Proximity Service Discovery User Device Identification Information Provisioning

Abstract

To provide a method for operating a first network function in a communication network.SOLUTION: A method includes initiating transmission of first information toward a second network function (102). The first information indicates that a first network function should subscribe to receiving notification of changes in a proximity service discovery user equipment identifier (PDUID) for user equipment (UE) from the second network function. The method also includes receiving the PDUID for the UE from the second network function (104).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure generally relates to communications, and more particularly, to communication methods, related devices, and functions / nodes that support wireless communications.

Background Art

[0002] Proximity services (ProSe) in the 4th generation (4G) system are described in section 4.4.1 of 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP (registered trademark)) Technical Specification (TS) 23.303 V15.1.0. The ProSe function is a logical function used for network-related actions required for ProSe. The ProSe function plays different roles for each feature of ProSe. In 3GPP (registered trademark) TS23.303 V15.1.0, only one logical ProSe function may exist within each Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) that supports ProSe. If multiple ProSe functions are deployed within the same PLMN (for example, for load reasons), note that the method for finding the ProSe function to which a specific ProSe application code or ProSe restriction code is assigned (for example, via a database lookup, etc.) is not defined in 3GPP (registered trademark) TS23.303 V15.1.0.

[0003] ProSe direct discovery may refer to a procedure adopted by a ProSe-capable User Equipment (UE) to discover other ProSe-capable UEs in its vicinity based on direct wireless transmission between two UEs using a new radio (NR) technology.

[0004] ProSe direct communication may refer to communication between two or more neighboring UEs that support ProSe via a user plane transmission using NR technology over a path that does not traverse network nodes.

Summary of the Invention

[0005] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided for operating a first network function in a communication network. The method includes initiating the transmission of first information toward a second network function. The first information indicates that the first network function should subscribe from the second network function to receive notification of a change in the Proximity Service Discovery User Device Identifier (PDUID) for a User Equipment (UE). The method includes receiving the PDUID for the UE from the second network function.

[0006] Another aspect of this disclosure provides a method for operating a second network function in a communication network. The method includes joining the first network function to receive notification from the second network function of a change in the PDUID for a UE, in response to receiving first information from the first network function. The first information indicates that the first network function should join to receive the notification. The method includes initiating the transmission of a PDUID for a UE destined for the first network function.

[0007] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a first network function is provided, comprising a processing circuit configured to operate in accordance with the method described with respect to the first network function. According to some embodiments, the first network function may have at least one memory for storing instructions that, when executed by the processing circuit, cause the first network function to operate in accordance with the method described with respect to the first network function.

[0008] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a second network function is provided, comprising a processing circuit configured to operate in accordance with the method described with respect to the second network function. According to some embodiments, the second network function may have at least one memory for storing instructions that, when executed by the processing circuit, cause the second network function to operate in accordance with the method described with respect to the second network function.

[0009] According to another aspect of this disclosure, methods performed by the system are provided. These methods include methods described with respect to a first network function and methods performed with respect to a second network function.

[0010] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a system is provided comprising the aforementioned at least one first network function and the aforementioned at least one second network function.

[0011] In another aspect of this disclosure, a computer program is provided which, when executed by a processing circuit, causes the processing circuit to perform the methods described with respect to a first network function and / or the methods described with respect to a second network function.

[0012] In another aspect of this disclosure, a computer program product to be executed on a non-temporary machine-readable medium is provided, comprising instructions executable by a processing circuit to cause the processing circuit to perform the methods described with respect to a first network function and / or the methods described with respect to a second network function. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0013] The accompanying drawings, included to provide a further understanding of this disclosure and incorporated into and constituting part thereof, illustrate specific and non-limiting embodiments of the concept of the invention. In the drawings:

[0014] [Figure 1] This is a block diagram showing interfaces between ProSe functions and UE for multiple sub-functions, according to several embodiments.

[0015] [Figure 2] This is a block diagram illustrating the ProSe function interface to other network elements and the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) in several embodiments.

[0016] [Figure 3] is a flowchart showing a method executed by a first network function according to an embodiment.

[0017] [Figure 4] is a flowchart showing a method executed by a second network function according to an embodiment.

[0018] [Figure 5] is a block diagram showing a wireless device (e.g., UE) according to some embodiments of the inventive concept.

[0019] [Figure 6] is a block diagram showing a radio access network (RAN) node (e.g., a base station such as an evolved Node B (eNB) or a g Node B (gNB)) according to some embodiments of the inventive concept.

[0020] [Figure 7] is a block diagram showing a core network (CN) node (e.g., an access and mobility management function (AMF) node, a session management function (SMF) node, etc.) according to some embodiments of the inventive concept.

[0021] [Figure 8] is a flowchart showing operations according to some embodiments of the inventive concept.

[0022] [Figure 9] is a flowchart showing operations according to some embodiments of the inventive concept.

[0023] [Figure 10] is a flowchart showing operations according to some embodiments of the inventive concept.

[0024] [Figure 11]This is a block diagram of a wireless network according to several embodiments.

[0025] [Figure 12] This is a block diagram of a user device according to several embodiments.

[0026] [Figure 13] This is a block diagram of a virtualization environment according to several embodiments.

[0027] [Figure 14] This is a block diagram of a telecommunications network connected to a host computer via an intermediate network according to several embodiments.

[0028] [Figure 15] This is a block diagram of a host computer that communicates with user equipment via a base station over a connection that is partially wireless, according to several embodiments.

[0029] [Figure 16] This is a block diagram of a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and user equipment, according to several embodiments.

[0030] [Figure 17] This is a block diagram of a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and user equipment, according to several embodiments.

[0031] [Figure 18] This is a block diagram of a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and user equipment, according to several embodiments.

[0032] [Figure 19] This is a block diagram of a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and user equipment, according to several embodiments. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0033] The inventive concept will be described more fully below with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating examples of embodiments of the inventive concept. However, the inventive concept can be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments described herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so as to ensure that this disclosure is thorough and complete and so as to adequately convey the scope of the inventive concept to those skilled in the art. It should also be noted that these embodiments are not mutually exclusive. Components of one embodiment may implicitly be present / used in another embodiment.

[0034] The following description presents various embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. These embodiments are presented as teaching examples and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosed subject matter. For example, certain details of the embodiments described may be modified, omitted, or expanded without departing from the scope of the described subject matter.

[0035] Referring briefly to Figure 1, Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the interface between the UE and the ProSe function for multiple sub-functions according to several embodiments. As shown in the diagram, the current ProSe function includes three main sub-functions that play different roles depending on the ProSe feature.

[0036] A block diagram briefly refers to Figure 2, which shows the ProSe function interfaces to other network elements and the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) according to several embodiments. As shown in the diagram, the three different sub-functions include Direct Provisioning Function (DPF), Direct Discovery Name Management Function (DDNMF), and Advanced Packet Core (EPC) Level Discovery ProSe Function.

[0037] The DPF is used to provide the UE with the parameters necessary to use ProSe Direct Discovery and ProSe Direct Communication. It is used to provision (provide) the UE with PLMN-specific parameters that enable the UE to use ProSe in that particular PLMN. For direct communication used for public safety, the DPF is also used to provide the UE with the parameters required when the UE is not serviced by the Advanced Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN). In the case of limited ProSe Direct Discovery, the DPF also generates and maintains proximity service discovery user equipment identification information, which is referred to in the art as the ProSe Discovery UE ID (PDUID).

[0038] DDNMF is used in open ProSe direct discovery to assign and process the mapping of ProSe application IDs and ProSe application codes used in ProSe direct discovery. DDNMF uses ProSe-related subscriber data stored in the Home Subscriber Service (HSS) to authorize each discovery request. DDNMF also provides the UE with the necessary security data to protect discovery messages transmitted over the radio. In restricted ProSe direct discovery, DDNMF also interacts with the application server via the PC2 reference point to authorize discovery requests.

[0039] The EPC Level Discovery ProSe function has reference points that point to the HSS (PC4a) and UE (PC3), to other ProSe functions (PC6), and to the application server (PC2). This function includes the following: ●Storage of ProSe-related subscriber data and / or retrieval of ProSe-related subscriber data from HSS. ● EPC-level ProSe discovery and EPC-assisted wide local area network (WLAN) direct discovery and authorization and configuration of UEs for communications via PC3. ● Storing a list of applications permitted to use EPC-level ProSe discovery and EPC-assisted WLAN direct discovery and communication. ● Operates as a location service client (e.g., a Service Location Protocol (SLP) agent) enabling EPC-level ProSe discovery. ● To provide the UE with information to assist with WLAN direct discovery and communication. ●Handling of EPC ProSe user IDs and application layer user IDs. ● Exchange of signaling with third-party application servers via a PC2 reference point for application registration and identifier mapping. ● Signaling exchange with ProSe functions in other PLMNs via a PC6 reference point for transmitting proximity requests, proximity alarms, and location reports. ● Optional support for the ability to request UE location via HSS.

[0040] The ProSe feature may support "on-demand" notifications requested by the UE based on operator policies, in the case of the ProSe restricted discovery model.

[0041] The ProSe feature provides the necessary billing and security features for using ProSe (both ProSe via EPC, ProSe Direct Discovery, ProSe Direct Communication, and WLAN Direct Discovery and Communication).

[0042] ProSe functionality within a home PLMN (HPLMN) is reachable at any time if such functionality is supported by the HPLMN and a home-routed configuration is applied to a packet data network (PDN) connection (for example, if the PDN gateway (GW) is located within the HPLMN). In the case of local breakout (for example, if the PDN GW is located in a destination PLMN (VPLMN)) where inter-PLMN signaling is required, the VPLMN can deploy ProSe proxy functionality to support communication from the UE to the home ProSe functionality. Whether the PDN connection is provided by local breakout or home routing is determined by the HSS configuration described in 3GPP® TS23.401. The UE is unaware of this and therefore will not know which Access Point Name (APN) is available for communication with the ProSe functionality unless specific APN information is configured in the UE indicating that this APN provides signaling connectivity between the UE and the home ProSe functionality.

[0043] According to this disclosure, ProSe discovery is a discovery service for identifying that a ProSe-enabled UE is in proximity to one or more other ProSe-enabled UEs. For example, one or more other UEs may be in proximity to a given UE if those one or more other UEs are located within a predefined area surrounding that UE. According to some embodiments, the discovery service may be a restricted and / or direct discovery service. A PDUID as referred to in this disclosure may be a (e.g., temporary) identifier assigned to a UE for a (e.g., restricted direct) discovery service. A PDUID may be assigned to a UE by a ProSe function (e.g., in an HPLMN). A PDUID may include a PLMN ID and a (e.g., temporary) identifier that (e.g., uniquely) identifies the UE (e.g., in an HPLMN). Improvements resulting from forwarding PDUIDs to fifth-generation (5G) DDNMF, as provided in embodiments of this disclosure, may arise from the use of new event identifiers (IDs), changes to PDUIDs, for example, changes in existing network Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Subscribe or Npcf_EventExposure_subscribe services. Npcf refers to (for example, service-based) interfaces for policy control functions (PCFs).

[0044] The ProSe application server can support the following functions: ● EPC ProSe User ID Memory: ProSe Feature ID, ProSe Discovery UE ID, Metadata. ● Mapping of Application Layer User IDs and EPC ProSe User IDs. ● Mapping of restricted ProSe application user IDs (RPAUID) and PDUIDs for restricted ProSe direct discovery. ● Retaining permission information for restricted ProSe direct discovery using RPAUID. ● ProSe restricted code suffix pool allocation is used when restricted direct discovery with application control extensions is used, and ●The assignment of a mask for ProSe restricted code suffixes occurs when restricted direct discovery with application-controlled extensions is used.

[0045] The use of PDUID can provide a ProSe-enabled UE with the ability to retrieve the PDUID from the ProSe function. The UE provides its PDUID to the ProSe application server and retrieves its RPAUID from the server. If a ProSe-enabled UE wishes to perform restricted ProSe discovery, it can send either an announcement request or a monitoring request to its ProSe function to obtain the corresponding restricted discovery code (details are described in Section 5.3.3 of 3GPP® TS23.303 V15.1.0). In this request, the UE may include its UE ID (i.e., International Mobile Subscriber Identifier (IMSI)) and its RPAUID. If the ProSe function requires an authorization result from the application server, it can send an authorization request to the ProSe application server using its RPAUID. If authentication is successful, the ProSe application server can respond to the ProSe function with the UE's PDUID. The ProSe function can check to verify that the PDUID is mapped to the UE ID (i.e., IMSI).

[0046] PDUID provisioning in 5G systems can result in the PCF maintaining the PDUID. The PDUID is provided to the UE as part of the ProSe policy and parameters, as described in section 5.1.2.1 of 3GPP® TS23.304 V0.1.0.

