Methods for bit rate control for extended reality (XR)

Abstract

In accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, a method includes transmitting, by a user equipment (UE) to an apparatus, a radio signaling to the apparatus. The radio signaling includes an indication of at least one data flow including at least one of an adaptive codec or a capability of changing a source data rate.

Description

METHODS FOR BIT RATE CONTROL FOR EXTENDED REALITY (XR)FIELD

[0001] Various example embodiments relate generally to wireless networks and, more particularly, for a method and apparatus for recommended bit rate support for extended reality (XR).BACKGROUND

[0002] With radio access network (RAN) aware extended reality (XR) rate control, the XR application can dynamically adjust its codec bit rate and encoding parameters to ensure a seamless and high-quality XR user experience. This is achieved by monitoring the network conditions and adapting the application's behavior accordingly, such as reducing the resolution or frame rate when the network is congested.

[0003] XR applications are latency-sensitive. Latency indication, specifically, RAN congestion information, is one type of the key RAN awareness information that would benefit XR application rate-control performance and improve its quality of service (QoS) and user experience. Other RAN metrics (e.g., recommended bitrate) can be considered and enhanced for XR traffic, as well. In XR applications, such as augmented calling use cases, the traffic is bi-directional and UL is often, the performance bottleneck.SUMMARY

[0004] In accordance with aspects of the disclosure, a method includes transmitting, by a user equipment (UE) to an apparatus, a radio signaling to the apparatus. The radio signaling includes an indication of at least one data flow including at least one of an adaptive codec or a capability of changing a source data rate.

[0005] In an aspect of the method, the method may further include transmitting, by the UE, a buffer status report (BSR) or delay status report (DSR) to the apparatus, receiving, by the UE, from the apparatus, an indication of allocated resources, performing a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission by the UE, to the apparatus, and receiving, by the UE, an indication of a signal congestion condition from the apparatus.

[0006] In an aspect of the method, the radio signaling is reported via at least one of UE Assistance Information (UAI), medium access control (MAC) signaling, or radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0007] In an aspect of the method, MAC signaling is used for reporting information. At least one of LCH or LCG is used to identify the data flow.

[0008] In an aspect of the method, the RRC signaling includes a supported bit rate from an application corresponding to the data flow.

[0009] In an aspect of the method, receiving the indication of the signal congestion condition from the apparatus is based on at least one of: the information received in the UAI, a QoS flow Identifier (QFI), data radio bearer (DRB), data carried over PUSCH, delay status report (DSR) or Buffer Status Report (BSR) information.

[0010] In an aspect of the method, the signaling includes information indicating at least one of one or more bits to reflect a presence of uplink (UL) congestion, an available bit rate, or a prediction of impacted KPIs.

[0011] In an aspect of the method, the indication is transmitted via a broadcast message.

[0012] In an aspect of the method, the indication is transmitted to the UE via dedicated signaling including: MAC signaling, RRC signaling, or other L2 signaling.

[0013] In an aspect of the method, the signaling may target at least one of specific LCHs,LCGs, DRBs, or QoS flows. The UE may support application data rate control.

[0014] In an aspect of the method, the method further includes determining a bit rate based on the signal congestion condition.

[0015] In an aspect of the method, the method further includes triggering, by the UE, a PDU session modification procedure based on the determined bit rate.

[0016] In an aspect of the method, the radio signaling includes an RRC report.

[0017] In an aspect of the method, the data flows include at least one of Data Radio Bearer(DRB), Quality of Service (QoS) flow, or application data flow.

[0018] In accordance with aspects of the disclosure, a method includes transmitting, by a user equipment (UE) to a network apparatus, a radio signaling, where the radio signaling includes an indication of at least one data flow including at least one of an adaptive codec or a capability of changing a source data rate; and receiving, by the UE, an indication of a congestion signal from the network apparatus.

[0019] In accordance with aspects of the disclosure, a user equipment (UE) includes at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the UE at least to perform any of the methods and aspects described above.

[0020] In accordance with aspects of the disclosure, a processor-readable medium stores instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus at least to perform any of the methods and aspects described above.

[0021] In accordance with aspects of the disclosure, a method includes performing, by an apparatus, a packet data unit (PDU) session establishment or modification procedure with a UE, and receiving by a network entity, from a network apparatus, a PDU Session establishment or modification procedure to request QoS flows for traffic and a QoS flow configuration with adaptive bit rate capability.

[0022] In an aspect of the method, the method further includes transmitting, by a Session Management Function (SMF) to an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) of the apparatus, the QoS flow configuration including support for at least one of data rate control and adaptive bit rate capability.

[0023] In an aspect of the method, the method further includes setting up of QoS flows by the apparatus based on the QoS flow configuration, and receiving, by the apparatus, from a network apparatus, a PDU session modification acknowledgement message.

[0024] In an aspect of the method, the method further includes receiving, by the apparatus, a buffer status report (BSR) or delay stature report (DSR) from the UE, receiving, by the apparatus, from the UE, an indication of allocated resources, and receiving, by the apparatus, a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission from the UE.

[0025] In an aspect of the method, the method further includes detecting, by the apparatus, uplink congestion, and determining, by the apparatus, UL congestion information signaling for a cell.

[0026] In an aspect of the method, the method further includes transmitting, by the apparatus, to the UE, an indication of a congestion condition.

[0027] In an aspect of the method, the indication is transmitted via broadcast.

[0028] In an aspect of the method, the indication is transmitted to the UE via dedicated signaling including MAC signaling, RRC signaling, or other L2 signaling.

[0029] In an aspect of the method, the method further includes initiating PDU session modification based on a bit rate determined by the UE.

[0030] In accordance with aspects of the disclosure, a method includes receiving, by a network apparatus from another network apparatus, during PDU session establishment or a modification procedure, an indication of at least one data flow including at least one of an adaptive codec or a capability of changing a source data rate, and transmitting, by the network apparatus, an indication of a congestion signal to a user equipment (UE).

