BR112018003970B1 - PREVENTION OF UNNECESSARY PROTOCOL DATA UNIT (PDU) TRANSMISSIONS - Google Patents

Abstract

PREVENTION OF UNNECESSARY PROTOCOL DATA UNIT (PDU) TRANSMISSIONS. Aspects described here refer to wireless communications. Protocol data units (PDUs) may be received at a network layer from one or more transmitting nodes using a link associated with each respective transmitting node. One or more missing PDUs may be detected based, at least in part, on the sequence numbers of the PDUs received. A timer can be started based on the detection of one or more missing PDUs. In response to timer expiration, and without receiving one or more missing PDUs prior to timer expiration, a lower network layer may be notified that one or more missing PDUs have been received to prevent attempts to transmit/retransmit or otherwise process a or more PDUs missing.

Description

Cross Reference to Related Orders

[01] The present patent application claims priority to non-provisional application No. 15/224,272, entitled "AVOIDING UNNECESSARY PROTOCOL DATA UNIT (PDU) TRANSMISSIONS" filed on July 29, 2016 and provisional application No. 62/212,301 entitled "AVOIDING UNNECESSARY PACKET DATA CONVERGENCE PROTOCOL (PDCP) PROTOCOL DATA UNIT (PDU) TRANSMISSIONS" deposited on August 31, 2015, which is assigned to the assignee of this application and expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

FUNDAMENTALS Description Field

[02] Aspects of the present description relate generally to wireless communications systems and, more particularly, to avoid unnecessary protocol data unit (PDU) transmissions, for example, based on an expiration of the reorder timer.

Description of Related Technique

[03] Wireless communication systems are widely developed to provide various telecommunications services such as telephony, video, data, messaging and broadcasting. Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmission 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, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access systems (OFDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access systems (SC-FDMA), and time division synchronized code division multiple access systems (TD-SCDMA).

[04] A wireless communication network may include multiple eNodeBs (eNBs) that can support communication to multiple user equipment (UEs). A UE can communicate with an eNodeB via downlink and uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the eNodeB to the UE, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the UE to the eNodeB.

[05] These multiple access technologies have been adopted into various telecommunications standards to provide a common protocol that allows different wireless devices to communicate on a city, national, regional, or even global level. An example of an emerging telecommunications standard is Long Term Evolution (LTE). LTE is a set of enhancements to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile standard promulgated by the 3rd Partnership Project. Generation (3GPP). It is designed to better support mobile broadband Internet access by improving spectral efficiency, reduced costs, improved services, use of new spectrum and better integration with other open standards using OFDMA in downlink (DL), SC-FDMA in uplink ( UL) and multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology. However, as demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, there is a need to create new enhancements to LTE technology. Preferably, these enhancements should be applicable to other multiple access technologies and telecommunications standards may employ these technologies.

[06] For example, in LTE, a UE can aggregate connections with a plurality of eNodeBs or other access points, using dual connectivity (or multiple connectivity) with multiple eNodeBs and/or related cells, traffic aggregation (e.g. radio access network (RAN) aggregation or other network-level aggregation) with one or more eNodeBs and one or more other types of access points (for example, a WiFi hotspot). The UE may receive protocol data units (PDU) through the connections in one or more network layers, and may order the PDUs based on a sequence number. A PDCP timer can be initialized to manage cases in which a PDU may not be received. Based on a determined expiration of the PDCP timer without PDU receipt, all service data units (SDU) received for a PDU (e.g., at a lower network layer) are sent to the network layer (e.g., provided to the network layer and eliminated from the lower network layer memory). In some cases, however, the missing SDUs may still be transmitted to the UE despite the UE having given up receiving the PDU at the network layer, and discarding the SDUs received at the lower network layer when/if subsequently received.

SUMMARY

[07] The systems, methods, and devices of the description each have several aspects, none of which alone is responsible for their desirable attributes. Without limiting the scope of this description as expressed by the claims that follow, some features will now be discussed briefly. After considering this discussion, and particularly after reading the section titled "Detailed Description", one can understand how the features of this description provide advantages that include improved communications between access points and stations in a wireless network.

[08] In one aspect, a method for wireless communications is provided. The method may include receiving protocol data units (PDUs) at a network layer from one or more transmitter nodes using a link associated with each of a respective transmitter node, detecting one or more missing PDUs based on , at least in part, on the sequence numbers of the received PDUs, and triggering a timer based on the detection of one or more missing PDUs. The method may also include, in response to timer expiration, and without receipt of one or more missing PDUs prior to timer expiration, notifying a lower network layer that one or more missing PDUs have been received.

[09] The method may include where the notification to the lower network layer comprises receiving acknowledgment of receipt of one or more missing PDUs to the lower network layer. The method may also include wherein the notification to the lower network layer comprises transmitting a lower network layer status message to the transmitting node to prevent the transmitting node from transmitting lower network layer PDUs corresponding to one or more more PDUs missing. The method may also include notification to the lower network layer comprising notification to a plurality of lower network layers, wherein each of the plurality of lower network layers corresponds to the link associated with each respective transmission node. Additionally, the method may include one or more missing PDUs that are PDCP PDUs, and where the lower network layer is a radio link control (RLC) layer. The method may also include one or more missing PDUs that are Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), Internet Protocol (IP), TCP/IP, or User Datagram Protocol (UDP) PDUs, and where the layer The bottom layer of the network is a PDCP layer or an RLC layer. Additionally, the method may include transmitting, to one or more transmitting nodes, a status message formed at the network layer receiving data from each link associated with each respective transmitting node, wherein the status message includes an indication of a first missing sequence (FMS), where the FMS is selected to prevent transmission of one or more missing PDUs by one or more transmitting nodes.

[010] In one aspect, an apparatus for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE) is provided. The apparatus includes a transceiver, a memory, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The at least one processor is configured to receive PDUs at a network layer from one or more transmitter nodes using a link associated with each respective transmitter node, detect one or more missing PDUs based, at least in part, on sequential numbers of received PDUs, and start a timer based on the detection of one or more missing PDUs. The at least one processor is further configured to, in response to timer expiration, and without receiving one or more missing PDUs prior to timer expiration, notify a lower network layer that one or more missing PDUs have been received.

[011] The apparatus may include at least one processor configured to notify the lower network layer at least in part upon receipt of acknowledgment of one or more PDUs missing from the lower network layer. The apparatus may also include the at least one processor configured to notify the lower network layer, at least in part, by transmitting a lower network layer status message to the transmitting node to prevent the transmitting node from transmitting the PDUs. lower network layer corresponding to one or more missing PDUs. Additionally, the apparatus may include at least one processor that is configured to notify the lower network layer at least in part by notifying a plurality of lower network layers, where each of the plurality of lower network layers corresponds to the associated link. with each respective transmitting node. The apparatus may additionally include one or more missing PDUs which are PDCP PDUs, and where the lower network layer is an RLC layer. Additionally, the apparatus may include one or more missing PDUs that are TCP, IP Internet Protocol, TCP/IP, or UDP PDUs, and where the lower network layer is a PDCP layer or an RLC layer. The apparatus may further include at least one processor that is further configured to transmit, to one or more transmit nodes, a status message formed at the network layer receiving data from each link associated with each respective transmit node. wherein the status message includes an indication of an FMS, where the FMS is selected to avoid transmission of one or more missing PDUs by the one or more transmitting nodes. Additionally, the apparatus may include one or more antennas coupled to the transceiver and configured to at least one of transmitting one or more wireless signals to the transmitting node or receiving one or more wireless signals from the transmitting node.

[012] In one aspect, an apparatus for wireless communication by a UE is provided. The apparatus includes means for receiving PDUs at a network layer from one or more transmitter nodes using a link associated with each respective transmitter node, means for detecting one or more missing PDUs based, at least in part, on sequence numbers. of received PDUs, and means for starting a timer based on detection of one or more missing PDUs. The apparatus also includes means to, in response to timer expiration, and without receiving one or more missing PDUs prior to timer expiration, notify a lower network layer that one or more missing PDUs have been received.

[013] The apparatus may include means for notifying the lower network layer, at least in part by receiving notice of receipt of one or more missing PDUs for the lower network layer. The apparatus may also include means for notifying the lower network layer, at least in part, by transmitting a lower network layer status message to the transmitting node to prevent the transmitting node from transmitting lower network layer PDUs. corresponding to one or more missing PDUs. Additionally, the apparatus may include means for notifying the lower network layer, at least in part, by notifying a plurality of lower network layers, wherein each of the plurality of lower network layers corresponds to the link associated with each node. respective transmitter. The apparatus may also include one or more missing PDUs which are PDCP PDUs, and where the lower network layer is an RLC layer. The apparatus may also include one or more missing PDUs that are TCP, IP, TCP/IP or UDP PDUs, and where the lower network layer is a PDCP layer or an RLC layer. The apparatus may also include means for transmitting, to one or more transmitting nodes, a status message formed at the network layer that receives data from each link associated with each respective transmitting node, wherein the status message includes an indication of an FMS, where the FMS is selected to avoid transmission of one or more missing PDUs by the one or more transmitting nodes. Furthermore, the apparatus may include receiving means comprising one or more antennas coupled to a transceiver and configured to transmit at least one of one or more wireless signals to the transmitting node and receive one or more wireless signals from the transmitting node.

[014] In one aspect, a computer readable medium storing computer executable code for wireless communication by a UE is provided. The code includes code for receiving PDUs at a network layer from one or more transmitting nodes using a link associated with each respective transmitting node, code for detecting one or more missing PDUs based, at least in part, on the sequence numbers of received PDUs, a code for starting a timer based on detection of one or more missing PDUs, and a code for, in response to timer expiration, and without receiving one or more missing PDUs before timer expiration, notify a lower network layer that one or more missing PDUs have been received.

[015] The computer-readable medium may include a notification code that notifies the lower network layer, at least in part, upon receipt of notice of receipt of one or more PDUs missing from the lower network layer. The computer-readable medium may also include notification code that notifies the lower network layer, at least in part, by transmitting a lower network layer status message to the transmitting node to prevent the transmitting node from transmitting the PDUs. network layer corresponding to one or more missing PDUs. The computer-readable medium may also include notification code that notifies the lower network layer, at least in part, by means of notification to a plurality of lower network layers, where each of the plurality of lower network layers corresponds to to the link associated with each respective transmitting node. The computer-readable medium may additionally include one or more missing PDUs which are PDCP PDUs, and where the lower network layer is an RLC layer. The computer-readable medium may additionally include one or more missing PDUs which are TCP, IP, TCP/IP or UDP PDUs, and where the lower network layer is a PDCP layer or an RLC layer. The computer-readable medium may also include a code for transmitting, to one or more transmitting nodes, a status message formed at the network layer receiving data from each link associated with each respective transmitting node, wherein the status message includes an indication of an FMS, where the FMS is selected to avoid transmission of one or more missing PDUs by one or more transmitting nodes.

[016] In another example, a method for wireless communication by a UE is provided. The method includes receiving PDCP PDUs from one or more eNBs using a link associated with each respective eNB, detecting one or more missing PDCP PDUs based, at least in part, on the sequence numbers of the received PDCP PDUs, the initiation of a timer based on the detection of one or more missing PDCP PDUs, and, in response to the timer expiring without receipt of one or more PDCP PDUs prior to the timer expiration, the taking of one or more actions to prevent the transmission of one or more missing PDCP PDUs by one or more eNBs.

[017] The method may also include performing one or more actions comprising transmitting to one or more eNBs, a status message with an indication of a first missing sequence selected to prevent transmission of one or more PDCP PDUs. missing by one or more eNBs. The method may further include indicating that the first missing sequence comprises an indication of a sequence number of the PDCP PDU having the largest sequence number. Additionally, the method may include performing one or more actions comprising generating an acknowledgment of receipt of a status message from a PDCP PDU having a selected sequence number to prevent transmission of one or more PDCP PDUs missing by a or more eNBs. The method may also include the status message acknowledging receipt of a PDCP PDU having a sequence number greater than that of any received PDCP PDU. Furthermore, the method may include generating a status message comprising performing payload inspection at an RLC layer to determine the sequence numbers of the received PDCP PDUs. Additionally, the method may include adjusting a receive state variable and performing payload inspection on an RLC later to determine the sequence numbers of the received PDUs.

