Methods and apparatuses for enabling processing of a transport packet comprising a plurality of payload units

Abstract

Embodiments described herein relate to methods and apparatuses for transmitting a plurality of payload units in a transport packet. A method performed by a transmitting radio access network, RAN, entity for transmitting, to a receiving RAN entity, a plurality of payload units in a transport packet, comprises providing a common endpoint indication, CEI, in the transport packet indicating that the payload units are to be processed in a common processing unit; and transmitting the transport packet to the receiving RAN entity.

Description

[0001] METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR ENABLING PROCESSING OF A TRANSPORT PACKET COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF PAYLOAD UNITS

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] Embodiments described herein relate to methods and apparatuses for enabling processing of a transport packet comprising a plurality of payload units.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] Radio access Network (RAN) communication between a RAN Processing unit and Radio unit, called Fronthaul, is evolving to packet communication. The Processing unit may be a complete Baseband (BB) or a Distributed Unit (DU) I virtual Distributed Unit (vDU). The evolved RAN packet protocol (eCPRI) is defined in CPRI-Forum (see for example eCPRI_v_2.0_2019_05_10c) and Open RAN (O-RAN) Alliance (see for example, O- RAN.WG4.CUS.0-R003-v12.00 June 2023).

[0006] In any transport protocol, thus also in eCPRI, the best efficiency relating to the tradeoff between payload packets and overhead is achieved when as much as possible payload is added to a single packet.

[0007] In eCPRI transport this may be achieved by including multiple eCPRI messages in a single eCPRI transport packet. This is called eCPRI Concatenation and when concatenation is performed, a one bit (Concatenation) indication is set in the eCPRI packet main header (also referred to herein as the payload unit header)

[0008] Figure 1 illustrates a transport packet 100. It can be seen that the transport packet 100 comprises a plurality of payload units 101 (eCPRI messages). Each eCPRI message 101 comprises a common header 102, and an eCPRI payload 103. Each eCPRI payload 103 comprises an eCRPI address header 104 and eCPRI payload data 105. Two eCPRI messages (101a and 101b) are illustrated in this example but it will be appreciated that any number of eCPRI messages may be comprised within a single transport packet 100.

[0009] It will be appreciated that in order to read the information contained within the payload units 101 deep packet inspection (DPI) may need to be performed. In contrast, the Network Layer header 106 (e.g. the header of the entire transport packet), may be read without performing DPI.

[0010] Figure 2 illustrates the information contained within the eCPRI common header 102 and the eCPRI address header 104.

[0011] An eCPRI common header includes information relating to “IQ data / real-time control / delay measurement and an indication of the payload size..

[0012] The address header 104 comprises an indication of the eCPRIrtcid or ecpriPcid which is extended antenna carrier (eAxC) identifier (eAxC ID) and identifies the specific data flow associated with each control Plane or User plane.

[0013] One eAxC identifier (eAxC ID) comprises a band and sector identifier (BandSectorJD), a component-carrier identifier (CCJD) a spatial stream identifier (RU_Port_ID) and a Distributed Unit identifier (DU_Port_ID).

[0014] The eCPRI common header also comprises the eCPRI concatenation bit. The eCPRI concatenation bit will be set to 1 if there is another message to follow the present message within the same transport packet. The eCPRI concatenation bit will be set to 0 if there is no further eCPRI message within the same transport packet.

[0015] In the example of Figure 1 therefore, the eCPRI concatenation bit will be set to 1 in the common header 102a, but will be set to 0 in the common header 102b.

[0016] SUMMARY

[0017] A receiving RAN entity has multiple Hardware (HW) and Software (SW) processing resources that it divides the processing work between (herein referred to as processing elements). If the transmitting RAN entity of a Concatenated eCPRI transport packet is aware of the internal processing structure of the receiving RAN entity it can sometimes be possible to statically configure how / where the receiving RAN entity should process each of the contained eCPRI messages (e.g. each payload unit). However, generally the processing needs are variable and thus a static configuration is not possible. Furthermore, if the processing structure of the receiving RAN entity is not known to the transmitting RAN entity, then there is no way for the transmitting RAN entity to notify the receiving RAN entity of one or more processing units at which the processing of the Concatenated eCPRI messages should be performed.

[0018] When a receiving RAN entity receives an eCPRI transport packet that has the Concatenation bit set, it therefore would have to parse through all eCPRI messages before it can determine how and where to send the different eCPRI messages for processing. Parsing through all Concatenated eCPRI messages in the receiving RAN entity is costly from a HW / SW processing perspective.

[0019] According to some embodiments there is provided a method performed by a transmitting radio access network, RAN, entity for transmitting, to a receiving RAN entity, a plurality of payload units in a transport packet. The method comprises providing a common endpoint indication, CEI, in the transport packet indicating that the payload units are to be processed in a common processing unit; and transmitting the transport packet to the receiving RAN entity.

