WO2025148284A1

WO2025148284A1 - Traffic status information report

Info

Publication number: WO2025148284A1
Application number: PCT/CN2024/109085
Authority: WO
Inventors: Xingguang WEI; Zhaohua Lu; Junfeng Zhang; Fei Xu; Ruifeng Li
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2024-08-01
Filing date: 2024-08-01
Publication date: 2025-07-17
Anticipated expiration: 2027-02-01

Abstract

A method includes a wireless terminal device (e.g., UE) transmitting, and a wireless access network node (e.g., base station) receiving, traffic status information. In various embodiments, the traffic status information includes buffer status information, resource unit activation or addition information, wireless terminal device assistance information, beam information, and/or time information. By utilizing the traffic status information, scheduling delays can be reduced.

Description

TRAFFIC STATUS INFORMATION REPORT

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure generally relates to handling transmissions in a wireless cellular access network, and is specifically directed to mechanisms for decreasing delay in scheduling.

BACKGROUND

In the existing 4G and 5G communication systems, a UE can report its buffer status report to the base station. And then base station determines whether to schedule the UE and whether to activate more uplink or downlink carriers for the UE. However, this typical procedure incurs long delays for the scheduling. As such, it is not suitable for the Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC) and Hyper-Reliable Low Latency Communications (HRLLC) .

SUMMARY

This disclosure generally relates to handling transmissions in a wireless cellular access network, and is specifically directed to mechanisms for decreasing scheduling delays. With the aid of AI/ML technology, a UE has the capability to predict its future traffic based on historical traffic information. Based on the predicted future traffic status, the UE can initiate information exchange to the base station to facilitate a transmission procedure, especially for uplink transmission. Methods and associated systems are provided to achieve these objectives, thereby reducing scheduling delays.

In some exemplary implementations, a method performed by a wireless terminal device (e.g., UE) includes transmitting, to a wireless access network node (WANN) (e.g., base station) , traffic status information. Similarly, a method performed by a WANN includes receiving, from a wireless terminal device, traffic status information.

In various embodiments of the methods, the traffic status information comprises buffer status information and time information, wherein the buffer status information indicates information about an UL data volume, and wherein the time information indicates a time corresponding to the buffer status information. In various embodiments, the buffer status information comprises at least one of: one or more values indicating the UL data volume, one or more indexes indicating the UL data volume, a range of UL data volume, or a level of UL data volume, or one or more indications requesting UL shared channel (UL-SCH) resources for a new transmission.

In some exemplary implementations of the methods, which may be combined with any of the other exemplary implementations disclosed herein, the traffic status information comprises resource unit activation or addition information. The resource unit activation or addition information indicates at least one resource unit that the wireless terminal device requests to or will activate, configure, and/or add, wherein the resource unit activation or addition information comprises at least one of: a value indicating a number of resource units that the wireless terminal device requests to or will activate, configure, and/or add; one or multiple resource unit indexes indicating the at least one resource unit the that the wireless terminal device requests to or will activate, configure, and/or add; or a bitmap indicating a number of resource units that the wireless terminal device requests to or will activate, configure, and/or add, wherein each bit of the bitmap corresponds to one or a group of resource units. In various embodiments, the traffic status information comprises time information, wherein the time information indicates a time corresponding to the resource unit activation information.

In exemplary implementations, which may be combined with any of the other exemplary implementations disclosed herein, the methods may include the wireless terminal device transmitting, and the WANN receiving, at a measurement time, one or more first measurement signals in the at least one resource unit that the wireless terminal device requests to or will activate, configure, and/or add, wherein each of the at least one resource units is associated with the one or more first measurement signals.

In exemplary implementations, which may be combined with any of the other exemplary implementations disclosed herein, the methods may include the WANN transmitting, and the wireless terminal device receiving, response information after transmitting the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises an acknowledgement of resource unit activation or addition information. The methods may also include the wireless terminal device activating, configuring, or adding the at least one resource unit indicated in the resource unit activation information.

In exemplary implementations, which may be combined with any of the other exemplary implementations disclosed herein, the methods may include the WANN transmitting, and the wireless terminal device receiving, response information after transmitting the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises a power control command for the resource unit activation or addition information. The methods may also include the wireless terminal device applying, in response to receiving the power control command, the power control command for the at least one resource unit indicated in the resource unit activation information.

In exemplary implementations, which may be combined with any of the other exemplary implementations disclosed herein, the methods may include the WANN transmitting, and the wireless terminal device receiving, response information after transmitting the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises a timing advance offset for the resource unit activation or addition information. The methods may also include the wireless terminal device applying, in response to receiving the timing advance offset, the timing advance offset for the at least one resource unit indicated in the resource unit activation information.

In exemplary implementations, which may be combined with any of the other exemplary implementations disclosed herein, the methods may include the WANN transmitting, and the wireless terminal device receiving, response information after transmitting the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises one or more resource unit indexes indicating resource units that are to be activated, added, or configured. The methods may also include the wireless terminal device activating, configuring, or adding, in response to receiving the response information, the resource units corresponding to the one or more resource unit indexes.

In exemplary implementations, which may be combined with any of the other exemplary implementations disclosed herein, the methods may include the WANN transmitting, and the wireless terminal device receiving, response information after transmitting the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises a bitmap indicating resource units that are to be activated, added, or configured. The methods may also include the wireless terminal device activating, configuring, or adding the resource units corresponding to bit values in the bitmap.

In exemplary implementations, which may be combined with any of the other exemplary implementations disclosed herein, the methods may include the WANN transmitting, and the wireless terminal device receiving, response information after transmitting the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises measurement signal triggering information for a second measurement signal. The methods may also include the wireless terminal device transmitting, and the WANN receiving, the second measurement signal according to the measurement signal triggering information.

In exemplary implementations of the methods, which may be combined with any of the other exemplary implementations disclosed herein, the traffic status information comprises wireless terminal device assistance information and time information, wherein the time information indicates a corresponding time of the wireless terminal device assistance information, and wherein the wireless terminal device assistance information comprises at least one of the following: over heating assistance information; In-Device Coexistence (IDC) information; DRX information; scheduling information; measurement information; or information for multiple SIM (MUSIM) cards.

In exemplary implementations of the methods, which may be combined with any of the other exemplary implementations disclosed herein, the traffic status information comprises beam information for one or more resource units. In various examples, the beam information comprises at least one of: one or more resource indexes of reference signals for the one or more resource units, wherein the reference signal comprises a downlink reference signal or an uplink reference signal; one or more pairs of resource indexes of reference signal for the one or more resource units, wherein each pair of resource index includes one resource index of downlink reference signal and one resource index of uplink reference signal; or beam information for the one or more resource units and time information, wherein the time information indicates a corresponding time of the one or more resource indexes in the beam information.

