WO2015015298A2

WO2015015298A2 - Method and apparatus for supportinging multi-streaming transmission of drb of dual connectivity

Info

Publication number: WO2015015298A2
Application number: PCT/IB2014/001709
Authority: WO
Inventors: Pingping Wen; Chandrika Worrall
Original assignee: Alcatel Lucent
Priority date: 2013-08-01
Filing date: 2014-07-28
Publication date: 2015-02-05
Also published as: CN104349467A; WO2015015298A3

Abstract

The present invention provides methods and apparatuses for supporting a multi- streaming transmission of a DRB for a dual connectivity. The method comprises: acquiring load information of a first base station and a second base station involved in a dual connectivity and/or channel information between respective base stations and a UE; determining a first data amount to be sent by the first base station to the UE according to the acquired load information and/or channel information and a total DL data amount to be scheduled; and determining a second data amount to be sent by the second base station to the UE according to the acquired load information and/or channel information and the total DL data amount to be scheduled.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTINGING MULTI-STREAMING TRANSMISSION OF DRB OF

DUAL CONNECTIVITY

Field

The present invention generally relates to the field of wireless communication, and in particular to methods and apparatuses for supporting multi- streaming transmission on a data radio bearer (DRB) for dual connectivity.

Background

Due to the capacity improvement and the elimination of blind spots brought by the low power node such small cells, pico cells, femto cells, there are big interests on small cell deployments and enhancements. In 3 GPP R12, one new Study Item "Small Cell Enhancements for E-UTRA (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access) and E-UTRAN (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network) - Higher-layer aspects" has been approved and one important point to be studied is how to support dual connectivity to both macro and small cells, which includes the architecture and protocol enhancements for dual/multi connectivity.

In a traditional LTE system, there is one serving cell for one node. Although for the Carrier Aggregation (CA) case, there are multiple serving cells, these cells are processed by one base station, which may use centralized resource allocation and share all scheduling information such as the channel condition, HARQ feedback and the buffer status about data amount.

For the dual connectivity case that two serving base stations are connected by a non-ideal backhaul link, a distributed scheduler is needed in each base station and the scheduling information should be derived by each separate scheduler. Since both of the two base stations can serve one user, there should be interaction between the two base stations on the resource allocation to negotiate what traffic data for the user or which portion of the data for a DRB should be served by which bases station and the corresponding procedure, especially for the case that in the dual/multi connectivity, a multi- streaming transmission for one DRB may be supported, that is, one DRB is transmitted through two or more cells simultaneously. Moreover, the base stations involved in the dual connectivity may be from different vendors hence has different scheduling policies and algorithms. The schedulers should be able to operate independently or with minimum interaction in order to support inter vendor deployment.

Besides, one main challenge in the dual/multi connectivity is how to utilize radio resources to improve throughput in a plurality of base stations connected by non-ideal backhaul links. In current system, there is no complete solution on how to support a multi- streaming transmission on one DRB and how to perform resource allocation between a plurality of base stations in case of dual connectivity.

Summary

Therefore, in view of the above problems, the present invention provides solutions on how to perform resource allocation between a plurality of base stations in case of dual/multi connectivity so as to support a multi- streaming transmission of a DRB.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on DL, comprising: acquiring load information of a first base station and a second base station involved in a dual connectivity and/or channel information between respective base stations and a UE; determining a first data amount to be sent by the first base station to the UE according to the acquired load information and/or channel information and a total DL data amount to be scheduled; and determining a second data amount to be sent by the second base station to the UE according to the acquired load information and/or channel information and the total DL data amount to be scheduled.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on UL, comprising: acquiring load information of a first base station and a second base station involved in a dual connectivity and/or channel information between respective base stations and a UE; determining a first transmission percentage according to the acquired load information and/or channel information, the first transmission percentage indicating a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE to the first base station in a total UL data amount to be sent by the UE; and determining a second transmission percentage according to the acquired load information and/or channel information, the second transmission percentage indicating a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on UL, comprising: sending load information of a second base station involved in a dual connectivity and/or channel information between the second base station and a UE to the first base station; receiving from the first base station or the UE a second data amount which indicates a data amount to be received by the second base station from the UE through the DRB.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on UL, comprising: sending load information of a second base station involved in a dual connectivity and channel information between the second base station and a UE to a first base station; receiving from the UE a total UL data amount to be sent by the UE; receiving from the first base station a second transmission percentage which indicates a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE; and determining a second data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station according to the total UL data amount and the second transmission percentage.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on UL, comprising: receiving from a first base station involved in a dual connectivity a first transmission percentage and a second transmission percentage, the first transmission percentage indicating a percentage of a data amount to be sent by a UE to the first base station involved in the dual connectivity in a total UL data amount to be sent by the UE, and the second transmission percentage indicating a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE to a second base station involved in the dual connectivity in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE; determining a first data amount to be sent by the UE to the first base station and a second data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station according to the total UL data amount and the first transmission percentage and the second transmission percentage, respectively; and sending the first data amount to the first base station and sending the second data amount to the second base station, respectively.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on UL, comprising: sending to a first base station and a second base station involved in a dual connectivity a total UL data amount to be sent by a UE such that the second base station could determine a second data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station according to a second transmission percentage received from the first base station and the total UL data amount, wherein the second transmission percentage indicates a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on DL, comprising: an acquiring unit configured to acquire load information of a first base station and a second base station involved in a dual connectivity and/or channel information between respective base stations and a UE; a first data amount determining unit configured to determine a first data amount to be sent by the first base station to the UE according to the acquired load information and/or channel information and a total DL data amount to be scheduled; and a second data amount determining unit configured to determine a second data amount to be sent by the second base station to the UE according to the acquired load information and/or channel information and a total DL data amount to be scheduled.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on UL, comprising: an acquiring unit configured to acquire load information of a first base station and a second base station involved in a dual connectivity and/or channel information between respective base stations and a UE; a first percentage determining unit configured to determine a first transmission percentage according to the acquired load information and/or channel information, the first transmission percentage indicating a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE to the first base station in a total UL data amount to be sent by the UE; and a second percentage determining unit configured to determine a second transmission percentage according to the acquired load information and/or channel information, the second transmission percentage indicating a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE. According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on UL, comprising: a sending unit configured to send load information of a second base station involved in a dual connectivity and/or channel information between the second base station and a UE to a first base station; a receiving unit configured to receive from the first base station or the UE a second data amount which indicates a data amount to be received by the second base station from the UE through the DRB.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on UL, comprising: a sending unit configured to send load information of a second base station involved in a dual connectivity and channel information between the second base station and a UE to a first base station; a receiving unit configured to receive from the UE a total UL data amount to be sent by the UE, the receiving unit further configured to receive from the first base station a second transmission percentage which indicates a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE; and a data amount determining unit configured to determine a second data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station according to the total UL data amount and the second transmission percentage.

