024] Figure 8 is a block diagram of a communication device according to some embodiments.

[0025] Figure 9 is a block diagram of a network node according to some embodiments.

[0026] Figure 10 is a block diagram of a communication network according to some embodiments.

[0027] Figure 11 is a block diagram of a UE according to some embodiments.

[0028] Figure 12 is a block diagram of a network node according to other embodiments.

[0029] Figure 13 is a block diagram of a virtualization environment according to other embodiments.

[0030] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] Figure 1 shows a communication network 10 according to some embodiments. The communication network 10 provides communication service to a communication device 12. In some embodiments, the communication network 10 is a wireless communication network, in which case the communication device 12 communicates with the communication network 10 over a wireless interface 16.

[0032] As shown, the communication device 12 receives traffic T on logical channels (LCHs) 18, e.g., where different LCHs 18 support different types of traffic. The traffic T may include one or more units of traffic T, e.g., in the form of one or more packets or in the form of one or more sets of one or more packets. In some embodiments, for example a unit of traffic T is an individual data unit, e.g., an individual packet. In other embodiments, though, a unit of traffic T is a set of one or more data units, e.g., a set of data units that carry a payload of the same unit of information at an application layer of the communication device 12. One unit of information at the application layer may for instance correspond to one frame or video slice, e.g., generated by an extended Reality (XR) application at the communication device 12. In this case, then, the data unit(s) in each set of traffic collectively carry the payload of a respective video frame or slice.

[0033] Further in this regard, a data unit in some embodiments may be a protocol data unit (PDU). In this case, a unit of traffic T that is a set of data units may be referred to as a PDU set, e.g., a PDU Set as defined in 3GPP TS 23.501 v18.3.0.

[0034] In any event, the traffic T as shown is received by a scheduler 12S. In these and other embodiments, the communication device 12 receives traffic T on logical channels 18 at a medium access control (MAC) layer of the communication device 12 or at a MAC entity of the communication device 12. In this case, units of traffic T may be respective sets of MAC service data units (SDUs). For example, a unit of traffic T may comprise a MAC SDU that carries traffic T.

[0035] Upon reception of the traffic T, the communication device 12 as shown may store the traffic T in one or more buffers 17, e.g., transmit buffer(s). The buffer(s) 17 may for example be physical or virtual buffer(s) associated with the logical channel(s) on which units of traffic T were respectively received. In some embodiments, traffic T that is stored in a buffer 17 associated with a certain logical channel 18 may be said to be available on that certain logical channel 18, e.g., the traffic T is stored so that it remains available for use by the communication device 12. Buffering of the traffic T in this way may for instance assist the communication device 12 with processing of the traffic T, stabilization of transmission encoding output rate, data set retransmission, etc.

[0036] Having buffered the traffic T in preparation for transmission, the communication device 12 thereafter schedules the traffic T for transmission, e.g., on an uplink to the communication network 10 or on a sidelink to a peer communication device. Such may involve for instance scheduling the traffic T for transmission on one or more transport channels 20 to a lower layer, e.g., which may control transmission on a wireless interface 16 to the communication network or on a sidelink interface (not shown) to a peer communication device. The unit(s) of traffic T in these and other embodiments may be segmented and / or aggregated for transmission in data blocks, e.g., on the one or more transport channels 20. Regardless, in some embodiments, scheduling the traffic T for transmission involves a resource allocator 12A selecting to which logical channels 18 to allocate transmission resources and allocating transmission resources to the selected logical channels 18. Here, transmission resources may for instance correspond to available spaces in a data block (e.g., a transport block) to be transmitted during a transmission time interval (TTI) at the communication device 12. The communication device 12 may for instance receive, from the communication network 10, a grant that grants the communication device 12 transmission resources, and allocate the transmission resources granted by the grant to one or more selected logical channels 18.

[0037] The scheduler 12S selects to which logical channels 18 to allocate transmission resources based on a prioritization 18P of the logical channels 18, e.g., as otherwise specified in 3GPP TS 38.321 V18.1.0. In some embodiments, this means that, generally, higher priority logical channels 18 are allocated transmission resources before lower priority logical channels 18 (up to a maximum allowed allocation). In the snapshot of Figure 1 , for instance, logical channel LCH 18-1 is prioritized higher than logical channel LCH 18-2 and logical channel LCH 18-X, such that the communication device 12 generally allocates transmission resources to LCH 18-1 before allocating transmission resources to either LCH 18-2 or LCH 18-X.

[0038] Within this context, though, at least some of the traffic T may have a timing requirement which must be met, e.g., in order to comply with a certain quality of service (QoS) requirement. The timing requirement for a unit of traffic T may for example define a maximum allowed delay that the unit of traffic T is allowed to experience for the transfer of the unit of traffic T between the communication device 12 and a reference point in the communication network 10, e.g., an upper bound for the duration between the reception time of the unit of traffic T and the time when the unit of traffic T has been successfully received. In these and other embodiments, then, the timing requirement for a unit of traffic T may reflect or be defined by a delay budget for the unit of traffic T, also referred to as a maximum allowed delay. Where a unit of traffic T is a PDU, for example, the delay budget may be referred to as a PDU delay budget. Regardless, if the amount of delay that a unit of traffic T experiences exceeds the delay that is budgeted or allowed for that unit of traffic T, then the unit of traffic T will not meet its timing requirement and in some embodiments may be discarded as a result. By contrast, if the amount of delay that a unit of traffic T experiences does not exceed the delay that is budgeted or allowed for the unit of traffic T, then the unit of traffic T will meet its timing requirement. Accordingly, the portion of the time budget that remains at any given time for a unit of traffic T to meet its timing requirement (and not be discarded) is referred to as the remaining time budget 21 for that unit of traffic T. Stated another way, the remaining time budget 21 of a unit of traffic T is how much time remains in a duration of time budgeted for delivery of the unit of traffic, how much time remains until the unit of traffic will be discarded, or how much time remains until the unit of traffic T will exceed a maximum allowed delay.

[0039] Some types of traffic demanding high QoS have strict timing requirements with very little tolerance for delay (short time budgets), whereas other types of traffic with lower QoS have more relaxed timing requirements and tolerate more delay (longer time budgets). Generally, types of traffic with shorter time budgets may be mapped to higher priority logical channels while types of traffic with longer time budgets may be mapped to lower priority logical channels. But embodiments herein recognize that even some types of traffic with longer time budgets on lower priority logical channels can become more sensitive to delay as time passes, e.g., if the lower priority logical channels are starved such as may occur when large amounts of traffic is transmitted on higher priority logical channels. Indeed, as those types of traffic get closer and closer to exhausting their time budget, those types of traffic become more and more sensitive to delay.

[0040] According to some embodiments herein, the communication device 12 performs scheduling in a way that accounts for the sensitivity of traffic T to delay, e.g., on a dynamic or semi-static basis, as that sensitivity potentially changes over time. Traffic T that is sensitive to delay is referred to as delay-sensitive traffic. The communication device 12 may for example deem traffic T as delay-sensitive if or when that traffic is at risk of exceeding the maximum allowed delay or time budget defined for that traffic. The communication device 12 may for instance deem a unit of traffic T as being at risk of exceeding its time budget if a remaining time budget 21 of the unit is below a threshold THD. When the communication device 12 declares traffic as delay-sensitive, that status as delay-sensitive entitles the traffic to special treatment in scheduling that the traffic would not have gotten otherwise, e.g., in an attempt to avoid delay-sensitive traffic exceeding its maximum allowed delay or time budget. In fact, in some embodiments, when the communication device 12 declares traffic as delaysensitive, that status as delay-sensitive may even entitle the entire logical channel 18 on which the delay-sensitive traffic is available to special treatment in scheduling.

[0041] Notably in this regard, Figure 1 shows that the communication network 10 in embodiments herein transmits control signaling 22 (e.g., Radio Resource Control, RRC, signaling) to the communication device 12. This control signaling 22 configures the communication device’s scheduler 12S with regard to handling of delay-sensitive traffic. In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 configures the scheduler 12S with the threshold THD governing what or when traffic is deemed delay-sensitive in nature, i.e., what traffic is deemed at risk of exceeding its maximum allowed delay. Alternatively or additionally, the control signaling 22 configures the scheduler 12S with regard to how to perform scheduling of traffic that it deems as delay-sensitive traffic. As described more fully below, the control signaling 22 may for instance configure logical channel prioritizer 12P and / or traffic mapper 12M to account for delay-sensitive traffic. In these and other embodiments, then, the control signaling 22 from the communication network 10 equips the scheduler 12S of the communication device 12 to better schedule traffic that is or has become delay-sensitive in nature, while not imposing meaningful complexity burdens on the communication device’s scheduling algorithm. Embodiments herein thereby ease standardization and / or implementation of delay-aware scheduling.

[0042] More particularly, Figure 2A shows one example of embodiments where the control signaling 22 configures logical channel prioritizer 12P to perform LCH prioritization 18P in a delay-aware manner, i.e., to perform delay-aware LCH prioritization 18P-D. In this example, the control signaling 22 configures the logical channel prioritizer 12P with a delay-sensitive priority level 22D according to which to prioritize a logical channel 18 if delay-sensitive traffic is available on the logical channel 18. The control signaling 22 may for instance include a field or information element (IE) that explicitly indicates this delay-sensitive priority level 22D. In some embodiments, the delay-sensitive priority level 22D is specific to a certain logical channel 18, whereas in other embodiments the delay-sensitive priority level 22D is common for multiple logical channels, e.g., common for any logical channel that carries traffic for a specific service or application at the communication device 12. Either way, prioritization of a logical channel 18 according to the delay-sensitive priority level 22D is conditioned on that logical channel 18 having delay-sensitive traffic available on it, e.g., any amount of delaysensitive traffic or at least some minimum amount of delay-sensitive traffic. In one such embodiment, prioritization of a logical channel 18 according to the delay-sensitive priority level 22D may be conditioned on a shortest one of the remaining time budget(s) 21 of respective unit(s) of traffic T available on the logical channel 18 being below the threshold THD. In these and other embodiments, then, if a logical channel 18 does not have any delaysensitive traffic available on it, it is not prioritized according to the delay-sensitive priority level 22D indicated by the control signaling 22. Rather, a logical channel 18 may be prioritized according to some other priority level, such as a nominal or default priority level which may be associated with normal, non-delay-sensitive traffic. Figure 2A even shows that in some embodiments the control signaling 22 may also indicate such a nominal priority level 22P according to which a logical channel 18 is to be prioritized if delay-sensitive traffic is not available on the logical channel 18. No matter how this other priority level is defined, though, in some embodiments the delay-sensitive priority level 22D may effectively elevate the priority level of a logical channel such that the logical channel 18 is prioritized higher if delaysensitive traffic is available on it than if delay-sensitive traffic is not available on it, e.g., LCH 18-2 is prioritized higher in Figure 2A based on delay-sensitive traffic being available on that LCH. Thus, rather than the logical channel 18 being statically prioritized according to a preset priority level irrespective of the delay-sensitive nature of the traffic available on that logical channel 18 as in traditional approaches, the communication network 10 exploits control signaling 22 to effectively configure the communication device 12 to dynamically adapt the priority level according to which a logical channel 18 is prioritized, in dependence on whether or not traffic available on the logical channel 18 is delay-sensitive. Moreover, this may apply for any type of traffic available on the logical channel 18.

