ETSI TS 136 322 V15.3.0 (2019-10)

ETSI TS 136 322 V15.3.0 (2019-10)






TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
LTE;
Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA);
Radio Link Control (RLC) protocol specification
(3GPP TS 36.322 version 15.3.0 Release 15)

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3GPP TS 36.322 version 15.3.0 Release 15 1 ETSI TS 136 322 V15.3.0 (2019-10)



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3GPP TS 36.322 version 15.3.0 Release 15 2 ETSI TS 136 322 V15.3.0 (2019-10)
Intellectual Property Rights
Essential patents
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pertaining to these essential IPRs, if any, is publicly available for ETSI members and non-members, and can be found
in ETSI SR 000 314: "Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs); Essential, or potentially Essential, IPRs notified to ETSI in
respect of ETSI standards", which is available from the ETSI Secretariat. Latest updates are available on the ETSI Web
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Legal Notice
This Technical Specification (TS) has been produced by ETSI 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).
The present document may refer to technical specifications or reports using their 3GPP identities. These shall be
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Modal verbs terminology
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provisions).
"must" and "must not" are NOT allowed in ETSI deliverables except when used in direct citation.
ETSI

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3GPP TS 36.322 version 15.3.0 Release 15 3 ETSI TS 136 322 V15.3.0 (2019-10)
Contents
Intellectual Property Rights . 2
Legal Notice . 2
Modal verbs terminology . 2
Foreword . 5
1 Scope . 6
2 References . 6
3 Definitions, symbols and abbreviations . 6
3.1 Definitions . 6
3.2 Abbreviations . 7
4 General . 8
4.1 Introduction . 8
4.2 RLC architecture . 8
4.2.1 RLC entities . 8
4.2.1.1 TM RLC entity . 9
4.2.1.1.1 General . 9
4.2.1.1.2 Transmitting TM RLC entity . 10
4.2.1.1.3 Receiving TM RLC entity . 10
4.2.1.2 UM RLC entity . 10
4.2.1.2.1 General . 10
4.2.1.2.2 Transmitting UM RLC entity . 11
4.2.1.2.3 Receiving UM RLC entity . 11
4.2.1.3 AM RLC entity . 12
4.2.1.3.1 General . 12
4.2.1.3.2 Transmitting side . 12
4.2.1.3.3 Receiving side . 13
4.3 Services . 13
4.3.1 Services provided to upper layers . 13
4.3.2 Services expected from lower layers . 13
4.4 Functions . 14
4.5 Data available for transmission . 14
5 Procedures . 14
5.1 Data transfer procedures . 14
5.1.1 TM data transfer . 14
5.1.1.1 Transmit operations . 14
5.1.1.1.1 General . 14
5.1.1.2 Receive operations . 14
5.1.1.2.1 General . 14
5.1.2 UM data transfer . 15
5.1.2.1 Transmit operations . 15
5.1.2.1.1 General . 15
5.1.2.2 Receive operations . 15
5.1.2.2.1 General . 15
5.1.2.2.2 Actions when an UMD PDU is received from lower layer . 15
5.1.2.2.3 Actions when an UMD PDU is placed in the reception buffer . 15
5.1.2.2.4 Actions when t-Reordering expires . 16
5.1.3 AM data transfer . 16
5.1.3.1 Transmit operations . 16
5.1.3.1.1 General . 16
5.1.3.2 Receive operations . 17
5.1.3.2.1 General . 17
5.1.3.2.2 Actions when a RLC data PDU is received from lower layer . 17
5.1.3.2.3 Actions when a RLC data PDU is placed in the reception buffer . 18
5.1.3.2.4 Actions when t-Reordering expires . 18
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3GPP TS 36.322 version 15.3.0 Release 15 4 ETSI TS 136 322 V15.3.0 (2019-10)
5.2 ARQ procedures . 19
5.2.1 Retransmission . 19
5.2.2 Polling . 20
5.2.2.1 Transmission of a AMD PDU or AMD PDU segment . 20
5.2.2.2 Reception of a STATUS report . 20
5.2.2.3 Expiry of t-PollRetransmit . 21
5.2.3 Status reporting . 21
5.3 SDU discard procedures . 22
5.4 Re-establishment procedure . 22
5.5 Handling of unknown, unforeseen and erroneous protocol data . 23
5.5.1 Reception of PDU with reserved or invalid values . 23
6 Protocol data units, formats and parameters . 23
6.1 Protocol data units . 23
6.1.1 RLC data PDU . 23
6.1.2 RLC control PDU . 23
6.2 Formats and parameters . 23
6.2.1 Formats . 23
6.2.1.1 General . 23
6.2.1.2 TMD PDU . 24
6.2.1.3 UMD PDU . 24
6.2.1.4 AMD PDU . 26
6.2.1.5 AMD PDU segment . 30
6.2.1.6 STATUS PDU . 33
6.2.2 Parameters. 34
6.2.2.1 General . 34
6.2.2.2 Data field . 34
6.2.2.3 Sequence Number (SN) field . 35
6.2.2.4 Extension bit (E) field . 35
6.2.2.5 Length Indicator (LI) field . 35
6.2.2.6 Framing Info (FI) field . 35
6.2.2.7 Segment Offset (SO) field . 36
6.2.2.8 Last Segment Flag (LSF) field . 36
6.2.2.9 Data/Control (D/C) field . 36
6.2.2.10 Re-segmentation Flag (RF) field . 36
6.2.2.11 Polling bit (P) field . 37
6.2.2.12 Reserved 1 (R1) field . 37
6.2.2.13 Control PDU Type (CPT) field . 37
6.2.2.14 Acknowledgement SN (ACK_SN) field . 37
6.2.2.15 Extension bit 1 (E1) field . 37
6.2.2.16 Negative Acknowledgement SN (NACK_SN) field . 38
6.2.2.17 Extension bit 2 (E2) field . 38
6.2.2.18 SO start (SOstart) field . 38
6.2.2.19 SO end (SOend) field . 38
7 Variables, constants and timers . 38
7.1 State variables . 38
7.2 Constants . 40
7.3 Timers . 41
7.4 Configurable parameters . 41
Annex A (normative): List of CRs Containing Early Implementable Features and
Corrections . 42
Annex B (informative): Change history . 43
History . 48

