WO2019212400A1

WO2019212400A1 - Adaptive flow control for bearer split in 5g systems

Info

Publication number: WO2019212400A1
Application number: PCT/SE2019/050370
Authority: WO
Inventors: Roberto Pinto ANTONIOLI; Emanuel Bezerra RODRIGUES; Igor Moaco Guerreiro
Original assignee: Ericsson Telecomunicações S.A.; Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
Priority date: 2018-04-30
Filing date: 2019-04-23
Publication date: 2019-11-07
Also published as: BR112020000339A2

Abstract

A method performed by a first base station (160, 1500) for flow control of data to be transmitted to a user equipment (UE) (110, 1800) is disclosed. The method comprises determining (1401) a first resultant weight for the first base station and a second resultant weight for a second base station (160b, 1700), and determining (1402), based on the first resultant weight and the second resultant weight, a first ratio of the data that will be transmitted by the first base station and a second ratio of the data that will be transmitted by the second base station. The method comprises transmitting (1403), to the UE, a first portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE corresponding to the determined first ratio, and sending (1404), to the second base station, a second portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE corresponding to the determined second ratio.

Description

ADAPTIVE FLOW CONTROL FOR BEARER SPLIT IN 5G SYSTEMS

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates, in general, to wireless communications and, more particularly, to adaptive flow control for bearer split.

BACKGROUND

Since 5^th Generation (5G) networks must be able to support diversified requirements imposed by the envisioned 5G era services/applications, it is expected that the 5G air interface, named New Radio (NR), will be deployed in a cooperative manner with existing standards (such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Wi-Fi) so that multi-connectivity technologies are incorporated. Therefore, in 5G heterogeneous scenarios, a tight interworking is expected between different Radio Access Technologies (RATs), allowing users and devices to benefit from Dual Connectivity (DC) technology.

DC technology was standardized under the umbrella work of small cell enhancements in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) LTE Release 12, where devices with DC capabilities could connect to two LTE Evolved Node Bs (eNBs) operating in different carriers. More recently, in 3GPP Release 14, the DC technology has been discussed as a 5G operational requirement, where the multi-connectivity might be established with LTE eNBs and NR gNode Bs (gNBs).

Considering LTE-NR multi-RAT scenarios, the tight interworking could be performed by the provision of a larger coverage region, supplied by the legacy LTE eNBs, to the base stations using the NR RAT. The LTE connection is required to maintain data delivery continuity since the LTE eNBs provide a wider and more reliable coverage region. On the other hand, the NR connections offer improved capacity in hotspot areas and offload some traffic from the LTE eNBs. In this scenario, the LTE eNB is referred to as a Master Node (MN), while the NR gNB is referred to as a Secondary Node (SN).

According to the agreements established in Release 12 and Release 14 by 3GPP, a promising DC configuration to be employed in future 5G networks is the so-called bearer split configuration. In the network architecture supporting this configuration, there is a backhaul link connecting a MN to the SNs. In practical scenarios, the backhaul link connecting the MN to the SNs is non-ideal and characterized by a certain latency and limited capacity. Furthermore, in the bearer split configuration, all the traffic from split bearers comes from the core network only to the MN, which then processes and routes the split bearers’ traffic by means of a flow control algorithm located at the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer. This mechanism is responsible for balancing the amount of data that should be forwarded to the SN via the backhaul link and the amount of data transmitted by the MN to the User Equipment (UE).

There currently exist certain challenges. In 3GPP contribution R2-132859, “Throughput evaluation and comparison of with and without UP bearer split,” (3GPP, 2013- 08) (hereinafter“R2-132859”), a mechanism is discussed where there is a fixed percentage (e.g., x%) of data that the MN sends to the SN via the backhaul link, and another fixed percentage (e.g., (100— x)%) of data that is sent by the MN to the UE. A fixed mechanism, however, is not able to correctly handle the split bearers’ traffic in all possible scenarios. A dynamic mechanism based on the SN’s radio capacity and backhaul latency is proposed in 3 GPP contribution R2-132833,“Performance evaluation of user throughput enhancement with multi-stream aggregation over non-ideal backhaul,” (3GPP, 2013-08) (hereinafter“R2- 132833”). In“Dual connectivity for LTE-advanced heterogeneous networks,” H. Wang, C. Rosa, and K. I. Pedersen, Wireless Networks, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 1315-1328 (2016) (hereinafter“Wang et al.”), a request-and-forward algorithm is proposed, where the SN sends data requests to the MN based on the users’ throughput, its target buffering time, and radio capability. In“Downlink traffic scheduling for LTE-A small cell networks with dual connectivity enhancement,” M. S. Pan, T. M. Lin, C. Y. Chiu, and C. Y. Wang, IEEE Communications Letters, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 796-799 (2016-04), ISSN: 1089-7798 (hereinafter“Pan et al.”), a scheme of flow control and traffic scheduling designed as a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) is proposed, which aims to maximize the network throughput. The authors in Pan et al, however, have only discussed an optimal solution for their optimization problem. Pan et al. have not proposed a low-complexity algorithm.

The existing literature focuses on either limiting the buffering time at the SN or maximizing the network throughput. These works, however, did not focus on meeting the users’ challenging and stringent Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. Furthermore, the algorithms found in the literature have a single and fixed objective, and lack the ability to adapt the objective or behavior of the algorithm in runtime. Thus, there is a need for an improved method for adaptive flow control for bearer split (e.g., in 5G systems).

SUMMARY To address the foregoing problems with existing approaches, disclosed is a method performed by a first base station for flow control of data to be transmitted to a UE in dual connectivity. The method comprises determining a first resultant weight for the first base station and a second resultant weight for a second base station. The method comprises determining, based on the first resultant weight and the second resultant weight, a first ratio of the data to be transmitted to the UE that will be transmitted by the first base station on a first bearer and a second ratio of the data to be transmitted to the UE that will be transmitted by the second base station on a second bearer, wherein the first bearer is associated with the UE and the first base station and the second bearer is associated with the UE and the second base station. The method comprises transmitting, to the UE on the first bearer, a first portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE, the first portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE corresponding to the determined first ratio. The method comprises sending, to the second base station, a second portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE, the second portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE corresponding to the determined second ratio.

In certain embodiments, the first base station may be a MN and the second base station may be a SN. In certain embodiments, the first base station may be an LTE eNB and the second base station may be an NR gNB.

In certain embodiments, the first resultant weight for the first base station and the second resultant weight for the second base station may be determined based on one or more of: channel quality information, the channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for at least one of the first bearer associated with the UE and the first base station and the second bearer associated with the UE and the second base station; QoS information, the QoS information comprising at least one of a quality of service metric for the first bearer and a QoS metric for the second bearer; a percentage of satisfied users of the first base station; a percentage of satisfied users of the second base station; a maximum achievable transmission rate for the first bearer; and a maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer. In certain embodiments, the maximum achievable transmission rate for the first bearer may comprise an aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the first bearer, and the maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer may comprise an aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the second bearer.

In certain embodiments, the channel quality information may comprise first channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for the first bearer and second channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for the second bearer. The method may comprise obtaining the first channel quality information from the UE and obtaining the second channel quality information from the second base station. In certain embodiments, the method may comprise obtaining, from the second base station, the maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer. In certain embodiments, the method may comprise obtaining, from the second base station, the percentage of satisfied users of the second base station.

In certain embodiments, determining the first resultant weight for the first base station and the second resultant weight for the second base station may comprise: determining a first utility-based RAT weight associated to the UE connected to the first base station; determining a second utility-based RAT weight associated to the UE connected to the second base station; determining a utility-based service weight associated to the UE using a service; determining a utility-based user weight associated to the UE; calculating the first resultant weight as a function of the first utility-based RAT weight, the utility-based service weight, the utility-based user weight, and the aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the first bearer; and calculating the second resultant weight as a function of the second utility-based RAT weight, the utility-based service weight, the utility-based user weight, and the aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the second bearer. In certain embodiments, the method may comprise adapting one or more of the first utility-based RAT weight, the second utility-based RAT weight, and the utility-based service weight based on the channel quality information and the quality of service information. In certain embodiments, the adaptation may be based on a percentage of satisfied users.

In certain embodiments, the first ratio and the second ratio may be determined further based on a predefined policy.

In certain embodiments, the first ratio and the second ratio may be determined periodically according to a defined periodicity.

In certain embodiments, the method may comprise initializing a set comprising the first bearer associated with the UE and the first base station and the second bearer associated with the UE and the second base station and defining a type for each of the first bearer and the second bearer.

Also disclosed is a first network node for flow control of data to be transmitted to a UE in dual connectivity. The first network node comprises a receiver, a transmitter, and processing circuitry coupled to the receiver and the transmitter. The processing circuitry is configured to determine a first resultant weight for the first base station and a second resultant weight for a second base station. The processing circuitry is configured to determine, based on the first resultant weight and the second resultant weight, a first ratio of the data to be transmitted to the UE that will be transmitted by the first base station on a first bearer and a second ratio of the data to be transmitted to the UE that will be transmitted by the second base station on a second bearer, wherein the first bearer is associated with the UE and the first base station and the second bearer is associated with the UE and the second base station. The processing circuitry is configured to transmit, to the UE on the first bearer, a first portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE, the first portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE corresponding to the determined first ratio. The processing circuitry is configured to send, to the second base station, a second portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE, the second portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE corresponding to the determined second ratio.

Also disclosed is a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions configured to perform a method performed by a first base station for flow control of data to be transmitted to a UE in dual connectivity. The method comprises determining a first resultant weight for the first base station and a second resultant weight for a second base station. The method comprises determining, based on the first resultant weight and the second resultant weight, a first ratio of the data to be transmitted to the UE that will be transmitted by the first base station on a first bearer and a second ratio of the data to be transmitted to the UE that will be transmitted by the second base station on a second bearer, wherein the first bearer is associated with the UE and the first base station and the second bearer is associated with the UE and the second base station. The method comprises transmitting, to the UE on the first bearer, a first portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE, the first portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE corresponding to the determined first ratio. The method comprises sending, to the second base station, a second portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE, the second portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE corresponding to the determined second ratio.

Also disclosed is a computer program product comprising a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform a method performed by a first base station for flow control of data to be transmitted to a UE in dual connectivity. The method comprises determining a first resultant weight for the first base station and a second resultant weight for a second base station. The method comprises determining, based on the first resultant weight and the second resultant weight, a first ratio of the data to be transmitted to the UE that will be transmitted by the first base station on a first bearer and a second ratio of the data to be transmitted to the UE that will be transmitted by the second base station on a second bearer, wherein the first bearer is associated with the UE and the first base station and the second bearer is associated with the UE and the second base station. The method comprises transmitting, to the UE on the first bearer, a first portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE, the first portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE corresponding to the determined first ratio. The method comprises sending, to the second base station, a second portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE, the second portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE corresponding to the determined second ratio.

Also disclosed is a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform a method performed by a first base station for flow control of data to be transmitted to a UE in dual connectivity. The method comprises determining a first resultant weight for the first base station and a second resultant weight for a second base station. The method comprises determining, based on the first resultant weight and the second resultant weight, a first ratio of the data to be transmitted to the UE that will be transmitted by the first base station on a first bearer and a second ratio of the data to be transmitted to the UE that will be transmitted by the second base station on a second bearer, wherein the first bearer is associated with the UE and the first base station and the second bearer is associated with the UE and the second base station. The method comprises transmitting, to the UE on the first bearer, a first portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE, the first portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE corresponding to the determined first ratio. The method comprises sending, to the second base station, a second portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE, the second portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE corresponding to the determined second ratio.

Also disclosed is a method performed by a second base station for flow control of data to be transmitted to a UE in dual connectivity. The method comprises obtaining, from the UE, channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for a second bearer associated with the UE and the second base station. The method comprises sending, to a first base station, the obtained channel quality information, a maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer, a QoS metric for the second bearer, and a percentage of satisfied users of the second base station. The method comprises obtaining, from the first base station, a portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE by the second base station, the portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE by the second base station corresponding to a split ratio. The method comprises transmitting the obtained portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE.

In certain embodiments, the first base station may be an MN and the second base station may be an SN. In certain embodiments, the first base station may be an LTE eNB and the second base station may be an NR gNB.

In certain embodiments, the split ratio may be based on a first resultant weight for the first base station and a second resultant weight for the second base station. In certain embodiments, the first resultant weight for the first base station and the second resultant weight for the second base station may be based on one or more of: the channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for the second bearer associated with the UE and the second base station; channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for a first bearer associated with the UE and the first base station; the QoS metric for the second bearer; a QoS metric for the first bearer; the percentage of satisfied users of the second base station; a percentage of satisfied users of the first base station; the maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer; and a maximum achievable transmission rate for the first bearer. In certain embodiments, the maximum achievable transmission rate for the first bearer may comprise an aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the first bearer and the maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer may comprise an aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the second bearer.

In certain embodiments, the first resultant weight for the first base station may be based on: a first utility-based RAT weight associated to the UE connected to the first base station; a utility-based service weight associated to the UE using a service; a utility-based user weight associated to the UE; and the aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the first bearer. In certain embodiments, the second resultant weight for the second base station may be based on: a second utility-based RAT weight associated to the UE connected to the second base station; a utility-based service weight associated to the UE using a service; a utility-based user weight associated to the UE; and the aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the second bearer.

In certain embodiments, the split ratio may be based on a predefined policy.

In certain embodiments, the method may comprise determining the maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer.

In certain embodiments, the method may comprise determining the QoS metric for the second bearer. In certain embodiments, the method may comprise determining a percentage of satisfied users of the second base station.

Also disclosed is a second base station for flow control of data to be transmitted to a UE in dual connectivity. The second base station comprises a receiver, a transmitter, and processing circuitry coupled to the receiver and the transmitter. The processing circuitry is configured to obtain, from the UE, channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for a second bearer associated with the UE and the second base station. The processing circuitry is configured to send, to a first base station, the obtained channel quality information, a maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer, a QoS metric for the second bearer, and a percentage of satisfied users of the second base station. The processing circuitry is configured to obtain, from the first base station, a portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE by the second base station, the portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE by the second base station corresponding to a split ratio. The processing circuitry is configured to transmit the obtained portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE.

