CN117242761A - Triggering edge server discovery and instantiation by 5GMS aware applications - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an edge-enabled fifth generation media streaming (5 GMS) system that includes a user equipment having a 5GMS aware application that sends a request to a media session processor of the user equipment to use an edge service. In response, the edge enabled client of the user device sends a discovery request to the edge data network.

Description

Triggering edge server discovery and instantiation by 5GMS aware applications

Incorporation of reference

The present application is based on and claims priority from U.S. non-provisional application Ser. No. 18/127,981, filed on 3/month 29 of 2023, and U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 63/325,520, filed on 3/month 30 of 2022, the disclosures of both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Technical Field

The present application relates generally to fifth generation media streaming (5 GMS) using edge processing, and more particularly to determining 5GMS aware applications that discover available edge application servers.

Background

The background description provided herein is intended to generally represent the background of the application. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section as well as aspects of the description, as it may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, and are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.

Due to the advantages offered by edge processing, such as with respect to latency, response time, bandwidth, and proximity of processing to User Equipment (UE), it may be desirable to use edge processing for 5GMS architectures. Accordingly, it may be desirable to provision edge services by clients and/or obtain information about edge application servers.

Disclosure of Invention

Aspects of the present disclosure provide methods and apparatus for media streaming and edge resource processing for fifth generation media streaming (5 GMS) applications.

In some implementations, a method of media streaming includes: transmitting a request to use an edge service to a media session processor of a user equipment via an M6 interface using a fifth generation media streaming (5 GMS) aware application of the user equipment; transmitting a discovery request for one or more available Edge Application Servers (EAS) with an Edge Enabled Client (EEC) of the user equipment after transmitting the request to use the edge service; receiving, with the EEC, a discovery response indicating the one or more available EAS; selecting, with at least one of the EEC or the media session processor, a target EAS from the one or more available EAS indicated in the discovery response; and streaming media content in communication with the target EAS with the user device.

In some other implementations, an apparatus for streaming media and/or edge resource processing is disclosed. The apparatus may include circuitry configured to perform any of the above-described method implementations.

Aspects of the present disclosure also provide one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform any of the above-described method implementations.

Drawings

Other features, properties, and various advantages of the disclosed subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description and drawings in which:

fig. 1 shows a block diagram of an exemplary edge-enabled fifth generation media streaming (5 GMS) system.

Fig. 2 shows a flow chart of an example method of media streaming performed by a user equipment.

FIG. 3 illustrates an interaction diagram of an example method of discovering a target edge application server.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer system.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an example configuration of an edge-enabled fifth generation media streaming (5 GMS) system 100. Typically, a 5GMS system is a set or combination of one or more Application Functions (AF), one or more Application Servers (AS), and interfaces from a 5GMS architecture that supports or is configured to perform mobile network operators (mobile network operator, MNO) and third party downlink media streaming services and MNO and third party uplink media streaming services. The edge-enabled 5GMS system has the functionality of a 5GMS system and a 5GMS architecture and also supports or is configured to perform edge processing (e.g., media processing in an edge Data Network (DN)). Generally, the term "edge" refers to a location at or relatively near the user. Accordingly, edge processing (or edge computation) refers to computer processing performed by one or more computing devices that are considered to be located at or near the user device.

In the example configuration of fig. 1, the edge-enabled 5GMS system 100 includes a user equipment 102, a Data Network (DN) 104, and an edge DN 106. In general, user devices, such as user device 102, described herein may include a single electronic device or apparatus capable of communicating over a network, or multiple (e.g., networked) electronic devices or apparatuses. The user equipment may include or otherwise be referred to as a user terminal, user terminal device, or User Equipment (UE). In addition, the user device may be or include, but is not limited to, a mobile device (such as a mobile phone, smart watch, tablet, laptop, vehicle or other watercraft (human, motor or engine driven such as automobiles, airplanes, trains, ships or bicycles), as non-limiting examples) or a fixed or stationary device (such as a desktop computer or other computing device that is typically not mobile for long periods of time, such as an appliance, other relatively heavy device including internet of things (IoT), or a computing device used in a commercial or industrial environment, as non-limiting examples).

Further, DN 104 and edge DN 106 can each include a computing device or computing devices configured to communicate signals with user device 102. At least some of the signals communicated may be characterized as downlink or uplink. As used herein, the term downlink refers to the direction of transmission from the network (e.g., DN or edge DN) to the user equipment. Accordingly, the network is the origin of the information or content (e.g., media) transmitted and/or included in the transmission, and the user device is the consumer of the information or content, or acts as a consumer device. In this context, the network transmits and the user equipment receives downlink transmissions. Also, as used herein, the term uplink refers to the direction of transmission from a user device to a network (e.g., DN or edge DN). Accordingly, the user device is the origin of the information or content (e.g., media) transmitted and/or included in the transmission, and the network is the consumer of the information or content, or acts as a consuming device. In this context, the user equipment transmits an uplink transmission and the network receives the uplink transmission.

For the edge-enabled 5GMS system 100 of fig. 1, the user equipment 102, DN 104, and edge DN 106 may be configured to establish one or more media sessions and stream media during the one or more media sessions. For at least some configurations, user devices 102, DN 104, and edge DN 106 can perform media streaming and establish media streaming and associated functions of media according to one or more 5GMS specifications, standards, and/or protocols, such as third generation partnership project (3 GPP) Technical Specification (TS) 26.501.

