CN116133059A - Electronic device, method and storage medium for communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to electronic devices, methods, and storage media for communication systems. Various embodiments are described for configuring and coordinating the quality of service of communication services, such as a communication operations convergence service. In an embodiment, an electronic device for a network node comprises processing circuitry configured to receive a first request message from a terminal device, wherein the first request message corresponds to a PDU session establishment request or a PDU session modification request message, and the first request message comprises at least operational QoS configuration information of a communication service; and providing the computing function CF with the computing requirements of the communication service to instantiate the corresponding computing resources.

Description

Electronic device, method and storage medium for communication system

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to communication devices and communication methods, including techniques for configuring and coordinating quality of service (QoS) of communication services, such as communication operations convergence services.

Background

In wireless communication systems, a quality of service framework is an important mechanism to guarantee end-to-end service performance of communication services. In a fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system, a 5G QoS model based on QoS flows (QoS flows) is proposed. The 5G QoS model provides appropriate quality of service for various communication services including a communication operation fusion service in terms of communication transmission performance based on corresponding QoS configuration information (Profile) with the QoS flow as granularity.

There are a wide variety of computational power resources in current network systems to support various services that involve operations to some extent (e.g., communication operations convergence services). In general, the computing resources may be deployed on computing resource platforms such as edge clouds, data centers, etc., may be deployed with wireless network devices or network functions, and may even be provided by the terminal device in the event that the terminal device is sufficiently computing (e.g., there is free computing). The various computing power resources can meet the requirements of various service scenes.

For various communication services, it is desirable to make reasonable use of computational resources and communication transmission resources in order to provide an appropriate and satisfactory end-to-end quality of service.

Disclosure of Invention

A first aspect of the disclosure relates to an electronic device for a network node. The electronic device includes processing circuitry configured to receive a first request message from a terminal device, wherein the first request message corresponds to a PDU session establishment request or a PDU session modification request message, and the first request message includes at least operational QoS configuration information of a communication service, the operational QoS configuration information including at least one of an operational QoS parameter or an operational QoS characteristic; and providing the operational requirements of the communication service to the operational function CF to instantiate the corresponding computational power resources, wherein the operational requirements are generated if the operational QoS configuration information of the communication service complies with the policy of the terminal device. In some embodiments, the network node may be configured to implement an access and mobility management function AMF and/or a session management function SMF.

A second aspect of the present disclosure relates to an electronic device for a network node configured to implement an arithmetic function CF. The electronic device comprises a processing circuit configured to receive an operational requirement of a communication service from a session management function, SMF; and providing the SMF with information of the instantiated computing power resource.

A third aspect of the present disclosure relates to an electronic device for a terminal device, comprising a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to send a first request message to the network, wherein the first request message corresponds to a PDU session establishment request or a PDU session modification request message, and the first request message includes at least operational QoS configuration information for the communication service, the operational QoS configuration information including at least one of an operational QoS parameter or an operational QoS characteristic.

A fourth aspect of the disclosure relates to an electronic device for a network node configured to implement an application function, AF. The electronic device includes processing circuitry configured to send an AF requirement to a policy control function PCF, wherein the AF requirement is based on at least one of subscription information or traffic scenarios of a communication service, and the AF requirement includes operational QoS configuration information of the communication service.

A fifth aspect of the present disclosure relates to an electronic device for a network node configured to implement a policy control function, PCF. The electronic device comprises processing circuitry configured to receive an AF requirement from an application function AF, wherein the AF requirement comprises operational QoS configuration information of a communication service; generating a PCC rule based on the AF requirement; and providing the PCC rule to the session management function SMF.

A sixth aspect of the present disclosure relates to various methods for communication, including operations or any combination of operations performed by, for example, the various electronic devices described above.

A seventh aspect of the present disclosure relates to a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, implement the operations of the methods according to the various embodiments of the present disclosure.

An eighth aspect of the present disclosure relates to a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause a method according to various embodiments of the present disclosure to be implemented.

The foregoing summary is provided to summarize some example embodiments to provide a basic understanding of aspects of the subject matter described herein. Accordingly, the above features are merely examples and should not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description of the subject matter when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

A better understanding of the present disclosure may be obtained when the following detailed description of the embodiments is considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The same or similar reference numbers are used in the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the detailed description, serve to explain the principles and advantages of the present disclosure. Wherein:

fig. 1 illustrates an example block diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of this disclosure.

Fig. 2 illustrates an example structure of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 shows an example architecture of 5G NR (New Radio) QoS according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4 illustrates an example electronic device in which a network node according to embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

Fig. 5 illustrates an example electronic device in which a terminal device according to embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

Fig. 6 shows an example process flow for configuring QoS of a communication service according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7 illustrates an example process flow for configuring and coordinating operational and communication QoS parameters for a communication service in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example process flow for instantiating a computing resource according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 9-12B illustrate example methods for communication according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 13 illustrates an example block diagram of a computer that may be implemented as a terminal device or network node in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 14 shows an example of the division operation requirement.

Fig. 15-16 illustrate example signaling flows for communication according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

While the embodiments described in this disclosure may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the embodiment to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

Detailed Description

Representative applications of various aspects of the apparatus and methods in accordance with the present disclosure are described below. These examples are described merely to increase the context and aid in understanding the described embodiments. It will be apparent, therefore, to one skilled in the art that the embodiments described below may be practiced without some or all of the specific details. In other instances, well-known process steps have not been described in detail in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the described embodiments. Other applications are possible, and the aspects of the present disclosure are not limited to these examples.

In general, all terms used herein will be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant art unless clearly given a different meaning and/or implication in the context of use. References to elements, devices, components, units, operations, etc. are intended to be interpreted openly as at least one instance of an element, device, component, unit, operation, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. Operations of any method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless explicitly or implicitly described as being subsequent to or prior to another operation. Any feature of any embodiment disclosed herein may be applied to any suitable other embodiment. Likewise, any advantages of any embodiment may apply to any other embodiment and vice versa. Other objects, features and advantages of the embodiments will become apparent from the following description.

Communication System example

Fig. 1 illustrates an example block diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of this disclosure. It should be understood that fig. 1 illustrates only one of many types and possible arrangements of communication systems; features of the present disclosure may be implemented in any of a variety of systems as desired.

As shown in fig. 1, the communication system 100 includes base stations 120A, 120B and terminals 110A, 110B to 110N. The base station and the terminal may be configured for uplink and downlink communication over the Uu interface. The base stations 120A, 120B may be configured to communicate with a network 130 (e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider, a telecommunications network such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and/or the internet). Thus, the base stations 120A, 120B may facilitate communication between the terminals 110A-110N and/or between the terminals 110A-110N and the network 130. Further, the terminal devices 110A to 110N may perform direct link communication within an effective communication range through the PC5 interface.

In fig. 1, the coverage areas of the base stations 120A, 120B may be referred to as cells. A base station operating in accordance with one or more cellular communication techniques may provide continuous or near continuous communication signal coverage to terminals 110A-110N over a wide geographic area.

As shown in fig. 1, the communication system 100 includes a cloud 150 and mobile edge computing nodes (Mobile Edge Computing, MECs) 140. Cloud 150 may provide services for terminal devices, such as IaaS, paaS, and SaaS, through connections with network 130. In cloud 150 and MEC 140, computing power resources may be deployed to provide support for satisfying operational requirements of communication services (e.g., a communication operational fusion service).

In the present disclosure, the base station may be a 5G NR base station, such as a gNB and a ng-eNB. The gNB may provide NR user plane and control plane protocols terminating with the terminal device; the ng-eNB is a node defined for compatibility with a 4G LTE communication system, which may be an upgrade of an evolved node B (eNB) of an LTE radio access network, providing an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) user plane and control plane protocol for termination with a UE. Further, examples of base stations may include, but are not limited to, the following: at least one of a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) and a Base Station Controller (BSC) in the GSM system; at least one of a Radio Network Controller (RNC) and a Node B in the WCDMA system; access Points (APs) in WLAN, wiMAX systems; and the corresponding network node in the communication system to be or being developed. Some of the functions of the base station herein may also be implemented as an entity having a control function for communication in D2D, M2M and V2X communication scenarios, or as an entity playing a role in spectrum coordination in cognitive radio communication scenarios.

In the present disclosure, the terminal device may have the full breadth of its normal meaning, for example, the terminal device may be a Mobile Station (MS), a User Equipment (UE), or the like. The terminal device may be implemented as, for example, a mobile phone, a handheld device, a media player, a computer, a laptop, a tablet, an in-vehicle unit or a vehicle or almost any type of wireless device. In some cases, the terminal devices may communicate using a variety of wireless communication techniques. For example, the terminal device may be configured to communicate using one or more of GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, wiMAX, LTE, LTE-A, WLAN, NR, bluetooth, etc. Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described more fully below in connection with a UE, however it should be understood that these embodiments apply to any type of terminal device.