[018] In another example, an apparatus for wireless communication by a UE is provided. The apparatus includes means for receiving PDCP PDUs from one or more eNBs using a link associated with each respective eNB, means for detecting one or more missing PDCP PDUs based, at least in part, on the sequence numbers of the PDCP PDUs. received, means for starting a timer based on the detection of one or more missing PDCP PDUs, and, in response to the expiration of the timer without receipt of one or more missing PDCP PDUs prior to the timer expiration, means for performing one or more actions to prevent transmission of one or more missing PDCP PDUs by one or more eNBs.

[019] The apparatus may also include performing one or more actions comprising means for transmitting to one or more eNBs, a status message with an indication of a first missing sequence selected to prevent transmission of one or more PDUs. PDCP by one or more eNBs. The apparatus may also include indicating the first missing sequence which comprises an indication of a sequence number of the PDCP PDU having the highest sequence number. Additionally, the apparatus may include said means for performing one or more actions comprising means for generating a status message acknowledging receipt of a PDCP PDU having a sequence number selected to prevent transmission of one or more missing PDCP PDUs by the one or more eNBs. Additionally, the apparatus may include the status message acknowledging receipt of a PDCP PDU having a sequence number greater than that of any received PDCP PDU. Furthermore, the apparatus may include means for generating the status message that comprises means for performing payload inspection at an RLC layer to determine the sequence numbers of received PDCP PDUs. Additionally, the apparatus may include means for adjusting a receive state variable, and means for performing payload inspection on an RLC after determining the sequence numbers of the received PDUs.

[020] In an additional example, an apparatus for wireless communication is provided and includes at least one processor configured to receive PDCP PDUs from one or more eNBs using a link associated with each respective eNB, detect one or more missing PDCP PDUs based on , at least in part, on the sequence numbers of the received PDCP PDUs, start a timer based on the detection of one or more missing PDCP PDUs, and, in response to the expiration of the timer without receipt of one or more missing PDCP PDUs before the timer expiration, perform one or more actions to prevent transmission of one or more missing PDCP PDUs by one or more eNBs. The device also includes a memory coupled to at least one processor.

[021] In another example, a computer-readable medium for wireless communications having instructions stored therein is provided. Instructions are executable by one or more processors for receiving PDCP PDUs from one or more eNBs using a link associated with each respective eNB, detecting one or more PDCP PDUs based, at least in part, on the sequence numbers of the PDUs PDCP received, starting a timer based on detection of one or more missing PDCP PDUs; and, in response to timer expiration without receipt of one or more PDCP PDUs prior to timer expiration, taking one or more actions to prevent transmission of one or more missing PDCP PDUs by the one or more eNBs.

[022] To achieve the above and other related purposes, one or more aspects comprise the characteristics hereinafter fully described and particularly highlighted in the claims. The following description and the attached drawings present in certain details the characteristics of one or more aspects. These characteristics are indicative, however, of only a few of the various ways in which the principles of the various aspects may be employed, and this description must include all said aspects and their equivalences.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[023] So that the form in which the characteristics described above of the present description can be understood in detail, a more particular description, briefly summarized above, can be made by reference to aspects, some of which are illustrated in the attached drawings. It should be noted, however, that the attached drawings illustrate only certain typical aspects of this description and, therefore, are not considered to limit its scope, since the description may admit other equally efficient aspects.

[024] Figure 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an illustrative telecommunications system, in accordance with aspects of the present description;

[025] Figure 2 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an illustrative downlink frame structure in a telecommunications system, in accordance with aspects of the present description;

[026] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating an illustrative uplink frame structure in a telecommunications system, in accordance with aspects of the present description;

[027] Figure 4 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating a drawing of an illustrative eNodeB and user equipment (UE), in accordance with aspects of the present description;

[028] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an illustrative radio protocol architecture for the user and control planes, in accordance with aspects of the present description;

[029] Figure 6 illustrates an illustrative subframe resource element mapping, in accordance with aspects of the present description;

[030] Figure 7 illustrates an illustrative type of continuous carrier aggregation, in accordance with aspects of the present description;

[031] Figure 8 illustrates an illustrative type of non-continuous carrier aggregation, in accordance with aspects of the present description;

[032] Figure 9 is a block diagram illustrating illustrative operations for controlling radio links in multiple carrier configurations, in accordance with aspects of the present description;

[033] Figure 10 illustrates an illustrative dual connectivity situation using multiple flow to distribute simultaneous data streams, in accordance with aspects of the present description;

[034] Figure 11 is a diagram illustrating an illustrative dual connectivity situation, in accordance with aspects of the present description;

[035] Figure 12 illustrates an illustrative system including a UE and a base station, in accordance with aspects of the present description;

[036] Figure 13 illustrates illustrative operations performed by a UE, in accordance with aspects of the present description;

[037] Figure 14 illustrates illustrative operations performed by a UE, in accordance with aspects of the present description;

[038] Figure 15 illustrates illustrative operations to avoid unnecessary transmissions by the eNB by providing a missing first sequence;

[039] Figure 16 illustrates illustrative operations to avoid unnecessary transmissions by the eNB by providing a situation protocol data unit.

Detailed Description

[040] Various aspects of the description are described more fully hereinafter with reference to the attached drawings. This description can, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be considered limited to any specific structure or function presented by this entire description. Rather, these aspects are provided so that this description is complete and in-depth, and fully conveys the scope of the description to those skilled in the art. Based on the teachings presented here, those skilled in the art should appreciate that the scope of the description should cover any aspect of the description presented here, whether implemented independently of or in combination with any other aspect of the description. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of aspects presented here. Additionally, the scope of the description must cover such apparatus or method that is practiced using another structure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to or in addition to the various aspects of the description set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the description described herein may be embodied by one or more elements of a claim.

[041] Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processing systems and computer program products for avoiding unnecessary protocol data unit (PDU) transmissions, for example, when a timer (e.g., a reorder timer) expires. For example, as described in greater detail herein, a user equipment (UE) may identify one or more missing PDUs, for example, based on the sequence numbers (SNs) associated with the received PDUs. Upon detection of one or more missing PDUs, the UE may initialize the reorder timer for one or more missing PDUs. According to one aspect, upon expiration of the reorder timer without first having received one or more missing PDUs, the UE may take one or more actions to prevent unnecessary transmission of one or more missing PDUs. Although the aspects described herein generally have reference to a UE receiving PDU transmissions from an access point and detecting missing PDUs, substantially any receiving device can receive PDU transmissions from substantially any transmitting device accordingly detecting missing PDUs, etc. This way, for example, the transmitting and receiving devices can be an access point and UE, respectively, the UEs communicating in peer-to-peer mode, etc.

[042] Although particular aspects are described here, many variations and permutations of these aspects are within the scope of the description. Although some benefits and advantages of preferred aspects are mentioned, the scope of the description should not be limited to particular benefits, uses or objectives. Instead, aspects of the description should be broadly applicable to different wireless technologies, system configurations, networks, and transmission protocols, some of which are illustrated by example in the figures and the following description of preferred aspects. The detailed description and drawings are merely illustrative of the description rather than limiting it and the scope of the description is being defined by the appended claims and their equivalences.

[043] The techniques described here can be used for various wireless communication networks such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA and other networks. The terms "network" and "system" are often used interchangeably. A CDMA network can implement a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includes Broadband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variations of CDMA. Cdma2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. A TDMA network can implement a radio technology such as the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). An OFDMA network can implement radio technology such as Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (WiFi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMA, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are new versions of UTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A and GSM are described in documents from an organization called the "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP). Cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization called "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). The techniques described here can be used for the wireless networks and radio technologies mentioned above in addition to other wireless networks and radio technologies. For clarity, certain aspects of the techniques are described below for LTE, and the terminology LTE is used in much of the description below.

[044] Various aspects of telecommunications systems will now be presented with reference to various apparatus and methods. These apparatus and methods will be described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the attached drawings by various blocks, modules, components, circuits, steps, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as "elements"). These elements can be implemented using electronic hardware, computer software, or any combination thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardware or software depends on the particular application and the design constraints imposed on the system as a whole.

[045] By way of example, an element, or any part of an element, or any combination of elements can 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 functionalities described throughout this description. One or more processors in the processing system may execute software. Software should be considered broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable elements, execution sequences, procedures, functions, etc. whether referred to as hardware, 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 stripe), an optical disk (e.g., a compact disc (CD), a 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 can be accessed and read by a computer. The computer-readable medium may be resident in the processing system, may be outside 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 described functionality presented throughout this description depending on the particular application and the general design constraints imposed on the system as a whole.

[046] Accordingly, in one or more illustrative embodiments, the described functions can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, functions may be stored in or encoded as one or more instructions or code in a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable medium includes computer storage medium. The storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable medium may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer. Floppy disk and disc, as used herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc, where floppy disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while disks reproduce data magnetically. data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above shall also be included in the scope of computer-readable medium.

[047] Figure 1 illustrates a wireless communication system 100 in which aspects of the present description can be practiced. For example, as described herein, a UE 120 may track a PDU-based receipt time of PDUs and may take one or more actions to reorder the received PDUs based, at least in part, on the tracked time. For example, the UE 120 may include a PDU processing component 1212 to process one or more received PDUs and/or perform actions for missing or reordered PDUs, as further described herein. Similarly, one or more Evolved Node Bs (eNodeBs) 110 or other access points (e.g., WiFi hotspots) may include a PDU communication component 1242 for communicating from the PDUs to the UE 120, as further described herein. The UE 120 may be a dual-connected (DC) UE, where the UE consumes radio resources provided by at least two different eNBs, one UE utilizing traffic aggregation (e.g., radio access network (RAN) aggregation) to communicate with one or more eNBs and/or other types of access points where PDUs can be aggregated in a RAN layer and/or similar.

[048] The system illustrated in figure 1 can be, for example, a long-term evolution (LTE) network. The wireless communication system 100 may include one or more eNodeBs 110 and/or other network entities. An eNodeB may be a station that communicates with UEs and may also be referred to as a base station, an access point, a network entity, substantially any device that can receive and/or transmit communications to provide access in a wireless network. wire, etc. A Node B is another example of a station that communicates with UEs. For example, although eNodeBs 110 are generally described herein, substantially any access point (e.g., a WiFi hotspot) or wireless communication device may include a PDU 1242 communication component, as described herein. Similarly, although UEs 120 are generally described herein, substantially any wireless communication device may include a PDU processing component 1212, as described herein. In an example, an eNodeB 110 may additionally or alternatively include a PDU processing component 1212 for processing PDUs received from a UE 120, and the UE 120 may additionally or alternatively include a PDU communication component 1242 to transmit PDUs to the eNodeB 110.

[049] Each eNodeB 110 can provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term "cell" may refer to a coverage area of an eNodeB and/or an eNodeB subsystem serving that coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.

[050] An eNodeB can provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell and/or other cell types. A macro cell can cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and can allow unrestricted access by UEs with a service subscription. A pico cell can cover a relatively small geographic area and can allow unrestricted access by UEs with a service subscription. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allow restricted access by UEs having association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG), UEs for users in the home , etc.). An eNodeB for a cell macro can be referred to as an eNodeB macro. An eNodeB for a pico cell can be referred to as a pico eNodeB. An eNodeB for a femto cell may be referred to as a femto eNodeB or a home eNodeB. In the example illustrated in Figure 1, eNodeBs 110a, 110b and 110c may be macro eNodeBs for macro cells 102a, 102b and 102c, respectively. The 110x eNodeB can be a pico eNodeB for a pico 102x cell. eNodeBs 110y and 110z can be femto eNodeBs for femto cells 102y and 102z, respectively. An eNodeB can support one or multiple cells (e.g. three).

