GRANT OR DL SPS

RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] The application claims the benefits of priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/842,638, entitled“Improving reliability and latency of UL configured grant or DL SPS” and filed at the United States Patent and Trademark Office on May 3, 2019, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present description generally relates to wireless communication systems and more specifically to improving reliability and latency of transmissions in the uplink.

BACKGROUND

[0003] New radio (NR) supports two types of configured grants of resources for transmissions, Type 1 and Type 2. For Type 1, the UE is Radio Resource Control (RRC) configured with a grant that indicates all needed transmission parameters, while for Type 2, the configured grant is partly RRC configured and partly Layer 1 (LI) signaled (using Downlink Control Information (DCI) signaling). For Type 2 configured grant, the resource allocation follows a Uplink (UL) grant received on the DCI and the resource then recurs periodically whose period is configured by RRC. The UL grant has a time-domain resource assignment field that provides a row index of a higher layer configured table“pusch-symbol Allocation”. The indexed row defines the slot offset“K2”, the start and length indicator“SLIV”, and the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) mapping type to be applied in the PUSCH transmission. The UE transmits a Medium Access Control- Control Element (MAC-CE) confirm message when the configured grant is activated or deactivated.

[0004] The RRC ConfiguredGrantConfig information element is defined in Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Technical specification (TS) 38.331 V15.3.0.In 3GPP TS 38.214 V.15.2.0, Section 6.12.3.1, it discloses that for a UE configured with K CG PUSCH repetitions (parameter repK ) within the period P, such that with the time duration for the transmission of K repetitions it is not expected to be larger than the time duration derived by the periodicity P, the repetitions occasions of the K repetitions designated with a specific RV sequence (parameter repK-RV), e.g., (0,2,3, 1 } or {0,3,03 }, or {0,0, 0,0}. For any RV sequence, the repetitions shall begin with the first repetition occasion or any repetition occasion designated with RV 0 (except at the last transmission occasion when K=8 with RV sequence (0,0, 0,0}) and shall be terminated after transmitting at the last transmission occasion among the K repetitions, or when a UL grant for scheduling the same TB is received within the period P, whichever is reached first.

SUMMARY

[0005] Currently there exists some challenges. For a UL configured grant with Redundancy Version (RV) sequence (0,2,3, 1 } or (0,3, 0,3 }, the initial transmission opportunity of a Transport Block (TB) is limited.

[0006] - For RV sequence (0,2,3, 1 }, the initial transmission can start at every 4-th transmission occasion.

[0007] - For RV sequence (0,3, 0,3 }, the initial transmission can start at every 2nd transmission occasion.

[0008] This is illustrated in Table 1 and Figure 1.

Table 1. Rel-15: available transmission occasion n for first transmission of a TB

[0009] In the current state, when a UE is configured with TB repetition with parameter repK>l, and RV-sequence is (0,2,3, 1 } or (0,3, 0,3 }, there can be a large alignment delay, as can be seen in Figure 1. For example, Figure 1 shows an alignment delay of more than 7 slots due to the RV. Hence, there is a need to reduce alignment delay due to RV sequence in the initial transmission.

[0010] Embodiments may overcome or mitigate the challenges above.

[0011] According to one aspect, there are provided methods performed by a wireless device. A method may comprise receiving a plurality of uplink grants from a network node; sending control information to the network node, the control information comprising a priority indicator; and sending data to the network node based on the priority indicator. Another method may comprise sending a uplink control information (UCI) to a network node, the UCI comprising at least a priority indicator indicating one of a priority among a plurality of logical channels on which to transmit data and a priority of payload data.

[0012] According to another aspect, there is provided a wireless device configured, or operable, to perform one or more functionalities (e.g. actions, operations, steps, etc.) as described herein. [0013] In some embodiments, the wireless device may comprise one or more communication interfaces configured to communicate with one or more other radio nodes and/or with one or more network nodes, and processing circuitry operatively connected to the communication interface, the processing circuitry being configured to perform one or more functionalities as described herein. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry may comprise at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions which, upon being executed by the processor, configure the at least one processor to perform one or more functionalities as described herein.

[0014] In some embodiments, the wireless device may comprise one or more functional modules configured to perform one or more functionalities as described herein.

[0015] According to yet another aspect, there are provided methods performed by a network node. A method may comprise: receiving control information from a wireless device, the control information comprising a priority indicator indicating one of a priority among a plurality of logical channels and a priority of data; receiving data on the plurality of logical channels based on the priority indicator. Another method may comprise receiving control information (UCI) from a wireless device, the UCI comprising at least a priority indicator indicating one of a priority among a plurality of logical channels on which to transmit data and a priority of payload data.

