WO2022217093A1 - Methods and apparatus to support the registration of edge application server (eas) and multi-access edge computing (mec) applications to edge enabler servers (ees) and mec platforms - Google Patents

Abstract

The disclosure is directed to systems and methods systems and methods for configuring resources for a wireless network for an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) distributed unit (DU) through a semi-static configuration provided over an application protocol (AP) back haul signal to indicate resource availability; and assigning resource availability types for the IAB distributed unit over in a frequency domain through the semi-static configuration with an indication of availability of simultaneous frequency operations of the resources, including always available (hard), sometimes available (soft), and not available, (H/S/NA) indication.

Description

METHODS AND APPARATUS TO SUPPORT THE REGISTRATION OF EDGE APPLICATION SERVER (EAS) AND MULTI-ACCESS EDGE COMPUTING (MEC) APPLICATIONS TO EDGE ENABLER SERVERS (EES) AND MEC PLATFORMS

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION(S)

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/173,264, filed April 9, 2021, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference as set forth in full.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure generally relates to field of wireless communications and more particularly relates to systems and methods for support and registration of applications to co existing MEC and EES platforms.

BACKGROUND

The next generation mobile networks, in particular, Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) systems such as Fifth Generation (5G) and Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and the evolutions thereof, are among the latest cellular wireless technologies developed to deliver ten times faster data rates than LTE and are being deployed with multiple carriers in the same area and across multiple spectrum bands. With the growth of different architectures, MEC and EES platforms.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A detailed description is set forth below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The use of the same reference numerals may indicate similar or identical items. Various embodiments may utilize elements and/or components other than those illustrated in the drawings, and some elements and/or components may not be present in various embodiments. Elements and/or components in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. Throughout this disclosure, depending on the context, singular and plural terminology may be used interchangeably.

FIG. 1 illustrates an architecture for illustrating a coexisting relationship between 3GPP EDGEAPP and ETSI Multi- Access Edge Computing (MEC) architectures in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an architecture showing hybrid MEC implementations of edge platforms in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 3 illustrates a network architecture in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIGs. 4-6 illustrate flow diagrams of three methods in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary network in accordance with various embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary network in accordance with various embodiments of the disclosure.

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).

FIG. 1 shows the relationship between 3GPP EDGEAPP and ETSI Multi- Access Edge Computing (MEC) architectures. In one or more embodiments, the architecture is referred to as a “Harmonized Mobile Edge Cloud Architecture”. Both Edge Application Server (EAS) and Multi- Access Edge Computing (MEC) applications are application servers and can provide similar application specific functionalities. EAS utilizes the services of Edge Enabler Servers (EES) as specified in 3GPP TS 23.558 whereas MEC application utilizes the services provided by MEC platform as specified in ETSI GS MEC 003. The EAS and MEC applications are essentially equivalent and can be collocated. There is a need for support and registration of the same application (either EAS or MEC) to enable an application to consume services from one platform or the other.

As shown, network 100 includes a user equipment (UE) 102, including application clients 104 and an edge enable client (EEC) 106, is coupled to a 3GPP Core Network 110, and coupled to block 120 holding an Edge Application Server 122 and an MEC application 124, which includes Mpl 126 coupled to MEC Platform 156. Block 120 is coupled to block 125 holding an EES 154 and an MEC platform. Block 125 is coupled to block 146 showing an Edge Configuration Server (ECS) which is coupled to both the UE 102 and 3GPP Core Network 110.

FIG. 1 also shows ETSI block 130 including an MEC platform manager 132, MEC Orchestrator 134, Operation support System (OSS) 136 and user application lifecycle management proxy (LCM) proxy 138, which are coupled to customer facing service (CFS) portal 150 and device applications 152.

FIG. 1 also shows how different edge computing occurs with Edge-3 128, Edge-1 142, Edge-2 143, Edge 4 144, Edge-5 145, Edge-6-146, Edge-7 147, Edge-8 148, Edge-9/Mp3 160.

Block 130 includes connections Mm-1 170, Mm-2 172, Mm-3 173, Mm-5 174, Mm-9 176, Mm- 8 178, Mxl 180 and Mx2 182.

As shown in FIG. 1, EDGE-3 128 and Mpl 126 can be a reference point grouping two interfaces. Each of the EDGE connections depicts a 3GPP SA6 interface with Mp, Mx and Mm depicting ETSI MEC interfaces.

As one of skill in the art will appreciate, ETCI MEC and 3GPP SA6 EDGEAPP standards allow the possibility of a single platform that is compliant with both standards, and that deployment options are available as variants. At a high level, both standard groups, ETSI and 3GPP define a similar platform with two sets of application programming interfaces (APIs) related to edge services exposed to different applications. To allow cross-consumption of edge service APIs from either platform, however, applications require support for registration to a targeted platform. For example, an EAS should be registered to an edge enabler server (EES) and an MEC application needs to be instantiated and onboarded in an MEC platform.

One or more embodiments are directed to a flexible framework for dual registration of Edge Apps.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an architecture illustrates allowing cross-APIs consumption, in presence of hybrid MEC implementations of edge platforms (e.g., compliant with both standards). Shown in FIG. 2, block 210 is shown coupled to block 220. Block 210 includes EAS 232, and MEC application 234. Block 220 includes EES 242 and MEC platform 244. Block 210 and 220 are shown coupled via EDGE-3 250 and Mpl 260. As one of skill in the art will appreciate, EDGE-3 is a 3 GPP based connection and Mpl is an ETSI based connection.