Fig. 2 illustrates an example structure of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As an example, system 200 is shown with 3gpp 5g core network (5 GC) functionality. The network functions may be implemented as discrete network elements on dedicated hardware, as software instances running on dedicated hardware, or as virtualized functions instantiated on a suitable platform (e.g., dedicated hardware or cloud infrastructure). It should be appreciated that the various processes, functions and features according to the present disclosure may be applicable to other (including already and to be studied) core networks other than 5G. Various Network Functions (NFs) are described below by way of example of system 200.

The UPF may act as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point interconnected with the DN, and a branching point to support multi-host PDU sessions. UPF may also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, perform policy rules user plane part, lawful interception of packets, perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS processing (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL/DL rate execution) on the user plane, perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., SDF to QoS flow mapping), transmit level packet marking in uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. The UPF may include an uplink classifier for supporting routing traffic flows to the data network. The DN may represent various network operator services, internet access, or third party services. The UPF may interact with the SMF via an N4 reference point between the SMF and the UPF.

The AUSF may store data for authentication of the UE and process authentication related functions. The AUSF may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. The AUSF may communicate with the AMF via an N12 reference point between the AMF and the AUSF; and may communicate with the UDM via an N13 reference point between the UDM and the AUSF. In addition, the AUSF may present an interface based on the Nausf service.

The AMF may be responsible for registration management (e.g., for registering UEs, etc.), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, and lawful interception of AMF related events, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF may be the termination point of the N11 reference point between the AMF and the SMF. The AMF may be AN end point of the RAN CP interface, which may include or be AN N2 reference point between the (R) AN and the AMF; and the AMF may be the termination point of NAS (N1) signaling and perform NAS ciphering and integrity protection.

The AMF may also support NAS signaling with the UE over the N3IWF interface. The N3IWF may be used to provide access to untrusted entities. The N3IWF may be AN end point of AN N2 interface between the (R) AN of the control plane and the AMF, and may be AN end point of AN N3 reference point between the (R) AN of the user plane and the UPF. Thus, the AMF may process N2 signaling from the SMF and AMF for PDU sessions and QoS, encapsulate/decapsulate packets for IPSec and N3 tunnels, label the N3 user plane packets in the uplink, and perform QoS corresponding to the N3 packet labels, taking into account QoS requirements associated with such labels received over N2. The N3IWF may also relay uplink and downlink control plane NAS signaling between the UE and the AMF via the N1 reference point between the UE and the AMF, and relay uplink and downlink user plane packets between the UE and the UPF. The N3IWF also provides a mechanism for establishing an IPsec tunnel with the UE. The AMF may present an interface based on Namf services.

The SMF may be responsible for SM (e.g., session establishment, modification, and release, including tunnel maintenance between UPF and AN nodes); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of the UP function; configuring traffic steering of the UPF to route traffic to the correct destination; terminating the interface towards the policy control function; a policy enforcement and QoS control section; lawful interception (for SM events and interfaces to LI systems); terminating the SM portion of the NAS message; downlink data notification; initiating AN specific SM information sent to the AN through N2 via the AMF; and determining the SSC mode of the session. SM may refer to the management of PDU sessions, and PDU sessions or "sessions" may refer to PDU connectivity services that provide or enable PDU exchanges between UEs identified by Data Network Names (DNNs) and Data Networks (DNs). The PDU session may be established at the time of UE request, modified at the time of UE and 5GC request, and released at the time of UE and 5GC request using NAS SM signaling exchanged between UE and SMF through the N1 reference point. Upon request from the application server, the 5GC may trigger a particular application in the UE. In response to receiving the trigger message, the UE may communicate the trigger message (or related portions/information of the trigger message) to one or more identified applications in the UE. The identified application in the UE may establish a PDU session to the particular DNN. The SMF may check whether the UE request meets user subscription information associated with the UE. In this regard, the SMF may retrieve and/or request to receive update notifications from the UDM regarding SMF level subscription data.

The SMF may include the following roaming functions: processing the local execution to apply a QoS SLA (VPLMN); a billing data collection and billing interface (VPLMN); lawful interception (in VPLMN for SM events and interfaces to LI systems); and supporting interaction with the external DN to transmit signaling for PDU session authorization/authentication through the external DN. In a roaming scenario, an N16 reference point between two SMFs may be included in system 700, which may be located between another SMF in the visited network and an SMF in the home network. In addition, the SMF may present an interface based on the Nsmf service.

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

The NRF may support a service discovery function, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide information of the NF instances discovered to the NF instances. The NRF also maintains information of available NF instances and services supported by the NF instances. In addition, the NRF may present an interface based on the Nnrf service.

PCFs may provide policy rules for control plane functions to enforce them and may also support a unified policy framework for managing network behavior. The PCF may also implement the FE to access subscription information related to policy decisions in the UDR of the UDM. The PCF may communicate with the AMF via an N15 reference point between the PCF and the AMF, which may include the PCF in the visited network and the AMF in the roaming scenario. The PCF may communicate with the AF via an N5 reference point between the PCF and the AF; and communicates with the SMF via an N7 reference point between the PCF and the SMF. The system 200 and/or CN may also include an N24 reference point between the PCF (in the home network) and the PCF in the visited network. In addition, the PCF may present an interface based on the Npcf service.

The UDM may process subscription related information to support the processing of communication sessions by network entities and may store subscription data for the UE. For example, subscription data may be transferred between the UDM and the AMF via an N8 reference point between the UDM and the AMF. UDM may comprise two parts: application programs FE and UDR. The UDR may store subscription data and policy data of the UDM and PCF, and/or structured data of the NEF for exposure, as well as application data (including PFD for application detection, application request information of multiple UEs). The Nudr service-based interface may be presented by the UDR to allow the UDM, PCF, and NEF to access specific sets of stored data, as well as notifications of relevant data changes in the read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, and subscribe to the UDR. The UDM may include a UDM-FE responsible for handling credentials, location management, subscription management, etc. In different transactions, several different front ends may serve the same user. The UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR and performs authentication credential processing, user identification processing, access authorization, registration/mobility management, and subscription management. UDR may interact with SMF via an N10 reference point between UDM and SMF. The UDM may also support SMS management, where SMS-FE implements similar application logic as previously discussed. In addition, the UDM may present an interface based on the Nudm service.

The AF may provide the impact of an application on traffic routing, provide access to the NCE, and interact with the policy framework for policy control. NCE may be a mechanism that allows 5GC and AF to provide information to each other via NEF, which may be used for edge computation implementations. In such implementations, network operators and third party services may be hosted near the accessory's UE access point to enable efficient service delivery with reduced end-to-end delay and load on the transport network. For edge computation implementations, the 5GC may select a UPF near the UE and perform traffic steering from the UPF to the DN via the N6 interface. This may be based on the UE subscription data, UE location, and information provided by the AF. Thus, AF may affect UPF (re) selection and traffic routing. Based on the carrier deployment, the network operator may allow the AF to interact directly with the associated NF when the AF is considered a trusted entity. In addition, the AF may present an interface based on Naf services.

NSSF may select a set of network slice instances to serve the UE. The NSSF may also determine allowed NSSAI and mapping to subscribed S-NSSAI, if desired. The NSSF may also determine a set of AMFs, or a list of candidate AMFs, for serving the UE based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRF. The selection of a set of network slice instances of the UE may be triggered by the AMF, where the UE registers by interacting with the NSSF, which may cause the AMF to change. NSSF may interact with AMF via an N22 reference point between AMF and NSSF; and may communicate with another NSSF in the visited network via the N31 reference point. In addition, NSSF may present an interface based on the Nnssf service.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the system 200 may have a Computing function CF (Computing/Computation Function). The computing functions may include computing resource management, computing resource deployment/allocation, budget interface adaptation, and the like. The operation function may also be referred to as an operation sensing function, an operation management function, or the like, depending on the context. The CF may be used to instantiate the computational resources according to operational requirements from the terminal device or AF or coordinate the computational resources with other functional entities based on the deployment of the computational resources. The CF may present an interface based on Ncf services.

Fig. 3 illustrates an example architecture of 5G NR QoS according to an embodiment of this disclosure. The 5G QoS model is based on QoS flows and supports QoS flows that require guaranteed flow bit rates (GBR QoS flows) and QoS flows that do not require guaranteed flow bit rates (non-GBR QoS flows). Thus, at the NAS level, qoS flows are the minimum granularity of QoS differentiation in PDU sessions. In a PDU session, a QoS flow is identified by a QoS Flow ID (QFI) carried in an encapsulation header on the NG-U.

