KR20220138775A - Method and apparatus for configuring edge computing service information - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a communication method and system for converging a 5G communication system for supporting higher data rates beyond a 4G system with a technology for Internet of Things (IoT). The present disclosure may be applied to intelligent services based on the 5G communication technology and the IoT-related technology, such as smart homes, smart buildings, smart cities, smart cars, connected cars, health care, digital education, smart retail, and security and safety services. A method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which is a method for setting edge computing service information in a unified data management (UDM) device of a mobile communication system, may include the steps of: receiving edge computing service provider (ECSP) information from a network exposure function (NEF) device; storing the ECSP information as SMF-associated data; generating an edge computing service group capable of receiving an edge computing service by using subscriber information of a user device included in the ECSP information; and notifying, to the NEF, that ECSP information has been successfully set.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONFIGURING EDGE COMPUTING SERVICE INFORMATION

The present disclosure relates to a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a method of setting edge computing service information in a terminal and a network in a mobile communication system.

Efforts are being made to develop an improved 5G communication system or pre-5G communication system in order to meet the increasing demand for wireless data traffic after commercialization of the 4G communication system. For this reason, the 5G communication system or the pre-5G communication system is called a system after the 4G network (Beyond 4G Network) communication system or after the LTE system (Post LTE). In order to achieve a high data rate, the 5G communication system is being considered for implementation in a very high frequency (mmWave) band (eg, such as a 60 gigabyte (60 GHz) band). In order to alleviate the path loss of radio waves and increase the propagation distance of radio waves in the very 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, to improve the network of the system, in the 5G communication system, an evolved small cell, an advanced small cell, a cloud radio access network (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, the advanced coding modulation (ACM) methods FQAM (Hybrid FSK and QAM Modulation) and SWSC (Sliding Window Superposition Coding), and advanced access technologies FBMC (Filter Bank Multi Carrier), NOMA (non-orthogonal multiple access), and sparse code multiple access (SCMA) are being developed.

On the other hand, the Internet is evolving from a human-centered connection network where humans create and consume information to an Internet of Things (IoT) network that exchanges and processes information between distributed components such as objects. Internet of Everything (IoE) technology, which combines big data processing technology through connection with cloud servers, etc. with IoT technology, is also emerging. In order to implement IoT, technology elements such as sensing technology, wired and wireless communication and network infrastructure, service interface technology, and security technology are required. , M2M), and MTC (Machine Type Communication) are being studied. In the IoT environment, an intelligent IT (Internet Technology) service that collects and analyzes data generated from connected objects and creates new values in human life can be provided. IoT is a field of smart home, smart building, smart city, smart car or connected car, smart grid, health care, smart home appliance, advanced medical service, etc. can be applied to

Accordingly, various attempts are being made to apply the 5G communication system to the IoT network. For example, technologies such as sensor network, machine to machine (M2M), and MTC (Machine Type Communication) are implemented by 5G communication technologies such as beamforming, MIMO, and array antenna. will be. The application of a cloud radio access network (cloud RAN) as the big data processing technology described above is an example of the convergence of 5G technology and IoT technology.

Recently, a method of providing a service to a user equipment (UE) using an edge computing system has been actively discussed. The edge computing system may be provided with an edge computing service by establishing a data connection to an edge data network in a location close to its own location in order for the UE to use a low-latency or broadband service. These edge computing services are an edge hosting environment running on an edge enabler server of a specific edge data network or an application server running on an edge computing platform. ) to provide the service. That is, the UE may receive the edge computing service from the edge application server closest to the region where the UE is located.

In order to provide the edge computing service as described above, a method for setting edge computing service information for each edge computing service provider in a mobile communication network supporting edge computing is required.

Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a method and apparatus for setting edge computing service information when the user device of a mobile communication network needs to use the edge computing service.

In addition, the present disclosure provides a method and apparatus for checking whether edge computing service roaming is supported for a specific terminal or edge computing service provider (ECSP), and setting edge computing service information available in a network accessed by roaming. to provide.

A user device according to the present disclosure provides a method of setting/changing/clearing connectable edge computing service information to a user device and a network.

