Patent Publication Number: US-2016227574-A1

Title: Opportunistic utilization and mitigation of unused uplink grants in wireless communications

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcasts. Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access technologies include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency divisional multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems. 
     These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate on a municipal, national, regional, and even global level. An example of a telecommunication standard is Long Term Evolution (LTE). LTE is a set of enhancements to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile standard promulgated by Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Generally, a wireless multiple-access communication system can simultaneously support communication for multiple wireless terminals (e.g., user equipment (UE)), each of which can communicate with one or more base stations over downlink or uplink resources where the base stations can generate resource grants for the downlink or uplink resources for communicating to the wireless terminals. 
     There are instances where uplink transport blocks are partially or completely padded by a media access control (MAC) layer at a wireless terminal. Such instances can include the base station providing superfluous grants to the mobile terminal in response to buffer status reporting from the mobile terminal, the base station providing grants to the mobile terminal over a period of time (even when a buffer status report is 0) to avoid a new scheduling request transmitted by the mobile terminal, the base station continuously granting resources to the mobile terminal where the mobile terminal may not have data to transmit, the mobile terminal discarding time critical upper layer data due to a delay in the grant provided to the mobile terminal, etc. In such scenarios, the mobile terminal is allocated resources for uplink communications that oftentimes are unused. 
     SUMMARY 
     The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nor delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later. 
     According to an example, a method for utilizing available space in an uplink resource grant is provided. The method includes receiving an uplink resource grant from a network node, and mapping a plurality of protocol data units from a buffer over the uplink resource grant in generating a transport block for transmitting data. The method further includes determining that additional resources remain on the uplink resource grant after mapping the protocol data units, mapping one or more additional protocol data units for opportunistically transmitting data from a best effort buffer over the additional resources, and transmitting the plurality of protocol data units and the one or more additional protocol data units based on the uplink resource grant. 
     In another example, an apparatus for utilizing available space in an uplink resource grant is provided. The apparatus includes a communicating component configured to receive an uplink resource grant from a network node, and a resource mapping component configured to map a plurality of protocol data units from a buffer over the uplink resource grant in generating a transport block for transmitting data. The apparatus further includes an additional resource determining component configured to determine that additional resources remain on the uplink resource grant after mapping the protocol data units, and an additional resource mapping component configured to map one or more additional protocol data units for opportunistically transmitting data from a best effort buffer over the additional resources, wherein the communicating component is further configured to transmit the plurality of protocol data units and the one or more additional protocol data units based on the uplink resource grant. 
     In yet another example, a method for sending buffer status reports (BSR) in wireless communications is provided. The method includes computing a maximum grant size for a user equipment (UE) based at least in part on a modulation and coding scheme and a number of resource blocks configured for the UE, determining a priority for a radio bearer, and sending a BSR for the radio bearer based at least in part on the maximum grant size and the priority for the radio bearer. 
     In another example, an apparatus for sending BSRs in wireless communications is provided including a maximum grant size computing component configured to compute a maximum grant size for a user UE based at least in part on a modulation and coding scheme and a number of resource blocks configured for the UE, a bearer categorizing component configured to determine a priority for a radio bearer, and a buffer status reporting component configured to send a BSR for the radio bearer based at least in part on the maximum grant size and the priority for the radio bearer. 
     To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or more aspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative features of the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspects may be employed, and this description is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating an example wireless communications system for utilizing unused resources in uplink resource grants; 
         FIG. 2  is a flow diagram comprising a plurality of functional blocks representing an example methodology for utilizing unused resources in uplink resource grants; 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating an example wireless communications system for managing buffer status report transmission to mitigate superfluous grants; 
         FIG. 4  is a flow diagram comprising a plurality of functional blocks representing an example methodology for managing buffer status report transmission to mitigate superfluous grants; 
         FIG. 5  is a flow diagram comprising a plurality of functional blocks representing another example methodology for managing buffer status report transmission to mitigate superfluous grants; 
         FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus employing a processing system; and 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram illustrating an example of an evolved Node B and user equipment in an access network. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well known components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring such concepts. Moreover, in an aspect, a component may be generally understood to be one of the parts that make up a system, may be hardware or software, and/or may be divided into other components. 