According to a eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on UL, comprising: a receiving unit configured to receive from a first base station involved in a dual connectivity a first transmission percentage and a second transmission percentage, the first transmission percentage indicating a percentage of a data amount to be sent by a UE to the first base station involved in the dual connectivity in a total UL data amount to be sent by the UE, and the second transmission percentage indicating a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE to a second base station involved in the dual connectivity in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE; a determining unit configured to determine a first data amount to be sent by the UE to the first base station and a second data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station according to the total UL data amount and the first transmission percentage and the second transmission percentage, respectively; and a sending unit configured to send the first data amount to the first base station and to send the second data amount to the second base station, respectively.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on UL, comprising: a sending unit configured to send to a first base station and a second base station involved in a dual connectivity a total UL data amount to be sent by a UE such that the second base station could determine a second data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station according to a second transmission percentage received from the first base station and the total UL data amount, wherein the second transmission percentage indicates a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE.

With the present invention, two or more serving base station can serve the same user effectively in case of dual/multi connectivity.

Brief description of drawings

The present invention will be understood better and other objectives, details, features and advantages of the present invention will become more evident from the description of specific embodiments of the invention given in conjunction with the following figures, wherein:

Figure 1 illustrates a schematic drawing of a wireless communication network in prior art; Figure 2 illustrates a flow chart of a method for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on DL according to an embodiment of the invention;

Figures. 3-5 illustrate flow charts of methods for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on UL according to various embodiments of the invention;

Figure 6 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on DL according to an embodiment of the invention; and

Figures. 7- 11 illustrate block diagrams of apparatus for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on UL according to various embodiments of the invention.

Identical or similar numbers are used to indicate identical or similar or corresponding features and functions throughout the figures.

Detailed description

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in more details in conjunction with accompanying figures. Although preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown in the accompanying figures, it should be understood that the present disclosure can be implemented in various ways without being limited to the embodiments depicted herein. In contrast, the embodiments are provided herein to make the disclosure more throughout and complete and convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in this art.

Figure 1 illustrates a schematic drawing of a wireless communication network 100 in prior art. As shown in Figure 1 , the wireless communication network 100 includes a macro base station 110 for providing a basic network coverage 120 and one or more small power small cell base stations 130, 132, 134 and 136 for providing smaller network coverage 140, 142, 144 and 146, respectively (shown by backslashes in the figure). A UE 150 located in common coverage area of the macro base station and a small cell base station can establish communication connections with both the macro base station 110 and a corresponding small cell base station (such as the small cell base station 130). Such a case in which the UE has communication connections with both a macro base station and a small cell base station served by the same or different carriers is called as "dual connectivity" or "multi connectivity".

As an example, in the wireless communication network 100 of Figure 1, only one macro base station 110 is shown, however, it can be understood by those skilled in this art that the system 100 may include any number of macro base stations. Furthermore, in the Figure 1 , the condition of dual connectivity is described in an example in which the UE has communication connections with both the macro base station 110 and the small cell base station 130, however, the invention is not limited thereto, but can be applicable to other cases in which two or more macro base stations act as the serving base stations of the UE simultaneously or in which two or more small cell base stations act as the serving base stations of the UE simultaneously or in which one or more macro base stations and one or more small cell base stations act as the serving base stations of the UE simultaneously.

According to the invention, for the dual/multi connectivity, a streaming control function is set in one serving base station to schedule data streams and to allocate radio resources.

