Method executed by user equipment, user equipment, method executed by base station, and base station

Abstract

Provided in the present invention are a method executed by a user equipment, a user equipment, a method executed by a base station, and a base station. The method executed by a user equipment comprises: receiving a radio resource control (RRC) message from a base station, wherein the RRC message includes a remaining time threshold and / or one or more reporting time thresholds for a logical channel group (LCG); and on the basis of the remaining time threshold and the reporting time threshold, executing an operation related to delay status reporting (DSR), wherein the remaining time threshold is a remaining time threshold for triggering DSR for a logical channel (LCH) that belongs to the LCG.

Description

The method executed by the user equipment and the user equipment, the method executed by the base station and the base station Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and more specifically, to a method performed by a user equipment, and a user equipment, a method performed by a base station, and a base station. Background Technology

[0002] Extended Reality (XR) is one of the working projects (WIs) developed in 3GPP Release 19 (see 3GPP document RP-240791), aiming to enhance XR in Release 18. One aspect of this enhancement is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of scheduling to achieve high system capacity, for example, by relaxing the time constraints of resource allocation as much as possible while meeting latency requirements / avoiding PDUs that are too late. In existing systems, the network configures a priority for each logical channel. Currently, the priority of logical channels is applied in multiple processes at the MAC layer, such as Buffer Status Report (BSR), multiplexing, and demultiplexing. To achieve the aforementioned enhancement, the 3GPP RAN2 working group has agreed to configure additional priorities for logical channels with latency-sensitive data, resulting in a logical channel having two priorities. In addition, RAN2 has also agreed to further enhance the DSR MAC CE defined in Release 18 (i.e., TS38.321-i40), enabling base stations to obtain more detailed information on the amount of buffered data and the corresponding remaining time.

[0003] This invention aims to solve the related problems involved in the enhanced version 18 of DSR MAC CE. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of this invention is to provide a method executed by a user equipment, and a method executed by a base station, which can appropriately configure a remaining time threshold and a reporting time threshold for a logical channel group (LCG), thereby improving communication efficiency in a communication system.

[0005] According to a first aspect of the present invention, a method performed by a user equipment is provided, comprising: receiving a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message from a base station, the RRC message including a remaining time threshold and / or one or more reporting time thresholds for a Logical Channel Group (LCG); and performing operations related to a Delay Status Report (DSR) based on the remaining time threshold and the reporting time thresholds, the remaining time threshold being a remaining time threshold for triggering a DSR for a Logical Channel (LCH) belonging to the LCG.

[0006] According to a second aspect of the present invention, a user equipment is provided, comprising: a processor; and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform the method described above performed by the user equipment.

[0007] According to a third aspect of the present invention, a method performed by a base station is provided, comprising: configuring a remaining time threshold and / or one or more reporting time thresholds for a logical channel group (LCG) in a radio resource control (RRC) message; and sending the RRC message to cause a user equipment to perform an operation related to a delay status report (DSR) based on the remaining time threshold and the reporting time threshold, wherein the remaining time threshold is a remaining time threshold for triggering a DSR for a logical channel (LCH) belonging to the LCG.

[0008] According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a base station is provided, comprising: a processor; and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform the method described above performed by the base station.

[0009] Invention Effects

[0010] According to the method performed by the user equipment and the method performed by the base station according to the present invention, the remaining time threshold and the reporting time threshold can be appropriately configured for the logical channel group (LCG), thereby improving communication efficiency in the communication system. Attached Figure Description

[0011] The above and other features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0012] Figure 1 is a schematic flowchart illustrating an example of the method of the present invention executed by a user equipment.

[0013] Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating a user equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] Figure 3 is a schematic flowchart illustrating an example of the method executed by a base station according to the present invention.

[0015] Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0016] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. It should be noted that the present invention should not be limited to the specific embodiments described below. Furthermore, for the sake of simplicity, detailed descriptions of well-known technologies not directly related to the present invention have been omitted to prevent confusion in understanding the present invention.

[0017] The following description uses NR mobile communication systems and their subsequent evolutions as example application environments, specifically describing various embodiments of the present invention using NR-supporting base stations and UE devices as examples. However, it should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, but is applicable to many other wireless communication systems, such as eLTE, NB-IoT, or LTE-M systems. Furthermore, it is applicable to other base stations and UE devices, such as base stations and UE devices supporting eLTE / NB-IoT / LTE-M.

[0018] Before proceeding with the detailed description, the following explanation is provided for several terms mentioned in this invention. Unless otherwise indicated, the terms used in this invention shall have the meanings described below, as detailed in TS38.331-i40, TS38.323-i40, TS38.322-i20, TS38.321-i40, and their subsequent versions.User Equipment (UE) NR New Radio LTE Long Term Evolution (eLTE) Enhanced Long Term Evolution (ERE) RRC Radio Resource Control (Layer / Entity) PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol (Layer / Entity) MAC Medium Access Control (Layer / Entity) MAC CE Medium Access Control Control Element PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel RNA RAN-based Notification Area SDAP Service Data Adaptation Protocol AM Acknowledged Mode AMD AM Data ARQ Automatic Repeat Request gNB NR Node B PDU Protocol Data Unit RLC Radio Link Control SDU Service Data Unit SN Sequence Number BSR Buffer Status Report DSR Delay Status Reporting LCH Logical Channel (LCG): Logical Channel Group (LCP): Logical Channel Prioritization; Physical Layer (PBR): Prioritized Bit Rate; Bucket Size Duration (BSD): Bucket Size Duration.

