Techniques for serving data traffic on access stratum radio bearer

Abstract

The present application relates to devices and components, including apparatuses, systems, and methods, for serving data traffic on an access stratum (AS) radio bearer (RB) using independently configured bearer flows. Due to its own set of resources, the bearer flow removes the dependencies of processing and transmission and retransmission between different traffic flows assigned to the same AS RB.

Description

[0001] Cross-references to other applications

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 440,638, filed on January 23, 2023, entitled “TECHNOLOGIES FOR SERVING DATA TRAFFIC ON ACCESS STRATUM RADIOBEARER,” which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes. Technical Field

[0003] The present application relates generally to cellular communication networks, and in particular to techniques for serving data traffic on access layer radio bearers (RBs). Background Art

[0004] In a cellular wireless communication system, the network can provide resources for transmitting and receiving data services. When data services with different characteristics share the same resources, their transmission and reception may become interdependent. The dependency of data services of different service flows on each other may affect the latency and quality of service. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] Figure 1 A network environment according to some embodiments is shown.

[0006] Figure 2 A data service architecture according to some embodiments is shown.

[0007] Figure 3 Radio bearer flow configurations according to some embodiments are shown.

[0008] Figure 4 Radio bearer flow configurations according to some embodiments are shown.

[0009] Figure 5 A signaling diagram according to some embodiments is shown.

[0010] Figure 6 A signaling diagram according to some embodiments is shown.

[0011] Figure 7 A radio bearer structure according to some embodiments is shown.

[0012] Figure 8 A packet header is shown according to some embodiments.

[0013] Fig. 9 A signaling diagram according to some embodiments is shown.

[0014] Fig.10 An operational flow / algorithm structure according to some embodiments is shown.

[0015] Fig.11 An operational flow / algorithm structure according to some embodiments is shown.

[0016] Fig.12 User equipment according to some embodiments is shown.

[0017] Fig.13 A network node according to some embodiments is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] The following specific embodiments relate to the accompanying drawings. The same figure numbers may be used to identify the same or similar elements in different drawings. In the following description, for the purpose of explanation rather than limitation, specific details, such as specific structures, architectures, interfaces and / or technologies, are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects of some embodiments. However, it is apparent to those skilled in the art who benefit from the present disclosure that various aspects of various aspects can be practiced in other examples that deviate from these specific details. In some cases, the description of well-known equipment, circuits and methods is omitted so that the description of various aspects will not be obscured by unnecessary details. For the purpose of this document, the phrase "A or B" refers to (A), (B) or (A and B), and the phrase "based on A" refers to "based at least in part on A", for example, it can be "based only on A" or it can be "based in part on A".

[0019] The following is a glossary of terms that may be used in this disclosure.

[0020] As used herein, the term "circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes a hardware component such as an electronic circuit, a logic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) or a memory (shared, dedicated, or group) configured to provide the described functions, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable device (FPD) (e.g., a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a complex PLD (CPLD), a high capacity PLD (HCPLD), a structured ASIC, or a programmable system on chip (SoC)), and / or a digital signal processor (DSP). In some aspects, a circuit may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the described functions. The term "circuit" may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements and a program code for performing the functions of the program code (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system). In these aspects, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a specific type of circuit.

[0021] As used herein, the term "processor circuit" refers to, is a part of, or includes a circuit capable of sequentially and automatically performing a series of arithmetic or logical operations; or a circuit that records, stores, or transmits digital data. The term "processor circuit" may refer to an application processor; a baseband processor; a central processing unit (CPU); a graphics processing unit; a single-core processor; a dual-core processor; a triple-core processor; a quad-core processor; or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computer-executable instructions (such as program code); a software module; or a functional process.

[0022] As used herein, the term "interface circuit" refers to, is a part of, or includes a circuit that enables information exchange between two or more components or devices. The term "interface circuit" may refer to one or more hardware interfaces; for example, a bus, an I / O interface, a peripheral component interface, a network interface card, etc.

[0023] As used herein, the term "user equipment" or "UE" refers to a device that has radio communication capabilities and can describe a remote user of network resources in a communication network. In addition, the terms "user equipment" or "UE" may be considered synonymous and may be referred to as a client, mobile phone, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurable radio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. In addition, the term "user equipment" or "UE" may include any type of wireless / wired device or any computing device that includes a wireless communication interface.

[0024] As used herein, the term "computer system" refers to any type of interconnected electronic devices, computer devices, or components thereof. Additionally, the term "computer system" or "system" may refer to various components of a computer that are communicatively coupled to one another. Furthermore, the term "computer system" or "system" may refer to multiple computer devices or multiple computing systems that are communicatively coupled to one another and configured to share computing resources or networked resources.

[0025] As used herein, the term "resource" refers to a physical or virtual device, a physical or virtual component within a computing environment, or a physical or virtual component within a specific device, such as a computer device, a mechanical device, a memory space, a processor / CPU time, a processor / CPU usage, a processor and accelerator load, a hardware time or usage, a power supply, an input / output operation, a port or a network socket, a channel / link allocation, throughput, memory usage, storage, a network, a database and an application, a unit of work, etc. "Hardware resources" may refer to computer, storage or network resources provided by physical hardware elements. "Virtualized resources" may refer to computer, storage or network resources provided by a virtualized infrastructure to an application, device, system, etc. The term "network resources" or "communication resources" may refer to resources that a computer device / system can access via a communication network. The term "system resources" may refer to any kind of shared entity that provides a service, and may include computing resources or network resources. System resources may be considered as a set of coherent functions, network data objects or services that can be accessed through a server, wherein such system resources reside on a single host or multiple hosts and can be clearly identified.

[0026] As used herein, the term "channel" refers to any tangible or intangible transmission medium for transmitting data or data streams. The term "channel" may be synonymous or equivalent to "communication channel", "data communication channel", "transmission channel", "data transmission channel", "access channel", "data access channel", "link", "data link", "carrier", "radio frequency carrier" or any other similar term representing a path or medium through which data is transmitted. In addition, as used herein, the term "link" refers to a connection made between two devices for transmitting and receiving information.

[0027] As used herein, the terms "instantiate," "instantiate," and the like refer to the creation of an instance. "Instance" also refers to a specific occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of program code.

[0028] The term "connected" may mean that two or more elements at a common communication protocol layer have an established signaling relationship with each other through a communication channel, link, interface, or reference point.

[0029] As used herein, the term "network element" refers to physical or virtualized equipment or infrastructure for providing wired or wireless communication network services. The term "network element" may be considered synonymous with or referred to as a networked computer, networking hardware, network equipment, network node, virtualized network function, etc.

[0030] The term "information element" refers to a structural element that contains one or more fields. The term "field" refers to a single content of an information element or a data element that contains content. An information element may include one or more additional information elements.

[0031] Figure 1 A network environment 100 according to some embodiments is shown. The network environment 100 may include a UE 104 coupled to a base station (BS) 108 of a radio access network (RAN). In some embodiments, the BS 108 is a next generation node B (gNB) providing one or more 3GPP new radio (NR) cells. In other embodiments, the BS 108 is an evolved node B (eNB) providing one or more long term evolution (LTE) cells. The air interface via which the UE 104 and the BS 108 communicate may be compatible with 3GPP technical specifications (TS), such as those defining fifth generation (5G) NR or later system standards (e.g., sixth generation (6G) standards).

[0032] The network environment 100 may include a core node (CN) 110 coupled (e.g., communicatively coupled) to the BS 108. In some embodiments, the CN 110 is an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) that provides aggregated voice and data on a fourth generation (4G) or LTE network. In other embodiments, the CN 110 includes a user plane function (UPF) that provides interconnection between mobile infrastructure (e.g., UE 104 and base station 108) and a data network (e.g., the Internet). The interface between the base station 108 and the CN 110 may be compatible with 3GPP TS, such as those defining 5G NR or later system standards (e.g., 6G standards).

[0033] The network environment 100 may include end-to-end flows, such as end-to-end flow 1. The end-to-end flow carries data traffic. The end-to-end flow may also be referred to as a traffic flow. A traffic flow may include data packets or data traffic exchanged between two ends of a communication connection. For example, in a video call, the UE 104 may send a video packet to the CN 110 via the BS 108. The CN 110 then forwards the video packet to a destination (not shown).

[0034] Similarly, the destination may send video packets to UE 104. CN 110 receives the video packets and sends them to UE 104 via BS 108. In one example, UE 104 may transmit and receive data. Data traffic associated with an application and exchanged between two ends of a communication connection may also be referred to as a service data flow (SDF). Thus, an SDF may include both uplink and downlink data traffic.

[0035] In one example, an end-to-end flow is abstractly similar to a pipe for carrying data traffic. A pipe represents a resource allocated by the network to provide quality of service (QoS) for carrying data traffic to and from UE 104. For example, a QoS flow is a pipe that provides a preconfigured QoS (e.g., latency or guaranteed bit rate). Several data traffic or SDFs may have similar quality of service (QoS) requirements and may be mapped to the same QoS flow. UE 104 sends data traffic to BS 108, and BS 108 forwards the data traffic to CN 110. Similarly, CN 110 receives data destined for UE 104 and sends it to BS 108. BS 108 forwards the data traffic to UE 104.