[0031] In accordance with aspects of the disclosure, an apparatus includes at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at leastone processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform any of the methods and aspects described above.

[0032] In accordance with aspects of the disclosure, a processor-readable medium stores instructions, which, when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus at least to perform any of the methods and aspects described above.

[0033] According to some aspects, there is provided the subject matter of the independent claims. Some further aspects are defined in the dependent claims.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0035] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example embodiment of wireless networking between a network system and a user equipment (UE), according to one illustrated aspect of the disclosure;

[0036] FIG. 2 is a diagram of example components of a network system, according to one illustrated aspect of the disclosure;

[0037] FIG. 3 is a diagram of an example embodiment of signals and operations among a user equipment (UE) and a gNB, according to one illustrated aspect of the disclosure according to one illustrated aspect of the disclosure;

[0038] FIG. 4 is a diagram of an example embodiment of signals and operations among a UE, an access and mobility function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), and a gNB, according to one illustrated aspect of the disclosure; and

[0039] FIG. 5 is a diagram of an example block diagram of a wireless station or node (e.g., network node (such as gNB), user node or UE, relay node, or other node), according to one illustrated aspect of the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] In the following description, certain specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of disclosed aspects. However, one skilled in the relevant art will recognize that aspects may be practiced without one or more of these specific details or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-known structures associated with transmitters, receivers, or transceivers have not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring descriptions of the aspects.

[0041] Reference throughout this specification to “one aspect” or “an aspect” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the aspect is includedin at least one aspect. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one aspect” or “in an aspect” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same aspect. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more aspects.

[0042] Embodiments described in the present disclosure may be implemented in wireless networking apparatuses, such as, without limitation, apparatuses utilizing Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM, 2G), GSM EDGE radio access Network (GERAN), General Packet Radio Service (GRPS), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS, 3G) based on basic wideband- code division multiple access (W-CDMA), high-speed packet access (HSPA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, enhanced LTE (eLTE), 5G New Radio (5G NR), 5G Advance, 6G (and beyond) and 802.1 lax (Wi-Fi 6), among other wireless networking systems. The term ‘eLTE’ here denotes the LTE evolution that connects to a 5G core. LTE is also known as evolved UMTS terrestrial radio access (EUTRA) or as evolved UMTS terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN).

[0043] The present disclosure may use the term “serving network device” to refer to a network node or network device (or a portion thereof) that services a UE. As used herein, the terms “transmit to,” “receive from,” and “cooperate with,” (and their variations) include communications that may or may not involve communications through one or more intermediate devices or nodes. The term “acquire” (and its variations) includes acquiring in the first instance or reacquiring after the first instance. The term “connection” may mean a physical connection or a logical connection.

[0044] The present disclosure uses 5G NR as an example of a wireless network and may use smartphones and / or extended reality headsets as an example of UEs. It is intended and shall be understood that such examples are merely illustrative, and the present disclosure is applicable to other wireless networks and user equipment.

[0045] FIG. l is a diagram depicting an example of wireless networking between a network system 100 and a user equipment (UE) 150. The network system 100 may include one or more network nodes 120, one or more servers 110, and / or one or more network equipment 130 (e.g., test equipment). The network nodes 120 will be described in more detail below. As used herein, the term “network apparatus” may refer to any component of the network system 100, such as the server 110, the network node 120, the network equipment 130, any component(s) of the foregoing, and / or any other component(s) of the network system 100. Examples of network apparatuses include, without limitation, apparatuses implementing aspects of 5G NR, amongothers. The present disclosure describes embodiments related to 5GNR and embodiments that involve aspects defined by 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). However, it is contemplated that embodiments relating to other wireless networking technologies are encompassed within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0046] The following description provides further details of examples of network nodes. In a 5G NR network, a gNodeB (also known as gNB) may include, e.g., a node that provides new radio (NR) user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards the UE and that is connected via a NG interface to the 5G core (5GC), e.g., according to 3GPP TS 38.300 V16.6.0 (2021-06) section 3.2, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

[0047] A gNB supports various protocol layers, e.g., Layer 1 (LI) - physical layer, Layer 2 (L2), and Layer 3 (L3).

[0048] The Layer 2 (L2) of NR is split into the following sublayers: Medium Access Control (MAC), Radio Link Control (RLC), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) and Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), where, e.g. : o The physical layer offers to the MAC sublayer transport channels; o The MAC sublayer offers to the RLC sublayer logical channels; o The RLC sublayer offers to the PDCP sublayer RLC channels; o The PDCP sublayer offers to the SDAP sublayer radio bearers; o The SDAP sublayer offers to 5GC quality of service (QoS) flows; o Control channels include broadcast control channel (BCCH) and physical control channel (PCCH).

[0049] Layer 3 (L3) includes, e.g., radio resource control (RRC), e.g., according to 3GPP TS 38.300 V16.6.0 (2021-06) section 6, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

[0050] A gNB central unit (gNB-CU) includes, e.g., a logical node hosting, e.g., radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB or RRC and PDCP protocols of the en-gNB, that controls the operation of one or more gNB distributed units (gNB-DUs). The gNB-CU terminates the Fl interface connected with the gNB-DU. A gNB-CU may also be referred to herein as a CU, a central unit, a centralized unit, or a control unit.

[0051] A gNB Distributed Unit (gNB-DU) includes, e.g., a logical node hosting, e.g., radio link control (RLC), media access control (MAC), and physical (PHY) layers of the gNB or en- gNB, and its operation is partly controlled by the gNB-CU. One gNB-DU supports one or multiple cells. One cell is supported by only one gNB-DU. The gNB-DU terminates the Flinterface connected with the gNB-CU. A gNB-DU may also be referred to herein as DU or a distributed unit.

