Method for allocating resources for transmission of data via a plurality of logical channels.

Abstract

A method performed by a User Equipment, UE, is provided The UE is configured to use a plurality of Logical Channels, LCs, for transmitting data to a Radio Access Network, RAN, node. At least a first LC has at least one of: a critical bit rate that defines a target minimum bit rate for the transmission of data via the first LC and a maximum bit rate that defines a maximum bit rate for transmission of data via the first LC. The UE allocates (201) resources for transmission of data via the plurality of LCs according to the critical bit rate and / or the maximum bit rate of the first LC.

Description

[0001] USER EQUIPMENTS AND METHODS THEREIN

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] Embodiments herein relate to a User Equipment (UE) and methods therein. In some aspects, they relate to allocating resources for transmission of data via a plurality of configured Logical Channels (LCs).

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] Introduction

[0006] Logical Channels and Logical Channel Prioritization

[0007] If a User Equipment (UE) has more than one logical channel (LC) configured, the prioritization of sending data in uplink from these LCs when given a grant by the network, is specified in the logical channel prioritization (LCP) rules specified in section 5.4.3.1 of 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) Technical Standard (TS) 38.321 v18.2.0 (“Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification”). The LCP rules are based on using buckets between the LCs in combination with the following parameters that are configured per LC:

[0008] - priority where an increasing priority value indicates a lower priority level;

[0009] - prioritisedBitRate which sets the Prioritized Bit Rate (PBR);

[0010] - bucketSizeDuration which sets the Bucket Size Duration (BSD).

[0011] The bucket size per LC is called Bj and is incremented as follows (from 5.4.3.1.1 of 3GPP TS 38.321 V18.2.0):

[0012] The MAC entity shall initialize Bj of the logical channel to zero when the logical channel is established.

[0013] For each logical channel j, the MAC entity shall:

[0014] 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;

[0015] 1> if the value of Bj is greater than the bucket size (i.e. PBR x BSD):

[0016] 2> set Bj to the bucket size.

[0017] The bucket size and uplink (UL) priority is then used as follows for prioritization between the LCs (from 5.4.3.1.3 of 3GPP TS 38.321 v18.2.0):

[0018] The MAC entity shall, when a new transmission is performed: 1> allocate resources to the logical channels as follows:

[0019] 2> logical channels selected in clause 5.4.3.1.2 for the UL grant with Bj > 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);

[0020] 2> decrement Bj by the total size of MAC Service Data Units (SDUs) served to logical channel j above;

[0021] 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.

[0022] NOTE 1 : The value of Bj can be negative.

[0023] It is important to note that even though the gNodeB (gNB) will use its scheduling rules to determine when to schedule a UE and how much UL resources to give a UE, once the UE is scheduled by being provided a grant, it is the responsibility of the UE to decide on how much data to send from each of its LCs, using the LCP rules.

[0024] RLC polling

[0025] Section 5.3.3 of 3GPP TS 38.322 v18.1.0 (“Radio Link Control (RLC) protocol specification”) specifies how polling is done in the RLC protocol to request an RLC status report:

[0026] An AM RLC entity can poll its peer AM RLC entity in order to trigger STATUS reporting at the peer AM RLC entity.

[0027] In section 7.3 of 3GPP TS 38.322 v18.1.0, the t-PollRetransmit timer is specified:

[0028] a) t-PollRetransmit

[0029] This timer is used by the transmitting side of an AM RLC entity in order to retransmit a poll (see clause 5.3.3).

[0030] The t-PollRetransmit timer is used to retransmit the poll in case there is no response from the UE, as specified in section 5.3.3.4:

[0031] Upon expiry of t-PollRetransmit, the transmitting side of an AM RLC entity shall:

[0032] if both the transmission buffer and the retransmission buffer are empty (excluding transmitted RLC SDU or RLC SDU segment awaiting acknowledgements); or

[0033] if no new RLC SDU or RLC SDU segment can be transmitted (e.g. due to window stalling):

[0034] consider the RLC SDU with the highest SN among the RLC SDUs submited to lower layer for retransmission; or

[0035] consider any RLC SDU which has not been positively acknowledged for retransmission.

[0036] include a poll in an AMD PDU as described in clause 5.3.3.2.

[0037] If the gNB is not getting any RLC status report from the UE within a certain number of implementation specific poll attempts, it will determine that the LC is not working and may therefore declare Radio Link Failure (RLF). When to declare RLF is not specified in the standard, but declaring RLF may be a typical behaviour by the RLC protocol in the gNB when it does not get a response from the UE.

[0038] SUMMARY

[0039] An object of embodiments herein is to improve the allocating of resources for transmission of data via a plurality of configured LCs.

[0040] According to an aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a method performed by a user equipment, UE, 120. The UE is configured to use a plurality of logical channels, LCs, for transmitting data to a Radio Access Network, RAN, node, 110. At least a first LC has at least one of: a critical bit rate that defines a target minimum bit rate for the transmission of data via the first LC and a maximum bit rate that defines a maximum bit rate for transmission of data via the first LC. The UE 120 allocates resources for transmission of data via the plurality of LCs according to the critical bit rate and / or the maximum bit rate of the first LC.

[0041] According to another aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a user equipment, UE, 120, configured to use a plurality of logical channels, LCs, for transmitting data to a Radio Access Network, RAN, node, 110. The at least a first LC has at least one of: a critical bit rate that defines a target minimum bit rate for the transmission of data via the first LC; and a maximum bit rate that defines a maximum bit rate for transmission of data via the first LC. The UE is configured to allocate resources for transmission of data via the plurality of LCs according to the critical bit rate and / or the maximum bit rate of the first LC.

[0042] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0043] Examples of embodiments herein are described in more detail with reference to attached drawings in which: Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating embodiments of a communications system.

[0044] Figure 2 is a flowchart depicting an embodiment of a method performed by a UE.

[0045] Figure 3 is a flowchart depicting an embodiment of a method performed by a UE.

[0046] Figure 4 is a flowchart depicting an embodiment of a method performed by a UE.

[0047] Figure 5 is a schematic block diagram illustrating embodiments of a UE.

[0048] Figure 6 schematically illustrates embodiments of a communication system.

[0049] Figure 7 is a generalized block diagram of embodiments of a UE.

[0050] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0051] As part of developing embodiments herein, the inventors identified some problems that first will be described.

[0052] There currently exist certain challenge(s). The current solutions within 3GPP TS 38.321 v18.2.0 MAC have a number of problems when one UE is using multiple Logical channels. For example:

[0053] 1. It does not support a configuration that behaves the same over a larger range of available bitrates.

[0054] 2. It does not support a maximum rate and a lowest rate for a low priority logical channel at the same time.

[0055] 3. With a configured prioritized bitrate to avoid starvation of a low priority logical channel, the result is in some cases serving a low priority logical channel with more resources than a high priority logical channel.

