WO2022082793A1

WO2022082793A1 - Efficient point-to-multipoint operation in the presence of outlier user equipment

Info

Publication number: WO2022082793A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/123443
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ugur Baran ELMALI; David Bhatoolaul; David NAVRÁTIL; Naizheng ZHENG; Volker PAULI; Athul Prasad
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co., Ltd.; Nokia Solutions And Networks Oy; Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2020-10-23
Filing date: 2020-10-23
Publication date: 2022-04-28
Also published as: CN116391349A

Abstract

In accordance with example embodiments of the invention there is at least a method and apparatus to perform receiving from a network node of a communication network, by at least one user equipment of a group of more than one user equipment of the communication network, first information for being in a point to multi-point service group, wherein the first information is related to an indication of channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment; and determining based on the received first information, that the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group.

Description

EFFICIENT POINT-TO-MULTIPOINT OPERATION IN THE PRESENCE OF OUTLIER USER EQUIPMENT

TECHNICAL FIELD:

The teachings in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of this invention relate generally to selectively causing user equipment to not utilize a network configuration and, more specifically, relate to selectively causing user equipment based on a determined channel quality to not utilize a point to multi-point network configuration.

BACKGROUND:

This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention that is recited in the claims. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

Certain abbreviations that may be found in the description and/or in the Figures are herewith defined as follows:

BLER Block Error Rate

CQI Channel Quality Indicator

CSI Channel State Information

DL Downlink

gNB Next generation (5G) Node B

HARQ Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request

MCS Modulation and Coding Selection

NR New Radio (5G)

PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel

PRACH Physical Random Access Channel

PTM Point to Multipoint

PTP Point to Point

PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

QoS Quality of Service

RAN Radio Access Network

RRC Radio Resource Control

SC-PTM Single Cell PTM

UE User Equipment

At the time of this application 3GPP has approved a work item for support of Multicast and Broadcast Systems (MBS) in Release 17 New Radio (NR) . Herein, Point to Multi-Point (PTM) transmission is expected to efficiently provision MBS services to multiple users by using the same radio framework as unicast transmission. At this, a primary focus is on strategies to achieve high efficiency and reliability to enable new use cases for PTM. Here, the application of Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) techniques receives considerable support and various options are being investigated in standards bodies meetings and email discussions. It was agreed in a standards body meeting that for the UEs in RRC_CONNECTED state, HARQ-ACK feedback is supported for PTM and the detailed HARQ-ACK feedback solutions, such as ACK /NACK based and NACK-only based, are to be specified by further study.

In wireless technologies, retransmission-based error recovery techniques are widely exploited to ensure the reliable transmission of data despite it being received with errors. Typically, Automatic Repeat reQuest (ARQ) , which is implemented for Radio Link Control (RLC) acknowledged mode, and Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) , which is implemented in the medium access control /physical (MAC/PHY) radio sublayer, are used to tailor the retransmission of data for improving the reliability of radio links. These methods can improve the spectral efficiency of communication over radio fading channels.

Example embodiments as in this disclosure work to improve at least these operations in upcoming standards releases such as NR releases.

SUMMARY:

This section contains examples of possible implementations and is not meant to be limiting.

In an example aspect of the invention, there is an apparatus, such as a user equipment side apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, where the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to at least: receive from a network node of a communication network, by at least one user equipment of a group of more than one user equipment of the communication network, first information; and determine based on the received first information, that the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group.

In another example aspect of the invention, there is a method comprising: receiving from a network node of a communication network, by at least one user equipment of a group of more than one user equipment of the communication network, first information for being in a point to multi-point service group, wherein the first information is related to an indication of channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment; and determining based on the received first information, that the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group.

A further example embodiment is a method comprising a method of the previous paragraph and/or an apparatus comprising the apparatus of the previous paragraph, wherein the first information related to the indication of channel quality comprises at least one of quality of service indicator, channel quality indicator, block error rate, or count of negative acknowledgments sent by the user equipment on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group, and there is determining that the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of the at least one feedback resource is based on a comparison result of the indication of channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment to a channel quality requirement of the at least one user equipment, wherein the not permitting the at least one user equipment utilization of the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group comprises not allowing sending of at least one of acknowledgment, negative acknowledgment, hybrid repeat request feedback utilizing the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group, wherein the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group is a common feedback resource used by permitted user equipment of the point to multi-point service group, wherein the channel quality requirement comprises at least one of an indication reflecting the channel quality threshold for one of the quality of service indicator, channel quality indicator, block error rate, or count of negative acknowledgments, or at least one of a timer or a counter threshold, wherein the determining that the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of the at least one feedback resource is based on at least one of: the indication of channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment being one of equal to, lower than, or higher than a corresponding channel quality requirement threshold, wherein the determining that the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of the at least one feedback resource is based on at least one of: a channel quality measurement being one of equal to, below, or above the threshold for at least the duration of the timer, or a channel quality measurement being one of equal to, below, or above the threshold for at least a number of successive measurements during a duration of the threshold, wherein there is transmitting, from the at least one user equipment, based on the comparison result, a channel quality indictor 0 of channel quality indicator bits to the network node using a channel state information report, wherein the channel quality indictor 0 indicates to the network node to provide control signaling to at least one of deactivate negative acknowledgment feedback or de-configure channel state information feedback resources of the at least one user equipment, wherein the control signaling comprises dedicated signaling to configure the at least one user equipment to at least one of deactivate negative acknowledgment feedback or de-configure channel state information resources of the at least one user equipment, wherein there is stopping of transmitting from the at least one user equipment negative acknowledgment, without extra indication from the network node, wherein the received first information further comprises an indication that the at least one user equipment is not to perform at least one of: sending of hybrid automatic repeat request feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group;, or sending channel state information reports on dedicated resources for the at least one user equipment, wherein the group of more than one user equipment comprises a point to multi-point link adaptation group, wherein there is receiving a dedicated resource assignment by the at least one user equipment; and using the assigned dedicated resources for communicating second information of at least one of point to multi-point channel state indicator measurements at the at least one user equipment, wherein the second information of at least one of point to multi-point channel state indicator measurements and at least one of acknowledgment, negative acknowledgment, hybrid repeat request feedback, or request to access to the common feedback resource is for the network node to determine whether to allow the at least one user equipment to send hybrid automatic repeat request feedback of the point to multi-point service on the group-common feedback resource of the group, wherein there is receiving by the at least one user equipment at least one criterion for re-entry to the point to multi-point service based on at least one of channel measurements, or an instruction to decode data received through the point to multi-point service; and determining, based on the criterion, whether the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied for granting at the at least one user equipment re-entry to the point to multi-point service, wherein the channel measurements comprise at least one of signal to noise and interference ratio or reference signal received power measurements, and wherein the re-entry comprises resuming the utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group, and wherein upon determining that the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied, sending a scheduling request to the network node; receiving, from the network node, as response to the scheduling request, activation for sending negative acknowledgment feedback on at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group; and sending, based on the re-entry, negative acknowledgment feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group depending on an outcome of decoding data packets received through the point to multi-point service, wherein there is upon determining that the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied, sending a scheduling request to the network node; receiving from the network node a resource allocation of physical uplink shared channel resources; sending a request for re-entry to the point to multi-point service group by using the physical uplink shared channel resources; receiving from the network node activation information for configuring the at least one user equipment to send feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group;; and sending negative acknowledgments on group-common feedback resources based on an outcome of decoding data packets received through the multi-point service, wherein the request for re-entry comprises channel quality information, wherein there is starting a timer upon sending the scheduling request; upon expiry of the timer, if the at least one user equipment has not re-entered the point to multi-point service and if the at least one readmission criterion is still satisfied the at least one user equipment: sends another scheduling request; and restarts the timer, wherein there is upon realizing that the at least one criterion for re-entry is now satisfied, sending negative acknowledgments on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group; depending on an outcome of decoding data packets received through the point to multi-point service, and/or wherein the at least one criterion for re-entry remains satisfied during a duration of a re-join timer which the at least one user equipment has started upon detecting that the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program code, the program code executed by at least one processor to perform at least the method as described in the paragraphs above.

In another example aspect of the invention, there is an apparatus comprising: means for receiving from a network node of a communication network, by at least one user equipment of a group of more than one user equipment of the communication network, first information for being in a point to multi-point service group, wherein the first information is related to an indication of channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment; and means for determining based on the received first information, that the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraph above, at least the means for receiving and determining comprises a network interface, and computer program code stored on a computer-readable medium and executed by at least one processor.

In another example aspect of the invention, there is an apparatus, such as a network side apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, where the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to at least: receive, by a network node of a communication network, from at least one user equipment of a point to multi-point service group, an indication of channel quality measured at the at least one equipment, wherein the point to multi-point service group comprises more than one user equipment including the at least one user equipment; based on an indication of channel quality measured from at least one user equipment of the group of more than one user equipment, determine the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group; and based on the determining, send first information of the determination to the at least one user equipment.

In still another example aspect of the invention, there is a method comprising: receiving, by a network node of a communication network, from at least one user equipment of a point to multi-point service group, an indication of channel quality measured at the at least one equipment, wherein the point to multi-point service group comprises more than one user equipment including the at least one user equipment; based on an indication of channel quality measured from at least one user equipment of the group of more than one user equipment, determining the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group; and based on the determining, sending first information of the determination to the at least one user equipment.

