Method and apparatus for controlling rate in a wireless communication system

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a 5G or 6G communication system for supporting a higher data transmission rate. According to various embodiments, a method performed by a base station, the method comprising: receiving, from a core network entity, a protocol data unit (PDU) session resource request message including first information on quality of service (QoS) parameters for a QoS flow, wherein the first information includes an indication indicating that the QoS flow allows bit rate adaptation in an uplink (UL) direction.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING RATE IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

[0001] The application relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and specifically to methods and apparatus for controlling a rate.

[0002] 5G mobile communication technologies define broad frequency bands such that high transmission rates and new services are possible, and can be implemented not only in “Sub 6GHz” bands such as 3.5GHz, but also in “Above 6GHz” bands referred to as mmWave including 28GHz and 39GHz. In addition, it has been considered to implement 6G mobile communication technologies (referred to as Beyond 5G systems) in terahertz (THz) bands (for example, 95GHz to 3THz bands) in order to accomplish transmission rates fifty times faster than 5G mobile communication technologies and ultra-low latencies one-tenth of 5G mobile communication technologies.

[0003] At the beginning of the development of 5G mobile communication technologies, in order to support services and to satisfy performance requirements in connection with enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB), Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC), and massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC), there has been ongoing standardization regarding beamforming and massive MIMO for mitigating radio-wave path loss and increasing radio-wave transmission distances in mmWave, supporting numerologies (for example, operating multiple subcarrier spacings) for efficiently utilizing mmWave resources and dynamic operation of slot formats, initial access technologies for supporting multi-beam transmission and broadbands, definition and operation of BWP (BandWidth Part), new channel coding methods such as a LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) code for large amount of data transmission and a polar code for highly reliable transmission of control information, L2 pre-processing, and network slicing for providing a dedicated network specialized to a specific service.

[0004] Currently, there are ongoing discussions regarding improvement and performance enhancement of initial 5G mobile communication technologies in view of services to be supported by 5G mobile communication technologies, and there has been physical layer standardization regarding technologies such as V2X (Vehicle-to-everything) for aiding driving determination by autonomous vehicles based on information regarding positions and states of vehicles transmitted by the vehicles and for enhancing user convenience, NR-U (New Radio Unlicensed) aimed at system operations conforming to various regulation-related requirements in unlicensed bands, NR UE Power Saving, Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) which is UE-satellite direct communication for providing coverage in an area in which communication with terrestrial networks is unavailable, and positioning.

[0005] Moreover, there has been ongoing standardization in air interface architecture / protocol regarding technologies such as Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) for supporting new services through interworking and convergence with other industries, IAB (Integrated Access and Backhaul) for providing a node for network service area expansion by supporting a wireless backhaul link and an access link in an integrated manner, mobility enhancement including conditional handover and DAPS (Dual Active Protocol Stack) handover, and two-step random access for simplifying random access procedures (2-step RACH for NR). There also has been ongoing standardization in system architecture / service regarding a 5G baseline architecture (for example, service based architecture or service based interface) for combining Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) technologies, and Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) for receiving services based on UE positions.

[0006] As 5G mobile communication systems are commercialized, connected devices that have been exponentially increasing will be connected to communication networks, and it is accordingly expected that enhanced functions and performances of 5G mobile communication systems and integrated operations of connected devices will be necessary. To this end, new research is scheduled in connection with eXtended Reality (XR) for efficiently supporting AR (Augmented Reality), VR (Virtual Reality), MR (Mixed Reality) and the like, 5G performance improvement and complexity reduction by utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), AI service support, metaverse service support, and drone communication.

[0007] Furthermore, such development of 5G mobile communication systems will serve as a basis for developing not only new waveforms for providing coverage in terahertz bands of 6G mobile communication technologies, multi-antenna transmission technologies such as Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas and large-scale antennas, metamaterial-based lenses and antennas for improving coverage of terahertz band signals, high-dimensional space multiplexing technology using OAM (Orbital Angular Momentum), and RIS (Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface), but also full-duplex technology for increasing frequency efficiency of 6G mobile communication technologies and improving system networks, AI-based communication technology for implementing system optimization by utilizing satellites and AI (Artificial Intelligence) from the design stage and internalizing end-to-end AI support functions, and next-generation distributed computing technology for implementing services at levels of complexity exceeding the limit of UE operation capability by utilizing ultra-high-performance communication and computing resources.

[0008] In order to meet an increasing demand for wireless data communication services since a deployment of 4G communication system, efforts have been made to develop an improved 5G or pre-5G communication system. Therefore, the 5G or pre-5G communication system is also called “beyond 4G network” or “post LTE system”.

[0009] Wireless communication is one of the most successful innovations in modern history. Recently, a number of subscribers of wireless communication services has exceeded 5 billion, and it continues growing rapidly. With the increasing popularity of smart phones and other mobile data devices (such as tablet computers, notebook computers, netbooks, e-book readers and machine-type devices) in consumers and enterprises, a demand for wireless data services is growing rapidly. In order to meet rapid growth of mobile data services and support new applications and deployments, it is very important to improve efficiency and coverage of wireless interfaces.

[0010] The embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods and apparatus for controlling a rate.

[0011] In a first aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method performed by a first node in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: receiving a first message transmitted by a second node, wherein the first message comprises a first UL data / bit rate, wherein the first UL data / bit rate comprises a UL data / bit rate on a per DRB level and / or a recommended UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level, and the first UL data / bit rate is used to indicate a bitrate used by a user equipment to transmit UL data when a network congestion occurs; and transmitting a second message to the second node, wherein the second message comprises a second UL data / bit rate and second time information, wherein the second UL data / bit rate comprises a UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level, the second UL data / bit rate is used to indicate the UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level used by the user equipment to transmit the UL data when the network congestion occurs, and the second time information is used to indicate time related information of a UL data / bit rate control.

[0012] In some embodiments, the second message further comprises second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used to indicate a QoS flow ID supporting the UL data / bit rate control.

[0013] In some embodiments, the second indication information and / or the second UL data / bit rate are obtained from a core network, and the second indication information and / or the second UL data / bit rate are contained in a PDU Session Resource Setup Request message and / or a PDU Session Resource Modify Request message.

[0014] In some embodiments, the first node comprises a control plane portion and a user plane portion, and the second message further comprises second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used to indicate a QoS flow ID supporting the UL data / bit rate control; and the method further comprises: transmitting, by the user plane portion, the second indication information and / or the second UL data / bit rate to the control plane portion; or transmitting, by the control plane portion, the second indication information and / or the second UL data / bit rate to the user plane portion.

[0015] In some embodiments, the transmitting a second message to the second node comprises: adding, by the user plane portion, the second indication information and / or the second UL data / bit rate to a GTP-U header; and transmitting the GTP-U header to the second node.

[0016] In some embodiments, the method further comprises: transmitting a first RRC message to the user equipment, wherein the first RRC message comprises at least one of: second indication information, the second UL data / bit rate and the second time information, wherein the second indication information is used to indicate a QoS flow ID supporting the UL data / bit rate control.

[0017] In some embodiments, the first message further comprises first time information, and the first time information is used to indicate time related information applied for the UL data / bit rate on a per DRB level and / or the recommended UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level; and before the transmitting a first RRC message to the user equipment, the method further comprises: determining the second time information based on the first time information.

[0018] In some embodiments, the first message further comprises third indication information, wherein the third indication information is used to indicate a DRB ID at which the UL data / bit rate control is cancelled or an uplink network congestion is resolved; and the method further comprises: transmitting a second RRC message to the user equipment, wherein the second RRC message comprises the third indication information and / or fourth indication information, wherein the fourth indication information is used to indicate a QoS flow ID at which the UL data / bit rate control is cancelled or the uplink network congestion is resolved.

[0019] In a second aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method performed by a second node in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: transmitting a first message to a first node, wherein the first message comprises a first UL data / bit rate, wherein the first UL data / bit rate comprises a UL data / bit rate on a per DRB level and / or a recommended UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level, and the first UL data / bit rate is used to indicate a bitrate used by a user equipment to transmit UL data when a network congestion occurs; receiving a second message transmitted by the first node, wherein the second message comprises a second UL data / bit rate and second time information, wherein the second UL data / bit rate comprises a UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level, the second UL data / bit rate is used to indicate the UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level used by the user equipment to transmit the UL data when the network congestion occurs, and the second time information is used to indicate time related information of a UL data / bit rate control; and transmitting a third message to the user equipment, wherein the third message is used to indicate that the user equipment performs the UL data / bit rate control, and the third message comprises at least one of: the second UL data / bit rate, the second time information, first indication information and second indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates a DRB ID at which the UL data / bit rate control is performed or the network congestion occurs, and the second indication information is used to indicate a QoS flow ID supporting the UL data / bit rate control.

[0020] In some embodiments, the method further comprises: receiving second indication information transmitted by the first node, wherein the second indication information is used to indicate a QoS flow ID supporting the UL data / bit rate control; and determining, according to the second indication information, the first UL data / bit rate applied to the QoS flow ID indicated by the second indication information.

[0021] In some embodiments, the second message further comprises fourth indication information, and the fourth indication information is used to indicate a QoS flow ID at which the UL data / bit rate control is cancelled or an uplink network congestion is resolved, and the method further comprises: transmitting a fourth message to the user equipment, wherein the fourth message is used to indicate a DRB ID and / or a QoS flow ID at which the user equipment stops the UL data / bit rate control.

[0022] In some embodiments, the first message further comprises third indication information, and the third indication information is used to indicate a DRB ID at which the user equipment stops the UL data / bit rate control, and the fourth indication information is determined by the first node based on the third indication information.

[0023] In a third aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method performed by a user equipment in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: performing a UL data / bit rate control, in response to receiving a third message transmitted by a second node and / or a first RRC message transmitted by a first node, according to a second UL data / bit rate in the third message and / or the first RRC message, wherein the third message is used to indicate a DRB ID and / or a QoS flow ID at which the user equipment performs the UL data / bit rate control, and the first RRC message comprises at least one of: second indication information, the second UL data / bit rate and second time information, wherein the second indication information is used to indicate a QoS flow ID supporting the UL data / bit rate control, and the second time information is used to indicate time related information of the UL data / bit rate control; and the second UL data / bit rate is used to indicate a UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level used by the user equipment to transmit UL data when a network congestion occurs, wherein the second UL data / bit rate is determined by the first node based on a first UL data / bit rate, and the first UL data / bit rate is obtained from a first message transmitted by the second node to the first node, wherein the first UL data / bit rate comprises a UL data / bit rate on a per DRB level and / or a recommended UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level.

[0024] In some embodiments, the third message comprises the second time information; and the method further comprises: starting a timer according to the second time information; and stopping the UL data / bit rate control for a QoS flow ID and / or a DRB ID to which the second time information is applied, in response to detecting that the timer expires.

[0025] In some embodiments, the method further comprises: cancelling a UL data / bit rate control for a QoS flow ID and / or a DRB ID indicated by the fourth message in response to a fourth message being received, wherein the fourth message is used to indicate a QoS flow ID and / or a DRB ID at which the user equipment stops the UL data / bit rate control.

[0026] In a fourth aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method performed by a core network in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: transmitting a PDU Session Resource Setup Request message and / or a PDU Session Resource Modify Request message to a first node, wherein second indication information and / or a second UL data / bit rate are added to a QoS Parameters Information Element in the PDU Session Resource Setup Request message and / or the PDU Session Resource Modify Request message; and receiving a PDU Session Resource Setup Response message and / or a PDU Session Resource Modify Response message transmitted by the first node.

[0027] In a fifth aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a first node, comprising: a transceiver; and a processor, coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform the method according to any paragraph in the first aspect.

[0028] In a sixth aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a second node, comprising: a transceiver; and a processor, coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform the method according to any paragraph in the second aspect.

[0029] In a seventh aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a user equipment, comprising: a transceiver; and a processor, coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform the method according to any paragraph in the third aspect.

[0030] In an eighth aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a core network, comprising: a transceiver; and a processor, coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform the method according to any paragraph in the fourth aspect.

[0031] In a ninth aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a computer readable storage medium, storing a computer program. The computer program, when executed by a processor, implements any one of the methods described above.

[0032] According to the methods and apparatus for controlling a rate provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the UL data / bit rate control of the UE is implemented through the information interaction between the first node and the second node.

[0033] The method provided in the application improve the performance of HARQ reporting of the communication system.

[0034] Aspects of the present disclosure provide efficient communication methods in a wireless communication system.