     Described herein are various aspects related to utilizing and/or mitigating unused resources of uplink grants for uplink communications. For example, the unused resources may result from certain scenarios, as described above, which may not be predictable. Thus, for example, the unused resources may be used for data that can accept a best effort quality of service (QoS). In one example, a device (e.g., user equipment (UE) or other network device) receiving an uplink resource grant for communicating with a network node may determine whether resources in the uplink resource grant remain after mapping protocol data units (PDU) to the resources, and if so, the device can utilize at least a portion of the remaining resources to send best effort QoS data. In one example, the device can create a best effort bearer over which the device can map remaining resources to data in a corresponding best effort buffer for communicating to the network node. 
     In another aspect described herein, superfluous grants from the network node may be avoided by controlling buffer status reporting by the device. For example, the device may classify radio bearers as having a priority based on a type of traffic transmitted over the bearers. The device may control when buffer status is reported based on the type of bearer to avoid superfluous grants. For example, the device may frequently transmit buffer status reports to the network node for high priority bearers. In another example, the device may compute a maximum possible grant value for lower priority bearers, and can send a buffer status report when a buffer related to the grant achieves a threshold computed as a proportion of the maximum possible grant value. The proportion may be based on the priority, for example, (e.g., ½ for a medium priority bearer, 1 for a low priority bearer, etc.). In addition, a timer can be maintained to ensure a buffer status report over such bearers is eventually communicated to the network node. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-5 , aspects are depicted with reference to one or more components and one or more methods that may perform the actions or functions described herein. Although the operations described below in  FIGS. 2, 4, and 5  are presented in a particular order and/or as being performed by an example component, it should be understood that the ordering of the actions and the components performing the actions may be varied, depending on the implementation. Moreover, it should be understood that the following actions or functions may be performed by a specially-programmed processor, a processor executing specially-programmed software or computer-readable media, or by any other combination of a hardware component and/or a software component capable of performing the described actions or functions. 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram illustrating a system  100  for wireless communication, according to an example configuration.  FIG. 1  includes a UE  102  that receives resource grants from a network node  104  for communicating with the network node  104 . Though one UE  102  and one network node  104  are shown, it is to be appreciated that multiple UEs  102  can communicate with a network node  104 , a UE  102  can communicate with multiple network nodes  104 , and/or the like. In addition, it is to be appreciated that UE  102  can be substantially any sort of network device that can receive resources for communicating with a network node  104 . Similarly, network node  104  can be substantially any network node that generates resource grants for allowing one or more devices to communicate therewith. 
     UE  102  can include a communicating component  110  for managing communications with network node  104 , which may include receiving resource grants from the network node  104  and communicating over the granted resources. Communicating component  110  can include a bearer managing component  112  for managing one or more radio bearers for communicating with a network node, a resource mapping component  114  for mapping data from a buffer of the one or more radio bearers to resources granted by the network node, and additional resource determining component  116  for determining whether resources remain after mapping the data to the resources granted by the network node, and an additional resource mapping component  118  for mapping data from another buffer to the additional remaining resources. Communicating component  110  may optionally include a buffer status reporting component  120  for communicating a buffer status report (BSR) for one or more of the radio bearers to the network node. 
     Network node  104  can also include a communicating component  130  for granting resources to one or more UEs for communicating with network node  104 . Communicating component  130  can include a bearer establishing component  132  for establishing one or more radio bearers with the one or more UEs for communicating therewith, and a resource granting component  134  for granting resources over which the one or more UEs can communicate with the network node  104  using the one or more radio bearers. Communicating component  130  may optionally include a BSR receiving component  136  for receiving a BSR relating to buffers of the one or more radio bearers, based on which the resource granting component  134  can grant resources to the one or more UEs. 
     UE  102  may comprise any type of mobile device, such as, but not limited to, a smartphone, cellular telephone, mobile phone, laptop computer, tablet computer, or other portable networked device that can be a standalone device, tethered to another device (e.g., a modem connected to a computer), a watch, a personal digital assistant, a personal monitoring device, a machine monitoring device, a machine to machine communication device, etc. In addition, a UE may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a mobile communications device, a wireless device, a wireless communications device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a terminal, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology. In general, a UE may be small and light enough to be considered portable and may be configured to communicate wirelessly via an over-the-air communication link using one or more OTA communication protocols described herein. Additionally, in some examples, a UE may be configured to facilitate communication on multiple separate networks via multiple separate subscriptions, multiple radio links, and/or the like. 
