JP2021158605A - Information processing device, terminal device, method for controlling information processing device, and method for controlling terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an information processing device, a terminal device, a method for controlling the information processing device, and a method for controlling the terminal device, capable of appropriately allocating resources to a user who plays a game.SOLUTION: An information processing device is an information processing device which provides, to a terminal device, a cloud game constituted by a plurality of game parts, and which has a control unit. When the control unit detects a change to a game part, provided to the terminal device, on the basis of input information input from the terminal device executing the cloud game, the control unit switches to a network slice corresponding to the changed game part and uses the switched network slice to provide, to the terminal device, the changed game part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

An embodiment of the present invention relates to an information processing device, a terminal device, a control method of the information processing device, and a control method of the terminal device.

In recent years, cloud gaming has become widespread, in which game processing is performed on a server on a network and the game terminal receives video / audio streamed as a processing result. In cloud games, bandwidth stabilization and lag due to network delay remain as issues, and the use of network slicing and edge computing is expected as a means for 5G communication capable of large-capacity and low-delay transmission.

U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0303203

However, even with 5G, since network resources are limited, it is difficult to permanently allocate resources for high throughput and low latency during game play to all users who are playing the game.

Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide an information processing device, a terminal device, a control method of the information processing device, and a control method of the terminal device, which can appropriately allocate resources to a user who plays a game.

In order to solve the above problems, the information processing device of one form according to the present disclosure is an information processing device that provides a cloud game composed of a plurality of game parts to a terminal device, and has a control unit. When the control unit detects a change in the game part provided to the terminal device based on the input information input from the terminal device that executes the cloud game, the control unit responds to the changed game part. The game part after the change is provided to the terminal device by switching to the network slice and using the network slice after the switch.

It is a figure which shows an example of the communication system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the configuration example of a mobile network. It is a figure which shows the configuration example of the terminal apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure which shows the configuration example of the base station apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure which shows the configuration example of the game server which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the user information. It is a figure which shows an example of the network slice information. It is a figure which shows the configuration example of the edge game server which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure which shows the configuration example of a network slice. It is a figure which shows each game part in a tennis game. It is a sequence diagram which shows the operation example at the start of the game which concerns on embodiment. It is a sequence diagram which shows the operation example at the time of changing the access authority of the network slice which concerns on embodiment. It is a sequence diagram which shows the operation example at the time of changing the game part which concerns on embodiment. It is a sequence diagram which shows the operation example at the time of changing the game part which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure explaining the switching example of a PDU session. It is a figure which shows another example of slice network information. It is a figure which shows the example of network slice switching in the same game part. It is a figure which shows the example of network slice switching in the same game part. It is a figure which shows the example of network slice switching in the same game part. It is a figure which shows the process which determines the availability of a network slice by the game subscription information.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In each of the following embodiments, the same parts are designated by the same reference numerals, so that duplicate description will be omitted. Further, in the present specification and the drawings, a plurality of components having substantially the same functional configuration may be distinguished by adding different characters after the same reference numerals.

In addition, the present disclosure will be described according to the order of items shown below.
1. 1. Introduction 2. Embodiment 2-1. Overall configuration of communication system 2-2. Mobile network configuration example 2-3. Configuration of terminal device 2-4. Configuration of base station equipment 2-5. Game server configuration 2-6. Edge game server configuration 2-7. About network slices 2-8. About the game part 2-9. Example of operation at the start of the game 2-10. Example of operation when changing the access authority of the network slice 2-11. Example of operation when changing the game part 2-12. Switching between multiple PDU sessions 2-13. When using the same NS in multiple games 2-14. NS switching within the same part 2-15. About subscription settings 3. Modification example 4. Conclusion

<1. Introduction ＞
Wireless access technologies such as LTE and NR are being studied at 3GPP. LTE and NR are a kind of cellular communication technology, and enable mobile communication of a terminal device by arranging a plurality of areas covered by a base station in a cell shape. In the following description, "LTE" includes LTE-A (LTE-Advanced), LTE-A Pro (LTE-Advanced Pro), and EUTRA (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access). Further, "NR" shall include NLAT (New Radio Access Technology) and FEUTRA (Further EUTRA).

NR is the next generation of LTE (5th generation: 5G) radio access technology (RAT). NR is a wireless access technology that can support various use cases including eMBB (Enhanced Mobile Broadband), IoT (Massive Internet of Things), and URLLC (Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications). NR is being studied with the aim of creating a technical framework that supports usage scenarios, requirements, and deployment scenarios for these use cases.

In the embodiment shown below, as one of the use cases of NR, an example in which a user plays a cloud game provided by a cloud server will be described. In the following, the cloud game will be simply referred to as a "game".

<2. Embodiment>
<2-1. Overall configuration of communication system>
The communication system according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the communication system S according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system S includes a terminal device 100, a base station device 200, a core network 300, a game server 400, and an edge game server 500.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the base station 200 and the core network 300 are arranged in the mobile network 600. The game server 400 is located on the Internet 700. Further, the edge game server 500 is arranged on the local net 800.

Further, the mobile network 600 is connected to the game server 400 via the Internet 700 and is connected to the edge game server 500 via the local net 800.

The communication system S may be wireless communication using a terrestrial network or wireless communication using a non-terrestrial network. The terrestrial network and non-terrestrial network are not limited to the wireless access method specified by NR, and other than NR such as LTE, W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), cdma2000 (Code Division Multiple Access 2000), etc. It may be a wireless network of the wireless access method of.

Further, in the following description, the concept of a base station device (hereinafter, also referred to as a base station) provides a relay device (hereinafter, also referred to as a relay node) and a wireless interface to the relay station. May include donor base stations. Further, the concept of a base station includes not only a structure having a function of a base station but also a device installed in the structure. The structure is, for example, a building such as a high-rise building, a house, a steel tower, a station facility, an airport facility, a port facility, or a stadium. The concept of structure includes not only buildings but also non-building structures such as tunnels, bridges, dams, walls, and iron pillars, and equipment such as cranes, gates, and windmills. The concept of structures includes not only structures on the ground (land) or underground, but also structures on the water such as piers and mega floats, and underwater structures such as ocean observation facilities. Further, the base station may be composed of a set of a plurality of physical or logical devices. For example, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, a base station is classified into a plurality of devices of BBU (Baseband Unit) and RU (Radio Unit), and may be interpreted as an aggregate of these plurality of devices. Further or instead, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the base station may be either or both of BBU and RU. The BBU and RU may be connected by a predetermined interface (e.g., eCPRI). Further or instead, the RU may be referred to as a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) or Radio DoT (RD). Further or instead, the RU may support gNB-DU, which will be described later. Further or instead, the BBU may be compatible with gNB-CU, which will be described later. Further or instead, the RU may be a device integrally formed with the antenna. The antenna of the base station (antenna formed integrally with e.g., RU) may adopt the Advanced Antenna System and support MIMO (e.g. FD-MIMO) and beamforming. In the Advanced Antenna System, the antenna (an antenna integrally formed with e.g., RU) of the base station may include, for example, 64 transmitting antenna ports and 64 receiving antenna ports.

Further, the base station may be a base station configured to be movable. For example, the base station may be a device installed on the mobile body or the mobile body itself. The moving body may be a mobile terminal such as a smartphone, a moving body moving on the ground (land) (for example, a vehicle such as a car, a bus, a truck, a train, a linear motor car), or underground (for example, a vehicle such as a linear motor car). It may be a moving body (for example, a subway) that moves (in a tunnel). Further, the moving body may be a moving body moving on the water (for example, a ship such as a passenger ship, a cargo ship, a hovercraft, etc.), or a moving body moving underwater (for example, a submersible, a submarine, an unmanned submarine, etc.). Submersible). Further, the moving body may be a moving body moving in the atmosphere (for example, an aircraft such as an airplane, an airship, or a drone), or a space moving body moving outside the atmosphere (for example, an artificial satellite, a spaceship, or space). It may be an artificial celestial body such as a station or a spacecraft).