[0056] 4. Two LCs with the same priority are not treated fairly.

[0057] Starvation of a low priority LC may happen

[0058] In cases when one LC is configured to have a higher priority for sending its data compared with another LC, it may still be important that the lower prioritized LC is not starved from not being scheduled at all. In the existing LCP method starvation can easily happen, for instance in the following case:

[0059] If one wants to protect both the high and low priority bearer to get at least some minimum throughput, and this is done by configuring a priortisedBitRate of 4 Mbps for both the low and the high priority LC.

[0060] The problem occurs if the available bandwidth over the air interface is less than 4 Mbps, then it means that only the high priority LC will be scheduled and the low priority SC will be starved.

[0061] In general, it is not good to completely starve an LC from being scheduled because it may be important for some services to also function in a reasonable way on the low priority LC. When completely starving an LC there is also a risk that Radio Link Failure (RLF) will be triggered, and this can for instance happen in the following case:

[0062] The low priority bearer may send some data in DL using RLC Acknowledge Mode (AM), and this will trigger the gNB to poll the UE to request an RLC status report to be sent as acknowledgement in UL.

[0063] But, since the traffic on the low priority LC is completely starved, the UE will use all its UL resources for sending data for the higher priority LC, and hence it will not be able to send an RLC status report for the low priority LC.

[0064] When the gNB does not receive any RLC status report, it will re-poll the UE to request the RLC status reports, and once gain the UE will not respond.

[0065] This sequence of events continue for a while until the gNB considers that the low priority LC is networking and therefore declares RLF.

[0066] Two LCs configured with the same UL priority are not treated fairly

[0067] In cases when two LCs have been configured with the same uplink priority, the existing LCP method is not clear on the behaviour and it may happen that only one of the two LCs will be scheduled or will be scheduled in most of the times, and it can for instance happen in the following case:

[0068] The two LCs have been configured with the same UL priority and the same prioritisedBitRate.

[0069] The available rate over the air interface is lower than the configured prioritisedBitRate. One of the LCs is always picked first by the UE when sending data:

[0070] o This may happen because the current standard is not very precise on the behaviour when two different LCs with the same UL priority has data to send and both of their bucket sizes are greater than zero (Bj > 0). In this respect, the standard states:

[0071] ■ logical channels selected in clause 5.4.3.1.2 for the UL grant with Bj > 0 are allocated resources in a decreasing priority order

[0072] It is unclear here what the priority order means for LCs that are defined with the same UL priority.

[0073] In this case the other LC will never get the opportunity to send any data. Over-allocation of any LC may happen

[0074] In cases when one LC is configured to have a higher priority for sending its data compared with another LC, it may still be important that none of the LCs is over-allocated. In the existing LCP method, over-allocation to LC can easily happen, for instance in the following case:

[0075] prioritisedBitRate limits the resource distribution for low priority LC, which could lead to unfair allocation of resources if the available bitrate over the air interface is much higher than prioritisedBitRate.

[0076] On the flip side, if one wants to protect only low priority bearer to get required throughput of say 4Mbps, and this is done by configuring a prioritisedBitRate of 64kbps for the high priority LC and 4 Mbps for the low priority LC:

[0077] o The problem occurs if the available bandwidth over the air interface is lower than throughput required for lower priority LC, then it means that the low priority LC will be over-allocated since prioritisedBitRate for both high and low priority LC is not achieved yet.

[0078] In general, it is not good to allocate more resources to lower priority LC than higher priority LC because it may result in situation where service requirement for higher priority LC is not achieved.

[0079] Embodiments herein will now be described below.

[0080] Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. A number of different solutions to the discussed problems are proposed below. Each solution may address one or more of the problems. The solutions can be used individually to address one or more of the problems, or they can be used in any suitable combination to address multiple ones of the problems.

[0081] Embodiments herein relate to Uplink Prioritization. Figure 1 is a schematic overview depicting a communications system 100 wherein embodiments herein may be implemented. The communications system 100 is also referred to as QQ100 and will be described more in detail below. The communications system 100 comprises one or more RANs, one or more CNs.

[0082] Base stations such as the base station 110 operate in the RAN the communications system 100. The base station 110 is also referred to as network node QQ110 and is described more in detail below.

[0083] A UE 120 operates in the communication system 100. The UE 120 is also referred to as UE QQ112 and will be described more in detail below. A number of embodiments will now be described, some of which may be seen as alternatives, while some may be used in combination.

[0084] Starvation of a low priority LC may happen

[0085] To avoid RLF happening due to one LC being completely starved from sending any UL data, it is possible in one method to introduce critical bit rates to be associated with the UL LCs. The critical bit rates can optionally be set differently for the different LCs, and the purpose is to at least provide a rate that is big enough to avoid RLF happening, even though the data rate may not be big enough to be fully useful for the intended end-2-end service.

[0086] In some embodiments, the data units sent by the UE 120 for the different LCs when a grant is given may be evenly distributed between all LCs until the critical bit rate has been reached. This distribution of data takes precedence from any other of the UL LCP rules.

[0087] In alternative embodiments, the data units sent by the UE 120 for the different LCs when a grant is given may be distributed between all LCs in such a way that the highest priority UL LC is first selected to reach its critical bit rate, and then the other LCs are selected in reverse priority order (highest priority first). This distribution of data takes precedence from any other of the UL LCP rules.

[0088] In some embodiments, the data units sent by the UE 120 for the different LCs when a grant is given may be distributed following similar rules as for the existing prioritisedBitRate handling in the MAC standard but using a new bucket per LC, and including a maximum size for the bucket. This distribution of data takes precedence from any other of the UL LCP rules.

[0089] In some embodiments, the available rate values for the critical bit rate may include rather low rate values, just to ensure that there is some data that can be sent over the LC, including for instance RLC status reports. As an example of a low data rate could for instance be 1 Kbyte per second, which allows at least RLC status reports to be sent.

[0090] Over-allocation of a low priority LC may happen

[0091] To avoid over-allocation of resources to lower priority LC(s), the resources can be allocated in different ways.

[0092] In some embodiments, the data units sent by the UE 120 for the different LCs when a grant is given may be distributed based on a proportional distribution scheme that is described below.

[0093] Ensure that LCs configured with the same priority are treated fairly

[0094] To ensure that LCs configured with the same UL priority are treated fairly, a clarification to the standard is proposed. In some embodiments, for UL LCs which have the same UL priority, the UE 120 may choose to first send data from the LC which has the highest Bj value when the UE 120 is scheduled.

[0095] In some embodiments, for UL LCs which have the same UL priority and which have positive Bj values, the UE 120 may choose to first send data from the LC which has the highest Bj value when the UE 120 is scheduled. Example update of the standard text is underlined below:

[0096] 1> allocate resources to the logical channels as follows:

[0097] 2> logical channels selected in clause 5.4.3.1.2 for the UL grant with Bj > 0 are allocated resources in a decreasing priority order, and among logical channels with the same priority the resources are allocated to the logical channel which has the highest Bj value and evenly allocated to the logical channels when the Bj values are the same. 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);

[0098] Maximum rate

[0099] A maximum rate (maxBitRate) can be defined as the assumed maximum bitrate that the services associated with a LC are expected to use. A known maximum rate will enable the UE 120 to know if some services have an upper limit which is typical under time-critical services. It enables the network operator to optimize resource allocation using a maximum rate so that a higher priority logical channel doesn’t get all the grant.

[0100] Proportional distribution

[0101] To be able to handle multiple LCs from the same UE 120, a number of relation schemes are proposed. These solve problems with both scaling of the total bitrate at the same time as avoiding starvation problem while keeping a ‘priority order per segment’ of the configured bitrates.

[0102] Proportional means that each configured LC will get proportionally distributed resources based on each segment of the range. For LCs with same priority, proportional distribution will be done following steps 1, 2 and 3 below.

[0103] 1. If LCs have a defined critical rate, every LC will get a percentage of their critical rate until critical rate has been fulfilled for all LCs.

[0104] LCx bitrate = (LCx critical rate I (sum of all LCs critical rates)) * total available bitrate Example:

[0105] • 2 LCs (LC1 and LC2) configured with critical rates 64 kbps and 512 kbps respectively and a total available bitrate is 550 kbps

[0106] • LC1 will get proportional bitrate of 61.1 kbps

[0107] • LC2 will get proportional bitrate of 488.9 kbps

[0108] 2. If critical rate has been fulfilled or is not defined and prioritisedBitRate is defined, every LC will get a percentage of their prioritisedBitRate until prioritisedBitRate has been fulfilled for all LCs.

[0109] LCx bitrate = LCx critical rate + (LCx prioritisedBitRate I (sum of all LCs prioritisedBitRate)) * (total available bitrate - sum of all LCs critical rates)

[0110] Example where critical rate is not defined:

[0111] • 2 LCs (LC1 and LC2) configured with prioritisedBitRate 512 kBps (4.096 Mbps) and 2048 kBps (16.384 Mbps) respectively and total available bitrate is 16 Mbps

[0112] • LC1 will get proportional bitrate 3.2 Mbps

[0113] • LC2 will get proportional bitrate 12.8 Mbps

[0114] 3. If critical rate and / or prioritisedBitRate is fulfilled or are not defined and maxBitRate is defined, every LC will get a percentage of their maxBitRate until maxBitRate has been fulfilled for all LCs.

[0115] a. If critical rate and prioritisedBitRate are defined, or only prioritisedBitRate is defined, or only maxBitRate is defined:

[0116] LCx bitrate =LCx prioritisedBitRate + (LCx maxBitRate I (sum of all LCs maxBitRate)) * (total available bitrate - sum of all LCs prioritisedBitRate) Example for critical rate and prioritisedBitRate not defined:

[0117] • 2 LCs (LC1 and LC2) configured with maxBitRate 20 Mbps and 30 Mbps respectively and total available bitrate is 48 Mbps

[0118] • LC1 will get proportional bitrate 19.2 Mbps

[0119] • LC2 will get proportional bitrate 28.8 Mbps

[0120] b. If only critical rate and maxBitRate are defined:

[0121] LCx bitrate =LCx critical rate + (LCx maxBitRate I (sum of all LCs maxBitRate)) * (total available bitrate - sum of all LCs critical rate)

[0122] When there are LCs with different priorities, the aim is to fulfil each segment in priority order. If maxBitRate is not defined, prioritisedBitRate is used for proportional distribution, and if prioritisedBitRate is not defined, critical bitrate is used for proportional distribution.

[0123] Note that the next segment (critical, prioritised, or max bitrate) in order will only be selected once the available bitrate for the UE 120 is equal or higher than the bitrate needed to fulfil all LCs within a certain segment with their configured bitrates.

[0124] Different scenarios

[0125] In the table below the following two LCs are used as examples:

[0126] Mobile Broadband (MBB) LC: a low priority LC

[0127] Time Critical Communication (TCC) LC: a high priority LC Example scenarios: (The UE in the table is e.g., the UE 120)

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[0141]

[0142] As noted above, some embodiments of this disclosure provide:

[0143] The introduction of methods that avoid RLF from happening while still being able to prioritize a high priority LC without completely starving a low prioritized LC, and this can be achieved with different UL data rates available for the UE 120.

[0144] The introduction of a critical bit rate that works in combination with the other existing or new LCP methods to avoid RLF.

[0145] The introduction of a maximum bit rate that works in combination with the other existing or new LCP methods to ensure fairness between LCs when higher data rates are used, and for which certain services do not require to always be prioritized over other services. The introduction of a method that distributes the UL resources based on proportions of the available UL resources, in order to prioritize some LCs and avoid starvation for other LCs. Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s). With some of the embodiments or solutions of the disclosure it is possible to get a fair, or fairer, share of the UL resources between different LCs as (any one or more of):

[0146] The risk of completely starving an LC or triggering an RLF because an LC cannot be served is greatly reduced;

[0147] a higher priority LC can be served with more UL resources without resulting in too low data rates for other lower priority LCs;

[0148] LCs with equal priority are treated fairly and hence are given an equal share of the available UL resources;

[0149] the gNB, such as e.g. the RAN node 110, will have a better understanding of the bit rates that the UE 120 will need and from this knowledge the scheduler can be optimized for different services in a way that more fairly distributes the UL resources between different UEs; and

[0150] the UL resources can in general be distributed between the LCs in a way that both fulfils a certain degree of fairness, but that also ensures that higher priority LCs will get more resources when needed, but not too much.

[0151] Figure 2 shows a flow chart of example embodiments of a method performed by the UE 120. The UE 120 is configured to use a plurality of LCs for transmitting data to a RAN node 110. At least a first LC has at least one of: A critical bit rate that defines a target minimum bit rate for the transmission of data via the first LC; and a maximum bit rate that defines a maximum bit rate for transmission of data via the first LC. The method comprises any one or more out of the following actions, which actions may be taken in any suitable order.

[0152] Action 201. The UE 120 allocates resources for transmission of data via a plurality of LCs according to a critical bit rate and / or a maximum bit rate of a first LC.

[0153] Action 202. The UE 120 may in some embodiments allocate resources to a second LC until the critical bit rate of the second LC is met.

[0154] Action 203. Once the critical bit rate of the second LC is met, the UE 120 may allocate any remaining resources to any of the first LC, the second LC, and other LCs in the plurality of LCs.

[0155] Action 204. The UE 120 may, once the critical bit rate of the first LC is met and the critical bit rate of the second LC is met, allocate any remaining resources to any of the first LC, the second LC, and other LCs in the plurality of LCs.

[0156] Action 205. The UE 120 may allocate resources to the first LC until the maximum bit rate is met.

[0157] Action 206. The UE 120 may then transmit data to a RAN node using the allocated resources.

[0158] Figure 3 shows a flow chart of alternative example embodiments of a method performed by the UE 120. The UE 120 is configured to use a plurality of LCs for transmitting data to the RAN node 110. The plurality of LCs have respective first bit rates. The method comprises any one or more out of the following actions, which actions may be taken in any suitable order.

[0159] Action 301. The UE 120 proportionally allocates resources for a transmission of data to a plurality of LCs according to respective first bit rates.

[0160] Action 302. The UE 120 may proportionally allocates resources for a transmission of data to a plurality of LCs according to respective second bit rates.

[0161] Action 303. The UE 120 may transmit data to a RAN node using the allocated resources.

[0162] Figure 4 shows a flow chart of further alternative example embodiments of a method performed by the UE 120. The UE 120 is configured to use at least a first LC and a second LC for transmitting data to the RAN node 110. Each of the first LC and the second LC have a respective bucket size, and the first LC and the second LC have a same priority. The method comprises any one or more out of the following actions, which actions may be taken in any suitable order.

[0163] Action 401. The UE 120 allocates resources for transmission of data via a first LC and a second LC according to respective bucket sizes, wherein resources are allocated first to the LC that has the highest bucket size.

[0164] Action 402. The UE 120 may allocate resources evenly to the first LC and the second LC if the first LC and second LC have the same bucket size.

[0165] Action 403. The UE 120 may transmit data to a RAN node using the allocated resources.

[0166] Additional Explanation

[0167] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0168] This section provides examples of how the methods according to some embodiments of the disclosure will avoid complete starvation of an LC.

[0169] Here is an example where some embodiments of the disclosure will avoid starvation or RLF from happening:

[0170] • The following traffic pattern is used: o One LC sending UL latency critical traffic, with a prioritisedBitRate set to KBPS_512 (which corresponds to 512 Kbps)

[0171] o One LC sending normal priority UL MBB traffic, with prioritisedBitRate set to KBPS_512 (which corresponds to 512 Kbps)

[0172] o The UL latency critical LC has been configured with a higher UL priority than the MBB LC, and the reason for this is that in general the low latency LC is prioritised in favour of the MBB LC

[0173] • The available data rate over the air interface for this UE 120 is about 2.5 Mbps. If the UE 120 behaves as in the current specification (e.g. 3GPP TS 38.321 v18.2.0), this particular example will lead to complete starvation of the MBB LC, which in turn will lead to RLF being triggered by the gNB. The starvation is caused due to the latency critical LC taking all UL resources to try and fulfil its prioritisedBitRate, and even then it still will not completely fulfil it. No UL resources are left for the MBB LC, and hence it will be starved.

[0174] The MBB LC may however still have downlink (DL) traffic ongoing, and because of this, the MBB LC will periodically poll the UE 120 to send RLC status reports in UL for the MBB LC. This is done by the RLC protocol layer. However, the UE 120 has no resources available for sending any RLC status reports in UL for the MBB LC, and hence the RLC layer in the network will never get a RLC status report. The network may attempt to re-poll the UE 120 a number of times, but eventually the network will give up and declare RLF due to the lack of a response from the MBB LC.

[0175] With the proposed methods in some embodiments of the disclosure, the MBB LC will not be completely starved from UL resources. For instance, by using a small critical bit rate that is defined for both LCs, the UE 120 will have resources to send RLC status reports for both LCs, including the MBB LC. And, in addition to or in combination with the critical bit rate, a UE 120 can be configured to send UL data with a configured ratio between the two UL LCs, and this would also avoid complete starvation and RLF for this case.

[0176] Some additional comments on this example:

[0177] • The above issue could be solved by lowering the prioritisedBitRate for both LCs to a rather low value, such as KBPS_8 (64 Kbps), and this will make the probability of complete starvation for any of the LCs rather small. However, specifying this type of configuration also has its problems:

[0178] o If the available rate over the air interface is much higher, like 20 Mbps, it means that the low latency LC will get almost all of this available rate (20 Mbps - 64Kbps) and the MBB LC will only get 64 Kbps, which is a very low data rate. o The rate available overthe air interface for the UE 120 is constantly changing and it is therefore not practical to perform a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration to change the prioritisedBitRate settings based on the current available UL rate for the UE 120.

[0179] • The above issue could alternatively be solved by lowering the prioritisedBitRate for the low latency LC to a rather low value, such as KBPS_8 (64 Kbps), and setting the prioritisedBitRate for the MBB LC to a higher value, such as KBPS_64 (512 Kbps), and this will also make the probability of complete starvation for any of the LCs rather small. However, specifying this type of configuration also has its problems:

[0180] o If the available rate over the air interface is rather low, such as 512 Kbps, it means that the low latency LC will get a very low data rate (64 Kbps) and the MBB LC will get the rest (512 Kbps - 64 Kbps = 448 Kbps). However, this is not desired, and instead the aim is for the low latency LC to be prioritized and not be starved by the MBB LC.

[0181] Bitrate Relation Schemes

[0182] This section describes a number of different bitrate relation schemes. In particular, three schemes are discussed, a segmented priority scheme, a proportional distribution scheme, and a combined distribution scheme.

[0183] Segmented priority scheme

[0184] This scheme distributes / allocates available resources in a specific and deterministic order. For example:

[0185] 1. Fulfil critical bitrate for each logical channel in priority order. If critical bitrate is not defined, it is zero.

[0186] 2. Fulfil prioritised bitrate for each logical channel in priority order. If prioritised bitrate is not defined, it is zero.

[0187] 3. Fulfil maximum bitrate for each logical channel in priority order. If maximum bitrate is not defined, it is considered to be infinite (i.e. no upper limit).

[0188] Proportional distribution

[0189] Proportional distribution means that each configured LC will get proportionally distributed resources based on each segment of the range. Resources are distributed between the LCs to achieve the configured ratio, until the configured rate within a range is fulfilled in which case the other LCs are served up to their configured values. Resources are distributed / allocated in this order:

[0190] 1. Fulfil critical bitrate for each logical channel proportionally in the range from 0 to critical bitrate. All LCs will first get their configured percentage of their respective critical bitrate. If critical bitrate is not defined for an LC, it is zero.

[0191] 2. Fulfil prioritised bitrate for each logical channel proportionally in the range from the critical bitrate to the prioritized bitrate. All LCs get the same percentage, or a configured value, of their respective range from critical bitrate to prioritised bitrate. If prioritised bitrate is not defined for an LC, it is zero.

[0192] 3. Fulfil maximum bitrate for each logical channel proportionally in the range from prioritized bitrate to maximum bitrate. All LCs get the same percentage, or a configured value, of their respective range from prioritised bitrate to maximum bitrate. If maximum bitrate is not defined for an LC, it is considered to be infinite (i.e. no upper limit).

[0193] Combined distribution

[0194] 1. Fulfil critical bitrate for each logical channel in priority order. If it is not defined, it is zero.

[0195] 2. Fulfil prioritised bitrate for each logical channel proportionally in the range from the critical bitrate to the prioritized bitrate. All LCs get the same percentage, or a configured value, of their respective range from critical bitrate to prioritised bitrate. If prioritised bitrate is not defined for an LC, it is zero.

[0196] 3. Fulfil maximum bitrate for each logical channel proportionally in the range from prioritized bitrate to maximum bitrate. All LCs get the same percentage, or a configured value, of their respective range from prioritised bitrate to maximum bitrate. If maximum bitrate is not defined for an LC, it is considered to be infinite (i.e. no upper limit).

[0197] Any combination of the above distribution schemes is possible.

[0198] An example of how the MAC protocol specification standard (3GPP TS 38.321 v18.2.0) can be updated to support critical bit rate and maximum bit rate, as well as proportional allocation of uplink resources is provided below.

[0199] In section 5.4.3.1.1 of 3GPP TS 38.321 v18.2.0 the following updates could be made to support critical bit rate (CBR) and maximum bit rate (MBR) in addition to prioritized bit rate (PBR). Additions / changes to the standard are underlined:

[0200] The following UE 120 variables are used for the Logical channel prioritization procedure:

[0201] - Bj which is maintained for each logical channel / ■ and is the bucket size of the PBR,

[0202] - Ci which is maintained for each logical channel / , and is the bucket size of the CBR, - Mj which is maintained for each logical channel z. and is the bucket size of the MBR,

[0203] The MAC entity shall initialize Bi, Cj and Mj of the logical channel to zero when the logical channel is established.

[0204] For each logical channel j, the MAC entity shall:

[0205] 1> increment Bj by the product PBR x T, Cj by the product CBR x T and Mj by the product MBR x T, before every instance of the LCP procedure, where T is the time elapsed since Bj was last incremented;

[0206] 1> if the value of Bj is greater than the bucket size (i.e. PBR x BSD):

[0207] 2> set Bj to the bucket size.

[0208] 1> if the value of Cj is greater than the bucket size (i.e. CBR x BSD):

[0209] 3> set Cj to the bucket size.

[0210] 1> if the value of A / / is greater than the bucket size (i.e. MBR x BSD):

[0211] 3> set Mj to the bucket size.

[0212] In section 5.4.3.1.3 of 3GPP TS 38.321 v18.2.0 the following updates could be made to specify rules for how different segments of bit rates are used to allocate resource for the LCs. Additions / changes to the standard are underlined:

[0213] The MAC entity shall, when a new transmission is performed:

[0214] 1> allocate resources to the logical channels as follows:

[0215] 2> logical channels selected in clause 5,4.3.1,2 for the UL grant with Cj > 0 are allocated resources in a decreasing priority order or in proportional order, and any of the Cj , Bj and Mj that are > 0 are reduced by the size of a MAC SDU each time a MAC SDU is sent on a logical channel

[0216] 2> logical channels selected in clause 5.4.3.1.2 forthe UL grant with Bj > 0 are allocated resources in a decreasing priority order or in proportional order, and any of the Bj and Mj that are > 0 are reduced by the size of a MAC SDU each time a MAC SDU is sent on a logical channel. 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);

[0217] 2> logical channels selected in clause 5, 4, 3, 1,2 for the UL grant with Mj > 0 are allocated resources in a decreasing priority order or in proportional order, and if Mj is > 0 it is reduced by the size of a MAC SDU each time a MAC SDU is sent on a logical channel;

[0218] 2> decrement Bj by the total size of MAC SDUs served to logical channel j above;

[0219] 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 values of Bj, Cj and Mj 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.

[0220] NOTE 1 : The values of Bi. Ci and Mj can be negative.

[0221] NOTE 2: Proportional order means that when MAC SDUs are available from different logical channels, they shall be selected from the logical channel which has the largest bucket size.

[0222] Fig. 5 shows a block diagram depicting the User Equipment, UE, 120, according to embodiments herein.

[0223] The UE 120 may comprise processing circuitry 510, e.g. one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.

[0224] The UE 120 and / or processing circuitry 510 is configured to use a plurality of logical channels, LCs, for transmitting data to a Radio Access Network, RAN, node, wherein at least a first LC has at least one of: a critical bit rate that defines a target minimum bit rate for the transmission of data via the first LC; and a maximum bit rate that defines a maximum bit rate for transmission of data via the first LC.

[0225] The UE 120 is configured to allocate resources for transmission of data via the plurality of LCs according to the critical bit rate and / or the maximum bit rate of the first LC.

[0226] In some embodiments, the first LC has at least the critical bit rate, and the UE 120 is further configured to allocate resources by allocating resources to the first LC until the critical bit rate of the first LC is met.

[0227] In some embodiments, a second LC has a respective critical bit rate, wherein the second LC has a lower priority than the first LC, and the UE 120 is further configured to, once the critical bit rate of the first LC is met, allocate resources to the second LC until the critical bit rate of the second LC is met.

[0228] In some embodiments, the UE is further configured to, once the critical bit rate of the second LC is met, allocate any remaining resources to any of the first LC, the second LC, and other LCs in the plurality of LCs.

[0229] In some embodiments, the first LC has at least the critical bit rate, and a second LC has a respective critical bit rate, and the second LC has a lower priority than the first LC, and the UE 120 is further configured to allocate resources by: proportionally allocating resources to the first LC and the second LC until the critical bit rate of the first LC is met and the critical bit rate of the second LC is met.

[0230] In some embodiments, the UE 120 is further configured to, once the critical bit rate of the first LC is met and the critical bit rate of the second LC is met, allocate any remaining resources to any of the first LC, the second LC, and other LCs in the plurality of LCs.

[0231] In some embodiments, the first LC has at least the maximum bit rate, and wherein the UE 120 is further configured to allocate resources by: allocating resources to the first LC until the maximum bit rate is met.

[0232] In some embodiments, the first LC has at least the maximum bit rate, and another LC has a respective maximum bit rate, wherein said another LC has a lower priority than the first LC, and wherein the UE is further configured to allocate resources by proportionally allocating resources to the first LC and the second LC, wherein resources are allocated to the first LC up to the maximum bit rate of the first LC, and resources are allocated to the second LC up to the maximum bit rate of the second LC.

[0233] In some embodiments, a critical bit rate is a bit rate that is sufficient to transmit a Radio Link Control, RLC, status report to the RAN node.

[0234] In some embodiments, the UE 120 is further configured to transmit data to the RAN node using the allocated resources.

[0235] In some embodiments, any one or more out of:

[0236] - the resources are allocated for transmission when the UE 120 is scheduled for transmission of data to the RAN node,

[0237] - a resource is a time-frequency resource, and

[0238] - the data for transmission comprises at least one of control plane data and user plane data.

[0239] The UE 120 may comprise a memory 520. The memory 520 comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as spatial anchors information, service information, configuration, capabilities, indications, services, IDs, messages, thresholds, events and applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar.

[0240] Furthermore, the UE 120 may comprise a communication interface 500 such as comprising a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver and / or one or more antennas.

[0241] The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the UE 120 are respectively implemented by means of e g. a computer program product 540 or a computer program 530, comprising instructions, i.e. , software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the UE 120. The computer program product 540 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium e.g., a disc, a universal serial bus (USB) stick or similar. The computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon, the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the UE 120. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a transitory or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Thus, embodiments herein may disclose the UE 120 for handling communication in a communication network, wherein the UE 120 comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said UE 120 is operative to perform any of the methods herein.

[0242] Figure 6, also referred to as Fig. QQ1 shows an example of a communication system QQ100 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0243] In the example, the communication system QQ100, also referred to as the communications system 100 above, includes a telecommunication network QQ102 that includes an access network QQ104, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network QQ106, which includes one or more core network nodes QQ108. The access network QQ104 includes one or more access network nodes, such as access network nodes QQ110a and QQ110b (one or more of which are also referred to as RAN network nodes or RAN nodes QQ110 herein), or any other similar 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points (AP). 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 QQ102 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network QQ102 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 QQ102, including one or more network nodes QQ110 and / or core network nodes QQ108.

[0244] 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 (RIC) (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 (SMO) Framework via an 0-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies.

[0245] The network nodes QQ110, also referred as RAN nodes 110, comprising the RAN node 110 above, facilitate direct or indirect connection of wireless devices (also referred to interchangeably herein as user equipment (UE)), such as by connecting UEs QQ112a, QQ112b, QQ112c, and QQ112d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs QQ112) to the core network QQ106 over one or more wireless connections. The access network nodes QQ110 may be, for example, access points (APs) (e.g. radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g. radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and New Radio (NR) NodeBs (gNBs)).

[0246] 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 QQ100 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 QQ100 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0247] The wireless devices / UEs QQ112, also referred to as the UE 120 above, 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 QQ110 and other communication devices. Similarly, the access network nodes QQ110 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs QQ112 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network QQ102 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 QQ102.

[0248] In the depicted example, the core network QQ106 connects the access network nodes QQ110 to one or more host computing systems, such as host QQ116. 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 QQ106 includes one more core network nodes (e.g. core network node QQ108) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the wireless devices / UEs, access network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node QQ108. 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 (ALISF), 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).

[0249] The host QQ116 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network QQ104 and / or the telecommunication network QQ102. The host QQ116 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.

[0250] As a whole, the communication system QQ100 of Figure QQ1 enables connectivity between the wireless devices / 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 2ndGeneration (2G), 3rdGeneration (3G), 4thGeneration (4G), 5thGeneration (5G) standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g. 6thGeneration (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.

[0251] In some examples, the telecommunication network QQ102 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network QQ102 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network QQ102. For example, the telecommunications network QQ102 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) / Massive loT services to yet further UEs. In some examples, the UEs QQ112 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 QQ104 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network QQ104. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-Radio Access Technology (RAT) or multistandard 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-UTRA (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access) Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0252] In the example, the hub QQ114 communicates with the access network QQ104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE QQ112c and / or QQ112d) and network nodes (e.g., network node QQ110b). In some examples, the hub QQ114 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub QQ114 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network QQ106 for the UEs. As another example, the hub QQ114 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 QQ110, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub QQ114. As another example, the hub QQ114 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 QQ114 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR device, display, loudspeaker, or other media delivery device, the hub QQ114 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub QQ114 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub QQ114 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy Internet of Things (loT) devices.

[0253] The hub QQ114 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node QQ110b. The hub QQ114 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub QQ114 and UEs (e.g., UE QQ112c and / or QQ112d), and between the hub QQ114 and the core network QQ106. In other examples, the hub QQ114 is connected to the core network QQ106 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub QQ114 may be configured to connect to a machine-to-machine (M2M) service provider over the access network QQ104 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes QQ110 while still connected via the hub QQ114 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub QQ114 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 QQ110b. In other embodiments, the hub QQ114 may be a nondedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node QQ110b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0254] Figure 7, also referred to as Fig. QQ2 shows a wireless device or UE QQ200 in accordance with some embodiments. The UE QQ200 presents additional details of some embodiments of the UE QQ112 of Fig. QQ1. As used herein, a wireless device / UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of a wireless device / 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.

[0255] A wireless device / 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).

[0256] The UE QQ200 includes processing circuitry QQ202 that is operatively coupled via a bus QQ204 to an input / output interface QQ206, a power source QQ208, a memory QQ210, a communication interface QQ212, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Fig. QQ2. 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.

[0257] The processing circuitry QQ202 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 QQ210. The processing circuitry QQ202 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 QQ202 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs). The processing circuitry QQ202 may be configured to cause the UE QQ202 to perform any one or more of the methods described herein.

[0258] In the example, the input / output interface QQ206 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 QQ200. 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 presencesensitive 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.

[0259] In some embodiments, the power source QQ208 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 QQ208 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source QQ208 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE QQ200 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source QQ208. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source QQ208 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE QQ200 to which power is supplied.

[0260] The memory QQ210 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 QQ210 includes one or more application programs QQ214, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data QQ216. The memory QQ210 may store, for use by the UE QQ200, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0261] The memory QQ210 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 Universal SIM (USIM) and / or Integrated SIM (ISIM), other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUlCC), integrated UICC (iUICC) ora removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card’. The memory QQ210 may allow the UE QQ200 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 QQ210, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0262] The processing circuitry QQ202 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface QQ212. The communication interface QQ212 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna QQ222. The communication interface QQ212 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 QQ218 and / or a receiver QQ220 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter QQ218 and receiver QQ220 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna QQ222) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0263] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface QQ212 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) or other Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) 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.

[0264] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface QQ212, 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).

[0265] 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.

[0266] 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 QQ200 shown in Figure QQ2.

[0267] 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.

[0268] 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.

[0269] 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.

[0270] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry 510 executing instructions stored on in memory 520, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product 540 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 510 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 510 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry 510 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.