[051] The wireless communication system 100 may also include relay stations. A relay station is a station that receives a transmission of data and/or other information from an upstream station (e.g. an eNodeB or a UE) and sends a transmission of data and/or other information to a downstream station (e.g. example, a UE or an eNodeB). A relay station can also be a UE that relays transmissions to other UEs. In the example illustrated in Figure 1, a relay station 110r may communicate with the eNodeB 110a and a UE 120r in order to facilitate communication between the eNodeB 110a and the UE 120r. A relay station may also be referred to as a relay eNodeB, a relay, etc.

[052] The wireless communication system 100 may be a heterogeneous network that includes eNodeBs of different types, e.g., macro eNodeBs, pico eNodeBs, femto eNodeBs, relays, etc. These different types of eNodeBs may have different transmission power levels, different coverage areas, and different impacts on interference in the wireless communication system 100. For example, macro eNodeBs may have a high transmission power level (e.g., 20 Watts) whereas pico eNodeBs, femto eNodeBs, and relays can have a lower transmit power level (e.g., 1 Watt).

[053] The wireless communication system 100 may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, eNodeBs can have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different eNodeBs can be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, eNodeBs may have different frame timing, and transmissions from different eNodeBs may not be time aligned. The techniques described here can be used for both synchronous and asynchronous operation.

[054] A network controller 130 may couple to a set of eNodeBs and provide coordination and control for these eNodeBs. The network controller 130 may communicate with the eNodeBs 110 via a return access channel. The eNodeBs 110 may also communicate with each other, for example, directly or indirectly via the wired or wireless return access channel.

[055] UEs 120 (e.g., 120x, 120y, etc.) may be dispersed throughout the wireless communication system 100, and each UE may be stationary or mobile. A UE may also be referred to as a terminal, a mobile station, a subscriber unit, a station, etc. A UE may be a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless telephone, a wireless local circuit station (WLL) ), a tablet, a netbook, a smart book, etc. A UE may be able to communicate with macro eNodeBs, pico eNodeBs, femto eNodeBs, relays, etc. In Figure 1, a solid line with double arrows indicates the desired transmissions between a UE and a serving eNodeB, which is an eNodeB designated to serve the UE in downlink and/or uplink. A dashed line with double arrows indicates interference transmissions between a UE and an eNodeB.

[056] LTE uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) in downlink and single carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) in uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple orthogonal subcarriers (K), which are also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. In general, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing might be 15 kHz and the minimum resource allocation (called a "resource block") might be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Consequently, the nominal FFT size can be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048 for system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. System bandwidth can also be divided into sub-bands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (that is, 6 resource blocks) and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for the system bandwidth of 1.25, 2 ,5, 5, 10 or 20 MHz respectively.

[057] Figure 2 illustrates a downlink (DL) frame structure used in telecommunications systems (e.g., LTE). The transmission timeline for downlink can be divided into units of radio frames. Each radio frame can have a predetermined duration (for example, 10 milliseconds (ms)) and can be divided into 10 subframes with indices from 0 to 9. Each subframe can include two partitions. Each radio frame can thus include 20 partitions with indices 0 to 19. Each partition can include L symbol periods, for example, 7 symbol periods for a normal cyclic prefix (as illustrated in Figure 2) or 14 symbol periods symbol for an extended cyclic prefix. The 2L symbol periods in each subframe can be assigned indices from 0 to 2L-1. The available time frequency resources can be divided into resource blocks. Each resource block can cover N subcarriers (e.g. 12 subcarriers) in a partition.

[058] In LTE, an eNodeB can send a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) to each cell in the eNodeB. The primary and secondary sync signals can be sent in symbol periods 6 and 5, respectively, in each of subframes 0 and 5 of each radio frame with the normal cyclic prefix, as illustrated in Figure 2. The sync signals can be used by UEs for cell detection and acquisition. The eNodeB can send a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) in symbol periods 0 to 3 in partition 1 of subframe 0. PBCH can carry certain system information.

[059] The eNodeB may send a Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH) in a portion of the first symbol period of each subframe, although presented in the entire first symbol period of Figure 2. PCFICH may carry the number of symbol periods (M) used for control channels, where M can be equal to 1, 2 or 3 and can change from subframe to subframe. M can also be equal to 4 for small system bandwidth, for example, with fewer than 10 resource blocks. In the example illustrated in Figure 2, M = 3. The eNodeB can send a Physical HARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH) and a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) in the first M symbol periods of each subframe (M = 3 in figure 2). PHICH can carry information to support hybrid automatic retransmission (HARQ). PDCCH can carry information on uplink and downlink resource allocation for UEs and power control information for the uplink channels. Although not illustrated in the first symbol period in Figure 2, it is understood that PDCCH and PHICH are also included in the first symbol period. Similarly, PHICH and PDCCH are both also in the second and third symbol periods, although not illustrated as such in Figure 2. The eNodeB can send a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) in the remaining symbol periods of each subframe. PDSCH can carry data to UEs programmed for downlink data transmission. The various signals and channels in LTE are described in 3GPP TS 36.211, titled "Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical Channels and Modulation," which is publicly available.

[060] The eNodeB can send PSS, SSS and PBCH in the center 1.08 MHz of the system bandwidth used by the eNodeB. The eNodeB can send PCFICH and PHIC across the entire system bandwidth in each symbol period in which these channels are sent. The eNodeB can send PDCCH to groups of UEs in certain parts of the system bandwidth. The eNodeB can send PDSCH to specific UEs in specific parts of the system bandwidth. The eNodeB can send PSS, SSS, PBCH, PCFICH, and PHICH in broadcast form to all UEs, can send PDCCH in unicast form to specific UEs, and can also send PDSCH in unicast form to specific UEs.

[061] Various resource elements may be available in each symbol period. Each resource element can cover a subcarrier in a symbol period and can be used to send a modulation symbol, which can be a real or complex value. Resource elements not used for a reference signal in each symbol period can be arranged into resource element groups (REGs). Each REG can include four resource elements in a symbol period. PCFICH may occupy four REGs, which may be spaced appropriately across the frequency, in symbol period 0. PHICH may occupy three REGs, which may be spaced appropriately across the frequency, in one or more configurable symbol periods. For example, the three REGs for PHICH can also belong to symbol period 0 or can be spread across symbol periods 0, 1 and 2. PDCCH can occupy 9, 18, 32 or 64 REGS, which can be selected from REGs available, in the first M symbol periods. Only certain combinations of REGs can be allowed for PDCCH.

[062] A UE may know the specific REGs used for PHICH and PCFICH. The UE can search for different combinations of REGs for PDCCH. The number of combinations to be searched is typically less than the number of combinations allowed for PDCCH. An eNodeB can send PDCCH to the UE in any of the combinations that the UE will fetch.

[063] A UE may be within the coverage of multiple eNodeBs. One of these eNodeBs can be selected to serve the UE. The serving eNodeB can be selected based on various criteria such as received power, missed path, signal to noise ratio (SNR), etc.

[064] Figure 3 is a diagram 300 illustrating an example of an uplink frame structure (UL) in a telecommunications system (e.g., LTE). The resource blocks available to the UL can be divided into a data section and a control section. The control section can be formed on two edges of the system bandwidth and can have a configurable size. Resource blocks in the control section can be assigned to UEs for transmitting control information. The data section can include all resource blocks not included in the control section. The UL frame structure results in the data section including contiguous subcarriers, which can allow a single UE to receive all contiguous subcarriers in the data section.

[065] A UE may receive resource blocks 310a, 310b in the control section to transmit control information to an eNB. The UE may also receive resource blocks 320a, 320b in the data section to transmit the data to the eNB. The UE may transmit control information on a physical UL control channel (PUCCH) in the resource blocks designated in the control section. The UE may transmit data or both data and control information on a physical UL shared channel (PUSCH) in the resource blocks designated in the data section. A UL transmission can span both partitions of a subframe and can hop across frequency.

[066] A set of resource blocks can be used to perform initial system access and achieve UL synchronization on a physical random access channel (PRACH) 330. The PRACH 330 carries a random sequence and does not carry any data/signaling UL. Each random access preamble occupies a bandwidth corresponding to six consecutive resource blocks. The initial frequency is specified by the network. That is, transmission of the random access preamble is restricted to certain time and frequency resources. There is no frequency hopping for PRACH. The PRACH attempt is performed in a single subframe (1 ms) or in a sequence of few contiguous subframes and a UE can perform only one PRACH attempt per frame (10 ms).

[067] Figure 4 illustrates illustrative components of the base station/eNB 110 and UE 120 illustrated in Figure 1, which can be used to implement aspects of the present description. One or more components of the UE 120 may be used to practice aspects of the present disclosure. For example, the antennas 452, Tx/Rx 222, processors 466, 458, 464 and/or controller/processor 480 of the UE 120 may be used to perform the operations described herein and illustrated with reference to Figures 12 to 14.

[068] Figure 4 illustrates a block diagram of a design of a base station/Node B 110 and a UE 120, which may be one of the base stations/Nodes B and one of the UEs in Figure 1. For a situation of restricted association, the base station 110 may be macro eNodeB 110c in Figure 1 and the UE 120 may be the UE 120y. The base station 110 may also be a base station of some other type. The base station 110 may be equipped with antennas 434a to 434t, and the UE 120 may be equipped with antennas 452a to 452r.

[069] At base station 110, a transmission processor 420 may receive data from a data source 412 and control information from a controller/processor 440. The control information may be for PBCH, PCFICH, PHICH, PDCCH, etc. Data can be for PDSCH, etc. The processor 420 may process (e.g., encode and symbol map) the data and control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. Processor 420 may also generate reference symbols, e.g., for PSS, SSS, and cell-specific reference signal. A transmitter (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 430 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, control symbols, and/or reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide output symbol streams for modulators (MODs) 432a through 432t. Each modulator 432 may process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain a stream of output samples. Each modulator 432 may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. Downlink signals from modulators 432a to 432t can be transmitted through antennas 434a to 434t, respectively. The base station 110 may include a PDU communication component 1242 to communicate the PDUs to the UE 120, as further described herein. Although the PDU communication component 1242 is illustrated as coupled to the controller/processor 440, in some examples, the PDU communication component 1242 may also be coupled to other processors (e.g., transmit processor 420, receive processor 438, etc. .) and/or implemented by one or more processors 420, 438, 440 to perform the actions described herein.

[070] In the UE 120, the antennas 452a to 452r can receive the downlink signals from the base station 110 and can provide received signals to the demodulators (DEMODs) 454a to 454r, respectively. Each demodulator 454 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a respective received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 454 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 456 may obtain received symbols from all demodulators 454a to 454r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, and provide detected symbols. A receiving processor 458 may process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data to the UE 120 for a data store 460, and provide decoded control information to a controller/processor 480.

[071] In uplink, at UE 120, a transmission processor 464 may receive and process data (e.g., for PUSCH) from a data source 462 and control information (e.g., for PUCCH) from the controller /processor 480. Transmission processor 464 may also generate reference symbols for a reference signal. The symbols from the transmission processor 464 may be preceded by a MIMO TX processor 466 if applicable, further processed by demodulators 454a to 454r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), and transmitted to the base station 110. At the base station 110, uplink signals from UE 120 may be received by antennas 434, processed by modulators 432, detected by a MIMO detector 436 if applicable, and further processed by a receiving processor 438 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by the UE 120. The receiving processor 438 may provide decoded data to a data store 439 and the decoded control information to the controller/processor 440. The UE 120 may include a PDU processing component 1212 for processing one or more PDUs and /or performing actions for missing or reordered PDUs, as further described here. Although the PDU processing component 1212 is illustrated as coupled to the controller/processor 480, in some examples, the PDU processing component 1212 may also be coupled to other processors (e.g., receive processor 458, transmit processor 464, etc. .) and/or implemented by one or more processors 458, 464, 480 to perform the actions described herein.