A plurality of base stations may be connected to each other. One or more base stations may be included in a radio access network (RAN). That is, the base station may be simply referred to as a RAN, a RAN node, an AN (Access Network), or an AN node. RAN in LTE is called EUTRAN (Enhanced Universal Terrestrial RAN). RAN in NR is called NGRAN. RAN in W-CDMA (UMTS) is called UTRAN. LTE base stations are referred to as eNodeB (Evolved Node B) or eNB. That is, EUTRAN includes one or more eNodeBs (eNBs). The NR base station is also referred to as gNodeB or gNB. That is, NGRAN contains one or more gNBs. In addition, EUTRAN may include gNB (en-gNB) connected to the core network (EPC) in the LTE communication system (EPS). Similarly, NGRAN may include an ng-eNB connected to the core network 5GC in a 5G communication system (5GS). Further or instead, when the base station is eNB, gNB, etc., it may be referred to as 3GPP Access. Further or instead, when the base station is a wireless access point (Access Point), it may be referred to as Non-3GPP Access. Further or instead, the base station may be an optical overhanging device called RRH (Remote Radio Head). Further or instead, when the base station is gNB, the base station may be referred to as a combination of the above-mentioned gNB CU (Central Unit) and gNB DU (Distributed Unit), or any one of them. The gNB CU (Central Unit) hosts multiple upper layers (e.g. RRC, SDAP, PDCP) of the Access Stratum for communication with the UE. On the other hand, gNB-DU hosts multiple lower layers (e.g. RLC, MAC, PHY) of Access Stratum. That is, of the messages and information generated by the base station equipment, RRC signalling (quasi-static notification) may be generated by gNB CU, while DCI (dynamic notification) may be generated by gNB-DU. .. Alternatively, some of the RRC configurations (quasi-static notifications), such as IE: cellGroupConfig, may be generated by gNB-DU, and the remaining configurations may be generated by gNB-CU. These configurations may be transmitted and received by the F1 interface described later. The base station may be configured to be able to communicate with other base stations. For example, when a plurality of base station devices are eNBs or a combination of eNBs and en-gNBs, the base stations may be connected by an X2 interface. Further or instead, when a plurality of base stations are gNBs or a combination of gn-eNB and gNB, the devices may be connected by an Xn interface. Further or instead, when a plurality of base stations are a combination of a gNB CU (Central Unit) and a gNB DU (Distributed Unit), the devices may be connected by the F1 interface described above. The message information (RRC signalling or DCI information) generated by the base station apparatus may be communicated between a plurality of base stations (for example, via the X2, Xn, and F1 interfaces).

The terminal device 100 is a terminal device handled by the user, and is, for example, a wearable device such as VR (Virtual Reality> glass, etc., a mobile phone, a smart device (smartphone or tablet), a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a personal computer. Further, it is preferable that the terminal device 100 has a device configuration suitable for playing a game. For example, the terminal device 100 includes a VR head mount display and a controller, an AR (Augmented Reality) glass and a controller, and the like. Depending on the device configuration of the combination, the game is input by the operation by the controller, the touch operation, and the gesture operation. Further, the terminal device 100 may be an M2M (Machine to Machine) device or an IoT (Internet of Things) device. (For example, it may be called MTC UE, NB-IoT UE, Cat.M UE, NR-light UE). Further, the terminal device 100 may be a wireless communication device installed in a mobile body. , It may be the moving body itself.

Further, in LTE and NR, the terminal device 100 may be referred to as UE (User Equipment). Instead, the terminal device 100 may be referred to as an MS (Mobile Station) or a WTRU (Wireless Transmission Reception Unit). The terminal device 100 is also referred to as a mobile station, a mobile station device, or a terminal. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the concept of a wireless communication device includes not only a portable terminal device such as a mobile terminal but also a device installed in a structure or a mobile body, for example.

The core network 300 is, for example, an EPC (Evolved Packet Core) or a 5GC (5G Core network). The core network 300 includes a gateway device, a barrier exchange, and the like, and is connected to a public network via the gateway device. The public network is, for example, a public data network such as the Internet, a regional IP network, a telephone network (mobile phone network, fixed telephone network, etc.). The gateway device is, for example, a server device connected to the Internet, a regional IP network, or the like. The barrier exchange is, for example, an exchange connected to the telephone network of a telephone company.

The core network 300 may include a management device for managing the network. For example, the management device is a device that functions as an MME (Mobility Management Entity) in LTE and an AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) in NR. MME is connected to EUTRAN by S1 interface, and controls NAS (Non-Access Stratum) signaling between UE and manages UE mobility. AMF is connected to NGRAN by NG interface, and controls NAS (Non-Access Stratum) signaling between UE and manages UE mobility.

In addition, the management device is connected to the base station device. The management device manages the communication of the base station device. The core network 300 transfers user data and game-related data between a packet data network (PDN) or data network (DN) and RAN, in addition to a control plane (C-Plane) node such as a management device. It may include a user plane (U-Plane) node. The U-Plane node in the EPC may include a Serving Gateway (S-GW) or a PDN-Gateway (P-GW). The U-Plane node in 5GC may include a U-Plane Function (UPF). For example, the management device manages the position of the terminal device 100 (UE) in the communication system S for each terminal device 100 in an area unit (eg Tracking Area, RAN Notification Area) composed of a plurality of cells. do. The management device determines, for each terminal device 100, which base station (or which cell) the terminal device 100 is connected to, which base station (or which cell) the terminal device 100 is in the communication area, and the like. It may be grasped and managed in units.

The game server 400 is a kind of information processing device, and is a server device that performs processing related to a game and streams the processing result to a terminal device 100 via a mobile network 600. The game server 400 is, for example, a device in a form called a cloud server, and is arranged on the Internet 700. Further, the game server 400 is connected to the core network 300 via the DN, which is a logical network function.

The edge game server 500 is a kind of information processing device, is a server device arranged in an area close to the terminal device 100, and is a server that performs so-called edge computing. The edge game server 500 performs processing related to the game according to the instruction of the game server 400, and streams the processing result to the terminal device 100 via the mobile network 600. The edge game server 500 is, for example, a device in a form called a cloud server, and is arranged on the local net 800. Further, the edge game server 500 is connected to the core network 300 via LADN, which is a logical network function.

<2-2. Mobile network configuration example>
Next, a configuration example of the mobile network 600 will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the mobile network 600. As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile network 600 includes a RAN and a core network 300. The mobile network 600 connects to the UE via the RAN. The RAN corresponds to the base station device 200, and the UE corresponds to the terminal device 100.

The core network 300 is a core network of a 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), and is also called 5GC (5G Core) / NGC (Next Generation Core). The core network 300 is configured to include a user plane function and a control plane function.

User plane functions include UPF. The UPF has a function of performing packet transfer of user data (user information and data related to a game). The user plane function may include DN and LADN.

The control plane functions are AMF (Access Management Function), SMF (Session Management Function), AUSF (Authentication Server Function), NSSF (Network Slice Selection Function), NEF (Network Exposure Function), NRF (Network Repository Function), PCF ( Includes Policy Control Function), UDM (Unified Data Management), and AF (Application Function).

The AMF has a function related to authentication / security of a subscriber and a function of managing the position of the terminal device 100. The SMF has a session management function. AUSF has a subscriber authentication function. NSSF has a function of selecting SMF for each network slice. The NEF has a function of mediating between AF, which is an external application server, and the core network 300. The NRF has a function of registering and discovering services provided by each network function. The PCF has a policy control function. UDM has a function of holding subscriber-related information. AF is an external application server and has a function of interacting with the core network 300 to provide services.

In the mobile network 600 shown in FIG. 2, the terminal device 100 accesses the RAN as a UE. Further, the game server 400 and the edge game server 500 behave as AF and communicate with the NEF for changing the authority of the network slice and communicating with the edge game server 500.

Next, the configuration of each device of the communication system S will be described.

<2-3. Terminal device configuration>
First, the configuration of the terminal device 100 will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the terminal device 100 according to the embodiment. The terminal device 100 includes a wireless communication unit 110, a control unit 120, a storage unit 130, a network communication unit 140, and an input / output unit 150. The configuration shown in FIG. 3 is a functional configuration, and the hardware configuration may be different from this. Further, the functions of the terminal device 100 may be distributed and implemented in a plurality of physically separated configurations.

The wireless communication unit 110 is a wireless communication interface that wirelessly communicates with another wireless communication device (for example, a base station device 200). The wireless communication unit 110 corresponds to one or a plurality of wireless access methods. For example, the wireless communication unit 110 supports both NR and LTE. The wireless communication unit 110 may support W-CDMA and cdma2000 in addition to NR and LTE. The wireless communication unit 110 includes a reception processing unit 111, a transmission processing unit 112, and an antenna 113. The wireless communication unit 110 may include a plurality of reception processing units 111, transmission processing units 112, and antennas 113, respectively. When the wireless communication unit 110 supports a plurality of wireless access methods, each unit of the wireless communication unit 110 may be individually configured for each wireless access method. For example, the reception processing unit 111 and the transmission processing unit 112 may be individually configured by LTE and NR.

The reception processing unit 111 processes the downlink signal received via the antenna 113. The reception processing unit 111 includes a wireless reception unit 111a, a multiple separation unit 111b, a demodulation unit 111c, and a decoding unit 111d.

The radio receiver 111a performs down-conversion, removal of unnecessary frequency components, control of amplification level, orthogonal demodulation, conversion to digital signal, removal of guard interval, and fast Fourier transform of the frequency domain signal for the downlink signal. Extract, etc. The multiplex separation unit 111b separates the downlink channel, the downlink synchronization signal, and the downlink reference signal from the signal output from the radio reception unit 111a. The downlink channel is, for example, a channel such as PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel), PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel), PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), or the like. The demodulation unit 111c demodulates the received signal with respect to the modulation symbol of the downlink channel by using a modulation method such as BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, 256QAM. The decoding unit 111d performs decoding processing on the coded bits of the demodulated downlink channel. The decoded downlink data and downlink control information are output to the control unit 120.

The transmission processing unit 112 performs transmission processing of uplink control information and uplink data. The transmission processing unit 112 includes a coding unit 112a, a modulation unit 112b, a multiplexing unit 112c, and a wireless transmission unit 112d.

The coding unit 112a encodes the uplink control information and the uplink data input from the control unit 120 by using a coding method such as block coding, convolutional coding, or turbo coding. The modulation unit 112b modulates the coding bits output from the coding unit 112a by a predetermined modulation method such as BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, 256QAM or the like. The multiplexing unit 112c multiplexes the modulation symbol of each channel and the uplink reference signal and arranges them in a predetermined resource element. The wireless transmission unit 112d performs various signal processing on the signal from the multiplexing unit 112c. For example, the radio transmitter 112d converts to the time domain by inverse fast Fourier transform, adds a guard interval, generates a baseband digital signal, converts to an analog signal, orthogonal modulation, up-converts, and an extra one frequency component. Performs processing such as removal and power amplification. The signal generated by the transmission processing unit 112 is transmitted from the antenna 113.

The storage unit 130 is a storage device that can read and write data such as DRAM, SRAM, flash memory, and a hard disk. The storage unit 130 functions as a storage means for the terminal device 100.

The network communication unit 140 is a communication interface for communicating with other devices. For example, the network communication unit 140 is a LAN interface such as a NIC. The network communication unit 140 may be a wired interface or a wireless interface. The network communication unit 140 functions as a network communication means of the terminal device 100. The network communication unit 140 communicates with other devices according to the control of the control unit 120.

The input / output unit 150 is a user interface for exchanging information with the user. For example, the input / output unit 150 is an operation device for a user to perform various operations such as a keyboard, a mouse, operation keys, a touch panel, and a controller. Alternatively, the input / output unit 150 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display (Liquid Crystal Display) or an organic EL display (Organic Electroluminescence Display). The input / output unit 150 may be an audio device such as a speaker or a buzzer. Further, the input / output unit 150 may be a lighting device such as an LED (Light Emitting Diode) lamp. The input / output unit 150 functions as an input / output means (input means, output means, operation means, or notification means) of the terminal device 100.

The control unit 120 is a controller that controls each unit of the terminal device 100. The control unit 120 is realized by, for example, a processor such as a CPU or MPU. For example, the control unit 120 is realized by the processor executing various programs stored in the storage device inside the terminal device 100 using RAM or the like as a work area. The control unit 120 may be realized by an integrated circuit such as an ASIC or FPGA. CPUs, MPUs, ASICs, and FPGAs can all be considered controllers.

As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 120 includes at least a game input processing unit 121, a streaming processing unit 122, a media processing unit 123, a media reproduction unit 124, and a wireless communication management unit 125. Each block (game input processing unit 121 to wireless communication management unit 125) constituting the control unit 120 is a functional block indicating the function of the control unit 120, respectively. These functional blocks may be software blocks or hardware blocks. For example, each of the above-mentioned functional blocks may be one software module realized by software (including a microprocessor) or one circuit block on a semiconductor chip (die). Of course, each functional block may be one processor or one integrated circuit. The method of configuring the functional block is arbitrary. The control unit 120 may be configured in a functional unit different from the above-mentioned functional block.

The game input processing unit 121 accepts game input by a user who is a game player. Then, the game input processing unit 121 transmits the input information indicating the game input to the game server 400 and the edge game server 500 via the mobile network 600. The input information is information for input to the game (character selection, character movement operation, etc.) required in each game part described later, and is information input via the input / output unit 150.

The streaming processing unit 122 extracts video and audio data from the streaming data received from the game server 400 and the edge game server 500. The media processing unit 123 converts the video and audio extracted by the streaming processing unit 122 into a data format that can be output (displayed and audio output) via the input / output unit 150. The media reproduction unit 124 outputs the video and audio in the data format converted by the media processing unit 123 via the input / output unit 150.

The wireless communication management unit 125 manages a PDU (Protocol Data Unit) session between the game server 400 or the edge game server 500 and the terminal device 100. Specifically, the wireless communication management unit 125 receives the notification of the available network slice from the mobile network 600, and establishes the PDU session by the network slice.

A detailed operation example by the control unit 120 of the terminal device 100 will be described later.

<2-4. Base station equipment configuration>
Next, the configuration of the base station apparatus 200 will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the base station apparatus 200 according to the embodiment. The base station device 200 includes a wireless communication unit 210, a control unit 220, and a storage unit 230. The configuration shown in FIG. 4 is a functional configuration, and the hardware configuration may be different from this. Further, the functions of the base station apparatus 200 may be distributed and implemented in a plurality of physically separated configurations.

The wireless communication unit 210 is a wireless communication interface that wirelessly communicates with another wireless communication device (for example, another base station device 200 such as a terminal device 100 or a relay station). The wireless communication unit 210 corresponds to one or a plurality of wireless access methods. For example, the wireless communication unit 210 supports both NR and LTE. The wireless communication unit 210 may support W-CDMA or cdma2000 in addition to NR and LTE. The wireless communication unit 210 includes a reception processing unit 211, a transmission processing unit 212, and an antenna 213. The wireless communication unit 210 may include a plurality of reception processing units 211, transmission processing units 212, and antennas 213, respectively. When the wireless communication unit 210 supports a plurality of wireless access methods, each unit of the wireless communication unit 210 may be individually configured for each wireless access method. For example, the reception processing unit 211 and the transmission processing unit 212 may be individually configured by LTE and NR.

The reception processing unit 211 processes the uplink signal received via the antenna 213. The reception processing unit 211 includes a wireless reception unit 211a, a multiple separation unit 211b, a demodulation unit 211c, and a decoding unit 211d.

The radio receiver 211a performs down-conversion, removal of unnecessary frequency components, control of amplification level, orthogonal demodulation, conversion to digital signal, removal of guard interval, and fast Fourier transform of the frequency domain signal for the uplink signal. Extract, etc. The multiplex separation unit 211b separates uplink channels such as PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel) and PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel) and uplink reference signals from the signal output from the radio reception unit 211a. The demodulation unit 211c demodulates the received signal with respect to the modulation symbol of the uplink channel by using a modulation method such as BPSK (Binary Phase Shift Keying) or QPSK (Quadrature Phase shift Keying). The modulation method used by the demodulation unit 211c may be 16QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation), 64QAM, 256QAM, or the like. The decoding unit 211d performs decoding processing on the coded bits of the demodulated uplink channel. The decoded uplink data and uplink control information are output to the control unit 220.

The transmission processing unit 212 performs transmission processing of downlink control information and downlink data. The transmission processing unit 212 includes a coding unit 212a, a modulation unit 212b, a multiplexing unit 212c, and a wireless transmission unit 212d.

The coding unit 212a encodes the downlink control information and the downlink data input from the control unit 220 by using a coding method such as block coding, convolutional coding, or turbo coding. The modulation unit 212b modulates the coding bits output from the coding unit 212a by a predetermined modulation method such as BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, 256QAM or the like. The multiplexing unit 212c multiplexes the modulation symbol of each channel and the downlink reference signal and arranges them in a predetermined resource element. The wireless transmission unit 212d performs various signal processing on the signal from the multiplexing unit 212c. For example, the radio transmitter 212d converts to the time domain by fast Fourier transform, adds a guard interval, generates a baseband digital signal, converts to an analog signal, orthogonal modulation, up-conversion, removes an extra frequency component, and so on. Performs processing such as power amplification. The signal generated by the transmission processing unit 212 is transmitted from the antenna 213.

The storage unit 230 is a storage device that can read and write data such as DRAM, SRAM, flash memory, and a hard disk. The storage unit 230 functions as a storage means for the base station device 200.

The control unit 220 is a controller that controls each unit of the base station apparatus 200. The control unit 220 is realized by, for example, a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or an MPU (Micro Processing Unit). For example, the control unit 220 is realized by the processor executing various programs stored in the storage device inside the base station device 200 using RAM (Random Access Memory) or the like as a work area. The control unit 220 may be realized by an integrated circuit such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). CPUs, MPUs, ASICs, and FPGAs can all be considered controllers.

<2-5. Game server configuration>
Next, the configuration of the game server 400 will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the game server 400 according to the first embodiment. The game server 400 includes a communication unit 410, a control unit 420, and a storage unit 430. The configuration shown in FIG. 5 is a functional configuration, and the hardware configuration may be different from this. Further, the functions of the game server 400 may be distributed and implemented in a plurality of physically separated configurations.

The communication unit 410 is a communication interface for communicating with other devices. The communication unit 410 may be a network interface or a device connection interface. The communication unit 410 has a function of directly or indirectly connecting to a network function such as a DN of the core network 300.

For example, the communication unit 410 may include a LAN (Local Area Network) interface such as a NIC (Network Interface Card), or may include a USB interface composed of a USB (Universal Serial Bus) host controller, a USB port, and the like. You may. Further, the communication unit 410 may be a wired interface or a wireless interface.

The communication unit 410 functions as a communication means for the game server 400. The communication unit 410 communicates with the network function of the core network 300 according to the control of the control unit 420.

The storage unit 430 is a storage device capable of reading and writing data such as DRAM, SRAM, flash memory, and a hard disk. The storage unit 430 functions as a storage means for the game server 400. User information 431, network slice information 432, and the like are stored in the storage unit 430.

The user information 431 stored in the storage unit 430 is information about a user who possesses the terminal device 100. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of user information 431. As shown in FIG. 6, the user information 431 includes items such as "user ID", "game subscription", "remaining credit", and "credit card information".

The "user ID" is identification information that identifies a user. A "game subscription" is billing information about a game. Unenabled indicates a state in which billing for the game is not permitted, and enabled indicates a state in which billing for the game is permitted. "Remaining credit" is a fictitious currency unit in the game, and increases or decreases according to the amount of billing. "Credit card information" is information about a credit card registered by a user.

Details will be described later in FIG. 20, for example, a user whose "game subscription" is "enabled" has access to a high quality (ultra-fast, low latency) network slice. That is, the game server 400 can request a user whose "game subscription" is "enabled" to switch to a high-quality network slice. Then, when the user permits switching to a high-quality network slice, a process of reducing the "remaining credit" by a predetermined number is performed.

The user information 431 shown in FIG. 6 is an example, and for example, the "remaining credit" may be represented by a period during which a high-quality network can be used.

Next, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of network slice information 432. The network slice information 432 is information on network slices that can be connected, and is created for each user.

As shown in FIG. 7, the network slice information 432 includes items of "network slice ID", "slice performance", "communication destination", "available part", and "access authority".

The "network slice ID" is identification information for identifying a network slice, and is identified by S-NSSAI (Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information) including SST (Slice / Service type) and SD (Slice Differentiator).

SST is a characteristic expected of network slicing from the viewpoint of features and services (for example, eMBB (Enhanced Mobile Broadband), URLLC (Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications), MIOT (Massive Internet of Things), V2X (Vehicle to). Everything))). SD is supplementary information for finely classifying a plurality of network slices in the same SST.

“Slice performance” is information indicating the performance of network slice communication, and includes delay, throughput, and maximum number of connections.

The delay is information indicating the packet delay. “Throughput” is information indicating the amount of uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) data transfer assumed when a network slice is used. The maximum number of connections is information indicating the number of terminal devices 100 that can be connected to the network slice at the same time.

The "communication destination" is information indicating a communication destination for the terminal device 100 when the network slice is used. The "available part" is information indicating a game part in which a network slice can be used. In FIG. 7, each part of the tennis game (see FIG. 10) is assigned to each network slice.

The "access authority" is information indicating the access authority to the network slice. That is, FIG. 7 shows that, of the four connectable network slices, the network slice identified by SD “301” cannot be used (unusable) because it does not have access authority. As a method of obtaining access authority, for example, there is a method of activating the above-mentioned "game subscription".

The control unit 420 is a controller that controls each unit of the game server 400. The control unit 420 is realized by, for example, a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or an MPU (Micro Processing Unit). For example, the control unit 420 is realized by the processor executing various programs stored in the storage device inside the game server 400 using RAM (Random Access Memory) or the like as a work area. The control unit 420 may be realized by an integrated circuit such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). CPUs, MPUs, ASICs, and FPGAs can all be considered controllers.

As shown in FIG. 5, the control unit 420 includes a game processing unit 421, a media creation unit 422, a streaming processing unit 423, a network slice management unit 424, a user information management unit 425, an edge game server management unit 426, and a game part management unit. 427 is provided. Each block (game processing unit 421, media creation unit 422, streaming processing unit 423, network slice management unit 424, user information management unit 425, edge game server management unit 426, and game part management unit 427) constituting the control unit 420 Each is a functional block indicating the function of the control unit 420. These functional blocks may be software blocks or hardware blocks. For example, each of the above-mentioned functional blocks may be one software module realized by software (including a microprocessor) or one circuit block on a semiconductor chip (die). Of course, each functional block may be one processor or one integrated circuit. The method of configuring the functional block is arbitrary. The control unit 420 may be configured in a functional unit different from the above-mentioned functional block.