Additionally or alternatively, each of user device 102, DN 104, and edge DN 106 may include one or more components or modules to enable communication of media streams and/or establishment of media streams and media sessions, such as in accordance with the 5GMS specification. Such components are collectively referred to herein as 5GMS components. For the configuration shown in fig. 1, the 5GMS components include a 5GMS application provider 108, a 5GMS aware application 110, a 5GMS client 112, a media session processor 114, a media stream processor 116, a 5GMS Application Function (AF) 118, and a 5GMS Application Server (AS) 120. In other configurations, the 5GMS components may include more or fewer components than shown in fig. 1. Furthermore, as described in further detail below, the 5GMS components may be configured to communicate with each other via or through one or more interfaces M. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, each of the 5GMS components may be configured to communicate in both the uplink and downlink directions, and each of the interfaces M may process communications in both the uplink and downlink directions. For at least some configurations, one or more 5GMS components and/or one or more interfaces M may be separated into a downlink portion that handles downlink functions and an uplink portion that handles uplink functions. For simplicity, separate downlink and uplink portions are not separately designated in fig. 1 or otherwise referred to herein.

Typically, 5GMS application provider 108 is a module of DN 104 that uses 5GMS for streaming services and provisions or provides 5GMS aware applications 110 to user equipment 106. The 5GMS application provider 108 may execute, initiate, and/or establish provisioning sessions to configure 5GMS features for the 5GMS aware application 110. Additionally or alternatively, the 5GMS application provider 108 may provide functionality and/or programs used by the 5GMS aware application 110 that enable the user device 106 to discover available streaming services and content offerings and select a particular service or content item for access. Additionally or alternatively, the 5GMS application provider 108 may perform a service announcement that enables the 5GMS aware application 110 to obtain 5GMS service access information. Additionally or alternatively, the 5GMS application provider 108 uses 5GMS downlink (5 GMSd) functionality and/or 5GMS uplink (5 GMSu) functionality for downlink streaming services and/or uplink streaming services, respectively. Additionally or alternatively, the 5GMS application provider 108 has content-specific media functions, such as media creation, encoding, and formatting, that use the 5GMS interface to stream media to the 5 GMS-aware application 110 and/or from the 5 GMS-aware application 110.

The 5GMS aware application 110 is a module of the user equipment 102 that includes service logic for one or more 5GMS application services and participates in the delivery of downlink and/or uplink 5GMS services.

The 5GMS client 112 is a module of the user equipment 102 dedicated to the 5GMS that provides a module with an interface and/or Application Programming Interface (API) internally to the user equipment 102 to communicate with each other and/or with modules or other components external to the user equipment 102 in accordance with the 5 GMS. For some configurations, such as that shown in fig. 1, the 5GMS client 112 may include a media session processor 114 and a media stream processor 116, although other configurations are possible in which one or both of the media session processor 114 or the media stream processor 116 are separate from the 5GMS client 112. In other configurations, the user device 102 may include a media session processor 114 and a media stream processor 116 without having a 5GMS client 112.

The media session processor 114 is a module of the user equipment 102 that communicates with 5GMS Application Functions (AFs) to establish, control and/or support communication and/or delivery of media during a media session. For at least some configurations, the media session processor 114 may perform additional functions, such as consumption and quality of experience (QoE) indicator collection and reporting. Also, the media session processor 114 may provide network assistance, such as for downlink stream delivery and/or by providing code rate recommendations and/or estimates. Additionally or alternatively, for at least some configurations, the media session processor 114 may expose one or more APIs for use by the 5GMS aware application 110.

The media stream processor 116 is a module of the user equipment 102 that communicates with a 5GMS Application Server (AS) to perform downlink and/or uplink streaming of media content. The media stream processor 116 may also provide services for media collection and uplink streaming to the 5GMS aware application 110 and services for media session control to the media session processor 114. Further, for at least some configurations, the media stream processor 116 may be configured with a media player that processes the media content stream and/or may provide one or more APIs for media playback to the 5GMS aware application 110 and/or one or more APIs for media session control to the media session processor 114.

Edge DN 104 is a local data network comprising one or more computing devices, supporting and/or comprising an architecture configured to enable edge applications, and/or performing edge computation or processing. Edge DN 106 may include one or more 5GMS Application Functions (AF) 118 and/or one or more Application Servers (AS) 120. In the example configuration of fig. 1, edge DN 106 includes one 5gms AF 118 and two ases 120 (1), 120 (2). Other configurations of one or more 5gms AFs 118 and/or one or more 5gms ass 120 are also possible.

In general, the 5GMS AF 118 is a module that provides control functions to the media session processor 114 of the user equipment 102 and/or the 5GMS application provider 108 of the data network 102. For at least some configurations, the 5gms AF 118 may forward or initiate requests for different policy or charging functions (Policy or Charging Function, PCF) processing.

In addition, in general, 5gms as120 is an application server dedicated to 5G media streams and carries 5G media functions. The 5gms AS120 may communicate with the media stream processor 116 to stream media content. Additionally or alternatively, the 5GMS AS120 may perform content hosting including, but not limited to, ingesting media content from the 5GMS application provider 108 and caching the media content to reduce repeated ingestion of the same content.

In addition, the edge enabled 5GMS system 100 may include multiple interfaces or APIs M used by the 5GMS components to communicate with each other. As shown in fig. 1, each Mi (where i is an integer) may be used between corresponding two of the 5GMS components.

