Methods, architectures, apparatuses and systems for multiplexing and differentiating pdu set flows

Abstract

Procedures, methods, architectures, apparatuses, systems, devices, and computer program products comprising a first network node configured for receiving, via a first service data flow, a first packet data unit (PDU) of a first PDU set; receiving, via a second service data flow, a second PDU of a second PDU set; determining that the first PDU is associated with a first packet detection rule (PDR); determining that the second PDU is associated with a second PDR; generating a first packet comprising the first PDU and information indicating the first PDU set flow identifier; generating a second packet comprising the second PDU and information indicating the second PDU set flow identifier; and sending the first packet and the second packet via a quality of service (QoS) flow associated with a QoS flow identifier.

Description

METHODS, ARCHITECTURES, APPARATUSES AND SYSTEMS FOR MULTIPLEXING AND DIFFERENTIATING PDU SET FLOWSCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 528,826 filed July 25, 2023, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND

[0002] The present disclosure is generally directed to the fields of communications, software and encoding, including, for example, to methods, architectures, apparatuses, systems directed to multiplexed communication, for example to methods, apparatus and systems allowing for protocol data unit (PDU) sets from different flows to be multiplexed onto the same quality of service (QoS) flow.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0003] A more detailed understanding may be had from the detailed description below, given by way of example in conjunction with drawings appended hereto. Figures in such drawings, like the detailed description, are examples. As such, the Figures (FIGs.) and the detailed description are not to be considered limiting, and other equally effective examples are possible and likely. Furthermore, like reference numerals ("ref.") in the FIGs. indicate like elements, and wherein:

[0004] FIG. 1 A is a system diagram illustrating an example communications system;

[0005] FIG. IB is a system diagram illustrating an example wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1 A;

[0006] FIG. 1C is a system diagram illustrating an example radio access network (RAN) and an example core network (CN) that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1A;

[0007] FIG. ID is a system diagram illustrating a further example RAN and a further example CN that may be used within the communications system illustrated in FIG. 1 A;

[0008] FIG. 2 is a system diagram illustrating an example architecture for multiplexing PDU sets from multiple applications into a single QoS flow;

[0009] FIG. 3 depicts an example procedure for multiplexing multiple traffic flows into a QoS flow;

[0010] FIG. 4 depicts a first example procedure for multiplexing PDU sets from multiple applications into a single QoS flow;

[0011] FIG. 5 depicts a second example procedure for multiplexing PDU sets from multiple applications into a single QoS flow;

[0012] FIG. 6 depicts a third example procedure for multiplexing PDU sets from multiple applications into a single QoS flow; and

[0013] FIG. 7 depicts a fourth example procedure for multiplexing PDU sets from multiple applications into a single QoS flow.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments and / or examples disclosed herein. However, it will be understood that such embodiments and examples may be practiced without some or all of the specific details set forth herein. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits have not been described in detail, so as not to obscure the following description. Further, embodiments and examples not specifically described herein may be practiced in lieu of, or in combination with, the embodiments and other examples described, disclosed or otherwise provided explicitly, implicitly and / or inherently (collectively "provided") herein. Although various embodiments are described and / or claimed herein in which an apparatus, system, device, etc. and / or any element thereof carries out an operation, process, algorithm, function, etc. and / or any portion thereof, it is to be understood that any embodiments described and / or claimed herein assume that any apparatus, system, device, etc. and / or any element thereof is configured to carry out any operation, process, algorithm, function, etc. and / or any portion thereof.

[0015] Provided below are acronyms / abbreviations for terms and phrases commonly used in this application:ACK AcknowledgementAF Application FunctionAS Application serverDL DownlinkDRB Data Radio BearerNACK Negative ACKMCS Modulation and Coding SchemeNR New RadioOFDM Orthogonal Frequency-Division MultiplexingPDR Packet Detection RuleRNTI Radio Network IdentifierRRC Radio Resource ControlRRM Radio Resource ManagementRS SI Received Signal Strength IndicatorSDU Service Data UnitSDP Session Description ProtocolTRP Transmission / Reception PointTSC Time-sensitive communicationsTSN Time-sensitive networkingUL UplinkURLLC Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency CommunicationsWLAN Wireless Local Area Networks and related technologies (IEEE 802. xx domain)

[0016] Example Communications System

[0017] The methods, apparatuses and systems provided herein are well-suited for communications involving both wired and wireless networks. An overview of various types of wireless devices and infrastructure is provided with respect to FIGs. 1A-1D, where various elements of the network may utilize, perform, be arranged in accordance with and / or be adapted and / or configured for the methods, apparatuses and systems provided herein.

[0018] FIG. 1A is a system diagram illustrating an example communications system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communications system 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messaging, broadcast, etc., to multiple wireless users. The communications system 100 may enable multiple wireless users to access such content through the sharing of system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communications systems 100 may employ one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), singlecarrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero-tail (ZT) unique-word (UW) discreet Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block- filtered OFDM, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), and the like.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 1A, the communications system 100 may include wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, a radio access network (RAN) 104 / 113, a core network (CN) 106 / 115, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110, and other networks 112, though it will be appreciated that the disclosed embodiments contemplate any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and / or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and / or communicate in a wireless environment. By way of example, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, any of which may be referred to as a "station" and / or a "STA", may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals and may include (or be) a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobilesubscriber unit, a subscription-based unit, a pager, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop, a netbook, a personal computer, a wireless sensor, a hotspot or Mi- Fi device, an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like. Any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and 102d may be interchangeably referred to as a UE.

[0020] The communications systems 100 may also include a base station 114a and / or a base station 114b. Each of the base stations 114a, 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, e.g., to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as the CN 106 / 115, the Internet 110, and / or the networks 112. By way of example, the base stations 114a, 114b may be any of a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B (NB), an eNode-B (eNB), a Home Node-B (HNB), a Home eNode-B (HeNB), a gNode-B (gNB), a NR Node-B (NR NB), a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, and the like. While the base stations 114a, 114b are each depicted as a single element, it will be appreciated that the base stations 114a, 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network elements.

[0021] The base station 114a may be part of the RAN 104 / 113, which may also include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), relay nodes, etc. The base station 114a and / or the base station 114b may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals on one or more carrier frequencies, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). These frequencies may be in licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide coverage for a wireless service to a specific geographical area that may be relatively fixed or that may change over time. The cell may further be divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in an embodiment, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e., one for each sector of the cell. In an embodiment, the base station 114a may employ multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) technology and may utilize multiple transceivers for each or any sector of the cell. For example, beamforming may be used to transmit and / or receive signals in desired spatial directions.

[0022] The base stations 114a, 114b may communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d over an air interface 116, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, centimeter wave, micrometer wave, infrared (IR),ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). The air interface 116 may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0023] More specifically, as noted above, the communications system 100 may be a multiple access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and the like. For example, the base station 114a in the RAN 104 / 113 and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using wideband CDMA (WCDMA). WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and / or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0024] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or LTE- Advanced (LTE-A) and / or LTE-Advanced Pro (LTE-A Pro).

[0025] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as NR Radio Access, which may establish the air interface 116 using New Radio (NR).

[0026] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement LTE radio access and NR radio access together, for instance using dual connectivity (DC) principles. Thus, the air interface utilized by WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and / or transmissions sent to / from multiple types of base stations (e.g., an eNB and a gNB).

[0027] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement radio technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 IX, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), and the like.

[0028] The base station 114b in FIG. 1 A may be a wireless router, Home Node-B, Home eNode- B, or access point, for example, and may utilize any suitable RAT for facilitating wireless connectivity in a localized area, such as a place of business, a home, a vehicle, a campus, an industrial facility, an air corridor (e.g., for use by drones), a roadway, and the like. In anembodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In an embodiment, the base station 114b and the WTRUs 102c, 102d may utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR, etc.) to establish any of a small cell, picocell or femtocell. As shown in FIG. 1 A, the base station 114b may have a direct connection to the Internet 110. Thus, the base station 114b may not be required to access the Internet 110 via the CN 106 / 115.

[0029] The RAN 104 / 113 may be in communication with the CN 106 / 115, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, applications, and / or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. The data may have varying quality of service (QoS) requirements, such as differing throughput requirements, latency requirements, error tolerance requirements, reliability requirements, data throughput requirements, mobility requirements, and the like. The CN 106 / 115 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, pre-paid calling, Internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and / or perform high-level security functions, such as user authentication. Although not shown in FIG. 1 A, it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 / 113 and / or the CN 106 / 115 may be in direct or indirect communication with other RANs that employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 / 113 or a different RAT. For example, in addition to being connected to the RAN 104 / 113, which may be utilizing an NR radio technology, the CN 106 / 115 may also be in communication with another RAN (not shown) employing any of a GSM, UMTS, CDMA 2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or Wi-Fi radio technology.

[0030] The CN 106 / 115 may also serve as a gateway for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access the PSTN 108, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. The PSTN 108 may include circuit-switched telephone networks that provide plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communication protocols, such as the transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP) and / or the internet protocol (IP) in the TCP / IP internet protocol suite. The networks 112 may include wired and / or wireless communications networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. For example, the networks 112 may include another CN connected to one or more RANs, which may employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 / 114 or a different RAT.

[0031] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in the communications system 100 may include multi-mode capabilities (e.g., the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may includemultiple transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks over different wireless links). For example, the WTRU 102c shown in FIG. 1A may be configured to communicate with the base station 114a, which may employ a cellular-based radio technology, and with the base station 114b, which may employ an IEEE 802 radio technology.

[0032] FIG. IB is a system diagram illustrating an example WTRU 102. As shown in FIG. IB, the WTRU 102 may include a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit / receive element 122, a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display / touchpad 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power source 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and / or other elements / peripherals 138, among others. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may include any sub-combination of the foregoing elements while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0033] The processor 118 may be a general purpose processor, a special purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) circuits, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, and the like. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, which may be coupled to the transmit / receive element 122. While FIG. IB depicts the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separate components, it will be appreciated that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together, e.g., in an electronic package or chip.

[0034] The transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit signals to, or receive signals from, a base station (e.g., the base station 114a) over the air interface 116. For example, in an embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. In an embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an emitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals, for example. In an embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive both RF and light signals. It will be appreciated that the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0035] Although the transmit / receive element 122 is depicted in FIG. IB as a single element, the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit / receive elements 122. For example, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Thus, in an embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include twoor more transmit / receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 116.

[0036] The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate the signals that are to be transmitted by the transmit / receive element 122 and to demodulate the signals that are received by the transmit / receive element 122. As noted above, the WTRU 102 may have multi-mode capabilities. Thus, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers for enabling the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as NR and IEEE 802.11, for example.

[0037] The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to, and may receive user input data from, the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit). The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128. In addition, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, any type of suitable memory, such as the non-removable memory 130 and / or the removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may include random-access memory (RAM), readonly memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, and the like. In other embodiments, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, memory that is not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or a home computer (not shown).

[0038] The processor 118 may receive power from the power source 134, and may be configured to distribute and / or control the power to the other components in the WTRU 102. The power source 134 may be any suitable device for powering the WTRU 102. For example, the power source 134 may include one or more dry cell batteries (e.g., nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel-zinc (NiZn), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), etc.), solar cells, fuel cells, and the like.

[0039] The processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or in lieu of, the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information over the air interface 116 from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) and / or determine its location based on the timing of the signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by way of any suitable location-determination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0040] The processor 118 may further be coupled to other elements / peripherals 138, which may include one or more software and / or hardware modules / units that provide additional features,functionality and / or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, the elements / peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an e-compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (e.g., for photographs and / or video), a universal serial bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands free headset, a Bluetooth® module, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an Internet browser, a virtual reality and / or augmented reality (VR / AR) device, an activity tracker, and the like. The elements / peripherals 138 may include one or more sensors, the sensors may be one or more of a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a hall effect sensor, a magnetometer, an orientation sensor, a proximity sensor, a temperature sensor, a time sensor; a geolocation sensor; an altimeter, a light sensor, a touch sensor, a magnetometer, a barometer, a gesture sensor, a biometric sensor, and / or a humidity sensor.

[0041] The WTRU 102 may include a full duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for both the uplink (e.g., for transmission) and downlink (e.g., for reception) may be concurrent and / or simultaneous. The full duplex radio may include an interference management unit to reduce and or substantially eliminate self-interference via either hardware (e.g., a choke) or signal processing via a processor (e.g., a separate processor (not shown) or via processor 118). In an embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include a half-duplex radio for which transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with particular subframes for either the uplink (e.g., for transmission) or the downlink (e.g., for reception)).

[0042] FIG. 1C is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 104 and the CN 106 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 104 may employ an E-UTRA radio technology to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 104 may also be in communication with the CN 106.

[0043] The RAN 104 may include eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNode-Bs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In an embodiment, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, the eNode-B 160a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a.

[0044] Each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handoverdecisions, scheduling of users in the uplink (UL) and / or downlink (DL), and the like. As shown in FIG. 1C, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may communicate with one another over an X2 interface.

[0045] The CN 106 shown in FIG. 1C may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, a serving gateway (SGW) 164, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway (PGW) 166. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 106, it will be appreciated that any one of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0046] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c in the RAN 104 via an SI interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the MME 162 may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, bearer activation / deactivation, selecting a particular serving gateway during an initial attach of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like. The MME 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as GSM and / or WCDMA.

[0047] The SGW 164 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c in the RAN 104 via the SI interface. The SGW 164 may generally route and forward user data packets to / from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. The SGW 164 may perform other functions, such as anchoring user planes during inter-eNode-B handovers, triggering paging when DL data is available for the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, managing and storing contexts of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and the like.

[0048] The SGW 164 may be connected to the PGW 166, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[0049] The CN 106 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as the PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and traditional land-line communications devices. For example, the CN 106 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 106 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 106 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks that are owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0050] Although the WTRU is described in FIGs. 1A-1D as a wireless terminal, it is contemplated that in certain representative embodiments that such a terminal may use (e.g., temporarily or permanently) wired communication interfaces with the communication network.

[0051] In representative embodiments, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0052] A WLAN in infrastructure basic service set (BSS) mode may have an access point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may have an access or an interface to a distribution system (DS) or another type of wired / wireless network that carries traffic into and / or out of the BSS. Traffic to STAs that originates from outside the BSS may arrive through the AP and may be delivered to the STAs. Traffic originating from STAs to destinations outside the BSS may be sent to the AP to be delivered to respective destinations. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent through the AP, for example, where the source STA may send traffic to the AP and the AP may deliver the traffic to the destination STA. The traffic between STAs within a BSS may be considered and / or referred to as peer-to-peer traffic. The peer-to-peer traffic may be sent between (e.g., directly between) the source and destination STAs with a direct link setup (DLS). In certain representative embodiments, the DLS may use an 802. l ie DLS or an 802.1 Iz tunneled DLS (TDLS). A WLAN using an Independent BSS (IBSS) mode may not have an AP, and the STAs (e.g., all of the STAs) within or using the IBSS may communicate directly with each other. The IBSS mode of communication may sometimes be referred to herein as an "ad-hoc" mode of communication.

