Discovery, selection, and provision of edge services driven by Wireless Transmit / Receive Unit (WTRU) using shared Edge Application Server (EAS) information and Edge Enabler Server (EES) registration information.

Description

1 / 54 “DISCOVERY, SELECTION AND PROVISION OF WIRELESS TRANSMITTENT-DRIVEN EDGE SERVICES (WTRU) USING SHARED EDGE APPLICATION SERVER (EAS) INFORMATION AND EDGE ENABLEMENT SERVER (EES) RECORDER INFORMATION” CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED REQUESTS

[001] This application claims the benefit of Provisional Application US No. 63 / 466,372, filed on May 15, 2023, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. FUNDAMENTALS OF THE INVENTION

[002] A cellular communication system's edge enablement service layer may have cardinality rules that limit Edge Application Server (EAS) registration to a single Edge Enabler Server (EES). For a WTRU to discover available edge services, an EAS discovery request must be sent to the EES where the EAS is registered (e.g., the registrar EES). Discovering a common EAS for a group of Application Clients (ACs) may require discovering an EAS (e.g., communicating with an EES other than the EAS registrar EES). Consequently, a cellular communication system may be configured to support EAS discovery, for example, by using an EES other than the registrar EES.

[003] This document describes one or more techniques associated with the use of non-registered EES for discovery operations.

[004] Initially, a WTRU can obtain information about available EAS instances in an Edge Data Network (EDN) by sending EAS discovery requests to each EES instance within the EDN. Furthermore, new use cases may require EAS information from one or more EES instances. Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 8 / 86 2 / 54 different register(s) may be provided during edge service discovery or selection. For example, a WTRU can discover and select edge services without connecting to each individual EES in an EDN. A cellular communication system edge enablement service layer can be used to enable edge service discovery, for example, by using a different EES than the EES register of an EAS that needs to be discovered.

[005] As a second instance, certain edge service discovery procedures can provide EAS information for discovered EAS instances that are registered with the EES managing the request. If, for example, an EES can return EAS information from an EAS registered with another EES instance, the WTRU may not be able to determine the EES where the EAS is registered and may not be able to indicate an EAS scenario selection and Application Context Relocation (ACR) in the registrar EES. Service continuity procedure failures may occur. Consequently, a cellular communication system edge enablement service layer can be used to allow a WTRU to obtain the necessary registrar EES information to correctly indicate the EAS scenario selection and ACR in the EES where the selected EAS is registered.Additionally or alternatively, a cellular communication system edge enablement service layer can be used to allow an EES to correctly process continuity of service for an EAS registered in another EES. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[006] A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) can send a discovery request to a first instance of the edge enabler server (EES) to obtain information from the edge application server (EAS). The WTRU can receive a discovery response from the first instance of the EES. The discovery response can indicate a list of EAS information and / or Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 9 / 86 3 / 54 EES register information for one or more EAS instances in the EAS information list. WTRU can select an EAS instance based on one or more pieces of information from the EAS information list or on the EES register information for one or more EAS instances. A second EES instance from the plurality of EES instances can be the EES register for the selected EAS instance.

[007] WTRU can send an EAS information provision request to the second EES instance. The EAS information provision request can indicate the selected EAS instance and one or more selected application context relocation (ACR) scenarios. WTRU can receive an information provision response from the second EES instance. WTRU can select the first EES instance from a plurality of EES instances based on the first EES instance's EAS information sharing capability. The discovery request can include an indication that EAS information is requested from a plurality of EES instances.The discovery request can be sent under the condition that the EAS information sharing capability of the first EES instance indicates that the first EES instance is capable of obtaining EAS information from other EES instances within an edge data network (EDN). The discovery request can indicate a list of one or more EES instances from which EAS information is obtained. The discovery response can indicate one or more ACR scenarios supported by one or more EAS instances in the EAS information list. WTRU can receive an EAS information provision response indicating the EES registrar information under the condition that one or more selected EAS instances or one or more selected ACR scenarios have been rejected.