Also disclosed is a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions configured to perform a method performed by a second base station for flow control of data to be transmitted to a UE in dual connectivity. The method comprises obtaining, from the UE, channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for a second bearer associated with the UE and the second base station. The method comprises sending, to a first base station, the obtained channel quality information, a maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer, a QoS metric for the second bearer, and a percentage of satisfied users of the second base station. The method comprises obtaining, from the first base station, a portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE by the second base station, the portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE by the second base station corresponding to a split ratio. The method comprises transmitting the obtained portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE.

Also disclosed is a computer program product comprising a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform a method performed by a second base station for flow control of data to be transmitted to a UE in dual connectivity. The method comprises obtaining, from the UE, channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for a second bearer associated with the UE and the second base station. The method comprises sending, to a first base station, the obtained channel quality information, a maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer, a QoS metric for the second bearer, and a percentage of satisfied users of the second base station. The method comprises obtaining, from the first base station, a portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE by the second base station, the portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE by the second base station corresponding to a split ratio. The method comprises transmitting the obtained portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE.

Also disclosed is a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform a method performed by a second base station for flow control of data to be transmitted to a UE in dual connectivity. The method comprises obtaining, from the UE, channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for a second bearer associated with the UE and the second base station. The method comprises sending, to a first base station, the obtained channel quality information, a maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer, a QoS metric for the second bearer, and a percentage of satisfied users of the second base station. The method comprises obtaining, from the first base station, a portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE by the second base station, the portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE by the second base station corresponding to a split ratio. The method comprises transmitting the obtained portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE.

Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages. As one example, certain embodiments may advantageously track the users’ channel conditions and QoS metrics and use this information to determine the bearer split ratios. As another example, certain embodiments do not require solving optimization problems during execution. As still another example, certain embodiments may advantageously involve only the calculation of three different weights. As yet another example, certain embodiments may advantageously adapt the weights to the system behavior and meet predefined objectives, where the objective can be changed in runtime. As another example, certain embodiments may advantageously determine bearer specific split ratios based on its QoS. As another example, certain embodiments may advantageously control the bearer split ratios so that the transmit buffers do not run empty or overloaded. As another example, certain embodiments may advantageously increase the number of users whose QoS experience is above the requirement. As another example, certain embodiments may advantageously increase the 90^th, 50^th, and 5^th percentiles of UEs’ throughputs. As another example, certain embodiments may advantageously enhance the total system throughput. As another example, certain embodiments may advantageously provide for demand-specific signaling over the internode interface between MN and SN. Certain embodiments may have all, some, or none of the advantages recited above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the disclosed embodiments and their features and advantages, reference is now made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGETRE 1 illustrates an example wireless communications network, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIGETRE 2 illustrates an example of the user-weight function for all service types, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIGETRE 3 illustrates an example of the service-weight function for different values of l, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIGETRE 4 illustrates an example of the RAT -weight function for different values of p, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIGETRE 5 A and 5B illustrate an example of combined utility weight for an NR SN and an LTE MN for different values of p, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIGETRE 6 illustrates the percentage of satisfied ETEs when the system load increases, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIGETRE 7 illustrates the total system throughput when the system load increases, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIGETRE 8 illustrates the mean user throughput when the system load increases, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIGETRE 9 illustrates the user satisfaction separating the ETEs in DC and in single connection when the system load increases, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIGETRE 10 illustrates the 5^th percentile and 90^th percentile of ETEs throughput when the system load increases, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIGETRES 11 A and 11B illustrate the 50^th percentile and 90^th percentile of ETEs throughputs considering imperfection in the backhaul link between the MNs and SNs when the system load increases, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIGETRE 12 illustrates an example signaling exchange between a wireless device in DC and an MN and SN, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIGETRE 13 is a flow chart of a method, in accordance with certain embodiments; FIGURE 14 is a flowchart of a method in a first base station, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIGURE 15 is a schematic block diagram of a virtualization apparatus, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIGURE 16 is a flowchart of a method in a second base station, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIGURE 17 is a schematic block diagram of a virtualization apparatus, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIGURE 18 illustrates one embodiment of a UE, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIGURE 19 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIGURE 20 illustrates an example telecommunication network connected via an intermediate network to a host computer, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIGURE 21 illustrates an example of a host computer communicating via a base station with a UE over a partially wireless connection, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIGURE 22 is a flowchart of a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIGURE 23 is a flowchart of a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIGURE 24 is a flowchart of a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with certain embodiments; and

FIGURE 25 is a flowchart of a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with certain embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and/or is implied from the context in which it is used. All references to a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methods disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and/or where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description.

As discussed above, one promising DC configuration to be employed in future 5G networks is the so-called bearer split configuration. In the network architecture supporting the bearer split configuration, there is a backhaul link connecting the MN to the SNs. A mechanism is needed to balance the amount of data that should be forwarded to the SN via the backhaul link and the amount of data transmitted by the MN to a UE. Such a mechanism should be efficient and clever so as to neither overload the transmission buffer of either MN or SN nor underutilize the available radio resources of the MN and SN. Furthermore, such a mechanism should enhance the QoS/Quality of Experience (QoE) provision such that the challenging, unprecedented extremely high throughput, low latency and ultra-reliability requirements are met. To accomplish these objectives, the mechanism should consider diverse system and network parameters (e.g., buffer status, channel quality and backhaul characteristics) and take into account the users’ QoS metrics (e.g., throughput, packet delay and jitter).

Existing approaches to balancing the amount of data that should be forwarded to the SN via the backhaul link and the amount of data transmitted by the MN to the LIE suffer from certain deficiencies. Approaches that rely on fixed percentages of data that the MN sends to the SN and data that is sent by the MN to the UE are not able to correctly handle the split bearers’ traffic in all possible scenarios. Other approaches focus on either limiting the buffering time at the SN or maximizing the network throughput, but fail to address the challenges of meeting users’ stringent QoS requirements and do not adapt well during runtime.

The present disclosure contemplates various embodiments that may address these and other deficiencies associated with existing approaches. In particular, the present disclosure contemplates various embodiments for improved adaptive flow control for bearer split configuration of DC technology (e.g., in 5G systems). Methods for an adaptive flow control of split bearers are disclosed herein that enable the network to track the users’ channel quality and QoS experience and adaptively compute bearer split ratios to achieve a the network operator’s objectives (e.g., maintaining a certain QoS level at a given network node). As one example, a utility-based flow control method for the bearer split configuration of DC technology is disclosed. In certain embodiments, the method may be executed at the PDCP layer at an MN operating on the bearer split configuration along with one or several SNs. The utility-based flow control method described herein advantageously maximizes a users’ utility derived from the network (e.g., users’ satisfaction) by dynamically adapting utility functions. From this adaptation, the MN can determine the optimal bearer split ratio (e.g., a bearer split ratio that maximizes the users’ satisfaction by considering the users’ QoS metrics and channel conditions). This determination may be facilitated by the SN reporting (e.g., periodically) bearer-specific QoS metrics and channel conditions of UEs to the MN via the backhaul link. Using the information available at the MN and received from the SN, the MN is able to track the channel and QoS metrics variations so that the best split ratio can be employed for each bearer.

According to one example embodiment, a method performed by a first base station for flow control of data to be transmitted to a UE in DC is disclosed. The first base station determines a first resultant weight for the first base station and a second resultant weight for a second base station. In certain embodiments, the first base station may be an MN and the second base station may be an SN. In certain embodiments, the first base station may be an LTE eNB and the second base station may be an NR gNB.

In determining the first resultant weight for the first base station and the second resultant weight for the second base station, the first base station may determine a first utility- based RAT weight associated to the UE connected to the first base station. The first base station may determine a second utility-based RAT weight associated to the UE connected to the second base station. The first base station may determine a utility-based service weight associated to the UE using a service. The first base station may determine a utility-based user weight associated to the UE. The first base station may calculate the first resultant weight as a function of the first utility-based RAT weight, the utility-based service weight, the utility-based user weight, and an aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the first bearer. The first base station may calculate the second resultant weight as a function of the second utility-based RAT weight, the utility-based service weight, the utility-based user weight, and an aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the second bearer.

The first base station determines, based on the first resultant weight and the second resultant weight, a first ratio of the data to be transmitted to the UE that will be transmitted by the first base station on a first bearer and a second ratio of the data to be transmitted to the UE that will be transmitted by the second base station on a second bearer. The first bearer is associated with the UE and the first base station and the second bearer is associated with the UE and the second base station. The first base station transmits, to the EE on the first bearer, a first portion of the data to be transmitted to the EE, the first portion of the data to be transmitted to the EE corresponding to the determined first ratio. The first base station sends, to the second base station, a second portion of the data to be transmitted to the EE, the second portion of the data to be transmitted to the EE corresponding to the determined second ratio.

According to another example embodiment, a method performed by a second base station for flow control of data to be transmitted to a EE in DC is disclosed. The second base station obtains, from the EE, channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for a second bearer associated with the EE and the second base station. In certain embodiments, the second base station may be an SN. In certain embodiments, the second base station may be an NR gNB. The second base station sends, to a first base station, the obtained channel quality information, a maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer, a QoS metric for the second bearer, and a percentage of satisfied users of the second base station. In certain embodiments, the first base station may be an MN. In certain embodiments, the first base station may be an LTE eNB.

The second base station obtains, from the first base station, a portion of the data to be transmitted to the EE by the second base station, the portion of the data to be transmitted to the EE by the second base station corresponding to a split ratio. The second base station transmits the obtained portion of the data to be transmitted to the EE.

Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments, however, are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

FIGURE 1 illustrates a wireless network, in accordance with some embodiments. Although the subject matter described herein may be implemented in any appropriate type of system using any suitable components, the embodiments disclosed herein are described in relation to a wireless network, such as the example wireless network illustrated in FIGURE 1. For simplicity, the wireless network of FIGURE 1 only depicts network 106, network nodes 160 and l60b, and wireless devices 110, 1 lOb, and 1 lOc. In practice, a wireless network may further include any additional elements suitable to support communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device and another communication device, such as a landline telephone, a service provider, or any other network node or end device. Of the illustrated components, network node 160 and wireless device 110 are depicted with additional detail. The wireless network may provide communication and other types of services to one or more wireless devices to facilitate the wireless devices’ access to and/or use of the services provided by, or via, the wireless network.

The wireless network may comprise and/or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, and/or radio network or other similar type of system. In some embodiments, the wireless network may be configured to operate according to specific standards or other types of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, particular embodiments of the wireless network may implement communication standards, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards; wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the IEEE 802.11 standards; and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave and/or ZigBee standards.

Network 106 may comprise one or more backhaul networks, core networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), packet data networks, optical networks, wide-area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks to enable communication between devices.

Network node 160 and wireless device 110 comprise various components described in more detail below. These components work together in order to provide network node and/or wireless device functionality, such as providing wireless connections in a wireless network. In different embodiments, the wireless network may comprise any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and/or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections.

As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the wireless network to enable and/or provide wireless access to the wireless device and/or to perform other functions (e.g., administration) in the wireless network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)). Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and may then also be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may be an MN. A network node may be an SN. A network node may act as a MN to one wireless device and act as an SN to another wireless device. A network node may include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units and/or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS). Yet further examples of network nodes include multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell/multicast coordination entities (MCEs), core network nodes (e.g., MSCs, MMEs), O&M nodes, OSS nodes, SON nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., E- SMLCs), and/or MDTs. As another example, a network node may be a virtual network node as described in more detail below. More generally, however, network nodes may represent any suitable device (or group of devices) capable, configured, arranged, and/or operable to enable and/or provide a wireless device with access to the wireless network or to provide some service to a wireless device that has accessed the wireless network.

In FIGURE 1, network node 160 includes processing circuitry 170, device readable medium 180, interface 190, auxiliary equipment 184, power source 186, power circuitry 187, and antenna 162. Although network node 160 illustrated in the example wireless network of FIGETRE 1 may represent a device that includes the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise network nodes with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that a network node comprises any suitable combination of hardware and/or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Moreover, while the components of network node 160 are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, a network node may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component (e.g., device readable medium 180 may comprise multiple separate hard drives as well as multiple RAM modules).

Similarly, network node 160 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which network node 160 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeB’ s. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, network node 160 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate device readable medium 180 for the different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 162 may be shared by the RATs). Network node 160 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 160, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 160.

Processing circuitry 170 is configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being provided by a network node. These operations performed by processing circuitry 170 may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 170 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.

Processing circuitry 170 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 160 components, such as device readable medium 180, network node 160 functionality. For example, processing circuitry 170 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 180 or in memory within processing circuitry 170. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 170 may include a system on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, processing circuitry 170 may include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 172 and baseband processing circuitry 174. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 172 and baseband processing circuitry 174 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 172 and baseband processing circuitry 174 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being provided by a network node, base station, eNB or other such network device may be performed by processing circuitry 170 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 180 or memory within processing circuitry 170. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry 170 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a device readable storage medium or not, processing circuitry 170 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 170 alone or to other components of network node 160, but are enjoyed by network node 160 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

Device readable medium 180 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by processing circuitry 170. Device readable medium 180 may store any suitable instructions, data or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry 170 and, utilized by network node 160. Device readable medium 180 may be used to store any calculations made by processing circuitry 170 and/or any data received via interface 190. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 170 and device readable medium 180 may be considered to be integrated.

Interface 190 is used in the wired or wireless communication of signalling and/or data between network node 160, network 106, and/or wireless devices 110. As illustrated, interface 190 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) 194 to send and receive data, for example to and from network 106 over a wired connection. Interface 190 also includes radio front end circuitry 192 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, antenna 162. Radio front end circuitry 192 comprises filters 198 and amplifiers 196. Radio front end circuitry 192 may be connected to antenna 162 and processing circuitry 170. Radio front end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 162 and processing circuitry 170. Radio front end circuitry 192 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or wireless devices via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 192 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 198 and/or amplifiers 196. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 162. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 162 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 192. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 170. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

In certain alternative embodiments, network node 160 may not include separate radio front end circuitry 192, instead, processing circuitry 170 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna 162 without separate radio front end circuitry 192. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitry 172 may be considered a part of interface 190. In still other embodiments, interface 190 may include one or more ports or terminals 194, radio front end circuitry 192, and RF transceiver circuitry 172, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and interface 190 may communicate with baseband processing circuitry 174, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

Antenna 162 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. Antenna 162 may be coupled to radio front end circuitry 190 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In some embodiments, antenna 162 may comprise one or more omni-directional, sector or panel antennas operable to transmit/receive radio signals between, for example, 2 GHz and 66 GHz. An omni-directional antenna may be used to transmit/receive radio signals in any direction, a sector antenna may be used to transmit/receive radio signals from devices within a particular area, and a panel antenna may be a line of sight antenna used to transmit/receive radio signals in a relatively straight line. In some instances, the use of more than one antenna may be referred to as MIMO. In certain embodiments, antenna 162 may be separate from network node 160 and may be connectable to network node 160 through an interface or port.