     Furthermore, network node  104  may comprise one or more of any type of network module, such as an access point, a macro cell, including a base station (BS), node B, eNodeB (eNB), a relay, a peer-to-peer device, an authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) server, a mobile switching center (MSC), a mobility management entity (MME), a radio network controller (RNC), a small cell, etc. As used herein, the term “small cell” may refer to an access point or to a corresponding coverage area of the access point, where the access point in this case has a relatively low transmit power or relatively small coverage as compared to, for example, the transmit power or coverage area of a macro network access point or macro cell. For instance, a macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area, such as, but not limited to, several kilometers in radius. In contrast, a small cell may cover a relatively small geographic area, such as, but not limited to, a home, a building, or a floor of a building. As such, a small cell may include, but is not limited to, an apparatus such as a BS, an access point, a femto node, a femtocell, a pico node, a micro node, a Node B, eNB, home Node B (HNB) or home evolved Node B (HeNB). Therefore, the term “small cell,” as used herein, refers to a relatively low transmit power and/or a relatively small coverage area cell as compared to a macro cell. Additionally, a network node may communicate with one or more other network node of wireless and/or core networks 
     Additionally, system  100  may include any network type, such as, but not limited to, wide-area networks (WAN), wireless networks (e.g. 802.11 or cellular network), the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) network, ad hoc networks, personal area networks (e.g. Bluetooth®) or other combinations or permutations of network protocols and network types. Such network(s) may include a single local area network (LAN) or wide-area network (WAN), or combinations of LANs or WANs, such as the Internet. Such networks may comprise a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA) system, and may communicate with one or more UEs according to this standard. As those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, various aspects described herein may be extended to other telecommunication systems, network architectures and communication standards. By way of example, various aspects may be extended to other Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) systems such as Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), High Speed Packet Access Plus (HSPA+) and Time-Division CDMA (TD-CDMA). Various aspects may also be extended to systems employing Long Term Evolution (LTE) (in frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), or both modes), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) (in FDD, TDD, or both modes), CDMA2000, Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX®), IEEE 802.20, Ultra-Wideband (UWB), Bluetooth, and/or other suitable systems. The actual telecommunication standard, network architecture, and/or communication standard employed will depend on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system. The various devices coupled to the network(s) (e.g., UE  102  and/or network node  104 ) may be coupled to a core network via one or more wired or wireless connections. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a method  200  for utilizing unused resources from resource grants received from a network node. Method  200  includes, at Block  202 , receiving an uplink resource grant from a network node. Communicating component  110  can receive the uplink resource grant from the network node  104 . For example, the uplink resource grant may correspond to a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or similar grant over which the UE  102  can transmit communications to the network node  104 . For example, the uplink resource grant may correspond to a plurality of resource blocks in an OFDM symbol over which the UE  102  can map data for transmission to the network node  104 . 
     For example, UE  102  and network node  104  can establish communications for the control channel, shared channel, etc. communications over one or more radio bearers. For example, bearer managing component  112  may establish one or more bearers with network node  104 , and thus bearer establishing component  132  can participate in establishing the one or more bearers. In an example, UE  102  may include buffers  122  for each of the one or more bearers, where the buffers store PDUs (e.g., packets) for transmitting to the network node  104 . Bearer managing component  112  can also manage the buffers  122  that correspond to the one or more bearers, as described further herein. It is to be appreciated that the radio bearers may include one or more signaling radio bearers, default radio bearers, dedicated radio bearers, etc. In another example, bearer managing component  112  may establish a best effort bearer with network node  104  for transmitting data at a best effort QoS, and the best effort bearer may have an associated best effort buffer  124 . Thus, bearer managing component  112  may manage the best effort buffer  124  as well, as described further herein. 
     Method  200  further includes, at Block  204 , mapping a plurality of PDUs from a buffer over the uplink resource grant in generating a transport block for transmitting data. Resource mapping component  114  can map the plurality of PDUs from the buffer  122  over the uplink resource grant in generating a transport block for transmitting data. For example, this can include resource mapping component  114  mapping the PDUs from the buffer  122  to a plurality of resource blocks of the uplink resource grant. This can occur at the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP)/radio link control (RLC) layer, for example, where RLC PDUs are built for mapping onto a resource blocks in a transport block of the uplink resource grant. 
