The first network node and the method implemented by the first network node to assign Distinguished Service Point Code (DSCP) values ​​using Protocol Data Unit (PDU) information.

Abstract

The invention proposes processes, methods, architectures, systems, and devices, aimed at a network node that can be configured to receive from a second network node configuration information indicating a set of rules for assigning a Distinct Service Point Code (DSCP) value; to receive a first Protocol Data Unit (PDU) associated with the first PDU set and a second PDU associated with the second PDU set, where the first and second PDU sets are associated with the same Quality of Service (QOS) stream; to determine the first and second DSCP values, where the first and second DSCP values ​​are different; and to create a packet consisting of the first PDU and the first DSCP value, and a packet consisting of the second PDU and the second DSCP value.

Description

METHODS, ARCHITECTURES, APPARATUSES AND SYSTEMS FOR USING PROTOCOL DATA UNIT (PDU) SET INFORMATION IN TRANSPORT NETWORKCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 541,014 filed September 28, 2023, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.TECHNICAL FIELD

[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 PDU set information in transport network, for example to methods, apparatus, and systems for providing differentiated service to PDU sets which are transported over 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 illustrates an example of transport networks in 5G system;

[0009] FIG. 3 depicts an example of a user plane protocol stack;

[0010] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of uplink and downlink user plane entities;

[0011] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of user plane processing with PDU set based differentiated services codepoint (DSCP) marking;

[0012] FIG. 6 depicts a method for providing differentiated service to PDU sets which are transported over the same QoS flow; and

[0013] FIG. 7 depicts another method for providing differentiated service to PDU sets which are transported over the same 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] Example Communications System

[0016] 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.

[0017] 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.

[0018] 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 mobile subscriber 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 WTRU (e.g., UE).

[0019] 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.

[0020] 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 anembodiment, 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.

[0021] 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).

[0022] 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).

[0023] 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).

[0024] 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).

[0025] 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).

[0026] 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), InterimStandard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), and the like.

[0027] 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 an embodiment, 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.

[0028] 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.

[0029] 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.

[0030] 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 include multiple 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.

[0031] 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.

[0032] 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.

[0033] 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 bothRF 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.

[0034] 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 two or more transmit / receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving wireless signals over the air interface 116.

[0035] 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.

[0036] 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).

[0037] 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.

[0038] 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 receivedfrom 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.

[0039] 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.

[0040] 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)).

[0041] 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.

[0042] 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, forexample, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a.

[0043] 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, handover decisions, 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.

[0044] 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.

[0045] 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.

[0046] 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.

[0047] 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.

[0048] 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.

[0049] 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.

[0050] In representative embodiments, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0051] 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.

[0052] 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.

[0053] 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.

[0054] 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 combiningcontiguous 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 fourier transform (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.

[0055] 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 in 802. l ln, and 802.11ac. 802.11af 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).

[0056] WLAN systems, which may support multiple channels, and channel bandwidths, such as 802. l ln, 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.

[0057] 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 923.5MHz. In Japan, the available frequency bands are from 916.5 MHz to 927.5 MHz. The total bandwidth available for 802.11 ah is 6 MHz to 26 MHz depending on the country code.

[0058] 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 communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. The RAN 113 may also be in communication with the CN 115.

[0059] 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).

[0060] 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).

[0061] 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- standaloneconfiguration 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 substantially simultaneously. 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.

[0062] 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.

[0063] 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.

[0064] 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.

[0065] 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 WTRU (e.g., UE) IP address, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement 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.

[0066] 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.

[0067] 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.

[0068] 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.

[0069] 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 orderto 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.

[0070] 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.

[0071] Provided below are acronyms / abbreviations for terms and phrases commonly used in this application:

[0072] 5 QI 5G QoS Identifier

[0073] AF Assured Forwarding

[0074] ARP Allocation and Retention Priority

[0075] BP Branching Point

[0076] CL Classifier

[0077] CU Central Unit

[0078] DF Default Forwarding

[0079] DL DownLink

[0080] DSCP Differentiated Services CodePoint

[0081] DU Distributed Unit

[0082] EDB End of Data Burst

[0083] EF Expedited Forwarding

[0084] GTP GPRS Tunnelling Protocol

[0085] GTP-U GTP-User Plane

[0086] IP Internet Protocol

[0087] I-UPF Intermediate UPF

[0088] MA PDU Multi-Access PDU

[0089] NG Next Generation

[0090] PDU Protocol Data Unit

[0091] PHB Per Hob Behaviour

[0092] PSA UPF PDU Session Anchor UPF

[0093] PSDB PDU Set Delay Budget

[0094] PSER PDU Set Error Rate

[0095] PSI PDU Set Importance

[0096] PSIHI PDU Set Integrated Handling Information

[0097] PSN PDU Sequence Number

[0098] PSSN PDU Set Sequence Number

[0099] PSSize PDU Set Size

[0100] QoS Quality of Service

[0101] RAN Radio Access Network

[0102] RFC Request For Comment

[0103] RTCP Real-Time Transport Control Protocol or RTP Control Protocol

[0104] RTP Real-Time Transport Protocol

[0105] SA PDU Single Access PDU

[0106] SDF Service Data Flow

[0107] SDP Session Description Protocol

[0108] SMF Session Management Function

[0109] ssc Session and Service Continuity

[0110] UDP User Datagram Protocol[oni] UPF User Plane Function

[0112] XRM extended Reality Media

[0113] In the following the terms "Application Server" and "Application Function" are used interchangeably

[0114] In the following, the "PDU set based DSCP rules" refer to a set of rules that map DSCP values to specific selection criteria. This may also be referred to as the PDU set DSCP mapping rules.

[0115] In the following, the terms "DSCP, "DSCP marking" or "DSCP value" may be used to designate any GTP-U PDU marking which may be a DSCP marking, an IP flow label marking, another type of PDU marking or a combination of PDU markings.

[0116] In the following, the terms "PDU set based DSCP marking" and "PDU set based transport level marking" are used interchangeably.

[0117] In a 5G system, a transport network is used to transport PDUs between user plane entities - namely between the UPFs and between a UPF and NG-RAN. FIG. 2, shows the transportnetwork between two UPFs, over an N9 interface, as well as a transport network between a UPF and the NG-RAN node, over an N3 interface. FIG. 2 also shows the protocol stack at the user plane entities.

[0118] FIG. 3 shows how a DL IP packet is processed at the user plane entities. Between the UPF and the NG RAN node, the GTP-U PDU has an inner IP header, for the IP packet arriving over the N6 interface, as well as an outer IP header, added by the UPF.

