CONGESTION HANDLING BASED ON AN IMPORTANCE LEVEL

1 . A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising:

at least one memory; and

at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to:

store pending data for transmission, the data associated with a plurality of importance levels;

activate a discarding mode based at least in part on an indication from a radio access network (RAN); and

discard at least a portion of the pending data based at least in part on a respective importance level associated with the pending data while the discarding mode is activated.

2 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to receive a configuration for discarding data, wherein the configuration indicates a threshold importance level, and wherein the respective importance level associated with the discarded data does not satisfy the threshold importance level.

3 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein the indication indicates a threshold importance level, and wherein the respective importance level associated with the discarded data does not satisfy the threshold importance level.

4 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein to receive the indication, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to receive a medium control access (MAC) control element (CE) that activates the discarding mode.

5 . The UE of claim 4 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to receive a second MAC CE comprising an indication to deactivate the discarding mode.

6 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein to discard at least the portion of the pending data, the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to discard, from a buffer with data pending for transmission, protocol data units (PDUs) having a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) sequence number which is lower than a last protocol data unit (PDU) of a PDU Set transmitted on a highest importance radio link control (RLC) channel.

7 . The UE of claim 6 , wherein the PDU Set transmitted on a highest importance RLC channel corresponds to an I-frame of extended reality (XR) data, and wherein the data pending for transmission corresponds to a set of P-frames of the XR data.

8 . A processor for wireless communication, comprising:

at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to:

storing pending data for transmission, the data associated with a plurality of importance levels;

activate a discarding mode based at least in part on an indication from a radio access network (RAN); and

discard at least a portion of the pending data based at least in part on a respective importance level associated with the pending data while the discarding mode is activated.

9 . The processor of claim 8 , wherein the at least one controller is configured to cause the processor to receive a configuration for discarding data, wherein the configuration indicates a threshold importance level, and wherein the respective importance level associated with the discarded data does not satisfy the threshold importance level.

10 . The processor of claim 8 , wherein the indication indicates a threshold importance level, and wherein the respective importance level associated with the discarded data does not satisfy the threshold importance level.

11 . The processor of claim 8 , wherein to receive the indication, the at least one controller is configured to cause the processor to receive a medium control access (MAC) control element (CE) that activates the discarding mode.

12 . The processor of claim 11 , wherein the at least one controller is configured to cause the processor to receive a second MAC CE comprising an indication to deactivate the discarding mode.

13 . The processor of claim 8 , wherein to discard at least the portion of the pending data, the at least one controller is configured to cause the processor to discard, from a buffer with data pending for transmission, protocol data units (PDUs) having a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) sequence number which is lower than a last protocol data unit (PDU) of a PDU Set transmitted on a highest importance radio link control (RLC) channel.

14 . A base station for wireless communication, comprising:

at least one memory; and

at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the base station to:

transmit, to at least one user equipment (UE), a configuration for discarding of pending data;

monitor a congestion level in a radio access network (RAN); and

transmit, based on the congestion level, an indication for activating the discarding of the pending data.

15 . The base station of claim 14 , wherein the configuration indicates a threshold importance level, and wherein the pending data does not satisfy the threshold importance level.

16 . The base station of claim 14 , wherein the indication indicates a threshold importance level, and wherein the pending data does not satisfy the threshold importance level.

17 . The base station of claim 14 , wherein to transmit the indication, the at least one processor is configured to cause the base station to transmit a Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (CE) that activates the discarding mode.

18 . The base station of claim 17 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the base station to:

determine that the congestion level is below a congestion threshold; and

transmit a second MAC CE comprising an indication to stop the discarding of the pending data.

19 . The base station of claim 14 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the base station to transmit the indication in response to the congestion level satisfying a congestion threshold.

20 . A method performed by a base station, the method comprising:

transmitting, to at least one user equipment (UE), a configuration for discarding of pending data;

monitoring a congestion level in a radio access network (RAN); and

transmitting, based on the congestion level, an indication for activating the discarding of the pending data.