WO2025218911A1

WO2025218911A1 - Network node, user equipment and methods therein in a wireless communications network

Info

Publication number: WO2025218911A1
Application number: PCT/EP2024/060795
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ege Engin; Miguel Lopez
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
Current assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
Priority date: 2024-04-19
Filing date: 2024-04-19
Publication date: 2025-10-23
Anticipated expiration: 2026-10-19

Abstract

A method performed by a network node is provided. The method is for handling data traffic in a wireless communications network. The wireless data traffic comprises high priority transmissions and low priority transmissions with a lower priority than the high priority transmissions. When a high priority transmission is arriving after finalizing scheduling assignments of transmissions in a next scheduling interval, the network node performs the following actions. The network node selects (504) one or more scheduling assignments relating to low priority transmissions among the transmissions comprised in the finalized scheduling assignments, The puncturing allowance of the selected one or more scheduling assignments equals or exceeds a size of the high priority transmission. The network node then punctures (505) bits of the selected one or more scheduling assignments in said next scheduling interval and replaces the punctured bits with bits from the high priority transmission according to a puncturing pattern.

Description

NETWORK NODE, USER EQUIPMENT AND METHODS THEREIN IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments herein relate to a network node a User Equipment (UE), and methods therein. In some aspects, they relate to handling data traffic in a wireless communications network.

BACKGROUND

In a typical wireless communication network, wireless devices, also known as wireless communication devices, mobile stations, stations (STA) and/or User Equipment (UE), communicate via a Wide Area Network or a Local Area Network such as a Wi-Fi network or a cellular network comprising a Radio Access Network (RAN) part and a Core Network (CN) part. The RAN covers a geographical area which is divided into service areas or cell areas, which may also be referred to as a beam or a beam group, with each service area or cell area being served by a radio network node such as a radio access node e.g., a Wi-Fi access point, a Base Station (BS) or a radio base station (RBS), which in some networks may also be denoted, for example, a Base Station (BS), a NodeB, eNodeB (eNB), or gNodeB (gNB) as denoted in Fifth Generation (5G) telecommunications. A service area or cell area is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the radio network node. The radio network node communicates over an air interface operating on a radio frequency with the wireless devices within the range of the radio network node.

3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is the standardization body for specifying the standards for the cellular system evolution, e.g., including 3G, 4G, 5G and the future evolutions. Specifications for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E- UTRA) and Evolved Packet System (EPS) have been completed within the 3GPP. In 4G also called a Fourth Generation (4G) network, EPS is core network and E-UTRA is radio access network. In 5G, 5G Core (5GC) is core network, NR is radio access network. As a continued network evolution, the new release of 3GPP specifies a 5G network also referred to as 5G New Radio (NR) and 5GC. Frequency bands for 5G NR are being separated into two different frequency ranges, Frequency Range 1 (FR1) and Frequency Range 2 (FR2). FR1 comprises sub-6 GHz frequency bands. Some of these bands are bands traditionally used by legacy standards but have been extended to cover potential new spectrum offerings from 410 MHz to 7125 MHz. FR2 comprises frequency bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. Bands in this millimeter wave range have shorter range but higher available bandwidth than bands in the FR1.

Multi-antenna techniques may significantly increase the data rates and reliability of a wireless communication system. For a wireless connection between a single user, such as UE, and a base station (BS), the performance is in particular improved if both the transmitter and the receiver are equipped with multiple antennas, which results in a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) communication channel. This may be referred to as Single-User (SU)-MIMO. In the scenario where MIMO techniques is used for the wireless connection between multiple users and the base station, MIMO enables the users to communicate with the base station simultaneously using the same time-frequency resources by spatially separating the users, which increases further the cell capacity. This may be referred to as Multi-User (MU)-MIMO. Note that MU-MIMO may benefit when each UE only has one antenna. The cell capacity can be increased linearly with respect to the number of antennas at the BS side. Due to that, more and more antennas are employed in BS. Such systems and/or related techniques are commonly referred to as massive MIMO.

Before transmitting over an air interface, downlink data processing for Transport Blocks (TB)s involves several steps. Figure 1 depicts the steps ion an 5G L1 Processing Chain. Initially, up to two TBs undergo physical layer, layer 1 , processing and are then mapped onto the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH). To ensure error detection, a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) is added to each TB, and Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) error correction coding is performed for improved data reliability. An LDPC base graph is selected, and code blocks are segmented and appended with CRC. Following LDPC coding and rate matching, the code blocks are concatenated and scrambled using a unique identifier associated with a specific UE, UE group, and usage. The scrambled data is modulated based on a determined modulation scheme. The selection of the Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) is based on the channel conditions. Finally, the modulated data is transmitted over the air interface to the receiving UE. A gNB may convey information about a location and size of downlink data stored on the PDSCH to a UE through two scheduling options: Dynamic scheduling and semi- persistent scheduling. In dynamic scheduling, the gNB utilizes Downlink Control Information (DCI) on the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) to provide this information. The UE continuously monitors the PDCCH to receive data assignments while considering its Discontinuous Reception (DRX) configuration. In semi-persistent scheduling, the UE is configured with periodicity information for assigned or granted resources through the Radio Resource Control (RRC). These grants become available periodically for PDSCH/PUSCH transmission when activated via DCI. Both scheduling types can be used with different PDSCH mapping types, Type A and Type B. Type A is suitable for regular slot definition, where PDSCH transmission starts from the second or third symbols. In contrast, Type B is designed for mini-slot scheduling, limited to 2, 4, and 7 symbols for PDSCH, and may start from any symbol as illustrated in Figure 2. Figure 2 depicts a 5G resource block and mini slot definitions. A Resource Block (RB) in NR is defined as 12 consecutive subcarriers in frequency domain irrespective of the numerology. A Resource Element (RE) is the smallest physical resource in NR, and it comprises one subcarrier during one OFDM symbol. Type B scheduling meets lower latency requirements as it allows faster scheduling by allocating resources in any symbol with shorter duration, facilitating the rapid filling of available resource blocks with time- critical data.