[0035] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system architecture of system architecture evolution;

[0036] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary system architecture of a 5G system;

[0037] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary structure of a base station;

[0038] FIG. 4A illustrates an example of a message processing procedure of a CU;

[0039] FIG. 4B illustrates an example of a message processing procedure of a DU;

[0040] FIG. 5 illustrates an example in which signaling is enhanced in a PDU session resource setup / modify procedure;

[0041] FIG. 6A illustrates an example in which a core network actively transmits information related to a QoS flow ID at which a UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied;

[0042] FIG. 6B illustrates another example in which the core network actively transmits the information related to the QoS flow ID at which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied;

[0043] FIG. 6C illustrates an example in which a base station transmits a request for the information related to the QoS flow ID;

[0044] FIG. 6D illustrates another example in which the base station transmits the request for information related to the QoS flow ID;

[0045] FIG. 7A illustrates an example in which a core network decides a UL data / bit rate;

[0046] FIG. 7B illustrates another example in which the core network decides the UL data / bit rate;

[0047] FIG. 8A illustrates an example in which a CU decides a UL data / bit rate;

[0048] FIG. 8B illustrates another example in which the CU decides the UL data / bit rate;

[0049] FIG. 8C illustrates an example in which a CU-UP decides the UL data / bit rate;

[0050] FIG. 8D illustrates an example in which the CU-UP transmits the UL data / bit rate to a DU;

[0051] FIG. 8E illustrates an example in which the UL data / bit rate is transmitted through a GTP-U extension header;

[0052] FIG. 8F illustrates another example in which the UL data / bit rate is transmitted through the GTP-U extension header;

[0053] FIG. 9 illustrates an example in which a DU decides a UL data / bit rate;

[0054] FIG. 10A illustrates an example in which a CU decides to cancel a UL data / bit rate;

[0055] FIG. 10B illustrates another example in which the CU decides to cancel the UL data / bit rate;

[0056] FIG. 10C illustrates an example in which a DU decides to cancel a UL data / bit rate;

[0057] FIG. 10D illustrates another example in which the DU decides to cancel the UL data / bit rate;

[0058] FIG. 11A illustrates an example in which DL PDU Set marking without PDU Set QoS is supported;

[0059] FIG. 11B illustrates another example in which the DL PDU Set marking without PDU Set QoS is supported;

[0060] FIG. 12A is an example in which a base station supports the reporting of an available data / bit rate; and

[0061] FIG. 12B is another example in which the base station supports the reporting of the available data / bit rate.

[0062] FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a terminal or user equipment (UE) according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

[0063] FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a base station (BS) according to an embodiment of the disclosure; and

[0064] FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a network entity according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0065] Hereinafter, embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0066] In describing the embodiments, descriptions related to technical contents well-known in the art and not associated directly with the disclosure will be omitted. Such an omission of unnecessary descriptions is intended to prevent obscuring of the main idea of the disclosure and more clearly transfer the main idea.

[0067] For the same reason, in the accompanying drawings, some elements may be exaggerated, omitted, or schematically illustrated. Further, the size of each element does not completely reflect the actual size. In the drawings, identical or corresponding elements are provided with identical reference numerals or different reference numerals.

[0068] The advantages and features of the disclosure and ways to achieve them will be apparent by making reference to embodiments as described below in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the disclosure is not limited to the embodiments set forth below, but may be implemented in various different forms. The following embodiments are provided only to completely disclose the disclosure and inform those skilled in the art of the scope of the disclosure, and the disclosure is defined only by the scope of the appended claims. Throughout the specification, the same or like reference numerals designate the same or like elements. Furthermore, in describing the disclosure, a detailed description of known functions or constitution incorporated herein will be omitted in the case that it is determined that the description may make the subject matter of the disclosure unnecessarily unclear. The terms which will be described below are terms defined in consideration of the functions in the disclosure, and may be different according to users, intentions of the operators, or customs. Therefore, the definitions of the terms should be made based on the contents throughout the specification.

[0069] Herein, it will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations, may be performed based on computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded collectively onto at least one processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which perform through any one of, or in any combination of, the at least one processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for performing the functions specified in the flowchart block(s). These computer program instructions may also be stored in a non-transitory computer usable or computer-readable memory that may direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer usable or computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that perform the function specified in the flowchart block(s). The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a computer executed process such that the instructions that perform on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus provide steps for executing the functions specified in the flowchart block(s).

[0070] Further, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which includes one or more executable instructions for executing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order. For example, two blocks(or functions) shown in succession may in fact be performed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be performed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved.

[0071] As used in embodiments of the disclosure, a “~unit” may refer to a software element or a hardware element, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), which performs a predetermined function. However, the term including the word “~unit” does not always have a meaning limited to software or hardware. The “~unit” may be constructed either to be stored in an addressable storage medium or to execute one or more processors. Therefore, the “~unit” includes, for example, software elements, object-oriented software elements, components such as class elements and task elements, processes, functions, properties, procedures, sub-routines, segments of a program code, drivers, firmware, micro-codes, circuits, data, database, data structures, tables, arrays, and parameters. The components and functions provided by the “~unit” may be either combined into a smaller number of components and a “~unit,” or divided into additional components and a “~unit.” Moreover, the components and “~units” may be implemented to reproduce one or more central processing units (CPUs) within a device or a security multimedia card. Further, in the embodiments, the “~unit” may include one or more processors.

[0072] It should be appreciated that the blocks in each flowchart and combinations of the flowcharts may be performed by one or more computer programs which include instructions. The entirety of the one or more computer programs may be stored in a single memory device or the one or more computer programs may be divided with different portions stored in different multiple memory devices.

[0073] Any of the functions or operations described herein can be processed by one processor or a combination of processors. The one processor or the combination of processors is circuitry performing processing and includes circuitry like an application processor (AP, e.g. a CPU), a communication processor (CP, e.g., a modem), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a neural processing unit (NPU) (e.g., an artificial intelligence (AI) chip), a Wi-Fi chip, a Bluetooth® chip, a global positioning system (GPS) chip, a near field communication (NFC) chip, connectivity chips, a sensor controller, a touch controller, a finger-print sensor controller, a display driver integrated circuit (IC), an audio CODEC chip, a universal serial bus (USB) controller, a camera controller, an image processing IC, a microprocessor unit (MPU), a system on chip (SoC), an IC, or the like.

[0074] It will be appreciated that various embodiments of the disclosure according to the claims and description in the specification can be realized in the form of hardware, software or a combination of hardware and software.

[0075] Any such software may be stored in non-transitory computer readable storage media. The non-transitory computer readable storage media store one or more computer programs (software modules), the one or more computer programs include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to perform a method of the disclosure.

[0076] Any such software may be stored in the form of volatile or non-volatile storage such as, for example, a storage device like read only memory (ROM), whether erasable or rewritable or not, or in the form of memory such as, for example, random access memory (RAM), memory chips, device or integrated circuits or on an optically or magnetically readable medium such as, for example, a compact disk (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), magnetic disk or magnetic tape or the like. It will be appreciated that the storage devices and storage media are various embodiments of non-transitory machine-readable storage that are suitable for storing a computer program or computer programs comprising instructions that, when executed, implement various embodiments of the disclosure. Accordingly, various embodiments of the present disclosure may provide a program comprising code for implementing apparatus or a method as claimed in any one of the claims of this specification and a non-transitory machine-readable storage storing such a program.

[0077] Hereinafter, the determination of priority between A and B in the present disclosure may refer to various actions such as selecting the one having a higher priority based on a predefined priority rule and performing an operation corresponding thereto, or omitting or dropping an operation corresponding to the one having a lower priority.

[0078] Hereinafter, "A or B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0079] In addition, "at least one of A, B, and C" as described in the present disclosure may be understood to include A, or B, or C, or any combination of A, B, and C.

[0080] In addition, "at least one of A, B, or C" as described in the present disclosure may be understood to include A, or B, or C, or any combination of A, B, and C.

[0081] Furthermore, "A / B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0082] Furthermore, "A, B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0083] Furthermore, "A and B" as described in the present disclosure may be understood as "A and / or B," which may include A, or B, or both A and B.

[0084] Furthermore, “if condition A and condition B are satisfied,” as described in the present disclosure, may not be limited to a case where both condition A and condition B are satisfied, but may be understood to include a case where either condition A or condition B is individually satisfied, both condition A and condition B are satisfied, or one or more additional conditions are satisfied in combination.

[0085] Furthermore, throughout this disclosure, ordinal terms such as "first," "second," "third," etc., (and similar qualifiers) are used merely to distinguish between different instances, occurrences, configurations, messages, stages, or aspects of elements, operations, or information as described herein. Unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, the use of such ordinal terms does not itself require that the elements, operations, or information distinguished by these terms be structurally different, numerically distinct, or substantively dissimilar. For example, a "first signal" and a "second signal" may refer to instances of the same signal transmitted at different times or containing the same core information despite minor variations, or they may refer to signals with different content or characteristics, depending on the specific context. Similarly, a "first value" and a "second value" may represent the same magnitude but measured or applied in different circumstances, or they may represent different magnitudes. The interpretation should be guided by the specific technical context, function, and relationship described in the relevant portion of the specification and claims.

[0086] Furthermore, the terms “first ~”, “second ~”, etc., as described in the present disclosure with respect to various elements (e.g., information, objects, operation, sequences, or the like), should not limit those elements. These terms may only be intended to distinguish one element from another, and may not be intended to indicate a specific order. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element.

[0087] Furthermore, even if “first ~” and “second ~” are described in the present disclosure, it may be understood that element(s) referred to by “first ~” and “second ~” may be the same or different. For example, in case of element(s) being information, first information and second information may both be same information and, in some cases, are separate and different information.

[0088] In addition, the terms “if ~” and “in case that ~” as used in the disclosure or claims may be interpreted to include the meanings of “when (or upon) ~,” “in response to ~,” “based on ~,” or “according to ~,” and may be used interchangeably with these expressions. In addition, expressions other than those exemplified herein may also be used, as long as they have substantially the same meaning and do not impair the technical features of the present disclosure.

[0089] For example, the physical layer signaling may be referred to as Layer 1 (L1) signaling and may include downlink control information (DCI). In addition, the higher layer signaling may include a medium access control (MAC) control message, a radio resource control (RRC) signaling message, a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling message, or an application layer message. The RRC signaling message may be referred to as L3 (layer 3) signaling. It should be noted, however, that the higher layer signaling is not limited to the aforementioned examples.

[0090] In addition, the term "not perform" as used in the present disclosure or claims may, in context, be understood to mean that the corresponding step is omitted or skipped. Such a term may be replaced with other terms having the same or substantially equivalent meaning.

[0091] In addition, "transmitting a message including A and B" as described in the present disclosure, may be understood as encompassing both (i) transmitting A and B in a single message, and (ii) transmitting A and B separately via multiple messages (e.g., transmitting a first message including A and a second message including B). This interpretation may also apply to messages that include two or more items (e.g., A, B, C), transmitted either together or separately.

[0092] In addition, "transmitting a message including A and transmitting a message including B" may also be interpreted as transmitting a message including A and B in a single message.

[0093] In the specific embodiments of the present disclosure described below, terms or components included in the disclosure may be expressed in singular or plural form depending on the specific embodiments presented. However, such singular or plural expressions are selected appropriately for convenience of description, and the present disclosure is not limited to a singular or plural number of components. A component expressed in the plural form may be implemented as a single component, and a component expressed in the singular form may be implemented as multiple components.

[0094] The drawings or flowcharts described below illustrate exemplary methods that may be implemented according to the principles of the present disclosure, and various modifications may be made to the methods illustrated in the flowcharts of the present disclosure. For example, although illustrated as a series of steps, various steps in each drawing or flowchart may overlap, occur in parallel, occur in a different order, or be repeated. In other examples, any step may be omitted or replaced with another step.

[0095] The methods and apparatuses proposed in the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to each embodiment individually, but may also be applied in combination of all or some of the embodiments proposed in the disclosure. Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure may be modified and applied without significantly departing from the scope of the present disclosure, as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

[0096] In this case, even if certain wordings are described differently across embodiments, they may be used interchangeably or in substitution or in combination if their underlying concepts are equivalent. For example, for the same or equivalent concept, even if one embodiment uses the expression "A" and another embodiment uses the expression "B", such expressions may be understood interchangeably, in substitution, or in combination.

