WO2022094039A1 - Computing offloading for next generation cellular networks - Google Patents

Abstract

Various embodiments may generally relate to wireless communications and, in particular, to enabling computing offloading in next-generation cellular networks. Other embodiments may be disclosed or claimed.

Description

COMPUTING OFFLOADING FOR NEXT GENERATION CELLULAR

NETWORKS

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/107,353, which was filed October 29, 2020.

FIELD

Various embodiments generally may relate to the field of wireless communications. For example, some embodiments may relate to enabling computing offloading in nextgeneration cellular networks.

BACKGROUND

The demand for computing in the cellular networks is growing with many applications such as artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML), augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR) and network automation. The capability of providing computing services with different varieties to UE and other radio access network/ core network (RAN/CN) functions can naturally come with the “cloudification” of the telco network. Embodiments of the present disclosure address these and other issues.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will be readily understood by the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. To facilitate this description, like reference numerals designate like structural elements. Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 illustrates an example of a RAN architecture with Split CU DU and computing functions in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 2 illustrates an example of a Comp CF request for measurements in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 3 illustrates an example of a Comp CF request for Comp context setup/modification in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 4 illustrates an example of a Comp CF request for Comp policy change in accordance with various embodiments. Figure 5 illustrates an example of an NRF -based Comp SF selection in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 6 illustrates an example of a Comp SF selection based on Comp CF rules and logic in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 7 illustrates an example of a Comp CF setting up a compute task on a Comp SF in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 8 illustrates an example of a Comp CF’s subscription to Comp SF event/status in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 9 illustrates an example of a Comp CF request for computing records in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 10 illustrates an example of a Comp CF request for compute task upgrade/modification/termination in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 11 illustrates an example of a RAN/network function to request for a compute task setup to Comp CF/SF (Optionl) in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 12 illustrates an example of a RAN/network function to request for a compute task setup to Comp CF/SF (Option2) in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 13 illustrates an example of a network in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 14 schematically illustrates an example of a wireless network in accordance with various embodiments.

Figure 15 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

Figures 16, 17, and 18 are flow diagrams illustrating examples of processes according to various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identify the same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth such as particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects of various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the present disclosure that the various aspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examples that depart from these specific details. In certain instances, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the various embodiments with unnecessary detail. For the purposes of the present document, the phrases “A or B” and “A/B” mean (A), (B), or (A and B).

In some embodiments, the computing functions, e.g., Computing Control Function (Comp CF) and Computing Service Function (Comp SF) are described to enable computing offloading between UE and cellular network. Some embodiments may provide computing as a service or computing as a resource. To provide computing as a service, the Comp CF may control and manage the computing resource and infrastructure such as monitoring the status of the infrastructure and making decisions about whether to accept a computing task from a UE or RAN/CN functions, charging, etc. The Comp SF may provide the required computing environment for a compute task, and monitor, execute the compute task and generate charging information.

To enable the aforementioned Comp CF/SF functionalities and services, the following problems need to be solved:

• What information exchange needed between Comp CF/SF to prepare the required compute environment and manage the compute task related information?

• What information exchange needed between Comp CF/SF and centralized unit/distributed unit (CU/DU) for the decision making and correct handling of compute traffic such as routing?

• How to request a compute task from a RAN/CN function such as a data plane function, CN compute function, Al function, etc.?

In embodiments of this disclosure, the CU and DU definitions may follow 5G NR. In some embodiments, the CU carries RRC and PDCP protocol layers in radio communication, while the DU carries RLC, MAC and PHY functions for radio communication. Previous solutions do not address the interactions among computing functions as well as computing functions and other functions.

In some embodiments of this disclosure, the detailed interactions among computing functions and other functions on related reference points are described to define:

• Interactions between Comp CF and CU o Request for measurements o Setup/modify compute context o Setup/Modify compute policy o Setup/Modify Compute Security Policy based on local policy, laws, and regulatory requirements.

• Interactions between Comp CF and Comp SF o Comp SF selection o Comp task management

• Interactions between Comp CF/SF and RAN/network functions

There are several advantages of providing computing either as a new service or as a network capability based on different scenarios. First, the computing tasks can be completed at the network edge to optimize latency. This latency includes communication latency as well as the compute task launch and execution latency. Second, the end device can augment the computing by providing requirements about the computing environment and the compute task. Third, the resource efficiency and latency can also be optimized using paradigms like serverless computing to handle more dynamic workload. Embodiments herein may enable these computing scenarios and require computing and storage capability in large scale.

Reference Architecture

Figure 1 illustrates an example of a RAN architecture with split CU DU and computing functions in accordance with various embodiments, and illustrates the interfaces between RAN functions and Comp CF/SF. In this example, multiple Comp SFs can be connected to a Comp CF via interface Zl.

Interactions between Comp CF and CU

In some embodiments, the Comp CF can request communication-related information from the CU and modify the UE’s context for computing per compute task basis or service basis.

In Figure 2, an example of the message flow for the Comp CF to request measurements from the CU is shown in accordance with various embodiments. In this example, at (1), the Comp CF sends a request for UE specific or non-UE specific measurements from the CU to help decide whether to accept a compute task or for compute policy generation. The request can include, but is not limited to, identifiers about the measurements such as UE ID, UE group ID, UICC, S-NSSAI, the measurement type such as RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, CSI, UL/DL packet delay and packet loss rate, etc. At (2) of Figure 2, the CU sends a response to the request for measurements with the requested values. If the requested measurements are not available at the CU, the CU can further request them from other functions such as DU or data plane functions.

Alternatively, the CU may broadcast certain thresholds for the signal quality (e.g., RSRP, SINR, hysteresis) that the UE has to satisfy to perform the compute requests reliably. These thresholds may be broadcast via system information or provided to the UE in a dedicated manner (through RRC configuration).

The Comp CF can set up/modify UE’s compute context in scenarios such as a compute task is accepted to facilitate compute transport setup and routing, as shown in Figure 3. In this example, the flow is as follows:

1) Comp CF sends a request to CU to set up or modify UE’s Compute context in the CU under certain triggering conditions. UE’s compute context can include: a. Identifiers of the compute tasks that belong to a UE such as task IDs along with UE ID that is similar to communication identifier or unique for computation or a combination thereof. b. The QoS information and computation performance requirement of the active compute tasks of a UE (also including information indicative of how long the task will be valid for - e.g., stale timer information) c. The compute transport information of the active compute tasks of a UE such as routing, assigned Comp SF, etc. d. Rules to handle the compute task transport such as mobility

The trigger conditions for compute transport can be: a. A compute task for a UE is accepted by the Comp CF and compute transport needed to be set up; b. A compute task is completed, and the results have been successfully stored or sent back to UE. c. A compute task is relocated due to error or other reasons.

The request for compute context modification message can be combined with a response from the Comp CF to accept a compute task or as a separate message sent from Comp CF to CU. For the combined case, an indicator may be needed in the compute context modification message for CU to recognize the compute context modification information. Continuing with the example in Figure 3:

2) CU sends a response to Comp CF to indicate whether the Comp context setup/modification is successful. If it is failed, a reason shall be included. The Comp CF can request a Comp policy change to CU to manage how CU controls communication for computing, as shown in Figure 4. In this example, the flow is as follows:

1) The Comp CF sends a request to change the computing policy in CU. This computing policy may include: a. Whether the Comp CF with an identifier is still accepting compute tasks b. Whether a UE is barred for sending computing tasks to the cellular network c. A timer to indicate the conditions for l)a and l)b above such as the Comp CF will start to accept computing task when the timer expires

The request can include Comp CF ID, UE ID or UE group ID, application ID, S -NS SAI, timer, reason for the policy change, etc. Continuing with the example in Figure 4:

2) The CU sends a response to confirm whether the change of compute policy is successful or not. If failed, the response may include a reason.

3) Computing policy can also be associated with Security Policy for each compute task. For each compute task, security policy helps in flexibility to enabled and disable security for each compute task based on local policy, roaming agreement, and regulatory requirements. The compute security policy shall indicate whether compute confidentiality and/or compute integrity protection shall be activated or not for all CRBs belonging to that compute task session. The compute security policy shall be used to activate compute confidentiality and/or compute integrity for all CRBs belonging to the compute session. According to the received compute security policy, the CU shall activate Compute confidentiality and/or compute integrity protection per each CRB, using Compute modification procedure as defined above. If the user plane security policy indicates "Required" or "Not needed", the CU shall not overrule the compute-security policy provided by the Comp CF. If the CU cannot activate Compute confidentiality and/or compute integrity protection when the received Compute security policy is "Required", the CU shall reject the establishment of Compute resources for the compute Session and indicate reject-cause to the Comp CF. In case of roaming, Local comp CF can override the confidentiality option in the Compute security policy received from the home Comp CF based on its local policy, roaming agreement and/or regulatory requirements.

Interactions between Comp CF and Comp SF - Comp SF selection

The Comp CF can select a Comp SF once a compute task is accepted. This selection can be based on network repository function (NRF) or based on the rules decided by Comp CF as shown in Figure 5 and Figure 6, respectively. NRF discovery can be based on the mechanisms defined in TS 23.501, v. 16.10.0, 2021-09-24. The flow of Figure 5 is as follows:

1) Comp SF sends a registration with NRF to characterize the computing service that the Comp SF can offer such as a. computing capability b. access rules c. performance statistics d. special tags about running applications e. security profile, policy and requirements f how to access the Comp SF such as identifiers of the Comp SF

This information can help NRF to make a selection decision or indicate how to access the Comp SF service.

The computing capability of the Comp SF can include a general profile of the number of CPU, GPU, type of the CPU, GPU, size of the memory, virtualization technology, special HW/SW such as accelerators and runtime environment or other information as the computing manifest. The access rules specifying the preference for handling computing tasks. For example, a time window may be preferred, or a specific compute task is preferred with certain requirements on computing performance and latency. The performance statistics can include processing latency for compute tasks by category. The special tag about applications can include the supported application IDs, network slice ID S-NSSAI, etc. The security profile can include the security information needed for NRF to authenticate and authorize the Comp SF and the security requirements/feature on computing service. The identifiers may include the Comp SF’s IP address, URL, domain, namespace, etc. to identify a host.

2) The NRF respond with a registration response to indicate whether the registration is successful. If unsuccessful, a reason may be included, and additional information may be needed from the Comp SF.

3) The Comp CF sends a request for Comp SF selection or assignment. This request can include the following information but not limited to a. The information about the Comp CF such as Comp CF identity, namespace, network slice (e.g, S-NSSAI), etc. b. The information about the compute task such as the requestor UE ID, UE location information; the type of the compute task like deployment or job; the requirements about performance like latency and data rate; the requirements about computing environment such as runtime, library, HW/SW as a computing manifest.