[0047] Existing challenges include the fact that, for 5G ProSe, the PCF takes on the role of the DPF and is used for policy / parameter provisioning to the UE, while the 5G DDNMF is still used for the restricted direct discovery procedure. By splitting the functionality of the ProSe function between the PCF and the 5G DDNMF, the question arises as to how the ProSe discovery UE ID should be assigned by the PCF and used by the 5G DDNMF, and how the 5G DDNMF should obtain the ProSe discovery UE ID. Therefore, this disclosure describes a favorable technique for provisioning PDUIDs, more specifically for provisioning PDUIDs to a first network function such as the 5G DDNMF.

[0048] Figure 3 is a block diagram showing a method for operating a first network function in a communication network according to one embodiment. In this disclosure, the first network function may also be referred to as the first network function node. This method is performed by or under the control of the processing circuit of the first network function. As shown by block 102 in Figure 3, the transmission of first information is initiated toward the second network function. The first information indicates that the first network function should subscribe to receive notification of a change in the PDUID for the UE from the second network function. As shown by block 104 in Figure 3, the PDUID for the UE is received from the second network function.

[0049] According to some embodiments, initiating the transmission of first information may include initiating the transmission of a first service operation request, and the first service operation request may contain first information.

[0050] According to some embodiments, the first service operation request may be an Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Subscribe request or an Npcf_EventExposure_Subscribe request, where an Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Subscribe request may be a request for the first network function to subscribe (e.g., explicitly) to events, such as any events related to the UE, or more specifically, notifications of subscription persistent identifiers (SUPIs) for the UE. Where an Npcf_EventExposure_Subscribe request may be a request for the first network function to subscribe to event notifications, for example, for specified policy control events for the UE.

[0051] According to some embodiments, the first piece of information may be an event identifier for notifying of a change in the PDUID of the UE.

[0052] According to some embodiments, the method may include receiving at least one updated PDUID for the UE from a second network function.

[0053] According to some embodiments, the method may include receiving at least one updated PDUID for a UE in response to at least one updated PDUID being generated for the UE.

[0054] According to some embodiments, the method may include receiving at least one updated PDUID for a UE, using an indication that notification of a change in the PDUID for the UE has been met.

[0055] According to some embodiments, the method may include initiating the transmission of second information to a second network function, the second information indicating that the first network function should be unsubscribed from receiving notifications.

[0056] According to some embodiments, initiating the transmission of second information may include initiating the transmission of a second service operation request, the second service operation request may contain the second information.

[0057] According to some embodiments, the second service operation request may be an Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Unsubscribe request or an Npcf_EventExposure_Unsubscribe request, where the Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Unsubscribe request may be a request for the first network function to unsubscribe (e.g., explicitly) from events, such as any events related to the UE, or more specifically, notifications of a subscription persistence identifier (SUPI) for the UE. The events may be events related to the aforementioned Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Subscribe request, where the Npcf_EventExposure_Unsubscribe request may be a request to unsubscribe the first network function from event notifications, where the event notifications may be those related to the aforementioned Npcf_EventExposure_Subscribe.

[0058] According to some embodiments, the transmission of first information may be initiated in response to the receipt of a discovery request from the UE (the discovery request may be a request for a restricted discovery code) and / or the first network function not having a UE context for the UE. The UE context may refer to information associated with the UE. This information may include, for example, state information for the UE, security information for the UE, capability information for the UE, identification information for one or more logical connections for the UE, and / or any other information associated with the UE. This information may include information required to maintain one or more services toward the UE.

[0059] According to some embodiments, the method may include initiating the transmission of first information using a subscription persistence identifier (SUPI) for the UE.

[0060] According to some embodiments, the method may include receiving a PDUID for the UE along with an associated expiration timer.

[0061] According to some embodiments, the first network function may be a Direct Discovery Name Management function (DDNMF), and / or the second network function may be a Policy Control Function (PCF).

[0062] Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating a method for operating a second network function in a communication network according to one embodiment. In this disclosure, the second network function may also be referred to as a second network function node. This method can be performed by or under the control of a processing circuit of the second network function. As shown by block 202 of Figure 4, the first network function subscribes to receive notifications from the second network function of changes in the PDUID for the UE in response to receiving first information from the first network function. The first information indicates that the first network function should subscribe to receive notifications. As shown by block 204 of Figure 4, the transmission of the PDUID for the UE is initiated toward the first network function.

[0063] According to some embodiments, receiving first information may include receiving a first service operation request, the first service operation request having first information.

[0064] According to some embodiments, the first service operation request may be an Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Subscribe request or an Npcf_EventExposure_Subscribe request.

[0065] According to some embodiments, the first piece of information may be an event identifier for notifying of a change in the PDUID of the UE.

[0066] According to some embodiments, the method may include initiating the transmission of at least one updated PDUID for the UE directed to a first network function.

[0067] According to some embodiments, the transmission of at least one updated PDUID for a UE may be initiated in response to the generation of at least one updated PDUID for a UE.

[0068] According to some embodiments, the method may include initiating the transmission of at least one updated PDUID for the UE using an indication that notification of a change in the PDUID for the UE has been met.

[0069] According to some embodiments, the method may include unsubscribing from the first network function to receive notifications in response to receiving second information from the first network function, the second information may indicate that the first network function should be unsubscribed from to receive notifications.

[0070] According to some embodiments, receiving second information may include receiving a second service operation request, the second service operation request including the second information.

[0071] According to some embodiments, the second service operation request may be an Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Unsubscribe request or an Npcf_EventExposure_Unsubscribe request.

[0072] According to some embodiments, the first information may be received in response to a discovery request from the UE (the discovery request may be a request for a restricted discovery code), and / or that the first network function does not have a UE context for the UE.

[0073] According to some embodiments, the first information may be received along with a subscription persistence identifier (SUPI) for the UE.

[0074] According to some embodiments, the method may include initiating the transmission of a PDUID for the UE along with an associated expiration timer.

[0075] According to some embodiments, the first network function may be a Direct Discovery Name Management function (DDNMF), and / or the second network function may be a Policy Control Function (PCF).

[0076] According to some embodiments, the 5G DDNMF can look up and retrieve the PDUID and subscribe to / unsubscribe from notifications of PDUID changes from the PCF. According to some embodiments, the PCF can provide consumers with new events for the Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization or Npcf_EventExposure service. The event may be a "PDUID change". The PCF can report the PDUID to the consumer, i.e., the 5G DDNMF, until the subscription ends.

[0077] The PCF can provide event IDs as follows. Some embodiments provide that the event may be a PDUID change notification. According to some embodiments, the event may not be available for bulk subscriptions.

[0078] Some embodiments provide that the Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization service may be used. For example, a 5G DDNMF may receive a discovery request from a UE to request a restricted discovery code. For example, the request may be made via the PC3 or PC3a interface. If the 5G DDNMF does not have a UE context for this UE, the 5G DDNMF can subscribe to notifications of PDUID changes to the PCF. Some embodiments provide that the Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Create / Subscribe request is used to subscribe to notifications of PDUID changes to the PCF and, according to some embodiments, includes, which may be required parameters, a “PDUID change notification” and optionally a subscription persistent identifier (SUPI). The PCF can provide the PDUID currently assigned to the 5G DDNMF in the Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Subscribe response.

[0079] When PCF generates a new PDUID, it can send an Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Notify message to 5G DDNMF, which includes an indication that the event "PDUID Change Notification" has been met and the new PDUID. Here, the Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Notify message may be a message that notifies a first network function (e.g., 5G DDNMF) of a subscribed event.

[0080] According to some embodiments, 5G DDNMF can terminate the association between PCF and subscription by using Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorize_Unsubscribe Request to unregister PCF for notifications of PDUID changes.

[0081] Some embodiments provide that the Npcf_EventExposure service is used. 5G DDNMF receives a discovery request from a UE to request a restricted discovery code from PC3 (PC3a interface), and if 5G DDNMF does not have the UE context for this UE, it can subscribe to notifications of PDUID changes to the PCF. According to some embodiments, subscribing to notifications of PDUID changes to the PCF can be done using an Npcf_EventExposure_Subscribe Request, which may include a new event "PDUID Change Notification" and optionally a SUPI (which may be a required parameter in some embodiments). Some embodiments allow the PCF to provide the 5G DDNMF with the currently assigned PDUID in the Npcf_EventExposure_Subscribe Response. Some embodiments provide that this service behavior may enable a request event for a new SUPI.

[0082] According to some embodiments, when a 5G DDNMF is initiated, it can invoke an Npcf_EventExposure_Subscribe request, which includes a new event, "PDUID Change Notification," and any UE. In its Npcf_EventExposure_Subscribe response, the PCF can provide the 5G DDNMF with the currently assigned PDUID and the corresponding SUPI.

[0083] Some embodiments provide that when a PCF generates a new PDUID for a UE, an Npcf_EventExposure_Notify message may be sent to a 5G DDNMF containing an indication that the event “PDUID Change Notification” has been met, along with the new PDUID, where the Npcf_EventExposure_Notify message may be a message for reporting an event that a first network function (e.g., a 5G DDNMF) had previously subscribed to.

[0084] Some embodiments provide that 5G DDNMF can use Npcf_EventExposure_Unsubscribe Request to cancel a subscription to PCF by deactivating the subscription from a PDUID change notification.

[0085] According to some embodiments, the PDUID may be provided with an associated expiration timer.

[0086] Figure 5 is a block diagram showing elements of a communication device UE300 (also known as a mobile terminal, mobile communication terminal, wireless device, wireless communication device, wireless terminal, mobile device, wireless communication terminal, user equipment, UE, user equipment node / terminal / device, etc.) configured to provide wireless communication according to an embodiment of the inventive concept. The communication device 300 may be provided as discussed below with respect to, for example, the wireless device 4110 in Figure 11, the UE4200 in Figure QQ2, the UE4491, 4492 in Figure QQ4, and / or the UE4530 in Figure 15. As shown in Figure 5, the communication device UE300 may include an antenna 307 (for example, corresponding to antenna 4111 in Figure 11) and a transceiver circuit 301 (for example, also known as a transceiver corresponding to interface 4114 in Figure 11) which includes a transmitter and receiver configured to provide uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) wireless communication with a base station of a radio access network (for example, corresponding to network node 4160 in Figure 11, also known as a RAN node). The communication device UE300 may also include a processing circuit 303 coupled to the transceiver circuit (also called a processor, for example, corresponding to the processing circuit 4120 in Figure 11) and a memory circuit 305 coupled to the processing circuit 303 (also called memory, for example, corresponding to the device-readable medium 4130 in Figure 11). The memory circuit 305 may include computer-readable program code, when executed by the processing circuit 303, that causes the processing circuit 303 to perform operations according to the embodiments disclosed herein. According to other embodiments, the processing circuit 303 may be defined to include memory such that a separate memory circuit 305 is not required. The communication device UE300 may also include an interface (such as a user interface) coupled to the processing circuit 303, and / or the communication device UE300 may be incorporated into a vehicle.

[0087] As described in this disclosure, the operation of the communication device UE300 may be performed by a processing circuit 303 and / or a transceiver circuit 301. For example, the processing circuit 303 can control the transceiver circuit 301 to transmit communications to a radio access network node (also called a base station) via a radio interface and / or receive communications from a RAN node via a radio interface. Furthermore, modules can be stored in a memory circuit 305, and these modules can provide instructions to the processing circuit 303 to perform their respective operations (for example, operations described below with respect to exemplary embodiments relating to a wireless communication device) when the instructions of the modules are executed by the processing circuit 303. According to some embodiments, the communication device UE300 and / or its elements / functions may be embodied as a virtual node and / or a virtual machine.

[0088] Figure 6 is a block diagram showing the elements of a first network function, more specifically, a first network function node 400. As previously mentioned, according to some embodiments, the first network function can be a DDNMF. As shown in Figure 6, according to some embodiments, the first network function may be a RAN radio access network (RAN) node 400 (also called a network node, base station, e-node B (eNB), g-node B (gNB), etc.) configured to provide cellular communication according to embodiments of the inventive concept. The RAN node 400 may be provided as described below with respect to, for example, network node 4160 in Figure 11, base stations 4412a, 4412b, 4412c in Figure 14, and / or base station 4520 in Figure 15. As shown in Figure 6, the RAN node may include a transceiver circuit 401 (also called a transceiver, for example, corresponding to part of interface 4190 in Figure 11) which includes a transmitter and receiver configured to provide uplink and downlink wireless communication with a mobile terminal. A RAN node may include a network interface circuit 407 (also called a network interface, for example, corresponding to a portion of interface 4190 in Figure 11) configured to provide communication with other nodes in the RAN and / or core network (CN) (e.g., with other base stations). The network node may also include a processing circuit 403 (also called a processor, for example, corresponding to processing circuit 4170) coupled to a transceiver circuit 401, and a memory circuit 405 (also called memory, for example, corresponding to device-readable medium 4180 in Figure 11) coupled to the processing circuit 403. The memory circuit 405 may include computer-readable program code, when executed by the processing circuit 403, that causes the processing circuit 403 to perform operations according to the embodiments disclosed herein. According to other embodiments, the processing circuit 403 may be defined to include memory such that a separate memory circuit 405 is not required.