[0052] As used herein, the term “network node” may refer to any of a gNB, a gNB-CU, or a gNB-DU, or any combination of them. A RAN (radio access network) node or network node such as, e.g., a gNB, gNB-CU, or gNB-DU, or parts thereof, may be implemented using, e.g., an apparatus with at least one processor and / or at least one memory with processor-readable instructions (“program”) configured to support and / or provision and / or process CU and / or DU related functionality and / or features, and / or at least one protocol (sub-)layer of a RAN (radio access network), e.g., layer 2 and / or layer 3. Different functional splits between the central and distributed unit are possible. An example of such an apparatus and components will be described in connection with FIG. 5 below.

[0053] The gNB-CU and gNB-DU parts may, e.g., be co-located or physically separated. The gNB-DU may even be split further, e.g., into two parts, e.g., one including processing equipment and one including an antenna. A central unit (CU) may also be called baseband unit / radio equipment controller / cloud-RAN / virtual-RAN (BBU / REC / C-RAN / V-RAN), open- RAN (O-RAN), or part thereof. A distributed unit (DU) may also be called remote radio head / remote radio unit / radio equipment / radio unit (RRH / RRU / RE / RU), or part thereof. Hereinafter, in various example embodiments of the present disclosure, a network node, which supports at least one of central unit functionality or a layer 3 protocol of a radio access network, may be, e.g., a gNB-CU. Similarly, a network node, which supports at least one of distributed unit functionality or a layer 2 protocol of the radio access network, may be, e.g., a gNB-DU.

[0054] A gNB-CU may support one or multiple gNB-DUs. A gNB-DU may support one or multiple cells and, thus, could support a serving cell for a user equipment (UE) or support a candidate cell for handover, dual connectivity, and / or carrier aggregation, among other procedures.

[0055] The user equipment (UE) 150 may be or include a wireless or mobile device, an apparatus with a radio interface to interact with a RAN (radio access network), a smartphone, an in-vehicle apparatus, an loT device, or a M2M device, among other types of user equipment. Such UE 150 may include: at least one processor; and at least one memory including program code; where the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform certain operations, such as, e.g., RRC connection to the RAN. An example of components of a UE will be described in connection with FIG. 5. In embodiments, the UE 150 may be configured to generate a message (e.g., including a cell ID) to be transmitted via radio towards a RAN (e.g., to reach andcommunicate with a serving cell). In embodiments, the UE 150 may generate and transmit and receive RRC messages containing one or more RRC PDUs (packet data units). Persons skilled in the art will understand RRC protocol as well as other procedures a UE may perform.

[0056] With continuing reference to FIG. 1, in the example of a 5G NR network, the network system 100 provides one or more cells, which define a coverage area of the network system 100. As described above, the network system 100 may include a gNB of a 5G NR network or may include any other apparatus configured to control radio communication and manage radio resources within a cell. As used herein, the term “resource” may refer to radio resources, such as a resource block (RB), a physical resource block (PRB), a radio frame, a subframe, a time slot, a sub-band, a frequency region, a sub-carrier, a beam, etc. In embodiments, the network node 120 may be called a base station.

[0057] FIG. 1 provides an example and is merely illustrative of a network system 100 and a UE 150. Persons skilled in the art will understand that the network system 100 includes components not illustrated in FIG. 1 and will understand that other user equipment may be in communication with the network system 100.

[0058] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of example components of the network system 100 of FIG. 1. A 5G NR network may be described as an example of the network system 100, and it is intended that aspects of the following description shall be applicable to other types of network systems, as well. The network system may operate in accordance with the signals and connections shown in FIG. 1 such that the UE 150 is in communication with the network system 100 through the radio access network 225. Additionally, the network system may be divided into user plane components and functions and control plane components and functions, as shown and described herein. Unless indicated otherwise, the terms “component”, “function”, and “service” may be used interchangeably herein, and they may refer to and be implemented by instructions executed by one or more processors.

[0059] Example functions of the components are described below. The example functions are merely illustrative, and it shall be understood that additional operations and functions may be performed by the components described herein. Additionally, the connections between components may be virtual connections over service-based interfaces such that any component may communicate with any other component. In this manner, any component may act as a service “producer,” for any other component that is a service “consumer,” to provide services for network functions.

[0060] For example, a core network 210 is described in the control plane of the network system. The core network 210 may include an authentication server function (AUSF) 211, anaccess and mobility function (AMF) 212, and a session management function (SMF) 213. The core network 210 may also include a network slice selection function (NSSF) 214, a network exposure function (NEF) 215, a network repository function (NRF) 216, and a unified data management function (UDM) 217, which may include a uniform data repository (UDR) 224.

[0061] Additional components and functions of the core network 210 may include an application function 218, policy control function (PCF) 219, network data analytics function (NWDAF) 220, analytics data repository function (ADRF) 221, management data analytics function (MDAF) 222, and operations and management function (0AM) 223.

[0062] The user plane includes the UE 150, a radio access network (RAN) 225, a user plane function (UPF) 226, and a data network (DN) 227. The RAN 225 may include one or more components described in connection with FIG. 1, such as one or more network nodes. However, the RAN 225 may not be limited to such components. The UPF 226 provides connection for data being transmitted over the RAN 225. The DN 226 identifies services from service providers, Internet access, and third-party services, for example.

[0063] The AMF 212 processes connection and mobility tasks. The AUSF 211 receives authentication requests from the AMF 212 and interacts with UDM 217 to authenticate and validate network responses for determination of successful authentication. The SMF 213 conducts packet data unit (PDU) session management, as well as manages session context with the UPF 226.

