EP4158950A1

EP4158950A1 - Industry network deployment of 5g system as a bridge for multiple cells of disjunct lan networks

Info

Publication number: EP4158950A1
Application number: EP20731416.2A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Hans-Jochen Morper; Christian Markwart
Original assignee: Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Priority date: 2020-06-02
Filing date: 2020-06-02
Publication date: 2023-04-05
Also published as: WO2021244732A1

Abstract

There are provided measures for bridging mechanisms to multiple cells. Such measures exemplarily comprise, at a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments receiving, from a wireless network accessing entity, a host device identity of a host device connected to said wireless network accessing entity, and transmitting, to a network management entity having topology information of at least one network segment indicative of topology relationships of network entities in said at least one network segment, a request for information on a network segment, of said at least one network segment, said host device is to be linked to, wherein said request comprises said host device identity.

Description

Title

INDUSTRY NETWORK DEPLOYMENT OF 5G SYSTEM AS A BRIDGE FOR MULTIPLE CELLS OF DISJUNCT LAN NETWORKS

Field

The present invention relates to bridging mechanisms to multiple cells. More specifically, the present invention exemplarily relates to measures (including methods, apparatuses and computer program products) for realizing bridging mechanisms to multiple cells.

Background

The present specification generally relates to multicell internet of things (IoT) and in particular to bridging to networks/ cel Is in such scenarios.

More specifically, the present specification relates to use of 5G in industry deployments, especially in manufacturing environments. As such, mainly two technical areas are of importance for the concept of the present invention, namely, existing (layer 2 based) industry networks and 5G extensions to industry networks as e.g. described in TS 23.501, TS 23.502, and TS 23.503. However, while exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described in the contexts of such scenarios, the present invention is not limited to such scenarios.

Figure 10 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary (typical) industry network deployment.

In particular, Figure 10 provides a simplified view on typical industry networks (mostly wireline) as it exists e.g. in manufacturing halls. Due to given needs and due to redundancy reasons, separate disjunct local area networks (LAN) co-exist with partly or even full geographical overlap (referenced by LAN 1 and LAN 2 in Figure 10).

Those LANs comprise of a number of switches or bridges (denoted as S/B in Figure 10).

To said S/B nodes a number of hosts (H) are connected, those are Ethernet devices like sensors, actuators but may also be servers with e.g. applications running where sensor data is evaluated.

In manufacturing environments the disjunct LAN networks are often denoted as "cells".

By intention, those are "closed" layer 2 networks, i.e. hosts of one network (e.g. H2, H3, H5, H6, H7 in LAN 1) can only communicate with peers that are in this network (LAN 1). In the same way, hosts of another network (e.g. H4, H8, H9 in LAN 2) can only communicate with peers that are in this network (LAN 2). Exceptions are rather limited and can be administered at a gateway/firewall which may also allow (IP, layer 3) access to other peers of other networks (e.g. internet).

The reasons for limited, disjunct networks are as follows: a local network [e.g. LAN 1] may comprise of hundreds or even thousands of sensors/devices, e.g. at a production street; if in such case each host of each network were "visible" to all other hosts of all other networks, the routing tables of the S/B nodes would exceed the capabilities of commercial products and the system performance would dramatically decrease. Also, time sensitive procedures may require a strict isolation.

Hosts and S/B nodes are connected via interface i/f 1, most typically Ethernet. Typically, network nodes (S/B) are monitored and configured by a management system, denoted as LAN mgnt in Figure 10, in order to detect improper connections or to determine problematic hosts.

Those management systems typically collect information from hosts via interface i/f 2 (e.g. SNMP), where S/B nodes report regularly or upon changes of connectivity their existing connectivity schemes.

These contexts are semi-permanently (semi because they change over time) stored at a database (e.g. at the management system).

In this way, the management system provides an overview about which hosts (e.g. identities or MAC addresses) are connected to which port of which S/B node and which S/B node belongs to which network (as indicated in the upper section of Figure 10).

Such overview allows network tools to query information about local or global connectivity information for monitoring or optimization purposes via an interface i/f 3 (typically RESTful, e.g. WEB based).

Figure 11 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary industry network deployment including a 5G system (attaching 5GS to industry deployment).

In particular, Figure 11 shows the same deployment shown in Figure 10, now extended with 5G radio access.

In order to make 5GS match to a given industry infrastructure, the whole 5GS appears logically and topology wise as a bridge (another S/B-node), or as a number of bridges, respectively. In Figure 11, the (geographical) area of both, LAN 1 and LAN 2, is covered by 5G radio, represented by two gNBs. There may be one or many gNBs, however, all gNBs are assumed to be accessible by devices associated to either of the LANs. For example, a host HO of LAN 1 can be connected to a UE associated with a first corresponding UPF (upper UPF in 5G Core box). Similarly, a host HI of LAN 2 can be connected to UE associated with a second corresponding UPF (lower UPF in 5G Core box).

This way, HO can communicate with other hosts of LAN 1, and HI can communicate with other hosts of LAN 2, via the UPFs that are assigned to the respective LANs and which logically - with according control functions such as AMF, SMF, NEF, AF and some translators - are acting as "native" bridges of given LANs.

Those mechanisms are described in TS 23.501 release 16.

Throughout the present specification, the control functions are denoted as SANA (including session management function (SMF), access and mobility management function (AMF), network exposure function (NEF), application function (AF)), and the SANA may be mentioned as a wireless network control function entity.

It is foreseen for 3GPP Rel. 17 to push a new work item for time sensitive communications (TSC), which allows to provide a more generalized wireless network system supporting time sensitive communication services for devices using higher level protocols like internet protocol (IP) and existing devices that are not time sensitive networking (TSN) aware.

Figure 12 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary scenarios of industry network deployments with and without a 5G system.

In particular, Figure 12 sketches a typical use case that may be valid for many existing deployment scenarios, where Ethernet functionality is required even if TSN support may be not in the primary scope, e.g. in manufacturing environments dealing with process automation, logistics and many more tasks. Here, there may exist many (hundreds, thousands) LANs.

One specific machine, e.g. a bottling plant, may already comprise of dozens of sensors and actuators which are interconnected by such a LAN.

Next, there may by an area where robots interact via an isolated network.

Typically, those manifold deployments are organized as "cells" represented as A, B, C, and D in Figure 12.

A typical wireless use case would be that in case of something is getting in the way at one cell which makes normal operation cumbersome, a given wireline connection shall be replaced by wireless connection ad-hoc. In the example (bottom right in Figure 12), two hosts, one in cell A and second one in cell B, shall be unplugged and re-plugged to UEs (e.g. modems that provide one Ethernet port and connect to a system as described in Figure 11).

Immediately, the cell can continue operation, since also with wireless connections it is assured that both hosts can communicate with other hosts of the given cells because the 5GS presents itself as being a "native" bridge towards the individual cells.

Figure 13 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary scenarios of network deployments with a 5G system.

In particular, Figure 13 illustrates a problem underlying the present invention.

Namely, the existing R16 architecture requires that UEs (e.g. modems) and its device side TSN translator (DS-TT) ports will have to be pre-assigned to a given user plane function (UPF) with its network side TSN translator (NW- TT), which acts then as a 5GS bridge (S/B-5 in upper part or S/B-6 in lower part) that serves the LAN, respectively. This would imply for the given example that there is a pool of UEs assigned to cell A (LAN), another pool assigned to cell B (LAN) and so forth.

