WO2022151029A1

WO2022151029A1 - Methods, devices, and computer readable medium for communication

Info

Publication number: WO2022151029A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/071438
Authority: WO
Inventors: Zhe Chen; Gang Wang
Original assignee: NEC Corp
Current assignee: NEC Corp
Priority date: 2021-01-13
Filing date: 2021-01-13
Publication date: 2022-07-21
Anticipated expiration: 2023-07-13

Abstract

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, solutions on channel scheduling have been proposed. A first network device receives, from a second network device, a configuration of a logical channel between the first network device and a third network device. The configuration comprises at least one of: a number of data bearers mapped to the logical channel or information regarding a number of hops of the logical channel. The first network device schedules the logical channel based on the configuration.

Description

METHODS, DEVICES, AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM FOR COMMUNICATION

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication, and in particular, to methods, devices, and computer readable medium for communication.

BACKGROUND

In recent communication networks, network speed has been improved. The communication networks are expected to provide low latency and reliability for consumers and industries. In order to achieve super-fast data rates and ultra-low latency, higher frequency electromagnetic waves (for example, millimeter waves) are introduced into the communication networks. However, signals transmitted with higher frequency electromagnetic waves are easily blocked by objects. In this situation, Integrated Access Backhaul (IAB) has been introduced. Therefore, studies on IAB are needed.

SUMMARY

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for communication.

In a first aspect, there is provided a method for communication. The method comprises receiving, at a first network device and from a second network device, a first configuration of a first logical channel between the first network device and a third network device and a second configuration of a second logical channel between the first network device and the third network device, the first configuration comprising at least one of: a first number of data bearers mapped to the first logical channel or information regarding a number of hops of the first logical channel, and the second configuration comprising at least one of: a second number of data bearers mapped to the second logical channel or information regarding a number of hops of the second logical channel; and scheduling the first logical channel or the second logical channel based on the first configuration and the second configuration.

In a second aspect, there is provided a method for communication. The method comprises transmitting, at a second network device and to a first network device, a first configuration of a first logical channel between the first network device and a third network device and a second configuration of a second logical channel between the first network device and the third network device, the first configuration comprising at least one of: a first number of data bearers mapped to the first logical channel or information regarding a number of hops of the first logical channel, and the second configuration comprising at least one of: a second number of data bearers mapped to the second logical channel or information regarding a number of hops of the second logical channel.

In a third aspect, there is provided a method for communication. The method comprises receiving, at a third network device and from a first network device, data on a first logical channel between the first network device and the third network device or data on a second logical channel between the first network device and the third network device, the first logical channel or the second logical channel being scheduled based on a first configuration of the first logical channel and a second configuration of the second logical channel, the first configuration comprising at least one of: a first number of data bearers mapped to the first logical channel or information regarding a number of hops of the first logical channel, and the second configuration comprising at least one of: a second number of data bearers mapped to the second logical channel or information regarding a number of hops of the second logical channel.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a method for communication. The method comprises receiving, at an integrated access backhaul (IAB) node and from a first device, a first message carrying a data packet; generating a second message carrying the data packet based on the first message; and transmitting the second message to a third device, at least one of the first message or the second message comprising a number of hops associated with the data packet.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a first network device. The first network device comprises a processing unit; and a memory coupled to the processing unit and storing instructions thereon, the instructions, when executed by the processing unit, causing the first network device to perform method according the first aspect.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a second network device. The second network device comprises a processing unit; and a memory coupled to the processing unit and storing instructions thereon, the instructions, when executed by the processing unit, causing the second network device to perform method according the second aspect.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided a third network device. The third network device comprises a processing unit; and a memory coupled to the processing unit and storing instructions thereon, the instructions, when executed by the processing unit, causing the third network device to perform method according the third aspect.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided an IAB node. The IAB node comprises a processing unit; and a memory coupled to the processing unit and storing instructions thereon, the instructions, when executed by the processing unit, causing the IAB node to perform method according the fourth aspect.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any one of the first aspect, second, third, or fourth aspect.

Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Through the more detailed description of some example embodiments of the present disclosure in the accompanying drawings, the above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication environment in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

Fig. 2 illustrates a signaling flow for channel scheduling according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 3 illustrates a signaling flow for hop counting according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 4 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a structure of a message according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 5 illustrates a flowchart of an example method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 6 is a flowchart of an example method in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 7 is a flowchart of an example method in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 8 is a flowchart of an example method in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

Fig. 9 is a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

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

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

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

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

As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a device which is capable of providing or hosting a cell or coverage where terminal devices can communicate. Examples of a network device include, but not limited to, a Node B (NodeB or NB) , an Evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , a NodeB in new radio access (gNB) a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) , a radio head (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , a low power node such as a femto node, a pico node, a satellite network device, an aircraft network device, and the like. For the purpose of discussion, in the following, some example embodiments will be described with reference to eNB as examples of the network device.

As used herein, the term “terminal device” refers to any device having wireless or wired communication capabilities. Examples of the terminal device include, but not limited to, user equipment (UE) , personal computers, desktops, mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) , portable computers, tablets, wearable devices, internet of things (IoT) devices, Internet of Everything (IoE) devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, device on vehicle for V2X communication where X means pedestrian, vehicle, or infrastructure/network, or image capture devices such as digital cameras, gaming devices, music storage and playback appliances, or Internet appliances enabling wireless or wired Internet access and browsing and the like. In the following description, the terms “terminal device” , “communication device” , “terminal” , “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

In one embodiment, the terminal device may be connected with a first network device and a second network device. One of the first network device and the second network device may be a master node and the other one may be a secondary node. The first network device and the second network device may use different radio access technologies (RATs) . In one embodiment, the first network device may be a first RAT device and the second network device may be a second RAT device. In one embodiment, the first RAT device is eNB and the second RAT device is gNB. Information related with different RATs may be transmitted to the terminal device from at least one of the first network device and the second network device. In one embodiment, a first information may be transmitted to the terminal device from the first network device and a second information may be transmitted to the terminal device from the second network device directly or via the first network device. In one embodiment, information related with configuration for the terminal device configured by the second network device may be transmitted from the second network device via the first network device. Information related with reconfiguration for the terminal device configured by the second network device may be transmitted to the terminal device from the second network device directly or via the first network device.

Communications discussed herein may use conform to any suitable standards including, but not limited to, New Radio Access (NR) , Long Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Evolution, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) , cdma2000, and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and the like. Furthermore, the communications may be performed according to any generation communication protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Examples of the communication protocols include, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.85G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G) , and the sixth (6G) communication protocols. The techniques described herein may be used for the wireless networks and radio technologies mentioned above as well as other wireless networks and radio technologies.

The term “circuitry” used herein may refer to hardware circuits and/or combinations of hardware circuits and software. For example, the circuitry may be a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuits with software/firmware. As a further example, the circuitry may be any portions of hardware processors with software including digital signal processor (s) , software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a terminal device or a network device, to perform various functions. In a still further example, the circuitry may be hardware circuits and or processors, such as a microprocessor or a portion of a microprocessor, that requires software/firmware for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation. As used herein, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (s) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor (s) and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware.

