Method and apparatus to enabling quality of service handling different subflows within a transport layer traffic flow

Abstract

An apparatus comprising means for providing a policy control function configured to perform: receiving, from a network exposure function, an application function session request for quality of service for one or more subflows within a transport layer traffic flow, the request comprising information identifying a transport layer traffic flow, information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow, and one or more quality of service or a traffic characteristics parameters associated with the subflows; determining one or more policy rules associated with the requested application function session, wherein each policy rule comprises information identifying at least one of the subflows to which the respective rule applies; and sending, to a session management function, the determined one or more policy rules

Description

[0001] METHOD AND APPARATUS TO ENABLING QUALITY OF SERVICE HANDLING DIFFERENT SUBFLOWS WITHIN A TRANSPORT LAYER TRAFFIC FLOW

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] Various example embodiments of this disclosure relate to a method, apparatus, system and computer program and in particular but not exclusively to enabling quality of service handling of different subflows within a transport layer traffic flow.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] A communication network can be seen as a facility that enables communications between two or more communication devices or provides communication devices access to a data network. A mobile or wireless communication network is one example of a communication network. A communication device may be provided with a service by an application server.

[0006] Such communication networks operate in according with standards such as those provided by 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) or ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute). Examples of standards provided by 3GPP are the so-called 3GPP standards for cellular technology generations, such as 3GPP standards for 4G technology and 3GPP standards for 5G technology.

[0007] SUMMARY

[0008] Some example embodiments of this disclosure will be described with respect to certain aspects. These aspects are not intended to indicate key or essential features of the embodiments of this disclosure, nor are they intended to be used to limit the scope of thereof. Other features, aspects, and elements will be readily apparent to a person skilled in the art in view of this disclosure.

[0009] According to an aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for providing a policy control function configured to perform: receiving, from a network exposure function, an application function session request for quality of service for one or more subflows within a transport layer traffic flow, the request comprising information identifying a transport layer traffic flow, information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow, and one or more quality of service or traffic characteristics parameters associated with each of the subflows; determining one or more policy rules associated with the requested application function session, wherein each policy rule comprises information identifying at least one of the subflows to which the respective rule applies; and sending, to a session management function, the determined one or more policy rules.

[0010] The transport layer traffic flow may be a user datagram protocol / internet protocol traffic flow.

[0011] The one or more subflows may comprise one or more of: a real time transport protocol media stream; a real time transport protocol control protocol packet flow; a Zimmerman real time transport protocol media stream; a datagram transport layer security packet flow; a Session Traversal Utilities for Network Address Translation protocol packet flow; a Traversal Using Relays around Network Address Translator protocol packet flow; and a QUIC protocol packet flow.

[0012] The information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may comprise one or more of: a set of fields for subflow identification within a packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification; a set of fields within an information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification; and a set of fields for subflow identification within a protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification.

[0013] When the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow comprises the set of fields for subflow identification within the packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification or the set of fields for subflow identification within the protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification, the packet filter information element may further comprise an indicator for indicating that the packet filter information element comprises a set of fields for subflow identification.

[0014] When the subflow comprises a real time transport protocol media stream, the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may further comprise information indicating the value of a real time transport protocol synchronization source and / or a real time transport protocol payload type header fields.

[0015] According to an aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising means for providing a session management function configured to perform: receiving, from a policy control function, one or more policy rules associated with an application function session, wherein each rule comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective rule applies; determining, based on the received one or more policy rules, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for a user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule comprises information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality of service rule applies; determining, based on the one or more received policy rules, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule applies; sending, to the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function and the one or more packet detection rules; and sending, to the user equipment, the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment.

[0016] The means may be for providing a session management function further configured to perform: receiving a protocol data unit establishment request from the user equipment, the protocol data unit establishment request comprising information indicating the user equipment’s capability to support identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to the identified subflow; in response to receiving the protocol data unit establishment request comprising information indicating the user equipment’s capability to support identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to the identified subflow, determining a policy control function and / or a user plane function that support identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to the identified subflow; wherein the policy control function from which the one or more policy rules are received corresponds to the determined policy control function and / or the user plane function to which the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function and the one or more packet detection rules are sent corresponds to the determined user plane function.

[0017] The transport layer traffic flow may be a user datagram protocol / internet protocol traffic flow.

[0018] The one or more subflows may comprise one or more of: a real time transport protocol media stream; a real time transport protocol control protocol packet flow; a Zimmerman real time transport protocol media stream; a datagram transport layer security packet flow; a Session Traversal Utilities for Network Address Translation protocol packet flow; a Traversal Using Relays around Network Address Translator protocol packet flow; and a QIIIC protocol packet flow.

[0019] The information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may comprise one or more of: a set of fields for subflow identification within a packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification; a set of fields within an information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification; and a set of fields for subflow identification within a protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification.

[0020] When the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow comprises the set of fields for subflow identification within the packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification or the set of fields for subflow identification within the protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification, the packet filter information element may further comprise an indicator for indicating that the packet filter information element comprises a set of fields for subflow identification.

[0021] When the subflow comprises a real time transport protocol media stream, the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may further comprise information indicating the value of a real time transport protocol synchronization source and / or a real time transport protocol payload type header fields.

[0022] According to an aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising means for providing a user plane function configured to perform: receiving, from a session management function, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality or service rule applies; detecting, based on the one or more one or more packet detection rules for the user plane function, one or more downlink packets of one of the at least one subflow; and performing quality of service flow mapping of the detected one or more downlink packets of the at least one subflow to a particular quality of service flow based on the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules associated with the matching packet detection rule for the user plane function. The transport layer traffic flow may be a user datagram protocol / internet protocol traffic flow.

[0023] The one or more subflows may comprise one or more of: a real time transport protocol media stream; a real time transport protocol control protocol packet flow; a Zimmerman real time transport protocol media stream; a datagram transport layer security packet flow; a Session Traversal Utilities for Network Address Translation protocol packet flow; a Traversal Using Relays around Network Address Translator protocol packet flow; and a QUIC protocol packet flow.

[0024] The information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may comprise one or more of: a set of fields for subflow identification within a packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification; a set of fields within an information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification; and a set of fields for subflow identification within a protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification.

[0025] When the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow comprises the set of fields for subflow identification within the packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification or the set of fields for subflow identification within the protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification, the packet filter information element may further comprise an indicator for indicating that the packet filter information element comprises a set of fields for subflow identification.

[0026] When the subflow comprises a real time transport protocol media stream, the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may further comprise information indicating the value of a real time transport protocol synchronization source and / or a real time transport protocol payload type header fields.

[0027] According to an aspect there is provided a user equipment comprising means for: receiving, from a session management function, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule applies; and performing quality of service mapping of uplink packets of the at least one subflow to a particular quality of service flow based on the received one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment. The means may be further for: sending, to an access node, one or more uplink packets of the at least one subflow using the particular quality of service flow to which the one or more uplink packets are mapped.

[0028] The means may be further for: sending, to the session management function and / or an access and mobility management function, information indicating the user equipment’s capability for supporting identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to the identified subflow.

[0029] The transport layer traffic flow may be a user datagram protocol / internet protocol traffic flow.

[0030] The one or more subflows may comprise one or more of: a real time transport protocol media stream; a real time transport protocol control protocol packet flow; a Zimmerman real time transport protocol media stream; a datagram transport layer security packet flow; a Session Traversal Utilities for Network Address Translation protocol packet flow; a Traversal Using Relays around Network Address Translator protocol packet flow; and a QUIC protocol packet flow.

[0031] The information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may comprise one or more of: a set of fields for subflow identification within a packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification; a set of fields within an information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification; and a set of fields for subflow identification within a protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification.

[0032] When the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow comprises the set of fields for subflow identification within the packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification or the set of fields for subflow identification within the protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification, the packet filter information element may further comprise an indicator for indicating that the packet filter information element comprises a set of fields for subflow identification.

[0033] When the subflow comprises a real time transport protocol media stream, the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may further comprise information indicating the value of a real time transport protocol synchronization source and / or a real time transport protocol payload type header fields.

[0034] According to an aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive, from a network exposure function, an application function session request for quality of service for one or more subflows within a transport layer traffic flow, the request comprising information identifying a transport layer traffic flow, information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow, and one or more quality of service or traffic characteristics parameters associated with each of the subflows; determine one or more policy rules associated with the requested application function session, wherein each policy rule comprises information identifying at least one of the subflows to which the respective rule applies; and send, to a session management function, the determined one or more policy rules.

[0035] The transport layer traffic flow may be a user datagram protocol / internet protocol traffic flow.

[0036] The one or more subflows may comprise one or more of: a real time transport protocol media stream; a real time transport protocol control protocol packet flow; a Zimmerman real time transport protocol media stream; a datagram transport layer security packet flow; a Session Traversal Utilities for Network Address Translation protocol packet flow; a Traversal Using Relays around Network Address Translator protocol packet flow; and a QUIC protocol packet flow.

[0037] The information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may comprise one or more of: a set of fields for subflow identification within a packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification; a set of fields within an information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification; and a set of fields for subflow identification within a protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification.

[0038] When the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow comprises the set of fields for subflow identification within the packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification or the set of fields for subflow identification within the protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification, the packet filter information element may further comprise an indicator for indicating that the packet filter information element comprises a set of fields for subflow identification.

[0039] When the subflow comprises a real time transport protocol media stream, the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may further comprise information indicating the value of a real time transport protocol synchronization source and / or a real time transport protocol payload type header fields.

