Multi-modality related enhancements

Abstract

There is provided an apparatus comprising: at least one processor, and at least one memory storing instructions that, wherein when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to, for example: receive, from the network node, a configuration message comprising a configuration for transmitting service-associated data packets, wherein the configuration enables the multi-modality indicator to be transmitted with the service-associated data packets, and transmit to the network node, at least part of the service-associated data packets, wherein the service-associated data packets comprise the multi-modality indicator according to the configuration for joint-processing of the at least part of the service-associated data packets of the at least one data flow.

Description

[0001] MULTI-MODALITY RELATED ENHANCEMENTS

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] Various example embodiments relate generally to providing multi-modality services over a network.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] A multi-modal service, such as for example extended reality (XR) or virtual reality (VR), is a communication service that consists of one or more data flows that relate to each other and that are subject to application coordination. The one or more data flows from the same multi-modal service can transfer different types of data and may come from different sources (e.g. a single user equipment (UE), a single device or multiple devices connected to the single UE, or multiple UEs). The typical tactile and multi-modality communication service may include following modalities:

[0006] • Audio

[0007] • Video

[0008] • Information perceived by sensors, e.g. detection about brightness, temperature, humidity of the environment; equipment working status report; locality or angle report.

[0009] • Haptic data: Sensing and feedback when touching a surface (e.g., pressure, texture, vibration, temperature), or kinesthetic senses (e.g. gravity, pull forces, sense of position awareness).

[0010] From a networking perspective each modality may generate one or more application layer traffic streams which need to be transported across the network with specific QoS requirements.

[0011] BRIEF DESCRIPTION

[0012] According to some aspects, there is provided the subject matter of the independent claims. Some further aspects are defined in the dependent claims. The embodiments that do not fall under the scope of the claims are to be interpreted as examples useful for understanding the disclosure.

[0013] LIST OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] In the following, the invention will be described in greater detail with reference to examples and embodiments and the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0015] Fig. 1 shows an example of a communication network to which examples disclosedherein may be applied;

[0016] Fig. 2 shows an example of multi-modal flows of a service;

[0017] Fig. 3 A shows an example of a method;

[0018] Fig. 3B shows another example of a method;

[0019] Fig. 4A shows another example of a method;

[0020] Fig. 4B shows another example of a method;

[0021] Fig. 5 shows an example PDCP message header;

[0022] Fig. 6 shows an example MAC message header;

[0023] Fig. 7 shows an example of jointly scheduling logical channels with different priorities; and

[0024] Fig. 8 shows an example of apparatuses.

[0025] DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0026] The following embodiments are exemplary. 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. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection of an embodiment, it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to apply such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described. It shall be understood that although the terms “first,” “second” and the like may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another.

[0027] For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrases “at least one of A or B”, “at least one of A and B”, and “A and / or B” means (A), (B), or (A and B). For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrase “A, B, and / or C” means (A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), (B and C), or (A, B, and C).

[0028] Embodiments described may be implemented in a communication network, such as any of the following radio access technologies (RATs): Worldwide Interoperability for Micro-wave Access (WiMAX), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM, 2G), GSM EDGE radio access Network (GERAN), General Packet Radio Service (GRPS), 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, and enhanced LTE (eLTE), 5G (also called NR), or any future RAT such as 6G. Moreover, communication within the communication network may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM), and / or Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM).

[0029] As used herein, the term “network device” or “network node” refers to a node in a communication network via which user equipment may access the network and / or which is capable of controlling radio communication and managing radio resources within a cell. The network node or network device may be referred to as a base station (BS), an access point (AP) or an access node. The network device may be, depending on the applied technology, for example, a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also referred to as a gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a radio head (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, a low power node, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-ground network device such as a satellite network device, a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite and a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellite, or an aircraft network device.

