CN112953998A - Apparatus and method for UE unaware EAS IP address replacement - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure provides apparatus and methods for UE unaware EAS IP address replacement. An apparatus for AF in a CN, comprising: an interface circuit; and a processor circuit coupled with the interface circuit and configured to: encoding AF influence content information in an AF request in response to a change in an Edge Application Server (EAS) serving User Equipment (UE); and providing the AF request to the interface circuit for transmission to a PCF in the CN that subscribes to the modification of the AF impact content information. The AF influence content information includes: a list of DNAIs, an internet protocol IP address of a first source EAS currently serving the UE, and an IP address of a first target EAS configured to serve the UE in place of the first source EAS and located in a local data network DN identified by each DNAI in the list of DNAIs.

Description

Apparatus and method for UE unaware EAS IP address replacement

Priority declaration

This application is based on international application No. pct/CN2019/124526 filed on 12, 11, 2019, and claims priority from that application, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of wireless communications, and in particular, to an apparatus and method for Edge Application Server (EAS) Internet Protocol (IP) address replacement for User Equipment (UE) agnostic (UE advertising).

Background

In the case of edge computing deployment for fifth generation (5G) systems, UE mobility and application server relocation need to be considered in designing a solution for optimal deployment of edge solutions. For example, when a serving EAS becomes congested or is in a deactivated state, another EAS may replace the serving EAS to serve the UE. As another example, when a UE moves across a 5G system, the UE location may change, and this may imply a change in the IP address serving the EAS. A key issue in edge relocation is how to handle changes in the serving EAS to support seamless EAS changes that the UE is unaware of.

Disclosure of Invention

An aspect of the present disclosure provides an apparatus for an application function AF in a core network CN, including: an interface circuit; and a processor circuit coupled with the interface circuit and configured to: encoding AF influence content information in an AF request in response to a change in an Edge Application Server (EAS) serving User Equipment (UE); and providing the AF request to the interface circuit for transmission to a policy control function PCF in the CN that subscribes to modification of the AF impact content information, wherein the AF impact content information comprises: a list of data network access identifiers, DNAIs, an internet protocol, IP, address of a first source EAS currently serving the UE, and an IP address of a first target EAS configured to replace the first source EAS to serve the UE and located in a local data network, DN, identified by each DNAI in the list of DNAIs.

An aspect of the present disclosure provides an apparatus for a session management function SMF in a core network CN, including: an interface circuit; and a processor circuit coupled with the interface circuit and configured to: decoding policy and charging control, PCC, rules received from a policy control function, PCF, in the CN via the interface circuit, the PCF having subscribed to a modification of AF impact content information to an application function, AF, in the CN, wherein the AF impact content information includes: a list of data network access identifiers, DNAIs, an internet protocol, IP, address of a first source edge application server, EAS, currently serving a user equipment, UE, and an IP address of a first target EAS configured to replace the first source EAS to serve the UE and located in a local data network, DN, identified by each DNAI in the list of DNAIs; and updating an edge computing network address translation, EC-NAT, function based on the AF impact content information to replace the IP address of the first source EAS with the IP address of the first target EAS for each DNAI in the list of DNAIs.

An aspect of the present disclosure provides an apparatus for an edge computing network address translation, EC-NAT, function, comprising: an interface circuit; and a processor circuit coupled with the interface circuit and configured to: decoding AF-influencing content information received from a session management function SMF in a core network CN via the interface circuit, wherein the AF-influencing content information includes: a list of data network access identifiers, DNAIs, an internet protocol, IP, address of a first source edge application server, EAS, currently serving a user equipment, UE, and an IP address of a first target EAS configured to replace the first source EAS to serve the UE and located in a local data network, DN, identified by each DNAI in the list of DNAIs; and replacing, for each DNAI in the list of DNAIs, the IP address of the first source EAS with the IP address of the first target EAS.

Drawings

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described by way of example, and not limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements.

Fig. 1 illustrates an example architecture of a system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 illustrates an example architecture of a system including a 5G core network (5GC) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 illustrates a diagram showing an example process of processing and communicating an Application Function (AF) request to affect traffic routing for sessions not identified with a UE address, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 4 illustrates a diagram showing an example process of processing and communicating AF requests to affect traffic routing targeting individual UE addresses, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 illustrates a diagram showing operations associated with EAS IP address replacement blinded by a UE at an AF in a Core Network (CN) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 6 illustrates a diagram showing operations associated with EAS IP address replacement blinded by the UE at the SMF in the CN according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7 illustrates a diagram showing operations associated with UE unaware EAS IP address replacement at an edge computing network address translation (EC-NAT) function according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8 illustrates example components of a device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 9 illustrates an example of an infrastructure device in accordance with various embodiments.

Fig. 10 is a block diagram illustrating components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium and performing any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, according to some example embodiments.

Detailed Description

Various aspects of the illustrative embodiments will be described using terms commonly employed by those skilled in the art to convey the substance of the disclosure to others skilled in the art. However, it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that many alternative embodiments may be practiced using portions of the described aspects. For purposes of explanation, specific numbers, materials, and configurations are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the illustrative embodiments. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that alternative embodiments may be practiced without the specific details. In other instances, well-known features may be omitted or simplified in order not to obscure the illustrative embodiments.

Further, various operations will be described as multiple discrete operations, in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the illustrative embodiments; however, the order of description should not be construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily order dependent. In particular, these operations need not be performed in the order of presentation.

The phrases "in an embodiment," "in one embodiment," and "in some embodiments" are used repeatedly herein. The phrase generally does not refer to the same embodiment; however, it may refer to the same embodiment. The terms "comprising," "having," and "including" are synonymous, unless the context dictates otherwise. The phrases "A or B" and "A/B" mean "(A), (B) or (A and B)". Moreover, the expressions "first", "second", and "third", etc. preceding an object are used herein merely as labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on the object.

Fig. 1 illustrates an example architecture of a system 100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The following description is provided for an example system 100 operating in conjunction with the Long Term Evolution (LTE) system standard and the 5G or New Radio (NR) system standard provided by the 3GPP Technical Specification (TS). However, the example embodiments are not limited in this respect and the described embodiments may be applied to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems (e.g., sixth generation (6G)) systems, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)802.16 protocols (e.g., wireless Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), etc.), and so forth.

As shown in FIG. 1, the system 100 can include a UE 101a and a UE 101b (collectively referred to as "UE(s) 101"). As used herein, the term "user equipment" or "UE" may refer to devices having radio communication capabilities and may describe remote users of network resources in a communication network. The terms "user equipment" or "UE" may be considered synonyms and may be referred to as a client, a mobile phone, a mobile device, a mobile terminal, a user terminal, a mobile unit, a mobile station, a mobile user, a subscriber, a user, a remote station, an access agent, a user agent, a receiver, a radio, a reconfigurable mobile, and the like. Furthermore, the terms "user equipment" or "UE" may include any type of wireless/wired device or any computing device that includes a wireless communication interface. In this example, the UE 101 is shown as a smartphone (e.g., a handheld touchscreen mobile computing device connectable to one or more cellular networks), but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as a consumer electronic device, a cellular phone, a smartphone, a feature phone, a tablet, a wearable computer device, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a pager, a wireless handheld device, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, an in-vehicle infotainment system (IVI), an in-vehicle entertainment (ICE) device, an Instrument panel (Instrument Cluster, IC), a head-up display (HUD) device, an in-vehicle diagnostics (OBD) device, a dashboard mobile Device (DME), a Mobile Data Terminal (MDT), an Electronic Engine Management System (EEMS), an electronic/Engine Control Unit (ECU), an electronic/Engine Control Module (ECM), a mobile computing device(s), a mobile computing device, a mobile, Embedded systems, microcontrollers, control modules, Engine Management Systems (EMS), networked or "smart" devices, Machine Type Communication (MTC) devices, machine-to-machine (M2M), internet of things (IoT) devices, and/or the like.

In some embodiments, any of the UEs 101 may include an IoT UE, which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications that utilize short-term UE connections. IoT UEs may utilize technologies such as M2M or MTC to exchange data with MTC servers or devices via PLMNs, proximity-based services (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communications, sensor networks, or IoT networks. The data exchange of M2M or MTC may be a machine initiated data exchange. An IoT network describes interconnected IoT UEs that may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the internet infrastructure) with short-term connections. The IoT UE may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate connection of the IoT network.

UE 101 may be configured to connect with (e.g., communicatively couple with) RAN 110. In an embodiment, RAN 110 may be a Next Generation (NG) RAN or a 5G RAN, an evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN), or a legacy RAN, such as a UTRAN (UMTS terrestrial radio access network) or a GERAN (GSM (global system for Mobile communications or group Sp specific Mobile) EDGE (GSM evolution) radio access network). As used herein, the term "NG RAN" or the like may refer to RAN 110 operating in an NR or 5G system 100, and the term "E-UTRAN" or the like may refer to RAN 110 operating in an LTE or 4G system 100. The UE 101 utilizes connections (or channels) 103 and 104, respectively, each of which includes a physical communication interface or layer (discussed in further detail below). As used herein, the term "channel" may refer to any tangible or intangible transmission medium that communicates data or a stream of data. The term "channel" may be synonymous and/or equivalent to "communication channel," "data communication channel," "transmission channel," "data transmission channel," "access channel," "data access channel," "link," "data link," "carrier," "radio frequency carrier," and/or any other similar term denoting a path or medium through which data is communicated. In addition, the term "link" may refer to a connection between two devices for the purpose of transmitting and receiving information over a Radio Access Technology (RAT).

In this example, connections 103 and 104 are shown as air interfaces to enable communicative coupling, and may be consistent with a cellular communication protocol, such as a global system for mobile communications (GSM) protocol, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network protocol, a push-to-talk (PTT) protocol, a cellular PTT (poc) protocol, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, a fifth generation (5G) protocol, a New Radio (NR) protocol, and/or any other communication protocol discussed herein. In an embodiment, the UE 101 may exchange communication data directly via the ProSe interface 105. The ProSe interface 105 may alternatively be referred to as a Sidelink (SL) interface 105 and may include one or more logical channels including, but not limited to, a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), and a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

UE 101b is shown configured to access an Access Point (AP)106 (also referred to as "WLAN node 106", "WLAN terminal 106", or "WT 106", etc.) via a connection 107. The connection 107 may comprise a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, where the AP106 would comprise a wireless fidelity (WiFi) router. In this example, the AP106 is shown connected to the internet without being connected to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below). In various embodiments, UE 101b, RAN 110, and AP106 may be configured to utilize LTE-WLAN aggregation (LWA) operations and/or WLAN LTE/WLAN radio level integration (LWIP) operations with IPsec tunneling. LWA operation may involve UE 101b in RRC _ CONNECTED being configured by RAN node 111 to utilize radio resources of LTE and WLAN. The LWIP operation may involve the UE 101b using WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 107) via an internet protocol security (IPsec) protocol tunnel to authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g., Internet Protocol (IP) packets) sent over the connection 107. An IPsec tunnel may include encapsulating the entire original IP packet and adding a new packet header to protect the original header of the IP packet.

RAN 110 may include one or more RAN nodes 111a and 111b (collectively referred to as "RAN node(s) 111") that enable connections 103 and 104. As used herein, the terms "Access Node (AN)", "access point", "RAN node", and the like may describe a device that provides radio baseband functionality for data and/or voice connections between a network and one or more users. These access nodes may be referred to as Base Stations (BSs), next generation node BS (gnbs), RAN nodes, evolved nodebs (enbs), nodebs, Road Side Units (RSUs), transmission reception points (TRxP or TRP), etc., and may include ground stations (e.g., ground access points) or satellite stations that provide coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). As used herein, the term "NG RAN node" or the like may refer to a RAN node 111 (e.g., a gNB) operating in the NR or 5G system 100, and the term "E-UTRAN node" or the like may refer to a RAN node 111 (e.g., an eNB) operating in the LTE or 4G system 100. According to various embodiments, the RAN node 111 may be implemented as one or more dedicated physical devices such as a macro cell base station and/or a Low Power (LP) base station for a femto cell, pico cell or other similar cell providing a smaller coverage area, smaller user capacity or higher bandwidth than a macro cell.

In some embodiments, all or part of the RAN node 111 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network, which may be referred to as a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN) and/or a virtual baseband unit pool (vbbp). In these embodiments, the CRAN or vbbp may implement RAN functional partitioning, such as: PDCP partitioning, wherein RRC and PDCP layers are operated by the CRAN/vbbp, while other layer 2 (L2) protocol entities are operated by individual RAN nodes 111; MAC/PHY division, where RRC, PDCP, RLC and MAC layers are operated by the CRAN/vbup, and PHY layers are operated by individual RAN nodes 111; or "lower PHY" division, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC layers and upper parts of the PHY layers are operated by the CRAN/vbup and lower parts of the PHY layers are operated by the individual RAN node 111. The virtualization framework allows freeing up processor cores of RAN node 111 to execute other virtualized applications. In some implementations, the individual RAN nodes 111 may represent individual gNB-DUs that are connected to the gNB-CUs via individual F1 interfaces (not shown in fig. 1). In these implementations, the gbb-DUs may include one or more remote radio heads or radio front-end modules (RFEM), and the gbb-CUs may be operated by a server (not shown) located in the RAN 110 or by a server pool in a similar manner to the CRAN/vbbp. Additionally or alternatively, one or more RAN nodes 111 may be next generation enbs (NG-enbs), which are RAN nodes that provide E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards the UE 101 and which are connected to the 5GC via an NG interface.