[0064] The NSSF 214 may select a network slicing instance (NSI) and determine the allowed network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI). This selection and determination are utilized to set the AMF 212 to provide service to the UE 150. The NEF 215 secures access to network services for third parties to create specialized network services. The NRF 216 acts as a repository to store network functions to allow the functions to register with and discover each other.

[0065] The UDM 217 generates authentication vectors for use by the AUSF 211 and ADM 212 and provides user identification handling. The UDM 217 may be connected to the UDR 224 which stores data associated with authentication, applications, or the like. The AF 218 provides application services to a user (e.g., streaming services, etc.). The PCF 219 provides policy control functionality. For example, the PCF 219 may assist in network slicing and mobility management, as well as provide quality of service (QoS) and charging functionality.

[0066] The NWDAF 220 collects data (e.g., from the UE 150 and the network system) to perform network analytics and provide insight to functions that utilize the analytics in the providing of services. The ADRF 221 allows the storage, retrieval, and removal of data andanalytics by consumers. The MDAF 222 provides additional data analytics services for network functions. The 0AM 223 provides provisioning and management processing functions to manage elements in or connected to the network (e.g., UE 150, network nodes, etc.).

[0067] FIG. 2 is merely an example of components of a network system, and variations are contemplated to be within the scope of the present disclosure. In embodiments, the network system may include other components not illustrated in FIG. 2. In embodiments, the network system may not include every component illustrated in FIG. 2. In embodiments, the components and connections may be implemented with different connections than those illustrated in FIG. 2. Such and other embodiments are contemplated to be within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0068] As mentioned above, in extended reality (XR) applications, such as augmented calling use cases, traffic is bi-directional, and uplink (UL) is often the performance bottleneck. Current specified bit rate recommendation media access control (MAC) control elements (CEs) and the bit rate recommendation query allow a bit rate recommendation message from the gNB to the UE or a bit rate recommendation query message from the UE to the gNB, respectively.

[0069] In various embodiments, bit rate recommendation MAC CEs can be reused for the XR case for the UE and gNB behavior related to these MAC CEs for an XR scenario and challenges.

[0070] Accordingly, described herein in further detail below is a method for defining UE and gNB behaviors when extending bit rate recommendation methods to XR applications.

[0071] With the advanced development of XR applications, many XR applications can adjust their codec depending on the available throughput. Considering further enhanced 5G NR for optimized XR support, with RAN-aware XR Rate Control, such XR application can dynamically adjust its codec bit rate and encoding parameters to ensure a seamless and high-quality XR user experience. For example, this can be achieved by monitoring the network conditions and adapting the application's behavior accordingly, such as reducing the resolution or frame rate when the network is congested.

[0072] XR applications are latency-sensitive, and congestion will increase the latency or packet loss. Hence, RAN congestion information is one type of the key RAN awareness information that would benefit XR application rate-control performance and improve its QoS and user experience.

[0073] 5G NR offers a variety of rate control mechanisms to ensure efficient and reliable data transmission. For example, the network can determine the maximum data rate that can be supported by the UE by taking into account QoS requirements, channelconditions, available resources, and / or the UE capabilities. By dynamically changing the allocated resource for the UE, the achievable data rate changes accordingly.

[0074] The present disclosure solves the following technical problems: how gNB will know which QoS flow(s) / DRB(s) can trigger the UL congestion signaling and what information exchange between the UE and gNB would have to enable UL congestion information-based XR rate control. It is worth noting that XR related applications are taken as example in this patent application, the proposed method can be applied to other applications as well.

[0075] FIG. 3 is a diagram of an example embodiment of signals and operations among a UE and a gNB, according to one illustrated aspect of the disclosure. In various embodiments, the components depicted in FIG. 3 may correspond to similar components described above in FIGS. 1-2. It will be understood that a described signal may have associated operations, and a described operation may have associated signals.

[0076] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of example embodiments of operations of a UE and various network functions relating to a UE-focused example for identification of relevant QoS flows and / or DRBs for XR rate control and UL congestion information exchange in RAN interface, according to one illustrated aspect of the disclosure.

[0077] At operation 301, a radio bearer establishment procedure is performed where a QoS flow is mapped to a Data Radio Bearer (DRB).

[0078] At operation 302, the UE transmits by a user equipment (UE) to an apparatus (i.e., a gNB), a Radio Resource Control (RRC) report to a gNB, where the RRC report includes an indication of which Data Radio Bearer (DRB) and / or Quality of Service (QoS) flows include at least one of an adaptive codec or a capability of changing a source data rate.

[0079] The UE may report which DRB(s) and / or QoS flows are with an adaptive codec or with the capability of changing source data rate. Such information may be reported via UE assistance information (UAI), for example, or other RRC signaling. In embodiments, in case MAC signaling is used for reporting such information, logical channels (LCHs) and / or logical channel groups (LCGs) may be used to identify the DRB(s) or the QoS flow (s) (e.g., based on a 1 :1 mapping) as well. For example, the UE reports via UAI which QoS flow(s) are capable of adaptive source bitrate (e.g., based on their ID) and (optional) supported bitrate. Taking QoS flow ID as one example, the UAI can include a QoS flow Identifier (QFI) and the corresponding bitrate as shown below:QoS-FlowXR-CodecInfo::= SEQUENCE {qfi QFI,Codec bit rate ENUMERRATED {MbpslO, Mbps50, MbpslOO, Mbps200}

[0080] It should be noted that in the example above the UAI includes a list of supported bitrates (e.g., 10Mbps, 50Mbps, 100Mbps, 200 Mbps). In aspects, information exchange over the air interface (e.g. Uu interface) to enable UL congestion Information for XR Rate Control may be performed using signaling. In embodiments, the UE signals the supported bitrates to the gNB. The gNB will evaluate the supported values and reconfigure QoS accordingly (e.g., triggering DRB reconfiguration, PDU Session modification procedure with core network (CN) entities, etc.). For example, the UE may support (codec) bit rate reports, which can be a list of different values like 10Mbps, 50Mbps, 100Mbps, 200 Mbps, depending on the application. This report can be signaled within UAI or other RRC signaling. gNB just sends UL rate control signaling by considering the supported bit rates. In this case, comparing with reusing Recommended Bit Rate MAC CE, signaling overhead can be smaller compared to reusing the recommended bitrate MAC CE. Another alternative can be having the same format as the recommended bit rate.

