WO2023184259A1

WO2023184259A1 - Methods for shared user equipment processing for reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services and apparatuses

Info

Publication number: WO2023184259A1
Application number: PCT/CN2022/084167
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ahmed MOHAMMED MIKAEIL; Jia SHENG
Original assignee: Shenzhen Tcl New Technology Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2022-03-30
Filing date: 2022-03-30
Publication date: 2023-10-05
Also published as: CN118749210A

Abstract

Methods for shared user equipment (UE) processing for reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services and apparatuses are disclosed. The method performed by the UE includes transmitting, by the UE, a UE indication message indicating an interest of the UE in a simultaneous reception of broadcast and unicast sessions/services, receiving, by the UE, a configuration message from a base station, configuring the UE to update its radio access network (RAN) protocols for simultaneous reception of unicast and broadcast based on the configuration message from the base station, and/or to establish single protocol entity and/or to apply a same procedure or reception configuration to receive both the broadcast and unicast sessions/services.

Description

METHODS FOR SHARED USER EQUIPMENT PROCESSING FOR RECEPTION OF MULTICAST/BROADCAST AND UNICAST SESSIONS/SERVICES AND APPARATUSES

BACKGROUND OF DISCLOSURE

1. Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to the field of wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to methods for shared user equipment (UE) processing for reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services and apparatuses, for example, particularly to a radio access network configurations aspect to support simultaneous reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast services.

2. Description of the Related Art

In a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) cellular network, broadcast and multicast services may be transported via a transport service called multimedia broadcast/multicast service (MBMS) . A broadcast multicast service center (BM-SC) server is responsible to disseminate a media content to a group of subscribers. When a UE moves out of a network coverage, the UE may be unable to use the MBMS because uplink and downlink connections to the BM-SC server are no longer available. MBMS is a point-to-multipoint (PTM) interface specification designed to provide efficient delivery of broadcast and multicast services within 3GPP cellular networks. Examples of MBMS interface specifications include those described in universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) and long term evolution (LTE) communication specifications. For broadcast transmission across multiple cells, the specifications define transmission over single-frequency network configurations. Intended applications include mobile TV, news, radio broadcasting, file delivery, emergency alerts, and others. When services are broadcasted by MBMS, all cells inside a multimedia broadcast/multicast service single frequency network (MBSFN) area transmit the same MBMS service.

Users access these services and obtain the MBMS content through wireless communication devices such as cellular phones, tablets, laptops, and other devices with wireless transceivers that communicate with the base station within the communication system. The base station provides wireless service to the wireless communication devices, sometimes referred to as mobile devices or UEs, within cells. A user can access at least some multimedia services through a UE using either a point-to-point (PTP) connection or a PTM transmission. In 3GPP systems, PTP services can be provided using unicast techniques and PTM transmissions can be provided using MBMS communication, transmitted over an MBSFN or single cell point to multipoint (SC-PTM) communication. In systems operating in accordance with a revision of 3GPP long term evolution (LTE) communication specification, MBMS is provided using eMBMS. Accordingly, an MBMS service can be provided using either unicast service, MBSFN, or SC-PTM in an LTE system.

In radio access network (RAN) meeting #94-e held on December 6, 2021, a new working item was approved to target an enhancement of release 17 (Rel-17) multicast/broadcast services (MBS) . Aims of this working item are to enable resource-efficient delivery of multicast/broadcast services, 3GPP has developed new radio (NR) broadcast/multicast in Rel-17 according to this working item, which was aiming to enable general MBS services over 5GS. The use cases identified that could benefit from this feature include public safety and mission critical, V2X applications, IPTV, live video, software delivery over wireless and IoT applications, etc. Two delivery modes have been agreed for Rel-17 MBS with delivery mode 1 (only for multicast) capable of addressing higher QoS services and delivery mode 2 (only for broadcast) focusing on lower QoS services. Given that Rel-17 MBS already provided the basic function to support MBS services, the general main goal for Rel-18 should be to enable better deployment of MBS, such as improvement of resource efficiency and capacity based on Rel-17 MBS. One of the key objectives of this working item is to specify Uu signaling enhancements to allow a UE to use shared processing for MBS broadcast and unicast reception, i.e., including UE capability and related assistance information reporting regarding simultaneous unicast reception in RRC_CONNECTED and MBS broadcast reception from the same or different operators [RAN2] .

Due to the fact that multicast delivery mode is targeting almost the same RRC state (RRC CONNECTED) and the same range of QoS requirements, and requires the same degree of interaction between UE and gNB same as unicast, a flexible protocol architecture allows simultaneous operation with unicast session was specified for multicast session delivery. However, for broadcast delivery mode, as there is no QoS guarantee and interaction between UE and gNB is required, a fully separate protocol architecture apart from unicast protocol has been specified for broadcast session delivery. This fully separate protocol includes separate protocols entities (e.g., SDAP, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) , Radio Link Control (RLC) and Media Access Control (MAC) ) and protocols channels (e.g., radio bearers, logical and transport channel) . Under the consideration of such a separate broadcast protocol architecture, firstly, it is difficult to address the requirement of Rel-18 MBS working item which targets the usage of a shared processing for simultaneous broadcast and unicast reception at UE side. Secondly, separate protocol configuration will lead to a huge processing and reception complexity at UE side because it requires UE to establish a separate reception configuration for broadcast reception and another configuration for unicast reception, and then, utilizes both of them at the same time for the goal of receiving unicast and broadcast simultaneously. Additionally, for a UE with limited processing capability, a separate reception configuration may lead to a conflict when receiving broadcast and unicast using the same processing resource.

