Method executed by user equipment, and user equipment

Abstract

Provided in the present invention are a method executed by a user equipment, and a user equipment. The method executed by a user equipment comprises: receiving, from a base station, a configuration of a delay status report for a logical channel group (LCG); when a delay status report (DSR) trigger condition is met and / or one or more reporting time thresholds are configured for at least one LCG in the configuration, determining an uplink data volume corresponding to each reporting time threshold of each LCG; and sending a delay state report medium access control control element (DSR MAC CE) to the base station, wherein the DSR MAC CE carries the uplink data volume corresponding to each reporting time threshold of each LCG, and the uplink data volume comprises a data volume calculated by means of a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) second data volume operation and / or a radio link control (RLC) second data volume operation.

Description

Methods executed by user equipment and user equipment 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 determine the uplink data volume corresponding to each 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 from a base station a configuration of a delay status report for a logical channel group (LCG); determining an uplink data amount corresponding to each reporting time threshold for each LCG, provided that a delay status report (DSR) trigger condition is met and / or one or more reporting time thresholds are configured for at least one logical channel group (LCG) in the configuration; and sending a delay status report media access control layer control element (DSR MAC CE) to the base station, the DSR MAC CE carrying the uplink data amount corresponding to each reporting time threshold for each LCG, the uplink data amount including a data amount calculated by a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) second data amount operation and / or a radio link control (RLC) second data amount operation.

[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: sending a configuration of a delay status report for a logical channel group (LCG) to a user equipment; and receiving a delay status report media access control layer control element (DSR MAC CE) from the user equipment, the DSR MAC CE carrying an uplink data amount corresponding to each reporting time threshold of each LCG determined by the user equipment under the condition that a delay status report DSR triggering condition is met and / or one or more reporting time thresholds are configured for at least one LCG in the configuration, the uplink data amount including a data amount calculated by a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) second data amount operation and / or a radio link control (RLC) second data amount operation.

[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 of the present invention, the uplink data volume corresponding to each reporting time threshold for the logical channel group (LCG) can be determined, 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, taking NR-supporting base stations and UE devices as examples, to specifically describe several embodiments according to the present invention. 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.

[0019] UE User Equipment

[0020] NR New Radio: Next-Generation Wireless Technology

[0021] LTE Long Term Evolution technology

[0022] eLTE Enhanced Long Term Evolution (LTE)

[0023] Radio Resource Control (RRC) (Layer / Entity)

[0024] PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol (Layer / Entity)

[0025] MAC Medium Access Control (Layer / Entity)

[0026] MAC CE Medium Access Control Element

[0027] PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel)

[0028] PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel)

[0029] SDAP Service Data Adaptation Protocol (Layer / Entity)

[0030] AM Acknowledged Mode

[0031] gNB NR Node B NR Node Mechanism / NR Base Station

[0032] PDU Protocol Data Unit

[0033] RLC Radio Link Control (Layer / Entity)

[0034] SDU Service Data Unit

[0035] SN Sequence Number

[0036] BSR Buffer Status Report

[0037] DSR Delay Status Reporting

[0038] LCH Logical Channel

[0039] LCG Logical Channel Group

[0040] PHY Physical layer

[0041] The user plane wireless communication protocol base station consists of the following layers from top to bottom: SDAP layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer, and physical layer (corresponding peer layers exist in both user equipment and base stations). Each layer defines its own entity, referred to as the SDAP entity, PDCP entity, RLC entity, and MAC entity, respectively. In this disclosure, layers and entities are used interchangeably. From the perspective of each layer or entity, the data received from the upper layer is SDU, and the data delivered to the lower layer is PDU. For example, the data received by the PDCP entity from the upper layer (e.g., SDAP) is PDCP SDU, and the data delivered to the lower layer (i.e., RLC) is PDCPPDU. The data received by the RLC entity from the upper layer (i.e., PDCP layer) is RLC SDU (i.e., PDCP PDU), and the data delivered to the lower layer (i.e., MAC) is RLC PDU. A PDCP PDU includes PDCP data PDUs and PDCP control PDUs (see TS38.323-i40 for details), and one PDCP SDU corresponds to one PDCP data PDU. In this disclosure, unless otherwise specified, the PDCPPDU generally refers to a PDCP data PDU. Those skilled in the art can infer from the context whether a PDCP PDU is a PDCP data PDU or a PDCP control PDU; this will not be elaborated further below. RLC PDUs are also divided into RLC data PDUs and RLC control PDUs (see TS38.323 for details). RLC data PDUs are used to transmit RLC SDUs. In this disclosure, unless otherwise specified, RLCPDU refers to an RLC data PDU. Those skilled in the art can also infer from the context whether an RLC PDU is an RLC data PDU or an RLC control PDU; this will not be elaborated further below.

[0042] 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.

[0043] 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.