[0089] As described in this disclosure, the operation of a RAN node may be performed by a processing circuit 403, a network interface 407, and / or a transceiver 401. For example, the processing circuit 403 may control the transceiver 401 to transmit downlink communication signals to one or more mobile terminals (UEs) via a radio interface and / or to receive uplink communication signals from one or more mobile terminals (UEs) via the transceiver 401. Similarly, the processing circuit 403 may control the network interface 407 to transmit communications to one or more other network nodes via the network interface 407 and / or to receive communications from one or more other network nodes via the network interface 407. Furthermore, modules may be stored in memory 405, and these modules may provide instructions so that the processing circuit 403 performs their respective operations (for example, operations described below with respect to exemplary embodiments relating to a RAN node) when the instructions of the modules are executed by the processing circuit 403. According to some embodiments, the RAN node 400 and / or its elements / functions may be embodied as a virtual node / node and / or virtual machine / machine.

[0090] According to some other embodiments, the network node may be implemented as a CN node without transceivers. According to such embodiments, transmission to the wireless communication device UE may be initiated by the network node so that transmission to the wireless communication device UE is provided through the network node including a transceiver (for example, through a base station or RAN node). According to embodiments in which the network node is a RAN node including a transceiver, initiating a transmission may include transmitting through the transceiver.

[0091] Figure 7 is a block diagram showing the elements of a second network function, more specifically, a second network function node 500. As mentioned above, according to some embodiments, the second network function may be a PCF. As shown in Figure 7, according to some embodiments, the second network function may be a CN node (e.g., an SMF node, an AMF node, etc.) 500 of a communication network configured to provide cellular communication according to embodiments of the inventive concept. As shown in the figure, the CN node 500 may include a network interface circuit 507 (also called a network interface) configured to provide communication with other nodes in the core network and / or RAN. The CN node may also include a processing circuit 503 (also called a processor) coupled to the network interface circuit 507, and a memory circuit 505 (also called memory) coupled to the processing circuit 503. The memory circuit 505 may include computer-readable program code that, when executed by the processing circuit 503, causes the processing circuit 503 to perform operations according to embodiments disclosed herein. According to other embodiments, the processing circuit 503 may be defined to include memory so that a separate memory circuit 505 is not required.

[0092] As described herein, the operation of the CN node 500 may be performed by a processing circuit 503 and / or a network interface circuit 507. For example, the processing circuit 503 may control the network interface circuit 507 to send communications to one or more other network nodes via the network interface circuit 507 and / or receive communications from one or more other network nodes via the network interface circuit 507. Furthermore, modules may be stored in memory 505, and these modules may provide instructions so that the processing circuit 503 performs its respective operations (for example, operations described below with respect to exemplary embodiments relating to a core network node) when the instructions of the modules are executed by the processing circuit 503. According to some embodiments, the CN node 500 and / or its elements / functions may be embodied as a virtual node / node and / or a virtual machine / machine.

[0093] The operation of the communication device 300 (implemented using the structure of the block diagram in Figure 5) is configured to perform several operations disclosed herein. For example, modules may be stored in the memory 305 in Figure 5, and these modules may provide instructions such that the processing circuit 303 performs each of the operations disclosed herein when the module's instructions are executed by the respective communication device processing circuit 303.

[0094] The operation of the RAN node 400 can be implemented using the structure of Figure 6 according to several embodiments of the inventive concept. For example, modules may be stored in memory 405 in Figure 6, and these modules may provide instructions such that the processing circuit 403 performs each operation of the flowchart when the module's instructions are executed by the respective RAN node processing circuit 403.

[0095] The operation of the CN node 500 may be realized using the structure shown in Figure 7 according to several embodiments of the inventive concept. For example, modules may be stored in the memory 505 in Figure 7, and these modules may provide instructions such that when the module's instructions are executed by the respective CN node processing circuit 503, the processing circuit 503 performs each operation of the flowchart.

[0096] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a system is provided. The system may include at least one first network function described in this disclosure and at least one second network function described in this disclosure. Methods performed by the system may include methods described in this disclosure with respect to the first network function and methods described in this disclosure with respect to the second network function.

[0097] Next, refer to Figure 8, a flowchart illustrating the operation of several embodiments of the inventive concept. Some embodiments provide operations for a method of operating a communication device in a communication network. Such operations include receiving a PDUID from the UE (block 602). Operations may include joining notifications of PDUID changes from the PCF (block 604).

[0098] Some embodiments include receiving an offer from the PCF to receive an event for determining a change in the PDUID (block 606). According to some embodiments, the new event includes the Npcf_AMPolicy_Authorization or Npcf_Event Exposure service. According to some embodiments, the event includes a change in the PDUID.

[0099] The operation may include receiving PDUID reports until the subscription ends (block 608). The operation may further include receiving event IDs from the PCF (block 610). According to some embodiments, the event includes a PDUID change notification. Some embodiments provide that the event is not available for bulk subscriptions.

[0100] Some embodiments include receiving a discovery request from the UE (block 612). According to some embodiments, the discovery request includes a request for a restricted discovery code.

[0101] According to some embodiments, in response to not having a UE context corresponding to the UE, the operation further includes subscribing to PDUID change notifications by sending an Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Create / Subscribe request (block 614). According to some embodiments, the request includes PDUID change notifications and SUPI.

[0102] The operation may include receiving the currently assigned PDUID from the PCF in the Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Create / Subscribe response (block 616). Some embodiments provide that, in response to the PCF generating a new PDUID, the operation includes receiving an Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Notify from the PCF containing an indication that the event PDUID change notification has been met and the new PDUID (block 618).

[0103] Some embodiments include using Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorize_Delete / Unsubscribe to unsubscribe from notifications of PDUID changes (block 620) and to terminate the association between the PCF and the subscription.

[0104] Figure 9 is a flowchart illustrating operation according to several embodiments of the inventive concept for a method of operating a communication device within a communication network. Operation according to such a method may include receiving a discovery request from the UE requesting a restricted discovery code (block 702) and subscribing to notifications of PDUID changes from the PCF in response to not having a UE context (block 704).

[0105] According to some embodiments, joining includes joining using the Npcf_EventExposure_Subscribe request (block 706).

[0106] Some embodiments include receiving the currently assigned PDUID from the PCF in the Npcf_EventExposure_Subscribe response (block 708).

[0107] According to some embodiments, the operation includes receiving a report of the PDUID until the subscription ends (block 710).

[0108] Some embodiments include receiving an event ID from the PCF (block 712). Some embodiments provide that the event includes a PDUID change notification.

[0109] According to some embodiments, in response to not having a UE context corresponding to the UE, the operation further includes subscribing to notifications of PDUID changes by sending an Npcf_EventExposure_Subscribe request (block 714). According to some embodiments, this request includes a PDUID change notification and a SUPI.

[0110] In some embodiments, the operation includes receiving the currently assigned PDUID from the PCF in the Npcf_EventExposure_ / Subscribe response (block 716). According to some embodiments, in response to the PCF generating a new PDUID, the operation includes receiving an Npcf_EventExposure_Notify from the PCF that includes an indication that the event PDUID change notification has been satisfied and the new PDUID (block 718).

[0111] Some embodiments include calling Npcf_EventExposure_Subscribe (block 720) which includes a new event PDUID change notification and one of several UEs.

[0112] Some embodiments include receiving the currently assigned PDUID and the corresponding SUPI from the PCF in the Npcf_EventExposure_subscribe response (block 722).

[0113] According to some embodiments, in response to the PCF generating a new PDUID for the UE, the operation further includes receiving an Npcf_EventExposure_Notify (block 724) which includes an indication that the PDUID change notification has been met and the new PDUID.

[0114] Some embodiments include using Npcf_EventExposure_Unsubscribe to unsubscribe from notifications of PDUID changes (block 726) and terminating the association between the PCF and the subscription.

[0115] Next, refer to Figure 10, a flowchart illustrating the operation of several embodiments of the inventive concept. Some embodiments provide operations for a method of operating a communication device in a communication network. Such operations include sending a PDUID from the UE (block 802). Operations may include subscribing to notifications of PDUID changes from the PCF (block 804).

[0116] Some embodiments include receiving an offer from the PCF to receive an event for determining a change in the PDUID (block 806). According to some embodiments, the new event includes the Npcf_AMPolicy_Authorization or Npcf_Event Exposure service. According to some embodiments, the event includes a change in the PDUID.

[0117] The operation may include receiving a report of the PDUID until the subscription ends (block 808). The operation may further include receiving an event ID from the PCF (block 810). According to some embodiments, the event includes a PDUID change notification. Some embodiments provide that the event is not available for bulk subscriptions.

[0118] Some embodiments include sending a discovery request from the UE (block 812). According to some embodiments, the discovery request includes a request for a restricted discovery code.

[0119] According to some embodiments, in response to not having a UE context corresponding to the UE, the operation further includes joining the PDUID change notification by sending an Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Create / Subscribe request (block 814). According to some embodiments, the request includes the PDUID change notification and the SUPI.

[0120] The operation may include receiving the currently assigned PDUID from the PCF in the Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Create / Subscribe response (block 816). Some embodiments provide that, in response to the PCF generating a new PDUID, the operation includes receiving an Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Notify from the PCF containing an indication that the event PDUID change notification has been met and the new PDUID (block 818).

[0121] Some embodiments include using Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorize_Delete / Unsubscribe to unsubscribe from notifications of PDUID changes (block 820) and to terminate the association between the PCF and the subscription.

