EP4201004A1 - Ue identification using its source ip address - Google Patents

Abstract

Various embodiments generally may relate to the field of wireless communications. For example, some embodiments may relate to enabling networks to provide a unique identifier for user equipments (UEs) that can be available to untrusted Application Functions and can be retrieved from an IP address, regardless of whether it is a Translated IP address or an Assigned IP address. Other embodiments may be disclosed and/or claimed.

Description

UE IDENTIFICATION USING ITS SOURCE IP ADDRESS

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/067,738, which was filed August 19, 2020.

FIELD

Various embodiments generally may relate to the field of wireless communications. For example, some embodiments may relate to enabling networks to provide a unique identifier for user equipments (UEs) that can be available to untrusted Application Functions and can be retrieved from an IP address, regardless of whether it is a Translated IP address or an Assigned IP address.

BACKGROUND

In Rel-17 3GPP (SA6) is working on an architecture for enabling edge application (specified in TS 23.558). Figure 1 illustrates one example of such an architecture. As part of this architecture, the Edge Enabler Server (EES) in an Edge Data Network (EDN), queries the 3GPP network for information that is user equipment (UE)-related, such as: the location of a UE.

Such queries are performed using the 3GPP provided northbound APIs, where the Edge Enabler Server (EES) acts as an Application Function (AF) requesting service from the Network Exposure Function (NEF) (e.g., viaN33 in Figure 1).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Figure 1 illustrates an example of an architecture for edge computing in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 2 illustrates a network in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 3 illustrates a wireless network in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

Figure 5 depicts an example procedure for practicing the various embodiments discussed herein. Figure 6 depicts another example procedure for practicing the various embodiments.

Figure 7 depicts another example procedure for practicing the various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identify the same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth such as particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects of various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the present disclosure that the various aspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examples that depart from these specific details. In certain instances, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the various embodiments with unnecessary detail. For the purposes of the present document, the phrases “A or B” and “A/B” mean (A), (B), or (A and B).

As noted above, the Edge Enabler Server (EES) in an Edge Data Network (EDN), queries the 3GPP network for information that is user equipment (UE)-related, such as: the location of a UE. As the Edge Enabler Server (EES) requests information that is specific to a UE, it must provide the UE’s identity as part of the input parameters to the NEF. The most appropriate UE identification is its Generic Public Subscription Identifier (GPSI). However, the Edge Enabler Server (EES), which may be an untrusted function, is not exposed to the set of GPSIs of the UEs connected to a 3GPP network.

The Edge Enabler Server (EES) issues such queries on behalf of Edge Application Servers (EAS), that are connected to Application Clients (AC) hosted in UEs. Such Edge Application Servers are exposed to the UE’s source IP address via Internet protocol (IP) packets it receives from Application Clients.

The Edge Application Server (EAS) can use those source IP addresses as UE identification when issuing requests to the Edge Enabler Servers (EES). The Edge Enabler Server (EES) may use these source IP addresses as UE identification in the interaction with the Network Exposure Function (NEF).

However, the source IP addresses in IP packets received by Edge Application Servers (EAS) may be Translated IP addresses e.g., addresses that have been translated by a Network Address Translation (NAT) device prior to being forwarded to the Edge Data Network. Among other things, embodiments disclosed herein provide a new mechanism for 3GPP networks to be able to provide a unique ID for UEs that can be available to untrusted Application Functions (AFs) and can be retrieved from an IP address, regardless of whether it is a translated IP address or an Assigned IP address (the address that was assigned to the UE).

In some cases, NAT devices translate the source transport port number as well as the IP address. This disclosure details the support for identifying a UE based on its Translated IP address, but the same schema applies also to cases in which both the IP address and transport port number are translated.

This disclosure describes a scheme to expose the NAT translation to the SMF which will use it for identifying the GPSI of a UE whose public source IP address is denoted in a query to the SMF. It further defines a scheme for the NEF to map the GPSIs into a UE ID token which may be exposed to untrusted functions.

Without this scheme, there is no way for Edge Application Servers (and Edge Enabler Servers) to identify UEs that host Application Clients which are sending IP packets to those servers, and there will not be a way to provide Edge services that are UE-dependent.

An Edge Data Network (EDN) is a data network that is topologically closer to the UEs compared to the cloud. As such, Edge Application Servers (EASs) in that EDN can provide better service to Application Clients (ACs) hosted in UE that are connected to the 3GPP network through an Access Network that is topologically close to that EDN. Improved service includes better response time, better bandwidth, logic that is specific to the location of the UE etc.

In reference to Figure 1, when UE establishes a PDU Session with the remote PDU Session Anchor (PSA), it is assigned an IP address, referred to here as the Public IP address.

To enable access to Edge services the 5GS inserts an Uplink Classifier (UL CL) functionality that diverts selected traffic flows towards the Edge DN. These packets go through a Network Address Translation (NAT) device that translates the Assigned IP address with a Translated IP address. The packets entering the Edge DN thus carry the Translated IP address as the source IP address.

One important aspect of providing Edge services is to be able to identify the UE hosting ACs. Being able to identify the UE enables Edge functions (like the Edge Enabler Server) to provide UE-related information to querying EASs in that EDN.

There is however a limitation with regards to the identity of the UE. This information is only available by the 3GPP network to trusted functions. Edge Application Servers and Edge Enabler Servers may not be deployed by the operators and in some cases are not trusted with such information.

There is still a need to provide UE-related information to EASs (and EESs) with the consent of the subscriber owning the UE and executing Application Clients on that UE. This can be done be using the source IP address of the UE, which can be made available to the EASs from incoming IP packets that were sent by Application Clients.

So, for providing certain edge services, an Edge Application Server performs the following:

1. Extracts the UE’s source IP address from any incoming IP packet

2. Queries the Edge Enabler Server for UE-specific attributes (such as its location) providing that source IP address as means of identifying the UE

The Edge Enabler Server uses a northbound API to query UE-related information from the 3GPP network via the Network Exposure Function (NEF) and provides that source IP address. The reference point between a generic Application Function (AF) and the NEF is known as N33. When the EES communicates with the NEF in the role of AF, the reference point between the EES and the NEF is known as EDGE2. The NEF queries the SMF through N29 for the GPSI of that UE. If there are multiple SMFs in the 5GS the AF query must contain an additional identifier (e.g. DNAI = Data Network Access Identifier) to assist the NEF in discovering the appropriate SMF. If the provided source IP address is a Translated IP address, the SMF queries the UPF through N4 for the translation of that IP address to the Assigned IP address. The UPF performs the translation by querying the co-located NAT device and responds with the Assigned IP address. The SMF uses the Assigned IP address to obtain the UE’s GPSI and provides it to the NEF.

The GPSI is not revealed to the EES. The NEF either (1) provides the Public UE ID (which was mapped to that GPSI) if exists to the EES, or (2) creates a new public UE ID and store it with its corresponding GPSI and source IP address and provide it to the EES.

Following is a detailed flow of the procedure:

1. The EAS extract the source IP address from a packet arriving from an Application Client hosted in a UE whose attributes are required for Edge Services (such as the UE’s location).

2. The EES issues a query to the NEF via N33 to obtain the UE’s attributes using the extracted source IP address.

3. If the NEF has a stored mapping between the source IP address and the GPSI of the UE, it responds with the desired attributes and the EES responds to the EAS. 4. If the NEF does not have the mapping, it queries the SMF for these attributes viaN29 using the source IP address.

5. If the source IP address provided by the NEF is an Assigned IP address of the UE, the SMF responds with the GPSI and UE’s attributes to the NEF. The NEF stores the UE’s GPSI, creates a mapping to a public UE ID and responds to the EES with the public UE ID and the desired attributes.

6. If the IP address provided by the NEF is a Translated IP address of the UE, the SMF queries the UPF for a reverse translation to the Assigned IP address.

7. The UPF uses the co-located NAT device to perform the reverse translation from Translated address to Assigned address and responds to the SMF

8. The SMF stores the translation for future usage and responds to the NEF with the UE’s GPSI and required attributes.

9. The NEF stores the received information together with a generated public ID for the UE (for future usage) and responds to the EES providing the Public UE ID and requested attributes.

Subsequent requests from the EES to the NEF, for UE-related information can use the provided public UE ID.

On the event of a UE moving to a different location attaching via a different Cell, there may be cases where the source IP address of the UE may change. In such an event, the NEF may receive a request to obtain attributes of a UE with an unrecognized source IP address event though it might have created a public UE ID for that UE. In such an event, the NEF will query the SMF, which will obtain the GPSI of the

UE (as described above). After receiving the information from the SMF, the NEF should recognize the GPSI provided by the SMF and replace the source IP address information (both public and local) associated with that GPSI, and respond to the EES with the public UE ID that was already assigned to that UE.

If the NAT device is not co-located with the UPF, the SMF may query the NAT device via a dedicated interface (rather than querying the UPF) for the reverse translation (replacing the query described in step 6 above). Alternatively, the UPF may query the NAT device for a reverse translation via a dedicated interface after receiving the query from the SMF.

There may be deployments with multiple instantiations of SMFs. In that case, the NEF needs to query each SMF until it reaches the one that can provide the desired information. There are several alternatives for optimizing this search. One alternative is to store both the UE’s Assigned and Translated IP addresses in the UDR and query the UDR for the UE’s GPSI. This alternative requires some enhancements to several NFs, as detailed below. Following are more details:

1. After the NAT device translates the UE’s Assigned IP address into a NAT Translated IP address, the UDR is updated with the UE’s NAT Translated IP address, in addition to the UE’s Assigned IP address. Both the Assigned and the NAT Translated IP addresses are stored in the UDR.

2. When an Application Function (such as the EES) needs to obtain the GPSI of a UE, it queries the NEF (as described previously).

3. The NEF queries the NRF to obtain the appropriate UDR that contains the information for the provided UE’s IP address (Assigned or NAT Translated). This step is performed only if there are multiple UDRs in the 5GS, otherwise the procedure continues with step 5.

4. The NRF provides the address (or identity) of the appropriate UDR.

5. The NEF queries the provisioned UDR for the UE’s GPSI. The UE is identified by its source IP address (Assigned or NAT Translated)

6. The UDR responds with the desired GPSI

7. All other interactions between the NEF and EES are as described previously.

Following are some modifications required to some NFs for the above sequence to work:

1. The NRF needs to store NAT Translated IP address ranges in addition to the Assign IP address range and provides the ability to request the identity of a UDR based on either Assigned IP address or Translated IP address

2. The UDR needs to be able to store both the UE’s Assigned and NAT Translated IP address, and support a query for obtaining a UE’s GPSI based on its source IP address (Assigned or NAT Translated).

3. Any NF that updates the UDR with a UE’s source IP address, must provide its Assigned source IP address and its NAT Translated source IP address (if NAT is used for packets transmitted from that UE).

SYSTEMS AND IMPLEMENTATIONS

Figures 2-3 illustrate various systems, devices, and components that may implement aspects of disclosed embodiments.

Figure 2 illustrates a network 200 in accordance with various embodiments. The network 200 may operate in a manner consistent with 3GPP technical specifications for LTE or 5G/NR systems. However, the example embodiments are not limited in this regard and the described embodiments may apply to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems, or the like.

The network 200 may include a UE 202, which may include any mobile or non-mobile computing device designed to communicate with a RAN 204 via an over-the-air connection. The UE 202 may be communicatively coupled with the RAN 204 by a Uu interface. The UE 202 may be, but is not limited to, a smartphone, tablet computer, wearable computer device, desktop computer, laptop computer, in-vehicle infotainment, in-car entertainment device, instrument cluster, head-up display device, onboard diagnostic device, dashtop mobile equipment, mobile data terminal, electronic engine management system, electronic/engine control unit, electronic/engine control module, embedded system, sensor, microcontroller, control module, engine management system, networked appliance, machine-type communication device, M2M or D2D device, loT device, etc.

In some embodiments, the network 200 may include a plurality of UEs coupled directly with one another via a sidelink interface. The UEs may be M2M/D2D devices that communicate using physical sidelink channels such as, but not limited to, PSBCH, PSDCH, PSSCH, PSCCH, PSFCH, etc.

In some embodiments, the UE 202 may additionally communicate with an AP 206 via an over-the-air connection. The AP 206 may manage a WLAN connection, which may serve to offload some/all network traffic from the RAN 204. The connection between the UE 202 and the AP 206 may be consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 206 could be a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi®) router. In some embodiments, the UE 202, RAN 204, and AP 206 may utilize cellular-WLAN aggregation (for example, LWA/LWIP). Cellular-WLAN aggregation may involve the UE 202 being configured by the RAN 204 to utilize both cellular radio resources and WLAN resources.

The RAN 204 may include one or more access nodes, for example, AN 208. AN 208 may terminate air-interface protocols for the UE 202 by providing access stratum protocols including RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC, and LI protocols. In this manner, the AN 208 may enable data/voice connectivity between CN 220 and the UE 202. In some embodiments, the AN 208 may be implemented in a discrete device or as one or more software entities running on server computers as part of, for example, a virtual network, which may be referred to as a CRAN or virtual baseband unit pool. The AN 208 be referred to as a BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, ng-eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP, TRP, etc. The AN 208 may be a macrocell base station or a low power base station for providing femtocells, picocells or other like cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells.

In embodiments in which the RAN 204 includes a plurality of ANs, they may be coupled with one another via an X2 interface (if the RAN 204 is an LTE RAN) or an Xn interface (if the RAN 204 is a 5G RAN). The X2/Xn interfaces, which may be separated into control/user plane interfaces in some embodiments, may allow the ANs to communicate information related to handovers, data/context transfers, mobility, load management, interference coordination, etc.

The ANs of the RAN 204 may each manage one or more cells, cell groups, component carriers, etc. to provide the UE 202 with an air interface for network access. The UE 202 may be simultaneously connected with a plurality of cells provided by the same or different ANs of the RAN 204. For example, the UE 202 and RAN 204 may use carrier aggregation to allow the UE 202 to connect with a plurality of component carriers, each corresponding to a Pcell or Scell. In dual connectivity scenarios, a first AN may be a master node that provides an MCG and a second AN may be secondary node that provides an SCG. The first/second ANs may be any combination of eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc.

The RAN 204 may provide the air interface over a licensed spectrum or an unlicensed spectrum. To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, the nodes may use LAA, eLAA, and/or feLAA mechanisms based on CA technology with PCells/Scells. Prior to accessing the unlicensed spectrum, the nodes may perform medium/carrier-sensing operations based on, for example, a listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.

In V2X scenarios the UE 202 or AN 208 may be or act as a RSU, which may refer to any transportation infrastructure entity used for V2X communications. An RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable AN or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE. An RSU implemented in or by: a UE may be referred to as a “UE-type RSU”; an eNB may be referred to as an “eNB-type RSU”; a gNB may be referred to as a “gNB-type RSU”; and the like. In one example, an RSU is a computing device coupled with radio frequency circuitry located on a roadside that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs. The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry to store intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, as well as applications/software to sense and control ongoing vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may provide very low latency communications required for high speed events, such as crash avoidance, traffic warnings, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may provide other cellular/WLAN communications services. The components of the RSU may be packaged in a weatherproof enclosure suitable for outdoor installation, and may include a network interface controller to provide a wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controller or a backhaul network.

In some embodiments, the RAN 204 may be an LTE RAN 210 with eNBs, for example, eNB 212. The LTE RAN 210 may provide an LTE air interface with the following characteristics: SCS of 15 kHz; CP-OFDM waveform for DL and SC-FDMA waveform for UL; turbo codes for data and TBCC for control; etc. The LTE air interface may rely on CSI- RS for CSI acquisition and beam management; PDSCH/PDCCH DMRS for PDSCH/PDCCH demodulation; and CRS for cell search and initial acquisition, channel quality measurements, and channel estimation for coherent demodulation/detection at the UE. The LTE air interface may operating on sub-6 GHz bands.

In some embodiments, the RAN 204 may be an NG-RAN 214 with gNBs, for example, gNB 216, or ng-eNBs, for example, ng-eNB 218. The gNB 216 may connect with 5G-enabled UEs using a 5G NR interface. The gNB 216 may connect with a 5G core through an NG interface, which may include an N2 interface or an N3 interface. The ng-eNB 218 may also connect with the 5G core through an NG interface, but may connect with a UE via an LTE air interface. The gNB 216 and the ng-eNB 218 may connect with each other over an Xn interface.

In some embodiments, the NG interface may be split into two parts, an NG user plane (NG-U) interface, which carries traffic data between the nodes of the NG-RAN 214 and a UPF 248 (e.g., N3 interface), and an NG control plane (NG-C) interface, which is a signaling interface between the nodes of the NG-RAN214 and an AMF 244 (e.g., N2 interface).

The NG-RAN 214 may provide a 5G-NR air interface with the following characteristics: variable SCS; CP-OFDM for DL, CP-OFDM and DFT-s-OFDM for UL; polar, repetition, simplex, and Reed-Muller codes for control and LDPC for data. The 5G-NR air interface may rely on CSI-RS, PDSCH/PDCCH DMRS similar to the LTE air interface. The 5G-NR air interface may not use a CRS, but may use PBCH DMRS for PBCH demodulation; PTRS for phase tracking for PDSCH; and tracking reference signal for time tracking. The 5G- NR air interface may operating on FR1 bands that include sub-6 GHz bands or FR2 bands that include bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. The 5G-NR air interface may include an SSB that is an area of a downlink resource grid that includes PSS/SSS/PBCH.

In some embodiments, the 5G-NR air interface may utilize BWPs for various purposes. For example, BWP can be used for dynamic adaptation of the SCS. For example, the UE 202 can be configured with multiple BWPs where each BWP configuration has a different SCS. When a BWP change is indicated to the UE 202, the SCS of the transmission is changed as well. Another use case example of BWP is related to power saving. In particular, multiple BWPs can be configured for the UE 202 with different amount of frequency resources (for example, PRBs) to support data transmission under different traffic loading scenarios. A BWP containing a smaller number of PRBs can be used for data transmission with small traffic load while allowing power saving at the UE 202 and in some cases at the gNB 216. A BWP containing a larger number of PRBs can be used for scenarios with higher traffic load.

The RAN 204 is communicatively coupled to CN 220 that includes network elements to provide various functions to support data and telecommunications services to customers/subscribers (for example, users of UE 202). The components of the CN 220 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes. In some embodiments, NFV may be utilized to virtualize any or all of the functions provided by the network elements of the CN 220 onto physical compute/storage resources in servers, switches, etc. A logical instantiation of the CN 220 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instantiation of a portion of the CN 220 may be referred to as a network sub-slice.

In some embodiments, the CN 220 may be an LTE CN 222, which may also be referred to as an EPC. The LTE CN 222 may include MME 224, SGW 226, SGSN 228, HSS 230, PGW 232, and PCRF 234 coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the LTE CN 222 may be briefly introduced as follows.

The MME 224 may implement mobility management functions to track a current location of the UE 202 to facilitate paging, bearer activation/deactivation, handovers, gateway selection, authentication, etc.

The SGW 226 may terminate an SI interface toward the RAN and route data packets between the RAN and the LTE CN 222. The SGW 226 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement.