In the following, a downlink (DL) multi-streaming transmission and an uplink (UL) multi-streaming transmission will be described respectively with reference to Figure 1 by an example in which the streaming control function is implemented in the macro base station 110. An S I connection exists between the macro base station 110 and a serving gateway (S-GW, not shown in the figure).

Figure 2 illustrates a flow chart of a method 200 for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on DL according to an embodiment of the invention, in which a dual connectivity exists between the UE 150 and the macro base station 110 and the small cell base station 130.

As shown in Figure 2, in step 210, the macro base station 110 acquires load information of the macro base station 110 and/or the small cell base station 130 and/or channel information between them and the UE 150.

In one embodiment, the load information and/or channel information of the small cell base station 130 can be acquired from the small cell base station 130 through an interface between the macro base station 110 and the small cell base station 130. The interface can be obtained by extending or adapting an X2 interface defined in existing standards or can be a newly defined interface. The transmission of the channel information and/or load information through the X2 interface may subject to a delay resulted from the non-ideal backhaul link.

In another embodiment, the load information and/or channel information of the small cell base station 130 can be acquired from the UE 150 through an interface between the macro base station 110 and the UE 150. The interface may be a Uu interface specified in existing standards. In this case, signaling over the Uu interface such as RRC, MAC and LI signaling may be defined to transmit the above load information and/or channel information.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the load information and/or channel information of the small cell base station 130 can be sent to the macro base station 110 periodically or in response to certain triggering events (for example, in response to a request of the macro base station 110 or in response to the load information and/or channel information exceeding a specified threshold).

Next, in step 220, the macro base station 110 determines a data amount to be sent by the macro base station 110 to the UE 150, according to the acquired load information and/or channel information and a total DL data amount to be scheduled.

In step 230, the macro base station 110 determines a data amount to be sent by the small cell base station 130 to the UE 150, according to the acquired load information and/or channel information and a total DL data amount to be scheduled.

In this description, the load information of the macro base station/ small cell base station includes at least one of the number of activated bearers of a corresponding base station, the number of activated UEs being served by the corresponding base station, the number of activated UEs being served by respective bearer and the throughput provided by the corresponding base station on the bearer.

In this description, the channel information between the UE and the macro base station/small cell base station includes the channel state of corresponding channels.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the macro base station 110 determines a percentage of the data amount to be sent by the macro base station 110 to the UE 150 in the total DL data amount and a percentage of the data amount to be sent by the small cell base station 130 to the UE 150 in the total DL data amount, according to the acquired load information and/or channel information; and determines the data amount to be sent by the macro base station 110 to the UE 150 and the data amount to be sent by the small cell base station 130 to the UE 150, according to the percentages and the total DL data amount.

Additionally or alternatively, the macro base station 110 can further acquire quality of service (QoS) information of the macro base station 110 and the small cell base station 130, and determine the data amount to be sent by the macro base station 110 and/or the small cell base station 130 to the UE 150 according to the QoS information.

Several exemplary methods for supporting a multi- streaming transmission of a DRB on DL are described below with reference to Figures 3-5. Figure 3 illustrates a flow chart of a method 300 for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on UL according to an embodiment of the invention, in which a dual connectivity exists between the UE 150 and the macro base station 110 and the small cell base station 130.

As shown in Figure 3, in step 310, the UE 150 reports to the macro base station 110 a total UL data amount to be sent by the UE 150. For example, the total UL data amount can be reported to the macro base station 110 through a regular buffer state report.

Next, in step 320, the macro base station 110 acquires load information of the macro base station 110 and/or the small cell base station 130 and/or channel information between them and the UE 150.

Next, in step 330, the macro base station 110 determines a first transmission percentage and a second transmission percentage according to the acquired load information and/or channel information. The first transmission percentage indicates a percentage of the data amount to be sent by the UE 150 to the macro base station 110 in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE 150, and the second transmission percentage indicates a percentage of the data amount to be sent by the UE150 to the small cell base station 130 in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE 150.

In step 340, the macro base station 110 determines a first data amount to be sent by the UE 150 to the macro base station 110 according to the total UL data amount and the first transmission percentage.

In step 350, the macro base station 110 determines a second data amount to be sent by the UE 150 to the small cell base station 130 according to the total UL data amount and the second transmission percentage, and informing the small cell base station 130 of the second data amount.

Furthermore, the method 300 may further include a step 360 in which the macro base station 110 determines a first prioritized bit rate (PBR) for the macro base station 110 and a second PBR for the small cell base station 130 respectively according to the acquired load information and/or channel information, and sends the PBRs to the UE 150 for prioritization of UL logic channels. Furthermore, in the method 300, the computation of PBRs may also be performed by the UE 150. In this case, in step 330, the macro base station 110 will send the acquired first transmission percentage and second transmission percentage to the UE 150 so that the UE 150 may calculate the first PBR and the second PBR according to the received first transmission percentage and second transmission percentage.

Additionally or alternatively, the macro base station 110 can further acquire QoS information of the macro base station 110 and the small cell base station 130, and determine the first transmission percentage and the second transmission percentage according to the QoS information.