When scheduling a data transmission for various use cases and user priorities in a gNB, a scheduler in the gNB must consider different approaches based on traffic requirements. The latency critical data needs to be scheduled with other transmissions, but if it is too latency critical that scheduler might not have enough time to redetermine its decisions. The scheduler may preempt ongoing PDSCH data by allocating resources of ongoing enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) traffic to Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) data for a specific UE. This pre-emption is accomplished through a Pre-emption/punctured Indication (PI) carried in the PDCCH DCI for the upcoming slot, where the gNB notifies the UE of the punctured eMBB resources. The UE clears the flushed data in its buffers and replaces it with upcoming re-transmissions using this indication. If a UE does not receive a pre-emption indication, it may request Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) re-transmissions, indicating its inability to decode the data and reporting negative acknowledgment as illustrated in Figure 3. Figure 3 depicts re-transmission of pre-empted data The pre-emption mechanism in 5G aims to satisfy the low-latency requirement of URLLC data by allowing the processing of the URLLC data queue before finalizing ongoing resource allocation. However, multiple HARQ retransmissions may impact the Quality of Experience (QoE) for eMBB users, e.g. eMBB UEs, and result in throughput degradation.

SUMMARY

As part of developing embodiments herein, the inventors identified some problems that first will be described.

The existing pre-emption solution is not ideal to use because the transmissions of some scheduled UEs are degraded. This leads to increased latency for the lower priority transmissions and decrease in spectrum efficiency because of the need of retransmissions.

Even if a soft-buffer flushing is possible with the information of pre-emption indication, the need of Code block group (CBG) retransmissions is inevitable since the selection of pre-emption locations are not determined with the modulation and coding scheme and transport block sizes.

An object of embodiments herein is to improve the performance of wireless data traffic comprising high priority transmissions and low priority transmissions in a wireless communications network..

According to an aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a method performed by a network node. The method is for handling data traffic in a wireless communications network. The wireless data traffic comprises high priority transmissions and low priority transmissions with a lower priority than the high priority transmissions. When a high priority transmission is arriving after finalizing scheduling assignments of transmissions in a next scheduling interval, the network node performs the following actions. The network node selects one or more scheduling assignments relating to low priority transmissions among the transmissions comprised in the finalized scheduling assignments. The puncturing allowance of the selected one or more scheduling assignments equals or exceeds a size of the high priority transmission. The network node then punctures bits of the selected one or more scheduling assignments in said next scheduling interval and replaces the punctured bits with bits from the high priority transmission according to a puncturing pattern. According to an aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a method performed by a first User Equipment, UE. The method is for handling data traffic in a wireless communications network. The wireless data traffic comprises high priority transmissions and low priority transmissions with a lower priority than the high priority transmissions. The first UE receives information about a puncturing pattern related to an upcoming high priority transmission in a next scheduling interval to be received by the UE. The puncturing pattern relates to punctured bits of one or more scheduling assignments relating to low priority transmissions in said next scheduling interval. A puncturing allowance of the one or more scheduling assignments equals or exceeds a size of the high priority transmission. The punctured bits are replaced with bits of the high priority transmission according to the puncturing pattern and the first UE receives the scheduled high priority transmission according to the puncturing pattern.

According to another aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a network node. The network node is configured to handle data traffic in a wireless communications network. The wireless data traffic is adapted to comprise high priority transmissions and low priority transmissions with a lower priority than the high priority transmissions. The network node is further being configured to, when a high priority transmission is arriving after finalizing scheduling assignments of transmissions in a next scheduling interval:

- select one or more scheduling assignments relating to low priority transmissions among the transmissions comprised in the finalized scheduling assignments, whose puncturing allowance equals or exceeds a size of the high priority transmission, and

- puncture bits of the selected one or more scheduling assignments in said next scheduling interval and replace the punctured bits with bits from the high priority transmission according to a puncturing pattern.

According to another aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a first User Equipment, UE. The first UE is configured to handle data traffic in a wireless communications network. The wireless data traffic is adapted to comprise high priority transmissions and low priority transmissions with a lower priority than the high priority transmissions. The UE is further being configured to receive information about a puncturing pattern related to an upcoming high priority transmission in a next scheduling interval to be received by the UE. The puncturing pattern is adapted to relate to punctured bits of one or more scheduling assignments relating to low priority transmissions in said next scheduling interval. A puncturing allowance of the one or more scheduling assignments equals or exceeds a size of the high priority transmission. The punctured bits are adapted to be replaced with bits of the high priority transmission according to the puncturing pattern and first the UE is further being configured to receive the scheduled high priority transmission according to the puncturing pattern.

Example embodiments herein may provide one or more of the following advantages:

- Offering better capability than the prior art solution. This is since the data for the low priority UE is sent, resulting in reduced latency for the low priority UE and increased spectrum efficiency. In addition, the invention provides further spectrum efficiency gains compared to the prior art solution, because in the prior art solution the re-transmission of pre-empted data typically requires re-transmission of a code block group comprising code blocks that have not been pre-empted.

- When a higher priority packet arrival is later than required time before scheduling decisions are done within the scheduler, example embodiments herein allow a scheduler to still send this higher priority packet.

- They may easily be adaptable and applicable to 5G NR standards from Release 16.

- There is no need for new channel codes to apply embodiments herein.

- The only requirement for the best application ability may in some embodiments be the need of some signaling. However, it may still be applicable without using that signaling with limited performance increase on preempted UEs.

- There is no need for new numerology. E.g., making OFDM symbol shorter in time causes overhead increase since cyclic prefix remains the same and some UEs cannot support.

- The complexity increase required to obtain the advantages is not too high. This may mean that the adaptations needed at the transmitter and receiver of the low priority data do not require complex calculations, since they are based on the well-known techniques of puncturing and de-puncturing which have very low computational complexity.

- It is backward compatible with existing standards. - Higher priority packets like URLLC transmission are able to satisfy their latency requirements.

- Non-higher priority, e.g., non-URLLC, UEs may also benefit with the information signaled for the location of pre-emption, e.g., clearing LDPC states for pre-empted values, and clearing soft buffers if CRC check is not succeeded.

- It saves UE power since there might be no retransmission required. The UE does not need to search for a new DCI, rearrange soft buffers, and manage HARQ process.

- It saves network node power such as e.g., gNB power, since the gNB does not need to schedule retransmissions where this method is used.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Examples of embodiments herein are described in more detail with reference to attached drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating prior art.

Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating prior art.

Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating prior art.

Figure 4 is a schematic block diagram illustrating embodiments of a communications network.

Figure 5 is a flowchart depicting an embodiment of a method in a network node.

Figure 6 is a flowchart depicting an embodiment of a method in a first UE.

Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example embodiment of a method herein.

Figures 8 a and b are flowcharts illustrating an example embodiment of a method herein.

Figure 9 is a schematic block diagram illustrating embodiments of a network node.

Figure 10 is a schematic block diagram illustrating embodiments of a first UE.

Figure 11 schematically illustrates embodiments of a communication system.

