Inclusion of quality of service indication in header compression channel

A node of a telecommunications system, the node comprising:

• an extractor configured to extract quality of service information from a received packet, the extracted quality of service information having been supplied by a network layer or higher layer of the telecommunications system;
• a processor configured to process the received packet using a process having a process-associated quality of service requirement to form a processed packet, wherein the process-associated quality of service requirement defines a quality of service required by the process, the process comprising the process-associated quality of service requirement comprising at least one of the following:
• header compression;
• payload compression;
• signaling compression;
• encryption;
• authentication;
• checksumming for verification;
• and sequencing;
• a header assembler configured to derive header-included quality of service information using both the quality of service information extracted from the received packet and information indicative of the process-associated quality of service requirement,
• wherein the header assembler is configured to include, in a channel part of a compressed header for the processed packet, the header-included quality of service information, wherein the channel part of the compressed header is accessible by intermediate nodes between the node and a decompressor,
• wherein the node is configured to transmit the processed packet over the channel, wherein the processed packet is at a same layer as the received packet.

A node of a telecommunications system which handles a flow of data packets, the node comprising:

• a packet inspector configured to inspect a channel part of a compressed header of a processed packet received from another node to obtain header-included quality of service information for the processed packet, wherein the header-included quality of service information indicates a priority associated with the processed packet, wherein the header-included quality of service information has been derived at the another node using both quality of service information extracted from a received packet by the another node and information indicative of a process-associated quality of service requirement of a process performed at the another node, the process of the another node comprising at least one of the following:
• header compression;
• payload compression;
• signaling compression;
• encryption;
• authentication;
• checksumming for verification;
• and sequencing;
• and
• a processor configured to perform a function at a sub-flow granularity level based on the priority associated with the processed packet,
• wherein the processed packet is at a same layer as the received packet.

A method of operating a node of a telecommunications system which handles a flow of data packets, the method comprising:

• inspecting a channel part of a compressed header of a processed packet received from another node to obtain header-included quality of service information for the processed packet, wherein the header-included quality of service information indicates a priority associated with the packet, the header-included quality of service information having been derived at the another node using both quality of service information extracted from a received packet by the another node and information indicative of a process-associated quality of service requirement of a process performed at the another node, the process of the another node comprising at least one of the following:
• header compression;
• payload compression;
• signaling compression;
• encryption;
• authentication;
• checksumming for verification;
• and sequencing;
• and
• performing a function at a sub-flow granularity level based on the priority associated with the processed packet,
• wherein the processed packet at a same layer as the received packet.

A method of operating an includer node of a telecommunication system, the method comprising:

• receiving a packet at the includer node, the received packet comprising a received header and a received payload;
• extracting, by the includer node, quality of service information from the received packet, the extracted quality of service information (QoSE) having been supplied by a network layer or higher layer of the telecommunications system;
• processing, by the includer node, the received packet using a process having a process-associated quality of service requirement (QoSP) to form a processed packet, the processed packet comprising a compressed header and a payload, the processed packet being at a same layer as the received packet;
• deriving, by the includer node, header-included quality of service information (QoSI) using both the QoSE and the QoSP;
• including, by the includer node, the QoSI in a channel part of the compressed header of the processed packet;
• and
• transmitting, by the includer node, the processed packet towards a receiver.

A method of operating an intermediate node of a telecommunication system, the intermediate node being in a path between an includer node and a receiver, the method comprising:

• receiving, at the intermediate node, a processed packet from the includer node, the processed packet comprising a compressed header and a processed payload, the compressed header comprising a channel part;
• obtaining, by the intermediate node, header-included quality of service information (QoSI) from inspecting the channel part of the compressed header;
• and
• performing, by the intermediate node, an intermediate node function at a sub-flow granularity level based on the QoSI,
• wherein the QoSI represents a combined QoS information derived by the includer node based on a process-associated quality of service requirement (QoSP) and an extracted quality of service information (QoSE),
• wherein the QoSE is extracted by the includer node from a packet received at the includer node, the received packet comprising a received header and a received payload,
• wherein the QoSP is associated with a process performed on the received packet by the includer node, and
• wherein the processed packet is at a same layer as the received packet.