[0044] It should be noted that, in this invention, the initial values ​​of the discardTimer and / or discardTimerForLowImportance are configured by the network for the PDCP entity (or DRB) 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 for this PDCP SDU. When the transport PDCP entity receives a PDCP SDU belonging to the low-importance PDU set from the upper layer, it starts the low-importance discard timer discardTimerForLowImportance for this PDCP SDU. When a PDCP entity is configured with the discardTimer information element, it runs a discardTimer for each PDCP SDU from the upper layer (in 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 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 discardTimerForLowImportance information element is configured, PSI-based SDU deletion is activated, and the PDCP SDU belongs to the low-importance PDU set, then the discardTimerForLowImportance timer associated with the PDCP SDU is started. In this invention, discardTimer and discardTimerForLowImportance can be either 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 receiving PDCP entity then receives PDCP PDUs from the peer entity (i.e., the transmitting PDCP entity), processes them, and if a valid PDCP SDU is obtained, submits the PDCP SDU to the upper layer. Unless otherwise specified, those skilled in the art can infer from the context whether the PDCP entity is a transmitting or receiving PDCP entity.

[0045] 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.

[0046] 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. The remaining time is the shortest remaining value of the running PDCP discardTimer (i.e., the discardTimer corresponding to the PDCP SDU) among all PDCP SDUs that are buffered for an LCG but have not been transmitted in any MAC PDU, at the time of the first symbol of the first PUSCH transmission that includes this DSR MAC CE. Currently, the delay status of each LCG in the DSR MAC CE contains at most one pair of remaining time and the critical uplink data volume for that LCG. The total uplink data volume critical to delay for each logical channel group (LCG) included in the DSR MAC CE is determined by the transmission PDCP entity and RLC entity of the logical channel to which each LCG belongs. Specifically, for the purpose of MAC delay status reporting, the transmission PDCP entity considers the following data to be the delay-critical PDCP data volume (referred to as the PDCP first data volume operation):

[0047] - The delay-critical PDCP SDU has not yet been constructed for PDCP data PDU.

[0048] - Contains critical PDCP SDUs that have not yet been submitted to the lower-level PDCP data PDUs.

[0049] -PDCP controls PDU.

[0050] - For Acknowledgment Mode AM Data Radio Bearer (DRB), based on PDCP entity re-establishment or uplink data switching.

[0051] The PDCP SDUs that need to be retransmitted are identified. The PDCP SDUs that need to be retransmitted as identified by the PDCP entity reconstruction are defined in Section 5.1.2 of TS38.323-i40, and the PDCP SDUs that need to be retransmitted as identified by the uplink data handover are defined in Section 5.13 of TS38.323-i40.

[0052] - For AM DRB, the PDCP data PDUs that need to be retransmitted are determined based on data recovery. The PDCP data PDUs that need to be retransmitted as determined by data recovery are defined in Section 5.5 of TS38.323-i40.

[0053] For the purpose of MAC delay status reporting, the UE (i.e., the RLC entity) considers the following data to be the delay-critical RLC data amount (referred to as the RLC first data amount operation):

[0054] - Delay-critical RLC SDUs and delay-critical RLC SDU segments not yet included in the RLC data PDU. The delay-critical RLC SDU is the RLC SDU corresponding to a PDCP PDU indicated as delay-critical by the PDCP entity.

[0055] - RLC data PDUs containing delayed critical RLC SDUs or delayed critical RLC SDU segments pending for initial transmission.

[0056] - RLC data PDUs awaiting retransmission (for RLC AM).

[0057] -STATUS PDU (Status PDU, i.e., RLC control PDU). Specifically, when a status PDU is triggered and the t-StatusProhibit timer is not running or has expired, the UE should estimate the size of the status PDU to be transmitted in the next transmission opportunity and consider the size of the status PDU to be part of the delay-critical RLC data amount in the MAC delay report. The t-StatusProhibit timer is used by the receiving side of an AM RLC entity to prohibit the transmission of a status PDU.

[0058] For an LCG configured with a delay status report, the MAC entity performs the following operation for each logical channel in the LCG (example of DSR triggering conditions): if the minimum remaining value of a 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, trigger a DSR for the corresponding logical channel.

[0059] RAN2 has established that an LCG can be configured with a first remaining time threshold and / or one or more reporting time thresholds. Correspondingly, the delay status of an LCG configured with one or more reporting time thresholds in the enhanced DSR MAC CE (i.e., the new format DSR MAC CE or enhanced MAC delay status report) can contain multiple pairs of remaining time and corresponding uplink data volumes, with each reporting time threshold corresponding to a pair of remaining time and corresponding uplink data volumes. However, when generating the new format DSR MAC CE, determining the uplink data volume corresponding to each reporting time threshold (i.e., the data volume corresponding to each reporting time threshold in the PDCP entity and / or RLC entity) is a problem that needs to be solved.

[0060] The following embodiments are provided to solve the above problems.