[0020] According to some embodiments there is provided a method performed by a receiving RAN entity, for enabling processing a plurality of payload units in a transport packet, the receiving RAN entity comprising a plurality of processing units. The method comprising: receiving, from a transmitting RAN entity, the transport packet; and responsive to the transport packet comprising a common endpoint indication, CEI, that the plurality of payload units are to be processed in a common processing unit, processing the plurality of payload units in a first processing unit.

[0021] According to some embodiments there is provided a method performed by a receiving RAN entity, for enabling processing of a plurality of payload units in a transport packet, the receiving RAN entity comprising a plurality of processing units. The method comprises receiving the transport packet from a transmitting RAN entity; and forwarding the plurality of payload units to at least a subset of the plurality of processing units, wherein the subset comprises more than one processing unit.

[0022] According to some embodiments there is provided a method performed by a transmitting RAN entity, for transmitting a plurality of payload units in a transport packet to a receiving RAN entity, wherein the receiving RAN entity comprises a plurality of processing units. The method comprises transmitting the transport packet to the receiving RAN entity, wherein a network layer header of the transport packet comprises an indication that the plurality of payload units are to be forwarded to each processing unit of at least a subset of the plurality of processing units, wherein the subset comprises more than one processing unit.

[0023] According to some embodiments there is provided a transmitting radio access network, RAN, entity for transmitting, to a receiving RAN entity, a plurality of payload units in a transport packet. The transmitting RAN entity comprises processing circuitry and memory, wherein the memory comprises instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the transmitting RAN entity is operable to: provide a common endpoint indication, CEI, in the transport packet indicating that the payload units are to be processed in a common processing unit; and transmit the transport packet to the receiving RAN entity.

[0024] According to some embodiments there is provided a receiving RAN entity, for enabling processing a plurality of payload units in a transport packet, the receiving RAN entity comprising a plurality of processing units. The receiving RAN entity comprises processing circuitry and memory, wherein the memory comprises instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the receiving RAN entity is operable to: receive, from a transmitting RAN entity, the transport packet; and responsive to the transport packet comprising a common endpoint indication, CEI, that the plurality of payload units are to be processed in a common processing unit, process the plurality of payload units in a first processing unit.

[0025] According to some embodiments there is provided a receiving RAN entity, for enabling processing of a plurality of payload units in a transport packet, the receiving RAN entity comprising a plurality of processing units, the receiving RAN entity comprises processing circuitry and memory, wherein the memory comprises instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the receiving RAN entity is operable to: receive the transport packet from a transmitting RAN entity; and forward the plurality of payload units to at least a subset of the plurality of processing units, wherein the subset comprises more than one processing unit.

[0026] According to some embodiments there is provided a transmitting RAN entity, for transmitting a plurality of payload units in a transport packet to a receiving RAN entity, wherein the receiving RAN entity comprises a plurality of processing units. The transmitting RAN entity comprises processing circuitry and memory, wherein the memory comprises instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the transmitting RAN entity is operable to: transmitting the transport packet to the receiving RAN entity, wherein a network layer header of the transport packet comprises an indication that the plurality of payload units are to be forwarded to each processing unit of at least a subset of the plurality of processing units, wherein the subset comprises more than one processing unit.

[0027] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] For a better understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and to show how it may be put into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example only, to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0029] Figure 1 illustrates a transport packet;

[0030] Figure 2 illustrates the information contained within the eCPRI common header 102 and the eCPRI address header;

[0031] Figure 3 illustrates a system comprising a transmitting RAN entity 301 and a receiving RAN entity;

[0032] Figure 4 illustrates a method performed by a transmitting RAN entity for transmitting, to a receiving RAN entity, a plurality of payload units in a transport packet;

[0033] Figure 5 illustrates a method performed by a receiving RAN entity 302, for enabling processing a plurality of payload units 101 in a transport packet 100;

[0034] Figure 6 illustrates an example of an eCPRI message header according to some embodiments;

[0035] Figure 7 illustrates a method performed by a receiving RAN entity, for enabling processing of a plurality of payload units in a transport packet;

[0036] Figure 8 illustrates a method performed by a transmitting RAN entity for transmitting a plurality of payload units in a transport packet to a receiving RAN entity; Figure 9 shows a network node 900 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0037] Figure 10 is a block diagram illustrating a transmitting radio access network, RAN, entity 1000 according to some embodiments;

[0038] Figure 11 is a block diagram illustrating a receiving radio access network, RAN, entity 1100 according to some embodiments;

[0039] Figure 12 is a block diagram illustrating a receiving radio access network, RAN, entity 1200 according to some embodiments;

[0040] Figure 13 is a block diagram illustrating a transmitting radio access network, RAN, entity 1300 according to some embodiments.