[0081] In an additional implementation, the report may be performed through another type of RRC signaling or other L2 signaling, which the UE initiates instead of UAI.

[0082] Operations 303-305 reflect the UE and gNB steps to request UL resources based on the buffer status report (BSR), the granted resources from the gNB, and the UE’s data transmission. At operation 303, the UE transmits a buffer status report (BSR) to the gNB. At operation 304, the UE receives from the gNB, a downlink control message with the information of the allocated resources. At operation 305, the UE performs a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUS CH) transmission by the UE, to the gNB. As another embodiment for operation 303, delay status report (DSR) can be used as well instead of BSR.

[0083] At operation 306, the gNB detects uplink (UL) congestion. In embodiments, the gNB may determine the UL congestion information signaling for the cell. The gNB is aware of its own UL congestion. To enable XR data rate control, the gNB makes a determination to signal congestion information to the UE. The gNB decision on how to signal this information may depend on the information available at the gNB per UE served in the cell, such as the information received in the UAIs (operation 303), active QoS flows (identified by QFIs), data radio bearers (DRBs) and / or data carried over PUSCH (e.g. the amount of data received from certain LCH(s) / LCG(s)), Buffer Status Report (BSR) information (indicating the buffer size of different LCH(s) / LCG(s)) or Delay Status Report (DSR). In embodiments, gNB may detectcongestion on a cell level or based on data from other UEs running the same application and then not necessarily depend upon operations 303 to 305 of this specific UE for congestion signaling.

[0084] At operation 307, the gNB transmits, to the UE, UL congestions signaling. In embodiments, the UL congestion signaling may transmitted using RRC, MAC, or broadcast.

[0085] The gNB sends UL congestion signaling towards the UE. The signaling may include one or more bits to reflect the presence of UL congestion or several levels of congestion (e.g., low, medium, high, and very high) or predictions of impacted KPIs or available bit rate. Additionally, the gNB may use different means to signal this information to a UE (or a group of UEs).

[0086] For example, in an embodiment, the indication may be sent via broadcast. For example, if there are multiple UEs in the cell that support XR data rate control, a broadcasted flag can be used to quickly notify the new radio interface condition. For UEs without this XR data rate control, no actions would be expected, but for UEs with QoS flows that support XR data rate control. For example, a simple trigger may be used to modify the bit rate at the application level (and potentially trigger a PDU Session modification to update the QoS flow).

[0087] In another embodiment, the indication may be sent via dedicated signaling to the UE (e.g., MAC or RRC). This signaling may target specific LCHs, LCGs, DRBs, and / or QoS flows of a UE that supports application data rate control or could target a specific UE, and the UE would take an action for the LCHs, LCGs, DRBs and / or QoS flows that support application data rate control. In embodiments, for the case of dedicated signaling, this step may occur multiple times to inform multiple UEs.

[0088] In embodiments, the gNB signals to the UE an indication of UL congestion. The UE uses this indication to notify the application layer to reduce the bit rate. In embodiments, different granularities for the indication may include an indication that is general to the whole cell via broadcast information or dedicated signaling, or an indication that is targeting a UE or a group of UEs via dedicated signaling (e.g., MAC, RRC); and / or an indication that is targeting specific LCHs, LCGs, DRBs or QoS flows of a UE or a group of UEs via dedicated signaling (e g., MAC or RRC).

[0089] In embodiments, for each of the granularities listed above, there may be different alternatives on how detailed the signaling needs to be. For example, the signaling can be based on a bit that indicates on / off congestion (i.e. there is congestion or not), or it could be a couple of bits to indicate levels of congestion in the cell (e.g., low / medium / high), or the congestion indication could be associated with a predicted degraded KPI the gNB could notify to the UEs(e.g., expected packet error rate increase to X) or the congestion information may include the available / recommended bit rate. In embodiments, if as a result of the signaling exchange between the UE and the gNB, there is a change of bit rate that is significant, the UE can trigger a PDU Session modification with the CN to reconfigure the impacted QoS flows with the updated bit rate.

[0090] At operation 308, the UE determines a suitable bit rate considering the congestion condition. For example, the UE processes the signaled UL congestion indication by the gNB. As a result of the notification received in operation 307, the UE notifies the upper layers. The application layer may use this information to adapt the codec bit rate to apply.

[0091] At operation 309, optionally a PDU session modification procedure is triggered by the UE if the change of bit rate in step 308 justifies it. The corresponding QoS flow bit rate may be reconfigured by the CN. This trigger to initiate a PDU Session modification procedure may rely on a delta in the bit rate derived in operation 308 from the originally configured bit rate in the QoS Flow.

[0092] The operations of FIG. 3 are merely illustrative, and variations are contemplated to be within the scope of the present disclosure. In embodiments, the operations may include other operations not illustrated in FIG. 3. In embodiments, the operations may not include every operation illustrated in FIG. 3. In embodiments, the operations may be implemented in a different order than that illustrated in FIG. 3. Such and other embodiments are contemplated to be within the scope of the present disclosure. Persons of skill in the art will appreciate that, although various example components are described as perform various functions, other components may perform those functions described in FIG. 3.

[0093] FIG. 4 is a diagram of an example embodiment of signals and operations among a UE and a gNB, according to one illustrated aspect of the disclosure. In various embodiments, the components depicted in FIG. 4 may correspond to similar components described above in FIGS. 1-2. It will be understood that a described signal may have associated operations, and a described operation may have associated signals.

