WO2022007896A1

WO2022007896A1 - Method and apparatus for group message delivery

Info

Publication number: WO2022007896A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/105247
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bo Zhang; Zhiqiang LONG; Jingrui TAO
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
Priority date: 2020-07-09
Filing date: 2021-07-08
Publication date: 2022-01-13

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide methods and apparatuses for group message delivery. A method at an exposure function entity comprises receiving data for group delivery from a first device. The method further comprises sending the data for group delivery to at least one second device based on at least one group message delivery parameter and/or at least one group message filtering parameter.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GROUP MESSAGE DELIVERY

TECHNICAL FIELD

The non-limiting and exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the technical field of communications, and specifically to methods and apparatuses for group message delivery.

BACKGROUND

This section introduces aspects that may facilitate a better understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is in the prior art or what is not in the prior art.

In a communication network such as 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) network, an exposure function entity such as service capability exposure function (SCEF) or network exposure function (NEF) or an SCEF+NEF provides a means to securely expose the services and capabilities provided by a 3GPP network. The detail of SCEF has been defined in 3GPP TS 23.682 V16.6.0, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. The detail of NEF has been defined in 3GPP TS 23.501 V16.4.0, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. NEF may inherit the functions from SCEF. For example, the architecture for SCEF and/or NEF may enable the 3GPP network to securely expose its services and capabilities provided by the 3GPP network interfaces to an external 3rd party service provider such as services capability server/an application server (SCS/AS) or application function (AF) entity hosting an application (s) .

There may be multiple one-to-many message delivery mechanisms for various standards such as 2G (second generation) , 3G, 4G, 5G, etc. For example, 3GPP TS 23.041 V16.3.0, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, specified the GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) , UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) , EPS (Evolved Packet System) and 5GS (fifth generation system) Cell Broadcast short message service which may provide one-to-many geo-targeted and geo-fenced messaging service. 3GPP TS 23.682 V16.6.0 specified two methods of Group Message Delivery, which allows an SCS/AS to deliver a payload to a group of UEs (user equipments) via SCEF:

- Group Message Delivery via MBMS (Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service) which is intended to efficiently distribute a same content to at least one member of a group that is located in a particular geographical area when MBMS is used;

- Group Message Delivery via unicast MT (Mobile Terminated) NIDD (Non-IP (Internet protocol) Data Delivery) for UEs which are belongs to the same group identified by an External Group Identifier.

For Group MT NIDD via unicast MT NIDD, the SCS/AS must perform an NIDD configuration procedure for the external group identifier. The SCEF queries an HSS (Home Subscriber Server) to resolve the group members and forks the message by sending it in a unicast manner to all the individual UEs that are associated with the external group identifier when it receives a Group MT NIDD request from the SCS/AS.

3GPP TS 23.682 V16.6.0 also specified Monitoring Events feature which is intended for monitoring of specific events in a 3GPP system and making such monitoring events information available to SCS/AS via the SCEF. With the Monitoring Events feature feature, SCS/AS can get respective identifier (ExternalId (External Identifier) or MSISDN (Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number) ) of UEs present in a geographical area via SCEF.

SUMMARY

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

There are some problems for the existing group message delivery. For example, Cell Broadcast short message service is applicable for text message only and is not designed for some scenarios such as CIoT scenario. The group message delivery using MBMS has limited applicability and does not support some scenarios, e.g., UEs not supporting MBMS, UEs located in areas where MBMS is not deployed. SCEF Group Message Delivery via MBMS depends on an extra network function MBMS deployment and supporting from UE. Additionally, it can only broadcast message based on location information. SCEF/NEF Group Message Delivery via unicast MT NIDD can only broadcast message to a fixed, pre-provisioned group of UEs natively.

Taking a use case for example, a UE detects an accident and wants to notify smart city CIoT (Cellular IoT (Internet of Things) ) UEs, e.g. electronic bulletin board, smart lighting sensor, traffic load sensor, which are close to the location of the accident. With the SCEF Group Message Delivery solution, the following procedure may implement the use case:

-The UE sends NIDD MO (Mobile Originated) data to SCS/AS to report the accident;

-SCS/AS gets the location of the UE by location monitoring event feature through SCEF;

-SCS/AS gets a list of UEs which are in the geographic area of the accident by “Number of UEs present -in a geographic area” monitoring event subscription and event reporting;

-SCS/AS sends the incident information to each individual UE one by one through the unicast MT NIDD. Therefore may be a larger message load in the network and the throughput of network may be decreased. Please note that the SCS/AS may not send the accident information to each individual UE through the Group MT NIDD since the list of UEs which are in the geographic area of the accident may not belong to an existing group.

The existing group message delivery is not designed for some scenarios such as dynamic group message delivery. For example, there may be many dynamic group message delivery use cases in industry, for example, storage incompatibility detection: warning emission on containers storing inflammable goods closed to others containing explosive material, and perimeter access control: access control to restricted areas and detection of people/things in non-authorized areas.

Although SCS/AS can utilize 3GPP specified unicast MT NIDD procedure and monitoring event procedure to deliver message to a dynamic group of UEs, it requires complicated interaction between SCS/AS and operator network. Most of the SCS/AS provider is not competent to implement such a complicated solution. Moreover, the increasing of IoT devices at the edge of the network is producing a massive amount of data to be computed to data centers and SCS/AS, pushing network bandwidth requirements to the limit.

FIG. 1a shows a group message delivery procedure according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

At step 1, SCS/AS may initiate a NIDD configuration procedure for all interested UEs.

At step 2.1, UE-3 reports an accident to SCEF via a Mobile Management Entity (MME) through a MO NIDD procedure.

At step 2.2, SCEF forwards the accident MO message to a destination SCS/AS per the NIDD configuration provisioned by SCS/AS performed in step 1.

At step 3, SCS/AS gets UE-3 location information, e.g. cellId, through SCEF/NEF monitoring event procedure.

At step 4, SCS/AS passes the UE-3 location information to SCEF to get identifier list of UEs collocated in the same location as UE-3.

At step 5.1, SCS/AS repeats the unicast MT NIDD procedure to deliver the accident message to SCEF for all UEs (UE-1, UE-2, …UE-N) .

At step 5.2, SCEF sends the MT NIDD message to each individual UE. The message delivery may fail if the UE is inactive due to PSM (Power Saving Mode) or eDRX (Extended Discontinuous Reception) . SCS/AS/SCEF needs retransmit the message after the UEs get active.

Since the unicast MT NIDD procedure is repeated to deliver the accident message to SCEF for all UEs unicast MT NIDD procedure, there may be a larger message load in the network and the throughput of network may be decreased.

To overcome or mitigate at least one above mentioned problems or other problems, the embodiments of the present disclosure propose an improved group message delivery procedure.

In a first aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a method at an exposure function entity. The method comprises receiving data for group delivery from a first device. The method further comprises sending the data for group delivery to at least one second device based on at least one group message delivery parameter and/or at least one group message filtering parameter.

In an embodiment, the at least one group message delivery parameter may comprise at least one of at least one access point name; at least one application identifier; at least one reliable data service (RDS) port; at least one user equipment (UE) identifier; at least one group UE identifier; at least one device type; location information; or at least one customized filtering information.

In an embodiment, the method may further comprise receiving a configuration request for a device or a group of devices from an application function entity. The configuration request includes the at least one group message delivery parameter. The method may further comprise sending a configuration response to the application function entity.

In an embodiment, the application function entity may be an Application Function (AF) or Services Capability Server/Application Server (SCS/AS) .

In an embodiment, the at least one group message delivery parameter may be used to authorize at least one other device to send a group message to the device or the group of devices.

In an embodiment, the at least one group message filtering parameter may comprise at least one of at least one access point name, at least one application identifier; at least one reliable data service (RDS) port, at least one user equipment (UE) identifier; at least one group UE identifier, at least one device type; location information, or at least one customized filtering information.

In an embodiment, the data for group delivery may be received from the first device together with the at least one group message filtering parameter.

In an embodiment, the at least one group message filtering parameter may be used to configure the data for group delivery can be sent to which device or which devices.

