KR20210073414A - Apparatus and method for e2 interface set up with cell information in radio access network - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a 5th generation (5G) or pre-5G communication system for supporting a transmission rate higher than a 4th generation (4G) communication system such as Long-Term Evolution (LTE). A method of operating an apparatus using a radio access network intelligent controller (RIC) and an interface between nodes constituting a base station on a radio access network, includes the following steps of: generating a message including about at least one serving cell or at least one adjacent cell provided by the nodes; and transmitting the message to the RIC.

Description

Apparatus and method for setting E2 interface including cell information in a wireless access network {APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR E2 INTERFACE SET UP WITH CELL INFORMATION IN RADIO ACCESS NETWORK}

The present disclosure generally relates to a radio access network, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for establishing an E2 interface including cell information in a radio access network included in a radio communication system.

4G (4 ^th generation) to meet the traffic demand in the radio data communication system increases since the commercialization trend, efforts to develop improved 5G (5 ^th generation) communication system, or pre-5G communication system have been made. For this reason, the 5G communication system or the pre-5G communication system is called a 4G network after (Beyond 4G Network) communication system or an LTE (Long Term Evolution) system after (Post LTE) system.

In order to achieve high data rates, 5G communication systems are being considered for implementation in very high frequency (mmWave) bands (eg, 60 gigabytes (60 GHz) bands). In order to alleviate the path loss of radio waves and increase the propagation distance of radio waves in the ultra-high frequency band, in the 5G communication system, beamforming, massive MIMO, and Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO) are used. ), array antenna, analog beam-forming, and large scale antenna technologies are being discussed.

In addition, for network improvement of the system, in the 5G communication system, an evolved small cell, an advanced small cell, a cloud radio access network (cloud RAN), an ultra-dense network (ultra-dense network) , Device to Device communication (D2D), wireless backhaul, moving network, cooperative communication, Coordinated Multi-Points (CoMP), and reception interference cancellation Technology development is underway.

In addition, in the 5G system, Hybrid Frequency Shift Keying and Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (FQAM) and Sliding Window Superposition Coding (SWSC), which are advanced coding modulation (Advanced Coding Modulation, ACM) methods, and Filter Bank Multi Carrier (FBMC), an advanced access technology, ), Non Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA), and Sparse Code Multiple Access (SCMA) are being developed.

In order to meet the demand for wireless data traffic, 5G systems, NR (new radio or next radio), have been commercialized, providing high data rate services to users through 5G systems like 4G, and also for the Internet of Things and specific purposes. It is expected that wireless communication services for various purposes, such as services requiring high reliability, can be provided. The O-RAN (open radio access network) established by the operators and equipment providers in a mixed system with the current 4G communication system and the 5G system is a new NE (network element) and interface standard based on the existing 3GPP standard. is defined, and the O-RAN structure is presented.

Based on the above discussion, the present disclosure provides an apparatus and method for supporting an operator-specific service in a radio access network (RAN).

In addition, the present disclosure provides an apparatus and method for generating and interpreting a message related to a service model (SM) in a radio access network.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, an operating method of a device using an interface between nodes constituting a radio access network intelligent controller (RIC) and a base station in a radio access network includes at least one The method may include generating a message including information on a serving cell or at least one neighboring cell, and transmitting the message to the RIC.

The apparatus and method according to various embodiments of the present disclosure may support a radio access network intelligent controller (RIC) service model defined specifically by an operator.

Effects obtainable in the present disclosure are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and other effects not mentioned may be clearly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure belongs from the description below. will be.

1 shows an example of a 4 ^th generation (4G) Long Term Evolution (LTE) core system.
2 shows an example of a 5 ^th generation (5G) non-standard alone (NSA) system.
3 illustrates a protocol stack of an E2 application protocol message in a wireless access network according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
4 illustrates an example of a connection between a base station and a radio access network intelligence controller (RIC) in a radio access network according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
5 illustrates a configuration of a device in a wireless access network according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
6 illustrates a logical function related to an E2 message of an E2 node and an RIC in a radio access network according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
7 illustrates a procedure for setting up E2 I/F between an E2 node and an RIC in a radio access network, RIC subscription, and information provision in a radio access network according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
8 illustrates a procedure for setting up an E2 interface in a wireless access network according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
9 illustrates a procedure for updating E2 RAN configuration in a radio access network according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
10 is a flowchart for receiving and interpreting an E2 message in a radio access network according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Terms used in the present disclosure are used only to describe specific embodiments, and may not be intended to limit the scope of other embodiments. The singular expression may include the plural expression unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, may have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art described in the present disclosure. Among the terms used in the present disclosure, terms defined in a general dictionary may be interpreted with the same or similar meaning as the meaning in the context of the related art, and unless explicitly defined in the present disclosure, ideal or excessively formal meanings is not interpreted as In some cases, even terms defined in the present disclosure cannot be construed to exclude embodiments of the present disclosure.

In various embodiments of the present disclosure described below, a hardware approach method will be described as an example. However, since various embodiments of the present disclosure include technology using both hardware and software, various embodiments of the present disclosure do not exclude a software-based approach.

Hereinafter, the present disclosure provides an E2 interface setup, subscription, indication, control between a device in a radio access network (hereinafter 'RAN') of a wireless communication system and a device controlling the RAN. ) and the like. In particular, the present disclosure provides a serving cell/neighbor cell (serving cell/neighbor cell) information during E2 interface setup (SETUP) to a base station conforming to an open radio access network (O-RAN) standard using an E2 message of a wireless communication system. Describe the technology.

Terms that refer to signals, terms that refer to channels, terms that refer to control information, terms that refer to network entities, and terms that refer to components of devices used in the following description are for convenience of description. it is exemplified Accordingly, the present disclosure is not limited to the terms described below, and other terms having equivalent technical meanings may be used.

In addition, although this disclosure describes various embodiments using terms used in some communication standards (eg, 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)), this is only an example for description. Various embodiments of the present disclosure may be easily modified and applied in other communication systems.

4G ^{(4 th generation, 4G) /} 5 Generation (5 ^th generation, 5G) communication system as (for example, NR (new radio)) is commercially available and was presented to the user differentiation in a virtualized network services support requirements. Accordingly, an open radio access network (O-RAN) is a 3GPP NE (network entity) and nodes constituting the base station, RU (radio unit), DU (digital unit), CU (central unit)-CP (control plane) ) and CU-UP (user plane) are newly defined as O(O-RAN)-RU, O-DU, O-CU-CP, and O-CU-UP, respectively, and additionally NRT (near-real- time) RIC (radio access network intelligent controller) was standardized. A near-real-time (NRT) RIC is a device for standardizing and implementing some of the existing RAN functions, such as a call processing function and a radio resource management (RRM) function, as a central server. The present disclosure is to support an operator specific service model in the E2 interface where the RIC requests a service from the O-DU, O-CU-CP, or O-CU-UP. Here, O-RU, O-DU, O-CU-CP, and O-CU-UP may be understood as objects constituting the RAN that can operate according to the O-RAN standard, and as an E2 node (node). may be referred to. An interface with objects constituting the RAN that can operate according to the O-RAN standard between the RIC and E2 nodes uses an E2AP (application protocol).

The RIC is a logical node capable of collecting information on a cell site transmitted/received between the UE and the O-DU, O-CU-CP, or O-CU-UP. RIC may be implemented in the form of a server centrally located in one physical location. Connections can be made through Ethernet between O-DU and RIC, between O-CU-CP and RIC, and between O-CU-UP and RIC. For this, interface standards for communication between O-DU and RIC, between O-CU-CP and RIC, and between O-CU-UP and RIC were required, and E2-DU, E2-CU-CP, E2-CU- The definition of message standards such as UP and procedures between O-DU, O-CU-CP, O-CU-UP and RIC is required. In particular, differentiated service support is required for users in a virtualized network, and by concentrating call processing messages/functions generated in O-RAN on RIC, E2-DU to support services for a wide range of cell coverage, It is necessary to define the function of the messages of E2-CU-CP and E2-CU-UP.

