WO2024065321A1

WO2024065321A1 - Buffer status report triggered by data discarding

Info

Publication number: WO2024065321A1
Application number: PCT/CN2022/122308
Authority: WO
Inventors: Benoist Pierre Sebire; Chunli Wu; Sunyoung Lee
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co., Ltd.; Nokia Solutions And Networks Oy; Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2022-09-28
Filing date: 2022-09-28
Publication date: 2024-04-04

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a buffer status report (BSR) triggered by data discarding. A terminal device discards uplink data. Moreover, the terminal device triggers a BSR based on the discarding of the uplink data. As a result, it is possible to increase network capacity, save power consumption and improve transmission efficiency.

Description

BUFFER STATUS REPORT TRIGGERED BY DATA DISCARDING

FIELD

Various example embodiments relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular, to methods, devices, apparatuses, and computer readable storage media for communication.

BACKGROUND

User equipment (UE) uses a buffer status report (BSR) to communicate an amount of data that is pending for transmission over a channel to a base station. Based on the BSR, the base station allocates resources for the data transmission of the UE. Then, the UE transmits the data to the base station based on the allocated resources. However, in some cases, the amount of data that is pending for transmission may be changed due to some reasons. In these cases, how to reduce the impact caused by this change needs to be studied and developed.

SUMMARY

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution related to a BSR triggered by data discarding.

In a first aspect, there is provided a terminal device. The terminal device comprises at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the terminal device at least to: discard uplink data; and trigger a buffer status report based on the discarding of the uplink data.

In a second aspect, there is provided a network device. The network device comprises at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device at least to: receive a buffer status report from a terminal device; and determine, based on the buffer status report, that the buffer status report is triggered by discarding of uplink data at the terminal device.

In a third aspect, there is provided a method implemented at a terminal device. The method comprises discarding, at a terminal device, uplink data; and triggering a buffer status report based on the discarding of the uplink data.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a method implemented at a network device. The method comprises receiving, at a network device, a buffer status report from a terminal device; and determining, based on the buffer status report, that the buffer status report is triggered by discarding of uplink data at the terminal device.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided an apparatus. The apparatus comprises means for discarding, at a terminal device, uplink data; and means for triggering a buffer status report based on the discarding of the uplink data.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided an apparatus. The apparatus comprises means for receiving, at a network device, a buffer status report from a terminal device; and means for determining, based on the buffer status report, that the buffer status report is triggered by discarding of uplink data at the terminal device.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to any one of the above third to fourth aspect.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions, which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus at least to perform at least the method according to any one of the above third to fourth aspect.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a terminal device. The terminal device comprises discarding circuitry configured to discard uplink data; and triggering circuitry configured to trigger a buffer status report based on the discarding of the uplink data.

In a tenth aspect, there is provided a network device. The network device comprises receiving circuitry configured to receive a buffer status report from a terminal device; and determining circuitry configured to determine, based on the buffer status report, that the buffer status report is triggered by discarding of uplink data at the terminal device.

It is to be understood that the summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

FIG. 2 illustrates a signaling flow between the terminal device and the network device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a network device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing some example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example of a computer readable medium in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment, ” “an embodiment, ” “an example embodiment, ” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

It shall be understood that although the terms “first” and “second” etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a” , “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” , “comprising” , “has” , “having” , “includes” and/or “including” , when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and/or combinations thereof. As used herein, “at least one of the following: <a list of two or more elements>” and “at least one of <a list of two or more elements>” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or” , mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following:

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

(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) 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.

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 also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) , Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a terminal device and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the future fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, and/or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.

As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP) , for example, a node B (NodeB or NB) , an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , a New Radio (NR) NB (also referred to as a gNB) , a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) , a radio header (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , a relay, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology.

The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE) , a Subscriber Station (SS) , a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS) , or an Access Terminal (AT) . The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE) , laptop-mounted equipment (LME) , USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE) , an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD) , a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery) , an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and/or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and/or an automated processing chain contexts) , a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and/or industrial wireless networks, and the like. In the following description, the terms “terminal device” , “communication device” , “terminal” , “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

As stated above, a UE uses a BSR to communicate an amount of data that is pending for transmission over a channel to a base station. The BSR for LTE is specified in 3GPP TS 36.321 and the BSR for NR is specified in the third generation partnership project (3GPP) TS 38.321 and. BSR triggers are specified as follows in NR:

It can be seen that there are two main triggers. For example, the BSR may be triggered based on an event, for example, based on data arrival or padding. As another example, the BSR may be triggered based on a timer, for example, a retransmission timer or a periodic timer.

