Remapping one or more quality of service flows

Abstract

Disclosed is a method comprising determining whether resources dedicated for a data radio bearer are insufficient for one or more quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer; transmitting, to a network device, based on the determination, a request for remapping the one or more quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer; and receiving, from the network device, a configuration for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to two or more data radio bearers.

Description

REMAPPING ONE OR MORE QUALITY OF SERVICE FLOWSFIELD

[0001] The following example embodiments relate to wireless communication.BACKGROUND

[0002] Applications such as extended reality or traffic related to artificial intelligence or machine learning may require a very high data rate, for example from 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps or even higher. There is a challenge in how to support such high data rates in wireless communication systems.SUMMARY

[0003] The scope of protection sought for various example embodiments is set out by the claims. The example embodiments and features, if any, described in this specification that do not fall under the scope of the claims are to be interpreted as examples useful for understanding various embodiments.

[0004] According to a first aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: means for determining whether resources dedicated for a data radio bearer are insufficient for one or more quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer; means for transmitting, to a network device, based on the determination, a request for remapping the one or more quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer; and means for receiving, from the network device, a configuration for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to two or more data radio bearers.

[0005] According to a second aspect, there is provided the apparatus of the first aspect, further comprising: means for transmitting or receiving, based on the configuration, data associated with the one or more quality of service flows via the two or more data radio bearers.

[0006] According to a third aspect, there is provided the apparatus of the first or second aspect, further comprising: means for transmitting, to the network device, a capability indication indicating that the apparatus supports parallel processing of the one or more quality of service flows on the two or more data radio bearers.

[0007] According to a fourth aspect, there is provided the apparatus of any of the first to third aspects, wherein the means for determining whether the resources are insufficient are configured to make the determination based on at least one of: an indicationreceived from layer 2 or from layer 3, a buffer status of the data radio bearer, an experienced packet error rate associated with the one or more quality of service flows, an experienced data rate associated with the one or more quality of service flows, an experienced packet error rate associated with the data radio bearer, an experienced data rate associated with the data radio bearer, a predicted data rate associated with the one or more quality of service flows, or a processing load of the apparatus.

[0008] According to a fifth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: means for receiving, from a user device, a request for remapping one or more quality of service flows mapped to a data radio bearer; means for determining whether to remap the one or more quality of service flows; and means for transmitting, to the user device, based on determining to remap the one or more quality of service flows, a configuration for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to two or more data radio bearers.

[0009] According to a sixth aspect, there is provided the apparatus of the fifth aspect, further comprising: means for establishing one or more additional data radio bearers for the one or more quality of service flows based on the request received from the user device, wherein the two or more data radio bearers comprise the one or more additional data radio bearers.

[0010] According to a seventh aspect, there is provided the apparatus of the fifth aspect, wherein the two or more data radio bearers comprise one or more additional data radio bearers that have been pre-established for one or more other quality of service flows.

[0011] According to an eighth aspect, there is provided the apparatus of the seventh aspect, further comprising: means for determining whether an amount of data traffic of the one or more other quality service flows through the one or more additional data radio bearers is below a threshold, wherein the means for determining whether to remap the one or more quality of service flows are configured to determine to remap the one or more quality of service flows based at least on determining that the amount of data traffic through the one or additional data radio bearers is below the threshold.

[0012] According to a ninth aspect, there is provided the apparatus of any of the sixth to eighth aspects, further comprising: means for determining whether the one or more additional data radio bearers can fulfil one or more quality of service requirements of the one or more quality of service flows to be remapped, wherein the means for determining whether to remap the one or more quality of service flows are configured to determine to remap the one or more quality of service flows based at least on determining that the one ormore additional data radio bearers can fulfil the one or more quality of service requirements of the one or more quality of service flows to be remapped.

[0013] According to a tenth aspect, there is provided the apparatus of any of the first to ninth aspects, wherein the two or more data radio bearers comprise the data radio bearer to which the one or more quality of service flows are mapped.

[0014] According to an eleventh aspect, there is provided the apparatus of any of the first to tenth aspects, wherein the request comprises at least one of: an identity of the data radio bearer, one or more identities of the one or more quality of service flows, one or more logical channel identifiers associated with the one or more quality of service flows, one or more logical channel group identifiers associated with the one or more quality of service flows, a number of data radio bearers required for serving the one or more quality of service flows, a maximum supported data rate of the data radio bearer, or a preferred data rate of the data radio bearer.

[0015] According to a twelfth aspect, there is provided the apparatus of any of the first to eleventh aspects, wherein the configuration indicates one or more rules for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to the two or more data radio bearers.

[0016] According to a thirteenth aspect, there is provided the apparatus of the twelfth aspect, wherein the one or more rules comprise at least one of: one or more weight values indicating a portion of data traffic to be mapped to each data radio bearer of the two or more data radio bearers, a data rate threshold above which data packets associated with the one or more quality of service flows are to be forwarded to one or more additional data radio bearers in addition to the data radio bearer, or a recommendation to avoid remapping a service data flow to the two or more data radio bearers in case multiple service data flows are mapped to a single quality of service flow of the one or more quality of service flows.

[0017] According to a fourteenth aspect, there is provided the apparatus of any of the first to thirteenth aspects, wherein the one or more quality of service flows comprise one quality of service flow mapped to the data radio bearer, and wherein the configuration indicates to split the one quality of service flow into the two or more data radio bearers.

[0018] According to a fifteenth aspect, there is provided the apparatus of any of the first to thirteenth aspects, wherein the one or more quality of service flows comprise a plurality of quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer, and wherein the configuration indicates to keep at least one quality of service flow of the plurality of quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer, and to remap at least one other quality ofservice flow of the plurality of quality of service flows to one or more additional data radio bearers.

[0019] According to a sixteenth aspect, there is provided the apparatus of any of the first to fifteenth aspects, wherein the configuration is comprised in an RRC reconfiguration message, and wherein the request is comprised in one of: a radio resource control, RRC, message, a medium access control, MAC, control element, CE, or a service data adaptation protocol, SDAP, control packet data unit.

[0020] According to a seventeenth aspect, there is provided a method comprising: determining whether resources dedicated for a data radio bearer are insufficient for one or more quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer; transmitting, to a network device, based on the determination, a request for remapping the one or more quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer; and receiving, from the network device, a configuration for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to two or more data radio bearers.

[0021] According to an eighteenth aspect, there is provided a method comprising: receiving, from a user device, a request for remapping one or more quality of service flows mapped to a data radio bearer; determining whether to remap the one or more quality of service flows; and transmitting, to the user device, based on determining to remap the one or more quality of service flows, a configuration for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to two or more data radio bearers.

[0022] According to a nineteenth aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: determining whether resources dedicated for a data radio bearer are insufficient for one or more quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer; transmitting, to a network device, based on the determination, a request for remapping the one or more quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer; and receiving, from the network device, a configuration for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to two or more data radio bearers.

[0023] According to a twentieth aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: receiving, from a user device, a request for remapping one or more quality of service flows mapped to a data radio bearer; determining whether to remap the one or more quality of service flows; and transmitting, to the user device, based ondetermining to remap the one or more quality of service flows, a configuration for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to two or more data radio bearers.

[0024] According to a twenty-first aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: determining whether resources dedicated for a data radio bearer are insufficient for one or more quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer; transmitting, to a network device, based on the determination, a request for remapping the one or more quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer; and receiving, from the network device, a configuration for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to two or more data radio bearers.

[0025] According to a twenty-second aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: receiving, from a user device, a request for remapping one or more quality of service flows mapped to a data radio bearer; determining whether to remap the one or more quality of service flows; and transmitting, to the user device, based on determining to remap the one or more quality of service flows, a configuration for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to two or more data radio bearers.

[0026] According to a twenty-third aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising program instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: determining whether resources dedicated for a data radio bearer are insufficient for one or more quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer; transmitting, to a network device, based on the determination, a request for remapping the one or more quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer; and receiving, from the network device, a configuration for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to two or more data radio bearers.

[0027] According to a twenty-fourth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising program instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: receiving, from a user device, a request for remapping one or more quality of service flows mapped to a data radio bearer; determining whether to remap the one or more quality of service flows; and transmitting, to the user device, based on determining to remap the one or more quality of service flows, aconfiguration for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to two or more data radio bearers.

[0028] According to a twenty-fifth 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: determine whether resources dedicated for a data radio bearer are insufficient for one or more quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer; transmit, to a network device, based on the determination, a request for remapping the one or more quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer; and receive, from the network device, a configuration for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to two or more data radio bearers.

[0029] According to a twenty-sixth 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 user device, a request for remapping one or more quality of service flows mapped to a data radio bearer; determine whether to remap the one or more quality of service flows; and transmit, to the user device, based on determining to remap the one or more quality of service flows, a configuration for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to two or more data radio bearers.

[0030] According to a twenty-seventh aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: means for determining whether resources dedicated for a processing branch of a data radio bearer are insufficient for one or more data streams mapped to the processing branch; means for transmitting, to a network device, based on the determination, a request for remapping the one or more data streams; and means for receiving, from the network device, a configuration for remapping the one or more data streams to two or more parallel processing branches of the data radio bearer.

[0031] According to a twenty-eighth aspect, there is provided the apparatus of the twenty-seventh aspect, further comprising: means for transmitting or receiving, based on the configuration, data associated with the one or more data streams via the two or more parallel processing branches.

[0032] According to a twenty-ninth aspect, there is provided the apparatus of the twenty-seventh or twenty-eighth aspect, further comprising: means for transmitting, to the network device, a capability indication indicating that the apparatus supports parallel processing of the one or more data streams on the two or more parallel processing branches.

[0033] According to a thirtieth aspect, there is provided the apparatus of any of the twenty-seventh to twenty-ninth aspects, wherein the means for determining whether the resources are insufficient are configured to make the determination based on at least one of: an indication received from layer 2 or from layer 3, a buffer status of the data radio bearer, an experienced packet error rate associated with the one or more data streams, an experienced data rate associated with the one or more data streams, a predicted data rate associated with the one or more data streams, a power indication of the apparatus, a capability of the apparatus, or a processing load of the apparatus.

[0034] According to a thirty-first aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: means for receiving, from a user device, a request for remapping one or more data streams that are mapped to a processing branch of a data radio bearer; means for determining whether to remap the one or more data streams; and means for transmitting, to the user device, based on determining to remap the one or more data streams, a configuration for remapping the one or more data streams to two or more parallel processing branches of the data radio bearer.

[0035] According to a thirty-second aspect, there is provided the apparatus of the thirty-first aspect, further comprising: means for splitting the data radio bearer into the two or more parallel processing branches based on the request received from the user device.

[0036] According to a thirty-third aspect, there is provided the apparatus of any of the twenty-seventh to thirty-second aspects, wherein the remapping indicated by the configuration comprises splitting the one or more data streams into the two or more parallel processing branches on a packet data convergence protocol, PDCP, layer, and wherein the two or more parallel processing branches comprise at least one of: a part of the PDCP layer, a radio link control, RLC, layer, or a part of a medium access control, MAC, layer.