In a typical deployment scenario, this is rather cumbersome and not manageable; namely, if e.g. hundreds of cells exist, this would require hundreds of UE pools and if one pool runs out of stack, UEs from other pools cannot be used, because of that, as Figure 13 (in accordance with Figure 11) shows, if a host of LAN 1 (illustrated as white host) will be connected to a UE assigned to S/B-5, this will lead to the expected behavior, but if a host of LAN 2 (illustrated as black host) will be connected to such a UE, this will turn the host to a member of LAN 1 - which is definitely not wanted. The lower part of the figure shows the behavior using a UE assigned to S/B-6.

This problem occurs specifically when a 5G Network shall present itself to given disjunct LAN deployments as multiple logical bridges to said LANs. One feature in 3GPP TS 23.501 allows that a UE can have multiple ports where each port belongs to a dedicated DS-TT. Due to the definition that a DS-TT is dedicated to an UPF with its NW-TT, this feature allows that a UE can provide a wireless connection for multiple 5GS TSN bridges. While this reduces the number of UE pools, it will add additional complexity, because the host needs to be connected to the correct port of a DS-TT.

Hence, the problem arises that a flexible and uncomplex ad hoc connection of hosts to LANs via 5GS requires a pre-configuration-free and an universal plug and play capability.

Hence, there is a need to provide mechanisms to automatically select a respective 5GS bridge which serves the traffic of a cell out of multiple cells.

Summary Various exemplary embodiments of the present invention aim at addressing at least part of the above issues and/or problems and drawbacks.

Various aspects of exemplary embodiments of the present invention are set out in the appended claims.

According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of a wireless network accessing entity, the method comprising receiving, from a host device connected to said wireless network accessing device, a data packet including a host device identity of said host device, ascertaining said host device identity, and transmitting said host device identity towards a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments (LAN).

According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments (LAN), the method comprising receiving, from a wireless network accessing entity, a host device identity of a host device connected to said wireless network accessing entity, and transmitting, to a network management entity having topology information of at least one network segment indicative of topology relationships of network entities in said at least one network segment, a request for information on a network segment, of said at least one network segment, said host device is to be linked to, wherein said request comprises said host device identity.

According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of a network management entity having topology information of at least one network segment indicative of topology relationships of network entities in said at least one network segment, the method comprising receiving, from a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments (LAN), a request for information on a network segment, of said at least one network segment, a host device is to be linked to, wherein said request comprises a host device identity of said host device, and deriving said information on said network segment said host device is to be linked to based on said host device identity and said topology information.

According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus of a wireless network accessing entity, the apparatus comprising receiving circuitry configured to receive, from a host device connected to said wireless network accessing device, a data packet including a host device identity of said host device, ascertaining circuitry configured to ascertain said host device identity, and transmitting circuitry configured to transmit said host device identity towards a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments (LAN).

According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus of a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments (LAN), the apparatus comprising receiving circuitry configured to receive, from a wireless network accessing entity, a host device identity of a host device connected to said wireless network accessing entity, and transmitting circuitry configured to transmit, to a network management entity having topology information of at least one network segment indicative of topology relationships of network entities in said at least one network segment, a request for information on a network segment, of said at least one network segment, said host device is to be linked to, wherein said request comprises said host device identity. According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus of a network management entity having topology information of at least one network segment indicative of topology relationships of network entities in said at least one network segment, the apparatus comprising receiving circuitry configured to receive, from a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments (LAN), a request for information on a network segment, of said at least one network segment, a host device is to be linked to, wherein said request comprises a host device identity of said host device, and deriving circuitry configured to derive said information on said network segment said host device is to be linked to based on said host device identity and said topology information.

According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus of a wireless network accessing entity, the apparatus comprising at least one processor, at least one memory including computer program code, and at least one interface configured for communication with at least another apparatus, the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to perform receiving, from a host device connected to said wireless network accessing device, a data packet including a host device identity of said host device, ascertaining said host device identity, and transmitting said host device identity towards a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments (LAN).

According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus of a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments (LAN), the apparatus comprising at least one processor, at least one memory including computer program code, and at least one interface configured for communication with at least another apparatus, the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to perform receiving, from a wireless network accessing entity, a host device identity of a host device connected to said wireless network accessing entity, and transmitting, to a network management entity having topology information of at least one network segment indicative of topology relationships of network entities in said at least one network segment, a request for information on a network segment, of said at least one network segment, said host device is to be linked to, wherein said request comprises said host device identity.

According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus of a network management entity having topology information of at least one network segment indicative of topology relationships of network entities in said at least one network segment, the apparatus comprising at least one processor, at least one memory including computer program code, and at least one interface configured for communication with at least another apparatus, the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to perform receiving, from a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments (LAN), a request for information on a network segment, of said at least one network segment, a host device is to be linked to, wherein said request comprises a host device identity of said host device, and deriving said information on said network segment said host device is to be linked to based on said host device identity and said topology information.

According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program product comprising computer-executable computer program code which, when the program is run on a computer (e.g. a computer of an apparatus according to any one of the aforementioned apparatus-related exemplary aspects of the present invention), is configured to cause the computer to carry out the method according to any one of the aforementioned method-related exemplary aspects of the present invention.

Such computer program product may comprise (or be embodied) a (tangible) computer-readable (storage) medium or the like on which the computer- executable computer program code is stored, and/or the program may be directly loadable into an internal memory of the computer or a processor thereof.

Any one of the above aspects enables an efficient ad hoc connection of hosts to intended LANs via 5GS to thereby solve at least part of the problems and drawbacks identified in relation to the prior art.

By way of exemplary embodiments of the present invention, there is provided bridging mechanisms to multiple cells. More specifically, by way of exemplary embodiments of the present invention, there are provided measures and mechanisms for realizing bridging mechanisms to multiple cells.

Thus, improvement is achieved by methods, apparatuses and computer program products enabling/realizing bridging mechanisms to multiple cells.

Brief description of the drawings

In the following, the present invention will be described in greater detail by way of non-limiting examples with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,

Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,

Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,

Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,

Figure 6 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,

Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,

Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,

Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,

Figure 10 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary industry network deployment,

Figure 11 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary industry network deployment including a 5G system,

Figure 12 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary scenarios of industry network deployments with and without a 5G system, Figure 13 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary scenarios of network deployments with a 5G system,

Figure 14 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary scenario of a network deployment with a 5G system according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,

Figure 15 shows a schematic diagram of signaling sequences according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention,

Figure 16 shows a schematic diagram of signaling sequences according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, and

Figure 17 is a block diagram alternatively illustrating apparatuses according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

Detailed description of drawings and embodiments of the present invention

The present invention is described herein with reference to particular non limiting examples and to what are presently considered to be conceivable embodiments of the present invention. A person skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention is by no means limited to these examples, and may be more broadly applied.

It is to be noted that the following description of the present invention and its embodiments mainly refers to specifications being used as non-limiting examples for certain exemplary network configurations and deployments. Namely, the present invention and its embodiments are mainly described in relation to 3GPP specifications being used as non-limiting examples for certain exemplary network configurations and deployments. In particular, 5G wireless networks and local area networks (LANs) as an example for wired networks are used as non-limiting examples for the applicability of thus described exemplary embodiments. As such, the description of exemplary embodiments given herein specifically refers to terminology which is directly related thereto. Such terminology is only used in the context of the presented non-limiting examples and does naturally not limit the invention in any way. Rather, any other communication or communication related system deployment, etc. may also be utilized as long as compliant with the features described herein.