[0097] The terms used in the following description to refer to access nodes, network entities, messages, interfaces between network entities, various types of identification information, and the like, are provided merely for the convenience of explanation by way of example. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the terms described below, and other terms having equivalent technical meanings may also be used. Such terms may also be interchangeable with terms defined in any 3rd generation partnership project　(3GPP) technical specifications (TS) where appropriate.

[0098] Hereinafter, a base station is an entity that allocates resources to terminals, and may be at least one of a gNode B, an eNode B, a Node B, a base station (BS), a wireless access unit, a BS controller, or a node on a network.

[0099] Furthermore, the base station of the present disclosure may include a split architecture comprising a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU). In this structure, the CU is configured to process the higher layers of the control and user planes, while the DU is configured to process lower-layer radio resource functions. The embodiments of the present disclosure may be equally applicable to 5G base station architectures in which such CU and DU functional splits are implemented.

[0100] A terminal may include a UE, a mobile station (MS), a cellular phone, a smartphone, a computer, or a multimedia system capable of performing communication functions.

[0101] In the disclosure, a downlink (DL) refers to a radio link through which a BS transmits a signal to a UE, and an uplink (UL) refers to a radio link through which a UE transmits a signal to a BS.

[0102] Furthermore, hereinafter, 5th generation (5G) mobile communication technologies (e.g., 5G new radio (NR)), 6th generation (6G) mobile communication technologies may be described by way of example, but the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other communication systems having similar technical backgrounds or channel types. For example, newly evolved mobile communication systems developed after 5G and 6G may be included. Furthermore, based on determinations by those skilled in the art, the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other communication systems (e.g., Wi-Fi systems) through some modifications without significantly departing from the scope of the present disclosure

[0103] In the following description, the terms physical channel and signal may be used interchangeably with data or control signal. For example, the term physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) refers to a physical channel through which data is transmitted, but the term PDSCH may also be used to refer to the data itself. That is, in the present disclosure, the expression "transmit a physical channel" may be interpreted as being equivalent to the expression "transmit data or a signal via a physical channel."

[0104] Hereinafter, in the context of the present disclosure, higher layer signaling may refer to signaling corresponding to at least one or any combination of the following: master information block (MIB), system information block (SIB) or SIB M (M = 1, 2, ...), radio resource control (RRC), or medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or a non-access stratum (NAS) signaling message, or an application layer message. The RRC signaling message may be referred to as L3 (layer 3) signaling.

[0105] In addition, L1 signaling may refer to signaling corresponding to at least one or any combination of signaling techniques using the at least one or any combination of the following physical layer channels or signaling: physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), downlink control information (DCI), user equipment (UE)-specific DCI, group-common DCI, common DCI, scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI used for scheduling downlink or uplink data), non-scheduling DCI (e.g., DCI not used for scheduling downlink or uplink data) physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), or uplink control information (UCI). The L1 signaling message may be referred to as a physical layer signaling.

[0106] Hereinafter, the expression that information is configured by the BS, as used in the present disclosure or claims, may, in context, be understood to mean that the terminal receives the corresponding information from the BS via a physical layer signaling or a higher layer signaling. Such an expression may be replaced with other terms having the same or substantially equivalent meaning.

[0107] Hereinafter, the operational principle of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0108] The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of various embodiments of the present disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the various embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

[0109] The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of various embodiments of the present disclosure is provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0110] It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a component surface” includes reference to one or more of such surfaces.

[0111] The term “include” or “may include” refers to the existence of a corresponding disclosed function, operation or component which can be used in various embodiments of the present disclosure and does not limit one or more additional functions, operations, or components. The terms such as “include” and / or “have” may be construed to denote a certain characteristic, number, step, operation, constituent element, component or a combination thereof, but may not be construed to exclude the existence of or a possibility of addition of one or more other characteristics, numbers, steps, operations, constituent elements, components or combinations thereof.

[0112] The term “or” used in various embodiments of the present disclosure includes any or all of combinations of listed words. For example, the expression “A or B” may include A, may include B, or may include both A and B.

[0113] Unless defined differently, all terms used herein, which include technical terminologies or scientific terminologies, have the same meaning as that understood by a person skilled in the art to which the present disclosure belongs. Such terms as those defined in a generally used dictionary are to be interpreted to have the meanings equal to the contextual meanings in the relevant field of art, and are not to be interpreted to have ideal or excessively formal meanings unless clearly defined in the present disclosure.

[0114] The figures discussed below and various embodiments for describing the principles of the present disclosure in this patent document are only for illustration and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the disclosure in any way. Those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the present disclosure can be implemented in any suitably arranged system or device.

[0115] FIG. 1 is an exemplary system architecture 100 of system architecture evolution (SAE). User equipment (UE) 101 is a terminal device for receiving data. An evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) 102 is a radio access network, which includes a macro base station (eNodeB / NodeB) that provides UE with interfaces to access the radio network. A mobility management entity (MME) 103 is responsible for managing mobility context, session context and security information of the UE. A serving gateway (SGW) 104 mainly provides functions of user plane, and the MME 103 and the SGW 104 may be in the same physical entity. A packet data network gateway (PGW) 105 is responsible for functions of charging, lawful interception, etc., and may be in the same physical entity as the SGW 104. A policy and charging rules function (PCRF) entity 106 provides quality of service (QoS) policies and charging criteria. A general packet radio service support node (SGSN) 108 is a network node device that provides routing for data transmission in a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS). A home subscriber server (HSS)109 is a home subsystem of the UE, and is responsible for protecting user information including a current location of the user equipment, an address of a serving node, user security information, and packet data context of the user equipment, etc.

[0116] FIG. 2 is an exemplary system architecture 200 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Other embodiments of the system architecture 200 can be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0117] User equipment (UE) 201 is a terminal device for receiving data. A next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) 202 is a radio access network, which includes a base station (a gNB or an eNB connected to 5G core network 5GC, and the eNB connected to the 5GC is also called ng-gNB) that provides UE with interfaces to access the radio network. An access and mobility management function (AMF) entity 203 is responsible for managing mobility context and security information of the UE. A user plane function (UPF) entity 204 mainly provides functions of user plane. A session management function (SMF) entity 205 is responsible for session management. A data network (DN) 206 includes, for example, services of operators, access of Internet and service of third parties.

[0118] An XR service generally includes an audio, a video, and control information related to some touch or action. To support the XR service, the network generally needs to allocate relative more resources to an XR user. Therefore, it is required to enhance the transmission of UL data.

[0119] In an NR system, to support the virtualization of network functions and more efficient resource management and scheduling, the base station (gNB / ng-eNB) which provides a wireless network interface for a terminal (UE) may be further divided into a gNB central unit / ng-eNB central unit (gNB-CU / ng-eNB-CU) and a distributed unit gNB-DU / ng-eNB-DU (gNB distributed unit / ng-eNB distributed unit), which are simply referred to as CU and DU in the present disclosure, as shown in (a) of FIG. 3. The gNB-CU has a radio resource control (RRC) layer, a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, etc. The ng-eNB-CU has an RRC layer, and a PDCP layer. The gNB-DU / ng-eNB-DU has a radio link control protocol (RLC), a medium access control (MAC), a physical layer, etc. There is a standardized public interface F1 between the gNB-CU and the gNB-DU, and there is a standardized public interface W1 between the ng-eNB-CU and the ng-eNB-DU. The F1 interface is divided into a control plane F1-C and a user plane F1-U. The transport network layer of the F1-C performs an IP-based transmission. To more reliably transmit signaling, the SCTP protocol is added on top of IP. The application layer protocol is an F1AP (see 3GPP TS38.473). The SCTP may provide reliable application layer message transmission. The transport layer of the F1-U is UDP / IP. GTP-U, which is on top of UDP / IP, is used to carry a user plane protocol data unit (PDU). Further, for the gNB-CU, as shown in (b) of FIG. 3, the gNB-CU may include a gNB-CU-CP (a control plane portion of the central unit of the base station) and a gNB-CU-UP (a user plane portion of the central unit of the base station). The gNB-CU-CP involves the functions of the control plane of the base station, and has the RRC layer and PDCP protocol layers. The gNB-CU-UP involves the functions of the user plane of the base station, and has the SDAP and PDCP protocol layers. There is a standardized public interface E1 between the gNB-CU-CP and the gNB-CU-UP, and the protocol is an E1AP (see 3GPP TS38.463). The interface between the control plane portion of the central unit of the base station and the distributed unit of the base station is an F1-C interface, i.e., the control plane interface of the F1. The interface between the user plane portion of the central unit of the base station and the distributed unit of the base station is an F1-U interface, i.e., the user plane interface of the F1. In addition, in the NR system, the base stations accessing the 5G core network and providing the user plane and the control plane of an E-UTRA is referred to as an ng-eNB. In order to support the virtualization, the base station (ng-eNB) may also be further divided into a central unit ng-eNB-CU (gNB central unit / ng-eNB central unit) and a distributed unit ng-eNB-DU (gNB distributed unit / ng-eNB distributed unit), which are simply referred to as CU and DU in the present disclosure, as shown in (c) of FIG. 3. The ng-eNB-CU has the RRC and PDCP layers. The gNB-DU / ng-eNB-DU has a radio link control protocol (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, a physical layer, and the like. There is a standardized public interface W1 between the ng-eNB-CU and the ng-eNB-DU. The W1 interface is divided into a control plane W1-C and a user plane W1-U. The transport network layer of the W1-C performs an IP-based transmission. To more reliably transmit signaling, the SCTP protocol is added on top of IP. The application layer protocol is a W1AP (see 3GPP TS37.473). The transport layer of the W1-U is UDP / IP. GTP-U, which is on top of UDP / IP, is used to carry a user plane protocol data unit (PDU).

[0120] For the XR service, when the network serves a large amount of users, a network congestion may occur, or the network cannot allocate enough resources to the users for data transmission. Data of different service types may be transmitted through different QoS flows. For example, an audio is transmitted through QoS flow1, a video is transmitted through QoS flow2, and so on. For some data service types, even if the network congestion occurs, the data transmission corresponding to the QoS flows of the data service types needs to be ensured. For some data service types, when the network congestion occurs, it is possible to appropriately reduce the data transmission rates corresponding to the QoS flows of the data service types, so as to alleviate the network congestion.

[0121] The present disclosure provides a method for controlling a data / bit rate. According to the present disclosure, the network congestion is alleviated by controlling a data transmission rate of a UE in a CU-DU separate architecture.

[0122] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0123] The text and drawings are provided as examples only to help understand the present disclosure. They should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present disclosure in any way. Although certain embodiments and examples have been provided, based on the disclosure herein, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes may be made to the illustrated embodiments and examples without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0124] Some assumptions and some definitions in the present disclosure are given below before the specific content is introduced.

[0125] In the present disclosure, the message names are examples only, and other message names may also be used.

[0126] In the present disclosure, “first,” “second,” etc. contained in the message names are only examples of messages, and do not represent the execution order.

[0127] In the present disclosure, the detailed description of the steps irrelevant to the present disclosure is omitted.

[0128] In the present disclosure, the steps in each process may be performed in combination with each other, or performed separately. The execution steps in each process are merely examples, and do not rule out other possible execution orders.

[0129] In the present disclosure, a base station may be a 5G base station (e.g., a gNB, or an ng-eNB), a 4G base station (e.g., an eNB), a 6G base station, a WAB node or a WAB-gNB, or may be an other type of access node.

[0130] In the present disclosure, a core network may be an AMF, an SMF, or a UPF.

[0131] In the present disclosure, the transmission of data refers to the reception or transmission of the data.

[0132] To more easily illustrate the inventive point of the present disclosure, in the present disclosure, the first node is a CU and the second node is a DU.

[0133] FIG. 4A illustrates an example of a message processing procedure of a CU. Here, a first node is the CU and a second node is a DU. The message processing procedure of the CU includes the following steps:

[0134] Step 401, receiving a first message transmitted by the second node.

[0135] In this embodiment, the first node receives the first message transmitted by the second node. Here, the first message includes a first UL data / bit rate. Here, the first UL data / bit rate includes a UL data / bit rate on a per Data Radio Bearer (DRB) level and / or a recommended UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level. The first UL data / bit rate is used to indicate a bitrate to be used by a user equipment to transmit UL data when a network congestion occurs.

[0136] The first message may be a message on an F1 interface such as UE Context Setup Response or UE Context Modification Required, or another message on F1 interface, or a newly defined message on F1 interface, which is not limited in the present disclosure. The first message may be related to UE context (configuration) information. After receiving the first message transmitted by the second node, the first node can know the UE context-related (configuration) information configured by the second node, and store the information.