[0037] According to a thirty-fourth aspect, there is provided the apparatus of any of the twenty-seventh to thirty-third aspects, wherein the request comprises at least one of: an identity of the data radio bearer, an identity of the processing branch, one or more identities of the one or more data streams, one or more logical channel identifiers associated with the one or more data streams, one or more logical channel group identifiers associated with the one or more data streams, a number of processing branches required for serving the one or more data streams, a maximum supported data rate of the data radio bearer, or a preferred data rate of the data radio bearer.

[0038] According to a thirty-fifth aspect, there is provided the apparatus of any of the twenty-seventh to thirty-fourth aspects, wherein the configuration indicates one or more rules for remapping the one or more data streams to the two or more parallel processing branches.

[0039] According to a thirty-sixth aspect, there is provided the apparatus of the thirty-fifth aspect, wherein the one or more rules comprise at least one of: one or more weight values indicating a portion of data traffic to be mapped to each processing branch of the two or more parallel processing branches, or a data rate threshold above which data packets are to be forwarded to one or more additional processing branches of the data radio bearer in addition to a first processing branch of the data radio bearer.

[0040] According to a thirty-seventh aspect, there is provided the apparatus of any of the twenty-seventh to thirty-sixth aspects, wherein the one or more data streams comprise one data stream mapped to the processing branch, and wherein the configuration indicates to split the one data stream into the two or more parallel processing branches.

[0041] According to a thirty-eighth aspect, there is provided the apparatus of any of the twenty-seventh to thirty-sixth aspects, wherein the one or more data streams comprise a plurality of data streams mapped to the data radio bearer, and wherein the configuration indicates to remap at least one data stream of the plurality of data streams to a first processing branch of the data radio bearer, and to remap at least one other data stream of the plurality of data streams to one or more additional processing branches of the data radio bearer.

[0042] According to a thirty-ninth aspect, there is provided the apparatus of any of the twenty-seventh to thirty-eighth aspects, wherein the configuration is comprised in an RRC reconfiguration message, and wherein the request is comprised in one of: a radio resource control, RRC, message, a medium access control, MAC, control element, CE, or a service data adaptation protocol, SDAP, control packet data unit.

[0043] According to a fortieth aspect, there is provided a method comprising: determining whether resources dedicated for a processing branch of a data radio bearer are insufficient for one or more data streams mapped to the processing branch; transmitting, to a network device, based on the determination, a request for remapping the one or more data streams; and receiving, from the network device, a configuration for remapping the one or more data streams to two or more parallel processing branches of the data radio bearer.

[0044] According to a forty-first aspect, there is provided a method comprising: receiving, from a user device, a request for remapping one or more data streams that are mapped to a processing branch of a data radio bearer; determining whether to remap the one or more data streams; and transmitting, to the user device, based on determining to remap the one or more data streams, a configuration for remapping the one or more data streams to two or more parallel processing branches of the data radio bearer.

[0045] According to a forty-second aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: determining whether resources dedicated for a processing branch of a data radio bearer are insufficient for one or more data streams mapped to the processing branch; transmitting, to a network device, based on the determination, a request for remapping the one or more data streams; and receiving, from the network device, a configuration for remapping the one or more data streams to two or more parallel processing branches of the data radio bearer.

[0046] According to a forty-third aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: receiving, from a user device, a request for remapping one or more data streams that are mapped to a processing branch of a data radio bearer; determining whether to remap the one or more data streams; and transmitting, to the user device, based on determining to remap the one or more data streams, a configuration for remapping the one or more data streams to two or more parallel processing branches of the data radio bearer.

[0047] According to a forty-fourth aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: determining whether resources dedicated for a processing branch of a data radio bearer are insufficient for one or more data streams mapped to the processing branch; transmitting, to a network device, based on the determination, a request for remapping the one or more data streams; and receiving, from the network device, a configuration for remapping the one or more data streams to two or more parallel processing branches of the data radio bearer.

[0048] According to a forty-fifth aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: receiving, from a userdevice, a request for remapping one or more data streams that are mapped to a processing branch of a data radio bearer; determining whether to remap the one or more data streams; and transmitting, to the user device, based on determining to remap the one or more data streams, a configuration for remapping the one or more data streams to two or more parallel processing branches of the data radio bearer.

[0049] According to a forty-sixth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising program instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: determining whether resources dedicated for a processing branch of a data radio bearer are insufficient for one or more data streams mapped to the processing branch; transmitting, to a network device, based on the determination, a request for remapping the one or more data streams; and receiving, from the network device, a configuration for remapping the one or more data streams to two or more parallel processing branches of the data radio bearer.

[0050] According to a forty-seventh aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising program instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: receiving, from a user device, a request for remapping one or more data streams that are mapped to a processing branch of a data radio bearer; determining whether to remap the one or more data streams; and transmitting, to the user device, based on determining to remap the one or more data streams, a configuration for remapping the one or more data streams to two or more parallel processing branches of the data radio bearer.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0051] In the following, various example embodiments will be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichFIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communication network;FIG. 2 illustrates a dual stack approach for parallel processing;FIG. 3 illustrates a signal flow diagram;FIG.4A illustrates an example of a single quality of service flow mapped to a single data radio bearer;FIG. 4B illustrates an example of remapping a single quality of service flow to two data radio bearers;FIG. 4C illustrates an example of remapping a single quality of service flow to two data radio bearers;FIG. 5A illustrates an example of two quality of service flows mapped to a single data radio bearer;FIG. 5B illustrates an example of remapping the two quality of service flows to two data radio bearers;FIG. 6 illustrates a signal flow diagram;FIG. 7 illustrates a flow chart;FIG. 8 illustrates a flow chart;FIG. 9 illustrates a flow chart;FIG. 10 illustrates a flow chart;FIG. 11 illustrates a flow chart;FIG. 12 illustrates an example of an apparatus; and FIG. 13 illustrates an example of an apparatus.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0052] The following embodiments are exemplifying. Although the specification may refer to “an”, “one”, or “some” embodiment(s) in several locations of the text, this does not necessarily mean that each reference is made to the same embodiment(s), or that a particular feature only applies to a single embodiment. Single features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide other embodiments within the scope of the claims. Furthermore, the words "comprising" and "including" should be understood as not limiting the described embodiments to consist of only those features that have been mentioned, and such embodiments may also contain features that have not been specifically mentioned. Reference numbers, in the description and / or in the claims, serve to illustrate the embodiments with reference to the drawings, without limiting the embodiments to these examples only.

[0053] Some example embodiments described herein may be implemented in a wireless communication network comprising a radio access network based on one or more of the following radio access technologies (RATs): global system for mobile communications (GSM) or any other second generation (2G) radio access technology, universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS, 3G) based on basic wideband-code division multiple access (W-CDMA), high-speed packet access (HSPA), long term evolution (LTE), LTE- Advanced, fourth generation (4G), fifth generation (5G), 5G new radio (NR), 5G-Advanced (i.e., 3GPP NR Rel-18 and beyond), or sixth generation (6G). Some examples of radio access networks include the universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) radio accessnetwork (UTRAN), the evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRA), or the next generation radio access network (NG-RAN). The wireless communication network may further comprise a core network, and some example embodiments may also be applied to network functions of the core network.

[0054] It should be noted that the embodiments are not restricted to the wireless communication network given as an example, but a person skilled in the art may also apply the solution to other wireless communication networks or systems provided with necessary properties. For example, some example embodiments may also be applied to a communication system based on IEEE 802.11 specifications, or a communication system based on IEEE 802.15 specifications. IEEE is an abbreviation for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

[0055] FIG. 1 depicts an example of a simplified wireless communication network showing some physical and logical entities. The connections shown in FIG. 1 may be physical connections or logical connections. It is apparent to a person skilled in the art that the wireless communication network may also comprise other physical and logical entities than those shown in FIG. 1.

[0056] The example embodiments described herein are not, however, restricted to the wireless communication network given as an example but a person skilled in the art may apply the example embodiments described herein to other wireless communication networks provided with necessary properties.

[0057] The example wireless communication network shown in FIG. 1 includes a radio access network (RAN) and a core network 110.

[0058] FIG. 1 shows user equipment (UE) 100, 102 configured to be in a wireless connection on one or more communication channels in a radio cell with an access node 104 of a radio access network.

[0059] The access node 104 may comprise a computing device configured to control the radio resources of the access node 104 and to be in a wireless connection with one or more UEs 100, 102. The access node 104 may also be referred to as a base station, a base transceiver station (BTS), an access point, a cell site, a network node, a radio access network node, a RAN node, or a network device.

[0060] The access node 104 may be, for example, an evolved NodeB (abbreviated as eNB or eNodeB), or a next generation evolved NodeB (abbreviated as ng-eNB), or a next generation NodeB (abbreviated as gNB or gNodeB), providing the radio cell. The access node104 may include or be coupled to transceivers. From the transceivers of the access node 104, a connection may be provided to an antenna unit that establishes a bi-directional radio link to one or more UEs 100, 102. The antenna unit may comprise an antenna or antenna element, or a plurality of antennas or antenna elements.

[0061] The wireless connection (e.g., radio link) from a UE 100, 102 to the access node 104 may be called uplink (UL) or reverse link, and the wireless connection (e.g., radio link) from the access node 104 to the UE 100, 102 may be called downlink (DL) or forward link. A UE 100 may also communicate directly with another UE 102, and vice versa, via a wireless connection generally referred to as a sidelink (SL). It should be appreciated that the access node 104 or its functionalities may be implemented by using any node, host, server, access point or other entity suitable for providing such functionalities.

[0062] The radio access network may comprise more than one access node 104, in which case the access nodes may also be configured to communicate with one another over wired or wireless links. These links between access nodes may be used for sending and / or receiving control plane signaling and also for routing data from one access node to another access node.

[0063] The access node 104 may further be connected to a core network (CN) 110. The core network 110 may comprise an evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or a 5thgeneration core network (5GC). The EPC may comprise network entities, such as a serving gateway (S-GW for routing and forwarding data packets), a packet data network gateway (P-GW) for providing connectivity of UEs to external packet data networks, and / or a mobility management entity (MME). The 5GC may comprise one or more network functions, such as at least one of: a user plane function (UPF), an access and mobility management function (AMF), a location management function (LMF), and / or a session management function (SMF).

[0064] The core network 110 may also be able to communicate with one or more external networks 113, such as a public switched telephone network or the Internet, or utilize services provided by them. For example, in 5G wireless communication networks, the UPF of the core network 110 may be configured to communicate with an external data network via an N6 interface. In LTE wireless communication networks, the P-GW of the core network 110 may be configured to communicate with an external data network.

[0065] It should also be understood that the distribution of functions between core network operations and access node operations may differ in future wireless communication networks compared to that of the LTE or 5G, or even be non-existent.