[0019] A PDU set consists of one or more PDUs carrying the payload of a single unit of information generated at the application level (e.g., frames or video slices for XR services). Each PDU in the PDU set corresponds to a PDCP SDU.

[0020] A delay-critical PDCP SDU is a PDCP SDU that meets the following conditions: If the UE is not configured with the pdu-SetDiscard information element, a delay-critical PDCP SDU is a PDCP SDU whose remaining time until its discardTimer expires is less than the configured remainingTimeThreshold (i.e., the value of the information element); if the UE is configured with the pdu-SetDiscard information element, a delay-critical PDCP SDU is a PDCP SDU belonging to a PDU set that meets the following conditions: at least one PDCP SDU belonging to the PDU set whose remaining time until its discardTimer expires is less than the configured remainingTimeThreshold (if pdu-SetDiscard is not configured, a PDCP SDU for which the remaining time until discardTimer expires is less than the remainingTimeThreshold; if pdu-SetDiscard is configured, a PDCP SDU belonging to a PDU set of which at least one PDCP SDU has the remaining time until discardTimer expires less than the configured remainingTimeThreshold). remainingTimeThreshold.

[0021] It should be noted that, in this invention, the values ​​of the timer discardTimer and the timer discardTimerForLowImportance are configured by the network for the PDCP entity through the discardTimer and discardTimerForLowImportance information elements included in the RRC signaling sent to the UE. When the transport PDCP entity receives a PDCP SDU from the upper layer, it starts the discard timer discardTimer for this PDCP SDU. After the PDCP entity is configured with the discardTimer information element, the PDCP entity runs a discardTimer for each PDCP SDU from the upper layer (for cases where the discardTimerForLowImportance information element is not configured, or where the discardTimerForLowImportance information element is configured but PSI-based SDU deletion is not activated, or where the PDCP SDU does not belong to the low-importance PDU set). When the timer discardTimer expires, the PDCP entity discards the PDCP SDU associated with the timer and the corresponding PDCP PDU (i.e., PDCP data PDU). If the conditions are met: the discardTimerForLowImportance information element is configured, PSI-based SDU deletion is activated, and the PDCP SDU belongs to a low-importance PDU set, then the timer discardTimerForLowImportance associated with the PDCP SDU is started. In this invention, discardTimer and discardTimerForLowImportance can be information elements or timers. Unless otherwise specified, those skilled in the art can infer from the context whether discardTimer and discardTimerForLowImportance are information elements or timers. A PDCP entity includes a transmitting PDCP entity and / or a receiving PDCP entity. The transmitting PDCP entity receives PDCP SDUs from the upper layer, generates corresponding PDCPPDUs, and transmits them to the peer PDCP entity (i.e., the receiving PDCP entity). The corresponding receiving PDCP entity receives PDCP PDUs from the peer entity (i.e., the transmitting PDCP entity), processes the PDCP PDUs, and if a valid PDCP SDU is obtained, then the PDCP SDU is submitted to the upper layer. In this invention, unless otherwise specified, those skilled in the art can infer from the context whether the PDCP entity is a transmitting PDCP entity or a receiving PDCP entity.

[0022] In this invention, the remainingTimeThreshold (denoted as the first remaining time threshold or DSR remaining time threshold) information element is the remaining time threshold for triggering DSR for the LCH belonging to the LCG; the pdu-SetDiscard information element is configured for the PDCP entity by the network through the pdu-SetDiscard information element for the PDCP entity included in the RRC signaling sent to the UE. If the value of pdu-SetDiscard is set to the first value, such as true or "true", then the PDCP entity performs PDU set-based discarding. The operations involved in the PDU set-based discarding are described in T38.323-i40.

[0023] The network configures two priorities for LCHs via RRC messages: an existing priority (denoted as the first priority) and an adjusted priority, also known as a delay threshold priority (denoted as the second priority). For an LCH, if the remaining time before the expiration of the discardTimer associated with a corresponding PDCP SDU is less than the configured priority remaining time threshold (the PDCP SDU is called priority adjustment data or LCH priority adjustment data), then the LCH's priority is adjusted to the second priority; otherwise, the LCH's priority remains the first priority. In other words, when an LCH has corresponding LCH priority adjustment data, its priority is the second priority; when an LCH does not have corresponding LCH priority adjustment data, its priority is the first priority. The priority remaining time threshold (denoted as the LCH remaining time threshold or the second remaining time threshold) and the DSR remaining time threshold are configured through different information elements included in the RRC message. Optionally, it can be stipulated that, in addition to satisfying the condition that the remaining time before the expiration of the discardTimer associated with a PDCP SDU is less than the configured priority remaining time threshold, the LCH priority is adjusted from first priority to second priority only if the PDCP SDU or its corresponding PDCPPDU has not been transmitted in any MAC PDU. In this case, for an LCH, although the remaining time before the expiration of the discardTimer associated with a PDCP SDU is less than the configured priority remaining time threshold, all the PDCP SDUs or their corresponding PDCP PDUs have already been transmitted in MAC PDUs. In this case, the LCH priority is not adjusted, that is, the LCH priority remains first priority. When the UE is configured with the pdu-SetDiscard information element, the LCH priority adjustment data is a PDCP SDU belonging to a PDU set that meets the following condition: at least one PDCP SDU in the PDU set has a remaining time before its discardTimer expires that is less than the configured priority remaining time threshold. This disclosure also applies to the case where the UE is configured with the pdu-SetDiscard information element, in which case the LCH priority adjustment data is the PDCP SDU in the PDU set that satisfies the conditions described above. If the network configures only one priority for a logical channel, the priority is the first priority, or the default priority. The first priority is the priority when the corresponding LCH does not have LCH priority adjustment data (i.e., logical channel priority), and the second priority is the priority when the LCH has LCH priority adjustment data (i.e., the adjusted logical channel priority).

