WO2020204443A1 - Device and method for providing analysis information considering data forwarding path when utilizing network analysis function in mobile communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a communication technique which combines a 5G communication system, for supporting higher data transmission rates than 4G systems, with IoT technology, and a system for same. The present disclosure may be applied to intelligent services (for example, smart homes, smart buildings, smart cities, smart cars or connected cars, health care, digital education, retailers, security and safety-related services, or the like) on the basis of 5G communication technology and IoT-related technology. According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a method and device are disclosed, in which an NF, AF, OAM, or RAN uses network analysis information provided by an NWDAF, the network analysis information provided in consideration of not only analysis information about a requested subject, but also additional related entities or configuration types.

Description

Apparatus and method for providing analysis information considering data transmission path when using network analysis function in mobile communication system

The present disclosure is directed to a wireless communication system. Specifically, in the present disclosure, in delivering load information that is one of network analysis information provided by Network Data Analytic Function (NWDAF) in a 5G mobile communication system, a single User Plane Function (UPF) or NF ( In addition to the load information of Network Function (network function), the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for increasing the efficiency of network operation by transferring the load of the data transmission path and the service chaining between NFs together.

Efforts have been made to develop an improved 5G (5th generation) communication system or a pre-5G communication system in order to meet the increasing demand for wireless data traffic after the commercialization of 4G (4th generation) communication systems. For this reason, the 5G communication system or the pre-5G communication system is called a Beyond 4G Network communication system or a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system (Post LTE) system.

In order to achieve a high data rate, the 5G communication system is being considered for implementation in the ultra-high frequency (mmWave) band (for example, the 60 gigabyte (60 GHz) band). In order to mitigate the path loss of radio waves in the ultra-high frequency band and increase the transmission distance of radio waves, in 5G communication systems, beamforming, massive MIMO, and Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO) ), array antenna, analog beam-forming, and large scale antenna technologies are being discussed.

In addition, in order to improve the network of the system, in 5G communication system, advanced small cell, advanced small cell, cloud radio access network (cloud RAN), ultra-dense network , Device to Device communication (D2D), wireless backhaul, moving network, cooperative communication, CoMP (Coordinated Multi-Points), and interference cancellation And other technologies are being developed.

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

Meanwhile, the Internet is evolving from a human-centered connection network in which 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 IoT technology with big data processing technology through connection with cloud servers, is also emerging. In order to implement IoT, technology elements such as sensing technology, wired/wireless communication and network infrastructure, service interface technology, and security technology are required, and recently, a sensor network for connection between objects, machine to machine , M2M), and MTC (Machine Type Communication) technologies are being studied. In the IoT environment, intelligent IT (Internet Technology) services that create new value in human life by collecting and analyzing data generated from connected objects can be provided. IoT is the field of smart home, smart building, smart city, smart car or connected car, smart grid, healthcare, smart home appliance, advanced medical service, etc. through the convergence and combination of existing IT (Information Technology) technology and various industries. Can be applied to.

Accordingly, various attempts have been made to apply a 5G communication system to an IoT network. For example, 5G communication such as a sensor network, machine to machine (M2M), and machine type communication (MTC) is being implemented by techniques such as beamforming, MIMO, and array antenna. As the big data processing technology described above, a cloud radio access network (cloud RAN) is applied as an example of the convergence of 5G technology and IoT technology.

Meanwhile, various studies to improve the efficiency of network operation by transmitting load information when the network analysis function is utilized are actively being conducted.

Network analysis information provided by NWDAF in a 5G mobile communication system may include network load information. This network load information can be used for the purpose of selecting a specific NF.

On the other hand, when an NF is selected in consideration of only a single NF or a single UPF load as the network load information, it is difficult to achieve optimization in terms of the entire system. To solve this problem, load information should be provided by considering NFs related to a specific NF together with an in-depth analysis of the causes that affect the load of a specific NF. For example, when selecting a UPF, load information must be provided by comprehensively considering the loads of UPFs constituting the entire path, not only the UPFs located in the next path.

The present disclosure proposes an apparatus and method for providing not only a specific NF load but also additionally related NF loads in NWDAF providing network analysis information related to load information. In addition, the type of network load may also be subdivided according to the criterion for selecting an NF. This disclosure proposes an apparatus and method for supporting selection of an NF optimized for a purpose by providing subdivided load information.

The technical problems to be achieved in the present disclosure are not limited to the technical problems mentioned above, and other technical problems that are not mentioned will be clearly understood by those of ordinary skill in the technical field to which the present disclosure belongs from the following description. I will be able to.

A method performed by a first entity according to an embodiment for solving the above-described technical problem is a user plane (UPF) as a second entity that performs a network data collection and analysis function (NWDAF). transmitting a first message requesting network analysis information related to (function); And receiving a second message from the second entity in response to the first message, wherein the first message is a network of at least one intermediate UPF (I-UPF) in which the first entity is connected to the UPF. And an indicator indicating that analysis information is required, and the second message includes load information on the UPF and load information on the at least one I-UPF.

A method performed by a second entity according to an embodiment for solving the above-described technical problem is to obtain network analysis information related to a user plane function (UPF) from a first entity performing a network function (NF). Receiving a requesting first message; And transmitting a second message to the first entity in response to the first message, wherein the first message comprises at least one intermediate UPF (I-UPF) network in which the first entity is connected to the UPF. And an indicator indicating that analysis information is required, and the second message includes load information on the UPF and load information on the at least one I-UPF.

