Patent Description:
Efforts are currently underway to define next generation wireless communication networks that provide greater deployment flexibility, support for a multitude of devices and services and different technologies for efficient bandwidth utilization. For better bandwidth utilizations, various techniques, including new ways to provide higher quality of service, are being discussed.

3GPP R2-<NUM> and 3GPP Draft S2-<NUM> WAS <NUM><NUM><NUM> RQOS V9 are related prior art documents.

This document describes technologies, among other things, for providing quality of service to data flows in a network architecture in which user plane and control plane are logically separated from each other.

In the <NUM> (<NUM> Generation) or LTE (Long Term Evolution) mobile communication systems, a data stream having the same QoS (Quality of Service) requirement is aggregated into a bearer, a radio access network (Radio Access Network, RAN) and the core network (Core Network, CN) on the QoS processing is carried by the load. In the <NUM> system, the RAN includes an evolved Node B (eNB) and a User Equipment (UE). The network bearer between the eNB and the core network interface with each other on the S1 interface and the radio bearer communicates on the radio interface between the eNB and the UE have one to one correspondence.

In the upcoming <NUM> system, the core network, base stations and UE are expected to undergo several changes. A <NUM> base station is sometimes called gNB (Next Generation Node B, next generation base station). Similar to the <NUM> system between the eNB X2 interface, the gNB interface on an interface called Xn. The interface between the gNB and the <NUM> core network is called the NG interface. A <NUM> system is expected to use a new QoS mechanism. The radio interface on the radio bearer may use a DRB (Data Radio Bearer, data radio bearer), but there is no corresponding NG interface on the network side, instead the concept of the PDU Session (Protocol Data Unit Session, Protocol Data Unit Session, and QoS Flow (Quality of Service Flow) is used. A UE can have multiple PDU sessions. A PDU session can contain multiple QoS flows. Multiple QoS flows of the same PDU session can be mapped to the same DRB. The QoS flow of different PDU sessions cannot be mapped to the same DRB.

The new <NUM> QoS mechanism also introduced the NAS Reflective (Non-Access-Stratum Reflective) and AS Reflective (Access-Stratum Reflective) functions, mainly in order to save control overhead. The NAS Reflective is the user-facing way to complete the uplink direction SDF (Service Data Flow, service data flow) to the QoS flow mapping relationship configuration, the AS Reflective is through the user plane to the way the UE completes the upstream direction QoS flow To the DRB mapping relationship.

In a <NUM> base station, a new protocol sublayer is introduced above the PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol) called SDAP (Service Data Adaptation Protocol) for QoS flow and DRB mapping (Mapping), etc.. In some embodiments, each PDU Session has an SDAP entity (Entity).

A <NUM> base station can be conceptually divided into CU (Central Unit) and DU (Distributed Unit). According to various embodiments, one base station has one CU, a base station can have multiple DU, called centralized unit distribution unit separation (CU-DU Split).

The CU of <NUM> base station or a <NUM> base station can be conceptually divided into CP (Control Plane) and UP (User Plane). It is called CP-UP Split, for the F1 interface. The interface between CP and UP is called E1 interface, as shown in an example embodiment of <FIG>. Control Plane includes, for example, Radio Resource Management (RRM), Radio Resource Control (RRC) and Packet Data Convergence Protocol C-Plane (PDCP-C) function of a <NUM> base station. User Plane includes, for example, Packet Data Convergence Protocol U-Plane (PDCP-U) function of a <NUM> base station.

The present document provides multiple ways by which QoS can be implemented in architectures such as the upcoming <NUM> networks. In some embodiments, the disclosed techniques can be implemented in a wireless system architecture in which the control plane and the user plane are logically separated, as described with respect to the <NUM> systems. Certain concepts from <NUM> architecture are used to describe various embodiments only for the ease of understanding and the disclosed techniques can be embodied in other communication networks also.

In some embodiments, to solve the above-discussed problems, a method for implementing a new QoS mechanism is disclosed. Example embodiments <NUM> and <NUM> described in the present document. The embodiments describe implementing the QoS method in a <NUM> system in a scenario where the control plane user plane is separated.