4) The NRF can decide which Comp SF to assign to handle the requested compute task based on the registered Comp SF information and the information from the request in step 3). The Comp SF selection can be per UE basis or task basis. For per UE basis, the same Comp SF can be selected for a UE to send multiple compute tasks. For per task basis, different Comp SFs can be selected for compute tasks from the same UE.

5) The NRF sends the Comp SF selection decision to Comp CF. If the Comp SF is successfully selected, the Comp SF can include how to access a Comp SF like Comp SF ID, required protocol or information from Comp CF. The NRF can also reject a Comp SF selection request and include a reason to the requestor Comp CF in response.

6) If the Comp SF selection is successful, the Comp CF can request to set up a Comp SF compute task.

The comp CF can also handle the Comp SF selection by Comp SF’s registration to the corresponding Comp CF. Comp CF can make a Comp SF selection decision locally as shown in Figure 6. The flow of Figure 6 is as follows:

1) The Comp SF registers to the Comp CF that can set up a Comp SF compute task. The registration procedure and information included in the registration request and response is similar to Step 1) and 2) in Figure 5. One Comp SF can register to more than one Comp CF. For example, Comp SF can register to two different Comp CF handling different network slices.

2) The Comp CF can select a Comp SF based on the information from Comp SF’s capabilities, load, special tag, and the description of the compute task etc. similar to the decision process in Step 4) in Figure 5.

3) The Comp CF can request to set up the compute task to the selected Comp SF, which is the same as Figure 7 Step 1) as described below in the “Comp task management” section.

Interactions between Comp CF and Comp SF - Comp task management

The Comp CF can manage a compute task through the interface Z1 between a Comp CF and a Comp SF, such as set up a compute task, subscribe to the status of the compute task, and relocate a compute task to a different Comp SF. The message flow of Comp CF requesting to set up a compute task is shown in Figure 7, as follows: 1) The Comp CF sends a request to Comp SF to set up a compute task. The request may include the following: a. Compute task description: the requirements on a resource such as a container specification about CPU, memory, runtime; lifecycle information such as duration, domain information like a namespace and different network slices (S-NSSAI); Executable image URL, certification information; b. Compute task service level: the requirements on QoS like bitrate (perflow or aggregated, ingress/egress) and latency; handling policy such as priority, whether available for relocation, where to send the results from the computing task such as back to UE through the RAN node [with a corresponding transport network address] or a URL to a data storage; identifiers that may affect the handling of the compute task such as a task ID, UE ID, UICC, group ID; additional tag or annotation, e.g., described by JASON, XML, etc. c. Compute Task Security Policy granularity with Required, Preferred, Disabled tags for integrity protection or confidentiality protection.

2) The Comp SF sends a response to the Comp CF to indicate whether the compute task's setup is successful. It may also provide the expected time to complete the task if possible or intrinsically understood that the QoS requirement will be met if the task is accepted. It may also include any addressing information or tunnel information that the Comp CF may forward to the RAN node for communicating with the Comp SF. A reason may be included if the task setup failed.

Upon success, the RAN Compute session is considered established.

The Comp CF can subscribe to the Comp SF's status/event or a compute task as shown in Figure 8, as follows:

1) The Comp CF sends a request to subscribe to the status/event of Comp SF. The status/event may include: a. task status: error, runtime status, completion, warning, e.g., required bitrate not satisfied; b. task records: the utilized resource, execution time, traffic statistics, application priority; c. the performance metrics such as CPU occupancy. d. Charging events

2) The Comp SF sends a response to confirm or reject the subscription.

3) The Comp SF sends a notification about the status change or event once the triggering conditions are met. The notification can be sent per event basis or periodically.

The Comp CF can request the computing records about a Comp SF or compute tasks for logging and charging purposes, as shown in Figure 9:

1) The Comp CF sends a request for computing records to a Comp SF, which includes the filtering conditions for the records. The filtering conditions may include: a. Computing log for a time window b. A specific compute task record with a task ID c. The computing record associated with a specific UE or UE group d. The computing record for specific computing services e. Or the combination of the conditions above

2) The Comp SF sends the response with the required records to the Comp CF. If the request can not be processed, a reason may be included to indicate an error or failure.

Alternatively, the Comp SF can send the computing records periodically to Comp CF without Comp CF requesting or by event trigger through subscription similar to Figure 8.

If a Comp SF fails, the Comp CF shall be notified. However, it may be up to the implementation how Comp CF is notified. The computing tasks being processed by the failed Comp SF may be relocated based on the policy on how to handle the compute task. A new Comp SF can be selected, and the compute task can be set up. The Comp CF can request for any available information to facilitate relocating the compute task.

The Comp CF can request for task modification/upgrade/termination at any point before the task completion as shown in Figure 10. This process can be triggered by monitored statistics/report from Comp SF; updated computing policy from 0AM or requested by UE, etc. The flow of Figure 10 is as follows:

1) The Comp CF sends a request for task modification/upgrade/termination to the assigned Comp SF for the compute task(s). This request can include the following: a. The identifiers that can be used to generate the filter to find the compute task(s) such as task ID(s), network slice ID(s), UE ID(s) or UE group ID; task type; special tag or annotation described by JASON or XML, etc. b. The operations on the compute task(s) such as modification, upgrade or termination. c. The details about the operations such as change container property, resource; modify the priority of the compute task(s); change the QoS requirements of the compute task such as data rate, latency

2) The Comp SF sends a response to indicate whether the request was successful. If it is failed, a reason may be included. If successful, a confirmed new profile may be sent from to Comp CF.

Interactions between RAN/network functions and Comp CF/SF

The RAN or network functions can send a request to a Comp CF for a compute task to be executed on a Comp SF. The overall message flow is shown in Figure 11 (Optionl) and Figure 12 (Option2). In Optionl , the Comp SF cannot be directly accessed by the RAN/network functions. The Comp CF can provide a service-based interface for RAN/network functions to request for a compute task. In Option2, both Comp CF and SF can provide service-based interfaces to the RAN/network functions. The flow of Figure 11 is as follows:

1) A RAN or network function sends a request for a compute task to be executed by the Comp CF/SF. The request may include the following information but not limited to: a. The identifiers for the RAN or network functions such as an ID, S-NSSAI, IP address, FQDN, Network specific identifiers or network specific temporary identifiers; b. The description about the compute task such as the type (job or deployment), required resource as described by the computing manifest, compute task image URL, QoS requirements, HW/SW requirements;

2) [Optional] The Comp CF selects a Comp SF for the compute task based on the task description, the RAN or network function identifiers and other information such as Comp SF capabilities and workload.

3) Comp CF sets up the compute task with the selected Comp SF if the compute task is accepted following the procedure described above for Figure 7.

4) The Comp CF sends a response to notify the RAN or network function that the task is set up successfully. The Comp CF can also reject the request and include the reason in the response. In case of rejection, steps 2) and 3) are not needed. Alternatively, the Comp CF can select a Comp SF and respond to the requestor RAN or network function on how to access the Comp SF as shown in Figure 12. Then the RAN/network function can request to set up the compute task based on the information from the Comp CF. In this case, the Comp CF and SF can provide service-based interfaces to the RAN/network function to request for a compute task and request for setting up a compute task.

The flow of Figure 12 is as follows:

1) The RAN/network function sends a request for compute task similar to Step 1) in Figure 11.

2) [Optional] The Comp CF selects a Comp SF similar to Step 2) in Figure 11. 3) The Comp CF makes a decision about whether to accept the compute task. If

YES, the Comp CF shall include the information about how to access the selected Comp SF such as IP address or a key to access Comp SF. If rejected, a reason can be included.

4) The RAN/network function request for the compute task setup to the selected Comp SF based on the information from the Comp CF.

5) The Comp SF responds to the request about whether the compute task setup is successful.

SYSTEMS AND IMPLEMENTATIONS

Figures 13-14 illustrate various systems, devices, and components that may implement aspects of disclosed embodiments.

Figure 13 illustrates a network 1300 in accordance with various embodiments. The network 1300 may operate in a manner consistent with 3GPP technical specifications for LTE or 5G/NR systems. However, the example embodiments are not limited in this regard and the described embodiments may apply to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems, or the like.

The network 1300 may include a UE 1302, which may include any mobile or non- mobile computing device designed to communicate with a RAN 1304 via an over-the-air connection. The UE 1302 may be communicatively coupled with the RAN 1304 by a Uu interface. The UE 1302 may be, but is not limited to, a smartphone, tablet computer, wearable computer device, desktop computer, laptop computer, in-vehicle infotainment, in-car entertainment device, instrument cluster, head-up display device, onboard diagnostic device, dashtop mobile equipment, mobile data terminal, electronic engine management system, electron! c/engine control unit, electron! c/engine control module, embedded system, sensor, microcontroller, control module, engine management system, networked appliance, machinetype communication device, M2M or D2D device, loT device, etc.

In some embodiments, the network 1300 may include a plurality of UEs coupled directly with one another via a sidelink interface. The UEs may be M2M/D2D devices that communicate using physical sidelink channels such as, but not limited to, PSBCH, PSDCH, PSSCH, PSCCH, PSFCH, etc.

In some embodiments, the UE 1302 may additionally communicate with an AP 1306 via an over-the-air connection. The AP 1306 may manage a WLAN connection, which may serve to offload some/all network traffic from the RAN 1304. The connection between the UE 1302 and the AP 1306 may be consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 1306 could be a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi®) router. In some embodiments, the UE 1302, RAN 1304, and AP 1306 may utilize cellular- WLAN aggregation (for example, LWA/LWIP). Cellular- WLAN aggregation may involve the UE 1302 being configured by the RAN 1304 to utilize both cellular radio resources and WLAN resources.

The RAN 1304 may include one or more access nodes, for example, AN 1308. AN 1308 may terminate air-interface protocols for the UE 1302 by providing access stratum protocols including RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC, and LI protocols. In this manner, the AN 1308 may enable data/voice connectivity between CN 1320 and the UE 1302. In some embodiments, the AN 1308 may be implemented in a discrete device or as one or more software entities running on server computers as part of, for example, a virtual network, which may be referred to as a CRAN or virtual baseband unit pool. The AN 1308 be referred to as a BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, ng-eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP, TRP, etc. The AN 1308 may be a macrocell base station or a low power base station for providing femtocells, picocells or other like cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells.