Antenna 162, interface 190, and/or processing circuitry 170 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, antenna 162, interface 190, and/or processing circuitry 170 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be transmitted to a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment.

Power circuitry 187 may comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry and is configured to supply the components of network node 160 with power for performing the functionality described herein. Power circuitry 187 may receive power from power source 186. Power source 186 and/or power circuitry 187 may be configured to provide power to the various components of network node 160 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). Power source 186 may either be included in, or external to, power circuitry 187 and/or network node 160. For example, network node 160 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry 187. As a further example, power source 186 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry 187. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail. Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices, may also be used.

Alternative embodiments of network node 160 may include additional components beyond those shown in FIGURE 1 that may be responsible for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and/or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, network node 160 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into network node 160 and to allow output of information from network node 160. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node 160.

As used herein, wireless device refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise noted, the term wireless device may be used interchangeably herein with user equipment (UE). Communicating wirelessly may involve transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information through air. In some embodiments, a wireless device may be configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a wireless device may be designed to transmit information to a network on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the network. Examples of a wireless device include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a cell phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a desktop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless cameras, a gaming console or device, a music storage device, a playback appliance, a wearable terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a tablet, a laptop, a laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop-mounted equipment (LME), a smart device, a wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE) a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, etc.. A wireless device may support DC technology. A wireless device may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3 GPP standard for sidelink communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and may in this case be referred to as a D2D communication device. As yet another specific example, in an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, a wireless device may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and/or measurements to another wireless device and/or a network node. The wireless device may in this case be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may in a 3 GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the wireless device may be a LIE implementing the 3 GPP narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) standard. Particular examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or home or personal appliances (e.g. refrigerators, televisions, etc.) personal wearables (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other scenarios, a wireless device may represent a vehicle or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation. A wireless device as described above may represent the endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may be referred to as a wireless terminal. Furthermore, a wireless device as described above may be mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobile device or a mobile terminal.

As illustrated, wireless device 110 includes antenna 111, interface 114, processing circuitry 120, device readable medium 130, user interface equipment 132, auxiliary equipment 134, power source 136 and power circuitry 137. Wireless device 110 may include multiple sets of one or more of the illustrated components for different wireless technologies supported by wireless device 110, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, just to mention a few. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or set of chips as other components within wireless device 110.

Antenna 111 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is connected to interface 114. In certain alternative embodiments, antenna 111 may be separate from wireless device 110 and be connectable to wireless device 110 through an interface or port. Antenna 111, interface 114, and/or processing circuitry 120 may be configured to perform any receiving or transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a wireless device. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a network node and/or another wireless device. In some embodiments, radio front end circuitry and/or antenna 111 may be considered an interface.

As illustrated, interface 114 comprises radio front end circuitry 112 and antenna 11 1. Radio front end circuitry 112 comprise one or more filters 118 and amplifiers 116. Radio front end circuitry 114 is connected to antenna 111 and processing circuitry 120, and is configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 111 and processing circuitry 120. Radio front end circuitry 112 may be coupled to or a part of antenna 111. In some embodiments, wireless device 110 may not include separate radio front end circuitry 112; rather, processing circuitry 120 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna 11 1. Similarly, in some embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuitry 122 may be considered a part of interface 114. Radio front end circuitry 112 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or wireless devices via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 112 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 118 and/or amplifiers 116. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 11 1. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 11 1 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 112. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 120. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

Processing circuitry 120 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other wireless device 110 components, such as device readable medium 130, wireless device 110 functionality. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry 120 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 130 or in memory within processing circuitry 120 to provide the functionality disclosed herein.

As illustrated, processing circuitry 120 includes one or more of RF transceiver circuitry 122, baseband processing circuitry 124, and application processing circuitry 126. In other embodiments, the processing circuitry may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components. In certain embodiments processing circuitry 120 of wireless device 110 may comprise a SOC. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 122, baseband processing circuitry 124, and application processing circuitry 126 may be on separate chips or sets of chips. In alternative embodiments, part or all of baseband processing circuitry 124 and application processing circuitry 126 may be combined into one chip or set of chips, and RF transceiver circuitry 122 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In still alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 122 and baseband processing circuitry 124 may be on the same chip or set of chips, and application processing circuitry 126 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In yet other alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 122, baseband processing circuitry 124, and application processing circuitry 126 may be combined in the same chip or set of chips. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 122 may be a part of interface 114. RF transceiver circuitry 122 may condition RF signals for processing circuitry 120.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being performed by a wireless device may be provided by processing circuitry 120 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 130, which in certain embodiments may be a computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry 120 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a device readable storage medium or not, processing circuitry 120 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 120 alone or to other components of wireless device 110, but are enjoyed by wireless device 110 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

Processing circuitry 120 may be configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being performed by a wireless device. These operations, as performed by processing circuitry 120, may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 120 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored by wireless device 110, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.

Device readable medium 130 may be operable to store a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry 120. Device readable medium 130 may include computer memory (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM) or Read Only Memory (ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., a hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non- transitory device readable and/or computer executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by processing circuitry 120. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 120 and device readable medium 130 may be considered to be integrated.

User interface equipment 132 may provide components that allow for a human user to interact with wireless device 110. Such interaction may be of many forms, such as visual, audial, tactile, etc. User interface equipment 132 may be operable to produce output to the user and to allow the user to provide input to wireless device 110. The type of interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface equipment 132 installed in wireless device 110. For example, if wireless device 110 is a smart phone, the interaction may be via a touch screen; if wireless device 110 is a smart meter, the interaction may be through a screen that provides usage (e.g., the number of gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audible alert (e.g., if smoke is detected). User interface equipment 132 may include input interfaces, devices and circuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuits. User interface equipment 132 is configured to allow input of information into wireless device 110, and is connected to processing circuitry 120 to allow processing circuitry 120 to process the input information. User interface equipment 132 may include, for example, a microphone, a proximity or other sensor, keys/buttons, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USB port, or other input circuitry. User interface equipment 132 is also configured to allow output of information from wireless device 110, and to allow processing circuitry 120 to output information from wireless device 110. User interface equipment 132 may include, for example, a speaker, a display, vibrating circuitry, a USB port, a headphone interface, or other output circuitry. Using one or more input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits, of user interface equipment 132, wireless device 110 may communicate with end users and/or the wireless network, and allow them to benefit from the functionality described herein.

Auxiliary equipment 134 is operable to provide more specific functionality which may not be generally performed by wireless devices. This may comprise specialized sensors for doing measurements for various purposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as wired communications etc. The inclusion and type of components of auxiliary equipment 134 may vary depending on the embodiment and/or scenario. Power source 136 may, in some embodiments, be in the form of a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic devices or power cells, may also be used. Wireless device 110 may further comprise power circuitry 137 for delivering power from power source 136 to the various parts of wireless device 110 which need power from power source 136 to carry out any functionality described or indicated herein. Power circuitry 137 may in certain embodiments comprise power management circuitry. Power circuitry 137 may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source; in which case wireless device 1 10 may be connectable to the external power source (such as an electricity outlet) via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Power circuitry 137 may also in certain embodiments be operable to deliver power from an external power source to power source 136. This may be, for example, for the charging of power source 136. Power circuitry 137 may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from power source 136 to make the power suitable for the respective components of wireless device 110 to which power is supplied.

As described above, the present disclosure contemplates various embodiments that may address deficiencies associated with existing approaches to flow control for bearer split (e.g., in 5G systems). In particular, the present disclosure contemplates various embodiments for improved adaptive flow control for bearer split configuration of the DC technology. The flow control method proposed herein comes in part from a re-interpretation of a sub-optimum solution of a utility-based optimization problem that aims at maximizing the total user utility derived from the network. The proposed methods may advantageously maximize the number of users whose QoS level is above the requirement.

In certain embodiments, one or several base stations, such as network node l60b, may act as SNs, and another base station, such as network node 160, may act as an MN. For purposes of the following description, network node 160 may be interchangeably referred to as MN 160 and network node l60b may be interchangeably referred to as SN l60b. In the following example, MN 160 is an LTE eNB and SN l60b is an NR gNB. It should be understood, however, that other configurations are possible and within the scope of this disclosure.

In a practical scenario deployed based on the bearer split configuration, SN l60b (and potentially other SNs) has a connection via an intemode interface with MN 160. As agreed by 3 GPP, the internode interface is used by MN 160 and SN l60b to exchange information in order to perform the flow control method described herein and other resource management related functionalities. In light of this, the sub-optimum solution from the utility-based optimization problem can be used as a flow control mechanism to be employed in MN 160. In this context, SN l60b would send to MN 160 the QoS metrics of split bearers and the maximum transmission rates on each Resource Block (RB) of the wireless devices (e.g., wireless device 110) using those bearers.

This specific information can be calculated for the execution of Radio Resource Allocation (RRA) algorithms such that SN l60b (and potentially other SNs) would only need to report them to MN 160. For example, the RRA algorithms, executed at the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, have information about the achievable transmission rate on the RBs for each wireless device. Thus, this information can be transmitted from MAC layers of both MN 160 and SN l60b to the PDCP layer of MN 160.

For the transmission from the SN MAC layer to MN PDCP layer, there is a backhaul connection involved. In certain embodiments, in order to reduce the signaling SN l60b (and potentially other SNs) need to send only the aggregate transmission rate over all RBs, which could be only a single value (instead of one value per RB) per wireless device. In certain embodiments, other metric(s) can be sent instead of the aggregate transmission rate. For instance, other possible metric(s) that could be sent instead of the aggregate transmission rate include any kind of channel quality indicator, such as the Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), and/or the Channel State Information (CSI). By collecting this metric, the proposed method tracks the channel variations experienced by the users (e.g., wireless device 110).

Upon receiving the split bearers’ information from SN l60b (and potentially other SNs), MN 160 performs the flow control method, which, in certain embodiments, may be located at the MN PDCP layer. In such a scenario, the same type of split bearers’ information reported by SN l60b needs to be gathered by the MN PDCP from lower layers of MN 160, since the QoS metrics and channel quality indicators are not usually available at the PDCP layer. Additionally, by collecting the QoS metric, the proposed method is advantageously able to track the QoS experience of the users.

In certain embodiments, MN 160 determines a first resultant weight for MN 160 and a second resultant weight for SN l60b. MN 160 may determine the first resultant weight for MN 160 and the second resultant weight for SN l60b based on one or more of: channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for at least one of a first bearer associated with a wireless device (e.g., wireless device 110) and MN 160 and a second bearer associated with wireless device 110 and SN l60b; QoS information comprising at least one of a quality of service metric for the first bearer and a QoS metric for the second bearer; a percentage of satisfied users of MN 160; a percentage of satisfied users of SN l60b; a maximum achievable transmission rate for the first bearer; and a maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer.

In some cases, the channel quality information may include first channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for the first bearer and second channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for the second bearer. MN 160 may obtain the first channel quality information from wireless device 110. MN 160 may obtain the second channel quality information from SN l60b. For example, SN l60b may obtain, from wireless device 110, channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for the second bearer associated with wireless device 110 and SN l60b. SN l60b may send the obtained channel quality information to MN 160.

In some cases, the maximum achievable transmission rate for the first bearer may be an aggregate transmission rate for wireless device 110 using the first bearer, and the maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer may be an aggregate transmission rate for wireless device 110 using the second bearer. MN 160 may obtain the maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer from SN l60b. For instance, SN l60b may determine the maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer SN l60b and send the determined maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer to MN 160.

MN 160 may obtain other suitable information from SN l60b. For example, SN l60b may determine the QoS metric for the second bearer and send the QoS metric for the second bearer to MN 160. As another example, SN l60b may determine a percentage of satisfied users of SN l60b and send the percentage of satisfied users of SN l60b to MN 160.

As described in more detail below, in determining the first resultant weight for MN 160 and the second resultant weight for SN l60b, MN 160 may determine a first utility-based RAT weight associated to wireless device 110 connected to MN 160. MN 160 may determine a second utility-based RAT weight associated to wireless device 110 connected to SN l60b. MN 160 may determine a utility-based service weight associated to wireless device 110 using a service. MN 160 may determine a utility-based user weight associated to wireless device 110. MN 160 may calculate the first resultant weight as a function of the first utility-based RAT weight, the utility-based service weight, the utility-based user weight, and the aggregate transmission rate for wireless device 110 using the first bearer. MN 160 may calculate the second resultant weight as a function of the second utility-based RAT weight, the utility-based service weight, the utility-based user weight, and the aggregate transmission rate for wireless device 110 using the second bearer.

To illustrate, consider the following example embodiment in which MN 160 determines (e.g., calculates) two weights for each split bearer transporting data to wireless device 110 (referred to as user j in the following example). The two weights for each split bearer transporting data to user j are given by:

_Wj ^MN = wf . wf Wj R_{[j b]} (1) and

wf^N = wf wf Wj R_{[j b]} (2) where:

wf is the utility-based RAT weight associated to user j connected to base station b ; w is the utility-based service weight associated to user j using service s;

w,· is the utility-based user weight associated to user _/;

R_{j,b} represents the aggregate transmission rate of user j on base station b ; and W_j ^MN and wf^N are the resultant weights for MN 160 and SN l60b, respectively.

Note that the W_j ^MN and wf^N are different for each user j in DC because of: (1) the Ry _} values are different since the user j experiences different channel conditions comparing the MN and SN links; and (2) the RAT weight wf is different for MN 160 and SN l60b since the RATs have distinct weights due to their different transmission capacity (more details about the RAT weight are described below).