The following study item for Extended Reality (XR) was agreed in Radio Access Network (RAN) [RP-220285] .

In XR, the discard of Protocol Data Units (PDUs) might become more frequent. However, discarding packets in the transmitter makes previous BSR obsolete and leads to scheduling more resources than needed, which in turn would increase power consumption and decrease overall cell capacity. Thus, how to reduce the impact caused by data discarding needs to be studied and developed is still an important issue to be solved.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, there is providing a scheme for a BSR triggered by data discarding. With this scheme, a terminal device discards uplink data. Moreover, the terminal device triggers a BSR based on the discarding of the uplink data.

This scheme optimizes the update of the BSR by triggering the BSR based on the discarding of the uplink data. In this way, it is possible to avoid scheduling more resources than needed, and thus increase network capacity, save power consumption and improve transmission efficiency.

Principle and embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Reference is first made to FIG. 1, which illustrates an example environment 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented.

The environment 100, which may be a part of a communication network, comprises a terminal device 110 and a network device 120 communicating with each other or with other devices via each other.

The communication environment 100 may comprise any suitable number of devices and cells. In the communication environment 100, the terminal device 110 and the network device 120 can communicate data and control information with each other. A link from the network device 120 to the terminal device 110 is referred to as a downlink (DL) , while a link from the terminal device 110 to the network device 120 is referred to as an uplink (UL) .

It is to be understood that two devices are shown in the environment 100 only for the purpose of illustration, without suggesting any limitation to the scope of the present disclosure. In some example embodiments, the environment 100 may comprise a further device to communicate with the terminal device 110 and network device 120.

The communications in the environment 100 may follow any suitable communication standards or protocols, which are already in existence or to be developed in the future, such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) , long term evolution (LTE) , LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , the fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR) , Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) standards, and employs any suitable communication technologies, including, for example, Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) , Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) , time division multiplexing (TDM) , frequency division multiplexing (FDM) , code division multiplexing (CDM) , Bluetooth, ZigBee, and machine type communication (MTC) , enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) , massive machine type communication (mMTC) , ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) , Carrier Aggregation (CA) , Dual Connectivity (DC) , and New Radio Unlicensed (NR-U) technologies.

FIG. 2 illustrates a signaling flow 200 between the terminal device and the network device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the signaling flow 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the terminal device 110, the terminal device 110 discards (205) uplink data. Then, the terminal device 110 triggers (210) a BSR based on the discarding of the uplink data.

For example, the terminal device 110 may trigger a BSR for a logical channel (LCH) belonging to a logical channel group (LCG) whenever PDU discard occurs for that LCH. The discard can take place at a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer and a radio link control (RLC) layer. Whether to take into account the discard at both PDCP and RLC layers, the discard at the PDCP layer, or the discard at the RLC layer could be explicitly configured by a radio resource control (RRC) message. In some examples, the network device 120 may transmit an indication that the uplink data includes one of: data at a PDCP layer, data at an RLC layer, or both data at the PDCP layer and data at the RLC layer.

In some example embodiments, the BSR may be triggered in a variety of ways. For example, the terminal device may trigger the BSR based on an amount of the discarded uplink data and at least one threshold. As an example, the network device 120 may configure the least one threshold per LCH or per LCG and then transmit the configured at least one threshold to the terminal device 110.

In some example embodiments, the at least one threshold may comprise a first threshold, and the terminal device 110 may trigger the BSR if it determines that the amount of the discarded uplink data is above the first threshold. For example, the first threshold may be an absolute number of bytes.

In some example embodiments, the at least one threshold may comprise a second threshold, and the terminal device 110 may trigger the BSR if it determines that a ratio of the amount of the discarded uplink data to a total amount of buffered uplink data before the discarding is above the second threshold. For example, the second threshold may be 50%of the total amount of buffered uplink data.

In some example embodiments, the at least one threshold may comprise a third threshold, and the terminal device 110 may trigger the BSR if it determines that a ratio of the amount of the discarded uplink data to an amount of remaining uplink data after the discarding is above the third threshold.

In some example embodiments, the at least one threshold may comprise a fourth threshold and a fifth threshold, and the terminal device 110 may trigger the BSR if it determines that the amount of the discarded uplink data is above the fourth threshold and an amount of remaining uplink data after the discarding is below the fifth threshold. BSR may not be triggered if the remaining uplink data after the discarding is still above the fifth threshold. In this case, both the discarded data and the remaining data may be considered together.