[0066] The illustrated UE 100, 102 is one type of an apparatus to which resources on the air interface may be allocated and assigned. The UE 100, 102 may also be called a wireless communication device, a subscriber unit, a mobile station, a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a terminal device, or a user device, just to mention but a few names. The UE 100, 102 may be a computing device operating with or without a subscriber identification module (SIM), including, but not limited to, the following types of computing devices: a mobile phone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handset, a computing device comprising a wireless modem (e.g., an alarm or measurement device, etc.), a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a tablet, a game console, a notebook, a multimedia device, a reduced capability (RedCap) device, a wearable device (e.g., a watch, earphones or eyeglasses) with radio parts, a sensor comprising a wireless modem, or a computing device comprising a wireless modem integrated in a vehicle.

[0067] It should be appreciated that the UE 100, 102 may also be a nearly exclusive uplink-only device, of which an example may be a camera or video camera loading images or video clips to a network. The UE 100, 102 may also be a device having capability to operate in an Internet of Things (loT) network, which is a scenario in which objects may be provided with the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to- human or human-to-computer interaction.

[0068] The wireless communication network may also be able to support the usage of cloud services. For example, at least part of core network operations may be carried out as a cloud service (this is depicted in FIG. 1 by “cloud” 114). The UE 100, 102 may also utilize the cloud 114. In some applications, the computation for a given UE may be carried out in the cloud 114 or in another UE.

[0069] The wireless communication network may also comprise a central control entity, such as a network management system (NMS), or the like. The NMS is a centralized suite of software and hardware used to monitor, control, and administer the network infrastructure. The NMS is responsible for a wide range of tasks such as fault management, configuration management, security management, performance management, and accounting management. The NMS enables network operators to efficiently manage andoptimize network resources, ensuring that the network delivers high performance, reliability, and security.

[0070] 5G enables using multiple-input and multiple-output (M1M0) antennas in the access node 104 and / or the UE 100, 102, many more base stations or access nodes than an LTE network (a so-called small cell concept), including macro sites operating in cooperation with smaller stations and employing a variety of radio technologies depending on service needs, use cases and / or spectrum available. 5G wireless communication networks may support a wide range of use cases and related applications including video streaming, augmented reality, different ways of data sharing and various forms of machine-type applications, such as (massive) machine-type communications (mMTC), including vehicular safety, different sensors and real-time control.

[0071] In 5G wireless communication networks, access nodes and / or UEs may have multiple radio interfaces, such as below 6 gigahertz (GHz), centimeter wave (cmWave) and millimeter wave (mmWave), and also being integrable with legacy radio access technologies, such as LTE. Integration with LTE may be implemented, for example, as a system, where macro coverage may be provided by LTE, and 5G radio interface access may come from small cells by aggregation to LTE. In other words, a 5G wireless communication network may support both inter- RAT operability (such as interoperability between LTE and 5G) and inter-Rl operability (inter-radio interface operability, such as between below 6GHz, cmWave, and mmWave).

[0072] 5G wireless communication networks may also apply network slicing, in which multiple independent and dedicated virtual sub-networks (network instances) may be created within the same physical infrastructure to run services that have different requirements on latency, reliability, throughput and mobility.

[0073] In one embodiment, an access node 104 may comprise: a radio unit (RU) 103 comprising a radio transceiver (TRX), i.e., a transmitter (Tx) and a receiver (Rx); one or more distributed units (DUs) 105 that may be used for the so-called Layer 1 (LI) processing and real-time Layer 2 (L2) processing; and a central unit (CU) 108 (also known as a centralized unit) that may be used for non-real-time L2 and Layer 3 (L3) processing. The CU 108 may be connected to the one or more DUs 105 for example via an Fl interface. Such an embodiment of the access node 104 may enable the centralization of CUs relative to the cell sites and DUs, whereas DUs may be more distributed and may even remain at cell sites. TheCU and DU together may also be referred to as baseband or a baseband unit (BBU). The CU and DU may also be comprised in a radio access point (RAP).

[0074] The CU 108 may be a logical node hosting radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) and / or packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), of the NR protocol stack for an access node 104. The CU 108 may comprise a control plane (CU-CP), which may be a logical node hosting the RRC and the control plane part of the PDCP protocol of the NR protocol stack for the access node 104. The CU 108 may further comprise a user plane (CU-UP), which may be a logical node hosting the user plane part of the PDCP protocol and the SDAP protocol of the CU for the access node 104.

[0075] The DU 105 may be a logical node hosting radio link control (RLC), medium access control (MAC) and / or physical (PHY) layers of the NR protocol stack for the access node 104. The operations of the DU 105 may be at least partly controlled by the CU 108. It should also be understood that the distribution of functions between the DU 105 and the CU 108 may vary depending on the implementation.

[0076] Cloud computing systems may also be used to provide the CU 108 and / or DU 105. A CU provided by a cloud computing system may be referred to as a virtualized CU (vCU). In addition to the vCU, there may also be a virtualized DU (vDU) provided by a cloud computing system. Furthermore, there may also be a combination, where the DU may be implemented on so-called bare metal solutions, for example application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or customer-specific standard product (CSSP) system-on-a-chip (SoC).

[0077] Edge cloud may be brought into the radio access network by utilizing network function virtualization (NFV) and software defined networking (SDN). Using edge cloud may mean access node operations to be carried out, at least partly, in a computing system operationally coupled to a remote radio head (RRH) or a radio unit (RU) 103 of an access node 104. It is also possible that access node operations may be performed on a distributed computing system or a cloud computing system located at the access node 104. Application of cloud RAN architecture enables RAN real-time functions being carried out at the radio access network (e.g., in a DU 105), and non-real-time functions being carried out in a centralized manner (e.g., in a CU 108).

[0078] 5G (or new radio, NR) wireless communication networks may support multiple hierarchies, where multi-access edge computing (MEC) servers may be placed between the core network 110 and the access node 104. It should be appreciated that MEC may be applied in LTE wireless communication networks as well.

[0079] A 5G wireless communication network (“5G network”) may also comprise a non-terrestrial communication network, such as a satellite communication network, to enhance or complement the coverage of the 5G radio access network. For example, satellite communication may support the transfer of data between the 5G radio access network and the core network 110, enabling more extensive network coverage. Possible use cases may include: providing service continuity for machine-to-machine (M2M) or Internet of Things (loT) devices or for passengers on board of vehicles, or ensuring service availability for critical communications, and future railway, maritime, or aeronautical communications. Satellite communication may utilize geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite systems, or low earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems, such as mega-constellations (i.e., systems in which hundreds of (nano)satellites are deployed). Alternatively, the satellites may be an airborne devices, such as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or a high-altitude platform system (HAPS). A given satellite 106 may provide communication services on Earth via one or more satellite beams. The one or more satellite beams create one or more cells over a given service area that may be bounded by the field of view of the satellite 106.

[0080] It is obvious for a person skilled in the art that the access node 104 depicted in FIG. 1 is just an example of a part of a radio access network, and in practice the radio access network may comprise a plurality of access nodes 104, the UEs 100, 102 may have access to a plurality of radio cells, and the radio access network may also comprise other apparatuses, such as physical layer relay access nodes or other entities. At least one of the access nodes may be a Home eNodeB or a Home gNodeB. A Home gNodeB or a Home eNodeB is a type of access node that may be used to provide indoor coverage inside a home, office, or other indoor environment.

[0081] Additionally, in a geographical area of a radio access network, a plurality of different kinds of radio cells as well as a plurality of radio cells may be provided. Radio cells may be macro cells (or umbrella cells) which may be large cells having a diameter of up to tens of kilometers, or smaller cells such as micro-, femto- or picocells. The access node(s) 104 of FIG. 1 may provide any kind of these cells. A cellular radio network may be implemented as a multilayer access networks including several kinds of radio cells. In multilayer access networks, one access node may provide one kind of a radio cell or radio cells, and thus a plurality of access nodes may be needed to provide such a multilayer access network.

[0082] For fulfilling the need for improving performance of radio accessnetworks, the concept of “plug-and-play” access nodes may be introduced. A radio access network, which may be able to use “plug-and-play” access nodes, may include, in addition to Home eNodeBs or Home gNodeBs, a Home Node B gateway (HNB-GW) (not shown in FIG. 1). An HNB-GW, which may be installed within an operator’s radio access network, may aggregate traffic from a large number of Home eNodeBs or Home gNodeBs back to a core network 110 of the operator.

[0083] 6G wireless communication networks are expected to adopt flexible decentralized and / or distributed computing systems and architecture and ubiquitous computing, with local spectrum licensing, spectrum sharing, infrastructure sharing, and intelligent automated management underpinned by mobile edge computing, artificial intelligence, short-packet communication and blockchain technologies. Key features of 6G may include intelligent connected management and control functions, programmability, integrated sensing and communication, reduction of energy footprint, trustworthy infrastructure, scalability and affordability. In addition to these, 6G is also targeting new use cases covering the integration of localization and sensing capabilities into system definition to unifying user experience across physical and digital worlds.

[0084] In 5G, the core network 110 may classify downlink application flows (or data streams) and the non-access stratum (NAS) layer of the UE uplink application flows into quality of service (QoS) flows. The access node 104 (e.g., gNB) may define a radio bearer configuration for the UE 100, 102 and map QoS flows to DRBs based on the QoS profiles received from the core network 110. In other words, the core network 110 may classify application flows based on their QoS requirements, and the access node 104 may set up the necessary channels to ensure that the data is transmitted efficiently and with the required quality. Separate DRBs may be established for QoS flows requiring different packet forwarding treatment, or several QoS flows belonging to the same protocol data unit (PDU) session can be multiplexed in the same DRB. However, currently, a single QoS flow cannot be mapped to multiple DRBs.

[0085] A DRB is a radio channel used in mobile networks to carry user data between the UE 100, 102 and the access node 104 (e.g., gNB).

[0086] An application flow (or data stream) refers to the stream of data packets generated by a specific application or service as it communicates over the network. For example, when streaming a video or making a video call, the data being sent and received forms an application flow. Each application flow may have different requirements forexample for speed, latency, and reliability, which are managed by the network to ensure a satisfactory user experience.

[0087] A downlink application flow refers to data transmitted from the network (e.g., from the gNB) to the UE 100, 102. An uplink application flow refers to data transmitted from the UE 100, 102 to the network (e.g., to the gNB).

[0088] QoS requirements are specific criteria that define the performance level needed for an application flow, such as minimum bandwidth, minimum throughput, maximum latency, availability, and reliability. QoS requirements ensure that different types of data traffic, such as video streaming or online gaming, receive the appropriate network resources to function smoothly. A QoS profile is a set of parameters that define the specific QoS requirements for an application flow.

[0089] A QoS flow is a data stream that is managed according to these QoS requirements. In other words, the QoS flow defines how the network manages the application flow, ensuring that it meets the specific QoS requirements. In essence, the application flow refers to the data being transmitted, and the QoS flow is the network’s way of ensuring that the data is delivered with the necessary performance and reliability.