As shown in fig. 3, in the QoS architecture of the NG-RAN (e.g., NR for connection to 5GC and E-UTRA for connection to 5 GC), the 5GC may establish one or more PDU sessions for each UE. Along with the PDU session, the NG-RAN may establish at least one Data Radio Bearer (DRB) and may then configure additional DRBs for the QoS flows of the PDU session (when configured may depend on the NG-RAN). The NG-RAN may map packets belonging to different PDU sessions to different DRBs. NAS level packet filters in UE and 5GC may associate UL and DL packets with QoS flows, AS level mapping rules in UE and NG-RAN associate UL and DL QoS flows with DRBs.

NG-RAN and 5GC ensure quality of service (e.g., reliability and target delay) by mapping packets to the appropriate QoS flows and DRBs. Thus, there is a two-step mapping of IP flows and QoS flows (NAS) and QoS flows and DRBs (AS).

At the NAS level, qoS flows may be characterized by QoS configuration information (Profile) and QoS rules (Rule). QoS configuration may be provided to the NG-RAN by the 5GC and QoS rules may be provided to the UE by the 5 GC.

The NG-RAN may determine processing on the radio interface using QoS configuration information, and QoS rules may indicate to the UE a mapping between UL user plane traffic and QoS flows. QoS flows may be GBR or non-GBR depending on their configuration. QoS configuration information of QoS flows may contain QoS parameters such as the following (see e.g. 3gpp TS 23.501).

For each QoS flow:

-a 5G QoS identifier (5 QI);

-Assigning and Retaining Priority (ARP).

Only in case of GBR QoS flows:

-for UL and DL, guaranteed stream bit rate (GFBR);

-maximum stream bit rate (MFBR) for UL and DL;

-maximum packet loss rate for UL and DL;

-delaying a critical resource type;

-notification control.

Only in the case of non-GBR QoS flows:

-Reflection QoS Attribute (RQA): RQA, when included, means that some (but not necessarily all) of the traffic carried on the QoS flows is subject to a reflected quality of service (RQoS) at the NAS;

-additional QoS flow information.

The 5QI is associated with QoS characteristics and may provide guidelines for setting node-specific parameters for each QoS flow. Standardized or preconfigured 5G QoS characteristics are derived from the 5QI value and are not signaled by display signaling. Accordingly, qoS characteristics that need to be signaled may be part of the QoS configuration information. QoS characteristics of QoS flows may include, for example, the following (see, e.g., 3gpp TS 23.501).

-priority;

-a packet delay budget;

-a false positive rate;

-an averaging window;

-maximum data burst size.

At the AS level, the DRB may define packet handling over the radio interface (Uu). The DRB may serve the data packet through the same data packet forwarding process. The NG-RAN may perform mapping of QoS flows to DRBs based on QFI and related QoS configuration information (e.g., including QoS parameters and QoS characteristics). Separate DRBs may be established for QoS flows requiring different packet forwarding processes, or multiple QoS flows belonging to the same PDU session may be multiplexed in the same DRB.

In the uplink, the mapping of QoS flows to DRBs may be controlled by mapping rules. The mapping rules may be signaled in two different ways, namely reflection mapping and explicit configuration (e.g. by RRC signaling). Regardless of the manner by which the mapping rules are notified, the UE always applies the most recently updated mapping rules.

The above 5G QoS configuration information, as well as corresponding parameters, characteristics, etc., are related to transmission aspects to provide appropriate end-to-end communication or transmission performance. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, operational QoS configuration information and corresponding parameters, characteristics are defined as opposed to the above-described communication QoS, with the aim of providing a mechanism to provide appropriate operational performance for communication services. This is more advantageous for communication operation fusion services such as AR/VR, V2X, etc. Some examples of operational QoS parameters are shown below.

-computing power requirements (Computation Power Requirements) including, for example, computing power platform's computing power general value/average (e.g., in units of flow/tfolps), computing power platform's computing power maximum (e.g., in units of flow/tfolps), hash rate (H/s), codec capabilities (e.g., frame rate, resolution, codec format (e.g., h.264/h.265)), etc.;

-an operation priority (Computation Priority/Precedence) indicating a processing priority of the operation service;

-operational characteristics (Computation Characteristics) including, for example, an operational framework (e.g., CUDA) required for an operation, hardware trends or requirements (e.g., CPU, GPU, NPU, FPGA, etc.), a system configuration of an operational platform (e.g., win, linux, etc.), a network communication capability of the operational platform (e.g., bandwidth), an operational granularity (e.g., an operation requires a data volume of three data packets to be transmitted for execution);

-a service identifier (Service Identifier) marking a service type or indicating an application scenario;

-operational deployment means (Computation Deployment) including, for example, container deployment, virtual machine deployment, general purpose servers (e.g. AF open API support operations), etc.;

-operational cache requirements (Computation Buffer Requirements), including for example buffer size, buffer read-write speed etc., distributed cache system type (e.g. redis, memCache, SSDB) or hardware Specification (SRAM) etc.;

-a slice number (calculation S-nsai) of the power slice for indicating the corresponding slice resources selected by the core network for the UE.

In some embodiments, when sending the PDU session establishment or modification request message, the UE may carry the standardized operation QoS parameters or characteristics of each QoS flow with the QoS flow granularity, so as to send the standardized operation QoS parameters or characteristics to the core network functional entity. According to some embodiments, computing power resources may be instantiated based on operational QoS parameters of a communication service (e.g., a communication operational convergence service), thereby providing a guarantee for the operational performance of the communication service. Communication transmission resources may be configured based on communication QoS parameters of the communication service, thereby providing a guarantee for communication or transmission performance of the communication service. According to some embodiments, coordination may be made between operational QoS parameters and communication QoS parameters of a communication service to achieve as good overall quality of service as possible for the communication service under currently available computing power and communication resources.

Example electronic device

Fig. 4 illustrates an example electronic device in which a network node according to embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Electronic device 400 may include various elements to implement embodiments for controlling and coordinating communication service QoS in accordance with the present disclosure. In the example of fig. 4, the electronic device 400 includes a control unit 402 and a transceiver unit 404. The control unit 402 may be configured to control or perform operations related to configuration and coordination of communication service QoS, and the transceiving unit 404 may be configured to control or perform operations related to signaling or messaging. The various operations described below in connection with a network node or network function may be implemented by elements 402 through 404 of electronic device 400 or by other possible elements.

In some embodiments, electronic device 400 may be implemented at the chip level or may also be implemented at the device level by including other external components (e.g., wired or wireless links). The electronic device 400 may operate as a complete machine as a communication device, e.g., a network node such as AMF, SMF, CF.

Fig. 5 illustrates an example electronic device in which a terminal device according to embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The electronic device 500 may include various elements to implement embodiments for controlling and coordinating communication service QoS in accordance with the present disclosure. In the example of fig. 5, the electronic device 500 includes a control unit 502 and a transceiver unit 504. The control unit 502 may be configured to control or perform operations related to configuration and coordination of communication service QoS, and the transceiving unit 504 may be configured to control or perform operations related to signaling or messaging. The various operations described below in connection with the terminal device may be implemented by the units 502-504 of the electronic device 500 or by other possible units.

In some embodiments, electronic device 500 may be implemented at the chip level or may also be implemented at the device level by including other external components (e.g., radio links, antennas, etc.). The electronic device 500 may operate as a complete machine as a communication device, such as a UE, an on-board unit, or a vehicle configured with communication capabilities.

It should be noted that the above units are merely logic modules divided according to the specific functions implemented by the units, and are not intended to limit the specific implementation, and may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware, for example. In actual implementation, each unit described above may be implemented as an independent physical entity, or may be implemented by a single entity (e.g., a processor (CPU or DSP, etc.), an integrated circuit, etc.). Where processing circuitry may refer to various implementations of digital circuitry, analog circuitry, or mixed-signal (a combination of analog and digital) circuitry that perform functions in a computing system. The processing circuitry may include, for example, circuitry such as an Integrated Circuit (IC), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a portion or circuit of an individual processor core, an entire processor core, an individual processor, a programmable hardware device such as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), and/or a system including multiple processors.

Operation performance guarantee based on operation QoS parameter

Fig. 6 shows an example process flow for configuring QoS of a communication service according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 6, at operation 0, an operational policy configuration is performed between NFs of the core network. The operational policy configuration may be based on AF requirements and PCC rules, etc. Specifically, in some embodiments, the AF may send AF requirements to the PCF. The AF requirements may be generated based on at least one of a communication service or a user subscription information or business scenario. The AF requirements may include at least operational QoS configuration information of the communication service. Additionally, the AF requirements also include communication QoS configuration information of the communication service.

Accordingly, the PCF may receive an AF demand from the AF. The PCF further generates PCC rules based on the AF requirements and provides the PCC rules to the SMF. The PCC rules may include at least operational QoS configuration information for the communication service. Additionally, the PCC rule further includes communication QoS configuration information for the communication service.

