Control of logical channel prioritization

Abstract

A communication device (12) configured for use in a communication network (10) is disclosed. The communication device (12) adjusts a priority level of a logical channel (18) based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel (18). The communication device (12) receives, from the communication network (10), control signaling (22) that configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device (12) is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel (18). The communication device (12) makes a decision as to whether to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel (18) according to the control signaling (22).

Description

[0001] CONTROL OF LOGICAL CHANNEL PRIORITIZATION

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present application relates generally to logical channel prioritization in a communication network, and relates more particularly to control of such logical channel prioritization.

[0004] BACKGROUND

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

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

[0007] One approach to address this problem is to adjust the priority of a logical channel depending on whether it has data in it that is delay critical, e.g., with a remaining time until discard below a threshold. If a logical channel has delay-critical data, the priority of the logical channel can be adjusted so that it has a higher priority than if the logical channel did not have delay-critical data. As such, the delay-critical data may also be referred to as “LOH priority-adjusted data”. And because this approach relies on a logical channel having an additional priority to which the logical channel is adjusted, this priority may be referred to as an ‘additional priority’.

[0008] Further enhancements to delay-aware logical channel prioritization may perform resource allocation over two rounds of the resource allocation procedure. If a logical channel has delay-critical data at the start of the first round, the logical channel’s priority is increased from a default priority level to the additional priority level. In the second round, the logical channel’s priority can be re-adjusted so that it falls back to the default priority level, to ensure fairness with other logical channels and avoid the delay-critical data causing starvation of the other logical channels.Challenges nonetheless exist to implement delay-aware logical channel prioritization. For example, challenges exist with how to adjust logical channel prioritization to properly account for delay-critical data and to avoid starvation of other logical channels, while also accommodating for the possibility of traffic having different characteristics and being carried over different logical channels with different rate adaptation mechanisms.

[0009] SUMMARY

[0010] Some embodiments herein enable a communication network to configure whether and / or under what condition(s) a communication device is to re-adjust the priority level of a logical channel, e.g., in the second round of a resource allocation procedure. In some embodiments, for example, the communication network may configure whether and / or under what conditions a logical channel’s priority is to fall back to a default priority level in the second round of a resource allocation procedure. This network configurability in these and other embodiments may advantageously enable a communication device to adjust logical channel prioritization to properly account for delay-critical data and to avoid starvation of other logical channels, while also accommodating for the possibility of traffic having different characteristics and being carried over different logical channels with different rate adaptation mechanisms.

[0011] More particularly, embodiments herein include a method performed by a communication device configured for use in a communication network. The method comprises receiving, from the communication network, control signaling that configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device is to re-adjust a priority level of a logical channel after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel. The method in some embodiments may further comprise, after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel, making a decision as to whether to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel according to the control signaling.

[0012] Other embodiments herein include a transmitting, to a communication device, control signaling that configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device is to re-adjust a priority level of a logical channel after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel.

[0013] Embodiments herein also include corresponding apparatus, computer programs, and carriers of those computer programs.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a communication network according to some embodiments.

[0015] Figure 2 is a block diagram of resources allocated over two rounds of a resource allocation procedure according to some embodiments.

[0016] Figure 3 is a block diagram of resources allocated over two rounds of a resource allocation procedure according to other embodiments.

[0017] Figure 4 is a block diagram of a logical channel prioritization (LCP) procedure according to some embodiments.

[0018] Figure 5 is a block diagram of a LCP procedure according to other embodiments. Figure 6 is a flow diagram of a method performed by a communication device configured for use in a communication network in accordance with particular embodiments.

[0019] Figure 7 is a flow diagram of a method performed by a network node configured for use in a communication network in accordance with other particular embodiments.

[0020] Figure 8 is a block diagram of a communication device according to some embodiments.

[0021] Figure 9 is a block diagram of a network node according to some embodiments. Figure 10 is a block diagram of a communication system according to some embodiments.

[0022] Figure 11 is a block diagram of a communication system according to other embodiments.

[0023] Figure 12 is a block diagram of a wireless device according to some embodiments. Figure 13 is a block diagram of a network node according to other embodiments. Figure 14 is a block diagram of a virtualization environment according to other embodiments.

[0024] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] Figure 1 shows a communication network 10 according to some embodiments. The communication network 10 provides communication service to a communication device 12. In some embodiments, the communication network 10 is a wireless communication network, in which case the communication device 12 communicates with the communication network 10 over a wireless interface 16.

[0026] As shown, the communication device 12 receives traffic T on logical channels (LCHs) 18, e.g., where different LCHs 18 support different types of traffic. As used herein, a logical channel (LCH) refers to a logical (i.e., non-physical) communication construct for organizing and / or conveying traffic over an underlying communication interface and associated protocolstack, and may be identified, addressed, or scheduled independently of other logical channels. A logical channel may be defined based on any one or more traffic characteristics and / or service requirements (e.g., traffic type, QoS / latency / reliability requirements, priority, application, or policy), and may carry traffic associated with one or more traffic flows (e.g., a single flow or multiple distinct flows multiplexed onto the same logical channel), or conversely a single traffic flow may be mapped to one or more logical channels.

[0027] The traffic T may include one or more units of traffic T, e.g., in the form of one or more packets or in the form of one or more sets of one or more packets. In some embodiments, for example a unit of traffic T is an individual data unit, e.g., an individual packet. In other embodiments, though, a unit of traffic T is a set of one or more data units, e.g., a set of data units that carry a payload of the same unit of information at an application layer of the communication device 12. One unit of information at the application layer may for instance correspond to one frame or video slice, e.g., generated by an extended Reality (XR) application at the communication device 12. In this case, then, the data unit(s) in each set of traffic collectively carry the payload of a respective video frame or slice.

[0028] Further in this regard, a data unit in some embodiments may be a protocol data unit (PDU). In this case, a unit of traffic T that is a set of data units may be referred to as a PDU set, e.g., a PDU Set as defined in 3GPP TS 23.501 v18.3.0.

[0029] In any event, the traffic T as shown is received by a scheduler 12S. In these and other embodiments, the communication device 12 receives traffic T on logical channels 18 at a medium access control (MAC) layer of the communication device 12 or at a MAC entity of the communication device 12. In this case, units of traffic T may be respective sets of MAC service data units (SDUs). For example, a unit of traffic T may comprise a MAC SDU that carries traffic T.

[0030] Upon reception of the traffic T, the communication device 12 as shown may store the traffic T in one or more buffers 17, e.g., transmit buffer(s). The buffer(s) 17 may for example be physical or virtual buffer(s) associated with the logical channel(s) on which units of traffic T were respectively received. In some embodiments, traffic T that is stored in a buffer 17 associated with a certain logical channel 18 may be said to be available on that certain logical channel 18, e.g., the traffic T is stored so that it remains available for use by the communication device 12. Buffering of the traffic T in this way may for instance assist the communication device 12 with processing of the traffic T, stabilization of transmission encoding output rate, data set retransmission, etc.

[0031] Having buffered the traffic T in preparation for transmission, the communication device 12 thereafter schedules the traffic T for transmission, e.g., on an uplink to the communication network 10 or on a sidelink to a peer communication device. Such may involve for instance scheduling the traffic T for transmission on one or more transportchannels 20 to a lower layer, e.g., which may control transmission on a wireless interface 16 to the communication network or on a sidelink interface (not shown) to a peer communication device. The unit(s) of traffic T in these and other embodiments may be segmented and / or aggregated for transmission in data blocks, e.g., on the one or more transport channels 20. Regardless, in some embodiments, scheduling the traffic T for transmission involves a resource allocator 12A selecting to which logical channels 18 to allocate transmission resources and allocating transmission resources to the selected logical channels 18. Here, transmission resources may for instance correspond to available spaces in a data block (e.g., a transport block) to be transmitted during a transmission time interval (TTI) at the communication device 12. The communication device 12 may for instance receive, from the communication network 10, a grant that grants the communication device 12 transmission resources, and allocate the transmission resources granted by the grant to one or more selected logical channels 18.

[0032] The scheduler 12S selects to which logical channels 18 to allocate transmission resources based on a prioritization 18P of the logical channels 18, e.g., as otherwise specified in 3GPP TS 38.321 V18.1.0. In some embodiments, this means that, generally, higher priority logical channels 18 are allocated transmission resources before lower priority logical channels 18 (up to a maximum allowed allocation). In the snapshot of Figure 1, for instance, logical channel LCH 18-1 is prioritized higher than logical channel LCH 18-2 and logical channel LCH 18-X, such that the communication device 12 generally allocates transmission resources to LCH 18-1 before allocating transmission resources to either LCH 18-2 or LCH 18-X.

[0033] Within this context, though, at least some of the traffic T may have a timing requirement which must be met, e.g., in order to comply with a certain quality of service (QoS) requirement. The timing requirement for a unit of traffic T may for example define a maximum allowed delay that the unit of traffic T is allowed to experience for the transfer of the unit of traffic T between the communication device 12 and a reference point in the communication network 10, e.g., an upper bound for the duration between the reception time of the unit of traffic T and the time when the unit of traffic T has been successfully received. In these and other embodiments, then, the timing requirement for a unit of traffic T may reflect or be defined by a delay budget for the unit of traffic T, also referred to as a maximum allowed delay. Where a unit of traffic T is a PDU, for example, the delay budget may be referred to as a PDU delay budget. Regardless, if the amount of delay that a unit of traffic T experiences exceeds the delay that is budgeted or allowed for that unit of traffic T, then the unit of traffic T will not meet its timing requirement and in some embodiments may be discarded as a result. By contrast, if the amount of delay that a unit of traffic T experiences does not exceed the delay that is budgeted or allowed for the unit of traffic T, then the unit oftraffic T will meet its timing requirement. Accordingly, the portion of the time budget that remains at any given time for a unit of traffic T to meet its timing requirement (and not be discarded) is referred to as the remaining time budget 21 for that unit of traffic T. Stated another way, the remaining time budget 21 of a unit of traffic T is how much time remains in a duration of time budgeted for delivery of the unit of traffic, how much time remains until the unit of traffic will be discarded, or how much time remains until the unit of traffic T will exceed a maximum allowed delay.

[0034] Some types of traffic demanding high QoS have strict timing requirements with very little tolerance for delay (short time budgets), whereas other types of traffic with lower QoS have more relaxed timing requirements and tolerate more delay (longer time budgets). Generally, types of traffic with shorter time budgets may be mapped to higher priority logical channels while types of traffic with longer time budgets may be mapped to lower priority logical channels. But embodiments herein recognize that even some types of traffic with longer time budgets on lower priority logical channels can become more sensitive to delay as time passes, e.g., if the lower priority logical channels are starved such as may occur when large amounts of traffic is transmitted on higher priority logical channels. Indeed, as those types of traffic get closer and closer to exhausting their time budget, those types of traffic become more and more sensitive to delay.

[0035] According to some embodiments herein, the communication device 12 performs scheduling in a way that accounts for how critical delay in traffic T has become, e.g., on a dynamic or semi-static basis, as that criticality potentially changes over time. Traffic T whose delay has become critical is referred to as delay-critical traffic. The communication device 12 may for example deem traffic T as delay-critical if or when that traffic is at risk of exceeding the maximum allowed delay or time budget defined for that traffic. The communication device 12 may for instance deem a unit of traffic T as being at risk of exceeding its time budget if a remaining time budget 21 of the unit is below a threshold THD. When the communication device 12 declares traffic as delay-critical, that status as delay-critical entitles the traffic to special treatment in scheduling that the traffic would not have gotten otherwise, e.g., in an attempt to avoid delay-critical traffic exceeding its maximum allowed delay or time budget. In fact, in some embodiments, when the communication device 12 declares traffic as delay-critical, that status as delay-critical may even entitle the entire logical channel 18 on which the delay-critical traffic is available to special treatment in scheduling.

[0036] Figure 1 in this regard shows that the communication network 10 in embodiments herein transmits control signaling 22 (e.g., Radio Resource Control, RRC, signaling) from a network node 14 to the communication device 12. This control signaling 22 configures the communication device’s scheduler 12S with regard to handling of delay-critical traffic. In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 configures the scheduler 12S with the thresholdTHD governing what or when traffic is deemed delay-critical in nature, i.e., what traffic is deemed at risk of exceeding its maximum allowed delay. Alternatively or additionally, the control signaling 22 configures the scheduler 12S with regard to how to perform scheduling of traffic that it deems as delay-critical traffic. For example, the control signaling 22 may for instance configure logical channel prioritizer 12P and / or traffic mapper 12M to account for delay-critical traffic.