The 3GPP standard includes a technical standard TS 23.558 defining the Edge Application Server Registration procedure that allows an Edge Application Server to provide its information to an Edge Enabler Server to enable its discovery by an Edge Enabler Client. Edge Application Server Registration procedure includes pre-conditions before this procedure can be executed. The preconditions include proper configuration by the EAS with an EAS identity, such that an address of the EES is stored with the EAS and that both have necessary credentials.

In one or more embodiments, the identity and address of the EES may be used to allow both an EAS and an MEC application to register at either or both and EES and an MEC platform.

Similar to an EES, an ETSI MEC also has preconditions for registration. An MEC Application, once onboarded in an MEC system, needs to be instantiated·

Application instantiation operation is triggered by an InstantiateAppRe quest message, which is defined from an operations support system (OSS) to a mobile edge orchestrator (MEO) or also from MEO to MEC platform manager (MEPM). This request contains all information needed for the instantiation of the application in the MEC system, such as: VirtualComputeDescription,

VirtualStorageDescriptor,

MECHostlnformation,

LocationConstraints, and VimConnectionlnfo.

In particular, MECHostlnformation is the information on the selected MEC host for the application instance and contains hostname and hostld of the MEC host.

Thus, in accordance with one or more embodiments, more information about EES is needed for MEC Applications to allow them to register to EES platform.

One or more embodiments are directed to a use case, requirements, and solution to configure EAS identifiers and EES URI at the EAS. Specifically, one or more embodiments enable an edge computing service provider (ECSP) consumer to configure an EAS Identity and EAS address (such as a URI) which then are required for registering for Edge Application Server Registration procedures. Specifically, after an EAS has been instantiated, and the managed object instance (MOI) representing the EAS function has been created, a consumer requests the 3 GPP management system to configure the EAS Identity and the address (e.g. URI) of the EES.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, the 3GPP management system configures the attributes in the MOI representing the EAS function and sends an attribute change notification to the consumer.

In one or more embodiments, the following functions:

REQ-EAS-EES-Config-FUN-1 3GPP management service producer in embodiments has the capability allowing authorized consumer to configure the EAS Identity and the address (e.g. URI) of the EES.

REQ-EAS-EES-Config-FUN-2 3GPP management service producer in one or more embodiments has the capability to send a notification to the consumer, indicating that the attributes have been changed.

FIG. 3 illustrates a network 300 of an ECSP configuration that requests the ECSP management system to configure EAS identifier and EES address at the EASFunction IOC. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the EASFunction MOI has been created.

As shown, network 300 includes an ECSP at block 310 and a management services consumer (MnS-C) 312 coupled to a provisioning MnS-P 314 at network node 316 which is coupled to ECSP management system 320, which is coupled to EAS virtual network function (VNF).

To support the EAS configuration, the EASFunction IOCs in one or more embodiments contain the following attributes:

- easldentifier: the identifier of EAS.

- ees Address: the address of EAS (e.g. URI, IP address).

- mecPlatformAddress: the address of MEC platform (e.g. URI, IP address)

In particular, the latter provides information on the MEC platform that should be accessible from the EAS via this configuration procedure. Thus, a consumer consumes the provisioning MnS 322 with operation modifyMOIAttributes to request ECSP management system 320 to configure the easldentifier and/or eesAddress attribute(s) in EASFunction or EP MOI.

In an embodiment, the ECSP management system 320 sends MOIAttributeValueChange to notify consumer 312 that the easldentifier and/or eesAddress, mecPlatformAddress attribute(s) in EASFunction or EP MOI have been modified.

Referring back to FIG. 2, in one or more embodiments, MEC application 234 accesses EES 242 to configure an EES identifier and an EES URI at the MEC application 234. In one or more embodiments, the InstantiateAppRequest structure is used in the instantiation phase, and may be included in the ETSI GS MEC 010-2 specification. The attributes of data type are specified Table 1, below.

Table 1: Attributes of Instantiate AppRequest.

In accordance with embodiments, a new attribute EESInformation is introduced that is a data type representing the parameters of EES information.

The attributes of the data type are specified in Table 2, below.

Table 2: Attributes of EESInformation.

After the instantiation, the MEC Application 234 can use the information on the ESS 242 to build an API root path and access the related APIs offered by the EES 242. In one or more embodiments, an update of instantiated MEC application 234 enables access to EES 242. As a variant of the above table 2, MEC application 234 can be also be configured with proper EES information when already instantiated and in operational state. In this case, one or more embodiments provide for a procedure UpdateAppInstanceldentifierRequest and may be in an ETSI MEC specification, where the Mobile edge application orchestrator MEAO sends a request to the Mobile Edge Program Manager - virtual (MEPM-V) to configure the MEC application, by providing the applnstanceld (e.g., the MEC application identifier), and the updated list of parameters to be configured (attribute appConfigurationParameters). In case of success, the configuration information for the MEC application in the MEP (VNF) updates according to the input parameters specified in the operation.

One or more embodiments are directed to updating an application instance identifier operation. More specifically, this operation updates an application instance identifier, and an associated instance of an Applnstancelnfo, identified by that identifier, in the INSTANTIATED state without re-instantiating the application or doing any additional lifecycle operation(s). Updating the application instance identifier operation allows returning instantly an application instance identifier that may be used in subsequent lifecycle operations, such as the application instantiation operation.

Table 3, below lists the information flow exchanged between the MEPM and the MEO, between the MEO and the OSS, between the MEAO and the OSS, or between the MEAO and the MEPM-V.

Table 3: Update application instance identifier operation.

In one or more embodiments, input parameters are sent when invoking the operation in accordance with Table 4, below. Table 4: Update application instance identifier operation input parameters.

