Methods, architectures, apparatuses and systems for optimizations based on application layer forward error correction

Abstract

Procedures, methods, architectures, apparatuses, systems, devices, and computer program products for optimizing and / or improving application layer (AL) forward error correction (FEC) are described. One method may include receiving one or more rules associated with data traffic where application layer forward error correction has been used, receiving the data traffic, determining, e.g., based on the one or more rules, which of the received data traffic comprises source packets and which of the received data traffic comprises repair packets, and sending, to a radio access network (RAN) node, a packet comprising a header indicating information associated with the source packets and the repair packets.

Description

METHODS, ARCHITECTURES, APPARATUSES AND SYSTEMS FOR OPTIMIZATIONS BASED ON APPLICATION LAYER FORWARD ERROR CORRECTIONCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 541,012 filed September 28, 2023, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.FIELD

[0002] Some example embodiments described in the present disclosure may be generally directed to the fields of communications, software and encoding, including, for example, to methods, architectures, apparatuses, systems related to optimizations or improvements based on application layer forward error correction (FEC).BACKGROUND

[0003] Forward error correction (FEC) may refer to a method for correcting errors in a data transmission over communication channels without the need for retransmission. In FEC, the transmitter may encode the data by adding redundant bits or symbols to the original data. These extra bits can be used by the receiver to detect and correct errors that may occur, e.g., due to noise, interference or other transmission issues.SUMMARY

[0004] Some embodiments may include a method, which may be implemented by a network element or other device or node. The method may include receiving, from a another network element, one or more rules associated with downlink data (e.g., packets or PDUs) that has undergone forward error correction (e.g., to which FEC has been applied). In an embodiment, the method may include receiving the downlink data and determining, based on the one or more rules, which of the downlink data comprises source packets and which of the downlink data comprises repair packets. The method may include sending, to a network node (e.g.. RAN node), the downlink data. The downlink data sent to the node may include a header including or indicating information identifying the source packets and the repair packets.

[0005] In some embodiments, the one or more rules may include N4 rules that include a first packet detection rule associated with source packets and a second packet detection rule associated with repair packets.

[0006] In some embodiments, the downlink data may be or may include extended reality and media services (XRM) data or other similar types of data.

[0007] In some embodiments, the header may be or may include a general packet radio services (GPRS) tunneling protocol user plane (GTP-U) header.

[0008] In some embodiments, the information may be or may include an indication that a packet (e.g., one or more packets) in the downlink data is a source packet or a repair packet.

[0009] In some embodiments, the information may be or may include a forward error correction redundancy ratio of the repair packet.

[0010] In some embodiments, the information may be or may include a source encoding block identifier that indicates which repair packets are associated to (or with) which source packets.

[0011] In some embodiments, the first netw ork element may be or may include a user plane function or node, and the second network element may be or may include a session management function or node.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] A more detailed understanding may be had from the detailed description below, given by way of example in conjunction w ith 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:

[0013] FIG. 1 A is a system diagram illustrating an example communications system;

[0014] 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;

[0015] 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;

[0016] 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;

[0017] FIG. 2 is a signaling flow diagram, according to an embodiment;

[0018] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a method, according to an embodiment;

[0019] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a method, according to an embodiment;

[0020] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method, according to an embodiment; and

[0021] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a method, according to an embodiment.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] 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.

[0023] 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 netw ork may utilize, perform, be arranged in accordance with and / or be adapted and / or configured for the methods, apparatuses and systems provided herein.

[0024] 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.

[0025] 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 contemplateany 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, or any other WTRU mentioned or described herein, may be interchangeably referred to as a UE.

[0026] 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 (EINB), 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 1 14a, 1 14b 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.

[0027] The base station 114a may be part of the RAN 104 / 113, which may also include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), relay nodes, etc. The base station 114a and / or the base station 114b may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals on one or more carrier frequencies, which may be referred to as a cell (not shown). These frequencies may be in licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide coverage for a wireless service to a specific geographical area that may be relatively fixed or that may change over time. The cell may further be divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with the base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in an embodiment, the base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e., one for each sector of the cell. In an embodiment, the base station 1 14a 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.

[0028] 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).

[0029] 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).

[0030] 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).

[0031] 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 1 16 using New Radio (NR).

[0032] 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).

[0033] 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 Interoperability7for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 IX, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856). Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), and the like.

[0034] 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. 1A, 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.

[0035] 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. 1A, 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.

[0036] 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 netw orks 112. The PSTN 108 may include circuit-s itched telephone networks that provide plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet HO 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 CNconnected to one or more RANs, which may employ the same RAT as the RAN 104 / 114 or a different RAT.

[0037] 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.

[0038] 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, atransmit / 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.

[0039] 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.

[0040] The transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit signals to, or receive signals from, a base station (e.g., the base station 114a) over the air interface 116. For example, in an embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. In an embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an emitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals, for example. In an embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive both RF and light signals. It will be appreciated that the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0041] 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.

[0042] 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.

[0043] 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 memory7stick, 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).

[0044] 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.

[0045] The processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or in lieu of, the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information over the air interface 116 from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) and / or determine its location based on the timing of the signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by way of any suitable location-determination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[0046] 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.

[0047] 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)).

[0048] 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.

[0049] The RAN 104 may include eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c, though it will be appreciated that the RAN 104 may include any number of eNode-Bs while remaining consistent with an embodiment. The eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may each include one or more transceivers for communicating with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c over the air interface 116. In an embodiment, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, the eNode-B 160a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to, and receive wireless signals from, the WTRU 102a.

[0050] Each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c may be associated with a particular cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handoverdecisions, scheduling of users in the uplink (UL) and / or downlink (DL), and the like. As shown in FIG. 1C, the eNode-Bs 160a, 1 0b, 160c may communicate with one another over an X2 interface.

[0051] The CN 106 shown in FIG. 1C may include a mobility’ management entity (MME) 162, a serving gatew ay (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 ow ned and / or operated by an entity' other than the CN operator.

[0052] The MME 162 may be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c in the RAN 104 via an S I 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.

[0053] 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.

[0054] 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.

[0055] 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.

[0056] 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 netw ork.

[0057] In representative embodiments, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0058] 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 betw een (e.g., directly betw een) the source and destination STAs with a direct link setup (DLS). In certain representative embodiments, the DLS may use an 802.1 le 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.

[0059] 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 primary7channel 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 primary7channel. If the primary7channel 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.

[0060] 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.

[0061] Very7high throughput (VHT) STAs may support 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and / or 160 MHz wide channels. The 40 MHz, and / or 80 MHz, channels may be formed by combining contiguous 20 MHz channels. A 160 MHz channel may be formed by combining 8 contiguous 20 MHz channels, or by combining two non-contiguous 80 MHz channels, which may be referred to as an 80+80 configuration. For the 80+80 configuration, the data, after channel encoding, may be passed through a segment parser that may divide the data into two streams. Inverse fast 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.