[0037] Figure 1 shows one example of embodiments where the control signaling 22 configures logical channel prioritizer 12P to perform LCH prioritization 18P in a delay-aware manner. In one example, the control signaling 22 configures the logical channel prioritizer 12P with a delay-critical priority level 22D to which a priority of a logical channel 18 is adjusted if delay-critical traffic is available on the logical channel 18. The control signaling 22 may for instance include a field or information element (IE) that explicitly indicates this delay-critical priority level 22D. Prioritization of a logical channel 18 according to the delay-critical priority level 22D may be conditioned on that logical channel 18 having delay-critical traffic available on it, e.g., any amount of delay-critical traffic or at least some minimum amount of delay-critical traffic. In one such embodiment, prioritization of a logical channel 18 according to the delay-critical priority level 22D may be conditioned on a shortest one of the remaining time budget(s) 21 of respective unit(s) of traffic T available on the logical channel 18 being below the threshold THD. In these and other embodiments, then, if a logical channel 18 does not have any delay-critical traffic available on it, it is not prioritized according to the delay-critical priority level 22D indicated by the control signaling 22. Rather, a logical channel 18 may be prioritized according to some other priority level, such as a nominal or default priority level which may be associated with normal, non-delay-sensitive traffic. In some embodiments the control signaling 22 may also indicate such a nominal priority level according to which a logical channel 18 is to be prioritized if delay-critical traffic is not available on the logical channel 18. In these and other embodiments, then the delay-critical priority level 22D may also be referred to as an additional priority level, e.g., as it may be in addition to the nominal or default priority level. No matter how the nominal priority level and / or the delay-critical priority level 22D is defined, though, in some embodiments the delay-critical priority level 22D may effectively elevate the priority level of a logical channel such that the logical channel 18 is prioritized higher if delay-critical traffic is available on it than if delay-critical traffic is not available on it. Thus, rather than the logical channel 18 being statically prioritized according to a preset priority level irrespective of the delay-critical nature of the traffic available on that logical channel 18, the communication network 10 exploits control signaling 22 to effectively configure the communication device 12 to dynamically adapt the priority level according to which a logical channel 18 is prioritized, independence on whether or not traffic available on the logical channel 18 is delay-critical. Moreover, this may apply for any type of traffic available on the logical channel 18.

[0038] In these and other embodiments, the control signaling 22 may configure multiple priority levels for a logical channel 18, e.g., as part of a logical channel configuration for the logical channel 18. The multiple priority levels may include the delay-sensitive priority level 22D and one or more other priority levels. The control signaling 22 in this regard configures different priority levels 22D, 22P according to which the communication device 12 is to prioritize a logical channel 18 responsive to different respective conditions being fulfilled. The condition that must be fulfilled in order for the communication device 12 to prioritize the logical channel 18 according to the delay-sensitive priority level 22D is that delay-sensitive traffic is available on the logical channel 18. This condition may be fulfilled in some embodiments if any delay-sensitive traffic is available on the logical channel. Or, in another example, the condition may be fulfilled if a shortest remaining time budget 21 of one or more units of delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel 18 is below a threshold. In either case, the condition that must be fulfilled in order for the communication device 12 to prioritize the logical channel 18 according to a default priority level may that delay-sensitive traffic is not available on the logical channel 18, i.e. , non-fulfillment of the condition for prioritizing according to the delay-sensitive priority level 22D. As such, the LCH prioritizer 12P may select from among the multiple priority levels indicated by the control signaling 22, depending on what condition(s) (if any) are fulfilled, as being the priority level according to which the communication device 12 is to prioritize a logical channel 18. The LCH prioritizer 12P may then prioritize the logical channel 18 according to that selected priority level.

[0039] Regardless, when a logical channel 18 is prioritized according to the delay-sensitive priority level 22D, some embodiments allocate transmission resources for transmission of at least some delay-sensitive traffic available on that logical channel 18. In fact, some embodiments allocate transmission resources for transmission of as much delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel 18 as possible. This may for example entail allocating transmission resources until either (i) exhaustion of the delay-sensitive traffic available on the logical channel 18; or (ii) exhaustion of the applicable grant, whichever comes first.

[0040] Generally, then, the communication device 12 may adjust the priority level of a logical channel 18, e.g., from a default priority level to a delay-critical priority level 22D, based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18.

[0041] Embodiments herein furthermore exploit control signaling 22 for enabling configurability for re-adjusting the priority level of the logical channel 18 after it has been adjusted based on availability of delay-critical traffic. Figure 1 in this regard shows that the control signaling 22 may additionally or alternatively include priority re-adjustment information 22. The priority re-adjustment information 22 includes information for configuringwhether, how, and / or under what condition(s) the communication device 12 is to re-adjust the priority level of a logical channel 18 after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel 18 based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18.

[0042] In some embodiments, this adjustment and re-adjustment may occur over the course of multiple (e.g., two) rounds of a resource allocation procedure. For example, the control signaling 22 may configure whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device 12 is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel 18 for a subsequent (e.g., second) round of the resource allocation procedure after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel 18 for a previous (e.g., first) round of the resource allocation procedure based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18 as of a start of the previous (e.g., first) round of the resource allocation procedure. In this case, resources are allocated to logical channels in the subsequent (e.g., second) round if any resources remain after the previous (e.g., first) round. For example, resources may be allocated to logical channels based on a bucket size in the first round and may be allocated to logical channels regardless of the bucket size in the one or more subsequent rounds.

[0043] In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 by way of the priority re-adjustment information 23 configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device 12 is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel 18 to a third priority level L3 after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel 18 from a first priority level L1 (e.g., a default priority level) to a second priority level L2 (e.g., a delay-critical priority level 22D) based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18. In one or more embodiments, the control signaling 22 indicates this third priority level, e.g., as a re-adjusted priority level.

[0044] In some embodiments, the third priority level L3 is the same as the first priority level L1. For example, where the first priority level L1 is a default priority level, the third priority level L3 may also be the default priority level. In this case, then, the control signaling 22 configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device 12 is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel 18 back to the default priority level after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel 18 from the default priority level to the second priority level (e.g., delay-critical priority level 22D) based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel. Figure 2 shows one example where resources are allocated over two rounds of a resource allocation procedure, with initial adjustment to the priority level happening in the first round and with re-adjustment of the priority level happening in the second round depending on whether and / or under what condition(s) the control signaling 22 indicated that re-adjustment is to occur.

[0045] As shown in Figure 2, the priority level of a logical channel 18 is adjusted from a first priority level L1 (e.g., a default level) to a second priority level L2 (e.g., delay-critical prioritylevel 22D) in the first round of a resource allocation procedure, based on delay-critical data being available on the logical channel 18 as of a start of the first round. Afterwards, for the second round of the resource allocation procedure, the priority re-adjustment information 23 governs whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device 12 is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel 18 from the second priority level L2 to a third priority level L3. With the third priority level L3 being the same as the first priority level L1 in this example, then, the priority re-adjustment information 23 governs whether and / or under what one or more conditions the priority level of the logical channel 18 is to fall back to the first priority level L1 (e.g., the default level) for the second round of the resource allocation procedure.

[0046] In other embodiments, the third priority level L3 is different than the first priority level L1 and the second priority level L2. For example, the third priority level L3 may prioritize the logical channel 18 higher than the first priority level L1 but lower than the second priority level L2. Figure 3 shows one example where resources are allocated over two rounds of a resource allocation procedure, with initial adjustment to the priority level happening in the first round and with re-adjustment of the priority level happening in the second round depending on whether and / or under what condition(s) the control signaling 22 indicated that re-adjustment is to occur.

[0047] As shown in Figure 3, the priority level of a logical channel 18 is adjusted from a first priority level L1 (e.g., a default level) to a second priority level L2 (e.g., delay-critical priority level 22D) in the first round of a resource allocation procedure, based on delay-critical data being available on the logical channel 18 as of a start of the first round. Afterwards, for the second round of the resource allocation procedure, the priority re-adjustment information 23 governs whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device 12 is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel 18 from the second priority level L2 to a third priority level L3 that is between the first and second priority levels L1, L2. This readjustment to a priority level above the first level may still accommodate any delay-critical data in the logical channel 18 to some extent, but re-adjusted to a level below the third priority level may allow for fairness to other logical channels and avoid their starvation.

[0048] Regardless, in some embodiments, the control signaling 22 indicates the one or more conditions under which this re-adjustment is to be applied, e.g., for the second round of a resourced allocation procedure.

[0049] In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is a function of how much traffic was scheduled from the logical channel after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel. In one such embodiment, the at least one condition is that at least a threshold amount of data is scheduled from the logical channel after having adjusted the priority level of the logicalchannel based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel. The control signaling 22 may indicate this threshold amount of data. In some embodiments, the threshold amount of data is a function of a prioritized bit rate, PBR, for the logical channel and a bucket size duration, BSD, for the logical channel, wherein the control signaling indicates the PBR and BSD for the logical channel.

[0050] In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that a previous instance of the resource allocation procedure considered traffic from only some logical channels.

[0051] In some embodiments, a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels in a priority order, and at least one of the one or more conditions is that the logical channel has been served at least a threshold number of times by the resource allocation procedure.

[0052] In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that the logical channel has not been served by the resource allocation procedure for at least a threshold duration of time.

[0053] In some embodiments, the priority level of the logical channel is adjusted from a first priority level to a second priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel, and at least one of the one or more conditions is that a duration of time for which the logical channel has had the second priority level meets or exceeds a threshold duration.

[0054] In some embodiments, the priority level of the logical channel is adjusted from a first priority level to a second priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel, and at least one of the one or more conditions is that a duration of time since the priority level of the logical channel was adjusted to the second priority level meets or exceeds a threshold duration.

[0055] In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that an amount of the delay-critical traffic remaining on the logical channel is less than a threshold amount.

[0056] In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that a smallest delay budget or time remaining of the delay-critical traffic on the logical channel is greater than a threshold.

[0057] In some embodiments, the priority level of the logical channel is adjusted from a default priority level of the logical channel to an adjusted priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel.

[0058] In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that one or more other logical channels have a default priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel.In other embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that one or more other logical channels have a default priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel and have at least a threshold amount of data.

[0059] In some embodiments, the priority level of the logical channel is adjusted from a default priority level of the logical channel to an adjusted priority level of the logical channel based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that one or more other logical channels have an adjusted priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel or the adjusted priority level of the logical channel.

[0060] In other embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that one or more other logical channels have an adjusted priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel or the adjusted priority level of the logical channel and have at least a threshold amount of data.

[0061] In some embodiments, a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels in a priority order over multiple rounds of the resource allocation procedure. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that the priority level of the logical channel has not been re-adjusted in any previous round of the resource allocation procedure.

[0062] In other embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that a number of consecutive rounds of the resource allocation procedure in which the priority level of the logical channel has been re-adjusted is less than a threshold number of consecutive rounds.

[0063] In some embodiments, a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels in a priority order over first and second rounds of the resource allocation procedure, with different resource allocation procedures allocating resources granted by different grants. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that the priority level of the logical channel has not been re-adjusted in any previous round of a resource allocation procedure.

[0064] In other embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that the priority level of the logical channel has not been re-adjusted in a second round of a previous resource allocation procedure.

[0065] In still yet embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that a number of consecutive second rounds of resource allocation procedures in which the priority level of the logical channel has been re-adjusted is less than a threshold number of consecutive rounds.

[0066] In some embodiments, one or more other logical channels comprise one or more guaranteed logical channels that are guaranteed to be allocated resources in a resource allocation procedure, and at least one of the one or more conditions is that at least oneguaranteed logical channel would not be allocated any resources in a resource allocation procedure.

[0067] In some embodiments, a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels in a priority order over multiple rounds of the resource allocation procedure, including a first round and one or more subsequent rounds. In some embodiments, one or more other logical channels comprise one or more guaranteed logical channels that are guaranteed to be allocated resources in a subsequent round of a resource allocation procedure, and at least one of the one or more conditions is that at least one guaranteed logical channel would not be any allocated resources in a subsequent round of a resource allocation procedure.