[0041] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and / or is implied from the context in which it is used. All references to a / an / the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methods disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and / or where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description

[0043] The following sets forth specific details, such as particular embodiments or examples for purposes of explanation and not limitation. It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that other examples may be employed apart from these specific details. In some instances, detailed descriptions of well-known methods, nodes, interfaces, circuits, and devices are omitted so as not obscure the description with unnecessary detail. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the functions described may be implemented in one or more nodes using hardware circuitry (e.g., analog and / or discrete logic gates interconnected to perform a specialized function, ASICs, PLAs, etc.) and / or using software programs and data in conjunction with one or more digital microprocessors or general purpose computers. Nodes that communicate using the air interface may have suitable radio communications circuitry. Moreover, where appropriate the technology can additionally be considered to be embodied entirely within any form of computer- readable memory, such as (ROM, EEPROM, Flash memory, a memory disc, RAM etc.) solid-state memory, magnetic disk, or optical disk containing an appropriate set of computer instructions that would cause a processor to carry out the techniques described herein.

[0044] Hardware implementation may include or encompass, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, a reduced instruction set processor, hardware (e.g., digital or analogue) circuitry including but not limited to application specific integrated circuit(s) (ASIC) and / or field programmable gate array(s) (FPGA(s)), and (where appropriate) state machines capable of performing such functions.

[0045] Certain aspects of the present disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges.

[0046] Particular embodiments are described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments, however, are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein. The disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0047] Figure 3 illustrates a system comprising a transmitting RAN entity 301 and a receiving RAN entity 302.

[0048] The transmitting RAN entity and the receiving RAN entity may comprise for example any one of: a radio unit (Rll), a baseband unit (BBU), a distributed unit (DU) or a virtual distributed unit (vDU).

[0049] The receiving RAN entity may comprise a switch function 303 which is capable of reading the network layer header of the transport packet. In some embodiments, the switch function 303 may be capable of performing DPI. The receiving RAN entity then further comprises a plurality of processing units 304a to 304d. In this example four processing units are illustrated, but it will be appreciated that there may be any number of processing units. The processing units may comprise processing elements as described in ORAN standard documents (e.g. Control / User / Sync plane CUS-plane, 0-RAN.WG4.CUS.0-R003-v13.00 Management- M-plane 0-RAN.WG4.MP.0-R003-v13.00)

[0050] Currently, when multiple eCPRI messages are concatenated into a single eCPRI transport packet, the receiving RAN entity may be required to parse through all of the concatenated eCPRI messages in the transport packet in order to retrieve and dispatch each constituent eCPRI message to applicable processing unit. In some examples, , the parsing may be performed by the switch function and each payload unit forwarded to the correct processing unit. Alternatively, the switch function forwards the entire transport packet to a first processing unit, the processing unit may parse the first eCPRI message header to determine the address of the processing unit for the first payload unit and forward to this processing unit. Then the second eCPRI message header is parsed to determine the address of the processing unit for the second payload unit and forwarded to this second processing unit. This repeated iteratively until all concatenated eCPRI messages (payload units) have been parsed and sent to their respective processing units. .

[0051] However, in some scenarios, all of the constituent eCPRI messages in a transport packet may require processing by a common processing unit in the receiving RAN entity 302. Concatenation is often done to reduce packet rate on the Fronthaul transport. If common processing is intended, then parsing through the entire eCPRI transport packet in such a case would be wasteful.

[0052] In most cases a static configuration of processing principle in the receiving RAN entity 302 is not possible as the processing needs are variable, and furthermore the processing structure at the receiving RAN entity 302 might not be known to the transmitting RAN entity 301.

[0053] Figure 4 illustrates a method performed by a transmitting RAN entity for transmitting, to a receiving RAN entity, a plurality of payload units in a transport packet. For example, the method of Figure 4 may be performed by the transmitting RAN entity 301 illustrated in Figure 3. The receiving RAN entity may be the receiving RAN entity 302 illustrated in Figure 3.

[0054] The transmitting RAN entity may comprise a physical or virtual node, and may be implemented in a computing device or server apparatus and / or in a virtualized environment, for example in a cloud, edge cloud or fog deployment. It will be appreciated that the transmitting RAN entity may be deployed in an O-RAN scenario.

[0055] It will be appreciated that the transport packet referred to in embodiments described herein may be structured similarly to as illustrated in Figure 1 , although different information may be comprised within the various parts of the structure, as will be described in more detail below. The reference numerals from Figure 1 will therefore be used herein to indicate the different portions of the transport packet 100. For example, the transport packet 100 may comprise a plurality of payload units 101 each comprising a common header 102 and a payload 103, where the payload comprises an address header 104 and payload data 105. The transport packet may also comprise a network layer header 106.

[0056] In step 401 the method comprises providing a common endpoint indication (CEI) in the transport packet 100 indicating that the payload units 101 are to be processed in a common processing unit.