Hereinafter, various embodiments and implementations of the present invention and its aspects or embodiments are described using several variants and/or alternatives. It is generally noted that, according to certain needs and constraints, all of the described variants and/or alternatives may be provided alone or in any conceivable combination (also including combinations of individual features of the various variants and/or alternatives).

According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, in general terms, there are provided measures and mechanisms for (enabling/realizing) bridging mechanisms to multiple cells.

Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The apparatus may be a terminal such as a user equipment which may have or may be connected to a device-side time sensitive networking translator functionality (i.e., a 5GS port), the apparatus comprising a receiving circuitry 11, an ascertaining circuitry 12, and a transmitting circuitry 13. The receiving circuitry 11 receives, from a host device connected to said wireless network accessing device, a data packet including a host device identity of said host device. The ascertaining circuitry 12 ascertains said host device identity. The transmitting circuitry 13 transmits said host device identity towards a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments. Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The apparatus according to Figure 1 may perform the method of Figure 7 but is not limited to this method. The method of Figure 7 may be performed by the apparatus of Figure 1 but is not limited to being performed by this apparatus.

As shown in Figure 7, a procedure (of a wireless network accessing entity) according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention comprises an operation of receiving (S71), from a host device connected to said wireless network accessing device, a data packet including a host device identity of said host device, an operation of ascertaining (S72) said host device identity, and an operation of transmitting (S73) said host device identity towards a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments.

Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. In particular, Figure 2 illustrates a variation of the apparatus shown in Figure 1. The apparatus according to Figure 2 may thus further comprise a determining circuitry 21, an establishing circuitry 22, a releasing circuitry 23, and/or a blocking circuitry 24.

In an embodiment at least some of the functionalities of the apparatus shown in Figure 1 (or 2) may be shared between two physically separate devices forming one operational entity. Therefore, the apparatus may be seen to depict the operational entity comprising one or more physically separate devices for executing at least some of the described processes.

According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, together with said host device identity, information indicative of a related user plane function (DNN-Default) is transmitted (i.e. as a variation of the transmitting operation (S73)) towards said wireless network control function entity. According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said information indicative of said related user plane function is one of a data network name (DNN) and a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI).

According to a variation of the procedure shown in Figure 7, exemplary additional operations are given, which are inherently independent from each other as such. According to such variation, an exemplary method according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention may comprise an operation of determining whether said host device identity is a host device identity received for the first time from activation of said wireless network accessing entity. Alternatively, or in addition, an exemplary method according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention may comprise an operation of determining whether said host device identity differs from a previously received host device identity.

According to a variation of the procedure shown in Figure 7, exemplary additional operations are given, which are inherently independent from each other as such. According to such variation, an exemplary method according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention may comprise an operation of receiving an instruction to establish, for said host device, a packet data unit session with a user plane function entity assigned to a network segment said host device is to be linked to, and an operation of establishing, for said host device, said packet data unit session with said user plane function entity.

According to a variation of the procedure shown in Figure 7, exemplary additional operations are given, which are inherently independent from each other as such. According to such variation, an exemplary method according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention may comprise an operation of establishing, upon activation of said wireless network accessing entity, a basic packet data unit session with a certain user plane function entity. Alternatively, according to such variation, an exemplary method according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention may comprise an operation of requesting, upon activation of said wireless network accessing entity, information for establishment of a basic packet data unit session with a certain user plane function entity, and an operation of receiving said information for said establishment of said basic packet data unit session with said certain user plane function entity. The exemplary method according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention may then further comprise an operation of establishing, based on said information for said establishment of said basic packet data unit session, said basic packet data unit session.

According to a variation of the procedure shown in Figure 7, exemplary additional operations are given, which are inherently independent from each other as such. According to such variation, an exemplary method according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention may comprise an operation of releasing said basic packet data unit session, if a specific packet data unit session with a specific user plane function entity assigned to a specific network segment is established.

According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said basic packet data unit session is a default packet data unit session.

According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said certain user plane function entity is a default user plane function entity.

According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said data packet is one of an allocation and retention priority request, a dynamic host configuration protocol request, a link layer discovery protocol advertisement, and any payload data packet. According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said host device identity is one of a medium access control address, an internet protocol address, and a chassis identity.

According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said wireless network accessing entity comprises a user equipment entity and a device-side time sensitive networking translator entity.

According to a variation of the procedure shown in Figure 7, exemplary additional operations are given, which are inherently independent from each other as such. According to such variation, an exemplary method according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention may comprise an operation of blocking any traffic received from the host device for uplink transmission until a connection to a specific user plane function entity has been established.

According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said wireless network is replaced by a wireline network in case the 5GS is also used to manage a wireline network.

Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The apparatus may be a network entity such as a wireless network control function entity which may have a session management function entity, an access and mobility management function entity, a network exposure function entity, and/or an application function entity, the apparatus having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments, and the apparatus comprising a receiving circuitry 31 and a transmitting circuitry 32. The receiving circuitry 31 receive from a wireless network accessing entity, a host device identity of a host device connected to said wireless network accessing entity. The transmitting circuitry 32 transmits, to a network management entity having topology information of at least one network segment indicative of topology relationships of network entities in said at least one network segment, a request for information on a network segment, of said at least one network segment, said host device is to be linked to, wherein said request comprises said host device identity. Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The apparatus according to Figure 3 may perform the method of Figure 8 but is not limited to this method. The method of Figure 8 may be performed by the apparatus of Figure 3 but is not limited to being performed by this apparatus.

As shown in Figure 8, a procedure (of a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments) according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention comprises an operation of receiving (S81), from a wireless network accessing entity, a host device identity of a host device connected to said wireless network accessing entity, and an operation of transmitting (S82), to a network management entity having topology information of at least one network segment indicative of topology relationships of network entities in said at least one network segment, a request for information on a network segment, of said at least one network segment, said host device is to be linked to, wherein said request comprises said host device identity.

Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. In particular, Figure 4 illustrates a variation of the apparatus shown in Figure 3. The apparatus according to Figure 4 may thus further comprise a determining circuitry 41.

In an embodiment at least some of the functionalities of the apparatus shown in Figure 3 (or 4) may be shared between two physically separate devices forming one operational entity. Therefore, the apparatus may be seen to depict the operational entity comprising one or more physically separate devices for executing at least some of the described processes.

According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, together with said host device identity, information indicative of a related user plane function (DNN-Default) is received (i.e. as a variation of the receiving operation (S81)) from said wireless network accessing entity.

According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said information indicative of said related user plane function is one of a data network name (DNN) and a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI).

According to a variation of the procedure shown in Figure 8, exemplary additional operations are given, which are inherently independent from each other as such. According to such variation, an exemplary method according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention may comprise an operation of receiving, from said network management entity, information on said network segment said host device is to be linked to.

According to a variation of the procedure shown in Figure 8, exemplary additional operations are given, which are inherently independent from each other as such. According to such variation, an exemplary method according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention may comprise an operation of determining, based on said information on said network segment said host device is to be linked to and said assignment information, a user plane function entity assigned to said network segment said host device is to be linked to.

According to a variation of the procedure shown in Figure 8, exemplary additional operations are given, which are inherently independent from each other as such. According to such variation, an exemplary method according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention may comprise an operation of transmitting, towards said user plane function entity, an instruction to establish, for said host device, a packet data unit session between said wireless network accessing entity and said user plane function entity.

According to a variation of the procedure shown in Figure 8, exemplary additional operations are given, which are inherently independent from each other as such. According to such variation, an exemplary method according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention may comprise an operation of transmitting, towards said wireless network accessing entity, an instruction to establish, for said host device, a packet data unit session between said wireless network accessing entity and said user plane function entity.