[0062] Sub 1 GHz modes of operation are supported by 802.11af and 802.11 ah. The channel operating bandwidths, and carriers, are reduced in 802.11af and 802. 11 ah relative to those used in 802.1 In, and 802. 1 lac. 802.1 laf supports 5 MHz, 10 MHz and 20 MHz bandwidths in the TV white space (TVWS) spectrum, and 802.1 lah supports 1 MHz, 2 MHz. 4 MHz, 8 MHz. and 16 MHz bandwidths using non-TVWS spectrum. According to a representative embodiment, 802.11 ah 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).

[0063] WLAN systems, which may support multiple channels, and channel bandwidths, such as 802.1 In, 802.1 lac. 802. 1 laf, and 802.1 lah, include a channel which may be designated as the primary channel. The primary channel may have a bandwidth equal to the largest common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel may be set and / or limited by a STA, from among all STAs in operating in a BSS, which supports the smallest bandwidth operating mode. In the example of 802. 1 lah, the primary channel may be 1 MHz wide for STAs (e.g., MTC type devices) that support (e.g., only support) a 1 MHz mode, even if the AP, and other STAs in the BSS support 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, 16 MHz, and / or other channel bandwidth operating modes. Carrier sensing and / or network allocation vector (NAV) settings may depend on the status of the primary channel. If the primary channel is busy, for example, due to a STA (which supports only a 1 MHz operating mode), transmitting to the AP, the entire available frequency bands may be considered busy even though a majority of the frequency bands remains idle and may be available.

[0064] In the United States, the available frequency bands, which may be used by 802. 1 lah, are from 902 MHz to 928 MHz. In Korea, the available frequency bands are from 917.5 MHz to 923.5 MHz. In Japan, the available frequency bands are from 916.5 MHz to 927.5 MHz. The total bandwidth available for 802. 1 lah is 6 MHz to 26 MHz depending on the country code.

[0065] 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.

[0066] 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).

[0067] 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 van- 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).

[0068] The gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may be configured to communicate with the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c in a standalone configuration and / or a non-standalone configuration. In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c without also accessing other RANs (e.g., such as eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c). In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may utilize one or more of gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c as a mobility anchor point. In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using signals in an unlicensed band. In a non-standalone configuration WTRUs 102a. 102b, 102c may communicate with / connect to gNBs 180a. 180b, 180c while also communicating with / connecting to another RAN such as eNode-Bs 160a. 160b, 160c. For example, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement DC principles to communicate with one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c and one or more eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c 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.

[0069] 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 tow ards 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.

[0070] 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 Netw ork (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.

[0071] 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. Netw ork 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.

[0072] The SMF 183a, 183b may be connected to an AMF 182a, 182b in the CN 115 via an Nl l interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may also be connected to a UPF 184a, 184b in the CN 115 via an N4 interface. The SMF 183a, 183b may select and control the UPF 184a. 184b and configure the routing of traffic through the UPF 184a, 184b. The SMF 183a, 183b may perform other functions, such as managing and allocating UE IP address, managing PDU sessions, controlling 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.

[0073] 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 accessto 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.

[0074] 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 1 15 may provide the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to the other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless netw orks 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.

[0075] In view of FIGs. 1 A-1D, and the corresponding description of FIGs. 1A-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 showm). 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.

[0076] The emulation devices may be designed to implement one or more tests of other devices in a lab environment and / or in an operator network environment. For example, the one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, or all, functions while being fully or partially implemented and / or deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network in order to test other devices within the communication network. The one or more emulation devices may perform the one or more, or all, functions while being temporarily implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication netw ork. 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.

[0077] 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 netw ork. 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 testequipment. 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.

[0078] Embodiments disclosed herein are representative and do not limit the applicability of the apparatus, procedures, functions and / or methods to any particular wireless technology, any particular communication technology' and / or other technologies. The term network in this disclosure may generally refer to one or more base stations or gNBs or other network entity which in turn may be associated with one or more Transmission / Reception Points (TRPs), or to any other node in the radio access netw ork.

[0079] It is noted that, throughout example embodiments described herein, the terms “serving base station”, “base station”, “gNB”, collectively “gNB” may be used interchangeably to designate any network element such as. e.g.. a network element acting as a serving base station. Embodiments described herein are not limited to gNBs and are applicable to any other type of base stations.

[0080] It is noted that, as discussed herein, repair packets may also be called or referred to as parity packets or FEC packets. Additionally, a RAN node may also be called or alternately referred to as a base station.

[0081] Application layer packets may be called source packets. Source packets may be encoded and the result of the encoding may be called repair packets. A transmitter (e.g., a first application) may send source and repair packets to a receiver (e.g., a second application). If the receiver successfully receives all the source packets, then the repair packets are not needed by the receiver. However, if the receiver does not successfully receive some of the source packets, then the receiver can use the repair packets to recover the information that w as contained in the source packets that were not successfully received. It is noted therefore that repair packets are not needed by the receiver if source packets are successfully received.

[0082] It is further noted that, if repair packets are used by the receiver to recover information, then additional processing steps may be required by the receiver. Thus, in a situation where some packets are lost (i.e., not successfully received), it may be preferable that repair packet be lost instead of a source packet being lost.

[0083] When one or more source packets are used to generate repair packets, the source and repair packets may be associated with a repair window. A repair window- is a measure of time period. The size of the repair window' may be related to the maximum delay between the transmission of a source packet and the associated repair packets. The repair window can be used by the receiver to determine how long to buffer source and repair packets.

[0084] In some embodiments, source and repair packets may be sent via different IP Port Numbers. For example, a MPEG4 video may be sent over one port (e.g., port 49174) and the retransmission MPEG4 video (i.e., repair packets) may be sent over another port (e.g., port 49176).

[0085] In some embodiments, source and repair packets may be sent via the same IP Port Numbers but different real-time transport protocol (RTP) streams. The RTP stream may be identified by the synchronization source (SSRC) fields of an RTP packet’s header, and / or other fields on the RTP header and RTP extension headers.

[0086] In some embodiments, source and repair packets may be sent via the same connection (e.g., same IP addresses, UDP port), in different QUIC streams. In such cases, the sender may identify user datagram protocol (UDP) packets carrying source and repair packets using different values for, e.g., the differentiated services code point (DSCP) field and / or the IP flow label field.

[0087] In some embodiments, a first type of media (e.g., video) may be sent via one stream, a second type of media (e.g., audio) may be sent via a second stream, and the repair packets of the first and second streams may be sent via a third stream.

[0088] When media traffic is sent in the downlink through the 5G system (5GS), the network (e.g., RAN node and / or UPF) may not be able to distinguish between source and repair packets. It is desirable to distinguish between source and repair packets, for example, so that repair packets may be dropped by the RAN node if the source packets that correspond to the repair packets have been successfully delivered. It is also desirable to distinguish between source and repair packets so that, during times of congestion, source packets can be given preferential treatment.

[0089] It may be preferable that repair packets be dropped before source packets because, if repair packets are used by the receiver to recover information, then additional processing steps are required by the receiver.

