WO2025201112A1

WO2025201112A1 - Methods and apparatus for delay status reporting enhancements in mobile communications

Info

Publication number: WO2025201112A1
Application number: PCT/CN2025/083138
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ming-Yuan Cheng; Pradeep Jose
Original assignee: MediaTek Inc
Current assignee: MediaTek Inc
Priority date: 2024-03-26
Filing date: 2025-03-18
Publication date: 2025-10-02
Anticipated expiration: 2026-09-26

Abstract

Various solutions for delay status reporting (DSR) enhancements in mobile communications are described. An apparatus may receive a configuration from a network node. The configuration indicates one or more remaining time thresholds for triggering a DSR procedure for a logical channel within a logical channel group (LCG). The apparatus may trigger the DSR procedure based on the one or more remaining time thresholds. Then, the apparatus may transmit a DSR medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) to the network node responsive to triggering the DSR procedure. The DSR MAC CE includes multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size for the LCG.

Description

METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR DELAY STATUS REPORTING ENHANCEMENTS IN MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION (S)

The present disclosure is part of a non-provisional application claiming the priority benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 63/569,793, filed 26 March 2024, and U.S. Patent Application No. 63/644,587, filed 9 May 2024. The contents of aforementioned applications are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is generally related to mobile communications and, more particularly, to delay status reporting (DSR) enhancements in mobile communications.

BACKGROUND

Unless otherwise indicated herein, approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims listed below and are not admitted as prior art by inclusion in this section.

The wireless communications network has grown exponentially over the years. A long-term evolution (LTE) system offers high peak data rates, low latency, improved system capacity, and low operating cost resulting from simplified network architecture. LTE systems, also known as the 4^th generation (4G) system, also provide seamless integration to older wireless network, such as GSM, CDMA and universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) . In LTE systems, an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) includes a plurality of evolved Node-Bs (eNodeBs or eNBs) communicating with a plurality of mobile stations, referred to as user equipments (UEs) . Alternatively, a wireless network may include a hybrid of 2G/3G/4G systems. In 3^rd generation partner project (3GPP) , the next generation mobile network (NGMN) board has decided to focus the future NGMN activities on defining the end-to-end requirements for 5^th generation (5G) new radio (NR) systems, 5G-advanced systems, and 6G systems.

In 3GPP Release 18 for 5G NR systems, the DSR procedure is introduced to provide the serving next generation Node-B (gNB) with delay status of logical channel groups (LCGs) via a DSR medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) , so that deliver of delay-critical packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) service data units (SDUs) may be handled promptly as required for some delay-sensitive services (e.g., extended reality (XR) service) . FIG. 1 illustrates an example scenario 100 of the content of a DSR MAC CE under current 5G NR framework. As shown in FIG. 1, this delay status for an LCG (denoted as LCG_i, where i=0～7) includes a remaining time, which is the shortest remaining value of the running PDCP discardTimers among all PDCP SDUs that are buffered for the LCG but have not been transmitted in any medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (PDU) , and the total amount of delay-critical UL data for the LCG. That is, in the reported delay status, only a single pair of remaining time and buffer size is included for one LCG. Consequently, the gNB will consider all delay-critical PDCP SDUs reported in the DSR as urgent as the PDCP SDU with the shortest remaining time. However, the current design of delay status reporting may be inefficient in terms of UL data/resource scheduling.

Therefore, there is a need to provide proper schemes to address this issue.

SUMMARY

The following summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be limiting in any way. That is, the following summary is provided to introduce concepts, highlights, benefits and advantages of the novel and non-obvious techniques described herein. Select implementations are further described below in the detailed description. Thus, the following summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended for use in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

One objective of the present disclosure is proposing schemes, concepts, designs, systems, methods and/or apparatus pertaining to DSR enhancements in mobile communications. It is believed that the above-described issue would be avoided or otherwise alleviated by implementing one or more of the proposed schemes described herein.

