5G

Cisco Pune

5G QoS

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 QoS Architecture in 5G

QoS flow is identified by QFI within PDU session. This QFI is carried in an
encapsulation header over NG-U.
• For each UE, 5GC establishes one or more PDU sessions and NG-RAN
establishes at least one DRB together with PDU session. Additional DRBs are
configured for QoS flows of that PDU session consecutively.
• NG-RAN maps packets which belong to the different PDU sessions to
different DRBs.

• NAS level packet filters in UE and in 5GC associate UL/DL packets with
QoS flows. At NAS level, QoS flow is characterised by QoS profile provided
by 5GC to NG-RAN and QoS rules provided by 5GC to UE.
• AS-level mapping rules in UE and in NG-RAN associate UL/DL QoS flows
with DRBs. At AS (Access Stratum) level, DRB defines packet treatment on
radio interface (Uu).

QoS profile of a QoS flow contains QoS parameters as mentioned below.

➤For each QoS flow: 5QI (5G QoS Identifier), ARP
➤For GBR QoS flow only: GFBR (Guaranteed Flow Bit Rate), MFBR
(Maximum Flow Bit Rate) and maximum packet loss rate for both uplink and
downlink.
➤For Non-GBR QoS only: Reflective QoS Attribute (RQA)

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 PDU Sessions

Note : For each PDU Session Setup, SMF retrieves the subscribed default 5QI and ARP values
from UDM.

In the 5GC, there is only a single user plane network function – the UPF – for
transport of data between the gNB and the core.
In 5G, there is a one-to-many relationship between the GTP-U tunnel on N3
and the DRBs on the air interface.
Each QoS flow on N3 is mapped to a single GTP-U tunnel. The gNB may
map individual QoS flows to one more DRBs. Therefore, a PDU session may
contain multiple QoS flows and several DRBs but only a single N3 GTP-U
tunnel. A DRB may transport one or more QoS flows.

The QFI that identifies the flow is carried in an extension header on N3 in the
GTP-U protocol, using UL and DL PDU session information frames. The DL
and UL PDU session information frame includes a QoS Flow Identifier (QFI)
field for each packet.
The DL PDU session information frame includes the Reflective QoS Indicator
(RQI) field to indicate whether the user plane reflective QoS is to be activated
or not. This is only applicable if reflective QoS is activated

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 EPC vs 5G QoS

UE LTE RAN EPC

EPS Bearer #1
EPC QoS Model

All 3 Services receive same QoS treatment since mapped to a

5GS QoS Model

common QCI Bearer 5G UE NG-RAN 5GC
DRB#1 N3 Tunnel
QFI-A
QoS
Flows QFI-B
UE LTE RAN EPC QFI-C
DRB#2
EPS Bearer #1

EPS Bearer #2

EPS Bearer #3

QoS Differentiation requires separate bearers be established with

different QCI’s – brings signaling overhead

lows are created dynamically without the need for e2e signaling
e4G QoS: The concept of QoS in 4G LTE is based on bearers. An LTE bearer
is a transmission path through the infrastructure and radio interface with a
defined capacity, latency and packet loss. The tools such as, ARP (Allocation
and Retention Priority) and QCI (QoS Class Identifier) help in managing QoS
in 4G LTE network. QCI has values in the range from 1 to 254. Each of these
values have three attributes viz. priority, packet delay budget and packet error
loss.

• 5G QoS: The concept of QoS in 5G is flow based. Packets are classified

and marked using QFI (QoS Flow Identifier). The 5G QoS flows are mapped
in the AN (Access Network) to DRBs (Data Radio Bearers) unlike 4G LTE
where mapping is one to one between EPC and radio bearers. It supports
following QoS flow types.
• GBR QoS flow, requires guaranteed flow bit rate
• Non-GBR QoS flow, does not require guaranteed flow bit rate

In 4G LTE, there is a one-to-one relationship for an EPS bearer between the

DRB (UE to eNB), the S1-U GTP-U tunnel (eNB to S-GW) and the S5-U
tunnel (S-GW to P-GW).