     It is possible that after mapping the PDUs from buffer  122 , that resource blocks of the uplink resource grant may still remain. For example, as described, in some instances, an uplink resource grant from network node  104  may include more resources than necessary to transmit the contents of buffer  122  (also referred to herein as a superfluous grant). This may occur, for example, where the network node  104  provides superfluous grants to the UE  102  in response to buffer status reporting from the UE  102 , the network node  104  providing grants to the UE  102  over a period of time (even when a buffer status report is 0) to avoid a new scheduling request transmitted by the UE  102 , the network node  104  continuously granting resources to the UE  102  where the UE  102  may not have data to transmit, the UE  102  discarding time critical upper layer data due to a delay in the grant provided to the UE  102  by the network node  104 , etc. In any case, any remaining resources in the uplink grant can be used to transmit some best effort data. 
     Thus, method  200  also includes, at Block  206 , determining that additional resources remain on the uplink resource grant after mapping the PDUs. Additional resource determining component  116  can determine that additional resource remain on the uplink resource grant after mapping the PDUs. For example, this may include, at Block  208 , determining that a size of the uplink resource grant is greater than a size of data in the buffer. Additional resource determining component  116  can determine that the size of the uplink resource grant received by communicating component  110  is greater than the size of data in the buffer  122 . In any case, to the extent additional resources are identified, the additional resource may be used for transmitting best effort data. 
     Accordingly, method  200  includes, at Block  210 , mapping one or more additional PDUs for opportunistically transmitting data from a best effort buffer over the additional resources. Additional resource mapping component  118  may map the one or more additional PDUs for opportunistically transmitting data from the best effort buffer  124  over the additional resources. The best effort data can accordingly be opportunistically transmitted based on unused uplink resources in the uplink resource grant. For example, data in the best effort buffer  124  may include data such as synchronization or control data exchanged between UE  102  and network node  104  including voice/data call statistics, diagnostic messages, etc., non-critical best effort user datagram protocol (UDP) application layer data, and/or the like. In this regard, unused uplink resources can be used to send the best effort data from the best effort buffer  124  without utilizing an additional resource grant for the best effort data, which can conserve and improve utilization of the uplink resources. It is to be appreciated that bearer managing component  112  may provide higher layer applications with an option for storing data in the best effort buffer  124  for transmission using a best effort QoS. 
     Method  200  further includes, at Block  212 , transmitting the plurality of PDUs and the one or more additional PDUs based on the uplink resource grant. Communicating component  110  can transmit the plurality of PDUs and the one or more additional PDUs based on the uplink resource grant as the PDUs mapped to the resources of the uplink resource grant. Network node  104  may receive the transmissions (e.g., via communicating component  130 ) for processing the PUDs and one or more additional PDUs corresponding to the radio bearer(s) and best effort bearer, respectively. 
     Method  200  may optionally include, at Block  214 , transmitting a BSR to the network node indicating a status of the buffer. Buffer status reporting component  120  may transmit the BSR to the network node  104  indicating the status of the buffer  122 . For example, this can include indicating a size of data in the buffer, a utilization of the buffer  122  (e.g., reflected as a percentage of the buffer utilized to store data), etc. to the network node  104 . BSR receiving component  136  can obtain the BSR from the UE  102  and can accordingly determine an uplink resource grant for the UE  102  for communicating data from the buffer  122 . This uplink resource grant may include additional resources, over which additional resource mapping component  118  can map PDUs from best effort buffer  124 , as described. It is to be appreciated that where additional resource mapping component  118  is able to map best effort data over additional resources in uplink resource grants for other bearers, buffer status reporting component  120  need not report a buffer status for best effort buffer  124 . Thus, for example, buffer status reporting component  120  may refrain from transmitting, to network node  104 , a BSR for the best effort buffer  124 . 