[0122] Examples of embodiments are described below. 1. A method for operating a communication device in a communication network, wherein the method is: Receiving the ProSe Discovery UE ID (PDUID) from the user device (UE), To subscribe to notifications of PDUID changes from the Policy Control Function (PCF), It has. 2. The method according to Embodiment 1, further comprising receiving an offer from the PCF to receive an event for determining the change in the PDUID. 3. The method according to Embodiment 2, wherein the new event includes the Npcf_AMPolicy_Authorization or Npcf_Event Exposure service. 4. A method according to any of Embodiments 2 to 3, wherein the event includes a change in PDUID. 5. A method according to any of Embodiments 1 to 4, further comprising receiving a report of the PDUID until the subscription ends. 6. A method according to any of Embodiments 1 to 5, further comprising receiving an event ID from the PCF, wherein the event includes a PDUID change notification. 7. The method according to Embodiment 6, wherein the event is not available for bulk subscription. 8. A method according to any of embodiments 1 to 7, further comprising receiving a discovery request from the UE, wherein the discovery request includes a request for a restricted discovery code. 9. The method according to Embodiment 8, in response to not having a UE context corresponding to the UE, the operation further includes joining the notification of the PDUID change by sending an Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Create / Subscribe request. 10. The method according to Embodiment 9, wherein the request includes the PDUID change notification and a subscription persistent identifier (SUPI). 11. A method according to any of Embodiments 1 to 10, further comprising receiving the currently assigned PDUID from the PCF in the Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Create / Subscribe response. 12. A method according to any of Embodiments 1 to 11, wherein, in response to the PCF generating a new PDUID, the PCF receives an Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Notify, which includes an indication that an event PDUID change notification has been met, and the new PDUID. 13. A method according to any one of Embodiments 1 to 12, further comprising using Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorize_Delete / Unsubscribe to unsubscribe from notifications of PDUID changes and to terminate the association between the PCF and the subscription. 14. A communication device (300), Processing circuit (303), The device has a memory (305) coupled to the processing circuit, and the memory, when executed by the processing circuit, includes instructions that cause the communication device to perform an operation according to any of embodiments 1 to 13. 15. A communication device (300) adapted to be carried out according to any of embodiments 1 to 13. 16. A computer program including program code executed by a processing circuit (303) of a communication device (300), wherein the execution of the program code causes the communication device (300) to perform the operation described in any of Embodiments 1 to 13. 17. A computer program product comprising a non-temporary storage medium containing program code executed by a processing circuit (303) of a communication device (300), wherein the execution of the program code causes the communication device (300) to perform the operation described in any of Embodiments 1 to 13. 18. A method for operating a wireless access network node (RAN) in a communication network, wherein the method is: Receiving the ProSe Discovery UE ID (PDUID) from the user device (UE), To subscribe to notifications of PDUID changes from the Policy Control Function (PCF), It has. 19. The method of Embodiment 18, further comprising receiving an offer from the PCF to receive an event for determining a change in the PDUID. 20. The method according to Embodiment 19, wherein the new event includes the Npcf_AMPolicy_Authorization or Npcf_Event Exposure service. 21. The method according to any one of embodiments 19 to 20, wherein the event includes a change in PDUID. 22. A method according to any of embodiments 18 to 21, further comprising receiving a report of the PDUID until the subscription ends. 23. A method according to any of embodiments 18 to 22, further comprising receiving an event ID from the PCF, wherein the event includes a PDUID change notification. 24. The method according to Embodiment 23, wherein the event is not available for bulk subscriptions. 25. A method according to any of embodiments 18 to 24, further comprising receiving a discovery request from the UE, wherein the discovery request includes a request for a restricted discovery code. 26. The method according to Embodiment 25, wherein, in response to not having a UE context corresponding to the UE, the operation further comprises subscribing to the notification of the PDUID change by sending an Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Create / Subscribe request. 27. A method according to Embodiment 26, wherein the request includes the PDUID change notification and a subscription persistent identifier (SUPI). 28. A method according to any of embodiments 18 to 27, further comprising receiving the currently assigned PDUID from the PCF in the Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Create / Subscribe response. 29. A method according to any of embodiments 18 to 28, comprising receiving an Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Notify from the PCF in response to the PCF generating a new PDUID, the Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Notify containing an indication that an event PDUID change notification has been met and the new PDUID. 30. A method according to any of embodiments 18 to 29, further comprising using Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorize_Delete / Unsubscribe to unsubscribe from notifications of PDUID changes and to terminate the association between the PCF and the subscription. 31. A Wireless Access Network (RAN) node (400), Processing circuit (403), The system includes a memory (405) coupled to the processing circuit, and the memory, when executed by the processing circuit, includes instructions that cause the RAN node to perform an operation according to any of embodiments 18 to 30. 32. A radio access network (RAN) node (400) adapted to operate according to any of embodiments 18 to 30. 33. A computer program comprising program code, RAN, and node (400) executed by a processing circuit (403) of a wireless access network, wherein the execution of the program code causes the RAN node (400) to perform the operation described in any of embodiments 18 to 30. 34. A computer program product including a non-temporary storage medium containing program code executed by a processing circuit (403) of a wireless access network (RAN) node (400), wherein the execution of the program code causes the RAN node (400) to perform an operation according to any of embodiments 18 to 30. 35. A method for operating a communication device in a communication network, wherein the method is: Receiving a discovery request from a user device (UE) requesting a restricted discovery code, In response to not having a UE context, subscribe to notifications of PDUID changes from the Policy Control Function (PCF), It has. 36. The method according to Embodiment 35, wherein the subscription includes subscribing using an Npcf_EventExposure_Subscriber request. 37. A method according to any of embodiments 35 to 36, further comprising receiving the currently assigned PDUID from the PCF in the Npcf_EventExposure_Subscribe response. 38. A method according to any of embodiments 35 to 37, further comprising receiving reports of the PDUID until the subscription ends. 39. A method according to any of embodiments 35 to 38, further comprising receiving an event ID from the PCF, wherein the event includes a PDUID change notification. 40. The method according to Embodiment 8, wherein, in response to not having a UE context corresponding to the UE, the operation further comprises subscribing to the notification of the PDUID change by sending an Npcf_EventExposure_Subscribe request. 41. A method according to Embodiment 40, wherein the request includes a notification of the change in the PDUID and a subscription persistent identifier (SUPI). 42. A method according to any of embodiments 35 to 41, further comprising receiving the currently assigned PDUID from the PCF in the Npcf_EventExposure_ / Subscribe response. 43. A method according to any of embodiments 35 to 42, comprising receiving from the PCF an Npcf_EventExposure_Notify and the new PDUID, which includes an indication that an event PDUID change notification has been met, in response to the PCF generating a new PDUID. 44. The method of Embodiment 35, further comprising calling Npcf_EventExposure_Subscribe which includes a new event PDUID change notification and one of a plurality of UEs. 45. A method according to Embodiment 44, further comprising receiving from the PCF a PDUID currently assigned in the Npcf_EventExposure_subscribe response and a corresponding SUPI. 46. ​​The method of Embodiment 35, wherein, in response to the PCF generating a new PDUID for the UE, the operation further comprises receiving an indication that the PDUID change notification has been satisfied and the Npcf_EventExposure_Notify containing the new PDUID. 47. A method according to any of embodiments 35 to 46, further comprising using Npcf_EventExposure_Unsubscribe to unsubscribe from notifications of PDUID changes and terminating the association between the PCF and the subscription. 48. A Wireless Access Network (RAN) node (400), Processing circuit (403), The system includes a memory (405) coupled to the processing circuit, the memory containing instructions that, when executed by the processing circuit, cause the RAN node to perform an operation according to any of embodiments 35 to 47. 49. A radio access network (RAN) node (400) adapted to operate according to any of embodiments 35 to 47. 50. A computer program including program code to be executed by a processing circuit (403) of a wireless access network (RAN) node (400), wherein the execution of the program code causes the RAN node (400) to perform the operation described in any of embodiments 35 to 47. 51. A computer program product including a non-temporary storage medium containing program code executed by a processing circuit (403) of a wireless access network (RAN) node (400), wherein the execution of the program code causes the RAN node (400) to perform an operation according to any of embodiments 35 to 47. 52. A method for operating a communication device in a communication network, wherein the method is: The ProSe Discovery UE ID (PDUID) is transmitted to the network node and by the user equipment (UE), This involves subscribing to notifications of PDUID changes from the Policy Control Function (PCF), It has. 53. The method of Embodiment 52, further comprising receiving an offer from the PCF to receive an event for determining a change in the PDUID. 54. The method according to Embodiment 53, wherein the new event includes the Npcf_AMPolicy_Authorization or Npcf_Event Exposure service. 55. A method according to any one of embodiments 53 to 54, wherein the event includes a change in PDUID. 56. A method according to any of embodiments 52 to 55, further comprising receiving a report of the PDUID until the subscription terminates. 57. A method according to any of embodiments 52 to 565, further comprising receiving an event ID from the PCF, wherein the event includes a PDUID change notification. 58. The method according to Embodiment 57, wherein the event is not available for bulk subscriptions. 59. A method according to any of embodiments 52 to 59, further comprising sending a discovery request to the network node and from the UE, wherein the discovery request includes a request for a restricted discovery code. 60. The method according to Embodiment 59, wherein, in response to not having a UE context corresponding to the UE, the operation further comprises joining the notification of the PDUID change by sending an Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Create / Subscribe request. 61. A method according to Embodiment 60, wherein the request includes the PDUID change notification and a subscription persistence identifier (SUPI). 62. A method according to any of embodiments 52 to 61, further comprising receiving the currently assigned PDUID from the PCF in the Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Create / Subscribe response. A method according to any of embodiments 52 to 62, comprising receiving an Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Notify from the PCF in response to the PCF generating a new PDUID, the Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Notify containing an indication that an event PDUID change notification has been met and the new PDUID. 64. A method according to any of embodiments 52 to 64, further comprising using Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorize_Delete / Unsubscribe to unsubscribe from the notification of the PDUID change and to terminate the association between the PCF and the subscription.

[0123] The references are listed below. ● 3GPP(registered trademark) TS23.304 v 0.1.0. Proximity-based services (ProSe) in 5G systems (5GS) ● 3GPP(registered trademark) TS23.502 v.17.0.0. Procedure for 5G systems (5GS) ● 3GPP(registered trademark) TS23.503 v.17.0.0. 5G System (5GS) Policy and Billing Control Framework

[0124] As provided in this disclosure, the operations that can be performed by RAN nodes can, among other things, be performed using core network nodes.

[0125] Further explanation is provided below.

[0126] In general, all terms used in this disclosure should be interpreted according to their common meanings in the relevant art unless otherwise explicitly stated and / or implied by the context in which they are used. All references to a / an / the elements, apparatus, components, means, steps, etc., should be openly interpreted as referring to at least one instance of an element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless otherwise specifically stated. Steps of any method disclosed in this disclosure do not need to be performed in the exact order disclosed unless the step is explicitly stated as following or preceding another step, and / or it is not implicit that the step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any embodiment disclosed in this disclosure may be applied to any other embodiment where appropriate. Similarly, any advantage of any embodiment may be applied to any other embodiment, and vice versa. Other purposes, features, and advantages of the accompanying embodiments will become apparent from the following description.

[0127] Herein, some embodiments intended in this disclosure will be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, other embodiments fall within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, and the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as being limited only to the embodiments described herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided as examples to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0128] Figure 11 shows wireless networks according to several embodiments.

[0129] The subject matter described herein can be implemented in any suitable type of system using any preferred components, but the embodiments disclosed herein are described in relation to a wireless network, such as the exemplary wireless network shown in Figure 11. For simplicity, the wireless network in Figure 11 shows only the network 4106, network nodes 4160 and 4160b, and wireless devices (WDs) 4110, 4110b, and 4110c (also called mobile terminals). In practice, the wireless network may further include any additional elements suitable for supporting communication between wireless devices or between wireless devices and other communication devices, such as fixed telephones, service providers, or other network nodes or end devices. Of the illustrated components, network node 4160 and wireless device (WD) 4110 are shown in more detail. The wireless network may provide communication and other types of services to one or more wireless devices to facilitate access by wireless devices to and / or use of services provided by or through the wireless network.

[0130] A wireless network may include and / or interfaces any kind of communication, telecommunications, data communication, cellular, and / or wireless network, or other similar types of systems. In some embodiments, a wireless network may be configured to operate according to specific standards or other types of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, a particular embodiment of a wireless network may implement communication standards such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long-Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards, wireless local area network (WLAN) standards such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, and / or any other suitable wireless communication standards such as World Wide Interoperability (WiMAX), Bluetooth®, Z-Wave, and / or ZigBee standards for microwave access.

[0131] Network 4106 may have one or more backhaul networks, core networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), packet data networks, optical networks, wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks that enable communication between devices.

[0132] Network nodes 4160 and WD4110 have various components, which are described in more detail below. These components work together to provide the functionality of the network nodes and / or wireless devices, such as providing wireless connections in the wireless network. In various embodiments, the wireless network may include wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals, whether or not via wired or wireless connections.

[0133] As used in this disclosure, “Network Node” means a configured, deployed, and / or operable device that communicates directly or indirectly with radio devices and / or other network nodes or devices in a radio network to enable and / or provide radio access to radio devices and / or perform other functions in the radio network, such as management. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points) and base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, node Bs, evolved node Bs (eNBs), and NR node Bs (gNBs)). Base stations may be classified based on the size of coverage they provide (or, in other words, their transmit power levels), and may also be called femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. Base stations may also be relay nodes or relay donor nodes that control relays. Network nodes may also include one or all of the parts of a distributed radio base station, such as a centralized digital unit and / or a remote radio unit (RRU), which may sometimes be called a remote radio head (RRH). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna-integrated radio. Some distributed radio base stations are sometimes called nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS). Further examples of network nodes include network controllers such as MSR BS, radio network controllers (RNC) or base station controllers (BSC), transmit / receive base stations (BTS), transmit points, transmit nodes, multicell / multicast coordinating entities (MCE), core network nodes (e.g., mobile switching centers (MSC), mobile management entities (MME)), operation and maintenance (O&M) nodes, operational support system (OSS) nodes, self-optimizing network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., advanced serving mobile location centers (E-SMLC)), and / or multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as drive test (MDT) minimizers.As another example, a network node may be a virtual network node, as will be explained in more detail below. More generally, however, a network node may represent any suitable device (or group of devices) that is configured, positioned, and / or operational to enable access to a wireless network and / or provide access to wireless devices, or to provide some service to wireless devices that have accessed the wireless network.

[0134] In Figure 11, the network node 4160 includes a processing circuit 4170, a device-readable medium 4180, an interface 4190, auxiliary equipment 4184, a power supply 4186, a power supply circuit 4187, and an antenna 4162. While the network node 4160 shown in the exemplary wireless network of Figure 11 may represent a device including the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may include network nodes having various combinations of components. It should be understood that the network node includes any preferred combination of hardware and / or software required to perform the tasks, features, functions, and methods disclosed herein. Furthermore, although the components of the network node 4160 are shown as a single box located within a larger box or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, the network node may have multiple different physical components constituting a single illustrated component (for example, the device-readable medium 4180 may have multiple separate hard disk drives and multiple random access memory (RAM) modules).

[0135] Similarly, network node 4160 may consist of a number of physically distinct components (e.g., node B components and RNC components, or BTS components and BSC components), each of which may have its own respective components. In certain situations where network node 4160 includes multiple distinct components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more distinct components may be shared among multiple network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple node Bs. In such a scenario, each pair of unique node Bs and RNCs may, in some cases, be considered a single distinct network node. In some embodiments, network node 4160 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). According to such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate device-readable media 4180 for different radio access technologies (RATs)), and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 4162 may be shared by RATs). The network node 4160 may also include a multiple set of various illustrated components for various radio technologies integrated into the network node 4160, such as GSM®, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA®), LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth® radio technologies. These radio technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or chipsets and other components within the network node 4160.

[0136] The processing circuit 4170 is configured to perform any decisions, calculations, or similar operations (e.g., certain acquisition operations) described herein as being provided by the network node. These operations performed by the processing circuit 4170 may include, for example, processing information acquired by the processing circuit 4170, such as converting acquired information to other information, comparing acquired or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the acquired or converted information, and the processing making a determination.