In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 may generate a logical channel identifier associated with the BSR to indicate that the BSR is triggered by the discarding. In this case, the network device 120 may determine that the BSR is triggered by the discarding based on the logical channel identifier. In this case, as an example, the BSR may indicate an amount of the discarded uplink data. Alternatively or in addition, the BSR may indicate an amount of remaining uplink data after the discarding. In this case, a new BSR (referred to as Buffer Discard Report, BDR) may be introduced to signal the amount of the discarded uplink data.

Then, in some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 may transmit (215) the BSR to the network device 120. Accordingly, the network device 120 may receive (220) the BSR from the terminal device 110. Then, the network device 120 may determine (225) , based on the BSR, that the BSR is triggered by the discarding of uplink data at the terminal device 110. The reporting of the BSR may be made per LCG (as for the BSR) or per LCH to provide finer granularity. That is, the terminal device 110 may transmit the BSR to the network device 120 per LCH or per LCG.

In the example embodiments where the BSR indicates the amount of remaining uplink data after the discarding, the terminal device 110 may trigger the BSR, if it determines that a buffer status level (BS level) of the BSR is different from a previous BS level of a previous BSR transmitted to the network device 120. In this case, the comparison may be made with the previously reported BSR, and only a BSR resulting into signalling a different BS level may be allowed.

In the example embodiments where the BSR indicates the amount of remaining uplink data after the discarding, the terminal device 110 may trigger the BSR, if it determines that there is a difference between a first BS level and a second BS level, where the first BS level corresponding to total buffered uplink data of a previous BSR subtracting transmitted uplink data, and the second BS level corresponding to the total buffered uplink data of the previous BSR subtracting the transmitted uplink data and the discarded uplink data. In this case, the data already transmitted may be taken into account to ensure that the reported information is useful to the network device 120. In other words, this means that there must be a BS level difference between subtracting the transmitted data from the total buffered uplink data and subtracting both the transmitted data and discarded data from the total buffered uplink data. As an example, if 800 bytes are buffered and a BSR with BS level 4 is sent, then 100 bytes are transmitted which results in BS level 3, and then 100 bytes are discarded which still results in BS level 3, no BSR may need to be triggered.

Similarly, the trigger conditions described concerning the data discarding also apply to DC cases. In DC cases, there are two schedulers and one of them may not know the amount of remaining data to be transmitted changes due to the scheduling of another network device. In the DC cases where one scheduler may not know the other scheduler’s decision, a BSR may be triggered to affect the up-to-date BS level. For example, the above-mentioned trigger approaches associated with the threshold and the BS level difference may be used.

As an example, the terminal device 110 may trigger a BSR if it determines that the amount of the uplink data transmitted by the other network device is above a threshold. As another example, the terminal device 110 may trigger a BSR if it determines that a ratio of the amount of the uplink data transmitted by the other network to the total amount of buffered uplink data to be transmitted by the network device is above a threshold. As a further example, the terminal device 110 may trigger a BSR if it determines that the amount of the uplink data transmitted by the other network is above a threshold and the amount of remaining uplink data is below a further threshold.

For example, a BSR may be triggered if there is a difference between a third BS level and a fourth BS level, where the third BS level corresponds to the total buffered uplink data of a previous BSR subtracting uplink data transmitted by a network device, and the fourth BS level corresponds to the total buffered uplink data of the previous BSR subtracting the uplink data transmitted by the network device and the uplink data transmitted by the other network device.

In some example embodiments, the BSR may indicate the amount of the discarded uplink data when the indicated BS level does not change. This can help in case the discard does not result in BS level change according to the current BS table due to quantization.

In this way, by quickly providing the network device 120 with up-to-date information on possible discards at the terminal device 110, uplink resources can be reallocated to other terminal devices to increase network capacity and save UE power consumption.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart 300 of a method implemented at a terminal device 110 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 300 will be described from the perspective of the terminal device 110 with reference to FIG. 1.

At block 310, the terminal device 110 discards uplink data. At block 320, the terminal device 110 triggers a buffer status report based on the discarding of the uplink data.