In the V2X scenario, one or more RAN nodes 111 may be or act as RSUs. The term "roadside unit" or "RSU" may refer to any transportation infrastructure entity for V2X communication. The RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable RAN node or a fixed (or relatively stationary) UE, where the RSU in or by the UE may be referred to as a "UE-type RSU", the RSU in or by the eNB may be referred to as an "eNB-type RSU", the RSU in or by the gNB may be referred to as a "gNB-type RSU", and so on. In one example, an RSU is a computing device coupled with radio frequency circuitry located at the curb side that provides connectivity support for a passing vehicle UE 101(vUE 101). The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry for storing intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, and applications/software for sensing and controlling ongoing vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may operate on the 5.9GHz Direct Short Range Communication (DSRC) band to provide very low latency communications required for high speed events, such as collision avoidance, traffic warnings, etc. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may operate on the cellular V2X frequency band to provide the low latency communications described above as well as other cellular communication services. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may operate as a WiFi hotspot (2.4GHz band) and/or provide a connection to one or more cellular networks to provide uplink and downlink communications. The computing device(s) and some or all of the radio frequency circuitry of the RSU may be enclosed in a weatherproof enclosure suitable for outdoor installation, and may include a network interface controller to provide wired (e.g., ethernet) connectivity to a traffic signal controller and/or a backhaul network.

Any RAN node 111 may terminate the air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for the UE 101. In some embodiments, any RAN node 111 may fulfill various logical functions of RAN 110, including but not limited to Radio Network Controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

In an embodiment, the UEs 101 may be configured to communicate with each other or any of the RAN nodes 111 over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance with various communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communication techniques (e.g., for downlink communications) or single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) communication techniques (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communications), using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signal may include a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

In some embodiments, the downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmissions from any RAN node 111 to the UE 101, while uplink transmissions may use similar techniques. The grid may be a time-frequency grid, referred to as a resource grid or time-frequency resource grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink per slot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is common practice for OFDM systems, which makes radio resource allocation intuitive. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds to one OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one time slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in the resource grid is represented as a resource element. Each resource grid includes a plurality of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block comprises a set of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent the minimum amount of resources that can currently be allocated. There are several different physical downlink channels transmitted using such resource blocks.

According to various embodiments, UE 101 and RAN node 111 communicate (e.g., transmit and receive) data over a licensed medium (also referred to as "licensed spectrum" and/or "licensed band") and an unlicensed shared medium (also referred to as "unlicensed spectrum and/or" unlicensed band "). The licensed spectrum may include channels operating in a frequency range of about 400MHz to about 3.8GHz, while the unlicensed spectrum may include a 5GHz band.

To operate in unlicensed spectrum, the UE 101 and RAN node 111 may operate using Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), enhanced LAA (elaa), and/or other elaa (felaa) mechanisms. In these implementations, UE 101 and RAN node 111 may perform one or more known medium sensing operations and/or carrier sensing operations to determine whether one or more channels in the unlicensed spectrum are unavailable or otherwise occupied prior to transmission in the unlicensed spectrum. The medium/carrier sensing operation may be performed according to a Listen Before Talk (LBT) protocol.

LBT is a mechanism in which a device (e.g., UE 101, RAN node 111,112, etc.) senses a medium (e.g., channel or carrier frequency) and transmits when the medium is sensed to be idle (or when a particular channel in the medium is sensed to be unoccupied). The medium sensing operation may include Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) that utilizes at least Energy Detection (ED) to determine whether other signals are present on the channel in order to determine whether the channel is occupied or clear. The LBT mechanism allows the cellular/LAA network to coexist with incumbent systems in unlicensed spectrum and with other LAA networks. ED may include sensing Radio Frequency (RF) energy over an expected transmission band for a period of time and comparing the sensed RF energy to a predetermined or configured threshold.

Generally, an incumbent system in the 5GHz band is a WLAN based on IEEE 802.11 technology. WLANs employ a contention-based channel access mechanism known as carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA). Here, when a WLAN node (e.g., a Mobile Station (MS) such as UE 101, AP 106) intends to transmit, the WLAN node may first perform a CCA prior to the transmission. In addition, a back-off mechanism is used to avoid collisions in the case where more than one WLAN node senses the channel as idle and transmits at the same time. The back-off mechanism may be a counter drawn randomly within the Contention Window Size (CWS) that is exponentially increased when collisions occur and reset to a minimum value when a transmission is successful. The LBT mechanism designed for LAA is somewhat similar to CSMA/CA of WLAN. In some implementations, an LBT procedure for a DL or UL transmission burst including PDSCH or PUSCH transmissions, respectively, may have an LAA contention window of variable length between X and Y extended cca (ecca) slots, where X and Y are minimum and maximum values of a CWS for the LAA. In one example, the minimum CWS for LAA transmission may be 9 microseconds (μ β); however, the size of the CWS and the Maximum Channel Occupancy Time (MCOT) (e.g., transmission bursts) may be based on government regulatory requirements.

The LAA mechanism is established based on the Carrier Aggregation (CA) technique of the LTE-Advanced (LTE-Advanced) system. In CA, each aggregated carrier is referred to as a Component Carrier (CC). The CCs may have bandwidths of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20MHz, and may be aggregated for up to five CCs, and thus, the maximum aggregated bandwidth is 100 MHz. In a Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, the number of aggregated carriers may be different for DL and UL, where the number of UL CCs is equal to or lower than the number of DL component carriers. In some cases, individual CCs may have different bandwidths than other CCs. In a Time Division Duplex (TDD) system, the number of CCs and the bandwidth of each CC are typically the same for DL and UL.

The CA also includes individual serving cells to provide individual CCs. The coverage of the serving cell may be different, e.g., because CCs on different frequency bands will experience different path losses. A primary serving cell or primary cell (PCell) may provide a primary CC for both UL and DL and may handle Radio Resource Control (RRC) and non-access stratum (NAS) related activities. The other serving cells are referred to as secondary cells (scells), and each SCell may provide a separate secondary cc (scc) for both UL and DL. SCCs may be added and removed as needed, while changing the primary CC may require the UE 101 to undergo a handover. In LAA, eLAA, and feLAA, some or all scells may operate in unlicensed spectrum (referred to as "LAA scells"), and the LAA scells are assisted by pcells operating in licensed spectrum. When a UE is configured with more than one LAA SCell, the UE may receive a UL grant on the configured LAA SCell, the UL grant indicating different Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) starting positions within the same subframe.

The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) may carry user data and higher layer signaling to the UE 101. A Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) may carry information on a transport format and resource allocation related to a PDSCH channel, and the like. It may also inform the UE 101 of transport format, resource allocation and H-ARQ (hybrid automatic repeat request) information related to the uplink shared channel. In general, downlink scheduling (allocation of control and shared channel resource blocks to UEs 101b within a cell) may be performed at any RAN node 111 based on channel quality information fed back from any UE 101. The downlink resource allocation information may be sent on a PDCCH for (e.g., allocated to) each UE 101.

The PDCCH may use Control Channel Elements (CCEs) to convey control information. The PDCCH complex-valued symbols may first be organized into quadruplets before mapping to resource elements, which may then be permuted using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. Each PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements called Resource Element Groups (REGs). Four Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of Downlink Control Information (DCI) and channel conditions. Four or more different PDCCH formats with different numbers of CCEs may be defined in LTE (e.g., aggregation level, L ═ 1, 2, 4, or 8).

Some embodiments may use the concept of resource allocation for control channel information, which is an extension of the above-described concept. For example, some embodiments may use an Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. The EPDCCH may be transmitted using one or more Enhanced Control Channel Elements (ECCEs). Similar to the above, each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements referred to as Enhanced Resource Element Groups (EREGs). In some cases, ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs.

The RAN nodes 111 may be configured to communicate with each other via an interface 112. In embodiments where system 100 is an LTE system, interface 112 may be an X2 interface 112. An X2 interface may be defined between two or more RAN nodes 111 (e.g., two or more enbs, etc.) connected to the EPC 120 and/or two enbs connected to the EPC 120. In some implementations, the X2 interfaces may include an X2 user plane interface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). The X2-U may provide a flow control mechanism for user data packets transmitted over the X2 interface and may be used to communicate information about user data transfer between enbs. For example, X2-U may provide specific sequence number information for user data transmitted from a master enb (menb) to a secondary enb (senb); information on successful in-order transmission of PDCP PDUs for user data from the SeNB to the UE 101; information of PDCP PDUs not delivered to the UE 101; information on a current minimum required buffer size at the SeNB for transmitting user data to the UE; and so on. X2-C may provide intra-LTE access mobility functions including context transfer from source eNB to target eNB, user plane transfer control, etc.; a load management function; and an inter-cell interference coordination function.

In embodiments where system 100 is a 5G or NR system, interface 112 may be an Xn interface 112. An Xn interface is defined between two or more RAN nodes 111 (e.g., two or more gnbs, etc.) connected to the 5GC 120, between a RAN node 111 (e.g., a gNB) connected to the 5GC 120 and an eNB, and/or between two enbs connected to the 5GC 120. In some implementations, the Xn interface can include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. The Xn-U can provide unsecured transport of user plane PDUs and support/provide data forwarding and flow control functionality. Xn-C may provide: management and error handling functions; managing the function of the Xn-C interface; mobility support for a UE 101 in CONNECTED mode (e.g., CM-CONNECTED) includes functionality to manage CONNECTED mode UE mobility between one or more RAN nodes 111. Mobility support may include context transfer from the old (source) serving RAN node 111 to the new (target) serving RAN node 111; and control of user plane tunnels between the old (source) serving RAN node 111 and the new (target) serving RAN node 111. The protocol stack of the Xn-U may include a transport network layer established above an Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer and a GTP-U layer above UDP(s) and/or IP layers for carrying user plane PDUs. The Xn-C protocol stack may include an application layer signaling protocol, referred to as the Xn application protocol (Xn-AP), and a transport network layer built over SCTP. SCTP can be located above the IP layer and can provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. In the transport IP layer, point-to-point transport is used to deliver signaling PDUs. In other implementations, the Xn-U protocol stack and/or the Xn-C protocol stack may be the same as or similar to the user plane and/or control plane protocol stack(s) shown and described herein.

RAN 110 is shown communicatively coupled to a core network, in this embodiment, a Core Network (CN) 120. CN 120 may include a plurality of network elements 122 configured to provide various data and telecommunications services to clients/subscribers (e.g., users of UE 101) connected to CN 120 through RAN 110. The term "network element" may describe a physical or virtualized device used to provide wired or wireless communication network services. The term "network element" may be considered synonymous with and/or referred to as: a networking computer, network hardware, network device, router, switch, hub, bridge, radio network controller, radio access network device, gateway, server, Virtualized Network Function (VNF), Network Function Virtualization Infrastructure (NFVI), and/or the like. The components of CN 120 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes, including components that read and execute instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In some embodiments, Network Function Virtualization (NFV) may be used to virtualize any or all of the above network node functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media (described in further detail below). Logical instantiations of the CN 120 may be referred to as network slices, and logical instantiations of a portion of the CN 120 may be referred to as network subslices. The NFV architecture and infrastructure may be used to virtualize one or more network functions or be executed by dedicated hardware onto physical resources including a combination of industry standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches. In other words, the NFV system may be used to perform a virtual or reconfigurable implementation of one or more EPC components/functions.

In general, the application server 130 may be an element that provides applications that use IP bearer resources with a core network (e.g., UMTS Packet Service (PS) domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). The application server 130 may also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., voice over internet protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UE 101 via the EPC 120.

In an embodiment, the CN 120 may be a 5GC (referred to as "5 GC 120" or the like), and the RAN 110 may be connected with the CN 120 via the NG interface 113. In an embodiment, the NG interface 113 may be divided into two parts: a NG user plane (NG-U) interface 114 that carries traffic data between RAN node 111 and User Plane Functions (UPFs); and S1 control plane (NG-C) interface 115, which is the signaling interface between RAN node 111 and the AMF.

In an embodiment, the CN 120 may be a 5G CN (referred to as "5 GC 120," etc.), while in other embodiments, the CN 120 may be an Evolved Packet Core (EPC). In the case where CN 120 is an EPC (referred to as "EPC 120," etc.), RAN 110 may connect with CN 120 via S1 interface 113. In an embodiment, the S1 interface 13 may be divided into two parts: an S1 user plane (S1-U) interface 114, which carries traffic data between the RAN node 111 and the serving gateway (S-GW); and S1-Mobility Management Entity (MME) interface 115, which is a signaling interface between RAN node 111 and the MME.

Fig. 2 illustrates an example architecture of a system 200 including a 5GC 220 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

The system 200 is shown as including: a UE 201, which may be the same as or similar to the UE 101 previously discussed; (R) AN 210, which may be the same as or similar to RAN 110 discussed previously, and which may include RAN node 111 discussed previously; and a Data Network (DN)203, which may be, for example, an operator service, internet access, or third party service; and a 5G core network (5GC or CN) 220.