Accordingly, the AMF/SMF may receive PCC rules from the PCF. The PCC rule may include operational QoS configuration information for the communication service or additional communication QoS configuration information. Further, the AMF/SMF may generate policies for each UE based on PCC rules. The AMF/SMF may apply the policy to the PDU session establishment procedure and the PDU session modification procedure initiated by the corresponding UE and to the corresponding QoS flow.

As shown in fig. 6, at operation 2, the UE may send a first request message to a core network (e.g., AMF/SMF). For example, the first request message may correspond to a PDU session establishment request or a PDU session modification request message. In general, the first request message may be received by the AMF, which in turn forwards session related information to the SMF. The first request message may include at least operational QoS configuration information for the communication service, the operational QoS configuration information including, for example, at least one of an operational QoS parameter or an operational QoS characteristic. Additionally, the first request message may include communication QoS configuration information for the communication service, the communication QoS configuration information including, for example, at least one of a communication QoS parameter or a communication QoS characteristic. In general, the operational QoS configuration information and the communication QoS configuration information carry standardized QoS parameters or characteristics corresponding to each QoS flow with the QoS flow as granularity. For example, the operational QoS parameters or characteristics may include at least one of an operational force demand, an operational priority, an operational characteristic, a service identifier, an operational deployment style, an operational cache demand, or a slice number of an operational force slice.

It should be appreciated that the operational QoS configuration information and the communication QoS configuration information of the communication service may be determined by the UE based on service characteristics from higher layers (e.g., application layer, service layer). For example, AT operation 1, the UE may obtain the operational requirements of the communication service by parsing a data packet (e.g., an application-specific data packet header packet) or an AT (attention) command AT the NAS level. Further, the UE may map the operational requirements to operational QoS configuration information (e.g., including standardized operational QoS parameters and/or characteristics) based on the operational policies. Similarly, the UE may obtain the communication requirements of the communication service and map the communication requirements to communication QoS configuration information based on the transmission policy.

As shown in fig. 6, at operation 4, the AMF/SMF may provide operational requirements of the communication service to the CF to instantiate corresponding computing power resources. The operation requirement may be generated in case the operation QoS configuration information of the communication service conforms to the policy of the terminal device. For example, at operation 3, once the operational QoS configuration information of the communication service forwarded by the AMF is obtained, the SMF may verify whether it complies with the policy of the terminal device. In the case where the operational QoS configuration information conforms to the policy of the terminal device, the SMF may determine an operational requirement of the communication service based on the operational QoS configuration information.

At operation 3, the SMF may additionally verify whether the communication QoS configuration information of the communication service conforms to the policy of the terminal device. In the case where the communication QoS configuration information conforms to the policy of the terminal device, the SMF may determine the communication requirement of the communication service based on the communication QoS configuration information. Further, the SMF may coordinate between the operational and communication QoS parameters or characteristics to determine and satisfy the operational and communication requirements of the communication service in a complementary or mutually matched manner, as described in detail below. Still further, the AMF/SMF may negotiate or coordinate operational and communication QoS parameters or characteristics with the CF and other network functional entities, indeed requiring initial operational and communication QoS parameters (e.g., qoS rules and packet filters included therein, etc.) in the established/modified QoS flows.

As shown in fig. 6, at operation 5, the CF may provide the SMF with information of the instantiated computing force resource. In some embodiments, upon receiving an operational requirement from a communication service of the SMF, the CF may determine the computing power resources to instantiate based on the operational requirement and the available computing power resource conditions. For example, the computational resources may be from at least one of a core network computational resource entity, a base station or base station side module, a UPF, a UE, or a third party computational resource platform. According to some embodiments, the information of the instantiated computing resource may include configuration information of the computing resource, or further include interface information to access the computing resource.

As shown in fig. 6, upon receiving information from the instantiated computing power resources of the CF, the AMF/SMF may provide a first response message to the UE at operation 6. The first response message may correspond to a PDU session establishment accept or a PDU session modification accept message. Thereafter, a data plane connection may be established between the UE and the UPF.

Through process flow 600, computing power resources may be allocated and instantiated for an established/modified QoS flow based on operational QoS parameters or characteristics to provide appropriate operational performance for a communication service. For the established/modified QoS flows, a data plane is established based on the communication QoS parameters or characteristics, thereby providing appropriate transmission performance for the communication service.

Coordination of operational and communication QoS parameters

In some embodiments, the operational requirements of the communication service may be determined based on the coordinated operational QoS parameters or characteristics. In some embodiments, the communication requirements of the communication service are determined based on the coordinated communication QoS parameters or characteristics. Further, the AMF/SMF may coordinate QoS parameters or characteristics for operation and communication based on both the operation QoS configuration information and the communication QoS configuration information. By coordinating the operation and communication QoS parameters or characteristics, the communication service can be made to achieve mutually matched operation and communication performance, or the overall performance of the communication service including both operation and communication can be made to be better. Some examples of coordinating QoS parameters or characteristics for operation and communication are described below.

In some embodiments, qoS parameters or characteristics for operation and communication may be coordinated in a complementary manner. For example, the transmission delay may be determined with respect to the operational delay of the communication service or with respect to the transmission delay of the communication service such that the sum of the operational delay and the transmission delay is below or equal to a threshold level. For the communication service carried by the QoS flow, the overall delay perceived by the user may be composed of two parts, namely an operation delay and a transmission delay. It is readily appreciated that as long as the sum of the operational delay and the transmission delay is kept below a threshold level, a satisfactory quality of experience (QoE) can be provided in terms of delay. This allows the communication system to have a certain flexibility in terms of guaranteeing service latency performance.

For example, in the case where the delay performance provided by the transmission resource is relatively non-ideal (i.e., the transmission delay is large), the computing delay may be made smaller by configuring the computing power resource so as to complement the larger transmission delay. As examples, configuring the computing power resources may include increasing computing power, increasing priority of computing tasks, and so forth). The opposite is true. For another example, in the case where the latency performance provided by the computational resources is relatively non-ideal (i.e., the operational latency is large), the transmission resources may be configured such that the transmission latency is small and thus complements the large operational latency. The opposite is true.

It should be appreciated that the AMF/SMF may collect network status, radio resource conditions, and QoS performance data from the RAN, UPF, CF, etc., thereby providing a basis for determining transmission delay parameters and operational delay parameters. For example, the transmission delay parameter may include a Packet Delay Budget (PDB). The packet delay budget may correspond to an end-to-end transmission delay or may consist of one of the following delays: uplink air interface delay, downlink air interface delay, core network transmission delay and external network/DN transmission delay. The operational delay parameter may be understood as the time required for a processed data entity to complete processing from being completely received to forming an output result. In particular, the operational delay parameters may include latency on a memory or computer priority system such as a cache, PIPE, FIFO, etc., as well as time spent in the actual operational process.

In some embodiments, qoS parameters or characteristics for operations and communications may be coordinated in a matching or consistent manner with each other. For example, one of the arithmetic processing capability and the communication bandwidth is determined to match the other of the two based on the relative priority of the communication and the arithmetic processing of the communication service. The bandwidth that the RAN can provide on the air interface (e.g., the highest data rates UL/DL GFBR and MFBR for each QoS flow) needs to be matched to the amount of data processing per unit time (i.e., data processing capacity) that the computing resources provide for that QoS flow; and vice versa. For example, the data processing capabilities may include guaranteed data processing capabilities (Guaranteed Data Processing Capability) and maximum data processing capabilities (Maximum Data Processing Capability) corresponding to or matching GFBR and MFBR, respectively, of the QoS flow data transmission rate.

According to some embodiments, in the case where the priority of communication transmission is higher than the operation priority, communication and calculation power resources may be allocated such that the data throughput per unit time of communication is equal to or greater than the data throughput per unit time of operation, so as to ensure that all data processed by operation can be transmitted in time. For example, for communication operation fusion services such as AR/VR, game screen rendering, car networking fusion perception, vehicle route decision, fleet high-speed travel, pedestrian collision early warning, etc., the services may be set to fluency priority/real-time synchronization/high frame rate priority, and the priority of the operation process may be lower than the priority of the communication transmission. Accordingly, the communication bandwidth can be set to be better than the data processing amount per unit time of operation (i.e., the operation processing capacity requirement is reduced when the operation resources are limited) to meet the requirement of real-time.

According to some embodiments, in the case where the priority of the operation processing is higher than the priority of the communication transmission, the communication and the computing power resources may be allocated such that the data throughput per unit time of the operation is equal to or greater than the data throughput per unit time of the communication, so as to ensure that the operation processing can be performed on all the transmitted data in time. For example, in the case where the processing result information density/image quality/detail requirements are relatively high (e.g., movie, remote control, shopping live broadcast, sensor data capturing), the communication operation fusion service may be set to image quality priority, and the priority of the communication may be lower than that of the operation. Accordingly, the data processing amount per unit time of operation needs to be superior to the communication bandwidth to meet the demand for the picture quality/processing result information density.