In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 triggers the buffer status report by triggering the buffer status report based on an amount of the discarded uplink data and at least one threshold. In some example embodiments, the at least one threshold is configured by a network device 120 per logical channel or per logical channel group. In some example embodiments, the at least one threshold comprises a first threshold, and the terminal device 110 triggers the buffer status report based on the amount of the discarded uplink data and the at least one threshold by, based on determining that the amount of the discarded uplink data is above the first threshold, triggering the buffer status report.

In some example embodiments, the at least one threshold comprises a second threshold, and the terminal device 110 triggers the buffer status report based on the amount of the discarded uplink data and the at least one threshold by, based on determining that a ratio of the amount of the discarded uplink data to a total amount of buffered uplink data before the discarding is above the second threshold, triggering the buffer status report.

In some example embodiments, the at least one threshold comprises a third threshold, and the terminal device 110 triggers the buffer status report based on the amount of the discarded uplink data and the at least one threshold by, based on determining that a ratio of the amount of the discarded uplink data to an amount of remaining uplink data after the discarding is above the third threshold, triggering the buffer status report.

In some example embodiments, the at least one threshold comprises a fourth threshold and a fifth threshold, and wherein the terminal device 110 is caused to trigger the buffer status report based on the amount of the discarded uplink data and the at least one threshold by, based on determining that the amount of the discarded uplink data is above the fourth threshold and an amount of remaining uplink data after the discarding is below the fifth threshold, triggering the buffer status report.

In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 generates a logical channel identifier associated with the buffer status report to indicate that the buffer status report is triggered by the discarding.

In some example embodiments, the buffer status report indicates at least one of: an amount of the discarded uplink data; or an amount of remaining uplink data after the discarding.

In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 is caused to trigger the buffer status report by, based on determining that a buffer status level of the buffer status report is different from a previous buffer status level of a previous buffer status report transmitted to a network device 120, triggering the buffer status report.

In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 is caused to trigger the buffer status report by, based on determining that there is a difference between a first buffer status level and a second buffer status level, triggering the buffer status report, the first buffer status level corresponding to total buffered uplink data of a previous buffer status report subtracting transmitted uplink data, and the second buffer status level corresponding to the total buffered uplink data of the previous buffer status report subtracting the transmitted uplink data and the discarded uplink data.

In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 receives, from a network device 120, an indication that the uplink data includes one of: data at a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, data at a radio link control (RLC) layer, or both data at the PDCP layer and data at the RLC layer.

In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 transmits the buffer status report to a network device 120 per logical channel or per logical channel group.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart 400 of a method implemented at a network device 120 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 400 will be described from the perspective of the network device 120 with reference to FIG. 1.

At block 410, the network device 120 receives a buffer status report from a terminal device 110. At block 420, the network device 120 determines, based on the buffer status report, that the buffer status report is triggered by discarding of uplink data at the terminal device 110.

In some example embodiments, the network device 120 is caused to determine that the buffer status report is triggered by the discarding by determining that a logical channel identifier associated with the buffer status report indicates that the buffer status report is triggered by the discarding.

In some example embodiments, the network device 120 transmits, to the terminal device 110, an indication that the uplink data includes one of: data at a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, data at a radio link control (RLC) layer, or both data at the PDCP layer and data at the RLC layer.

In some example embodiments, the received buffer status report is per logical channel or per logical channel group.

In some example embodiments, the network device 120 transmits, to the terminal device 110, at least one threshold for the terminal device 110 to trigger the buffer status report based on an amount of the discarded uplink data. In some example embodiments, the network device 120 configures the least one threshold per logical channel or per logical channel group.

In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing the method 300 (for example, the terminal device 110) may comprise means for performing the respective steps of the method 300. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for discard uplink data; and means for triggering a buffer status report based on the discarding of the uplink data.

In some example embodiments, the means for triggering the buffer status report comprises means for triggering the buffer status report based on an amount of the discarded uplink data and at least one threshold. In some example embodiments, the at least one threshold is configured by a network device per logical channel or per logical channel group.

In some example embodiments, the at least one threshold comprises a first threshold, and the means for triggering the buffer status report based on the amount of the discarded uplink data and the at least one threshold comprises: means for based on determining that the amount of the discarded uplink data is above the first threshold, triggering the buffer status report.

In some example embodiments, the at least one threshold comprises a second threshold, and the means for triggering the buffer status report based on the amount of the discarded uplink data and the at least one threshold comprises: means for based on determining that a ratio of the amount of the discarded uplink data to a total amount of buffered uplink data before the discarding is above the second threshold, triggering the buffer status report.