[0057] When the plurality of concatenated payload units 101 are intended to be processed in the same processing unit (HW and / or SW) in the receiving RAN entity 302, the transmitting RAN entity 301 includes the common endpoint indication (CEI) of step 401 in the transport packet 100. For example, the CEI may be contained within a payload unit header (e.g. within a common header 102) of the transport packet 100. The CEI may comprise a Boolean value.

[0058] It will be appreciated that in some circumstances the transmitting RAN entity 301 may determine whether the plurality of payload units 101 are to be processed in a common processing unit; and may then include the CEI in the transport packet 100 responsive to determining that the plurality of payload units are to be processed in a common processing unit. This determination may be made based on for example, all of the eCPRI messages having the same eAxC-ID. In some examples, method of Figure 4 may comprise the transmitting RAN entity 301 obtaining information relating to the plurality of processing units; and utilizing the obtained information to determine whether the plurality of payload units 101 are to be processed in a common processing unit. The information may be received from the receiving RAN entity 302.

[0059] For example, the obtained information may comprise one or more of: an indication of a number of processing units at the receiving RAN entity 302, all or part of eAxC IDs for the processing units at the receiving RAN entity 302, and / or any other addressing information for the processing units at the receiving RAN entity 302.

[0060] In other words, whether or not the payload units 101 can be processed in a common processing unit may be dependent on the processing units that are actually available to the receiving RAN entity 302.

[0061] In some examples, the transmitting RAN entity 301 will specifically aim to concatenate payload units 101 together that can be effectively processed by a common processing unit at the receiving RAN entity 302. For example, the method of Figure 4 may further comprise selecting, based on the obtained information relating to the plurality of processing units, the plurality payload units 101 such that the plurality of payload units can be processed in a common processing unit.

[0062] In step 402 the transmitting RAN entity 301 then transmits the transport packet 100 to the receiving RAN entity 302. The transport packet 100 may be transmitted according to an evolved Common Public Radio Interface (eCPRI) protocol.

[0063] Figure 5 illustrates a method performed by a receiving RAN entity 302, for enabling processing a plurality of payload units 101 in a transport packet 100.

[0064] The receiving RAN entity may comprise a physical or virtual node, and may be implemented in a computing device or server apparatus and / or in a virtualized environment, for example in a cloud, edge cloud or fog deployment. It will be appreciated that the receiving RAN entity may be deployed in an O-RAN scenario.

[0065] The receiving RAN entity 302 comprises a plurality of processing units. For example, the receiving RAN entity may comprise the receiving RAN entity 302 illustrated in Figure 3. In step 501 the receiving RAN entity 302 receives, from a transmitting RAN entity 301 , the transport packet 100.

[0066] In step 502, the receiving RAN entity may determine whether the transport packet comprises a CEI indicating that the plurality of payload units are to be processed in a common processing unit.

[0067] In step 503, responsive to the transport packet comprising the CEI, the receiving RAN entity processes the plurality of payload units in a first processing element.

[0068] In some examples, the receiving RAN entity may determine, from information within the transport packet, a first processing unit from the plurality of processing units, and may forward the plurality of payload units to the first processing unit for processing. As will be described in more detail below, in some examples, addressing information for the first processing unit contained within the transport packet 100, for example, within the network layer header 106 or within a payload unit header (e.g. an address header 104).

[0069] In some examples, in step 504, responsive to the transport packet not comprising a CEI (e.g. if the parameter ecpriCei illustrated in Figure 6 is set to 0), the receiving RAN entity may forward the plurality of payload units to at least a subset of the plurality of processing units (for example, all of the plurality of processing units), wherein the subset comprises more than one processing unit. In other words, rather than the time and resource intensive option of requiring each processing unit to determine in turn which of the payload units it need to process, by forwarding the payload units to at least a subset of the processing units (in some examples all of the plurality of processing units), each of the subset of the plurality of processing units may determine which payload units it needs to process without needing to forward any of the remaining payload units on to other processing units.

[0070] It will be appreciated that the CEI may be defined as described with reference to Figure 6.

[0071] There are a number of options for how the receiving RAN entity 302 may perform step 502 and / or may determine which of the available processing units to utilize to process the transport packet received in step 501. These options will now be described with reference to Figure 6 below.

[0072] Figure 6 illustrates an example of an eCPRI message header according to some embodiments. In this example, the common endpoint indication is represented as the single bit parameter ecpriCei and is included within the common header 102 of the eCPRI message (e.g. payload unit). In this example, a value of 1 for the ecpriCei is equivalent to the CEI indicating that the plurality of payload units should be processed in a common processing unit. Conversely, the value of 0 for the ecpriCei parameter is understood as an indication that the plurality of payload units are not to be processed in a common processing unit (e.g. two or more processing units are required to process the plurality of payload units).