[0061] Figure 1 is a schematic flowchart illustrating an example of the method performed by a user equipment according to the present invention. In step S101, a configuration for a delay status report for an LCG is received from the base station. This configuration may be included in an RRC message. In step S103, if the DSR triggering condition is met and / or one or more reporting time thresholds are configured for at least one LCG in the configuration, the uplink data volume corresponding to each reporting time threshold of each LCG is determined. In step S105, a delay status report media access control layer control element (DSR MAC CE) is sent to the base station. The DSR MAC CE carries the uplink data volume corresponding to each reporting time threshold of each LCG, wherein the uplink data volume includes the data volume calculated through PDCP second data volume operation and / or RLC second data volume operation.

[0062] Optionally, if the uplink data volume for a reporting time threshold is 0, then the uplink data volume for the reporting time threshold is not included in the DSR MAC CE. In other words, the uplink data volume included in the DSR MAC CE is not 0, that is, the uplink data volume for the reporting time threshold of the LCG is not 0.

[0063] Optionally, in the DSR MAC CE, a bitmap is used to indicate whether the DSR MAC CE contains the delay state of each LCG. Each bit in the bitmap (from right to left) can correspond to an LCG (LCG numbered from smallest to largest). For example, a bit with a value of 1 in the bitmap indicates that the DSR MAC CE contains the delay state of the corresponding LCG; a bit with a value of 0 in the bitmap indicates that the DSR MAC CE does not contain the delay state of the corresponding LCG.

[0064] Optionally, for each LCG's delay status, a 1-bit indicator is used to indicate whether there is another pair of remaining time and uplink data volume corresponding to this LCG's reporting time threshold. When the bit is 0, it indicates that the next pair of remaining time and uplink data volume (if present) is the delay status of another LCG.

[0065] In existing DSR MAC CEs, each LCG contains at most a pair of remaining time and corresponding critical uplink data volume. Unlike existing DSR MAC CEs, the new format DSR MAC CE may include non-critical uplink data volumes. Therefore, the total uplink data volume corresponding to each remaining time or each reporting time threshold is no longer called the critical uplink data volume, but rather the total uplink data volume or uplink data quantity, which may include both critical and non-critical uplink data volumes. In this disclosure, the total uplink data volume corresponding to one remaining time is the same as the total uplink data volume corresponding to one reporting time threshold.

[0066] Since the amount of uplink data (i.e., buffer size) corresponding to each reporting time threshold in the DSR MAC CE is calculated separately by the PDCP entity and the RLC entity, the following provides examples of how the PDCP entity calculates the data amount for the purpose of MAC latency status reporting (i.e., enhanced MAC latency status reporting).

[0067] For the purpose of MAC delay status reporting (i.e., enhanced MAC delay status reporting), the transmitting PDCP entity considers at least one of the following types of data to be the amount of data corresponding to the remaining time T (or reporting time threshold Tr) (referred to as PDCP second data volume operation):

[0068] The first type of data: PDCP SDUs (i.e., PDCP SDUs associated with the reporting time threshold Tr) for which PDCP data PDUs have not yet been constructed.

[0069] The second type of data includes PDCP SDUs with reporting time thresholds that have not yet been submitted to the lower-level PDCP data PDUs.

[0070] The third type of data: PDCP controls PDU.

[0071] Category 4 data: For AM DRB, PDCP SDUs that need to be retransmitted determined according to PDCP entity reconstruction or uplink data handover. The PDCP SDUs to be retransmitted determined by PDCP entity reconstruction are defined in Section 5.1.2 of TS38.323-i40, and the PDCP SDUs to be retransmitted determined by uplink data handover are defined in Section 5.13 of TS38.323-i40.

[0072] Category 5 data: For AM DRB, PDCP data PDUs that need to be retransmitted determined according to data recovery. The PDCP data PDUs to be retransmitted determined by data recovery are defined in Section 5.5 of TS38.323-i40.

[0073] It may be specified that the data of the third, fourth, and fifth categories are not the data volumes included in each reporting time threshold. Specifically, when the reporting time threshold Tr satisfies at least one of the following conditions, the transmitting PDCP entity considers that the data of the third category and / or the fourth category and / or the fifth category (only considered when these data exist) are the data volumes corresponding to the reporting time threshold Tr:

[0074] Condition A: The reporting time threshold Tr is the reporting time threshold corresponding to the minimum remaining time in the delay state of the corresponding LCG (i.e., the LCG corresponding to the PDCP entity or its corresponding logical channel in the current DSR MAC CE) (for all remaining times and uplink data volumes of the LCG to which the PDCP entity belongs, the reporting time threshold is the reporting time threshold with the minimum remaining time) or the minimum reporting time threshold corresponding to the delay state of the LCG in the current DSR MAC CE. For example, for the LCG to which the PDCP entity belongs, in the current DSR MAC CE, the remaining time T1 and the corresponding buffer size BS1, the remaining time T2 and the corresponding buffer size BS2, and the remaining time T3 and the corresponding buffer size BS3 for the LCG are included, which respectively correspond to the reporting time thresholds Tr1, Tr2, and Tr3 (Tr1 < Tr2 < Tr3). Then, the data of the third, fourth, or fifth category are used as the uplink data volume of Tr1, that is, included in BS1, even if the BS1 does not include the data volumes of other types of data from the PDCP entity.

