CN112470543B

CN112470543B - Apparatus and method for performing group communication

Info

Publication number: CN112470543B
Application number: CN201980049322.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘建华
Original assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Current assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Priority date: 2019-01-15
Filing date: 2019-01-15
Publication date: 2023-06-30
Anticipated expiration: 2039-01-15
Also published as: WO2020147019A1; CN112470543A

Abstract

An apparatus and method for performing group communication are provided. A method for performing group communication of user equipment, comprising: transmitting a connection establishment request to a network node at a group establishment system; and establishing each connection of each group in the group communication system according to the connection establishment request.

Description

Apparatus and method for performing group communication

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of communication systems, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for performing group communication.

Background

In long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) and New Radio (NR) systems, public network systems such as public land networks based on public land mobile networks (public land mobile network, PLMNs) are typically deployed. However, in some situations, such as offices, homes, and factories, local users or administrators often place local networks for more efficient and secure administration. Members of the local network group may communicate in a point-to-point manner or in a point-to-multipoint manner.

Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus and method for performing group communication.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present disclosure to propose an apparatus and a method of performing group communication, which are capable of providing good group communication performance and high reliability, and to provide a solution how to transmit user data and to provide corresponding control information and/or procedures within a 5G system.

In a first aspect of the disclosure, a user equipment in group communication comprises a memory, a transceiver, and a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver, the processor configured to control the transceiver to send a connection establishment request to a network node in the group communication system, the processor configured to establish each connection of each group in the group communication system according to the connection establishment request.

In a second aspect of the present disclosure, a method for performing group communication of user equipment includes: and transmitting a connection establishment request to the network node in the group communication system, and establishing each connection of each group in the group communication system according to the connection establishment request.

In a third aspect of the disclosure, a network node in a group communication includes a memory, a transceiver, and a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver, the processor configured to control the transceiver to receive a connection establishment request from a User Equipment (UE) in the group communication system, and the processor configured to process (hand of) a connection of the UE in the group communication system.

In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a method for performing group communication of a network node comprises: receiving a connection establishment request from a User Equipment (UE) in the group communication system, and processing connection of the UE in the group communication.

In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium has stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the above-described method.

In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, a terminal device comprises a processor and a memory configured to store a computer program, the processor being configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory to perform the method.

In a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, a network node comprises a processor and a memory configured to store a computer program, the processor being configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory to perform the method.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosure or related art, the following drawings will be described in a brief introduction to the embodiments. It is evident that the drawings are merely some embodiments of the present disclosure from which one of ordinary skill in the art could obtain other drawings without paying attention to them.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a user equipment and a network node performing group communication according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for performing group communication of user equipment according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for performing group communication of a network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a 5G system architecture in the case of a centralized user plane architecture using reference points indicating how various network functions interact with each other, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a 5G system architecture in the case of a distributed user plane architecture using a reference point representation showing how various network functions interact with each other, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary illustration of a point-to-multipoint communication user plane topology according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary illustration of a point-to-multipoint communication group PDU session in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8 is a block diagram of a system for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present disclosure, technical contents, structural features, achieved objects and effects thereof are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In particular, the terminology used in the embodiments of the invention is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention.

Fig. 1 illustrates that in some embodiments, a User Equipment (UE) 10 and a network node 20 performing group communication are provided in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. The UE 10 may include a processor 11, a memory 12, and a transceiver 13. Network node 20 may include a processor 21, a memory 22, and a transceiver 23. The

processor

11 or 21 may be configured to implement the proposed functions, procedures, and/or methods described in this specification. Layers of the radio interface protocol may be implemented in the

processor

11 or 21. The memory 12 or 22 is operatively coupled to the

processor

11 or 21 and stores various information to operate the

processor

11 or 21. The

transceiver

13 or 23 is operatively coupled to the

processor

11 or 21, and the

transceiver

13 or 23 transmits and/or receives radio signals.

The

processor

11 or 21 may include an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), other chipset, logic circuit, and/or data processing device. The memory 12 or 22 may include read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (random access memory, RAM), flash memory, memory cards, storage media, and/or other storage devices. The

transceiver

13 or 23 may include baseband circuitry to process radio frequency signals. When the embodiments are implemented in software, the techniques described in this disclosure may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described in this disclosure. These modules may be stored in the memory 12 or 22 and executed by the

processor

11 or 21. The memory 12 or 22 may be implemented within the

processor

11 or 21 or external to the

processor

11 or 21, in which case it can be coupled to the

processor

11 or 21 by various means known in the art.

According to side chain (sidelink) technology developed under the third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project,3GPP) release 14, 15 and beyond, communication between UEs involves Vehicle-to-infrastructure/network (V2X) communication, including Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) and Vehicle-to-infrastructure/network (V2I/N). UEs communicate directly with each other through a side-chain interface such as a PC5 interface.

In some embodiments, the processor 11 is configured to control the transceiver 13 to send a connection establishment request to the network node 20 in the group communication system, and the processor 11 is configured to establish each connection for each group in the group communication system according to the connection establishment request.

In some embodiments, the processor 11 is configured to establish a plurality of connections for a plurality of groups in a group communication system to which the UE 10 belongs according to the connection establishment request. In some embodiments, each connection of each group in the group communication system terminates at the network node 20, or the processor 11 of the network node 20 and the UE 10. In some embodiments, the connection establishment request is a protocol data unit (Protocol data unit, PDU) session establishment request, the PDU session establishment request including PDU session Identification (ID) and/or group related information, and the connection including a PDU session.

In some embodiments, the group related information includes a group index and a UE index within the group. In some embodiments, the connection is configured to a centralized user plane architecture using Session-and-service continuity (SSC) mode. In some embodiments, when the connection type is internet protocol version four (Internet protocol version four, IPv 4), IPv6 or IPv4v6, processor 11 is configured to receive the IP address and/or prefix of the connection from network node 20.

In some embodiments, the connection type is an Ethernet type PDU session. In some embodiments, if the group communication system shares the connection with another group communication system, the IP address and/or prefix of the connection is assigned to another UE of the other group communication system. In some embodiments, the processor 21 is configured to receive a connection establishment request from a User Equipment (UE) 10 in a group communication system, and the processor 21 is configured to process the connection of the UE 10 in the group communication system.