     Moreover, in an example, method  200  may optionally include, at Block  216 , replacing data in the best effort buffer with newer data from one or more applications. For example, bearer managing component  112  may receive best effort data from higher layer applications, and can accordingly manage best effort buffer  124  as a first-in first-out buffer such to store the most current best effort data, and retain a size of the best effort buffer  124 . It is to be appreciated that bearer managing component  112  may notify the higher layer applications where data expires and is removed from the buffer before transmission to allow the higher layer applications to handle this case. In addition, in an example, bearer managing component  112  may discard data from the best effort buffer  124  based on managing an associated discard timer  126 . For example, the discard timer  126  may relate to a PDCP layer discard timer or another discard timer. For example, bearer managing component  112  can initialize the discard timer  126  when the data is stored in the best effort buffer  124 . Based on determining expiration of the timer, bearer managing component  112  can discard or otherwise mark stale data associated with the discard timer  126 , such that the bearer managing component  112  can replace data that is discarded or otherwise marked stale with new data from one or more applications in the best effort buffer  124 . 
       FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram illustrating a system  300  for wireless communication, according to an example configuration.  FIG. 1  includes a UE  102  that receives resource grants from a network node  104  for communicating with the network node  104 . Though one UE  102  and one network node  104  are shown, it is to be appreciated that multiple UEs  102  can communicate with a network node  104 , a UE  102  can communicate with multiple network nodes  104 , and/or the like. In addition, it is to be appreciated that UE  102  can be substantially any sort of network device that can receive resources for communicating with a network node  104 . Similarly, network node  104  can be substantially any network node that generates resource grants for allowing one or more devices to communicate therewith, as described above. 
     UE  102  can include a communicating component  310  for managing communications with network node  104 , which may include receiving resource grants from the network node  104  and communicating over the granted resources. Communicating component  310  can include a bearer categorizing component  312  for assigning a category to one or more bearers with a network node that may indicate a priority associated with the one or more bearers, a maximum grant size computing component  314  for computing a maximum possible grant size over the one or more bearers for communicating with the network node, an optional buffer utilization determining component  316  for determining a level of utilization of a buffer related to the one or more bearers, and a buffer status reporting component  120  for transmitting a BSR for the one or more bearers to the network node based at least in part on the priority and buffer utilization of a buffer  122  of the one or more bearers. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a method  400  for improving buffer status reporting to avoid superfluous grants by a network node. Method  400  includes, at Block  402 , computing a maximum grant size based at least in part on a configured modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and a configured number of resource blocks for communicating data for the radio bearer. Maximum grant size computing component  314  can compute the maximum grant size based at least in part on the configured MCS and the configured number of resource blocks for communicating data for the radio bearer. For example, communicating component  310  may select the MCS (e.g., based on a configuration received from the network node  104 , based on detected radio conditions with the network node, etc.). The configured number of resource blocks can refer to a number of resource blocks granted to the UE  102  (e.g., in one or more previous or current grants received from the network node  104 ), and communicating component  310  may accordingly determine the number of resource blocks in this regard as well. For example, maximum grant size computing component  314  may accordingly determine the maximum grant size based on matching the MCS and number of resource blocks to one or more tables that provide a corresponding grant size for the MCS and number of resource blocks. Examples of such tables are provided in 3GPP Technical Specification 36.213, Version 12.4.0, Section 7.1.7.2. 
     Method  400  also includes, at Block  404 , determining a priority for the radio bearer. Bearer categorizing component  312  can determine the priority for the radio bearer. In one example, method  400  optionally includes, at Block  412 , categorizing a priority of the radio bearer based at least in part on a type of traffic in a buffer for the bearer. Bearer categorizing component  312  can categorize the priority of the radio bearer based on one or more parameters related to the radio bearer or corresponding buffer, such as a type of traffic in the buffer  122  for transmitting over the radio bearer, latency or QoS parameters defined for the radio bearer (e.g., lower latency or higher QoS can be of higher priority than higher latency or lower QoS, respectively), etc. For instance, the bearers can be prioritized into any number of priorities (e.g., high, medium, and low priority, 1 through n priority, where n is a positive integer, etc.). In any case, for example, bearer categorizing component  312  may determine the priority for the radio bearer based on the categorization related to the type of traffic. 
     Method  400  also includes, at Block  406 , sending a BSR for the radio bearer based at least in part on the maximum grant size for the radio bearer and the priority for the radio bearer. Buffer status reporting component  120  can send the BSR for the radio bearer based at least in part on the maximum grant size for the radio bearer and the priority for the radio bearer. For example, for high priority radio bearers, buffer status reporting component  120  may send BSRs to the network node  104  any time there is data in the buffer  122 . For other priority bearers, in an example, the buffer status reporting component  120  may delay reporting the BSR based at least in part on determining a buffer utilization of the bearers. 