[0090] In 5G, the packet core network may set up a dedicated or default QoS flow with a given 5G QoS identifier (5Q1). TS 23.501 defines standardized non-guaranteed bitrate (non-GBR), guaranteed bit rate (GBR) and delay-critical non-GBR / GBR 5Q1 values and additionally operator-definable non-GBR and GBR 5Qls, with operator-configurable QoS characteristics.

[0091] NR Release 18 has additionally specified PDU set information, which can further identify "sub flows” within QoS Flows to be treated differently in terms of importance, packet delay budget, etc. This information can be communicated to the central unit user plane (CU-UP) and distributed unit (DU) via the N2 and N3 interfaces.

[0092] However, there are some scenarios where the processing power requirements of a QoS flow or a DRB may change.

[0093] For example, the QoS flow may not behave as assumed based on the QoS profile. For instance, the high priority non-GBR QoS flow may be mapped to a DRB, but the data rate may suddenly increase. Alternatively, the high peak data rate requirement may become clear only from the data packet metadata (e.g., the PDU set size together with the PDU set delay budget).

[0094] As another example, the QoS profile of a QoS flow may change. The characteristics of the application flow may change significantly during the application session, and therefore also the QoS profile may need to be changed by the core network 110.

[0095] As another example, in a handover scenario, the target cell (or target base station) of the handover may have different processing capabilities than the source cell (or source base station).

[0096] To provide satisfactory quality of experience (QoE) for reliable communications, for example for extended reality (XR) and metaverse, 6G should be able to support very high data rates, for example ranging from 100 megabits per second (Mbps) to 10 gigabits per second (Gbps) or even higher. Another additional requirement is the low end- to-end latency (e.g., approximately 10 milliseconds or even shorter).

[0097] To fulfill these stringent requirements, the 6G user plane (UP) protocol should be capable of enabling parallel processing and / or hardware-based processing of the user plane, and further taking advantage of the system-on-chip (SoC) design.

[0098] Instead of having one complex toolbox mixing all mechanisms and optimizations as in 5G NR, for 6G UP design, a dual-stack approach may be implemented.

[0099] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of the dual stack approach (also called FlexStack approach) with an anchor protocol stack (APS) 201 and a fast protocol stack (FPS) 202 with radio processing units (RPUs) 211, 212, 213 to handle high data rates. The RPUs may also be referred to as processing branches. For example, the dual stack approach of FIG. 2 may be applied in 6G. In FIG. 2, SRB is an abbreviation for signaling radio bearer.

[0100] The anchor protocol stack 201 is designed for low bit rate services, with optimizations to optimize coverage (e.g., bit-level optimizations) and reliability (e.g., radio link control automatic repeat request). The APS 201 provides reliable and spectral-efficient user plane processing.

[0101] The fast protocol stack 202 is designed for high bit rate services, where the focus is on a processing-friendly and implementation-friendly design allowing the concept of RPU, enabling parallel processing of the radio functions. The FPS 202 may target simplified processing, for example with no RLC acknowledge mode (AM), and no robust header compression (RoHC). The FPS 202 may have fixed header structures for SDAP, PDCP and RLC, as well as a fixed PDCP and RLC sequence number (SN) length.

[0102] At each slot or sub-slot, on request by MAC(-low), the APS 201 and FPS 202 may deliver a set of PDUs to MAC(-low) that are multiplexed on a single transmission block (TB).

[0103] Parallel processing can be provided on different protocol layers. As shown in FIG. 2, one approach to enable parallel processing is to split a data radio bearer (DRB) 220 on a PDCP layer into two or more processing branches 211, 212, 213 (with the example name of RPUs in FIG. 2). In other words, in FIG. 2, data splitting is assumed in the PDCP layer at the transmitter. For example, the PDCP layer may be split into PDCP-Hi and PDCP-Low sublayers, the PDCP-Hi being a common layer for all processing branches (or RPUs) 211, 212, 213 of the DRB 220, and the PDCP-low taking care of branch-specific tasks.

[0104] A processing branch (or RPU) may be defined as a host for sub-layer 2 processing (i.e., for processing below level 2). In other words, a processing branch (or RPU) can be understood as a dedicated small core for handling data processing. Although three RPUs 211, 212, 213 are shown in FIG. 2, it should be noted that the number of RPUs may also be different than three (i.e., two or more RPUs).

[0105] One or more data streams may be transmitted from the SDAP layer via the data radio bearer to the PDCP-Hi layer. In 6G, there may not be an SDAP layer (or it may be named differently), or the SDAP layer may be merged with the PDCP layer.

[0106] Another option for parallelization is a DRB-level parallelization, where one or more QoS flows may be mapped to multiple parallel DRBs, as opposed to mapping a single DRB to multiple parallel L2 branches (as shown in FIG. 2).

[0107] The need for parallel processing may arise either on the UE or network side. The UE may determine, for instance, that it is not able to support the required high data rate with the processing resources allocated for an existing DRB, or the QoS profile of the data flow may change, and the network may decide to apply parallel processing with the QoS flow. However, currently, there is no mechanism available to support UE-triggered user plane parallelization.

[0108] Some example embodiments relate to parallel processing enabled by the DRB-level traffic parallelization (mapping one or more QoS flows to multiple parallel DRBs), or the dual-stack approach shown in FIG. 2.

[0109] Some example embodiments provide a method enabling a UE to initiate the split of traffic flow into two or more DRBs or into two or more processing branches (e.g., RPUs) of a DRB. Some example embodiments help the UE to serve better (e.g., to increase theamount of resources available for a QoS flow or data stream), for example when the QoS flow does not behave as assumed based on the QoS profile, or the QoS profile of the data flow is changed.

[0110] Some example embodiments are described below using principles and terminology of 5G radio access technology without limiting the example embodiments to 5G radio access technology, however. For example, some example embodiments may also be applied to 6G and beyond.

[0111] FIG. 3 illustrates a signal flow diagram according to an example embodiment. In this example embodiment, a UE 100 initiates the split of traffic flow into two or more DRBs, thus enabling DRB-level parallel processing for the data traffic. The traffic flow may comprise one or more QoS flows that are initially mapped into a single DRB. The one or more QoS flows are remapped to two or more DRBs (with the same or different QoS requirements).

[0112] Referring to FIG. 3, at 301, the UE 100 may optionally generate and transmit, to a network device 104, a capability indication (or message) indicating that the UE 100 supports parallel processing of one or more quality of service flows on two or more data radio bearers. In other words, the UE 100 may report its capability of supporting DRB- level parallelization. The network device 104 may receive the capability indication.

[0113] The network device 104 may be, for example, an access node (e.g., gNB) controlling the serving cell of the UE 100.

[0114] At 302, the network device 104 establishes or configures one or more radio bearers (e.g., one or more DRBs) for the UE 100. The radio bearer configuration may be based on one or more QoS profiles of one or more QoS flows received from the core network 110 in a session establishment or session modification procedure.

[0115] At 303, the UE 100 determines whether resources dedicated for a (single) data radio bearer are insufficient for one or more quality of service flows mapped to the (single) data radio bearer. This data radio bearer may also be referred to as a first data radio bearer.

[0116] In other words, the UE 100 determines whether more resources (or additional DRBs) through parallelization are needed by determining whether the resources are adequate to support the QoS requirements for one or more application flows mapped to the data radio bearer. If any of these resources are lacking, the QoS for the one or more application flows might be compromised.

[0117] The resources may comprise, for example, at least one of: bandwidth, transmission power, time slots (i.e., specific time intervals allocated for data transmission), frequency channels, achievable throughput or processing capacity.

[0118] For example, the determination may be based on at least one of: an indication received from layer 2 or from layer 3 (i.e., from upper layers), a buffer status of the data radio bearer, an experienced packet error rate associated with the one or more quality of service flows, an experienced data rate associated with the one or more quality of service flows, a predicted data rate associated with the one or more quality of service flows, an experienced packet error rate associated with the data radio bearer (in case the radio stack is capable of measuring only bearer-specific parameters), an experienced data rate associated with the data radio bearer (in case the radio stack is capable of measuring only bearer-specific parameters), or a processing load of the UE 100.

[0119] The buffer status indicates the current state of the buffer, which temporarily stores data before it is transmitted over the data radio bearer. The buffer status helps to manage the data flow and avoid congestion. As an example, if the buffer status indicates that the buffer is getting overloaded, then the UE 100 may determine that the resources dedicated for the data radio bearer are insufficient.

[0120] The experienced packet error rate measures the rate at which data packets are lost or corrupted during transmission. As an example, if the experienced packet error rate is high (e.g., above a threshold), then the UE 100 may determine that the resources dedicated for the data radio bearer are insufficient.

[0121] The data rate refers to the speed at which data is transmitted between the UE 100 and the network device 104. For example, the data rate may be measured in bits per second (bps), kilobits per second (Kbps), megabits per second (Mbps), or gigabits per second (Gbps). In other words, the data rate indicates how much data can be transmitted or received successfully in a given amount of time.

[0122] The experienced data rate refers to the actual data transfer rate that has been observed. The predicted data rate is an estimate of the future data transfer rate. As an example, if the experienced or predicted data rate is high (e.g., above a threshold), then the UE 100 may determine that the resources dedicated for the data radio bearer are insufficient.

[0123] The processing load of the UE 100 refers to the amount of processing power being used by the UE 100. As an example, if the processing load of the UE 100 is high(e.g., above a threshold), then the UE 100 may determine that the resources dedicated for the data radio bearer are insufficient.

[0124] For example, suppose that the UE 100 has multiple cores and supports one-core-per-DRB processing. Then, in case the processing power of one core is not sufficient for the high data rate (e.g., buffer size keeps increasing), then the UE 100 may determine that it is time to activate another core for parallel processing, and hence request remapping for the one or more QoS flows.

[0125] At 304, the UE 100 generates and transmits, to the network device 104, based on the determination (i.e., based on determining that the resources dedicated for the data radio bearer are insufficient), a request for remapping the one or more quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer. The remapping may also be referred to as parallelization. In other words, with the request, the UE 100 may request parallelization (or parallel processing) for the one or more quality of service flows or for the data radio bearer. The network device 104 receives the request. For example, the request may be comprised in an RRC message or in a MAC control element (MAC CE) or in a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) control packet data unit (PDU).

[0126] The request may comprise, for example, at least one of: an identity of the data radio bearer whose traffic requires parallel processing, one or more identities of the one or more quality of service flows (e.g., an identity of each QoS flow) whose traffic requires parallelization, one or more logical channel (LCH) identifiers associated with the one or more quality of service flows, one or more logical channel group (LCG) identifiers associated with the one or more quality of service flows, a number of data radio bearers required for serving the one or more quality of service flows (i.e., a number of required parallel streams for the indicated traffic), a maximum supported data rate of the data radio bearer that the UE 100 can support, or a preferred data rate of the data radio bearer that the UE 100 can support.

[0127] Logical channel identifiers are unique identifiers assigned to logical channels, which are pathways for data transmission between the UE 100 and the network device 104. Each logical channel can carry different types of data, such as voice, video, or internet traffic.

[0128] Logical channel group identifiers are identifiers for groups of logical channels. Logical channels may be grouped together based on their QoS requirements. For example, channels that need high priority and low latency may be grouped together.

