Bearer-less architecture for a wireless cellular network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021243775-A1
Application number	US-202117151298-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 18, 2021
Priority date	Oct 6, 2015
Publication date	Aug 5, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

An architecture, for a cellular communications system, is described herein in which a “bearer-less” model is used for both the radio interface and the network core. Instead of using an individual Layer 2 bearer for each Quality of Service (QoS) class, in the architecture described herein, a common Layer 2 connection (e.g., a Layer 2 “fat pipe”) may be used to handle traffic flows between a User Equipment (UE) device and an external Packet Data Network (PDN). Additionally, a bearer-less architecture may be used in the radio interface (i.e., between User Equipment (UE) and the eNB).

First claim

1 . An apparatus for a baseband processor of User Equipment (UE) for a cellular communication network, the apparatus comprising circuitry to:
generate a request to establish a connection with a packet data network (PDN); process a resource request, associated with the PDN, to determine:
an indication of a Service Data Flow (SDF) associated with the resource request, and
Quality of Service (QoS) information for packets in the SDF; and
communicate with an evolved NodeB (eNB), via a particular radio bearer established between the UE and the eNB, including:
multiplexing transmission of packets corresponding to a plurality of different SDFs over the particular radio bearer, including scheduling the packets of the plurality of different SDFs based on the QoS information for each of the plurality of different SDFs.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the indication of the SDF includes an SDF template.

3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein multiplexing the transmission of packets includes multiplexing Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) packets and non-GBR Unacknowledged Mode Radio Link Control (UM RLC) packets on the particular radio bearer.

4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein multiplexing the transmission of packets includes multiplexing a transmission of packets for different PDNs on the particular radio bearer.

5 . The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the apparatus further comprises circuitry to:
discriminate between packets associated with the different PDNs based on destination Internet Protocol (IP) addressing information of the packets.

6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein generating the request to establish the connection includes encoding a message, including the request, for transmission over a radio interface; and
wherein processing the resource request includes decoding the resource request.

7 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions for causing one or more processors, associated with User Equipment (UE) operable with a cellular communication network, to:
generate a request to establish a connection with a packet data network (PDN); receive, from an evolved NodeB (eNB) or from a control plane process associated with the cellular communication network, an indication of:
a Service Data Flow (SDF), and
Quality of Service (QoS) information for packets in the SDF; and
communicate with the eNB, via a particular radio bearer established between the UE and the eNB, including scheduling a transmission of packets, corresponding to a plurality of different SDFs over the particular radio bearer.

8 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the program instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
schedule the packets of the plurality of different SDFs based on the QoS information for each of the plurality of different SDFs.

9 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the indication of the SDF includes an SDF template.

10 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the program instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
multiplex the transmission of packets by multiplexing Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) packets and non-GBR Unacknowledged Mode Radio Link Control (UM RLC) packets on the particular radio bearer.

11 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the program instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
schedule the transmission of packets for different packet data networks on the particular radio bearer.

12 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the program instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
discriminate between packets associated with the different packet data networks based on destination Internet Protocol (IP) addressing information of the packets.

13 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing program instructions for causing one or more processors, associated with a control plane for a cellular communication network, to:
process a request, received from User Equipment (UE), to establish a connection with a packet data network (PDN); and configure user plane nodes, in the cellular communication network, to support the connection with the PDN, including establishing, for the UE, a common Layer 2 connection between a serving Evolved NodeB (eNB) and the PDN.

14 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the common Layer 2 connection includes a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocol (GTP) tunnel.

15 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the program instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
configure at least one of the user plane nodes, in a path of the common Layer 2 connection, to buffer packets for the UE when the UE is in an Idle mode.

16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the user plane nodes are configured to buffer packets, wherein each of the user plane nodes that are configured buffer packets corresponds to the common Layer 2 connection for the connection with the PDN.

17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the program instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
determine an amount of the user plane nodes in a path of the common Layer 2 connection.

18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the user plane nodes include configurable switches.

19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the program instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
provide Quality of Service (QoS) information to the eNB or the UE on a per-Service Data Flow (SDF) basis.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Stojanovski Alexandre
• Venkatachalam Muthaiah
• Burbidge Richard

Classifications

• H04W72/543 Primary

  based on requested quality, e.g. QoS · CPC title

• H04W28/0252 Primary

  per individual bearer or channel (dynamic wireless traffic scheduling H04W72/12) · CPC title

• H04W76/10

  Connection setup · CPC title

• H04W76/12

  Setup of transport tunnels · CPC title

• H04W72/1236 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic