Disabling radio link control (RLC) acknowledgments for packets for which acknowledgements are supported at network or higher layer

1. A method of operating a first wireless communications device including a radio transmitter, the method comprising;

identifying a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) packet corresponding to a Radio Link Control Acknowledged Mode (RLC AM); and

generating an Acknowledged Mode Protocol Data Unit (AM PDU) including a polling bit and a No RLC Acknowledgement (ACK) Required (NRAR) indicator; and

operating the radio transmitter in the first wireless communications device to transmit the AM PDU to a second wireless communications device.

2. The method of claim 1 ,

wherein the NRAR is included in a third octet of said AM PDU; and

wherein said Acknowledged Mode Protocol Data Unit (AM PDU) is an Acknowledged Mode Data Protocol Data Unit (AMD PDU).

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the Acknowledged Mode Protocol Data Unit (AM PDU) including the NRAR indicator includes:

inserting the NRAR indicator at the start of a third octet of said AM PDU after a Sequence Number (SN) in the Acknowledged Mode PDU with no Segment Offset (SO), said third octet of said AM PDU further including a reserved bit.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the Acknowledged Mode Protocol Data Unit (AM PDU) including the NRAR indicator includes:

including a Segment Offset in the AM PDU; and

inserting the NRAR indicator after the Segment Offset (SO).

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the NRAR indicator is a one bit indicator, said NRAR indicator being a first bit in an octet of the Acknowledged Mode Protocol Data Unit (AM PDU) including the NRAR.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the NRAR indicator is the first bit in a fifth octet of the Acknowledged Mode Protocol Data Unit (AM PDU) including the NRAR.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the NRAR indicator is set to one to indicate a RLC ACK is not required.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the NRAR indicator is set to zero to indicate a RLC ACK is expected.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

operating the first wireless communications device to receive a RLC STATUS PDU from the second wireless communications device, said RLC STATUS PDU including an ACK report from the second wireless communications device.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein said RLC status PDU includes a sequence number corresponding to the transmitted AM PDU and an indication of ACK or Negative ACK (NACK) for the transmitted PDU.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

transmitting a second AM PDU including a No RLC ACK Required (NRAR) indicator set to one indicating a RLC ACK is not required.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

receiving from the second wireless communications device a RLC STATUS PDU,

wherein said RLC STATUS PDU includes a sequence number and a ACK/NACK indication corresponding to the transmitted AM PDU which included the NRAR indicator set to zero,

and wherein said RLC STATUS PDU does not include a sequence number or an ACK/NACK indication corresponding to a transmitted second AM PDU which included the NRAR indicator set to one, said second wireless communications device having intentionally left out a sequence number corresponding to the transmitted second AM PDU.

13. A first wireless communications device comprising:

a radio transmitter; and

a processor configured to:

identify a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) packet corresponding to a Radio Link Control Acknowledged Mode (RLC AM); and

generate an Acknowledged Mode Protocol Data Unit (AM PDU) including a polling bit and a No RLC Acknowledgement (ACK) Required (NRAR) indicator; and

operate the radio transmitter in the first wireless communications device to transmit the AM PDU to a second wireless communications device.

14. The first wireless communications device of claim 13 ,

wherein the NRAR is included in a third octet of said AM PDU; and

wherein said processor is configured to:

insert the No RLC ACK required indicator after a Sequence Number (SN) in an Acknowledged Mode PDU with no Segment Offset (SO), as part of being configured to generate an Acknowledged Mode Protocol Data Unit (AM PDU) including a No RLC ACK required indicator.

15. The first wireless communications device of claim 13 , wherein said processor is configured to:

include a Segment Offset in the AM PDU; and

insert the No RLC ACK required indicator after the Segment Offset (SO), as part of being configured to generate an Acknowledged Mode Protocol Data Unit (AM PDU) including a No RLC ACK required indicator.

16. The first wireless communications device of claim 13 , wherein the NRAR indicator is set to zero to indicate a RLC ACK is expected.

17. The first wireless communications device of claim 16 , further comprising:

a receiver; and

wherein said processor is configured to operate the receiver in the first wireless communications device to receive a RLC STATUS PDU from the second wireless communications device, said RLC STATUS PDU including an ACK report from the second wireless communications device.

18. The first wireless communications device of claim 16 , wherein said processor is configured to:

operate said transmitter to transmit a second AM PDU including a No RLC ACK Required (NRAR) indicator set to one indicating a RLC ACK is not required.

19. The first wireless communications device of claim 18 , further comprising:

a receiver; and

wherein said processor is configured to operate said receiver to receive from the second wireless communications device a RLC STATUS PDU,

wherein said RLC STATUS PDU includes a sequence number and an Acknowledgement/Negative Acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) indication corresponding to the transmitted AM PDU which included a NRAR indicator set to zero,

and wherein said RLC STATUS PDU does not include a sequence number or an ACK/NACK indication corresponding to the transmitted second AM PDU which included the NRAR indicator set to one, said second wireless communications device having intentionally left out the sequence number corresponding to the second AM PDU.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium including computer executable instructions which when executed by a processor of a first wireless communications device including a radio transmitter cause the first wireless communications device to perform the steps of:

identifying a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) packet corresponding to a Radio Link Control Acknowledged Mode (RLC AM); and

generating an Acknowledged Mode Protocol Data Unit (AM PDU) including a polling bit and a No RLC Acknowledgement (ACK) Required (NRAR) indicator; and

operating the radio transmitter in the first wireless communications device to transmit the AM PDU to a second wireless communications device.