In embodiments in which the RAN 1304 includes a plurality of ANs, they may be coupled with one another via an X2 interface (if the RAN 1304 is an LTE RAN) or an Xn interface (if the RAN 1304 is a 5G RAN). The X2/Xn interfaces, which may be separated into control/user plane interfaces in some embodiments, may allow the ANs to communicate information related to handovers, data/context transfers, mobility, load management, interference coordination, etc.

The ANs of the RAN 1304 may each manage one or more cells, cell groups, component carriers, etc. to provide the UE 1302 with an air interface for network access. The UE 1302 may be simultaneously connected with a plurality of cells provided by the same or different ANs of the RAN 1304. For example, the UE 1302 and RAN 1304 may use carrier aggregation to allow the UE 1302 to connect with a plurality of component carriers, each corresponding to a Pcell or Scell. In dual connectivity scenarios, a first AN may be a master node that provides an MCG and a second AN may be secondary node that provides an SCG. The first/second ANs may be any combination of eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc.

The RAN 1304 may provide the air interface over a licensed spectrum or an unlicensed spectrum. To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, the nodes may use LAA, eLAA, and/or feLAA mechanisms based on CA technology with PCells/Scells. Prior to accessing the unlicensed spectrum, the nodes may perform medium/carrier-sensing operations based on, for example, a listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.

In V2X scenarios the UE 1302 or AN 1308 may be or act as a RSU, which may refer to any transportation infrastructure entity used for V2X communications. An RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable AN or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE. An RSU implemented in or by: a UE may be referred to as a “UE-type RSU”; an eNB may be referred to as an “eNB-type RSU”; a gNB may be referred to as a “gNB-type RSU”; and the like. In one example, an RSU is a computing device coupled with radio frequency circuitry located on a roadside that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs. The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry to store intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, as well as applications/software to sense and control ongoing vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may provide very low latency communications required for high speed events, such as crash avoidance, traffic warnings, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may provide other cellular/WLAN communications services. The components of the RSU may be packaged in a weatherproof enclosure suitable for outdoor installation, and may include a network interface controller to provide a wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controller or a backhaul network.

In some embodiments, the RAN 1304 may be an LTE RAN 1310 with eNBs, for example, eNB 1312. The LTE RAN 1310 may provide an LTE air interface with the following characteristics: SCS of 15 kHz; CP-OFDM waveform for DL and SC-FDMA waveform for UL; turbo codes for data and TBCC for control; etc. The LTE air interface may rely on CSI- RS for CSI acquisition and beam management; PDSCH/PDCCH DMRS for PDSCH/PDCCH demodulation; and CRS for cell search and initial acquisition, channel quality measurements, and channel estimation for coherent demodulation/detection at the UE. The LTE air interface may operating on sub-6 GHz bands.

In some embodiments, the RAN 1304 may be an NG-RAN 1314 with gNBs, for example, gNB 1316, orng-eNBs, for example, ng-eNB 1318. The gNB 1316 may connect with 5G-enabled UEs using a 5GNR interface. The gNB 1316 may connect with a 5G core through an NG interface, which may include an N2 interface or an N3 interface. The ng-eNB 1318 may also connect with the 5G core through an NG interface, but may connect with a UE via an LTE air interface. The gNB 1316 and the ng-eNB 1318 may connect with each other over an Xn interface.

In some embodiments, the NG interface may be split into two parts, an NG user plane (NG-U) interface, which carries traffic data between the nodes of the NG-RAN 1314 and a UPF 1348 (e.g., N3 interface), and an NG control plane (NG-C) interface, which is a signaling interface between the nodes of the NG-RAN1314 and an AMF 1344 (e.g., N2 interface).

The NG-RAN 1314 may provide a 5G-NR air interface with the following characteristics: variable SCS; CP-OFDM for DL, CP-OFDM and DFT-s-OFDM for UL; polar, repetition, simplex, and Reed-Muller codes for control and LDPC for data. The 5G-NR air interface may rely on CSI-RS, PDSCH/PDCCH DMRS similar to the LTE air interface. The 5G-NR air interface may not use a CRS, but may use PBCH DMRS for PBCH demodulation; PTRS for phase tracking for PDSCH; and tracking reference signal for time tracking. The 5G- NR air interface may operating on FR1 bands that include sub-6 GHz bands or FR2 bands that include bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. The 5G-NR air interface may include an SSB that is an area of a downlink resource grid that includes PSS/SSS/PBCH. In some embodiments, the 5G-NR air interface may utilize BWPs for various purposes. For example, BWP can be used for dynamic adaptation of the SCS. For example, the UE 1302 can be configured with multiple BWPs where each BWP configuration has a different SCS. When a BWP change is indicated to the UE 1302, the SCS of the transmission is changed as well. Another use case example of BWP is related to power saving. In particular, multiple BWPs can be configured for the UE 1302 with different amount of frequency resources (for example, PRBs) to support data transmission under different traffic loading scenarios. A BWP containing a smaller number of PRBs can be used for data transmission with small traffic load while allowing power saving at the UE 1302 and in some cases at the gNB 1316. A BWP containing a larger number of PRBs can be used for scenarios with higher traffic load.

The RAN 1304 is communicatively coupled to CN 1320 that includes network elements to provide various functions to support data and telecommunications services to customers/subscribers (for example, users of UE 1302). The components of the CN 1320 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes. In some embodiments, NFV may be utilized to virtualize any or all of the functions provided by the network elements of the CN 1320 onto physical compute/storage resources in servers, switches, etc. A logical instantiation of the CN 1320 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instantiation of a portion of the CN 1320 may be referred to as a network sub-slice.

In some embodiments, the CN 1320 may be an LTE CN 1322, which may also be referred to as an EPC. The LTE CN 1322 may include MME 1324, SGW 1326, SGSN 1328, HSS 1330, PGW 1332, and PCRF 1334 coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the LTE CN 1322 may be briefly introduced as follows.

The MME 1324 may implement mobility management functions to track a current location of the UE 1302 to facilitate paging, bearer activation/ deactivation, handovers, gateway selection, authentication, etc.

The SGW 1326 may terminate an SI interface toward the RAN and route data packets between the RAN and the LTE CN 1322. The SGW 1326 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement.

The SGSN 1328 may track a location of the UE 1302 and perform security functions and access control. In addition, the SGSN 1328 may perform inter-EPC node signaling for mobility between different RAT networks; PDN and S-GW selection as specified by MME 1324; MME selection for handovers; etc. The S3 reference point between the MME 1324 and the SGSN 1328 may enable user and bearer information exchange for inter-3GPP access network mobility in idle/active states.

The HSS 1330 may include a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities’ handling of communication sessions. The HSS 1330 can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/ addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc. An S6a reference point between the HSS 1330 and the MME 1324 may enable transfer of subscription and authentication data for authenticating/ authorizing user access to the LTE CN 1320.

The PGW 1332 may terminate an SGi interface toward a data network (DN) 1336 that may include an application/content server 1338. The PGW 1332 may route data packets between the LTE CN 1322 and the data network 1336. The PGW 1332 may be coupled with the SGW 1326 by an S5 reference point to facilitate user plane tunneling and tunnel management. The PGW 1332 may further include a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection (for example, PCEF). Additionally, the SGi reference point between the PGW 1332 and the data network 13 36 may be an operator external public, a private PDN, or an intraoperator packet data network, for example, for provision of IMS services. The PGW 1332 may be coupled with a PCRF 1334 via a Gx reference point.

The PCRF 1334 is the policy and charging control element of the LTE CN 1322. The PCRF 1334 may be communicatively coupled to the app/content server 1338 to determine appropriate QoS and charging parameters for service flows. The PCRF 1332 may provision associated rules into a PCEF (via Gx reference point) with appropriate TFT and QCI.

In some embodiments, the CN 1320 may be a 5GC 1340. The 5GC 1340 may include an AUSF 1342, AMF 1344, SMF 1346, UPF 1348, NSSF 1350, NEF 1352, NRF 1354, PCF 1356, UDM 1358, and AF 1360 coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the 5GC 1340 may be briefly introduced as follows.

The AUSF 1342 may store data for authentication of UE 1302 and handle authentication-related functionality. The AUSF 1342 may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. In addition to communicating with other elements of the 5GC 1340 over reference points as shown, the AUSF 1342 may exhibit an Nausf service-based interface.

The AMF 1344 may allow other functions of the 5GC 1340 to communicate with the UE 1302 and the RAN 1304 and to subscribe to notifications about mobility events with respect to the UE 1302. The AMF 1344 may be responsible for registration management (for example, for registering UE 1302), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception of AMF-related events, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF 1344 may provide transport for SM messages between the UE 1302 and the SMF 1346, and act as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. AMF 1344 may also provide transport for SMS messages between UE 1302 and an SMSF. AMF 1344 may interact with the AUSF 1342 and the UE 1302 to perform various security anchor and context management functions. Furthermore, AMF 1344 may be a termination point of a RAN CP interface, which may include or be an N2 reference point between the RAN 1304 and the AMF 1344; and the AMF 1344 may be a termination point of NAS (Nl) signaling, and perform NAS ciphering and integrity protection. AMF 1344 may also support NAS signaling with the UE 1302 over an N3 IWF interface.

The SMF 1346 may be responsible for SM (for example, session establishment, tunnel management between UPF 1348 and AN 1308); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of UP function; configuring traffic steering at UPF 1348 to route traffic to proper destination; termination of interfaces toward policy control functions; controlling part of policy enforcement, charging, and QoS; lawful intercept (for SM events and interface to LI system); termination of SM parts of NAS messages; downlink data notification; initiating AN specific SM information, sent via AMF 1344 over N2 to AN 1308; and determining SSC mode of a session. SM may refer to management of a PDU session, and a PDU session or “session” may refer to a PDU connectivity service that provides or enables the exchange of PDUs between the UE 1302 and the data network 1336.

The UPF 1348 may act as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point of interconnect to data network 1336, and a branching point to support multi -homed PDU session. The UPF 1348 may also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, enforce the user plane part of policy rules, lawfully intercept packets (UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS handling for a user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL/DL rate enforcement), perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., SDF-to-QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. UPF 1348 may include an uplink classifier to support routing traffic flows to a data network.

The NSSF 1350 may select a set of network slice instances serving the UE 1302. The NSSF 1350 may also determine allowed NSSAI and the mapping to the subscribed S-NSSAIs, if needed. The NSSF 1350 may also determine the AMF set to be used to serve the UE 1302, or a list of candidate AMFs based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRF 1354. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 1302 may be triggered by the AMF 1344 with which the UE 1302 is registered by interacting with the NSSF 1350, which may lead to a change of AMF. The NSSF 1350 may interact with the AMF 1344 via an N22 reference point; and may communicate with another NSSF in a visited network via an N31 reference point (not shown). Additionally, the NSSF 1350 may exhibit an Nnssf service-based interface.