The game processing unit 421 processes data related to the game based on the current state of the game executed by the terminal device 100 (whether or not it is started, the current game part, etc.) and the input information received from the terminal device 100. .. Then, the game processing unit 421 requests the media creation unit 422 to create the video and audio that are the processing results of the data processing.

The media creation unit 422 creates the video and audio of the game in accordance with the request of the game processing unit 421. The streaming processing unit 423 transmits the video and audio created by the media creation unit 422 as streaming data to the terminal device 100 via the mobile network 600.

The network slice management unit 424 manages the network slice information 432, which is the network slice information in the mobile network 600. For example, the network slice management unit 424 requests the mobile network 600 to change the access authority. In addition, the network slice management unit 424 notifies the terminal device 100 of information on network slices that can be connected (or can be used). Further, when the network slice management unit 424 receives the notification regarding the change of the game part from the game part management unit 427, the network slice management unit 424 notifies the information of the network slice to be connected (switched destination).

The user information management unit 425 manages the user information 431. For example, the user information management unit 425 updates the user information 431 based on the information received from the terminal device 100. The edge game server management unit 426 manages the information of the edge game server 500. The information of the edge game server 500 manages, for example, information on which network slice each edge game server 500 can connect to.

The game part management unit 427 manages all the game parts in the game program executed by the game server 400. When the game part management unit 427 detects a change in the game part, the game part management unit 427 notifies the network slice management unit 424.

<2-6. Edge game server configuration>
Next, the configuration of the edge game server 500 will be described. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an edge game server according to the embodiment. The edge game server includes a communication unit 510, a control unit 520, and a storage unit 530. The configuration shown in FIG. 8 is a functional configuration, and the hardware configuration may be different from this. Further, the functions of the edge game server may be distributed and implemented in a plurality of physically separated configurations.

The communication unit 510 is a communication interface for communicating with another device (for example, a terminal device 100 or a game server 400). The communication unit 510 may be a network interface or a device connection interface.

For example, the communication unit 510 may include a LAN (Local Area Network) interface such as a NIC (Network Interface Card), or may include a USB interface composed of a USB (Universal Serial Bus) host controller, a USB port, and the like. You may. Further, the communication unit 510 may be a wired interface or a wireless interface.

The communication unit 510 functions as a communication means of the edge game server. The communication unit 510 communicates with the game server 400 under the control of the control unit 520.

The storage unit 530 is a storage device that can read and write data such as DRAM, SRAM, flash memory, and hard disk. The storage unit 530 functions as a storage means for the edge game server.

The control unit 520 is a controller that controls each unit of the edge game server 500. The control unit 520 is realized by a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), for example. For example, the control unit 520 is realized by the processor executing various programs stored in the storage device inside the edge game server by using RAM (Random Access Memory) or the like as a work area. The control unit 520 may be realized by an integrated circuit such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). CPUs, MPUs, ASICs, and FPGAs can all be considered controllers.

The control unit 520 of the edge game server 500 establishes a PDU session with the terminal device 100 and executes a process related to the game according to the instruction of the game server 400.

The control unit 520 of the edge game server 500 may have the same functional configuration as the control unit 420 of the game server 400. That is, the control unit 520 is composed of a game processing unit 421, a media creation unit 422, a streaming processing unit 423, a network slice management unit 424, a user information management unit 425, an edge game server management unit 426, and a game part management unit 427. May be good.

<2-7. About network slices>
Next, a configuration example of the network slice will be described. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a network slice. FIG. 9 shows two network slices NS1 and NS2.

Each network slice is assigned a network slice ID (S-NSSAI) according to the purpose. And, as mentioned above, S-NSSAI is composed of SST and SD. SST represents a function or service, and SD is an identifier for identifying a network slice of the same SST. As for SST, eMBB, MIoT, URLLC, and V2X are defined in 3GPP, but they are planned to be expanded in the future, and the expanded SST may be allocated.

In the example shown in FIG. 9, the first network slice NS1 is a network slice whose SST is "eMMB" and SD is "1". The second network slice NS2 is a network slice whose SST is identified by "URLLC" and SD is identified by "2".

The first network slice NS1 includes a RAN, a first SMF1, and a first UPF1. The second network slice NS2 also includes a RAN, a second SMF2, and a second UPF2. That is, different SMFs and UPFs are selected for each network slice, and the RANs are common. The RAN may also be different for each network slice.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the first network slice NS1 is connected to the DN via the first UPF1, and the second network slice NS2 is connected to the LADN via the second UPF2.

The first and second network slices NS1 and NS2 may both be connected to the first DN, or may be connected to the first DN and the second DN, respectively. Further, the first and second network slices NS1 and NS2 may both be connected to the first LADN, or may be connected to the first LADN and the second LADN, respectively.

<2-8. About the game part ＞
Next, the game part will be described. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing each game part in a tennis game as an example. The game part represents a set of codes having different purposes in a game program executed by the game server 400. In other words, the game part is a unit in which the operations requested to the user are divided into different scenes. In other words, from the user's point of view, the game part can be said to be a unit divided into scenes with different communication requests. The game part can also be rephrased as a process, a session, or a scene. In the following, the game part may be referred to as a part.

In the example shown in FIG. 9, three game parts of a tennis game, a "match part", a "character selection part", and a "match tour part" are illustrated. It should be noted that the concept of a game includes interactive content having bidirectional inputs and outputs.

The "match part" is a game part in which the user plays a tennis match, and is, for example, a part in which the user catches up with the incoming ball and hits it back. The "character selection part" is a game part for selecting a character operated by a user in a match. The "game tour part" is a game part for observing a game of another user or a computer. In addition to the game part described above, for example, there may be a part for setting the game or a part for displaying the result of the game.

For example, in the "match part", low delay is required, for example, if the delay is not low to some extent, there will be a difference between the opponent and the opponent in terms of the movement of the opponent and the movement of the ball hit by himself. There is a risk of a disadvantageous situation (unfair situation).

On the other hand, since the "character selection part" is a simple part that only selects a character, low network latency is not required. Also, regarding the "match tour part", the user does not actually play the match, so even if the movement is not smooth due to the delay, the user will not be in a disadvantageous situation (unfair situation), so the delay is low. Gender is not required.

There are the following combinations of games other than tennis games and parts that require low latency.

Fighting (match) part in fighting games, action part in shooting games (including FPS (fast person shooting)), rhythm game (user input according to rhythm) part in rhythm games, sports games (basket, valley, There are combinations of game parts, etc. in table tennis, baseball, soccer, etc.).

As described above, depending on the game part, there are cases where the network delay time becomes a big problem and cases where the delay is allowed. The problem is that there is a lag due to network delay between the game input by the user to the terminal device 100 and the video displayed in response to the input. In such a case, there is a risk that oneself will be disadvantaged with respect to the purpose of the game part, or the progress of the game will be affected.

On the other hand, since the low-latency network slice is finite, it is difficult to allocate the low-latency network slice to all users who play the game in order to solve the above problem.

Therefore, the game server 400 according to the embodiment allocates a network slice having a slice performance according to a communication request for each game part, and switches the network slice each time the game part is switched.

For example, in the case of a tennis game as an example, the "match part" is communicated using a low-latency network slice, for example, a network slice whose SST is identified by "URLLC". On the other hand, the "character selection part" and the "match tour part" communicate using, for example, a network slice whose SST is identified by "MIoT".

In this way, a low-latency network slice is allocated to a game part that requires low latency, and another network slice that is not low-latency is allocated to a game part that does not require low latency.