In exemplary implementations of the methods, which may be combined with any of the other exemplary implementations disclosed herein, the traffic status information comprises time information. In various examples, the time information comprises a value or an index indicating a time offset between a reference time and a time corresponding to buffer status information, and a mapping between the index and the time offset is configured by the wireless access network node or is predefined.

In exemplary implementations of the methods, which may be combined with any of the other exemplary implementations disclosed herein, the reference time is defined as a first reference time, where the first reference time is one of the following: a slot, sub-slot, subframe, frame, millisecond, or second when the wireless terminal device transmits the traffic status information to the wireless access network node; a start of the slot, sub-slot, subframe, frame, millisecond or second when the wireless terminal device transmits the traffic status information to the wireless access network node; an end of the slot, sub-slot, subframe, frame, millisecond or second when the wireless terminal device transmits the traffic status information to the wireless access network node; a last symbol when the wireless terminal device transmits the traffic status information to the wireless access network node; and/or a first symbol when the wireless terminal device transmits the traffic status information to the wireless access network node. In various embodiments, a measurement time of a first measurement signal and/or a second measurement signal is after the reference time and before a time corresponding to buffer status information.

In exemplary implementations, which may be combined with any of the other exemplary implementations disclosed herein, the methods include the WANN transmitting, and the wireless terminal device receiving, response information at a response time, wherein the response time is after the reference time and before a time corresponding to buffer status information, wherein at least one of: the response time is at least offset O₁ after the reference time, wherein the offset O₁ is configured by the wireless access network node, indicated by the traffic status information, or is predefined, or the response time is at least offset O₂ before the time corresponding to buffer status information, wherein the offset O₂ is configured by the wireless access network node, indicated by the traffic status information, or is predefined.

In some other implementations, an apparatus for wireless communication such as a network device is disclosed. The network device may include one or more processors and one or more memories, wherein the one or more processors are configured to read computer code from the one or more memories to implement any one of the methods above. The apparatus for wireless communication may be the wireless access network node (e.g., base station) or the wireless terminal device (e.g., UE) .

In yet some other implementations, a computer program product is disclosed. The computer program product may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium with computer code stored thereupon, the computer code, when executed by one or more processors, causing the one or more processors to implement any one of the methods above.

The above embodiments and other aspects and alternatives of their implementations are explained in greater detail in the drawings, the descriptions, and the claims below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a wireless access network with an exemplary uplink, downlink, and control channel configuration.

FIG. 2 shows various example processing components of the wireless terminal device and the wireless access network node of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows an example communication timing diagram in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 4 shows another example communication timing diagram in accordance with various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The technology and examples of implementations and/or embodiments described in this disclosure can be used to facilitate over-the-air radio resource allocation, configuration, and signaling in wireless access networks as well as operational configuration of a UE and/or a base station within the wireless access networks. The term “exemplary” is used to mean “an example of” and unless otherwise stated, does not imply an ideal or preferred example, implementation, or embodiment. Section headers are used in the present disclosure to facilitate understanding of the disclosed implementations and are not intended to limit the disclosed technology in the sections only to the corresponding section. The disclosed implementations may be further embodied in a variety of different forms and, therefore, the scope of this disclosure or claimed subject matter is intended to be construed as not being limited to any of the embodiments set forth below. The various implementations may be embodied as methods, devices, components, systems, or non-transitory computer readable media. Accordingly, embodiments of this disclosure may, for example, take the form of hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof.

This disclosure is directed to handling transmissions in a wireless cellular access network and is specifically directed to mechanisms for improving scheduling delay.

Wireless Network Overview

A wireless communication network may include a radio access network for providing network access to wireless terminal devices, and a core network for routing data between the access networks or between the wireless network and other types of data networks. In a wireless access network, radio resources are provided for allocation and used for transmitting data and control information. FIG. 1 shows an exemplary wireless access network 100 including a wireless access network node (WANN) or wireless base station 102 (herein referred to as wireless base station, base station, wireless access node, wireless access network node, or WANN) and a wireless terminal device or user equipment (UE) 104 (herein referred to as user equipment, UE, terminal device, or wireless terminal device) that communicates with one another via over-the-air (OTA) radio communication resources 106. The wireless access network 100 may be implemented as, as for example, a 2G, 3G, 4G/LTE, or 5G cellular radio access network. Correspondingly, the base station 102 may be implemented as a 2G base station, a 3G node B, an LTE eNB, or a 5G New Radio (NR) gNB. The user equipment 104 may be implemented as mobile or fixed communication devices installed with mobile identity modules for accessing the base station 102. The user equipment 104 may include but is not limited to mobile phones, laptop computers, tablets, personal digital assistants, wearable devices, distributed remote sensor devices, and desktop computers. Alternatively, the wireless access network 100 may be implemented as other types of radio access networks, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and WiMax networks.

FIG. 2 further shows example processing components of the WANN 102 and the UE 104 of FIG. 1. The UE 104, for example, may include transceiver circuitry 206 coupled to one or more antennas 208 to effectuate wireless communication with the WANN 102 (or to other UEs) . The transceiver circuitry 206 may also be coupled to a processor 210, which may also be coupled to a memory 212 or other storage devices. The memory 212 may be transitory or non-transitory and may store therein computer instructions or code which, when read and executed by the processor 210, cause the processor 210 to implement various ones of the, functions, methods, and processes of the UE 104 described herein. The memory 212 may also store therein, and the processor 210 may also be configured to execute one or more models (e.g., Artificial Intelligence /Machine Learning (AI/ML) models) to perform one or more functionalities (e.g., AI/ML functionalities) . The memory 212 may also be utilized and allocated for buffering UL and DL transmissions in each band/carrier. The memory 212 may include multiple memory modules assigned to different functions (such as program memory, base band memory, and/or RF memory, to name a few) . Likewise, the WANN 102 may include transceiver circuitry 214 coupled to one or more antennas 216, which may include an antenna tower 218 in various forms, to effectuate wireless communications with the UE 104. The transceiver circuitry 214 may be coupled to one or more processors 220, which may further be coupled to a memory 222 or other storage devices. The memory 222 may be transitory or non-transitory and may store therein instructions or code that, when read and executed by the one or more processors 220, cause the one or more processors 220 to implement various functions, methods, and processes of the WANN 102 described herein.