According to an embodiment for solving the above technical problem, a first entity performing a network function (NF) includes: a transceiver configured to transmit and receive signals; And transmitting a first message requesting network analysis information related to a user plane function (UPF) to a second entity that performs a network data collection and analysis function (NWDAF), and from the second entity A control unit configured to receive a second message in response to the first message, and the first message requires network analysis information of at least one intermediate UPF (I-UPF) connected to the UPF by the first entity. It includes an indicator indicating that the second message includes load information on the UPF and load information on the at least one I-UPF.

According to an embodiment for solving the above-described technical problem, a second entity performing a network data collection and analysis function (NWDAF) includes: a transmission/reception unit configured to transmit and receive signals; And a first message for requesting network analysis information related to a user plane function (UPF) from a first entity performing a network function (NF), and a first message is provided to the first entity in response to the first message. 2 It includes a control unit configured to transmit a message, and the first message includes an indicator indicating that the first entity requires network analysis information of at least one intermediate UPF (I-UPF) connected to the UPF, and , The second message includes load information on the UPF and load information on the at least one I-UPF.

The apparatus and method according to various embodiments of the present disclosure may improve the efficiency of network operation by using network analysis information provided by NWDAF in selecting various NFs and data transmission paths constituting a 5G mobile communication system. . Through the present disclosure, not only a specific target but also various factors related to performing a specific operation can be considered as a complex load, so that an optimized decision can be made in the operation and management of the 5G core network. I can. Through this, it is possible to improve the operation and management efficiency of the core network and reduce the operation cost. In addition, it is possible to expand the diversity of NF selection methods suitable for network management and operation purposes by enabling selective acquisition of load information that meets the purpose of specific NF selection rather than considering only single load information.

The effects that can be obtained in the present disclosure are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art from the following description. will be.

1 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a 5G mobile communication network according to the present disclosure.

2 is a diagram illustrating a signaling procedure between NF and NWDAF related to the present disclosure.

3 is a diagram illustrating a signaling procedure between NF and NWDAF related to the present disclosure.

4 is a diagram illustrating a signaling procedure between NF and NWDAF related to the present disclosure.

5 is a diagram illustrating a signaling procedure between NF and NWDAF related to the present disclosure.

6 is a diagram illustrating a signaling procedure between NF and NWDAF related to the present disclosure.

7 is a diagram illustrating a signaling procedure using an associated UPF indication between NF and NWDAF related to the present disclosure.

8 is a diagram illustrating a signaling procedure using an individual report indication between NF and NWDAF related to the present disclosure.

9 is a diagram illustrating an individual report indication and an analysis priority signaling procedure between NF and NWDAF related to the present disclosure.

10 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a merge message between NF and NWDAF related to the present disclosure.

11 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a merge message between NF and NWDAF related to the present disclosure.

12 is a diagram illustrating a structure of an NF according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

13 is a diagram illustrating a structure of an NWDAF according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, in describing embodiments of the present disclosure, descriptions of technical content that are well known in the technical field to which the present disclosure belongs and are not directly related to the present disclosure will be omitted. This is to more clearly convey the gist of the present disclosure by omitting unnecessary description.

For the same reason, some components in the accompanying drawings are exaggerated, omitted, or schematically illustrated. In addition, the size of each component does not fully reflect the actual size. The same reference numerals are assigned to the same or corresponding components in each drawing.

Advantages and features of the present disclosure, and a method of achieving them will be apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail together with the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but may be implemented in a variety of different forms, and only these embodiments make the present disclosure complete, and those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains. It is provided to completely inform the scope of the present disclosure to the person, and the present disclosure is only defined by the scope of the claims. The same reference numerals refer to the same components throughout the specification.

At this time, it will be appreciated that each block of the flowchart diagrams and combinations of the flowchart diagrams may be executed by computer program instructions. Since these computer program instructions can be mounted on the processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer or other programmable data processing equipment, the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing equipment are described in the flowchart block(s). It creates a means to perform functions. These computer program instructions can also be stored in computer-usable or computer-readable memory that can be directed to a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to implement a function in a particular way, so that the computer-usable or computer-readable memory It is also possible to produce an article of manufacture containing instruction means for performing the functions described in the flowchart block(s). Computer program instructions can also be mounted on a computer or other programmable data processing equipment, so that a series of operating steps are performed on a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to create a computer-executable process to create a computer or other programmable data processing equipment. It is also possible for instructions to perform processing equipment to provide steps for executing the functions described in the flowchart block(s).

In addition, each block may represent a module, segment, or part of code that contains one or more executable instructions for executing the specified logical function(s). In addition, it should be noted that in some alternative execution examples, functions mentioned in blocks may occur out of order. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially simultaneously, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in reverse order depending on the corresponding function.

In this case, the term'~ unit' used in the present embodiment refers to software or hardware components such as FPGA or ASIC, and'~ unit' performs certain roles. However,'~ part' is not limited to software or hardware. The'~ unit' may be configured to be in an addressable storage medium, or may be configured to reproduce one or more processors. Thus, as an example,'~ unit' refers to components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components and task components, processes, functions, properties, and procedures. , Subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, database, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. The components and functions provided in the'~ units' may be combined into a smaller number of elements and'~ units', or may be further divided into additional elements and'~ units'. In addition, components and'~ units' may be implemented to play one or more CPUs in a device or a security multimedia card. Also, in an embodiment, the'~ unit' may include one or more processors.