Figure 12 is a generalized block diagram of embodiments of a UE.

Figure 13 is a generalized block diagram of embodiments of a network node.

Figure 14 is a generalized block diagram of embodiments of a virtualization environment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Particular sets of bits in low priority transmissions, e.g., eMBB applications, are punctured, also referred to as pre-empted, and allocated to high priority transmissions, such as e.g., LIRLLC applications. This may be performed in such a way that the low priority transmissions can be decoded even after the puncturing. This may be since the number of punctured bits rate and the puncturing pattern are determined partly based on the modulation and coding scheme of the low priority transmission, so that punctured bits can be recovered by means of the error correction code. Moreover, since there is no specified rule on selection of this/these punctured UE(s) and the time/frequency scheduling, some embodiments herein provide a rule on selection these particular set of bits. In some example embodiments, this rule suggests that these bits may be selected from a set from pre-defined pattern which may be determined based on MCS and Transport Block Size (TBS). This pre-defined table may e.g., be stored in a look-up table or may be produced with a function. The high priority data may be placed in accordance with this look-up table, and it is signalled to the pre-empted UE by indication in DCI with additional field. The time and frequency location of higher priority data allocation may e.g., be informed with PDCCH DCI using Type-B scheduling.

Figure 4 is a schematic overview depicting a wireless communications network 100 wherein embodiments herein may be implemented. The wireless communications network 100 comprises one or more RANs, one or more CNs and a conversation AR network 105. The wireless communications network 100 may use 5G NR but may further use a number of other different technologies, such as, 6G, Wi-Fi, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Global System for Mobile communications/enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution (GSM/EDGE), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), just to mention a few possible implementations.

A wireless network such as the wireless communications network 100 may typically handles various traffic types, including delay-sensitive traffic. Quality of Service (QoS) ensures that the requirements of each type are fulfilled. This may be achieved, for example, by giving the delay-sensitive data a higher priority with less delay, or less jitter or a guaranteed minimum throughput, or several of the above. A high priority transmission may mean a transmission whose QoS requirements include bounded delay, or bounded delay variation, or a pre-determined maximum packet loss, or a pre-determined maximum bit error rate. Examples of high priority transmissions include data originating from UltraReliable Low-Latency Communications (URLLC) or data originating from services subject to service level agreements. By low priority transmission we mean a transmission that does not belong to the class of high priority transmissions. Low priority transmissions include transmissions of data originating from services where no guarantees are given with respect to latency, or jitter, or guaranteed bit rates.

Network nodes, such as a network node 110 operate in the RAN the wireless communications network 100. The network node 110, may be a transmission and reception point e.g. a radio access network node such as a base station, e.g. a radio base station such as a NodeB, an evolved Node B (eNB, eNode B), an NR Node B (gNB), a base transceiver station, a radio remote unit, an Access Point Base Station, a base station router, a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point or an Access Point Station (AP STA), an access controller, or any other network unit capable of communicating with UEs, such as UEs 121 , within a cell, served by the network node 110. The network node 110 may be referred to as a serving radio network node and may communicate with the UEs 121, 122 with Downlink (DL) transmissions to the UEs 121 , 122 and Uplink (UL) transmissions from the UEs 121, 122, 123.

One or more UEs operate in the wireless communication network 100, such as e.g. a first UEs 121, and one or more second UEs 122, 123. The UEs 121, 122, 123 may e.g. be a respective 5G-RG, a remote UE, a wireless device, an NR device, a mobile station, a wireless terminal, an NB-loT device, an MTC device, an eMTC device, a CAT-M device, a WiFi device, an LTE device and an a non-access point (non-AP) STA, a STA, that communicates e.g., via a base station such as e.g. the network node 110, one or more Access Networks (AN), e.g. a RAN, to one or more core network (CN) nodes, in one or more CNs. It should be understood by the skilled in the art that “UE” is a non-limiting term which means any terminal, client, mobile client, IMS client, wireless communication terminal, user equipment, Device to Device (D2D) terminal, or node e.g. smart phone, laptop, mobile phone, sensor, relay, mobile tablets or even a car or any small base station communicating within a cell. Methods according to embodiments herein are performed by the network node 110. This node may be one or more Distributed Nodes (DN)s and functionality, e.g. comprised in a cloud 170 as shown in Figure 4.

In some example embodiments, a method in a wireless communications network 100 is performed by the network node 110 The network node 110 may e.g. be a scheduling node. The method is for handling data traffic e.g., wireless data traffic to and from UEs 121 , 122, 123, which data traffic comprises low and high priority transmissions. The network node 110 may perform one or more out of the following actions.

When a high priority transmission arrives at the scheduler after the scheduling for the next scheduling interval has been finalized, one or more of the following steps are performed:

- Determine the size of the high priority transmissions,

- determine the TB and MCS of already scheduled transmissions,

- determine the puncturing allowance based on the TB and MCS,

- select one or more scheduling decisions whose accumulated puncturing allowances equal or exceed the size of the high priority packet, puncture these scheduling decisions, and replace the punctured bits by the bits from the high priority transmission, and

-signal the puncturing pattern to the receiver of the high priority transmission.

The signalling may be performed by including puncturing index field in downlink control information signalling scheduling information, e.g.: DCI in 5G.

In addition, the information of puncturing pattern of affected portion of transmission may be conveyed to the receiver of the low priority transmission that was punctured.

The determining of the puncture allowance may comprise a look-up table which is determined with respect to channel coding capabilities, locations of information/parity bits in channel coding, modulation and coding scheme and transport block sizes.

The selection of the scheduled decisions to puncture may be based on minimizing the number of UEs impacted by the puncturing.

The selection of the scheduled decisions to puncture may be based on the number of retransmissions needed if decoding of the punctured TBs fails.

The selection of the scheduled decisions to puncture may be based on the total size of the retransmissions if decoding of the punctured TB fails. The selection of the scheduled decisions to puncture may be based on the probability that a receiver of a puncturing TB is able to correctly decoded said punctured TB.

A number of embodiments will now be described, some of which may be seen as alternatives, while some may be used in combination.

A method according to embodiments will first be described in a more general way as seen from the view of the network node 110 together with Figure 5, and then as seen from the view of the first UE 121 together with Figure 6. This will be followed by examples and a more detailed description.

Figure 5 shows example embodiments of a method performed by the network node 110. The method is for handling data traffic in a wireless communications network 100. The wireless data traffic comprises high priority transmissions and low priority transmissions with a lower priority than the high priority transmissions.