M1 is used to provide a data structure during a provisioning session from 5GMS application provider 108 to 5GMS AF that configures features of 5GMS aware application 110. The M1 interface may enable the 5GMS application provider 108 to provision the downlink and uplink media streams with edge-enabled use of the 5GMS system 100 and obtain feedback. Additionally or alternatively, the 5GMS application provider 108 may use the M1 interface to provision resources in the edge DN 106 for the 5GMS aware application 110, such as by configuring an edge processing resource template. For at least some configurations, the 5GMS application provider 108 may configure the following through the M1 interface: one or more conditions for activation of edge processing, such as a traffic descriptor, an application identifier, or a geographic location of the user device 102; a selection of client driver or AF driver management; EAS configuration information for each EAS124 serving the application, such as service Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), geographic location, and service continuity support; and/or application context relocation tolerance and requirements.

The M2 interface is the interface between 5GMS108 and 5GMS AS120 through which 5GMS AS120 ingests media content from 5GMS application provider 108.

The M3 interface is an interface between the 5gms AF 118 and the 5gms AS120 for exchanging information of content hosted on the 5gms AS 120. The M3 interface may also be used to enable selection of an appropriate one from the plurality of 5gms AS120 for the media session.

M4 interface M4 is the interface between the 5gms as120 and the media stream processor 116. The M4 interface is used to pass one or more media streams of media content between the 5gms as120 and the media stream processor 116 (in the uplink and/or downlink directions).

M5 interface M5 is an interface between the 5gms AF 118 and the media session processor 114 for communicating information to process, control, report, and assist in the media session. The 5gms AF 118 and the media session processor 114 may also use the M5 interface to implement one or more security, authorization, and/or authentication mechanisms for media sessions, and/or to report QoE metrics. Additionally or alternatively, the 5gms AF 118 may communicate service access information to the media session processor 114 over the M5 interface in order to share configuration information regarding edge processing. Additionally or alternatively, the 5GMS AF 118 may use the M5 interface to communicate consumption report and/or index report configuration information that is supplied over the M1 interface and communicated by the 5GMS AF 118 to the 5GMS client 112.

The M6 interface is an interface between the media session processor 114 and the media stream processor 116 and/or an interface between the media session processor 114 and the 5GMS aware application 110 for communication between two or more of the 5GMS aware application 110, the media session processor 114 and the media stream processor 116. The media session processor 114 and/or the media stream processor 116 may use the M6 interface to configure the 5 GMS-aware application 110 with 5GMS functionality or otherwise enable the 5 GMS-aware application 110 to utilize 5GMS functionality. Additionally or alternatively, the M6 interface may be used to configure 5 GMS-related data reports for the 5 GMS-aware application 110.

The M7 interface is an interface between the media session processor 114 and the media stream processor 116 and between the media stream processor 116 and the 5GMS aware application 110. The M7 interface may allow the media session processor 114 and/or the 5GMS aware application 110 to utilize a media player of the media stream processor 116 and/or configuration of QoE metrics and/or collection of metrics measurement records to be measured and recorded by the user device 106. Additionally or alternatively, the M7 interface may be used to configure, activate and/or deactivate media collection, media encoding and/or media upstream client functions.

The M8 interface is an interface between the 5GMS application provider 108 and the 5GMS aware application 110. In any of a variety of configurations, as non-limiting examples, the 5GMS application provider 108 may use the M8 interface to directly provide various information to the 5 GMS-aware application 110, including service access information, remote control commands, service announcement information.

Furthermore, as previously described, the 5GMS system 100 of fig. 1 is edge enabled and/or capable of performing edge processing in order to perform 5G media streaming. The 5GMS system 100 may be edge-enabled by being configured with edge components that provide edge computing or processing functionality to one or more 5GMS components. In this regard, each of 5gms AF 118 and 5gms AS120 may be an edge-enabled component and/or configured to perform edge processing, as indicated as part of edge DN 106. Furthermore, user equipment 102 may be edge-enabled for media streaming at least by being able to communicate with edge-enabled 5GMS118 and edge-enabled 5GMS as 120. The 5gms AF 118 may be an edge-enabled component by including at least a first type of edge component referred to as an edge-enabled server (EES) 122. Also, each 5GMS AS120 may be an edge enabled component by including a second type of edge component referred to as an Edge Application Server (EAS) 124. Further, the user device 102 may be an edge-enabled component by including a third type of edge component and/or a fourth type of edge component, referred to as an edge-enabled client (EEC) 126 and/or an application client 128, respectively. The edge components may also include an Edge Configuration Server (ECS) 130. The edge components may communicate with each other according to one or more specifications, standards, and/or protocols (such as 3gpp ts 23.558).

In general, EES122 support or are configured to perform functions that support the operation of one or more EAS124 and EECs 126, including provisioning configuration information to EECs 126 and/or enabling the exchange of application data traffic with one or more EAS 124. Further, for at least some embodiments, as non-limiting examples, EES122 may perform additional functions such as the ability to interact with a core network (not shown in fig. 1) to access network functions, perform context transfer with EECs 126, support external exposure of network and service capabilities to one or more EAS, registration functions (including registration, update, and de-registration of EECs 126 and one or more EAS 124), and/or trigger EAS instantiation as needed. Other functions performed by EES122 are also possible.

In addition, EAS124 is typically configured to connect to user equipment 102 to utilize the services of 5GMS aware applications with edge computing capabilities. In addition, EAS124 may consume core network capabilities, such as by EES122 invoking core network capabilities via an edge enabled layer, directly invoking core network function APIs, and/or invoking core network capabilities through a capability exposure function. Additionally or alternatively, EAS124 may expose its service APIs to other EAS124, such as by supporting API provider domain functions (API provider domain functions). Additionally or alternatively, EAS124 may consume EAS service APIs exposed by other EAS, such as by supporting API caller functions. Other functions or actions performed by the EAS124 are also possible.