[0090] In cases where source packets and repair packets are sent via different IP flows (i.e., which may be distinguished from each other based on different source or destination IP address, IP protocol number, source or destination transport (e.g., UDP or TCP) port numbers. Differentiated Service Code Point (DSCP), IPv6 flow label), 5G System enhancements may be needed, for example, to enable: (1) the netw ork to determine if a flow carries source or repair packets, and (2) the network to determine which source and repair flows are associated.

[0091] In cases where source packets and repair packets are sent via the same IP flows (i.e., different RTP streams), 5G System enhancements may be needed, for example, to enable: (1) the netw ork to determine if a flow carries source or repair packets, and (2) the network to determine which source and repair flows are associated.

[0092] According to some example embodiments, an Application Function (AF) may request quality of service (QoS) for an application session. The AF may provide, to the 5GS (e.g., thepolicy control function (PCF) and / or network exposure function (NEF)), information regarding XRM traffic to allow the identification of traffic flows that are related with a FEC relationship, and an indication of which flows are source packet or repair packets. The AF may provide FEC assistance information to the 5GS.

[0093] According to some example embodiments, the PCF may generate policy and charging control (PCC) rules based on the information provided by the AF. For example, the PCF may generate two PCC rules, one for each IP flow (source and repair flows) or may generate one PCC rule for both data flows. For example, the PCC rules may include an indication of source or repair packet, and / or that the IP flows are linked. Additionally or alternatively, the PCC rules may include FEC assistance information. The PCF may send those rules to the SMF.

[0094] According to certain example embodiments, the SMF may generate rules (e.g., N4 rules), QoS profiles, and / or QoS rules to configure the UPF. RAN and / or UE. For example, these rules might include an indication of association between data flows, an indication of source or repair packet, and / or FEC assistance information.

[0095] According to some example embodiments, the UPF may receive downlink (DL) traffic from the application server, may detect that it has traffic that are linked via a FEC relationship, and may detect whether it is a source or repair traffic. For example, the UPF may include such information in a general packet radio services (GPRS) tunneling protocol user plane (GTP-U) header of the packet and may send the packet along with its GTP-U header.

[0096] According to certain example embodiments, a RAN node (e.g., a base station) may receive the GTP-U packet, may detect whether it is a source or repair packet, and may apply FEC assisted packet handling and / or discarding. For example, in an embodiment the RAN node may discard repair packet(s) before source packet(s) in case of congestion.

[0097] According to certain example embodiments, a network element, such as a user plane function (UPF), may be configured to detect that data flows are linked, source or repair data. For example, in some embodiments, a UPF may be configured to perform on or more of the actions discussed in the following. In an embodiment, a UPF may be configured to receive rules (e.g., N4 rules) from another network element, such as a session management function (SMF) regarding certain media serv ices, such as extended reality and media services (XRM) traffic where application layer (AL) forward error correction (FEC) has been used. According to certain example embodiments, the received rules may be N4 rules may include a first packet detection rule (PDR) that indicates that it is associated with source packets and a second PDR that is associated with repair packets. In an embodiment, the UPF may be configured to receive downlink (DL) XRM data traffic. In an embodiment, the UPF may be configured to determine, based on information in the corresponding N4 rules that the received traffic corresponds to an AL-FEC related traffic. Insome embodiments, the UPF may further determine that some packets are source packets and other packets are repair packets. In an embodiment, the UPF may be configured to determine to indicate, for example in a general packet radio services (GPRS) tunneling protocol user plane (GTP-U) header of a packet, information pertaining to the source and repair packets. For example, this information may include an indication that a packet is a source or repair packet. Additionally or alternatively, as an example, this information may also include a FEC redundancy ratio of the repair packet. Additionally or alternatively, as an example, this information may include a Source Encoding Block ID that indicates which repair packets are associated to which source packets. In an embodiment, the UPF may be configured to send the GTP-U header and DL traffic to the radio access network (RAN) node.

[0098] According to certain example embodiments, a network element, such as a SMF, may be configured to provision rules to link associated flows, to indicate to another network element, such as a UPF, how to detect source and repair data, and / or to provide FEC assistance information to the UPF. For example, in some embodiments, the SMF may be configured to perform on or more of the actions discussed in the following. In an embodiment, the SMF may be configured to receive one or more policy and charging control (PCC) rules regarding XRM traffic that uses AL-FEC, e.g., from the policy control function (PCF). For example, the PCC rules may include information about how to distinguish between source packets and repair packets. In an embodiment, the SMF may be configured to determine to generate N4 rule(s), quality of service (QoS) profile(s) and / or QoS rule(s), based on information in the received PCC rule(s). For example, the N4 rule(s) and / or QoS rule(s) may include an indication that two service data flows are linked and which service data flow carries source packets and which service data flow carries repair packets. In an example embodiment, the QoS profile(s) may include an indication that the two QoS flows, which carry the service data flows, are linked, and which QoS flow carries source packets and which QoS flow carries repair packets. For example, the QoS profile(s) may include FEC assistance information, including a FEC discarding strategy or strategies. In an embodiment, the SMF may be configured to send the generated N4 rule(s), QoS profile(s) and / or QoS mle(s) to the UPF, RAN and / or UE, respectively.

[0099] According to certain example embodiments, a network element, such as a RAN node, may be configured with FEC assistance information in the QoS profiles and to perform FEC treatment on source and repair data. For example, in some embodiments, the RAN node may be configured to perform on or more of the actions discussed in the following. In an embodiment, the RAN node may be configured to receive, e.g., from the SMF, QoS profile(s) related to XRM traffic that carries AE-FEC data. In an embodiment, the RAN node may be configured to receive DL XRM traffic from the UPF. In an embodiment, the RAN node may be configured to determine.based on information provided by the UPF in the GTP-U header of the PDUs, whether a received packet is a source packet or a repair packet. In an embodiment, the RAN node may be configured to determine, based on information in the QoS profile, e.g., including FEC assistance information, whether to send a source packet to the UE. In an embodiment, based on the previous determination (to send a source packet), the RAN node may be configured to send source packets to the UE. In an embodiment, the RAN node may be configured to determine, based on a status of delivery of source packets, a discarding treatment for the repair packet to send to the UE. In an embodiment, the RAN node may be configured to send repair packets to the UE. based on the previous determination (of the discarding treatment for the repair packet). In an embodiment, the RAN node may be configured to determine if there is congestion and, e.g., based on QoS profile(s) of the source and repair packets, to discard repair packets before it discards source packets. Additionally, if there is a congestion at the RAN, e.g., according to the QoS profile(s) of the source and repair packets, the RAN node may determine to discard repair packets before it discards source packets.

[0100] Some example embodiments may include scenarios where source and repair packets are in different IP flows. FIG. 2 illustrates an example signaling diagram for a procedure in which source and repair packets are in different IP flows, according to an embodiment. In the example procedure of FIG. 2, forward error correction is applied to the application layer traffic, and thus the application traffic includes source packets and repair packets.

[0101] The source packets and repair packets are assumed to be carried by different IP flows in the example of FIG. 2. For example, the source packets may be carried in an IP flow and the IP flow may be described, or identified by, by a combination of source application server (AS) IP address, a first source AS port number, destination UE IP address, IP protocol (e.g., UDP or TCP), a first destination UE port number, a first DSCP code point, and / or a first IP flow label. For example, the repair packets may be carried in an IP flow and the IP flow may be described, or identified by. by a combination of source AS IP address, IP protocol, a second source AS port number, destination UE IP address, a second destination UE port number, a second DSCP code point, and / or a second IP flow label.