The method comprises the following actions, which actions may be taken in any suitable order. Optional actions are referred to as dashed boxes in Figure 5.

According to an example scenario, the network node 110 receives a transmission after finalizing scheduling assignments of transmissions in a next scheduling interval.

A scheduling interval is defined as a time of transmission that a scheduler e.g., in the network node 110 needs to determine. It may be either transmission time intervals, ; i.e. , the duration of transmission allowed for a frame on a the wireless communications network 100, or shorter or longer. For example, in 5G/NR, a scheduling interval comprises one or more scheduling blocks. A scheduling block is the smallest allocation of timefrequency resources (e.g. 1 time slot x 12 subcarriers) that can be addressed by the scheduler.

If the transmission is a high priority transmission, the network node 110 will schedule and transmit the high priority transmission in said next scheduling interval according to a puncturing pattern to a receiver of the high priority transmission. This will be performed according to at least some of the below actions. The receiver may e.g. be the first UE 121.

When the high priority transmission is arriving after finalizing scheduling assignments of transmissions in a next scheduling interval, the network node 110 performs at least some of the Actions below. Action 501. In some embodiments, the network node 110 obtains information whether the transmission of the data traffic is a high priority transmission or a low priority transmission. The information may e.g. be obtained in the following procedure: The data to be transmitted may be temporarily stored in buffers that are labelled and managed according to the priority of the transmission. The priority queue to which the data belongs is propagated together with the data itself through the protocol stack from the service or application which generates the data down to the scheduler.

Action 502. When the transmission is a high priority transmission, the network node 110 may determine a size of the high priority transmission. The size of the high priority transmission may e.g., be determined by the size of the data to be transmitted, the protocol overhead associated with the transmission, and the modulation and coding scheme. This may be used later on as a basis for selecting suitable scheduling assignments of low priority transmissions to be punctured to facilitate transmitting of the high priority transmission.

Action 503. The network node 110 may further determine a respective puncturing allowance of each of the one or more scheduling assignments relating to low priority transmissions. A puncturing allowance when used herein may e.g. mean the maximum number of resource elements that may be punctured. It may also mean the maximum number of bits that may be. It may also mean the maximum number of modulation symbols that may be punctured.

Intuitively the puncturing allowance is the maximum amount of data that may be punctured, or removed, without compromising too much the performance. This puncturing may be performed in more than one way. One way is to puncture all the bits that are transmitted in a given resource element, and assign said resource element to the high priority transmission. In practice, puncturing a modulation symbol is similar to puncturing a resource element, except that in Ml MO transmissions there can be several modulation symbols transmitted in one resource element. Further, individual bits may be puncture.

The puncturing allowance may also be used later on as a basis for selecting suitable scheduling assignments of low priority transmissions to be punctured to facilitate the transmitting of the high priority transmission.

In some embodiments, the determining of a respective puncturing allowance of each of the scheduled transmissions comprises determining parameters. The parameters may e.g. comprise any one or more out of: channel coding capabilities, locations of information and/or parity bits in channel coding, a size of a transmission such as e.g., TBS, and MCS, of the respective scheduled transmissions relating to low priority transmissions. In these embodiments, the determining of a respective puncturing allowance of each of the scheduled transmissions further comprises determining a respective puncturing allowance of each the scheduled transmissions based on the determined parameters.

Action 504. The network node 110 selects one or more scheduling assignments. The one or more scheduling assignments relate to low priority transmissions and are selected among the transmissions comprised in the finalized scheduling assignments. According to the example scenario, the network node 110 only selects scheduling assignments whose puncturing allowance equals or exceeds a size of the high priority transmission. These scheduling assignments are suitable for the upcoming puncturing.

In some embodiments, the selecting one or more scheduling assignments to puncture is based on any one or more out of: minimizing the number of low priority transmission receivers impacted by the puncturing, the number of retransmissions needed if decoding of the punctured low priority transmission fails, the total size of retransmissions if decoding of the punctured low priority transmission fails, a probability that a receiver of a puncturing low priority transmission is able to correctly decoded said punctured low priority transmission. These parameters may be have been assembled in a look-up table in Action 503 above.

Action 505. The network node 110 further punctures bits of the selected one or more scheduling assignments in said next scheduling interval.

The network node 110 replaces the punctured bits with bits from the high priority transmission according to a puncturing pattern. A puncturing pattern when used herein e.g. means a way to select the code bits that may be punctured, or an explicit description of the bits that may be punctured, e.g. by giving the exact position within a codeword of the bits that can be punctured.

This may be performed by selecting some of the bits indicated in a puncturing pattern, and replacing the bit values so that after replacing the selected bits coincide with the bits from the high priority transmission. Action 506. The network node 110 may then signal information related to the puncturing pattern to a receiver of the high priority transmission. The receiver of the high priority transmission may e.g. be the first UE 121. This information is useful for the first UE 121 since the decoder may set the reliability of the punctured bits to a value indicating uncertainty of the bit value, thus enhancing the decoder performance. The equalizer outputs a soft bit value corresponding to each received bit. When the network node 110, such as its receiver, has knowledge of the punctured bits, it may replace the computed soft values by the value zero. This indicates to the decoder that each punctured is unreliable and the decoding performance is improved.

Action 507. The network node 110 may schedule the high priority transmission according to the puncturing pattern within said next scheduling interval.

Action 508. The network node 110 may then transmit the scheduled high priority transmission according to the puncturing pattern to a receiver of the high priority transmission. As mentioned above, the receiver of the high priority transmission may e.g. be represented by the first UE 121.

Action 509. In some embodiments, the network node 110 signals information related to the puncturing pattern to a receiver of the respective selected low priority transmission that was punctured. This may be performed by adding a field to the DCI, indicating to the receiver that some bits have been punctured. The indication may comprise an index for a lookup table or an index for an algorithm, from which the receiver can determine the exact positions within each received codeword that correspond to punctured bits.

Receivers of the respective selected low priority transmission that was punctured may be represented by the second UEs 122.

Thus, an affected UE such as one or more of the second UEs 122 may unset these bits according to the puncturing pattern for better channel coding capability. Consequently, this UE may not need a retransmission as always required in the standardized prior art solution.

Figure 6 shows exemplary embodiments of a method performed by the first User Equipment, UE, 121. The method is for handling data traffic in a wireless communications network 100. The wireless data traffic comprises high priority transmissions. The wireless data traffic further comprises low priority transmissions with a lower priority than the high priority transmissions.

The method comprises the following actions, which actions may be taken in any suitable order. Optional actions are referred to as dashed boxes in Figure 6.