[0073] It will therefore be appreciated that if both the eCPRI concatenation bit and the eCPRI common end point bit are set within a common header in the concatenated messages, that the transmitting RAN entity may have selected to concatenate payload units that are all to be processed within the same processing unit.

[0074] In some cases, the transmitting RAN entity 301 is not aware of the structure of the receiving RAN entity processing. In other words, the transmitting RAN entity 301 does not know how many or what type of processing units are available at the receiving RAN entity. In these examples there may be no addressing of particular processing units within the network layer header. The switching function 303 in the receiving RAN entity 302 may therefore, in some examples, perform some limited DPI of the transport packet in order to read whether the CEI has been included (e.g. ecpriCei set to 1) within the payload unit header. If the CEI has been included (e.g. ecpriCei set to 1), the switching function 303 may select a first processing unit of the processing units 304, for example, based on DPI limited to the first payload unit header and identifying related first processing unit. .

[0075] In other cases, however, the transmitting RAN entity 301 may be aware of the structure of the processing at the receiving RAN entity 302. In these examples, the transmitting RAN entity 301 may obtain the information relating to the structure of the receiving RAN entity 302 from the receiving RAN entity 302. In some examples, the transmitting RAN entity 301 may therefore be able to include addressing information for the processing unit that a particular payload unit 101 is intended for. In other words, the transport packet 100 of steps 401 or 501 may comprise an indication of a first processing unit at which the payload units are to be processed.

[0076] In some examples, the indication of the first processing unit may be comprised within each payload unit header (e.g. the address header 104) in the transport packet.

[0077] Consider for example, if the transmitting RAN entity 301 of Figure 3 is transmitting a transport packet 100 containing a plurality of payload units 101 that are all to be processed by the processing unit 304b. In this example, the transmitting RAN entity 301 may include in one or more of the address headers 104 of the plurality of payload units an indication of the address of the processing unit 304b.

[0078] When the switching function 303 receives such a transport packet 100 it may in some examples, perform some limited DPI (e.g. Into the first payload unit header) to read the address header 104 of the first payload unit. From this, the switching function 303 may read the address of the processing unit 304b and may therefore forward all of the payload units 101 to the processing unit 304b for processing.

[0079] In other examples, the indication of the first processing unit may be comprised within a network layer header (e.g. network layer header 106) of the transport packet 100. For example, the transmitting RAN entity 301 , upon determining that the plurality of payload units 101 are to be processed in a common processing unit, may select the processing unit 304b based on the obtained information relating to the processing structure of the receiving RAN entity 302. The transmitting RAN entity 301 may then include addressing information associated with the processing unit 304b within the network layer header 106 of the transport packet 100. For example, the addressing information may be a MAC address, IP-address, UDP-port, IPv6 Flow label, an Ethernet Stream identifier (ID) (see for example, PCT / SE2023 / 0511140) and / or a VLAN identifier (ID) associated with the processing unit 304b.

[0080] In this way, when the switching function 303 of the receiving RAN entity 302 receives the transport packet, it may read, for example, the VLAN identifier for the processing unit 304b without performing any DPI. The plurality of payload units 101 may then be forwarded to the processing unit 304b for processing. When the processing unit 304b reads the CEI within the payload unit header it will understand that all of the payload units 101 are for processing at the processing unit 304b, and will therefore process all of the payload units 101 accordingly.

[0081] Figure 7 illustrates a method performed by a receiving RAN entity, for enabling processing of a plurality of payload units in a transport packet. The receiving RAN entity may comprise the receiving RAN entity 302 of Figure 3. The receiving RAN entity 302 comprises a plurality of processing units 304.

[0082] The receiving RAN entity may comprise a physical or virtual node, and may be implemented in a computing device or server apparatus and / or in a virtualized environment, for example in a cloud, edge cloud or fog deployment. It will be appreciated that the receiving RAN entity may be deployed in an O-RAN scenario.

[0083] In step 701 the receiving RAN entity 302 receives the transport packet 100 from a transmitting RAN entity 301.

[0084] In step 702, the receiving RAN entity 302 forwards the plurality of payload units 101 to each of the plurality of processing units 304. This forwarding of the payload units 101 to all of the plurality of processing units 304 allows each processing unit 304 to parse the data and process the payload units that are addressed to said processing unit. There need not be any further forwarding of the payload units between the processing units, thereby avoiding further delay in the processing.

[0085] In some examples, step 702 may be performed regardless of the content of the payload units 101. For example, the payload units 101 may all be intended for a common processing unit or they may not be.