[0040] According to an aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive, from a policy control function, one or more policy rules associated with an application function session, wherein each rule comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective rule applies; determine, based on the received one or more policy rules, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for a user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule comprises information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality of service rule applies; determine, based on the one or more received policy rules, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule applies; send, to the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function and the one or more packet detection rules; and send, to the user equipment, the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment.

[0041] The at least one processor may further cause the apparatus to: receive a protocol data unit establishment request from the user equipment, the protocol data unit establishment request comprising information indicating the user equipment’s capability to support identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to the identified subflow; in response to receiving the protocol data unit establishment request comprising information indicating the user equipment’s capability to support identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to the identified subflow, determine a policy control function and / or a user plane function that support identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to the identified subflow; wherein the policy control function from which the one or more policy rules are received corresponds to the determined policy control function and / or the user plane function to which the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function and the one or more packet detection rules are sent corresponds to the determined user plane function.

[0042] The transport layer traffic flow may be a user datagram protocol / internet protocol traffic flow.

[0043] The one or more subflows may comprise one or more of: a real time transport protocol media stream; a real time transport protocol control protocol packet flow; a Zimmerman real time transport protocol media stream; a datagram transport layer security packet flow; a Session Traversal Utilities for Network Address Translation protocol packet flow; a Traversal Using Relays around Network Address Translator protocol packet flow; and a QUIC protocol packet flow.

[0044] The information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may comprise one or more of: a set of fields for subflow identification within a packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification; a set of fields within an information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification; and a set of fields for subflow identification within a protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification.

[0045] When the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow comprises the set of fields for subflow identification within the packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification or the set of fields for subflow identification within the protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification, the packet filter information element may further comprise an indicator for indicating that the packet filter information element comprises a set of fields for subflow identification.

[0046] When the subflow comprises a real time transport protocol media stream, the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may further comprise information indicating the value of a real time transport protocol synchronization source and / or a real time transport protocol payload type header fields. According to an aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive, from a session management function, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality or service rule applies; detect, based on the one or more one or more packet detection rules for the user plane function, one or more downlink packets of one of the at least one subflow; and perform quality of service flow mapping of the detected one or more downlink packets of the at least one subflow to a particular quality of service flow based on the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules associated with the matching packet detection rule for the user plane function.

[0047] The transport layer traffic flow may be a user datagram protocol / internet protocol traffic flow.

[0048] The one or more subflows may comprise one or more of: a real time transport protocol media stream; a real time transport protocol control protocol packet flow; a Zimmerman real time transport protocol media stream; a datagram transport layer security packet flow; a Session Traversal Utilities for Network Address Translation protocol packet flow; a Traversal Using Relays around Network Address Translator protocol packet flow; and a QUIC protocol packet flow.

[0049] The information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may comprise one or more of: a set of fields for subflow identification within a packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification; a set of fields within an information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification; and a set of fields for subflow identification within a protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification.

[0050] When the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow comprises the set of fields for subflow identification within the packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification or the set of fields for subflow identification within the protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification, the packet filter information element may further comprise an indicator for indicating that the packet filter information element comprises a set of fields for subflow identification.

[0051] When the subflow comprises a real time transport protocol media stream, the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may further comprise information indicating the value of a real time transport protocol synchronization source and / or a real time transport protocol payload type header fields.

[0052] According to an aspect, there is provided a user equipment comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to: receive, from a session management function, one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule applies; and perform quality of service mapping of uplink packets of the at least one subflow to a particular quality of service flow based on the received one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment.

[0053] The at least one processor may further cause the user equipment to: send, to an access node, one or more uplink packets of the at least one subflow using the particular quality of service flow to which the one or more uplink packets are mapped.

[0054] The at least one processor may further cause the user equipment to: send, to the session management function and / or an access and mobility management function, information indicating the user equipment’s capability for supporting identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to the identified subflow.

[0055] The transport layer traffic flow may be a user datagram protocol / internet protocol traffic flow.

[0056] The one or more subflows may comprise one or more of: a real time transport protocol media stream; a real time transport protocol control protocol packet flow; a Zimmerman real time transport protocol media stream; a datagram transport layer security packet flow; a Session Traversal Utilities for Network Address Translation protocol packet flow; a Traversal Using Relays around Network Address Translator protocol packet flow; and a QUIC protocol packet flow. The information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may comprise one or more of: a set of fields for subflow identification within a packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification; a set of fields within an information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification; and a set of fields for subflow identification within a protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification.

[0057] When the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow comprises the set of fields for subflow identification within the packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification or the set of fields for subflow identification within the protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification, the packet filter information element may further comprise an indicator for indicating that the packet filter information element comprises a set of fields for subflow identification.

[0058] When the subflow comprises a real time transport protocol media stream, the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may further comprise information indicating the value of a real time transport protocol synchronization source and / or a real time transport protocol payload type header fields.

[0059] According to an aspect, there is provided a method performed by a policy control function, the method comprising: receiving, from a network exposure function, an application function session request for quality of service for one or more subflows within a transport layer traffic flow, the request comprising information identifying a transport layer traffic flow, information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow, and one or more quality of service or traffic characteristics parameters associated with each of the subflows; determining one or more policy rules associated with the requested application function session, wherein each policy rule comprises information identifying at least one of the subflows to which the respective rule applies; and sending, to a session management function, the determined one or more policy rules.

[0060] The transport layer traffic flow may be a user datagram protocol / internet protocol traffic flow.

[0061] The one or more subflows may comprise one or more of: a real time transport protocol media stream; a real time transport protocol control protocol packet flow; a Zimmerman real time transport protocol media stream; a datagram transport layer security packet flow; a Session Traversal Utilities for Network Address Translation protocol packet flow; a Traversal Using Relays around Network Address Translator protocol packet flow; and a QUIC protocol packet flow.

[0062] The information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may comprise one or more of: a set of fields for subflow identification within a packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification; a set of fields within an information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification; and a set of fields for subflow identification within a protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification.

[0063] When the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow comprises the set of fields for subflow identification within the packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification or the set of fields for subflow identification within the protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification, the packet filter information element may further comprise an indicator for indicating that the packet filter information element comprises a set of fields for subflow identification.

[0064] When the subflow comprises a real time transport protocol media stream, the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may further comprise information indicating the value of a real time transport protocol synchronization source and / or a real time transport protocol payload type header fields.

[0065] According to an aspect there is provided a method performed by a session management function, the method comprising: receiving, from a policy control function, one or more policy rules associated with an application function session, wherein each rule comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective rule applies; determining, based on the received one or more policy rules, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for a user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule comprises information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality of service rule applies; determining, based on the one or more received policy rules, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule applies; sending, to the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function and the one or more packet detection rules; and sending, to the user equipment, the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment.

[0066] The method may further comprise: receiving a protocol data unit establishment request from the user equipment, the protocol data unit establishment request comprising information indicating the user equipment’s capability to support identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to the identified subflow; in response to receiving the protocol data unit establishment request comprising information indicating the user equipment’s capability to support identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to the identified subflow, determining a policy control function and / or a user plane function that support identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to the identified subflow; wherein the policy control function from which the one or more policy rules are received corresponds to the determined policy control function and / or the user plane function to which the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function and the one or more packet detection rules are sent corresponds to the determined user plane function.

[0067] The transport layer traffic flow may be a user datagram protocol / internet protocol traffic flow.

[0068] The one or more subflows may comprise one or more of: a real time transport protocol media stream; a real time transport protocol control protocol packet flow; a Zimmerman real time transport protocol media stream; a datagram transport layer security packet flow; a Session Traversal Utilities for Network Address Translation protocol packet flow; a Traversal Using Relays around Network Address Translator protocol packet flow; and a QUIC protocol packet flow.

[0069] The information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may comprise one or more of: a set of fields for subflow identification within a packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification; a set of fields within an information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification; and a set of fields for subflow identification within a protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification. When the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow comprises the set of fields for subflow identification within the packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification or the set of fields for subflow identification within the protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification, the packet filter information element may further comprise an indicator for indicating that the packet filter information element comprises a set of fields for subflow identification.

[0070] When the subflow comprises a real time transport protocol media stream, the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may further comprise information indicating the value of a real time transport protocol synchronization source and / or a real time transport protocol payload type header fields.

[0071] According to an aspect there is provided a method performed by a user plane function, the method comprising: receiving, from a session management function, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality or service rule applies; detecting, based on the one or more one or more packet detection rules for the user plane function, one or more downlink packets of one of the at least one subflow; and performing quality of service flow mapping of the detected one or more downlink packets of the at least one subflow to a particular quality of service flow based on the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules associated with the matching packet detection rule for the user plane function.

[0072] The transport layer traffic flow may be a user datagram protocol / internet protocol traffic flow.

[0073] The one or more subflows may comprise one or more of: a real time transport protocol media stream; a real time transport protocol control protocol packet flow; a Zimmerman real time transport protocol media stream; a datagram transport layer security packet flow; a Session Traversal Utilities for Network Address Translation protocol packet flow; a Traversal Using Relays around Network Address Translator protocol packet flow; and a QUIC protocol packet flow. The information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may comprise one or more of: a set of fields for subflow identification within a packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification; a set of fields within an information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification; and a set of fields for subflow identification within a protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification.

[0074] When the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow comprises the set of fields for subflow identification within the packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification or the set of fields for subflow identification within the protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification, the packet filter information element may further comprise an indicator for indicating that the packet filter information element comprises a set of fields for subflow identification.