[0094] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of example embodiments of operations of a UE and various network functions relating to a CN-focused example for identification of relevant QoS flows and / or DRBs for XR rate control and UL congestion information exchange in a RAN interface, according to one illustrated aspect of the disclosure.

[0095] At operation 401, the UE establishes a PDU Session with the network.

[0096] At operation 402, the UE triggers a PDU Session modification procedure to request dedicated QoS flows for XR traffic. As part of the non-access stratum (NAS) signaling request for establishing the QoS flow, the UE indicates to the Session Management Function (SMF) that the requested QoS flows support XR data rate control and may include supported bit rates as well. As another embodiment, the information of which application data flows or QoS flows support XR data rate control and the corresponding supported bit rates can come from another network entity as well for example Application Function (AF).

[0097] At operation 403, the setup of the QoS Flow continues in the CN network functions.

[0098] At operation 404, the SMF forwards the gNB (via AMF) the QoS flow configuration, including the support for XR data rate control (if included in operation 402).

[0099] Operations 405 and 406 finalize the PDU session modification procedure between the UE, the gNB, and the CN. At operation 405, the UE and the gNB perform Access Network (AN)-specific resource modification. At operation 406, the UE transmits a PDU session modification acknowledgment message.

[0100] From operations 407 to 413 the process is the same as operations 303-309 of FIG. 3.

[0101] The operations of FIG. 4 are merely illustrative, and variations are contemplated to be within the scope of the present disclosure. In embodiments, the operations may include other operations not illustrated in FIG. 4. In embodiments, the operations may not include every operation illustrated in FIG. 4. In embodiments, the operations may be implemented in a different order than that illustrated in FIG. 4. Such and other embodiments are contemplated to be within the scope of the present disclosure. Persons of skill in the art will appreciate that, although various example components are described as perform various functions, other components may perform those functions described in FIG. 4.

[0102] A user equipment (UE), comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the UE at least to perform a method including transmitting, by a user equipment (UE) to an apparatus, a radio signaling to the apparatus, where the radio signaling includes an indication of at least one data flow including at least one of an adaptive codec or a capability of changing a source data rate.

[0103] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a wireless station or node (e.g., UE, user device, AP,BS, eNB, gNB, RAN node, network node, TRP, or other node) 500, according to one illustrated aspect of the present disclosure. The wireless station 500 may include, for example, one or more (e.g., two as shown in FIG. 5) RF (radio frequency) or wireless transceivers 502A, 502B, where each wireless transceiver includes a transmitter to transmit signals and a receiver to receive signals. The wireless station also includes a processor or control unit / entity (controller) 504 to execute instructions or software and control transmission and receptions of signals, and a memory 506 to store data and / or instructions.

[0104] Processor 504 may also make decisions or determinations, generate frames, packets or messages for transmission, decode received frames or messages for further processing, and other tasks or functions described herein. Processor 504, which may be a baseband processor, for example, may generate messages, packets, frames or other signals for transmission via wireless transceiver 502 (502A or 502B). Processor 504 may control transmission of signals or messages over a wireless network, and may control the reception of signals or messages, etc., via a wireless network (e.g., after being down-converted by wireless transceiver 502, for example). Processor 504 may be programmable and capable of executing software or other instructions stored in memory or on other computer media to perform the various tasks and functions described above, such as one or more of the tasks or methods described above. Processor 504 may be (or may include), for example, hardware, programmable logic, a programmable processor that executes software or firmware, and / or any combination of these. Using other terminology, processor 504 and transceiver 502 together may be considered as a wireless transmitter / receiver system, for example.

[0105] In addition, referring to FIG. 5, a controller (or processor) 508 may execute software and instructions, and may provide overall control for the station 500, and may provide control for other systems not shown in FIG. 5, such as controlling input / output devices (e.g., display, keypad), and / or may execute software for one or more applications that may be provided on wireless station 500, such as, for example, an email program, audio / video applications, a word processor, a voice over IP application, or other application or software.

[0106] In addition, a storage medium may be provided that includes stored instructions, which when executed by a controller or processor may result in the processor 504, or other controller or processor, performing one or more of the functions or tasks described above.

[0107] According to another example embodiment, RF or wireless transceiver(s) 502A / 502B may receive signals or data and / or transmit or send signals or data. Processor 504 (and possibly transceivers 502A / 502B) may control the RF or wireless transceiver 502A or 502B to receive, send, broadcast or transmit signals or data.

[0108] Example embodiments are provided or described for each of the example methods, including: An apparatus (e.g., 500, FIG. 5) including means (e.g., processor 504, RF transceivers 502A and / or 502B, and / or memory 506, in FIG. 5) for carrying out any of the methods; a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (e.g., memory 506, FIG. 5) comprising instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one processor (processor 504, FIG. 5), are configured to cause a computing system (e.g., 500, FIG. 5) to perform any of the example methods; and an apparatus (e.g., 500, FIG. 5) including at least one processor (e.g., processor 504, FIG. 5), and at least one memory (e.g., memory 506, FIG. 5) including computer program code, the at least one memory (506) and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor (504), cause the apparatus (e.g., 500) at least to perform any of the example methods.

[0109] Further embodiments of the present disclosure include the following examples.

[0110] Example 1.1. A user equipment (UE), comprising: means for transmitting, by the UE to an apparatus, a radio signaling to the apparatus, where the radio signaling includes an indication of at least one data flow including at least one of an adaptive codec or a capability of changing a source data rate.

[0111] Example 1.2. The UE of example 1.1, comprising: means for transmitting, by the UE, a buffer status report (BSR) or delay status report (DSR) to the apparatus; means for receiving, by the UE, from the apparatus, an indication of allocated resources; means for performing a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission by the UE, to the apparatus; and means for receiving, by the UE, an indication of a signal congestion condition from the apparatus.