[0030] Moreover, in connection of split radio access network (RAN), the network device may refer to a centralised unit (CU) of a base station and / or a distributed unit (DU) of a base station. An interface between CU and DU may be referred to as an Fl interface in NR. In the split RAN architecture, node operations may be carried out, at least partly, in the central / cen-tralized unit, CU, (e.g. server, host or node) operationally coupled to the DU, (e.g. a radio head / node). One CU may control one or more DUs, acting at least as transmit / receive (Tx / Rx) nodes. In some embodiments, the DUs may comprise e.g. a radio link control (RLC), medium access control (MAC) layer and a physical (PHY) layer, whereas the CU may comprise the layers above RLC layer, such as a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio resource control (RRC) and an internet protocol (IP) layers. Other functional splits are possible too. In practice, any processing task may be performed in either the CU or the DU and the boundary where the responsibility is shifted between the CU and the DU may depend on the applied implementation.

[0031] The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example, a terminal device may be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), a Subscriber Station (SS), or a Mobile Station (MS). The terminal device may include a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP)phones, wireless local loop phones a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehiclemounted wireless terminal devices, USB dongles, an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like.

[0032] A term “resource”, as used herein, may refer to radio resources in time domain, in frequency domain, in space domain, and / or in code domain. Some examples of resources include e.g. a physical resource block (PRB), a radio frame, a subframe, a time slot, a subband, a frequency region, a sub-carrier, a beam, etc. The term “transmission” and / or “reception” may refer to wirelessly transmitting and / or receiving via a wireless propagation channel on radio resources.

[0033] Fig. 1 illustrates an example of a communication network to which examples disclosed herein may be applied. The communication network or a cellular communication network may comprise a network node 110 providing one or more cells, such as cell 100, and a network node 112 providing one or more other cells, such as cell 102. Each cell may be, e.g., a macro cell, a micro cell, femto, or a pico cell, for example. The cell may define a coverage area or a service area of the corresponding access node.

[0034] The network node 110 may provide a user equipment (UE) 120 (one or more UEs) with wireless access to the communication network. The wireless access may comprise downlink (DL) communication from the network node to the UE 120 and uplink (UL) communication from the UE 120 to the network node. Examples of uplink channels comprise physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) for transmitting control information and physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for transmitting data towards the network. Examples of downlink channels comprise physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for transmitting control information and physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) for transmitting data towards the user equipment.

[0035] There may be a plurality of UEs 120, 122 in the system. Each of them may be served by the same or by different network nodes 110, 112. UE may be configured with dual connectivity (DC), wherein the UE, e.g. UE 120, may be connected to multiple network nodes 110, 112. The UEs 120, 122 may communicate with each other, in case device-to-device (D2D)communication interface is established between them via a so-called sidelink (SL). Such D2D communications may be referred to as machine-to-machine, peer-to-peer (P2P) communications, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), for example.

[0036] The network nodes 110 and 112 may communicate with each other via a 5G Xn interface and may communicate via another interface to a core network 116 of the communication network. The 5G specifications specify the core network as a 5G core (5GC). The 5G core may comprise e.g. an access and mobility management function (AMF) and a user plane function / gateway (UPF) and other functions. The AMF may handle termination of non-access stratum (NAS) signalling, NAS ciphering & integrity protection, registration management, connection management, mobility management, access authentication and authorization, security context management. The UPF node may support packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection and quality of service (QoS) handling, for example.

[0037] When providing a multi-modality service, to enable multi-modal data to be transmitted in a coordinated fashion, the policy control of 5GC has been enhanced further by, for example, the Nnef AFsessionWithQoS service (as specified in TS 23.501 provided by 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project)), which allows the AF to provide, at the same time, for each data flow that belongs to a multi-modal service, a Multi-modal Service ID (MMSID), the service requirements and the QoS monitoring requirements. The MMSID is an indicator showing that data flows are associated with a multi-modal service. The policy control function may use this information to derive the correct policy and charging control rules and to apply appropriate QoS policies for the data flows that are part of a specific multi-modal application.

