OA20564A - Method and apparatus for flow control. - Google Patents

Abstract

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method for flow control. The method which may be performed by a first radio device comprises generating a first flow control message based at least in part on flow control information per flow control group. The method further comprises transmitting the first flow control message to a second radio device.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FLOW CONTROL

FÎELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The présent disclosure generalîy relates to communication networks, and more specifically, to flow control in a communication network.

BACKGROUND

[0002] This section introduces aspects that may facilitate a bette r understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is in the prior art or what is not in the prior art.

[0003] Communication service providers and network operators hâve been continualiy facing challenges to deliver value and convenience to consumers by, for example, providing compellîng network services and performance. With the rapid development of networking and communication technologies, wireless communication networks are expected to achieve high traffic capacity and end-user data rate. In order to meet dramatically increasing network requirements, one interesting option for communication technique development is to introduce new system structures and access mechanisms such as integrated access backhaul (IAB). An lAB node can be scheduled by its parent IAB node, and can also schedule its chiid IAB node(s) and/or one or more user equipments (UEs) connected to this IAB node. For data traffics on an IAB path between a UE and a donor IAB node, flow control (FC) can be used to adjust data rate, so as to avoid congestion on an intermediate IAB node in the IAB path. For example, a FC message can be used to report the congestion status in an IAB path so that the network can take FC actions accordingly.

SUMMARY

[0004] This summary is provided to introduce a sélection of concepts in a simplifled form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identity key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to lirait the scope ofthe claimed subject matter.

[0005] For a wireless communication network such as a new radio (NR) network with IAB, various FC mechanisms such as end-to-end FC and hop-by-hop FC mechanisms may be applied to control ingress data rate in response to a congestion event. For example, a FC report per UE/flow/data radio bearer (DRB) may be triggered by the congestion event, so that an 1AB node receiving the FC report can adjust data rate for the corresponding UE/fiow/DRB to mitigate a congestion risk. However, the FC report per UE/flow/DRB basis may significantly increase signaling overhead especially for the case that a large number of UEs/flows/DRBs sufferfrom congestion in a backhaul linkofthe 1AB network. In another word, since the FC message is expected to be triggered upon congestion occurrence, an efficient FC message design can enable a proper congestion status report with smali overhead. Therefore, it may be désirable to implement enhancement of FC efficiently to improve network performance.

[0006] Various embodiments ofthe présent disclosure propose a solution for FC in a communication network, which can enable a FC message to be generated for a group of UEs (or DRBs, data flows, services, logical ch an ne Is (LCHs), backhaul radio link control (RLC) channels, etc.), so that multiple FC reports for different UEs/DRBs/flows/services/LCHs/backhaul RLC channels can be summarized in the FC message to avoid large overhead and reduce processing complexity.

[0007] According to a first aspect of the présent disclosure, there is provided a method performed by a first radio device in an IAB network. The method may comprise generating a first FC message based at least in part on FC information per FC group. The method may further comprise transmitting the first FC message to a second radio device.

[0008] In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the method according to the first aspect ofthe présentdisclosure may further comprise: receiving a second FC message from a third radio device.

[0009] In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the method according to the first aspect of the présent disclosure may further comprise: performing FC for a link between the first radio device and the third radio device, based at least in part on the second FC message.

[0010] In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the method according to the first aspect ofthe présent disclosure may further comprise: aggregating two or more FC messages into an aggregated FC message, and transmitting the aggregated FC message to a fourth radio device.

[0011] According to a second aspect ofthe présent disclosure, there is provided an apparatus which may be implemented as a first radio device. The apparatus may comprise one or more processors and one or more memories comprising computer program codes. The one or more memories and the computer program codes may be configured to, with the one or more processors, causethe apparatus at ieastto perform any step ofthe method according to the first aspect ofthe présent disclosure.

[0012] According to a third aspect of the présent disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable medium having computer program codes embodied thereon which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform any step of the method according to the first aspect ofthe présent disclosure.

[0013] According to a fourth aspect of the présent disclosure, there is provided an apparatus which may be implemented as a first radio device. The apparatus may comprise a generating unit and a transmitting unit. In accordance with some exemplary embodiments, the generating unit may be opérable to carry out at least the generating step ofthe method according to the first aspect of the présent disclosure. The transmitting unit may be opérable to carry out at least the transmitting sîep of the method according to the first aspect ofthe présent disclosure.

[0014] According to a fifth aspect of the présent disclosure.. there is provided a method performed by a second radio device in an !AB network. The method may comprise receiving a first FC message from a first radio device. The first FC message may be generated based at least in part on FC information per FC group. Optionally, the method may further comprise processing the first FC message, in response to the réception ofthe first FC message.

[0015] In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the processing ofthe first FC message may comprise: performing FC for a link between the first radio device and the second radio device, based at least in part on the first FC message,

[0016] Altematively or additionally, the processing ofthe first FC message may comprise: transmitting the first FC message to a third radio device.

[0017] In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the method according to the fifth aspect of the présent disclosure may further comprise: generating a second FC message based at least in part on FC information per FC group.

[0018] In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the method accordîng to the fîfth aspect of the présent disclosure may further comprise; aggregating two or more FC messages into an aggregated FC message, and transmitting the aggregated FC message to a fourth radio device.

[0019] Accordîng to a sixth aspect of the présent disclosure, there is provided an apparatus which may be implemented as a second radio device. The apparatus may comprise one or more processors and one or more memories comprising computer program codes. The one or more memories and the computer program codes may be configured to, with the one or more processors, cause the apparatus at least to perform any step ofthe method accordîng to the fîfth aspect ofthe présentdisclosure.

[0020] Accordîng to a seventh aspect ofthe présent disciosure, there is provided a computer-readable medium having computer program codes embodied thereon which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform any step of the method accordîng tothe fîfth aspect ofthe présent disclosure.

[0021] Accordîng to an eighth aspect ofthe présent disclosure, there is provided an apparatus which may be implemented as a second radio device. The apparatus may comprise a receiving unit and optionally a processing unit. In accordance with some exemplary embodiments, the receiving unit may be opérable to carry out at îeast the receiving step of the method accordîng to the fifth aspect of the présent disclosure. The Processing unit may be opérable to carry out at least the processing step of the method accordîng to the fifth aspect ofthe présent disclosure.

[0022] In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the FC group may include: one or more UEs, one or more data flows, one or more DRBs, one or more LCHs, one or more services, or one or more RLC channels.

[0023] In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the FC group can be determined accordîng to a group configuration ruie which is related to at least one ofthe following grouping information: UE information, channel quality information, data flow information, DRB information, LCH information, service information, RLC channel information (e.g. RLC channel ID), and radio resource allocation information.

[0024] In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the génération ofthe first FC message may be triggered based at least fn part on the grouping information.

