Disclosure of Invention
According to a first aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for: receiving a device-to-device communication authorization message, the device-to-device communication authorization message including an indication that duplicate transmissions are enabled for a logical channel group; causing a device-to-device communication transmission of a data packet in the first at least one resource as part of a logical channel group; and in response to the indication, causing a device-to-device communication transmission of a copy of the data packet as part of the logical channel group in the second at least one resource.
In some embodiments, the authorization message includes instructions for autonomously selecting resources, the apparatus including means for autonomously selecting a second at least one resource in response to the instructions.
In some embodiments, the grant message includes an indication of the carrier, and the apparatus includes means for autonomously selecting the second at least one resource from the carrier in response to the indication.
In some embodiments, the device-to-device communication grant message provides grant for a carrier that includes the first at least one resource.
In some embodiments, the device-to-device communication grant message includes an indication of the second at least one resource, and the apparatus includes means for causing a duplicate device-to-device communication transmission of the data packet in the second at least one resource in response to the indication of the second at least one resource.
In some embodiments, the device-to-device communication grant message provides grant for a carrier that includes the second at least one resource.
In some embodiments, the first at least one resource and the second at least one resource belong to different carriers.
According to a second aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for transmitting a device-to-device communication grant message to a communication device, the device-to-device communication grant message comprising an indication that duplicate transmission is enabled for a logical channel group.
In some embodiments, the authorization message includes instructions for autonomously selecting resources.
In some embodiments, the indication comprises an indication of a carrier on which the duplicate transmission is to be made.
In some embodiments, the device-to-device communication grant message includes a grant for a carrier on which the original transmission corresponding to the duplicate transmission is to be made by the communication device.
In some embodiments, the indication comprises an indication of a second at least one resource on which the duplicate transmission is to be made.
In some embodiments, the device-to-device communication grant message provides a grant for copying the carrier on which the transmission will be made.
In some embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for: receiving a plurality of buffer status reports from a plurality of communication devices; and determining from the plurality of buffer status reports that duplicate transmissions are enabled for the logical channel group.
In some embodiments, the apparatus includes means for determining that duplicate transmissions are enabled for a logical channel group based on a load of one or more carriers associated with the logical channel group.
In some embodiments, the grant message includes an identifier of the logical channel group.
According to a third aspect, there is provided a method comprising: receiving a device-to-device communication authorization message, the device-to-device communication authorization message including an indication that duplicate transmissions are enabled for a logical channel group; causing a device-to-device communication transmission of a data packet in the first at least one resource as part of a logical channel group; and in response to the indication, causing a device-to-device communication transmission of a copy of the data packet as part of the logical channel group in the second at least one resource.
In some embodiments, the authorization message includes instructions for autonomously selecting resources, the method including autonomously selecting a second at least one resource in response to the instructions.
In some embodiments, the grant message includes an indication of the carrier, and the method includes autonomously selecting the second at least one resource from the carrier in response to the indication.
In some embodiments, the device-to-device communication grant message provides grant for a carrier that includes the first at least one resource.
In some embodiments, the device-to-device communication authorization message includes an indication of the second at least one resource, and the method includes causing a device-to-device communication transmission of a copy of the data packet in the second at least one resource in response to the indication of the second at least one resource.
In some embodiments, the device-to-device communication grant message provides grant for a carrier that includes the second at least one resource.
In some embodiments, the first at least one resource and the second at least one resource belong to different carriers.
According to a fourth aspect, there is provided a method comprising transmitting a device-to-device communication grant message to a communication device, the device-to-device communication grant message comprising an indication that duplicate transmission is enabled for a logical channel group.
In some embodiments, the authorization message includes instructions for autonomously selecting resources.
In some embodiments, the indication comprises an indication of a carrier on which the duplicate transmission is to be made.
In some embodiments, the device-to-device communication grant message includes a grant for a carrier on which the original transmission corresponding to the duplicate transmission is to be made by the communication device.
In some embodiments, the indication comprises an indication of a second at least one resource on which the duplicate transmission is to be made.
In some embodiments, the device-to-device communication grant message provides a grant for a carrier in which duplicate transmissions are to be made.
In some embodiments, the method comprises: receiving a plurality of buffer status reports from a plurality of communication devices; and determining from the plurality of buffer status reports that duplicate transmissions are enabled for the logical channel group.
In some embodiments, the method includes determining that duplicate transmissions are enabled for the logical channel group based on a load of one or more carriers associated with the logical channel group.
According to a fifth aspect, there is provided a computer program product for a computer, comprising software code portions for performing a method when said product is run on a computer, the method comprising: receiving a device-to-device communication authorization message, the device-to-device communication authorization message including an indication that duplicate transmissions are enabled for a logical channel group; causing a device-to-device communication transmission of a data packet in the first at least one resource as part of a logical channel group; and in response to the indication, causing a device-to-device communication transmission of a copy of the data packet as part of the logical channel group in the second at least one resource.