Action 601. The first UE 121 receives information about a puncturing pattern. The puncturing pattern is related to an upcoming high priority transmission in a next scheduling interval to be received by the UE 121. The puncturing pattern relates to punctured bits of one or more scheduling assignments relating to low priority transmissions in said next scheduling interval. A puncturing allowance of the one or more scheduling assignments equals or exceeds a size of the high priority transmission. The punctured bits are replaced with bits of the high priority transmission according to the puncturing pattern.

Action 602. The first UE 121 then receives the scheduled high priority transmission according to the puncturing pattern.

In this way by using the methods above, the high priority data is delivered to UE 121.

Embodiments herein such as the embodiments mentioned above will now be further described and exemplified. The text below is applicable to and may be combined with any suitable embodiment described above.

The network node 110, also referred to as a wireless node, is handling wireless data traffic in the wireless communications network 100 and is transmitting data packets. The data packets are related to several different Quality of Service (QoS) classes and are transmitted to multiple UEs, such as the first UE 121 , and the second UEs 122. The network node 110 receives a packet of a transmission after finalizing scheduling assignments of transmissions in a next scheduling interval and identifies if the transmission is a high priority or not. I.e., the network node 110 obtains information whether the transmission of the data traffic is a high priority transmissions or a low priority transmission. This relates to Action 501 described above. If it is a higher priority packet and requiring low latency, it is needed to check if that transmission or packet can be scheduled within said next scheduling interval or not. This transmission or packet may also arrive after scheduling assignments are completed, i.e. , but then it may be too late to change the current scheduling assignments. In Figure 7 the basic procedures for the network node 110 such as its scheduler when a higher priority packet arrives at scheduling queue. In case of these kind of situations, the pre-emption is inevitable to use. According to embodiments herein, the network node 110 selects one or more scheduling assignments relating to low priority transmissions. This relates to Action 504 described above. The selection of these one or more scheduling assignments, which may be referred to as pre-empted resources, may be determined with a look-up table. The look-up table which may be pre-determined via the simulations of usable coding rates, modulation schemes and transport block sizes. This relates to Actions 502, 503 and 503 described above. Since channel coding e.g. LDPC codes in 5G data channels, data allow the partly ‘mistaken’ or ‘noise-effected’ data transferred be corrected, embodiments herein aims the use of that correction capability of channel codes with pre-defined puncture allowance rates which may be determined with respect to MCS and transport block size. The selection of one or more scheduling assignments, also referred to as pre-emption allocations, and sizes in time and/or frequency with these pre-defined patterns may be signalled to UEs such as the first UE 121 and/or the second UEs 122 by a new DCI field with an index from a look-up-table. This relates to Actions 508, and 509 described above. Thus, an affected UE such as one or more of the second UEs 122 may unset these bits for better channel coding capability. Consequently, this UE may not need a retransmission as always required in the solution standardized. The number of second UEs that will be punctured, also referred to as pre-empted, for the higher priority data transmission may be determined with the higher priority packet size (this relates to 502 described above) and puncture allowance (this relates to 503 described above) of each pre-emptible UEs 122. The puncture allowance size represents how many of resource elements that can be punctured within a scheduling decision. A scheduling decision is a single decision of scheduler with determined MCS and TBS with their time/frequency allocations.

Figure 7 depicts Actions in a flowchart of a high priority and latency critical transmission.

Action 701. A higher priority transmission arrives at scheduling queue of the network node 110. Action 702. The network node 110 determines if scheduling decisions are made at the scheduler for current scheduling interval.

Action 703. If Yes, the network node 110 punctures, referred to as preempts in Figure 7, the low priority transmissions as described above.

Action 704. If No, the network node 110 checks if a latency requirement of the high priority transmission is satisfied with already determined decisions.

Action 705. If Yes, the network node 110 schedules the high priority transmission to remaining time and/or frequency locations.

The selection of these one or more scheduling assignments relating to low priority transmissions the second UEs may be determined with respect to how many bits that are needed for the high priority transmission and the puncture allowance allowed from each low priority transmission UEs 122 as illustrated in Actions 801-804 depicted in Figure 8a and in Actions 805-807 depicted in Figure 8b. Figures 8 a and b depict a flowchart of an example of rules of pre-emption, also referred to as puncturing, to allocate a high priority transmission, such as e.g. a latency critical transmission.

Action 801. A higher priority transmission needing N bits arrives to the network node 110 such as its scheduler.

Action 802. The network node 110 checks if there are any scheduling decision, also referred to as scheduling assignment, that has a puncture allowance larger than N bits?

Action 803. If Yes, the network node 110 e.g., selects the scheduling decision with the least MCS index among the scheduling decisions within high priority latency requirements having puncture allowance larger than N bits and decrease puncture allowance of that decision by N. This may mean that the network node 110 selects the most robust scheduling decision which tolerates puncturing of at least N of bits and then decreases its puncturing allowance by N bits so that if a second high priority transmission arrives at the queue. The network node may determine the number of bits that can be punctured for a second high priority transmission after having punctured bits for a first high priority transmission.

Action 804. If No, the network node 110 e.g., checks: Is N bits allocated to the high priority transmission satisfying its latency requirements?

Action 805. If No, the network node 110 e.g., checks: Is there a scheduling decision having puncture allowance higher than 0 bits? Action 806. If Yes, the network node 110 e.g., selects the scheduling decision having least MCS among all scheduling decisions within the scheduling interval.

Action 807. If No, the network node 110 e.g., uses an existing strategy according to prior art for preemption to allocate remaining bits of higher priority transmission.

These pre-empted also referred to as punctured UEs 122 may be informed with a new DCI field indicating the index of a look-up-table representing the pattern of preemption and pre-emption size as one example look-up-table is illustrated in Table 1 below. This look-up-table may be determined with respect to channel coding capabilities, locations of information/parity bits in channel coding, modulation and coding scheme and transport block sizes.

Table 1 below depicts an example of a puncturing index field of a look-up-table.

Table 1

To perform the method actions above, the network node 110 is configured to handle data traffic in a wireless communications network 100. The wireless data traffic comprises high priority transmissions and low priority transmissions with a lower priority than the high priority transmissions.

The network node 110 may comprise an arrangement depicted in Figure 9. The network node 110 may comprise an input and output interface 900 configured to communicate in the communications network 100, e.g., with the first UE 121. The input and output interface 900 may comprise a wireless receiver not shown, and a wireless transmitter not shown.