[0137] The first message may contain at least one of the following information:

[0138] 1. First uplink data / bit rate

[0139] The first uplink data / bit rate may be referred to as a first UL data / bit rate, a UL data / bit rate or a data / bit rate for UL control, or may have another name, which is not limited in the present disclosure. The first UL data / bit rate is used to indicate, to the first node, the bitrate to be used by the UE to transmit the UL data when the network congestion occurs.

[0140] The first UL data / bit rate may be configured per DRB level, or may be configured per QoS flow level.

[0141] 1) Per DRB level

[0142] If the first UL data / bit rate is a UL data / bit rate on a per DRB level, it indicates, to the first node, the UL data / bit rate on a per DRB level configured for the UE.

[0143] The first UL data / bit rate may be applied to one or more DRBs. If there are multiple DRBs at which the UL data / bit rate control needs to be performed, the UL data / bit rates configured for the DRBs may be the same. That is, all DRB IDs at which the UL data / bit rate control needs to be performed correspond to a same UL data / bit rate. Alternatively, the UL data / bit rates configured for the DRBs may be different. That is, the DRB IDs at which the UL data / bit rate control needs to be performed may correspond to different UL data / bit rates.

[0144] After receiving the UL data / bit rate on a per DRB level, the first node can know the UL data / bit rate on a per DRB level configured by the second node for the UE. The first node may determine a UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level according to the received UL data / bit rate on a per DRB level.

[0145] 2) Per QoS flow level

[0146] If the first UL data / bit rate is a UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level, it indicates the UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level configured for the UE, or recommended to the first node to be configured for the UE.

[0147] The first UL data / bit rate may be applied to one or more QoS flows. If there are multiple QoS flows at which a UL data / bit rate control needs to be performed, the UL data / bit rates configured for the QoS flows or recommended to the first node to be configured for the QoS flows may be the same. That is, all QoS flow IDs at which the UL data / bit rate control needs to be performed correspond to a same UL data / bit rate. Alternatively, the UL data / bit rates configured for the QoS flows or recommended to the first node to be configured for the QoS flows may be different. That is, the QoS IDs at which the UL data / bit rate control needs to be performed may correspond to different UL data / bit rates.

[0148] After receiving the UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level recommended by the second node and / or the UL data / bit rate on a per DRB level, the first node may determine a final UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level according to the received UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level recommended by the second node and / or the received UL data / bit rate on a per DRB level.

[0149] 2. First time information

[0150] The first time information may also be referred to as a timer for UL data / bit rate control, or may have another name, which is not limited in the present disclosure. The first time information is used to indicate a time to which the first UL data / bit rate is applied.

[0151] The first time information may be configured per DRB level or may be configured per QoS flow level according to the configuration type of the first UL data / bit rate. Different DRB IDs or QoS flow IDs may correspond to the same first time information, or may correspond to different first time information. The first time information may be decided by the second node to be configured for the UE, or may be recommended to the first node to be configured for the UE. The first time information may indicate at least one of:

[0152] a start time, that is, a time point at which the application of the second UL data / bit rate starts;

[0153] an end time, that is, a time point at which the application of the second UL data / bit rate ends; and

[0154] a duration, that is, a duration / time period of the application of the second UL data / bit rate. When the UL data / bit rate control of the UE is triggered, the first time information starts counting. The UE stops the UL data / bit rate control after the duration expires.

[0155] After receiving the first time information, the first node can know the first time information configured by the second node for the UE or the first time information recommended to be configured to the UE. Optionally, the first node may determine second time information according to the first time information.

[0156] 3. First indication information

[0157] The first indication information is used to indicate a DRB (or DRB ID) for a UL data / bit rate control.

[0158] The first indication information may be presented in at least one of the following ways:

[0159] When a DRB ID established for the UE has corresponding first indication information, it indicates that the DRB ID indicated by the first indication information is under the UL data / bit rate control; and when the DRB ID established for the UE has no corresponding first indication information, it indicates that the DRB ID is not under the UL data / bit rate control.

[0160] The first indication information may be a DRB list (or a DRB ID list).

[0161] The DRB list contains at least one DRB ID for indicating that the DRBs corresponding to the DRB IDs contained in a first node list are under the UL data / bit rate control.

[0162] After receiving the first indication information, the first node can know the QoS flows in which DRB or DRBs are under the UL data / bit rate control.

[0163] 4. Third indication information (which may also be referred to as first cancellation indication information)

[0164] The first cancellation indication information is used to indicate a DRB (or DRB ID) at which a UL data / bit rate control is cancelled or an uplink network congestion is resolved.

[0165] The first cancellation indication information may be presented in at least one of the following ways::

[0166] When the DRB ID established for the UE has corresponding first cancellation indication information, it indicates that, at the DRB ID indicated by the first cancellation indication information, the UL data / bit rate control is cancelled or the uplink network congestion is resolved. When the DRB ID established for the UE has no corresponding first cancellation indication information, it indicates that, at the DRB ID, the UL data / bit rate control is not cancelled or the uplink network congestion is not resolved.

[0167] The first cancellation indication information may be a DRB list (or a DRB ID list).

[0168] The DRB list contains at least one DRB ID for indicating that, at the DRB corresponding to the DRB ID contained in the first node list, the UL data / bit rate control is cancelled or the uplink network congestion is resolved.

[0169] After receiving the first cancellation indication information, the first node can know the DRB ID at which the UL data / bit rate control is cancelled or the uplink network congestion is resolved. The first node may further determine that, at the QoS flow (or QoS flow ID) mapped to the DRB ID, the UL data / bit rate control is cancelled or may be cancelled.

[0170] Step 402, transmitting a second message to the second node.

[0171] In this embodiment, the first node transmits the second message to the second node.

[0172] The second message is a message on an F1 interface such as UE Context Setup Request, UE Context Modification Request or UE Context Modification Confirm, or another message on F1 interface, or a newly defined message on F1 interface, which is not limited in the present disclosure. The second message may be related to UE context (configuration) information. After receiving the second message transmitted by the first node, the second node can know the UE context-related (configuration) information configured by the first node, and store the information.

[0173] The second message may contain at least one of the following information:

[0174] 1. Second indication information

[0175] The second indication information is used to indicate a QoS flow (or QoS flow ID) supporting the UL data / bit rate control.

[0176] The second indication information may be presented in at least one of the following ways:

[0177] When a QoS flow ID established for the UE has corresponding second indication information, it indicates that the QoS flow ID indicated by the second indication information supports the UL data / bit rate control. When the QoS flow ID established for the UE has no corresponding second indication information, it indicates that the QoS flow ID does not support the UL data / bit rate control.

[0178] The second indication information may be a QoS flow list (or a QoS flow ID list).

[0179] The QoS flow list contains at least one QoS flow ID. The QoS flow corresponding to the QoS flow ID contained in the list may support the UL data / bit rate control. That is, the data transmission rate of the QoS flow corresponding to the QoS flow ID in the list is allowed to be reduced, so as to alleviate or solve the uplink network congestion.

[0180] After receiving the second indication information, the second node can know the QoS flow ID supporting the UL data / bit rate control, and can configure a corresponding first UL data / bit rate for the corresponding QoS flow ID.

[0181] 2. Second uplink data / bit rate

[0182] The second uplink data / bit rate may be referred to as a second UL data / bit rate, a UL data / bit rate or a data / bit rate for UL control, or may have another name, which is not limited in the present disclosure. The second UL data / bit rate is used to indicate, to the second node, the UL data / bit rate applied / corresponding to the QoS flow ID indicated in the second indication information when a network congestion occurs.

[0183] The second UL data / bit rate is configured per QoS flow level.

[0184] The second UL data / bit rate is used to indicate the UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level configured for the UE.

[0185] The second UL data / bit rate may be applied to one or more QoS flows. If there are multiple QoS flows at which a UL data / bit rate control needs to be performed, the second UL data / bit rates configured by the first node for the QoS flows may be the same. That is, all QoS flow IDs at which the UL data / bit rate control needs to be performed correspond to the same UL data / bit rate. Alternatively, the second UL data / bit rates configured by the first node for the QoS flows may be different. That is, the QoS IDs at which the UL data / bit rate control needs to be performed may correspond to different UL data / bit rates.

[0186] Optionally, the second UL data / bit rate may be determined according to the first UL data / bit rate received from the second node.

[0187] After receiving the second UL data / bit rate, the second node can know the UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level configured by the first node for the UE.

[0188] 3. Second time information

[0189] The second time information may also be referred to as a timer for UL data / bit rate control, or may have another name, which is not limited in the present disclosure. The second time information is used to indicate a time to which the second UL data / bit rate is applied.

[0190] The second time information is configured per QoS flow level, and may indicate at least one of:

[0191] a start time, that is, a time point at which the application of the second UL data / bit rate starts;

[0192] an end time, that is, a time point at which the application of the second UL data / bit rate ends; and

[0193] a duration, that is, a duration / time period of the application of the second UL data / bit rate. When the UL data / bit rate control of the UE is triggered, the second time information starts counting. The UE cancels the UL data / bit rate control after the duration expires.

[0194] After receiving the second time information, the second node can know the time related information of the UL data / bit rate control performed by the UE, and may allocate an appropriate uplink resource to the UE.

[0195] 4. Fourth indication information (which is also referred to as second cancellation indication information)

[0196] The second cancellation indication information is used to indicate a QoS flow (or QoS flow ID) at which a UL data / bit rate control is cancelled or an uplink network congestion is resolved.

[0197] The second cancellation indication information may be presented in at least one of the following ways:

[0198] When a QoS flow ID established for the UE has corresponding second cancellation indication information, it indicates that, at the QoS flow ID indicated by the second cancellation indication information, the UL data / bit rate control is cancelled or the uplink network congestion is resolved. When the QoS flow ID established for the UE has no corresponding second cancellation indication information, it indicates that, at the QoS flow ID, the UL data / bit rate control is not cancelled or the uplink network congestion is not resolved.

[0199] The second cancellation indication information may be a QoS flow list (or a QoS flow ID list).

[0200] The QoS flow list contains at least one QoS flow ID for indicating that, at the QoS flow corresponding to the QoS flow ID contained in a second node list, the UL data / bit rate control is cancelled or the uplink network congestion is resolved.

[0201] After receiving the second cancellation indication information, the second node can know the QoS flow ID at which the UL data / bit rate control is cancelled or the uplink network congestion is resolved. Accordingly, the second node can further determine that, at the DRB (or DRB ID) mapped to the QoS flow ID, the UL data / bit rate control is cancelled or may be cancelled.

[0202] The solution of the present disclosure is further illustrated below through the following embodiments.

[0203] First Aspect: UL data / bit rate control

[0204] To alleviate an uplink network congestion, a base station may control the UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level of the UE through the following two methods:

[0205] indicating, through a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), a QoS flow ID to which the UE needs to apply a UL data / bit rate control and a UL data / bit rate applied to the QoS flow ID; or

[0206] indicating, through an RRC message, a QoS flow ID to which the UE can apply the UL data / bit rate control, and then indicating, through an MAC CE, a DRB ID to which the UE needs to apply the UL data / bit rate control.

[0207] The core network will inform the base station of QoS flow level QoS parameters during the establishment of a PDU session. Therefore, according to an embodiment, the core network informs the base station of the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied as follows:

[0208] The core network (e.g., an SMF) adds the second indication information (i.e., the UL data / bit rate control indicator in Table 1) to an QoS Flow Level QoS Parameters IE, and informs the base station through a PDU Session Resource Setup procedure and / or a PDU Session Resource Modify procedure between an AMF and the base station.

[0209] Optionally, if the UL data / bit rate applied to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied may also be decided by the core network, both the UL data / bit rate and the second indication information (i.e., the UL data / bit rate control indicator in Table 1) are added to the QoS Flow Level QoS Parameters IE to be transmitted to the base station. Table 1 shows the signaling enhancement corresponding to the QoS Flow Level QoS Parameters IE.

[0210] Optionally, if the UL data / bit rate applied to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied may also be decided by the core network, only the UL data / bit rate applied to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied is added to the QoS Flow Level QoS Parameters IE. In this case, it may implicitly indicate that the QoS flow ID carrying the UL data / bit rate is the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied.