A further example embodiment is a method comprising a method of the previous paragraph and/or an apparatus comprising the apparatus of the previous paragraph, wherein the indication of channel quality comprises at least one of quality of service indicator, channel quality indicator a block error rate, or count of negative acknowledgments sent by the user equipment on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group, wherein the indication of channel quality comprises at least one of quality of service indicator, channel quality indicator, block error rate, or count of negative acknowledgments from the user equipment on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group, wherein the determining comprises: determining that the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of the at least one feedback resource is based on comparison result of the indication of channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment to channel quality requirement of the at least one user equipment, wherein the not permitting the at least one user equipment utilization of the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group comprises not allowing sending of at least one of acknowledgment, negative acknowledgment, hybrid repeat request feedback utilizing the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group, wherein the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group is a common feedback resource used by permitted user equipment of the point to multi-point service group, wherein the channel quality requirement comprises at least one of an indication reflecting the channel quality threshold for one of the quality of service indicator, channel quality indicator, block error rate, or count of negative acknowledgments, or at least one of a timer or a counter threshold, wherein the determining the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of the at least one feedback resource is based on at least one of the indication of channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment being one of equal to, lower than, or higher than a corresponding channel quality requirement threshold, wherein the determining that the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of the at least one feedback resource is based on at least one of: a channel quality measurement being one of equal to, below, or above the threshold for at least the duration of the timer, or a channel quality measurement being one of equal to, below, or above the threshold for at least a number of successive measurements during a duration of the threshold, wherein there is based on the comparison result, communicating with the at least one user equipment a channel state information report, wherein the communicating causes the network node to at least one of provide control signaling to deactivate negative acknowledgment only feedback or de-configuring channel state information feedback resources of the at least one user equipment, wherein the control signaling comprises dedicated signaling to configure the at least one user equipment for to at least one of deactivate negative acknowledgment only feedback or de-configure channel state information resources of the at least one user equipment, wherein the information for the not permitted utilization of at least one feedback resource over the point to multi-point service comprises an indication that the at least one user equipment is not to perform at least one of: use sending of hybrid automatic repeat request feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group; for hybrid automatic repeat request feedback, or use sending channel state information reports on dedicated specific resources for the at least one user equipment, wherein the group of more than one user equipment comprises a point to multi-point link adaptation group, wherein there is communicating a dedicated resource assignment with the at least one user equipment, wherein the assigned dedicated resources are used for communicating second information of at least one of point to multi-point channel state indicator measurements at the at least one user equipment, wherein the second information of at least one of point to multi-point channel state indicator measurements or the at least one of acknowledgment, negative acknowledgment, hybrid repeat request feedback, or request to access to the common feedback resource is for the network node to determine whether to allow the at least one user equipment to send hybrid automatic repeat request feedback of the point to multi-point service on the group-common feedback resource of the group, wherein there is communicating with the at least one user equipment at least one criterion for re-entry to the point to multi-point service based at least on channel measurements, and an instruction whether to decode data received through the point to multi-point service; and wherein based on the criterion, it can be identified whether the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied for granting at the at least one user equipment re-entry to the point to multi-point service, wherein the channel measurements comprises at least one of signal to noise and interference ratio or reference signal received power measurements, and wherein the re-entry comprising resuming the utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group, wherein based on the at least one criterion for re-entry being satisfied, the method comprising: receiving a scheduling request from the at least one user equipment; communicating, from the network node, as response to the scheduling request, activation for sending negative acknowledgment feedback on at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group; and receiving, based on the re-entry, negative acknowledgment feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group depending on an outcome of decoding the decode data packets received through the point to multi-point service, wherein there is using at least one criterion for re-entry of the at least one user equipment to the point to multi-point service, wherein the information comprises, at least one of: at least one channel quality measurement of the point to multi-point service, or data received by the at least one user equipment through the point to multi-point service; and based on the information, determining whether the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied for granting the at least one user equipment re-entry to the point to multi-point service, wherein there is receiving a scheduling request from the at least one user equipment; communicating with the at least one user equipment activation information to send feedback on common negative acknowledgment resource; and based on the re-entry, receiving from the at least one user equipment negative acknowledgments on group-common negative acknowledgment resource depending on an outcome of decoding of data packets communicated through the point to multi-point service, wherein there is based upon the at least one criterion being satisfied at the at least one user equipment, receiving from the at least one user equipment a scheduling request; sending to the at least one user equipment a grant for usage of physical uplink shared channel resources; receiving from the at least one user equipment a request a request of re-entry to the point to multi-point service group; sending to the at least one user equipment activation information for configuring the at least one user equipment to send feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group;; and receiving from the at least one user equipment negative acknowledgment on common negative acknowledgment resource depending on an outcome of decoding of data packets communicated through the point to multi-point service, wherein the request comprises channel quality information, and/or wherein the at least one criterion must remain satisfied during the duration of a re-join timer period which the at least one user equipment has started upon detecting that the at least one readmission criterion is satisfied.

In another example aspect of the invention, there is an apparatus comprising: means for receiving, by a network node of a communication network, from at least one user equipment of a point to multi-point service group, an indication of channel quality measured at the at least one equipment, wherein the point to multi-point service group comprises more than one user equipment including the at least one user equipment; means, based on an indication of channel quality measured from at least one user equipment of the group of more than one user equipment, for determining the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group; and means, based on the determining, for sending first information of the determination to the at least one user equipment.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraph above, at least the means for maintaining or establishing, determining, and sending comprises a network interface, and computer program code stored on a computer-readable medium and executed by at least one processor.

A communication system comprising the network side apparatus and the user equipment side apparatus performing operations as described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

The above and other aspects, features, and benefits of various embodiments of the present disclosure will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference signs are used to designate like or equivalent elements. The drawings are illustrated for facilitating better understanding of the embodiments of the disclosure and are not necessarily drawn to scale, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a spectral efficiency distribution of various SC-PTM transmission schemes;

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of one possible and non-limiting exemplary system in which the example embodiments of the invention may be practiced;

FIG. 3 shows a high-level flow chart of one proposed method (detection of outlier UEs and dropping out of the PTM group) in accordance with example embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 4 shows another high-level flow chart of the proposed method (re-entry of the UE to the PTM group) in accordance with example embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 5 shows another high-level flow chart of further possible implementation combinations in accordance with example embodiments of the invention; and

FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B each show a method which may be performed by an apparatus in accordance with example embodiments of the Invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION:

In example embodiments of this invention as disclosed herein there is proposed at least a method and apparatus to selectively cause user equipment based on a determined channel quality to not utilize a point to multi-point network configuration.

As similarly stated above wireless technologies, retransmission-based error recovery techniques are widely exploited to ensure the reliable transmission of data despite it being received with errors. Typically, Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ) , which is implemented for Radio Link Control (RLC) acknowledged mode, and Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) , which is implemented in the medium access control /physical (MAC/PHY) radio sublayer, are used to tailor the retransmission of data for improving the reliability of radio links. These methods can improve the spectral efficiency of communication over radio fading channels. Example embodiments as in this disclosure work to improve at least these operations in upcoming standards releases such as NR releases. One objective of example embodiments of this invention is to propose mechanisms and apparatus to perform detection and handling of such an occasion where QoS criteria of the UEs even in very good channel conditions cannot be met due to UEs in worse channel conditions in the multicast group.

For MBS, 3GPP has studied the potential use of HARQ for improving the reliability of Point to Multi-Point (PTM) radio transmissions, but so far, they have only been deployed in PTP service delivery. The results of that study show that HARQ can improve transmissions in the presence of errors. However, when there is a large number of UEs consuming the MBS service, there are many HARQ ACK /NACK feedback messages, leading to high signaling overhead and resource inefficiency. Typically, the so called “enhanced Outer Loop Link Adaptation (eOLLA) ” technique, which adjusts the Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) to an increasingly conservative setting based on the worst positioned UE, was used as an alternative technique to attain the required reliability level. However, for the same number of UEs (where the eOLLA does not react) , there might be bursty errors –errors that occur at intervals in short, sudden episodes (due to fading and power degradations) , leading to loss of protocol data units. As such, maintaining a reasonably efficient MCS along with data retransmission via HARQ (for lost/decode-fail data units) is crucial to improve the reliability of the link. Our results, such as shown in FIG. 1, also indicate that in the presence of relatively large audiences the use of a only slowly changing MCS while relying on adaptive retransmissions via HARQ to take care of fast fading variations allows for much higher spectral efficiency than schemes like eOLLA that control reliability without HARQ for simulation results for prospective 5G-NR SC-PTM in an urban environment with on average 20 UEs per cell.

FIG. 1 shows a spectral efficiency distribution of various SC-PTM transmission schemes. As shown in FIG. 1 there is shown at 1A of FIG. 1 a BLER Target 1%, no HARQ; shown at 1B of FIG. 1 a 1 ^st Tx BLER Target 30%, HARQ; and as shown in 1C of FIG. 1 a residual BLER Target 1%, HARQ.

However, operation with HARQ incurs the problem of HARQ feedback overhead in particular in the case of large audiences. One approach that is receiving a lot of support is that of NACK-only based HARQ feedback, i.e. a scheme, where the network provides a common uplink radio resource (e.g. Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) or Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) ) that may be used for NACK transmission by any UE that was not able to decode the associated PDSCH. While this is very efficient, since it avoids the scaling of the UL overhead with a growing audience, and the gNB can just use energy detection to understand if any UE has requested a retransmission for a particular packet, it is not possible for the gNB to understand the error rate of the individual UEs from this feedback on a common resource. Whereas in case of ACK /NACK feedback on UE-specific resources, the gNB could understand the error rate of each individual UE and perform link adaptation accordingly. Hence, additional feedback on the channel or service delivery quality must be provided by the UEs in order to facilitate efficient link adaptation for the PTM transmissions when NACK-only based HARQ feedback is used.

In a possible proposal there can be a method for efficient PTM operation using UE-triggered CSI reporting, where NACK feedbacks from the UEs receiving the PTM service are conveyed on group-common feedback resources, i.e. NACK-only based mode of operation of HARQ. According to example embodiments of this invention, in order to facilitate efficient link adaptation, the network signals to the UEs PTM-CSI measurement configuration consisting of reliability criteria and parameters for measuring. . Whenever a UE is not content with its reliability, it sends a scheduling request to the gNB to be given resources for PTM-CSI transmission. In response to this the UE receives an allocation of UL resources on which it can send its PTM-CSI report. The gNB receives this PTM-CSI report, adapts the MCS accordingly and configures periodic PTM-CSI reporting (until further notice) for this UE. If any other UE had previously been reporting PTM-CSI, because it had not been content with the reliability in the past, but now is since the gNB has been doing MCS selection in response to this UE’s PTM-CSI reports, the gNB tells this UE to stop sending PTM-CSI reports. This way, there are only a few UEs in a cell that report PTM-CSI for the gNB to perform link adaptation.