In the case where the priority of the operation processing is equivalent to or consistent with the priority of the communication transmission, the communication and the computational power resources may be allocated such that the data throughput per unit time of the operation is approximately equal to the data throughput per unit time of the communication.

In some embodiments, which of the operation processing and the communication transmission is in need of priority guarantee may be indicated by a priority comparison identifier (Priority Comparison Identifier). The identifier may be carried, for example, in a PDU session establishment or modification request message. By comparing the priorities, in the case where any one of the operation and communication resources is limited, the (operation or communication) priority corresponding to the limited resource can be set high, thereby preferentially securing the (operation or communication) demand of a higher priority. Accordingly, there may be redundancy in the unrestricted resource. In addition, in actual deployment, a single instantiated computing resource may need to support multiple QoS flows with operational requirements in one PDU session. Accordingly, the network bandwidth requirements corresponding to the computing resource instance are matched with the data bandwidth (i.e., the data throughput per unit time of operation) of all QoS flows that need to be supported. In some embodiments, the computation granularity may be used as a QoS guarantee granularity (QoS guarantee granularity) to monitor the computation of the communication computation fusion service and the real-time QoS performance of the communication. The QoS guarantee granularity of the communication operation fusion service should be specific to the complete data volume that needs to be operated on (for example, the data unit (data unit) that needs to be processed and is complete from the application point of view), rather than the single data packet that is transmitted over the air. Therefore, when a single data packet transmitted by the air interface cannot carry the complete data volume to be processed by the instantiation operation resource at one time, the RAN needs to monitor the real-time QoS performance with the operation granularity of the instantiation operation resource, and correspondingly adjust the allocation of the air interface resource to meet the QoS requirement under the operation granularity.

In one embodiment, multiple data packets may carry the same sequence number in the header to identify that the multiple data packets belong to the same data processing sequence/lot. The sequence number may be identified in the packet filter. Accordingly, the RAN (e.g., base station) may be configured to identify a plurality of data packets as belonging to the same data processing sequence by a sequence number in a data packet header and monitor the actual communication QoS performance of the plurality of data packets.

In one embodiment, a fixed granularity of operations may be provided by the UE or AF, e.g., specifying the granularity of operations as N packets or a time window of X ms, etc. Accordingly, the RAN (e.g., base station) may be configured to identify a particular number of data packets or a plurality of data packets within a particular time window as belonging to the same data processing sequence and monitor the actual communication QoS performance of the plurality of data packets. Fig. 7 illustrates an example process flow for configuring and coordinating operational and communication QoS parameters for a communication service in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Through process flow 700, the cf, RAN, and UPF may provide reference information for operation or communication resource allocation to the AMF/SMF.

In case the operational QoS configuration information of the session requested by the UE conforms to the policy of the UE, the AMF/SMF may send an operation request to the CF at operation 1 a. The operation request may include negotiable QoS parameters, such as operation delay, data processing capability/calculation power, granularity of QoS guarantee (or operation granularity), deployment mode, etc.; the operational requirements may include non-negotiable QoS parameters such as computing framework requirements, application scenarios, etc. At operation 1b, based on the callable computational resources, the CF may feed back parameters that can be satisfied, such as optimal operational QoS parameters that can be currently guaranteed, or requested operational QoS parameters, to the AMF/SMF. The CF may also feed back a set of parameters for a series of operational instances that can currently be provided. Based on this feedback information, the AMF/SMF may control or adjust the operational QoS parameters or requirements, or may coordinate between the operational and communication QoS parameters or requirements, as described above. The AMF/SMF may then form operational requirements for the communication service based on the adjusted operational QoS parameters or requirements and further request the CF to instantiate corresponding computational resources.

In some embodiments, the operational requirements of a single communication service or QoS flow may require multiple instantiated computing power resources to meet. For example, in a distributed processing scenario, a parallel operation requirement (e.g., an image processing requirement) may be divided into a plurality of sub-operation requirements, and distributed operations may be performed on the operation requirements under time synchronization conditions. For another example, in a heterogeneous computing demand scenario, the overall computing demand (e.g., data fusion based on image processing) may be divided into sub-computing demands (e.g., image processing demand and data fusion demand) for different computing architectures/computing instances. According to some embodiments, the partitioned sub-operation requirements may correspond to serial, parallel, or hybrid instantiated computing power resources based on whether there is a dependency relationship between the multiple sub-operation requirements. The division of operational requirements may be understood with reference to the example in fig. 14. Accordingly, the CF may allocate/pre-allocate the computing power resources for the sub-operational requirements based on the managed computing power resources and the third party computing power resources that can be coordinated. In the computing power resource allocation, computing power resource instances with closer distances (such as euclidean distances) or smaller network transmission delay can be allocated to the UE communication service according to the geographic position of the instantiating computing resource and the geographic position of the UE.

Additionally, at operation 2a, the AMF/SMF may send a network status report request to the UPF carrying the application identifier of the PDU session and the UE address/ID (e.g., SUPI (Subscription Permanent Identifier), SUCI (Subscriber Concealed Identifier), GUTI (Global Unique Temporary Identity), etc.) to obtain QoS data for the foreign network/DN. At operation 2b, the UPF may provide a network status report to the AMF/SMF. For example, the UPF may provide extranet QoS data for existing PDU sessions for the UE (i.e., there are other similar PDU sessions for the UE, and the PDU session belongs to the same application service as the session to be established/modified); or there are currently data flows of the same application service of other UEs, UPF may provide its foreign network QoS data without exposing other UE privacy. For example, the UPF may form a statistics table for each application service to record the external network data flows QoS of the different application services, respectively.

Additionally, at operation 3a, the AMF/SMF may send a radio resource report request to the RAN to obtain wireless air interface QoS data. At operation 3b, the RAN base station may provide a radio resource report including the wireless air interface QoS data of the UE to the AMF/SMF. The radio air interface QoS data to be reported can be easily obtained if the UE already has an established air interface data link and the RAN has statistics on the QoS flow granularity/DRB data plane. Alternatively, even if the current UE does not have data plane communication, the RAN may find data plane communication with which the UE has a similar air interface communication environment according to machine learning/artificial intelligence/pattern matching/positioning techniques, etc., and provide corresponding QoS analysis data. Based on the wireless air interface QoS data, the AMF/SMF may determine QoS parameters that may be met or added.

Alternative QoS parameters and configuration handoffs

For a communication operation fusion service, there may be an adjustment space for operation and communication QoS parameters, respectively. Thus, by configuring and coordinating QoS parameters, a prioritized or identified list of operational or communication QoS parameters may be obtained. The QoS parameter table may include alternative sets of operational QoS parameters or communication QoS parameters. Taking the operational QoS parameters as an example, each set of operational QoS parameters may correspond to an instantiating computing power resource allocation. Alternative (operational or communication) QoS requirements may be provided to the PCF by the AF, which in turn generates corresponding PCC rules and indicates to the SMF, and generates prioritized alternative QoS configurations by the SMF. Alternative QoS configurations may be understood as hierarchical QoS rules that correspond to different QoS levels acceptable to the application layer. In this way, the computing power resources or the air interface resources allocated to the UE can be dynamically adjusted when the computing power resources or the air interface resources are changed, thereby providing QoS guarantees of different levels.

It should be appreciated that at least one of the operational QoS configuration information and the communication QoS configuration information may be selected from alternative sets of QoS parameters. Alternative sets of QoS parameters, one of which may be selected based on available or allocated communication resources and/or computational resources, are prioritized or identified. An example scenario in which a handoff operation QoS configuration may be triggered is described below.

In some embodiments, where currently instantiated computing power resources may not continue to meet the computing QoS requirements or there are computing power resources available for instantiation to provide better computing QoS performance, the priority of computing QoS may be adjusted, for example, by the SMF. The adjusting may include adjusting some or all of the operational QoS parameters. Conversely, in cases where reduced use of computational resources is desired, it may be adjusted, for example, by the SMF to reduce the priority of computational QoS.

According to some embodiments, the adjustment of the operational QoS parameters may trigger an adjustment of the communication QoS parameters (such that the two match or complement each other). For example, the adjustment may include complementary adjustment of communication latency, matching adjustment of bandwidth, adjustment of QoS guarantee granularity, and so on.

In some embodiments, the priority of communication QoS may be adjusted, for example, by the SMF, in the event that currently allocated transmission resources may not continue to meet communication QoS requirements or there are allocable transmission resources to provide better communication QoS performance. The adjusting may include adjusting some or all of the communication QoS parameters. Conversely, in cases where reduced use of transmission resources is desired, it may be adjusted, for example, by the SMF to reduce the priority of communication QoS.