[0075] When the subflow comprises a real time transport protocol media stream, the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may further comprise information indicating the value of a real time transport protocol synchronization source and / or a real time transport protocol payload type header fields.

[0076] According to an aspect there is provided a method performed by a user equipment, the method comprising: receiving, from a session management function, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule applies; and performing quality of service mapping of uplink packets of the at least one subflow to a particular quality of service flow based on the received one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment.

[0077] The method may further comprise: sending, to an access node, one or more uplink packets of the at least one subflow using the particular quality of service flow to which the one or more uplink packets are mapped.

[0078] The method may further comprise: sending, to the session management function and / or an access and mobility management function, information indicating the user equipment’s capability for supporting identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to the identified subflow.

[0079] The transport layer traffic flow may be a user datagram protocol / internet protocol traffic flow.

[0080] The one or more subflows may comprise one or more of: a real time transport protocol media stream; a real time transport protocol control protocol packet flow; a Zimmerman real time transport protocol media stream; a datagram transport layer security packet flow; a Session Traversal Utilities for Network Address Translation protocol packet flow; a Traversal Using Relays around Network Address Translator protocol packet flow; and a QUIC protocol packet flow.

[0081] The information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may comprise one or more of: a set of fields for subflow identification within a packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification; a set of fields within an information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification; and a set of fields for subflow identification within a protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification.

[0082] When the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow comprises the set of fields for subflow identification within the packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification or the set of fields for subflow identification within the protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification, the packet filter information element may further comprise an indicator for indicating that the packet filter information element comprises a set of fields for subflow identification.

[0083] When the subflow comprises a real time transport protocol media stream, the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may further comprise information indicating the value of a real time transport protocol synchronization source and / or a real time transport protocol payload type header fields.

[0084] According to an aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: receiving, from a network exposure function, an application function session request for quality of service for one or more subflows within a transport layer traffic flow, the request comprising information identifying a transport layer traffic flow, information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow, and one or more quality of service or traffic characteristics parameters associated with each of the subflows; determining one or more policy rules associated with the requested application function session, wherein each policy rule comprises information identifying at least one of the subflows to which the respective rule applies; and sending, to a session management function, the determined one or more policy rules.

[0085] The transport layer traffic flow may be a user datagram protocol / internet protocol traffic flow.

[0086] The one or more subflows may comprise one or more of: a real time transport protocol media stream; a real time transport protocol control protocol packet flow; a Zimmerman real time transport protocol media stream; a datagram transport layer security packet flow; a Session Traversal Utilities for Network Address Translation protocol packet flow; a Traversal Using Relays around Network Address Translator protocol packet flow; and a QUIC protocol packet flow.

[0087] The information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may comprise one or more of: a set of fields for subflow identification within a packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification; a set of fields within an information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification; and a set of fields for subflow identification within a protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification.

[0088] When the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow comprises the set of fields for subflow identification within the packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification or the set of fields for subflow identification within the protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification, the packet filter information element may further comprise an indicator for indicating that the packet filter information element comprises a set of fields for subflow identification.

[0089] When the subflow comprises a real time transport protocol media stream, the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may further comprise information indicating the value of a real time transport protocol synchronization source and / or a real time transport protocol payload type header fields. According to an aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: receiving, from a policy control function, one or more policy rules associated with an application function session, wherein each rule comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective rule applies; determining, based on the received one or more policy rules, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for a user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule comprises information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality of service rule applies; determining, based on the one or more received policy rules, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule applies; sending, to the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function and the one or more packet detection rules; and sending, to the user equipment, the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment.

[0090] The instructions, when executed by the apparatus, may cause the apparatus to further perform: receiving a protocol data unit establishment request from the user equipment, the protocol data unit establishment request comprising information indicating the user equipment’s capability to support identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to the identified subflow; in response to receiving the protocol data unit establishment request comprising information indicating the user equipment’s capability to support identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to the identified subflow, determining a policy control function and / or a user plane function that support identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to the identified subflow; wherein the policy control function from which the one or more policy rules are received corresponds to the determined policy control function and / or the user plane function to which the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function and the one or more packet detection rules are sent corresponds to the determined user plane function.

[0091] The transport layer traffic flow may be a user datagram protocol / internet protocol traffic flow. The one or more subflows may comprise one or more of: a real time transport protocol media stream; a real time transport protocol control protocol packet flow; a Zimmerman real time transport protocol media stream; a datagram transport layer security packet flow; a Session Traversal Utilities for Network Address Translation protocol packet flow; a Traversal Using Relays around Network Address Translator protocol packet flow; and a QUIC protocol packet flow.

[0092] The information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may comprise one or more of: a set of fields for subflow identification within a packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification; a set of fields within an information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification; and a set of fields for subflow identification within a protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification.

[0093] When the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow comprises the set of fields for subflow identification within the packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification or the set of fields for subflow identification within the protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification, the packet filter information element may further comprise an indicator for indicating that the packet filter information element comprises a set of fields for subflow identification.

[0094] When the subflow comprises a real time transport protocol media stream, the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may further comprise information indicating the value of a real time transport protocol synchronization source and / or a real time transport protocol payload type header fields.

[0095] According to an aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: receiving, from a session management function, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality or service rule applies; detecting, based on the one or more one or more packet detection rules for the user plane function, one or more downlink packets of one of the at least one subflow; and performing quality of service flow mapping of the detected one or more downlink packets of the at least one subflow to a particular quality of service flow based on the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules associated with the matching packet detection rule for the user plane function.

[0096] The transport layer traffic flow may be a user datagram protocol / internet protocol traffic flow.

[0097] The one or more subflows may comprise one or more of: a real time transport protocol media stream; a real time transport protocol control protocol packet flow; a Zimmerman real time transport protocol media stream; a datagram transport layer security packet flow; a Session Traversal Utilities for Network Address Translation protocol packet flow; a Traversal Using Relays around Network Address Translator protocol packet flow; and a QUIC protocol packet flow.

[0098] The information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may comprise one or more of: a set of fields for subflow identification within a packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification; a set of fields within an information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification; and a set of fields for subflow identification within a protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification.

[0099] When the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow comprises the set of fields for subflow identification within the packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification or the set of fields for subflow identification within the protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification, the packet filter information element may further comprise an indicator for indicating that the packet filter information element comprises a set of fields for subflow identification.

[0100] When the subflow comprises a real time transport protocol media stream, the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may further comprise information indicating the value of a real time transport protocol synchronization source and / or a real time transport protocol payload type header fields.

[0101] According to an aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a user equipment, cause the user equipment to perform at least the following: receiving, from a session management function, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule applies; and performing quality of service mapping of uplink packets of the at least one subflow to a particular quality of service flow based on the received one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment.

[0102] The instructions, when executed by the user equipment, may cause the user equipment to further perform: sending, to an access node, one or more uplink packets of the at least one subflow using the particular quality of service flow to which the one or more uplink packets are mapped.

[0103] The instructions, when executed by the user equipment, may cause the user equipment to further perform: sending, to the session management function and / or an access and mobility management function, information indicating the user equipment’s capability for supporting identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to the identified subflow.

[0104] The transport layer traffic flow may be a user datagram protocol / internet protocol traffic flow.

[0105] The one or more subflows may comprise one or more of: a real time transport protocol media stream; a real time transport protocol control protocol packet flow; a Zimmerman real time transport protocol media stream; a datagram transport layer security packet flow; a Session Traversal Utilities for Network Address Translation protocol packet flow; a Traversal Using Relays around Network Address Translator protocol packet flow; and a QUIC protocol packet flow.

[0106] The information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may comprise one or more of: a set of fields for subflow identification within a packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification; a set of fields within an information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification; and a set of fields for subflow identification within a protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification.

[0107] When the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow comprises the set of fields for subflow identification within the packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification or the set of fields for subflow identification within the protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification, the packet filter information element may further comprise an indicator for indicating that the packet filter information element comprises a set of fields for subflow identification.

[0108] When the subflow comprises a real time transport protocol media stream, the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may further comprise information indicating the value of a real time transport protocol synchronization source and / or a real time transport protocol payload type header fields.

[0109] According to an aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for providing a policy control function configured to perform: receiving, from a network exposure function, an application function session request for quality of service for one or more subflows within a transport layer traffic flow of a session of an application function, the request comprising information identifying the transport layer traffic flow, information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow, and one or more quality of service or traffic characteristics parameters associated with the one or more subflows; determining one or more policy rules associated with the application function session, wherein each policy rule of the one or more policy rules comprises information identifying at least one of the one or more subflows to which the respective policy rule applies; and sending, to a session management function, the one or more policy rules that are determined.

[0110] According to an aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for providing a session management function configured to perform: receiving, from a policy control function, one or more policy rules associated with an application function session, wherein each policy rule of the one or more policy rules comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective policy rule applies; determining, based on the one or more policy rules that are received, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for a user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule of the one or more packet detection rules comprises information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality of service rule for the user plane function of the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function applies; determining, based on the one or more policy rules that are received, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment of the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule for the user equipment of the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment applies; sending, to the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function and the one or more packet detection rules; and sending, to the user equipment, the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment.

[0111] The means is for providing a session management function further configured to perform: receiving a protocol data unit establishment request from the user equipment, the protocol data unit establishment request comprising information indicating a capability of the user equipment to support identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to respective subflows of the one or more subflows; in response to receiving the protocol data unit establishment request comprising information indicating the capability of the user equipment to support identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to respective subflows of the one or more subflows, determining a policy control function and / or a user plane function that support identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to respective subflows of the one or more subflows; wherein the policy control function from which the one or more policy rules are received corresponds to the policy control function that is determined and / or the user plane function to which the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function and the one or more packet detection rules are sent corresponds to the user plane function that is determined.