Aside from the efficiency of the method proposed, there may be occasions where a UE or a number of UEs are in significantly worse channel conditions than the others, e.g. the UEs that are close to cell-edge. Those UEs may not be content with the reliability of the PTM service, i.e. the PTM service’s reliability criteria are not fulfilled, and request retransmissions by sending NACKs on the group-common feedback resources or on at least one feedback resource of a point to multi-point service group, in addition to reporting significantly lower CQI values than the UEs in better channel conditions. In this case, in addition to retransmissions, since the gNB adapts the PTM transmission, i.e. MCS selection, based on the UE in the PTM group with the worst channel conditions, QoS service requirement such as delay budget of the service of the UEs even in the better channel conditions may not be satisfied due to excessive number of retransmissions and/or due to lack of time/frequency resources for low MCS values corresponding to CQI values reported by the UEs in worse channel conditions.

Hence, an objective in accordance with example embodiments of this invention is to provide mechanisms for the detection and handling of such an occasion where QoS criteria of the UEs even in very good channel conditions cannot be met due to UEs in worse channel conditions in the multicast group.

It is noted that:

● In the context of inter-cell handover, the network can configure certain thresholds on e.g. the received signal strength that trigger certain actions and measurement reports from the UE to the network, e.g. measure and report on neighboring cells that the UE could be handed over to; and

● CSI report with CQI index 0 is used by the UE to indicate that the UE believes that even the lowest MCS is not robust enough to serve the UE in case of PTP transmission in NR and LTE.

In example embodiments of this invention there is proposed at least a method to detect the situation where QoS criteria of the PTM service cannot be met even for the UEs in very good channel conditions due to UEs in worse channel conditions in the multicast group, identify these UEs in bad channel conditions responsible for this problem, mechanisms to exclude these UEs from the PTM group and techniques to readmit them to the ongoing PTM session in case their channel conditions improve sufficiently or the situation in the cell, e.g. due to reduction of load, allows their readmission into the PTM group. For brevity, we will henceforth refer to those UEs in bad channel conditions as “outlier UEs” . Similarly, the group of UEs that receive the PTM service, excluding the “outlier UEs” is henceforth referred to as the “PTM link adaptation group (PTM LA group) ” . The gNB should only take ACK /NACK and/or CSI reports from the UEs in PTM LA group into account when performing LA and retransmissions.

Before describing the example embodiments of the invention in detail, reference is made to FIG. 2 for illustrating a simplified block diagram of various electronic devices that are suitable for use in practicing the example embodiments of this invention.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of one possible and non-limiting exemplary system in which the example embodiments of the invention may be practiced. In FIG. 2, a user equipment (UE) 10 is in wireless communication with a wireless network 1 or network, 1 as in FIG. 2. The wireless network 1 or network 1 as in FIG. 2 can comprise a communication network such as a mobile network e.g., the mobile network 1 or first mobile network as disclosed herein. Any reference herein to a wireless network 1 as in FIG. 2 can be seen as a reference to any wireless network as disclosed herein. Further, the wireless network 1 as in FIG. 2 can also comprises hardwired features as may be required by a communication network. A UE is a wireless, typically mobile device that can access a wireless network. The UE, for example, may be a mobile phone (or called a "cellular" phone) and/or a computer with a mobile terminal function. For example, the UE or mobile terminal may also be a portable, pocket, handheld, computer-embedded or vehicle-mounted mobile device and performs a language signaling and/or data exchange with the RAN.

The UE 10 includes one or more processors DP 10A, one or more memories MEM 10B, and one or more transceivers TRANS 10D interconnected through one or more buses. Each of the one or more transceivers TRANS 10D includes a receiver and a transmitter. Further, each of the transceivers 10D may be associated with a Subscriber identity module 10E. However, this is not limiting and inclusion of a SIM and/or a subscriber identity module are not a requirement for operations in accordance with example embodiments of the invention as disclosed herein. The subscriber identity module 10E can be associated with two or more identity subscriber modules, SIM A and SIM B, each SIM as shown in FIG. 2 configured to perform operations including example embodiments of the invention as disclosed herein. The one or more buses may be address, data, or control buses, and may include any interconnection mechanism, such as a series of lines on a motherboard or integrated circuit, fiber optics or other optical communication equipment, and the like. The one or more transceivers TRANS 10D which can be optionally connected to one or more antennas for

communication

11 and 18 to NN 12 and NN 13, respectively. The one or more memories MEM 10B include computer program code PROG 10C. The UE 10 communicates with NN 12 and/or NN 13 via a wireless link 11.

The NN 12 (NR/5G Node B, an evolved NB, or LTE device) is a network node such as a master or secondary node base station (e.g., for NR or LTE long term evolution) that communicates with devices such as NN 13 and UE 10 of FIG. 2. The NN 12 provides access to wireless devices such as the UE 10 to the wireless network 1. The NN 12 includes one or more processors DP 12A, one or more memories MEM 12C, and one or more transceivers TRANS 12D interconnected through one or more buses. In accordance with the example embodiments these TRANS 12D can include X2 and/or Xn interfaces for use to perform the example embodiments of the invention. Each of the one or more transceivers TRANS 12D includes a receiver and a transmitter. The one or more transceivers TRANS 12D can be optionally connected to one or more antennas for communication over at least link 11 with the UE 10. The one or more memories MEM 12B and the computer program code PROG 12C are configured to cause, with the one or more processors DP 12A, the NN 12 to perform one or more of the operations as described herein. The NN 12 may communicate with another gNB or eNB, or a device such as the NN 13 such as via link 14. Further, the link 11, link 14 and/or any other link may be wired or wireless or both and may implement, e.g., an X2 or Xn interface. Further the link 11 and/or link 14 may be through other network devices such as, but not limited to an NCE/SGW/AMF/UPF device such as the NCE/MME/SGW/UDM/PCF/AMM/SMF 14 of FIG. 2. The NN 12 may perform functionalities of an MME (Mobility Management Entity) or SGW (Serving Gateway) , such as a User Plane Functionality, and/or an Access Management functionality for LTE and similar functionality for 5G.

The NN 13 can be associated with a mobility function device such as an AMF or SMF, further the NN 13 may comprise a NR/5G Node B or possibly an evolved NB a base station such as a master or secondary node base station (e.g., for NR or LTE long term evolution) that communicates with devices such as the NN 12 and/or UE 10 and/or the wireless network 1. The NN 13 includes one or more processors DP 13A, one or more memories MEM 13B, one or more network interfaces, and one or more transceivers TRANS 12D interconnected through one or more buses. In accordance with the example embodiments these network interfaces of NN 13 can include X2 and/or Xn interfaces for use to perform the example embodiments of the invention. Each of the one or more transceivers TRANS 13D includes a receiver and a transmitter that can optionally be connected to one or more antennas. The one or more memories MEM 13B include computer program code PROG 13C. For instance, the one or more memories MEM 13B and the computer program code PROG 13C are configured to cause, with the one or more processors DP 13A, the NN 13 to perform one or more of the operations as described herein. The NN 13 may communicate with another mobility function device and/or eNB such as the NN 12 and the UE 10 or any other device using, e.g., link 11 or another link. The Link 14 as shown in FIG. 2 can be used for communication between the NN12 and the NN13. These links maybe wired or wireless or both and may implement, e.g., an X2 or Xn interface. Further, as stated above the link 11 and/or link 14 may be through other network devices such as, but not limited to an NCE/MME/SGW device such as the NCE/MME/SGW/UDM/PCF/AMM/SMF 14 of FIG. 2.

The one or more buses of the device of FIG. 2 may be address, data, or control buses, and may include any interconnection mechanism, such as a series of lines on a motherboard or integrated circuit, fiber optics or other optical communication equipment, wireless channels, and the like. For example, the one or more transceivers TRANS 12D, TRANS 13D and/or TRANS 10D may be implemented as a remote radio head (RRH) , with the other elements of the NN 12 being physically in a different location from the RRH, and the one or more buses 157 could be implemented in part as fiber optic cable to connect the other elements of the NN 12 to a RRH.

It is noted that although FIG. 2 shows network nodes such as NN 12 and NN 13, any of these nodes may incorporate or be incorporated into an eNodeB or eNB or gNB such as for LTE and NR, and would still be configurable to perform example embodiments of the invention.

Also, it is noted that description herein indicates that “cells” perform functions, but it should be clear that the gNB that forms the cell and/or a user equipment and/or mobility management function device that will perform the functions. In addition, the cell makes up part of a gNB, and there can be multiple cells per gNB.

The wireless network 1 or any network it can represent may or may not include a NCE/MME/SGW/UDM/PCF/AMM/SMF 14 that may include (NCE) network control element functionality, MME (Mobility Management Entity) /SGW (Serving Gateway) functionality, and/or serving gateway (SGW) , and/or MME (Mobility Management Entity) and/or SGW (Serving Gateway) functionality, and/or user data management functionality (UDM) , and/or PCF (Policy Control) functionality, and/or Access and Mobility Management (AMM) functionality, and/or Session Management (SMF) functionality, and/or Authentication Server (AUSF) functionality and which provides connectivity with a further network, such as a telephone network and/or a data communications network (e.g., the Internet) , and which is configured to perform any 5G and/or NR operations in addition to or instead of other standards operations at the time of this application. The NCE/MME/SGW/UDM/PCF/AMM/SMF 14 is configurable to perform operations in accordance with example embodiments of the invention in any of an LTE, NR, 5G and/or any standards-based communication technologies being performed or discussed at the time of this application. In addition, it is noted that the operations in accordance with example embodiments of the invention, as performed by the NN 12 and/or NN 13, may also be performed at the NCE/MME/SGW/UDM/PCF/AMM/SMF 14.

The NCE/MME/SGW/UDM/PCF/AMM/SMF 14 includes one or more processors DP 14A, one or more memories MEM 14B, and one or more network interfaces (N/W I/F (s) ) , interconnected through one or more buses coupled with the link 13 and/or 14. In accordance with the example embodiments these network interfaces can include X2 and/or Xn interfaces for use to perform the example embodiments of the invention. The one or more memories MEM 14B include computer program code PROG 14C. The one or more memories MEM14B and the computer program code PROG 14C are configured to, with the one or more processors DP 14A, cause the NCE/MME/SGW/UDM/PCF/AMM/SMF 14 to perform one or more operations which may be needed to support the operations in accordance with the example embodiments of the invention.