[0102] As illustrated in the example of FIG. 2, at 201 a, the Application function (AF) may invoke a NEF API to request that the network provide a specific QoS for the application layer session. For example, the AF may make the request by sending the Nnef_AFsessionWithQos_Create request. In an example embodiment, the request may identify the IP flow that carries the source packets and / or may identify the IP flow that carries the repair packets. As described above, one or more of the IP flows (e.g., each IP flow) may be identified by one or a combination of a source IP Address, source port number, destination IP Address, destination port number, IP protocol, DSCPand / or IP flow label. In some examples, the request may indicate whether a flow (e.g., each IP flow) carries source packets or repair packets.

[0103] The IP flow that carries source packets may be called a source packet IP flow. The IP flow that carries repair packets may be called a repair packet IP Flow. The request may indicate that that source packet IP flow and repair packet IP flow are associated. Pointing out that the source packet IP flow and repair packet IP flow are associated may mean that request indicates to the network that repair packets, which are derived from the source packets in the source packet IP flow, are carried in the repair packet IP flow. This information may be useful in situations where there are multiple IP flows that carry source packets and multiple IP flows that carry repair packets. For example, if the network knows that all source packets of a flow were successfully delivered, then the network may also know that the associated repair packets may be discarded. The AF may indicate that two flows are linked by providing a "link id” value for the IP flows. When the same ■‘link id” is provided for two flows that are associated with different source and destination port numbers, the network may determine that the two flows are linked because one flow carries source packets, and the other flow carries repair packets that are associated with the source packets. The AF may also indicate in the request which flow carries “repair” packets and which flow carries “source” packets.

[0104] The AF may also include, in the request, FEC assistance information. The FEC assistance information may include the repair window corresponding for the source and repair data flows. The repair window may also be included in the flow description information or QoS requirements. For example, the FEC assistance information may include information regarding the recovery of source packets and the handling of repair packets.

[0105] In one example, with the FEC assistance information, the AF may indicate whether the repair packets (e.g., all repair packets) need to be received to be able to use the repair packets to recover lost source packets. In this case, if a repair packet corresponding to a group of source packets is lost, the group of repair packets may be discarded by the 5GS.

[0106] In one example, with the FEC assistance information, the AF may indicate a loss ratio or percentage z of repair packets that needs to be received in order to be considered for recovery of lost source packets. In this case, if some repair packets are lost, but less than z are lost, the repair packets are forwarded by the 5GS to the UE for use. Otherwise, the 5GS may discard the remaining repair packets of the group of repair packets.

[0107] In one example, with the FEC assistance information, the AF may include information as to whether partial source packets are acceptable in case of absence or failure of repair packet reception. For example, if the repair packets of a certain group of source packets is lost, and one or some packets of the group of source packets is also lost, the partial handling may indicate thatthe rest of the source packets of the group is not useful; hence the 5GS may determine to discard the remaining source packets of the group. Alternatively, if the partial source packets are still relevant, then the 5GS may forward the remaining source packets of the group.

[0108] In one example, the FEC assistance information may also include conditional ratio or relative ratio for the repair packets, defined by a pair (x,y) for example. This conditional loss ratio may mean that a ratio x of lost source packets is acceptable if at maximum a ratio of y (corresponding) repair packets is lost. According to an embodiment, the AF may provide different values for the conditional ratio. The conditional ratio provides flexibility for the ratio of the repair packets / source packets to be able to recover lost source packets. As a non-limiting example, the ratio (0.25,0.5) means that, for a group of source packets, a loss of ! of the source packets of the group is acceptable if the corresponding group of repair packets has a loss of ! at maximum. This conditional loss ratio pair (x. y) may be derived from the FEC repair characteristics such as FEC redundancy ratio. If the portion of lost packets in the group of source packets is more than what the FEC can repair for that group of source packets, then the 5GS might as well drop the source packets and their FEC packets.

[0109] In one example, the AF may include, in the FEC assistance information, a discarding strategy, which includes certain strategies such as those mentioned above regarding discarding source and or repair packets. This FEC assistance information may be provided for the source and repair packet flows irrespective of the QoS parameters requested. Alternatively, the AF may provide a set of different FEC assistance information along with a set of (alternative) QoS parameters. For example, the AF may provide different FEC redundancy ratio information for different QoS parameters. As one non-limiting example, the AF may inform the 5GS that, for a QoS parameters with 10ms PDB and 1 / 10000 PER, the FEC redundancy ratio is 1 / 5, whereas for QoS parameters with 20ms and 1 / 1000 PER, the FEC redundancy code is 1 / 20.

[0110] Some of the information in FEC assistance information may be seen as preferred treatment from the AF or what the AF is able to support to assist 5GS in reducing complexity, without the assistance information being mandatory.

[0111] In the example of FIG. 2, at 201b, the NEF may authorize the AF request, and the NEF may invoke a service of the BSF to determine which PCF is serving the data session. Based on authorizing the request, the NEF may determine to contact the PCF and may forward the parameters that were received from the AF to the PCF by invoking a Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create request. If the AF is considered trusted by the operator, then the AF can contact the PCF directly using the Npcf_PolicyAuthorization_Create request, for example.

[0112] In the example of FIG. 2, at 202a, the PCF may generate PCC rules according to the information provided by the AF at 201 (e.g., at 201a). For example, when the PCF generates thePCC rules, the PCF may generate a different PCC rule for each IP flow and indicate in the PCC Rule if the PCC Rule, and therefore the flow, is associated with source packets or repair packets. Each PCC Rule may include a “linked id" to indicate that this PCC Rule is linked to another PCC rule. Thus, the combination of the “linked id” and the “source” or “repair” indication can be used by the PCF to convey information about the FEC relationship between the flows to the SMF. Alternatively, when the PCF generates the PCC Rules, the PCF may generate one PCC rule that includes the flow description of both IP flows. The PCC rule may identify which flow carries “source” packets, which flow carries “repair” packets and that the flows are linked.

[0113] In an embodiment, the PCF may derive the required QoS parameters of the PCC rule(s) based on the information provided by the NEF. The PCF may determine a 5G QoS identifier (5QI) that matches the individual QoS parameters if it received such parameters. The PCF may use the requested priority’ level if provided by the AF in step 201a.

[0114] Additionally, the PCF might use the source and repair information to determine the allocation and retention priority (ARP) of the PCC rule(s) (e.g., of each PCC rule). For example, the PCC rule that is associated with source packets may be assigned a better ARP value than the PCC rule that is associated with repair packets. A relatively low ARP value indicates a higher priority level. As one non-limiting example, a flow that carries source packets may be associated w ith an ARP value of 1 and a flow that carries repair packets may be associated with an ARP value of 2. This example ARP value assignment will result in the flow' that carries source packets being less vulnerable to pre-emption than the flow that carries repair packets.

