CN113316922B

CN113316922B - Apparatus, method, device and computer readable storage medium for transmitting data packets

Info

Publication number: CN113316922B
Application number: CN201880098472.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 温萍萍
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Priority date: 2018-11-01
Filing date: 2018-11-01
Publication date: 2023-08-11
Anticipated expiration: 2038-11-01
Also published as: WO2020087477A1; CN113316922A

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to devices, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for transmitting data packets. For example, in the method, upper layer data indication information in an upper layer data packet included in a first transmission data packet is stored, and the upper layer data indication information is transmitted to an upper layer entity in response to the first transmission data packet requiring retransmission. Then, a data packet containing retransmission data is constructed based on the upper layer data packet corresponding to the data indication information received from the upper layer entity. The method can improve transmission reliability and can reduce the amount of buffering of information required for retransmission of data packets.

Description

Apparatus, method, device and computer readable storage medium for transmitting data packets

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to communication technology and, more particularly, relate to an apparatus, method, device, and computer-readable storage medium for transmitting data packets.

Background

The third generation partnership project (3 GPP) has initiated a new study to extend the applicability of standards into Non-terrestrial networks (Non-Terrestrial Network, NTN). More specifically, the purpose is to enable the application of 5G radio access technology to satellite links. The satellite link has a longer round trip delay compared to the terrestrial communication network, which will have an impact on the design of the hybrid automatic repeat request (Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest, HARQ).

Hybrid automatic repeat request (harq) is a technique formed by combining forward error correction coding (FEC) and automatic repeat request (ARQ). According to the HARQ technique, a part of all errors that can be corrected is corrected using the FEC technique at the receiving end, and if it is judged that the erroneous data packet cannot be corrected by the error detection, the data packet is discarded and the same data packet is requested to be retransmitted to the transmitting end. The hybrid automatic retransmission technology can efficiently compensate error codes caused by adopting link adaptation, improves the data transmission rate and reduces the data transmission delay.

However, for non-terrestrial networks, existing HARQ techniques may have some problems. Satellite links typically have a large propagation delay, which will cause a significant increase in the number of HARQ processes. This can lead to a great demand on the buffer capacity of the soft buffers of the transmitter and the receiver, which is difficult for the terminal device to meet.

Currently 3GPP has discussed the design of HARQ in NTN. For example, in 3GPP TR 38.811 V15.0.0, "Study on NR to support non terrestrial networks (Release 15)" two schemes have been proposed for further investigation. One is to enhance existing HARQ operations and the other is to limit HARQ functions and/or disable HARQ. However, when HARQ is limited or disabled, data transmission errors may occur, and how to handle the erroneous data is still a problem to be solved.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to devices, methods, and apparatuses for transmitting data packets, and computer-readable storage media.

In a first aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method for transmitting a data packet. The method includes storing upper layer data indication information in an upper layer data packet included in a first transmission data packet; and transmitting upper layer data indication information to an upper layer entity in response to the first transmission of the data packet requiring retransmission. The method further includes constructing a data packet containing retransmission data based on the upper layer data packet corresponding to the upper layer data indication information received from the upper layer entity.

In a second aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method for transmitting a data packet. The method comprises the steps of obtaining an upper layer data packet corresponding to upper layer data indication information according to the upper layer data indication information from a lower layer entity; and transmitting the upper layer data packet to the lower layer entity.

In a third aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide an apparatus for transmitting data packets. The apparatus includes at least one processor, and at least one memory storing computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: storing upper layer data indication information in an upper layer data packet included in the first transmission data packet; and in response to the first transmission of the data packet requiring retransmission, transmitting upper layer data indication information to an upper layer entity, the apparatus being further caused to construct a data packet containing retransmission data based on the upper layer data packet corresponding to the upper layer data indication information received from the upper layer entity.

In a fourth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide an apparatus for transmitting data packets. The apparatus includes at least one processor, and at least one memory storing computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: acquiring an upper layer data packet corresponding to the upper layer data indication information according to the upper layer data indication information from the lower layer entity; and transmitting the upper layer data packet to the lower layer entity.

In a fifth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide an apparatus for transmitting a data packet. The apparatus comprises means for performing the method according to the first aspect.

In a sixth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide an apparatus for transmitting a data packet. The apparatus comprises means for performing the method according to the second aspect.

In a seventh aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon. The computer program comprises instructions which, when executed by a processor on a device, cause the device to perform the method according to the first aspect.