[0024] In this disclosure, it is assumed that a larger priority value corresponds to a lower priority. Priority comparisons are actually performed by comparing the priority values. For logical channels with higher priorities, the corresponding priority values ​​are smaller. In practical applications, the magnitude of the priority value can also correspond to the level of priority, i.e., a smaller priority value corresponds to a lower priority; this will not be elaborated further here.

[0025] When a UE obtains an uplink grant, it executes a new transmission. During the execution of a new transmission, the UE applies the Logical Channel Priority (LCP) procedure. The network pre-configures parameters such as priority, PRB (prioritisedBitRate), and BSD (bucketSizeDuration) for each logical channel of the UE via RRC messages. The UE maintains a Bj for each logical channel j. When logical channel j is established, the corresponding Bj is initialized to 0. For each logical channel, the MAC entity increments Bj by the product PBR × T before each instance of the LCP procedure, where T is the time elapsed since Bj was last incremented. If the value of Bj is greater than the bucket size, the value of Bj is set to the bucket size, which is the product of PBR and BSD, PBR × BSD.

[0026] Since each logical channel is configured with a corresponding priority, and the data originating from the logical channel is assembled into a MAC PDU by the UE according to the priority of the logical channel, the priority of the logical channel to which the data belongs can be referred to as the priority of the data in this article. The priority of the logical channel and the priority of the data in the logical channel can be used interchangeably.

[0027] In the current protocol TS38.321-i40, the Delay Status Report (DSR) procedure is used to provide the delay status of an LCG to the serving gNB. The delay status of an LCG includes the remaining time and the critical uplink data volume for that LCG, where the remaining time is the minimum remaining value of the running PDCP discardTimer (i.e., the discardTimer corresponding to the PDCP SDU) in all PDCP SDUs cached for the LCG and not transmitted in any MAC PDU. In the current version of the DSR MAC CE, each LCG contains at most one pair of remaining time and the critical uplink data volume for that LCG. The critical uplink data volume for each logical channel group LCG included in the DSR MAC CE is determined by the PDCP entity and RLC entity of the logical channel to which each LCG belongs, as detailed in TS38.323-i40 (Section 5.15 DSR Data Volume Calculation) and TS38.322-i20 (Section 5.5 Data Volume Calculation).

[0028] For an LCG configured with a delay status report, the MAC entity performs the following operations for each logical channel in the LCG: if the minimum remaining value of the running PDCP discardTImer that is not transmitted in any MAC PDU and is not reported as a data volume in the DSR MAC CE among all PDCP SDUs buffered for the logical channel is lower than the first remaining time threshold of the LCG, and / or the logical channel has no pending DSR, triggers a DSR for the corresponding logical channel.

[0029] RAN2 has agreed to define a new DSR MAC CE in Release 19XR, where the base station configures a first remaining time threshold and / or one or more reporting time thresholds for the UE's LCG. Accordingly, the DSR MAC CE can contain multiple pairs of remaining time and corresponding uplink data volumes for each LCG. However, how to configure the first remaining time threshold and one or more reporting time thresholds is a problem that needs to be solved. Determining the total uplink data volume corresponding to each reporting time threshold when generating the DSR MAC CE is also a problem that needs to be solved.

[0030] In existing DSR MAC CEs, each LCG contains at most a pair of remaining times and the corresponding critical uplink data volume. Unlike existing DSR MAC CEs, the newly defined DSR MAC CE may include non-critical uplink data volumes. Therefore, the total uplink data volume corresponding to each remaining time is no longer called the critical uplink data volume, but rather the total uplink data volume, which may include both critical and non-critical uplink data volumes. In this disclosure, the total uplink data volume corresponding to a remaining time is the same as the total uplink data volume corresponding to a reporting time threshold.

[0031] The following embodiments address the above-mentioned problems.

[0032] Figure 1 is a schematic flowchart illustrating an example of the method of the present invention executed by a user equipment.

[0033] In step S101, the user equipment receives an RRC message from the base station. This RRC message contains a remaining time threshold for the LCG and / or one or more reporting time thresholds. The base station configures the DSR for the UE via the RRC message. Specifically, the RRC message contains a first remaining time threshold for the LCG (indicated by the lcg-Id field) (indicated by the remainingTimeThreshold field) and / or one or more reporting time thresholds (indicated by the reportingTimeThresholdList field). The RRC message can be an RRC reconfiguration message or an RRC recovery message. The RRC reconfiguration message is a command to modify the RRC connection. The RRC reconfiguration message can carry information on measurement configuration, mobility control, radio resource configuration (including bearer RB, MAC master configuration, and physical channel configuration), and AS security configuration. The RRC recovery message is used to resume the suspended RRC connection.