[0038] Although, the different communication modalities a multi-modal application may be carried as separate real-time flows, possibly across different endpoints such as virtual reality (VR) glasses or gloves, some (or all) of the flows may need to be provided to a user device in a synchronized manner. Even though tight synchronization is carried out on the application layer using common clock and timestamps (via real-time transport protocol, RTP), it is beneficial to deliver such flows over the network with a reasonably similar delay. Moreover, joint processing of the multi-modal flows in RAN could be exploited for capacity and power saving due to their interdependence in providing the service.

[0039] Enhancements for communicating multi-modality information to a RAN node (e.g. a gNB) in the uplink (UL) are relevant since the node may use such information for joint processing of multiple Quality-of-Service (QoS) flows. It should be understood that interdependencies between different QoS flows, or data packets of these flows, of the same multi-modal application may exist, such that loss of PDUs in one flow may negatively impact the overallend user experience due to its impacts on the PDUs from other QoS flows.

[0040] Methods and apparatuses for communicating multi-modal data information between the UE and the network node (RAN node) are presented. Supporting these use cases, information related to the interdependence of the multi-modal flows needs to be available for the network node. Regardless of whether the MMSID is available at RAN or not, the granularity of MMSID, being at QoS flow level, is too coarse for data packet-level joint processing. The multi-modal application may have an internal logic to align the flows once packets from all the flows are received. However, without synchronization or joint processing in a network node, the network node may not be able to deliver or process the relevant packets in a synchronized manner in an efficient manner. Additionally, if data packets from a high priority flow are lost, the network node may unnecessarily transmit packets of a dependent flow at the cost of wasted air interface resources. The situation becomes even more complicated when jitter introduces a random component in the time of arrival of the packets.

[0041] It is therefore useful to take this dependency of PDUs from different QoS flows into account in a network node to control the usage of resources and enhance user experience.

[0042] In short, for enabling an efficient and reliable mechanism for joint processing of packets from different multi-modal flows, an indicator to identify the interdependent PDUs from multiple QoS flows is appended with each packet. In some embodiments, such an indicator may be called a multi-modality indicator. This indicator may comprise a Multi-Modal Data Set Sequence Number (MMDSSN), as discussed in further detail below, which is provided to a network node by the UE via enhanced L2 signalling e.g. MAC and / or PDCP messages.

[0043] In some embodiments, the MMDSSN is included in the PDCP header by introducing a new field which can be utilized by the receiving PDCP entity in the network node for joint processing e.g. PDCP discarding. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, MMDSSN can be included in the MAC header / subheader for the scheduling related enhancements for multi-modal data flows.

[0044] There can be different ways that an application (in UE) may determine servicerelatedness or interdependency of PDUs across multiple QoS flows such as multi-modal (MM) PDUs (also referred to herein as “service-associated packets”), for example based on defining a certain period (or time window) or specific aspects of one flow which could be related to another flow. Fig. 2 schematically illustrates an example of how service-associated packets can be identified by providing a multi-modality indication for each packet (such as, for example, MMDSSN as an indicator). For example, PDUs from haptic feedback T-ms before andafter a video packet may be related to that video packet. Similarly, there could be event-based relationships between data packets of one flow with one or more other flows. An example of that scenario could be the use case in which haptic feedback or a certain pose from the user is followed by an event shown in video. In this case, the data packet from the video flow is dependent on the earlier data packets from haptic or pose packets. As an option, the interdependency may be determined based on the service or application provided or used, as one example, a service provider may define further features a user may select, and then the application defines the data packets as interrelated.

[0045] Fig. 3 A and Fig. 3B show examples of methods for enabling joint processing of service-associated data packets. The methods may be computer-implemented. The methods may be carried out by a network node such as a RAN node. As shown in Fig. 3 A, in 302A the network node receives a multi-modality service identifier (MMSID) for indicating service-associated data packets of at least one data flow. The MMSID may be in a UE assistant information (UAI) message.

[0046] As shown in Fig. 3B, in 302B, the network node receives from the UE a request for the multi-modality indicator associated with a multi-modality service identifier provided by a core network.

[0047] The network node may receive the MMSID from the UE, for example in a radio resource control (RRC message) such as UE assistant information (UAI) message.