[0016] According to another aspect, there is provided a network node configured, or operable, to perform one or more functionalities (e.g. actions, operations, steps, etc.) as described herein.

[0017] In some embodiments, the network node may comprise one or more communication interfaces configured to communicate with one or more other radio nodes and/or with one or more network nodes, and processing circuitry operatively connected to the communication interface, the processing circuitry being configured to perform one or more functionalities as described herein. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry may comprise at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions which, upon being executed by the processor, configure the at least one processor to perform one or more functionalities as described herein.

[0018] In some embodiments, the network node may comprise one or more functional modules configured to perform one or more functionalities as described herein.

[0019] According to another aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a computer program product comprising instructions which, upon being executed by processing circuitry (e.g., at least one processor) of the network node or wireless device, configure the processing circuitry to perform one or more functionalities as described herein. [0020] The advantages/technical benefits of the embodiments of the present disclosure include reducing alignment delay due to RV sequence in an initial transmission and to improve reliability and latency in uplink grants/channels.

[0021] This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated embodiments and is not intended to identify key or critical aspects or features of any or all embodiments or to delineate the scope of any or all embodiments. In that sense, other aspects and features will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Exemplary embodiments will be described in more detail with reference to the following figures, in which:

[0023] Figure 1 illustrates a diagram of transmission slots/occasions with alignment delay.

[0024] Figures 2-4 illustrate schematic diagrams of transmission slots/occasions with reduced alignment delay, according to some embodiments.

[0025] Figure 5 is a flow chart of a method in a wireless device, according to an embodiment.

[0026] Figure 6 is a flow chart of a method in a wireless device, according to an embodiment.

[0027] Figure 7 is a flow chart of a method in a network node, according to an embodiment.

[0028] Figure 8 is a flow chart of another method in a network node, according to an embodiment.

[0029] Figure 9 is a flow chart of a method in a wireless device, according to an embodiment.

[0030] Figure 10 is a flow chart of a method in a network node, according to an embodiment.

[0031] Figure 11 is a flow chart of a method in a wireless device, according to an embodiment.

[0032] Figure 12 is a flow chart of a method in a network node, according to an embodiment.

[0033] Figure 13 illustrates one example of a wireless communications system in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

[0034] Figures 14 and 15 are block diagrams that illustrate a wireless device according to an embodiment.

[0035] Figures 16 and 17 are block diagrams that illustrate a network node according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0036] Figure 18 illustrates a virtualized environment of a network node, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] The embodiments set forth below represent information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying figures, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the description and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the description.

[0038] 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,”“includes,” and/or“including” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

[0039] The embodiments describe methods where uplink control information (UCI) is carried by an associated PUSCH before transmission, where the UCI contains various new control information sent by the UE to the gNB. The various new control information improves reliability and/or latency of uplink data transmission. In addition to the new UCI types, existing UCI types may also be multiplexed together with the new UCI types, where the existing UCI types include: Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request-Acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK), scheduling request (SR), and channel state information (CSI).

[0040] The PUSCH may be dynamically scheduled, or semi-statically scheduled. Furthermore, when semi-statically scheduled, the PUSCH may be scheduled by either Type-1 UL configured grant or Type-2 UL configured grant. In terms of payload, preferably, the PUSCH carries payload data (i.e., a transport block generated by the MAC layer), which is multiplexed with the UCI.

Transmit UCI That Contains RV

[0041] In this embodiment, when a TB arrives in one of transmission occasions (TO), the UE transmits in the next possible TO and the initial transmission is always with RV=0. Then, the current statement in 3GPP TS. 38.214 V. 15.2.0, Section 6.12.3.1, is changed to:

[0042]“7¾e higher layer configured parameters repK and repK-RV define the K repetitions to be applied to the transmitted transport block, and the redundancy version pattern to be applied to the repetitions. For the nth transmission occasion among K repetitions, n=l, 2, ..., K, it is associated with (mod(n-l,4)+ l)th value in the configured RV sequence. The initial transmission of a transport block may start at [0043] - any of the transmission occasions of the K repetitions, except the last transmission occasion when K=8.

[0044] - UE may send the RV sequence if it is different from repK-RV.

[0045] For any RV sequence, the repetitions shall be terminated after transmitting K repetitions, or at the last transmission occasion among the K repetitions within the period P, or when a UL grant for scheduling the same TB is received within the period P, whichever is reached first. The UE is not expected to be configured with the time duration for the transmission of K repetitions larger than the time duration derived by the periodicity P.”