[0043] Figure 2B shows an example. In Figure 2B, LCH 18-2 is nominally prioritized below LCH 18-1 according to a nominal priority level 22P indicated by control signaling 22, when no delay-sensitive traffic is available on LCH 18-2. This higher prioritization of LCH 18-1 may for instance be on the basis that LCH 18-1 is associated with a type of traffic demanding higher QoS than a type of traffic with which LCH 18-2 is associated, e.g., having stricter timing requirements with less tolerance for delay so as to demand a shorter time budget. While nominally prioritizing LCH 18-1 above LCH 18-2, though, units of traffic available on LCH 18-2 are not able to be transmitted. In the example of Figure 2B, for instance, the arrival of LCH 18-1 traffic units means that the transmit buffer 17-2 for LCH 18-2 remains unserved so as to starve LCH 18-2. Accordingly, the units of traffic available on LCH 18-2 start to become more sensitive to delay, as the remaining time budget 21 for those units of traffic start to dwindle down from 25ms, then 18ms, then 10ms, etc. When the remaining time budget 21 for at least one unit of traffic available on LCH 18-2 falls below the threshold THD, though, the scheduler 12S deems those unit(s) of traffic as delay-sensitive. This dynamically triggers the LCH prioritizer 12P to re-prioritize LCH 18-2 according to the delaysensitive priority level 22D indicated by the control signaling 22, rather than according to the nominal priority level 22P. With the delay-sensitive priority level 22D being higher than a priority level of LCH 18-1 , the effect of this is that LCH 18-2 is now prioritized above LCH 18- 1 , on the basis that delay-sensitive traffic is available on LCH 18-2. Elevating the priority level of LCH 18-2 in this case targets delivery of the delay-sensitive traffic before exhaustion of the time budget for that traffic, e.g., even despite the traffic being of a type that has a lower QoS requirement than the traffic on LCH 18-1. Indeed, with LCH 18-2 prioritized higher, the scheduler 12S is more likely to allocate transmission resources for transmission of at least some delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel LCH 18-2. In the example shown for instance, the units of traffic on LCH 18-2 are allocated transmission resources ahead of the units of traffic on LCH 18-1 once the units of traffic on LCH 18-2 are declared delay-sensitive.

[0044] In these and other examples where the control signaling 22 indicates a nominal priority level 22P, the control signaling 22 may be generally described as configuring multiple priority levels for a logical channel 18, e.g., as part of a logical channel configuration for the logical channel 18. The multiple priority levels may include the delay-sensitive priority level 22D and one or more other priority levels 22P. The control signaling 22 in this regard configures different priority levels 22D, 22P according to which the communication device 12 is to prioritize a logical channel 18 responsive to different respective conditions being fulfilled. The condition that must be fulfilled in order for the communication device 12 to prioritize the logical channel 18 according to the delay-sensitive priority level 22D is that delay-sensitive traffic is available on the logical channel 18. This condition may be fulfilled in some embodiments if any delay-sensitive traffic is available on the logical channel. Or, in another example, the condition may be fulfilled if a shortest remaining time budget 21 of one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel 18 is below a threshold. In either case, the condition that must be fulfilled in order for the communication device 12 to prioritize the logical channel 18 according to another other priority level 22P may that delay-sensitive traffic is not available on the logical channel 18, i.e., non-fulfillment of the condition for prioritizing according to the delay-sensitive priority level 22D. As such, the LCH prioritizer 12P may select from among the multiple priority levels indicated by the control signaling 22, depending on what condition(s) (if any) are fulfilled, as being the priority level according to which the communication device 12 is to prioritize a logical channel 18. The LCH prioritizer 12P may then prioritize the logical channel 18 according to that selected priority level.

[0045] Regardless, when a logical channel 18 is prioritized according to the delay-sensitive priority level 22D, some embodiments allocate transmission resources for transmission of at least some delay-sensitive traffic available on that logical channel 18. In fact, some embodiments allocate transmission resources for transmission of as much delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel 18 as possible. This may for example entail allocating transmission resources until either (i) exhaustion of the delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel 18; or (ii) exhaustion of the applicable grant, whichever comes first.

[0046] Towards this end, the scheduler 12S according to some embodiments sets a delaysensitive traffic allocation variable R, for each logical channel 18, to a total amount of any delay-sensitive traffic that is available on the logical channel 18. The scheduler 12S then allocates transmission resources to one or more logical channels 18 with a delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R greater than zero, in decreasing order of priority. The scheduler 12S here may allocate at least a number of transmission resources needed to transmit an amount of traffic indicated by the delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R for a logical channel 18. Of course, the number of transmission resources available in a grant may limit the scheduler’s ability to do this. For example, if a number of transmission resources needed to transmit an amount of traffic indicated by the delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R for a logical channel 18 is less than or equal to a number of unallocated transmission resources remaining in a grant, the scheduler 12S can allocate that number of transmission resources to the logical channel 18. But if the number of transmission resources needed to transmit the amount of traffic indicated by the delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R for the logical channel 18 is greater than the number of unallocated transmission resources remaining in the grant, the scheduler 12S just allocates the number of unallocated transmission resources remaining in the grant to the logical channel 18. Either way, for each logical channel 18 to which transmission resources are allocated, the scheduler 12S decrements the delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R for the logical channel 18 by a total amount of delay-sensitive traffic served to the logical channel 18.

[0047] Some embodiments integrate this delay-sensitive traffic allocation into existing allocation approaches that rely on a traffic allocation variable B for each logical channel that is a function of a prioritized bitrate for the logical channel 18 and a time elapsed since the traffic allocation variable B was last set. For example, the scheduler 12S in some embodiments also sets, for each logical channel 18, a traffic allocation variable B for the logical channel as a function of a prioritized bitrate for the logical channel and a time elapsed since the traffic allocation variable was last set. The scheduler 12S may then allocate transmission resources to one or more logical channels 18 with either a delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R greater than zero or a traffic allocation variable B greater than zero, in decreasing order of priority. In some embodiments, the scheduler 12S allocating at least a number of transmission resources needed to transmit an amount of traffic indicated by the delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R for a logical channel 18, irrespective of the traffic allocation variable B for the logical channel 18 and / or even if the amount of traffic indicated by the delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R for the logical channel 18 is greater than an amount of traffic indicated by the traffic allocation variable B for the logical channel 18. The scheduler may then, for each logical channel 18 to which transmission resources are allocated, decrement the traffic allocation variable B for the logical channel 18 by a total amount of traffic served to the logical channel as well as decrement the delaysensitive traffic allocation variable R for the logical channel 18 by a total amount of delaysensitive traffic served to the logical channel 18.

[0048] Figure 3A shows an example of other embodiments where the control signaling 22 alternatively or additionally configures traffic mapper 12M to map traffic in a delay-aware manner. In this example, the control signaling 22 configures a delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D. This delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D is a logical channel to which the traffic mapper 12M is to map delay-sensitive traffic if the delay-sensitive traffic is available on an associated logical channel.

[0049] In some embodiments, for example, as part of configuring the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D, the control signaling 22 associates the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D with another logical channel 18-A. Figure 3A shows an example where the control signaling 22 defines logical channel 18-1 as being the logical channel 18-A that is associated with the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D. This association means that, if or when any traffic available on the associated logical channel 18-A becomes delay-sensitive, the delaysensitive traffic is selectively mapped from that associated logical channel 18-A to the delay- sensitive logical channel 18-D. Delay-sensitive traffic thereby changes from being available on the associated logical channel 18-A to being available on the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D. In embodiments where the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D is prioritized over the associated logical channel 18-A, this similarly targets delivery of the delay-sensitive traffic before exhaustion of the time budget for that traffic.

[0050] Note that, in some embodiments, mapping delay-sensitive traffic from the associated logical channel 18-A to the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D involves moving the delaysensitive traffic from the transmit buffer 17-A for the associated logical channel 18-A to the transmit buffer 17-D for the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D. Indeed, traffic may originally arrive into the transmit buffer 17-A for the associated logical channel 18-A but thereafter become delay-sensitive while awaiting transmission. When the delay-sensitive traffic becomes delay-sensitive, it is at that point moved from the transmit buffer 17-A for the associated logical channel 18-A to the transmit buffer 17-D for the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D so as to be made available on the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D.

[0051] Figure 3B shows an example. In Figure 3B, LCH 18-2 is prioritized below LCH 18-1. This higher prioritization of LCH 18-1 may for instance be on the basis that LCH 18-1 is associated with a type of traffic demanding higher QoS than a type of traffic with which LCH 18-2 is associated, e.g., having stricter timing requirements with less tolerance for delay so as to demand a shorter time budget. While prioritizing LCH 18-1 above LCH 18-2, though, units of traffic available on LCH 18-2 are not able to be transmitted. In the example of Figure 3B, for instance, the arrival of LCH 18-1 traffic units means that the transmit buffer 17-2 for LCH 18-2 remains unserved so as to starve LCH 18-2. Accordingly, the units of traffic available on LCH 18-2 start to become more sensitive to delay, as the remaining time budget 21 for those units of traffic start to dwindle down from 25ms, then 18ms, then 10ms, etc. When the remaining time budget 21 for at least one unit of traffic available on LCH 18-2 falls below the threshold THD, though, the scheduler 12S deems those unit(s) of traffic as delaysensitive. This dynamically triggers the traffic mapper 12M to map delay-sensitive traffic available on LCH 18-2 to the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D configured by the control signaling 22. With the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D prioritized higher than LCH 18-1 , the scheduler 12S is more likely to allocate transmission resources for transmission of at least some delay-sensitive traffic that is now available on the delay-sensitive logical channel LCH 18-D. In the example shown for instance, the units of traffic that were declared delaysensitive when on LCH 18-2 are allocated transmission resources ahead of the units of traffic on LCH 18-1 once the units of traffic are mapped to the delay-sensitive logical channel LCH 18-D.

[0052] In some embodiments, the priority level of a delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D is preconfigured, e.g., to be the highest priority level. In other embodiments, though, the priority level of the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D is configured by the control signaling 22. Similarly, the logical channel 18-A associated with a delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D is preconfigured in some embodiments, e.g., to be any logical channel on which delaysensitive traffic is available. In other embodiments, though, the logical channel 18-A associated with a delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D is configured by the control signaling 22.

[0053] As an example, the control signaling 22 in some embodiments comprises a logical channel configuration for the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D. In this case, the logical channel configuration may indicate a priority level according to which the communication device 12 is to prioritize the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D. Alternatively or additionally, the logical channel configuration may indicate an identity of the associated logical channel 18-A that is associated with the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D, or an identity of a radio bearer identity corresponding to the associated logical channel 18-A.

[0054] Regardless, with delay-sensitive traffic mapped to the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D, some embodiments allocate transmission resources for transmission of at least some delay-sensitive traffic available on that delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D. Some embodiments may do so according to existing logical channel prioritization approaches that rely on a traffic allocation variable B. In some embodiments, for example, the scheduler 12S sets a traffic allocation variable B for the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D as a function of a prioritized bitrate for the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D and a time elapsed since the traffic allocation variable was last set. The scheduler 12S then allocates transmission resources to the delay-sensitive logical channel 12-D as a function of the traffic allocation variable B for the delay-sensitive logical channel 12-D.

[0055] Consider now some embodiments as exemplified for a 5G or 6G network and / or as applicable for improvements for XR, e.g., in Rel-19 and / or consistent with 3GPP RP-232619. In one or more such embodiments, the communication device 12 is exemplified as a user equipment (UE) and the network node 14 is exemplified as a gNB. In the below embodiments, delay-sensitive traffic may be exemplified as time critical data or delay dependent data. Logical channels

[0056] In some embodiments, logical channels 18 are exemplified as logical channels (LCHs) for NR as otherwise described in the 3GPP Medium Access Control (MAC) specification (3GPP TS 38.321 V18.1.0):

[0057] “The MAC sublayer provides data transfer services on logical channels. To accommodate different kinds of data transfer services, multiple types of logical channels are defined i.e. each supporting transfer of a particular type of information.

[0058] Each logical channel type is defined by what type of information is transferred.” The LCHs are then grouped in logical channel groups (LCGs), where there can be up to eight LCGs per UE.

[0059] Logical Channel Prioritization

[0060] In some embodiments, at least for non-delay-aware scheduling, how to choose which LCH or LCG to transmit from may be determined by logical channel prioritization (LCP), which is applied whenever a new transmission is performed. In some embodiments, the algorithm for LCP is as otherwise specified in the MAC specification (3GPP TS 38.321 V18.1.0).

[0061] Parameters for LCP and each LCH are controlled and configured by RRC (3GPP TS 38.331 V18.1.0).

[0062] In at least non-delay-aware scheduling:

[0063] • The variable Bj is used for each LCH j to control the resource allocation (start value 0)

[0064] • Parameters used by LCP for calculating Bj: o Prioritized Bit Rate (PBR) o Bucket Size Duration (BSD) o Time elapsed since Bj was last incremented (T)

[0065] • Bj can have negative values Bj calculation:

[0066] • increment Bj by the product PBR x T before every instance of the LCP procedure, where T is the time elapsed since Bj was last incremented;

[0067] • if the value of Bj is greater than the bucket size (i.e. PBR x BSD): o set Bj to the bucket size.