In some embodiments, the network node 20 further comprises a session management function (Session management function, SMF) configured to check whether the connection establishment request corresponds to the group to which the UE 10 belongs. In some embodiments, the network node 20 further comprises a protocol data unit session anchor (Protocol data unit session anchor, PSA) user plane function (User plane function, UPF) configured to terminate each connection of the UEs 10 in the group communication system. In some embodiments, the connection establishment request is a protocol data unit (Protocol data unit, PDU) session establishment request, the PDU session establishment request including a PDU session Identification (ID) and/or group related information, and the connection including a PDU session. In some embodiments, the group related information includes a group index and a UE index within the group.

In some embodiments, the SMF is configured to retrieve and request to receive update notifications regarding group related information from a unified data management entity (Unified data management, UDM). In some embodiments, the SMF is configured to: if the group related information is not part of an explicit group to which the UE 10 belongs according to group data in the SMF requested from the UDM, the connection establishment request is denied. In some embodiments, the connection is configured to a centralized user plane architecture using Session-and-service continuity (SSC) mode. In some embodiments, the network node 20 further comprises an access and mobility management function (Access and mobility management function, AMF) configured to consider the group local configuration information if an appropriate SMF is selected for the group to which the UE 10 belongs.

In some embodiments, the network node 20 further comprises a UPF configured to: if the appropriate UPF is selected for the group to which the UE belongs, the group local configuration information is considered. In some embodiments, the PSA UPF is configured to implement a quality of service (Quality of service, qoS) process for group user data transmissions in a group communication system, and the SMF based on local configuration or policy control function (Policy control function, PCF) information provides different QoS configurations for unicast and multicast communications. In some embodiments, qoS implementations are different for uplink and downlink traffic flows, and SMF provides different QoS configurations for uplink and downlink traffic flows. In some embodiments, in the case of multicasting, the SMF provides a unified QoS configuration for downlink traffic flows to different UEs in a group of the group communication system to the PSA UPF, and the PSA UPF enforces the unified QoS policy for downlink traffic flows to different UEs in the group.

In some embodiments, the SMF is configured to provide packet detection rules (Packet detection rule, PDR) and forwarding action rules (Forwarding action rule, FAR) to the PSA UPF. In some embodiments, the PDR includes group information and associated FAR information, and the FAR includes destination interface information for the group. In some embodiments, the destination interface information includes an Nx interface or an N6 interface associated with the group.

In some embodiments, in the case of unicast communication, the PSA UPF detects user data from one PDU session belonging to the group and detects that the destination address is an assigned address of the other UEs in the group, and the PSA UPF forwards the user data to the PDU session of the associated UE in the group. In some embodiments, the network node 20 also includes a serving UPF and other UPFs, with the connection of each group member UE terminating at the serving UPF and associated UE.

In some embodiments, the network node 20 further comprises an SMF configured to configure the serving UPF as a PSA UPF of the associated UE, and the PSA UPF is an anchor point for other UPF connections of the UE with other UEs within the group serving the group communication system. In some embodiments, when the connection type is an internet protocol version four (Internet protocol version four, IPv 4), IPv6 or IPv4v6 PDU session, the processor 21 is configured to send the IP address and/or prefix of the connection to the UE 10. In some embodiments, for an IPv4, IPv6, or IPv4v6 type PDU session, the PSA UPF is an IP anchor point assigned to the IP address and/or prefix of the UE 10. In some embodiments, the connection type is an ethernet type PDU session.

In some embodiments, for an ethernet type PDU session, the SMF instructs the UPF to route the downlink traffic flow based on the media access control (Media access control, MAC) address of the UE 10 for the uplink traffic flow. In some embodiments, if the group communication system shares the connection with another group communication system, the IP address and/or prefix of the connection is assigned to another UE of the other group communication system.

Fig. 2 illustrates a method 200 for performing group communication for user equipment in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 200 comprises the following steps: at block 202, sending a connection establishment request to a network node in a group communication system; and at block 204, establishing each connection for each group in the group communication system in accordance with the connection establishment request.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises establishing a plurality of connections for a plurality of groups in a group communication system to which the UE belongs according to the connection establishment request. In some embodiments, the method further comprises terminating each connection of each group in the group communication system using the network node, or the network node and the UE. In some embodiments, the connection establishment request is a protocol data unit (Protocol data unit, PDU) session establishment request, the PDU session establishment request including PDU session Identification (ID) and/or group related information, and the connection including a PDU session.

In some embodiments, the group related information includes a group index and a UE index within the group. In some embodiments, the connection is configured to a centralized user plane architecture using Session-and-service continuity (SSC) mode. In some embodiments, when the connection type is internet protocol version four (Internet protocol version four, IPv 4), IPv6 or IPv4v6, the method includes receiving an IP address and/or prefix of the connection from the network node. In some embodiments, the connection type is an Ethernet type PDU session.

In some embodiments, if the group communication system shares the connection with another group communication system, the IP address and/or prefix of the connection is assigned to another UE of the other group communication system.

Fig. 3 illustrates a method 300 for performing group communication of a network node in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 300 comprises the following steps: at block 302, a connection establishment request is received from a User Equipment (UE) in a group communication system, and at block 304, a connection is processed for the UE in the group communication system.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises checking, using a session management function (session management function, SMF), whether the connection establishment request corresponds to a group to which the UE belongs. In some embodiments, the method further comprises terminating each connection of the UE in the group communication system using a protocol data unit session anchor (Protocol data unit session anchor, PSA) user plane function (User plane function, UPF).

In some embodiments, the connection establishment request is a protocol data unit (Protocol data unit, PDU) session establishment request, the PDU session establishment request including PDU session Identification (ID) and/or group related information, and the connection including a PDU session. In some embodiments, the group related information includes a group index and a UE index within the group.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises retrieving and requesting to receive update notifications regarding group related information from a unified data management entity (Unified data management, UDM) using the SMF. In some embodiments, the method further comprises: if the group related information is not part of an explicit group to which the UE belongs according to group data in the SMF requested from the UDM, the connection establishment request is rejected using the SMF. In some embodiments, the connection is configured to a centralized user plane architecture using Session-and-service continuity (SSC) mode.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: if an appropriate SMF is selected for the group to which the UE belongs, the access and mobility management function (Access and mobility management function, AMF) is used to take into account the group local configuration information. In some embodiments, the method further comprises: if an appropriate UPF is selected for the group to which the UE belongs, the SMF is used to consider the group local configuration information. In some embodiments, the method further includes implementing a quality of service (Quality of experience, qoS) process for group user data transmissions in the group communication system using the PSA UPF, and the SMF based on the local configuration or policy control function (Policy control function, PCF) information provides different QoS configurations for unicast and multicast communications.