In one aspect, a method may involve an apparatus receiving a configuration from a network node, wherein the configuration indicates one or more remaining time thresholds for triggering a DSR procedure for a logical channel within an LCG. The method may also involve the apparatus triggering the DSR procedure based on the one or more remaining time thresholds. The method may further involve the apparatus transmitting a DSR MAC CE to the network node responsive to triggering the DSR procedure, wherein the DSR MAC CE comprises multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size for the LCG.

In one aspect, a method may involve a network node transmitting a configuration to an apparatus, wherein the configuration indicates one or more remaining time thresholds for triggering a DSR procedure for a logical channel within an LCG. The method may also involve the network node receiving a DSR MAC CE from the apparatus, wherein the DSR MAC CE comprises multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size for the LCG.

In one aspect, an apparatus may comprise a transceiver which, during operation, wirelessly communicates with a network node. The apparatus may also comprise a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver. The processor, during operation, may perform operations comprising receiving, via the transceiver, a configuration from the network node, wherein the configuration indicates one or more remaining time thresholds for triggering a DSR procedure for a logical channel within an LCG. The processor may also perform operations comprising triggering the DSR procedure based on the one or more remaining time thresholds. The processor may further perform operations comprising transmitting, via the transceiver, a DSR MAC CE to the network node responsive to triggering the DSR procedure, wherein the DSR MAC CE comprises multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size for the LCG.

It is noteworthy that, although description provided herein may be in the context of certain radio access technologies, networks and network topologies such as Long-Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Advanced, LTE-Advanced Pro, 5th Generation (5G) , New Radio (NR) , Internet-of-Things (IoT) and Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) , Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) , beyond 5G (B5G) , and 6th Generation (6G) , the proposed concepts, schemes and any variation (s) /derivative (s) thereof may be implemented in, for and by other types of radio access technologies, networks and network topologies. Thus, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the examples described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of the present disclosure. The drawings illustrate implementations of the disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. It is appreciable that the drawings are not necessarily in scale as some components may be shown to be out of proportion than the size in actual implementation in order to clearly illustrate the concept of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting an example scenario of the content of a DSR MAC CE under current 5G NR framework.

FIG. 2 is a diagram depicting an example scenario of a communication environment in which various solutions and schemes in accordance with the present disclosure may be implemented.

FIG. 3 is a diagram depicting an example scenario of the enhanced DSR procedure in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a diagram depicting an example scenario of a DSR MAC CE in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a diagram depicting another example scenario of a DSR MAC CE in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example communication system in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an example process in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of another example process in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED IMPLEMENTATIONS

Detailed embodiments and implementations of the claimed subject matters are disclosed herein. However, it shall be understood that the disclosed embodiments and implementations are merely illustrative of the claimed subject matters which may be embodied in various forms. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments and implementations set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments and implementations are provided so that description of the present disclosure is thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. In the description below, details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the presented embodiments and implementations.
Overview

Implementations in accordance with the present disclosure relate to various techniques, methods, schemes and/or solutions pertaining to DSR enhancements in mobile communications. According to the present disclosure, a number of possible solutions may be implemented separately or jointly. That is, although these possible solutions may be described below separately, two or more of these possible solutions may be implemented in one combination or another.

Under current 5G NR framework, the reported delay status only includes a single pair of remaining time and buffer size for one LCG. However, as above-described, this design of delay status reporting may be inflexible and inefficient in terms of UL data/resource scheduling, due to that the gNB will consider all delay-critical PDCP SDUs reported in the DSR as urgent as the PDCP SDU with the shortest remaining time.

In view of the above, the present disclosure proposes a number of schemes pertaining to DSR enhancements in mobile communications. According to the schemes of the present disclosure, the DSR procedure is enhanced to allow the DSR MAC CE to include multiple pairs of remaining time and buffer size for one LCG. Accordingly, by applying the schemes of the present disclosure, the network may be informed, via the enhanced DSR procedure, of additional information that can be used to perform UL scheduling more flexibly and efficiently.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example scenario 200 of a communication environment in which various solutions and schemes in accordance with the present disclosure may be implemented. Scenario 200 involves a UE 210 in wireless communication with a network 220 (e.g., a wireless network including a non-terrestrial network (NTN) and a TN) via at least a terrestrial network node 222 (e.g., a base station (BS) such as an eNB, a gNB, or a transmission/reception point (TRP) ) and/or at least a non-terrestrial network node 224 (e.g., a satellite) . For example, the terrestrial network node 222 may form a TN serving cell for wireless communication with the UE 210, or the terrestrial network node 222 and the non-terrestrial network node 224 may form an NTN serving cell for wireless communication with the UE 210. In some implementations, the network 220 may be a 4G/5G/B5G/6G network, and the UE 210 may be a smartphone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer or a notebook computer. Alternatively, the network 220 may be an IoT/NB-IoT/IIoT network, and the UE 210 may be an IoT device such as an NB-IoT UE or an enhanced machine-type communication (eMTC) UE (e.g., a bandwidth reduced low complexity (BL) UE or a coverage enhancement (CE) UE) . In such communication environment, the UE 210, the network 220, the terrestrial network node 222, and/or the non-terrestrial network node 224 may implement various schemes pertaining to DSR enhancements in mobile communications in accordance with the present disclosure, as described below. It is noteworthy that, while the various proposed schemes may be individually or separately described below, in actual implementations some or all of the proposed schemes may be utilized or otherwise implemented jointly. Of course, each of the proposed schemes may be utilized or otherwise implemented individually or separately.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example scenario 300 of the enhanced DSR procedure in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure. In step 302, the UE receives an RRC signaling from the gNB. Specifically, the RRC signaling includes the configuration of one or more remaining time thresholds for triggering the DSR procedure for a logical channel within an LCG. In step 304, the UE checks/determines, for each logical channel within the LCG, if the shortest remaining value of the running PDCP discardTimers among all the PDCP SDUs buffered for the logical channel that have not been transmitted in any MAC PDU and have not been reported as data volume in a DSR MAC CE becomes below at least one of the remainingTimeThreshold (s) of the LCG. Specifically, the buffered data may be divided into multiple portions (i.e., the buffered PDCP SDUs may be divided into multiple groups) based on the remainingTimeThreshold (s) configured for the LCG. If step 304 returns a positive result and there is no DSR pending for the logical channel, the UE may determine to trigger the DSR procedure for the logical channel and the flow may proceed to step 306. In step 306, the UE transmits a DSR MAC CE to the gNB, and the DSR MAC CE includes multiple pairs of remaining time and buffer size for the LCG, where each pair of remaining time and buffer size corresponds one of the multiple groups.