[0129] Each QoS flow (a stream of data with specific QoS requirements) may be linked to one or more logical channels or to one or more groups of logical channels.

[0130] The maximum supported data rate means that the UE 100 is informing the network device 104 of the highest data rate that the UE 100 can handle. This helps the network device 104 understand the upper limit of the UE’s capacity, ensuring that the network device 104 does not allocate more resources than the UE 100 can utilize.

[0131] The preferred data rate means that the UE 100 is indicating the data rate that the UE 100 ideally wants to achieve. This preferred data rate may reflect the UE’s desired performance level, considering its current application(s) and QoS requirements.

[0132] At 305, the network device 104 determines whether to remap (or parallelize) the one or more quality of service flows to two or more data radio bearers. For example, the network device 104 may determine whether the remapping is possible or needed. In this example embodiment, the network device 104 may determine to remap the one or more quality of service flows.

[0133] The two or more data radio bearers may comprise the first data radio bearer and one or more additional data radio bearers. The network device 104 may remap the one or more quality of service flows to the two or more data radio bearers, such that that the QoS requirements of the one or more quality of service flows (in the QoS profile(s)) are fulfilled. For example, the one or more additional data radio bearers may provide the same QoS or better QoS as the first data radio bearer.

[0134] The determination of whether to remap the one or more quality of service flows may be based at least partly on the capability indication that may be received from the UE 100 at 301.

[0135] At 306, the network device 104 may optionally establish the one or more additional data radio bearers for the one or more quality of service flows based on the request received from the UE 100 (e.g., see FIG. 4B where DRB 3 is established as an additional DRB for QoS flow 1).

[0136] Alternatively, the one or more additional data radio bearers may have been pre-established for one or more other quality of service flows (e.g., see FIG. 4C where DRB 2 has been pre-established for QoS flow 2, and DRB 2 is used as an additional DRB for QoS flow 1). In this case, the network device 104 may determine whether an amount of data traffic of the one or more other quality service flows (e.g., QoS flow 2 in FIG. 4C) through the one or more additional data radio bearers (e.g., DRB 2 in FIG. 4C) is below a threshold (i.e.,whether there is enough capacity available). The determination to remap the one or more quality of service flows may be based at least on determining that the amount of data traffic through the one or additional data radio bearers is below the threshold (i.e., enough capacity is available).

[0137] Alternatively, or additionally, the network device 104 may determine whether the one or more additional data radio bearers can fulfil one or more quality of service requirements of the one or more quality of service flows to be remapped. The determination to remap the one or more quality of service flows may be based at least on determining that the one or more additional data radio bearers can fulfil the one or more quality of service requirements of the one or more quality of service flows to be remapped.

[0138] At 307, the network device 104 generates and transmits, to the UE 100, based on determining to remap the one or more quality of service flows, a configuration for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to the two or more data radio bearers. For example, the configuration may be comprised in an RRC reconfiguration message. In other words, the network device 104 may change the RRC configuration of the UE 100 to include the new mapping of the one or more quality of service flows to the two or more data radio bearers.

[0139] The configuration may indicate one or more rules for remapping (or splitting) the one or more quality of service flows to the two or more data radio bearers. For example, the one or more rules may comprise at least one of: one or more weight values (splitting weights) indicating a portion (e.g., percentage) of data traffic to be mapped to each data radio bearer of the two or more data radio bearers (i.e., the portion of the traffic subject to parallelization to be mapped to a certain DRB), a data rate threshold above which data packets associated with the one or more quality of service flows are to be forwarded or distributed to the one or more additional data radio bearers in addition to the first data radio bearer, or a recommendation to avoid remapping a service data flow to the two or more data radio bearers in case multiple service data flows are mapped to a single quality of service flow of the one or more quality of service flows (i.e., to the same QoS flow).

[0140] A service data flow (SDF) refers to a stream of data packets that share the same QoS requirements and are treated similarly by the network. Each SDF may be associated with a specific application or service, such as video streaming, voice calls, or web browsing, and is managed to ensure that the required performance levels, like latency andbandwidth, are met. This helps to maintain a consistent user experience for different types of network services

[0141] The purpose of avoiding remapping the SDF is to preserve in-order delivery of an application flow. PDCP takes care of the in-order delivery in the 3GPP radio stack, but if the application flow is split above PDCP (which may be the case in the DRB-level parallelization), the packets of the application flow may be received and passed to the application layer out of order.

[0142] In case the one or more quality of service flows comprise one quality of service flow (i.e., a single quality of service flow) mapped to the first data radio bearer (e.g., see FIG. 4A where QoS flow 1 is mapped to DRB 1), then the configuration may indicate to split the one quality service flow into the two or more data radio bearers (e.g., splitting QoS flow 1 to DRB 1 and DRB 3 in FIG. 4B, or splitting QoS flow 1 to DRB 1 and DRB 2 in FIG. 4C).

[0143] In case the one or more quality of service flows comprise a plurality of quality of service flows mapped to the first data radio bearer (e.g., see FIG. 5A where QoS flow 1 and QoS flow 2 are mapped to DRB 1), then the configuration may indicate to keep at least one quality of service flow of the plurality of quality of service flows mapped to the first data radio bearer (e.g., keeping QoS flow 1 mapped to DRB 1 in FIG. 5B), and to remap at least one other quality of service flow of the plurality of quality of service flows to one or more additional data radio bearers (e.g., remapping QoS flow 2 to DRB 3 in FIG. 5B).

[0144] At 308, the UE 100 transmits or receives, to or from the network device 104, based on the configuration, data associated with the one or more quality of service flows via the two or more data radio bearers. The network device 104 receives or transmits, from or to the UE 100, data associated with the one or more quality of service flows via the two or more data radio bearers.

[0145] FIG. 4A illustrates an example, where the network device 104 has initially configured two DRBs 401, 402 for two QoS flows 411, 412 of the UE 100. In other words, in FIG. 4A, a single QoS flow is mapped to a single DRB (a first QoS flow 411 is mapped to a first DRB 401, and a second QoS flow 412 is mapped to a second DRB 402). The UE 100 determines that it is not able to serve the first QoS flow 411 with a single DRB (i.e., with the first DRB 401). In other words, the UE 100 determines that parallelization is required, and the UE 100 requests parallelization for the first QoS flow 411.

[0146] FIG. 4B illustrates an example of parallelization with a newly established additional DRB 403 (DRB 3). In other words, the network device 104 may decide to establishan additional DRB 403 for the first QoS flow 411 and to remap the first QoS flow 411 to two DRBs 401, 403 (i.e., to the first DRB 401 and to the additional DRB 403).

[0147] FIG. 4C illustrates an example of parallelization via distributing data packets to a pre-established DRB 402 (DRB 2). Instead of establishing a new DRB for the first QoS flow 411 (as shown in FIG. 4B), the network device 104 can split the first QoS flow 411 into two pre-established DRBs 401, 402 (i.e., to the first DRB 401 and to an additional pre- established DRB 402). Remapping to a pre-established DRB is possible, if the network device 104 determines that the data traffic of the other QoS flow 412 through the additional pre- established DRB 402 (DRB 2) is not high (e.g., below a threshold), and / or the second DRB 402 can fulfil the QoS requirements of the first QoS flow 411.

[0148] FIG. 5A illustrates an example, where a plurality of QoS flows 511, 512 are initially mapped to a single DRB 501 (i.e., to the first DRB 501), and another QoS flow 513 is mapped to a second DRB 502. The UE 100 determines that the traffic mapped to the first DRB 501 cannot be served with the current processing resources, and thus the UE 100 requests parallelization for the first DRB 501.

[0149] FIG. 5B illustrates an example of parallelization by moving a complete QoS flow 512 (QoS flow 2) from the first DRB 501 to an additional DRB 503 (e.g., newly established DRB ). In FIG. 5B, the network device 104 has established an additional DRB 503 (DRB 3) for the remapped QoS flow 512. Thus, the network device 104 splits the traffic of the first DRB 501 by remapping one of the QoS flows 512 (QoS flow 2) of the first DRB 501 to the additional DRB 503 (DRB 3), while keeping the first QoS flow 511 mapped to the first DRB 501.

[0150] FIG. 6 illustrates a signal flow diagram according to an example embodiment for the dual-stack approach shown in FIG. 2.

[0151] Referring to FIG. 6, at 601, the UE 100 may optionally generate and transmit, to a network device 104, a capability indication (or message) indicating that the UE 100 supports parallel processing of one or more data streams on two or more parallel processing branches of a data radio bearer. The network device 104 may receive the capability indication.

[0152] The network device 104 may be, for example, an access node (e.g., gNB) controlling the serving cell of the UE 100.

[0153] At 602, the network device 104 establishes or configures one or more radio bearers (e.g., one or more DRBs) for the UE 100. The radio bearer configuration maybe based on one or more QoS profiles of one or more QoS flows received from the core network 110 in a session establishment or session modification procedure.

[0154] At 603, the UE 100 determines whether resources dedicated for a (single) processing branch (i.e., RPU used to host a sublayer of Layer 2) of a data radio bearer are insufficient for one or more data streams mapped to the (single) processing branch. This processing branch may also be referred to as a first processing branch. In other words, the UE 100 determines whether more resources (or additional processing branches) through parallelization are needed. In case the data rate of one DRB is higher than the processing capability of one processing branch, then the UE 100 may determine a need to remap or reconfigure or parallelize the DRB to additional processing branches.

[0155] The resources may comprise, for example, at least one of: bandwidth, transmission power, time slots (i.e., specific time intervals allocated for data transmission), frequency channels, or processing capacity.

[0156] For example, the determination may be based on at least one of: an indication received from layer 2 or from layer 3 (i.e., from upper layers), a buffer status of the data radio bearer, an experienced packet error rate associated with the one or more data streams, an experienced data rate associated with the one or more data streams, a predicted data rate associated with the one or more data streams, a power indication of the UE 100, a capability of the UE 100, or a processing load of the UE 100.

[0157] The power indication may indicate the battery charge level of the UE 100. For example, if the battery charge level is high (e.g. above a threshold), then one or more additional processing branches may be switched on or activated. As another example, if the battery charge level is low (e.g., below a threshold), then one or more processing branches may be switched off or deactivated.

[0158] The capability of the UE 100 may refer to the overall capabilities of the UE 100. The overall capability of the UE 100 should be considered when making a decision on whether it is possible to activate one or more additional processing branches or not. For example, the capability of the UE 100 may comprise at least one of: peak data rate support, one or more M1M0 configurations, processing capability per processing branch, or the number of parallel processing branches supported.

[0159] At 604, the UE 100 generates and transmits, to the network device 104, based on the determination (i.e., based on determining that the resources dedicated for the processing branch are insufficient), a request for remapping the one or more data streamsmapped to the data radio bearer. The remapping may also be referred to as parallelization. In other words, with the request, the UE 100 may request parallelization for the one or more data streams. The network device 104 receives the request. For example, the request may be comprised in an RRC message or in a MAC control element (CE) or in an SDAP control PDU.