[008] WTRU can select one or more ACR scenarios based on Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, p. 10 / 86 4 / 54 one or more pieces of information from the EAS information list or EES registrar information for each discovered EAS instance. WTRU can obtain an EES registrar profile using the EES registrar information. The EES registrar profile can be obtained from a local cache, the discovery response, and / or by running service provisioning procedures with an edge configuration server (ECS). WTRU can select one or more ACR scenarios based on the EAS information and the EES registrar information and profile. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[009] Figure 1A is a system diagram that illustrates an exemplary communications system in which one or more of the described modalities can be implemented.

[010] Figure 1B is a system diagram illustrating an exemplary wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) that can be used within the communications system illustrated in Figure 1A according to one embodiment.

[011] Figure 1C is a system diagram that illustrates an exemplary radio access network (RAN) and an exemplary central network (CN) that can be used in the communications system illustrated in Figure 1A, according to one modality.

[012] Figure 1D is a system diagram that illustrates another exemplary RAN and another exemplary CN that can be used in the communications system illustrated in Figure 1A, according to a modality.

[013] Figure 2 is a system diagram that illustrates an exemplary SA6 architecture for enabling edge applications.

[014] Figure 3 is a flowchart that illustrates a high-level overview of an Application Context Relocation (ACR).

[015] Figure 4 is a flowchart that illustrates the sharing of Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 11 / 86 5 / 54 Information from an Edge Application Server (EAS) using an Edge Enabler Server (EES) repository.

[016] Figure 5 is a flowchart that illustrates an example associated with the distributed sharing of EAS information.

[017] Figure 6 is a flowchart that illustrates an example associated with the discovery and selection of edge services with EES registrar information.

[018] Figure 7 is a flowchart that illustrates an example associated with providing edge services with EES registrar information.

[019] Figure 8 is a flowchart that illustrates an example associated with edge service discovery using an anchor EES.

[020] Figure 9 is a flowchart that illustrates an example associated with the selection and provision of edge services using an anchor EES. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[021] Figure 1A is a diagram illustrating an exemplary 100 communications system, in which one or more described modalities can be implemented. The 100 communications system can be a multiple access system that provides content, such as voice, data, video, messages, transmission, etc., to multiple wireless users. The 100 communications system can allow multiple wireless users to access such content by sharing system resources, including wireless bandwidth.For example, communication systems 100 may employ one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero-tailed single-word DFT propagation OFDM (ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), single-word OFDM (UWOFDM), feature block filtered OFDM, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), and the like. Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 12 / 86 6 / 54

[022] As shown in Figure 1A, the communications system 100 may include wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, a RAN 104 / 113, a CN 106 / 115, a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110 and other networks 112, although it is important to note that the described embodiments consider any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks and / or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and / or communicate in a wireless environment. By way of example, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, any of which may be referred to as a “station” and / or a “STA”, may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals and may include a user equipment (UE), a mobile station, a fixed or mobile subscriber unit, a subscription-based unit, a pager, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a laptop,A netbook, a personal computer, a wireless sensor, a hotspot or Mi-Fi device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable device, virtual reality glasses (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in industrial and / or automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronic device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like. Any of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be referred to interchangeably as a UE.

[023] Communication systems 100 may also include a base station 114a and / or a base station 114b. Each of the base stations 114a, 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interact with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as CN 106 / 115, the Internet 110 and / or other networks. Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, p. 13 / 86 7 / 54 112. As an example, base stations 114a, 114b can be a base transceiver station (BTS), a Node-B, an eNode B, a Home Node B, a Home eNode B, a gNB, an NR NodeB, a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, and the like. Although base stations 114a, 114b are represented as a single element, it is important to note that base stations 114a, 114b can include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network elements.

[024] Base station 114a may be part of RAN 104 / 113, which may also include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), relay nodes, etc. Base station 114a and / or base station 114b may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals on one or more carrier frequencies, which may be called a cell (not shown). These frequencies may be in the licensed spectrum, the unlicensed spectrum, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum. A cell may provide coverage for a wireless service for a specific geographic area that may be relatively fixed or that may change over time. The cell may further be divided into cell sectors. For example, the cell associated with base station 114a may be divided into three sectors.Thus, in one embodiment, base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e., one for each sector of the cell. In another embodiment, base station 114a may employ multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology and may utilize multiple transceivers for each sector of the cell. For example, beamforming may be used to transmit and / or receive signals in the desired spatial directions.