[0112] According to an aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for providing a user plane function configured to perform: receiving, from a session management function, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule of the one or more packet detection rules comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality or service rule for the user plane function of the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function applies; detecting, based on a packet detection rule for the user plane function of the one or more packet detection rules for the user plane function, one or more downlink packets of a subflow of the at least one subflow; and mapping the one or more downlink packets of the subflow of the at least one subflow that are detected to a particular quality of service flow based on the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules associated with the packet detection rule for the user plane function that detects the one or more downlink packets of the subflow.

[0113] According to an aspect there is provided a user equipment comprising means for: receiving, from a session management function, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment of the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule applies; and mapping one or more uplink packets of the at least one subflow to a particular quality of service flow based on the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment that are received.

[0114] The means may further be for: sending, to an access node, the one or more uplink packets of the at least one subflow using the particular quality of service flow to which the one or more uplink packets are mapped.

[0115] The means may further be for: sending, to the session management function and / or an access and mobility management function, information indicating a capability of the user equipment for identification of respective subflows of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to the identification of the respective subflows of the one or more subflows.

[0116] The transport layer traffic flow is a user datagram protocol / internet protocol traffic flow.

[0117] The apparatus the one or more subflows may comprise one or more of the following: a real time transport protocol media stream; a real time transport protocol control protocol packet flow; a Zimmerman real time transport protocol media stream; a datagram transport layer security packet flow; a Session Traversal Utilities for Network Address Translation protocol packet flow; a Traversal Using Relays around Network Address Translator protocol packet flow; or a QUIC protocol packet flow.

[0118] The information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may comprise one or more of: a set of fields for subflow identification within a packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification; a set of fields within an information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification; and a set of fields for subflow identification within a protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification.

[0119] When the information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may comprise the set of fields for subflow identification within the packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification or the set of fields for subflow identification within the protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification, the packet filter information element further comprises an indicator for indicating that the packet filter information element comprises the set of fields for subflow identification.

[0120] When a subflow of the one or more subflows comprises a real time transport protocol media stream, the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may further comprises information indicating the value of a real time transport protocol synchronization source and / or a real time transport protocol payload type header fields.

[0121] According to an aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform: receiving, from a network exposure function, an application function session request for quality of service for one or more subflows within a transport layer traffic flow of a session of an application function, the request comprising information identifying the transport layer traffic flow, information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow, and one or more quality of service or traffic characteristics parameters associated with the one or more subflows; determining one or more policy rules associated with the application function session, wherein each policy rule of the one or more policy rules comprises information identifying at least one of the one or more subflows to which the respective policy rule applies; and sending, to a session management function, the one or more policy rules that are determined.

[0122] According to an aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform: receiving, from a policy control function, one or more policy rules associated with an application function session, wherein each policy rule of the one or more policy rules comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective rule applies; determining, based on the one or more policy rules that are received, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for a user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule of the one or more packet detection rules comprises information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality of service rule for the user plane function of the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function applies; determining, based on the one or more policy rules that are received, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment of the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule for the user equipment of the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment applies; sending, to the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function and the one or more packet detection rules; and sending, to the user equipment, the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment.

[0123] According to an aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform: receiving, from a session management function, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule of the one or more packet detection rules comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality or service rule for the user plane function of the one or more forwarding action rules or quality or service rules for the user plane function applies; detecting, based on a packet detection rule for the user plane function of the one or more one or more packet detection rules for the user plane function, one or more downlink packets of a subflow of the at least one subflow; and mapping the one or more downlink packets of the subflow of the at least one subflow that are detected to a particular quality of service flow based on the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules associated with a packet detection rule for the user plane function that detects the one or more downlink packets of the subflow.

[0124] According to an aspect, there is provided a user equipment comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to: receive, from a session management function, one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment of the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule applies; and map one or more uplink packets of the at least one subflow to a particular quality of service flow based on the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment that are received.

[0125] According to an aspect, there is provided a method performed by a policy control function, the method comprising: receiving, from a network exposure function, an application function session request for quality of service for one or more subflows within a transport layer traffic flow of a session of an application function, the request comprising information identifying the transport layer traffic flow, information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow, and one or more quality of service or traffic characteristics parameters associated with the one or more subflows; determining one or more policy rules associated with the application function session, wherein each policy rule of the one or more policy rules comprises information identifying at least one of the one or more subflows to which the respective policy rule applies; and sending, to a session management function, the one or more policy rules that are determined.

[0126] According to an aspect, there is provided an method performed by a session management function, the method comprising: receiving, from a policy control function, one or more policy rules associated with an application function session, wherein each policy rule of the one or more policy rules comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective rule applies; determining, based on the one or more policy rules that are received, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for a user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule of the one or more packet detection rules comprises information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality of service rule for the user plane function of the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function applies; determining, based on the one or more policy rules that are recevied, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment of the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule for the user equipment of the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment applies; sending, to the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function and the one or more packet detection rules; and sending, to the user equipment, the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment.

[0127] According to an aspect, there is provided a method performed by a user plane function, the method comprising: receiving, from a session management function, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule of the one or more packet detection rules comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality or service rule for the user plane function of the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function applies; detecting, based on a packet detection rule for the user plane function of the one or more packet detection rules for the user plane function, one or more downlink packets of a subflow of the at least one subflow; and mapping the one or more downlink packets of the subflow one of the at least one subflow that are detected to a particular quality of service flow based on the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules associated with the packet detection rule for the user plane function that detects the one or more downlink packets of the subflow.

[0128] According to an aspect, there is provided a method performed by a user equipment, the method comprising: receiving, from a session management function, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment of the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule applies; and mapping one or more uplink packets of the at least one subflow to a particular quality of service flow based on the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment that are received.

[0129] According to an aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the method according to any of the preceding aspects.

[0130] In the above, many different embodiments have been described. It should be appreciated that further embodiments may be provided by the combination of any two or more of the embodiments described above. DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

[0131] Some example embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting and illustrative example only, with reference to the accompanying Figures in which:

[0132] FIG. 1 shows a representation of a 5thgeneration communication system;

[0133] FIG. 2 shows a representation of an apparatus for the communication system of FIG. 1 according to some example embodiments;

[0134] FIG. 3 shows a representation of an apparatus according to some example embodiments;

[0135] FIG. 4 shows an example of an application server sending a transport layer traffic flow to a user plane function where multiple subflows are multiplexed within a single transport layer traffic flow;

[0136] FIG. 5 shows an example where the first byte of a data packet may be used to indicate the procotol / media stream within a transport layer traffic flow;

[0137] FIG. 6 shows an example UDP / IP packet header;

[0138] FIG. 7 shows methods according to some examples;

[0139] FIG. 8 shows a method for providing traffic flow identification information and QoS requirements for individual subflows where several subflows are multiplexed within the same transport layer traffic flow according to some examples; and

[0140] FIG. 9 shows a schematic representation of an apparatus according to some examples.

[0141] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0142] In the following various example embodiments are explained with reference to communication devices capable of communication with a communication system. Before explaining in detail the embodiments of the methods and apparatuses of the present disclosure, a 5thgeneration communication system (5GS), an access network and a core network (5GC) thereof, and communication devices are briefly explained with reference to FIG. 1 , 2 and 3. While examples may be described in relation to a 5GS and components thereof, it should be understood that some examples of the present disclosure may be applied in communication systems other than 5GS, for example a 6thgeneration (6G) system.

[0143] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a 5G communication system (5GS). The 5GS may comprise a user equipment (UE) or Terminal 100, an access network such as a 5G radio access network (5G-RAN) 101 or next generation radio access network (NG-RAN), a 5G core network 102, and one or more application functions 103. An application function 103 may be deployed in the 5GS as trusted application function or may be deployed or host on one or more application servers of the data network (DN) 104. Such application functions are untrusted application functions. The 5GS connects the UE to a data network the access network and the 5GC 102 (e.g., a UPF of the 5GC).

[0144] The 5G-RAN 101 may comprise one or more radio access nodes, such as gNodeB (gNB). A gNB may include one or more gNodeB (GNB) distributed units connected to one or more gNodeB (GNB) centralized units.

[0145] The 5GC may comprise the following network functions: Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF); Network Exposure Function (NEF) 105; Network Repository Function (NRF); Policy Control Function (PCF); Unified Data Management (U DM) 106; Application Function (AF) 103; Authentication Server Function (AUSF) 107; an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 108; Session Management Function (SMF) 109; and a user plane function (UPF) 110. FIG. 1 also shows the various interfaces (N1 , N2 etc.) that may be implemented between the various elements of the system.

[0146] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a control apparatus 200 for controlling a function of the access network (e.g., a 5G-RAN or the NG-RAN illustrated in FIG. 1) illustrated on FIG. 1. The control apparatus 200 may comprise at least one random access memory (RAM) 211a, at least on read only memory (ROM) 211b, at least one processor 212, 213 and a network interface 214. The at least one processor 212, 213 may be coupled to the RAM 211a and the ROM 211 b. The at least one processor 212, 213 may be configured to execute an appropriate software code 215. Execution of the software code 215 may for example may cause the apparatus to perform operations for controlling a function of the access network. The software code 215 may be stored in the ROM 211 b. The control apparatus 200 may be interconnected with another control apparatus 200 for controlling another function of the 5G-RAN or the NG-RAN. In some embodiments, each function of the 5G-RAN or the NG-RAN is deployed or hosted on a control apparatus 200. In alternative embodiments, two or more functions of the 5G-RAN or the NG-RAN may share a control apparatus.