Although not shown, after receiving the DSR MAC CE, the gNB may perform flexible scheduling of UL transmissions for the UE and/or other UEs based on the delay information provided in the DSR MAC CE. For example, assuming that there are 3 remainingTimeThresholds configured for the LCG (e.g., remainingTimeThreshold₁=15ms, remainingTimeThreshold₂=10ms, and remainingTimeThreshold₃=5ms) , and the delay information provided by the DSR MAC CE indicates: { (remaining time=12ms, buffer size=10) , (remaining time=7ms, buffer size=5) , and (remaining time=3ms, buffer size=1) } . In this case, the gNB may determine to assign an UL resource for the 1 most-urgent PDCP SDU buffered with remaining time=3ms for a first moment, and then assign an UL resource for the 5 next-urgent PDCP SDUs buffered with remaining time=7ms for a second moment, and so on. As such, the gNB does not need to assign a large UL resource adequate to carry all 16 buffered PDCP SDUs for this UE, so that more UL resources will be available to be scheduled for other UEs.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example scenario 400 of a DSR MAC CE in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure. Part (A) of FIG. 4 shows the buffer status for LCG₀, wherein the buffered PDCP SDUs that have not been transmitted in any MAC PDU are divided into multiple groups (e.g., 3 groups) based on the multiple remaining time thresholds configured for the LCG. For example, group 1 contains the PDCP SDUs with remaining time between the first remaining time threshold (denoted as remainingTimeThreshold₁ in FIG. 4) and the second remaining time threshold (denoted as remainingTimeThreshold₂ in FIG. 4) , group 2 contains the PDCP SDUs with remaining time between the second remaining time threshold and the third remaining time threshold (denoted as remainingTimeThreshold₃ in FIG. 4) , and group 3 contains the PDCP SDUs with remaining time less than the third remaining time threshold. Part (B) of FIG. 4 shows the content of the DSR MAC CE, including multiple pairs (e.g., 3 pairs) of remaining time and buffer size for each LCG. Specifically, the fields in the DSR MAC CE are defined as follows. The LCG_i field is 1 bit long, and indicates the presence of buffer and it’s delay information (i.e. the Remaining Time and Buffer Size fields) for LCG_i. For example, the LCG_i field set to 1 indicates that the buffer and it’s delay information for LCG_i is reported, and the LCG_i field set to 0 indicates that the buffer and it’s delay information for LCG_i is not reported. The BT field is 1 bit long, and is present only if the corresponding LCG is configured with additionalBS-TableAllowed and the buffer size indicated by the Buffer Size field of the corresponding group is not zero, or otherwise, this field is reserved and set to 0. If present, the BT field set to 1 indicates that the buffer sizes specified in Table 6.1.3.1-3 of 3GPP TS 38.321 are used to set the value of the Buffer Size field, while the BT field set to 0 indicates that the buffer sizes specified in Table 6.1.3.1-2 of 3GPP TS 38.321 are used instead. The R field is 1 bit long, and is set to 0 to represent for reserved bit. The Remaining Time field is 6 bits long, and indicates the shortest remaining value of running PDCP discardTimers among all PDCP SDUs of the corresponding group for an LCG, at the time of the first symbol of the first physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission that includes this DSR MAC CE. The Remaining Time field is present only if the buffer size indicated by the corresponding Buffer Size field is not zero, or otherwise, this field is reserved and set to 0. The Buffer Size field is 8 bits long, and indicates the total amount of delay-critical UL data (i.e., PDCP SDUs) of the corresponding group for an LCG.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example scenario 500 of a DSR MAC CE in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure. Part (A) of FIG. 5 shows the buffer status for LCG₀, wherein the buffered PDCP SDUs that have not been transmitted in any MAC PDU are divided into multiple groups (e.g., 2 groups) based on multiple importance levels (pre-) defined for PDCP SDUs. For example, there may be 2 importance levels, one for low importance and the other for high importance, and the R field may be used to indicate the importance level of the corresponding buffer size, e.g., R set to 0 indicates low importance, or set to 1 indicates high importance. Part (B) of FIG. 5 shows the content of the DSR MAC CE, including multiple pairs (e.g., 2 pairs) of remaining time and buffer size for each LCG, where each pair of remaining time and buffer size corresponds to one of the multiple groups. The detailed description of the LCG_i field, the BT field, the Remaining Time field, and the Buffer Size field is similar to the part (B) of FIG. 4, and thus, is omitted herein for brevity.
Illustrative Implementations

FIG. 6 illustrates an example communication system 600 having an example communication apparatus 610 and an example network apparatus 620 in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure. Each of communication apparatus 610 and network apparatus 620 may perform various functions to implement schemes, techniques, processes and methods described herein pertaining to DSR enhancements in mobile communications, including scenarios/schemes described above as well as processes 700 and 800 described below.

