User-plane congestion management

A method, implementable by a base station, for mitigating user plane congestion, the method comprising:

• sending a congestion indication to a core network;
• receiving a general packet radio system (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP) packet including a first internet protocol (IP) packet associated with a first flow within a bearer;
• obtaining, from a header of the GTP packet, an indicator indicative of a priority of the first IP packet, wherein the indicator was inserted into the header of the GTP packet by the core network responsive to the congestion indication;
• and
• on condition that the priority of the first IP packet takes precedence over a priority of a second IP packet that is associated with a second flow and that persists in a queue, performing queue management to en-queue the first IP packet and to de-queue the second IP packet.

A method, implementable by a base station, for mitigating user plane congestion, the method comprising:

• sending a congestion indication to a core network;
• receiving a general packet radio system (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP) packet including a first internet protocol (IP) packet associated with a first flow within a bearer;
• obtaining, from a header of the GTP packet, an indicator indicative of a priority of the first IP packet, wherein the indicator was inserted into the header of the GTP packet by the core network responsive to the congestion indication;
• and
• on condition that a priority of a second IP packet associated with a second flow takes precedence over the priority of the first IP packet, performing queue management to de-queue one or more of IP packets associated with the first flow.

A method, implementable by a base station, for mitigating user plane congestion, the method comprising:

• sending a congestion indication to a core network;
• receiving a general packet radio system (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP) packet including a first internet protocol (IP) packet associated with a first flow within a bearer;
• obtaining, from a header of the GTP packet, an indicator indicative of a priority of the first IP packet, wherein the indicator was inserted into the header of the GTP packet by the core network responsive to the congestion indication;
• on condition that a priority of a second IP packet persisting in a queue is the same as the priority of the first IP packet, performing a first queue management to de-queue the second IP packet;
• and/or
• on condition that the priority of the first IP packet takes precedence over a priority of the second IP packet, performing a second queue management to de-queue the second IP packet.

A method, implementable by a base station, for mitigating user plane congestion, the method comprising:

• sending a congestion indication to a core network;
• receiving a general packet radio system (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP) packet including a first internet protocol (IP) packet associated with a first flow within a bearer;
• obtaining, from a header of the GTP packet, an indicator indicative of a priority of the first IP packet, wherein the indicator was inserted into the header of the GTP packet by the core network responsive to the congestion indication;
• and
• delaying scheduling of the first IP packet on condition that a priority of a second IP packet associated with another flow within the bearer takes precedence over the priority of the first IP packet.

A method, implementable by a base station, for mitigating user plane congestion, the method comprising:

• sending a congestion indication to a core network;
• receiving a general packet radio system (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP) packet including a first internet protocol (IP) packet associated with a first flow within a bearer;
• obtaining, from a header of the GTP packet, an indicator indicative of a priority of the first IP packet, wherein the indicator was inserted into the header of the GTP packet by the core network response to the congestion indication;
• and
• on condition that the priority of the first IP packet takes precedence over a priority of a second IP packet associated with a second flow within the bearer, scheduling the first IP packet ahead of the second IP packet.

An apparatus comprising:

• a processor, wherein the processor is configured to:
• send a congestion indication to a core network;
• receive a general packet radio system (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP) packet including an first internet protocol (IP) packet associated with a first flow within a bearer;
• obtain, from a header of the GTP packet, an indicator indicative of a priority of the IP packet, wherein the indicator was inserted into the header of the GTP packet by the core network responsive to the congestion indication;
• and
• drop any of the GTP packet and the first IP packet on condition that a priority of a second IP packet associated with second flow within the bearer takes precedence over the priority of the first IP packet.

An apparatus comprising:

• a processor, wherein the processor is configured to:
• send a congestion indication to a core network;
• receive a general packet radio system (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP) packet including a first internet protocol (IP) packet associated with a first flow within a bearer;
• obtain, from a header of the GTP packet, an indicator indicative of a priority of the first IP packet, wherein the indicator was inserted into the header of the GTP packet by the core network responsive to the congestion indication;
• and
• on condition that the priority of the first IP packet takes precedence over a priority of a second IP packet that is associated with a second flow and that persists in a queue, perform queue management to en-queue the first IP packet and to de-queue the second IP packet.

An apparatus comprising:

• a processor, wherein the processor is configured to:
• send a congestion indication to a core network;
• receive a general packet radio system (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP) packet including a first internet protocol (IP) packet associated with a first flow within a bearer;
• obtain, from a header of the GTP packet, an indicator indicative of a priority of the first IP packet, wherein the indicator was inserted into the header of the GTP packet by the core network responsive to the congestion indication;
• and
• on condition that a priority of a second IP packet associated with a second flow takes precedence over the priority of the first IP packet, perform queue management to de-queue one or more of IP packets associated with the first flow.

An apparatus comprising:

• a processor, wherein the processor is configured to:
• send a congestion indication to a core network;
• receive a general packet radio system (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP) packet including a first internet protocol (IP) packet associated with a first flow within a bearer;
• obtain, from a header of the GTP packet, an indicator indicative of a priority of the first IP packet, wherein the indicator was inserted into the header of the GTP packet by the core network responsive to the congestion indication;
• on condition that a priority of a second IP packet persisting in a queue is the same as the priority of the first IP packet, perform a first queue management to de-queue the second IP packet;
• and/or
• on condition that the priority of the first IP packet takes precedence over a priority of the second IP packet, perform a second queue management to de-queue the second IP packet.

An apparatus comprising:

• a processor, wherein the processor is configured to:
• send a congestion indication to a core network;
• receive a general packet radio system (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP) packet including a first internet protocol (IP) packet associated with a first flow within a bearer;
• obtain, from a header of the GTP packet, an indicator indicative of a priority of the first IP packet, wherein the indicator was inserted into the header of the GTP packet by the core network responsive to the congestion indication;
• and
• delay scheduling of the first IP packet on condition that a priority of a second IP packet associated with another flow within the bearer takes precedence over the priority of the first IP packet.

An apparatus comprising:

• a processor, wherein the processor is configured to:
• sending a congestion indication to a core network;
• receiving a general packet radio system (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP) packet including a first internet protocol (IP) packet associated with a first flow within a bearer;
• obtaining, from a header of the GTP packet, an indicator indicative of a priority of the first IP packet, wherein the indicator was inserted into the header of the GTP packet by the core network response to the congestion indication;
• and
• on condition that the priority of the first IP packet takes precedence over a priority of a second IP packet associated with a second flow within the bearer, scheduling the first IP packet ahead of the second IP packet.