[0068] In some embodiments, the network node 14 makes a decision on whether and / or under what conditions the priority level of a logical channel 18 is to be re-adjusted as described. The decision may be made based on a type of traffic served on the logical channel and / or quality of service requirements of traffic on the logical channel. For example, this may depend on the traffic served and the requirements, e.g. the delay budgets, rates and other capabilities such as rate adaption applied. If L4S is applied this may have a strong implication on how one configures the LCP, e.g. to always try to serve this rate adaptive flow with extra resources and utilize fallback on priority for the other LCH (if the traffic on those is more static with no rate adaption).

[0069] Consider now some embodiments as exemplified for a 5G or 6G network and / or as applicable for improvements forXR, e.g., in Rel-19 and / or consistent with 3GPP RP-232619. In one or more such embodiments, the communication device 12 is exemplified as a user equipment (UE) and the network node 14 is exemplified as a gNB. In the below embodiments, delay-sensitive traffic may be exemplified as time critical data or delay dependent data.

[0070] Logical channels

[0071] In some embodiments, logical channels 18 are exemplified as logical channels (LCHs) for NR as otherwise described in the 3GPP Medium Access Control (MAC) specification (3GPP TS 38.321 V18.1.0):

[0072] “The MAC sublayer provides data transfer services on logical channels. To accommodate different kinds of data transfer services, multiple types of logical channels are defined i.e. each supporting transfer of a particular type of information.

[0073] Each logical channel type is defined by what type of information is transferred.” The LCHs are then grouped in logical channel groups (LCGs), where there can be up to eight LCGs per UE.

[0074] Logical Channel Prioritization

[0075] In some embodiments, at least for non-delay-aware scheduling, how to choose whichLCH or LCG to transmit from may be determined by logical channel prioritization (LOP), which is applied whenever a new transmission is performed. In some embodiments, the algorithm for LCP is as otherwise specified in the MAC specification (3GPP TS 38.321 V18.1.0).

[0076] Parameters for LCP and each LCH are controlled and configured by RRC (3GPP TS 38.331 V18.1.0).

[0077] In at least non-delay-aware scheduling:

[0078] • The variable Bj is used for each LCH j to control the resource allocation (start value 0)

[0079] • Parameters used by LCP for calculating Bj:

[0080] o Prioritized Bit Rate (PBR)

[0081] o Bucket Size Duration (BSD)

[0082] o Time elapsed since Bj was last incremented (T)

[0083] • Bj can have negative values

[0084] Bj calculation:

[0085] • increment Bj by the product PBR x T before every instance of the LCP procedure, where T is the time elapsed since Bj was last incremented;

[0086] • if the value of Bj is greater than the bucket size (i.e. PBR x BSD):

[0087] o set Bj to the bucket size.

[0088] LCHs are served in strict priority order

[0089] • For each LCH j with Bj>0

[0090] o If PBR is infinity, the entire buffer of that LCH shall be allocated resources before going to next lower priority LCH

[0091] o If PBR is finite, enough resources should be assigned to the LCH to fulfill PBR before going next lower priority LCH

[0092] o Bj shall be decreased by the number of MAC SDUs served o Continue until no resources remain

[0093] 3GPP Rel18 agreements on XR features

[0094] Some embodiments herein are applicable for Rel-183GPP which has introduced new concepts forXR, that includes the concept of Protocol Data Unit (PDU) Set, which represents one or more PDUs carrying the payload of one unit of information at the application (e.g., a frame or video slice).

[0095] For the PDU Set several parameters have been introduced, e.g. the PDU Set Delay Budget (PDSB), which shows how long the PDU Set is valid.

[0096] The Buffer Status Report (BSR) is used to let the UE inform the gNB how large theUE buffer is. In Rel-183GPP, improvements to BSR were specified in order to reduce inaccuracies of the BSR.

[0097] Furthermore, in Rel-183GPP introduced a new report from the UE called Delay Status Report (DSR), which will indicate the remaining delay of the buffered data until PSDB is exceeded.

[0098] 3GPP Rel19 LCP enhancements

[0099] Some embodiments herein are applicable for 3GPP Rel19 LCP enhancements that include:

[0100] • support of UL scheduling to enable high XR capacity while meeting delay requirements / avoiding too late PDUs

[0101] • additional Logical Channel priority handling using delay / deadline information of packets;

[0102] Some embodiments exploit Delay-aware LCP enhancement. It may have a new threshold set per LCH to measure the delay criticality of the data in the LCH and any data that is below this threshold will be identified as “LCH priority-adjusted data”. Any LCH that has such data can have the priority adjusted according to configuration. This additional prioirty can be applied both in first and second round, or only in first round based on UE capability.

[0103] > Delay-aware LCP enhancement to resolve the issue of data with low remaining time being delayed due to data from other LCHs with no delay critical data is supported in Rel-19 XR.

[0104] > For delay-aware LCP enhancement, the priority of LCH may be overriden or adjusted based on delay / deadline information as a baseline:

[0105] • additional priority configured to LCHs in case of these LCHs with delay- critical data

[0106] > Include an independent per-LCH remaining time threshold for applying delay- critical priority.

[0107] As a baseline, the additional LCH priority is applied to both the first round and the second round of the LCP procedure.

[0108] Embodiments herein enable network configurability regarding whether the UE falls back to the default LCH priority in the second round.

[0109] Some embodiments address challenges when running multiple traffic flows simultaneously, where one flow is using high bit rate L4S traffic (XR traffic will most likely rely on rate adaption to provide expected QoE, such as L4S) and the other flow traditional eMBB traffic. The problem originates from being unable to find a working configuration forthe LCP procedure, so that a traffic flow neither uses too much of the resources or starves the other flow. Or traffic flows are too restricted in their rates, e.g. a rate adaptive flow will be running on an unnecessary low rate.

[0110] LCP enhancements may help alleviate these problems since there is more leeway in configuring the LCP parameters, e.g. traffic will not be starved even if the high priority traffic has a large PBR and use most of the resources for majority of the time, as the low priority traffic can be configured to have periods when it will be priority adjusted, i.e. have high priority. However, known approaches may not prohibit the low priority traffic from using too much of the resources during these periods and further enhancements to the solution may be needed to combat this issue.

[0111] The LCP procedure as described above runs over the configured LCHs until the given dynamic grant from the network is filled up with the data across the LCHs. Thus, it could result in multiple rounds of data being taken from the configured LCHs based on their priority, PBR and BSD. But as described above, with priority adjustment, it is possible that only the priority adjusted LCH data is included in the grant e.g. the LCP procedure runs only once, or all extra resources assigned in additional rounds are used by the adjusted priority LCH, thereby creating the starvation issue on the other high priority LCH. To circumvent the issue with fairness, fallback to the default priority in the 2ndround of LCP could be considered.

[0112] However, with the current LCH configuration, there is no avenue to have finer control over the LCP procedure. Although, with a semi-static configuration, one can achieve finer control over the LCP procedure, this approach does not work when there are different traffic characteristics being carried over the different LCHs with different rate adaption mechanisms.

[0113] Heretofore, then, there is no condition as to when the fallback to the default priority should happen in the 2nd round of the LCP.

[0114] Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. Some embodiments herein introduce ways to control the rate of a priority adjusted LCH and have finer control over the LCP procedure for e.g., set up the LCP procedure over 2 rounds.

[0115] This is done through defining suitable conditions for when the default priority should happen in the second round of the LCP procedure.

[0116] Configurable conditions to control the priority of the LCH for the second round of LCP when being in the adjusted-priority state.

[0117] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s). Network will be able to in more detail control the rate of a LCH or a set ofLCHs even when it is priority adjusted, so that network can provide larger grants and be certain that any extra transmission resources is used primarily by the preferred flows.

[0118] Disclaimer:

[0119] The following is described in the context of two LCHs, one with high priority and the other with a low priority. However, the claims are not restricted to either the #LCHs or this specific priority combination i.e., low and high LCHs.

[0120] Baseline assumptions for some embodiments is that the network can configure a UE capable of performing LCH priority adjustment (the LCH contains time critical data i.e., data that has passed the threshold to become LCH priority adjusted data), with one set of parameters (e.g. PBR and BSD values for each LCH) such that it enables the UE to perform another round of the LCP procedure.

[0121] In a first embodiment, the network can configure the UE to fallback to the default priority or switch to another priority (not the adjusted priority) in a corresponding subsequent round of the LCP. If another priority than the default priority is to be used as fallback then this priority is to be configured by the network. The subsequent round of LCP can either be the second round in the current LCP procedure, or a complete new instance of the LCP procedure. What entails a subsequent round can be based on network configuration.

[0122] In another aspect of the first embodiment, the network configures the UE with a condition or a set of conditions under which to fallback (or switch) the priority for a subsequent round of the LCP procedure. This can include new configured values for PBR and BSD or percentage of these values to use as targets / thresholds.

[0123] In yet another aspect of the first embodiment, the network configures the UE to fallback (or switch) the priority for a subsequent round of the LCP procedure if it satisfied the outcome of the new values of PBR and BSD i.e., amount of data picked from the LCH is equal to PBR multiplied by BSD, or other specified target values of these parameters.

[0124] An example of this procedure is exemplified in Figures 4-5. Figure 4 is without fallback. During the adjusted priority state (red zone) there is a large grant arriving at second transmission occasion. Without fallback, the extra resources are used by the eMBB flow since after completion of the first round of LCP the eMBB flow still has the higher priority.

[0125] In Figure 5 there is fallback to default priority when fulfilling the PBR setting. Similar to Figure 4, a large grant is received at a second transmission occasion. However, in this case the extra resources are used by the XR flow since it has the highest priority for the second round of LCP when the eMBB flow falls back to default priority. Thus, the orange packets from the XR traffic are delivered faster with this fallback solution, compared to the case without fallback.

[0126] In further embodiments, the condition to fallback (or switch) to a default priority oranother priority (not the adjusted priority) at either the next LCP instance or during a subsequent LCP round can be based on one or more of the following conditions such as:

[0127] • If the previous instance of the LCP procedure only considered data from one or more LCHs but not all the LCHs.

[0128] • A count of the number of times a LCH has been served in the LCP procedure against a configured threshold. Each LCH can be configured with the same or different threshold.

[0129] • A period (or timer) over which a LCH was not served. Can be configured with individual timers per LCH.

[0130] • Amount of time the LCH has spent in adjusted priority state.

[0131] • How recent the LCH was in an adjusted priority state before the current adjusted priority state.

[0132] • The fallback can also be limited by the amount of data in the adjusted priority LCH.

[0133] E.g. if the amount of adjusted priority data (i.e. the time critical data) is above a certain threshold the LCH will not perform fallback to default priority.

[0134] • The fallback to default / alternative priority for the LCH can also be depending on the remaining time of the adjusted-priority data. E.g. if the remaining time is less than some threshold then the adjusted priority LCH will not perform a fallback in priority since it can be deemed any extra transmission resources are needed to serve the data in this LCH.

[0135] • The priority values of other LCH to be served, e.g. if there are a certain number of LCH to be served that has higher default priority than the adjusted priority LCH. The adjusted priority LCH can then perform fallback to default priority to allow more of these LCH to be prioritized in the second round of LCP.

[0136] • The amount of data in other LCH of higher or lower default priority. E.g. another LCH, that has higher priority than the default priority of the adjusted priority LCH, has a large amount of data to transmit which can be a condition to fallback to the default priority for the adjusted priority LCH. This can be based on configured thresholds of amount of data or fulfillment of the PBR for these other LCH.

[0137] • The fallback or remaining time can also be depending on the remaining time of data in other LCH. If there are adjusted priority data / time critical data or data with less remaining time below some configured threshold this may be a condition for performing fallback of priority for the adjusted-priority LCH.

[0138] • If LCH has done fallback to default / alternative priority in previous round of a LCP procedure, i.e. the number of times a LCH fall back can be limited by configuration.Such limitation can consist of number of consecutive fallbacks, timer values or total number of fall backs, e.g. in the current adjusted-priority state.

[0139] In another aspect of this embodiment, the network can configure which LCHs should always be included as part of the LCP procedure. Then if data from these configured LCHs is not served, then it warrants a fallback (or switch) of priority for other LCHs. For e.g., assuming a UE is configured with 3 LCHs namely #1 , #2 and #3, the network can additionally configure one or more of the LCHs to always be included in the LCP procedure; #2 in this case. Hence, if #2 was not included in any of the LCP instances, this would trigger a fallback (or switch) to the default priority or another priority (not the adjusted priority). This may be limited to the second round of the LCP procedure, i.e. certain LCH is configured to always be part of the second round of a LCP procedure instance and priority adjustment is performed accordingly of the other LCH to ensure that the selected LCH is served first.