     Thus, sending the BSR at Block  406  may include, at Block  408 , comparing a buffer utilization to a threshold, wherein the threshold is a proportion of the maximum grant size based at least in part on the priority. Buffer status reporting component  120  can compare the buffer utilization to a threshold, wherein the threshold is a proportion of the maximum grant size based at least in part on the priority. For example, buffer status reporting component  120  can determine the threshold for the comparison based at least in part on the priority of the radio bearer. In one example, buffer status reporting component  120  can determine the threshold as ½ of a maximum grant size for a bearer having a medium priority. In another example, buffer status reporting component  120  can determine the threshold as the maximum grant size for a bearer having a low priority. It is to be appreciated that substantially any priority classifications and corresponding proportions can be used in determining the threshold. In any case, buffer utilization determining component  316  can determine the buffer utilization for the bearer as described above (e.g., as a proportion of a size of data in the buffer to the buffer size, etc.), and buffer status reporting component  120  determines whether to transmit the BSR based on comparing the buffer utilization to the threshold for the bearer. 
     In an additional or alternative example, sending the BSR at block  406  may include, at Block  410 , determining whether a timer for sending the BSR for the radio bearer is expired, wherein the timer duration is based at least in part on the priority. Buffer status reporting component  120  can determine whether the timer (e.g., BSR timer  320 ) for sending the BSR for the radio bearer is expired, wherein the timer duration is based at least in part on the priority. For example, buffer status reporting component  120  may initialize a BSR timer  320  for each bearer (or at least each bearer that is not of a priority at which a BSR is sent when data is in the buffer  122 ). Buffer status reporting component  120  may initialize the BSR timer  320  using a duration that is based on the priority such that bearers of lower priority can have higher duration. Upon sending a BSR for a given bearer, buffer status reporting component  120  can reset an associated BSR timer  320  if available. This can ensure that data in the buffer  122  for a given radio bearer is sent at least after timer expiration regardless of the comparison of buffer capacity to the threshold. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates a specific example of a method  500  for reporting BSR based on a bearer priority during a MAC BSR calculation. Method  500  includes, at Block  504 , determining a maximum grant size (max_grant) possible with a current MCS and a number of resource blocks. As described, maximum grant size computing component  314  can determine the max_grant possible with the current MCS and the number of resource blocks. Method  500  includes, at Block  506 , checking the bearer priority. As described, bearer categorizing component  312  can check the bearer priority based on a previously configured categorization for the bearer (e.g., based on a type of traffic sent over the bearer). If the bearer priority is high, BSR is reported at Block  508 . As described, buffer status reporting component  120  can report the BSR of the buffer  122  related to the high priority bearer. 
     If the bearer priority is medium, it can be determined, at Block  510 , whether the buffer capacity is greater than max_grant/2. If the buffer capacity is greater than max_grant/2, the BSR is reported at Block  512 . As described, buffer status reporting component  120  can determine whether the buffer capacity is greater than max_grant/2 and can accordingly report BSR if so. If the buffer capacity is not greater than max_grant/2, it can be determined, at Block  514 , whether a timer T_DELAY_BSR_MED has expired. If so, BRS can be reported at  508 , and if not, BSR reporting is skipped at Block  516 . As described, buffer status reporting component  120  can determine whether the buffer capacity the BSR timer  320 , which can be the T_DELAY_BSR_MED, has expired, and if so can report BSR, or if not, can skip reporting the BSR. 
     If the bearer priority is low, it can be determined, at Block  510 , whether the buffer capacity is greater than max_grant. If the buffer capacity is greater than max_grant, the BSR is reported at Block  512 . As described, buffer status reporting component  120  can determine whether the buffer capacity is greater than max_grant and can accordingly report BSR if so. If the buffer capacity is not greater than max_grant, it can be determined, at Block  514 , whether a timer T_DELAY_BSR_LOW has expired. If so, BRS can be reported at  508 , and if not, BSR reporting is skipped at Block  516 . As described, buffer status reporting component  120  can determine whether the buffer capacity the BSR timer  320 , which can be the T_DELAY_BSR_LOW, has expired, and if so can report BSR, or if not, can skip reporting the BSR. 