[0036] In the example of a communication system, an application (or application layer) may generate data for transmission to a destination, such as a voice message. The data is processed by a protocol stack consisting of multiple layers (e.g., Layer 2 (L2), including the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) and the Multiple Access Control (MAC) sublayer, and Layer 1 (L1) or the physical layer or transport layer). Data is exchanged between layers in logical channels in a transmitter or receiver. The transmitter protocol layer maps data to a transport channel for transmission between a transmitter and a receiver on a physical wired or wireless channel. The receiver maps received data on the transport channel to a higher layer logical channel.

[0037] An example of an L2 logical channel is a radio bearer, such as radio bearer 1. A radio bearer provides a bidirectional logical channel between UE 104 and BS 108. A radio bearer may carry control signaling information. A radio bearer carrying control signaling may be referred to as a signaling radio bearer (SRB). A radio bearer may carry user plane data, such as application data or SDF. A radio bearer carrying user plane data is referred to as an access stratum (AS) radio bearer (RB) or a data radio bearer (DRB). An L2 logical channel between BS 108 and CN 110 may be referred to as a tunnel, such as tunnel 1. In one example, the tunnel between BS 108 and CN 110 may be based on a general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP), such as GTP-U for transporting user data or GTP-C for transporting control signaling. Radio bearer 1 and tunnel 1 together form an end-to-end flow 1, thereby providing a conduit for transmitting data between UE 104 and CN 110.

[0038] UE 104 may have more than one service flow, e.g., end-to-end flows 1 and 2. Additional AS RBs with specific configurations may be added to achieve QoS requirements of different QoS flows, e.g., by prioritizing one QoS flow over other QoS flows. In addition, each service flow may have its radio bearer and tunnel, e.g., radio bearer 1 and tunnel 1 in end-to-end flow 1 and radio bearer 2 and tunnel 2 in end-to-end flow 2. In one example, radio bearer 1 may be an AS RB and radio bearer 2 may be an SRB. In another example, both radio bearers 1 and 2 may be AS RBs carrying user plan data with different requirements (e.g., QoS requirements). For example, radio bearer 1 may carry file transfer data and radio bearer 2 may carry video conferencing data.

[0039] UE 104 may request BS 108 to initiate configuration of AS RB. BS 108 assigns a static set of AS L2 resources (eg, PDCP and Radio Link Control (RLC) entities and PDCP and RLC state variables) to AS RB. AS RB uses L2 resources to serve data traffic.

[0040] In one example, more than one SDF or QoS flow can be mapped to the same AS RB. The network knows which flows are mapped to the AS RB and ensures that the AS RB is served according to the end-to-end QOS requirements it agrees on. Because the AS RB has only one set of L2 resources, the AS RB cannot distinguish between traffic from different SDFs or applications mapped to the same QoS flow. The AS RB can only distinguish between QoS flows and has no flexibility or control over the air interface under the QoS flows.

[0041] One way to provide differentiation between different SDFs is to assign each SDF to a different QoS flow, which requires configuring one QoS flow for each SDF or application. Configuring QoS for each SDF may result in a waste of resources because SDFs are dynamic and may be created and terminated frequently, and some SDFs or applications are not required to transmit data in every cellular connection (e.g., RRC connection). In addition, it is not easy to differentiate between services from the same SDF or application based on a service filtering template configured by the network.

[0042] The lack of flexibility and control in providing differentiation between services from different SDFs may negatively impact the receiver. For example, when two QoS flows are mapped to the same AS RB, the L2 layer at the receiver may block data delivery on the QoS flow because packets related to the other QoS flow are out of sequence or lost.

[0043] The lack of flexibility and control in providing differentiation between services from different SDFs may negatively impact the transmitter. For example, retransmissions associated with one QoS flow / SDF may result in delays in the transmission of new packets from other QoS flows / SDFs mapped to the same AS RB. Delays in transmission may result in data stalling of any new packets of other QoS flows / SDFs mapped to the same AS RB, such as RLC Acknowledged Mode (AM) transmitter Tx window stalling. Data stalling may also be referred to as head of line (HOL) blocking.

[0044] Another example of an adverse effect on the transmitter is a starvation of low-load QoS flows. For example, a single high-load QoS flow can result in a starvation of new transmissions from other low-load QoS flows. In another example, SDF application data can be starved of SDF control data. Having a QoS flow for each SDF can result in HOL blocking, long and unpredictable latency, jitter, and thereby undesirable effects on higher layers, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) Acknowledgement (ACK) congestion, redundant retransmissions, and slow start.

[0045] Static assignment of L2 resources to configured AS RBs may result in restrictions. For example, when L2 resource sets are statically assigned to configured AS RBs, AS RBs cannot be served by more than one AS L2 resource set. Having more than one L2 resource set can improve the service of the business mapped to a single AS RB. In addition, static assignment of L2 resource sets may result in waste and underutilization of L2 resource sets. In some cases, because it is not required to transmit data business on each configured AS RB, waste occurs. In another example, the business on different AS RBs may not be active at the same time, resulting in underutilization of L2 resource sets on inactive AS RBs.

[0046] Allowing AS RBs to include a variable set of independent data pipes called bearer flows (BFs) can provide a more flexible air interface for AS RBs. Each BF can be associated with its own dynamically configured L2 resource set. As used herein, an L2 resource set may include state variables, transmit and receive windows, sequence numbers, timers, and resources required for cellular L2 data plane layers (e.g., SDAP, PDPC, and RLC). The BF design can enable the protocol stack to distinguish packets mapped to different BFs.

[0047] Figure 2A data service architecture 200 according to some embodiments is shown. The data service architecture 200 may include a UE 104, a BS 108, and a CN 110. An air interface connects the UE 104 and the BS 108. In one exemplary implementation, the N3 interface defined in 3GPP TS 29.281 v.17.4.0 (2022-09-23) connects the BS 108 and the CN 110.

[0048] UE 104 or BS 108 may initiate a packet data unit (PDU) session 210. In one example, when UE 104 initiates a data transfer, UE 104 requests BS 108 to establish PDU session 210. When data first comes from the data network of UE 104, the network (e.g., BS 108) configures PDU session 210. PDU session 210 may provide a connection between an application at UE 104 and a data network (DN). PDU session 210 may carry multiple end-to-end service flows, such as, Figure 1 The PDU session 210 may include an AS RB between the UE 104 and the BS 108 and a GTP-U tunnel between the BS 108 and the CN 110. In one example, the logical connection between the BS 108 and the CN 110 is a GTP connection, such as a GTP-U ( Figure 2 not shown).

[0049] In one example, the network provides a default QoS flow when establishing the PDU session 210. The UE 104 can use the default QoS flow to establish other QoS flows to support data services with more stringent QoS requirements, such as video streaming applications or real-time applications.

[0050] The UE 104 or the network may create an additional dedicated QoS flow having QoS characteristics different from those of the default QoS flow. The UE may initiate the creation of the additional dedicated QoS flow by sending a request to the network. The network may initiate the creation of the additional dedicated QoS flow using a policy control function (PCF).

[0051] The network configures the UE 104, BS 108, and CN 110 with the QoS requirements for the data flows. Successful configuration of the UE 104, BS 108, and CN 110 establishes the QoS flows, and the network assigns a QoS flow identification number (QFI). The QFI may represent the QoS characteristics of the QoS flow. An example of a QoS characteristic may be a guaranteed bit rate (GBR) or non-guaranteed bit rate (non-GBR) QoS flow. For example, QoS flow 1 may be a default QoS flow, QoS flow 2 may be a GBR QoS flow, and QoS flow 3 may be a non-GBR QoS flow.

[0052] BS 108 may map one or more QoS flows to AS RBs. For example, QoS flow 1 may be mapped to radio bearer 1, and QoS flows 2 and 3 may be mapped to radio bearer 2.

[0053] When SDFs share the same QoS characteristics and requirements, the transmitter may map one or more of these SDFs to the same QoS flow. For example, SDF 1 and SDF 2 are mapped to QoS flow 1, SDFs 3-4 are mapped to QoS flow 2, and SDFs 6 and 7 are mapped to QoS flow 3.

[0054] In some embodiments, a transmitter (e.g., BS108 or UE 104) may allocate multiple BFs (e.g., BF 1-2) to serve an AS RB (e.g., AS RB 1) or allocate BF 3-5 to serve AS RB 2. Compared with AS RB 1-2, BF 1-5 is an air interface that provides greater granularity control and flexibility. BFs can provide greater control to provide fair service across different data services mapped to the same AS RB without affecting end-to-end QoS flow handling. Examples of different data services can be data services within an AS RB carrying multiple QoS flows, QoS flows carrying multiple SDFs, or even different packet types within the same SDF, for example, control packets such as TCP ACK to ordinary IP (Internet Protocol) packets. The maximum number of BFs per AS RB may be defined in accordance with 3GPP TS or dynamically configured by the network. The maximum number of BFs across all AS RBs may be defined by 3GPP TS or configured by the network. In one example, BFs may also be assigned to SRBs. In one example, only one BF may be assigned to an SRB. In another example, more than one BF may be assigned to an SRB.