[0140] In a last embodiment any condition for fallback of priority for subsequent LCP rounds can also be applied to other LCH not in an adjusted-priority state.

[0141] In some embodiments, the first and second rounds are defined as follows, e.g., consistent with TS 38.321:

[0142] The MAC entity shall, when a new transmission is performed:

[0143] 1> allocate resources to the logical channels as follows:

[0144] 2> logical channels selected in clause 5.4.3.1.2 for the UL grant with Bj > 0 are allocated resources in a decreasing priority order. If the PBR of a logical channel is set to infinity, the MAC entity shall allocate resources for all the data that is available for transmission on the logical channel before meeting the PBR of the lower priority logical channel(s);

[0145] 2> decrement Bj by the total size of MAC SDUs served to logical channel j above; 2> if any resources remain, all the logical channels selected in clause 5.4.3.1.2 are served in a strict decreasing priority order (regardless of the value of Bj) until either the data for that logical channel or the UL grant is exhausted, whichever comes first. Logical channels configured with equal priority should be served equally.

[0146] Regarding this issue, the point worth discussing is whether to allow the UE check the availability of delay-critical data per LCH when starting 1st Round of the LCP, or both 1st and 2nd Rounds, respectively, e.g., how to handle the case when all the delay-critical data is exhausted by 1st Round, and no residual delay-critical data remains when starting 2nd Round.From the UE complexity point of view, it is more “light-weight” to prioritize an LCH during the whole resource allocation procedure in the same manner, as long as it has delay-critical data when starting the LCP.

[0147] From the fairness and system capacity points of view, it may be more beneficial to prioritize an LCH (in 1st or 2nd Round) only when delay-critical data is available for transmission, i.e. , if the delay-critical data of an LCH is exhausted in 1st Round, the LCH would not be prioritized in 2nd Round.

[0148] Accordingly, there are up two possible options considered here:

[0149] - Option 1: additional LCH priority is applied for an LCH in both 1st and 2nd Rounds of resource allocation procedure in LCP, as long as the LCH has delay-critical data available for transmission when starting the 1st Round.

[0150] - Option 2: additional LCH priority is applied for an LCH in 1st Round of resource allocation procedure in LCP, if the LCH has delay-critical data available for transmission when starting the 1st Round, and the additional LCH priority is applied for an LCH in 2nd Round of resource allocation procedure in LCP, if the LCH has residual delay-critical data available for transmission when starting 2nd Round.

[0151] In view of the modifications and variations herein, Figure 6 depicts a method performed by a communication device 12 configured for use in a communication network 10 in accordance with particular embodiments. The method in some embodiments includes adjusting a priority level of a logical channel 18 based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18 (Block 602).

[0152] The method includes receiving, from the communication network 10, control signaling 22 that configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device 12 is to re-adjust a priority level of a logical channel 18, e.g., after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel 18 (in Block 602) based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18 (Block 600).

[0153] The method in some embodiments further includes making a decision as to whether to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel 18 according to the control signaling 22 (Block 604).

[0154] In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device 12 is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel 18 to a third priority level after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel 18 from a first priority level to a second priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, the second priority levelprioritizes the logical channel 18 higher than the first priority level. In some embodiments, the first priority level is a default priority level. In some embodiments, the third priority level is the default priority level, such that the control signaling 22 configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device 12 is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel 18 back to the default priority level after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel 18 from the default priority level to the second priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, the third priority level is different than the default priority level. In some embodiments, the method further comprises receiving, from the communication network 10, signaling indicating the third priority level.

[0155] In some embodiments, a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels 18 in a priority order over multiple rounds of the resource allocation procedure. In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device 12 is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel 18 for a subsequent round of the resource allocation procedure after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel 18 for a previous round of the resource allocation procedure based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18 as of a start of the previous round of the resource allocation procedure. In some embodiments, resources are allocated to logical channels 18 in the subsequent round if any resources remain after the previous round. In some embodiments, the multiple rounds include two rounds, wherein the previous round is a first round, and wherein the subsequent round is a second round. In some embodiments, resources are allocated to logical channels 18 based on a bucket size in the first round and are allocated to logical channels 18 regardless of the bucket size in the one or more subsequent rounds.

[0156] In some embodiments, a resource allocation procedure allocates resources granted by a grant to logical channels 18 in a priority order, with different resource allocation procedures allocating resources granted by different grants. In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device 12 is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel 18 for a subsequent resource allocation procedure after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel 18 for a previous resource allocation procedure based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18 as of a start of the previous resource allocation procedure.

[0157] In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 indicates the one or more conditions. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is a function of how much traffic was scheduled from the logical channel 18 after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel 18 based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel18. In some embodiments, the at least one condition is that at least a threshold amount of data is scheduled from the logical channel 18 after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel 18 based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 indicates the threshold amount of data. In some embodiments, the threshold amount of data is a function of a prioritized bit rate, PBR, for the logical channel 18 and a bucket size duration, BSD, for the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 indicates the PBR and BSD for the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels 18 in a priority order. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that a previous instance of the resource allocation procedure considered traffic from only some logical channels 18. In some embodiments, a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels 18 in a priority order, and at least one of the one or more conditions is that the logical channel 18 has been served at least a threshold number of times by the resource allocation procedure. In some embodiments, a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels 18 in a priority order, and at least one of the one or more conditions is that the logical channel 18 has not been served by the resource allocation procedure for at least a threshold duration of time. In some embodiments, the priority level of the logical channel 18 is adjusted from a first priority level to a second priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18, and at least one of the one or more conditions is that a duration of time for which the logical channel 18 has had the second priority level meets or exceeds a threshold duration. In some embodiments, the priority level of the logical channel 18 is adjusted from a first priority level to a second priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18, and at least one of the one or more conditions is that a duration of time since the priority level of the logical channel 18 was adjusted to the second priority level meets or exceeds a threshold duration. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that an amount of the delay-critical traffic remaining on the logical channel 18 is less than a threshold amount. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that a smallest delay budget or time remaining of the delay-critical traffic on the logical channel 18 is greater than a threshold. In some embodiments, the priority level of the logical channel 18 is adjusted from a default priority level of the logical channel 18 to an adjusted priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that one or more other logical channels 18 have a default priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel 18. In other embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that one or more other logical channels 18 have a default priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel 18 and have at least a threshold amount of data. In someembodiments, the priority level of the logical channel 18 is adjusted from a default priority level of the logical channel 18 to an adjusted priority level of the logical channel 18 based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that one or more other logical channels 18 have an adjusted priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel 18 or the adjusted priority level of the logical channel 18. In other embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that one or more other logical channels 18 have an adjusted priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel 18 or the adjusted priority level of the logical channel 18 and have at least a threshold amount of data. In some embodiments, a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels 18 in a priority order over multiple rounds of the resource allocation procedure. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that the priority level of the logical channel 18 has not been re-adjusted in any previous round of the resource allocation procedure. In other embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that a number of consecutive rounds of the resource allocation procedure in which the priority level of the logical channel 18 has been re-adjusted is less than a threshold number of consecutive rounds. In some embodiments, a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels 18 in a priority order over first and second rounds of the resource allocation procedure, with different resource allocation procedures allocating resources granted by different grants. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that the priority level of the logical channel 18 has not been re-adjusted in any previous round of a resource allocation procedure. In other embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that the priority level of the logical channel 18 has not been readjusted in a second round of a previous resource allocation procedure. In yet other embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that a number of consecutive second rounds of resource allocation procedures in which the priority level of the logical channel 18 has been re-adjusted is less than a threshold number of consecutive rounds. In some embodiments, one or more other logical channels 18 comprise one or more guaranteed logical channels 18 that are guaranteed to be allocated resources in a resource allocation procedure, and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that at least one guaranteed logical channel 18 would not be allocated any resources in a resource allocation procedure. In some embodiments, a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels 18 in a priority order over multiple rounds of the resource allocation procedure, including a first round and one or more subsequent rounds. In some embodiments, one or more other logical channels 18 comprise one or more guaranteed logical channels 18 that are guaranteed to be allocated resources in a subsequent round of a resource allocation procedure, and at least one of the one or more conditions is that atleast one guaranteed logical channel 18 would not be any allocated resources in a subsequent round of a resource allocation procedure.

[0158] In some embodiments, the method further comprises, after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel 18 based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18, making a decision as to whether to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel 18 according to the control signaling 22. In some embodiments, the decision is made based on whether or not any of the one or more conditions are fulfilled. In some embodiments, the method further comprises, based on the decision being to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel 18, re-adjusting the priority level of the logical channel 18.

[0159] In some embodiments, the method further comprises determining a priority order of one or more logical channels 18 at the communication device 12, including the logical channel 18, based on one or more respective priority levels of the one or more logical channels 18 (Block 610). In some embodiments, the method further comprises allocating resources to the one or more logical channels 18 according to the determined priority order (Block 620).

[0160] In some embodiments, delay-critical traffic is traffic that has a remaining time below a threshold, wherein the remaining time is a duration of time remaining before the traffic will be discarded.

[0161] In some embodiments, the delay-critical traffic is LCH priority-adjusted data.

[0162] In some embodiments, a resource allocation procedure allocates resources granted by a grant to logical channels 18 in a priority order over first and second rounds of the resource allocation procedure, with different resource allocation procedures allocating resources granted by different grants. In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device 12 is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel 18 in the second round of a subsequent resource allocation procedure after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel 18 in the first round of a previous resource allocation procedure based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18 as of a start of the first round of the previous resource allocation procedure.

[0163] Figure 7 depicts a method performed by a network node 14 configured for use in a communication network 10 in accordance with other particular embodiments. The method includes transmitting, to a communication device 12, control signaling 22 that configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device 12 is to re-adjust a priority level of a logical channel 18 after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel 18 based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18 (Block 700).In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device 12 is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel 18 to a third priority level after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel 18 from a first priority level to a second priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, the second priority level prioritizes the logical channel 18 higher than the first priority level. In some embodiments, the first priority level is a default priority level. In some embodiments, the third priority level is the default priority level, such that the control signaling 22 configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device 12 is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel 18 back to the default priority level after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel 18 from the default priority level to the second priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, the third priority level is different than the default priority level. In some embodiments, the method further comprises transmitting, to the communication device 12, signaling indicating the third priority level.

[0164] In some embodiments, a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels 18 in a priority order over multiple rounds of the resource allocation procedure. In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device 12 is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel 18 for a subsequent round of the resource allocation procedure after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel 18 for a previous round of the resource allocation procedure based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18 as of a start of the previous round of the resource allocation procedure. In some embodiments, resources are allocated to logical channels 18 in the subsequent round if any resources remain after the previous round. In some embodiments, the multiple rounds include two rounds. In some embodiments, the previous round is a first round, and the subsequent round is a second round. In some embodiments, resources are allocated to logical channels 18 based on a bucket size in the first round and are allocated to logical channels 18 regardless of the bucket size in the one or more subsequent rounds.

[0165] In some embodiments, a resource allocation procedure allocates resources granted by a grant to logical channels 18 in a priority order, with different resource allocation procedures allocating resources granted by different grants. In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device 12 is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel 18 for a subsequent resource allocation procedure after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel 18 for a previous resource allocation procedure based on delay-critical trafficbeing available on the logical channel 18 as of a start of the previous resource allocation procedure.