Figure 4 illustrates a flow chart of a method 400 for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on UL according to another embodiment of the invention, in which a dual connectivity exists between the UE 150 and the macro base station 110 and the small cell base station 130. The main difference between the method 400 and method 300 is that data amounts to be sent by the UE 150 to the macro base station 110 and the small cell base station 130 are computed by the UE 150 instead of the macro base station 110. Therefore in the method 400, the UE 150 needs not to report the total UL data amount to the macro base station 110 and/or the small cell base station 130.

As shown in Figure 4, in step 420, the macro base station 110 acquires load information of the macro base station 110 and/or the small cell base station 130 and/or channel information between them and the UE 150.

Next, in step 430, the macro base station 110 determines a first transmission percentage and a second transmission percentage according to the acquired load information and/or channel information. The first transmission percentage indicates a percentage of the data amount to be sent by the UE 150 to the macro base station 110 in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE 150, and the second transmission percentage indicates a percentage of the data amount to be sent by the UE150 to the small cell base station 130 in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE 150.

In step 440, the macro base station 110 sends both the first transmission percentage and the second transmission percentage to the UE 150.

In step 450, the UE 150 determines a first data amount and a second data amount according to the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE 150 and the first transmission percentage and the second transmission percentage, and informs the macro base station 110 and the small cell base station 130 of the first data amount and the second data amount.

Furthermore, the method 400 may further include a step 460 in which the UE 150 determines a first PBR for the macro base station 110 and a second PBR for the small cell base station 130 respectively according to the first transmission percentage and second transmission percentage for prioritization of UL logic channels. Similar to the method 300, in the method 400, the computation of PBRs may also be performed by the macro base station 110. In this case, the macro base station 110 will compute the first PBR and the second PBR according to the acquired load information and/or channel information and send them to the UE 150.

Figure 5 illustrates a flow chart of a method 500 for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on UL according to still another embodiment of the invention, in which a dual connectivity exists between the UE 150 and the macro base station 110 and the small cell base station 130. The main difference between the method 500 and the methods 400 and 300 is that the small cell base station 130 acquires the second transmission percentage from the macro base station 110, acquires the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE 150 from the UE 150, and computes the second data amount to be sent by the UE 150 to the small cell base station 130 according to the second transmission percentage and the total UL data amount.

As shown in Figure 5, in step 510, the UE 150 reports to both the macro base station 110 and the small cell base station 130 the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE 150. For example, the total UL data amount may be reported to the macro base station 110 through a regular buffer state report.

Next, in step 520, the macro base station 110 acquires load information of the macro base station 110 and/or the small cell base station 130 and/or channel information between them and the UE 150.

Next, in step 530, the macro base station 110 determines a first transmission percentage and a second transmission percentage according to the acquired load information and/or channel information. The first transmission percentage indicates a percentage of the data amount to be sent by the UE 150 to the macro base station 110 in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE 150, and the second transmission percentage indicates a percentage of the data amount to be sent by the UE150 to the small cell base station 130 in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE 150.

Next, in step 540, the macro base station 110 determines a first data amount to be sent by the UE 150 to the macro base station 110 according to the total UL data amount and the first transmission percentage.

In step 550, the macro base station 110 sends the second transmission percentage to the small cell base station 130.

In step 560, the small cell base station 130 determines a second data amount to be sent by the UE 150 to the small cell base station 130 according to the UL total data amount and the second transmission percentage.

Similar to the method 300, the method 500 may further include a step 570 in which the macro base station 110 determines a first PBR for the macro base station 110 and a second PBR for the small cell base station 130 respectively according to the acquired load information and/or channel information, and sends the PBRs to the UE 150 for prioritization of UL logic channels. Furthermore, in the method 300, the computation of PBRs may also be performed by the UE 150. In this case, in step 530, the macro base station 110 will send the acquired first transmission percentage and second transmission percentage to the UE 150 so that the UE 150 may calculate the first PBR and the second PBR according to the received first transmission percentage and second transmission percentage .

Additionally or alternatively, the macro base station 110 can further acquire QoS information of the macro base station 110 and the small cell base station 130, and determine the data amount to be sent by the macro base station 110 and/or the small cell base station 130 to the UE 150. according to the QoS information

Figure 6 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 600 for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on DL according to an embodiment of the invention. The apparatus 600 may be implemented in or by the macro base station 110.

As shown in Figure 6, apparatus 600 comprises: an acquiring unit 610 configured to acquire load information of a macro base station 110 and a small cell base station 130 involved in a dual connectivity and/or channel information between respective base stations and a user equipment (UE 150); a first data amount determining unit 620 configured to determine a first data amount to be sent by the macro base station 110 to the UE 150 according to the acquired load information and/or channel information and a total DL data amount to be scheduled; and a second data amount determining unit 630 configured to determine a second data amount to be sent by the small cell base station 130 to the UE 150 according to the acquired load information and/or channel information and a total DL data amount to be scheduled.

In an embodiment, the acquiring unit 610 is further configured to acquire the load information and channel information of the small cell base station 130 from the small cell base station 130 through an interface between the macro base station 110 and the small cell base station 130.

