Enhancement of framing protocol frame format to support quality of service
View Patent ↗In a UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) based wireless system, a wireless network element (e.g., a base station) exchanges information with another wireless network element (e.g., a radio network controller) via data frames (uplink or downlink). Each data frame comprising a header portion and a payload portion, which comprises a QoS class indicator field. Illustratively, the eight bit spare extension field of a UTRAN data frame (uplink or downlink) is used to convey a four bit payload type indicator and a four bit QoS class indicator.
1. A method for use in a node of a UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) based network for exchanging data with another node of the UTRAN based network, the method comprising the steps of:
formatting data into a UTRAN data frame, the UTRAN data frame comprising a header portion, a payload portion for conveying the data and a quality of service (QoS) field associated with the payload portion; and
transmitting the UTRAN data frame to the other node,
wherein the payload portion comprises a number of dedicated channels (DCHs) and the QoS field, each dedicated channel comprising a number of transport blocks (TBs), and the header portion comprises a number of transport format indicators (TFI) fields each associated with one of the number of DCHs, each TFI indicating a size of one of the number of DCHs.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the payload portion further comprises a payload type indicator field.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the QoS field is transmitted within the payload portion.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the UTRAN data frame further comprises a payload type indicator field.
5. A method for use in a wireless network element, the method comprising the steps of:
formatting data into a data frame, the data frame comprising a header portion, a payload portion and a quality of service (QoS) field associated with the payload portion; and
transmitting the data frame to another node of the wireless network,
wherein the payload portion comprises a number of dedicated channels (DCHs) and the QoS field, each dedicated channel comprising a number of transport blocks (TBs), and the header portion comprises a number of transport format indicators (TFI) fields each associated with one of the number of DCHs, each TFI indicating a size of one of the number of DCHs.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the payload portion further comprises a payload type indicator field.
7. The method of claim 5 wherein the QoS field is transmitted within the payload portion.
8. A transmission frame representing data embodied in a wireless transmission signal, the transmission frame comprising:
a payload portion comprising at least one dedicated transport channel (DCH) portion, wherein the at least one DCH portion further comprises a number of transport blocks (TB) for conveying data; and
a header comprising at least one transport format indicator (TFI) field for the at least one DCH portion, wherein a value of the TFI field represents a size of the at least one DCH; and
a quality of service (QoS) field associated with the payload portion and transmitted within the payload portion.
9. The transmission frame of claim 8 wherein the payload portion further comprises a payload type indicator field.
10. Apparatus for use in a wireless network element, the apparatus comprising:
a formatter for forming a data frame, the data frame comprising a payload portion comprising at least one dedicated transport channel (DCH) portion, wherein the at least one DCH portion further comprises a number of transport blocks (TB) for conveying data, and a header portion comprising at least one transport format indicator (TFI) field for the at least one DCH portion, wherein a value of the TFI field represents a size of the at least one DCH; and
a quality of service (QoS) field associated with the payload portion and transmitted within the payload portion; and
a radio frequency transmitter for transmitting the data frame to another wireless network element.
11. The transmission frame of claim 10 wherein the payload portion further comprises a payload type indicator field.