[0068] LCHs are served in strict priority order

[0069] • For each LCH j with Bj>0 o If PBR is infinity, the entire buffer of that LCH shall be allocated resources before going to next lower priority LCH o If PBR is finite, enough resources should be assigned to the LCH to fulfill PBR before going next lower priority LCH o Bj shall be decreased by the number of MAC SDUs served o Continue until no resources remain PDU Set Delay Budget

[0070] In some embodiments, a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) Set represents one or more PDUs carrying the payload of one unit of information at the application (e.g., a frame or video slice).

[0071] For the PDU Set, the PDU Set Delay Budget (PDSB) shows how long the PDU Set is valid.

[0072] Buffer and Delay Status Reports

[0073] The Buffer Status Report (BSR) is used to let the UE inform the gNB how large the UE buffer is. Furthermore, a Delay Status Report (DSR) may indicate the remaining delay of the buffered data until PSDB is exceeded. In Rel-18, for example, a DSR may be used to let the UE inform the gNB on the amount of data that has a remaining delay below a threshold and the shortest remaining delay in the UE’s buffer. In Rel-19, a DSR may report such data in different bins.

[0074] For non-delay-aware scheduling, for a given UL transmission, the filling of a transport block (TB) resource with different data types are done in a strict LCH / LCG priority order, i.e., higher priority data in TB / PDU always take precedence until its PBR x BSD size. When the data (e.g., PDU Sets) in the different LCHs have a delay budget it is possible that the data with LCHs of lower priority exhaust their delay budget. It can theoretically be solved by letting the RRC reconfigure the prioritization of the LCHs, but the RRC reconfiguration is too slow for that, which makes it impractical. For instance, to prioritize data with low priority LCH, which is near to end of its delay budget, RRC reconfiguration could be initiated but it may be too late. Note, it has to be understood, if the network wants the UE to prioritize low priority LCH data, then it is assumed or granted under certain conditions, e.g., there should be no impact to high priority data. For instance, if high priority LCH data has enough remaining delay budget, then it is desirable to prioritize low priority LCH data which is near to end of its delay budget.

[0075] Figure 4 shows an example with two LCHs. In the example, during a short period of time (shorter than RRC reconfiguration time), some packets in LCH 2 (lower priority) become more urgent than packets in LCH 1 (higher priority), i.e., their remaining delay becomes shorter, meaning that they will either be transmitted too late or discarded.

[0076] The problem also consists of making sure the time critical data is delivered as fast as possible. With current PRB size limitations per LCH there may be situations where not all urgent packets from a LCH are taken before starting to pick non-urgent packets from other LCH. Thus, a way to ensure the transmission of as much as possible of the time critical data on the grant resources is desirable.

[0077] Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. PCT / SE2023 / 050075 discussed logical channel prioritization considering the delay. In PCT / SE2023 / 050075, packets were arranged in virtual queues according to their remaining delays. However, a less complex solution is desirable, e.g., for Rel-19.

[0078] Some embodiments herein propose a less complex approach to dynamically prioritize uplink logical channels using remaining delay for the uplink, where thresholds and priorities are network configured. Some embodiments also introduce a new way to ensure that the grant resources are used for the time critical data.

[0079] According to some embodiments, then, the network configures one or more LCHs containing delay dependent data with a threshold for remaining delay and an extra priority. Here, the extra priority may exemplify the delay-sensitive priority level 22D in Figure 2A. Regardless, the UE changes from the legacy priority level to the new extra priority value with higher priority for an LCH when shortest remaining delay in the queue is below the threshold, i.e. there is time critical data in the LCH. When the shortest remaining delay again is higher than the threshold, the priority for the LCH is changed back to the legacy value. When the LCH is in the high priority state, the legacy stopping conditions are overridden by a new stopping condition that ensures that as much as possible of the time critical data is transmitted. Here, the new stopping condition may be exemplified by the delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R described above.

[0080] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s). Some embodiments decrease the risk that PDU sets exceed their delay budget. Some embodiments are also a non-complex solution with only minor changes of the LCP algorithm, meaning it is easy to implement for a UE. That is, some embodiments provide an approach for prioritizing delay dependent data that is configured by the network and doesn’t increase the complexity of the UE implementation.

[0081] Note: Remaining delay and remaining time can be used interchangeably herein. What is meant is the time remaining until the deadline, e.g. the time until discard or time until exceeding the delay requirement.

[0082] According to one or more embodiments, the network 10 provides each LCH in the UE containing delay dependent data a configuration comprising:

[0083] - A threshold for remaining shortest delay in the LCH, which may exemplify threshold THDherein.

[0084] - One or more new alternative priority values that gives higher priority than the legacy priority, where a new alternative priority value may exemplify a delaysensitive priority level 22D described herein.

[0085] - A (common) delay-default priority value used when there is delay critical data. This delay-default priority value may exemplify a delay-sensitive priority level 22D described herein that is common for multiple LCHs.

[0086] In some embodiments, LCH prioritization is performed according to the following procedure:

[0087] • For LCHs with delay critical data, the network 10 configures a threshold for shortest remaining delay time and an alternative / delay-default priority, e.g., both configured by gNB via RRC signaling. • When shortest remaining delay time is below the threshold for a LCH, the UE scheduler changes the priority of the entire LCH to the alternative / delay-default priority. The UE may also initiate a new counter variable to the size of the time critical data. This new counter variable may exemplify the delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R herein.

[0088] • When shortest remaining delay for the LCH again is above threshold, the UE scheduler changes the priority back to the legacy priority. The UE may also reset the counter of time critical data to 0.

[0089] Some embodiments also enable rapid transmission of the time critical data, i.e., if possible, transmit all the time critical data in the first transmission. This may be done by keeping track of the time critical data to be sent in a new counter variable R and using this variable during the allocation of resources to an LCH (e.g., as otherwise described in Section 5.4.3.1.3 of TS 38.321 V18.1.0). When allocating resources, this counter may be decreased with the size of any time critical packets served. A new stopping condition may be added so that the allocation only stops when this counter is zero, i.e., all the time critical data is served or there are no more resources available.

[0090] UE Configured with alternative priority / delay-default priority:

[0091] In one embodiment, the network 10 configures the UE with one or more alternative priorities either from the existing list of priorities or a new set of priorities. Then, the new counter calculation only applies to those LCHs configured with the set of alternative priorities. For example, for XR traffic, there may be three flows i.e., video, audio and pose. In an exemplary (but non-limiting) example, the three flows could be associated with three different LCHs with normal priorities. If there is delay-critical data in any of these LCHs (or flows), then such data is handled using their corresponding alternative priorities. Hence, the new counter calculation only applies to the delay-critical data within the different LCHs.

[0092] In another aspect, as a subset of the alternative priorities, the network can configure the UE with a common delay-default priority value such that any delay critical traffic from any of the LCHs will be treated using the same delay-default priority. Using the same XR traffic example as above, the delay critical data in any of the LCHs (or flows) will be handled using the same delay-default priority. The delay-default priority can be common for a particular service / application at the UE. For example, eMBB traffic can be associated with one delaydefault priority while the XR traffic can be associated with another delay-default priority.

[0093] In another embodiment, the UE upon applying the configuration with the alternative priorities / delay-default priority can perform the calculation of the new counter over all or subset of the LCHs and can prioritize the delay-critical data for transmission. It is up to UEs implementation how / how much of the delay-critical data is taken from each of the LCHs. UE Configured with Delay-Critical Logical Channel Configuration: In another embodiment, the configuration of the alternative priority or delay-default priority can be seen as a new LCH configuration such as a ‘delay-critical’ LCH configuration, where the ‘delay-critical’ LCHs with alternative / delay-default priority is associated with one or more LCHs with normal priority (non-delay critical). A non-limiting example is as shown below:

[0094] - ASN1 START

[0095] - TAG-LOGICALCHANNELCONFIG-START

[0096] DelayCiritical-LogicalChannelConfig ::= SEQUENCE { ul-SpecificParameters SEQUENCE { priority INTEGER (1..16), prioritisedBitRate ENUMERATED {kBpsO, kBps8, kBps16, kBps32, kBps64, kBps128, kBps256, kBps512,kBps1024, kBps2048, kBps4096, kBps8192, kBps16384, kBps32768, kBps65536, infinity}, bucketSizeDuration ENUMERATED {ms5, ms10, ms20, ms50, ms100, ms150, ms300, ms500, rnslOOO, spare?, spare6, spare5, spare4, spare3, spare2, sparel}, associated-nondelaycritical-LogicalChannelldentity := INTEGER (1..maxLC-ID) logicalChannelGroup INTEGER (O..maxLCG-ID)

[0097] OPTIONAL - Need R

[0098] }

[0099] OPTIONAL, - Cond UL

[0100] }

[0101] - TAG-LOGICALCHANNELCONFIG-STOP

[0102] - ASN1STOP

[0103] Where, the associated-nondelaycritical-LogicalChannelldentity is the association with the normal LCHs. In another aspect, the delay-critical LCHs can also be associated with the corresponding radio bearer identities (i.e., signaling (SRB) / data (DRB)).

[0104] The delay-critical logical channel above may exemplify the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D described in Figures 3A-3B. Correspondingly, the associated-non-delay-critical logical channel may exemplify the associated logical channel 18-A described in Figures 3A- 3B.

[0105] In another aspect of the above embodiments, the alternative priorities or delay-default priority can be designed such that it is either one higher or one lower than the highest priority among the normal (non-delay critical) LCHs. Figure 5 is an exemplary and non-limiting representation of such a configuration. Here, the delay-critical LCH has a priority value of #2, which is associated with LCH - Pose , LCH - Video and LCH - Audio. When delay-critical traffic is generated in any of the normal LCHs, it is mapped to the delay-critical LCH.

[0106] In another embodiment, if the UE applies the configuration based on the delaycritical- logicalchannelconfig, the UE can consider it a new LCH and map all the delay-critical traffic to this LCH as shown above. In this case, the calculation of the new counter is limited only to the set of delay-critical logical channels.

[0107] In another embodiment, the delay-critical LCH associated to the normal LCH(s) can either be a real buffer with dedicated memory for the delay-critical LCH or a virtual buffer across the normal LCHs.

[0108] In another embodiment, the delay-critical logical channel can be configured to always empty all the data in the LCH or only a part of the data in the LCH. This can be controlled using the prioritizedBitRate and BucketSizeDuration.

[0109] The following are a set of non-limiting text proposals as an example on how some embodiments may be implemented in the MAC specification, 3GPP TS 38.321. The new text is marked in bold.

[0110] Text Proposal-1 , only configuring alternative priorities / delay-default priority:

[0111] 5.4.3.1 Logical Channel Prioritization

[0112] 5.4.3.1.1 General

[0113] The Logical Channel Prioritization (LCP) procedure is applied whenever a new transmission is performed.

[0114] RRC controls the scheduling of uplink data by signalling for each logical channel per MAC entity: priority where an increasing priority value indicates a lower priority level; prioritised BitRate which sets the Prioritized Bit Rate (PBR); bucketSizeDuration which sets the Bucket Size Duration (BSD). delayCritical Priority an alternative priority value. delayCriticalTimeThreshold which set the remainingTimeThreshold (RTT).

[0115] RRC additionally controls the LCP procedure by configuring mapping restrictions for each logical channel: allowedSCS-List which sets the allowed Subcarrier Spacing(s) for transmission; maxPUSCH-Duration which sets the maximum PUSCH duration allowed for transmission; configuredGrantTypel Allowed which sets whether a configured grant Type 1 can be used for transmission; allowedServingCells which sets the allowed cell(s) for transmission; allowedCG-List which sets the allowed configured grant(s) for transmission; allowedPHY-Prioritylndex which sets the allowed PHY priority index(es) of a dynamic grant for transmission; allowedHARQ-mode which sets the allowed UL HARQ mode for transmission.

[0116] The following UE variable is used for the Logical channel prioritization procedure: Bj which is maintained for each logical channel j.

[0117] RJ which is maintained for each logical channel J.

[0118] The MAC entity shall initialize Bj and Rj of the logical channel to zero when the logical channel is established.

[0119] For each logical channel j, the MAC entity shall:

[0120] 1> increment Bj by the product PBR x T before every instance of the LCP procedure, where T is the time elapsed since Bj was last incremented;

[0121] 1 > if the value of Bj is greater than the bucket size (i.e. PBR x BSD): 2> set Bj to the bucket size.