The wireless Network 1 may implement network virtualization, which is the process of combining hardware and software network resources and network functionality into a single, software-based administrative entity, a virtual network. Network virtualization involves platform virtualization, often combined with resource virtualization. Network virtualization is categorized as either external, combining many networks, or parts of networks, into a virtual unit, or internal, providing network-like functionality to software containers on a single system. Note that the virtualized entities that result from the network virtualization are still implemented, at some level, using hardware such as processors DP10, DP12A, DP13A, and/or DP14A and memories MEM 10B, MEM 12B, MEM 13B, and/or MEM 14B, and also such virtualized entities create technical effects.

The computer readable memories MEM 12B, MEM 13B, and MEM 14B may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. The computer readable memories MEM 12B, MEM 13B, and MEM 14B may be means for performing storage functions. The processors DP10, DP12A, DP13A, and DP14A may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The processors DP10, DP12A, DP13A, and DP14A may be means for performing functions, such as controlling the UE 10, NN 12, NN 13, and other functions as described herein.

As similarly stated above, in example embodiments of this invention, there is at least proposed a method to detect the situation where QoS criteria of the PTM service cannot be met even for the UEs in very good channel conditions due to UEs in worse channel conditions in the multicast group, identify these UEs in bad channel conditions responsible for this problem, mechanisms to exclude these UEs from the PTM group and techniques to readmit them to the ongoing PTM session in case their channel conditions improve sufficiently or the situation in the cell, e.g. due to reduction of load, allows their readmission into the PTM group. he gNB should only take ACK /NACK and/or CSI reports from the UEs in PTM LA group into account when performing LA and retransmissions.

The procedure comprises the following steps:

1) Detection of outlier UEs and dropping the outlier UEs out of the PTM LA group: Detection of the outlier UEs can be performed both at the UE or at the gNB side. Depending on where the detection takes place, different actions are proposed to be taken;

a) Detection at the gNB side: gNB can detect that the QoS service requirements of the UEs cannot be satisfied and observes that some UEs report significantly lower CQI values than others, while in parallel the gNB may be receiving plentiful amount of NACKs on the group-common feedback resources of the UEs. The gNB can use a threshold, CQI _outlier, configured based on the QoS service requirement and /or cell load. If the UE repeatedly reports a CQI value smaller than CQI _outlier, e.g. K _outlier times over N _outlier CQI reports, or persistently over a certain period T _outlier-gNB, the gNB can detect that the UE is an outlier UE. K _outlier and N _outlier or the timer T _outlier-gNB can also be configured implementation specific. After spotting an outlier UE, the gNB would inform the UE that it must not use the common feedback resources or at least one feedback resource of a point to multi-point service group for HARQ feedback and possibly also that it must not send CSI reports on UE-specific resources, i.e. gNB drops the UE out of the PTM LA group,

b) Detection at the UE side: There are two alternatives in accordance with example embodiments of the invention that are proposed to detect the problem of the outlier UEs at the UE side. In both cases, the UEs can be configured with a timer, T _outlier, in addition to the reliability criteria that are signaled. The UE should start the timer when its reliability criteria are not met, and should not stop it unless its reliability criteria are met before the expiry of the timer:

i) Upon expiry of the timer, the UE can report a CQI with index 0 that indicates to the gNB that QoS service requirement of the UE cannot be met. Upon reception of CQI 0, gNB should notify the UE about not sending NACKs on the group-common NACK resource and CSI reports on UE-specific resources anymore, i.e. gNB drops the UE out of the PTM LA group,

ii) Upon expiry of the timer, the UE can stop sending NACKs on the group-common NACK resource and also –if configured –periodic CSI reporting, without expecting additional notification from the gNB. As the expected CSI reports do not come from the UE, the gNB can realize that the UE has dropped itself out of the PTM LA group;

2) Actions to be taken after dropping the UEs out of the PTM LA group: After the outlier UE has been dropped out of the PTM LA group, it should:

● continue PTM-CSI measurements; or

● continue trying to decode the PTM transmissions (unless/until the UE or the application gives up on the service) and measure the reliability it can achieve with the ongoing transmission.

Continuing PTM-CSI measurements requires less processing than decoding PTM transmissions, but it provides a less accurate prediction of the expected reliability.

Further, in accordance with example embodiments of the invention there are proposed at least two different techniques to define the UE behavior after it has been dropped out of usual PTM LA group, as listed below:

a) The gNB may assign dedicated feedback resources to the dropped UE, in order to determine, whether its channel quality is improving to an extent that the UE can be readmitted to the ongoing PTM LA group. The UE may be requested to provide ACK /NACK feedback, and /or CSI reports from the dedicated feedback resources. In case the UE does not decode the PTM transmission, but only makes PTM-CSI measurements, ACK /NACK feedback cannot be used, therefore the gNB would only assign resources for CSI reporting,

b) The UE is not assigned any additional resources, and only makes PTM-CSI measurements, or tries to decode the ongoing PTM transmission. In addition, for both (a) and (b) , even if the UE is not actively receiving data and not assigned additional resources –related to the PTM traffic on the BWP –the UE would start the BWP inactivity timer and would stay on the BWP where the PTM traffic is being scheduled;

3) Mechanism for the dropped UE to re-join the PTM LA group: Readmission mechanisms of this disclosure depend on how the UE is configured after having been dropped out of the PTM LA group. In accordance with example embodiments of the invention there is proposed different mechanisms, such as are listed below:

a) If the UE is assigned UE-specific ACK /NACK and /or CSI resources after getting dropped out of the PTM LA group, i.e. procedure (2-a) , the gNB can determine that the channel conditions of the UE got better by looking at ACK /NACK and /or CSI reports sent by the UE. The gNB can use a re-entry criterion, such as target BLER, BLER _re-admit, and /or a target CQI, CQI _re-admit, in order to decide on readmitting the UE to the PTM LA group, depending on the type of the UL resources that are configured for the dropped UE. In addition, the gNB can use a timer, T _re-admit, which is started when the gNB detects that the outlier UE’s reported measurements start satisfying the target criterion. If until the timer expiry, the target criterion is continuously satisfied by the UE, the gNB should decide on letting the UE in the PTM LA group. If the gNB decides on letting the UE back into the PTM LA group, it should notify the UE that it may re-join the PTM LA group that sends HARQ feedback on the group-common feedback resource and is eligible for requesting permission to send PTM-CSI reports,

b) The UE can be configured with a new reliability re-entry criterion, such as CQI _re-join or BLER _re-join. If the UE is not assigned any feedback resources after having been dropped out of the PTM LA group, i.e. procedure at (2-b) , the UE can evaluate (continuously) whether the new reliability criterion is fulfilled for the ongoing PTM session. If the reliability criterion is satisfied, the UE can try to re-join the PTM LA group by sending a scheduling request (SR) . After the UE sends a SR, the gNB may or may not let the UE re-join, where the exact algorithm on the gNB decision is out of the scope of this IR. One situation where the gNB might not grant readmission of the UE to the PTM LA group is when the gNB has recently observed that the CQI _re-join /BLER _re-join configuration is not up to date, meaning that the UEs that previously (and recently) used this target and re-joined were again having problems with reliability shortly after rejoining, and the gNB has not yet updated the CQI _re-join /BLER _re-join of the UE that is requesting readmission.

If the gNB decides on letting the UE back into the PTM LA group, it should notify the UE that it may now send feedback on the group-common feedback resource.

Upon sending of the SR the UE can start a timer T _re-join and if the gNB does not let the UE join the PTM LA group, the UE can repeat the process by sending another SR after the expiry of the timer, in case its reliability criterion is still satisfied by the ongoing PTM transmission.

After re-joining PTM LA group, the UE can follow the procedures as previously defined. However, in case the UE is not content with the reliability, it requests PTM-CSI reporting,

c) As in option (3-b) above, the UE can be configured with a new reliability criterion, such as CQI _re-join or BLER _re-join. Differently from option (3-b) above if the UE is not assigned any feedback resources after having been dropped out of the PTM LA group, there could be a “silent” re-entry mode. The dropped UE can determine that its reception conditions are sufficiently good, e.g. by comparing the current BLER with the BLER _re-join, or current CQI with the CQI _re-join, and can simply start sending NACKs on the group-common feedback resource. After re-joining, in case the UE is not content with the reliability, it can follow the procedures as previously defined. In this mode, the gNB does not have the power of explicit admission control, but may only adjust the readmission criteria (e.g. CQI _re-join or BLER _re-join) to control under what conditions UEs would rejoin.

Due to the reasons mentioned under (3-b) , example embodiments of the invention provide that after re-joining PTM LA group, the UE should wait for a certain period of time, T _{re-join, CSI}, before requesting PTM-CSI report resources if needed.

From a UE perspective, there would be at least the following features that could be anchored as standard-relevant claims:

● Receive a configuration that indicates that the UE must not send NACKs on the common feedback resource, although the resource would still be configured, i.e. known by the UE,

● Receive a configuration that indicates that the UE can start sending NACKs on the previously configured common feedback resource, that was previously disabled /denied,

● Receive a configuration of the timer, T _outlier,

● Send a CSI report with CQI index 0 if T _outlier expires,

● Stop sending CSI reports and NACK feedback on group-common resource if T _outlier expires,

● Receive the configuration of the parameters, such as CQI _re-join, BLER _re-join, T _re-join and T _re-join, _CSI that control the readmission into the PTM LA group,

● Send SR to the gNB in order to re-join the ongoing PTM LA group and possibly start a timer T _re-join when the reliability criterion (e.g. CQI _re-join or BLER _re-join) is satisfied and when the timer T _re-join is not running or has expired,

● Perform “silent re-entry” mode by starting to send NACKs on the group-common feedback resource after determining that its reception conditions are sufficiently good, by comparing the current values of reliability criteria against respective thresholds, e.g. BLER vs. BLER _re-join, or current CQI vs. CQI _re-join, and/or

● Start a timer T _{re-join, CSI} after re-joining the ongoing PTM LA group, and request PTM-CSI reporting resources only after the expiry of the timer, when needed.

Flow charts indicating the high-level decisions made by the UE and the gNB such as are as shown in the figures _. In addition, FIG. 5 illustrates the distinct options that can be used in the system. In particular, the figure shows which combinations of the various techniques expressed under (1) , (2) and (3) can be made in the system operation.