In an embodiment, the acquiring unit 610 is further configured to acquire the load information and channel information of the small cell base station 130 from the UE 150 through an interface between the macro base station 110 and the UE 150.

In an embodiment, the apparatus 600 further comprising: a sending unit 640 configured to send the second data amount to the small cell base station 130 to be buffered in the small cell base station 130 for transmission.

In an embodiment, the acquiring unit 610 is further configured to acquire QoS information of the macro base station 110 and the small cell base station 130, and the first data amount determining unit 620 is further configured to determine the first data amount and the second data amount according to the QoS information.

Figure 7 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 700 for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on UL according to various embodiments of the invention. The apparatus 700 may be implemented in or by the macro base station 110.

As shown in Figure 7, the apparatus comprises: an acquiring unit 710 configured to acquire load information of a macro base station 110 and a small cell base station 130 involved in a dual connectivity and/or channel information between respective base stations and a user equipment (UE 150); a first percentage determining unit 720 configured to determine a first transmission percentage according to the acquired load information and/or channel information, the first transmission percentage indicating a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE 150 to the macro base station 110 in a total UL data amount to be sent by the UE 150; and a second percentage determining unit 730 configured to determine a second transmission percentage according to the acquired load information and/or channel information, the second transmission percentage indicating a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE 150 to the small cell base station 130 in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE 150.

In an embodiment, the acquiring unit 710 is further configured to acquire the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE 150. In this embodiment, the apparatus 700 further comprises: a first data amount computing unit 740 configured to compute a first data amount to be sent by the UE 150 to the macro base station 110 according to the total UL data amount and the first transmission percentage.

In an embodiment, the apparatus 700 further comprises: a second computing unit 750 configured to compute a second data amount to be sent by the UE 150 to the small cell base station 130 according to the total UL data amount and the second transmission percentage, and a sending unit 760 configured to inform the second data amount to the small cell base station 130.

In an embodiment, the sending unit 760 is configured to inform the first transmission percentage to the UE 150. In this embodiment, the apparatus 700 further comprises: a receiving unit 770 configured to receive from the UE 150 the first data amount to be sent by the UE 150 to the macro base station 110, which is determined according to the UL total data amount and the first transmission percentage by the UE 150.

In an embodiment, the sending unit 760 is configured to send the second transmission percentage to the small cell base station 130 such that the small cell base station 130 could determine second data amount to be sent by the UE 150 to the small cell base station 130 according to the second transmission percentage and the total UL data amount acquired from the UE 150.

In an embodiment, the acquiring unit 710 is further configured to acquire the load information and/or channel information of the small cell base station 130 from the small cell base station 130 through an interface between the macro base station 110 and the small cell base station 130.

In an embodiment, the apparatus 700 further comprises: a PBR determining unit 780 configured to determine a first PBR for the macro base station 110 and a second PBR for the small cell base station 130 respectively according to the acquired load information and/or channel information, and the sending unit 760 is configured to send the first PBR and the second PBR to the UE 150.

In an embodiment, the sending unit 760 is configured to send the first transmission percentage and the second transmission percentage to the UE 150 such that the UE 150 could determine a first PBR for the macro base station 110 and a second PBR for the small cell base station 130 respectively according to the first transmission percentage and the second transmission percentage.

In an embodiment, the acquiring unit 710 is further configured to acquire QoS information of the macro base station 110 and the small cell base station 130, and the first percentage determining unit 720 is further configured to determine the first transmission percentage according to the QoS information and the second percentage determining unit 730 is further configured to determine the second transmission percentage according to the QoS information.

Figure 8 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 800 for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on UL according to various embodiments of the invention. The apparatus 800 may be implemented in or by the small cell base station 130.

As shown in Figure 8, the apparatus comprises: a sending unit 810 configured to send load information of a small cell base station 130 involved in a dual connectivity and/or channel information between the small cell base station 130 and a user equipment (UE 150) to the macro base station 110; a receiving unit 820 configured to receive from the macro base station 110 or the UE 150 a second data amount which indicates a data amount to be received by the small cell base station 130 from the UE 150 through the DRB.

In an embodiment, the sending unit 810 is further configured to send QoS information of the small cell base station 130 to the macro base station 110.

Figure 9 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 900 for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on UL according to various embodiments of the invention. The apparatus 900 may be implemented in or by the small cell base station 130.

As shown in Figure 9, the apparatus 900 comprises: a sending unit 910 configured to send load information of a small cell base station 130 involved in a dual connectivity and channel information between the small cell base station 130 and a user equipment (UE 150) to the macro base station 110; a receiving unit 920 configured to receive from the UE 150 a total UL data amount to be sent by the UE 150, and the receiving unit 920 is further configured to receive from the macro base station 110 a second transmission percentage which indicates a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE 150 to the small cell base station 130 in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE 150; and a data amount determining unit 930 configured to determine a second data amount to be sent by the UE 150 to the small cell base station 130 according to the total UL data amount and the second transmission percentage.

Figure 10 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 1000 for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on UL according to various embodiments of the invention. The apparatus 1000 may be implemented in or by the UE 150.