[0122] 1 > if the value of D is less than or equal to RTT, where D is the shortest remaining time until discard for any MAC SDU in logical channel j:

[0123] 2>set RJ to the size in bytes for MAC SDUs with remaining time less or equal to D.

[0124] 2> adjust priority of logical channel J to delayCriticalPriority

[0125] 1> if the value of D is greater than RTT, where D is the shortest remaining time until discard for any MAC SDU in logical channel j:

[0126] 2> set RJ to zero.

[0127] 2> adjust priority of logical channel J to priority.

[0128] NOTE: The exact moment(s) when the UE updates Bj between LCP procedures is up to UE implementation, as long as Bj is up to date at the time when a grant is processed by LCP.

[0129] 5.4.3.1 .2 Selection of logical channels

[0130] The MAC entity shall, when a new transmission is performed:

[0131] 1 > select the logical channels for each UL grant that satisfy all the following conditions: 2>the set of allowed Subcarrier Spacing index values in allowedSCS-List, if configured, includes the Subcarrier Spacing index associated to the UL grant; and 2> maxPUSCH-Duration, if configured, is larger than or equal to the PUSCH transmission duration associated to the UL grant; and

[0132] 2> configuredGrantTypel Allowed, if configured, is set to true in case the UL grant is a Configured Grant Type 1 ; and

[0133] 2> allowedServingCells, if configured, includes the Cell information associated to the UL grant. Does not apply to logical channels associated with a DRB configured with PDCP duplication within the same MAC entity (i.e. CA duplication) when CA duplication is deactivated for this DRB in this MAC entity; and

[0134] 2> allowedCG-List, if configured, includes the configured grant index associated to the UL grant; and

[0135] 2> allowedPHY-Prioritylndex, if configured, includes the priority index (as specified in clause 9 of TS 38.213 [6]) associated to the dynamic UL grant; and

[0136] 2> allowedHARQ-mode, if configured, includes the allowed UL HARQ mode for the HARQ process associated to the UL grant.

[0137] NOTE: The Subcarrier Spacing index, PUSCH transmission duration, Cell information, and priority index are included in Uplink transmission information received from lower layers for the corresponding scheduled uplink transmission.

[0138] 5.4.3.1 .3 Allocation of resources

[0139] Before the successful completion of the Random Access procedure initiated for DAPS handover, the target MAC entity shall not select the logical channel(s) corresponding to non-DAPS DRB(s) for the uplink grant received in a Random Access Response or the uplink grant for the transmission of the MSGA payload. The source MAC entity shall select only the logical channel(s) corresponding to DAPS DRB(s) during DAPS handover.

[0140] The MAC entity shall, when a new transmission is performed:

[0141] 1 > allocate resources to the logical channels as follows:

[0142] 2> logical channels selected in clause 5.4.3.1 .2 for the UL grant with Bj > 0 or RJ > 0 are allocated resources in a decreasing priority order. If the PBR of a logical channel is set to infinity, the MAC entity shall allocate resources for all the data that is available for transmission on the logical channel before meeting the PBR of the lower priority logical channel(s);

[0143] 2> decrement Bj by the total size of MAC SDUs served to logical channel j above;

[0144] 2> decrement RJ by the total size of MAC SDUs with remaining time less or equal to D served to logical channel j above;

[0145] 2> if any resources remain, all the logical channels selected in clause 5.4.3.1.2 are served in a strict decreasing priority order (regardless of the value of Bj) until either the data for that logical channel or the UL grant is exhausted, whichever comes first. Logical channels configured with equal priority should be served equally. NOTE 1 : The value of Bj can be negative.

[0146] Text Proposal-2, configuration using a delay-critical logical channel:

[0147] 5.4.3.1 Logical Channel Prioritization

[0148] 5.4.3.1.1 General

[0149] The Logical Channel Prioritization (LCP) procedure is applied whenever a new transmission is performed.

[0150] RRC controls the scheduling of uplink data by signalling for each logical channel per MAC entity:

[0151] - priority where an increasing priority value indicates a lower priority level;

[0152] - prioritisedBitRate which sets the Prioritized Bit Rate (PBR);

[0153] - bucketSizeDuration which sets the Bucket Size Duration (BSD).

[0154] - delayCriticalTimeThreshold which set the remainingTimeThreshold (RTT).

[0155] RRC additionally controls the LCP procedure by configuring mapping restrictions for each logical channel:

[0156] - allowedSCS-List which sets the allowed Subcarrier Spacing(s) for transmission;

[0157] - maxPUSCH-Duration which sets the maximum PUSCH duration allowed for transmission;

[0158] - configuredGrantTypel Allowed which sets whether a configured grant Type 1 can be used for transmission;

[0159] - allowedServingCells which sets the allowed cell(s) for transmission;

[0160] - allowedCG-List which sets the allowed configured grant(s) for transmission;

[0161] - allowedPHY-Prioritylndex which sets the allowed PHY priority index(es) of a dynamic grant for transmission;

[0162] - allowedHARQ-mode which sets the allowed UL HARQ mode for transmission.

[0163] The following UE variable is used for the Logical channel prioritization procedure:

[0164] - Bj which is maintained for each logical channel j.

[0165] - Ry which is maintained for each logical channel j.

[0166] The MAC entity shall initialize Bj and Rj of the logical channel to zero when the logical channel is established.

[0167] For each logical channel j, the MAC entity shall:

[0168] 1> increment Bj by the product PBR x T before every instance of the LCP procedure, where T is the time elapsed since Bj was last incremented;

[0169] 1 > if the value of By is greater than the bucket size (i.e. PBR x BSD):

[0170] 2> set Bj to the bucket size.

[0171] 1 > If configured with a delay-critical logical channel: 2> if the value of D is less than or equal to RTT, where D is the shortest remaining time until discard for any MAC SDU in logical channel j, map the MAC SDU to the delay-critical LCH:

[0172] 3> if there exists MAC SDUs with remaining time less than or equal to D: 4> increment RJ to the by the product PBR x T before every instance of the LCP procedure, where T is the time elapsed since RJ was last incremented;

[0173] 2> if the value of D is greater than RTT, where D is the shortest remaining time until discard for any MAC SDU in logical channel j:

[0174] 3>set RJ to zero.

[0175] 3>adjust priority of logical channel J to priority.

[0176] NOTE: The exact moment(s) when the UE updates Bj or RJ between LCP procedures is up to UE implementation, as long as Bj is up to date at the time when a grant is processed by LCP. .3.1 .2 Selection of logical channels

[0177] The MAC entity shall, when a new transmission is performed:

[0178] 1 > select the logical channels for each UL grant that satisfy all the following conditions: 2>the set of allowed Subcarrier Spacing index values in allowedSCS-List, if configured, includes the Subcarrier Spacing index associated to the UL grant; and 2> maxPUSCH-Duration, if configured, is larger than or equal to the PUSCH transmission duration associated to the UL grant; and

[0179] 2> configuredGrantTypel Allowed, if configured, is set to true in case the UL grant is a Configured Grant Type 1 ; and

[0180] 2> allowedServingCells, if configured, includes the Cell information associated to the UL grant. Does not apply to logical channels associated with a DRB configured with PDCP duplication within the same MAC entity (i.e. CA duplication) when CA duplication is deactivated for this DRB in this MAC entity; and

[0181] 2> allowedCG-List, if configured, includes the configured grant index associated to the UL grant; and

[0182] 2> allowedPHY-Prioritylndex, if configured, includes the priority index (as specified in clause 9 of TS 38.213 [6]) associated to the dynamic UL grant; and

[0183] 2> allowedHARQ-mode, if configured, includes the allowed UL HARQ mode for the HARQ process associated to the UL grant.

[0184] NOTE: The Subcarrier Spacing index, PUSCH transmission duration, Cell information, and priority index are included in Uplink transmission information received from lower layers for the corresponding scheduled uplink transmission. .3.1 .3 Allocation of resources Before the successful completion of the Random Access procedure initiated for DAPS handover, the target MAC entity shall not select the logical channel(s) corresponding to non-DAPS DRB(s) for the uplink grant received in a Random Access Response or the uplink grant for the transmission of the MSGA payload. The source MAC entity shall select only the logical channel(s) corresponding to DAPS DRB(s) during DAPS handover.

[0185] The MAC entity shall, when a new transmission is performed:

[0186] 1 > allocate resources to the logical channels as follows:

[0187] 2> logical channels selected in clause 5.4.3.1 .2 for the UL grant with Bj > 0 or RJ > 0 are allocated resources in a decreasing priority order. If the PBR of a logical channel is set to infinity, the MAC entity shall allocate resources for all the data that is available for transmission on the logical channel before meeting the PBR of the lower priority logical channel(s);

[0188] 2> decrement Bj by the total size of MAC SDUs served to logical channel j above;

[0189] 2> decrement RJ by the total size of MAC SDUs with remaining time less or equal to D served to logical channel j above;

[0190] 2> if any resources remain, all the logical channels selected in clause 5.4.3.1.2 are served in a strict decreasing priority order (regardless of the value of Bj) until either the data for that logical channel or the UL grant is exhausted, whichever comes first. Logical channels configured with equal priority should be served equally.

[0191] NOTE 1 : The value of Bj or Rj can be negative.

[0192] In view of the modifications and variations herein, Figure 6 depicts a method performed by a communication device 12 configured for use in a communication network 10 in accordance with particular embodiments. The method includes receiving, from the communication network 10, control signaling 22 that configures a delay-sensitive priority level 22D according to which the communication device 12 is to prioritize a logical channel 18 if delay-sensitive traffic is available on the logical channel 18 (Block 600). The method also includes receiving, from the communication network 10, control signaling 22 that alternatively or additionally configures a delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D to which the communication device 12 is to map delay-sensitive traffic if the delay-sensitive traffic is available on an associated logical channel 18-A (Block 610).

[0193] In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 configures the delay-sensitive priority level 22D. In some embodiments, the delay-sensitive priority level 22D is a priority level according to which the communication device 12 is to prioritize the logical channel 18 if any delay-sensitive traffic is available on that logical channel 18. In some embodiments, the delay-sensitive priority level 22D is a priority level according to which the communication device 12 is to prioritize the logical channel 18 if a shortest remaining time budget of one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel 18 is below a threshold. In some embodiments, the shortest remaining time budget is a shortest remaining time budget amongst one or more remaining time budgets of the one or more units of delaysensitive traffic available on the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, the method further comprises determining the shortest remaining time budget of one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel 18, determining if the shortest remaining time budget is below the threshold, and based on the shortest remaining time budget being below the threshold, prioritizing the logical channel 18 according to the delaysensitive priority level 22D.

[0194] In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 indicates the threshold.

[0195] In some embodiments, a remaining time budget of a unit of delay-sensitive traffic is how much time remains in a duration of time budgeted for delivery of the unit of delaysensitive traffic. In other embodiments, a remaining time budget of a unit of delay-sensitive traffic is how much time remains until the unit of delay-sensitive traffic will be discarded. In yet other embodiments, a remaining time budget of a unit of delay-sensitive traffic is how much time remains until the unit of delay-sensitive traffic will exceed a maximum allowed delay.

[0196] In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 comprises a logical channel configuration for the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, the logical channel 18 configuration configures multiple possible priority levels for the logical channel 18, including the delay-sensitive priority level 22D, according to which the communication device 12 is to prioritize the logical channel 18 responsive to different respective conditions being fulfilled. In some embodiments, the multiple possible priority levels include a first priority level according to which the communication device 12 is to prioritize the logical channel 18 if a first condition is fulfilled, and the delay-sensitive priority level 22D according to which the communication device 12 is to prioritize the logical channel 18 if a second condition is fulfilled. In some embodiments, the second condition is fulfilled when any delay-sensitive traffic is available on the logical channel 18. In other embodiments, the second condition is fulfilled when any unit of delay-sensitive traffic that has a remaining time budget below a threshold is available on the logical channel 18. In yet other embodiments, the second condition is fulfilled when a shortest remaining time budget of one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel 18 is below a threshold, wherein the shortest remaining time budget is a shortest remaining time budget amongst one or more remaining time budgets of the one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, the first condition is fulfilled when the second condition is not fulfilled. In some embodiments, the logical channel 18 is prioritized higher according to the delay-sensitive priority level 22D than according to the first priority level. In some embodiments, the method further comprises selecting the first priority level or the delay-sensitive priority level 22D, depending respectively on whether the first condition or the second condition is fulfilled, as being the priority level according to which the communication device 12 is to prioritize the logical channel 18, prioritizing the logical channel 18 according to the selected priority level.