[072] Controllers/processors 440 and 480 may direct operation at base station 110 and UE 120, respectively. The processor 480 and/or other processors and modules in the UE 120 may also perform or direct, for example, the execution of the functional blocks illustrated in figures 12 to 14, and/or other processes for the techniques described herein. Memories 442 and 482 can store data and program codes for the base station 110 and the UE 120, respectively. A programmer 444 can program UEs for downlink and/or uplink data transmission.

[073] In one configuration, the UE 120 includes means for receiving Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) protocol data units (PDUs) from one or more Evolved B Nodes (eNBs) using a link associated with each eNB respective, means for tracking a time of receipt of the PDUs by the UE based on the PDCP PDU, and means for performing one or more actions to reorder the received PDCP PDUs based, at least in part, on the tracked time. In one aspect, the above-mentioned means and other means described in the description may be the controller/processor 480, the memory 482, the receiving processor 458, the demodulators 454, and the antennas 452. In another aspect, the above-mentioned means may be be a module or any apparatus configured to perform the aforementioned functions by the aforementioned means.

[074] Figure 5 is a diagram 500 illustrating an example of a radio protocol architecture for the user and control planes in LTE. The radio protocol architecture for UE and the eNB is illustrated with three layers: Layer 1, Layer 2, and Layer 3. Layer 1 (L1 layer) is the lowest layer and implements several physical layer signal processing functions. The L1 layer will be referred to here as the physical layer 506. Layer 2 (L2 layer) 508 is above the physical layer 506 and is responsible for the link between the UE and the eNB through the physical layer 506.

[075] In the user plane, the L2 layer 508 includes a media access control (MAC) sublayer 510, a radio link control (RLC) sublayer 512, and a packet data convergence protocol sublayer (PDCP) 514, which are terminated in the eNB on the network side. Although not illustrated, the UE may have several upper layers above the L2 layer 508 including a network layer (e.g., IP layer) that is enclosed in the PDN access circuit 118 on the network side, and an application layer that is terminated at the other end of the connection (e.g. far-end UE, server, etc.).

[076] The PDCP sublayer 514 provides multiplexing between different radio bearers and logical channels. The PDCP sublayer 514 also provides header compression for the upper layer data packets to reduce radio transmission overhead, provide cryptographic security to the data packets, and support transfer to UEs between eNBs. The RLC sublayer 512 provides segmentation and reassembly of upper layer data packets, the retransmission of lost data packets, and the reordering of data packets to compensate for out-of-order reception due to hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ). The MAC sublayer 510 provides multiplexing between logical and transport channels. The MAC sublayer 510 is also responsible for allocating various radio resources (e.g., resource blocks) in a cell among the UEs. The MAC 510 sublayer is also responsible for HARQ operations.

[077] In the control plane, the radio protocol architecture for the UE and eNB is substantially the same for the physical layer 506 and the L2 layer 508 with the exception that there is no header compression function for the control plane. The control plane also includes a radio resource control (RRC) sublayer 516 at Layer 3 (L3 layer). The RRC sublayer 516 is responsible for obtaining radio resources (i.e., radio bearers) and configuring the lower layers using RRC signaling between the eNB and the UE.

[078] Figure 6 illustrates two illustrative subframe formats 610 and 620 for downlink with the normal cyclic prefix. The time frequency resources available for downlink can be divided into resource blocks. Each resource block can cover 12 subcarriers in a partition and can include multiple resource elements. Each resource element can cover a subcarrier in a symbol period and can be used to send a modulation symbol, which can be a real or complex value.

[079] The subframe format 610 can be used for an eNB equipped with two antennas. A CRS can be transmitted from antennas 0 and 1 in symbol periods 0, 4, 7 and 11. A reference signal is a signal that is known in advance by a transmitter and a receiver and can also be referred to as a pilot. A CRS is a reference signal that is specific to a cell, for example generated based on a cell identity (ID). In Figure 6, for a given resource element with label Ra, a modulation symbol can be transmitted on that resource element from antenna a, and no modulation symbols can be transmitted on that resource element from other antennas. The 620 subframe format can be used for an eNB equipped with four antennas. A CRS can be transmitted from antennas 0 and 1 in symbol periods 0, 4, 7, and 11 and from antennas 2 and 3 in symbol periods 1 and 8. For both the 610 and 620 subframe formats, a CRS can be transmitted on equally spaced subcarriers, which can be determined based on cell ID. Different eNBs can transmit their CRSs on the same or different subcarriers depending on their cell IDs. For both subframe formats 610 and 620, resource elements not used for CRS may be used to transmit data (e.g., traffic data, control data, and/or other data).

[080] PSS, SSS, CRS and PBCH in LTE are described in 3GPP TS 36.211, entitled "Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical Channels and Modulation," which is publicly available.

[081] An interleaving structure can be used for each of downlink and uplink for FDD in LTE. For example, Q interleavings with indices from 0 to Q-1 can be defined, where Q can be equal to 4, 6, 8, 10, or some other value. Each interlace may include subframes that are spaced by Q frames. In particular, q interlacing may include subframes q, q + Q, q + 2Q, etc., where q is {0,...,Q-1}.

[082] The wireless network can support hybrid automatic relay (HARQ) for downlink and uplink data transmission. For HARQ, a transmitter (e.g., an eNB) may send one or more transmissions of a packet until the packet is decoded correctly by a receiver (e.g., a UE) or some other termination condition is met. For synchronous HARQ, all packet transmissions can be sent in subframes of a single interleave. For asynchronous HARQ, each packet transmission can be sent in any subframe.

[083] A UE may be located within the coverage area of multiple eNBs. One of these eNBs can be selected to serve the UE. The serving eNB can be selected based on various criteria such as received signal strength, received signal quality, path loss, etc. Received signal quality can be quantified by a signal to noise and interference ratio (SINR), or a received reference signal quality (RSRQ), or some other metric. The UE may operate in an interference-dominant situation in which the UE may observe high interference from one or more interfering eNBs.

[084] LTE-A UEs can utilize spectrum bandwidth of up to 20 MHz allocated in a carrier aggregation of up to a total of 100 MHz (5 component carriers) used for transmission in each direction. For LTE-A mobile systems, two types of carrier aggregation (CA) methods have been proposed, continuous CA and non-continuous CA. The same are illustrated in figures 7 and 8. Continuous AC occurs when multiple available component carriers are adjacent to each other (figure 7). On the other hand, non-continuous AC occurs when multiple available component carriers are separated across the frequency band (figure 8). Both non-continuous CA and continuous CA aggregate multiple component/LTE carriers to serve a single LTE-A UE unit. According to various embodiments, the UE operating in a multicarrier system (also referred to as carrier aggregation) is configured to aggregate certain functions of multiple carriers, such as control and feedback functions, on the same carrier, which may be referred to as a " primary carrier". The remaining carriers that depend on the primary carrier for support are referred to as associated secondary carriers. For example, the UE may aggregate control functions such as those provided by the optional dedicated channel (DCH), the unscheduled leases, the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and/or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). ).

[085] Figure 9 illustrates a method 900 for controlling radio links in a multiple-carrier wireless communication system by grouping physical channels according to an example. As illustrated, the method includes, in block 905, the functions of controlling aggregation of at least two carriers into a carrier to form a primary carrier and one or more associated secondary carriers. Next, in block 910, communication links are established for the primary bearer and each secondary bearer. Then, communication is controlled based on the primary bearer in block 915.

[086] Currently, UEs receive data from an eNodeB. However, users at a cell edge may experience high intercell interference that can limit data rates. Multiple streams allow users to receive data from two eNodeBs simultaneously. It works by sending and receiving data from two eNodeBs in two completely separate streams when a UE is in range of two cell towers in two adjacent cells at the same time. The UE talks to both towers simultaneously when the device is in range of either tower (see figure 10). By scheduling two independent data streams to the mobile device from two different Nodes B at the same time, multistreaming exploits uneven loading on networks. This helps improve the cell edge user experience while increasing network capacity. In one example, performance data speeds for users at a cell edge can double. "Multistream" is similar to dual-carrier High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), however, there are differences. For example, dual-carrier HSPA may not allow connectivity to multiple towers for simultaneous connection to a device.

[087] Dual connectivity (DC) (also known as multiple flow or multiple connectivity) can present benefits in the cellular industry. DC, as referred to here, can also encompass multiple connectivity (e.g., connectivity with more than two links). Users at a cell edge may experience high intercell interference that can limit user data rates. A dual-connectivity/multi-connectivity solution allows a UE to simultaneously connect to two eNBs - a master eNB (MeNB) and one or more secondary eNBs (SeNB) that are not in the same location and can be connected via an access channel. non-ideal return (e.g., return access channel 1120). DC works by sending and receiving data from two eNodeBs in two separate sequences when a UE is in range of two or more cell towers in two or more adjacent cells at the same time. The UE talks to two or more towers simultaneously when the device is at the edge of range of any of the towers (see figure 11). This way, different eNBs can use different programmers, etc. In additional or alternative examples, one or more of the different eNBs may be another type of access point (e.g., a WiFi hotspot) where traffic aggregation (e.g., RAN aggregation) may be provided to aggregate data communicated across the links. with the access point and another access point or eNB in a RAN layer. For example, the UE 120 may include a PDU processing component 1212 for processing one or more received PDUs and/or performing actions for missing or reordered PDUs, as further described herein. Similarly, one or more Evolved Nodes B (eNodeBs) 1102, 1104 or other access points (e.g., WiFi hotspots) may include a PDU communication component 1242 for communicating from the PDUs to the UE 1120, as further described herein.

[088] As illustrated in Figure 11, the UE 120 can be doubly connected to the macro cell 11102 and the small cell 1104 (and/or multiply connected with additional cells/access points), and the eNBs can be connected via a channel non-ideal access 1120 and operate on different carrier frequencies. With carrier aggregation multiple LTEs/component carriers are aggregated to serve a single LTE-A UE unit. By scheduling two or more independent data streams to the mobile device from two or more different B-Nodes (or other types of access points) at the same time, dual connectivity/multiple connectivity exploits uneven loading. This helps improve the cell edge user experience while increasing network capacity. In one example, throughput data speeds for users at a cell edge can double or more.

[089] In certain aspects, due to the distributed nature of this development situation (separate eNBs connected via a non-ideal return access channel) separate uplink control channels for the eNBs (MeNB and SeNB) are used to support operation of distributed programming and independent MAC (Medium Access Control) through eNBs. This is different from CA (Carrier Aggregation) development, in which a single MAC programming entity operates across all bearers and a single uplink control channel is used.

[090] In the current LTE specification, the Primary Cell (MeNB PCell) is the cell that carries the uplink control channels, for example, PUCCH. For dual connectivity, a special cell in SeNB can be introduced in order to support the uplink control channels for SeNB. Furthermore, with dual connectivity/multiple connectivity, uplink control channels for MeNB and SeNB can be used, one for each eNB. The presence of an uplink control channel for SeNB motivates the use of a SeNB Radio Link Monitoring (S-RLM) procedure. This procedure can be used by the UE to trigger SeNB Radio Link Failure (S-RLF). S-RLF is useful, among other things, for triggering procedures that prevent a UE from jamming uplink control channels when it loses the downlink connection to a SeNB. Another reason for using a special RLF procedure for SeNB is that MeNB may experience different channel conditions than SeNB.

[091] In certain respects, unlike the legacy RLF procedure, S-RLF does not involve loss of RRC connection as the connection to MeNB remains. Therefore, certain Plan C procedures (such as RRC Connection Reestablishment) may not be applicable under S-RLF.

[092] As described with reference to Figure 11, a UE using DC, multiple connectivity or other types of traffic/RAN aggregation may consume radio resources provided by at least two different network points (e.g., two eNBs, such as a Master (MeNB) and Secondary (SeNB)), which may not be synchronized or may otherwise have tight timing and/or programming coordination. In LTE, a reordering timer may be provided by dedicated radio support for PDU reordering functionality (e.g., at the PDCP layer), where, based on an expiration of the reordering timer, the service data units (SDU) related to the PDUs for which the reordering timer is started, can be sent to the PDCP layer. Having a single reordering timer for a specific radio bearer can advantageously allow for a straightforward implementation of PDCP reordering.