[0211] After receiving the PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Request carrying the second indication information (UL data / bit rate control indicator) and / or the corresponding UL data / bit rate, the base station may response a PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Response to the core network. The related procedure is as shown in FIG. 5.

[0212]

[0213] Since the information related to the QoS flow ID for the UL data / bit rate control will be used when the uplink network congestion occurs in the base station, or another problem required to be solved is when the core network (e.g., the SMF) informs the base station of the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is applied.

[0214] In an embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6A, when determining that the UE is an XR user or the UE is to perform an XR service, the core network transmits the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied to the base station. The specific process is as follows:

[0215] The base station transmits an initial UE message to the core network.

[0216] When determining that the UE is the XR user or the UE performs an XR related service according to the initial UE message, the core network adds the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied (e.g., the QoS flow information for UL data / bit rate control in FIG. 6A) into the initial context setup request, i.e., adds the second indication information (the UL data / bit rate control indicator) and the UL data / bit rate applied to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied into the QoS Flow Level QoS Parameters IE in the initial context setup request message.

[0217] In this embodiment, there is no need for additional steps to transmit the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied. However, regardless of whether a network congestion occurs in the base station, as long as the core network determines that the UE is the XR user or the UE is to perform the XR service, the core network will transmit the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied. Accordingly, due to no network congestion in the base station, and the core network does not need to transmit the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied, extra signaling overheads may be caused.

[0218] In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6B, when determining that an uplink network congestion occurs in the base station, the core network transmits the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied to the base station. The specific process is as follows:

[0219] The base station transmits an explicit congestion　notification (ECN) Marking or Congestion Information Reporting Status to the core network according to the requirement of the core network.

[0220] When determining that the uplink network congestion occurs in the base station according to the ECN Marking or Congestion Information Reporting Status reported by the base station, the core network adds the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied (e.g., the QoS flow information for UL data / bit rate control in FIG. 6B) into a PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Request, i.e., adds the second indication information (UL data / bit rate control indicator) and the UL data / bit rate applied to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied into the QoS Flow Level QoS Parameters IE in the PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Request message.

[0221] In this embodiment, there is no need for additional steps to transmit the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied. However, the base station transmits the ECN Marking or Congestion Information Reporting Status to the core network only when the core network have a requirement on reporting the network congestion information (that is, when receiving an ECN Marking or Congestion Information Reporting Request transmitted by the core network), and accordingly, the core network can determine whether the uplink network congestion occurs in the base station according to the ECN Marking or Congestion Information Reporting Status reported by the base station.

[0222] In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6C, when an uplink network congestion occurs in the base station, the base station transmits a request for the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied to the core network, to request the core network to transmit the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied. The specific process is as follows:

[0223] When determining that the uplink network congestion occurs, the base station transmits, to the core network, the request for the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied (e.g., the request for QoS flow information for UL data / bit rate control in FIG. 6C), or transmits, to the core network, indication information on uplink network congestion (the indication information indicating on the uplink network congestion in the core network). The request for the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied may be a new message, for example, a QoS Flow Information for UL data / bit rate Control Request message, or may have another name, which is not limited in the present disclosure. Alternatively, the request for the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied may be added as an IE in an existing message such as a PDU Session Resource Notify message, or added in another message on NG interface, which is not limited in the present disclosure.

[0224] After receiving the request transmitted by the base station for the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied (or receiving the indication information on the uplink network congestion), the core network adds the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied (e.g., the QoS flow information for UL data / bit rate control in FIG. 6C) into the PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Request, i.e., adds the second indication information (UL data / bit rate control indicator) and the UL data / bit rate applied to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied into the QoS Flow Level QoS Parameters IE in the PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Request message.

[0225] In this embodiment, the base station may request the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied according to its own requirement (i.e., whether the uplink network congestion occurs), but there will be an additional step to transmit the request message / information.

[0226] In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6D, when an uplink network congestion occurs in the base station, according to the assistance information configured in advance by the core network, the base station decides to transmit a request to the core network, for requesting the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied. The specific process is as follows:

[0227] The core network configures the assistance information for the base station. The assistance information may be added to an existing message (e.g., a PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Request message) on NG interface to be transmitted to the base station, or may be added to another message on NG interface, which is not limited in the present disclosure. The assistance information may be at least one of:

[0228] a time threshold, that is, when the time during which the base station experiences the uplink network congestion exceeds the time threshold, the base station may transmit a request to the core network for the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied; and

[0229] a network congestion level threshold, that is, when the level of the uplink network congestion exceeds the network congestion level threshold, the base station may transmit a request to the core network for the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied.

[0230] After the base station determines that the uplink network congestion occurs and the assistance information configured by the core network for the base station is satisfied, the base station transmits a request to the core network for the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied. This step is the same as the process in FIG. 6C, and thus will not be repeatedly described in the present disclosure.

[0231] After receiving the request transmitted by the base station for the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied (or receiving indication information indicating that an uplink network congestion occurs), the core network adds the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied into the PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Request message. This step is the same as the process in FIG. 6C, and thus will not be repeatedly described in the present disclosure.

[0232] In this embodiment, the base station may request the information related to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is allowed to be applied according to its own requirement (i.e., whether the uplink network congestion occurs). Moreover, the base station does not need to frequently transmit a request to the core network. However, there will be an additional step to transmit the request message / information in this embodiment.

[0233] Since the core network knows more about the PCC rule and QoS-related demand / requirement than the base station, the core network may decide the UL data / bit rate applied to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is applied.

[0234] In some alternative implementations of this embodiment, the second message further includes second indication information. The second indication information is used to indicate a QoS flow ID supporting the UL data / bit rate control.

[0235] In some alternative implementations of this embodiment, the second indication information and / or the second UL data / bit rate are obtained from the core network, and the second indication information and / or the second UL data / bit rate are contained in the PDU Session Resource Setup Request message and / or the PDU Session Resource Modify Request message.

[0236] In the situation of a CU-DU separate architecture, an embodiment is as shown in FIG. 7A:

[0237] The core network transmits second indication information and a second UL data / bit rate to the CU.

[0238] The second indication information is used to indicate a QoS flow (or QoS flow ID) supporting a UL data / bit rate control.

[0239] The second UL data / bit rate is used to indicate the UL data / bit rate corresponding to the QoS flow ID supporting the UL data / bit rate control.

[0240] The second indication information and the second UL data / bit rate may be added to a PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Request, or may be added to another message on NG interface, which is not limited in the present disclosure.

[0241] The CU transmits the second indication information and the second UL data / bit rate to the DU.

[0242] The second indication information and the second UL data / bit rate may be added to a UE Context Setup / Modification Request, or may be added to another message on F1 interface, which is not limited in the present disclosure.

[0243] If the DU receives the UE Context Setup / Modification Request transmitted by the CU, the DU responses a UE Context Setup / Modification Response to the CU.

[0244] In the situation of the CU-DU separate architecture, or another embodiment is as shown in FIG. 7B:

[0245] The core network transmits second indication information and a second UL data / bit rate to the CU. This step is the same as that in FIG. 7A, and thus will not be repeatedly described in the present disclosure.

[0246] The CU transmits only the second UL data / bit rate to the DU. A QoS flow ID implicitly indicated to the DU by the second UL data / bit rate is a QoS flow (or QoS flow ID) supporting a UL data / bit rate control. The second UL data / bit rate may be added to a UE Context Setup / Modification Request, or may be added to another message on F1 interface, which is not limited in the present disclosure.

[0247] If the DU receives the UE Context Setup / Modification Request transmitted by the CU, the DU responses a UE Context Setup / Modification Response to the CU.

[0248] As compared with the DU, the CU has a global view to better understand the service attribute of the UE. Therefore, the CU may also decide the second UL data / bit rate. That is, the CU may also decide the UL data / bit rate corresponding to the QoS flow ID to which the UL data / bit rate control is applied.

[0249] In the situation of a CU-DU separate architecture, an embodiment is as shown in FIG. 8A:

[0250] The core network transmits second indication information to the CU.

[0251] The second indication information is used to indicate a QoS flow (or QoS flow ID) supporting a UL data / bit rate control.

[0252] The second indication information may be added to a PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Request, or may be added to another message on NG interface, which is not limited in the present disclosure.

[0253] The CU decides the second UL data / bit rate corresponding to the QoS flow ID indicated in the second indication information according to the second indication information received from the core network, and transmits the second indication information and the second UL data / bit rate to the DU.

[0254] The second indication information and the second UL data / bit rate may be added to a UE Context Setup / Modification Request, or may be added to another message on F1 interface, which is not limited in the present disclosure.

[0255] If the DU receives the UE Context Setup / Modification Request transmitted by the CU, the DU responses a UE Context Setup / Modification Response to the CU.

[0256] Since the DU is responsible for allocating a resource to the UE and the UL data / bit rate is related to the resource allocated by the DU, the DU may provide assistance information to the CU so that the CU can decide a final second uplink rate. Accordingly, an embodiment is as shown in FIG. 8B:

[0257] The DU transmits the assistance information to the CU. In this embodiment, the assistance information is a first UL data / bit rate, which may be the UL data / bit rate corresponding to the QoS flow supporting a UL data / bit rate control as recommended by the DU. The assistance information may be added to a UE Context Modification Required message to be transmitted to the CU, or may be added to another message on F1 interface, which is not limited in the present disclosure.

[0258] The CU determines a second UL data / bit rate according to the first UL data / bit rate transmitted by the DU. The second UL data / bit rate is added to a UE Context Modification Confirm message to be transmitted to the DU, or the second UL data / bit rate may be added to another message on F1 interface, which is not limited in the present disclosure.

[0259] In some alternative implementations of this embodiment, the first node includes a control plane (CP) portion and a user plane (UP) portion, and the second message further includes second indication information. Here, the second indication information is used to indicate a QoS flow ID supporting a UL data / bit rate control. The method further comprises: transmitting, by the user plane portion, the second indication information and / or the second UL data / bit rate to the control plane portion; or transmitting, by the control plane portion, the second indication information and / or the second UL data / bit rate to the user plane portion.

[0260] In the situation where a CU-UP and a CU-CP are separate, the CU-UP may be aware of an uplink network congestion situation, and can determine an appropriate second UL data / bit rate. Accordingly, the CU-UP needs to transmit the determined second UL data / bit rate to the CU-CP. The specific process is as shown in FIG. 8C:

[0261] The CU-UP transmits second indication information and a second UL data / bit rate to the CU-CP.

[0262] The second indication information is used to indicate a QoS flow (or QoS flow ID) supporting a UL data / bit rate control.

[0263] The second UL data / bit rate is used to indicate the UL data / bit rate corresponding to the QoS flow ID supporting the UL data / bit rate control.

[0264] The second indication information and the second UL data / bit rate may be added to a Bearer Context Modification Required (Request) message, or may be added to another message on E1 interface, which is not limited in the present disclosure. Since the CU-UP does not currently support transmitting QoS flow level related parameters to the CU-CP, the second indication information contains the QoS flow ID supporting the UL data / bit rate control, and the second UL data / bit rate contains the UL data / bit rate corresponding to the QoS flow ID indicated in the second indication information.

[0265] After receiving the Bearer Context Modification Required message, the CU-CP responses a Bearer Context Modification Confirm message to the CU-UP.

[0266] Optionally, if the CU-CP has decided the second UL data / bit rate, the second indication information and the second UL data / bit rate need to be added to the QoS Flow Level QoS Parameters IE in a Bearer Context Setup / Modification Request, to be transmitted to the CU-UP.

[0267] In some alternative implementations of this embodiment, the transmitting a second message to the second node includes: adding, by the user plane portion, the second indication information and / or the second UL data / bit rate to a GTP-U header; and transmitting the GTP-U header to the second node.

[0268] In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8D, the CU-UP may add second indication information and / or a second UL data / bit rate to a GTP-U header to be transmitted to the DU. The GTP-U header may be represented by the following method:

[0269] As shown in FIG. 8E, a new GTP-U header is defined. The new GTP-U header may be referred to as a GTP-U extension header for UL data / bit rate control or may have another name, which is not limited in the present disclosure. For example, the new GTP-U extension header may include a UL data / bit rate control container containing the second indication information and the second UL data / bit rate.

[0270] As shown in FIG. 8F, the second indication information and the second UL data / bit rate may alternatively be added to an existing GTP-U extension header, i.e., added to a spared field (spare) in the GTP-U extension header for the F1-U.