[0112] Example 1.3. The UE of any one of examples 1.1 or 1.2, wherein the radio signaling is reported via at least one of UE Assistance Information (UAI), MAC signaling, or RRC signaling.

[0113] Example 1.4. The UE of example 1.3, wherein MAC signaling is used for reporting information, and wherein at least one of LCH or LCG is used to identify the data flow.

[0114] Example 1.5. The UE of example 1.3, wherein the RRC signaling includes a supported bit rate from an application corresponding to the data flow.

[0115] Example 1.6. The UE of example 1.3, wherein receiving the indication of the signal congestion condition from the apparatus is based on at least one of the informationreceived in the UAI, a QoS flow Identifier (QFI), data radio bearer (DRB), data carried overPUSCH, delay status report (DSR) or Buffer Status Report (BSR) information.

[0116] Example 1.7. The UE of example 1.3, wherein the signaling includes information indicating at least one of one or more bits to reflect a presence of uplink (UL) congestion, an available bit rate, or a prediction of impacted KPIs.

[0117] Example 1.8. The UE of example 1.2, wherein the indication is transmitted via a broadcast message.

[0118] Example 1.9. The UE of example 1.2, wherein the indication is transmitted to the UE via dedicated signaling including MAC signaling, RRC signaling, or other L2 signaling.

[0119] Example 1.10. The UE of example 1.9, wherein the signaling targets at least one of specific LCHs, LCGs, Data Radio Bearers (DRBs), or Quality of Service (QoS) flows, and wherein the UE supports application data rate control.

[0120] Example 1.11. The UE of example 1.2, further comprising: means for determining a bit rate based on the signal congestion condition.

[0121] Example 1.12. The UE of example 1.11, further comprising: means for triggering, by the UE, a PDU session modification procedure based on the determined bit rate.

[0122] Example 1.13. The UE of example 1.1, wherein the radio signaling includes a RRC report.

[0123] Example 1.14. The UE of example 1.1, wherein the data flows include at least one of Data Radio Bearer (DRB), Quality of Service (QoS) flow, or application data flow.

[0124] Example 1.17. A user equipment (UE), comprising: means for transmitting, by the UE, to a network apparatus, a radio signaling, where the radio signaling includes an indication of at least one data flow including at least one of an adaptive codec or a capability of changing a source data rate; and means for receiving, by the UE, an indication of a congestion signal from the network apparatus.

[0125] Example 1.18. An apparatus, comprising: means for performing, by the apparatus, a packet data unit (PDU) session establishment or modification procedure with a UE; and means for receiving by a network apparatus, from a UE, a PDU Session establishment or modification procedure to request QoS flows for traffic and a QoS flow configuration with adaptive bit rate capability.

[0126] Example 1.19. The apparatus of example 1.18, further comprising: means for transmitting, by a Session Management Function (SMF) to an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) of the apparatus, the QoS flow configuration including support for at least one of data rate control and adaptive bit rate capability.

[0127] Example 1.20. The apparatus of example 1.19, further comprising: means for setting up of QoS flows by the apparatus based on the QoS flow configuration; and means for receiving, by the apparatus, from a network apparatus, a PDU session modification acknowledgement message.

[0128] Example 1.21. The apparatus of example 1.20, further comprising: means for receiving, by the apparatus, a buffer status report (BSR) or delay status report (DSR) from the UE; means for receiving, by the apparatus, from the UE, an indication of allocated resources; and means for receiving, by the apparatus, a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission from the UE.

[0129] Example 1.22. The apparatus of any one of examples 1.18 to 1.20, further comprising: means for detecting, by the apparatus, uplink congestion; and means for determining, by the apparatus, UL congestion information signaling for a cell.

[0130] Example 1.23. The apparatus of example 1.19, further comprising: means for transmitting, by the apparatus, to the UE, an indication of a congestion condition.

[0131] Example 1.24. The apparatus of example 1.23, wherein the indication is transmitted via broadcast.

[0132] Example 1.25. The apparatus of example 1.23, wherein the indication is transmitted to the UE via dedicated signaling including MAC signaling, RRC signaling, or other L2 signaling

[0133] Example 1.26. The apparatus of any of examples 1.23 to 1.25, further comprising: means for initiating PDU session modification based on a bit rate determined by the UE.

[0134] Example 1.27. A network apparatus, comprising:means for receiving, by the network apparatus from another network apparatus, during PDU session establishment or a modification procedure, an indication of at least one data flow including at least one of an adaptive codec or a capability of changing a source data rate; and means for transmitting, by the network apparatus, an indication of a congestion signal to a user equipment (UE).

[0135] Example 1.28. The apparatus of example 1.18, further comprising: receiving by the apparatus, from a network apparatus, supported bit rate information for the QoS flow(s) with adaptive bit rate capability.

[0136] The embodiments and aspects disclosed herein are examples of the present disclosure and may be embodied in various forms. For instance, although certain embodiments herein are described as separate embodiments, each of the embodiments herein may be combined with one or more of the other embodiments herein. Specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present disclosure in virtually any appropriately detailed structure. Like reference numerals may refer to similar or identical elements throughout the description of the figures.

[0137] The phrases “in an aspect,” “in aspects,” “in various aspects,” “in some aspects,” or “in other aspects” may each refer to one or more of the same or different aspects in accordance with this present disclosure. The phrase “a plurality of’ may refer to two or more.

[0138] In various embodiments, the terms “first message” and “second message”, as well as any subsequent messages may refer to any messages that are transmitted or received in an order and are not necessarily limited to any particular message.