Also, according to the present disclosure, different edge computing service providers may be set for each user. In such a scenario, a plurality of ECSPs in one operator network may exist in different edge computing setting servers (Edge Configuration Server, ECS), and a method and apparatus for distinguishing information for accessing each ECS and setting the network and user equipment in the network and user equipment provides

In addition, the present disclosure provides a method for setting edge computing service information to support an edge computing roaming service support scenario among multiple mobile communication network operators.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, one mobile communication service provider provides an edge computing service through a plurality of ECSPs.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, one ECSP may enter into an edge computing service agreement with a plurality of mobile communication operators, and may enter into an edge computing service support agreement for roaming users between the corresponding mobile communication providers. In this case, a method and apparatus for setting/changing/deleting edge computing service roaming information including a VPLMN list in which edge computing services provided by a specific ECSP to UDM (Unified Data Management) are available and an apparatus are provided. .

A method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is a method for setting edge computing service information in a unified data management (UDM) device of a mobile communication system, a network exposure function (NEF) device Receiving edge computing service provider (Edge Computing Service Provider, ECSP) information from; storing the ECSP information as SMF-associated data; generating an edge computing service group capable of receiving edge computing services by using subscriber information of a user device included in the ECSP information; and informing the NEF that the ECSP information has been successfully set.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to determine (or identify) whether to create a new session according to an edge computing service provider in a user device and a network.

In addition, according to the present disclosure, unnecessary signaling is eliminated by determining (or identifying) whether a session creation request of a user device is for an edge computing service in a mobile communication network supporting edge computing and delivering edge computing service information to the user device only when necessary. can be reduced

In addition, according to the present disclosure, when a roaming service is provided to a user device, it is possible to determine (or identify) whether an edge computing service is supported, and to deliver edge computing service information usable in a network accessed by roaming.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an edge computing implementation scenario configured without a layer distinction in the present disclosure.
2 is a diagram illustrating a hierarchical structure of an edge computing application to which the present disclosure can be applied.
3 is a signal flow diagram when ECS sets ECSP information to UDM with AF according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure.
4 is a signal flow diagram illustrating a case of selectively providing ECSP information when a UE requests to create a PDU session according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure.
5 is a signal flow diagram when ECSP information is changed/deleted according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure.
6 is a functional block diagram of an NF device according to the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, the operating principle of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. And the terms to be described later are terms defined in consideration of functions in the present invention. Since this may vary according to the intention or custom of the user or operator, the definition should be determined according to the contents throughout this specification.

The terms referring to network entities and objects of the edge computing system, terms referring to messages, terms referring to identification information, etc. used in this publication are exemplified for convenience of description. Accordingly, the present disclosure is not limited to the terms described later, and other terms referring to objects having equivalent technical meanings may be used.

In the following description, terms and names defined in the 5G system standard are used for convenience of description, but are not limited by the terms and names, and may be equally applied to systems conforming to other standards.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an edge computing implementation scenario configured without a layer distinction in the present disclosure.

Before referring to FIG. 1 , the components of FIG. 1 are a network configuration diagram based on a 5G system architecture. The 5G system architecture may include various components, for example, network function (NF) devices. Note that FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating some of them.

1, access and mobility management function (access and mobility management function, AMF) device 120, session management function (session management function, SMF) device 130, policy control function (policy control function, PCF) Device 140, application function (AF) device 150, unified data management (UDM) device 160, data network (DN) 170, user plane function ( A user plane function, UPF device 110 , a (radio) access network (R) AN) 20 , and a user equipment (UE) 10 are illustrated.

In addition, each of the NF devices illustrated in FIG. 1 may be implemented in one server, or the function of one NF device may be implemented in two or more servers. In addition, the NF devices may include a plurality of NF devices performing the same function. For example, the UPF device 110 may be two or more UPFs, and the AMF device 120 may also be two or more AMFs. Two or more NF devices performing the same function may be implemented in the same single server or may be implemented in different servers. A case in which NF devices are implemented in the same server may be, for example, a case in which different UEs or services corresponding to different PDU sessions are provided to different UEs in the same region. In addition, the case where the NF devices are implemented in different servers may be the case where they are located in different regions. In the following description, a specific “NF device” will be described in the form of an NF device or “NF”. For example, the SMF device 130 and the SMF 130 should be understood as the same form.

Also, one NF and/or two or more NFs may be implemented in one network slice. A network slice may be in a form in which one NF and/or two or more NFs can provide the same service to a specific user and/or user group by operating as one virtual network.

Functions and operations supported by each of the NFs illustrated in FIG. 1 will be briefly reviewed.