The network node 110 is further configured to:

When a high priority transmission is arriving after finalizing scheduling assignments of transmissions in a next scheduling interval:

In some embodiments, the network node 110 is further configured to: any one or more out of:

- Signal information related to the puncturing pattern to a receiver of the high priority transmission,

- Schedule the high priority transmission according to the puncturing pattern within said next scheduling interval,

- Transmit the scheduled high priority transmission according to the puncturing pattern to a receiver of the high priority transmission.

In some embodiments, the network node 110 is further configured to:

- Obtain information whether a transmission of the data traffic is a high priority transmissions or a low priority transmissions.

In some embodiments, the network node 110 is further configured to:

- Signal information related to the puncturing pattern to a receiver of the respective selected low priority transmission that was punctured.

In some embodiments, the network node 110 is further being configured to select one or more scheduling assignments to puncture based on any one or more out of:

- minimizing the number of low priority transmission receivers impacted by the puncturing,

- the number of retransmissions needed if decoding of the punctured low priority transmission fails,

- the total size of retransmissions if decoding of the punctured low priority transmission fails,

- a probability that a receiver of a puncturing low priority transmission is able to correctly decoded said punctured low priority transmission. In some embodiments, the network node 110 is further configured to:

- Determine a size of the high priority transmission, and

- Determine a respective puncturing allowance of each the scheduled transmissions.

In some embodiments, the network node 110 is further being configured to determine a respective puncturing allowance of each of the scheduled transmissions comprises:

- determine parameters comprising any one or more out of: channel coding capabilities, locations of information and/or parity bits in channel coding, a size of a transmission, and Modulation and Coding Scheme, MCS, of the respective scheduled transmissions, and

- determine the respective puncturing allowance of each the scheduled transmissions based on the determined parameters.

In some embodiments, any one or more out of:

- A receiver of the high priority transmission is adapted to be represented by a first User Equipment, UE, 121, and

- Receivers of the respective selected low priority transmission that was punctured are adapted to be represented by second UEs 122.

To perform the method actions above, the first UE 121 is configured to handle data traffic in a wireless communications network 100. The wireless data traffic comprises high priority transmissions and low priority transmissions with a lower priority than the high priority transmissions.

The first UE 121 may comprise an arrangement depicted in Figure 10. The first UE 121 may comprise an input and output interface 1000 configured to communicate in the communications network 100, e.g., with the network node 110. The input and output interface 1000 may comprise a wireless receiver not shown, and a wireless transmitter not shown.

The first UE 121 further being configured to:

- Receive information about a puncturing pattern related to an upcoming high priority transmission in a next scheduling interval to be received by the first UE 121. The puncturing pattern is adapted to relate to punctured bits of one or more scheduling assignments relating to low priority transmissions in said next scheduling interval. A puncturing allowance of the one or more scheduling assignments equals or exceeds a size of the high priority transmission, and Wherein the punctured bits are adapted to be replaced with bits of the high priority transmission according to the puncturing pattern, the first UE 121 is further being configured to:

- Receive the scheduled high priority transmission according to the puncturing pattern.

Embodiments herein may be implemented through a respective processor or one or more processors, such as the respective processor 910 of a processing circuitry in the network node 110 depicted in Figure 9, and processor 1010 of a processing circuitry in the first UE 121 depicted in Figure 10 together with respective computer program code for performing the functions and actions of the embodiments herein. The program code mentioned above may also be provided as a computer program product, for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing the embodiments herein when being loaded into the respective network node 110 and first UE 121. One such carrier may be in the form of a CD ROM disc. It is however feasible with other data carriers such as a memory stick. The computer program code may furthermore be provided as pure program code on a server and downloaded to the respective network node 110 and first UE 121.

The network node 110 and first UE 121 may further comprise a respective memory 920 and memory 1020 comprising one or more memory units. The respective memory 920 and memory 1020 comprises instructions executable by the processor in the respective network node 110 and first UE 121. The respective memory 920 and memory 1020 are arranged to be used to store e.g., media functions, indications, tags, information, data, configurations, communication data, and applications to perform the methods herein when being executed in the respective network node 110 and first UE 121.

In some embodiments, a respective computer program 930 and computer program 1030 comprises instructions, which when executed by the respective at least one processor 910 and processor 1010, cause the at least one processor of respective network node 110 and first UE 121 to perform the actions above.

In some embodiments, a respective carrier 940 and carrier 1040 comprises the respective computer program 930 and computer program 1030, wherein the respective carrier 940 and carrier 1040 is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that units in the respective network node 110 and first UE 121 described above may refer to a combination of analog and digital circuits, and/or one or more processors configured with software and/or firmware, e.g. stored in the respective network node 110 and first UE 121, that when executed by the respective one or more processors such as the processors described above. One or more of these processors, as well as the other digital hardware, may be included in a single Application- Specific Integrated Circuitry ASIC, or several processors and various digital hardware may be distributed among several separate components, whether individually packaged or assembled into a System-on-a-Chip (SoC).

ADDITIONAL EXPLANATION

Figure 11 shows an example of a communication system QQ100 in accordance with some embodiments.

In the example, the communication system QQ100 includes a telecommunication network QQ102 that includes an access network QQ104, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network QQ106, which includes one or more core network nodes QQ108. The access network QQ104 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes QQ110a and QQ110b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes QQ110), or any other similar 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points. Moreover, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunication network QQ102 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network QQ102 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any node in the telecommunication network QQ102, including one or more network nodes QQ110 and/or core network nodes QQ108.

Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (O-RU), an open distributed unit (O-DU), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O- CU-CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an A1, F1, W1 , E1, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes QQ110 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs QQ112a, QQ112b, QQ112c, and QQ112d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs QQ112) to the core network QQ106 over one or more wireless connections.

Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system QQ100 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and/or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system QQ100 may include and/or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and/or other similar type of system.

The UEs QQ112 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes QQ110 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes QQ110 are arranged, capable, configured, and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs QQ112 and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network QQ102 to enable and/or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and/or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network QQ102.

In the depicted example, the core network QQ106 connects the network nodes QQ110 to one or more host computing systems, such as host QQ116. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network QQ106 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node QQ108) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and/or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node QQ108. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (ALISF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and/or a User Plane Function (UPF).

The host QQ116 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network QQ104 and/or the telecommunication network QQ102. The host QQ116 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio/video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

As a whole, the communication system QQ100 of 9 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and/or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

In some examples, the telecommunication network QQ102 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network QQ102 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network QQ102. For example, the telecommunications network QQ102 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and/or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC)/Massive loT services to yet further UEs.