Furthermore, EEC 126 is a module of user device 102 that is configured to retrieve configuration information to enable application data traffic to be exchanged with EAS124. Additionally, EEC 126 may be configured to discover available EAS124 in edge DN 106. Additionally or alternatively, the EEC 126 may be configured to detect mobility events of the user device 106. For at least some configurations such as that shown in fig. 1, EEC 126 may be part or a component of media session processor 114 of user device 102, although other configurations are possible in which EEC 126 is a component independent of media session processor 114.

Further, an Application Client (AC) 128 is a module of the user device 102 that locates and/or connects to one or more EAS124. For example, AC 128 may determine EAS124 connected to the needs that it determines to be best suited for serving 5 GMS-aware applications 110. For at least some configurations such as that shown in fig. 1, AC 128 may be part or component of 5 GMS-aware application 110, although other configurations are possible in which AC 128 is a component independent of 5 GMS-aware application 110.

In addition, in general, ECS130 is a module that provides EEC 126 with functionality to support connections with EES 122. As an example, ECS130 may supply edge configuration information to EEC 126. For at least some configurations, the edge configuration information may include at least one of information that EECs 126 differentiate between multiple EES126 or information that establishes a connection with one or more EES 122. In some configurations, the ECS130 may also support registration, update, and/or de-registration of the EES122, and/or the ability to interact with the core network to access network functions. Other functions of the ECS130 are also possible. For at least some configurations such as that shown in fig. 1, ECS130 is a component independent of each of user device 102, DN 104, and edge DN 106, although other configurations are possible in which ECS130 is a component of user device 102, DN 104, or edge DN 106.

Furthermore, similar to the "M" interface used by the 5GMS component, the edge components may communicate with each other via multiple edge interfaces or APIs. As shown in fig. 1, each EDGE interface is designated EDGE-j, where j is an integer.

EDGE-1 is the interface between EES122 and EEC 126. EES122 and EECs 126 can use EDGE 1 to communicate information related to registration and deregistration of EECs 126 to EES122, to communicate information related to retrieving and provisioning EAS configuration information to EES122, to communicate discovery of EAS124 available in EDGE DN 106, and/or information related to service continuity procedures to EES122.

EDGE-3 is the interface between EES122 and EAS 124. EES122 and EAS124 may use EDGE-3 to: registering EAS124 with EES122 (which may include registration availability information such as time constraints and/or location constraints); de-registering the EAS124 from the ESS; performing discovery of target EAS (T-EAS) information to support Application Context Transfer (ACT); providing access to network capability information, such as location information; and/or request that a data session be established between AC 128 and EAS124, including communication QoS information. EDGE-3 may be used to communicate other information and/or may perform other functions.

EDGE-4 is the interface between EEC 126 and ECS 130. ECS130 may use EDGE-4 to supply EDGE configuration information to EEC 126.

EDGE-5 is the interface between EEC 126 and application client 128.

EDGE-6 is the interface between EES122 and ECS 130. The EES122 and ECS130 can use EDGE-6 to: registering the EES122 with the ECS 130; deregister EES122 from ECS 130; and/or retrieve the target ESS information from the ECS 130.

EDGE-9 is the interface between two EES 122. Both EES122 can use EDGE-9 to discover target EAS information to support Application Context Relocation (ACR); for executing an EEC context relocation procedure; and/or transparent transfer of application context during Edge Enabled Layer (EEL) management ACR.

In various other example configurations, other edge interfaces (including interfaces between edge components and the core network not shown in fig. 1) may be part of the edge enabled 5GMS system 100 or otherwise used by the edge enabled 5GMS system 100.

Further, as used herein, service access information is a set of one or more parameters and/or addresses used by the user equipment 102 (such as the 5GMS client 112) to activate and control streaming sessions. For at least some example configurations, the service access information may also include one or more parameters and/or addresses for reporting services, content, and/or QoE metrics. In some configurations, user device 102 may receive service access information directly from DN 104. In other configurations, user device 102 may receive service access information from 5gms AF 118 of edge DN 106. By being edge-enabled, the media session processor 114 of the user device 102 may be configured to use the service access information to determine whether the media streaming session meets qualification criteria for requesting edge resources.

As described above, the 5GMS components may communicate with each other via multiple Mi interfaces (e.g., APIs). In some implementations, the 5GMS aware application 110 may use the M6 interface to configure or cause the media session processor 114 to discover and/or instantiate a new EAS124 through EES122 using EEC 126 and/or via an EDGE-1 interface and not interact with the 5GMS AF 118. Accordingly, this may allow for a more efficient EAS discovery process. Generally, the EAS124 is instantiated when the EAS124 is able to run an application to stream media with the user device 102. In particular implementations, EAS124 may be instantiated for a streaming session when a 5 GMS-aware application is streaming media content during the streaming session, when EAS124 is able to run the application to allow EAS124 to stream media content with the 5 GMS-aware application or to stream media content for the 5 GMS-aware application.