[025] Base stations 114a, 114b can communicate with one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d via an air interface 116, which can be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., radio frequency) Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, p. 14 / 86 8 / 54 (RF), microwaves, centimeter waves, micrometer waves, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). The 116 air interface can be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[026] More specifically, as noted above, communications system 100 may be a multiple access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes, such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA and the like. For example, base station 114a in RAN 104 / 113 and WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), which may establish the air interface 115 / 116 / 117 using wideband CDMA (WCDMA). WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA) and / or HSPA Enhanced (HSPA+). HSPA may include High-Speed ​​Downlink (DL) Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High-Speed ​​Uplink (UL) Packet Access (HSUPA).

[027] In one embodiment, base station 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement a radio technology, such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which may establish the air interface 116 using Long Term Evolution (LTE) and / or Advanced LTE (LTE-A) and / or Advanced LTE Pro (LTE-A Pro).

[028] In one embodiment, base station 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c can implement a radio technology, such as NR Radio Access, which can establish the 116 air interface using New Radio (NR).

[029] In one embodiment, base station 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c can implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, base station 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c can implement LTE radio access and NR radio access together, for example, using dual connectivity (DC) principles. Thus, the air interface used by WTRUs 102a, 102b, Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 15 / 86 9 / 54 102c can be characterized by multiple types of radio access technologies and / or transmissions sent to / from multiple types of base stations (e.g., an eNB and a gNB).

[030] In other embodiments, base station 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement radio technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity (WiFi)), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), GSM Evolution Enhanced Data Rates (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN) and similar.

[031] Base station 114b in Figure 1A can be a wireless router, a Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, or an access point, for example, and can utilize any suitable RAT to facilitate wireless connectivity in a localized area, such as a commercial location, a residence, a vehicle, a campus, an industrial facility, an air corridor (e.g., for use by drones), a highway, and the like. In one embodiment, base station 114b and WTRUs 102c, 102d can implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In another embodiment, base station 114b and WTRUs 102c, 102d can implement a radio technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In another embodiment, base station 114b and WTRUs 102c, 102d can use a cellular-based RAT (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR, etc.) to establish a picocell or femtocell.As shown in Figure 1A, base station 114b can have a direct connection to the 110 Internet. Thus, base station 114b may not need to access the 110 Internet via CN 106 / 115.

[032] RAN 104 / 113 may be in communication with CN 106 / 115, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, services. Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 16 / 86 10 / 54 applications and / or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) for one or more of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. The data may have varying Quality of Service (QoS) requirements, such as different requirements for throughput, latency, error tolerance, reliability, data throughput, mobility, and the like. CN 106 / 115 may provide call control, billing services, location-based mobile services, prepaid calls, internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and / or perform high-level security functions such as user authentication. Although not shown in Figure 1A, it is important to note that RAN 104 / 113 and / or CN 106 / 115 may be in direct or indirect communication with other RANs using the same RAT as RAN 104 / 113 or a different RAT.For example, in addition to being connected to RAN 104 / 113, which may use NR radio technology, CN 106 / 115 may also be communicating with another RAN (not shown) that uses GSM, UMTS, CDMA 2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or WiFi radio technology.

[033] CN 106 / 115 may also serve as a gateway for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d to access PSTN 108, the Internet 110 and / or other networks 112. PSTN 108 may include circuit-switched telephone networks that provide traditional telephone service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices that use common communication protocols, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and / or the Internet Protocol (IP) in the TCP / IP Internet protocol suite. Networks 112 may include wired and / or wireless communication networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. For example, 112 networks may include another NC connected to one or more RANs, which may use the same RAT as RAN 104 / 113 or a different RAT.

[034] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d in the system of Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, p. 17 / 86 11 / 54 communications 100 may include multimode capabilities (for example, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may include multiple transceivers for communication with different wireless networks via different wireless links). For example, WTRU 102c shown in Figure 1A may be configured to communicate with base station 114a, which may employ cellular-based radio technology, and with base station 114b, which may employ IEEE 802 radio technology.

[035] Figure 1B is a system diagram illustrating an exemplary WTRU 102. As shown in Figure 1B, the WTRU 102 may include a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit / receive element 122, a speaker / microphone 124, a numeric keypad 126, a touchscreen / touch surface 128, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, a power supply 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136 and / or other peripherals 138, among others. It should be noted that the WTRU 102 may include any subcombination of the above elements, while remaining consistent with an embodiment.