Communication apparatus 610 may be a part of an electronic apparatus, which may be a dual-steer device containing one or more UEs such as a portable or mobile apparatus, a wearable apparatus, a wireless communication apparatus or a computing apparatus. For instance, communication apparatus 610 may be implemented in a smartphone, a smartwatch, a personal digital assistant, an electronic control unit (ECU) in a vehicle, a digital camera, or a computing equipment such as a tablet computer, a laptop computer or a notebook computer. Communication apparatus 610 may also be a part of a machine type apparatus, which may be an IoT, NB-IoT, eMTC, IIoT UE such as an immobile or a stationary apparatus, a home apparatus, a roadside unit (RSU) , a wire communication apparatus or a computing apparatus. For instance, communication apparatus 610 may be implemented in a smart thermostat, a smart fridge, a smart door lock, a wireless speaker or a home control center. Alternatively, communication apparatus 610 may be implemented in the form of one or more integrated-circuit (IC) chips such as, for example and without limitation, one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, one or more reduced-instruction set computing (RISC) processors, or one or more complex-instruction-set-computing (CISC) processors. Communication apparatus 610 may include at least some of those components shown in FIG. 6 such as a processor 612, for example. Communication apparatus 610 may further include one or more other components not pertinent to the proposed schemes of the present disclosure (e.g., internal power supply, display device and/or user interface device) , and, thus, such component (s) of communication apparatus 610 are neither shown in FIG. 6 nor described below in the interest of simplicity and brevity.

Network apparatus 620 may be a part of an electronic apparatus, which may be a network node such as a satellite, a BS, a small cell, a router, or a gateway of a 4G/5G/B5G/6G, NR, IoT, NB-IoT or IIoT network. Alternatively, network apparatus 620 may be implemented in the form of one or more IC chips such as, for example and without limitation, one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, or one or more RISC or CISC processors. Network apparatus 620 may include at least some of those components shown in FIG. 6 such as a processor 622, for example. Network apparatus 620 may further include one or more other components not pertinent to the proposed scheme of the present disclosure (e.g., internal power supply, display device and/or user interface device) , and, thus, such component (s) of network apparatus 620 are neither shown in FIG. 6 nor described below in the interest of simplicity and brevity.

In one aspect, each of processor 612 and processor 622 may be implemented in the form of one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, or one or more CISC processors. That is, even though a singular term “aprocessor” is used herein to refer to processor 612 and processor 622, each of processor 612 and processor 622 may include multiple processors in some implementations and a single processor in other implementations in accordance with the present disclosure. In another aspect, each of processor 612 and processor 622 may be implemented in the form of hardware (and, optionally, firmware) with electronic components including, for example and without limitation, one or more transistors, one or more diodes, one or more capacitors, one or more resistors, one or more inductors, one or more memristors and/or one or more varactors that are configured and arranged to achieve specific purposes in accordance with the present disclosure. In other words, in at least some implementations, each of processor 612 and processor 622 is a special-purpose machine specifically designed, arranged and configured to perform specific tasks, including DSR enhancements , in a device (e.g., as represented by communication apparatus 610) and a network node (e.g., as represented by network apparatus 620) in accordance with various implementations of the present disclosure.

In some implementations, communication apparatus 610 may also include a transceiver 616 coupled to processor 612 and capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data. In some implementations, transceiver 616 may be capable of wirelessly communicating with different types of UEs and/or wireless networks of different RATs. In some implementations, transceiver 616 may be equipped with a plurality of antenna ports (not shown) such as, for example, four antenna ports. That is, transceiver 616 may be equipped with multiple transmit antennas and multiple receive antennas for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communications. In some implementations, network apparatus 620 may also include a transceiver 626 coupled to processor 622. Transceiver 626 may include a transceiver capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data. In some implementations, transceiver 626 may be capable of wirelessly communicating with different types of UEs of different RATs. In some implementations, transceiver 626 may be equipped with a plurality of antenna ports (not shown) such as, for example, four antenna ports. That is, transceiver 626 may be equipped with multiple transmit antennas and multiple receive antennas for MIMO wireless communications.

In some implementations, communication apparatus 610 may further include a memory 614 coupled to processor 612 and capable of being accessed by processor 612 and storing data therein. In some implementations, network apparatus 620 may further include a memory 624 coupled to processor 622 and capable of being accessed by processor 622 and storing data therein. Each of memory 614 and memory 624 may include a type of random-access memory (RAM) such as dynamic RAM (DRAM) , static RAM (SRAM) , thyristor RAM (T-RAM) and/or zero-capacitor RAM (Z-RAM) . Alternatively, or additionally, each of memory 614 and memory 624 may include a type of read-only memory (ROM) such as mask ROM, programmable ROM (PROM) , erasable programmable ROM (EPROM) and/or electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) . Alternatively, or additionally, each of memory 614 and memory 624 may include a type of non-volatile random-access memory (NVRAM) such as flash memory, solid-state memory, ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM) , magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM) and/or phase-change memory.