Further comments, details and options on the steps of the procedure are provided in figures and details described herein. FIG. 3 shows some of these procedures in accordance with example embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 3 shows a high-level flow chart of one proposed method (detection of outlier UEs and dropping out of the PTM group) in accordance with example embodiments of the invention. As shown in step 305 of FIG. 3, there is a start of the proposed method in accordance with example embodiments of the invention. In step 310 of FIG. 3, it is determined whether the UEs are configured with T _outlier. If ‘yes’ , then at step 330 of FIG. 3, it is determined by the UE whether at this UE the service reliability criteria are met. If ‘yes’ here, then the UE performs the same step 330. If ‘no’ in step 330, then as shown in step 335 the UE starts T _outlier and proceeds to step 340 of FIG. 3. If in step 340 of FIG. 3 the answer is ‘no’ , then as shown in step 345 of FIG. 3, it is determined whether an option 1-b-i (as discussed below) is applicable. If ‘no’ here, then as shown in FIG. 3 option 1-b-ii is used, and as shown in step 355 of FIG. 3 the UE stops sending NACKs and CSI reports. That way, as shown in step 325 of FIG. 3 the UE is dropped out of the PTM LA group. If ‘yes’ in step 345, then as shown in step 350 of FIG. 3 the UE sends CQI 0 to the gNB using CSI reporting. In step 320 of FIG. 3, the gNB uses RRC signaling to de-activate NACK-only feedback of the outlier UE and de-configures its CSI resources. If at step 310 of FIG. 3 it is determined that the UEs are not configured with T _outlier then as shown in step 315 of FIG. 3, the gNB is determining if the outlier UE is detected. If so, then this proceeds to step 320 of FIG 3, and follows the procedure of step 320 described above.

FIG. 4 shows a high-level flow chart of another proposed method (re-joining of the UE to the PTM group) in accordance with example embodiments of the invention. As shown in step 400 of FIG. 4, there is a start of a proposed method in accordance with example embodiments of the invention. As shown in step 405 of FIG. 4, after the UE is dropped out of the PTM LA group, the UE decodes the ongoing PTM transmission or only makes PTM-CSI measurements. As shown in step 410 of FIG. 4, it is determined whether option 2-a as described herein is used. If ‘yes’ here, then as shown in step 415 of FIG. 4, the gNB assigns dedicated ACK /NACK and/or CSI report resources to the UE. Then as shown in step 420 of FIG. 4, it is determined whether channel conditions of the UE are sufficient to re-admit the UE to the PTM-LA group by the gNB. If ‘no’ here, then the operations return to step 420 of FIG. 4. If ‘yes’ in step 420, then as shown in step 425 of FIG. 4, the gNB re-activates the UE to send feedback on common NACK-only resources, and as shown in step 465 of FIG. 4, that way the UE re-joins the PTM LA group.

If at step 410 of FIG. 4 the answer is ‘no’ , then the option 2-b as disclosed herein is applied. As shown in step 445 of FIG. 4, it is determined by the UE whether the re-admission criterion is satisfied by an ongoing PTM transmission. If ‘no’ here, then the operations return to step 445 of FIG. 4. _. If ‘yes’ here then then as shown in step 440 of FIG. 4 it is determined whether the option 3-b as disclosed herein is applied. If ‘no’ here then the operations proceed to step 450 of FIG. 4, where the UE starts sending NACKs on group-common resources, and step 465, as described above, is performed. If ‘yes’ at step 440 of FIG. 4, then as shown in step 435 of FIG. 4 the UE starts T _re-join and then goes to step 430. At step 430 of FIG. 4, if T _re-join expires, then the operations go to step 445 of FIG. 4, as described above. Also, if ‘yes’ at step 440 of FIG. 4, then as shown in step 455 the UE sends a SR to the gNB and then goes to step 460. At step 460 of FIG. 4, the gNB determines whether to re-admit the UE to the PTM group, and if so then the operations go to step 425 as described above. At step 460 of FIG. 4, if the answer is ‘no’ , then the operations go to step 430, as described above. As shown in step 470 of FIG. 4, there is a stop of the operations as shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 5 shows a high-level flow chart of further possible implementation combinations in accordance with example embodiments of the invention. FIG. 5 includes 3 sections including section (1) detection and dropping the outlier UEs out of the PTM LA group; section (2) actions taken after dropping the UEs out of the PTM LA group; and section (3) mechanism for the dropped UE to re-join the PTM LA group. As shown in section (1) there is subsection (a) detection and dropping the UE out of the PTM LA group by the gNB; subsection (b-i) detection and explicit indication to the gNB with CQI 0 by the UE, followed by dropping the UE out of the PTM LA group by the gNB; and subsection (b-ii) of detection and dropping of the UE out of the PTM LA group by the UE without explicit signaling to the gNB. These subsections of section (1) of FIG. 5 are linked to subsection 2 (A) and subsection 2 (B) of section (2) of FIG. 5. In subsection 2 (A) , there is the UE determining the PTM-CSI based on the channel measurements, and in subsection 2 (B) of FIG. 5 there is the UE determining the PTM-CSI based on decoding of the PTM transmission.

Subsection 2 (A) of section (2) of FIG. 5 is linked to 2 (A) (a) , where the UE-specific resources for CSI reporting are configured by the gNB, and linked to 2 (A) (b) , where no additional UL resources are configured for the UE.

Whereas, subsection 2 (B) of section (2) of FIG. 5 is linked to 2 (B) (a) , where UE-specific resources for ACK /NACK and /or CSI reporting are configured by the gNB, and linked to 2 (B) (b) , where no additional UL resources are configured for the UE.

Further, subsection 2 (A) (a) of section (2) of FIG. 5 is linked to subsection 3 (A) (a) of section (3) of FIG. 5. In subsection 3 (A) (a) , there is detection and letting the UE re-join the PTM LA group using BLER _re-admit and /or CQI _re-admit by the gNB.

Subsection 2 (A) (b) of section 2 of FIG. 5 is linked to subsection 3 (A) (b) and 3 (A) (c) of section (3) of FIG. 5. In subsection 3 (A) (b) , there is detection and sending a SR to the gNB using BLER _re-join and /or CQI _re-join by the UE. In subsection 3 (A) (c) , there is a silent re-entry to the PTM LA group using BLER _re-join and/or CQI _re-join performed by the UE.

Subsection 2 (B) (a) of section 2 of FIG. 5 is linked to subsection 3 (B) (a) of section (3) of FIG. 5. In subsection 3 (B) (a) there is detection and letting the UE re-join the PTM LA group using CQI _re-admit by the gNB.

Whereas, subsection 2 (B) (b) of section 2 of FIG. 5 is linked to subsection 3 (B) (b) and 3 (B) (c) of section (3) of FIG. 5.

In subsection 3 (B) (b) there is detection and sending a SR to the gNB using CQI _re-join by the UE. In subsection 3there is silent re-entry using CQI _re-join by the UE.

In subsection 3 (B) (c) there is silent re-entry using CQI _re-join by the UE

Further, with regards to at least the procedures of FIG. 3, FIG. 4, and FIG. 5 as disclosed above:

● On step 1-a: After spotting the outlier UE, the gNB can configure the UE using dedicated RRC (re-) configuration signaling in a way that the UE is informed that it must not send NACKs on the group-common feedback resource (PUCCH or PRACH) and also the UE must not send (PTM-) CSI reports on UE-specific PUCCH resources anymore. The group-common NACK feedback resource would remain as configured for the remaining UEs to use, although it is deactivated for this particular outlier UE. This can be crucial when the UE wants to re-join the PTM LA group, depending on which of the proposed mechanisms on re-joining is used, as there may then be no need for the gNB to indicate this resource again to the UE after re-joining if the resource is allocated in a persistent manner, either absolutely or using a persistent rule e.g. on how to derive the resource from the DCI indicating the corresponding PDSCH transmission. The UE-specific PUCCH or PUSCH resource that may have been used for CSI reporting can henceforth be reallocated for other purposes by the gNB; and

● On step 1-b: UE-specific RRC (re-) configuration can be used by the gNB to configure the timer, T _outlier. If a system implements both options (1-a) and (1-b) , the configuration of the timer can indicate that the proposed method in (1-b) is used in the system, instead of (1-a) :

○ On step 1-b-i: CQI with index 0 is used by the UE to indicate that the UE believes that even the lowest MCS is not robust enough to satisfy the QoS service criteria and would drop out of the PTM LA group. As in (1-a) , the gNB can configure the UE using dedicated RRC (re-) configuration message in a way that the UE is informed that it must not send NACKs on the group-common feedback resource (PUCCH or PRACH) and also the UE must not send PTM-related CSI reports from UE-specific PUCCH or PUSCH resources anymore. The group-common NACK feedback resource would remain as configured for the UE for use by other UEs that are still in the PTM LA group, although it is deactivated for this (and other) outlier UEs, and

○ On step 1-b-ii: The gNB does not send any RRC (re-) configuration messages, upon the detection of the missing CSI reports from the UE, and can freely use the UE-specific resources (PUCCH or PUSCH) that are not being used for CSI reporting by the dropped UE for other purposes.

In both cases, it may be expected that the outlier UE was already configured to report CSI periodically, while the mechanisms as proposed herein in accordance with example embodiments of the invention could also be applied such as if PTM-specific CSI reporting is not part of the system implementation.

It is noted that in accordance with this disclosure operations performed in steps as in accordance with example embodiments of the invention can include:

● On step 2-a: UE-specific feedback resources can be configured as PUCCH or PRACH for ACK /NACK reporting and /or PUSCH or PUCCH for CSI reporting. The period of CSI reporting is left as implementation specific and out of the scope of example embodiments of this invention;

● On step 2-b: In this step, UE can only wait for re-joining the PTM LA group, while trying to decode the current PTM transmission or only making PTM-CSI channel measurements;

● On step 3-a: This step can be performed if the UE has followed step (2-a) , but not (2-b) . If the gNB decides on letting the UE back in the PTM LA group, it should notify the UE using RRC (re-) configuration that it may now send NACK feedback on the group-common PUCCH resource, in addition to reconfiguring or disabling the UE-specific ACK /NACK and possibly also PTM-CSI resources. Afterwards, UE should follow the usual operation of the PTM group, e.g. as is being proposed;

● On step 3-b: This step can be performed if the UE has followed step (2-b) , but not (2-a) . By RRC (re-) configuration signal, the UE can be configured with a new reliability criterion, such as the BLER target BLER _re-join of the service or required CQI CQI _re-join, expediently in combination with a margin, e.g. reflecting the fact that the UE itself cannot trigger retransmissions. In case the UE was actually a part of the PTM group, its NACK feedbacks would help it to have a better BLER or CQI, compared to its current state where it is not allowed to send NACK feedbacks. Therefore, it is not expected by the system that the UE can reach the QoS service BLER target or required CQI, which is the reason why a new target, which can be configured slightly higher than the original BLER target or lower than original CQI target, is introduced in this step.