According to a sixth aspect, there is provided a computer program product for a computer, comprising software code portions for performing a method when said product is run on a computer, the method comprising: transmitting a device-to-device communication authorization message to the communication device, the device-to-device communication authorization message including an indication that duplicate transmission is enabled for the logical channel group.
According to a seventh aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receiving a device-to-device communication authorization message, the device-to-device communication authorization message including an indication that duplicate transmissions are enabled for a logical channel group; causing a device-to-device communication transmission of a data packet in the first at least one resource as part of a logical channel group; and in response to the indication, causing a duplicate device-to-device communication transmission of the data packet as part of the logical channel group in the second at least one resource.
According to an eighth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: a device-to-device communication authorization message is transmitted to the communication device, the device-to-device communication authorization message including an indication that duplicate transmission is enabled for the logical channel group.
In the foregoing, many different examples have been described. It should be appreciated that other examples may be provided by a combination of any two or more of the above examples.
Detailed Description
Before explaining examples in detail, some general principles of wireless communication systems and mobile communication devices are briefly explained with reference to fig. 1 to 2 to help understand the basic technology of the described examples.
In a wireless communication system 100 such as that shown in fig. 1, mobile communication devices or User Equipment (UEs) 102, 104, 105 provide wireless access via at least one base station or similar wireless transmission and/or reception node or point. The base station is typically controlled by at least one suitable controller means to be able to operate and manage mobile communication devices communicating with the base station. The controller device may be located in a radio access network (e.g., wireless communication system 100) or in a Core Network (CN) (not shown) and may be implemented as one central device or its functionality may be distributed over multiple devices. The controller means may be part of the base station and/or provided by a separate entity such as a radio network controller. In fig. 1, control means 108 and 109 are shown as controlling the respective macro level base stations 106 and 107. The control means of the base station may be interconnected with other control entities. The control means are typically provided with a memory capacity and at least one data processor. The control means and functions may be distributed among a plurality of control units. In some systems, the control means may additionally or alternatively be provided in the radio network controller.
In fig. 1, base stations 106 and 107 are shown connected to a wider communication network 113 via gateway 112. A further gateway function may be provided to connect to another network.
Smaller base stations 116, 118, and 120 may also be connected to network 113, for example by separate gateway functions and/or via controllers of macro-level stations. The base stations 116, 118, and 120 may be pico or femto base stations, or the like. In the example, stations 116 and 118 are connected via gateway 111, while station 120 is connected via controller device 108. In some embodiments, smaller stations may not be provided. The smaller base stations 116, 118, and 120 may be part of a second network (e.g., WLAN) and may be WLAN APs.
An example of a wireless communication system is an architecture standardized by the third generation partnership project (3 GPP). The development based on 3GPP is often referred to as Long Term Evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radio access technology. The various stages of development of the 3GPP specifications are called release. A newer development of LTE is often referred to as LTE-advanced (LTE-a). LTE employs a mobile architecture called evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN). The base stations of such systems are known as evolved or enhanced node bs (enbs) and provide E-UTRAN features to the communication devices such as user plane packet data convergence/radio link control/medium access control/physical layer protocol (PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY) and control plane Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol termination. Other examples of radio access systems include those provided by base stations of systems based on technologies such as Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and/or WiMax (worldwide interoperability for microwave access). The base station may provide coverage for an entire cell or similar radio service area.
Examples of suitable communication systems are the 5G or NR concepts. The network architecture in NR may be similar to that of LTE-advanced. The base station of the NR system may be referred to as a next generation node B (gNB). The change in network architecture may depend on the requirements to support various radio technologies and better QoS support, as well as some on-demand requirements for QoS levels such as QoE supporting user angles. Moreover, network aware services and applications, as well as service and application aware networks, may bring about architectural changes. These are related to Information Center Networks (ICNs) and user-centric content delivery network (UC-CDN) approaches. NR may use multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, more base stations or nodes than LTE (so-called small cell concept), including macro sites operating in cooperation with smaller stations, and may employ various radio technologies to obtain better coverage and higher data rates.
Future networks may use Network Function Virtualization (NFV), a network architecture concept that proposes virtualizing network node functions into "building blocks" or entities that may be operably connected or linked together to provide services. A Virtualized Network Function (VNF) may comprise one or more virtual machines running computer program code using standard or generic types of servers instead of custom hardware. Cloud computing or data storage may also be used. In radio communications, this may mean that the node operations are performed at least in part in a server, host, or node operatively coupled to the remote radio head. It is also possible that node operations will be distributed among multiple servers, nodes, or hosts. It should also be appreciated that the labor allocation between core network operation and base station operation may be different from LTE or even non-existent.