The AMF 120 provides a function for access and mobility management in units of UEs, and may be basically connected to one AMF per one UE.

DN 170 means, for example, an operator service, Internet access, or a third party service. The DN 170 transmits a downlink protocol data unit (PDU) to the UPF 110 or receives a PDU transmitted from the UE 10 through the UPF 110 .

The PCF 140 receives packet flow information from the application server and provides a function of determining policies such as mobility management and session management. Specifically, PCF 140 supports a unified policy framework for controlling network operation, control plane function(s) (eg, AMF 120, SMF 130, etc.) can enforce policy rules. It supports functions such as providing policy rules so as to access the relevant subscription information for policy decision in a user data repository (UDR) 180 , and implementing a front end.

The SMF 130 provides a session management function, and when the UE 10 has a plurality of sessions, it may be managed by a different SMF for each session.

The UDM 160 stores the user's subscription data, policy data, and the like.

The UPF 110 transmits the downlink PDU received from the DN 170 in downlink to the UE 10 via the (R)AN 20, and the UE 10 via the (R)AN 20 ) and transmits the uplink PDU received from the DN 170 to the DN 170 .

AF 150 is a 3GPP core network to support functions such as service provision, for example, application impact on traffic routing, access to network capability exposure, and interaction with a policy framework for policy control. interact with

The (R)AN 20 may operate as a base station responsible for transmitting and receiving data/signals/messages through a radio access technology with the UE 10 in a mobile communication network. For example, data provided from the DN 170 to the UE 10 through the UPF 110 may be provided to the UE 10 using a mobile communication access technology, and the mobile communication access from the UE 10 The data transmitted using the technology may be transmitted to the DN 170 via the UPF 110 .

The UE 10 is a user device, for example, a terminal, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a mobile device or mobile equipment, and a mobile node. It may be called differently depending on the connection technology. As a representative device of the UE 10 , it may be in various forms, such as a smart phone, a mobile phone, a mobile terminal, a smart watch, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a personal computer, a vehicle equipped with a wireless connection function, and the like. That is, it may be an IoT device and/or various devices equipped with an IoT function. The UE 10 may also be various types of devices that may be provided with edge computing services according to the present disclosure described below.

2 is a diagram illustrating a hierarchical structure of an edge computing application to which the present disclosure can be applied.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the network and edge computing entities will be described.

First, referring to FIG. 2 , a 3GPP core network 200 is illustrated as an example of a UE 10 and a mobile communication network. 2 also includes an edge data network 210 and an edge data network configuration server (Edge Data Network Configuration Server or Edge Configuration Server, ECS) 220 . The edge data network 210 may include an edge enabler server (Edge Enabler Server EES) 211 and an edge application server(s) (Edge Application Server, EAS) 212. In addition, the UE 10 ) may include an edge enabler client (Edge Enabler Client, EEC) 12 and an application client (Application Client) 12. Although not illustrated in Figure 2, the UE 10 is a mobile terminal , MT) The MT has a configuration for transmitting/receiving data/signals/messages using (R)AN 20 and radio access technology for the UE to communicate with the 3GPP core 200. The MT may be implemented as, for example, a modem or may include a modem and a wireless processing unit and an antenna.

In addition, the configuration of the UE 10 in FIGS. 1 and 2 exemplifies the inner block in terms of operation related to the present invention. However, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that additional configurations may be further included according to various types of the aforementioned UEs 10 . For example, it may further include a memory, an input means for providing a user interface, an output means, and the like. As an input means of the UE 10, at least one of a key for recognizing a user's input, a touch pad, a biometric sensor, and a styler may be included, and as an output means of the UE 10, a display, a lamp, a vibration motor, and a speaker , and may include at least one of various types such as a beam project.

Edge computing (Edge Computing) system may be composed of EES (211), ECS (220) and EEC (12) in the user device (10). The EES 211 builds an edge hosting environment (Edge Hosting Environment or Edge Computing Platform), and knows information about the EAS 122 running in the Edge Hosting Environment.

The EES 211 may perform a function of negotiating with the UE 10 to connect the Application Client 13 of the UE 10 and the EAS 212 in the Edge Hosting Environment. Negotiation for providing an edge computing service may be performed through interworking with the EEC 12 mounted on (or built into) the UE 10 supporting the Edge Computing system and the EES 211 . A layer in which interworking (or negotiation is performed) between the EEC 12 and the EES 211 may be referred to as an edge enabler layer.

