Transport of data flows over cellular networks

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11889349-B2
Application number	US-201917271820-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 16, 2019
Priority date	Sep 3, 2018
Publication date	Jan 30, 2024
Grant date	Jan 30, 2024

Abstract

Embodiments of the disclosure provide methods, apparatus and machine-readable media relating to transport of data flows over cellular network. One method in a core network node comprises: obtaining configuration information for a data stream in an external data network, the configuration information indicating respective values for one or more fields within a header of data packets associated with the data stream which are to remain static; initiating transmission of the configuration information to a wireless device which is to receive the data stream; receiving a data packet associated with the data stream from the external data network; removing the one or more fields from the data packet to generate a compressed data packet; and initiating transmission of the compressed data packet to the wireless device.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method performed by a core network node for a wireless communications network for transport of data packets associated with a data stream in an external Ethernet data network, the method comprising:
obtaining configuration information for the data stream in the external Ethernet data network, the configuration information indicating respective values for one or more fields within a header of data packets associated with the data stream, wherein the respective values for the one or more fields are to remain static;
initiating transmission of the configuration information to a wireless device which is to receive the data stream;
receiving a data packet associated with the data stream from the external Ethernet data network;
removing the one or more fields from the data packet to generate a compressed data packet; and
initiating transmission of the compressed data packet to the wireless device.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of obtaining configuration information comprises receiving the configuration information from the external Ethernet data network, or wherein the configuration information is pre-configured in the core network node.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the compressed data packet comprises an identifier for the data stream.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the compressed data packet is transmitted to the wireless device as part of a protocol data unit (PDU) session or a quality of service (QoS) flow, and wherein the identifier for the data stream is unique within the PDU session or QoS flow.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the configuration information comprises an identifier for the data stream.

6. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
obtaining updated configuration information for the data stream, the updated configuration information comprising an indication of respective updated values for the one or more fields within the header of data packets associated with the data stream; and
initiating transmission of the updated configuration information to the wireless device.

7. A method performed by a core network node for a wireless communications network for transport of data packets associated with a data stream in an external Ethernet data network, the method comprising:
obtaining configuration information for the data stream in the external Ethernet data network, the configuration information indicating respective values for one or more fields within a header of data packets associated with the data stream, wherein the respective values for the one or more fields are to remain static;
receiving a data packet associated with the data stream from a wireless device;
adding the one or more fields to the data packet to generate a decompressed data packet; and
initiating transmission of the decompressed data packet over the external Ethernet data network.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the step of obtaining configuration information comprises receiving the configuration information from the wireless device.

9. The method according to claim 7 , further comprising initiating transmission, to the wireless device, of an indication of the respective values for the one or more fields.

10. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the core network node is one of an access management function and a user plane function.

11. A method performed by a wireless device associated with a wireless communications network, for transport of data packets associated with a data stream in an external Ethernet data network, the method comprising:
obtaining configuration information for the data stream in the external Ethernet data network, the configuration information indicating respective values for one or more fields within a header of data packets associated with the data stream, wherein the respective values for the one or more fields are to remain static;
receiving, from a radio access network node of the wireless communications network, a data packet associated with the data stream; and
adding the one or more fields to the data packet to generate a decompressed data packet.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the step of obtaining configuration information comprises receiving the configuration information from a core network node of the wireless communications network.

13. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the data packet comprises an identifier for the data stream.

14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the compressed data packet is received as part of a protocol data unit (PDU) session or a quality of service (QoS) flow, and wherein the identifier for the data stream is unique within the PDU session or QoS flow.

15. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the configuration information comprises an identifier for the data stream.

16. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:
obtaining updated configuration information for the data stream, the updated configuration information comprising an indication of respective updated values for the one or more fields within the header of data packets associated with the data stream; and
utilizing the updated configuration information to add the respective updated values for one or more fields to data packets received from the radio access network node.

17. The method according to claim 16 , wherein the updated configuration information further comprises an indication of a sequence number identifying a data packet associated with the data stream from which the respective updated values apply.

18. A method performed by a wireless device for transport of data packets associated with a data stream in an external Ethernet data network, the method comprising:
obtaining configuration information for the data stream in the external Ethernet data network, the configuration information indicating respective values for one or more fields within a header of data packets associated with the data stream, wherein the respective values for the one or more fields are to remain static;
obtaining a data packet associated with the data stream;
removing the one or more fields from the data packet to generate a compressed data packet; and
initiating transmission of the compressed data packet over the external Ethernet data network via a transmission to a radio access network node of a wireless communications network.

19. The method according to claim 18 , wherein the step of obtaining configuration information comprises receiving the configuration information from a core network node of the wireless communications network or receiving the configuration information from the external Ethernet data network.

20. The method according to claim 19 , wherein the step of obtaining configuration information comprises receiving the configuration information from the external Ethernet data network, and further comprising initiating transmission, to a core network node of the wireless communications network, of an indication of the respective values for the one or more fields, to enable the core network node to decompress the compressed data packet prior to its transmission over the external Ethernet data network.

21. The method according to claim 18 , wherein the data packet comprises an identifier for the data stream.

22. The method according to claim 18 , wherein the configuration information comprises an identifier for the data stream.

23. The method according to claim 18 , w

Assignees

• Ericsson Telefon Ab L M

Inventors

• Dudda Torsten
• Munz Hubertus
• Patel Dhruvin
• Palaios Alexandros

Classifications

• H04W28/06 Primary

  Optimizing {the usage of the radio link}, e.g. header compression, information sizing {, discarding information (system modifying transmission characteristic according to link quality by modifying frame length H04L1/0007; dynamic adaptation of the packet size for flow control or congestion control H04L47/365)} · CPC title

• H04L69/04

  Protocols for data compression, e.g. ROHC · CPC title

• H04L69/22

  Parsing or analysis of headers · CPC title

• H04W28/0268

  using specific QoS parameters for wireless networks, e.g. QoS class identifier [QCI] or guaranteed bit rate [GBR] (negotiating SLA or negotiating QoS H04W28/24) · CPC title

• H04W72/1263

  Mapping of traffic onto schedule, e.g. scheduled allocation or multiplexing of flows · CPC title