[0075] Condition B: The reporting time threshold Tr is the reporting time threshold corresponding to the uplink data volume (i.e., buffer size) that takes into account the data volume of the reporting time threshold PDCP SDU or PDCP PDU with the minimum remaining discardTimer time (for all reporting time thresholds corresponding to the uplink data volume or buffer size including the data volume in this PDCP entity, the reporting time threshold Tr is the smallest among them), or the reporting time threshold Tr is the smallest among the reporting time thresholds corresponding to the uplink data volume (i.e., the uplink data volume is not 0) that includes the first type of data and / or the second type of data. For example, for the LCG to which the PDCP entity belongs, in the current DSR MAC CE, there are the remaining time T1 and the corresponding buffer size (i.e., uplink data volume) BS1, the remaining time T2 and the corresponding buffer size BS2, and the remaining time T3 and the corresponding buffer size BS3 for the LCG, which respectively correspond to the reporting time thresholds Tr1, Tr2, and Tr3 (Tr1 < Tr2 < Tr3). If only BS2 and BS3 include the reporting time threshold PDCP SDU of the PDCP entity or the PDCP data PDU including the reporting time threshold PDCP SDU (or the first data and the second data), then the third, fourth, or fifth type of data is used as the uplink data volume of Tr2, that is, included in BS2.

[0076] Condition C: The reporting time threshold Tr is the reporting time threshold corresponding to the uplink data volume that takes into account the reporting time threshold PDCP SDU of the initial transmission or the PDCP data PDU including the reporting time threshold PDCP SDU (or the first data and the second data) with the minimum remaining discardTimer value.

[0077] Condition D: The reporting time threshold Tr is the reporting time threshold corresponding to the first pair of remaining time and uplink data volume. The reporting time threshold corresponding to the first pair of remaining time and uplink data volume is the reporting time threshold corresponding to the minimum remaining time (i.e., the minimum reporting time threshold), or the reporting time threshold corresponding to the first pair of remaining time and uplink data volume is the reporting time threshold corresponding to the minimum remaining time of the PDCP entity, or the minimum reporting time threshold of the PDCP entity, or the reporting time threshold corresponding to the first pair of remaining time and uplink data volume is the reporting time threshold corresponding to the minimum remaining time in the delay state of the LCG corresponding to the PDCP entity, or the reporting time threshold corresponding to the first pair of remaining time and uplink data volume is the minimum reporting time threshold in the delay state of the LCG corresponding to the PDCP entity, or the reporting time threshold corresponding to the first pair of remaining time and uplink data volume is the reporting time threshold corresponding to the minimum remaining time corresponding to the uplink data volume containing the PDCP entity's data volume in the delay state of the LCG corresponding to the PDCP entity. In other words, the third, fourth, and fifth types of data can be the uplink data volume corresponding to the minimum remaining time or minimum reporting time threshold in the delay state corresponding to the PDCP entity or its corresponding LCG, or the uplink data volume corresponding to the minimum remaining time or minimum reporting time threshold of the PDCP entity data volume (e.g., the uplink data volume including the first or second type of data) in the delay state corresponding to the PDCP entity or its corresponding LCG.

[0078] Condition E: The reporting time threshold Tr is the reporting time threshold corresponding to the PDCP SDU or PDCP PDU with the minimum discardTimer remaining time in the first type of data and / or the second type of data, that is, the reporting time threshold corresponding to the uplink data volume to which the PDCP SDU or PDCP PDU belongs, or the reporting time threshold Tr is the minimum reporting time threshold among the reporting time thresholds corresponding to the first type of data and / or the second type of data, or the reporting time threshold Tr is the minimum reporting time threshold among all reporting time thresholds corresponding to the delay state corresponding to the PDCP entity in the current DSR MAC CE, or the reporting time threshold Tr is the minimum reporting time threshold among all reporting time thresholds where the total uplink data volume corresponding to the delay state corresponding to the PDCP entity in the current DSR MAC CE is not 0.

[0079] It can be specified that the remaining time corresponding to the reporting time threshold Tr is the minimum remaining value of all PDCP discardTimers (i.e. discardTimers corresponding to the PDCP SDU) currently running in all PDCP SDUs associated with the reporting time threshold Tr, which are cached by the LCG and have not been transmitted in any MAC PDU, up to the first symbol of the first PUSCH transmission containing this DSR MAC CE.