The NEF 1352 may securely expose services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third party, internal exposure/re-exposure, AFs (e.g., AF 1360), edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In such embodiments, the NEF 1352 may authenticate, authorize, or throttle the AFs. NEF 1352 may also translate information exchanged with the AF 1360 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, the NEF 1352 may translate between an AF-Service-Identifier and an internal 5GC information. NEF 1352 may also receive information from other NFs based on exposed capabilities of other NFs. This information may be stored at the NEF 1352 as structured data, or at a data storage NF using standardized interfaces. The stored information can then be reexposed by the NEF 1352 to other NFs and AFs, or used for other purposes such as analytics. Additionally, the NEF 1352 may exhibit an Nnef service-based interface.

The NRF 1354 may support service discovery functions, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide the information of the discovered NF instances to the NF instances. NRF 1354 also maintains information of available NF instances and their supported services. As used herein, the terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like may refer to the creation of an instance, and an “instance” may refer to a concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during execution of program code. Additionally, the NRF 1354 may exhibit the Nnrf service-based interface.

The PCF 1356 may provide policy rules to control plane functions to enforce them, and may also support unified policy framework to govern network behavior. The PCF 1356 may also implement a front end to access subscription information relevant for policy decisions in a UDR of the UDM 1358. In addition to communicating with functions over reference points as shown, the PCF 1356 exhibit an Npcf service-based interface.

The UDM 1358 may handle subscription-related information to support the network entities’ handling of communication sessions, and may store subscription data of UE 1302. For example, subscription data may be communicated via an N8 reference point between the UDM 1358 and the AMF 1344. The UDM 1358 may include two parts, an application front end and a UDR. The UDR may store subscription data and policy data for the UDM 1358 and the PCF 1356, and/or structured data for exposure and application data (including PFDs for application detection, application request information for multiple UEs 1302) for the NEF 1352. The Nudr service-based interface may be exhibited by the UDR 221 to allow the UDM 1358, PCF 1356, and NEF 1352 to access a particular set of the stored data, as well as to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, and subscribe to notification of relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDM may include a UDM-FE, which is in charge of processing credentials, location management, subscription management and so on. Several different front ends may serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR and performs authentication credential processing, user identification handling, access authorization, registration/mobility management, and subscription management. In addition to communicating with other NFs over reference points as shown, the UDM 1358 may exhibit the Nudm service-based interface.

The AF 1360 may provide application influence on traffic routing, provide access to NEF, and interact with the policy framework for policy control.

In some embodiments, the 5GC 1340 may enable edge computing by selecting operator/3^rd party services to be geographically close to a point that the UE 1302 is attached to the network. This may reduce latency and load on the network. To provide edge-computing implementations, the 5GC 1340 may select a UPF 1348 close to the UE 1302 and execute traffic steering from the UPF 1348 to data network 1336 via the N6 interface. This may be based on the UE subscription data, UE location, and information provided by the AF 1360. In this way, the AF 1360 may influence UPF (re)selection and traffic routing. Based on operator deployment, when AF 1360 is considered to be a trusted entity, the network operator may permit AF 1360 to interact directly with relevant NFs. Additionally, the AF 1360 may exhibit an Naf service-based interface.

The data network 1336 may represent various network operator services, Internet access, or third party services that may be provided by one or more servers including, for example, application/content server 1338.

Figure 14 schematically illustrates a wireless network 1400 in accordance with various embodiments. The wireless network 1400 may include a UE 1402 in wireless communication with an AN 1404. The UE 1402 and AN 1404 may be similar to, and substantially interchangeable with, like-named components described elsewhere herein.

The UE 1402 may be communicatively coupled with the AN 1404 via connection

1406. The connection 1406 is illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols such as an LTE protocol or a 5GNR protocol operating at mmWave or sub-6GHz frequencies.

The UE 1402 may include a host platform 1408 coupled with a modem platform 1410. The host platform 1408 may include application processing circuitry 1412, which may be coupled with protocol processing circuitry 1414 of the modem platform 1410. The application processing circuitry 1412 may run various applications for the UE 1402 that source/sink application data. The application processing circuitry 1412 may further implement one or more layer operations to transmit/receive application data to/from a data network. These layer operations may include transport (for example UDP) and Internet (for example, IP) operations

The protocol processing circuitry 1414 may implement one or more of layer operations to facilitate transmission or reception of data over the connection 1406. The layer operations implemented by the protocol processing circuitry 1414 may include, for example, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC and NAS operations.

The modem platform 1410 may further include digital baseband circuitry 1416 that may implement one or more layer operations that are “below” layer operations performed by the protocol processing circuitry 1414 in a network protocol stack. These operations may include, for example, PHY operations including one or more of HARQ-ACK functions, scrambling/descrambling, encoding/decoding, layer mapping/de-mapping, modulation symbol mapping, received symbol/bit metric determination, multi-antenna port precoding/decoding, which may include one or more of space-time, space-frequency or spatial coding, reference signal generation/detection, preamble sequence generation and/or decoding, synchronization sequence generation/detection, control channel signal blind decoding, and other related functions.

The modem platform 1410 may further include transmit circuitry 1418, receive circuitry 1420, RF circuitry 1422, and RF front end (RFFE) 1424, which may include or connect to one or more antenna panels 1426. Briefly, the transmit circuitry 1418 may include a digital -to-analog converter, mixer, intermediate frequency (IF) components, etc.; the receive circuitry 1420 may include an analog-to-digital converter, mixer, IF components, etc.; the RF circuitry 1422 may include a low-noise amplifier, a power amplifier, power tracking components, etc.; RFFE 1424 may include filters (for example, surface/bulk acoustic wave filters), switches, antenna tuners, beamforming components (for example, phase-array antenna components), etc. The selection and arrangement of the components of the transmit circuitry 1418, receive circuitry 1420, RF circuitry 1422, RFFE 1424, and antenna panels 1426 (referred generically as “transmit/receive components”) may be specific to details of a specific implementation such as, for example, whether communication is TDM or FDM, in mmWave or sub-6 gHz frequencies, etc. In some embodiments, the transmit/receive components may be arranged in multiple parallel transmit/receive chains, may be disposed in the same or different chips/modules, etc.

In some embodiments, the protocol processing circuitry 1414 may include one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for the transmit/receive components.

A UE reception may be established by and via the antenna panels 1426, RFFE 1424, RF circuitry 1422, receive circuitry 1420, digital baseband circuitry 1416, and protocol processing circuitry 1414. In some embodiments, the antenna panels 1426 may receive a transmission from the AN 1404 by receive-beamforming signals received by a plurality of antennas/antenna elements of the one or more antenna panels 1426.

A UE transmission may be established by and via the protocol processing circuitry 1414, digital baseband circuitry 1416, transmit circuitry 1418, RF circuitry 1422, RFFE 1424, and antenna panels 1426. In some embodiments, the transmit components of the UE 1404 may apply a spatial filter to the data to be transmitted to form a transmit beam emitted by the antenna elements of the antenna panels 1426.

Similar to the UE 1402, the AN 1404 may include a host platform 1428 coupled with a modem platform 1430. The host platform 1428 may include application processing circuitry 1432 coupled with protocol processing circuitry 1434 of the modem platform 1430. The modem platform may further include digital baseband circuitry 1436, transmit circuitry 1438, receive circuitry 1440, RF circuitry 1442, RFFE circuitry 1444, and antenna panels 1446. The components of the AN 1404 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with like- named components of the UE 1402. In addition to performing data transmission/reception as described above, the components of the AN 1408 may perform various logical functions that include, for example, RNC functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management, and data packet scheduling.

Figure 15 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Specifically, Figure 15 shows a diagrammatic representation of hardware resources 1500 including one or more processors (or processor cores) 1510, one or more memory /storage devices 1520, and one or more communication resources 1530, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 1540 or other interface circuitry. For embodiments where node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 1502 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 1500.

The processors 1510 may include, for example, a processor 1512 and a processor 1514. The processors 1510 may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP such as a baseband processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those discussed herein), or any suitable combination thereof.

The memory /storage devices 1520 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory /storage devices 1520 may include, but are not limited to, any type of volatile, non-volatile, or semi-volatile memory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flash memory, solid-state storage, etc.

The communication resources 1530 may include interconnection or network interface controllers, components, or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1504 or one or more databases 1506 or other network elements via a network 1508. For example, the communication resources 1530 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB, Ethernet, etc.), cellular communication components, NFC components, Bluetooth® (or Bluetooth® Low Energy) components, Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components.

Instructions 1550 may comprise software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of the processors 1510 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The instructions 1550 may reside, completely or partially, within at least one of the processors 1510 (e.g., within the processor’s cache memory), the memory /storage devices 1520, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of the instructions 1550 may be transferred to the hardware resources 1500 from any combination of the peripheral devices 1504 or the databases 1506. Accordingly, the memory of processors 1510, the memory /storage devices 1520, the peripheral devices 1504, and the databases 1506 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media. EXAMPLE PROCEDURES

In some embodiments, the electronic device(s), network(s), system(s), chip(s) or component(s), or portions or implementations thereof, of Figures 13-15, or some other figure herein, may be configured to perform one or more processes, techniques, or methods as described herein, or portions thereof. One such process is depicted in Figure 16. In some embodiments, the process of Figure 16 may be performed by a computing control function (Comp CF) or a portion thereof.

For example, the process 1600 may include, at 1605, sending a request for measurements to a control unit (CU), the request for measurements including the measurement identifier information and the measurement type information. The process further includes, at 1610, receiving a response to the request for measurements that includes a respective value for at least one respective measurement in the request for measurements.

Another such process is illustrated in Figure 17, which may be performed by a Comp CF in some embodiments. In this example, process 1700 includes, at 1705, sending a request for measurements associated with a user equipment (UE) specific measurement or a non-UE specific measurement to a control unit (CU), the request for measurements including measurement identifier information and measurement type information. The process further includes, at 1710, receiving a response to the request for measurements that includes a respective value for at least one respective measurement in the request for measurements.

Another such process is illustrated in Figure 18, which may be performed by a computing service function (Comp SF) in some embodiments. In this example, process 1800 includes, at 1805, sending a registration request to a network repository function (NRF) that includes an indication of a computing service the Comp SF can provide. The process further includes, at 1810, receiving, from a computing control function (Comp CF) a request to set up a Comp SF compute task.

