Base station equipment, terminal equipment and QoS control method

Abstract

Base station device, terminal device, and QoS control method. Compared with the traditional method of performing QoS control in units of bearers, the present disclosure proposes a base station device, a terminal device, and a QoS control method for implementing QoS control in units of service flows without increasing complexity. The base station device includes: an identification unit configured to identify specific quality of service QoS parameters, the specific QoS parameters being applied to the service flow of downlink packets to be sent to the terminal; a transmitter configured to apply the specific QoS parameters to the downlink packets and send the downlink packets to the terminal; and a control information sending unit configured to notify the terminal of the specific QoS parameters without using separate signaling.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the invention patent application with application number 201780030831.5 (international application number is PCT / KR2017 / 002367, international application date is March 6, 2017, and the invention name is "Base station equipment, terminal equipment and QoS control method"). Technical Field

[0002] The present disclosure relates to a QoS control technology for transmitting packets of communication services of different QoS levels.

[0003] More specifically, compared with conventional bearer-based QoS control methods, the present disclosure relates to a technology capable of implementing service flow-based QoS control without increasing complexity. Background Art

[0004] In a mobile communication system, Quality of Service (QoS) varies according to the media type of a communication service used by a terminal (user), and QoS control is provided for transmitting packets of the communication service with a guaranteed QoS level appropriate to the media type.

[0005] In relation to this, the QoS control method provided by the LTE network is a QoS control method based on an EPS bearer (hereinafter referred to as a bearer).

[0006] In an LTE network, an EPS bearer is a bearer generated to transmit data to allow a terminal (user) to use a communication service.

[0007] The bearer can be a tunnel (wireless part + wired part) generated between the terminal and P-GW via the wireless part, used to connect the terminal and the base station (BS) and the wired part used to connect the BS and the S-GW or P-GW.

[0008] Data of a user (terminal) is transmitted in the form of IP-based packets through a tunnel (ie, a bearer), and a traffic flow transmitted according to the packets is called a service flow.

[0009] In the prior art, the types of communication services provided to terminals (users) are relatively limited, therefore, a bearer-based QoS control method is used, which maps a group of several types of communication services to a bearer and applies QoS based on the bearer.

[0010] Therefore, conventional QoS control methods define a QoS level (QoS parameters) for each bearer and guarantee (apply) QoS on a bearer basis so that the same QoS (bearer's QoS level) applies to all service flows sent through one bearer.

[0011] As a result, the conventional bearer-based QoS control method has the advantage of reducing the complexity of QoS control, but has the limitation that differentiated QoS cannot be applied to service flows belonging to one bearer.

[0012] In the current state where the types of communication services are limited, such limitations would not be a big problem. However, it may be a problem that must be solved because various types of communication services (e.g., 5G) will be rapidly developed / introduced in the present or future.

[0013] Therefore, compared with the traditional bearer-based QoS control method, the present disclosure implements service flow-based QoS control that can apply more differentiated QoS without increasing complexity. Summary of the Invention

[0014] Technical issues

[0015] One aspect of the present disclosure is to implement service flow based QoS control, by which more differentiated QoS can be applied without increasing complexity compared to conventional bearer based QoS control methods.

[0016] Technical Solution

[0017] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a base station (BS) device is provided. The BS device includes: a determination unit configured to determine a service flow of a downlink packet to be sent to a terminal; an identification unit configured to identify a specific Quality of Service (QoS) parameter defined for the service flow from among Quality of Service (QoS) parameters defined for each service flow; and a transmitter configured to apply the specific QoS parameter to the downlink packet and transmit the downlink packet having the specific QoS parameter for the service flow to the terminal.

[0018] Specifically, the BS device may also include a control information sending unit, which is configured to insert QoS control information for identifying specific QoS parameters into the header of a specific downlink packet of a service flow, thereby allowing the terminal to send uplink packets of a service flow with a specific QoS based on the QoS control information.

[0019] Specifically, the specific downlink packet may include at least one of a downlink packet related to activation of a service flow and a downlink packet related to a QoS parameter of the service flow during maintenance of the service flow.

[0020] Specifically, the BS device may further include an interworking controller configured to provide QoS conversion information for converting QoS parameters into QoS parameters according to a different QoS control policy for the terminal when the terminal switches to another network supporting a different QoS control policy from the BS device.

[0021] Specifically, different QoS control policies may be bearer-based QoS control policies, used to ensure different QoS levels for each bearer.

[0022] Specifically, the priority of the matching rule of each service flow may be determined based on the QoS level of each service flow.

[0023] Specifically, the interworking controller may provide QoS switching information only when continuity of the service flow is required.

[0024] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a terminal device is provided. The terminal device includes: an acquisition unit configured to acquire QoS control information in a header of a specific downlink packet among downlink packets received from a base station (BS); a QoS controller configured to map a specific QoS parameter identified from the QoS control information to a service flow of the specific downlink packet; and a transmitter configured to apply the specific QoS parameter to an uplink packet of the service flow and transmit the uplink packet with the specific QoS defined in the service flow.

[0025] Specifically, when handover is performed to another network supporting a QoS control policy different from that of the BS, the QoS controller may convert specific QoS parameters into QoS parameters according to the different QoS control policy based on QoS conversion information provided by the BS.

[0026] Specifically, the QoS conversion information may include a matching rule for each service flow matched with a bearer through the service flow, a priority of the matching rule for each service flow, and a QoS parameter predefined for each bearer.

[0027] Specifically, the QoS controller can be configured to search for matching rules that match the service flow from the matching rules of each service flow based on the QoS conversion information in order from the matching rule with the highest priority to the matching rule with the lowest priority, match the service flow with the searched matching rules, and convert specific QoS parameters into QoS parameters defined in the matching bearer.

[0028] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a QoS control method is provided. The method includes the following steps: determining, by a base station (BS) device, a service flow of downlink packets to be transmitted to a terminal; identifying, by the BS device, a specific Quality of Service (QoS) parameter defined for the service flow from among QoS parameters defined for each service flow; and applying, by the BS device, the specific QoS parameter to the downlink packets and transmitting the downlink packets having the specific QoS parameter for the service flow to the terminal.

[0029] Specifically, the QoS control method may also include inserting QoS control information for identifying specific QoS parameters into the header of a specific downlink packet of the service flow through the BS device, thereby allowing the terminal to send uplink packets of the service flow with specific QoS based on the QoS control information.

[0030] Specifically, the QoS control method may further include providing QoS conversion information for converting QoS parameters into QoS parameters according to a different QoS control policy for the terminal when the terminal switches to another network supporting a different QoS control policy from the BS device.