The ECS 220 may know the deployment information of the EES 211 , and may perform a function to transmit configuration information for using the Edge Computing service to the UE 10 . The setting information is edge data network connection (Edge Data Network connection) information (eg, data network name (Data Network Name), single-network slice selection assistance information (Single-Network Slice Selection Assistance information, S-NSSAI), etc.), Edge Data Network Service Area (eg, Cell list, List of Tracking Area, PLMN ID), Edge Enabler Server connection (Edge Enabler Server connection) ) information (eg, URI), and the like. The Edge Data Network Service Area may be an EES available area set by the EES 211 . Based on this, the UE 10 may receive information of the EES 211 accessible from a specific location. If the ECS 220 can know information about the EAS 212 running in the Edge Hosting Environment of the specific EES 221 , the UE 10 can also obtain the corresponding information through the EEC 12 .

The EAS 212 refers to a third-party application server running in the Edge Computing system. The EAS 212 is a third-party application server running on the infrastructure provided by the Edge Hosting Environment, and since it can provide the service at a location close to the UE 10, it can provide an ultra-low latency service. .

In the UE 10, as described above, the Application Client 13, the Application Client 13 and the Edge Enabler Client 12 that interworks the Edge Computing service, and, although not shown in FIG. 2, a mobile access to the mobile communication system It may include a mobile terminal (MT). Application of the UE 10 is an application provided by a third party, and means a client application program driven in the UE 10 for a specific application service. One or two or more Applications may be driven in the UE 10 . As such, if two or more applications are driven, at least one of the driven applications may use a mobile edge computing (MEC) service. EEC (12) in the UE (10) refers to a client (Client) that performs an operation in the UE (10) required for using the Edge Computing service. The EEC (12) determines (or identifies) which application can use the Edge Computing service, and establishes a network interface so that the data of the UE (10) Application Client can be delivered to the EAS 212 that provides the Edge Computing service. A connection operation can be performed. In fact, the EEC 12 may perform an operation for establishing a data connection for using the Edge Computing service in the 3GPP communication layer through the MT. That is, the EEC 12 may control the MT to perform a data connection for using the Edge Computing service in the 3GPP communication layer. The 3GPP communication layer may mean a layer that performs a modem operation for using a mobile communication system, establishes a wireless connection for data communication, registers the UE 10 in the mobile communication system, and provides data to the mobile communication system. It can establish a connection for transmission and perform a role of transmitting and receiving data.

3 is a signal flow diagram when ECS sets ECSP information to UDM with AF according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure.

In describing the first embodiment of the present disclosure with reference to FIG. 3, the network functions described in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be used. However, a network exposure function (NEF) device 301 not described in FIG. 1 will be briefly described first.

The NEF 301 can access information for managing the UE 10 in the 5G network, subscribe to the mobility management event of the UE 10, and manage the session of the UE 10 (Session Management) ) subscription to the event, request for session-related information, charging information setting of the UE 10, PDU session policy change request for the UE 10, small data about the UE 10 It can be a network entity that can transmit.

Referring to FIG. 3 , in step 311 , the ECS 220 may provide ECSP information to the NEF 301 as an AF using a NEF_ParameterProvision_Create/Update/Delete request message. Alternatively, the ECS 220 may utilize other service request messages such as Nnef_ServiceParameter to provide ECSP information to the NEF 301 as one AF. The ECSP information may include at least one or more of the following information.

- ECSP ID: Edge computing service provider identifier (Edge computing service provider may be the entity that provides and operates ECS 220 and EES 211. Edge computing service provider also provides ECS 220 and EES 211) as well as may be the entity that provides and operates the EAS 212)

- ECS(220) address

- DNN, S-NSSAI required for session creation to access the ECS 220

- Service (jurisdiction) area of ECS 220

- EEC application descriptor information accessible to the ECS 220 (such as OS app ID of EEC 12 or application port ID of EEC 12), EEC identifier or EEC software package name information may be included.

- PLMN list that can be serviced from ECSP (eg, VPLMN list, VPLMN ID list)

- Other ECSP ID list that has an agreement with ECSP (It may include ECSP ID that shares ECS 220 or ECSP ID information that can be supported by VPLMN.)