Wireless Communication Resource Scheduling/Signaling

Returning to FIG. 1, the radio communication resources for the over-the-air interface 106 may include a combination of frequency, time, and/or spatial communication resources organized into various resource units or elements in frequency, time, and/or space. The radio communication resources 106 in frequency domain may include portions of licensed radio frequency bands, portions of unlicensed ration frequency bands, or portions of a mix of both licensed and unlicensed radio frequency bands. The radio communication resources 106 available for carrying the wireless communication signals between the base station 102 and user equipment 104 may be further divided into physical downlink channels 110 for transmitting wireless signals from the base station 102 to the user equipment 104 and physical uplink channels 120 for transmitting wireless signals from the user equipment 104 to the base station 102. The physical downlink channels 110 may further include physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs) 112 and physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) 114. Likewise, the physical uplink channels 120 may further include physical uplink control channels (PUCCHs) 122 and physical uplink shared channels (PUSCHs) 124. For simplification, other types of downlink and uplink channels are not shown in FIG. 1 but are within the scope of the current disclosure. The control channels PDCCHs 112 and PUCCHs 122 may be used for carrying control information in the form of control messages 116 and 126, herein referred to as Downlink Control Information (DCI) messages or Uplink Control Information (UCI) messages. The shared channels (shared between data and control information) PDSCHs 114 and PUSCHs 124 may be allocated and used for communicating downlink data transmissions 118 and uplink data transmissions 128 between the base station 102 and the user equipment 104.

The allocation and configuration of the radio communication resources associated with the data channels, such as the PDSCHs and the PUSCHs may be provided by one or more resource scheduling DCIs carried in the PDCCHs. The PDCCHs may be shared by a plurality of UEs in the access network. In various approaches, a particular UE may be configured to perform blind decode procedures on a preconfigured UE-specific Search Space (USS) to detect and identify a payload of a resource scheduling DCI carried in the PDCCH that specifically targets the particular UE. The blind decoding may be performed on preconfigured monitoring occasions of the PDCCH associated with USS. Such monitoring occasions may be referred to as a set of PDCCH candidates. Each PDCCH candidate may be associated with a set of Control Channel Elements (CCEs) . The UE may specifically use its Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) to decode the PDCCH candidates. The RNTI may be used to demask a PDCCH candidate’s CRC. If no CRC error is detected, the UE determines that PDCCH candidate carries its own control information. The UE may then process the DCI and extract the resource allocation information pertaining to the PDSCH and/or PUSCH for receiving and/or transmitting data.

Description of New Mechanisms for Reducing Scheduling Delay

Embodiment 1 –Buffer Status Information.

In one embodiment, a UE 104 transmits traffic status information to the base station 102. The traffic status information may include buffer status information and time information. The buffer status information may indicate the information about uplink (UL) data volume (e.g., an UL data volume in the MAC entity) , and the time information may indicate the time corresponding to the buffer status information. For example, if the buffer status information indicates the UL data volume as 1000 bytes and the time information indicates 10ms, the base station 102 understands that the UE 104 will have 1000 bytes UL data volume in 10ms later. With the aid of AI/ML technology, the UE 104 has the capability to predict its future traffic based on the historical traffic information. The traffic status information may be carried by, for example, physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) , physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) , physical random access channel (PRACH) , etc. In various examples, the traffic status information may comprise prediction accuracy as well. The prediction accuracy may be a percentage or a confidence level.

The buffer status information may include a value indicating the UL data volume, e.g., a number representing units of bits or bytes. In one implementation, the buffer status information may comprise one or multiple values indicating the UL data volume, where each value may correspond to one resource unit. Based on this, the base station 102 may understand which resource unit has the UL data volume. Thus, the base station 102 can schedule resources on the corresponding resource unit or activate the corresponding resource unit.

Alternatively, the buffer status information may comprise an index indicating the UL data volume, a range of UL data volume, or a level of UL data volume. In one example, the buffer status information may comprise one or multiple indexes indicating the UL data volume, the range of UL data volume, or the level of UL data volume, where each index corresponds to one resource unit. Based on this, the base station 102 may understand which resource unit has the UL data volume. Thus, the base station 102 can schedule resources on the corresponding resource unit or activate the corresponding resource unit.

Alternatively, the buffer status information may comprise an indication requesting UL shared channel (UL-SCH) resources for new transmission. In one implementation, the buffer status information may comprise one or multiple indications requesting UL-SCH resources for new transmission, where each indication corresponds to one resource unit. Based on this, the base station 102 may understand which resource unit has the UL data volume. Thus, the base station 102 can schedule resources on the corresponding resource unit or activate the corresponding resource unit.

The resource unit may be, for example, a cell, a carrier, or a BWP (Bandwidth Part) . The carrier may comprise the downlink carrier or uplink carrier, the BWP may comprise downlink BWP or uplink BWP. The cell may comprise a regular cell that includes both downlink carrier and uplink carrier. The cell may comprise an uplink-only cell that only includes uplink carrier.

With reference to Table 1, below, as an example, the buffer status information may include an index, e.g., from 0 to 31, carried by 5 bits. The example in Table 1 maps the index and the corresponding level of UL data volume. For example, if the UE 104 indicates index 10 to the base station 102, then the 102 base station understands that the UE 104 has less than 198 bytes UL data volume in its buffer.

Table 1: level of UL data volume (in bytes)

FIG. 3 shows an example communication timing diagram in accordance with various embodiments. With reference to the example in FIG. 3, the UE 104 sends traffic status information (i.e., buffer status information and time information) to the base station 102. The traffic status information indicates that the UE 104 will have 1000 bytes uplink traffic arrives at T1. After receiving the buffer status information, the base station 102 schedules uplink transmission at time T2 to transmit UE’s traffic. The time T2 is close to time T1. In this sense, the scheduling delay is T2 – T1, which is smaller when compared with the previous procedure wherein the UE 104 transmits the request after the traffic arrives.

As such, in accordance with various embodiments, a method performed by a wireless terminal device 104 (e.g., UE 104) includes transmitting, to a wireless access network node (WANN) 102 (e.g., base station 102) , traffic status information. Similarly, a method performed by a WANN 102 includes receiving, from a wireless terminal device 104, traffic status information.

Embodiment 2 –Resource Unit Activation Information.

In the existing 4G and 5G systems, the cell activation/addition is initiated by the base station 102. However, if the UE 104 has urgent uplink traffic, the UE 104 has to first send a scheduling request to the base station 102. Then, the base station 102 activates more uplink carriers for the UE 104 and schedules uplink transmissions. In order to reduce the overall latency, UE-initiated cell activation/addition can be considered. With the aid of AI/ML technology, the UE 104 has the capability to predict its future traffic based on historical traffic information. Thus, in various embodiments, the UE 104 can initiate its cell activation/addition before the traffic arrives.

In one implementation, the traffic status information comprises resource unit activation information. The resource unit activation information indicates the resource unit (s) that the UE 104 request to activate (or is to activate) . The resource unit activation information may comprise a value indicating the number of resource units that the UE 104 requests to activate (or is to activate) . The resource unit activation information may comprise one or multiple resource unit indexes indicating the resource units that UE 104 requests to activate (or is to activate) .

In another example, the resource unit activation information may comprise a bitmap indicating the number of resource units that the UE 104 requests to activate (or is to activate) . In specific examples, each bit of the bitmap may correspond to one or a group of resource units. The mapping between the bit in the bitmap and the corresponding resource unit (s) is configured by the base station 102 or is predefined. For example, a value “1” may indicate that the UE 104 requests to activate the corresponding one or a group of resource units.