Fig. 2 is a flow chart of an example method 200 of media streaming. The method 200 may be performed by the user equipment 102 desiring to stream media during a streaming session (in the downlink and/or uplink directions). At block 202, the user device 102 may determine to identify or discover one or more available EAS124 and/or target EAS124 for the streaming session from the one or more available EAS124. In some implementations, in response to receiving service access information from edge DN 106, user device 102 may determine to identify one or more available EAS and/or target EAS124. For example, media session processor 114 may receive service access information from 5gms AF 118 via an M5 interface. Further, the service access information may indicate to the user device 102 that an edge service is available to the user device 102, which in turn may prompt the user device 102 to want to discover one or more available EAS124 for the streaming session and/or select a target EAS124 from the one or more available EAS124 for the streaming session. Further, for some implementations, the media session processor 114 may indicate the availability of the edge service to the 5GMS aware application 110, such as via an M6 interface. In particular, in these implementations, media session processor 114 may provide at least one of the following parameters to the 5 GMS-aware application via the M6 interface: a list of one or more providers of one or more EAS instances 124, one or more EAS types, or one or more EAS features. Table 1 below provides a list of such parameters:

Table 1: parameters provided by media session processor to 5GMS aware applications

As indicated in table 1, one or more parameters may be used for a particular provisioning session. Additionally or alternatively, one or more parameters provided by media session processor 114 to 5 GMS-aware application 110 may be included in the service access information provided by 5GMS AF 118 to media session processor 114 via the M5 interface.

The 5GMS aware application 110 may respond to the media session processor 114 with a request to use an edge service, such as via an M6 interface. In this way, the 5GMS aware application 110 may trigger discovery of the EAS instance 124, such as via the M6 interface. In some implementations, the 5GMS aware application 110 may include an application client type (e.g., an_actype as defined in 3gpp ts 24.558) in the request. In response, the media session processor 114 may instruct or request the EEC 126 to send a discovery request for a list of available EAS 124. The media session processor 114 may use an internal API to send instructions or requests to the EEC 126.

At block 204, the user device 102 may send a discovery request to receive a list of one or more available EAS that are engaged in the streaming session. The user equipment 102 can send the discovery request via an EDGE-1 interface. For example, EEC 126 may send a discovery request to EES122 of EDGE DN 106 via an EDGE-1 interface. The discovery request may include one or more discovery filters, where each discovery filter includes characteristics that it wants the available EAS124 to have or characteristics that it wants the available EAS to be associated with. Non-limiting examples of EAS filters include: an EAS provider Identification (ID) identifying an acceptable provider of the 5GMS EAS instances, which may include those instances associated with a particular provisioning session; one or more EAS types; one EAS124 has or supports one or more EAS features; service Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which include one or more service characteristics; one or more service areas, including one or more geographic areas served by EAS 124; service availability schedule, or service continuity scenario, of EAS124, which includes one or more application context relocation scenarios of EAS support. The discovery request may also include a particular value for each discovery filter.

At block 206, the user device 102 may receive a discovery response from the edge DN 106, which may include the requested list of one or more available EAS124. For example, EEC 126 may receive the discovery response from EES122 via an EDGE-1 interface. In this way, the user device 102 can interact with the EDGE DN 106 to perform discovery without interacting with the 5GMS AF 118 other than the EES122 via the EDGE-1 interface. Additionally, each of the one or more available EAS124 identified in the list has been determined by the edge DN to satisfy the discovery request. Edge DN 106 can perform a discovery filter value match that seeks to match the discovery filter values included in the discovery filter request with characteristics of candidate EAS124. Generally, as used herein, a candidate EAS124 is an EAS124 whose edge DN 106 knows that it is likely to satisfy a discovery request before performing a discovery value match. As a non-limiting example, edge DN 106 can use any of a variety of criteria to determine whether a given candidate EAS124 satisfies a discovery request, such as identifying that the candidate EAS matches a threshold number of discovery request filter values.

At block 208, a user device 102, such as having an EEC 126 and/or media session processor 114, may select a target EAS124 from one or more available EAS124 included in the discovery response. The user device 102 may select a target EAS124 from the one or more listed available EAS124 for the streaming session and may determine that the target EAS124 is the best or most suitable EAS124. The user device 102 may use any of a variety of criteria for selecting the target EAS124. At block 210, the user device 102 may media stream with the target EAS124 (in the downlink direction and/or the uplink direction) during the streaming session. For example, the media stream processor 116 may stream media with the target EAS124 via an M4 interface. In some implementations, such as a portion of block 208 or block 210, the media session processor 114 may confirm the target EAS124 to the 5GMS aware application 110, such as via an M6 interface. For example, the media session processor 114 may indicate to the 5 GMS-aware application 110 that the 5 GMS-aware application 110 has selected or otherwise determined the target EAS124 for the streaming session, such as by using the EAS ID of the target EAS124 to explicitly identify the target EAS124, and/or otherwise confirm or confirm to the 5 GMS-aware application 110 that an edge service for the streaming session is being or will be used.

Fig. 3 is an interactive diagram of a method 300 of discovering a target EAS124. At block 302, the 5gms AF 118 may provide service access information to the media session processor 114 via the M5 interface. As previously described, the service access information may indicate edge service availability information to the user device 102. For example, the service access information may include one or more of the following: a list of 5GMS application providers, one or more types of EAS instances 124, or one or more EAS features provided or supported by one or more EAS instances 124. As previously described, the service access information may be associated with a particular provisioning session. In response to receiving the service access information, the media session processor 114 may provide an indication of edge service availability to the 5GMS aware application 110, such as via the M6 interface, at block 304. For at least some implementations, the indication may include at least one of a list of 5GMS application providers, one or more EAS types, or one or more EAS features included in the service access information.