In some examples, the UEs QQ112 are configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network QQ104 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network QQ104. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi- RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

In the example, the hub QQ114 communicates with the access network QQ104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE QQ112c and/or QQ112d) and network nodes (e.g., network node QQ110b). In some examples, the hub QQ114 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub QQ114 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network QQ106 for the UEs. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes QQ110, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub QQ114. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR device, display, loudspeaker, or other media delivery device, the hub QQ114 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub QQ114 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and/or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub QQ114 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices. The hub QQ114 may have a constant/persistent or intermittent connection to the network node QQ110b. The hub QQ114 may also allow for a different communication scheme and/or schedule between the hub QQ114 and UEs (e.g., UE QQ112c and/or QQ112d) , and between the hub QQ114 and the core network QQ106. In other examples, the hub QQ114 is connected to the core network QQ106 and/or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub QQ114 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network QQ104 and/or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes QQ110 while still connected via the hub QQ114 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub QQ114 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to/from the UEs from/to the network node QQ110b. In other embodiments, the hub QQ114 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node QQ110b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and/or end point for certain data channels.

Figure 12 shows a UE QQ200 in accordance with some embodiments. The UE QQ200 presents additional details of some embodiments of a UE such as e.g., the first UE 121 of Figure 4 as described in example embodiments herein. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other UEs. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage/playback device, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), an Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR) device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded/integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-loT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

The UE QQ200 includes processing circuitry QQ202 that is operatively coupled via a bus QQ204 to an input/output interface QQ206, a power source QQ208, a memory QQ210, a communication interface QQ212, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in 10. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

The processing circuitry QQ202 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory QQ210. The processing circuitry QQ202 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry QQ202 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

In the example, the input/output interface QQ206 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and/or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE QQ200. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

In some embodiments, the power source QQ208 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source QQ208 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source QQ208 itself, and/or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE QQ200 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source QQ208. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source QQ208 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE QQ200 to which power is supplied.

The memory QQ210 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory QQ210 includes one or more application programs QQ214, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data QQ216. The memory QQ210 may store, for use by the UE QQ200, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

The memory QQ210 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and/or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUlCC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory QQ210 may allow the UE QQ200 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory QQ210, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

The processing circuitry QQ202 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface QQ212. The communication interface QQ212 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna QQ222. The communication interface QQ212 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter QQ218 and/or a receiver QQ220 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter QQ218 and receiver QQ220 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna QQ222) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface QQ212 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and/or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface QQ212, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient). As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door/window sensor, a flood/moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and/or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE QQ200 shown in Figure 12.

As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and/or measurements to another UE and/or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-loT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and/or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

Figure 13 shows a network node QQ300 in accordance with some embodiments. The network node QQ300 presents additional details of some embodiments of a network node such as e.g., the network node 110 of Figure 4 as described in example embodiments herein. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and/or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)), O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., O-RU, O-DU, O-CU).

Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node) and/or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi- cel l/multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and/or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs). The network node QQ300 includes a processing circuitry QQ302, a memory QQ304, a communication interface QQ306, and a power source QQ308. The network node QQ300 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node QQ300 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node QQ300 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory QQ304 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna QQ310 may be shared by different RATs). The network node QQ300 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node QQ300, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node QQ300.

The processing circuitry QQ302 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node QQ300 components, such as the memory QQ304, to provide network node QQ300 functionality.

In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ312 and baseband processing circuitry QQ314. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ312 and the baseband processing circuitry QQ314 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry QQ312 and baseband processing circuitry QQ314 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units. The memory QQ304 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer- readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device- readable and/or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry QQ302. The memory QQ304 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and/or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry QQ302 and utilized by the network node QQ300. The memory QQ304 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry QQ302 and/or any data received via the communication interface QQ306. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 and memory QQ304 is integrated.

The communication interface QQ306 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and/or data between a network node, access network, and/or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface QQ306 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) QQ316 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface QQ306 also includes radio front-end circuitry QQ318 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna QQ310. Radio front-end circuitry QQ318 comprises filters QQ320 and amplifiers QQ322. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may be connected to an antenna QQ310 and processing circuitry QQ302. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna QQ310 and processing circuitry QQ302. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters QQ320 and/or amplifiers QQ322. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna QQ310. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna QQ310 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry QQ318. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry QQ302. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components. In certain alternative embodiments, the network node QQ300 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry QQ318, instead, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna QQ310. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312 is part of the communication interface QQ306. In still other embodiments, the communication interface QQ306 includes one or more ports or terminals QQ316, the radio front-end circuitry QQ318, and the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface QQ306 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry QQ314, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

The antenna QQ310 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. The antenna QQ310 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry QQ318 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna QQ310 is separate from the network node QQ300 and connectable to the network node QQ300 through an interface or port.

The antenna QQ310, communication interface QQ306, and/or the processing circuitry QQ302 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna QQ310, the communication interface QQ306, and/or the processing circuitry QQ302 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and/or any other network equipment.

The power source QQ308 provides power to the various components of network node QQ300 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source QQ308 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node QQ300 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node QQ300 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source QQ308. As a further example, the power source QQ308 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

Embodiments of the network node QQ300 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 13 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and/or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node QQ300 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node QQ300 and to allow output of information from the network node QQ300. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node QQ300. In some embodiments providing a core network node, such as core network node 108 of FIG. QQ1, some components, such as the radio front-end circuitry QQ318 and the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312 may be omitted.

Figure 14 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment QQ400 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments QQ400 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment QQ400 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface. Virtualization may facilitate distributed implementations of a network node, UE, core network node, or host.

Applications QQ402 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment Q400 to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein. Hardware QQ404 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and/or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and/or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input/output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers QQ406 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs QQ408a and QQ408b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs QQ408), and/or perform any of the functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer QQ406 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs QQ408.

The VMs QQ408 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer QQ406. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance QQ402 may be implemented on one or more of VMs QQ408, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

In the context of NFV, a VM QQ408 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs QQ408, and that part of hardware QQ404 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and/or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs QQ408 on top of the hardware QQ404 and corresponds to the application QQ402.

Hardware QQ404 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware QQ404 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware QQ404 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration QQ410, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications QQ402. In some embodiments, hardware QQ404 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system QQ412 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and/or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and/or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and/or by end users and a wireless network generally. When using the word "comprise" or “comprising” it shall be interpreted as nonlimiting, i.e. meaning "consist at least of".

The embodiments herein are not limited to the preferred embodiments described above. Various alternatives, modifications and equivalents may be used.