As shown in Figure 10, the apparatus 1000 comprises: a receiving unit 1010 configured to receive from a macro base station 110 involved in a dual connectivity a first transmission percentage and a second transmission percentage, the first transmission percentage indicating a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the user equipment (UE 150) to the macro base station 110 involved in the dual connectivity in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE 150, and the second transmission percentage indicating a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE 150 to the small cell base station 130 involved in the dual connectivity in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE 150; a determining unit 1020 configured to determine a first data amount to be sent by the UE 150 to the macro base station 110 and a second data amount to be sent by the UE 150 to the small cell base station 130 according to the total UL data amount and the first transmission percentage and the second transmission percentage, respectively; and a sending unit 1030 configured to send the first data amount to the macro base station 110 and to send the second data amount to the small cell base station 130, respectively.

In an embodiment, the apparatus 1000 further comprises: a PBR determining unit 1040 configured to determine a first PBR for the macro base station 110 and a second PBR for the small cell base station 130 respectively according to the first transmission percentage and the second transmission percentage.

Figure 11 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 1100 for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a DRB on UL according to various embodiments of the invention. The apparatus 1100 may be implemented in or by the UE 150.

As shown in Figure 11 , the apparatus 1100 comprises: a sending unit 1110 configured to send to a macro base station 110 and a small cell base station 130 involved in a dual connectivity a total UL data amount to be sent by a user equipment (UE 150) such that the small cell base station 130 could determine a second data amount to be sent by the UE 150 to the small cell base station 130 according to a second transmission percentage received from the macro base station 110 and the UL total data amount, wherein the second transmission percentage indicates a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE 150 to the small cell base station 130 in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE 150.

The present invention proposes resource allocation solutions between two or more cells connected via a non-ideal backhaul link to support dual/multi connectivity. With the solutions, data transmission percentages of data to be transmitted on a macro cell and that on a small cell can be determined through resource allocation. Therefore, for DL, the macro cell can determine data amount to be sent by the small cell and send corresponding data to the small cell to be stored in the small cell, based on the actual transmission capabilities of both the macro cell and the small cell such as the load and channel condition. Similarly, for the UL, the data amount to be sent by a UE to the macro cell and the small cell can be determined through the resource allocation, so as to enable both cells serve the UE concurrently to improve the resource allocation efficiency.

In the description above, the dual connectivity is used as an example to describe various embodiments. However, it can be understood by those skilled in this art that the above dual connectivity case can be easily extended to the case of multi connectivity. For example, for the case of multi connectivity, one of a plurality of serving base station can be specified to perform the above streaming control function so as to realize a centralized scheduling.

In the above description of the invention, the data amount distribution is determined according to the combination of any one or more of the load information, channel information and QoS information of base stations involved in the dual/multi connectivity. However, it can be understood by those skilled in this art that the invention is not limited thereto but can be easily extended to use any information related to the resource scheduling of the base station to implement the invention.

In the above description of the invention, each unit of apparatuses 600-1100 is described with respect to its functions. However, it can be understood by those skilled in this art that these units can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof. Furthermore, in an actual implementation, a plurality of units can be integrated into one unit, or otherwise one unit can be implemented as a plurality of separate units, which are all within the scope of the invention.

In this description, the term "base station" refers to the coverage area of a base station and/or a base station or a base station system serving the coverage area, dependent on the context the term is used. In the disclosure, the term "base station" is exchangeable with "cell", "Node B" and "eNodeB" and as on.

In this description, the methods of the present disclosure have been described with reference to accompanying figures. It is understood by those skilled in this art that any specific order of steps illustrated in the accompanying figures and described in the description is only illustrative in that the method steps and/or actions can be performed in other orders other than the specific order of steps illustrated in the accompanying figures and described in the description while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure.

In one or more exemplary designs, the functions of the present application may be implemented using hardware, software, firmware, or any combinations thereof. In the case of implementation with software, the functions may be stored on a computer readable medium as one or more instructions or codes, or transmitted as one or more instructions or codes on the computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises a computer storage medium and a communication medium. The communication medium includes any medium that facilitates transmission of the computer program from one place to another. The storage medium may be any available medium accessible to a general or specific computer. The computer-readable medium may include, for example, but not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disc storage devices, magnetic disk storage devices, or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that carries or stores desired program code means in a manner of instructions or data structures accessible by a general or specific computer or a general or specific processor. Furthermore, any connection may also be considered as a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server or other remote source using a co-axial cable, an optical cable, a twisted pair wire, a digital subscriber line (DSL), or radio technologies such as infrared, radio or microwave, then the co-axial cable, optical cable, twisted pair wire, digital subscriber line (DSL), or radio technologies such as infrared, radio or microwave are also covered by the definition of medium.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any normal processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

