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EP-4742820-A2 - DYNAMIC LINK SELECTION

EP4742820A2EP 4742820 A2EP4742820 A2EP 4742820A2EP-4742820-A2

Abstract

A method for dynamic link selection that comprises providing at least two wireless links (605) between one or more network nodes and a wireless device. The at least two wireless links associated with at least two different radio access technologies. The method additionally includes obtaining control data (610) to be sent to a first network node of the one or more network nodes. The control data is associated with a first radio access technology. The method additionally includes selecting one or more wireless links (625) from among the at least two wireless links. The one or more links selected based on a first selection parameter. The one or more selected wireless links are to be used for the transmission of the control data to the first network node. The one or more selected wireless links comprise at least a first wireless link associated with a second radio access technology. The method further includes transmitting the control data (645) associated with the first radio access technology to the first network node via at least the first wireless link associated with the second radio access technology. The method also includes obtaining the control data (650) at the first network node and determining whether the received control data is duplicated control data (655).

Inventors

  • YILMAZ, OSMAN NURI CAN
  • WAGER, STEFAN
  • SUSITAIVAL, RIKKA

Assignees

  • Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20170814

Claims (15)

  1. A method for dynamic link selection comprising: obtaining data to be sent to a network node (610); selecting one or more wireless links (625) to use for the transmission of the data to be sent to the network node, the one or more wireless links selected from a group of at least two available wireless links, the at least two available wireless links associated with at least two different radio access technologies; and transmitting the data to the network node (645) via the selected one or more wireless links.
  2. The method of Claim 1, wherein: the data to be sent comprises control data for a first wireless link of the at least two available wireless links, the first wireless link is associated with a first radio access technology; and transmitting the data to the network node comprises transmitting the control data (645) via at least a second wireless link of the at least two available wireless links, the second wireless link is associated with a second radio access technology different than the first radio access technology.
  3. The method of Claim 1, further comprising, upon selecting at least two wireless links from the group of at least two available wireless links: replicating the data (640) to be transmitted; transmitting the replicated data (645) to the network node via the at least two selected wireless links, the at least two selected wireless links conveying the same data via different radio access technologies; wherein the data transmitted on at least one of the selected wireless links is transmitted to the network node via a second network node.
  4. The method of Claim 1, wherein selecting one or more wireless links to use for the transmission of the data comprises evaluating a link quality (615) associated with each of the wireless links of the group of at least two available wireless links.
  5. The method of Claim 1, wherein selecting one or more wireless links to use for the transmission of the data comprises evaluating buffer status (620) associated with each of the wireless links of the group of at least two available wireless links.
  6. The method of Claim 1: wherein the data to be sent is control plane data; and transmitting the data comprises, for each selected wireless link, forwarding a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Protocol Data Unit (PDU) (635) to a respective lower layer link.
  7. The method of Claim 1, wherein selecting the one or more wireless links (625) is done on a per Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Protocol Data Unit (PDU) basis.
  8. The method of Claim 1, wherein selecting the one or more wireless links (625) is done on a per Radio Link Control (RLC) Protocol Data Unit (PDU) basis.
  9. The method of Claim 1, wherein the data comprises Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages.
  10. A wireless device (110) for dynamic link selection comprising a processor (112) and computer readable storage media (113), the storage media (113) containing instructions executable by the processor (112), whereby the wireless device (110) is operative to: obtain data to be sent to a network node; select one or more wireless links to use for the transmission of the data to be sent to the network node, the one or more wireless links selected from a group of at least two available wireless links, the at least two available wireless links associated with at least two different radio access technologies; and transmit the data to the network node via the selected one or more wireless links.
  11. The wireless device (110) of Claim 10, wherein: the data to be sent comprises control data for a first wireless link of the at least two available wireless links, the first wireless link is associated with a first radio access technology; and the wireless device operative to transmit the data to the network node is further operative to transmit the control data via at least a second wireless link of the at least two available wireless links, the second wireless link is associated with a second radio access technology different than the first radio access technology.
  12. The wireless device (110) of Claim 10, wherein the wireless device (110) is further operative to, upon selecting at least two wireless links from the group of at least two available wireless links: replicate the data to be transmitted; transmit the replicated data to the network node via the at least two selected wireless links, the at least two selected wireless links conveying the same data via different radio access technologies; wherein the data transmitted on at least one of the selected wireless links is transmitted to the network node via a second network node.