According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said host device identity is one of a medium access control address, an internet protocol address, and a chassis identity.

According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, said wireless network control function entity comprises a session management function entity, an access and mobility management function entity, a network exposure function entity, a policy control function entity, a unified data repository entity, a unified data management entity, and an application function entity.

Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The apparatus may be a network entity such as a (local area) network management function entity having topology information of at least one network segment indicative of topology relationships of network entities in said at least one network segment, the apparatus comprising a receiving circuitry 51 and a deriving circuitry 52. The receiving circuitry 51 receives, from a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments, a request for information on a network segment, of said at least one network segment, a host device is to be linked to, wherein said request comprises a host device identity of said host device. The deriving circuitry 52 derives said information on said network segment said host device is to be linked to based on said host device identity and said topology information. Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a procedure according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The apparatus according to Figure 5 may perform the method of Figure 9 but is not limited to this method. The method of Figure 9 may be performed by the apparatus of Figure 5 but is not limited to being performed by this apparatus.

As shown in Figure 9, a procedure (of a network management entity having topology information of at least one network segment indicative of topology relationships of network entities in said at least one network segment) according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention comprises an operation of receiving (S91), from a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments, a request for information on a network segment, of said at least one network segment, a host device is to be linked to, wherein said request comprises a host device identity of said host device, and an operation of deriving (S92) said information on said network segment said host device is to be linked to based on said host device identity and said topology information.

Figure 6 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. In particular, Figure 6 illustrates a variation of the apparatus shown in Figure 5. The apparatus according to Figure 6 may thus further comprise a transmitting circuitry 61.

In an embodiment at least some of the functionalities of the apparatus shown in Figure 5 (or 6) may be shared between two physically separate devices forming one operational entity. Therefore, the apparatus may be seen to depict the operational entity comprising one or more physically separate devices for executing at least some of the described processes.

According to a variation of the procedure shown in Figure 9, exemplary additional operations are given, which are inherently independent from each other as such. According to such variation, an exemplary method according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention may comprise an operation of transmitting, towards said wireless network control function entity, said information on said network segment said host device is to be linked to.

In other words, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a solution for flexible assignment of 5G UEs to dedicated LANs without requiring pre-assignments (to LANs or UPFs, respectively) is provided.

Namely, instead of having pools of UEs for each LAN (with UEs from these pools being respectively assigned to a specific LAN), according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, any UE can dynamically be assigned without manual configuration.

According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, this is achieved by an interworking of 5G Core functions (SANA) with a network management entity that contains the topology information for all hosts, bridges, and their interconnections (e.g. the LAN management system). Figure 14 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary scenario of a network deployment with a 5G system according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

Here, a (wireline) connected Ethernet host of a (LAN) cell (see Figure 12) shall be disconnected (i.e., LAN cable shall be unplugged). A UE (or modem) with an Ethernet port shall be switched on and, instead of via the previous wireline connection the host shall be wirelessly connected via UE, UPF to the same LAN as it was connected before.

According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, after attaching the host to the port of the UE the SANA functions interrogate the LAN management for the appropriate LAN the host shall be connected to. Upon reception of the LAN parameters, the SANA according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention instructs (e.g. via SMF part of SANA) the according UPF (assigned to the LAN) and the UE to setup a PDU session.

According to this concept of the present invention, the UE can be any out of a pool of UEs that are pre-registered, i.e. the UE may have a SIM card which is registered at the 5GS - but no explicit registration to a LAN is required.

Figure 15 shows a schematic diagram of signaling sequences according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

In particular, Figure 15 shows a message flow/sequence chart that illustrates the above outlined proceeding.

As a starting point, a host H connected to LAN 1 is assumed for explanation purposes. The wireline connection shall be replaced by a 5G based wireless connection ad-hoc, i.e. there is a spontaneous need to replace the wireline connection (e.g. because a sensor needs to be moved). As a preparation, a UE (e.g. modem) out of the pool of pre- registered UEs is switched on.

The UE (e.g. modem) will attach to the system, i.e. it will be authenticated and (optionally) be assigned to a network slice which may be in place for LAN type services.

After this, the UE (e.g. modem) will be attached. At this point in time, there will be no PDU session to a specific UPF established. Optionally, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, there may be a default PDU session to a general purpose UPF (e.g. for management or maintenance purposes).

The UE (e.g. modem) may indicate its "ready for use" state e.g. by an LED.

Once the UE (e.g. modem) is ready for use, the host H can be disconnected (unplugged) from LAN 1 and be connected to the UE (e.g. modem), most typically via Ethernet.

Once the host is connected to the UE (e.g. modem), according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the host will issue an allocation and retention priority (ARP) request or a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) request (e.g. depending on the type of connectivity required, layer 2 or layer 3) revealing its medium access control (MAC) address to the UE (e.g. modem).

Alternatively, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, in layer 2 networks the UE or it's device-side time sensitive networking translator (DS-TT) may receive a link-layer discovery protocol (LLDP) advertisement from the host device connected to the Ethernet port, which contains a unique identity (e.g. MAC address of the device) as defined in IEEE 802.1AB. Once the host's MAC address or identity is provided to the UE (e.g. modem), according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the UE requests for a packet data unit (PDU) session and provide this MAC address/identity (e.g. in as information element).

Upon reception of the request at the 5G core (5GC), according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the l_AN management is queried (via SANA control functions) for information about the cell/LAN the host is assigned to via interface i/f 3, e.g. via HTTP.

According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the 1_AN management has lists (e.g. per LAN) of MAC addresses of hosts that are assigned to these LANs (fixed assignments).

According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, hosts may be flexibly assigned to LANs. Here, the LAN management may be notified via interface i/f 2, e.g. SNMP, by the network nodes (S/B) about the presence of MAC addresses at a LAN. In this case the "valid" LAN, i.e. the LAN to which the host is considered to be assigned to, will be the latest LAN said host was reported to have been connected to.

Alternatively, in layer 2 networks, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, if the UE or it's DS-TT received an LLDP advertisement from a host device connected to an Ethernet port, the identity information (about a directly connected neighbor which is derived from the LLDP advertisement) the UE will convey to the network allows a corresponding network-side time sensitive networking translator (NW-TT) (if such an association already exists) to query SANA whether the UE/UPF association is still valid (via LAN management), or in case no association exists, it allows SANA to initiate a UDP context between the UE and the correct UPF. In the first case (existing DS-TT/NW-TT context) there might be the case that SANA detects the existing association is no longer correct, and, as a consequence, it will invoke a UPF re-location (to the correct UPF) According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, upon reception of the MAC/l-AN relationship from the LAN management, the SANA initiates a setup of a PDU session between the UE and a UPF that is used as a bridge for this LAN (upper UPF or S/B-5 in Figure 11). Heretofore, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, SANA has access to information (e.g. a list) where UPF/LAN relationships are stored.

According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, all 5GC functional procedures (e.g. session establishment) are carried out according to 3GPP TS 23.501, TS 23.502, and TS 23.503.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described below in more specific terms with reference to Figure 16.

Figure 16 shows a schematic diagram of signaling sequences according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

These exemplary embodiments of the present invention are possible implementations as close as possible to existing 3GPP R16 standard.

Figure 16 shows a message sequence chart that reflects one possible concrete implementation option.

Other implementation options are additionally mentioned where appropriate.

Figure 16 shows a wireless 5GS port (dotted rectangle) which can be assumed to represent one of the devices according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention that are used to replace a cable connection.