For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components set forth in one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and/or methods as set forth in the example section below. For example, the baseband circuitry as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below. For another example, circuitry associated with a UE, base station, network element, etc. as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below in the example section. EXAMPLES

Example 1 may include Message flows between Comp CF and CU comprising one or more of: o Comp CF request for UE related and non-related measurements as in Figure 2; o Comp CF request for compute context setup/modification including as in Figure 3;

■ Compute task IDs, QoS, transport information, assigned Comp SF, handling rules, etc.; o Comp CF request for compute policy change as in Figure 4;

■ Such as whether the computing service is available, barring, timed status change, etc.; and/or o Comp CF request the security policy for each compute task based on local policy from PCF , or local laws and regulatory policies received.

Example 2 may include Interactions between Comp CF/SF comprising one or more of: o Comp SF selection, e.g., including one or more of:

■ NRF based where Comp SF registers to a NRF in RAN/network as in Figure 5; and/or

■ Non-NRF based where Comp SF registers to the Comp CF as in Figure 6; o Comp CF/SF compute task management, e.g., including one or more of:

■ Comp CF request for compute task setup at Comp SF including

• Description of compute task with computing environment requirements as in Figure 7 l)a;

• Compute task service level with priority, QoS, etc. as in Figure 7 l)b; and/or

• In addition, Comp CF sets up security policy for each compute task in comp sf;

■ Comp CF subscribes to task status change or event as in Figure 8;

■ Comp CF request for computing records as in Figure 9; and/or ■ Comp CF request for compute task upgrade/modification/termination as in Figure 10.

Example 3 may include interactions between Comp CF/SF and RAN/network functions including one or more of: o RAN/network functions request for Computing service from Comp CF/SF, e.g., including one or more of:

■ Optionl through Comp CF only as in Figure 11; and/or

■ Option2 through Comp CF and SF as in Figure 12.

Example XI includes an apparatus of a computing control function (Comp CF) comprising: memory to store measurement identifier information and measurement type information; and processing circuitry, coupled with the memory, to: send a request for measurements to a control unit (CU), the request for measurements including the measurement identifier information and the measurement type information; and receive a response to the request for measurements that includes a respective value for at least one respective measurement in the request for measurements.

Example X2 includes the apparatus of example XI or some other example herein, wherein the request for measurements is associated with a user equipment (UE) specific measurement or a non-UE specific measurement.

Example X3 includes the apparatus of example XI or some other example herein, wherein the measurement identifier information includes an indication of: a UE identifier, a UE group identifier, a universal integrated circuit card (UICC), or single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI).

Example X4 includes the apparatus of example XI or some other example herein, wherein the measurement type information includes an indication of: reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to-noise and interference ratio (SINR), channel state information (CSI), an uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) packet delay, or an UL or DL packet loss rate.

Example X5 includes the apparatus of any of examples XI -X4 or some other example herein, wherein the processing circuitry is further to: send a request for UE compute context setup or modification to the CU; and receive a response to the UE compute context setup or modification request from the CU.

Example X6 includes the apparatus of example X5 or some other example herein, wherein the request for UE compute context setup or modification includes an indication of: a compute task identifier associated with a UE, quality of service (QoS) information, a computation performance requirement for an active compute task of a UE, compute transport information for an active compute task of a UE, or a rule to handle compute task transport.

Example X7 includes the apparatus of example X5 or some other example herein, wherein the request for UE compute context setup or modification includes an indication of a triggering condition for compute transport, and wherein the triggering condition includes: a compute task is accepted by the Comp CF, a compute task is completed, or a compute task is relocated.

Example X8 includes the apparatus of example X5 or some other example herein, wherein the request for UE compute context setup or modification is combined with a response from the Comp CF to accept a compute task.

Example X9 includes the apparatus of any of examples XI -X8, wherein the processing circuitry is further to: send a request for a computing policy change to the CU; and receive a response to the computing policy change request from the CU.

Example XI 0 includes the apparatus of example X5 or some other example herein, wherein the computing policy change request includes an indication of: whether the Comp CF is accepting compute tasks, whether a UE is barred from sending computing tasks to a network, or a timer.

Example XI 1 includes one or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a computing control function (Comp CF) to: send a request for measurements associated with a user equipment (UE) specific measurement or a non-UE specific measurement to a control unit (CU), the request for measurements including measurement identifier information and measurement type information; and receive a response to the request for measurements that includes a respective value for at least one respective measurement in the request for measurements.

Example XI 2 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example XI 1 or some other example herein, wherein the measurement identifier information includes an indication of: a UE identifier, a UE group identifier, a universal integrated circuit card (UICC), or single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI).

Example XI 3 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example XI 1 or some other example herein, wherein the measurement type information includes an indication of: reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal -to-noise and interference ratio (SINR), channel state information (CSI), an uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) packet delay, or an UL or DL packet loss rate.

Example XI 4 includes the one or more computer-readable media of any of examples XI 1-X13, wherein the media further stores instructions to cause the Comp CF to: send a request for UE compute context setup or modification to the CU, wherein the request for UE compute context setup or modification includes an indication of: a compute task identifier associated with a UE, quality of service (QoS) information, a computation performance requirement for an active compute task of a UE, compute transport information for an active compute task of a UE, or a rule to handle compute task transport; and receive a response to the UE compute context setup or modification request from the CU.

Example XI 5 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example X14 or some other example herein, wherein the request for UE compute context setup or modification includes an indication of a triggering condition for compute transport, and wherein the triggering condition includes: a compute task is accepted by the Comp CF, a compute task is completed, or a compute task is relocated.

Example XI 6 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example X14 or some other example herein, wherein the request for UE compute context setup or modification is combined with a response from the Comp CF to accept a compute task.

Example XI 7 includes the one or more computer-readable media of any of examples XI 1-X16 or some other example herein, wherein the media further stores instructions to cause the Comp CF to: send a request for a computing policy change to the CU, wherein the computing policy change request includes an indication of: whether the Comp CF is accepting compute tasks, whether a UE is barred from sending computing tasks to a network, or a timer; and receive a response to the computing policy change request from the CU. Example XI 8 includes one or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a computing service function (Comp SF) to: send a registration request to a network repository function (NRF) that includes an indication of a computing service the Comp SF can provide; and receive, from a computing control function (Comp CF) a request to set up a Comp SF compute task.

Example XI 9 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example XI 8 or some other example herein, wherein the registration request includes an indication of: a computing capability, an access rule, a performance statistic, a tag associated with an application, security profile information, or an identifier associated with the Comp SF.

Example X20 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example XI 9 or some other example herein, wherein the indication of the computing capability includes a profile that is to indicate: a number or type of central processing units (CPUs), a number or type of graphics processing units (GPUs), a memory size, a virtualization technology, an accelerator, or a runtime environment.

Example X21 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example XI 9 or some other example herein, wherein the access rule includes an indication of a time window for performing a computing task, or an indication of a preferred compute task associated with a requirement for computing performance or latency.

Example X22 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example XI 9 or some other example herein, wherein the performance statistic includes an indication of a processing latency for a category of compute tasks.

Example X23 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example XI 9 or some other example herein, wherein the tag associated with an application includes an indication of a supported application identifier, network slice identifier, or single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI).

Example X24 includes the one or more computer-readable media of example XI 9 or some other example herein, wherein the security profile includes an indication of security information for the NRF to authenticate and authorize the Comp SF, or a security requirement for a computing service.

Example Z01 may include an apparatus comprising means to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1-X24, or any other method or process described herein. Example Z02 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of the electronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1- X24, or any other method or process described herein.

Example Z03 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, or circuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1- X24, or any other method or process described herein.

Example Z04 may include a method, technique, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1- X24, or portions or parts thereof.

Example Z05 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1- X24, or portions thereof.

Example Z06 may include a signal as described in or related to any of examples 1- X24, or portions or parts thereof.

Example Z07 may include a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any of examples 1- X24, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

Example Z08 may include a signal encoded with data as described in or related to any of examples 1- X24, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

Example Z09 may include a signal encoded with a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any of examples 1- X24, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

Example Z10 may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein execution of the computer-readable instructions by one or more processors is to cause the one or more processors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1- X24, or portions thereof.

Example Zll may include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element is to cause the processing element to carry out the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1- X24, or portions thereof. Example Z12 may include a signal in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

Example Z13 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein. Example Z14 may include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

Example Z15 may include a device for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

Any of the above-described examples may be combined with any other example (or combination of examples), unless explicitly stated otherwise. The foregoing description of one or more implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments. Abbreviations

Unless used differently herein, terms, definitions, and abbreviations may be consistent with terms, definitions, and abbreviations defined in 3GPP TR 21.905 V16.0.0 (2019-06). For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviations may apply to the examples and embodiments discussed herein.

3GPP Third APN Access Point BWP Bandwidth Part Generation 35 Name C-RNTI Cell

Partnership ARP Allocation and 70 Radio Network

Project Retention Priority Temporary

4G Fourth ARQ Automatic Identity

Generation Repeat Request CA Carrier

5G Fifth 40 AS Access Stratum Aggregation,

Generation ASN.1 Abstract Syntax 75 Certification

5GC 5G Core Notation One Authority network AUSF Authentication CAPEX CAPital

ACK Server Function Expenditure

Acknowledgem 45 AWGN CBRA Contention ent Additive White 80 Based Random

AF Application Gaussian Noise Access Function BAP Backhaul CC Component

AM Acknowledged Adaptation Protocol Carrier, Country Mode 50 BCH Broadcast Code, Cryptographic

AMBRAggregate Channel 85 Checksum Maximum Bit Rate BER Bit Error Ratio CCA Clear Channel AMF Access and BFD Beam Assessment Mobility Failure Detection CCE Control

Management 55 BLER Block Error Channel Element

Function Rate 90 CCCH Common

AN Access BPSK Binary Phase Control Channel

Network Shift Keying CE Coverage

ANR Automatic BRAS Broadband Enhancement

Neighbour Relation 60 Remote Access CDM Content

AP Application Server 95 Delivery Network

Protocol, Antenna BSS Business CDMA Code-

Port, Access Point Support System Division Multiple API Application BS Base Station Access Programming 65 BSR Buffer Status CFRA Contention Free