In some embodiments, qoS implementations are different for uplink and downlink traffic flows, and SMF provides different QoS configurations for uplink and downlink traffic flows. In some embodiments, in the case of multicasting, the method includes: the method also includes enforcing a unified QoS policy for downlink traffic flows to different UEs in the group using the PSA UPF. In some embodiments, the method further includes providing packet detection rules (Packet detection rule, PDR) and forwarding action rules (Forwarding action rule, FAR) to the PSA UPF using the SMF.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: the PDR includes group information and associated FAR information, and the FAR includes destination interface information for the group. In some embodiments, the destination interface information includes an Nx interface or an N6 interface associated with the group. In some embodiments, in the case of unicast communication, the method includes detecting user data from one PDU session belonging to the group using PSA UPF and detecting that the destination address is an assigned address of the other UEs in the group, and the method further includes forwarding the user data to the PDU session of the associated UE in the group using PSA UPF.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises terminating the connection of each group member UE using the serving UPF and the associated UE. In some embodiments, the method further includes configuring the serving UPF as a PSA UPF of the associated UE using the SMF, and the PSA UPF is an anchor point for other UPF connections of the UE with other UEs within the group serving the group communication system. In some embodiments, when the connection type is an internet protocol version four (Internet protocol version four, IPv 4), IPv6 or IPv4v6PDU session, the method includes sending the IP address and/or prefix of the connection to the UE. In some embodiments, for an IPv4, IPv6, or IPv4v6 type PDU session, the PSA UPF is an IP anchor point assigned to the IP address and/or prefix of the UE.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises connecting a PDU session of which the type is an ethernet type. In some embodiments, the method further comprises for an ethernet type PDU session, the method comprising using the SMF to instruct the UPF to route the downlink traffic flow based on a media access control (Media access control, MAC) address for the uplink traffic flow by the UE. In some embodiments, if the group communication system shares the connection with another group communication system, the IP address and/or prefix of the connection is assigned to another UE of the other group communication system.

Fig. 4 illustrates how, in some embodiments, a 5G system architecture in the case of a centralized user plane architecture uses reference points to represent how various network functions interact with each other, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

A 5G system architecture is defined to support data connectivity and services, enabling deployments using technologies such as network function virtualization and software defined networking. The 5G system architecture may utilize service-based interactions between determined Control Plane (CP) network functions. In some embodiments, some technical solutions separate User Plane (UP) functions from Control Plane (CP) functions, allowing independent scalability, evolution and flexible deployment, e.g., centralized locations or distributed (remote) locations. In some embodiments, some technical solutions are to modularize the functional design, e.g., to enable flexible and efficient network slicing. In some embodiments, some technical solutions define a procedure (i.e., a set of interactions between network functions) as a service wherever applicable, thereby enabling their reuse. In some embodiments, some technical solutions are to enable each network function to interact directly with other NFs when needed. The architecture does not preclude the use of intermediate functions to facilitate routing control plane messages (e.g., like DRAs).

In some embodiments, some technical solutions are to minimize the dependency between AN Access Network (AN) and a Core Network (CN). The architecture is defined by a converged core network with a common AN-CN interface integrating different access types, such as 3GPP access and non-3 GPP access. In some embodiments, some technical solutions will support a unified authentication framework. In some embodiments, some technical solutions will support a "stateless" NF, where the "compute" resource is separate from the "store" resource. In some embodiments, some technical solutions expose support capability. In some embodiments, some technical solutions will support concurrent access to local and centralized services. To support low latency services and access to the local data network, the UP function may be deployed in the vicinity of the access network. In some embodiments, some technical solutions will support roaming in visited public land mobile networks (Public land mobile network, PLMNs) with local routing traffic as well as local breakout traffic.

The specification describes the architecture of a 5G system. The 5G architecture is defined as service-based, and interactions between network functions are represented as follows. Based on the service representation, network functions (e.g., AMFs) within the control plane make their services accessible to other authorized network functions. This representation also includes point-to-point reference points, if necessary. Reference point representation illustrates interactions that exist between NF services in a network function described by a point-to-point reference point (e.g., N11) between any two network functions (e.g., AMF and SMF). The service-based interface and reference points are shown in fig. 4. Network functions within the 5G core network control plane interact using only service-based interfaces.

In some embodiments, the 5G system architecture includes Network Functions (NF), such as AN authentication server function (Authentication server function, AUSF) 401, AN access and mobility management function (Access and mobility management function, AMF) 402, a Network slice selection function (Network slice selection function, NSSF) 403, a policy control function (Policy control function, PCF) 404, a session management function (Session management function, SMF) 405, a unified data management entity (Unified data management, UDM) 406, a user plane function (User plane function, UPF) 407, AN application function (Application function, AF) 408, a user equipment (User equipment UE) such as UE 1 409,

UE

2, 410, UE 3 411, (radio) access Network, (R) AN), PSA UPF 413, and interfaces Uu, N1 to N15 and N22.

In some embodiments, in a centralized user plane architecture, a single SMF 405 and a single PSA UPF 413 are responsible for all PDU sessions for 5GLAN group communication. The PDU session for each group member UE terminates at PSA UPF 413.PSA UPF 413 is a user plane anchor for the user plane path within the 5GLAN group. All traffic flows of UEs participating in the 5GLAN group go through the PSA UPF 413. The PSA UPF 413 may be an anchor point for multiple 5GLAN groups.

In some embodiments, in the processing of PDU sessions for 5GLAN communications, SMF 405 is responsible for managing PDU sessions belonging to the 5GLAN group, including establishing, modifying and releasing PDU sessions, PDU sessions being established (according to UE requests), modified (according to UE and 5GC requests) and released (according to UE and 5GC requests) as specified in clause 5.6. In the PDU session establishment request message transmitted to the network, the UE may provide the PDU session ID and group related information. This PDU session is specific to the group. The group related information may be a combination of S-nsai and DNN, or an internal group index. The SMF is responsible for checking whether the UE request meets the group to which the UE belongs. To this end, it retrieves and requests from the UDM 406 to receive update notifications regarding SMF level group data. Such group data may be a group index and a UE index (e.g., GPSI) within the group. The SMF 405 may reject PDU session establishment if the group related information is not part of an explicit group to which the UE belongs according to group data in the SMF 405 requested from the UDM 406. The UE establishes one PDU session for only one group, and the UE may establish multiple PDU sessions for multiple groups to which the UE belongs. SSC pattern 1 can be applied to PDU sessions for a centralized user plane architecture.

In some embodiments, in address allocation for 5GLAN communication, PSA UPF 413 is an IP anchor point of an IP address/prefix allocated to the UE for PDU sessions of IPv4 or IPv6 or IPv4v6 type. For an ethernet type PDU session, the SMF 405 may instruct the PSA UPF 413 to route DL traffic flows based on the MAC address of the UE for UL traffic flows. For PDU sessions of IP type, the SMF 405 performs IP address management and allocation procedures specified in 5.8.2.2. In addition, for an IP type PDU session, the SMF 405 assigns an IP address/prefix to the UE during the 5GLAN group PDU session establishment procedure. To support multicasting within 5GLAN, the SMF 405 may assign a destination multicast address to the group and provide the multicast address to the UEs in the group and PSA UPF 413. If the SMF 405 does not assign a destination multicast address, the UE may use the wild card address as the destination address for the multicast in the group. To support unicast within 5GLAN, the UE needs to know the destination address of the peer UE within the 5GLAN group, which may be implemented by the application layer.

In some embodiments, in the SMF and UPF selection functions, when the SMF 405 is selected for 5GLAN group communication, the SMF selection function for normal service described in clause 6.3.2 is applied. The AMF 402 may also consider the group local configuration information (if any) to select an appropriate SMF 405 for the group. When the UPF 407 is selected for 5GLAN group communication, the UPF selection function for normal services described in clause 6.3.3 is applied. The SMF 405 may also consider the group local configuration information (if any) to select the appropriate UPF 407.

In some embodiments, in QoS for 5GLAN communication, the QoS model defined in clause 5.7 is applied to 5GLAN communication. The PSA UPF 413 performs QoS treatment procedures for group user data transmissions. SMFs based on local configuration or PCF information may provide different QoS configurations for unicast and multicast communications. The QoS implementation may be different for uplink and downlink traffic flows, with SMF 405 providing different QoS configurations for uplink and downlink traffic flows. In the case of multicasting, the SMF 405 provides the PSA UPF 413 with a uniform QoS configuration for downlink traffic flows to different UEs in the group, and the PSA UPF 413 enforces a uniform QoS policy for downlink traffic flows to different UEs in the group.

In some embodiments, in group forwarding path management, PDU sessions for a 5GLAN group constitute a group user data forwarding path. The SMF 405 provides the PDR and FAR to the PSA UPF 413. The PDR contains group information (e.g., group PDU session ID or CN tunnel information) and related FAR information. The FAR contains the destination interface (i.e., local forwarding) for the group, and the destination interface information contains all Nx interfaces or N6 interfaces associated with the group. In the case of multicast communication, the PSA UPF 413 detects user data from one PDU session belonging to the group and detects a destination address for multicast, the PSA UPF 413 forwards the user data to other PDU sessions in the group. In the case of unicast communication, the PSA UPF 413 detects user data from one PDU session belonging to the group and detects that the destination address is the assigned address of the other UEs in the group, the PSA UPF 413 forwards the user data to the PDU session of the associated UE in the group. If there are other UPFs between the UE and the PSA UPF 413, a CN tunnel is allocated for the PDU session between the other UPFs and the PSA UPF 413, and this CN tunnel is dedicated to the group to which the PDU session is associated. The CN tunnel is released along with the PDU session release. CN tunnel management for the 5GLAN group is performed as specified in clause 5.8.2.10.

Fig. 5 illustrates how a 5G system architecture in the case of a distributed user plane architecture, in some embodiments, uses reference points to represent how various network functions interact with each other, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In some embodiments, the 5G system architecture includes Network Functions (NF) such as AN authentication server function (Authentication server function, AUSF) 501, AN access and mobility management function (Access and mobility management function, AMF) 502, a Network slice selection function (Network slice selection function, NSSF) 503, a policy control function (Policy control function, PCF) 504, a session management function (Session management function, SMF) 505, a unified Data management entity (Unified Data management, UDM) 506, a User plane function (User plane function, UPF) 507, AN application function (Application function, AF) 508, a User equipment (User equipment) such as UE 1 509, (radio) access Network (R) AN) 512, a Data Network (Data Network, DN) 514, and interfaces Uu, N1 to N15, N22, and Nx.

In some embodiments, in a 5GLAN architecture for a distributed user plane architecture, a single SMF 505 and multiple UPFs 507 are responsible for all PDU sessions for 5GLAN group communication. The PDU session for each group member UE is terminated at the serving UPF and the associated UE. The SMF 505 may configure the serving UPF as a PSA UPF of the associated UE, and the PSA UPF is an anchor point for the UE to connect with other (PSA) UPFs serving other UEs within the group.

In some embodiments, in the processing of PDU sessions for 5GLAN communication, SMF is responsible for managing PDU sessions belonging to 5GLAN groups, including establishment, modification and release of PDU sessions, PDU sessions are established (according to UE requests), modified (according to UE and 5GC requests) and released (according to UE and 5GC requests). The SMF 505 is responsible for checking whether the UE request meets the group to which the UE belongs. To this end, it retrieves and requests from the UDM 506 to receive update notifications regarding SMF level group data. In a PDU session establishment request message sent to the network, the UE provides a PDU session ID and group-related information. This PDU session is specific to the group. The group related information may be a combination of S-nsai and DNN, or an internal group index. The SMF 505 may reject PDU session establishment if the group related information is not part of an explicit group to which the UE belongs according to group data in the SMF requested from the UDM 506. The UE establishes one PDU session for only one group, and the UE may establish a plurality of PDU sessions for a plurality of groups to which the UE belongs.