[036] Processor 118 may be a general-purpose processor, a special-purpose processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in association with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, and the like. Processor 118 may perform signal encoding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that allows the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. Processor 118 may be coupled to transceiver 120, which may be coupled to transmit / receive element 122. While Figure 1B represents processor 118 and transceiver 120 as separate components, Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 18 / 86 12 / 54 It is important to emphasize that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 can be integrated into a single electronic package or chip.

[037] The transmit / receive element 122 can be configured to transmit to or receive signals from a base station (e.g., base station 114a) via the air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 can be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. In another embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 can be a transmitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive IR, UV, or visible light signals, for example. In yet another embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 can be configured to transmit and / or receive both RF and light signals. It is important to note that the transmit / receive element 122 can be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[038] Although the transmit / receive element 122 is represented in Figure 1B as a single element, the WTRU 102 can include any number of transmit / receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 can employ MIMO technology. Thus, in one embodiment, the WTRU 102 can include two or more transmit / receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) to transmit and receive wireless signals over the air interface 116.

[039] Transceiver 120 can be configured to modulate the signals to be transmitted by the transmit / receive element 122 and to demodulate the signals that are received by the transmit / receive element 122. As noted above, WTRU 102 can have multimode capabilities. Thus, transceiver 120 can include multiple transceivers to allow WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as NR and IEEE 802.11, for example.

[040] The WTRU 102 processor 118 can be coupled and receive user input data from the speaker / microphone 124, the numeric keypad 126 Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 19 / 86 13 / 54 and / or the touchscreen / touch surface 128 (for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) unit or an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit). The processor 118 can also send user data to the speaker / microphone 124, the numeric keypad 126, and / or the touchscreen / touch surface 128. Furthermore, the processor 118 can access information and store data in any suitable type of memory, such as non-removable memory 130 and / or removable memory 132. Non-removable memory 130 may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. Removable memory 132 may include a SIM card (subscriber identity module), a memory card, a secure digital memory card (SD), and the like.In other embodiments, processor 118 can access information and store data in memory that is not physically located in WTRU 102, such as in a server or a home computer (not shown).

[041] Processor 118 can receive power from power supply 134 and can be configured to distribute and / or control power to the other components in WTRU 102. Power supply 134 can be any device suitable for powering WTRU 102. For example, power supply 134 can include one or more dry cell batteries (e.g., nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel-zinc (NiZn), nickel-metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), etc.), solar cells, fuel cells, and the like.

[042] Processor 118 can also be coupled to GPS chipset 136, which can be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) relating to the current location of WTRU 102. In addition to, or replacing, information from GPS chipset 136, WTRU 102 can receive location information via air interface 116 from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) and / or determine its location with Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 20 / 86 14 / 54 based on the time of signals received from two or more nearby base stations. It is important to note that WTRU 102 can acquire location information through any suitable location determination method, remaining consistent with a modality.

[043] The processor 118 may also be coupled with other peripherals 138, which may include one or more software and / or hardware modules that provide additional wired or wireless features, functionality and / or connectivity. For example, peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an electronic compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photographs and / or video), a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands-free headset, a Bluetooth® module, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an internet browser, a Virtual Reality and / or Augmented Reality (VR / AR) device, an activity tracker and the like. Peripherals 138 may include one or more sensors.The sensors may be one or more of a gyroscope, accelerometer, Hall effect sensor, magnetometer, orientation sensor, proximity sensor, temperature sensor, time sensor; geolocation sensor, altimeter, light sensor, touch sensor, magnetometer, barometer, gesture sensor, biometric sensor, and / or a humidity sensor.

[044] The WTRU 102 may include a full-duplex radio for which the transmission and reception of some or all signals (e.g., associated with specific subframes for UL (e.g., for transmission) and DL (e.g., for reception) may be simultaneous. The full-duplex radio may include an interference management unit to substantially reduce and / or eliminate self-interference by means of hardware (e.g., an inductor) or signal processing by means of a processor (e.g., a separate processor (not Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 21 / 86 15 / 54 shown) or via processor 118). In one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include a half-duplex radio for which the transmission and reception of some or all signals (e.g., associated with specific subframes for the UL (e.g., for transmission) or the DL (e.g., for reception)).