[0034] It can be stipulated that the one or more reporting time thresholds can only be configured if the first remaining time threshold is configured.

[0035] It can be specified that the first remaining time threshold is also a reporting time threshold, or that the remaining time threshold is one of the reporting time thresholds. In other words, the reporting time threshold corresponding to the remaining time and the corresponding total uplink data volume contained in the DSR MAC CE can be the configured remaining time threshold, and the logarithm of the maximum remaining time and the corresponding total uplink data volume contained in the DSR MAC CE is one more than the number of configured reporting time thresholds.

[0036] It can be specified that the first remaining time threshold is different from any one of the one or more reporting time thresholds configured.

[0037] It can be specified that the first remaining time threshold is one of one or more reporting time thresholds configured.

[0038] Furthermore, the first remaining time threshold included in the RRC message can also be replaced by a first remaining time threshold indication field associated with a certain reporting time threshold. In this case, the RRC message does not contain a first remaining time threshold, but it does contain one or more reporting time thresholds, and one of the one or more reporting time thresholds is associated with a first remaining time threshold indication field to indicate that the reporting time threshold is the first remaining time threshold. It can be specified that one and only one of the one or more reporting time thresholds is associated with the first remaining time threshold indication field.

[0039] Alternatively, a reporting time threshold identifier can be configured for the one or more reporting time thresholds, or the reporting time threshold identifiers can be used according to the order of the one or more reporting time thresholds in the reportingTimeThresholdList field. For example, the reporting time threshold identifier for the first reporting time threshold in the reportingTimeThresholdList field can be 0, the reporting time threshold identifier for the second reporting time threshold can be 1, and so on, or the numbering can start from 1. The network can delete a reporting time threshold using the reporting time threshold identifier, or the value of the first remaining time threshold can be set as the reporting time threshold identifier, indicating that the corresponding reporting time threshold is used as the first remaining time threshold.

[0040] The advantage of using the first remaining time threshold as one of the reporting time thresholds is that it can reduce signaling overhead. Moreover, the base station can distinguish the amount of delayed critical data, the total amount of non-delay critical data before the delayed critical data, and the total amount of non-delay critical data after the delayed critical data in the data reported in DSR MAC CE, so as to allocate the corresponding uplink resources in a timely manner.

[0041] In this disclosure, the lcg-Id field is the identifier of the Logical Channel Group which the DSR configuration refers to, the remainingTimeThreshold field is used as the remaining time threshold for triggering DSR for LCHs belonging to this LCG, and the reportingTimeThresholdList field is a list of reporting time thresholds containing one or more reporting time thresholds, each of which can be configured by the reportingTimeThreshold field.

[0042] In step S103, the user equipment performs DSR-related operations based on the remaining time threshold and the reporting time threshold. The remaining time threshold is the remaining time threshold for triggering DSR for LCH belonging to LCG.

[0043] The following describes in detail an embodiment of how user equipment performs DSR-related operations based on a remaining time threshold and a reporting time threshold.

[0044] For an LCG configured with a delay status report (i.e., an LCG configured with a first remaining time threshold), for each logical channel in the LCG, the MAC entity performs the following operation: If the minimum remaining value of the running PDCP discardTimer (i.e., the minimum remaining value of the discardTimer associated with all PDCP SDUs) that is not transmitted in any MAC PDU and is not reported as data volume in the DSR MAC CE for all PDCP SDUs buffered for the logical channel is lower than the first remaining time threshold of the LCG, and / or the logical channel has no waiting DSR, a DSR is triggered for the corresponding logical channel. A DSR is considered waiting after being triggered until it is canceled.

[0045] When at least one waiting DSR exists, if the uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) resource for new transmission is available and the UL-SCH resource can accommodate the DSR MAC CE and its subheader according to the LCP, the multiplexing and reassembly process is instructed to generate the DSR MAC CE. In the DSR MAC CE, for an LCG configured with a first remaining time threshold and / or one or more reporting time thresholds, the first remaining time threshold can also serve as a reporting time threshold. For each LCG, the DSR MAC CE contains, in ascending order of reporting time thresholds (which may include the first remaining time threshold), the remaining time corresponding to each reporting time threshold and the corresponding total uplink data volume. The remaining time is the minimum value of the PDCP discardTimer associated with the total uplink data volume corresponding to the reporting time threshold. Each data point represents at most one total uplink data volume for a reporting time threshold, i.e., it is associated with only one remaining time. For the remaining time T (or the corresponding uplink time threshold) contained in the DSR MAC CE, the corresponding uplink data volume includes the data volume determined by the PDCP entity and / or RLC entity of the LCH belonging to the LCG.

[0046] The following describes the calculation of DSR data volume in a PDCP entity.

[0047] The PDCP entity considers data that meets at least one of the following conditions to be the amount of data corresponding to the remaining time T (corresponding to the uplink time threshold Tr) (this can be specified to be done only when one or more reporting time thresholds are configured):

[0048] Condition 1: The data is a PDCP SDU that has not yet been constructed into a PDCP data PDU, and / or a PDCP data PDU that has been constructed but has not yet been submitted to the lower layer, and / or a PDCP control PDU, and / or for the acknowledgment mode AM DRB, the data is a PDCP SDU that needs to be retransmitted as determined by PDCP entity reconstruction or uplink data switching, or a PDCP data PDU that needs to be retransmitted as determined by the PDCP entity data recovery process.

[0049] Condition 2: The PDCP discardTimer corresponding to the data satisfies the following: the largest reporting time threshold among all reporting time thresholds less than or equal to the remaining time T, and / or the smallest reporting time threshold among all reporting time thresholds greater than or equal to the remaining time T. If there is no reporting time threshold smaller than the remaining time T, then it is greater than 0. In other words, the PDCP discardTimer corresponding to the data satisfies the following: less than or equal to the reporting time threshold Tr, and / or greater than or equal to the previous reporting time threshold smaller than Tr (the largest of the reporting time thresholds smaller than Tr, Tr'). If there is no reporting time threshold smaller than Tr, then it is greater than 0. For example, if the UE is configured with reporting time thresholds T1, T2, and T3 (which may include a first remaining time threshold), T1 < T2 < T3, and the current reporting time threshold Tr is T2, then the PDCP discardTimer corresponding to the data in the total uplink data corresponding to the current reporting time threshold T2 satisfies the following conditions: greater than or equal to T1, and / or less than or equal to T2; the remaining time T corresponding to the current reporting time threshold T2 is the smallest among the PDCP discardTimers that satisfy this condition.

[0050] Condition 3: The data is associated with discardTimerForLowImportance, and / or according to the LCP procedure, the data will be transmitted before the data satisfying Condition 1 and / or Condition 2, and / or the PDCP discardTimerForLowImportance associated with the data is less than or equal to the maximum of the PDCP discardTimers satisfying Condition 2 (for data on the same logical channel). Optionally, the data is not included in the total uplink data corresponding to other reporting time thresholds (i.e., the total uplink data less than the current reporting time threshold Tr). The data not being included in the total uplink data corresponding to other reporting time thresholds means that the PDCP discardTimerForLowImportance corresponding to the data is greater than or equal to the maximum value of the PDCP discardTimers of the data in the total uplink data corresponding to the previous reporting time threshold Tr' (for data on the same logical channel). Here, discardTimerForLowImportance indicates that the corresponding DRB is configured with PSI-based SDU discard. It should be noted that PDCP discardTimerForLowImportance is compared with the PDCP discardTimer of data belonging to the same logical channel. For example, similar to the example in condition 2, if the maximum value of the PDCP discardTimer for data corresponding to a certain logical channel in the total uplink data volume corresponding to the reporting time threshold T2 is Tmax, then all data in that logical channel that satisfies discardTimerForLowImportance less than or equal to Tmax and is not included in the total uplink data volume corresponding to T1 is included in the total uplink data volume corresponding to T2.

[0051] Condition 3 applies to data on the same logical channel and / or is configured with discardTimerForLowImportance (i.e., for logical channels or data radio bearers DRBs that are configured with the low-importance delete timer discardTimerForLowImportance).

[0052] Condition 4: According to the LCP procedure, LCH priority adjustment data is transmitted before data satisfying Condition 1 and / or Condition 2, or LCH priority adjustment data of a logical channel with a priority higher than that of the logical channel to which the data satisfying Condition 1 and / or Condition 2 belongs. Specifically, for a logical channel configured with a second priority, even if the PDCP discardTimer or PDCP discardTimerForLowImportance corresponding to the data of the logical channel does not satisfy Condition 2 or 3, if priority adjustment data exists in the logical channel, the priority of the logical channel is the second priority. If the second priority is higher than or not lower than the priority of the logical channel to which the data satisfying Condition 2 belongs, then the priority adjustment data is also counted in this total uplink data volume. It should be noted that the data satisfying Condition 1 or 2 is data in other PDCP entity buffers, and the LCH priority adjustment data is data in the current PDCP entity buffer. Condition 4 applies to data from different PDCP entities (or logical channels).

[0053] Optionally, for data that satisfies condition 4, the total uplink data corresponding to the uplink time threshold only includes LCH priority adjustment data transmitted before the delay critical data that satisfies conditions 1 and / or 2, or LCH priority adjustment data of logical channels with a priority higher than the logical channel priority of the delay critical data that satisfies conditions 1 and / or 2. LCH priority adjustment data transmitted before non-delay critical data is not included in the total uplink data corresponding to the uplink time threshold.

[0054] Condition 5: Non-delayed critical data transmitted before delayed critical data or delayed critical data satisfying Condition 1 and / or Condition 2, according to the LCP procedure. The non-delayed critical data includes: LCH priority adjustment data with a higher priority than any delayed critical data, and / or non-delayed critical data arriving earlier than delayed critical data on the same logical channel, and / or non-delayed critical data transmitted / assembled before delayed critical data transmission / assembly for the same logical channel according to the LCP procedure, and / or data associated with a PDCP discardTimerForLowImportance less than the PDCP discardTimer associated with any delayed critical data (i.e., non-delayed critical data) for the same logical channel.