[0055] When there is data traffic, BF can be assigned to AS RB, and when there is no more data traffic, BF can be released, for example. For example, BF 1 and 2 are assigned to AS RB 1, and BF 3-5 are assigned to AS RB 2. Each BF has its own L2 resource set to serve the traffic mapped to it, such as L2 layer sequence number, state variables and timer. When BF is assigned to AS RB, the L2 resource set of BF can be initialized to the L2 configuration of AS RB to which BF is assigned. The L2 configuration of AS RB inherited by BF can include sequence number (SN) size and radio link control (RLC) type. End-to-end QoS (e.g., guaranteed bit rate or guaranteed delay) can be applied to the entire set of BFs assigned to serve AS RB. For example, logical channel prioritization is applied to AS RB level. The decision to assign BF to AS RB can be defined by 3GPP TS standard or left to specific implementation.

[0056] The transmitter may select a BF to serve the data and assign the BF to the AS RB. For example, when the UE 104 starts an SDF, the UE 104 may select a BF to serve the SDF and assign the BF to an existing AS RB. For example, based on the network configuration, SDF 6 is mapped to QoS flow 3, and QoS 3 is mapped to radio bearer 2. In one example, when the UE 104 starts SDF 6, the UE 104 may select BF 3 for SDF 6 and assign BF 3 to radio bearer 2. In another example, when the BS 108 receives a new SDF to be transmitted to the UE 104, the BS 108 may select a BF to serve the SDF and assign the BF to the AS RB. For example, the BS 108 may receive SDF 6 from a data network (DN) with the UE 104 as its destination. The BS 108 may select BF 5 for SDF 6 and assign BF 5 to radio bearer 2, which is not explicitly shown in the figure.

[0057] One or more BFs may be assigned to an AS RB. For example, a bearer flow 3-5 serving an SDF 3-7 may be assigned to an AS RB 2. Whether an AS RB may be served by more than one BF may be configured via a network configuration such as a radio resource control (RRC) configuration. When an AS RB is configured to have more than one bearer flow, in addition to the RB identification (ID), the transmitter may also indicate to the receiver the BF to which the packet is mapped. In some instances, the network may selectively enable the use of a bearer flow for a particular AS RB.

[0058] The assignment of BFs to AS RBs may be dynamic and based on need. For example, when SDF 2 (mapped to AS RB 1) starts at UE 104, UE 104 determines that SDF 2 will benefit from being served by a BF different from the BF serving SDF 1. Then, UE 104 may assign bearer flow 2 to radio bearer 1 and map SDF 2 to BF 2. In another example, when SDF 6 (mapped to AS RB 2) starts at UE 104, UE 104 determines that SDF 6 does not require a new bearer flow and may be served by bearer flow 3 (together with SDF 3). Once the entity that initially assigned the BF to the AS RB does not need the BF, it may release the BF. This may allow the BF to be assigned to other RBs. Dynamically assigning L2 resources across AS RBs based on demand and load on the AS RB may serve data traffic more efficiently or fairly. In some instances, the RRC connection configures only a subset of all AS RBs; therefore, some L2 resources remain unused. Different data can be better served by allocating unused L2 resources to bearer flows.

[0059] In some embodiments, each configured AS RB with active data traffic may have at least one BF assigned to it, such as a default BF. The default BF serves all traffic by default until the transmitter determines that an additional BF is needed. For example, bearer flow 1 assigned to AS RB 1 and bearer flow 3 assigned to AS RB 2 may be default bearer flows. A bearer flow may serve only one AS RB.

[0060] Based on local information or conditions, UE 104 or BS 108 can freely select an existing BF assigned to an AS RB or assign a new bearer flow to an AS RB to serve data traffic mapped to the same AS RB. Examples of local information can be the number of currently active SDFs or applications with data to be served, application metadata, link quality, block error rate, congestion metrics, or queue sizes. When local information or conditions change, the mapping of SDFs or data traffic to BFs can be changed dynamically. For example, during an RRC connection, a BF can be reassigned to serve a different AS RB or a different SDF within the same AS RB.

[0061] In some embodiments, the UE 104 and the BS 108 may be aligned in the use of BF in both the uplink (UL) direction (e.g., data traffic from the UE 104 toward the DN) and the downlink (DL) direction (e.g., data traffic from the DN toward the UE 104). The UE 104 and the BS 108 may be aligned in the UL direction and the DL direction based on data traffic attributes. For example, an SDF that requires guaranteed quality of service (such as real-time application data) may require alignment between UL transmissions and DL transmissions.

[0062] Figure 3 A radio bearer flow configuration 300 according to some embodiments is shown. The bearer flow configuration 300 allocates network resources 302 between K configured AS RBs (e.g., AS RBs 1-K). When configuring the AS RBs, the network (e.g., a base station) may configure bearer flow queues associated with the AS RBs, e.g., bearer flow queue 1 for radio bearer 1, and bearer flow queue K for radio bearer K. The bearer flow queues manage the assignment of bearer flows to data traffic. As discussed above, bearer flows may be assigned to AS RBs by a UE or a BS.

[0063] In one example, when radio bearer 1 is configured, the network allocates N bearer flows (e.g., bearer flows 1-N) for use by radio bearer 1. In another example, when radio bearer K is configured, the network allocates M bearer flows (e.g., bearer flows 1-M) for use by radio bearer K.

[0064] In one example, the network configures the maximum number of bearer streams that can be assigned to a radio bearer. The maximum number of bearer streams can be configured statically or dynamically. In some embodiments, the maximum number of bearer streams for AS RBs in a static configuration does not change. However, in a dynamic configuration, the maximum number of bearer streams for AS RBs can change. All configured radio bearers can have an equal number of allocated bearer streams. The 3GPP TS standard can limit the number of bearer streams allocated to AS RBs serving data traffic for a given UE (e.g., UE 104).

[0065] Figure 4 A radio bearer flow configuration 400 according to some embodiments is shown. The bearer flow configuration 300 allocates network resources 402 between K configured AS RBs (e.g., radio bearers 1-K). When a UE (e.g., UE 104) is powered on and successfully connected to the network and establishes an RRC connection, the network (e.g., base station 108) may allocate a set of bearer flows (e.g., bearer flows 1-P) to the UE. As discussed above, bearer flows may be assigned to AS RBs by the UE or the BS. The BS may configure the maximum number P of bearer flows, or it may be covered or fixed by the 3GPP TS. When the 3GPP TS limits the maximum number of bearer flows, the BS cannot configure a number of bearer flows greater than the limit.

[0066] Based on local information, the UE or BS can determine that the data service assigned to the AS RB should be mapped to the bearer flow. For example, consider that the bearer flow is a new flow without active services. In this case, the bearer flow assignment function 410 can select an available bearer flow from the bearer flow queue 404, assign the bearer flow to the AS RB, initialize the bearer flow, and map the data service to the selected bearer flow. In another example, the bearer flow can be a configured bearer flow assigned to the same AS RB as the data service. In this case, the bearer flow assignment function 410 maps the data service to the bearer flow. All configured AS RBs can share a common pool of bearer flows. The bearer flow queue 404 is a logical queue that maintains the state of the bearer flow.

[0067] Figure 5 A signaling diagram 500 is shown according to some embodiments. The signaling diagram 500 is an example of the signals and procedures involved in serving data traffic on a bearer flow. In the diagram 500, the UE 104 initiates data traffic and assigns a bearer flow. Similar signaling and procedures may apply when the BS 108 or the CN 110 initiates data traffic to be sent to the UE 104. The UE 104 is configured with RB1, and QoS flow 1 is mapped to RB 1. For example, QoS flow 1 may be the default Internet bearer.

[0068] At 506, UE 104 receives uplink data traffic from SDF 1 assigned to RB 1. For example, SDF 1 may include data for a video call initiated by a social media application. UE 104 determines whether a new bearer flow is required for SDF 1. UE 104 may consider whether an idle bearer flow is available in bearer flow queue 504. If an idle bearer flow is not available, UE 104 may map SDF 1 to an existing bearer flow with active data traffic.

[0069] At 508, if the UE 104 determines that an idle bearer flow is available, the UE 104 obtains a bearer flow (e.g., bearer flow 2) from the bearer flow queue 504, initializes it based on the RB 1 L2 configuration, and maps SDF 1 to bearer flow 2. Bearer flow 2 has its own L2 resource set and inherits the RB 1 L2 configuration (e.g., SN size and RLC entity type).