The 5GC 220 may include an authentication server function (AUSF) 222; an access and mobility management function (AMF) 221; a Session Management Function (SMF) 224; a Network Exposure Function (NEF) 223; a Policy Control Function (PCF) 226; a Network Function (NF) repository function (NRF) 225; unified Data Management (UDM) 227; an Application Function (AF) 228; a User Plane Function (UPF) 202; and a Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) 229.

The UPF 202 may serve as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session interconnect point to the DN 203, and a branch point to support multi-homed PDU sessions. The UPF 202 may also perform packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, perform policy rules for the user plane part, lawful intercept packets (UP aggregation), traffic usage reporting, perform QoS processing on the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL/DL rate enforcement), perform uplink traffic validation (e.g., SDF to QoS traffic mapping), transport level packet marking in uplink and downlink, and downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. The UPF 202 may include an uplink classifier to support routing of traffic flows to a data network. DN 203 may represent various network operator services, internet access, or third party services. DN 203 may include or be similar to application server 130 previously discussed. The UPF 202 may interact with the SMF 224 via an N4 reference point between the SMF 224 and the UPF 202.

The AUSF 222 may store data for authentication of the UE 201 and process authentication related functions. The AUSF 222 may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. The AUSF 222 may communicate with the AMF 221 via an N12 reference point between the AMF 221 and the AUSF 222; and may communicate with UDM 227 via an N13 reference point between UDM 227 and AUSF 222. Additionally, the AUSF 222 may expose a Nausf service based interface.

The AMF 221 may be responsible for registration management (e.g., for registering the UE 201, etc.), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, and lawful interception of AMF-related events, as well as access authentication and authorization. The AMF 221 may be the termination point of the N11 reference point between the AMF 221 and the SMF 224. The AMF 221 may provide transport for Session Management (SM) messages between the UE 201 and the SMF 224 and act as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. The AMF 221 may also provide for transmission of Short Message Service (SMS) messages between the UE 201 and an SMS function (SMSF) (not shown in fig. 2). The AMF 221 may act as a security anchor function (SEA), which may include interactions with the AUSF 222 and the UE 201, receiving intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 201 authentication procedure. In the case of using USIM-based authentication, the AMF 221 may acquire security materials from the AUSF 222. The AMF 221 may also include a Security Context Management (SCM) function that receives keys from the SEA that it uses to derive access network-specific keys. Further, the AMF 221 may be a termination point of the RAN CP interface, which may include or be AN N2 reference point between the (R) AN 211 and the AMF 221; the AMF 221 may be the termination point of NAS (N1) signaling and perform NAS ciphering and integrity protection.

The AMF 221 may also support NAS signaling with the UE 201 through an N3 interworking function (IWF) interface. An N3IWF may be used to provide access to untrusted entities. The N3IWF may be the termination point of the N2 interface between the (R) AN 210 and the AMF 221 for the control plane and may be the termination point of the N3 reference point between the (R) AN 210 and the UPF 202 for the user plane. As such, AMF 221 may process N2 signaling from SMF 224 and AMF 221 for PDU sessions and QoS, encapsulate/decapsulate packets for IPSec and N3 tunneling, label N3 user plane packets in the uplink, and perform QoS corresponding to N3 packet labeling, taking into account QoS requirements associated with such labeling received over N2. The N3IWF may also relay uplink and downlink control plane NAS signaling between the UE 201 and the AMF 221 via the N1 reference point between the UE 201 and the AMF 221, and uplink and downlink user plane packets between the UE 201 and the UPF 202. The N3IWF also provides a mechanism to establish an IPsec tunnel with the UE 201. The AMF 221 may expose a Namf service based interface and may be a termination point of an N14 reference point between two AMFs 221 and an N17 reference point between the AMF 221 and a 5G device identification register (5G-EIR) (not shown in fig. 2).

The UE 201 may need to register with the AMF 221 in order to receive network services. The Registration Management (RM) is used to register or deregister the UE 201 with the network (e.g., the AMF 221) and establish a UE context in the network (e.g., the AMF 221). The UE 201 may operate in an RM registration state or an RM deregistration state. In the RM deregistered state, the UE 201 is not registered with the network and the UE context in the AMF 221 does not maintain valid location or routing information for the UE 201, so the AMF 221 cannot reach the UE 201. In the RM registration state, the UE 201 registers with the network, and the UE context in the AMF 221 may maintain valid location or routing information of the UE 201 so that the UE 201 may be reached by the AMF 221. In the RM registration state, the UE 201 may perform a mobility registration update procedure, perform a periodic registration update procedure triggered by the expiration of a periodic update timer (e.g., to inform the network that the UE 201 is still active), and perform a registration update procedure to update UE capability information or renegotiate protocol parameters with the network, etc.

The AMF 221 may store one or more RM contexts for the UE 201, where each RM context is associated with a particular access to the network. The RM context may be a data structure, database object, etc. that indicates or stores registration status and periodic update timers, etc. for each access type. The AMF 221 may also store a 5GC MM context, which may be the same as or similar to the (E) MM context previously discussed. In various embodiments, AMF 221 may store the CE mode B restriction parameters for UE 201 in the associated MM context or RM context. The AMF 221 may also derive this value from the UE's usage setting parameters already stored in the UE context (and/or MM/RM context) when needed.

The Connection Management (CM) may be used to establish and release a signaling connection between the UE 201 and the AMF 221 through the N1 interface. The signaling connection is used to enable NAS signaling exchange between UE 201 and CN 120 and includes AN Access Network (AN) signaling connection (e.g., RRC connection or UE-N3IWF connection for non-3 GPP) between the UE and the AN and AN N2 connection for UE 201 between the AN (e.g., RAN 210) and AMF 221. The UE 201 may operate in one of two CM states: a CM IDLE (CM-IDLE) mode or a CM CONNECTED (CM-CONNECTED) mode. When the UE 201 is operating in the CM-IDLE state/mode, the UE 201 may not have AN NAS signaling connection established with the AMF 221 over the N1 interface, and there may be AN (R) AN 210 signaling connection (e.g., N2 and/or N3 connection) for the UE 201. When the UE 201 operates in the CM-CONNECTED state/mode, the UE 201 may have AN NAS signaling connection established with the AMF 221 over the N1 interface, and there may be AN (R) AN 210 signaling connection (e.g., N2 and/or N3 connection) for the UE 201. Establishing AN N2 connection between the (R) AN 210 and the AMF 221 may cause the UE 201 to transition from CM-IDLE mode to CM-CONNECTED mode, and when releasing N2 signaling between the (R) AN 210 and the AMF 221, the UE 201 may transition from CM-CONNECTED mode to CM-IDLE mode.

The SMF 224 may be responsible for: session Management (SM) (e.g., session establishment, modification, and release, including tunnel maintenance between UPF and AN nodes); UE IP address assignment and management (including optional authorization); selecting and controlling the UP function; configuring traffic steering at the UPF to route traffic to the correct destination; terminating the interface to the policy control function; controlling a portion of policy enforcement and QoS; lawful interception (for SM events and interface with LI system); NAS message terminating SM part; a downlink data notification; the originator of the AN specific SM message, sent to the AN through N2 via AMF; the SSC pattern for the session is determined. SM may refer to the management of a PDU session, which may refer to a PDU connection service that provides or enables the exchange of PDUs between the UE 201 and a Data Network (DN)203 identified by a Data Network Name (DNN). The PDU session may be established upon request of the UE 201, modified upon request of the UE 201 and 5GC 220, and released upon request of the UE 201 and 5GC 220 using NAS SM signaling exchanged over the N1 reference point between the UE 201 and SMF 224. The 5GC 220 may trigger a specific application in the UE 201 based on a request from an application server. In response to receiving the trigger message, the UE 201 may communicate the trigger message (or related portion/information of the trigger message) to one or more identified applications in the UE 201. The identified application(s) in the UE 201 may establish a PDU session to a particular DNN. The SMF 224 may check whether the UE 201 request conforms to the user subscription information associated with the UE 201. In this regard, the SMF 224 may retrieve and/or request to receive update notifications from the UDM 227 regarding SMF 224 level subscription data.

SMF 224 may include the following roaming functions: processing the local enforcement to apply a QoS SLA (VPLMN); a charging data collection and charging interface (VPLMN); lawful interception (in the interface of VPLMN and LI systems for SM events); interaction with the foreign DN is supported for signaling PDU session authorization/authentication through the foreign DN. An N16 reference point between two SMFs 224 may be included in the system 200, which may be between another SMF 224 in the visited network and the SMF 224 in the home network in a roaming scenario. Additionally, the SMF 224 may expose an Nsmf service based interface.

NEF 223 may provide a means for securely exposing services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third parties, internal exposure/re-exposure, application functions (e.g., AF 228), edge computing or fog computing systems, and the like. In such embodiments, NEF 223 may authenticate, authorize, and/or limit AF. NEF 223 may also translate information exchanged with AF 228 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, the NEF 223 may convert between the AF service identifier and the internal 5GC information. NEF 223 may also receive information from other Network Functions (NFs) based on their exposed capabilities. This information may be stored as structured data in the NEF 223 or in the data storage NF using a standardized interface. The stored information may then be re-exposed by the NEF 223 to other NFs and AFs, and/or used for other purposes, such as analysis. In addition, NEF 223 may expose an interface based on the Nnef service.

NRF 225 may support a service discovery function, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide information of discovered NF instances to NF instances. NRF 225 also maintains information of available NF instances and the services it supports. As used herein, the term "instantiation" or the like may refer to the creation of an instance, and "instance" may refer to the specific occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during execution of program code. Additionally, NRF 225 may expose an interface based on the Nnrf service.

PCF 226 may provide policy rules to control plane function(s) to enforce them, and may also support a unified policy framework to manage network behavior. PCF 226 may also implement a Front End (FE) to access subscription information related to policy decisions in the UDR of UDM 227. PCF 226 may communicate with AMF 221 via an N15 reference point between PCF 226 and AMF 221, which may include PCF 226 in a visited network and AMF 221 in a roaming scenario. PCF 226 may communicate with AF 228 via an N5 reference point between PCF 226 and AF 228; and communicates with the SMF 224 via an N7 reference point between the PCF 226 and the SMF 224. The system 200 and/or CN 120 may also include an N24 reference point between the PCF 226 (in the home network) and the PCF 226 in the visited network. In addition, PCF 226 may expose an interface based on Npcf services.

UDM 227 may process subscription related information to support processing of communication sessions by network entities and may store subscription data for UE 201. For example, subscription data may be transmitted between UDM 227 and AMF 221 over an N8 reference point (not shown in fig. 2) between UDM 227 and AMF 221. UDM 227 may include two parts: an application FE and a User Data Repository (UDR) (the FE and UDR are not shown in fig. 2). The UDR may store subscription data and policy data for UDM 227 and PCF 226, and/or structured data and application data for exposure (including Packet Flow Description (PFD) for application detection, application request information for multiple UEs 201) for NEF 223. UDR 221 may expose an Nudr service-based interface to allow UDM 227, PCF 226 and NEF 223 to access a particular set of stored data, as well as read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete and subscribe to notifications of relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDM may include a UDM FE that is responsible for credential handling, location management, subscription management, and the like. Several different front ends may serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM-FE accesses the subscription information stored in the UDR and executes authentication credential processing; user identification processing; access authorization; registration/mobility management; and subscription management. The UDR may interact with the SMF 224 via the N10 reference point between the UDM 227 and the SMF 224. UDM 227 may also support SMS management, where an SMS-FE implements similar application logic as previously described. In addition, UDM 227 may expose a numm service based interface.

The AF 228 can provide application impacts on traffic routing, access Network Capability Exposure (NCE), and interact with the policy framework for policy control. The NCE may be a mechanism that allows the 5GC 220 and AF 228 to provide information to each other via the NEF 223, which may be used for edge computing implementations. In such implementations, network operator and third party services may be hosted near the UE 201 access connection point to achieve efficient service delivery with reduced end-to-end delay and load on the transport network. For an edge calculation implementation, the 5GC may select a UPF 202 close to the UE 201 and perform traffic steering from the UPF 202 to the DN 203 via the N6 interface. This may be based on UE subscription data, UE location and information provided by the AF 228. In this way, the AF 228 may affect UPF (re) selection and traffic routing. Based on operator deployment, the network operator may allow the AF 228 to interact directly with the relevant NFs when the AF 228 is considered a trusted entity. In addition, the AF 228 may expose a Naf service-based interface.

NSSF 229 may select a set of network slice instances that serve UE 201. NSSF 229 may also determine allowed Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (NSSAI) and a mapping to a single NSSAI (S-NSSAI) of the subscription, if needed. The NSSF 229 may also determine a set of AMFs or a list of candidate AMFs 221 for serving the UE 201 based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRF 225. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 201 may be triggered by the AMF 221 (which registers the UE 201 by interacting with the NSSF 229), which may result in a change in the AMF 221. NSSF 229 may interact with AMF 221 via the N22 reference point between AMF 221 and NSSF 229; and may communicate with another NSSF 229 in the visited network over an N31 reference point (not shown in fig. 2). Additionally, NSSF 229 may expose an interface based on the NSSF service.

As previously described, the 5GC 220 may include an SMSF, which may be responsible for SMS subscription checking and verification, and relaying SM messages to/from the UE 201 from/to other entities, such as an SMS-GMSC/IWMSC/SMS router. The SMS may also interact with AMF 221 and UDM 227 for notification procedures that UE 201 may use for SMS delivery (e.g., set a UE unreachable flag, and notify UDM 227 when UE 201 is available for SMS).

The 5GC 220 may also include other elements not shown in fig. 2, such as a data storage system/architecture, a 5G device identity register (5G-EIR), a Secure Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), and so on. The data storage system may include a structured data storage network function (SDSF), an unstructured data storage network function (UDSF), and so forth. Any NF may store unstructured data into or retrieve unstructured data (e.g., UE context) from the UDSF via the N18 reference point (not shown in fig. 2) between any NF and the UDSF. The individual NFs may share a UDSF for storing their respective unstructured data, or the individual NFs may each have their own UDSF located at or near the individual NFs. Additionally, the UDSF may expose an interface based on the Nudsf service (not shown in fig. 2). The 5G-EIR may be a NF that checks the status of a permanent device identifier (PEI) to determine if a particular device/entity is blacklisted from the network; the SEPP may be a non-transparent proxy that performs topology hiding, message filtering and policing on the inter-PLMN control plane interface.

Additionally, there may be more reference points and/or service-based interfaces between NF services in the NF; however, these interfaces and reference points are omitted from FIG. 2 for clarity. In one example, the 5GC 220 may include an Nx interface, which is an inter-CN interface between the MME and the AMF 221, in order to implement interworking between the EPC and the 5GC 220. Other example interfaces/references these points may include an N5G-EIR service based interface exposed by 5G-EIR, an N27 reference point between the NRF in the visited network and the NRF in the home network; and an N31 reference point between the NSSF in the visited network and the NSSF in the home network.

In case of edge computing deployment for 5G systems, UE mobility and application server relocation need to be considered when designing a solution for optimal deployment of edge solutions. For example, when a serving EAS becomes congested or is in a deactivated state, another EAS may replace the serving EAS to serve the UE. In this case, the local DN identified by the Data Network Access Identifier (DNAI) may not be changed, but the IP address of the serving EAS may be changed because the serving EAS has changed. As another example, when a UE moves across a 5G system, the UE location may change, and this may imply a change in the IP address serving the EAS. In this case, the local DN identified by the DNAI may also change depending on the location of the UE to better serve the UE.

In the present disclosure, it is proposed to handle changes in serving EAS to support UE-unaware seamless EAS changes by: functions such as Network Address Translation (NAT) are configured according to AF impact content information that the AF advertises in response to a change in the serving EAS. This NAT function may be referred to as an edge computing NAT (EC-NAT) function and may be implemented in the user plane of the PDU session.

In 3GPP Rel-16TS 23.502, a procedure for maintaining an efficient user plane path between AF and SMF has been described. In particular, the AF may send an AF request to influence SMF routing decisions for user plane traffic of the PDU session. The AF request may affect UPF selection or reselection and allow user traffic to be routed to the local DN identified by the target DNAI.

The process described in 3GPP Rel-16TS 23.502 for processing AF requests to affect user traffic routing may be used in embodiments of the present disclosure to allow the SMF to obtain AF impact information from the AF and update the EC-NAT function with the AF impact information to enable UE-unaware EAS IP address replacement. On the other hand, the AF request from the AF needs to include an additional information element related to EAS IP address replacement.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, EAS IP address replacement for sessions not identified by the UE IP address may be achieved by including the following additional information elements in the AF request:

replaced EAS IP address: this may be an IP address, a list of IP addresses, or a range of IP addresses. This may be, for example, the IP address of the source EAS that the UE discovered during the EAS discovery process. The source EAS may be an anchor EAS (anchor EAS) for a predefined area or the entire network of the operator. From the UE perspective, this IP address does not change during the lifetime of the PDU session. Thus, the PDU session does not require the EAS to be rediscovered.

One or more replacement EAS IP addresses for each DNAI: for each target DNAI that identifies a local DN to which outgoing traffic is to be routed, the AF may provide an IP address of one or more EAS in the local DN that will replace the source EAS currently serving the UE to serve the UE.

Thus, in order to implement EAS IP address replacement in response to a change in the serving EAS, the AF request created by the AF may contain the information elements shown in table 1 below, where the bold information element is added to implement EAS IP address replacement and the other information elements are existing information elements defined in 3GPP Rel-16TS 23.501.

TABLE 1 information elements contained in AF requests

A procedure for processing and communicating AF requests to affect traffic routing for sessions not identified by the UE address as described in section 4.3.6.2 of 3GPP Rel-16TS 23.502 is shown in fig. 3. This process may be used to process and communicate AF requests between AF and SMF to implement EAS IP address replacement, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

In the procedure shown in fig. 3, it is noted that the 5GC functions are assumed to all belong to the same PLMN (HPLMN in the non-roaming case, VPLMN in the case of PDU sessions in LBO mode) and do not support service operations invoked from AFs located at the HPLMN for local breakout (local breakout) and home routing (home routed) roaming scenarios, such as Nnef traffic _ Create or Nnef traffic _ Update or Nnef traffic _ Delete.

As shown in fig. 3, to Create a new request, the AF may invoke an Nnef _ trafficinfiluence _ Create service operation. The content of the service operation (AF request) is defined in section 5.2.6.7 of 3GPP Rel-16TS 23.502. The AF request may also contain an AF transaction (transaction) ID. In case the AF subscribes to an event related to a PDU session, the AF may also indicate where it wishes to receive a corresponding notification (AF notification report information).

In addition, to Update or remove an existing request, the AF may invoke an Nnef _ trafficinfiffice _ Update or an Nnef _ trafficinfiffice _ Delete service operation by providing the corresponding AF transaction ID.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, an AF request created or updated by an AF may include information elements as shown in table 1 above.

Next, the AF may send an AF request to the NEF. If the request is sent directly from the AF to the PCF, the AF can reach the PCF selected for the existing PDU session by configuration or by calling the Nbsf _ management _ Discovery service.

The NEF can ensure necessary authorization control including restriction on AF request and mapping of information provided by AF to information required for 5GC as described in section 4.3.6.1 of 3GPP Rel-16TS 23.502, and can respond to AF.

In case the Nnef _ trafficlnflux _ Create or the Nnef _ trafficlnflux _ Update service operation is invoked by the AF, the NEF may store the AF request information in the UDR (data set application data, data subset AF traffic impact request information, data key AF transaction internal ID, S-NSSAI and DNN and/or internal group identifier or subscription permanent identifier (SUPI)).

It should be noted that the AF transaction internal ID, as well as S-NSSAI and DNN and/or internal group identifier or SUPI, may be considered as data keys when the AF request information is stored into the UDR.

In case the Nnef _ trafficinfilue _ Delete service operation is invoked by the AF, the NEF may Delete the AF requirement in the UDR (data set — application data, data subset — AF traffic impact request information, data key — AF transaction internal ID).

Then, a PCF that has subscribed to modifications on the AF request (data set-application data, data subset-AF service impact request information, data keys-S-NSSAI and DNN and/or internal group identifier or SUPI) may receive a nurr _ DM _ Notify notification from the UDR on the data change.

The PCF may determine whether the existing PDU session may be affected by the AF request. For each of these PDU sessions, the PCF may update the SMF with new Policy and Charging Control (PCC) rules by invoking an Npcf _ SMPolicyControl _ UpdateNotify service operation, as described in section 4.16.5 of 3GPP Rel-16TS 23.502.

If the AF request includes a notification report request for a UP path change, the PCF may include in the PCC rule the information needed to report the event, including a notification target address pointing to the NEF or AF and a notification correlation ID containing the AF transaction internal ID.

Upon receiving the PCC rules from the PCF, the SMF may take appropriate actions to reconfigure the user plane of the PDU session. These actions may include: adding, replacing or deleting UPFs in the data path, e.g., acting as UL CLs or branch points; assigning a new prefix to the UE (when IPv6 multi-homing applications); updating the UPF in the target DNAI by using the new business control rule; the notifications from the AMF for the region of interest are subscribed to by a Namf _ EventExposure _ Subscribe service operation.

In addition to the above actions, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the SMF may update the EC-NAT function located in the user plane of the PDU session according to the added AF impact content information in table 1 above for EAS IP address replacement. Specifically, the added AF influence content information may include: an IP address of a source EAS currently serving the UE, and an IP address of a target EAS configured to serve the UE in place of the source EAS and located in a local DN identified by each target DNAI. Thus, the SMF may update the EC-NAT function to replace the IP address of the source EAS with the IP address of the target EAS for each target DNAI. In other words, for each target DNAI, the SMF may transmit the IP address of the source EAS and the IP address of the target EAS configured to replace the source EAS to service the UE to the EC-NAT function, and then the EC-NAT function may implement the EAS IP address replacement. As shown in table 1, the AF influence content information may include possible locations of the application, which are represented by a list of DNAIs. In other words, the AF influence content information may include a list of DNAIs, and the target DNAI described herein may be any DNAI in the list of DNAIs.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the EC-NAT function may be a separate functional entity implemented in the user plane. Alternatively, the EC-NAT function may be implemented in an existing UPF, such as an uplink classifier or a branch point UPF or a PDU session anchor UPF.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, for example, for load balancing purposes, the AF may move traffic of some UEs from a source EAS in the same local DN identified by a specified DNAI to a target EAS; for another example, when a source EAS currently serving a UE is in an abnormal condition, the AF may move traffic of all UEs served by the source EAS to a target EAS in the same local DN.

In an embodiment, the AF may trigger an EAS migration for a particular UE by transmitting an AF request to the SMF to affect traffic routing for the session identified by the IP address of the particular UE. Thus, in addition to the AF influence content information shown in table 1 above, the AF request may also include the following AF influence content information: a list of IP addresses and port numbers of one or more UEs whose traffic is to be moved from a source EAS to a target EAS in the same local DN identified by a specified DNAI; an IP address of the source EAS; and the IP address of the target EAS.

Specifically, the AF request created by the AF may contain the information elements shown in table 2 below, where the bold information element is added for EAS IP address replacement, and the other information elements are existing information elements defined in 3GPP Rel-16TS 23.501.

Table 2 information elements contained in AF request

As shown in table 2, the AF impact content information may include a list of IP addresses and port numbers of one or more UEs whose traffic is to be moved from a source EAS in the same local DN to a target EAS. In this case, the AF may trigger an EAS migration for one or more UEs identified by the list of UE IP addresses and port numbers. In some embodiments of the disclosure, the list of UE IP addresses and port numbers may not be included in the AF request. In this case, the traffic of all UEs currently being served by the source EAS will be moved to be served by the target EAS, and these UEs may be identified by the list of target UE identifiers contained in the AF request.

A procedure for handling an AF request for an individual UE address and communicating the AF request to the relevant PCF as described in section 4.3.6.4 of 3GPP Rel-16TS 23.502 is shown in fig. 4. This process may be used to process and transmit AF requests to implement AF triggered EAS migration for a particular UE, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 4, according to AF deployment, the AF may send an AF request to the PCF, either directly or through the NEF. If the AF sends an AF request through the NEF, the AF may send a Nnef _ trafficinflexince _ Create/Update/Delete request for individual UE addresses to the NEF. The request may correspond to an AF request to affect traffic routing for individual UE addresses. When the NEF receives an AF request from the AF, the NEF can ensure necessary authorization control including restriction on the AF request and mapping of information provided from the AF to information required for 5GC as described in section 4.3.6.1 of 3GPP Rel-16TS 23.502, and the NEF can respond to the AF.

If the IP address of the relevant PCF is not available on NEF based on the local configuration, the AF or NEF can operate using the Nbsf _ Management _ Discovery service and provide at least the IP address of the particular UE to find the IP address of the relevant PCF. The AF or NEF may find the relevant Binding Support Function (BSF) based on local configuration or using NRF. The BSF may provide the IP address of the PCF to the AF or NEF in an Nbsf _ Management _ Discovery response.

If the AF delivers the AF request to the PCF through the NEF, the NEF may invoke an Npcf _ PolicyAuthorization (Npcf _ policy authorization) service operation to deliver the AF request to the PCF. If the AF sends the AF request directly to the PCF, the AF may invoke the Npcf _ PolicyAuthorization service operation, and the PCF may respond to the AF.

The PCF may update the SMF with the corresponding new PCC rule using the PCF-initiated SM policy association modification procedure described in section 4.16.5.2 of 3GPP Rel-16TS 23.502. Upon receiving the PCC rules from the PCF, the SMF may take appropriate action (if applicable) to reconfigure the user plane of the PDU session. These actions may include: adding, replacing or deleting UPFs in the data path, e.g., acting as UL CLs or branch points; assigning a new prefix to the UE (when IPv6 multi-homing applications); updating the UPF in the target DNAI by using the new business control rule; the notifications from the AMF for the region of interest are subscribed to by the Namf _ EventExposure _ Subscribe service operation.

In addition to the above actions, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the SMF may update the EC-NAT function located in the user plane of the PDU session according to the added AF impact content information in table 2 above for EAS IP address replacement.

Specifically, the added AF influence content information may include: an IP address of a source EAS currently serving the UE; an IP address of a target EAS configured to serve the UE in place of the source EAS and located in a local DN identified by each target DNAI; a list of IP addresses and port numbers of one or more UEs whose traffic is to be moved from a source EAS to a target EAS in the same local DN identified by a designated DNAI; an IP address of the source EAS for the specified DNAI; and an IP address of the target EAS for the specified DNAI.

Thus, the SMF may update the EC-NAT function to replace the IP address of the source EAS with the IP address of the target EAS for each target DNAI and to replace the IP address of the source EAS with the IP address of the target EAS for the specified DNAI and the particular UE. A particular UE may be identified by a list of UE IP addresses and port numbers.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the added AF impact content information may not include a list of UE IP addresses and port numbers. In this case, the traffic of all UEs currently being served by the source EAS will be moved to be served by the target EAS and these UEs may be identified by the list of target UE identifiers contained in the AF request as defined in 3GPP Rel-16TS 23.501.

In other words, for each target DNAI, the SMF may send the IP address of the source EAS and the IP address of the target EAS configured to replace the source EAS to serve the UE to the EC-NAT function; and for a specified DNAI, the SMF may send to the EC-NAT function the IP address of the source EAS currently serving the particular UE identified by the list of target UE identifiers or the list of UE IP addresses and port numbers, and the IP address of the target EAS located in the same local DN as the source EAS and configured to replace the source EAS to serve the particular UE. The EC-NAT function may then implement EAS IP address replacement based on the information received from the SMF.

In general, in embodiments of the present disclosure, UE-unaware EAS IP address replacement may be achieved by using modified AF requests including additional information elements as shown in tables 1 and 2 of the present disclosure and existing procedures for processing and communicating AF requests to affect user traffic routing as described in 3GPP Rel-16TS 23.502. The UE unaware EAS IP address replacement may involve the following network entities: AF, NEF, PCF, BSF, SMF and EC-NAT. Operations associated with EAS IP address replacement at AF, SMF and EC-NAT will be described below with reference to fig. 5-7, respectively.

Figure 5 illustrates a diagram showing operations associated with EAS IP address replacement at an AF unknown to a UE in a CN in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 5, the AF may perform operations 510 and 520 to allow EAS IP address replacement without the UE knowing.

At operation 510, the AF may encode AF impact content information in the AF request in response to a change in the EAS serving the UE.

At operation 520, the AF may transmit an AF request to a PCF in the CN that is subscribed to modifications of the AF impact content information.

The AF influence content information may include: a list of DNAIs, an internet protocol IP address of a first source EAS currently serving the UE, and an IP address of a first target EAS configured to serve the UE in place of the first source EAS and located in a local DN identified by each DNAI in the list of DNAIs.

The AF may send an AF request to the NEF in the CN. The NEF may be configured to store the AF impact content information in a UDR in the CN, and the UDR may be configured to notify the PCF of the modification of the AF impact content information.

The AF influence content information may further include: a list of IP addresses and port numbers of one or more UEs whose traffic is to be moved from a second source EAS to a second target EAS in the same local DN identified by the designated DNAI; an IP address of the second source EAS; and an IP address of the second target EAS. The AF may interact with the BSF based on the list of IP addresses and port numbers of the one or more UEs to obtain an IP address of a related PCF associated with the PDU session of the one or more UEs; and transmits the AF request to the relevant PCF.

The AF influence content information may further include: a list of target UE identifiers; an IP address of a third source EAS currently serving one or more UEs identified by the target UE identifier; and an IP address of a third target EAS, the third target EAS located in the same local DN identified by the designated DNAI as the third source EAS, and the third target EAS configured to replace the third source EAS to serve the one or more UEs. The AF may interact with the BSF based on the list of target UE identifiers to obtain IP addresses of related PCFs associated with PDU sessions of one or more UEs; and transmits the AF request to the relevant PCF.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first source EAS, the second source EAS, and the third source EAS may be anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

Figure 6 illustrates a diagram showing operations associated with EAS IP address replacement blinded by the UE at an SMF in the CN according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 6, the SMF may perform operations 610 and 620 to allow EAS IP address replacement without the UE knowing.

At operation 610, the SMF may decode the PCC rule received from the PCF in the CN, which subscribed to the AF in the CN to modify the AF impact content information. The AF influence content information may include: a list of DNAIs, an IP address of a first source EAS currently serving the user equipment UE, and an IP address of a first target EAS configured to serve the UE in place of the first source EAS and located in a local data network DN identified by each DNAI in the list of DNAIs.

At operation 620, the SMF may update the EC-NAT function according to the AF impact content information to replace the IP address of the first source EAS with the IP address of the first target EAS for each DNAI in the list of DNAIs.

The AF influence content information may further include: a list of IP addresses and port numbers of one or more UEs whose traffic is to be moved from a second source EAS to a second target EAS in the same local DN identified by the designated DNAI; an IP address of the second source EAS; and an IP address of the second target EAS. The SMF may update the EC-NAT function to replace the IP address of the second source EAS with the IP address of the second target EAS for the specified DNAI and one or more UEs identified by the list of IP addresses and port numbers according to the AF impact content information.

The AF influence content information may further include: a list of target UE identifiers; an IP address of a third source EAS currently serving one or more UEs identified by the list of target UE identifiers; and an IP address of a third target EAS, the third target EAS located in the same local DN identified by the designated DNAI as the third source EAS, and the third target EAS configured to replace the third source EAS to serve the one or more UEs. The SMF may update the EC-NAT function based on the AF impact content information to replace the IP address of the third source EAS with the IP address of the third target EAS for the specified DNAI and one or more UEs identified by the list of target UE identifiers.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first source EAS, the second source EAS, and the third source EAS may be anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

Fig. 7 illustrates a diagram showing operations associated with UE-unaware EAS IP address replacement at an EC-NAT function according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 7, the EC-NAT function may perform operations 710 and 720 to allow EAS IP address replacement to be implemented without the UE knowing.

At operation 710, the EC-NAT function may decode AF-affecting content information received from the SMF in the CN. The AF influence content information may include: a list of DNAIs, an IP address of a first source EAS currently serving the UE, and an IP address of a first target EAS configured to serve the UE in place of the first source EAS and located in a local data network DN identified by each DNAI in the list of DNAIs.

At operation 720, the EC-NAT function may replace the IP address of the first source EAS with the IP address of the first target EAS for each DNAI in the list of DNAIs.

The AF influence content information may further include: a list of IP addresses and port numbers of one or more UEs whose traffic is to be moved from a second source EAS to a second target EAS in the same local DN identified by the designated DNAI; an IP address of the second source EAS; and an IP address of the second target EAS. The EC-NAT function may replace the IP address of the second source EAS with the IP address of the second target EAS for the specified DNAI and the one or more UEs identified by the list of IP addresses and port numbers.

The AF influence content information may further include: a list of target UE identifiers; an IP address of a third source EAS currently serving one or more UEs identified by the list of target UE identifiers; and an IP address of a third target EAS, the third target EAS located in the same local DN identified by the designated DNAI as the third source EAS, and the third target EAS configured to replace the third source EAS to serve the one or more UEs. The EC-NAT function may replace the IP address of the third source EAS with the IP address of the third target EAS for the specified DNAI and the one or more UEs identified by the list of target UE identifiers.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first source EAS, the second source EAS, and the third source EAS may be anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

Fig. 8 illustrates example components of a device 800 according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, device 800 may include application circuitry 802, baseband circuitry 804, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 806, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 808, one or more antennas 810, and Power Management Circuitry (PMC)812 coupled together at least as shown. The illustrated components of the apparatus 800 may be included in a UE or AN. In some embodiments, the apparatus 800 may include fewer elements (e.g., the AN may not use the application circuitry 802, but rather include a processor/controller to process IP data received from the EPC). In some embodiments, device 800 may include additional elements, such as memory/storage devices, displays, cameras, sensors, or input/output (I/O) interfaces. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., for a Cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementation, the circuitry may be included separately in more than one device).

The application circuitry 802 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry 802 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to: one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor(s) may include any combination of general-purpose processors and special-purpose processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processor may be coupled with or may include memory/storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications and/or operating systems to run on the device 800. In some embodiments, the processor of the application circuitry 802 may process IP packets received from the EPC.

Baseband circuitry 804 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to: one or more single-core or multi-core processors. Baseband circuitry 804 may include one or more baseband processors or control logic to process baseband signals received from the receive signal path of RF circuitry 806 and to generate baseband signals for the transmit signal path of RF circuitry 806. Baseband processing circuits 804 may interface with application circuits 802 to generate and process baseband signals and control operation of RF circuits 806. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 804 may include a third generation (3G) baseband processor 804A, a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 804B, a fifth generation (5G) baseband processor 804C, or other baseband processor(s) 804D for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., sixth generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuitry 804 (e.g., one or more of the baseband processors 804A-D) may handle various radio control functions that support communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 806. In other embodiments, some or all of the functions of the baseband processors 804A-D may be included in modules stored in the memory 804G and may be performed via a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 804E. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to: signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, the modulation/demodulation circuitry of baseband circuitry 804 may include Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, and/or constellation mapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments, the encoding/decoding circuitry of baseband circuitry 804 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi (Viterbi), and/or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functions are not limited to these examples, and other suitable functions may be included in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 804 may include one or more audio Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) 804F. The audio DSP(s) 804F may include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation, and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. In some embodiments, components of the baseband circuitry may be combined as appropriate in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on the same circuit board. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 804 and the application circuitry 802 may be implemented together, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 804 may provide communications compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, baseband circuitry 804 may support communication with an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN) or other Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 804 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

The RF circuitry 806 may support communication with a wireless network using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 806 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, and the like to facilitate communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry 806 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from FEM circuitry 808 and provide baseband signals to baseband circuitry 804. RF circuitry 806 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by baseband circuitry 804 and provide an RF output signal to FEM circuitry 808 for transmission.

In some embodiments, the receive signal path of RF circuitry 806 may include mixer circuitry 806a, amplifier circuitry 806b, and filter circuitry 806 c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of RF circuitry 806 may include filter circuitry 806c and mixer circuitry 806 a. The RF circuitry 806 may also include synthesizer circuitry 806d for synthesizing frequencies for use by the mixer circuitry 806a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 806a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 808 based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 806 d. The amplifier circuit 806b may be configured to amplify the downconverted signal, and the filter circuit 806c may be a Low Pass Filter (LPF) or a Band Pass Filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the downconverted signal to generate an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal may be provided to baseband circuitry 804 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signal may be a zero frequency baseband signal, but this is not required. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 806a of the receive signal path may comprise a passive mixer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 806a of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert the input baseband signal based on a synthesis frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 806d to generate an RF output signal for the FEM circuitry 808. The baseband signal may be provided by baseband circuitry 804 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 806 c.

In some embodiments, mixer circuit 806a of the receive signal path and mixer circuit 806a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and/or up-conversion, respectively.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 806a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 806a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 806a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 806a of the transmit signal path may be arranged for direct down-conversion and/or direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 806a of the receive signal path and mixer circuit 806a of the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, the RF circuitry 806 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry, and the baseband circuitry 804 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry 806.

In some dual-mode embodiments, separate radio IC circuitry may be provided to process signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 806d may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional-N/N +1 synthesizer, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuit 806d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase locked loop with a frequency divider.

The synthesizer circuit 806d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuit 806a of the RF circuit 806 based on the frequency input and the divider control input. In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 806d may be a fractional-N/N +1 type synthesizer.

In some embodiments, the frequency input may be provided by a Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO), but this is not required. The divider control input may be provided by the baseband circuitry 804 or the application processor 802 depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on the channel indicated by the application processor 802.

Synthesizer circuit 806d of RF circuit 806 may include a frequency divider, a Delay Locked Loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual-mode divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a Digital Phase Accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide an input signal by N or N +1 (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, a DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to decompose the VCO period into at most Nd equal phase groups, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this manner, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 806d may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used with a quadrature generator and divider circuit to generate a plurality of signals having a plurality of different phases from one another at the carrier frequency. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be the LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 806 may include an IQ/polarity converter.

FEM circuitry 808 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 810, amplify the received signals, and provide amplified versions of the received signals to RF circuitry 806 for further processing. FEM circuitry 808 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify signals provided by RF circuitry 806 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 810. In various embodiments, amplification through either the transmit signal path or the receive signal path may be done only in RF circuitry 806, only in FEM 808, or both RF circuitry 806 and FEM 808.

In some embodiments, FEM circuitry 808 may include TX/RX switches to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry may include a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) to amplify the received RF signal and provide the amplified received RF signal as an output (e.g., to RF circuitry 806). The transmit signal path of FEM circuitry 808 may include a Power Amplifier (PA) to amplify an input RF signal (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 806) and one or more filters to generate an RF signal for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 810).

In some embodiments, PMC 812 may manage power provided to baseband circuitry 804. Specifically, PMC 812 may control power selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion. PMC 812 may generally be included when device 800 is capable of being powered by a battery, for example, when the device is included in a UE. PMC 812 may improve power conversion efficiency while providing desired implementation size and heat dissipation characteristics.

Although figure 8 shows PMC 812 coupled only to baseband circuitry 804. However, in other embodiments, PMC 812 may additionally or alternatively be coupled with and perform similar power management operations on other components, such as, but not limited to, application circuitry 802, RF circuitry 806, or FEM 808.

