Method, apparatus and computer program relating to quality of service flow

Abstract

A technique related to quality of service flow includes receiving, at a node of a radio access network of a mobile communication system, one or more control plane messages indicating a plurality of quality of service profiles for quality of service flow for a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network; receiving, at the radio access network node, a user plane message for the quality of service flow, wherein the individual user plane message comprises a header comprising at least a first field; a quality of service configuration in the plurality of quality of service profiles to be used for the quality of service flow is determined at the radio access network node based on the first field and an indication of a mapping of the plurality of quality of service profiles to the plurality of values of the first field in the one or more control plane messages.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Various example embodiments of the subject disclosure relate to methods, apparatus and computer programs, and particularly (but not exclusively) to methods, apparatus and computer programs related to Quality of Service (QoS) flows for logical connections between user equipment and a data network via a radio access network. Background Art

[0002] A communication system can be viewed as a facility for enabling communication sessions between two or more entities (e.g., user terminals, base stations, and / or other nodes) by providing a carrier between the various entities involved in the communication path. For example, a communication system can be provided by a communication network and one or more compatible communication devices. A communication session may include, for example, the communication of data for carrying communications (e.g., voice, video, electronic mail (email), text messages, multimedia and / or content data, etc.). Non-limiting and illustrative examples of the services provided include two-way or multi-way calls, data communications or multimedia services, and access to data network systems (e.g., the Internet).

[0003] In a wireless communication system, at least a part of a communication session between at least two stations is conducted over a wireless link. Examples of wireless systems include public land mobile networks (PLMNs), satellite-based communication systems, and different wireless local networks, such as wireless local area networks (WLANs). Some wireless systems can be divided into cells and are therefore often referred to as cellular systems.

[0004] A user can access the communication system through an appropriate communication device or terminal. The user's communication device can be called user equipment (UE) or user equipment. The communication device is equipped with appropriate signal receiving and sending devices for implementing communication, for example, implementing access to the communication network or direct communication with other users. The communication device can access the carrier provided by the station (for example, the base station of the cell) and send and / or receive communications on the carrier.

[0005] Communication systems and associated equipment typically operate according to a given standard or specification that specifies what the various entities associated with the system are allowed to do and how it should be achieved. Communication protocols and / or parameters for the connection are also typically defined. An example of a communication system is UTRAN (3G radio). Other examples of communication systems are the Long Term Evolution (LTE) of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) radio access technology and the so-called 5G or New Radio (NR) networks. NR is being standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Summary of the invention

[0006] Various exemplary embodiments of the subject disclosure are intended to address at least a portion of the problems and / or disadvantages explicitly described herein or apparent to a person skilled in the relevant art, so as to provide methods, apparatuses, and computer programs by which mechanisms and / or processes related to quality of service (QoS) flows for logical connections between user equipment and a data network via a radio access network can be improved.

[0007] Various example embodiments of the subject disclosure will be described with respect to certain aspects. These aspects are not intended to indicate the key or essential features of the various example embodiments, nor are they intended to be used to limit the scope of the subject disclosure. In view of the subject disclosure, other features, aspects, and elements of the various example embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0008] According to a first aspect, a radio access network node is provided, comprising a module for: receiving one or more control plane messages indicating a plurality of quality of service profiles for a quality of service flow between a user equipment and a data network via a logical connection of the radio access network; receiving a user plane message for the quality of service flow at the radio access network node, wherein an individual user plane message comprises a header including at least a first field; determining a quality of service profile from the plurality of quality of service profiles to be used for the quality of service flow based at least in part on the first field and an indication in the one or more control plane messages of a mapping of the plurality of quality of service profiles to a plurality of values ​​for the first field.

[0009] The determining may include determining one of the plurality of quality of service profiles to be used for processing content of the individual user plane message for the quality of service flow based at least in part on the first field of the individual user plane message.

[0010] The determining may include determining a quality of service profile of the plurality of quality of service profiles to be used for the quality of service flow based at least in part on an average of the first field in a plurality of the user plane messages.

[0011] The header of the user plane message may indicate that the carried protocol data unit is part of a set of protocol data units carrying application level information units.

[0012] The first field may be part of the information about the set of protocol data units.

[0013] According to a second aspect, a radio access network node is provided, comprising a module for: receiving one or more control plane messages indicating a plurality of quality of service profiles for a quality of service flow between a user equipment and a logical connection via the radio access network; receiving from the user equipment an indication of application level attributes of one or more application level information elements sent from the user equipment; and determining, based at least in part on the indication from the user equipment, a quality of service profile from the plurality of quality of service profiles to be used for the quality of service flow.

[0014] According to a third aspect, an apparatus is provided, comprising a module for: receiving, by a user plane function of a mobile communication system, at least one application level packet for a user equipment from a data network; generating, by the user plane function, a user plane message to carry the application level packet to a radio access network node serving the user equipment, wherein the generating comprises determining, at least in part based on information from the application level packet and a control plane mapping between the information from the application level packet and a value of a first field of a header of the user plane message, and sending the user plane message to the radio access network node.

[0015] The information from the application-level packet may include an indication of an application-level attribute of a payload of the application-level packet, and the apparatus may include means for receiving, by the user plane function, one or more control plane messages indicating a mapping of multiple application-level attributes to multiple values ​​of the first field.

[0016] The application level packet may include an indication that the application level packet includes a portion of an application level information unit, and the header of the user plane message may indicate that the carried protocol data unit is a portion of a set of protocol data units carrying separate application level information units.

[0017] The first field may be a part of header information about the set of protocol data units.

[0018] According to a fourth aspect, a user equipment is provided, comprising a module for the following operations: receiving one or more control plane messages, the control plane messages indicating multiple service quality profiles for uplink service quality flows of a logical connection between the user equipment and a data network via a radio access network of a mobile communication system, and a mapping of multiple application-level attributes to the multiple service quality profiles; determining one service quality profile from the multiple service quality profiles to be used for the uplink service quality flow based on one or more application-level attributes of one or more separate application-level information units sent to the data network via the radio access network and the mapping; and sending an indication of the determined service quality profile for the uplink service quality flow to the radio access network.

[0019] According to a fifth aspect, a device is provided, comprising a module for the following operations: sending one or more messages for a control plane function of a mobile communication system by an application function, wherein the one or more messages indicate: multiple quality of service requirement options for the application; and a mapping between the multiple quality of service requirement options for the application and multiple header field values ​​of a user plane message for carrying data for the application in the mobile communication system.

[0020] The one or more messages of the control plane function may indicate a mapping of a plurality of application level attributes to the plurality of quality of service requirement options.

[0021] According to a sixth aspect, a device is provided, comprising a module for the following operations: receiving, by a control plane function of a mobile communication system, one or more messages from an application function for an application, the one or more messages indicating a plurality of quality of service requirement options for the application and a mapping between the plurality of quality of service requirement options for the application and a plurality of header field values ​​of a user plane message for carrying data for the application in the mobile communication system; determining, based on the plurality of quality of service requirement options, a plurality of quality of service parameter sets for a quality of service flow for a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via a radio access network; and sending, to another control plane function of the mobile communication system, one or more messages indicating the plurality of quality of service parameter sets for the quality of service flow and a mapping of the plurality of header field values ​​to the plurality of quality of service parameter sets.

[0022] The one or more messages received by the control plane function may indicate a mapping of multiple application-level attributes to the multiple quality of service requirement options for the application; and the one or more messages for the other control plane function may include a mapping of multiple application-level attributes to the multiple quality of service parameter sets.

[0023] According to a seventh aspect, a device is provided, comprising a module for the following operations: sending one or more messages by a control plane function to a node of a radio access network of a mobile communication system, the one or more messages indicating multiple service quality profiles for downlink service quality flows for a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network, and a mapping of multiple user plane message header field values ​​to the multiple service quality profiles for the downlink service quality flows.

[0024] The apparatus may include means for sending, by the control plane function, one or more messages for a user plane function of the mobile communication system, wherein the one or more messages indicate a mapping of a plurality of application level attributes to the plurality of user plane message header field values.

[0025] The user plane message header field may be a part of information on a protocol data unit set including a protocol data unit carried by the user plane message.

[0026] The apparatus may include means for sending, by the control plane function, one or more control plane messages to a user equipment, the control plane messages indicating a mapping of a plurality of application level attributes to a plurality of quality of service profiles for uplink quality of service flows.