In some embodiments, the base station controls to send an update message to the base station user plane so that the base station user plane knows in time the flow of QoS Flow to the DRB (including the upstream direction and the downstream direction) and / or updates the base station user plane and which QoS flow needs to be performed NAS Reflective.

In some embodiments, the base station user plane stores information from the update message: QoS Flow to DRB mapping (including upstream and downstream), and / or QoS Flow information that requires NAS Reflective.

In some embodiments, the base station user plane receives a downlink packet from the core network according to the latest downlink direction QoS Flow to DRB mapping relationship. The downlink packet may include a quality of service flow identity (QFI). The base station may use the QFI which DRB the packet should be mapped to when transmitting downstream over the wireless interface. Alternatively or in addition the base station may decide the mapping according to the rules of the stored NAS Reflective QoS Flow information, downlink data packets contained in the QFI, and determine whether the downlink packet in the wireless interface to send with QFI.

In some embodiments, when the base station user plane receives a downlink packet from the core network, the base station may perform mapping according to the QoS flow corresponding to the QFI contained in the downlink packet. When the corresponding downlink QoS flow to the DRB mapping relationship cannot be found on the base station user plane, The user plane sends a request message to the base station control plane to request the base station control plane to determine the mapping relationship of the QoS flow to the DRB in the downlink direction.

In some embodiments, the base station control plane determines the mapping relationship of the associated QoS flow downstream to the DRB. The base station control plane responds to the response message. In some embodiments, the control plane may carry one or more downlink QoS flow to the DRB mapping relationships, as determined by the base station control plane. The base station control plane may optionally also carry one or more relevant DRB configuration information (for the base station user plane to establish the relevant DRB).

In some embodiments, the base station user plane stores information from the response message in the form of a downstream direction QoS Flow to DRB mapping.

In some embodiments, the base station user plane determines the DRB to which the downstream packet should be mapped when the downlink packet is to be transmitted according to the latest downstream direction QoS Flow to the DRB mapping relationship for the downlink packets that have not yet been transmitted on the radio interface. If it is found that the corresponding DRB has not been established, the corresponding DRB may be obtained, e.g., based on the configuration information of the DRB from the response message.

In some embodiments, when the base station user plane receives the uplink packet sent from the UE on a predetermined or default DRB (default DRB), the user plane checks whether the QoS flow of the QFI contained in these uplink packets has the corresponding upstream direction QoS Flow to DRB mapping relationship on the base station user plane. If a correspondence is not found, the base station user plane sends a request message to the base station control plane to request the base station control plane to determine the upstream direction of the QoS flow to the DRB mapping relationship.

In some embodiments, the base station control plane determines the mapping relation of the relevant QoS flow to the DRB and configures the mapping relation of the relevant QoS flow to the DRB to the UE through an upper layer message such as the RRC (Radio Resource Control) message, or the AS Reflective to configure the mapping of the QoS flow upstream to the DRB to the UE.

In some embodiments, the base station controls the response message to carry one or more upstream QoS flows to the DRB mapping relationship determined by the base station control plane. When passing through the AS Reflective mode, it also carries an indication that AS Reflective is to be used.

When the AS Reflective mode is adopted, the base station user plane is instructed to use AS Reflective. When the downstream packet is received from the core network, the corresponding downlink packet, e.g., the corresponding QoS flow of the QFI contained in the downstream packet Flow, is made to be AS Reflective according to the indication in the response message. The QFI and AS Reflective bits are sent when the radio interface is sent for the UE to generate the associated QoS flow to the DRB mapping relationship.

In some embodiments, the base station user plane stores the information from the response message that includes the upstream direction QoS Flow to the DRB mapping relationship.

In some embodiments, when the base station user plane receives the upstream packet sent from the UE on the Default DRB, the QoS flow of the QFI included in the uplink packet can be found based on the latest upstream QoS flow to the DRB mapping relationship stored at the base station. At the base station the user plane may have a corresponding uplink direction QoS Flow to the DRB mapping relationship. In this case, the base station user plane no longer has to send the request message to the base station control plane.