In some embodiments, PMC 812 may control or otherwise be part of various power saving mechanisms of device 800. For example, if the device 800 is in an RRC _ Connected state where the device 800 is still Connected to the RAN node when it expects to receive traffic soon, then after a period of inactivity it may enter a state called discontinuous reception mode (DRX). During this state, the device 800 may be powered down for a brief interval of time, thereby saving power.

If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, the device 800 may transition to an RRC _ Idle state in which the device 800 is disconnected from the network and no operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. are performed. The device 800 enters a very low power state and performs paging, where the device 800 again periodically wakes up to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device 800 may not receive data in this state and it may transition back to the RRC Connected state in order to receive data.

The additional power-save mode may allow the device to be unavailable to the network for a period longer than the paging interval (ranging from a few seconds to a few hours). During this time, the device is completely unable to access the network and may be completely powered down. Any data transmitted during this period will incur a significant delay and the delay is assumed to be acceptable.

A processor of the application circuitry 802 and a processor of the baseband circuitry 804 may be used to execute elements of one or more instances of a protocol stack. For example, a processor of the baseband circuitry 804, alone or in combination, may be configured to perform layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functions, while a processor of the application circuitry 804 may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received from these layers and further perform layer 4 functions (e.g., Transmission Communication Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) layers). As mentioned herein, layer 3 may include an RRC layer. As referred to herein, layer 2 may include a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer. As referred to herein, layer 1 may comprise the Physical (PHY) layer of the UE/RAN node.

Fig. 9 illustrates an example of an infrastructure device 900 according to various embodiments. Infrastructure device 900 (or "system 900") may be implemented as a base station, a radio head, a RAN node, etc., such as RAN nodes 111 and 112 and/or AP106 shown and described previously. In other examples, system 900 may be implemented in or by a UE, application server(s) 130, and/or any other elements/devices discussed herein. The system 900 may include one or more of the following: application circuitry 905, baseband circuitry 910, one or more radio front-end modules 915, memory 920, Power Management Integrated Circuits (PMICs) 925, power three-way circuitry 930, network controller 935, network interface connector 940, satellite positioning circuitry 945, and user interface 950. In some embodiments, device 900 may include additional elements, such as memory/storage, a display, a camera, sensors, or input/output (I/O) interface elements. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., for a cloud RAN (C-RAN) implementation, the circuitry may be included separately in more than one device).

As used herein, the term "circuitry" may refer to, be part of, or include hardware components such as the following configured to provide the described functionality: electronic circuits, logic circuits, processors (shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memories (shared, dedicated, or group), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), field-programmable devices (FPDs) (e.g., field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), complex PLDs (complex PLDs, CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), structured ASICs, or System on Chip (socs)), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), and so forth. In some embodiments, the circuitry may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the described functionality. Furthermore, the term "circuitry" may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements (or circuitry used in an electrical or electronic system) and program code for performing the functions of the program code. In these embodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a particular type of circuitry.

The terms "application circuitry" and/or "baseband circuitry" may be considered synonymous with "processor circuitry" and may be referred to as "processor circuitry". As used herein, the term "processor circuit" may refer to, be part of, or include circuitry that: the circuit is capable of sequentially and automatically performing a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations; and recording, storing and/or transmitting digital data. The term "processor circuit" may refer to one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, physical Central Processing Units (CPUs), single-core processors, dual-core processors, tri-core processors, quad-core processors, and/or any other device capable of executing or otherwise manipulating computer-executable instructions, such as program code, software modules, and/or functional processes.

The application circuitry 905 may include one or more Central Processing Unit (CPU) cores and one or more of: cache memory, low drop-out (LDO) regulator, interrupt controller, a device such as SPI, I2C, or a general purpose programmable serial interface moduleA Serial Interface, a Real Time Clock (RTC), a timer-counter including interval and watchdog timers, a Universal input/output (I/O or IO), a memory card controller such as a Secure Digital (SD)/multimedia card (MMC), a Universal Serial Bus (USB) Interface, a Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) Interface, and a Joint Test Access Group (JTAG) Test Access port. By way of example, the application circuit 905 may include one or more Intels

Or

A processor; ultramicron semiconductor (Advanced Micro Devices, AMD)

A processor, an Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), or

A processor; and so on. In some embodiments, system 900 may not utilize application circuitry 905, but may instead include, for example, a dedicated processor/controller to process IP data received from the EPC or 5 GC.

Additionally or alternatively, the application circuitry 905 may include circuitry such as (but not limited to) the following: one or more Field Programmable Devices (FPDs), such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), etc.; programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), such as complex PLDs (cplds), high capacity PLDs (hcplds), and the like; ASICs, such as structured ASICs and the like; programmable soc (psoc); and so on. In such embodiments, the circuitry of the application circuitry 905 may comprise a logic block or logic architecture, including other interconnected resources, that may be programmed to perform various functions, such as the processes, methods, functions, etc. of the various embodiments discussed herein. In such embodiments, the circuitry of the application circuit 905 may include a storage unit (e.g., an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a flash memory, a static memory (e.g., Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), an antifuse, etc.) for storing logic blocks, logic architectures, data, etc. in a lookup table (LUT), and so on.

The baseband circuitry 910 may be implemented, for example, as a solder-in substrate including one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Although not shown, baseband circuitry 910 may include one or more digital baseband systems, which may be coupled to a CPU subsystem, an audio subsystem, and an interface subsystem via an interconnect subsystem. The digital baseband subsystem may also be coupled to the digital baseband interface and the mixed signal baseband subsystem via additional interconnect subsystems. Each interconnection subsystem may include a bus system, a point-to-point connection, a Network On Chip (NOC) fabric, and/or some other suitable bus or interconnection technology, such as those discussed herein. The audio subsystem may include digital signal processing circuitry, buffer memory, program memory, voice processing accelerator circuitry, data converter circuitry such as analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converter circuitry, analog circuitry including one or more amplifiers and filters, and/or other similar components. In an aspect of the disclosure, the baseband circuitry 910 may include protocol processing circuitry having one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for digital baseband circuitry and/or radio frequency circuitry (e.g., radio front end module 915).

The user interface circuitry 950 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with the system 900 or peripheral component interfaces designed to enable interaction with peripheral components of the system 900. The user interface may include, but is not limited to, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), one or more indicators (e.g., a Light Emitting Diode (LED)), a physical keyboard or keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touch screen, a speaker or other audio emitting device, a microphone, a printer, a scanner, a headset, a display screen or display device, and so forth. The peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power supply interface, and the like.

The Radio Front End Module (RFEM)915 may include a millimeter wave RFEM and one or more sub-millimeter wave Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more sub-millimeter wave RFICs may be physically separate from the millimeter wave RFEM. The RFIC may include a connection to one or more antennas or antenna arrays, and the RFEM may be connected to multiple antennas. In alternative implementations, both millimeter-wave and sub-millimeter-wave radio functions may be implemented in the same physical radio front end module 915. RFEM 915 may include both millimeter wave and sub-millimeter wave antennas.

The memory circuitry 920 may include one or more of the following: volatile memory including Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) and/or Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM); and nonvolatile memory (NVM), including high speed electrically erasable memory (often referred to as flash memory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory (MRAM), and the like, and may include data from one or more of the above-mentioned sources

And

a three-dimensional (3D) cross point (XPOINT) memory. Memory circuit 920 may be implemented as one or more of a solder-in package integrated circuit, a socket memory module, and a plug-in memory card.

The PMIC 925 may include a voltage regulator, a surge protector, a power alarm detection circuit, and one or more backup power sources such as batteries or capacitors. The power alarm detection circuit may detect one or more of power down (under voltage) and surge (over voltage) conditions. Power tee circuit 930 may provide power drawn from a network cable to provide both power supply and data connectivity to infrastructure device 900 using a single cable.

The network controller circuit 935 may provide connectivity to the network using a standard network interface protocol such as ethernet, GRE tunnel based ethernet, Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) based ethernet, or some other suitable protocol. Network connectivity may be provided to/from infrastructure device 900 via network interface connector 940 using a physical connection, which may be electrical (commonly referred to as a "copper interconnect"), optical, or wireless. Network controller circuit 935 may include one or more special purpose processors and/or FPGAs to communicate using one or more of the above-described protocols. In some implementations, the network controller circuit 935 may include multiple controllers to provide connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

Positioning circuitry 945 may include circuitry to receive and decode signals transmitted by one or more constellations of navigation satellites of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Examples of a Navigation Satellite Constellation (or GNSS) may include the Global Positioning System (GPS) in the united states, the Global Navigation System (GLONASS) in russia, the galileo System in the european union, the beidou Navigation Satellite System in china, the regional Navigation System or the GNSS augmentation System (e.g., Indian Constellation Navigation with Indian Navigation, NAVIC), the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) in japan, the Satellite Integrated Doppler orbit imaging and Radio Positioning in france (dongler and Radio-Positioning Integrated by Satellite System, DORIS), and so forth. The positioning circuitry 945 may include various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, and so forth to facilitate communication over-the-air (OTA) communication) to communicate with components of a positioning network (e.g., navigation satellite constellation nodes).

Nodes or satellites of the navigation satellite constellation(s) ("GNSS nodes") may provide positioning services by continuously transmitting or broadcasting GNSS signals along a line of sight that may be used by GNSS receivers (e.g., positioning circuitry 945 and/or positioning circuitry implemented by UEs 101, 102, etc.) to determine their GNSS positions. The GNSS signals may include a pseudorandom code known to the GNSS receiver (e.g., a sequence of ones and zeros) and a message including a time of transmission ToT (e.g., a defined point in the pseudorandom code sequence) of code epochs and a GNSS node position at ToT. A GNSS receiver may monitor/measure GNSS signals transmitted/broadcast by multiple GNSS nodes (e.g., four or more satellites) and solve various equations to determine a corresponding GNSS location (e.g., spatial coordinates). The GNSS receiver also implements a clock that is generally less stable and accurate than the atomic clock of the GNSS node, and the GNSS receiver may use the measured GNSS signals to determine a deviation of the GNSS receiver from real time (e.g., a deviation of the GNSS receiver clock from the GNSS node time). In some embodiments, the Positioning circuit 945 may include a Micro-Technology for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (Micro-PNT) IC that uses a master Timing clock to perform position tracking/estimation without GNSS assistance.

The GNSS receiver may measure the time of arrival (ToA) of GNSS signals from multiple GNSS nodes according to its own clock. The GNSS receiver may determine a time of flight (ToF) value for each received GNSS signal based on ToA and ToT, and may then determine a three-dimensional (3D) position and clock bias based on the ToF. The 3D location may then be converted to latitude, longitude, and altitude. The positioning circuitry 945 can provide data to the application circuitry 905, which can include one or more of location data or time data. The application circuitry 905 may use the time data to operate synchronously with other radio base stations (e.g., of the RAN nodes 111,112, etc.).

The components shown in fig. 9 may communicate with each other using interface circuitry. As used herein, the term "interface circuit" may refer to, be part of, or include a circuit that supports the exchange of information between two or more components or devices. The term "interface circuit" may refer to one or more hardware interfaces, such as a bus, an input/output (I/O) interface, a peripheral component interface, a network interface card, and so forth. Any suitable bus technology may be used in various implementations, which may include any number of technologies, including Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), Extended ISA (EISA), Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), PCI express, or any number of other technologies. The bus may be a dedicated bus, such as used in SoC-based systems. Other bus systems may be included, such as an I2C interface, an SPI interface, a point-to-point interface, and a power bus, among others.

Fig. 10 is a block diagram illustrating components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and performing any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, according to some example embodiments. In particular, fig. 10 shows a diagrammatic representation of hardware resources 1000, which includes one or more processors (or processor cores) 1010, one or more memory/storage devices 1020, and one or more communication resources 1030, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 1040. Hardware resource 1000 may be part of a UE, AN, UPF, NEF, SMF, or AF. For embodiments utilizing node virtualization (e.g., NFV), hypervisor 1002 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices/subslices to utilize hardware resources 1000.

Processor 1010 (e.g., a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processor, a Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) processor, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) such as a baseband processor, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, processor 1012 and processor 1014.

Memory/storage 1020 may include a main memory, a disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. Memory/storage 1020 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid state storage, and the like.

The communication resources 1030 may include interconnection or network interface components or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1004 or one or more databases 1006 via the network 1008. For example, the communication resources 1030 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via a Universal Serial Bus (USB)), cellular communication components, NFC components, bluetooth components (e.g., bluetooth low energy), Wi-Fi components, and other communication components.

The instructions 1050 may include software, programs, applications, applets, apps, or other executable code for causing at least any of the processors 1010 to perform any one or more of the methods discussed herein. The instructions 1050 may reside, completely or partially, within at least one of the processor 1010 (e.g., within a processor's cache memory), the memory/storage 1020, or any suitable combination thereof. Further, any portion of instructions 1050 may be communicated to hardware resource 1000 from any combination of peripheral device 1004 or database 1006. Thus, the processors 1010, memory/storage devices 1020, peripherals 1004, and memory of databases 1006 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

The following paragraphs describe examples of various embodiments.

