Patent Description:
<CIT> discloses a method for determining a communication method between a base station and a terminal and, more particularly, to a method and an apparatus allowing a base station to lead the setting of a communication method including wireless LAN communication between the base station and the terminal. The method by which a first network base station determines the communication method comprises the steps of: receiving access related information from an access point of the terminal and a second network; and determining the communication method with the terminal among a plurality of communication methods on the basis of the access related information, wherein the plurality of communication methods comprise a first network dedicated carrier aggregation, a second network dedicated carrier aggregation or a carrier aggregation between the first network and the second network.

<CIT> discloses a network device (e.g., an evolved Node B (eNB), user equipment (UE) or the like) that can split a 3GPP bearer in a multi-radio heterogeneous network of a radio access network (RAN) between a plurality of communication links.

By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise a random-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, other magnetic storage devices, combinations of the types of computer-readable media, or any other medium that can be used to store computer executable code in the form of instructions or data structures that can be accessed by a computer.

While aspects and implementations are described in this application by illustration to some examples, those skilled in the art will understand that additional implementations and use cases may come about in many different arrangements and scenarios. Innovations described herein may be implemented across many differing platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and packaging arrangements. For example, implementations and/or uses may come about via integrated chip implementations and other non-module-component based devices (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail/purchasing devices, medical devices, artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled devices, etc.). While some examples may or may not be specifically directed to use cases or applications, a wide assortment of applicability of described innovations may occur. Implementations may range a spectrum from chip-level or modular components to non-modular, non-chip-level implementations and further to aggregate, distributed, or original equipment manufacturer (OEM) devices or systems incorporating one or more aspects of the described innovations. In some practical settings, devices incorporating described aspects and features may also include additional components and features for implementation and practice of claimed and described aspect. For example, transmission and reception of wireless signals necessarily includes a number of components for analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components including antenna, RF-chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffer, processor(s), interleaver, adders/summers, etc.). It is intended that innovations described herein may be practiced in a wide variety of devices, chip-level components, systems, distributed arrangements, aggregated or disaggregated components, end-user devices, etc. of varying sizes, shapes, and constitution.

Each of the base stations <NUM> may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area iio.

For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-<NUM> (<NUM> - <NUM>), FR4 (<NUM> - <NUM>), and FR5 (<NUM> -<NUM>).

In some scenarios, the term UE may also apply to one or more companion devices such as in a device constellation arrangement. One or more of these devices may collectively access the network and/or individually access the network.

Referring again to <FIG>, in certain aspects, the UE <NUM> may include a split PDCP packet scheduling component <NUM> configured to schedule transmission data at a PDCP level by splitting the transmission data to a first set of packets and a second set of packets based on a relative scheduling delay between the first carrier and the second carrier, and scheduling the first set of packets and the second set of packets on different links based on a scheduling proportion, and transmit the first set of packets via the first carrier and the second set of packets via the second carrier. In certain aspects, the base station <NUM> may include a split PDCP packet scheduling component <NUM> configured to schedule transmission data at a PDCP level by splitting the transmission data to a first set of packets and a second set of packets based on a relative scheduling delay between the first carrier and the second carrier, and scheduling the first set of packets and the second set of packets on different links based on a scheduling proportion, and transmit the first set of packets via the first carrier and the second set of packets via the second carrier.

<FIG> illustrate a frame structure, and the aspects of the present disclosure may be applicable to other wireless communication technologies, which may have a different frame structure and/or different channels. A frame (<NUM>) maybe divided into <NUM> equally sized subframes (<NUM>). Each slot may include <NUM> or <NUM> symbols, depending on whether the cyclic prefix (CP) is normal or extended. For normal CP, each slot may include <NUM> symbols, and for extended CP, each slot may include <NUM> symbols. The symbols on DL may be CP orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) (CP-OFDM) symbols. The number of slots within a subframe is based on the CP and the numerology. The numerology defines the subcarrier spacing (SCS) and, effectively, the symbol length/duration, which is equal to <NUM>/SCS.

For normal CP (<NUM> symbols/slot), different numerologies µ <NUM> to <NUM> allow for <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> slots, respectively, per subframe. For extended CP, the numerology <NUM> allows for <NUM> slots per subframe. Accordingly, for normal CP and numerology µ, there are <NUM> symbols/slot and <NUM>µ slots/subframe. <FIG> provide an example of normal CP with <NUM> symbols per slot and numerology µ=<NUM> with <NUM> slots per subframe. The slot duration is <NUM>, the subcarrier spacing is <NUM>, and the symbol duration is approximately <NUM>. Within a set of frames, there may be one or more different bandwidth parts (BWPs) (see <FIG>) that are frequency division multiplexed. Each BWP may have a particular numerology and CP (normal or extended).