- Edge computing roaming information (Edge Computing roaming information): Information including whether the edge computing service provided by the ECSP identified by the ECSP ID supports roaming. When roaming of the edge computing service is supported, PLMN information (list of PLMNs serviceable from the above ECSP) that supports roaming must be provided from the ECS 220 as well. Such information may be determined according to a roaming agreement between a mobile communication network operator and an edge computing service provider.

- Application Function ID

- Edge computing user group identifier (UE Group Identifier for edge computing service): information that can identify a group of subscribers who can use the edge computing service provided by the ECSP

In step 312 , the NEF 301 may transmit the ECSP information provided from the ECS 220 to the UDM 160 .

In step 313, the UDM 160 stores the ECSP information received from the NEF 301 as session management subscriber information or stores it as SMF-associated data, and checks the subscriber information of the UE 10. You can create an edge computing service group. The edge computing service group may include a list of UE 10 subscribers who can receive a service from a specific edge computing service provider and setting information (ECSP information above) for using the corresponding service. Therefore, the UDM 160 stores the service group of users who can receive the edge computing service provided from the ECSP using the subscriber list and the corresponding service information included in the ECSP information as setting information or stores it as session management subscriber information. or as SMF-associated data. In addition, when receiving ECSP information that does not include service group identifiers of users capable of receiving edge computing services, the UDM 160 stores session management subscriber information for all UEs or SMF-association for all UEs. ECSP information can be stored as data. At this time, the UDM 160 creates and changes the PDU session for the corresponding DNN and S-NSSAI by storing the ECS address information in the ECSP information, such as the session management subscriber information for the DNN and the S-NSSAI included in the received ECSP information. When performing the procedure, the corresponding ECSP information may be checked and provided as a network function such as the SMF 130 .

Thereafter, in step 314 , the UDM 160 may transmit to the NEF 301 that the ECSP information has been successfully set.

In step 315 , the NEF 301 may transmit whether the ECSP information received from the UDM 160 is successful or not to the ECS 220 .

Through the above-described operation, the ECS 220 may provide to set the ECSP information to the UDM 160 as an AF. Therefore, the UDM 160 may store the ECSP information provided by the ECS 220 , and then provide information on the UE to be provided with a specific edge computing service to a specific NF in the 3GPP core network 200 . In addition, in the operation described above in FIG. 3 , the ECS 220 may provide the ECSP information to the UDR 180 instead of setting the ECSP information to the UDM 160 as AF. In this case, the ECS 220 may provide the ECSP information to the NEF 301 , and the NEF 301 may deliver the ECSP information received from the NEF 301 to the UDR 180 . The UDR 180 may store the ECSP information received from the NEF 301 . Also, the UDR 180 may transfer the ECSP information received from the NEF 301 to the PCF 140 . And the PCF 140 may deliver the ECSP information to the SMF 130 .

4 is a signal flow diagram illustrating a case of selectively providing ECSP information when a UE requests to create a PDU session according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure.

In step 411, when the UE 10 transmits the PDU session creation request message to the AMF 120, EEC-related information in the UE 10 may be included in a protocol configuration option (PCO). The EEC-related information may include at least one or more of the following information.

- Whether the EEC (12) is installed in the UE (10) and whether the modem and the EEC (12) can be interlocked

- EEC application identifier (application ID) or EEC application port identifier (application port ID)

- ECSP ID that can provide service to EEC (12)

In step 412 , the AMF 120 may transmit the session creation request message received from the UE 10 to the SMF 130 .

After receiving the PDU session request from the AMF 120 in step 413 , the SMF 130 may receive (or acquire) information related to the UE 10 from the UDM 160 . The UE-related information obtained from the UDM 160 may include one or more of the following information.

- ECSP information: The ECSP information may be information set (or stored) in the UDM 160 in the same manner as in the first embodiment described above, or information configured locally in the UDM 160 .

- External identifier of UE dedicated to edge computing service provider specified by ECSP information

When the SMF 130 receives the first and second information described above from the UDM 160, the SMF 130 receives information (ECSP ID, EEC application ID, or EEC application port ID) may be provided to the UDM 160, and ECSP information corresponding thereto may be obtained.

In step 414, the SMF 130 checks the information contained in the PDU session creation request message received through the AMF 120 and the information obtained from the UDM 160, and transmits the ECSP information for a certain ECSP to the UE 10. It is possible to determine whether to deliver or to determine (or identify) whether the PDU session to be generated is a PDU session related to edge computing service use. Here, the confirmation of the two pieces of information may be an operation of comparing the information obtained from the UDM 160 and the information included in the PDU session creation request message received through the AMF 120 to identify whether they match. In addition, as an example of such determination, one method or two or more methods among the following methods may be combined.