Specifically, the RIC performs communication using the O-DU, O-CU-CP, O-CU-UP and E2 interface, and generates and transmits a subscription message to set the event occurrence condition. can It can be transmitted through E2 indication / report (indication / report). Control for O-DU, O-CU-CP, and O-CU-UP is provided using an E2 control message.

1 shows an example of a 4 ^th generation (4G) Long Term Evolution (LTE) core system.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the LTE core system includes a base station 110 , a terminal 120 , a serving gateway (S-GW) 130 , a packet data network gateway (P-GW) 140 , and a mobility management entity (MME). 150 , a home subscriber server (HSS) 160 , and a policy and charging rule function (PCRF) 170 .

The base station 110 is a network infrastructure that provides a wireless connection to the terminal 120 . For example, the base station 110 is a device that performs scheduling by collecting state information such as a buffer state, available transmission power, and channel state of the terminal 110 . The base station 110 has coverage defined as a certain geographic area based on a distance capable of transmitting a signal. The base station 110 is connected to the MME 150 through an S1-MME interface. In addition to the base station (base station), the base station 110 includes an 'access point (AP)', an 'eNodeB (eNodeB)', a 'wireless point', a 'transmission/reception point, TRP)' or other terms having an equivalent technical meaning may be referred to.

The terminal 120 is a device used by a user, and performs communication with the base station 110 through a wireless channel. In some cases, the terminal 120 may be operated without the user's involvement. That is, at least one of the terminal 120 and the terminal 130 is a device that performs machine type communication (MTC) and may not be carried by the user. The terminal 120 is a terminal other than 'user equipment (UE)', 'mobile station', 'subscriber station', 'remote terminal', 'wireless terminal' (wireless terminal), or 'user device (user device)' or other terms having an equivalent technical meaning may be referred to.

The S-GW 130 provides a data bearer, and creates or controls the data bearer according to the control of the MME 150 . For example, the S-GW 130 processes a packet arriving from the base station 110 or a packet to be forwarded to the base station 110 . In addition, the S-GW 130 may perform an anchoring role during handover between base stations of the terminal 120 . The P-GW 140 may function as a connection point with an external network (eg, an Internet network). In addition, the P-GW 140 allocates an Internet Protocol (IP) address to the terminal 120 and serves as an anchor for the S-GW 130 . In addition, the P-GW 140 may apply the QoS (Quality of Service) policy of the terminal 120 and manage account data.

The MME 150 manages the mobility of the terminal 120 . In addition, the MME 150 may perform authentication for the terminal 120 , bearer management, and the like. That is, the MME 150 is in charge of mobility management and various control functions for the terminal. The MME 150 may interwork with a serving GPRS support node (SGSN).

The HSS 160 stores key information and a subscriber profile for authentication of the terminal 120 . The key information and the subscriber profile are transmitted from the HSS 160 to the MME 150 when the terminal 120 accesses the network.

The PCRF 170 defines a rule for policy and charging. The stored information is transferred from the PCRF 180 to the P-GW 140 , and the P-GW 140 controls the terminal 120 (eg, QoS management, charging, etc.) based on the information provided from the PCRF 180 . ) can be done.

A carrier aggregation (hereinafter, 'CA') technology combines a plurality of component carriers, and one terminal transmits and receives a signal using the plurality of component carriers at the same time to transmit and receive a signal from the viewpoint of a terminal or a base station. It is a technology that increases the efficiency of use. Specifically, according to the CA technology, the terminal and the base station can transmit and receive signals using a wideband using a plurality of component carriers in uplink (UL) and downlink (DL), respectively, and at this time, each component carrier are located in different frequency bands. Hereinafter, the uplink refers to a communication link in which the terminal transmits a signal to the base station, and the downlink refers to a communication link in which the base station transmits a signal to the terminal. In this case, the number of uplink component carriers and downlink component carriers may be different from each other.

In dual/multi-connectivity technology, one terminal is connected to a plurality of different base stations and transmits and receives signals simultaneously using carriers in each of a plurality of base stations located in different frequency bands. It is a technology to increase the frequency use efficiency of The UE first base station (e.g., LTE technology or fourth generation mobile communication technology, a base station providing a service with a) and a second base station (e.g., using the NR (new radio) technologies or 5G (5 ^th generation) mobile services can be simultaneously connected to a base station that provides In this case, the frequency resources used by each base station may be located in different bands. As described above, a method operating based on the dual connectivity method of LTE and NR may be referred to as 5G non-standalone (NSA).