[0027] According to an eighth aspect, a method is provided, comprising: receiving one or more control plane messages at a node of a radio access network of a mobile communication system, the control plane messages indicating multiple quality of service profiles for a quality of service flow between a user equipment and a data network via a logical connection of the radio access network; receiving a user plane message for the quality of service flow at the radio access network node, wherein a separate user plane message comprises a header including at least a first field; determining at the radio access network node a quality of service profile from the multiple quality of service profiles to be used for the quality of service flow based at least in part on the first field and an indication in the one or more control plane messages of a mapping of the multiple quality of service profiles to multiple values ​​of the first field.

[0028] The determining may include determining one of the plurality of quality of service profiles to be used for processing content of the individual user plane message for the quality of service flow based at least in part on the first field of the individual user plane message.

[0029] The determining may include determining a quality of service profile of the plurality of quality of service profiles to be used for the quality of service flow based at least in part on an average of the first field in a plurality of the user plane messages.

[0030] The header of the user plane message may indicate that the carried protocol data unit is part of a set of protocol data units carrying application level information units.

[0031] The first field may be part of the information about the set of protocol data units.

[0032] According to a ninth aspect, a method is provided, comprising: receiving, at a node of a radio access network of a mobile communication system, one or more control plane messages indicating a plurality of quality of service profiles for quality of service flows for a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network; receiving, from the user equipment, an indication of application-level attributes of one or more application-level information units for transmission from the user equipment to a node of the radio access network; and determining, at the radio access network node, one of the plurality of quality of service profiles to be used for the quality of service flow based at least in part on the indication from the user equipment.

[0033] According to a tenth aspect, a method is provided, comprising: receiving, by a user plane function of a mobile communication system, at least one application level packet for a user equipment from a data network; generating, by the user plane function, a user plane message to carry the application level packet to a radio access network node serving the user equipment; wherein the generation comprises determining, at least in part, the value for the first field based on information from the application level packet and a control plane mapping between the information from the application level packet and the value of a first field of a header of the user plane message; and sending the user plane message to the radio access network node.

[0034] The information from the application-level packet may include an indication of application-level attributes of a payload of the application-level packet, and the method may include receiving, by the user plane function, one or more control plane messages indicating a mapping of multiple application-level attributes to multiple values ​​of the first field.

[0035] The application level packet may include an indication that the application level packet includes a portion of an application level information unit, and the header of the user plane message may indicate that the carried protocol data unit is a portion of a set of protocol data units carrying separate application level information units.

[0036] The first field may be a part of header information about the set of protocol data units.

[0037] According to an eleventh aspect, a method is provided, comprising: receiving one or more control plane messages at a user equipment, the control plane messages indicating a plurality of quality of service profiles for an uplink quality of service flow of a logical connection between the user equipment and a data network via a radio access network of a mobile communication system, and a mapping of a plurality of application-level attributes to the plurality of quality of service profiles; determining, at the user equipment, a quality of service profile to be used for the uplink quality of service flow from the plurality of quality of service profiles based on one or more application-level attributes of one or more separate application-level information units sent to the data network via the radio access network and the mapping; and sending an indication of the determined quality of service profile for the uplink quality of service flow to the radio access network.

[0038] According to the twelfth aspect, a method is provided, comprising: sending, by an application function, one or more messages for a control plane function of a mobile communication system, wherein the one or more messages indicate: a plurality of quality of service requirement options for the application; and a mapping between the plurality of quality of service requirement options for the application and a plurality of header field values ​​of a user plane message for carrying data for the application in the mobile communication system.

[0039] The one or more messages for the control plane function may indicate a mapping of a plurality of application level attributes to the plurality of quality of service requirement options.

[0040] According to the thirteenth aspect, a method is provided, comprising: receiving, by a control plane function of a mobile communication system, one or more messages from an application function of an application, the one or more messages indicating a plurality of quality of service requirement options for the application, and a mapping between the plurality of quality of service requirement options for the application and a plurality of header field values ​​of a user plane message for carrying data for the application in the mobile communication system; determining, based on the plurality of quality of service requirement options, a plurality of quality of service parameter sets for a quality of service flow for a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via a radio access network; and sending one or more messages to another control plane function of the mobile communication system, the one or more messages indicating the plurality of quality of service parameter sets for the quality of service flow, and a mapping of the plurality of header field values ​​to the plurality of quality of service parameter sets.

[0041] The one or more messages received by the control plane function may indicate a mapping of multiple application-level attributes to the multiple quality of service requirement options for the application; and the one or more messages to the other control plane function may include a mapping of multiple application-level attributes to the multiple quality of service parameter sets.

[0042] According to a fourteenth aspect, a method is provided, comprising: sending one or more messages by a control plane function to a node of a radio access network of a mobile communication system, the one or more messages indicating multiple service quality profiles for downlink service quality flows for a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network, and a mapping of multiple user plane message header field values ​​to the multiple service quality profiles for the downlink service quality flows.

[0043] The method may further include means for sending, by the control plane function, one or more messages for a user plane function of the mobile communication system, wherein the one or more messages indicate a mapping of a plurality of application level attributes to field values ​​for the plurality of user plane message headers.

[0044] The user plane message header field may be a part of information on a protocol data unit set including a protocol data unit carried by the user plane message.

[0045] The method may further include sending, by the control plane function, one or more control plane messages to the user equipment, the control plane messages indicating a mapping of a plurality of application level attributes to a plurality of quality of service profiles for uplink quality of service flows.

[0046] According to a fifteenth aspect, a radio access network node is provided, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory comprising computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the node to execute: receiving one or more control plane messages indicating a plurality of quality of service profiles for a quality of service flow via a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network; receiving a user plane message for the quality of service flow at the radio access network node, wherein a separate user plane message comprises a header comprising at least a first field; determining a quality of service profile from the plurality of quality of service profiles to be used for the quality of service flow based at least in part on the first field and an indication in the one or more control plane messages of a mapping of the plurality of quality of service profiles to a plurality of values ​​of the first field.

[0047] The determining may include determining one of the plurality of quality of service profiles to be used for processing content of the individual user plane message for the quality of service flow based at least in part on the first field of the individual user plane message.

[0048] The determining may include determining a quality of service profile of the plurality of quality of service profiles to be used for the quality of service flow based at least in part on an average of the first field in a plurality of the user plane messages.

[0049] The header of the user plane message may indicate that the carried protocol data unit is part of a set of protocol data units carrying application level information units.

[0050] The first field may be part of the information about the set of protocol data units.

[0051] According to the sixteenth aspect, a radio access network node is provided, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory comprising computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the node to execute: receiving one or more control plane messages indicating a plurality of quality of service profiles for a quality of service flow of a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network; receiving from the user equipment an indication of application-level attributes of one or more application-level information units sent from the user equipment; and determining, based at least in part on the indication from the user equipment, a quality of service profile from the plurality of quality of service profiles to be used for the quality of service flow.

[0052] According to the seventeenth aspect, a device is provided, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory comprising computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the device to execute: receiving, by a user plane function of a mobile communication system, at least one application level packet for a user equipment from a data network; generating, by the user plane function, a user plane message to carry the application level packet to a radio access network node serving the user equipment; wherein the generation comprises determining the value of the first field based at least in part on information from the application level packet and a control plane mapping between the information from the application level packet and the value of the first field of the header of the user plane message; and sending the user plane message to the radio access network node.

[0053] The information from the application level packet may include an indication of an application level attribute of a payload of the application level packet, and the at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to receive, by the user plane function, one or more control plane messages indicating a mapping of a plurality of application level attributes to a plurality of values ​​of the first field.

[0054] The application level packet may include an indication that the application level packet includes a portion of an application level information unit, and the header of the user plane message may indicate that the carried protocol data unit is a portion of a set of protocol data units carrying separate application level information units.

[0055] The first field may be a part of header information about the set of protocol data units.

[0056] According to the eighteenth aspect, a user equipment is provided, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory comprising computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment to execute: receiving one or more control plane messages, the control plane messages indicating multiple quality of service profiles for uplink quality of service flows of a logical connection between the user equipment and a data network via a radio access network of a mobile communication system, and a mapping of multiple application-level attributes to the multiple quality of service profiles; determining one quality of service profile to be used for the uplink quality of service flow from the multiple quality of service profiles based on one or more application-level attributes of one or more separate application-level information units sent to the data network via the radio access network and the mapping; and sending an indication of the determined quality of service profile for the uplink quality of service flow to the radio access network.