[0046] Figures 2 to 4 illustrate an example of alignment delay reduction for a RV sequence of (0,2,3, 1 } and a TB that arrives in different TOs, where each TO is represented by a slot illustrated in the Figures.

[0047] In Figure 2, there is less than one slot alignment delay if the TB arrives in the middle of TOl and a transmission is done in T02 using RV=0.

[0048] In Figure 3, there is less than one slot alignment delay if the TB arrives in the middle of T02 and a transmission is done in T03 using RV=0.

[0049] In Figure 4, there is less than one slot alignment delay if the TB arrives in the middle of T03 and a transmission is done in T04 using RV=0.

[0050] In one example, the UE sends the selected RV sequence to the gNB through UCI.

[0051] In one example, the UE does not send the selected RV sequence to the gNB and the gNB blindly decodes the transmitted block.

[0052] In some examples, the initial repetition with RV3 can be used instead of RV0 as RV3 is also almost self-decodable for a TB.

[0053] Figure 5 illustrates a flow chart for a method 500 in a wireless device. The wireless device may be the wireless device 1010 of Figures 13, 14 and 15. Method 500 comprises:

[0054] Step 510: sending a control information to a network node, the control information comprising at least a redundancy version for a transmission;

[0055] Step 520: sending a transmission based on the redundancy version.

[0056] In some examples, the transmission can be a retransmission or a repetition. In some examples, the redundancy version (RV) can be zero RV three (3).

[0057] In examples, a transport block can be received in a first transmission occasion and the transmission/retransmission can be sent in the next transmission occasion, right after the first transmission occasion, based on the RV being zero.

Transmit UCI That Contains Priority Indicator of the Associated PUSCH [0058] In this embodiment, the UCI reported by the UE contains a priority indicator, before the UCI is carried by the PUSCH. When multiple configured grants are sent to the UE (or the UE is configured with multiple grants), the gNB may not know which resources the UE will use to transmit its data. Therefore, an indication of priority can help the gNB know how to handle different transmissions.

[0059] Priority indicator of payload carried by the accompanying PUSCH

[0060] In one example, the priority level reflects the priority of the logical channel (LCH) that the payload data belongs to. If the data of multiple LCHs are transmitted on the PUSCH, then the priority level reflects the highest priority level among the multiple LCHs. Since increasing priority value indicates a lower priority level, the priority level contained in the UCI corresponds to the lowest priority value among the multiple LCHs.

[0061] Alternatively, the priority level reflects the Logical Channel Group (LCG) priority that the payload data belongs to, where a LCG is composed of one or more logical channels, and the LCG is configured with certain mapping restrictions. The mapping restrictions may include: allow edSCS-Li st, maxPUSCH-Duration , configuredGrantTypel Allowed, and allow edServingCells .

[0062] The number of bits representing the priority indicator depends on how coarse or detailed the priority levels to be indicated. In one example, the priority indicator is represented by 1 bit, to indicate two different priority levels. For example:

[0063] -“priority indicator = 0” means that the payload carried by the PUSCH has higher priority;

[0064] -“priority indicator=l” means that the payload carried by the PUSCH has lower priority.

[0065] In another example, the priority indicator is represented by 2 bits, to indicate four different priority levels. The four priority levels may provide reliability and/or latency requirements of the payload carried by the PUSCH. For example:

[0066] -“priority indicator = 00” means that the payload carried by the PUSCH has high reliability (e.g., Block Error Rate (BLER) target = le-5) and low latency requirement (e.g., physical layer latency = 1ms);

[0067] -“priority indicator = 01” means that the payload carried by the PUSCH has low latency requirement (e.g., physical layer latency = 1ms), but reliability requirement is relatively relaxed (e.g., BLER target = le-2);

[0068] -“priority indicator = 10” means that the payload carried by the PUSCH has high reliability (e.g., BLER target = le-5) requirement, but the latency requirement is relatively relaxed (e.g., physical layer latency = 5 ms); [0069] -“priority indicator = 11” means that the payload carried by the PUSCH has both relaxed reliability (e.g., BLER target = le-5) requirement, and relaxed latency requirement (e.g., physical layer latency = 5 ms).

[0070] The priority indicator reported by the UE can be used by the gNB scheduler to make better scheduling decisions. For example, if the transport block carried by the PUSCH fails, the scheduler can schedule a retransmission according to the priority indicator. If“priority indicator = 0” is sent by the UE to indicate higher priority, then the gNB may reschedule the retransmission quickly and assign lower Modulation Coding Scheme (MCS) levels to achieve high priority and low latency.