In one advantageous aspect, the disclosed techniques can be used to implement a new QoS mechanism in the <NUM> system can be implemented when there is control plane-user plane separation.

Several embodiments are described in the present document with reference to the signal flow diagram examples in <FIG>.

With reference to <FIG>, the following operations may be performed.

Step <NUM>: When the base station control plane receives the control information about the network, such as the addition or deletion of QoS flow from the core network, or when the base station control plane remaps the mapping of the QoS Flow to the DRB, the base station provides (including uplink and downlink direction) an update status of the QoS flow to the DRB. The update message may carry the associated QoS flow in the upstream direction and / or the downlink direction to the DRB. The update message may include each mapping relationship includes QFI (QoS Flow ID, Quality of Service ID) and DRB ID (Data Radio Bearer ID). Alternatively, in some embodiments, the update message may only transmit values that have changed from a previously sent update.

Step <NUM>: The base station user plane saves the information from the update message. This information includes QoS Flow to DRB mapping including mapping for both upstream and downstream directions.

In step <NUM>, when the base station user plane receives a downlink packet from the core network, it is determined that the downlink packet should be mapped to the radio interface, and a corresponding DRB, according to the latest downstream direction QoS Flow to the DRB mapping relationship and the QFI included in the downlink packet.

Step <NUM>: The base station user plane sends the downlink packet to the UE on the corresponding DRB at the radio interface.

In step <NUM>, when the base station control plane receives the control information of the NAS Reflective from the core network about the certain QoS flow, the base station controls to send the update message to the base station user plane so that the base station user plane knows which QoS flows are to be NAS Reflective. The update message carries one or more QFIs that can be used for QoS filtering for NAS Reflective.

Step <NUM>: The base station user plane saves the information from the update message, including the QoS flow information of NAS Reflective.

Step <NUM>: When the base station user plane receives the downlink packet from the core network, it searches the QoS information of the NAS Reflective according to the saved information and the QFI included in the downlink packet to determine whether the downstream packet is to carry the QFI. Specifically the user plane may determine whether the QFI contained in the downstream packet is the QFI of the QoS flow that is to be NAS Reflective. If not, the downstream packet is sent to the UE via the radio interface, without QFI to save wireless resources. If so, QFI is used in the packet sent to the UE.

Step <NUM>: The base station user plane sends a downlink packet with QFI or without QFI to the UE at the radio interface.

In step <NUM>, when the base station user plane receives the downlink packet from the core network, it is found that there is no corresponding downlink QoS flow to the DRB mapping relationship on the base station user plane according to the QoS flow corresponding to the QFI contained in the downlink packet. In this case, without additional information, there is no way to determine the downlink packet in the wireless interface to send to which DRB should be mapped. At this time, the base station user plane sends a request message to the base station control plane to request the base station control plane to determine the mapping of the QoS flow to the DRB in the downlink direction, and the request message carries one or more QFI of the QoS flow that needs to determine the mapping relationship to the DRB.

In step <NUM>, the base station control plane determines the mapping relationship of the related QoS flow to the DRB. To achieve this, the base station control plane responds to the response message, carrying one or more downlink QoS flows to the DRB mapping relationship determined by the base station control plane. The response can optionally carry one or more related DRB configuration information (for the base station user plane to establish the relevant DRB).

Step <NUM>: The base station user plane saves the information from the response message, including the downstream direction QoS Flow to the DRB mapping relationship.

In step <NUM>, the base station user plane determines the DRB to which the downlink packet should be mapped when the downlink packet is transmitted according to the latest downlink QoS flow to the DRB mapping relationship for the downlink packets that have not yet been transmitted on the radio interface. If it is found that the corresponding DRB has not been established, the corresponding DRB (based on the configuration information of the DRB from the response message) is established.