Similarly, according to some embodiments, adjustment of communication QoS parameters may trigger adjustment of operational QoS parameters (such that the two match or complement each other). For example, the adjustment may include a complementary adjustment of the operational delay, a matching adjustment of the operational processing power, and so on.

Of course, the operational QoS and communication QoS parameters may be adjusted separately without necessarily having to have an interrelated relationship. In addition to the generation of prioritized alternative QoS configurations by the SMF, in some embodiments, the switching of operational and communication QoS configurations may also be implemented by a PDU session modification procedure or an AF information procedure.

Computing power resource deployment and instantiation

In embodiments of the present disclosure, the computing power resources may have different deployment patterns. The computational resources may be from at least one of a core network computational resource entity, a base station or base station side module, a UPF, a UE, or a third party computational resource platform. Different computing power resource deployment modes can correspond to different data plane structures.

In some embodiments, the computational resources may be implemented as a single core network functional entity, which may be referred to as an compute instance CI (Computing Instance). Accordingly, a Tunnel interface Ni may be provided between the RAN and the CI, and a Tunnel interface Nii may be provided between the UPF and the CI. FIG. 8 illustrates an example process flow for instantiating a computing resource according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

As shown in fig. 8, at operation 1a, the AMF/SMF may indicate Ni Tunnel information of the RAN and Nii Tunnel information of the UPF to the CF (e.g., via a computational resource or an instance of computation request), and further to the CI. Upon completion of the computational resource instantiation, the CF may allocate Ni Tunnel information and Nii Tunnel information for the acquired CI to receive uplink and downlink data. At operation 1b, the CF indicates Ni Tunnel information and Nii Tunnel information allocated for the CI to the AMF/SMF. Through operations 2a and 2b, the smf may indicate the Nii Tunnel information to the corresponding UPF, thereby completing the establishment of the network-side data plane channel.

Corresponding to a variety of business scenarios, one or more of the following may be true for the communication service. In some embodiments, uplink data from the terminal device needs to be processed and the results of the data processing needs to be transmitted to the DN/external network. In some embodiments, downlink data from the DN/foreign network needs to be processed and the results of the data processing needs to be transmitted to the terminal device. In some embodiments, data from the terminal device needs to be processed and the results of the data processing needs to be returned to the terminal device. Accordingly, in order to distinguish the above-described different data processing requirements, the following schemes may exist. For example, the respective QoS flows are established to serve different data processing requirements, respectively, even though the data processing requirements belong to the same service request or the same PDU session. Corresponding data processing and output result forwarding rules can be set through configuration of different QoS flows. As another example, multiple data processing requirements are mixed on a single QoS flow. Accordingly, packet headers corresponding to different data processing requirements may carry respective specific identifiers to indicate data processing and output result forwarding rules (e.g., whether to process, output results are transmitted to the UE or the DN).

In some embodiments, the computing resources may also be deployed on the base station side, such as the base station itself or an integrated computing module (e.g., a server with computing functionality), etc. The deployment of computational resources may be controlled by the base station, and such a framework facilitates coordination between computational QoS and communication QoS, at least because the control units of the air interface resources are more tightly coupled with the control units of the computational resources. In these embodiments, no Tunnel information allocation and delivery operations are required. Finer QoS guarantee granularity (e.g., compared to operation granularity) may be employed, for example, the operation delay requirements for data communicated by each data packet may be determined based on the actual air interface transmission delay for that data packet.

In some embodiments, the computational resources may be deployed on the UPF side, for example, as computational functional characteristics of the UPF. Accordingly, the functionality of the CF may be incorporated into the UPF.

In some embodiments, the computational resources may act as third party computational resources without having to be under the full control of the core network. The third party computing resource may only coordinate with the core network between the computing QoS and the communication QoS. Accordingly, the data plane architecture does not need any change, and only needs to coordinate QoS with the third-party computing resource through the CF.

According to some embodiments, a plurality of terminal devices with highly overlapping or even completely overlapping operational communication convergence services may be formed into a group. For example, for services such as grouping, path planning, sense fusion, etc. in a V2X scene, or AR/VR/multiplayer interactive games involving multimedia, live broadcast, etc., the data operations and communication requirements that multiple terminal devices need to perform may be highly coincident. For example, the multiple terminal devices may all need to render the same picture, all need to perform path planning/environment awareness for the same traffic scene, and so on. Accordingly, multiple terminal devices of the same group may assist the AMF/SMF and CF in deploying common computing services of the group to the same instantiated computing resources when allocating computing resources by carrying the same group ID (e.g., application layer group ID, layer 2 group ID) or the computing service identifier (Computation Service Identifier) shared by the group terminal devices in the PDU session establishment/modification procedure (or in the registration procedure).

Example method

Fig. 9 illustrates an example method for communication according to an embodiment of this disclosure. The method may be performed by the electronic device 400 or a corresponding network function (e.g., AMF/SMF). As shown in fig. 9, the method 900 may include receiving a first request message from a terminal device, wherein the first request message corresponds to a PDU session establishment request or a PDU session modification request message, and the first request message includes at least operational QoS configuration information for a communication service, the operational QoS configuration information including at least one of an operational QoS parameter or an operational QoS characteristic (block 902). The method may also include providing operational requirements of the communication service to the CF to instantiate the corresponding computational power resources, wherein the operational requirements are generated if the operational QoS configuration information of the communication service complies with the policy of the terminal device (block 904). Further details of the method may be understood with reference to the above description of the respective network functions.

In one embodiment, method 900 may include receiving a PCC rule from a PCF, wherein the PCC rule contains operational QoS configuration information for a communication service, wherein a policy of a terminal device is generated based on the PCC rule.

In one embodiment, the operational QoS configuration information includes one or more of the following: the power demand, the operation priority, the operation characteristic, the service identifier, the operation deployment mode, the operation cache demand or the slice number of the power slice.

In one embodiment, the first request message further includes communication QoS configuration information for the communication service, and the method 900 may include coordinating QoS parameters or characteristics for the operation and communication based on both the operation QoS configuration information and the communication QoS configuration information; and determining operational requirements of the communication service based on the coordinated operational QoS parameters or characteristics, and/or determining communication requirements of the communication service based on the coordinated communication QoS parameters or characteristics.

In one embodiment, coordinating QoS parameters or characteristics for operation and communication includes at least one of: determining one of an operation delay and a transmission delay relative to the other of the operation delay and the transmission delay of the communication service such that a sum of the operation delay and the transmission delay is less than or equal to a threshold level; determining one of an arithmetic processing capability and a communication bandwidth to be matched with the other of the communication service based on the relative priority of the communication and the arithmetic processing of the communication service; the operation of the communication service and the real-time QoS performance of the communication are monitored based on the operation granularity.

In one embodiment, at least one of the operational QoS configuration information and the communication QoS configuration information is selected from among alternative sets of QoS parameters that prioritize or identify sets of complete QoS parameters and select one of the sets of QoS parameters based on available or allocated communication resources and/or computational resources.

In one embodiment, method 900 may include receiving information from instantiated computing resources of a CF; and providing a first response message to the UE, wherein the first response message corresponds to the PDU session establishment accept or the PDU session modification accept message.

In one embodiment, one or more of the following holds for the communication service: uplink data from the terminal equipment needs to be processed, and the result of data processing needs to be transmitted to the DN/external network; downlink data from the DN/external network needs to be processed, and the result of the data processing needs to be transmitted to the terminal device; the data from the terminal device needs to be processed, and the result of the data processing needs to be returned to the terminal device.

Fig. 15 illustrates an example signaling flow for communication according to an embodiment of this disclosure. The signaling flow 1500 may be performed between a terminal device (e.g., UE) and a core network. As shown in fig. 14, at operation 1, the UE may send an operation resource registration request message to a core network (e.g., composed of a network function such as AMF, SMF, CF) including information about operation resources that the UE can provide, including information elements such as operation resource characteristics or parameters, operation resource availability time period (computation resources available period), operation resource contract (e.g., charging policy), air interface path (D2D or Uu interface), and the like. Upon receiving the operation resource registration request message, the core network may confirm whether the information element therein conforms to the policy of the UE. If so, the core network (e.g., AMF, SMF, CF) may record the UE's computational resource information. The computing resource information may be stored locally at the CF or at the UDM. Next, at operation 2, the core network may send an operation resource registration accept message to the UE. In some embodiments, the above operations may be implemented by carrying the above information elements in signaling of a registration procedure (registration procedure), a service request procedure (service request procedure), etc., or may be implemented by a dedicated signaling procedure. Through the operation resource registration flow, the operation resource of the UE can be an operation resource for the core network to manage.