[0071] Priority indicator of buffered UE data

[0072] In another example, the priority indicator reflects the highest priority of the data stored in the UE buffer. In this case, the priority indicator can be viewed as a shorthand of the buffer status report (BSR), using one or a few bits to quickly report to the gNB the uplink data transmission needs of the UE.

[0073] Note that the disclosed priority indicator is different from a scheduling request (SR) in the sense that the priority indicator does not request the gNB to assign UL transmission resources immediately (but SR does), and the priority indicator is sent together with payload data on PUSCH (but SR is not sent if a PUSCH is present).

[0074] Now turning to Figure 6, a flow chart of a method 600 in a wireless device will be described. The wireless device may be the wireless device 1010 of Figures 13, 14 and 15. Method 600 comprises:

[0075] Step 610: sending a control information to a network node, the control information comprising at least a priority indicator;

[0076] Step 620: receiving uplink resources for an uplink data transmission, based on the priority indicator;

[0077] Step 630: sending data to the network node according to the uplink resources.

[0078] In Figure 7, a flow chart of a method 700 in a network node is illustrated. The network node may be the network node 1020 of Figures 13, 16 and 17. Method 700 comprises:

[0079] Step 710: receiving a control information from a wireless device, the control information comprising at least a priority indicator;

[0080] Step 720: determining a scheduling scheme for data transmission, based on the priority indicator;

[0081] Step 730: sending resources for the data transmission based on the scheduling scheme. Smart Decoding

[0082] When the UE transmits a repetition using RV=0, as described earlier, the UE can send this information in a UCI to the gNB. However, the UE is not obliged to do so. So, in the latter case, the gNB needs to blindly decode the received transmission. Considering the example of Figure 1, if the first repetition with RV 0 comes in the Transmission Occasion (TO) with RV 0, then there is no alignment delay, and the decoding of repetitions can occur with Rel-15 specifications. However, if the first repetition comes in TO of RV 2 (second slot in Figure 1), then the UE should not transmit that repetition with RV 2, it will transmit with RV 0. Now the question is: how decoding will happen at the gNB? In this example, the gNB can follow two approaches to decode the first actual repetition with RV 0 in a TO not corresponding to RV 0 (here in the example at TO with RV 2). The two approaches are described as follows.

[0083] Decoding of the first repetition (2 possible algorithms)

[0084] A. Decoding first with TO’s RV: in the given example, the gNB first decodes the first repetition with TO’s RV, i.e., RV 2. If it cannot decode it, then it will decode with RV 0 on a condition that there are no repetitions transmissions on earlier TOs, and this repetition is the first detected repetition.

[0085] B. Decoding with RV0: in the current TO, if this is the first repetition detected, the gNB directly decodes the repetition with RV 0 instead of RV 2.

[0086] To summarize, the algorithms A and B can be generalized as shown below:

[0087] Algorithm A:

[0088] 1. The UE transmits a repetition with RV 0 in a n-th TO corresponding to RVx.

[0089] 2. The gNB ensures no signal is detected or correctly received at 1, ... , n-l-th TOs.

[0090] 3. The gNB tries to decode the signal with RV x.

[0091] 4. If step 3 fails, then the gNB tries to decode the signal with RV 0.

[0092] Algorithm B:

[0093] 1. The UE transmits a repetition with RV 0 in a n-th TO corresponding to RV x.

[0094] 2. The gNB ensures no signal is detected or correctly received at 1, ... , n-l-th TOs.

[0095] 3. The gNB tries to decode the signal with RV 0.

[0096] RV sequence of following repetitions (2 algorithms)

[0097] After the first actual repetition is done, different approaches can be considered to handle or configure repetitions. Two approaches are considered below.

[0098] C. Same RVs: the rest of the repetitions should be configured in a way such that their RVs should match the TOs’ RVs. For example, in Figure 1, if the first repetition with RV 0 comes at TO with RV 2, then the second repetition should go in TO with RV 3, and the RV of this repetition must be RV 3, and so on.

[0099] D. Mismatched RVs: in this approach, the RVs of the actual repetitions should follow the original pattern. Unlike in C, here the second repetition should be transmitted with RV 2, the third repetition with RV 3, and so on.

[0100] To summarize, the algorithms C and D can be generalized as follows:

[0101] Algorithm C:

[0102] Given the first repetition with RV 0 occurs at n-th TO with RV x, then for the second repetition, its RV should be the same as the RV corresponding to n+l-th TO. Hence for the k-th repetition at n+k-l-th TO, the RV of the repetition will be same as the RV corresponding to n+k- 1-th TO, where k>0.