In an embodiment, the first device may be a user equipment (UE) .

In an embodiment, the at least one second device may comprise at least one of at least one user equipment (UE) , at least one Application Function (AF) or at least one Services Capability Server/Application Server (SCS/AS) .

In an embodiment, the exposure function entity may be a service capability exposure function (SCEF) or a network exposure function (NEF) or an SCEF+NEF.

In an embodiment, when the first device is a user equipment, the data for group delivery may be received from the first device via a Mobile Management Entity (MME) or a Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN) or a Session Management Function (SMF) together with an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) .

In an embodiment, the method may further comprise receiving a message for switching to a group delivery mode from the first device. The method further comprises applying (404) the group delivery mode to the data for group delivery from the first device.

In a second aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a method at a first device. The method comprises obtaining data for group delivery. The method further comprises sending the data for group delivery to an exposure function entity. The data for group delivery is to be sent to at least one second device based on at least one group message delivery parameter and/or at least one group message filtering parameter.

In an embodiment, the data for group delivery is sent to the exposure function entity together with the at least one group message filtering parameter.

In an embodiment, when the first device is a user equipment (UE) , the data for group delivery is sent to the exposure function entity via a Mobile Management Entity (MME) or a Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN) or a Session Management Function (SMF) together with an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) .

In an embodiment, the method may further comprise sending a message for switching to a group delivery mode to the exposure function entity.

In a third aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a method at an application function entity. The method comprises sending a configuration request for a device or a group of devices to an exposure function entity, wherein the configuration request includes at least one group message delivery parameter. The method further comprises receiving a configuration response from the exposure function entity.

In an embodiment, the device or the group of devices is a user equipment (UE) or a group of UEs.

In a fourth aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a method at a third device. The method comprises receiving data for group delivery from a user equipment (UE) . The method further comprises determining at least one first group message filtering parameter. The method further comprises sending a message including the data for group delivery and at least one group message filtering parameter including the at least one first group message filtering parameter to an exposure function entity.

In an embodiment, the data for group delivery is received from the UE together with at least one second group message filtering parameter and the at least one group message filtering parameter further includes the at least one second group message filtering parameter.

In an embodiment, the at least one second group message filtering parameter comprises at least one of at least one access point name; at least one application identifier, at least one reliable data service (RDS) port, at least one user equipment (UE) identifier; at least one group UE identifier, at least one device type; location information, or at least one customized filtering information.

In an embodiment, the at least one first group message filtering parameter comprises location information of the UE.

In an embodiment, the third device is a Mobile Management Entity (MME) or a Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN) or an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) .

In a fifth aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an exposure function entity. The exposure function entity comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. Said memory contains instructions executable by said processor. Said exposure function entity is operative to receive data for group delivery from a first device. Said exposure function entity is further operative to send the data for group delivery to at least one second device based on at least one group message delivery parameter and/or at least one group message filtering parameter.

In a sixth aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a first device. The first device comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. Said memory contains instructions executable by said processor. Said first device is operative to obtain data for group delivery. Said first device is operative to send the data for group delivery to an exposure function entity. The data for group delivery is to be sent to at least one second device based on at least one group message delivery parameter and/or at least one group message filtering parameter.

In a seventh aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an application function entity. The application function entity comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. Said memory contains instructions executable by said processor. Said application function entity is operative to send a configuration request for a device or a group of devices to an exposure function entity, wherein the configuration request includes at least one group message delivery parameter. Said application function entity is operative to receive a configuration response from the exposure function entity.

In an eighth aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a third device. The third device comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. Said memory contains instructions executable by said processor. Said third device is operative to receive data for group delivery from a user equipment (UE) . Said third device is further operative to determine at least one first group message filtering parameter. Said third device is further operative to send a message including the data for group delivery and at least one group message filtering parameter including the at least one first group message filtering parameter to an exposure function entity.

In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an exposure function entity. The exposure function entity comprises a first receiving module and a first sending module. The first receiving module may be configured to receive data for group delivery from a first device. The first sending module may be configured to send the data for group delivery to at least one second device based on at least one group message delivery parameter and/or at least one group message filtering parameter.

In an embodiment, the exposure function entity may further comprise a second receiving module and a second sending module. The second receiving module may be configured to receive a configuration request for a device or a group of devices from an application function entity. The configuration request includes the at least one group message delivery parameter. The second sending module may be configured to send a configuration response to the application function entity..

In an embodiment, the exposure function entity may further comprise a third receiving module and an applying module. The third receiving module may be configured to receive a message for switching to a group delivery mode from the first device. The applying module may be configured to apply the group delivery mode to the data for group delivery from the first device.

In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a first device. The first device comprises an obtaining module and a first sending module. The obtaining module may be configured to obtain data for group delivery. The first sending module may be configured to send the data for group delivery to an exposure function entity. The data for group delivery is to be sent to at least one second device based on at least one group message delivery parameter and/or at least one group message filtering parameter.

In an embodiment, the first device comprises a second sending module. The second sending module may be configured to send a message for switching to a group delivery mode to the exposure function entity.

In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an application function entity. The application function entity comprises a sending module and a receiving module. The sending module may be configured to send a configuration request for a device or a group of devices to an exposure function entity, wherein the configuration request includes at least one group message delivery parameter. The receiving module may be configured to receive a configuration response from the exposure function entity.

In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided is a third device. The third device comprises a receiving module, a determining module and a sending module. The receiving module may be configured to receive data for group delivery from a user equipment (UE) . The determining module may be configured to determine at least one first group message filtering parameter. The sending module may be configured to send a message including the data for group delivery and at least one group message filtering parameter including the at least one first group message filtering parameter to an exposure function entity.

In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a computer program product, comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods according to the first, second, third and fourth aspects of the disclosure.

In another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods according to the first, second, third and fourth aspects of the disclosure.

Embodiments herein afford many advantages, of which a non-exhaustive list of examples follows. In some embodiments herein, there is provided an efficient and flexible way to broadcast message from one UE to many UEs. In some embodiments herein, a simplified interaction between the exposure function entity such as SCEF and the application function entity such as SCS/AS for one-to-many message delivery provide value for IoT service provider to build/maintain applications efficiently. In some embodiments herein, the simplified interaction improves response time and saves the network bandwidth. In some embodiments herein, the flexibility is provided for the application function entity such as SCS/AS to define the broadcast target UE group through various individual filtering conditions and their combination, e.g. location, IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) , software version, RAT type, APN, or even AS/SCS self-defined tags. The embodiments herein are not limited to the features and advantages mentioned above. A person skilled in the art will recognize additional features and advantages upon reading the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and benefits of various embodiments of the present disclosure will become more fully apparent, by way of example, from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals or letters are used to designate like or equivalent elements. The drawings are illustrated for facilitating better understanding of the embodiments of the disclosure and not necessarily drawn to scale, in which:

FIG. 1a shows a group message delivery procedure according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGs. 1b, 1c and 1d show some system architectures in which the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9a shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9b shows an example of NIDD configurations according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10a shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10b shows an example of NIDD configurations according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an apparatus suitable for practicing some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing an exposure function entity according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a first device according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing an application function entity according to an embodiment of the disclosure; and

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing a third device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that these embodiments are discussed only for the purpose of enabling those skilled persons in the art to better understand and thus implement the present disclosure, rather than suggesting any limitations on the scope of the present disclosure. Reference throughout this specification to features, advantages, or similar language does not imply that all of the features and advantages that may be realized with the present disclosure should be or are in any single embodiment of the disclosure. Rather, language referring to the features and advantages is understood to mean that a specific feature, advantage, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the described features, advantages, and characteristics of the disclosure may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize that the disclosure may be practiced without one or more of the specific features or advantages of a particular embodiment. In other instances, additional features and advantages may be recognized in certain embodiments that may not be present in all embodiments of the disclosure.