[0025] In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the group configuration ruie may indicate whetherthe FC group is configured fora link, oracross multiple links, or for a path between a source device and a destination device.

[0026] In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the FC information per FC group may indicate at least one of:

• transmission status of data packets for the FC group;

• réception status of the data packets for the FC group;

• transmission buffer status of the data packets for the FC group;

• réception buffer status of the data packets for the FC group;

• queuing delay ofthe data packets for the FC group; and • a différence between ingress data rate and egress data rate for the FC group.

[ 0027] tn accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the first FC message may comprise one or more fields to indicate at least one of:

• a group identifier of the FC group;

• status information ofdata packets for the FC group;

• a cause fortriggering the génération ofthe first FC message;

• an indicator of a link for which the first FC message is generated; and • a congestion ievel ofthe data packets forthe FC group.

[0028] In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the status information ofdata packets forthe FC group may comprise the bufferstatus ofdata packets forthe FC group.

[0029] in accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the génération ofthe first FC message may be periodical or in response to a trigger event

[0030] tn accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the trigger event may comprise congestion occurrence.

[0031] ln accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the first FC message may comprise FC information of one or more other FC groups in addition to the FC group.

[0032] in accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the génération ofthe first FC message may be triggered by two or more FC groups.

[0033] In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the first FC message may be generated for at least one of hop-by-hop FC and end-to-end FC.

[0034] In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, any of the first radio device, the second radio device, the third radio device and the fourth radio device may comprise one of a terminal device, an IAB node, a node B, a transmission point and a relay node.

[0035] According to a ninth aspect of the présent disclosure, there îs provided a method implemented in a communication system which may include a host computer, a base station and a UE. The method may comprise provîding user data atthe host computer. Optionally, the method may comprise, at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the base station which may perform any step of the method according to any of the first and fïfth aspects of the présent disclosure.

[0036] According to a térith aspect of the présent disclosure, there is provided a communication System including a host computer. The host computer may comprise processing circuitry configured to provide user data, and a communication interface configured to forward the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a UE. The cellular network may comprise a base station having a radio interface and processing circuitry. The base station's processing circuitry may be configured to perform any step of the method according to any ofthe first and fifth aspects ofthe présent disclosure.

[0037] According to an eleventh aspect of the présent disclosure, there is provided a method implemented in a communication System which may include a host computer, a base station and a UE. The method may comprise providing user data atthe host computer. Optionally, the method may comprise, at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the base station. The UE may perform any step of the method according to any of the first and fifth aspects of the présent disclosure.

[0038] According to a twelfth aspect of the présent disclosure, there is provided a communication system including a host computer. The host computer may comprise processing circuitry configured to provide user data, and a communication interface configured to forward user data to a cellular network for transmission to a UE. The UE may comprise a radio interface and processing circuitry. The UE’s processing circuitry may be configured to perform any step of the method according to any of the first and fifth aspects ofthe présentdisclosure.

[Q039] According to a thirteenth aspect ofthe présent disclosure, there is provided a method implemented in a communication system which may include a host computer, a base station and a UE. The method may comprise, at the host computer, receiving user data transmitted to the base station from the UE which may perform any step ofthe method according to any of the first and fifth aspects ofthe présent disclosure.

[0040] According to a fourteenth aspect ofthe présent disclosure, there is provided a communication System including a host computer. The host computer may comprise a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a UE to a base station. The UE may comprise a radio interface and processing circuitry. The UE’s processing circuitry may be configured to perform any step of the method according to any ofthe first and fifth aspects ofthe présent disclosure.

[0041] According to a fifteenth aspect ofthe présent disclosure, there is provided a method implemented in a communication system which may include a host computer, a base station and a UE. The method may comprise, at the host computer, receiving, from the base station, user data originating from a transmission which the base station has received from the UE. The base station may perform any step ofthe method according to any ofthe first and fifth aspects ofthe présent disclosure.

[0042] According to a sixteenth aspect ofthe présent disclosure, there is provided a communication System which may include a host computer. The host computer may comprise a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a UE to a base station. The base station may comprise a radio interface and processing circuitry. The base station‘s processing circuitry may be configured to perfonm any step ofthe method according to any ofthe first and fifth aspects ofthe présent disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0043] The disclosure itself, the préférable mode of use and further objectives are best understood by reference to the following detailed description of the embodiments when read in conjonction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0044] Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an NR network with !AB capability according to some embodiments of the présent disclosure;

[0045] Fig.2 is a flowchart illustrating a method according to some embodiments of the présent disclosure;

[0046] Fig.3 is a flowchart illustrating another method according to some embodiments ofthe présent disclosure;

[0047] Fig.4 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to some embodiments ofthe présent disclosure;

[0048] Fig.5 is a block diagram illustrating another apparatus according to some embodiments ofthe présent disclosure;

[0049] Fig.6 is a block diagram illustrating yet another apparatus according to some embodiments of the présent disclosure;

[0050] Fig.7 is a block diagram illustrating a télécommunication network connected via an intermediate network to a host computer in accordance with some embodiments of the présent disclosure;

[0051] Fig.8 is a block diagram illustrating a host computer communicating via a base station with a UE over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments of the présent disclosure;

[0052] Fig.9 is a flowchart illustrating a method impiemenied in a communication system, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe présent disclosure;

[0053] Fig.10 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with an embodiment of the présent disclosure;

[0054] Fig.11 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication

System, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe présent disclosure; and

[0055] Fig.12 is a flowchart iilustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe présent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0056] The embodiments of the présent disclosure are described in detail with référencé to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that these embodiments are discussed only for the purpose of enabling those skilled persons in the art to better underatand and thus implement the présent disclosure, rather than suggesting any limitations on the scope ofthe présent disclosure. Référencé throughoui this spécification to features, advantages, or similar language does not impiy that ali of the features and advantages that may be realized with the présent disclosure should be or are in any single embodiment of the disclosure. Rather, language referring to the features and advantages îs understood to mean that a spécifie feature, advantage, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the présent disclosure. Furthemnore, the described features, advantages, and characteristics of the disclosure may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize that the disclosure may be practiced without one or more ofthe spécifie features or advantages of a particular embodiment. In other instances, additional features and advantages may be recognized in certain embodiments thaï may not be présent in ail embodiments ofthe disclosure.

[0057] As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as new radio (NR), long term évolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), highspeed packet access (HSPA), and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a radio device and a network node in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable génération communication protocois, including, but not limited to, the first génération (1G), the second génération (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, the third génération (3G), 4G, 4.5G, 5G communication protocois, and/or any other protocois either currentiy known orto be developed in the future.