2 shows an example of a 5G NSA system.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the 5G NSA system includes an NR RAN 210a , an LTE RAN 210b , a terminal 220 , and an EPC 250 . The NR RAN 210a and the LTE RAN 210b are connected to the EPC 150, and the terminal 220 may receive a service from any one or both of the NR RAN 210a and the LTE RAN 210b at the same time. The NR RAN 210a includes at least one NR base station, and the LTE RAN 210b includes at least one LTE base station. Here, the NR base station may be referred to as a '5G node (5th generation node)', a 'next generation nodeB (gNB)', or other terms having an equivalent technical meaning. In addition, the NR base station may have a structure separated into a CU (central unit) and a DU (digital unit), and the CU has a structure separated into a CU-CP (control plane) unit and a CU-UP (user plane) unit. can have

In the structure shown in FIG. 2 , the terminal 220 performs radio resource control (RRC) access through a first base station (eg, a base station belonging to the LTE RAN 210b), and a function provided from a control plane (eg, connection management, mobility management, etc.) can be serviced. Also, the terminal 220 may be provided with an additional radio resource for transmitting and receiving data through a second base station (eg, a base station belonging to the NR RAN 210a). This dual connectivity technology using LTE and NR may be referred to as EN-DC (evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) - NR dual connectivity). Similarly, the dual connectivity technology in which the first base station uses NR technology and the second base station uses LTE technology is referred to as NR-E-UTRA dual connectivity (NE-DC). In addition, various embodiments may be applied to other various types of multi-connection and carrier aggregation technologies. In addition, various embodiments are applicable even when the first system using the first communication technology and the second system using the second communication technology are implemented in one device or when the first base station and the second base station are located in the same geographic location. can

3 illustrates a protocol stack of an E2 application protocol message in a wireless access network according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 4 , the control plane includes a transport network layer and a radio network layer. The transport network layer includes a physical layer 310 , a data link layer 320 , an Internet protocol (IP) 330 , and a stream control transmission protocol (SCTP) 340 .

The radio network layer includes the E2AP (350). The E2AP 350 is used to deliver a subscription message, an indication message, a control message, a service update message, and a service query message, It is transmitted on top of SCTP (3400 and IP 330).

4 illustrates an example of a connection between a base station and a radio access network intelligence controller (RIC) in a radio access network according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 4 , the RIC 440 is connected to the O-CU-CP 420 , the O-CU-UP 410 , and the O-DU 430 . RIC 440 is a device for customizing RAN functionality (functionality) for a new service or regional resource optimization (regional resource optimization). RIC 440 is a network intelligence (network intelligence) (eg, policy enforcement (policy enforcement), handover optimization (handover optimization)), resource assurance (resource assurance) (eg, radio-link management (radio-link management), improvement It is possible to provide functions such as advanced self-organized-network (SON) and resource control (eg, load balancing, slicing policy). The RIC 440 may communicate with the O-CU-CP 420 , the O-CU-UP 410 , and the O-DU 430 . The RIC 440 can be connected to each node through E2-CP, E2-UP, and E2-DU interfaces. Also, an interface between the O-CU-CP and the DU and between the O-CU-UP and the DU may be referred to as an F1 interface. In the following description, DU and O-DU, CU-CP and O-CU-CP, and CU-UP and O-CU-UP may be used interchangeably.

4 illustrates one RIC 440, a plurality of RICs may exist according to various embodiments. The plurality of RICs may be implemented as a plurality of hardware located in the same physical location or may be implemented through virtualization using one piece of hardware.

5 illustrates a configuration of an apparatus according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The structure illustrated in FIG. 5 may be understood as a configuration of a device having at least one function among RIC, O-CU-CP, O-CU-UP, and O-DU of FIG. 5 . Hereinafter used '… Wealth', '... A term such as 'group' means a unit for processing at least one function or operation, which may be implemented as hardware or software, or a combination of hardware and software.