[0048] In 304A / 304B, the network node sends, to a user equipment (UE) in response to the receiving the multi-modality service identifier, a configuration message comprising a configuration for transmitting the service-associated data packets, wherein the configuration enables a multi-modality indicator determined based on the multi-modality service identifier to be transmitted with the service-associated data packets. The configuration message may comprise a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message, as in 304 A.

[0049] The configuration may further specify a parameter to be used for indicating the order of data packets of the service-associated data packets. The multi-modality indicator may be a field in a data link layer (L2) message header, such as a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) message header or medium access control (MAC) message header. The indicator may be called a multi-modal data set sequence number (MMDSSN).

[0050] The network node, upon receiving the MMSID, and depending upon the use case, may provide a configuration to the UE for providing the MMDSSN or other multi-modality indicator(s) via an extended PDCP header or extended MAC sub-header (assuming that UE supporting extended PDCP and / or MAC headers), or by other means. In some embodiments,the configuration comprises a parameter indicating an order of data packets of the service-associated data packets.

[0051] In 306A / 306B, the network node receives, from the user equipment, UE, at least part of the service-associated data packets, wherein the service-associated data packets comprise the multi-modality indicator according to the configuration.

[0052] In 308A / 308B, the network node may jointly process the received service-associated data packets of the at least one data flow. Jointly processing the received service-associated data packets, may comprise, in response to determining that a high priority data packet is lost, discarding other data packets of the service-wise associated data packets that are associated with the lost high priority data packet. As used herein, the term “high priority data packet” refers to a packet that is required by an application in order to make use of one or more other packets that are related to the high priority packets, such that if the high priority packet is lost the application will not be able to use the related packets.

[0053] Jointly processing the received service-associated data packets may comprise scheduling delivery of data packets to control temporal separation of the service-associated data packets that are associated with each other, as described further below with reference to Fig. 7.

[0054] Fig. 4A and Fig. 4B show examples of other methods. The methods may be computer-implemented. The methods may be performed by a user equipment (UE), such as for example a UE running an XR application. As shown in Fig. 4A, in 402A the UE transmits to a network node, a first multi-modality service identifier (MMSID) for indicating service-associated data packets of at least one data flow for determination of a multi-modality indicator. Different ways exist for an application (in UE) to determine the service-relatedness or interdependency of PDUs across multiple QoS flows such as multi-modal (MM) PDUs (also referred to herein as “service-associated packets”), for example based on defining in a certain period or specific aspects of one flow which could be related to another flow. One example is shown in Figure 2. As shown in Fig. 4B, in 402B the network node receives the MMSID from the core network, either in addition or in the alternative to receiving the MMSID from the UE.

[0055] As an option for 402B, the UE transmits to a network node, a request for the multimodality indicator associated with a multi-modality service identifier provided by a core network. In this option, the network node communicates with the core network.

[0056] In 404A / 404B, the UE receives from the network node, a configuration message comprising a configuration for transmitting the service-associated data packets, wherein the configuration enables transmitting the multi-modality indicator. The configuration messagemay comprise a radio resource control (RRC) (re)configuation message, as in 404A. The multi-modality indicator may comprise a Multi-Modal Data Set Sequence Number (MMDSSN), as discussed in further detail above.

[0057] In 406A / 406B, the UE transmits to the network node, at least part of the service-associated data packets, wherein the service-associated data packets comprise the multi-modality indicator according to the configuration for joint processing of the at least part of the service-associated data packets of the at least one data flow. The MMDSSN may be comprised in a PDCP header by introducing a new field which can be utilized by the receiving PDCP entity in the network node for joint processing e.g. PDCP discarding. Additionally or alternatively, the MMDSSN may be comprised in the MAC header / sub -header as explained above. Below some examples of the operations of methods (procedures) discussed above are presented.