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 QoS flow

NG-RAN 5GC A QoS flow is the finest granularity of QoS differentiation within a
PDU session.

UE (n)gNB UPF
PDU Session A PDU Session may have multiple QoS Flows with One Default QoS
Flow

Radio Bearer NG-U Tunnel

User data packets are mapped to QoS flows at the UE(UL) and at the
QoS Flow 5GC UPF( DL)

QoS Flow
UE and NG-RAN maps the QoS flows to DRB ( based on NG-RAN
decision)
Radio Bearer
Separate DRBs may be established for QoS flows requiring different
QoS Flow packet forwarding treatment, or several QoS Flows belonging to the
same PDU session can be mapped to the same DRB.

A single NG-U/N3 Tunnel transports all QoS Flows of a PDU

Session( in case of Dual Connectivity there may be more than one
N3: NG-U NG-U Tunnel i.e. one to MN and one to SN)
Radio: Uu

QoS Flow ID (QFI) is used to identify a QoS Flow in the 5G

System.

A 5G QoS Flow is the finest granularity of QoS differentiation within a PDU

session : It is the finest granularity for QoS forwarding treatment in the 5G
System. All traffic mapped to the same 5G QoS Flow receive the same
forwarding treatment (e.g. scheduling policy, queue management policy, rate
shaping policy, RLC configuration, etc.).

Providing different QoS forwarding treatment requires separate 5G QoS Flow.

A PDU Session may have multiple QoS Flows with One Default QoS Flow.

User data packets are mapped to QoS flows at the UE (in the Uplink) and at
the 5GC UPF( in the Downlink). UE and NG-RAN maps the QoS flows to
DRB ( based on NG-RAN decision)

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 QoS Flow ID

5G UE

A QoS Flow ID (QFI) is used to identify a QoS Flow Application AF

in the 5G System PCF
Operating system DN
SMF
AMF
NAS
• UPF uses policy from PCF and SMF to identify flows Non Access UPF
SDN
and adds QFI tag to downlink stratum
Downlink • RAN uses QFI tag and policy to map flows to Data
QFI QFI
Radio Bearers (DRBs)
RRC RRC Single GTPu tunnel per
QFI SDA QFI
SDA PDU Session, flows
P
PDC P marked with QFI tags
PDC
• UE uses either signaling or “reflective” learning P
PDC PDC
P in header
Uplink approach to learn policies QFI usage to map to DRBs P P
• RAN and UPF police DRB mapping/QFI usage NG-RAN
Access Stratum QoS Flows marking by
Data Radio bearers SDAP

A QoS flow is identified within a PDU session by a QoS Flow ID (QFI) carried
in an encapsulation header over NG-U.
In the Downlink: UPF uses policy from PCF and SMF to identify flows and
adds QFI tag to downlink packets. Then, RAN uses QFI tag and policy to
map flows to Data Radio Bearers (DRBs).
In the uplink: UE uses either signaling or “reflective” learning approach to
learn policies QFI usage to map to DRBs.

More details about QoS Flow handling are given in the upcoming slides.

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QoS Flow Key Notes
• A QoS profile provided by the SMF to the NG-RAN via the AMF
over the N2 reference point or preconfigured in the AN

• One or more QoS rule(s) which can be provided by the SMF to

the UE via the AMF over the N1 reference point and/or derived
by the UE by applying Reflective QoS control

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 QoS Profile
QoS Flow
• GBR
• Non-GBR

QoS Profile Parameters

• A 5G QoS Identifier (5QI)
• An Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP)

Non-GBR QoS Flow

• Reflective QoS Attribute (RQA)

GBR QoS Flow

• Guaranteed Flow Bit Rate (GFBR) - UL and DL
• Maximum Flow Bit Rate (MFBR) - UL and DL

In the case of a GBR QoS Flow only, the QoS parameters may also include:
- Notification control.
- Maximum Packet Loss Rate - UL and DL.