[0057] According to the nineteenth aspect, a device is provided, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory comprising computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the device to execute: sending, by an application function, one or more messages for a control plane function of a mobile communication system, wherein the one or more messages indicate: multiple quality of service requirement options for an application; and a mapping between the multiple quality of service requirement options for the application and multiple header field values ​​of a user plane message for carrying data for the application in the mobile communication system.

[0058] The one or more messages for the control plane function may indicate a mapping of a plurality of application level attributes to the plurality of quality of service requirement options.

[0059] According to the twentieth aspect, a device is provided, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory comprising computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the device to execute: receiving, by a control plane function of a mobile communication system, one or more messages from an application function for an application, the one or more messages indicating a plurality of quality of service requirement options for the application, and a mapping between the plurality of quality of service requirement options for the application and a plurality of header field values ​​of a user plane message for carrying data for the application in the mobile communication system; determining, based on the plurality of quality of service requirement options, a plurality of quality of service parameter sets for a quality of service flow for a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via a radio access network; and sending one or more messages to another control plane function of the mobile communication system, the one or more messages indicating the plurality of quality of service parameter sets for the quality of service flow, and a mapping of the plurality of header field values ​​to the plurality of quality of service parameter sets.

[0060] The one or more messages received by the control plane function may indicate a mapping of multiple application-level attributes to the multiple quality of service requirement options for the application; and the one or more messages to the other control plane function may include a mapping of multiple application-level attributes to the multiple quality of service parameter sets.

[0061] According to the twenty-first aspect, a device is provided, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory comprising computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the device to execute: sending one or more messages by a control plane function to a node of a radio access network of a mobile communication system, the one or more messages indicating multiple quality of service profiles for downlink quality of service flows for a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network, and a mapping of multiple user plane message header field values ​​to the multiple quality of service profiles for the downlink quality of service flows.

[0062] The at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: send, through the control plane function, one or more messages for a user plane function of the mobile communication system, the one or more messages indicating a mapping of multiple application-level attributes to the multiple user plane message header field values.

[0063] The user plane message header field may be a part of information on a protocol data unit set including a protocol data unit carried by the user plane message.

[0064] The at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: send, via the control plane function, one or more control plane messages to a user equipment, the control plane messages indicating a mapping of multiple application level attributes to multiple quality of service profiles for uplink quality of service flows.

[0065] According to the twenty-second aspect, a radio access network node is provided, comprising: a receiving circuit for receiving one or more control plane messages indicating multiple service quality profiles for a service quality flow via a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network; a receiving circuit for receiving a user plane message for the service quality flow, wherein a separate user plane message comprises a header including at least a first field; and a determining circuit for determining a service quality profile from the multiple service quality profiles to be used for the service quality flow based at least in part on the first field and an indication in the one or more control plane messages of a mapping of the multiple service quality profiles to multiple values ​​of the first field.

[0066] According to a twenty-third aspect, a radio access network node is provided, comprising: a receiving circuit for receiving one or more control plane messages indicating a plurality of quality of service profiles for a quality of service flow via a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network; a receiving circuit for receiving from the user equipment an indication of application-level attributes of one or more application-level information units for transmission from the user equipment to a node of the radio access network; and a determining circuit for determining, based at least in part on the indication from the user equipment, a quality of service profile from the plurality of quality of service profiles to be used for the quality of service flow.

[0067] According to the twenty-fourth aspect, a device is provided, comprising: a receiving circuit for receiving, by a user plane function of a mobile communication system, at least one application-level packet for a user equipment from a data network; a generating circuit for generating, by the user plane function, a user plane message to carry the application-level packet to a radio access network node serving the user equipment; wherein the generating comprises determining the value of the first field based at least in part on information from the application-level packet and a control plane mapping between the information from the application-level packet and the value of the first field of the header of the user plane message; and a sending circuit for sending the user plane message to the radio access network node.

[0068] According to the twenty-fifth aspect, a user equipment is provided, comprising: a receiving circuit for receiving one or more control plane messages, the control plane messages indicating multiple service quality profiles for uplink service quality flows of a logical connection between the user equipment and a data network via a radio access network of a mobile communication system, and a mapping of multiple application-level attributes to the multiple service quality profiles; a determining circuit for determining one service quality profile from the multiple service quality profiles to be used for the uplink service quality flow based on one or more application-level attributes of one or more separate application-level information units sent to the data network via the radio access network and the mapping; and a sending circuit for sending an indication of the determined service quality profile for the uplink service quality flow to the radio access network.

[0069] According to the twenty-sixth aspect, a device is provided, comprising: a sending circuit for sending one or more messages for a control plane function of a mobile communication system by an application function, wherein the one or more messages indicate: multiple quality of service requirement options for the application; and a mapping between the multiple quality of service requirement options for the application and multiple header field values ​​of a user plane message for carrying data of the application in the mobile communication system.

[0070] According to the twenty-seventh aspect, a device is provided, comprising: a receiving circuit for receiving one or more messages from an application function for an application by a control plane function of a mobile communication system, the one or more messages indicating multiple service quality requirement options for the application, and a mapping between the multiple service quality requirement options for the application and multiple header field values ​​of a user plane message for carrying data for the application in the mobile communication system; a determining circuit for determining, based on the multiple service quality requirement options, multiple service quality parameter sets for a service quality flow for a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via a radio access network; and a sending circuit for sending one or more messages to another control plane function of the mobile communication system, the one or more messages indicating the multiple service quality parameter sets for the service quality flow, and a mapping of the multiple header field values ​​to the multiple service quality parameter sets.

[0071] According to the twenty-eighth aspect, a device is provided, comprising: a sending circuit, for sending one or more messages by a control plane function to a node of a radio access network of a mobile communication system, the one or more messages indicating multiple service quality profiles for downlink service quality flows for a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network, and a mapping of multiple user plane message header field values ​​to the multiple service quality profiles for the downlink service quality flows.

[0072] According to the twenty-ninth aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions stored thereon, the program instructions being used to execute: receiving one or more control plane messages at a node of a radio access network of a mobile communication system, the control plane messages indicating multiple quality of service profiles for a quality of service flow via a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network; receiving a user plane message for the quality of service flow at the radio access network node, wherein a separate user plane message comprises a header comprising at least a first field; determining at the radio access network node a quality of service profile from the multiple quality of service profiles to be used for the quality of service flow based at least in part on the first field and an indication in the one or more control plane messages of a mapping of the multiple quality of service profiles to multiple values ​​of the first field.

[0073] According to a thirtieth aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions stored thereon, the program instructions being used to execute: receiving one or more control plane messages at a node of a radio access network of a mobile communication system, the control plane messages indicating a plurality of quality of service profiles for quality of service flows for a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network; receiving from the user equipment an indication of application-level attributes of one or more application-level information units sent from the user equipment; and determining, at the radio access network node, one quality of service profile from the plurality of quality of service profiles to be used for the quality of service flow based at least in part on the indication from the user equipment.

[0074] According to the thirty-first aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions stored thereon, the program instructions being used to execute: receiving, by a user plane function of a mobile communication system, at least one application-level packet for a user equipment from a data network; generating, by the user plane function, a user plane message to carry the application-level packet to a radio access network node serving the user equipment; wherein the generation comprises determining the value of the first field based at least in part on information from the application-level packet and a control plane mapping between the information from the application-level packet and the value of a first field of a header of the user plane message; and sending the user plane message to the radio access network node.

[0075] According to the thirty-second aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions stored thereon, the program instructions being used to execute: receiving one or more control plane messages at a user equipment, the control plane messages indicating a plurality of quality of service profiles for an uplink quality of service flow of a logical connection between the user equipment and a data network via a radio access network of a mobile communication system, and a mapping of a plurality of application-level attributes to the plurality of quality of service profiles; determining, at the user equipment, a quality of service profile to be used for the uplink quality of service flow from the plurality of quality of service profiles based on one or more application-level attributes of one or more separate application-level information units sent to the data network via the radio access network and the mapping; and sending an indication of the determined quality of service profile for the uplink quality of service flow to the radio access network.

[0076] According to the thirty-third aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions stored thereon, wherein the program instructions are used to execute: sending, by an application function, one or more messages for a control plane function of a mobile communication system, wherein the one or more messages indicate: a plurality of quality of service requirement options for an application; and a mapping between the plurality of quality of service requirement options for the application and a plurality of header field values ​​of a user plane message for carrying data for the application in the mobile communication system.