In some example embodiments, the at least one threshold comprises a third threshold, and the means for triggering the buffer status report based on the amount of the discarded uplink data and the at least one threshold comprises: means for, based on determining that a ratio of the amount of the discarded uplink data to an amount of remaining uplink data after the discarding is above the third threshold, triggering the buffer status report.

In some example embodiments, the at least one threshold comprises a fourth threshold and a fifth threshold, and the means for triggering the buffer status report based on the amount of the discarded uplink data and the at least one threshold comprises: means for, based on determining that the amount of the discarded uplink data is above the fourth threshold and an amount of remaining uplink data after the discarding is below the fifth threshold, triggering the buffer status report.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for generating a logical channel identifier associated with the buffer status report to indicate that the buffer status report is triggered by the discarding.

In some example embodiments, the means for triggering the buffer status report comprises: means for, based on determining that a buffer status level of the buffer status report is different from a previous buffer status level of a previous buffer status report transmitted to a network device, triggering the buffer status report.

In some example embodiments, the means for triggering the buffer status report comprises: means for, based on determining that there is a difference between a first buffer status level and a second buffer status level, triggering the buffer status report, the first buffer status level corresponding to total buffered uplink data of a previous buffer status report subtracting transmitted uplink data, and the second buffer status level corresponding to the total buffered uplink data of the previous buffer status report subtracting the transmitted uplink data and the discarded uplink data.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for receiving, from a network device, an indication that the uplink data includes one of: data at a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, data at a radio link control (RLC) layer, or both data at the PDCP layer and data at the RLC layer.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for transmitting the buffer status report to a network device per logical channel or per logical channel group.

In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing other steps in some embodiments of the method 300. In some embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the performance of the apparatus.

In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing the method 400 (for example, the network device 120) may comprise means for performing the respective steps of the method 400. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for receiving a buffer status report from a terminal device; and means for determining, based on the buffer status report, that the buffer status report is triggered by discarding of uplink data at the terminal device.

In some example embodiments, the means for determining that the buffer status report is triggered by the discarding comprises: means for determining that a logical channel identifier associated with the buffer status report indicates that the buffer status report is triggered by the discarding.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for transmitting, to the terminal device, an indication that the uplink data includes one of: data at a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, data at a radio link control (RLC) layer, or both data at the PDCP layer and data at the RLC layer.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for transmitting, to the terminal device, at least one threshold for the terminal device to trigger the buffer status report based on an amount of the discarded uplink data. In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for configuring the least one threshold per logical channel or per logical channel group.

In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing other steps in some embodiments of the method 400. In some embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the performance of the apparatus.

FIG. 5 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device 500 that is suitable for implementing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 500 may be provided to implement the communication device, for example, the terminal device 110, or the network device 120 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 500 includes one or more processors 510, one or more memories 520 coupled to the processor 510, and one or more communication modules 540 coupled to the processor 510.

The communication module 540 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 540 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements.

The processor 510 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 500 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

The memory 520 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 524, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM) , a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD) , a digital video disk (DVD) , and other magnetic storage and/or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random access memory (RAM) 522 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

A computer program 530 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 510. The program 530 may be stored in the ROM 524. The processor 510 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 530 into the RAM 522.

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 530 so that the device 500 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4. The embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

In some example embodiments, the program 530 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 500 (such as in the memory 520) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 500. The device 500 may load the program 530 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 522 for execution. The computer readable medium may include any types of tangible non-volatile storage, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example of a computer readable medium 600 in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The computer readable medium 600 has the program 530 stored thereon. It is noted that although the computer readable medium 600 is depicted in form of CD or DVD in FIG. 6, the computer readable medium 600 may be in any other form suitable for carry or hold the program 530.

Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. 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. While various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, apparatus, system, technique or method 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.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor, to carry out the method as described above with reference to any of FIGS. 3-4. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowcharts and/or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program codes or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM) , a read-only memory (ROM) , an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory) , an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) , an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. The term “non-transitory, ” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM) .

Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, while several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

A terminal device comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the terminal device at least to:

discard uplink data; and

trigger a buffer status report based on the discarding of the uplink data.
The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the terminal device is caused to trigger the buffer status report by:

triggering the buffer status report based on an amount of the discarded uplink data and at least one threshold.
The terminal device of claim 2, wherein the at least one threshold is configured by a network device per logical channel or per logical channel group.
The terminal device of claim 2 or 3, wherein the at least one threshold comprises a first threshold, and wherein the terminal device is caused to trigger the buffer status report based on the amount of the discarded uplink data and the at least one threshold by:

based on determining that the amount of the discarded uplink data is above the first threshold, triggering the buffer status report.
The terminal device of claim 2 or 3, wherein the at least one threshold comprises a second threshold, and wherein the terminal device is caused to trigger the buffer status report based on the amount of the discarded uplink data and the at least one threshold by:

based on determining that a ratio of the amount of the discarded uplink data to a total amount of buffered uplink data before the discarding is above the second threshold, triggering the buffer status report.
The terminal device of claim 2 or 3, wherein the at least one threshold comprises a third threshold, and wherein the terminal device is caused to trigger the buffer status report based on the amount of the discarded uplink data and the at least one threshold by:

based on determining that a ratio of the amount of the discarded uplink data to an amount of remaining uplink data after the discarding is above the third threshold, triggering the buffer status report.
The terminal device of claim 2 or 3, wherein the at least one threshold comprises a fourth threshold and a fifth threshold, and wherein the terminal device is caused to trigger the buffer status report based on the amount of the discarded uplink data and the at least one threshold by:

based on determining that the amount of the discarded uplink data is above the fourth threshold and an amount of remaining uplink data after the discarding is below the fifth threshold, triggering the buffer status report.
The terminal device of any of claims 1-7, wherein the terminal device is further caused to:

generate a logical channel identifier associated with the buffer status report to indicate that the buffer status report is triggered by the discarding.
The terminal device of any of claims 1-8, wherein the buffer status report indicates at least one of:

an amount of the discarded uplink data; or

an amount of remaining uplink data after the discarding.
The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the terminal device is caused to trigger the buffer status report by:

based on determining that a buffer status level of the buffer status report is different from a previous buffer status level of a previous buffer status report transmitted to a network device, triggering the buffer status report.
The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the terminal device is caused to trigger the buffer status report by:

based on determining that there is a difference between a first buffer status level and a second buffer status level, triggering the buffer status report,

the first buffer status level corresponding to total buffered uplink data of a previous buffer status report subtracting transmitted uplink data, and the second buffer status level corresponding to the total buffered uplink data of the previous buffer status report subtracting the transmitted uplink data and the discarded uplink data.
The terminal device of any of claims 1-11, wherein the terminal device is further caused to:

receive, from a network device, an indication that the uplink data includes one of: data at a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, data at a radio link control (RLC) layer, or both data at the PDCP layer and data at the RLC layer.
The terminal device of any of claims 1-12, wherein the terminal device is further caused to:

transmit the buffer status report to a network device per logical channel or per logical channel group.
A network device comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device at least to:

receive a buffer status report from a terminal device; and

determine, based on the buffer status report, that the buffer status report is triggered by discarding of uplink data at the terminal device.
The network device of claim 14, wherein the network device is caused to determine that the buffer status report is triggered by the discarding by:

determining that a logical channel identifier associated with the buffer status report indicates that the buffer status report is triggered by the discarding.
The network device of claim 14, wherein the buffer status report indicates at least one of:

an amount of the discarded uplink data; or

an amount of remaining uplink data after the discarding.
The network device of any of claims 14-16, wherein the network device is further caused to:

transmit, to the terminal device, an indication that the uplink data includes one of: data at a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, data at a radio link control (RLC) layer, or both data at the PDCP layer and data at the RLC layer.
The network device of any of claims 14-17, wherein the received buffer status report is per logical channel or per logical channel group.
The network device of any of claims 14-18, wherein the network device is further caused to:

transmit, to the terminal device, at least one threshold for the terminal device to trigger the buffer status report based on an amount of the discarded uplink data.
The network device of claim 19, wherein the network device is further caused to:

configure the least one threshold per logical channel or per logical channel group.
A method comprising:

discarding, at a terminal device, uplink data; and

triggerring a buffer status report based on the discarding of the uplink data.
A method comprising:

receiving, at a network device, a buffer status report from a terminal device; and

determining, based on the buffer status report, that the buffer status report is triggered by discarding of uplink data at the terminal device.
An apparatus comprising:

means for discarding, at a terminal device, uplink data; and

means for triggerring a buffer status report based on the discarding of the uplink data.
An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving, at a network device, a buffer status report from a terminal device; and

means for determining, based on the buffer status report, that the buffer status report is triggered by discarding of uplink data at the terminal device.
A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method of claim 23 or 24.