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QoS profile Key Notes
• ARP and the QFI shall be sent to RAN over N2
❑PDU Session Establishment
❑PDU Session Modification

• 5QI
value may be a standardized, pre-
configured or dynamically assigned

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 Reflective QoS
• Reflective QoS enables the UE to map UL User
Plane traffic to QoS Flows without SMF
provided QoS rules and it applies for IP PDU
Session

The Reflective QoS Attribute (RQA) is an optional parameter which indicates

that certain traffic (not necessarily all) carried on this QoS Flow is subject to
Reflective QoS. Only when the RQA is signalled for a QoS Flow, the (R)AN
enables the transfer of the RQI for AN resource corresponding to this QoS
Flow. The RQA may be signalled to NG- RAN via the N2 reference point at
UE context establishment in NG-RAN and at QoS Flow establishment or
modification.

It shall be possible to apply Reflective QoS and non-Reflective QoS

concurrently within the same PDU Session.

Reflective QoS is controlled on per-packet basis by using the Reflective QoS

Indication (RQI) in the encapsulation header on N3 (and N9) reference point

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ARP
• The range of the ARP priority level is 1 to 15
Level1 as the highest level of priority

• Levels 1-8
For services that are authorized to receive prioritized
treatment within an operator domain

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 5GS QoS Parameters and Characteristics

QoS parameters:
QoS Rules:
§ Rule ID QoS Profile:
§ QFI 5G Core SDF Templates:
§ 5QI à QoS Characteristics
§ Packet Filters Set § ARP § QFI
§ Precedence Value § GBR/Non-GBR PCF § Precedence Value
§ Packet Loss rate DSCP( for DL)
N1 § RQI
AMF SMF
N2 N4
QFI- DRB RRC SDF Templates
QoS Rules QoS Profile, QFI

User QFI#A
User
Data QFI#B
Data
Flows QFI#C
Flows

UE (R)AN UPF

AN Resources PDU Session N3 QoS Flows

(Data Radio Tunnel
Bearers)

Note :Mapping between a QoS flow and a data radio bearer (Due to new
QoS framework)
Marking QoS flow ID (QFI) in both DL and UL packets ( DL: due to reflective
QoS and UL: due to new QoS framework)
A single protocol entity of SDAP is configured for each individual PDU sessio

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 5G QoS Attributes
• Resource Type
• Priority level
• Packet Delay Budget
• Packet Error Rate
• Averaging Window

The Averaging window is defined only for GBR QoS Flows. The Averaging
window represents the duration over which the GFBR and MFBR shall be
calculated
ach GBR QoS Flow with Delay-critical resource type shall be associated with
a Maximum Data Burst Volume (MDBV).

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 5G QoS Identifer

All associated media flows (such as e.g. RTP / RTCP flows) used by the UE
to support a single media component are assumed to be carried within the
same 5GS QoS flow. The 5G QoS model supports both QoS flows that
require guaranteed flow bit rate and QoS flows that do not require guaranteed
flow bit rate. The 5G QoS model also supports reflective QoS. Within the
5GS, QoS flows are controlled by the SMF.

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5QI summary

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 EPC vs 5G QoS Key difference
summary

In 4G, LTE QoS is enforced at the EPS bearer level. In 5G, QoS is enforced
at the QoS flow level.

4G LTE uses EPS bearers each assigned an EPS bearer ID. 5G uses QoS
Flows, each identified by a QoS Flow ID (QFI). As with 4G LTE both non-GBR
flows and GBR flows are supported in 5G, along with a new delay-critical
GBR. 5G also introduces a new concept - Reflective QoS.

The QoS flow is the lowest level granularity within the 5G system and is
where policy and charging are enforced. One or more Service Data Flows
(SDFs) can be transported in the same QoS flow, if they share the same
policy and charging rules (similar to an EPS bearer in 4G LTE). All traffic
within the same QoS flow receives the same treatmen

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 QoS Flows and Network Slices

Each network slice is an independent part of the RAN, transport and core
networks. Within each network slice, a subscriber may have one or more QoS
flows.
Any specific QoS flow only exists within that network slice.

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S-NSSAI

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