[0077] According to the thirty-fourth aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions stored thereon, the program instructions being used to execute: receiving, by a control plane function of a mobile communication system, one or more messages from an application function for an application, the one or more messages indicating a plurality of quality of service requirement options for the application, and a mapping between the plurality of quality of service requirement options for the application and a plurality of header field values ​​of a user plane message for carrying data for the application in the mobile communication system; determining, based on the plurality of quality of service requirement options, a plurality of quality of service parameter sets for a quality of service flow for a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via a radio access network; and sending one or more messages to another control plane function of the mobile communication system, the one or more messages indicating the plurality of quality of service parameter sets for the quality of service flow, and a mapping of the plurality of header field values ​​to the plurality of quality of service parameter sets.

[0078] According to the thirty-fifth aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions stored thereon, wherein the program instructions are used to execute: sending one or more messages by a control plane function to a node of a radio access network of a mobile communication system, the one or more messages indicating multiple service quality profiles for downlink service quality flows for a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network, and a mapping of multiple user plane message header field values ​​to the multiple service quality profiles for the downlink service quality flows.

[0079] According to the thirty-sixth aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions stored thereon, the program instructions being used to execute: receiving one or more control plane messages at a node of a radio access network of a mobile communication system, the control plane messages indicating multiple quality of service profiles for a quality of service flow via a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network; receiving a user plane message for the quality of service flow at the radio access network node, wherein a separate user plane message comprises a header comprising at least a first field; determining at the radio access network node a quality of service profile from the multiple quality of service profiles to be used for the quality of service flow based at least in part on the first field and an indication in the one or more control plane messages of a mapping of the multiple quality of service profiles to multiple values ​​of the first field.

[0080] According to the thirty-seventh aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions stored thereon, the program instructions being used to execute: receiving one or more control plane messages at a node of a radio access network of a mobile communication system, the control plane messages indicating a plurality of quality of service profiles for quality of service flows for a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network; receiving from the user equipment an indication of application-level attributes of one or more application-level information units for transmission from the user equipment to a node of the radio access network; and determining, at the radio access network node, one quality of service profile from the plurality of quality of service profiles to be used for the quality of service flow based at least in part on the indication from the user equipment.

[0081] According to the thirty-eighth aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions stored thereon, the program instructions being used to execute: receiving, by a user plane function of a mobile communication system, at least one application level packet for a user equipment from a data network; generating, by the user plane function, a user plane message to carry the application level packet to a radio access network node serving the user equipment; wherein the generation comprises determining the value of the first field based at least in part on information from the application level packet and a control plane mapping between the information from the application level packet and the value of a first field of a header of the user plane message; and sending the user plane message to the radio access network node.

[0082] According to the thirty-ninth aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions stored thereon, the program instructions being used to execute: receiving one or more control plane messages at a user equipment, the control plane messages indicating a plurality of quality of service profiles for an uplink quality of service flow of a logical connection between the user equipment and a data network via a radio access network of a mobile communication system, and a mapping of a plurality of application-level attributes to the plurality of quality of service profiles; determining, at the user equipment, a quality of service profile to be used for the uplink quality of service flow from the plurality of quality of service profiles based on one or more application-level attributes of one or more separate application-level information units sent to the data network via the radio access network and the mapping; and sending an indication of the determined quality of service profile for the uplink quality of service flow to the radio access network.

[0083] According to the fortieth aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions stored thereon, wherein the program instructions are used to execute: sending, by an application function, one or more messages for a control plane function of a mobile communication system, wherein the one or more messages indicate: a plurality of quality of service requirement options for an application; and a mapping between the plurality of quality of service requirement options for the application and a plurality of header field values ​​of a user plane message for carrying data for the application in the mobile communication system.

[0084] According to the forty-first aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions stored thereon, the program instructions being used to execute: receiving, by a control plane function of a mobile communication system, one or more messages from an application function for an application, the one or more messages indicating a plurality of quality of service requirement options for the application, and a mapping between the plurality of quality of service requirement options for the application and a plurality of header field values ​​of a user plane message for carrying data for the application in the mobile communication system; determining, based on the plurality of quality of service requirement options, a plurality of quality of service parameter sets for a quality of service flow for a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via a radio access network; and sending one or more messages to another control plane function of the mobile communication system, the one or more messages indicating the plurality of quality of service parameter sets for the quality of service flow, and a mapping of the plurality of header field values ​​to the plurality of quality of service parameter sets.

[0085] According to the forty-second aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, comprising program instructions stored thereon, wherein the program instructions are used to execute: sending one or more messages by a control plane function to a node of a radio access network of a mobile communication system, the one or more messages indicating multiple service quality profiles for downlink service quality flows for a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network, and a mapping of multiple user plane message header field values ​​to the multiple service quality profiles for the downlink service quality flows.

[0086] According to the forty-third aspect, a computer program is provided, comprising computer executable code, which, when executed on at least one processor, is configured to cause a radio access network node to at least: receive one or more control plane messages indicating multiple quality of service profiles for a quality of service flow between a user equipment and a data network via a logical connection of the radio access network; receive a user plane message for the quality of service flow at the radio access network node, wherein the individual user plane message comprises a header including at least a first field; determine a quality of service profile from the multiple quality of service profiles to be used for the quality of service flow based at least in part on the first field and an indication in the one or more control plane messages of a mapping of the multiple quality of service profiles to multiple values ​​of the first field.

[0087] According to a forty-fourth aspect, a computer program is provided, comprising computer executable code, which, when executed on at least one processor, is configured to cause a radio access network node to at least: receive one or more control plane messages indicating a plurality of quality of service profiles for a quality of service flow between a user equipment and a data network via a logical connection of the radio access network; receive from the user equipment an indication of application-level attributes of one or more application-level information units sent from the user equipment; and determine, based at least in part on the indication from the user equipment, a quality of service profile from the plurality of quality of service profiles to be used for the quality of service flow.

[0088] According to the forty-fifth aspect, a computer program is provided, comprising computer executable code, which is configured to cause a device to at least: receive at least one application level packet for a user equipment from a data network by a user plane function of a mobile communication system; generate a user plane message by the user plane function to carry the application level packet to a radio access network node serving the user equipment; wherein the generation comprises determining the value of the first field based at least in part on information from the application level packet and a control plane mapping between the information from the application level packet and the value of the first field of the header of the user plane message; and send the user plane message to the radio access network node.

[0089] According to the forty-sixth aspect, a computer program is provided, comprising computer executable code, which, when running on at least one processor, is configured to cause a user equipment to at least: receive one or more control plane messages, the control plane messages indicating multiple service quality profiles for uplink service quality flows of a logical connection between the user equipment and a data network via a radio access network of a mobile communication system, and a mapping of multiple application-level attributes to the multiple service quality profiles; determine one service quality profile from the multiple service quality profiles to be used for the uplink service quality flow based on one or more application-level attributes of one or more separate application-level information units sent to the data network via the radio access network and the mapping; and send an indication of the determined service quality profile for the uplink service quality flow to the radio access network.

[0090] According to the forty-seventh aspect, a computer program is provided, comprising a computer executable code, which, when running on at least one processor, is configured to cause a device to at least: send one or more messages for a control plane function of a mobile communication system by an application function, wherein the one or more messages indicate: a plurality of quality of service requirement options for the application; and a mapping between the plurality of quality of service requirement options for the application and a plurality of header field values ​​of a user plane message for carrying data for the application in the mobile communication system.

[0091] According to the forty-eighth aspect, a computer program is provided, comprising a computer executable code, which is configured to cause a device to at least: receive one or more messages from an application function for an application by a control plane function of a mobile communication system, the one or more messages indicating multiple service quality requirement options for the application, and a mapping between the multiple service quality requirement options for the application and multiple header field values ​​of a user plane message for carrying data for the application in the mobile communication system; determine multiple service quality parameter sets for a service quality flow for a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via a radio access network based on the multiple service quality requirement options; and send one or more messages to another control plane function of the mobile communication system, the one or more messages indicating the multiple service quality parameter sets for the service quality flow, and a mapping of the multiple header field values ​​to the multiple service quality parameter sets.

[0092] According to the forty-ninth aspect, a computer program is provided, comprising computer executable code, which, when running on at least one processor, is configured to cause the device to at least: send one or more messages by a control plane function to a node of a radio access network of a mobile communication system, the one or more messages indicating multiple service quality profiles for downlink service quality flows for a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network, and a mapping of multiple user plane message header field values ​​to the multiple service quality profiles for the downlink service quality flows.