[093] PDCP reordering in which PDUs may be received out of order and subsequently reordered based on sequence numbers, may allow a UE to communicate with two or more different eNBs without fair scheduling and timing coordination. PDCP reordering may be part of further aggregation between LTE and Wi-Fi/5G wireless technology systems. The PDCP layer performs several functions such as (i) IP packet header compression along with its corresponding decompression, (ii) integrity verification and protection that helps ensure that the correct source sends the control information, and (iii) encryption and data decryption from both the user and control plane. Furthermore, the PDCP layer can be used to send RRC messages. In the UL direction, PDCP SDUs can be received from RRC and non-access extract (NAS), encrypted, and sent to the RLC layer. In the downlink direction, the PDCP layer can also handle in-order distribution and detect duplicate packets. Additionally, to ensure that no data is lost in connection with a transfer, undistributed packets are sent to a new eNB via the PDCP layer. In the uplink direction, all packets that were not indicated by lower layers as having been completed can be retransmitted by the PDCP layer since HARQ stores can be flushed by lower layers when a transfer occurs.

[094] The PDCP layer of a UE may reorder PDCP PDUs received on two or more different links associated with two or more different eNBs (or other access points) that are doubly or multiply connected with the UE. The reordering may be based, for example, on sequence numbers (SNs) associated with received PDCP PDUs. Additionally, on each link, there may be a reordering performed by the RLC layer or other layers below the PDCP layer (see, for example, 512 and 514 of figure 5).

[095] In some cases, however, the two eNBs/access points may not always be synchronized in time and/or the links associated with each of the eNBs/access points may experience different delays. In an example in which the links of two eNBs/access points experience different delays, PDUs from one eNB/access point may arrive out of order at the PDCP layer.

[096] For example, with reference to Figure 11, a UE 120 may include a PDU processing component 1212 to process one or more received PDUs and/or perform actions for missing or reordered PDUs, as further described herein. Similarly, one or more Evolved Node Bs (eNodeBs) or other access points (e.g., Wi-Fi hotspots), such as Macro cell 1102, small cell 1104, etc., may include a PDU communication component 1242 to communication of the PDUs to the UE 120, as further described herein. In an example, the UE 120 may receive PDUs with SNS 1-5 from Macro cell 1102 at time T1. At time T2, the UE 120 may then receive PDUs with SNs 10-15 from the Macro cell 1102 without first receiving PDUs with SNS 6-9 from the small cell 1104 (or another cell). PDUs with SNS 10-15 received at time T2 can thus be considered out of order, with PDUs with SNs 6-9 missing.

[097] When a PDU is received out of order, the UE may initiate a reorder timer to wait for PDUs missing from order (e.g., in the example above, PDUs with SNs 6-9 to be received from small cell 1104 or other cell). If the missing PDUs are received before the expiration of the reordering timer, the PDCP layer of the UE may send the received SDUs/PDUs to a higher layer in ascending order. In an example, similar reorder timer, SDU/PDU leveling, etc. concepts can be applied where PDUs are received from multiple eNBs/access points at other layers (e.g., PDUs received at a transmission control protocol (TCP) layer, which are comprised of PDCP SDUs).

[098] If, however, due to poor link quality or overload on the eNB, missing PDUs are not received before the expiration of the reorder timer, the PDCP layer may send all PDCP SDUs (e.g., RLC PDUs) to a higher layer in ascending order up to the PDU associated with a Reordering_PDCP_RX_COUNT and any subsequent consecutively received SDUs relating to the PDU. Once the reorder timer expires, the PDCP layer can "give up" the missing PDUs and distribute what it has received so far to the upper layer, leaving the upper layer to deal with the missing packets. In some cases, the reordering timer may expire as packets coming from another eNB's link may be delayed due to, for example, overload or other undesirable link conditions. In another situation, if the link is poor between the eNB and the UE, multiple retransmissions may be used in an attempt to fully distribute the packets, thus causing a delay. In case of TCP, the receiver may generate a duplicate ACK. Additionally, SDUs can be transmitted by an eNB in ascending order. For example, if the UE receives PDCP PDUs of sequence number N, then the UE may not receive PDCP PDUs of sequence number < N if not received before the PDCP PDU of sequence number N.

[099] In Acknowledgment Mode (AM), which can be used in dual connectivity (or multiple connectivity), missing PDUs that the PDCP layer UEs may have given up can still be transmitted (e.g., retransmitted) by the eNB, only to be discarded by the UE once received later. The eNB may continue to send the missing PDUs until the eNB receives an ACK (from one of the UEs) for missing PDUs. Additionally, with AM, an ACK can be sent based on the receipt of a packet and a NAK can be sent based on the detection that a packet was not received.

[0100] In an example with reference to Figure 11, assuming a PDCP reordering timer of 100 ms, at time T, a UE 120 can receive PDUs with SNS = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 in order on Bearer 1 from Macro cell 1102. The PDCP layer of the UEs may subsequently distribute corresponding SDUs to a higher layer (e.g., a TCP/IP layer, User Datagram Protocol (UDP) layer, etc. ).

[0101] At time T + 1 ms, the UE 120 may receive PDUs with SNs = 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 on Bearer 1 of Macro cell 1102. However, the UE 120, at that time, may not have received PDUs with SNS = 6, 7, 8, 9. For example, UE 120 may not have received these PDUs from small cell 1104 (or other eNB/DC access point or RAN traffic/aggregation) on Bearer 2. For example, this may be due to a link quality problem, an overload delay, or other condition in the small cell 1104 or related to Bearer 2. As such, the UE 120 may subsequently start a reorder timer ( for example, set to 100 ms) and can set a Reordering_PDCP_RX_COUNT to 16 (that is, the last PDCP PDU SN + 1 received).

[0102] At time + 101 ms, PDU SNS = 6, 7, 8, 9 may not yet have received from small cell 1104 on Bearer 2, and as a result of this, the reorder timer started at T + 1 ms expires. Subsequently, the PDCP layer can distribute PDCP SDUs corresponding to SNS = 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 to the upper layer. When PDUs with SNS = 6, 7, 8, 9 are subsequently received on Bearer 2 from the small cell 1104, the PDCP layer may discard them as they are outside the receive window (i.e., after the expiration of the PDU timer). reordering).

[0103] Thus, in one example, transmission of PDUs with SNs = 6, 7, 8, 9 may not be necessary and thus may be wasted on Bearer 2 by small cell 1104 since PDUs arrived after the reorder timer has expired. This may be even more pronounced, in one example, for the following reasons. First, Bearer 2 may have an undesirable geometry (e.g., poor link quality) for the UE, which may result in consuming more eNB resources to carry the payload (e.g., the eNB may retransmit the payload often only to be eliminated by the UE 120) and potentially causing a radio link failure (RLF). Second, the small cell 1104 may be overloaded and transmit unnecessary payload (e.g., payload that will just be discarded by the UE) potentially impacting the user experience of other UEs.

[0104] Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for avoiding unnecessary PDU transmissions (e.g., at the PDCP layer or other layers), for example, when a reorder timer expires. That is, aspects of the present description provide techniques for avoiding the transmission of PDUs that may eventually be discarded by the UE, for example, as they arrive after the reordering timer has expired.

[0105] With reference to figures 12 to 16, aspects are presented with reference to one or more components and one or more methods that can perform the actions or functions described here. In one aspect, the term "component" as used herein may be one of the parts that create a system, may be hardware or software or some combination thereof, and may be divided into other components. Although the operations described below in figures 13 to 16 are presented in a particular order and/or as being performed by an illustrative component, it should be understood that the ordering of the actions and the components performing the actions may vary depending on the Implementation. Furthermore, it should be understood that the following actions or functions may be performed by a specially programmed processor, a processor running specially programmed software or computer readable medium, or by any other combination of a hardware component and/or a software component. software capable of performing the actions or functions described, such as a processor and software, a processor and code, a processor and memory, etc.

[0106] Figure 12 illustrates an illustrative system 1200 for communicating PDUs in wireless communications. System 1200 includes a UE 120 that communicates with a base station 1204 (which may include an eNodeB 110, a macro cell 1102, a small cell 1104, or substantially any access point) at multiple network layers, which may include receiving of PDUs at a network layer which can be SDUs for the formation of PDUs at a lower network layer, etc. In an example, the base station 1204 and the UE 120 may have established one or more downlink channels through which to communicate downlink signals 408, which may be transmitted by the base station 1204 (e.g., via the transceiver 1256) and received by the UE 120 (e.g., via transceiver 1206) for communicating control and/or data messages (e.g., in signaling) from the base station 1204 to the UE 120 via the configured communication resources. Furthermore, for example, the base station 1204 and the UE 120 may have established one or more uplink channels through which they communicate via uplink signals 1208, which may be transmitted by the UE 120 (e.g., via the transceiver 1206). and received by the base station 1204 (e.g., via transceiver 1256) for communicating control and/or data messages (e.g., in signaling) from the UE 120 to the base station 1204 via configured communication resources. In one example, the PDU communication component 1242 may transmit one or more PDUs 1280 in a first network layer 1240 (e.g., where one or more PDUs 1280 may be transmitted in one or more PDUs of a second network layer 1260). to the UE 120, as described, which may be received by the first network layer 1210 (e.g., through a second lower network layer 1220 as one or more PDUs thereof.

[0107] In one aspect, the UE 120 may include one or more processors 1203 and/or a memory 1205 that may be communicatively coupled, for example, via one or more buses 1207 and may operate in conjunction with or from another to implement a PDU processing component 1212 for processing one or more PDUs received from a base station 1204 (or other transmitting device) through one or more network layers. For example, the various operations related to the PDU processing component 1212 as described herein may be implemented or otherwise performed by one or more processors 1203 and, in one aspect, may be performed by a single processor, while in other aspects , different operations can be performed by a combination of two or more different processors. For example, in one aspect, one or more processors 1203 may include any or any combination of a modem processor, or a baseband processor, or a digital signal processor, or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a transmit processor, receive processor, or a transceiver processor associated with transceiver 1206. Additionally, for example, memory 1206 may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium that includes, but is not limited to, random access memory ( RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), a magnetic storage device (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, and magnetic stripe), a disk optical disk (e.g., compact disc (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD)), a smart card, a flash memory device (e.g., card, stick, key drive), a registry, a removable floppy disk, and any other suitable medium for storing software and/or computer-readable code or instructions that can be accessed and read by a computer or one or more processors 1203. Furthermore, the memory 1205 or the computer-readable storage medium may be resident in a or more processors 1203, may be outside one or more processors 1203, distributed across multiple entities including one or more processors 1203, etc.

[0108] In particular, the one or more processors 1203 and/or memory 1205 may perform actions or operations defined by the PDU processing component 1212 or its subcomponents. For example, the one or more processors 1203 and/or memory 1205 may perform actions or operations defined by a PDU reordering component 1214 to reorder PDUs received out of order from one or more base stations or other access points, such as the base station 1204. In one aspect, for example, the PDU reordering component 1214 may include hardware (e.g., one or more processor modules of one or more processors 1203) and/or a computer-readable code or instructions stored in memory 1205 and executable by at least one or more processors 1203 to perform the specially configured PDU reordering operations described herein. Additionally, for example, the PDU reordering component 1214 may include a reordering timer 1216 to determine when to send PDUs that are received out of order without subsequently receiving other PDUs in sequence. For example, one or more processors 1203 and/or memory 1205 may perform actions or operations defined by a status notification component 1218 to notify another network layer and/or one or more base stations/access points that one or more PDUs were received or not. In one aspect, for example, the status notification component 1218 may include hardware (e.g., one or more processor modules of one or more processors 1203) and/or computer-readable code or instructions stored in memory 1205 and executable. by at least one of one or more processors 1203 to perform the specially configured status notification operations described herein.