The above depiction of the present disclosure is to enable any of those skilled in the art to implement or use the present invention. For those skilled in the art, various modifications of the present disclosure are obvious, and the general principle defined herein may also be applied to other transformations without departing from the spirit and protection scope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention is not limited to the examples and designs as described herein, but should be consistent with the broadest scope of the principle and novel characteristics of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A method for supporting a multi- streaming transmission of a data radio bearer (DRB) on downlink (DL), comprising:

acquiring load information of a first base station and a second base station involved in a dual connectivity and/or channel information between respective base stations and a user equipment (UE);

determining a first data amount to be sent by the first base station to the UE according to the acquired load information and/or channel information and a total DL data amount to be scheduled; and

determining a second data amount to be sent by the second base station to the UE according to the acquired load information and/or channel information and the total DL data amount to be scheduled.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the load information and channel information of the second base station are acquired from the second base station through an interface between the first base station and the second base station.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the load information and channel information of the second base station are acquired from the UE through an interface between the first base station and the UE.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

sending data of the second data amount to the second base station to be buffered in the second base station for transmission.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

acquiring quality of service (QoS) information of the first base station and the second base station, and determining the first data amount and the second data amount according to the QoS information.

6. A method for supporting a multi- streaming transmission of a data radio bearer (DRB) on uplink (UL), comprising:

determining a first transmission percentage according to the acquired load information and/or channel information, the first transmission percentage indicating a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE to the first base station in a total UL data amount to be sent by the UE; and

determining a second transmission percentage according to the acquired load information and/or channel information, the second transmission percentage indicating a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

acquiring the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE; and

computing a first data amount to be sent by the UE to the first base station according to the total UL data amount and the first transmission percentage.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

computing a second data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station according to the total UL data amount and the second transmission percentage, and informing the second data amount to the second base station.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

informing the first transmission percentage to the UE;

receiving from the UE the first data amount to be sent by the UE to the first base station, which is determined by the UE according to the total UL data amount and the first transmission percentage.

10. The method of claim 6 or 7, further comprising:

sending the second transmission percentage to the second base station such that the second base station could determine a second data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station according to the second transmission percentage and the total UL data amount acquired from the UE.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein the load information and/or channel information of the second base station are acquired from the second base station through an interface between the first base station and the second base station.

12. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

determining a first prioritized bit rate (PBR) for the first base station and a second PBR for the second base station respectively according to the acquired load information and/or channel information, and sending the PBRs to the UE.

13. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

sending the first transmission percentage and the second transmission percentage to the UE such that the UE could determine a first prioritized bit rate (PBR) for the first base station and a second PBR for the second base station respectively according to the first transmission percentage and the second transmission percentage.

14. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

acquiring quality of service (QoS) information of the first base station and the second base station, and determining the first transmission percentage and the second transmission percentage according to the QoS information.

15. A method for supporting a multi- streaming transmission of a data radio bearer (DRB) on uplink (UL), comprising:

sending load information of a second base station involved in a dual connectivity and/or channel information between the second base station and a user equipment (UE) to the first base station;

receiving from the first base station or the UE a second data amount which indicates a data amount to be received by the second base station from the UE through the DRB.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

sending quality of service (QoS) information of the second base station to the first base station.

17. A method for supporting a multi- streaming transmission of a data radio bearer (DRB) on uplink (UL), comprising: sending load information of a second base station involved in a dual connectivity and channel information between the second base station and a user equipment (UE) to a first base station;

receiving from the UE a total UL data amount to be sent by the UE; receiving from the first base station a second transmission percentage which indicates a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE; and

determining a second data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station according to the total UL data amount and the second transmission percentage.

18. A method for supporting a multi- streaming transmission of a data radio bearer (DRB) on uplink (UL), comprising:

receiving from a first base station involved in a dual connectivity a first transmission percentage and a second transmission percentage, the first transmission percentage indicating a percentage of a data amount to be sent by a user equipment (UE) to the first base station involved in the dual connectivity in a total UL data amount to be sent by the UE, and the second transmission percentage indicating a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE to a second base station involved in the dual connectivity in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE;

determining a first data amount to be sent by the UE to the first base station and a second data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station according to the total UL data amount and the first transmission percentage and the second transmission percentage, respectively; and

sending the first data amount to the first base station and sending the second data amount to the second base station, respectively.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

determining a first prioritized bit rate (PBR) for the first base station and a second PBR for the second base station respectively according to the first transmission percentage and the second transmission percentage.

20. A method for supporting a multi- streaming transmission of a data radio bearer (DRB) on uplink (UL), comprising:

sending to a first base station and a second base station involved in a dual connectivity a total UL data amount to be sent by a user equipment (UE) such that the second base station could determine a second data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station according to a second transmission percentage received from the first base station and the total UL data amount, wherein the second transmission percentage indicates a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE.

21. An apparatus for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a data radio bearer (DRB) on downlink (DL), comprising:

an acquiring unit configured to acquire load information of a first base station and a second base station involved in a dual connectivity and/or channel information between respective base stations and a user equipment (UE);

a first data amount determining unit configured to determine a first data amount to be sent by the first base station to the UE according to the acquired load information and/or channel information and a total DL data amount to be scheduled; and

a second data amount determining unit configured to determine a second data amount to be sent by the second base station to the UE according to the acquired load information and/or channel information and a total DL data amount to be scheduled.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the acquiring unit is further configured to acquire the load information and channel information of the second base station from the second base station through an interface between the first base station and the second base station.

23. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the acquiring unit is further configured to acquire the load information and channel information of the second base station from the UE through an interface between the first base station and the UE.