[0070] In one example, the bearer flow queue 504 is a logical queue that holds unassigned bearer flows. Once a bearer flow is assigned to an AS RB, it is taken out of the queue 504. Once a bearer flow is released, the bearer flow is returned and added to the queue 504. The UE 104 can also map the SDF 1 service to the QoS flow 1 based on the QoS requirements of the SDF 1.

[0071] At 510, bearer flow 2 serves SDF 1 and BS 108 receives data from SDF 1. Packet delivery to upper layers of SDF 1 packets on bearer flow 2 may not depend on packets from any SDF served by other BFs. Without the bearer flow, data packets for SDF 1 may be prevented from being delivered to upper layers due to lost packets from other SDFs assigned to the same AS RB.

[0072] At 512, based on the received packets, BS 108 learns the mapping of SDF 1 to Bearer Flow 2, initializes Bearer Flow 2 based on RB 1L2 configuration, and processes the data from SDF 1.

[0073] At 514, UE 104 receives data from SDF 2 mapped to RB 1. SDF 2 may include, for example, data traffic associated with a file download. UE 104 may map SDF 2 to QoS flow 1 based on network configuration. The network may control the mapping of SDFs to QoS flows. The network may control the mapping of QoS flows to AS RBs. In another example, SDF 2 may be replaced by SDF 1, where UE 104 decides to serve different packet types in SDF 1 on different bearer flows.

[0074] At 516, CN 110 receives data from SDF 1 mapped to QoS Flow 1. The transportation of data from SDF 1 on QoS Flow 1 to CN 110 may be independent of the mapping of SDF 1 to Bearer Flow 2.

[0075] At 518, UE 104 may determine that SDF 2 traffic should be mapped to a new bearer flow. UE 104 may determine that an idle bearer flow is available. UE 104 may obtain a bearer flow (e.g., bearer flow 3) from bearer flow queue 504, initialize it based on RB 1 L2 configuration, and map SDF 2 to bearer flow 3. Bearer flow 3 has its own L2 resource set independent of the L2 resource set of SDF 1 and may inherit the RB 1 L2 configuration (e.g., SN size and RLC entity type).

[0076] At 520, UE 104 may process data from SDF 1 and SDF 2 and transmit data from SDF 1 on bearer flow 2 and data from SDF 2 on bearer flow 3 to BS 108. Because SDF 1 and SDF 2 are mapped to different bearer flows, UE 104 processes transmission and retransmission of data from SDF 1 independently of transmission and retransmission of data from SDF 2.

[0077] Without utilizing bearer flow, when SDF 1 and SDF 2 are transported on AS RB, packets of both SDF 1 and SDF 2 are associated with the sequence number (SN) of AS RB. SDF 1 data packet transmission may be delayed due to retransmission of old SDF 2 packets or due to transmission of new SDF 2 packets received before SDF 1 packets.

[0078] By mapping SDF 1 to bearer stream 2 and SDF 2 to bearer stream 3, SDF 1 packets will be served by bearer stream 2 and its dedicated set of L2 resources, and SDF 2 packets will be served by bearer stream 3 and its dedicated set of L2 resources. The transmission of SDF 1 packets will be independent of the transmission of SDF 2 packets. By mapping SDFs to different individual bearer streams, the transmitter has greater control over the sequence, latency, and jitter of different SDFs carried within an AS RB.

[0079] In some embodiments, UE 104 may set the priority of the data traffic serving one SDF to be higher than another. In a first alternative, the priority associated with each SDF may be static and may be defined in the 3GPP TS. For example, the priority of the bearer stream may be related to the bearer ID value. For example, if the ID of bearer stream 2 is a and the ID of bearer stream 3 is b, then if a is greater than b, bearer stream 2 has a higher priority than bearer stream 3. In another example, if a is less than b, bearer stream 2 has a higher priority than bearer stream 3. In another example of statically configured priorities, all bearer streams may have the same priority and may be served in a round-robin manner.

[0080] In a second alternative, priorities may not be configured and priorities may not be aligned between the transmitter and receiver. The transmitter may decide which stream to serve. Uplink and downlink streams may not only be mapped to different bearer streams, but may also have different priorities.

[0081] At 522, based on the received packets, BS 108 may learn the mapping of SDF 2 to Bearer Flow 3, initialize Bearer Flow 2 based on the RB 1L2 configuration, and process data from SDF 2. BS 108 processes data received on Bearer Flow 2 independently of data received on Bearer Flow 3.

[0082] At 524, BS 108 may multiplex packets received from RB 1 on different bearer flows into one flow and send them to CN 110. CN 110 receives data from SDF 1 and SDF 2 mapped to QoS flow 1. The transportation of data from SDF 1 and SDF 2 on QoS flow 1 to CN 110 may be independent of the mapping of SDF 1 to bearer flow 2 and SDF 2 to bearer flow 3.

[0083] The network configures the AS RB and maps the QoS flow to the AS RB based on the QoS characteristics of the AS RB. The transmitter (UE104 in UL or BS108 in DL) maps the SDF to the AS RB based on the network configuration. The bearer flow provides a flexible method for separating the data services assigned to the AS RB and serving the separated data independently of each other without any negative impact on the basic QoS characteristics of the QoS flow. The bearer flow can be transparent to the non-access stratum (NAS) QoS key performance indicators (KPIs) and may not affect the QoS system. The use of the bearer flow may not affect the logical channels assigned to the AS RB.

[0084] The link between an AS RB and an L2 resource set assigned to a bearer flow can be one-to-many. Multiple L2 resource sets linked to an AS RB provide flexibility, as different services mapped to the same AS RB can be served independently.

[0085] The data traffic served independently on different bearer flows can be data traffic from different SDFs or different packet types within the same SDF. The basic QoS can remain unaffected by the bearer flows that inherit the L2 configuration of the AS RB (such as timer duration, sequence number size, and discard timer duration).

[0086] Figure 6 yes Figure 5 Reference point "A" mark Figure 5 and Figure 6 The common point in .

[0087] Figure 6 FIG. 6 shows a signaling diagram 600 according to some embodiments. Signaling diagram 600 is a continuation of signaling diagram 500, where reference point "A" marks a common point in both signaling diagrams. As shown, Figure 5 An example of UL traffic flow is described, and Figure 6 An example of a DL traffic flow is shown. Signaling diagram 600 includes two methods of serving downlink data: mapping 630 and mapping 640.

[0088] BS 108 may use mapping 630, where SDF 1 and SDF 2 are mapped to two separate BFs. BS 108 maps SDF 1 to BF2 and SDF 2 to BF3.

[0089] In one example, the mapping of traffic flows to BFs at DL flows can be aligned with the mapping of traffic to BFs at UL flows. They are aligned when the transmitters on UL and DL (UE 104 is a UL transmitter and BS 108 is a DL transmitter) share a common configuration for serving SDFs. For example, the transmitter is configured to serve SDF 1 using a BF separate from all other active traffic. UL and DL can map SDF 1 to the same BF or different BFs. Network signaling can align the transmitters for a given SDF, for example, whether the SDF should be mapped to the same BF on UL and DL.

[0090] In one example, the mapping of service flows to BFs is not aligned in UL and DL. The transmitter maps SDFs to BFs independently of each other. In one exemplary implementation of the non-aligned mapping, the UE 104 may follow the BS 108 mapping without any command, requirement, or common configuration. The mapping of SDF 1 to BF 2 at 610 may or may not be consistent with the BS 108 mapping. Figure 5 Similarly, the mapping of SDF 2 to BF 3 at 610 may or may not be aligned with Figure 5The mapping of SDF 2 to BF 3 at 518 in FIG. 5 is aligned. The network configuration and whether the UE 104 and the BS 108 coordinate with each other in mapping the traffic flows to the BFs may determine whether the mapping is aligned or unaligned.

[0091] There are different options for achieving aligned mapping 630. In a first option, L2 signaling aligns the mapping of SDFs to bearer flows between UE 104 and BS 108. In a second option, RRC signaling aligns the mapping of SDFs to bearer flows between UE 104 and BS 108. In a third option, a MAC control element aligns the mapping of SDFs to bearer flows between UE 104 and BS 108.

[0092] BS 108 may use mapping 640 where SDF 1 and SDF 2 are mapped to the same BF. In one example, BS 108 maps SDF 1 and SDF 2 to default BF 620. The mapping of SDF 1 to default BF 620 may or may not align with the mapping of SDF 1 to BF 2 (e.g., in Figure 5 Similarly, the mapping of SDF 2 to the default BF 620 may or may not align with the mapping of SDF 2 to BF 3 (e.g., at 508 in FIG. 5 ). Figure 5 518 of them).

[0093] The UE 104 and BS 108 may use a combination of non-aligned mapping and aligned mapping. For example, the UE 104 and BS 108 may use aligned mapping on previously configured or predetermined bearer flows. The UE 104 and BS 108 may use non-aligned mapping on other unspecified bearer flows.