[0055] It can be stipulated that the remaining time T corresponding to each reporting time threshold in DSR MAC CE satisfies the following: the remaining time T is less than or equal to the reporting time threshold Tr and / or greater than or equal to a reporting time threshold Tr' (Tr' < Tr) that is smaller than the reporting time threshold Tr. It can be stipulated that Tr' is the largest of all reporting time thresholds smaller than Tr. If there is no reporting time threshold smaller than the reporting time threshold Tr, then T is greater than 0. The remaining time T is the smallest discardTimer among all PDCP SDUs that satisfy the associated discardTimer being less than or equal to the reporting time threshold Tr and / or greater than or equal to the reporting time threshold Tr', or the remaining time T is the smallest discardTimer among those satisfying Tr' being greater than or equal to discardTimer and discardTimer being less than or equal to Tr'. Optionally, the data corresponding to the smallest discardTimer is not included in the uplink data volume associated with other reporting time thresholds. The data reported in the total uplink data volume corresponding to the reporting time threshold Tr at least satisfies that the data's discardTimer is greater than or equal to Tr' and / or less than or equal to Tr.

[0056] It can be specified that for each remaining time T or reporting time threshold Tr in DSR MAC CE, the data corresponding to the total amount of uplink data must satisfy the following conditions: it is not included in the total amount of uplink data corresponding to other reporting time thresholds or other reporting time thresholds, and / or the associated PDCP discardTimer is less than or equal to the current reporting time threshold, and / or greater than or equal to the previous reporting time threshold which is smaller than the current reporting time threshold.

[0057] In the current logical channel priority (LCP) process, for data from logical channels of different priorities, data with higher priority is always transmitted first. For data from the same logical channel, the first-in, first-out (FIFO) principle is followed, with data at the front of the queue being transmitted first. Based on these two principles, including data satisfying condition 3 or condition 4 in the DSR MAC CE helps the base station allocate appropriate uplink resources, thereby ensuring that data that needs to be transmitted in a timely manner is transmitted before its due date.

[0058] In this invention, the LCH priority-adjusted data includes at least a PDCP SDU (or uplink data) whose associated discardTimer has a remaining time until expiration that is less than a configured priority remaining time threshold. Optionally, the LCH priority-adjusted data also includes data that needs to be transmitted before the LCH priority-adjusted data is transmitted or data whose arrival time is earlier than the LCH priority-adjusted data, for example, the PDCP discardTimerForLowImportance of the data is less than the maximum value of the PDCP discardTimer in the LCH priority-adjusted data. Optionally, the PDCP SDU has not been transmitted in any MAC PDU. In other words, when the time remaining until expiration (i.e., the remaining time) of the discardTimer associated with an uplink data (e.g., a PDCP SDU) corresponding to an LCH is less than or equal to the priority remaining time threshold corresponding to the LCH, and optionally, the PDCP SDU has not been transmitted in any MAC PDU, then the uplink data becomes the LCH priority-adjusted data of the LCH. The specification for LCH priority adjustment data can apply only to LCHs whose corresponding PDCP entities are not configured with the pdu-SetDiscard information element, or it can apply regardless of whether the corresponding PDCP entity's pdu-SetDiscard information element is configured. If the former, then for LCHs whose corresponding PDCP entities are configured with the pdu-SetDiscard information element, the LCH priority adjustment data can be specified to include at least a PDCP SDU belonging to a PDU set that satisfies the following condition: at least one PDCP SDU belonging to the PDU set has a remaining time before its discardTimer expires that is less than the configured priority remaining time threshold (i.e., the priority remaining time threshold corresponding to the LCH). Optionally, the PDCP SDU has not been transmitted in any MAC PDU. The PDCP SDU is data cached for the LCH.

[0059] To ensure that critical delay data can be sent in a timely manner, the UE can also enhance the existing Logical Channel Priority (LCP) process, which always prioritizes the inclusion of critical delay data for logical channels with the same or different priorities.

[0060] The existing LCP procedure (see TS38.321-i40 for details) includes logical channel selection and resource allocation. The MAC entity selects logical channels that meet specified conditions based on the characteristics of the logical channels configured in the network and the characteristics of the received uplink grant. The specific process for logical channel selection is detailed in TS38.321-i40; logical channels that meet the specified conditions are the selected logical channels. During resource allocation in the LCP procedure, the MAC entity allocates resources to the selected logical channels in the following manner:

[0061] Step 1: For the selected logical channels (Bj > 0), resources are allocated in descending priority order. If the PBR of a logical channel is set to infinity, the MAC entity shall allocate resources for all the data available for transmission on the logical channel before meeting the PBR of the lower priority logical channels(s).

[0062] Step 2: Subtract the total size of MAC SDUs served to logical channel j from Bj. It should be noted that in the LCP process of this disclosure, service means resource allocation, and the served MAC SDUs (i.e., data) are the MAC SDUs with allocated resources.

[0063] Step 3: If any resources remain, and the LCG to which the selected logical channel belongs is configured with DSR and has critical delay data, the selected logical channel with critical delay data is served in a strict decreasing priority order, or the critical delay data of the logical channel is served in a strict decreasing priority order (i.e., critical delay data from each logical channel is included first, and other data is included only if there is no critical delay data). Otherwise (optionally), the selected logical channels 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.