As used herein, the term “network” refers to a network following any suitable (wireless or wired) communication standards. For example, the wireless communication standards may comprise new radio (NR) , long term evolution (LTE) , LTE-Advanced, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) , high-speed packet access (HSPA) , Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) , Time Division Multiple Address (TDMA) , Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) , Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) , Single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) and other wireless networks. A CDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) , etc. UTRA includes WCDMA and other variants of CDMA. A TDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) . An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA) , Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) , IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) , IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX) , IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMA, Ad-hoc network, wireless sensor network, etc. In the following description, the terms “network” and “system” can be used interchangeably. Furthermore, the communications between two devices in the network may be performed according to any suitable communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the wireless communication protocols as defined by a standard organization such as 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) or the wired communication protocols. For example, the wireless communication protocols may comprise the first generation (1G) , 2G, 3G, 4G, 4.5G, 5G communication protocols, and/or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future.

The term “entity” used herein refers to a network device or network node or network function in a communication network. For example, in a wireless communication network such as a 3GPP-type cellular network, a core network device may offer numerous services to customers who are interconnected by an access network device. Each access network device is connectable to the core network device over a wired or wireless connection.

The term “network function” refers to any suitable function which can be implemented in a network entity (physical or virtual) of a communication network. For example, a network function can be implemented either as a network element on a dedicated hardware, as a software instance running on a dedicated hardware, or as a virtualized function instantiated on an appropriate platform, e.g. on a cloud infrastructure. For example, the 5G system (5GS) may comprise a plurality of NFs such as AMF (Access and mobility Function) , SMF (Session Management Function) , AUSF (Authentication Service Function) , UDM (Unified Data Management) , PCF (Policy Control Function) , AF (Application Function) , NEF (Network Exposure Function) , UPF (User plane Function) and NRF (Network Repository Function) , RAN (radio access network) , SCP (service communication proxy) , NWDAF (network data analytics function) , etc. For example, the 4G system (such as LTE) may include MME (Mobile Management Entity) , HSS (home subscriber server) , SCEF, etc. In other embodiments, the network function may comprise different types of NFs for example depending on the specific network.

The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that can access a communication network and receive services therefrom. By way of example and not limitation, the terminal device refers to a mobile terminal, user equipment (UE) , or other suitable devices. The UE may be, for example, a Subscriber Station (SS) , a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS) , or an Access Terminal (AT) . The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a portable computer, an image capture terminal device such as a digital camera, a gaming terminal device, a music storage and a playback appliance, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a tablet, a wearable device, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , a portable computer, a desktop computer, a wearable terminal device, a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a laptop-embedded equipment (LEE) , a laptop-mounted equipment (LME) , a USB dongle, a smart device, a wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE) and the like. In the following description, the terms “terminal device” , “terminal” , “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably. As one example, a terminal device may represent a UE configured for communication in accordance with one or more communication standards promulgated by the 3GPP, such as 3GPP’ LTE standard or NR standard. As used herein, a “user equipment” or “UE” may not necessarily have a “user” in the sense of a human user who owns and/or operates the relevant device. In some embodiments, a terminal device may be configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a terminal device may be designed to transmit information to a network on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the communication network. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but that may not initially be associated with a specific human user.

As yet another example, in an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, a terminal device may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and/or measurements to another terminal device and/or network equipment. The terminal device may in this case be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as a machine-type communication (MTC) device. As one particular example, the terminal device may be a UE implementing the 3GPP narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) standard. Particular examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or home or personal appliances, for example refrigerators, televisions, personal wearables such as watches etc. In other scenarios, a terminal device may represent a vehicle or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

References in the specification to “one embodiment, ” “an embodiment, ” “an example embodiment, ” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

It shall be understood that although the terms “first” and “second” etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed terms.

As used herein, the phrase “at least one of A and B” should be understood to mean “only A, only B, or both A and B. ” The phrase “A and/or B” should be understood to mean “only A, only B, or both A and B. ”

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a” , “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” , “comprising” , “has” , “having” , “includes” and/or “including” , when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and/or combinations thereof.

It is noted that these terms as used in this document are used only for ease of description and differentiation among nodes, devices or networks etc. With the development of the technology, other terms with the similar/same meanings may also be used.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

It is noted that some embodiments of the present disclosure are mainly described in relation to the cellular network as defined by 3GPP being used as non-limiting examples for certain exemplary network configurations and system deployments. As such, the description of exemplary embodiments given herein specifically refers to terminology which is directly related thereto. Such terminology is only used in the context of the presented non-limiting examples and embodiments, and does naturally not limit the present disclosure in any way. Rather, any other system configuration or radio technologies such as wireless sensor network may equally be utilized as long as exemplary embodiments described herein are applicable.

FIGs. 1b, 1c and 1d show some system architectures in which the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. For simplicity, the system architectures of FIGs. 1b, 1c and 1d only depict some exemplary elements. In practice, a communication system may further include any additional elements suitable to support communication between terminal devices or between a wireless device and another communication device, such as a landline telephone, a service provider, or any other network node or terminal device. The communication system may provide communication and various types of services to one or more terminal devices to facilitate the terminal devices’ access to and/or use of the services provided by, or via, the communication system.

FIG. 1b schematically shows a high level architecture in a 4G network, which is same as Figure 4.2-1a of 3GPP TS 23.682 V16.6.0, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. The system architecture of FIG. 1b may comprise some exemplary elements such as SCS, AS, SCEF, HSS (home subscriber server) , UE, RAN (Radio Access Network) , SGSN (Serving GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) Support Node) , MME (Mobile Management Entity) , MSC (Mobile Switching Centre) , S-GW (Serving Gateway) , GGSN/P-GW (Gateway GPRS Support Node/PDN (Packet Data Network) Gateway) , MTC-IWF (Machine Type Communications-InterWorking Function) CDF/CGF (Charging Data Function/Charging Gateway Function) , MTC-AAA (Machine Type Communications-authentication, authorization and accounting) , SMS-SC/GMSC/IWMSC (Short Message Service-Service Centre/Gateway MSC/InterWorking MSC) IP-SM-GW (Internet protocol Short Message Gateway) . The network elements and interfaces as shown in FIG. 1b may be same as the corresponding network elements and interfaces as described in 3GPP TS 23.682 V16.6.0.

FIG. 1c schematically shows a high level architecture in a 5G network, which is same as Figure 4.2.3-1 of 3GPP TS 23.501 V16.4.0, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. The system architecture of FIG. 1c may comprise some exemplary elements such as AMF, SMF, AUSF, UDM, PCF, AF, NEF, UPF and NRF, (R) AN, SCP, etc. The network elements, reference points and interfaces as shown in FIG. 1c may be same as the corresponding network elements, reference points and interfaces as described in 3GPP TS 23.501 V16.4.0.

FIG. 1d schematically shows a high level architecture for service exposure for EPC (evolved packet core) -5GC (5G core) interworking, which is same as Figure 4.3.5.1 1 of 3GPP TS 23.501 V16.4.0. For example, if the UE is capable of mobility between EPS (evolved packet system) and 5GS (5G system) , the network is expected to associate the UE with an SCEF+NEF node for service capability exposure. The system architecture of FIG. 1d may comprise some exemplary elements such as AF/AS, SCEF+NEF, EPC node, NF, etc. The network elements and interfaces as shown in FIG. 1d may be same as the corresponding network elements and interfaces as described in 3GPP TS 23.501 V16.4.0.

The exposure function entity such as SCEF and NEF may provide a means to securely expose the services and capabilities provided by the network (such as 3GPP network) interfaces. The exposure function entity may provide a means for the discovery of the exposed services and capabilities. The exposure function entity may provide access to network capabilities through network application programming interfaces (e.g. Network APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) ) . The exposure function entity may abstract the services from the underlying network interfaces and protocols.

There may be various kinds of network exposure services. For example, monitoring capability may used be for monitoring of specific event for a terminal device in a network such as 4G/5G system and making such monitoring events information available for external exposure via the exposure function entity such as SCEF/NEF. The provisioning capability may used be for allowing external party to provision of information which can be used for the terminal device such as UE in the network such as 4G/5G system. The policy/charging capability may used be for handling QoS (quality of service) and charging policy for the terminal device such as UE based on the request from an external party. The analytics reporting capability may used be for allowing an external party to fetch or subscribe/unsubscribe to analytics information generated by the network such as 4G/5G system. Data capability may used be for allowing an external party to communicate with a terminal device such as UE via an application programming interface.