The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries DCI within one or more control channel elements (CCEs) (e.g., <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, or <NUM> CCEs), each CCE including six RE groups (REGs), each REG including <NUM> consecutive REs in an OFDM symbol of an RB. A PDCCH within one BWP may be referred to as a control resource set (CORESET). A UE is configured to monitor PDCCH candidates in a PDCCH search space (e.g., common search space, UE-specific search space) during PDCCH monitoring occasions on the CORESET, where the PDCCH candidates have different DCI formats and different aggregation levels. Additional BWPs may be located at greater and/or lower frequencies across the channel bandwidth. Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the locations of the DM-RS. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH), which carries a master information block (MIB), may be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form a synchronization signal (SS)/PBCH block (also referred to as SS block (SSB)).

The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as scheduling requests, a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), a rank indicator (RI), and hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgment (ACK) (HARQ-ACK) feedback (i.e., one or more HARQ ACK bits indicating one or more ACK and/or negative ACK (NACK)).

Each spatial stream may then be provided to a different antenna <NUM> via a separate transmitter <NUM> TX. Each transmitter <NUM> TX may modulate a radio frequency (RF) carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

At the UE <NUM>, each receiver <NUM> RX receives a signal through its respective antenna <NUM>. Each receiver <NUM> RX recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the receive (RX) processor <NUM>.

A transmitter may be the UE and/or the base station. The transmitter may have a dual carrier split functionality, and the data for transmission may be split at PDCP level between two RAT specific RLCs. In some aspects, the two RATs may include any type of RAT and may be same or different RATs. In one aspect, in an EUTRA-NR (EN) Dual Connectivity (DC) (EN-DC) configuration, the NR PDCP Data may be split between LTE RLC and NR RLC. In another aspect, in an NR-DC configuration, the NR PDCP Data may be split between NR FR1 RLC and NR FR2 RLC. In another aspect, the two RATs may include any combination of at least two of the NR FR1, NR FR2+, NR FR3, NR FR4, etc. In another aspect, a combination of a master cell group (MCG) and a secondary cell group (SCG) may include a terrestrial link and a non-terrestrial link, and the PDCP data may be split between the terrestrial link and the non-terrestrial link.

The HARQ BLER is inevitable and non-zero in any practical radio network, which means that some physical layer transmission on the data channel (e.g., PDSCH) will be lost and be retransmitted with some form of redundancy concept. For mmW communication, this is one of significant factors in radio coverage. Whatever physical layer transmission that is not recovered through HARQ Retransmissions is referred to as HARQ failure, and may go through the RLC level retransmissions to recover.

In an UL transmission, a time delay of the RLC level retransmissions reaching the base station may be represented as a function of various configuration and scheduling parameters, and a total UL time delay at the UE to transmit the RLC NACK from the time hole TUL_NACK_TX_DELAY may be calculated as below: <MAT>.

Here, TDL_HOLE_TO_UL_NACK may refer to a time delay in triggering NACK in UL from the time the hole is seen in DL based on parameters Treassembly and TstatusProhibit at RLC, TUL_GRANT_REQ may refer to a time delay for next available UL opportunity to request for Grant through SR and BSR (If not available), TUL_GRANT_PHY may refer to a time delay for next available UL Grant configuration at PHY layer, TUL_LCP_DELAY may refer to a time delay for next available opportunity to send the information as per LCP procedure in MAC TB encoding, and TUL_HARQ_DELAY may refer to a transmit delay to reach packet to base station due to HARQ retransmissions.

In a DL transmission, a time delay of the RLC level retransmissions reaching the UE may be represented as a function of various configuration, and a total DL time delay from the base station to transmit the RLC NACK seen to RLC retransmission reaching UE TDL_RETX_DELAY may be calculated as below: <MAT>.

Here, TUL_NACK_PROCESS may refer to a time for RLC to process the received UL CONTROL PDU with the RLC NACK, TUL_RETX_TO_MAC may refer to a time to prepare and keep RLC PDUs to MAC, TDL_LCP_DELAY may refer to a time delay to transmit the RLC PDUs over OTA, scheduling delay, depending on buffers and priority with respect to data already in pipeline, and TDL_HARQ_DELAY may refer to a time delay to transmit Delay to Reach packet to UE due to HARQ delays.