In an eighth aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon. The computer program comprises instructions which, when executed by a processor on a device, cause the device to perform the method according to the second aspect.

It should be understood that what is described in this summary is not intended to limit the critical or essential features of the disclosed embodiments nor is it intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description.

Drawings

The above and other features, advantages and aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, wherein like or similar reference numerals denote like or similar elements, in which:

fig. 1 shows a user plane protocol stack in a prior art communication system;

fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram of HARQ functions in a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer;

fig. 3 illustrates an example method for transmitting data packets in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 shows an example of a downlink DL MAC Protocol Data Unit (PDU);

FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of an AMD PDU with a 12-bit Sequence Number (SN) (without a segment offset indication (SO));

FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a UMD PDU (without SO) with a 12-bit Sequence Number (SN);

fig. 7 shows a schematic diagram of HARQ functions in a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 8 illustrates an example method for transmitting data packets in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

fig. 9 illustrates a block diagram of a device suitable for implementing certain embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Some example embodiments will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While certain embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the present disclosure may be embodied in various forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein, but are provided to provide a more thorough and complete understanding of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the drawings and embodiments of the present disclosure are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

The term "circuitry" as used herein refers to one or more of the following:

(a) Hardware-only circuit implementations (such as analog-only and/or digital-circuit implementations); and

(b) A combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (if applicable): (i) A combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuitry and software/firmware, and (ii) any portion of a hardware processor and software (including digital signal processors, software, and memory that work together to cause an apparatus, such as an OLT or other computing device, to perform various functions); and

(c) Hardware circuitry and/or a processor, such as a microprocessor or a portion of a microprocessor, that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but may not have software when software is not required for operation.

Definition of circuitry applies to all scenarios in which this term is used in this disclosure, including in any claims. As another example, the term "circuitry" as used herein also covers an implementation of only a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors), or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor, or its accompanying software or firmware. For example, if applicable to the particular claim element, the term "circuitry" also covers a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit or similar integrated circuit in an OLT or other computing device.

The term "including" and variations thereof as used herein are intended to be open-ended, i.e., including, but not limited to. The term "based on" is based at least in part on. The term "one embodiment" means "at least one embodiment"; the term "another embodiment" means "at least one additional embodiment". Related definitions of other terms will be given in the description below.

Hereinafter, an existing user plane protocol and HARQ retransmission scheme will be described first with reference to fig. 1 to 2. Fig. 1 schematically shows a user plane protocol stack of a prior art communication system. As shown in fig. 1, in the current new wireless (NR)/Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, a user plane protocol stack is included at both a base station side and a UE side. The user plane has the same design at the base station and on the UE side. On the UE side, the user plane protocol stack 110 includes a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer 111, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer 112, a medium access control MAC layer 113, and a Physical (PHY) layer 114. On the base station side, the user plane protocol stack 120 includes a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer 111, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer 112, a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer 113, and a Physical (PHY) layer 114. The PDCP layers 111, 121 are responsible for performing header compression to reduce the amount of bits that the radio interface needs to transmit. At the transmitting end, the PDCP layers 111, 121 are responsible for ciphering and integrity protection functions of the transmission data. At the receiving end, the PDCP layers 111, 121 are responsible for performing decryption and decompression functions. The RLC layers 112, 122 are responsible for segmentation and concatenation, retransmission processing, and sequential transmission of higher layer data. The MAC layers 113, 123 are responsible for handling HARQ retransmissions and uplink and downlink scheduling. The MAC layer will serve the RLC layer in the manner of logical channels. The PHY layers 114, 124 are responsible for handling codec, modem, multi-antenna mapping, and other telecommunication physical layer functions. The PHY layers 114, 124 serve the MAC layers 113, 123 in the manner of transport channels.

When data transmission is to be performed, scheduling in the MAC layer will determine how much data in each radio bearer (e.g., a radio bearer of an RLC entity) will be included in a MAC Protocol Data Unit (PDU) for transmission and will inform the RLC layer to construct the RLC PDU. After forming RLC PDUs from the RLC layer, the MAC layer will build MAC PDUs based on the RLC PDUs and send the built MAC PDUs to the PHY layer for further processing. When the HARQ retransmission function is configured, the MAC PDU is stored in the HARQ buffer of the corresponding HARQ process at the same time so as to be retransmitted subsequently. There are two ways of HARQ retransmission, one is synchronous HARQ and one is asynchronous HARQ. If synchronous HARQ is supported, the scheduling of HARQ retransmission will allocate resources for HARQ retransmission at a fixed time; if asynchronous HARQ is supported, scheduling may allocate resources for HARQ retransmissions at any time after NACK feedback is obtained.