In as specifically described embodiments of the present disclosure, a mobile communication standard standardization organization 3GPP (3 ^rd generation partnership project) radio access network on the 5G mobile communication standards that specify New RAN (NR) and the core mangin packet core (5G System , Or 5G Core (5GC) Network, or Next Generation Core (NG core)), but the main subject of the present disclosure is that other communication systems having a similar technical background do not significantly depart from the scope of the present disclosure. It can be applied with slight modifications in the range, which will be possible at the judgment of a person skilled in the art of the present disclosure.

For convenience of description below, some terms and names defined in the 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard (eg, 5G, NR, LTE or similar system standard) may be used. However, the present disclosure is not limited by the terms and names, and may be equally applied to systems conforming to other standards.

In addition, terms for identifying access nodes, terms for network entities (network entities), terms for messages, terms for interfaces between network entities, and various identification information used in the following description Terms and the like referring to them are exemplified for convenience of description. Therefore, it is not limited to the terms used in the present disclosure, and other terms that refer to objects having an equivalent technical meaning may be used.

The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for increasing the utilization of network analysis information by providing additional analysis information in addition to a specific target object in using network analysis information provided by NWDAF in a 5G mobile communication system. Various objects may be considered in the additionally provided information, but in particular, it may refer to information related to NFs related to providing a specific function. In particular, in the case of UPF, by providing information on neighboring UPFs constituting a specific route together, the disclosure of the disclosure to provide a method for achieving global optimization rather than local optimization in UPF selection. There is a purpose.

In order to support network automation, the 5G mobile communication system has defined NWDAF, a network function that provides a function to analyze and provide data collected from 5G network networks. NWDAF can collect/storage/analyze information from 5G networks and provide the results to unspecified NFs, and the analysis results can be used independently by each NF. NWDAF can collect and analyze network information using a network slice as a basic unit. However, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to a unit of network slice, and the NWDAF may additionally use various information such as a user equipment (UE), a protocol data unit (PDU) session, and an NF state. The results analyzed through NWDAF are delivered to each NF that requested the results, and the delivered analysis results are network management functions such as QoS (Quality of Service) guarantee/improvement, traffic control, mobility management, load balancing, and terminal power management. Can be used to optimize them.

Description of entities appearing in the present disclosure may be described as follows.

The unit that performs each function provided by the 5G network system can be defined as NF. The structure of a 5G mobile communication network is shown in FIG. 1. Representative NFs include the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 110 that manages network access and mobility of the UE, the Session Management Function 120 (SMF) that performs session-related functions, and the UPF that is responsible for delivering user data. (User Plane Function, 130), AF (Application Function) that communicates with 5GC to provide services, NEF (Network Exposure Function) that supports communication between 5GC and AF, and UDM (Unified Data Management) for data storage and management And UDR (Unified Data Repository), PCF (Policy and Control Function) that manages policies, and DN (Data Network, 140) such as the Internet through which user data is transmitted. In addition to NF, there may be OAM (Operation, Administration, and Management), a system for managing terminals and 5G mobile communication networks.

In addition, there may be a Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF) 150, which is an NF for the purpose of collecting and analyzing data. The NWDAF 150 is responsible for providing the NF by analyzing and providing information collected from the network or outside. NWDAF can collect information from OAM, NF, or AF that constitutes 5G networks. The NWDAF can collect information in a variety of ways. As a representative analysis function of NWDAF, by collecting and analyzing the load level of a network slice instance and providing it to the NSSF (Network Slice Selection Function), NSSF is used to select a network slice for a specific UE. You can do it. At this time, a service based interface defined in the 5G network is used to request analysis information or transfer analysis result values between a specific NF and NWDAF.

In 5G networks, NWDAF, which provides information collection and analysis functions, can provide the following services. Of course, it is not limited to the following examples.

Analysis Information Subscription Service (Nnwdaf_AnalyticsSubscription Service): The event subscription service enables you to subscribe and unsubscribe events generated by NWDAF. The event subscription service receives events periodically or when certain conditions are satisfied. It can be subdivided into a way to receive. The analysis information subscription service is referred to as “Nnwdaf_AnlayticsSubscription”. The “Nnwdaf_AnlayticsSubscription” service provides three operations: Subscribe, Unsubscribe, and Notify.

When a specific NF wants to subscribe (Nnwdaf_AnlayticsSubscription), the parameters that a specific NF delivers to NWDAF can be classified into inputs required and inputs, optional. According to some embodiments, mandatory input is single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI, Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information), event identifier (Event Identifier), notification destination address (Notification Target Address), event reporting information (Event reporting information). Of course, it is not limited to the above example. In addition, according to some embodiments, the selective input may include additionally necessary information for processing analysis information, and may include event filter information as a representative example. Of course, it is not limited to the above example.

In the case of the unsubscribe operation (Nnwdaf_AnlayticsSubscription_Unsubscribe), the NF delivers subscription identifier information as an essential input to the NWDAF, and the NWDAF delivers a message indicating that unsubscription has been confirmed as an output to the NF requesting the operation.