[0103] Algorithm D:

[0104] Given the RV sequence with R elements, e.g., RV sequence (0,2,3, 1) in Figure 1, where R = length(0,2,3,l) = 4, and the first repetition with RV 0 which occurs at n-th TO of RV x, then the second repetition occurs at n+l-th TO, and the RV of the repetition is the next RV in the sequence, i.e., RV 2 in the example. Hence for the k-th repetition at n+k-l-th TO, then the RV of the repetition is the same as the RV of (k mod R)-th element in the sequence. If (k mod R)= 0, the RV is the same as the R-th element in the sequence.

[0105] As a note, the first repetition of RV 0 is considered, because it is a self-decodable RV. However, the algorithms can be extended to cases where the first RV can be RV 3, which is also almost self-decodable.

[0106] Now turning to Figure 8, a flow chart of a method 800 in a network node will be described. The network node may be the network node 1020 of Figures 13, 16 and 17. Method 800 comprises:

[0107] Step 810: receiving a transmission of data based on a redundancy version (RV) value, which is unknown to the network node;

[0108] Step 820: decoding the received transmission.

[0109] In some examples, the transmission can be a retransmission. In some examples, the method comprises receiving control information from a wireless device, the control information comprising at least the redundancy version value.

[0110] In some examples, the redundancy version value is RV0 or RV3. In some examples, decoding the received transmission comprises decoding the transmission based on the received redundancy version value. In some examples, the method further comprises receiving a RV sequence from a wireless device. Transmit UCI contains Configured Grant (CG) indication of the Associated PUSCH

[0111] Multiple CGs can be activated for a UE at the same time. Then, there will be overlapping resources. Also, the UE has been over allocated with UL resources in one transmission occasion, which can create ambiguity for the gNB to know which resources the UE will use to transmit data. The UCI can be used to indicate the selected CG configuration that UE is going to transmit on.

[0112] In one embodiment, a configured grant indicator is proposed to be contained in the UCI sent to the gNB by the UE. The configured grant indicator is used to indicate the upcoming transmission on UCI. The UCI can be carried by either PUCCH or PUSCH.

[0113] The configured grant indicator can be encoded with or without the priority indicator as described above. The CG indicator in the UCI shall be configurable via RRC, e.g. the gNB enables the CG indication on PUCCH once multiple overlapping CG transmissions in time and/or frequency are configured per Bandwidth Part (BWP).

[0114] Turning to Figure 9, a flow chart of a method 900 in a wireless device will be described. The wireless device may be the wireless device 1010 of Figures 13, 14 and 15. Method 900 comprises:

[0115] Step 910: sending a control information to a network node, the control information comprising at least an indicator of a configured grant;

[0116] Step 920: sending data on resources indicated by the indicator of configured grant.

[0117] In some examples, the control information is an uplink control information (UCI).

[0118] In some examples, the control information can comprise a priority indicator.

[0119] In Figure 10, a flow chart of a method 930 in a network node is illustrated. The network node may be the network node 1020 of Figures 13, 16 and 17. Method 930 comprises:

[0120] Step 932: receiving a control information from a wireless device, the control information comprising at least an indicator of a configured grant;

[0121] Step 934: receiving data on resources indicated by the indicator of configured grant.

[0122] Turning to Figure 11, a flow chart of a method 940 in a wireless device will be described. The wireless device may be the wireless device 1010 of Figures 13, 14 and 15. Method 940 comprises:

[0123] Step 942: receiving a plurality of uplink grants from a network node;

[0124] Step 944: sending control information to the network node, the control information comprising a priority indicator;

[0125] Step 946: sending data to the network node based on the priority indicator. [0126] In some examples, the priority indicator can indicate a priority of logical channels that the data belong to.

[0127] In other examples, the priority indicator can indicate a priority of data traffic.

[0128] In one example, the wireless device can send the data on a plurality of logical channels.

[0129] In some examples, the data on the plurality of logical channels can be multiplexed on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

[0130] In some examples, the priority indicator can be a highest priority among the plurality of logical channels.

[0131] In some examples, the priority indicator can have a lowest priority value among the plurality of logical channels.

[0132] In some examples, the priority indicator can indicate a priority of logical channel groups (LCG) that the data belong to.

[0133] In some examples, the priority indicator can indicate a highest priority of data stored in a buffer.

[0134] In one example, the control information can be a Uplink control information (UCI).

[0135] In some examples, the UCI can be carried by PUSCH.