This avoids the exhaustion of low-latency network slices, while assigning low-latency network slices to users who are playing game parts that require low latency is disadvantageous to users. You can avoid the situation. That is, according to the game server 400 according to the embodiment, resources can be appropriately allocated to the user who plays the game by switching the network slice according to the game part.

An operation example of the communication system S will be described below.

<2-9. Example of operation at the start of the game>
First, an operation example at the start of the game will be described. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing an operation example at the start of the game according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 11, the terminal device 100 establishes a PDU session with a predetermined network slice, connects to the mobile network 600, and is in a state of being able to communicate with the game server 400 on the Internet (step S101). .. The connection to the mobile network 600 is a general 3GPP UE connection. Further, the PDU session established by the connection in step S101 is set as the default PDU session (network slice).

Subsequently, the terminal device 100 presents the terminal information and the authentication information and requests the game server 400 to start the game (step S102). The authentication information includes information about the user information 431. Further, the terminal information includes information for identifying the terminal device 100 and the like. Subsequently, the game server 400 collates the authentication information with the user information 431 and confirms the game subscription information (billing status) (step S103).

Subsequently, the game server 400 presents the terminal information to the NEF, requests the information of the DN to which the terminal device 100 can be connected (step S104), and acquires the information of the DN to which the terminal device 100 can be connected from the NEF. (Step S105). It is not necessary to present the authentication information to the mobile network 600.

Subsequently, the game server 400 confirms the information of the network slice that can be connected to the terminal device 100 based on the acquired DN information and the game subscription of the user information 431 (step S106).

Subsequently, the game server 400 allocates a network slice (NS) available to the user for each game part (step S107). For example, the game server 400 allocates an appropriate network slice for each game part based on the user information 431, the communication request of the game part (presence or absence of low latency, presence or absence of high throughput, etc.) and the slice performance of the network slice. .. That is, the game server 400 allocates a network slice having a slice performance that satisfies the communication request of the game part.

Then, the game server 400 notifies the terminal device 100 of the information on the network slices that can be connected and the information on the availability of each network slice (step S108). If there is no connectable network slice in step S108, the terminal device 100 is notified that there is no connectable network slice.

Further, if there is a network slice that can be used by the terminal device 100, the game server 400 requests the NEF to grant access authority to the network slice as mobile subscription information (step S109).

Subsequently, the NEF changes (grants) the access right to the network slice, and notifies the UDM of the change of the access right as a change of the mobile subscription information (step S110). The UDM updates (changes) the held mobile subscription information and notifies the AMF of the change (step S111).

Then, the AMF notifies the terminal device 100 of the information of the network slice that has become available based on the change notification of the mobile subscription information (step S112). Further, the UDM notifies the NEF that the change of the mobile subscription information held is completed (step S113), and the NEF notifies the game server 400 that the change of the mobile subscription information is completed. (Step S114).

Subsequently, the terminal device 100 requests the RAN to establish a PDU session with respect to the network slice that has become available (step S115), and the RAN executes the PDU session establishment process for the AMF (step S116). It should be noted that steps S115 and S116 are repeatedly executed in order to establish PDU sessions for the number of network slices that have become available. The terminal device 100 receives information on the network slices used in each game part, and information on the game server 400 and the edge game server 500, which are communication destinations, by notifying the available network slices received from the game server 400. To hold.

<2-10. Operation example when changing the access authority of the network slice>
Next, an operation example when changing the access authority of the network slice will be described. FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram showing an operation example when the access authority of the network slice according to the embodiment is changed.

As shown in FIG. 12, the game server 400 requests the NEF to change the access authority of the network slice (step S201). Such a request is made by Nnef_ParameterProvision_Update Request.

Subsequently, the NEF notifies the UDM of Nudm_SubscriberDataManagement_Update and changes the access authority (step S202). Subsequently, the UDM notifies the AMF that the change of the access authority is completed by Nudm_UpdateNotify (step S203).

Upon receiving Nudm_UpdateNotify, the AMF detects that the information has been updated by the UDM, and notifies the UE, which is the terminal device 100, of the completion of the change of the access authority of the network slice by the UE Configuration Update Command (step). S204).

Then, the UE, which is the terminal device 100, sends a response to the AMF by the UE Configuration Update Command, and the sequence is completed.

<2-11. Operation example when changing the game part>
Next, an operation example when the game part is changed will be described. 13 and 14 are sequence diagrams showing an operation example when the game part according to the embodiment is changed. FIG. 13 shows a case where the communication destination after changing the game part is still the game server 400, and FIG. 14 shows a case where the communication destination changes from the game server 400 to the edge game server 500.

First, a case where the communication destination is continuously the game server 400 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 13, first, it is assumed that the terminal device 100 is connected in a PDU session of a predetermined network slice and is playing a game (step S301).

Then, the game server 400 detects a change (switching) of a game part in the game being executed by the terminal device 100 (step S302). The switching of the game part can be detected from the input information of the terminal device 100, for example. Alternatively, for example, when the game is a game in which a plurality of users participate at the same time, such as soccer, it may be detected that the game part of the terminal device 100 is switched due to the input information of the other terminal device 100.

Then, the game server 400 selects a network slice to be used for the changed game part from the network slice information 432, and notifies the change of the PDU session to be communicated with the information of the selected network slice (step S303).

Subsequently, the terminal device 100 changes to the PDU session of the designated network slice and performs communication (step S304). Further, the terminal device 100 notifies the AMF of the change of the PDU session to be communicated (step S305), and continues the game by transmitting the game input to the game server 400 (step S306).

Next, a case where the communication destination is switched from the game server 400 to the edge game server 500 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 14, first, it is assumed that the terminal device 100 is connected in a PDU session of a predetermined network slice and is playing a game (step S401).

Then, the game server 400 detects a change (switching) of a game part in the game being executed by the terminal device 100 (step S402). The switching of the game part can be detected from the input information of the terminal device 100, for example. Alternatively, for example, when the game is a game in which a plurality of users participate at the same time, such as soccer, it may be detected that the game part of the terminal device 100 is switched due to the input information of the other terminal device 100.

Then, the game server 400 selects a network slice to be used for the changed game part from the network slice information 432, and when the communication destination of the selected network slice is the edge game server 500, the edge game server 500 A connection notice notification indicating that the terminal device 100 will be connected is given to the user (step S403).

Further, the game server 400 notifies the terminal device 100 of the change of the PDU session to be communicated with the information of the selected network slice (step S404).

Subsequently, the terminal device 100 changes to the PDU session of the designated network slice and performs communication (step S405). Further, the terminal device 100 notifies the AMF of the change of the PDU session to be communicated (step S406), and continues the game by transmitting the game input to the edge game server 500 (step S407).

<2-12. Switching between multiple PDU sessions>
Next, an example of switching the PDU session will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of switching PDU sessions. In FIG. 15, the network slice of the network slice information 432 shown in FIG. 7 is shown by way of an example. Specifically, the network slice NS100 is a network slice identified by SD “100” shown in FIG. 7, and the network slice NS101 is a network slice identified by SD “101” shown in FIG. 7, and is a network. Slice NS201 is a network slice identified by SD "201" shown in FIG.
Further, FIG. 15 shows the default network slice NSdf.

For example, the game server 400 establishes a PDU session with the default network slice NSdf and communicates with the game part for which the network slice is not specified in the network slice information 432. Alternatively, the game server 400 may switch to a network slice having high slicing performance when there is a margin in the number of network slice connections.

Then, for example, when the game server 400 detects a switch to the "match part" in a tennis game, the game server 400 switches from the network slice NSdf to the network slice NS100 or the network slice NS201. At this time, the game server 400 switches to the network slice NS201 having the higher slice performance among the network slice NS100 and the network slice NS201. Alternatively, the game server 400 may select the same network slice NS100 as the other terminal device 100 when another terminal device 100 as an opponent uses the network slice NS100.