As outlined above, these devices can be used arbitrarily, e.g. they are on stock and used when and where needed without requiring specific administration before each use. UE and translator (the DS-TT) form the wireless 5GS port.

3GPP Rel. 16 allows to integrate DS-TT with the UE or to operate UE and DS- TT as individual entities. Common to both options is that they act as wireless 5GS port.

Hence, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, DS-TT is integrated with the UE. According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, UE and DS-TT are operated as individual entities.

According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the wireless 5GS port shows the following behavior:

- on power up, the wireless 5GS port enters a default state, which is given by the following:

- A PDU session request is initiated as defined in 3GPP TS 23.501 clause 5.6.1, which establishes a default PDU session to a default UPF/NW-TT acting as counterpart of the 5GS TSN bridge. For simplification, a specific DNN (DNN-Default) is used in Figure 16 as a network identifier for the SMF. The SMF will use this network identifier to select the default UPF (UPF-D) according to TS 23.501 clause 6.3.3.3.

- Uplink traffic generated by a host is blocked until the host is identified (e.g. reception of a valid LLDP frame).

As shown in Figure 16, as a first step, a host H will be disconnected from a wireline network (1_AN 1 in this example) and plugged to a wireless 5GS port (consisting of DS-TT and UE in this example). According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, upon power on, the wireless 5GS port enters its default state and sends out a PDU session request using the specific DNN (DNN-Default) as network identifier. DNN-Default indicates the UPF (UPF-D) that shall be addressed. In this example, UPF-D is solely used for the purpose of preliminary registrations of ad hoc usage of wireless 5GS ports.

The PDU session establishment with UPF-D follows the standard procedures as described in 3GPP TS 23.502 clause 4.3.2.2 (indicated as N4 session establishment, N2 PDU session setup and PDU session establishment).

According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, further, the LLDP behavior is configured, e.g. via the respective application function AF that serves the 5GS TSN Bridge.

Once the PDU session has been established between the wireless 5GS port and UPF-D, data can be conveyed. However, since the wireless port is in default state, any uplink traffic will be analyzed and blocked by DS-TT until a first valid LLDP message is received.

According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, once received, depending on the LLDP sub-agent function location, either the DS- TT or the NW-TT on behalf of the wireless 5GS port will forward the host's ID (MAC address or chassis ID) alongside with other parameters (e.g. TTL) as part of a port management container or bridge management container information to the AF. The respective procedures are described in 3GPP TS 23.501 clause 5.28.3.

According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, based on the received LLDP information from the wireless 5GS port, the AF detects that there is a new host connected to the wireless 5GS port and that there is no information available at AF to which network this chassis-ID/MAC shall be associated (as it was unplugged from LAN-1 in this example).

According to still further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the AF interrogates the LAN management system using the host's ID (MAC address or chassis-ID as indicator), and the LAN management system reports back the according network ID (LAN-1 in this example).

According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the AF has a list of which UPF serves which network. For simplicity reasons, it is assumed in this example that UPF-1 serves LAN-1, UPF-2 serves LAN-2, etc. However, this mapping is not limiting, and any other mapping thereof may be possible without deviating from the concept of the present invention.

According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the AF instructs the SMF to inform the wireless 5GS port (UE) to establish a second PDU session between the wireless port and the correct UPF (UPF-1) serving the correct network (LAN-1) by using e.g. the application triggering service as defined in 3GPP TS 23.502 clause 4.3.6.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, any existing UPF may serve as a default UPF so that any existing UPF can be accessed initially. Here it might happen that the UPF used for initial setup is already the UPF serving the correct LAN (LAN 1 in example). In this case the AF still needs to instruct the SMF to inform the wireless 5GS port (UE) to modify the existing PDU session in order to set the correct QoS settings for the PDU session. Figure 16 shows a simplified version of the application triggering service, since NEF and UDM/UDR are not illustrated in the figure. Further, the N4 session establishment and PDU session establishment procedures are replaced by respective PDU session modification procedures in case that PDU session is already connected to the correct UPF (UPF-1). Also this is not shown in the Figure 16.

The final step of the application triggering service initiates the second PDU session request/establishment or PDU session modification at the wireless 5GS port. This follows existing procedures of 3GPP TS 23.501 clause 4.3.2 (indicated as network triggered PDU session establishment procedure) and 5.6.7 (Application Function influence on traffic routing) to guarantee also the correct QoS settings for traffic of Host H.

Once the new PDU session between the wireless port and UPF-1 has been established or modified, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the wireless 5GS port leaves the default state and conveys any information received by the host to the uplink.

According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the existing PDU session with UPF-D may be released.

According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the implementation described in more specific terms with reference to Figure 16 may be modified as follows.

In particular, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, instead of using a default UPF, any (existing) UPF may be used. The AF will detect a change of host by receiving the LLDP message via management port. The advantage would be that there is no special UPF-D necessary.

According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the DS-TT analyzes any received LLDP message with respect to changes of MAC- address/chassis ID. If the DS-TT detects a change (e.g. the host has been disconnected and another has been connected), the same procedures will be applied again. This would allow ad hoc changes in a running system, including a replacement of a wireless connection to another wireless connection.

According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the wireless 5GS port does not wait for the LLDP configuration but analyzes any received Ethernet message. When the received Frame is an LLDP advertisement, the contained information is extracted and provided as described before to the AF even without activated LLDP exchange. The only change compared to the standard behavior is on the DS-TT, which is allowed to forward LLDP information even without received LLDP configuration and on the AF, which simply needs to be configured not to store the LLDP information in the MIB.

According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, instead of DNN, the S-NSSAI is used by the wireless 5GS port. Any option described in the 3GPP TS 23.501 clause 6.3.3.3 could be employed for selecting a UPF for initial setup (UPF-D or any UPF).

According to further exemplary embodiments of the present invention, instead of analyzing LLDP messages, DS-TT retrieves host information by analyzing the uplink traffic (source MAC address or other identifiers, e.g. source IP, etc.) and reports this via management container to AF. This might be useful in case LLDP information exchange is not used in an existing network.

The above-described procedures and functions may be implemented by respective functional elements, processors, or the like, as described below.

In the foregoing exemplary description of the network entity, only the units that are relevant for understanding the principles of the invention have been described using functional blocks. The network entity may comprise further units that are necessary for its respective operation. However, a description of these units is omitted in this specification. The arrangement of the functional blocks of the devices is not construed to limit the invention, and the functions may be performed by one block or further split into sub-blocks.

When in the foregoing description it is stated that the apparatus, i.e. network entity (or some other means) is configured to perform some function, this is to be construed to be equivalent to a description stating that a (i.e. at least one) processor or corresponding circuitry, potentially in cooperation with computer program code stored in the memory of the respective apparatus, is configured to cause the apparatus to perform at least the thus mentioned function. Also, such function is to be construed to be equivalently implementable by specifically configured circuitry or means for performing the respective function (i.e. the expression "unit configured to" is construed to be equivalent to an expression such as "means for").

In Figure 17, an alternative illustration of apparatuses according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention is depicted. As indicated in Figure 17, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the apparatus (terminal) 10' (corresponding to the terminal 10) comprises a processor 1711, a memory 1712 and an interface 1713, which are connected by a bus 1714 or the like. Further, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the apparatus (network entity) 30' (corresponding to the network entity 30) comprises a processor 1731, a memory 1732 and an interface 1733, which are connected by a bus 1734 or the like. Further, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the apparatus (network entity) 50' (corresponding to the network entity 50) comprises a processor 1751, a memory 1752 and an interface 1753, which are connected by a bus 1754 or the like. The apparatuses may be connected via links 1701a, 1701b, respectively.