The SGSN 228 may track a location of the UE 202 and perform security functions and access control. In addition, the SGSN 228 may perform inter-EPC node signaling for mobility between different RAT networks; PDN and S-GW selection as specified by MME 224; MME selection for handovers; etc. The S3 reference point between the MME 224 and the SGSN 228 may enable user and bearer information exchange for inter-3GPP access network mobility in idle/active states.

The HSS 230 may include a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities’ handling of communication sessions. The HSS 230 can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc. An S6a reference point between the HSS 230 and the MME 224 may enable transfer of subscription and authentication data for authenticating/ authorizing user access to the LTE CN 220.

The PGW 232 may terminate an SGi interface toward a data network (DN) 236 that may include an application/content server 238. The PGW 232 may route data packets between the LTE CN 222 and the data network 236. The PGW 232 may be coupled with the SGW 226 by an S5 reference point to facilitate user plane tunneling and tunnel management. The PGW 232 may further include a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection (for example, PCEF). Additionally, the SGi reference point between the PGW 232 and the data network 2 36 may be an operator external public, a private PDN, or an intra-operator packet data network, for example, for provision of IMS services. The PGW 232 may be coupled with a PCRF 234 via a Gx reference point.

The PCRF 234 is the policy and charging control element of the LTE CN 222. The PCRF 234 may be communicatively coupled to the app/content server 238 to determine appropriate QoS and charging parameters for service flows. The PCRF 232 may provision associated rules into a PCEF (via Gx reference point) with appropriate TFT and QCI.

In some embodiments, the CN 220 may be a 5GC 240. The 5GC 240 may include an AUSF 242, AMF 244, SMF 246, UPF 248, NSSF 250, NEF 252, NRF 254, PCF 256, UDM 258, and AF 260 coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the 5GC 240 may be briefly introduced as follows.

The AUSF 242 may store data for authentication of UE 202 and handle authentication- related functionality. The AUSF 242 may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. In addition to communicating with other elements of the 5GC 240 over reference points as shown, the AUSF 242 may exhibit an Nausf service-based interface.

The AMF 244 may allow other functions of the 5GC 240 to communicate with the UE 202 and the RAN 204 and to subscribe to notifications about mobility events with respect to the UE 202. The AMF 244 may be responsible for registration management (for example, for registering UE 202), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception of AMF-related events, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF 244 may provide transport for SM messages between the UE 202 and the SMF 246, and act as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. AMF 244 may also provide transport for SMS messages between UE 202 and an SMSF. AMF 244 may interact with the AUSF 242 and the UE 202 to perform various security anchor and context management functions. Furthermore, AMF 244 may be a termination point of a RAN CP interface, which may include or be an N2 reference point between the RAN 204 and the AMF 244; and the AMF 244 may be a termination point of NAS (Nl) signaling, and perform NAS ciphering and integrity protection. AMF 244 may also support NAS signaling with the UE 202 over an N3 IWF interface.

The SMF 246 may be responsible for SM (for example, session establishment, tunnel management between UPF 248 and AN 208); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of UP function; configuring traffic steering at UPF 248 to route traffic to proper destination; termination of interfaces toward policy control functions; controlling part of policy enforcement, charging, and QoS; lawful intercept (for SM events and interface to LI system); termination of SM parts of NAS messages; downlink data notification; initiating AN specific SM information, sent via AMF 244 over N2 to AN 208; and determining SSC mode of a session. SM may refer to management of a PDU session, and a PDU session or “session” may refer to a PDU connectivity service that provides or enables the exchange of PDUs between the UE 202 and the data network 236.

The UPF 248 may act as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point of interconnect to data network 236, and a branching point to support multi-homed PDU session. The UPF 248 may also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, enforce the user plane part of policy rules, lawfully intercept packets (UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS handling for a user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL/DL rate enforcement), perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., SDF-to-QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. UPF 248 may include an uplink classifier to support routing traffic flows to a data network.

The NSSF 250 may select a set of network slice instances serving the UE 202. The NSSF 250 may also determine allowed NSSAI and the mapping to the subscribed S-NSSAIs, if needed. The NSSF 250 may also determine the AMF set to be used to serve the UE 202, or a list of candidate AMFs based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRF 254. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 202 may be triggered by the AMF 244 with which the UE 202 is registered by interacting with the NSSF 250, which may lead to a change of AMF. The NSSF 250 may interact with the AMF 244 via an N22 reference point; and may communicate with another NSSF in a visited network via an N31 reference point (not shown). Additionally, the NSSF 250 may exhibit an Nnssf service-based interface.

The NEF 252 may securely expose services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third party, internal exposure/re-exposure, AFs (e.g., AF 260), edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In such embodiments, the NEF 252 may authenticate, authorize, or throttle the AFs. NEF 252 may also translate information exchanged with the AF 260 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, the NEF 252 may translate between an AF-Service-Identifier and an internal 5GC information. NEF 252 may also receive information from other NFs based on exposed capabilities of other NFs. This information may be stored at the NEF 252 as structured data, or at a data storage NF using standardized interfaces. The stored information can then be re-exposed by the NEF 252 to other NFs and AFs, or used for other purposes such as analytics. Additionally, the NEF 252 may exhibit an Nnef service-based interface.

The NRF 254 may support service discovery functions, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide the information of the discovered NF instances to the NF instances. NRF 254 also maintains information of available NF instances and their supported services. As used herein, the terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like may refer to the creation of an instance, and an “instance” may refer to a concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during execution of program code. Additionally, the NRF 254 may exhibit the Nnrf service-based interface.

The PCF 256 may provide policy rules to control plane functions to enforce them, and may also support unified policy framework to govern network behavior. The PCF 256 may also implement a front end to access subscription information relevant for policy decisions in a UDR of the UDM 258. In addition to communicating with functions over reference points as shown, the PCF 256 exhibit an Npcf service-based interface.

The UDM 258 may handle subscription-related information to support the network entities’ handling of communication sessions, and may store subscription data of UE 202. For example, subscription data may be communicated via an N8 reference point between the UDM 258 and the AMF 244. The UDM 258 may include two parts, an application front end and a UDR. The UDR may store subscription data and policy data for the UDM 258 and the PCF 256, and/or structured data for exposure and application data (including PFDs for application detection, application request information for multiple UEs 202) for the NEF 252. The Nudr service-based interface may be exhibited by the UDR 221 to allow the UDM 258, PCF 256, and NEF 252 to access a particular set of the stored data, as well as to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, and subscribe to notification of relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDM may include a UDM-FE, which is in charge of processing credentials, location management, subscription management and so on. Several different front ends may serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR and performs authentication credential processing, user identification handling, access authorization, registration/mobility management, and subscription management. In addition to communicating with other NFs over reference points as shown, the UDM 258 may exhibit the Nudm service-based interface.

The AF 260 may provide application influence on traffic routing, provide access to NEF, and interact with the policy framework for policy control.

In some embodiments, the 5GC 240 may enable edge computing by selecting operator/3^rd party services to be geographically close to a point that the UE 202 is attached to the network. This may reduce latency and load on the network. To provide edge-computing implementations, the 5GC 240 may select a UPF 248 close to the UE 202 and execute traffic steering from the UPF 248 to data network 236 via the N6 interface. This may be based on the UE subscription data, UE location, and information provided by the AF 260. In this way, the AF 260 may influence UPF (re)selection and traffic routing. Based on operator deployment, when AF 260 is considered to be a trusted entity, the network operator may permit AF 260 to interact directly with relevant NFs. Additionally, the AF 260 may exhibit an Naf service-based interface.

The data network 236 may represent various network operator services, Internet access, or third party services that may be provided by one or more servers including, for example, application/content server 238.

Figure 3 schematically illustrates a wireless network 300 in accordance with various embodiments. The wireless network 300 may include a UE 302 in wireless communication with an AN 304. The UE 302 and AN 304 may be similar to, and substantially interchangeable with, like-named components described elsewhere herein.

The UE 302 may be communicatively coupled with the AN 304 via connection 306. The connection 306 is illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols such as an LTE protocol or a 5G NR protocol operating at mmWave or sub-6GHz frequencies.

The UE 302 may include a host platform 308 coupled with a modem platform 310. The host platform 308 may include application processing circuitry 312, which may be coupled with protocol processing circuitry 314 of the modem platform 310. The application processing circuitry 312 may run various applications for the UE 302 that source/sink application data. The application processing circuitry 312 may further implement one or more layer operations to transmit/receive application data to/from a data network. These layer operations may include transport (for example UDP) and Internet (for example, IP) operations The protocol processing circuitry 314 may implement one or more of layer operations to facilitate transmission or reception of data over the connection 306. The layer operations implemented by the protocol processing circuitry 314 may include, for example, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC and NAS operations.

The modem platform 310 may further include digital baseband circuitry 316 that may implement one or more layer operations that are “below” layer operations performed by the protocol processing circuitry 314 in a network protocol stack. These operations may include, for example, PHY operations including one or more of HARQ-ACK functions, scrambling/descrambling, encoding/decoding, layer mapping/de-mapping, modulation symbol mapping, received symbol/bit metric determination, multi-antenna port precoding/decoding, which may include one or more of space-time, space-frequency or spatial coding, reference signal generation/detection, preamble sequence generation and/or decoding, synchronization sequence generation/detection, control channel signal blind decoding, and other related functions.

The modem platform 310 may further include transmit circuitry 318, receive circuitry 320, RF circuitry 322, and RF front end (RFFE) 324, which may include or connect to one or more antenna panels 326. Briefly, the transmit circuitry 318 may include a digital -to-analog converter, mixer, intermediate frequency (IF) components, etc.; the receive circuitry 320 may include an analog-to-digital converter, mixer, IF components, etc.; the RF circuitry 322 may include a low-noise amplifier, a power amplifier, power tracking components, etc.; RFFE 324 may include filters (for example, surface/bulk acoustic wave filters), switches, antenna tuners, beamforming components (for example, phase-array antenna components), etc. The selection and arrangement of the components of the transmit circuitry 318, receive circuitry 320, RF circuitry 322, RFFE 324, and antenna panels 326 (referred generically as “transmit/receive components”) may be specific to details of a specific implementation such as, for example, whether communication is TDM or FDM, in mmWave or sub-6 gHz frequencies, etc. In some embodiments, the transmit/receive components may be arranged in multiple parallel transmit/receive chains, may be disposed in the same or different chips/modules, etc.

In some embodiments, the protocol processing circuitry 314 may include one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for the transmit/receive components.

A UE reception may be established by and via the antenna panels 326, RFFE 324, RF circuitry 322, receive circuitry 320, digital baseband circuitry 316, and protocol processing circuitry 314. In some embodiments, the antenna panels 326 may receive a transmission from the AN 304 by receive-beamforming signals received by a plurality of antennas/antenna elements of the one or more antenna panels 326.

A UE transmission may be established by and via the protocol processing circuitry 314, digital baseband circuitry 316, transmit circuitry 318, RF circuitry 322, RFFE 324, and antenna panels 326. In some embodiments, the transmit components of the UE 304 may apply a spatial filter to the data to be transmitted to form a transmit beam emitted by the antenna elements of the antenna panels 326.

Similar to the UE 302, the AN 304 may include a host platform 328 coupled with a modem platform 330. The host platform 328 may include application processing circuitry 332 coupled with protocol processing circuitry 334 of the modem platform 330. The modem platform may further include digital baseband circuitry 336, transmit circuitry 338, receive circuitry 340, RF circuitry 342, RFFE circuitry 344, and antenna panels 346. The components of the AN 304 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with like-named components of the UE 302. In addition to performing data transmission/reception as described above, the components of the AN 308 may perform various logical functions that include, for example, RNC functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management, and data packet scheduling.

Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Specifically, Figure 4 shows a diagrammatic representation of hardware resources 400 including one or more processors (or processor cores) 410, one or more memory /storage devices 420, and one or more communication resources 430, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 440 or other interface circuitry. For embodiments where node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 402 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 400.

The processors 410 may include, for example, a processor 412 and a processor 414. The processors 410 may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP such as a baseband processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those discussed herein), or any suitable combination thereof. The memory /storage devices 420 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory /storage devices 420 may include, but are not limited to, any type of volatile, non-volatile, or semi-volatile memory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flash memory, solid-state storage, etc.

The communication resources 430 may include interconnection or network interface controllers, components, or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 404 or one or more databases 406 or other network elements via a network 408. For example, the communication resources 430 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB, Ethernet, etc.), cellular communication components, NFC components, Bluetooth® (or Bluetooth® Low Energy) components, Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components.

Instructions 450 may comprise software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of the processors 410 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The instructions 450 may reside, completely or partially, within at least one of the processors 410 (e.g., within the processor’s cache memory), the memory /storage devices 420, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of the instructions 450 may be transferred to the hardware resources 400 from any combination of the peripheral devices 404 or the databases 406. Accordingly, the memory of processors 410, the memory /storage devices 420, the peripheral devices 404, and the databases 406 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

EXAMPLE PROCEDURES

In some embodiments, the electronic device(s), network(s), system(s), chip(s) or component(s), or portions or implementations thereof, of Figures 2-4, or some other figure herein, may be configured to perform one or more processes, techniques, or methods as described herein, or portions thereof. One such process is depicted in Figure 5. In some embodiments, the process of Figure 5 may be performed by an EES or a portion thereof.

For example, the process 500 may include, at 505, retrieving, from memory, a source Internet protocol (IP) address associated with an IP packet from a user equipment (UE). The process further includes, at 510, encoding a message for transmission that includes a query for a UE-specific attribute and an indication of the source IP address. The process further includes, at 515, receiving a response to the message that includes an indication of the UE- specific attribute. Figure 6 illustrates another process in accordance with various embodiments, which may be performed by an EES or a portion thereof. In this example, the process 600 includes, at 605, receiving, from an edge application server (EAS), a query for a UE-specific attribute that includes an indication of a source IP address associated with an IP packet from the UE. The process further includes, at 610, encoding a message for transmission to a network exposure function (NEF) that includes a request for the UE-specific attribute and the indication of source IP address. The process further includes, at 615, receiving a response from the NEF that includes an indication of the UE-specific attribute. The process further includes, at 620, encoding a second message for transmission to the EAS that includes an indication of the UE-specific attribute.

Figure 7 illustrates another process in accordance with various embodiments. In some embodiments, the process may be performed by an NEF or a portion thereof. In this example, the process 700 includes, at 705, receiving a request for a user equipment (UE)- specific attribute that includes an indication of a source IP address associated with an IP packet from the UE. The process further includes, at 710, determining the UE-specific attribute based on the request. The process further includes, at 715, encoding a response message for transmission that includes an indication of the UE-specific attribute.

For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components set forth in one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and/or methods as set forth in the example section below. For example, the baseband circuitry as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below. For another example, circuitry associated with a UE, base station, network element, etc. as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below in the example section. EXAMPLES

Example 1 may include a method for obtaining a UE’s identity (such as its GPSI) in a 5G System (5GS) from its source IP address.

Example IB may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, wherein the source IP address is an originally Assigned source IP address or a NAT Translated source IP address.

Example 2 may include the method of example 1 or some other example herein, whereby the application server (such as an Edge Application Server) receiving data packets from an application client hosted in a UE (such as an Application Client) and querying the 3GPP 5G System for the UE’s identity based on the packets source IP address. The request may optionally include additional data (e.g. DNAI) to assist SMF discovery.

Example 3A may include the method of example 2 or some other example herein, whereby the Edge Application Server (EAS) queries the 3GPP 5G System via the Edge Enabler Server (EES).

Example 3B may include the method of example 3a or some other example herein, whereby the Edge Enabler Server queries the 3GPP 5G System via the Network Exposure Function (NEF).

Example 4 may include the method of example 2 or some other example herein, whereby the Edge Application Server queries the 3GPP 5G System via the NEF.

Example 5a may include the method of examples 3 or 4 or some other example herein, whereby the NEF optionally queries the NRF based on the additional data (e.g. DNAI) to obtain the identity of the Session Management Function handling the UE.

Example 5b may include the method of examples 3, 4 or 5a or some other example herein, whereby the NEF queries the Session Management Function SMF for the GPSI of a UE whose source IP address is provided.

Example 6 may include the method of example 5 or some other example herein, whereby the SMF queries the User Plane Function (UPF) for the GPSI of the UE whose source IP address is provided.

Example 7a may include the method of example 6 or some other example herein, whereby the UPF queries the co-located NAT device for the reverse translation of the UE’s source IP address (if this address is a NAT Translated IP address) to obtain the Assigned source IP address.

Example 7b may include the method of example 6 or some other example herein, whereby the UPF queries a separate NAT device for the reverse translation of the UE’s source IP address (if this address is a NAT Translated IP address) to obtain the Assigned source IP address.

Example 8 may include the method of example 7 or some other example herein, whereby the NAT device provides the Assigned source IP address of the UE to the UPF.

Example 9 may include the method of example 8 or some other example herein, whereby the UPF provides the Assigned source IP address to the SMF.

Example 10a may include the method in example 6 or some other example herein, whereby the SMF queries a separate NAT device for the reverse translation of the UE’s source IP address (if this address is a NAT Translated IP address) to obtain the Assigned source IP address.

Example 10b may include the method in example 10a or some other example herein, whereby the NAT device provides the Assigned source IP address of the UE to the SMF.

Example 11 may include the method in examples 9 or 10 or some other example herein, whereby the SMF provides the GPSI of the UE whose Assigned source IP address is known to the NEF.

Example 12 may include the method of examples 3 or 4 or some other example herein, whereby the NEF queries the Network Repository Function (NRF) for the Unified Data Repository UDR that has information about UEs whose source IP address is provided.

Example 13 may include the method of example 12 or some other example herein, whereby the NRF provide the NEF with the identity of the UDR that has the information about the UE whose source IP address is provided.

Example 14 may include the method in examples 3, 4 or 13 or some other example herein, whereby the NEF queries the UDR for the GPSI of the UE whose source IP address is provided.

Example 15 may include the method in example 14 or some other example herein, whereby the UDR provides the GPSI to the NEF.

Example 16a may include the method in examples 11 or 15 or some other example herein, whereby the NEF stores the translation of the UE’s Assigned source IP address to its GPSI.

Example 16b may include the method in examples 15 or some other example herein, whereby the NEF stores the translation of the UE’s Translated source IP address (if a NAT device had translated the IP address) to its GPSI.

Example 17 may include the method in example 16 or some other example herein, whereby the NEF generates a UE public ID and stores it together with its GPSI and source IP address(s)

Example 18a may include the method in example 16 or some other example herein, whereby the NEF provides the EES with the UE’s GPSI.

Example 18b may include the method in example 18a or some other example herein, whereby the EES provides the EAS with the UE’s GPSI.

Example 19a may include the method in example 17 or some other example herein, whereby the NEF provides the EES with the UE’s public ID. Example 19a may include the method of example 19a or some other example herein, whereby the EES provides the EAS with the UE’s public ID.

Example 20 may include the method of example 16 or some other example herein, whereby the NEF provides the EAS with the UE’s GPSI.