[0064] In the existing DSR triggering process, if a PDCP SDU has already been reported as data in the DSR MAC CE, DSR will not be triggered when the PDCP SDU becomes delay-critical data. However, for data from logical channels configured with two priorities, if it is included in the DSR MAC CE as non-LCH priority adjustment data, the base station will allocate uplink resources according to the information reported by the DSR MAC CE. However, after a period of time, the non-LCH priority adjustment data becomes LCH priority adjustment data, and the priority of the corresponding logical channel will increase. This data will also be sent preferentially, which may cause delay-critical data from other lower-priority logical channels to be deleted because they cannot be sent in time. One way to solve this problem is to trigger DSR when non-LCH priority adjustment data that has not been transmitted in any MAC PDU and / or has already been reported as data in the DSR MAC CE becomes LCH priority adjustment data. Another way to solve this problem is that for logical channels configured with the second priority, the data of the logical channel is not reported as data in the DSR MAC CE before it becomes LCH priority adjustment data. In other words, for logical channels configured with the second priority, only LCH priority adjustment data is reported as data in the DSR MAC CE.

[0065] Specifically, for an LCG configured with a delay status report (i.e., an LCG configured with a first remaining time threshold), the MAC entity performs the following operation for each logical channel within the LCG: if the minimum remaining value of a running PDCP discardTimer that is not transmitted in any MAC PDU and / or not reported as data in the DSR MAC CE (except in cases where it is reported as data as non-priority adjustment data) among all PDCP SDUs buffered for the logical channel is lower than the second remaining time threshold or the first remaining time threshold for the corresponding logical channel, and / or the logical channel has no waiting DSR, then a DSR is triggered for the corresponding logical channel. It can be specified that, in addition to meeting the aforementioned conditions, the second priority of the LCH must also be higher than the priority of the logical channel to which the delay-critical data already reported in the DSR MAC CE belongs before a DSR is triggered.

[0066] In this disclosure, the logical channel configured with the second priority is the logical channel configured with the second remaining time threshold.

[0067] In this invention, fields, information elements, and parameters are interchangeable. Unless otherwise specified, embodiments in which parameters configured via RRC messages are included in the same RRC message and in different RRC messages are also within the scope of this disclosure. In embodiments of this invention, if multiple operations are included, embodiments obtained by changing the execution order of the operations are also within the scope of this invention; similarly, when multiple parallel judgment conditions are included, embodiments obtained by changing the order of the judgment conditions are also within the scope of this invention. The terms "and," "or," "and / or," "and," and "and" in the conditions involved in the embodiments of this invention are interchangeable, and the resulting embodiments are also within the scope of this invention. The statement in this disclosure that certain operations are performed if certain conditions are met means that the UE performs certain operations when it determines that certain conditions are met.

[0068] Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating a user equipment UE 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 2, the UE 200 includes a processor 201 and a memory 202. The processor 201 may include, for example, a microprocessor, a microcontroller, an embedded processor, etc. The memory 202 may include, for example, volatile memory (such as random access memory RAM), a hard disk drive (HDD), non-volatile memory (such as flash memory), or other memory. Program instructions are stored on the memory 202. When executed by the processor 201, these instructions can perform the methods described in the detailed description of the present invention in the user equipment.

[0069] Figure 3 is a schematic flowchart illustrating an example of the method executed by the base station according to the present invention. In step S301, a remaining time threshold and / or one or more reporting time thresholds for the LCG are configured in the RRC message. In step S303, an RRC message is sent to cause the user equipment to perform operations related to the Delay Status Report (DSR) based on the remaining time threshold and the reporting time threshold. The remaining time threshold is the remaining time threshold for triggering DSR for the logical channel LCH belonging to the LCG.

[0070] Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating a base station 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 4, the base station 400 includes a processor 401 and a memory 402. The processor 401 may include, for example, a microprocessor, a microcontroller, an embedded processor, etc. The memory 402 may include, for example, volatile memory (such as random access memory, RAM), a hard disk drive (HDD), non-volatile memory (such as flash memory), or other memory. Program instructions are stored on the memory 402. When executed by the processor 401, these instructions can perform the methods described above in the base station of the present invention.

[0071] According to the method performed by the user equipment and the method performed by the base station according to the present invention, the remaining time threshold and the reporting time threshold can be appropriately configured for the logical channel group (LCG), thereby improving communication efficiency in the communication system.

[0072] A program running on a device according to the invention can be a program that enables a computer to perform the functions of embodiments of the invention by controlling a central processing unit (CPU). The program, or the information processed by the program, can be temporarily stored in volatile memory (such as random access memory, RAM), hard disk drive (HDD), non-volatile memory (such as flash memory), or other memory systems.

[0073] Programs used to implement the functions of the various embodiments of the present invention can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. The corresponding functions can be implemented by causing a computer system to read and execute the programs recorded on the recording medium. The term "computer system" here can refer to a computer system embedded in the device, and may include an operating system or hardware (such as peripheral devices). "Computer-readable recording medium" can be a semiconductor recording medium, an optical recording medium, a magnetic recording medium, a short-time dynamic storage program recording medium, or any other computer-readable recording medium.

[0074] Various features or functional modules of the devices used in the above embodiments can be implemented or executed by circuits (e.g., monolithic or multi-chip integrated circuits). Circuits designed to perform the functions described in this specification may include general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination of the above devices. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or any existing processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The above circuits may be digital circuits or analog circuits. In cases where advancements in semiconductor technology have led to new integrated circuit technologies that replace existing integrated circuits, one or more embodiments of the present invention may also be implemented using these new integrated circuit technologies.