A possible mobile communication device will now be described in more detail with reference to fig. 2, fig. 2 showing a schematic partial cross-sectional view of a communication device 200. Such communication devices are often referred to as User Equipment (UE) or terminals. A suitable mobile communication device may be provided by any device capable of transmitting and receiving radio signals. Non-limiting examples include a Mobile Station (MS) or mobile device, such as a mobile phone or so-called 'smart phone', a computer provided with a wireless interface card or other wireless interface facility (e.g. a USB dongle), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) or tablet computer provided with wireless communication capabilities, or any combination of these, etc. For example, a mobile communication device may provide data communications for carrying communications such as voice, electronic mail (email), text messages, multimedia, and the like. Many services can be offered and provided to users via their communication devices. Non-limiting examples of such services include bi-or multi-directional calls, data communications or multimedia services, or simply include access to a data communications network system, such as the internet. Broadcast or multicast data may also be provided to the user. Non-limiting examples of content include downloads, television and radio programming, video, advertising, various alerts, and other information.
The communication devices 102, 104, 105 may access a communication system based on various access technologies, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) or Wideband CDMA (WCDMA). Other non-limiting examples include Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), and various schemes thereof, such as Interleaved Frequency Division Multiple Access (IFDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), space Division Multiple Access (SDMA), and the like.
The mobile device 200 may receive signals over the air interface or radio interface 207 via appropriate means for receiving and may transmit signals via appropriate means for transmitting radio signals. In fig. 2, transceiver devices are schematically designated by block 206. For example, the transceiver device 206 may be provided by means of a radio and an associated antenna arrangement. The antenna arrangement may be provided inside or outside the mobile device.
The mobile device is typically provided with at least one data processing entity 201, at least one memory 202 and possibly other components 203 for software and hardware assistance in performing tasks designed to be performed, including controlling access to and communication with access systems and other communication devices. The data processing, storage and other associated control means may be provided on a suitable circuit board and/or in a chipset. This feature is indicated by reference numeral 204. The user may control the operation of the mobile device by means of a suitable user interface, such as a keypad 205, voice commands, touch sensitive screen or pad, combinations thereof, or the like. A display 208, speakers, and microphone may also be provided. In addition, the mobile communication device may include suitable connectors (wired or wireless) to other devices and/or for connecting external accessories (e.g., hands-free devices) thereto.
Fig. 3 shows an example of a control means for a communication system, e.g. a node or server or host coupled to and/or used to control a station (e.g. a base station, (e) node B or 5G AP) of an access system, such as a RAN node, or a core network, such as an MME or S-GW. The method may be implemented in a single control device or on more than one control device. The control means may be integrated with or external to a node or module of the core network or RAN. In some embodiments, the base station includes a separate control device unit or module. In other embodiments, the control device may be another network element, such as a radio network controller or a spectrum controller. In some embodiments, each base station may have such control means and control means provided in the radio network controller. The control means 300 may be arranged to provide control of the communication in the service area of the system. The control device 300 comprises at least one random access memory 310, at least one read only memory 350, at least one data processing unit 320, 330 and an input/output interface 340. Via the interface, the control device may be coupled to a receiver and a transmitter of the base station. The receiver and/or transmitter may be implemented as a radio front-end or a remote radio head.
Devices typically communicate with each other via transmission and reception of communications with a base station. However, another form of communication, referred to as device-to-device (D2D) communication, may be used. In D2D communication, data is exchanged between two devices without traversing the base station or core network. The side chain is an LTE functionality introduced in 3GPP release 12, intended to enable device-to-device (D2D) communication in a conventional cellular-based LTE radio access network. The side-chains support direct communication between near-end UEs using a newly defined PC5 interface, so that data does not need to traverse the eNB.
For example, referring back to fig. 1, a communication device 121 is shown exchanging D2D communications 122 with device 105. These communications are exchanged between devices and are not routed via the base station 116.
The side chain D2D is suitable for public safety and commercial communication cases, and recently (in 3GPP release 14) for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) scenes and (in 3GPP release 14) vehicle-to-outside (V2X) scenes.
During side-chain communication, it is desirable to reduce the possibility of collisions. For example, if the first device and the second device are configured to perform transmissions on one or more of the same resources, the transmissions may interfere with each other, resulting in the receiving device not being able to properly receive the transmissions from the sending device. For V2X side chain communication, two transmission modes have been defined to reduce the possibility of collisions. These modes may be referred to as "eNB scheduling mode" (or mode 3) and "UE autonomous mode" (or mode 4). These modes are used to select transmission resources from a pool of resources. The resource pool defines a subset of available subframes and resource blocks for side-chain transmission or side-chain reception. Side-chain communication is a half-duplex scheme and multiple transmit resource pools and multiple receive resource pools may be configured for a UE. When data is to be transmitted using a resource pool, the actual transmission resources are dynamically or semi-permanently selected from the pool using an "eNB scheduling mode" or "UE autonomous mode".