[0031] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a QoS control method is provided. The method includes the following steps: obtaining, by a terminal device, QoS control information from a header of a specific downlink packet among downlink packets received from a base station (BS); mapping, by the terminal device, a specific QoS parameter identified from the QoS control information to a service flow of the specific downlink packet; and applying, by the terminal device, the specific QoS parameter to an uplink packet of the service flow, and transmitting the uplink packet with the specific QoS defined in the service flow.

[0032] Technical Effects

[0033] According to the BS device, terminal device and QoS control method of the present disclosure, compared with the traditional bearer-based QoS control method, differential QoS (i.e., service quality) can be applied to various communication services by enabling service flow-based QoS control without increasing complexity. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating a conventional bearer-based QoS control method;

[0035] Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating a service flow-based QoS control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0036] Figure 3 is a control flow chart illustrating a QoS control method (service flow-based QoS control) from the perspective of a BS according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0037] Figure 4 is a control flow chart illustrating a QoS control method (service flow-based QoS control) from the perspective of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0038] Figure 5 is a control flow chart illustrating a QoS control method from the perspective of a BS (intercommunication between QoS control methods of systems before and after handover) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0039] Figure 6 is a control flow chart illustrating a QoS control method from the perspective of a terminal (intercommunication between QoS control methods of systems before and after handover) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0040] Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a BS device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0041] Figure 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] Hereinafter, the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0043] Before describing the present disclosure in detail, the functions (effects) achieved by the service flow-based QoS control method proposed in the present disclosure will be described first.

[0044] The present disclosure achieves the following effects: the information required for QoS control based on service flows (QoS control information) can be provided to the terminal without separate signaling, and the QoS control information is transmitted in the form of piggyback, thereby improving the efficiency of packet detection, and by enabling an intercommunication QoS control method between the systems before and after the switch, the disconnection of the terminal's communication service is minimized during the switch, and the intercommunication of the QoS control method between the systems before and after the switch is selectively reflected according to the sensitivity of the communication service.

[0045] Hereinafter, a device and / or configuration for implementing the service flow-based QoS control method proposed by the present disclosure will be described, and the above-mentioned effects will be described in more detail.

[0046] At the same time, refer to Figure 1 Describe the traditional bearer-based QoS control method.

[0047] A conventional bearer-based QoS control method is a method of mapping a group of several types of communication services to EPS bearers (ie, bearers) and applying QoS based on the bearers.

[0048] like Figure 1 As shown, in order to use the bearer-based QoS control method, bearers (eg, bearers 1 and 2) are generated in the terminal (user) to guarantee the QoS required by the communication service to be used by the terminal.

[0049] Each of bearers 1 and 2 may be a default bearer and a dedicated bearer.

[0050] like Figure 1As shown, it is assumed that service flow 1 of communication service 1 and service flow 2 of communication service 2 used by the terminal belong to one bearer (bearer 1) and service flow 3 of communication service 3 and service flow 4 of communication service 4 used by the terminal belong to one bearer 2.

[0051] In this case, the same QoS, i.e., the QoS level of bearer 1 (QoS parameter A), is applied to the two service flows 1 and 2 sent through bearer 1, and the same QoS, i.e., the QoS level of bearer 2 (QoS parameter B), is applied to the two service flows 3 and 4 sent through bearer 2.

[0052] Consequently, the conventional bearer-based QoS control method has an advantage in that the complexity of QoS control can be reduced since QoS is applied based on bearers as logical units, but has limitations in that differentiated QoS cannot be applied to service flows belonging to one bearer.

[0053] Therefore, the present disclosure realizes Figure 2 The illustrated service flow based QoS control applies differentiated QoS, ie, quality of service, to communication services.

[0054] However, when implementing service flow-based QoS control, the complexity of QoS control increases compared to conventional bearer-based QoS control methods.

[0055] The present disclosure proposes a service flow-based QoS control method, by which differentiated QoS can be applied to various communication services without increasing complexity compared to traditional bearer-based QoS control methods.

[0056] Will refer to Figure 3 The QoS control method according to the present disclosure (service flow-based QoS control) is described from the perspective of a BS.

[0057] Therefore, for convenience of description, hereinafter, the QoS control method according to the present disclosure is described by describing an operation method of the BS device 100 .

[0058] In the QoS control method according to the present disclosure, that is, an operating method of the BS apparatus 100 , a service flow of a downlink packet to be transmitted to the terminal 200 is determined.

[0059] That is, in the operating method of the BS device 100, when a downlink packet to be sent to the terminal 200 is received from the network (not shown) in S100, the BS device 100 determines the service flow based on the 5-tuple (i.e., source IP, destination IP, source port, destination port and protocol ID) identified in the header of the downlink packet in S110.

[0060] Hereinafter, for convenience of description, it is assumed that a service flow of a downlink packet is determined as service flow 1.

[0061] In the operating method of the BS device 100, in S120, the BS device identifies a specific Quality of Service (QoS) parameter defined for the service flow 1 of the downlink packet among QoS parameters defined for the respective service flows.

[0062] Hereinafter, for the convenience of description, the specific QoS parameters defined for service flow 1 will be referred to as QoS parameters 1.

[0063] At this time, in the operating method of the BS apparatus 100 , the BS apparatus 100 identifies whether the downlink packet is a specific downlink packet that should include QoS control information in S130 .

[0064] For example, in the operating method of the BS device 100, if a downlink packet is a downlink packet at a time point when the terminal 200 starts to use the communication service 1, and thus, a downlink packet at a time point when the service flow 1 of the terminal 200 is started or the QoS parameter 1 of the service flow 1 is changed while maintaining the service flow 1 of the terminal 200, the BS device 100 identifies that the downlink packet is a specific downlink packet that should include QoS control information.

[0065] In the operating method of the BS apparatus 100 , when identifying that the downlink packet is not a specific downlink packet in S130 , the BS apparatus 100 applies QoS parameter 1 to the downlink packet and transmits the downlink packet having the specific QoS defined for service flow 1 to the terminal 200 .

[0066] At the same time, in the operating method of the BS device 100, when the downlink packet is identified as a specific downlink packet in S130, in S135, the BS device 100 inserts QoS control information into the header, more specifically, into the L2 header of the downlink packet, and applies QoS parameter 1 to the downlink packet, and sends the downlink packet with the specific QoS defined for service flow 1 to the terminal 200.

[0067] That is, in the operating method of the BS device 100, the BS device applies QoS parameters (QoS level) defined for a service flow in a downlink packet to the downlink packet and transmits downlink data at a guaranteed QoS level based on the service flow.

[0068] like Figure 2 As shown, it is assumed that the terminal 200 generates service flows 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the terminal 200 when using communication services 1, 2, 3, and 4.