Fig. 16 illustrates an example signaling flow for communication according to an embodiment of this disclosure. The signaling flow 1600 may be performed between a terminal device (e.g., UE) and a core network. As shown in fig. 15, in the case where the computational power resources need to be instantiated, the CF may search for matching computational resources based on the computational requirements. At operation 1, in case it is confirmed that the operational resources available to the specific UE can match the operational requirement (including the operational characteristic parameter, the operational resource availability period, the air interface path, etc. information elements), the core network may send an operational instance deployment request message to the UE to evoke the UE. Upon receiving the operation instance deployment message, the UE returns an operation instance deployment Acknowledgement (ACK) message to the core network in case the computational power resources to be deployed coincide with resources previously registered with the core network or the resources are available at operation 2. In some embodiments, the above-described operations may be implemented by carrying the above-described information elements in signaling of paging procedure, network-triggered service request procedure, etc., or may be implemented by dedicated signaling procedure. Through the operation resource deployment flow, the core network can call the idle operation resource of the specific UE to provide calculation power support for communication services of other terminal devices or users.

Fig. 10 illustrates an example method for communication according to an embodiment of this disclosure. The method may be performed by the electronic device 400 or a corresponding network function (e.g., CF). As shown in fig. 10, the method 1000 may include receiving an operational requirement of a communication service from an SMF (block 1002). The method may also include providing information of the instantiated computing force resource to the SMF (block 1004). Further details of the method may be understood with reference to the above description of the respective network functions.

In one embodiment, the computational power resources are instantiated based on operational requirements of the communication service, and the computational power resources are from at least one of: a core network computing power resource entity; base station or base station side module, UPF, UE or third party computing power resource platform.

Fig. 11 illustrates an example method for communication according to an embodiment of this disclosure. The method may be performed by the electronic device 500 or any terminal device. As shown in fig. 11, the method 1100 may include sending a first request message to a network, wherein the first request message corresponds to a PDU session establishment request or a PDU session modification request message, and the first request message includes at least operational QoS configuration information for a communication service, the operational QoS configuration information including at least one of an operational QoS parameter or an operational QoS characteristic (block 1102). Optionally, the method may further include receiving a response message from the network, such as a PDU session establishment response or a PDU session modification response message (block 1104). Further details of the method may be understood with reference to the above description of the terminal device.

In one embodiment, the method 1100 may further include obtaining operational requirements for the communication service and mapping the operational requirements to operational QoS parameters and/or characteristics based on the operational policy.

Fig. 12A illustrates an example method for communication according to an embodiment of this disclosure. The method may be performed by the electronic device 400 or by a corresponding network function (e.g., PCF and AF). As shown in fig. 12A, the method 1200 may include sending, by an AF to a PCF, an AF requirement, wherein the AF requirement is based on at least one of subscription information or traffic scenario of a communication service, and the AF requirement includes operational QoS configuration information of the communication service; accordingly, an AF requirement is received by the PCF from the AF (block 1202). The method may also include generating, by the PCF, PCC rules based on the AF requirements (block 1204). The method may also include providing, by the PCF, PCC rules to the SMF (block 1206). Further details of the method may be understood with reference to the above description of the respective network functions.

Fig. 12B illustrates an example method for communication according to an embodiment of this disclosure. The method may be performed by the electronic device 400 or a corresponding network function (e.g., RAN or base station thereof). As shown in fig. 12B, the method 1250 may include identifying a plurality of data packets as belonging to the same data processing sequence by a sequence number in a data packet header and monitoring actual communication QoS performance of the plurality of data packets (block 1252). Alternatively, the method may include identifying a particular number of data packets or a plurality of data packets within a particular time window as belonging to the same data processing sequence and monitoring actual communication QoS performance of the plurality of data packets (block 1254). Further details of the method may be understood with reference to the above description of the respective network functions.

Exemplary electronic devices and methods according to embodiments of the present disclosure are described above, respectively. It should be understood that the operations or functions of these electronic devices may be combined with one another to achieve more or less operations or functions than those described. The steps of the methods may also be combined with each other in any suitable order to similarly perform more or less operations than those described.

It should be understood that machine-executable instructions in a machine-readable storage medium or program product according to embodiments of the present disclosure may be configured to perform operations corresponding to the above-described apparatus and method embodiments. Embodiments of a machine-readable storage medium or program product will be apparent to those skilled in the art when referring to the above-described apparatus and method embodiments, and thus the description will not be repeated. Machine-readable storage media and program products for carrying or comprising the machine-executable instructions described above are also within the scope of the present disclosure. Such a storage medium may include, but is not limited to, floppy disks, optical disks, magneto-optical disks, memory cards, memory sticks, and the like. In addition, it should be understood that the series of processes and devices described above may also be implemented in software and/or firmware.

In addition, it should be understood that the series of processes and devices described above may also be implemented in software and/or firmware. In the case of implementation by software and/or firmware, a program constituting the software is installed from a storage medium or a network to a computer having a dedicated hardware structure, such as a general-purpose computer 1300 shown in fig. 13, which is capable of executing various functions and the like when various programs are installed. Fig. 13 illustrates an example block diagram of a computer that may be implemented as a terminal device or network node in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

In fig. 13, a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 1301 executes various processes according to a program stored in a Read Only Memory (ROM) 1302 or a program loaded from a storage section 1308 to a Random Access Memory (RAM) 1303. In the RAM 1303, data necessary when the CPU1301 executes various processes and the like is also stored as needed.

The CPU1301, ROM 1302, and RAM 1303 are connected to each other via a bus 1304. An input/output interface 1305 is also connected to the bus 1304.

The following components are connected to the input/output interface 1305: an input section 1306 including a keyboard, a mouse, and the like; an output section 1307 including a display such as a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), etc., and a speaker, etc.; a storage portion 1308 including a hard disk or the like; and a communication section 1309 including a network interface card such as a LAN card, a modem, or the like. The communication section 1309 performs a communication process via a network such as the internet.

The drive 1310 is also connected to the input/output interface 1305 as needed. The removable medium 1311 such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a semiconductor memory, or the like is installed as needed on the drive 1310, so that a computer program read out therefrom is installed into the storage section 1308 as needed.

In the case of implementing the above-described series of processes by software, a program constituting the software is installed from a network such as the internet or a storage medium such as the removable medium 1311.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that such a storage medium is not limited to the removable medium 1311 shown in fig. 13, in which the program is stored, which is distributed separately from the apparatus to provide the program to the user. Examples of the removable medium 1311 include a magnetic disk (including a floppy disk (registered trademark)), an optical disk (including a compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM) and a Digital Versatile Disk (DVD)), a magneto-optical disk (including a Mini Disk (MD) (registered trademark)), and a semiconductor memory. Alternatively, the storage medium may be a ROM 1302, a hard disk contained in the storage section 1308, or the like, in which a program is stored, and distributed to users together with a device containing them.

It should be understood that the technical solution of the present disclosure may be implemented by the following example embodiments.

1. An electronic device for a network node, the electronic device comprising processing circuitry configured to:

receiving a first request message from a terminal device, wherein the first request message corresponds to a PDU session establishment request or a PDU session modification request message, and the first request message comprises at least operational QoS configuration information of a communication service, the operational QoS configuration information comprising at least one of an operational QoS parameter or an operational QoS characteristic; and

the computational requirements of the communication service are provided to a computational function CF to instantiate corresponding computational power resources, wherein the computational requirements are generated if the computational QoS configuration information of the communication service complies with the policies of the terminal device.

2. The electronic device of clause 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

receiving PCC rules from a policy control function PCF, wherein the PCC rules contain operational QoS configuration information of the communication service,

wherein the policy of the terminal device is generated based on the PCC rule.

3. The electronic device of clause 1, wherein the operational QoS configuration information includes one or more of:

The power demand, the operation priority, the operation characteristic, the service identifier, the operation deployment mode, the operation cache demand or the slice number of the power slice.

4. The electronic device of clause 1, wherein the first request message further comprises communication QoS configuration information for the communication service, and the processing circuit is further configured to:

coordinating QoS parameters or characteristics for operation and communication based on both the operation QoS configuration information and the communication QoS configuration information; and

the operational requirements of the communication service are determined based on the coordinated operational QoS parameters or characteristics, and/or the communication requirements of the communication service are determined based on the coordinated communication QoS parameters or characteristics.

5. The electronic device of clause 4, wherein coordinating QoS parameters or characteristics for operation and communication comprises at least one of:

determining one of an operational delay and a transmission delay relative to the other of the operational delay and the transmission delay of the communication service such that a sum of the operational delay and the transmission delay is less than or equal to a threshold level;

determining one of an arithmetic processing capability and a communication bandwidth to be matched with the other of the communication service based on a relative priority of the communication and the arithmetic processing of the communication service;

And monitoring the operation of the communication service and the real-time QoS performance of the communication based on the operation granularity.

6. The electronic device of clause 4, wherein at least one of the operational QoS configuration information and the communication QoS configuration information is selected from a replaceable set of QoS parameters,

wherein the alternative sets of QoS parameters prioritize or identify sets of complete QoS parameters and select one of the sets of QoS parameters based upon available or allocated communication resources and/or computational resources.