Each of communication apparatus 610 and network apparatus 620 may be a communication entity capable of communicating with each other using various proposed schemes in accordance with the present disclosure. For illustrative purposes and without limitation, a description of capabilities of communication apparatus 610, as a UE, and network apparatus 620, as a network node (e.g., BS) , is provided below with processes 700 and 800.
Illustrative Processes

FIG. 7 illustrates an example process 700 in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure. Process 700 may be an example implementation of above scenarios/schemes, whether partially or completely, with respect to DSR enhancements in mobile communications. Process 700 may represent an aspect of implementation of features of communication apparatus 610. Process 700 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions as illustrated by one or more of blocks 710 to 730. Although illustrated as discrete blocks, various blocks of process 700 may be divided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation. Moreover, the blocks of process 700 may be executed in the order shown in FIG. 7 or, alternatively in a different order. Process 700 may be implemented by or in communication apparatus 610 or any suitable UE or machine type device. Solely for illustrative purposes and without limiting the scope, process 700 is described below in the context of communication apparatus 610, as a UE, and network apparatus 620, as a network node (e.g., a BS such as gNB) . Process 700 may begin at block 710.

At block 710, process 700 may involve processor 612 of communication apparatus 610 receiving, via transceiver 616, a configuration from network apparatus 620, wherein the configuration indicates one or more remaining time thresholds for triggering a DSR procedure for a logical channel within an LCG. Process 700 may proceed from block 710 to block 720.

At block 720, process 700 may involve processor 612 triggering the DSR procedure based on the one or more remaining time thresholds. Process 700 may proceed from block 720 to block 730.

At block 730, process 700 may involve processor 612 transmitting, via transceiver 616, a DSR MAC CE to network apparatus 620 responsive to triggering the DSR procedure, wherein the DSR MAC CE comprises multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size for the LCG.

In some implementations, in an event that the configuration indicates multiple remaining time thresholds for the logical channel within the LCG, all PDCP SDUs buffered for the LCG may be divided into multiple groups based on the multiple remaining time thresholds, and each of the multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size may correspond to one of the multiple groups.

In some implementations, the remaining time in each of the multiple pairs may indicate a shortest remaining value of running PDCP discard timers among all PDCP SDUs of the corresponding group, and the buffer size in each of the multiple pairs may indicate a total amount of PDCP SDUs of the corresponding group.

In some implementations, in an event that the configuration indicates a single remaining time threshold for the logical channel within the LCG, all PDCP SDUs buffered for the LCG may be divided into multiple groups based on multiple importance levels, and each of the multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size may correspond to one of the multiple groups.

In some implementations, the DSR MAC CE may further include multiple importance indications, each indicating one of the multiple importance levels, for the multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size.

In some implementations, the triggering of the DSR procedure based on the one or more remaining time thresholds may include: determining that a shortest remaining value of running PDCP discard timers among all PDCP SDUs buffered for the logical channel that have not been transmitted in any MAC PDU and have not been reported as data volume in any DSR MAC CE becomes below at least one of the one or more remaining time thresholds.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example process 800 under schemes in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure. Process 800 may represent an aspect of implementing various proposed designs, concepts, schemes, systems and methods described above, whether partially or entirely, with respect to DSR enhancements in mobile communications. Process 800 may represent an aspect of implementation of features of network apparatus 620. Process 800 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions as illustrated by one or more of blocks 810 to 820. Although illustrated as discrete blocks, various blocks of process 800 may be divided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation. Moreover, the blocks/sub-blocks of process 800 may be executed in the order shown in FIG. 8 or, alternatively in a different order. Process 800 may be implemented by or in network apparatus 620 as well as any variations thereof. Solely for illustrative purposes and without limiting the scope, process 800 is described below in the context of communication apparatus 610, as a UE, and network apparatus 620, as a network node (e.g., a BS such as gNB) . Process 800 may begin at block 810.