[0058] As noted above, a multi-modality indicator may be configured for each set (a group-value) of service-associated (interdependent) data packets for all data packets across the multi-modal flows. The marking could be indicated by the MMDSSN and thus one set ofPDUs from different multi-modal flows may be marked with MMDSSN#1 and the other with MMDSSN#2 and so on. For example, the joint processing may comprise discarding data packets as explained above. For instance, if packets from a flow with high priority are lost, the node may decide to discard the packets from all other flows which have the same MMDSSN (if the application requires data packets from high priority flow). As another example, if packets from a flow with high priority are lost, the node may still decide to transmit the packets (optionally utilizing a more robust transmission format) from all other flows which have the same MMDSSN for maximizing the information available at the application layer.

[0059] As an example of a configuration, the network node configures the UE with the extended PDCP header using the PDCP configuration and sends an RRC reconfiguration message comprising such configuration.

[0060]

[0061]

[0062] Tab. 1 : an example of a PDCP-Config. with new IE for MMDSSN

[0063] In the illustrated example in Table 1, as a more detailed example of the UE operations regarding 404, UE receives the configuration message with a configuration comprising a new field (an example of which is shown in Tab. 1 above: new information element, IE) for appending an MMDSSN in each packet. In this example, the UE determines MMDSSNs for all the interdependent packets from multiple QoS flows which have the same MMSID. Fig. 5 shows, as a further example, a PDCP header comprising a MMDSSN of 4 bits in size meaning that there can be up to 16 sets of packets with indicators at a given time. It is pertinent to mention that the size of MMDSSN field can be set to other values as well depending upon the need to balance between the signaling overhead and MMDSSN value wraparounds. The same value of MMDSSN may be allocated to another set of packets, for example after a certain period of time, or after all the packets having a certain MMDSSN have been transmitted and received correctly at receiver side. A lack of interdependency among the MM flows can be indicated by setting the value of ‘mmdssn-SizeUL’ to ‘0’ (which is the default value as well).

[0064] As an example regarding the MAC header option, if the network node detects that the number of packets being discarded from one or more flows are higher than a pre-determined threshold, or for some other reason, in some embodiments the network node implements scheduling enhancements as a mitigating action. For this purpose, the network node may activate, through an activation MAC control element (MAC CE), the inclusion of an MMDSSN in the MAC sub-header of each interdependent packet by the UE.

[0065] The UE upon activation of the extended MAC (sub-header) can include a uniquevalue of MMDSSN in the interdependent packets of different QoS flows of the multi-modal application. The network node may use the MMDSSN for prioritizing the packets with the same MMDSSN or for other scheduling enhancements.

[0066] Such MMDSSN information may be added in the MAC (sub)header, as shown in Fig. 6. In the illustrated example, the second octet is used to carry MMDSSN information. The network node may determine whether the adjusted MAC sub-header or regular sub-header is used based on the LCID information.

[0067] Fig. 7 illustrates an example of the scheduling enhancement at MAC by showing logical channels containing the MMDSSN in each interdependent packet across QoS flows. In the illustrated example, there are shown three logical channels (LCH 0, LCH 1, LCH 2) with different priorities (Priority 0 - highest priority, Priority 1 - medium priority, Priority 2 - lowest priority). According to current specifications, the higher the priority of a channel, the scheduler will allocate more resources to guarantee the required QoS requirements. For example, in some implementations 3 packets from LCH 0, 2 packets from LCH 1 and 1 packet from LCH 0 would be scheduled in the same MAC PDU without considering any dependency among QoS flows / LCHs. However, when the packets in different logical channels have interdependency as indicated by the same value of MMDSSN according to embodiments of the present disclosure, those packets can be jointly scheduled to make sure the interdependent packets across logical channels are received by the receiving entity (application) together. As shown in Fig.

[0068] 7, the three logical channels (LCH 0, LCH 1, LCH 2) with different priorities (Priority 0, Priority 1, Priority 2) have interdependent packets marked with the same MMDSSN values. Therefore, packets across the logical channels are scheduled such that packets with the same value of MMDSSN are scheduled jointly, irrespective of the priority of the logical channel. This is evident from the example of Fig. 7 which shows that there is one packet each numbered packet2 from LCH 0 and LCH 1 but two packets from LCH 2 (packet2 and packets) as all of these packets have the same MMDSSN.