Example 1 includes an apparatus for an application function, AF, in a core network, CN, comprising: an interface circuit; and a processor circuit coupled with the interface circuit and configured to: encoding AF influence content information in an AF request in response to a change in an Edge Application Server (EAS) serving User Equipment (UE); and providing the AF request to the interface circuit for transmission to a policy control function PCF in the CN that subscribes to modification of the AF impact content information, wherein the AF impact content information comprises: a list of data network access identifiers, DNAIs, an internet protocol, IP, address of a first source EAS currently serving the UE, and an IP address of a first target EAS configured to replace the first source EAS to serve the UE and located in a local data network, DN, identified by each DNAI in the list of DNAIs.

Example 2 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the processor circuit is configured to provide the AF request to the interface circuit for transmission to the PCF via a network exposure function, NEF, in the CN, wherein the NEF is to store the AF impact content information in a unified data repository, UDR, in the CN and the UDR is to notify the PCF of the modification of the AF impact content information.

Example 3 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the AF influencing content information further comprises: a list of IP addresses and port numbers of one or more UEs whose traffic is to be moved from a second source EAS to a second target EAS in the same local DN identified by the designated DNAI; an IP address of the second source EAS; and an IP address of the second target EAS.

Example 4 includes the apparatus of example 3, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to: interacting with a Binding Support Function (BSF) based on the list of IP addresses and port numbers of the one or more UEs to obtain an IP address of a relevant PCF associated with a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session of the one or more UEs; and provides the AF request to the interface circuitry for communication to the relevant PCF.

Example 5 includes the apparatus of example 3, wherein the first source EAS and the second source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

Example 6 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the AF influencing content information further comprises: a list of target UE identifiers; an IP address of a third source EAS currently serving one or more UEs identified by the target UE identifier; and an IP address of a third target EAS, the third target EAS located in the same local DN identified by a designated DNAI as the third source EAS, and the third target EAS configured to replace the third source EAS to serve the one or more UEs.

Example 7 includes the apparatus of example 6, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to: interacting with a binding support function, BSF, based on the list of target UE identifiers to obtain an IP address of a related PCF associated with a protocol data unit, PDU, session of the one or more UEs; and provides the AF request to the interface circuitry for communication to the relevant PCF.

Example 8 includes the apparatus of example 6, wherein the first source EAS and the third source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

Example 9 includes an apparatus for a session management function, SMF, in a core network, CN, comprising: an interface circuit; and a processor circuit coupled with the interface circuit and configured to: decoding policy and charging control, PCC, rules received from a policy control function, PCF, in the CN via the interface circuit, the PCF having subscribed to an application function, AF, in the CN for modifications on AF-influencing content information, wherein the AF-influencing content information comprises: a list of data network access identifiers, DNAIs, an internet protocol, IP, address of a first source edge application server, EAS, currently serving a user equipment, UE, and an IP address of a first target EAS configured to replace the first source EAS to serve the UE and located in a local data network, DN, identified by each DNAI in the list of DNAIs; and updating an edge computing network address translation, EC-NAT, function based on the AF impact content information to replace the IP address of the first source EAS with the IP address of the first target EAS for each DNAI in the list of DNAIs.

Example 10 includes the apparatus of example 9, wherein the AF influencing content information further comprises: a list of IP addresses and port numbers of one or more UEs whose traffic is to be moved from a second source EAS to a second target EAS in the same local DN identified by the designated DNAI; an IP address of the second source EAS; and an IP address of the second target EAS.

Example 11 includes the apparatus of example 10, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to: updating the EC-NAT function to replace an IP address of the second source EAS with an IP address of the second target EAS for the specified DNAI and the one or more UEs identified by the list of IP addresses and port numbers according to the AF-impact content information.

Example 12 includes the apparatus of example 9, wherein the AF influencing content information further comprises: a list of target UE identifiers; an IP address of a third source EAS currently serving one or more UEs identified by the list of target UE identifiers; and an IP address of a third target EAS, the third target EAS located in the same local DN identified by a designated DNAI as the third source EAS, and the third target EAS configured to replace the third source EAS to serve the one or more UEs.

Example 13 includes the apparatus of example 12, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to: updating the EC-NAT function to replace an IP address of the third source EAS with an IP address of the third target EAS for the specified DNAI and the one or more UEs identified by the list of target UE identifiers according to the AF-impact content information.

Example 14 includes the apparatus of any one of examples 9 to 13, wherein the EC-NAT function is a separate functional entity implemented in a user plane.

Example 15 includes the apparatus of any of examples 9 to 13, wherein the EC-NAT function is implemented in a user plane function, UPF.

Example 16 includes the apparatus of example 10, wherein the first source EAS and the second source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

Example 17 includes the apparatus of example 12, wherein the first source EAS and the third source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

Example 18 includes an apparatus for an edge computing network address translation, EC-NAT, function, comprising: an interface circuit; and a processor circuit coupled with the interface circuit and configured to: decoding AF-influencing content information received from a session management function SMF in a core network CN via the interface circuit, wherein the AF-influencing content information includes: a list of data network access identifiers, DNAIs, an internet protocol, IP, address of a first source edge application server, EAS, currently serving a user equipment, UE, and an IP address of a first target EAS configured to replace the first source EAS to serve the UE and located in a local data network, DN, identified by each DNAI in the list of DNAIs; and replacing, for each DNAI in the list of DNAIs, the IP address of the first source EAS with the IP address of the first target EAS.

Example 19 includes the apparatus of example 18, wherein the AF influencing content information further comprises: a list of IP addresses and port numbers of one or more UEs whose traffic is to be moved from a second source EAS to a second target EAS in the same local DN identified by the designated DNAI; an IP address of the second source EAS; and an IP address of the second target EAS.

Example 20 includes the apparatus of example 19, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to: replacing the IP address of the second source EAS with the IP address of the second target EAS for the specified DNAI and the one or more UEs identified by the list of IP addresses and port numbers.

Example 21 includes the apparatus of example 18, wherein the AF influencing content information further comprises: a list of target UE identifiers; an IP address of a third source EAS currently serving one or more UEs identified by the list of target UE identifiers; and an IP address of a third target EAS, the third target EAS located in the same local DN identified by a designated DNAI as the third source EAS, and the third target EAS configured to replace the third source EAS to serve the one or more UEs.

Example 22 includes the apparatus of example 21, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to: replacing an IP address of the third source EAS with an IP address of the third target EAS for the specified DNAI and the one or more UEs identified by the list of target UE identifiers.

Example 23 includes the apparatus of any one of examples 18 to 22, wherein the EC-NAT function is a separate functional entity implemented in a user plane.

Example 24 includes the apparatus of any of examples 18 to 22, wherein the EC-NAT function is implemented in a user plane function, UPF.

Example 25 includes the apparatus of example 19, wherein the first source EAS and the second source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

Example 26 includes the apparatus of example 21, wherein the first source EAS and the third source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

Example 27 includes a method performed at an application function, AF, in a core network, CN, comprising: encoding AF influence content information in an AF request in response to a change in an Edge Application Server (EAS) serving User Equipment (UE); and transmitting the AF request to a policy control function PCF in the CN that subscribes to modification of the AF impact content information, wherein the AF impact content information comprises: a list of data network access identifiers, DNAIs, an internet protocol, IP, address of a first source EAS currently serving the UE, and an IP address of a first target EAS configured to replace the first source EAS to serve the UE and located in a local data network, DN, identified by each DNAI in the list of DNAIs.

Example 28 includes the method of example 27, wherein communicating the AF request to the PCF comprises communicating the AF request to the PCF via a network exposure function, NEF, in the CN, wherein the NEF is to store the AF impact content information in a unified data repository, UDR, in the CN and the UDR is to notify the PCF of the modification of the AF impact content information.

Example 29 includes the method of example 27, wherein the AF affecting content information further comprises: a list of IP addresses and port numbers of one or more UEs whose traffic is to be moved from a second source EAS to a second target EAS in the same local DN identified by the designated DNAI; an IP address of the second source EAS; and an IP address of the second target EAS.

Example 30 includes the method of example 29, further comprising: interacting with a Binding Support Function (BSF) based on the list of IP addresses and port numbers of the one or more UEs to obtain an IP address of a relevant PCF associated with a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session of the one or more UEs; and communicate the AF request to the relevant PCF.

Example 31 includes the method of example 29, wherein the first source EAS and the second source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

Example 32 includes the method of example 27, wherein the AF affecting content information further comprises: a list of target UE identifiers; an IP address of a third source EAS currently serving one or more UEs identified by the target UE identifier; and an IP address of a third target EAS, the third target EAS located in the same local DN identified by a designated DNAI as the third source EAS, and the third target EAS configured to replace the third source EAS to serve the one or more UEs.

Example 33 includes the method of example 32, further comprising: interacting with a binding support function, BSF, based on the list of target UE identifiers to obtain an IP address of a related PCF associated with a protocol data unit, PDU, session of the one or more UEs; and communicate the AF request to the relevant PCF.

Example 34 includes the method of example 32, wherein the first source EAS and the third source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

Example 35 includes a method performed at a session management function, SMF, in a core network, CN, comprising: decoding policy and charging control, PCC, rules received from a policy control function, PCF, in the CN, the PCF having subscribed to modifications regarding AF-influencing content information to an application function, AF, in the CN, wherein the AF-influencing content information comprises: a list of data network access identifiers, DNAIs, an internet protocol, IP, address of a first source edge application server, EAS, currently serving a user equipment, UE, and an IP address of a first target EAS configured to replace the first source EAS to serve the UE and located in a local data network, DN, identified by each DNAI in the list of DNAIs; and updating an edge computing network address translation, EC-NAT, function based on the AF impact content information to replace the IP address of the first source EAS with the IP address of the first target EAS for each DNAI in the list of DNAIs.

Example 36 includes the method of example 35, wherein the AF affecting content information further comprises: a list of IP addresses and port numbers of one or more UEs whose traffic is to be moved from a second source EAS to a second target EAS in the same local DN identified by the designated DNAI; an IP address of the second source EAS; and an IP address of the second target EAS.

Example 37 includes the method of example 36, further comprising: updating the EC-NAT function to replace an IP address of the second source EAS with an IP address of the second target EAS for the specified DNAI and the one or more UEs identified by the list of IP addresses and port numbers according to the AF-impact content information.

Example 38 includes the method of example 35, wherein the AF affecting content information further comprises: a list of target UE identifiers; an IP address of a third source EAS currently serving one or more UEs identified by the list of target UE identifiers; and an IP address of a third target EAS, the third target EAS located in the same local DN identified by a designated DNAI as the third source EAS, and the third target EAS configured to replace the third source EAS to serve the one or more UEs.

Example 39 includes the method of example 38, further comprising: updating the EC-NAT function to replace an IP address of the third source EAS with an IP address of the third target EAS for the specified DNAI and the one or more UEs identified by the list of target UE identifiers according to the AF-impact content information.

Example 40 includes the method of any one of examples 35 to 39, wherein the EC-NAT function is a separate functional entity implemented in a user plane.

Example 41 includes the method of any one of examples 35 to 39, wherein the EC-NAT function is implemented in a user plane function, UPF.

Example 42 includes the method of example 36, wherein the first source EAS and the second source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

Example 43 includes the method of example 38, wherein the first source EAS and the third source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

Example 44 includes a method performed at an edge computing network address translation, EC-NAT, function, comprising: decoding AF-influencing content information received from a session management function SMF in a core network CN, wherein the AF-influencing content information comprises: a list of data network access identifiers, DNAIs, an internet protocol, IP, address of a first source edge application server, EAS, currently serving a user equipment, UE, and an IP address of a first target EAS configured to replace the first source EAS to serve the UE and located in a local data network, DN, identified by each DNAI in the list of DNAIs; and replacing, for each DNAI in the list of DNAIs, the IP address of the first source EAS with the IP address of the first target EAS.

Example 45 includes the method of example 44, wherein the AF affecting content information further comprises: a list of IP addresses and port numbers of one or more UEs whose traffic is to be moved from a second source EAS to a second target EAS in the same local DN identified by the designated DNAI; an IP address of the second source EAS; and an IP address of the second target EAS.

Example 46 includes the method of example 45, further comprising: replacing the IP address of the second source EAS with the IP address of the second target EAS for the specified DNAI and the one or more UEs identified by the list of IP addresses and port numbers.

Example 47 includes the method of example 44, wherein the AF affecting content information further comprises: a list of target UE identifiers; an IP address of a third source EAS currently serving one or more UEs identified by the list of target UE identifiers; and an IP address of a third target EAS, the third target EAS located in the same local DN identified by a designated DNAI as the third source EAS, and the third target EAS configured to replace the third source EAS to serve the one or more UEs.

Example 48 includes the method of example 47, further comprising: replacing an IP address of the third source EAS with an IP address of the third target EAS for the specified DNAI and the one or more UEs identified by the list of target UE identifiers.

Example 49 includes the method of any one of examples 44 to 48, wherein the EC-NAT function is a separate functional entity implemented in a user plane.

Example 50 includes the method of any one of examples 44 to 48, wherein the EC-NAT function is implemented in a user plane function, UPF.

Example 51 includes the method of example 45, wherein the first source EAS and the second source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

Example 52 includes the method of example 47, wherein the first source EAS and the third source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

Example 53 includes an apparatus for an application function, AF, in a core network, CN, comprising: means for encoding AF-influencing content information in an AF request in response to a change of an edge application server EAS serving a user equipment UE; and means for transmitting the AF request to a policy control function PCF in the CN that is subscribed to modification of the AF impact content information, wherein the AF impact content information comprises: a list of data network access identifiers, DNAIs, an internet protocol, IP, address of a first source EAS currently serving the UE, and an IP address of a first target EAS configured to replace the first source EAS to serve the UE and located in a local data network, DN, identified by each DNAI in the list of DNAIs.