In the eNB scheduling mode (also referred to as mode 3), resources for D2D transmissions are scheduled by the eNB. The eNB uses physical layer signaling to inform UEs operating in an eNB scheduling mode of their resource allocation. The physical layer signaling may include Downlink Control Information (DCI) having format 5A. The scheduling in the eNB scheduling mode may be dynamic or semi-persistent. In dynamic scheduling, the device must request, and the eNB must grant resources for each transport block to be transmitted separately. In semi-persistent scheduling (SPS), a base station may send control information (e.g., DCI format 5A) to activate transmissions to be made periodically in a set of resources. The transmissions may occur periodically in the same set of resources without any other control information for scheduling the received transmissions. The periodic transmission on the set of resources may continue until the base station de-schedules the periodic transmission (i.e., until the transmitting device is released).
On the other hand, in the UE autonomous mode (also referred to as mode 4), the device autonomously selects resources for side-chain transmission. In other words, the device itself determines the schedule for its D2D transmissions without the base station having to instruct the resources on which the transmissions will be made. The device performs resource selection based on sensing transmissions by other devices to avoid collisions with resources on which nearby devices are transmitting. The mechanism relies on the following assumptions: most V2X traffic generation is approximately periodic in time, and thus, transmissions may be periodic.
In 3GPP release 15, eV2X (enhanced vehicle to outside world) work items include the purpose of specifying solutions for certain PC5 functionalities that can coexist in the same resource pool as release 14 functionalities and use the same scheduling assignment format (which can be decoded by the devices of release 14) without significantly degrading the PC5 operation of release 14 compared to the devices of release 14. PC5 functionality may include carrier aggregation of up to 8 PC5 carriers; 64 quadrature amplitude modulation; the maximum time between packet arrival at layer 1 and selection of resources for transmission is reduced; and sharing a radio resource pool between a device using the eNB scheduling mode and a device using the UE autonomous mode.
As part of the carrier aggregation feature, it has been agreed to enhance packet delivery reliability for V2X, agree to support PDCP duplication on two carriers with configured V2X side chain resources. Details are illustrated by the 3GPP agreement shown in annex a.
In order to improve reliability of device-to-device transmissions between devices, a first device may be configured to transmit duplicate packets (duplicate packets) to a second device. One problem that has arisen is how to control packet duplication in order to efficiently utilize the available resources. QoS parameters called ProSe Per Packet Reliability (PPPR) were introduced. The application layer defines and sets this parameter for each corresponding packet passed from the application layer to the access layer (access stratum) for transmission over the PC5 interface. The PPPR is passed from the application layer to a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer along with a corresponding packet at the transmitting device, which is a service data unit of PDCP. The PPPR value may be used to enable/disable packet duplication.
One proposal to enable/disable packet duplication for device-to-device communication in eNB scheduling mode is to use one or both of Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or Medium Access Control (MAC) control element signaling to configure PPPR values and/or value ranges and/or value thresholds for controlling packet duplication. Based on the configured PPPR value and/or value range and/or value threshold, the device determines whether to perform duplicate transmission of the packet. The device compares the PPPR value of the packet for transmission delivered from the upper layer with the configured PPPR value and/or range of values and/or configured PPPR value threshold to determine whether to perform duplicate transmission of the packet. For example, this may involve determining to perform a duplicate transmission of the packet if the set PPPR of the packet is within the configured PPPR value or range of values. Additionally or alternatively, this may involve determining to perform a duplicate transmission if the set PPPR of the packet is above a configured PPPR value threshold.
However, the above-mentioned proposals still have problems. First, in case there are more than two carriers available for transmission between two devices based on side-chain carrier aggregation, the base station does not provide an indication as to which carrier should be used for packet duplication, i.e. it does not indicate which carriers should be used for transmission of the original packet and duplicate packets.
Second, it is not clear how a Buffer Status Report (BSR) related to packet duplication should be reported to the network. A buffer status report (which may be a MAC control element) is sent from the transmitting device to the base station and provides an indication of the amount of data to be sent by the device. In response to receiving the buffer status report, the network may allocate the required resources to the device to support it to perform the transmission. The side-chain BSR is sent to the same base station that allocated the resources. However, the original D2D packet and the duplicate D2D packet are transmitted on separate carriers. Thus, the base station does not know whether the reported side-chain BSR for the carrier corresponds to replicated data.