The switching of the PDU session may be a mode in which the PDU session is switched from the existing session to the new session (that is, the PDU session ID may be switched from the existing ID to the new ID), and the existing ID may be switched. The configuration related to the existing PDU session may be updated while keeping the PDU session ID as it is.

<2-13. When using the same NS in multiple games>
In the above description, the game server 400 shows the case where each game part in one game (tennis game) is allocated to a plurality of network slices, but for example, the network slice may be shared by a plurality of different games. good.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing another example of network slice information 432. FIG. 16 shows an example in which each network slice is shared by a plurality of games. For example, in FIG. 16, the network slice identified by SD "100" is shared in the action part of an action game, the match part of a tennis game, and the race part of a racing game.

In addition, the network slice identified by SD "101" is a part other than the action of the action game, a character selection part and a tour part (action tour, game tour, race) in all games (action game, tennis game and racing game). It will be shared in the tour).

Further, each of the network slices identified by SD "201" and "301" is shared in the action part of the action game, the fighting part of the fighting game, the game part of the tennis game, and the race part of the racing game.

The number of games sharing the network slice (the number of game parts) can be determined, for example, according to the maximum number of connections. Further, the game server 400 inquires, for example, the usage rate and load of each network slice to the mobile network 600, and manages how much resources (network slices) are used by other game servers 400. You may. Then, the game server 400 may determine a network slice having a low utilization rate (light load) as a network slice to be changed based on the utilization rate and the load.

<2-14. About NS switching within the same part>
Further, the game server 400 may switch the network slice, for example, when a predetermined event is detected in the same game part. Such a point will be described with reference to FIGS. 17 to 19. 17 to 19 are diagrams showing an example of network slice switching within the same game part.

17 and 18 show an example of an action game in which a battle with an enemy is performed, and FIG. 19 shows a case where a soccer game is taken as an example.

For example, as shown in FIG. 17, as a battle part, for example, in an action game in which an enemy is encountered while moving in a vast field, low delay is required in a scene where the enemy is encountered and battled in the battle part. However, even in the battle part, low delay may not always be necessary if it is moving. In particular, the longer it travels, the more it unnecessarily occupies low-latency network slices.

Therefore, the game server 400 decides to switch the network slice when a predetermined event occurs in the same game part. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 17, the game server 400 is not low latency when it is moving in the battle part (upper part of FIG. 17), in other words, when the event of encountering an enemy does not occur. Communicate using network slices. Then, when the enemy approaches in the battle part (middle of FIG. 17), the game server 400 notifies that the enemy has been detected on the screen and becomes a change destination in advance in case of encountering the enemy. Information on the low-latency network slice is notified to the terminal device 100. Then, when the game server 400 encounters an enemy in the battle part (lower part of FIG. 17), the game server 400 establishes a PDU session and switches the network slice based on the information of the low-latency network slice notified in advance. ..

FIG. 18 shows network slice information 432 that can switch network slices within the same game part. In FIG. 18, the network slice identified by SD “201” is the network slice to be changed when an enemy is encountered in the battle part.

Further, in the case of the soccer game shown in FIG. 19, in the match part, a network slice that is not low-latency when the ball is at a relatively distant position is selected, and a low-delay network is selected when the ball approaches. Switch to slice.

The cases where the ball approaches are the case where the user operates the terminal device 100 to approach the ball and the case where another user operates the terminal device 100 to pass the ball and approach the ball. There is. That is, the game server 400 is based on the input information of the terminal device 100 (first terminal device 100) or the input information of another terminal device 100 (second terminal device 100), and the game server 400 is the first terminal device 100. Switch network slices.

<2-15. About subscription settings>
Next, a case where the availability of the network slice is determined based on the game subscription information will be described. FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a process of determining the availability of network slices based on game subscription information.

FIG. 20 shows a situation in which the terminal device 100 is operating the character selection part of the tennis game. When the character selection by this character selection part is completed, it will be changed to the match part.

For example, when the "game subscription" of the user information 431 is not activated (see FIG. 6), the game server 400 changes the "game subscription" to enabled as shown in the upper part of FIG. 20. By doing so, you will be notified on the screen that a low-latency network slice will be temporarily available (notification part of the screen).

Then, for example, when the user operates the terminal device 100 and receives a request for changing the setting of the "game subscription", the game server 400 displays the setting screen shown in the middle of FIG. 20.

On such a setting screen, information regarding activation of "game subscription" (member information shown in FIG. 20), information on temporary permission to use a network slice with low latency, credit card information, and the like are displayed.

Then, on the setting screen, when "game subscription" is enabled and temporary use of the low-latency network slice is permitted (from NO to YES in FIG. 20), as shown in the lower part of FIG. , A checkbox is displayed indicating the use of low latency network slices.

Then, when the game server 400 switches to the match part with the check box checked, the game server 400 establishes a PDU session of the network slice with low latency and executes the match part.

The game server 400 may determine the network slice to be connected as subscription information (game subscription), for example, according to the continuity of billing and the billing amount. For example, the game server 400 determines a network slice having higher slicing performance as the billing continuity is longer (or the billing amount is larger).

<3. Modification example>

The terminal device, base station device, game server, or edge game server of the present embodiment may be realized by a dedicated computer system or a general-purpose computer system.

For example, a communication program for executing the above-mentioned operation (for example, network slice switching process) is stored and distributed in a computer-readable recording medium such as an optical disk, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic tape, or a flexible disk. Then, for example, the control device is configured by installing the program on a computer and executing the above-mentioned processing. At this time, the control device may be a terminal device 100, a base station device 200, a game server 400, an edge game server, or another external device (for example, a personal computer). Further, the control device may be an internal device (for example, each control unit) of the terminal device 100, the base station device 200, the game server 400, and the edge game server 500.

Further, the communication program may be stored in a disk device provided in a server device on a network such as the Internet so that it can be downloaded to a computer or the like. Further, the above-mentioned functions may be realized by the collaboration between the OS (Operating System) and the application software. In this case, the part other than the OS may be stored in a medium and distributed, or the part other than the OS may be stored in the server device so that it can be downloaded to a computer or the like.

Further, among the processes described in the above-described embodiment, all or a part of the processes described as being automatically performed can be manually performed, or the processes described as being manually performed can be performed. All or part of it can be done automatically by a known method. In addition, the processing procedure, specific name, and information including various data and parameters shown in the above document and drawings can be arbitrarily changed unless otherwise specified. For example, the various information shown in each figure is not limited to the illustrated information.

Further, each component of each of the illustrated devices is a functional concept, and does not necessarily have to be physically configured as shown in the figure. That is, the specific form of distribution / integration of each device is not limited to the one shown in the figure, and all or part of the device is functionally or physically dispersed / physically distributed in arbitrary units according to various loads and usage conditions. Can be integrated and configured.

In addition, the above-described embodiments can be appropriately combined in a region where the processing contents do not contradict each other. In addition, the order of each step shown in the flowchart or sequence diagram of each of the above-described embodiments can be changed as appropriate.

<4. Conclusion>
As described above, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the game server 400, which is an information processing device, is an information processing device that provides a cloud game composed of a plurality of game parts to the terminal device 100. It has a control unit 420. When the control unit 420 detects a change in the game part provided to the terminal device 100 based on the input information input from the terminal device 100 that executes the cloud game, the control unit 420 networks according to the changed game part. The game part after the change is provided to the terminal device 100 by switching to the slice and using the network slice after the switch. As a result, resources can be appropriately allocated to users who play the game.

Although each embodiment of the present disclosure has been described above, the technical scope of the present disclosure is not limited to each of the above-described embodiments as it is, and various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present disclosure. be. In addition, components spanning different embodiments and modifications may be combined as appropriate.