24. The apparatus of claim 21 , further comprising:

a sending unit configured to send the second data amount to the second base station to be buffered in the second base station for transmission.

25. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the acquiring unit is further configured to acquire quality of service (QoS) information of the first base station and the second base station, and the first data amount determining unit and the second data amount determining unit are further configured to determine the first data amount and the second data amount according to the QoS information.

26. An apparatus for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a data radio bearer (DRB) on uplink (UL), comprising:

a first percentage determining unit configured to determine a first transmission percentage according to the acquired load information and/or channel information, the first transmission percentage indicating a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE to the first base station in a total UL data amount to be sent by the UE; and

a second percentage determining unit configured to determine a second transmission percentage according to the acquired load information and/or channel information, the second transmission percentage indicating a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the acquiring unit is further configured to acquire the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE;

the apparatus further comprising:

a first data amount computing unit configured to compute a first data amount to be sent by the UE to the first base station according to the total UL data amount and the first transmission percentage.

28. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising:

a second data amount computing unit configured to compute a second data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station according to the total UL data amount and the second transmission percentage, and

a sending unit configured to inform the second data amount to the second base station.

29. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising:

a sending unit configured to inform the first transmission percentage to the UE;

a receiving unit configured to receive from the UE the first data amount to be sent by the UE to the first base station, which is determined by the UE according to the total UL data amount and the first transmission percentage.

30. The apparatus of claim 26 or 27, further comprising:

a sending unit configured to send the second transmission percentage to the second base station such that the second base station could determine a second data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station according to the second transmission percentage and the total UL data amount acquired from the UE.

31. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the acquiring unit is further configured to acquire the load information and/or channel information of the second base station from the second base station through an interface between the first base station and the second base station.

32. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising:

a prioritized bit rate (PBR) determining unit configured to determine a first PBR for the first base station and a second PBR for the second base station respectively according to the acquired load information and/or channel information, and

a sending unit configured to send the first PBR and the second PBR to the UE.

33. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising:

a sending unit configured to send the first transmission percentage and the second transmission percentage to the UE such that the UE could determine a first prioritized bit rate (PBR) for the first base station and a second PBR for the second base station respectively according to the first transmission percentage and the second transmission percentage.

34. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the acquiring unit is further configured to acquire quality of service (QoS) information of the first base station and the second base station, and

the first percentage determining unit is further configured to determine the first transmission percentage according to the QoS information and the second data amount determining unit is further configured to determine the second transmission percentage according to the QoS information.

35. An apparatus for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a data radio bearer (DRB) on uplink (UL), comprising:

a sending unit configured to send load information of a second base station involved in a dual connectivity and/or channel information between the second base station and a user equipment (UE) to a first base station;

a receiving unit configured to receive from the first base station or the UE a second data amount which indicates a data amount to be received by the second base station from the UE through the DRB.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the sending unit is further configured to send quality of service (QoS) information of the second base station to the first base station.

37. An apparatus for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a data radio bearer (DRB) on uplink (UL), comprising:

a sending unit configured to send load information of a second base station involved in a dual connectivity and channel information between the second base station and a user equipment (UE) to a first base station;

a receiving unit configured to receive from the UE a total UL data amount to be sent by the UE, the receiving unit further configured to receive from the first base station a second transmission percentage which indicates a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE; and

a data amount determining unit configured to determine a second data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station according to the total UL data amount and the second transmission percentage.

38. An apparatus for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a data radio bearer (DRB) on uplink (UL), comprising:

a receiving unit configured to receive from a first base station involved in a dual connectivity a first transmission percentage and a second transmission percentage, the first transmission percentage indicating a percentage of a data amount to be sent by a user equipment (UE) to the first base station involved in the dual connectivity in a total UL data amount to be sent by the UE, and the second transmission percentage indicating a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE to a second base station involved in the dual connectivity in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE;

a determining unit configured to determine a first data amount to be sent by the UE to the first base station and a second data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station according to the total UL data amount and the first transmission percentage and the second transmission percentage, respectively; and

a sending unit configured to send the first data amount to the first base station and to send the second data amount to the second base station, respectively.

39. The apparatus of claim 38, further comprising:

a prioritized bit rate (PBR) determining unit configured to determine a first PBR for the first base station and a second PBR for the second base station respectively according to the first transmission percentage and the second transmission percentage.

40. An apparatus for supporting a multi-streaming transmission of a data radio bearer (DRB) on uplink (UL), comprising:

a sending unit configured to send to a first base station and a second base station involved in a dual connectivity a total UL data amount to be sent by a user equipment (UE) such that the second base station could determine a second data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station according to a second transmission percentage received from the first base station and the total UL data amount,

wherein the second transmission percentage indicates a percentage of a data amount to be sent by the UE to the second base station in the total UL data amount to be sent by the UE.

41. A base station comprising the apparatus according to any one of claims 21-25.

42. A base station comprising the apparatus according to any one of claims 26-34.

43. A base station comprising the apparatus according to any one of claims 35-37.

44. A user equipment (UE) comprising the apparatus according to any one of claims 38-40.