[0115] The PCF may derive QoS parameters for the repair packets flow depending on the QoS parameters provided for the source packet flow', e g., if the repair flow QoS parameters are not provided by the application function. For example, using the FEC redundancy ratio, or FEC loss ratio, the PCF may determine the packet error rate for the service data flow depending on the FEC loss ratio and the Packet error rate of the source data flow.

[0116] If the AF provided the PCF with a set of QoS parameters, i.e., QoS parameters and alternative QoS parameters, and included different FEC assistance information with each set of parameters, the PCF may generate a set of PCC rules, with each rule including the corresponding QoS parameters and / or including the corresponding FEC assistance information, such as FEC redundancy ratio.

[0117] The PCF may include, in the service data flow template of the PCC rule, whether the traffic flow7is linked to another traffic flow7. The PCF can include the ty pe of link and / or association between the traffic flows, for example using a “FEC” type. Additionally, the service data flow' template may include whether the flow descriptor carries source packets or repair packets. Theservice data flow template may include application layer information related to the traffic flow, such as the protocol type (e.g., RTP), payload type, etc.

[0118] The PCF may derive protocol data unit (PDU) set QoS parameters if it has been provided with PDU set QoS parameters by the AF. If the PCF was provided a repair window, the PCF may use the repair window value to assist in deriving delay related parameters, such as QoS Packet delay budget for the repair data flow (if for example the repair flow Delay parameters have not been provided), or jitter requirement for the source and or repair data flow(s).

[0119] If the PCF receives FEC assistance information, the PCF may include the FEC assistance information in the PCC rules of interest. For example, the PCC rules may include the loss ratio of the repair packets for successful recovery of lost source packets.

[0120] The PCC rule may include discarding strategies that were provided by the AF for the source and repair flows. The PCF may derive a discarding strategy, even if the AF has not provided such information. For example, the PCF may include in the PCC rules, that if the all-source packets of a group of source packets is successfully delivered, the corresponding repair packets need to be dropped.

[0121] The PCF may use the FEC redundancy ratio, to determine that if the percentage of lost source packets of a source packets group is more than a ratio x, then the source packets are not useful, and they can be discarded along with their corresponding repair packets.

[0122] In the example of FIG. 2, at 202b, the PCF may send the generated PCC mle(s) to the SMF that serves the PDU session that is associated with the IP flows. At 203a, the SMF may use the received PCC rules to determine N4 rule(s) for the UPF, QoS profile(s) for the RAN, and / or QoS rule(s) for the UE related to the service data flows. The SMF may indicate to the RAN, in the QoS Profile, that the two QoS flows are linked and may indicate which flow carries source packets and which flow' carries repair packets. The SMF may also include FEC assistance information received in the PCC rule(s) to the RAN, e.g.. possibly including FEC discarding strategy(s). Depending on the received PCC rule(s), the SMF may configure separate N4 Rules in the UPF for each of the tw o service data flows. For example, the N4 Rules may include a first PDR that indicates that is associated with source packets and a second PDR that is associated with repair packets.

[0123] In the example of FIG. 2, at 203b. the SMF may send the N4 rule(s), QoS profile(s) and / or QoS rule(s) to the UPF, RAN and / or UE respectively. At 204, the AS may send data traffic in the downlink to the UE. This application data traffic may include source packets and repair packets. The anchor UPF may receive the DL traffic, e.g., on its N6 interface. The UPF may use the N4 rules provided by the SMF to detect that the received traffic corresponds to a FEC related traffic. The UPF may detect that some packets are source packets and other packets are repair packets.The UPF may indicate to the RAN, in the GTP header, if a packet (i.e., PDU) is a source or repair packet. For example, the UPF may include information pertaining to the source and repair packets that helps identify the packets and apply discarding treatment, e.g., at the RAN. For instance, this information may be included in the GTP-U header of the source or repair packet. If available, such information may include RTP stream identifier or PDU set flow ID, PDU Set sequence number, PDU sequence number within a PDU set, a group identifier (for the repair and source packets). The information may also include a redundancy ratio corresponding to the repair packet. The UPF may then forward the DL traffic to the RAN node.

[0124] In the example of FIG. 2, at 205a, the RAN node may use the information provided by the UPF to determine which packets are source packets (e.g., source data) and which packets are repair packets (e g., repair data). For example, the RAN node may use information in the GTP header of the received packets to determine whether the packet belong to a source packet or a repair packet.

[0125] The RAN node may use information in the QoS profile, to first determine whether to send a source packet that it received to the UE. For example, if the RAN received only a portion of the source packets of a group of source packets, and the lost portion exceeds the loss ratio that is acceptable (this may have been provided to the RAN in the QoS profile(s)), then the RAN may determine not to send the source packets of the group as it will not be useful to the UE application. If the RAN node received all or enough of the source packets, then the RAN may determine to send the source packets (belonging to a group of source packets).

[0126] In the example of FIG. 2, at 205b, the RAN node may send the source packets to the UE. At 205c, when the UE receives the source packets, the UE may send an acknowledgement of each packet to the RAN. For example, the acknowledgement may be a HARQ Acknowledgement.

[0127] In the example of FIG. 2, at 205 d, the RAN node, depending on whether acknowledgements were received for all transmissions related to the source packets, may determine a discarding treatment for the (remaining) repair packets to be sent to the UE. For example, if an acknowledgement was received for the transmissions (e.g., all transmissions) related to the source packets, the RAN node may choose to discard the remaining repair packets. For example, if an acknowledgement was not received for the transmissions (e.g., for all transmissions) related to the source packets, the RAN node may choose to transmit the remaining repair packets.

[0128] For example, if the UE indicates in the feedback message that the packets of the group of source packets (e.g., all of the packets of the group of source packets) have been received, then the RAN may determine that the repair packets for this group of source packets is no longer needed (e.g., because all source packets are received), hence the RAN determines to drop the remainingrepair packet instead of sending them to the UE. If the UE indicates that some source packets were lost, the RAN may determine to send the corresponding repair packets.

[0129] Depending on the loss ratio of the source packets that UE provides to the RAN, the RAN may further determine to drop the remaining repair packets if, for example, there were too many sources’ packets loss that are not recoverable by the available repair packet or decides to send the repair packet for recovery'.

[0130] Additionally, if there is a congestion at the RAN, according to the QoS profile(s) of the source and repair packets, the RAN node may determine to discard repair packets before it discards source packets.

[0131] In the example of FIG. 2, at 205e, depending on RAN decision in step 205d, the RAN may send the repair data to the UE.

[0132] Some example embodiments may include scenarios where source and repair packets are in the same IP flows. For example, there may be a scenario in which the application data traffic of interest uses AL-FEC mechanisms and includes a source packet flow as well as a repair packet flow. It may be assumed that the source and repair packets are carried using the same IP flow. In this case, the IP source / destination information, IP protocol as well as the port numbers are the same. Additionally, DSCP and / or flow label may be the same as well, or not used or trusted by the network.

