US-20260128997-A1 - METHODS, ARCHITECTURES, APPARATUSES AND SYSTEMS FOR ENHANCING DATA BOOSTING USING LINKED QUALITY OF SERVICE FLOWS

Abstract

Procedures, methods, architectures, apparatuses, systems, devices, and computer program products relating to linked QoS flow (LQF) configuration and/or operation. A method may include receiving LQF configuration information indicating any of (1) one or more QoS flows (2) a mutually exclusive indication indicating that the QoS flows are used mutually exclusively, (3) an identifier associated with a LQF group comprising the QoS flows. The method may include setting up the QoS flows based on the LQF configuration information, receiving a data unit comprising an urgency indicator indicating an urgency associated with the data unit and a QoS flow in the LQF group, selecting an active LQF based on the urgency indicator, and transmitting the data unit over the active LQF.

Inventors

• Xavier De Foy
• Michael Starsinic
• Patrice Hirtzlin
• Magurawalage Chathura Madhusanka Sarathchandra
• Rocco Di Girolamo
• Francois Periard
• Jaya Rao
• Achref Methenni

Assignees

• INTERDIGITAL PATENT HOLDINGS, INC.

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20241107

Claims (19)

1. 1 . A network element, comprising: circuitry, including any of a processor, transmitter, receiver, and memory, configured to receive linked quality of service (QoS) flow (LQF) configuration information indicating any of (1) one or more profiles associated with QoS flows (2) a mutually exclusive indication indicating that the QoS flows are used mutually exclusively, and (3) an identifier associated with a linked QoS flow (LQF) group comprising the QoS flows; set up the QoS flows based on the linked QoS flow (LQF) configuration information; receive a data unit with an associated QoS flow identifier corresponding to one of the QoS flows in the linked QoS flow (LQF) group; select, based on the associated QoS flow identifier, an active linked QoS flow (LQF) for the data unit; and transmit the data unit over the selected active linked QoS flow (LQF).
2. 2 . The network element of claim 1 , wherein the linked QoS flow (LQF) configuration information further indicates characteristics associated with the linked QoS flow (LQF) group comprising any of: a linked QoS flow (LQF) transition timing, a priority associated with each of the QoS flows, and a degraded mode indication.
3. 3 . The network element of claim 2 , wherein the selection of the active linked QoS flow (LQF) is further based on any of the characteristics associated with the linked QoS flow (LQF) group and characteristics associated with a currently active linked QoS flow (LQF).
4. 4 . The network element of claim 1 , wherein, on condition that the selected active linked QoS flow (LQF) is determined to be invalid, the circuitry is configured to: send an error indication to another network element; drop the data unit; or select a currently active linked QoS flow (LQF).
5. 5 . The network element of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to update one or more counters related to the linked QoS flow (LQF) group, wherein the one or more counters are configured to monitor a number of packets or bytes associated with the one of the QoS flows in the linked QoS flow (LQF) group.
6. 6 . The network element of claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is configured to perform access control operations using the linked quality of service (QoS) flow (LQF) configuration information.
7. 7 . The network element of claim 1 , wherein the data unit comprises a protocol data unit (PDU).
8. 8 . A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), comprising: circuitry, including any of a processor, transmitter, receiver, and memory, configured to receive linked quality of service (QoS) flow (LQF) configuration information indicating any of (1) one or more QoS flows (2) a mutually exclusive indication indicating that the QoS flows are used mutually exclusively, and (3) an identifier associated with a linked QoS flow (LQF) group comprising the QoS flows; set up the QoS flows based on the linked QoS flow (LQF) configuration information; receive a data unit comprising an urgency indicator indicating an urgency associated with the data unit and a QoS flow in the linked QoS flow (LQF) group, or receive a data unit comprising a QoS flow identifier associated with a QoS flow in the linked QoS flow (LQF) group; select an active linked QoS flow (LQF), based on the urgency indicator or the QoS flow identifier; and transmit the data unit over the active linked QoS flow (LQF).
9. 9 . The WTRU of claim 8 , wherein the data unit comprises an uplink protocol data unit (PDU) or a downlink protocol data unit (PDU).
10. 10 . The WTRU of claim 8 , wherein the linked QoS flow (LQF) configuration information further indicates characteristics associated with the linked QoS flow (LQF) group comprising any of: a linked QoS flow (LQF) transition timing, a priority associated with each of the QoS flows, and a degraded mode indication.
11. 11 . The WTRU of claim 10 , wherein the selection of the active linked QoS flow (LQF) is further based on the characteristics associated with the linked QoS flow (LQF) group.
12. 12 . The WTRU of claim 8 , wherein, based on the mutually exclusive indication, the circuitry is configured to limit a rate of change between active linked QoS flows (LQFs).
13. 13 . The WTRU of claim 8 , wherein the circuitry is configured to update one or more counters related to the linked QoS flow (LQF) group, wherein the one or more counters are configured to monitor a number of packets or bytes associated with the one of the QoS flows in the linked QoS flow (LQF) group.
14. 14 . A method, implemented by a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), the method comprising: receiving linked quality of service (QoS) flow (LQF) configuration information indicating any of (1) one or more QoS flows (2) a mutually exclusive indication indicating that the QoS flows are used mutually exclusively, and (3) an identifier associated with a linked QoS flow (LQF) group comprising the QoS flows; setting up the QoS flows based on the linked QoS flow (LQF) configuration information; receiving a data unit comprising an urgency indicator indicating an urgency associated with the data unit and a QoS flow in the linked QoS flow (LQF) group, or receiving a data unit comprising a QoS flow identifier associated with a QoS flow in the linked QoS flow (LQF) group; selecting an active linked QoS flow (LQF), based on the urgency indicator or the QoS flow identifier; and transmitting the data unit over the active linked QoS flow (LQF).
15. 15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the data unit comprises an uplink protocol data unit (PDU) or a downlink protocol data unit (PDU).
16. 16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the linked QoS flow (LQF) configuration information further indicates characteristics associated with the linked QoS flow (LQF) group comprising any of: a linked QoS flow (LQF) transition timing, a priority associated with each of the QoS flows, and a degraded mode indication.
17. 17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the selecting of the active linked QoS flow (LQF) is further based on the characteristics associated with the linked QoS flow (LQF) group.
18. 18 . The method of claim 14 , comprising, based on the mutually exclusive indication, limiting a rate of change between active linked QoS flows (LQFs).
19. 19 . The method of claim 14 , comprising updating one or more counters related to the linked QoS flow (LQF) group, wherein the one or more counters are configured to monitor a number of packets or bytes associated with the one of the QoS flows in the linked QoS flow (LQF) group.