[0137] The processing circuit 4170 may consist of one or more combinations of encoded logic that can be provided alone or in combination with a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field-programmable gate array, or other suitable computing device, resource, or hardware, software and / or other network node 4160 components (such as device-readable medium 4180, network node 4160 functions). For example, the processing circuit 4170 may execute instructions stored in the device-readable medium 4180 or in memory within the processing circuit 4170. Such functions may include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits described herein. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 4170 may include a system-on-a-chip (SOC).

[0138] According to some embodiments, the processing circuit 4170 may include one or more of the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuit 4172 and the baseband processing circuit 4174. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuit 4172 and the baseband processing circuit 4174 may be located on separate chips (or chipsets), boards, or units, such as a radio unit and a digital unit. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the RF transceiver circuit 4172 and the baseband processing circuit 4174 may be located on the same chip or chipset, board, or unit.

[0139] In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein as being provided by a network node, base station, eNB, or other such network device may be implemented by a processing circuit 4170 that executes instructions stored on a device-readable medium 4180 or in memory within the processing circuit 4170. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functions may be provided by the processing circuit 4170 without executing instructions stored on a separate or individual device-readable medium, such as in a hardwired manner. In any of these embodiments, the processing circuit 4170 may be configured to perform the functions described, whether or not it executes instructions stored on a device-readable storage medium. The benefits provided by such functions are not limited to the processing circuit 4170 alone or other components of the network node 4160, but are enjoyed by the network node 4160 as a whole, and / or by the end user and the entire wireless network.

[0140] The device-readable medium 4180 may have any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory, including, but not limited to, persistent memory, solid-state memory, remote-mount memory, magnetic media, optical media, RAM, read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., flash drive, compact disc (CD) or digital video disc (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-temporary device-readable and / or computer-executable memory device for storing information, data, and / or instructions that can be used by the processing circuit 4170. The device-readable medium 4180 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including applications that include one or more computer programs, software, logic, rules, code, tables, etc., and / or other instructions that can be executed by the processing circuit 4170 and made available to the network node 4160. The device-readable medium 4180 may be used to store any calculations performed by the processing circuit 4170 and / or any data received via the interface 4190. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 4170 and the device-readable medium 4180 may be considered to be integrated.

[0141] Interface 4190 is used for wired or wireless signaling and / or data between network node 4160, network 4106, and / or WD 4110. As shown in the figure, interface 4190 has, for example, a port / terminal 4194 for sending and receiving data to and from network 4106 via a wired connection. Interface 4190 also has a wireless front-end circuit 4192, which may be coupled to part of antenna 4162, or in certain embodiments, a wireless front-end circuit 4192. The wireless front-end circuit 4192 has a filter 4198 and an amplifier 4196. The wireless front-end circuit 4192 may be connected to antenna 4162 and processing circuit 4170. The wireless front-end circuit may be configured to adjust signals communicated between antenna 4162 and processing circuit 4170. The wireless front-end circuit 4192 may receive digital data sent to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. The wireless front-end circuit 4192 may use a combination of filter 4198 and / or amplifier 4196 to convert digital data into a radio signal having appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 4162. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 4162 may collect the radio signal and then convert it into digital data by the wireless front-end circuit 4192. The digital data may then be passed to processing circuit 4170. In other embodiments, the interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0142] According to certain alternative embodiments, the network node 4160 does not have to include a separate radio front-end circuit 4192; instead, the processing circuit 4170 may include a radio front-end circuit and be connected to the antenna 4162 without the separate radio front-end circuit 4192. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or part of the RF transceiver circuit 4172 may be considered part of the interface 4190. In yet another embodiment, the interface 4190 may include one or more ports or terminals 4194, the radio front-end circuit 4192, and the RF transceiver circuit 4172 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the interface 4190 may communicate with a baseband processing circuit 4174 which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0143] Antenna 4162 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to transmit and / or receive radio signals. Antenna 4162 may be any type of antenna that can be coupled to the radio front-end circuit 4192 and may transmit and receive data and / or signals wirelessly. In some embodiments, antenna 4162 may include one or more omnidirectional, sector, or panel antennas capable of transmitting and receiving radio signals, for example, between 2 GHz and 66 GHz. An omnidirectional antenna may be used to transmit / receive radio signals in any direction, a sector antenna may be used to transmit / receive radio signals from a device in a specific area, and a panel antenna may be a line-of-sight (LOS) antenna used to transmit / receive radio signals in a relatively straight line. In some cases, the use of two or more antennas may be called multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO). In certain embodiments, antenna 4162 may be separate from the network node 4160 and may be connectable to the network node 4160 via an interface or port.

[0144] Antenna 4162, interface 4190, and / or processing circuit 4170 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain acquisition operations described in this disclosure, as performed by a network node. Any information, data, and / or signals may be received from a wireless device, another network node, and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, antenna 4162, interface 4190, and / or processing circuit 4170 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described in this disclosure, as performed by a network node. Any information, data, and / or signals may be transmitted to a wireless device, another network node, and / or any other network equipment.

[0145] The power supply circuit 4187 may include a power management circuit or be coupled to a power management circuit and is configured to supply power to the components of the network node 4160 to perform the functions described herein. The power supply circuit 4187 can receive power from a power supply 4186. The power supply 4186 and / or the power supply circuit 4187 may be configured to supply power to the various components of the network node 4160 in a manner appropriate to each component (e.g., the voltage and current levels required for each component). The power supply 4186 may be included in the power supply circuit 4187 and / or the network node 4160, or may be included outside the power supply circuit. For example, the network node 4160 may be connectable to an external power supply (e.g., an electrical outlet) via an input circuit or interface such as an electrical cable, thereby the external power supply supplying power to the power supply circuit 4187. As a further example, the power supply 4186 may include a power supply in the form of a battery or battery pack connected to or integrated with the power supply circuit 4187. If the external power supply fails, backup power may be supplied from the battery. Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices, may also be used.

[0146] Alternative embodiments of network node 4160 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 11, which may be responsible for providing a particular aspect of the network node's functionality, including any of the functions described herein and / or any functions essential to supporting the subject matter described herein. For example, network node 4160 may include user interface equipment that enables input of information to and output of information from network node 4160. This would allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions of network node 4160.

[0147] As used in this disclosure, a wireless device (WD) refers to a device configured, positioned, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise noted, the term WD may be used interchangeably with user equipment (UE) in this disclosure. Wireless communication may involve transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared radiation, and / or other types of signals suitable for transmitting information over air (atmosphere). According to some embodiments, a WD may be configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, a WD may be designed to transmit information to a network on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to a request from the network. Examples of WDs include, but are not limited to, smartphones, mobile phones, cell phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, game consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback devices, wearable devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablets, laptops, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop onboard devices (LMEs), smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPEs), and in-vehicle wireless terminal devices. WDs can support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example, by implementing 3GPP® standards for side-link communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), and vehicle-to-anything (V2X), in which case they are sometimes called D2D communication devices. In yet another specific example, in an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, a WD can represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurement and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurement to another WD and / or network node. In this case, WD could be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, and in the context of 3GPP®, it could be called a machine-type communication (MTC) device.As one specific example, a WD may be a UE implementing the 3GPP® Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) standard. Specific examples of such machines or devices include measuring devices such as sensors, power meters, and industrial machinery, or household or personal appliances (e.g., refrigerators, televisions, etc.), and personal wearables (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other scenarios, a WD may represent a vehicle or other equipment that can monitor and / or report its operating status or other functions related to its operation. A WD as described above may represent the endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may be called a wireless terminal. Furthermore, a WD as described above may be mobile, in which case it may also be called a mobile device or mobile terminal.

[0148] As shown in the figure, the wireless device 4110 includes an antenna 4111, an interface 4114, a processing circuit 4120, a device-readable medium 4130, a user interface device 4132, an auxiliary device 4134, a power supply 4136, and a power supply circuit 4137. The WD4110 may include multiple sets of components, to name just a few, that include one or more of the exemplified components for different wireless technologies supported by the WD4110, such as GSM, WCDMA®, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth® wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or chipsets as the other components within the WD4110.

[0149] Antenna 4111 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to transmit and / or receive radio signals and connected to interface 4114. According to certain alternative embodiments, antenna 4111 may be separate from WD4110 and may be connectable to WD4110 via an interface or port. Antenna 4111, interface 4114, and / or processing circuitry 4120 may be configured to perform any receive or transmit operations described in this disclosure as performed by a WD. Any information, data, and / or signals may be received from network nodes and / or other WDs. In some embodiments, the radio front-end circuitry and / or antenna 4111 may be considered an interface.

[0150] As shown in the figure, interface 4114 has a radio front-end circuit 4112 and an antenna 4111. The radio front-end circuit 4112 has one or more filters 4118 and an amplifier 4116. The radio front-end circuit 4112 is connected to the antenna 4111 and a processing circuit 4120 and is configured to adjust signals communicated between the antenna 4111 and the processing circuit 4120. The radio front-end circuit 4112 may be coupled to or part of the antenna 4111. According to some embodiments, the WD 4110 does not have to include a separate radio front-end circuit 4112; rather, the processing circuit 4120 may include a radio front-end circuit and be connected to the antenna 4111. Similarly, in some embodiments, part or all of the RF transceiver circuit 4122 may be considered part of interface 4114. The radio front-end circuit 4112 may receive digital data sent to other network nodes or WDs via the radio connection. The wireless front-end circuit 4112 may use a combination of filter 4118 and / or amplifier 4116 to convert digital data into a radio signal having appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 4111. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 4111 may collect the radio signal and then convert it into digital data by the wireless front-end circuit 4112. The digital data may then be passed to processing circuit 4120. In other embodiments, the interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0151] The processing circuit 4120 may comprise one or more combinations of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field-programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or hardware, software, and / or coding logic, which can operate alone or in conjunction with other WD4110 components such as the device-readable medium 4130, WD4110 functionality. Such functionality may include providing any of the various radio features or benefits described herein. For example, the processing circuit 4120 may execute instructions stored in the device-readable medium 4130 or in memory within the processing circuit 4120 in order to provide the functionality disclosed herein.

[0152] As shown in the figure, the processing circuit 4120 includes one or more of the RF transceiver circuit 4122, the baseband processing circuit 4124, and the application processing circuit 4126. In other embodiments, the processing circuit may include different components and / or different combinations of components. According to a given embodiment, the processing circuit 4120 of the WD4110 may have a State-of-Chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuit 4122, the baseband processing circuit 4124, and the application processing circuit 4126 may be on separate chips or chipsets. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the baseband processing circuit 4124 and the application processing circuit 4126 may be combined on a single chip or chipset, and the RF transceiver circuit 4122 may be on a separate chip or chipset. In further alternative embodiments, some or all of the RF transceiver circuit 4122 and the baseband processing circuit 4124 may be located on the same chip or chipset, while the application processing circuit 4126 may be located on a separate chip or chipset. In yet another alternative embodiment, some or all of the RF transceiver circuit 4122, the baseband processing circuit 4124, and the application processing circuit 4126 may be combined on the same chip or chipset. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuit 4122 may be part of the interface 4114. The RF transceiver circuit 4122 may adjust the RF signal for the processing circuit 4120.

[0153] In one embodiment, some or all of the functions described herein as being performed by the WD may be provided by a processing circuit 4120 that executes instructions stored in a device-readable medium 4130, which may be a computer-readable storage medium, according to one embodiment. In an alternative embodiment, some or all of the functions may be provided by the processing circuit 4120 without executing instructions stored on a separate or individual device-readable storage medium, such as in a hardwired manner. In any of these particular embodiments, whether or not it executes instructions stored on a device-readable storage medium, the processing circuit 4120 may be configured to perform the functions described. The benefits provided by such functions are not limited to the processing circuit 4120 alone or other components of the WD4110, but are enjoyed by the WD4110 as a whole, and / or by the end user and the wireless network as a whole.

[0154] The processing circuit 4120 may be configured to perform any decisions, calculations, or similar operations (e.g., certain acquisition operations) described herein as being performed by the WD. These operations may include, for example, converting acquired information to other information, comparing acquired or converted information with information stored by the WD 4110, and / or performing one or more operations based on the acquired or converted information, and processing information acquired by the processing circuit 4120 as a result of the decisions of the processing.

[0155] The device-readable medium 4130 may be operable to store an application that includes one or more computer programs, software, logic, rules, code, tables, etc., and / or other instructions that can be executed by the processing circuit 4120. The device-readable medium 4130 may include computer memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM) or read-only memory (ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., compact disc (CD) or digital video disc (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-temporary device-readable and / or computer-executable memory device that stores information, data, and / or instructions that can be used by the processing circuit 4120. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 4120 and the device-readable medium 4130 may be considered as integrated.