Interface Report 100 Random Access

BW Bandwidth CG Cell Group CI Cell Identity 35 CPICH Common Pilot CSI-IM CSI CID Cell-ID (e g., Channel Interference positioning method) CQI Channel Measurement CIM Common Quality Indicator 70 CSI-RS CSI Information Model CPU CSI processing Reference Signal CIR Carrier to 40 unit, Central CSI-RSRP CSI Interference Ratio Processing Unit reference signal CK Cipher Key C/R received power CM Connection Command/Resp 75 CSI-RSRQ CSI Management, onse field bit reference signal Conditional 45 CRAN Cloud Radio received quality Mandatory Access CSI-SINR CSI CM AS Commercial Network, Cloud signal-to-noise and Mobile Alert Service RAN 80 interference CMD Command CRB Common ratio CMS Cloud 50 Resource Block CSMA Carrier Sense Management System CRC Cyclic Multiple Access CO Conditional Redundancy Check CSMA/CA CSMA Optional CRI Channel-State 85 with collision CoMP Coordinated Information avoidance Multi-Point 55 Resource CSS Common CORESET Control Indicator, CSI-RS Search Space, CellResource Set Resource specific Search COTS Commercial Indicator 90 Space Off-The-Shelf C-RNTI Cell CTS Clear-to-Send CP Control Plane, 60 RNTI CW Codeword Cyclic Prefix, CS Circuit CWS Contention Connection Switched Window Size Point CSAR Cloud Service 95 D2D Device-to- CPD Connection Archive Device Point Descriptor 65 CSI Channel-State DC Dual CPE Customer Information Connectivity, Direct Premise Current

Equipment DCI Downlink 35 ECCA extended clear eNB evolved

Control channel 70 NodeB, E-UTRAN

Information assessment, Node B

DF Deployment extended CCA EN-DC E-

Flavour ECCE Enhanced UTRA-NR Dual

DL Downlink 40 Control Channel Connectivity

DMTF Distributed Element, 75 EPC Evolved Packet

Management Task Enhanced CCE Core

Force ED Energy EPDCCH

DPDK Data Plane Detection enhanced

Development Kit 45 EDGE Enhanced PDCCH, enhanced

DM-RS, DMRS Datarates for GSM 80 Physical

Demodulation Evolution Downlink Control

Reference Signal (GSM Evolution) Cannel

DN Data network EGMF Exposure EPRE Energy per

DRB Data Radio 50 Governance resource element

Bearer Management 85 EPS Evolved Packet

DRS Discovery Function System

Reference Signal EGPRS EREG enhanced REG,

DRX Discontinuous Enhanced enhanced resource

Reception 55 GPRS element groups

DSL Domain EIR Equipment 90 ETSI European

Specific Language. Identity Register Telecommunica

Digital eLAA enhanced tions Standards

Subscriber Line Licensed Assisted Institute

DSLAM DSL 60 Access, ETWS Earthquake and

Access Multiplexer enhanced LAA 95 Tsunami

DwPTS EM Element Warning

Downlink Pilot Manager System

Time Slot eMBB Enhanced eUICC embedded

E-LAN Ethernet 65 Mobile UICC, embedded

Local Area Broadband 100 Universal

Network EMS Element Integrated Circuit

E2E End-to-End Management System Card E-UTRA Evolved 35 FCCH Frequency GERAN

UTRA Correction GSM EDGE

E-UTRAN Evolved CHannel 70 RAN, GSM EDGE

UTRAN FDD Frequency Radio Access

EV2X Enhanced V2X Division Duplex Network

F1AP Fl Application 40 FDM Frequency GGSN Gateway GPRS

Protocol Division Support Node

Fl-C Fl Control Multiplex 75 GLONASS plane interface FDM A F requency GLObal'naya

Fl-U Fl User plane Division Multiple NAvigatsionna interface 45 Access ya Sputnikovaya

FACCH Fast FE Front End Sistema (Engl.:

Associated Control FEC Forward Error 80 Global Navigation

CHannel Correction Satellite

FACCH/F Fast FFS For Further System)

Associated Control 50 Study gNB Next

Channel/Full FFT Fast Fourier Generation NodeB rate Transformation 85 gNB-CU gNB-

FACCH/H Fast feL AA further centralized unit, Next

Associated Control enhanced Licensed Generation

Channel/Half 55 Assisted NodeB rate Access, further centralized unit

FACH Forward Access enhanced LAA 90 gNB-DU gNB-

Channel FN Frame Number distributed unit, Next

FAUSCH Fast FPGA Field- Generation

Uplink Signalling 60 Programmable Gate NodeB

Channel Array distributed unit

FB Functional FR Frequency 95 GNSS Global

Block Range Navigation Satellite

FBI Feedback G-RNTI GERAN System

Information 65 Radio Network GPRS General Packet

FCC Federal Temporary Radio Service

Communications Identity 100 GSM Global System

Commission for Mobile Communication HSDPA High IDFT Inverse s, Groupe Special 35 Speed Downlink Discrete Fourier Mobile Packet Access Transform GTP GPRS HSN Hopping 70 IE Information Tunneling Protocol Sequence Number element GTP-UGPRS HSPA High Speed IBE In-Band Tunnelling Protocol 40 Packet Access Emission for User Plane HSS Home IEEE Institute of GTS Go To Sleep Subscriber Server 75 Electrical and Signal (related HSUPA High Electronics to WUS) Speed Uplink Packet Engineers GUMMEI 45 Access IEI Information

Globally HTTP Hyper Text Element Unique MME Transfer Protocol 80 Identifier Identifier HTTPS Hyper IEIDL Information GUTI Globally Text Transfer Protocol Element Unique Temporary 50 Secure (https is Identifier Data

UE Identity http/ 1.1 over Length HARQ Hybrid ARQ, SSL, i.e. port 443) 85 IETF Internet Hybrid I-Block Engineering Task

Automatic Information Force Repeat Request 55 Block IF Infrastructure HANDO Handover ICCID Integrated IM Interference HFN HyperFrame Circuit Card 90 Measurement, Number Identification Intermodulation HHO Hard Handover IAB Integrated , IP Multimedia HLR Home Location 60 Access and IMC IMS Register Backhaul Credentials HN Home Network ICIC Inter-Cell 95 IMEI International HO Handover Interference Mobile

HPLMN Home Coordination Equipment Public Land Mobile 65 ID Identity, Identity

Network identifier IMGI International

100 mobile group identity IMPI IP Multimedia 35 ISO International LI Layer 1

Private Identity Organisation for 70 (physical layer)

IMPU IP Multimedia Standardisation Ll-RSRP Layer 1

PUblic identity ISP Internet Service reference signal

IMS IP Multimedia Provider received power

Subsystem 40 IWF Interworking- L2 Layer 2 (data

IMSI International Function 75 link layer)

Mobile I-WLAN L3 Layer 3

Subscriber Interworking (network layer)

Identity WLAN LAA Licensed loT Internet of 45 Constraint Assisted Access

Things length of the 80 LAN Local Area

IP Internet convolutional Network

Protocol code, USIM LBT Listen Before

Ipsec IP Security, Individual key Talk

Internet Protocol 50 kB Kilobyte (1000 LCM LifeCycle

Security bytes) 85 Management

IP-CAN IP- kbps kilo-bits per LCR Low Chip Rate

Connectivity Access second LCS Location

Network Kc Ciphering key Services

IP-M IP Multicast 55 Ki Individual LCID Logical

IPv4 Internet subscriber 90 Channel ID

Protocol Version 4 authentication LI Layer Indicator

IPv6 Internet key LLC Logical Link

Protocol Version 6 KPI Key Control, Low Layer

IR Infrared 60 Performance Indicator Compatibility

IS In Sync KQI Key Quality 95 LPLMN Local

IRP Integration Indicator PLMN

Reference Point KSI Key Set LPP LTE

ISDN Integrated Identifier Positioning Protocol

Services Digital 65 ksps kilo-symbols LSB Least

Network per second 100 Significant Bit

ISIM IM Services KVM Kernel Virtual LTE Long Term

Identity Module Machine Evolution LWA LTE-WLAN 35 Broadcast and MGL Measurement aggregation Multicast Gap Length LWIP LTE/WLAN Service 70 MGRP Measurement Radio Level MBSFN Gap Repetition

Integration with Multimedia Period IPsec Tunnel 40 Broadcast MIB Master LTE Long Term multicast Information Block, Evolution service Single 75 Management M2M Machine-to- Frequency Information Base Machine Network MIMO Multiple Input MAC Medium Access 45 MCC Mobile Country Multiple Output Control Code MLC Mobile

(protocol MCG Master Cell 80 Location Centre layering context) Group MM Mobility MAC Message MCOT Maximum Management authentication code 50 Channel MME Mobility (security/encry ption Occupancy Management Entity context) Time 85 MN Master Node MAC-A MAC MCS Modulation and MnS Management used for coding scheme Service authentication 55 MD AF Management MO Measurement and key Data Analytics Object, Mobile agreement Function 90 Originated (TSG T WG3 context) MDAS Management MPBCH MTC MAC-IMAC used for Data Analytics Physical Broadcast data integrity of 60 Service CHannel signalling messages MDT Minimization MPDCCH MTC (TSG T WG3 of Drive Tests 95 Physical Downlink context) ME Mobile Control MANO Equipment CHannel

Management 65 MeNB master eNB MPDSCH MTC and Orchestration MER Message Error Physical Downlink MBMS Ratio 100 Shared

Multimedia CHannel MPRACH MTC mMTCmassive MTC, NFP Network Physical Random 35 massive Forwarding Path Access Machine-Type 70 NFPD Network

CHannel Communication Forwarding Path

MPUSCH MTC s Descriptor

Physical Uplink Shared MU-MIMO Multi NFV Network Channel 40 User MIMO Functions

MPLS MultiProtocol MWUS MTC 75 Virtualization

Label Switching wake-up signal, MTC NFVI NFV MS Mobile Station wus Infrastructure MSB Most NACKNegative NFVO NFV Significant Bit 45 Acknowledgement Orchestrator MSC Mobile NAI Network 80 NG Next Switching Centre Access Identifier Generation, Next Gen MSI Minimum NAS Non-Access NGEN-DC NG- System Stratum, Non- Access RAN E-UTRA-NR

Information, 50 Stratum layer Dual Connectivity MCH Scheduling NCT Network 85 NM Network Information Connectivity Manager