In an embodiment, the exposure function entity may support network exposure function and network exposure services as described in 3GPP TS 23.501 V16.4.0 (such as clause 6.2.5, clause 7.2.8 of 3GPP TS 23.501 V16.4.0) .

In an embodiment, the exposure function entity may support the network exposure function as described in clause 4.4.8 of 3GPP TS 23.682 V16.6.0 (such as clause 4.4.8) .

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of a method 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which may be performed by an apparatus implemented in or at or as an exposure function entity (such as SCEF, NEF or SCEF+NEF) or communicatively coupled to the exposure function entity. As such, the apparatus may provide means or modules for accomplishing various parts of the method 200 as well as means or modules for accomplishing other processes in conjunction with other components.

At block 202, the exposure function entity receives data for group delivery from a first device. The first device may be any suitable device which requires to send data to a group of devices. For example, the first device may be a UE. The first device may be an SCS/AS. The first device may be an AF. The data for group delivery may be any suitable data such as text data, video data, voice data, etc. In an embodiment, the data for group delivery may be Non IP data.

At block 204, the exposure function entity sends the data for group delivery to at least one second device based on at least one group message delivery parameter and/or at least one group message filtering parameter. The second device may be any suitable device. For example, the second device may be a UE. The second device may be an SCS/AS. The second device may be an AF. In an embodiment, the at least one second device comprises at least one of at least one UE, at least one AF or at least one SCS/AS.

The at least one group message filtering parameter may include any suitable parameter which can be used to configure the data for group delivery can be sent to which device or which devices. In an embodiment, the at least one group message filtering parameter comprises at least one of at least one access point name; at least one application identifier; at least one reliable data service (RDS) port; at least one user equipment (UE) identifier; at least one group UE identifier; at least one device type; location information; or at least one customized filtering information.

The at least one group message delivery parameter (or dynamic group message delivery parameter) may be configured for a single device (such as UE) or a group of devices. The at least one group message delivery parameter may include any suitable parameter which can be used to configure whether a group message from other device can be sent to the single device or the group of devices. In an embodiment, the at least one group message delivery parameter may be used to authorize at least one other device to send a group message to the device or the group of devices. In an embodiment, the at least one group message delivery parameter may comprise at least one of at least one access point name (APN) ; at least one application identifier; at least one reliable data service (RDS) port; at least one user equipment (UE) identifier; at least one group UE identifier; at least one device type; location information; or at least one customized filtering information. For example, the at least one group message delivery parameter may include the allowed APN (s) and/or application Identifier (s) and/or RDS port. Only the dynamic broadcast MO message comes from the allowed RDS port and/or application (s) and/or APN (s) can be delivered to the device or the group of devices.

The at least one group message delivery parameter may be obtained by the exposure function entity in various ways. For example, the exposure function entity may obtain the at least one group message delivery parameter from a network function such as SCS/AS or AF.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of a method 300 according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, which may be performed by an apparatus implemented in or at or as an exposure function entity (such as SCEF, NEF or SCEF+NEF) or communicatively coupled to the exposure function entity. As such, the apparatus may provide means or modules for accomplishing various parts of the method 300 as well as means or modules for accomplishing other processes in conjunction with other components.

At block 302, the exposure function entity receives a configuration request for a device or a group of devices from an application function entity. The configuration request includes the at least one group message delivery parameter. The device may be any suitable device. For example, the device or the group of devices may be a UE or a group of UEs. In an embodiment, the application function entity may be SCS/AS or AF.

At block 304, the exposure function entity sends a configuration response to the application function entity.

In an embodiment, the exposure function entity such as SCS/AS may configure NIDD for at least one UE with the at least one group message delivery parameter via a single or group UE NIDD configuration procedure as specified by 3GPP TS 23.682 V16.6.0. For example, the configuration request may be an NIDD Configuration Request and the configuration response may be an NIDD Configuration Response.

In an embodiment, the exposure function entity such as AF may configure NIDD for at least one UE with the at least one group message delivery parameter via a single or group UE NIDD configuration procedure as specified by 3GPP TS 23.502 V16.4.0, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. For example, the configuration request may be an Nnef_NIDDConfiguration_Create Request message and the configuration response may be an Nnef_NIDDConfiguration_Create Response.

In an embodiment, the exposure function entity may send the data for group delivery to at least one second device based on at least one group message delivery parameter. For example, the AF or SCS/AS may send the at least one group message delivery parameter to the NEF or SCEF or NEF+SCEF which may create and store at least one NIDD configuration for group message delivery. Later when the NEF or SCEF or NEF+SCEF receives the data for group delivery from the first device, the NEF or SCEF or NEF+SCEF may send the data for group delivery based on the at least one NIDD configuration for group message delivery. For example, when the data for group delivery matches the at least one NIDD configuration for group message delivery, the NEF or SCEF or NEF+SCEF may know that the data for group delivery is a broadcast or multicast message, the NEF or SCEF or NEF+SCEF send the data for group delivery based on the at least one NIDD configuration for group message delivery. For example, the NEF or SCEF or NEF+SCEF may not send the data for group delivery to AF or SCS/AS and broadcast the data for group delivery to other UEs according to the at least one NIDD configuration for group message delivery. When the NEF or SCEF or NEF+SCEF knows that the data from the first device is not a broadcast or multicast message, it may follow standard MO NIDD procedure.

In an embodiment, the exposure function entity may send the data for group delivery to at least one second device based on at least one group message filtering parameter. For example, the first device may send the data for group delivery and at least one group message filtering parameter to the NEF or SCEF or NEF+SCEF, the NEF or SCEF or NEF+SCEF may know that the data for group delivery is a broadcast or multicast message, the NEF or SCEF or NEF+SCEF may send the data for group delivery based on at least one group message filtering parameter.

In an embodiment, the exposure function entity may send the data for group delivery to at least one second device based on at least one group message filtering parameter and at least one group message delivery parameter. For example, the AF or SCS/AS may send the at least one group message delivery parameter to the NEF or SCEF or NEF+SCEF which may create and store at least one NIDD configuration for group message delivery. The first device may send the data for group delivery and at least one group message filtering parameter to the NEF or SCEF or NEF+SCEF. The NEF or SCEF or NEF+SCEF may know that the data for group delivery is a broadcast or multicast message, the NEF or SCEF or NEF+SCEF may send the data for group delivery based on at least one group message filtering parameter and the at least one NIDD configuration for group message delivery.

In an embodiment, the first device is a UE, the data for group delivery may be received from the first device via a Mobile Management Entity (MME) or a Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN) or a Session Management Function (SMF) together with an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) . For example, As shown in FIG. 1b, the data for group delivery may be received from the first device such as UE via a MME or a SGSN. As shown in FIG. 1c, the data for group delivery may be received from the first device such as UE via the SMF together with the AMF.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of a method 400 according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, which may be performed by an apparatus implemented in or at or as an exposure function entity (such as SCEF, NEF or SCEF+NEF) or communicatively coupled to the exposure function entity. As such, the apparatus may provide means or modules for accomplishing various parts of the method 400 as well as means or modules for accomplishing other processes in conjunction with other components.

At block 402, the exposure function entity receives a message for switching to a group delivery mode from the first device. For example, the first device may send an application specific message or SMS (Short Message Service) to the exposure function entity to switch to the group delivery mode, such as switching the UE MO data delivery mode from UE-to-AS mode to UE-to-UE mode. The message may include the at least one group message filtering parameter such as target single/group UE Id (identifier) , device type, UE RDS port, etc. The application specific message or SMS is understood by the first device and the exposure function entity.

At block 404, the exposure function entity applies the group delivery mode to the data for group delivery from the first device. For example, when the the exposure function entity receives data for group delivery from the first device, the exposure function entity may send the data for group delivery to at least one second device based on at least one group message delivery parameter and/or at least one group message filtering parameter.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of a method 500 according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, which may be performed by an apparatus implemented in or at or as a first device or communicatively coupled to the first device. As such, the apparatus may provide means or modules for accomplishing various parts of the method 500 as well as means or modules for accomplishing other processes in conjunction with other components. For some parts which have been described in the above embodiments, detailed description thereof is omitted here for brevity.