Therefore, there is a need for methods for shared user equipment (UE) processing for reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services and apparatuses.

SUMMARY

An object of the present disclosure is to propose methods for shared user equipment (UE) processing for reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services and apparatuses.

In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method for shared UE processing for reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services performed by the UE includes transmitting, by the UE, a UE indication message indicating an interest of the UE in a simultaneous reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services, receiving, by the UE, a reconfiguration message/indication from a base station, reconfiguring, by the UE, to update radio access network (RAN) protocols of the UE for a simultaneous operation based on the reconfiguration message/indication, and establishing, by the UE, a single protocol entity and/or applying, by the UE, a same procedure or reception configuration to receive both the multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services.

In a second aspect of the present disclosure, a user equipment (UE) comprises a memory, a transceiver, and a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver. The processor is configured to perform the above method.

In a third aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium has stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the above method.

In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a chip includes a processor, configured to call and run a computer program stored in a memory, to cause a device in which the chip is installed to execute the above method.

In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored, causes a computer to execute the above method.

In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program product includes a computer program, and the computer program causes a computer to execute the above method.

In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program causes a computer to execute the above method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

In order to illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosure or related art more clearly, the following figures will be described in the embodiments are briefly introduced. It is obvious that the drawings are merely some embodiments of the present disclosure, a person having ordinary skill in this field can obtain other figures according to these figures without paying the premise.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of protocol configuration for unicast and broadcast session reception in Rel-17 NR MBS according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one or more user equipments (UEs) and a base station (e.g., gNB) of communication in a communication network system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for shared UE processing for reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services performed by the UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for shared UE processing for reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services performed by a base station according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for shared UE processing for reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of SDAP sublayer configuration of QoS flows to DRB mapping for unicast and broadcast sessions according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a header within SDAP PDU for indicating to UE broadcast QoS flows to DRB mapping for unicast and broadcast sessions according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of SDAP PDU containing SDAP header with RDI and RQI fields configured for simultaneous unicast and broadcast reception according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of PDCP and/or RLC entity/entities or protocol configurations for unicast and broadcast reception according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of signaling message within the PDCP or RLC PDU header to indicate to UE the PDCP and/or RLC entity/entities or protocol configurations is changed for unicast and broadcast reception according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a PDCP PDU containing PDCP header with R field configured for simultaneous unicast and broadcast reception according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an RLC PDU containing RLC header with R field configured for simultaneous unicast or broadcast data according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of signaling message within the MAC PDU header to indicate/configure UE to assume that the SDU received with the specific broadcast logical traffic channel identified by the given LCID is mapped form unicast and broadcast reception according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a MAC PDU containing MAC header with R field configured for simultaneous unicast or broadcast data according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a system for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail with the technical matters, structural features, achieved objects, and effects with reference to the accompanying drawings as follows. Specifically, the terminologies in the embodiments of the present disclosure are merely for describing the purpose of the certain embodiment, but not to limit the disclosure.

Multicast/broadcast services (MBS) are expected to cover diversity of 5G applications and services ranging from public safety, mission critical, V2X, transparent IPv4/IPv6 multicast delivery, IPTV, software delivery over wireless to group communications and IoT applications. According to the MBS work in Rel-17, two delivery modes have been agreed for Rel-17 MBS with delivery mode 1 (only for multicast) capable of addressing higher QoS services, and delivery mode 2 (only for broadcast) focusing on lower QoS services. Due to the fact that multicast delivery mode is targeting almost the same RRC state (RRC CONNECTED) and the same range of QoS requirements, a flexible protocol architecture that allows for simultaneous operation with unicast session was specified for multicast session data delivery. The flexibility of the specified multicast protocol architecture relies on allowing simultaneous operation of multicast and unicast based on interaction between a UE and a gNB. The specified protocol architecture for multicast includes: 1) A service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer or entity responsible for mapping QoS flows of a multicast session to MBS Radio Bearers (MRB) . 2) A dedicated packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) entity as well as a common PDCP entity linked to two radio link control (RLC) entities, one is a group-common point to multipoint (PTM) RLC and the other is a UE-dedicated point-to-point (PTP) RLC to allow gNB to send data packets via either PTP RLC, PTM RLC or both to a UE and allow switching between PTM RLC and PTP RLC whenever needed (i.e., based on interaction between UE and gNB) . 3) A media access control (MAC) entity allows multicast MBS traffic channel (MTCH) to share a common logical channel identity (LCID) space with unicast dedicated traffic channel (DTCH) . The above specified flexible protocol architecture for multicast can not only allow simultaneous operation of unicast and multicast but also it can help allow UE to use share some processing when receiving unicast and multicast simultaneously.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of protocol configuration for unicast and broadcast session reception in Rel-17 NR MBS according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For broadcast delivery mode, no QoS guarantee or interaction between UE and gNB is required. Therefore, a fully separate protocol architecture apart from unicast protocol specified in Rel-17 for broadcast session delivery includes separate protocols entities (e.g., SDAP, PDCP, RLC and MAC) and protocols channels (e.g., radio bearers, RLC, logical and transport channels) . Such a protocol architecture allows periodical radio resource configuration for broadcast session via MBS control channel (MCCH) from which UEs receive the configuration for receiving the broadcast MBS traffic channel (MTCH) as illustrated in FIG. 1. As a part of 5G NR R18 MBS standardization, a new working item was approved working item to target some enhancements on Release 17 MBS. One of the key objectives of the working item is to specify by RAN2 the Uu signaling enhancements to allow a UE to use shared processing for MBS broadcast and unicast reception (i.e., including UE capability and related assistance information reporting regarding simultaneous unicast reception in RRC_CONNECTED and MBS broadcast reception from the same or different operators) . Under the consideration, the protocol architecture for broadcast session delivery, firstly, it is difficult to address the requirement of R18 MBS WID which targets the usage of a shared processing for simultaneous broadcast and unicast reception at UE side. Secondly, separate protocol configurations will lead to a huge processing and reception complexity at UE side because it requires UE to establish a separate protocol entity and/or apply a separate reception configuration for broadcast and another one for unicast in order to receive both of them simultaneously. Additionally, for a UE with limited processing capability, a separate reception configuration may lead to a conflict when receiving broadcast and unicast using the same processing resource.

