Method and apparatus for managing the flow of data in PDCP

A method for management of data flow at a receiver in a communication network, the method comprising:

• receiving, in a reordering window of a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, a plurality of data packets associated with a plurality of applications, wherein each of the received plurality of data packets includes application header information, the plurality of data packets including data packets belonging to a plurality of packet flows corresponding to a different application;
• generating flow identifiers (IDs) of the received plurality of data packets based on the application header information, wherein each of the generated flows IDs corresponds to one of the plurality of packet flows and corresponds to a corresponding data packet of the received plurality of data packets;
• determining, based on packet sequence numbers of the received plurality of data packets and the generated flow IDs, application flow sequence numbers of each of the generated flow IDs;
• determining that at least one data packet in the received plurality of data packets is out of order in a first flow with a first flow ID of the plurality of packet flows, based on at least one of the packet sequence numbers of the received plurality of data packets and a packet flow sequence number of the first flow;
• starting a reorder timer of the PDCP layer based on determining that the at least one data packet is out of order in the first flow;
• determining, based on the generated flow IDs and the application flow sequence numbers of each of the generated flow IDs, a first set of data packets among the received plurality of data packets of which associated application flow sequence numbers are in sequence in a second flow with a second flow ID of the plurality of packet flows;
• transferring one or more data packets in the received plurality of data packets that is in order in the first flow of the plurality of packet flows with the first flow ID and the determined first set of data packets to an upper layer based on determining that the reorder timer of the PDCP layer is running;
• transferring, to the upper layer after transferring the determined first set of data packets and an expiry of the reorder timer, the at least one data packet whose packet flow sequence number is out of order in the first flow;
• determining, based on the determined flow IDs and the at least one packet flow sequence number of the flow IDs, a second set of data packets among the received plurality of data packets of which packet flow sequence numbers are not in sequence with respect to a highest packet flow sequence number of flow IDs of a previously transferred data packet among the transferred first set of data packets;
• and
• restricting a transfer of the determined second set of data packets from the PDCP to the upper layer.

A receiver for management of data flow in a communication network, the receiver comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• at least one processor comprising processing circuitry coupled to the memory, wherein the at least one processor is individually and/or collectively configured to:
• receive, in a reordering window of a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, a plurality of data packets each including header information, the plurality of data packets including data packets belonging to a plurality of packet flows corresponding to a different application,
• determine, based on the header information, packet sequence numbers of the received plurality of data packets, flow identifiers (IDs) each of which corresponds to one of the plurality of packet flows and is associated with a corresponding data packet of the received plurality of data packets, and at least one packet flow sequence number of each of the flow IDs,
• determine that at least one data packet in the received plurality is out of order in a first flow with a first flow ID of the plurality of packet flows, based on at least one of the packet sequence numbers of the received plurality of data packets and a packet flow sequence number of the first flow,
• start a reorder timer of the PDCP layer based on determining that the packet flow sequence number of the at least one data packet whose packet flow sequence number is out of order in the first flow,
• determine, based on the determined flow IDs and the at least one packet flow sequence number of each of the determined flow IDs, a first set of data packets among the received plurality of data packets of which associated packet flow sequence numbers of are in order in a second flow with a second flow ID of the plurality of packet flows,
• transfer one or more data packets in the received plurality of data packets that is in order in the first flow of the plurality of packet flows with the first flow ID and the determined first set of data packets to an upper layer based on determining that the reorder timer of the PDCP layer is running,
• transfer, to the upper layer after transferring the determined first set of data packets and an expiry of the reorder timer, the at least one data packet whose packet flow sequence number is out of order in the first flow,
• determine, based on the determined flow IDs and the at least one packet flow sequence number of the flow IDs, a second set of data packets among the received plurality of data packets of which packet flow sequence numbers are not in sequence with respect to a highest packet flow sequence number of flow IDs of a previously transferred data packet among the transferred first set of data packets, and
• restrict a transfer of the determined second set of data packets from the PDCP to the upper layer.

A receiver for management of data flow in a communication network, the receiver comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• at least one processor comprising processing circuitry coupled to the memory, wherein the at least one processor is individually and/or collectively configured to:
• receive, in a reordering window of a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, a plurality of data packets associated with a plurality of applications from a transmitter, wherein each of the received plurality of data packets includes application header information, the plurality of data packets including data packets belonging to a plurality of packet flows corresponding to a different application;
• generate flow identifiers (IDs) of the received plurality of data packets based on the application header information, wherein each of the flows IDs corresponds to one of the plurality of packet flows and corresponds to a corresponding data packet of the received plurality of data packets;
• determine, based on packet sequence numbers of the received plurality of data packets and the generated flow IDs, application flow sequence numbers of each of the flow IDs;
• determine that at least one data packet in the received plurality of data packets is out of order in a first flow with a first flow ID of the plurality of packet flows, based on at least one of the packet sequence numbers of the received plurality of data packets and a packet flow sequence number of the first flow;
• start a reorder timer of the PDCP layer based on determining that the at least one data packet is out of order in the first flow;
• determine, based on the generated flow IDs and the application flow sequence numbers of each of the generated flow IDs, a first set of data packets among the received plurality of data packets of which associated application flow sequence numbers are in sequence in a second flow with a second flow ID of the plurality of packet flows;
• transfer one or more data packet in the received plurality of data packets that is in order in the first flow of the plurality of packet flows with the first flow ID and the determined first set of data packets to an upper layer based on determining that the reorder timer of the PDCP layer is running;
• transfer, to the upper layer after transferring the determined first set of data packets and an expiry of the reorder timer, the at least one data packet whose packet flow sequence number is out of order in the first flow;
• determine, based on the determined flow IDs and the at least one packet flow sequence number of the flow IDs, a second set of data packets among the received plurality of data packets of which packet flow sequence numbers are not in sequence with respect to a highest packet flow sequence number of flow IDs of a previously transferred data packet among the transferred first set of data packets;
• and
• restrict a transfer of the determined second set of data packets from the PDCP to the upper layer.