[0147] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a communication device 300, such as the UE illustrated on FIG. 1. The communication device 300 may be provided by any device capable of sending and receiving radio signals. Non-limiting examples of a communication device 300 comprise a user equipment, a mobile station (MS) or mobile device such as a mobile phone or what is known as a ’smart phone’, a computer provided with a wireless interface card or other wireless interface facility (e.g., USB dongle), a personal data assistant (PDA) or a tablet provided with wireless communication capabilities, a machine-type communications (MTC) device, an Internet of things (loT) type communication device or any combinations of these or the like. The communication device 300 may comprise a transceiver for transmitting and / or receiving, for example, wireless signals carrying communications, for example radio signals. The communications may be one or more of voice, electronic mail (email), text messages, multimedia data, machine data and so on.

[0148] The communication device 300 may receive wireless signals (e.g., radio signals) over an air or radio interface 307 via appropriate apparatus for receiving and may transmit wireless signals via appropriate apparatus for transmitting radio signals. In FIG. 3 transceiver is designated schematically by block 306. The transceiver 306 may comprise, for example, a radio part and associated antenna arrangement. The antenna arrangement may be arranged internally or externally to the mobile device and may comprise one or more antenna elements. The antenna arrangement may be a multi-input multi output (MIMO) antenna.

[0149] The communication device 300 may be provided with at least one processor 301 , at least one memory ROM 302a, at least one RAM 302b and other possible components 303 for use in software and hardware aided execution of tasks it is designed to perform, including control of access to and communications with access networks (e.g., the 5G-RAN or NG-RAN illustrated in FIG. 1) and other communication devices. The at least one processor 301 is coupled to the RAM 302b and the ROM 302a. The at least one processor 301 may be configured to execute an appropriate software code 308. The software code 308 may for example allow to perform one or more operations of the communication device. The software code 308 may be stored in the ROM 302a.

[0150] The processor, the ROM, and the RAM, the transceiver and other circuitry of the communication device (e.g., a modem) can be provided on a circuit board, in chipsets, or in a system on chip. The circuit board, chipsets or system on chip is denoted by reference 304. The communication device 300 may optionally have a user interface such as keypad 305, touch sensitive screen or pad, combinations thereof or the like. Optionally one or more of a display, a speaker and a microphone may be provided depending on the type of communication device.

[0151] In some communication systems (e.g., 5G, 6G), extended Reality (XR)or othe real-time multimedia applications (e.g., cloud gaming, conferencing) may exchange multiple media streams of various types(e.g., video, audio, pose or other sensory information), which may be multiplexed together, along with other application traffic, into a single transport layer traffic flow (e.g., a user datagram protocol (UDP) / internet protocol (IP) flow). An example is shown in FIG. 4, where an Application Server (AS) is sending two real-time transport protocol (RTP) video streams and a single RTP audio stream to a user plane function (UPF). The RTP video streams and RTP audio stream are all multiplexed into the same LIDP / IP traffic flow along with RTP control protocol (RTCP), datagram transport layer security (DTLS) and Session Traversal Utilities for Network Address Translation (STUN) protocols.

[0152] In some examples, for applications using RTP or Secure RTP, the multiplexing may be based on Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request for Comments (RFC) 5761 , RFC 5764, RFC 7983, RFC 8872 and RFC 9443. In some examples any number of media streams (e.g., RTP and / or secure RTP (SRTP) video / audio streams) may be multiplexed over the same transport layer (e.g., UDP / IP) traffic flow, along with other protocols, including but not necessarily limited to RTCP, secure RTCP (SRTCP), STUN, Traversal Using Relays around Network Address Translator (TURN), DTLS and QUIC. Depending on the application DTLS and QUIC may be used for carrying delay critical or non-delay critical information alongside with (S)RTP. As used herein, the term “subflow” is used to indicate the specific protocol or media stream that is multiplexed, along with other subflows, into the same transport layer traffic flow.

[0153] In some networks, quality of service (QoS) differentiation or other types of traffic filtering may be provided on the level of transport layer traffic flows. The transport layer traffic flow may be identified using traffic identification information comprising an IP 5-tuple of a Source IP address, Destination IP address, Transport Protocol, Source transport protocol port numbers, and Destination transport protocol port number. The traffic identification information may further comprise an IPv4 Type of Service header field and an IPv6 Traffic Class header field. Some other header fields, such as IPv6 Flow Label or IPSec Security Parameter Index (SPI), can further be used. These fields may be used throughout the communication network for the purpose of traffic identification or detection at the transport layer traffic flow level, for example in Application Function provided Traffic Flow Description, Policy Control Rule Service Data Flow Traffic Filter, UPF Packet Detection Rules and UE QoS Rules.

[0154] To identify subflows within a transport layer traffic flow, further packet payload or application layer header fields may be utilized. In some examples the first byte of a packet may be used to indicate the protocol / media stream type within a UDP / IP flow. FIG. 5 shows an example of how the first byte may be used to indicate different protocol / media stream types. As can be seen in the example, if the first byte is set to a value between 0 and 3, the packet is a STUN protocol packet, and if the first byte has a value between 128 and 191 , the packet is an RTP or RTCP packet.

[0155] FIG. 6 shows an example LIDP / IP flow packet header, where the first byte 600 is assumed to indicate RTP / RTCP. However, as shown in the example of FIG. 5, there may be no distinction between an RTP and RTCP packet based on the first byte alone. To address this, in some examples the second byte in the payload may be used to differentiate between RTP and RTCP - for example RTP may contain a Marker (M) 1 -bit and a Payload Type (PT) 7-bit header fields and RTCP may contain an 8-bit Packet Type header field. For some implementations it may be possible to distinguish between RTP and RTCP based on the value of the second byte. In the example of FIG. 6, the second byte 602 value indicates that the packet is an RTP packet, meaning the second byte comprises a 1 -bit indication for the Marker (M) 604 and a 7-bit PT header 606.

[0156] Once the protocol has been determined to be RTP, it may be further possible to identify the specific RTP stream it belongs to based on the RTP Synchronization Source (SSRC) 608 and Payload Type (PT) 606 header fields. In some examples, multiple media streams may share the same SSRC value or have the same Payload Type, but each stream multiplexed together must have a unique combination of SSRC and PT values. Therefore, by examining the first byte, second byte, and RTP PT and SSRC fields, it is possible to identify which protocol or RTP media stream a packet is associated with.

[0157] However some existing network deployments may only allow identification of the entire LIDP / IP flow and mapping it to a single QoS flow or in general a single type of QoS handling and packet scheduling. It may be beneficial to enable different subflows within a LIDP / IP traffic flow to be handled differently in terms of QoS processing and packet scheduling since different subflows may have different QoS requirements and traffic characteristics (e.g., burst transmission interval, burst size) or different QoS handling and scheduling optimization methods may apply to them. In the following QoS handling is used to refer also to scheduling optimizations based on traffic characteristics such as scheduling packets based on known traffic burst arrival interval or burst size.

[0158] For example, referring to the LIDP / IP traffic flow shown in FIG. 4, an application may desire to request both RTP video streams to be served according to a first set of QoS parameters while the RTP audio stream and the other protocols to be served according to a different set of QoS parameters or traffic characteristics. In another example the application may desire to request each RTP media stream and also the DTLS-based data channel to be served according to their own dedicated QoS parameters or traffic characteristics and the RTP video streams served according to different QoS parameters or traffic characteristics. In general, various different scenarios may be possible depending on the application’s QoS requirements or traffic characteristics.

[0159] For the most flexible support for the different scenarios, it may be beneficial to identify each subflow within a transport layer traffic flow and both request and apply differentiated QoS treatment for each subflow. However existing communication systems may not provide a solution for identifying specific subflows multiplexed together within a single transport layer traffic flow so that they can be mapped to specific QoS treatments.

[0160] Some examples of the present disclosure may address these issues. Some examples may extend packet detection information beyond the IP 5-tuple in such a way that specific protocol(s) and specific media stream(s) can be identified and be mapped to distinct QoS flows according to their QoS requirements.

[0161] Reference is made to FIG. 7, which shows methods according to some examples.

[0162] At 700, a method comprises receiving, from a network exposure function, an application function session request for quality of service for one or more subflows within a transport layer traffic flow, the request comprising information identifying a transport layer traffic flow, information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow, and one or more quality of service or traffic characteristics parameters associated with each of the subflows. Stated in an alternative fashion, at 700, the method comprises receiving, from a network exposure function, an application function session request for quality of service for one or more subflows within a transport layer traffic flow of a session of an application function, the request comprising information identifying the transport layer traffic flow, information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow, and one or more quality of service or traffic characteristics parameters associated with the one or more subflows.

[0163] At 702, the method comprises determining one or more policy rules associated with the requested application function session, wherein each policy rule comprises information identifying at least one of the subflows to which the respective rule applies. Stated in an alternative fashion, at 702, the method comprises determining one or more policy rules associated with the application function session, wherein each policy rule of the one or more policy rules comprises information identifying at least one of the one or more subflows to which the respective policy rule applies.

[0164] At 704, the method comprises sending, to a session management function, the determined one or more policy rules. Stated in an alternative fashion, at 704, the method comprises sending, to a session management function, the one or more policy rules that are determined.

[0165] In some examples the method of steps 700-704 may be performed by a policy control function.

[0166] At 706, a method comprises receiving, from a policy control function, one or more policy rules associated with an application function session, wherein each rule comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective rule applies. Stated in an alternative fashion, at 706, the method comprises receiving, from a policy control function, one or more policy rules associated with an application function session, wherein each policy rule of the one or more policy rules comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective rule applies.