(1) DNN, S-NSSAI information in the message (Nsmf_PDUSession_Create/UpdateSMContext) that the AMF 120 receives the PDU session creation message requested by the UE 10 and delivers it to the SMF 130 (AMF 120 is the UE 10 ) receives the corresponding DNN and S-NSSAI information and delivers it to the SMF 130, or the AMF 130 can change the DNN and S-NSSAI based on the subscriber information and deliver it to the SMF 130) and UDM ( If the DNN and S-NSSAI match in the ECSP information obtained from 160), the SMF 130 may determine (or identify) that the corresponding session connection request is associated with the edge computing service. Based on this determination, the SMF 130 may determine to deliver the ECSP information associated with the PDU session for which the generation request is received to the UE 10 . In addition, the SMF 130 compares the DNN and S-NSSAI information in the PDU session creation related message received from the AMF 120 with the DNN and S-NSSAI information received from the PCF 140 so that the corresponding session connection request is edge computing. It may be determined (or identified) related to the service, and if the PDU session to be generated is associated with the edge computing service, it may be determined to deliver the ECSP information to the UE 10 .

(2) SMF 130 is EEC application ID, application port ID or ECSP ID included in the PCO in the PDU session creation request message received from the UE 10 and the ECSP information obtained from the UDM 160 EEC application, You can check (or compare or identify) whether there is an application port ID or ECSP ID. If there is matching ECSP information as a result of checking the PCO received from the UE 10 and the ECSP information obtained from the UDM 160, the SMF 130 transmits the ECSP information including the ECS address information to the UE 10. can decide In another method, the SMF 130 compares the DNN and S-NSSAI information in the PDU session creation message received from the AMF 120 with the DNN and S-NSSAI information received from the PCF 140 so that the corresponding session connection request is the edge It may determine (or identify) whether it is associated with a computing service. The information that the SMF 130 obtains from the PCF 140 and compares may be ECSP information stored in the UDR 180 by the ECS 220 through the NEF 301 .

(3) When the UE 10 that has sent the PDU session creation request is in the roaming state, the SMF 130 determines whether to deliver the ECS address information by checking the following items in the ECSP information obtained from the UDM 160 of the HPLMN. . Check whether roaming of the edge computing service for the corresponding UE 10 is supported, and if edge computing service roaming is supported for the corresponding UE 10, the SMF 130 is currently in the VPLMN list in which edge computing service roaming is supported. Make sure the VPLMN ID is included. When the current VPLMN supports edge computing service roaming, the SMF 130 may determine the ECSP information to be delivered to the UE 10 by checking a list of supported ECSP IDs (supported ECSP IDs) in the current VPLMN.

One of the methods (1) to (3) above may be used, or two or more may be used in parallel. For example, for the method of (3), some of the methods (1) and/or (2) may be used. More specifically, the UE 10 may request the establishment of a PDU session by at least one of the methods (1) and (2). Thereafter, the SMF 130 may use the ECSP information obtained from the UDM 160 of the HPLMN through the method of (3), and based on this, determine the ECSP information to be transmitted to the UE 10 .

Proceeding to step 415 , when the SMF 130 determines the ECSP information to be transmitted to the UE 10 in step 414 , the ECSP information may be included in the PCO and delivered to the AMF 120 . If the external identifier of the edge computing service provider-only UE 10 identified by the ECSP ID in the ECSP information is obtained from the UDM 160 , it may be included in the PCO and delivered to the AMF 120 . The AMF 160 may transmit a response message including whether or not it has been successfully received to the SMF 130 .

In step 416 , the AMF 120 may deliver the PCO including the ECSP information received from the SMF 130 to the UE 10 through the NAS message.

Then, in step 417, the MT 11 in the UE 10, for example, the modem, stores the ECSP information (ECS address, ECSP ID, DNN, S-NSSAI, ECS service area, etc.) received through the NAS message into the internal memory (in the drawing). not shown) and may be provided to the EEC 12 in a higher layer within the UE 10 . In FIG. 4 , it should be noted that the procedure in which the MT 11 provides the ECSP information to the EEC 12 is not illustrated in FIG. 4 because it is an internal procedure of the UE 10 .