[0080] It can be stipulated that the PDCP entity calculates the amount of data for each reporting time threshold in ascending order of reporting time threshold.

[0081] In this disclosure, the PDCP SDU (hereinafter referred to as the reporting time threshold PDCP SDU) associated with a reporting time threshold Tr (i.e., reportingTimeThreshold) refers to a PDCP SDU that satisfies at least one of the following conditions:

[0082] First condition: If the UE is not configured with the pdu-SetDiscard information element, the reporting time threshold PDCP SDU is a PDCP SDU whose remaining time before its discardTimer expires is less than (or less than or equal to) the reportingTimeThreshold (i.e., the value of the information element); if the UE is configured with the pdu-SetDiscard information element, the PDCP SDU associated with a reporting time threshold is a PDCP SDU belonging to a set of PDUs that satisfies the following condition: at least one PDCP SDU belonging to the set of PDUs has a remaining time before its discardTimer expires that is less than (or less than or equal to) the reportingTimeThreshold.

[0083] Second condition: The reporting time threshold PDCP SDU is a PDCP SDU whose remaining time before its discardTimer expires is less than the reportingTimeThreshold (i.e., the value of the information element);

[0084] Optionally, in the first condition and the second condition, the discardTimer of the reported time threshold PDCP SDU further satisfies that the remaining time until the expiration of the discardTimer is greater than or equal to another reported time threshold (for the case where the reportingTimeThreshold is not the minimum reported time threshold), the other reported time threshold is a reported time threshold smaller than the reportingTimeThreshold, or the other reported time threshold is the maximum of all reported time thresholds smaller than the reportingTimeThreshold. If there is no reported time threshold smaller than the reportingTimeThreshold (i.e., the reportingTimeThreshold is the configured minimum reported time threshold), then the discardTimer of the reported time threshold PDCP SDU further satisfies that the remaining time until the expiration of the discardTimer is greater than 0.

[0085] The third condition: The PDCP SDU is not the PDCP SDU associated with a reported time threshold smaller than the reported time threshold reportingTimeThreshold, that is, the PDCP SDU is not the uplink data volume of a reported time threshold smaller than the reported time threshold reportingTimeThreshold.

[0086] The fourth condition: The PDCP discardTimer corresponding to the PDCP SDU satisfies being less than or equal to the reported time threshold Tr, and / or being greater than or equal to the previous reported time threshold smaller than the reported time threshold Tr (greater than or equal to the maximum Tr' of the reported time thresholds smaller than Tr), and if there is no reported time threshold smaller than the reported time threshold Tr, then it is greater than 0. For example, the reported time thresholds configured for the UE are T1, T2, T3 (which may include the first remaining time threshold), T1 < T2 < T3, and the current reported time threshold Tr is T2. Then, the PDCP discardTimer corresponding to the data in the total uplink data volume corresponding to the reported time threshold T2 satisfies: being greater than or equal to T1, and / or being less than or equal to T2.

[0087] Fifth condition: The remaining time before the discardTimerForLowImportance associated with the PDCP SDU expires is less than the remaining time before the PDCP discardTimer expires for all PDCP SDUs that satisfy the fourth condition, or the sequence number SN or COUNT value of the PDCP SDU associated with discardTimerForLowImportance is less than the sequence number or COUNT value of all PDCP SDUs that satisfy the fourth condition. The COUNT value consists of the superframe number HFN and the sequence number, which together are 32 bits. Therefore, the length of the superframe number is 32 minus the length of the sequence number, as detailed in TS38.323-i40.

[0088] The sixth condition is that the PDCP SDU is associated with discardTimerForLowImportance, and the PDCP SDU is a PDCP SDU that needs to be sent before the PDCP SDU that satisfies the first, second, third, or fourth condition.

[0089] It should be noted that in this disclosure, the delay state of an LCG can also be referred to as the delay state report of an LCG. The LCG to which a PDCP entity belongs is the LCG to which the logical channel associated with the PDCP entity belongs. The delay state of a PDCP entity is the delay state of the LCG to which the PDCP entity belongs or corresponds. The reporting time threshold corresponding to the minimum remaining time is the minimum reporting time threshold among all reporting time thresholds corresponding to the remaining time. In this disclosure, for each LCG, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the remaining time, the uplink data volume, and the reporting time threshold. For example, the uplink data volume corresponding to the remaining time is the uplink data volume corresponding to the reporting time threshold, which is the uplink data volume corresponding to the reporting time threshold corresponding to the remaining time. Correspondingly, for the multiple remaining times and the total uplink data volume contained in the delay state of a certain LCG, the reporting time threshold corresponding to the minimum remaining time is also the smallest among all reporting time thresholds corresponding to the remaining time of the delay state of that LCG, and vice versa.