At block 306, the 5GMS aware application 110 may request use of the edge service via the M6 interface. In this way, the 5GMS aware application 110 may trigger discovery of available EAS124 via the M6 interface. Additionally, for at least some implementations, the request from the 5 GMS-aware application may include an application client type (acType) of the application client 128 of the 5 GMS-aware application 110. At block 308, the media session processor 114 may send a request to the EEC 128 via an internal API to request an available EAS124. At block 310, the EEC 128 may send a discovery request to the EES122 via an EDGE-1 interface. The discovery request may include one or more discovery filters and associated values to be satisfied by the available EAS. At block 312, the EEC 126 may receive a discovery response request from the EES122 via the EDGE-1 interface including a list of one or more available EAS124 that satisfy the discovery request. At block 314, the media session processor 114 and/or EEC 126 may select the target EAS124 from the one or more available EAS124 indicated in the discovery response. The target EAS124 may be the best or most appropriate EAS124 of the one or more available EAS124 for streaming sessions with the 5GMS aware application 110. As previously described, media session processor 114 and/or EEC 126 may use any of a variety of criteria to make the selection. At block 316, the media session processor 114 may confirm the edge service and/or the user of the target EAS124 to the 5GMS aware application 110 via the M6 interface.

Accordingly, implementations described herein may include a 5GMS aware application 110 of a user device 102 configured to discover and/or instantiate one or more EAS124. The M6 interface may be used to indicate to the 5GMS aware application 110 that edge services are available, such as by providing information about the service server provider, the type of provider, and/or the available EAS features. The 5GMS aware application 110 may trigger discovery of available EAS124 using the M6 interface by providing its application type. Further, the media session processor 114 may use one or more 5G edge server discovery interfaces (e.g., one or more APIs) to discover EAS124 and/or may confirm discovery and/or use of the discovered EAS124 to the 5GMS aware application 110.

Furthermore, as used herein, the term module refers to an electronic device implemented solely in hardware or a combination of hardware or software configured to implement or perform one or more functions or actions. For example, a module may include circuitry configured to execute computer-executable instructions, digital logic, a processor (e.g., a Central Processing Unit (CPU)) or controller, memory storing computer-executable instructions configured to be executed by a processor or controller, or any of a variety of combinations thereof.

Furthermore, the techniques described above may be implemented as computer software by computer readable instructions and physically stored in one or more computer readable media. For example, FIG. 4 illustrates a computer system (400) suitable for implementing certain embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

The computer software may be encoded in any suitable machine code or computer language, and code comprising instructions may be created by means of assembly, compilation, linking, etc. mechanisms, the instructions being executable directly by one or more computer Central Processing Units (CPUs), graphics Processing Units (GPUs), etc. or by means of decoding, microcode, etc.

The instructions may be executed on various types of computers or components thereof, including, for example, personal computers, tablet computers, servers, smartphones, gaming devices, internet of things devices, and the like.

The components shown in fig. 4 for computer system (400) are exemplary in nature and are not intended to limit the scope of use or functionality of computer software implementing embodiments of the present application. Nor should the configuration of components be construed as having any dependency or requirement relating to any one or combination of components illustrated in the exemplary embodiment of the computer system (400).

The computer system (400) may include some human interface input devices. Such human interface input devices may be responsive to input from one or more human users via tactile input (e.g., keyboard input, sliding, data glove movement), audio input (e.g., voice, palm sound), visual input (e.g., gestures), olfactory input (not shown). The human interface device may also be used to capture certain media, such as audio (e.g., speech, music, ambient sound), images (e.g., scanned images, photographic images obtained from still-image cameras), video (e.g., two-dimensional video, three-dimensional video including stereoscopic video), and the like, which may not necessarily be directly related to human conscious input.

The human interface input device may include one or more of the following (only one of which is depicted): a keyboard (401), a mouse (402), a touch pad (403), a touch screen (410), a data glove (not shown), a joystick (405), a microphone (406), a scanner (407), a camera (408).

The computer system (400) may also include some human interface output devices. Such human interface output devices may stimulate the sensation of one or more human users by, for example, tactile output, sound, light, and smell/taste. Such human-machine interface output devices may include haptic output devices (e.g., haptic feedback via a touch screen (410), data glove (not shown), or joystick (405), but there may also be haptic feedback devices that do not serve as input devices), audio output devices (e.g., speakers (409), headphones (not shown)), visual output devices (e.g., a screen (410) comprising a cathode ray tube screen, a liquid crystal screen, a plasma screen, an organic light emitting diode screen), each with or without a touch screen input function, each with or without a haptic feedback function, some of which may output two-dimensional visual output or three-dimensional or more output by means such as stereoscopic output, virtual reality glasses (not shown), holographic displays, and smoke boxes (not shown), and printers (not shown).

The computer system (400) may also include human-accessible storage devices and their associated media such as optical media including high-density read-only/rewritable compact discs (CD/DVD ROM/RW) (420) with CD/DVD or similar media (421), thumb drive (422), removable hard disk drive or solid state drive (423), conventional magnetic media such as magnetic tape and floppy disks (not shown), ROM/ASIC/PLD based specialized devices such as secure software protectors (not shown), and so forth.

It should also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the term "computer-readable medium" as used in connection with the disclosed subject matter does not include transmission media, carrier waves or other transitory signals.

The computer system (400) may also include an interface to one or more communication networks. For example, the network may be wireless, wired, optical. The network may also be a local area network, wide area network, metropolitan area network, in-vehicle and industrial networks, real-time network, delay tolerant network, and so forth. The network also includes local area networks such as ethernet, wireless local area networks, cellular networks (GSM, 3G, 4G, 5G, LTE, etc.), television cable or wireless wide area digital networks (including cable television, satellite television, and terrestrial broadcast television), vehicular and industrial networks (including CANBus), and the like. Some networks typically require an external network interface adapter for connection to some general purpose data port or peripheral bus (449) (e.g., a USB port of a computer system (400)); other systems are typically integrated into the core of the computer system (400) by connecting to a system bus as described below (e.g., an ethernet interface is integrated into a PC computer system or a cellular network interface is integrated into a smart phone computer system). By using any of these networks, the computer system (400) may communicate with other entities. The communication may be unidirectional, for reception only (e.g., wireless television), unidirectional, for transmission only (e.g., CAN bus to certain CAN bus devices), or bidirectional, for example, to other computer systems via a local or wide area digital network. Each of the networks and network interfaces described above may use certain protocols and protocol stacks.