In one or more embodiments, output parameters returned by the operation shall follow the indications provided in Table 5, below. Table 5: Update application instance identifier operation output parameters.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, in the event of success, the instance of an Applnstancelnfo, in the INSTANTIATED state, has been updated and may be used in subsequent lifecycle operations. In case of failure, appropriate error information is returned. Referring now to FIG. 4, a flow diagram illustrates a method 400 in accordance with one or more embodiments.

As shown block 410, a consumer edge computing service provider (ECSP) requests that a management system provisioning (MnS-P) ECSP configure attributes for a managed object instance (MOI) function. For example, a consumer ECSP in a 3GPP environment with applications that are capable of interacting with a Multi- Access Edge Computing (MEC) in an ETSI environment must first register and request an identifier for doing so.

Block 420 receives a notification at the consumer ECSP, and confirms that the MOI function attributes have been configured. For example, attributes may be modified for the MOI functions.

Block 430 provides for interacting with a Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) management platform or an edge enabler server (EES) via applications sourced from the consumer ECSP. For example, if the applications are appropriate for an EES server, the notification may include confirmation of MOI functions that are modified for EES applications and if the applications are appropriate for an MEC platform, then the notification may include confirmation of modification for an MEC platform.

In one or more embodiments, the MnS-P ECSP requests to configure attributes include a modify MOI Attributes operation to configure the attributes of an edge application server (EAS) function EASFunction MOI and the notification is a notifyMOIAttributeValueChange notification from the MnS-P ECSP. The attributes in the EASFunction MOI may include at least an easldentifier attribute to indicate an identifier of the EAS, an eesAddress attribute to indicate an internet address of the EES, and an mecPlatformAddress attribute to indicate an internet address of the MEC platform. The attributes easldentifier and eesAddress may be contained in an end point (EP) MOI that is contained in the EASFunction MOI.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a flow diagram illustrates another method in accordance with one or more embodiments for a Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) management platform. As shown, block 510, a request by the MEC management platform to access an edge enabler server (EES) to enable an MEC platform-based application to access the EES via an exchange of at least an InstantiateAppRequest and an InstantiateAppResponse message. Block 520 provides for instantiating the MEC platform-based application using an attribute EESinformation to describe the EES for use by the MEC management platform. For example, the MEC management platform may provide an operation support system (OSS), a mobile edge orchestrator (MEO), a MEC platform manager (MEPM), and a mobile edge application orchestrator (MEAO) to manage MEC platform-based application lifecycles and enable applications to access the EES.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a flow diagram illustrates another method in accordance with an embodiment. As shown block 610 provides for requesting by a previously instantiated MEC platform-based application permission to access an edge application server (EAS). Block 620 provides for exchanging an UpdateAppInstanceldentifierRequest message and an UpdateAppInstanceldentifierResponse message. Block 630 provides for performing an Update Applnstanceldentifier operation to allow the previously instantiated MEC platform- based application to access the EAS.

As one or skill in the art will appreciate, embodiments relate to MEC architectures as described in ETSI GS MEC 003, ETSI GS MEC 010-2, ETSI GS MEC 010-2 V2.1.1 which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. For purposes of locating the references please refer to TSI GS MEC 003: “Multi- Access Edge Computing (MEC); Framework and Reference Architecture”, v2.1.3 (stable draft), Sept. 2019. Retrieved from the internet <https://docbox.etsi.org/ISG/MEC/Open/mec-003v213_clean_stable%20draft.pdf>; 3GPP TS 23.558 VI.1.0 (2020-10), “Architecture for enabling Edge Applications (Release 17)”, retrieved from the internet

<https://www.3gpp.org/ftp//Specs/archive/23_series/23.558/23558-110.zip>;_ETSI GS MEC 010-2 V2.1.1 (2019-11): “Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC); MEC Management; Part 2: Application lifecycle, rules and requirements management”. Retrieved from the internet <www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_gs/MEC/001_099/01002/02.01.0 l_60/gs_MEC01002v02010 lp.p df>.

SYSTEMS AND IMPLEMENTATIONS

FIGs. 7-8 illustrate various systems, devices, and components that may implement aspects of disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates a network 700 in accordance with various embodiments. The network 700 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 700 may include a UE 702, which may include any mobile or non-mobile computing device designed to communicate with a RAN 704 via an over-the-air connection. The UE 702 may be communicatively coupled with the RAN 704 by a Uu interface. The UE 702 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, electronic/engine control unit, electronic/engine control module, embedded system, sensor, microcontroller, control module, engine management system, networked appliance, machine-type communication device, M2M or D2D device, IoT device, etc. In some embodiments, the network 700 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 702 may additionally communicate with an AP 706 via an over-the-air connection. The AP 706 may manage a WLAN connection, which may serve to offload some/all network traffic from the RAN 704. The connection between the UE 702 and the AP 706 may be consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 706 could be a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi®) router. In some embodiments, the UE 702, RAN 704, and AP 706 may utilize cellular-WLAN aggregation (for example, LWA/LWIP). Cellular-WLAN aggregation may involve the UE 702 being configured by the RAN 704 to utilize both cellular radio resources and WLAN resources.