Therefore, data retransmission can be supported by HARQ at the MAC layer to meet certain reliability requirements. However, for non-terrestrial networks, they typically have a large propagation delay. This means that there will be a large number of HARQ processes and a large number of buffered MAC PDUs within one Round Trip Time (RTT), as shown in fig. 2. This would require a very large buffering capacity for the soft buffer of the receiver. Thus, HARQ retransmission techniques feasible for terrestrial networks would be difficult to implement for terminal devices accessing non-terrestrial networks. For this reason, schemes have been proposed to enhance existing HARQ and HARQ function restriction/disablement for HARQ problems of non-terrestrial networks.

Solutions for configuring HARQ process numbers and HARQ disabling have been proposed, for example in 3GPP technical document R1-1802631. Furthermore, some solutions for HARQ disabling are further described in 3GPP technical document R1-1804857:

-using a larger HARQ process ID than the HARQ process IDs in the set of configured HARQ processes to indicate that no HARQ ACK/NACK feedback is sent.

-using different C-RNTIs as UE identifiers, one C-RNTI identifier indicating that there is normal HARQ operation and another C-RNTI identifier being used to identify an indication that HARQ ACK/NACK feedback is not to be transmitted.

-deciding whether to send ACK/NACK feedback based on the transport block size.

Semi-static (non-dynamic) disabling of HARQ operations by setting the number of HARQ processes in RRC to 0.

However, when HARQ is limited or disabled, data transmission errors still occur, and how to handle erroneous data is a problem to be solved.

In the prior art, the base station gNB of the NR can decide whether to disable the HARQ based retransmission operation entirely. If the HARQ functionality is disabled, this means that only one transmission is performed for the transmission of the data packet. If the first transmission fails, no retransmission of any MAC layer will be performed. Thus, when the HARQ functionality is disabled and the MAC PDU is not decoded correctly, this will inevitably require further retransmissions to meet the reliability requirements. However, how to resolve erroneous transmissions when HARQ is disabled, the most straightforward solution available in the prior art is to perform further retransmissions by ARQ operations in higher layers. That is, the RLC AM mode is utilized by the RLC layer for processing. However, the delay caused by both such retransmission operations and retransmission scheduling of RLC PDUs can cause additional delay and jitter of the data packets.

To this end, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, a technical solution for transmitting data packets is provided. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, key information available for reconstructing a data packet, such as a MAC control element, an RLC status PDU, header information of an RLC PDU, etc., may be stored only in a MAC layer buffer when the first transmission of the data packet is performed. And when the data packet needs to be retransmitted, the upper layer data packet can be acquired from the upper layer entity based on the key information of the stored MAC data packet, and the MAC layer data packet can be reconstructed based on the stored key information. Since only part of the information in the MAC layer data packet, not the entire MAC layer data packet, needs to be stored, this solution reduces redundant buffering of the MAC layer and RLC layer while supporting HARQ functions. Therefore, this scheme can not only improve transmission reliability, but also significantly reduce the size requirement of the buffer.

Hereinafter, a technical scheme for transmitting a data packet according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to fig. 3 to 9. However, it should be noted that although the embodiments of the present disclosure are described in connection with the application scenario of NTN, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, but may be applied to other communication systems to reduce redundant buffering of data packets while supporting HARQ. Furthermore, although the following embodiments are described taking MAC layer HARQ as an example, the present invention is also applicable to other cases where it is necessary to reduce redundant retransmission data buffering.

Fig. 3 illustrates an example method 300 for transmitting data packets according to some embodiments of the disclosure. The method 300 may be performed, for example, at the MAC layer by a MAC layer entity. As shown in fig. 3, upper layer data indication information in an upper layer data packet included in a first transmission data packet is stored in step 310. Thus, unlike conventional HARQ processes, the MAC PDU itself is not stored in the embodiments of the present disclosure, but key information that can be used to reconstruct the MAC PDU is stored so that the MAC PDU is reconstructed based on the stored information when retransmission is required.

The upper layer data indication information is indication information indicating upper layer data (RLC PDU) contained in the MAC PDU. The upper layer data indication information may include at least part of information in a header of the upper layer data packet. For illustration purposes, a Downlink (DL) MAC PDU format in the prior art is shown in fig. 4.