[0094] As previously mentioned Figure 5 As mentioned, the network has configured RB 1 as a radio bearer and mapped QoS flow 1 to RB 1. SDFs 1 and 2 are assigned to RB 1 and mapped to QoS flow 1. SDF 1 is assigned to bearer flow 2, SDF 2 is assigned to bearer flow 3, and UE 104 and BS 108 are aware of all the above configurations, assignments, and mappings.

[0095] At 606, CN 110 receives DL data from SDF 1 and SDF 2, maps the data to QoS Flow 1, and sends the data to BS 108. BS 108 receives data from SDF 1 and 2. BS 108 processes the data from SDF 1 independently of the data from SDF 2.

[0096] At 610, BS 108 maps data from SDF 1 to bearer stream 2 and maps data from SDF 2 to bearer stream 3. BS 108 maps the SDFs to the same BF as UE 104. Transmission and retransmission of data mapped to bearer stream 2 are independent of transmission and retransmission of data mapped to bearer stream 3.

[0097] In another example, at 612, CN 110 receives data from SDF 1 and SDF 2 on a downlink flow for UE 104. CN 110 maps the data from SDF 1 and SDF 2 to QoS flow 1 and sends them to BS 108. BS 108 may implement a different priority scheme for serving bearer flows 2 and 3, as described above with respect to QoS flow 1. Figure 5 As described in item 520.

[0098] At 614, BS 108 receives data from SDF 1 and SDF 2. In the mapping of SDF 1 to bearer stream 2 and SDF 2 to bearer stream 3 for DL ​​transmission, BS 108 does not follow the UL distinction for SDFs. When mapping SDFs to bearer streams, BS 108 may not be aligned with UE 104 and may use a different mapping than UE 104. BS 108 maps the DL data streams of SDF 1 and SDF 2 to the same bearer stream (e.g., default bearer stream 620). Data processing, transmission, and retransmission from SDF 1 and SDF 2 depend on each other and are based on the L2 resource set of the default bearer 620.

[0099] At 616, the UE 104 receives an indication that SDF 1 no longer has data for transmission. If no other active data is assigned to Bearer Flow 2, then at 618, the UE 104 may release Bearer Flow 2. Once released, Bearer Flow 2 will be added to the Bearer Flow Queue 504 and will be available to be assigned to an AS RB.

[0100] For example, when the application socket is closed, the application does not generate data for transmission and may indicate to the UE 104 that the corresponding SDF no longer has data. In another example, when the data transmission on the SDF mapped to the bearer flow times out, the bearer flow is no longer needed. In one instance, the transmitter may not have any idle BFs available for it, and the transmitter needs a BF for serving the high priority SDF on the AS RB without any assigned BF or without any BF with the required configuration. The transmitter may release the BF currently serving one or more SDFs and map the high priority SDF to the BF.

[0101] In one example, the release of the alignment bearer flow may be implicitly or explicitly aligned between the UE 104 and the BS 108. For example, an implicit alignment release may occur when the BF assignment for the AS RB is removed and the BF is assigned to another AS RB. An explicit alignment release may occur when a control message from a transmitter to a receiver indicates the release of the BF from the assigned AS RB.

[0102] Figure 7 A radio bearer structure 700 according to some embodiments is shown. An AS RB 704 is associated with one or more bearer flows (e.g., bearer flow 706). Each bearer flow associated with an AS RB 704 may have a similar structure as bearer flow 706. Bearer flow 706 may include a PDCP entity 708. For example, a superframe number of the PDCP entity 708 is maintained for each bearer flow.

[0103] The PDCP entity 708 may be associated with one, two, or four RLC entities 710-712. The association may be based on RB characteristics (e.g., unidirectional or bidirectional) or RLC mode. For example, for cell group 1, the RLC entity 710 may be associated with a logical channel 714. Similarly, in cell group N, the RLC entity 712 may be associated with a logical channel 716.

[0104] In one example, when a bearer flow is assigned to an AS RB, all variables, constants and timers of entities associated with the bearer flow are reinitialized based on the AS RB configuration. In some examples, the value of HFN is preserved and remains unaffected by the reinitialization of BF, and the network should ensure that the same COUNT parameter calculated based on PDCP HFN and SN (sequence number) is not reused with a given key. In addition, initialization, release or unmapping of BF may not affect HFN and may not result in HFN initialization.

[0105] Figure 8 A packet header 800 according to some embodiments is shown. Each data packet may include a bearer stream ID to allow a receiver to distinguish packets served by different bearer streams. In one example, the RLC header of the data packet may include the bearer stream ID. In another example, the MAC subheader may include the bearer stream ID.

[0106] The RLC PDU 810 includes a header and a data payload. The header includes short fields, such as fields 1-4. One of the short fields may be assigned to the flow ID 814. The RLC packet may also include long fields for sequence numbers and data.

[0107] The RLC PDU 820 includes a header and a data payload. The header includes short fields, such as fields 1-5. The header includes long fields, such as two long fields allocated for a sequence number (SN). For example, one long field may be allocated to a bearer stream ID 824.

[0108] The MAC subheader may include a bearer stream ID (not depicted). For example, the logical channel ID (LCID) field in the MAC subheader may indicate both the identity of the logical channel and the bearer stream ID. The LCID may also represent the RB ID.

[0109] In one example, the MAC layer LCID of the AS RB is associated with one or more BFs, where the BFs are mapped to the AS RB. In addition, each BF mapped to the AS RB has its own dedicated L2 layer resource set.

[0110] Fig. 9 900 is a signaling diagram according to some embodiments. The signaling diagram 900 is an example of using L2 signaling to align the mapping of UL flows and DL flows of an SDF to the same bearer flow. The transmitter 904 may be a UE (e.g., Figure 1 UE 104 in) or BS (e.g., Figure 1 Receiver 908 may be a UE (eg, Figure 1 UE 104 in) or BS (e.g., Figure 1 BS108 in ).

[0111] At 910, transmitter 904 receives data 1 for traffic flow 1 mapped to AS RB 1. Traffic flow 1 has not been mapped to any bearer flow, or traffic flow 1 is mapped to a bearer flow but local conditions and information change and transmitter 904 decides to change the bearer flow associated with flow 1.

[0112] At 912, transmitter 904 decides to map stream 1 to bearer stream Y (the bearer stream ID value is symbolically represented by "Y").

[0113] At 914, the transmitter 904 sends an RLC bearer flow control PDU 940, and the receiver 908 receives the bearer flow control PDU 940. The RLC bearer flow control PDU 940 may be used to align the mapping of stream 1 to bearer flow Y between the transmitter 904 and the receiver 908.

[0114] The RLC bearer flow control PDU 940 may include a bearer flow ID to indicate the bearer flow to which service flow 1 should be mapped. The control PDU 940 may include a mapping start indicator. A value of "1" or a logical value of "true" may indicate that the mapping of the SDF to the bearer flow identified by the bearer flow ID will be started. The control PDU 940 may include a mapping stop indicator. A value of "1" or a logical value of "true" may indicate that the mapping of the SDF to the bearer flow identified by the bearer flow ID is ended. Mapping stop may only end the mapping. Service flow 1 may be mapped to another bearer flow or served on the default bearer flow. Ending the service flow mapping may not end the bearer flow. For example, other service flows may be mapped to the bearer flow. The control PDU 940 may include an AS service template ID and an AS service template. The AS service template may map service flow 1 to bearer flow Y. The control PDU 940 transmitted at 914 has enabled the mapping start field (set to a value of "1" or "true").

[0115] At 916, the receiver 908 updates the AS RB bearer flow mapping table to indicate the mapping of service flow 1 to bearer flow Y. The bearer flow mapping table stores the association between service flows and bearer flows. For example, the bearer flow mapping table may store the service flow ID and associate it with the bearer flow ID.

[0116] At 918 to 920, the transmitter 904 transmits UL data 1-N of service flow 1, and the receiver 908 receives data 1-N of service flow 1. Data packets 1-N include a bearer stream ID of bearer stream Y to allow the receiver 908 to identify the bearer stream. At 922, the receiver 908 receives DL data 1 of service flow 1. The service mapping is aligned. Therefore, the receiver 908 maps the DL service flow to bearer Y. At 924, the receiver 908 transmits DL data 1 of service flow 1, and the transmitter 904 receives DL data of the service flow. DL data packet 1 includes a bearer stream ID of bearer stream Y to allow the transmitter 904 to identify the bearer stream.

[0117] At 926, the transmitter 904 receives a de-mapping indication. The de-mapping indication may be based on the termination of the service flow. For example, shutting down the source or application of service flow 1. In response to the de-mapping indication, at 928, the transmitter 904 removes the mapping of service flow 1 from bearer flow Y.