A large PDCP DL window build up may occur in various scenarios based such as the HARQ BLER and RLC BLER at single RAT level, the HARQ BLER and RLC BLER at different RAT level, a scheduling gap between different RAT at PHY level or a scheduling gap between different RAT at PDCP level.

The UE may go through a memory full condition while waiting for the retransmissions to converge at the PDCP level, and the PDCP of the UE may perform the PDCP memory flush. The PDCP memory flush may include the steps of the PDCP flushing the packets from the lower edge of the window to relieve some memory, the PDCP updating the lower edge to a newer value. PDCP may accept new packets coming to fill the holes from updated lower boundary (or a lower threshold) to upper boundary (or an upper threshold), and the PDCP may discard the incoming packets that are below the updated lower edge, as Out Of Window (OOW packets), and opportunistically updated, as part of PDCP lower edge update, corresponding RLC level lower edge.

<FIG> is a diagram <NUM> illustrating examples of split PDCP packets. The diagram <NUM> may include a first diagram <NUM> and a second diagram <NUM>. The first diagram <NUM> illustrates a split PDCP packet of an in-order PDCP packet split, and the second diagram <NUM> may illustrate a split PDCP packet of a forward looking PDCP packet split. The first diagram <NUM> and the second diagram <NUM> may include combination of a first RAT packet <NUM> and a second RAT packet <NUM>.

In some aspects, the two RATs may include any type of RAT and may be same or different RATs. In one aspect, in an EN-DC configuration, the first RAT packet <NUM> may be an LTE packet and the second RAT packet <NUM> may be an NR packet. In another aspect, in an NR-DC configuration, the first RAT packet <NUM> may be an NR FR1 packet and the second RAT packet <NUM> may be an NR FR2 packet. In another aspect, the two RATs may include any combination of at least two of the NR FR1, NR FR2+, NR FR3, NR FR4, etc. In another aspect, a combination of a master cell group (MCG) and a secondary cell group (SCG) may include a terrestrial link and a non-terrestrial link, and the PDCP data may be split between the terrestrial link and the non-terrestrial link.

In some aspects, each of the first RAT packet <NUM> and the second RAT packet <NUM> may have a same traffic type or different traffic types. Here, the traffic type may include at least one of an application, a logical channel, quality of service (QoS), packet data network (PDN), network slice type, or any user specific traffic type associated with the RAT packet <NUM> and the second RAT packet <NUM>.

The first diagram <NUM> may illustrate a split PDCP packet of the in-order PDCP packet split. The transmitter may perform the in-order split to split the transmission data at the PDCP level. The in-order PDCP split at the network and at the UE may split the transmission data based on the grants given to UE as provided below. The in-order PDCP split may cause packet drops.

The Ratio of the PDCP split may be determined per link proportion. For example, the ratio of the PDCP split may be <NUM>% LTE and <NUM>% NR. NR is scheduling on 8CC, while LTE scheduling is 1CC. For example, a first packet <NUM> corresponding to the PDCP sequence number (SN) <NUM>-<NUM> may be sent to the LTE RLC, and a second packet <NUM> corresponding to the PDCP SN <NUM>-<NUM>,<NUM> may be sent to the NR RLC. Subsequently, a third packet <NUM> corresponding to the PDCP sequence number (SN) <NUM>,<NUM>-<NUM>,<NUM> may be sent to the LTE RLC, and a fourth packet <NUM> corresponding to the PDCP SN <NUM>,<NUM>-<NUM>,<NUM> may be sent to the NR RLC.

Data available to transmit is simply split between NR and LTE based on scheduling proportion at T<NUM>, not considering the relative scheduling delays. Accordingly, the LTE and the NR are expected to start transmitting packets at T<NUM>. That is, the NR leg is continuing to transmit from T<NUM>, while the LTE leg is transmitting after T<NUM> + Tdelay onwards due to scheduling delays. Particularly, the scheduler may schedule the transmission in the order of the HARQ retransmission (ReTx), signaling Radio Bearer (SRB), Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR), and Non-Guaranteed Bit Rate (Non-GBR). The data on the NR may need to be buffered for T<NUM> + Tdelay, which may cause the following issues, as provided in Table <NUM> below.

First, due to the variation in loading on the LTE leg, the scheduling may become delayed on the LTE leg, which may result in the UE first receiving and buffering the first packet <NUM> corresponding to the PDCP SN <NUM>-<NUM> through the NR, and waiting until receiving the second packet <NUM> corresponding to the PDCP SN <NUM>-<NUM> through the LTE with a time delay of <NUM>, which may be significant for the NR communication.