In one implementation, the traffic status information comprises resource unit activation information and time information. The resource unit activation information indicates the resource unit (s) that the UE 104 request to activate (or is to activate) . The time information indicates the time corresponding to the resource unit activation information. In other words, the time information may indicate the time when the UE 104 will activate (or would like to activate, or requests to activate) the resource unit (s) .

In one implementation, the UE 104 transmits a first measurement signal in the resource units that the UE 104 requests to activate (or is to activate) to the base station 102 at a measurement time. The base station 102 receives the first measurement signal in the resource units at the measurement time. The measurement signal may comprise reference signal, preamble, synchronization signal, or other signal or channel, e.g., Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) , Random Access Channel (RACH) preamble, Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) , or Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) . Based on the measurement results of measurement signal, the base station 102 may learn the channel status information, timing information, and power control information.

In one implementation, the traffic status information comprises resource unit addition information. The resource unit activation information indicates the resource unit (s) that the UE 104 requests to add (or requests to configure, or is to add, or is to configure) .

The resource unit addition information may comprise a value indicating the number of resource units that the UE 104 requests to add (or requests to configure, or is to add, or is to configure) . The resource unit addition information may comprise one or multiple resource unit indexes indicating the resource units that the UE 104 requests to add (or requests to configure, or is to add, or is to configure) .

In a specific example, the resource unit addition information may comprise a bitmap indicating the number of resource units that the UE 104 requests to add (or requests to configure, or is to add, or is to configure) , where each bit of the bitmap may correspond to one or a group of resource units. The mapping between the bits in the bitmap and the corresponding resource unit (s) may be configured by the base station 102 or is predefined. For example, a value “1” may indicate that the UE 104 requests to activate the corresponding one or a group of resource units.

In one implementation, the traffic status information comprises resource unit addition information and time information. The resource unit addition information indicates the resource unit (s) that the UE 104 requests to add (or requests to configure, or is to add, or is to configure) . The time information may indicate the time corresponding to the resource unit addition information. In other words, the time information indicates the time when the UE 104 will add/configure (or would like to add/configure, or requests to add/configure) the resource unit (s) .

In one implementation, the UE 104 transmits the first measurement signal in the resource units that the UE 104 requests to add (or requests to configure, or is to add, or is to configure) to the base station 102 at a measurement time. The base station 102 receives the first measurement signal in the resource units at the measurement time. The first measurement signal may comprise reference signal, preamble, synchronization signal, or other signal or channel, e.g., SRS, RACH preamble, PSS, or SSS. Based on the measurement results of the first measurement signal, the base station 102 may learn the channel status information, timing information, and power control information. In one implementation, each resource unit is associated with one or multiple of the first measurement signals. The UE 104 transmits the first measurement signal associated with the resource units that the UE 104 requests to add (or requests to configure, or is to add, or is to configure) , to the base station 102 at a measurement time. The UE 104 may transmit the first measurement signal associated with the resource units that the UE 104 requests to add (or requests to configure, or is to add, or is to configure) , to the base station 102 at a measurement time.

In one implementation, in response to the traffic status information and/or the first measurement signal, the base station 102 transmits response information to the UE 104.

The response information may comprise acknowledgement for the resource unit activation information. After receiving the acknowledgement, UE activates the resource unit (s) that UE request to activate (or is to activate) in the resource unit activation information.

The response information may comprise acknowledgement for the resource unit addition information. After receiving the acknowledgement, the UE 104 may add the resource unit (s) that the UE 104 requested to add/configure (or is to add/configure) in the resource unit addition information.

The response information may comprise power control command for the resource unit addition information. After receiving the power control command, the UE 104 may apply the power control command for the resource unit (s) that the UE 104 requests to activate (or is to activate) in the resource unit activation information, or for the resource unit (s) that the UE 104 request to add/configure (or is to add/configure) in the resource unit addition information.

The response information may comprise timing advance offset for the resource unit addition information. After receiving the timing advance offset, the UE 104 may apply the timing advance offset for the resource unit (s) that the UE 104 requests to activate (or is to activate) in the resource unit activation information, or for the resource unit (s) that the UE 104 requests to add/configure (or is to add/configure) in the resource unit addition information.

The response information may comprise one or multiple resource unit indexes indicating the resource units that are to be activated. After receiving the response information, the UE 104 may activate the resource unit (s) corresponding to the one or multiple resource unit indexes.

The response information may comprise a bitmap indicating the resource units that are to be activated. After receiving the response information, the UE 104 may activate the resource unit (s) corresponding to bit values in the bitmap, e.g., the bits with value “1” in the bitmap.

The response information may comprise one or multiple resource unit indexes indicating the resource units that are to be added/configured. After receiving the response information, the UE 104 may add/configure the resource unit (s) corresponding to the one or multiple resource unit indexes.

The response information may comprise a bitmap indicating the resource units that are to be added/configured. After receiving the response information, the UE 104 may add/configure the resource unit (s) corresponding to bit values in the bitmap, e.g., the bits with value “1” in the bitmap.

The response information may comprise measurement signal triggering information for a second measurement signal. The UE 104 may transmit the second measurement signal to the base station 102 according to the measurement signal triggering information. The measurement signal triggering information may comprise resource index, timing information, etc. Similarly, the second measurement signal may comprise reference signal, preamble, synchronization signal, or another signal or channel, e.g., SRS, RACH preamble, PSS, SSS.

FIG. 4 shows another example communication timing diagram in accordance with various embodiments. With reference to the example in FIG. 4, the UE 104 sends traffic status information (i. e., resource unit activation information and time information) to the base station 102. The traffic status information indicates to activate cell#1 and cell#2 at time T3 because there may be large traffic arrives. Then, in order to let the base station 102 understand the channel status, timing information, and power information, the UE 104 may send the first measurement signal (e.g., SRS) at time T1 to the base station 102. After measuring the measurement signal, the base station 102 understands that the channel status in cell#2 is not good, and thus the base station 102 may decide to activate cell#1 only. At time T3, the traffic arrives. The base station 102 can schedule uplink transmission at time T4 in cell#1. In this example, the scheduling delay is decreased to T4 -T3.

As such, in accordance with various embodiments of the methods, the traffic status information comprises resource unit activation or addition information. The resource unit activation or addition information indicates at least one resource unit that the wireless terminal device requests to or will activate, configure, and/or add, wherein the resource unit activation or addition information comprises at least one of: a value indicating a number of resource units that the wireless terminal device 104 requests to or will activate, configure, and/or add; one or multiple resource unit indexes indicating the at least one resource unit the that the wireless terminal device 104 requests to or will activate, configure, and/or add; or a bitmap indicating a number of resource units that the wireless terminal device 104 requests to or will activate, configure, and/or add, wherein each bit of the bitmap corresponds to one or a group of resource units. In various embodiments, the traffic status information comprises time information, wherein the time information indicates a time corresponding to the resource unit activation information.