[0053] When using the 802.1 lac infrastructure mode of operation or a similar mode of operations, the AP may transmit a beacon on a fixed channel, such as a primary channel. The primary channel may be a fixed width (e.g., 20 MHz wide bandwidth) or a dynamically set width via signaling. The primary channel may be the operating channel of the BSS and may be used by the STAs to establish a connection with the AP. In certain representative embodiments, Carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA / CA) may be implemented, for example in in 802.11 systems. For CSMA / CA, the STAs (e.g., every STA), including the AP, may sense the primary channel. If the primary channel is sensed / detected and / or determined to be busy by a particular STA, the particular STA may back off. One STA (e.g., only one station) may transmit at any given time in a given BSS.

[0054] High throughput (HT) STAs may use a 40 MHz wide channel for communication, for example, via a combination of the primary 20 MHz channel with an adjacent or nonadj acent 20 MHz channel to form a 40 MHz wide channel.

[0055] Very high throughput (VHT) STAs may support 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and / or 160 MHz wide channels. The 40 MHz, and / or 80 MHz, channels may be formed by combining contiguous 20 MHz channels. A 160 MHz channel may be formed by combining 8 contiguous 20 MHz channels, or by combining two non-contiguous 80 MHz channels, which may be referred to as an 80+80 configuration. For the 80+80 configuration, the data, after channel encoding, may be passed through a segment parser that may divide the data into two streams. Inverse fast fouriertransform (IFFT) processing, and time domain processing, may be done on each stream separately. The streams may be mapped on to the two 80 MHz channels, and the data may be transmitted by a transmitting STA. At the receiver of the receiving STA, the above-described operation for the 80+80 configuration may be reversed, and the combined data may be sent to a medium access control (MAC) layer, entity, etc.

[0056] Sub 1 GHz modes of operation are supported by 802.1 laf and 802.11 ah. The channel operating bandwidths, and carriers, are reduced in 802.1 laf and 802.1 lah relative to those used in802.1 In, and 802.1 lac. 802.1 laf supports 5 MHz, 10 MHz and 20 MHz bandwidths in the TV white space (TVWS) spectrum, and 802.1 lah supports 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, and 16 MHz bandwidths using non-TVWS spectrum. According to a representative embodiment,802.1 lah may support meter type control / machine-type communications (MTC), such as MTC devices in a macro coverage area. MTC devices may have certain capabilities, for example, limited capabilities including support for (e.g., only support for) certain and / or limited bandwidths. The MTC devices may include a battery with a battery life above a threshold (e.g., to maintain a very long battery life).

[0057] WLAN systems, which may support multiple channels, and channel bandwidths, such as802.1 In, 802.1 lac, 802.1 laf, and 802.1 lah, include a channel which may be designated as the primary channel. The primary channel may have a bandwidth equal to the largest common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel may be set and / or limited by a STA, from among all STAs in operating in a BSS, which supports the smallest bandwidth operating mode. In the example of 802.1 lah, the primary channel may be 1 MHz wide for STAs (e.g., MTC type devices) that support (e.g., only support) a 1 MHz mode, even if the AP, and other STAs in the BSS support 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, 16 MHz, and / or other channel bandwidth operating modes. Carrier sensing and / or network allocation vector (NAV) settings may depend on the status of the primary channel. If the primary channel is busy, for example, due to a STA (which supports only a 1 MHz operating mode), transmitting to the AP, the entire available frequency bands may be considered busy even though a majority of the frequency bands remains idle and may be available.

[0058] In the United States, the available frequency bands, which may be used by 802.1 lah, are from 902 MHz to 928 MHz. In Korea, the available frequency bands are from 917.5 MHz to 923.5 MHz. In Japan, the available frequency bands are from 916.5 MHz to 927.5 MHz. The total bandwidth available for 802.1 lah is 6 MHz to 26 MHz depending on the country code.

[0059] FIG. ID is a system diagram illustrating the RAN 113 and the CN 115 according to an embodiment. As noted above, the RAN 113 may employ an NR radio technology to communicatewith the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 113 may also be in communication with the CN 115.

[0060] The RAN 113 may include gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 113 may include any number of gNBs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, gNBs 180a, 180b may utilize beamforming to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. Thus, the gNB 180a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and / or receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement carrier aggregation technology. For example, the gNB 180a may transmit multiple component carriers to the WTRU 102a (not shown). A subset of these component carriers may be on unlicensed spectrum while the remaining component carriers may be on licensed spectrum. In an embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) technology. For example, WTRU 102a may receive coordinated transmissions from gNB 180a and gNB 180b (and / or gNB 180c).

[0061] The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using transmissions associated with a scalable numerology. For example, OFDM symbol spacing and / or OFDM subcarrier spacing may vary for different transmissions, different cells, and / or different portions of the wireless transmission spectrum. The WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using subframe or transmission time intervals (TTIs) of various or scalable lengths (e.g., including a varying number of OFDM symbols and / or lasting varying lengths of absolute time).

[0062] The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be configured to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c in a standalone configuration and / or a non- standalone configuration. In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c without also accessing other RANs (e.g., such as eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c). In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may utilize one or more of gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c as a mobility anchor point. In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using signals in an unlicensed band. In a non- standalone configuration WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with / connect to gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c while also communicating with / connecting to another RAN such as eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c. For example, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement DC principles to communicate with one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c and one or more eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c substantiallysimultaneously. In the non- standalone configuration, eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may serve as a mobility anchor for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may provide additional coverage and / or throughput for servicing WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c.

[0063] Each of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, scheduling of users in the UL and / or DL, support of network slicing, dual connectivity, interworking between NR and E-UTRA, routing of user plane data towards user plane functions (UPFs) 184a, 184b, routing of control plane information towards access and mobility management functions (AMFs) 182a, 182b, and the like. As shown in FIG. ID, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may communicate with one another over an Xn interface.

[0064] The CN 115 shown in FIG. ID may include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a, 184b, at least one session management function (SMF) 183a, 183b, and at least one Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b. While each of the foregoing elements are depicted as part of the CN 115, it will be appreciated that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0065] The AMF 182a, 182b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N2 interface and may serve as a control node. For example, the AMF 182a, 182b may be responsible for authenticating users of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, support for network slicing (e.g., handling of different protocol data unit (PDU) sessions with different requirements), selecting a particular SMF 183a, 183b, management of the registration area, termination of NAS signaling, mobility management, and the like. Network slicing may be used by the AMF 182a, 182b, e.g., to customize CN support for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c based on the types of services being utilized WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. For example, different network slices may be established for different use cases such as services relying on ultra-reliable low latency (URLLC) access, services relying on enhanced massive mobile broadband (eMBB) access, services for MTC access, and / or the like. The AMF 162 may provide a control plane function for switching between the RAN 113 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, and / or non-3GPP access technologies such as WiFi.

[0066] The SMF 183a, 183b may be connected to an AMF 182a, 182b in the CN 115 via an N11 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may also be connected to a UPF 184a, 184b in the CN 115 via an N4 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may select and control the UPF 184a, 184b and configure the routing of traffic through the UPF 184a, 184b. The SMF 183a, 183b may perform other functions, such as managing and allocating UE IP address, managing PDU sessions, controlling policyenforcement and QoS, providing downlink data notifications, and the like. A PDU session type may be IP -based, non-IP based, Ethernet-based, and the like.