The processor 1711/1731/1751 and/or the interface 1713/1733/1753 may also include a modem or the like to facilitate communication over a (hardwire or wireless) link, respectively. The interface 1713/1733/1753 may include a suitable transceiver coupled to one or more antennas or communication means for (hardwire or wireless) communications with the linked or connected device(s), respectively. The interface 1713/1733/1753 is generally configured to communicate with at least one other apparatus, i.e. the interface thereof.

The memory 1712/1732/1752 may store respective programs assumed to include program instructions or computer program code that, when executed by the respective processor, enables the respective electronic device or apparatus to operate in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

In general terms, the respective devices/apparatuses (and/or parts thereof) may represent means for performing respective operations and/or exhibiting respective functionalities, and/or the respective devices (and/or parts thereof) may have functions for performing respective operations and/or exhibiting respective functionalities.

When in the subsequent description it is stated that the processor (or some other means) is configured to perform some function, this is to be construed to be equivalent to a description stating that at least one processor, potentially in cooperation with computer program code stored in the memory of the respective apparatus, is configured to cause the apparatus to perform at least the thus mentioned function. Also, such function is to be construed to be equivalently implementable by specifically configured means for performing the respective function (i.e. the expression "processor configured to [cause the apparatus to] perform xxx-ing" is construed to be equivalent to an expression such as "means for xxx-ing").

According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, an apparatus representing the terminal 10 (e.g. a wireless network accessing entity) comprises at least one processor 1711, at least one memory 1712 including computer program code, and at least one interface 1713 configured for communication with at least another apparatus. The processor (i.e. the at least one processor 1711, with the at least one memory 1712 and the computer program code) is configured to perform receiving, from a host device connected to said wireless network accessing device, a data packet including a host device identity of said host device (thus the apparatus comprising corresponding means for receiving), to perform ascertaining said host device identity (thus the apparatus comprising corresponding means for ascertaining), and to perform transmitting said host device identity towards a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments (thus the apparatus comprising corresponding means for transmitting).

According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, an apparatus representing the network entity 30 (e.g. a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments) comprises at least one processor 1731, at least one memory 1732 including computer program code, and at least one interface 1733 configured for communication with at least another apparatus. The processor (i.e. the at least one processor 1731, with the at least one memory 1732 and the computer program code) is configured to perform receiving, from a wireless network accessing entity, a host device identity of a host device connected to said wireless network accessing entity (thus the apparatus comprising corresponding means for receiving), and to perform transmitting, to a network management entity having topology information of at least one network segment indicative of topology relationships of network entities in said at least one network segment, a request for information on a network segment, of said at least one network segment, said host device is to be linked to, wherein said request comprises said host device identity (thus the apparatus comprising corresponding means for transmitting).

According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, an apparatus representing the network entity 50 (e.g. a network management entity having topology information of at least one network segment indicative of topology relationships of network entities in said at least one network segment) comprises at least one processor 1751, at least one memory 1752 including computer program code, and at least one interface 1753 configured for communication with at least another apparatus. The processor (i.e. the at least one processor 1751, with the at least one memory 1752 and the computer program code) is configured to perform receiving, from a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments, a request for information on a network segment, of said at least one network segment, a host device is to be linked to, wherein said request comprises a host device identity of said host device (thus the apparatus comprising corresponding means for receiving), and to perform deriving said information on said network segment said host device is to be linked to based on said host device identity and said topology information (thus the apparatus comprising corresponding means for deriving).

For further details regarding the operability/functionality of the individual apparatuses, reference is made to the above description in connection with any one of Figures 1 to 16, respectively.

For the purpose of the present invention as described herein above, it should be noted that

- method steps likely to be implemented as software code portions and being run using a processor at a network server or network entity (as examples of devices, apparatuses and/or modules thereof, or as examples of entities including apparatuses and/or modules therefore), are software code independent and can be specified using any known or future developed programming language as long as the functionality defined by the method steps is preserved;

- generally, any method step is suitable to be implemented as software or by hardware without changing the idea of the embodiments and its modification in terms of the functionality implemented;

- method steps and/or devices, units or means likely to be implemented as hardware components at the above-defined apparatuses, or any module(s) thereof, (e.g., devices carrying out the functions of the apparatuses according to the embodiments as described above) are hardware independent and can be implemented using any known or future developed hardware technology or any hybrids of these, such as MOS (Metal Oxide Semiconductor), CMOS (Complementary MOS), BiMOS (Bipolar MOS), BiCMOS (Bipolar CMOS), ECL (Emitter Coupled Logic), TTL (Transistor-Transistor Logic), etc., using for example ASIC (Application Specific IC (Integrated Circuit)) components, FPGA (Field-programmable Gate Arrays) components, CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device) components or DSP (Digital Signal Processor) components;

- devices, units or means (e.g. the above-defined network entity or network register, or any one of their respective units/means) can be implemented as individual devices, units or means, but this does not exclude that they are implemented in a distributed fashion throughout the system, as long as the functionality of the device, unit or means is preserved;

- an apparatus like the user equipment and the network entity /network register may be represented by a semiconductor chip, a chipset, or a (hardware) module comprising such chip or chipset; this, however, does not exclude the possibility that a functionality of an apparatus or module, instead of being hardware implemented, be implemented as software in a (software) module such as a computer program or a computer program product comprising executable software code portions for execution/being run on a processor;

- a device may be regarded as an apparatus or as an assembly of more than one apparatus, whether functionally in cooperation with each other or functionally independently of each other but in a same device housing, for example.

In general, it is to be noted that respective functional blocks or elements according to above-described aspects can be implemented by any known means, either in hardware and/or software, respectively, if it is only adapted to perform the described functions of the respective parts. The mentioned method steps can be realized in individual functional blocks or by individual devices, or one or more of the method steps can be realized in a single functional block or by a single device. Generally, any method step is suitable to be implemented as software or by hardware without changing the idea of the present invention. Devices and means can be implemented as individual devices, but this does not exclude that they are implemented in a distributed fashion throughout the system, as long as the functionality of the device is preserved. Such and similar principles are to be considered as known to a skilled person.

Software in the sense of the present description comprises software code as such comprising code means or portions or a computer program or a computer program product for performing the respective functions, as well as software (or a computer program or a computer program product) embodied on a tangible medium such as a computer-readable (storage) medium having stored thereon a respective data structure or code means/portions or embodied in a signal or in a chip, potentially during processing thereof.

The present invention also covers any conceivable combination of method steps and operations described above, and any conceivable combination of nodes, apparatuses, modules or elements described above, as long as the above-described concepts of methodology and structural arrangement are applicable.

In view of the above, there are provided measures for bridging mechanisms to multiple cells. Such measures exemplarily comprise, at a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments receiving, from a wireless network accessing entity, a host device identity of a host device connected to said wireless network accessing entity, and transmitting, to a network management entity having topology information of at least one network segment indicative of topology relationships of network entities in said at least one network segment, a request for information on a network segment, of said at least one network segment, said host device is to be linked to, wherein said request comprises said host device identity.

Even though the invention is described above with reference to the examples according to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not restricted thereto. Rather, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention can be modified in many ways without departing from the scope of the inventive idea as disclosed herein.