As shown in fig. 4, the MAC PDU may include a plurality of MAC sub-PDUs, each of which may include a control element (MAC CE) of a medium access control layer or a MAC Service Data Unit (SDU). The MAC SDU in the MAC PDU may be an RLC PDU. The RLC data transfer modes may include a Transparent Mode (TM), a Unacknowledged Mode (UM), and an Acknowledged Mode (AM). RLC PDU formats differ for different transmission modes.

Schematic diagrams of PDUs of two example RLC are schematically shown in fig. 5 and 6, where fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram of an AMD PDU with a 12 bit Sequence Number (SN) (without a segmentation offset indication (SO)) and fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a UMD PDU with a 12 bit SN (without SO). As can be seen in the figure, in the AMD PDU and UMD PDU formats, each data packet comprises a data packet header 501, 601 and a payload (data) 502, 602. The data packet header 501, 601 is used to indicate information related to the payload 502, 602 in the RLC PDU, including information such as Segmentation Indication (SI), sequence Number (SN), etc. These are important information that facilitates the reconstruction of the MAC layer data at the time of retransmission.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the MAC layer entity may parse out the header of the RLC PDU and directly store the header information for data retransmission. In other embodiments of the present disclosure, the MAC layer entity may also store only the content required for reconstructing the MAC layer in the header, such as SI and SN.

Furthermore, with SO, the format of the RLC is substantially similar to fig. 5 and 6, but additional SO fields are included in the header information and the length of the SN will be changed. In this case, the SO may also be buffered together in a buffer of the MAC layer.

In some embodiments according to the present disclosure, control related information of the first transmission data packet may be further stored so as to reconstruct the first transmission data packet based further on the control related information when constructing the data packet containing the retransmission data. The control related information may include at least one of a control unit MAC CE of the medium access control layer and a status data packet of the radio link layer control protocol RLC.

Referring back to fig. 4, a MAC CE is also included in the MAC PDU shown. The MAC CE is control information for a payload of the MAC PDU. It should be noted that not all MAC PDUs include such information. Therefore, in the case where the data packet includes a MAC CE, MAC CE information may also be stored. Thus, the MAC CE may be included in the reconstructed MAC PDU when data reconstruction is performed.

In one embodiment according to the present disclosure, control related information from the RLC layer, such as RLC status PDUs, may also be included in the MAC PDU. In this case, the RLC status PDU may be directly stored in a buffer of the MAC layer so that the RLC status PDU in the first transmission data packet is also included in the reconstructed MAC PDU when the data reconstruction is performed.

Fig. 7 shows a schematic diagram of HARQ functions in a MAC layer according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 7, in an embodiment according to the present disclosure, for a first transmitted data packet, only important information such as MAC CE, SN, SI, SO, etc. used to reconstruct the data packet is stored, instead of storing the entire MAC PDU. The information stored now occupies only a small part of the MAC PDU compared to the MAC PDU and will therefore occupy significantly less buffer. It should be noted that although the buffers shown in fig. 7 include MAC CEs, SNs, and SOs, different information may be buffered in different cases. For example, in the case of RLC PDUs in a PDU format without SO, SO is not buffered; in the case that the MAC PDU does not include the MAC CE, the MAC CE is not stored; and in case RLC status PDUs are included in the MAC PDUs, RLC status PDUs may also be buffered.

Referring back to fig. 3, in step 320, upper layer data indication information is sent to the upper layer entity in response to the first transmission of the data packet requiring retransmission. When receiving the non-acknowledgement information NACK, determining that the data packet needs to be retransmitted, the MAC layer entity may acquire upper layer data indication information from the stored data packet information, and send the acquired upper layer data indication information to the RLC layer. The RLC layer acquires a corresponding RLC PDU from its buffer based on upper layer data indication information such as SN, SI, SO, etc., and returns it to the MAC layer.

Next, in step 330, a data packet containing retransmission data is constructed based on the upper layer data packet corresponding to the upper layer data indication information received from the upper layer entity. After receiving the RLC PDU, the MAC PDU may be reconstructed at the MAC layer. In case control related information such as MAC CE, RLC status PDU, etc. is also stored in the corresponding buffer, the MAC CE or RLC status PDU may also be put in the reconstructed MAC PDU.

In some embodiments according to the present disclosure, retransmission supporting HARQ functions may be implemented. In this case, joint decoding of the first transmission and retransmission may be supported, for example, tracking combining (tracking combining) and incremental redundancy (incremental Redundancy) may be supported. When this function is used, the first transmitted MAC PDU and the reconstructed MAC PDU will be the same.