[0067] The UPF 184a, 184b may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in the RAN 113 via an N3 interface, which may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, e.g., to facilitate communications between the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices. The UPF 184, 184b may perform other functions, such as routing and forwarding packets, enforcing user plane policies, supporting multihomed PDU sessions, handling user plane QoS, buffering downlink packets, providing mobility anchoring, and the like.

[0068] The CN 115 may facilitate communications with other networks. For example, the CN 115 may include, or may communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between the CN 115 and the PSTN 108. In addition, the CN 115 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks that are owned and / or operated by other service providers. In an embodiment, the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be connected to a local Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b through the UPF 184a, 184b via the N3 interface to the UPF 184a, 184b and an N6 interface between the UPF 184a, 184b and the DN 185a, 185b.

[0069] In view of FIGs. 1 A-1D, and the corresponding description of FIGs. 1 A-1D, one or more, or all, of the functions described herein with regard to any of: WTRUs 102a-d, base stations 114a- b, eNode-Bs 160a-c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNBs 180a-c, AMFs 182a-b, UPFs 184a- b, SMFs 183a-b, DNs 185a-b, and / or any other element(s) / device(s) described herein, may be performed by one or more emulation elements / devices (not shown). The emulation devices may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more, or all, of the functions described herein. For example, the emulation devices may be used to test other devices and / or to simulate network and / or WTRU functions.

[0070] The emulation devices may be designed to implement one or more tests of other devices in a lab environment and / or in an operator network environment. For example, the one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, or all, functions while being fully or partially implemented and / or deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network in order to test other devices within the communication network. The one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, or all, functions while being temporarily implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. The emulation device may be directly coupled to another device for purposes of testing and / or may performing testing using over-the-air wireless communications.

[0071] The one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, including all, functions while not being implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. For example, the emulation devices may be utilized in a testing scenario in a testing laboratory and / or a non-deployed (e.g., testing) wired and / or wireless communication network in order to implement testing of one or more components. The one or more emulation devices may be test equipment. Direct RF coupling and / or wireless communications via RF circuitry (e.g., which may include one or more antennas) may be used by the emulation devices to transmit and / or receive data.

[0072] In this disclosure, the term RAN node may apply to a base station or a network node that controls multiple base stations. The terms RAN node, NG-RAN, and NG-RAN node are interchangeable. It should be understood that the concepts in this paper that apply to a RAN node can apply to other nodes that interface to access networks such as a non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF) or a trusted non-3GPP gateway function (TNGF).

[0073] N6 refers to the UPF interface that is used to send and receive PDUs. For example, the PDUs may be sent to application server and received from application servers. The PDUs may be IP or ethernet format. In this disclosure, an N6 traffic flow may be a series of PDUs that match the same PDR or SDF.

[0074] Packet detection rules (PDR) are described in system architecture for the 5G system. PDRs may contain information used (e.g., required) to classify an uplink or downlink packet, for example, arriving at the UPF. The information that may be used to detect a packet may include any of (1) a source interface, (2) WTRU (e.g., UE) (3) IP address, (4) network instance, (5) core network tunnel information, (6) packet filter set, (7) application identifier, (8) QoS flow identifier, (9) ethernet PDU Session information, (10) framed route information, (11) fully qualified domain name (FQDN) filter for DNS query, or (12) protocol description. The application identifier in a PDR may identify a packet flow description (PFD). A PDR may also include what QoS enforcement rules should be applied to the detected traffic.

[0075] QoS enforcement rules (QER) are described, for example in TS 23.501, System architecture for the 5G System (5GS). QERs may include a QoS flow ID that should be applied to the associated traffic and may indicate if the UPF should insert PDU set Information related to downlink packets into a general packet radio system (GPRS) tunnel protocol user (GTP-U) header.

[0076] In order to allow for PDU sets from different flows to be multiplexed onto the same QoS flow, the following disclosure explains how an SMF can configure the UPF to detect that PDU sets are associated with different flows and provide information to the RAN node so that the RANnode can differentiate between PDU sets that are part of the same QoS flow but come from different sources or are part of different application flows.

[0077] There is disclosed a method, implemented by a network node for differentiating PDU sets belonging to multiple apps in one QoS flow.

[0078] According to certain embodiments, a first network node (e.g., a user plane function (UPF)) may receive a packet detection rule (PDR) from a second network node (e.g., a session management function (SMF). The PDR may include criteria for identifying that a PDU of a PDU set is associated with a PDU set flow ID.

[0079] According to certain embodiments, the first network node may receive a PDU of a PDU set.

[0080] According to certain embodiments, the first network node may use the criteria to determine that the PDU is associated with the PDU set flow ID.

[0081] According to certain embodiments, the first network node may send the PDU and PDU set flow ID to a third network node (e.g., a next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) node).

[0082] According to certain embodiments, a first network node (e.g., SMF) may receive PCC rules from a PCF. The PCC rules may include an indication that at least 2 serve data flows (SDFs) should be assigned to the same QoS flow and PDU set treatment is enabled for the at least 2 SDFs.

[0083] According to certain embodiments, the first network node may generate PDRs that are enhanced include PDU set flow IDs sends the PDRs to a second network node (e.g., UPF).

[0084] According to certain embodiments, the first network node may generate QoS profiles that are enhanced to include PDU set flow IDs and / or may send the QoS Profiles to a third network node (e.g., RAN node).

[0085] S2-2306753, Study on architecture enhancement for XR and media services phase 2, China Mobile, et al describes an example use case where an application on device, which is tethered to a WTRU (e.g., UE), accesses an extended reality (XR) service. Tethered to the WTRU (e.g., UE) may mean that the device may communicate with the WTRU (e.g., UE) via a connection (e.g., a Bluetooth connection) and / or the WTRU (e.g., UE) may provide the device with access to the 5G system. The application on the device may use the tethered connection to send and receive data via the 5G system. The data may be related to an XR service. Multiple devices may be tethered to the same WTRU (e.g., UE). One or more (e.g., each) application may send and / or receive data that is sent in the form of PDU sets.

[0086] S4-231026, pacer to TS 26.522 on PDU set HE study on architecture enhancement for XR and media services phase 2, Nokia Corporation describes header fields that may be associated with a PDU set. The PDU set sequence number (PSSN) may be defined as a header field that"encodes the sequence number of the PDU set to which the current P DU belongs acting as a 10- bit numerical identifier for the PDU set" .

[0087] An application server and application that is hosted in the WTRU (e.g., UE) can use SDP signaling to negotiate the use of the PDU set markings. Negotiate the use of PDU set markings may mean that the sender application (i.e., an AS or WTRU (e.g., UE) Hosted Application) can indicate to the receiver application (e.g., the other of the AS or WTRU (e.g., UE) Hosted Application) if the sender supports adding PDU set header extensions. This indication can be included / sent in an SDP message.

[0088] A WTRU (e.g., UE) may provide connectivity for multiple XR applications. One or more (e.g., each) XR application may receive streams of data that are part of PDU sets. The applications that use the WTRU (e.g., UE) for connectivity may be hosted in the terminal equipment (TE) part of the WTRU (e.g., UE) or may be hosted devices that are tethered to the WTRU (e.g., UE). For example, when using a VR application, the user may tether a VR headset (USB) and a haptic suite (Bluetooth) to the WTRU (e.g., UE). The tethering scenarios can be generalized as a WTRU (e.g., UE) running multiple applications that support traffic sent in the form of PDU sets.