The RAN 704 may include one or more access nodes, for example, AN 708. AN 708 may terminate air-interface protocols for the UE 702 by providing access stratum protocols including RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC, and LI protocols. In this manner, the AN 708 may enable data/voice connectivity between CN 720 and the UE 702. In some embodiments, the AN 708 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 708 be referred to as a BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, ng-eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP, TRP, etc. The AN 708 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 704 includes a plurality of ANs, they may be coupled with one another via an X2 interface (if the RAN 704 is an LTE RAN) or an Xn interface (if the RAN 704 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 704 may each manage one or more cells, cell groups, component carriers, etc. to provide the UE 702 with an air interface for network access. The UE 702 may be simultaneously connected with a plurality of cells provided by the same or different ANs of the RAN 704. For example, the UE 702 and RAN 704 may use carrier aggregation to allow the UE 702 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 704 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 702 or AN 708 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 704 may be an LTE RAN 710 with eNBs, for example, eNB 712. The LTE RAN 710 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 704 may be an NG-RAN 714 with gNBs, for example, gNB 716, or ng-eNBs, for example, ng-eNB 718. The gNB 716 may connect with 5G-enabled UEs using a 5G NR interface. The gNB 716 may connect with a 5G core through an NG interface, which may include an N2 interface or an N3 interface. The ng-eNB 718 may also connect with the 5G core through an NG interface, but may connect with a UE via an LTE air interface. The gNB 716 and the ng-eNB 718 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 714 and a UPF 748 (e.g., N3 interface), and an NG control plane (NG-C) interface, which is a signaling interface between the nodes of the NG-RAN714 and an AMF 744 (e.g., N2 interface).

The NG-RAN 714 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 702 can be configured with multiple BWPs where each BWP configuration has a different SCS. When a BWP change is indicated to the UE 702, 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 702 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 702 and in some cases at the gNB 716. A BWP containing a larger number of PRBs can be used for scenarios with higher traffic load.

The RAN 704 is communicatively coupled to CN 720 that includes network elements to provide various functions to support data and telecommunications services to customers/subscribers (for example, users of UE 702). The components of the CN 720 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 720 onto physical compute/storage resources in servers, switches, etc. A logical instantiation of the CN 720 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instantiation of a portion of the CN 720 may be referred to as a network sub-slice.

In some embodiments, the CN 720 may be an LTE CN 722, which may also be referred to as an EPC. The LTE CN 722 may include MME 724, SGW 726, SGSN 728, HSS 730, PGW 732, and PCRF 734 coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the LTE CN 722 may be briefly introduced as follows.

The MME 724 may implement mobility management functions to track a current location of the UE 702 to facilitate paging, bearer activation/deactivation, handovers, gateway selection, authentication, etc.

The SGW 726 may terminate an SI interface toward the RAN and route data packets between the RAN and the LTE CN 722. The SGW 726 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter- RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3 GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement.

The SGSN 728 may track a location of the UE 702 and perform security functions and access control. In addition, the SGSN 728 may perform inter-EPC node signaling for mobility between different RAT networks; PDN and S-GW selection as specified by MME 724; MME selection for handovers; etc. The S3 reference point between the MME 724 and the SGSN 728 may enable user and bearer information exchange for inter-3GPP access network mobility in idle/active states.

The HSS 730 may include a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities’ handling of communication sessions. The HSS 730 can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc. An S6a reference point between the HSS 730 and the MME 724 may enable transfer of subscription and authentication data for authenticating/authorizing user access to the LTE CN 720.

The PGW 732 may terminate an SGi interface toward a data network (DN) 736 that may include an application/content server 738. The PGW 732 may route data packets between the LTE CN 722 and the data network 736. The PGW 732 may be coupled with the SGW 726 by an S 5 reference point to facilitate user plane tunneling and tunnel management. The PGW 732 may further include a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection (for example, PCEF). Additionally, the SGi reference point between the PGW 732 and the data network 736 may be an operator external public, a private PDN, or an intra-operator packet data network, for example, for provision of IMS services. The PGW 732 may be coupled with a PCRF 734 via a Gx reference point.

The PCRF 734 is the policy and charging control element of the LTE CN 722. The PCRF 734 may be communicatively coupled to the app/content server 738 to determine appropriate QoS and charging parameters for service flows. The PCRF 732 may provision associated rules into a PCEF (via Gx reference point) with appropriate TFT and QCI.

In some embodiments, the CN 720 may be a 5GC 740. The 5GC 740 may include an AUSF 742, AMF 744, SMF 746, UPF 748, NSSF 750, NEF 752, NRF 754, PCF 756, UDM 758, and AF 760 coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the 5GC 740 may be briefly introduced as follows.

The AUSF 742 may store data for authentication of UE 702 and handle authentication- related functionality. The AUSF 742 may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. In addition to communicating with other elements of the 5GC 740 over reference points as shown, the AUSF 742 may exhibit a Nausf service-based interface.

The AMF 744 may allow other functions of the 5GC 740 to communicate with the UE 702 and the RAN 704 and to subscribe to notifications about mobility events with respect to the UE 702. The AMF 744 may be responsible for registration management (for example, for registering UE 702), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception of AMF-related events, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF 744 may provide transport for SM messages between the UE 702 and the SMF 746, and act as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. AMF 744 may also provide transport for SMS messages between UE 702 and an SMSF. AMF 744 may interact with the AUSF 742 and the UE 702 to perform various security anchor and context management functions. Furthermore, AMF 744 may be a termination point of a RAN CP interface, which may include or be an N2 reference point between the RAN 704 and the AMF 744; and the AMF 744 may be a termination point of NAS (Nl) signaling, and perform NAS ciphering and integrity protection. AMF 744 may also support NAS signaling with the UE 702 over an N3 IWF interface.

The SMF 746 may be responsible for SM (for example, session establishment, tunnel management between UPF 748 and AN 708); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of UP function; configuring traffic steering at UPF 748 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 744 over N2 to AN 708; and determining SSC mode of a session. SM may refer to the 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 702 and the data network 736.

The UPF 748 may act as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point of interconnect to data network 736, and a branching point to support multi-homed PDU session. The UPF 748 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 748 may include an uplink classifier to support routing traffic flows to a data network.