In some embodiments according to the present disclosure, retransmissions in the MAC layer may also be supported in a self-decoding function. In this case, the MAC PDU for retransmission may be the same as the MAC PDU for first transmission, and may also be different from the MAC PDU for first transmission. With this solution, although the gain of joint decoding cannot be achieved, the gain of flexibility of retransmission scheduling can be obtained. In addition, retransmissions in the MAC layer will be much faster than leaving retransmissions to the RLC layer, which may also bring about gains in delay.

In implementations supporting retransmissions for self-decoding, constructing downlink MAC PDUs for downlink transmissions is an implementation-specific problem for the gNB. But uplink transmissions such as LCP (logical channel prioritization) functions are defined and standardized. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, two possible implementations are presented.

In one implementation, for uplink data transmission, transmission resources are allocated for retransmission data in preference to new first transmission data based on the logical channel priority function LCP. In other words, retransmission data is prioritized. Thus, when constructing a MAC PDU, retransmission data will be put first, then new data for the first transmission will be put.

In another implementation, for uplink transmission, transmission resources are allocated for retransmission data in preference to new first transmission data for each logical channel or group of logical channels based on the logical channel priority function LCP. That is, when placing data, data is first placed per logical channel or logical channel group according to the original priority and PBR (Prioritized Bit Rate, priority bit rate) (see logical channel priority related part in 3gpp ts 38.321), but for each logical channel or logical channel group, the priority of retransmission data is always higher than the new data for the first transmission.

In embodiments according to the present disclosure, various ways may be employed to activate such optimized retransmission functions presented by the present disclosure. In some embodiments according to the present disclosure, the disabling of the hybrid automatic repeat request HARQ function may be performed in response. I.e. whether uplink or downlink, the optimized retransmission scheme is automatically performed when the HARQ functionality is disabled.

In some embodiments according to the present disclosure, the enablement of the method may also be independent of the disablement of the HARQ functionality. For downlink data transmission, the base station may decide on its own whether to enable the optimized retransmission functionality of the present disclosure. For uplink data transmission, the user equipment may enable the optimized retransmission functionality of the present disclosure in response to receiving dynamic or semi-static activation signaling from the base station.

The method of performing data packet retransmission at the MAC layer is described above with reference to fig. 3-7. It should be noted that in the above description, other schemes and descriptions are applicable to both the MAC layer at the base station side and the MAC layer at the UE except for the specific implementation supporting the self-decoding function related to the uplink transmission, unless such schemes are obviously inapplicable according to the principle of communication transmission.

A method of performing data retransmission at the RLC layer will be described hereinafter with reference to fig. 8. Fig. 8 illustrates an example method 800 for transmitting data packets according to some embodiments of the disclosure. The method may be performed at the RLC layer of the user plane protocol stack.

As shown in fig. 8, at step 810, an upper layer data packet corresponding to upper layer data indication information is acquired according to the upper layer data indication information from a lower layer entity. The upper layer data indication information includes at least part of information in a header of an upper layer data packet previously transmitted to the MAC layer. The header of the upper layer data packet comprises, for example, at least one of the segmentation information SI, the sequence number SN and the segmentation bias indication SO.

Upon receiving the upper layer data indication information from the MAC layer, the RLC layer may acquire a corresponding upper layer data packet according to the upper layer data indication information. Corresponding RLC PDU data is buffered in the RLC layer, and corresponding upper layer data packets can be acquired from the buffer according to information indicating the data packets such as SN, SI, SO, etc.

Next, in step 820, the upper layer data packet may be sent to the lower layer entity. After acquiring the RLC PDU corresponding to the upper layer data indication information, the RLC layer may return the RLC PDU to the MAC in order to reconstruct the data packet containing the retransmission data.

In one embodiment according to the present disclosure, the optimized retransmission related function of the RLC layer may be enabled in response to the disabling of the HARQ function, similar to the MAC layer. That is, an optimized retransmission scheme is automatically performed when the HARQ function is disabled, regardless of uplink transmission or downlink transmission. In this case, the RLC layer needs to have the capability of buffering RLC PDUs previously sent to the MAC layer. Thus, in case the optimized retransmission related function of the RLC layer is enabled in response to the disabling of the HARQ function, if some bearers are in unacknowledged mode UM, it may be set to AM mode. Furthermore, a buffer for storing RLC PDUs may be additionally added without changing the mode.