In some embodiments, in address allocation for 5GLAN communication, PSA UPF is an IP anchor point of IP address/prefix allocated to UE for PDU sessions of IPv4 or IPv6 or IPv4v6 type. For an ethernet type PDU session, the SMF 505 may instruct the UPF 507 to route DL traffic flows based on the MAC address of the UE for UL traffic flows. For PDU sessions of IP type, the SMF 505 performs IP address management and allocation procedures specified in 5.8.2.2. In addition, the SMF 505 assigns an IP address/prefix to the UE during the 5GLAN group PDU session establishment procedure. To support multicasting within 5GLAN, SMF 505 may assign a destination multicast address to the group and provide the multicast address to UEs in the group. If the SMF 505 does not assign a destination multicast address, a wild card address may be used as the destination address for the multicast in the group. To support unicast within 5GLAN, the UE needs to know the destination address of the peer UE within the 5GLAN group, which may be implemented by the application layer.

In some embodiments, in the SMF and UPF selection functions, when the SMF 505 is selected for 5GLAN group communication, the SMF selection function for normal service described in clause 6.3.2 is applied. The AMF 502 may also consider the group local configuration information (if any) to select an appropriate SMF 505 for the group. When the UPF 507 is selected for 5GLAN group communication, the UPF selection function for normal service described in clause 6.3.3 is applied. The SMF 505 may also consider the group local configuration information (if any) to select the appropriate UPF 507.

In some embodiments, in QoS for 5GLAN communication, the QoS model defined in clause 5.7 is applied to 5GLAN communication. The PSA UPF performs QoS treatment procedures for group user data transmissions. SMFs based on local configuration or PCF information may provide different QoS configurations for unicast and multicast communications. QoS implementations for uplink and downlink traffic flows may be different, and SMF 505 provides different QoS configurations for uplink and downlink traffic flows. In the case of multicasting, the SMF 505 provides the PSA UPF with a uniform QoS configuration for downlink traffic flow targets for different UEs in the group, and the PSA UPF enforces a uniform QoS policy for downlink traffic flows to different UEs in the group.

In some embodiments, in group forwarding path management, the PDU sessions of the UEs in the group, the CN tunnels on the Nx interface of the group constitute the group user data forwarding path. The SMF 505 is responsible for establishing and managing CN tunnels on the Nx interface between different PSA UPFs for different UEs within the 5GLAN group. The SMF 505 provides all CN tunnel information to each PSA UPF within the group, and updates the CN tunnel information if the CN tunnel changes, e.g., because PDU sessions for the group are established or released. The SMF 505 configures PDR and FAR for each PSA UPF. The PDR contains group information (e.g., group PDU session ID or CN tunnel information) and related FAR information. The FAR contains the destination interface for the group and the destination interface information contains all Nx interfaces or N6 interfaces associated with the group. The PDU session and CN tunnel are specific to this group. In the case of multicast communication, the PSA UPF of the transmitting UE detects user data from one PDU session associated with the group and detects that the destination address is for multicast, and forwards the user data to all other PSA UPFs according to the CN tunnel information configured for the group. Other PSA UPFs forward user data to the group-associated PDU session. The PDR table and FAR table are shown below.

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In some embodiments, in the case of unicast communication, the PSA UPF of the transmitting UE detects user data from one PDU session associated with the group and detects that the destination address is the address of another UE in another (PSA) UPF of the group, which forwards the user data to the (PSA) UPF over the Nx interface. With this alternative, the SMF provides all UE addresses in the group to each PSA UPF in the group, and the PSA UPF information (e.g., CN tunnel information) for each address is associated (the PDU session associated with that address is terminated). For Ethernet type PDUs, when a PDU session is established, the UE reports the MAC address to the SMF, which informs the associated PSA UPF.

In some embodiments, the PSA UPF of the transmitting UE detects user data from one PDU session associated with the group and detects that the destination address is the address of another UE in the (PSA) UPF of the group, i.e., the PSA UPF forwards the user data to the PDU session of the destination UE.

In some embodiments, the transmitting UE's PSA UPF detects user data from one PDU session associated with the group, and the PSA UPF forwards the user data to all other PSA UPFs according to the configured CN tunnel information for the group. Other PSA UPFs detect the destination address of the user data, and if the destination address is the address of the PDU session that terminates itself, the PSA UPF forwards the user data to the PDU session; otherwise, the PSA UPF discards the user data.

Fig. 6-7 illustrate that in some embodiments, point-to-multipoint group communication is provided. In some embodiments, to support one-to-many communication in a group, a group-specific packet data network (Packet data network, PDU) session is introduced. The fifth generation system (Fifth generation system,5 GS) can support group-specific PDU session establishment, release, modification, and addition or deletion of groups/group members. It should be appreciated that the session management function (Session plane function, SMF) node 108 is responsible for group-specific PDU session management. Different members of the group may be served by the same user plane function (User plane function, UPF) node (e.g., UPF1 node 106) or different UPF nodes (e.g., UPF1 node 106 and UPF2 node 112). In one group, the scenarios may be illustrated in fig. 6-8. UE-T102 is a transmitter UE and UE-R1 104 and UE-R2 110 are receiver UEs, with the same UPF1 node 106 serving UE-T102 and UE-R1 104 and UE-R2 110 being served by UPF2 node 112. Data from the UE-T102 is transmitted in the fifth generation system (Fifth generation system,5 GS) and routed by the UPF nodes (e.g., UPF1 node 106 and UPF2 node 112).

The group-specific PDU session terminates at the member and the service UPF. When a group is established by an application function (Application function, AF) or a UE, a group-specific PDU session will be established for each group member that is added to the group as it is created. The SMF node 108 is enhanced to support group-based PDU session management functions, including group-based PDU session establishment. After the group is created, after the group member is added to the group, a group-specific PDU session will be established for the newly joined member. The SMF node 108 is responsible for establishing a routing tunnel between the UPF node serving the newly joined member and the UPF node serving the authorized sending member.

In some embodiments, the process describes a one-to-many communication PDU session establishment procedure. It will be appreciated that a group is managed by the same SMF. The group creation and group member joining process is based on other solutions not mentioned in this solution. This embodiment is an example, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

When a group is created, group members UE-T102 and UE-R1 104 are added to the group and UE-T102 is authorized to send a pair of data to the members of the group. The UE-T102 initiates a group-specific PDU session establishment request including a request S-nsai, group information, etc. In detail, the group information may be, for example, a group index, group specific data network name (Data network name, DNN) information, or group specific application server information.