The human interface device, the human accessible storage device, and the network interface described above may be coupled to a core (440) of the computer system (400).

The core (440) may include one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs) (441), graphics Processing Units (GPUs) (442), special purpose programmable processing units in the form of Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) (443), hardware accelerators (444) for specific tasks, and the like. These devices, as well as Read Only Memory (ROM) (445), random access memory (446), internal mass storage (e.g., internal non-user accessible hard disk drive, solid state hard disk, etc.) (447), etc., may be connected via a system bus (448). In some computer systems, the system bus 448 may be accessed in the form of one or more physical plugs so as to be expandable by additional central processing units, graphics processing units, and the like. Peripheral devices may be attached directly to the system bus 448 of the core or connected by a peripheral bus 449. The architecture of the peripheral bus includes external controller interfaces PCI, universal serial bus USB, etc.

The CPU (441), GPU (442), FPGA (443), and accelerator (444) may execute certain instructions that, in combination, may form the computer code described above. The computer code may be stored in ROM (445) or RAM (446). The transitional data may also be stored in RAM (446), while the persistent data may be stored in, for example, internal mass storage (447). Fast storage and retrieval of any memory device may be achieved through the use of a cache memory, which may be closely associated with one or more CPUs (441), GPUs (442), mass storage (447), ROMs (445), RAMs (446), and the like.

The computer readable medium may have computer code embodied thereon for performing various computer implemented operations. The media and computer code may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the present application, or they may be of the kind well known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts.

By way of non-limiting example, a computer system, and in particular a core (440) having an architecture (400), may be provided as a processor (including CPU, GPU, FPGA, accelerator, etc.) that performs the function of software embodied in one or more tangible computer-readable media. Such computer readable media may be media associated with the mass storage device accessible by the user as described above, as well as specific memory having a non-volatile core (440), such as core internal mass storage (447) or ROM (445). Software implementing various embodiments of the present application may be stored in such devices and executed by the core (440). The computer-readable medium may include one or more storage devices or chips according to particular needs. The software may cause the core (440), and in particular the processor therein (including CPU, GPU, FPGA, etc.), to perform certain processes or certain portions of certain processes described herein, including defining data structures stored in RAM (446) and modifying such data structures according to the software-defined processes. Additionally or alternatively, the computer system may provide functionality that is logically hardwired or otherwise contained in circuitry (e.g., the accelerator (444)) that may operate in place of or in conjunction with software to perform certain processes or certain portions of certain processes described herein. References to software may include logic, and vice versa, where appropriate. References to computer readable medium may include circuitry (e.g., an Integrated Circuit (IC)) storing executable software, circuitry containing executable logic, or both, where appropriate. The present application includes any suitable combination of hardware and software.

The subject matter of the present disclosure may also relate to or include the following aspects:

in a first aspect, a method of media streaming comprises: transmitting a request to use an edge service to a media session processor of a user equipment via an M6 interface using a fifth generation media streaming (5 GMS) aware application of the user equipment; transmitting a discovery request for one or more available Edge Application Servers (EAS) with an Edge Enabled Client (EEC) of the user equipment after transmitting the request to use the edge service; receiving, with the EEC, a discovery response indicating the one or more available EAS; selecting, with at least one of the EEC or the media session processor, a target EAS from the one or more available EAS indicated in the discovery response; and streaming media content in communication with the target EAS with the user device.

The second aspect includes the first aspect, further comprising: wherein said sending said discovery request is triggered by sending a request to use said edge service from said 5GMS aware application to said media session processor via said M6 interface.

A third aspect includes any one of the first or second aspects and further includes wherein the request to use the edge service includes an application client type of the 5GMS aware application.

The fourth aspect includes any one of the first to third aspects, further including: an indication of the availability of the edge service is sent to the 5 GMS-aware application using the media session processor.

A fifth aspect includes the fourth aspect, further comprising wherein the indication is sent over the M6 interface between the 5GMS aware application and the media session processor.

A sixth aspect includes any one of the fourth or fifth aspects, and further including wherein the indication includes at least one of: a list of one or more providers of one or more EAS instances, one or more EAS types, or one or more EAS features.

A seventh aspect includes any one of the fourth to sixth aspects, further comprising: receiving, with the media session processor, service access information from a 5GMS Application Function (AF), wherein the indication is sent to the 5 GMS-aware application in response to receiving the service access information.

An eighth aspect includes any one of the first to seventh aspects, further comprising wherein the discovery request and the discovery response are both communicated over an EDGE-1 interface between the EEC and an EDGE-enabled server (EES).

A ninth aspect includes any one of the first to eighth aspects, further comprising: and confirming use of the target EAS with the 5 GMS-aware application using the media session processor.

A tenth aspect includes a media streaming device comprising: a memory storing a plurality of instructions; and a processor configured to execute the plurality of instructions and, when executed, to implement any of the first through ninth aspects.

An eleventh aspect includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a plurality of instructions for execution by a processor, the plurality of instructions configured to, when executed, cause the processor to implement any one of the first through ninth aspects.

In addition to the features mentioned in each of the individual aspects described above, some examples may show, alone or in combination, optional features mentioned in the dependent aspects and/or disclosed in the above description and shown in the drawings.