[0090] For the purpose of MAC delay status reporting (i.e., enhanced MAC delay status reporting), the UE (i.e., the RLC entity) considers at least one of the following types of data to be the RLC data volume associated with a reporting time threshold (i.e., a reportingTimeThreshold) (referred to as RLC second data volume operation):

[0091] Category I data: Reporting time threshold RLC SDUs and reporting time threshold RLC SDU segments that are not yet included in RLC data PDUs.

[0092] In this disclosure, the reporting time threshold RLC SDU (i.e., the RLC SDU associated with the reporting time threshold) is the RLC SDU indicated by the PDCP entity as the reporting time threshold PDCP PDU. In other words, the PDCP PDU corresponding to the RLC SDU is indicated by the PDCP entity as the reporting time threshold PDCP PDU. The reporting time threshold PDCP PDU is the PDCP SDU whose corresponding PDCP SDU is the reporting time threshold PDCP SDU.

[0093] Category II data: RLC data PDUs that are waiting for initial transmission and contain reporting time threshold RLC SDU segments or reporting time threshold RLC SDU segments.

[0094] Category III data: RLC data PDUs awaiting retransmission (for RLC AM).

[0095] Category IV data: STATUS PDU (Status PDU, i.e. RLC control PDU).

[0096] For Category III and IV data, not every reporting time threshold includes the corresponding data volume. In other words, Category III and IV data are not used as a data volume indicator for each reporting time threshold.

[0097] Specifically, the type III or type IV data is part of the RLC data volume corresponding to the reporting time threshold of the minimum remaining time, or the reporting time threshold associated with the type III or type IV data is the minimum among the reporting time thresholds associated with the type I and / or type II data. For type IV data, when the status PDU is triggered and the t-StatusProhibit timer is not running or has expired, the UE shall estimate the size of the status PDU to be transmitted in the next transmission opportunity and consider the size of the status PDU as part of the RLC data volume corresponding to the reporting time threshold of the minimum remaining time in the MAC delay report. Among them, the reporting time threshold corresponding to the minimum remaining time is the minimum (or first) reporting time threshold indicated by the upper layer (i.e., PDCP), or the minimum (or first) reporting time threshold among the reporting time thresholds indicated by the upper layer, or the minimum (or first) reporting time threshold among the reporting time thresholds associated with the type I and / or type II data, or the reporting time threshold corresponding to the minimum remaining time in the delay status of the RLC entity, or the minimum reporting time threshold corresponding to the delay status of the RLC entity, or the reporting time threshold corresponding to the uplink data volume with the minimum remaining time including the data volume of the RLC (such as the data volume of the type I or type II data), or the minimum reporting time threshold is the reporting time threshold of the minimum remaining time in the pair of the remaining time and the uplink data volume of the corresponding LCG of the RLC included in the current DSR MAC CE.

[0098] In addition, the minimum remaining time may be the minimum remaining time in the delay status of this RLC entity, or the minimum among the remaining times corresponding to the uplink data volume including the data volume of this RLC entity.

[0099] For example, for the LCG to which the RLC entity belongs, in the current DSR MAC CE, the remaining time T1 and the corresponding buffer size BS1, the remaining time T2 and the corresponding buffer size BS2, and the remaining time T3 and the corresponding buffer size BS3 for the LCG are included, which respectively correspond to the reporting time thresholds Tr1, Tr2, and Tr3 (Tr1 < Tr2 < Tr3). If only BS2 and BS3 include the reporting time threshold RLC SDU of the RLC entity or the RLC PDU including the reporting time threshold RLC SDU or its segment (or type I data and type II data), then, the type III and type IV data can be used as the uplink data volume of Tr1, that is, included in BS1, or the type III and type IV data can be used as the uplink data volume of Tr2, that is, included in BS2.

[0100] In this disclosure, the minimum or first one involved in the calculation of uplink data volume by the PDCP entity or RLC entity is for the purpose of this MAC delay status report, that is, for the DSR MAC CE generated this time.

[0101] It should be noted that, in this disclosure, the LCG to which the RLC entity or PDCP entity belongs is the same as the LCG to which the LCH corresponding to the RLC entity or PDCP entity belongs, which is also the same as the LCG to which the PDCP entity corresponding to the RLC entity belongs. The delay state of the RLC entity is the same as the delay state of the PDCP entity corresponding to the RLC entity, which is also the delay state of the LCG corresponding to the RLC or PDCP.

[0102] It can be specified that the PDCP transmission entity performs the second data volume operation only when at least one LCG is configured with one or more reporting time thresholds; otherwise (optionally), the PDCP transmission entity performs the first data volume operation.

[0103] It can be stipulated that the second data volume operation of PDCP is only performed when one or more reporting time thresholds are configured for the LCG corresponding to the PDCP entity (or the LCG to which the logical channel corresponding to the PDCP entity belongs); otherwise (optionally), the PDCP entity performs the first data volume operation of PDCP.

[0104] It can be specified that the RLC entity performs the second data volume operation only when at least one LCG is configured with one or more reporting time thresholds; otherwise (optionally), the RLC entity performs the first data volume operation.