[0058] The term “radio device refera to a terminal device, a network node or any communication device that can transmit control/data traffics to other communication device in a communication network, and/or receive control/data traffics from other communication device in the communication network. By way of exampie and not (imitation, the radio device may refer to a UE, an IAB node (iAB-N), a transmission point, a relay node, and so forth.

[0059] The term “network node refers to a network device in a communication network via which a radio device accessesto the network and receives services therefrom. The network node may referto a base station, an access point (AP), a multi-cell/multicast coordination entity (MCE), a controller or any other suitable device in a wireless communication network. The base station may be, for example, a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), a next génération NodeB (gNodeB or gNB), a remote radio unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, and so forth.

[0060] Yet furtherexamples ofthe network node comprise multi-standard radio (MSR) radio equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, positionîng nodes and/orthe like. More generally, however, the network node may represent any suitable device (or group of de vices) capable, configured, arranged, and/or opérable to enable and/or provide a radio device access to a wireless communication network or to provide some service to a radio device that has accessed to the wireless communication network.

[0061] The term “terminal device refers to any end device that can access a communication network and receive services therefrom. By way of example and not limitation, the terminal device may refer to a mobile terminal, a user equipment (UE), or other suitable de vices. The UE may be, for exampie, a subscriber station, a portable subscriber station, a mobile station (MS) or an access terminal (AT). The terminal device may include, but not limited to, portable computers, image capture terminal de vices such as digital caméras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a tablet, a wearable device, a Personal digital assistant (PDA), a vehicle, and the like.

[0062] As yet another spécifie example, in an Internet of things (loT) scénario, a terminal device may also be called an loT device and represent a machine or otherdevice that performs monitoring, sensing and/or measurements etc,, and transmits the resuIts of such monitoring, sensing and/or measurements etc. to another terminal device and/or a network equipment. The terminal device may in this case be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may in a 3rd génération partnership project (3GPP) context be referred to as a machine-type communication (MTC) device.

[0063] As one particularexampie, theterminai device may be a UE impiementing the 3GPP narrow band Internet of thirrgs (NB-ioT) standard, Particular examples of such machines or devices are sensers, metering de vice s such as power meters, industrial machinery, or home or Personal appliances, e.g. refrigerators, télévisions, Personal wearables such as watches etc. !n other scénarios, a terminai device may represent a vehicle or other equipment, for example, a medicaHnstrument that is capable of mon ito ring, sensing and/or reporting etc. on its operational status orother fonctions associated with rts operation.

[0064] As used herein, the terms “first, “second” and so forth refer to different éléments. The singuiar forms “a” and “an” are intended to include the plural forms as weil, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises, “comprising”, “has”, “having”, “includes and/or “including” as used herein, specify the presence of stated features, éléments, and/or components and the like, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, éléments, components and/or combinations thereof. The term “based on” is to be read as “based at least in part on. The term “one embodiment” and “an embodiment” are to be read as “at least one embodiment”. The term “another embodiment is to be read as “at least one other embodiment”, Other définitions, expiicit and implicit, may be tncluded below.

[0065] Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide a variety of télécommunication services such as voice, video, data, messaging and broadcasts. To meet the diverse service requirements on traffic capacity and data rates, the 3rd génération partnership project (3GPP) is developing a wireless communication network such as an NR network configured with SAB capability.

[0066] Fig.1 isa diagram illustrating an example of an NR network with IAB capability according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For the NR network with IAB capability, an AP (such as IAB node 2 shown in Fig.1) can setup a radio connection to another AP (such as IAB node 1 shown in Fig.1) in order to reach a donor AP (such as the donor IAB node shown in Fig.1) which has a wireline backhaul. An AP in this network scénario is also referred to as an IAB node. The radio connection between IAB nodes (lABNs) is referred to as a wireless backhaul or a self-backhaul. Forsimplicity, Fig.1 only shows an IAB network with three IAN nodes and five UEs, where UE 1 and UE 2 are connected to IAB node 2, UE 3 and UE 4 are connected to IAB node 1, and UE 5 is connected to the donor IAB nocie. The tAB node with a backhaui cable acts as the donor IAB node, and IAB node 1 acts as a bridge node between IAB node 2 and the donor IAB node. In this example, iAB node 1 is referred to as a parent IAB node of IAB node 2, and IAB node 2 is referred to as a child IAB node of IAB node 1. The IAB node connected to a UE is caîled as an access IAB node forthe UE. As shown in Fig.1, the access IAB node can serve the UE via upstream wireless backhaui links, tt wiil be appreciated that there may be other network scénarios where more or less IAB nodes can be deployed in the network to implement different system structures, aBhough Fig l only shows onedonor iAB node having two child iAB nodes in the network.

[0067] For an !AB node, there may be three types cf links, for example, including upstream links to/from a parent IAB node, downstream links to/from a child !AB node, and a nurnber ofdownlinks/uprrnks to/from the served UEs foraccessing the network. The first two types of links are also referred to as backhaui links. The network with IAB capabiiity (which is aiso referred to as IAB network for simplicity) is supposed to handle data communication among various links for a nurnber of ÎAB nodes and their served UEs in the network.

[0068] For downiink (DL) data transmission from a donor IAB node through an IAB path to a UE, the donor IAB node can forward the DL data through the preconfigured !AB path to an access IAB node for the UE, and the access 1AS node can further transmit the DL data to the UE via an access hnk. Forupünk (UL) data transmission from the UE to the donor IAB node, the access IAB node can receive the UL data from the UE and forward the data to the donor IAB node via the IAB path. Fiow control (FC) may be used to control the ingress data rate into the IAB path so that the buffer overflow or long queuing delay in an intermediate IAB node in the IAB path can be avoided. For the- DL data transmission, the donor IAB node can adjust the ingress data rate to the iAB path. For the UL data transmission, the access iAB node can adjust the ingress data rate to the IAB path. Considering that an UL scheduter can control UL grants to a UE or a child IAB node whenever necessary, the UL bufferoverftow can be awoîded usually, but this does not help resolve the congestion status since the capacity ofthe IAB path is not improved.

[0069] fn accordance with some exemplary embodiments, the end-to-end FC and/or the hop-by-hop FC may be used tn an iAB network. For the end-to-end FC, the congestion status of the whole IAB path can be evakiated by a donor central unit (CU) based on the data transmission status ofthe whofe IAB path. For the hop-by-hop FC, a child IAB node can report the congestion status to ils parent IAB node in a certain way so that the parent IAB node can control the DL data rate to the child IAB node, The hop-by-hop FC mechanism may relieve the congestion status of a single DL backhauî Iink at the cost of transmission buffer increase of the parent IAB node. The benefit is the quick response to the congestion status compared to the end-to-end FC.