MN 160 then determines, based on the resultant weights for MN 160 and SN l60b, a first ratio of the data to be transmitted to wireless device 110 that will be transmitted by MN 160 on the first bearer and a second ratio of the data to be transmitted to wireless device 110 that will be transmitted by SN l60b on the second bearer. For example, after determining the resultant weights for MN 160 and SN l60b, MN 160 may calculate the ratio of the split bearer transmitted via its radio interface and the ratio that goes to SN l60b, respectively, as follows:

and

By using this criterion for calculating bearer-specific split ratios, the method tracks the channel variations and captures the QoS levels that users (e.g., wireless device 110) are experiencing. This advantageously allows an optimized split ratio that maximizes the user satisfaction to be determined.

MN 160 transmits, to wireless device 110 on the first bearer, a first portion of the data to be transmitted to wireless device 110. The first portion of the data to be transmitted to wireless device 110 corresponds to the first ratio (ratio^^N) described above in relation to Equation 3. MN 160 sends, to SN l60b, a second portion of the data to be transmitted to wireless device 110. The second portion of the data to be transmitted to wireless device 110 corresponds to the determined second ratio (; ratiop ) described above in relation to Equation 4. SN l60b obtains, from MN 160, the portion of the data to be transmitted to wireless device 110 by SN l60b and transmits the obtained portion of the data to be transmitted to wireless device 110.

In certain embodiments, the split ratios can be dynamically optimized by adapting the utility-based RAT (wp and service (wp weights, which targets to balance the split ratios depending on the service priority and on the RATs transmission capacities. For example, in certain embodiments MN 160 may adapt one or more of the first utility-based RAT weight, the second utility-based RAT weight, and the utility-based service weight based on the channel quality information and/or the quality of service information. In some cases, the adaptation may be based on the percentage of satisfied users. More details about these weights are described below and in relation to FIGEIRES 2-5.

In certain embodiments, the proposed flow control method tracks the channel variations by means of using the term Ry _} during the split calculations. The user QoS metrics can be captured by the utility-based user weight (wQ that measures the utility (e.g., satisfaction) that the user is experiencing according to its current QoS. The utility-based service weight (wp can be employed in scenarios with multiple services so that specific weights are given for different services depending on the desired objective to be achieved. The service weight can be designed, for example, as an adaptive function that is dynamically adapted to meet some QoS requirement of a most prioritized service. The innovative utility- based RAT weight (wp has a similar behavior to the service weight for multi-RAT scenarios. In certain embodiments, the RAT weight can be employed to differentiate the weight each RAT receives during the calculation of the bearer split ratios, which depends on a certain criterion. Some examples of criteria include one or more of: minimizing the transmit buffer size of MN 160 and SN l60b (and potentially other SNs); enhancing the total system throughput; minimizing the packet delays; and potentially others. In runtime, the method can change its objective just by monitoring other metric(s) related to the new desired objective.

As an example, in certain embodiments the RAT weight could be adapted based on the user satisfaction at the SN l60b (which, in this example, is an NR gNB), which is a unique signaling also reported by SN l60b (and potentially other SNs) to MN 160 (which, in this example, is an LTE eNB). Since the NR RAT disposes of more available bandwidth and uses a shorter Transmission Time Interval (TTI) than the LTE RAT, the NR RAT has more transmission capacity then the LTE RAT. Therefore, the RAT weight is an adaptive function that gives higher weights for the NR RAT as long as the user satisfaction percentage on SN l60b is above a threshold value (e.g., 90%) since SN l60b is employing the NR RAT. When the satisfaction at NR SN l60b drops below the threshold (e.g., 90%), the RAT weight can be dynamically adapted to give higher weights for LTE MN 160. This criterion advantageously exploits the higher transmission capacity of the NR RAT up to a point where the satisfaction of users connected to NR SN l60b drops below the threshold (e.g., 90%), then the weights start balancing the split ratios so that the satisfaction is equal or higher than the threshold (e.g., 90%). In other words, the capacity of the NR RAT can be exploited up to the limit where the QoS level of the users connected to it is still satisfactory. Moreover, by offloading more traffic to the NR RAT, the satisfaction of the users connected to LTE MN 160 is also maximized.

Although certain embodiments have been described using an example scenario involving an LTE MN and NR SN(s), the present disclosure is not limited to such an example. Rather, the present disclosure contemplates that the proposed solution could be applied to any scenario employing the bearer split configuration. For example, in a scenario where MNs and SNs are using the NR RAT such that there would be a difference in the transmission capacity, the adaptation criterion could be to balance the transmit buffers of the base stations. In this case, the SN would send its transmit buffer size in terms of bits length or buffering time and the MN would adapt the RAT weight to balance the transmit buffer sizes from both MN and SN.

In certain embodiments, the various embodiments described herein may be implemented in a cloud-based environment. For example, in certain embodiments all the channel quality and QoS metrics as well as the specific metric for weight adaptation could be sent from the MN 160 and SN l60b (and potentially other SNs) to the cloud (e.g., centralized entity), which would then calculate the bearer split ratios given this total knowledge. Then, the cloud could inform MN 160 about the splits that should be employed for each bearer. After that, MN 160 could perform the bearer split according to the split ratios received from the cloud.

Notice that this approach of deciding the bearer split ratios in a centralized entity could be applied not only to the bearer split configuration of the DC technology, but also to the configuration where MN 160 and SN l60b have a connection to the core network. In such a scenario, after deciding the bearer split ratios, the cloud could already send the correct amount of data from each bearer to MN 160 and SN l60b, so that no additional processing is needed on MN 160 or SN l60b.

The various weights described above in relation to FIGURE 1 will now be described in more detail in relation to FIGURES 2-6 below. One example of user utility function U (·) is a logistic utility function, which is unified across all service classes and is given by:

The parameters of this function may advantageously enable user utility to be captured according to its QoS level. In Equation 5 above, the input variable X_j is the QoS metric of each user j and the xj^eq value is the QoS requirement of a given service. Since the QoS represents different metrics depending on the user service, both are normalized by the xj^eq value so that the function and parameters are valid and independent for all services. For queue-based and delay-based services, the sigmoid is set to be decreasing (m = 1) since the higher the queue size or delay, the less satisfied is the user. On the other hand, for throughput-based services, the user utility function is increasing (m =— 1) as the higher the throughput, the higher the user satisfaction. An example value for the parameter s is 0.1088 and has the same value for all users. Then, the user weight W_j is given by !/'( ), the first derivative of t/(·) with respect to X_j, which is a bell shaped function with the same shape for all service classes, as shown in FIGURE 2 described below.

FIGURE 2 illustrates an example of the user weight function for all service types, in accordance with certain embodiments. In the example of FIGURE 2, the x-axis was normalized by the QoS requirement x^req , so that when the normalized QoS metric is equal to 1, it means that the QoS metric of the user is equal to the requirement.

One example of the service utility function F(·) is a scaled version of the hyperbolic tangent. Its derivative provides the service differentiation, where each service has a specific priority related to the magnitude of the function in the corresponding region. This function is given by:

In Equation 6 above, the Z_j value is given by the U{x_j) value of the corresponding user. In certain embodiments, the l value can be adapted in a multi-service scenario to protect the satisfaction level of a given prioritized service or higher priority mobile user plan. Then, the service weight w? is given by F'(·), the first derivative of F(·) with respect to z^, which is a sigmoid function shown in FIGURE 3 described below.

FIGURE 3 illustrates an example of the service weight function for different values of L, in accordance with certain embodiments. In certain embodiments, the l may be adapted to give higher weights to a given service. For instance, for l = 0.1088 the weights for service 1 are higher than for service 2. On the other hand, for l =—0.1088 the opposite occurs.

The RAT utility function M(·) may be used for multi-RAT scenarios so that the different RATs have different weights depending on their transmission capacity or traffic load, for example. As described above, the RAT weight has a similar behavior to the service weight. One example of RAT utility function is given by:

In Equation 7 above, the y_j value is given by the V(z_j) value. The RAT weight wf is given by M'(·), the first derivative of M(·) with respect to y_;·, which is also a sigmoid function as shown in FIGURE 4 described below. In certain embodiments, the p value can be adapted based on a look-up table (e.g., a look-up table comprised of 41 non-linear spaced values of p ), so that the function is equally spaced considering y_;- = 0.5 and that the p value varies from—0.1088 to 0.1088. The same values are used for the l parameter of the service weight.

FIGURE 4 illustrates an example of the RAT weight function for different values of p. As described above, the NR RAT has a higher transmission capacity, which is the RAT of the SNs. In certain embodiments, the RAT weight adaptation may be performed for each MN- SN pair, so that if a MN has several SNs, the adaptation is independent for each pair. Since one objective is to send as many data as possible to the SN up to the point where the percentage of satisfied users at the SN is below 90% (this is one example, which was used for generating the results), the start point is with p =—0.1088. In FIGURE 4, for p =—0.1088, the SN weight is the maximum possible. Then, the SN reports to the MN, along with the users’ QoS metric and channel qualities, the user satisfaction of all connected users, not only the users in DC. If this value is below 90%, the flow control algorithm at the MN adapts the p value to reduce the SN weight (i.e., the p value goes toward 0.1088, which gives more weight to the MN). By checking the satisfaction of all users connected to the SN (i.e., the users in DC and in single connectivity), the proposed flow control method advantageously does not degrade the QoS level of any user connected to the SN. Additionally, the performed adaptation also benefits the user satisfaction at the MN since by offloading some of the traffic to the SNs, the QoS provision at the MN is enhanced.

FIGURES 5 A and 5B illustrate an example of combined utility weight for NR SN and LTE MN for different values of p, in accordance with certain embodiments. More particularly, FIGURE 5 A illustrates the NR SN weight for different values of p and FIGURE 5B illustrates the LTE SN weight for different values of p.

In the examples of FIGURES 5 A and 5B, the combination of the RAT, service and user utility-based weights (only the multiplication wf w? · w_;·, without the ¾» term) are employed by the proposed method considering the adaptability of the p parameter of the RAT weight. The combined weights are illustrated as a function of the normalized user QoS metric. The NR SN weight, shown in FIGURE 5A, starts with the outer most curve shape (corresponding to a p =—0.1088), which gives higher weights to the NR SN and, consequently, sends more data from split bearers to the NR SN. Then, the curve shape is adapted dynamically to reduce the split ratio of the NR SN if its percentage of satisfied users drops below 90%. The arrow in FIGURE 5A indicates the NR SN weight reduction, which happens when the p value goes toward 0.1088. Notice from the inner most curve shape that when the NR SN has very low weights, if the user is experiencing a QoS level below the requirement (normalized user QoS metric less than 1), it is still reasonable to send data to be transmitted by the NR SN due to its higher transmission capacity.

On the other hand, the LTE MN weight, shown in FIGURE 5B, starts with the inner most curve shape (corresponding to a =—0.1088) since the LTE MN has lower transmission capacity. Then, in the case the percentage of satisfied users connected to the NR SN drops below 90%, the curve shape is adapted to give higher weights to the LTE MN. The LTE MN weight increase is represented in FIGURE 5B by the arrow, which happens when the p value goes toward 0.1088. Analyzing the case when the LTE MN weight is the lowest, inner most curve in FIGETRE 5B, it can be seen that the proposed solution only sends some data to the LTE MN if the user is experiencing QoS levels above the requirement, which is done because of the lower LTE MN transmission capacity.

As described above, in certain embodiments the method proposed herein involves the calculation of the three different utility weights. An advantage of this is that it demands very low computational effort. Also, since the proposed method is a sub-optimum solution, there is no need to solve a usually-time-consuming optimization problem to compute the desired split ratios.

In certain embodiments, the proposed flow control method might be executed given a certain periodicity. In such circumstances, this means that the computations of ratio^^N and ratio ^N are not necessarily executed every transmission time instant. By performing the proposed method at a given periodicity, the signaling over the backhaul link between the MN and SN diminishes. With this approach, between two executions of the method the split ratio for all bearers would be constant and equal to the last calculated values. In certain embodiments, however, if it is determined that the user satisfaction at the SN is rapidly dropping, the SN could aperiodically inform the MN so that the current split ratios can be recalculated based on new metrics and weights. In certain embodiments, another option is to change the periodicity depending on the distance between the current percentage of satisfied users at the SN and a target satisfaction (e.g., depending on how far the percentage of satisfied users is from the predefined objective).

Advantageously, use of the methods described herein may increase the number of satisfied users in the system, because certain embodiments take into account the users QoS experiences when computing the bearer split ratios. Such performance enhancement comes at least in part from the fact that the number of satisfied users is increased in the group of users in single connectivity and the group of users in DC, without penalizing one group over the other. Furthermore, by employing the methods described herein, the total system throughput may also be maximized (i.e., the gains in terms of user satisfaction do not come at the price of penalizing the total system throughput). Another technical benefit of the methods described herein is that the 90th, 50th and 5th percentiles of wireless devices’ throughputs may also be increased. In some cases, these performance improvements are obtained from the consideration of the users’ channel quality and QoS level on each network node (e.g., base station) to which a given user is connected to, such that the correct amount of data is sent to each network node and the transmit buffers do not run empty or become overloaded.

The results of a performance evaluation of the flow control methods described herein is illustrated in FIGURES 6-11. The simulation environment is aligned with the bearer split configuration presented in the 3GPP specifications. The network topology is comprised of a hexagonal grid of three-sector macro LTE eNBs, which are the MNs in the scenario described herein. Then, one micro NR gNB, which is the SN, is randomly deployed on each sector of the LTE eNBs. The LTE MNs are deployed using a carrier frequency of 3.5 GHz with 20MHz of total bandwidth and 49dBm of transmit power, while the NR gNBs are deployed at 28 GHz using lOOMHz of bandwidth and 35dBm of transmit power. The LTE MNs are equipped with 8x1 ULAs, whereas the NR SNs are equipped with 4x4 URAs.

The UEs dropping criterion follows a hotspot UE distribution per sector of the LTE MN, where 75% are deployed within the NR SN coverage area and the other 25% are uniformly deployed within the LTE MN sector. The NR and LTE RBs are comprised of 12 subcarriers and 14 OFDM symbols. The subcarrier spacing for the LTE RAT is 15 kHz, while for the NR RAT it is equal to 60 kHz. Finally, another difference from the LTE and NR technologies is regarding the duration of the TTI, which is of 1 ms and 0.25 ms for the LTE and NR, respectively.

The simulations considered ideal and non-ideal backhaul connections, where the non ideal backhaul connections were modeled by assuming latencies ranging from 10 to 80 ms. The same MAC scheduler is employed for all LTE and NR base stations, so that the gains and losses obtained arise strictly from the performance of the flow control methods. The cross carrier Proportional Fair (PF) was used as the MAC scheduler, which is a modified version of the traditional PF that attempts to guarantee fairness in scenarios with DC by the modifying the scheduling metric.