In step 418 , the EEC 12 in the UE 10 may transmit a service provisioning request message to the ECS 220 using ECS information in the ECSP information provided from the MT 11 . If the external identifier of the ECSP-only UE 10 is also provided, the service provisioning request message transmitted to the ECS 220 may include the identifier and transmit it.

As discussed above, the first embodiment and the second embodiment may be separate embodiments, but information stored based on the first embodiment may be configured to be used in the second embodiment. Therefore, it should be noted that the division into the first embodiment and the second embodiment is only for convenience of description and does not distinguish different examples in one overall operation. That is, as in the first embodiment and the second embodiment, only one embodiment may be used independently, or the first embodiment and the second embodiment may be applied together. The third embodiment to be described below can also be understood as the relationship between the first embodiment and the second embodiment.

5 is a signal flow diagram when ECSP information is changed/deleted according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure.

The third embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5 exemplifies a case in which a PDU Session modification procedure is used. However, when transmission/reception of a message for change/deletion of ECSP information is possible using a method other than the PDU Session modification procedure as described in the present disclosure below, the case of using this may also be included in the embodiment of the present disclosure. have.

Then, with reference to FIG. 5 , the operation of the procedure for changing the ECSP information in the UDM 160 according to the change of ECS-related information will be described.

In step 511 , the ECS 220 may transmit to the NEF 310 including at least one of the following information to notify the UDM 160 of ECSP information change or cancellation.

- Changed ECSP information (changed ECS address, changed DNN, S-NSSAI, changed ECS service area, changed supported VPLMN list, etc.). When transmitting the changed ECSP information, the ECS 220 may include the corresponding change information in the Nnef_ParameterProvision_Update request message transmitted to the NEF 301 .

- Service provisioning retry indicator of the EEC (12) (indication to trigger re-provisioning). The corresponding indicator may be included in the Nnef_ParameterProvision_Update request message.

- Indication to delete ECSP info The corresponding indicator may be included in the Nnef_ParameterProvision_Delete request message.

In step 512 , the NEF 301 may transmit the NEF parameter regulation update/delete (Nnef_ParameterProvision_Update/Delete) request message received from the ECS 220 to the UDM 160 .

Upon receiving the Nnef_ParameterProvision_Update/Delete request message, the UDM 160 may transmit at least one of the following information to the SMF 130 according to information in the Nnef_ParameterProvision_Update/Delete request message received from the NEF 301 in step 513 .

(1) When the changed ECSP information is received from the NEF 301, the UDM 160 may deliver the changed information and indication to replace ECSP info in the Nudm_SDM_Notification message to the SMF 130.

(2) When receiving the changed ECSP information and the service provisioning retry indicator (indication to trigger re-provisioning) of the EEC (12) from the NEF (301), the UDM (160) the changed information and indication to replace ECSP info SMF As 130, it may be transmitted by being included in the Nudm_SDM_Notification message.

(3) When only the service provisioning retry indicator (indication to trigger re-provisioning) of the EEC 12 is received from the NEF 301, the UDM 160 includes it in the Nudm_SDM_Notification message and can be delivered to the SMF 130. .

(4) When receiving the Nnef_ParameterProvision_Delete request message (which may be a message including Indication to delete ECSP info) from the NEF 301, the UDM 160 includes the Indication to delete ECSP info indicator in the Nudm_SDM_Notification message to the SMF 130 ) can be passed as

In step 514 , the SMF 130 may include the information received from the UDM 160 in step 513 in the PCO and deliver it to the AMF 120 . The AMF 120 may transmit a response message including whether or not it has been successfully received to the SMF 130 . In the description of the embodiment described in FIG. 5 , only the case in which the SMF 130 transmits the ECSP information received from the UDM 160 to the AMF 120 during the PDU session modification procedure has been described, but the SMF 130 is the PCF 140 . This information can be obtained from A case in which the SMF 130 can obtain the ECSP information from the PCF 140 is a case in which the ECS 220 stores the ECSP information as an AF in the UDR 180 through the NEF 301 .

In step 515 , the AMF 120 may transfer the PCO received from the SMF ( ) 130 to the UE 10 .

Upon receiving the PCO, the UE 10 may perform at least one of the following operations based on the information in the PCO received from the AMF 120 in step 516 .

(1) If there is a changed ECSP information and indication to replace ECSP information in the PCO, the UE 10 may change the ECSP information currently stored in the MT 11 according to the received information.