[0075] Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. Although various examples of the embodiments have been described, the present invention is not limited thereto. Fixed or non-mobile electronic devices installed indoors or outdoors can be used as terminal devices or communication devices, such as AV equipment, kitchen equipment, cleaning equipment, air conditioners, office equipment, vending machines, and other household appliances.

[0076] As described above, embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the specific structure is not limited to the above embodiments, and the present invention also includes any design modifications that do not depart from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, various modifications can be made to the present invention within the scope of the claims, and embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in different embodiments are also included within the technical scope of the present invention. In addition, components with the same effects described in the above embodiments can be substituted for each other.

Claims

1. A method executed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: Receive a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, the RRC message containing a list of reporting time thresholds for Logical Channel Groups (LCGs); as well as The Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) entity uses the following data as the first reporting time threshold in the reporting time threshold list: PDCP Service Data Units (SDUs) that have not yet been constructed into PDCP Protocol Data Units (PDUs), or PDCP PDUs corresponding to PDCP SDUs that have not yet been submitted to the lower layer. Wherein, the remaining time of the discardTimer of the PDCP SDU before its expiration is less than the first reporting time threshold. If the first reporting time threshold is not the smallest reporting time threshold in the reporting time threshold list, and the remaining time of the timer discardTimer of the PDCP SDU before its expiration is greater than or equal to the second reporting time threshold in the reporting time threshold list, where the second reporting time threshold is the largest among the reporting time thresholds in the reporting time threshold list that are smaller than the first reporting time threshold, then... If the first reporting time threshold is the smallest reporting time threshold in the list of reporting time thresholds, then the remaining time of the discardTimer of the PDCP SDU before its expiration is greater than 0. The value of the discardTimer is configured for the PDCP entity, which starts the discardTimer when it receives the PDCP SDU from the upper layer.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, Also includes: If there is at least one pending Delayed Status Report (DSR), and there is an uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) resource available for new transmission, and there is at least one logical channel group (LCG) configured with the report time threshold list, and the UL-SCH resource is capable of accommodating the DSR Media Access Control (MAC) control element (MAC CE) and its subheadings according to the Logical Channel Priority (LCP) procedure, then the multiplexing and reassembly process is instructed to generate the DSR MAC CE. In the DSR MAC CE, for each LCG, the remaining time and total uplink data associated with each reporting time threshold are included in the DSR MAC CE in ascending order of reporting time threshold. Wherein, the remaining time associated with the reporting time threshold is the minimum remaining time among the remaining time until expiration of the discardTimer of all running PDCP SDUs associated with the reporting time threshold. The total amount of uplink data associated with the reporting time threshold is determined by the Radio Link Control (RLC) entity and the PDCP entity associated with the logical channel (LCH) belonging to the corresponding LCG.

3. A user equipment, comprising: processor; as well as Memory, which stores instructions The instructions execute the method of claim 1 or 2 when the processor is running.

4. A method performed by a base station, comprising: Configure the reporting time threshold list for Logical Channel Groups (LCGs) in the Radio Resource Control (RRC) message; as well as The RRC message is sent so that the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) entity of the user equipment will include the following data as the PDCP data volume for the first reporting time threshold in the reporting time threshold list: PDCP Service Data Unit (SDU) for which a PDCP Protocol Data Unit (PDU) has not yet been constructed, or PDCPPDU corresponding to a PDCP SDU that has not yet been submitted to the lower layer. Wherein, the remaining time of the discardTimer of the PDCP SDU before its expiration is less than the first reporting time threshold. If the first reporting time threshold is not the smallest reporting time threshold in the reporting time threshold list, and the remaining time of the timer discardTimer of the PDCP SDU before its expiration is greater than or equal to the second reporting time threshold in the reporting time threshold list, where the second reporting time threshold is the largest among the reporting time thresholds in the reporting time threshold list that are smaller than the first reporting time threshold, then... If the first reporting time threshold is the smallest reporting time threshold in the list of reporting time thresholds, then the remaining time of the discardTimer of the PDCP SDU before its expiration is greater than 0. The value of the discardTimer is configured for the PDCP entity, which starts the discardTimer when it receives the PDCP SDU from the upper layer.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein, Also includes: If there is at least one pending Delayed Status Report (DSR), and there is an uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) resource available for new transmission, and there is at least one logical channel group (LCG) configured with the report time threshold list, and the UL-SCH resource is capable of accommodating the DSR Media Access Control (MAC) control element (MAC CE) and its subheadings according to the Logical Channel Priority (LCP) procedure, then the multiplexing and reassembly process is instructed to generate the DSR MAC CE. In the DSR MAC CE, for each LCG, the remaining time and total uplink data associated with each reporting time threshold are included in the DSR MAC CE in ascending order of reporting time threshold. Wherein, the remaining time associated with the reporting time threshold is the minimum remaining time among the remaining time until expiration of the discardTimer of all running PDCP SDUs associated with the reporting time threshold. The total amount of uplink data associated with the reporting time threshold is determined by the Radio Link Control (RLC) entity and the PDCP entity associated with the logical channel (LCH) belonging to the corresponding LCG.

6. A base station, comprising: processor; as well as Memory, which stores instructions The instructions execute the method of claim 4 or 5 when the processor runs.

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