       FIG. 6  is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus  600  employing a processing system  614 . In some examples, the processing system  614  may comprise a UE, network node, etc., or a component of a UE (e.g., UE  102  of  FIG. 1  or  FIG. 3 , etc.), a component of a network node  104  (e.g., network node  104  of  FIG. 1  or  FIG. 3 , etc.). In this example, the processing system  614  may be implemented with a bus architecture, represented generally by the bus  602 . The bus  602  may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specific application of the processing system  614  and the overall design constraints. The bus  602  links together various circuits including one or more processors, represented generally by the processor  604 , computer-readable media, represented generally by the computer-readable medium  606 , communicating component  110  and/or  310 , communicating component  130 , ( FIGS. 1 and 3 ), components thereof, etc., which may be configured to carry out one or more methods or procedures described herein (e.g., method  200  ( FIG. 2 ), method  400  ( FIG. 4 ), method  500  ( FIG. 5 ), etc.). 
     The bus  602  may also link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art. A bus interface  608  provides an interface between the bus  602  and a transceiver  610 . The transceiver  610  provides a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. In an example, transceiver  610  can include or perform the functions of communicating component  110  and/or  310 , communicating component  130  ( FIGS. 1 and 3 ), etc. as described herein, including aspects described with respect to method  200  ( FIG. 2 ), method  400  ( FIG. 4 ), method  500  ( FIG. 5 ), etc. Depending upon the nature of the apparatus, a user interface  612  (e.g., keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick) may also be provided. 
     The processor  604  is responsible for managing the bus  602  and general processing, including the execution of software stored on the computer-readable medium  606 . The software, when executed by the processor  604 , causes the processing system  614  to perform the various functions described infra for any particular apparatus. The computer-readable medium  606  may also be used for storing data that is manipulated by the processor  604  when executing software. 
     In an aspect, processor  604 , computer-readable medium  606 , or a combination of both may be configured or otherwise specially programmed to perform the functionality of the communicating component  110  and/or  310 , communicating component  130 , components thereof, or various other components described herein. For example, processor  604 , computer-readable medium  606 , or a combination of both may be configured or otherwise specially programmed to perform the functionality of communicating component  110 , communicating component  130 , components thereof, etc., described herein, and/or the like. Accordingly, in an example, processor  604  can perform the functions of bearer managing component  112 , resource mapping component  114 , additional resource determining component  116 , additional resource mapping component  118 , buffer status reporting component  120 , bearer categorizing component  312 , maximum grant size computing component  314 , buffer utilization determining component  316 , etc., which can include performing Blocks  202 ,  204 ,  206 ,  208 ,  210 ,  212 ,  214 , and/or  216  of  FIG. 2 , Blocks  402 ,  404 ,  406 ,  408 ,  410 , and/or  412  of  FIG. 4 , Blocks  504 ,  506 ,  508 ,  510 ,  512 ,  516 , and/or  516  of  FIG. 5 , etc. 
       FIG. 7  is a block diagram of an embodiment of an eNB  710  and a UE  750  in a MIMO system  700 . For example, eNB  710  may include a network node  104 , and/or one or more components thereof, such as a communicating component  130  for granting uplink resources to a UE  750 , as described herein. Similarly, UE  750  may include a UE  102 , and/or one or more components thereof, such as a communicating component  110  and/or  130  for utilizing unused resource of an uplink grant for communicating best effort data to the eNB  710  and/or mitigating superfluous grants from the eNB  710  by managing buffer status reporting, as described herein. At the eNB  710 , traffic data for a number of data streams is provided from a data source  712  to a transmit (TX) data processor  714 . 
     In an embodiment, each data stream is transmitted over a respective transmit antenna. TX data processor  714  formats, codes, and interleaves the traffic data for each data stream based on a particular coding scheme selected for that data stream to provide coded data. 
     The coded data for each data stream may be multiplexed with pilot data using OFDM techniques. The pilot data is typically a known data pattern that is processed in a known manner and may be used at the receiver system to estimate the channel response. The multiplexed pilot and coded data for each data stream is then modulated (i.e., symbol mapped) based on a particular modulation scheme (e.g., BPSK, QSPK, M-PSK, or M-QAM) selected for that data stream to provide modulation symbols. The data rate, coding, and modulation for each data stream may be determined by instructions performed by processor  730 . 