The NSSF 750 may select a set of network slice instances serving the UE 702. The NSSF 750 may also determine allowed NSSAI and the mapping to the subscribed S-NSSAIs, if needed. The NSSF 750 may also determine the AMF set to be used to serve the UE 702, or a list of candidate AMFs based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRF 754. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 702 may be triggered by the AMF 744 with which the UE 702 is registered by interacting with the NSSF 750, which may lead to a change of AMF. The NSSF 750 may interact with the AMF 744 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 750 may exhibit a Nnssf service-based interface.

The NEF 752 may securely expose services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third party, internal exposure/re-exposure, AFs (e.g., AF 760), edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In such embodiments, the NEF 752 may authenticate, authorize, or throttle the AFs. NEF 752 may also translate information exchanged with the AF 760 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, the NEF 752 may translate between an AF-Service-Identifier and an internal 5GC information. NEF 752 may also receive information from other NFs based on exposed capabilities of other NFs. This information may be stored at the NEF 752 as structured data, or at a data storage NF using standardized interfaces. The stored information can then be re-exposed by the NEF 752 to other NFs and AFs, or used for other purposes such as analytics. Additionally, the NEF 752 may exhibit a Nnef service-based interface. The NRF 754 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 754 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 754 may exhibit the Nnrf service-based interface.

The PCF 756 may provide policy rules to control plane functions to enforce them, and may also support unified policy framework to govern network behavior. The PCF 756 may also implement a front end to access subscription information relevant for policy decisions in a UDR of the UDM 758. In addition to communicating with functions over reference points as shown, the PCF 756 exhibit an Npcf service-based interface.

The UDM 758 may handle subscription-related information to support the network entities’ handling of communication sessions, and may store subscription data of UE 702. For example, subscription data may be communicated via an N8 reference point between the UDM 758 and the AMF 744. The UDM 758 may include two parts, an application front end and a UDR. The UDR may store subscription data and policy data for the UDM 758 and the PCF 756, and/or structured data for exposure and application data (including PFDs for application detection, application request information for multiple UEs 702) for the NEF 752. The Nudr service-based interface may be exhibited by the UDR 221 to allow the UDM 758, PCF 756, and NEF 752 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 758 may exhibit the Nudm service-based interface.

The AF 760 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 740 may enable edge computing by selecting operator/3^rd party services to be geographically close to a point that the UE 702 is attached to the network. This may reduce latency and load on the network. To provide edge-computing implementations, the 5GC 740 may select a UPF 748 close to the UE 702 and execute traffic steering from the UPF 748 to data network 736 via the N6 interface. This may be based on the UE subscription data, UE location, and information provided by the AF 760. In this way, the AF 760 may influence UPF (re)selection and traffic routing. Based on operator deployment, when AF 760 is considered to be a trusted entity, the network operator may permit AF 760 to interact directly with relevant NFs. Additionally, the AF 760 may exhibit an Naf service-based interface.

The data network 736 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 738.

FIG. 8 schematically illustrates a wireless network 800 in accordance with various embodiments. The wireless network 800 may include a UE 802 in wireless communication with an AN 804. The UE 802 and AN 804 may be similar to, and substantially interchangeable with, like-named components described elsewhere herein.

The UE 802 may be communicatively coupled with the AN 804 via connection 806. The connection 806 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 5G NR protocol operating at mm Wave or sub-6GHz frequencies.

The UE 802 may include a host platform 808 coupled with a modem platform 810. The host platform 808 may include application processing circuitry 812, which may be coupled with protocol processing circuitry 814 of the modem platform 810. The application processing circuitry 812 may ran various applications for the UE 802 that source/sink application data. The application processing circuitry 812 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 814 may implement one or more of layer operations to facilitate transmission or reception of data over the connection 806. The layer operations implemented by the protocol processing circuitry 814 may include, for example, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC and NAS operations.

The modem platform 810 may further include digital baseband circuitry 816 that may implement one or more layer operations that are “below” layer operations performed by the protocol processing circuitry 814 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 810 may further include transmit circuitry 818, receive circuitry 820, RF circuitry 822, and RF front end (RFFE) 824, which may include or connect to one or more antenna panels 826. Briefly, the transmit circuitry 818 may include a digital-to-analog converter, mixer, intermediate frequency (IF) components, etc.; the receive circuitry 820 may include an analog-to-digital converter, mixer, IF components, etc.; the RF circuitry 822 may include a low-noise amplifier, a power amplifier, power tracking components, etc.; RFFE 824 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 818, receive circuitry 820, RF circuitry 822, RFFE 824, and antenna panels 826 (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 mm Wave 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 814 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 826, RFFE 824, RF circuitry 822, receive circuitry 820, digital baseband circuitry 816, and protocol processing circuitry 814. In some embodiments, the antenna panels 826 may receive a transmission from the AN 804 by receive-beamforming signals received by a plurality of antennas/antenna elements of the one or more antenna panels 826.

A UE transmission may be established by and via the protocol processing circuitry 814, digital baseband circuitry 816, transmit circuitry 818, RF circuitry 822, RFFE 824, and antenna panels 826. In some embodiments, the transmit components of the UE 804 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 826.

Similar to the UE 802, the AN 804 may include a host platform 828 coupled with a modem platform 830. The host platform 828 may include application processing circuitry 832 coupled with protocol processing circuitry 834 of the modem platform 830. The modem platform may further include digital baseband circuitry 836, transmit circuitry 838, receive circuitry 840, RF circuitry 842, RFFE circuitry 844, and antenna panels 846. The components of the AN 804 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with like- named components of the UE 802. In addition to performing data transmission/reception as described above, the components of the AN 808 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.

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.

The following examples pertain to further embodiments.