In some embodiments according to the present disclosure, the enabling of the method may also be independent of the disabling of the HARQ functionality. For downlink data transmission, the base station may decide on its own whether to enable the optimized retransmission function according to the present disclosure. For uplink data transmission, the user equipment may enable an optimized retransmission function according to the present disclosure in response to receiving dynamic or semi-static activation signaling from the base station. In this case, the RLC layer also needs to have the capability to buffer RLC PDUs previously sent to the MAC layer. Thus, if some bearers are in unacknowledged mode UM, they can be set to AM mode. Furthermore, similarly, the mode may not be changed, but a buffer for storing RLC PDUs may be additionally added.

According to the data packet retransmission scheme of the present disclosure, the entire MAC PDU is not required to be stored in the HARQ buffer, but only important information for constructing the MAC PDU is stored. This is performed faster than the solution that leaves retransmissions to the RLC layer, and delay and jitter can be reduced. Also, in some embodiments, HARQ capability may be provided, or a self-decoding function may be supported. Thus, by this scheme, improved transmission reliability is provided while having small buffering requirements. This retransmission scheme is particularly suitable for application scenarios of non-terrestrial networks such as satellite links.

In some embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing the method 300 (e.g., a base station or UE) may include corresponding components for performing the various steps of the method 300. These components may be implemented in any suitable manner. For example, it may be implemented by a circuit or a software module.

In some embodiments, the apparatus may include: means for storing upper layer data indication information in an upper layer data packet included in the first transmission data packet; means for transmitting upper layer data indication information to an upper layer entity in response to a first transmission of a data packet requiring retransmission; and means for constructing a data packet containing retransmission data based on the upper layer data packet corresponding to the upper layer data indication information received from the upper layer entity.

In some embodiments, the apparatus may include: the apparatus further comprises means for storing control related information of the first transmission data packet, wherein the means for constructing the data packet comprising the retransmission data is configured to construct the data packet comprising the retransmission data further based on the control related information.

In some embodiments, the control related information may include at least one of a control unit MAC CE of the medium access control layer and a status data packet of the radio link layer control protocol RLC.

In some embodiments, the upper layer data indication information may include at least part of the information in the header of the upper layer data packet.

In some embodiments, the header of the upper layer data packet includes at least one of the segmentation information SI, the sequence number SN, and the segmentation bias indication SO.

In some embodiments, the data packet containing the retransmission data is the same as the first transmission data packet. In some embodiments, the data packet containing the retransmission data comprises: at least part of the data in the data packet is transmitted for the first time and the data is transmitted for the new first time.

In some embodiments, for uplink data transmission, the apparatus further comprises means for allocating transmission resources for retransmission data in preference to new first transmission data based on the logical channel priority function LCP.

In some embodiments, for uplink data transmission, the apparatus further comprises means for allocating transmission resources for retransmission data in preference to new first transmission data for each logical channel or group of logical channels based on the logical channel priority function LCP.

In some embodiments, the apparatus is enabled in response to disabling of the hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, function. In some embodiments, for uplink data transmission, the method is performed in response to receiving dynamic or semi-static activation signaling. In some embodiments of the present invention, in some embodiments,

the device is implemented at the medium access control MAC layer.

In some embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing the method 800 (e.g., a base station or UE) may include corresponding means for performing the various steps of the method 800. These components may be implemented in any suitable manner. For example, it may be implemented by a circuit or a software module.

In some embodiments, the apparatus may include: means for acquiring an upper layer data packet corresponding to upper layer data indication information according to the upper layer data indication information from the lower layer entity; and means for transmitting the upper layer data packet to the lower layer entity.

In some embodiments, the upper layer data indication information comprises at least part of the information in the header of the upper layer data packet.

In some embodiments, the apparatus is enabled in response to disabling of the hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, function.

In certain embodiments, the apparatus further comprises one of: means for setting a bearer whose transmission mode is a non-acknowledged mode UM to an acknowledged mode AM in response to disabling of the HARQ function; and means for setting a buffer for storing the data packets in response to disabling of the HARQ functionality.

In some embodiments, the apparatus is enabled in response to receiving dynamic or semi-static activation signaling.

In certain embodiments, the apparatus further comprises one of: means for setting a bearer with a transmission mode of unacknowledged mode UM to acknowledged mode AM in response to receiving dynamic or semi-static activation signaling; and means for setting a buffer for storing the data packets.

In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for implementing at a radio link control, RLC, layer.