Example 21 may include the method in example 17 or some other example herein, whereby the NEF provides the EAS with the UE’s public ID.

Example 22 may include the method for storing the UE’s NAT Translated source IP address in the UDR together with the UE’s Assigned source IP address.

Example 23 may include the method for the UDR to provide a UE’s GPSI to a querying Network function based on either the UE’s Assigned source IP address or the UR’s NAT Translated source IP address.

Example 24 may include the method for the NRF to identify the UDR containing a UE’s identification based on either the UE’s Assigned source IP address or the IE’s NAT Translated source IP address.

Example 25 may include a method of an Edge Application Server (EAS), the method comprising: receiving a data packet from an application client of a UE, wherein the data packet is associated with a source IP address; and encoding a request for a UE identity of the UE for transmission to a 3GPP 5G System, wherein the request includes the source IP address.

Example 26 may include the method of example 25 or some other example herein, wherein the UE identity is a generic public subscription identifier (GPSI).

Example 27 may include the method of example 25-26 or some other example herein, wherein the request further includes a DNAI.

Example 28 may include the method of example 25-27 or some other example herein, the request is transmitted to the 3GPP 5G System via an Edge Enabler Server (EES).

Example 29 may include the method of example 25-28 or some other example herein, wherein the request is transmitted to the 3GPP 5G System via a Network Exposure Function (NEF).

Example XI includes an apparatus comprising: memory to store a source Internet protocol (IP) address associated with an IP packet from a user equipment (UE); and processing circuitry, coupled with the memory, to: retrieve the source IP address from the memory; encode a message for transmission that includes a query for a UE-specific attribute and an indication of the source IP address; and receive a response to the message that includes an indication of the UE-specific attribute.

Example X2 includes the apparatus of example XI or some other example herein, wherein the source IP address is an originally-assigned source IP address or a network address translation (NAT) source IP address.

Example X2A includes the apparatus of example XI or some other example herein, wherein the message further includes an indication of a source port number.

Example X3 includes the apparatus of example XI or some other example herein, wherein the message is encoded for transmission to an edge enabler server (EES).

Example X4 includes the apparatus of example XI or some other example herein, wherein the UE-specific attribute includes a location of the UE.

Example X5 includes the apparatus of any of examples XI -X4 or some other example herein, wherein the message further includes an indication of a data network access identifier (DNAI) associated with a session management function (SMF).

Example X6 includes one or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause an edge enabler server (EES) to: receive, from an edge application server (EAS), a query for a UE-specific attribute that includes an indication of a source IP address associated with an IP packet from the UE; encode a message for transmission to a network exposure function (NEF) that includes a request for the UE- specific attribute and the indication of source IP address; receive a response from the NEF that includes an indication of the UE-specific attribute; and encode a second message for transmission to the EAS that includes an indication of the UE-specific attribute.

Example X7 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example X6 or some other example herein, wherein the source IP address is an originally-assigned source IP address or a network address translation (NAT) source IP address.

Example X7a includes the one or more computer-readable media of example X6 or some other example herein, wherein the query further includes an indication of a source port number associated with the source IP address.

Example X8 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example X6 or some other example herein, wherein the response from the NEF further includes an indication of a mapping to a public UE identifier (ID).

Example X9 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example X6 or some other example herein, wherein the UE-specific attribute includes a location of the UE. Example XI 0 includes the one or more computer-readable media of any of examples X7-X9 or some other example herein, wherein the query further includes an indication of a data network access identifier (DNAI) associated with a session management function (SMF), and message encoded for transmission to the NEF includes an indication of the DNAI.

Example XI 1 includes one or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a network exposure function (NEF) to: receive a request for a user equipment (UE)-specific attribute that includes an indication of a source IP address associated with an IP packet from the UE; determine the UE-specific attribute based on the request; and encode a response message for transmission that includes an indication of the UE-specific attribute.

Example XI 1 A includes the one or more computer-readable media of example XI 1 or some other example herein, wherein the request further includes an indication of a source port number.

Example XI 2 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example XI 1 or some other example herein, wherein the request is received from an edge application server (EAS).

Example XI 3 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example XI 1 or some other example herein, wherein the source IP address is an originally-assigned source IP address or a network address translation (NAT) source IP address.

Example XI 4 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example XI 1 or some other example herein, wherein the request includes an indication of a data network access identifier (DNAI) associated with a session management function (SMF).

Example XI 5 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example XI 1 or some other example herein, wherein to determine the UE-specific attribute based on the request is to determine the UE-specific attribute based on a mapping between the source IP address and a general public subscription identifier (GPSI) stored at the NEF, or based on a mapping between the source IP address and a source port number and a GPSI sorted at the NEF.

Example XI 6 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example XI 1 or some other example herein, wherein to determine the UE-specific attribute based on the request is to: encode a message to a session management function (SMF) that includes a query for the UE-specific attribute and an indication of the source IP address; and receive a response message from the SMF that includes an indication of the UE-specific attribute.

Example XI 7 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example XI 6 or some other example herein, wherein the response message from the SMF further includes an indication of a GPSI associated with the UE.

Example XI 8 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example XI 7 or some other example herein, wherein the media further stores instructions to cause the NEF to generate, based on the response message from the SMF, a mapping between the source IP address and the GPSI of the UE.

Example XI 9 includes the one or more computer-readable media of any of examples XI 1-X18, wherein the UE-specific attribute includes a location of the UE.

Example Z01 may include an apparatus comprising means to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1-X19, or any other method or process described herein.

Example Z02 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of the electronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1- XI 9, or any other method or process described herein.

Example Z03 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, or circuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1- XI 9, or any other method or process described herein.

Example Z04 may include a method, technique, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1- XI 9, or portions or parts thereof.

Example Z05 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1- XI 9, or portions thereof.

Example Z06 may include a signal as described in or related to any of examples 1- XI 9, or portions or parts thereof.

Example Z07 may include a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any of examples 1- XI 9, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure. Example Z08 may include a signal encoded with data as described in or related to any of examples 1- XI 9, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

Example Z09 may include a signal encoded with a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any of examples 1- XI 9, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

Example Z10 may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein execution of the computer-readable instructions by one or more processors is to cause the one or more processors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1- XI 9, or portions thereof.

Example Zll may include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element is to cause the processing element to carry out the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1- XI 9, or portions thereof.

Example Z12 may include a signal in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

Example Z13 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

Example Z14 may include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

Example Z15 may include a device for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

Any of the above-described examples may be combined with any other example (or combination of examples), unless explicitly stated otherwise. The foregoing description of one or more implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.

Abbreviations

Unless used differently herein, terms, definitions, and abbreviations may be consistent with terms, definitions, and abbreviations defined in 3GPP TR 21.905 V16.0.0 (2019-06). For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviations may apply to the examples and embodiments discussed herein. 3GPP Third Generation 35 ASN.1 Abstract Syntax CAPEX CAPital Partnership Notation One 70 Expenditure

Project AUSF Authentication CBRA Contention Based 4G Fourth Generation Server Function Random Access 5G Fifth Generation AWGN Additive CC Component 5GC 5G Core network 40 White Gaussian Carrier, Country ACK Noise 75 Code, Cryptographic

Acknowledgemen BAP Backhaul Checksum t Adaptation Protocol CCA Clear Channel

AF Application BCH Broadcast Assessment Function 45 Channel CCE Control Channel

AM Acknowledged BER Bit Error Ratio 80 Element Mode BFD Beam Failure CCCH Common Control

AMBRAggregate Detection Channel Maximum Bit Rate BLER Block Error Rate CE Coverage AMF Access and 50 BPSK Binary Phase Shift Enhancement Mobility Keying 85 CDM Content Delivery

Management BRAS Broadband Network Function Remote Access CDMA Code-

AN Access Network Server Division Multiple ANR Automatic 55 BSS Business Support Access Neighbour Relation System 90 CFRA Contention Free

AP Application BS Base Station Random Access Protocol, Antenna BSR Buffer Status CG Cell Group

Port, Access Point Report CI Cell Identity API Application 60 BW Bandwidth CID Cell-ID (e g., Programming Interface BWP Bandwidth Part 95 positioning method) APN Access Point C-RNTI Cell Radio CIM Common Name Network Temporary Information Model

ARP Allocation and Identity CIR Carrier to Retention Priority 65 CA Carrier Interference Ratio ARQ Automatic Repeat Aggregation, 100 CK Cipher Key Request Certification CM Connection

AS Access Stratum Authority Management, Conditional CRAN Cloud Radio CSMA/CA CSMA

Mandatory Access Network, with collision avoidance

CM AS Commercial 35 Cloud RAN CSS Common Search

Mobile Alert Service CRB Common 70 Space, Cell- specific

CMD Command Resource Block Search Space

CMS Cloud CRC Cyclic CTS Clear-to-Send

Management System Redundancy Check CW Codeword

CO Conditional 40 CRI Channel-State CWS Contention

Optional Information Resource 75 Window Size

CoMP Coordinated Indicator, CSI-RS D2D Device-to-Device

Multi-Point Resource DC Dual

CORESET Control Indicator Connectivity, Direct

Resource Set 45 C-RNTI Cell RNTI Current

COTS Commercial Off- CS Circuit Switched 80 DCI Downlink Control

The-Shelf CSAR Cloud Service Information

CP Control Plane, Archive DF Deployment Cyclic Prefix, CSI Channel-State Flavour

Connection Point 50 Information DL Downlink

CPD Connection Point CSI-IM CSI 85 DMTF Distributed Descriptor Interference Management Task Force

CPE Customer Premise Measurement DPDK Data Plane Equipment CSI-RS CSI Development Kit