[0069] In this case, the BS device 100 according to the present disclosure may apply the QoS parameter 1 (QoS level 1) defined for service flow 1 in the group of communication service 1 to the corresponding packet and send the corresponding packet, apply the QoS parameter 2 (QoS level 2) defined for service flow 2 in the group of communication service 2 to the corresponding packet and send the corresponding packet, apply the QoS parameter 3 (QoS level 3) defined for service flow 3 in the group of communication service 3 to the corresponding packet and send the corresponding packet, and apply the QoS parameter 4 (QoS level 4) defined for service flow 4 in the group of communication service 4 to the corresponding packet and send the corresponding packet, thereby sending packets with guaranteed QoS levels based on the service flows.

[0070] At this time, the BS apparatus 100 according to the present disclosure may perform service flow-based QoS control for downlink traffic and notify the terminal of information (QoS control information) required for service flow-based QoS control without using a separate control message (separate signaling).

[0071] Below, we will refer to Figure 4 The QoS control method (service flow-based QoS control) according to the present disclosure is described from the perspective of the terminal.

[0072] For the convenience of description, the QoS control method according to the present disclosure will be described by describing the operation method of the terminal device 200.

[0073] In the QoS control method according to the present disclosure, i.e., the operating method of terminal device 200, when a downlink packet transmitted from BS 100 is received in S200, a field recording identification information is identified in the header, more specifically, in the L2 header of the downlink packet. Furthermore, if the identification information is present, it is determined in S210 based on the identification information whether the downlink packet is a specific downlink packet including QoS parameters.

[0074] In the operating method of the terminal device 200, when it is identified that the downlink packet received this time is a specific downlink packet including QoS parameters (S210 is), the terminal device 200 can obtain QoS control information from the header (L2 header) of the downlink packet in S220.

[0075] In the operating method of the terminal device 200 , the terminal device 200 maps the specific QoS parameter identified in the previously acquired QoS control information to the service flow of the specific downlink packet received this time in S230 .

[0076] More specifically, in the operating method of the terminal device 200, the terminal device 200 can identify the service flow of a specific downlink packet based on a 5-tuple, that is, the source IP, destination IP, source port, destination port, and the protocol ID identified in the header of the specific downlink packet received this time.

[0077] As described above, it is assumed that the BS 100 identifies the service flow 1 and inserts QoS control information for identifying the QoS parameter 1 defined for the service flow 1 into the header of a specific downlink packet and then transmits it.

[0078] In this case, in the operating method of the terminal apparatus 200 , the terminal 200 may identify the service flow 1 based on the 5-tuple identified in the header of the specific downlink packet.

[0079] In the operating method of the terminal device 200, the terminal device 200 maps QoS parameter 1 identified from previously acquired QoS control information to service flow 1 of a specific downlink packet.

[0080] At this time, in the operating method of the terminal device 200, when the terminal device 200 maps QoS parameter 1 to a 5-tuple (source IP, destination IP, source port, destination port, and protocol ID) which is a standard for identifying service flow 1, the terminal device 200 may store the QoS parameter mapping information and service flow generated by mapping QoS parameter 1 to service flow 1.

[0081] Furthermore, in the operating method of the terminal device 200 , the terminal device 200 may process the downlink packet received this time in S240 .

[0082] Of course, in the operating method of the terminal device 200, when it is identified in S210 that the downlink packet received this time is not a specific packet, the terminal device 200 can process the downlink packet received this time in S240 without executing steps S220 and S230.

[0083] In the operating method of the terminal device 200, when sending an uplink packet of service flow 1, the terminal device 200 applies QoS parameter 1 mapped to service flow 1 to the uplink packet of service flow 1 in S250, and sends an uplink packet with a specific QoS defined for service flow 1.

[0084] That is, in the operating method of the terminal device 200, when an uplink packet is to be transmitted, the terminal device 200 identifies a service flow based on a 5-tuple identified from a header of the uplink packet to be transmitted.

[0085] For example, in the operating method of the terminal device 200, when service flow 1 is identified, the terminal device 200 may apply QoS parameter 1 mapped to service flow 1 to the uplink packet and send an uplink packet of service flow 1 with a specific QoS defined for service flow 1.

[0086] like Figure 2 As shown, it is assumed that when the terminal device 200 uses communication services 1, 2, 3, and 4, service flows 1, 2, 3, and 4 are generated for the terminal device 200.

[0087] In this case, the terminal device 200 according to the present disclosure may apply the QoS parameter 1 (QoS level 1) defined for the service flow 1 of the packets of communication service 1 to the corresponding packets and send the corresponding packets, apply the QoS parameter 2 (QoS level 2) defined for the service flow 2 of the packets of communication service 2 to the corresponding packets and send the corresponding packets, apply the QoS parameter 3 (QoS level 3) defined for the service flow 3 of the packets of communication service 3 to the corresponding packets and send the corresponding packets, and apply the QoS parameter 4 (QoS level 4) defined for the service flow 4 of the packets of communication service 4 to the corresponding packets and send the corresponding packets, so as to send packets with a guaranteed QoS level based on the service flow.

[0088] At this time, in the operating method of the terminal device 200, the terminal device 200 can obtain and identify the information required for QoS control based on the service flow (QoS control information) from the header of the downlink packet without separate signaling, and based on the obtained information, send packets with a guaranteed QoS level based on the service flow.

[0089] As mentioned above, refer to Figure 3 and Figure 4 According to the service flow-based QoS control method disclosed in the present invention, when service flow-based QoS control is performed on downlink services and QoS control information is sent to the terminal in the form of piggyback (in the piggyback form, the QoS control information is inserted into the header of a specific packet of the downlink service), the terminal performs service flow-based QoS control on the uplink service, the same as the QoS control of the downlink service.

[0090] Below, we will refer to Figure 5 A QoS control method according to the present disclosure (interworking QoS control method between systems before and after handover) is described from the perspective of a BS.

[0091] Therefore, for convenience of description, the QoS control method according to the present disclosure will be described by describing an operation method of the BS device 100 hereinafter.

[0092] In the operating method of the BS device 100, when the terminal 200 switches to an LTE network supporting a QoS control policy (ie, a bearer-based QoS control policy (control method) different from that of the BS device 100) in S150, a service type of a communication service used by the terminal 200 is identified.

[0093] In the operating method of the BS device 100, when the service type of the communication service used by the terminal 200 is a type where guarantee of session continuity is important (eg, VoIP or video call), it is determined that the service requires continuity of service flow ("Yes" in S160).