[0136] In one example, the priority indicator can indicate a reliability or a latency of data.

[0137] Another method in a wireless device may comprise sending an uplink control information (UCI) to a network node, the UCI comprising at least a priority indicator indicating a priority among a plurality of logical channels on which to transmit data or a priority of payload data.

[0138] Figure 12 illustrates a flow chart of a method 950 in a network node, such as 1020 of Figures 13, 16 and 17. Method 950 comprises:

[0139] Step 952: receiving control information from a wireless device, the control information comprising a priority indicator indicating a priority among a plurality of logical channels or a priority of (payload) data;

[0140] Step 954: receiving data on the plurality of logical channels based on the priority indicator.

[0141] In some examples, the network node can determine a scheduling decision based on the priority indicator.

[0142] In some examples, the priority indicator can be a highest priority among the plurality of logical channels.

[0143] In some examples, the priority indicator can be a lowest priority value among the plurality of logical channels. [0144] In some examples, the priority indicator can indicate a priority of logical channel groups (LCG) that the data belong to.

[0145] In one example, the control information can be a Uplink control information (UCI).

[0146] In some examples, the network node can receive the UCI on physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

[0147] In some examples, the received data can be multiplexed on the plurality of logical channels on a PUSCH.

[0148] In one example, the priority indicator can indicate a reliability or a latency of the data.

[0149] Another method in a network node, such as 1020 of Figure 13 and 16-17, comprises receiving control information (UCI) from a wireless device, the UCI comprising at least a priority indicator indicating a priority among a plurality of logical channels on which to transmit data or a priority of payload data.

[0150] Figure 13 illustrates an example of a wireless network 1000 that may be used for wireless communications. Wireless network 1000 includes UEs 1010 and a plurality of radio network nodes 1020 (e.g., Node Bs (NBs) Radio Network Controllers (RNCs), evolved NBs (eNBs), next generation NB (gNBs), etc.) directly or indirectly connected to a core network 1030 which may comprise various core network nodes. The network 1000 may use any suitable radio access network (RAN) deployment scenarios, including Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), and Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN). UEs 1010 may be capable of communicating directly with radio network nodes 1020 over a wireless interface. In certain embodiments, UEs may also be capable of communicating with each other via device-to-device (D2D) communication. In certain embodiments, network nodes 1020 may also be capable of communicating with each other, e.g. via an interface (e.g. X2 in LTE or other suitable interface).

[0151] As an example, UE 1010 may communicate with radio network node 1020 over a wireless interface. That is, UE 1010 may transmit wireless signals to and/or receive wireless signals from radio network node 1020. The wireless signals may contain voice traffic, data traffic, control signals, and/or any other suitable information. In some embodiments, an area of wireless signal coverage associated with a radio network node 1020 may be referred to as a cell.

[0152] It should be noted that a UE may be a wireless device, a radio communication device, target device, device to device (D2D) UE, machine type UE or UE capable of machine to machine communication (M2M), a sensor equipped with UE, iPAD, Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), Universal Serial Bus (USB) dongles, Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) etc. Example embodiments of a wireless device 1010 are described in more detail below with respect to Figures 13 and 14.

[0153] In some embodiments, the“network node” can be any kind of network node which may comprise of a radio network node such as a radio access node (which can include a base station, radio base station, base transceiver station, base station controller, network controller, gNB, NR BS, evolved Node B (eNB), Node B, Multi-cell/multicast Coordination Entity (MCE), relay node, access point, radio access point, Remote Radio Unit (RRU), Remote Radio Head (RRH), a multi standard BS (also known as MSR BS), etc.), a core network node (e.g., MME, SON node, a coordinating node, positioning node, MDT node, etc.), or even an external node (e.g., 3rd party node, a node external to the current network), etc. The network node may also comprise a test equipment.

[0154] In certain embodiments, network nodes 1020 may interface with a radio network controller (not shown). The radio network controller may control network nodes 1020 and may provide certain radio resource management functions, mobility management functions, and/or other suitable functions. In certain embodiments, the functions of the radio network controller may be included in the network node 1020. The radio network controller may interface with the core network node 1040. In certain embodiments, the radio network controller may interface with the core network node 1040 via the interconnecting network 1030.

[0155] The interconnecting network 1030 may refer to any interconnecting system capable of transmitting audio, video, signals, data, messages, or any combination of the preceding. The interconnecting network 1030 may include all or a portion of a public switched telephone network (PSTN), a public or private data network, a local area network (LAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), a local, regional, or global communication or computer network such as the Internet, a wireline or wireless network, an enterprise intranet, or any other suitable communication link, including combinations thereof.