[0119] The nodes in the transport network are receiving DL PDUs from different QoS flows coming from multiple UPFs. These nodes may use (e.g., need) some rules to forward traffic in case of congestion (or possibly other reasons). As a result, the transport network should be able to provide some traffic management. The mechanism used in the 5G system to provide this traffic management may be DiffServ, which is a coarse-grained, class-based mechanism for traffic management.

[0120] In DiffServ, PDUs are classified into coarse-grained classes. These classes are also referred to as Differentiated Service Code Points (DSCPs). The per hop behavior within the transport network may be determined by the class, with each (e.g., one or more) class receiving slightly different treatment by the transport network nodes. The class or DSCP may be provided in a 6-bit field in the IP packet header. As a result, a transport network could have up to 64 different traffic classes using the 64 available DSCP values. The DiffServ RFCs recommend, but do not require, certain encodings. This gives a network operator great flexibility in defining traffic classes. In practice, however, most networks may use any of the following commonly defined perhop behaviors: (1) default forwarding (DF) PHB (e.g., which may be typically best-effort traffic); (2) expedited forwarding (EF) PHB (e.g., dedicated to low-loss, low-latency traffic); (3) assured forwarding (AF) PHB (e.g., gives assurance of delivery under prescribed conditions); or (4) class selector PHBs (e.g., which maintain backward compatibility with the IP precedence field).

[0121] In 5G, for downlink traffic, the UPF may be responsible for "Transport level packet marking". For every (e.g., one or more) QoS Flow, the SMF shall determine the transport level packet marking value (e.g., the DSCP in the outer IP header) based on the 5QI, the Priority Level (if explicitly signaled) and optionally, the ARP priority level. The SMF provides the DSCP marking rule to the UPF in the Forwarding Action Rule. Forwarding Action Rules contain information on whether forwarding, dropping or buffering is to be applied to a traffic identified by packet detection rule(s) (PDR(s)). Subsequently when the UPF gets a DL PDU, it performs transport level packet marking in DL on a per QoS Flow basis. The UPF identifies the QoS flow for the PDU, and adds the transport level packet marking value provided by the SMF. DSCP value may be added in the outer IP header.

[0122] In 5G, for uplink traffic, the RAN may be responsible for "Transport level packet marking". The RAN may determine the transport level packet marking value the on a per QoS Flow basis, based on the 5QI, the Priority Level (if explicitly signaled) and the ARP priority level of the associated QoS Flow.

[0123] To support PDU set based QoS handling, the PSA UPF identifies PDUs that belong to PDU sets and may determine PDU set Information which it sends to the NG-RAN in the GTP-U header. The PDU set information may be used by the NG-RAN for PDU set based QoS handling.

[0124] The PDU set Information may comprise any of the following indications: (1) PDU set sequence number; (2) indication of end PDU of the PDU set; (3) PDU sequence number within a PDU set; (4) PDU set size in bytes; or (5) PDU set importance, which may identify the relative importance of a PDU set compared to other PDU sets within a QoS Flow.

[0125] To determine the PDU set information, the PSA UPF may rely on information carried in the received packets and / or on implementation. For example, if the XRM traffic is carried over RTP, the RTP header may contain information indicating any of: (1) end PDU of the PDU set [E]; (2) end of data burst [EDB]; (3) PDU set importance [PSI]; (4) PDU set sequence number [PSSN]; (5) PDU sequence number within a PDU set [PSN]; or (6) PDU set size [PSSize],

[0126] End PDU of the PDU set [E] (for example on 1 bit): This field may be a flag that shall be set to 1 for the last PDU of the PDU set and set to 0 for all other PDUs of the PDU set.

[0127] End of data burst [EDB] (for example on 3 bits): The EDB field may be 3 bits in length and may indicate the end of a Data Burst. The 3 bits encode the End of Data Burst indication as per the encoding and guidelines provided in Clause 4.4.2.6.1 of TS 26.522.

[0128] PDU set importance [PSI] (for example on 4 bits): The PDU set importance field may indicate the importance of this PDU set compared to other PDU sets within the same QoS flow. Lower values shall indicate a higher importance PDU set with the highest importance PDU set indicated by 0 and the lowest importance PDU set indicated by 15.

[0129] PDU set sequence number [PSSN] (for example on 10 bits): The field encodes the sequence number of the PDU set to which the current PDU belongs acting as a 10-bit numerical identifier for the PDU set.

[0130] PDU sequence number within a PDU set [PSN] (for example on 6 bits): The sequence number of the current PDU within the PDU set. The PSN shall be set to 0 for the first PDU in the PDU set and incremented monotonically for every (e.g., one or more) PDU in the PDU set in order of transmission from the sender.

[0131] PDU set size [PSSize] (for example on 24 bits): The PDU set size may indicate the total size of all PDUs of the PDU set to which this PDU belongs. This field may be optional and subjectto an SDP signaling offer / answer negotiation, where the Application Server may indicate whether it will be able to provide the size of the PDU set for that RTP stream. If not enabled, the field should not be present. If enabled, but the Application Server may not be able to determine the PDU Size for a particular PDU set, it should set the value to 0 in all PDUs of that PDU set. The PSSize shall indicate the size of a PDU set including RTP / UDP / IP header encapsulation overhead of its corresponding PDUs. The PSSize may be expressed in bytes.

[0132] In addition to the PDU set information carried in the GTP-U header, the network may also be configured with PDU set QoS information. In R18, this information may be defined per QoS flow, and as a result the PDU set QoS information may be the same for all PDU sets carried in a QoS flow. Any of the following PDU set QoS information may be defined for XRM traffic flows: (1) PDU set delay budget (PSDB); (2) PDU set error rate (PSER); or (3) PDU set integrated handling information (PSIHI).

[0133] The PSDB defines an upper bound for the delay that a PDU set may experience for the transfer between the WTRU (e.g., UE) and the N6 termination point at the UPF, i.e. the duration between the reception time of the first PDU (at the N6 termination point for DL or the WTRU (e.g., UE) for UL) and the time when all PDUs of a PDU set have been successfully received (at the WTRU (e.g., UE) for DL or N6 termination point for UL).

[0134] The PSER defines an upper bound for the rate of PDU sets that have been processed by the sender of a link layer protocol (e.g., RLC in RAN of a 3GPP access) but that are not successfully delivered by the corresponding receiver to the upper layer (e.g., PDCP in RAN of a 3GPP access).

[0135] The PSIHI may indicate whether all PDUs of the PDU set are used (e.g., needed) for the usage of the PDU set by the application layer in the receiver side.

[0136] For R19, a new work task was identified to study whether and how to leverage PDU set QoS information for DSCP marking over N3 / N9 in the transport network (i.e., to enable differentiated handling of PDU sets within QoS Flow).