[0094] In the operating method of the BS device 100, when continuity of the service flow of the terminal 200 is required ("Yes" of S160), QoS conversion information is provided to the terminal 200, wherein the QoS conversion information is used to convert the QoS parameters of the service flow into QoS parameters according to the bearer-based QoS control method.

[0095] For example, the BS device 100 selects a target cell for the terminal 200 to switch to by intercommunication with the network (not shown), and provides the strategies and instructions required for switching to the terminal 200 (hereinafter referred to as switching information), thereby allowing the terminal 200 to perform switching from the current call (BS device 100) to the target cell based on the switching information.

[0096] At this time, in the operating method of the BS device 100, when the handover information is provided to the terminal 200, the QoS conversion information is also provided. The session with the terminal 200 is then released in a conventional manner in S180.

[0097] Meanwhile, in the operating method of the BS apparatus 100 , when continuity of the service flow of the terminal 200 is not required ( “No” in S160 ), the QoS conversion information is not provided to the terminal 200 .

[0098] For example, in the operating method of the BS device 100, in S170, the handover information is provided to the terminal 200, and then the session with the terminal 200 is released in a conventional manner.

[0099] Then, in the operating method of the BS device 100, when the terminal 200 switches to an LTE network that supports a bearer-based QoS control method, the BS device 100 can selectively provide QoS conversion information based on whether the continuity of the service flow of the terminal 200 is required (i.e., based on the sensitivity of the communication service), thereby preventing the load increase due to unnecessary additional processing.

[0100] That is, in the operating method of the BS device 100, since the handover is performed by interworking the QoS control methods of the systems before and after the handover, the disconnection of the communication service of the terminal can be minimized. The interworking of the QoS control methods between the systems before and after the handover can be selectively applied according to the sensitivity of the communication service (depending on whether the continuity of the service flow is required).

[0101] Below, we will refer to Figure 6 The QoS control method according to the present disclosure is described from the perspective of a terminal (interworking of QoS control methods between systems before and after handover).

[0102] Therefore, for the convenience of description, the QoS control method according to the present disclosure will be described by describing an operation method of the terminal device 200.

[0103] In the operating method of the terminal device 200 , when the handover requirement condition is to be satisfied and handover is to be performed in S260 , handover information may be received from the BS 100 in S270 .

[0104] At this time, in the operating method of the terminal device 200, when the switching information is received together with the QoS conversion information, it is determined that the QoS parameter conversion is required ("Yes" in S280).

[0105] As described above, the QoS conversion information includes the matching rule of each service flow through which each service flow is mapped to a bearer, the priority of the matching rule of each service flow, and the QoS parameters defined for each bearer.

[0106] The priority of the matching rules for each service flow is determined based on the QoS level of each service flow.

[0107] Specifically, among the matching rules of each service flow, it may be determined that the matching rule of a specific service flow has the same or higher priority as the matching rule of a service flow having a lower QoS level than the QoS level of the specific service flow.

[0108] For example, in the matching rule of each service flow, the matching rule of service flow 1 in which service flow 1 is mapped to the bearer is determined to have the same or higher priority as the matching rule of a service flow with a lower QoS level than service flow 1.

[0109] In other words, the priority of the matching rule of each service flow becomes lower in descending order of the QoS level of the service flow.

[0110] In addition, the matching rule of each service flow may include a search factor for searching for a matching rule that matches the corresponding service flow. The search factor may be defined as a 5-tuple (source IP, destination IP, source port, destination port, and protocol ID) used to determine the standard of the service flow.

[0111] The QoS parameter conversion process is described in more detail below.

[0112] In the operating method of the terminal device 200, with respect to the service flow of the previously stored service flow and QoS parameter mapping information, the terminal device 200 searches for a matching rule that matches the service flow (search factor) from the matching rules of each service flow based on the QoS conversion information in S290 in order from the matching rule with the highest priority to the matching rule with the lowest priority.

[0113] The mapping information of service flow 1 and QoS parameter 1 is described by way of example. In the operating method of the terminal device 200, the terminal device 200 compares the service flow 1 (source IP, destination IP, source port, destination port, and protocol ID) with the search factors (source IP, destination IP, source port, destination port, and protocol ID) of the matching rule 2 (see Table 2) having the highest priority among the matching rules of each service flow, and identifies whether they match each other. When they match each other, the terminal device 200 determines that the matching rule 2 is the matching rule for the service flow 1 in the method for operating the terminal device 200.

[0114] In the operating method of the terminal device 200, when they do not match each other, the terminal device 200 compares the service flow 1 (source IP, destination IP, source port, destination port and protocol ID) and the search factors (source IP, destination IP, source port, destination port and protocol ID) of the matching rule 3 (see Table 2) with the next highest priority in the matching rules of each service flow, and identifies whether they match each other.

[0115] As described above, in the operating method of the terminal device 200, with respect to the service flow of the communication service being used, the terminal device 200 searches for a matching rule that matches the priority of the service flow (search factor) in the matching rules of each service flow in order from the matching rule with the highest priority to the matching rule with the lowest priority.

[0116] In the operating method of the terminal device 200, since the terminal device 200 can identify and search for matching rules from matching rules with the highest priority, in other words, the highest QoS level in QoS parameter conversion, the QoS parameter conversion speed and capability are improved.

[0117] In the following, for the convenience of description, it is assumed that matching rule 2 is found to match service flow 1.

[0118] In this case, in the operating method of the terminal device 200, the terminal device 200 matches service flow 1 with the bearer (e.g., bearer 1) according to the matching rule 2 found in S300, and in S310, converts the QoS parameter 1 of service flow 1 into the QoS parameter (e.g., QoS parameter A) defined for the matching bearer (e.g., bearer 1).

[0119] In the operating method of the terminal device 200 , when no matching rule matching service flow 1 is found in the matching rules of each service flow, the terminal device 200 may match service flow 1 (communication service 1 ) with the default bearer.

[0120] As described above, in the operating method of the terminal device 200, during the switching process, the terminal device 200 can convert the QoS parameters (e.g., QoS parameter 1) of the service flow-based QoS control method processed (mapped / stored) by the terminal device 200 into QoS parameters (e.g., QoS parameter A) according to the bearer-based QoS control method.

[0121] Of course, in the operating method of the terminal device 200 , the terminal device 200 may perform a conventional handover procedure, such as releasing the session with the BS 100 and performing handover to a target cell, separately from the QoS parameter conversion in S320 .

[0122] In the operating method of the terminal device 200, after switching to the target cell, the terminal device 200 can send uplink packets with a guaranteed QoS level based on the bearer of the service flow (communication service) mapped according to the traditional bearer-based QoS control method in S320.