List of acronyms and abbreviations

3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project

5GC 5G core

5GS 5G system

AF application function

AMF access and mobility management function

ARP allocation and retention priority

DHCP dynamic host configuration protocol

DNN data network name

DS-TT device side TSN translator

IoT internet of things

IP internet protocol

LAN local area network

LLDP link-layer discovery protocol

MAC medium access control

NEF network exposure function

NW-TT network side TSN translator

PCF policy control function

PDU packet data unit

S-NSSAI single network slice selection assistance information

SANA SMF, AMF, NEF, and AF (5G Core functions)

SMF session management function

TSC time sensitive communications TSN time sensitive networking

UDM unified data management

UDR unified data repository

UE user equipment UPF user plane function

Claims

1. A method of a wireless network accessing entity, the method comprising receiving, from a host device connected to said wireless network accessing device, a data packet including a host device identity of said host device, ascertaining said host device identity, and transmitting said host device identity towards a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments (LAN).

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein together with said host device identity, information indicative of a related user plane function (DNN-Default) is transmitted towards said wireless network control function entity.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein said information indicative of said related user plane function is one of a data network name (DNN) and a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI).

4. The method according to any of claims 1 to 3, further comprising determining whether said host device identity is a host device identity received for the first time from activation of said wireless network accessing entity, and/or determining whether said host device identity differs from a previously received host device identity.

5. The method according to any of claims 1 to 4, further comprising receiving an instruction to establish, for said host device, a packet data unit session with a user plane function entity assigned to a network segment said host device is to be linked to, and establishing, for said host device, said packet data unit session with said user plane function entity.

6. The method according to any of claims 1 to 5, further comprising establishing, upon activation of said wireless network accessing entity, a basic packet data unit session with a certain user plane function entity.

7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising releasing said basic packet data unit session, if a specific packet data unit session with a specific user plane function entity assigned to a specific network segment is established.

8. The method according to any of claims 6 to 7, wherein said basic packet data unit session is a default packet data unit session, and/or said certain user plane function entity is a default user plane function entity.

9. The method according to any of claims 1 to 8, wherein said data packet is one of an allocation and retention priority request, a dynamic host configuration protocol request, a link layer discovery protocol advertisement, and any payload data packet.

10. The method according to any of claims 1 to 9, wherein said host device identity is one of a medium access control address, an internet protocol address, and a chassis identity.

11. The method according to any of claims 1 to 10, wherein said wireless network accessing entity comprises a user equipment entity and a device-side time sensitive networking translator entity.

12. The method according to any of claims 1 to 11, further comprising blocking any traffic received from the host device for uplink transmission until a connection to a specific user plane function entity has been established.

13. The method according to claims 1 to 12, wherein the wireless network is replaced by a wireline network in case the 5GS is also used to manage a wireline network.

14. A method of a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments (LAN), the method comprising receiving, from a wireless network accessing entity, a host device identity of a host device connected to said wireless network accessing entity, and transmitting, to a network management entity having topology information of at least one network segment indicative of topology relationships of network entities in said at least one network segment, a request for information on a network segment, of said at least one network segment, said host device is to be linked to, wherein said request comprises said host device identity.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein together with said host device identity, information indicative of a related user plane function (DNN-Default) is received from said wireless network accessing entity.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein said information indicative of said related user plane function is one of a data network name (DNN) and a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI).

17. The method according to any of claims 14 to 16, further comprising receiving, from said network management entity, information on said network segment said host device is to be linked to.

18. The method according to claim 17, further comprising determining, based on said information on said network segment said host device is to be linked to and said assignment information, a user plane function entity assigned to said network segment said host device is to be linked to.

19. The method according to claim 18, further comprising transmitting, towards said user plane function entity, an instruction to establish, for said host device, a packet data unit session between said wireless network accessing entity and said user plane function entity.

20. The method according to claim 18 or 19, further comprising transmitting, towards said wireless network accessing entity, an instruction to establish, for said host device, a packet data unit session between said wireless network accessing entity and said user plane function entity.

21. The method according to any of claims 14 to 20, wherein said host device identity is one of a medium access control address, an internet protocol address, and a chassis identity.

22. The method according to any of claims 14 to 21, wherein said wireless network control function entity comprises a session management function entity, an access and mobility management function entity, a network exposure function entity, a policy control function entity and an application function entity.

23. A method of a network management entity having topology information of at least one network segment indicative of topology relationships of network entities in said at least one network segment, the method comprising receiving, from a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments (LAN), a request for information on a network segment, of said at least one network segment, a host device is to be linked to, wherein said request comprises a host device identity of said host device, and deriving said information on said network segment said host device is to be linked to based on said host device identity and said topology information.

24. The method according to claim 23, further comprising transmitting, towards said wireless network control function entity, said information on said network segment said host device is to be linked to.

25. The method according to claim 23 or 24, wherein said host device identity is one of a medium access control address, an internet protocol address, and a chassis identity.

26. An apparatus of a wireless network accessing entity, the apparatus comprising receiving circuitry configured to receive, from a host device connected to said wireless network accessing device, a data packet including a host device identity of said host device, ascertaining circuitry configured to ascertain said host device identity, and transmitting circuitry configured to transmit said host device identity towards a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments (LAN).

27. The apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said transmitting circuitry is configured to transmit, together with said host device identity, information indicative of a related user plane function (DNN-Default) towards said wireless network control function entity.

28. The apparatus according to claim 27, wherein said information indicative of said related user plane function is one of a data network name (DNN) and a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI).

29. The apparatus according to any of claims 26 to 28, further comprising determining circuitry configured to determine whether said host device identity is a host device identity received for the first time from activation of said wireless network accessing entity, and/or determining circuitry configured to determine whether said host device identity differs from a previously received host device identity.

30. The apparatus according to any of claims 26 to 29, further comprising receiving circuitry configured to receive an instruction to establish, for said host device, a packet data unit session with a user plane function entity assigned to a network segment said host device is to be linked to, and establishing circuitry configured to establish, for said host device, said packet data unit session with said user plane function entity.

31. The apparatus according to any of claims 26 to 30, further comprising establishing circuitry configured to establish, upon activation of said wireless network accessing entity, a basic packet data unit session with a certain user plane function entity.

32. The apparatus according to claim 31, further comprising releasing circuitry configured to release said basic packet data unit session, if a specific packet data unit session with a specific user plane function entity assigned to a specific network segment is established.

33. The apparatus according to any of claims 31 to 32, wherein said basic packet data unit session is a default packet data unit session, and/or said certain user plane function entity is a default user plane function entity.

34. The apparatus according to any of claims 26 to 33, wherein said data packet is one of an allocation and retention priority request, a dynamic host configuration protocol request, a link layer discovery protocol advertisement, and any payload data packet.

35. The apparatus according to any of claims 26 to 34, wherein said host device identity is one of a medium access control address, an internet protocol address, and a chassis identity.

36. The apparatus according to any of claims 26 to 35, wherein said wireless network accessing entity comprises a user equipment entity and a device-side time sensitive networking translator entity.

37. The apparatus according to any of claims 26 to 36, further comprising blocking circuitry configured to block any traffic received from the host device for uplink transmission until a connection to a specific user plane function entity has been established.

38. The apparatus according to claims 26 to 37, wherein the wireless network is replaced by a wireline network in case the 5GS is also used to manage a wireline network.

39. An apparatus of a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments (LAN), the apparatus comprising receiving circuitry configured to receive, from a wireless network accessing entity, a host device identity of a host device connected to said wireless network accessing entity, and transmitting circuitry configured to transmit, to a network management entity having topology information of at least one network segment indicative of topology relationships of network entities in said at least one network segment, a request for information on a network segment, of said at least one network segment, said host device is to be linked to, wherein said request comprises said host device identity.

