DIFFERENTIATION OF TRAFFIC FLOWS MAPPED TO THE SAME BEARER

1 . A method, comprising:

receiving, at an apparatus, at least one traffic flow;

establishing at least one bearer for communication;

assigning a first quality of service class identifier value associated with the at least one bearer;

mapping the at least one traffic flow to the at least one bearer; and

determining a second quality of service class identifier value for a data packet of the at least one traffic flow.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining a second quality of service class identifier value for a data packet of the at least one traffic flow is based at least in part on information associated with packet inspection.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first quality of service class identifier value is assigned based on the following characteristics associated with the bearer: resource type, priority, packet delay budget and packet error loss rate.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second quality of service class identifier value is determined based on the following characteristics associated with the data packet: resource type, priority, packet delay budget and packet error loss rate.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: assigning the second quality of service class identifier value to the data packet of the at least one traffic flow.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: if the first quality of service class identifier value is equal to the second quality of service class identifier value, then quality of service class identifier value is not assigned to the data packet; if the first quality of service class identifier value differs from the second quality of service class identifier value, then assigning the second quality of service class identifier value to the data packet.

7 . An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code,

wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following:

receive at least one traffic flow;

establish at least one bearer for communication;

assign a first quality of service class identifier value associated with the at least one bearer;

map the at least one traffic flow to the at least one bearer; and

determine a second quality of service class identifier value for a data packet of the at least one traffic flow.

8 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein determining a second quality of service class identifier value for a data packet of the at least one traffic flow is based at least in part on information associated with packet inspection.

9 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the first quality of service class identifier value is assigned based on the following characteristics associated with the bearer: resource type, priority, packet delay budget and packet error loss rate.

10 . The apparatus of claim 7 , the second quality of service class identifier value is determined based on the following characteristics associated with the data packet: resource type, priority, packet delay budget and packet error loss rate.

11 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the apparatus is caused to further perform: assign the second quality of service class identifier value to the data packet of the at least one traffic flow.

12 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the apparatus is caused to further perform: if the first quality of service class identifier value is equal to the second quality of service class identifier value, then quality of service class identifier value is not assigned to the data packet; if the first quality of service class identifier value differs from the second quality of service class identifier value, then assigning the second quality of service class identifier value to the data packet.

13 . An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code,

wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following:

establish at least one bearer for communication;

receive a first quality of service class identifier value associated with the at least one bearer;

receive at least one traffic flow carried over the at least one bearer;

determine a second quality of service class identifier value for a data packet of the at least one traffic flow; and

schedule data packet for transmission based at least in part on the second quality of service class identifier value.

14 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein determining a second quality of service class identifier value for a data packet of the at least one traffic flow comprises: if quality of service class identifier value is not assigned to the data packet, then the second quality of service class identifier value is equal to the first quality of service class identifier value.

15 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein determining a second quality of service class identifier value for a data packet of the at least one traffic flow comprises: if a quality of service class identifier value is assigned to the data packet, then the second quality of service class identifier value is equal to the assigned quality of service class identifier value.

16 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein scheduling data packet for transmission comprises: prioritizing transmission for data packet based at least in part on the second quality of service class identifier value.