[0069] Fig. 8 shows, by way of example, a block diagram of an apparatus 10. The apparatus 10 comprises, for example, at least one processor 12 and at least one memory 14 storing instructions 15 that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus 10 at least to carry out methods as disclosed above by means of Figures 3-7.

[0070] A processor 12 may comprise circuitry, or be constituted as circuitry or circuitries, the circuitry or circuitries being configured to perform phases of methods in accordance with example embodiments described herein. 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 asimplementations 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 user equipment, to perform various functions) and (c) hardware circuit^) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation. 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.

[0071] The memory 14 may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology. The memory may comprise a database for storing data. The memory 14 may be at least in part external to apparatus 10 but accessible to apparatus 10.

[0072] The instructions 15 may be comprised in a computer readable medium or a non-transitory computer readable medium. A 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. random-access memory, RAM, vs. read only memory, ROM).

[0073] For example, the apparatus 10 is a terminal device, such as the UE of Fig. 4. As another example, the apparatus is comprised in such a terminal device, e.g. as a chipset configured to control the terminal device. The apparatus 10 may be caused or configured to perform at least the method of Fig. 4 and / or any one or more of the embodiments described.

[0074] As another example, the apparatus 10 is a network node, e.g. the network node of Fig. 3. In another embodiment, the apparatus is comprised in such a network node, e.g. as a chipset configured to control the network node. The apparatus 10 may be caused or configured to perform at least the method of Fig. 3 and / or any one or more of the embodiments described.

[0075] The apparatus may comprise one or more entities of any of protocol layers, such as a MAC entity, an RRC entity, an RLC entity, a PDCP entity or a PHY entity. In some embodiments, the entity is configured to perform at least the method of Fig. 3 or Fig. 4, and / or any one or more of the embodiments described.The apparatus 10 comprises a radio interface 16. The radio interface 16 may provide the apparatus 10 with communication capabilities. The radio interface 16 may comprise a receiver configured to receive information in accordance with at least one cellular or non-cel-lular standard. The radio interface 16 may comprise a transmitter configured to transmit information in accordance with at least one cellular or non-cellular standard. The receiver may comprise more than one receiver. The transmitter may comprise more than one transmitter. The radio interface 16 may comprise a transceiver configured to receive and transmit information in accordance with at least one cellular or non-cellular standard. The transceiver may comprise more than one transceiver.

[0076] The apparatus 10 may comprise a user interface 18 comprising, for example, at least one of a keypad, a microphone, a touch display, a display, a speaker, etc. The user interface 18 may be used to control the apparatus by the user. The user interface 18 may be external to the apparatus 10. For example, the apparatus 10 may be connected to another device, such as a computer, either via wireless or wired connection, and the apparatus 10 is controlled by the user via the computer.

[0077] In an embodiment, at least some of the processes described herein may be carried out by an apparatus comprising means for carrying out at least some of the described processes. Means for performing method steps as disclosed herein may include software and / or hardware components of the apparatus 10. For example, the at least one processor 12, the memory 14, and the computer program code form means for carrying out the method or methods as disclosed herein, and any of the embodiments thereof. As used herein the term “means” is to be construed in singular form, i.e. referring to a single element, or in plural form, i.e. referring to a combination of single elements. Therefore, terminology “means for [performing A, B, C]”, is to be interpreted to cover an apparatus in which there is only one means for performing A, B and C, or where there are separate means for performing A, B and C, or partially or fully overlapping means for performing A, B, C. Further, terminology “means for performing A, means for performing B, means for performing C” is to be interpreted to cover an apparatus in which there is only one means for performing A, B and C, or where there are separate means for performing A, B and C, or partially or fully overlapping means for performing A, B, C.

[0078] Following is a list of some aspects of the invention.