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. The term “includes” and its variants are to be read as open terms that mean “includes, but is not limited to. ” The term “based on” is to be read as “based at least in part on. ” The term “one embodiment” and “an embodiment” are to be read as “at least one embodiment. ” The term “another embodiment” is to be read as “at least one other embodiment. ” The terms “first, ” “second, ” and the like may refer to different or same objects. Other definitions, explicit and implicit, may be included below.

In some examples, values, procedures, or apparatus are referred to as “best, ” “lowest, ” “highest, ” “minimum, ” “maximum, ” or the like. It will be appreciated that such descriptions are intended to indicate that a selection among many used functional alternatives can be made, and such selections need not be better, smaller, higher, or otherwise preferable to other selections.

As mentioned above, IAB is an important feature in 5G New Radio (NR) that enables rapid and cost-effective millimeter wave deployments through self-backhauling in the same spectrum. The term “wireless self-backhauling” used herein refer to a technology that uses the same wireless channel for coverage and backhaul connectivity to other base stations. It can achieve greater performance, more efficient use of spectrum resources and lowers equipment costs, while also reduce the reliance on the availability of wired backhaul at each access node location. In an IAB system, there are two types of network devices, IAB node and IAB donor. In other words, IAB is a multi-hop approach to network deployment and allows deployment of millimeter wave base stations with or without fiber backhaul transport. It works by having a fraction of the deployed network device act as donor nodes, using a fiber/wired connection. The remainder without a wired connection can be called IAB nodes. Both types of BSs generate an equivalent cellular coverage area and appear identical to user equipment (UE) in its coverage area. The Donor distributed unit (DU) is a conventional fiber-fed BS connected to the centralized unit (CU) using an F1 interface. The IAB node may serve as a first hop or second hop node. Both donor and IAB nodes also directly support UEs multiplexed with the backhaul Ur interface. The Uu interface is directly between a UE and an IAB or donor node.

According to conventional technologies, both 1: 1 bearer mapping and M: 1 bearer mapping are supported. In a scenario of 1: 1 bearer mapping, the number logic channels of IAB mobile termination (MT) can be extended up to 65855, but the Donor CU can configure a UE data radio bearer (DRB) preciously in each IAB backhaul (BH) . The term “data radio bearer” used herein refers to a bearer established between a terminal device and a network device which carries data in user plane. The term “backhaul” used herein refers to a link between IAB nodes. In another scenario of M: 1 mapping, the Donor CU can configure radio link control (RLC) channels with similar quality of service (QoS) aggregated in an egress hop. But the UE DRB cannot be controlled by controlled in each IAB BH.

With huge number of logical channels in the IAB BH, it can cause some problems. From a scheduler of IAB DU point of view, there should be a mechanism to ensure the QoS of UE regardless where the UE is attached to the network. From the IAB MT point of view, logical channels with low priority should be allowed with uplink resources to avoid starving. Conventional technologies should be enhanced due to the huge number of logical channels. The term “starving” used herein refers to a case where no resource is allocated to a certain channel for a period of time exceeding a predetermined threshold. According to conventional technologies, a logical channel prioritization (LCP) procedure can be applied whenever a new transmission is performed. Radio resource control (RRC) can control scheduling of uplink data by signaling for each logical channel per medium access control (MAC) entity. There are several parameters associated with scheduling uplink data: priority wherein an increasing priority value indicates a lower priority level, prioritizedBitRate which set the prioritized bit rate (PBR) , and bucketSizeDuration which sets the bucket size duration (BSD) .

For example, for each logical channel j, the MAC entity shall: increment Bj by the product PBR × T before every instance of the LCP procedure, where T is the time elapsed since Bj was last incremented; if the value of Bj is greater than the bucket size (i.e. PBR ×BSD) : set Bj to the bucket size. When a new transmission is performed, the MAC entity shall: allocate resources to the logical channels as follows: logical channels for the UL grant with Bj > 0 are allocated resources in a decreasing priority order. If the PBR of a logical channel is set to infinity, the MAC entity shall allocate resources for all the data that is available for transmission on the logical channel before meeting the PBR of the lower priority logical channel (s) ; decrement Bj by the total size of MAC SDUs served to logical channel j above; if any resources remain, all the logical channels are served in a strict decreasing priority order (regardless of the value of Bj) until either the data for that logical channel or the UL grant is exhausted, whichever comes first. Logical channels configured with equal priority should be served equally.

But for RLC channel, the UL grant is allocated for a whole RLC channel, so the ingress RLC channel of more hops is scheduled together with another ingress RLC channel of less hop. With the dramatically increased number of RLC channel in IAB BH compared to a single UE, the low priority RLC channel is more likely to starve.

Due to the large number of RLC channels in the IAB BH and the variant length of hops of different path, it is highly possible that some of the RLC channels are starving. Furthermore, in order to guarantee the latency of a long hop RLC channel, the hop number should be considered to schedule the RLC channel. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, solutions on channel scheduling have been proposed. The number of hops and the number of data bearers are taken into consideration when the network device schedules channels.

Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a communication system in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. The communication system 100, which is a part of a communication network, comprises a terminal device 110-1, a terminal device 110-2, ..., a terminal device 110-N, which can be collectively referred to as “terminal device (s) 110. ” The number N can be any suitable integer number.

The communication system 100 further comprises a network device 120-1, a network device 120-2, a network device 120-3, a network device 120-4, ..., a network device 120-M (not shown) which can be collectively referred to as “network device (s) 120. ” In some embodiments, the network device can be an IAB node. Only for the purpose of illustrations, the network device 120 used herein can refer to the IAB node. The number M can be any suitable integer number. As shown in Fig. 1, the communication system 100 may also a donor 130. It should be noted that the number of donors shown in Fig. 1 is only an example. In the communication system 100, the network device 120 and the terminal devices 110 can communicate data and control information to each other. The network devices 120 can communicate with each other. The donor CUs can also communicate with the network devices 120. According to the topology shown in Fig. 1, the network device 120-2 node can be regarded an ancestor/parent node of the network device 120-1 and the terminal devices 110. In other words, the network device 120-1 and the terminal devices 110 can be regarded as descendant/child node of the network device 120-2. The network devices 120-1, 120-2, 120-3 and the terminal devices 110-1 and 110-2 can be regarded as descendant/child node of the network device 120-4. The term “parent node” used herein can refer to an IAB node which is between the current IAB node and the donor. The term “descendant/child node” used herein can refer to an IAB node which is between the current IAB node and a terminal device. The numbers of devices shown in Fig. 1 are given for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations.

Communications in the communication system 100 may be implemented according to any proper communication protocol (s) , comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols of the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , the fifth generation (5G) and the sixth generation (6G) and on the like, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and the like, and/or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Divided Multiple Address (CDMA) , Frequency Divided Multiple Address (FDMA) , Time Divided Multiple Address (TDMA) , Frequency Divided Duplexer (FDD) , Time Divided Duplexer (TDD) , Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) , Orthogonal Frequency Divided Multiple Access (OFDMA) and/or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

Embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to any suitable scenarios. For example, embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented at reduced capability NR devices. Alternatively, embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented in one of the followings: NR multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) , NR sidelink enhancements, NR systems with frequency above 52.6GHz, an extending NR operation up to 71GHz, narrow band-Internet of Thing (NB-IOT) /enhanced Machine Type Communication (eMTC) over non-terrestrial networks (NTN) , NTN, UE power saving enhancements, NR coverage enhancement, NB-IoT and LTE-MTC, Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) , NR Multicast and Broadcast Services, or enhancements on Multi-Radio Dual-Connectivity.