[045] Figure 1C is a system diagram illustrating RAN 104 and CN 106 according to one mode. As noted above, RAN 104 can employ E-UTRA radio technology to communicate with WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c via air interface 116. RAN 104 can also be in communication with CN 106.

[046] RAN 104 may include eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c, although it is important to note that RAN 104 may include any number of eNode-Bs, remaining consistent with one embodiment. eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may each include one or more transceivers for communication with WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c via wireless interface 116. In one embodiment, eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, eNode-B 160a, for example, may use multiple antennas to transmit wireless signals to and / or receive wireless signals from WTRU 102a.

[047] Each of the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c can be associated with a specific cell (not shown) and can be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, transfer decisions, user scheduling in the UL and / or DL, and the like. As shown in Figure 1C, the eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c can communicate with each other via an X2 interface.

[048] The CN 106 shown in Figure 1C may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 162, a Service Gateway (SGW) 164, and a Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW) 166. Although the above elements are represented as part of CN 106, it is important to note that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by a Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 22 / 86 16 / 54 entity different from the CN operator.

[049] The MME 162 can be connected to each of the eNode-Bs 162a, 162b, 162c in RAN 104 via an S1 interface and can serve as a control node. For example, the MME 162 can be responsible for authenticating users of WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, carrier activation / deactivation, selection of a specific service gateway during an initial connection of WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and similar. The MME 162 can provide a control plane function to switch between RAN 104 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as GSM and / or WCDMA.

[050] The SGW 164 can be connected to each of the B eNodes 160a, 160b, 160c in RAN 104 via the S1 interface. The SGW 164 can generally route and forward user data packets to / from WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. The SGW 164 can perform other functions, such as anchoring user planes during transfers between B eNodes, initiating paging when DL data is available for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, managing and storing contexts of WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and similar.

[051] SGW 164 can be connected to PGW 166, which can provide WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[052] CN 106 can facilitate communications with other networks. For example, CN 106 can provide WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c with access to circuit-switched networks, such as PSTN 108, to facilitate communications between WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c and traditional fixed-line communication devices. For example, CN 106 can include, or communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between CN 106 and PSTN 108. Furthermore, CN 106 can provide... Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, p. 23 / 86 17 / 54 WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c provide access to other 112 networks, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks that are owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[053] Although the WTRU is described in Figures 1A-1D as a wireless terminal, it is considered that, in certain representative embodiments, such a terminal may use (for example, temporarily or permanently) wired communication interfaces with the communication network.

[054] In representative modalities, the other 112 network may be a WLAN.

[055] A WLAN in Basic Services Infrastructure Set (BSS) mode may have an Access Point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may have access to or an interface with a Distribution System (DS) or other type of wired / wireless network that carries inbound and / or outbound traffic from the BSS. Traffic to the STAs originating from outside the BSS may arrive through the AP and be delivered to the STAs. Traffic originating from the STAs to destinations outside the BSS may be sent to the AP to be delivered to the respective destinations. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent through the AP, for example, where the originating STA may send traffic to the AP and the AP may deliver the traffic to the destination STA. Traffic between STAs within a BSS may be considered and / or referred to as point-to-point traffic. Point-to-point traffic can be sent between (e.g., directly between) the source and destination STAs with a Direct Link System (DLS) configuration.In certain representative configurations, DLS may use either 802.11e DLS or 802.11z tunneled DLS (TDLS). A WLAN using an Independent BSS (IBSS) mode may not have an AP, and the STAs (e.g., all STAs) within or using the IBSS may communicate directly with each other. The IBSS communication mode may sometimes be referred to here as an “ad-hoc” communication mode.

[056] When using the 802.11ac infrastructure operating mode or Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, p. 24 / 86 In a similar mode of operation, the AP can transmit a beacon on a fixed channel, such as a primary channel. The primary channel can have a fixed width (e.g., 20 MHz bandwidth) or a dynamically defined width. The primary channel can be the BSS's operating channel and can be used by STAs to establish a connection with the AP. In certain representative embodiments, Carrier Sense Multiple Access and Collision Avoidance (CSMA / CA) can be implemented, for example, in 802.11 systems. For CSMA / CA, STAs (e.g., each STA), including the AP, can sense the primary channel. If the primary channel is sensed and / or determined to be occupied by a specific STA, that specific STA can back off. An STA (e.g., only one station) can transmit at any time on a given BSS.