The notification operation (Nnwdaf_AnlayticsSubscription_Notify) is when the NWDAF periodically or when a specific condition is satisfied, notifies a specific event to an NF that has successfully subscribed to the event. The essential input information for the notification operation is an event identifier, a notification target address, an identifier of network slice instance, and load level information of network slice instance. ) May be included, and required output information may not be present. Of course, it is not limited to the above example.

Analysis information request service (Nnwdaf_AnalyticsInfo service): Unlike the event subscription service described above, the analysis request service may mean a service in which the NF requests analysis for specific information and receives a result value immediately after the request is completed. The operation supported by the analysis information request service consists of a request and a response. An NF requesting analysis information may send a request for analysis information to the NWDAF.

In general, the NF passes the network load information (Load level information of network slice instance), the analysis identifier (Analytic ID) and additional factors necessary for analysis to the NWDAF as mandatory inputs for the analysis information request. When the NWDAF receives a request from the NF, it sends the analysis results to the NF in response. The response sent to the NF includes load information of the requested slice.

According to the Rel-15 definition of 3GPP, the analysis information provided through the service provided by the NWDAF considered only the load information of the instance of the network slice, but the information provided by the NWDAF in this disclosure is not limited to the load information only, and the movement of the terminal. Information, terminal/service communication pattern, terminal/service prediction path (Expected moving trajectory), terminal behavioral parameter (Expected UE behavioral parameter), predicted service quality/experience (Expected QoS, Service Experience), prediction May include network performance information.

In the service interface of NWDAF defined by 3GPP, it can be confirmed that the requested analysis information identifier (Analytic ID), analysis target, analysis information filter, etc. are included when requesting network analysis information. When using network analysis information using the current interface, only limited information can be obtained for a specific object, and information on the relationship between objects or the entire system configuration cannot be obtained. For example, in the 5G core network environment shown in FIG. 1, when the SMF 120 requests the NWDAF 150 for network performance analysis information for a specific UPF for UPF selection, the data transmission path that is the purpose of UPF selection Instead of considering the whole, only the current load information expressed as a percentage of a specific UPF 130 can be acquired. The SMF 120 must repeatedly use the request/response service to the NWDAF 150 in order to obtain analysis information for each UPF. In addition, since the current network performance information only provides load information expressed as a percentage, it is difficult for the SMF 120 to apply various criteria and methods for selecting UPF. In addition, the SMF 120 for selecting the UPF has a problem in that the load of the entire path must be additionally calculated in consideration of the acquired load information of each UPF and the configuration of the network.

These problems are not only caused by the selection problem of the UPF (130) constituting the data transmission path, but the service chain by selecting NFs of various control planes such as AMF (110), SMF (120), NEF, UDM, PCF, etc. This is a problem that can occur even when (Service Chain) is formed. In particular, when the Cellular IoT is applied, the same problem may arise in selecting NFs located in the control plane in the process of transferring user data to the AF located outside through the control plane.

In order to solve the above problem, the present disclosure includes a method of additionally providing information on related objects that are not explicitly requested when an NF using NWDAF requests specific network analysis information. The use target of this additional analysis information is not limited to NF, and additional NWDAF service targets such as AF, OAM, and RAN can be considered in addition to NF.

<First Example>

In this embodiment, in the process of creating an NF group for providing a service within the control plane including a specific NEF or SMF, or targeting UPF by using Network Performance Analytic Information, the NF is limited to a single target. It relates not only to the UPF or the NF to be analyzed, but to a method of comprehensively providing the loads of the related UPF or NF.

In the situation of FIG. 1, in order to select a UPF that supports connection with a specific DN 140 in order for the SMF 120 to create a PDU session, the UPF 1 and UPF 3 connected to the (R)AN 100 are targeted. When requesting the analysis information, UPF1 may receive a response from the NWDAF 150 that UPF1 has a load of 30% and UPF2 has a load of 50%. However, when considering the load information of the path that takes into account the entire path to DN 140, the path consisting of {UPF1, UPF2, DN} has 70% load, and the path consisting of {UPF3, UPF4, DN} Case has 50% load. Therefore, as a path that can expect better performance in the entire path of the data packet, a path to the DN 140 through UPF3 is selectively advantageous. In Fig. 1, a method of selecting a UPF path from (R)AN(100) is illustrated, but the same problem may occur in the method of configuring a path by first selecting the last UPF on the path connecting to a specific DN (140). I can. In addition, the load of the link between UPFs or the interface between NFs may also be considered as an additional path factor.

In order to solve this problem, the present disclosure includes a method of adding a factor that enables the NF to receive information on a related path as an optional factor when requesting load information from the NWDAF. When a path indication targeting UPF is included as an added factor, the NWDAF provides analysis information on the entire path including a specific UPF.

For example, in FIG. 1, when the SMF 120 requests a load for UPF 1 including an additional factor in the UPF to the NWDAF 150, the NWDAF 150 additionally transmits load information of a path including UPF1. . An example of using such load information is shown in FIG. 2.

As an additional factor, source information and destination information can also be additionally provided, which aims to calculate only the required route load by limiting the target to only currently available routes in the entire route. An example of this use is shown in FIG. 3. The expression form and data structure of load information additionally delivered by NWDAF may differ depending on implementation. This problem can be applied not only to the problem of UPF selection, but also to the selection of AMF and SMF.

In steps 210 and 310, the NWDAF collects events and related data (or raw data) necessary to generate analysis information. Such data collection may be constantly collected, or a data collection process may occur after receiving a request for specific analysis information.