[0137] 3GPP Rel-18 supports DSCP marking by user plane entities in the mobile network (namely the UPFs and NG-RAN nodes). The DSCP marking allows some traffic management within the transport network, between the user plane entities. However, in R18, the user plane entities are configured by the SMF to have a single DSCP value per QoS flow. This implies that all PDUs carried in the QoS flow receive the same forwarding treatment in the transport network. Consequently, if an XRM traffic flow is mapped to a QoS flow, all the PDUs of the XRM traffic flow will receive the same forwarding treatment in the transport network. However, XRM trafficmay be made up of PDU sets, and the PDU sets may have different sizes, different priorities, different need for integrated handling, etc.

[0138] The main issue is that for R18, PDU handling in the transport network may be based on the DSCP marking that is per QoS flow. This prevents the network from taking advantage of the PDU set information that may be available in the core network.

[0139] To address this issue, methods and apparatus are proposed for a SMF to determine the PDU set based DSCP rules - that is, DSCP value to apply to PDUs in a PDU set. Methods and apparatus are proposed for user plane entities (e.g., UPFs and NG-RAN nodes) to be configured with the per PDU set based DSCP rules. Methods and apparatus are proposed for the user plane entities (e.g., UPFs and NG-RAN nodes) to use these PDU set based DSCP rules to determine the DSCP marking to include in the GTP-U PDU.

[0140] In addition to the above, there are events related to PDU sets that would benefit if the user plane entities were allowed to override the configured per PDU set based DSCP rules. Methods and apparatus are proposed for the user plane entities to override the configured PDU set based DSCP rules, based on one or more events trigger.

[0141] Methods and apparatus allowing a UPF to use PDU set Based DSCP mapping may be provided.

[0142] A UPF receiving PDUs for an XRM service, with PDU sets enabled, may implement any of the following steps: (1) the UPF may be configured by SMF, with PDU set based DSCP rules, where each (e.g., one or more) rule has at least a DSCP value (or range of DSCP values) and a selection criterion; (2) the UPF may determine that it needs to transmit a GTP-U PDU over the transport network; (3) the UPF may determine the matching DSCP rule based on the selection criteria; (4) the UPF may evaluate if it needs to override the DSCP value from the matching DSCP rule; or (5) the UPF may build the IP packet, including the GTP-U PDU and outer IP header containing the DSCP value.

[0143] According to some embodiments, configuration may be over an N4 session establishment, and the configuration may include thresholds required for the selection criteria.

[0144] According to some embodiments, PDU set based DSCP rules may include a default rule.

[0145] According to some embodiments, matching DSCP rule may be found also for locally generated PDUs (for example dummy packets transmitted from NG RAN node to UPF).

[0146] According to some embodiments, the selection criteria may comprise any of the following: (1) GTP-U PDU may include important information (e.g., end of burst indication, start of burst indication), (2) PSIHI may indicate integrated handling used (e.g., needed) for PDU set, or (3) GTP-U may carry ECN bit marking, PDU set size may be above a threshold, etc.

[0147] Methods and apparatus allowing a RAN Node to use PDU set Based DSCP Mapping may be provided.

[0148] A RAN node receiving PDUs for an XRM service, with PDU sets enabled, may implement any of the following steps: (1) the RAN node may be configured with PDU set QoS parameters for a QoS flow, as well as thresholds for selection criteria of selection rules; (2) the RAN node may determine the PDU set based DSCP rules, where each (e.g., one or more) rule has at least a DSCP value (or range of DSCP values) and a selection criterion; (3) the RAN node may determine that it needs to transmit a GTP-U PDU over the transport network; (4) the RAN node may determine the matching DSCP rule based on the selection criteria; (5) the RAN node may evaluate if it needs to override the DSCP value from the matching DSCP rule; or (6) RAN node may build the IP packet, including the GTP-U PDU and outer IP header containing the DSCP value.

[0149] According to some embodiments, the PDU set based DSCP rules may include a default rule.

[0150] According to some embodiments, the matching DSCP rule may be found also for locally generated PDUs (for example dummy packets transmitted from NG RAN node to UPF).

[0151] According to some embodiments, the selection criteria the selection criteria may comprise any of the following: (1) GTP-U PDU may include important information (e.g., end of burst indication, start of burst indication), (2) PSIHI may indicate integrated handling used (e.g., needed) for PDU set, GTP-U may carry ECN bit marking, or (3) PDU set size may be above a threshold, etc.

[0152] The mobile network may rely on transport networks to transport GTU-U packets between UPFs and between UPFs and RAN nodes. The mobile networks may provide some traffic management over these transport networks via DSCP marking. As of R18, the network may assign (e.g., only) a single DSCP value for a QoS flow. As a result, the R18 networks cannot provide differentiated service to PDU sets which are transported over the QoS flow - this despite the fact that the PDU sets would benefit from some differentiated treatment over the transport networks. To address this problem, methods and apparatus are provided to propose information that SMF may use to determine the PDU set Based DSCP rules - including various selection criteria for selecting one rule over another rule. Methods and apparatus are proposed to provide the PDU set Based DSCP rules to the UPFs and RAN nodes. Methods and apparatus are provided at the UPFs to determine the DSCP value based on the selection criteria of the PDU set DSCP based rules. The determination made for incoming packets as well as for packets created internally at the UPFs. Methods and apparatus are provided at the RAN nodes to determine the DSCP value based on theselection criteria of the PDU set DSCP based rules. The determination made for incoming packets as well as for packets created internally at the RAN nodes. Methods and apparatus are provided to propose triggers for the UPFs and RAN nodes to autonomously override the DSCP value determined from the PDU set DSCP rules.

[0153] The main benefit may include allowing the network to provide differentiated treatment to PDUs within a PDU set, based on the PDU set information and PDU set QoS requirements. This allows the network to better manage PDUs from XRM traffic.

[0154] This section introduces DSCP values that may be set based on PDU set information. The network may use rules, hereinafter referred to as PDU set DSCP rules, for assigning a DSCP value to a GTP-U PDU. The mechanisms described herein may be used to enable DSCP marking, IP flow label marking and other markings or combination of markings of a GTP-U PDU. The "PDU set DSCP rules" may additionally or alternatively be used to set the IP flow label and / or other PDU markings. For simplicity we use the terms "DSCP, "DSCP marking" or "DSCP value" to designate a GTP-U PDU marking which may be a DSCP marking, an IP flow label marking, another type of PDU marking or a combination of PDU markings.

[0155] Hereinafter, the following is referred to as the "Procedure to use the PDU set based DSCP marking".