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below. Reference is first made to Fig. 2, which shows a signaling chart illustrating process 200 among devices according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Only for the purpose of discussion, the process 200 will be described with reference to Fig. 1. The process 200 may involve the network device 120-3, the network device 120-4, and the donor 130 in Fig. 1. It should be noted that the process can involve any proper devices.

The donor 130 can have topology information of the communication system 100. For example, the donor 130 can configure that there are four hops for the terminal device 110-1 to access the donor 130. Alternatively or in addition, the donor 130 can configure that the data bearer 140-2 between the terminal device 110-1 and the network device 120-3 needs to be mapped to the logical channel 150-3 and the data bearer 140-3 between the terminal device 110-1 and the network device 120-3 needs to be mapped to the logical channel 150-4.

The donor 130 transmits 2005 a first configuration of a first logical channel and a second configuration of a second logical channel to the network device 120-3. In this way, it can reduce latency and achieve fairness scheduling. It should be noted that the donor 130 can transmit configuration of any number of logical channels. Only for the purpose of illustrations, the logical channel 150-3 between the network device 120-3 and the network device 120-4 can be regarded as the first logical channel. The first configuration can comprise a number of data bearers mapped to the first logical channel. For example, as shown in Fig. 1, the data bearer 140-1 and the data bearer 140-2 are mapped to the logical channel 150-3. In this case, the first configuration can indicate that the number of data bearers mapped to the logical channel 150-2 is two. Alternatively or in addition, the first configuration can comprise information regarding a number of hops of the first logical channel. In some embodiments, the first configuration can comprise a sum number of hops of a set of descendant channels mapped to the first logical channel. For example, as shown in Fig. 1, the logical channel 150-3 is an aggregation of logical channels and data bearers. As illustrated, the data bearer 140-2 is mapped to the logical channel 150-3 and the number of hops for the radio bearer 140-2 is one. Further, as shown in Fig. 1, the logical channel 150-2 is mapped to the logical channel 150-3, the logical channel 150-1 is mapped to the logical channel 150-2, and the data bearer 140-1 is mapped to the logical channel 150-1. Thus, the number of hops for the data bearer 140-1 is three. In this case, the sum number of hops of the set of descendant channels mapped to the logical channel 150-3 is four (i.e., one (for the data bearer 140-2) plus three (for the data bearer 140-1) ) . Therefore, the first configuration can indicate the sum number of hops of the set of descendant channels mapped to the logical channel 150-3 is four. Additionally, the first configuration can comprise a maximum number of hops of the set of descendant channels mapped to the first logical channel. For example, since the number of hops for the data bearer 140-1 is three and the number of hops for the data bearer 40-2 is one, the maximum number of hops of the set of descendant channels mapped to the logical channel 150-3 is three. In this case, the first configuration can indicate the maximum number of hops of the set of descendant channels is three.

Only for the purpose of illustrations, the logical channel 150-41 between the network device 120-3 and the network device 120-4 can be regarded as the second logical channel. The second configuration can comprise a number of data bearers mapped to the second logical channel. For example, as shown in Fig. 1, the data bearer 140-3 is mapped to the logical channel 150-4. In this case, the second configuration can indicate that the number of data bearers mapped to the logical channel 150-2 is one. Alternatively or in addition, the second configuration can comprise information regarding a number of hops of the second logical channel. In some embodiments, the second configuration can comprise a sum number of hops of a set of descendant channels mapped to the second logical channel. For example, as shown in Fig. 1, the logical channel 150-4 is a single logical channel mapped from the data bearer 140-3. In this case, the sum number of hops of the set of descendant channels mapped to the logical channel 150-4 is one. Therefore, the second configuration can indicate the sum number of hops of the set of descendant channels mapped to the logical channel 150-4 is one. Additionally, the second configuration can comprise a maximum number of hops of the set of descendant channels mapped to the second logical channel. For example, since the number of hops for the data bearer 140-3 is one, the maximum number of hops of the set of descendant channels mapped to the logical channel 150-4 is one. In this case, the second configuration can indicate the maximum number of hops of the set of descendant channels is one.

In some embodiments, the first configuration and the second configuration can be transmitted in a RRCReconfiguraiton message. It should be noted that the first and second configurations can be transmitted via any proper singling or message. Table 1 below shows an example of a RRCReconfiguraiton message.

Table 1

The parameter “sumhop” represents the sum number of all descendant logical channels mapped to a logical channel. The parameter “maxhop” represents the maximum number of hops of the descendant logical channels mapped to the logical channel, which means the number of hops for the longest hop of the logical channel. The parameter “numofdrb” represents the total number of radio bearer mapped to the logical channel.

The network device 120-3 schedules 2010 the first logical channel or the second logical channel based on the first configuration and the second configuration. The term “schedule” used herein refers to a case where the network device allocates its uplink grant resources to a specific logical channel. In some embodiments, if the maximum number of hops indicated in the first configuration is larger than the maximum number of hops indicated in the second configuration, the network device 120-3 can schedule the first logical channel. For example, since the maximum number of hops related to the logical channel 150-3 is three and the maximum number of hops related to the channel 150-4 is one, the network device 120-3 can schedule the logical channel 150-3.

In other embodiments, if the sum number of hops indicated in the first configuration is larger than the sum number of hops indicated in the second configuration, the network device 120-3 can schedule the first logical channel. For example, since the sum number of hops related to the logical channel 150-3 is four and the sum number of hops related to the channel 150-4 is one, the network device 120-3 can schedule the logical channel 150-3.

Alternatively or in addition, if the number of data bearers in indicated in the first configuration and the number of data bearers indicated in the second configuration, the network device 120-3 can schedule the first logical channel. For example, since the number of data bearers related to the logical channel 150-3 is two and the number of data bearers related to the logical channel 150-4 is one, the network device 120-3 can schedule the logical channel 150-3.

Further, priorities for logical channels have been extended, when the IAB BH radio link control (RLC) channels are applied. In some embodiments, the priorities for the logical channel can be extended based on the number of data bearers mapped to the logical channel. For example, the priority of the logical channel can be a priority multiplying the number of data bearers (i.e., the parameter “numofdrb” ) , where a range of the priority can be from 1 to 16. Alternatively, the priorities for the logical channel can be extended based on the information regarding the number of hops of the logical channel. For example, the priority of the logical channel can be a priority multiplying the sum number of hops (i.e., the parameter “sumhop” ) , where a range of the priority can be from 1 to 16. Alternatively, the priority of the logical channel can be a priority multiplying the maximum number of hops (i.e., the parameter “maxhop” ) , where a range of the priority can be from 1 to 16.

In other embodiments, the bucket size related to the logical channel can also be extended. In some embodiments, the priorities for the logical channel can be extended based on the number of data bearers mapped to the logical channel. For example, the bucket size of the logical channel can be a bucket size multiplying the number of data bearers (i.e., the parameter “numofdrb” ) . Alternatively, the bucket size for the logical channel can be extended based on the information regarding the number of hops of the logical channel. For example, the bucket size of the logical channel can be a bucket size multiplying the sum number of hops (i.e., the parameter “sumhop” ) . Alternatively, the bucket size of the logical channel can be a bucket size multiplying the maximum number of hops (i.e., the parameter “maxhop” ) .