Referring to FIG. 5 , the core network device includes a communication unit 510 , a storage unit 520 , and a control unit 530 .

The communication unit 510 provides an interface for performing communication with other devices in the network. That is, the communication unit 510 converts a bit string transmitted from the core network device to another device into a physical signal, and converts a physical signal received from the other device into a bit string. That is, the communication unit 510 may transmit and receive signals. Accordingly, the communication unit 510 may be referred to as a modem, a transmitter, a receiver, or a transceiver. In this case, the communication unit 510 enables the core network device to communicate with other devices or systems through a backhaul connection (eg, a wired backhaul or a wireless backhaul) or through a network.

The storage unit 520 stores data such as a basic program, an application program, and setting information for the operation of the core network device. The storage unit 520 may be configured as a volatile memory, a nonvolatile memory, or a combination of volatile memory and nonvolatile memory. In addition, the storage unit 520 provides the stored data according to the request of the control unit 530 .

The controller 530 controls overall operations of the core network device. For example, the control unit 530 transmits and receives a signal through the communication unit 510 . Also, the controller 530 writes and reads data in the storage 520 . To this end, the controller 530 may include at least one processor. According to various embodiments, the controller 530 may control the device to perform operations according to various embodiments described in the present disclosure.

6 illustrates logical functions related to an E2 message of an E2 node and an RIC in a radio access network according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 6 , the RIC 640 and the E2 node 610 may transmit or receive an E2 message to each other. For example, the E2 node 610 may be an O-CU-CP, an O-CU-UP, an O-DU, or a base station. The E2 node 610 includes an E2 node function 612 . The E2 node function 612 is a function corresponding to a specific application S/W (xApp) 646 installed in the RIC 640 . For example, in the case of a KPI monitor (monitor), the KPI monitor collection S/W is installed in the RIC 540, and the E2 node 610 generates the KPI parameters and then sends the E2 message including the KPI parameters to the RIC ( an E2 node function 612 that forwards to an E2 termination function 642 located at 640 . The E2 termination function 642 located in the RIC 640 is the termination of the RIC 640 for the E2 message, and after interpreting the E2 message delivered by the E2 node 610, it performs a function of delivering it to the xApp 646. . The E2 node 610 illustrated in FIG. 6 is an end of at least one interface, and may be understood as an end of messages transmitted to a terminal, a neighboring base station, and a core network.

E2 nodes transmit an E2 SETUP REQUEST message to the RIC for service initialization, and the RIC transmits an E2 SETUP RESPONSE message as a response. Thereafter, the E2 node transmits the call processing function of the RAN supported by the E2 node to the RIC using a service update message, and the RIC transmits a service update acknowledgment (ACK) message as a response. . Thereafter, the RIC generates an E2 subscription request message and sets a call processing event (EVENT) by delivering it to the E2 node (eg, O-CU-CP, O-CU-UP, O-DU), After setting the event, the E2 node transmits the Subscription Request Response message delivered to the RIC.

In order to perform some call processing and RRM functions, the RIC needs information on a serving cell and information on a neighbor cell at the same time as the service starts from the E2 setting. The present disclosure uses a message exchanged between a newly defined RIC and an E2 node (eg, O-DU, O-CU-CP, O-CU-UP) to transfer serving/neighbor cell information of the E2 node Suggest an example

In the present disclosure for solving the above problems, in the method of the first node of the wireless communication system, in the step of generating the E2 SETUP REQUEST message by the E2 node, NR Served Cell list, Neighbor Cell Information Element (IE), E- UTRA Served Cell list, the step of including the Neighbor Cell IE, the RIC is characterized in that it includes the step of generating an E2 SETUP RESPONSE message. In addition, the E2 Setup message transmitting the Serving Cell/Neighbor cell information of the E2 node can be confirmed based on the Cell-related detailed information element of the E2 SETUP RESPONSE message transmitted from the E2 SETUP REQUEST message RIC transmitted from the E2 node. Element information may include identifier information such as Served Cell Information NR, DU ID, gNB ID, PLMN ID, and Network Slice ID.