Example 54 includes the apparatus of example 53, wherein means for communicating the AF request to the PCF comprises means for communicating the AF request to the PCF via a network exposure function, NEF, in the CN, wherein the NEF is to store the AF impact content information in a unified data repository, UDR, in the CN and the UDR is to notify the PCF of the modification of the AF impact content information.

Example 55 includes the apparatus of example 53, wherein the AF influencing content information further comprises: a list of IP addresses and port numbers of one or more UEs whose traffic is to be moved from a second source EAS to a second target EAS in the same local DN identified by the designated DNAI; an IP address of the second source EAS; and an IP address of the second target EAS.

Example 56 includes the apparatus of example 55, further comprising: means for interacting with a binding support function, BSF, based on the list of IP addresses and port numbers of the one or more UEs, to obtain an IP address of a related PCF associated with a protocol data unit, PDU, session of the one or more UEs; and means for transmitting the AF request to the relevant PCF.

Example 57 includes the apparatus of example 55, wherein the first source EAS and the second source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

Example 58 includes the apparatus of example 53, wherein the AF influencing content information further comprises: a list of target UE identifiers; an IP address of a third source EAS currently serving one or more UEs identified by the target UE identifier; and an IP address of a third target EAS, the third target EAS located in the same local DN identified by a designated DNAI as the third source EAS, and the third target EAS configured to replace the third source EAS to serve the one or more UEs.

Example 59 includes the apparatus of example 58, further comprising: means for interacting with a binding support function, BSF, based on the list of target UE identifiers to obtain an IP address of a related PCF associated with a protocol data unit, PDU, session of the one or more UEs; means for transmitting the AF request to the relevant PCF.

Example 60 includes the apparatus of example 58, wherein the first source EAS and the third source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

Example 61 includes an apparatus for a session management function, SMF, in a core network, CN, comprising: means for decoding policy and charging control, PCC, rules received from a policy control function, PCF, in the CN, the PCF subscribing to modifications to AF-impact content information from an application function, AF, in the CN, wherein the AF-impact content information comprises: a list of data network access identifiers, DNAIs, an internet protocol, IP, address of a first source edge application server, EAS, currently serving a user equipment, UE, and an IP address of a first target EAS configured to replace the first source EAS to serve the UE and located in a local data network, DN, identified by each DNAI in the list of DNAIs; and means for updating an edge computing network address translation, EC-NAT, function based on the AF impact content information to replace the IP address of the first source EAS with the IP address of the first target EAS for each DNAI in the list of DNAIs.

Example 62 includes the apparatus of example 61, wherein the AF influencing content information further comprises: a list of IP addresses and port numbers of one or more UEs whose traffic is to be moved from a second source EAS to a second target EAS in the same local DN identified by the designated DNAI; an IP address of the second source EAS; and an IP address of the second target EAS.

Example 63 includes the apparatus of example 62, further comprising: means for updating the EC-NAT function to replace an IP address of the second source EAS with an IP address of the second target EAS for the specified DNAI and the one or more UEs identified by the list of IP addresses and port numbers according to the AF-impact content information.

Example 64 includes the apparatus of example 61, wherein the AF influencing content information further comprises: a list of target UE identifiers; an IP address of a third source EAS currently serving one or more UEs identified by the list of target UE identifiers; and an IP address of a third target EAS, the third target EAS located in the same local DN identified by a designated DNAI as the third source EAS, and the third target EAS configured to replace the third source EAS to serve the one or more UEs.

Example 65 includes the apparatus of example 64, further comprising: means for updating the EC-NAT function to replace an IP address of the third source EAS with an IP address of the third target EAS for the specified DNAI and the one or more UEs identified by the list of target UE identifiers according to the AF-impact content information.

Example 66 includes the apparatus of any one of examples 61 to 65, wherein the EC-NAT function is a separate functional entity implemented in a user plane.

Example 67 includes the apparatus of any one of examples 61 to 65, wherein the EC-NAT function is implemented in a user plane function, UPF.

Example 68 includes the apparatus of example 62, wherein the first source EAS and the second source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

Example 69 includes the apparatus of example 64, wherein the first source EAS and the third source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

Example 70 includes an apparatus for edge computing network address translation, EC-NAT, comprising: means for decoding AF-influencing content information received from a session management function SMF in a core network CN, wherein the AF-influencing content information comprises: a list of data network access identifiers, DNAIs, an internet protocol, IP, address of a first source edge application server, EAS, currently serving a user equipment, UE, and an IP address of a first target EAS configured to replace the first source EAS to serve the UE and located in a local data network, DN, identified by each DNAI in the list of DNAIs; and means for replacing, for each DNAI in the list of DNAIs, the IP address of the first source EAS with the IP address of the first target EAS.

Example 71 includes the apparatus of example 70, wherein the AF affecting content information further comprises: a list of IP addresses and port numbers of one or more UEs whose traffic is to be moved from a second source EAS to a second target EAS in the same local DN identified by the designated DNAI; an IP address of the second source EAS; and an IP address of the second target EAS.

Example 72 includes the apparatus of example 71, further comprising: means for replacing the IP address of the second source EAS with the IP address of the second target EAS for the specified DNAI and the one or more UEs identified by the list of IP addresses and port numbers.

Example 73 includes the apparatus of example 70, wherein the AF impact content information further comprises: a list of target UE identifiers; an IP address of a third source EAS currently serving one or more UEs identified by the list of target UE identifiers; and an IP address of a third target EAS, the third target EAS located in the same local DN identified by a designated DNAI as the third source EAS, and the third target EAS configured to replace the third source EAS to serve the one or more UEs.

Example 74 includes the apparatus of example 73, further comprising: means for replacing an IP address of the third source EAS with an IP address of the third target EAS for the specified DNAI and the one or more UEs identified by the list of target UE identifiers.

Example 75 includes the apparatus of any one of examples 70 to 74, wherein the EC-NAT function is a separate functional entity implemented in a user plane.

Example 76 includes the apparatus of any of examples 70-74, wherein the EC-NAT function is implemented in a user plane function, UPF.

Example 77 includes the apparatus of example 71, wherein the first source EAS and the second source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

Example 78 includes the apparatus of example 73, wherein the first source EAS and the third source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

Example 79 includes a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor circuit of an application function, AF, in a core network, CN, cause the processor circuit to perform the method according to any of examples 27 to 34.

Example 80 includes a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor circuit of a session management function, SMF, in a core network, CN, cause the processor circuit to perform the method according to any of examples 35 to 43.

Example 81 includes a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor circuit of an edge computing network address translation, EC-NAT, function, cause the processor circuit to perform the method of any of examples 44-52.

Although certain embodiments have been illustrated and described herein for purposes of description, various alternative and/or equivalent embodiments or implementations calculated to achieve the same purposes may be substituted for the embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the embodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is manifestly intended that the embodiments described herein be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.

Claims (26)

1. An arrangement for an application function, AF, in a core network, CN, comprising:

an interface circuit; and

a processor circuit coupled with the interface circuit and configured to:

encoding AF influence content information in an AF request in response to a change in an Edge Application Server (EAS) serving User Equipment (UE); and

providing the AF request to the interface circuit for communication to a policy control function PCF in the CN that subscribes to modification of the AF-influencing content information,

wherein the AF influence content information includes: a list of data network access identifiers, DNAIs, an internet protocol, IP, address of a first source EAS currently serving the UE, and an IP address of a first target EAS configured to replace the first source EAS to serve the UE and located in a local data network, DN, identified by each DNAI in the list of DNAIs.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor circuit is configured to provide the AF request to the interface circuit for communication to the PCF via a Network Exposure Function (NEF) in the CN, wherein the NEF is to store the AF impact content information in a Unified Data Repository (UDR) in the CN and the UDR is to notify the PCF of a modification of the AF impact content information.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the AF influencing content information further comprises: a list of IP addresses and port numbers of one or more UEs whose traffic is to be moved from a second source EAS to a second target EAS in the same local DN identified by the designated DNAI; an IP address of the second source EAS; and an IP address of the second target EAS.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to: interacting with a Binding Support Function (BSF) based on the list of IP addresses and port numbers of the one or more UEs to obtain an IP address of a relevant PCF associated with a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session of the one or more UEs; and provides the AF request to the interface circuitry for communication to the relevant PCF.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the first source EAS and the second source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the AF influencing content information further comprises: a list of target UE identifiers; an IP address of a third source EAS currently serving one or more UEs identified by the target UE identifier; and an IP address of a third target EAS, the third target EAS located in the same local DN identified by a designated DNAI as the third source EAS, and the third target EAS configured to replace the third source EAS to serve the one or more UEs.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to: interacting with a binding support function, BSF, based on the list of target UE identifiers to obtain an IP address of a related PCF associated with a protocol data unit, PDU, session of the one or more UEs; and provides the AF request to the interface circuitry for communication to the relevant PCF.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first source EAS and the third source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

9. An arrangement for a session management function, SMF, in a core network, CN, comprising:

an interface circuit; and

a processor circuit coupled with the interface circuit and configured to:

decoding policy and charging control, PCC, rules received from a policy control function, PCF, in the CN via the interface circuit, the PCF having subscribed to a modification of AF impact content information to an application function, AF, in the CN, wherein the AF impact content information includes:

a list of data network access identifiers, DNAIs, an internet protocol, IP, address of a first source edge application server, EAS, currently serving a user equipment, UE, and an IP address of a first target EAS configured to replace the first source EAS to serve the UE and located in a local data network, DN, identified by each DNAI in the list of DNAIs; and is

Updating an edge computing network address translation (EC-NAT) function based on the AF influence content information to replace an IP address of the first source EAS with an IP address of the first target EAS for each DNAI in the list of DNAIs.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the AF influencing content information further comprises: a list of IP addresses and port numbers of one or more UEs whose traffic is to be moved from a second source EAS to a second target EAS in the same local DN identified by the designated DNAI; an IP address of the second source EAS; and an IP address of the second target EAS.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor circuit is further configured for: updating the EC-NAT function to replace an IP address of the second source EAS with an IP address of the second target EAS for the specified DNAI and the one or more UEs identified by the list of IP addresses and port numbers according to the AF-impact content information.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the AF influencing content information further comprises: a list of target UE identifiers; an IP address of a third source EAS currently serving one or more UEs identified by the list of target UE identifiers; and an IP address of a third target EAS, the third target EAS located in the same local DN identified by a designated DNAI as the third source EAS, and the third target EAS configured to replace the third source EAS to serve the one or more UEs.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processor circuit is further configured for: updating the EC-NAT function to replace an IP address of the third source EAS with an IP address of the third target EAS for the specified DNAI and the one or more UEs identified by the list of target UE identifiers according to the AF-impact content information.

14. The apparatus according to any of claims 9 to 13, wherein the EC-NAT function is a separate functional entity implemented in a user plane.

15. The apparatus according to any of claims 9 to 13, wherein the EC-NAT function is implemented in a user plane function, UPF.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the first source EAS and the second source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

17. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first source EAS and the third source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

18. An apparatus for an edge computing network address translation (EC-NAT) function, comprising:

an interface circuit; and

a processor circuit coupled with the interface circuit and configured to:

decoding AF-influencing content information received from a session management function SMF in a core network CN via the interface circuit, wherein the AF-influencing content information includes: a list of data network access identifiers, DNAIs, an internet protocol, IP, address of a first source edge application server, EAS, currently serving a user equipment, UE, and an IP address of a first target EAS configured to replace the first source EAS to serve the UE and located in a local data network, DN, identified by each DNAI in the list of DNAIs; and is

Replacing, for each DNAI in the list of DNAIs, the IP address of the first source EAS with the IP address of the first target EAS.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the AF influencing content information further comprises: a list of IP addresses and port numbers of one or more UEs whose traffic is to be moved from a second source EAS to a second target EAS in the same local DN identified by the designated DNAI; an IP address of the second source EAS; and an IP address of the second target EAS.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processor circuit is further configured for: replacing the IP address of the second source EAS with the IP address of the second target EAS for the specified DNAI and the one or more UEs identified by the list of IP addresses and port numbers.

21. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the AF influencing content information further comprises: a list of target UE identifiers; an IP address of a third source EAS currently serving one or more UEs identified by the list of target UE identifiers; and an IP address of a third target EAS, the third target EAS located in the same local DN identified by a designated DNAI as the third source EAS, and the third target EAS configured to replace the third source EAS to serve the one or more UEs.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the processor circuit is further configured for: replacing an IP address of the third source EAS with an IP address of the third target EAS for the specified DNAI and the one or more UEs identified by the list of target UE identifiers.

23. The apparatus of any of claims 18 to 22, wherein the EC-NAT function is a separate functional entity implemented in a user plane.

24. The apparatus according to any of claims 18 to 22, wherein the EC-NAT function is implemented in a user plane function, UPF.

25. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the first source EAS and the second source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

26. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the first source EAS and the third source EAS are anchor EAS for a predetermined area or for an entire network of an operator.

Images