At block 810, process 800 may involve processor 622 of network apparatus 620 transmitting, via transceiver 626, a configuration to communication apparatus 610, wherein the configuration indicates one or more remaining time thresholds for triggering a DSR procedure for a logical channel within an LCG. Process 800 may proceed from block 810 to block 820.

At block 820, process 800 may involve processor 622 receiving, via transceiver 626, a DSR MAC CE from communication apparatus 610, wherein the DSR MAC CE comprises multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size for the LCG.

In some implementations, in an event that the configuration indicates multiple remaining time thresholds for the logical channel within the LCG, each of the multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size may correspond to one of multiple groups into which all PDCP SDUs buffered for the LCG in communication apparatus 610 are divided based on the multiple remaining time thresholds.

In some implementations, in an event that the configuration indicates a single remaining time threshold for the logical channel within the LCG, each of the multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size may correspond to one of multiple groups into which all PDCP SDUs buffered for the LCG in the apparatus are divided based on multiple importance levels.

In some implementations, the DSR MAC CE may further include multiple importance indications, each indicating one of the multiple importance levels, for the multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size.
Additional Notes

The herein-described subject matter sometimes illustrates different components contained within, or connected with, different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely examples, and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively ″associated" such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as "associated with" each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being "operably connected" , or "operably coupled" , to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed as being "operably couplable" , to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interacting components and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactable components.

Further, with respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

Moreover, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims, e.g., bodies of the appended claims, are generally intended as “open” terms, e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to, ” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least, ” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to, ” etc. It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to implementations containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an, " e.g., “a” and/or “an” should be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more; ” the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should be interpreted to mean at least the recited number, e.g., the bare recitation of "two recitations, " without other modifiers, means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations. Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc. ” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention, e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc. In those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc. ” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention, e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc. It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B. ”

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that various implementations of the present disclosure have been described herein for purposes of illustration, and that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the various implementations disclosed herein are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.

Claims

A method, comprising:

receiving, by a processor of an apparatus, a configuration from a network node, wherein the configuration indicates one or more remaining time thresholds for triggering a delay status reporting (DSR) procedure for a logical channel within a logical channel group (LCG) ;

triggering, by the processor, the DSR procedure based on the one or more remaining time thresholds; and

transmitting, by the processor, a DSR medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) to the network node responsive to triggering the DSR procedure, wherein the DSR MAC CE comprises multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size for the LCG.
The method of Claim 1, wherein, in an event that the configuration indicates multiple remaining time thresholds for the logical channel within the LCG, all packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) service data units (SDUs) buffered for the LCG are divided into multiple groups based on the multiple remaining time thresholds, and each of the multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size corresponds to one of the multiple groups.
The method of Claim 2, wherein the remaining time in each of the multiple pairs indicates a shortest remaining value of running PDCP discard timers among all PDCP SDUs of the corresponding group, and the buffer size in each of the multiple pairs indicates a total amount of PDCP SDUs of the corresponding group.
The method of Claim 1, wherein, in an event that the configuration indicates a single remaining time threshold for the logical channel within the LCG, all packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) service data units (SDUs) buffered for the LCG are divided into multiple groups based on multiple importance levels, and each of the multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size corresponds to one of the multiple groups.
The method of Claim 4, wherein the remaining time in each of the multiple pairs indicates a shortest remaining value of running PDCP discard timers among all PDCP SDUs of the corresponding group, and the buffer size in each of the multiple pairs indicates a total amount of PDCP SDUs of the corresponding group.
The method of Claim 4, wherein the DSR MAC CE further comprises multiple importance indications, each indicating one of the multiple importance levels, for the multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size.
The method of Claim 1, wherein the triggering of the DSR procedure based on the one or more remaining time thresholds comprises:

determining that a shortest remaining value of running packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) discard timers among all PDCP service data units (SDUs) buffered for the logical channel that have not been transmitted in any medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (PDU) and have not been reported as data volume in any DSR MAC CE becomes below at least one of the one or more remaining time thresholds.
A method, comprising:

transmitting, by a processor of a network node, a configuration to an apparatus, wherein the configuration indicates one or more remaining time thresholds for triggering a delay status reporting (DSR) procedure for a logical channel within a logical channel group (LCG) ; and

receiving, by the processor, a DSR medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) from the apparatus, wherein the DSR MAC CE comprises multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size for the LCG.
The method of Claim 8, wherein, in an event that the configuration indicates multiple remaining time thresholds for the logical channel within the LCG, each of the multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size corresponds to one of multiple groups into which all packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) service data units (SDUs) buffered for the LCG in the apparatus are divided based on the multiple remaining time thresholds.
The method of Claim 9, wherein the remaining time in each of the multiple pairs indicates a shortest remaining value of running PDCP discard timers among all PDCP SDUs of the corresponding group, and the buffer size in each of the multiple pairs indicates a total amount of PDCP SDUs of the corresponding group.
The method of Claim 8, wherein, in an event that the configuration indicates a single remaining time threshold for the logical channel within the LCG, each of the multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size corresponds to one of multiple groups into which all packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) service data units (SDUs) buffered for the LCG in the apparatus are divided based on multiple importance levels.
The method of Claim 11, wherein the remaining time in each of the multiple pairs indicates a shortest remaining value of running PDCP discard timers among all PDCP SDUs of the corresponding group, and the buffer size in each of the multiple pairs indicates a total amount of PDCP SDUs of the corresponding group.
The method of Claim 11, wherein the DSR MAC CE further comprises multiple importance indications, each indicating one of the multiple importance levels, for the multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size.
An apparatus, comprising:

a transceiver which, during operation, wirelessly communicates with a network node; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver such that, during operation, the processor performs operations comprising:

receiving, via the transceiver, a configuration from the network node, wherein the configuration indicates one or more remaining time thresholds for triggering a delay status reporting (DSR) procedure for a logical channel within a logical channel group (LCG) ;

triggering the DSR procedure based on the one or more remaining time thresholds; and

transmitting, via the transceiver, a DSR medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) to the network node responsive to triggering the DSR procedure, wherein the DSR MAC CE comprises multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size for the LCG.
The apparatus of Claim 14, wherein, in an event that the configuration indicates multiple remaining time thresholds for the logical channel within the LCG, all packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) service data units (SDUs) buffered for the LCG are divided into multiple groups based on the multiple remaining time thresholds, and each of the multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size corresponds to one of the multiple groups.
The apparatus of Claim 15, wherein the remaining time in each of the multiple pairs indicates a shortest remaining value of running PDCP discard timers among all PDCP SDUs of the corresponding group, and the buffer size in each of the multiple pairs indicates a total amount of PDCP SDUs of the corresponding group.
The apparatus of Claim 14, wherein, in an event that the configuration indicates a single remaining time threshold for the logical channel within the LCG, all packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) service data units (SDUs) buffered for the LCG are divided into multiple groups based on multiple importance levels, and each of the multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size corresponds to one of the multiple groups.
The apparatus of Claim 17, wherein the remaining time in each of the multiple pairs indicates a shortest remaining value of running PDCP discard timers among all PDCP SDUs of the corresponding group, and the buffer size in each of the multiple pairs indicates a total amount of PDCP SDUs of the corresponding group.
The apparatus of Claim 17, wherein the DSR MAC CE further comprises multiple importance indications, each indicating one of the multiple importance levels, for the multiple pairs of a remaining time and a buffer size.
The apparatus of Claim 14, wherein the triggering of the DSR procedure based on the one or more remaining time thresholds comprises:

determining that a shortest remaining value of running packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) discard timers among all PDCP service data units (SDUs) buffered for the logical channel that have not been transmitted in any medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (PDU) and have not been reported as data volume in any DSR MAC CE becomes below at least one of the one or more remaining time thresholds.