One proposal for BSR for packet duplication involves including carrier information in the BSR indicating the carrier on which the device is requesting for transmitting duplicate data packets. The proposal will operate under the assumption that the device knows on which carrier the original packet should be transmitted and the duplicate packet. Since packet duplication is not supported on a single carrier (i.e., the original packet and the duplicate packet must be transmitted on separate carriers) in the presence of more than two carriers for side-chain communication, selection of the carrier on which transmission of the duplicate packet is to be performed must be made. This may lead to a reduced utilization efficiency of the available carriers if the selection of carriers for packet duplication is preconfigured. Such preconfigured carriers for packet duplication may be less dynamic and involve reduced utilization efficiency of the available carriers than the option of more dynamic control that can accommodate the actual load of each carrier.
Another proposal is to report BSR for only one carrier so that no duplicate indications need be included in the BSR. In this proposal, the base station can make a decision as to whether to perform packet duplication and on which carrier to transmit the original packet and duplicate the packet if duplication is activated.
It has been proposed to use a semi-static packet replication activation/deactivation configuration that can be applied to both eNB scheduling mode and UE scheduling mode operation. However, semi-static configuration may not be able to accommodate real traffic and carrier conditions.
Certain Logical Channel Prioritization (LCP) restrictions specified in NR (new radio) may be used to limit the use of specific numbers and/or transmission timings to a subset of configured logical channels. However, for the proposals mentioned above, this is controlled and configured by RRC signaling and is not performed on a per grant basis.
Embodiments of the present application may solve the above-mentioned problems by having a base station dynamically control whether packet duplication is enabled and, if so, the carrier for which packet duplication is performed. The base station knows the load placed on each carrier (at least for eNB scheduling mode operation). For example, the base station may determine the load placed on each carrier based on one or more of: reported Channel Busy Rate (CBR) for each carrier (measured and reported by the selected communication device on one or more carriers); BSR received from all devices connected to; and the corresponding carrier with which each BSR is associated and the allocated semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) resources. Thus, the base station is in an advantageous position to dynamically control packet duplication by providing an indication for each logical channel group as to whether to perform packet duplication. The base station may also provide an indication of the carrier on which the duplicate packets should be transmitted. By having the base station dynamically control packet duplication, the above-mentioned proposal may not be required, wherein the BSR is modified to include an indication of whether a carrier for duplicate packet transmission may be required.
In accordance with embodiments of the present application, to introduce more dynamic packet duplication control in eNB scheduling mode operation, e.g., based on resource usage conditions and utilizing dynamic cooperation of eNB scheduling mode and UE scheduling mode operation, embodiments provide dynamic control of D2D packet duplication on a per Logical Channel Group (LCG) and per grant basis.
Referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 illustrates a communication system 400 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication system includes a base station 405. The base station 405 is connected to a core network (not shown). The base station 405 is configured to communicate with a first device 410. The first device 410 is configured to perform device-to-device communication with the second device 415. The first device 410 and/or the second device 415 may be vehicle user devices.
Packet duplication may be determined and controlled by base station 405 for a given LCG. A logical channel group is a group of logical channels for which the buffer status is reported. In LTE, there are 4 LCGs, and each LCG has its own ID (from 0 to 3). Since a large amount of signaling overhead is required to make the eNB aware of the status of a large number of radio bearers, each radio bearer corresponding to a logical channel, the logical channels are grouped in such a way that a status report (BSR) can be transmitted for each group (instead of for each logical channel).
Since packet duplication may be determined and controlled for a given LCG, grant message 420 may include an indication of the LCG for which packet duplication is enabled or disabled. Since the status of LCGs is reported, the base station enables/disables packet duplication for each LCG. In some examples, packet duplication may be preconfigured for a particular LCG. In this case, the grant message 420 may omit the indication of the LCG.
The determination as to whether to enable or disable duplicate transmissions may be based on a carrier associated with the LCG. For example, the carrier may be selected based on its Channel Busy Rate (CBR). Carriers with lower CBR may be preferred. The two carriers with the lowest CBR may be selected to transmit the original packet and the duplicate packet. The determination may be based on a resource pool usage status and/or CBR in the corresponding carrier. The resource pool usage state may include a UE autonomous mode and an eNB scheduling mode resource pool usage state. For example, replication may be activated only if CBR is below a certain threshold. The determination may be based on the received BSR for the LCG. The determination may be based on reliability information (e.g., PPPR) and/or packet priority information (e.g., per Packet Priority ProSe (PPPP)) corresponding to the LCG in the BSR. For example, if the LCG reported in the BSR is associated with predetermined reliability information and/or predetermined packet priority information, repetition may be initiated.
The base station 405 may be configured to communicate with a plurality of communication devices other than the communication device shown. The base station 405 receives a plurality of buffer status reports from a plurality of communication devices. Using the buffer status report, the base station 405 may determine the load on different transmission resources. Thus, the base station 405 may use the buffer status report to determine whether to enable or disable packet replication of the logical channel group. The base station 405 may also use the buffer status report to select the first at least one resource to perform transmission of the duplicate data packet.