[0118] BF can carry data services of several SDF / service flows. When the SDF or service flow does not have any additional data, the SDF or service flow is removed or unmapped from the BF. In order to remove the association between the BF and the AS RB, the UE or BS needs to detect and determine the conditions for releasing the BF. For example, one condition may be that when no active data, SDF or service flow is mapped to the BF, the BF may be released, and its association with the AS RB may be removed. Another condition may be that when there is no BF that is not assigned to the AS RB available, and it is required to use a BF that is not shared with other active data services to serve important SDFs. In this case, the transmitter or network may remap the services of the BF with the active services, and release the BF, so that the important SDF may be mapped to it. In another example, when the AS RB is released, the BF associated with the AS RB is released. At 930, the transmitter 904 sends a bearer flow control PDU 942, and the receiver 908 receives the bearer flow control PDU. The control PDU 942 has the Map Stop field enabled (set to a value of "1" or "true").

[0119] At 932, receiver 908 may unmap flow 1 traffic from bearer flow Y and update the AS RB bearer flow mapping table.

[0120] Fig.10 An operational flow / algorithm structure 1000 is shown according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, the operational flow / algorithm structure 1000 may be performed by a transmitter.

[0121] The operational flow / algorithm structure 1000 includes receiving a traffic flow to be transmitted via an AS RB at 1010. The traffic flow may be associated with an AS RB via a traffic flow template (TFT) or in some other manner.

[0122] At 1020, the operational flow / algorithm structure 1000 includes mapping traffic to bearer flows assigned to the AS RBs. Traffic may be mapped to bearer flows based on local conditions detected by the transmitter.

[0123] In some embodiments, the transmitter may assign the bearer flow to the AS RB. This may be based on the traffic flow received at 1010. When assigning the bearer flow to the AS RB, an L2 resource set may be assigned to the bearer flow, and the bearer flow may be initialized through the L2 configuration of the AS RB.

[0124] At 1030, the operational flow / algorithm structure 1000 includes transmitting traffic via a bearer flow. The transmitter may include a flow identification number in a packet header associated with the access layer. The transmitter may receive data from other flows assigned to the same AS RB and mapped to different bearer flows. The transmitter may independently process data flows assigned to different bearer flows, and transmission and retransmission of packets of one data flow may not affect transmission and retransmission of packets of another data flow.

[0125] Fig.11 An operational flow / algorithm structure 1100 is shown according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, the operational flow / algorithm structure 1100 may be performed by a receiver.

[0126] At 1110, a first device receives data traffic of a first traffic flow from a second device. The first device may be a base station, such as BS 108 in the previous figure. The second device may be a UE, such as UE 104 in the previous figure. The data traffic may be an UL transmission from the UE, and the traffic flow may be an SDF carrying application data to and from the UE. The first device receives the data traffic on a first bearer flow, where the first bearer flow is assigned to an AS RB.

[0127] The first device detects a flow identifier in a packet header associated with the first service flow. Based on the flow identifier, the first device determines an association between a data service of the first service flow and a first bearer flow. The first device may have a logical mapping table to store the association of services and bearer flows. The first device may update the mapping table using the association of the first service flow with the first bearer flow.

[0128] The first device may also determine the QoS of the AS RB. For example, the first device may determine the QoS of the AS RB according to the L2 parameter and the configuration of the AS RB. The first device may associate the QoS of the AS RB with the first bearer flow based on the association of the first bearer flow with the AS RB.

[0129] At 1120, the first device receives another data service of a second service flow. The second service flow may be another SDF carrying another application data or the same SDF carrying different data packets (e.g., packets with different QoS requirements or priorities). The first device receives the data service of the second service flow on a second bearer flow, wherein the second bearer flow is also assigned to the same AS RB as the first bearer flow.

[0130] The data service of the first service flow may be a UL service sent by the UE on the first bearer and received by the BS. The BS may also receive a DL service of the first service flow sent by the CN and received by the BS. The first device (eg, BS) may send a DL service to the UE using the first bearer flow or another bearer flow.

[0131] At 1130, the first device processes transmissions and retransmissions associated with the data traffic of the first traffic flow independently of transmissions and retransmissions associated with the data traffic of the second traffic flow.

[0132] Fig.12 UE 1200 according to some embodiments is shown. UE 1200 may be similar to Figure 1 UE 104 and is substantially interchangeable therewith.

[0133] UE 1200 can be any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as, for example, a mobile phone, a computer, a tablet, an XR device, glasses, an industrial wireless sensor (e.g., a microphone, a carbon dioxide sensor, a pressure sensor, a humidity sensor, a thermometer, a motion sensor, an accelerometer, a laser scanner, a fluid level sensor, an inventory sensor, a voltage / current meter, or an actuator), a video surveillance / monitoring device (e.g., a camera or a camcorder), a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch), or an IoT device.

[0134] UE 1200 may include a processor 1204, RF interface circuitry 1208, memory / storage 1212, user interface circuitry 1216, sensors 1220, driver circuitry 1222, a power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 1224, antenna structures 1226, and a battery 1228. The components of UE 1200 may be implemented as an integrated circuit (IC), a portion of an integrated circuit, a discrete electronic device or other module, logical component, hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. Fig.12 The block diagram of UE 1200 is intended to show a high-level view of certain of the components of UE 1200. However, some of the components shown may be omitted, additional components may be present, and different arrangements of the components shown may occur in other implementations.

[0135] Components of UE 1200 may be coupled to various other components via one or more interconnects 1232, which may represent any type of interface, input / output, bus (local, system, or extension), transmission line, trace, or optical connection that allows various circuit components (on a common or different chip or chipsets) to interact with each other.

[0136] The processor 1204 may include processor circuits such as, for example, a baseband processor circuit (BB) 1204A, a central processor unit circuit (CPU) 1204B, and a graphics processor unit circuit (GPU) 1204C. The processor 1204 may include any type of circuit or processor circuit that executes or otherwise operates computer-executable instructions (such as program codes, software modules, or functional processes from the memory / storage device 1212) to cause the UE 1200 to perform operations as described herein.

[0137] Processor 1204 may perform operations associated with bearer flows as described elsewhere herein. For example, consistent with the embodiments described herein, processor 1204 may assign bearer flows to AS RBs, map traffic flows to bearer flows, and generate packet headers to provide indications of mapped bearer flows.

[0138] In some embodiments, the baseband processor circuit 1204A can access the communication protocol stack 1236 in the memory / storage device 1212 to communicate through a 3GPP compatible network. Generally speaking, the baseband processor circuit 1204A can access the communication protocol stack 1236 to perform the following operations: perform user plane functions at the PHY layer, MAC layer, RLC sublayer, PDCP sublayer, SDAP sublayer, and upper layers; and perform control plane functions at the PHY layer, MAC layer, RLC sublayer, PDCP sublayer, RRC layer, and NAS layer. In some embodiments, the PHY layer operations can be additionally / alternatively performed by components of the RF interface circuit 1208.

[0139] The baseband processor circuit 1204A may generate or process baseband signals or waveforms that carry information in a 3GPP-compatible network. In some embodiments, the waveforms used for NR may be based on cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) in the uplink or downlink, and discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM) in the uplink.

[0140] The memory / storage 1212 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media including instructions (e.g., the communication protocol stack 1236) that may be executed by one or more processors in the processor 1204 to cause the UE 1200 to perform various operations described herein. The memory / storage 1212 includes any type of volatile or non-volatile memory that may be distributed throughout the UE 1200. In some embodiments, some of the memory / storage 1212 may be located on the processor 1204 itself (e.g., L1 cache and L2 cache), while other memory / storage 1212 is located external to the processor 1204 but can be accessed via a memory interface. The memory / storage 1212 may include any suitable volatile or non-volatile memory, such as, but not limited to, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state memory, or any other type of memory device technology.

[0141] The RF interface circuit 1208 may include a transceiver circuit and a radio frequency front end module (RFEM), which allows the UE 1200 to communicate with other devices through a radio access network. The RF interface circuit 1208 may include various elements arranged in a transmission path or a reception path. These elements may include, for example, switches, mixers, amplifiers, filters, synthesizer circuits, and control circuits.

[0142] In the receive path, the RFEM may receive the radiated signal from the air interface via the antenna structure 1226 and continue to filter and amplify the signal (using a low noise amplifier). The signal may be provided to the transceiver's receiver, which down-converts the RF signal to a baseband signal that is provided to the baseband processor of the processor 1204.

[0143] In the transmit path, the transmitter of the transceiver up-converts the baseband signal received from the baseband processor and provides an RF signal to the RFEM. The RFEM may amplify the RF signal through a power amplifier before the signal is radiated across the air interface via the antenna 1226.

[0144] In various embodiments, the RF interface circuit 1208 may be configured to transmit / receive signals in a manner compatible with NR access technology.

[0145] Antenna 1226 may include antenna elements to convert electrical signals into radio waves to travel through the air and convert received radio waves into electrical signals. These antenna elements may be arranged into one or more antenna panels. Antenna 1226 may have antenna panels that are omnidirectional, directional, or a combination thereof to enable beamforming and multiple input / multiple output communications. Antenna 1226 may include: microstrip antennas; printed antennas fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuit boards; patch antennas or phased array antennas. Antenna 1226 may have one or more panels designed for specific frequency bands including frequency bands in FR1 or FR2.