[0156] PDU set DSCP rules are a set of rules that tell an entity the DSCP value to use for a GTP- U PDU to be transmitted over a transport network. The entity may refer to any node in the uplink path of the PDU between the WTRU (e.g., UE) and the Application Server that sends the GTP-U PDU over a transport network. The entity may also refer to any node in the downlink path of the PDU between the Application Server and the WTRU (e.g., UE) that sends the GTP-U PDU over a transport network. For example, the entity may be a PSA UPF, an Intermedia-UPF (I-UPF), an UL Classifier (UL CL), a Branching Point (BP) UPF, an RAN node, a RAN node Central Unit (CU) or a RAN node Distributed Unit (DU)). The PDU may arrive at the entity through an incoming link, or the PDU may be generated at the entity.

[0157] The PDU set DSCP rules may be a prioritized list of rules. Each rule may include one or more marking type and value (e.g., DSCP marking type and a DSCP value), a precedence, and selection criteria for the DSCP value. The entity will choose the DSCP value of the first rule that matches the selection criteria. The value in the rule may also be include a range of DSCP values. The selection criteria may be based on the type of traffic carried in the outgoing GTP-U PDU, information carried in the GTP-U header of the outgoing GTP-U PDU, type of traffic carried in the incoming GTP-U PDU, information carried in the GTP-U header of the incoming GTP-U PDU,the PDU set QoS information, the contents of the inner PDU (for example the inner DSCP value, the content of the RTP header, the content of the RTP Header Extension (HE)), etc.

[0158] In a first selection criteria, the entity may select a rule if the GTP-U header of the outgoing GTP-U PDU or incoming GTP-U PDU, contains a certain information, information element (IE) and / or if the IE has a specific value or a value within a range of values. For example, the GTP-U header may contain any information indicating any of: (1) PDU set information; (2) an end of burst indication; (3) a start of burst indication; (4) an end of PDU set indication; (5) a start of PDU set indication; (6) a timing until end of current burst; (7) a timing until start of next burst; or (8) the importance of the PDU set.

[0159] In a second selection criteria, the entity may select a rule if the RTP header or RTP HE of the inner packet contains a certain information, information element (IE) and / or if the IE has a specific value or a value within a range of values. For example, the RTP header or RTP HE may contain any information indicating any of: (1) an end of burst indication; (2) a start of burst indication; (3) an end of PDU set indication; (4) a start of PDU set indication; (5) a timing until end of current burst; (6) a timing until start of next burst; (7) a size of the current data burst; (8) a size of the next data burst; (9) the importance of the current PDU set; or (10) the importance of the current PDU set based on its dependency on other PDU sets within the same QoS flow.

[0160] In a third selection criteria, the entity may select a rule based on the contents of the inner packet. This would allow the network to provide some preferential treatment based on the type or content of the inner packet, and / or based on the value of certain fields in a header of the inner packet. For example:

[0161] According to some embodiments, the inner packet has a DSCP value set to a certain value. The inner DSCP value may be used (e.g., only) when the transmission over the N6 interface is over one or more trusted networks. That is networks that do not change the DSCP value included by the source. For example, the Application Server may be an edge server that is in a trusted network. For such cases, the core network may use the inner DSCP value.

[0162] According to some embodiments, the inner packet has an IP flow label set to a certain value or within a range of values.

[0163] According to some embodiments, the inner packet may carry a specific or set of specific ECN bit markings.

[0164] According to some embodiments, the inner packet may be an uplink packet or a downlink packet.

[0165] According to some embodiments, the inner packet may be of a specific modality. For example, a different rule may be selected if the inner packet may carry data, audio, video, or haptic information.

[0166] According to some embodiments, the inner packet may carry certain control plane signaling between the WTRU (e.g., UE) and the application server. For example, there may be a rule for inner packets that carry RTP Control Protocol (RTCP).

[0167] According to some embodiments, the inner packet may carry a PDU with a specific protocol (e.g., UDP, TCP, RTP, RTCP), a specific protocol header value, such as a specific RTP header field value (e.g., RTP payload type) or such as a specific RTP extension header field value.

[0168] In a fourth selection criteria, the entity may select a rule if the GTP-U PDU carries a dummy packet that transports information of a certain type.

[0169] According to some embodiments, the dummy packet may be an uplink packet that carries congestion information from NG RAN to PSA UPF.

[0170] According to some embodiments, the dummy packet may be an uplink packet that carries UL and / or DL packet delay result to the PSA UPF.

[0171] According to some embodiments, the dummy packet may be a downlink packet that carries XRM related information between the UPF and RAN node. For example, this may include jitter measurements, delay measurements, etc.

[0172] In a fifth selection criteria, the entity may select a rule based on the PDU set information applicable to the incoming PDU.

[0173] According to some embodiments, the PDU set information may indicate a PDU set that has a higher importance. This may be through the PDU set importance [PSI], If lower values indicate a higher importance, than the entity may select one rule if PDU set importance is lower than a threshold and a different rule if PDU set importance is greater than a threshold. This may allow the core network to provide some preferred treatment to PDU sets of a QoS flow that are of higher priority.

[0174] According to some embodiments, the PDU set information may indicate that a PDU set is out of order or that a PDU set is missing. This may be through the PDU set Sequence Number [PSSN], One rule may be selected if the PDU sets are in order and another rule may be used if the PDU sets are out of order. This may allow the core network to provide some preferred treatment to PDU sets of a QoS flow that are received in order. Some Service Data Flows (SDFs) may require that traffic is received in order. If these are being transported out of order, the core network may give these PDUs less favourable treatment.

[0175] According to some embodiments, the PDU set information may indicate that the PDU set size is large. This may be through the PDU set Size [PSSize], One rule may be selected if the PDU set Size is larger than a threshold, and a different rule may be selected if the PDU set Size is lower than a threshold.

[0176] According to some embodiments, the PDU set Integrated Handling Indication (PSIHI), for cases when the integrated handling can be different for each (e.g., one or more) PDU set. The entity may select a rule if the PSIHI for the PDU set is "set" and select another rule if the PSIHI for the PDU set is "not set". This allows the core network to provide more favourable treatment to PDU sets that require integrated handling. That is PDUs of a PDU set that need to all be received, for the PDU set to be useable at the receiving application WTRU (e.g., UE) (for downlink traffic) or application server (for uplink traffic).

[0177] According to some embodiments, the size of the incoming burst. The entity may be aware of the burst size (for example through information carried in the incoming packet or through prediction). The entity may select a rule if the burst size is below a threshold, and another rule if the burst size is above the threshold. This allows the network to provide preferential treatment to packets from smaller bursts.

[0178] In a sixth selection criteria, the entity may select a rule based on the PDU set QoS information applicable to the QoS flow. The entity may select a rule based on any of: (1) the PSER; (2) the PDSB; or (3) the PSIHI.