Upon receiving the request from the UE-T102, the SMF node 108 selects the UPF1 node 106 as the serving UPF for the particular group based on the S-nsai information and the group information. The SMF node 108 sends a session setup request to the UPF1 node 106, including Core Network (CN) tunnel information about the allocation of the N3 interface. The UPF1 node 106 acknowledges by sending a session setup response message. The SMF node 108 sends PDU session accepts to the UE-T102. In the case where the PDU session type is IPv4 or IPv6 or IPv4v6, the SMF node 108 assigns an IP address/prefix to the PDU session and the address/prefix is used for the group-specific. Alternatively, if the group shares a PDU session with other groups, a group specific address is also assigned to at least one UE in the other groups.

When the UE-R2 110 is added to the group, the UE-R2 110 initiates a PDU session establishment request including S-nsai information and group information to the SMF node 108. The SMF node 108 selects the UPF2 node 112 as the serving UPF for the UE-R2 110 and determines to establish a routing tunnel between the UPF1 node 106 serving the UE-T102 and the UPF2 node 112. The SMF node 108 sends a session establishment request to the UPF2 node 112, including the assigned CN tunnel information. The CN tunnel information includes the UPF2 address of the tunnel between the UPF1 node 106 and the UPF2 node 112 and the UPF2 address of the N3 tunnel. The UPF2 node 112 acknowledges by sending a session setup response message. The SMF node 108 establishes a routing tunnel between the UPF1 node 106 and the UPF2 node 112 and provides the UPF1 node 106 with the UPF2 address of the tunnel between the UPF1 node 106 and the UPF2 node 112. Also, the SMF node 108 provides the UE-T102 with the associated information of the routing tunnel and PDU session. The SMF node 108 sends PDU session accept to the UE-R2 110. In the case where the PDU session type is IPv4 or IPv6 or IPv4v6, SMF node 108 assigns an IP address/prefix for the PDU session, the address/prefix being group-specific for UE-R2 110. If there is another PDU session for a group of UE-R2 110, then the existing PDU session can be reused for the newly joined group, i.e., multiple groups can share the PDU session of a receiving member in that group.

In addition, the UE-T102 sends the group data to the UPF1 node 106, and the UPF1 node determines to receive the UE-R1 104, the UE-R2 110, and routes the data to tunnels corresponding to the UE-R1 104 and the UE-R2 110, respectively, based on the routing association information provided by block 8. If the PDU session is shared by multiple groups, the UPF1 node 106 determines to receive the UE-R1 104, UE-R2 110 to obtain the group information based on the group-specific address information.

Fig. 8 is a block diagram of an example system 700 for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the disclosure. Embodiments described in this disclosure may be implemented into a system using any suitably configured hardware and/or software. Fig. 8 illustrates a system 700 that includes Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 710, baseband circuitry 720, application circuitry 730, memory/storage 740, display 750, camera 760, sensor 770, and input/output (I/O) interface 780 coupled to one another, at least as shown.

Application circuitry 730 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. Processors may include any combination of general purpose processors and special purpose processors, such as graphics processors and application processors. The processor may be coupled with the memory/storage and configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications and/or operating systems to run on the system.

Baseband circuitry 720 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor may comprise a baseband processor. The baseband circuitry may handle various radio control functions that may enable communication with one or more radio networks through the RF circuitry. Radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation, encoding, decoding, radio frequency shifting, and the like. In some embodiments, baseband circuitry may provide communications compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (Evolved universal terrestrial radio access network, EUTRAN) and/or other wireless metropolitan area networks (Wireless metropolitan area network, WMAN), wireless local area networks (Wireless local area network, WLAN), wireless personal area networks (Wireless personal area network, WPAN). An embodiment of radio communications in which the baseband circuitry is configured to support more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as a multi-mode baseband circuitry.

In various embodiments, baseband circuitry 720 may include circuitry to operate on signals that are not strictly considered to be in baseband frequency. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may include circuitry to operate on signals having an intermediate frequency between the baseband frequency and the radio frequency.

The RF circuitry 710 is capable of communicating with a wireless network using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate communication with the wireless network.

In various embodiments, RF circuitry 710 may include circuitry that operates on signals that are not strictly considered to be at radio frequencies. For example, in some embodiments, the RF circuitry may include circuitry for operating on signals having an intermediate frequency between a baseband frequency and a radio frequency.

In various embodiments, the transmitter circuitry, control circuitry, or receiver circuitry discussed above with respect to the user equipment, eNB, or gNB may be embodied in whole or in part in one or more RF circuitry, baseband circuitry, and/or application circuitry. As used in this disclosure, "circuitry" may refer to, as part of or comprising an application specific integrated circuit (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or group) that execute one or more software or firmware programs that provide the described functionality, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable hardware components. In some embodiments, electronic device circuitry may be implemented in or functionality associated with one or more software or firmware modules.

In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry, application circuitry, and/or memory/storage may be implemented together on a System on a chip (SOC).

Memory/storage 740 may be used to load and store data and/or instructions, for example, for the system. The memory/storage of an embodiment may include any combination of suitable volatile memory (e.g., dynamic random access memory (Dynamic random access memory, DRAM) and/or non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory).

In various embodiments, I/O interface 780 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable a user to interact with the system and/or peripheral component interfaces designed to enable peripheral components to interact with the system. The user interface may include, but is not limited to, a physical keyboard or keypad, a touch pad, a speaker, a microphone, and the like. Peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, non-volatile memory ports, universal serial bus (Universal serial bus, USB) ports, audio jacks, and power interfaces.

In various embodiments, the sensor 770 may include one or more sensing devices to determine environmental conditions and/or location information related to the system. In some embodiments, the sensors may include, but are not limited to, gyroscopic sensors, accelerometers, proximity sensors, ambient light sensors, and positioning units. The positioning unit may also be part of or interact with baseband circuitry and/or RF circuitry to communicate with components of a positioning network, such as global positioning system (Global positioning system, GPS) satellites.