Some embodiments of this disclosure provide a group of signaling and protocol enhancement methods to allow UE to use a shared processing for receiving both broadcast and unicast simultaneously. The major advantages of the new group of signaling and protocol enhancement methods proposed in some embodiments of this disclosure include one or more of the followings.

1- Unlike R17 MBS which only addresses the issue of simultaneous MBS reception for multicast and unicast, the new exemplary method tires to address the simultaneous MBS broadcast and unicast as per objective of the new R18 5G NR MBS working item.

2- Compared to R17 MBS which defines a separate protocol architecture for broadcast reception apart from the protocol architecture to be used for unicast reception, the new exemplary group of signaling and protocol enhancement methods provides a unified protocol architecture for simultaneous broadcast and unicast operation which could relatively reduce UE reception processing and complexity.

3- The new exemplary method could also help UE with limited processing to avoid conflict when receiving both broadcast and unicast using the same processing resources.

FIG. 2 illustrates that, in some embodiments, one or more user equipments (UEs) 10 and a base station (e.g., gNB) 20 for communication in a communication network system 40 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure are provided. The communication network system 40 includes the one or more UEs 10 and the base station 20. The one or more UEs 10 may include a memory 12, a transceiver 13, and a processor 11 coupled to the memory 12 and the transceiver 13. The base station 20 may include a memory 22, a transceiver 23, and a processor 21 coupled to the memory 22 and the transceiver 23. The

processor

11 or 21 may be configured to implement proposed functions, procedures and/or methods described in this description. Layers of radio interface protocol may be implemented in the

processor

11 or 21. The

memory

12 or 22 is operatively coupled with the

processor

11 or 21 and stores a variety of information to operate the

processor

11 or 21. The

transceiver

13 or 23 is operatively coupled with the

processor

11 or 21, and the

transceiver

13 or 23 transmits and/or receives a radio signal.

The

processor

11 or 21 may include application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , other chipset, logic circuit and/or data processing device. The

memory

12 or 22 may include read-only memory (ROM) , random access memory (RAM) , flash memory, memory card, storage medium and/or other storage device. The

transceiver

13 or 23 may include baseband circuitry to process radio frequency signals. When the embodiments are implemented in software, the techniques described herein can be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. The modules can be stored in the

memory

12 or 22 and executed by the

processor

11 or 21. The

memory

12 or 22 can be implemented within the

processor

11 or 21 or external to the

processor

11 or 21 in which case those can be communicatively coupled to the

processor

11 or 21 via various means as is known in the art.

In some embodiments, the transceiver 13 is configured to transmit a UE indication message indicating an interest -in a simultaneous reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services, the transceiver 13 is configured to receive a reconfiguration message/indication from the base station 20, the processor 11 is configured to reconfigure to update radio access network (RAN) protocols of the UE for a simultaneous operation based on the reconfiguration message/indication, and the processor 11 is configured to establish a single protocol entity and/or the processor 11 is configured to apply a same procedure or reception configuration to receive both the multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services.

In some embodiments, the transceiver 23 is configured to receive an indication from the UE 10 about its interest in simultaneous unicast and broadcast reception, the processor 21 is configured to configure RAN protocols for simultaneous operation of unicast and broadcast, the transceiver 23 is configured to transmit/signal the reconfigurations required for simultaneous reception to the UE 10, and the transceiver 23 is configured to transmit broadcast and unicast data simultaneously according to the configured RAN protocol.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for shared UE processing for reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services performed by the UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the method includes: transmitting, by the UE, a UE indication message indicating an interest of the UE in a simultaneous reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services, receiving, by the UE, a reconfiguration message/indication from a base station, reconfiguring, by the UE, to update radio access network (RAN) protocols of the UE for a simultaneous operation based on the reconfiguration message/indication, and establishing, by the UE, a single protocol entity and/or applying, by the UE, a same procedure or reception configuration to receive both the multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for shared UE processing for reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services performed by a base station according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the method includes the followings. gNB receives an indication from UE about its interest in simultaneous unicast and broadcast reception, then, the gNB configures the RAN protocols for simultaneous operation of unicast and broadcast and signals the reconfigurations required for simultaneous reception to UE. The gNB transmits broadcast and unicast data simultaneously according to the configured RAN protocol.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for shared UE processing for reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the method includes the followings. UE transmits an indication message to gNB about its interest in simultaneous unicast and broadcast reception.. gNB configures RAN protocols for simultaneous operation of unicast and broadcast and signals or transmits the reconfigurations required for simultaneous reception to UE. gNB transmits broadcast and unicast data simultaneously according to the reconfigured RAN protocol via data plane channel. gNB transmits protocol reconfiguration/change as well as the broadcast and unicast sessions data to UE. UE reconfigures/updates its RAN protocols according to configuration provided by gNB. UE establishes a single protocol entity and/or applies the same procedure processing or reception configuration to receive both unicast and broadcast services.