Example 1 may include an apparatus comprising processing circuitry coupled to the memory and configured to operate as an edge computing service provider (ECSP) operable as a management service consumer (MnS-C), the processing circuitry operable to: consume provisioning management services with an operation to request that a management system provisioning (MnS-P) ECSP configure attributes for a managed object instance (MOI) function; and receive a notification at the ECSP confirming that the MOI function attributes have been configured, the configured attributes to enable applications from the ECSP to interact with a Multi- Access Edge Computing (MEC) management platform or an edge enabler server (EES).

Example 2 may include the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other example herein, wherein the operation to request that the MnS-P ECSP configure attributes may include a modify MOI Attributes operation to configure the attributes of an edge application server (EAS) function EASFunction MOI and the notification may be a notifyMOIAttributeValueChange notification from the MnS-P ECSP, and the attributes in the EASFunction MOI include at least: an easldentifier attribute to indicate an identifier of the EAS; and an eesAddress attribute to indicate an internet address of the EES; and an mecPlatformAddress attribute to indicate an internet address of the MEC platform.

Example 3 may include the apparatus of example 2 and/or some other example herein, wherein the attributes easldentifier and eesAddress are contained in an end point (EP) MOI that may be contained in the EASFunction MOI.

Example 4 may include the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other example herein, wherein the processing circuitry may be further configured to: enable the ECSP consumer applications to interact with the MEC platform via an exchange of messages.

Example 5 may include a method comprising: requesting by a consumer edge computing service provider (ECSP) that a management system provisioning (MnS-P) ECSP configure attributes for a managed object instance (MOI) function; receiving a notification at the consumer ECSP confirming that the MOI function attributes have been configured; and interacting with a Multi- Access Edge Computing (MEC) management platform or an edge enabler server (EES) via applications sourced from the consumer ECSP.

Example 6 may include the method of example 5 and/or some other example herein, wherein the requesting that the MnS-P ECSP configure attributes may include a modify MOI Attributes operation to configure the attributes of an edge application server (EAS) function EASFunction MOI and the notification may be a notifyMOIAttributeValueChange notification from the MnS-P ECSP.

Example 7 may include the method of example 6 wherein the attributes in the EASFunction MOI include at least: an easldentifier attribute to indicate an identifier of the EAS; and an eesAddress attribute to indicate an internet address of the EES; and an mecPlatformAddress attribute to indicate an internet address of the MEC platform.

Example 8 may include the method of example 7 and/or some other example herein, wherein the attributes easldentifier and eesAddress are contained in an end point (EP) MOI that may be contained in the EASFunction MOI.

Example 9 may include a computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions to cause processing circuitry, upon execution of the instructions by the processing circuitry, to: request that a management system provisioning (MnS-P) consumer edge computing service provider (ECSP) configure attributes for a managed object instance (MOI) function; and receive a notification confirming that the MOI function attributes have been configured. Example 10 may include the computer-readable storage medium of example 9 and/or some other example herein, wherein the requesting that the MnS-P ECSP configure attributes may include a modifyMOIAttributes operation to configure the attributes of an edge application server (EAS) function EASFunction MOI and the notification may be a notifyMOIAttributeValueChange notification from the MnS-P ECSP.

Example 11 may include the computer-readable storage medium of example 9 wherein the attributes in the EASFunction MOI include at least: an easldentifier attribute to indicate an identifier of the EAS; and an eesAddress attribute to indicate an internet address of the EES; and an mecPlatformAddress attribute to indicate an internet address of the MEC platform.

Example 12 may include the computer-readable storage medium of example 11 and/or some other example herein, wherein the attributes easldentifier and eesAddress are contained in an end point (EP) MOI that may be contained in the EASFunction MOI.

Example 13 may include an apparatus comprising a memory; processing circuitry coupled to the memory configured to operate as a Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) management platform, the processing circuitry operable to: interact with an edge enabler server (EES) to enable an MEC platform-based application to access the EES via an exchange of at least an InstantiateAppRequest and an InstantiateAppResponse message allowing the MEC platform-based application to interact with the EES; and instantiate the MEC platform-based application using an attribute EESinformation to describe the EES for use by the MEC management platform.

Example 14 may include the apparatus of example 13 and/or some other example herein, wherein the MEC management platform may include an operation support system (OSS), a mobile edge orchestrator (MEO), a MEC platform manager (MEPM), and a mobile edge application orchestrator (MEAO) to manage MEC application lifecycles.

Example 15 may include the apparatus of example 13 and/or some other example herein, wherein an InstantiateApp operation occurs after an exchange of the InstantiateAppRequest and the InstantiateAppResponse messages, the InstantiateApp operation permitting the MEC platform-based application to access the EES.

Example 16 may include the apparatus of example 13 wherein the attributes contained in EESinformation include: an eesldentifier attribute to indicate an identifier of the EES; and eesAddress attribute to indicate an internet address of the EES.

Example 17 may include a method comprising: requesting access by a Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) management platform an edge enabler server (EES) to enable an MEC platform-based application to access the EES via an exchange of at least an Instantiate AppRe quest and an InstantiateAppResponse message; and instantiating the MEC platform-based application using an attribute EESinformation to describe the EES for use by the MEC management platform.

Example 18 may include the method of example 17 and/or some other example herein, wherein the MEC management platform may include an operation support system (OSS), a mobile edge orchestrator (MEO), a MEC platform manager (MEPM), and a mobile edge application orchestrator (MEAO) to manage MEC platform-based application lifecycles.

Example 19 may include an apparatus comprising means for performing any of the methods of examples 1-18.

Example 20 may include a network node comprising a communication interface and processing circuitry connected thereto and configured to perform the methods of examples 1- 18.