At block 502, optionally, the first device sends a message for switching to a group delivery mode to the exposure function entity. For example, the exposure function entity may received this message at block 402 of FIG. 4. In other embodiment, the first device may send a message for switching to any other suitable delivery mode to the exposure function entity.

At block 504, the first device obtains data for group delivery. In an embodiment, the first device may be a UE or terminal device. In other embodiments, the first device may be a SCS/AS or AF, etc. The first device may obtain the data for group delivery in various ways. For example, the first device may obtain the data for group delivery by itself or from another device. In an embodiment, when the first device is SCS/AS or AF, the SCS/AS or AF may obtain the data for group delivery from a UE or other information source such as Internet. It is noted that block 502 may be performed before or after block 504.

In an embodiment, when the first device is a UE, the data for group delivery is sent to the exposure function entity via a MME or a SGSN or a SMF together with an AMF.

At block 506, the first device sends the data for group delivery to an exposure function entity. The data for group delivery is to be sent to at least one second device based on at least one group message delivery parameter and/or at least one group message filtering parameter as described above.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of a method 600 according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, which may be performed by an apparatus implemented in or at or as an application function entity or communicatively coupled to the application function entity. As such, the apparatus may provide means or modules for accomplishing various parts of the method 600 as well as means or modules for accomplishing other processes in conjunction with other components. For some parts which have been described in the above embodiments, detailed description thereof is omitted here for brevity. The application function entity may be an AF or an SCS/AS.

At block 602, the application function entity sends a configuration request for a device (such as UE) or a group of devices (such as a group of UEs) to an exposure function entity such as NEF, SCEF or NEF+SCEF. The configuration request includes at least one group message delivery parameter. For example, the application function entity may send the configuration request for a device or a group of devices to the exposure function entity and then the exposure function entity may receive the configuration request at block of 302 of FIG. 3.

At block 604, the application function entity receive a configuration response from the exposure function entity. For example, the exposure function entity may send the configuration response at block of 304 of FIG. 3 and then the application function entity receive the configuration response from the exposure function entity.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of a method 700 according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, which may be performed by an apparatus implemented in or at or as a third device or communicatively coupled to the third device. As such, the apparatus may provide means or modules for accomplishing various parts of the method 700 as well as means or modules for accomplishing other processes in conjunction with other components. For some parts which have been described in the above embodiments, detailed description thereof is omitted here for brevity. In an embodiment, the third device may be a MME or a SGSN or an AMF. In other embodiments, the third device may be any other suitable device.

At block 702, the third device receives data for group delivery from a UE. For example, in 4G network, the third device such as MME may receive the data for group delivery from a UE via RAN. In 5G network, the third device such as AMF may receive the data for group delivery from a UE via (R) AN.

At block 704, the third device determines at least one first group message filtering parameter. The at least one first group message filtering parameter may include any suitable parameter (s) which can be used to configure the data for group delivery can be sent to which device or which devices. In an embodiment, the at least one first group message filtering parameter may comprise location information of the UE. For example, before the third device such as MME sends the data for group delivery to an exposure function entity such as SCEF or NEF or SCEF+NEF, the third device fetches the UE location information such as Cell ID. In addition, the third device may already maintain location information such as UE cell id.

At block 706, the third device sends a message including the data for group delivery and at least one group message filtering parameter including the at least one first group message filtering parameter to an exposure function entity such as NEF, SCEF or SCEF+NEF.

In an embodiment, the data for group delivery may be received from the UE together with at least one second group message filtering parameter and the at least one group message filtering parameter further includes the at least one second group message filtering parameter.

The at least one second group message filtering parameter may include any suitable parameter (s) which can be used to configure the data for group delivery can be sent to which device or which devices. In an embodiment, the at least one second group message filtering parameter may comprise at least one of at least one access point name; at least one application identifier; at least one reliable data service (RDS) port; at least one user equipment (UE) identifier; at least one group UE identifier; at least one device type; location information; or at least one customized filtering information.

FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

At step 1, SCS/AS may configure a dynamic group NIDD for all UEs or at least one UE. For example, as described above, SCS/AS may send a configuration request for a device or a group of devices to SCEF. The configuration request may include at least one group message delivery parameter. SCS/AS may receive a configuration response from the SCEF.

At step 2, UE-3 reports accident information via a MO NIDD. In addition, UE-3 may send at least one group message filtering parameter such as UE specific information, e.g. geographic information (such as cellId, eNodeB) , RAT (Radio Access Technology) type, or UE device type, to SCEF through a NIDD MO procedure. The group message filtering parameter such as geographic information (such as cellId, eNodeB) may be added by MME.

At steps 3-1, 3-2, …3-N, SCEF may send a message including the accident information to all the target UEs. For example, SCEF may figure out the broadcast target UEs based on the at least one group message delivery parameter and/or at least one group message filtering parameter, e.g. present in the same cell area, with same firmware/software version or same RAT type, and then SCEF may send the message including the accident information to all the target UEs through the unicast MT NIDD procedure. Comparing with the solution as shown in FIG. 1a, the message load in the network and the throughput of network according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may be improved.

FIG. 9a shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

In this embodiment, UE can send the dynamic group message delivery filtering parameters along with the data to SCEF through a protocol, such as RDS. MME can also append additional filtering parameters to SCEF through extension AVP (attribute-value pair) in ODR (MO-Data-Request) command. A known destination RDS port (e.g. zero) of SCEF can be used to receive the dynamic group broadcast message from UE. SCEF can extract the filtering information from the MO data e.g. RDS header and/or extension AVP in ODR command from MME, then send the data to all UEs according to the filtering information through the unicast MT NIDD procedure.

For example, UE can detect an event and send the MO data (e.g., event message) with device type included in a protocol between UE and SCEF, e.g. RDS, to MME. MME may send an ODR command including the MO data with filtering information and provide the UE location information, e.g. Cell-Id, to SCEF. Then SCEF may broadcast the MO data (event message) to other UEs based on the filtering information, for example, within the same cell and with the same device type. The details procedure is shown as below.

At step 900, SCS/AS configures NIDD for all UEs with dynamic group message delivery parameter via a single or group UE NIDD configuration procedure as specified in clause 5.13.2 of 3GPP TS23.682 V16.6.0. The dynamic group message delivery parameter may include the allowed APN (s) and/or application Identifier (s) and/or RDS port, etc. Only the dynamic broadcast MO message comes from the allowed RDS port and/or application (s) and/or APN (s) can be delivered to the UE. It is used to authorize other UEs to send dynamic group message to the UE or a group of UEs.

FIG. 9b shows an example of NIDD configurations according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 9b, three NIDD configurations are created and stored in SCEF. NIDD Configuration#1 includes allowed APN=coke in the dynamic group message delivery parameter. NIDD Configuration#2 includes allowed APN=kola in the dynamic group message delivery parameter. That means that UE2 and UE3 are granted to send the dynamic broadcast message to UE1 through the PDN Connection with APN coke. UE1 is also granted to send the dynamic broadcast message to UE2 and UE3 through the PDN Connection with APN kola.

At step 901, the report UE detects an event and wants to broadcast it to other UEs with the same device type and located in the same Cell. The report UE prepares the filtering parameters such as target single/group UE Id, device type, UE RDS port, etc.

At step 902, UE can optionally send an application specific message or SMS to SCEF to switch UE MO data delivery mode from UE-to-AS mode to UE-to-UE mode with the at least one filtering parameter such as target single/group UE Id, device type, UE RDS port. The application specific message or SMS is understood by UE and SCEF.

At step 903, UE sends a NIDD Submit Request (non-IP data) to the MME/SGSN with the filtering information through RDS header included in the Non-IP data. Step 903 is similar to step 1 of clause 5.13.4 of 3GPP TS23.682 V16.6.0. The filtering information through RDS header may be not required if step 902 is performed.

At step 904, before MME sends the NIDD Submit Request to SCEF, MME may fetch the UE location information such as Cell ID. In an embodiment, MME may already maintain location information such as UE cell id.