[0166] In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 indicates the one or more conditions. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is a function of how much traffic was scheduled from the logical channel 18 after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel 18 based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, the at least one condition is that at least a threshold amount of data is scheduled from the logical channel 18 after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel 18 based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 indicates the threshold amount of data. In some embodiments, the threshold amount of data is a function of a prioritized bit rate, PBR, for the logical channel 18 and a bucket size duration, BSD, for the logical channel 18, wherein the control signaling 22 indicates the PBR and BSD for the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels 18 in a priority order. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that a previous instance of the resource allocation procedure considered traffic from only some logical channels 18. In some embodiments, a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels 18 in a priority order, and at least one of the one or more conditions is that the logical channel 18 has been served at least a threshold number of times by the resource allocation procedure. In some embodiments, a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels 18 in a priority order, and at least one of the one or more conditions is that the logical channel 18 has not been served by the resource allocation procedure for at least a threshold duration of time. In some embodiments, the priority level of the logical channel 18 is adjusted from a first priority level to a second priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18, and at least one of the one or more conditions is that a duration of time for which the logical channel 18 has had the second priority level meets or exceeds a threshold duration. In some embodiments, the priority level of the logical channel 18 is adjusted from a first priority level to a second priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18, and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that a duration of time since the priority level of the logical channel 18 was adjusted to the second priority level meets or exceeds a threshold duration. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that an amount of the delay-critical traffic remaining on the logical channel 18 is less than a threshold amount. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that a smallest delay budget or time remaining of the delay-critical traffic on the logical channel 18 is greater than a threshold. In some embodiments, the priority level of the logical channel 18 is adjusted from a default priority level of the logical channel 18 toan adjusted priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that one or more other logical channels 18 have a default priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel 18. In other embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that one or more other logical channels 18 have a default priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel 18 and have at least a threshold amount of data. In some embodiments, the priority level of the logical channel 18 is adjusted from a default priority level of the logical channel 18 to an adjusted priority level of the logical channel 18 based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that one or more other logical channels 18 have an adjusted priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel 18 or the adjusted priority level of the logical channel 18. In other embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that one or more other logical channels 18 have an adjusted priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel 18 or the adjusted priority level of the logical channel 18 and have at least a threshold amount of data. In some embodiments, a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels 18 in a priority order over multiple rounds of the resource allocation procedure. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that the priority level of the logical channel 18 has not been re-adjusted in any previous round of the resource allocation procedure. In other embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that a number of consecutive rounds of the resource allocation procedure in which the priority level of the logical channel 18 has been re-adjusted is less than a threshold number of consecutive rounds. In some embodiments, a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels 18 in a priority order over first and second rounds of the resource allocation procedure, with different resource allocation procedures allocating resources granted by different grants. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that the priority level of the logical channel 18 has not been re-adjusted in any previous round of a resource allocation procedure. In other embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that the priority level of the logical channel 18 has not been readjusted in a second round of a previous resource allocation procedure. In still yet embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is that a number of consecutive second rounds of resource allocation procedures in which the priority level of the logical channel 18 has been re-adjusted is less than a threshold number of consecutive rounds. In some embodiments, one or more other logical channels 18 comprise one or more guaranteed logical channels 18 that are guaranteed to be allocated resources in a resource allocation procedure, and at least one of the one or more conditions is that at least one guaranteed logical channel 18 would not be allocated any resources in a resource allocationprocedure. In some embodiments, a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels 18 in a priority order over multiple rounds of the resource allocation procedure, including a first round and one or more subsequent rounds. In some embodiments, one or more other logical channels 18 comprise one or more guaranteed logical channels 18 that are guaranteed to be allocated resources in a subsequent round of a resource allocation procedure, and at least one of the one or more conditions is that at least one guaranteed logical channel 18 would not be any allocated resources in a subsequent round of a resource allocation procedure.

[0167] In some embodiments, delay-critical traffic is traffic that has a remaining time below a threshold. In some embodiments, the remaining time is a duration of time remaining before the traffic will be discarded.

[0168] In some embodiments, the delay-critical traffic is LCH priority-adjusted data.

[0169] In some embodiments, a resource allocation procedure allocates resources granted by a grant to logical channels 18 in a priority order over first and second rounds of the resource allocation procedure, with different resource allocation procedures allocating resources granted by different grants. In some embodiments, the control signaling 22 configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device 12 is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel 18 in the second round of a subsequent resource allocation procedure after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel 18 in the first round of a previous resource allocation procedure based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18 as of a start of the first round of the previous resource allocation procedure.

[0170] In some embodiments, the method further comprises determining whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device 12 is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel 18 after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel 18 based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel 18, wherein the control signaling 22 is based on said determining (Block 710). In some embodiments, said determining is based on one or more of a type of traffic served on the logical channel 18. In other embodiments, said determining is based on one or more of a quality of service requirements of traffic on the logical channel 18.

[0171] Embodiments herein also include corresponding apparatuses. Embodiments herein for instance include a communication device 12 configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the communication device 12.

[0172] Embodiments also include a communication device 12 comprising processing circuitry and power supply circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the communication device 12. The power supply circuitry is configured to supply power to the communication device 12.Embodiments further include a communication device 12 comprising processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the communication device 12. In some embodiments, the communication device 12 further comprises communication circuitry.

[0173] Embodiments further include a communication device 12 comprising processing circuitry and memory. The memory contains instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the communication device 12 is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the communication device 12.

[0174] Embodiments moreover include a user equipment (UE). The UE comprises an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals. The UE also comprises radio frontend circuitry connected to the antenna and to processing circuitry, and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the communication device 12. In some embodiments, the UE also comprises an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow input of information into the UE to be processed by the processing circuitry. The UE may comprise an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry. The UE may also comprise a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE.

[0175] Embodiments herein also include a network node 14 configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the network node 14.

[0176] Embodiments also include a network node 14 comprising processing circuitry and power supply circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the network node 14. The power supply circuitry is configured to supply power to the network node 14.

[0177] Embodiments further include a network node 14 comprising processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the network node 14. In some embodiments, the network node 14 further comprises communication circuitry.

[0178] Embodiments further include a network node 14 comprising processing circuitry and memory. The memory contains instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the network node 14 is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the network node 14.

[0179] More particularly, the apparatuses described above may perform the methods herein and any other processing by implementing any functional means, modules, units, or circuitry. In one embodiment, for example, the apparatuses comprise respective circuits or circuitryconfigured to perform the steps shown in the method figures. The circuits or circuitry in this regard may comprise circuits dedicated to performing certain functional processing and / or one or more microprocessors in conjunction with memory. For instance, the circuitry may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory, cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory may include program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and / or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein, in several embodiments. In embodiments that employ memory, the memory stores program code that, when executed by the one or more processors, carries out the techniques described herein.

[0180] Figure 8 for example illustrates a communication device 12 as implemented in accordance with one or more embodiments. As shown, the communication device 12 includes processing circuitry 810 and communication circuitry 820. The communication circuitry 820 (e.g., radio circuitry) is configured to transmit and / or receive information to and / or from one or more other nodes, e.g., via any communication technology. Such communication may occur via one or more antennas that are either internal or external to the communication device 12. The processing circuitry 810 is configured to perform processing described above, e.g., in Figure 6, such as by executing instructions stored in memory 830. The processing circuitry 810 in this regard may implement certain functional means, units, or modules.

[0181] Figure 9 illustrates a network node 14 as implemented in accordance with one or more embodiments. As shown, the network node 14 includes processing circuitry 910 and communication circuitry 920. The communication circuitry 920 is configured to transmit and / or receive information to and / or from one or more other nodes, e.g., via any communication technology. The processing circuitry 910 is configured to perform processing described above, e.g., in Figure 7, such as by executing instructions stored in memory 930. The processing circuitry 910 in this regard may implement certain functional means, units, or modules.

[0182] Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that embodiments herein further include corresponding computer programs.

[0183] A computer program comprises instructions which, when executed on at least one processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to carry out any of the respective processing described above. A computer program in this regard may comprise one or more code modules corresponding to the means or units described above.Embodiments further include a carrier containing such a computer program. This carrier may comprise one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium.

[0184] In this regard, embodiments herein also include a computer program product stored on a non-transitory computer readable (storage or recording) medium and comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform as described above.

[0185] Embodiments further include a computer program product comprising program code portions for performing the steps of any of the embodiments herein when the computer program product is executed by a computing device. This computer program product may be stored on a computer readable recording medium.

[0186] Figure 10 shows an example of a communication system 1000 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0187] In the example, the communication system 1000 includes a telecommunications network 1002 that includes an access network 1004, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 1006, which includes one or more core network nodes 1008. The access network 1004 includes one or more access network nodes or base stations of various types, access network nodes 1010A and 1010B are depicted (which may be collectively referred to as network nodes 1010), or any other similar 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points (APs). Some embodiments of the access network 1004 may include more than one access network technology. The network nodes 1010 of access network 1004 facilitate direct or indirect connection of wireless devices, also referred to as user equipments (UEs), such as by connecting UEs 1012A, 1012B, 1012C, and 1012D (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 1012) to the core network 1006 over one or more wireless connections.

[0188] Moreover, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunications network 1002 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a network node in the telecommunications network 1002 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other network nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any network node in the telecommunications network 1002, including one or more access network nodes 1010 and / or core network nodes 1008.

[0189] Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (O-RU), an open distributed unit (O-DU), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O-CU-CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). An ORAN network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an A1, F1, W1, E1, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN network node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies.

[0190] The network nodes 1010 facilitate direct or indirect connection of one or more UEs 1012 to the core network 1006 over one or more wireless connections. Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system 1000 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system 1000 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0191] The UEs 1012 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes 1010 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 1008, 1010 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly (e.g., via other devices of telecommunications network 1002) with the UEs 1012 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunications network 1002 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunications network 1002. More specifically, UEs 1012 may send messages, data, and / or other signals to network nodes 1008, 1010 or other elements of the telecommunications network 1002 by transmitting such signals to the relevant device directly without the signals passing through any intervening devices or by transmitting such signals to the relevant device indirectly through an intervening device (or multiple intervening devices) that then transmit the signal to the relevant device. Similarly, network nodes 1008, 1010 may send messages, data, and other signals to UEs 10122, other networknodes 1008, 1010, and other devices in telecommunications network 1002 directly or indirectly. As one specific example, a core network node 108 may transmit a particular message to a UE 1012 by transmitting the message to an access network node 1010 that will then transmit the message to the intended UE 1012. Similarly, a core network node 108 may receive a particular message from a UE 1012 by receiving the message from an access network node 1010 that itself received the message from the UE 1012.

[0192] In the depicted example, the core network 1006 connects elements of the access network 1004 (e.g., one or more of the network nodes 1010) to one or more host computing systems, such as host 1016. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 1006 includes one or more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 1008) of various types, one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 1008. Network nodes 1008 are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, access network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 1008. Example core network nodes provide functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0193] The host 1016 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 1004 and / or the telecommunications network 1002. The host 1016 may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 1016 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0194] As a whole, the communication system 1000 of Figure 10 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system 1000 may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard(e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (Wi-Fi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (Wi-Max), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, Li-Fi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox. Moreover, the communication system 1000 may be configured to support multiple different standards, protocols, or other rule sets, with individual components supporting all of the relevant rule sets or with different components or sub-systems within the communication system 1000 supporting different standards, protocols, or rule sets.

[0195] As one example, in certain embodiments, access network 1004 may contain some access network nodes 1010 that support 3GPP radio access technologies (RAT), such as LTE or NR, while other access network nodes 1010 support (or the same access network nodes 1010 additionally support) non-3GPP RATs, such as Wi-Fi or a proprietary RAT. As another example, telecommunications network 1002 may support multiple generations of related communication standards (e.g., 4G and 5G 3GPP communication standards) and, as a result, may include an access network 104 and / or a core network 106 that supports multiple different standard generations or may include multiple access networks 104 and / or multiple core networks 106 with individual networks 104, 106 supporting different standard generations.

[0196] Telecommunications network 1002 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunications network 1002. For example, the telecommunications network 1002 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) / Massive loT services to yet further UEs.

[0197] In some examples, one or more of the UEs 1012 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 1004 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 1004. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0198] In the example, the hub 1014 communicates with the access network 1004 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 1012C and / or 1012D) and network nodes (e.g., network node 1010B). In some examples, the hub 1014 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 1014 may be a broadband routerenabling access to the core network 1006 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 1014 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 1010, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 1014.

[0199] As another example, the hub 1014 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 1014 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 1014 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 1014 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 1014 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0200] The hub 1014 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 1010B. The hub 1014 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 1014 and UEs (e.g., UE 1012C and / or 1012D), and between the hub 1014 and the core network 1006. In other examples, the hub 1014 is connected to the core network 1006 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 1014 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 1004 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 1010 while still connected via the hub 1014 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 1014 may be a dedicated hub -that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to the network node 1010B. In other embodiments, the hub 1014 may be a non-dedicated hub- that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 1010B, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0201] Figure 11 is another example of a communication system 1100 according to some embodiments. As used herein, the communication system 1100 includes multiple access points (APs) 1110 (with four exemplary APs 1110A, 1110B, 1110C, and 1110D being depicted) and multiple wireless devices, referred to in the context of communication system 1100 as stations (STAs) 1112 (referred to individually as STA 1112A, STA 1112B, STA 1112C, STA 1112D, and STA 1112E). STA 1112A is served by AP 1110A in a first basic service set (BSS) 1120A. STA 1110B and STA 1110C are served by AP 1110B in a second BSS, BSS 1120B. STA 1112D is served by AP 1110C in a third BSS, BSS 1120C. STA 1112E is served by AP 1110D in a fourth BSS, BSS 1120D. Stations 1112 may be non-AP STAs and correspond to various kinds of wireless devices, for example, user terminals, such as mobileor stationary computing devices like smartphones, laptop computers, desktop computers, tablet computers, gaming devices, head-mounted displays (HMDs) for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), or the like. Further, stations 1112 could, for example, correspond to other kinds of equipment like smart home devices, printers, multimedia devices, data storage devices, or the like.