[0070] !n orderto achieve finer granularities for quality of service (QoS) support, the end-to-end FC for an IAB path and/or the hop-by-hop FC for a backhauî iink may be triggered per UE DRB or per service flow. For this case, there may be a risk of high control overhead created by FC messages along the path. On one hand, a DRB identifier (ID) may be represented by 20 bits and a flow label (or UE ID) may be of comparable length. On the other hand, for an IAB network, each IAB node in an IAB path may serve a number of UEs and the maximum numberofUEs may be huge. Since a UE may be configured with multiple DRBs (or data flows) and the IAB network may serve many UEs, there may be a large number of (e.g. thousands of) DRBs or service data flows served along a backhauî Iink. When a congestion event occurs and there are many UE DRBs suffering congestion in this backhauî Iink, a FC message per UE/DRB/flow reported by each UE may create high control signaling overhead, especiafly for the case that the UE ID îs included in each FC message. The large overhead for reporting FC messages may make network performance worse since the FC messages reported by the UEs may block transmission of critical data.

[0071] in orderto reduce signaling overhead for FC reports and improve the resource efficiency of a communication network such as an IAB network, various exemplary embodiments of the présent disclosure propose a FC solution which can enable a radio device (e.g., a UE, an IAB node, etc.) to report some FC information (e.g., data transmission/reception status information, etc.) per group of UEs (or UE data flows, UE DRBs, services, LCHs, backhauî RLC channels, etc.) for a backhauî Iink, so that a FC message may contain the FC information per group. Upon réception of this kind of FC message, an IAB node which injects data into an IAB path can adjustthe injection data rate accordingly. The IAB node which injects data into the IAB path may be referred to as a data injection IAB node (e.g., an access IAB node in UL or a donor IAB node in DL), The proposer! FC solution may be more bénéficiai for DL, although it can also be used for UL as well. It can be appreciated that arthough some embodiments are described with respect to an IAB network, the proposed solution is also applicable to other non-IAB scénarios where there may be an issue of high signaling overhead due to transmission of FC messages.

[0072] It îs noted that some embodiments of the présent disclosure are mainly described in relation to LTE or NR spécifications being used as non-limiting examptes for certain exemplary network configurations and system deployments. As such, the description of exemplary embodiments given herein specificaliy refers to terminology which is directiy related thereto. Such terminology is oniy used in the context of the presented non-iimiting examples and embodiments, and does naturally not Iimit the présent disclosure in any way. Rather, any other system configuration or radio technologies may equally be utilized as long as exemplary embodiments described herein are applicable.

[0073] Fig.2 is a flowchart iilustrating a method 200 according to some embodiments of the présent disclosure. The method 200 illustrated in Fig,2 may be performed by a first radio device or an apparatus communicatively coupled to the first radio device. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the first radio device may comprise a terminal device (e.g., a UE, a mobile station, etc.), an iA8 node (e.g., an access SAB node, an intermédiare 1AB node, a donor 1AB node, etc.), a base station, a node B, a transmission point, a relay node, etc. The first radio device may be configured to support FC for a communication link or a communication path.

[0074] According to the exemplary method 200 illustrated in Fig.2, the first radio device can generate a first FC message based at least in part on FC information per FC group, as shown in block 202. In an exemplary embodiment, the FC group may hâve one or more members (e.g., UEs, data flows, DRBs, etc.) related to data flowing through a link between the first radio device and a second radio device. in accordance with some exemplary embodiments, the FC group may include one or more UEs, one or more data flows, one or more DRBs, one or more LCHs, one or more services, or one or more RLC channels. It can be apprsciated that the FC group may include other types of members which may hâve the same or similar properties complying with a spécifie group configuration rule.

[0075] in accordance with some exempiary embodiments, the FC group can be determined according to a group configuration rule which may be related to at least one of the following grouping information:

• UE information (e.g., device category, mobility state, subscriber profile, subscribed service, etc.);

• channel quaiity information (e.g., link condition, channel measurement, interférence estimate, etc.);

• data flow information (e.g., flow iD, flow priority, etc.);

• DRB information (e.g., DRB ID, etc.);

• LCH information (e.g., LCH ID, LCH priority, etc.);

• service information (e.g., QoS requirements, service type, service ID, etc.);

• RLC channei information (e.g., channei priority, channei ID, etc.);

• radio resource allocation information (e.g., assignment type, grant type, resource configuration scheme, etc.); and • routing information (e.g. routing ID, etc.).

[0076] In accordance with some exemplary embodiments, a FC group may be formed for spécifie DRBs/flows/LCHs/services belonging to the same or different UEs. Optionally, the FC group may be foimed and configured by a CU. The LCH priorities (such as QoS class identifier (QC1) in LTE, 5G QoS îndicator(5QI), QoS flow identifier (QFi), etc.), channei quality measurements and/or mobility measurements may be considered in the group establishment. In an example, the CU may configure a FC group containing a range of LCH priority values. !n another example, a FC group may be configured to serve spécifie services with QoS requirements such as a range of requirements in terms of latency, transmission reliability, etc. In yet another example, a FC group may be formed for UEs having connections with similar radio channei quality or with simîlar mobility States.

[0077] In accordance with some exemplary embodiments, a FC group may be configured per backhaul RLC channei (or per backhaul DRB) so that the FC information (e.g., transmission status and/or réception status) can be reported per backhaul RLC channei group (or per backhaul DRB). For Instance, the FC group can be determined according to the LCH priority ofthe backhaul RLC channei. As an example, the LCH priority can be used as a group ID and the backhaul RLC channels having the same LCH priority may be included in the same FC group for reporting transmission/reception status in a FC message. In this example, the transmission/reception status can be reported per LCH priority value. As another example, the LCH priorities can be grouped and the backhaul RLC channels with the LCH priorities in the same LCH priority group may be included in the same FC group for the transmission/reception status report in a FC message, in this exampie, the transmission/reception status can be reported per LCH priority group.

[0078] According to an exemplary embodiment, in response to réception of a FC message comprising the transmission status and/or the réception status for at least one FC group such as backhaul RLC channeJ group, a radio device such as a data injection IAB node can dérivé the UE data fïows which are mapped to the backhaul RLC channels betonging to the backhaul RLC channel group, and adjust the data injection rate for these UE data flows accordingly.

[0079] In accordance with some exemplary embodiments, the group configuration rule may indicatewhetherthe FC group isconfigured orformed fora link, oracross multiple links, or for a path between a source device and a destination device. For example, the FC group may be formed or generated per backhaul link, or across backhaul links per UL/DL direction, or per UL/DL IAB path between an access IAB node and a donor IAB node. Correspondingly, the first FC message described in biock 202 may be generated for at least one of hop-by-hop FC and end-to-end FC. According to some exemplary embodiments, the génération ofthe first FC message may be periodical or in response to a trigger event (e.g. congestion occurrence).