Claims

1. A method performed by a network node (110), for handling data traffic in a wireless communications network (100), wherein the wireless data traffic comprises high priority transmissions and low priority transmissions with a lower priority than the high priority transmissions, the method comprising: when a high priority transmission is arriving after finalizing scheduling assignments of transmissions in a next scheduling interval: selecting (504) one or more scheduling assignments relating to low priority transmissions among the transmissions comprised in the finalized scheduling assignments, whose puncturing allowance equals or exceeds a size of the high priority transmission, and puncturing (505) bits of the selected one or more scheduling assignments in said next scheduling interval and replacing the punctured bits with bits from the high priority transmission according to a puncturing pattern.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising any one or more out of: signalling (506) information related to the puncturing pattern to a receiver of the high priority transmission, scheduling (507) the high priority transmission according to the puncturing pattern within said next scheduling interval, transmitting (508) the scheduled high priority transmission according to the puncturing pattern to a receiver of the high priority transmission.

3. The method according to any of the claims 1-2, further comprising: obtaining (501) information whether a transmission of the data traffic is a high priority transmission or a low priority transmission.

4. The method according to any of the claims 1-3, further comprising: signalling (509) information related to the puncturing pattern to a receiver of the respective selected low priority transmission that was punctured.

5. The method according to any of the claims 1-4, wherein the selecting (504) one or more scheduling assignments to puncture is based on any one or more out of: - minimizing the number of low priority transmission receivers impacted by the puncturing,

- a probability that a receiver of a puncturing low priority transmission is able to correctly decoded said punctured low priority transmission.

6. The method according to any of the claims 1-5, further comprising: determining (502) a size of the high priority transmission, and determining (503) a respective puncturing allowance of each of the one or more scheduling assignments relating to low priority transmissions.

7. The method according to any of the claims 1-6, wherein determining (503) a respective puncturing allowance of each of the scheduled transmissions comprises:

- determining parameters comprising any one or more out of: channel coding capabilities, locations of information and/or parity bits in channel coding, a size of a transmission, and Modulation and Coding Scheme, MCS, of the respective scheduled transmissions, and

- determining the respective puncturing allowance of each the scheduled transmissions based on the determined parameters.

8. The method according to any of the claims 1-7, wherein any one or more out of: a receiver of the high priority transmission is represented by a first User Equipment, UE, (121), and receivers of the respective selected low priority transmission that was punctured are represented by second UEs (122).

9. A computer program (930) comprising instructions, which when executed by a processor (910), causes the processor (910) to perform actions according to any of the claims 1-8.

10. A carrier (940) comprising the computer program (930) of claim 9, wherein the carrier (940) is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

11. A method performed by a first User Equipment, UE, (121) for handling data traffic in a wireless communications network (100), wherein the wireless data traffic comprises high priority transmissions and low priority transmissions with a lower priority than the high priority transmissions, the method comprising: receiving (601) information about a puncturing pattern related to an upcoming high priority transmission in a next scheduling interval to be received by the first UE (121), which puncturing pattern relates to punctured bits of one or more scheduling assignments relating to low priority transmissions in said next scheduling interval, wherein a puncturing allowance of the one or more scheduling assignments equals or exceeds a size of the high priority transmission, and wherein the punctured bits are replaced with bits of the high priority transmission according to the puncturing pattern, receiving (602) the scheduled high priority transmission according to the puncturing pattern.

12. A computer program (1030) comprising instructions, which when executed by a processor (1010), causes the processor (1010) to perform actions according to claim 11.

13. A carrier (1040) comprising the computer program (1030) of claim 12, wherein the carrier (1040) is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

14. A network node (110), configured to handle data traffic in a wireless communications network (100), wherein the wireless data traffic is adapted to comprise high priority transmissions and low priority transmissions with a lower priority than the high priority transmissions, the network node (110) further being configured to: when a high priority transmission is arriving after finalizing scheduling assignments of transmissions in a next scheduling interval: select one or more scheduling assignments relating to low priority transmissions among the transmissions comprised in the finalized scheduling assignments, whose puncturing allowance equals or exceeds a size of the high priority transmission, and puncture bits of the selected one or more scheduling assignments in said next scheduling interval and replace the punctured bits with bits from the high priority transmission according to a puncturing pattern.

15. The network node (110) according to claim 14, further being configured to any one or more out of: signal information related to the puncturing pattern to a receiver of the high priority transmission, schedule the high priority transmission according to the puncturing pattern within said next scheduling interval, transmit the scheduled high priority transmission according to the puncturing pattern to a receiver of the high priority transmission.

16. The network node (110) according to any of the claims 14-15, further being configured to: obtain information whether a transmission of the data traffic is a high priority transmission or a low priority transmission.

17. The network node (110) according to any of the claims 14-16, further being configured to: signal information related to the puncturing pattern to a receiver of the respective selected low priority transmission that was punctured.

18. The network node (110) according to any of the claims 14-17, further being configured to select one or more scheduling assignments to puncture based on any one or more out of:

- the number of retransmissions needed if decoding of the punctured low priority transmission fails, - the total size of retransmissions if decoding of the punctured low priority transmission fails,

19. The network node (110) according to any of the claims 14-18, further being configured to: determine a size of the high priority transmission, and determine a respective puncturing allowance of each of the one or more scheduling assignments relating to low priority transmissions.

20. The network node (110) according to any of the claims 14-19, further being configured to determine a respective puncturing allowance of each of the scheduled transmissions comprises:

21. The network node (110) according to any of the claims 14-20, wherein any one or more out of: a receiver of the high priority transmission is adapted to be represented by a first User Equipment, UE, (121), and receivers of the respective selected low priority transmission that was punctured are adapted to be represented by second UEs (122).

22. A first User Equipment, UE, (121) configured to handle data traffic in a wireless communications network (100), wherein the wireless data traffic is adapted to comprise high priority transmissions and low priority transmissions with a lower priority than the high priority transmissions, the UE (121) further being configured to: receive information about a puncturing pattern related to an upcoming high priority transmission in a next scheduling interval to be received by the UE (121), which puncturing pattern is adapted to relate to punctured bits of one or more scheduling assignments relating to low priority transmissions in said next scheduling interval, wherein a puncturing allowance of the one or more scheduling assignments equals or exceeds a size of the high priority transmission, and wherein the punctured bits are adapted to be replaced with bits of the high priority transmission according to the puncturing pattern, the UE (121) is further being configured to: receive the scheduled high priority transmission according to the puncturing pattern.