In some embodiments, the UE indication message is transmitted to the base station in sort of a radio resource control (RRC) singling message comprising an RRC connection request/resumption, a UE RRC capability message, and/or a UE interest indication RRC message, or the UE indication message is transmitted to the base station in sort of a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) status report, or a medium access control (MAC) report. In some embodiments, the UE is configured to receive a layer 3 based signaling indication from the base station, wherein the layer 3 based signaling indication comprises an indication about a unified configuration of at least one entity or procedure of layer 3 RAN protocol and/or a layer 3 type signaling message indicating a change on layer 2 protocol entity and/or protocol procedure configurations to support the simultaneous reception of broadcast and unicast sessions/services. In some embodiments, the layer 3 based signaling indication further comprises an indication about a unified mapping of broadcast quality of service (QoS) flows to unicast date radio bearers (DRB) over one or more service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) entities and/or an indication about a configuration of a broadcast multicast/broadcast service (MBS) radio bearer (MRB) to use unicast data radio bearer PDCP and/or RLC channels.

In some embodiments, in the case of layer 3 based signaling indication or an indication of a unified mapping of broadcast QoS flows to unicast DRB over one or more SDAP entities, if the UE transmits, to the base station, the indication message indicating the interest of the UE in the simultaneous reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services, the base station configures it SDAP sublayer via an RRC signaling by creating/configuring one or more SDAP entities and allowing QoS flows of a broadcast session to be mapped to one or more unicast DRBs instead of broadcast MRBs. In some embodiments, the UE is further configured to receives a signaling message/indication from the base station indicating that a QoS flow associated with the broadcast session which the UE is interested to receive simultaneously with unicast is mapped to a specific unicast DRB or a range of unicast DRBs. In some embodiments, the signaling message/indication is provided/indicated to the UE as a presence of an SDAP header along with a SDAP service data unit (SDU) within a SDAP program data unit. In some embodiments, the SDAP header contains a 1-bit reflective QoS flow to DRB mapping indication (RDI) , a 1-bit reflective QoS indication (RQI) , and a 6-bit QoS flow identifier (QFI) which an internet protocol (IP) packet is marked with. In some embodiments, the UE is configured to suppose if it receives a downlink SDAP packet data unit (PDU) of a DRB configured with a presence of an SDAP header with both the RDI and the RQI set to zero, the UE retrieves the an SDAP service data unit (SDU) from the SDAP PDU assuming that the QFI associated to a DRB is configured for a broadcast session and the UE delivers a retrieved SDAP SDU to an upper protocol layer according to the assumption. In some embodiments, if the RQI is set 0 and the RDI is set 1, the UE informs the upper protocol layer that the RQI bit is set to 1; if the RQI is set 1 and the RDI is set 0, the UE stores the QoS flow to a DRB mapping rule; if the RQI is set 1 and the RDI is set 1, the UE informs the upper protocol layer that the RQI equal to 1 and the UE stores the QoS flow to the DRB mapping rule; and/or if the RQI is set 0 and the RDI is set 0, the UE is informed that the QFI associated the DRB is configured for the broadcast session.

In some embodiments, in the case of layer 3 based signaling indication or an indication of a configuration of a broadcast multicast/broadcast service (MBS) radio bearer (MRB) to use unicast data radio bearer PDCP and/or RLC channels, if the UE transmits, to the base station, the indication message indicating the interest of the UE in the simultaneous reception of broadcast and unicast sessions/services, the base station configures a PCDP or RLC sublayers of the base station via an RRC signaling by allowing a radio bearer of an MRB to use same one or more PDCP and/or RLC entities, channels, or protocol configurations used for a DRB. In some embodiments, the UE is configured to receive, form the base station, either a PDCP or RLC signaling message within a PDCP or RLC PDU header to indicate the changes in one or more PDCP and/or RLC entities, channels, or protocol configurations. In some embodiments, in the changes in one or more PDCP and/or RLC entities, channels, or protocol configurations, the UE is configured by the base station with one of a reserved one-bit field marked with an R field within a PDCP PDU to indicate to the UE that a PDCP SDU specified by a sequence number given within a PDCP header is configured for unicast or broadcast. In some embodiments, if the UE receives the PDCP PDU with the R filed within the PDU header set to 1, the UE retrieves the PDCP SDU for a PDCP assuming that the PDCP PDU is configured for broadcast MRB; or otherwise, the UE retrieves the SDU for the PDCP assuming that the PDCP PDU is configured for unicast DRB, and the UE provides the PDCP SDU of the PDCP PDU to an upper protocol layer. In some embodiments, in the changes in one or more PDCP and/or RLC entities, channels, or protocol configurations, the UE is configured by the base station with one of a reserved one-bit field marked with an R field within an RLC PDU to indicate to the UE that an RLC segment with a specific segment information (SI) is configured for MRB, so that the UE retrieves an RLC SDU and provides the RLC SDU to an upper protocol layer. In some embodiments, if the UE receives the RLC PDU with the R filed within an RLC PDU header set to 1, the UE retrieves the RLC SDU assuming that a given RLC segment is configured for broadcast MRB; or otherwise, the UE retrieves the RLC segment assuming that the RLC PDU is configured for unicast DRB, and the UE provides the RLC SDU of the RLC segment to the upper protocol layer.