[0079] According to a first aspect, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and,

[0080] at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least oneprocessor, cause the apparatus to:

[0081] receive, by a network node, a multi-modality service identifier (MMSID) for indicating service-associated data packets of at least one data flow;

[0082] send, to the user equipment in response to the receiving the multi-modality service identifier, a configuration message comprising a configuration for transmitting the service-associated data packets, wherein the configuration enables a multi-modality indicator determined based on the multi -modality service identifier to be transmitted with the service-associated data packets;

[0083] receive, from the user equipment, at least part of the service-associated data packets, wherein the service-associated data packets comprise the multi-modality indicator according to the configuration; and

[0084] jointly process the received service-associated data packets of theat least one data flow.

[0085] Various embodiments of the first aspect may comprise at least one feature from the following bulleted list:

[0086] • jointly processing the received service-associated data packets from the at least one data flow may comprise, in response to determining that a high priority data packet is lost, discarding other data packets of the service-associated data packets that are associated with the lost high priority data packet;

[0087] • jointly processing the received service-associated data packets from the at least one data flow may comprise scheduling delivery of data packets to control temporal separation of the service-associated data packets that are associated with each other;

[0088] • the configuration may further comprise a parameter indicating an order of data packets of the service-associated data packets;

[0089] • the configuration may indicate a field in data link layer (L2) message header to be used to indicate the multi-modality indication;

[0090] • the configuration may indicate a field in a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) message header or in Medium Access Control (MAC) message header to be used to indicate the multi-modality indication;

[0091] • the configuration may indicate that the multi-modality indication comprisesa multi-modal data set sequence number (MMDSSN);

[0092] • the configuration may indicate an additional field for inserting the MMDSSN into a PDCP message header;

[0093] • the configuration may indicate an additional field for inserting the MMDSSN into a Medium Access Control (MAC) message subheader; • receiving the MMSID may comprise receiving the MMSID from the UE;

[0094] • receiving the MMSID may comprise receiving the MMSID in a UE Assistant Information (UAI) message.

[0095] According to a second aspect, there is provided an apparatus, comprising:

[0096] at least one processor; and,

[0097] at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

[0098] transmit, by a user equipment to a network node, a first multi-modality service identifier (MMSID) for indicating service-associated data packets of at least one data flow for determination of a multi-modality indicator;

[0099] receive, from the network node, a configuration message comprising a configuration for transmitting the service-associated data packets, wherein the configuration enables the multi-modality indicator to be transmitted with the service-associated data packets; and transmit, by the user equipment to the network node, at least part of the service-associated data packets, wherein the service-associated data packets comprise the multi-modality indicator according to the configuration for joint processing of the at least part of the service-associated data packets of the at least one data flow.

[0100] Various embodiments of the second aspect may comprise at least one feature from the following bulleted list:

[0101] • the configuration may further comprise a parameter indicating an order of data packets of the service-associated data packets;

[0102] • the configuration may indicate a field in data link layer (L2) message header to be used to indicate the multi-modality indication;

[0103] • the configuration may indicate a field in a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) message header or in Medium Access Control (MAC) message header to be used to indicate the multi-modality indication;• the configuration may indicate that the multi-modality indication comprises a multi-modal data set sequence number (MMDSSN);

[0104] • the configuration may indicate an additional field for inserting the MMDSSN into a PDCP message header;

[0105] • the configuration may indicate an additional field for inserting the MMDSSN into a Medium Access Control (MAC) message subheader; • sending the MMSID may comprise sending the MMSID in a UE Assistant Information (UAI) message.

[0106] According to a third aspect, there is provided a method comprising: receiving, by a network node, a multi-modality service identifier (MMSID) for indicating service-associated data packets of at least one data flow;

[0107] sending, to the user equipment in response to the receiving the multi-modality service identifier, a configuration message comprising a configuration for transmitting the service-associated data packets, wherein the configuration enables a multi-modality indicator determined based on the multi-modality service identifier to be transmitted with the service-associated data packets;

[0108] receiving, from the user equipment, at least part of the service-associated data packets, wherein the service-associated data packets comprise the multi-modality indicator according to the configuration; and

[0109] jointly processing the received service-associated data packets of the at least one data flow.