[0093] In the aspects described above and elsewhere herein, various example embodiments of the subject disclosure are described. It should be understood that further example embodiments may be provided by combinations of any two or more aspects described above or elsewhere herein. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0094] Some exemplary embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting and illustrative examples only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0095] Figure 1 shows a representation of a mobile communication system according to some example embodiments;

[0096] Figure 2 shows a representation of a control device according to some example embodiments;

[0097] Figure 3 shows representations of apparatus according to some example embodiments;

[0098] Figure 4shows a representation of a GTP-U message set that carries an application level information element;

[0099] Figure 5 shows representations of operations performed by instances of application functionality according to some example embodiments;

[0100] Figure 6 shows a representation of operations performed by an instance of a control plane function of a core network of a mobile communications system according to some example embodiments;

[0101] Figure 7 shows a representation of operations performed by an instance of another control plane function of a core network of a mobile communications system according to some example embodiments;

[0102] Figure 8 shows a representation of operations performed by a user plane function of a core network of a mobile communications system according to some example embodiments;

[0103] Fig. 9 shows a representation of operations performed by a radio access network node of a mobile communications system according to some example embodiments;

[0104] Fig.10 shows representations of operations performed by a user device according to some example embodiments;

[0105] Fig.11 shows a representation of message passing according to some example embodiments; and

[0106] Fig.12 A representation of further messaging according to some example embodiments is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0107] In the following, certain exemplary embodiments will be explained with reference to mobile communication devices capable of communicating via a wireless cellular system and mobile communication systems serving such mobile communication devices. However, it should be expressly understood that the description of any exemplary embodiment is provided by way of non-limiting and illustrative examples only and is by no means intended to be construed as limiting.

[0108] The terms used herein are generally used only to describe certain example embodiments and are not intended to be limiting. Hereinafter, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein may have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this subject disclosure belongs.

[0109] References in the subject disclosure to "an example embodiment," "some example embodiments," "certain example embodiments," "various example embodiments," etc. indicate that the referenced embodiment being described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every example embodiment described herein may include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Furthermore, these phrases do not necessarily refer to the same example embodiment. Furthermore, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in conjunction with an example embodiment, it is within the knowledge of those skilled in the art to combine such feature, structure, or characteristic in conjunction with any other example embodiment described herein, whether or not such combination is explicitly described.

[0110] As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should be further understood that the terms "comprises", "comprising", "has", "having", "includes" and / or "including" when used herein specify the presence of stated features, elements and / or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0111] As used herein, unless explicitly stated, performing a step "based on A" does not indicate that the step is performed based only on "A", and the step may be based on "A" and one or more other features, elements, components (e.g., "B", "C", "D", etc.), and / or combinations thereof. Similar considerations apply to performing a step "in response to A".

[0112] As used herein, unless explicitly stated, performing a step “in response to A” does not indicate that the step is performed immediately after “A”, and one or more intermediate steps may be included between “A” and the step.

[0113] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the expressions "first X" and "second X" include options where "first X" is the same as "second X" and "first X" is different from "second X". Therefore, it should be understood that although the terms "first", "second", etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a "first element" may be referred to as a "second element", and similarly, a "second element" may be referred to as a "first element" without departing from the scope of the present subject disclosure.

[0114] Before explaining various exemplary embodiments in detail, Figure 1 Certain aspects of a wireless communication system are briefly explained to aid understanding of the technology upon which the example embodiments are based.

[0115] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of some elements of the 3GPP 5G mobile communication system (5GS) is shown. The 5GS includes a 5G radio access network (5G RAN) or a next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) for enabling wireless access between a terminal or user equipment (UE) and the 5G core network (5GC) of the 5GS. The 5GC adopts an open modular service platform: a service-based architecture (SBA). The SBA provides a cloud-native service framework in which mobile core network functions (such as authentication, mobility management, etc.) are supported by instances of network functions (NFs), self-contained software applications that can run on hardware hosted on a cloud infrastructure. The services exposed by one NF instance (service producer) to another NF instance (service consumer) are described using application programming interface (API) specifications that identify a collection of accessible service data and indicate authorized operations on these service data. The NF instances of the core domain are interconnected on a logically shared infrastructure that includes a CN domain message bus 108. NF instances provide services via the CN domain message bus 108 that are accessible to any other authorized NF instances through APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), which are called Service-Based Interfaces (SBIs).

[0116] The services exposed by the core domain network functions can also be exposed to the AF domain application functions (AF) via the core domain network exposure function (NEF) through the CN domain message bus 108, the inter-domain message bus 104 and the AF domain message bus 106. The NEF exposes a secure API to the AF.

[0117] Apart from Figure 1 The core domain of 5GS includes one or more instances of the control plane functions shown in the figure, including one or more instances of the control plane functions called policy control function (PCF), access and mobility management function (AMF) and session management function (SMF). Figure 1 One or more instances of other control plane functions not shown in the diagram, such as a network slice selection function (NSSF); a network repository function (NRF); a unified data management (UDM); and an authentication server function (AUSF).

[0118] 5G-RAN may include one or more gNodeBs (NBs) or one or more gNodeB (gNB) distributed unit functions connected to one or more gNodeB (gNB) centralized unit functions. The gNB is part of the user plane and provides access between the UE and one or more data networks (DNs) via one or more user plane function (UPF) instances.

[0119] Figure 2Shown is the operation Figure 1 An example of a control device 200 that can implement one or more functions shown in FIG. Figure 1 The functions shown in the figure may be run on a corresponding control device, or may share a control device with one or more other functions. The control device may include at least one random access memory (RAM) 211a, at least one read-only memory (ROM) 211b, at least one processor 212, 213, and an input / output interface 214. At least one processor 212, 213 may be coupled to the RAM 211a and the ROM 211b. At least one processor 212, 213 may be configured to execute appropriate software code 215. The software code 215 may, for example, allow execution of one or more of the various example embodiments disclosed in the subject matter. The software code 215 may be stored in the ROM 211b.

[0120] Figure 3 An example of a user device 300 is shown, for example Figure 1 The user equipment shown in . The terminal 300 can be provided by any device capable of sending and receiving radio signals. Non-limiting and illustrative examples include a mobile station (MS) or a mobile device (e.g., a mobile phone or a so-called "smartphone"), a computer equipped with a wireless interface card or other wireless interface facilities (e.g., a USB dongle), a personal data assistant (PDA) or tablet computer equipped with wireless communication capabilities, a machine type communication (MTC) device, an Internet of Things (IoT) type communication device, or any combination of these devices or similar devices. The user equipment 300 can provide, for example, communication of data for carrying communication. The communication can be one or more of voice, electronic mail (email), text message, multimedia, data, machine data, etc.

[0121] The user equipment 300 may receive signals over the air or radio interface 307 via appropriate means for receiving, and may transmit signals via appropriate means for transmitting radio signals. Figure 3 In the mobile device, the transceiver device is schematically designated by block 306. The transceiver device 306 may be provided, for example, by a radio part and an associated antenna arrangement. The antenna arrangement may be arranged internally or externally to the mobile device.

[0122] The user equipment 300 may be equipped with at least one processor 301, at least one memory ROM 302a, at least one RAM 302b and other possible components 303 for software and hardware assistance to perform the tasks it is designed to perform, including controlling access and communication to access systems and other communication devices. At least one processor 301 is coupled to RAM 302b and ROM 302a. At least one processor 301 may be configured to execute appropriate software code 308. Software code 308 may, for example, allow execution of one or more of the various example embodiments disclosed in the subject matter. Software code 308 may be stored in ROM 302a.

[0123] The processor, storage device and other related control devices may be arranged on an appropriate circuit board and / or in a chipset. This feature is indicated by reference 304. The device may optionally have a user interface, such as a keyboard 305, a touch-sensitive screen or pad, a combination thereof, etc. Depending on the type of device, one or more of a display, a speaker and a microphone may optionally be provided.

[0124] It should be understood that the apparatus may include or be coupled to other units or modules for transmitting and / or receiving, such as a radio component or a radio head, etc. Although these apparatus have been described as one entity, different modules and memories may be implemented in one or more physical or logical entities.

[0125] Operation of a node of a radio access network for a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network may involve the radio access network node switching between quality of service profiles of a quality of service flow based on congestion in the radio access network.

[0126] A mobile communication system may be used to carry application-level information units of a media application between a data network (DN) and one or more user devices. In some example embodiments described below, examples of individual application-level information units (e.g., video frames) are carried between the data network and the UE via corresponding protocol data unit (PDU) sets (referred to as PDU sets). A GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) user plane message carrying the PDU set includes a header field indicating that the carried PDU is part of the PDU set. The RAN node serving the UE processes the GTP user plane message according to a quality of service (QoS) profile of a QoS flow for a logical connection between the data network and the UE for the media application. Such a logical connection between the data network and the UE may be referred to as a PDU session.

