SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR HANDLING PROTOCOL DATA UNIT SETS

1 . A method of processing a protocol data unit (PDU) set for a data network, comprising the steps of:

receiving a first PDU packet of the PDU set;

receiving, subsequent to reception of the first PDU packet, a second PDU packet of the PDU set;

determining, after receiving the first and second PDU packets, a congestion status of the data network for the PDU set;

controlling, based on the determined congestion status, a handling state of the second PDU packet to match a handling state of the first PDU packet; and

transmitting the first PDU packet and the controlled second PDU packet to a destination receiver of the data network.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the steps of receiving the first and second PDU packets are performed by at least one of an access node, a base station, a gateway function, and a user plane function (UPF).

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of controlling comprises a substep of setting (i) a first explicit congestion notification (ECN) state on the first PDU packet, and (ii) a second ECN state on the second PDU packet to match the first ECN state.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of controlling comprises a substep of selecting, from a plurality of queues available to the first and second PDU packets, a first queue for the PDU set including both of the first and second PDU packets.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of controlling comprises a substep of changing a first internet protocol (IP) header of the first PDU packet to a first value.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising a substep of changing a second IP header of the second PDU packet to a second value equal to the first value.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of controlling comprises a substep of setting (i) a first congestion level on the first PDU packet, and (ii) a second congestion level on the second PDU packet to match the first congestion level.

8 . A method of processing a protocol data unit (PDU) set for a data network, comprising the steps of:

receiving a first PDU packet of the PDU set;

receiving, subsequent to reception of the first PDU packet, a second PDU packet of the PDU set;

identifying that the first PDU packet is the first PDU packet of the PDU set in time;

determining a congestion status for the PDU set based on the received first PDU packet;

controlling, based on the determined congestion status, a handling state of the second PDU packet to match a handling state of the first PDU packet; and

transmitting the first PDU packet and the controlled second PDU packet to a destination receiver of the data network.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the steps of receiving the first and second PDU packets are performed by at least one of an access node, a base station, a gateway function, and a user plane function (UPF).

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the step of controlling comprises a substep of setting an explicit congestion notification (ECN) state on the second PDU packet to match an ECN state of the first PDU packet.

11 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising a substep of setting an ECN state of all subsequent PDU packets of the PDU set to match the ECN state of the first PDU packet.

12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the step of controlling comprises a substep of selecting, from a plurality of queues available to the first and second PDU packets, a first queue for the PDU set based on the first PDU packet.

13 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the step of controlling comprises a substep of changing at least one bit of an internet protocol (IP) header of the second PDU packet to match a respective IP header bit of the first PDU packet.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising a substep of managing the respective IP header bits of all subsequent PDU packets of the PDU set to match the respective IP header bit of the first PDU packet.

15 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the step of controlling comprises a substep of setting a congestion level on the second PDU packet to match a congestion level on the first PDU packet.

16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising a substep of setting the congestion level of all subsequent PDU packets of the PDU set to match the congestion level on the first PDU packet.

17 . An access node for a data network, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory having computer-executable instructions stored therein, which, when executed by the processor, cause the access node to:

receive (i) a first protocol data unit (PDU) packet of a first PDU set, and (ii) a second PDU packet of the first PDU set subsequent to reception of the first PDU packet;

establish a distinct PDU session for the first PDU set;

determine a congestion status of the data network for the PDU set;

control, based on the determined congestion status, a handling state of the second PDU packet to match a handling state of the first PDU packet; and

transmit the first PDU packet and the controlled second PDU packet to a destination receiver of the data network.

18 . The access node of claim 17 , further comprising at least one of an access node, a base station, a gateway function, and a user plane function (UPF).

19 . The access node of claim 17 , further comprising a classification module configured to classify, for the PDU set, at least one of a protocol, a priority, and a traffic queue.

20 . The access node of claim 17 . further comprising a scheduling unit configured to schedule all PDU packets of the PDU set to have the same handling state as the first and second PDU packets.