CPICHCommon Pilot 55 Reference Signal DM-RS, DMRS

Channel CSI-RSRP CSI 90 Demodulation

CQI Channel Quality reference signal Reference Signal Indicator received power DN Data network

CPU CSI processing CSI-RSRQ CSI DRB Data Radio Bearer unit, Central Processing 60 reference signal DRS Discovery Unit received quality 95 Reference Signal

C/R CSI-SINR CSI signal- DRX Discontinuous

Command/Respon to-noise and Reception se field bit interference ratio DSL Domain Specific

65 CSMA Carrier Sense Language. Digital

Multiple Access 100 Subscriber Line DSLAM DSL 35 EMS Element E-UTRAN Evolved

Access Multiplexer Management System UTRAN

DwPTS Downlink eNB evolved NodeB, 70 EV2X Enhanced V2X

Pilot Time Slot E-UTRAN Node B F1AP Fl Application

E-LAN Ethernet EN-DC E-UTRA- Protocol

Local Area Network NR Dual Fl-C Fl Control plane

E2E End-to-End Connectivity interface

ECCA extended clear EPC Evolved Packet 75 Fl-U Fl User plane channel Core interface assessment, EPDCCH enhanced FACCH Fast extended CCA 45 PDCCH, enhanced Associated Control

ECCE Enhanced Control Physical CHannel

Channel Element, Downlink Control 80 FACCH/F Fast

Enhanced CCE Cannel Associated Control

ED Energy Detection EPRE Energy per Channel/Full rate

EDGE Enhanced resource element FACCH/H Fast

Datarates for GSM EPS Evolved Packet Associated Control

Evolution (GSM System 85 Channel/Half rate

Evolution) EREG enhanced REG, FACH Forward Access

EGMF Exposure enhanced resource Channel

Governance 55 element groups FAUSCH Fast

Management ETSI European Uplink Signalling

Function Telecommunicatio 90 Channel

EGPRS Enhanced ns Standards Institute FB Functional Block

GPRS ETWS Earthquake and FBI Feedback

EIR Equipment 60 Tsunami Warning Information

Identity Register System FCC Federal eLAA enhanced eUICC embedded UICC, 95 Communications

Licensed Assisted embedded Universal Commission

Access, enhanced Integrated Circuit FCCH Frequency

LAA 65 Card Correction CHannel

EM Element Manager E-UTRA Evolved FDD Frequency eMBB Enhanced Mobile UTRA 100 Division Duplex

Broadband FDM Frequency Sputnikovaya GUTI Globally Unique Division Multiplex Sistema (Engl.: Temporary UE

FDM A F requency Global Navigation 70 Identity Division Multiple Satellite System) HARQ Hybrid ARQ,

Access gNB Next Generation Hybrid Automatic

FE Front End 40 NodeB Repeat Request

FEC Forward Error gNB-CU gNB- HANDO Handover Correction centralized unit, Next 75 HFN HyperFrame

FFS For Further Study Generation NodeB Number FFT Fast Fourier centralized unit HHO Hard Handover

Transformation gNB-DU gNB- HLR Home Location feLAA further enhanced distributed unit, Next Register Licensed Assisted Generation NodeB 80 HN Home Network Access, further distributed unit HO Handover enhanced LAA GNSS Global Navigation HPLMN Home FN Frame Number 50 Satellite System Public Land Mobile FPGA Field- GPRS General Packet Network Programmable Gate Radio Service 85 HSDPA High

Array GSM Global System for Speed Downlink

FR Frequency Range Mobile Packet Access G-RNTI GERAN 55 Communications, HSN Hopping Radio Network Groupe Special Sequence Number

Temporary Mobile 90 HSPA High Speed Identity GTP GPRS Tunneling Packet Access GERAN Protocol HSS Home Subscriber

GSM EDGE 60 GTP-UGPRS Tunnelling Server RAN, GSM EDGE Protocol for User HSUPA High

Radio Access Plane 95 Speed Uplink Packet Network GTS Go To Sleep Access

GGSN Gateway GPRS Signal (related to HTTP Hyper Text Support Node WUS) Transfer Protocol GLONASS GUMMEI Globally HTTPS Hyper

GLObal'naya Unique MME Identifier 100 Text Transfer Protocol

NAvigatsionnaya Secure (https is http/1.1 over SSL, 35 IMC IMS Credentials ISDN Integrated i.e. port 443) IMEI International Services Digital I-Block Mobile Equipment Network

Information Block Identity 70 ISIM IM Services ICCID Integrated Circuit IMGI International Identity Module Card Identification 40 mobile group identity ISO International IAB Integrated Access IMPI IP Multimedia Organisation for and Backhaul Private Identity Standardisation ICIC Inter-Cell IMPU IP Multimedia 75 ISP Internet Service Interference PUblic identity Provider

Coordination 45 IMS IP Multimedia IWF Interworking-

ID Identity, identifier Subsystem Function IDFT Inverse Discrete IMSI International I-WLAN Fourier Transform Mobile Subscriber 80 Interworking IE Information Identity WLAN element 50 loT Internet of Things Constraint length

IBE In-Band Emission IP Internet Protocol of the convolutional

Ipsec IP Security, code, USIM Individual

IEEE Institute of Internet Protocol 85 key

Electrical and Electronics Security kB Kilobyte (1000

Engineers 55 IP-CAN IP- bytes)

IEI Information Connectivity Access kbps kilo-bits per

Element Identifier Network second

IEIDL Information IP-M IP Multicast 90 Kc Ciphering key

Element Identifier IPv4 Internet Protocol Ki Individual

Data Length 60 Version 4 subscriber

IETF Internet IPv6 Internet Protocol authentication key

Engineering Task Version 6 KPI Key Performance

Force IR Infrared 95 Indicator

IF Infrastructure IS In Sync KQI Key Quality

IM Interference 65 IRP Integration Indicator

Measurement, Reference Point KSI Key Set Identifier

Intermodulation, ksps kilo-symbols per

IP Multimedia 100 second KVM Kernel Virtual LTE Long Term MBSFN Machine 35 Evolution Multimedia

LI Layer 1 (physical LWA LTE-WLAN Broadcast multicast layer) aggregation 70 service Single Frequency

Ll-RSRP Layer 1 LWIP LTE/WLAN Network reference signal Radio Level Integration MCC Mobile Country received power 40 with IPsec Tunnel Code

L2 Layer 2 (data link LTE Long Term MCG Master Cell Group layer) Evolution 75 MCOT Maximum

L3 Layer 3 (network M2M Machine-to- Channel Occupancy layer) Machine Time

LAA Licensed Assisted 45 MAC Medium Access MCS Modulation and

Access Control (protocol coding scheme

LAN Local Area layering context) 80 MD AF Management Data

Network MAC Message Analytics Function

LBT Listen Before authentication code MD AS Management Data

Talk 50 (security/encryption Analytics Service

LCM LifeCycle context) MDT Minimization of Management MAC-A MAC used 85 Drive Tests

LCR Low Chip Rate for authentication and ME Mobile Equipment LCS Location Services key agreement (TSG T MeNB master eNB

LCID Logical 55 WG3 context) MER Message Error Channel ID MAC-IMAC used for Ratio

LI Layer Indicator data integrity of 90 MGL Measurement Gap LLC Logical Link signalling messages (TSG Length Control, Low Layer T WG3 context) MGRP Measurement Gap Compatibility 60 MANO Repetition Period

LPLMN Local Management and MIB Master

PLMN Orchestration 95 Information Block,

LPP LTE Positioning MBMS Management Protocol Multimedia Information Base

LSB Least Significant 65 Broadcast and Multicast MIMO Multiple Input Bit Service Multiple Output MLC Mobile Location 35 MSI Minimum System NC-JT Non¬

Centre Information, 70 coherent Joint

MM Mobility MCH Scheduling Transmission

Management Information NEC Network

MME Mobility MSID Mobile Station Capability Exposure

Management Entity 40 Identifier NE-DC NR-E-

MN Master Node MSIN Mobile Station 75 UTRA Dual

MnS Management Identification Connectivity

Service Number NEF Network Exposure

MO Measurement MSISDN Mobile Function

Object, Mobile 45 Subscriber ISDN NF Network Function

Originated Number 80 NFP Network

MPBCH MTC MT Mobile Forwarding Path

Physical Broadcast Terminated, Mobile NFPD Network

CHannel Termination Forwarding Path

MPDCCH MTC 50 MTC Machine-Type Descriptor

Physical Downlink Communications 85 NFV Network

Control CHannel mMTCmassive MTC, Functions

MPDSCH MTC massive Machine- Virtualization

Physical Downlink Type Communications NFVI NFV

Shared CHannel 55 MU-MIMO Multi User Infrastructure

MPRACH MTC MIMO 90 NFVO NFV Orchestrator

Physical Random MWUS MTC NG Next Generation,

Access CHannel wake-up signal, MTC Next Gen

MPUSCH MTC wus NGEN-DC NG-RAN

Physical Uplink Shared 60 NACKNegative E-UTRA-NR Dual

Channel Acknowledgement 95 Connectivity

MPLS MultiProtocol NAI Network Access NM Network Manager

Label Switching Identifier NMS Network

MS Mobile Station NAS Non-Access Management System

MSB Most Significant 65 Stratum, Non- Access N-PoP Network Point of

Bit Stratum layer 100 Presence

MSC Mobile Switching NCT Network NMIB, N-MIB

Centre Connectivity Topology Narrowband MIB NPBCH NS Network Service OSI Other System

