Informing network about amount of data to be transferred

• US 20040146036A1
• Filed: 08/25/2003
• Published: 07/29/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intellectual Ventures I LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Spyder Navigations LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Parantainen, Janne, Sebire, Guillame
• Granted Patent: US 7,369,508 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/341
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/21 in the uplink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/15 Setup of multiple wireless link connections

Abstract

When uplink signalling radio bearers steal capacity from a user bearer, at least the amount of data waiting for trans-mission on a TBF established for the user bearer should be informed to the network. This can be done by using separate countdown values for each radio bearer, using a first countdown value for the bearer the TBF was established for and a second countdown value which indicates the total amount of data on stealing bearers, or by calculating a common countdown valule indicating the total amount of data on all bearers using the TBF.

Claims

1. A method for informing the network side about the amount of data to be transferred by means of data blocks in a wireless communication system comprising at least a mobile station and a network, the method comprising the steps of:

allocating a first wireless uplink bearer for a connection between the mobile station and the network, the first bearer being allocated for user data transfer;

establishing a first TBF for the first bearer for data block transfer;

allocating at least one second wireless uplink bearer for a connection between the mobile station and the network, the second bearer being a bearer using the first TBF for data block transfer;

adding to each data block transmitted on the first TBF a countdown value indicating at least the amount of data waiting for transmission on the corresponding bearer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first bearer is a user radio bearer and the second bearers are signalling radio bearers, the method further comprising the step of scheduling the resource allocation of the first TBF at least on the basis of countdown values defined for different kind of bearers.

3. A method for informing the network side about the amount of data to be transferred by means of data blocks in a wireless communication system comprising at least a mobile station and a network, the method comprising the steps of:

allocating a first wireless uplink bearer for a connection between the mobile station and the network, the first bearer being allocated for user data transfer;

establishing a first TBF for the first bearer for data block transfer;

allocating at least one second wireless uplink bearer for a connection between the mobile station and the network, the second bearer being a bearer using the first TBF for data block transfer;

adding to a data block belonging to the first bearer a first countdown value indicating the amount of data waiting for transmission on the first bearer; and

adding to a data block of each second bearer a second countdown value indicating the amount of data waiting for transmission on the second bearers.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first bearer is a user radio bearer and the second bearers are signalling radio bearers, the method further comprising the step of scheduling the resource allocation of the first TBF at least on the basis of countdown values defined for different kind of bearers.

5. A method for informing the network side about the amount of data to be transferred by means of data blocks in a wireless communication system comprising at least a mobile station and a network, the method comprising the steps of:

allocating a first wireless uplink bearer for a connection between the mobile station and the network, the first bearer being allocated for user data transfer;

establishing a first TBF for the first bearer for data block transfer;

allocating at least one second wireless uplink bearer for a connection between the mobile station and the network, the second bearer being a bearer using the first TBF for data block transfer;

adding to each data block a countdown value indicating the amount of data waiting for transmission on bearers using the first TBF.

6. A mobile station in a wireless communication system where data is transmitted by means of data blocks on radio bearers, the mobile station comprising

a first routine for sending data blocks on a first TBF established for a first radio bearer the data blocks belong to;

a second routine for sending data blocks of at least one second bearer on the first TBF;

a third routine for calculating a countdown value to be added to a data block transmitted on the first TBF, the countdown value indicating at least the amount of data waiting for transmission on the corresponding bearer; and

a fourth routine for adding the countdown value to the data block.

7. A mobile station in a wireless communication system where data is transmitted by means of data blocks on radio bearers, the mobile station comprising

a first routine for sending data blocks on a first TBF established for a first radio bearer the data blocks belong to;

a second routine for sending data blocks of at least one second bearer on the first TBF;

a third routine for calculating at least a first and a second countdown value to be added to a data block transmitted on the first TBF, the first countdown value indicating at least the amount of data waiting for transmission on the first bearer, and the second countdown value indicating the amount of data waiting for transmission on the second bearers; and

a fourth routine for adding a first countdown value to a data block of to the first bearer and a second countdown value to a data block of each second bearer.

8. A mobile station in a wireless communication system where data is transmitted by means of data blocks on radio bearers, the mobile station comprising

a first routine for sending data blocks on a first TBF established for a first radio bearer the data blocks belong to;

a second routine for sending data blocks of at least one second bearer on the first TBF;

a third routine for calculating a countdown value to be added to a data block transmitted on the first TBF, the countdown value indicating at least the amount of data waiting for transmission on each second bearer using the first TBF; and

a fourth routine for adding the countdown value to the data block.

9. A network node in a wireless communication system where data is transmitted by means of data blocks on radio bearers, the network node comprising

a first routine for receiving data blocks on a first TBF established for a first radio bearer the data blocks belong to, the data blocks comprising a countdown value indicating at least the amount of data waiting for transmission on the first bearer;

a second routine for receiving data blocks of at least one second bearer on the first TBF, the data blocks comprising a countdown value indicating at least the amount of data waiting for transmission on the corresponding bearer; and

a third routine for identifying the radio bearer the data block belongs to and maintaining information on countdown values of different bearers using the first TBF.

10. The network node of claim 9, further comprising a fourth routine for modifying the resource allocation of the first TBF at least on the basis of the countdown values of the first TBF.

11. A network node in a wireless communication system where data is transmitted by means of data blocks on radio bearers, the network node comprising

a first routine for receiving data blocks on a first TBF established for a first radio bearer the data blocks belong to, the data blocks comprising a first countdown value indicating at least the amount of data waiting for transmission on the first bearer;

a second routine for receiving data blocks of at least one second bearer on the first TBF, the data blocks comprising a second countdown value indicating at least the amount of data waiting for transmission on each second bearer using the first TBF; and

a third routine for identifying the radio bearer the data block belongs to and maintaining information on the first and the second countdown value.

12. The network node of claim 11, further comprising a fourth routine for modifying the resource allocation of the first TBF at least on the basis of the countdown values of the first TBF.