[0086] In other examples, step 702 may be performed responsive to the transport packet comprising no CEI (e.g. the parameter ecpriCei being set to 0), for example, as described with reference to Figures 4 to 6. For example, the switching function 303 in the receiving RAN entity may perform DPI and determine that the ecpriCei parameter is set to 0, and responsive to this determination may forward the payload units to each of the plurality of processing units. If, however, the transport packet does comprise the CEI (e.g. the parameter ecpriCei being set to 1), the receiving RAN entity may perform the method as described above with reference to Figures 4 and 6. In some examples, step 702 may be performed responsive to a transport packet header (e.g. the network layer header 106) of the transport packet 100 comprising an indication that the plurality of payload units are to be forwarded to the plurality of processing units. For example, when the transmitting RAN entity 301 is aware of the processing structure of the receiving RAN entity 302 (e.g. how many processing units are available and their respective addressing information), the receiving RAN entity, upon determining that the plurality of payload units are not to be processed in a common processing unit, may include, for example, a VLAN address in the network layer header 106 of the transport packet 100 that is not associated with any of the available processing units 304 at the receiving RAN entity 302.

[0087] When the receiving RAN entity receives such a VLAN address that is not associated specifically with any of the available processing units 304 at the receiving RAN entity 302, but rather associated with at least a subset of the plurality of processing units (at most all of the available processing units), where the subset of the plurality of processing units itself comprising a plurality of processing units, the receiving RAN entity 302 may understand this addressing as an indication that the plurality of payload units are to be forwarded to each of the subset of the plurality processing units 304.

[0088] It will be appreciated that a particular receiving RAN entity 302 may be configured to perform the methods of Figure 5 and / or Figure 7. For example, the receiving RAN entity 302 may be configured to perform the method of Figure 7 if no CEI is present in the transport packet (e.g. the parameter ecpriCei is set to 0) (e.g. as described in step 504 of Figure 5), or if the transport packet header (e.g. the network layer header 106) comprises an indication that the plurality of payload units 101 are to be forwarded to each the subset of the plurality of processing units 304. Whereas, if the transport packet does comprise a CEI (e.g. the parameter ecpriCei is set to 1), the receiving RAN entity may be configured to perform the method of Figure 5.

[0089] Figure 8 illustrates a method performed by a transmitting RAN entity for transmitting a plurality of payload units in a transport packet to a receiving RAN entity. The receiving RAN entity comprises a plurality of processing units. The transmitting RAN entity may comprise the transmitting RAN entity 301 illustrated in Figure 3. The transmitting RAN entity 301 may comprise a physical or virtual node, and may be implemented in a computing device or server apparatus and / or in a virtualized environment, for example in a cloud, edge cloud or fog deployment. It will be appreciated that the transmitting RAN entity may be deployed in an O-RAN scenario.

[0090] In step 801 the transmitting RAN entity 301 transmits the transport packet to the receiving RAN entity 302, wherein a transport packet header (e.g. the network layer header 106) of the transport packet 100 comprises an indication that the plurality of payload units 101 are to be forwarded to each processing unit in the subset of the plurality of processing units 304. As described above with reference to Figure 7, the indication that the plurality of payload units 101 are to be forwarded to each processing unit in the subset of the plurality of processing units 304 may comprise, for example, a VLAN address that is not associated specifically with any one of the processing units 304 but instead associated with the subset of the plurality of processing units.

[0091] It will be appreciated that a transmitting RAN entity may be configured to perform the method of Figure 4 and / or Figure 8. For example, where the payload units are to be processed in a common processing unit, the transmitting RAN entity may perform the method of Figure 4, whereas, if the payload units are not to be processed in a common processing unit, the transmitting RAN entity may perform the method of Figure 8.

[0092] Figure 10 is a block diagram illustrating a transmitting radio access network, RAN, entity 1000 according to some embodiments. The transmitting radio access network, RAN, entity 1000 can transmit, to a receiving RAN entity, a plurality of payload units in a transport packet. The transmitting RAN entity 1000 comprises a providing module 1002 configured to provide a common endpoint indication, CEI, in the transport packet indicating that the payload units are to be processed in a common processing unit. The transmitting RAN entity 1000 comprises a transmitting module 1004 configured to transmit the transport packet to the receiving RAN entity. The transmitting RAN entity 1000 may operate in the manner described herein in respect of a transmitting RAN entity.

[0093] Figure 11 is a block diagram illustrating a receiving radio access network, RAN, entity 1100 according to some embodiments.

[0094] The receiving radio access network, RAN, entity 1100 enable processing a plurality of payload units in a transport packet. The receiving RAN entity 1100 comprises a receiving module 1102 configured to receive, from a transmitting RAN entity, the transport packet. The receiving RAN entity 1100 further comprises a processing module 1104 configured to responsive to the transport packet comprising a common endpoint indication, CEI, that the plurality of payload units are to be processed in a common processing unit, process the plurality of payload units in a first processing element unit.

[0095] The receiving RAN entity 1100 may operate in the manner described herein in respect of a receiving RAN entity.