[0133] In an embodiment, the source and repair packets might be carried by the same IP flow. In the case of AL-FEC mechanism used with RTP protocol, the source and repair packets may use different RTP streams within an RTP session. RTP header field including SSRC ID is different between the two RTP streams. This SSRC ID information may be included in the Flow description information for each of the service flows (source and repair). The two RTP flows may further be identified by CSRC ID. The different RTP streams may also be identified by SRC information included in the RTP header extension using “RtpStreamld” and “RepairedRtpStreamld”.

[0134] In some embodiments, the source and repair packets may be carried by the same QUIC connection (over UDP / IP). In the case of AL-FEC mechanism used with the QUIC protocol, the source and repair packets may use different QUIC streams or QUIC frames. A UPF may be a trusted proxy on the QUIC connection, and have access to some connection information (e.g., stream IDs and / or frame type and / or per-stream metadata and / or per-frame metadata). The UPF may therefore be able to identify source and repair packets, based on this information and based on configuration from the SMF, e.g., associating source and / or repair packets with stream IDs, frame ty pes and / or metadata associated with streams or frames.

[0135] In some embodiments, the source and repair packets may be carried by a same RTP stream, using an RTP extension for PDU set information. The RTP extension for PDU setinformation may include an RTP extension header that is readable by a UPF (e.g., it may not be encrypted) and that may include an importance value corresponding to the RTP payload. Some importance values may be associated with repair packets, and some other importance values may be associated with source packets. This association may be conveyed by the AF.

[0136] In an embodiment, when the AF requests to reserve resources for an AF session, the AF may send a request to NEF using, for example, Nnef_AFsessionWithQoS_Create request. The AF may include the IP address of the UE. The AF may include flow description information. For the source and repair data flow, the IP flow carrying the traffic is the same, hence a single flow description information may be used (e.g., it may include one source / destination IP, IP protocol and port numbers for both service flows, e.g., it may include a DSCP codepoint and IP flow label). The Application function may indicate application layer information related to the service data flows. Such information may include a protocol description, payload type and / or extensions. The protocol type may be RTP for example, and the payload type value may be provided by the AF after being negotiated between the UE application and the AF using, for example, SDP. An RTP extension (e.g., to convey PDU set information including PDU set importance) may also be provided by the AF after being negotiated between the UE application and the AF using for example SDP. To further allow source and repair packets identification, the AF may provide information identification information for the source and repair packets.

[0137] For example, the AF may include an indication that FEC is used for the service data flow of interest. Additionally, the AF may include an identifier for the source packets and the repair packets. This identifier may use SSRC field information related to the RTP parameters of the source and repair RTP streams. The AF may provide a SSRC ID for the source stream and a SSRC ID for the repair stream. This identifier may use stream IDs, frame types, or metadata associated with streams or frames (e.g., a context ID used in MASQUE), some of which may correspond to source packets, and some of which may correspond to repair packets. This identifier may use PDU set importance values or ranges of PDU set importance values, some of which correspond to source packets, and some of which correspond to repair packets.

[0138] According to an embodiment, the repair stream may include repair data that pertain to more than one source flow. In this case, the AF may further provide CSRC ID (or stream IDs / metadata) for each of the contributing source for the repair RTP stream to help identity the different repair packets pertaining to each source flow(s). Flow description information may include FEC grouping semantics and SDP “group” attribute to associate source and repair flows.

[0139] In an embodiment, the AF may include, in the request, an indication that header encapsulation is activated for this service data flow, meaning that for the traffic detected by the serving UPF that belongs to the service data flow of interest, the UPF may need to extractinformation regarding source and repair flow(s) identification information from the received packets, and the UPF may need to encapsulate such information in the GTP header as well to allow for a finer handling of the source and repair flows at the 5G network and RAN node.

[0140] According to an embodiment, in order to link the source and repair flows together, the UPF may include information such as SSRC CNAME to identify association between linked source and repair streams.

[0141] Some of the example procedures discussed above describe how network nodes can receive information that indicates that two flows are linked. Flows being ■■linked” may mean that the first flow carries source packets, and the second flow carries repair packets that are associated with the source packets in the first flow. In some cases, the one flow may cany' repair packets for more than one source packet flow. For example, a first flow may cany' a first flow of source packets, a second flow may carry a second flow of source packets, and a third flow may carry repair packets that are associated with the first flow of source packets and the second flow of source packets.

[0142] In at least some of the procedures discussed above, it is explained that it can be indicated that two flows are linked by virtue of both flows being associated with the same link ID. In the example where a flow carries repair packets for more than one source flow, the repair flow may be associated with more than one link ID.

[0143] In some of the example embodiments described above, the RAN node may decide to drop repair packets. As mentioned, this may be because the number of source packets lost is above the error correction capability of the repair packets or this may be because all the source packets have been correctly received. In these cases, the RAN node may discard any buffered repair packets that are waiting to be transmitted. This may be based on the configured discard strategy'.

[0144] There may need to be a mechanism to associate a set of repair packets to a set of source packets, so that the RAN node may decide which repair packets to discard. In some example embodiments, this association be based on a ‘‘Source Encoding Block ID”. It may be assumed that the repair packets are generated for a set of source packets, which is referred to as a source encoding block. Among the set of repair packets that are used to help receive a set of source packets of a source encoding block, all may share the same Source Encoding Block ID. The Source Encoding Block ID may be a parameter in the RTP header or RTP Header Extension of the RTP PDUs carrying the source and repair packets. Upon receiving a packet, the UPF may determine the Source Encoding Block ID and may include the value in the GTP header. The RAN node may then use the Source Encoding Block ID to determine which repair packets are associated to which source packets. For example, when the RAN node determines that a source encoding block has been correctly received (e.g., all source packets for the source encoding block have been correctlyreceived), the RAN node may discard the repair packets that share the same Source Encoding Block ID. As another example, if the RAN node determines that a source encoding block can not be correctly decoded since too may source packets have been lost, then the RAN node may discard the repair packets that share the same Source Encoding Block ID.

[0145] FIG. 3 is an example flow diagram illustrating an example method for improving or optimizing application layer forward error correction, according to some example embodiments. The example method of FIG. 3 and accompanying disclosures herein may be considered a generalization or synthetization of the various example embodiments discussed above. For convenience and simplicity of exposition, the example of FIG. 3 may be described with reference to the architecture described with respect to FIGs. 1A-1D, for instance. However, the example method depicted in FIG. 3 may be carried out using different architectures as well. According to some embodiments, the method of FIG. 3 may be implemented by a network element or network node, such as the UPF described in the foregoing. It is noted that the method and / or blocks of FIG. 3 may be modified to include, or to be replaced by, any one or more of the procedures or blocks discussed elsewhere herein. As such, one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that FIG. 3 is provided as one example and modifications thereto are possible while remaining within the scope of certain example embodiments.

[0146] As illustrated in the example of FIG. 3, the method may include, at 305, receiving, from another network element, such as an SMF, one or more rules associated with data traffic where AL-FEC has been used. The one or more rules may be or may include N4 rules, which may include or indicate a first PDR associated with source packets and a second PDR associated with repair packets. As also illustrated in the example of FIG. 3, the method may include, at 310, receiving the data traffic. For example, the data traffic may be or may include XRM traffic.