[0139] The phrases “in an embodiment,” “in embodiments,” “in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” or “in other embodiments” may each refer to one or more of the same or different embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure. A phrase in the form “A or B” means “(A), (B), or (A and B) .” A phrase in the form “at least one of A, B, or C” means “(A); (B); (C); (A and B); (A and C); (B and C); or (A, B, and C) ”

[0140] Any of the herein described methods, programs, algorithms or codes may be converted to, or expressed in, a programming language or computer program. The terms “programming language” and “computer program,” as used herein, each include any language used to specify instructions to a computer, and include (but is not limited to) the following languages and their derivatives: Assembler, Basic, Batch files, BCPL, C, C+, C++, Delphi, Fortran, Java, JavaScript, machine code, operating system command languages, Pascal, Perl, PL1, Python, scripting languages, Visual Basic, metalanguages which themselves specifyprograms, and all first, second, third, fourth, fifth, or further generation computer languages. Also included are database and other data schemas, and any other meta-languages. No distinction is made between languages which are interpreted, compiled, or use both compiled and interpreted approaches. No distinction is made between compiled and source versions of a program. Thus, reference to a program, where the programming language could exist in more than one state (such as source, compiled, object, or linked) is a reference to any and all such states. Reference to a program may encompass the actual instructions and / or the intent of those instructions.

[0141] While aspects of the present disclosure have been shown in the drawings, it is not intended that the present disclosure be limited thereto, as it is intended that the present disclosure be as broad in scope as the art will allow and that the specification be read likewise. Therefore, the above description should not be construed as limiting, but merely as exemplifications of particular aspects. Those skilled in the art will envision other modifications within the scope and spirit of the claims appended hereto.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method, comprising: transmitting, by a user equipment (UE) to an apparatus, a radio signaling to the apparatus, where the radio signaling includes an indication of at least one data flow including at least one of an adaptive codec or a capability of changing a source data rate.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting, by the UE, at least one of a buffer status report (BSR) and a delay status report (DSR) to the apparatus; receiving, by the UE, from the apparatus, an indication of allocated resources; performing a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission by the UE, to the apparatus; and receiving, by the UE, an indication of a signal congestion condition from the apparatus.

3. The method of any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein the radio signaling is reported via at least one of: UE Assistance Information (UAI), medium access control (MAC) signaling, or radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein MAC signaling is used for reporting information, and wherein at least one of a logical channel (LCH) or a logical channel group (LCG) is used to identify the data flow.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the radio signaling includes at least one supported bit rate from an application corresponding to the data flow.

6. The method of claims 1 or 3, wherein receiving the indication of the signal congestion condition from the apparatus is based on at least one of: the information received in the UAI, a QoS flow Identifier (QFI), data radio bearer (DRB), data carried over PUSCH, Delay Status Report (DSR) or Buffer Status Report (BSR) information.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the signaling includes information indicating at least one of one or more bits to reflect a presence of uplink (UL) congestion, an available bit rate, or a prediction of impacted KPIs.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the indication is transmitted via a broadcast message.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the indication is transmitted to the UE via dedicated signaling including: MAC signaling, RRC signaling, or other L2 signaling.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the signaling targets at least one of specific LCHs, LCGs, DRBs, or QoS flows, and wherein the UE supports application data rate control.

11. The method of claim 2, further comprising: determining a bit rate based on the signal congestion condition.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: triggering, by the UE, a PDU session modification procedure based on the determined bit rate.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the radio signaling includes an RRC report.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the data flows include at least one of Data Radio Bearer (DRB), Quality of Service (QoS) flow, or application data flow.

15. A method, comprising: transmitting, by a user equipment (UE) to a network apparatus, a radio signaling, where the radio signaling includes an indication of at least one data flow including at least one of an adaptive codec or a capability of changing a source data rate; and receiving, by the UE, an indication of a congestion signal from the network apparatus.

16. A user equipment (UE), comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the UE at least to perform a method as in any one of claims 1 to 15.

17. A processor-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus at least to perform a method as in any one of claims 1 to 15.

18. A method, comprising: performing, by an apparatus, a packet data unit (PDU) session establishment or modification procedure with a UE; and receiving by the apparatus, from a network apparatus, a PDU Session establishment or modification procedure to request QoS flows for traffic and a QoS flow configuration with adaptive bit rate capability.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising: transmitting, by a Session Management Function (SMF) to an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) of the apparatus, the QoS flow configuration including support for at least one of data rate control and adaptive bit rate capability.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising: receiving by the apparatus, from a network apparatus, supported bit rate information for the QoS flow(s) with adaptive bit rate capability.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising: setting up of QoS flows by the apparatus based on the QoS flow configuration; and receiving, by the apparatus, from a network apparatus, a PDU session modification acknowledgement message.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising: receiving, by the apparatus, at least one of a buffer status report (BSR) and a delay status report (DSR) from the UE; receiving, by the apparatus, from the UE, an indication of allocated resources; and receiving, by the apparatus, a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission from the UE.

23. The method of any one of claim 18 to 22, further comprising: detecting, by the apparatus, uplink congestion; and determining, by the apparatus, UL congestion information signaling for a cell.

24. The method of claim 19, further comprising: transmitting, by the apparatus, to the UE, an indication of a congestion condition.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the indication is transmitted via broadcast.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the indication is transmitted to the UE via dedicated signaling including MAC signaling, RRC signaling, or other L2 signaling.

27. The method of any of claims 24 to 26, further comprising: initiating PDU session modification based on a bit rate determined by the UE.

28. A method, comprising: receiving, by a network apparatus from another network apparatus, during PDU session establishment or a modification procedure, an indication of at least one data flow including at least one of an adaptive codec or a capability of changing a source data rate; and transmitting, by the network apparatus, an indication of a congestion signal to a user equipment (UE).

29. An apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform a method as in any one of claims 19 to 27.

30. A processor-readable medium storing instructions, which, when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus at least to perform a method as in any one of claims 19 to 27.

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