[0197] In some embodiments, the delay-sensitive priority level 22D is specifically configured for the logical channel 18.

[0198] In some embodiments, the delay-sensitive priority level 22D is commonly configured for multiple logical channels 18.

[0199] In some embodiments, the delay-sensitive priority level 22D is commonly configured for any logical channel 18 that carries traffic for a specific service or application at the communication device 12.

[0200] In some embodiments, the method further comprises prioritizing the logical channel 18 according to the control signaling 22 (Block 620). In some embodiments, said prioritizing comprises, based on delay-sensitive traffic being available on the logical channel 18, prioritizing the logical channel 18 according to the delay-sensitive priority level 22D. In some embodiments, the method further comprises receiving, from the communication network 10, a grant that grants the communication device 12 transmission resources (Block 640), and allocating the transmission resources granted by the grant to one or more logical channels 18 of the communication device 12 in decreasing order of priority (Block 650). In some embodiments, said allocating comprises, when allocating transmission resources to the logical channel 18, allocating transmission resources for transmission of at least some delaysensitive traffic available on the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, said allocating comprises, when allocating transmission resources to the logical channel 18, allocating transmission resources for transmission of at least some delay-sensitive traffic that is available on the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, said allocating comprises, when allocating transmission resources to the logical channel 18, allocating transmission resources for transmission of as much delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel 18 as possible. In some embodiments, said allocating comprises, when allocating transmission resources to the logical channel 18, allocating transmission resources until either (i) exhaustion of delay-sensitive traffic that is available on the logical channel 18; or (ii) exhaustion of the grant, whichever comes first. In some embodiments, said allocating comprises for each logical channel 18, setting a delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R for the logical channel 18 to a total amount of any delay-sensitive traffic that is available on the logical channel 18, and allocating transmission resources to one or more logical channels 18 with a delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R greater than zero, in decreasing order of priority. In some embodiments, said allocating comprises, for each logical channel 18, setting a delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R for the logical channel 18 to a total amount of any delay-sensitive traffic that is available on the logical channel 18; for each logical channel 18, setting a traffic allocation variable B for the logical channel 18 as a function of a prioritized bitrate for the logical channel 18 and a time elapsed since the traffic allocation variable was last set; and allocating transmission resources to one or more logical channels 18 with either a delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R greater than zero or a traffic allocation variable B greater than zero, in decreasing order of priority. In some embodiments, allocating transmission resources to a logical channel 18 with a delaysensitive traffic allocation variable R greater than zero comprises allocating at least a number of transmission resources needed to transmit an amount of traffic indicated by the delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R for the logical channel 18, irrespective of the traffic allocation variable B for the logical channel 18 and / or even if the amount of traffic indicated by the delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R for the logical channel 18 is greater than an amount of traffic indicated by the traffic allocation variable B for the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, the method further comprises, for each logical channel 18 to which transmission resources are allocated, decrementing the traffic allocation variable B for the logical channel 18 by a total amount of traffic served to the logical channel 18, and decrementing the delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R for the logical channel 18 by a total amount of delay-sensitive traffic served to the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, allocating transmission resources to a logical channel 18 with a delaysensitive traffic allocation variable R greater than zero comprises, if a number of transmission resources needed to transmit an amount of traffic indicated by the delaysensitive traffic allocation variable R for the logical channel 18 is less than or equal to a number of unallocated transmission resources remaining in the grant, allocating that number of transmission resources to the logical channel 18. In other embodiments, allocating transmission resources to a logical channel 18 with a delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R greater than zero comprises, if the number of transmission resources needed to transmit the amount of traffic indicated by the delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R for the logical channel 18 is greater than the number of unallocated transmission resources remaining in the grant, allocating the number of unallocated transmission resources remaining in the grant to the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, the method further comprises, for each logical channel 18 to which transmission resources are allocated, decrementing the delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R for the logical channel 18 by a total amount of delay-sensitive traffic served to the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, the method further comprises performing transmission on the transmission resources allocated (Block 660).

[0201] In some embodiments, a unit of delay-sensitive traffic is at risk of exceeding a maximum allowed delay if a remaining time budget of the unit is below a threshold. In some embodiments, the delay-sensitive priority level 22D is a priority level according to which, if delay-sensitive traffic is available on the logical channel 18, the communication device 12 is to prioritize the logical channel 18 for transmission of any type of traffic available on the logical channel 18.

[0202] In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 also configures a maximum allowed delay that governs what traffic is deemed delay-sensitive traffic, wherein delay-sensitive traffic is traffic that is at risk of exceeding the maximum allowed delay. In other embodiments, the control signaling 22 also configures alternatively or additionally, a threshold that governs under what conditions or circumstances the communication device 12 is to prioritize the logical channel 18 according to the delay-sensitive priority level 22D.

[0203] In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 configures the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D. In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 comprises a logical channel 18 configuration for the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D. In some embodiments, the logical channel configuration indicates a priority level according to which the communication device 12 is to prioritize the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D, and an identity of the associated logical channel 18-A that is associated with the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D, or an identity of a radio bearer identity corresponding to the associated logical channel 18-A. In some embodiments, the communication device 12 is to prioritize the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D over the associated logical channel 18-A that is associated with the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D. In some embodiments, the method further comprises mapping, to the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D, any delay-sensitive traffic that is available on the associated logical channel 18-A. In some embodiments, the method further comprises mapping, to the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D, any delay-sensitive traffic that is available on the associated logical channel 18-A (Block 630). In some embodiments, the method further comprises mapping, to the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D, any delay-sensitive traffic that is available on the associated logical channel 18-A if a shortest remaining time budget of one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the associated logical channel 18-A is below a threshold. In some embodiments, the shortest remaining time budget is a shortest remaining time budget amongst one or more remaining time budgets of the one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the associated logical channel 18-A. In some embodiments, a unit of delay-sensitive traffic is at risk of exceeding a maximum allowed delay if a remaining time budget of the unit is below a threshold. In some embodiments, the method further comprises receiving, from the communication network 10, a grant that grants the communication device 12 transmission resources, and allocating the transmission resources granted by the grant to one or more logical channels 18 of the communication device 12 in decreasing order of priority. In some embodiments, said allocating comprises, when allocating transmission resources to the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D, allocating transmission resources for transmission of at least some delay-sensitive traffic available on the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D. In some embodiments, said allocating comprises, when allocating transmission resources to the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D, allocating transmission resources until either (i) exhaustion of delay-sensitive traffic that is available on the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D; or (ii) exhaustion of the grant, whichever comes first. In some embodiments, said allocating comprises setting a traffic allocation variable B for the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D as a function of a prioritized bitrate for the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D and a time elapsed since the traffic allocation variable was last set, and allocating transmission resources to the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D as a function of the traffic allocation variable B for the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D.

[0204] In some embodiments, delay-sensitive traffic is traffic that has a time budget for delivery or a maximum allowed delay for delivery.

[0205] In some embodiments, a logical channel 18 is an uplink logical channel or a sidelink logical channel.

[0206] In some embodiments, delay-sensitive traffic that is available on a logical channel 18 is stored in a transmit buffer associated with the logical channel 18.

[0207] In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 comprises radio resource control, RRC, signaling.

[0208] In some embodiments, a unit of delay-sensitive uplink traffic comprises a Medium Access Control, MAC, Service Data Unit, SDU, that carries delay-sensitive uplink traffic.

[0209] In some embodiments, delay-sensitive traffic is traffic that is at risk of exceeding a maximum allowed delay. In some embodiments, a unit of delay-sensitive traffic is at risk of exceeding a maximum allowed delay if a remaining time budget of the unit is below a threshold.

[0210] Figure 7 depicts a method performed by a network node configured for use in a communication network 10 in accordance with other particular embodiments. The method includes transmitting, to a communication device 12, control signaling 22 that configures a delay-sensitive priority level 22D according to which the communication device 12 is to prioritize a logical channel 18 if delay-sensitive traffic is available on the logical channel 18 (Block 700). The method also comprises transmitting, to a communication device 12, control signaling 22 that alternatively or additionally configures a delay-sensitive logical channel 18- D to which the communication device 12 is to map delay-sensitive traffic if the delaysensitive traffic is available on an associated logical channel 18-A (Block 710).

[0211] In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 configures the delay-sensitive priority level 22D. In some embodiments, the delay-sensitive priority level 22D is a priority level according to which the communication device 12 is to prioritize the logical channel 18 if any delay-sensitive traffic is available on that logical channel 18. In some embodiments, the delay-sensitive priority level 22D is a priority level according to which the communication device 12 is to prioritize the logical channel 18 if a shortest remaining time budget of one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel 18 is below a threshold. In some embodiments, the shortest remaining time budget is a shortest remaining time budget amongst one or more remaining time budgets of the one or more units of delaysensitive traffic available on the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 indicates the threshold. In some embodiments, a remaining time budget of a unit of delay-sensitive traffic is how much time remains in a duration of time budgeted for delivery of the unit of delay-sensitive traffic. In other embodiments, a remaining time budget of a unit of delay-sensitive traffic is how much time remains until the unit of delay-sensitive traffic will be discarded. In yet other embodiments, a remaining time budget of a unit of delay-sensitive traffic is how much time remains until the unit of delay-sensitive traffic will exceed a maximum allowed delay. In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 comprises a logical channel configuration for the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, the logical channel configuration configures multiple possible priority levels for the logical channel 18, including the delay-sensitive priority level 22D, according to which the communication device 12 is to prioritize the logical channel 18 responsive to different respective conditions being fulfilled. In some embodiments, the multiple possible priority levels include a first priority level according to which the communication device 12 is to prioritize the logical channel 18 if a first condition is fulfilled, and the delay-sensitive priority level 22D according to which the communication device 12 is to prioritize the logical channel 18 if a second condition is fulfilled. In some embodiments, the second condition is fulfilled when any delay-sensitive traffic is available on the logical channel 18. In other embodiments, the second condition is fulfilled when any unit of delay-sensitive traffic that has a remaining time budget below a threshold is available on the logical channel 18. In yet other embodiments, the second condition is fulfilled when a shortest remaining time budget of one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel 18 is below a threshold. In some embodiments, the shortest remaining time budget is a shortest remaining time budget amongst one or more remaining time budgets of the one or more units of delaysensitive traffic available on the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, the first condition is fulfilled when the second condition is not fulfilled. In some embodiments, the logical channel 18 is prioritized higher according to the delay-sensitive priority level 22D than according to the first priority level. In some embodiments, the delay-sensitive priority level 22D is specifically configured for the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, the delaysensitive priority level 22D is commonly configured for multiple logical channels 18. In some embodiments, the delay-sensitive priority level 22D is commonly configured for any logical channel 18 that carries traffic for a specific service or application at the communication device 12. In some embodiments, a unit of delay-sensitive traffic is at risk of exceeding a maximum allowed delay if a remaining time budget of the unit is below a threshold. In some embodiments, the delay-sensitive priority level 22D is a priority level according to which, if delay-sensitive traffic is available on the logical channel 18, the communication device 12 is to prioritize the logical channel 18 for transmission of any type of traffic available on the logical channel 18.

[0212] In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 also configures a maximum allowed delay that governs what traffic is deemed delay-sensitive traffic, wherein delay-sensitive traffic is traffic that is at risk of exceeding the maximum allowed delay. In other embodiments, the control signaling 22 also configures alternatively or additionally a threshold that governs under what conditions or circumstances the communication device 12 is to prioritize the logical channel 18 according to the delay-sensitive priority level 22D.

[0213] In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 configures the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D. In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 comprises a logical channel configuration for the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D. In some embodiments, the logical channel configuration indicates a priority level according to which the communication device 12 is to prioritize the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D, and an identity of the associated logical channel 18-A that is associated with the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D, or an identity of a radio bearer identity corresponding to the associated logical channel 18-A. In some embodiments, the communication device 12 is to prioritize the delay-sensitive logical channel 18-D over the associated logical channel 18-A that is associated with the delaysensitive logical channel 18-D.