In step <NUM>, when the base station user plane receives the uplink packet sent from the UE on a Default DRB ("Default DRB"), the user plane checks whether the QoS flow corresponding to the QFI contained in the uplink packet has a corresponding uplink direction QoS Flow to DRB mapping available at the base station user plane.

Step <NUM>, the base station user plane sends a request message to the base station control plane to request the base station control plane to determine the mapping relationship of the QoS flow to the DRB in the uplink direction. The request message includes one or more QoS flows for which the mapping relationship of the uplink direction to the DRB QFI is to be determined.

Step <NUM>: The base station control plane determines the mapping relationship between the uplink traffic direction QoS flow and the DRB. The base station control plane configures the mapping relation of the relevant QoS flow to the DRB through an RRC (Radio Resource Control) message.

Step <NUM>: The base station control plane sends a response message that carries the mapping relationship of one or more upstream QoS flows to the DRB, as determined by the base station control plane.

Step <NUM>: The base station user plane saves the information from the response message, including the upstream direction QoS Flow to the DRB mapping relationship.

In step <NUM>, when the base station user plane receives the uplink packet transmitted from the UE on the Default DRB, the base station user plane can find the QoS flow of the QFI contained in the uplink packet according to the latest upstream QoS flow to the DRB mapping relationship has a corresponding uplink QoS mapping to the DRB on the base station user plane, and the base station user plane no longer needs to send the request message to the base station control plane.

Step <NUM> and Step <NUM> - same as in embodiment <NUM>.

In step <NUM>, the base station control plane determines the mapping relationship of the relevant QoS flow to the DRB; the base station control plane sends a response message that carries one or more upstream QoS flows to the DRB mapping relationship determined by the base station control plane and AS Reflective instructions.

Step <NUM>: The base station user plane is instructed that AS Reflective is to be used. When the downlink packet from the core network is received, corresponding to the corresponding downlink packet (that is, the QFI corresponding to the downlink packet) indicates that the AS Reflective is used, the QFI and AS Reflective bit is to be sent to the UE to generate the mapping of the associated uplink QoS flow to the DRB.

<FIG> is a flowchart of an example wireless communication method <NUM>. The method <NUM> may be implemented by a base station such as the gNB. The method <NUM> includes providing (<NUM>), a quality of service (QoS) update from a control plane of a base station to a user plane of the base station based on a QoS event, wherein the QoS update includes information indicative of a mapping between a QoS flow and corresponding radio resources for user data transmission. For example, in some embodiments, the QoS event may include receiving a notification from the core network about addition or deletion of at least one QoS flow from the network. For example, in some embodiments, the QoS event includes remapping between QoS flows and radio resources.

The method <NUM> further includes storing (<NUM>), at the user plane, the mapping between the QoS flow and the radio resources. The mapping may be stored in a memory in the form of a look-up table that is controlled by the user plane. For example, only the user plane may be able to read or write to the look-up table.

The method <NUM> also includes receiving (<NUM>), at the user plane, a downstream data packet of the QoS flow from a core network. In various embodiments, the communication from the core network may be received on a wired or wireless interface. The method <NUM> includes transmitting (<NUM>) the downstream data packet in a downlink direction using the corresponding radio resources.

<FIG> is a flowchart of an example of another wireless communication method <NUM>. The method <NUM> includes providing (<NUM>), a quality of service (QoS) update from a control plane of a base station to a user plane of the base station based on a QoS event, wherein the QoS update includes information identifying one or more QoS flows that are symmetric. A symmetric QoS flow may be one for which a downlink QoS parameter for the one or more QoS flows is determinable for a corresponding uplink information. For example, the NAS Reflective attribute defined in <NUM> may be a symmetric flow. The method <NUM> includes storing, at the user plane, identities of the one or more QoS flows that are symmetric. The identities may be stored in a memory access to which is exclusively controlled by the user plane. The method <NUM> includes receiving (<NUM>), at the user plane, a downstream data packet of a given QoS flow from a core network. The method <NUM> includes transmitting (<NUM>) the downstream data packet in a downlink direction using the corresponding radio resources.