[0096] Figure 12 is a block diagram illustrating a receiving radio access network, RAN, entity 1200 according to some embodiments.

[0097] The receiving radio access network, RAN, entity 1200 enable processing a plurality of payload units in a transport packet. The receiving RAN entity 1200 comprises a receiving module 1202 configured to receive, from a transmitting RAN entity, the transport packet. The receiving RAN entity 1200 further comprises a forwarding module 1204 configured forwarding the plurality of payload units to at least a subset of the plurality of processing units, wherein the subset comprises more than one processing unit.

[0098] The receiving RAN entity 1200 may operate in the manner described herein in respect of an receiving RAN entity.

[0099] Figure 13 is a block diagram illustrating a transmitting radio access network, RAN, entity 1300 according to some embodiments.

[0100] The transmitting radio access network, RAN, entity 1300 can , transmit a plurality of payload units in a transport packet to a receiving RAN entity, wherein the receiving RAN entity comprises a plurality of processing units, the The transmitting RAN entity 1300 comprises a transmitting module 1302 configured to transmitting the transport packet to the receiving RAN entity, wherein a network layer header of the transport packet comprises an indication that the plurality of payload units are to be forwarded to each processing unit of at least a subset of the plurality of processing units, wherein the subset comprises more than one processing unit.

[0101] There is also provided a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed on a least one processor (such as the processing circuitry 902 of the network node 900 described earlier), cause the processor to carry out at least part of the method(s) described herein. According to some embodiments there is provided a carrier containing the computer program. In some embodiments, the carrier can be any one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, an electrical signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable medium. There is also provided a (for example, tangible and / or non-transient) computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform at least part of the method(s) described herein.

[0102] It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. The word “comprising” does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those listed in a claim, “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality, and a single processor or other unit may fulfil the functions of several units recited in the claims. Any reference signs in the claims shall not be construed so as to limit their scope.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method performed by a transmitting radio access network, RAN, entity for transmitting, to a receiving RAN entity, a plurality of payload units (101) in a transport packet (100), the method comprising: providing (401) a common endpoint indication, CEI, in the transport packet indicating that the payload units are to be processed in a common processing unit; and transmitting (402) the transport packet to the receiving RAN entity.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising, when providing the CEI, including, within the transport packet (100), an indication of a first processing unit at which the payload units are to be processed.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the indication of the first processing unit contained within a network layer header (106) of the transport packet.

4. The method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the indication of the first processing unit contained within a payload unit header (103a, 103b) in the transport packet.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein information within the transport packet comprises an indication of how the plurality of payload units are to be processed.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1 to 5 wherein the common endpoint indication comprises a Boolean value.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1 to 6, wherein the CEI is comprised within a payload unit header (103a, 103b) of the transport packet.

8. The method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising: determining whether the plurality of payload units are to be processed in a common processing unit; andperforming including the CEI responsive to determining that the plurality of payload units are to be processed in a common processing unit.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8 further comprising: obtaining information relating to the plurality of processing units; and utilizing the obtained information to determine whether the plurality of payloads are to be processed in a common processing unit.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9 wherein the information is received from the receiving RAN entity.

11. The method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10 further comprising: selecting, based on the obtained information relating to plurality of processing units, the plurality payload units such that the plurality of payload units can be processed in a common processing unit.

12. The method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 11 wherein the transport packet is transmitted according to an evolved Common Public Radio Interface (eCPRI) protocol.

13. A method performed by a receiving RAN entity, for enabling processing a plurality of payload units in a transport packet, the receiving RAN entity comprising a plurality of processing units, the method comprising: receiving (501), from a transmitting RAN entity, the transport packet; and responsive to the transport packet comprising a common endpoint indication, CEI, that the plurality of payload units are to be processed in a common processing unit, processing (503) the plurality of payload units in a first processing unit.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13 further comprising: determining, from information within the transport packet, a first processing unit from the plurality of processing units, and forwarding the plurality of payload units to the first processing unit for processing.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14 wherein the information within the transport packet comprises an indication of the first processing unit.

16. The method as claimed in claim 15 wherein the indication of the first processing unit is within a network layer header (106) of the transport packet.

17. The method as claimed in claim 15 wherein the indication of the first processing unit is within a payload unit header (103a, 103b) in the transport packet.

18. The method as claimed in claim 14 wherein the information within the transport packet comprises an indication of how the plurality of payload units are to be processed.

19. The method as claimed in claim 13 to 18 wherein the indication that the payload units are to be processed in a common processing unit comprises a Boolean value.

20. The method as claimed in claim 13 to 19, wherein the CEI is comprised within a payload unit header.

21. The method as claimed in any one of claims 13 to 20, further comprising: responsive to the transport packet not comprising the CEI, forwarding (504) the plurality of payload units to at least a subset of the plurality of processing units, wherein the subset of the plurality of processing units comprises more than one processing unit.