In some embodiments, the network device 120-3 may update 2015 a first priority of the first logical channel based on the first configuration. In an example embodiment, if the first logical channel has not been scheduled by MAC entity for a time period, the network device 120-3 may update the first priority of the first logical channel. For example, the first priority can be updated by a number “A. ” In some embodiments, the number “A” can be configured by the donor 130. Alternatively, the number “A” can be a fixed number.

The network device 120-3 can decrease 2025 a bucket size of the second logical channel. In an example embodiment, if the first logical channel has not been scheduled by MAC entity for a time period, the network device 120-3 may decrease the bucket size of the second logical channel. For example, in some embodiments, the logical channel 150-3 has not been scheduled for the time period and the logical channel 150-4 is the least higher priority channel, the network device 120-3 may decrease the bucket size of the logical channel 150-4. The bucket size duration may have the following values shown in Table 2. In other embodiments, if the logical channel with priority 3429 has not been scheduled in the elapsed T, the bucket size of the logical channel with priority 3430 is 150 ms, the network device 120-3 can decrease the bucket size of the logical channel with priority 3430 to the first less value, ms100. If in the next T period, the logical channel with priority 3429 still has no UL grant, the network device 120-3 can decrease the bucket size of the logical channel with priority 3431.

Table 2

bucketSizeDuration ENUMERATED {ms5, ms10, ms20, ms50, ms100, ms150,

ms300, ms500, ms1000, spare7, spare6, spare5, spare4, spare3, spare2, spare1}

As mentioned above, if the first logical channel has not been scheduled by MAC entity for a time period, the network device 120-3 may update the priority of the first logical channel or decrease the bucket size of the second logical channel. The network deice 120-1 may determine the time period. In some embodiments, the time period can be determined based on the configuration received from the donor 130. Alternatively, the network device 120-3 may determine the time period based on a delay requirement on the first logical channel and a coefficient. In some embodiments, the delay requirement can be a re-route timer. Alternatively, the delay requirement can be a packet delay budget. The coefficient can be a fixed value. Alternatively, the coefficient can be configured by the donor 130. Only as an example, if the re-route timer is 20 ms and the coefficient is 0.5, the time period is 10ms.

In other embodiments, the network device 120-3 may determine the time period based on the bucket size duration of the first logical channel and a coefficient. In some embodiments, the coefficient can be a fixed value. Alternatively, the coefficient can be configured by the donor 130. Only as an example, if the bucket size duration is 20 ms and the coefficient is 2, the time period is 40 ms.

In some embodiments, if the network device 120-4 has not received data for the first logical channel for a time period, the network device 120-4 may determine that the first logical channel is starving. In this case, the network device 120-4 may transmit 2035 an uplink status report to the donor 130. The uplink status report can indicate an identity of the first logical channel. Alternatively or additionally, the uplink status report can indicate the time period. In other embodiments, the uplink status report can indicate traffic amount on the first logical channel. In some embodiments, the donor 130 may transmit a request for the uplink status report. In this case, the network device 120-3 may transmit the uplink status report based on the request. Alternatively, the network device 120-3 may transmit the uplink status report periodically. The periodicity for transmitting the uplink status report can be configured by the donor 130.

The donor 130 can transmit 2040 a reconfiguration for the first logical channel to the network device 120-3. For example, the reconfiguration may allocate a higher priority to the first logical channel. Alternatively or in addition, the donor 130 can update the bucket size of the first logical channel. Embodiments are not limited in this aspect.

In some embodiments, the network device 120-3 can receive data from the terminal device 110-1 on a data bearer. Alternatively, the network device 120-3 can receive data from the terminal device 110-1 on a logical channel. The network device 120-3 can determine a first priority of a first backhaul adaptation protocol (BAP) channel based on the number of hops from the terminal device 110-1 to the network device 120-3 and the priority of the data bearer or the logical channel. In addition, the network device 120-3 can also receive data from the terminal device 110-2 on another data bearer. Alternatively, the network device 120-3 can receive data from the terminal device 110-2 on another logical channel. The network device 120-3 can determine a second priority of a second BAP channel based on the number of hops from the terminal device 110-2 to the network device 120-3 and another priority of the other data bearer or the other logical channel. In this case, if the first priority is higher than the second priority, the network device 120-3 can schedule the first BAP channel. For example, if the network device 120-3 can receive a BAP packet with the hop count 4 in the BAP header from the network device 120-2, then the BAP layer of the network device 120-2 can deliver the hop count to MAC layer of the network device 120-2. The MAC layer of the network device 120-2 can multiply the priority (for example, 8789) of the logical channel 150-2 with the hop count (4) , which equals to 22492 for the BAP channel priority. When the network device 120-3 can receive a packet from the terminal device 110-2, the network device 120-3 can set hop count to 2, then the BAP layer of the network device 120-3 can deliver the hop count to MAC layer of the network device 120-3. The MAC layer of the network device 120-3 can multiply the priority (for example, 22492) of data bearer 140-4 with the hop count (2) , which equals to 17578 for the BAP channel priority. When the network device 120-3 receives uplink grant from the network device 120-4 for the logical channel 150-3, the network device 120-3 can prioritize the scheduling of high BAP channel priority (22492) from the terminal device 110-1 over the low BAP channel priority (17578) from the terminal device 110-2.

In some embodiments, the network device 120-3 can receive a configuration of a reduced buffer status report (BSR) retransmission timer (which can be represented as “retxBSR-Timer” ) from the donor 130. Table 3 below shows example values of the BSR retransmission timer. In this way, it can reduce latency and achieve fast scheduling.

Table 3

retxBSR-Timer ENUMERATED {sf1, sf2, sf5, sf10, sf20, sf40, sf80,

sf160, sf320, sf640, sf1280, sf2560, sf5120, sf10240, spare5, spare4, spare3, spare2, spare1}

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below. Reference is first made to Fig. 3, which shows a signaling chart illustrating process 300 among devices according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Only for the purpose of discussion, the process 300 will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Only for the purpose of illustrations, the process 300 may involve the terminal device 110-1, the network device120-1, the network device 120-2, the network device 120-3, the network device 120-4, and the donor 130-in Fig. 1.

The messages transmitted between network devices can comprise an indication for indicating hop number associated with the message. Fig. 4 shows a simplified block diagram of a BAP PDU according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The BAP PDU 400 can comprise a bit field 410 which indicate the BAP PDU is related to data or control information. The bit fields 420-2, 420-2 and 420-3 are reserved bits. The bit fields 430-1 and 430-2 can be used to indicate destination of the BAP PDU. The bit fields 440-1 and 440-2 can be used to indicate a path identity of the BAP PDU. The bit field 450 can be used to indicate hop count associated with the BAP PDU. The bit field 460 can be used to carry data.