[057] High Throughput (HT) STAs can use a 40 MHz wide channel for communication, for example, by combining the 20 MHz primary channel with an adjacent or non-adjacent 20 MHz channel to form a 40 MHz wide channel.

[058] Very High Throughput (VHT) STAs can support 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and / or 160 MHz wide channels. 40 MHz and / or 80 MHz channels can be formed by combining contiguous 20 MHz channels. A 160 MHz channel can be formed by combining 8 contiguous 20 MHz channels or by combining two non-contiguous 80 MHz channels, which can be called an 80+80 configuration. For the 80+80 configuration, the data, after channel encoding, can be passed through a segment analyzer that can split the data into two streams. Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) processing and time-domain processing can be performed on each stream separately. Streams can be mapped to the two 80 MHz channels, and data can be transmitted by a transmitting STA. At the receiver of the receiving STA, the operation described above for the 80+80 configuration can be... Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 25 / 86 19 / 54 inverted and the combined data can be sent to the Media Access Control (MAC).

[059] Sub-1 GHz operating modes are supported by 802.11af and 802.11ah. Channel operating bandwidths and carriers are reduced in 802.11af and 802.11ah compared to those used in 802.11n and 802.11ac. 802.11af supports bandwidths of 5 MHz, 10 MHz, and 20 MHz in the TV White Space (TVWS) spectrum, and 802.11ah supports bandwidths of 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, and 16 MHz using non-TVWS spectrum. According to a representative embodiment, 802.11ah can support Meter Type Control / Machine Type Communications (MTC), such as MTC devices in a macro coverage area. MTC devices may have certain features, for example, limited features, including support for (e.g., support only for) certain bandwidths and / or limited bandwidths. MTC devices may include a battery with a lifespan exceeding a certain limit (e.g., to maintain a very long battery life).

[060] WLAN systems, which can support multiple channels and channel bandwidths, such as 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11af, and 802.11ah, include a channel that can be designated as the primary channel. The primary channel can have a bandwidth equal to the highest common operational bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel can be defined and / or limited by an STA, among all STAs operating in a BSS that supports the operating mode with the lowest bandwidth. In the 802.11ah example, the primary channel may be 1 MHz wide for STAs (e.g., MTC-type devices) that support (e.g., only support) the 1 MHz mode, even if the AP and other STAs in the BSS support 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, 16 MHz, and / or other channel bandwidth operating modes. Carrier Sense and / or Network Allocation Vector (NAV) settings may depend on the channel state. Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, p. 26 / 86 20 / 54 primary. If the primary channel is busy, for example, due to a STA (which only supports 1 MHz operating mode) transmitting to the AP, all available frequency bands can be considered busy, even if most of them remain idle and could be available.

[061] In the United States, the available frequency bands that can be used by 802.11ah are from 902 MHz to 928 MHz. In Korea, the available frequency bands are from 917.5 MHz to 923.5 MHz. In Japan, the available frequency bands are from 916.5 MHz to 927.5 MHz. The total bandwidth available for 802.11ah is from 6 MHz to 26 MHz, depending on the country code.

[062] Figure 1D is a system diagram illustrating RAN 113 and CN 115 according to a modality. As noted above, RAN 113 can employ NR radio technology to communicate with WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c via air interface 116. RAN 113 can also be in communication with CN 115.

[063] RAN 113 may include gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c, although it is important to note that RAN 113 may include any number of gNBs, remaining consistent with a modality. gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may each include one or more transceivers for communication with WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c via the 116 air interface. In a modality, gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, gNBs 180a, 108b may use beamforming to transmit to and / or receive signals from gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c. Thus, the gNB 180a, for example, can use multiple antennas to transmit to and / or receive wireless signals from WTRU 102a. In one embodiment, the gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c can implement carrier aggregation technology. For example, the gNB 180a can transmit multiple component carriers to WTRU 102a (not shown). A subset of these component carriers may be in unlicensed spectrum, while the Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, p. 27 / 86 21 / 54 remaining component carriers may be in licensed spectrum. In one embodiment, gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c may implement Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) technology. For example, WTRU 102a may receive coordinated transmissions from gNB 180a and gNB 180b (and / or gNB 180c).