[0080] In accordance with some exemplary embodiments, the génération ofthe first FC message may be triggered based at least in part on the grouping information. For example, the FC group can be determined according to the assignment/grant type. Optionally, the génération ofthe first FC message may be triggered if the semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) assignment orthe configured scheduling (CS) grant capacity is far higher or lower than the traffic data rate that is expected to be served using SPS assignments or CS grants. Afternatively or addrtionally, the génération of the first FC message may be triggered in response that the channel quality, QoS, transmission latency, congestion level, etc. related to the FC group cannot satisfy a spécifie criterion. It can be appreciated that there may be one ormora predefined/preconfigured ruîes available forthe first radio device (such as an IAB node) to trigger the génération ofthe first FC message.

[0081] In accordance with some exemplary embodiments, the first FC message may comprise one or more fields to indicate at least one of:

• a group identifier ofthe FC group (e.g., a group index, etc.);

• status information of data packets for the FC group (e.g., transmission/reception status, buffer status, etc.);

• a cause for triggering the génération of the first FC message (e.g., a spécifie reason why the first FC message is triggered);

• an indicator of a link for which the first FC message is generated (e.g., an Internet protocol (IP) address ora broadband access point (BAP) entity ID ofthe parent/child IAB node, etc.); and • a congestion ievei of the data packets for the FC group (e.g. low transmission/reception (TX/RX) buffer level, high TX/RX buffer level, buffer overflow, etc.).

[0082] It will be realized that the above fields and reiated information in the first FC message are just as exemples, in practice, there may be more or less fields and information carried by the first FC message. For example, the first FC message may canry the FC information of the FC group for which the first FC message is triggered, and optionally contain other information derived from or reiated with the FC information per FC group.

[0083] In accordance with some exemplary embodiments, the FC information per FC group may indîcate at least one of:

• transmission status ofdata packets for the FC group;

• réception status ofthe data packets for the FC group;

• transmission buffer status ofthe data packets for the FC group;

• réception buffer status of the data packets for the FC group;

• queuing delay ofthe data packets forfhe FC group; and • a différence between ingress data rate and egress data rate for the FC group.

[0084] The FC information per FC group can at least partially reflect the current communication performance of the FC group. In accordance with some exemplary embodiments, the génération ofthe first FC message may be triggered by two or more FC groups. in this case, the first FC message may comprise FC information ofthe two or more FC groups. Optionally, the first FC message may comprise FC information of one or more otherFC groups which may not triggerthe génération ofthe first FC message and/or suffer from congestion. In an exemplary embodiment, it may be possible that only the transmission/reception status for associated FC groups which sufFer from congestion is inciuded into the first FC message. Alternatively or additionaily, the transmission/reception status for ail FC groups can be included into the first FC message.

[0085] According to the exempiary method 200 iliustrated in Fig.2, the first radio device can transmit the first FC message to the second radio device, as shown in block 204. !n this way, the FC information and/or other associated information such as transmission/reception status for the associated FC group can be reported to the second radio device by the first radio device. According to an exempiary embodiment, the data transmission status based on the receiverbuffer status for data packets belong to the same FC group can be reported in the first FC message. Alternatively or additionaily, the queuing delay of al! data packets belonging to the same FC group can be reported in the first FC message. As an exampie, the queuing delay may be defined as the average or maximum queuing delay of ail data packets belonging to this FC group. Aitematively or additionaily, a différence between the ingress data rate and the egress data rate for each FC group can be reported in the first FC message.

[0086] In accordance with some exempiary embodiments, the fîrst radio device described with respect to Fig.2 may receive a second FC message from a third radio device. Optionally, the first radio device may forward the second FC message to the second radio device and/or other radio device. Alternatively or additionaily, the first radio device can perfonn FC for a iink between the first radio device and the third radio device, based at least în part on the second FC message.

[0087] in accordance with some exempiary embodiments, the first radio device can aggregate two or more FC messages into an aggregated FC message. In this case, multiple FC messages (e.g,, FC messages locally generated bythe first radio device and/or received from other radio devices) can be merged into a single message for reporting FC information. According to an exempiary embodiment, the first radio device can transmit the aggregated FC message to a fourth radio device (e.g., a radio device acting as the upstream/downstream node of the first radio device).

[0088] Fig.3 is a flowchart illustrating another method 300 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 300 iliustrated in Fig.3 may be performed by a second radio device or an apparatus communicatively coupled to the second radio device. In accordance with an exempiary embodiment, the second radio device may comprise a terminal device (e.g., a UE, a mobile station, etc.), an 1AB node (e.g., an access IAB node, an intermediate IAB node, a donor !AB node, etc.), a base station, a node B, a transmission point, a relay node, etc. The second radio device may be configured to support FC for a communication Hnk or a communication path.

[0089] According to the exemplary method 300 iliustrated in Fig.3, the second radio device can receive a first FC message from a first radio device (such as the first radio device described with respect to Fig.2), as shown in block 302. The first FC message may be generated based at ieast in part on FC information per FC group. As mentioned previousiy, the FC group may hâve one or more members reiated to data fiowing through a link between the first radio device and the second radio device. For example, according to the types of members ofthe first FC message, the FC group may comprise a UE group, a data flow group, a DRB group, a LCH group, a service group, a RLC channel group, etc.

[0090] In accordance with some exemplary embodiments, some UEs, services, data flows, UE LC H s or UE DRBs satisfying the requirement of a group configuration ruie may be included in the same FC group and share the same group ID. Optionally, the group configuration rule may indicate whether the FC group is configured for a link (e.g., an upstream link, a downstream link, an uplink, a downlink, etc.), or across multiple links, or for a data path routing from an originating node to a terminating node.

[0091] As described with respect to Fig.2, the group configuration ruie may be reiated to some grouping information, and the génération ofthe first FC message may betriggered based at least in part on the grouping information. The first FC message may be provided by the first radio device (e.g., a gNB, an IAB node, etc.) in periodic fashion or in an event triggertashion. Correspondîngly, the réception ofthe first FC message by the second radio device may be periodical or due to a spécifie event. Optionally, the first radio device, a CU or other suitable entity may configure a trigger criterion for the first FC message.

[0092] in accordance with some exemplary embodiments, the génération ofthe first FC message may be triggered by more than one FC group. No matter whether the génération ofthe first FC message is triggered by a single FC group or multiple FC groups, the first FC message can carry FC information of one or more FC groups (e.g., including the FC group(s) triggering the first FC message, and optionally one or more FC groups which do not trigger the first FC message).