[0202] Each of STAs 1112 may connect through a radio link to one of APs 1110. For example, depending on location or channel conditions experienced by a given STA 1112, the STA may select an appropriate AP and BSS for establishing the radio link. The radio link may be based on one or more orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) carriers from a frequency spectrum that is shared on the basis of a contention-based mechanism, e.g., an unlicensed or license exempt band like 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band, the 5 GHz band, the 6 GHz band, or the 60 GHz band.

[0203] Each AP 1110 may provide data connectivity to STAs 1112 connected to a particular AP 1110. As illustrated, APs 1110 may be connected to a data network 1130. In this way, APs 1110 may also provide data connectivity between STAs 1112 and other entities, e.g., to one or more servers, service providers, data sources, data sinks, user terminals, or the like. Accordingly, the radio link established between a given STA 1112 and its serving AP 1110 may be used for providing various kinds of services to STA 1112, e.g., a voice service, a multimedia service, or other data service. Such services may be based on applications that are executed on STA 1112 and / or on a device linked to STA 1112. By way of example, Figure 11 illustrates an application service platform 1132 provided in data network 1130. The application(s) executed on STA 1112 and / or on one or more other devices linked to STA 1112 may use the radio link for data communication with one or more other STA 1112 and / or the application service platform 1132, thereby enabling utilization of the corresponding service(s) at STA 1112.

[0204] Figure 12 shows a wireless device 1200, which may be configured to operate in communication system 1000 of Figure 10 or in communication system 1100 of Figure 110. The wireless device 1200 may be alternatively referred to as a UE 1200, like a UE 1012 within the context of communication system 1000, or as a station (STA) 1200 or as a non-access-point station (non-AP STA) 1200, like a STA 1112 within the context of the communication system 1100, in accordance with respective embodiments. As used herein, a wireless device refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other wireless devices. Examples of a wireless device include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment(LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, and wireless terminal. Other examples include any type of UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-loT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0205] A wireless device 1200 may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, wireless device 1200 may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, wireless device 1200 may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, wireless device 1200 may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0206] In particular embodiments, wireless device 1200 includes processing circuitry 1202 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1204 to an input / output interface 1206, a power source 1208, a memory 1210, a communication interface 1212, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain embodiments of wireless device 1200 may include all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 12. The level of integration between the components may vary from one embodiment of wireless device 1200 to another. In general, in a particular embodiment of wireless device 1200, processing circuitry 1202, input / output interface 1206, power source 1208, memory 1210, and communication interface 1212 may, in whole or in part, represent or include physical components common to or shared by one or more of the other elements of wireless device 1200. Further, certain embodiments of wireless devices 1200 may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0207] The processing circuitry 1202 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory 1210. The processing circuitry 1202 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 1202 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).In the example, the input / output interface 1206 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into wireless device 1200. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface portas an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0208] In some embodiments, the power source 1208 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used to supply power to circuitry or to charge an associated battery. The power source 1208 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 1208 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of wireless device 1200 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Power source 1208 may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to make accessible power suitable for the respective components of the wireless device 1200 to which power is supplied.

[0209] The memory 1210 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 1210 includes one or more programs 1214, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 1216. The memory 1210 may store, for use by wireless device 1200, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0210] The memory 1210 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM),synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (IIICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a IISIM and / or I SI M , other memory, or any combination thereof. The IIICC may for example be an embedded IIICC (elllCC), integrated IIICC (illlCC) ora removable IIICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory 1210 may allow wireless device 1200 to access instructions, programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 1210, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0211] The processing circuitry 1202 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network via or using the communication interface 1212. The communication interface 1212 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 1222. The communication interface 1212 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another wireless device or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 1218 and / or a receiver 1220 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 1218 and receiver 1220 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 1222) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0212] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 1212 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication (e.g., according to an IEEE 802.11 family standard), LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0213] In particular embodiments, wireless device 1200 may provide an output of data captured via a sensor, through its communication interface 1212, via a wireless connection to a network node, and / or in any appropriate manner. Data captured by sensors of a wireless device 1200 can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node viaanother wireless device 1200. In particular embodiments, such output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0214] As another example, wireless device 1200 comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, wireless device 1200 may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0215] Wireless device 1200, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. In particular embodiments, wireless device 1200 represents an loT device that comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the example embodiment of wireless device 1200 shown in Figure 12.

[0216] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, wireless device 1200 may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another wireless device and / or a network node. Wireless device 1200 may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, wireless device 1200 may implement the 3GPP NB-loT standard. In other scenarios, wireless device 1200 may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.In practice, any number of wireless devices 1200 may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first wireless device 1200 might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second wireless device 1200 that is a remote controller operating the drone. When a user makes changes from the remote controller, the first wireless device 1200 may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second wireless device 1200 can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, wireless device 1200 might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0217] Figure 13 shows a network node 1300 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunications network. In accordance with respective embodiments, network node 1300 may be configured to operate in communication system 1000 of Figure 10, like network nodes 1008 or 1010, or in communication system 1100 of Figure 11, like an AP 1110 or a station 1112. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)), O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., O-RU, O-DU, O-CU).

[0218] Network nodes 1300 may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. Network node 1300 may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. Network nodes 1300 may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node) and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0219] Other examples of network nodes 1300 include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).In particular embodiments, network node 1300 includes a processing circuitry 1302, a memory 1304, a communication interface 1306, and a power source 1308. In general, in a particular embodiment of network node 1300, processing circuitry 1302, memory 1304, communication interface 1306, and power source 1308 may, in whole or in part, represent or include physical components common to or shared by one or more of the other elements of network node 1300.

[0220] The network node 1300 may be composed of multiple distinct network entities (e.g., a NodeB entity and a RNC entity, or a BTS entity and a BSC entity, etc.), which may each have or utilize their own respective physical components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 1300 comprises multiple such entities (e.g., BTS and BSC), one or more of the separate entities may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 1300 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memories 1304 or portions of memory 1304 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 1310 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 1300 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1300, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, Wi-Fi (e.g., according to an IEEE 802.11 family standard), Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 1300.

[0221] The processing circuitry 1302 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other components, such as the memory 1304, to provide network node 1300 functionality.

[0222] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1302 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1302 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1312 and baseband processing circuitry 1314. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry 1312 and the baseband processing circuitry 1314 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1312 and baseband processing circuitry 1314 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.The memory 1304 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 1302. The memory 1304 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 1302 and utilized by the network node 1300. The memory 1304 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 1302 and / or any data received via the communication interface 1306. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1302 and memory 1304 is integrated.

[0223] The communication interface 1306 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data with UEs, other network nodes, and / or any other network equipment. In the illustrated embodiment, communication interface 1306 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 1316 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. In particular embodiments, network node 1200 may be capable of wireless communication and communication interface 1306 may also include radio front-end circuitry 1318 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, an antenna 1310. Particular embodiments of radio front-end circuitry 1318 include filter(s) 1320 and amplifier(s) 1322. The radio front-end circuitry 1318 may be connected to an antenna 1310 and processing circuitry 1302. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1310 and processing circuitry 1302. The radio front-end circuitry 1318 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio frontend circuitry 1318 may convert the digital data into a radio signal(s) having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1320 and / or amplifiers 1322. The radio signal(s) may then be transmitted via the antenna 1310. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 1310 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 1318. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 1302. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0224] In certain alternative embodiments, network node 1300 may be capable of wireless communication but does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 1318, instead, the processing circuitry 1302 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 1310. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 1312 is partof the communication interface 1306. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 1306 includes one or more ports or terminals 1316, the radio front-end circuitry 1318, and the RF transceiver circuitry 1312, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 1306 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 1314, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0225] The antenna 1310 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 1310 may be coupled to the radio frontend circuitry 1318 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 1310 is separate from the network node 1300 and connectable to the network node 1300 through one or more interfaces or ports.

[0226] The antenna 1310, communication interface 1306, and / or the processing circuitry 1302 may be configured to perform some or all of the receiving operations and / or obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node 1300. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 1310, the communication interface 1306, and / or the processing circuitry 1302 may be configured to perform some or all of the transmitting or sending operations described herein as being performed by the network node 1300. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0227] The power source 1308 provides power to the various components of network node 1300 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 1308 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 1300 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 1300 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 1308. As a further example, the power source 1308 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0228] Embodiments of the network node 1300 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 13 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 1300 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 1300 and to allowoutput of information from the network node 1300. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 1300.

[0229] Figure 14 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1400 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 1400 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as an access network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which a virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment 1400 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface.

[0230] Applications 1402 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment Q400 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0231] Hardware 1404 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input / output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 1406 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VM 1408A and VM 1408B (which may be collectively referred to as VMs 1408), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1406 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to one or more of the VMs 1408.

[0232] The VMs 1408 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by virtualization layer 1406. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1402 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 1408, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volumeserver hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

[0233] In the context of NFV, each of the VMs 1408 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 1408, and that part of hardware 1404 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more of the VMs 1408 on top of the hardware 1404 and corresponds to an application 1402.

[0234] Hardware 1404 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1404 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1404 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 1410, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1402. In some embodiments, hardware 1404 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 1412 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0235] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may beconfigured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0236] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0237] Various embodiments herein may be enumerated as follows:

[0238] Group A Embodiments

[0239] A1. A method performed by a communication device configured for use in a communication network, the method comprising:

[0240] receiving, from the communication network, control signaling that configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device is to re-adjust a priority level of a logical channel after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel.

[0241] A2. The method of embodiment A1 , wherein the control signaling configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel to a third priority level after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel from a first priority level to a second priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel, wherein the second priority level prioritizes the logical channel higher than the first priority level.

[0242] A3. The method of embodiment A2, wherein the first priority level is a default priority level.

[0243] A4. The method of embodiment A3, wherein the third priority level is the default prioritylevel, such that the control signaling configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel back to the default priority level after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel from the default priority level to the second priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel.

[0244] A5. The method of embodiment A3, wherein the third priority level is different than the default priority level and / or is an additional priority level in addition to the default priority level.

[0245] A6. The method of embodiment A5, further comprising receiving, from the communication network, signaling indicating the third priority level.

[0246] A7. The method of any of embodiments A1-A6, wherein a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels in a priority order over multiple rounds of the resource allocation procedure, wherein the control signaling configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel fora subsequent round of the resource allocation procedure after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel for a previous round of the resource allocation procedure based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel as of a start of the previous round of the resource allocation procedure, wherein resources are allocated to logical channels in the subsequent round if any resources remain after the previous round.

[0247] A8. The method of embodiment A7, wherein the multiple rounds include two rounds, wherein the previous round is a first round, and wherein the subsequent round is a second round.

[0248] A9. The method of any of embodiments A7-A8, wherein resources are allocated to logical channels based on a bucket size in the first round and are allocated to logical channels regardless of the bucket size in the one or more subsequent rounds.

[0249] A10. The method of any of embodiments A1-A6, wherein a resource allocation procedure allocates resources granted by a grant to logical channels in a priority order, with different resource allocation procedures allocating resources granted by different grants, wherein the control signaling configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel for a subsequentresource allocation procedure after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel for a previous resource allocation procedure based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel as of a start of the previous resource allocation procedure.

[0250] A11. The method of any of embodiments A1-A7, wherein the control signaling indicates the one or more conditions.

[0251] A12. The method of embodiment A11 , wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is a function of how much traffic was scheduled from the logical channel after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel.

[0252] A13. The method of embodiment A12, wherein the at least one condition is that at least a threshold amount of data is scheduled from the logical channel after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel.

[0253] A14. The method of embodiment A13, wherein the control signaling indicates the threshold amount of data.

[0254] A15. The method of any of embodiments A13-A14, wherein the threshold amount of data is a function of a prioritized bit rate, PBR, for the logical channel and a bucket size duration, BSD, for the logical channel, wherein the control signaling indicates the PBR and BSD for the logical channel.