Also, even when the LTE Leg is scheduled on time, the HARQ BLER and the HARQ retransmission at RLC level may involve a delay of <NUM> or more, e.g., such as having an average delay of <NUM>. There may be <NUM> to <NUM> retransmissions in a normal condition that may add close to <NUM> delay on the LTE leg, which may also be significant for the NR communication.

In some aspects, the PDCP may experience a full memory condition, either due to the scheduling delays from loading on one leg or the recovery delay from HARQ/ARQ BLER. A memory flush in response to the condition may result in some packet loss to upper layers as well as some packets being discarded at the RLC/PDCP level due to the OOW packets.

The PDCP scheduling may be configured to reduce the OOW packets from the radio resource management perspective. The network may not be aware of the packet drops because the network may receive the HARQ ACKs or the RLC ACKs indicating a successful transmission, while the packets may be discarded at the receiver side due to the memory flush and the OOW packets, resulting in the upper layer packet loss. The upper layer packet loss may increase the long retransmission time (RTT) to recover through the upper layer retransmissions, resulting in bad user experiences. In some aspects, the upper layer protocol may be sensitive to retransmissions /loss/packet delay, and may cut down the Tx Scheduling or adjust the window /resource to have deteriorated user experience, e.g., TCP window scaling, video encoder scheme downgrade, etc..

The second diagram <NUM> illustrate split PDCP packets of the forward looking PDCP packet split. A longer recovery of the packets in a slower link compared to a faster link may cause a bottleneck, and the receiver may be stressed out with the packets that are received and buffered through the faster link. In some aspects, the forward looking PDCP scheduling between a first RLC carrying the first RAT packet <NUM> and a second RLC carrying the second RAT packet <NUM> may reduce the bottleneck in the wireless communication. For example, the first RLC may be the NR RLC carrying the NR packets and the second RLC may be the LTE RLC carrying the LTE packets.

According to the forward looking PDCP packet split, the transmitter may schedule the packets which may have a longer latency on the slower link, to ensure that the faster link data is not waiting for the slower link scheduling and/or recovery.

In some aspects, the transmission data may be ready at T<NUM>, and the transmission data may be split based on scheduling ratio as well as a relative scheduling delay to ensure that, a faster RLC leg, e.g., the NR RLC leg, may be scheduled with the data between T<NUM> to T<NUM>+Tdelay, while a slower RLC leg, e.g., the LTE RLC leg, may be scheduled with the data from Tdelay. The split can be dynamically configured based on the gap between the NR leg and the LTE leg, to ensure that the LTE leg (i.e., the slower leg) may be budgeted into Tdelay relative to the NR leg (i.e., the faster leg). The configuration of the data split between the faster leg and the slower leg data split may be maintained by a relative gap of a worst-case scheduling, which is dependent on the dynamic radio condition.

In one aspect, the relative gap of the worst-case scheduling may be <NUM>, the NR data may be expected in a <NUM>-<NUM> time and the LTE may have data expected in a <NUM>-<NUM> time. If the LTE successfully transmits the data in a time duration of <NUM>-<NUM>, the LTE data may be expected from <NUM>-<NUM> (i.e., the data relative to NR by <NUM>), rather than <NUM>.

In another aspect, the PDCP packet of the second diagram <NUM> may have <NUM> packets, the transmitter may allocate a second packet <NUM> corresponding to the PDCP SN <NUM>-<NUM> to the LTE, and allocate a first packet <NUM> corresponding to the PDCP SN <NUM>-<NUM> to the NR. Similarly, the transmitter may allocate a fourth packet <NUM> corresponding to the PDCP SN <NUM>-<NUM>,<NUM> to the LTE, and allocate a third packet <NUM> corresponding to the PDCP SN <NUM>-<NUM> to the NR.

According to the forward looking PDCP scheduling, the delays in the scheduling and/or recovery of the LTE packet, i.e., the packets of the slower link, may have reduced impact on the performance of the overall data transmission, since the NR traffic, i.e., the packets of the faster link, may be released to upper layers without flushing the memory. When the LTE scheduling was successful and the LTE packet may be successfully transmitted or recovered over the NR may have reduced impact on the performance of the data transmission, as the LTE traffic is buffered with relatively smaller size (e.g., less than <NUM> packets in this case.

The same idea may be equally applicable to an UL split when the UL PDCP packets are exchanged between the NR RLC and the LTE RLC entities in the uplink, if a pre-building model is adopted, the forward looking PDCP packet split may help the performance in the receiver heavily compared to transmitter.

