Method and apparatus for layer 2 ARQ for packets

• US 8,351,380 B2
• Filed: 05/09/2008
• Issued: 01/08/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kim, Soeng-Hun, Van Der Velde, Himke, Van Lie Shout, Gert Jan
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Chi
• Assistant Examiner(s): HYUN, SOON D
• Application Number:
  US12/117,868
• Publication Number:
  US 20080279171A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,705 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1685 the supervisory signal being transmitted in response to a specific request, e.g. to a polling signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1854 Scheduling and prioritising arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1858 Transmission or retransmission of more than one copy of acknowledgement message
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1883 using multiple timers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/06 Optimizing the usage of the radio link, e.g. header compression, information sizing , discarding information system modifying transmission characteristic according to link quality by modifying frame length H04L1/0007; dynamic adaptation of the packet size for flow control or congestion control H04L47/365
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/044 based on the type of the allocated resource
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/02 Data link layer protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/06 Transport layer protocols, e.g. TCP [Transport Control Protocol] over wireless transmission control protocol/Internet protocol [TCP/IP] or user datagram protocol [UDP] H04L69/16

Abstract

An Automatic Repeat reQuest (ARQ) method in a communication system having a protocol layer structure, in which a Layer 2 (L2) transmitter for generating an upper layer packet in a size suitable for transmission over a radio channel and transmitting the upper layer packet to a lower layer, transmits, to a receiver, polling information representative of an indicator for ordering the generation of a status report, and performs packet ARQ according to whether the status report is received within a predetermined time. The method includes determining whether there is a possibility that upper layer data contained in a packet data unit to be transmitted along with the polling information will cause an upper layer message in the opposite direction; and when there is a possibility that the upper layer data will cause an upper layer message, generating polling information ordering a receiver to wait for a predetermined time after receipt of a packet and to transmit an upper layer packet generated for the waiting time along with a status report, including the polling information in the packet data unit, and delivering the packet data unit to the lower layer.

Claims

1. A packet Automatic Repeat reQuest (ARQ) method performed by a transmitter in a communication system, the method comprising the steps of:

generating a Radio Link Control (RLC) Packet Data Unit (PDU), wherein the RLC PDU includes polling information having a predetermined bit, when there is no subsequent RLC PDU transmission after transmission of the RLC PDU;

transmitting the RLC PDU to a receiver;

segmenting the RLC PDU, when an amount of available resources is less than an amount of resources required for retransmitting the RLC PDU; and

transmitting the segmented RLC PDUs to a lower layer;

wherein the polling information is included in a last segmented RLC PDU of the segmented RLC PDUs.

2. The packet ARQ method of claim 1, further comprising:

starting a polling timer after transmitting the RLC PDU which includes the polling information; and

retransmitting the polling information if a reception status report corresponding to the polling information is not received by a time at which the polling timer expires.

3. A packet Automatic Repeat reQuest (ARQ) method performed by a transmitter in a communication system, the method comprising the steps of:

configuring a Radio Link Control (RLC) entity to transmit a reception status report in response to polling information according to configuration information received from a network;

receiving an RLC packet Data Unit (PDU) including the polling information; and

triggering the reception status report when at least one condition indicating a generation time of the reception status report obtained from the configuration information is satisfied.

4. The packet ARQ method of claim 3, wherein the at least one of condition comprises a first condition indicating that reordering of the RLC PDU including the polling information is completed.

5. The packet ARQ method of claim 4, wherein the at least one of condition comprises, after completing reordering of the RLC PDU including the polling information, a second condition indicating that a predefined waiting time has expired or a third condition indicating that a new packet for transmission arrives from a upper layer.

6. The packet ARQ method of claim 3, wherein the reception status report comprises a sequence number for each of received RLC PDUs and non-received RLC PDUs.

7. A transmitter for performing packet Automatic Repeat reQuest (ARQ) in a communication system, the transmitter comprising:

a controller for generating a Radio Link Control (RLC) Packet Data Unit (PDU), wherein the RLC PDU includes polling information having a predetermined bit when there is no subsequent RLC PDU for transmission after transmission of the RLC PDU, segmenting the RLC PDU when an amount of available resources is less than an amount of resources required for retransmitting the RLC PDU, and controlling a transmission unit to transmit the segmented RLC PDUs to a lower layer; and

a transmission unit for transmitting the RLC PDU to a receiver, and transmitting the segmented RLC PDUs to the lower layer;

wherein the polling information is included in a last RLC PDU segment of the segmented RLC PDUs.

8. The transmitter of claim 7, wherein the controller starts a polling timer after transmitting the RLC PDU including the polling information, and controls the transmission unit to retransmit the polling information if a reception status report corresponding to the polling information is not received by a time the polling timer expires.

9. A transmitter for performing a packet Automatic Repeat reQuest (ARQ) in a communication system, the transmitter comprising:

a controller for configuring a Radio Link Control (RLC) entity to transmit a reception status report in response to polling information according to configuration information received from a network, and triggering the reception status report when at least one condition indicating a generation time of the reception status report obtained from the configuration information is satisfied; and

a reception unit for receiving an RLC Packet Data Unit (PDU) comprising the polling information.

10. The transmitter of claim 9, wherein the at least one condition comprises a first condition indicating that reordering of the RLC PDU comprising the polling information is completed.

11. The transmitter of claim 10, wherein the at least one condition comprises, after completing reordering of the RLC PDU comprising the polling information, a second condition indicating that a predefined waiting time is expired or a third condition indicating that a new packet for transmission arrives from a upper layer.

12. The transmitter of claim 9, wherein the reception status report comprises a sequence number for each of received RLC PDUs and non-received RLC PDUs.