[0089] When the WTRU (e.g., UE) receives data streams that that are associated with different applications, it may be the case that one or more (e.g., each) data stream contains PDU sets and it may be the case that one or more (e.g., each) data stream has the same QoS requirements. In such a scenario, it may be preferable that the network multiplex one or more (e.g., each) data stream onto the same QoS flow. It may be preferable to multiplex the data streams onto the same QoS flow because the QoS framework of the 5G System was designed such that QoS flows may be intended to carry traffic from SDFs that have similar QoS characteristics. There is an overhead associated with using a higher number of QoS flows. For example, there is overhead associated with QoS monitoring (which is per QoS flow) at the UPF or NG RAN nodes. If a network has multiple QoS flows with the same QoS characteristics, this may lead to unpredictable behavior during handover when the NG RAN needs to determine which QoS flows to accept or reject and this may lead to unpredictable behavior when there are resource limitation and, the NG RAN may determine which QoS flows to reject or pre-empt.

[0090] FIG. 2 illustrates a scenario where a WTRU (e.g., UE) 102 is hosting more than one application 202, 203, receiving downlink data for the hosted applications, and the data that is associated with one or more (e.g., each) application is sent to the WTRU (e.g., UE) 102 in the form of PDU sets sent by the AS 206.

[0091] As shown in FIG. 2, the data for the applications 202, 203 may be multiplexed onto a single QoS flow by the UPF 204 and sent from the UPF to the RAN node 205. As discussed herein,the data from the applications might be multiplexed onto the same QoS flow because the traffic from the applications have the same, or similar, QoS requirements.

[0092] In the current 5G System design, the PDU set sequence number (PSSN) may be used to identify PDU sets. The PSSN may conveying ordering information to the RAN node 205 and this information might be used by the RAN node 205 when making scheduling decisions.

[0093] When a single QoS flow carries PDU sets that are sent to different destination applications, PSSN may not be sufficient for the RAN node 205 to identify the PDU sets because PSSN (e.g., only) identifies the PDU set in the application flow. This may create a situation where more QoS flows may (e.g., will need to) be created for a WTRU (e.g., UE) that receives PDU sets from multiple flows, even if the PDU sets use (e.g., require) the same QoS treatment. The additional QoS flows may introduce additional overhead in the 5G System (e.g., additional monitoring).

[0094] The procedures presented below may enable PDU set flows to be identified within a single QoS flow, allowing to identify PDU sets that are sent to different destinations. PDU set flows described herein correspond to a stream / flow of PDUs or PDU sets within a single QoS flow, which belong to the same application or an application sub-component, i.e., a sub process within the same overall application.

[0095] FIG. 3 shows an example procedure of how the 5G System may be configured to multiplex multiple N6 traffic flows into the same QoS flow when one or more (e.g., each) of the multiple N6 traffic flows carry PDU sets. A principle of the solution may be that the UPF is configured, by the SMF, to add a PDU set flow ID to the GTP Header of messages that carry the PDU sets of one or more (e.g., each) N6 traffic flow to NG RAN. A different PDU set flow ID may be associated with the traffic of one or more (e.g., each) N6 traffic flow so that the RAN may (e.g., accurately) determine which PDU set (and application flow) one or more (e.g., each) PDU is associated with.

[0096] In step 3-1, the AF / AS may invoke an API, for example, of the Nnef AFsessionWithQoS service. The AF / AS may use the API to prove the NEF with flow descriptions and a QoS Reference or QoS Parameters that are to be associated with one or more (e.g., each) flow description. The AF may indicate that multiple flows should be associated with the same QoS Requirements. For example, the AF / AS may provide alternative service requirements for one or more (e.g., each) QoS flow and may indicate that specific flows should (e.g., always) be given the same QoS treatment. The indication may be used by the network to determine that the specific flows should (e.g., all) be mapped to the same QoS flow. The AF / AS may provide PDU set control information in this message to the NEF. This may include PDU set description information (i.e., an indicationthat certain traffic or SDF requires PDU set treatment) and / or PDU set requirements such as PDU set delay budget (PSDB), PDU set error rate (PSER).

[0097] In step 3-2, the NEF may invoke an API, for example, of the Npcf Policy Authorization service, to provide the information that was received from the AF / AS in step 301 to the PCF.

[0098] In step 3-3, the PCF may build PCC rules. The PCC rules may indicate that certain SDFs should be assigned to the same QoS flow. The PCF may determine to include this indication in the PCC rule, for example, based on the fact that specific flows should (e.g., always) be given the same QoS treatment. The PCC rules may also include PDU set control information for one or more (e.g., each) SDF. The PCF may send the PCC rules to the SMF.

[0099] In step 3-4, the SMF may receive the PCC rules and / or may use the PCC rules to build N4 rules and QoS profiles.

[0100] The N4 rules may include PDRs. One or more (e.g., each) PDR may include information that can be used by the UPF to detect that traffic is associated with the PDR. The PDR may indicate if PDU set treatment is used (e.g., required) for the traffic and may indicate QoS flow ID that the traffic may be assigned to.

[0101] The PDR may include a PDU set flow ID. The PDU set flow ID may be an identifier that is associated with all PDU sets are associated with the PDR. The PDU set flow ID may be associated with any traffic that the UPF determines matches the PDR. The SMF may determine to include the PDU set flow ID in the PDR when more than one PDR is associated with PDU set treatment and / or associated with the same QoS flow ID.

[0102] The PDU set flow ID value may be unique within a PDU session or within an application (i.e., unique among all WTRUs associated with the same application).

[0103] If for example the application traffic related to e.g., Appl that carries PDU set is no longer exchanged between the WTRU (e.g., UE) hosted application and the AS, this may lead to the PDR for that traffic to be deactivated / removed. The SMF may determine not to include the PDU set flow ID in the PDR anymore, since now only one PDR associated with the PDU set treatment for this QoS flow ID is active. This may mean that the UPF no longer (e.g., needs to) include the PDU set flow ID in the GTP messages to the RAN, if only one relevant PDR is active.

[0104] The QoS Profiles may include the PDU set flow IDs that are associated with the QoS flow.

[0105] In step 3-5, the SMF may send the QoS Profiles, which may include the PDU set flow IDs, to the RAN node. The RAN node may use the PDU set flow IDs in the QoS Profiles to determine that multiple flows of PDU sets will be received from the UPF.

[0106] In step 3-6, the SMF may send the N4 rules, which include the PDU set flow IDs, to the UPF.

[0107] In step 3-7, the UPF may receive a first PDU from a first AS. The PDU may be received on the UPF's N6 interface. The first PDU may be an IP or an ethernet packet. The UPF may determine that the first packet is associated with (i.e., matches) a first PDR that was received from the SMF. The UPF may send the packet in a GTP Message to the RAN node. The GTP Message may include the packet, a PSSN, a first QoS flow ID, and a first PDU set flow ID. The first QoS flow ID and a first PDU set flow ID which may be associated with the first PDR. The first PSSN may have been received in the first PDU.

[0108] In step 3-8, the UPF may receive a second PDU from a second AS. The PDU may be received on the UPF's N6 interface. The second PDU may be an IP or an ethernet packet. The UPF may determine that the second packet is associated with (i.e., matches) a second PDR that was received from the SMF. The UPF may send the packet in a GTP Message to the RAN node. The GTP Message may include the packet, a PSSN, a second QoS flow ID, and a second PDU set flow ID. The second QoS flow ID and a second PDU set flow ID which may be associated with the second PDR. The second PSSN may have been received in the second PDU.