[064] WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c can communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using transmissions associated with scalable numerology. For example, the spacing of OFDM symbols and / or the spacing of OFDM subcarriers can vary for different transmissions, different cells, and / or different portions of the wireless transmission spectrum. WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c can communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c using subframes or transmission time intervals (TTIs) of varying or scalable lengths (e.g., containing a variable number of OFDM symbols and / or with variable absolute time duration).

[065] gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c can be configured to communicate with WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c in a standalone and / or non-standalone configuration. In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c can communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c without also accessing other RANs (e.g., such as eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c). In the standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c can use one or more of gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c as a mobility docking point. In a standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c can communicate with gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c using signals in an unlicensed band. In a non-standalone configuration, WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c can communicate / connect to gNBs 180a, 180b, and 180c, while also communicating / connecting to other RANs, such as eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, and 160c.For example, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c can implement DC principles to communicate with one or more gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c and one or more eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c substantially simultaneously. Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, p. 28 / 86 22 / 54 In a non-standalone configuration, eNode-Bs 160a, 160b, 160c can serve as a mobility anchor for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c can provide additional coverage and / or throughput to serve WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c.

[066] Each of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c can be associated with a specific cell (not shown) and can be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, transfer decisions, user scheduling in the UL and / or DL, network slicing support, DC, interoperability between NR and E-UTRA, user plane data routing to User Plane Function (UPF) 184a, 184b, control plane information routing to Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 182a, 182b and similar. As shown in Figure 1D, the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c can communicate with each other via an Xn interface.

[067] The CN 115 shown in Figure 1D may include at least one AMF 182a, 182b, at least one UPF 184a, 184b, at least one Session Management Function (SMF) 183a, 183b and possibly a Data Network (DN) 185a, 185b. Although the above elements are represented as part of the CN 115, it is important to note that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[068] AMF 182a, 182b can be connected to one or more of the gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in RAN 104 via an N2 interface and can serve as a control node. For example, AMF 182a, 182b can be responsible for authenticating users of WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, supporting network slicing (e.g., handling different Protocol Data Unit (PDU) sessions with different requirements), selecting a specific SMF 183a, 183b, managing the register area, terminating non-access stratum signaling (NAS), managing mobility, and the like. Network slicing can be Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 29 / 86 23 / 54 used by AMF 182a, 182b to customize CN support for WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c based on the types of services used in WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c. For example, different network slices can be established for different use cases, such as services that rely on ultra-reliable low-latency access (URLLC), services that rely on enhanced massive mobile broadband (eMBB) access, services for MTC access, and similar. AMF 182a, 182b can provide a control plane function to switch between RAN 113 and other RANs (not shown) that employ other radio technologies, such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, and / or non-3GPP access technologies, such as WiFi.

[069] SMF 183a, 183b can be connected to AMF 182a, 182b on CN 115 via an N11 interface. SMF 183a, 183b can also be connected to UPF 184a, 184b on CN 115 via an N4 interface. SMF 183a, 183b can select and control UPF 184a, 184b and configure traffic routing through UPF 184a, 184b. SMF 183a, 183b can perform other functions such as managing and allocating UE IP addresses, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy and QoS application, providing DL data notifications, and similar functions. A PDU session type can be IP-based, non-IP-based, Ethernet-based, and similar.

[070] UPF 184a, 184b can be connected to one or more of gNBs 180a, 180b, 180c in RAN 113 via an N3 interface, which can provide WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to packet-switched networks, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communications between WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c and IP-enabled devices. UPF 184, 184b can perform other functions such as packet routing and forwarding, user plane policy application, support for multihomed PDU sessions, user plane QoS handling, DL packet storage, mobility tethering provision, and the like. Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 30 / 86 24 / 54

[071] CN 115 can facilitate communications with other networks. For example, CN 115 can include, or communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server) that serves as an interface between CN 115 and PSTN 108. In addition, CN 115 can provide WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c with access to other 112 networks, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. In one embodiment, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c can be connected to a local DN 185a, 185b via UPF 184a, 184b, through the N3 interface to UPF 184a, 184b, and through an N6 interface between UPF 184a, 184b and DN 185a, 185b.