In steps 220 and 320, the NF that wants to use the network analysis information provided by the NWDAF sends a request for analysis information to the NWDAF. At this time, the route indication, departure location, and destination information added in the present disclosure may be additionally included in the request. The type of request may include a subscription for analysis information and a request for analysis information.

In steps 230 and 330, the NWDAF calculates analysis information for the request. NWDAF calculates the analysis information for the requested target NF. When a path indication is additionally requested in step 1, the NWDAF includes the target NF and calculates load information for a path that satisfies the request condition together.

In steps 240 and 340, the NWDAF delivers a response to the subscription and request to the NF.

<Second Example>

This embodiment includes a method of enabling the NF to explicitly request an expression format of the analysis information when requesting the analysis information from the NFDAF. The analysis information provided by the NWDAF can be provided to the NF in various forms, and the collected information required to derive the analysis information may be different rather than a simple unit conversion. For example, in the load information, the current memory usage of the UPF can be provided as load information, and the current link utilization for a specific link can be used as the load information. Therefore, if load information is provided without such a classification, there is a problem that accurate information cannot be used when NF uses the load information.

In order to solve this problem, the present disclosure includes a method of requesting a unit and detailed form of the analysis information together when the NF requests analysis information from the NWDAF. Additional factors can be transmitted including detailed metrics and units. For example, the load information of the UPF can be divided into various detailed indicators, and can be expressed as link utilization, throughput, CPU and memory usage (CPU/memory usage), power consumption, and the like. In addition, the unit may also vary according to each indicator or expression format. A method of requesting and utilizing analysis information from NWDAF by adding these additional factors is shown in FIG. 4.

In step 410, the NWDAF collects events and related data necessary to generate analysis information. Such data collection may be collected on a regular basis, or a data collection process may occur after receiving a request for specific analysis information.

In step 420, the NF wishing to use the network analysis information provided by the NWDAF sends a request for analysis information to the NWDAF. At this time, the indicators and units added in the present disclosure may be additionally included in the request. Analysis information subscription and analysis information request can be used for the type of request.

In step 430, the NWDAF calculates analysis information for the request. For the requested target NF, the requested index is calculated in the requested unit.

In step 440, the NWDAF delivers a response according to the subscription and request to the NF.

<Third Example>

The present embodiment includes a method of sending a plurality of pieces of analysis information together in a single request when the NF requests analysis information from NFDAF. In the case of NF, it may be necessary to request multiple pieces of analysis information at the same time as necessary. For example, the SMF may request the load information of the UPF in order to select the UPF, and to determine whether the currently requested PDU session is supported by a specific UPF, it may also request a communication pattern of the terminal. . In this case, each information may be dynamically and simultaneously necessary information necessary to allocate a PDU session to a specific UPF.

Therefore, when the NF sends the request information to the NWDAF, it may explicitly include a plurality of network analysis information and a delivery method of the analysis information in the request. At this time, when each of the requested analysis information about how to report and receive a plurality of analysis information is ready, the NF makes an independent response to each analysis information, or sends the requested analysis information together in a single response. Can be specified. The parameter for this response method may be added as an explicit parameter of a subscription or request, or may be added as a detailed parameter of Event Reporting Information or Network Analysis Reporting Information. The following is the definition of event report information defined in 3GPP. In the case of network analysis information, the same factors may be included based on the event report information.

[Table 1]

A method of requesting and utilizing analysis information from the NWDAF by adding these additional factors is shown in FIG. 5.

In step 510, the NWDAF collects events and related data necessary to generate analysis information. Such data collection may be constantly collected, or a data collection process may occur after receiving a request for specific analysis information.

In step 520, the NF wishing to use the network analysis information provided by the NWDAF sends a request for analysis information to the NWDAF. In this case, the request information may include a plurality of pieces of analysis information, and a response method of the analysis information may be included. Analysis information subscription and analysis information request can be used for the type of request.

In step 530, the NWDAF calculates analysis information for the request. Each requested analysis information is calculated for the requested target NF. When requested to receive a response by combining it into a single response, the NWDAF calculates all analysis information and writes the response text at once.

In step 540, the NWDAF delivers a response according to the subscription and request to the NF.

Meanwhile, the above-described embodiment may be understood as a method in which the NWDAF sends a plurality of analysis information together in a single response when the NF requests analysis information from the NFDAF.

<Fourth Example>

This embodiment includes a method for the NF to send a request to the NWDAF by using a combination of the first to third embodiments described above. The procedure using this embodiment is shown in FIG. 6.

In step 610, the NWDAF collects events and related data necessary to generate analysis information. Such data collection may be constantly collected, or a data collection process may occur after receiving a request for specific analysis information.

In step 620, the NF wishing to use the network analysis information provided by the NWDAF sends a request for analysis information to the NWDAF. In this case, the request information may include a plurality of pieces of analysis information, and a response method of the analysis information may be included. In each request, in the case of a request for load information, a load calculation request for a path and an index and a unit for calculating the load of the path may be additionally requested. Analysis information subscription and analysis information request can be used for the type of request.

In step 630, the NWDAF calculates analysis information for the request. Each requested analysis information is calculated for the requested target NF, according to the requested index and unit. When it is requested to combine in a single response and receive a response, all the analysis information is calculated and the full response is written at once.

In step 640, the NWDAF delivers a response according to the subscription and request to the NF.