[0160] The request may comprise, for example, at least one of: an identity of the data radio bearer, an identity of the first processing branch, one or more identities of the one or more data streams (e.g., an identity of each data stream), one or more logical channel identifiers associated with the one or more data streams, one or more logical channel group identifiers associated with the one or more data streams, a number of processing branches required for serving the one or more data streams, a maximum supported data rate of the data radio bearer that can be supported by the UE 100, or a preferred data rate of the data radio bearer that can be supported by the UE 100.

[0161] At 605, the network device 104 determines whether to remap the one or more data streams to two or more parallel processing branches of the data radio bearer. For example, the network device 104 may determine whether the remapping is possible or needed. In this example embodiment, the network device 104 may determine to remap the one or more data streams. The two or more processing branches may comprise the first processing branch and one or more additional processing branches.

[0162] The determination of whether to remap the one or more data streams may be based at least partly on the capability indication that may be received from the UE 100 at 601.

[0163] At 606, the network device 104 may split the data radio bearer into the two or more parallel processing branches based on the request received from the UE 100. The two or more parallel processing branches may be used by a single DRB, or they may be shared between multiple DRBs.

[0164] For example, the network device 104 may activate one or more additional processing branches based on the request received from the UE 100. The processing branches (or RPUs) may exist before the UE 100 transmits the parallelization request, but only activated once the request from the UE 100 is received. The processing branches (or RPUs) can be understood as a dedicated small core for handling data processing.

[0165] In case the processing branches are shared between multiple DRBs, the one or more additional processing branches may already be activated beforehand (in which case they are not activated separately at this stage).

[0166] At 607, the network device 104 generates and transmits, to the UE 100, based on determining to remap the one or more data streams, a configuration for remapping the one or more data streams to the two or more parallel processing branches. For example, the configuration may be comprised in an RRC reconfiguration message. In other words, the network device 104 may change the RRC configuration of the UE 100 to include the new mapping of the one or more data streams to the two or more parallel processing branches.

[0167] The remapping indicated by the configuration may comprise splitting the one or more data streams into the two or more parallel processing branches on a PDCP layer (as shown in FIG. 2), wherein the two or more parallel processing branches may comprise at least one of: a part of the PDCP layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, or a part of a medium access control (MAC) layer. The one or more data streams may be transmitted from the SDAP layer via the data radio bearer to the PDCP(-Hl) layer (see FIG. 2).

[0168] The configuration may indicate one or more rules for remapping (or splitting) the one or more data streams to the two or more parallel processing branches. For example, the one or more rules may comprise at least one of: one or more weight values (splitting weights) indicating a portion (e.g., percentage) of data traffic to be mapped to each processing branch of the two or more processing branches (i.e., the portion of the traffic subject to parallelization to be mapped to a certain processing branch), or a data rate threshold above which data packets are to be forwarded or distributed to one or more additional processing branches of the data radio bearer in addition to the first processing branch of the data radio bearer.

[0169] In case the one or more data streams comprise one data stream (i.e., a single data stream) mapped to the data radio bearer (or to the first processing branch of the data radio bearer), then the configuration may indicate to split the one data stream into the two or more parallel processing branches.

[0170] In case the one or more data streams comprise a plurality of data streams mapped to the data radio bearer (or to the first processing branch of the data radio bearer), then the configuration may indicate to map at least one data stream of the plurality of data streams to the first processing branch of the data radio bearer, and to remap at least one other data stream of the plurality of data streams to one or more additional processing branches of the data radio bearer.

[0171] At 608, the UE 100 transmits or receives, to or from the network device 104, based on the configuration, data associated with the one or more data streams via thetwo or more processing branches. The network device 104 receives or transmits, from or to the UE 100, data associated with the one or more data streams via the two or more processing branches.

[0172] FIG. 7 illustrates a flow chart according to an example embodiment of a method for a user device initiating a split of traffic flow into two or more data radio bearers. The method of FIG. 7 may be performed by an apparatus 1200 depicted in FIG. 12. For example, the apparatus 1200 may be, or comprise, or be comprised in, a user device (i.e., UE) 100, 102.

[0173] Referring to FIG. 7, in block 701, the apparatus 1200 determines whether resources dedicated for a data radio bearer are insufficient for one or more quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer.

[0174] For example, the determination may be based on at least one of: an indication received from layer 2 or from layer 3, a buffer status of the data radio bearer, an experienced packet error rate associated with the one or more quality of service flows, an experienced data rate associated with the one or more quality of service flows, an experienced packet error rate associated with the data radio bearer, an experienced data rate associated with the data radio bearer, a predicted data rate associated with the one or more quality of service flows, or a processing load of the apparatus 1200.

[0175] In block 702, based on determining that the resources dedicated for the data radio bearer are insufficient (block 701: yes), the apparatus 1200 transmits, to a network device 104, based on the determination, a request for remapping the one or more quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer.

[0176] For example, the request may be comprised in one of: a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) control packet data unit (PDU).

[0177] For example, the request may comprise at least one of: an identity of the data radio bearer, one or more identities of the one or more quality of service flows, one or more logical channel identifiers associated with the one or more quality of service flows, one or more logical channel group identifiers associated with the one or more quality of service flows, a number of data radio bearers required for serving the one or more quality of service flows, a maximum supported data rate of the data radio bearer, or a preferred data rate of the data radio bearer.

[0178] In block 703, based on or in response to transmitting the request, the apparatus 1200 receives, from the network device 104, a configuration for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to two or more data radio bearers.

[0179] For example, the configuration may be comprised in an RRC reconfiguration message.

[0180] The configuration may indicate one or more rules for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to the two or more data radio bearers.

[0181] For example, the one or more rules may comprise at least one of: one or more weight values indicating a portion of data traffic to be mapped to each data radio bearer of the two or more data radio bearers, a data rate threshold above which data packets associated with the one or more quality of service flows are to be forwarded to one or more additional data radio bearers in addition to the data radio bearer, or a recommendation to avoid remapping a service data flow to the two or more data radio bearers in case multiple service data flows are mapped to a single quality of service flow of the one or more quality of service flows.

[0182] In one embodiment, the one or more quality of service flows may comprise one quality of service flow mapped to the data radio bearer. The configuration may indicate to split the one quality of service flow into the two or more data radio bearers.

[0183] In another embodiment, the one or more quality of service flows may comprise a plurality of quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer. In this case, the configuration may indicate to keep at least one quality of service flow of the plurality of quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer, and to remap at least one other quality of service flow of the plurality of quality of service flows to one or more additional data radio bearers.

[0184] The apparatus 1200 may transmit or receive, based on the configuration, data associated with the one or more quality of service flows via the two or more data radio bearers.

[0185] The two or more data radio bearers may comprise the data radio bearer to which the one or more quality of service flows are (originally) mapped. The two or more data radio bearers may further comprise one or more additional data radio bearers.

[0186] The apparatus 1200 may transmit (e.g., prior to transmitting the request), to the network device 104, a capability indication indicating that the apparatus 1200 supports parallel processing of the one or more quality of service flows on the two or moredata radio bearers. The configuration may be based at least partly on the capability indication.

[0187] FIG. 8 illustrates a flow chart according to an example embodiment of a method for a user device initiating a split of traffic flow into two or more data radio bearers. The method of FIG. 8 may be performed by an apparatus 1300 depicted in FIG. 13. For example, the apparatus 1300 may be, or comprise, or be comprised in, a network device 104 of a radio access network. The network device 104 may also be referred to as an access node.

[0188] Referring to FIG. 8, in block 801, the apparatus 1300 receives, from a user device 100, 102, a request for remapping one or more quality of service flows mapped to a data radio bearer.

[0189] For example, the request may be comprised in one of: a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) control packet data unit (PDU).

[0190] For example, the request may comprise at least one of: an identity of the data radio bearer, one or more identities of the one or more quality of service flows, one or more logical channel identifiers associated with the one or more quality of service flows, one or more logical channel group identifiers associated with the one or more quality of service flows, a number of data radio bearers required for serving the one or more quality of service flows, a maximum supported data rate of the data radio bearer, or a preferred data rate of the data radio bearer.

[0191] In block 802, the apparatus 1300 determines whether to remap the one or more quality of service flows.

[0192] In block 803, based on determining to remap the one or more quality of service flows (block 802: yes), the apparatus 1300 transmits, to the user device 100, 102, a configuration for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to two or more data radio bearers.

[0193] The two or more data radio bearers may comprise the data radio bearer to which the one or more quality of service flows are (originally) mapped. The two or more data radio bearers may further comprise one or more additional data radio bearers.

[0194] The apparatus 1300 may establish the one or more additional data radio bearers for the one or more quality of service flows based on the request received from the user device 100, 102. Alternatively, the one or more additional data radio bearers may have been pre-established for one or more other quality of service flows.

[0195] For example, the configuration may be comprised in an RRC reconfiguration message.

[0196] The configuration may indicate one or more rules for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to the two or more data radio bearers.

[0197] For example, the one or more rules may comprise at least one of: one or more weight values indicating a portion of data traffic to be mapped to each data radio bearer of the two or more data radio bearers, a data rate threshold above which data packets associated with the one or more quality of service flows are to be forwarded to one or more additional data radio bearers in addition to the data radio bearer, or a recommendation to avoid remapping a service data flow to the two or more data radio bearers in case multiple service data flows are mapped to a single quality of service flow of the one or more quality of service flows.

[0198] In one embodiment, the one or more quality of service flows may comprise one quality of service flow (i.e., only a single quality of service flow) mapped to the data radio bearer. The configuration may indicate to split the one quality of service flow into the two or more data radio bearers.

[0199] In another embodiment, the one or more quality of service flows may comprise a plurality of quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer. In this case, the configuration may indicate to keep at least one quality of service flow of the plurality of quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer, and to remap at least one other quality of service flow of the plurality of quality of service flows to one or more additional data radio bearers.

[0200] The apparatus 1300 may transmit or receive, based on the configuration, data associated with the one or more quality of service flows via the two or more data radio bearers. The determination to remap the one or more quality of service flows may be based at least partly on the capability indication.

[0201] The apparatus 1300 may receive (e.g., prior to receiving the request), from the user device 100, a capability indication indicating that the user device 100 supports parallel processing of the one or more quality of service flows on the two or more data radio bearers. The configuration and / or the determination to remap the one or more data streams may be based at least partly on the capability indication received from the user device 100.

[0202] FIG. 9 illustrates a flow chart according to an example embodiment of a method for a user device initiating a split of traffic flow into two or more data radio bearers.The method of FIG. 9 may be performed by an apparatus 1300 depicted in FIG. 13. For example, the apparatus 1300 may be, or comprise, or be comprised in, a network device 104 of a radio access network. The network device 104 may also be referred to as an access node.

[0203] Referring to FIG. 9, in block 901, the apparatus 1300 receives, from a user device 100, 102, a request for remapping one or more quality of service flows mapped to a (first) data radio bearer.