[0127] In some example embodiments described below, examples of application-level packets based on the Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) carry application-level information units of media applications (e.g., I frames, P frames, video slices, etc.). Application-level information units can be carried by one or more RTP packets. RTP is a network protocol for delivering audio and video over an IP network. The RTP packet includes an RTP header and an RTP payload. An I frame (intra-coded frame) is a complete image, such as a JPG or BMP image file. A P frame (predicted frame) only accommodates changes between an image and the previous frame. Examples of alternatives to RTP include HTTP Dynamic Adaptive Streaming (DASH) and a protocol called QUIC.

[0128] Figure 4 A representation of a GTP-U message set for carrying application-level information units is shown. Each GTP-U message includes a GTP-U header and a GTP-U payload (protocol data unit (PDU)). The GTP-U header includes a field indicating that the carried PDU is part of a PDU set representing application-level information and information about the PDU set. For example, the GTP-U header can be a GTPv1-U header defined in 3GPP TS 29.281, and can include a GTP-U extension header.

[0129] The GTP-U header may carry the following PDU set information: an indication of the sequence number of the PDU set including the PDUs carried; an indication of the end PDU of the PDU set; an indication of the sequence number of the PDUs carried within the PDU set; an indication of the size of the PDU set (in bytes); and an indication of the relative importance of the PDU set relative to other PDU sets. The PDU set information may be as described in TS23.501 V18.2.2 clause 5.37.5.2.

[0130] Figure 5 A representation of the operation of an AF instance according to some example embodiments is shown. The AF instance provides one or more messages to the PCF instance via the NEF instance, the messages indicating a plurality of QoS requirement options for an application, a mapping of a plurality of GTP-U header field values ​​to the plurality of QoS requirement options, and a mapping of a plurality of application-level attributes (e.g., media type, video frame type) to the plurality of QoS requirement options (operation 500).

[0131] The following Table 1 shows an example of information sent by the AF to the PCF.

[0132]

[0133] Table 1

[0134] As shown in Table 1, multiple QoS requirement options can be mapped to a single application level attribute and a single GTP-U header field value. This allows some QoS adjustments to specific application level attributes based on RAN conditions (e.g., congestion in the RAN).

[0135] Figure 6 A representation of the operation of a PCF instance according to some example embodiments is shown. The PCF instance receives one or more AF messages indicating multiple QoS requirement options for a multimedia application and a mapping of multiple application-level attributes to multiple QoS requirement options and GTP-U header field values ​​(operation 600). The PCF determines one or more policy and charging control (PCC) rules based on the one or more AF messages (operation 602) and sends the one or more PCC rules to an SMF instance associated with the UPF instance for a PDU session for the application (operation 604). The one or more PCC rules indicate (i) multiple QoS parameter sets (QoS parameter sets and one or more alternative QoS parameter sets) for downlink (DL) QoS flows for media applications, (ii) mapping of GTP-U header field values ​​to multiple QoS parameter sets for DL ​​QoS flows; (iii) mapping of multiple application-level attributes to multiple GTP-U header field values. The one or more PCC rules may also indicate multiple QoS parameter sets for uplink (UL) QoS flows for media applications; and (v) mapping of multiple application-level attributes to multiple QoS parameter sets for UL QoS flows.

[0136] According to an example embodiment, the GTP-U header field value mapped to multiple QoS parameter sets (QoS parameter set and one or more alternative QoS parameter sets) is the value of the PDU importance set field of the above-mentioned PDU set information. Alternatively, the PDU set information can be extended to include an additional GTP-U header field (which can be called a "media type" field, for example), and multiple values ​​of the additional header field can be mapped to multiple QoS parameter sets.

[0137] Each QoS parameter set in the plurality of QoS parameter sets (the QoS parameter set and the one or more alternative QoS parameter sets) may include one or more QoS parameters.

[0138] Figure 7A representation of the operation of an SMF instance associated with a RAN node serving a UE for a PDU session for an application is shown in accordance with some example embodiments. The SMF instance receives the one or more PCC rules described above from the PCF (operation 700). Based on these one or more PCC rules, the SMF instance sends one or more control plane messages for the RAN node serving the UE (operation 702). The one or more messages indicate (i) a plurality of QoS profiles (QoS profile and one or more alternative QoS profiles) for a downlink QoS flow for a media application, and (ii) a mapping of GTP-U header field values ​​to the plurality of QoS profiles (QoS profile and one or more alternative QoS profiles).

[0139] Table 2 below shows an example of information sent by the SMF instance to the RAN node.

[0140]

[0141] Table 2

[0142] In addition, based on one or more PCC rules for the downlink QoS flow, the SMF instance may also send one or more control plane messages to the UPF instance for the PDU session, which control plane messages indicate a mapping of multiple application-level attributes (which may be indicated by multiple application-level header (e.g., RTP header) field values) to multiple GTP-U header field values ​​(operation 704).

[0143] The following Table 3 shows an example of information sent by an SMF instance to a UPF instance.

[0144] Mapping The media attribute to detect Value for the "PDU Set Importance" GTP-U header field 1 I-frame (video) PDU set importance = 2 2 P-frame (video) PDU set importance = 3 3 Avatar PDU set importance = 1

[0145] Table 3

[0146] According to an example embodiment, the RTP header includes an extension indicating a PDU set importance value, and the UPF instance may not require mapping information from the SMF instance. The UPF instance may copy the PDU set importance value from the RTP header extension into the GTP-U header.

[0147] In addition, based on the one or more PCC rules, the SMF instance may send one or more control plane messages for the UE, the control plane messages indicating multiple QoS parameters indicating multiple QoS profiles for uplink QoS flows for media applications, and indicating a mapping of multiple application-level attributes (e.g., media types) to multiple UL QoS profiles indicated by the QoS parameters (operation 706).

[0148] Figure 8A representation of operations for a QoS flow for a media application performed by a UPF instance according to some example embodiments is shown. The UPF instance receives the above-mentioned one or more SMF messages indicating a mapping of multiple application-level attributes (indicated by an RTP packet (RTP header or payload)) to multiple GTP-U header field values ​​(operation 800). In response to receiving an IP packet carrying a PDU belonging to a PDU set (carrying an application-level information unit) from a data network (operation 802), the UPF instance generates a GTP-U message for carrying the IP packet and sends the GTP-U message to a RAN node serving the UE (operation 804). Generating the GTP-U message by the UPF instance includes determining values ​​for header fields in the GTP-U header. One or more GTP-U header fields indicate that the carried PDU is part of a PDU set that carries a payload of an information unit at the application level. Another GTP-U header field (e.g., a PDU set importance field) has a value based on an application-level attribute (e.g., a media type) of the PDU payload (as indicated by information obtained from the RTP packet) and based on the above-mentioned mapping. One or more other fields of the GTP-U header (e.g., the PDU sequence number field indicating the position of the carried PDU within a PDU set) may have different values ​​than other GTP-U messages carrying other PDUs belonging to the same PDU set.

[0149] Fig. 9 A representation of operations for a PDU session performed by a RAN node serving a UE according to some example embodiments is shown. The RAN node receives the one or more SMF messages described above, which indicate a mapping of multiple GTP-U header field values ​​to multiple QoS profiles for a downlink QoS flow for a media application (operation 900). In response to receiving the GTP-U message (operation 902), the RAN node determines the QoS profile for the downlink QoS flow based on the GTP-U header field value of the GTP-U message and the above mapping; and processes the content of the GTP-U message based on the determined QoS profile (operation 904).

[0150] In the event that the PDU Set Importance of a GTP-U message received by the RAN node is different from the previous GTP-U message, switching to another different QoS profile for the QoS flow of the media application may be triggered immediately, or a slower trigger may be employed to avoid too frequent QoS profile switching. A slower trigger may contribute to a simpler RAN implementation. For example, the RAN node may determine to switch to another QoS profile for the QoS flow of the media application based on an analysis of the values ​​of the PDU Set Importance header field of the GTP-U messages received over a period of time. In more detail, the RAN node may determine to switch to another QoS profile for the QoS flow of the media application based on, for example, an average of the values ​​of the PDU Set Importance header field of the GTP-U messages received over a period of time.