7. The electronic device of clause 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

receiving information from the instantiated computing power resource of the CF; and

a first response message is provided to the UE, wherein the first response message corresponds to a PDU session establishment accept or a PDU session modification accept message.

8. The electronic device of clause 1, wherein for the communication service, one or more of the following holds:

uplink data from the terminal equipment need to be processed, and the result of data processing needs to be transmitted to a DN/external network;

downlink data from the DN/external network need to be processed, and the result of the data processing needs to be transmitted to the terminal equipment;

The data from the terminal device needs to be processed, and the result of the data processing needs to be returned to the terminal device.

9. The electronic device of clause 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: receiving a second request message from a terminal device, wherein the second request message comprises information of computing power resources to be registered by the terminal device; and sending a second response message to the terminal device to indicate acceptance of the computing power resource registration of the terminal device.

10. The electronic device of clause 9, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: sending a third request message to the terminal equipment, wherein the third request message indicates information of computing power resources to be instantiated to the terminal equipment; and receiving a third response message from the terminal device, the third response message including an acknowledgement of the instantiated computing force resource by the terminal device.

11. An electronic device for a network node, wherein the network node is configured to implement an arithmetic function CF, the electronic device comprising processing circuitry configured to:

receiving an operation requirement of a communication service from a session management function SMF; and

The SMF is provided with information of the instantiated computing power resource.

12. The electronic device of clause 11, wherein the computational resource is instantiated based on the operational requirements of the communication service, and the computational resource is from at least one of:

a core network computing power resource entity;

a base station or a base station side module;

user plane function UPF;

a UE; or (b)

And a third party computing power resource platform.

13. An electronic device for a terminal device, comprising processing circuitry configured to:

a first request message is sent to the network, wherein the first request message corresponds to a PDU session establishment request or a PDU session modification request message, and the first request message includes at least operational QoS configuration information for the communication service, the operational QoS configuration information including at least one of an operational QoS parameter or an operational QoS characteristic.

14. The electronic device of clause 13, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

obtaining the operation requirement of the communication service; and

the operational requirements are mapped to operational QoS parameters and/or characteristics based on an operational policy.

15. The electronic device of clause 14, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: sending a second request message to the network, wherein the second request message comprises information of computing power resources to be registered by the terminal equipment; and receiving a second response message from the network, the second response message indicating that the computing power resource registration is accepted.

16. The electronic device of clause 15, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: receiving a third request message from the network, the third request message indicating information of the computing power resource to be instantiated; and sending a third response message to the network, the third response message including an acknowledgement of the instantiated computing resource by the terminal device.

17. An electronic device for a network node, wherein the network node is configured to implement an application function, AF, the electronic device comprising processing circuitry configured to:

an AF requirement is sent to a policy control function PCF, wherein the AF requirement is based on at least one of subscription information or traffic scenarios of a communication service, and the AF requirement comprises operational QoS configuration information of the communication service.

18. An electronic device for a network node, wherein the network node is configured to implement a policy control function, PCF, the electronic device comprising processing circuitry configured to:

receiving an AF requirement from an application function AF, wherein the AF requirement comprises operational QoS configuration information of a communication service;

generating PCC rules based on the AF requirements; and

The PCC rules are provided to a session management function SMF.

19. An electronic device for a radio access network, comprising processing circuitry configured to:

identifying a plurality of data packets as belonging to the same data processing sequence by sequence numbers in the data packet header, and monitoring the actual communication QoS performance of the plurality of data packets; or alternatively

A specific number of data packets or a plurality of data packets within a specific time window are identified as belonging to the same data processing sequence and the actual communication QoS performance of the plurality of data packets is monitored.

20. A wireless communication method for a session management function, SMF, and comprising:

receiving a first request message from a terminal device, wherein the first request message corresponds to a PDU session establishment request or a PDU session modification request message, and the first request message comprises at least operational QoS configuration information of a communication service, the operational QoS configuration information comprising at least one of an operational QoS parameter or an operational QoS characteristic; and

the computational requirements of the communication service are provided to a computational function CF to instantiate corresponding computational power resources, wherein the computational requirements are generated if the computational QoS configuration information of the communication service complies with the policies of the terminal device.

21. The method of clause 20, further comprising:

receiving PCC rules from a policy control function PCF, wherein the PCC rules contain operational QoS configuration information of the communication service,

wherein the policy of the terminal device is generated based on the PCC rule.

22. The method of clause 20, wherein the first request message further comprises communication QoS configuration information for the communication service, and the method further comprises:

coordinating QoS parameters or characteristics for operation and communication based on both the operation QoS configuration information and the communication QoS configuration information; and

the operational requirements of the communication service are determined based on the coordinated operational QoS parameters or characteristics, and/or the communication requirements of the communication service are determined based on the coordinated communication QoS parameters or characteristics.

23. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, implement the operations of the method of any of clauses 20 to 22.

24. A computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the method according to any of clauses 20 to 22 to be implemented.

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described above with reference to the drawings, but the present disclosure is of course not limited to the above examples. Various changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art within the scope of the appended claims, and it is understood that such changes and modifications will naturally fall within the technical scope of the present disclosure.

For example, a plurality of functions included in one unit in the above embodiments may be implemented by separate devices. Alternatively, the functions realized by the plurality of units in the above embodiments may be realized by separate devices, respectively. In addition, one of the above functions may be implemented by a plurality of units. Needless to say, such a configuration is included in the technical scope of the present disclosure.

In this specification, the steps described in the flowcharts include not only processes performed in time series in the order described, but also processes performed in parallel or individually, not necessarily in time series. Further, even in the steps of time-series processing, needless to say, the order may be appropriately changed.

Although the present disclosure and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

Claims (10)

1. An electronic device for a network node, the electronic device comprising processing circuitry configured to:

receiving a first request message from a terminal device, wherein the first request message corresponds to a PDU session establishment request or a PDU session modification request message, and the first request message comprises at least operational QoS configuration information of a communication service, the operational QoS configuration information comprising at least one of an operational QoS parameter or an operational QoS characteristic; and

the computational requirements of the communication service are provided to a computational function CF to instantiate corresponding computational power resources, wherein the computational requirements are generated if the computational QoS configuration information of the communication service complies with the policies of the terminal device.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

receiving PCC rules from a policy control function PCF, wherein the PCC rules contain operational QoS configuration information of the communication service,

wherein the policy of the terminal device is generated based on the PCC rule.

3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the operational QoS configuration information comprises one or more of:

The power demand, the operation priority, the operation characteristic, the service identifier, the operation deployment mode, the operation cache demand or the slice number of the power slice.

4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first request message further comprises communication QoS configuration information for the communication service, and the processing circuit is further configured to:

coordinating QoS parameters or characteristics for operation and communication based on both the operation QoS configuration information and the communication QoS configuration information; and

the operational requirements of the communication service are determined based on the coordinated operational QoS parameters or characteristics, and/or the communication requirements of the communication service are determined based on the coordinated communication QoS parameters or characteristics.

5. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein coordinating QoS parameters or characteristics for operation and communication comprises at least one of:

determining one of an operational delay and a transmission delay relative to the other of the operational delay and the transmission delay of the communication service such that a sum of the operational delay and the transmission delay is less than or equal to a threshold level;

determining one of an arithmetic processing capability and a communication bandwidth to be matched with the other of the communication service based on a relative priority of the communication and the arithmetic processing of the communication service;

And monitoring the operation of the communication service and the real-time QoS performance of the communication based on the operation granularity.

6. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein at least one of the operational QoS configuration information and the communication QoS configuration information is selected from a replaceable plurality of sets of QoS parameters,

wherein the alternative sets of QoS parameters prioritize or identify sets of complete QoS parameters and select one of the sets of QoS parameters based upon available or allocated communication resources and/or computational resources.

7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

receiving information from the instantiated computing power resource of the CF; and

a first response message is provided to the UE, wherein the first response message corresponds to a PDU session establishment accept or a PDU session modification accept message.

8. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein for the communication service, one or more of:

uplink data from the terminal equipment need to be processed, and the result of data processing needs to be transmitted to a DN/external network;

downlink data from the DN/external network need to be processed, and the result of the data processing needs to be transmitted to the terminal equipment;

The data from the terminal device needs to be processed, and the result of the data processing needs to be returned to the terminal device.

9. An electronic device for a network node, wherein the network node is configured to implement an arithmetic function CF, the electronic device comprising processing circuitry configured to:

receiving an operation requirement of a communication service from a session management function SMF; and

the SMF is provided with information of the instantiated computing power resource.

10. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the computing power resource is instantiated based on an operational requirement of the communication service, and the computing power resource is from at least one of: a core network computing power resource entity; a base station or a base station side module; user plane function UPF; a UE; or a third party computing resource platform.

Images