The base station 405 may also receive a buffer status report from the device 410. The buffer status report is associated with a logical channel group for which an indication is included in the grant message. The buffer status report may be used to determine that packet duplication is enabled for the logical channel group.
The base station (or control means of the base station) is configured to transmit an authorisation message 420 to the device 410. The grant message 420 includes an indication that duplicate transmissions are to be performed for the logical channel group. Grant message 420 may include an indication of the carrier in which the duplicate packets are to be transmitted. The grant message 420 may be a side chain grant message.
The first device 410 is configured to receive an authorization message 420. The first device 410 duplicates packets to be transmitted to the second device 415 to produce original packets and duplicate packets. It should be appreciated that while the packets are referred to herein as "original" and "duplicate," the packets may be identical such that any one packet may be considered to be original or duplicate.
Grant message 420 may be sent in a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).
Grant message 420 may be a grant message for a carrier in which duplicate data packets are to be transmitted. The first device 410 receiving the grant message 420 may determine data to be copied and transmitted in the carrier from the indication of the LCG in the grant message.
The first device 410 is configured to transmit the original packet via a device-to-device transmission using the first at least one resource 425. The first at least one resource 425 belongs to the logical channel group indicated in the grant message 420. The first device 410 is further configured to transmit a duplicate packet on the second at least one resource 430 to the second device 415 that is also part of the logical channel group indicated in the grant message 420. The second at least one resource 430 may belong to a carrier indicated in the received grant message 420. The first at least one resource 430 and the second at least one resource 425 may belong to different carriers.
In some examples, the first device 410 may transmit the original data packet and the duplicate data packet using an eNB scheduling mode transmission. In some examples, the first device 410 may transmit the original data packet using an eNB scheduling mode transmission while transmitting the duplicate data packet using a UE autonomous mode transmission.
In some examples, the grant message 420 may include an indication of the second at least one resource 430 on which the duplicate data packet is to be transmitted. The first device 410 is configured to transmit the duplicate data packet on the second at least one resource 430. Thus, the transmission is in eNB scheduling mode.
In some examples, device 410 is configured to autonomously select resources for transmitting duplicate data packets. The grant message 420 may include instructions for the device to autonomously select transmission resources for transmitting duplicate data packets. Grant message 420 may be an instruction to autonomously select resources from the carrier indicated in the grant message. Device 410 may be configured to receive instructions and autonomously select resources from carrier 430. In some cases, grant message 420 may indicate carrier 425 from which resources are to be selected. In other cases, the device 410 may be configured to autonomously select carriers and resources. The device 410 may autonomously select the second at least one resource 430. The device 410 may then transmit the duplicate data packet on the second at least one resource 430. Thus, the transmission is in UE autonomous mode.
In the case where the device is configured to transmit duplicate packets in the eNB scheduling mode, the base station 405 may transmit an grant message for the carrier in which the original data packet is transmitted and a message for the carrier in which the duplicate data packet is transmitted to the first device 410. An indication of LCG enablement repetition for the two carriers to which they belong may be included in one or both of these grant messages. The entitlement message for the original data packet and the entitlement message for the duplicate data packet may contain redundancy versions of the coding scheme. The two grant messages may contain redundant indications for LCG-enabled copy transmissions.
In the case where the device is configured to transmit duplicate packets in the UE autonomous mode, the base station 405 may send a single grant message to the first device 410 for the carrier in which the original data packet was transmitted. An indication of LCG enabled repetition for the carrier in which the original packet and the duplicate packet were transmitted is included in the grant message. The grant message includes an indication that a duplicate packet is to be transmitted in the autonomously selected resource and, optionally, an indication of a carrier from the autonomously selected resource.
Referring to fig. 5, messages communicated between a base station 505 and a first communication device 510 are illustrated. In fig. 5, base station 505 is shown as an eNB, but may be another form of base station. The first communication device 510 is shown as a VUE, but may be another form of communication device.
The base station 505 transmits a message to the device 510 that includes an indication of PPPP and/or a mapping of PPPR to LCG. The message may be, for example, an rrc_reconfiguration message. Additionally or alternatively, MAC CE-based signaling may be used to provide the indication.
The base station 505 may configure the PPPP and PPPR to LCG mappings in such a way that data reported in one or more LCGs may be selected by the base station and indicated for repetition. The mechanism may incorporate flexible mapping on PPPP and PPPR onto LCP mapping to better control packet replication.
The device 510 transmits a buffer status report to the base station. The buffer status report may be a report for a particular LCG. The buffer status report includes at least one of: an indication of the logical channel group, an indication of the data buffer for which status is reported, and a destination index. Since the base station configures PPPP and PPPR-to-LCG mappings, the base station can determine whether to enable duplicate transmissions based on the LCG indication without having to include explicit PPPR and PPPP values in the buffer status report.