[0271] The foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the disclosure. Various modifications and alterations to the described embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the teachings herein. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise numerous systems, arrangements, and procedures that, although not explicitly shown or described herein, embody the principles of the disclosure and can be thus within the scope of the disclosure. Various exemplary embodiments can be used together with one another, as well as interchangeably therewith, as should be understood by those having ordinary skill in the art. EMBODIMENTS

[0272] Group A Embodiments

[0273] 1. A method performed by a user equipment, UE, (120) wherein the UE is configured to use a plurality of logical channels, LCs, for transmitting data to a Radio Access Network, RAN, node, and wherein at least a first LC has at least one of:

[0274] a critical bit rate that defines a target minimum bit rate for the transmission of data via the first LC; and

[0275] a maximum bit rate that defines a maximum bit rate for transmission of data via the first LC;

[0276] and the method comprises:

[0277] allocating resources for transmission of data via the plurality of LCs according to the critical bit rate and / or the maximum bit rate of the first LC.

[0278] 2. The method of embodiment 1, wherein the first LC has at least the critical bit rate, and wherein allocating resources comprises:

[0279] allocating resources to the first LC until the critical bit rate of the first LC is met.

[0280] 3. The method of embodiment 2, wherein a second LC has a respective critical bit rate, wherein the second LC has a lower priority than the first LC, and wherein the method further comprises:

[0281] once the critical bit rate of the first LC is met, allocating resources to the second LC until the critical bit rate of the second LC is met.

[0282] 4. The method of embodiment 3, wherein the method further comprises:

[0283] once the critical bit rate of the second LC is met, allocating any remaining resources to any of the first LC, the second LC, and other LCs in the plurality of LCs.

[0284] 5. The method of embodiment 1, wherein the first LC has at least the critical bit rate, and wherein a second LC has a respective critical bit rate, and the second LC has a lower priority than the first LC, and wherein allocating resources comprises:

[0285] proportionally allocating resources to the first LC and the second LC until the critical bit rate of the first LC is met and the critical bit rate of the second LC is met. 6. The method of embodiment 5, further comprising, once the critical bit rate of the first LC is met and the critical bit rate of the second LC is met, allocating any remaining resources to any of the first LC, the second LC, and other LCs in the plurality of LCs.

[0286] 7. The method of any of embodiments 1 to 6, wherein the first LC has at least the maximum bit rate, and wherein allocating resources comprises:

[0287] allocating resources to the first LC until the maximum bit rate is met.

[0288] 8. The method of any of embodiments 1-6, wherein the first LC has at least the maximum bit rate, and wherein another LC has a respective maximum bit rate, wherein said another LC has a lower priority than the first LC, and wherein allocating resources comprises:

[0289] proportionally allocating resources to the first LC and the second LC, wherein resources are allocated to the first LC up to the maximum bit rate of the first LC, and resources are allocated to the second LC up to the maximum bit rate of the second LC.

[0290] 9. The method of any of embodiments 1 to 8, wherein a critical bit rate is a bit rate that is sufficient to transmit a Radio Link Control, RLC, status report to the RAN node.

[0291] 10. A method performed by a user equipment, UE, (120) wherein the UE is configured to use a plurality of logical channels, LCs, for transmitting data to a Radio Access Network, RAN, node, and wherein the plurality of LCs have respective first bit rates, the method comprising:

[0292] proportionally allocating (301) resources for the transmission of data to the plurality of LCs according to the respective first bit rates.

[0293] 11. The method of embodiment 10, wherein the resources are proportionally allocated to the plurality of LCs according to a ratio of the respective first bit rates.

[0294] 12. The method of embodiment 10, wherein resources are proportionally allocated to the plurality of LCs until the respective first bit rates of the plurality of LCs are met.

[0295] 13. The method of any of embodiments 10-12, wherein the first bit rate is one of:

[0296] a critical bit rate that defines a target minimum bit rate for transmission of data via the respective LC;

[0297] a prioritized bit rate that relates to a target bit rate for providing a minimum service level of the respective LC; and a maximum bit rate that defines a maximum bit rate for transmission of data via the respective LC.

[0298] 14. The method of any of embodiments 10-12, wherein the plurality of LCs have respective second bit rates, wherein the method further comprises:

[0299] once the respective first bit rates of the plurality of LCs are met, proportionally allocating (302) resources for the transmission of data to the plurality of LCs according to the respective second bit rates.

[0300] 15. The method of embodiment 14, wherein the first bit rate is a critical bit rate that defines a target minimum bit rate for transmission of data via the respective LC; and wherein the second bit rate is one of:

[0301] a prioritized bit rate that relates to a priority of the respective LC; and

[0302] a maximum bit rate that defines a maximum bit rate for transmission of data via the respective LC.

[0303] 16. The method of embodiment 14, wherein the first bit rate is a prioritized bit rate that relates to a priority of the respective LC; and wherein the second bit rate is a maximum bit rate that defines a maximum bit rate that defines a maximum bit rate for transmission of data via the respective LC.

[0304] 17. A method performed by a User Equipment, UE, (120) wherein the UE is configured to use at least a first logical channel, LC, and a second LC for transmitting data to a Radio Access Network, RAN, node, wherein each of the first LC and the second LC have a respective bucket size, and the first LC and the second LC have a same priority, wherein the method comprises:

[0305] allocating (401) resources for transmission of data via the first LC and the second LC according to the respective bucket sizes, wherein resources are allocated first to the LC that has the highest bucket size.

[0306] 18. The method of embodiment 17, wherein allocating (401) resources further comprises: allocating (402) resources evenly to the first LC and the second LC if the first LC and second LC have the same bucket size.

[0307] 19. The method of embodiment 17 or 18, wherein the UE is configured to use a third LC for transmitting data to the RAN node, the third LC has a higher priority than the first LC and the second LC, and wherein allocating (401) resources comprises allocating resources for transmission of data via the third LC before allocating resources for transmission of data via the first LC and the second LC.

[0308] 20. The method of embodiment 17 or 18, wherein the UE is configured to use a third LC for transmitting data to the RAN node, the third LC has a lower priority than the first LC and the second LC, and wherein allocating resources (401) comprises allocating resources for transmission of data via the third LC after allocating resources for transmission of data via the first LC and the second LC.

[0309] 21. The method of any of embodiments 17-20, wherein a bucket size for a LC is based on a respective value of a Prioritized Bit Rate for the LC and a time, T, since a last increment of the bucket size for the LC.

[0310] 22. The method of any of embodiments 1-21 , wherein the method further comprises:

[0311] transmitting (403) data to the RAN node using the allocated resources.

[0312] 23. The method of any of embodiments 1-22, wherein the resources are allocated for transmission when the UE is scheduled for transmission of data to the RAN node.

[0313] 24. The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 23, wherein a resource is a time-frequency resource.

[0314] 25. The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 24, wherein the data for transmission comprises at least one of control plane data and user plane data.