[0167] At 708, the method comprises determining, based on the received one or more policy rules, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for a user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule comprises information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality of service rule applies. Stated in an alternative fashion, at 708, the method comprises determining, based on the one or more policy rules that are received, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for a user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule of the one or more packet detection rules comprises information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality of service rule for the user plane function of the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function applies.

[0168] At 710, the method comprises determining, based on the one or more received policy rules, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule applies. Stated in an alternative fashion, at 710, the method comprises determining, based on the one or more policy rules that are recevied, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment of the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule for the user equipment of the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment applies.

[0169] At 712, the method comprises sending, to the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function and the one or more packet detection rules.

[0170] At 714, the method comprises sending, to the user equipment, the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment.

[0171] In some examples the method of steps 706-714 may be performed by a session management function.

[0172] At 716, a method comprises receiving, from a session management function, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for a user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality or service rule applies. Stated in an alternative fashion, at 716, the method comprises receiving, from a session management function, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule of the one or more packet detection rules comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality or service rule for the user plane function of the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function applies.

[0173] At 718, the method comprises detecting, based on the one or more one or more packet detection rules for the user plane function, one or more downlink packets of one of the at least one subflow. Stated in an alternative fashion, at 718, the method comprises detecting, based on a packet detection rule for the user plane function of the one or more packet detection rules for the user plane function, one or more downlink packets of a subflow of the at least one subflow. At 720, the method comprises performing quality of service flow mapping of the detected one or more downlink packets of the at least one subflow to a particular quality of service flow based on the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules associated with the matching packet detection rule for the user plane function. Stated in an alternative fashion, at 720, the method comprises mapping the one or more downlink packets of the subflow one of the at least one subflow that are detected to a particular quality of service flow based on the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules associated with the packet detection rule for the user plane function that detects the one or more downlink packets of the subflow.

[0174] In some examples the method of steps 716-720 may be performed by a user plane function.

[0175] At 722, a method comprises receiving, from a session management function, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule applies. Stated in an alternative fashion, at 722, the method comprises receiving, from a session management function, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment of the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule applies.

[0176] At 724, the method comprises performing quality of service mapping of uplink packets of the at least one subflow to a particular quality of service flow based on the received one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment. Stated in an alternative fashion, at 724, the method comprises mapping one or more uplink packets of the at least one subflow to a particular quality of service flow based on the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment that are received.

[0177] In some examples the method of steps 722-724 may be performed by a user equipment.

[0178] In some examples, each packet in a transport layer traffic flow may comprise information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow with which the packet is associated. Network functions (e.g., PCF, SMF, UPF) and / or other entities (e.g., UE) may be configured to identify a subflow within the transport layer traffic flow based on the information identifying the one or more subflows and process the packet accordingly - for example by mapping the packet to a specific QoS flow.

[0179] In some examples the information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may comprise a protocol field. The information comprised in the protocol field may indicate the type of subflow comprised in the transport layer traffic flow. For example, the protocol field can have one or more of the following values: “RTP”, RTCP”, “ZRTP” (indicating Zimmerman RTP), “DTLS”, “STUN”, “TURN” and “QUIC”. Both RTP and Secure RTP may be indicated by the protocol field value “RTP”. Both RTCP and Secure RTCP may be indicated by the protocol field value “RTCP”. It should be understood that in some examples, other protocol fields may be included.

[0180] The information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may further comprise a field indicating an RTP synchronization source (SSRC) and / or a field indicating an RTP payload type (PT). The RTP-SSRC and / or RTP-PT fields may only be included when the protocol field indicates RTP / SRTP.

[0181] For example: protocol- ’dtls” : identifies DTLS packets

[0182] - protocol=["stun”, “turn”, “rtcp”, “dtls”]: identifies non-RTP packets protocol=”rtp”, rtp-ssrc=”1234567890”, rtp-pt=”99”: identifies a specific RTP media stream

[0183] The information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may be included in at least the following interfaces and functions:

[0184] Nnef_AFSessionWithQoS service request sent from an application function to a network exposure function (NEF). The request may comprise Flow Description information including the information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow so that the AF can target its QoS requirements to a specific subflow. A similar Flow description may be used in services provided by PCF or time sensitive communication time synchronization function (TSCTSF). Policy control and charging (PCC) rules in the PCF / SMF interface: The Service Data Flow Filter may include the information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow to allow the PCC rules to be targeted to a specific subflow.

[0185] Packet Detection Information (PDI) in the Packet Detection Rules (PDR) in the SMF / UPF interface: The PDI may include the information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow so the SMF can configure the UPF to detect a specific subflow carried within a packet in the DL direction and map that packet to a specific QoS treatment (QoS flow).

[0186] - The Packet Filter Set information in QoS rules provided by SMF to UE may include the information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow so the SMF can configure the UE map a specific subflow carried within a packet in the UL direction to a specific QoS treatment (QoS flow).

[0187] In some examples the information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may comprise one or more additional fields (e.g., protocol field, RTP-SSRC field, RTP-PT field) that are added to existing IP Packet Filter definitions.

[0188] In some examples information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may be included as a set of new fields to the existing IP packet filter information element (or attribute or parameter). This may be referred to as an “extended IP packet filter” herein. The new fields may be used with similar semantics as the existing fields. For backwards compatibility the Protocol Description may be associated with a flag or other type of indicator to indicate that the IP packet filter is an extended IP Packet Filter. This flag or indicator may be transmitted along with the IP Packet Filter.

[0189] In some examples information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may be comprised in a dedicated Application Layer Packet Filter information element. The dedicated Application Layer Packet Filter information element may be separate from the existing IP Packet Filter information element. The fields within the new information element may be used in combination with the fields of existing IP Packet Filter with similar combined semantics.

[0190] In some examples information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow may be comprised in a Protocol Description. This may be referred to as an “extended Protocol Description” herein. According to existing network standards, the Protocol Description is provided transparently from AF to UPF and UE. In examples where the information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow is comprised in the Protocol Description, the PCF and SMF may also process the protocol description by observing Application Layer filter fields comprised in the protocol description and generating the PCC and PDR rules, respectively. The UPF and UE may use the protocol description not only to identify PDU sets but to filter packets. For backwards compatibility the Protocol Description may be associated with a flag or other type of indicator to indicate that the Protocol Description is an extended Protocol Description. This flag or indicator may be transmitted along with the Protocol Description.

[0191] In some examples it may be useful to discover if a Function (e.g., PCF, SMF, UPF) or Entity (e.g., UE) supports identification and QoS handling mapping of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic. For this purpose, in some examples a UE that supports identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and QoS handling according to the identified subflow may include an indicator (e.g., “Application Layer Packet Filter”, “Extended IP packet filter”, “Extended Protocol Description”) in its PDU session establishment request. This may enable the SMF to determine the UE’s capability.

[0192] When the SMF receives one or more policy rules with information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and QoS parameters associated with the identified subflow, the SMF may ignore the information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and QoS parameters associated with the identified subflow if the SMF knows that the UE does not support identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and QoS handling according to the identified subflow (e.g., based on the indicator included in the UE’s PDU session establishment request).

[0193] When the SMF determines that the UE does not support the identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and QoS handling according to the identified subflow, the SMF may notify the PCF that the information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and QoS parameters associated with the identified subflow is ignored due to the UE’s inability to utilize said information.

[0194] When the PCF is notified that the UE does not support the identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and QoS handling according to the identified subflow, the PCF may in turn notify the AF. The AF may then update the AF session request or make a new AF session request without the information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and QoS parameters associated with the identified subflow.

[0195] In some examples the UE may not support identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and QoS handling according to the identified subflow, but the SMF and / or UPF may support identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and QoS handling according to the identified subflow. In such examples the SMF may decide to include the information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and QoS handling according to the identified subflow in DL traffic. In this case DL packets may be mapped to different QoS flows according to the subflow that the packet is associated with, while all UL packets comprised within the transport layer traffic flow may use one QoS flow. In some examples the SMF may choose the particular QoS flow by including an IP packet filter in the QoS rule for the transport layer traffic flow.

[0196] In some examples, 5GC NFs (e.g. SMFs, PCFs, UPFs) may advertise their capability to support the identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and QoS handling according to the identified subflow in their NF profile, and discovery query parameters may be extended to enable a querying NF (e.g., AMF) to discover a NF supporting the identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and QoS handling according to the identified subflow.

[0197] In some examples the UE’s capability to support identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and QoS handling according to the identified subflow may also be signaled to the AMF. The AMF may discover and select, if possible, an SMF supporting the identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and QoS handling according to the identified subflow for the PDU session.

[0198] Similarly, when the SMF receives a PDU Session establishment request from a UE supporting the identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and QoS handling according to the identified subflow, the SMF may discover and select, if possible, for the PDU session, a PCF and UPF supporting the identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and QoS handling according to the identified subflow.

[0199] In some examples, even if the UE does not support the identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and QoS handling according to the identified subflow, the network (e.g., the AMF and / or SMF) may, based on DNN / S-NSSAI and / or local policies, select a SMF, PCF, and UPF able to handle the identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and QoS handling according to the identified subflow. This may help optimize at least the DL traffic handling.

[0200] Reference is made to FIG. 8, which shows a method for providing traffic flow identification information and QoS requirements for individual subflows where several subflows are multiplexed within the same transport layer traffic flow according to some examples. In the example of FIG. 8, it is assumed that the UE, UPF, SMF, and PCF all support identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and QoS handling according to the identified subflow.