MSID Mobile Station Topology NMS Network

Identifier NC-JT Non- Management System

MSIN Mobile Station 55 Coherent Joint N-PoP Network Point

Identification Transmission 90 of Presence

Number NEC Network NMIB, N-MIB

MSISDN Mobile Capability Narrowband MIB

Subscriber ISDN Exposure NPBCH

Number 60 NE-DC NR-E- Narrowband

MT Mobile UTRA Dual 95 Physical

Terminated, Mobile Connectivity Broadcast

Termination NEF Network CHannel MTC Machine-Type Exposure NPDCCH

Communication 65 Function Narrowband s NF Network 100 Physical

Function Downlink 35 NSD Network OPEX OPerating

Control CHannel Service Descriptor EXpense

NPDSCH NSR Network 70 OSI Other System

Narrowband Service Record Information

Physical NSSAINetwork Slice OSS Operations

Downlink 40 Selection Support System

Shared CHannel Assistance OTA over-the-air

NPRACH Information 75 PAPR Peak-to-

Narrowband S-NNSAI Single- Average Power

Physical Random NSSAI Ratio

Access CHannel 45 NSSF Network Slice PAR Peak to

NPUSCH Selection Average Ratio

Narrowband Function 80 PBCH Physical

Physical Uplink NW Network Broadcast Channel

Shared CHannel NWUSNarrowband PC Power Control,

NPSS Narrowband 50 wake-up signal, Personal

Primary Narrowband WUS Computer

Synchronizatio NZP Non-Zero 85 PCC Primary n Signal Power Component Carrier,

NSSS Narrowband O&M Operation and Primary CC

Secondary 55 Maintenance PCell Primary Cell

Synchronizatio ODU2 Optical channel PCI Physical Cell n Signal Data Unit - type 2 90 ID, Physical Cell

NR New Radio, OFDM Orthogonal Identity

Neighbour Relation Frequency Division PCEF Policy and

NRF NF Repository 60 Multiplexing Charging

Function OFDMA Enforcement

NRS Narrowband Orthogonal 95 Function

Reference Signal Frequency Division PCF Policy Control

NS Network Multiple Access Function

Service 65 OOB Out-of-band PCRF Policy Control

NSA Non- OOS Out of and Charging Rules

Standalone operation Sync 100 Function mode PDCP Packet Data PIN Personal PRR Packet Convergence 35 Identification Number Reception Radio Protocol, PM Performance PS Packet Services

Packet Data Measurement 70 PSBCH Physical Convergence PMI Precoding Sidelink Broadcast

Protocol layer Matrix Indicator Channel

PDCCH Physical 40 PNF Physical PSDCH Physical

Downlink Control Network Function Sidelink Downlink Channel PNFD Physical 75 Channel

PDCP Packet Data Network Function PSCCH Physical Convergence Protocol Descriptor Sidelink Control PDN Packet Data 45 PNFR Physical Channel Network, Public Network Function PSFCH Physical

Data Network Record 80 Sidelink Feedback

PDSCH Physical POC PTT over Channel

Downlink Shared Cellular PSSCH Physical

Channel 50 PP, PTP Point- Sidelink Shared

PDU Protocol Data to-Point Channel Unit PPP Point-to-Point 85 PSCell Primary SCell

PEI Permanent Protocol PSS Primary Equipment PRACH Physical Synchronization

Identifiers 55 RACH Signal

PFD Packet Flow PRB Physical PSTN Public Description resource block 90 Switched Telephone

P-GW PDN Gateway PRG Physical Network PHICH Physical resource block PT-RS Phase-tracking hybrid-ARQ 60 group reference signal indicator ProSe Proximity PTT Push-to-Talk channel Services, 95 PUCCH Physical

PHY Physical layer Proximity - Uplink Control PLMN Public Land Based Service Channel Mobile 65 PRS Positioning PUSCH Physical

Network Reference Signal Uplink Shared

100 Channel QAM Quadrature 35 RAT Radio Access RM Registration

Amplitude Technology 70 Management

Modulation RAU Routing Area RMC Reference

QCI QoS class of Update Measurement Channel identifier RB Resource block, RMSI Remaining

QCL Quasi co40 Radio Bearer MSI, Remaining location RBG Resource block 75 Minimum

QFI QoS Flow ID, group System

QoS Flow REG Resource Information

Identifier Element Group RN Relay Node

QoS Quality of 45 Rel Release RNC Radio Network Service REQ REQuest 80 Controller

QPSK Quadrature RF Radio RNL Radio Network

(Quaternary) Phase Frequency Layer Shift Keying RI Rank Indicator RNTI Radio Network

QZSS Quasi-Zenith 50 RIV Resource Temporary

Satellite System indicator value 85 Identifier

RA-RNTI Random RL Radio Link ROHC RObust Header

Access RNTI RLC Radio Link Compression

RAB Radio Access Control, Radio RRC Radio Resource

Bearer, Random 55 Link Control Control, Radio

Access Burst layer 90 Resource Control

RACH Random Access RLC AM RLC layer Channel Acknowledged Mode RRM Radio Resource

RADIUS Remote RLC UM RLC Management

Authentication Dial 60 Unacknowledged RS Reference

In User Service Mode 95 Signal

RAN Radio Access RLF Radio Link RSRP Reference

Network Failure Signal Received

RANDRANDom RLM Radio Link Power number (used for 65 Monitoring RSRQ Reference authentication) RLM-RS 100 Signal Received

RAR Random Access Reference Quality

Response Signal for RLM RS SI Received SAE System SDL Supplementary

Signal Strength 35 Architecture Downlink Indicator Evolution SDNF Structured Data

RSU Road Side Unit SAP Service Access 70 Storage RSTD Reference Point Network Signal Time SAPD Service Access Function difference 40 Point Descriptor SDP Session

RTP Real Time SAPI Service Access Description Protocol Protocol Point Identifier 75 SDSF Structured Data

RTS Ready-To-Send SCC Secondary Storage RTT Round Trip Component Carrier, Function Time 45 Secondary CC SDU Service Data

Rx Reception, SCell Secondary Cell Unit Receiving, SC-FDMA Single 80 SEAF Security

Receiver Carrier Frequency Anchor Function

S1AP SI Application Division SeNB secondary eNB Protocol 50 Multiple Access SEPP Security Edge

SI -MME SI for SCG Secondary Cell Protection Proxy the control plane Group 85 SFI Slot format

Sl-U SI for the user SCM Security indication plane Context SFTD Space-

S-GW Serving 55 Management Frequency Time Gateway SCS Subcarrier Diversity, SFN

S-RNTI SRNC Spacing 90 and frame timing

Radio Network SCTP Stream Control difference

Temporary Transmission SFN System Frame Identity 60 Protocol Number or

S-TMSI SAE SDAP Service Data Single

Temporary Mobile Adaptation 95 Frequency Network Station Protocol, SgNB Secondary gNB

Identifier Service Data SGSN Serving GPRS

SA Standalone 65 Adaptation Support Node operation mode Protocol layer S-GW Serving

100 Gateway SI System SP-CSI-RNTISemi- SS-SINR Information 35 Persistent C SI RNTI Synchronizatio

SI-RNTI System SPS Semi-Persistent n Signal based

Information RNTI Scheduling 70 Signal to Noise SIB System SQN Sequence and Interference Information Block number Ratio

SIM Subscriber 40 SR Scheduling SSS Secondary Identity Module Request Synchronization SIP Session SRB Signalling 75 Signal Initiated Protocol Radio Bearer SSSG Search Space SiP System in SRS Sounding Set Group

Package 45 Reference Signal SSSIF Search Space

SL Sidelink SS Set Indicator

SLA Service Level Synchronizatio 80 SST Slice/Service Agreement n Signal Types

SM Session SSB SS Block SU-MIMO Single

Management 50 SSBRI SSB Resource User MIMO SMF Session Indicator SUL Supplementary

Management SSC Session and 85 Uplink

Function Service TA Timing

SMS Short Message Continuity Advance, Tracking Service 55 SS-RSRP Area

SMSF SMS Function Synchronizatio TAC Tracking Area SMTC SSB-based n Signal based 90 Code Measurement Timing Reference TAG Timing Configuration Signal Received Advance Group SN Secondary 60 Power TAU Tracking Area

Node, Sequence SS-RSRQ Update Number Synchronizatio 95 TB Transport

SoC System on Chip n Signal based Block SON Self-Organizing Reference TBS Transport Network 65 Signal Received Block Size

SpCell Special Cell Quality TBD To Be Defined TCI Transmission 35 TRS Tracking UICC Universal

Configuration Reference Signal 70 Integrated Circuit

Indicator TRx Transceiver Card

TCP Transmission TS Technical UL Uplink

Communication Specifications, UM

Protocol 40 Technical Unacknowledg

TDD Time Division Standard 75 ed Mode

Duplex TTI Transmission UML Unified

TDM Time Division Time Interval Modelling Language

Multiplexing Tx Transmission, UMTS Universal

TDMATime Division 45 Transmitting, Mobile

Multiple Access Transmitter 80 Telecommunica

TE Terminal U-RNTI UTRAN tions System

Equipment Radio Network UP User Plane

TEID Tunnel End Temporary UPF User Plane

Point Identifier 50 Identity Function

TFT Traffic Flow UART Universal 85 URI Uniform

Template Asynchronous Resource Identifier

TMSI Temporary Receiver and URL Uniform

Mobile Transmitter Resource Locator

Subscriber 55 UCI Uplink Control URLLC Ultra-

Identity Information 90 Reliable and Low

TNL Transport UE User Latency

Network Layer Equipment USB Universal Serial

TPC Transmit Power UDM Unified Data Bus

Control 60 Management USIM Universal

TPMI Transmitted UDP User Datagram 95 Subscriber Identity

Precoding Matrix Protocol Module

Indicator UDR Unified Data USS UE-specific

TR Technical Repository search space

Report 65 UDSF Unstructured UTRA UMTS

TRP, TRxP Data Storage 100 Terrestrial Radio

Transmission Network Access

Reception Point Function UTRAN VoIP Voice-over-IP, ZP Zero Power

Universal 35 Voice-over- Internet Terrestrial Radio Protocol

Access VPLMN Visited Network Public Land Mobile

UwPTS Uplink Network Pilot Time Slot 40 VPN Virtual Private V2I Vehicle-to- Network Infras traction VRB Virtual V2P Vehicle-to- Resource Block Pedestrian WiMAX

V2V Vehicle-to- 45 Worldwide Vehicle Interoperability

V2X Vehicle-to- for Microwave every thing Access

VIM Virtualized WLANWireless Local Infrastructure 50 Area Network

Manager WMAN VL Virtual Link, Wireless VLAN Virtual LAN, Metropolitan Area Virtual Local Area Network Network 55 WP AN Wireless VM Virtual Personal Area Machine Network VNF Virtualized X2-C X2-Control Network plane

Function 60 X2-U X2-User plane VNFFG VNF XML extensible

Forwarding Graph Markup VNFFGD VNF Language

Forwarding Graph XRES EXpected user

Descriptor 65 RESponse VNFMVNF Manager XOR exclusive OR

ZC Zadoff-Chu Terminology

For the purposes of the present document, the following terms and definitions are applicable to the examples and embodiments discussed herein.