The base station 505 receives the status report and determines whether to enable data repetition for the LCG. The determination may be based on at least one of: reliability information; packet priority information associated with or mapped onto an LCG in the status report; and BSR information from other devices in communication with the base station 505. The base station 505 may determine whether to transmit the repeated data in an eNB scheduling mode or a UE autonomous mode. The base station 505 may select a carrier for transmission of the duplicate data packet by the first device. The selection of carriers may be based on status reports provided by a plurality of devices. The selection may be made to spread the load across different carriers.
The base station 505 transmits an authorization message to the communication device 510. The authorization message includes an indication of the LCG enablement repetition indicated in the authorization message. The grant message may include instructions for the device 510 to autonomously select resources to perform transmission of duplicate packets. The grant message may include an indication of the carrier from which the resources used to perform the transmission of the duplicate packets are to be selected. The grant message may include an indication of a second at least one resource corresponding to the transmission duplicate packet.
The communication device 510 receives the grant message and performs duplicate transmission for data packets belonging to the logical channel group indicated in the grant message. The device 510 performs transmission of duplicate packets on the resources indicated in the grant message (when operating in the eNB scheduling mode) and on the resources autonomously selected by the device (when operating in the UE autonomous mode). The grant message may provide an indication of the mode that will be used to determine the resources on which to transmit.
Since the LCG is indicated in the grant message, logical Channel Prioritization (LCP) in device 510 may also consider the LCG indicated in the grant. LCP may be in the MAC layer of device 510. For example, when device 510 receives grant message 420 indicating that packet duplication is to be performed for a specified LCG, the device should prioritize data corresponding to the indicated LCG for transmission of duplicate data in the carrier indicated in grant message 420.
Dynamic control of D2D packet replication suggested via scheduling grants from the serving base station may be applied to repetition control (e.g., via RRC signaling or MAC control elements) along with semi-static mapping of PPPP and/or PPPR on LCG, as discussed above. For example, the device may determine to enable packet replication based on PPPR values that may be configured by RRC signaling or MAC control element signaling. However, duplicate packet transmission is performed only when the grant message includes an indication that repetition is to be performed. Otherwise, the duplicate packets will be deleted from the transmission buffer.
Referring to fig. 6, an example of a method that may be performed in a communication device is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the present application.
In S605, the apparatus transmits a buffer status report to the base station. The buffer status report is a buffer status report of the LCG. The buffer status report implicitly indicates reliability information and/or packet priority information associated with the LCG based on the configuration received from the base station.
In S610, the device receives an authorization message for D2D communication from the base station. The grant message indicates that the LCG to which the buffer status report is transmitted enables duplicate transmission. The grant message may also indicate whether the transmission of duplicate data packets should be performed in a resource that the device autonomously selects or in a resource specified in the grant message itself.
In S615, if the grant message indicates that transmission is to be performed in the resource specified in the message, the method proceeds to S620. In S620, the device transmits the duplicate data packet on the second at least one resource indicated in the grant message. The device also transmits the original packet in the first at least one resource. The second at least one resource and the first at least one resource are both associated with a logical channel group indicated in the grant message.
If the grant message indicates that transmission is to be made on a resource autonomously selected by the device, the method proceeds to S625. In S625, the device autonomously selects resources and performs transmission of duplicate data packets on the selected second at least one resource. The grant message may optionally include an indication of the carrier associated with the logical channel group from which the device is to select resources. The device may then select resources from the carrier. The device also transmits the original packet in the first at least one resource. Likewise, the second at least one resource and the first at least one resource are both associated with a logical channel group indicated in the grant message.
Referring to fig. 7, a method 700 in accordance with an example of the present application is illustrated.
In S705, the base station receives a plurality of buffer status reports from a plurality of communication devices. The plurality of buffer status reports includes buffer status reports associated with a logical channel group from the first communication device.
In S710, the base station determines that packet duplication is enabled for a logical channel group of the first communication device. The determination may be made based on a plurality of buffer status reports. The determination may be made based on reliability and/or packet priority information in a buffer status report associated with a logical channel group from the first communication device.
In S715, the base station determines whether duplicate packets are to be transmitted in the resources indicated in the grant message or in the resources autonomously selected by the device.
In S720, the base station transmits an grant message including an indication that duplicate packet transmission is enabled for the data packet. The grant message also includes an indication of the transmission mode (i.e., the eNB scheduling mode or the UE autonomous mode) determined in S715.
It is to be understood that each block of the flowcharts of fig. 6 and 7, and any combination thereof, may be implemented by various means, such as hardware, software, firmware, one or more processors and/or circuitry.
