BUFFER STATUS REPORTING IN SMALL CELL NETWORKS

摘要

The invention provides for association of data streams (and/or logical channels) with individual carriers (cells), and independent buffer status reporting per carrier for terminals with more than one uplink carrier configured. In a "Small Cell" scenario for 3GPP LTE, a terminal may be simultaneously served by a macro cell and one or more small cells. These may operate at different frequencies, have different traffic loading and support different QoS (Quality of Service). The invention allows independent control of traffic on the uplinks to the macro cell and the small cells, which can be used to optimize the user experience in relation to the available resources at any given time/location, and allows particular data to be routed via particular cells.