[0105] It can be stipulated that the second data volume operation of RLC is only performed when one or more reporting time thresholds are configured for the LCG corresponding to the RLC entity (or the LCG to which the logical channel corresponding to the RLC entity belongs); otherwise (optionally), the RLC entity performs the first data volume operation of RLC.

[0106] According to the PDCP second data volume operation and / or RLC second data volume operation described in the embodiments, the UE can determine the reporting time threshold to which the 3rd / 4th / 5th / III / IV data belongs, so that the base station can allocate appropriate resources to the UE to meet the latency requirements of the service. It can be specified that when at least one LCG is configured with one or more reporting time thresholds (regardless of whether the LCG corresponding to the PDCP entity is configured with one or more reporting time thresholds), for the purpose of MAC delay status reporting (i.e., enhanced MAC delay status reporting), the transmission PDCP entity considers that the non-delay critical data that needs to be transmitted before the delay critical data transmission associated with a certain reporting time threshold is the data volume corresponding to the reporting time threshold, wherein the non-delay critical data is not the data volume of a reporting time threshold smaller than the reporting time threshold.

[0107] It can be stipulated that, when one or more reporting time thresholds are configured for the LCG corresponding to a PDCP entity, for the purpose of MAC delay status reporting (i.e., enhanced MAC delay status reporting), the transmitting PDCP entity considers that the non-delay-critical PDCP SDU that needs to be transmitted before the transmission of a delay-critical PDCP SDU associated with a certain reporting time threshold is the data volume corresponding to the reporting time threshold, wherein the non-delay-critical PDCP SDU is not the data volume of a reporting time threshold smaller than the reporting time threshold. Otherwise (i.e., the LCG corresponding to the PDCP entity is not configured with one or more reporting time thresholds, which is optional), the transmitting PDCP entity does not consider that the non-delay-critical PDCP SDU that needs to be transmitted before the transmission of a delay-critical PDCP SDU associated with a certain reporting time threshold is the data volume of the reporting time threshold.

[0108] It can be stipulated that when a non-delay critical PDCP SDU that needs to be transmitted before the transmission of a delay critical PDCP SDU is used as a data amount for a reporting time threshold, the PDCP entity needs to indicate this information (i.e., the association between the PDCP SDU or PDCP PDU and the reporting time threshold) to the lower layer (i.e., the RLC layer), so that the lower layer can use the corresponding RLC SDU or RLC SDU segment or RLC PDU as the non-delay critical PDCP SDU for the reporting time threshold as the data amount RLC data amount corresponding to the reporting time threshold.

[0109] The non-delay critical PDCP SDU includes: a PDCP SDU or its corresponding PDCP PDU that arrives earlier than a delay critical PDCP SDU, and / or a non-delay critical PDCP SDU or its corresponding PDCP PDU that is transmitted / assembled before the transmission / assembly of a delay critical PDCP SDU for the same logical channel, according to the logical channel priority process (see TS38.321-i40), and / or a PDCP SDU or its corresponding PDCP PDU whose associated PDCP discardTimerForLowImportance (or sequence number or COUNT value) is less than that associated with any delay critical PDCP SDU or its corresponding PDCP PDU for the same logical channel.

[0110] Because discardTimer and / or discardTimerForLowImportance are maintained by the PDCP entity, the RLC entity cannot determine which report time threshold each PDCP data PDU is associated with. This prevents the RLC entity from calculating the amount of RLC data associated with each report time threshold. The following examples address this issue.

[0111] The PDCP transport entity provides a reporting time threshold indication for a PDCP data PDU to the lower layer (i.e., the RLC layer) under at least one of the following conditions: The PDCP transport entity indicates to the lower layer that a PDCP data PDU satisfying at least one of the following conditions is a reporting time threshold PDCP PDU; or the PDCP transport entity indicates to the lower layer the reporting time threshold associated with a PDCP data PDU satisfying at least one of the following conditions:

[0112] Case 1: The PDCP data PDU has already been submitted to lower layers and / or the PDCP SDU corresponding to the PDCP data PDU becomes the PDCP SDU of the reporting time threshold.

[0113] Case 2: The PDCP data PDU is submitted to lower layers and / or the PDCP SDU corresponding to the PDCP data PDU becomes the PDCP SDU of the reporting time threshold.

[0114] It can be stipulated that the PDCP entity will only perform the above-mentioned indication operation when one or more reporting time thresholds are configured in the LCG corresponding to the PDCP entity (or the LCG to which the logical channel corresponding to the PDCP entity belongs), or when a delay critical PDCP SDU appears in the PDCP entity, and / or when at least one LCG is configured with one or more reporting time thresholds; otherwise (optionally), the second indication operation will be performed.