The benchmark flow control algorithm was discussed in R2- 132859, where a fixed percentage, x%, of data that the MN sends to the SN via the backhaul link, and another fixed percentage (100- x)% is sent by the MN to the UE. The values used for comparison are the same used in Pan et ak, which are 30%, 50% and 70% sent by the MN to the SN and 70%, 50% and 30% of data is sent by the MN to the UEs, respectively. In FIGURES 6-11 and the related discussion, the benchmark algorithm is referred to as F(x), where x is the percentage of data sent by the MN to the UEs.

Each UE is configured to have one bearer and the traffic type of the bearer is a Constant Bit Rate (CBR) flow. The EIEs are considered satisfied if their total throughput higher than a throughput requirement of 20Mbps. Since CBR flows are throughput-based services, the proposed solution employed its throughput-based branch where the throughput considered for calculating the utility-based user weight is the total user throughput. Note that this information is already available at the MAC layer because the cross-carrier PF uses it for scheduling the users. Thus, the flow control method executed at the MN PDCP layer just needs to receive this information from the MN MAC layer.

The first analyses are performed considering ideal backhaul connections between the MNs and SNs, i.e., the backhaul latency is considered to be 0 ms.

FIGETRE 6 illustrates the percentage of satisfied ETEs when the system load increases, in accordance with certain embodiments. The first performance metric investigated is the percentage of satisfied users in the system, which is a metric that the methods described herein attempt to maximize. FIGURE 6 presents the percentage of satisfied UEs when the number of UEs increases. As can be seen from FIGURE 6, best performance is achieved by the proposed solution for all system loads. Notice that for light system loads, the proposed solution and F(30) obtained similar performances. However, when the system load increased, the proposed solution achieved higher user satisfaction levels, which happens because of the RAT weight adaptability as well as the channel and QoS tracking performed by the proposed solution. As a consequence of these features, certain of the methods described herein are able to compute the best bearer split ratio for each individual bearer. Considering the satisfaction level of 90%, the proposed solution achieved a gain of 25% compared to the F(30) benchmark solution with respect to the number of satisfied users.

Furthermore, it can be seen from FIGURE 6 that the best performance from the benchmark solutions was obtained by F(30) (i.e, when only 30% of data was transmitted by the MN and 70% of data was sent to the SN). This behavior was expected because the transmission capacity of the NR SN is higher, so that, in general, it is worthy to send more data via the NR SN. However, depending on the UE channel quality and QoS experience, the bearer split ratio should be modified. Since the benchmark solution does not take this fact into account, its performance drops for high system loads. On the other hand, the proposed solution maintains the user satisfaction at satisfactory levels for higher system loads by taking into account the aforementioned metrics. FIGURE 7 illustrates the total system throughput when the system load increases, in accordance with certain embodiments. More particularly, FIGURE 7 depicts the total system throughput when the number of UEs in the system increases. It can be seen from FIGURE 7 that the proposed flow control method presented the best performance also in terms of total system throughput. Thus, besides guaranteeing high user satisfaction levels by maximizing the user satisfaction on both MN and SN, the proposed solution also maximizes the total system throughput. Since the bearer split ratio is adapted considering the QoS metrics and channel quality of the UEs, the transmit buffer of both MN and SN are not overloaded nor run empty, so that there is always data to be sent by both MN and SN and the total system throughput is also maximized. Finally, it can be seen from FIGURE 7 that the best performance from the benchmark solutions is presented by F(30).

FIGURE 8 illustrates the mean user throughput when the system load increases, in accordance with certain embodiments. In the example of FIGURE 8, the mean throughput of the UEs is presented, which is similar to the 50%-tile of the UEs throughputs. The best performance obtained in the user satisfaction percentage (FIGURE 6 described above) is a consequence of the results presented in FIGURE 8. Even for high system loads, the mean throughput achieved by the proposed solution is always above the throughput requirement of 20Mbps. On the other hand, for the benchmark solutions F(50) and F(70), even with light system loads, the mean throughput is already lower than throughput requirement. This reflects the low user satisfaction level presented by F(50) and F(70) in FIGURE 6 described above.

FIGURE 9 illustrates the user satisfaction separating the UEs in DC and in single connection when the system load increases, in accordance with certain embodiments. More particularly, FIGURE 9 depicts the user satisfaction considering that the UEs in the system were separated into two groups: UEs in DC and UEs in single connection. Again, the proposed solution presented the best performance of user satisfaction for the two groups of users. Considering the satisfaction level of 90%, the proposed solution achieved gains of 60% and 54% for UEs in single connection and UEs in DC, respectively. It can be seen from FIGURE 9 the benefit provided by the DC technology. The user satisfaction for UEs in single connection is always lower than the satisfaction of UEs in DC, which is explained by the fact that UEs in DC experience higher throughputs by means of simultaneously receiving data from multiple nodes. The QoS enhancements provided by the DC technology can be maximized given that proper bearer split ratios are computed, which is one feature of the proposed solution. Consequently, the satisfaction of both groups of UEs is maximized. FIGURE 9 also demonstrates that the flow control method is not only important for the UEs in DC, but it is also relevant for the UEs in single connection. By performing a proper bearer split ratio control, the network operator can guarantee that the transmit buffers of MNs and SNs are balanced such that all UEs can have their requirements met. For instance, if the flow control algorithm always sends more data to the SN even when the satisfaction of UEs connected to the SN is decreasing, the QoS experience of both DC and single connection UEs connected to the SN will also decrease. Therefore, the flow control method also needs to check the system behavior to control the bearer split ratios. This is performed in the proposed solution by checking the user satisfaction at the SN, so that the split ratio is higher for the SN only when its satisfaction level is above 90%.

FIGURE 10 illustrates the 5^th percentile and 90^th percentile of UEs throughput when the system load increases, in accordance with certain embodiments. To consider ideal backhaul connections between the MNs and SNs, FIGURE 10 presents the 5^th percentile and 90^th percentile of UEs throughput. The 5^th percentile represents the cell-edge performance, while the 90^th percentile is a representation of the highest achieved throughputs. For both the 5^th percentile and the 90^th percentile, the proposed flow control method was able to provide higher throughputs. Regarding the 5^th percentile, it represents the throughput of UEs in single connection with LTE MN (i.e., UEs that are in the MN cell-edge and not in the coverage region of the NR SNs so that their throughputs are the lowest among all users). Thus, even though the proposed solution provides higher 5^th percentile throughputs, for high system loads, the achieved throughput is below the throughput requirement. This is one of the reasons why the satisfaction for UEs in single connection is lower in FIGURE 9 described above. Analyzing the 90^th percentile, the proposed solution obtained gains as high as 28%, which reflects the fact that the proposed flow control method tracks the QoS metrics and channel quality, so that higher bearer split ratios are directed to where the users are experiencing better QoS levels and channel quality.

FIGURES 1 1A and 11B illustrate the 50^th percentile and 90^th percentile of UEs throughputs considering imperfection in the backhaul link between the MNs and SNs when the system load increases, in accordance with certain embodiments. More particularly, FIGURE 1 1 A illustrates the 50^th percentile of UEs throughputs and FIGURE 1 1B illustrates the 90^th percentile of UEs throughputs. As described above, the backhaul imperfection is modeled as a latency on the connection, which in this analysis are equal to 10 ms, 40 ms and 80 ms. It can be seen from both FIGURES 11A and 11B that the proposed flow control algorithm maintains its higher performance even under backhaul imperfections. In FIGURE 11B, even with the highest latency on the backhaul connection, the proposed solution was able to keep the 90^th percentile of the UEs’ throughputs above 30Mbps in the considered scenario. Finally, it can be observed that the proposed solution presents a slightly higher performance loss as the backhaul latency increases. This happens because the proposed solution computes the bearer split ratios given a certain QoS metric and channel quality at a given time instant, but when the data arrives at the SNs, the QoS metric and channel quality slightly changed. Nevertheless, the performance achieved by the proposed flow control method is higher when the highest backhaul latency for the proposed solution is compared to the lowest backhaul latency for the benchmark solution.

FIGURE 12 illustrates an example signaling exchange between a wireless device in DC and the MN and SN, in accordance with certain embodiments. More particularly, FIGURE 12 illustrates an exchange of signaling between wireless device 110, MN 160, and SN l60b. At step 1201, wireless device 110 sends a channel quality estimation for SN l60b to SN l60b. At step 1202, wireless device 110 sends a channel quality estimation for MN 160. In certain embodiments, steps 1201 and 1202 may use signaling for channel quality estimation already presented on current standards.

At step 1203, SN l60b sends the maximum achievable rate (e.g., an aggregate transmission rate) and QoS metrics of each bearer for the users in DC to MN 160 (e.g., via an intemode interface/backhaul link). Although FIGURE 12 illustrates an example in which the channel quality metric used is the maximum achievable rate, the present disclosure is not limited to such an example. Rather, the present disclosure contemplates that another suitable channel quality metric can be used.

At step 1204, SN l60b sends a percentage of satisfied users connected to it to MN 160. This specific signaling is one of the new signaling procedures of the methods described herein. In the example embodiment of FIGURE 12, MN l60b uses the percentage of satisfied users to adapt the RAT utility weight (for example as described above in relation to FIGURES 1-11). In certain embodiments, however, this information could be different (e.g., depending on the objective to be achieved).

At step 1205, MN 160 calculates the weights for each bearer and ratios of bearer split. For example, in certain embodiments the MN calculates the ratio†¹¹ and ratio†¹* , which may be specific for each bearer since there might be different QoS for distinct bearers. At step 1206, MN 160 sends the data of bearers to be transmitted from SN l60b (e.g., via the intemode interface/backhaul link). In certain embodiments, given a certain state of the system and weights, the bearer split ratios calculated can be predicted so that the ratio of traffic from a given bearer that MN 160 is transmitting to SN l60b via intemode interface can be measured.

At steps 1207 and 1208, information from MN 160 and SN l60b is transmitted to wireless device 110. More particularly, at step 1207 the MN bearers’ data is transmitted from MN 160 to wireless device 110. At step 1208, the SN bearers’ data is transmitted from SN l60b to wireless device 110.

FIGURE 13 is a flow chart of a method, in accordance with certain embodiments. More particularly, FIGURE 13 is a flow chart of a method performed at the PDCP layer of the MN. In step 1301, the MN initializes a set containing bearers of a UE and defines the type of each bearer. In the example embodiment of FIGURE 13, the type of the bearer is used because the specific QoS metric of the bearer depends on the type of bearer (e.g., from real time or non-real-time services).

At step 1302, the MN receives the QoS metrics and channel quality measurements from UEs in DC. In certain embodiments, the MN may also receive other information, such as signaling related to the objective to be achieved, which may also be used for adapting the RAT utility weight.

At steps 1303 and 1304, the MN adapts the RAT and service weights and calculates the _Wj ^MN and w ^N, respectively (for example as described above in relation to FIGURES 1- 6). At step 1305, the MN determines, from the resultant utility weight, a splitting ratio based on a predefined policy (for example, as described above in relation to FIGURES 1-6). As described above, in certain embodiments the MN can calculate the value for ratio^^N and ratio ^N to define the split ratio. Another option would be to get the highest value from ratio^^N and ratio ^N of a given bearer and send all the data of that bearer to base station with highest ratio value.

At step 1306, the MN sends the bearer ratio that should be transmitted by the SN to the user.

FIGURE 14 is a flowchart of a method 1400 in a first base station, in accordance with certain embodiments. More particularly, FIGURE 14 illustrates a method 1400 performed by a first base station for flow control of data to be transmitted to a UE in dual connectivity. Method 1400 begins at step 1401, where the first base station determines a first resultant weight for the first base station and a second resultant weight for a second base station. In certain embodiments, the first base station may be a MN and the second base station may be a SN. In certain embodiments, the first base station may be an LTE eNB and the second base station may be an NR gNB. In certain embodiments, method 1400 may comprise initializing a set comprising the first bearer associated with the UE and the first base station and the second bearer associated with the EGE and the second base station and defining a type for each of the first bearer and the second bearer.

In certain embodiments, the first resultant weight for the first base station and the second resultant weight for the second base station may be determined based on one or more of: channel quality information, the channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for at least one of the first bearer associated with the EGE and the first base station and the second bearer associated with the EGE and the second base station; QoS information, the QoS information comprising at least one of a quality of service metric for the first bearer and a QoS metric for the second bearer; a percentage of satisfied users of the first base station; a percentage of satisfied users of the second base station; a maximum achievable transmission rate for the first bearer; and a maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer. In certain embodiments, the maximum achievable transmission rate for the first bearer may comprise an aggregate transmission rate for the EGE using the first bearer, and the maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer may comprise an aggregate transmission rate for the EGE using the second bearer.

In certain embodiments, the channel quality information may comprise first channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for the first bearer and second channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for the second bearer. Method 1400 may comprise obtaining the first channel quality information from the EGE and obtaining the second channel quality information from the second base station. In certain embodiments, method 1400 may comprise obtaining, from the second base station, the maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer. In certain embodiments, method 1400 may comprise obtaining, from the second base station, the percentage of satisfied users of the second base station.

In certain embodiments, determining the first resultant weight for the first base station and the second resultant weight for the second base station may comprise: determining a first utility-based RAT weight associated to the EGE connected to the first base station; determining a second utility-based RAT weight associated to the UE connected to the second base station; determining a utility-based service weight associated to the UE using a service; determining a utility-based user weight associated to the UE; calculating the first resultant weight as a function of the first utility-based RAT weight, the utility-based service weight, the utility-based user weight, and the aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the first bearer; and calculating the second resultant weight as a function of the second utility-based RAT weight, the utility-based service weight, the utility-based user weight, and the aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the second bearer. In certain embodiments, method 1400 may comprise adapting one or more of the first utility-based RAT weight, the second utility-based RAT weight, and the utility-based service weight based on the channel quality information and the quality of service information. In certain embodiments, the adaptation may be based on a percentage of satisfied users.

At step 1402, the first base station determines, based on the first resultant weight and the second resultant weight, a first ratio of the data to be transmitted to the UE that will be transmitted by the first base station on a first bearer and a second ratio of the data to be transmitted to the UE that will be transmitted by the second base station on a second bearer, wherein the first bearer is associated with the UE and the first base station and the second bearer is associated with the UE and the second base station. In certain embodiments, the first ratio and the second ratio may be determined further based on a predefined policy. In certain embodiments, the first ratio and the second ratio may be determined periodically according to a defined periodicity.