Example 21 may include an apparatus comprising means to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1-18, or any other method or process described herein.

Example 22 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 1-18, or any other method or process described herein.

Example 23 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 1-18, or any other method or process described herein.

Example 24 may include a method, technique, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1-18, or portions or parts thereof.

Example 25 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 1-18, or portions thereof.

Example 26 may include a signal as described in or related to any of examples 1-18, or portions or parts thereof.

Example 27 may include a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any of examples 1-18, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

Example 28 may include a signal encoded with data as described in or related to any of examples 1-18, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

Example 29 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 1-18, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

Example 30 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 1-18, or portions thereof.

Example 31 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 1-18, or portions thereof.

Example 32 may include a signal in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

Example 33 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

Example 34 may include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

Example 35 may include a device for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

In the above disclosure, reference has been made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, which illustrate specific implementations in which the present disclosure may be practiced. It is understood that other implementations may be utilized, and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. References in the specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” “example implementation,” etc., indicate that the embodiment or implementation described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment or implementation may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment or implementation. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment or implementation, one skilled in the art will recognize such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments or implementations whether or not explicitly described. For example, various features, aspects, and actions described above with respect to an autonomous parking maneuver are applicable to various other autonomous maneuvers and must be interpreted accordingly.

Implementations of the systems, apparatuses, devices, and methods disclosed herein may comprise or utilize one or more devices that include hardware, such as, for example, one or more processors and system memory, as discussed herein. An implementation of the devices, systems, and methods disclosed herein may communicate over a computer network. A “network” is defined as one or more data links that enable the transport of electronic data between computer systems and/or modules and/or other electronic devices. When information is transferred or provided over a network or another communications connection (either hardwired, wireless, or any combination of hardwired or wireless) to a computer, the computer properly views the connection as a transmission medium. Transmission media can include a network and/or data links, which can be used to carry desired program code means in the form of computer-executable instructions or data structures and which can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of non-transitory computer-readable media.

Computer-executable instructions comprise, for example, instructions and data which, when executed at a processor, cause the processor to perform a certain function or group of functions. The computer-executable instructions may be, for example, binaries, intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, or even source code. Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the described features or acts described above. Rather, the described features and acts are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

A memory device can include any one memory element or a combination of volatile memory elements (e.g., random access memory (RAM, such as DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM, etc.)) and non-volatile memory elements (e.g., ROM, hard drive, tape, CDROM, etc.). Moreover, the memory device may incorporate electronic, magnetic, optical, and/or other types of storage media. In the context of this document, a “non-transitory computer-readable medium” can be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: a portable computer diskette (magnetic), a random-access memory (RAM) (electronic), a read-only memory (ROM) (electronic), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM, EEPROM, or Flash memory) (electronic), and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD ROM) (optical). Note that the computer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, since the program can be electronically captured, for instance, via optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted or otherwise processed in a suitable manner if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present disclosure may be practiced in network computing environments with many types of computer system configurations, including in-dash vehicle computers, personal computers, desktop computers, laptop computers, message processors, nomadic devices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor- based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, mobile telephones, PDAs, tablets, pagers, routers, switches, various storage devices, and the like. The disclosure may also be practiced in distributed system environments where local and remote computer systems, which are linked (either by hardwired data links, wireless data links, or by any combination of hardwired and wireless data links) through a network, both perform tasks. In a distributed system environment, program modules may be located in both the local and remote memory storage devices.

Further, where appropriate, the functions described herein can be performed in one or more of hardware, software, firmware, digital components, or analog components. For example, one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) can be programmed to carry out one or more of the systems and procedures described herein. Certain terms are used throughout the description, and claims refer to particular system components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, components may be referred to by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name, but not function.

At least some embodiments of the present disclosure have been directed to computer program products comprising such logic (e.g., in the form of software) stored on any computer- usable medium. Such software, when executed in one or more data processing devices, causes a device to operate as described herein.

While various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art that various changes in form and detail can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described example embodiments but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents. The foregoing description has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present disclosure to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. Further, it should be noted that any or all of the aforementioned alternate implementations may be used in any combination desired to form additional hybrid implementations of the present disclosure. For example, any of the functionality described with respect to a particular device or component may be performed by another device or component. Further, while specific device characteristics have been described, embodiments of the disclosure may relate to numerous other device characteristics. Further, although embodiments have been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosed as illustrative forms of implementing the embodiments. Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or “may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments could include, while other embodiments may not include, certain features, elements, and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements, and/or steps are in any way required for one or more embodiments. 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 SSB-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 That which is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for a management system in a wireless network comprising: a memory; processing circuitry coupled to the memory and configured to operate as an edge computing service provider (ECSP) operable as a management service consumer (MnS-C), the processing circuitry operable to: consume provisioning management services with an operation to request that a management system provisioning (MnS-P) ECSP configure attributes for a managed object instance (MOI) function; and receive a notification at the ECSP confirming that the MOI function attributes have been configured, the configured attributes to enable applications from the ECSP to interact with a Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) management platform or an edge enabler server (EES).

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the operation to request that the MnS-P ECSP configure attributes includes a modify MOI Attributes operation to configure the attributes of an edge application server (EAS) function EASFunction MOI and the notification is a notifyMOIAttributeValueChange notification from the MnS-P ECSP, and the attributes in the EASFunction MOI include at least: an easldentifier attribute to indicate an identifier of the EAS; and an ees Address attribute to indicate an internet address of the EES; and an mecPlatformAddress attribute to indicate an internet address of the MEC platform.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the attributes easldentifier and eesAddress are contained in an end point (EP) MOI that is contained in the EASFunction MOI.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising processing circuitry operable to: enable the ECSP consumer applications to interact with the MEC platform via an exchange of messages.