[0093] According to an exemplary embodiment, the FC information per FC group may comprise various status information (e.g., transmission/reception status, buffer status, etc.) and/or performance information (e.g., queuing delay, data rate, etc.) of data packets for the FC group. As an example, the data transmission/reception status can be reported per UE group, per UE service data flow group, per UE LCH group, or per UE DRB group. In an exemptary embodiment, the first FC message may bave one or more fields to indicate the reported information, for example, including but not limited to a group index, an indicator on the reason why the first FC message is triggered, some information on the transmission/reception status or buffer status, an indicator (e.g. IP address or BAP entity tD of the parent/child IAB node) of a link (e.g., a backhaul link, an access link, etc.) for which the first FC message is generated, the congestion level (e.g. TX/RX buffer level, buffer overflow, etc.), or any combination thereof.

[0094] According to the exemplary method 300 illustrated in Fig.3, the second radio device may optionally process the first FC message, in response to the réception of the first FC message, as shown in block 304. In an exemplary embodiment, the processing of the FC message may comprise: performing FC for the link between the first radio device and the second radio device, based at least in part on the first FC message. Forexampîe, the second radio device can détermine the corresponding FC strategy according to the FC information per FC group obtained from the first FC message. Altematively or additionaily, the processing ofthe first FC message may comprise transmitting the first FC message to a third radio device. It can be appreciated that the second radio device can just forward the first FC message received from the first radio device to the third radio device, without decoding or analyzing the first FC message. Optionally, the second radio device can détermine howto process the first FC message according to whetherthe first FC message is generated for hop-by-hop FC or end-to-end FC.

[0095] in accordance with some exemplary embodiments, the second radio device can aggregate two or more FC messages into an aggregated FC message, and transmit the aggregated FC message to a fourth radio device. According to an embodiment, along an IAB path, there may be multiple UEs/ΙΑΒ nodes in the same FC group that hâve triggered a FC message. A child IAB node that triggers the FC message can send the FC message to its parent IAB node. The parent IAB node can aggregate the received FC message (s) from the downstream IAB nodes with its own FC message, and send the aggregated FC message to further upstream IAB nodes. în an exemplary embodiment, upon réception of a FC message containing group spécifie transmission/reception status, the data injection IAB node can adjust the injection data rate forthe IAB path with respect to the FC group, in the case that a congestion condition is detected on the IAB path. It can be appreciated that the exemplary embodiments can also be applied for the hop-by-hop FC, in addition to the end-to-end FC.

[0096] According to an exemplary embodiment, the second radio device may be equipped with the same or similar capables as the first radio device described with respect to Fig.2 and accordingly can perform the method 200 illustrated in Fig.2. For example, the second radio device may generate a second FC message based at least in part on FC information per FC group. Optionally, the second FC message generated by the second radio device can be transmitted to other radio device separately from or together with one or more other FC messages.

[0097] In accordance with some exemplary embodiments, any of the first radio device, the second radiodevice, thethird radiodevice and the fourth radiodevice described in connection with Fig.2 and Fig.3 may comprise one of a terminal device, an IAB node, a node B, a transmission point and a relay node. It can be appreciated that in addition to these types of devices, other proper communication devices may be involved in implémentation ofthe methods according to various embodiments.

[0098] The proposed solution according to one or more exemplary embodiments can enable a radio device (e.g., a UE or an IAB node) to report group spécifie FC information (e.g., data transmission/reception status, buffer status, communication latency, etc.) to another radio device in a FC message. According to the proposed solution, it is not necessary for the radio device to trigger a FC message per UE (e.g., for each UE DRB or data flow). Advantageously, the reports for FC with respect to different UEs/DRBs/data flows/LCHs/services/backhaul RLC channels can be grouped together, so that a summarized report for FC can be triggered per group. Thus, the large overhead for reporting a FC message perUE/flow/DRB can be avoided. On the other hand, the inclusion of various information for different group members into a FC message can enhance the accuracy of the transmission/reception status report for FC. Moreover, the application of the proposed solution can reduce the complexity to use the FC message to control the injection data rate.

[0099] The various blocks shown in Figs.2-3 may be viewed as method steps, and/or as operations that resuit from operation of computer program code, and/or as a plurality of coupîed logic circuit éléments constructed to carry out the associated function(s). The schematic flow chartdiagrams described abovs are generalîy set forth as logical flow chart diagrams. As such, the depicted order and iabeled steps are indicative of spécifie embodiments of the presented methods. Other steps and methods may be conceived that are équivalent in funotion, logic, or effect to one or more steps, or portions thereof, of the illustrated methods. Addltionally, the order in which a particular method occurs may or may not strictly adhère to the order of the correspondîng steps shown.

[00100] Fig.4 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus 400 according to various embodiments of the présent disclosure. As shown in Fig,4, the apparatus 400 may comprise one or more processors such as processor 401 and one or more memories such as memory 402 storing computer program codes 403. The memory 402 may be nontransitory machine/processor/computer readable storage medium. In accordance with some exemplary embodiments, the apparatus 400 may be implemented as an integrated circuit chip or module that can be plugged or instaüed into a first radio device as described with respect to Fig.2, or a second radio device as described with respect to Fig.3. In such case, the apparatus 400 may be impiemented as a first radio device described with respect to Fig.2, or a second radio device described with respect to Fig.3.

[00101] In some implémentations, the one or more memories 402 and the computer program codes 403 may be configured to, with the one or more processors 401, cause the apparatus 400 at least to perform any operation of the method as described in connection with Fig.2. In other implémentations, the one or more memories 402 and the computer program codes 403 may be configured to, with the one or more processors 401, cause the apparatus 400 at least to perform any operation of the method as described in connection with Fig.3.

[00102] Altematively or addltionally, the one or more memories 402 and the computer program codes 403 may be configured to, with the one or more processors 401, cause the apparatus 400 at least to perform more or less operations to implement the proposed methods according to the exemplary embodiments of the présent disclosure.

[00103] Fig.5 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus 500 according to some embodiments of the présent disclosure. As shown in Fig.5, the apparatus 500 may comprise a generating unit 501 and a transmitting unit 502. In an exemplary embodiment, the apparatus 500 may be implemented as a first radio device as described with respect to Fig.2 or as a part ofthe first radio device. The generating unit 501 may be opérable to carry out the operation in block 202, and the transmitting unit 502 may be opérable to carry out the operation in block 204. Optionally, the generating unit 501 and/or the transmitting unit 502 may be opérable to carry out more or less operations to implement the proposed methods according to the exemplary embodiments ofthe présent disclosure.

[00104] Fig.6 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus 600 according to some embodiments of the présent disclosure. As shown in Fig.6, the apparatus 600 may comprise a receiving unit 601 and optionally a processing unit 602. In an exemplary embodiment, the apparatus 600 may be implemented as a second radio device as described with respect to Fig.3 or as a part ofthe second radio device. The receiving unit 601 may be opérable to cany out the operation in block 302, and the processing unit 602 may be opérable to cany out the operation in block 304. Optionally, the receiving unit 601 and/or the processing unit 602 may be opérable to carry out more or less operations to implement the proposed methods according to the exemplary embodiments ofthe présent disclosure.