[0255] A16. The method of any of embodiments A11-A15, wherein a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels in a priority order, wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that a previous instance of the resource allocation procedure considered traffic from only some logical channels.

[0256] A17. The method of any of embodiments A11-A16, wherein a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels in a priority order, and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that the logical channel has been served at least a threshold number of times by the resource allocation procedure.

[0257] A18. The method of any of embodiments A11-A17, wherein a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels in a priority order, and wherein at leastone of the one or more conditions is that the logical channel has not been served by the resource allocation procedure for at least a threshold duration of time.

[0258] A19. The method of any of embodiments A11-A18, wherein the priority level of the logical channel is adjusted from a first priority level to a second priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel, and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that a duration of time for which the logical channel has had the second priority level meets or exceeds a threshold duration.

[0259] A20. The method of any of embodiments A11-A19, wherein the priority level of the logical channel is adjusted from a first priority level to a second priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel, and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that a duration of time since the priority level of the logical channel was adjusted to the second priority level meets or exceeds a threshold duration.

[0260] A21. The method of any of embodiments A11-A20, wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that an amount of the delay-critical traffic remaining on the logical channel is less than a threshold amount.

[0261] A22. The method of any of embodiments A11-A21, wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that a smallest delay budget or time remaining of the delay-critical traffic on the logical channel is greater than a threshold.

[0262] A23. The method of any of embodiments A11-A22, wherein the priority level of the logical channel is adjusted from a default priority level of the logical channel to an adjusted priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel, and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that:

[0263] one or more other logical channels have a default priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel; or

[0264] one or more other logical channels have a default priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel and have at least a threshold amount of data.

[0265] A24. The method of any of embodiments A11-A23, wherein the priority level of the logical channel is adjusted from a default priority level of the logical channel to an adjusted priority level of the logical channel based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel, and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that:one or more other logical channels have an adjusted priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel or the adjusted priority level of the logical channel; or

[0266] one or more other logical channels have an adjusted priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel or the adjusted priority level of the logical channel and have at least a threshold amount of data.

[0267] A25. The method of any of embodiments A11-A24, wherein a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels in a priority order over multiple rounds of the resource allocation procedure, and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that:

[0268] the priority level of the logical channel has not been re-adjusted in any previous round of the resource allocation procedure; or

[0269] a number of consecutive rounds of the resource allocation procedure in which the priority level of the logical channel has been re-adjusted is less than a threshold number of consecutive rounds.

[0270] A26. The method of any of embodiments A11-A24, wherein a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels in a priority order over first and second rounds of the resource allocation procedure, with different resource allocation procedures allocating resources granted by different grants, and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that:

[0271] the priority level of the logical channel has not been re-adjusted in any previous round of a resource allocation procedure; or

[0272] the priority level of the logical channel has not been re-adjusted in a second round of a previous resource allocation procedure; or

[0273] a number of consecutive second rounds of resource allocation procedures in which the priority level of the logical channel has been re-adjusted is less than a threshold number of consecutive rounds.

[0274] A27. The method of any of embodiments A11-A26, wherein one or more other logical channels comprise one or more guaranteed logical channels that are guaranteed to be allocated resources in a resource allocation procedure, and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that at least one guaranteed logical channel would not be allocated any resources in a resource allocation procedure.

[0275] A28. The method of any of embodiments A11-A27, wherein a resource allocationprocedure allocates resources to logical channels in a priority order over multiple rounds of the resource allocation procedure, including a first round and one or more subsequent rounds, wherein one or more other logical channels comprise one or more guaranteed logical channels that are guaranteed to be allocated resources in a subsequent round of a resource allocation procedure, and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that at least one guaranteed logical channel would not be any allocated resources in a subsequent round of a resource allocation procedure.

[0276] A29. The method of any of embodiments A1-A28, further comprising, after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel, making a decision as to whether to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel according to the control signaling.

[0277] A30. The method of embodiment A29, wherein the decision is made based on whether or not any of the one or more conditions are fulfilled.

[0278] A31. The method of any of embodiments A29-A30, further comprising, based on the decision being to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel, re-adjusting the priority level of the logical channel.

[0279] A32. The method of any of embodiments A1-A31 , further comprising:

[0280] determining a priority order of one or more logical channels at the communication device, including the logical channel, based on one or more respective priority levels of the one or more logical channels; and

[0281] allocating resources to the one or more logical channels according to the determined priority order.

[0282] A33. The method of any of embodiments A1-A32, wherein delay-critical traffic is traffic that has a remaining time below a threshold, wherein the remaining time is a duration of time remaining before the traffic will be discarded.

[0283] A34. The method of any of embodiments A1-A33, wherein the delay-critical traffic is LCH priority-adjusted data.

[0284] A35. The method of any of embodiments A1-A6, wherein a resource allocation procedure allocates resources granted by a grant to logical channels in a priority order over first and second rounds of the resource allocation procedure, with different resource allocationprocedures allocating resources granted by different grants, wherein the control signaling configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel in the second round of a subsequent resource allocation procedure after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel in the first round of a previous resource allocation procedure based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel as of a start of the first round of the previous resource allocation procedure.

[0285] Group B Embodiments

[0286] B1. A method performed by a network node configured for use in a communication network, the method comprising:

[0287] transmitting, to a communication device, control signaling that configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device is to re-adjust a priority level of a logical channel after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel.

[0288] B2. The method of embodiment B1 , wherein the control signaling configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel to a third priority level after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel from a first priority level to a second priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel, wherein the second priority level prioritizes the logical channel higher than the first priority level.

[0289] B3. The method of embodiment B2, wherein the first priority level is a default priority level.

[0290] B4. The method of embodiment B3, wherein the third priority level is the default priority level, such that the control signaling configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel back to the default priority level after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel from the default priority level to the second priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel.

[0291] B5. The method of embodiment B3, wherein the third priority level is different than the default priority level.B6. The method of embodiment B5, further comprising transmitting, to the communication device, signaling indicating the third priority level.

[0292] B7. The method of any of embodiments B1-B6, wherein a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels in a priority order over multiple rounds of the resource allocation procedure, wherein the control signaling configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel for a subsequent round of the resource allocation procedure after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel for a previous round of the resource allocation procedure based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel as of a start of the previous round of the resource allocation procedure, wherein resources are allocated to logical channels in the subsequent round if any resources remain after the previous round.

[0293] B8. The method of embodiment B7, wherein the multiple rounds include two rounds, wherein the previous round is a first round, and wherein the subsequent round is a second round.

[0294] B9. The method of any of embodiments B7-B8, wherein resources are allocated to logical channels based on a bucket size in the first round and are allocated to logical channels regardless of the bucket size in the one or more subsequent rounds.

[0295] B10. The method of any of embodiments B1-B6, wherein a resource allocation procedure allocates resources granted by a grant to logical channels in a priority order, with different resource allocation procedures allocating resources granted by different grants, wherein the control signaling configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel for a subsequent resource allocation procedure after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel for a previous resource allocation procedure based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel as of a start of the previous resource allocation procedure.

[0296] B11. The method of any of embodiments B1-B7, wherein the control signaling indicates the one or more conditions.

[0297] B12. The method of embodiment B11 , wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is a function of how much traffic was scheduled from the logical channel after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel based on delay-critical traffic being availableon the logical channel.

[0298] B13. The method of embodiment B12, wherein the at least one condition is that at least a threshold amount of data is scheduled from the logical channel after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel.

[0299] B14. The method of embodiment B13, wherein the control signaling indicates the threshold amount of data.

[0300] B15. The method of any of embodiments B13-B14, wherein the threshold amount of data is a function of a prioritized bit rate, PBR, for the logical channel and a bucket size duration, BSD, for the logical channel, wherein the control signaling indicates the PBR and BSD for the logical channel.

[0301] B16. The method of any of embodiments B11-B15, wherein a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels in a priority order, wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that a previous instance of the resource allocation procedure considered traffic from only some logical channels.

[0302] B17. The method of any of embodiments B11-B16, wherein a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels in a priority order, and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that the logical channel has been served at least a threshold number of times by the resource allocation procedure.

[0303] B18. The method of any of embodiments B11-B17, wherein a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels in a priority order, and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that the logical channel has not been served by the resource allocation procedure for at least a threshold duration of time.

[0304] B19. The method of any of embodiments B11-B18, wherein the priority level of the logical channel is adjusted from a first priority level to a second priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel, and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that a duration of time for which the logical channel has had the second priority level meets or exceeds a threshold duration.

[0305] B20. The method of any of embodiments B11-B19, wherein the priority level of the logicalchannel is adjusted from a first priority level to a second priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel, and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that a duration of time since the priority level of the logical channel was adjusted to the second priority level meets or exceeds a threshold duration.

[0306] B21. The method of any of embodiments B11-B20, wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that an amount of the delay-critical traffic remaining on the logical channel is less than a threshold amount.

[0307] B22. The method of any of embodiments B11-B21 , wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that a smallest delay budget or time remaining of the delay-critical traffic on the logical channel is greater than a threshold.

[0308] B23. The method of any of embodiments B11-B22, wherein the priority level of the logical channel is adjusted from a default priority level of the logical channel to an adjusted priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel, and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that:

[0309] one or more other logical channels have a default priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel; or

[0310] one or more other logical channels have a default priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel and have at least a threshold amount of data.

[0311] B24. The method of any of embodiments B11-B23, wherein the priority level of the logical channel is adjusted from a default priority level of the logical channel to an adjusted priority level of the logical channel based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel, and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that:

[0312] one or more other logical channels have an adjusted priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel or the adjusted priority level of the logical channel; or

[0313] one or more other logical channels have an adjusted priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel or the adjusted priority level of the logical channel and have at least a threshold amount of data.

[0314] B25. The method of any of embodiments B11-B24, wherein a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels in a priority order over multiple rounds of the resource allocation procedure, and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions isthat:

[0315] the priority level of the logical channel has not been re-adjusted in any previous round of the resource allocation procedure; or

[0316] a number of consecutive rounds of the resource allocation procedure in which the priority level of the logical channel has been re-adjusted is less than a threshold number of consecutive rounds.

[0317] B26. The method of any of embodiments B11-B24, wherein a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels in a priority order over first and second rounds of the resource allocation procedure, with different resource allocation procedures allocating resources granted by different grants, and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that:

[0318] the priority level of the logical channel has not been re-adjusted in any previous round of a resource allocation procedure; or

[0319] the priority level of the logical channel has not been re-adjusted in a second round of a previous resource allocation procedure; or

[0320] a number of consecutive second rounds of resource allocation procedures in which the priority level of the logical channel has been re-adjusted is less than a threshold number of consecutive rounds.

[0321] B27. The method of any of embodiments B11-B26, wherein one or more other logical channels comprise one or more guaranteed logical channels that are guaranteed to be allocated resources in a resource allocation procedure, and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that at least one guaranteed logical channel would not be allocated any resources in a resource allocation procedure.

[0322] B28. The method of any of embodiments B11-B27, wherein a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels in a priority order over multiple rounds of the resource allocation procedure, including a first round and one or more subsequent rounds, wherein one or more other logical channels comprise one or more guaranteed logical channels that are guaranteed to be allocated resources in a subsequent round of a resource allocation procedure, and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that at least one guaranteed logical channel would not be any allocated resources in a subsequent round of a resource allocation procedure.

[0323] B29. The method of any of embodiments B1-B28, wherein delay-critical traffic is traffic thathas a remaining time below a threshold, wherein the remaining time is a duration of time remaining before the traffic will be discarded.

[0324] B30. The method of any of embodiments B1-B29, wherein the delay-critical traffic is LCH priority-adjusted data.

[0325] B31. The method of any of embodiments B1-B6, wherein a resource allocation procedure allocates resources granted by a grant to logical channels in a priority order over first and second rounds of the resource allocation procedure, with different resource allocation procedures allocating resources granted by different grants, wherein the control signaling configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel in the second round of a subsequent resource allocation procedure after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel in the first round of a previous resource allocation procedure based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel as of a start of the first round of the previous resource allocation procedure.

[0326] B32. The method of any of embodiments B1-B31 , further comprising determining whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel, wherein the control signaling is based on said determining.

[0327] B33. The method of embodiment B32, wherein said determining is based on one or more of:

[0328] a type of traffic served on the logical channel; or

[0329] quality of service requirements of traffic on the logical channel.