7 illustrates a procedure for setting up E2 I/F between an E2 node and an RIC in a radio access network, RIC subscription, and information provision in a radio access network according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 7 , in step 701 , the E2 node 610 transmits an E2 set up request message to the RIC 640 . That is, the E2 node function located in the E2 node 610 searches for the RIC 640 using the IP address of the RIC 640 set to operation-administration-maintenance (OAM), and transmits an E2 setup request message. do.

In step 703 , the RIC 640 transmits an E2 SETUP RESPONSE message to the E2 node 610 . That is, if the E2 setup request message transmitted by the E2 node 610 is acceptable, the RIC 640 transmits an E2 setup response message.

In step 705, the E2 node 610 sends a RIC service update message. E2 node 610 sets the function capability supportable in the E2 node 610 as a value of E2 FUNCTION ID, writes as a list in RIC SERVICE UPDATE ID, and E2 service update message including them to the RIC 640 .

In step 707 , the RIC 640 transmits a service updater acknowledgment (ACK) message to the E2 node 610 . That is, if the E2 node 610 FUNCTION ID values in the E2 service o update message transmitted by the E2 node 610 are acceptable, the RIC 640 transmits an E2 service updater ACK message.

In step 709 , the RIC 640 transmits a RIC subscription request (SUBSCRIPTION REQUEST) message to the E2 node 610 . In other words, a specific xApp located in the RIC 640 requests the RIC E2 end function to subscribe to the specific E2 RAN FUNCTION DEFINITION function supported by E2.

In step 711, the E2 node 610 transmits a RIC subscription response (SUBSCRIPTION RESPONSE) message to the RIC (640). That is, the E2 node function of the E2 node 610 decodes the RIC subscription request message and configures an event condition requested by the RIC 640 from the E2 node function. Here, the event condition may be an operator-specifically defined service model as RAN FUNCTION DEFINITION, and whether operator-specific or not may be designated by RIC STYLE ID. After successfully configuring the event condition, the E2 node 610 may notify the RIC 640 that the event trigger condition is successfully configured by sending a RIC subscription response message.

In the above-described signaling procedure between the RIC and the E2 node, information on a serving cell or a neighboring cell of the E2 node may be provided to the RIC. Information on the serving cell or neighbor cell of the E2 node may be transmitted through one of the messages illustrated in FIG. 7 , or may be transmitted through a message different from the messages illustrated in FIG. 7 . The corresponding message may be a message exclusively defined for delivering information on the serving cell or neighbor cell of the E2 node, or a message defined for other purposes. For example, information on the serving / neighboring cell may be delivered during E2 setup (SETUP) or E2 RAN configuration update (CONFIGURATION UPDATE).

8 illustrates a procedure for setting up an E2 interface in a wireless access network according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 8 , in step 801 , the E2 node 610 transmits an E2 setup request message to the RIC 640 . In order to establish an E2 connection (CONNECTION) with the RIC 640 , the E2 node 610 may check the RIC IP address set to OAM, and transmit an E2 setup request message using the confirmed RIC IP address. When transmitting the E2 setup request message, the E2 node 610 may transmit information on at least one serving cell or at least one neighboring cell related to the corresponding E2 node 610 . According to an embodiment, the E2 node 610 may add and transmit 'List of Served Cells NR' and 'List of Served Cells E-UTRA Information Element' defined in the 3GPP standard. According to another embodiment, the E2 node 610 adds and transmits information on cells generated according to a format different from the 3GPP standard. For example, details of 'List of Served Cells NR' and 'List of Served Cells E-UTRA Information Element' are described below with reference to [Table 2].

In step 803 , the RIC 640 transmits an E2 setup response message to the E2 node 610 . If the E2 establishment request message is an intact message, the RIC E2 Termination function in the RIC 640 establishes an E2 connection, and serves/neighbor cell information (eg, List of Served Cells NR and List of Served Cells E-UTRA Information Element). information) in the database, an E2 setup response message is generated and transmitted to the E2 node 610 . Thereafter, in step 805 , the E2 node 610 may transmit a RIC subscription response message to the RIC 640 .