In various embodiments, the methods may include the wireless terminal device 104 transmitting, and the WANN 102 receiving, at a measurement time, one or more first measurement signals in the at least one resource unit that the wireless terminal device 104 requests to or will activate, configure, and/or add, wherein each of the at least one resource units is associated with the one or more first measurement signals.

In various embodiments, the methods may include the WANN 102 transmitting, and the wireless terminal device 104 receiving, response information after transmitting the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises an acknowledgement of resource unit activation or addition information. The methods may also include the wireless terminal device 104 activating, configuring, or adding the at least one resource unit indicated in the resource unit activation information.

In various embodiments, the methods may include the WANN 102 transmitting, and the wireless terminal device 104 receiving, response information after transmitting the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises a power control command for the resource unit activation or addition information. The methods may also include the wireless terminal device 104 applying, in response to receiving the power control command, the power control command for the at least one resource unit indicated in the resource unit activation information.

In various embodiments, the methods may include the WANN 102 transmitting, and the wireless terminal device 104 receiving, response information after transmitting the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises a timing advance offset for the resource unit activation or addition information. The methods may also include the wireless terminal device 104 applying, in response to receiving the timing advance offset, the timing advance offset for the at least one resource unit indicated in the resource unit activation information.

In various embodiments, the methods may include the WANN 102 transmitting, and the wireless terminal device 104 receiving, response information after transmitting the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises one or more resource unit indexes indicating resource units that are to be activated, added, or configured. The methods may also include the wireless terminal device 104 activating, configuring, or adding, in response to receiving the response information, the resource units corresponding to the one or more resource unit indexes.

In various embodiments, the methods may include the WANN 102 transmitting, and the wireless terminal device 104 receiving, response information after transmitting the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises a bitmap indicating resource units that are to be activated, added, or configured. The methods may also include the wireless terminal device 104 activating, configuring, or adding the resource units corresponding to bit values in the bitmap.

In various embodiments, the methods may include the WANN 102 transmitting, and the wireless terminal device 104 receiving, response information after transmitting the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises measurement signal triggering information for a second measurement signal. The methods may also include the wireless terminal device 104 transmitting, and the WANN 102 receiving, the second measurement signal according to the measurement signal triggering information.

Embodiment 3 –UE Assistance Information.

To facilitate the uplink and downlink transmission after the UE 104 reports the assistance information, the UE 104 can apply AI technologies to predict the future situation and report it to the base station 102 in advance together with timing information.

In one implementation, the traffic status information comprises UE assistance information and time information. The time information may indicate the corresponding time (e.g., application time) of the UE assistance information. Without the timing information, the base station 102 might not understand when the UE assistance information applies.

The UE assistance information may comprise over heating assistance information. The over heating assistance information may comprise one or multiple of the following:

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preference on reduced configuration corresponding to the maximum number of downlink carriers (or cells) to address overheating or power saving.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preference on reduced configuration corresponding to the maximum number of uplink carriers (or cells) to address overheating or power saving.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preference on reduced configuration corresponding to the maximum number of the sum of downlink and uplink carriers (or cells) to address overheating or power saving.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preference on reduced configuration corresponding to the maximum number of downlink MIMO layers of each serving cell to address overheating or power saving.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preference on reduced configuration corresponding to the maximum number of uplink MIMO layers of each serving cell to address overheating or power saving.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preference on reduced configuration corresponding to the maximum aggregated bandwidth across all downlink carrier (s) to address overheating or power saving.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preference on reduced configuration corresponding to the maximum aggregated bandwidth across all uplink carrier (s) to address overheating or power saving.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preference on reduced configuration corresponding to the maximum aggregated bandwidth across all downlink carrier (s) and across all uplink carrier (s) to address overheating or power saving.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preference on deactivate the Secondary Cell Group (SCG) .

The UE assistance information may comprise In-Device Coexistence (IDC) information. The IDC information may comprise one or multiple of the following:

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preferred active duration due to the IDC problem.

- Information indicating the bandwidth around the center frequency of the carrier frequency range which is affected by the IDC problem.

- Information indicating a list of NR carrier frequencies that are affected by IDC problem.

- Information indicating a list of NR carrier frequency ranges that are affected by IDC problem.

- Information indicating UE’s 104 a list of NR carrier frequency combinations that are affected by IDC problems due to Inter-Modulation Distortion and harmonics from NR.

- Information indicating a list of NR carrier frequency range combinations that are affected by IDC problems due to Inter-Modulation Distortion and harmonics from NR.

- Information indicating the center frequency of the carrier frequency range which is affected by the IDC problem.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preferred cycle length due to the IDC problem.

- Information indicating the direction of IDC interference.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preferred slot offset due to the IDC problem.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preferred start offset due to the IDC problem.

- Information indicating the list of victim system types to which IDC interference is caused from NR.

The UE assistance information may comprise DRX information. The DRX information may comprise one or multiple of the following:

- Information indicating the UE-preferred adjustment to DRX.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preferred DRX inactivity timer length for power saving.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preferred long DRX cycle length for power saving.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preferred short DRX cycle length for power saving.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preferred short DRX cycle timer for power saving

- Information indicating the preferred amount of increment/decrement to the DRX cycle length with respect to the current configuration.

The UE assistance information may comprise scheduling information. The scheduling information may comprise one or multiple of the following:

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preferences on minimum scheduling offset of cross-slot scheduling for power saving.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preferred value of k0 (slot offset between DCI and its scheduled PDSCH) for cross-slot scheduling for power saving.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preferred value of k2 (slot offset between DCI and its scheduled PUSCH) for cross-slot scheduling for power saving.

The UE assistance information may comprise measurement information. The measurement information may comprise one or multiple of the following:

- Information indicating the relaxation state of RLM measurements.

- Information indicating whether the UE 104 fulfils the relaxed measurement criterion for stationary UE.

- Information indicating the relaxation state of BFD measurements.

The UE assistance information may comprise information for multiple SIM cards (MUSIM information) . The MUSIM information may comprise one or multiple of the following:

- Information indicating the maximum number of band entry index for MUSIM capability restriction reporting.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preference on the band (s) and/or combination (s) of bands with restricted capability for MUSIM operation.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preference on band (s) and/or combination (s) of bands to be avoided or MUSIM purpose.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preference on the temporary capability restriction on the band (s) and/or combination (s) of bands for MUSIM operation.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preference on serving cell (s) and/or SCG to be released for MUSIM operation.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preference on the temporary capability restriction on the serving cell (s) for MUSIM operation.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preference to keep all collided gaps for requested MUSIM gap (s) .

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 MUSIM gap preference and related MUSIM gap configuration.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 MUSIM gap priority preference for periodic MUSIM gaps.