[0109] In the procedure of FIG. 3, the first AS and second AS may be the same AS.

[0110] In the procedure of FIG. 3, the first PDR and second PDR may have included the same QoS flow ID. The first QoS flow ID and second QoS flow ID may be equal. In the case where the first QoS flow ID and second QoS flow ID are equal, the RAN node may be able to use the PSSN and PDU set flow ID from one or more (e.g., each) GTP message to detect what PDU set one or more (e.g., each) PDU is associated with. If the PDU set flow ID was not provided to the RAN node, the RAN node would not be able to use only the PSSN to detect what PDU set one or more (e.g., each) PDU is associated with. For example, PSSN would not be sufficient in this scenario because PDU sets may come from different application servers and may be assigned the same PSSN.

[0111] With knowledge of the PSSN and / or PDU set flow ID, the RAN node may map the PDUs and / or PDU sets from different applications to different QoS flows and / or different radio bearers (e.g., service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) mapping of PDUs / PDU sets from different QoS flows to different data radio bearers) to provide differentiated treatment for PDUs / PDU sets from different applications.

[0112] The RAN node (e.g., SDAP layer in the gNB) may transmit to the lower RAN layers (e.g., packet data convergence protocol (PDCP)) information on the PSSN and / or PDU set flow ID, enabling the lower layer to apply different treatment to PDUs / PDU sets originating from differentapplication or similar treatment to PDUs / PDU sets originating from the same application. For example, the PDCP may apply the same discard rule to all PDU sets for one application in the presence of the PDU set integrated handling indication (PSIHI) marking in the PDU set such that delay / failure to receive one PDU of the PDU set may result in the PDCP discarding the remaining PDUs of the PDU set due to the inability of the application to reconstruct the PDU set. Another application may still be able to reconstruct the PDU set following loss / delay of a PDU of the PDU set such that the aforementioned collective mechanism need may not apply to the other application. As such, knowledge of the application and / or PSSN and / or PDU set flow ID may be useful to enable the RAN (e.g., PDCP layer in the RAN) to apply differentiated treatment.

[0113] Information may also be transmitted to the WTRU (e.g., UE) (e.g., RAN layers in the WTRU (e.g., UE)) to allow the WTRU (e.g., UE) to apply differentiated treatment. Such information may include PSSN and / or PDU set flow ID and may be transmitted to the WTRU (e.g., UE) from the CN (e.g., via NAS signaling).

[0114] In the procedure above, it is explained that the SMF may determine to include the PDU set flow ID in the PDR when more than one PDR is associated with PDU set treatment and associated with the same QoS flow ID. The SMF may send the UPF a single PDR and / or the single PDR may include more than one set of packet detection information (PDI) (e.g. more than one set of Packet Filters). The format of PDR may be enhanced to allow the SMF to indicate a PDU set flow ID that is associated with one or more (e.g., each) set of PDI. The SMF may instruct the UPF how to map more than one application flow to the same QoS flow and / or how to associate a different PDU set flow ID with one or more (e.g., each) application flow. Considering the scenario where multiple PDI are used, the application traffic related to e.g., Appl (as described above) that carries PDU set may no longer be exchanged between the WTRU (e.g., UE) hosted application and the AS. In that case, the SMF may update the UPF for the related PDI and associated PDU set flow ID in the PDR associated with that traffic (e.g., deactivated / removed). In general, the SMF may update the UPF with relevant PDI and associated PDU set flow ID (e.g., add or remove from / to PDR) based on application traffic for that PDU Session, so that the UPF can include the relevant PDU set flow ID in the GTP messages to the RAN.

[0115] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a representative method 400 implemented by a first network node. Referring to FIG. 4, the representative method 400 may include, at block 410, receiving from a second network node, first information indicating criteria for identifying that a PDU of a PDU set is associated with a PDU set flow ID. At block 420, the representative method 400 may include receiving a PDU of a PDU set. At block 430, the representative method 400 may include determining that the received PDU is associated with the PDU set flow ID based on thecriteria. At block 440, the representative method 400 may include sending the received PDU and second information indicating the PDU set flow ID to a third network node.

[0116] According to certain embodiments, the PDU set flow ID value may be unique within a PDU session or an application.

[0117] According to certain embodiments, the first network node may comprise a user plane function, the second network node may comprise a session management function, and / or the third network node is a radio access network node.

[0118] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a representative method 500 implemented by a first network node. Referring to FIG. 5, the representative method 500 may include, at block 510, receiving from a second network node, information indicating at least two service data flows (SDFs) are (or may be) assigned to the same quality of service (QoS) flow and that a PDU set treatment is enabled for the at least 2 SDFs. At block 520, the representative method 500 may include generating packet detection rules (PDRs) comprising PDU set flow IDs based on the information. At block 530, the representative method 500 may include sending the PDRs to a second network node.

[0119] According to certain embodiments, the representative method 500 may further comprise: generating QoS Profiles comprising PDU set flow IDs; and sending the QoS Profiles to a third network node.

[0120] According to certain embodiments, the first network node may comprise a session management function, the second network node may comprise a user plane function, and / or the third network node may be a radio access network node.

[0121] FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a representative method 600 implemented by a first network node. Referring to FIG. 6, the representative method 600 may include, at block 610, receiving, via a first service data flow, a first PDU of a first PDU set. At block 620, the representative method 600 may include receiving, via a second service data flow, a second PDU of a second PDU set. At block 630, the representative method 600 may include determining that the first PDU is associated with a first PDR, wherein the PDR comprises first information indicating a first PDU set flow identifier and a QoS flow identifier, and wherein a PDU set flow identifier indicates one or more PDU sets associated with a PDR. At block 640, the representative method 600 may include determining that the second PDU is associated with a second PDR, wherein the second PDR comprises second information indicating a second PDU set flow identifier and the QoS flow identifier. At block 650, the representative method 600 may include generating a first packet comprising the first PDU and third information indicating the first PDU set flow identifier. At block 660, the representative method 600 may include generating asecond packet comprising the second PDU and fourth information indicating the second PDU set flow identifier. At block 670, the representative method 600 may include sending, to a second network node, via a QoS flow associated with the QoS flow identifier, the first packet and the second packet.

[0122] According to certain embodiments, the representative method 600 may further comprise: receiving, from a third network node, fifth information indicating the first PDR and / or the second PDR.

[0123] According to certain embodiments, the third information may indicate a first PDU set sequence number associated with the first PDU set, and / or the fourth information may indicate a second PDU set sequence number associated with the second PDU set.

[0124] According to certain embodiments, the third information may indicate the QoS flow identifier.

[0125] According to certain embodiments, the first PDU set flow identifier may be unique within a PDU session.

[0126] According to certain embodiments, the first network node may comprise a user plane function, the second network node may comprise a radio access network function, and / or the third network node may comprise a session management function.

[0127] FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a representative method 700 implemented by a first network node. Referring to FIG. 7, the representative method 700 may include, at block 710, receiving from a second network node, configuration information indicating that a first SDF) and a second service SDF are assigned to a same QoS flow, and that a PDU set treatment is enabled for the first SDF and the second SDF. At block 720, the representative method 700 may include generating a first PDR, comprising first information indicating a first PDU set flow identifier, wherein a PDU set flow identifier indicates one or more PDU sets associated with a PDR. At block 730, the representative method 700 may include generating a second PDR, comprising second information indicating a second PDU set flow identifier. At block 740, the representative method 700 may include sending, to a third network node, third information comprising the first PDR and the second PDR.