The above examples of the first diagram <NUM> and the second diagram <NUM> of <FIG> provide that the faster link may be the NR connection and the slower link may be the LTE connection; however, the aspects of the current disclosure may not be limited thereto, and the faster link and the second link may be any form of communications or different RATs that are applicable to the current disclosure. In one aspect, the slower link may be an NR first frequency (FR1) frequency and the faster link may be an NR second frequency (FR2) frequency. In another aspect, the combination of the faster link and the slower link may include a combination of at least two of the NR FR1 RLC, NR FR2+ RLC, NR FR3 RLC, or NR FR4 RLC.

In some aspects, the first diagram <NUM> and the second diagram <NUM> of <FIG> may include a terrestrial link and a non-terrestrial link. The terrestrial link and the non-terrestrial link may be one of the faster link and the slower link based on coverage of the terrestrial link and the non-terrestrial link and a mobility of the connected UE. The terrestrial link may be provided from a stationary base station and the non-terrestrial link may be provided from a mobile base station, e.g., aircraft, unmanned aircraft system (UAS), satellite, etc. In one aspect, the terrestrial link may have a better coverage for a UE that is stationary or has a relatively low mobility, and the terrestrial link may be the fast link for the UE that stationary or has a relatively low mobility. In another aspect, the non-terrestrial link may have a better coverage for a moving UE, and the non-terrestrial link may be the fast link for the moving UE.

According to the current disclosure, the network may transmit the split bearer traffic between the different RATs or cells with different loading, scheduling, and/or resource constraint legs, and the scheduling delays on a slower leg may have reduced impact on the data arriving on the faster leg. This may help the receiver to deliver packets without much stress on memory and/or processing constraints, and also providing the communication environment with a reduced loss to upper layers, resulting in enhanced end-user experience. The method and apparatus may be equally applicable to UE UL split when packets are pre-built and transmitted in a dynamic way.

<FIG> is a communication diagram <NUM> of a method of wireless communication. The communication diagram <NUM> may include a transmitter <NUM> and a receiver <NUM>. The transmitter <NUM> may be a base station or a UE. The transmitter <NUM> may be connected to the receiver <NUM> through a split carrier including a first carrier and a second carrier. The transmitter <NUM> may provide a forward looking PDCP scheduling between a set of packet and a second set of packets to reduce the bottleneck in the wireless communication.

At <NUM>, the transmitter <NUM> may schedule transmission data at a PDCP level by splitting the transmission data to a first set of packets and a second set of packets based on a relative scheduling delay between the first carrier and the second carrier, and scheduling the first set of packets and the second set of packets on different links based on a scheduling proportion. The scheduling proportion between the first carrier and the second carrier may be determined based on at least one of loading, scheduling, or resource constraints of the first carrier and the second carrier, respectively.

Each of the first set of packets and the second set of packets may be one of a set of contiguous packets or a set of non-continuous packets. In one aspect, each of the first set of packets and the second set of packets may have the same size, or at least one packet of the first set of packets and the second set of packets may have a size different from another packets of the first set of packets and the second set of packets.

In another aspect, each of the first set of packets and the second set of packets may have the same traffic type or different traffic types. The traffic types may include at least one of an application, a logical channel, QoS, PDN, network slice type, or any user specific traffic type associated with the first set of packets and the second set of packets.

The first carrier may be for a first RAT and the second carrier may be for a second RAT. In one aspect, the first RAT and the second RAT may be the same RAT. In another aspect, the first RAT and the second RAT may be different RATs. For example, the first carrier may be a <NUM> NR FR1 carrier and the second carrier may be a <NUM> NR FR2 carrier, and the first carrier may be an LTE carrier and the second carrier may be a <NUM> NR carrier.

In some aspects, one carrier of the first carrier and the second carrier may be a terrestrial link and the other carrier of the first carrier and the second carrier may be a non-terrestrial link. That is, the terrestrial link and the non-terrestrial link may be one of the fast link and the slow link based on coverage of the terrestrial link and the non-terrestrial link and a mobility of the connected UE.

The relative scheduling delay between the first carrier and the second carrier may be based on a difference between a first scheduling delay of the first carrier and a second scheduling delay of the second carrier. The first scheduling delay and the second scheduling delay may be determined based on worst-case scheduling of the first carrier and the second carrier, respectively. In one aspect, the second scheduling delay of the second carrier may be greater than the first scheduling delay of the first carrier.

At <NUM>, the transmitter <NUM> may sequentially transmit, to the receiver <NUM>, the transmission data as the first set of packets to a first RLC level associated with the first carrier, where the offset may be determined based on the relative scheduling delay.