Description

FIELD Example embodiments described in the present disclosure are generally directed to the fields of communications, software and encoding, including, for example, to methods, architectures, apparatuses, systems related to enhancing, extending and/or improving data boosting using linked quality of service (QoS) flows. BACKGROUND It is challenging for wireless networks to carry media flows, especially flows for applications with high-throughput and low latency requirements. Such applications may include, for example, video conferencing and extended reality (XR) applications. Wireless networks should implement techniques to improve network capacity and energy efficiency, as well as reduce the impact of packet losses on the user experience. SUMMARY Some embodiments may be directed to a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) that includes circuitry, such as any of a processor, memory, transmitter and receiver. The circuitry may be configured to receive linked quality of service (QoS) flow (LQF) configuration information indicating any of (1) one or more QoS flows (2) a mutually exclusive indication indicating that the QoS flows are used mutually exclusively, (3) an identifier associated with a linked QoS flow (LQF) group comprising the QoS flows; set up the QoS flows based on the linked QoS flow (LQF) configuration information; receive a data unit comprising an urgency indicator indicating an urgency associated with the data unit and a QoS flow in the linked QoS flow (LQF) group, or receive a data unit comprising a QoS flow identifier associated with a QoS flow in the linked QoS flow (LQF) group; select an active linked QoS flow (LQF), based on the urgency indicator or the QoS flow identifier; and transmit the data unit over the active linked QoS flow (LQF). Some embodiments may include a method implemented by a WTRU. The method may include receiving linked quality of service (QoS) flow (LQF) configuration information indicating any of (1) one or more QoS flows (2) a mutually exclusive indication indicating that the QoS flows are used mutually exclusively, (3) an identifier associated with a linked QoS flow (LQF) group comprising the QoS flows; setting up the QoS flows based on the linked QoS flow (LQF) configuration information; receiving a data unit comprising an urgency indicator indicating an urgency associated with the data unit and a QoS flow in the linked QoS flow (LQF) group, or receive a data unit comprising a QoS flow identifier associated with a QoS flow in the linked QoS flow (LQF) group; selecting an active linked QoS flow (LQF), based on the urgency indicator or the QoS flow identifier; and transmitting the data unit over the active linked QoS flow (LQF). Some embodiments may be directed to a network element that includes circuitry, such as any of a processor, memory, transmitter and receiver. The circuitry may be configured to receive linked quality of service (QoS) flow (LQF) configuration information indicating any of (1) one or more profiles associated with QoS flows (2) a mutually exclusive indication indicating that the QoS flows are used mutually exclusively, (3) an identifier associated with a linked QoS flow (LQF) group comprising the QoS flows; set up the QoS flows based on the linked QoS flow (LQF) configuration information; receive a data unit with an associated QoS flow identifier corresponding to one of the QoS flows in the linked QoS flow (LQF) group; select, based on the associated QoS flow identifier, an active linked QoS flow (LQF) for the data unit; and transmit the data unit over the selected active linked QoS flow (LQF). Some embodiments may include a method implemented by a network element. The method may include receiving linked quality of service (QoS) flow (LQF) configuration information indicating any of (1) one or more profiles associated with QoS flows (2) a mutually exclusive indication indicating that the QoS flows are used mutually exclusively, (3) an identifier associated with a linked QoS flow (LQF) group comprising the QoS flows; setting up the QoS flows based on the linked QoS flow (LQF) configuration information; receiving a data unit with an associated QoS flow identifier corresponding to one of the QoS flows in the linked QoS flow (LQF) group; selecting, based on the associated QoS flow identifier, an active linked QoS flow (LQF) for the data unit; and transmitting the data unit over the selected active linked QoS flow (LQF). BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A more detailed understanding may be had from the detailed description below, given by way of example in conjunction with drawings appended hereto. Figures in such drawings, like the detailed description, are examples. As such, the Figures (FIGs.) and the detailed description are not to be considered limiting, and other equally effective examples are possible and likely. Furthermore, like reference numerals (“ref.”) in the FIGs. indicate like elements, and wherein: FIG. 1A is a system diagram illustrating