When the UE determines that the new reliability criterion is now satisfied for the ongoing PTM session, it tries to re-join the PTM LA group by sending a SR. According to the current standard, the minimum PUCCH resource can carry 2 bits, in addition to the SR bit. If the UE does not need those 2 bits for PTP HARQ feedback, it can utilize them (flipping either one of them to ‘1’ ) in order to indicate explicitly that it asks for re-joining the PTM LA group. Alternatively, this could be a two-step approach, where the UE indicates its wish to re-join a particular PTM LA group in a first PUSCH transmission granted by the gNB in response to a conventional SR.

After deciding on readmitting the UE to the PTM LA group, gNB should notify the UE using RRC (re-) configuration that it may now send feedback on the group-common feedback resource. If the UE does not receive the RRC re-configuration after sending the SR, it can start a timer T _re-join (that is configured by RRC signaling) and send another SR after the expiry of the timer, if needed and if the criteria to allow this are fulfilled.

Moreover, as can be seen to be already proposed, that after re-joining the PTM LA group, the UE should wait for a certain period of time, T _{re-join, CSI}, before requesting PTM-CSI report uplink resources. The purpose of the waiting period is for the UE to make accurate measurements, and to be able to send a CQI report that would correctly reflect the current channel conditions. Example embodiments of the invention provide that the T _{re-join, CSI} can either be explicitly signaled to the UEs by RRC signaling, or T _{re-join, CSI} can be derived from the previous configuration on how to calculate CQI according to usual CQI reporting configurations;

● On step 3-c: This step can be performed if the UE has followed step (2-b) , but not (2-a) . As in the case of (3-b) , the UE can be configured via RRC (re-) configuration signaling with the new reliability criterion, BLER _re-join or CQI _re-join; and/or

T _{re-join, CSI} should be configured as stated on step (3-b) .

FIG. 6A illustrates operations which may be performed by a device such as, but not limited to, a device (e.g., the UE 10 as in FIG. 2) . As shown in step 610 of FIG. 6A there is receiving from a network node of a communication network, by at least one user equipment of a group of more than one user equipment of the communication network, first information for being in a point to multi-point service group. As shown in step 620 of FIG. 6A, wherein the first information is related to an indication of channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment. Then as shown in step 630 of FIG. 6A there is determining based on the received first information, that the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraph above, wherein the first information relating to the indication of channel quality comprises at least one of quality of service indicator, channel quality indicator, block error rate, or count of negative acknowledgments sent by the user equipment on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group, and there is determining that the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of the at least one feedback resource is based on a comparison result of the indication of channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment to a channel quality requirement of the at least one user equipment.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, wherein the not permitting the at least one user equipment utilization of the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group comprises not allowing sending of at least one of acknowledgment, negative acknowledgment, hybrid repeat request feedback utilizing the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, wherein the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group is a common feedback resource used by permitted user equipment of the point to multi-point service group.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, wherein the channel quality requirement comprises at least one of an indication reflecting the channel quality threshold for one of the quality of service indicator, channel quality indicator, block error rate, or count of negative acknowledgments, or at least one of a timer or a counter threshold.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, wherein the determining that the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of the at least one feedback resource is based on at least one of: the indication of channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment being one of equal to, lower than, or higher than a corresponding channel quality requirement threshold.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, wherein the determining that the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of the at least one feedback resource is based on at least one of: a channel quality measurement being one of equal to, below, or above the threshold for at least the duration of the timer, or a channel quality measurement being one of equal to, below, or above the threshold for at least a number of successive measurements.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, there is transmitting, from the at least one user equipment, based on the comparison result, a channel quality indictor 0 of channel quality indicator bits to the network node using a channel state information report, wherein the channel quality indictor 0 indicates to the network node to provide control signaling to at least one of deactivate negative acknowledgment feedback or de-configure channel state information feedback resources of the at least one user equipment.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, wherein the control signaling comprises dedicated signaling to configure the at least one user equipment to at least one of deactivate negative acknowledgment feedback or de-configure channel state information resources of the at least one user equipment.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, there is stopping of transmitting from the at least one user equipment negative acknowledgment, without extra indication from the network node.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, wherein the received first information further comprises an indication that the at least one user equipment is not to perform at least one of: sending of hybrid automatic repeat request feedback on common feedback resources or on at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group, or sending channel state information reports on dedicated resources for the at least one user equipment.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, wherein the group of more than one user equipment comprises a point to multi-point link adaptation group.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, there is receiving a dedicated resource assignment by the at least one user equipment; and using the assigned dedicated resources for communicating second information of at least one of point to multi-point channel state indicator measurements at the at least one user equipment, wherein the second information of at least one of point to multi-point channel state indicator measurements and at least one of acknowledgment, negative acknowledgment, hybrid repeat request feedback, or request to access to the common feedback resource is for the network node to determine whether to allow the at least one user equipment to send hybrid automatic repeat request feedback of the point to multi-point service on the group-common feedback resource of the group.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, there is receiving by the at least one user equipment at least one criterion for re-entry to the point to multi-point service based on at least one of channel measurements, or an instruction to decode data received through the point to multi-point service; and determining, based on the criterion, whether the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied for granting at the at least one user equipment re-entry to the point to multi-point service.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, wherein the channel measurements comprise at least one of signal to noise and interference ratio or reference signal received power measurements, and wherein the re-entry comprises resuming the utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, there is upon determining that the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied, sending a scheduling request to the network node; receiving, from the network node, as response to the scheduling request, activation for sending negative acknowledgment feedback on at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group; and sending, based on the re-entry, negative acknowledgment feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group depending on an outcome of decoding data packets received through the point to multi-point service.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, there is, upon determining that the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied, sending a scheduling request to the network node; receiving from the network node a resource allocation of physical uplink shared channel resources; sending a request for re-entry to the point to multi-point service group by using the physical uplink shared channel resources; receiving from the network node activation information for configuring the at least one user equipment to send feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group common feedback resource; and sending negative acknowledgments on group-common feedback resources based on an outcome of decoding data packets received through the multi-point service.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, wherein the request for re-entry comprises channel quality information.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, there is starting a timer upon sending the scheduling request; upon expiry of the timer, if the at least one user equipment has not re-entered the point to multi-point service and if the at least one readmission criterion is still satisfied the at least one user equipment: sends another scheduling request; and restarts the timer.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, there is, upon realizing that the at least one criterion for re-entry is now satisfied, sending negative acknowledgments on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group; depending on an outcome of decoding data packets received through the point to multi-point service.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, wherein the at least one criterion for re-entry remains satisfied during a duration of a re-join timer which the at least one user equipment has started upon detecting that the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium (MEM 10A of FIG. 2) storing program code (PROG 10C of FIG. 2) , the program code executed by at least one processor (DP 10A and/or SIM 10E) of FIG. 2) to perform the operations as at least described in the paragraphs above.

In accordance with an example embodiment of the invention as described above there is an apparatus comprising: means for receiving (TRANS 10D, MEM 10B, PROG 10C, and DP 10A and/or SIM 10E as in FIG. 2) from a network node NN 12 and/or NN 13 as in FIG. 2) of a communication network (Network 1 as in FIG. 2) , by at least one user equipment (UE 10 as in FIG. 2) of a group of more than one user equipment of the communication network, first information for being in a point to multi-point service group, wherein the first information is related to an indication of channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment; and means based on the determining (TRANS 10D, MEM 10B, PROG 10C, and DP 10A and/or SIM 10E as in FIG. 2) based on the received first information, that the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group.

In the example aspect of the invention according to the paragraph above, wherein at least the means for receiving and means for determining and means for sending comprises a non-transitory computer readable medium [MEM 10B] encoded with a computer program [PROG 10C] executable by at least one processor [DP 10A and/or SIM 10E] .

FIG. 6B illustrates operations which may be performed by a network device such as, but not limited to, a network node NN 12 and/or NN 13 as in FIG. 2 or an eNB. As shown in step 650 of FIG. 6B there is based as shown in step 660 of FIG. 2, based on the indication of channel quality, determining the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group. Then as shown in step 670 of FIG. 2 there is, based on the determining, sending first information of the determination to the at least one user equipment.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraph above, wherein the indication of channel quality comprises at least one of quality of service indicator, channel quality indicator a block error rate, or count of negative acknowledgments sent by the user equipment on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, wherein the indication of channel quality comprises at least one of quality of service indicator, channel quality indicator, block error rate, or count of negative acknowledgments from the user equipment on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, wherein the determining comprises: determining that the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of the at least one feedback resource is based on comparison result of the indication of channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment to channel quality requirement of the at least one user equipment.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, wherein the determining the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of the at least one feedback resource is based on at least one of the indication of channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment being one of equal to, lower than, or higher than a corresponding channel quality requirement threshold.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, there is based on the comparison result, communicating with the at least one user equipment a channel state information report, wherein the communicating causes the network node to at least one of provide control signaling to deactivate negative acknowledgment only feedback or de-configuring channel state information feedback resources of the at least one user equipment.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, wherein the control signaling comprises dedicated signaling to configure the at least one user equipment for to at least one of deactivate negative acknowledgment only feedback or de-configure channel state information resources of the at least one user equipment.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, wherein the information for the not permitted utilization of at least one feedback resource over the point to multi-point service comprises an indication that the at least one user equipment is not to perform at least one of: use sending of hybrid automatic repeat request feedback on common feedback resources or at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group for hybrid automatic repeat request feedback, or use sending channel state information reports on dedicated specific resources for the at least one user equipment.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, there is communicating a dedicated resource assignment with the at least one user equipment, wherein the assigned dedicated resources are used for communicating second information of at least one of point to multi-point channel state indicator measurements at the at least one user equipment, wherein the second information of at least one of point to multi-point channel state indicator measurements or the at least one of acknowledgment, negative acknowledgment, hybrid repeat request feedback, or request to access to the common feedback resource is for the network node to determine whether to allow the at least one user equipment to send hybrid automatic repeat request feedback of the point to multi-point service on the group-common feedback resource of the group.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, there is communicating with the at least one user equipment at least one criterion for re-entry to the point to multi-point service based at least on channel measurements, and an instruction whether to decode data received through the point to multi-point service; and wherein based on the criterion, it can be identified whether the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied for granting at the at least one user equipment re-entry to the point to multi-point service.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, wherein the channel measurements comprises at least one of signal to noise and interference ratio or reference signal received power measurements, and wherein the re-entry comprising resuming the utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, wherein based on the at least one criterion for re-entry being satisfied, the method comprising: receiving a scheduling request from the at least one user equipment; communicating, from the network node, as response to the scheduling request, activation for sending negative acknowledgment feedback on at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group; and receiving, based on the re-entry, negative acknowledgment feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group depending on an outcome of decoding the decode data packets received through the point to multi-point service.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, there is using at least one criterion for re-entry of the at least one user equipment to the point to multi-point service, wherein the information comprises, at least one of: at least one channel quality measurement of the point to multi-point service, or data received by the at least one user equipment through the point to multi-point service; and based on the information, determining whether the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied for granting the at least one user equipment re-entry to the point to multi-point service.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, there is receiving a scheduling request from the at least one user equipment; communicating with the at least one user equipment activation information to send feedback on common negative acknowledgment resource; and based on the re-entry, receiving from the at least one user equipment negative acknowledgments on group-common negative acknowledgment-only resource depending on an outcome of decoding of data packets communicated through the point to multi-point service.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, there is, based upon the at least one criterion being satisfied at the at least one user equipment, receiving from the at least one user equipment a scheduling request; sending to the at least one user equipment a grant for usage of physical uplink shared channel resources; receiving, from the at least one user equipment, a request of re-entry the point to multi-point service group; sending to the at least one user equipment activation information for configuring the at least one user equipment to send feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group common negative acknowledgment resource; and receiving, from the at least one user equipment, negative acknowledgment on the common negative acknowledgment resource depending on an outcome of decoding data packets communicated through the point to multi-point service.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, wherein the request comprises channel quality information.