[0147] In the example of FIG. 3, at 315, the method may include determining, based on the one or more rules (e.g., N4 rules), which of the received data traffic comprises source packets and which of the received data traffic comprises repair packets. As illustrated at 320, the method may include sending, to a RAN node (e.g., base station or gNB), a packet that includes a header indicating information associated with the source packets and the repair packets. For example, in some embodiments, the header of the packet may be a GTP-U header.

[0148] According to an embodiment, the information indicated by the header may be or may include an indication that the packet is a source packet or repair packet. Additionally or alternatively, in an embodiment, the information indicated by the header may be or may include a forward error correction redundancy ratio of the repair packet. Additionally or alternatively, in an embodiment, the information indicated by the header may be or may include a source encoding block identifier that indicates which repair packets are associated to which source packets.

[0149] FIG. 4 is an example flow diagram illustrating an example method for improving or optimizing application layer forward error correction, according to some example embodiments. The example method of FIG. 4 and accompanying disclosures herein may be considered a generalization or synthetization of the various example embodiments discussed above. For convenience and simplicity of exposition, the example of FIG. 4 may be described with reference to the architecture described with respect to FIGs. 1A-1D, for instance. However, the example method depicted in FIG. 4 may be carried out using different architectures as well. According to some embodiments, the method of FIG. 4 may be implemented by a network element or network node, such as the SMF described in the foregoing. It is noted that the method and / or blocks of FIG. 4 may be modified to include, or to be replaced by, any one or more of the procedures or blocks discussed elsewhere herein. As such, one of ordinary' skill in the art would understand that FIG. 4 is provided as one example and modifications thereto are possible while remaining within the scope of certain example embodiments.

[0150] As illustrated in the example of FIG. 4, the method may include, at 405, receiving, from another network element, such as PCF, one or more first rules associated with data traffic that uses AL-FEC. For example, in an embodiment, the one or more first rules may be or may include PCC rules that include information that can be used for distinguishing between source packets and repair packets. As one example, the data traffic may be or may include XRM traffic.

[0151] As further illustrated in the example of FIG. 4, the method may include, at 410, generating, based on the one or more first rules, any one or more of: (1) one or more second rules, (2) one or more QoS profiles, and / or (3) one or more QoS rules. For example, the one or more second rules may be or may include N4 rules, and the N4 rules and / or the QoS rules may indicate that two (or more) service data flows are linked and may indicate which of the two (or more) service data flows carry source packets and which of the two (or more) service data flows carry' repair packets. As an example, the QoS profiles may indicate that QoS flows carrying the two (or more) service data flows are linked and may indicate which of the QoS flows carry source packets and which of the QoS flows carry repair packets. In an example embodiment, the QoS profiles may include or may indicate FEC assistance information indicating one or more forward error correction FEC discarding strategies.

[0152] In the example of FIG. 4. the method may include, at 415. sending any one or more of the one or more second rules, the one or more QoS profiles, and / or the one or more QoS rules, to at least one of a third network element, a radio access network (RAN) node, and / or a UE or WTRU. In an embodiment, the third network element may be a UPF.

[0153] FIG. 5 is an example flow diagram illustrating an example method for improving or optimizing application layer forward error correction, according to some example embodiments.The example method of FIG. 5 and accompanying disclosures herein may be considered a generalization or synthetization of the various example embodiments discussed above. For convenience and simplicity of exposition, the example of FIG. 5 may be described with reference to the architecture described with respect to FIGs. 1A-1D, for instance. However, the example method depicted in FIG. 5 may be carried out using different architectures as well. According to some embodiments, the method of FIG. 5 may be implemented by network element or network node, such as a RAN node described in the foregoing. It is noted that the method and / or blocks of FIG. 5 may be modified to include, or to be replaced by, any one or more of the procedures or blocks discussed elsewhere herein. As such, one of ordinary' skill in the art would understand that FIG. 5 is provided as one example and modifications thereto are possible while remaining within the scope of certain example embodiments.

[0154] As illustrated in the example of FIG. 5, the method may include, at 505. receiving, from another network element, such as a SMF, one or more QoS profiles associated with a data unit that carries AL-FEC data. As one example, the data unit may be or may include XRM traffic or data. In one embodiment, the QoS profile(s) may include forward error correction (FEC) assistance information.

[0155] In the example of FIG. 5, the method may include, at 510, receiving the data unit from a third network element, such as a UPF. According to an embodiment, the method may include, at 515, determining, e.g., based on information provided in a header of the data unit, whether the data unit is a source packet or a repair packet. For example, in some embodiments, the header of the data unit may be or may include a GTP-U header. In an embodiment, the method may include, at 520, determining, e g., based on the one or more QoS profiles, to send the source packet to a WTRU and, at 525, sending the source packet to the WTRU.

[0156] According to some embodiments, the method may include determining, e.g., based on a status of delivery of the source packet, a discarding treatment for a repair packet associated with the source packet and, based on the determined discarding treatment, sending the repair packet to the WTRU.

[0157] In certain embodiments, the method may include determining whether there is a congestion condition (e.g., whether congestion is occurring at the RAN node) and, based on the one or more QoS profiles, determining to discard the repair packet before discarding the source packet. For example, in one embodiment, on condition that it is determined that there is a congestion condition, the method may include discarding the repair packet before discarding the source packet.

[0158] FIG. 6 is an example flow diagram illustrating an example method for improving or optimizing application layer forward error correction, according to some example embodiments. The example method of FIG. 6 and accompanying disclosures herein may be considered ageneralization or synthetization of the various example embodiments discussed above. For convenience and simplicity of exposition, the example of FIG. 6 may be described with reference to the architecture described with respect to FIGs. 1A-1D. for instance. However, the example method depicted in FIG. 6 may be carried out using different architectures as well. According to some embodiments, the method of FIG. 6 may be implemented by a network element or network node. For example, in one embodiment, the method of FIG. 6 may be implemented by or in a UPF as described in the foregoing. It is noted that the method and / or blocks of FIG. 6 may be modified to include, or to be replaced by, any one or more of the procedures or blocks discussed elsewhere herein. As such, one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that FIG. 6 is provided as one example, and modifications thereto are possible while remaining within the scope of certain example embodiments.

[0159] As illustrated in the example of FIG. 6, the method may include, at 605, receiving, from a another network element, one or more rules associated with downlink data (e.g., packets or PDUs) that has undergone forward error correction (e.g., to which FEC has been applied).

[0160] In an embodiment, the method may include, at 610, receiving the downlink data. At 615, the method may include determining, based on the one or more rules, which of the downlink data comprises source packets and which of the downlink data comprises repair packets (e.g., determining the portions of the data / packets / PDUs that include (or are) source packets and the portions that include (or are) repair packets).

[0161] As illustrated in the example of FIG. 6, the method may include, at 620. sending, to a network node (e.g., RAN node), the downlink data. The downlink data sent to the node may include a header including or indicating information identifying the source packets and the repair packets.

[0162] In some embodiments, the one or more rules may include N4 rules that include a first packet detection rule associated with source packets and a second packet detection rule associated with repair packets.