(2) When the changed ECSP information in the PCO and the service provisioning retry indicator (indication to trigger re-provisioning) of the EEC (12) are included, the UE (10) sends the ECS address information and DNN, S in the changed ECSP information. - Using the NSSAI information, a service provisioning request message can be transmitted to the ECS corresponding to the ECS address in the ECSP information. Specifically, when the UE 10 receives a change in DNN and S-NSSAI information, a data network accessible through a currently generated PDU Session (established PDU Session) can access the received DNN and S-NSSAI. Make sure it is a data network. If a PDU Session connectable to the data network accessible by the received DNN and S-NSSAI is not created, the UE 10 creates a new PDU Session before transmitting the service provisioning request message, and the newly created PDU Through the session, a service provisioning request message can be transmitted to the ECS corresponding to the ECS address in the ECSP information.

If only the service provisioning retry indicator (indication to trigger re-provisioning) of the EEC 12 in the PCO is included, the service provisioning request message may be retransmitted to the ECS 220 currently set in the UE 10 . In this case, there is no need to create a new PDU Session.

If the Indication to delete ECSP info indicator in the PCO is included, the current ECSP information stored in the MT 11 or EEC 120 can be deleted. In addition, the EEC 12 utilizes the ECS information configured in the local configuration. Alternatively, the ECS address may be derived from the PLMN ID to which the UE 10 is currently connected and used to transmit a service provisioning request message.

6 is a functional block diagram of an NF device according to the present disclosure.

6 is a block diagram of a network function (NF) device that may be applied according to the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 6 , it may include a network interface 610 , an NF control unit 620 , and an NF memory 630 .

The network interface 610 may provide an interface for communication with other NFs. For example, when the NF is the NEF 301 , an interface for communicating with the UDM 160 may be provided. In addition, when the NF is the UPF 110 , it may include an interface with the RAN 20 . As another example, when the NF is the SMF 130 , it may include an interface for communicating with the UPF 110 , the AMF 120 , the PCF 140 , and/or the UDM 160 . In this case, the network interface 610 may provide an interface for transmitting and receiving various control messages/signals/data described in FIGS. 4 and/or 5 . Also, even in the case of the ECS 220 and/or the EAS 212 and/or the EES 211 located in the edge data network, an interface for transmitting and receiving various control messages/signals/data may be provided.

The NF control unit 620 may control the operation of the corresponding NF. For example, when the NF is the NEF 301 or the UDM 160, the NF control unit 620 may perform a control corresponding to the operation of the NEF 301 or the UDM 160 described above with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5 . In addition, when the NF is the SMF 130 and/or the AMF 120, the NF control unit 620 may control to perform an operation corresponding to the SMF 130 and/or the AMF 120 described in FIGS. 4 to 5. have. In addition, even when the NF is the EAS 220 and/or the EAS 212 and/or the EES 211 located in the edge data network, the NF control unit 620 performs control of the operation described in FIGS. 3 to 5. can

The NF memory 630 may store information for control of the NF, information generated during control, and information necessary according to the present disclosure. For example, the NF memory 630 may store the information described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5 . For example, when the NF is the SMF 130 , ECSP information and information included in the PCO may be stored in the NF memory 630 . In addition, other NFs may receive the signal/message described in FIGS. 3 to 5 and temporarily store it or store it for future use.

In the detailed description of the present invention, although specific embodiments have been described, various modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments and should be defined not only by the claims described below, but also by the claims and equivalents.

10: UE 12: Eege Enabler Client
13: Application Client(s) 20: (R)AN
110: UPF 120: AMF
130: SMF 140: PCF
150: AF 160: UDM
170: DN 180: UDR
200 3GPP CORE NETWORK210: Edge Data Network
211: Edge Enabler server(s)
212: Edge Application server(s) 220: Edge Configuration Server
301: NEF 610: Network Interface
620: NF control unit 630: NF memory

Claims (1)

A method for setting edge computing service information in a unified data management (UDM) device of a mobile communication system, the method comprising:
Receiving Edge Computing Service Provider (ECSP) information from a Network Exposure Function (NEF) device;
storing the ECSP information as SMF-associated data;
generating an edge computing service group capable of receiving edge computing services by using subscriber information of a user device included in the ECSP information; and
Informing the NEF that the ECSP information has been successfully set; A method for setting edge computing service information in a UDM device of a mobile communication system, comprising a.

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