<Fifth Example>

In this embodiment, when the NF requests load analysis information of a specific UPF, such as I-UPF (intermediate UPF) or UL CL (uplink classifier) or BP (Branching Point) linked to the requested UPF, Disclosed is a method of additionally providing analysis information of UPFs located between UPFs performing a PDU session anchor (PSA) function that provides a connection between a RAN and a DN.

In general, in the selection of UPF, SMF receives the list information of specific DNN (Data Network Name) or DNAI (Data Network Access Identifier) internally from OAM, or by requesting NRF (Network Repository Function). In this case, the SMF requests the selection of the UPF based on the information on the end point, such as SMF DNN or DNAIs, in the process of requesting the list of UPFs from the NRF. In this case, the existence of I-UPF Can't find Therefore, the SMF may not consider I-UPF in routing traffic (or routing of PDU sessions). For example, when a load for UPF 2 is requested in FIG. 1, the SMF cannot know whether UPF1 exists.

In order to solve this problem, the present embodiment proposes a method of transmitting information of I-UPF connected to the requested UPF when the NF requests a load for a specific UPF. At this time, the NF requesting UPF-related information requests analysis information from the NWDAF by including an indication of receiving I-UPF-related information in the request process. For a request containing such an indication, the NWDAF may include a list of I-UPFs directly connected to the requested UPF and load information together in the response and deliver. In addition, when such an indication is set as the default operation of the NWDAF, a list of I-UPFs and load information may be provided to the NF even if an explicit indication is not included in the analysis information request. This process is illustrated in FIG. 7.

In step 710, the NWDAF collects events and related data necessary to generate analysis information. Such data collection may be constantly collected, or a data collection process may occur after receiving a request for specific analysis information.

In step 720, the NF wishing to use the network analysis information provided by the NWDAF sends a request for analysis information to the NWDAF. In this case, the I-UPF indication information added in the present disclosure may be additionally included in the request. In addition, when the indication whether or not such an indication is the default setting value of NWDAF, an operation with the same effect can be performed even if the explicit indication is not included in the request process. For the type of request, analysis information subscription and analysis information request can be used.

In step 730, the NWDAF calculates analysis information for the request. Calculate analysis information for the requested target UPF. When an I-UPF indication is additionally requested in step 1, load information of the I-UPF directly connected to the target UPF is calculated together.

In step 740, the NWDAF delivers a response according to the subscription and request to the NF.

<Sixth Example>

This embodiment proposes a method of sending a plurality of pieces of analysis information together in a single response. In this case, if the response method of the NWDAF is set to send the response by default according to the internal policy, the NF requesting the analysis information explicitly requests the NWDAF to deliver the specific analysis information within a specific condition. This includes how the NF receives analysis information independently. At this time, the NF requesting the analysis information may explicitly request an independent response request indicator and response condition from the NWDAF. The independent response request indicator does not merge the results of the analysis information and receives the independent analysis information. The response condition is an explicit request that the analysis information must be delivered within a certain time. These factors may be explicitly included in the request for analysis information, or may be included in the Event Reporting Information inside the request. This procedure is shown in FIG. 8.

In step 810, the NWDAF collects events and related data necessary to generate analysis information. Such data collection may be constantly collected, or a data collection process may occur after receiving a request for specific analysis information.

In steps 820, 830, and 840, the NF wishing to use the network analysis information provided by the NWDAF sends an analysis information request. At this time, one NF may request multiple pieces of analysis information to the NWDAF. At this time, the requested analysis information may have different types, targets, and conditions of the analysis information. A plurality of requested information may have different reporting conditions. For example, in FIG. 8, the NF makes a request to the NWDAF for a plurality of pieces of analysis information targeting different UPFs. Among them, the request for analysis information targeting UPF3 was delivered by additionally including an independent response request and a condition that the analysis information response was requested within 1 second.

In step 850, the NWDAF calculates the analysis information based on the requested analysis information. At this time, the NWDAF can recognize the response condition and change the order of analysis information that should precede it.

In steps 860 and 870, the NWDAF transmits the analyzed information to the requesting NF. At this time, the analysis information that has been analyzed can be merged and transmitted according to the internal policy, and if there is an independent report request, it responds without merging.

<Seventh Example>

This embodiment proposes a method of sending a plurality of pieces of analysis information together in a single response. In this case, if the response method of the NWDAF is set to send by default in accordance with the internal policy, the NF requesting the analysis information explicitly requests the NWDAF to deliver the specific analysis information within a specific condition. It includes a method of independently receiving analysis information according to the method. At this time, the NF requesting the analysis information may explicitly request an independent response request indicator and priority from the NWDAF. The independent response request indicator is an indicator that requests the independent analysis information to be answered without merging the analysis information results. Priority is to determine the order in which the analysis request should be processed first. This priority can be determined by calculating the priority for each request NF or by calculating the priority among all requests of the entire NWDAF. The method of calculating these priorities may vary depending on the NWDAF's internal management policy. At this time, if the default value of the analysis information request is set, it can be omitted from the request. These factors may be explicitly included in the request for analysis information, or may be included in the Event Reporting Information inside the request. This procedure is shown in FIG. 9.

In step 910, the NWDAF collects events and related data necessary to generate analysis information. Such data collection may be constantly collected, or a data collection process may occur after receiving a request for specific analysis information.