9 illustrates a procedure for updating E2 RAN configuration in a radio access network according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 9 , in step 901 , the E2 node 610 transmits an E2 RAN configuration update message to the RIC 640 . According to an embodiment, the E2 node 610 may add and transmit 'List of Served Cells NR' and 'List of Served Cells E-UTRA Information Element' defined in the 3GPP standard to the E2 RAN configuration update message. According to another embodiment, the E2 node 610 adds and transmits information on cells generated according to a format different from the 3GPP standard to the E2 RAN configuration update message. For example, details of 'List of Served Cells NR' and 'List of Served Cells E-UTRA Information Element' are described below with reference to [Table 4]. In step 903 , the RIC 640 transmits an E2 RAN configuration ACK message to the E2 node 610 .

[Table 1] below is an example of an IE (Information Element) of the E2 SETUP message defined in the O-RAN standard.

IE/Group Name Presence Range IE type and reference Semantics description Criticality Assigned Criticality Message Type M 9.2.3 YES reject E2 Node ID M 9.2.6 YES reject Functions To Add 0 .. <maxofRANfunctionID> YES reject >RAN Function ID M 9.2.8 Id of the declared Function YES reject >RAN Function Definition M 9.2.23 Definition of Function YES reject

In [Table 1], the first IE has a unique value for each E2 message as a Message Type. The second IE designates the global eNB ID or global gNB ID of the E2 Node as the E2 Node ID. The third IE is the RAN FUNCTION ID. The RAN FUNCTION ID may designate a specific RAN FUNCTION to a specific E2 NODE. The fourth IE is RAN FUNCTION DEFINITION, which defines the call processing function supported by E2 NODE.

[Table 2] is an example of List of Served Cells NR and List of Served Cells E-UTRA I IE (Information Element) of the E2 SETUP message proposed in the present disclosure.

IE/Group Name Presence Range IE type and reference Semantics description Criticality Assigned Criticality Message Type M 9.2.3 YES reject E2 Node ID M 9.2.6 YES reject Functions To Add 0 .. <maxofRANfunctionID> YES reject >RAN Function ID M 9.2.8 Id of the declared Function YES reject >RAN Function Definition M 9.2.23 Definition of Function YES Reject List of Served Cells NR 0 .. <maxnoofCellsinNG-RAN node> Complete list of cells served by the O-CU-CP and O-DU YES reject >Served Cell Information NR M TS 36.4239.2.2.11 - >Neighbor Information NR O TS 36.4239.2.2.13 - >Neighbor Information E-UTRA O TS 36.4239.2.2.14 - List of Served Cells E-UTRA 0 .. <maxnoofCellsinNG-RAN node> Complete list of cells served by the O-eNB. YES reject >Served Cell Information E-UTRA M TS 36.4239.2.2.12 - >Neighbor Information NR O TS 36.4239.2.2.13 - >Neighbor Information E-UTRA O TS 36.4239.2.2.14 -

In [Table 2], the first to fourth IEs are the same as the IEs defined in the standard, and List of Served Cell NR and List of Served Cells E-UTRA IE defined in 3GPP TS 36.423 are additionally added.

[Table 3] below shows the List of Served Cells NR and List of Served Cells E-UTRA I IE (Information Element) of the E2 RAN CONFIGURATION UPDATE message proposed in the present disclosure.

IE/Group Name Presence Range IE type and reference Semantics description Criticality Assigned Criticality Message Type M 9.2.3 YES reject E2 Node ID M 9.2.6 YES reject Functions To Add 0 .. <maxofRANfunctionID> YES reject >RAN Function ID M 9.2.8 Id of the declared Function YES reject >RAN Function Definition M 9.2.23 Definition of Function YES Reject List of Served Cells NR 0 .. <maxnoofCellsinNG-RAN node> Complete list of cells served by the O-CU-CP and O-DU YES reject >Served Cell Information NR M TS 38.4239.2.2.11 - >Neighbor Information NR O TS 38.4239.2.2.13 - >Neighbor Information E-UTRA O TS 38.4239.2.2.14 - List of Served Cells E-UTRA 0 .. <maxnoofCellsinNG-RAN node> Complete list of cells served by the O-eNB. YES reject >Served Cell Information E-UTRA M TS 38.4239.2.2.12 - >Neighbor Information NR O TS 38.4239.2.2.13 - >Neighbor Information E-UTRA O TS 38.4239.2.2.14 -

In [Table 3], the first to fourth IEs are the same as the IEs defined in the standard, and the List of Served Cell NR and List of Served Cells E-UTRA IE defined in 3GPP TS 36.423 are additionally added.