     The modulation symbols for all data streams are then provided to a TX MIMO processor  720 , which may further process the modulation symbols (e.g., for OFDM). TX MIMO processor  720  then provides N T  modulation symbol streams to N T  transmitters (TMTR)  722   a  through  722   t . In certain embodiments, TX MIMO processor  720  applies beamforming weights to the symbols of the data streams and to the antenna from which the symbol is being transmitted. 
     Each transmitter  722  receives and processes a respective symbol stream to provide one or more analog signals, and further conditions (e.g., amplifies, filters, and upconverts) the analog signals to provide a modulated signal suitable for transmission over the MIMO channel. N T  modulated signals from transmitters  722   a  through  722   t  are then transmitted from N T  antennas  724   a  through  724   t , respectively. 
     At UE  750 , the transmitted modulated signals are received by N R  antennas  752   a  through  752   r  and the received signal from each antenna  752  is provided to a respective receiver (RCVR)  754   a  through  754   r . Each receiver  754  conditions (e.g., filters, amplifies, and downconverts) a respective received signal, digitizes the conditioned signal to provide samples, and further processes the samples to provide a corresponding “received” symbol stream. 
     An RX data processor  760  then receives and processes the N R  received symbol streams from N R  receivers  754  based on a particular receiver processing technique to provide N T  “detected” symbol streams. The RX data processor  760  then demodulates, deinterleaves, and decodes each detected symbol stream to recover the traffic data for the data stream. The processing by RX data processor  760  is complementary to that performed by TX MIMO processor  720  and TX data processor  714  at eNB  710 . 
     A processor  770  periodically determines which pre-coding matrix to use (discussed below). Processor  770  formulates a reverse link message comprising a matrix index portion and a rank value portion. 
     The reverse link message may comprise various types of information regarding the communication link and/or the received data stream. The reverse link message is then processed by a TX data processor  738 , which also receives traffic data for a number of data streams from a data source  736 , modulated by a modulator  780 , conditioned by transmitters  754   a  through  754   r , and transmitted back to eNB  710 . 
     At eNB  710 , the modulated signals from UE  750  are received by antennas  724 , conditioned by receivers  722 , demodulated by a demodulator  740 , and processed by a RX data processor  742  to extract the reserve link message transmitted by the UE  750 . Processor  730  then determines which pre-coding matrix to use for determining the beamforming weights then processes the extracted message. 
     Several aspects of a telecommunications system have been presented with reference to a W-CDMA system. As those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, various aspects described herein may be extended to other telecommunication systems, network architectures and communication standards. 
     By way of example, various aspects described herein may be extended to other UMTS systems such as W-CDMA, TD-SCDMA, High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), High Speed Packet Access Plus (HSPA+) and TD-CDMA. Various aspects may also be extended to systems employing Long Term Evolution (LTE) (in FDD, TDD, or both modes), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) (in FDD, TDD, or both modes), CDMA2000, Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Ultra-Wideband (UWB), Bluetooth, and/or other suitable systems. The actual telecommunication standard, network architecture, and/or communication standard employed will depend on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system. 
     In accordance with various aspects described herein, an element, or any portion of an element, or any combination of elements may be implemented with a “processing system” that includes one or more processors. Examples of processors include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform the various functionality described herein. One or more processors in the processing system may execute software. Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. The software may reside on a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium. A non-transitory computer-readable medium includes, by way of example, a magnetic storage device (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strip), an optical disk (e.g., compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD)), a smart card, a flash memory device (e.g., card, stick, key drive), random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), a register, a removable disk, and any other suitable medium for storing software and/or instructions that may be accessed and read by a computer. The computer-readable medium may also include, by way of example, a carrier wave, a transmission line, and any other suitable medium for transmitting software and/or instructions that may be accessed and read by a computer. The computer-readable medium may be resident in the processing system, external to the processing system, or distributed across multiple entities including the processing system. The computer-readable medium may be embodied in a computer-program product. By way of example, a computer-program product may include a computer-readable medium in packaging materials. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implement the functionality described herein depending on the particular application and the overall design constraints imposed on the overall system. 
     It is to be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed is an illustration of exemplary processes. Based upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods or methodologies described herein may be rearranged. The accompanying method claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented unless specifically recited therein. 
     The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. A phrase referring to “at least one of” a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. As an example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover: a; b; c; a and b; a and c; b and c; and a, b and c. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described herein that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. §112(f) unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “step for.”