  13. The wireless device (110) of Claim 10, wherein the wireless device (110) operative to select one or more wireless links to use for the transmission of the data is further operative to evaluate a link quality associated with each of the wireless links of the group of at least two available wireless links.
  14. The wireless device (110) of Claim 10, wherein the wireless device (110) operative to select one or more wireless links to use for the transmission of the data is further operative to evaluate buffer status associated with each of the wireless links of the group of at least two available wireless links.
  15. The wireless device (110) of Claim 10: wherein the data to be sent is control plane data; and the wireless device (110) operative to transmit the data is further operative to, for each selected wireless link, forward a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Protocol Data Unit (PDU) to a respective lower layer link.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD Embodiments presented herein relate to dynamic link selection, and in particular to methods, network nodes, wireless devices, computer programs, or computer program products for selecting one or more wireless links to use to transmit data. BACKGROUND Overall requirements for the Next Generation (NG) architecture for wireless networks (see TR 23.799, Study on Architecture for Next Generation) and, more specifically the NG Access Technology (see TR 38.913, Study on Scenarios and Requirements for Next Generation Access Technologies) will impact the design of 5G (also referred to as New Radio (NR)) (see RP-160671, New SID Proposal: Study on New Radio Access Technology, DoCoMo) from mobility to control plane design and mechanisms. In Long Term Evolution (LTE), it was discussed during the Dual Connectivity (DC) study item to support sending Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages via both Master Evolved Node B (eNB) (MeNB) and Secondary eNB (SeNB), which is referred to as "RRC diversity". In these studies, it was shown that RRC diversity could provide notable gains in case of multi-layer (inter-frequency) DC scenarios (see 3GPP TR 36.842, Study on Small Cell enhancements for E-UTRA and E-UTRAN; Higher layer aspects (Release 12), December 1113). However, due to lack of time, RRC diversity was down prioritized and left out of the work item. In NR, the requirements (see R2-163993, NR/LTE tight-interworking: CP requirements on Mobility and Dual Connectivity, Ericsson, RAN2#94, 23-27 May 1216) set on Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) services suggest a revisit of RRC diversity once again for multi-layer deployments. In this context, the applicability of a wider set of numerologies and larger range of frequencies could make RRC diversity an even more desirable feature than before. This is because, for instance, while a lower-frequency LTE layer could provide better control plane coverage, a higher-frequency NR layer, thanks to its envisioned Radio Access Technology (RAT) design, may provide faster delivery of a control plane message. In addition, RRC diversity can particularly help improve mobility robustness as discussed within the earlier LTE studies. U.S. Patent Application 15/035729 "DISCARDING A DUPLICATE PROTOCOL DATA UNIT ASSOCIATED WITH A DATA TRANSMISSION VIA A FIRST SIGNALING RADIO BEARER OR A SECOND SIGNALING RADIO BEARER", describes the receiver algorithm for duplicate discard for RRC diversity with splitting done by the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP). It defines how PDCP Protocol Data Units (PDUs) are duplicated using the same sequence number X, and in the receiver the sequence number is used to remove duplications. RRC diversity is envisioned for both the downlink and uplink to address the aforementioned challenges related to URLLC and mobility robustness. However, how dynamic link selection should be realized is still an open question. Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the technical field, unless explicitly defined otherwise herein. All references to "a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc." are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless explicitly stated. SUMMARY An object of embodiments herein is to provide methods, wireless devices, and network nodes that are able to perform dynamic link selection. According to certain embodiments, a method for dynamic link selection comprises providing at least two wireless links between one or more network nodes and a wireless device. The at least two wireless links are associated with at least two different radio access technologies. The method additionally includes obtaining control data that is to be sent to a first network node of the one or more network nodes. The control data is associated with a first radio access technology. The method further includes selecting one or more wireless links from among the at least two wireless links. The one or more wireless links may be selected based on a first selection parameter. The selected one or more wireless links are to be used for the transmission of the control data to the first network node. The selected one or more wireless links includes at least a first wireless link that is associated with a second radio access technology. The method also includes transmitting the control data associated with the first radio access technology to the first network node via at least the first wireless link associated with the second radio access technology. The method additionally includes obtaining the control data at the first network node and determining whether the received control data is duplicated control data. According to some embodiments, a method for dynamic link selection comprises o