At step 1403, the first base station transmits, to the UE on the first bearer, a first portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE, the first portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE corresponding to the determined first ratio. At step 1404, the first base station sends, to the second base station, a second portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE, the second portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE corresponding to the determined second ratio.

FIGURE 15 is a schematic block diagram of a virtualization apparatus, in accordance with certain embodiments. More particularly, FIGURE 15 illustrates a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 1500 in a wireless network (for example, the wireless network shown in FIGURE 1). The apparatus may be implemented in a network node (e.g., network node 160 shown in FIGURE 1). Apparatus 1500 is operable to carry out the example method described with reference to FIGURE 14 above and possibly any other processes or methods disclosed herein. It is also to be understood that the method of FIGURE 14 is not necessarily carried out solely by apparatus 1500. At least some operations of the method can be performed by one or more other entities.

Virtual Apparatus 1500 may comprise processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory, cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein, in several embodiments. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause receiving unit 1502, determining unit 1504, communication unit 1506, and any other suitable units of apparatus 1500 to perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

In certain embodiments, apparatus 1500 may be a network node, such as first base station 160 described above in relation to FIGURE 1. In certain embodiments, apparatus 1500 may be an MN. In certain embodiments, apparatus 1500 may be an LTE eNB. In certain embodiments, apparatus 1500 may be configured to perform the methods for flow control of data to be transmitted to a UE in DC described herein.

As illustrated in FIGURE 15, apparatus 1500 includes receiving unit 1502, determining unit 1504, and communication unit 1506. Receiving unit 1502 may be configured to perform the receiving functions of apparatus 1500. For example, receiving unit 1502 may be configured to obtain first channel quality information from a UE. As another example, receiving unit 1502 may be configured to obtain second channel quality information from a second base station. As still another example, receiving unit 1502 may be configured to obtain, from the second base station, the maximum achievable transmission rate for a second bearer. As another example, receiving unit 1502 may be configured to obtain, from the second base station, the percentage of satisfied users of the second base station.

Receiving unit 1502 may be configured to receive any suitable information (e.g., from a wireless device or another network node, such as a SN). Receiving unit 1502 may include a receiver and/or a transceiver. Receiving unit 1502 may include circuitry configured to receive messages and/or signals (wireless or wired). In particular embodiments, receiving unit 1502 may communicate received messages and/or signals to determining unit 1504 and/or any other suitable unit of apparatus 1500. The functions of receiving unit 1502 may, in certain embodiments, be performed in one or more distinct units.

Determining unit 1504 may perform the processing functions of apparatus 500. For example, determining unit 1504 may be configured to determine a first resultant weight for the first base station and a second resultant weight for a second base station. In certain embodiments, determining unit 1504 may be configured to determine the first resultant weight for the first base station and the second resultant weight for the second base station based on one or more of: channel quality information, the channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for at least one of the first bearer associated with the UE and the first base station and the second bearer associated with the UE and the second base station; QoS information, the QoS information comprising at least one of a quality of service metric for the first bearer and a QoS metric for the second bearer; a percentage of satisfied users of the first base station; the percentage of satisfied users of the second base station; a maximum achievable transmission rate for the first bearer; and the maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer.

In certain embodiments, in determining the first resultant weight for the first base station and the second resultant weight for the second base station, determining unit 1504 may be configured to determine a first utility-based RAT weight associated to the UE connected to the first base station. Determining unit 1504 may be configured to determine a second utility- based RAT weight associated to the UE connected to the second base station. Determining unit 1504 may be configured to determine a utility -based service weight associated to the UE using a service. Determining unit 1504 may be configured to determine a utility-based user weight associated to the UE. Determining unit 1504 may be configured to calculate the first resultant weight as a function of the first utility-based RAT weight, the utility-based service weight, the utility-based user weight, and the aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the first bearer. Determining unit 1504 may be configured to calculate the second resultant weight as a function of the second utility-based RAT weight, the utility-based service weight, the utility-based user weight, and the aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the second bearer.

In certain embodiments, determining unit 1504 may be configured to adapt one or more of the first utility-based RAT weight, the second utility-based RAT weight, and the utility- based service weight based on the channel quality information and the quality of service information. In certain embodiments, determining unit 1504 may be configured to perform the adaptation based on a percentage of satisfied users.

As another example, determining unit 1504 may be configured to determine, based on the first resultant weight and the second resultant weight, a first ratio of the data to be transmitted to the UE that will be transmitted by the first base station on a first bearer and a second ratio of the data to be transmitted to the UE that will be transmitted by the second base station on a second bearer, wherein the first bearer is associated with the UE and the first base station and the second bearer is associated with the UE and the second base station. In certain embodiments, determining unit 1504 may be configured to determine the first ratio and the second ratio based on a predefined policy. In certain embodiments, determining unit 1504 may be configured to determine the first ratio and the second ratio periodically according to a defined periodicity.

As still another example, determining unit 1504 may be configured to initialize a set comprising the first bearer associated with the UE and the first base station and the second bearer associated with the UE and the second base station. As yet another example, determining unit 1504 may be configured to define a type for each of the first bearer and the second bearer.

As another example, determining unit 1504 may be configured to obtain first channel quality information from a UE. As another example, determining unit 1504 may be configured to obtain second channel quality information from a second base station. As another example, determining unit 1504 may be configured to obtain, from the second base station, the maximum achievable transmission rate for a second bearer. As another example, determining unit 1504 may be configured to obtain, from the second base station, the percentage of satisfied users of the second base station.

Determining unit 1504 may include or be included in processing circuitry, such as processing circuitry 170 described above in relation to FIGURE 1. Determining unit 1504 may include analog and/or digital circuitry configured to perform any of the functions of determining unit 1504 and/or processing circuitry 170 described above. The functions of determining unit 1504 may, in certain embodiments, be performed in one or more distinct units.

Communication unit 1506 may be configured to perform the transmission functions of apparatus 1500. For example, communication unit 1506 may be configured to transmit, to the UE on the first bearer, a first portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE, the first portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE corresponding to the determined first ratio. As another example, communication unit 1506 may be configured to send, to the second base station, a second portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE, the second portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE corresponding to the determined second ratio.

Communication unit 1506 may be configured to transmit any suitable messages (e.g., to a wireless device and/or to another network node, such as an SN). Communication unit 1506 may include a transmitter and/or a transceiver, such as RF transceiver circuitry 172 described above in relation to FIGURE 1. Communication unit 1506 may include circuitry configured to transmit messages and/or signals (e.g., through wireless or wired means). In particular embodiments, communication unit 1506 may receive messages and/or signals for transmission from determining unit 1504 or any other unit of apparatus 1500. The functions of communication unit 1504 may, in certain embodiments, be performed in one or more distinct units.

The term unit may have conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices and/or electronic devices and may include, for example, electrical and/or electronic circuitry, devices, modules, processors, memories, logic solid state and/or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for carrying out respective tasks, procedures, computations, outputs, and/or displaying functions, and so on, as such as those that are described herein.

FIGURE 16 is a flowchart of a method 1600 in a second base station, in accordance with certain embodiments. More particularly, FIGURE 16 is a flowchart of a method 1600 performed by a second base station for flow control of data to be transmitted to a UE in dual connectivity. Method 1600 begins at step 1601, where the second base station obtains, from the UE, channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for a second bearer associated with the UE and the second base station. In certain embodiments, the second base station may be an SN. In certain embodiments, the second base station may be an NR gNB.

At step 1602, the second base station sends, to a first base station, the obtained channel quality information, a maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer, a QoS metric for the second bearer, and a percentage of satisfied users of the second base station. In certain embodiments, the first base station may be an MN. In certain embodiments, the first base station may be an LTE eNB.

In certain embodiments, method 1600 may comprise determining the maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer. In certain embodiments, method 1600 may comprise determining the QoS metric for the second bearer. In certain embodiments, method 1600 may comprise determining a percentage of satisfied users of the second base station.

At step 1603, the second base station obtains, from the first base station, a portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE by the second base station, the portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE by the second base station corresponding to a split ratio. In certain embodiments, the split ratio may be based on a predefined policy. In certain embodiments, the split ratio may be based on a first resultant weight for the first base station and a second resultant weight for the second base station. In certain embodiments, the first resultant weight for the first base station and the second resultant weight for the second base station may be based on one or more of: the channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for the second bearer associated with the UE and the second base station; channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for a first bearer associated with the UE and the first base station; the QoS metric for the second bearer; a QoS metric for the first bearer; the percentage of satisfied users of the second base station; a percentage of satisfied users of the first base station; the maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer; and a maximum achievable transmission rate for the first bearer. In certain embodiments, the maximum achievable transmission rate for the first bearer may comprise an aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the first bearer and the maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer may comprise an aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the second bearer.

At step 1604, the second base station transmits the obtained portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE.

FIGURE 17 is a schematic block diagram of a virtualization apparatus, in accordance with certain embodiments. More particularly, FIGURE 17 illustrates a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 1700 in a wireless network (for example, the wireless network shown in FIGURE 1). The apparatus may be implemented in a network node (e.g., network node l60b shown in FIGURE 1). Apparatus 1700 is operable to carry out the example method described with reference to FIGURE 16 above and possibly any other processes or methods disclosed herein. It is also to be understood that the method of FIGURE 16 is not necessarily carried out solely by apparatus 1700. At least some operations of the method can be performed by one or more other entities.

Virtual Apparatus 1700 may comprise processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory, cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein, in several embodiments. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause receiving unit 1702, determining unit 1704, communication unit 1706, and any other suitable units of apparatus 1700 to perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

In certain embodiments, apparatus 1700 may be a network node, such as second base station l60b described above in relation to FIGURE 1. In certain embodiments, apparatus 1700 may be an SN. In certain embodiments, apparatus 1700 may be an NR gNB. In certain embodiments, apparatus 1700 may be configured to perform the methods for flow control of data to be transmitted to a UE in DC described herein.

As illustrated in FIGURE 17, apparatus 1700 includes receiving unit 1702, determining unit 1704, and communication unit 1706. Receiving unit 1702 may be configured to perform the receiving functions of apparatus 1700. For example, receiving unit 1702 may be configured to obtain, from the UE, channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for a second bearer associated with the UE and the second base station. As another example, receiving unit 1702 may be configured to obtain, from the first base station, a portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE by the second base station, the portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE by the second base station corresponding to a split ratio.

Receiving unit 1702 may be configured to receive any suitable information (e.g., from a wireless device or another network node, such as a SN). Receiving unit 1702 may include a receiver and/or a transceiver. Receiving unit 1702 may include circuitry configured to receive messages and/or signals (wireless or wired). In particular embodiments, receiving unit 1702 may communicate received messages and/or signals to determining unit 1704 and/or any other suitable unit of apparatus 1700. The functions of receiving unit 1702 may, in certain embodiments, be performed in one or more distinct units.

Determining unit 1704 may perform the processing functions of apparatus 500. For example, determining unit 1704 may be configured to determine the maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer. As another example, determining unit 1704 may be configured to determine the QoS metric for the second bearer. As still another example, determining unit 1704 may be configured to determine a percentage of satisfied users of the second base station.

Determining unit 1704 may include or be included in processing circuitry, such as processing circuitry 170 described above in relation to FIGURE 1. Determining unit 1704 may include analog and/or digital circuitry configured to perform any of the functions of determining unit 1704 and/or processing circuitry 170 described above. The functions of determining unit 1704 may, in certain embodiments, be performed in one or more distinct units.

Communication unit 1706 may be configured to perform the transmission functions of apparatus 1700. For example, communication unit 1706 may be configured to send, to a first base station, the obtained channel quality information, a maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer, a QoS metric for the second bearer, and a percentage of satisfied users of the second base station. As another example, communication unit 1706 may be configured to transmit the obtained portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE.

Communication unit 1706 may be configured to transmit any suitable messages (e.g., to a wireless device and/or to another network node, such as an SN). Communication unit 1706 may include a transmitter and/or a transceiver, such as RF transceiver circuitry 172 described above in relation to FIGURE 1. Communication unit 1706 may include circuitry configured to transmit messages and/or signals (e.g., through wireless or wired means). In particular embodiments, communication unit 1706 may receive messages and/or signals for transmission from determining unit 1704 or any other unit of apparatus 1700. The functions of communication unit 1704 may, in certain embodiments, be performed in one or more distinct units.

FIGURE 18 illustrates one embodiment of a UE in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, a user equipment or UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter). UE 1800 may be any UE identified by the 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a NB-IoT UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE. UE 1800, as illustrated in FIGURE 18, is one example of a wireless device configured for communication in accordance with one or more communication standards promulgated by the 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 3GPP’s GSM, UMTS, LTE, and/or 5G standards. As mentioned previously, the term wireless device and UE may be used interchangeable. Accordingly, although FIGURE 18 is a UE, the components discussed herein are equally applicable to a wireless device, and vice- versa.

In FIGURE 18, UE 1800 includes processing circuitry 1801 that is operatively coupled to input/output interface 1805, radio frequency (RF) interface 1809, network connection interface 1811, memory 1815 including random access memory (RAM) 1817, read-only memory (ROM) 1819, and storage medium 1821 or the like, communication subsystem 1831, power source 1833, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Storage medium 1821 includes operating system 1823, application program 1825, and data 1827. In other embodiments, storage medium 1821 may include other similar types of information. Certain UEs may utilize all of the components shown in FIGURE 18, or only a subset of the components. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

In FIGURE 18, processing circuitry 1801 may be configured to process computer instructions and data. Processing circuitry 1801 may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute machine instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory, such as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored program, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or Digital Signal Processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 1801 may include two central processing units (CPUs). Data may be information in a form suitable for use by a computer.

In the depicted embodiment, input/output interface 1805 may be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, output device, or input and output device. UE 1800 may be configured to use an output device via input/output interface 1805. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a USB port may be used to provide input to and output from UE 1800. The output device may be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. UE 1800 may be configured to use an input device via input/output interface 1805 to allow a user to capture information into UE 1800. The input device may include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence- sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, another like sensor, or any combination thereof. For example, the input device may be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.