In some embodiments, the hop count can represent the number of hops that have been traversed. As shown in Fig. 3, in uplink manner, the terminal device 110-1 can transmit 3005 a packet to the network device 120-1. The network device 120-1 can encode the packet by a BAP header and set the hop number in the BAP header to be 1. The network device 120-1 can transmit 3010 the encoded packet to the network device 120-2. The network device 120-2 can set the hop number to 2. The network device 120-2 can transmit 3015 the packet to the network device 120-3. The network device 120-3 can set the hop number to 3. The network device 120-3 can transmit 3020 the packet to the network device 120-4. The network device 120-4 can set the hop number to 4. The network device 120-4 can transmit 3025 the packet to the donor 130. In downlink manner, the donor 130 can transmit 3030 a packet to the network deice 120-4 with the hop number 1. The network device 120-4 can set the hop number to 2 and transmit 3035 the data packet to the network device 120-3. The network device 120-3 can set the hop number to 3 and transmit 3040 the data packet to the network device 120-2. The network device 120-2 can set the hop number to 4 and transmit 3045 the data packet to the network device 120-1. The network device 120-1 can transmit 3050 the data packet to the terminal device 110-1.

In other embodiments, hop count can represent the total number of hops from access node to the donor 130. In downlink manner, the donor 130 can set the hop count and the network devices 120-1, 120-2, 120-3, and 120-4 do not change the hop count when forwarding the data packet. For uplink, the donor 130 can configure the total number of hops to access network device for each path ID. For example, the donor 130 can transmit a BAP mapping configuration message to these network devices. Table 4 below shows an example of the BAP mapping configuration message.

Table 4

In other embodiments, hop count can represent the total number of hops left to the destination. For DL, the donor 130 can sets the hop count, every intermediate network devices can decrease the hop count by 1 when forwarding it to the next hop. For example, as shown in Fig. 3, the donor 130 can transmit 3030 a packet to the network deice 120-4 with the hop number 4. The network device 120-4 can set the hop number to 3 and transmit 3035 the data packet to the network device 120-3. The network device 120-3 can set the hop number to 2 and transmit 3040 the data packet to the network device 120-2. The network device 120-2 can set the hop number to 1 and transmit 3045 the data packet to the network device 120-1. The network device 120-1 can transmit 3050 the data packet to the terminal device 110-1.

For UL, the donor 130 can configure the total number of hops to access network device for each path ID. Every intermediate network device can decrease the hop count by 1 when forwarding it to the next hop. For example, as shown in Fig. 3, in uplink manner, the terminal device 110-1 can transmit 3005 a packet to the network device 120-1. The network device 120-1 can encode the packet by a BAP header and set the hop number in the BAP header to be 4. The network device 120-1 can transmit 3010 the encoded packet to the network device 120-2. The network device 120-2 can set the hop number to 3. The network device 120-2 can transmit 3015 the packet to the network device 120-3. The network device 120-3 can set the hop number to 2. The network device 120-3 can transmit 3020 the packet to the network device 120-4. The network device 120-4 can set the hop number to 1. The network device 120-4 can transmit 3025 the packet to the donor 130.

Fig. 5 shows a flowchart of an example method 500 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 500 can be implemented at any suitable devices. Only for the purpose of illustrations, the method 500 can be implemented at a network device 120-3. It should be noted that the method 500 can be implemented at any suitable devices.

At block 510, the network device 120-3 receives a first configuration of a first logical channel and a second configuration of a second logical channel. In this way, it can reduce latency and achieve fairness scheduling. It should be noted that the donor 130 can transmit configuration of any number of logical channels. The first configuration can comprise a number of data bearers mapped to the first logical channel. Alternatively or in addition, the first configuration can comprise information regarding a number of hops of the first logical channel. In some embodiments, the first configuration can comprise a sum number of hops of a set of descendant channels mapped to the first logical channel. Additionally, the first configuration can comprise a maximum number of hops of the set of descendant channels mapped to the first logical channel. In this case, the first configuration can indicate the maximum number of hops of the set of descendant channels is three.

Only for the purpose of illustrations, the second configuration can comprise a number of data bearers mapped to the second logical channel. Alternatively or in addition, the second configuration can comprise information regarding a number of hops of the second logical channel. In some embodiments, the second configuration can comprise a sum number of hops of a set of descendant channels mapped to the second logical channel. Additionally, the second configuration can comprise a maximum number of hops of the set of descendant channels mapped to the second logical channel.

In some embodiments, the first configuration and the second configuration can be transmitted in a RRCReconfiguraiton message. It should be noted that the first and second configurations can be transmitted via any proper singling or message.

At block 520, the network device 120-3 schedules the first logical channel or the second logical channel based on the first configuration and the second configuration. The term “schedule” used herein refers to a case where the network device allocates its uplink grant resources to a specific logical channel. In some embodiments, if the maximum number of hops indicated in the first configuration is larger than the maximum number of hops indicated in the second configuration, the network device 120-2 can schedule the first logical channel. In other embodiments, if the sum number of hops indicated in the first configuration is larger than the sum number of hops indicated in the second configuration, the network device 120-2 can schedule the first logical channel. Alternatively or in addition, if the number of data bearers in indicated in the first configuration and the number of data bearers indicated in the second configuration, the network device 120-2 can schedule the first logical channel.

Further, priorities for logical channels have been extended, when the IAB BH radio link control (RLC) channels are applied. In some embodiments, the priorities for the logical channel can be extended based on the number of data bearers mapped to the logical channel. For example, the priority of the logical channel can be a priority multiplying the number of data bearers (i.e., the parameter “numofdrb” ) , where a range of the priority can be from 1 to 16. Alternatively, the priorities for the logical channel can be extended based on the information regarding the number of hops of the logical channel.

In some embodiments, the network device 120-3 may update a first priority of the first logical channel based on the first configuration. In an example embodiment, if the first logical channel has not been scheduled by MAC entity for a time period, the network device 120-3 may update the first priority of the first logical channel. For example, the first priority can be updated by a number “A. ” In some embodiments, the number “A” can be configured by the donor 130. Alternatively, the number “A” can be a fixed number.

The network device 120-3 can decrease a bucket size of the second logical channel. In an example embodiment, if the first logical channel has not been scheduled by MAC entity for a time period, the network device 120-3 may decrease the bucket size of the second logical channel. For example, in some embodiments, the logical channel 150-3 has not been scheduled for the time period and the logical channel 150-4 is the least higher priority channel, the network device 120-3 may decrease the bucket size of the logical channel 150-4.

Fig. 6 shows a flowchart of an example method 600 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 600 can be implemented at any suitable devices. Only for the purpose of illustrations, the method 600 can be implemented at a donor 130. It should be noted that the method 600 can be implemented at any suitable devices.

At block 610, the donor 130 transmits, to the network device 120-2, a first network device, a first configuration of a first logical channel between the first network device and a third network device and a second configuration of a second logical channel between the first network device and the third network device. The first configuration can comprise a number of data bearers mapped to the first logical channel. Alternatively or in addition, the first configuration can comprise information regarding a number of hops of the first logical channel. In some embodiments, the first configuration can comprise a sum number of hops of a set of descendant channels mapped to the first logical channel. Additionally, the first configuration can comprise a maximum number of hops of the set of descendant channels mapped to the first logical channel. In this case, the first configuration can indicate the maximum number of hops of the set of descendant channels is three.