[0214] In some embodiments, delay-sensitive traffic is traffic that has a time budget for delivery or a maximum allowed delay for delivery.

[0215] In some embodiments, a logical channel 18 is an uplink logical channel or a sidelink logical channel.

[0216] In some embodiments, delay-sensitive traffic that is available on a logical channel 18 is stored in a transmit buffer associated with the logical channel 18. The control signaling 22 comprises radio resource control, RRC, signaling.

[0217] In some embodiments, a unit of delay-sensitive uplink traffic comprises a Medium Access Control, MAC, Service Data Unit, SDU, that carries delay-sensitive uplink traffic.

[0218] In some embodiments, the method further comprises transmitting, to the communication device 12, a grant that grants the communication device 12 transmission resources (Block 720), and receiving, from the communication device 12, traffic transmitted on transmission resources that are granted by the grant and that are allocated to one or more logical channels 18 of the communication device 12 according to the control signaling 22 (Block 730).

[0219] Embodiments herein also include corresponding apparatuses. Embodiments herein for instance include a communication device 12 configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the communication device 12.

[0220] Embodiments also include a communication device 12 comprising processing circuitry and power supply circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the communication device 12. The power supply circuitry is configured to supply power to the communication device 12.

[0221] Embodiments further include a communication device 12 comprising processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the communication device 12. In some embodiments, the communication device 12 further comprises communication circuitry.

[0222] Embodiments further include a communication device 12 comprising processing circuitry and memory. The memory contains instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the communication device 12 is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the communication device 12.

[0223] Embodiments moreover include a user equipment (UE). The UE comprises an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals. The UE also comprises radio frontend circuitry connected to the antenna and to processing circuitry, and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the communication device 12. In some embodiments, the UE also comprises an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow input of information into the UE to be processed by the processing circuitry. The UE may comprise an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry. The UE may also comprise a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE.

[0224] Embodiments herein also include a network node 14 configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the network node 14.

[0225] Embodiments also include a network node 14 comprising processing circuitry and power supply circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the network node 14. The power supply circuitry is configured to supply power to the network node 14.

[0226] Embodiments further include a network node 14 comprising processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the network node 14. In some embodiments, the network node 14 further comprises communication circuitry.

[0227] Embodiments further include a network node 14 comprising processing circuitry and memory. The memory contains instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the network node 14 is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the network node 14.

[0228] More particularly, the apparatuses described above may perform the methods herein and any other processing by implementing any functional means, modules, units, or circuitry. In one embodiment, for example, the apparatuses comprise respective circuits or circuitry configured to perform the steps shown in the method figures. The circuits or circuitry in this regard may comprise circuits dedicated to performing certain functional processing and / or one or more microprocessors in conjunction with memory. For instance, the circuitry may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (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, cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory may include 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 several embodiments. In embodiments that employ memory, the memory stores program code that, when executed by the one or more processors, carries out the techniques described herein.

[0229] Figure 8 for example illustrates a communication device 12 as implemented in accordance with one or more embodiments. As shown, the communication device 12 includes processing circuitry 810 and communication circuitry 820. The communication circuitry 820 (e.g., radio circuitry) is configured to transmit and / or receive information to and / or from one or more other nodes, e.g., via any communication technology. Such communication may occur via one or more antennas that are either internal or external to the communication device 12. The processing circuitry 810 is configured to perform processing described above, e.g., in Figure 6, such as by executing instructions stored in memory 830. The processing circuitry 810 in this regard may implement certain functional means, units, or modules.

[0230] Figure 9 illustrates a network node 14 as implemented in accordance with one or more embodiments. As shown, the network node 14 includes processing circuitry 910 and communication circuitry 920. The communication circuitry 920 is configured to transmit and / or receive information to and / or from one or more other nodes, e.g., via any communication technology. The processing circuitry 910 is configured to perform processing described above, e.g., in Figure 7, such as by executing instructions stored in memory 930. The processing circuitry 910 in this regard may implement certain functional means, units, or modules.

[0231] Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that embodiments herein further include corresponding computer programs.

[0232] A computer program comprises instructions which, when executed on at least one processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to carry out any of the respective processing described above. A computer program in this regard may comprise one or more code modules corresponding to the means or units described above.

[0233] Embodiments further include a carrier containing such a computer program. This carrier may comprise one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium.

[0234] In this regard, embodiments herein also include a computer program product stored on a non-transitory computer readable (storage or recording) medium and comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform as described above.

[0235] Embodiments further include a computer program product comprising program code portions for performing the steps of any of the embodiments herein when the computer program product is executed by a computing device. This computer program product may be stored on a computer readable recording medium.

[0236] Figure 10 shows an example of a communication system 1000 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0237] In the example, the communication system 1000 includes a telecommunication network 1002 that includes an access network 1004, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 1006, which includes one or more core network nodes 1008. The access network 1004 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 1010a and 1010b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 1010), or any other similar 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) 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. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunication network 1002 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network 1002 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 the telecommunication network 1002, including one or more network nodes 1010 and / or core network nodes 1008.

[0238] 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 A1 , F1 , W1 , E1 , 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. The network nodes 1010 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 1012a, 1012b, 1012c, and 1012d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 1012) to the core network 1006 over one or more wireless connections.

[0239] 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, the communication system 1000 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. The communication system 1000 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0240] The UEs 1012 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes 1010 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 1010 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 1012 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 1002 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network 1002. In the depicted example, the core network 1006 connects the network nodes 1010 to one or more host computing systems, such as host 1016. 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. The core network 1006 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 1008) 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 the core network node 1008. 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).

[0241] The host 1016 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 1004 and / or the telecommunication network 1002. The host 1016 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.

[0242] As a whole, the communication system 1000 of Figure 10 enables connectivity between the 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.

[0243] In some examples, the telecommunication network 1002 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network 1002 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 1002. For example, the telecommunications network 1002 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)ZMassive loT services to yet further UEs.

[0244] In some examples, the UEs 1012 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 1004 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 1004. 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).

[0245] In the example, the hub 1014 communicates with the access network 1004 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 1012c and / or 1012d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 1010b). In some examples, the hub 1014 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 1014 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 1006 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 1014 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 1010, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 1014. As another example, the hub 1014 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, the hub 1014 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR device, display, loudspeaker, or other media delivery device, the hub 1014 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 1014 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 1014 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0246] The hub 1014 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 1010b. The hub 1014 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 1014 and UEs (e.g., UE 1012c and / or 1012d), and between the hub 1014 and the core network 1006. In other examples, the hub 1014 is connected to the core network 1006 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 1014 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 1004 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 1010 while still connected via the hub 1014 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 1014 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to the network node 1010b. In other embodiments, the hub 1014 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 1010b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0247] Figure 11 shows a UE 1100 in accordance with some embodiments. The UE 1100 presents additional details of some embodiments of the UE 1012 of Figure 1. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other UEs. 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 / playback device, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), an Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR) device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB- loT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0248] 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).

[0249] The UE 1100 includes processing circuitry 1102 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1104 to an input / output interface 1106, a power source 1108, a memory 1110, a communication interface 1112, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 11 . The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0250] The processing circuitry 1102 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 the memory 1110. The processing circuitry 1102 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, the processing circuitry 1102 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0251] In the example, the input / output interface 1106 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 the UE 1100. 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.

[0252] In some embodiments, the power source 1108 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. The power source 1108 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 1108 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 1100 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 1108. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 1108 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 1100 to which power is supplied.

[0253] The memory 1110 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, the memory 1110 includes one or more application programs 1114, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 1116. The memory 1110 may store, for use by the UE 1100, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0254] The memory 1110 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 (eUlCC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory 1110 may allow the UE 1100 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 the memory 1110, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0255] The processing circuitry 1102 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 1112. The communication interface 1112 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 1122. The communication interface 1112 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 a transmitter 1118 and / or a receiver 1120 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 1118 and receiver 1120 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 1122) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0256] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 1112 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.

[0257] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 1112, 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).

[0258] 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.

[0259] 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 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 the UE 1100 shown in Figure 11 .

[0260] 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 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-loT 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.

[0261] 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.

[0262] Figure 12 shows a network node 1200 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)), O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., O-RU, O-DU, O-CU).

[0263] 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). 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).

[0264] The network node 1200 includes a processing circuitry 1202, a memory 1204, a communication interface 1206, and a power source 1208. The network node 1200 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 the network node 1200 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, the network node 1200 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 1204 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 1210 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 1200 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1200, 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 1200.

[0265] The processing circuitry 1202 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 1200 components, such as the memory 1204, to provide network node 1200 functionality.

[0266] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1202 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1202 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1212 and baseband processing circuitry 1214. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1212 and the baseband processing circuitry 1214 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 1212 and baseband processing circuitry 1214 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0267] The memory 1204 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 the processing circuitry 1202. The memory 1204 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 capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 1202 and utilized by the network node 1200. The memory 1204 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 1202 and / or any data received via the communication interface 1206. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1202 and memory 1204 is integrated.

[0268] The communication interface 1206 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between a network node, access network, and / or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface 1206 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 1216 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 1206 also includes radio front-end circuitry 1218 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 1210. Radio front-end circuitry 1218 comprises filters 1220 and amplifiers 1222. The radio front-end circuitry 1218 may be connected to an antenna 1210 and processing circuitry 1202. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1210 and processing circuitry 1202. The radio front-end circuitry 1218 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry 1218 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1220 and / or amplifiers 1222. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 1210. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 1210 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 1218. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 1202. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0269] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 1200 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 1218, instead, the processing circuitry 1202 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 1210. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 1212 is part of the communication interface 1206. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 1206 includes one or more ports or terminals 1216, the radio front-end circuitry 1218, and the RF transceiver circuitry 1212, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 1206 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 1214, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0270] The antenna 1210 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 1210 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 1218 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 1210 is separate from the network node 1200 and connectable to the network node 1200 through an interface or port.

[0271] The antenna 1210, communication interface 1206, and / or the processing circuitry 1202 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, the antenna 1210, the communication interface 1206, and / or the processing circuitry 1202 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.

[0272] The power source 1208 provides power to the various components of network node 1200 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 1208 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 1200 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 1200 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 the power source 1208. As a further example, the power source 1208 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.

[0273] Embodiments of the network node 1200 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 12 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, the network node 1200 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 1200 and to allow output of information from the network node 1200. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 1200. In some embodiments providing a core network node, such as core network node 108 of FIG. 10, some components, such as the radio front-end circuitry 1218 and the RF transceiver circuitry 1212 may be omitted.

[0274] Figure 13 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1300 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 1300 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 1300 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface. Virtualization may facilitate distributed implementations of a network node, UE, core network node, or host.

[0275] Applications 1302 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment Q400 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0276] Hardware 1304 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions 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 1306 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1308a and 1308b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 1308), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1306 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 1308.

[0277] The VMs 1308 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1306. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1302 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 1308, 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.

[0278] In the context of NFV, a VM 1308 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 1308, and that part of hardware 1304 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 1308 on top of the hardware 1304 and corresponds to the application 1302.

[0279] Hardware 1304 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1304 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1304 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 1310, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1302. In some embodiments, hardware 1304 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 1312 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0280] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0281] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0282] Some embodiments may be enumerated as follows:

[0283] Group A Embodiments

[0284] A1 . A method performed by a communication device (12) configured for use in a communication network (10), the method comprising: receiving, from the communication network (10), control signaling (22) that configures: a delay-sensitive priority level (22D) according to which the communication device (12) is to prioritize a logical channel (18) if delay-sensitive traffic is available on the logical channel (18); and / or a delay-sensitive logical channel (18-D) to which the communication device (12) is to map delay-sensitive traffic if the delay-sensitive traffic is available on an associated logical channel (18-A).

[0285] A2. The method of embodiment A1 , wherein the control signaling configures the delaysensitive priority level.

[0286] A3. The method of embodiment A2, wherein the delay-sensitive priority level is a priority level according to which the communication device is to prioritize the logical channel if any delay-sensitive traffic is available on that logical channel.

[0287] A4. Reserved

[0288] A5. Reserved

[0289] A6. Reserved

[0290] A7. The method of embodiment A2, wherein the delay-sensitive priority level is a priority level according to which the communication device is to prioritize the logical channel if a shortest remaining time budget of one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel is below a threshold, wherein the shortest remaining time budget is a shortest remaining time budget amongst one or more remaining time budgets of the one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel.