[0128] According to certain embodiments, the first PDU set flow identifier may be unique within a PDU session.

[0129] According to certain embodiments, the representative method 700 may further comprise generating a QoS profile associated with the QoS flow, wherein the QoS profile may comprise fourth information indicating the first PDU set flow identifier and the second PDU set flow identifier; and / or sending, to a fourth network node, the QoS profile.

[0130] According to certain embodiments, the first network node may comprise a session management function, the third network node may comprise a user plane function, and / or the fourth network node may comprise a radio access network function.

[0131] Although features and elements are provided above in particular combinations, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that each feature or element can be used alone or in any combination with the other features and elements. The present disclosure is not to be limited in terms of the particular embodiments described in this application, which are intended as illustrations of various aspects. Many modifications and variations may be made without departing from its spirit and scope, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. No element, act, or instruction used in the description of the present application should be construed as critical or essential to the invention unless explicitly provided as such. Functionally equivalent methods and apparatuses within the scope of the disclosure, in addition to those enumerated herein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing descriptions. Such modifications and variations are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims. The present disclosure is to be limited only by the terms of the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to particular methods or systems.

[0132] The foregoing embodiments are discussed, for simplicity, with regard to the terminology and structure of infrared capable devices, i.e., infrared emitters and receivers. However, the embodiments discussed are not limited to these systems but may be applied to other systems that use other forms of electromagnetic waves or non-electromagnetic waves such as acoustic waves.

[0133] It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the term "video" or the term "imagery" may mean any of a snapshot, single image and / or multiple images displayed over a time basis. As another example, when referred to herein, the terms "user equipment" and its abbreviation "UE", the term "remote" and / or the terms "head mounted display" or its abbreviation "HMD" may mean or include (i) a wireless transmit and / or receive unit (WTRU); (ii) any of a number of embodiments of a WTRU; (iii) a wireless-capable and / or wired-capable (e.g., tetherable) device configured with, inter alia, some or all structures and functionality of a WTRU; (iii) a wireless-capable and / or wired-capable device configured with less than all structures and functionality of a WTRU; or (iv) the like. Details of an example WTRU, which may be representative of any WTRU recited herein, are provided herein with respect to FIGs. 1 A-1D. As another example, various disclosed embodiments herein supra and infra are described as utilizing a head mounted display. Those skilled in the art will recognize that a device other than the headmounted display may be utilized and some or all of the disclosure and various disclosed embodiments can be modified accordingly without undue experimentation. Examples of such other device may include a drone or other device configured to stream information for providing the adapted reality experience.

[0134] In addition, the methods provided herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of computer-readable media include electronic signals (transmitted over wired or wireless connections) and computer-readable storage media. Examples of computer- readable storage media include, but are not limited to, a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a register, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical media, and optical media such as CD-ROM disks, and digital versatile disks (DVDs). A processor in association with software may be used to implement a radio frequency transceiver for use in a WTRU, UE, terminal, base station, RNC, or any host computer.

[0135] Variations of the method, apparatus and system provided above are possible without departing from the scope of the invention. In view of the wide variety of embodiments that can be applied, it should be understood that the illustrated embodiments are examples only, and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the following claims. For instance, the embodiments provided herein include handheld devices, which may include or be utilized with any appropriate voltage source, such as a battery and the like, providing any appropriate voltage.

[0136] Moreover, in the embodiments provided above, processing platforms, computing systems, controllers, and other devices that include processors are noted. These devices may include at least one Central Processing Unit ("CPU") and memory. In accordance with the practices of persons skilled in the art of computer programming, reference to acts and symbolic representations of operations or instructions may be performed by the various CPUs and memories. Such acts and operations or instructions may be referred to as being "executed," "computer executed" or "CPU executed."

[0137] One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the acts and symbolically represented operations or instructions include the manipulation of electrical signals by the CPU. An electrical system represents data bits that can cause a resulting transformation or reduction of the electrical signals and the maintenance of data bits at memory locations in a memory system to thereby reconfigure or otherwise alter the CPU's operation, as well as other processing of signals. The memory locations where data bits are maintained are physical locations that have particular electrical, magnetic, optical, or organic properties corresponding to or representative of the databits. It should be understood that the embodiments are not limited to the above-mentioned platforms or CPUs and that other platforms and CPUs may support the provided methods.

[0138] The data bits may also be maintained on a computer readable medium including magnetic disks, optical disks, and any other volatile (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM)) or non-volatile (e.g., Read-Only Memory (ROM)) mass storage system readable by the CPU. The computer readable medium may include cooperating or interconnected computer readable medium, which exist exclusively on the processing system or are distributed among multiple interconnected processing systems that may be local or remote to the processing system. It should be understood that the embodiments are not limited to the above-mentioned memories and that other platforms and memories may support the provided methods.

[0139] In an illustrative embodiment, any of the operations, processes, etc. described herein may be implemented as computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable instructions may be executed by a processor of a mobile unit, a network element, and / or any other computing device.

[0140] There is little distinction left between hardware and software implementations of aspects of systems. The use of hardware or software is generally (but not always, in that in certain contexts the choice between hardware and software may become significant) a design choice representing cost versus efficiency tradeoffs. There may be various vehicles by which processes and / or systems and / or other technologies described herein may be effected (e.g., hardware, software, and / or firmware), and the preferred vehicle may vary with the context in which the processes and / or systems and / or other technologies are deployed. For example, if an implementer determines that speed and accuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardware and / or firmware vehicle. If flexibility is paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly software implementation. Alternatively, the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0141] The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments of the devices and / or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts, and / or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and / or examples include one or more functions and / or operations, it will be understood by those within the art that each function and / or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples may be implemented, individually and / or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In an embodiment, several portions of the subject matter described herein may be implemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), and / or other integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that someaspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, in whole or in part, may be equivalently implemented in integrated circuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors), as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designing the circuitry and / or writing the code for the software and or firmware would be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light of this disclosure. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein may be distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter described herein applies regardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signal bearing medium include, but are not limited to, the following: a recordable type medium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a CD, a DVD, a digital tape, a computer memory, etc., and a transmission type medium such as a digital and / or an analog communication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wired communications link, a wireless communication link, etc.).

[0142] Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the art to describe devices and / or processes in the fashion set forth herein, and thereafter use engineering practices to integrate such described devices and / or processes into data processing systems. That is, at least a portion of the devices and / or processes described herein may be integrated into a data processing system via a reasonable amount of experimentation. Those having skill in the art will recognize that a typical data processing system may generally include one or more of a system unit housing, a video display device, a memory such as volatile and non-volatile memory, processors such as microprocessors and digital signal processors, computational entities such as operating systems, drivers, graphical user interfaces, and applications programs, one or more interaction devices, such as a touch pad or screen, and / or control systems including feedback loops and control motors (e.g., feedback for sensing position and / or velocity, control motors for moving and / or adjusting components and / or quantities). A typical data processing system may be implemented utilizing any suitable commercially available components, such as those typically found in data computing / communication and / or network computing / communication systems.

[0143] The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates different components included within, or connected with, different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely examples, and that in fact many other architectures may be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively "associated" such that the desired functionality maybe achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality may be seen as "associated with" each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated may also be viewed as being "operably connected", or "operably coupled", to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated may also be viewed as being "operably couplable" to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and / or physically interacting components and / or wirelessly interactable and / or wirelessly interacting components and / or logically interacting and / or logically interactable components.