At <NUM>, the transmitter <NUM> may sequentially transmit, to the receiver <NUM>, the transmission data starting at an offset relative to the first set of packets as the second set of packets to a second RLC level associated with the second carrier, where the offset may be determined based on the relative scheduling delay. In one aspect, the transmission data may be sequentially transmitted at the offset relative to the first set of packets as the second set of packets to the second RLC level associated with the second carrier in response to the ACK signal received that may be received at <NUM>.

At <NUM>, the transmitter <NUM> may transmit, to the receiver <NUM>, the first set of packets via the first carrier and the second set of packets via the second carrier. The transmitter <NUM> may transmit the transmission data including the first set of packets and the second set of packets based on the PDCP level scheduling at <NUM>.

At <NUM>, the transmitter <NUM> may receive, from the receiver <NUM>, an ACK signal indicating a successful transmission of the second set of packets. In response to the ACK signal received from the receiver <NUM>, the transmitter <NUM> may sequentially transmit the transmission data at the offset relative to the first set of packets as the second set of packets to the second RLC level associated with the second carrier at <NUM>.

<FIG> is a flowchart <NUM> of a method of wireless communication. The method may be performed by a transmitter. The transmitter may be a UE (e.g., the UE <NUM>; the apparatus <NUM>) or a base station (e.g., the base station <NUM>/<NUM>; transmitter <NUM>; the apparatus <NUM>).

At <NUM>, the transmitter may schedule transmission data at a PDCP level by splitting the transmission data to a first set of packets and a second set of packets based on a relative scheduling delay between the first carrier and the second carrier, and scheduling the first set of packets and the second set of packets on different links based on a scheduling proportion. The scheduling proportion between the first carrier and the second carrier may be determined based on at least one of loading, scheduling, or resource constraints of the first carrier and the second carrier, respectively. For example, at <NUM>, the transmitter <NUM> may schedule transmission data at a PDCP level by splitting the transmission data to a first set of packets and a second set of packets based on a relative scheduling delay between the first carrier and the second carrier, and scheduling the first set of packets and the second set of packets on different links based on a scheduling proportion. Furthermore, <NUM> may be performed by a split PDCP packet scheduling component <NUM> or a split PDCP packet scheduling component <NUM>.

At <NUM>, the transmitter may sequentially transmit, to the receiver, the transmission data as the first set of packets to a first RLC level associated with the first carrier, where the offset may be determined based on the relative scheduling delay. For example, at <NUM>, the transmitter <NUM> may sequentially transmit, to the receiver <NUM>, the transmission data as the first set of packets to a first RLC level associated with the first carrier, where the offset may be determined based on the relative scheduling delay. Furthermore, <NUM> may be performed by the split PDCP packet scheduling component <NUM> or the split PDCP packet scheduling component <NUM>.

At <NUM>, the transmitter may sequentially transmit, to the receiver, the transmission data starting at an offset relative to the first set of packets as the second set of packets to a second RLC level associated with the second carrier, where the offset may be determined based on the relative scheduling delay. In one aspect, the transmission data may be sequentially transmitted at the offset relative to the first set of packets as the second set of packets to the second RLC level associated with the second carrier in response to the ACK signal received that may be received at <NUM>. For example, at <NUM>, the transmitter <NUM> may sequentially transmit, to the receiver <NUM>, the transmission data starting at an offset relative to the first set of packets as the second set of packets to a second RLC level associated with the second carrier, where the offset may be determined based on the relative scheduling delay. Furthermore, <NUM> may be performed by the split PDCP packet scheduling component <NUM> or the split PDCP packet scheduling component <NUM>.

At <NUM>, the transmitter may transmit, to the receiver, the first set of packets via the first carrier and the second set of packets via the second carrier. The transmitter <NUM> may transmit the transmission data including the first set of packets and the second set of packets based on the PDCP level scheduling at <NUM>. For example, at <NUM>, the transmitter <NUM> may transmit, to the receiver <NUM>, the first set of packets via the first carrier and the second set of packets via the second carrier. Furthermore, <NUM> may be performed by the split PDCP packet scheduling component <NUM> or the split PDCP packet scheduling component <NUM>.

At <NUM>, the transmitter may receive, from the receiver, an ACK signal indicating a successful transmission of the second set of packets. In response to the ACK signal received from the receiver, the transmitter may sequentially transmit the transmission data at the offset relative to the first set of packets as the second set of packets to the second RLC level associated with the second carrier at <NUM>. For example, at <NUM>, the transmitter <NUM> may receive, from the receiver <NUM>, an ACK signal indicating a successful transmission of the second set of packets. Furthermore, <NUM> may be performed by the split PDCP packet scheduling component <NUM> or the split PDCP packet scheduling component <NUM>.