[0315] Group B Embodiments

[0316] 26. A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer readable code embodied therein, the computer readable code being configured such that, on execution by a suitable computer or processor, the computer or processor is caused to perform the method of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0317] 27. A user equipment, UE, (120) configured to perform the method of any of the Group A embodiments. 28. A user equipment, UE, (120) comprising a processor and a memory, said memory containing instructions executable by said processor whereby said UE is operative to perform the method of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0318] 29. A user equipment, UE, (120) comprising:

[0319] processing circuitry configured to cause the user equipment to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; and

[0320] power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

[0321] 30. A user equipment, UE, (120) comprising:

[0322] an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals;

[0323] 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;

[0324] the processing circuitry being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments;

[0325] 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;

[0326] 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

[0327] a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method performed by a User Equipment, UE, (120) wherein the UE is configured to use a plurality of Logical Channels, LCs, for transmitting data to a Radio Access Network, RAN, node, (110) and wherein at least a first LC has at least one of:a critical bit rate that defines a target minimum bit rate for the transmission of data via the first LC; anda maximum bit rate that defines a maximum bit rate for transmission of data via the first LC;and the method comprises:allocating (201) resources for transmission of data via the plurality of LCs according to the critical bit rate and / or the maximum bit rate of the first LC.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first LC has at least the critical bit rate, and wherein allocating (201) resources comprises:allocating resources to the first LC until the critical bit rate of the first LC is met.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein a second LC has a respective critical bit rate, wherein the second LC has a lower priority than the first LC, and wherein the method further comprises: once the critical bit rate of the first LC is met, allocating (202) resources to the second LC until the critical bit rate of the second LC is met.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the method further comprises:once the critical bit rate of the second LC is met, allocating (203) any remaining resources to any of the first LC, the second LC, and other LCs in the plurality of LCs.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first LC has at least the critical bit rate, and wherein a second LC has a respective critical bit rate, and the second LC has a lower priority than the first LC, and wherein allocating (201) resources for transmission of data via the plurality of LCs according to the critical bit rate and / or the maximum bit rate of the first LC comprises: proportionally allocating resources to the first LC and the second LC until the critical bit rate of the first LC is met and the critical bit rate of the second LC is met.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising, once the critical bit rate of the first LC is met and the critical bit rate of the second LC is met, allocating (204) any remaining resources to any of the first LC, the second LC, and other LCs in the plurality of LCs.

7. The method of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first LC has at least the maximum bit rate, and wherein allocating (201) resources for transmission of data via the plurality of LCs according to the critical bit rate and / or the maximum bit rate of the first LC comprises:allocating (205) resources to the first LC until the maximum bit rate is met.

8. The method of any of claims 1-6, wherein the first LC has at least the maximum bit rate, and wherein another LC has a respective maximum bit rate, wherein said another LC has a lower priority than the first LC, and wherein allocating (201) resources for transmission of data via the plurality of LCs according to the critical bit rate and / or the maximum bit rate of the first LC comprises:proportionally allocating resources to the first LC and the second LC, wherein resources are allocated to the first LC up to the maximum bit rate of the first LC, and resources are allocated to the second LC up to the maximum bit rate of the second LC.

9. The method of any of claims 1 to 8, wherein a critical bit rate is a bit rate that is sufficient to transmit a Radio Link Control, RLC, status report to the RAN node.

10. The method of any of claims 1-9, wherein the method further comprises:transmitting (206) data to the RAN node using the allocated resources.

11. The method of any of claims 1-9, wherein any one or more out of:- the resources are allocated for transmission when the UE is scheduled for transmission of data to the RAN node,- a resource is a time-frequency resource, and- the data for transmission comprises at least one of control plane data and user plane data.

12. A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer readable code embodied therein, the computer readable code being configured such that, on execution by a suitable computer or processor, the computer or processor is caused to perform the method of any of the claims 1-11.

13. A User Equipment, UE, (120), configured to use a plurality of Logical Channels, LCs, for transmitting data to a Radio Access Network, RAN, node, (110) and wherein at least a first LC has at least one of:a critical bit rate that defines a target minimum bit rate for the transmission of data via the first LC; anda maximum bit rate that defines a maximum bit rate for transmission of data via the first LC, and wherein the UE is configured toallocate resources for transmission of data via the plurality of LCs according to the critical bit rate and / or the maximum bit rate of the first LC.

14. The UE (120) of claim 13, wherein the first LC has at least the critical bit rate, and wherein the UE is further configured to allocate resources by:allocating resources to the first LC until the critical bit rate of the first LC is met.

15. The UE (120) of claim 14, wherein a second LC has a respective critical bit rate, wherein the second LC has a lower priority than the first LC, and wherein the UE is further configured to: once the critical bit rate of the first LC is met, allocate resources to the second LC until the critical bit rate of the second LC is met.

16. The UE (120) of claim 15, wherein the UE is further configured to:once the critical bit rate of the second LC is met, allocate any remaining resources to any of the first LC, the second LC, and other LCs in the plurality of LCs.

17. The UE (120) of claim 13, wherein the first LC has at least the critical bit rate, and wherein a second LC has a respective critical bit rate, and the second LC has a lower priority than the first LC, and wherein the UE is further configured to allocate resources for transmission of data via the plurality of LCs according to the critical bit rate and / or the maximum bit rate of the first LC by:proportionally allocating resources to the first LC and the second LC until the critical bit rate of the first LC is met and the critical bit rate of the second LC is met.

18. The UE (120) of claim 17, further configured to, once the critical bit rate of the first LC is met and the critical bit rate of the second LC is met, allocate any remaining resources to any of the first LC, the second LC, and other LCs in the plurality of LCs.

19. The UE (120) of any of claims 13 to 18, wherein the first LC has at least the maximum bit rate, and wherein the UE is further configured to allocate resources for transmission of data via the plurality of LCs according to the critical bit rate and / or the maximum bit rate of the first LC by:allocating resources to the first LC until the maximum bit rate is met.

20. The UE (120) of any of claims 13-18, wherein the first LC has at least the maximum bit rate, and wherein another LC has a respective maximum bit rate, wherein said another LC has a lower priority than the first LC, and wherein the UE is further configured to allocate resources for transmission of data via the plurality of LCs according to the critical bit rate and / or the maximum bit rate of the first LC by:proportionally allocating resources to the first LC and the second LC, wherein resources are allocated to the first LC up to the maximum bit rate of the first LC, and resources are allocated to the second LC up to the maximum bit rate of the second LC.

21. The UE (120) of any of claims 13 to 20, wherein a critical bit rate is a bit rate that is sufficient to transmit a Radio Link Control, RLC, status report to the RAN node.

22. The UE (120) of any of claims 13 to 21, further configured to:transmit data to the RAN node using the allocated resources.

23. The UE (120) of any of claims 13 to 22, wherein any one or more out of:- the resources are allocated for transmission when the UE is scheduled for transmission of data to the RAN node,- a resource is a time-frequency resource, and- the data for transmission comprises at least one of control plane data and user plane data.

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