[0156] The user interface device 4132 can provide components that enable a human user to interact with the WD4110. Such interactive operations can take many forms, such as visual, auditory, and tactile. The user interface device 4132 may be operable to generate outputs to the user and enable the user to provide inputs to the WD4110. The type of interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface device 4132 installed in the WD4110. For example, if the WD4110 is a smartphone, the interaction may be via a touchscreen; if the WD4110 is a smart meter, the interaction may be via a screen that provides usage (e.g., the number of gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audible alarm (e.g., if smoke is detected). The user interface device 4132 may include input interfaces, devices, and circuits, as well as output interfaces, devices, and circuits. The user interface device 4132 is configured to enable the input of information to the WD4110 and is connected to the processing circuit 4120, enabling the processing circuit 4120 to process the input information. The user interface device 4132 may include, for example, a microphone, a proximity sensor or other sensor, keys / buttons, a touch display, one or more cameras, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, or other input circuits. The user interface device 4132 is also configured to enable the output of information from the WD4110, and to enable the processing circuit 4120 to output information from the WD4110. The user interface device 4132 may include, for example, a speaker, a display, a vibration circuit, a USB port, a headphone interface, or other output circuits. Using one or more input / output interfaces, devices, and circuits of the user interface device 4132, the WD4110 can communicate with an end user and / or a wireless network, and can provide the end user and / or the wireless network with the benefits of the functionality described herein.

[0157] The auxiliary device 4134 is operable to provide more specific functions that may not typically be performed by the WD. This may include dedicated sensors for taking measurements for various purposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as wired communication, etc. The mounting and type of components of the auxiliary device 4134 may vary depending on the embodiment and / or scenario.

[0158] In some embodiments, the power supply 4136 may be in the form of a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources may be used, such as an external power source (e.g., an electrical outlet), a photovoltaic, or a power cell. The WD4110 may further include a power supply circuit 4137 for supplying power from the power supply 4136 to various parts of the WD4110 that require power from the power supply 4136 and for performing any functions described or shown in this disclosure. In certain embodiments, the power supply circuit 4137 may include a power management circuit. The power supply circuit 4137 may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source, in which case the WD4110 may be connectable to the external power source (e.g., an electrical outlet) via an interface such as an input circuit or power cable. Also in certain embodiments, the power supply circuit 4137 may be operable to distribute power from an external power source to the power supply 4136. This may be, for example, for charging the power supply 4136. The power supply circuit 4137 can perform any formatting, conversion, or other modification on the power from power supply 4136 to make it suitable for each component of the WD4110 to which it is supplied.

[0159] Figure 12 shows UEs according to several embodiments.

[0160] Figure 12 shows one embodiment of a UE in various aspects described herein. As used in this disclosure, a user device or UE does not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the associated device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended to be sold to or operated by a human user, but may or may not initially be associated with a particular human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended to be sold to or operated by an end user, but may be associated with or operated for a user (e.g., a smart electricity meter). UE42200 can be any UE defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®), including NB-IoT UEs, Machine Type Communications (MTC) UEs, and / or Enhanced MTC (eMTC) UEs. As shown in Figure 12, the UE4200 is an example of a WD configured to communicate in accordance with one or more communication standards published by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®), such as the 3GPP® GSM®, UMTS, LTE, and / or 5G standards. As previously stated, the terms WD and UE may be used interchangeably. Thus, although Figure 12 is a UE, the components described herein are equally applicable to WDs, and vice versa.

[0161] In Figure 12, the UE4200 includes a communication subsystem 4231, a power supply 4213, and / or any other components, or any combination thereof, including an input / output interface 4205, a radio frequency (RF) interface 4209, a network connection interface 4211, memory 4215 including random access memory (RAM) 4217, read-only memory (ROM) 4219, and a storage medium 4221, as well as processing circuitry 4201 operably coupled to a storage medium 4221, a power supply 4213, and / or any other components, or any combination thereof. The storage medium 4221 contains an operating system 4223, an application program 4225, and data 4227. In other embodiments, the storage medium 4221 may contain other similar types of information. Some UEs may utilize all or only a subset of the components shown in Figure 12. The level of integration between components may vary from one UE to another. Furthermore, some UEs may include multiple instances of components, such as multiple processors, memory, transceivers, transmitters, and receivers.

[0162] In Figure 12, the processing circuit 4201 may be configured to process computer instructions and data. The processing circuit 4201 may be configured to implement any sequential state machine capable of operating to execute machine instructions stored in memory as a machine-readable computer program, such as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., discrete logic, field-programmable gate array (FPGA), application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc.), programmable logic with appropriate firmware, one or more stored programs such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP) with appropriate software, a general-purpose processor, or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuit 4201 may include two central processing units (CPUs). The data may be information in a form suitable for use by a computer.

[0163] In the illustrated embodiment, the input / output interface 4205 may be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, an output device, or both input and output devices. The UE4200 may be configured to use an output device via the input / output interface 4205. The output device may use the same type of interface port as the input device. For example, a USB port can be used for input and output to and from the UE4200. The output device may be a speaker, sound card, video card, display, monitor, printer, actuator, emitter, smart card, another output device, or any combination thereof. The UE4200 may be configured to allow a user to use an input device via the input / output interface 4205 to have the UE4200 capture information. Input devices may include touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive displays, cameras (e.g., digital cameras, digital video cameras, webcams, etc.), microphones, sensors, mice, trackballs, directional keys, trackpads, scroll wheels, smart cards, etc. A presence-sensitive display may include capacitive or resistive touch sensors to sense user input. The sensors may be, for example, accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt sensors, force sensors, magnetometers, optical sensors, proximity sensors, other similar sensors, or any combination thereof. For example, the input devices may be accelerometers, magnetometers, digital cameras, microphones, and optical sensors.

[0164] In Figure 12, the RF interface 4209 may be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, receiver, and antenna. The network connection interface 4211 may be configured to provide a communication interface to network 4243a. Network 4243a may include wired and / or wireless networks such as a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), computer network, wireless network, communication network, other similar networks, or any combination thereof. For example, network 4243a may have a Wi-Fi network. The network connection interface 4211 may be configured to include receiver and transmitter interfaces used to communicate with one or more other devices over the communication network according to one or more communication protocols such as Ethernet®, Transmit Control Protocol (TCP) / Internet Protocol (IP), Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET), and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM). The network connection interface 4211 may implement receiver and transmitter functions suitable for a communication network link (e.g., optical, electronic, etc.). The transmitter and receiver functions may share circuit components, software, or firmware, or they may be implemented separately.

[0165] RAM 4217 may be configured to interface with processing circuit 4201 via bus 4202 to provide storage or a cache of data or computer instructions during the execution of software programs such as operating systems, application programs, and device drivers. ROM 4219 may be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processing circuit 4201. For example, ROM 4219 may be stored in non-volatile memory and configured to store immutable low-level system code or data for basic system functions such as basic input / output (I / O), startup, or receiving keystrokes from a keyboard. The storage medium 4221 may be configured to include memory such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, or flash drives. In one example, the storage medium 4221 may be configured to include an operating system 4223, an application program 4225 such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine or another application, and a data file 4227. The storage medium 4221 may store any of various operating systems, or a combination of several operating systems, for use by the UE4200.

[0166] The storage medium 4221 may be configured to include several physical drive units, such as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), a floppy disk drive, flash memory, a USB flash drive, an external hard disk drive, a thumb drive, a pen drive, a key drive, a high-density digital versatile disk (HD-DVD) optical disk drive, an internal hard disk drive, a Blu-ray optical disk drive, a holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disk drive, an external mini dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), an external microDIMM SDRAM, smart card memory such as a subscriber identification module or removable user identity (SIM / RUIM) module, other memory, or any combination thereof. The storage medium 4221 may enable the UE4200 to access computer executable instructions, application programs, etc., stored on temporary or non-temporary storage media, to offload data, or to upload data. Products such as those utilizing communication systems may be tangibly embodied within the storage medium 4221, including device-readable media.

[0167] In Figure 12, the processing circuit 4201 may be configured to communicate with network 4243b using the communication subsystem 4231. Networks 4243a and 4243b may be the same network or different networks. The communication subsystem 4231 may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with network 4243b. For example, the communication subsystem 4231 may be configured to include one or more transceivers (transmitters and receivers) used to communicate with one or more remote transceivers of another wirelessly radio-enabled device, such as a base station on another WD, UE, or RAN, according to one or more communication protocols such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), WCDMA®, GSM®, LTE, Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), or WiMAX. Each transceiver may include a transmitter 4233 and / or a receiver 4235 to implement appropriate transmitter or receiver functions for the RAN link (e.g., frequency allocation). Furthermore, the transmitter 4233 and receiver 4235 of each transceiver may share circuit components, software, or firmware, or they may be implemented separately.

[0168] According to the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of the communication subsystem 4231 may include data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, near-field communication such as Bluetooth®, proximity communication, location-based communication such as the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) for determining location, other similar communication functions, or any combination thereof. For example, the communication subsystem 4231 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth® communication, and GPS communication. The network 4243b may include wired and / or wireless networks such as a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), computer network, wireless network, communication network, other similar networks, or any combination thereof. For example, the network 4243b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and / or a near-field wireless network. The power supply 4213 may be configured to supply alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to the components of the UE 4200.

[0169] The features, benefits, and / or functions described herein may be implemented in one of the components of the UE4200 or may be divided across multiple components of the UE4200. Furthermore, the features, benefits, and / or functions described herein may be implemented in any combination of hardware, software, or firmware. In one example, the communication subsystem 4231 may be configured to include any of the components described herein. Furthermore, the processing circuit 4201 may be configured to communicate with any of such components via the bus 4202. In another example, any of such components may be represented by program instructions stored in memory that perform the corresponding functions described herein when executed by the processing circuit 4201. In yet another example, the functions of any of such components may be separated between the processing circuit 4201 and the communication subsystem 4231. In yet another example, the computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware, and the computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0170] Figure 13 shows virtualization environments according to several embodiments.

[0171] Figure 13 is a schematic block diagram showing a virtualization environment 4300 in which functions implemented by several embodiments may be virtualized. In this text, virtualization means creating a virtual version of an apparatus or device, which includes virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices, and network resources. As used in this disclosure, virtualization may be applied to a node (e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) or a device (e.g., a UE, a radio device, or any other type of communication device) or its components, and relates to embodiments in which at least a portion of the functions are implemented as one or more virtual components (e.g., via one or more applications, components, functions, virtual machines, or containers running on one or more physical processing nodes in one or more networks).

[0172] In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented within one or more virtual environments 4300 hosted by one or more hardware nodes 4330. Furthermore, in embodiments where the virtual nodes are not wireless access nodes or do not require wireless connectivity (e.g., core network nodes), the network nodes may be fully virtualized.

[0173] The functionality may be implemented by one or more applications 4320 (which may be referred to as software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) that operate to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of the embodiments disclosed herein. The applications 4320 run in a virtualized environment 4300 that provides hardware 4330 having a processing circuit 4360 and memory 4390. The memory 4390 includes instructions 4395 that can be executed by the processing circuit 4360, thereby enabling the applications 4320 to operate to provide one or more of the features, benefits, and / or functions disclosed herein.

[0174] The virtualization environment 4300 includes a general-purpose or dedicated network hardware device 4330 comprising one or more processors or processing circuits 4360, which may be commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, dedicated application integrated circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuit including digital or analog hardware components or dedicated processors. Each hardware device may have memory 4390-1, which may be non-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions 4395 or software executed by the processing circuits 4360. Each hardware device may also include one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 4370, also known as network interface cards, which include a physical network interface 4380. Each hardware device may also include a non-temporary, persistent, machine-readable storage medium 4390-2, which has instructions executable by the software 4395 and / or processing circuits 4360 stored therein. Software 4395 may include any type of software, including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers 4350 (also known as hypervisors), software for running virtual machines 4340, and software that enables the performance of functions, features, and / or benefits described in relation to some embodiments described herein.

[0175] The virtual machine 4340 comprises virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networkwork or interfaces, and virtual storage, and may run on the corresponding virtualization layer 4350 or hypervisor. Different embodiments of instances of the virtual appliance 4320 may be implemented on one or more virtual machines 4340, and the implementation may be carried out in different ways.

[0176] During operation, the processing circuit 4360 runs software 4395 to instantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer 4350, sometimes called the virtual machine monitor (VMM). The virtualization layer 4350 may present a virtual operating platform to the virtual machine 4340 that resembles network hardware.

[0177] As shown in Figure 13, hardware 4330 may be a standalone network node with general or specific components. Hardware 4330 may have an antenna 43225 and may implement some functions through virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 4330 may be part of a larger hardware cluster (for example, within a data center or customer premises equipment (CPE)) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via a Management and Orchestration (MANO) 43100 that monitors the lifecycle management of applications 4320 in particular.

[0178] Hardware virtualization is performed in several contexts known as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to integrate many network equipment types with industry-standard high-capacity server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage that can be deployed within a data center, as well as customer premises equipment.