In various embodiments, display 750 may include a display, such as a liquid crystal display and a touch screen display. In various embodiments, system 700 may be a mobile computing device such as, but not limited to, a laptop computing device, a tablet computing device, a netbook, a superbook, a smartphone, and the like. In various embodiments, the system may have more or fewer components and/or different architectures. The methods described in this disclosure may be implemented as computer programs, where appropriate. The computer program may be stored on a storage medium such as a non-transitory storage medium.

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, an apparatus and method for performing group communication can provide good group communication performance and high reliability, and provide a solution of how to transmit user data within a 5G system, and provide corresponding control information and/or procedures. Embodiments of the present disclosure are a combination of techniques/procedures that may be employed in 3GPP specifications to create end products.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that each of the elements, algorithms, and steps described and disclosed in the embodiments of the disclosure are implemented using electronic hardware, or a combination of software and electronic hardware for a computer. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the technology.

One of ordinary skill in the art may implement the functionality of each particular application in a different manner without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that, since the system, apparatus and unit operations described above are substantially identical, he/she may refer to the system, apparatus and unit operations described in the embodiments described above. For convenience of description and simplification, these working processes will not be described in detail.

It should be understood that the systems, devices, and methods disclosed in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in other ways. The above-described embodiments are merely exemplary. The partitioning of the cells is based solely on logic functions, while other partitions exist in the implementation. Multiple units or components may be combined or integrated in another system. It is also possible to omit or skip certain features. On the other hand, the mutual coupling, direct coupling or communicative coupling shown or discussed, operates indirectly or communicationally through some ports, devices or units, in electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units as the separating means for explanation are physically separated or physically not separated. The units used for display are physical units or not physical units, i.e. located in one location or distributed over a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units are used according to the purpose of the embodiment. Moreover, each functional unit in each embodiment may be integrated in one processing unit, physically separate, or integrated in one processing unit having two or more units.

If the software functional unit is implemented and used as a product and sold, it can be stored in a readable storage medium of a computer. Based on this understanding, the technical project presented in this disclosure may be implemented, in essence or in part, in the form of a software product. Alternatively, a portion of the technical program beneficial to the conventional technology may be implemented in the form of a software product. The software product in the computer is stored in a storage medium that includes a plurality of commands for a computing device (e.g., a personal computer, server, or network device) to execute all or some of the steps disclosed by embodiments of the present disclosure. The storage medium includes a USB disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-only memory (ROM), a random-access memory (Random access memory, RAM), a floppy disk, or other medium capable of storing program code.

While the present disclosure has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment, but is intended to cover various arrangements made without departing from the scope of the appended claims in its broadest interpretation.

Claims

1. A user equipment, UE, in a group communication system, comprising:

A memory;

a transceiver; and

a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver,

wherein the processor is configured to:

controlling the transceiver to send a connection establishment request to a network node in a group communication system; and

each connection for each group in the group communication system is established in accordance with the connection establishment request,

wherein the connection establishment request is a protocol data unit PDU session establishment request, the PDU session establishment request includes PDU session identification ID and/or group related information, and the connection includes PDU session;

wherein the connection is configured to a centralized user plane architecture using session and service continuity, SSC, mode, in which the PDU session of the UE is terminated at a protocol data unit session anchor, PSA, user plane function, UPF;

wherein when the type of connection is internet protocol version four IPv4, IPv6 or IPv4v6, the processor is configured to receive an IP address and/or prefix of the connection from the network node; and wherein if the group communication system shares the connection with another group communication system, the IP address and/or prefix of the connection is allocated to another UE of the other group communication system.

2. The UE of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to establish a plurality of connections for a plurality of groups in the group communication system to which the UE belongs according to the connection establishment request.

3. The UE of claim 1 or 2, wherein each connection of each group in the group communication system terminates at the network node, or the processor and the network node of the UE.

4. The UE of claim 1, wherein the group related information includes a group index and a UE index within the group.

5. The UE of claim 1 or 2, wherein the type of connection is an ethernet type PDU session.

6. A method for performing group communication of user equipments, UEs, comprising:

transmitting a connection establishment request to a network node in a group communication system; and

establishing each connection of each group in the group communication system according to the connection establishment request;

wherein the connection establishment request is a protocol data unit, PDU, session establishment request comprising a PDU session identification, ID, and/or group related information, and the connection comprises a PDU session,

wherein when the type of connection is internet protocol version four IPv4, IPv6 or IPv4v6, the method comprises receiving an IP address and/or prefix of the connection from the network node;

wherein if the group communication system shares the connection with another group communication system, the IP address and/or prefix of the connection is allocated to another UE of the other group communication system.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising: and establishing a plurality of connections for a plurality of groups in a group communication system to which the UE belongs according to the connection establishment request.

8. The method of claim 6 or 7, further comprising: each connection of each group in the group communication system is terminated using the network node or the network node and the UE.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the group related information comprises a group index and a UE index within the group.

10. The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the type of connection is an ethernet type PDU session.

11. A network node in a group communication system, comprising:

a memory;

a transceiver; and

a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver,

wherein the processor is configured to:

controlling the transceiver to receive a connection establishment request from a user equipment UE in the group communication system; and

processing connections of the UEs in the group communication system;

wherein the network node further comprises a protocol data unit session anchor, PSA, user plane function, UPF, and the connection establishment request is a protocol data unit, PDU, session establishment request comprising a PDU session identification, ID, and/or group related information, and the connection comprises a PDU session;

wherein the connection is configured to a centralized user plane architecture using session and service continuity, SSC, mode, in which the PSA UPF is configured to terminate each PDU session for the UE in the group communication system;

wherein when the type of connection is an internet protocol version four IPv4, IPv6 or IPv4v6PDU session, the processor is configured to send the IP address and/or prefix of the connection to the UE;

12. The network node of claim 11, further comprising: a session management function SMF configured to check whether the connection establishment request corresponds to a group to which the UE belongs.

13. The network node of claim 11, wherein the group-related information includes a group index and a UE index within the group.

14. The network node of claim 12, wherein the SMF is configured to retrieve and request to receive update notifications regarding the group related information from a unified data management entity, UDM.

15. The network node of claim 14, wherein the SMF is configured to reject the connection establishment request if the group related information is not part of an explicit group to which the UE belongs according to group data in the SMF requested from the UDM.