[0201] At 800, the AF sends, to the NEF, an application function session request message (e.g., an AFSessionWithQoS request). The request may comprise flow description information (e.g., IP 5-tuple, IPv4 ToS or IPv6 TC) identifying a transport layer traffic flow (e.g., LIDP / IP traffic flow), information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow (e.g., application layer flow description or extended flow description or extended Protocol Description, which may include the protocol field and optional RTP-SSRC and / or RTP-PT fields described previously), and one or more quality of service parameters associated with each of the subflows. The QoS parameters may be QoS parameters or PDU Set QoS parameters. In some examples where subflow identification is conveyed either by extended flow description or application flow description and where the AF provides PDU Set QoS parameters, the AF may optionally include a Protocol Description associated with the subflow.

[0202] For example: o Flow Description = {source IP, destination IP, udp, source port, destination port}, Application Layer Flow description = {protocol=”rtp”, pt=”97”}, QoS parameters = {PSDB, PSER, PSIHI, ...}, Protocol Description, / / video o Flow Description = {source IP, destination IP, udp, source port, destination port}, Application Layer Flow description = {protocol=”rtp”, pt=”98”}, QoS parameters = {PDB, PER ...}. / / audio o Flow Description = {source IP, destination IP, udp, source port, destination port}, Application Layer Flow description = {protocol- ’dtls”}, QoS parameters = {PDB, PER ...}. / / data channel

[0203] At 802 the NEF provides the received request to the PCF.

[0204] At 804 the PCF determines one or more rules (e.g., one or more policy and charging control (PCC) rules) based on the received request. In some examples the PCF may first authorize the request received at 802 and generate the rules at 804 in response to authorizing the request. Each of the one or more rules comprises information identifying at least one of the subflows to which the respective rule applies (e.g., service data flow filters, which may include the protocol field and optional RTP-SSRC and / or RTP-PT fields described previously).

[0205] At 806 the PCF sends the determined one or more rules to the SMF.

[0206] At 808, based on the one or more rules received from the PCF, the SMF determines one or more QoS rules for sending them to the UPF and one or more QoS rules for the UE to be used for uplink traffic.

[0207] The one or more QoS rules for the UPF may comprise one or more packet detection rules (PDRs), one or more forwarding action rules (FARs) and one or more quality of service enforcement rules (QERs). Each packet detection rule may be associated with at least one forwarding action rule and / or at least one quality of service enforcement rule. Each packet detection rule comprises information identifying at least one of the one or more subflows to which the respective packet detection rule applies (e.g., service data flow filters, which may include the protocol field and optional RTP-SSRC and / or RTP-PT fields described previously). The one or more QoS rules for the UPF may apply to DL traffic of the transport layer traffic flow.

[0208] Each of the one or more QoS rules for the UE may comprise a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one of the one or more subflows to which the respective QoS rule applies (e.g., service data flow filters, which may include the protocol field and optional RTP-SSRC and / or RTP-PT fields described previously).

[0209] At 810 the SMF sends the determined QoS rules to the UPF and the UE.

[0210] At 812, the UPF performs QoS mapping of one or more DL packets based on the received QoS rules.

[0211] For example, when the UPF receives a DL packet, the UPF may determine whether the DL packet matches with packet filter information in the PDRs. If the packet matches the packet filter information of the transport layer traffic flow and the PDR comprises information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow (e.g., “Application Layer Packet Filter”, “Extended IP packet filter”, “Extended Protocol Description”) then the packet is examined versus the subflow level information and if it matches with this, too; then it is considered to match with the PDR. Then the UPF may determine that the packet matches the PDRs and the UPF treats the packet according to the associated FAR and QER, which provide the information to which QoS flow the packet should be mapped to.

[0212] For example, the UPF may receive a transport layer traffic flow comprising a first subflow and a second subflow. When the UPF receives a DL data packet with information identifying a first subflow that matches a first PDR, then the UPF may map that DL data packet to a first QoS flow, and when the UPF receives a DL data packet with information identifying a second subflow that matches a second PDR, then the UPF may map that DL data packet to a second QoS flow.

[0213] At 814, the UE performs QoS mapping of one or more UL packets based on the received QoS rules.

[0214] For example when the UE receives an UL packet, the UE may determine whether the UL packet matches packet filter information in the QoS rules. If the QoS rule comprises information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow (e.g., “Application Layer Packet Filter”, “Extended IP packet filter”, “Extended Protocol Description”) then the packet is considered to match with the packet filter information when it matches with both the transport layer information and the subflow information. Then the UE treats the packet according to the QoS rule associated with the particular subflow. For example the UE may send, to an access node, one or more uplink packets of at least one subflow using the QoS rule of the QoS flow to which the one or more uplink packets are mapped.

[0215] Examples have been described whereby one or more subflows within a transport layer traffic flow may be identified, and one or more QoS parameters associated with each subflow may be defined. This may allow different subflows within the transport layer traffic flow to be mapped to different QoS flows by the UPF and / or UE. This may allow for a more flexible network deployment to better manage different scenarios.

[0216] In some examples there is provided an apparatus comprising means for providing a policy control function configured to perform: receiving, from a network exposure function, an application function session request for quality of service for one or more subflows within a transport layer traffic flow, the request comprising information identifying a transport layer traffic flow, information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow, and one or more quality of service or traffic characteristics parameters associated with each of the subflows; determining one or more policy rules associated with the requested application function session, wherein each policy rule comprises information identifying at least one of the subflows to which the respective rule applies; and sending, to a session management function, the determined one or more policy rules.

[0217] In some examples there is provided an apparatus comprising means for providing a session management function configured to perform: receiving, from a policy control function, one or more policy rules associated with an application function session, wherein each rule comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective rule applies; determining, based on the received one or more policy rules, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for a user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule comprises information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality of service rule applies; determining, based on the one or more received policy rules, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule applies; sending, to the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function and the one or more packet detection rules; and sending, to the user equipment, the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment.

[0218] In some examples there is provided an apparatus comprising means for providing a user plane function configured to perform: receiving, from a session management function, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality or service rule applies; detecting, based on the one or more one or more packet detection rules for the user plane function, one or more downlink packets of one of the at least one subflow; and performing quality of service flow mapping of the detected one or more downlink packets of the at least one subflow to a particular quality of service flow based on the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules associated with the matching packet detection rule for the user plane function.

[0219] In some examples there is provided a user equipment comprising means for: receiving, from a session management function, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule applies; and performing quality of service mapping of uplink packets of the at least one subflow to a particular quality of service flow based on the received one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment.

[0220] In some examples there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive, from a network exposure function, an application function session request for quality of service for one or more subflows within a transport layer traffic flow, the request comprising information identifying a transport layer traffic flow, information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow, and one or more quality of service or traffic characteristics parameters associated with each of the subflows; determine one or more policy rules associated with the requested application function session, wherein each policy rule comprises information identifying at least one of the subflows to which the respective rule applies; and send, to a session management function, the determined one or more policy rules.

[0221] In some examples there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive, from a policy control function, one or more policy rules associated with an application function session, wherein each rule comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective rule applies; determine, based on the received one or more policy rules, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for a user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule comprises information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality of service rule applies; determine, based on the one or more received policy rules, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule applies; send, to the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function and the one or more packet detection rules; and send, to the user equipment, the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment. In some examples there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive, from a session management function, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality or service rule applies; detect, based on the one or more one or more packet detection rules for the user plane function, one or more downlink packets of one of the at least one subflow; and perform quality of service flow mapping of the detected one or more downlink packets of the at least one subflow to a particular quality of service flow based on the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules associated with the matching packet detection rule for the user plane function.

[0222] In some examples there is provided a user equipment comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive, from a session management function, one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule applies; and perform quality of service mapping of uplink packets of the at least one subflow to a particular quality of service flow based on the received one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment.

[0223] FIG. 9 shows a schematic representation of non-volatile memory media 1100a (e.g., computer disc (CD) or digital versatile disc (DVD)) and 1100b (e.g. universal serial bus (USB) memory stick) storing instructions and / or parameters 1102 which when executed by a processor allow the processor to perform one or more of the steps of any of the previously described methods.

[0224] It is understood that references in the above to various network functions (e.g., to an AMF, an SMF, TNF etc.) may comprise apparatus that perform at least some of the functionality associated with those network functions. Further, an apparatus comprising a network function may comprise a virtual network function instance of that network function.

[0225] It should be understood that the apparatuses may comprise or be coupled to other units or modules etc., such as radio parts or radio heads, used in or for transmission and / or reception. Although the apparatuses have been described as one entity, different modules and memory may be implemented in one or more physical or logical entities.

[0226] It is noted that whilst some embodiments have been described in relation to 5G networks, similar principles can be applied in relation to other networks and communication systems. Therefore, although certain embodiments were described above by way of example with reference to certain example architectures for wireless networks, technologies and standards, embodiments may be applied to any other suitable forms of communication systems than those illustrated and described herein.

[0227] It is also noted herein that while the above describes example embodiments, there are several variations and modifications which may be made to the disclosed solution without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0228] As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or”, mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

[0229] In general, the various embodiments may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuitry, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects of the disclosure may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device, although the disclosure is not limited thereto. While various aspects of the disclosure may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0230] As used herein, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following:

[0231] (a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry) and

[0232] (b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable):

[0233] (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuit(s) with software / firmware and (ii) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and

[0234] (c) hardware circuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.”