[0115] In summary, when a PDCP entity believes that a certain PDCP SDU or PDCP PDU is associated with a certain reporting time threshold, if the PDCP SDU or PDCP PDU has been submitted to the lower layer (i.e., the RLC layer) or has already been submitted to the lower layer, PDCP will indicate the association relationship to the lower layer so that the lower layer entity can calculate the corresponding amount of data for the reporting time threshold.

[0116] The second indication operation is a delay threshold indication that the PDCP entity provides PDCP data PDUs to the lower layer when one of the following conditions is met:

[0117] - The PDCP data PDU has already been submitted to lower layers and the corresponding PDCP SDU becomes a delay-critical PDCP SDU.

[0118] The PDCP data PDU is submitted to lower layers and the corresponding PDCP SDU is already a delay-critical PDCP SDU. It can be specified that for each reporting time threshold in the DSR MAC CE, the remaining time T satisfies: 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 specified that Tr' is the largest among 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 among the discardTimers of all PDCP SDUs (or reporting time threshold PDCP SDUs) for which the associated discardTimer is 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 that satisfies Tr' is greater than or equal to the discardTimer and the discardTimer is less than or equal to Tr'. Optionally, the data corresponding to the smallest discardTimer is not counted 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 satisfies at least that the discardTimer of the data is greater than or equal to Tr' and / or less than or equal to Tr. <00​​​​​​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.

[0122] 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.

[0123] 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 configuration for a delay status report for an LCG is sent to the user equipment. This configuration may be carried in an RRC message. In step S303, a DSR MAC CE is received from the user equipment. The DSR MAC CE carries the uplink data amount corresponding to each reporting time threshold of each LCG, determined by the user equipment, under the condition that the DSR triggering condition is met and / or one or more reporting time thresholds are configured for at least one LCG in the configuration. The uplink data amount includes the data amount calculated through PDCP second data amount operation and / or RLC second data amount operation.

[0124] 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.

[0125] According to the method performed by the user equipment and the method performed by the base station of the present invention, the uplink data volume corresponding to each reporting time threshold for the logical channel group (LCG) can be determined, thereby improving communication efficiency in the communication system.

[0126] 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.

[0127] 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.

[0128] 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.

[0129] 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.

[0130] 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, comprising: For the purpose of enhancing the Media Access Control (MAC) delay status reporting, the Transmit Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) entity uses a first type of data and a second type of data as PDCP data volumes associated with a first reporting time threshold in a list of reporting time thresholds. The first type of data is a reporting time threshold PDCP Service Data Unit (SDU) associated with the first reporting time threshold and for which a PDCP Data Protocol Data Unit (PDU) has not yet been constructed. The second type of data is a reporting time threshold PDCP SDU associated with the first reporting time threshold and for which a lower-layer PDCP data PDU has not yet been delivered. The transmission PDCP entity calculates the PDCP data volume for each reporting time threshold in the reporting time threshold list in ascending order.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, Also includes: Without the configured information element pdu-SetDiscard, the reporting time threshold PDCP SDU associated with the first reporting time threshold is a PDCP SDU that meets the following conditions: The remaining time of the discard timer 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, the remaining time of the 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 reporting time threshold among all reporting time thresholds in the reporting time threshold list that are smaller than the first reporting time threshold. If the first reporting time threshold is the smallest reporting time threshold in the list of reporting time thresholds, then the remaining time until the expiration of the discardTimer of the PDCP SDU is greater than 0. When the information element pdu-SetDiscard is configured, the reporting time threshold PDCP SDU associated with the first reporting time threshold is a PDCP SDU in the PDU set that satisfies the following conditions: The PDU set contains at least one PDCP SDU whose discardTimer has a remaining time until expiration that is less than the first reporting time threshold; If the first reporting time threshold is not the minimum reporting time threshold in the reporting time threshold list, the remaining time of the 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; If the first reporting time threshold is the smallest reporting time threshold in the list of reporting time thresholds, then the remaining time until the expiration of the discardTimer of the PDCP SDU is greater than 0. in, The discard timer is configured for the PDCP entity. When the PDCP entity receives a PDCP SDU from the upper layer, it starts the corresponding discard timer for that PDCP SDU. The information element pdu-SetDiscard is configured for PDCP entities. When the value of the information element pdu-SetDiscard is set to true, a PDU-based discard is performed.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, Also includes: For PDCP data PDUs that meet the following conditions, the transport PDCP entity sends an indication to the lower layer that the PDCP data PDU is associated with the first reporting time threshold: The PDCP data PDU has been submitted to the lower layer and the PDCP SDU corresponding to the PDCP data PDU has become the reporting time threshold PDCP SDU associated with the first reporting time threshold, or When the PDCP data PDU is submitted to the lower layer, the PDCP SDU corresponding to the PDCP data PDU is already the report time threshold PDCP SDU associated with the first report time threshold.

4. A user equipment, comprising: processor; as well as Memory, which stores instructions The instructions, when executed by the processor, perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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