In some embodiments, the donor 130 may receive, at block 620, from the network device 120-4, an uplink status report. The uplink status report can indicate one or more of: the first logical channel, traffic amount on the first logical channel, or a time period within which the first logical channel has not been scheduled by the first network device. The donor 130 may transmit, to the network device 120-3, a reconfiguration of the first logical channel. Alternatively, the donor 130 may transmit a request for the uplink status report to the network device 120-4.

In some embodiments, the donor 130 may transmit information indicating a time period for triggering updating a first priority of the first logical channel to the network device 120-3. Alternatively or additionally, the donor 130 may transmit information indicating a first coefficient related to a delay requirement on the first logical channel for determining the time period to the network device 120-3. In other embodiments, the donor 130 may transmit information indicating a second coefficient related a bucket size duration for determining the time period to the network device 120-3.

Fig. 7 shows a flowchart of an example method 700 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 700 can be implemented at any suitable devices. Only for the purpose of illustrations, the method 700 can be implemented at a network device 120-4. It should be noted that the method 700 can be implemented at any suitable devices.

At block 710, the network device 120-4 receives, from the network device 120-3, data on a first logical channel between the first network device and the third network device or data on a second logical channel between the first network device and the third network device, the first logical channel or the second logical channel being scheduled based on a first configuration of the first logical channel and a second configuration of the second logical channel. The first configuration can comprise a number of data bearers mapped to the first logical channel. Alternatively or in addition, the first configuration can comprise information regarding a number of hops of the first logical channel. In some embodiments, the first configuration can comprise a sum number of hops of a set of descendant channels mapped to the first logical channel. Additionally, the first configuration can comprise a maximum number of hops of the set of descendant channels mapped to the first logical channel. In this case, the first configuration can indicate the maximum number of hops of the set of descendant channels is three.

In some embodiments, at block 720, the network device 120-4 can transmit, to the donor 130, an uplink status report. In some embodiments, the uplink status report can indicate the first logical channel. Alternatively or additionally, the uplink status report can indicate traffic amount on the first logical channel. In other embodiments, the uplink status report can indicate a time period within which the first logical channel has not been scheduled by the network device 120-3. In some embodiments, the uplink status report can be triggered based on a request for the uplink status report. For example, if the network device 120-4 receives the request, the network device 120-4 may transmit the uplink status report based on the request. In other embodiments, if no data has been received on the first logical channel for a time period, the network device 120-4 may transmit the uplink status report. Alternatively, the uplink status report may be transmitted periodically.

Fig. 8 shows a flowchart of an example method 800 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 800 can be implemented at any suitable devices. Only for the purpose of illustrations, the method 800 can be implemented at an IAB node. The IAB node can be any one of network devices 120. It should be noted that the method 800 can be implemented at any suitable devices.

At block 810, the IAB node receives a first message carrying a data packet from a first device. In some embodiments, the first device may be the donor 130. Alternatively, the first device may be another IAB node. In other embodiments, the first device may be a terminal device, for example, the terminal device 110-1. In some embodiments, the IAB node can receive, from the donor, a mapping configuration indicating a total number of hops to an access IAB for each path identity.

At block 820, the IAB node generates a second message carrying the data packet based on the first message. In some embodiments, if the first device is a terminal device, the IAB node can encode the data packet by a BAP header, the BAP header indicating that an initial number of hops associated with the data packet. The BAP header can indicate that an initial number of hops associated with the data packet.

Alternatively, if the first device is a donor device or another IAB node in downlink, the IAB node can obtain the number of hops from the first message. The IAB node may also generate the second message comprising a decreased number of hops.

In other embodiments, if the first device is another IAB node in uplink, the IAB node may obtain the number of hops from the first message. The IAB node may generate the second message comprising an increased number of hops.

In some embodiments, if the first device is a donor device or another IAB node in downlink, the IAB node may obtain the number of hops from the first message. The IAB node may generate the second message comprising an increased number of hops.

Alternatively or in addition, if the first device is another IAB node in uplink, the IAB node may obtain the number of hops from the first message. The IAB node may generate the second message comprising a decreased number of hops.

In other embodiments, if the first device is another IAB node in uplink, the IAB node may obtain the number of hops from the first message. The IAB node may generate the second message comprising the number of hops.

At block 830, the IAB node transmits the second message to a third device, at least one of the first message or the second message comprising a number of hops associated with the data packet.

Fig. 9 is a simplified block diagram of a device 900 that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 900 can be considered as a further example implementation of the terminal device, the IAB node 120 or the donor as shown in Fig. 1. Accordingly, the device 900 can be implemented at or as at least a part of the terminal device, the IAB node 120 or the donor.

As shown, the device 900 includes a processor 910, a memory 920 coupled to the processor 910, a suitable transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) 940 coupled to the processor 910, and a communication interface coupled to the TX/RX 940. The memory 920 stores at least a part of a program 930. The TX/RX 940 is for bidirectional communications. The TX/RX 940 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication, though in practice an Access Node mentioned in this application may have several ones. The communication interface may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements, such as X2 interface for bidirectional communications between eNBs, S1 interface for communication between a Mobility Management Entity (MME) /Serving Gateway (S-GW) and the eNB, Un interface for communication between the eNB and a relay node (RN) , or Uu interface for communication between the eNB and a terminal device.

The program 930 is assumed to include program instructions that, when executed by the associated processor 910, enable the device 1000 to operate in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, as discussed herein with reference to Fig. 2 to 9. The embodiments herein may be implemented by computer software executable by the processor 910of the device 1000, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. The processor 910may be configured to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure. Furthermore, a combination of the processor 910and memory 920 may form processing means 850 adapted to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure.

The memory 920 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory, as non-limiting examples. While only one memory 920 is shown in the device 900, there may be several physically distinct memory modules in the device 900. The processor 910may be of any type suitable to the local technical network, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 1000 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

In some embodiments, a first network device comprises circuitry configured to: receive, a receiving, at a first network device and from a second network device, a first configuration of a first logical channel between the first network device and a third network device and a second configuration of a second logical channel between the first network device and the third network device, the first configuration comprising at least one of: a first number of data bearers mapped to the first logical channel or information regarding a number of hops of the first logical channel, and the second configuration comprising at least one of: a second number of data bearers mapped to the second logical channel or information regarding a number of hops of the second logical channel; and schedule the first logical channel or the second logical channel based on the first configuration and the second configuration.

In some embodiments, the information regarding the number of hops of the first logical channel comprises at least one of: a first sum number of hops of a first set of descendant channels mapped to the first logical channel or a first maximum number of hops of the first set of descendant channels mapped to the first logical channel, and wherein the information regarding the number of hops of the second logical channel comprises at least one of: a second sum number of hops of a second set of descendant channels mapped to the second logical channel or a second maximum number of hops of the second set of descendant channels mapped the second logical channel.

In some embodiments, the first network device comprises circuitry configured to schedule the first logical channel or the second logical channel based on the first configuration and the second configuration by at least one of: in accordance with a determination that the first sum number of hops is larger than the second sum number of hops, scheduling the first logical channel; or in accordance with a determination that the first maximum number of hops is larger than the second maximum number of hops, scheduling the first logical channel; or in accordance with a determination that the first number of data bearers is larger than the second number of data bearers, scheduling the first logical channel.

In some embodiments, the first configuration and the second configuration are received in radio resource control (RRC) Reconfiguration messages.