[0179] According to some embodiments, the entity may select a rule if the PSER is below a threshold and select another rule if the PSER is above a threshold. This allows the core network to provide more favorable treatment to PDU sets that are part of QoS flows that require a lower PSER.

[0180] According to some embodiments, the entity may select a rule if the PSDB is below a threshold and select another rule if the PSDB is above a threshold. This allows the core network to provide more favorable treatment to PDU sets that are part of QoS flows that require a lower PSDB.

[0181] According to some embodiments, for example for cases that the integrated handling is the same for all PDU sets of a QoS flow, the entity may select a rule if the PSIHI for the QoS flow is "set" and select another rule if the PSIHI of the QoS flow is "not set". This allows the core network to provide more favorable treatment to PDU sets that are part of QoS flows that require integrated handling. For example, these QoS flows may require that all PDUs of a PDU set be received, for the PDU set to be useable at the receiving application WTRU (e.g., UE) (for downlink traffic) or application server (for uplink traffic).

[0182] In a seventh selection criteria, the entity may select a rule based on the type of traffic carried over the transport network. For example, a UPF may send user plane traffic, dummy packets, or PMF signaling. An entity may select a rule based on any of: (1) a traffic type (e.g., the entity may have a different rule based on the traffic type); or (2) a PMF message. According to some embodiments, the entity may have a different rule depending on the type of PMF message. This allows the core network to provide more favorable treatment to certain PMF messages (for example the PMF SUSPEND / RESUME Duplication message).

[0183] In an eighth selection criteria, the entity may select a rule based on some aspect of the PDU session. For example, the type, SSC mode, network slice, single-access vs multi-access. According to some embodiments, the entity may have a different rule (or set of rules) depending on the network slice used for the PDU session. According to some embodiments, the entity may have a different rule (or set of rules) depending on the SSC mode used for the PDU session. According to some embodiments, the entity may have a different rule (or set of rules) depending on the PDU session type (IPv4, IPv6, Ethernet). According to some embodiments, the entity may have one rule (or sets of rules) for a SA PDU session and a different rule (or set of rules) for a MA PDU session.

[0184] The selection criteria may be based on a bit mask of a PDU header. For example, assume an incoming PDU has an 8-bit header that contains information that may be important for transport level DSCP marking. The entity may be configured with an 8-bit mask that it may use to compare with the 8-bit header to determine whether to select the rule. The entity may be configured to select the rule if there are any matching bits. As a second alternative, the entity may be configured to select the rule if there are at least K matching bits. As a third alternative, the entity may be configured to select the rule if all bits are matching.

[0185] The selection criteria may also be based on a combination of the above. For example, the entity will select a rule if (the PDU set information may indicate a PDU set that has a high importance AND the PDU set is part of a QoS flow that requires integrated handling (that is QoS flow has PSIHI that is "set")).

[0186] The selection criteria may also be based on existing QoS flow parameters, such as the 5G QoS Identifier (5QI), priority level and Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP), which characterize the QoS flow. In some cases, these existing QoS flow parameters may be mandatory input, in the determination of a DSCP value. The selection criteria may be used in conjunction with the existing QoS flow parameters, in order to still allow differentiation (in relation to DSCP) at the QoS flow level. For example, the entity may have one rule for QoS flowl with ARP1 and PSDB1 and a second rule for QoS flow2 with ARP2 but same PSDB1. In this case, the DSCPvalue may be different between the two, since the selection criteria is not based only on the PSDB, but also based on the ARP (or more generally any exiting QoS flow parameter such as 5QI or priority).

[0187] The entity may have a default DSCP rule. The default DSCP rule may be used in cases that there are no other matching rules, the PDUs on the traffic flow are not in a PDU set, or if PDU set marking is disabled by the WTRU (e.g., UE) or AS.

[0188] The entity may have a DSCP rule that has no DSCP value, and which allows the entity to autonomously select the DSCP value. If the entity selects this rule based on the selection criteria, the entity may determine the DSCP value based on some internal implementation. According to some embodiments, the entity may be configured to follow certain guidelines when it autonomously selects this rule. For example, the entity may always use the same DSCP value as that in the inner packet.

[0189] According to some embodiments, every (e.g., one or more) DSCP rule may have an indication to tell the entity if it can autonomously determine the DSCP value. The indication may tell the entity if autonomous DSCP is activated or not. This allows the autonomous DSCP to be activated or deactivated for a subset of the PDU set Based DSCP rules.

[0190] The PDU set DSCP rules may be pre-configured in the entity, or the configuration may be provided by the SMF. The configuration information may include a list of rules, where each (e.g., one or more) rule has the DSCP value, rule precedence, and selection criteria.

[0191] The configuration information may also include thresholds that are required for the selection criteria. According to some embodiments, if the selection criteria is based on the PDU set importance, the configuration may include a PDU set importance threshold. According to some embodiments, if the selection criteria is based on the PDU set size, the configuration may include a PDU set size Threshold. According to some embodiments, if the selection criteria is based on the PSER, the configuration may include a PSER threshold. According to some embodiments, if the selection criteria is based on the PSDB, the configuration may include a PSDB threshold.

[0192] The configuration information / parameters, such as thresholds for PSER, PSDB and so on might be different for different QoS flows. For example, for a certain traffic, or modality, the PSDB threshold may be 10 ms (so if provided or determined PSDB is less than 10 ms or more than 10 ms a different DSCP value exists). For another modality, the PSDB threshold may be 20 ms.

[0193] According to some embodiments, the SMF may (e.g., needs to) determine whether to provide a PDU set DSCP mapping, e.g., based on mechanisms described herein.

[0194] The SMF may rely on the following information for deciding to provide PDU set DSCP mapping.

[0195] For example, an indication that the traffic flow will use PDU set markings. The use of PDU set marking may be negotiated between the WTRU (e.g., UE) and the Application Server. The Application Server may then provide the information to the PCF, (for example using a NEF service invocation or a PCF service invocation) which may then include an indication in the PCC rule given to the SMF.

[0196] For example, an indication that the traffic flow would benefit from PDU set based DSCP marking. The Application Server may provide a request to the network to provide PDU set DSCP marking. This information may be provided to the PCF, which may then include an indication in the PCC rule given to the SMF.

[0197] For example, an indication that the traffic flow may be bound to a QoS flow that is configured with PDU set QoS parameters. The SMF already obtains this information from the PCF in the PCC rules.

[0198] For example, an indication from the network to the SMF to indicate whether there is transport network congestion, delay, or loss. This information may be provided to the SMF by the user plane entities (UPF, RAN node), or by the AMF. According to some embodiments, the transport network nodes may use some 0AM mechanism to provide this information to the SMF. If the UPF and / or RAN node provide transport network congestion, delay, loss indication, for a particular PDU session, then the SMF may be able to activate PDU set DSCP for this PDU session. If the information is more general, such as that a specific network node is having a congestion, and that may impact multiple traffics, the SMF might check whether the impacted PDU sessions carry PDU set traffic, and if so, the SMF may activate PDU set DSCP for these impacted PDU session.

