Method and apparatus for encapsulating / decapsulating data packets at a radio access node

A network function comprising:

• a network interface for receiving data from and transmitting data to network functions connected to a network;
• a processor;
• and
• a non-transient memory for storing instructions that when executed by the processor cause the network function to be configured to:
• receive a packet as a bitstream of data;
• associate the packet with configuration information based on data outside the bitstream of the packet;
• and,
• perform packet handling operations on the packet, without the network function having to process the packet using the protocol with which the packet has been encoded, according to packet handling instructions defined by the updated configuration information, wherein the packet handling instructions specify a packet handling operation to be performed on a portion of the bitstream, and specify an offset indicative of an offset bit located a count of bits from a predetermined starting bit position within the packet;
• and a length indicative of the bitstream as a count of bits from the offset bit.