- Information indicating the UE 104 maximum number of CCs per DL/UL.

- Information indicating the measurement gap requirement information of the UE 104 for NR target bands when in MUSIM operation.

- Information indicating the UE’s 104 preferred RRC state when leaving RRC_CONNECTED.

As such, in accordance with various embodiments of the methods, the traffic status information comprises wireless terminal device assistance information and time information, wherein the time information indicates a corresponding time of the wireless terminal device assistance information, and wherein the wireless terminal device assistance information comprises at least one of the following: over heating assistance information; In-Device Coexistence (IDC) information; DRX information; scheduling information; measurement information; or information for multiple SIM (MUSIM) cards.

Embodiment 4 –Beam Information.

To facilitate the uplink and downlink transmission after activating/adding the resource unit, the base station 102 may need the beam information for the target resource unit (s) .

In one implementation, the traffic status information comprises beam information for resource unit (s) . The traffic status information comprises beam information for the corresponding resource unit (s) in the resource unit activation information and/or resource unit addition information.

In one implementation, the beam information comprises one or multiple resource indexes of reference signal for the resource unit (s) . The reference signal can be downlink reference signal or uplink reference signal, e.g., Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) , Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) , Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) , Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) , Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) , etc. In this case, the reference signal represents the preferred beam of the UE 104.

In one implementation, the beam information comprises one or multiple pairs of resource indexes of reference signal for the resource unit (s) , where each pair of resource index may include one resource index of downlink reference signal and one resource index of uplink reference signal. In this case, the downlink and uplink reference signals represent the preferred downlink and uplink beam of the UE 104, respectively.

In one implementation, the traffic status information comprises beam information for resource unit (s) and time information. The time information may indicate the corresponding time (e.g., application time) of the resource index (s) in the beam information.

As such, in accordance with various embodiments of the methods, the traffic status information comprises beam information for one or more resource units. In various examples, the beam information comprises at least one of: one or more resource indexes of reference signals for the one or more resource units, wherein the reference signal comprises a downlink reference signal or an uplink reference signal; one or more pairs of resource indexes of reference signal for the one or more resource units, wherein each pair of resource index includes one resource index of downlink reference signal and one resource index of uplink reference signal; or beam information for the one or more resource units and time information, wherein the time information indicates a corresponding time of the one or more resource indexes in the beam information.

Embodiment 5 –Time Information.

In one implementation, the time information comprises a value indicating the time offset between a reference time and the time corresponding to buffer status information. In another implementation, the time information comprises an index indicating the time offset between a reference time and the time corresponding to buffer status information. The mapping between the index and the time offset may be configured by the base station 102 or predefined. The time offset may be in the units of symbols, slots, sub-slots, subframes, frames, milliseconds, seconds, etc.

The reference time can be defined as the first reference time, where the first reference time may be one of the following:

Alt. 1-1: The slot, sub-slot, subframe, frame, millisecond or second when the UE 104 transmits the traffic status information to the base station 102.

Alt. 1-2: The start of the slot, sub-slot, subframe, frame, millisecond or second when the UE 104 transmits the traffic status information to the base station 102.

Alt. 1-3: The end of the slot, sub-slot, subframe, frame, millisecond or second when the UE 104 transmits the traffic status information to the base station 102.

Alt. 2-1: The last symbol when the UE 104 transmits the traffic status information to the base station 102.

Alt. 2-2: The first symbol when the UE 104 transmits the traffic status information to the base station 102.

The reference time can be defined as the second reference time, where the second reference time is the first reference time plus one additional processing time. The additional processing time may be for the UE 104 and/or the base station 102 to process the traffic status information. The additional processing time can be in the units of symbols, slots, sub-slots, subframes, frames, milliseconds, seconds, etc.

As mentioned above, the UE 104 may transmit the first measurement signal in the resource units that the UE 104 request to activate (or is to activate) to the base station 102 at a measurement time. The base station 102 receives the first measurement signal in the resource units at the measurement time. The measurement time of the first measurement signal is after the reference time and before the time corresponding to buffer status information. Typically, the measurement time is at least a time gap before the time corresponding to buffer status information, where the time gap is the processing time for the measurement signal.

As mentioned above, the response information may comprise measurement signal triggering information for the second measurement signal. The UE 104 may transmit the second measurement signal to the base station 102 at the measurement time according to the measurement signal triggering information. The measurement time of the second measurement signal may be after the reference time and before the time corresponding to buffer status information. Typically, the measurement time is at least a time gap before the time corresponding to buffer status information, where the time gap is the processing time for the measurement signal.

The base station 102 may transmit response information to the UE 104 at the response time. The response time may be after the reference time and before the time corresponding to buffer status information.

In one implementation, the response time is at least offset O₁ after the reference time. The offset O₁ can be configured by the base station 102, indicated by the traffic status information, or predefined.

In one implementation, the response time is at least offset O₂ before the time corresponding to buffer status information. The offset O₂ can be configured by the base station 102, indicated by the traffic status information, or predefined.

As such, in accordance with various embodiments of the methods, the traffic status information comprises time information. In various examples, the time information comprises a value or an index indicating a time offset between a reference time and a time corresponding to buffer status information, and a mapping between the index and the time offset is configured by the wireless access network node or is predefined.

In various embodiments of the methods, the reference time is defined as a first reference time, where the first reference time is one of the following: a slot, sub-slot, subframe, frame, millisecond, or second when the wireless terminal device transmits the traffic status information to the wireless access network node; a start of the slot, sub-slot, subframe, frame, millisecond or second when the wireless terminal device transmits the traffic status information to the wireless access network node; an end of the slot, sub-slot, subframe, frame, millisecond or second when the wireless terminal device transmits the traffic status information to the wireless access network node; a last symbol when the wireless terminal device transmits the traffic status information to the wireless access network node; and/or a first symbol when the wireless terminal device transmits the traffic status information to the wireless access network node.

In various embodiments of the methods, a measurement time of a first measurement signal and/or a second measurement signal is after the reference time and before a time corresponding to buffer status information.

In some embodiments, the methods include the WANN 102 transmitting, and the wireless terminal device 104 receiving, response information at a response time, wherein the response time is after the reference time and before a time corresponding to buffer status information, wherein at least one of: the response time is at least offset O1 after the reference time, wherein the offset O1 is configured by the wireless access network node, indicated by the traffic status information, or is predefined, or the response time is at least offset O2 before the time corresponding to buffer status information, wherein the offset O2 is configured by the wireless access network node, indicated by the traffic status information, or is predefined.

The description and accompanying drawings above provide specific example embodiments and implementations. The described subject matter may, however, be embodied in a variety of different forms and, therefore, covered or claimed subject matter is intended to be construed as not being limited to any example embodiments set forth herein. A reasonably broad scope for claimed or covered subject matter is intended. Among other things, for example, subject matter may be embodied as methods, devices, components, systems, or non-transitory computer-readable media for storing computer codes. Accordingly, embodiments may, for example, take the form of hardware, software, firmware, storage media or any combination thereof. For example, the method embodiments described above may be implemented by components, devices, or systems including memory and processors by executing computer codes stored in the memory.

Throughout the specification and claims, terms may have nuanced meanings suggested or implied in context beyond an explicitly stated meaning. Likewise, the phrase “in one embodiment/implementation/example/approach” as used herein does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and the phrase “in another embodiment/implementation/example/approach” as used herein does not necessarily refer to a different embodiment. It is intended, for example, that claimed subject matter includes combinations of example embodiments in whole or in part.

In general, terminology may be understood at least in part from usage in context. For example, terms, such as “and” , “or” , or “and/or, ” as used herein may include a variety of meanings that may depend at least in part on the context in which such terms are used. Typically, “or” if used to associate a list, such as A, B or C, is intended to mean A, B, and C, here used in the inclusive sense, as well as A, B or C, here used in the exclusive sense. In addition, the term “one or more” as used herein, depending at least in part upon context, may be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in a singular sense or may be used to describe combinations of features, structures or characteristics in a plural sense. Similarly, terms, such as “a, ” “an, ” or “the, ” may be understood to convey a singular usage or to convey a plural usage, depending at least in part upon context. In addition, the term “based on” may be understood as not necessarily intended to convey an exclusive set of factors and may, instead, allow for existence of additional factors not necessarily expressly described, again, depending at least in part on context.

Reference throughout this specification to features, advantages, or similar language does not imply that all of the features and advantages that may be realized with the present solution should be or are included in any single implementation thereof. Rather, language referring to the features and advantages is understood to mean that a specific feature, advantage, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present solution. Thus, discussions of the features and advantages, and similar language, throughout the specification may, but do not necessarily, refer to the same embodiment.

Furthermore, the described features, advantages and characteristics of the present solution may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. One of ordinary skill in the relevant art will recognize, in light of the description herein, that the present solution can be practiced without one or more of the specific features or advantages of a particular embodiment. In other instances, additional features and advantages may be recognized in certain embodiments that may not be present in all embodiments of the present solution.

Claims

A method performed by a wireless terminal device comprising:

transmitting, to a wireless access network node, traffic status information.
The method according to claim 1,

wherein the traffic status information comprises buffer status information and time information,

wherein the buffer status information indicates information about an uplink (UL) data volume, and

wherein the time information indicates a time corresponding to the buffer status information.
The method according to claim 2, wherein the buffer status information comprises at least one of:

one or more values indicating the UL data volume,

one or more indexes indicating the UL data volume, a range of UL data volume, or a level of UL data volume, or

one or more indications requesting UL shared channel (UL-SCH) resources for a new transmission.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the traffic status information comprises resource unit activation or addition information,

wherein the resource unit activation or addition information indicates at least one resource unit that the wireless terminal device requests to or will activate, configure, and/or add,

wherein the resource unit activation or addition information comprises at least one of:

a value indicating a number of resource units that the wireless terminal device requests to or will activate, configure, and/or add,

one or multiple resource unit indexes indicating the at least one resource unit the that the wireless terminal device requests to or will activate, configure, and/or add, or

a bitmap indicating a number of resource units that the wireless terminal device requests to or will activate, configure, and/or add, wherein each bit of the bitmap corresponds to one or a group of resource units.
The method according to claim 4, wherein the traffic status information comprises time information, wherein the time information indicates a time corresponding to the resource unit activation information.
The method according to any one of claims 4 or 5, comprising:

transmitting, to the wireless access network node, at a measurement time, one or more first measurement signals in the at least one resource unit that the wireless terminal device requests to or will activate, configure, and/or add,

wherein each of the at least one resource units is associated with the one or more first measurement signals.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising:

receiving, from the wireless access network node, response information after transmitting the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises an acknowledgement of resource unit activation or addition information; and

activating, configuring, or adding the at least one resource unit indicated in the resource unit activation information.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, comprising:

receiving, from the wireless access network node, response information after transmitting the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises a power control command for the resource unit activation or addition information.
The method according to claim 8, comprising:

applying, in response to receiving the power control command, the power control command for the at least one resource unit indicated in the resource unit activation information.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, comprising:

receiving, from the wireless access network node, response information after transmitting the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises a timing advance offset for the resource unit activation or addition information.
The method according to claim 10, comprising:

applying, in response to receiving the timing advance offset, the timing advance offset for the at least one resource unit indicated in the resource unit activation information.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, comprising:

receiving, from the wireless access network node, response information after transmitting the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises one or more resource unit indexes indicating resource units that are to be activated, added, or configured; and

activating, configuring, or adding, in response to receiving the response information, the resource units corresponding to the one or more resource unit indexes.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, comprising:

receiving, from the wireless access network node, response information after transmitting the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises a bitmap indicating resource units that are to be activated, added, or configured; and

activating, configuring, or adding the resource units corresponding to bit values in the bitmap.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, comprising:

receiving, from the wireless access network node, response information after transmitting the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises measurement signal triggering information for a second measurement signal; and

transmitting, to the wireless access network node, the second measurement signal according to the measurement signal triggering information.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the traffic status information comprises wireless terminal device assistance information and time information,

wherein the time information indicates a corresponding time of the wireless terminal device assistance information, and

wherein the wireless terminal device assistance information comprises at least one of the following:

over heating assistance information;

In-Device Coexistence (IDC) information;

DRX information;

scheduling information;

measurement information; or

information for multiple SIM (MUSIM) cards.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the traffic status information comprises beam information for one or more resource units,

wherein the beam information comprises at least one of:

one or more resource indexes of reference signals for the one or more resource units, wherein the reference signal comprises a downlink reference signal or an uplink reference signal;

one or more pairs of resource indexes of reference signal for the one or more resource units, wherein each pair of resource index includes one resource index of downlink reference signal and one resource index of uplink reference signal; or

beam information for the one or more resource units and time information, wherein the time information indicates a corresponding time of the one or more resource indexes in the beam information.
The method according to any of claims 1 to 16, wherein the traffic status information comprises time information,

wherein the time information comprises a value or an index indicating a time offset between a reference time and a time corresponding to buffer status information, and

wherein a mapping between the index and the time offset is configured by the wireless access network node or is predefined.
The method according to claim 17, wherein the reference time is defined as a first reference time, where the first reference time is one of the following:

a slot, sub-slot, subframe, frame, millisecond, or second when the wireless terminal device transmits the traffic status information to the wireless access network node;

a start of the slot, sub-slot, subframe, frame, millisecond or second when the wireless terminal device transmits the traffic status information to the wireless access network node;