[0123] Meanwhile, in the operating method of the terminal device 200 , when it is determined that QoS parameter conversion is not required (No of S280 ), the terminal device 200 performs a conventional handover procedure such as releasing the session with the BS 100 and performing handover to the target cell in S285 .

[0124] As described above, the present disclosure has the effect of notifying the terminal of the information (QoS control information) required for service flow-based QoS control without separate signaling for performing service flow-based QoS control, has the effect of improving packet detection efficiency by sending QoS control information in the form of piggyback, has the effect of minimizing the disconnection of communication services of the terminal during switching by achieving intercommunication between the system's QoS control methods before and after switching, and has the effect of selectively reflecting the intercommunication between the system's QoS control methods before and after switching according to the sensitivity of the communication service.

[0125] Hereinafter, the devices for implementing the service flow-based QoS control method proposed in the present disclosure, namely, the BS device and the terminal device, will be described in detail.

[0126] Will first refer to Figure 7 A configuration of a BS device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is described.

[0127] like Figure 7 As shown, the BS device according to the present disclosure includes: a determination unit 110, which is configured to determine a service flow of a downlink packet to be sent to a terminal; an identification unit 120, which is configured to identify a specific QoS parameter defined in a service flow from QoS parameters defined for each service flow; and a sending unit 150, which is configured to apply the specific QoS parameter to the downlink packet and send the downlink packet with the specific QoS parameter defined in the service flow to the terminal.

[0128] Hereinafter, for the convenience of description, the terminal is referred to as Figure 2 The terminal device 200 in.

[0129] The determination unit 110 determines a service flow of a downlink packet to be transmitted to the terminal 200 .

[0130] That is, when a downlink packet to be transmitted to the terminal 200 is transmitted from a network (not shown), the determination unit 110 identifies a service flow of the downlink packet based on information identified from a header of the downlink packet.

[0131] At this time, the downlink packet may have the form of an IP-based packet, in which a 5-tuple rule is applied to QoS control.

[0132] Therefore, the determination unit 110 may identify the service flow based on a 5-tuple identified from a header of a downlink packet, ie, a source IP, a destination IP, a source port, a destination port, and a protocol ID.

[0133] Hereinafter, for convenience of description, it is assumed that this service flow of downlink packets is classified as service flow 1.

[0134] The identification unit 120 identifies specific QoS parameters defined in the service flow identified this time from among the QoS parameters predefined for each service flow.

[0135] For example, the identification unit 120 identifies specific QoS parameters defined for service flow 1 among the QoS parameters predefined for the respective service flows.

[0136] At this time, the identification unit 120 may have QoS parameters predefined for each service flow, and search and identify specific QoS parameters defined for the service flow 1 among the QoS parameters that each service flow has.

[0137] Alternatively, the identification unit 120 may not have QoS parameters for each service flow and may obtain and identify specific QoS parameters defined for service flow 1 from a separate network device (e.g., P-GW) during the process of the terminal 200 connecting a session to use communication service 1 (service flow 1).

[0138] QoS parameters may be defined as one or more pieces of information shown in [Table 1] below.

[0139] [Table 1]

[0140]

[0141] Hereinafter, for the convenience of description, the QoS parameters defined for service flow 1 are referred to as QoS parameters 1.

[0142] When transmitting a downlink packet, the transmitting unit 150 applies the specific QoS parameter (eg, QoS parameter 1 ) identified by the identifying unit 120 to the downlink packet and transmits the downlink packet to the terminal 200 using the specific QoS defined for the service flow 1 .

[0143] That is, when transmitting a downlink packet, the transmitting unit 150 transmits the downlink packet at a guaranteed QoS level based on the service flow by applying QoS parameters (QoS level) defined in the service flow of the corresponding packet to the downlink packet and transmitting the downlink packet.

[0144] In the above, the service flow-based QoS control method according to the present disclosure has been described based on downlink traffic.

[0145] In order to apply the service flow-based QoS control method according to the present disclosure to uplink traffic, a process of notifying the terminal of information (QoS control information) required for service flow-based QoS control is required.

[0146] However, if a separate control method is used in this process, a control message should be sent and received whenever a new service flow is generated, and thus the complexity of QoS control may increase compared to the existing bearer-based QoS control method.

[0147] Hereinafter, the present disclosure proposes a method of notifying a terminal of information (QoS control information) required for service flow-based QoS control without using a separate control message (separate signaling).

[0148] Specifically, if Figure 7As shown, the BS device 100 according to the present disclosure further includes a control information transmitting unit 130 .

[0149] The control information transmitting unit 130 may insert QoS control information for identifying specific QoS parameters into a header of a specific downlink packet according to a service flow, and allow the terminal 200 to transmit an uplink packet of a service flow having a specific QoS based on the QoS control information.

[0150] That is, the control information transmitting unit 130 may notify the terminal 200 of the QoS control information by inserting the QoS control information into a header of a specific downlink packet among the downlink packets according to a service flow such as service flow 1 .

[0151] At this time, the QoS control information includes identification information for identifying whether the packet is a packet including QoS parameters and includes specific QoS parameters (eg, QoS parameter 1) defined in a service flow (eg, service flow 1).

[0152] In addition, the specific downlink packet is at least one of a downlink packet in a case of starting a service flow and a downlink packet in a case where a QoS parameter of the service flow is changed during service flow maintenance.

[0153] For example, the control information transmission unit 130 may insert the QoS control information into the header of a specific downlink packet at a time point when the service flow 1 of the terminal 200 is started since the terminal 200 uses the communication service 1 .

[0154] Alternatively, since the terminal 200 continues to use the communication service 1, the control information transmitting unit 130 may insert the QoS control information into the header of a specific downlink packet at the time point when the QoS parameter 1 of the service flow 1 is changed while maintaining the service flow 1 of the terminal 200.

[0155] It is preferable that the header into which the QoS control information is inserted is a header that is processed first upon reception, such as a layer (L) 2 header in a packet structure.

[0156] Next, since the terminal 200 receiving a specific downlink packet can understand the information (QoS control information) required for QoS control based on the service flow from the header of the specific downlink packet, the terminal 200 can send an uplink packet with a guaranteed QoS level based on the service flow based on the information.

[0157] As described above, according to the present disclosure, information (QoS control information) required for QoS control based on a service flow can be notified to a terminal without using a separate control message (separate signaling).

[0158] Meanwhile, the BS device 100 for implementing the service flow-based QoS control method may be located in an area overlapping with an LTE network supporting another QoS control strategy, for example, a conventional bearer-based QoS control method. In this case, the terminal 200 may switch to the LTE network.