Narrowband NSA Non-Standalone 70 Information

Physical Broadcast operation mode OSS Operations

CHannel NSD Network Service Support System

NPDCCH Descriptor OTA over-the-air

Narrowband 40 NSR Network Service PAPR Peak-to-Average

Physical Downlink Record 75 Power Ratio

Control CHannel NSSAINetwork Slice PAR Peak to Average

NPDSCH Selection Assistance Ratio

Narrowband Information PBCH Physical

Physical Downlink S-NNSAI Single- Broadcast Channel

Shared CHannel NSSAI 80 PC Power Control,

NPRACH NSSF Network Slice Personal Computer

Narrowband Selection Function PCC Primary

Physical Random NW Network Component Carrier,

Access CHannel 50 NWU S N arrowband Primary CC

NPUSCH wake-up signal, 85 PCell Primary Cell

Narrowband Narrowband WUS PCI Physical Cell ID,

Physical Uplink NZP Non-Zero Power Physical Cell

Shared CHannel O&M Operation and Identity

NPSS Narrowband 55 Maintenance PCEF Policy and

Primary ODU2 Optical channel 90 Charging

Synchronization Data Unit - type 2 Enforcement

Signal OFDM Orthogonal Function

NSSS Narrowband Frequency Division PCF Policy Control

Secondary 60 Multiplexing Function

Synchronization OFDMA 95 PCRF Policy Control

Signal Orthogonal and Charging Rules

NR New Radio, Frequency Division Function

Neighbour Relation Multiple Access PDCP Packet Data

NRF NF Repository OOB Out-of-band Convergence Protocol,

Function OOS Out of Sync 100 Packet Data

NRS Narrowband OPEX OPerating Convergence

Reference Signal EXpense Protocol layer PDCCH Physical 35 PNFR Physical Network PSSCH Physical Downlink Control Function Record Sidelink Shared Channel POC PTT over Cellular 70 Channel

PDCP Packet Data PP, PTP Point-to- PSCell Primary SCell Convergence Protocol Point PSS Primary

PDN Packet Data 40 PPP Point-to-Point Synchronization Network, Public Protocol Signal

Data Network PRACH Physical 75 PSTN Public Switched

PDSCH Physical RACH Telephone Network

Downlink Shared PRB Physical resource PT-RS Phase-tracking

Channel 45 block reference signal

PDU Protocol Data PRG Physical resource PTT Push-to-Talk Unit block group 80 PUCCH Physical PEI Permanent ProSe Proximity Uplink Control Equipment Identifiers Services, Proximity- Channel

PFD Packet Flow 50 Based Service PUSCH Physical Description PRS Positioning Uplink Shared

P-GW PDN Gateway Reference Signal 85 Channel PHICH Physical PRR Packet Reception QAM Quadrature hybrid-ARQ indicator Radio Amplitude channel 55 PS Packet Services Modulation

PHY Physical layer PSBCH Physical QCI QoS class of PLMN Public Land Sidelink Broadcast 90 identifier Mobile Network Channel QCL Quasi co-location PIN Personal PSDCH Physical QFI QoS Flow ID,

Identification Number 60 Sidelink Downlink QoS Flow Identifier PM Performance Channel QoS Quality of Service

Measurement PSCCH Physical 95 QPSK Quadrature PMI Precoding Matrix Sidelink Control (Quaternary) Phase Shift Indicator Channel Keying

PNF Physical Network 65 PSFCH Physical QZSS Quasi-Zenith Function Sidelink Feedback Satellite System

PNFD Physical Network Channel 100 RA-RNTI Random Function Descriptor Access RNTI RAB Radio Access RLC Radio Link RRM Radio Resource

Bearer, Random Control, Radio Management

Access Burst Link Control layer RS Reference Signal

RACH Random Access RLC AM RLC 70 RSRP Reference Signal

Channel Acknowledged Mode Received Power

RADIUS Remote RLC UM RLC RSRQ Reference Signal

Authentication Dial In Unacknowledged Mode Received Quality

User Service 40 RLF Radio Link RSSI Received Signal

RAN Radio Access Failure 75 Strength Indicator

Network RLM Radio Link RSU Road Side Unit

RAND RANDom number Monitoring RSTD Reference Signal

(used for RLM-RS Reference Time difference authentication) 45 Signal for RLM RTP Real Time

RAR Random Access RM Registration 80 Protocol

Response Management RTS Ready-To-Send

RAT Radio Access RMC Reference RTT Round Trip Time

Technology Measurement Channel Rx Reception,

RAU Routing Area 50 RMSI Remaining MSI, Receiving, Receiver

Update Remaining Minimum 85 S1AP SI Application

RB Resource block, System Protocol

Radio Bearer Information SI -MME SI for the

RBG Resource block RN Relay Node control plane group 55 RNC Radio Network Sl-U SI for the user

REG Resource Element Controller 90 plane

Group RNL Radio Network S-GW Serving Gateway

Rel Release Layer S-RNTI SRNC

REQ REQuest RNTI Radio Network Radio Network

RF Radio Frequency 60 Temporary Identifier Temporary

RI Rank Indicator ROHC RObust Header 95 Identity

RIV Resource indicator Compression S-TMSI SAE value RRC Radio Resource Temporary Mobile

RL Radio Link Control, Radio Station Identifier Resource Control SA Standalone layer 100 operation mode SAE System 35 SDP Session SiP System in Architecture Evolution Description Protocol 70 Package

SAP Service Access SDSF Structured Data SL Sidelink

Point Storage Function SLA Service Level

SAPD Service Access SDU Service Data Unit Agreement

Point Descriptor 40 SEAF Security Anchor SM Session

SAPI Service Access Function 75 Management

Point Identifier SeNB secondary eNB SMF Session

SCC Secondary SEPP Security Edge Management Function

Component Carrier, Protection Proxy SMS Short Message

Secondary CC 45 SFI Slot format Service

SCell Secondary Cell indication 80 SMSF SMS Function

SC-FDMA Single SFTD Space-Frequency SMTC SSB-based

Carrier Frequency Time Diversity, SFN Measurement Timing

Division Multiple and frame timing Configuration

Access 50 difference SN Secondary Node,

SCG Secondary Cell SFN System Frame 85 Sequence Number

Group Number or SoC System on Chip

SCM Security Context Single Frequency SON Self-Organizing

Management Network Network

SCS Subcarrier 55 SgNB Secondary gNB SpCell Special Cell

Spacing SGSN Serving GPRS 90 SP-CSI-RNTISemi-

SCTP Stream Control Support Node Persistent CSI RNTI

Transmission S-GW Serving Gateway SPS Semi-Persistent

Protocol SI System Scheduling

SDAP Service Data 60 Information SQN Sequence number

Adaptation Protocol, SI-RNTI System 95 SR Scheduling

Service Data Adaptation Information RNTI Request

Protocol layer SIB System SRB Signalling Radio

SDL Supplementary Information Block Bearer

Downlink 65 SIM Subscriber SRS Sounding

SDNF Structured Data Identity Module 100 Reference Signal

Storage Network SIP Session Initiated SS Synchronization

Function Protocol Signal SSB SS Block TA Timing Advance, TPC Transmit Power

SSBRI SSB Resource 35 Tracking Area Control

Indicator TAC Tracking Area 70 TP MI Transmitted

SSC Session and Code Precoding Matrix

Service Continuity TAG Timing Advance Indicator

SS-RSRP Group TR Technical Report

Synchronization 40 TAU Tracking Area TRP, TRxP Signal based Reference Update 75 Transmission Signal Received TB Transport Block Reception Point

Power TBS Transport Block TRS Tracking

SS-RSRQ Size Reference Signal

Synchronization 45 TBD To Be Defined TRx Transceiver Signal based Reference TCI Transmission 80 TS Technical Signal Received Configuration Indicator Specifications,

Quality TCP Transmission Technical

SS-SINR Communication Standard

Synchronization 50 Protocol TTI Transmission Signal based Signal to TDD Time Division 85 Time Interval Noise and Interference Duplex Tx Transmission,

Ratio TDM Time Division Transmitting, SSS Secondary Multiplexing Transmitter Synchronization 55 TDMATime Division U-RNTI UTRAN

Signal Multiple Access 90 Radio Network

SSSG Search Space Set TE Terminal Temporary Group Equipment Identity

SSSIF Search Space Set TEID Tunnel End Point UART Universal Indicator 60 Identifier Asynchronous

SST Slice/Service TFT Traffic Flow 95 Receiver and

Types Template Transmitter

SU-MIMO Single TMSI Temporary UCI Uplink Control

User MIMO Mobile Subscriber Information SUL Supplementary 65 Identity UE User Equipment Uplink TNL Transport 100 UDM Unified Data Network Layer Management UDP User Datagram USS UE-specific VoIP Voice-over-IP,

Protocol 35 search space Voice-over- Internet

UDR Unified Data UTRA UMTS Terrestrial Protocol

Repository Radio Access VPLMN Visited

UDSF Unstructured Data UTRAN Universal 70 Public Land Mobile

Storage Network Terrestrial Radio Network

Function 40 Access Network VPN Virtual Private

UICC Universal UwPTS Uplink Network

Integrated Circuit Pilot Time Slot VRB Virtual Resource

Card V2I Vehicle-to- 75 Block

UL Uplink Infrastruction WiMAX Worldwide

UM Unacknowledged 45 V2P Vehicle-to- Interoperability for

Mode Pedestrian Microwave Access

UML Unified Modelling V2V Vehicle-to- WLANWireless Local

Language Vehicle 80 Area Network

UMTS Universal Mobile V2X Vehicle-to- WMAN Wireless

Telecommunicatio 50 everything Metropolitan Area ns System VIM Virtualized Network

UP User Plane Infrastructure Manager WPANWireless Personal

UPF User Plane VL Virtual Link, 85 Area Network

Function VLAN Virtual LAN, X2-C X2-Control plane

URI Uniform Resource 55 Virtual Local Area X2-U X2-User plane

Identifier Network XML extensible

URL Uniform Resource VM Virtual Machine Markup Language

Locator VNF Virtualized 90 XRES EXpected user

URLLC UltraNetwork Function RESponse

Reliable and Low 60 VNFFG VNF XOR exclusive OR

Latency Forwarding Graph ZC Zadoff-Chu

USB Universal Serial VNFFGD VNF ZP Zero Power

Bus Forwarding Graph

USIM Universal Descriptor

Subscriber Identity 65 VNFM VNF Manager

Module Terminology

For the purposes of the present document, the following terms and definitions are applicable to the examples and embodiments discussed herein.