At step 905, MME/SGSN sends the NIDD MO Submit Request (UE Location such as Cell ID, non-IP data with filtering information within RDS header, etc) to the SCEF. The UE location information can be optionally carried by a new AVP named Cell-Id in ODR command provided by MME. The filtering information through RDS header may be not required if step 902 is performed.

At step 906, when the SCEF receives the NIDD MO Submit Request on the T6a/T6b interface, and finds an SCEF EPS bearer context and the related NIDD configuration. The SCEF checks the group event delivery filtering criteria and subscription, for example, if step 902 is performed and/or MO message include some filtering information in RDS header for dynamic group message delivery, it means it is a broadcast message, SCEF may not send it to SCS/AS. The SCEF may follow

steps

907, 908 and 909 to broadcast the event to other UEs according to the filtering criteria, e.g. with same Cell-Id and device type, RDS port (for specific application in UE) . Otherwise, SCEF may follow a standard MO NIDD procedure.

SCEF may use following procedure to determine the candidate target UEs for message broadcast:

a. Retrieves APN and/or application Id and/or RDS port from the NIDD configuration associated with the UE sending this MO submit request;

b. Finds all NIDD configurations with dynamic group message delivery parameter which contains the APN and/or application Id and/or RDS port retrieved from step a.

c. Further filters the target UEs with the UE device type, firmware/software version, and other filtering information, e.g. target UE Id (s) , or target external Group Id (s) , from the MO message request.

At step 907, SCEF sends NIDD MO Submit Response to MME/SGSN. For example, SCEF may follow a standard MO NIDD procedure (e.g., step 5) in clause 5.13.4 of 3GPP TS23.682 V16.6.

At step 908, if the filtering information includes location information and external group Id, SCEF can fetch the Id list of all UEs within the specified group and located in the same Cell through “Number of UEs present in a geographic area” procedure as described in clause 5.6.2.3 of 3GPP TS23.682 V16.6.0.

At step 909, SCEF filters the UE list retrieved in step 908 with the device type received in step 902 or step 905, then performs steps 3-9 of the Mobile Terminated NIDD procedure (see clause 5.13.3 of 3GPP TS23.682 V16.6.0) for each individual UE in the filtered UE/UE group list figured out in step 906. For the target UEs which are temporary unreachable due to power saving function, e.g. PSM or eDRX, SCEF can buffer the data and retransmit it when they become reachable.

In an embodiment, a new IE (information element) “Dynamic Group Message Delivery Parameter” may be added in NiddConfiguration DataType in T8 interface (between SCS/AS and SCEF) .

In an embodiment, a new IE “Cell-Identify” may be added in ODR message in T6 interface (between MME/SGSN and SCEF) .

In an embodiment, a new protocol or an extended existing RDS protocol may be used to pass the broadcast filtering information from UE to exposure function entity such as SCEF.

FIG. 10a shows a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

In this embodiment, UE can send the dynamic group message delivery filtering parameters along with the data to NEF through a protocol, such as RDS. AMF can also append additional filtering parameters to NEF through extension AVP (attribute-value pair) in ODR (MO-Data-Request) command. A known destination RDS port (e.g. zero) of NEF can be used to receive the dynamic group broadcast message from UE. NEF can extract the filtering information from the MO data e.g. RDS header and/or extension AVP in ODR command from AMF, then send the data to all UEs according to the filtering information through the unicast MT NIDD procedure.

For example, UE can detect an event and send the MO data (e.g., event message) with device type included in a protocol between UE and NEF, e.g. RDS, to AMF. AMF may send an ODR command including the MO data with filtering information and provide the UE location information, e.g. Cell-Id, to NEF. Then NEF may broadcast the MO data (event message) to other UEs based on the filtering information, for example, within the same cell and with the same device type. The details procedure is shown as below.

At step 1000, AF configures NIDD for all UEs with dynamic group message delivery parameter via a single or group UE NIDD configuration procedure as specified by clause 5.13.2 of 3GPP TS 23.682 V16.6.0. The dynamic group message delivery parameter shall include the allowed APN (s) and/or application Identifier (s) and/or RDS port. Only the dynamic broadcast MO message comes from the allowed RDS port and/or application (s) and/or APN (s) can be delivered to the UE. It is used to authorize other UEs to send a dynamic group message to the UE or the UE group.

FIG. 10b shows an example of NIDD configurations according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 10b, three NIDD configurations are created and stored in NEF. NIDD Configuration#1 includes allowed APN=coke in the dynamic group message delivery parameter. NIDD Configuration#2 includes allowed APN=kola in the dynamic group message delivery parameter. That means that UE2 and UE3 are granted to send dynamic broadcast message to UE1 through the PDN Connection with APN coke. UE1 is also granted to send dynamic broadcast message to UE2 and UE3 through the PDN Connection with APN kola.

At step 1001, UE detects an event and want to broadcast it to other UEs with the same device type and located in the same Cell, UE prepares the filtering parameters such as target single/group UE Id, device type, UE RDS port.

At step 1002, UE can optionally send an application specific message or SMS to NEF to switch UE MO data delivery mode from UE-to-AS mode to UE-to-UE mode with the filtering parameters such as target single/group UE Id, device type, UE RDS port. The application specific message or SMS is understood by UE and SCEF.

At step 1003, UE sends a NAS message to SMF with unstructured data (non-IP data with the filtering information through RDS header) according to steps 1-3 of the procedure for UPF anchored Mobile Originated Data Transport in Control Plane CIoT 5GS Optimisation (see clause 4.24.1 of 3GPP TS 23.502 V16.4.0) .

Note: the filtering information through RDS header is not required if step 1002 is performed.

At step 1004, AMF fetches the UE location information such as Cell ID. AMF maintains UE location information such as UE cell id in the UE context (see clause 5.2.2.2.2 in 3GPP TS 23.502 V16.4.0) .

At step 1005, AMF sends the MO data and UE location information to SMF through Nsmf_PDUSession_SendMOData service operation. SMF forwards the received MO data and UE location information to NEF through Nnef_SMContext_Delivery Request (UE Location such as Cell ID, User Identity, PDU session ID, unstructured data with filtering information within RDS header) . The UE location information can be optionally carried by a new field named UeLocationInfo in Nnef_SMContext_Delivery Request service API provided by SMF.

At step 1006, when the NEF receives the Nnef_SMContext_Delivery Request, and finds an NEF PDU Session context and the related NIDD configuration, it checks the group event delivery filtering criteria and subscription, for example, if step 1002 is performed or MO message include some filtering information in RDS header for dynamic group message delivery, it means it is a broadcast message, NEF shall not send it to AF, just follow

steps

1007, 1008 and 1009 to broadcast the event to other UEs according to the filtering criteria, e.g. with same Cell-Id and device type, RDS port (for specific application in UE) . Otherwise, follow standard MO NIDD procedure.

NEF shall using following procedure to determine the candidate target UEs for message broadcast:

-Retrieves APN and/or application Id and/or RDS port from the NIDD configuration associated with the UE sending this NAS message;

-Finds all NIDD configurations with Dynamic Group Message Delivery Parameter which contains the APN and/or application Id and/or RDS port retrieved from step a.

-Further filters the target UEs with the UE device type, firmware/software version, and other filtering information, e.g. target UE Id (s) , or target external Group Id (s) , from the MO message request.

At step 1007, NEF sends Nnef_SMContext_Delivery Response to the SMF, following NEF Anchored Mobile Originated Data Transport procedure step 6 in clause 4.25.4 of 3GPP TS 23.502 V16.4.0

At step 1008, if the filtering information includes location information and external group Id, NEF can fetch the Id list of all UEs within the specified group and located in the same Cell through “Number of UEs present in a geographical area” event described in clause 4.15.3.1 of 3GPP TS 23.502 V16.4.0.

At step 1009, NEF filters the UE List retrieved in step 1008 with the device type received in step 1002 or step 1005, then performs steps 3-16 of NEF Anchored Mobile Terminated Data Transport procedure (see clause 4.25.5 of 3GPP TS 23.502 V16.4.0) for each individual UE in the filtered UE/UE group list figured out in step6. For the target UEs which are temporary unreachable due to power saving function, e.g. PSM or eDRX, NEF can buffer the data and retransmit it when they become reachable.