[0163] In some embodiments, the downlink data may be or may include extended reality and media services (XRM) data or other similar types of data.

[0164] In some embodiments, the header may be or may include a general packet radio services (GPRS) tunneling protocol user plane (GTP-U) header.

[0165] In some embodiments, the information may be or may include an indication that a packet (e.g., one or more packets) in the downlink data is a source packet or a repair packet.

[0166] In some embodiments, the information may be or may include a forward error correction redundancy ratio of the repair packet.

[0167] In some embodiments, the information may be or may include a source encoding block identifier that indicates which repair packets are associated to (or with) which source packets.

[0168] In some embodiments, the first network element may be or may include a user plane function or node, and the second network element may be or may include a session management function or node.

[0169] Although features and elements are provided above in particular combinations, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that each feature or element can be used alone or in any combination with the other features and elements. The present disclosure is not to be limited in terms of the particular embodiments described in this application, which are intended as illustrations of various aspects. Many modifications and variations may be made without departing from its spirit and scope, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. No element, act, or instruction used in the description of the present application should be construed as critical or essential to the invention unless explicitly provided as such. Functionally equivalent methods and apparatuses within the scope of the disclosure, in addition to those enumerated herein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing descriptions. Such modifications and variations are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims. The present disclosure is to be limited only by the terms of the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to particular methods or systems.

[0170] In some example embodiments described herein, (e.g., configuration) information may be described as received by a WTRU from the network, for example, through system information or via any kind of protocol message. Although not explicitly mentioned throughout embodiments described herein, the same (e.g., configuration) information may be pre-configured in the WTRU (e.g., via any kind of pre-configuration methods such as e.g., via factory settings), such that this (e.g., configuration) information may be used by’ the WTRU without being received from the network.

[0171] Any' characteristic, variant or embodiment described for a method is compatible with an apparatus device comprising means for processing the disclosed method, such as with a device comprising a processor configured to process the disclosed method, a computer program product comprising program code instructions and a non -transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions.

[0172] The foregoing embodiments are discussed, for simplicity7, 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.

[0173] 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.

[0174] 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.

[0175] 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.

[0176] Moreover, in the embodiments provided above, processing platforms, computing systems, controllers, and other devices that include processors are noted. These devices mayinclude 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."

[0177] 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.

[0178] The data bits may also be maintained on a computer readable medium including magnetic disks, optical disks, and any other volatile (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM)) or non-volatile (e.g., Read-Only Memory (ROM)) mass storage system readable by the CPU. The computer readable medium may include cooperating or interconnected computer readable medium, which exist exclusively on the processing system or are distributed among multiple interconnected processing systems that may be local or remote to the processing system. It should be understood that the embodiments are not limited to the above-mentioned memories and that other platforms and memories may support the provided methods.

[0179] 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.

[0180] 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 softwareimplementation. Alternatively, the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0181] 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 product in a variety of forms, and that an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter described herein applies regardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signal bearing medium include, but are not limited to, the following: a recordable type medium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a CD, a DVD, a digital tape, a computer memory, etc., and a transmission type medium such as a digital and / or an analog communication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wired communications link, a wireless communication link, etc.).

[0182] 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, suchas 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 / communi cation systems.

[0183] 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 intermedia! components. Likewise, any two components so associated may also be viewed as being "operably connected", or "operably coupled", to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated may also be viewed as being "operably couplable" to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and / or physically interacting components and / or wirelessly interactable and / or wirelessly interacting components and / or logically interacting and / or logically interactable components.

[0184] 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.

[0185] 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 follow ing 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 claimrecitation 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".

[0186] 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.

[0187] 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 anon-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.

[0188] 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. § 1 12. ^ 6 or means-plus-function claim format, and any claim without the terms "means for" is not so intended.

[0189] Although various embodiments have been described in terms of communication systems, it is contemplated that the systems may be implemented in software on microprocessors / general purpose computers (not shown). In certain embodiments, one or more of the functions of the various components may be implemented in software that controls a general-purpose computer.

[0190] In addition, although some example embodiments are illustrated and described herein, the invention is not intended to just be limited to the details shown. Rather, various modifications and variations may be made in the details within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims and without departing from the spirit or scope invention.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising: receiving, by a first network element from a second network element, one or more rules associated with downlink data that has undergone forward error correction; receiving the downlink data; determining, based on the one or more rules, which of the downlink data comprises source packets and which of the downlink data comprises repair packets; and sending, to a radio access network (RAN) node, the downlink data, wherein the downlink data comprises a header including information identifying the source packets and the repair packets.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more rules comprise N4 rules including a first packet detection rule associated with source packets and a second packet detection rule associated with repair packets.

3. The method of any of claims 1-2, wherein the downlink data comprises extended reality and media services (XRM) data.

4. The method of any of claims 1-3, wherein the header comprises a general packet radio services (GPRS) tunneling protocol user plane (GTP-U) header.

5. The method of any of claims 1-4, wherein the information comprises an indication that a packet in the downlink data is a source packet or repair packet.

6. The method of any of claims 1-5, wherein the information comprises a forw ard error correction redundancy ratio of the repair packet.

7. The method of any of claims 1-6, wherein the information comprises a source encoding block identifier that indicates which repair packets are associated to which source packets.

8. The method of any of claims 1-7, wherein: the first network element comprises a user plane function, and the second network element comprises a session management function.

9. A first network element, comprising: circuitry, including any of a transmitter, receiver, processor and memory, configured to receive, from a second network element, one or more rules associated with downlink data that has undergone forward error correction; receive the downlink data; determine, based on the one or more rules, which of the downlink data comprises source packets and which of the downlink data comprises repair packets; and send, to a radio access network (RAN) node, the downlink data, wherein the downlink data comprises a header including information identifying the source packets and the repair packets.

10. The network element of claim 9, wherein the one or more rules comprise N4 rules including a first packet detection rule associated with source packets and a second packet detection rule associated with repair packets.

11. The network element of any of claims 9-10, wherein the downlink data comprises extended reality and media services (XRM) data.

12. The network element of any of claims 9-11, wherein the header comprises a general packet radio services (GPRS) tunneling protocol user plane (GTP-U) header.

13. The network element of any of claims 9-12, wherein the information comprises an indication that a packet in the downlink data is a source packet or repair packet.

14. The network element of any of claims 9-13, wherein the information comprises a forward error correction redundancy ratio of the repair packet.

15. The network element of any of claims 9-14, wherein the information comprises a source encoding block identifier that indicates which repair packets are associated to which source packets.

16. The network element of any of claims 9-15, wherein: the first network element comprises a user plane function, and the second netw ork element comprises a session management function.

7. A first network element, comprising: means for receiving, from a second network element, one or more rules associated with downlink data that has undergone forw ard error correction; means for receiving the downlink data; means for determining, based on the one or more rules, which of the downlink data comprises source packets and which of the downlink data comprises repair packets; and means for sending, to a radio access network (RAN) node, the downlink data, wherein the downlink data comprises a header including information identifying the source packets and the repair packets.

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