[0291] A8. The method of embodiment A7, further comprising: determining the shortest remaining time budget of one or more units of delaysensitive traffic available on the logical channel; determining if the shortest remaining time budget is below the threshold; and based on the shortest remaining time budget being below the threshold, prioritizing the logical channel according to the delay-sensitive priority level.

[0292] A9. The method of any of embodiments A5-A8, wherein the control signaling indicates the threshold.

[0293] A10. The method of any of embodiments A5-A9, wherein a remaining time budget of a unit of delay-sensitive traffic is: how much time remains in a duration of time budgeted for delivery of the unit of delay-sensitive traffic; how much time remains until the unit of delay-sensitive traffic will be discarded; or how much time remains until the unit of delay-sensitive traffic will exceed a maximum allowed delay.

[0294] A11 . The method of any of embodiments A2-A10, wherein the control signaling comprises a logical channel configuration for the logical channel, wherein the logical channel configuration configures multiple possible priority levels for the logical channel, including the delay-sensitive priority level, according to which the communication device is to prioritize the logical channel responsive to different respective conditions being fulfilled.

[0295] A12. The method of embodiment A11 , wherein the multiple possible priority levels include: a first priority level according to which the communication device is to prioritize the logical channel if a first condition is fulfilled; and the delay-sensitive priority level according to which the communication device is to prioritize the logical channel if a second condition is fulfilled.

[0296] A13. The method of embodiment A12, wherein the second condition is fulfilled when: any delay-sensitive traffic is available on the logical channel; or a shortest remaining time budget of one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel is below a threshold, wherein the shortest remaining time budget is a shortest remaining time budget amongst one or more remaining time budgets of the one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel.

[0297] A14. The method of any of embodiments A12-A13, wherein the first condition is fulfilled when the second condition is not fulfilled.

[0298] A15. The method of any of embodiments A12-A14, wherein the logical channel is prioritized higher according to the delay-sensitive priority level than according to the first priority level.

[0299] A16. The method of any of embodiments A12-A15, further comprising: selecting the first priority level or the delay-sensitive priority level, depending respectively on whether the first condition or the second condition is fulfilled, as being the priority level according to which the communication device is to prioritize the logical channel; and prioritizing the logical channel according to the selected priority level.

[0300] A17. The method of any of embodiments A2-A16, wherein the delay-sensitive priority level is specifically configured for the logical channel.

[0301] A18. The method of any of embodiments A2-A16, wherein the delay-sensitive priority level is commonly configured for multiple logical channels. A19. The method of any of embodiments A2-A18, wherein the delay-sensitive priority level is commonly configured for any logical channel that carries traffic for a specific service or application at the communication device.

[0302] A20. The method of any of embodiments A2-A19, further comprising prioritizing the logical channel according to the control signaling.

[0303] A21 . The method of embodiment A20, wherein said prioritizing comprises, based on delay-sensitive traffic being available on the logical channel, prioritizing the logical channel according to the delay-sensitive priority level.

[0304] A22. The method of embodiment A21 , further comprising: receiving, from the communication network, a grant that grants the communication device transmission resources; and allocating the transmission resources granted by the grant to one or more logical channels of the communication device in decreasing order of priority.

[0305] A23. The method of embodiment A22, wherein said allocating comprises, when allocating transmission resources to the logical channel, allocating transmission resources for transmission of at least some delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel.

[0306] A24. The method of embodiment A23, wherein said allocating comprises, when allocating transmission resources to the logical channel, allocating transmission resources for transmission of at least some delay-sensitive traffic that is available on the logical channel.

[0307] A25. The method of embodiment A24, wherein said allocating comprises, when allocating transmission resources to the logical channel, allocating transmission resources for transmission of as much delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel as possible.

[0308] A26. The method of embodiment A24, wherein said allocating comprises, when allocating transmission resources to the logical channel, allocating transmission resources until either (i) exhaustion of delay-sensitive traffic that is available on the logical channel; or (ii) exhaustion of the grant, whichever comes first.

[0309] A27. The method of any of embodiments A22-A26, wherein said allocating comprises: for each logical channel, setting a delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R for the logical channel to a total amount of any delay-sensitive traffic that is available on the logical channel; and allocating transmission resources to one or more logical channels with a delaysensitive traffic allocation variable R greater than zero, in decreasing order of priority.

[0310] A28. The method of any of embodiments A22-A26, wherein said allocating comprises: for each logical channel, setting a delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R for the logical channel to a total amount of any delay-sensitive traffic that is available on the logical channel; for each logical channel, setting a traffic allocation variable B for the logical channel as a function of a prioritized bitrate for the logical channel and a time elapsed since the traffic allocation variable was last set; and allocating transmission resources to one or more logical channels with either a delaysensitive traffic allocation variable R greater than zero or a traffic allocation variable B greater than zero, in decreasing order of priority.

[0311] A29. The method of embodiment A28, wherein allocating transmission resources to a logical channel with a delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R greater than zero comprises allocating at least a number of transmission resources needed to transmit an amount of traffic indicated by the delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R for the logical channel, irrespective of the traffic allocation variable B for the logical channel and / or even if the amount of traffic indicated by the delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R for the logical channel is greater than an amount of traffic indicated by the traffic allocation variable B for the logical channel.

[0312] A30. The method of any of embodiments A28-A29, further comprising, for each logical channel to which transmission resources are allocated: decrementing the traffic allocation variable B for the logical channel by a total amount of traffic served to the logical channel; and decrementing the delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R for the logical channel by a total amount of delay-sensitive traffic served to the logical channel.

[0313] A31 . The method of any of embodiments A27-A30, wherein allocating transmission resources to a logical channel with a delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R greater than zero comprises: if a number of transmission resources needed to transmit an amount of traffic indicated by the delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R for the logical channel is less than or equal to a number of unallocated transmission resources remaining in the grant, allocating that number of transmission resources to the logical channel; or if the number of transmission resources needed to transmit the amount of traffic indicated by the delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R for the logical channel is greater than the number of unallocated transmission resources remaining in the grant, allocating the number of unallocated transmission resources remaining in the grant to the logical channel.

[0314] A32. The method of any of embodiments A27-A31 , further comprising, for each logical channel to which transmission resources are allocated, decrementing the delay-sensitive traffic allocation variable R for the logical channel by a total amount of delay-sensitive traffic served to the logical channel.

[0315] A33. The method of any of embodiments A22-A32, further comprising performing transmission on the transmission resources allocated.

[0316] A34. The method of any of embodiments A2-A33, wherein a unit of delay-sensitive traffic is at risk of exceeding a maximum allowed delay if a remaining time budget of the unit is below a threshold.

[0317] A35. The method of any of embodiments A2-A34, wherein the delay-sensitive priority level is a priority level according to which, if delay-sensitive traffic is available on the logical channel, the communication device is to prioritize the logical channel for transmission of any type of traffic available on the logical channel.

[0318] A36. The method of any of embodiments A2-A35, wherein the control signaling also configures: a maximum allowed delay that governs what traffic is deemed delay-sensitive traffic, wherein delay-sensitive traffic is traffic that is at risk of exceeding the maximum allowed delay; and / or a threshold that governs under what conditions or circumstances the communication device is to prioritize the logical channel according to the delay-sensitive priority level.

[0319] A37. The method of embodiment A1 , wherein the control signaling configures the delaysensitive logical channel. A38. The method of embodiment A37, wherein the control signaling comprises a logical channel configuration for the delay-sensitive logical channel, wherein the logical channel configuration indicates: a priority level according to which the communication device is to prioritize the delaysensitive logical channel; and an identity of the associated logical channel that is associated with the delaysensitive logical channel, or an identity of a radio bearer identity corresponding to the associated logical channel.

[0320] A39. The method of any of embodiments A37-A38, wherein the communication device is to prioritize the delay-sensitive logical channel over the associated logical channel that is associated with the delay-sensitive logical channel.

[0321] A40. The method of any of embodiments A37-A39, further comprising mapping, to the delay-sensitive logical channel, any delay-sensitive traffic that is available on the associated logical channel.

[0322] A41. Reserved

[0323] A42. Reserved

[0324] A43. The method of any of embodiments A39-A42, wherein a unit of delay-sensitive traffic is at risk of exceeding a maximum allowed delay if a remaining time budget of the unit is below a threshold.

[0325] A43. The method of any of embodiments A37-A43, further comprising: receiving, from the communication network, a grant that grants the communication device transmission resources; and allocating the transmission resources granted by the grant to one or more logical channels of the communication device in decreasing order of priority.

[0326] A44. The method of embodiment A43, wherein said allocating comprises, when allocating transmission resources to the delay-sensitive logical channel, allocating transmission resources for transmission of at least some delay-sensitive traffic available on the delaysensitive logical channel. A45. The method of embodiment A43, wherein said allocating comprises, when allocating transmission resources to the delay-sensitive logical channel, allocating transmission resources until either (i) exhaustion of delay-sensitive traffic that is available on the delaysensitive logical channel; or (ii) exhaustion of the grant, whichever comes first.

[0327] A46. The method of embodiment A43, wherein said allocating comprises: setting a traffic allocation variable B for the delay-sensitive logical channel as a function of a prioritized bitrate for the delay-sensitive logical channel and a time elapsed since the traffic allocation variable was last set; and allocating transmission resources to the delay-sensitive logical channel as a function of the traffic allocation variable B for the delay-sensitive logical channel.

[0328] A47. The method of any of embodiments A1-A46, wherein delay-sensitive traffic is traffic that has a time budget for delivery or a maximum allowed delay for delivery.

[0329] A48. The method of any of embodiments A1-A47, wherein a logical channel is an uplink logical channel or a sidelink logical channel.

[0330] A49. The method of any of embodiments A1-A48, wherein delay-sensitive traffic that is available on a logical channel is stored in a transmit buffer associated with the logical channel.

[0331] A50. The method of any of embodiments A1-A49, wherein the control signaling comprises radio resource control, RRC, signaling

[0332] A51 . The method of any of embodiments A1-A50, wherein a unit of delay-sensitive uplink traffic comprises a Medium Access Control, MAC, Service Data Unit, SDU, that carries delay-sensitive uplink traffic.

[0333] A52. The method of any of embodiments A1-A46, wherein delay-sensitive traffic is traffic that is at risk of exceeding a maximum allowed delay.

[0334] A53. The method of embodiment A52, wherein a unit of traffic is at risk of exceeding a maximum allowed delay if a remaining time budget of the unit is below a threshold.

[0335] Group B Embodiments

[0336] B1 . A method performed by a network node configured for use in a communication network, the method comprising: transmitting, to a communication device, control signaling that configures: a delay-sensitive priority level according to which the communication device is to prioritize a logical channel if delay-sensitive traffic is available on the logical channel; and / or a delay-sensitive logical channel to which the communication device is to map delay-sensitive traffic if the delay-sensitive traffic is available on an associated logical channel.

[0337] B2. The method of embodiment B1 , wherein the control signaling configures the delaysensitive priority level.

[0338] B3. The method of embodiment B2, wherein the delay-sensitive priority level is a priority level according to which the communication device is to prioritize the logical channel if any delay-sensitive traffic is available on that logical channel.

[0339] B4. Reserved

[0340] B5. Reserved

[0341] B6. Reserved

[0342] B7. The method of embodiment B2, wherein the delay-sensitive priority level is a priority level according to which the communication device is to prioritize the logical channel if a shortest remaining time budget of one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel is below a threshold, wherein the shortest remaining time budget is a shortest remaining time budget amongst one or more remaining time budgets of the one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel.

[0343] B8. Reserved.

[0344] B9. The method of any of embodiments B5-B8, wherein the control signaling indicates the threshold.

[0345] B10. The method of any of embodiments B5-B9, wherein a remaining time budget of a unit of delay-sensitive traffic is: how much time remains in a duration of time budgeted for delivery of the unit of delay-sensitive traffic; how much time remains until the unit of delay-sensitive traffic will be discarded; or how much time remains until the unit of delay-sensitive traffic will exceed a maximum allowed delay.

[0346] B11 . The method of any of embodiments B2-B10, wherein the control signaling comprises a logical channel configuration for the logical channel, wherein the logical channel configuration configures multiple possible priority levels for the logical channel, including the delay-sensitive priority level, according to which the communication device is to prioritize the logical channel responsive to different respective conditions being fulfilled.