[Table 4] is an example of List of Served Cells NR and List of Served Cells E-UTRA I IE (Information Element) of the E2 RAN CONFIGURATION UPDATE ACKNOWLEDGE message proposed in the present disclosure.

IE/Group Name Presence Range IE type and reference Semantics description Criticality Assigned Criticality Message Type M 9.2.3 YES reject E2 Node ID M 9.2.6 YES reject >>Served NR Cells 0 .. < maxnoofCellsinNG-RANnode> Complete or limited list of cells served by a gNB, if requested by an NG-RAN node. - >>>Served Cell Information NR M 9.2.2.11 - >>>Neighbor Information NR O 9.2.2.13 NR neighbors. - >>>Neighbor Information E-UTRA O 9.2.2.14 E-UTRA neighbors - >>Cause M 9.2.3.2 - Criticality Diagnostics O 9.2.3.3 YES ignore

In [Table 4], the first to fourth IEs are the same as the IEs defined in the standard, and the List of Served Cell NR and List of Served Cells E-UTRA IE defined in 3GPP TS 38.423 are additionally added.

According to the above-described embodiments, the E2 setting procedure for the E2 SETUP operation of the RIC and the serving cell and neighbor cell confirmation procedure supported by the E2 node may be performed in combination. That is, the E2 SETUP REQUEST message may optionally include List of Served Cell NR and List of Served Cells E-UTRA Information Element defined in 3GPP TS 36.423. According to another embodiment, the RIC may acquire the List of Served Cells NR and the List of Served Cells E-UTRA IE.

Through various embodiments of the present disclosure, it is possible to perform the Serving Cell and Neighbor Cell confirmation procedures supported by the E2 Node in combination with the E2 SETUP message, so that the RIC Traffic Steering use case, Carrier Aggregation use case, EN-DC use case, etc. It is possible to efficiently provide a call processing request service.

Methods according to the embodiments described in the claims or specifications of the present disclosure may be implemented in the form of hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

When implemented in software, a computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs (software modules) may be provided. One or more programs stored in the computer-readable storage medium are configured to be executable by one or more processors in an electronic device (device). One or more programs include instructions for causing an electronic device to execute methods according to embodiments described in a claim or specification of the present disclosure.

Such programs (software modules, software) include random access memory, non-volatile memory including flash memory, read only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (electrically erasable programmable read only memory, EEPROM), magnetic disc storage device, compact disc-ROM (CD-ROM), digital versatile discs (DVDs), or other It may be stored in an optical storage device or a magnetic cassette. Alternatively, it may be stored in a memory composed of a combination of some or all thereof. In addition, each configuration memory may be included in plurality.

In addition, the program is transmitted through a communication network consisting of a communication network such as the Internet, an intranet, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or a storage area network (SAN), or a combination thereof. It may be stored on an attachable storage device that can be accessed. Such a storage device may be connected to a device implementing an embodiment of the present disclosure through an external port. In addition, a separate storage device on the communication network may be connected to the device implementing the embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the specific embodiments of the present disclosure described above, components included in the disclosure are expressed in the singular or plural according to the specific embodiments presented. However, the singular or plural expression is appropriately selected for the context presented for convenience of description, and the present disclosure is not limited to the singular or plural element, and even if the element is expressed in plural, it is composed of the singular or singular. Even an expressed component may be composed of a plurality of components.

Meanwhile, although specific embodiments have been described in the detailed description of the present disclosure, various modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the described embodiments and should be defined by the claims described below as well as the claims and equivalents.

Claims (1)

In the operating method of a device using an interface between nodes constituting a radio access network intelligent controller (RIC) and a base station in a radio access network,
generating a message including information on at least one serving cell or at least one neighboring cell provided by the node;
and transmitting the message to the RIC.

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