[0151] In some example embodiments, the RAN node may, in response to receiving a GTP-U message, determine one of three QoS profiles (QoS Profile, Alt-QoS Profile-1, Alt-QoS Profile-2) for a downlink QoS flow based on the value of the "PDU Set Importance" header field of the GTP-U message according to the mapping shown in Table 2. For example, if a user of a media application switches from a video call to an avatar call (which requires a lower data rate (e.g., 5 kbps) than the data rate of the video call), the UPF instance detects the change in media type (based on the content of the RTP packets (header and payload)) and switches to setting the PDU Set Importance field value of the GTP-U header to PDU Set Importance = 1 (rather than PDU Set Importance = 2 or PDU Set Importance = 3 for the video call). In response to detecting the change in the value of the PDU Set Importance field of the GTP-U header, the RAN node switches to Alt-QoS Profile 2 for the downlink QoS flow of the media application. Alt-QoS Profile 2 may specify a guaranteed flow bit rate (GFBR) (e.g., 5 kbps) that is lower than the GFBR specified by the QoS profile mapped to the video stream or Alt-QoS Profile 1 via PDU Set Importance = 2 or PDU Set Importance = 3.

[0152] Fig.10Representations of uplink operations performed by a UE according to some example embodiments are shown. The UE receives one or more SMF control plane messages including an indication of multiple QoS profiles for uplink QoS flows for media applications and a mapping of multiple application-level attributes (e.g., media types) to the multiple QoS profiles (operation 1000). In response to an application layer request to send one or more application-level information units (operation 1002), a lower layer determines one of the multiple QoS profiles based on an indication of application-level attributes (e.g., media types) of the one or more application-level information units and based on the above mapping (operation 1004). The UE node sends an indication of the determined QoS profile to a RAN node, and the RAN node adopts the indicated QoS profile for the UL QoS flow (operation 1006).

[0153] According to an alternative example, the UE sends information (e.g., metadata) about application-level attributes (e.g., media type) of one or more application-level information units to a RAN node serving the UE; and the RAN node determines a QoS profile for an uplink QoS flow for the media application. For example, the UE may include the metadata in a message (e.g., a buffer status report (BSR)) sent to the UE prior to UL transmission of a PDU to carry the one or more application-level information units. According to another example, the UE includes the metadata in a PDU header (e.g., a Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) / Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) header). The metadata included in the PDU header may trigger a switch from one QoS profile for the uplink QoS flow to another QoS profile for the uplink QoS flow (based on mapping information received by the RAN node from the SMF instance), and apply the new QoS profile to subsequent UL transmissions of the PDUs for the uplink QoS flow.

[0154] Fig.11 shows a representation of messaging for PDU session modification according to some example embodiments; Fig.12 A representation of messaging for downlink transmission of RTP packets is shown in accordance with some example embodiments.

[0155] The AF for the multimedia application sends an AF request to the PCF via the NEF (operation 1100). The AF request may take the form of a Nnef_AFSessionWithQoS create / update request. The request indicates a plurality of QoS requirement options for the application, a mapping between the QoS requirement options and a plurality of GTP-U header field values, and a mapping between the QoS requirement options and a plurality of application-level attributes (e.g., media type). Each QoS requirement option may include a corresponding value for one or more QoS parameters, such as one or more of a PDU set error rate (PSER) and a PDU set delay budget (PSDB).

[0156] The PCF generates PCC rules based on the AF request (operation 1102). The PCC rules include: (i) multiple QoS parameter sets (QoS parameter set and one or more alternative QoS parameter sets) for downlink QoS flows of media applications; (ii) mapping of GTP-U header field values ​​to multiple QoS parameter sets (QoS parameter set and one or more alternative QoS parameter sets); (iii) mapping of multiple application-level attributes (e.g., media type) to multiple GTP-U header field values; and (iv) mapping of multiple application-level attributes (e.g., media type) to multiple QoS parameter sets (QoS parameter set and one or more alternative QoS parameter sets) for uplink QoS flows of media applications.

[0157] The PCF provides the PCC rules to the SMF instance for the PDU session (operation 1104).

[0158] The SMF instance sends an N4 message to enable the UPF instance to use UPF PDU set detection for the PDU session (operation 1106). The message indicates a mapping of application-level attributes (e.g., media type) to GTP-U header values ​​(operation 1106). As described above, one example variation involves omitting this operation and instead including a PDU importance set field in the RTP header (where the header may include a header extension), the value of which can be copied by the UPF instance to the GTP-U header of the GTP-U message carrying the RTP packet.

[0159] The SMF instance also sends a message to the RAN node serving the UE for the PDU session, indicating a mapping of multiple GTP-U header values ​​to multiple QoS profiles for downlink QoS flows for media applications (operation 1108). The multiple QoS profiles are multiple QoS parameter sets indicated based on PCC rules. The multiple QoS profiles can be referred to as QoS profiles and one or more alternative (Alt) QoS profiles.

[0160] In response to receiving an IP packet carrying a PDU belonging to a PDU set (carrying an application-level information unit) from a data network (operation 1200), a UPF instance for a PDU session generates a GTP-U message to carry the IP packet. The GTP-U message includes a GTP-U header indicating that the carried PDU belongs to the PDU set (operation 1202). Generating the GTP-U message includes determining a value of a GTP-U header field based on an application-level attribute (e.g., a media type) of the carried PDU, which attribute may be indicated by an RTP header and a payload of an RTP packet. The value of this GTP-U header field is the same for all GTP-U messages carrying the PDU set (application-level information unit), but one or more other header fields (e.g., a PDU sequence number field indicating the position of the carried PDU within the PDU set) may differ between GTP-U messages carrying the PDU set.

[0161] The UPF instance sends a GTP-U message to the RAN node serving the UE for the PDU session (operation 1204).

[0162] The RAN node determines a QoS profile in the QoS profiles for the downlink QoS flow of the media application based on the GTP-U header field value and the received mapping of the plurality of GTP-U header field values ​​to the plurality of QoS profiles (operation 1206). The determination may also be based in part on the congestion level in the RAN.

[0163] With respect to downlink communications, the example embodiments described above relate to mapping multiple PDU importance set header field values ​​to multiple QoS profiles for downlink QoS flows for media applications. An example variant relates to alternatively or additionally mapping multiple values ​​of another GTP-U header field value (e.g., PDU set size) to multiple QoS profiles for downlink QoS flows for media applications. For example, a QoS profile that allows a relatively large PSDB and / or a relatively large maximum data burst size (MDBV) can be mapped to a relatively large PDU set, while another QoS profile that allows a smaller PSDB and / or a smaller MDBV can be mapped to a smaller PDU set.

[0164] Furthermore, as described above, determination of one of the QoS profiles for the QoS flow of the media application may be additionally based on congestion status in the RAN (eg, as indicated by data traffic rate and / or resource availability).

[0165] The above-described techniques may, for example, facilitate better QoS determinations for conversational communications that involve changes in one or more media types (eg, changes between video and avatar media) during the communication.

[0166] It is worth noting that although some example embodiments have been described for 5GS, similar concepts may be applied to other mobile communication systems (e.g., 4G, 6G, 7G, etc., and / or other wireless or wired communication networks). Therefore, although certain example embodiments are described above by way of non-limiting and illustrative examples with reference to certain example architectures of wireless networks, technologies, and standards, the example embodiments may be applied to any other suitable form of communication system in addition to the communication system shown and described herein.

[0167] It is also noted herein that while various example embodiments are described above, many changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the subject disclosure.

[0168] As used herein, “at least one of: ” and “at least one of: ” and similar expressions, where a list of two or more elements is connected by “and” or “or”, mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all of the elements. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0169] In general, various example embodiments may be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some example embodiments disclosed in the subject matter may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software, which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. Although various example embodiments disclosed in the subject matter may be illustrated and described with block diagrams, flow charts, or other graphical representations, it is fully understood that the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuits or logic, general-purpose hardware or controllers or other computing devices, or some combination thereof as non-limiting and illustrative examples.

[0170] As used herein, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following example embodiments:

[0171] (a) pure hardware circuit implementation (e.g. implementation in analog and / or digital circuits only) and

[0172] (b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (where applicable):

[0173] (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuitry and software / firmware, and

[0174] (ii) any portion of a hardware processor (including a digital signal processor) with software, software and memory that work together to enable a device such as a mobile phone or server to perform various functions, and

[0175] (c) Hardware circuits and / or processors (such as a microprocessor or portion of a microprocessor) that require software (such as firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

[0176] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of the term herein, including in any claims. As another example, as used herein, the term "circuitry" also covers implementations of hardware-only circuits or processors and their (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term "circuitry" also covers, for example and where applicable to a particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0177] The various example embodiments disclosed in the subject matter may be implemented by computer software executable by a data processor of a mobile device (e.g., in a processor entity), or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. Computer software or programs (also referred to as program products) including software routines, applets, and / or macros may be stored in any device-readable data storage medium, and they include program instructions for performing specific tasks. A computer program product may include one or more computer executable components that, when the program is operated, are configured to perform an embodiment. The one or more computer executable components may be at least one software code or a portion thereof.