ETSI

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3GPP TS 36.322 version 15.3.0 Release 15 5 ETSI TS 136 322 V15.3.0 (2019-10)
Foreword
rd
This Technical Specification has been produced by the 3 Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).
The contents of the present document are subject to continuing work within the TSG and may change following formal
TSG approval. Should the TSG modify the contents of the present document, it will be re-released by the TSG with an
identifying change of release date and an increase in version number as follows:
Version x.y.z
where:
x the first digit:
1 presented to TSG for information;
2 presented to TSG for approval;
3 or greater indicates TSG approved document under change control.
y the second digit is incremented for all changes of substance, i.e. technical enhancements, corrections,
updates, etc.
z the third digit is incremented when editorial only changes have been incorporated in the document.
ETSI

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3GPP TS 36.322 version 15.3.0 Release 15 6 ETSI TS 136 322 V15.3.0 (2019-10)
1 Scope
The present document specifies the E-UTRA Radio Link Control (RLC) protocol for the UE – E-UTRAN radio
interface.
The specification describes:
- E-UTRA RLC sublayer architecture;
- E-UTRA RLC entities;
- services expected from lower layers by E-UTRA RLC;
- services provided to upper layers by E-UTRA RLC;
- E-UTRA RLC functions;
- elements for peer-to-peer E-UTRA RLC communication including protocol data units, formats and parameters;
- handling of unknown, unforeseen and erroneous protocol data at E-UTRA RLC.
2 References
The following documents contain provisions which, through reference in this text, constitute provisions of the present
document.
- References are either specific (identified by date of publication, edition number, version number, etc.) or non
specific.
- For a specific reference, subsequent revisions do not apply.
- For a non-specific reference, the latest version applies. In the case of a reference to a 3GPP document (including
a GSM document), a non-specific reference implicitly refers to the latest version of that document in the same
Release as the present document.
[1] 3GPP TR 21.905: "Vocabulary for 3GPP Specifications".
[2] 3GPP TS 36.300: "E-UTRA and E-UTRAN Overall Description; Stage 2".
[3] 3GPP TS 36.321: "E-UTRA MAC protocol specification".
[4] 3GPP TS 36.323: "E-UTRA PDCP specification".
[5] 3GPP TS 36.331: "E-UTRA RRC Protocol specification".
[6] 3GPP TS 24.301: "Non-Access-Stratum (NAS) protocol for Evolved Packet System (EPS); Stage
3".
[7] 3GPP TS 23.303: "Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Proximity-based
services (ProSe)".
[8] 3GPP TS 38.323: "NR; Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) specification".
3 Definitions, symbols and abbreviations
3.1 Definitions
For the purposes of the present document, the terms and definitions given in TR 21.905 [1] and the following apply. A
term defined in the present document takes precedence over the definition of the same term, if any, in TR 21.905 [1].
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3GPP TS 36.322 version 15.3.0 Release 15 7 ETSI TS 136 322 V15.3.0 (2019-10)
byte segment: A byte of the Data field of an AMD PDU. Specifically, byte segment number 0 corresponds to the first
byte of the Data field of an AMD PDU.
Data field element: An RLC SDU or an RLC SDU segment that is mapped to the Data field.
NB-IoT: NB-IoT allows access to network services via E-UTRA with a channel bandwidth limited to 200 kHz.
NB-IoT UE: A UE that uses NB-IoT.
RLC SDU segment: A segment of an RLC SDU.
Sidelink communication: AS functionality enabling ProSe Direct Communication as defined in TS 23.303 [7],
between two or more nearby UEs, using E-UTRA technology but not traversing any network node. In this version, the
terminology "sidelink communication" without "V2X" prefix only concerns PS unless specifically stated otherwise.
3.2 Abbreviations
For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviations apply:
AM Acknowledged Mode
AMD AM Data
ARQ Automatic Repeat reQuest