[0146] The user interface circuit 1216 includes various input / output (I / O) devices designed to enable a user to interact with the UE 1200. The user interface circuit 1216 includes input device circuits and output device circuits. The input device circuit includes any physical or virtual device for accepting input, including in particular one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., reset button), physical keyboard, keypad, mouse, touchpad, touch screen, microphone, scanner, headset, etc. The output device circuit includes any physical or virtual device for displaying information or otherwise conveying information (such as sensor readings, actuator positions, or other similar information). The output device circuit may include any number or combination of audio or visual displays, including in particular one or more simple visual outputs / indicators (e.g., binary state indicators, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) and multi-character visual outputs), or more complex outputs, such as display devices or touch screens (e.g., liquid crystal displays (LCDs), LED displays, quantum dot displays, and projectors), where the output of characters, graphics, multimedia objects, etc. is generated or produced by the operation of the UE 1200.

[0147] Sensors 1220 may include devices, modules, or subsystems that are designed to detect events or changes in their environment and send information about the detected events (sensor data) to some other device, module, or subsystem. Examples of such sensors include: an inertial measurement unit including an accelerometer, gyroscope, or magnetometer; a microelectromechanical system or nanoelectromechanical system including a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope, or a magnetometer; a liquid level sensor; a flow sensor; a temperature sensor (e.g., a thermistor); a pressure sensor; a barometric pressure sensor; a gravity meter; an altimeter; an image capture device (e.g., a camera or a lensless aperture); a light detection and ranging sensor; a proximity sensor (e.g., an infrared radiation detector, etc.); a depth sensor; an ambient light sensor; an ultrasonic transceiver; and a microphone or other similar audio capture device.

[0148] The driver circuit 1222 may include software elements and hardware elements for controlling a specific device embedded in, attached to, or otherwise communicatively coupled to the UE 1200. The driver circuit 1222 may include various drivers, thereby allowing other components to interact with or control various I / O devices that may be present in or connected to the UE 1200. For example, the driver circuit 1222 may include circuits for facilitating coupling a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) or a universal subscriber identity module (USIM) to the UE 1200. For additional examples, the driver circuit 1222 may include: a display driver for controlling and allowing access to a display device, a touch screen driver for controlling and allowing access to a touch screen interface, a sensor driver for obtaining sensor readings of the sensor circuit 1220 and controlling and allowing access to the sensor circuit 1220, a driver for obtaining an actuator position of an electromechanical component or controlling and allowing access to an electromechanical component, a camera driver for controlling and allowing access to an embedded image capture device, and an audio driver for controlling and allowing access to one or more audio devices.

[0149] The PMIC 1224 may manage power provided to various components of the UE 1200. Specifically, with respect to the processor 1204, the PMIC 1224 may control power source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion.

[0150] In some embodiments, the PMIC 1224 may control or otherwise be a part of various power saving mechanisms of the UE 1200 including DRX, as discussed herein.

[0151] The battery 1228 can power the UE 1200, but in some examples, the UE 1200 can be installed and deployed in a fixed location and can have a power source coupled to the power grid. The battery 1228 can be a lithium-ion battery, a metal-air battery such as a zinc-air battery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, etc. In some specific implementations, such as in vehicle-based applications, the battery 1228 can be a typical lead-acid car battery.

[0152] Fig.13 A network node 1300 is shown according to some embodiments. The network node 1300 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with a base station 108, a device implementing one of the network hops, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a network controlled repeater, or a server in a core network or an external data network.

[0153] The network node 1300 may include a processor 1304 , RF interface circuitry 1308 (if implemented as an access node), core node (CN) interface circuitry 1312 , memory / storage circuitry 1316 , and antenna structures 1326 .

[0154] Components of network node 1300 may be coupled to various other components via one or more interconnects 1328 .

[0155] The processor 1304, RF interface circuit 1308, memory / storage circuit 1316 (including communication protocol stack 1310), antenna structure 1326 and interconnect 1328 may be similar to those described with reference to Fig.12 Like named elements are shown and described.

[0156] Processor 1304 may perform operations associated with bearer flows as described elsewhere herein. For example, processor 1304 may receive another data service of the same or different service flow mapped to another bearer flow, and process transmissions and retransmissions associated with data services mapped to different bearer flows independently of each other.

[0157] The CN interface circuit 1312 may provide connectivity to a core network (e.g., a 5GC using a 5th Generation Core Network (5GC) compatible network interface protocol such as a Carrier Ethernet protocol or some other suitable protocol). Network connectivity may be provided to / from the network node 1300 via optical fiber or wireless backhaul. The CN interface circuit 1312 may include one or more dedicated processors or FPGAs for communicating using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the CN interface circuit 1312 may include multiple controllers for providing connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0158] In some embodiments, the network node 1300 may be coupled to a transmit receive point (TRP) using an antenna structure 1326, a CN interface circuit, or other interface circuitry.

[0159] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0160] For one or more aspects, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, or methods described in the following example section. For example, the baseband circuit described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the following embodiments. For another example, the circuits associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc. described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples shown in the example section below.

[0161] Example

[0162] In the following sections, additional exemplary aspects are provided.

[0163] Embodiment 1 includes a method for serving data services in a cellular communication system, the method comprising: processing a service to be transmitted via an access stratum (AS) radio bearer (RB); mapping the service to a bearer flow assigned to the AS RB; and transmitting the service via the bearer flow.

[0164] Embodiment 2 includes the method according to embodiment 1 or some other embodiments of the present invention, and also includes: assigning the bearer flow to the AS RB; and based on the assignment of the bearer flow to the AS RB, initializing the layer 2 (L2) resource set associated with the bearer flow based on the configuration of the AS RB.

[0165] Embodiment 3 includes a method according to embodiment 1 or 2 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the L2 resource set includes a sequence number, a state variable or a timer.

[0166] Embodiment 4 includes a method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 3 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the service is a first service data flow (SDF), the bearer flow is a first bearer flow, and the method further includes: receiving a second SDF; assigning the second bearer flow to the AS RB; mapping the second SDF to the second bearer flow; and transmitting the second SDF via the second bearer flow, wherein the first bearer flow is associated with a first layer 2 (L2) resource set and the second bearer flow is associated with a second L2 resource set.

[0167] Embodiment 5 includes the method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 4 or some other embodiments herein, wherein serving the first bearer flow and the second bearer flow is based on a configured priority of the first bearer flow and the second bearer flow or based on a round-robin method.

[0168] Embodiment 6 includes the method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 5 or some other embodiments herein, wherein transmissions and retransmissions associated with transmitting the first SDF are independent of transmissions and retransmissions associated with the second SDF.

[0169] Embodiment 7 includes a method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 6 or some other embodiments herein, wherein: the first bearer stream is associated with a first packet data aggregation protocol (PDCP) entity and the first PDCP entity includes a first hyperframe number (HFN); ​​the second bearer stream is associated with a second PDCP entity and the second PDCP entity includes a second HFN; and the method further includes: maintaining the first HFN independently of the second HFN, maintaining the first HFN upon initialization, release or unmapping of the first bearer stream, and maintaining the second HFN upon initialization, release or unmapping of the second bearer stream.

[0170] Embodiment 8 includes the method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 7 or some other embodiments herein, further comprising: receiving an indication of a maximum number of bearer flows to be assigned to the AS RB from the network.

[0171] Embodiment 9 includes a method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 8 or some other embodiments herein, wherein transmitting the service via the bearer stream includes: assigning a stream identification (ID) number to the bearer stream; and including the stream ID in a packet header.

[0172] Embodiment 10 includes a method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 9 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the packet header is a radio link control header or a medium access control subheader.

[0173] Embodiment 11 includes a method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 10 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the bearer flow is a default bearer flow with a default configuration.

[0174] Embodiment 12 includes a method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 11 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the service is a first service, the bearer stream is a first bearer stream, the AS RB is a first AS RB, and the method further includes: receiving a second service to be transmitted via a second AS RB; mapping the second service to a second bearer stream assigned to the second AS RB; and transmitting the second service via the second bearer stream.

[0175] Embodiment 13 includes the method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 12 or some other embodiments herein, the method further comprising: detecting a release condition; and releasing the bearer flow based on detecting the release condition.

[0176] Embodiment 14 includes a method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 13 or some other embodiments herein, the method further comprising: detecting local conditions; and mapping the service to the bearer flow based on detecting the local conditions, wherein the local conditions are the number of active data service flows, application metadata associated with the service, link quality, block error rate, congestion metric, or queue size.

[0177] Embodiment 15 includes a method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 14 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the bearer flow is a first bearer flow and the method further includes: detecting a change in the local condition; and based on detecting the change in the local condition, mapping the service to a second bearer flow assigned to the AS RB.