[0109] In an example, one or more processors 1203 and/or memory 1205 may perform the actions or operations of the PDU processing component 1212 on a first network layer 1210, and may also perform the actions or operations on a second network layer network 1220. For example, the first network layer 1210 and the second network layer 1220 may each be one or more network layers described in Figure 5 (e.g., a PDCP layer 514, an RLC layer 512) and /or other layers, such as a TCP layer, IP layer, TCP/IP layer, UDP layer, etc. In a specific example, the first network layer 1210 may be a PDCP layer and the second network layer 1220 may be an RLC layer such that the second network layer 1220 may send RLC SDUs that include one or more PDCP PDUs to the first network layer 1210, and the first network layer 1210 may form the PDCP SDUs (e.g., for provision to other network layers, such as a TCP/IP layer, etc.). In another specific example, the first network layer 1210 may be a TCP/IP layer and the second network layer 1220 may be a PDCP layer such that the second network layer 1220 may send PDCP SDUs that include one or more TCP PDUs. /IP to the first network layer 1210, and the first network layer 1210 may form TCP/IP SDUs (e.g., for provision to other network layers, such as an application layer).

[0110] In another aspect, the one or more processors 1203 and/or memory 1205 may optionally perform the actions or operations defined by a PDU Provisioning Component 1222 to provide one or more SDUs including higher network layer PDUs to the upper network layer (e.g., the first network layer 1210). In one aspect, for example, the PDU supply component 1222 may include hardware (e.g., one or more processor modules of one or more processors 1203) and/or computer-readable code or instructions stored in memory 1205 and executable by at least one of one or more processors 1203 to perform the specially configured SDU/PDU providing operators described herein. In one aspect, one or more processors 1203 and/or memory 1205 may optionally perform actions or operations defined by a situation processing component 1224 to receive and/or process a situation from another network layer with respect to receiving a or more PDUs or portions thereof from the second network layer 1220. In one aspect, for example, the situation processing component 1224 may include hardware (e.g., one or more processor modules of one or more processors 1203) and/or computer-readable code or instructions stored in memory 1205 and executable by at least one of one or more processors 1203 to perform the specially configured situation processing operations described herein.

[0111] Similarly, in one aspect, the base station 1204 may include one or more processors 1253 and/or a memory 1255 that may be communicatively coupled, e.g., via one or more buses 1257, and may operate in conjunction with or otherwise implement a PDU communication component 1242 to communicate (e.g., transmit, retransmit, etc.) one or more PDUs to one or more UEs (e.g., the UE 120 through one or more layers of network, as described). For example, the various functions related to the PDU communication component 1242 may be implemented or otherwise performed by one or more processors 1253 and, in one aspect, may be performed by a singular processor, while in other aspects, different functions can be executed by a combination of two or more different processors, as described above. It should be appreciated, in an example, that one or more processors 1253 and/or memory 1255 may be configured as described in examples above with respect to one or more processors 1203 and/or memory 1205 of the UE 120.

[0112] In an example, one or more processors 1253 and/or memory 1255 may perform actions or operations defined by the PDU communication component 1242 or its subcomponents. For example, one or more processors 1253 and/or memory 1255 may perform actions or operations defined by a situation processing component 1244 to process a situation from one or more UEs related to receiving one or more PDUs from the base station 1204. In one aspect, for example, the situation processing component 1244 may include hardware (e.g., one or more processor modules of one or more processors 1253) and/or computer-readable code or instructions stored in memory 1255 and executable by at least one of one or more processors 1253 to perform the specially configured situation processing operations described herein.

[0113] In an example, one or more processors 1253 and/or memory 1255 may perform the actions or operations of the PDU communication component 1242 on a first network layer 1240, and may also perform the actions or operations on a second network layer network 1260. For example, the first network layer 1240 and the second network layer 1260 may each be one or more network layers described in Figure 5 (e.g., an RLC layer 512, a PDCP layer 514), and/or other layers, such as a TCP layer, an IP layer, a TCP/IP layer, a UDP layer, etc. In a specific example, the first network layer 1240 may be a PDCP layer and the second network layer 1260 may be an RLC layer such that the first network layer 1240 may provide PDCP PDUs to the second network layer 1260, which may form RLC PDUs to send to the UE 120. In another specific example, the first network layer 1240 may be a TCP/IP layer and the second network layer 1260 may be a PDCP layer such that the first network layer 1240 may provide TCP/IP PDUs to the second network layer 1260, which may form PDCP PDUs to send to the UE 120 (e.g., as one or more corresponding RLC PDUs, etc.).

[0114] In another aspect, the one or more processors 1253 and/or memory 1255 may optionally perform actions or operations defined by a PDU generation component 1262 to generate or otherwise receive one or more PDUs from another layer of network (e.g., first network layer 1240) to transmit (e.g., via transceiver 1256). In one aspect, for example, the PDU generating component 1262 may include hardware (e.g., one or more processor modules of one or more processors 1253) and/or computer-readable code or instructions stored in memory 1255 and executable by at least one of one or more processors 1253 to perform the specially configured PDU generation operations described herein. In one aspect, one or more processors 1253 and/or memory 1255 may optionally perform the actions or operations defined by a situation processing component 1264 to receive and/or process a situation from another network layer with respect to receiving a one or more PDUs or portions thereof from the second network layer 1260. In one aspect, for example, the situation processing component 1264 may include hardware (e.g., one or more processor modules of one or more processors 1253 ) and/or computer-readable code or instructions stored in memory 1255 and executable by at least one of one or more processors 1253 to perform the specially configured situation processing operations described herein.

[0115] In one example, transceivers 1206, 1256 may be configured to transmit and receive one or more wireless signals through one or more antennas, such as antennas 1201, 1251, respectively, an RF front end or related components (e.g., one or more power amplifiers, one or more low-noise amplifiers, one or more filters, one or more digital-to-analog converters, or analog-to-digital converters, etc.), one or more transmitters, and a or more receivers. In one aspect, the transceivers 1206, 1256 can be tuned to operate at specified frequencies so that the UE 120 and/or the base station 1204 can communicate on a determined frequency. In one aspect, the one or more processors 1203 may configure the transceiver 1206 and/or the one or more processors 1253 may configure the transceiver 1256 to operate at a specified frequency and power level based on a configuration, a communication protocol, etc. . to communicate uplink signals and/or downlink signals via uplink or downlink communication channels through one or more CCs.

[0116] In one aspect, transceivers 1206, 1256 may operate in multiple bands (e.g., using a multi-band-multi-mode modem, not illustrated) to process digital data sent and received using transceivers 1206, 1256. In an In this aspect, transceivers 1206, 1256 may be multiband and may be configured to support multiple frequency bands for a specific communications protocol. In one aspect, transceivers 1206, 1256 can be configured to support multiple operational networks and communication protocols. Thus, for example, transceivers 1206, 1256 may allow transmission and/or reception of signals based on a specified modem configuration.

[0117] Figure 13 illustrates illustrative operations 1300 to avoid unnecessary PDU transmissions when a PDCP reorder timer expires. Operations 1300 may be performed, for example, by a user equipment (e.g., UE 120) or substantially any device receiving PDUs in network communications.

[0118] Operation 1300 begins at 1302 by receiving PDUs from one or more transmitter nodes using a link associated with each respective transmitter node. In one aspect, the PDU processing component 1212, for example, in conjunction with one or more processors 1203, memory 1205, and/or transceiver 1206, may receive the PDUs 1280 from one or more transmitter nodes (e.g., base station 1204, substantially any access point, etc.) using the link associated with each respective transmitting node. For example, the PDU processing component 1212 may receive PDUs based on SDUs received at another network layer, such as the second network layer 1220. In one example, the second network layer 1220 may receive PDUs for the second network layer 1220. from the base station 1204 (e.g., from a lower network layer), obtain SDUs from the PDUs, and may provide the PDUs (e.g., via the PDU provisioning component 1222) as SDUs from the second network layer 1220 to the first network layer 1210. The PDU processing component 1212 in this example may form PDUs of the first network layer 1210 based on the SDUs received from the second network layer 1220.

[0119] Operation 1300 includes, at 1304, detecting one or more missing PDUs based, at least in part, on the sequence numbers of the received PDUs. In one aspect, the PDU reordering component 1214, for example, in conjunction with one or more processors 1203, memory 1205, and/or transceiver 1206, may detect one or more missing PDUs based, at least in part, on the numbers of sequence of PDUs received. For example, the PDU reordering component 1214 may receive one or more PDUs from a second transmit node or otherwise via a second link (not illustrated, e.g., via the second network layer 1220) and then may receive a or more additional out-of-order PDUs from the second transmitting node (e.g., through the second network layer 1220) before receiving one or more of the in-order (or sequentially following) PDUs from the first transmitting node (e.g., base station 1204). In one example, the PDU reordering component 1214 may detect this based on evaluating a sequence number of received PDUs (e.g., from the second network layer 1220), and detecting that a next PDU sequence number expected was not received before PDUs with subsequent sequence numbers, as described in several examples here. In one example, the PDU reordering component 1214 may perform payload inspection among the payloads of the lower network layer (e.g., the second network layer 1220) to determine the sequence numbers of the received PDUs.

[0120] Operation 1330 includes, at 1306, starting a timer based on the detection of one or more missing PDUs. In one aspect, the PDU reordering component 1214, for example, in conjunction with one or more processors 1203, memory 1205, and/or transceiver 1206, may start the timer, such as a reordering timer 1216, based on the PDU reordering component 1214. PDU reordering 1214 that detects one or more missing PDUs. For example, the PDU reordering component 1214 may set the reordering timer 1216 to a value configured for the UE 120 (e.g., by a configuration received from the base station 1204 or other network component, a configuration stored in the UE 120, etc.). For example, the PDU reordering component 1214 may set the reordering timer 1216 to 100 ms after determining that an out-of-order PDU has been received, and the reordering timer 1216 may count down from 100 ms (or until 100ms). As described, however, if the PDU reordering component 1214 detects receipt of a missing PDU corresponding to the reordering timer 1216, the PDU reordering component 1214 may interrupt the reordering timer 1216 (e.g., until a next out-of-order packet is detected, at which point the reorder timer 1216 may be initialized to a configured value, such as 100 ms in a specific example).

[0121] Operation 1300 includes, at 1308, in response to timer expiration and without receiving one or more missing PDUs prior to timer expiration, notification to a lower network layer that one or more missing PDUs have been received. In one aspect, the status notification component 1218, for example, in conjunction with one or more processors 1203, memory 1205 and/or transceiver 1206 may, in response to the expiration of the timer (e.g., reorder timer 1216) and without receive one or more missing PDUs before the timer expires, notify a lower network layer (e.g., second network layer 1220 and/or a lower network layer at base station 1204 via second network layer 1220) that a or more missing PDUs were received. This may prevent the second network layer 1220 from attempting to receive or otherwise send the missing PDUs to the first network layer 1210. In another example, this may prevent the transmitting node from attempting to transmit one or more PDUs from the lower network layer. (e.g., the second network layer 1260) that corresponds to one or more PDUs of the upper network layer (e.g., the first network layer 1240).

[0122] In an example, notification that one or more missing PDUs have been received at 1308 may optionally include, at 1310, receiving notice of receipt of one or more missing PDUs to the lower network layer. In one example, the status notification component 1218 may acknowledge receipt of one or more missing PDUs, even though the PDUs have not been received. In this example, the second network layer 1220 may refrain from attempting to receive and send one or more missing PDUs as the second network layer 1220 moves from the one or more missing PDUs to attempt to receive one or more subsequent PDUs based on the acknowledgment of receipt.

[0123] In another example, notification that one or more missing PDUs have been received at 1308 may optionally include, at 1312, the indication of a first missing sequence (FMS) to the lower network layer. In one aspect, the status notification component 1218, for example, in conjunction with one or more processors 1203, memory 1205, and/or transceiver 1206, may indicate FMS to the lower network layer (e.g., the second network layer 1220), where the FMS may indicate a sequence number of a PDU in the received PDUs having the highest sequence number incremented by 1 (e.g., Last_Submitted_PDCP_RX_SN + 1). In this example, the second network layer 1220 may refrain from attempting to receive and send one or more missing PDUs as the second network layer 1220 attempts to receive and deliver the first network layer 1210 with the PDU having the sequence number + 1 (e.g. Last_Submitted_PDCP_RX_SN + 1).

[0124] Referring back to 1310, in an example, acknowledging receipt of one or more missing PDUs may include the lower network layer (e.g., the second network layer 1220) transmitting a lower network layer status message to the base station 1204 to acknowledge receipt of one or more missing PDUs (e.g., to the FMS), even though the one or more missing PDUs have not yet been received by the UE 120. For example, transmission of this acknowledgment may include transmitting an RLC situation PDU where the second network layer 1206 is an RLC layer, a PDCP situation PDU where the second network layer 1260 is a PDCP layer, etc. The status message transmitted in this regard may prevent additional transmission/retransmission attempts by base station 1204 of any missing lower network layer PDUs associated with missing higher network layer sequence numbers (e.g., the first network layer) smaller than a first mission sequence (FMS) by base station 1204. For example, the status processing component 1264 may receive confirmation of receipt of the status message from the lower network layer PDUs ( e.g., the second network layer 1260) corresponding to one or more missing upper network layer PDUs, and the second network layer 1260 may refrain from transmitting the lower network layer PDUs, may remove the lower network layer PDUs. bottom network of a queue for transmission by 1256 transceiver, etc.

[0125] In another example, as further described herein, indicating the FMS at 1312 may include transmitting a higher network layer status PDU (e.g., the first network layer 1210) to the transmitting node (e.g., the base station 1204) indicating receipt of PDUs having sequence numbers lower than the FMS. For example, the status notification component 1218 may transmit the upper network layer status PDU (e.g., PDCP status PDU, TCP/IP status PDU, etc.) to the base station 1204 indicating Last_Submitted_PDCP_RX_SN + 1). In this example, the situation processing component 1244 may receive the upper network layer situation PDU, and may cause the second network layer 1260 to refrain from transmitting the lower network layer PDUs that correspond to the lower network layer PDUs. higher network having a lower sequence number than the FMS. For example, the second network layer 1260 may determine whether one or more lower network layer PDUs to be transmitted are related to the higher network layer PDUs having a sequence number lower than the FMS, and may accordingly whether refrain from transmitting/retransmitting lower network layer PDUs, eliminating or sending lower network layer PDUs and/or similar. Additionally, for example, the PDU communication component 1242 may provide PDUs with sequence numbers of FMS or higher to the second network layer 1260, and the PDU generation component 1262 may generate the lower network layer PDUs from the PDUs of the first network layer 1240 to transmit to the UE 120 via the transceiver 1256. In this way, the base station 1204 can eliminate the transmission/retransmission of the lower network layer PDUs corresponding to the missing PDUs based on the receipt of the situation PDU to from UE 120.

[0126] Figure 14 illustrates illustrative operations 1400 to avoid unnecessary PDCP PDU transmissions, for example when a PDCP reorder timer expires. Operations 1400 may be performed, for example, by user equipment (e.g., UE 120).

[0127] Operations 1400 begin at 1402 by receiving Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) protocol data units (PDUs) from one or more Evolved B Nodes (eNBs) using a link associated with each respective eNB. In one aspect, the PDU processing component 1212, for example, in conjunction with one or more processors 1203, memory 1205, and/or transceiver 1206, may receive the PDCP PDUs from one or more eNBs, such as the base station 1204, using a link associated with each respective eNB. At 1404, the UE detects one or more missing PDCP PDUs based, at least in part, on the sequence numbers of the received PDCP PDUs. In one aspect, the PDU reordering component 1214, for example, in conjunction with one or more processors 1203, memory 1205, and/or transceiver 1206, may detect one or more missing PDCP PDUs based, at least in part, on the numbers sequence of received PDCP PDUs. As described, the UE 120 may perform payload inspection to determine sequence numbers, and may detect when there is a gap in the received sequence numbers (e.g., when a PDU with a higher than expected sequence number is received). . At 1406, the UE starts a timer based on detecting one or more missing PDCP PDUs. In one aspect, the PDU reordering component 1214, for example, in conjunction with one or more processors 1203, memory 1205, and/or transceiver 1206, may start the timer (e.g., reorder timer 1216), based on detection. of one or more missing PDCP PDUs.

[0128] At 1408, in response to timer expiration without receiving one or more missing PDCP PDUs prior to timer expiration, the UE takes one or more actions to prevent transmission of one or more missing PDCP PDUs by the one or more eNBs. In one aspect, the status notification component 1218, for example, in conjunction with one or more processors 1203, memory 1205 and/or transceiver 1206 may, in response to timer expiration without receiving one or more missing PDCP PDUs prior to expiration. of the timer, performs one or more actions to prevent transmission of one or more missing PDCP PDUs by the one or more eNBs.

[0129] As noted above, the UE (e.g., via status notification component 1218) may take one or more actions to prevent unnecessary transmissions by one or more eNBs of one or more missing PDCP PDUs. For example, when a PDU is sent out of order, the UE may initiate a reorder timer 1216. After the expiration of the reorder timer 1216 and execution of standard specified reorder timer expiration processing, the UE may generate a PDU situation (e.g., a PDCP situation PDU) including an indication of an FMS with a given value for Last_Submimtted_PDCP_RX_SN + 1 (that is, the last PDCP PDU SN received by the UE plus one). In the above example used in reference to FIG. 11, the FMS may be set to 16. In one example, the base station 1204 or other transmitting node receiving the status PDU may query the lower network layer PDUs (e.g., in the second network layer 1260) that are prepared for transmission to the UE 120 and, where higher network layer PDUs (e.g., in the first network layer 1240) have sequence numbers smaller than the FMS, may discard such lower network layer PDUs. lower network network and refrain from transmitting/retransmitting these PDUs to the UE 120 as described.

[0130] Figure 15 illustrates illustrative operations 1500 to avoid unnecessary transmissions by the eNB. From the UE side, at 1502, the UE detects one or more missing PDCP PDUs based, at least in part, on sequence numbers of the received PDCP PDUs. As described, in one aspect, the PDU reordering component 1214 can detect missing (or out of order) PDCP PDUs. Additionally, at 1504, the UE (e.g., through the PDU reordering component 1214) may start a timer (e.g., the reordering timer 1216) based on the detection of one or more missing PDCP PDUs. At 1506, the UE may, in response to timer expiration without receipt of one or more missing PDCP PDUs prior to timer expiration, send a PDCP status PDU, which provides an indication of the first missing PDCP PDU sequence, to the eNB. As described, in one aspect, the PDCP status notification component 1218 may send the PDCP status PDU, which provides the indication of the first missing PDCP PDU sequence, to the eNB (e.g., by transmitting the PDCP status PDU or, otherwise, acknowledging receipt of corresponding lower network layer PDUs as described), which may be communicated via transceiver 1206 to base station 1204.

[0131] At 1508, the eNB receiving this indication on the PDCP status PDU (e.g., base station 1204) can avoid transmitting the missing RLC PDUs by observing the PDCP status PDU, determining that the PDCP PDUs on the RLC PDU have a PDCP PDU sequence shorter than FMS, and discard such RLC PDUs. In a specific example, the PDCP PDU sequence may correspond to the lowest bits of the PDCP COUNT value as defined by 3GPP technical specification (TS) 36.323. For example, the situation processing component 1244 in the first network layer 1240 of the base station 1204 may receive the indication from the UE 120, and the second network layer 1260 may accordingly determine whether the PDCP PDUs in any of the PDUs RLC generated by the PDU generation component 1262 and for which transmission is attempted or scheduled to be attempted, has a smaller PDCP PDU sequence than the FMS. If so, the PDU generation component 1262 may discard the RLC PDUs so that transmission is avoided. In this way, transmission/retransmission of missing PDCP PDUs is similarly avoided. Furthermore, for example, the PDU communication component 1242 may generate subsequent PDUs (e.g., with a sequence number greater than the received FMS), and the PDU generation component 1262 may generate related lower network layer PDUs to transmission to the UE 120. In this way, for example, the PDCP status PDU may act as a trigger to prevent further transmission/retransmission of missing PDCP PDUs or out-of-order PDCP PDUs and may inform the base station 1204 which is the Expected nearby PDCP PDU so that the base station 1204 can avoid transmitting the PDCP PDUs, or related lower network layer PDUs (e.g., RLC PDUs) that are no longer desired in the UE 120.

[0132] As discussed above, upon receipt of the PDU from the PDCP situation, an eNB may have the option to cancel transmission of PDUs with sequence numbers lower than FMS (e.g., PDUs with SNs = 6, 7, 8, 9 that were not transmitted on Carrier 2 by small cell 1104). As described, for example, where the PDCP reorder timer 1216 expires, the status notification component 1218 may generate and transmit the PDCP status PDU with FMS to the base station 1204. In certain aspects, with this approach, the eNB receives the PDCP status PDU (e.g., via the status processing component 1244). The second network layer of the eNB 1260 (e.g., the RLC layer) may perform a payload inspection to discover the PDCP SNs over their SDUs in the transmission queue and/or retransmission queue of those SDUs (e.g., drop or flatten the SDUs from the queues). In some examples, the status notification component 1218 may generate a PDCP status PDU based on detecting a handover from the UE 120 (e.g., or one or more links) to another base station, access point, related cell, etc. In another example, the status notification component 1218 may generate a PDCP status PDU based on detection of a radio link failure or a change of state, e.g., switching to dual connectivity.

[0133] Figure 16 illustrates other illustrative operations 1600 to avoid unnecessary transmissions by the eNB where performing one or more actions may include, at 1602, the PDCP UE layer, based on PDCP reordering timer expiration, sending an internal message to inform its RLC layers of a plurality of links that one or more missing PDCP PDUs have been received by the PDCP layer. In one aspect, the status notification component 1218 may, based on the expiration of the PDCP reorder timer (e.g., reorder timer 1216), send an internal message (e.g., to the second network layer 1220) to inform its RC layers of a plurality of links that one or more missing PDCP PDUs have been received by the PDCP layer (e.g., the first network layer 1210). The PDCP PDUs may no longer be needed or desirable by the UE 120 based on the expiration of the corresponding reordering timer. In this way, the RLC layer may refrain from attempting to receive RLC PDUs that include one or more missing PDUs and/or may adjust accordingly a receive state variable VR(r) used by the PDU providing component 1222 for receiving the Second network layer PDUs from base station 1204.

[0134] Additionally, at 1604, the UE may perform payload inspection at the RLC layer to determine the PDCP sequence numbers of the PDCP PDUs in the received RLC PDUs. In one aspect, the PDU provisioning component 1222 may perform payload inspection at the RLC layer (e.g., second network layer 1220) to determine the PDCP sequence numbers of the PDCP PDUs in the received RLC PDUs (e.g., as received from base station 1204).

[0135] Furthermore, for example, at 1606, the UE may send an RLC status PDU to acknowledge receipt of the RLC PDUs corresponding to all or a portion of the acknowledged receipt PDCP PDUs so that the eNB does not attempt to retransmit these PDUs RLC that had their receipt confirmed. In one aspect, the status notification component 1218 may send the RLC status PDU to acknowledge receipt of the RLC PDUs (or other second network layer PDUs 1220) corresponding to all or part of the acknowledged PDCP PDUs (or other first network layer PDUs 1210) so that the eNB (e.g., base station 1204) does not attempt to transmit or retransmit these acknowledged receive RLC PDUs.