The term “circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes hardware components such as an electronic circuit, a logic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or group), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable device (FPD) (e.g., a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a complex PLD (CPLD), a high-capacity PLD (HCPLD), a structured ASIC, or a programmable SoC), digital signal processors (DSPs), etc., that are configured to provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuitry may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the described functionality. The term “circuitry” may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system) with the program code used to carry out the functionality of that program code. In these embodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a particular type of circuitry.

The term “processor circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes circuitry capable of sequentially and automatically carrying out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations, or recording, storing, and/or transferring digital data. Processing circuitry may include one or more processing cores to execute instructions and one or more memory structures to store program and data information. The term “processor circuitry” may refer to one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, a physical central processing unit (CPU), a single-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, a quad-core processor, and/or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computer-executable instructions, such as program code, software modules, and/or functional processes. Processing circuitry may include more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors, programmable processing devices, or the like. The one or more hardware accelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and/or deep learning (DL) accelerators. The terms “application circuitry” and/or “baseband circuitry” may be considered synonymous to, and may be referred to as, “processor circuitry.”

The term “interface circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes circuitry that enables the exchange of information between two or more components or devices. The term “interface circuitry” may refer to one or more hardware interfaces, for example, buses, I/O interfaces, peripheral component interfaces, network interface cards, and/or the like. The term “user equipment” or “UE” as used herein refers to a device with radio communication capabilities and may describe a remote user of network resources in a communications network. The term “user equipment” or “UE” may be considered synonymous to, and may be referred to as, client, mobile, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurable radio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Furthermore, the term “user equipment” or “UE” may include any type of wireless/wired device or any computing device including a wireless communications interface.

The term “network element” as used herein refers to physical or virtualized equipment and/or infrastructure used to provide wired or wireless communication network services. The term “network element” may be considered synonymous to and/or referred to as a networked computer, networking hardware, network equipment, network node, router, switch, hub, bridge, radio network controller, RAN device, RAN node, gateway, server, virtualized VNF, NFVI, and/or the like.

The term “computer system” as used herein refers to any type interconnected electronic devices, computer devices, or components thereof. Additionally, the term “computer system” and/or “system” may refer to various components of a computer that are communicatively coupled with one another. Furthermore, the term “computer system” and/or “system” may refer to multiple computer devices and/or multiple computing systems that are communicatively coupled with one another and configured to share computing and/or networking resources.

The term “appliance,” “computer appliance,” or the like, as used herein refers to a computer device or computer system with program code (e.g., software or firmware) that is specifically designed to provide a specific computing resource. A “virtual appliance” is a virtual machine image to be implemented by a hypervisor-equipped device that virtualizes or emulates a computer appliance or otherwise is dedicated to provide a specific computing resource.

The term “resource” as used herein refers to a physical or virtual device, a physical or virtual component within a computing environment, and/or a physical or virtual component within a particular device, such as computer devices, mechanical devices, memory space, processor/CPU time, processor/CPU usage, processor and accelerator loads, hardware time or usage, electrical power, input/output operations, ports or network sockets, channel/link allocation, throughput, memory usage, storage, network, database and applications, workload units, and/or the like. A “hardware resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/or network resources provided by physical hardware element(s). A “virtualized resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/or network resources provided by virtualization infrastructure to an application, device, system, etc. The term “network resource” or “communication resource” may refer to resources that are accessible by computer devices/systems via a communications network. The term “system resources” may refer to any kind of shared entities to provide services, and may include computing and/or network resources. System resources may be considered as a set of coherent functions, network data objects or services, accessible through a server where such system resources reside on a single host or multiple hosts and are clearly identifiable.

The term “channel” as used herein refers to any transmission medium, either tangible or intangible, which is used to communicate data or a data stream. The term “channel” may be synonymous with and/or equivalent to “communications channel,” “data communications channel,” “transmission channel,” “data transmission channel,” “access channel,” “data access channel,” “link,” “data link,” “carrier,” “radiofrequency carrier,” and/or any other like term denoting a pathway or medium through which data is communicated. Additionally, the term “link” as used herein refers to a connection between two devices through a RAT for the purpose of transmitting and receiving information.

The terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like as used herein refers to the creation of an instance. An “instance” also refers to a concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during execution of program code.

The terms “coupled,” “communicatively coupled,” along with derivatives thereof are used herein. The term “coupled” may mean two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with one another, may mean that two or more elements indirectly contact each other but still cooperate or interact with each other, and/or may mean that one or more other elements are coupled or connected between the elements that are said to be coupled with each other. The term “directly coupled” may mean that two or more elements are in direct contact with one another. The term “communicatively coupled” may mean that two or more elements may be in contact with one another by a means of communication including through a wire or other interconnect connection, through a wireless communication channel or link, and/or the like. The term “information element” refers to a structural element containing one or more fields. The term “field” refers to individual contents of an information element, or a data element that contains content.

The term “SMTC” refers to an S SB-based measurement timing configuration configured by SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration.

The term “SSB” refers to an SS/PBCH block.

The term “a “Primary Cell” refers to the MCG cell, operating on the primary frequency, in which the UE either performs the initial connection establishment procedure or initiates the connection re-establishment procedure.

The term “Primary SCG Cell” refers to the SCG cell in which the UE performs random access when performing the Reconfiguration with Sync procedure for DC operation.

The term “Secondary Cell” refers to a cell providing additional radio resources on top of a Special Cell for a UE configured with CA.

The term “Secondary Cell Group” refers to the subset of serving cells comprising the PSCell and zero or more secondary cells for a UE configured with DC.

The term “Serving Cell” refers to the primary cell for a UE in RRC CONNECTED not configured with CA/DC there is only one serving cell comprising of the primary cell. The term “serving cell” or “serving cells” refers to the set of cells comprising the Special Cell(s) and all secondary cells for a UE in RRC_CONNECTED configured with CA/.

The term “Special Cell” refers to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell of the SCG for DC operation; otherwise, the term “Special Cell” refers to the Pcell.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising: memory to store a source Internet protocol (IP) address associated with an IP packet from a user equipment (UE); and processing circuitry, coupled with the memory, to: retrieve the source IP address from the memory; encode a message for transmission that includes a query for a UE-specific attribute and an indication of the source IP address; and receive a response to the message that includes an indication of the UE- specific attribute.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the source IP address is an originally -as signed source IP address or a network address translation (NAT) source IP address, or the query further includes an indication of a source port number.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the message is encoded for transmission to an edge enabler server (EES).

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the UE-specific attribute includes a location of the UE.

5. The apparatus of any of claims 1-4, wherein the message further includes an indication of a data network access identifier (DNAI) associated with a session management function (SMF).

6. One or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause an edge enabler server (EES) to: receive, from an edge application server (EAS), a query for a UE-specific attribute that includes an indication of a source IP address associated with an IP packet from the UE; encode a message for transmission to a network exposure function (NEF) that includes a request for the UE-specific attribute and the indication of source IP address;

43 receive a response from the NEF that includes an indication of the UE-specific attribute; and encode a second message for transmission to the EAS that includes an indication of the UE-specific attribute.

7. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 6, wherein the source IP address is an originally-assigned source IP address or a network address translation (NAT) source IP address, or the query further includes an indication of a source port number.

8. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 6, wherein the response from the NEF further includes an indication of a mapping to a public UE identifier (ID).

9. The one or more computer-readable media of any of claims 6-8, wherein the UE- specific attribute includes a location of the UE.

10. The one or more computer-readable media of any of claims 7-9, wherein the query further includes an indication of a data network access identifier (DNAI) associated with a session management function (SMF), and message encoded for transmission to the NEF includes an indication of the DNAI.

11. One or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a network exposure function (NEF) to: receive a request for a user equipment (UE)-specific attribute that includes an indication of a source IP address associated with an IP packet from the UE; determine the UE-specific attribute based on the request; and encode a response message for transmission that includes an indication of the UE- specific attribute.

12. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 11, wherein the request is received from an edge application server (EAS).

13. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 11, wherein the source IP address is an originally-assigned source IP address or a network address translation (NAT) source IP address, or the request further includes an indication of a source port number.

44

14. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 11, wherein the request includes an indication of a data network access identifier (DNAI) associated with a session management function (SMF).

15. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 11, wherein to determine the UE- specific attribute based on the request is to determine the UE-specific attribute based on: a mapping between the source IP address and a general public subscription identifier (GPSI) stored at the NEF, or a mapping between the source IP address and a source port number and a GPSI stored at the NEF.

16. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 11, wherein to determine the UE- specific attribute based on the request is to: encode a message to a session management function (SMF) that includes a query for the UE-specific attribute and an indication of the source IP address; and receive a response message from the SMF that includes an indication of the UE- specific attribute.

17. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the response message from the SMF further includes an indication of a GPSI associated with the UE.

18. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 17, wherein the media further stores instructions to cause the NEF to generate, based on the response message from the SMF, a mapping between the source IP address and the GPSI of the UE.

19. The one or more computer-readable media of any of claims 11-18, wherein the UE- specific attribute includes a location of the UE.

45