The term “circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes hardware components such as an electronic circuit, a logic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or group), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable device (FPD) (e.g., a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a complex PLD (CPLD), a high-capacity PLD (HCPLD), a structured ASIC, or a programmable SoC), digital signal processors (DSPs), etc., that are configured to provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuitry may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the described functionality. The term “circuitry” may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system) with the program code used to carry out the functionality of that program code. In these embodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a particular type of circuitry.

The term “processor circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes circuitry capable of sequentially and automatically carrying out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations, or recording, storing, and/or transferring digital data. Processing circuitry may include one or more processing cores to execute instructions and one or more memory structures to store program and data information. The term “processor circuitry” may refer to one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, a physical central processing unit (CPU), a single-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, a quad-core processor, and/or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computer-executable instructions, such as program code, software modules, and/or functional processes. Processing circuitry may include more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors, programmable processing devices, or the like. The one or more hardware accelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and/or deep learning (DL) accelerators. The terms “application circuitry” and/or “baseband circuitry” may be considered synonymous to, and may be referred to as, “processor circuitry.”

The term “interface circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includes circuitry that enables the exchange of information between two or more components or devices. The term “interface circuitry” may refer to one or more hardware interfaces, for example, buses, I/O interfaces, peripheral component interfaces, network interface cards, and/or the like. The term “user equipment” or “UE” as used herein refers to a device with radio communication capabilities and may describe a remote user of network resources in a communications network. The term “user equipment” or “UE” may be considered synonymous to, and may be referred to as, client, mobile, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurable radio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Furthermore, the term “user equipment” or “UE” may include any type of wireless/wired device or any computing device including a wireless communications interface.

The term “network element” as used herein refers to physical or virtualized equipment and/or infrastructure used to provide wired or wireless communication network services. The term “network element” may be considered synonymous to and/or referred to as a networked computer, networking hardware, network equipment, network node, router, switch, hub, bridge, radio network controller, RAN device, RAN node, gateway, server, virtualized VNF, NFVI, and/or the like.

The term “computer system” as used herein refers to any type interconnected electronic devices, computer devices, or components thereof. Additionally, the term “computer system” and/or “system” may refer to various components of a computer that are communicatively coupled with one another. Furthermore, the term “computer system” and/or “system” may refer to multiple computer devices and/or multiple computing systems that are communicatively coupled with one another and configured to share computing and/or networking resources.

The term “appliance,” “computer appliance,” or the like, as used herein refers to a computer device or computer system with program code (e.g., software or firmware) that is specifically designed to provide a specific computing resource. A “virtual appliance” is a virtual machine image to be implemented by a hypervisor-equipped device that virtualizes or emulates a computer appliance or otherwise is dedicated to provide a specific computing resource.

The term “resource” as used herein refers to a physical or virtual device, a physical or virtual component within a computing environment, and/or a physical or virtual component within a particular device, such as computer devices, mechanical devices, memory space, processor/CPU time, processor/CPU usage, processor and accelerator loads, hardware time or usage, electrical power, input/output operations, ports or network sockets, channel/link allocation, throughput, memory usage, storage, network, database and applications, workload units, and/or the like. A “hardware resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/or network resources provided by physical hardware element(s). A “virtualized resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/or network resources provided by virtualization infrastructure to an application, device, system, etc. The term “network resource” or “communication resource” may refer to resources that are accessible by computer devices/systems via a communications network. The term “system resources” may refer to any kind of shared entities to provide services, and may include computing and/or network resources. System resources may be considered as a set of coherent functions, network data objects or services, accessible through a server where such system resources reside on a single host or multiple hosts and are clearly identifiable.

The term “channel” as used herein refers to any transmission medium, either tangible or intangible, which is used to communicate data or a data stream. The term “channel” may be synonymous with and/or equivalent to “communications channel,” “data communications channel,” “transmission channel,” “data transmission channel,” “access channel,” “data access channel,” “link,” “data link,” “carrier,” “radiofrequency carrier,” and/or any other like term denoting a pathway or medium through which data is communicated. Additionally, the term “link” as used herein refers to a connection between two devices through a RAT for the purpose of transmitting and receiving information.

The terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like as used herein refers to the creation of an instance. An “instance” also refers to a concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during execution of program code.

The terms “coupled,” “communicatively coupled,” along with derivatives thereof are used herein. The term “coupled” may mean two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with one another, may mean that two or more elements indirectly contact each other but still cooperate or interact with each other, and/or may mean that one or more other elements are coupled or connected between the elements that are said to be coupled with each other. The term “directly coupled” may mean that two or more elements are in direct contact with one another. The term “communicatively coupled” may mean that two or more elements may be in contact with one another by a means of communication including through a wire or other interconnect connection, through a wireless communication channel or link, and/or the like.

The term “information element” refers to a structural element containing one or more fields. The term “field” refers to individual contents of an information element, or a data element that contains content. The term “SMTC” refers to an S SB-based measurement timing configuration configured by SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration.

The term “SSB” refers to an SS/PBCH block.

The term “a “Primary Cell” refers to the MCG cell, operating on the primary frequency, in which the UE either performs the initial connection establishment procedure or initiates the connection re-establishment procedure.

The term “Primary SCG Cell” refers to the SCG cell in which the UE performs random access when performing the Reconfiguration with Sync procedure for DC operation.

The term “Secondary Cell” refers to a cell providing additional radio resources on top of a Special Cell for a UE configured with CA.

The term “Secondary Cell Group” refers to the subset of serving cells comprising the PSCell and zero or more secondary cells for a UE configured with DC.

The term “Serving Cell” refers to the primary cell for a UE in RRC CONNECTED not configured with CA/DC there is only one serving cell comprising of the primary cell. The term “serving cell” or “serving cells” refers to the set of cells comprising the Special Cell(s) and all secondary cells for a UE in RRC_CONNECTED configured with CA/.

The term “Special Cell” refers to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell of the SCG for DC operation; otherwise, the term “Special Cell” refers to the Pcell.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus of a computing control function (Comp CF) comprising: memory to store measurement identifier information and measurement type information; and processing circuitry, coupled with the memory, to: send a request for measurements to a control unit (CU), the request for measurements including the measurement identifier information and the measurement type information; and receive a response to the request for measurements that includes a respective value for at least one respective measurement in the request for measurements.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the request for measurements is associated with a user equipment (UE) specific measurement or a non-UE specific measurement.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measurement identifier information includes an indication of: a UE identifier, a UE group identifier, a universal integrated circuit card (UICC), or single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI).

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measurement type information includes an indication of: reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to-noise and interference ratio (SINR), channel state information (CSI), an uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) packet delay, or an UL or DL packet loss rate.

5. The apparatus of any of claims 1-4, wherein the processing circuitry is further to: send a request for UE compute context setup or modification to the CU; and receive a response to the UE compute context setup or modification request from the

CU.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the request for UE compute context setup or modification includes an indication of: a compute task identifier associated with a UE, quality of service (QoS) information, a computation performance requirement for an active compute task of a UE, compute transport information for an active compute task of a UE, or a rule to handle compute task transport.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the request for UE compute context setup or modification includes an indication of a triggering condition for compute transport, and wherein the triggering condition includes: a compute task is accepted by the Comp CF, a compute task is completed, or a compute task is relocated.

8. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the request for UE compute context setup or modification is combined with a response from the Comp CF to accept a compute task.

9. The apparatus of any of claims 1-8, wherein the processing circuitry is further to: send a request for a computing policy change to the CU; and receive a response to the computing policy change request from the CU.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the computing policy change request includes an indication of: whether the Comp CF is accepting compute tasks, whether a UE is barred from sending computing tasks to a network, or a timer.

11. One or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a computing control function (Comp CF) to: send a request for measurements associated with a user equipment (UE) specific measurement or a non-UE specific measurement to a control unit (CU), the request for measurements including measurement identifier information and measurement type information; and receive a response to the request for measurements that includes a respective value for at least one respective measurement in the request for measurements.

12. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 11, wherein the measurement identifier information includes an indication of: a UE identifier, a UE group identifier, a universal integrated circuit card (UICC), or single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI).

13. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 11, wherein the measurement type information includes an indication of: reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to-noise and interference ratio (SINR), channel state information (CSI), an uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) packet delay, or an UL or DL packet loss rate.

14. The one or more computer-readable media of any of claims 11-13, wherein the media further stores instructions to cause the Comp CF to: send a request for UE compute context setup or modification to the CU, wherein the request for UE compute context setup or modification includes an indication of: a compute task identifier associated with a UE, quality of service (QoS) information, a computation performance requirement for an active compute task of a UE, compute transport information for an active compute task of a UE, or a rule to handle compute task transport; and receive a response to the UE compute context setup or modification request from the CU.

15. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 14, wherein the request for UE compute context setup or modification includes an indication of a triggering condition for compute transport, and wherein the triggering condition includes: a compute task is accepted by the Comp CF, a compute task is completed, or a compute task is relocated.

16. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 14, wherein the request for UE compute context setup or modification is combined with a response from the Comp CF to accept a compute task.

17. The one or more computer-readable media of any of claims claim 11-16, wherein the media further stores instructions to cause the Comp CF to: send a request for a computing policy change to the CU, wherein the computing policy change request includes an indication of: whether the Comp CF is accepting compute tasks, whether a UE is barred from sending computing tasks to a network, or a timer; and receive a response to the computing policy change request from the CU.

18. One or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a computing service function (Comp SF) to: send a registration request to a network repository function (NRF) that includes an indication of a computing service the Comp SF can provide; and receive, from a computing control function (Comp CF) a request to set up a Comp SF compute task.

19. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 18, wherein the registration request includes an indication of: a computing capability, an access rule, a performance statistic, a tag associated with an application, security profile information, or an identifier associated with the Comp SF.

20. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 19, wherein the indication of the computing capability includes a profile that is to indicate: a number or type of central processing units (CPUs), a number or type of graphics processing units (GPUs), a memory size, a virtualization technology, an accelerator, or a runtime environment.

21. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 19, wherein the access rule includes an indication of a time window for performing a computing task, or an indication of a preferred compute task associated with a requirement for computing performance or latency.

22. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 19, wherein the performance statistic includes an indication of a processing latency for a category of compute tasks.

23. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 19, wherein the tag associated with an application includes an indication of a supported application identifier, network slice identifier, or single-network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI).

24. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 19, wherein the security profile includes an indication of security information for the NRF to authenticate and authorize the Comp SF, or a security requirement for a computing service.