The method may be implemented on the mobile device described in relation to fig. 2 or on the control device shown in fig. 3. The control functions may include: receiving a device-to-device communication authorization message, the device-to-device communication authorization message including an indication that duplicate transmissions are enabled for a logical channel group; causing a device-to-device communication transmission of a data packet in the first at least one resource as part of a logical channel group; and in response to the indication, causing a duplicate device-to-device communication transmission of the data packet as part of the logical channel group in the second at least one resource.
Additionally or alternatively, the control functions may include: a device-to-device communication authorization message is transmitted to the communication device, the device-to-device communication authorization message including an indication that duplicate transmission is enabled for the logical channel group.
It should be understood that the apparatus may include or be coupled to other units or modules or the like, such as a radio part or a radio head, for use in or for transmission and/or reception. Although the apparatus has been described as one entity, the different modules and memories may be implemented in one or more physical or logical entities.
It is noted that although embodiments have been described in relation to LTE/LTE-a/side chains, similar principles may be applied with respect to other networks and communication systems. For example, the principles may be applied to devices that operate using multiple connectivity. Thus, although certain embodiments are described above by way of example with reference to certain example architectures of wireless networks, technologies and standards, the embodiments may be applied to any other suitable form of communication system than those illustrated and described herein.
It is also noted herein that while the above describes exemplifying embodiments, there are several variations and modifications which may be made to the disclosed solution without departing from the scope of the present invention.
In general, the various embodiments may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects of the invention may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device, although the invention is not limited thereto. While various aspects of the invention may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.
Embodiments of the invention may be implemented by computer software executable by a data processor of a mobile device, such as in a processor entity, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. Computer software or programs (also referred to as program code, including software routines, applets, and/or macros) can be stored in any apparatus-readable data storage medium and they include program instructions to perform particular tasks. The computer program product may include one or more computer-executable components configured to perform embodiments when the program is run. The one or more computer-executable components may be at least one software code or portion thereof.
Further in this regard, it should be noted that any blocks of logic flows as in the figures may represent program steps or interconnected logic circuits, blocks and functions, or a combination of program steps and logic circuits, blocks and functions. The software may be stored on such physical media as a memory chip, or a memory block implemented within the processor, magnetic memory such as a hard disk or floppy disk, and optical memory such as, for example, a DVD and its data variants CD. The physical medium is a non-transitory medium. An example of a non-transitory computer-readable medium 800 is shown in fig. 8. The non-transitory computer readable medium 800 may be a CD or DVD.
The memory may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory, and removable memory. The data processor may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may include, as non-limiting examples, one or more of a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, a Data Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an FPGA, a gate level circuit, and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture.
Embodiments of the invention may be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit modules. The design of integrated circuits is generally a highly automated process. Complex and powerful software tools are available for converting a logic level design into a semiconductor circuit design ready to be etched and formed on a semiconductor substrate.
The foregoing description provides a complete and informative description of exemplary embodiments of the invention, by way of non-limiting example. However, various modifications and adaptations may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.
However, all such modifications and similar thereto of the teachings of this invention will still fall within the scope of the invention that is defined in the appended claims. Indeed, there is still another embodiment that includes a combination of one or more embodiments with any of the other embodiments previously discussed.
Accessory A
Protocol in RAN2#100
The side chain packet duplication in 1 LTE is anchored at PDCP.
2 for Uu packet duplication, two different RLC entities are submitted to duplicate side chain PDCP PDUs and associated with two different logical channels.
3 with respect to Uu packet duplication, side chain packet duplication on a single carrier is not supported, i.e. the MAC layer cannot multiplex the two logical channels associated with duplicated packets into the same HARQ entity.
4 retains LCID(s) that can be used to transmit one replica of the duplicate packets, i.e., non-duplicate packet transmissions cannot use them. RAN2 discusses whether the LCID(s) of the duplicate packets should be (pre) configured or hard coded or dependent on the UE implementation. ( FFS (pre) configuration or hard-coded or depending on UE implementation. This option should be operated for mode 3 and mode 4. )
5 will query SA2 for the possibility of deriving reliability information. Some background information of the packet duplication will be included, the benefit of the reliability indication. Including background information of Rel-14 PPPP.
Agreements in RANs 2# 100:
1. for mode 4 (connected and idle), the UE is allowed to autonomously initiate duplicate transmissions on multiple carriers based on the (pre) configuration. FFS on the UE requests a duplicate transmission from the NW.
Agreements in RANs 2# 101:
RAN2 acknowledges need to let eNB know PPPR information
Defining PPPR as class 4 or class 8
RAN2 acknowledges that it is beneficial to apply reliability to all V2X messages
PDCP performing packet duplication detection in Rx UE
-working assumption: option 1 (hard coded mapping between original LCID and copy) unless it brings big problems