[0271] An embodiment is as shown in FIG. 9:

[0272] The core network transmits second indication information to the CU.

[0273] The second indication information is used to indicate a QoS flow (or QoS flow ID) supporting a UL data / bit rate control;

[0274] The second indication information may be added to a PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Request, or may be added to another message on NG interface, which is not limited in the present disclosure.

[0275] The CU transmits the second indication information to the DU.

[0276] The second indication information may be added to a UE Context Setup / Modification Request, or may be added to another message on F1 interface, which is not limited in the present disclosure.

[0277] After receiving the second indication information transmitted by the CU, the DU determines the UL data / bit rate on a per DRB level corresponding to the QoS flow ID indicated in the second indication information. That is, the DU determines a first UL data / bit rate according to the second indication information transmitted by the CU. The first UL data / bit rate in this embodiment is the UL data / bit rate applied to the DRB ID corresponding to the QoS flow ID indicated in the second indication information. The DU adds the first UL data / bit rate to a UE Context Setup / Modification Response to response the UE Context Setup / Modification Response to the CU.

[0278] The CU determines a second UL data / bit rate according to the UL data / bit rate on a per DRB level indicated by the received first UL data / bit rate. The second UL data / bit rate is a UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level, i.e., the UL data / bit rate corresponding to the QoS flow ID supporting the UL data / bit rate control. After determining the second UL data / bit rate, the CU may transmit the second UL data / bit rate to the DU and / or the core network.

[0279] The DU may allocate a resource to the UE and perform scheduling according to the second UL data / bit rate.

[0280] The core network may transmit the second UL data / bit rate to a server, and the server may adjust the speed of data interaction with the base station according to the second UL data / bit rate.

[0281] In some alternative implementations of this embodiment, the method further includes: transmitting a first RRC message to the user equipment. Here, the first RRC message includes at least one of: second indication information, the second UL data / bit rate and the second time information. Here, the second indication information is used to indicate a QoS flow ID supporting the UL data / bit rate control.

[0282] In some alternative implementations of this embodiment, the first message further includes first time information, and the first time information is used to indicate time related information for applying a UL data / bit rate on a per DRB level and / or a recommended UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level. Before the transmitting a first RRC message to the user equipment, the method further includes: determining the second time information based on the first time information.

[0283] In some alternative implementations of this embodiment, the first message further includes third indication information. Here, the third indication information is used to indicate a DRB ID at which the UL data / bit rate control is cancelled or an uplink network congestion is resolved. The method further includes: transmitting a second RRC message to the user equipment. Here, the second RRC message includes the third indication information and / or fourth indication information, and the fourth indication information is used to indicate a QoS flow ID at which the UL data / bit rate control is cancelled or the uplink network congestion is resolved.

[0284] After the uplink network congestion is resolved, the base station needs to transmit a related message to enable the UE to cancel / release the UL data / bit rate control. Since both the CU and the DU can decide the UL data / bit rate as described above, both the CU and the DU can decide to cancel / release the UL data / bit rate control. However, only the CU can perform an operation per QoS flow level, and the DU can perform an operation per DRB level.

[0285] In the situation of a CU-DU separate architecture, an embodiment in which the CU decides to cancel / release a UL data / bit rate control is as shown in FIG. 10A:

[0286] The CU transmits second cancellation indication information to the DU. The second cancellation indication information may be added to a UE Context Setup / Modification Request, to another message on F1 interface or to a newly defined message on F1 interface, which is not limited in the present disclosure.

[0287] The second cancellation indication information is used to indicate a QoS flow (or QoS flow ID) at which a UL data / bit rate control is cancelled or an uplink network congestion is resolved.

[0288] After receiving the second cancellation indication information transmitted by the CU, the DU transmits a MAC CE to the UE again, to indicate a QoS flow ID at which the UE cancels the UL data / bit rate control, or a DRB ID corresponding to the QoS flow ID at which the UL data / bit rate control is cancelled.

[0289] After receiving the MAC CE transmitted by the DU, the UE cancels the UL data / bit rate control applied to the QoS flow ID and / or the DRB ID indicated in the MAC CE.

[0290] Another example in which the CU decides to cancel / release a UL data / bit rate control is as shown in FIG. 10B:

[0291] The CU transmits an RRC message to the UE. The RRC message may be an RRC Reconfiguration message or may be another RRC message, which is not limited in the present disclosure. The RRC message contains at least one of: second indication information; a second UL data / bit rate; and second time information.

[0292] When the DU is aware of that an uplink network congestion occurs, the DU transmits a MAC CE to the UE to trigger the UE to perform a UL data / bit rate control. The MAC CE contains a DRB ID corresponding to a QoS flow ID at which the UL data / bit rate control needs to be performed, i.e., first indication information.

[0293] After receiving the MAC CE transmitted by the DU, the UE starts the UL data / bit rate control according to the second indication information and the second UL data / bit rate, and starts the counting of the second time information. After the second time information expires, the UE may stop the UL data / bit rate control.

[0294] FIG. 4B illustrates an example of a message processing procedure of a DU. The message processing procedure of the DU includes the following steps:

[0295] Step 501, transmitting a first message to a first node.

[0296] In this embodiment, a second node transmits the first message to the first node. Here, the first message includes a first UL data / bit rate. Here, the first UL data / bit rate includes a UL data / bit rate on a per DRB level and / or a recommended UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level , and the first UL data / bit rate is used to indicate a bitrate used by a user equipment to transmit UL data when a network congestion occurs.

[0297] Step 502, receiving a second message transmitted by the first node.

[0298] In this embodiment, the second message includes a second UL data / bit rate and second time information. Here, the second UL data / bit rate includes a UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level, and the second UL data / bit rate is used to indicate a UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level used by the user equipment to transmit the UL data when the network congestion occurs. The second time information is used to indicate time related information of the UL data / bit rate control.

[0299] Step 503, transmitting a third message to a user equipment.

[0300] In this embodiment, the third message is used to indicate that the user equipment to perform the UL data / bit rate control, and the third message includes at least one of: the second UL data / bit rate, the second time information, first indication information and second indication information. Here, the first indication information indicates a DRB ID at which the UL data / bit rate control is performed or the network congestion occurs, and the second indication information is used to indicate a QoS flow ID supporting the UL data / bit rate control.

[0301] In some alternative implementations of this embodiment, the method further includes: receiving second indication information transmitted by the first node, wherein the second indication information is used to indicate a QoS flow ID supporting the UL data / bit rate control, and determining, according to the second indication information, the first UL data / bit rate applied to the QoS flow ID indicated by the second indication information

[0302] In some alternative implementations of this embodiment, the second message further includes fourth indication information, and the fourth indication information is used to indicate a QoS flow ID at which the UL data / bit rate control is cancelled or an uplink network congestion is resolved. The method further includes: transmitting a fourth message to the user equipment. Here, the fourth message is used to indicate a DRB ID and / or QoS flow ID at which the user equipment stops the UL data / bit rate control.

[0303] Another embodiment in which the DU decides to cancel / release the UL data / bit rate control is as shown in FIG. 10C:

[0304] When the DU determines that the uplink network congestion has been resolved, the DU transmits a first cancellation indication information to the CU. The first cancellation indication information may be added to a UE Context Modification Required message, to another message on F1 interface, or to a newly defined message on F1 interface, which is not limited in the present disclosure.

[0305] The first cancellation indication information is used to indicate a DRB (or DRB ID) at which the UL data / bit rate control is cancelled or the uplink network congestion is resolved.

[0306] After receiving the first cancellation indication information transmitted by the DU, the CU can determine the DRB (or DRB ID) at which the UL data / bit rate control is cancelled or the uplink network congestion is resolved, and thus can determine the QoS flow ID (i.e., second cancellation indication information) at which the UL data / bit rate control needs to be cancelled and which corresponds to the DRB ID. The CU adds the second cancellation indication information and / or the first cancellation indication information to an RRC message to transmit the RRC message to the UE.

[0307] After receiving the RRC message transmitted by the CU, the UE cancels the UL data / bit rate control for the QoS flow ID and / or the DRB ID indicated in the RRC message.

[0308] Another embodiment in which the DU decides to cancel / release the UL data / bit rate control is as shown in FIG. 10D:

[0309] The CU transmits second indication information to the DU.

[0310] The DU determines whether there is still a DRB-level network congestion at the DRB ID corresponding to the QoS flow ID indicated in the second indication information. If it is determined that the DRB-level network congestion at the DRB ID is resolved, a MAC CE is transmitted to the UE. The MAC CE contains a DRB ID at which the UL data / bit rate control needs to be cancelled.

[0311] After receiving the MAC CE transmitted by the DU, the UE cancels the UL data / bit rate control for the corresponding QoS flow ID in the DRB ID indicated by the MAC CE.

[0312] In some alternative implementations of this embodiment, the first message further includes third indication information. Here, the third indication information is used to indicate a DRB ID at which the user equipment stops the UL data / bit rate control, and the fourth indication information is determined by the first node based on the third indication information.

[0313] A method performed by a user equipment in a wireless communication system comprises: performing a UL data / bit rate control, in response to receiving a third message transmitted by a second node and / or a first RRC message transmitted by a first node, according to a second UL data / bit rate in the third message and / or the first RRC message. Here, the third message is used to indicate a DRB ID and / or QoS flow ID at which the user equipment performs a UL data / bit rate control, and the first RRC message comprises at least one of: second indication information, the second UL data / bit rate and second time information. Here, the second indication information is used to indicate a QoS flow ID supporting the UL data / bit rate control, and the second time information is used to indicate time related information of the UL data / bit rate control. The second UL data / bit rate is used to indicate a UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level used by the user equipment to transmit UL data when a network congestion occurs. Here, the second UL data / bit rate is determined by the first node based on a first UL data / bit rate, and the first UL data / bit rate is obtained from a first message transmitted by the second node to the first node. Here, the first UL data / bit rate comprises a UL data / bit rate on a per DRB level and / or a recommended UL data / bit rate on a per QoS flow level.

[0314] In some alternative implementations of this embodiment, the third message comprises second time information. The method further comprises: starting a timer according to the second time information; and stopping the UL data / bit rate control for a QoS flow ID and / or a DRB ID to which the second time information is applied, in response to detecting that the timer expires.

[0315] In some alternative implementations of this embodiment, the method further comprises: in response to a fourth message being received, cancelling a UL data / bit rate control for a QoS flow ID and / or a DRB ID indicated by the fourth message. Here, the fourth message is used to indicate a QoS flow ID and / or a DRB ID at which the user equipment stops the UL data / bit rate control.

[0316] A method performed by a core network in a wireless communication system comprises: transmitting a PDU Session Resource Setup Request message and / or a PDU Session Resource Modify Request message to a first node, wherein second indication information and / or a second UL data / bit rate are added in a QoS Parameters Information Element in the PDU Session Resource Setup Request message and / or the PDU Session Resource Modify Request message; and receiving a PDU Session Resource Setup Response message and / or a PDU Session Resource Modify Response message transmitted by the first node.

[0317] Second aspect: MMSID, and DL PDU Set marking without PDU Set QoS

[0318] A multi-modal service ID (i.e., MMSID) is introduced into an XR service. If multiple QoS flows (or QoS flow IDs) have the same MMSID, it indicates that the multiple QoS flows having the same MMSID have a correlation / association. Therefore, when a source base station wants to hand over a UE having an MMSID to a target base station, the target base station may accept all the QoS flow IDs having the same MMSID, or may reject some of the QoS flow IDs having the same MMSID, or reject all the QoS flow IDs having the same MMSID. Therefore, to some extent, the target base station may consider the MMSID as one of the considerations for admission control. When target base station rejects the handover request from the source base station because it cannot accept all of the QoS flow IDs having the same MMSID, the target base station needs to indicate to the source base station the reason for rejecting the handover request. Accordingly, an embodiment is as shown below:

[0319] The source base station transmits a Handover Request message to the target base station. The Handover Request message carries a QoS flow ID list that the UE has established, and whether each QoS flow ID in the QoS flow ID list corresponds to one MMSID. The MMSID may be added to a QoS Flow Level QoS Parameters IE.

[0320] If the target base station cannot accept all the QoS flow IDs having the same MMSID, the target base station may response a Handover Preparation Failure to the source base station, in which a new cause value is added. The new cause value may indicate at least one of:

[0321] MMSID is not supported;

[0322] MMSID is not accepted;

[0323] MMSID is not available; and

[0324] no enough resource for MMSID.