[0156] In some embodiments, the core network node 1040 may manage the establishment of communication sessions and various other functionalities for wireless devices 1010. Examples of core network node 1040 may include MSC, MME, SGW, PGW, O&M, OSS, SON, positioning node (e.g. E-SMLC), MDT node, etc. Wireless devices 110 may exchange certain signals with the core network node 1040 using the non-access stratum layer. In non-access stratum signaling, signals between wireless devices 1010 and the core network node 1040 may be transparently passed through the radio access network. In certain embodiments, network nodes 1020 may interface with one or more other network nodes over an internode interface. For example, network nodes 1020 may interface each other over an X2 interface.

[0157] Although Figure 13 illustrates a particular arrangement of network 1000, the present disclosure contemplates that the various embodiments described herein may be applied to a variety of networks having any suitable configuration. For example, network 1000 may include any suitable number of wireless devices 1010 and network nodes 1020, as well as any additional elements suitable to support communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device and another communication device (such as a landline telephone). The embodiments may be implemented in any appropriate type of telecommunication system supporting any suitable communication standards and using any suitable components, and are applicable to any radio access technology (RAT) or multi-RAT systems in which the wireless device receives and/or transmits signals (e.g., data). While certain embodiments are described for NR. and/or LTE, the embodiments may be applicable to any RAT, such as UTRA, E-UTRA, narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT), WiFi, Bluetooth, next generation RAT (NR, NX), 4G, 5G, LTE FDD/TDD, etc.

[0158] The communication system 1000 may itself be connected to a host computer (not shown), which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software of a standalone server, a cloud- implemented server, a distributed server or as processing resources in a server farm. The host computer may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The connections between the communication system 1000 and the host computer may extend directly from the core network 1040 to the host computer or may extend via the intermediate network 1030.

[0159] The communication system of Figure 13 as a whole enables connectivity between one of the connected wireless devices (WDs) 1010 and the host computer. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection. The host computer and the connected WDs 1010 are configured to communicate data and/or signaling via the OTT connection, using an access network, the core network 1040, any intermediate network 1030 and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. The OTT connection may be transparent in the sense that at least some of the participating communication devices through which the OTT connection passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications.

[0160] The host computer may provide host applications which may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as a WD 1010 connecting via an OTT connection terminating at the WD 1010 and the host computer. In providing the service to the remote user, the host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection. The“user data” may be data and information described herein as implementing the described functionality. In one embodiment, the host computer may be configured for providing control and functionality to a service provider and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host computer may be enabled to observe, monitor, control, transmit to and/or receive from the network node 1020 and or the wireless device 1010.

[0161] One or more of the various embodiments in this disclosure improve the performance of OTT services provided to the WD 1010 using the OTT connection. More precisely, the teachings of some of these embodiments may improve the data rate, latency, and/or power consumption and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time, relaxed restriction on file size, better responsiveness, extended battery lifetime, etc.

[0162] Figure 14 is a schematic block diagram of the wireless device 1010 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the wireless device 1010 includes circuitry 1100 comprising one or more processors 1110, e.g., Central Processing Units (CPUs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), and/or the like) and memory 1120. The wireless device 1010 also includes one or more transceivers 1130 that each include one or more transmitters 1140 and one or more receivers 1150 coupled to one or more antennas 1160. The wireless device 1010 may also comprise a network interface and more specifically an input interface 1170 and an output interface 1180 for communicating with other nodes. The wireless device may also comprise a power source 1190.

[0163] In some embodiments, the functionality of the wireless device 1010 described above may be fully or partially implemented in software that is, e.g., stored in the memory 1120 and executed by the processor(s) 1100. For example, the processor 1100 is configured to perform methods 500, 600, 900 and 940 of Figures 5, 6,9 and 11 respectively.

[0164] In some embodiments, a computer program including instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor 1110, causes the at least one processor 1110 to carry out the functionality of the wireless device 1010 according to any of the embodiments described herein is provided (e.g. 500, 600, 900 and 940 of Figures 5, 6,9 and 11 respectively). In some embodiments, a carrier containing the aforementioned computer program product is provided. The carrier is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a computer readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer readable medium such as memory).

[0165] Figure 15 is a schematic block diagram of the wireless device 1010 according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. The wireless device 1010 includes one or more modules 1200, each of which is implemented in software. The module(s) 1200 provide the functionality of the wireless device 1010 described herein. The module(s) 1200 may comprise, for example, a receiving module and a sending module operable to perform the steps of methods 500, 600, 900 and 940 of Figures 5, 6,9 and 11 respectively.