[0159] In this case, since the QoS control method is different between the systems before / after the handover, QoS control may not be provided when seamlessly providing the communication service to the terminal 200 in the system after the handover.

[0160] Therefore, the present disclosure proposes a method for achieving intercommunication between system QoS control methods before and after handover, taking into account the case where a terminal is handed over to a network supporting an existing bearer-based QoS control method.

[0161] Specifically, if Figure 7 As shown, the BS device 100 according to the present disclosure further includes an interworking controller 140 .

[0162] When the terminal 200 switches to another network supporting a QoS control policy different from that of the BS apparatus 100 , the interworking controller 140 provides the terminal 200 with QoS conversion information for converting specific QoS parameters into QoS parameters according to the different QoS control policy.

[0163] That is, when the terminal 200 switches to an LTE network that supports a QoS control policy different from that of the BS device 100, i.e., a bearer-based QoS control policy (method), the intercommunication controller 140 provides the terminal 200 with QoS conversion information for converting the QoS parameter 1 of the service flow 1 into a QoS parameter according to the bearer-based QoS control method.

[0164] More specifically, when the terminal 200 meets the switching requirement conditions and the BS device 100 determines that the terminal 200 needs to switch, the BS device 100 selects the target cell to which the terminal 200 switches through intercommunication with the network (not shown), and provides the policies and instructions required for switching to the terminal 200 (hereinafter referred to as switching information), thereby allowing the terminal 200 to switch from the current cell (BS device 100) to the target cell based on the switching information.

[0165] At this time, in the case where the terminal 200 switches to the LTE network supporting the bearer-based QoS control method, when providing the terminal 200 with switching information, the interworking controller 140 also provides QoS conversion information.

[0166] The QoS conversion information includes a matching rule for each service flow through which each service flow is mapped to a bearer, a priority of the matching rule for each service flow, and QoS parameters defined for each bearer.

[0167] The priority of the matching rules for each service flow is determined based on the QoS level of each service flow.

[0168] As described above, the reason why the priority of the matching rule of each service flow is determined based on the QoS level will be mentioned in detail in the description of the terminal device according to the present disclosure.

[0169] Therefore, in the process of receiving switching information and performing switching from the current call (BS device 100) to the target cell according to the switching information, the terminal 200 can convert the QoS parameters of the service flow-based QoS control method owned (mapped / stored) by the terminal 200 into QoS parameters of the bearer-based QoS control method based on the QoS conversion information.

[0170] According to the present disclosure, when a terminal switches from a system according to a service flow-based QoS control method to a bearer-based QoS control method, the disconnection of the terminal's communication service during the switching can be minimized by sending information for converting (matching) the service flow-based QoS parameters to the bearer-based QoS parameters to the terminal.

[0171] When QoS parameters are converted during handover of terminal 200, additional processes need to be processed compared to the case where QoS parameters are not converted. Even if the load of the additional processes is small for terminal 200, the additional processes to be processed may cause an increase in load during handover.

[0172] At the same time, when terminal 200 only uses communication services such as Internet search or email services, it is not important to ensure session continuity, and even if the communication is slightly disconnected due to terminal 200 switching to an LTE network that supports a bearer-based QoS control method, the user of terminal 200 may be hardly affected.

[0173] Therefore, in this case, during the process of the terminal 200 performing the handover, the conversion of the QoS parameters may be quite unnecessary.

[0174] When the terminal 200 switches to the LTE network supporting the bearer-based QoS control method, the interworking controller 140 may provide QoS conversion information only when continuity of the service flow of the terminal 200 is required.

[0175] At this time, the service flow requiring continuity may vary according to pre-definition and may be defined as a service flow of a communication service such as VoIP or video call in which guarantee of session continuity is important.

[0176] Then, when the terminal 200 switches to an LTE network that supports a bearer-based QoS control method, the intercommunication controller 140 can selectively provide QoS conversion information based on whether the continuity of the service flow of the terminal 200 is required, that is, based on the sensitivity of the communication service, thereby preventing the load increase caused by unnecessary additional processing.

[0177] As described above, the BS device 100 according to the present disclosure can implement a service flow-based QoS control method, which has the function of notifying the terminal of the information required for service flow-based QoS control (QoS control information) without separate signaling, and realizing intercommunication between the QoS control methods of the system before and after switching, but selectively reflects the function of the QoS control method according to the sensitivity of the communication service, thereby applying differential QoS (i.e., quality of service) to the communication service without increasing the complexity compared with the traditional bearer-based QoS control method.

[0178] Below, we will refer to Figure 8 A configuration of a terminal device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is described.

[0179] like Figure 4 As described, the terminal device 200 according to the present disclosure includes: an acquisition unit 210, which is used to obtain QoS control information from the header of a specific downlink packet in the downlink packets received from the BS; a QoS controller 220, which is configured to map the specific QoS parameters identified from the QoS control information to the service flow of the specific downlink packet; a transmitter 230, which is configured to apply the specific QoS parameters to the uplink packets of the service flow and send uplink packets with the specific QoS defined in the service flow.

[0180] In the following, for the convenience of description, BS refers to Figure 2 The BS device 100 is configured as shown in FIG. 1 , and the following description will be made based on a service flow 1 according to the use of the communication service 1 .

[0181] The acquisition unit 210 acquires QoS control information from a header of a specific downlink packet among the downlink packets received by the BS 100 .

[0182] As described above, the QoS control information includes identification information for identifying whether the packet is a packet including QoS parameters and specific QoS parameters (eg, QoS parameter 1) defined in a service flow (eg, service flow 1).

[0183] When a downlink packet is received from BS100, the acquisition unit 210 identifies a field in which identification information is recorded in the header of the downlink packet (more specifically, the L2 header), and when the identification information exists, identifies whether the downlink packet received this time is a specific downlink packet including QoS parameters based on the identification information.

[0184] When recognizing that the downlink packet received this time is a specific downlink packet, the acquisition unit 210 may acquire QoS control information from a header (more specifically, an L2 header) of the corresponding downlink packet.

[0185] When the acquisition unit 210 acquires the QoS control information, the QoS controller 220 may identify a service flow of a specific downlink packet based on a 5-tuple identified from a header of the specific downlink packet.

[0186] As described in the example, it is assumed that the BS 100 identifies the service flow 1 and inserts QoS control information for identifying the QoS parameter 1 defined for the service flow 1 into a header of a specific downlink packet and then transmits it.

[0187] In this case, the QoS controller 220 may identify the service flow 1 based on the 5-tuple identified from the header of the specific downlink packet.

[0188] The QoS controller 220 maps the QoS parameter 1 identified from the previously acquired QoS control information service flow 1 of the specific downlink packet.