[0325] In addition to the MMSID, a concept of a PDU set is introduced into the XR service. A PDU set is composed of one or more PDUs, and a PDU set may be a frame or a video slice in the XR service. One PDU set can only be mapped to one quality of service flow (QoS flow), and the relevant parameters of all PDU sets in a QoS flow, such as a PDU set delay budget (PSDB), a PDU set error rate (PSER) and a PDU set integrated handling indication (PSIHI), are the same. Different PDU sets may have different importance, which may be represented by PDU set importance (PSI). Different PDU sets in the same QoS flow may also have different PSIs. An radio access network (RAN) may be informed of the PSI by a UPF through a GTP-U header. When a network congestion occurs on the RAN side, the corresponding PDU set can be discarded according to the value of the PSIs (for example, some PDU sets having a small PSI value are discarded), thereby alleviating or resolving the network congestion.

[0326] In the prior art, a base station will add a PDU Set Based Handling Indicator to a PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Response only if the received PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Request includes PDU set QoS parameters (i.e., PSDB, PSER and PSIHI). After an SMF receives the PDU Set Based Handling Indicator transmitted by the base station, it will directly trigger the UPF to add PDU set information (e.g., a PDU Set Size Indicator, an End PDU of the PDU Set, and PDU Set Importance, etc.) into the GTP-U header. Accordingly, the base station can perform a PDU set based discarding according to the PDU set information in the GTP-U header, so as to alleviate the network congestion.

[0327] However, in the technology research at the present stage, when the SMF does not add the PDU set QoS parameters to the PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Request, the core network side still wants to consider the requirement of the base station side. Thus, the core network may add an indication to support PDU Set Information marking into the PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Request. After receiving the indication, the base station may have two options as follows:

[0328] In Option 1, the base station also adds the PDU Set Based Handling Indicator to the PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Response. After the SMF receives the PDU Set Based Handling Indicator transmitted by the base station, it will directly trigger the UPF to add some of the PDU set information to the GTP-U header.

[0329] In Option 2, the base station will actively transmit a request to the SMF for activating the PDU Set Information Marking only when the network congestion occurs, and the SMF triggers the UPF to add some of the PDU set information to the GTP-U header after receiving the request.

[0330] For Option 1, when the network congestion does not occur in the base station, the PDU set information added by the UPF to the GTP-U header is not useful to the base station, resulting in unnecessary signaling overhead. For Option 2, since the base station does not add the PDU Set Based Handling Indicator to the PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Response, the SMF will not know whether the base station supports the PDU set based handling before the base station transmits the request for activating the PDU Set Information Marking. The present disclosure proposes a method to solve the problems caused by the above two options.

[0331] An embodiment is as shown in FIG. 11A, and the specific process is as follows:

[0332] The SMF transmits a PDU Set Information Marking support indicator to the base station via an AMF. The PDU Set Information Marking support indicator may be added in a PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Request.

[0333] After receiving the PDU Set Information Marking support indicator transmitted by the SMF, the base station adds a PDU Set Based Handling Indicator and a PDU Set Information Marking activation status indicator into a PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Response, and transmits the PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Response to the SMF via the AMF.

[0334] The PDU Set Based Handling Indicator is used to indicate whether the base station supports the PDU set based handling.

[0335] The PDU Set Information Marking activation status indicator is used to indicate whether the base station requires the SMF to activate the PDU Set Information Marking. The indication information may contain at least one of:

[0336] [activation, deactivation], where the “activation” indicates the SMF to activate the PDU Set Information Marking, and the “deactivation” indicates the SMF to deactivate the PDU Set Information Marking; and

[0337] [needed, not needed], where the “needed” indicates that the SMF needs to activate the PDU Set Information Marking, and the “not needed” indicates that the SMF does not need to activate the PDU Set Information Marking.

[0338] After receiving the PDU Set Based Handling Indicator and the PDU Set Information Marking activation status indicator transmitted by the base station, the SMF can know whether the base station supports the PDU set based handling, and whether the SMF now needs to activate the PDU Set Information Marking.

[0339] Another embodiment is as shown in FIG. 11B, and the details are as follows:

[0340] The content contained in an existing PDU Set Based Handling Indicator is revised. That is, two code points (i.e., “support and activation” and “support but deactivation”) are added. The meanings indicated thereby are as follows:

[0341] After the base station receives the PDU Set Information Marking support indicator transmitted by the SMF, if the base station supports the PDU set based handling and requires the SMF to activate the PDU Set Information Marking, the value of the PDU Set Based Handling Indicator is “support and activation” and the PDU Set Based Handling Indicator is added to the PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Response to be responded to the SMF.

[0342] After the base station receives the PDU Set Information Marking support indicator transmitted by the SMF, if the base station supports the PDU set based handling but does not require the SMF to activate the PDU Set Information Marking, the value of the PDU Set Based Handling Indicator is “support but deactivation” and the PDU Set Based Handling Indicator is added to the PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Response to be responded to the SMF.

[0343] After the base station receives the PDU set QoS parameters transmitted by the SMF, if the base station supports the PDU set based handling, the value of the PDU Set Based Handling Indicator is “supported” and the PDU Set Based Handling Indicator is added to the PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Response to be responded to the SMF.

[0344] After the base station receives the PDU set QoS parameters transmitted by the SMF, if the base station does not support the PDU set based handling, the PDU Session Resource Setup / Modify Response is directly transmitted to the SMF without adding the PDU Set Based Handling Indicator.

[0345] In the XR service, the base station may also report the available data / bit rate supported by the base station to the core network. Then, the core network transmits the received available data / bit rate to an application layer. The application layer may exchange data with the base station according to the available data / bit rate supported by the base station. To achieve the above process, the present disclosure further provides a method of reporting the available data / bit rate supported by the base station to the core network.

[0346] An embodiment is as shown in FIG. 12A, and the specific process is as follows:

[0347] The core network configures one or more threshold intervals for the base station, wherein each threshold interval corresponds to a reference / index / ID. The threshold interval configuration information may be added to a QoS Flow Level QoS Parameters IE, or to another message or IE on NG interface, which is not limited in the present disclosure. The threshold interval may be configured for the reporting of an uplink available data / bit rate and / or a downlink available data / bit rate.

[0348] When the available data / bit rate that can be provided by the base station is within a certain threshold interval, the base station adds the reference / index / ID corresponding to the threshold interval into the GTP-U header and transmits the GTP-U header to the core network, as shown in Table 2.

[0349] Another embodiment is as shown in FIG. 12B, and the specific process is as follows:

[0350] The core network configures one or more thresholds for the base station, wherein each threshold corresponds to a reference / index / ID. The threshold configuration information may be added to a QoS Flow Level QoS Parameters IE, or to another message or IE on NG interface, which is not limited in the present disclosure. The threshold may be configured for the reporting of an uplink available data / bit rate and / or a downlink available data / bit rate.

[0351] When the available data / bit rate that can be provided by the base station is lower or higher than a certain threshold, the base station adds the reference / index / ID corresponding to the threshold to the GTP-U header and transmits the GTP-U header to the core network, as shown in Table 2.

[0352]

[0353] FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a terminal or user equipment (UE) 1300 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0354] The terminal is an electronic device capable of wireless communication, may include a User Equipment (UE), a portable phone, a smartphone, a tablet, an Internet of things (IoT) device, etc., having various form factors, and may perform wireless communication with a base station (BS) through a wireless channel.

[0355] Referring to FIG. 13, the UE 1300 may include at least one transceiver (hereinafter, referred to as simply “transceiver”) 1301, at least one processor (hereinafter, referred to as simply “processor”) 1302, and at least one memory (hereinafter, referred to as simply “memory”) 1303. According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the transceiver 1301, the processor 1302, and the memory 1303 of the UE 1300 may operate. However, components of the UE 1300 are not limited to the exemplary components illustrated in FIG. 13. In another embodiment, the UE 1300 may further include additional components in addition to the above-mentioned components, or some components may be omitted. Further, in some embodiments, any combination of the transceiver 1301, the processor 1302, or the memory 1303 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0356] The transceiver 1301 may be a communication circuit or communication circuitry that enables the UE 1300 to perform wireless communication with a node or an entity of a network. For example, the transceiver 1301 may enable the UE 1300 to transmit or receive a signal to or from a BS through cellular communication, or to transmit or receive a signal to or from another UE through cellular communication. For example, the transceiver 1301 may support at least one of various cellular communication technologies including 3rd generation (3G), 4th generation (4G), long term evolution (LTE), 5th generation (5G) NR, 6th generation (6G), and various cellular wireless communication technologies supported by the transceiver (1301) may include all subsequent generations of evolved wireless communications.

[0357] According to an embodiment, the UE 1300 may include a plurality of transceivers. For example, in the case of supporting evolved-universal terrestrial radio access-new radio (E-UTRA-NR) dual connectivity (EN-DC), the UE 1300 may include a first transceiver supporting the 4G LTE wireless communication and a second transceiver supporting the 5G NR wireless communication. According to another embodiment, in the case of supporting NR-dual connectivity (NR-DC), the UE 1300 may include a plurality of transceivers supporting the 5G NR wireless communication. According to still another embodiment, in the case of supporting near field wireless communication, the UE 1300 may separately include a transceiver supporting at least one standard in the group of wireless communication protocol standards as defined in the protocol standards for Bluetooth®, wireless local area network (WLAN) network (including institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) 802.11-2016 standard or its amendments, e.g., 802.11ah, 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, and 802.11be, without being limited thereto).

[0358] According to an embodiment, the transceiver 1301 may include various circuit structures used to transmit or receive signals to or from a BS through a wireless channel. The signals may include control information and data. For example, the transceiver 1301 may include a radio frequency (RF) transmitter for up-converting and amplifying the frequency of a transmitted signal and an RF receiver for low-noise-amplifying a received signal and down-converting the frequency thereof. The transceiver 1301 may output a signal received through a wireless channel to the processor 1302 and may transmit, through a wireless channel, a signal output from the processor 1302.

[0359] The processor 1302 may control general operations of the UE 1300 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 1302 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processings. The processor 1302 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 1303, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 1302 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme.

[0360] The processor 1302 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the transceiver 1301 to control the transceiver 1301.

[0361] The processor 1302 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. For example, the processor 1302 may include a communication processor (CP) configured to control communication operations and an application processor (AP) configured to control execution of an upper layer (for example, an application layer). In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 1302 may be included in one chip and the other part of the processor 1302 may be included in another chip. Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the transceiver 1301 or the memory 1303.

[0362] The processor 1302 may perform or control or cause an operation of the UE 1300 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 1302 may control operations of the UE 1300 for processing a downlink signal received from a BS or generating and transmitting an uplink signal to a BS. To this end, the processor 1302 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 1303, so as to control other components of the UE 1300 to enable execution of various operations.

[0363] The memory 1303 corresponds to a hardware storage device capable of temporarily or permanently storing information and may include one or more storage media. For example, the memory 1303 may include a memory assembly including one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include permanent memory, such as a hard drive, flash memory, or read-only memory (ROM), semipermanent memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory, or a combination thereof.

[0364] The memory 1303 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the processor 1302 and may be accessed by the processor 1302.

[0365] The memory 1303 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1302. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1302 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 1303, the processor 1302 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0366] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the UE 1300 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 1303 by at least one processor (or processing circuitry) configured to execute the same individually, collectively, or in any combination thereof, based on processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions, and / or based on components of processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions.

[0367] FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a base station (BS) 1400 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The BS 1400 of FIG. 14 corresponds to the base station comprising the CU and the DU or the CU or the DU.

[0368] The BS 1400 may perform wireless communication with at least one user equipment (UE) located within the area of the BS 1400 through a wireless channel.