[0144] With respect to the use of substantially any plural and / or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and / or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and / or application. The various singular / plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

[0145] It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as "open" terms (e.g., the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," the term "includes" should be interpreted as "includes but is not limited to," etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, where only one item is intended, the term "single" or similar language may be used. As an aid to understanding, the following appended claims and / or the descriptions herein may include usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any particular claim including such introduced claim recitation to embodiments including only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an" (e.g., "a" and / or "an" should be interpreted to mean "at least one" or "one or more"). The same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of "two recitations," without other modifiers, means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, and C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one havingskill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, and C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and / or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, or C, etc." is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, or C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and / or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and / or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase "A or B" will be understood to include the possibilities of "A" or "B" or "A and B." Further, the terms "any of' followed by a listing of a plurality of items and / or a plurality of categories of items, as used herein, are intended to include "any of," "any combination of," "any multiple of," and / or "any combination of multiples of the items and / or the categories of items, individually or in conjunction with other items and / or other categories of items. Moreover, as used herein, the term "set" is intended to include any number of items, including zero. Additionally, as used herein, the term "number" is intended to include any number, including zero. And the term "multiple", as used herein, is intended to be synonymous with "a plurality".

[0146] In addition, where features or aspects of the disclosure are described in terms of Markush groups, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure is also thereby described in terms of any individual member or subgroup of members of the Markush group.

[0147] As will be understood by one skilled in the art, for any and all purposes, such as in terms of providing a written description, all ranges disclosed herein also encompass any and all possible subranges and combinations of subranges thereof. Any listed range can be easily recognized as sufficiently describing and enabling the same range being broken down into at least equal halves, thirds, quarters, fifths, tenths, etc. As a non-limiting example, each range discussed herein may be readily broken down into a lower third, middle third and upper third, etc. As will also be understood by one skilled in the art all language such as "up to," "at least," "greater than," "less than," and the like includes the number recited and refers to ranges which can be subsequently broken down into subranges as discussed above. Finally, as will be understood by one skilled in the art, a range includes each individual member. Thus, for example, a group having 1-3 cells refers to groups having 1, 2, or 3 cells. Similarly, a group having 1-5 cells refers to groups having 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 cells, and so forth.

[0148] Moreover, the claims should not be read as limited to the provided order or elements unless stated to that effect. In addition, use of the terms "means for" in any claim is intended to invoke 35 U.S.C. §112, 6 or means-plus-function claim format, and any claim without the terms "means for" is not so intended.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A method implemented by a first network node, the method comprising: receiving, via a first service data flow, a first packet data unit (PDU) of a first PDU set; receiving, via a second service data flow, a second PDU of a second PDU set; determining that the first PDU is associated with a first packet detection rule (PDR), wherein the PDR comprises first information indicating a first PDU set flow identifier and a quality of service (QoS) flow identifier, and wherein a PDU set flow identifier indicates one or more PDU sets associated with a PDR; determining that the second PDU is associated with a second PDR, wherein the second PDR comprises second information indicating a second PDU set flow identifier and the QoS flow identifier; generating a first packet comprising the first PDU and third information indicating the first PDU set flow identifier; generating a second packet comprising the second PDU and fourth information indicating the second PDU set flow identifier; and sending, to a second network node, via a QoS flow associated with the QoS flow identifier, the first packet and the second packet.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from a third network node, fifth information indicating the first PDR and / or the second PDR.

3. The method according to any of claims 1-2, wherein the third information indicates a first PDU set sequence number associated with the first PDU set, and / or wherein the fourth information indicates a second PDU set sequence number associated with the second PDU set.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the third information indicates the QoS flow identifier.

5. The method according to any of claims 1-4, wherein the first PDU set flow identifier is unique within a PDU session.

6. The method according to any of claims 2-5, wherein the first network node comprises a user plane function, the second network node comprises a radio access network function, and / or the third network node comprises a session management function.

7. A method implemented by a first network node, the method comprising: receiving from a second network node, configuration information indicating that a first service data flow (SDF) and a second service SDF are assigned to a same quality of service (QoS) flow, and that a PDU set treatment is enabled for the first SDF and the second SDF; generating a first packet detection rule (PDR), comprising first information indicating a first PDU set flow identifier, wherein a PDU set flow identifier indicates one or more PDU sets associated with a PDR; generating a second PDR, comprising second information indicating a second PDU set flow identifier; and sending, to a third network node, third information comprising the first PDR and the second PDR.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the first PDU set flow identifier is unique within a PDU session.

9. The method according to any of claims 7-8, further comprising: generating a QoS profile associated with the QoS flow, wherein the QoS profile comprise fourth information indicating the first PDU set flow identifier and the second PDU set flow identifier; and sending, to a fourth network node, the QoS profile.

10. The method according to any of claims 7-9, wherein the first network node comprises a session management function, the third network node comprises a user plane function, and / or the fourth network node comprises a radio access network function.

11. A first network node comprising circuitry, including a transmitter, a receiver, a processor and memory, the first network node configured to: receive, via a first service data flow, a first packet data unit (PDU) of a first PDU set; receive, via a second service data flow, a second PDU of a second PDU set; determine that the first PDU is associated with a first packet detection rule (PDR), wherein the PDR comprises first information indicating a first PDU set flow identifier and a quality of service (QoS) flow identifier, and wherein a PDU set flow identifier indicates one or more PDU sets associated with a PDR; determine that the second PDU is associated with a second PDR, wherein the second PDR comprises second information indicating a second PDU set flow identifier and the QoS flow identifier;generate a first packet comprising the first PDU and third information indicating the first PDU set flow identifier; generate a second packet comprising the second PDU and fourth information indicating the second PDU set flow identifier; and send, to a second network node, via a QoS flow associated with the QoS flow identifier, the first packet and the second packet.

12. The first network node according to claim 11, further configured to: receive, from a third network node, fifth information indicating the first PDR and / or the second PDR.

13. The first network node according to any of claims 11-12, wherein the third information indicates a first PDU set sequence number associated with the first PDU set, and / or wherein the fourth information indicates a second PDU set sequence number associated with the second PDU set.

14. The first network node according to claim 13, wherein the third information indicates the QoS flow identifier.

15. The first network node according to any of claims 11-14, wherein the first PDU set flow identifier is unique within a PDU session.

16. The first network node according to any of claims 12-15, wherein the first network node comprises a user plane function, the second network node comprises a radio access network function, and / or the third network node comprises a session management function.

17. A first network node comprising circuitry, including a transmitter, a receiver, a processor and memory, the first network node configured to: receive from a second network node, configuration information indicating that a first service data flow (SDF) and a second service SDF are assigned to a same quality of service (QoS) flow, and that a PDU set treatment is enabled for the first SDF and the second SDF; generate a first packet detection rule (PDR), comprising first information indicating a first PDU set flow identifier, wherein a PDU set flow identifier indicates one or more PDU sets associated with a PDR; generate a second PDR, comprising second information indicating a second PDU set flow identifier; and send, to a third network node, third information comprising the first PDR and the secondPDR.

18. The first network node according to claim 17, wherein the first PDU set flow identifier is unique within a PDU session.

19. The first network node according to any of claims 17-18, further configured to: generate a QoS profile associated with the QoS flow, wherein the QoS profile comprise fourth information indicating the first PDU set flow identifier and the second PDU set flow identifier; and send, to a fourth network node, the QoS profile.

20. The first network node according to any of claims 17-19, wherein the first network node comprises a session management function, the third network node comprises a user plane function, and / or the fourth network node comprises a radio access network function.

Images