Further, the effects in each embodiment described in the present specification are merely examples and are not limited, and other effects may be obtained.

The present technology can also have the following configurations.
(1)
It is an information processing device that provides a cloud game composed of a plurality of game parts to a terminal device, and has a control unit. When the control unit detects a change in the game part provided to the terminal device based on the input information input from the terminal device that executes the cloud game, the control unit responds to the changed game part. An information processing device that switches to a new network slice and provides the changed game part to the terminal device by using the switched network slice.
(2)
The control unit
Based on the user information which is the information of the user who possesses the terminal device, the network slice that can be connected is assigned to each game part, and the assigned network slice information is notified to the terminal device (1). ).
(3)
The information processing apparatus according to (2) above, wherein the assigned network slice information includes information regarding availability.
(4)
The information processing device according to (2) or (3) above, wherein the user information includes subscription information which is information on billing for the game.
(5)
The control unit
The information processing according to any one of (2) to (4), wherein the network slice is assigned to each game part based on the user information, the communication request of the game part, and the slice performance of the network slice. Device.
(6)
The control unit
When switching the network slice, the information of the network slice of the switching destination is notified to the terminal device, and the PDU session is established with the terminal device by the network slice of the switching destination. The information processing apparatus according to any one of).
(7)
The information processing device according to any one of (1) to (6) above, wherein the communication destination with the terminal device by the network slice includes edge computing.
(8)
The control unit
The information processing apparatus according to any one of (1) to (7) above, wherein each of the networks is identified by S-NSAAI including SST and SD.
(9)
The SST is
The information processing apparatus according to (8) above, which includes at least eMMB, MIoT, and URLLC.
(10)
The information processing device according to any one of (1) to (9), wherein each of the network slices is shared by a plurality of the games.
(11)
The control unit
The information processing device according to any one of (1) to (10) above, which detects a change in the game part of the first terminal device based on input information of the second terminal device.
(12)
The control unit
The information processing device according to any one of (1) to (11) above, which determines switching of the network slice when a predetermined event in the game occurs in the game part.
(13)
It is a control method of an information processing device that provides a cloud game composed of a plurality of game parts to a terminal device.
When a change in the game part provided to the terminal device is detected based on the input information input from the terminal device that executes the cloud game, the network slice is switched to the network slice corresponding to the changed game part. ,as well as,
A method for controlling an information processing device, which comprises providing the changed game part to the terminal device by using the network slice after switching.
(14)
A terminal device that executes a cloud game consisting of multiple game parts.
Has a control unit
The control unit
During the execution of the cloud game, a change request for the game part being executed is transmitted as input information from the terminal device to the information processing device that provides the cloud game.
A terminal device that receives the information of the network slice corresponding to the changed game part transmitted in response to the transmission of the input information, and changes the game part by switching the network slice.
(15)
It is a control method of a terminal device that executes a cloud game composed of multiple game parts.
During the execution of the cloud game, the change request of the game part being executed is transmitted as input information from the terminal device to the information processing device that provides the cloud game.
Receiving the information of the network slice corresponding to the changed game part transmitted in response to the transmission of the input information, and changing the game part by switching the network slice.
Control method of the terminal device including.
(16)
When a change in the game part of the first terminal device in the game is detected based on input information input from a second terminal device different from the first terminal device that executes the game, the first An information processing device including a control unit that switches to a network slice according to the game part after the change.
(17)
An information processing device including a control unit that switches a network slice when a predetermined event in the game occurs in a game part in the game based on input information input from a terminal device that executes the game.
(18)
When a change in the game part of the first terminal device in the game is detected based on input information input from a second terminal device different from the first terminal device that executes the game, the first An information processing method including switching to a network slice according to the changed game part with respect to the terminal device of the above.
(19)
An information processing method including switching network slices when a predetermined event in the game occurs in a game part in the game based on input information input from a terminal device that executes the game.

100 Terminal device 110 Wireless communication unit 111 Reception processing unit 111a Wireless reception unit 111b Multiplex separation unit 111c Demodition unit 111d Decoding unit 112 Transmission processing unit 112a Coding unit 112b Modulation unit 112c Multiplex unit 112d Wireless transmission unit 113 Antenna 120 Control unit 121 Game Input processing unit 122 Streaming processing unit 123 Media processing unit 124 Media playback unit 125 Wireless communication management unit 130 Storage unit 140 Network communication unit 150 Input / output unit 200 Base station device 210 Wireless communication unit 211 Reception processing unit 211a Wireless reception unit 211b Multiplex separation Unit 211c Demodition unit 211d Decoding unit 212 Transmission processing unit 212a Coding unit 212b Modulation unit 212c Multiplexing unit 212d Wireless transmission unit 213 Antenna 220 Control unit 230 Storage unit 300 Core network 400 Game server 410 Communication unit 420 Control unit 421 Game processing unit 422 Media creation unit 423 Streaming processing unit 424 Network slice management unit 425 User information management unit 426 Edge game server management unit 427 Game part management unit 430 Storage unit 431 User information 432 Network slice information 500 Edge game server 510 Communication unit 520 Control unit 530 Storage Part 600 Mobile Network 700 Internet 800 Local Net S Communication System

Claims (15)

An information processing device that provides a cloud game consisting of multiple game parts to a terminal device.
Has a control unit
The control unit
When a change in the game part provided to the terminal device is detected based on the input information input from the terminal device that executes the cloud game, the network slice is switched to the network slice corresponding to the changed game part. , And an information processing device that provides the changed game part to the terminal device by using the switched network slice. The control unit
1. A claim 1 in which the network slices that can be connected are assigned to each game part based on the user information that is the information of the user who owns the terminal device, and the assigned network slice information is notified to the terminal device. The information processing device described in. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the assigned network slice information includes information regarding availability. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein the user information includes subscription information which is information on billing for the cloud game. The control unit
The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein the network slice is assigned to each game part based on the user information, the communication request of the game part, and the slice performance of the network slice. The control unit
The information according to claim 1, wherein when switching the network slice, the information of the network slice of the switching destination is notified to the terminal device, and a PDU session is established with the terminal device by the network slice of the switching destination. Processing equipment. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the communication destination with the terminal device by the network slice includes edge computing. The control unit
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the network slices is identified by S-NSAAI (Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information) including SST (Slice / Service type) and SD (Slice Differentiator). The SST is
The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, which includes at least eMMB (Enhanced Mobile Broadband), IoT (Massive Internet of Things), URLLC (Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications), and V2X (Vehicle to Everything). The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein each of the network slices is shared by a plurality of the cloud games. The control unit
The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein a change in the game part of the first terminal device is detected based on the input information of the second terminal device. The control unit
The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein when a predetermined event in the cloud game occurs in the game part, the switching of the network slice is determined. It is a control method of an information processing device that provides a cloud game composed of a plurality of game parts to a terminal device.
When a change in the game part provided to the terminal device is detected based on the input information input from the terminal device that executes the cloud game, the network slice is switched to the network slice corresponding to the changed game part. ,as well as,
A method for controlling an information processing device, which comprises providing the changed game part to the terminal device by using the network slice after switching. A terminal device that executes a cloud game consisting of multiple game parts.
Has a control unit
The control unit
During the execution of the cloud game, a change request for the game part being executed is transmitted as input information from the terminal device to the information processing device that provides the cloud game.
A terminal device that receives the information of the network slice corresponding to the changed game part transmitted in response to the transmission of the input information, and changes the game part by switching the network slice. It is a control method of a terminal device that executes a cloud game composed of multiple game parts.
During the execution of the cloud game, the change request of the game part being executed is transmitted as input information from the terminal device to the information processing device that provides the cloud game.
Receiving the information of the network slice corresponding to the changed game part transmitted in response to the transmission of the input information, and changing the game part by switching the network slice.
Control method of the terminal device including.

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