In some embodiments, the UE is configured to receive a layer 2 based signaling indication from the base station, wherein the layer 2 based signaling indication comprises an indication about a unified configuration of at least one entity or procedure of a layer 2 RAN protocol configuration and/or a layer 2 type signaling message indicating a change on protocol layer 2 entity and/or protocol procedure configurations to support the simultaneous reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services. In some embodiments, in the layer 2 based signaling indication from the base station, if the UE transmits, to the base station, the indication message indicating the interest of the UE in the simultaneous reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services, the base station configures it MAC sublayer via an RRC signaling to allow a broadcast logical traffic channel (MTCH/MRB) which the UE is interested to receive along with unicast to share a logical channel ID (LCID) space with a unicast DTCH/DRB LCID space when mapping it over the downlink shared transport channel (DL-SCH) . In some embodiments, for a UE to identify whether a MAC PDU received within a specific DL-SCH MAC transport channel is configured for unicast or broadcast, the base station provides the signaling message within a MAC PDU header to indicate to the UE that a specific is configured for a broadcast logical channel, so that the UE retrieves the MAC SDU according to the configuration. In some embodiments, the signaling message is indicated as a presence of one-bit reserved field marked with an R field within the MAC PDU header configured along with LCID and the other MAC header fields. In some embodiments, if the UE receives the MAC PDU containing the MAC header with the R field set to 1, the UE retrieves the MAC SDU received within the transport channel specified by the LCID within the MAC header assuming that the SDU is configured for broadcast MTCH/MRB; or otherwise, the UE considers that the MAC SDU is configured for unicast DTCH/DRB, and the UE provides the MAC SDU of the MAC PDU to the upper protocol layer according the assumption.

In some embodiments, as discussed in the above RAN protocol architecture, a fully separate protocol architecture apart from unicast protocol has been specified for broadcast session delivery in Rel-17 MBS, including separate protocols entities (e.g., SDAP, PDCP, RLC and MAC) and protocols channels (e.g., radio bearers, RLC, logical and transport channel) . Under the assumption of such a separate broadcast protocol architecture, for UE supporting or interested in receiving both broadcast and unicast simultaneously, the network has to configure such a UE with at least two sets of RAN proposals stacks to support simultaneous reception. In order to avoid such unnecessary configurations and to allow UE to use as much as possible the same processing and protocols configuration to receive both broadcast and unicast simultaneously, some embodiments of this disclosure provide a group of signaling procedure and protocol enhancements to support the aforementioned issues. These signaling and protocol enhancements relies on unifying at least one of the RAN protocol entity, configuration and/or procedure of RAN protocol configuration used for broadcast session with other protocol entity, configuration and/or procedure used for unicast session and vice versa. The unification of the protocol entities and procedures configuration is based on exchanging signaling messages being between UE and the network (e.g., a gNB) . For example, when UE is receiving a unicast session and broadcast session started a started or when receiving a broadcast session then it becomes interested in another unicast service reception. The UE may indicate to the network that it is interested on receiving a new session on the top of the old session that it was receiving. The network may reconfigure UE in a way that allows the UE to use/apply as much as possible the same reception processing, configuration or behavior that was using when it was receiving the old service to receive the new service. Furthermore, the network may signal the protocol reconfiguration to UE via layer 3 or layer 2 RAN protocol control or user data plane signaling messages, followed by transmitting the broadcast and unicast session data simultaneously to UE via the data plane channel, so that the UE can establish a single protocol entity and/or applies a same reception configuration or procedure to receive both unicast and broadcast session data as illustrated in FIG. 3, FIG. 4, and FIG. 5.

In some embodiments, in the group of methods provided above, the UE indication message about its interest in simultaneous reception could be provided to network via RRC singling message such as RRC connection request/resumption, UE RRC capability message and/or UE interest indication message or via a PDCP status or MAC report. In some embodiments, in the group of methods provided above, the signaling and protocol enhancements includes unifying at least one entity or one procedure of layer 3 RAN protocol configuration, and providing a layer 3 type signaling message to UE indicating the change on the protocol entity and/or protocol procedure configurations to support simultaneous reception. In some embodiments, in the group of methods provided above, the signaling and protocol enhancements includes unifying at least one entity or one procedure of layer 2 RAN protocol configuration, and providing a layer 2 type signaling message to UE indicating the change on the protocol entity and/or protocol procedure configurations to support simultaneous reception.

Layer 3 based signaling indication:

In some embodiments, in group of methods discussed above, the unification of at least one entity or one procedure of layer 3 RAN protocol configuration and providing a layer 3 type signaling message to UE indicating the change on the protocol entity and/or protocol procedure configuration comprises at least one of the following two options: A) Unifying the mapping of broadcast QoS flows to unicast radio bearers over SDAP entity/entities. B) Configuring of broadcast MRB to use unicast DRB PDCP and RLC channels.

A) Unifying the mapping of broadcast QoS flows to unicast radio bearers over SDAP entity/entities:

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of SDAP sublayer configuration of QoS flows to DRB mapping for unicast and broadcast sessions according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 illustrates that, in some embodiments, for this option, if UE has indicated an interest in a simultaneous reception of broadcast and unicast, gNB may configure (via RRC) its service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) sublayer by creating single/multiple SDAP entity/entities and allowing the QoS flows of a broadcast session to be mapped to one or more unicast data radio bearers (DRBs) instead of broadcast MRB as illustrated in FIG. 6. Then, the gNB may provide a signaling message/indication to UE indicating that the QoS flow associated with the broadcast session which UE is interested to receive simultaneously with unicast were mapped to a specific unicast DRB or range of unicast DRBs.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a header within SDAP PDU for indicating to UE broadcast QoS flows to DRB mapping for unicast and broadcast sessions according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of SDAP PDU containing SDAP header with RDI and RQI fields configured for simultaneous unicast and broadcast reception according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 illustrate that, in some embodiments, the signaling message could be provided/indicated to UE as a presence of an SDAP header along with the SDAP service data unit (SDU) within the SDAP program data unit as illustrates in FIG. 7. Generally, SDAP header contains a1-bit RDI (reflective QoS flow to DRB mapping indication) , a1-bit RQI (reflective QoS indication) and a 6-bit QFI (QoS flow ID which the IP packet is marked with) as illustrates in FIG. 8. Normally, no UE action is required if an SDAP header is configured with RDI and RQI field set to zero. To avoid additional signaling while indicating to a UE that a QoS flow of a broadcast session is mapped to a unicast DRB, the UE can be configured to suppose if it receives a downlink SDAP PDU of a DRB configured with a presence of an SDAP header with both RDI and RQI both set to zero, it shall retrieve the SDAP service data unit (SDU) from the SDAP data PDU assuming that the QFI associated to/with this DRB is configured for a broadcast session and deliver the retrieved SDAP SDU to the upper protocol layer according to this assumption as illustrates in Table 1 and FIG. 8.

Table 1: Field configuration for indicating mapping of broadcast QoS flows to unicast DRBs

B) Configuring of broadcast MRB to use unicast DRB PDCP and RLC channels:

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of PDCP and/or RLC entity/entities or protocol configurations for unicast and broadcast reception according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of signaling message within the PDCP or RLC PDU header to indicate to UE the PDCP and/or RLC entity/entities or protocol configurations is changed for unicast and broadcast reception according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a PDCP PDU containing PDCP header with R field configured for simultaneous unicast and broadcast reception according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an RLC PDU containing RLC header with R field configured for simultaneous unicast or broadcast data according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 9, FIG. 10, FIG. 11, and FIG. 12 illustrate that, in some embodiments, in this option, if the UE indicated an interest in a simultaneous reception of broadcast and unicast sessions, gNB may configure (via RRC) its PCDP or RLC sublayers or in a way that allows a radio bearer of an MBS broadcast session (MRB) to use the same PDCP and/or RLC entity/entities, channels or protocol configurations used for a unicast data radio bearer (DRB) as illustrate in FIG. 9. For this case gNB may provide either PDCP or RLC signaling message within the PDCP or RLC PDU header to indicate the changes in PDCP or RLC entity/entities or protocol configurations as illustrate in FIG. 10. In case of changing the PDCP entity/entities or PDCP protocol configurations, gNB may configure one of the reserved one-bit field marked with R within PDCP PDU to indicate to UE that the PDCP SDU specified by the sequence number given within PDCP header is configured for unicast or broadcast as illustrate in FIG. 11. Upon reception of the network indication, the UE may if it receives a PDCP PDU with R filed within PDU header set to 1, the UE shall retrieve the SDU for this PDCP assuming that the given PDCP data PDU is configured for broadcast MRB otherwise the UE shall retrieve the SDU for this PDCP assuming that the given PDCP PDU for is configured for unicast DRB then provides the SDU of this PDCP PDU to upper layer according to this assumption. in case of changing RLC entity/entities or protocol configurations, gNB may configure one of the reserved one-bit field marked with R within RLC PDU to indicate to UE that the RLC segment with this specific segment information (SI) is configured for MRB so that the UE can retrieve the RLC SDU for this segment and provided it to upper layer according to this assumption as illustrate in FIG. 12. Upon reception of the network indication, if UE receives an RLC PDU with R filed within RLC PDU header set to 1, the UE retrieves the SDU for this RLC assuming that the given RLC segment is configured for broadcast MRB, or otherwise, the UE retrieves the segment for this RLC assuming that the given RLC PDU is configured for unicast DRB then provides the SDU of this RLC segment to upper layer according to this assumption as illustrate in Table 2 and Table 3.

Due to the fact that there are some differences in configuration of PDCP and RLC sublayers for broadcast than unicast radio bearer. For example, for broadcast radio bearer PDCP security configuration is not needed also only RLC unacknowledged is supported for broadcast radio bearer. For this reason, gNB may either allows of configuring different PDCP and/or RLC sublayers configurations for broadcast and unicast within a single entity or configuring multiple transparent entities each with RLC and/or PDCP configuration supporting either unicast or broadcast at a given time and providing additional indications about the unicast and broadcast configurations differences to UE (e.g., through the additional reserved R field within PDCP and/or RLC headers for the security and acknowledgment configurations) , so that the UE may establish single entity RLC and/or PDCP or apply the same behavior with slight change in the reception configuration to receive both unicast DRB and broadcast MRB.

Table 2: A PDCP header Field configuration for indicating to UE that a PDCP is configured for broadcast MRB/unicast DRB

Table 3: An RLC header configuration with R field configured to indicate to UE an RLC segment is configured for MRB

R Bit	Description
0	Indicate to UE that this RLC segment is configured for unicast DRB
1	Indicate to UE that this RLC segment is configured for broadcast MRB

Layer 2 based signaling indication:

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of signaling message within the MAC PDU header to indicate/configure UE to assume that the SDU received with the specific broadcast logical traffic channel identified by the given LCID is mapped form unicast and broadcast reception according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a MAC PDU containing MAC header with R field configured for simultaneous unicast or broadcast data according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 illustrate that, in some embodiments, in this option, if UE has indicated an interest in a simultaneous reception of broadcast and unicast/multicast, gNB may configure (via RRC) its MAC sublayer in a way that allows the broadcast logical traffic channel (MTCH/MRB) which UE is interested to receive with unicast to share a logical channel ID (LCID) space (i.e., other than the LCID space range which specified for multicast) with unicast DTCH/DRB LCID space when mapping them over the downlink shared transport channel (DL-SCH) . To help UE to identify whether the MAC PDU received within a specific DL-SCH MAC transport channel is configured for unicast or broadcast, the gNB may provide signaling message within the MAC PDU header to indicate to UE that a specific is configured for a broadcast logical channel so that the UE retrieves the MAC SDU according to this assumption as illustrate in FIG. 13. The signaling indication message can be indicated as a presence of the one-bit reserved field marked with R within the MAC PDU header configured along with LCID and the other MAC header fields as illustrate in FIG. 14. For example, if a UE receives a MAC PDU containing MAC header with R field set to 1 it retrieves the MAC SDU received within the transport channel specified by the LCID within this MAC header is configured for broadcast MTCH/MRB otherwise it shall consider this MAC SDU is configured for unicast DTCH/DRB and provides the SDU of this MAC PDU to upper layer according to this assumption as illustrate in Table 4.

Table 4: A MAC hearer configuration to indicate to UE unicast and broadcast transport channel configuration

In summary, as discussed in the above RAN protocol architecture, a fully separate protocol architecture apart from unicast protocol has been specified for broadcast session delivery in Rel-17 MBS, including separate protocols entities (e.g., SDAP, PDCP, RLC and MAC) and protocols channels (e.g., radio bearers, RLC, logical and transport channel) . Under the assumption of such a separate broadcast protocol architecture, for a UE interested in receiving both broadcast and unicast simultaneously, the network has to configure such a UE with at least two sets of RAN proposals stacks to support simultaneous reception. In order to avoid such a configuration and to allow UE to use as much as possible the same procedures or processing configuration to receive both broadcast and unicast simultaneously, some embodiments of this disclosure provide a group of signaling procedure and protocol enhancements to support the aforementioned issues. These signaling and protocol enhancements relies on unifying at least one of the RAN protocol entity, configuration and/or procedure of RAN protocol configuration used for broadcast session with other protocol entity, configuration and/or procedure used for unicast session and vice versa. The unification is based on signaling messages exchanged between UE and the network (e.g., a gNB) . By unifying the entities or the procedures of RAN protocol used for unicast and/or broadcast, the UE may establish single entity and/or applies the same procedure to receive both unicast and broadcast. This could relatively reduce UE reception complexity in case of simultaneous reception.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of an example system 700 for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Embodiments described herein may be implemented into the system using any suitably configured hardware and/or software. FIG. 15 illustrates the system 700 including a radio frequency (RF) circuitry 710, a baseband circuitry 720, an application circuitry 730, a memory/storage 740, a display 750, a camera 760, a sensor 770, and an input/output (I/O) interface 780, coupled with each other at least as illustrated. The application circuitry 730 may include a circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processors may include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors, such as graphics processors, application processors. The processors may be coupled with the memory/storage and configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications and/or operating systems running on the system.

While the present disclosure has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements made without departing from the scope of the broadest interpretation of the appended claims.

Claims

A method for shared user equipment (UE) processing for reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services performed by a UE, comprising:

transmitting, by the UE, a UE indication message indicating an interest of the UE in a simultaneous reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services;

receiving, by the UE, a reconfiguration message/indication from a base station;

reconfiguring, by the UE, to update radio access network (RAN) protocols of the UE for a simultaneous operation based on the reconfiguration message/indication; and