an end of the slot, sub-slot, subframe, frame, millisecond or second when the wireless terminal device transmits the traffic status information to the wireless access network node;

a last symbol when the wireless terminal device transmits the traffic status information to the wireless access network node; and/or

a first symbol when the wireless terminal device transmits the traffic status information to the wireless access network node.
The method according to any of claims 17 to 18, wherein a measurement time of a first measurement signal and/or a second measurement signal is after the reference time and before a time corresponding to buffer status information.
The method according to any of claims 17 to 19, comprising:

receiving, from the wireless access network node, response information at a response time, wherein the response time is after the reference time and before a time corresponding to buffer status information, wherein at least one of:

the response time is at least offset O₁ after the reference time, wherein the offset O₁ is configured by the wireless access network node, indicated by the traffic status information, or is predefined, or

the response time is at least offset O₂ before the time corresponding to buffer status information, wherein the offset O₂ is configured by the wireless access network node, indicated by the traffic status information, or is predefined.
A method performed by a wireless access network node comprising:

receiving, from a wireless terminal device, traffic status information.
The method according to claim 21,

wherein the traffic status information comprises buffer status information and time information,

wherein the buffer status information indicates information about an uplink (UL) data volume, and

wherein the time information indicates a time corresponding to the buffer status information.
The method according to claim 22, wherein the buffer status information comprises at least one of:

one or more values indicating the UL data volume,

one or more indexes indicating the UL data volume, a range of UL data volume, or a level of UL data volume, or

one or more indications requesting UL shared channel (UL-SCH) resources for a new transmission.
The method according to claim 21, wherein the traffic status information comprises resource unit activation or addition information,

wherein the resource unit activation or addition information indicates at least one resource unit that the wireless terminal device requests to or will activate, configure, and/or add,

wherein the resource unit activation or addition information comprises at least one of:

a value indicating a number of resource units that the wireless terminal device requests to or will activate, configure, and/or add,

one or multiple resource unit indexes indicating the at least one resource unit the that the wireless terminal device requests to or will activate, configure, and/or add, or

a bitmap indicating a number of resource units that the wireless terminal device requests to or will activate, configure, and/or add, wherein each bit of the bitmap corresponds to one or a group of resource units.
The method according to claim 24, wherein the traffic status information comprises time information, wherein the time information indicates a time corresponding to the resource unit activation information.
The method according to any of claims 24 or 25, comprising:

receiving, from the wireless terminal device, at a measurement time, one or more first measurement signals in the at least one resource unit that the wireless terminal device requests to or will activate, configure, and/or add,

wherein each of the at least one resource units is associated with the one or more first measurement signals.
The method according to any one of claims 21 to 26, comprising:

transmitting, to the wireless terminal device, response information after receiving the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises an acknowledgement of resource unit activation or addition information,

wherein the wireless terminal device activates, configures, or adds the at least one resource unit indicated in the resource unit activation information.
The method according to any one of claims 21 to 27, comprising:

transmitting, to the wireless terminal device, response information after receiving the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises a power control command for the resource unit activation or addition information.
The method according to any one of claims 21 to 28, comprising:

transmitting, to the wireless terminal device, response information after receiving the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises a timing advance offset for the resource unit activation or addition information.
The method according to any one of claims 21 to 29, comprising:

transmitting, to the wireless terminal device, response information after receiving the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises one or more resource unit indexes indicating resource units that are to be activated, added, or configured; and

wherein the wireless terminal device activates, configures, or adds, in response to receiving the response information, the resource units corresponding to the one or more resource unit indexes.
The method according to any one of claims 21 to 30, comprising:

transmitting, to the wireless terminal device, response information after receiving the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises a bitmap indicating resource units that are to be activated, added, or configured; and

wherein the wireless terminal device activates, configures, or adds the resource units corresponding to bit values in the bitmap.
The method according to any one of claims 21 to 31, comprising:

transmitting, to the wireless terminal device, response information after receiving the traffic status information or the one or more first measurement signals, wherein the response information comprises measurement signal triggering information for a second measurement signal; and

receiving, from the wireless terminal device, the second measurement signal according to the measurement signal triggering information.
The method according to any one of claims 21 to 32, wherein the traffic status information comprises wireless terminal device assistance information and time information,

wherein the time information indicates a corresponding time of the wireless terminal device assistance information, and

wherein the wireless terminal device assistance information comprises at least one of the following:

over heating assistance information;

In-Device Coexistence (IDC) information;

DRX information;

scheduling information;

measurement information; or

information for multiple SIM (MUSIM) cards.
The method according to any one of claims 21 to 33, wherein the traffic status information comprises beam information for one or more resource units,

wherein the beam information comprises at least one of:

one or more resource indexes of reference signals for the one or more resource units, wherein the reference signal comprises a downlink reference signal or an uplink reference signal;

one or more pairs of resource indexes of reference signal for the one or more resource units, wherein each pair of resource index includes one resource index of downlink reference signal and one resource index of uplink reference signal; or

beam information for the one or more resource units and time information, wherein the time information indicates a corresponding time of the one or more resource indexes in the beam information.
The method according to any of claims 21 to 34, wherein the traffic status information comprises time information,

wherein the time information comprises a value or an index indicating a time offset between a reference time and a time corresponding to buffer status information, and

wherein a mapping between the index and the time offset is configured by the wireless access network node or is predefined.
The method according to claim 35, wherein the reference time is defined as a first reference time, where the first reference time is one of the following:

a slot, sub-slot, subframe, frame, millisecond, or second when the wireless terminal device transmits the traffic status information to the wireless access network node;

a start of the slot, sub-slot, subframe, frame, millisecond or second when the wireless terminal device transmits the traffic status information to the wireless access network node;

an end of the slot, sub-slot, subframe, frame, millisecond or second when the wireless terminal device transmits the traffic status information to the wireless access network node;

a last symbol when the wireless terminal device transmits the traffic status information to the wireless access network node; and/or

a first symbol when the wireless terminal device transmits the traffic status information to the wireless access network node.
The method according to any of claims 35 to 36, wherein a measurement time of a first measurement signal and/or a second measurement signal is after the reference time and before a time corresponding to buffer status information.
The method according to any of claims 35 to 37, comprising:

transmitting, to the wireless terminal device, response information at a response time, wherein the response time is after the reference time and before a time corresponding to buffer status information, wherein at least one of:

the response time is at least offset O₁ after the reference time, wherein the offset O₁ is configured by the wireless access network node, indicated by the traffic status information, or is predefined, or

the response time is at least offset O₂ before the time corresponding to buffer status information, wherein the offset O₂ is configured by the wireless access network node, indicated by the traffic status information, or is predefined.
An apparatus for wireless communication comprising a processor that is configured to carry out the method of any of claims 1 to 38.
A non-transitory computer readable medium having code stored thereon, the code when executed by a processor, causing the processor to implement the method recited in any of claims 1 to 38.