In steps 920, 930, and 940, the NF wishing to use the network analysis information provided by the NWDAF sends a request for analysis information to the NWDAF. At this time, one NF may request a plurality of analysis information. At this time, the requested analysis information may have different types, targets, and conditions of the analysis information. A plurality of requested information may have different reporting conditions. For example, in FIG. 9, a request was made to the NWDAF for a plurality of pieces of analysis information targeting different UPFs. Among them, the NF forwarded the request by additionally including a condition that an independent response request and a response of analysis information with a high priority of “1” were included for analysis information targeting UPF3. On the other hand, in case of targeting UPF1 and UPF2, an independent response request is not made, and the priority is omitted because the default value is used.

In step 950, the NWDAF calculates analysis information based on the requested analysis information. At this time, in consideration of the priority, the order of the analysis information to be preceded may be changed. For example, since UPF3 has priority over UPF1 and UPF2, UPF3 is processed prior to other requests. In the present disclosure, the priority value of the request set as the default is 5, and the lower the priority is assumed to be higher. The default value and order of priority may be different depending on the implementation method.

In steps 960 and 970, the NWDAF transmits the analyzed information to the requesting NF. At this time, the analysis information that has been analyzed can be merged and transmitted according to the internal policy, and if there is an independent report request, it responds without merging.

<Example 9>

This embodiment proposes a method of expressing merged analysis information with respect to a method of sending a plurality of pieces of analysis information together in a single response. The network analysis information response provided by NWDAF may be configured to include Notification Correlation Information, Analytic ID, Related list of analytics on the requested observation period, and Optional additional information according to the 3GPP standard. Additionally, the Subscription Correlation ID may be included in the network analysis information response and transmitted. Notification Correlation ID (hereinafter referred to as NCI) is an ID assigned by the NF that makes a request to the NWDAF, and is used as information to correlate a response to a request. Subscription Correlation ID (hereinafter referred to as SCI) is an ID generated by the NWDAF or by an event provider and is a distinguisher used to change or delete a subscription request. In general, the same value can be used for NCI and SCI, but it is not necessary to use the same value.

In the present embodiment, when a plurality of responses are merged, a method of allocating a new SCI indicating the entire merged response in addition to individual analysis information is included. The newly allocated SCI may have an effect representing an individually requested analysis information subscription request. For example, when requesting to cancel a subscription targeting a merged SCI, all merged subscription requests can be canceled. This message structure is shown in FIG. 10.

<Tenth Example>

This embodiment includes a method of expressing merged analysis information with respect to a method of sending a plurality of pieces of analysis information together in a single response. The network analysis information response provided by NWDAF may consist of Notification Correlation Information, Analytic ID, Related list of analytics on the requested observation period, and Optional additional information according to the 3GPP standard. Additionally, the Subscription Correlation ID may be included in the network analysis information response and transmitted. Notification Correlation ID (hereinafter referred to as NCI) is an ID assigned by the NF that makes a request to the NWDAF, and is used as information to correlate a response to a request. Subscription Correlation ID (hereinafter referred to as SCI) is an ID generated by the NWDAF or by an event provider, and is used to change or delete a subscription request. In general, the same value can be used for NCI and SCI, but it is not necessary to use the same value.

In the present disclosure, when a plurality of responses are merged, a method of allocating the same SCI to each of the merged analysis information is included. The newly allocated SCI may have an effect representing an individually requested analysis information subscription request. For example, when requesting to cancel a subscription targeting a merged SCI, all merged subscription requests can be canceled. This message structure is shown in FIG. 11.

12 is a diagram illustrating a structure of an NF according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 12, the NF may include a transceiver 1210, an NF control unit 1220, and a memory 1230. Hereinafter, the NF control unit 1220 may be defined as a circuit or application specific integrated circuit or at least one processor.

The transceiving unit 1210 may transmit and receive signals with other network entities, and may transmit and receive signals with, for example, NWDAF and network nodes of other core networks.

The NF control unit 1220 may generally control the operation of the NF according to the above-described embodiment. For example, the NF controller 1220 may control a signal flow between blocks to perform an operation according to the above-described drawings and flow charts.

The memory 1230 may store at least one of information transmitted and received through the transmission/reception unit 1210 and information generated through the NF control unit 1220.

13 is a diagram illustrating a structure of an NWDAF according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 13, the NWDAF may include a transmission/reception unit 1310, an NWDAF control unit 1320, and a memory 1330. In the present disclosure, the NWDAF control unit 1320 may be defined as a circuit or an application-specific integrated circuit or at least one processor.

The transmission/reception unit 1310 may transmit and receive signals to and from other network entities, for example, may transmit and receive signals to and from network nodes of NF and other core networks.

The NWDAF controller 1320 may control the overall operation of the NWDAF according to the embodiment proposed in the present disclosure. For example, the NWDAF controller 1320 may control a signal flow between blocks to perform an operation according to the drawings and flow charts described above.

The memory 1330 may store at least one of information transmitted and received through the transmission/reception unit 1310 and information generated through the NWDAF control unit 1320.