[0330] Group C Embodiments

[0331] C1. A communication device configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0332] 02. A communication device comprising processing circuitry configured to any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0333] 03. A communication device comprising:

[0334] communication circuitry; andprocessing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0335] 04. A communication device comprising:

[0336] processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; and

[0337] power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the communication device.

[0338] 05. A communication device comprising:

[0339] processing circuitry and memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the communication device is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0340] 06. The communication device of any of embodiments 01-05, wherein the communication device is a wireless communication device.

[0341] 07. A user equipment (UE) comprising:

[0342] an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals;

[0343] radio front-end circuitry connected to the antenna and to processing circuitry, and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuitry;

[0344] the processing circuitry being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments;

[0345] an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow input of information into the UE to be processed by the processing circuitry; an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry; and

[0346] a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE.

[0347] 08. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a communication device, causes the communication device to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0348] 09. A carrier containing the computer program of embodiment 07, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storagemedium.

[0349] C10. A network node configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0350] C11. A network node comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0351] C12. A network node comprising:

[0352] communication circuitry; and

[0353] processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0354] 013. A network node comprising:

[0355] processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments;

[0356] power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the network node.

[0357] 014. A network node comprising:

[0358] processing circuitry and memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the network node is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0359] 015. The network node of any of embodiments 010-014, wherein the network node is a base station.

[0360] 016. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a network node, causes the network node to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0361] 017. The computer program of embodiment 016, wherein the network node is a base station.

[0362] 018. A carrier containing the computer program of any of embodiments 016-017, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method performed by a communication device (12) configured for use in a communication network (10), the method comprising:adjusting (602) a priority level of a logical channel (18) based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel (18);receiving (600), from the communication network (10), control signaling (22) that configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device (12) is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel (18); andmaking (604) a decision as to whether to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel (18) according to the control signaling (22).

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said adjusting comprises adjusting the priority level of the logical channel (18) from a first priority level to a second priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel (18), wherein the second priority level prioritizes the logical channel (18) higher than the first priority level, and wherein the control signaling (22) configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device (12) is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel (18) to a third priority level.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first priority level is a default priority level, and wherein the third priority level is the default priority level, such that the control signaling (22) configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device (12) is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel (18) back to the default priority level.

4. The method of any of claims 1-3, wherein a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels (18) in a priority order over multiple rounds of the resource allocation procedure, wherein said adjusting comprises adjusting the priority level of the logical channel (18) for a previous round of the resource allocation procedure based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel (18) as of a start of the previous round of the resource allocation procedure, wherein resources are allocated to logical channels (18) in a subsequent round if any resources remain after the previous round, and wherein the control signaling (22) configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device (12) is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel (18) for the subsequent round of the resource allocation procedure.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein resources are allocated to logical channels (18) based on a bucket size in the previous round and are allocated to logical channels (18) regardless of the bucket size in the subsequent round.

6. The method of any of claims 1-5, wherein the control signaling (22) indicates the one or more conditions.

7. The method of any of claims 1-6, wherein:at least one of the one or more conditions is a function of how much traffic was scheduled from the logical channel (18) after having adjusted the priority level of the logical channel (18) based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel (18);at least one of the one or more conditions is that a previous instance of a resource allocation procedure, which allocates resources to logical channels (18) in a priority order, considered traffic from only some logical channels (18);at least one of the one or more conditions is that the logical channel (18) has been served at least a threshold number of times by a resource allocation procedure which allocates resources to logical channels (18) in a priority order; and / orat least one of the one or more conditions is that the logical channel (18) has not been served by a resource allocation procedure, which allocates resources to logical channels (18) in a priority order, for at least a threshold duration of time.

8. The method of any of claims 1-7, wherein the priority level of the logical channel (18) is adjusted from a first priority level to a second priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel (18), wherein:at least one of the one or more conditions is that a duration of time for which the logical channel (18) has had the second priority level meets or exceeds a threshold duration; and / orat least one of the one or more conditions is that a duration of time since the priority level of the logical channel (18) was adjusted to the second priority level meets or exceeds a threshold duration.

9. The method of any of claims 1-8, wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that an amount of the delay-critical traffic remaining on the logical channel (18) is less thana threshold amount.

10. The method of any of claims 1-9, wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that a smallest delay budget or time remaining of the delay-critical traffic on the logical channel (18) is greater than a threshold.

11. The method of any of claims 1-10, wherein the priority level of the logical channel (18) is adjusted from a default priority level of the logical channel (18) to an adjusted priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel (18), and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that:one or more other logical channels (18) have a default priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel (18); orone or more other logical channels (18) have a default priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel (18) and have at least a threshold amount of data; orone or more other logical channels (18) have an adjusted priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel (18) or the adjusted priority level of the logical channel (18); orone or more other logical channels (18) have an adjusted priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel (18) or the adjusted priority level of the logical channel (18) and have at least a threshold amount of data.

12. The method of any of claims 1-11, wherein a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels (18) in a priority order over multiple rounds of the resource allocation procedure, and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that:the priority level of the logical channel (18) has not been re-adjusted in any previous round of the resource allocation procedure; ora number of consecutive rounds of the resource allocation procedure in which the priority level of the logical channel (18) has been re-adjusted is less than a threshold number of consecutive rounds.

13. The method of any of claims 1-12, wherein one or more other logical channels (18) comprise one or more guaranteed logical channels (18) that are guaranteed to be allocated resources, and wherein:at least one of the one or more conditions is that at least one guaranteed logical channel (18) would not be allocated any resources in a resource allocation procedure; orwherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that at least one guaranteed logical channel (18) would not be allocated any resources in a subsequent round of a resource allocation procedure that allocates resources to logical channels (18) in a priority order over multiple rounds of the resource allocation procedure, including a first round and one or more subsequent rounds.

14. The method of any of claims 1-13, further comprising, based on the decision being to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel (18), re-adjusting the priority level of the logical channel (18).

15. The method of any of claims 1-14, further comprising:determining a priority order of one or more logical channels (18) at the communication device (12), including the logical channel (18), based on one or more respective priority levels of the one or more logical channels (18); andallocating resources to the one or more logical channels (18) according to the determined priority order.

16. The method of any of claims 1-15, wherein a resource allocation procedure allocates resources granted by a grant to logical channels (18) in a priority order over first and second rounds of the resource allocation procedure, with different resource allocation procedures allocating resources granted by different grants, wherein said adjusting comprises adjusting the priority level of the logical channel (18) in the first round of a previous resource allocation procedure based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel (18) as of a start of the first round of the previous resource allocation procedure, and wherein the control signaling (22) configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device (12) is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel (18) in the second round of a subsequent resource allocation procedure.

17. A method performed by a network node (14) configured for use in a communication network (10), the method comprising:transmitting (700), to a communication device (12), control signaling (22) that configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device (12) is to re-adjust a priority level of a logical channel (18) after the communication device (12) has adjusted the priority level of the logical channel (18) based on delay-critical traffic being available on thelogical channel (18).

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the control signaling (22) configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device (12) is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel (18) to a third priority level after the communication device (12) has adjusted the priority level of the logical channel (18) from a first priority level to a second priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel (18), wherein the second priority level prioritizes the logical channel (18) higher than the first priority level.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first priority level is a default priority level, wherein the third priority level is the default priority level, such that the control signaling (22) configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device (12) is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel (18) back to the default priority level after the communication device (12) has adjusted the priority level of the logical channel (18) from the default priority level to the second priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel (18).

20. The method of any of claims 17-19, wherein a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels (18) in a priority order over multiple rounds of the resource allocation procedure, wherein the control signaling (22) configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device (12) is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel (18) for a subsequent round of the resource allocation procedure after the communication device (12) has adjusted the priority level of the logical channel (18) for a previous round of the resource allocation procedure based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel (18) as of a start of the previous round of the resource allocation procedure, wherein resources are allocated to logical channels (18) in the subsequent round if any resources remain after the previous round.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein resources are allocated to logical channels (18) based on a bucket size in the first round and are allocated to logical channels (18) regardless of the bucket size in the one or more subsequent rounds.

22. The method of any of claims 17-21, wherein the control signaling (22) indicates the one or more conditions.

23. The method of claim any of claims 17-22, wherein:at least one of the one or more conditions is a function of how much traffic was scheduled from the logical channel (18) after the communication device (12) adjusted the priority level of the logical channel (18) based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel (18);at least one of the one or more conditions is that a previous instance of a resource allocation procedure, which allocates resources to logical channels (18) in a priority order, considered traffic from only some logical channels (18); at least one of the one or more conditions is that the logical channel (18) has been served at least a threshold number of times by a resource allocation procedure which allocates resources to logical channels (18) in a priority order; and / orat least one of the one or more conditions is that the logical channel (18) has not been served by a resource allocation procedure, which allocates resources to logical channels (18) in a priority order, for at least a threshold duration of time.

24. The method of any of claims 17-23, wherein the priority level of the logical channel (18) is adjusted from a first priority level to a second priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel (18), wherein:at least one of the one or more conditions is that a duration of time for which the logical channel (18) has had the second priority level meets or exceeds a threshold duration; and / orat least one of the one or more conditions is that a duration of time since the priority level of the logical channel (18) was adjusted to the second priority level meets or exceeds a threshold duration.

25. The method of any of claims 17-24, wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that an amount of the delay-critical traffic remaining on the logical channel (18) is less than a threshold amount.

26. The method of any of claims 17-25, wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that a smallest delay budget or time remaining of the delay-critical traffic on the logical channel (18) is greater than a threshold.

27. The method of any of claims 17-26, wherein the priority level of the logical channel (18) is adjusted from a default priority level of the logical channel (18) to an adjusted priority level based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel (18), and whereinat least one of the one or more conditions is that:one or more other logical channels (18) have a default priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel (18); orone or more other logical channels (18) have a default priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel (18) and have at least a threshold amount of data; orone or more other logical channels (18) have an adjusted priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel (18) or the adjusted priority level of the logical channel (18); orone or more other logical channels (18) have an adjusted priority level higher than the default priority level of the logical channel (18) or the adjusted priority level of the logical channel (18) and have at least a threshold amount of data.

28. The method of any of claims 17-27, wherein a resource allocation procedure allocates resources to logical channels (18) in a priority order over multiple rounds of the resource allocation procedure, and wherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that:the priority level of the logical channel (18) has not been re-adjusted in any previous round of the resource allocation procedure; ora number of consecutive rounds of the resource allocation procedure in which the priority level of the logical channel (18) has been re-adjusted is less than a threshold number of consecutive rounds.

29. The method of any of claims 17-28, wherein one or more other logical channels (18) comprise one or more guaranteed logical channels (18) that are guaranteed to be allocated resources, and wherein:at least one of the one or more conditions is that at least one guaranteed logical channel (18) would not be allocated any resources in a resource allocation procedure; orwherein at least one of the one or more conditions is that at least one guaranteed logical channel (18) would not be allocated any resources in a subsequent round of a resource allocation procedure that allocates resources to logical channels (18) in a priority order over multiple rounds of the resource allocation procedure, including a first round and one or more subsequent rounds.

30. The method of any of claims 17-29, further comprising determining whether and / orunder what one or more conditions the communication device (12) is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel (18) after the communication device (12) has adjusted the priority level of the logical channel (18) based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel (18), wherein said determining is based on one or more of a type of traffic served on the logical channel (18) or quality of service requirements of traffic on the logical channel (18), wherein the control signaling (22) is based on said determining.

31. A communication device (12) configured for use in a communication network (10), the communication device (12) configured to:adjust a priority level of a logical channel (18) based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel (18);receive, from the communication network (10), control signaling (22) that configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device (12) is to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel (18); and make a decision as to whether to re-adjust the priority level of the logical channel (18) according to the control signaling (22).

32. The communication device (12) of claim 31 , configured to perform the method of any of claims 2-16.

33. A network node (14) configured for use in a communication network (10), the network node (14) configured to:transmit, to a communication device (12), control signaling (22) that configures whether and / or under what one or more conditions the communication device (12) is to re-adjust a priority level of a logical channel (18) after the communication device (12) has adjusted the priority level of the logical channel (18) based on delay-critical traffic being available on the logical channel (18).

34. The network node (14) of claim 33, configured to perform the method of any of claims 18-30.

35. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a communication device (12), causes the communication device (12) to perform the method of any of claims 1-16.

36. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by at least oneprocessor of a network node (14), causes the network node (14) to perform the method of any of claims 16-30.

37. A carrier containing the computer program of any of claims 35-36, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium.

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