While this application has been described in terms of several exemplary embodiments, various alterations, permutations, and various substitute equivalents of the embodiments are within the scope of this application. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise numerous systems and methods which, although not explicitly shown or described herein, embody the principles of the application and are thus within its spirit and scope.

Appendix a: acronyms

3GPP: third generation partnership project (Third Generation Partnership Project)

5GMS: fifth generation media streaming (Fifth Generation Media Streaming)

AC: application client (Application Client)

ACR: application context relocation (Application Context Relocation)

ACT: application context transfer (Application Context Transfer)

AF: application function (Application Function)

AS: application server (Application Server)

DN: data Network (Data Network)

EAS: edge application server (Edge Application Server)

ECS: edge configuration server (Edge Configuration Server)

EEC: edge enabled clients (Edge Enabler Client)

EEL: edge enabling layer (Edge Enabler Layer)

EES: edge enabled server (Edge Enabler Server)

KPI: key performance index (Key Performance Indicator)

UE: user Equipment (User Equipment)

Claims (20)

1. A method of media streaming, the method comprising:

transmitting a request to use an edge service to a media session processor of a user equipment via an M6 interface using a fifth generation media streaming (5 GMS) aware application of the user equipment;

Transmitting a discovery request for one or more available Edge Application Servers (EAS) with an Edge Enabled Client (EEC) of the user equipment after transmitting the request to use the edge service;

receiving, with the EEC, a discovery response indicating the one or more available EAS;

selecting, with at least one of the EEC or the media session processor, a target EAS from the one or more available EAS indicated in the discovery response; and

streaming media content in communication with the target EAS with the user device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending the discovery request is triggered by sending a request to use the edge service from the 5GMS aware application to the media session processor via the M6 interface.

3. The method according to any of claims 1 or 2, wherein the request to use the edge service comprises an application client type of the 5GMS aware application.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:

an indication of the availability of the edge service is sent to the 5 GMS-aware application using the media session processor.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the indication is sent over the M6 interface between the 5 GMS-aware application and the media session processor.

6. The method of any one of claims 4 or 5, wherein the indication comprises at least one of: a list of one or more providers of one or more EAS instances, one or more EAS types, or one or more EAS features.

7. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 6, further comprising:

receiving service access information from a 5GMS Application Function (AF) using the media session handler,

wherein the indication is sent to the 5 GMS-aware application in response to receiving the service access information.

8. The method of any of claims 1-7, wherein the discovery request and the discovery response are both communicated over an EDGE-1 interface between the EEC and an EDGE-enabled server (EES).

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising:

and confirming use of the target EAS with the 5 GMS-aware application using the media session processor.

10. An apparatus for media streaming, comprising:

a memory storing a plurality of instructions; and

a processor configured to execute the plurality of instructions and when executed configured to:

transmitting a request to use an edge service to a media session processor via an M6 interface using a fifth generation media streaming (5 GMS) aware application;

after sending the request to use the edge service, sending a discovery request to one or more available Edge Application Servers (EAS) with an edge-enabled client (EEC);

receiving, with the EEC, a discovery response indicating the one or more available EAS;

selecting, with at least one of the EEC or the media session processor, a target EAS from the one or more available EAS indicated in the discovery response; and

streaming media content in communication with the target EAS.

11. The media streaming device of claim 10, wherein the processor, when executing the plurality of instructions, is configured to: the EEC is triggered to send the discovery request in response to the 5 GMS-aware application sending a request to the media session processor via the M6 interface to use the edge service.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 or 11, wherein the request to use the edge service comprises an application client type of the 5GMS aware application.

13. The media streaming device according to any of claims 10-12, wherein the processor, when executing the plurality of instructions, is further configured to:

an indication of the availability of the edge service is sent to the 5 GMS-aware application using the media session processor.

14. The apparatus for media streaming according to claim 13, wherein the processor, when executing the plurality of instructions, is configured to: the indication is sent over the M6 interface between the 5GMS aware application and the media session processor.

15. The apparatus of media streaming according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the indication comprises at least one of: a list of one or more providers of one or more EAS instances, one or more EAS types, or one or more EAS features.

16. The media streaming device according to any of claims 13-15, wherein the processor, when executing the plurality of instructions, is further configured to:

Receiving service access information from a 5GMS Application Function (AF) using the media session handler,

wherein the indication is sent to the 5 GMS-aware application in response to receiving the service access information.

17. The media streaming device of any of claims 10-16, wherein the processor, when executing the plurality of instructions, is configured to communicate the discovery request and the discovery response over an EDGE-1 interface between the EEC and an EDGE-enabled server (EES).

18. The media streaming device of any of claims 10-17, wherein the processor, when executing the plurality of instructions, is further configured to:

and confirming use of the target EAS with the 5 GMS-aware application using the media session processor.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a plurality of instructions for execution by a processor, the plurality of instructions configured to, when executed, cause the processor to:

transmitting a request to use an edge service to a media session processor via an M6 interface using a fifth generation media streaming (5 GMS) aware application;

after sending the request to use the edge service, sending a discovery request to one or more available Edge Application Servers (EAS) with an edge-enabled client (EEC);

Receiving, with the EEC, a discovery response indicating the one or more available EAS;

selecting, with at least one of the EEC or the media session processor, a target EAS from the one or more available EAS indicated in the discovery response; and

streaming media content in communication with the target EAS.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed, are configured to cause the processor to trigger the EEC to send the discovery request in response to the 5 GMS-aware application sending a request to the media session processor via the M6 interface to use the edge service.