The embodiments disclosed in the present specification and the drawings above are merely specific examples to easily describe the contents of the present disclosure and to aid understanding, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, of course, some or all of a specific embodiment among the various embodiments described above may be performed in combination with some or all of one or more other embodiments. Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure should be construed as including all changes or modified forms derived from the present disclosure in addition to the embodiments disclosed herein are included in the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims (15)

1. In a method performed by a first entity performing a network function (NF) in a wireless communication system,

   Transmitting a first message for requesting network analysis information related to a user plane function (UPF) to a second entity performing a network data collection and analysis function (NWDAF); And

   Receiving, from the second entity, a second message in response to the first message,

   The first message includes an indicator indicating that the first entity needs network analysis information of at least one I-UPF (intermediate UPF) connected to the UPF,

   Wherein the second message includes load information for the UPF and load information for the at least one I-UPF.
2. The method of claim 1,

   When the first message includes an indicator indicating that the first entity requires network analysis information of a path including the UPF, the second message includes load information on the UPF and load information on the path. Includes,

   When the first message includes source information and destination information, the second message includes the source information and load information for one or more routes determined by the destination information.
3. The method of claim 1,

   If the first message includes a first indicator for requesting to respond to the network analysis information related to the UPF in an independent transmission without merging with other network analysis information and a second indicator indicating a response condition of the independent transmission, The second message is received to meet the response condition without being merged with other network analysis information.
4. The method of claim 1,

   If the first message includes a first indicator requesting a response to the network analysis information related to the UPF by independent transmission without merging with other network analysis information and a second indicator indicating the priority of the independent transmission, The second message is not merged with other network analysis information and is received in an order determined according to the priority.
5. In a method performed by a second entity performing a network data collection and analysis function (NWDAF) in a wireless communication system,

   Receiving, from a first entity performing a network function (NF), a first message requesting network analysis information related to a user plane function (UPF); And

   And transmitting, to the first entity, a second message in response to the first message,

   The first message includes an indicator indicating that the first entity needs network analysis information of at least one I-UPF (intermediate UPF) connected to the UPF,

   Wherein the second message includes load information for the UPF and load information for the at least one I-UPF.
6. The method of claim 5,

   When the first message includes an indicator indicating that the first entity requires network analysis information of a path including the UPF, the second message includes load information on the UPF and load information on the path. Includes,

   When the first message includes source information and destination information, the second message includes the source information and load information for one or more routes determined by the destination information.
7. The method of claim 5,

   If the first message includes a first indicator for requesting to respond to the network analysis information related to the UPF in an independent transmission without merging with other network analysis information and a second indicator indicating a response condition of the independent transmission, The second message is transmitted to meet the response condition without being merged with other network analysis information,

   If the first message includes a first indicator requesting a response to the network analysis information related to the UPF by independent transmission without merging with other network analysis information and a second indicator indicating the priority of the independent transmission, The second message is not merged with other network analysis information and is transmitted in an order determined according to the priority.
8. In a first entity performing a network function (NF) in a wireless communication system,

   A transmission/reception unit configured to transmit and receive signals; And

   Transmits a first message requesting network analysis information related to a user plane function (UPF) to a second entity performing a network data collection and analysis function (NWDAF), and the second entity Includes a control unit configured to receive a second message in response to the first message,

   The first message includes an indicator indicating that the first entity needs network analysis information of at least one I-UPF (intermediate UPF) connected to the UPF,

   The second message includes load information on the UPF and load information on the at least one I-UPF.
9. The method of claim 8,

   When the first message includes an indicator indicating that the first entity requires network analysis information of a path including the UPF, the second message includes load information on the UPF and load information on the path. Includes,

   When the first message includes source information and destination information, the second message includes the source information and load information for one or more routes determined by the destination information.
10. The method of claim 8,

    If the first message includes a first indicator for requesting to respond to the network analysis information related to the UPF in an independent transmission without merging with other network analysis information and a second indicator indicating a response condition of the independent transmission, The second message is received to satisfy the response condition without being merged with other network analysis information.
11. The method of claim 8,

    If the first message includes a first indicator requesting a response to the network analysis information related to the UPF by independent transmission without merging with other network analysis information and a second indicator indicating the priority of the independent transmission, The first entity, wherein the second message is not merged with other network analysis information and is received in an order determined according to the priority.
12. In a method performed by a second entity performing a network data collection and analysis function (NWDAF) in a wireless communication system,

    A transmission/reception unit configured to transmit and receive signals; And

    A first message for requesting network analysis information related to a user plane function (UPF) is received from a first entity performing a network function (NF), and a second message is received by the first entity in response to the first message. Including a control unit set to transmit a message,

    The first message includes an indicator indicating that the first entity needs network analysis information of at least one I-UPF (intermediate UPF) connected to the UPF,

    The second message includes load information on the UPF and load information on the at least one I-UPF.
13. The method of claim 12,

    When the first message includes an indicator indicating that the first entity requires network analysis information of a path including the UPF, the second message includes load information on the UPF and load information on the path. Includes,

    If the first message includes source information and destination information, the second message includes the source information and load information for one or more routes determined by the destination information.
14. The method of claim 12,

    If the first message includes a first indicator for requesting to respond to the network analysis information related to the UPF in an independent transmission without merging with other network analysis information and a second indicator indicating a response condition of the independent transmission, The second message is transmitted to meet the response condition without being merged with other network analysis information.
15. The method of claim 12,

    If the first message includes a first indicator requesting a response to the network analysis information related to the UPF by independent transmission without merging with other network analysis information and a second indicator indicating the priority of the independent transmission, The second entity, wherein the second message is not merged with other network analysis information and is transmitted in an order determined according to the priority.

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