40. The apparatus according to claim 39, wherein said receiving circuitry is configured to receive, together with said host device identity, information indicative of a related user plane function (DNN- Default) from said wireless network accessing entity.

41. The apparatus according to claim 40, wherein said information indicative of said related user plane function is one of a data network name (DNN) and a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI).

42. The apparatus according to any of claims 39 to 41, further comprising receiving circuitry configured to receive, from said network management entity, information on said network segment said host device is to be linked to.

43. The apparatus according to claim 42, further comprising determining circuitry configured to determine, based on said information on said network segment said host device is to be linked to and said assignment information, a user plane function entity assigned to said network segment said host device is to be linked to.

44. The apparatus according to claim 43, further comprising transmitting circuitry configured to transmit, towards said user plane function entity, an instruction to establish, for said host device, a packet data unit session between said wireless network accessing entity and said user plane function entity.

45. The apparatus according to claim 43 or 44, further comprising transmitting circuitry configured to transmit, towards said wireless network accessing entity, an instruction to establish, for said host device, a packet data unit session between said wireless network accessing entity and said user plane function entity.

46. The apparatus according to any of claims 39 to 45, wherein said host device identity is one of a medium access control address, an internet protocol address, and a chassis identity.

47. The apparatus according to any of claims 39 to 46, wherein said wireless network control function entity comprises a session management function entity, an access and mobility management function entity, a network exposure function entity, a policy control function entity, and an application function entity.

48. An apparatus of a network management entity having topology information of at least one network segment indicative of topology relationships of network entities in said at least one network segment, the apparatus comprising receiving circuitry configured to receive, from a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments (LAN), a request for information on a network segment, of said at least one network segment, a host device is to be linked to, wherein said request comprises a host device identity of said host device, and deriving circuitry configured to derive said information on said network segment said host device is to be linked to based on said host device identity and said topology information.

49. The apparatus according to claim 48, further comprising transmitting circuitry configured to transmit, towards said wireless network control function entity, said information on said network segment said host device is to be linked to.

50. The apparatus according to claim 48 or 49, wherein said host device identity is one of a medium access control address, an internet protocol address, and a chassis identity.

51. An apparatus of a wireless network accessing entity, the apparatus comprising at least one processor, at least one memory including computer program code, and at least one interface configured for communication with at least another apparatus, the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to perform: receiving, from a host device connected to said wireless network accessing device, a data packet including a host device identity of said host device, ascertaining said host device identity, and transmitting said host device identity towards a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments (LAN).

52. The apparatus according to claim 51, wherein together with said host device identity, information indicative of a related user plane function (DNN-Default) is transmitted towards said wireless network control function entity.

53. The apparatus according to claim 52, wherein said information indicative of said related user plane function is one of a data network name (DNN) and a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI).

54. The apparatus according to any of claims 51 to 53, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to further perform : determining whether said host device identity is a host device identity received for the first time from activation of said wireless network accessing entity, and/or determining whether said host device identity differs from a previously received host device identity.

55. The apparatus according to any of claims 51 to 54, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to further perform : receiving an instruction to establish, for said host device, a packet data unit session with a user plane function entity assigned to a network segment said host device is to be linked to, and establishing, for said host device, said packet data unit session with said user plane function entity.

56. The apparatus according to any of claims 51 to 55, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to further perform : establishing, upon activation of said wireless network accessing entity, a basic packet data unit session with a certain user plane function entity.

57. The apparatus according to claim 56, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to further perform : releasing said basic packet data unit session, if a specific packet data unit session with a specific user plane function entity assigned to a specific network segment is established.

58. The apparatus according to any of claims 56 to 57, wherein said basic packet data unit session is a default packet data unit session, and/or said certain user plane function entity is a default user plane function entity.

59. The apparatus according to any of claims 51 to 58, wherein said data packet is one of an allocation and retention priority request, a dynamic host configuration protocol request, a link layer discovery protocol advertisement, and any payload data packet.

60. The apparatus according to any of claims 51 to 59, wherein said host device identity is one of a medium access control address, an internet protocol address, and a chassis identity.

61. The apparatus according to any of claims 51 to 60, wherein said wireless network accessing entity comprises a user equipment entity and a device-side time sensitive networking translator entity.

62. The apparatus according to any of claims 51 to 61, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to further perform : blocking any traffic received from the host device for uplink transmission until a connection to a specific user plane function entity has been established.

63. The apparatus according to any of claims 51 to 62, wherein the wireless network is replaced by a wireline network in case the 5GS is also used to manage a wireline network.

64. An apparatus of a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments (LAN), the apparatus comprising at least one processor, at least one memory including computer program code, and at least one interface configured for communication with at least another apparatus, the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to perform: receiving, from a wireless network accessing entity, a host device identity of a host device connected to said wireless network accessing entity, and transmitting, to a network management entity having topology information of at least one network segment indicative of topology relationships of network entities in said at least one network segment, a request for information on a network segment, of said at least one network segment, said host device is to be linked to, wherein said request comprises said host device identity.

65. The apparatus according to claim 64, wherein together with said host device identity, information indicative of a related user plane function (DNN-Default) is received from said wireless network accessing entity.

66. The apparatus according to claim 65, wherein said information indicative of said related user plane function is one of a data network name (DNN) and a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI).

67. The apparatus according to any of claims 64 to 66, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to further perform : receiving, from said network management entity, information on said network segment said host device is to be linked to.

68. The apparatus according to claim 67, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to further perform : determining, based on said information on said network segment said host device is to be linked to and said assignment information, a user plane function entity assigned to said network segment said host device is to be linked to.

69. The apparatus according to claim 68, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to further perform : transmitting, towards said user plane function entity, an instruction to establish, for said host device, a packet data unit session between said wireless network accessing entity and said user plane function entity.

70. The apparatus according to claim 68 or 69, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to further perform : transmitting, towards said wireless network accessing entity, an instruction to establish, for said host device, a packet data unit session between said wireless network accessing entity and said user plane function entity.

71. The apparatus according to any of claims 64 to 70, wherein said host device identity is one of a medium access control address, an internet protocol address, and a chassis identity.

72. The apparatus according to any of claims 64 to 71, wherein said wireless network control function entity comprises a session management function entity, an access and mobility management function entity, a network exposure function entity, a policy control function entity, and an application function entity.

73. An apparatus of a network management entity having topology information of at least one network segment indicative of topology relationships of network entities in said at least one network segment, the apparatus comprising at least one processor, at least one memory including computer program code, and at least one interface configured for communication with at least another apparatus, the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to perform : receiving, from a wireless network control function entity having or providing means to ascertain assignment information indicative of assignment relationships between user plane function entities and corresponding network segments (LAN), a request for information on a network segment, of said at least one network segment, a host device is to be linked to, wherein said request comprises a host device identity of said host device, and deriving said information on said network segment said host device is to be linked to based on said host device identity and said topology information.

74. The apparatus according to claim 73, wherein the at least one processor, with the at least one memory and the computer program code, being configured to cause the apparatus to further perform : transmitting, towards said wireless network control function entity, said information on said network segment said host device is to be linked to.

75. The apparatus according to claim 73 or 74, wherein said host device identity is one of a medium access control address, an internet protocol address, and a chassis identity.

76. A computer program product comprising computer-executable computer program code which, when the program is run on a computer, is configured to cause the computer to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, 14 to 22 or 23 to 25.

77. The computer program product according to claim 76, wherein the computer program product comprises a computer-readable medium on which the computer-executable computer program code is stored, and/or wherein the program is directly loadable into an internal memory of the computer or a processor thereof.