[0189] At this time, the QoS controller 220 can store the service flow, and the QoS parameter mapping information generated by mapping QoS parameter a to service flow 1 can be stored in service flow 1 by mapping QoS parameter 1 to a 5-tuple (source IP, destination IP, source port, destination port and protocol ID), which is a standard for identifying service flow 1.

[0190] When QoS control information is acquired from the header of a specific downlink packet at the time point when service flow 1 of the terminal device 200 is started and QoS parameter 1 is mapped to service flow 1, this means that new service flow and QoS parameter mapping information are stored.

[0191] On the other hand, when QoS control information is obtained from the header of a specific downlink packet at the time point when QoS parameter 1 of service flow 1 changes, service flow 1 of the terminal device 200 is maintained and QoS parameter 1 is mapped to service flow 1, which means that the conventionally stored service flow and QoS parameter mapping information is updated and stored.

[0192] The transmitter 230 applies the specific QoS parameters mapped to the service flow 1 to the uplink packets of the service flow 1 and transmits the uplink packets having the specific QoS defined for the service flow 1 .

[0193] That is, when service flow 1 is identified based on the 5-tuple identified from the header of the uplink packet to be sent, the transmitter 230 may apply QoS parameter 1 mapped to service flow 1 to the corresponding uplink packet and send the uplink packet of service flow 1 having the QoS defined for service flow 1.

[0194] As described above, the terminal device 200 according to the present disclosure can obtain and understand the information (QoS control information) required for QoS control based on the service flow from the header of the downlink packet without separate signaling, and based on the obtained information, send packets with a guaranteed QoS level based on the service flow.

[0195] In addition, when the terminal device 200 switches from the BS 100 to a network supporting a conventional bearer-based QoS control method, a configuration in which the terminal device 200 operates through interworking between the QoS control methods of the systems before and after the switching will be described below.

[0196] When the terminal device 200 is switched to another network supporting a QoS control policy different from that of the BS 100 , the terminal device 200 , ie, the QoS controller 220 , converts specific QoS parameters into QoS parameters according to the different QoS control policy based on QoS conversion information provided from the BS 100 .

[0197] More specifically, when the terminal device 200 meets the switching requirement conditions and BS100 determines that the terminal device 200 needs to be switched, BS100 selects the target cell to which the terminal device 200 switches through intercommunication with the network (not shown), and provides the terminal device 200 with the strategies and instructions required for switching (hereinafter referred to as switching information), thereby allowing the terminal device 200 to switch from the current cell (BS100) to the target cell based on the switching information.

[0198] At this time, in the case where the terminal device 200 switches to the LTE network supporting the bearer-based QoS control method, when providing the terminal device 200 with switching information, the BS 100 also provides QoS conversion information.

[0199] Therefore, when the terminal device 200 switches to an LTE network supporting a QoS control policy different from that of the BS 100 , ie, a bearer-based QoS control policy (control method), the QoS controller 220 of the terminal device 200 receives QoS conversion information from the BS 100 .

[0200] Thereafter, the QoS controller 220 converts a specific QoS parameter (eg, QoS parameter 1 of service flow 1) into a QoS parameter according to the bearer-based QoS control method based on the QoS conversion information.

[0201] As described above, the QoS conversion information includes the matching rule of each service flow through which each service flow is mapped to a bearer, the priority of the matching rule of each service flow, and the QoS parameters defined for each bearer.

[0202] The priority of the matching rules for each service flow is determined based on the QoS level of each service flow.

[0203] Specifically, among the matching rules of each service flow, it may be determined that the matching rule of a specific service flow has the same or higher priority as the matching rule of a service flow having a lower QoS level than the QoS level of the specific service flow.

[0204] For example, among the matching rules of each service flow, the matching rule of service flow 1 through which service flow 1 is mapped to the bearer is determined to have the same or higher priority as the matching rule of a service flow having a lower QoS level than service flow 1.

[0205] In other words, the priority of the matching rule of each service flow becomes lower in descending order of the QoS level of the service flow.

[0206] In addition, the matching rules of each service flow may include a search factor for searching for matching rules that match the corresponding service flow, and the search factor may be defined as a 5-tuple (source IP, destination IP, source port, destination port, and protocol ID), which is the standard for determining the service flow.

[0207] The QoS conversion information can be defined as the following [Table 2] and [Table 3].

[0208] [Table 2]

[0209] Matching rules Priority Search factor (mapping criteria) Bearer ID 1 3 Source IP, destination IP, source port, destination port, protocol ID 1 2 1 Source IP, destination IP, source port, destination port, protocol ID 1 3 2 Source IP, destination IP, source port, destination port, protocol ID 3 ... ... ... ...

[0210] [Table 3]

[0211] Bearer ID Bearer Context Bearer Type 1 QCI,ARP,... Default or dedicated 2 QCI,ARP,... Default or dedicated ... ... ...

[0212] [Table 2] shows the matching rule of each service flow and the priority of each matching rule, and [Table 3] shows the QoS parameters (bearer context and bearer type) defined for each service flow.

[0213] The QoS parameter conversion process is described in more detail below.

[0214] Regarding the service flows of the previously stored service flows and QoS parameter mapping information, the QoS controller 220 searches for matching rules that match the service flows (search factors) in order from the matching rule with the highest priority to the matching rule with the lowest priority based on the QoS conversion information, for the matching rules of each service flow.

[0215] The mapping information of service flow 1 and QoS parameter 1 is described by way of example. The QoS controller 220 compares service flow 1 (source IP, destination IP, source port, destination port, and protocol ID) with the search factors (source IP, destination IP, source port, destination port, and protocol ID) of matching rule 2 having the highest priority among the matching rules of the respective service flows, and identifies whether they match each other.

[0216] When they do not match each other, the QoS controller 220 compares service flow 1 (source IP, destination IP, source port, destination port and protocol ID) and the search factors (source IP, destination IP, source port, destination port and protocol ID) of matching rule 3 having the second highest priority after matching rule 2 in the matching rules of each service flow, and identifies whether they match each other.

[0217] As described above, regarding the service flow of the communication service being used, the QoS controller 220 searches for a matching rule matching the service flow (search factor) in order from the matching rule with the highest priority to the matching rule with the lowest priority among the matching rules of each service flow.

[0218] Since the terminal device 200 can identify and search for a matching rule from among matching rules having the highest priority (in other words, the highest QoS level in QoS parameter conversion), the QoS parameter conversion speed and capability are improved.

[0219] In the following, for the convenience of description, it is assumed that matching rule 2 is found as the matching rule matching service flow 1.