[00105] Fig.7 is a block diagram illustrating a télécommunication network connected via an intermediate network to a host computer in accordance with some embodiments of the présent disclosure.

[00106] With reference to Fig.7, in accordance with an embodiment, a communication system includes a télécommunication network 710, such as a 3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises an access network 711, such as a radio access network, and a core network 714. The access network 711 comprises a plurality of base stations 712a, 712b, 712c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 713a, 713b, 713c. Each base station 712a, 712b, 712c is connectable to the core network 714 over a wired or wireless connection 715. A first UE 791 iocated in a coverage area 713c is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station 712c. A second UE 792 in a coverage area 713a is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station 712a. While a plurality of U Es 791, 792 are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a soie UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding base station 712.

[00107] The télécommunication network 710 îs itseif connected to a host computer 730, which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software of a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server or as processing resources in a server farm. The host computer 730 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. Connections 721 and 722 between the télécommunication network 710 and the host computer 730 may extend directly from the core network 714 to the host computer 730 or may go via an optional intermediate network 720, An intermediate network 720 may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; the intermediate network 720, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, the intermediate network 720 may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).

[00108] The communication System of Fig.7 as a whole enabtes connectivrty between the connected UEs 791, 792 and the host computer 730. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 750. The host computer 730 and the connected UEs 791, 792 are configurée! to communicate data and/or signaling via the OTT connection 750, using the access network 711, the core network 714, any intermediate network 720 and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. The OTT connection 750 may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which the OTT connection 750 passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downiink communications. For example, the base station 712 may not or need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downiink communication with data originating from the host computer730 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE 791. Similariy, the base station 712 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 791 towards the host computer730.

[00109] Fig.8 is a block diagram illustrating a host computer communicating via a base station with a UE over a partiaiiy wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments ofthe présent disclosure.

[00110] Exampie implémentations, in accordance with an embodiment, ofthe UE, base station and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphe will now be described with référencé to Fig.8. In a communication system 800, a host computer 810 comprises hardware 815 including a communication interface 816 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of the communication system 800. The host computer 810 further comprises a processing circuitry 818, which may hâve storage and/or processing capabilities. in particular, the processing circuitry 818 may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integeated circuits, field programmable gâte arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The host computer810 further comprises software 811, which is stored in or accessible by the host computer 810 and exécutable by the processing circuitry 818. The software 811 incîudes a host application 812. The host application 812 may be opérable to provide a service to a remote user, such as UE 830 connecting via an OTT connection 850 terminatîng at the UE 830 ï

and the host computer 810. In providing the service to the remote user, the host application 812 may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 850.

[00111] The communication system 800 further includes a base station 820 provided in a télécommunication system and comprising hardware 825 enabling it to communicate with the host computer 810 and with the UE 830. The hardware 825 may include a communication interface 826 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device ofthe communication system 800, as wetl as a radio interface 827 for setting up and maintaining at least a wireless connection 870 with the UE 830 located in a coverage area (not shown in Fig.8) served by the base station 820. The communication interface 826 may be configured to facilitate a connection 860 to the host computer 810. The connection 860 may be direct or it may pass through a core network (not shown in Fig.8) ofthe télécommunication system and/orthrough one or more intermediate networks outside the télécommunication system. in the embodiment shown, the hardware 825 ofthe base station 820 further includes a processing circuitry 828, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gâte arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The base station 820 further has software 821 stored intemally or accessible via an external connection.

[00112] The communication System 800 further includes the UE 830 already referred to. lis hardware 835 may include a radio interface 837 configured to set up and maintain a wireless connection 870 with a base station senring a coverage area in which the UE 830 is currently located. The hardware 835 ofthe UE 830 furtherincludes a processing circuitry 838, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gâte arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The UE 830 further comprises software 831, which is stored in or accessible by the UE 830 and exécutable by the processing circuitry 838. The software 831 includes a client application 832. The client application 832 may be opérable to provide a service to a human crnon-human user via the UE 830, with the support ofthe host computer 810. In the host computer 810, an executîng host application 812 may communicate with the executîng client application 832 via the OTT connection 850 terminating at the UE 830 and the host computer 810. In providing the service to the user, the client application 832 may receive request data from the host application 812 and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 850 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The client application 832 may internet with the user to generate the user data that rt gravides.

[Q0113] It is noted that the host computer 810, the base station 820 and the UE 830 Nlustrated in Fig.8 may be similaror identical to the host computer 730, one of base stations 712a, 712b, 712c and one of UEs 791,792 of Fig.7, respectlvely. This is to say, the inner workings of these entities may be as shown in Fig.8 and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of Fig.7,

[00114] In Fig.8, the OTT connection 850 has been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host computer 810 and the UE 830 via the base station 820, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the précisé routing of messages via these devices. Network infrastructure may détermine the routing, which it may be configured to hide from the UE 830 or from the service provider operating the host computer 810, or both. While the OTT connection 850 is active, the network infrastructure may further take decisions by which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g,, on the basis of load balancing considération or reconfiguration ofthe network).

[00115] Wireiess connection 870 between the UE 830 and the base station 820 is in accordance with the teachings ofthe embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improvo the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 830 using the OTT connection 850, in which the wireless connection 870 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may împrove the latency and the power consumption, and thereby provide beneftts such as lower complexity, reduced time required to access a cell, better responsiveness, extended battery lifetime, etc.

[00116] A measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 850 between the host computer 810 and the UE 830, ïn response to variations rn the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 850 may be impie me nted in software 811 and hardware 815 ofthe host computer 810 or in software 831 and hardware 835 ofthe UE 830, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which the OTT connection 850 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values ofthe monitored quantifies exemplified above, orsuppiying values of other physicai quantifies from which the software 811,831 may compute orestimate the monitored quantifies. The reconfiguring ofthe OTT connection 850 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect the base station 820, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to the base station 820. Such procedures and functronalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling facilitating the host computer 810’s measurements of throughput, propagation fîmes, iatency and the iike. The measurements may be implemented in that the software 811 and 831 causes messages to betransmitted, in particular empty or'dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 850 whîle it monrtors propagation times, errors etc.