[0178] Embodiment 16 includes a method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 15 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the service is an uplink data service of a service flow and the method further includes: receiving the downlink data service of the service flow via the bearer flow or another bearer flow assigned to the ASRB.

[0179] Embodiment 17 includes a method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 16 or some other embodiments herein, the method further comprising: receiving a cancel mapping indication; and cancel mapping the data service from the bearer flow based on the cancel mapping indication.

[0180] Embodiment 18 includes a method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 17 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the mapping is established by a radio link control (RLC) bearer flow control packet data unit (PDU), and the RLC bearer flow control PDU includes a bearer flow identification number, a mapping start indication, a mapping end indication, an AS service template identification number, or an AS service template.

[0181] Embodiment 19 includes a method for operating a first device, the method comprising: receiving data traffic of a first service flow from a second device via a first bearer stream, wherein the bearer stream is assigned to an access layer (AS) radio bearer (RB) by the second device; receiving data traffic of a second service flow via the second bearer stream, wherein the second bearer stream is assigned to the ASRB; and processing transmission and retransmission associated with the data traffic of the first service flow independently of transmission and retransmission associated with the data traffic of the second service flow.

[0182] Embodiment 20 includes the method according to embodiment 19 or some other embodiments of the present invention, further comprising: detecting a flow identifier (ID) in the packet header of the first service flow; determining the bearer flow based on the flow ID; and updating the mapping table to indicate that the bearer flow is assigned to the AS BR.

[0183] Embodiment 21 includes a method according to embodiment 19 or 20 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the packet header is a radio link control header or a medium access control subheader.

[0184] Embodiment 22 includes a method according to any one of Embodiments 19 to 21 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the data service of the first service flow is the first data service of the first service flow, and the method further includes: receiving the second data service of the first service flow to be sent to the second device via the AS RB; and transmitting the second data service of the service flow via the bearer flow or another bearer flow assigned to the AS RB.

[0185] Embodiment 23 includes a method according to any one of embodiments 19 to 22 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the first bearer flow is associated with a first layer 2 (L2) resource set and the second bearer flow is associated with a second L2 resource set.

[0186] Embodiment 24 includes a method according to any one of embodiments 19 to 23 or some other embodiments herein, further comprising: receiving an indication of the end of the service flow from the second device; and removing the mapping of the service flow to the bearer flow based on the indication of the end of the service flow.

[0187] Another embodiment may include an apparatus comprising logic components, modules, or circuits for performing one or more elements of the method described in accordance with or related to any of Embodiments 1 to 24, or any other method or process described herein.

[0188] Another embodiment may include a method, technique or process described or related to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 or a portion or component thereof.

[0189] Another embodiment may include a device comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media, the one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform methods, techniques, or processes described in or related to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 or portions thereof.

[0190] Another embodiment comprises a signal as described or relating to any one of embodiments 1 to 24, or parts or components thereof.

[0191] Another embodiment may include a datagram, information element, packet, frame, segment, PDU or message as described or related to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 or parts or components thereof or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0192] Another embodiment may include a signal encoded with data as described or associated with any one of embodiments 1 to 24, or parts or components thereof, or otherwise described in this disclosure.

[0193] Another embodiment may include a signal encoded with a datagram, IE, packet, frame, segment, PDU or message as described or related to any one of embodiments 1 to 24 or parts or components thereof or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0194] Another embodiment may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein execution of these computer-readable instructions by one or more processors will cause the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process described or related to any one or part of embodiments 1 to 24.

[0195] Another embodiment may include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by the processing element will cause the processing element to perform a method, technique or process described or related to any one or part of embodiments 1 to 24.

[0196] Another embodiment may include a signal in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0197]

[0013] Another embodiment may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0198]

[0013] Another embodiment may include a system for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0199]

[0013] Another embodiment may include an apparatus for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0200] Unless explicitly stated otherwise, any of the above examples may be combined with any other example (or combination of examples). The foregoing description of one or more specific implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the various aspects to the precise form disclosed. In view of the above teachings, modifications and variations are possible or can be obtained from the practice of various aspects.

[0201] Although the above aspects have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to encompass all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. A method to be implemented by a component of a network element, the method comprising: Processing services to be transmitted via access stratum AS radio bearers RB; Mapping the service to a bearer flow assigned to the AS RB; as well as Packets associated with the traffic to be transmitted via the bearer flow are generated.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Assigning the bearer flow to the AS RB; as well as Based on the assignment of the bearer flow to the AS RB, a layer 2 L2 resource set associated with the bearer flow is initialized based on a configuration of the AS RB. 3 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein the L2 resource set comprises a sequence number, a state variable or a timer.

4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising: An AS RB logical channel ID is associated with a plurality of bearer flows mapped to the AS RB at the MAC layer.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the service is a first service data flow SDF, the bearer flow is a first bearer flow, the packet is a first packet, and the method further comprises: Process the second SDF; Assigning a second bearer flow to the AS RB; Mapping the second SDF to the second bearer flow; as well as generating a second packet associated with the second SDF to be transmitted via the second bearer flow, The first bearer flow is associated with a first layer 2 L2 resource set, and the second bearer flow is associated with a second L2 resource set.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein transmissions and retransmissions associated with transmitting the first SDF are independent of transmissions and retransmissions associated with the second SDF.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein: The first bearer flow is associated with a first Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) entity, and the first PDCP entity includes a first hyperframe number HFN; The second bearer flow is associated with a second PDCP entity, and the second PDCP entity includes a second HFN; and The method further comprises: maintaining the first HFN independently of the second HFN, maintaining the first HFN upon initialization, release or unmapping of the first bearer flow, and The second HFN is maintained upon initialization, release, or unmapping of the second bearer flow.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: An indication received from a network is processed, the indication being associated with a maximum number of bearer flows to be assigned to the AS RB.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the service via the bearer flow comprises: Assigning a stream identification ID number to the bearer stream; as well as The flow ID is included in the packet header.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the service is a first service, the bearer flow is a first bearer flow, the AS RB is a first AS RB, the packet is a first packet, and the method further comprises: Processing a transmitted second service to be received via a second AS RB; Mapping the second service to a second bearer flow assigned to the second AS RB; as well as A second packet associated with the second traffic to be transmitted via the second bearer flow is generated.

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Testing release conditions; as well as The bearer flow is released based on detecting the release condition.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the service is an uplink data service of a service flow, and the method further comprises: Processing downlink data traffic of the traffic flow received via the bearer flow or another bearer flow assigned to the AS RB.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising: Process unmap indication; as well as The service is unmapped from the bearer flow based on the unmapping indication.

14. One or more computer readable media having instructions which, when executed, cause a component to: Processing data traffic of a first traffic flow from a device via a first bearer flow, wherein the bearer flow is assigned to an access stratum AS radio bearer RB by the device; Processing data traffic of a second traffic flow via a second bearer flow, wherein the second bearer flow is assigned to the AS RB; as well as Transmissions or retransmissions associated with the data traffic of the first traffic flow are processed independently of transmissions or retransmissions associated with the data traffic of the second traffic flow.

15. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 14, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the component to: detecting a flow identifier ID in a packet header associated with the first service flow; Determining the bearer flow according to the flow ID; and A mapping table is updated to indicate that the bearer flow is assigned to the AS BR.

16. One or more computer-readable media according to claim 14, wherein: The data service of the first service flow is a first data service of the first service flow, and the instructions, when executed, further cause the component to: processing a second data traffic of the first traffic flow to be sent to the device via the AS RB; and A packet associated with the second data traffic of the traffic flow to be transmitted via the bearer flow or another bearer flow assigned to the AS RB is generated.

17. One or more computer readable media according to any one of claims 14 to 17, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the component to: processing an indication of an end of the traffic flow, the indication being received from the device; and A mapping of the service flow to the bearer flow is removed based on the indication of the end of the service flow.

18. An apparatus, comprising a processing circuit, the processing circuit being configured to: Processing services to be transmitted via access stratum AS radio bearers RB; Mapping the service to a bearer flow assigned to the AS RB; and A transmission associated with the traffic to be transmitted via the bearer flow is generated.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processing circuit further: Assigning the bearer flow to the AS RB; Based on the assignment of the bearer flow to the AS RB, initializing a layer 2 L2 resource set associated with the bearer flow based on a configuration of the AS RB, the L2 resource set comprising a sequence number, a state variable or a timer; and An AS RB logical channel ID is associated with a plurality of bearer flows mapped to the AS RB at the MAC layer.

20. The apparatus according to claim 18 or 19, wherein the service is a first service data flow SDF, the bearer flow is a first bearer flow, and the processing circuit is further configured to: Process the second SDF; Assigning a second bearer flow to the AS RB; Mapping the second SDF to the second bearer flow; as well as A packet associated with the second SDF is generated to be transmitted via the second bearer flow, the first bearer flow being associated with a first set of layer 2 L2 resources, and the second bearer flow being associated with a second set of L2 resources.

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