Fig. 9 illustrates a block diagram of a device suitable for implementing certain embodiments of the present disclosure. The apparatus 900 may implement a part of functions of an RLC layer or a MAC layer of a UE side user plane, an RLC layer or a MAC layer of a base station side user plane shown in fig. 1.

As shown in fig. 9, the device 900 includes a processor 910. Processor 910 controls the operation and functions of device 900. For example, in some embodiments, the processor 910 may perform various operations by means of instructions 930 stored in a memory 920 coupled thereto. Memory 920 may be of any suitable type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology including, but not limited to, semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems. Although only one memory unit is shown in fig. 9, there may be multiple physically distinct memory units in device 900.

The processor 910 may be of any suitable type suitable to the local technical environment and may include, but is not limited to, one or more of a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a microcontroller, a digital signal controller (DSP), and a controller-based multi-core controller model. The device 900 may also include a plurality of processors 910. The device 900 may enable the reception and transmission of information by means of optical fibers or cables, etc., in a wired manner or may be wireless.

The processor 910, by executing the instructions, causes the apparatus 900 to perform the relevant operations and features of the UE-side user plane MAC layer, the UE-side user plane RLC layer, the base station-side user plane MAC layer, or the base station-side user plane RLC layer described above with reference to fig. 1 to 8. All of the features described above with reference to fig. 1-8 are applicable to the device 900 and are not described in detail herein.

In general, the various example embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated or described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that the blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

By way of example, embodiments of the present disclosure may be described in the context of machine-executable instructions, such as program modules, being included in devices on a real or virtual processor of a target. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between described program modules. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within local or distributed devices. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage media.

Computer program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in one or more programming languages. These computer program code may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus such that the program code, when executed by the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, causes the functions/operations specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on the computer, partly on the computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server.

In the context of this disclosure, computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable an apparatus, device, or processor to perform the various processes and operations described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer readable media, and the like.

Examples of signals may include electrical, optical, radio, acoustical or other form of propagated signals, such as carrier waves, infrared signals, etc.

A computer readable medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. The computer readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination thereof. More detailed examples of a computer-readable storage medium include an electrical connection with one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof.

In addition, although operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In some cases, multitasking or parallel processing may be beneficial. Likewise, although the foregoing discussion contains certain specific implementation details, this should not be construed as limiting the scope of any invention or claims, but rather as describing particular embodiments that may be directed to particular inventions. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting data packets, comprising:

storing upper layer data indication information in an upper layer data packet included in the first transmission data packet;

transmitting the upper layer data indication information to an upper layer entity in response to the first transmission data packet requiring retransmission; and

a data packet containing retransmission data is constructed based on an upper layer data packet corresponding to the upper layer data indication information received from the upper layer entity.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing control related information of the first transmission data packet,

wherein said constructing a data packet containing retransmission data is further performed based on said control related information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the control related information comprises at least one of a control unit MAC CE of a medium access control layer and a status data packet of a radio link layer control protocol RLC.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the upper layer data indication information comprises at least part of information in a header of the upper layer data packet.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein a header of the upper layer data packet includes at least one of segmentation information SI, a sequence number SN, and a segmentation bias indication SO.

6. The method of any of claims 1-5, wherein the data packet containing retransmission data is the same as the first transmission data packet.

7. The method of any of claims 1-5, wherein the data packet containing retransmission data comprises: at least part of the data in the first transmission data packet and the new first transmission data.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

for uplink data transmission, transmission resources are allocated for the retransmission data in preference to the new first transmission data based on a logical channel priority function LCP.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

for uplink transmission, transmission resources are allocated for the retransmission data in preference to the new first transmission data for each logical channel or group of logical channels based on a logical channel priority function LCP.

10. The method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the method is performed in response to disabling of hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, functionality.

11. The method of any of claims 1-5, wherein for uplink data transmission, the method is performed in response to receiving dynamic or semi-static activation signaling.

12. The method of any of claims 1-5, wherein the method is performed at a medium access control, MAC, layer.

13. A method for transmitting data packets, comprising:

acquiring an upper layer data packet corresponding to upper layer data indication information according to the upper layer data indication information from a lower layer entity; and

and sending the upper layer data packet to the lower layer entity.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the upper layer data indication information comprises at least part of information in a header of the upper layer data packet.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein a header of the upper layer data packet includes at least one of segmentation information SI, sequence number SN, and segmentation bias indication SO.

16. The method according to any of claims 13 to 15, wherein the method is performed in response to disabling of a hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, function.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein in response to disabling the HARQ functionality, one of:

setting a bearer with a transmission mode of unacknowledged mode UM as an acknowledged mode AM; or (b)

A buffer is provided for storing data packets.