5. A method for a management system in a wireless network comprising: requesting by a consumer edge computing service provider (ECSP) that a management system provisioning (MnS-P) ECSP configure attributes for a managed object instance (MOI) function; receiving a notification at the consumer ECSP confirming that the MOI function attributes have been configured; and interacting with a Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) management platform or an edge enabler server (EES) via applications sourced from the consumer ECSP.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the requesting that the MnS-P ECSP configure attributes includes a modifyMOIAttributes operation to configure the attributes of an edge application server (EAS) function EASFunction MOI and the notification is a notifyMOIAttributeValueChange notification from the MnS-P ECSP.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the attributes in the EASFunction MOI include at least: an easldentifier attribute to indicate an identifier of the EAS; and an ees Address attribute to indicate an internet address of the EES; and an mecPlatformAddress attribute to indicate an internet address of the MEC platform.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the attributes easldentifier and eesAddress are contained in an end point (EP) MOI that is contained in the EASFunction MOI.

9. A network node comprising a communication interface and processing circuitry connected thereto and configured to perform the method of claims 5-8.

10. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer readable program code comprising computer readable program code operable to: request that a management system provisioning (MnS-P) consumer edge computing service provider (ECSP) configure attributes for a managed object instance (MOI) function; and receive a notification confirming that the MOI function attributes have been configured.

11. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the requesting that the MnS-P ECSP configure attributes includes a modify MOI Attributes operation to configure the attributes of an edge application server (EAS) function EASFunction MOI and the notification is a notifyMOIAttributeValueChange notification from the MnS-P ECSP.

12. The computer program product of claim 10 wherein the attributes in the EASFunction MOI include at least: an easldentifier attribute to indicate an identifier of the EAS; and an ees Address attribute to indicate an internet address of the EES; and an mecPlatformAddress attribute to indicate an internet address of the MEC platform.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the attributes easldentifier and eesAddress are contained in an end point (EP) MOI that is contained in the EASFunction MOI.

14. An apparatus for a management system in a wireless network comprising: a memory; processing circuitry coupled to the memory configured to operate as a Multi- Access Edge Computing (MEC) management platform, the processing circuitry operable to: interact with an edge enabler server (EES) to enable an MEC platform-based application to access the EES via an exchange of at least an InstantiateAppRequest and an Instantiate AppResponse message allowing the MEC platform-based application to interact with the EES; and instantiate the MEC platform-based application using an attribute EESinformation to describe the EES for use by the MEC management platform.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the MEC management platform includes an operation support system (OSS), a mobile edge orchestrator (MEO), a MEC platform manager (MEPM), and a mobile edge application orchestrator (MEAO) to manage MEC application lifecycles.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein an InstantiateApp operation occurs after an exchange of the InstantiateAppRequest and the Instantiate AppResponse messages, the InstantiateApp operation permitting the MEC platform-based application to access the EES.

17. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the attributes contained in EESInformation include: an eesldentifier attribute to indicate an identifier of the EES; and ees Address attribute to indicate an internet address of the EES.

18. A method for a management system in a wireless network comprising: requesting access by a Multi- Access Edge Computing (MEC) management platform an edge enabler server (EES) to enable an MEC platform-based application to access the EES via an exchange of at least an Instantiate AppRe quest and an Instantiate AppResponse message; and instantiating the MEC platform-based application using an attribute EESinformation to describe the EES for use by the MEC management platform.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the MEC management platform includes an operation support system (OSS), a mobile edge orchestrator (MEO), a MEC platform manager (MEPM), and a mobile edge application orchestrator (MEAO) to manage MEC platform-based application lifecycles.

20. A network node comprising a communication interface and processing circuitry connected thereto and configured to perform the method of claims 17-18.

21. An apparatus of a Multi- Access Edge Computing (MEC) management platform, the apparatus comprising: a memory; and processing circuitry configured to manage the MEC management platform, the processing circuitry configured to: request by a previously instantiated MEC platform-based application to access to an edge application server (EAS); exchange a UpdateAppInstanceldentifierRequest message and a UpdateAppInstanceldentifierResponse message; and perform a UpdateAppInstanceldentifier operation to allow the previously instantiated MEC platform-based application to access the EAS.

22. A method for a management system in a wireless network comprising: requesting by a previously instantiated MEC platform-based application to access to an edge application server (EAS); exchanging a UpdateAppInstanceldentifierRequest message and a UpdateAppInstanceldentifierResponse message; and performing a UpdateAppInstanceldentifier operation to allow the previously instantiated MEC platform-based application to access the EAS.

23. A network node comprising a communication interface and processing circuitry connected thereto and configured to perform the method of claim 22.

24. A server for a management system in a wireless network comprising: a memory; and processing circuitry configured to manage the MEC management platform, the processing circuitry configured to: request that a management system provisioning (MnS-P) consumer edge computing service provider (ECSP) configure attributes for a managed object instance (MOI) function; receive a notification confirming that the MOI function attributes have been configured; and interact with a Multi- Access Edge Computing (MEC) management platform or an edge enabler server (EES) via applications sourced by a consumer ECSP.

25. The server of claim 24, wherein the request that the MnS-P ECSP configure attributes includes a modifyMOIAttributes operation to configure the attributes of an edge application server (EAS) function EASFunction MOI and the notification is a notifyMOIAttributeValueChange notification from the MnS-P ECSP, wherein the attributes in the EASFunction MOI include at least: an easldentifier attribute to indicate an identifier of the EAS; and an ees Address attribute to indicate an internet address of the EES; and an mecPlatformAddress attribute to indicate an internet address of the MEC platform.