[0199] In some configurations, the SMF may define a single rule (e.g., a default rule) to assign a DSCP marking on all GTP-U PDUs for a QoS flow.

[0200] The SMF may rely "DSCP mapping information" to determine the DSCP mapping value for each (e.g., one or more) rule.

[0201] The DSCP mapping information may include the existing 5G QoS parameters (5QI, priority, ARP) as well as input from the application server. For example, the application server may want to provide some of the input information that helps derive the DSCP rules, such as which parameters to consider, and some threshold values.

[0202] The DSCP mapping information may include PDU set information, or an indication that the traffic flow may use PDU sets.

[0203] In addition, the DSCP mapping information may include network conditions. The user plane entities (for example an UPF or an RAN node) may report network conditions, which may impact the DSCP value, to the SMF. The SMF may change / update the PDU set based DSCP rule(s). This may allow subsequent groups of PDU sets to benefit from the observed network conditions. For example, the SMF might change the DSCP rule to have a higher or lower DSCP value for certain traffic.

[0204] Hereinafter, this procedure is referred to as the "Procedure to provide PDU set DSCP mapping information to the UPF". SMF may provide an explicit indication to use PDU set based DSCP. According to some embodiments, the UPF may make this determination implicitly. For example, the SMF may provide a list of DSCP rules, which implicitly request the UPF to apply PDU set based DSCP marking.

[0205] The SMF may provide the PDU set based DSCP rule as a new action rule (DSCP Action Rule (DAR)). For example, the SMF may use the N4 Session Establishment procedure as well as the N4 Session Modification procedure to provide the new action rule to the UPF. An example is provided in Table 1 :Table 1: Attributes within DSCP Action Rule

[0206] The selection criteria may also be based on a list of criteria, where each (e.g., one or more) criterion may have a condition to check, an indication if this is a mandatory condition to check or an optional condition to check., and a value or threshold to verify against the condition to check. Table 2 shows an example selection criteria list that is based on the 5QI value of 2 (GBR traffic) and a PDU set size < 1500 bytes.Table 2: Selection Criteria List

[0207] The list of DSCP action rules may be part of the Forwarding Action Rule (See Table 3), which is contained in the Packet Detection Rule.Table 3: Attributes within Forwarding Action Rule

[0208] Hereinafter, this procedure is referred to as the "Procedure to provide PDU set DSCP mapping information to the RAN node". SMF may provide an explicit indication to use PDU set based DSCP. According to some embodiments, the RAN node may make this determination implicitly. For example, the SMF may provide a list of DSCP rules, which implicitly request that the RAN node apply PDU set based DSCP marking.

[0209] SMF may provide the PDU set based DSCP rules as part of the QoS profile sent to the RAN node.

[0210] According to some embodiments, the DSCP mapping information may be provided to the RAN node, and the RAN node generates the PDU set based DSCP mapping rule.

[0211] Hereinafter, this procedure is referred to as the "Procedure to change the configured DSCP value".

[0212] After an entity determines a DSCP value based on the configuration provided by the SMF (for example through the PDU set based DSCP rules), the entity may decide to autonomously use a different DSCP value based on some event, such an observed network state or measurement. In this case, the entity may use the different DSCP value in the outer IP header. The entity may also decide to change the DSCP value in the rule.

[0213] A first such event may be based on the PDU set delay budget. An entity may keep track of the time remaining to transmit the current PDU set. The entity may determine the first PDU in the PDU set and the time elapsed since this first PDU was sent downstream. The entity may then have an idea about the time remaining to transmit the remaining PDUs in the PDU set. If this time is small, the entity may decide to provide preferential treatment to the remaining PDUs in an effort to help meet the PSDB. According to some embodiments, the entity may determine that there is still a large amount of data to be sent for this PDU set (for example based on the known PDU set Size) and it may decide that it will be difficult to meet the PSDB, and as a result it may decide to provide less favorable treatment to the remaining PDUs from the PDU set.

[0214] A second such event may be based on an indication that a PDU from a PDU set that requires integrated handling has been lost or will be lost at the entity. For example, the PSA UPF may drop or may not receive a PDU from a PDU set requiring integrated handling. As one of the PDUs is lost, the entire PDU set may not be useful to the final destination - the WTRU (e.g., UE) for downlink transmissions or the Application Server for uplink transmissions. The PSA UPF may provide an indication in the transmitted GTP-U header to indicate that PDU set is not useful to the final destination. The downstream entities will use this indication to provide less favorable treatment to the PDUs from the PDU set.

[0215] A third such event may be based on the PDU set error rate. The entities may share measurement information about the measured PDU set error rate. If the rate is high, an entity may decide to provide preferential treatment to PDUs in an effort to help meet the PSER.

[0216] An entity may be provided guidance (e.g., by the SMF) as to which events may trigger an autonomous DSCP change. For example, some traffic may be more sensitive to delay (PSDB) whereas other traffic may be more sensitive to error (PSER). The guidance also might include a margin or a limit, from which entity cannot go above or below from the original DSCP value determined.

[0217] Methods and apparatus are provided for user Plane for PDU set based DSCP.

[0218] FIG. 4 shows an example of the network entities involved in the user plane for both uplink and downlink traffic. The figure shows an RAN node 420 (e.g.., NG-RAN node) and a PDU Session Anchor UPF 450. The figure also shows two intermediate UPFs 430, 440, and an AS 460.It should be understood that the number of I-UPFs may depend on a number of factors, such as the deployment options, whether the WTRU 410 (e.g., UE) may be roaming, etc.

[0219] The steps at each (e.g., one or more) of the user plane processing entities are shown in FIG. 5 and described below.

[0220] FIG. 5 shows an example of the network entities involved in the user plane for both uplink and downlink traffic. The figure shows an RAN node 510, one or more UPFs 520, a SMF 530, an AS 550, and a transport network 540.

[0221] Step 511a: The UPFs 520 may receive the DSCP marking information from the SMF 530, for example based on the "Procedure to provide PDU set DSCP mapping information to the UPF".

[0222] Step 511b: The RAN node 510 may receive the DSCP marking information from the SMF 530, for example based on the "Procedure to provide PDU set DSCP mapping information to the RAN Node".