[00117] Fig.9 is a fiowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with an embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Fig.7 and Fig.8. For simplicity ofthe présent disclosure, only drawing référencés to Fîg.9 will be included in this section. In step 910, the host computer provides user data, in substep 911 (which may be optional) of step 910, the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application, in step 920, the host computer initiâtes a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step 930 (which may be optional), the base station transmits to the UE the user data which was carried in the transmission that the host computer initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 940 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

[00118] Fig.10 is a fiowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with an embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Fig.7 and Fig.8. Forsimplicity ofthe présent disclosure, on!y drawing réferences to Fig, 10 wiil be inciuded in this section. !n step 1010 ofthe method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional substep (not shown) the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 1020, the host computer initiâtes a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. The transmission may pass via the base station, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1030 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission,

[00119] Fig.11 is a fiowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with an embodiment, The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Fig.7 and Fig.8. For simplicity ofthe présent disclosure, only drawing référencés to Fig.l 1 will be included in this section. In step 1110 (which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Addrtionally or alternatively, in step 1120, the UE provides user data, in substep 1121 (which may be optional) of step 1120, the UE provides the user data by executing a client application. In substep 1111 (which may be optional) of step 1110, the UE executes a client application which provides the user data in reaction to the received inputdata provided bythe host computer. In providing the userdata, the executed ciient application may further consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the spécifie manner in which the userdata was provided, the UE initiâtes, in substep 1130 (which may be optional), transmission ofthe userdata to the host computer. In step 1140 of the method, the host computer receives the user data transmitted from the UE, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.

[00120] Fig.12 is a flowchart iilustrating a method implemented in a communication

System, in accordance with an embodiment. The communication System includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with référencé to Fig.7 and Fig.8. For simplicity ofthe présent disclosure, only drawing references to Fig.12 will be included in this section. In step 1210 (which may be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. In step 1220 (which may be optional), the base station initiâtes transmission ofthe received user data to the host computer. In step 1230 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated bythe base station.

[00121] in general, the various exemplary embodiments may be implemented in hardware or spécial purpose chips, circuits, software, iogicor any combination thereof. For example, some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a control 1er, microprocessor or other computing device, although the disclosure is not limited thereto. While various aspects ofthe exemplary embodiments ofthis disclosure may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial représentation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, Systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, spécial purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware orcontrofleror other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[00122] As such, it should be appreciated that at least some aspects ofthe exemplary embodiments ofthe disclosure may be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit chips and modules. It should thus be appreciated that the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure may be realized in an apparatus that is embodied as an integrated circuit, where the integrated circuit may comprise circuitry (as well as possibly firmware) for embodyrng at least one or more of a data processor, a digital signal processor, baseband circuitry and radio frequency circuitry that are configurable so as to operate in accordance with the exemplary embodiments ofthis disclosure,

[00123] It should be appreciated that at least some aspects of the exemplary embodiments of the disclosure may be embodied in computer-executabie instructions, such as in one or more program modules, executed by one or more computers or other de vices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objecte, components, data structures, etc, that perforai particular tasks or impîement particular abstract data types when executed by a processor in a computer or other device. The computer exécutable instructions may be stored on a computer readable medium such as a hard disk, opticaldisk, removable storage media, solid state memory, random access memory (RAM), etc. As will be appreciated by one of skili in the art, the fonction of the program modules may be combined ordistributed asdesired in various embodiments. In addition, thefunction may be embodied in whole or partly in firmware or hardware équivalents such as integrated circuits, field programmable gâte arrays (FPGA), and the like.

[00124] The présent disclosure includes any novei feature or combination of features disclosed herein either expticitly or any generatization thereof. Various modifications and adaptations to the foregoing exemplary embodiments of this disclosure may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view ofthe foregoing description, when read in conjonction with the accompanying drawings. However, any and ail modifications will still fa H within the scope ofthe non-lira iting and exemplary embodiments ofthis disclosure.

Claims (15)

1. A method (200) performed by 3 first radio device in an integrated Access Backhaul,

IAB, network, comprising:

generating (202) a first flow control message based at least in part on flow control information per flow control group; and transmitting (204) the first flow control message to a second radio device.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the flow control group includes: one or more user equipments;

one or more data flows;

one or more data radio bearers;

one or more logical channels;

one or more services; or one or more radio link controi channels.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the flow control group is determined according to a group configuration rule which is related to at least one of the following grouping information:

user equipment information;

channei quality information;

data flow information;

data radio bearer information;

logical channei information;

service information;

radio link control, RLC, channei information; and radio resource allocation information.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the RLC channei information comprises RLC channei ID.

5. The method according to any of claims 3-4, wherein the group configuration rule indicates whether the flow control group is configured for a link, or across multiple links, or for a path between a source device and a destination device.

6. The method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the flow control information per flow control group indicates at least one of:

transmission status of data packets forthe flow control group;

réception status ofthe data packets for the flow control group;

transmission buffer status ofthe data packets forthe flow control group;

réception buffer status ofthe data packets forthe flow control group;

queuing delay ofthe data packets forthe flow control group; and a différence between ingress data rate and egress data rate forthe flow control group.

7. The method according to any of claims 1=6, wherein the first flow control message comprises one or more fields to indicate at least one of:

a group identifier ofthe flow control group;

status information of data packets for the flow control group;

a cause fortriggering the génération ofthe first flow contro! message;

an indicator of a link for which the first flow control message is generated; and a congestion ievel of the data packets for the flow control group.

8, The method according to claim 7, wherein the status information of data packets for the flow control groupcomprisesthe bufferstatus of data packets forthe flow control group.

9. The method according to any of claims 1-8, wherein the génération of the first flow control message is periodical or in response to a trigger event.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the trigger event comprises congestion occurrence.

11. The method according to any ofclaims 1-10, wherein any ofthe first radio device and the second radio device comprises one of a temninal device, an integrated access backhaul code, a node B, a transmission point and a relay node.

12. A method (300) performed by a second radio device in an Integrated Access Backhaul, IAB, network, comprising:

receiving (302) a first flow control message from a first radio device, wherein the first flow control message is generated based at least in part on flow control information per flow control group.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the flow contro! group includes:

3l one or more user equipments;

one or more data flows;

one or more data radio bearers;

one or more logical channels;

one or more services; or one or more radio link control channels.

14. A first radio device (400) in an Integrated Access Backhaul, IAB, network, comprising: one or more processors (401); and one or more me mortes (402) comprising computer program codes (403), the one or more memories (402) and the computer program codes (403) configured to, with the one or more processors (401), cause the first radio device (400) at least to:

generate a first flow control message based at least in part on flow control information per flow control group; and transmit the first flow control message to a second radio device.

15. A second radio device (400) in an Integrated Access Backhaui, IAB, network, comprising;

one or more processors (401); and one or more memories (402) comprising computer program codes (403), the one or more memories (402) and the computer program codes (403) configured to, with the one or more processors (401), cause the second radio device (400) at least to:

receive a first flow control message from a first radio device, wherein the first flow control message is generated based at least in part on flow control information per flow control group.