Referring now to FIG. 3, illustrated is an example 5G LTE-NR dual connectivity option 3× network architecture 300 in accordance with various aspects and embodiments described herein. The network architecture 300 comprises LTE communication protocol stack 350 and an NR communication protocol stack 352. In some embodiments, an LTE packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer 306, radio link controller (RLC) layer 308 and MAC and PHY (L1) layers 312 are utilized to establish a LTE link 302 (e.g., LTE leg). The LTE link 302 is utilized to transmit data packets stored in the buffer (e.g., e/gNodeB buffer). In some embodiments, in addition to LTE link 302, a NR link 304 (e.g., NR leg) can be available for transmitting data. The NR link 304 utilizes an NR PDCP layer 324, an NR RLC layer 326 and NR MAC and PHY (L1) layers 328 to transmit data packets stored in the buffer (e.g., e/gNodeB buffer). As it described below and illustrated by 304a, under certain conditions (e.g., when LTE buffer is full) and based on availability, both LTE link 302 and NR link 304 may be utilized to transmit data packets. In some embodiments, the data traffic on data radio bearer can go either LTE/NR leg (302 or 304) or both assigned by the NR PDCP.