[0110] Various embodiments of the third aspect may comprise at least one feature from the bulleted list under the first aspect.

[0111] According to a fourth aspect, there is provided a method comprising: transmitting, by a user equipment to a network node, a multi-modality service identifier (MMSID) for indicating service-associated data packets of at least one data flow for determination of a multi-modality indicator;

[0112] receiving, from the network node, a configuration message comprising a configuration for transmitting the service-associated data packets, wherein the configuration enables the multi-modality indicator to be transmitted with the service-associated data packets; andtransmitting, by the user equipment to the network node, at least part of the service-associated data packets, wherein the service-associated data packets comprise the multi-modality indicator according to the configuration for joint processing of the at least part of the service-associated data packets of the at least one data flow.

[0113] Various embodiments of the fourth aspect may comprise at least one feature from the bulleted list under the second aspect.

[0114] According to a fifth aspect, there is provided a computer program product embodied on a distribution medium and comprising program instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to carry out the method according to the third aspect or according to the fourth aspect.

[0115] According to a sixth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising program instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to carry out the method according to the third aspect or according to the fourth aspect.

[0116] According to a seventh aspect, there is provided an apparatus, comprising means for performing the method according to the third aspect or according to the fourth aspect, and / or means configured to cause the apparatus to perform the method according to the third aspect or according to the fourth aspect.

[0117] Even though the invention has been described above with reference to an example according to the accompanying drawings, it is clear that the invention is not restricted thereto but can be modified in several ways within the scope of the appended claims. Therefore, all words and expressions should be interpreted broadly and they are intended to illustrate, not to restrict, the embodiment. It will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that, as technology advances, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways. Further, it is clear to a person skilled in the art that the described embodiments may, but are not required to, be combined with other embodiments in various ways.

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 to:receive, by a network node, a multi-modality service identifier (MMSID) for indicating service-associated data packets of at least one data flow;send, to the user equipment (UE) in response to the receiving the multi-modality service identifier, a configuration message comprising a configuration for transmitting the service-associated data packets, wherein the configuration enables a multi-modality indicator determined based on the multi-modality service identifier to be transmitted with the service-associated data packets;receive, from the user equipment, at least part of the service-associated data packets, wherein the service-associated data packets comprise the multi-modality indicator according to the configuration; andjointly process the received service-associated data packets of the at least one data flow.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the instructions cause the apparatus to jointly process the received service-associated data packets from the at least one data flow by, in response to determining that a high priority data packet is lost, discarding other data packets of the service-associated data packets that are associated with the lost high priority data packet.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the instructions cause the apparatus to jointly process the received service-associated data packets from the at least one data flow by scheduling delivery of data packets to control temporal separation of the service-associated data packets that are associated with each other.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the configuration further comprises a parameter indicating an order of data packets of the service-associated data packets.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the multi -modality indicator is implementedas a field in data link layer (L2) message header.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the data link layer message is a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) message or a Medium Access Control (MAC) message.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the multi-modality service identifier (MMSID) is received in a UE Assistant Information (UAI) message.

8. 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 to:transmit, by a user equipment to a network node, a multi -modality service identifier (MMSID) for indicating service-associated data packets of at least one data flow for determination of a multi-modality indicator;receive, from the network node, a configuration message comprising a configuration for transmitting the service-associated data packets, wherein the configuration enables the multi-modality indicator to be transmitted with the service-associated data packets; and transmit, by the user equipment to the network node, at least part of the service-associated data packets, wherein the service-associated data packets comprise the multi-modality indicator according to the configuration for joint processing of the at least part of the service-associated data packets of the at least one data flow.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the configuration further comprises a parameter indicating an order of data packets of the service-associated data packets.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the multi -modality indicator is implemented as a field in data link layer (L2) message header.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the data link layer message is a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) message or a Medium Access Control (MAC) message.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the multi-modality service identifier(MMSID) is transmitted in a UE Assistant Information (UAI) message.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the multi -modality indicator is a unique value for each interdependent group of the service-associated data packets transmitted withing a predetermined time period of each other.

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