In accordance with the example embodiments as described in the paragraphs above, wherein the at least one criterion must remain satisfied during the duration of a re-join timer period which the at least one user equipment has started upon detecting that the at least one readmission criterion is satisfied.

In accordance with an example embodiment of the invention as described above there is an apparatus comprising: means for receiving (TRANS 12D and/or TRANS 13D, MEM 12B and/or MEM 13B, PROG 12C and/or PROG 13C, and DP 12A and/or DP 13A as in FIG. 2) , by a network node (NN 12 and/or NN 13 as in FIG. 2) receiving, by a network node (NN 12 and/or NN 13 as in FIG. 2) of a communication network (Network 1 as in FIG. 2) , from at least one user equipment (UE 10 as in FIG. 2) of a point to multi-point service group an indication of channel quality measured at the at least one user equipment (UE 10 as in FIG. 2) , wherein the point to multi-point service group comprises more than one user equipment including the at least one user equipment of the communication network, comprising: means, based on an indication of channel quality measured from at least one user equipment of the group of more than one user equipment, for determining (TRANS 12D and/or TRANS 13D, MEM 12B and/or MEM 13B, PROG 12C and/or PROG 13C, and DP 12A and/or DP 13A as in FIG. 2) the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group; and means, based on the determining, for sending (TRANS 12D and/or TRANS 13D, MEM 12B and/or MEM 13B, PROG 12C and/or PROG 13C, and DP 12A and/or DP 13A as in FIG. 2) first information of the determination to the at least one user equipment.

In the example aspect of the invention according to the paragraph above, wherein at least the means for maintaining or establishing, means for determining, and means for sending comprises a non-transitory computer readable medium [MEM 12B and/or MEM 13B] encoded with a computer program [PROG 12C and/or PROG 13C] executable by at least one processor [DP 12A and/or DP 13A] .

It is submitted that advantages posed by applying the techniques of this disclosure in accordance with example embodiments of the invention can include that UEs that are in sufficiently good channel conditions do not suffer from the UEs in worse channel conditions in the PTM group, and can meet their QoS service requirements. Further advantages can include that UEs that are dropped out of the PTM LA group can re-join the PTM LA group with minimum effort, in case their channel conditions improve, or other system constraints permit this.

Further, in accordance with example embodiments of the invention there is circuitry for performing operations in accordance with example embodiments of the invention as disclosed herein. This circuitry can include any type of circuitry including content coding circuitry, content decoding circuitry, processing circuitry, image generation circuitry, data analysis circuitry, etc. ) . Further, this circuitry can include discrete circuitry, application-specific integrated circuitry (ASIC) , and/or field-programmable gate array circuitry (FPGA) , etc. as well as a processor specifically configured by software to perform the respective function, or dual-core processors with software and corresponding digital signal processors, etc. ) . Additionally, there are provided necessary inputs to and outputs from the circuitry, the function performed by the circuitry and the interconnection (perhaps via the inputs and outputs) of the circuitry with other components that may include other circuitry in order to perform example embodiments of the invention as described herein.

In accordance with example embodiments of the invention as disclosed in this application this application, the “circuitry” provided can include at least one or more or all of the following:

(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry) ;

(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable) :

(i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit (s) with software/firmware; and

(ii) any portions of hardware processor (s) with software (including digital signal processor (s) ) , software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions, such as functions or operations in accordance with example embodiments of the invention as disclosed herein) ; and

(c) hardware circuit (s) and or processor (s) , such as a microprocessor (s) or a portion of a microprocessor (s) , that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation. ”

In accordance with example embodiments of the invention, there is adequate circuitry for performing at least novel operations as disclosed in this application, this `circuitry` as may be used herein refers to at least the following:

(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry) ; and

(b) to combinations of circuits and software (and/or firmware) , such as (as applicable) : (i) to a combination of processor (s) or (ii) to portions of processor (s) /software (including digital signal processor (s) ) , software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) ; and

(c) to circuits, such as a microprocessor (s) or a portion of a microprocessor (s) , that require software or firmware for operation, even if the software or firmware is not physically present.

This definition of `circuitry` applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term "circuitry" would also cover an implementation of merely a processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term "circuitry" would also cover, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or applications processor integrated circuit for a mobile phone or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, or other network device.

In general, the various embodiments may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. For example, some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device, although the invention is not limited thereto. While various aspects of the invention may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

Embodiments of the inventions may be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit modules. The design of integrated circuits is by and large a highly automated process. Complex and powerful software tools are available for converting a logic level design into a semiconductor circuit design ready to be etched and formed on a semiconductor substrate.

The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration. " Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. All of the embodiments described in this Detailed Description are exemplary embodiments provided to enable persons skilled in the art to make or use the invention and not to limit the scope of the invention which is defined by the claims.

The foregoing description has provided by way of exemplary and non-limiting examples a full and informative description of the best method and apparatus presently contemplated by the inventors for carrying out the invention. However, various modifications and adaptations may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. However, all such and similar modifications of the teachings of this invention will still fall within the scope of this invention.

It should be noted that the terms "connected, " "coupled, " or any variant thereof, mean any connection or coupling, either direct or indirect, between two or more elements, and may encompass the presence of one or more intermediate elements between two elements that are "connected" or "coupled" together. The coupling or connection between the elements can be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. As employed herein two elements may be considered to be "connected" or "coupled" together by the use of one or more wires, cables and/or printed electrical connections, as well as by the use of electromagnetic energy, such as electromagnetic energy having wavelengths in the radio frequency region, the microwave region and the optical (both visible and invisible) region, as several non-limiting and non-exhaustive examples.

Furthermore, some of the features of the preferred embodiments of this invention could be used to advantage without the corresponding use of other features. As such, the foregoing description should be considered as merely illustrative of the principles of the invention, and not in limitation thereof.

Claims

A method, comprising:

receiving from a network node of a communication network, by at least one user equipment of a group of more than one user equipment of the communication network, first information for being in a point to multi-point service group,

wherein the first information is related to an indication of channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment; and

determining based on the received first information, that the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group.
A method of claim 1, wherein the first information related to the indication of channel quality comprises at least one of quality of service indicator, channel quality indicator, block error rate, or count of negative acknowledgments sent by the at least one user equipment on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group, and

the method comprising:

determining that the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of the at least one feedback resource is based on a comparison result of the indication of channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment to a channel quality requirement of the at least one user equipment.
A method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the not permitting the at least one user equipment utilization of the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group comprises not allowing sending of at least one of acknowledgment, negative acknowledgment, hybrid repeat request feedback utilizing the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group.
A method of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group is a common feedback resource used by permitted user equipment of the point to multi-point service group.
A method of any of claims 2 to 4, wherein the channel quality requirement comprises: at least one of an indication reflecting the channel quality threshold for one of the quality of service indicator, channel quality indicator, block error rate, or count of negative acknowledgments, or at least one of a timer or a counter threshold.
A method of claim 5, wherein the determining that the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of the at least one feedback resource is based on at least one of:

the indication of channel quality measured from the at least one user equipment being one of equal to, lower than, or higher than a corresponding channel quality requirement threshold.
A method of claim 6, wherein the determining that the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of the at least one feedback resource is based on at least one of:

a channel quality measurement being one of equal to, below, or above the threshold for at least the duration of the timer, or

a channel quality measurement being one of equal to, below, or above the threshold for at least a number of successive measurements.
A method of any of claims 2 to 7, comprising:

transmitting, from the at least one user equipment, based on the comparison result, a channel quality indictor 0 of channel quality indicator bits to the network node using a channel state information report, wherein the channel quality indictor 0 indicates to the network node to provide control signaling to at least one of deactivate negative acknowledgment feedback or de-configure channel state information feedback resources of the at least one user equipment.
The method of claim 8, wherein the control signaling comprises dedicated signaling to configure the at least one user equipment to at least one of deactivate negative acknowledgment feedback or de-configure channel state information resources of the at least one user equipment.
A method of any of claims 1 to 8, comprising:

stopping of transmitting from the at least one user equipment negative acknowledgment, without extra indication from the network node.
A method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the received first information further comprises an indication that the at least one user equipment is not to perform at least one of:

sending of hybrid automatic repeat request feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group; , or