[0179] In the context of NFV, a virtual machine 4340 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were running on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each virtual machine 4340, and its portion of the hardware 4330 on which it runs, is dedicated hardware to that virtual machine and / or hardware shared by that virtual machine with other virtual machines 4340, forming a separate virtual network element (VNE).

[0180] Furthermore, in the context of NFV, a virtual network function (VNF) is responsible for handling specific network functions that run on one or more virtual machines 4340 on the hardware networking infrastructure 4330, corresponding to application 4320 in Figure 13.

[0181] According to some embodiments, one or more radio units 43200, each including one or more transmitters 43220 and one or more receivers 43210, may be coupled to one or more antennas 43225. The radio units 43200 can communicate directly with a hardware node 4330 via one or more suitable network interfaces and may be used in combination with virtual components to provide radio functions to the virtual node, such as a radio access node or base station.

[0182] According to some embodiments, some signals may be achieved by using a control system 43230, which can be used alternatively for communication between the hardware node 4330 and the wireless unit 43200.

[0183] Figure 14 shows a telecommunications network connected to a host computer via an intermediate network according to several embodiments.

[0184] With respect to Figure 14, according to one embodiment, the communication system has a communication network 4410, such as a 3GPP® type cellular network, which comprises an access network 4411, such as a wireless access network, and a core network 4414. The access network 4411 comprises a plurality of base stations 4412a, 4412b, 4412c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs, or other types of wireless access points, each determining a corresponding coverage area 4413a, 4413b, 4413c. Each base station 4412a, 4412b, 4412c is connectable to the core network 4414 via a wired or wireless connection 4415. A first UE 4491 located in coverage area 4413c is configured to be wirelessly connected to or paged by the corresponding base station 4412c. A second UE 4492 in coverage area 4413a is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station 4412a. Although multiple UEs 4491 and 4492 are shown in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to situations where a single UE is present in a coverage area, or where a single UE is connected to a corresponding base station 4412.

[0185] The telecommunications network 4410 is itself connected to the host computer 4430, which can be embodied in the hardware and / or software of a standalone server, a cloud implementation server, a distributed server, or as a processing resource in a server farm. The host computer 4430 may be owned or under the control of a service provider, or may be operated by or on behalf of the service provider. The connections 4421 and 4422 between the telecommunications network 4410 and the host computer 4430 may extend directly from the core network 4414 to the host computer 4430, or via an arbitrary intermediate network 4420. The intermediate network 4420 may be one of a public network, a private network, or a hosted network, or a combination of two or more thereof, and the intermediate network 4420 may be a backbone network or the internet, if any, and in particular the intermediate network 4420 may have two or more subnets (not shown).

[0186] The communication system in Figure 14, as a whole, enables connectivity between the connected UEs 4491 and 4492 and the host computer 4430. This connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 4450. The host computer 4430 and the connected UEs 4491 and 4492 are configured to communicate data and / or signaling over the OTT connection 4450, using the access network 4411, the core network 4414, an optional intermediate network 4420, and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. The OTT connection 4450 can be transparent in the sense that participating communication devices through which the OTT connection 4450 passes are unaware of the routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, base station 4412 does not need to be aware of the past routing of incoming downlink communications with data originating from the host computer 4430 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to the connected UE 4491. Similarly, base station 4412 does not need to be aware of the future routing of outgoing uplink communications from UE4491 to host computer 4430.

[0187] Figure 15 shows a host computer communicating with user equipment via a base station over a partial wireless connection, according to several embodiments.

[0188] Referring now to Figure 15, exemplary implementations of the UE, base station, and host computer embodiments discussed in the previous paragraph are described. In the communication system 4500, the host computer 4510 includes hardware 4515, which includes a communication interface 4516 configured to establish and maintain a wired or wireless connection with the interface of another communication device of the communication system 4500. The host computer 4510 further includes processing circuitry 4518 which may have storage and / or processing capabilities. In particular, the processing circuitry 4518 may include one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field-programmable gate arrays, or a combination thereof (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The host computer 4510 further includes software 4511 which is stored in or accessible by the host computer 4510 and executable by the processing circuitry 4518. The software 4511 has a host application 4512. The host application 4512 may be configured to provide services to remote users, such as UE4530, that connect via an OTT connection 4550 terminating at UE4530 and the host computer 4510. When providing services to remote users, the host application 4512 may provide user data transmitted using the OTT connection 4550.

[0189] The communication system 4500 further includes a base station 4520 equipped with hardware 4525 that is provided within the communication system and enables communication with the host computer 4510 and the UE 4530. Hardware 4525 may have a communication interface 4526 for setting up and maintaining wired or wireless connections with interfaces of other communication devices of the communication system 4500, and a wireless interface 4527 for setting up and maintaining at least a wireless connection 4570 with the UE 4530 located in a coverage area (not shown in Figure 15) served by the base station 4520. The communication interface 4526 may be configured to facilitate a connection 4560 to the host computer 4510. The connection 4560 may be direct, pass through the core network of the communication system (not shown in Figure 15), and / or pass through one or more intermediate networks outside the communication system. According to the illustrated embodiment, the hardware 4525 of the base station 4520 further includes a processing circuit 4528 which may have one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field-programmable gate arrays, or a combination thereof (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Furthermore, the base station 4520 has software 4521 which is stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

[0190] The communication system 4500 further includes the already referenced UE4530. Its hardware 4535 may have a radio interface 4537 configured to set up and maintain a radio connection 4570 with a base station that provides service to the coverage area in which the UE4530 is currently located. The hardware 4535 of the UE4530 further has a processing circuit 4538 which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field-programmable gate arrays, or combinations thereof adapted to execute instructions (not shown). The UE4530 further comprises software 4531 which is stored in or accessible by the UE4530 and executable by the processing circuit 4538. The software 4531 has a client application 4532. The client application 4532 is operable to provide services to human or non-human users via the UE4530 with the support of a host computer 4510. On the host computer 4510, the running host application 4512 may communicate with the running client application 4532 via the OTT connection 4550, which terminates at the UE 4530, and the host computer 4510. When providing services to a user, the client application 4532 may receive request data from the host application 4512 and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 4550 can transfer both the request data and the user data. The client application 4532 may interact with the user and generate user data to be provided by the user.

[0191] It should be noted that the host computer 4510, base station 4520, and UE4530 shown in Figure 15 may be similar to or identical to the host computer 4430, one of the base stations 4412a, 4412b, and 4412c, and one of the UE4491 and 4492 in Figure 14, respectively. That is, the internal operation of these entities may be as shown in Figure 15, or it may be independent of it, and the surrounding network topology may be as in Figure 14.

[0192] In Figure 15, the OTT connection 4550 is depicted abstractly to illustrate communication between the host computer 4510 and the UE 4530 via the base station 4520, without any explicit mention of any intermediate devices and without precise routing of messages through these devices. The network infrastructure may determine the routing, and the routing may be configured to be hidden from the UE 4530, or from the service provider operating host computer 4510, or both. While the OTT connection 4550 is active, the network infrastructure may make further decisions to dynamically change the routing (for example, based on load balancing considerations or network reconfiguration).

[0193] The radio connection 4570 between the UE4530 and the base station 4520 follows the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments may improve the performance of the OTT services provided to the UE4530 by using an OTT connection 4550 in which the radio connection 4570 forms the final segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve random access speed and / or reduce random access failure rates, thereby providing benefits such as faster and / or more reliable random access.

[0194] Measurement procedures can be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency, and other factors, which may be improved by one or more embodiments. Furthermore, depending on the variability of the measurement results, there may be optional network functions for reconfiguring the OTT connection 4550 between the host computer 4510 and the UE 4530. The measurement procedures and / or network functions for reconfiguring the OTT connection 4550 may be implemented in the software 4511 and hardware 4515 of the host computer 4510, or in the software 4531 and hardware 4535 of the UE 4530, or both. According to embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in connection with communication devices through which the OTT connection 4550 passes, and the sensors may participate in the measurement procedures by supplying values ​​of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or by supplying values ​​of other physical quantities through which the software 4511, 4531 can calculate or estimate the monitored quantities. Reconfiguration of the OTT connection 4550 may include message formatting, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc., and the reconfiguration does not need to affect the base station 4520, and may be unknown to or imperceptible to the base station 4520. Such procedures and functionalities may be publicly known and practiced in the art. According to one embodiment, the measurement may have its own UE signaling that facilitates the measurement of the host computer 4510, such as throughput, propagation time, delay, etc. The measurement may be carried out by having software 4511 and 4531 send messages, in particular empty or "dummy" messages, using the OTT connection 4550 while monitoring propagation time, errors, etc.

[0195] Figure 16 shows how it can be implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and user equipment, according to several embodiments.

[0196] Figure 16 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and an UE, as described in relation to Figures 14 and 15. For the sake of simplicity, only drawings referring to Figure 16 are included in this section. In step 4610, the host computer provides user data. In substep 4611 of step 4610, the host computer provides user data by executing a host application. In step 4620, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step 4630 (optional), the base station transmits the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the host computer to the UE, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 4640 (optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

[0197] Figure 17 shows how it can be implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and user equipment, according to several embodiments.

[0198] Figure 17 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE as described in relation to Figures 14 and 15. For the sake of simplicity, only drawing references to Figure 17 are included in this section. In step 4710 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional substep (not shown), the host computer provides user data by executing a host application. In step 4720, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. The transmitted signal may be passed through the base station in accordance with the teachings of embodiments described throughout the disclosure. In step 4730 (optional), the UE receives the user data carried by the transmitted signal.

[0199] Figure 18 illustrates how some embodiments are implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and user equipment.

[0200] Figure 18 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE as described in relation to Figures 14 and 15. For simplicity, only drawing references to Figure 18 are included in this section. In step 4810 (optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. In addition to, or instead of, step 4820, the UE provides user data. In substep 4821 (optional) of step 4820, the UE provides user data by running a client application. In substep 4811 (optional) of step 4810, the UE runs a client application that provides user data in response to input data provided and received by the host computer. When providing user data, the run client application may further consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the particular way the user data is provided, in substep 4830 (optional), the UE begins transmitting the user data to the host computer. In step 4840 of this method, the host computer receives user data transmitted from the UE in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.

[0201] Figure 19 illustrates how it can be implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and user equipment, according to several embodiments.

[0202] Figure 19 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system according to one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE as described in relation to Figures 14 and 15. For the sake of simplicity, only drawings referring to Figure 19 are included in this section. In step 4910 (optional), the base station receives user data from the UE, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 4920 (optional), the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step 4930 (optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

[0203] Any suitable step, method, feature, function, or benefit disclosed in this disclosure may be performed via one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual devices. Each virtual device may comprise several of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers, and other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs), dedicated digital logic, etc. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or more types of memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. The program code stored in memory has program instructions for executing one or more communication and / or data communication protocols, and instructions for executing one or more of the techniques described in this disclosure. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to perform the functions corresponding to each functional unit, according to one or more embodiments of this disclosure.

[0204] The term "unit" may have its conventional meaning in the field of electronic equipment, electrical devices, and / or electronic devices, and may have, for example, electrical and / or electronic circuits, devices, modules, processors, memories, logic solid-state and / or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for performing tasks, procedures, calculations, outputs, and / or display functions, etc., as described in this disclosure.