The apparatus <NUM> maybe a UE, a component of a UE, or may implement UE functionality. In some aspects, the apparatus802 may include a cellular baseband processor <NUM> (also referred to as a modem) coupled to a cellular RF transceiver <NUM>. In some aspects, the apparatus <NUM> may further include one or more subscriber identity modules (SIM) cards <NUM>, an application processor <NUM> coupled to a secure digital (SD) card <NUM> and a screen <NUM>, a Bluetooth module <NUM>, a wireless local area network (WLAN) module <NUM>, a Global Positioning System (GPS) module <NUM>, or a power supply <NUM>. In one configuration, the apparatus <NUM> may be a modem chip and include just the baseband processor <NUM>, and in another configuration, the apparatus <NUM> may be the entire UE (e.g., see <NUM> of <FIG>) and include the additional modules of the apparatus <NUM>.

The communication manager <NUM> includes a split PDCP packet scheduling component <NUM> that is configured to schedule transmission data at a PDCP level by splitting the transmission data to a first set of packets and a second set of packets based on a relative scheduling delay between the first carrier and the second carrier, and scheduling the first set of packets and the second set of packets on different links based on a scheduling proportion, sequentially transmit the transmission data as the first set of packets to a first RLC level associated with the first carrier, sequentially transmit the transmission data starting at an offset relative to the first set of packets as the second set of packets to a second RLC level associated with the second carrier, transmit the first set of packets via the first carrier and the second set of packets via the second carrier, and receive an ACK signal indicating a successful transmission of the second set of packets, e.g., as described in connection with <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>.

The apparatus may include additional components that perform each of the blocks of the algorithm in the flowcharts of <FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG>. As such, each block in the flowcharts of <FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG> may be performed by a component and the apparatus may include one or more of those components.

As shown, the apparatus <NUM> may include a variety of components configured for various functions. In one configuration, the apparatus <NUM>, and in particular the cellular baseband processor <NUM>, includes means for scheduling transmission data at a PDCP level by splitting the transmission data to a first set of packets and a second set of packets based on a relative scheduling delay between the first carrier and the second carrier, and scheduling the first set of packets and the second set of packets on different links based on a scheduling proportion, and means for transmitting the first set of packets via the first carrier and the second set of packets via the second carrier. The apparatus <NUM> includes means for sequentially transmitting the transmission data as the first set of packets to a first RLC level associated with the first carrier, means for sequentially transmitting the transmission data starting at an offset relative to the first set of packets as the second set of packets to a second RLC level associated with the second carrier, and means for receiving an ACK signal indicating a successful transmission of the second set of packets. The means may be one or more of the components of the apparatus <NUM> configured to perform the functions recited by the means. As described supra, the apparatus <NUM> may include the TX Processor <NUM>, the.

RX Processor <NUM>, and the controller/processor <NUM>. As such, in one configuration, the means may be the TX Processor <NUM>, the RX Processor <NUM>, and the controller/processor <NUM> configured to perform the functions recited by the means.

The apparatus <NUM> maybe a base station, a component of a base station, or may implement base station functionality. In some aspects, the apparatus <NUM> may include a baseband unit <NUM>. The baseband unit <NUM> may communicate through a cellular RF transceiver <NUM> with the UE <NUM>. The baseband unit <NUM> may include a computer-readable medium / memory. The baseband unit <NUM> is responsible for general processing, including the execution of software stored on the computer-readable medium / memory. The software, when executed by the baseband unit <NUM>, causes the baseband unit <NUM> to perform the various functions described supra. The computer-readable medium / memory may also be used for storing data that is manipulated by the baseband unit <NUM> when executing software. The baseband unit <NUM> further includes a reception component <NUM>, a communication manager <NUM>, and a transmission component <NUM>. The components within the communication manager <NUM> may be stored in the computer-readable medium / memory and/or configured as hardware within the baseband unit <NUM>. The baseband unit <NUM> may be a component of the base station <NUM> and may include the memory <NUM> and/or at least one of the TX processor <NUM>, the RX processor <NUM>, and the controller/processor <NUM>.