[0136] Additionally, for example, at 1608, the eNB may receive the RLC status PDU from the UE and may eliminate the transmission or retransmission of the RLC PDUs by carrying the missing PDCP PDUs. In one aspect, the status processing component 1264 may receive the RLC status PDU from the UE 120, and the PDU generation component 1262 may eliminate the transmission or retransmission (or generation) of the confirmed receive RLC PDUs, which may otherwise carry (e.g., or be associated with) the missing PDCP PDUs.

[0137] For example, according to the example above, when the PDCP reordering timer expires, the RLC entity/case associated with Bearer 2 of figure 11 may have received an RLC PDU with SN = 20 bearing PDCP PDU with SN = 9, with all PDCP = 0, 1, 2,...,8 SNs missing, likely being retransmitted by the eNB's RLC transmission entity (e.g., small cell 1104). In certain aspects, with this approach the UE's RLC layer may perform a payload inspection to discover the PDCP SNs of its SDUs, at 1604. In this case, the UE RLC entity (e.g., via the situation 1224) associated with Bearer 2 may generate and transmit an RLC situation PDU with acknowledgment (ACK)_SN = 21 to the eNB (e.g., small cell 1104) so that unnecessary RLC PDU transmission or retransmission can be avoided. For example, when the RLC status PDU with ACK_SN = 21 is received at the eNB (e.g., through the status processing component 1264 of the small cell 1104), the eNB may accordingly determine that all RLC PDUs with SNs Up to 20 RLCs were successfully received by the UE, thus resulting in the eNB not transmitting or retransmitting these missing or unnecessary RLC PDUs even though, in reality, these RLC PDUs may not be successfully received at the UE 120.

[0138] The methods described here comprise one or more steps or actions to achieve the described method. The steps and/or actions of the method can be interchanged with one another without departing from the scope of the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions is specified, the order and/or use of specific steps and/or actions may be modified without departing from the scope of the claims.

[0139] As used herein, a phrase referencing "at least one of" a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including singular elements. As an example, "at least one of: a, b, or c" should cover a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c, plus any combination with multiples of the same element (e.g., a-a, a-a-a , a-a-b, a-a-c, a-b-b, a- c-c, b-b, b-b-b, b-b-c, c-c and c-c-c or any other ordering of a, b and c).

[0140] As used herein, the term "determining" encompasses a wide variety of actions. For example, "determining" may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, querying (e.g., querying a table, database, or other data structure), determining, and the like. Furthermore, "determining" may include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory), and the like. Furthermore, "determining" may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, and the like.

[0141] The foregoing description is provided to enable anyone 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 here may be applied to other aspects. Accordingly, the claims should not be limited to the aspects illustrated here, but the full scope consistent with the language claims should be agreed, where reference to an element in the singular should not mean "one and only one" unless specifically mentioned, but rather "one or more." Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term "some" refers to one or more. All structural or functional equivalences of elements of various aspects described throughout this description, which are known or will become known to those skilled in the art, are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are to be encompassed by the claims. Furthermore, nothing described here should be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such description is explicitly mentioned in the claims. No element of a claim shall be considered under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly mentioned using the phrase "means to" or, in the case of a method claim, the element is mentioned using the phrase "step to".

[0142] The various operations of the methods described above can be performed by any suitable means capable of performing the corresponding functions. The means may include various hardware and/or software components and/or modules, including, but not limited to, a circuit, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or processor. Generally, where there are operations illustrated in the figures, these operations may have corresponding means-plus-function components with similar numbering.

[0143] In certain aspects, such a means may be implemented by processing systems configured to perform the corresponding functions by implementing various algorithms (e.g., in hardware or by executing software instructions) described above. For example, an algorithm for determining a maximum available transmission power of the UE, an algorithm for semi-statically configuring a first guaranteed minimum power available for uplink transmission to a first base station and a second guaranteed minimum power available for uplink transmission to a second base station, and an algorithm for dynamically determining a first maximum transmission energy available for uplink transmission to the first base station and a second maximum transmission energy available for uplink transmission to the second base station based on at least in part, on the maximum available transmission power of the UE, the first minimum guaranteed power, and the second minimum guaranteed power.

[0144] The various logic blocks, modules and illustrative circuits described in connection with the present description may be implemented or realized with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an field programmable gate assembly (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other similar configuration.

[0145] If implemented in hardware, an illustrative hardware configuration may comprise a processing system on a wireless node. The processing system can be implemented with a bus architecture. The bus may include any number of interconnect buses and bridges depending on the specific processing system application and overall design constraints. The bus can connect several circuits including a processor, a machine-readable medium, and a bus interface. The bus interface can be used to connect a network adapter, among other things, to the processing system via the bus. The network adapter can be used to implement the signal processing functions of the PHY layer. In the case of a UE 120 (see figure 1), a user interface (e.g. keyboard, monitor, mouse, joystick, etc.) can also be connected to the bus. The bus can also connect various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits and the like, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further. The processor may be implemented with one or more general and/or special purpose processors. Examples include microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuitry that can run software. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implement the described functionality for the processing system depending on the particular application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

[0146] If implemented in software, functions may be stored or transmitted as one or more instructions or code in a computer-readable medium. Software should be considered broadly to mean instructions, data, or any combination thereof, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. Computer-readable medium includes both computer storage medium and communication medium including any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. The processor may be responsible for bus management and general processing, including execution of software modules stored on the machine-readable storage medium. A computer-readable storage medium may be coupled to a processor so that the processor can read information from and write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. By way of example, the machine-readable medium may include a transmission line, a data-modulated carrier wave, and/or a computer-readable storage medium with instructions stored thereon separate from the wireless node, all of which can be accessed. by the processor through the bus interface. Alternatively, or additionally, the machine-readable medium, or any part thereof, may be integrated into the processor, as may be the case with general register files and/or temporary memory. Examples of machine-readable storage media may include, by way of example, RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory, ROM (Read Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory), EPROM (Read Only Memory). Programmable and Erasable), EEPROM (Electrically Programmable and Erasable Read Only Memory), records, magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks or any other suitable storage medium, or any combination thereof. The machine-readable medium may be embodied in a computer program product.

[0147] A software module may comprise a singular instruction, or many instructions, and may be distributed across several different code segments, between different programs, and across multiple storage media. The computer-readable medium may comprise a number of software modules. Software modules include instructions that, when executed by a device such as a processor, cause the processing system to perform various functions. The software modules may include a transmit module and a receive module. Each software module may reside on a single storage device or may be distributed across multiple storage devices. By way of example, a software module may be loaded into RAM from a hard drive when a trigger event occurs. During execution of the software module, the processor may load some of the instructions into temporary memory to increase access speed. One or more lines of temporary memory can then be loaded into a general register file for execution by the processor. When referring to the functionality of a software module below, it will be understood that such functionality is implemented by the processor when executing instructions from that software module.

[0148] Furthermore, any connection is properly called a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a network site, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared (IR), radio, and microwave, so coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Floppy disk and disc, as used herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray® disc, where floppy disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data magnetically. the data optically with lasers. Thus, in some aspects, the computer-readable medium may comprise non-transitory computer-readable medium (e.g., tangible medium). Additionally, for other aspects the computer readable medium may comprise transient computer readable medium (e.g., a signal). Combinations of the above shall also be included in the scope of computer-readable medium.

[0149] Accordingly, certain aspects may comprise a computer program product to perform the operations presented here. For example, such a computer program product may comprise a computer-readable medium having instructions stored (and/or encoded) therein, the instructions being executable by one or more processors to perform the operations described herein. For example, instructions for determining a maximum available transmission power of the UE, instructions for semi-statically setting a first guaranteed minimum power available for uplink transmission to a first base station and a second guaranteed minimum power available for uplink transmission to a second base station, and instructions for dynamically determining a first maximum transmission energy available for uplink transmission to the first base station and a second maximum transmission energy available for uplink transmission to the second based base station, at least least in part, at the maximum available transmission power of the UE, the first guaranteed minimum power, and the second guaranteed minimum power.

[0150] Additionally, it should be appreciated that modules and/or other means suitable for carrying out the methods and techniques described herein may be downloaded and/or otherwise obtained by a user terminal and/or base station, as applicable. . For example, such a device may be coupled to a server to facilitate the transfer of means to perform the methods described herein. Alternatively, various methods described herein may be provided via storage media (e.g., RAM, ROM, a physical storage medium such as a compact disk (CD) or floppy disk, etc.), so that a user terminal and /or base station can obtain the various methods after coupling or providing the storage means to the device. Furthermore, any technique suitable for providing the methods and techniques described herein to a device may be used.

[0151] It should be understood that the claims are not limited to the precise configuration and components illustrated below. Various modifications, changes and variations may be made in the arrangement, operation and details of the methods and apparatus described above without departing from the scope of the claims.

Claims (14)

1. Method (1300) for wireless communication performed by a user equipment, comprising the steps of: receiving (1302) protocol data units, PDUs, at a network layer from one or more transmission nodes using a link associated with each respective transmission node; detecting (1304) one or more missing PDUs based, at least in part, on the sequence numbers of the received PDUs; starting (1306) a timer based on detection of the one or more missing PDUs; the method characterized by the fact that: in response to the expiration of the timer (1308), and without receipt of the one or more missing PDUs prior to the expiration of the timer, notifying a lower network layer that the one or more missing PDUs have been received . 2. Method according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the step of notifying to the lower network layer comprises the step of receiving notice of the one or more missing PDUs for the lower network layer. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of notifying to the lower network layer comprises the step of transmitting a lower network layer status message to the transmitting node to prevent the transmitting node from transmit the lower network layer PDUs corresponding to the one or more missing PDUs. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of notifying to the lower network layer comprises the step of notifying to a plurality of lower network layers, wherein each of the lower network layers corresponds to the link associated with each respective transmitting node. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more missing PDUs are PDUs of the packet data convergence protocol, PDCP, and wherein the lower network layer is a link control layer radio, RLC. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more missing PDUs are Transmission Control Protocol, TCP, Internet Protocol, IP, TCP/IP, or User Datagram Protocol PDUs. UDP, and wherein the lower network layer is a packet data convergence protocol layer, PDCP, or a radio link control layer, RLC. 7. Method according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that it further comprises the step of transmitting, to one or more transmitting nodes, a status message formed in the network layer that receives data from each link associated with each transmitting node respective, wherein the status message includes an indication of a first missing sequence, FMS, wherein the FMS is selected to prevent transmission of the one or more missing PDUs by the one or more transmitting nodes. 8. Apparatus for wireless communication by a user equipment, UE, comprising: means (1212) for receiving protocol data units, PDUs, at a network layer from one or more transmitting nodes using a link associated with each respective transmitter node; means (1214) for detecting one or more missing PDUs based, at least in part, on the sequence numbers of the received PDUs; means (1216) for starting a timer based on detection of the one or more missing PDUs; the apparatus characterized in that it further comprises: means (1218) for, in response to the expiration of the timer, and without having received the one or more missing PDUs prior to the expiration of the timer, notifying a lower network layer that one or more Missing PDUs were received. 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the means for notification notifies the lower network layer at least in part by confirming receipt of the one or more missing PDUs for the lower network layer. 10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the notification means notifies the lower network layer at least in part by transmitting a lower network layer status message to the transmitting node to prevent the transmitting node transmits the lower network layer PDUs corresponding to the one or more missing PDUs. 11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the notification means notifies the lower network layer at least in part by notifying a plurality of lower network layers, wherein each of the plurality of layers lower network nodes corresponds to the link associated with each respective transmitting node. 12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the one or more missing PDUs are Packet Data Convergence Protocol, PDCP, PDUs, and wherein the lower network layer is a link control layer radio, RLC. 13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the one or more missing PDUs are Transmission Control Protocol, TCP, Internet Protocol, IP, TCP/IP, or Datagram Datagram Protocol PDUs. user, UDP, and wherein the lower network layer is a packet data convergence protocol layer, PDCP, or a radio link control layer, RLC. 14. Memory characterized by the fact that it comprises instructions stored therein, the instructions being executed by a computer to carry out the method as defined in any one of claims 1 to 7.