Network coding for bandwidth efficient reliability improvement for urllc service

Abstract

A bandwidth efficient way to improve reliability without introducing additional latency is provided for Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) service in 5G NR. In particular, using rateless fountain codes in conjunction with packet duplication for split bearers at the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer increases the reliability of transmission without the need for retransmissions, and with a lower bandwidth requirement compared to traditional packet duplication.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A transceiver device, comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
 in response to determining that a packet for transmission to a receiver device is associated with a predefined radio access bearer, encoding the packet with a rateless fountain code, resulting in a group of encoded packets from which the packet is regeneratable from a defined quantity of encoded packets of the group of encoded packets; and 
 transmitting the group of encoded packets to the receiver device via a group of relay devices. 
   
     
     
         2 . The transceiver device of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 transmitting respective encoded packets of the group of encoded packets to different relay devices of the group of relay devices.   
     
     
         3 . The transceiver device of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 determining a quantity of encoded packets to generate in the group of encoded packets based on a quantity of network paths of a split bearer to the receiver device.   
     
     
         4 . The transceiver device of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 determining a quantity of encoded packets to generate in the group of encoded packets based on a quantity of relay devices in the group of relay devices.   
     
     
         5 . The transceiver device of  claim 1 , wherein the transceiver device is a base station device and the receiver device is a user equipment. 
     
     
         6 . The transceiver device of  claim 1 , wherein the transceiver device is a user equipment and the receiver device is a base station device. 
     
     
         7 . The transceiver device of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 attaching identical headers to each encoded packet of the group of encoded packets.   
     
     
         8 . A method, comprising:
 in response to determining that a packet for transmission to a second network device is associated with a predefined radio access bearer, encoding, by a first network device comprising a processor, the packet with a rateless fountain code, resulting in a group of encoded packets from which the packet is regeneratable from less than all encoded packets of the group of encoded packets; and   transmitting, by the first network device, the group of encoded packets to the second network device via a group of relay nodes.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the transmitting comprises:
 transmitting respective encoded packets of the group of encoded packets to different relay nodes of the group of relay nodes.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising determining a quantity of encoded packets to generate in the group of encoded packets based on a quantity of network paths of a split bearer to the second network device. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising determining a quantity of encoded packets to generate in the group of encoded packets based on a quantity of donor unit devices in the group of relay nodes. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the first network device is an access point device and the second network device is a mobile device. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the first network device is a mobile device and the second network device is an access point device. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising attaching, by the first network device, identical headers to each encoded packet of the group of encoded packets. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a transmitting device, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
 in response to determining that a packet for transmission to a receiving device is associated with a predefined radio access bearer, encoding the packet with a rateless fountain code, resulting in a group of encoded packets from which the packet is regeneratable from a defined minimum quantity of encoded packets of the group of encoded packets; and   transmitting the group of encoded packets to the receiving device via a group of distributed units.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 transmitting respective encoded packets of the group of encoded packets to different distributed units of the group of distributed units.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 determining a quantity of encoded packets to generate in the group of encoded packets based on a quantity of network paths of a split bearer to the receiving device.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 determining a quantity of encoded packets to generate in the group of encoded packets based on a quantity of relay devices in the group of distributed units.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the transmitting device is a network device and the receiving device is a user equipment. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the transmitting device is a user equipment and the receiving device is a network device.