[0235] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term herein, including in any claims. As a further example, as used herein, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0236] The embodiments of this disclosure may be implemented by computer software executable by a data processor of the mobile device, such as in the processor entity, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware. Computer software or program, also called program product, including software routines, applets and / or macros, may be stored in any apparatus-readable data storage medium and they comprise program instructions to perform particular tasks. A computer program product may comprise one or more computerexecutable components which, when the program is run, are configured to carry out embodiments. The one or more computer-executable components may be at least one software code or portions of it.

[0237] Further in this regard it should be noted that any blocks of the logic flow as in the FIG.s may represent program steps, or interconnected logic circuits, blocks and functions, or a combination of program steps and logic circuits, blocks and functions. The software may be stored on such physical media as memory chips, or memory blocks implemented within the processor, magnetic media such as hard disk or floppy disks, and optical media such as for example DVD and the data variants thereof, CD. The physical media is a non-transitory media.

[0238] The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e. , tangible, not a signal ) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0239] The memory may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. The data processors may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment, and may comprise one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), FPGA, gate level circuits and processors based on multi core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples.

[0240] Various example embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit modules. The design of integrated circuits is by and large a highly automated process. Complex and powerful software tools are available for converting a logic level design into a semiconductor circuit design ready to be etched and formed on a semiconductor substrate.

[0241] The scope of protection sought for various example embodiments of the disclosure is set out by the independent claims. The example embodiments and features thereof, if any, described in this disclosure that do not fall under the scope of the independent claims are to be interpreted as examples useful for understanding various example embodiments of the disclosure.

[0242] The foregoing description has provided, by way of non-limiting and illustrative examples, a full and informative description of the various example embodiments of this disclosure. However, various modifications and adaptations may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the claims. However, all such and similar modifications of the teachings will still fall within the various example embodiments of the disclosure as set forth in the claims. By way of non-limiting and illustrative example, there is a further example embodiment comprising a combination of one or more example embodiments with any of the other example embodiments previously discussed.

Claims

CLAIMS1 . An apparatus comprising means for providing a policy control function configured to perform: receiving, from a network exposure function, an application function session request for quality of service for one or more subflows within a transport layer traffic flow of a session of an application function, the request comprising information identifying the transport layer traffic flow, information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow, and one or more quality of service or traffic characteristics parameters associated with the one or more subflows; determining one or more policy rules associated with the application function session, wherein each policy rule of the one or more policy rules comprises information identifying at least one of the one or more subflows to which the respective policy rule applies; and sending, to a session management function, the one or more policy rules that are determined.2 An apparatus comprising means for providing a session management function configured to perform: receiving, from a policy control function, one or more policy rules associated with an application function session, wherein each policy rule of the one or more policy rules comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective policy rule applies; determining, based on the one or more policy rules that are received, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for a user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule of the one or more packet detection rules comprises information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality of service rule for the user plane function of the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function applies; determining, based on the one or more policy rules that are received, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment of the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule for the user equipment of the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment applies;sending, to the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function and the one or more packet detection rules; and sending, to the user equipment, the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the means is for providing a session management function further configured to perform: receiving a protocol data unit establishment request from the user equipment, the protocol data unit establishment request comprising information indicating a capability of the user equipment to support identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to respective subflows of the one or more subflows; in response to receiving the protocol data unit establishment request comprising information indicating the capability of the user equipment to support identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to respective subflows of the one or more subflows, determining a policy control function and / or a user plane function that support identification of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to respective subflows of the one or more subflows; wherein the policy control function from which the one or more policy rules are received corresponds to the policy control function that is determined and / or the user plane function to which the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function and the one or more packet detection rules are sent corresponds to the user plane function that is determined.

4. An apparatus comprising means for providing a user plane function configured to perform: receiving, from a session management function, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule of the one or more packet detection rules comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality or service rule for the user plane function of the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function applies;detecting, based on a packet detection rule for the user plane function of the one or more packet detection rules for the user plane function, one or more downlink packets of a subflow of the at least one subflow; and mapping the one or more downlink packets of the subflow of the at least one subflow that are detected to a particular quality of service flow based on the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules associated with the packet detection rule for the user plane function that detects the one or more downlink packets of the subflow.

5. A user equipment comprising means for: receiving, from a session management function, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment of the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule applies; and mapping one or more uplink packets of the at least one subflow to a particular quality of service flow based on the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment that are received.

6. The user equipment of claim 5, wherein the means is further for: sending, to an access node, the one or more uplink packets of the at least one subflow using the particular quality of service flow to which the one or more uplink packets are mapped.

7. The user equipment of claim 5 or 6, wherein the means is further for: sending, to the session management function and / or an access and mobility management function, information indicating a capability of the user equipment for identification of respective subflows of the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow and quality of service handling according to the identification of the respective subflows of the one or more subflows .

8. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the transport layer traffic flow is a user datagram protocol / internet protocol traffic flow.

9. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the one or more subflows comprise one or more of the following: a real time transport protocol media stream; a real time transport protocol control protocol packet flow; a Zimmerman real time transport protocol media stream;a datagram transport layer security packet flow; a Session Traversal Utilities for Network Address Translation protocol packet flow; a Traversal Using Relays around Network Address Translator protocol packet flow; or a QUIC protocol packet flow.

10. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow comprises one or more of: a set of fields for subflow identification within a packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification; a set of fields within an information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification; and a set of fields for subflow identification within a protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification.11 . The apparatus of claim 10, wherein when the information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow comprises the set of fields for subflow identification within the packet filter information element comprising fields for transport layer traffic flow identification or the set of fields for subflow identification within the protocol description information element associated with a packet filter description information element for transport layer traffic flow identification, the packet filter information element further comprises an indicator for indicating that the packet filter information element comprises the set of fields for subflow identification.

12. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein when a subflow of the one or more subflows comprises a real time transport protocol media stream, the information identifying one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow further comprises information indicating the value of a real time transport protocol synchronization source and / or a real time transport protocol payload type header fields.

13. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform: receiving, from a network exposure function, an application function session request for quality of service for one or more subflows within a transport layer traffic flow of a session of an application function, the request comprising information identifying the transport layer traffic flow, information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer trafficflow, and one or more quality of service or traffic characteristics parameters associated with the one or more subflows; determining one or more policy rules associated with the application function session, wherein each policy rule of the one or more policy rules comprises information identifying at least one of the one or more subflows to which the respective policy rule applies; and sending, to a session management function, the one or more policy rules that are determined.

14. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform: receiving, from a policy control function, one or more policy rules associated with an application function session, wherein each policy rule of the one or more policy rules comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective rule applies; determining, based on the one or more policy rules that are received, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for a user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule of the one or more packet detection rules comprises information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality of service rule for the user plane function of the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function applies; determining, based on the one or more policy rules that are received, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment of the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule for the user equipment of the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment applies; sending, to the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function and the one or more packet detection rules; and sending, to the user equipment, the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment.

15. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform:receiving, from a session management function, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule of the one or more packet detection rules comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality or service rule for the user plane function of the one or more forwarding action rules or quality or service rules for the user plane function applies; detecting, based on a packet detection rule for the user plane function of the one or more one or more packet detection rules for the user plane function, one or more downlink packets of a subflow of the at least one subflow; and mapping the one or more downlink packets of the subflow of the at least one subflow that are detected to a particular quality of service flow based on the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules associated with a packet detection rule for the user plane function that detects the one or more downlink packets of the subflow.

16. A user equipment comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to perform: receiving, from a session management function, one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment of the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule applies; and mapping one or more uplink packets of the at least one subflow to a particular quality of service flow based on the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment that are received.

17. A method performed by a policy control function, the method comprising: receiving, from a network exposure function, an application function session request for quality of service for one or more subflows within a transport layer traffic flow of a session of an application function, the request comprising information identifying the transport layer traffic flow, information identifying the one or more subflows within the transport layer traffic flow, and one or more quality of service or traffic characteristics parameters associated with the one or more subflows;determining one or more policy rules associated with the application function session, wherein each policy rule of the one or more policy rules comprises information identifying at least one of the one or more subflows to which the respective policy rule applies; and sending, to a session management function, the one or more policy rules that are determined.

18. A method performed by a session management function, the method comprising: receiving, from a policy control function, one or more policy rules associated with an application function session, wherein each policy rule of the one or more policy rules comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective rule applies; determining, based on the one or more policy rules that are received, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for a user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule of the one or more packet detection rules comprises information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality of service rule for the user plane function of the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function applies; determining, based on the one or more policy rules that are recevied, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment of the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within the transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule for the user equipment of the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment applies; sending, to the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function and the one or more packet detection rules; and sending, to the user equipment, the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment.

19. A method performed by a user plane function, the method comprising: receiving, from a session management function, one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function, the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function being associated with one or more packet detection rules, wherein each packet detection rule of the one or more packet detection rules comprises information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective forwarding action rule or quality or service rule for the user plane functionof the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules for the user plane function applies; detecting, based on a packet detection rule for the user plane function of the one or more packet detection rules for the user plane function, one or more downlink packets of a subflow of the at least one subflow; and mapping the one or more downlink packets of the subflow one of the at least one subflow that are detected to a particular quality of service flow based on the one or more forwarding action rules or quality of service rules associated with the packet detection rule for the user plane function that detects the one or more downlink packets of the subflow.

20. A method performed by a user equipment, the method comprising: receiving, from a session management function, one or more quality of service rules for a user equipment, wherein each quality of service rule for the user equipment of the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment comprises a packet filter set comprising information identifying at least one subflow within a transport layer traffic flow to which the respective quality of service rule applies; and mapping one or more uplink packets of the at least one subflow to a particular quality of service flow based on the one or more quality of service rules for the user equipment that are received.

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