[0223] Step 512: At some time later, the entity may have to transmit a GTP-U PDU over a transport network 540. For example, at the RAN node 510, this may be an uplink PDU that is to be sent from the RAN node 510 to the I-UPF1. As another example, at the PSA UPF, this may be a downlink PDU that is to be sent from PSA UPF to I-UPF2. The GTP-U PDU may contain data that was received at the entity and that has to be forwarded. According to some embodiments, the GTP-U PDU may contain (e.g., only) data that was generated at the entity. For example, this may be the case for GTP-U PDU that is used to send control-plane information between the entities of the core network. In such cases, the GTP-U PDU may contain header information and some dummy data.

[0224] Step 513a: If the GTP-U PDU contains data that was received at the UPF 520, the UPF 520 use the packet detection rule, to perform any of the following actions: (1) identify the packet traffic flow; (2) determine whether to use PDU set DSCP marking (e.g., based on indication in PDR); or (3) if PDU set DSCP marking is used, determine the matching PDU set based DSCP rule as described in the procedure to use the PDU set based DSCP marking.

[0225] Step 513b: This step is not shown in the figure. The RAN node 510 (e.g., NG-RAN node) may use the QoS Profile, to perform any of the following actions: (1) determine whether to use PDU set DSCP marking (e.g., based on indication in QoS profile); or if PDU set DSCP marking is used, determine the matching PDU set based DSCP rule as described in the Procedure to use the PDU set based DSCP marking.

[0226] Step 514: The entity may override the DSCP determined by the matching PDU set based DSCP rule.

[0227] Step 515: The entity creates the GTP-U PDU to transmit over the transport network 540. It may include the DSCP value in the IP header of the GTP-U PDU. The DSCP value may be from the matching rule from step 513 or from the overridden DSCP value from step 514.

[0228] 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, from a second network node, first information indicating a set of rules for assigning a DSCP value to a PDU, wherein each (e.g., one or more) rule of the set of rules may be associated to a selection criterion. The representative method 600 may include, at block 620, selecting a rule of the set of rules based on a selection criterion. The representative method 600 may include, at block 630, determining a DSCP value based on the rule and / or an event. The representative method 600 may include, at block 640, generating a PDU comprising the DSCP value. The representative method 600 may include, at block 650, sending the PDU over a transport network.

[0229] According to some embodiments, the first information may indicate a threshold associated to a selection criterion.

[0230] According to some embodiments, the representative method 600 may further comprise selecting a rule based on a packet detection rule.

[0231] According to some embodiments, the representative method 600 may further comprise selecting a rule based on a quality of service.

[0232] According to some embodiments, the first network node comprises a user plane function.

[0233] According to some embodiments, the first network node comprises a radio access network node.

[0234] According to some embodiments, the second network node comprises a session management function.

[0235] According to some embodiments, the first network node (e.g., UPF) may receive configuration for PDU set based transport level marking during N4 session establishment.

[0236] According to some embodiments, the first network node (e.g., UPF) may receive incoming PDU.

[0237] According to some embodiments, the first network node (e.g., UPF) may determine the DSCP value based on the PDU set based transport level marking.

[0238] According to some embodiments, the first network node (e.g., UPF) may evaluate whether to override the DSCP marking.

[0239] According to some embodiments, the first network node (e.g., UPF) may create PDU comprising the DSCP value.

[0240] According to some embodiments, the first network node (e.g., UPF) may send the PDU over a transport network.

[0241] According to some embodiments, the SMF may determine the PDU set based transport level marking and provides it to the UPF and RAN nodes.

[0242] FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a representative method 700 implemented by a first network node.

[0243] Referring to FIG. 7, the representative method 700 may include, at block 710, receiving, from a second network node, configuration information indicating a set of rules for assigning a DSCP value, wherein each rule of the set of rules associates a DSCP value with at least one selection criterion.

[0244] The representative method 700 may include, at block 720, obtaining a first PDU associated with a first PDU set and a second PDU associated with a second PDU set, wherein the first PDU set and the second PDU set are associated with a same QOS flow.

[0245] The representative method 700 may include, at block 730, selecting a first rule of the set of rules based on first information associated with the first PDU, wherein the first information matches at least one first selection criterion of the first rule, and selecting a second rule of the set of rules based on second information associated with the second PDU, wherein the second information matches at least one second selection criterion of the second rule.

[0246] The representative method 700 may include, at block 740, determining a first DSCP value based on the first rule, and a second DSCP value based on the second rule, wherein the first DSCP value and the second DSCP value are different.

[0247] The representative method 700 may include, at block 750, generating a first packet comprising the first PDU and the first DSCP value, and a second packet comprising the second PDU and the second DSCP value.

[0248] The representative method 700 may include, at block 760, sending, to a third network node, the first packet and the second packet.

[0249] According to some embodiments, the at least one first selection criterion and / or the at least one second selection criterion may be based on any of (1) an end of burst indication, (2) a start of burst indication, (3) an end of a PDU set indication, (4) a start of the PDU set indication, (5) a timing until an end of a current burst, (6) a timing until a start of a next burst, (7) a PDU set importance value, (8) a size of a current data burst, or (9) a size of a next data burst.

[0250] According to some embodiments, the at least one first selection criterion and / or the at least one second selection criterion may be based on any of (1) a DSCP value, (2) an IP flow label,(3) at least one congestion notification, (4) an indication of an uplink packet or a downlink packet, (5) a type of data, (5) a control plane signaling, or (6) an indication of a protocol.

[0251] According to some embodiments, the at least one first selection criterion and / or the at least one second selection criterion may be based on any of (1) a PDU set error rate, (2) a PDU set delay budget, (3) or a PDU set integrated handling indication.

[0252] According to some embodiments, the at least one first selection criterion and / or the at least one second selection criterion may be based on at least one characteristic of a PDU session associated with the first PDU set and / or the second PDU set.

[0253] According to some embodiments, the at least one characteristic of the PDU session may be based on any of (1) a network slice used for the PDU session, (2) a session and service continuity mode used for the PDU session, (3) a type of the PDU session, or (4) an access mode of the PDU session.

[0254] According to some embodiments, the representative method 700 may further comprise, based on at least one triggering event, using a different DSCP value than the first DSCP value.

[0255] According to some embodiments, the at least one triggering event may be based on any of (1) a remaining delay budget associated with the first PDU set, (2) an indication of a missing PDU from the first PDU set, (3) a measured error rate associated with the first PDU set.

[0256] According to some embodiments, the first network node may comprise a user plane function or a radio access network node, and / or wherein the second network node comprises a session management function.

[0257] According to some embodiments, the configuration information may be included in a forwarding action rule.

[0258] According to some embodiments, each rule of the set of rules may associate a DSCP value with at least one selection criterion by mapping the DSCP value to the at least one selection criterion.

[0259] According to some embodiments, the first information and / or the second information may indicate any of (1) a DSCP value, (2) an IP flow label, (3) at least one congestion notification, (4) an indication of an uplink packet or a downlink packet, (5) a type of data, (5) a control plane signaling, or (6) an indication of a protocol.