[0204] In block 902, the apparatus 1300 determines whether one or more pre- established data radio bearers associated with one or more other quality of service flows are available to be used as one or more additional data radio bearers for the one or more quality of service flows (that were requested to be remapped).

[0205] In block 903, based on determining that the one or more pre-established data radio bearers are available (block 902: yes), the apparatus 1300 determines whether an amount of data traffic of the one or more other quality service flows through the one or more additional data radio bearers (i.e., through the one or more pre-established data radio bearers) is below a threshold.

[0206] In block 904, the apparatus 1300 determines whether the one or more additional data radio bearers can fulfil one or more quality of service requirements of the one or more quality of service flows to be remapped.

[0207] In block 905, based on the determination of block 903 and / or the determination of block 904, the apparatus 1300 determines to remap the one or more quality of service flows to two or more data radio bearers comprising the (first) data radio bearer and the one or more additional data radio bearers.

[0208] The determination to remap the one or more quality of service flows may be based at least on determining that the amount of data traffic through the one or additional data radio bearers is below the threshold (block 903: yes).

[0209] Alternatively, or additionally, the determination to remap the one or more quality of service flows may be based at least on determining that the one or more additional data radio bearers can fulfil the one or more quality of service requirements of the one or more quality of service flows to be remapped (block 904: yes).

[0210] In block 906, the apparatus 1300 transmits, to the user device 100, based on determining to remap the one or more quality of service flows, a configuration for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to the two or more data radio bearers.

[0211] FIG. 10 illustrates a flow chart according to an example embodiment of amethod for a user device initiating a split of traffic flow into two or more parallel processing branches. The method of FIG. 10 may be performed by an apparatus 1200 depicted in FIG. 12. For example, the apparatus 1200 may be, or comprise, or be comprised in, a user device (i.e., UE) 100, 102.

[0212] Referring to FIG. 10, in block 1001, the apparatus 1200 determines whether resources dedicated for a processing branch of a data radio bearer are insufficient for one or more data streams mapped to the processing branch.

[0213] For example, the determination may be based on at least one of: an indication received from layer 2 or from layer 3, a buffer status of the data radio bearer, an experienced packet error rate associated with the one or more data streams, an experienced data rate associated with the one or more data streams, a predicted data rate associated with the one or more data streams, a power indication of the apparatus 1200, a capability of the apparatus 1200, or a processing load of the apparatus 1200.

[0214] In block 1002, the apparatus 1200 transmits, to a network device 104, based on the determination, a request for remapping the one or more data streams.

[0215] For example, the request may be comprised in one of: a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) control packet data unit (PDU).

[0216] For example, the request may comprise at least one of: an identity of the data radio bearer, an identity of the processing branch, one or more identities of the one or more data streams, one or more logical channel identifiers associated with the one or more data streams, one or more logical channel group identifiers associated with the one or more data streams, a number of processing branches required for serving the one or more data streams, a maximum supported data rate of the data radio bearer, or a preferred data rate of the data radio bearer.

[0217] In block 1003, based on or in response to transmitting the request, the apparatus 1200 receives, from the network device 104, a configuration for remapping the one or more data streams to two or more parallel processing branches of the data radio bearer.

[0218] For example, the configuration may be comprised in an RRC reconfiguration message.

[0219] The remapping indicated by the configuration may comprise splitting the one or more data streams into the two or more parallel processing branches on a packet dataconvergence protocol (PDCP) layer. Each processing branch of the two or more parallel processing branches may comprise at least one of: a part of the PDCP layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, or a part of a medium access control (MAC) layer.

[0220] The configuration may indicate one or more rules for remapping the one or more data streams to the two or more parallel processing branches.

[0221] For example, the one or more rules may comprise at least one of: one or more weight values indicating a portion of data traffic to be mapped to each processing branch of the two or more parallel processing branches, or a data rate threshold above which data packets are to be forwarded to one or more additional processing branches of the data radio bearer in addition to a first processing branch of the data radio bearer.

[0222] In one embodiment, the one or more data streams may comprise one data stream (i.e., only a single data stream) mapped to the processing branch. In this case, the configuration may indicate to split the one data stream into the two or more parallel processing branches.

[0223] In another embodiment, the one or more data streams may comprise a plurality of data streams mapped to the data radio bearer. In this case, the configuration may indicate to remap at least one data stream of the plurality of data streams to a first processing branch of the data radio bearer, and to remap at least one other data stream of the plurality of data streams to one or more additional processing branches of the data radio bearer.

[0224] The apparatus 1200 may transmit or receive, based on the configuration, data associated with the one or more data streams via the two or more parallel processing branches.

[0225] The apparatus 1200 may transmit (e.g., prior to transmitting the request), to the network device 104, a capability indication indicating that the apparatus 1200 supports parallel processing of the one or more data streams on the two or more parallel processing branches. The configuration may be based at least partly on the capability indication.

[0226] FIG. 11 illustrates a flow chart according to an example embodiment of a method for a user device initiating a split of traffic flow into two or more parallel processing branches. The method of FIG. 11 may be performed by an apparatus 1300 depicted in FIG. 13. For example, the apparatus 1300 may be, or comprise, or be comprised in, a network device 104 of a radio access network. The network device 104 may also be referred to as an access node.

[0227] Referring to FIG. 11, the apparatus 1300 receives, from a user device 100, a request for remapping one or more data streams that are mapped to a processing branch of a data radio bearer.

[0228] For example, the request may be comprised in one of: a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) control packet data unit (PDU).

[0229] For example, the request may comprise at least one of: an identity of the data radio bearer, an identity of the processing branch, one or more identities of the one or more data streams, one or more logical channel identifiers associated with the one or more data streams, one or more logical channel group identifiers associated with the one or more data streams, a number of processing branches required for serving the one or more data streams, a maximum supported data rate of the data radio bearer, or a preferred data rate of the data radio bearer.

[0230] In block 1102, the apparatus 1300 determines whether to remap the one or more data streams.

[0231] In block 1103, the apparatus 1300 transmits, to the user device 100, based on determining to remap the one or more data streams, a configuration for remapping the one or more data streams to two or more parallel processing branches of the data radio bearer.

[0232] For example, the configuration may be comprised in an RRC reconfiguration message.

[0233] The remapping indicated by the configuration may comprise splitting the one or more data streams into the two or more parallel processing branches on a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer. Each processing branch of the two or more parallel processing branches may comprise at least one of: a part of the PDCP layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, or a part of a medium access control (MAC) layer.

[0234] The apparatus 1300 may split the data radio bearer into the two or more parallel processing branches based on the request received from the user device 100.

[0235] The configuration may indicate one or more rules for remapping the one or more data streams to the two or more parallel processing branches.

[0236] For example, the one or more rules may comprise at least one of: one or more weight values indicating a portion of data traffic to be mapped to each processing branch of the two or more parallel processing branches, or a data rate threshold above whichdata packets are to be forwarded to one or more additional processing branches of the data radio bearer in addition to a first processing branch of the data radio bearer.

[0237] In one embodiment, the one or more data streams may comprise one data stream (i.e., a single data stream) mapped to the processing branch. In this case, the configuration may indicate to split the one data stream into the two or more parallel processing branches.

[0238] In another embodiment, the one or more data streams may comprise a plurality of data streams mapped to the data radio bearer. In this case, the configuration may indicate to remap at least one data stream of the plurality of data streams to a first processing branch of the data radio bearer, and to remap at least one other data stream of the plurality of data streams to one or more additional processing branches of the data radio bearer.

[0239] The apparatus 1300 may transmit or receive, based on the configuration, data associated with the one or more data streams via the two or more parallel processing branches.

[0240] The apparatus 1300 may receive (e.g., prior to receiving the request), from the user device 100, a capability indication indicating that the user device 100 supports parallel processing of the one or more data streams on the two or more parallel processing branches. The configuration and / or the determination to remap the one or more data streams may be based at least partly on the capability indication received from the user device 100.

[0241] The blocks, related functions, and information exchanges (messages) described above by means of FIGS. 3 and 6 to 11 are in no absolute chronological order, and some of them may be performed simultaneously or in an order differing from the described one. Other functions can also be executed between them or within them, and other information may be sent, and / or other rules applied. Some of the blocks or part of the blocks or one or more pieces of information can also be left out or replaced by a corresponding block or part of the block or one or more pieces of information.

[0242] 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.

[0243] FIG. 12 illustrates an example of an apparatus 1200 comprising means for performing one or more of the example embodiments (e.g., the method of FIG. 7 or FIG. 10,or the functionalities of the UE 100 in FIG. 3 or 6) described above. For example, the apparatus 1200 may be, or comprise, or be comprised in, a user device (i.e., UE) 100, 102.

[0244] The apparatus 1200 may comprise a circuitry or a chipset applicable for realizing one or more of the example embodiments described above. For example, the apparatus 1200 may comprise at least one processor 1210. The at least one processor 1210 interprets instructions (e.g., computer program instructions) and processes data. The at least one processor 1210 may comprise one or more programmable processors. The at least one processor 1210 may comprise programmable hardware with embedded firmware and may, alternatively or additionally, comprise one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

[0245] The at least one processor 1210 is coupled to at least one memory 1220. The at least one processor is configured to read and write data to and from the at least one memory 1220. The at least one memory 1220 may comprise one or more memory units. The memory units may be volatile or non-volatile. It is to be noted that there may be one or more units of non-volatile memory and one or more units of volatile memory or, alternatively, one or more units of non-volatile memory, or, alternatively, one or more units of volatile memory. Volatile memory may be for example random-access memory (RAM), dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) or synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM). Non-volatile memory may be for example read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), electronically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, optical storage or magnetic storage. In general, memories may be referred to as non-transitory computer readable media. 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). The at least one memory 1220 stores computer readable instructions that are executed by the at least one processor 1210 to perform one or more of the example embodiments described above. For example, nonvolatile memory stores the computer readable instructions, and the at least one processor 1210 executes the instructions using volatile memory for temporary storage of data and / or instructions. The computer readable instructions may refer to computer program code.

[0246] The computer readable instructions may have been pre-stored to the at least one memory 1220 or, alternatively or additionally, they may be received, by the apparatus, via an electromagnetic carrier signal and / or may be copied from a physical entity such as a computer program product. Execution of the computer readable instructions bythe at least one processor 1210 causes the apparatus 1200 to perform one or more of the example embodiments described above. That is, the at least one processor and the at least one memory storing the instructions may provide the means for providing or causing the performance of any of the methods and / or blocks described above.

[0247] In the context of this document, a “memory” or “computer-readable media” or “computer-readable medium” may be any non-transitory media or medium or means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate or transport the instructions for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer. 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).

[0248] The apparatus 1200 may further comprise, or be connected to, an input unit 1230. The input unit 1230 may comprise one or more interfaces for receiving input. The one or more interfaces may comprise, for example, at least one of: one or more temperature, motion and / or orientation sensors, one or more cameras, one or more accelerometers, one or more microphones, one or more buttons and / or one or more touch detection units. Further, the input unit 1230 may comprise an interface to which external devices may connect to.