[0220] In this case, the QoS controller 220 matches service flow 1 with the bearer (e.g., bearer 1) according to the found matching rule 2, and converts QoS parameter 1 of service flow 1 into the QoS parameter (e.g., QoS parameter A) defined in the matching bearer (e.g., bearer 1).

[0221] If no matching rule is found that matches the service flow 1 among the matching rules of the respective service flows, the QoS controller 220 may match the service flow 1 (communication service 1) with the default bearer.

[0222] As described above, during the switching process, the terminal device 200 can convert the QoS parameters (e.g., QoS parameters 1) of the service flow-based QoS control method processed (mapped / stored) by the terminal 200 into QoS parameters (e.g., QoS parameters A) according to the bearer-based QoS control method based on the QoS conversion information.

[0223] After switching to the target cell, the terminal device 200 may send uplink packets at a guaranteed QoS level based on a bearer to which a service flow (communication service) is mapped according to a conventional bearer-based QoS control method.

[0224] As described above, the terminal device 200 according to the present disclosure can implement a service flow-based QoS control method, which has the function of providing the terminal with the information required for service flow-based QoS control (QoS control information) without separate signaling, and has the function of realizing intercommunication between the QoS control methods of the system before and after switching, but selectively reflects the function of the QoS control method according to the sensitivity of the communication service, thereby applying differential QoS (i.e., quality of service) to the communication service without increasing the complexity compared with the traditional bearer-based QoS control method.

[0225] The functional operations and implementation of the subject matter described in this disclosure may be implemented by digital electronic circuitry, by the structures described in this disclosure, and their equivalents, including computer software, firmware, or hardware, including or by a combination of one or more thereof. Implementation of the subject matter described in this specification may be implemented in one or more computer program products, i.e., one or more modules associated with computer program instructions encoded on a tangible program storage medium to control the operation of a processing system or to execute operations thereof.

[0226] The computer readable medium can be a machine-readable storage device, a machine-readable storage substrate, a memory device, a combination of materials that effects a machine-readable radio wave signal, or a combination of one or more thereof.

[0227] Throughout this specification, the term "system" or "device" includes, for example, a programmable processor, a computer, or various mechanisms, devices, and machines for data processing, including multiple processors and computers. In addition to hardware, a processing system may also include code that creates an execution environment for a computer program when requested, such as code constituting processor firmware, a protocol stack, a database management system, an operating system, or a combination of one or more of these.

[0228] A computer program (also referred to as a program, software, software application, script, or code) may be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or commented languages, declarative or procedural languages, and it may be deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computer environment. A computer program may, but need not, correspond to a file in a file system. A program may be stored in a single file provided to a requested program, in multiple coordinated files (e.g., a file storing one or more modules, subroutines, or portions of code), or as part of a file containing other programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup language document). A computer program may be deployed on one computer or executed on multiple computers located at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communications network.

[0229] Computer-readable media suitable for storing computer program commands and data include all types of nonvolatile memory, media, and memory devices, for example, semiconductor memory devices such as EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices, and magnetic disks such as external hard disks or external magnetic disks, magneto-optical disks, CD-ROMs, and DVD-ROMs. The processor and memory may be supplemented by or integrated into dedicated logic circuits.

[0230] Implementations of the subject matter described in the specification can be implemented in a computer system that includes a back-end component such as a data server, a middleware component such as an application server, a front-end component such as a client computer with a web browser or graphical user interface that can interact with an implementation of the subject matter described in the specification, or any combination of one or more of the back-end, middleware, and front-end components. The components of the system can be interconnected by any type of digital data communication (e.g., a communication network or medium).

[0231] Although the specification contains many specific implementation details, these should not be interpreted as limitations on the scope of any disclosure or possible claims, but rather as descriptions of features that are specific to a particular embodiment of a particular disclosure. Certain features described in the specification in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments individually or in any suitable subcombination. Furthermore, although the above features may be described as functioning in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, in some cases one or more features of the claimed combination may be removed from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to subcombinations or variations of the subcombinations.

[0232] In addition, in the description, the operations are shown in a particular order in the accompanying drawings, but it should be understood that the operations do not necessarily need to be performed in the particular order shown, or that all the operations shown must be performed in order to obtain the preferred results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be preferred. Furthermore, it should not be understood that the various system components of the above implementations need to be separated in all implementations. Furthermore, it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated into a single software package, or can be packaged in multiple software products.

[0233] As mentioned above, the specific terms disclosed in the specification are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Therefore, although the present disclosure has been described in detail with reference to the above examples, those skilled in the art may modify, change, and transform some parts without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims rather than the detailed description. Therefore, it should be understood that all modifications or variations derived from the meaning and scope of the appended claims and their equivalents are included within the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A base station (BS) device, comprising: an identification unit configured to identify a specific quality of service (QoS) parameter, the specific QoS parameter being applied to a service flow of a downlink packet to be sent to the terminal; a transmitter configured to apply the specific QoS parameter to the downlink packet and transmit the downlink packet to the terminal; as well as A control information sending unit is configured to: notify the terminal of the specific QoS parameter without using separate signaling by inserting QoS control information for identifying the specific QoS parameter into a header of a specific downlink packet of the service flow.

2. The BS device according to claim 1, wherein: The specific downlink packet includes at least one of a downlink packet related to activation of the service flow and a downlink packet related to change of the QoS parameter of the service flow during maintenance of the service flow.

3. A terminal device, comprising: a QoS controller configured to identify a specific QoS parameter without using separate signaling, wherein the specific QoS parameter is identified from QoS control information inserted into a header of a specific downlink packet of a service flow received from a base station BS; and A transmitter is configured to apply the specific QoS parameter to an uplink packet of the service flow and transmit the uplink packet.

4. The terminal device according to claim 3, further comprising: An acquiring unit is configured to acquire the QoS control information from the header of the specific downlink packet.

5. A method for controlling QoS, the method comprising the following steps: identifying, by a base station BS device, specific quality of service (QoS) parameters, which apply to a service flow of downlink packets to be sent to a terminal; applying, by the BS device, the specific QoS parameter to the downlink packet and sending the downlink packet to the terminal; as well as The BS device notifies the terminal of the specific QoS parameter without using separate signaling by inserting QoS control information for identifying the specific QoS parameter into a header of a specific downlink packet of the service flow.

6. A method for controlling QoS, the method comprising the following steps: identifying, by the terminal device without using separate signaling, a specific QoS parameter identified from QoS control information inserted into a header of a specific downlink packet of a service flow received from the base station BS; and The terminal device applies the specific QoS parameter to the uplink packet of the service flow and sends the uplink packet.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the identifying further comprises the following steps: The QoS control information is obtained from the header of the specific downlink packet.

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