In some embodiments, the first network device comprises circuitry configured to update a first priority of the first logical channel based on the first configuration; and update a first bucket size of the first logical channel based on the first configuration.

In some embodiments, the first network device comprises circuitry configured to in accordance with a determination that the first logical channel has not been scheduled within a time period, update a first priority of the first logical channel with a number which is configured by the second network device or is pre-configured.

In some embodiments, the first network device comprises circuitry configured to in accordance with a determination that the first logical channel has not been scheduled within a time period and a second priority of the second logical channel is higher than a first priority of the first logical channel, decrease a second bucket size of the second logical channel.

In some embodiments, the time period is configured by the second network device.

In some embodiments, the first network device comprises circuitry configured to determine the time period based on a delay requirement on the first logical channel and a first coefficient which is configured by the second network device or is preconfigured; or determine the time period based on a bucket size duration and a second coefficient which is configured by the second network device or is preconfigured.

In some embodiments, the first network device comprises circuitry configured to in accordance with a determination that the first logical channel has not been scheduled within a time period, receive a reconfiguration of the first logical channel from the second network device.

In some embodiments, the first network device comprises circuitry configured to receive, from a first terminal device, first data on a first data bearer or a third logical channel; determine a first priority of a first backhaul adaptation protocol (BAP) channel based on a priority of the first data bearer or the third logical channel and a number of hops from the first terminal device to the first network device; receive second data from a second terminal device on a second data bearer or a fourth logical channel; determine a second priority of a second BAP channel based on a number of hops from the second terminal device to the first network device, and a priority of: the second data bearer or a fourth logical channel; and in accordance with a determination that the first priority of the first BAP channel is higher than the second priority of the second BAP channel, schedule the first BAP channel.

In some embodiments, the first network device comprises circuitry configured to receive, from the second network device, a configuration of a reduced buffer status report (BSR) retransmission timer.

In some embodiments, a second network device comprises circuitry configured to: transmit, at a second network device and to a first network device, a first configuration of a first logical channel between the first network device and a third network device and a second configuration of a second logical channel between the first network device and the third network device, the first configuration comprising at least one of: a first number of data bearers mapped to the first logical channel or information regarding a number of hops of the first logical channel, and the second configuration comprising at least one of: a second number of data bearers mapped to the second logical channel or information regarding a number of hops of the second logical channel.

In some embodiments, the information regarding the number of hops of the first logical channel comprises at least one of: a first sum number of hops of a first set of descendant channels mapped to the first logical channel or a first maximum number of hops of the first set of descendant channels mapped to the first logical channel. In some embodiments, the information regarding the number of hops of the second logical channel comprises at least one of: a second sum number of hops of a second set of descendant channels mapped to the second logical channel or a second maximum number of hops of the second set of descendant channels mapped the second logical channel.

In some embodiments, the first configuration and the second configuration are transmitted in radio resource control (RRC) Reconfiguration messages.

In some embodiments, the second network device comprises circuitry configured to receive, from the third network device, an uplink status report indicating at least one of: the first logical channel, traffic amount on the first logical channel, or a time period within which the first logical channel has not been scheduled by the first network device; and transmit, to the first network device, a reconfiguration of the first logical channel from the second network device.

In some embodiments, the second network device comprises circuitry configured to transmit, to the third network device, a request for the uplink status report.

In some embodiments, the second network device comprises circuitry configured to transmit, to the first network device, information indicating one of the following: a time period for triggering updating a first priority of the first logical channel, a first coefficient related to a delay requirement on the first logical channel for determining the time period , or a second coefficient related a bucket size duration for determining the time period.

In some embodiments, a third network device comprises circuitry configured to: receive , at a third network device and from a first network device, data on a first logical channel between the first network device and the third network device or data on a second logical channel between the first network device and the third network device, the first logical channel or the second logical channel being scheduled based on a first configuration of the first logical channel and a second configuration of the second logical channel, the first configuration comprising at least one of: a first number of data bearers mapped to the first logical channel or information regarding a number of hops of the first logical channel, and the second configuration comprising at least one of: a second number of data bearers mapped to the second logical channel or information regarding a number of hops of the second logical channel.

In some embodiments, the third network device comprises circuitry configured to: transmit, to the second network device, an uplink status report indicating at least one of: the first logical channel, traffic amount on the first logical channel, or a time period within which the first logical channel has not been scheduled by the first network device.

In some embodiments, the third network device comprises circuitry configured to: receive, from the second network device, a request for the uplink status report.

In some embodiments, the third network device comprises circuitry configured to transmit the uplink status report by in accordance with a determination that no data has been received on the first logical channel for a time period, transmitting the uplink status report.

In some embodiments, an IAB node comprises circuitry configured to: receive, at an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node and from a first device, a first message carrying a data packet; generate second message carrying the data packet based on the first message; and transmit he second message to a third device, at least one of the first message or the second message comprising a number of hops associated with the data packet.

In some embodiments, the first device is a terminal device, and the IAB node comprises circuitry configured to generate the second message by: encoding the data packet by a backhaul adaptation protocol (BAP) header, the BAP header indicating that an initial number of hops associated with the data packet.

In some embodiments, the first device is a donor device or another IAB node in downlink, and the IAB node comprises circuitry configured to generate the second message by:obtaining, from the first message, the number of hops; and generating the second message comprising a decreased number of hops.

In some embodiments, the first device is another IAB node in uplink, and the IAB node comprises circuitry configured to generate the second message by: obtaining, from the first message, the number of hops; and generating the second message comprising an increased number of hops.

In some embodiments, the first device is a donor device or another IAB node in downlink, the IAB node comprises circuitry configured to generate the second message by obtaining, from the first message, the number of hops; and generating the second message comprising an increased number of hops.

In some embodiments, the first device is another IAB node in uplink, and the IAB node comprises circuitry configured to generate the second message by obtaining, from the first message, the number of hops; and generating the second message comprising a decreased number of hops.

In some embodiments, the first device is another IAB node in uplink , and the IAB node comprises circuitry configured to generate the second message by obtaining, from the first message, the number of hops; and generating the second message comprising the number of hops.

In some embodiments, the IAB node comprises circuitry configured to receive, from a donor, a mapping configuration indicating a total number of hops to an access IAB for each path identity.

Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representation, it will be appreciated that the 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.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor, to carry out the process or method as described above with reference to any of Figs. 4-10. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

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

The above program code may be embodied on a machine readable medium, which may be any tangible medium that may contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine readable medium may be a machine readable signal medium or a machine readable storage medium. A machine readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the machine readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM) , a read-only memory (ROM) , an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory) , an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) , an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

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

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

Claims

A communication method, comprising:

receiving, at a first network device and from a second network device, a first configuration of a first logical channel between the first network device and a third network device and a second configuration of a second logical channel between the first network device and the third network device, the first configuration comprising at least one of: a first number of data bearers mapped to the first logical channel or information regarding a number of hops of the first logical channel, and the second configuration comprising at least one of: a second number of data bearers mapped to the second logical channel or information regarding a number of hops of the second logical channel; and

scheduling the first logical channel or the second logical channel based on the first configuration and the second configuration.
The method of claim 1, wherein the information regarding the number of hops of the first logical channel comprises at least one of: a first sum number of hops of a first set of descendant channels mapped to the first logical channel or a first maximum number of hops of the first set of descendant channels mapped to the first logical channel, and

wherein the information regarding the number of hops of the second logical channel comprises at least one of: a second sum number of hops of a second set of descendant channels mapped to the second logical channel or a second maximum number of hops of the second set of descendant channels mapped the second logical channel.
The method of claim 2, wherein scheduling the first logical channel or the second logical channel based on the first configuration and the second configuration comprises at least one of:

in accordance with a determination that the first sum number of hops is larger than the second sum number of hops, scheduling the first logical channel; or

in accordance with a determination that the first maximum number of hops is larger than the second maximum number of hops, scheduling the first logical channel; or

in accordance with a determination that the first number of data bearers is larger than the second number of data bearers, scheduling the first logical channel.
The method of claim 1, wherein the first configuration and the second configuration are received in radio resource control (RRC) Reconfiguration messages.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

updating a first priority of the first logical channel based on the first configuration; and

updating a first bucket size of the first logical channel based on the first configuration.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in accordance with a determination that the first logical channel has not been scheduled within a time period, updating a first priority of the first logical channel with a number which is configured by the second network device or is pre-configured.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in accordance with a determination that the first logical channel has not been scheduled within a time period and a second priority of the second logical channel is higher than a first priority of the first logical channel, decreasing a second bucket size of the second logical channel.
The method of claim 7, wherein the time period is configured by the second network device.
The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining the time period based on a delay requirement on the first logical channel and a first coefficient which is configured by the second network device or is preconfigured; or

determining the time period based on a bucket size duration and a second coefficient which is configured by the second network device or is preconfigured.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in accordance with a determination that the first logical channel has not been scheduled within a time period, receiving a reconfiguration of the first logical channel from the second network device.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from a first terminal device, first data on a first data bearer or a third logical channel;

determining a first priority of a first backhaul adaptation protocol (BAP) channel based on a priority of the first data bearer or the third logical channel and a number of hops from the first terminal device to the first network device;

receiving second data from a second terminal device on a second data bearer or a fourth logical channel;

determining a second priority of a second BAP channel based on a number of hops from the second terminal device to the first network device, and a priority of: the second data bearer or a fourth logical channel; and

in accordance with a determination that the first priority of the first BAP channel is higher than the second priority of the second BAP channel, scheduling the first BAP channel.
The method of claim 1, further comprising

receiving, from the second network device, a configuration of a reduced buffer status report (BSR) retransmission timer.
A communication method, comprising:

transmitting, at a second network device and to a first network device, a first configuration of a first logical channel between the first network device and a third network device and a second configuration of a second logical channel between the first network device and the third network device, the first configuration comprising at least one of: a first number of data bearers mapped to the first logical channel or information regarding a number of hops of the first logical channel, and the second configuration comprising at least one of: a second number of data bearers mapped to the second logical channel or information regarding a number of hops of the second logical channel.
The method of claim 13, wherein the information regarding the number of hops of the first logical channel comprises at least one of: a first sum number of hops of a first set of descendant channels mapped to the first logical channel or a first maximum number of hops of the first set of descendant channels mapped to the first logical channel, and

wherein the information regarding the number of hops of the second logical channel comprises at least one of: a second sum number of hops of a second set of descendant channels mapped to the second logical channel or a second maximum number of hops of the second set of descendant channels mapped the second logical channel.
The method of claim 13, wherein the first configuration and the second configuration are transmitted in radio resource control (RRC) Reconfiguration messages.
The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving, from the third network device, an uplink status report indicating at least one of: the first logical channel, traffic amount on the first logical channel, or a time period within which the first logical channel has not been scheduled by the first network device; and

transmitting, to the first network device, a reconfiguration of the first logical channel from the second network device.
The method of claim 16, further comprising:

transmitting, to the third network device, a request for the uplink status report.
The method of claim 16, further comprising:

transmitting, to the first network device, information indicating one of the following:

a time period for triggering updating a first priority of the first logical channel,

a first coefficient related to a delay requirement on the first logical channel for determining the time period , or

a second coefficient related a bucket size duration for determining the time period.
A communication method, comprising:

receiving, at a third network device and from a first network device, data on a first logical channel between the first network device and the third network device or data on a second logical channel between the first network device and the third network device, the first logical channel or the second logical channel being scheduled based on a first configuration of the first logical channel and a second configuration of the second logical channel, the first configuration comprising at least one of: a first number of data bearers mapped to the first logical channel or information regarding a number of hops of the first logical channel, and the second configuration comprising at least one of: a second number of data bearers mapped to the second logical channel or information regarding a number of hops of the second logical channel.
The method of claim 19, further comprising:

transmitting, to the second network device, an uplink status report indicating at least one of: the first logical channel, traffic amount on the first logical channel, or a time period within which the first logical channel has not been scheduled by the first network device.
The method of claim 20, further comprising:

receiving, from the second network device, a request for the uplink status report.
The method of claim 19, wherein transmitting the uplink status report comprises:

in accordance with a determination that no data has been received on the first logical channel for a time period, transmitting the uplink status report.
The method of claim 19, wherein the uplink status report is transmitted periodically.
A communication method, comprising

receiving, at an integrated access backhaul (IAB) node and from a first device, a first message carrying a data packet;

generating a second message carrying the data packet based on the first message; and

transmitting the second message to a third device, at least one of the first message or the second message comprising a number of hops associated with the data packet.
The method of claim 24, wherein the first device is a terminal device, and wherein generating the second message comprises:

encoding the data packet by a backhaul adaptation protocol (BAP) header, the BAP header indicating that an initial number of hops associated with the data packet.
The method of claim 24, wherein the first device is a donor device or another IAB node in downlink, and wherein generating the second message comprises:

obtaining, from the first message, the number of hops; and

generating the second message comprising a decreased number of hops.
The method of claim 24, wherein the first device is another IAB node in uplink, and wherein generating the second message comprises:

obtaining, from the first message, the number of hops; and

generating the second message comprising an increased number of hops.
The method of claim 24, wherein the first device is a donor device or another IAB node in downlink, and wherein generating the second message comprises:

obtaining, from the first message, the number of hops; and

generating the second message comprising an increased number of hops.
The method of claim 24, wherein the first device is another IAB node in uplink, and wherein generating the second message comprises:

obtaining, from the first message, the number of hops; and

generating the second message comprising a decreased number of hops.
The method of claim 24, wherein the first device is another IAB node in uplink, and wherein generating the second message comprises:

obtaining, from the first message, the number of hops; and

generating the second message comprising the number of hops.
The method of claim 26, further comprising:

receiving, from a donor, a mapping configuration indicating a total number of hops to an access IAB for each path identity.
A first network device comprising:

a processor configured to perform the method according to any of claims 1 to 12.
A second network device comprising:

a processor configured to perform the method according to any of claims 13 to 18.
A third network device comprising:

a processor configured to perform the method according to any of claims 19 to 23.
An integrated access backhaul (IAB) node comprising:

a processor configured to perform the method according to any of claims 24 to 31.
A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed on at least one processor, causing the at least one processor to perform the method according to any of claims 1 to 12, or any of claims 13-18, or any of claims 19-23, or any of claims 24-31.