In FIGURE 18, RF interface 1809 may be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, a receiver, and an antenna. Network connection interface 1811 may be configured to provide a communication interface to network l843a. Network l843a may encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like network or any combination thereof. For example, network l843a may comprise a Wi-Fi network. Network connection interface 1811 may be configured to include a receiver and a transmitter interface used to communicate with one or more other devices over a communication network according to one or more communication protocols, such as Ethernet, TCP/IP, SONET, ATM, or the like. Network connection interface 1811 may implement receiver and transmitter functionality appropriate to the communication network links (e.g., optical, electrical, and the like). The transmitter and receiver functions may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately. RAM 1817 may be configured to interface via bus 1802 to processing circuitry 1801 to provide storage or caching of data or computer instructions during the execution of software programs such as the operating system, application programs, and device drivers. ROM 1819 may be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processing circuitry 1801. For example, ROM 1819 may be configured to store invariant low-level system code or data for basic system functions such as basic input and output (I/O), startup, or reception of keystrokes from a keyboard that are stored in a non-volatile memory. Storage medium 1821 may be configured to include memory such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, or flash drives. In one example, storage medium 1821 may be configured to include operating system 1823, application program 1825 such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine or another application, and data file 1827. Storage medium 1821 may store, for use by UE 1800, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

Storage medium 1821 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), floppy disk drive, flash memory, ETSB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro- DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as a subscriber identity module or a removable user identity (SIM/RUIM) module, other memory, or any combination thereof. Storage medium 1821 may allow UE 1800 to access computer-executable instructions, application programs or the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied in storage medium 1821, which may comprise a device readable medium.

In FIGURE 18, processing circuitry 1801 may be configured to communicate with network l843b using communication subsystem 1831. Network l843a and network l843b may be the same network or networks or different network or networks. Communication subsystem 1831 may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with network l843b. For example, communication subsystem 1831 may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication such as another wireless device, UE, or base station of a radio access network (RAN) according to one or more communication protocols, such as IEEE 802.11, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, or the like. Each transceiver may include transmitter 1833 and/or receiver 1835 to implement transmitter or receiver functionality, respectively, appropriate to the RAN links (e.g., frequency allocations and the like). Further, transmitter 1833 and receiver 1835 of each transceiver may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately.

In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of communication subsystem 1831 may include data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. For example, communication subsystem 1831 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication. Network l843b may encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like network or any combination thereof. For example, network l843b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and/or a near-field network. Power source 1813 may be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to components of UE 1800.

The features, benefits and/or functions described herein may be implemented in one of the components of UE 1800 or partitioned across multiple components of UE 1800. Further, the features, benefits, and/or functions described herein may be implemented in any combination of hardware, software or firmware. In one example, communication subsystem 1831 may be configured to include any of the components described herein. Further, processing circuitry 1801 may be configured to communicate with any of such components over bus 1802. In another example, any of such components may be represented by program instructions stored in memory that when executed by processing circuitry 1801 perform the corresponding functions described herein. In another example, the functionality of any of such components may be partitioned between processing circuitry 1801 and communication subsystem 1831. In another example, the non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and the computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware. FIGURE 19 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1900 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to a node (e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) or to a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device or any other type of communication device) or components thereof and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components (e.g., via one or more applications, components, functions, virtual machines or containers executing on one or more physical processing nodes in one or more networks).

In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual environments 1900 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes 1930. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node is not a radio access node or does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node), then the network node may be entirely virtualized.

The functions may be implemented by one or more applications 1920 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) operative to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein. Applications 1920 are run in virtualization environment 1900 which provides hardware 1930 comprising processing circuitry 1960 and memory 1990. Memory 1990 contains instructions 1995 executable by processing circuitry 1960 whereby application 1920 is operative to provide one or more of the features, benefits, and/or functions disclosed herein.

Virtualization environment 1900, comprises general-purpose or special-purpose network hardware devices 1930 comprising a set of one or more processors or processing circuitry 1960, which may be commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, dedicated Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuitry including digital or analog hardware components or special purpose processors. Each hardware device may comprise memory 1990-1 which may be non-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions 1995 or software executed by processing circuitry 1960. Each hardware device may comprise one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 1970, also known as network interface cards, which include physical network interface 1980. Each hardware device may also include non-transitory, persistent, machine-readable storage media 1990-2 having stored therein software 1995 and/or instructions executable by processing circuitry 1960. Software 1995 may include any type of software including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers 1950 (also referred to as hypervisors), software to execute virtual machines 1940 as well as software allowing it to execute functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein.

Virtual machines 1940, comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1950 or hypervisor. Different embodiments of the instance of virtual appliance 1920 may be implemented on one or more of virtual machines 1940, and the implementations may be made in different ways.

During operation, processing circuitry 1960 executes software 1995 to instantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer 1950, which may sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). Virtualization layer 1950 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to virtual machine 1940.

As shown in FIGURE 19, hardware 1930 may be a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1930 may comprise antenna 19225 and may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1930 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or customer premise equipment (CPE)) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration (MANO) 19100, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1920.

Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

In the context of NFV, virtual machine 1940 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of virtual machines 1940, and that part of hardware 1930 that executes that virtual machine, be it hardware dedicated to that virtual machine and/or hardware shared by that virtual machine with others of the virtual machines 1940, forms a separate virtual network elements (VNE). Still in the context of NFV, Virtual Network Function (VNF) is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more virtual machines 1940 on top of hardware networking infrastructure 1930 and corresponds to application 1920 in FIGURE 19.

In some embodiments, one or more radio units 19200 that each include one or more transmitters 19220 and one or more receivers 19210 may be coupled to one or more antennas 19225. Radio units 19200 may communicate directly with hardware nodes 1930 via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station.

In some embodiments, some signalling can be effected with the use of control system 19230 which may alternatively be used for communication between the hardware nodes 1930 and radio units 19200.

FIGURE 20 illustrates an example telecommunication network connected via an intermediate network to a host computer, in accordance with certain embodiments. With reference to FIGURE 20, in accordance with an embodiment, a communication system includes telecommunication network 2010, such as a 3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises access network 2011, such as a radio access network, and core network 2014. Access network 2011 comprises a plurality of base stations 20l2a, 20l2b, 20l2c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 2013 a, 2013b, 2013c. Each base station 2012a, 2012b, 2012c is connectable to core network 2014 over a wired or wireless connection 2015. A first UE 2091 located in coverage area 2013c is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station 20l2c. A second UE 2092 in coverage area 20l3a is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station 20l2a. While a plurality of UEs 2091, 2092 are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding base station 2012.

Telecommunication network 2010 is itself connected to host computer 2030, 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. Host computer 2030 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 2021 and 2022 between telecommunication network 2010 and host computer 2030 may extend directly from core network 2014 to host computer 2030 or may go via an optional intermediate network 2020. Intermediate network 2020 may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; intermediate network 2020, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, intermediate network 2020 may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).

The communication system of FIGURE 20 as a whole enables connectivity between the connected UEs 2091, 2092 and host computer 2030. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 2050. Host computer 2030 and the connected UEs 2091, 2092 are configured to communicate data and/or signaling via OTT connection 2050, using access network 2011, core network 2014, any intermediate network 2020 and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. OTT connection 2050 may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which OTT connection 2050 passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, base station 2012 may not or need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from host computer 2030 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE 2091. Similarly, base station 2012 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 2091 towards the host computer 2030.

FIGURE 21 illustrates an example of a host computer communicating via a base station with a UE over a partially wireless connection, in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the UE, base station and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to FIGURE 21. In communication system 2100, host computer 2110 comprises hardware 2115 including communication interface 2116 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system 2100. Host computer 2110 further comprises processing circuitry 2118, which may have storage and/or processing capabilities. In particular, processing circuitry 2118 may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Host computer 2110 further comprises software 2111, which is stored in or accessible by host computer 2110 and executable by processing circuitry 2118. Software 2111 includes host application 2112. Host application 2112 may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as UE 2130 connecting via OTT connection 2150 terminating at UE 2130 and host computer 2110. In providing the service to the remote user, host application 2112 may provide user data which is transmitted using OTT connection 2150.

Communication system 2100 further includes base station 2120 provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 2125 enabling it to communicate with host computer 2110 and with UE 2130. Hardware 2125 may include communication interface 2126 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system 2100, as well as radio interface 2127 for setting up and maintaining at least wireless connection 2170 with UE 2130 located in a coverage area (not shown in FIGURE 21) served by base station 2120. Communication interface 2126 may be configured to facilitate connection 2160 to host computer 2110. Connection 2160 may be direct or it may pass through a core network (not shown in FIGURE 21) of the telecommunication system and/or through one or more intermediate networks outside the telecommunication system. In the embodiment shown, hardware 2125 of base station 2120 further includes processing circuitry 2128, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Base station 2120 further has software 2121 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

Communication system 2100 further includes UE 2130 already referred to. Its hardware 2135 may include radio interface 2137 configured to set up and maintain wireless connection 2170 with a base station serving a coverage area in which UE 2130 is currently located. Hardware 2135 of UE 2130 further includes processing circuitry 2138, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. UE 2130 further comprises software 2131, which is stored in or accessible by UE 2130 and executable by processing circuitry 2138. Software 2131 includes client application 2132. Client application 2132 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 2130, with the support of host computer 2110. In host computer 2110, an executing host application 2112 may communicate with the executing client application 2132 via OTT connection 2150 terminating at UE 2130 and host computer 2110. In providing the service to the user, client application 2132 may receive request data from host application 2112 and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection 2150 may transfer both the request data and the user data. Client application 2132 may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides. It is noted that host computer 2110, base station 2120 and UE 2130 illustrated in FIGURE 21 may be similar or identical to host computer 2030, one of base stations 20l2a, 20l2b, 20l2c and one of UEs 2091, 2092 of FIGURE 20, respectively. This is to say, the inner workings of these entities may be as shown in FIGURE 21 and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of FIGURE 20.

In FIGURE 21, OTT connection 2150 has been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between host computer 2110 and UE 2130 via base station 2120, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices. Network infrastructure may determine the routing, which it may be configured to hide from UE 2130 or from the service provider operating host computer 2110, or both. While OTT connection 2150 is active, the network infrastructure may further take decisions by which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., on the basis of load balancing consideration or reconfiguration of the network).

Wireless connection 2170 between UE 2130 and base station 2120 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to UE 2130 using OTT connection 2150, in which wireless connection 2170 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the data rate and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time.

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 OTT connection 2150 between host computer 2110 and UE 2130, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 2150 may be implemented in software 2111 and hardware 2115 of host computer 2110 or in software 2131 and hardware 2135 ofUE 2130, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which OTT connection 2150 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software 2111, 2131 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of OTT connection 2150 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect base station 2120, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to base station 2120. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling facilitating host computer 2l l0’s measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements may be implemented in that software 2111 and 2131 causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using OTT connection 2150 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc.

FIGURE 22 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. More particularly, FIGURE 22 illustrates a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a UE. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to FIGURES 20 and 21. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIGURE 22 will be included in this section. In step 2210, the host computer provides user data. In substep 2211 (which may be optional) of step 2210, the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 2220, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step 2230 (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 2240 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

FIGURE 23 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. More particularly, FIGURE 23 is a flow chart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a UE in accordance with some embodiments. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to FIGURES 20 and 21. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIGURE 23 will be included in this section. In step 2310 of the 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 2320, the host computer initiates 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 2330 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission. FIGURE 24 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. More particularly, FIGURE 24 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a UE in accordance with some embodiments. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to FIGURES 20 and 21. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIGURE 24 will be included in this section. In step 2410 (which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step 2420, the UE provides user data. In substep 2421 (which may be optional) of step 2420, the UE provides the user data by executing a client application. In substep 2411 (which may be optional) of step 2410, the UE executes a client application which provides the user data in reaction to the received input data provided by the host computer. In providing the user data, the executed client application may further consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE initiates, in substep 2430 (which may be optional), transmission of the user data to the host computer. In step 2440 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.

FIGURE 25 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. More particularly, FIGURE 25 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to FIGURES 20 and 21. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIGURE 25 will be included in this section. In step 2510 (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 2520 (which may be optional), the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step 2530 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the systems and apparatuses described herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure. The components of the systems and apparatuses may be integrated or separated. Moreover, the operations of the systems and apparatuses may be performed by more, fewer, or other components. Additionally, operations of the systems and apparatuses may be performed using any suitable logic comprising software, hardware, and/or other logic. As used in this document,“each” refers to each member of a set or each member of a subset of a set.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the methods described herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure. The methods may include more, fewer, or other steps. Additionally, steps may be performed in any suitable order.

Although this disclosure has been described in terms of certain embodiments, alterations and permutations of the embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the above description of the embodiments does not constrain this disclosure. Other changes, substitutions, and alterations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure, as defined by the following claims.

