System and method for information delivery with multiple point transmission

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016373365-A1
Application number	US-201615255870-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 2, 2016
Priority date	Oct 7, 2011
Publication date	Dec 22, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system and method for information delivery with multiple point transmission are provided. A method for detecting lost packets is provided. The method includes initiating a timer for a received packet at a receiving transmission point, where the timer is set according to a time value associated with the received packet. The method also includes determining that a delivery of the received packet has failed according to the timer elapsing, and transmitting a lost packet report to a primary transmission point that distributed the received packet to the receiving transmission point.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for operating a user equipment, the method comprising:
receiving, by the user equipment, a plurality of convergence protocol packets of a single bearer from multiple transmission points, wherein the convergence protocol packets comprise respective convergence protocol sequencing numbers, wherein at least one of the convergence protocol packets is received out-of-sequence relative to the convergence protocol sequencing numbers, wherein a first group of the convergence protocol packets are received by a first radio or link control protocol entity of the user equipment, and wherein a second group of the convergence protocol packets are received by a second radio or link control protocol entity of the user equipment; reordering, by a convergence protocol entity of the user equipment, the first and second groups of convergence protocol packets according to the respective convergence protocol sequencing numbers of the convergence protocol packets; and providing the reordered convergence protocol packets to a higher network layer entity of the user equipment.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying a convergence protocol packet associated with a missing convergence protocol sequencing number in a sequence of the convergence protocol sequencing numbers of the reordered convergence protocol packets as an out-of-order convergence protocol packet; repeatedly evaluating whether a lost convergence protocol packet threshold is met for the out-of-order convergence protocol packet; and determining the out-of-order convergence protocol packet is a lost convergence protocol packet when the lost convergence protocol packet threshold is met.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the lost convergence protocol packet threshold comprises a time threshold, wherein repeatedly evaluating whether the lost convergence protocol packet threshold is met for the out-of-order convergence protocol packet comprises starting a timer with a timer value equal to the time threshold, and wherein the start of the timer is triggered by the user equipment receiving a convergence protocol packet associated with a convergence protocol sequencing number larger than a convergence protocol sequencing number associated with the out-of-order convergence protocol packet.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein determining the out-of-order convergence protocol packet as the lost convergence protocol packet comprises stopping considering the out-of-order convergence protocol packet for reordering when the timer is expired before receiving another convergence protocol packet with another convergence protocol sequencing number corresponding to the missing convergence protocol sequencing number in the sequence of convergence protocol sequencing numbers.

5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the lost convergence protocol packet threshold comprises a number threshold, and wherein the lost convergence protocol packet threshold is met when a count of received convergence protocol packets after identifying the out-of-order convergence protocol packet is larger than the number threshold.

6 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the lost convergence protocol packet threshold comprises a number of received convergence protocol packets threshold, and wherein determining the out-of-order convergence protocol packet is the lost convergence protocol packet comprises stopping further considering the out-of-order convergence protocol packet for reordering when a first count of convergence protocol packets received since the convergence protocol packet identified as the out-of-order convergence protocol packet meets the number of received convergence protocol packets threshold before receiving another convergence protocol packet with another convergence protocol sequencing number corresponding to the missing convergence protocol sequencing number in the sequence of convergence protocol sequencing numbers.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the convergence protocol sequencing numbers are COUNT values associated with a packet data convergence protocol.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least some of the plurality of convergence protocol packets are received from a radio or link control protocol entity of a first transmission point, and others of the plurality of convergence protocol packets are received from a radio or link control protocol entity of a second transmission point.

9 . A user equipment comprising:
a receiver, in the user equipment, configured to receive a plurality of convergence protocol packets of a single bearer from multiple transmission points wherein the convergence protocol packets comprise respective convergence protocol sequencing numbers, and wherein at least one of the convergence protocol packets is received out-of-sequence relative to the convergence protocol sequencing numbers; a non-transitory memory storage, in the user equipment, comprising instructions; and one or more processors, in the user equipment and in communication with the receiver and the memory storage, wherein the one or more processors execute the instructions to:
receive, in a first radio or link control protocol entity, a first group of the convergence protocol packets from the receiver;
process, in a second radio or link control protocol entity, a second group of the convergence protocol packets from the receiver; reorder, in a convergence protocol entity, the first and second groups of convergence protocol packets according to the respective convergence protocol sequencing numbers of the convergence protocol packets; and provide the reordered convergence protocol packets to a higher network layer entity of the user equipment.

10 . The user equipment of claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors execute the instructions to:
identify a convergence protocol packet associated with a missing convergence protocol sequencing number in a sequence of the convergence protocol sequencing numbers of the reordered convergence protocol packets as an out-of-order convergence protocol packet; repeatedly evaluate whether a lost convergence protocol packet threshold is met for the out-of-order convergence protocol packet; and determine the out-of-order convergence protocol packet is a lost convergence protocol packet when the lost convergence protocol packet threshold is met.

11 . The user equipment of claim 10 , wherein the lost convergence protocol packet threshold comprises a time threshold, wherein repeatedly evaluating whether the lost convergence protocol packet threshold is met for the out-of-order convergence protocol packet comprises starting a timer with a timer value equal to the time threshold, and wherein the start of the timer is triggered by the user equipment receiving a convergence protocol packet associated with a convergence protocol sequencing number larger than a convergence protocol sequencing number associated with the out-of-order convergence protocol packet.

12 . The user equipment of claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors executing the instructions to determine the out-of-order convergence protocol packet as the lost convergence protocol packet comprises the one or more processors executing the instructions to stop further considering the out-of-order convergence protocol packet for reordering when the timer is expired before receiving another convergence protocol packet with another convergence protocol sequencing number corresponding to the missing convergence protocol sequencing number in the sequence of convergence protocol sequencing numbers.

13 . The user equipment of claim 10 , wherein the lost convergence protocol packet threshold

Assignees

• Futurewei Technologies Inc

Inventors

• Bi Hao
• Sun Yishen

Classifications

• H04L47/34 Primary

  ensuring sequence integrity, e.g. using sequence numbers · CPC title

• H04B7/0417

  Feedback systems · CPC title

• H04L43/04

  Processing captured monitoring data, e.g. for logfile generation · CPC title

• H04L43/0888

  Throughput · CPC title

• H04L45/16

  Multipoint routing · CPC title