sending channel state information reports on dedicated resources for the at least one user equipment.
A method of any of claims 1 to 11, wherein the group of more than one user equipment comprises a point to multi-point link adaptation group.
A method of any of claims 1 to 12, comprising:

receiving a dedicated resource assignment by the at least one user equipment; and

using the assigned dedicated resources for communicating second information of at least one of point to multi-point channel state indicator measurements at the at least one user equipment, wherein the second information of at least one of point to multi-point channel state indicator measurements and at least one of acknowledgment, negative acknowledgment, hybrid repeat request feedback, or request to access to the common feedback resource is for the network node to determine whether to allow the at least one user equipment to send hybrid automatic repeat request feedback of the point to multi-point service on the group-common feedback resource of the group.
A method of any of claims 1 to 13, comprising:

receiving by the at least one user equipment at least one criterion for re-entry to the point to multi-point service based on at least one of channel measurements, or an instruction to decode data received through the point to multi-point service; and

determining, based on the criterion, whether the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied for granting the at least one user equipment re-entry to the point to multi-point service.
A method of claim 14, wherein the channel measurements comprise at least one of signal to noise and interference ratio or reference signal received power measurements, and wherein the re-entry comprises resuming the utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group.
A method of claim 14 or 15, comprising:

upon determining that the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied, sending a scheduling request to the network node;

receiving, from the network node, as response to the scheduling request, activation information for sending negative acknowledgment feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group; and

sending, based on the re-entry, the negative acknowledgments feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group depending on an outcome of decoding data packets received through the point to multi-point service.
A method of claim 14 or 15, comprising:

upon determining that the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied, sending a scheduling request to the network node;

receiving, from the network node, a resource allocation of physical uplink shared channel;

sending a request for re-entry to the point to multi-point service group by using the resource allocation of physical uplink shared channel;

receiving, from the network node, activation information for configuring the at least one user equipment to send feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group; and

sending negative acknowledgments on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group based on an outcome of decoding data packets received through the point to multi-point service.
A method of claim 17, wherein the request for re-entry comprises channel quality information.
A method of any of claims 14 to 18, comprising:

starting a timer upon sending the scheduling request;

upon expiry of the timer, if the at least one user equipment has not re-entered the point to multi-point service and if the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied the at least one user equipment:

sending another scheduling request; and

restarting the timer.
A method of claim 14 or 15, comprising:

upon determining that the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied, sending negative acknowledgments on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group depending on an outcome of decoding data packets received through the point to multi-point service.
A method of any of claims 14 to 17, wherein the at least one criterion for re-entry remains satisfied during a duration of a re-entry timer which the at least one user equipment has started upon detecting that the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied.
An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

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

receive from a network node of a communication network, first information for being in a point to multi-point service group,

wherein the apparatus is one of a group of more than one user equipment of the communication network, and the first information is related to an indication of channel quality measured from the apparatus; and

determine based on the received first information, that the apparatus is not permitted utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group.
An apparatus, comprising means for:

receiving, from a network node of a communication network, first information for being in a point to multi-point service group,

wherein the apparatus is one of a group of more than one user equipment of the communication network, and the first information is related to an indication of channel quality measured from the apparatus; and

determining based on the received first information, that the apparatus is not permitted utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group.
A method, comprising:

receiving, by a network node of a communication network, from at least one user equipment of a point to multi-point service group, an indication of channel quality measured at the at least one equipment, wherein the point to multi-point service group comprises more than one user equipment including the at least one user equipment;

based on the indication of channel quality, determining the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group; and

based on the determining, sending first information of the determination to the at least one user equipment.
A method of claim 24, wherein the indication of channel quality comprises at least one of quality of service indicator, channel quality indicator, block error rate, or count of negative acknowledgments, from the at least one user equipment, received on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group.
A method of claim 24 or 25, wherein the determining is based on comparison result of the indication of channel quality measured at the at least one user equipment to channel quality requirement of the at least one user equipment.
A method of any of claims 24 to 26, wherein the not permitting the at least one user equipment utilization of the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group comprises not allowing sending of at least one of acknowledgment, negative acknowledgment, hybrid repeat request feedback utilizing the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group.
A method of any of claims 24 to 27, wherein the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group is a common feedback resource for use of permitted user equipment of the point to multi-point service group.
A method of any of claims 26 to 28, wherein the channel quality requirement comprises at least one of an indication reflecting the channel quality threshold for one of the quality of service indicator, channel quality indicator, block error rate, or count of negative acknowledgments, or at least one of a timer or a counter threshold.
A method of claim 29, wherein the determining the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of the at least one feedback resource is based on at least one of:

the indication of channel quality measured at the at least one user equipment being one of equal to, lower than, or higher than a corresponding channel quality threshold of the channel quality requirement.
A method of claim 30, wherein the determining that the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of the at least one feedback resource is based on at least one of:

a channel quality measurement being one of equal to, below, or above the corresponding channel quality threshold for at least the duration of the timer, or

a channel quality measurement being one of equal to, below, or above the corresponding channel quality threshold for at least a number of successive measurements.
A method of any of claims 26 to 31, comprising:

based on the comparison result, communicating with the at least one user equipment, wherein the communicating causes the network node to at least one of: provide control signaling to deactivate negative acknowledgment feedback or de-configuring channel state information feedback resources of the at least one user equipment.
A method of claim 32, wherein the control signaling comprises dedicated signaling to configure the at least one user equipment for to at least one of: deactivate negative acknowledgment feedback or de-configure channel state information resources of the at least one user equipment.
A method of any of claims 24 to 33, wherein the information for the not permitted utilization of at least one feedback resource over the point to multi-point service comprises an indication that the at least one user equipment is not to perform at least one of:

sending of hybrid automatic repeat request feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group; , or

sending channel state information reports on dedicated specific resources for the at least one user equipment.
A method of any of claims 24 to 34, wherein the group of more than one user equipment comprises a point to multi-point link adaptation group.
A method of any of claims 24 to 35, comprising:

assigning a dedicated resource to the at least one user equipment,

wherein the assigned dedicated resources are used for communicating second information of at least one of point to multi-point channel state indicator measurements at the at least one user equipment,

wherein the second information of at least one of point to multi-point channel state indicator measurements or the at least one of acknowledgment, negative acknowledgment, hybrid repeat request feedback, or request to access to the common feedback resource is for the network node to determine whether to allow the at least one user equipment to send hybrid automatic repeat request feedback of the point to multi-point service on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group.
A method of any of claims 24 to 35, comprising:

communicating with the at least one user equipment at least one criterion for re-entry to the point to multi-point service based at least on channel measurements, and an instruction whether to decode data received through the point to multi-point service; and

wherein based on the criterion, it can be identified whether the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied for granting at the at least one user equipment re-entry to the point to multi-point service.
A method of claim 37, wherein the channel measurements comprises at least one of signal to noise and interference ratio or reference signal received power measurements, and wherein the re-entry comprising resuming the utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group.
A method of claim 37 or 38, comprising: upon the at least one criterion for re-entry being satisfied,

receiving a scheduling request from the at least one user equipment;

communicating, with the at least one user equipment, as response to the scheduling request, activation information for sending negative acknowledgment feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group; and

receiving, based on the re-entry, negative acknowledgment on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group depending on an outcome of decoding data packets received through the point to multi-point service from the at least one user equipment.
A method of claim 24 comprising:

using at least one criterion for re-entry of the at least one user equipment to the point to multi-point service group, wherein the information comprises, at least one of: at least one channel quality measurement of the point to multi-point service, or data received at the at least one user equipment through the point to multi-point service; and

based on the information, determining whether the at least one criterion for re-entry is satisfied for granting the at least one user equipment re-entry to the point to multi-point service.
A method of claim 40, comprising:

receiving a scheduling request from the at least one user equipment;

communicating with the at least one user equipment activation information to send feedback on common negative acknowledgment resource; and

receiving from the at least one user equipment negative acknowledgments on the common negative acknowledgment resource depending on an outcome of decoding of data packets communicated through the point to multi-point service.
A method of claim 40, comprising:

based upon the at least one criterion being satisfied at the at least one user equipment, receiving from the at least one user equipment a scheduling request;

sending to the at least one user equipment a grant for usage of physical uplink shared channel resources;

receiving, from the at least one user equipment, a request of re-entry the point to multi-point service group;

sending to the at least one user equipment activation information for configuring the at least one user equipment to send feedback on the at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group common negative acknowledgment resource; and

receiving, from the at least one user equipment, negative acknowledgment on the common negative acknowledgment resource depending on an outcome of decoding data packets communicated through the point to multi-point service.
A method of claim 42, wherein the request comprises channel quality information.
A method of any of claims 40 to 43, wherein the at least one criterion remains satisfied during the duration of a re-entry timer period that the at least one user equipment has started upon detecting that the at least one re-entry criterion is satisfied.
An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

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

receive, at the apparatus of a communication network, from at least one user equipment of a point to multi-point service group, an indication of channel quality measured at the at least one equipment, wherein the point to multi-point service group comprises more than one user equipment including the at least one user equipment;

based on the indication of channel quality, determine the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group; and

based on the determining, send first information of the determination to the at least one user equipment.
An apparatus, comprising means for:

receiving, at a network node of a communication network, from at least one user equipment of a point to multi-point service group, an indication of channel quality measured at the at least one equipment, wherein the point to multi-point service group comprises more than one user equipment including the at least one user equipment;

based on the indication of channel quality, determining the at least one user equipment is not permitted utilization of at least one feedback resource of the point to multi-point service group; and

based on the determining, sending first information of the determination to the at least one user equipment.
An apparatus comprising at least one of means for performing a method according to any of claims 1 to 21 or means for performing a method according to any of claims 24 to 44.
An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code, where the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to at least perform a method according to any of claims 1 to 21 or to at least perform a method according to any of claims 24 to 44.
A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions stored thereon for performing a method according to any of claims 1 to 21 or for performing a method according to any of claims 24 to 44.
A computer program comprising instructions stored thereon for performing a method according to any of claims 1 to 21 or for performing a method according to any of claims 24 to 44.
A computer readable medium of wireless communication storing a program of instructions, execution of which by a processor configuring an apparatus to perform a method according to any of claims 1 to 21 or configuring an apparatus to perform a method according to any of claims 24 to 44.