establishing, by the UE, a single protocol entity and/or applying, by the UE, a same procedure or reception configuration to receive both the multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the UE indication message is transmitted to the base station via a radio resource control (RRC) singling message comprising an RRC connection request/resumption, a UE RRC capability message, and/or a UE interest indication message, or the UE indication message is transmitted to the base station via a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) status, or a medium access control (MAC) report.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising receiving a layer 3 based signaling indication from the base station, wherein the layer 3 based signaling indication comprises unifying at least one entity or procedure of a layer 3 RAN protocol configuration and receiving a layer 3 type signaling message indicating a change on protocol entity and/or protocol procedure configurations to support the simultaneous reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services.
The method according to claim 3, wherein the layer 3 based signaling indication further comprises unifying a mapping of broadcast quality of service (QoS) flows to unicast radio bearers over one or more service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) entities or configuring of a broadcast multicast/broadcast service (MBS) radio bearer (MRB) to use unicast data radio bearer (DRB) PDCP and radio link control (RLC) channels.
The method according to claim 4, wherein in the unifying the mapping of broadcast QoS flows to unicast radio bearers over one or more SDAP entities, if the UE transmits, to the base station, the indication message indicating the interest of the UE in the simultaneous reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services, the base station configures it SDAP sublayer via an RRC signaling by creating one or more SDAP entities and allowing QoS flows of a broadcast session to be mapped to one or more unicast DRBs instead of broadcast MRBs.
The method according to claim 5, wherein the UE is further configured to receives a signaling message/indication from the base station indicating that a QoS flow associated with the broadcast session which the UE is interested to receive simultaneously with unicast is mapped to a specific unicast DRB or a range of unicast DRBs.
The method according to claim 6, wherein the signaling message/indication is provided/indicated to the UE as a presence of an SDAP header along with a SDAP service data unit (SDU) within a SDAP program data unit.
The method according to claim 7, wherein the SDAP header contains a 1-bit reflective QoS flow to DRB mapping indication (RDI) , a 1-bit reflective QoS indication (RQI) , and a 6-bit QoS flow identifier (QFI) which an internet protocol (IP) packet is marked with.
The method according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the UE is configured to suppose if the UE receives a downlink SDAP packet data unit (PDU) of a DRB configured with a presence of an SDAP header with both the RDI and the RQI set to zero, the UE retrieves the an SDAP service data unit (SDU) from the SDAP PDU assuming that the QFI associated to a DRB is configured for a broadcast session and the UE delivers a retrieved SDAP SDU to an upper protocol layer according to the assumption.
The method according to any one of claims 8 to 9, wherein if the RQI is set 0 and the RDI is set 1, the UE informs the upper protocol layer that the RQI bit is set to 1; if the RQI is set 1 and the RDI is set 0, the UE stores the QoS flow to a DRB mapping rule; if the RQI is set 1 and the RDI is set 1, the UE informs the upper protocol layer that the RQI equal to 1 and the UE stores the QoS flow to the DRB mapping rule; and/or if the RQI is set 0 and the RDI is set 0, the UE is informed that the QFI associated the DRB is configured for the broadcast session.
The method according to claim 4, wherein in the configuring of MRB to use unicast DRB PDCP and RLC channels, if the UE transmits, to the base station, the indication message indicating the interest of the UE in the simultaneous reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services, the base station configures a PCDP or RLC sublayers of the base station via an RRC signaling by allowing a radio bearer of an MRB to use same one or more PDCP and/or RLC entities, channels, or protocol configurations used for a DRB.
The method according to claim 11, wherein the UE is configured to receive, form the base station, either a PDCP or RLC signaling message within a PDCP or RLC PDU header to indicate the changes in one or more PDCP and/or RLC entities, channels, or protocol configurations.
The method according to claim 12, wherein in the changes in one or more PDCP and/or RLC entities, channels, or protocol configurations, the UE is configured by the base station with one of a reserved one-bit field marked with an R field within a PDCP PDU to indicate to the UE that a PDCP SDU specified by a sequence number given within a PDCP header is configured for unicast or broadcast.
The method according to claim 13, wherein if the UE receives the PDCP PDU with the R filed within the PDU header set to 1, the UE retrieves the PDCP SDU for a PDCP assuming that the PDCP PDU is configured for broadcast MRB; or otherwise, the UE retrieves the SDU for the PDCP assuming that the PDCP PDU is configured for unicast DRB, and the UE provides the PDCP SDU of the PDCP PDU to an upper protocol layer.
The method according to claim 12, wherein in the changes in one or more PDCP and/or RLC entities, channels, or protocol configurations, the UE is configured by the base station with one of a reserved one-bit field marked with an R field within an RLC PDU to indicate to the UE that an RLC segment with a specific segment information (SI) is configured for MRB, so that the UE retrieves an RLC SDU and provides the RLC SDU to an upper protocol layer.
The method according to claim 15, wherein if the UE receives the RLC PDU with the R filed within an RLC PDU header set to 1, the UE retrieves the RLC SDU assuming that a given RLC segment is configured for broadcast MRB; or otherwise, the UE retrieves the RLC segment assuming that the RLC PDU is configured for unicast DRB, and the UE provides the RLC SDU of the RLC segment to the upper protocol layer.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising receiving a layer 2 based signaling indication from the base station, wherein the layer 2 based signaling indication comprises unifying at least one entity or procedure of a layer 2 RAN protocol configuration and receiving a layer 2 type signaling message indicating a change on protocol entity and/or protocol procedure configurations to support the simultaneous reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services.
The method according to claim 17, wherein in the layer 2 based signaling indication from the base station, if the UE transmits, to the base station, the indication message indicating the interest of the UE in the simultaneous reception of multicast/broadcast and unicast sessions/services, the base station configures it MAC sublayer via an RRC signaling by allowing a broadcast logical traffic channel (MTCH/MRB) which the UE is interested to receive with unicast to share a logical channel ID (LCID) space with a unicast DTCH/DRB LCID space when the LCID space with the unicast DTCH/DRB LCID space is mapped over a downlink shared transport channel (DL-SCH) .
The method according to claim 18, wherein for the UE to identify whether a MAC PDU received within a specific DL-SCH MAC transport channel is configured for unicast or broadcast, the base station provides the signaling message within a MAC PDU header to indicate to the UE that a specific is configured for a broadcast logical channel, so that the UE retrieves the MAC SDU according to the configuration.
The method according to claim 19, wherein the signaling message is indicated as a presence of one-bit reserved field marked with an R field within the MAC PDU header configured along with LCID and the other MAC header fields.
The method according to claim 20, wherein if the UE receives the MAC PDU containing the MAC header with the R field set to 1, the UE retrieves the MAC SDU received within the transport channel specified by the LCID within the MAC header assuming that the SDU is configured for broadcast MTCH/MRB; or otherwise, the UE considers that the MAC SDU is configured for unicast DTCH/DRB, and the UE provides the MAC SDU of the MAC PDU to the upper protocol layer according the assumption.
A user equipment, comprising:

a memory;

a transceiver; and

a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver;

wherein the processor is configured to execute the method of any one of claims 1 to 21.
A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 21.
A chip, comprising:

a processor, configured to call and run a computer program stored in a memory, to cause a device in which the chip is installed to execute the method of any one of claims 1 to 21.
A computer readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored, wherein the computer program causes a computer to execute the method of any one of claims 1 to 21.
A computer program product, comprising a computer program, wherein the computer program causes a computer to execute the method of any one of claims 1 to 21.
A computer program, wherein the computer program causes a computer to execute the method of any one of claims 1 to 21.