The messages as shown in FIG. 10a may be similar to the corresponding message as described in 3GPP TS 23.502 V16.4.0.

In an embodiment, a new IE “Dynamic Group Message Delivery Parameter” may be added in NiddConfiguration DataType in T8 interface (between AF and NEF) .

In an embodiment, a new IE named “UeLocationInfo” may be added in Nnef_SMContext_Delivery Request (between SMF and NEF) .

In an embodiment, a new IE named “UeLocationInfo” may be added in Nsmf_PDUSession_SendMOData Request (between AMF and SMF) .

In an embodiment, a new protocol or extend existing RDS protocol to pass the broadcast filtering information to NEF from UE.

The various blocks shown in FIGs. 2-8, 9a and 10a may be viewed as method steps, and/or as operations that result from operation of computer program code, and/or as a plurality of coupled logic circuit elements constructed to carry out the associated function (s) . The schematic flow chart diagrams described above are generally set forth as logical flow chart diagrams. As such, the depicted order and labeled steps are indicative of specific embodiments of the presented methods. Other steps and methods may be conceived that are equivalent in function, logic, or effect to one or more steps, or portions thereof, of the illustrated methods. Additionally, the order in which a particular method occurs may or may not strictly adhere to the order of the corresponding steps shown.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an apparatus suitable for practicing some embodiments of the disclosure. For example, any one of the exposure function entity, the first device, the application function entity and the third device described above may be implemented as or through the apparatus 1100.

The apparatus 1100 comprises at least one processor 1121, such as a digital processor (DP) , and at least one memory (MEM) 1122 coupled to the processor 1121. The apparatus 1120 may further comprise a transmitter TX and receiver RX 1123 coupled to the processor 1121. The MEM 1122 stores a program (PROG) 1124. The PROG 1124 may include instructions that, when executed on the associated processor 1121, enable the apparatus 1120 to operate in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure. A combination of the at least one processor 1121 and the at least one MEM 1122 may form processing means 1125 adapted to implement various embodiments of the present disclosure.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by computer program executable by one or more of the processor 1121, software, firmware, hardware or in a combination thereof.

The MEM 1122 may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memories and removable memories, as non-limiting examples.

The processor 1121 may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples.

In an embodiment where the apparatus is implemented as or at the exposure function entity, the memory 1122 contains instructions executable by the processor 1121, whereby the exposure function entity operates according to any step of any of the methods related to the exposure function entity as described above.

In an embodiment where the apparatus is implemented as or at the first device, the memory 1122 contains instructions executable by the processor 1121, whereby the first device operates according to any step of the methods related to the first device as described above.

In an embodiment where the apparatus is implemented as or at the application function entity, the memory 1122 contains instructions executable by the processor 1121, whereby the application function entity operates according to any step of the methods related to the application function entity as described above.

In an embodiment where the apparatus is implemented as or at the third device, the memory 1122 contains instructions executable by the processor 1121, whereby the third device operates according to any step of the methods related to the third device as described above.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing an exposure function entity according to an embodiment of the disclosure. As shown, the exposure function entity 1200 comprises a first receiving module 1202 and a first sending module 1204. The first receiving module 1202 may be configured to receive data for group delivery from a first device. The first sending module 1204 may be configured to send the data for group delivery to at least one second device based on at least one group message delivery parameter and/or at least one group message filtering parameter.

In an embodiment, the exposure function entity 1200 may further comprise a second receiving module 1206 and a second sending module 1208. The second receiving module 1206 may be configured to receive a configuration request for a device or a group of devices from an application function entity, wherein the configuration request includes the at least one group message delivery parameter. The second sending module 1208 may be configured to send a configuration response to the application function entity. In an embodiment, the exposure function entity 1200 may further comprise a third receiving module 1210 and an applying module 1212. The third receiving module 1210 may be configured to receive a message for switching to a group delivery mode from the first device. The applying module 1212 may be configured to apply the group delivery mode to the data for group delivery from the first device.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a first device according to an embodiment of the disclosure. As shown, the first device 1300 comprises an obtaining module 1302 and a first sending module 1304. The obtaining module 1302 may be configured to obtain data for group delivery. The first sending module 1304 may be configured to send the data for group delivery to an exposure function entity. The data for group delivery is to be sent to at least one second device based on at least one group message delivery parameter and/or at least one group message filtering parameter.

In an embodiment, the first device 1300 comprises a second sending module 1306. The second sending module 1306 may be configured to send a message for switching to a group delivery mode to the exposure function entity.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing an application function entity according to an embodiment of the disclosure. As shown, the application function entity 1400 comprises a sending module 1402 and a receiving module 1404. The sending module 1402 may be configured to send a configuration request for a device or a group of devices to an exposure function entity, wherein the configuration request includes at least one group message delivery parameter. The receiving module 1404 may be configured to receive a configuration response from the exposure function entity.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing a third device according to an embodiment of the disclosure. As shown, the third device 1500 comprises a receiving module 1502, a determining module 1504 and a sending module 1506. The receiving module 1502 may be configured to receive data for group delivery from a user equipment (UE) . The determining module 1504 may be configured to determine at least one first group message filtering parameter. The sending module 1506 may be configured to send a message including the data for group delivery and at least one group message filtering parameter including the at least one first group message filtering parameter to an exposure function entity.

The term unit or module may have conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices and/or electronic devices and may include, for example, electrical and/or electronic circuitry, devices, modules, processors, memories, logic solid state and/or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for carrying out respective tasks, procedures, computations, outputs, and/or displaying functions, and so on, as such as those that are described herein.

With function units, the exposure function entity, the first device, the application function entity or the third device may not need a fixed processor or memory, any computing resource and storage resource may be arranged from the exposure function entity, the first device, the application function entity or the third device in the communication system. The introduction of virtualization technology and network computing technology may improve the usage efficiency of the network resources and the flexibility of the network.

According to an aspect of the disclosure it is provided a computer program product being tangibly stored on a computer readable storage medium and including instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods as described above.

According to an aspect of the disclosure it is provided a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods as described above.

In addition, the present disclosure may also provide a carrier containing the computer program as mentioned above, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium. The computer readable storage medium can be, for example, an optical compact disk or an electronic memory device like a RAM (random access memory) , a ROM (read only memory) , Flash memory, magnetic tape, CD-ROM, DVD, Blue-ray disc and the like.

The techniques described herein may be implemented by various means so that an apparatus implementing one or more functions of a corresponding apparatus described with an embodiment comprises not only prior art means, but also means for implementing the one or more functions of the corresponding apparatus described with the embodiment and it may comprise separate means for each separate function or means that may be configured to perform one or more functions. For example, these techniques may be implemented in hardware (one or more apparatuses) , firmware (one or more apparatuses) , software (one or more modules) , or combinations thereof. For a firmware or software, implementation may be made through modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein.

Exemplary embodiments herein have been described above with reference to block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods and apparatuses. It will be understood that each block of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, respectively, can be implemented by various means including computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks.

Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, while several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the subject matter described herein, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any implementation or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments of particular implementations. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination. Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a sub-combination or variation of a sub-combination.

It will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that, as the technology advances, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways. The above described embodiments are given for describing rather than limiting the disclosure, and it is to be understood that modifications and variations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as those skilled in the art readily understand. Such modifications and variations are considered to be within the scope of the disclosure and the appended claims. The protection scope of the disclosure is defined by the accompanying claims.