[0369] Referring to FIG. 14, the BS 1400 may include at least one transceiver (hereinafter, referred to as simply “transceiver”) 1401, at least one processor (hereinafter, referred to as simply “processor”) 1402, and at least one memory (hereinafter, referred to as simply “memory”) 1403. According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the transceiver 1401, the processor 1402, and the memory 1403 of the BS 1400 may operate. However, components of the BS 1400 are not limited to the exemplary components illustrated in FIG. 14. In another embodiment, the BS 1400 may further include additional components in addition to the above-mentioned components, or some components may be omitted. Further, in some embodiments, any combination of the transceiver 1401, the processor 1402, or the memory 1403 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0370] The transceiver 1401 may be a communication circuit or communication circuitry that enables the BS 1400 to perform wireless communication with a node or an entity of a network. For example, the transceiver 1401 may enable the BS 1400 to transmit or receive a signal to or from the UE 1400 through cellular communication, or to transmit or receive a signal to or from another network entity through wireless communication. For example, the transceiver 1401 may support various cellular communication technologies including 3rd generation (3G), 4th generation (4G), long term evolution (LTE), 5th generation (5G) NR, 6th generation (6G), and various cellular wireless communication technologies supported by the transceiver (1401) may include all subsequent generations of evolved wireless communications. According to an embodiment, the transceiver 1401 may include various circuit structures used to transmit or receive signals to or from a UE through a wireless channel. The signals may include control information and data. For example, the transceiver 1401 may include a radio frequency (RF) transmitter for up-converting and amplifying the frequency of a transmitted signal and an RF receiver for low-noise-amplifying a received signal and down-converting the frequency thereof. The transceiver 1401 may output a signal received through a wireless channel to the processor 1402 and may transmit, through a wireless channel, a signal output from the processor 1402.

[0371] Meanwhile, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the BS 1400 may perform communication with a node or an entity of a network through wired or wireless communication. For example, the BS 1400 may perform wired or wireless communication with an adjacent BS, or a node or an entity of a core network through a backhaul network. Although not illustrated in FIG. 14, when the BS 1400 performs wired communication, the BS 1400 may further include a separate network interface for wired communication in addition to the transceiver 1401. The network interface may be referred to as network interface circuitry or communication interface circuitry.

[0372] The processor 1402 may control general operations of the BS 1400 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 1402 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processings. The processor 1402 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 1403, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 1402 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme.

[0373] The processor 1402 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the transceiver 1401 to control the transceiver 1401.

[0374] The processor 1402 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 1402 may be included in one chip and the other part of the processor 1402 may be included in another chip. Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the transceiver 1401 or the memory 1403.

[0375] The processor 1402 may perform or control or cause an operation of the BS 1400 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 1402 may control operations of the BS 1400 for generating and transmitting a downlink signal to a UE or processing an uplink signal received from a UE. Otherwise, the BS 1400 may transmit or receive a signal to or from a neighboring BS, transfer a signal received from a UE to an upper node of the network, or transmit a signal transferred from an upper node of the network to a UE. To this end, the processor 1402 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 1403, so as to control other components of the BS 1400 to enable execution of various operations.

[0376] The memory 1403 corresponds to a hardware storage device capable of temporarily or permanently storing information and may include one or more storage media. For example, the memory 1403 may include a memory assembly including one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include permanent memory, such as a hard drive, flash memory, or read-only memory (ROM), semipermanent memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory, or a combination thereof.

[0377] The memory 1403 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the processor 1402 and may be accessed by the processor 1402.

[0378] The memory 1403 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1402. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1402 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 1403, the processor 1402 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0379] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the BS 1400 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 1403 by at least one processor (or processing circuitry) configured to execute the same individually, collectively, or in any combination thereof, based on processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions, and / or based on components of processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions.

[0380] The UE or the base station may perform various communication procedures related to the control plane or the user plane by cooperating with one or more network entities based on wireless communication. For example, the UE may communicate with network entity such as an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) or a Session Management Function (SMF) via the base station, or the base station may perform at least one communication procedure by directly transmitting and receiving signals to / from, or relaying signals between, the network entities.

[0381] The structure of the above-described network entity will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

[0382] FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a network entity 1500 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0383] The network entity 1500 may include an entity (apparatus, device, or server, etc.) that performs one or more network functions (NFs) or a part of a network function constituting a core network (e.g., a 5th generation (5G) core (5GC)) in a communication system. In this case, multiple NFs may be implemented within a single network entity, or a single NF may be distributed and implemented across a plurality of network entities. In addition, when an NF is implemented within the network entity, the NF may be implemented in the form of software, and in such a case, a program for operating the NF may be stored in memory of the network entity 1500.

[0384] A single NF may be implemented by one or more instances, which may be deployed on the same network entity or distributed across multiple network entities to operate. The instance may be a software unit that logically executes a specific network function, and may be implemented in a form that is decoupled from physical hardware resources. Further, one or more NFs may be implemented in the form of one network slice to operate to satisfy specifications required by a particular service.

[0385] The NF may include at least one of an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a local session management function (L-SMF), a user plane function (UPF), a local user plane function (L-UPF), a policy control function (PCF), a unified data management (UDM), a unified data repository (UDR), a network exposure function (NEF), a network repository function (NRF), an application function (AF), a network slice selection function (NSSF), a network data analytics function (NWDAF), a network slice admission control function (NSACF), an authentication server function (AUSF), or a data network (DN).

[0386] Referring to FIG. 15, the network entity 1500 may include at least one network interface 1501, at least one processor 1502 (hereinafter, “processor”), and at least one memory 1503 (hereinafter, “memory”). As described above, a NF may be implemented in the form of a physical device such as the network entity 1500, or may be virtualized and executed in the form of an instance. When implemented as an instance, the NF need not necessarily include physical components as illustrated in FIG. 15. In such a case, the instance may be logically represented as comprising one or more logical functional elements.

[0387] According to at least one or a combination of methods corresponding to the embodiments described in the present disclosure, the network interface 1501, the processor 1502, and the memory 1503 of the network entity 1500 may operate. However, components of the network entity 1500 are not limited to the exemplary components illustrated in FIG. 15. In another embodiment, the network entity 1500 may further include additional components in addition to the above-mentioned components, or some components may be omitted. Further, in an embodiment, the network interface 1501, the processor 1502, or the memory 1503 may be integrated in the form of one component.

[0388] The network interface 1501 is a collective term for a transmitter part of the network entity 1500 and a receiver part of the network entity 1500, and may be a communication circuit for transmitting or receiving a signal to or from a user equipment (UE), a base station (BS), or another network entity. Here, the communication circuit may include both a communication circuit for wireless communication and a communication circuit for a wired communication. For example, the network interface 1501 may include a circuit, logic, hardware, etc., configured to exchange a control plane message or a user plane message with a UE, a BS, or other core network entities through wireless communication or wired communication. The network interface 1501 may operate using various protocols (e.g., non-access stratum (NAS) protocol). The network interface 1501 may also be referred to, for convenience of description or depending on implementation, as communication circuitry, network interface circuitry, or a communication interface circuitry.

[0389] The processor 1502 may control general operations of the network entity 1500 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The processor 1502 may be implemented by one or more integrated circuit (or circuitry) (IC) chips and may execute various data processings. The processor 1502 may include at least one electric circuit, and may execute instructions (or a program, codes, data, etc.) stored in the memory 1503, individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. Further, the processor 1502 may include a single-core processor or multi-core processor, and may include a processor assembly including a plurality of processing circuits (circuitry) according to a specific implementation scheme. Further, it should be noted that, according to another embodiment, in a case where NF is implemented in the form of an instance, the network function may be not necessarily configured by physical hardware.

[0390] According to an embodiment, the processor 1502 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the network interface 1501 to control the network interface 1501.

[0391] The processor 1502 may include at least one processor (or processing circuitry), and the at least one processor may perform the following operations individually, collectively or in any combination thereof. In a specific embodiment, at least a part of the processor 1502 may be included in one chip and the other part of the processor 1502 may be included in another chip. Otherwise, at least one processor may be included in another component, for example, the network interface 1501 or the memory 1503.

[0392] The processor 1502 may perform or control or cause an operation of the network entity 1500 for executing at least one or a combination of methods according to embodiments of the disclosure. For example, the processor 1502 may control operations of the network entity 1500 for exchanging a control plane message or a user plane message with a UE, a BS, or other core network entities through wireless or wired communication, using various protocols (e.g., NAS protocol). To this end, the processor 1502 may execute a computer program, codes, or instructions stored in the memory 1503, so as to control other components of the network entity 1500 to enable execution of various operations.

[0393] The memory 1503 corresponds to a hardware storage device capable of temporarily or permanently storing information and may include one or more storage media. For example, the memory 1503 may include a memory assembly including one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include permanent memory, such as a hard drive, flash memory, or read-only memory (ROM), semipermanent memory, such as random access memory (RAM), cache memory, or a combination thereof.

[0394] The memory 1503 may be electrically, operatively, or communicatively coupled to the processor 1502 and may be accessed by the processor 1502.

[0395] The memory 1503 may store a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1502. According to an embodiment, a computer program, codes, or instructions executable by the processor 1502 may be either stored in a single memory device or separated and distributedly stored in two or more memory devices. By executing the instructions stored in the memory 1503, the processor 1502 may perform various functions according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0396] According to an embodiment of the disclosure, operations of the network entity 1500 may be caused to be performed based on execution of instructions (or a computer program or codes) stored in the memory 1503 by at least one processor (or processing circuitry) configured to execute the same individually, collectively, or in any combination thereof, based on processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions, and / or based on components of processing circuitry that is not configured to execute instructions.

[0397] Meanwhile, although specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail, various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined by the claims and equivalents thereof.

[0398] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the above illustrative embodiments are described herein and are not intended to be limiting. It should be appreciated that any two or more of the embodiments disclosed herein may be combined in any combination. In addition, other embodiments may be utilized and other changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter presented herein. It will be readily appreciated that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generally described herein and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, may be arranged, substituted, combined, separated and designed according to various different configurations, all of which are contemplated herein.

[0399] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and steps described in the present disclosure may be implemented as hardware, software, or a combination of the two. To clearly illustrate the interchangeability between the hardware and the software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits and steps are generally described above by means of their function sets. Whether such function sets are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. The technicians may implement the described function sets in different ways for each specific application, but such design decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0400] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules and circuits described in the present disclosure may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or　other programmable logic devices, a discrete gate or transistor logic, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative scheme, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may alternatively be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in collaboration with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0401] The steps of the method or algorithm described in the present disclosure may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by the processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in a RAM memory, a flash memory, a ROM memory, an EPROM memory, an EEPROM memory, a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor, to enable the processor to read information from / write information to the storage medium. In an alternative scheme, the storage medium may be integrated to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In an alternative scheme, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

[0402] In one or more exemplary designs, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over a computer readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. The computer readable medium includes both a computer storage medium and a communication medium, the communication medium including any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. The storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer.

[0403] The foregoing is merely exemplary implementations of the present disclosure and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present disclosure. The scope of protection of the present disclosure is determined by the claims.

Claims

1.A method performed by a base station, the method comprising:receiving, from a core network entity, a protocol data unit (PDU) session resource request message including first information on quality of service (QoS) parameters for a QoS flow,wherein the first information includes an indication indicating that the QoS flow allows bit rate adaptation in an uplink (UL) direction.2.The method of claim 1, wherein the PDU session resource request message is one of a PDU session resource setup request message or a PDU session resource modify request message.3.The method of claim 1, further comprising:transmitting, from a central unit (CU) of the base station to a distributed unit (DU) of the base station, a user equipment (UE) context request message including second information on QoS parameters for the QoS flow.4.The method of claim 3, wherein the second information includes the indication indicating that the QoS flow allows bit rate adaptation in the UL direction.5.The method of claim 3, wherein the UE context request message is one of a UE context setup request message or a UE context modification request message.6.The method of claim 1, further comprising:transmitting, to a UE, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) including information on a UL bit rate for the QoS flow.7.The method of claim 3,wherein the first information or the second information is QoS flow level QoS parameters information, andwherein the core network entity is an access and mobility management function (AMF) entity.8.A method performed by a base station, the method comprising:receiving, from a core network entity, a protocol data unit (PDU) session resource request message including first information on quality of service (QoS) parameters for a QoS flow,wherein the first information includes an indication indicating that the QoS flow allows bit rate adaptation in an uplink (UL) direction.9.The method of claim 8, wherein the PDU session resource request message is one of a PDU session resource setup request message or a PDU session resource modify request message.10.The method of claim 8, further comprising:transmitting, from a central unit (CU) of the base station to a distributed unit (DU) of the base station, a user equipment (UE) context request message including second information on QoS parameters for the QoS flow.11.The method of claim 10, wherein the second information includes the indication indicating that the QoS flow allows bit rate adaptation in the UL direction.12.The method of claim 10, wherein the UE context request message is one of a UE context setup request message or a UE context modification request message.13.The method of claim 8, further comprising:transmitting, to a UE, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) including information on a UL bit rate for the QoS flow.14.The method of claim 10,wherein the first information or the second information is QoS flow level QoS parameters information, andwherein the core network entity is an access and mobility management function (AMF) entity.

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