[0347] B12. The method of embodiment B11 , wherein the multiple possible priority levels include: a first priority level according to which the communication device is to prioritize the logical channel if a first condition is fulfilled; and the delay-sensitive priority level according to which the communication device is to prioritize the logical channel if a second condition is fulfilled.

[0348] B13. The method of embodiment B12, wherein the second condition is fulfilled when: any delay-sensitive traffic is available on the logical channel; or any unit of delay-sensitive traffic that has a remaining time budget below a threshold is available on the logical channel; or a shortest remaining time budget of one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel is below a threshold, wherein the shortest remaining time budget is a shortest remaining time budget amongst one or more remaining time budgets of the one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel.

[0349] B14. The method of any of embodiments B12-B13, wherein the first condition is fulfilled when the second condition is not fulfilled.

[0350] B15. The method of any of embodiments B12-B14, wherein the logical channel is prioritized higher according to the delay-sensitive priority level than according to the first priority level.

[0351] B16. Reserved.

[0352] B17. The method of any of embodiments B2-B16, wherein the delay-sensitive priority level is specifically configured for the logical channel.

[0353] B18. The method of any of embodiments B2-B16, wherein the delay-sensitive priority level is commonly configured for multiple logical channels.

[0354] B19. The method of any of embodiments B2-B18, wherein the delay-sensitive priority level is commonly configured for any logical channel that carries traffic for a specific service or application at the communication device.

[0355] B20-B33. Reserved.

[0356] B34. The method of any of embodiments B2-B33, wherein a unit of delay-sensitive traffic is at risk of exceeding a maximum allowed delay if a remaining time budget of the unit is below a threshold.

[0357] B35. The method of any of embodiments B2-B34, wherein the delay-sensitive priority level is a priority level according to which, if delay-sensitive traffic is available on the logical channel, the communication device is to prioritize the logical channel for transmission of any type of traffic available on the logical channel.

[0358] B36. The method of any of embodiments B2-B35, wherein the control signaling also configures: a maximum allowed delay that governs what traffic is deemed delay-sensitive traffic, wherein delay-sensitive traffic is traffic that is at risk of exceeding the maximum allowed delay; and / or a threshold that governs under what conditions or circumstances the communication device is to prioritize the logical channel according to the delay-sensitive priority level.

[0359] B37. The method of embodiment B1 , wherein the control signaling configures the delaysensitive logical channel.

[0360] B38. The method of embodiment B37, wherein the control signaling comprises a logical channel configuration for the delay-sensitive logical channel, wherein the logical channel configuration indicates: a priority level according to which the communication device is to prioritize the delaysensitive logical channel; and an identity of the associated logical channel that is associated with the delaysensitive logical channel, or an identity of a radio bearer identity corresponding to the associated logical channel.

[0361] B39. The method of any of embodiments B37-B38, wherein the communication device is to prioritize the delay-sensitive logical channel over the associated logical channel that is associated with the delay-sensitive logical channel.

[0362] B40-B46. Reserved

[0363] B47. The method of any of embodiments B1-B46, wherein delay-sensitive traffic is traffic that has a time budget for delivery or a maximum allowed delay for delivery.

[0364] B48. The method of any of embodiments B1-B47, wherein a logical channel is an uplink logical channel or a sidelink logical channel.

[0365] B49. The method of any of embodiments B1-B48, wherein delay-sensitive traffic that is available on a logical channel is stored in a transmit buffer associated with the logical channel.

[0366] B50. The method of any of embodiments B1-B49, wherein the control signaling comprises radio resource control, RRC, signaling

[0367] B51 . The method of any of embodiments B1-B50, wherein a unit of delay-sensitive uplink traffic comprises a Medium Access Control, MAC, Service Data Unit, SDU, that carries delay-sensitive uplink traffic.

[0368] B52. The method of any of embodiments B1-B51 , further comprising: transmitting, to the communication device, a grant that grants the communication device transmission resources; and receiving, from the communication device, traffic transmitted on transmission resources that are granted by the grant and that are allocated to one or more logical channels of the communication device according to the control signaling.

[0369] Group C Embodiments

[0370] C1. A communication device configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0371] C2. A communication device comprising processing circuitry configured to any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0372] C3. A communication device comprising: communication circuitry; and processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0373] C4. A communication device comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the communication device.

[0374] C5. A communication device comprising: processing circuitry and memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the communication device is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0375] C6. The communication device of any of embodiments C1-C5, wherein the communication device is a wireless communication device.

[0376] C7. A user equipment (UE) comprising: an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals; radio front-end circuitry connected to the antenna and to processing circuitry, and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuitry; the processing circuitry being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow input of information into the UE to be processed by the processing circuitry; an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry; and a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE. C8. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a communication device, causes the communication device to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0377] C9. A carrier containing the computer program of embodiment C7, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium.

[0378] C10. A network node configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0379] C11 . A network node comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0380] C12. A network node comprising: communication circuitry; and processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0381] C13. A network node comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments; power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the network node.

[0382] C14. A network node comprising: processing circuitry and memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the network node is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0383] C15. The network node of any of embodiments C10-C14, wherein the network node is a base station.

[0384] C16. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a network node, causes the network node to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments. C17. The computer program of embodiment C16, wherein the network node is a base station.

[0385] C18. A carrier containing the computer program of any of embodiments C16-C17, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:1 . A method performed by a communication device (12) configured for use in a communication network (10), the method comprising: receiving (600), from the communication network (10), control signaling (22) that configures a delay-sensitive priority level (22D) according to which the communication device (12) is to prioritize a logical channel (18) if delaysensitive traffic is available on the logical channel (18); and prioritizing (620) the logical channel (18) according to the control signaling (22).

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the delay-sensitive priority level (22D) is a priority level according to which the communication device (12) is to prioritize the logical channel (18) if a shortest remaining time budget of one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel (18) is below a threshold, wherein the shortest remaining time budget is a shortest remaining time budget amongst one or more remaining time budgets of the one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel (18).

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: determining the shortest remaining time budget of one or more units of delaysensitive traffic available on the logical channel (18); determining if the shortest remaining time budget is below the threshold; and based on the shortest remaining time budget being below the threshold, prioritizing the logical channel (18) according to the delay-sensitive priority level (22D).

4. The method of any of claims 2-3, wherein the control signaling (22) indicates the threshold.

5. The method of any of claims 1-4, wherein the control signaling (22) comprises a logical channel configuration for the logical channel (18), wherein the logical channel configuration configures multiple possible priority levels for the logical channel (18) according to which the communication device (12) is to prioritize the logical channel (18) responsive to different respective conditions being fulfilled, wherein the multiple possible priority levels include a first priority level according to which the communication device (12) is to prioritize the logical channel (18) if a first condition is fulfilled and the delay-sensitive priority level (22D) according to which the communication device (12) is to prioritize thelogical channel (18) if a second condition is fulfilled, and wherein said prioritizing comprises: selecting the first priority level or the delay-sensitive priority level (22D), depending respectively on whether the first condition or the second condition is fulfilled, as being the priority level according to which the communication device (12) is to prioritize the logical channel (18); and prioritizing the logical channel (18) according to the selected priority level, wherein the logical channel (18) is prioritized higher according to the delay-sensitive priority level (22D) than according to the first priority level.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein: the second condition is fulfilled when a shortest remaining time budget of one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel (18) is below a threshold, wherein the shortest remaining time budget is a shortest remaining time budget amongst one or more remaining time budgets of the one or more units of delay- sensitive traffic available on the logical channel (18); and the first condition is fulfilled when the second condition is not fulfilled.

7. The method of any of claims 1-6, wherein the delay-sensitive priority level (22D) is specifically configured for the logical channel (18).

8. The method of any of claims 1-7, further comprising: receiving, from the communication network (10), a grant that grants the communication device (12) transmission resources; and allocating the transmission resources granted by the grant to one or more logical channels (18) of the communication device (12) in decreasing order of priority.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said allocating comprises, when allocating transmission resources to the logical channel (18), allocating transmission resources until either (i) exhaustion of delay-sensitive traffic that is available on the logical channel (18); or(11) exhaustion of the grant, whichever comes first.

10. The method of any of claims 1 -9, wherein the control signaling (22) also configures a threshold that governs under what conditions or circumstances the communication device(12) is to prioritize the logical channel (18) according to the delay-sensitive priority level (22D).11 . The method of any of claims 1-9, wherein the delay-sensitive priority level (22D) is a highest priority level possible for the logical channel (18).

12. The method of any of claims 2-4 or 6-7, wherein a unit of delay-sensitive traffic is a Protocol Data Unit, PDU, Set that comprises a set of PDUs that carry a payload of a same unit of information at an application layer.

13. A method performed by a network node (14) configured for use in a communication network (10), the method comprising: transmitting (700), to a communication device (12), control signaling (22) that configures: a delay-sensitive priority level (22D) according to which the communication device (12) is to prioritize a logical channel (18) if delay-sensitive traffic is available on the logical channel (18).

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the delay-sensitive priority level (22D) is a priority level according to which the communication device (12) is to prioritize the logical channel (18) if a shortest remaining time budget of one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel (18) is below a threshold, wherein the shortest remaining time budget is a shortest remaining time budget amongst one or more remaining time budgets of the one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel (18).

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the control signaling (22) indicates the threshold.

16. The method of any of claims 13-15, wherein the control signaling (22) comprises a logical channel configuration for the logical channel (18), wherein the logical channel configuration configures multiple possible priority levels for the logical channel (18) according to which the communication device (12) is to prioritize the logical channel (18) responsive to different respective conditions being fulfilled, wherein the multiple possible priority levels include a first priority level according to which the communication device (12) is to prioritize the logical channel (18) if a first condition is fulfilled and the delay-sensitive priority level (22D) according to which the communication device (12) is to prioritize the logical channel (18) if a second condition is fulfilled, wherein the logical channel (18) is to be prioritized higher according to the delay-sensitive priority level (22D) than according to the first priority level.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein: the second condition is fulfilled when a shortest remaining time budget of one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel (18) is below a threshold, wherein the shortest remaining time budget is a shortest remaining time budget amongst one or more remaining time budgets of the one or more units of delay- sensitive traffic available on the logical channel (18); and the first condition is fulfilled when the second condition is not fulfilled.

18. The method of any of claims 16-17, wherein the delay-sensitive priority level (22D) is specifically configured for the logical channel (18).

19. The method of any of claims 16-18, wherein the control signaling (22) also configures a threshold that governs under what conditions or circumstances the communication device (12) is to prioritize the logical channel (18) according to the delay-sensitive priority level (22D).

20. The method of any of claims 13-19, further comprising: transmitting, to the communication device (12), a grant that grants the communication device (12) transmission resources; and receiving, from the communication device (12), traffic transmitted on transmission resources that are granted by the grant and that are allocated to one or more logical channels (18) of the communication device (12) according to the control signaling (22).21 . The method of any of claims 13-20, wherein the delay-sensitive priority level (22D) is a highest priority level possible for the logical channel (18).

22. The method of any of claims 14-15 or 17, wherein a unit of delay-sensitive traffic is a Protocol Data Unit, PDU, Set that comprises a set of PDUs that carry a payload of a same unit of information at an application layer.

23. A communication device (12) configured for use in a communication network (10), the communication device (12) configured to: receive, from the communication network (10), control signaling (22) that configures a delay-sensitive priority level (22D) according to which the communicationdevice (12) is to prioritize a logical channel (18) if delay-sensitive traffic is available on the logical channel (18); and prioritize the logical channel (18) according to the control signaling (22).

24. The communication device (12) of claim 23, configured to perform the method of any of claims 2-12.

25. A network node (14) configured for use in a communication network (10), the network node (14) configured to: transmit, to a communication device (12), control signaling (22) that configures: a delay-sensitive priority level (22D) according to which the communication device (12) is to prioritize a logical channel (18) if delay-sensitive traffic is available on the logical channel (18).

26. The network node (14) of claim 25, configured to perform the method of any of claims 14-22.

27. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a communication device (12), causes the communication device (12) to perform the method of any of claims 1-12.

28. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a network node (14), causes the network node (14) to perform the method of any of claims 13-22.

29. A carrier containing the computer program of any of claims 27-28, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium.

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