<FIG> is a flowchart of an example of another wireless communication method <NUM>. At <NUM>, a data packet for downstream transmission from a core network is received by a base station. The data packet may be received on a wired or a wireless communication connection. The data packet includes a quality of service flow indicator. At <NUM>, the user plane obtains a mapping between the quality of service flow indicator and a radio resource for downstream transmission from a control plane of the base station. At <NUM>, the user plane transmits the data packet in a downstream direction using the mapping obtained from the control plane. In some embodiments, the user plane may decide, based on the quality of service flow indicator that a mapping is to be established (e.g., when no mapping is locally available at the user plane). The decision may be made by looking up information stored in a memory local to the user plane. For example, read or write access to the memory may only be available through the user plane.

<FIG> is a flowchart of an example of another wireless communication method <NUM>. At <NUM>, a base station receives, on an uplink radio resource, a data packet for upstream transmission from a user equipment. The data packet includes a quality of service flow indicator. At <NUM>, the user plane obtains a mapping between the quality of service flow indicator and an uplink radio resource from a control plane of the base station. At <NUM>, the method <NUM> includes associating, for a next data packet received on the uplink radio resource, a quality of service flow indicated by the quality of service flow indicator. In some embodiments, the mapping between the quality of service flow indicator and the uplink radio resource is obtained when the user plane determines that the mapping is to be established, e.g., not available at the user plane.

<FIG> is a flowchart of an example of another wireless communication method <NUM>. The method <NUM> includes receiving (<NUM>), at a base station, on an uplink radio resource, a data packet for upstream transmission from a user equipment, wherein the data packet includes a quality of service flow indicator. The method <NUM> includes selectively obtaining (<NUM>), by the user plane, from a control plane of the base station, a mapping between the quality of service indicator and the uplink radio resource, wherein the mapping indicates that the mapping is of a symmetric type. The method <NUM> includes transmitting (<NUM>) a message to the user equipment indicating that the mapping is of the symmetric type. In some embodiments, the method <NUM> includes determining that the mapping is to be established because of non-availability of the mapping at the user plane and, in response, obtaining the mapping from the control plane.

<FIG> is a block diagram of an example implementation of a wireless communication apparatus <NUM>. The methods <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> may be implemented by the apparatus <NUM>. In some embodiments, the apparatus <NUM> may be a base station of a wireless network. The apparatus <NUM> includes one or more processors, e.g., processor electronics <NUM>, transceiver circuitry <NUM> and one or more antennaa <NUM> for transmission and reception of wireless signals. The apparatus <NUM> may include memory <NUM> that may be used to store data and instructions used by the processor electronics <NUM>. The apparatus <NUM> may also include an additional network interface to a core network or a network operator's additional equipment. This additional network interface, not explitly shown in <FIG>, may be wired (e.g., fiber or Ethernet) or wireless.

<FIG> depicts an example of a wireless communication system <NUM> in which the various techniques described herein can be implemented. The system <NUM> includes a base station <NUM> that may have a communication connection with core network (<NUM>) and to a wireless communication medium <NUM> to communicate with one or more user devices <NUM>. The user devices <NUM> could be smartphones, tablets, machine to machine communication devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and so on.

It will be appreciated that technique that provide the operation of data flows managed by a base station that has a separate user plan and a separate control plan are disclosed.

Claim 1:
A method of wireless communication performed by a base station in which a user plane and a control plane are logically separated, comprising:
receiving, by the user plane of the base station from a user equipment, a data packet on a default data radio bearer, DRB, wherein the data packet includes a quality of service flow indicator, QFI;
sending, by the user plane to the control plane of the base station, a message that includes the QFI that identifies a Quality of Service, QoS, flow in response to an absence of mapping between the QoS flow and a DRB at the user plane of the base station for the control plane of the base station to determine a mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the DRB for uplink communication;
receiving, by the user plane, another message from the control plane of the base station that indicates the mapping relationship between the QoS flow and the DRB;
storing, by the user plane, the mapping relationship; and
using, by the user plane, the mapping relationship for a subsequent uplink packet that includes the QFI.