16. The network node of claim 12 or 13, further comprising: an access and mobility management function, AMF, configured to: if an appropriate SMF is selected for the group to which the UE belongs, group local configuration information is considered.

17. The network node of claim 12, further comprising a UPF, the SMF configured to: if an appropriate UPF is selected for the group to which the UE belongs, group local configuration information is considered.

18. The network node of claim 11 or 12, wherein the PSA UPF is configured to implement a quality of service QoS treatment procedure for group user data transmissions in the group communication system, and the SMF based on local configuration or policy control function, PCF, information provides different QoS configurations for unicast and multicast communications.

19. The network node of claim 18, wherein QoS implementations are different for uplink and downlink traffic flows and the SMF provides the different QoS configurations for the uplink and downlink traffic flows.

20. The network node of claim 18, wherein in a multicast case, the SMF provides the PSA UPF with a uniform QoS configuration for downlink traffic flows to different UEs in a group of the group communication system, and the PSA UPF enforces a uniform QoS policy for the downlink traffic flows to different UEs in the group.

21. The network node of claim 12, wherein the SMF is configured to provide packet detection rules PDR and forwarding action rules FAR to the PSA UPF.

22. The network node of claim 21, wherein the PDR includes group information and related FAR information, and the FAR includes destination interface information for the group.

23. The network node of claim 22, wherein the destination interface information comprises an Nx interface or an N6 interface associated with the group.

24. The network node according to claim 11 or 12, wherein in case of unicast communication, the PSA UPF detects user data from one PDU session belonging to the group and detects that the destination address is an allocated address of other UEs in the group, the PSA UPF forwarding the user data to the PDU session of the associated UE in the group.

25. The network node of claim 11, further comprising a serving UPF and other UPFs, the connection for each group member UE terminating at the serving UPF and associated UE.

26. The network node of claim 25, further comprising: an SMF configured to configure the serving UPF as a PSA UPF of an associated UE, and the PSA UPF is an anchor point for other UPF connections of the UE with other UEs within a group serving the group communication system.

27. The network node of claim 11, wherein for an IPv4, IPv6 or IPv4v6 type PDU session, the PSA UPF is an IP anchor point for the IP address and/or prefix assigned to the UE.

28. The network node of claim 12, wherein the type of connection is an ethernet type PDU session.

29. The network node of claim 28, wherein for the ethernet type PDU session, the SMF instructs the UPF to route downlink traffic flows based on a media access control, MAC, address for uplink traffic flows by the UE.

30. A method for performing group communication of a network node, comprising:

receiving a connection establishment request from a user equipment UE in the group communication system; and

processing connections of the UEs in the group communication system;

wherein the connection establishment request is a protocol data unit, PDU, session establishment request comprising a PDU session identification, ID, and/or group related information, and the connection comprises a PDU session;

wherein the connection is configured to a centralized user plane architecture using session and service continuity, SSC, mode, in which each PDU session of the UE in the group communication system is terminated using a protocol data unit session anchor, PSA, user plane function, UPF;

Wherein when the type of the connection is a PDU session of Internet protocol version four IPv4, IPv6 or IPv4v6, the method comprises sending an IP address and/or prefix of the connection to the UE;

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising: a session management function SMF is used to check whether the connection establishment request corresponds to the group to which the UE belongs.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the group-related information comprises a group index and a UE index within the group.

33. The method of claim 31, further comprising: the SMF is used to retrieve and request from the unified data management entity UDM an update notification about the group related information.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising: the connection establishment request is rejected using the SMF if the group related information is not part of an explicit group to which the UE belongs according to group data in the SMF requested from the UDM.

35. The method of claim 31 or 32, further comprising: if an appropriate SMF is selected for the group to which the UE belongs, the group local configuration information is taken into account using the access and mobility management function AMF.

36. The method of claim 31, further comprising: if an appropriate UPF is selected for the group to which the UE belongs, group local configuration information is considered using the SMF.

37. The method of claim 30 or 31, further comprising: the PSA UPF is used to implement quality of service QoS treatment procedures for group user data transmissions in the group communication system, and the SMF based on local configuration or policy control function PCF information provides different QoS configurations for unicast and multicast communications.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein QoS implementations are different for uplink and downlink traffic flows, and the SMF provides the different QoS configurations for the uplink and downlink traffic flows.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein in the case of multicasting, the method comprises: the method also includes providing, using the SMF, a unified QoS configuration for downlink traffic flows to different UEs in a group of the group communication system to the PSA UPF, and enforcing a unified QoS policy for downlink traffic flows to different UEs in the group using the PSA UPF.

40. The method of claim 31, further comprising: providing packet detection rules PDR and forwarding action rules FAR to the PSA UPF using the SMF.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the PDR includes group information and associated FAR information, and the FAR includes destination interface information for the group.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the destination interface information includes an Nx interface or an N6 interface associated with the group.

43. The method according to claim 30 or 31, wherein in case of unicast communication, the method comprises: user data is detected from one PDU session belonging to the group using the PSA UPF and a destination address is detected to be an assigned address of the other UEs in the group, and the method further comprises forwarding the user data to the PDU session of the associated UE in the group using the PSA UPF.

44. The method of claim 30, further comprising: the connection of each group member UE is terminated using the serving UPF and the associated UE.

45. The method of claim 44, further comprising: the serving UPF is configured as a PSA UPF of an associated UE using an SMF, and the PSA UPF is an anchor point for other UPF connections of the UE with other UEs within a group serving the group communication system.

46. The method of claim 30, wherein for an IPv4, IPv6 or IPv4v6 type PDU session, the PSA UPF is an IP anchor point for the IP address and/or prefix assigned to the UE.

47. The method of claim 31, wherein the type of connection is an ethernet type PDU session.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein for the ethernet type PDU session, the method comprises using the SMF to instruct the UPF to route downlink traffic flows based on a media access control, MAC, address for uplink traffic flows by the UE.

49. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any of claims 6 to 10 and 30 to 48.

50. A terminal device, comprising: a processor and a memory configured to store a computer program, the processor being configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory to perform the method of any one of claims 6 to 10.

51. A network node, comprising: a processor and a memory configured to store a computer program, the processor being configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory to perform the method of any one of claims 30 to 48.