BCCH Broadcast Control CHannel
BCH Broadcast CHannel
BR-BCCH Bandwidth Reduced Broadcast Control CHannel
CCCH Common Control CHannel
DCCH Dedicated Control CHannel
DL DownLink
DL-SCH DL-Shared CHannel
DTCH Dedicated Traffic CHannel
E Extension bit
eNB E-UTRAN Node B
E-UTRA Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access
E-UTRAN Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network
FI Framing Info
HARQ Hybrid ARQ
LI Length Indicator
LSF Last Segment Flag
MAC Medium Access Control
MCCH Multicast Control Channel
MTCH Multicast Traffic Channel
NB-IoT NarrowBand Internet of Things
PCCH Paging Control CHannel
PDU Protocol Data Unit
PS Public Safety
RLC Radio Link Control
RRC Radio Resource Control
SAP Service Access Point
SBCCH Sidelink Broadcast Control Channel
SC-MCCH Single Cell Multicast Control Channel
SC-MTCH Single Cell Multicast Transport Channel
SDU Service Data Unit
SN Sequence Number
SO Segment Offset
STCH Sidelink Traffic Channel
TB Transport Block
TM Transparent Mode
TMD TM Data
UE User Equipment
UL UpLink
UM Unacknowledged Mode
UMD UM Data
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3GPP TS 36.322 version 15.3.0 Release 15 8 ETSI TS 136 322 V15.3.0 (2019-10)
V2X Vehicle-to-Everything
4 General
4.1 Introduction
The objective is to describe the RLC architecture and the RLC entities from a functional point of view.
4.2 RLC architecture
4.2.1 RLC entities
The description in this sub clause is a model and does not specify or restrict implementations.
RRC is generally in control of the RLC configuration. For NB-IoT, RRC configurable parameters are specified in RLC-
Config-NB [5].
Functions of the RLC sub layer are performed by RLC entities. For a RLC entity configured at the eNB, there is a peer
RLC entity configured at the UE and vice versa. For an RLC entity configured at the transmitting UE for STCH or
SBCCH there is a peer RLC entity configured at each receiving UE for STCH or SBCCH.
An RLC entity receives/delivers RLC SDUs from/to upper layer and sends/receives RLC PDUs to/from its peer RLC
entity via lower layers. An RLC PDU can either be a RLC data PDU (see sub clause 6.1.1) or a RLC control PDU (see
sub clause 6.1.2). If an RLC entity receives RLC SDUs from upper layer, it receives them through a single SAP
between RLC and upper layer, and after forming RLC data PDUs from the received RLC SDUs, the RLC entity
delivers the RLC data PDUs to lower layer through a single logical channel. If an RLC entity receives RLC data PDUs
from lower layer, it receives them through a single logical channel, and after forming RLC SDUs from the received
RLC data PDUs, the RLC entity delivers the RLC SDUs to upper layer through a single SAP between RLC and upper
layer. If an RLC entity delivers/receives RLC control PDUs to/from lower layer, it delivers/receives them through the
same logical channel it delivers/receives the RLC data PDUs through.
An RLC entity can be configured to perform data transfer in one of the following three modes: Transparent Mode (TM),
Unacknowledged Mode (UM) or Acknowledged Mode (AM). Consequently, an RLC entity is categorized as a TM
RLC entity, an UM RLC entity or an AM RLC entity depending on the mode of data transfer that the RLC entity is
configured to provide.
A TM RLC entity is configured either as a transmitting TM RLC entity or a receiving TM RLC entity. The transmitting
TM RLC entity receives RLC SDUs from upper layer and sends RLC PDUs to its peer receiving TM RLC entity via
lower layers. The receiving TM RLC entity delivers RLC SDUs to upper layer and receives RLC PDUs from its peer
transmitting TM RLC entity via lower layers.
An UM RLC entity is configured either as a transmitting UM RLC entity or a receiving UM RLC entity. The
transmitting UM RLC entity receives RLC SDUs from upper layer and sends RLC PDUs to its peer receiving UM RLC
entity via lower layers. The receiving UM RLC entity delivers RLC SDUs to upper layer and receives RLC PDUs from
its peer transmitting UM RLC entity via lower layers.
An AM RLC entity consists of a transmitting side and a receiving side. The transmitting side of an A
...