# US 10,873,671 B2 · Method and apparatus for controlling data volume of secondary GNB > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,873,671 B2 - Document ID: US10873671B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/373,808 - Filed: 2019-04-03 - Published: 2019-10-10 - Granted: 2020-12-22 - Earliest claimed: 2018-04-05 - Assignees: Kt Corporation - Applicants: Kt Corporation - Inventors: Ha Sung Kim; Jai-Sop Hyun - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10873671B2 ## CPC - H04M 15/88: {Provision for limiting connection, or expenditure} - H04L 12/14: Charging, metering or billing arrangements specially adapted for data communications, e.g. authentication, authorisation and accounting [AAA] framework - H04L 12/1403: {Architecture for metering, charging or billing} - H04L 12/141: {Indication of costs} - H04M 15/00: Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication {; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP} - H04M 15/60: {based on actual use of network resources} - H04M 15/82: {Criteria or parameters used for performing billing operations} - H04M 15/8214: {Data or packet based} - H04W 24/08: Testing, {supervising or monitoring} using real traffic - H04W 28/20: Negotiating bandwidth - H04W 80/08: Upper layer protocols {(network arrangements or communication protocols for networked applications H04L67/00)} - H04W 4/24: Accounting or billing - H04W 92/20: between access points - H04M: TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION (circuits for controlling other apparatus via a telephone cable and not involving telephone switching apparatus G08) - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract Provided are a method and an apparatus for controlling NR data volume based on an interface between an NR base station and an LTE base station and an interface between an EPC and the LTE base station in a 5G non-standalone (NSA) network structure using an LTE EPC as a core network. The method includes receiving information about the volume of data that the secondary base station transmits to and receives from a terminal using a radio resource of the secondary base station from the secondary base station, and transmitting a secondary RAT data usage report message including the information about the volume of data the secondary base station transmits to and receives from the terminal using the radio resource of the secondary base station from the secondary base station to a mobility management entity (MME) using an S1-C interface. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for transmitting, by a master base station, data volume information of a secondary base station in a dual-connectivity situation, the method comprising: receiving information about a volume of data transmitted to and received from a terminal using a radio resource of the secondary base station from the secondary base station; and transmitting a secondary radio access technology (RAT) data usage report message comprising the information about the volume of data transmitted to and received from the terminal using the radio resource of the secondary base station from the secondary base station to a mobility management entity (MME) using an S1-C interface, wherein the master base station and the secondary base station use different radio access technologies, wherein the information about the volume of data that the secondary base station transmits to and receives from the terminal using the radio resource of the secondary base station is information about a volume of data transmitted to and received from the terminal in association with an E-RAB terminating at the secondary base station where the E-RAB stands for an E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer or an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access Network Radio Access Bearer, and wherein the information about the volume of data that the secondary base station transmits to and receives from the terminal using the radio resource of the secondary base station excludes a volume of data of a packet forwarded when a PDCP entity is reconfigured, and comprises a duplicated packet which is counted only once when PDCP duplication is activated. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the secondary RAT data usage report message comprises information about a volume of data transmitted to and received from the terminal using the radio resource of the secondary base station for each EPS bearer. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the information about the volume of data that the secondary base station transmits to and receives from the terminal using the radio resource of the secondary base station is counted by a node that hosts a PDCP (Packet Date Convergence Protocol) and comprises both information about a downlink data volume and information about an uplink data volume, the downlink data volume is counted in bytes of a PDCP SDU (Packet Date Convergence Protocol Service Data Unit) successfully delivered to the terminal through the secondary base station or bytes of a PDCP SDU transmitted to the terminal, and the uplink data volume is counted in bytes of a PDCP SDU received by the node that hosts the PDCP using the radio resource of the secondary base station. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein the node that hosts the PDCP generates the information about the downlink data volume by counting the bytes of the PDCP SDU successfully delivered to the terminal through the secondary base station when an RLC entity associated with the PDCP is in an acknowledged mode (AM), and generates the information about the downlink data volume by counting the bytes of the PDCP SDU transmitted to the terminal through the secondary base station when the RLC entity associated with the PDCP is in an unacknowledged mode (UM). ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the information about the volume of data that the secondary base station transmits to and receives from the terminal using the radio resource of the secondary base station is comprised in a report message transmitted from the secondary base station to the master base station, and the report message comprises a message type information element, an MeNB UE X2AP ID information element, an SgNB UE X2AP ID information element, and a secondary RAT usage report list information element. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, wherein the secondary RAT usage report list information element comprises E-RAB identification information, secondary base station type information, E-RAB usage report list information, usage count UL (Uplink) information, and usage count DL (Downlink) information. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the secondary RAT data usage report message further comprises information about a volume of data transmitted to and received from the terminal using the radio resource of the secondary base station in association with a bearer terminating at the master base station. ### Claim 8 A method for transmitting, by a secondary base station, data volume information of the secondary base station in a dual-connectivity situation, the method comprising: counting and generating information about a volume of data that the secondary base station transmits to and receives from a terminal using a radio resource of the secondary base station; and transmitting the information about the volume of data that the secondary base station transmits to and receives from the terminal using the radio resource of the secondary base station to a master base station using an X2 interface, wherein the information about the volume of data that the secondary base station transmits to and receives from the terminal using the radio resource of the secondary base station is comprised in a secondary RAT data usage report message transmitted by the master base station to a mobility management entity (MME), and the master base station and the secondary base station use different radio access technologies, wherein the information about the volume of data that the secondary base station transmits to and receives from the terminal using the radio resource of the secondary base station is information about a volume of data transmitted to and received from the terminal in association with an E-RAB terminating at the secondary base station where the E-RAB stands for an E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer or an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access Network Radio Access Bearer, wherein the information about the volume of data that the secondary base station transmits to and receives from the terminal using the radio resource of the secondary base station excludes a volume of data of a packet forwarded when a PDCP entity is reconfigured, and comprises a duplicated packet which is counted only once when PDCP duplication is activated. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein the counting includes: counting a downlink data volume in bytes of a PDCP SDU (Packet Date Convergence Protocol Service Data Unit) successfully delivered to the terminal through the secondary base station or bytes of a PDCP SDU transmitted to the terminal; and counting an uplink data volume is counted in bytes of a PDCP SDU received by a node that hosts a PDCP using the radio resource of the secondary base station. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the counting includes: generating information about the downlink data volume by counting the bytes of the PDCP SDU (Packet Date Convergence Protocol Service Data Unit) successfully delivered to the terminal through the secondary base station when an RLC entity associated with the PDCP is in an acknowledged mode (AM); and generating information about the downlink data volume by counting the bytes of the PDCP SDU transmitted to the terminal through the secondary base station when the RLC entity associated with the PDCP is in an unacknowledged mode (UM). ### Claim 11 A master base station for transmitting data volume information of a secondary base station in a dual-connectivity situation, the master base station comprising: a receiver configured to receive information about a volume of data transmitted to and received from a terminal using a radio resource of the secondary base station from the secondary base station; and a transmitter configured to transmit a secondary radio access technology (RAT) data usage report message comprising the information about the volume of data transmitted to and received from the terminal using the radio resource of the secondary base station from the secondary base station to a mobility management entity (MME) using an S1-C interface, wherein the master base station and the secondary base station use different radio access technologies, and wherein the information about the volume of data that the secondary base station transmits to and receives from the terminal using the radio resource of the secondary base station is information about a volume of data transmitted to and received from the terminal in association with an E-RAB terminating at the secondary base station where the E-RAB stands for an E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer or an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access Network Radio Access Bearer, wherein the information about the volume of data that the secondary base station transmits to and receives from the terminal using the radio resource of the secondary base station excludes a volume of data of a packet forwarded when a PDCP entity is reconfigured, and includes a duplicated packet which is counted only once when PDCP duplication is activated. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The master base station of claim 11, wherein the secondary RAT data usage report message comprises information about a volume of data transmitted to and received from the terminal using the radio resource of the secondary base station for each EPS bearer. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The master base station of claim 11, wherein the information about the volume of data that the secondary base station transmits to and receives from the terminal using the radio resource of the secondary base station is counted by a node that hosts a PDCP (Packet Date Convergence Protocol) and comprises both information about a downlink data volume and information about an uplink data volume, the downlink data volume is counted in bytes of a PDCP SDU (Packet Date Convergence Protocol Service Data Unit) successfully delivered to the terminal through the secondary base station or bytes of a PDCP SDU transmitted to the terminal, and the uplink data volume is counted in bytes of a PDCP SDU received by the node that hosts the PDCP using the radio resource of the secondary base station. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The master base station of claim 13, wherein the node that hosts the PDCP generates the information about the downlink data volume by counting the bytes of the PDCP SDU successfully delivered to the terminal through the secondary base station when an RLC entity associated with the PDCP is in an acknowledged mode (AM), and generates the information about the downlink data volume by counting the bytes of the PDCP SDU transmitted to the terminal through the secondary base station when the RLC entity associated with the PDCP is in an unacknowledged mode (UM). ### Claim 15 (depends on 11) The master base station of claim 11, wherein the information about the volume of data that the secondary base station transmits to and receives from the terminal using the radio resource of the secondary base station is comprised in a report message transmitted from the secondary base station to the master base station, and the report message comprises a message type information element, an MeNB UE X2AP ID information element, an SgNB UE X2AP ID information element, and a secondary RAT usage report list information element.