As shown, the apparatus <NUM> may include a variety of components configured for various functions. In one configuration, the apparatus <NUM>, and in particular the baseband unit <NUM>, includes means for scheduling transmission data at a PDCP level by splitting the transmission data to a first set of packets and a second set of packets based on a relative scheduling delay between the first carrier and the second carrier, and scheduling the first set of packets and the second set of packets on different links based on a scheduling proportion, and means for transmitting the first set of packets via the first carrier and the second set of packets via the second carrier. The apparatus <NUM> includes means for sequentially transmitting the transmission data as the first set of packets to a first RLC level associated with the first carrier, means for sequentially transmitting the transmission data starting at an offset relative to the first set of packets as the second set of packets to a second RLC level associated with the second carrier, and means for receiving an ACK signal indicating a successful transmission of the second set of packets. The means may be one or more of the components of the apparatus <NUM> configured to perform the functions recited by the means. As described supra, the apparatus <NUM> may include the TX Processor <NUM>, the RX Processor <NUM>, and the controller/processor <NUM>. As such, in one configuration, the means may be the TX Processor <NUM>, the RX Processor <NUM>, and the controller/processor <NUM> configured to perform the functions recited by the means.

The apparatus may be a transmitter connected to a receiver through a split carrier including a first carrier and a second carrier, may be configured to schedule transmission data at a PDCP level by splitting the transmission data to a first set of packets and a second set of packets based on a relative scheduling delay between the first carrier and the second carrier, and scheduling the first set of packets and the second set of packets on different links based on a scheduling proportion, and transmit the first set of packets via the first carrier and the second set of packets via the second carrier. Each of the first set of packets and the second set of packets may be a set of contiguous packets or a set of non-continuous packets. Each of the first set of packets and the second set of packets has the same size or different sizes, and each of the first set of packets and the second set of packets has a same traffic type or different traffic types. Thus, the first set of packets and the second set of packets may be of any size. The first set of packets and the second set of packets may be for any packet type.

In some aspects, the first carrier may be for a first radio access technology (RAT) and the second carrier may be for a second RAT. The first RAT and the second RAT may be the same RAT or different RATs. In one aspect, the first RAT and the second RAT may be the same RAT or different RATs. For example, the first RAT maybe the <NUM> new radio (NR) and the second RAT may be a <NUM> long term evolution (LTE). The first RAT and the second RAT may be any RAT type. In another aspect, the first carrier and the second carrier may be part of a same frequency range or different frequency ranges. Thus, the first carrier and the second carrier may be carriers of any frequency range. For example, the first carrier may be the <NUM> NR first frequency range (FR1) carrier and the second carrier may be a <NUM> NR second frequency range (FR2) carrier. In another aspect, one carrier of the first carrier and the second carrier may be a terrestrial link and the other carrier of the first carrier and the second carrier may be a non-terrestrial link. Here, the relative scheduling delay between the first carrier and the second carrier may be based on a difference between a first scheduling delay of the first carrier and a second scheduling delay of the second carrier, and the first scheduling delay and the second scheduling delay may be determined based on a worst-case scheduling of the first carrier and the second carrier, respectively. Here, the second scheduling delay of the second carrier may be greater than the first scheduling delay of the first carrier. The transmitter may be configured to sequentially transmit the transmission data as the first set of packets to a first radio link control (RLC) level associated with the first carrier, and sequentially transmit the transmission data starting at an offset relative to the first set of packets as the second set of packets to a second RLC level associated with the second carrier, where the offset may be determined based on the relative scheduling delay. The scheduling proportion between the first carrier and the second carrier may be determined based on at least one of loading, scheduling, or resource constraints of the first carrier and the second carrier, respectively.

The transmitter may be further configured to receive an acknowledge (ACK) signal indicating a successful transmission of the second set of packets, and sequentially transmit, in response to receiving the ACK signal, the transmission data at the offset relative to the first set of packets as the second set of data to the second RLC level associated with the second carrier.

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 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. " Terms such as "if," "when," and "while" should be interpreted to mean "under the condition that" rather than imply an immediate temporal relationship or reaction. That is, these phrases, e.g., "when," do not imply an immediate action in response to or during the.

Claim 1:
A method of wireless communication at a transmitter connected to a receiver through a split carrier comprising a first carrier and a second carrier, comprising:
scheduling (<NUM>) transmission data at a packet data convergence protocol, PDCP, level by splitting the transmission data to a first set of packets and a second set of packets based on a relative scheduling delay between the first carrier and the second carrier, and scheduling the first set of packets and the second set of packets on different links based on a scheduling proportion,
wherein scheduling the transmission data further comprises:
sequentially transmitting (<NUM>) the transmission data as the first set of packets to a first radio link control, RLC, level associated with the first carrier; and
sequentially transmitting (<NUM>) the transmission data starting at an offset relative to the first set of packets as the second set of packets to a second RLC level associated with the second carrier, wherein the offset is determined based on the relative scheduling delay; and
transmitting (<NUM>) the first set of packets via the first carrier and the second set of packets via the second carrier.