[0166] Figure 16 is a schematic block diagram of a network node 1020 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the network node 1020 includes a processing circuitry 1300 comprising one or more processors 1310 (e.g., CPUs, ASICs, FPGAs, and/or the like) and memory 1320. The network node also comprises a network interface 1330. The network node 1020 also includes one or more transceivers 1340 that each include one or more transmitters 1350 and one or more receivers 1360 coupled to one or more antennas 1370. In some embodiments, the functionality of the network node 1010 described above may be fully or partially implemented in software that is, e.g., stored in the memory 1320 and executed by the processor(s) 1310. For example, the processor 1310 can be configured to perform the methods 700, 800, 930 and 950 of Figures 7, 8, 10 and 12 respectively.

[0167] Figure 17 is a schematic block diagram of the network node 1020 according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. The network node 1020 includes one or more modules 1400, each of which is implemented in software. The module(s) 1400 provide the functionality of the network node 1020 described herein. The module(s) 1400 may comprise, for example, a sending module, a receiving module, a determining module and a decoding module operable to perform steps of methods 700, 800, 930 and 950 of Figures 7, 8, 10 and 12 respectively.

[0168] Figure 18 is a schematic block diagram that illustrates a virtualized embodiment of the wireless device 1010 or network node 1020, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As used herein, a“virtualized” node 1500 is a network node 1020 or wireless device 1010 in which at least a portion of the functionality of the network node 1020 or wireless device 1010 is implemented as a virtual component (e.g., via a virtual machine(s) executing on a physical processing node(s) in a network(s)). For example, in Figure 15, there is provided an instance or a virtual appliance 1520 implementing the methods or parts of the methods of some embodiments. The one or more instance(s) runs in a cloud computing environment 1500. The cloud computing environment provides processing circuits 1530 and memory 1590-1 for the one or more instance(s) or virtual applications 1520. The memory 1590-1 contains instructions 1595 executable by the processing circuit 1560 whereby the instance 1520 is operative to execute the methods or part of the methods described herein in relation to some embodiments.

[0169] The cloud computing environment 1500 comprises one or more general-purpose network devices including hardware 1530 comprising a set of one or more processor(s) or processing circuits 1560, which may be commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, dedicated Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuit including digital or analog hardware components or special purpose processors, and network interface controller(s) (NICs) 1570, also known as network interface cards, which include physical Network Interface 1580. The general-purpose network device also includes non-transitory machine readable storage media 1590-2 having stored therein software and/or instructions 1595 executable by the processor 1560. During operation, the processors/processing circuits 1560 execute the software/instructions 1595 to instantiate a hypervisor 1550, sometimes referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM), and one or more virtual machines 1540 that are run by the hypervisor 1550.

[0170] A virtual machine 1540 is a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine; and applications generally do not know they are running on a virtual machine as opposed to running on a“bare metal” host electronic device, though some systems provide para-virtualization which allows an operating system or application to be aware of the presence of virtualization for optimization purposes. Each of the virtual machines 1540, and that part of the hardware 1530 that executes that virtual machine 1540, be it hardware 1530 dedicated to that virtual machine 1540 and/or time slices of hardware 1530 temporally shared by that virtual machine 1540 with others of the virtual machine(s) 1540, forms a separate virtual network element(s) (VNE).

[0171] The hypervisor 1550 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to virtual machine 1540, and the virtual machine 1540 may be used to implement functionality such as control communication and configuration module(s) and forwarding table(s), this virtualization of the hardware is sometimes referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). Thus, NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in Data centers, and customer premise equipment (CPE). Different embodiments of the instance or virtual application 1520 may be implemented on one or more of the virtual machine(s) 1540, and the implementations may be made differently.

[0172] In some embodiments, a carrier comprising the aforementioned computer program product is provided. The carrier is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a computer readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer readable medium such as memory).

[0173] Some embodiments may be represented as a non-transitory software product stored in a machine-readable medium (also referred to as a computer-readable medium, a processor-readable medium, or a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein). The machine-readable medium may contain various sets of instructions, code sequences, configuration information, or other data, which, when executed, cause a processor to perform steps in a method according to one or more of the described embodiments. Software running from the machine-readable medium may interface with circuitry to perform the described tasks.

[0174] The above-described embodiments are intended to be examples only. Alterations, modifications and variations may be effected to the particular embodiments by those of skill in the art without departing from the scope of the description, which is defined solely by the appended claims.