22. The method as claimed in any one of claims 13 to 21 wherein, responsive to the transport packet header comprising an indication that the plurality of payload units are not to be processed in a common processing unit, forwarding (504) the transport packet to at least a subset of the plurality of processing units, wherein the subset of the plurality of processing units comprises more than one processing unit.

23. The method as claimed in any of claims 13 to 21 , further comprising: transmitting, to the transmitting RAN entity, information relating to the plurality of processing units.

24. The method as claimed in any one of claims 13 to 23 wherein the transport packet is received according to an evolved Common Public Radio Interface (eCPRI) protocol.

25. A method performed by a receiving RAN entity, for enabling processing of a plurality of payload units in a transport packet, the receiving RAN entity comprising a plurality of processing units, the method comprising: receiving (701) the transport packet from a transmitting RAN entity; and forwarding (702) the plurality of payload units to at least a subset of the plurality of processing units, wherein the subset comprises more than one processing unit.

26. The method as claimed in claim 25, further comprising: performing forwarding the plurality of payload unis to each of the subset of plurality of processing units responsive to the transport packet comprising no common endpoint indication that the payload units are to be processed in a common processing unit.

27. The method as claimed in claim 25, further comprising: performing forwarding the plurality of payload units to each of the subset of plurality of processing units responsive to a transport packet header of the transport packet comprising an indication that the plurality of payload units are to be forwarded to each the subset plurality of processing units.

28. The method as claimed in any of claims 25 to 27, further comprising: transmitting, to the transmitting RAN entity, information relating to the plurality of processing units.

29. The method as claimed in any one of claims 25 to 28, wherein the transport packet is received according to an evolved Common Public Radio Interface (eCPRI) protocol.

30. A method performed by a transmitting RAN entity, for transmitting a plurality of payload units in a transport packet to a receiving RAN entity, wherein thereceiving RAN entity comprises a plurality of processing units, the method comprising: transmitting (801) the transport packet to the receiving RAN entity, wherein a network layer header of the transport packet comprises an indication that the plurality of payload units are to be forwarded to each processing unit of at least a subset of the plurality of processing units, wherein the subset comprises more than one processing unit.

31. A transmitting radio access network, RAN, entity (900) for transmitting, to a receiving RAN entity, a plurality of payload units in a transport packet, the transmitting RAN entity comprising processing circuitry (902) and memory, wherein the memory comprises instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the transmitting RAN entity is operable to: provide (401) a common endpoint indication, CEI, in the transport packet indicating that the payload units are to be processed in a common processing unit; and transmit (402) the transport packet to the receiving RAN entity.

32. The transmitting RAN entity as claimed in claim 31 wherein, the memory comprises further instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the transmitting RAN entity is operable to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 12,33. A receiving RAN entity (900), for enabling processing a plurality of payload units in a transport packet, the receiving RAN entity comprising a plurality of processing units, the receiving RAN entity comprising processing circuitry (902) and memory, wherein the memory comprises instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the receiving RAN entity is operable to: receive (501), from a transmitting RAN entity, the transport packet; and responsive to the transport packet comprising a common endpoint indication, CEI, that the plurality of payload units are to be processed in a common processing unit, process (503) the plurality of payload units in a first processing unit.

34. The receiving RAN entity as claimed in claim 33 wherein, the memory comprises further instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the transmitting RAN entity is operable to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 2435. A receiving RAN entity (900), for enabling processing of a plurality of payload units in a transport packet, the receiving RAN entity comprising a plurality of processing units, the receiving RAN entity comprising processing circuitry (902) and memory, wherein the memory comprises instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the receiving RAN entity is operable to: receive (701) the transport packet from a transmitting RAN entity; and forward (702) the plurality of payload units to at least a subset of the plurality of processing units, wherein the subset comprises more than one processing unit.

36. The receiving RAN entity as claimed in claim 35 wherein, the memory comprises further instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the transmitting RAN entity is operable to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 26 to 29.

37. A transmitting RAN entity (900), for transmitting a plurality of payload units in a transport packet to a receiving RAN entity, wherein the receiving RAN entity comprises a plurality of processing units, the transmitting RAN entity comprising processing circuitry (902) and memory, wherein the memory comprises instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the transmitting RAN entity is operable to: transmitting (801) the transport packet to the receiving RAN entity, wherein a network layer header of the transport packet comprises an indication that the plurality of payload units are to be forwarded to each processing unit of at least a subset of the plurality of processing units, wherein the subset comprises more than one processing unit.

38. A computer program, comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out a method according to any of claims 1 to 30.

39. A carrier containing the computer program according to claim 38, wherein the carrier comprises one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal or computer readable storage medium.

40. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method according to any of claims 1 to 31.

41. A computer program product comprising non transitory computer readable media having stored thereon a computer program according to claim 38.

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