Abbreviations used in the preceding description include:

lx RTT CDMA2000 lx Radio Transmission Technology

3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project

5G 5th Generation

ABS Almost Blank Subframe

ARQ Automatic Repeat Request

AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise

BCCH Broadcast Control Channel

BCH Broadcast Channel

BS Base Station

CA Carrier Aggregation

CBR Constant Bit Rate

CC Carrier Component

CCCH SDU Common Control Channel SDU

CDMA Code Division Multiplexing Access

CGI Cell Global Identifier

CIR Channel Impulse Response

CP Cyclic Prefix

CPICH Common Pilot Channel

CPICH Ec/No CPICH Received energy per chip divided by the power density in the band

CQI Channel Quality information

C-RNTI Cell RNTI CSI Channel State Information

DC Dual Connectivity

DCCH Dedicated Control Channel

DL Downlink

DM Demodulation

DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal

DRX Discontinuous Reception

DTX Discontinuous Transmission

DTCH Dedicated Traffic Channel

DUT Device Under Test

E-CID Enhanced Cell-ID (positioning method)

E-SMLC Evolved-Serving Mobile Location Centre

ECGI Evolved CGI

eNB E-UTRAN NodeB / Evolved Node B

ePDCCH enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel

E-SMLC evolved Serving Mobile Location Center

E-UTRA Evolved UTRA

E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN

FDD Frequency Division Duplex

FFS For Further Study

GERAN GSM EDGE Radio Access Network

gNB Base station in NR / gNode B

GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System

GSM Global System for Mobile communication

HARQ Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request

HO Handover

HSPA High Speed Packet Access

HRPD High Rate Packet Data

LOS Line of Sight

LPP LTE Positioning Protocol

LTE Long-Term Evolution

MAC Medium Access Control

MBMS Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services

MBSFN Multimedia Broadcast multicast service Single Frequency Network MBSFN ABS MBSFN Almost Blank Subframe

MDT Minimization of Drive Tests

MIB Master Information Block

MILP Mixed Integer Linear Programming

MME Mobility Management Entity

MN Master Node

MSC Mobile Switching Center

NPDCCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel

NR New Radio

OCNG OFDMA Channel Noise Generator

OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access

OSS Operations Support System

OTDOA Observed Time Difference of Arrival

O&M Operation and Maintenance

PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel

P-CCPCH Primary Common Control Physical Channel

PCell Primary Cell

PCFICH Physical Control Format Indicator Channel

PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel

PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol

PDP Profile Delay Profile

PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel

PF Proportional Fair

PGW Packet Gateway

PHICH Physical Hybrid-ARQ Indicator Channel

PLMN Public Land Mobile Network

PMI Precoder Matrix Indicator

PRACH Physical Random Access Channel

PRS Positioning Reference Signal

PSS Primary Synchronization Signal

PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel

PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

RACH Random Access Channel QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation

QOE Quality of Experience

QOS Quality of Service

RAN Radio Access Network

RAT Radio Access Technology

RB Resource Block

RLM Radio Link Management

RNC Radio Network Controller

RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier

RRA Radio Resource Allocation

RRC Radio Resource Control

RRM Radio Resource Management

RS Reference Signal

RSCP Received Signal Code Power

RSRP Reference Symbol Received Power OR

Reference Signal Received Power

RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality OR

Reference Symbol Received Quality

RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator

RSTD Reference Signal Time Difference

SCH Synchronization Channel

SCell Secondary Cell

SDU Service Data Unit

SFN System Frame Number

SGW Serving Gateway

SI System Information

SIB System Information Block

SN Secondary Node

SNR Signal to Noise Ratio

SON Self Optimized Network

ss Synchronization Signal

sss Secondary Synchronization Signal

TDD Time Division Duplex

TDOA Time Difference of Arrival

TOA Time of Arrival TSS Tertiary Synchronization Signal

TTI Transmission Time Interval

UE User Equipment

UL Uplink

UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System

USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module

UTDOA Uplink Time Difference of Arrival

UTRA Universal Terrestrial Radio Access

UTRAN Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network

WCDMA Wide CDMA

WLAN Wide Local Area Network

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A method performed by a first base station (160, 1500) for flow control of data to be transmitted to a user equipment (UE) (110, 1800) in dual connectivity, the method comprising:

determining (1401) a first resultant weight for the first base station and a second resultant weight for a second base station (l60b, 1700);

determining (1402), based on the first resultant weight and the second resultant weight, a first ratio of the data to be transmitted to the UE that will be transmitted by the first base station on a first bearer and a second ratio of the data to be transmitted to the UE that will be transmitted by the second base station on a second bearer, wherein the first bearer is associated with the UE and the first base station and the second bearer is associated with the UE and the second base station;

transmitting (1403), to the UE on the first bearer, a first portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE, the first portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE corresponding to the determined first ratio; and

sending (1404), to the second base station, a second portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE, the second portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE corresponding to the determined second ratio.

2. The method of Claim 1, wherein:

the first base station is a master node (MN); and

the second base station is a secondary node (SN).

3. The method of any of Claims 1-2, wherein:

the first base station is a Long Term Evolution Evolved Node B; and

the second base station is a New Radio gNodeB.

4. The method of any of Claims 1-3, wherein the first resultant weight for the first base station and the second resultant weight for the second base station are determined based on one or more of:

channel quality information, the channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for at least one of the first bearer associated with the UE and the first base station and the second bearer associated with the UE and the second base station; quality of service (QoS) information, the QoS information comprising at least one of a quality of service metric for the first bearer and a QoS metric for the second bearer;

a percentage of satisfied users of the first base station;

a percentage of satisfied users of the second base station;

a maximum achievable transmission rate for the first bearer; and

a maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer.

5. The method of Claim 4, wherein:

the maximum achievable transmission rate for the first bearer comprises an aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the first bearer; and

the maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer comprises an aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the second bearer.

6. The method of any of Claims 4-5, wherein:

the channel quality information comprises:

first channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for the first bearer; and

second channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for the second bearer; and

the method comprises:

obtaining (1202) the first channel quality information from the UE; and obtaining (1203) the second channel quality information from the second base station.

7. The method of any of Claims 4-6, comprising:

obtaining (1203), from the second base station, the maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer.

8. The method of any of Claims 4-7, comprising:

obtaining (1204), from the second base station, the percentage of satisfied users of the second base station.

9. The method of any of Claims 5-8, wherein determining the first resultant weight for the first base station and the second resultant weight for the second base station comprises: determining a first utility-based radio access technology (RAT) weight associated to the UE connected to the first base station;

determining a second utility-based RAT weight associated to the UE connected to the second base station;

determining a utility-based service weight associated to the UE using a service;

determining a utility-based user weight associated to the UE;

calculating the first resultant weight as a function of the first utility-based RAT weight, the utility-based service weight, the utility-based user weight, and the aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the first bearer; and

calculating the second resultant weight as a function of the second utility-based RAT weight, the utility-based service weight, the utility-based user weight, and the aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the second bearer.

10. The method of Claim 9, comprising:

adapting (1303) one or more of the first utility-based RAT weight, the second utility- based RAT weight, and the utility-based service weight based on the channel quality information and the quality of service information.

11. The method of Claim 10, wherein the adaptation is based on a percentage of satisfied users.

12. The method of any of Claims 1-11, wherein the first ratio and the second ratio are determined further based on a predefined policy.

13. The method of any of Claims 1-12, wherein the first ratio and the second ratio are determined periodically according to a defined periodicity.

14. The method of any of Claims 1-13, comprising:

initializing (1301) a set comprising the first bearer associated with the UE and the first base station and the second bearer associated with the UE and the second base station; and defining (1301) a type for each of the first bearer and the second bearer.

15. A method performed by a second base station (l60b, 1700) for flow control of data to be transmitted to a user equipment (UE) (110, 1800) in dual connectivity, comprising: obtaining (1601), from the UE, channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for a second bearer associated with the UE and the second base station;

sending (1602), to a first base station (160, 1500), the obtained channel quality information, a maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer, a quality of service (QoS) metric for the second bearer, and a percentage of satisfied users of the second base station;

obtaining (1603), from the first base station, a portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE by the second base station, the portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE by the second base station corresponding to a split ratio; and

transmitting (1604) the obtained portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE.

16. The method of Claim 15, wherein:

the first base station is a master node (MN); and

the second base station is a secondary node (SN).

17. The method of any of Claims 15-16, wherein:

the first base station is a Long Term Evolution Evolved Node B; and

the second base station is a New Radio gNodeB.

18. The method of any of Claims 15-17, wherein the split ratio is based on a first resultant weight for the first base station and a second resultant weight for the second base station.

19. The method of Claim 18, wherein the first resultant weight for the first base station and the second resultant weight for the second base station are based on one or more of: the channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for the second bearer associated with the UE and the second base station;

channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for a first bearer associated with the UE and the first base station;

the QoS metric for the second bearer;

a QoS metric for the first bearer; the percentage of satisfied users of the second base station;

a percentage of satisfied users of the first base station;

the maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer; and

a maximum achievable transmission rate for the first bearer.

20. The method of Claim 19, wherein:

21. The method of Claim 20, wherein the first resultant weight for the first base station is based on:

a first utility-based radio access technology (RAT) weight associated to the UE connected to the first base station;

a utility-based service weight associated to the UE using a service;

a utility-based user weight associated to the UE; and

the aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the first bearer.

22. The method of any of Claims 20-21 , wherein the second resultant weight for the second base station is based on:

a second utility-based RAT weight associated to the UE connected to the second base station;

a utility-based service weight associated to the UE using a service;

a utility-based user weight associated to the UE; and

the aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the second bearer.

23. The method of any of Claims 15-22, wherein the split ratio is based on a predefined policy.

24. The method of any of Claims 15-23, comprising determining the maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer.

25. The method of any of Claims 15-24, comprising determining the QoS metric for the second bearer.

26. The method of any of Claims 15-25, comprising determining a percentage of satisfied users of the second base station.

27. A first base station (160, 1500) for flow control of data to be transmitted to a user equipment (UE) (110, 1800) in dual connectivity, comprising:

a receiver (190, 172);

a transmitter (190, 172); and

processing circuitry (170) coupled to the receiver and the transmitter, the processing circuitry configured to:

determine (1401) a first resultant weight for the first base station and a second resultant weight for a second base station (l60b, 1700);

determine (1402), based on the first resultant weight and the second resultant weight, a first ratio of the data to be transmitted to the UE that will be transmitted by the first base station on a first bearer and a second ratio of the data to be transmitted to the UE that will be transmitted by the second base station on a second bearer, wherein the first bearer is associated with the UE and the first base station and the second bearer is associated with the UE and the second base station;

transmit (1403), to the UE on the first bearer, a first portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE, the first portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE corresponding to the determined first ratio; and

send (1404), to the second base station, a second portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE, the second portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE corresponding to the determined second ratio.

28. The first base station of Claim 27, wherein:

the first base station is a master node (MN); and

the second base station is a secondary node (SN).

29. The first base station of any of Claims 27-28, wherein:

the first base station is a Long Term Evolution Evolved Node B; and

the second base station is a New Radio gNodeB.

30. The first base station of any of Claims 27-29, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine the first resultant weight for the first base station and the second resultant weight for the second base station based on one or more of:

channel quality information, the channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for at least one of the first bearer associated with the UE and the first base station and the second bearer associated with the UE and the second base station;

quality of service (QoS) information, the QoS information comprising at least one of a quality of service metric for the first bearer and a QoS metric for the second bearer;

a percentage of satisfied users of the first base station;

a percentage of satisfied users of the second base station;

a maximum achievable transmission rate for the first bearer; and

a maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer.

31. The first base station of Claim 30, wherein:

32. The first base station of any of Claims 30-31, wherein:

the channel quality information comprises:

the processing circuitry is configured to:

obtain (1202) the first channel quality information from the UE; and obtain (1203) the second channel quality information from the second base station.

33. The first base station of any of Claims 30-32, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to: obtain (1203), from the second base station, the maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer.

34. The first base station of any of Claims 30-33, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:

obtain (1204), from the second base station, the percentage of satisfied users of the second base station.

35. The first base station of any of Claims 31-34, wherein the processing circuitry configured to determine the first resultant weight for the first base station and the second resultant weight for the second base station is further configured to:

determine a first utility-based radio access technology (RAT) weight associated to the UE connected to the first base station;

determine a second utility-based RAT weight associated to the UE connected to the second base station;

determine a utility-based service weight associated to the UE using a service;

determine a utility-based user weight associated to the UE;

calculate the first resultant weight as a function of the first utility-based RAT weight, the utility-based service weight, the utility-based user weight, and the aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the first bearer; and

calculate the second resultant weight as a function of the second utility-based RAT weight, the utility-based service weight, the utility-based user weight, and the aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the second bearer.

36. The first base station of Claim 35, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:

adapt (1303) one or more of the first utility-based RAT weight, the second utility-based RAT weight, and the utility-based service weight based on the channel quality information and the quality of service information.

37. The first base station of Claim 36, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to perform the adaptation based on a percentage of satisfied users.

38. The first base station of any of Claims 27-37, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine the first ratio and the second ratio based on a predefined policy.

39. The first base station of any of Claims 27-38, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine the first ratio and the second ratio periodically according to a defined periodicity.

40. The first base station of any of Claims 27-39, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:

initialize (1301) a set comprising the first bearer associated with the UE and the first base station and the second bearer associated with the UE and the second base station; and define (1301) a type for each of the first bearer and the second bearer.

41. A second base station (l60b, 1700) for flow control of data to be transmitted to a user equipment (UE) (110, 1800) in dual connectivity, comprising:

a receiver (190, 172);

a transmitter (190, 172); and

obtain (1601), from the UE, channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for a second bearer associated with the UE and the second base station;

send (1602), to a first base station (160, 1500), the obtained channel quality information, a maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer, a quality of service (QoS) metric for the second bearer, and a percentage of satisfied users of the second base station;

obtain (1603), from the first base station, a portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE by the second base station, the portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE by the second base station corresponding to a split ratio; and

transmit (1604) the obtained portion of the data to be transmitted to the UE.

42. The second base station of Claim 41, wherein:

the first base station is a master node (MN); and

the second base station is a secondary node (SN).

43. The second base station of any of Claims 41-42, wherein:

the first base station is a Long Term Evolution Evolved Node B; and

the second base station is a New Radio gNodeB.

44. The second base station of any of Claims 41-43, wherein the split ratio is based on a first resultant weight for the first base station and a second resultant weight for the second base station.

45. The second base station of Claim 44, wherein the first resultant weight for the first base station and the second resultant weight for the second base station are based on one or more of:

the channel quality information providing an estimate of channel quality for the second bearer associated with the LIE and the second base station;

the QoS metric for the second bearer;

a QoS metric for the first bearer;

the percentage of satisfied users of the second base station;

a percentage of satisfied users of the first base station;

the maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer; and

a maximum achievable transmission rate for the first bearer.

46. The second base station of Claim 45, wherein:

47. The second base station of Claim 46, wherein the first resultant weight for the first base station is based on:

a first utility-based radio access technology (RAT) weight associated to the UE connected to the first base station; a utility-based service weight associated to the UE using a service;

a utility-based user weight associated to the UE; and

the aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the first bearer.

48. The second base station of any of Claims 46-47, wherein the second resultant weight for the second base station is based on:

a utility-based service weight associated to the UE using a service;

a utility-based user weight associated to the UE; and

the aggregate transmission rate for the UE using the second bearer.

49. The second base station of any of Claims 41-48, wherein the split ratio is based on a predefined policy.

50. The second base station of any of Claims 41-49, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine the maximum achievable transmission rate for the second bearer.

51. The second base station of any of Claims 41-50, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine the QoS metric for the second bearer.

52. The second base station of any of Claims 41-51, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine a percentage of satisfied users of the second base station.