Claims

A method (200) at an exposure function entity, comprising:

receiving (201) data for group delivery from a first device; and

sending (202) the data for group delivery to at least one second device based on at least one group message delivery parameter and/or at least one group message filtering parameter.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one group message delivery parameter comprises at least one of:

at least one access point name;

at least one application identifier;

at least one reliable data service (RDS) port;

at least one user equipment (UE) identifier;

at least one group UE identifier;

at least one device type;

location information; or

at least one customized filtering information.
The method according to any of claims 1-2, further comprising

receiving (302) a configuration request for a device or a group of devices from an application function entity, wherein the configuration request includes the at least one group message delivery parameter; and

sending (304) a configuration response to the application function entity.
The method according to claim 3, wherein the application function entity is an Application Function (AF) or Services Capability Server/Application Server (SCS/AS) .
The method according to any of claims 1-4, wherein the at least one group message delivery parameter is used to authorize at least one other device to send a group message to the device or the group of devices.
The method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the at least one group message filtering parameter comprises at least one of:

at least one access point name;

at least one application identifier;

at least one reliable data service (RDS) port;

at least one user equipment (UE) identifier;

at least one group UE identifier;

at least one device type;

location information; or

at least one customized filtering information.
The method according to any of claims 1-6, wherein the data for group delivery is received from the first device together with the at least one group message filtering parameter.
The method according to any of claims 1-7, wherein the at least one group message filtering parameter is used to configure the data for group delivery can be sent to which device or which devices.
The method according to any of claims 1-8, wherein the first device is a user equipment (UE) .
The method according to any of claims 1-9, wherein the at least one second device comprises at least one of at least one user equipment (UE) , at least one Application Function (AF) or at least one Services Capability Server/Application Server (SCS/AS) .
The method according to any of claims 1-10, wherein the exposure function entity is a service capability exposure function (SCEF) or a network exposure function (NEF) or an SCEF+NEF.
The method according to any of claims 1-11, wherein when the first device is a user equipment, the data for group delivery is received from the first device via a Mobile Management Entity (MME) or a Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN) or a Session Management Function (SMF) together with an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) .
The method according to any of claims 1-12, further comprising:

receiving (402) a message for switching to a group delivery mode from the first device; and

applying (404) the group delivery mode to the data for group delivery from the first device.
A method (500) at a first device, comprising:

obtaining (504) data for group delivery; and

sending (506) the data for group delivery to an exposure function entity,

wherein the data for group delivery is to be sent to at least one second device based on at least one group message delivery parameter and/or at least one group message filtering parameter.
The method according to claim 14, wherein the data for group delivery is sent to the exposure function entity together with the at least one group message filtering parameter.
The method according to claim 15, wherein the at least one group message delivery parameter comprises at least one of:

at least one access point name;

at least one application identifier;

at least one reliable data service (RDS) port;

at least one user equipment (UE) identifier;

at least one group UE identifier;

at least one device type;

location information; or

at least one customized filtering information.
The method according to any of claims 14-16, wherein the at least one group message delivery parameter is used to authorize at least one other device to send a group message to the device or the group of devices.
The method according to any of claims 14-17, wherein the at least one second device is at least one of at least one user equipment (UE) , at least one Application Function (AF) or at least one Services Capability Server/Application Server (SCS/AS) .
The method according to any of claims 14-18, wherein the at least one group message filtering parameter comprises at least one of:

at least one access point name;

at least one application identifier;

at least one reliable data service (RDS) port;

at least one user equipment (UE) identifier;

at least one group UE identifier;

at least one device type;

location information; or

at least one customized filtering information.
The method according to any of claims 14-19, wherein the at least one group message filtering parameter is used to configure the data for group delivery can be sent to which device or which devices.
The method according to any of claims 14-20, wherein the first device is a user equipment (UE) .
The method according to any of claims 14-21, wherein the exposure function entity is a service capability exposure function (SCEF) or a network exposure function (NEF) or an SCEF+NEF.
The method according to any of claims 14-22, wherein when the first device is a user equipment (UE) , the data for group delivery is sent to the exposure function entity via a Mobile Management Entity (MME) or a Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN) or a Session Management Function (SMF) together with an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) .
The method according to any of claims 14-23, further comprising:

sending (502) a message for switching to a group delivery mode to the exposure function entity.
A method (600) at an application function entity, comprising:

sending (602) a configuration request for a device or a group of devices to an exposure function entity, wherein the configuration request includes at least one group message delivery parameter; and

receiving (604) a configuration response from the exposure function entity.
The method according to claim 25, wherein the at least one group message delivery parameter comprises at least one of:

at least one access point name;

at least one application identifier;

at least one reliable data service (RDS) port;

at least one user equipment (UE) identifier;

at least one group UE identifier;

at least one device type;

location information; or

at least one customized filtering information.
The method according to any of claims 25-26, wherein the at least one group message delivery parameter is used to authorize at least one other device to send a group message to the device or the group of devices.
The method according to any of claims 25-27, wherein the device or the group of devices is a user equipment (UE) or a group of UEs.
The method according to any of claims 25-28, wherein the exposure function entity is a service capability exposure function (SCEF) or a network exposure function (NEF) or an SCEF+NEF.
The method according to any of claims 25-29, wherein the application function entity is an Application Function (AF) or Services Capability Server/Application Server (SCS/AS) .
A method (700) at a third device, comprising:

receiving (702) data for group delivery from a user equipment (UE) ;

determining (704) at least one first group message filtering parameter; and

sending (706) a message including the data for group delivery and at least one group message filtering parameter including the at least one first group message filtering parameter to an exposure function entity.
The method according to claim 31, wherein the data for group delivery is received from the UE together with at least one second group message filtering parameter and the at least one group message filtering parameter further includes the at least one second group message filtering parameter.
The method according to claim 32, wherein the at least one second group message filtering parameter comprises at least one of:

at least one access point name;

at least one application identifier;

at least one reliable data service (RDS) port;

at least one user equipment (UE) identifier;

at least one group UE identifier;

at least one device type;

location information; or

at least one customized filtering information.
The method according to any of claims 31-33, wherein the at least one first group message filtering parameter comprises location information of the UE.
The method according to any of claims 31-34, wherein the at least one group message filtering parameter is used to configure the data for group delivery can be sent to which device or which devices.
The method according to any of claims 31-35, wherein the exposure function entity is a service capability exposure function (SCEF) or a network exposure function (NEF) or an SCEF+NEF.
The method according to any of claims 31-36, wherein the third device is a Mobile Management Entity (MME) or a Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN) or an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) .
An exposure function entity (1100) , comprising:

a processor (1121) ; and

a memory (1122) coupled to the processor (1121) , said memory (1122) containing instructions executable by said processor (1121) , whereby said exposure function entity (1100) is operative to:

receive data for group delivery from a first device; and

send the data for group delivery to at least one second device based on at least one group message delivery parameter and/or at least one group message filtering parameter.
The exposure function entity according to claim 38, wherein the exposure function entity is further operative to perform the method of any one of claims 2 to 13.
A first device (1100) , comprising:

a processor (1121) ; and

a memory (1122) coupled to the processor (1121) , said memory (1122) containing instructions executable by said processor (1121) , whereby said first device (1100) is operative to:

obtain data for group delivery; and

send the data for group delivery to an exposure function entity,

wherein the data for group delivery is to be sent to at least one second device based on at least one group message delivery parameter and/or at least one group message filtering parameter.
The first device according to claim 40, wherein the first device is further operative to perform the method of any one of claims 15 to 24.
An application function entity (1100) , comprising:

a processor (1121) ; and

a memory (1122) coupled to the processor (1121) , said memory (1122) containing instructions executable by said processor (1121) , , whereby said application function entity (1100) is operative to:

send a configuration request for a device or a group of devices to an exposure function entity, wherein the configuration request includes at least one group message delivery parameter; and

receive a configuration response from the exposure function entity.
The application function entity according to claim 42, wherein the application function entity is further operative to perform the method of any one of claims 26 to 30.
A third device (1100) , comprising:

a processor (1121) ; and

a memory (1122) coupled to the processor (1121) , said memory (1122) containing instructions executable by said processor (1121) , whereby said third device (1100) is operative to:

receive data for group delivery from a user equipment (UE) ;

determine at least one first group message filtering parameter; and

send a message including the data for group delivery and at least one group message filtering parameter including the at least one first group message filtering parameter to an exposure function entity.
The third device according to claim 44, wherein the third device is further operative to perform the method of any one of claims 32 to 37.
A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 37.
A computer program product comprising instructions which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method according to any of claims 1 to 37.