[0260] 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 departingfrom 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.

[0261] 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.

[0262] 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 head mounted 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.

[0263] 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.

[0264] 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.

[0265] 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."

[0266] 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 data bits. 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.

[0267] 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 understoodthat the embodiments are not limited to the above-mentioned memories and that other platforms and memories may support the provided methods.

[0268] 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.

[0269] 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.

[0270] 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 some aspects 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 productin 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.).

[0271] 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.

[0272] 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 may be 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 / orphysically interacting components and / or wirelessly interactable and / or wirelessly interacting components and / or logically interacting and / or logically interactable components.

[0273] 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.

[0274] 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 having skill 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".

[0275] 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.

[0276] 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.

[0277] 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, from a second network node, configuration information indicating a set of rules for assigning a differentiated services codepoint (DSCP) value, wherein each rule of the set of rules associates a DSCP value with at least one selection criterion; obtaining a first protocol data unit (PDU) associated with a first PDU set and a second PDU associated with a second PDU set, wherein the first PDU set and the second PDU set are associated with a same quality of service (QOS) flow; selecting a first rule of the set of rules based on first information associated with the first PDU, wherein the first information matches at least one first selection criterion of the first rule, and selecting a second rule of the set of rules based on second information associated with the second PDU, wherein the second information matches at least one second selection criterion of the second rule; determining a first DSCP value based on the first rule, and a second DSCP value based on the second rule, wherein the first DSCP value and the second DSCP value are different; generating a first packet comprising the first PDU and the first DSCP value, and a second packet comprising the second PDU and the second DSCP value; and sending, to a third network node, the first packet and the second packet.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one first selection criterion and / or the at least one second selection criterion are based on any of: (1) an end of burst indication, (2) a start of burst indication, (3) an end of a PDU set indication, (4) a start of the PDU set indication, (5) a timing until an end of a current burst, (6) a timing until a start of a next burst, (7) a PDU set importance value, (8) a size of a current data burst, or (9) a size of a next data burst.

3. The method according to any of claims 1-2, wherein the at least one first selection criterion and / or the at least one second selection criterion are based on any of: (1) a DSCP value, (2) an IP flow label, (3) at least one congestion notification, (4) an indication of an uplink packet or a downlink packet, (5) a type of data, (5) a control plane signaling, or (6) an indication of a protocol.

4. The method according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the at least one first selection criterion and / or the at least one second selection criterion are based on any of: (1) a PDU set error rate, (2) a PDU set delay budget, (3) or a PDU set integrated handling indication.

5. The method according to any of claims 1-4, wherein the at least one first selection criterion and / or the at least one second selection criterion are based on at least one characteristic of a PDU session associated with the first PDU set and / or the second PDU set.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the at least one characteristic of the PDU session is based on any of: (1) a network slice used for the PDU session, (2) a session and service continuity mode used for the PDU session, (3) a type of the PDU session, or (4) an access mode of the PDU session.

7. The method according to any of claims 1-6, further comprising, based on at least one triggering event, using a different DSCP value than the first DSCP value.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the at least one triggering event is based on any of: (1) a remaining delay budget associated with the first PDU set, (2) an indication of a missing PDU from the first PDU set, (3) a measured error rate associated with the first PDU set.

9. The method according to any of claims 1-8, wherein the first network node comprises a user plane function or a radio access network node, and / or wherein the second network node comprises a session management function.

10. The method according to any of claims 1-9, wherein the configuration information is included in a forwarding action rule.

11. The method according to any of claims 1-10, wherein each rule of the set of rules associates a DSCP value with at least one selection criterion by mapping the DSCP value to the at least one selection criterion.

12. The method according to any of claims 1-11, wherein the first information and / or the second information indicate any of: (1) a DSCP value, (2) an IP flow label, (3) at least one congestion notification, (4) an indication of an uplink packet or a downlink packet, (5) a type of data, (5) a control plane signaling, or (6) an indication of a protocol.

13. A first network node, comprising circuitry, including a transmitter, a receiver, a processor and memory, the first network node being configured to: receive, from a second network node, configuration information indicating a set of rules for assigning a differentiated services codepoint (DSCP) value, wherein each rule of the set of rules associates a DSCP value with at least one selection criterion;obtain a first protocol data unit (PDU) associated with a first PDU set and a second PDU associated with a second PDU set, wherein the first PDU set and the second PDU set are associated with a same quality of service (QOS) flow; select a first rule of the set of rules based on first information associated with the first PDU, wherein the first information matches at least one first selection criterion of the first rule, and selecting a second rule of the set of rules based on second information associated with the second PDU, wherein the second information matches at least one second selection criterion of the second rule; determine a first DSCP value based on the first rule, and a second DSCP value based on the second rule, wherein the first DSCP value and the second DSCP value are different; generate a first packet comprising the first PDU and the first DSCP value, and a second packet comprising the second PDU and the second DSCP value; and send, to a third network node, the first packet and the second packet.

14. The first network node according to claim 13, wherein the at least one first selection criterion and / or the at least one second selection criterion are based on any of (1) an end of burst indication, (2) a start of burst indication, (3) an end of a PDU set indication, (4) a start of the PDU set indication, (5) a timing until an end of a current burst, (6) a timing until a start of a next burst, (7) a PDU set importance value, (8) a size of a current data burst, or (9) a size of a next data burst.

15. The first network node according to any of claims 13-14, wherein the at least one first selection criterion and / or the at least one second selection criterion are based on any of (1) a DSCP value, (2) an IP flow label, (3) at least one congestion notification, (4) an indication of an uplink packet or a downlink packet, (5) a type of data, (5) a control plane signaling, or (6) an indication of a protocol.

16. The first network node according to any of claims 13-15, wherein the at least one first selection criterion and / or the at least one second selection criterion are based on any of (1) a PDU set error rate, (2) a PDU set delay budget, (3) or a PDU set integrated handling indication.

17. The first network node according to any of claims 13-16, further comprising, based on at least one triggering event, using a different DSCP value than the first DSCP value.

18. The first network node according to any of claims 13-17, wherein the first network node comprises a user plane function or a radio access network node, and / or wherein the second network node comprises a session management function.

19. The first network node according to any of claims 13-18, wherein each rule of the set of rules associates a DSCP value with at least one selection criterion by mapping the DSCP value to the at least one selection criterion.

20. The first network node according to any of claims 13-19, wherein the first information and / or the second information indicate any of (1) a DSCP value, (2) an IP flow label, (3) at least one congestion notification, (4) an indication of an uplink packet or a downlink packet, (5) a type of data, (5) a control plane signaling, or (6) an indication of a protocol.