[0178] Furthermore, in this regard, it should be noted that any block of the logic flow as in the figure may represent program steps, or interconnected logic circuits, blocks and functions, or a combination of program steps and logic circuits, blocks and functions. The software may be stored on physical media such as memory chips or memory blocks implemented within a processor, magnetic media such as hard disks or floppy disks, and optical media such as DVDs and their data variants CDs. Physical media are non-transitory media.

[0179] The term "non-transitory" as used herein refers to the limitations of the medium itself (eg, tangible, as opposed to a signal), not the limitations of data storage persistence (eg, RAM versus ROM).

[0180] The memory may be of any type suitable for the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology (e.g., semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory, and removable memory). The data processor may be of any type suitable for the local technical environment and may include one or more of a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a gate level circuit, and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture, as non-limiting and illustrative examples.

[0181] Embodiments of the subject disclosure may be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit modules. The design of integrated circuits is generally a highly automated process. Complex and powerful software tools are available to convert a logic level design into a semiconductor circuit design ready to be etched and formed on a semiconductor substrate.

[0182] The protection scope of various exemplary embodiments of the subject disclosure is set forth by the independent claims. The exemplary embodiments described herein and their aspects, features, etc. (if any) that do not belong to the scope of the independent claims should be interpreted as examples that help understand the various exemplary embodiments of the subject disclosure.

[0183] The subject disclosure provides a complete and informative description of various example embodiments herein by way of non-limiting and illustrative examples. However, various modifications and adjustments may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant art when the above description is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. However, all such and similar modifications to the teachings of this disclosure will still fall within the scope of the invention as defined in the claims. In fact, there is another example embodiment, including a combination of one or more example embodiments with any other example embodiment described herein.

Claims

1. A radio access network node, comprising means for: receiving one or more control plane messages indicating a plurality of quality of service profiles for quality of service flows of a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network; receiving, at the radio access network node, a user plane message for the quality of service flow, wherein an individual user plane message comprises a header including at least a first field; as well as A quality of service profile of the plurality of quality of service profiles to be used for the quality of service flow is determined based on the first field and an indication in the one or more control plane messages regarding a mapping of the plurality of quality of service profiles to a plurality of values ​​for the first field.

2. A radio access network node comprising means for: receiving one or more control plane messages indicating a plurality of quality of service profiles for quality of service flows for a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network; receiving, from the user equipment, an indication of application level attributes for one or more application level information elements sent from the user equipment; as well as A quality of service profile of the plurality of quality of service profiles to be used for the quality of service flow is determined based on the indication from the user equipment.

3. An apparatus comprising a module for: receiving, by a user plane function of a mobile communication system, at least one application level packet for a user equipment from a data network; generating, by the user plane function, a user plane message to carry the application level packet to a radio access network node serving the user equipment; in, The generating comprises determining the value for the first field based at least in part on information from the application level packet and a control plane mapping between the information from the application level packet and a value for a first field of a header of the user plane message; as well as The user plane message is sent to the radio access network node.

4. A user equipment, comprising a module for the following operations: receiving one or more control plane messages indicating a plurality of quality of service profiles for uplink quality of service flows for a logical connection between the user equipment and a data network via a radio access network of a mobile communication system, and a mapping of a plurality of application level attributes to the plurality of quality of service profiles; determining, based on one or more application level attributes of one or more separate application level information elements for transmission to the data network over the radio access network and the mapping, a quality of service profile of the plurality of quality of service profiles to be used for the uplink quality of service flow; as well as An indication of the determined quality of service profile for the uplink quality of service flow is sent to the radio access network.

5. An apparatus comprising means for: One or more messages for a control plane function of a mobile communication system are sent by an application function, wherein: The one or more messages indicate: a plurality of quality of service requirement options for an application; and a mapping between the plurality of quality of service requirement options for the application and a plurality of header field values ​​of a user plane message for carrying data for the application in the mobile communication system.

6. An apparatus comprising means for: receiving, by a control plane function of a mobile communication system, one or more messages from an application function for an application, the one or more messages indicating a plurality of quality of service requirement options for the application and a mapping between the plurality of quality of service requirement options for the application and a plurality of header field values ​​of a user plane message for carrying data for the application in the mobile communication system; determining, based on the plurality of quality of service requirement options, a plurality of quality of service parameter sets for quality of service flows of a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via a radio access network; as well as One or more messages are sent to another control plane function of the mobile communication system, the one or more messages indicating the plurality of quality of service parameter sets for the quality of service flow and a mapping of the plurality of header field values ​​to the plurality of quality of service parameter sets.

7. An apparatus comprising means for: One or more messages are sent by a control plane function to a node of a radio access network of a mobile communication system, the one or more messages indicating a plurality of quality of service profiles for downlink quality of service flows of a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network, and a mapping of a plurality of user plane message header field values ​​to the plurality of quality of service profiles for the downlink quality of service flows.

8. A method comprising: receiving, at a node of a radio access network of a mobile communication system, one or more control plane messages indicating a plurality of quality of service profiles for quality of service flows of a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network; as well as receiving, at the radio access network node, a user plane message for the quality of service flow, wherein an individual user plane message comprises a header including at least a first field; Determine, at the radio access network node, a quality of service profile from the multiple quality of service profiles to be used for the quality of service flow based at least in part on the first field and an indication in the one or more control plane messages regarding a mapping of the multiple quality of service profiles to multiple values ​​of the first field.

9. A method comprising: receiving, at a node of a radio access network of a mobile communication system, one or more control plane messages indicating a plurality of quality of service profiles for quality of service flows of a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network; receiving, from the user equipment, an indication of application level attributes of one or more application level information elements for transmission from the user equipment to a node of the radio access network; as well as Based on the indication from the user equipment, one of the plurality of quality of service profiles is determined at the radio access network node to be used for the quality of service flow.

10. A method comprising: receiving, by a user plane function of a mobile communication system, at least one application level packet for a user equipment from a data network; generating, by the user plane function, a user plane message to carry the application level packet to a radio access network node serving the user equipment; wherein the generating comprises determining the value for the first field based at least in part on information from the application level packet and a control plane mapping between the information from the application level packet and a value of a first field of a header of the user plane message; as well as The user plane message is sent to the radio access network node.

11. A method comprising: receiving, at a user equipment, one or more control plane messages indicating a plurality of quality of service profiles for uplink quality of service flows for a logical connection between the user equipment and a data network via a radio access network of a mobile communication system, and a mapping of a plurality of application level attributes to the plurality of quality of service profiles; determining, at the user equipment, one quality of service profile of the plurality of quality of service profiles to be used for the uplink quality of service flow based on one or more application level attributes of one or more separate application level information elements for transmission to the data network over the radio access network and the mapping; as well as An indication of the determined quality of service profile for the uplink quality of service flow is sent to the radio access network.

12. A method comprising: One or more messages for a control plane function of a mobile communication system are sent by an application function, wherein the one or more messages indicate: a plurality of quality of service requirement options for an application; and a mapping between the plurality of quality of service requirement options for the application and a plurality of header field values ​​of a user plane message for carrying data for the application in the mobile communication system.

13. A method comprising: receiving, by a control plane function of a mobile communication system, one or more messages from an application function for an application, the one or more messages indicating a plurality of quality of service requirement options for the application and a mapping between the plurality of quality of service requirement options for the application and a plurality of header field values ​​of a user plane message for carrying data for the application in the mobile communication system; determining, based on the plurality of quality of service requirement options, a plurality of quality of service parameter sets for quality of service flows of a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via a radio access network; as well as One or more messages are sent to another control plane function of the mobile communication system, the one or more messages indicating the plurality of quality of service parameter sets for the quality of service flow and a mapping of the plurality of header field values ​​to the plurality of quality of service parameter sets.

14. A method comprising: One or more messages are sent by a control plane function to a node of a radio access network of a mobile communication system, the one or more messages indicating a plurality of quality of service profiles for downlink quality of service flows of a logical connection between a user equipment and a data network via the radio access network, and a mapping of a plurality of user plane message header field values ​​to the plurality of quality of service profiles for the downlink quality of service flows.

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