18. The method of any of claims 13 to 15, wherein the method is performed in response to receiving dynamic or semi-static activation signaling.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein in response to receiving dynamic or semi-static activation signaling, one of the following is performed:

A buffer is provided for storing data packets.

20. The method according to any of claims 13 to 15, wherein the method is performed at a radio link control, RLC, layer.

21. An apparatus for transmitting data packets, comprising:

at least one processor, and

at least one memory storing computer program code,

the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the apparatus is further caused to store control-related information for the first transmission of data packets, wherein the constructing of data packets containing retransmission data is further performed based on the control-related information.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the control related information comprises at least one of a control unit MAC CE of a medium access control layer and a status data packet of a radio link layer control protocol RLC.

24. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the upper layer data indication information comprises at least part of information in a header of the upper layer data packet.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein a header of the upper layer data packet includes at least one of segmentation information SI, sequence number SN, and segmentation bias indication SO.

26. The apparatus of any of claims 21-25, wherein the data packet containing retransmission data is the same as the first transmission data packet.

27. The apparatus of any of claims 21-25, wherein the data packet containing retransmission data comprises: at least part of the data in the first transmission data packet and the new first transmission data.

28. An apparatus of claim 27, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: for uplink data transmission, transmission resources are allocated for the retransmission data in preference to the new first transmission data based on a logical channel priority function LCP.

29. An apparatus of claim 27, wherein the apparatus is further caused to: for uplink transmission, transmission resources are allocated for the retransmission data in preference to the new first transmission data for each logical channel or group of logical channels based on a logical channel priority function LCP.

30. The apparatus according to any of claims 21-25, wherein in response to disabling of hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, functionality, the apparatus is caused to perform storing of the upper layer data indication information, transmitting of the upper layer data indication information, and construction of the data packet containing retransmission data.

31. The apparatus according to any of claims 21-25, wherein for uplink data transmission, in response to receiving dynamic or semi-static activation signaling, the apparatus is caused to perform storage of the upper layer data indication information, transmission of the upper layer data indication information, and construction of the data packet containing retransmission data.

32. The apparatus according to any of claims 21-25, wherein the apparatus is caused to perform, at a medium access control, MAC, layer storing of the upper layer data indication information, transmitting of the upper layer data indication information, and construction of the data packet containing retransmission data.

33. An apparatus for transmitting data packets, comprising:

at least one processor, and

at least one memory storing computer program code,

and sending the upper layer data packet to the lower layer entity.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the upper layer data indication information comprises at least part of information in a header of the upper layer data packet.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein a header of the upper layer data packet includes at least one of segmentation information SI, sequence number SN, and segmentation bias indication SO.

36. The apparatus according to any of claims 33 to 35, wherein in response to disabling of hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, functionality, the apparatus is caused to perform the acquisition of the upper layer data packet and the transmission of the upper layer data packet.

37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein in response to disabling of the HARQ functionality, the apparatus is caused to perform one of:

setting a bearer with a transmission mode of unacknowledged mode UM as an acknowledged mode AM; and

a buffer is provided for storing data packets.

38. The apparatus of any of claims 33 to 35, wherein the apparatus is caused to perform the acquisition of the upper layer data packet and the transmission of the upper layer data packet in response to receiving dynamic or semi-static activation signaling.

39. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein in response to disabling of the hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, function, the apparatus is configured to perform one of:

a buffer is provided for storing data packets.

40. The apparatus according to any of claims 33 to 35, wherein the apparatus is caused to perform the acquisition of the upper layer data packet and the transmission of the upper layer data packet at a radio link control, RLC, layer.

41. An apparatus for transmitting data packets, comprising:

means for storing upper layer data indication information in an upper layer data packet included in the first transmission data packet;

Means for sending the upper layer data indication information to an upper layer entity in response to the first transmission data packet requiring retransmission; and

means for constructing a data packet containing retransmission data based on an upper layer data packet corresponding to the upper layer data indication information received from the upper layer entity.

42. An apparatus for transmitting data packets, comprising:

means for obtaining an upper layer data packet corresponding to upper layer data indication information from a lower layer entity based on the upper layer data indication information; and

means for transmitting the upper layer data packet to the lower layer entity.

43. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor on a device, cause the device to:

44. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor on a device, cause the device to:

and sending the upper layer data packet to the lower layer entity.