[0249] The apparatus 1200 may also comprise an output unit 1240. The output unit may comprise or be connected to one or more displays capable of rendering visual content, such as a light emitting diode (LED) display, a liquid crystal display (LCD) and / or a liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) display. The output unit 1240 may further comprise one or more audio outputs. The one or more audio outputs may be for example loudspeakers.

[0250] The apparatus 1200 further comprises a connectivity unit 1250. The connectivity unit 1250 enables wireless connectivity to one or more external devices. The connectivity unit 1250 comprises at least one transmitter and at least one receiver that may be integrated to the apparatus 1200 or that the apparatus 1200 may be connected to. The at least one transmitter comprises at least one transmission antenna, and the at least one receiver comprises at least one receiving antenna. The connectivity unit 1250 may comprise an integrated circuit or a set of integrated circuits that provide the wireless communication capability for the apparatus 1200. Alternatively, the wireless connectivity may be a hardwired application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The connectivity unit 1250 may also provide means for performing at least some of the blocks or functions of one or moreexample embodiments described above. The connectivity unit 1250 may comprise one or more components, such as: power amplifier, digital front end (DFE), analog-to-digital converter (ADC), digital-to-analog converter (DAC), frequency converter, (de) modulator, and / or encoder / decoder circuitries, controlled by the corresponding controlling units.

[0251] It is to be noted that the apparatus 1200 may further comprise various components not illustrated in FIG. 12. The various components may be hardware components and / or software components.

[0252] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of an apparatus 1300 comprising means for performing one or more of the example embodiments (e.g., the method of FIG. 8, 9 or 11, or the functionalities of the network device 104 in FIG. 3 or 6) described above. For example, the apparatus 1300 may be, or comprise, or be comprised in, a network device 104 of a radio access network. The network device 104 may also be referred to as an access node.

[0253] The apparatus 1300 may comprise, for example, a circuitry or a chipset applicable for realizing one or more of the example embodiments described above. The apparatus 1300 may be an electronic device comprising one or more electronic circuitries. The apparatus 1300 may comprise a communication control circuitry 1310 such as at least one processor, and at least one memory 1320 storing instructions 1322 which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus 1300 to carry out one or more of the example embodiments described above. Such instructions 1322 may, for example, include computer program code (software). The at least one processor and the at least one memory storing the instructions may provide the means for providing or causing the performance of any of the methods and / or blocks described above.

[0254] The processor is coupled to the memory 1320. The processor is configured to read and write data to and from the memory 1320. The memory 1320 may comprise one or more memory units. The memory units may be volatile or non-volatile. It is to be noted that there may be one or more units of non-volatile memory and one or more units of volatile memory or, alternatively, one or more units of non-volatile memory, or, alternatively, one or more units of volatile memory. Volatile memory may be for example random-access memory (RAM), dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) or synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM). Non-volatile memory may be for example readonly memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), electronically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, optical storage or magnetic storage. In general, memories may be referred to as non-transitory computer readablemedia. 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). The memory 1320 stores computer readable instructions that are executed by the processor. For example, non-volatile memory stores the computer readable instructions, and the processor executes the instructions using volatile memory for temporary storage of data and / or instructions.

[0255] The computer readable instructions may have been pre-stored to the memory 1320 or, alternatively or additionally, they may be received, by the apparatus, via an electromagnetic carrier signal and / or may be copied from a physical entity such as a computer program product. Execution of the computer readable instructions causes the apparatus 1300 to perform one or more of the functionalities described above.

[0256] The memory 1320 may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and / or removable memory. The memory may comprise a configuration database for storing configuration data, such as a current neighbour cell list, and, in some example embodiments, structures of frames used in the detected neighbour cells.

[0257] The apparatus 1300 may further comprise or be connected to a communication interface 1330, such as a radio unit, comprising hardware and / or software for realizing communication connectivity with one or more wireless communication devices according to one or more communication protocols. The communication interface 1330 comprises at least one transmitter (Tx) and at least one receiver (Rx) that may be integrated to the apparatus 1300 or that the apparatus 1300 may be connected to. The communication interface 1330 may provide means for performing some of the blocks and / or functions (e.g., transmitting and receiving) for one or more example embodiments described above. The communication interface 1330 may comprise one or more components, such as: power amplifier, digital front end (DFE), analog-to-digital converter (ADC), digital-to-analog converter (DAC), frequency converter, (de)modulator, and / or encoder / decoder circuitries, controlled by the corresponding controlling units.

[0258] The communication interface 1330 provides the apparatus with radio communication capabilities to communicate in the wireless communication network. The communication interface may, for example, provide a radio interface to one or more UEs 100, 102. The apparatus 1300 may further comprise or be connected to another interface towardsa core network 110, such as the network coordinator apparatus or AMF, and / or to other access nodes of the wireless communication network.

[0259] The apparatus 1300 may further comprise a scheduler 1340 that is configured to allocate radio resources. The scheduler 1340 may be configured along with the communication control circuitry 1310 or it may be separately configured.

[0260] It is to be noted that the apparatus 1300 may further comprise various components not illustrated in FIG. 13. The various components may be hardware components and / or software components.

[0261] As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following: a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry); and b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable): 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, to perform various functions); and c) hardware circuit(s) and / or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (for example firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

[0262] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, 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.

[0263] The techniques and methods described herein may be implemented by various means. For example, these techniques may be implemented in hardware (one or more devices), firmware (one or more devices), software (one or more modules), or combinations thereof. For a hardware implementation, the apparatus(es) of example embodiments may be implemented within one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), graphicsprocessing units (GPUs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof. For firmware or software, the implementation can be carried out through modules of at least one chipset (for example procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. The software codes may be stored in a memory unit and executed by processors. The memory unit may be implemented within the processor or externally to the processor. In the latter case, it can be communicatively coupled to the processor via various means, as is known in the art. Additionally, the components of the systems described herein may be rearranged and / or complemented by additional components in order to facilitate the achievements of the various aspects, etc., described with regard thereto, and they are not limited to the precise configurations set forth in the given figures, as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art.

[0264] It will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that, as technology advances, the inventive concept may be implemented in various ways within the scope of the claims. The embodiments are not limited to the example embodiments described above, but may vary within the scope of the claims. Therefore, all words and expressions should be interpreted broadly, and they are intended to illustrate, not to restrict, the embodiments.

Claims

CLAIMS1. 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: determine whether resources dedicated for a data radio bearer are insufficient for one or more quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer; transmit, to a network device, based on the determination, a request for remapping the one or more quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer; and receive, from the network device, a configuration for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to two or more data radio bearers.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further being caused to: transmit or receive, based on the configuration, data associated with the one or more quality of service flows via the two or more data radio bearers.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 or 2, further being caused to: transmit, to the network device, a capability indication indicating that the apparatus supports parallel processing of the one or more quality of service flows on the two or more data radio bearers.

4. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the determination is based on at least one of: an indication received from layer 2 or from layer 3, a buffer status of the data radio bearer, an experienced packet error rate associated with the one or more quality of service flows, an experienced data rate associated with the one or more quality of service flows, an experienced packet error rate associated with the data radio bearer, an experienced data rate associated with the data radio bearer, a predicted data rate associated with the one or more quality of service flows, or a processing load of the apparatus.

475. 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 user device, a request for remapping one or more quality of service flows mapped to a data radio bearer; determine whether to remap the one or more quality of service flows; and transmit, to the user device, based on determining to remap the one or more quality of service flows, a configuration for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to two or more data radio bearers.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, further being caused to: establish one or more additional data radio bearers for the one or more quality of service flows based on the request received from the user device, wherein the two or more data radio bearers comprise the one or more additional data radio bearers.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the two or more data radio bearers comprise one or more additional data radio bearers that have been pre-established for one or more other quality of service flows.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, further being caused to: determine whether an amount of data traffic of the one or more other quality service flows through the one or more additional data radio bearers is below a threshold, wherein the determination to remap the one or more quality of service flows is based at least on determining that the amount of data traffic through the one or additional data radio bearers is below the threshold.

9. The apparatus of any of claims 6 to 8, further being caused to: determine whether the one or more additional data radio bearers can fulfil one or more quality of service requirements of the one or more quality of service flows to be remapped, wherein the determination to remap the one or more quality of service flows is based at least on determining that the one or more additional data radio bearers can fulfil48the one or more quality of service requirements of the one or more quality of service flows to be remapped.

10. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the two or more data radio bearers comprise the data radio bearer to which the one or more quality of service flows are mapped.

11. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the request comprises at least one of: an identity of the data radio bearer, one or more identities of the one or more quality of service flows, one or more logical channel identifiers associated with the one or more quality of service flows, one or more logical channel group identifiers associated with the one or more quality of service flows, a number of data radio bearers required for serving the one or more quality of service flows, a maximum supported data rate of the data radio bearer, or a preferred data rate of the data radio bearer.

12. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the configuration indicates one or more rules for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to the two or more data radio bearers.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the one or more rules comprise at least one of: one or more weight values indicating a portion of data traffic to be mapped to each data radio bearer of the two or more data radio bearers, a data rate threshold above which data packets associated with the one or more quality of service flows are to be forwarded to one or more additional data radio bearers in addition to the data radio bearer, ora recommendation to avoid remapping a service data flow to the two or more data radio bearers in case multiple service data flows are mapped to a single quality of service flow of the one or more quality of service flows.

14. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the one or more quality of service flows comprise one quality of service flow mapped to the data radio bearer, and wherein the configuration indicates to split the one quality of service flow into the two or more data radio bearers.

15. The apparatus of any of claims 1 to 13, wherein the one or more quality of service flows comprise a plurality of quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer, and wherein the configuration indicates to keep at least one quality of service flow of the plurality of quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer, and to remap at least one other quality of service flow of the plurality of quality of service flows to one or more additional data radio bearers.

16. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the configuration is comprised in an RRC reconfiguration message, and wherein the request is comprised in one of: a radio resource control, RRC, message, a medium access control, MAC, control element, CE, or a service data adaptation protocol, SDAP, control packet data unit.

17. A method comprising: determining whether resources dedicated for a data radio bearer are insufficient for one or more quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer; transmitting, to a network device, based on the determination, a request for remapping the one or more quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer; and receiving, from the network device, a configuration for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to two or more data radio bearers.

18. A method comprising:50receiving, from a user device, a request for remapping one or more quality of service flows mapped to a data radio bearer; determining whether to remap the one or more quality of service flows; and transmitting, to the user device, based on determining to remap the one or more quality of service flows, a configuration for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to two or more data radio bearers.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: determining whether resources dedicated for a data radio bearer are insufficient for one or more quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer; transmitting, to a network device, based on the determination, a request for remapping the one or more quality of service flows mapped to the data radio bearer; and receiving, from the network device, a configuration for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to two or more data radio bearers.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: receiving, from a user device, a request for remapping one or more quality of service flows mapped to a data radio bearer; determining whether to remap the one or more quality of service flows; and transmitting, to the user device, based on determining to remap the one or more quality of service flows, a configuration for remapping the one or more quality of service flows to two or more data radio bearers.

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