[0205] Abbreviation

[0206] This disclosure may use at least some of the following abbreviations. In the event of any inconsistency between abbreviations, the one used above shall prevail. If an abbreviation is listed more than once below, the first listing shall prevail over any subsequent listings. 3GPP®: Third Generation Partnership Project 4G: Fourth generation 5G: Fifth generation AMF: Access and Mobility Management Function AP: Access Point APN: Access Point Name ASIC: Application-Specific Integrated Circuit ATM: Asynchronous transfer mode BS: Base station BSC: Base Station Controller BTS: Base Transceiver Station CD: Compact Disc CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access COTS: Commercial Off-the-Shelf CPE: Customer Premises Equipment CPU: Central Processing Unit D2D: Device-to-Device DAS: Distributed Antenna System DDNMF: Direct Discovery Name Management Function DIMM: Dual Inline Memory Module DL: Downlink DPF: Direct Provisioning Function DSP: Digital Signal Processor DVD: Digital Video Disc EEPROM: Electrically erasable programmable read-only memory eMTC: Extended Machine Type Communication EPC: Evolved Packet Core EPROM: Erasable programmable read-only memory E-SMLC: Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center eNB: E-UTRAN Node B E-SMLC: Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center E-UTRA: Evolved UTRA E-UTRAN: Evolved UTRAN FPGA: Field-Programmable Gate Array gNB: NR base station GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications GW: Gateway HDDS: Holographic Digital Data Storage HD-DVD: High-density digital multi-purpose disc HPLMN: Home Public Land Mobile Network HSS: Home Subscriber Services ID: Identifier IEEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IoT: Internet of Things IP: Internet Protocol LEE: Laptop Embedded Devices LME: Laptop Mounted Devices LOS: Line of Sight LTE: Long-Term Evolution M2M: Machine to Machine MANO: Management and Orchestration MCE: Multicast Coordination Entity MDT: Minimizing Drive Tests MIMO: Multiple Input, Multiple Output MME: Mobility Management Entity MSC: Mobile Exchange Center MSR: Multi-standard radio MTC: Machine Type Communication NB-IoT: Narrowband Internet of Things NFV: Network Functions Virtualization NIC: Network Interface Controller NR: New Radio (New Wireless) OSS: Operational Support System OTT: Over the Top O&M: Operations and Maintenance PCF: Policy Control Function PDA: Personal Digital Assistant PDN: Packet Data Network PDUID: Proximity Service Discovery User Device Identifier PLMN: Public Land Mobile Communications Network PROM: Programmable Read-Only Memory ProSe: Proximity Service PSTN: Public Telephone Switching Network RAID: A redundant array of independent disks RAM: Random Access Memory RAN: Wireless Access Network RAT: Wireless Access Technology RF: Radio frequency RNC: Wireless Network Controller ROM: Read-only memory RPAUID: Restricted Proximity Service Application User Identifier RRC: Wireless Resource Control RRH: Remote Wireless Head RRM: Wireless Resource Management RRU: Remote Wireless Unit RUIM: Removable User Identifier SDRAM: Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory SIM: Subscriber Identification Module SLP: Service Location Protocol SMF: Session Management Function SoC: System-on-a-chip SON: Self-Optimizing Network SONET: Synchronized Optical Networking SUPI: Subscription Persistence Identifier TCP: Transmit Control Protocol TS: Technical Specifications UE: User Device UL: Uplink UMTS: Universal Mobile Communications System USB: Universal Serial Bus UTRA: Universal Terrestrial Radio Access UTRAN: Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network V2I: Vehicle-to-Infrastructure V2V: Vehicle-to-vehicle distance V2X: Vehicle vs. Everything VMM: Virtual Machine Monitor VNE: Virtual Network Element VoIP: Voice over IP VPLMN: Visiting Public Land Mobile Communications Network WAN: Wide Area Network WCDMA (registered trademark): Wideband CDMA WD: Wireless Devices WiMax: Worldwide interoperability for microwave access WLAN: Wide Local Area Network

[0207] Additional definitions of the embodiments are described below.

[0208] In the above descriptions of various embodiments of the inventive concept, it should be understood that the terms used in this disclosure are solely for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the inventive concept. Unless otherwise defined, all terms used in this disclosure (including technical and scientific terms) have the same meaning as those generally understood by those skilled in the art in which the inventive concept pertains. Furthermore, terms as defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having the meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of this disclosure and related art, and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly defined in this disclosure.

[0209] When an element is referred to as “connected,” “combined,” “responding,” or a variation thereof to another element, it can be directly connected to, combined with, or respond to the other element, or there may be an intervening element. In contrast, when an element is referred to as “directly connected,” “directly combined,” “directly responding,” or a variation thereof, there is no intervening element. The same reference numeral refers to the same element throughout. Furthermore, as used in this disclosure, “combined,” “connected,” “responding,” or a variation thereof may include being wirelessly combined, connected, or responding. Where used in this disclosure, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to also include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Well-known features or configurations may not be described in detail for the sake of brevity and / or clarity. The term “and / or” (abbreviated as “ / ”) includes any and all combinations of one or more of the related enumerated items.

[0210] Terms such as "first," "second," and "third" may be used in this disclosure to describe various elements / operations, but it will be understood that these elements / operations should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used solely to distinguish one element / operation from another. Thus, a first element / operation in some embodiments may be called a second element / operation in other embodiments without departing from teaching the inventive concept. The same reference numerals or symbols indicate the same or similar elements throughout the specification.

[0211] Where used in this disclosure, the terms “comprise,” “comprising,” “comprises,” “include,” “including,” “includes,” “have,” “having,” “has,” or variations thereof are open-ended and include one or more described features, integers, elements, steps, components, or functions, but do not exclude the existence or addition of one or more other features, integers, elements, steps, components, functions, or groups thereof. Furthermore, where used in this disclosure, the general abbreviation “example,” derived from the Latin phrase “exempli gratia,” may be used to introduce or specify general or multiple examples of the previously mentioned items, and is not intended to limit such items. The general abbreviation “that is,” derived from the Latin phrase “id est,” may be used to specify a particular item from a more general enumeration.

[0212] Exemplary embodiments are described herein with reference to block diagrams and / or flowchart diagrams of computer-implemented methods, apparatus (systems and / or devices), and / or computer program products. It should be understood that blocks of the block diagrams and / or flowchart diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and / or flowchart diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions executed by one or more computer circuits. These computer program instructions are provided to a processor circuit of a general purpose computer circuit, a dedicated computer circuit, and / or other programmable data processing circuits, and executed via the processor of a computer and / or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that instructions, conversion and control transistors, values stored in memory locations, and other hardware components within such circuits implement the functions / operations specified in the block diagrams and / or flowchart blocks or blocks, thereby generating a machine so as to create means (functions) and / or structures for implementing the functions / operations specified in the block diagrams and / or flowchart blocks.

[0213] These computer program instructions can also be stored in a tangible computer-readable medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions for implementing the functions / operations specified in one or more blocks of the block diagrams and / or flowchart. Accordingly, embodiments of the inventive concept can be implemented in hardware and / or software (including firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.) executed on a processor such as a digital signal processor, which may collectively be referred to as "circuit", "module", or variations thereof.

[0214] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions that, when executed by a processing circuit (such as a first network function and / or a second network function), cause the processing circuit to execute at least a part of the methods described in the present disclosure. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program product embodied on a non-transitory machine-readable medium, including instructions executable by a processing circuit (such as a first network function and / or a second network function) to cause the processing circuit to execute at least a part of the methods described in the present disclosure. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program product comprising a carrier including instructions for causing a processing circuit (such as a first network function and / or a second network function) to execute at least a part of the methods described in the present disclosure. According to some embodiments, the carrier can be any one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, an electrical signal, a wireless signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

[0215] Also, it should be noted that according to some alternative embodiments, the functions / operations described within a block may be performed in an order different from the order described within the flowchart. For example, two blocks shown consecutively may actually be performed substantially simultaneously, or the blocks may sometimes be performed in the reverse order depending on the functions / operations involved. Further, the function of a given block of a flowchart and / or block diagram may be separated into multiple blocks, and / or the functions of two or more blocks of a flowchart and / or block diagram may be at least partially integrated. Finally, other blocks can be added / inserted between the illustrated blocks and / or blocks / operations can be omitted without departing from the scope of the inventive concept. Additionally, although some of the figures include arrows on the communication paths to indicate the main direction of communication, it should be understood that communication can occur in a direction opposite to the drawn arrows.

[0216] Many variations and modifications can be made to the embodiments without substantially departing from the principles of the inventive concept. All such variations and modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the inventive concept. Accordingly, the subject matter disclosed above should be considered illustrative and not restrictive, and the examples of embodiments are intended to encompass all such modifications, enhancements, and other embodiments that fall within the spirit and scope of the inventive concept. Accordingly, the scope of the inventive concept should be determined by the broadest acceptable interpretation of this disclosure, including the examples of embodiments and their equivalents, to the maximum extent permitted by law, and should not be limited or restricted by the detailed description above.

Claims

1. A method for operating DDNMF (Direct Discovery Name Management Function) in a communication network, wherein the method is: (102) Initiating the transmission of first information to the PCF (Policy Control Function), wherein the first information comprises a Proximity Service Discovery User Device Identifier (PDUID) change notification and a Subscription Persistence Identifier (SUPI) for a User Device (UE), the PDUID change notification indicating that the DDNMF is subscribed to receive notifications from the PCF of changes in the PDUID assigned to the UE, and the PDUID change notification is an event identifier for the notification of the change of the PDUID for the UE. The current PDUID of the UE is received from the PCF (616, 716), When the PDUID for the UE is changed, the PCF receives at least one updated PDUID for the UE (104, 618, 718), A method of having.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein initiating the transmission of the first information comprises initiating the transmission of a first service operation request, the first service operation request comprising the first information, and the first service operation request being an Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Subscribe request or an Npcf_EventExposure_Subscribe request.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, comprising receiving the at least one updated PDUID for the UE from the PCF in response that the at least one updated PDUID for the UE has been generated by the PCF for the UE.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the method is A method comprising receiving the at least one updated PDUID for the UE from the PCF, along with an indication that the notification of the change of the PDUID for the UE has been satisfied in the PCF.

5. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the method is The process involves initiating the transmission of a second piece of information to the PCF, the second piece of information indicating that the DDNMF should be de-subscribed upon receiving the notification, Initiating the transmission of the second information includes initiating the transmission of a second service operation request, the second service operation request includes the second information, The method wherein the second service operation request is an Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Unsubscribe request or an Npcf_EventExposure_Unsubscribe request.

6. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the transmission of the first information is initiated in response to receiving a discovery request from the UE, the discovery request being a request for a restricted discovery code and / or in response to the DDNMF not having a UE context for the UE.

7. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the method is A method comprising receiving the at least one updated PDUID for the UE along with an expiration timer associated with the at least one updated PDUID for the UE.

8. A method for operating a PCF (Policy Control Function) in a communication network, wherein the method is: In response to receiving first information from the Direct Discovery Name Management Function (DDNMF), the DDNMF is enrolled in receiving notifications from the PCF of changes in the Proximity Service Discovery User Device Identifier (PDUID) for a User Device (UE) (202), wherein the first information comprises a PDUID change notification and a Subscription Persistent Identifier (SUPI) for the User Device (UE), the PDUID change notification indicates that the DDNMF is enrolled in receiving notifications, and the PDUID change notification is an event identifier for the notification of the change of the PDUID assigned for the UE. The PDUID currently assigned to the UE is transmitted to the DDNMF, When the PDUID for the UE is changed, the system initiates the transmission of at least one updated PDUID for the UE to the DDNMF (204), A method having.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein receiving the first information includes receiving a first service operation request, the first service operation request includes the first information, and the first service operation request is an Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Subscribe request or an Npcf_EventExposure_Subscribe request.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, further, Determining whether the notification of the change of the PDUID for the UE has been fulfilled, The process includes generating the at least one updated PDUID for the UE in response to the fulfillment of the notification of the change to the PDUID for the UE, A method wherein the transmission of the at least one updated PDUID for the UE is initiated in response to the PCF generating the at least one updated PDUID for the UE.

11. A method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein initiating the transmission of at least one updated PDUID for the UE to the DDNMF (204) Determining whether the notification of the change of the PDUID for the UE has been fulfilled, A method comprising: in response to the notification of the change of the PDUID for the UE being satisfied, initiating the transmission of the at least one updated PDUID for the UE, along with an indication that the notification of the change of the PDUID for the UE has been satisfied.

12. A method according to any one of claims 8 to 11, wherein the method is In response to receiving second information from the DDNMF, the DDNMF is desubscribed from the DDNMF upon receiving the notification, A method wherein the second information indicates that the DDNMF should be unsubscribed upon receiving the notification, the receipt of the second information includes receiving a second service action request, the second service action request includes the second information, and the second service action request is an Npcf_AMPolicyAuthorization_Unsubscribe request or an Npcf_EventExposure_Unsubscribe request.

13. A method according to any one of claims 8 to 12, wherein the first information is Received in response to a discovery request from the UE, where the discovery request is a request for a restricted discovery code and / or A method received in response that the DDNMF does not have a UE context for the UE.

14. A method according to any one of claims 8 to 13, wherein the method is A method comprising: initiating the transmission of the at least one updated PDUID together with an expiration timer associated with the at least one updated PDUID for the UE.

15. A method implemented by a system, wherein the method is A method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, The method according to any one of claims 8 to 14, A method having.

16. DDNMF (Direct Discovery Name Management Function) (400), A DDNMF having a processing circuit (403) configured to operate according to the method described in any one of claims 1 to 7.

17. The DDNMF(400) according to claim 16, wherein the DDNMF(400) is A DDNMF having at least one memory (405) for storing instructions that, when executed by the processing circuit (403), cause the DDNMF to operate as described in any one of claims 1 to 7.

18. PCF (Policy Control Function) (500), A PCF having a processing circuit (503) configured to operate according to the method described in any one of claims 8 to 14.

19. The PCF(500) according to claim 18, wherein the PCF(500) is A PCF having at least one memory (505) for storing instructions that, when executed by the processing circuit (503), cause the PCF (500) to operate according to the method described in any one of claims 8 to 14.

20. It is a system, At least one DDNMF (400) according to claim 16 or 17, At least one PCF(500) according to claim 18 or 19, A system that has

21. A computer program that causes a processing circuit to execute the method described in any one of claims 1 to 7.

22. A computer program that causes a processing circuit to execute the method described in any one of claims 8 to 14.

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