[072] Considering Figures 1A-1D and the corresponding description of Figures 1A-1D, one or more, or all of the functions described herein, in relation to one or more of: WTRU 102a-d, Base Station 114a-b, eNode-B 160a-c, MME 162, SGW 164, PGW 166, gNB 180a-c, AMF 182a-b, UPF 184a-b, SMF 183a-b, DN 185a-b and / or any other device described herein, may be performed by one or more emulation devices (not shown). Emulation devices may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more, or all of the functions described herein. For example, emulation devices may be used to test other devices and / or simulate network and / or WTRU functions.

[073] Emulation devices may be designed to implement one or more tests of other devices in a laboratory environment and / or in a carrier network environment. For example, one or more emulation devices may perform one or more, or all, of the functions while fully or partially deployed and / or deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network in order to test other devices within the communication network. One or more emulation devices may perform one or more, or all, of the functions while temporarily deployed / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. The device of Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 31 / 86 25 / 54 emulation can be directly coupled to another device for testing purposes and / or to perform tests using wireless over-the-air communications.

[074] One or more emulation devices may perform one or more, including all, functions while not implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. For example, emulation devices may be used in a test scenario in a test laboratory and / or in an undeployed (e.g., under test) wired and / or wireless communication network to implement the testing of one or more components. The emulation device(s) may be test equipment. Direct RF coupling and / or wireless communications via RF circuit arrays (e.g., which may include one or more antennas) may be used by the emulation devices to transmit and / or receive data.

[075] The techniques described here are associated with edge enhancement architectures and / or can be used to minimize (e.g., prevent) ACR failures. As described here, a WTRU can discover and select an edge service using an EES other than the EES registrar. EES instances deployed within an EDN can share registered EAS information and can provide EAS information and EES registrar information to the WTRU, for example, during edge service discovery.

[076] The common terminology applicable to the described modality is defined. An EES registrar may refer to an EES instance where an EAS instance is registered.

[077] An anchor EES can refer to an EES instance used by an EEC to discover and select edge services in an EDN.

[078] EES registrar information may refer to information about an EES instance where an EAS is registered. EES registrar information may include a unique EES identifier, any information from Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, p. 32 / 86 26 / 54 EES profile, or any specific data of the EES instance.

[079] EAS information can refer to information about an EAS instance registered in an EES. EAS information can include a unique EAS identifier, any EAS Profile information, or any EAS instance-specific data.

[080] A repository can refer to a central location where data is stored. An EES can perform the function of a repository to store and share EAS information and EES registrar information.

[081] A WTRU may request that an EES provide EAS information from one or more EES instances within an EDN. The WTRU may use the discovered EAS information and the registrar EES information to select an EAS and communicate with the registrar EES of the selected EAS for the selection and provision of ACR scenarios.

[082] A WTRU can request that an EES perform anchor EES functions. The WTRU can use discovered EAS information to select an EAS and can select and provide ACR scenarios with the anchor EES. The anchor EES can determine that the selected EAS is registered in a different EES. The anchor EES can use the registrar EES as a proxy to communicate with the selected EAS.

[083] Figure 2 is a system diagram illustrating an exemplary SA6 200 architecture for enabling edge applications. As shown in Figure 2, the components of the SA6 200 architecture can include at least one Application Client (AC), one Edge Application Server (EAS), one Edge Enabler Client (EEC), one Edge Enabler Server (EES), one Edge Configuration Server (ECS), one Notification Management Client (NMC), and one Notification Management Server (NMS).

[084] The AC can be a user application residing in a WTRU that Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 33 / 86 27 / 54 communicates with an EAS. A WTRU can use multiple ACs simultaneously.

[085] An EAS can be an application server residing in an Edge Data Network (EDN). Typically, it can be a software server running on generic hardware located at the edge and providing a service to the AC. In the context of a mobility / relocation use case, a Source EAS (S-EAS) is an instance of an EAS in an initial location and serving the AC before mobility / relocation occurs. A Destination EAS (T-EAS) is an instance of an EAS in a destination location and serving the AC after mobility / relocation has occurred. There can be multiple EAS instances per EDN. Each EDN can contain a different set of EAS instances of different types (e.g., different EASIDs). An EAS can serve one or more AC instances that may reside in different WTRUs.

[086] The EEC can provide edge support for CA instances in the WTRU. There can be one or more EECs per WTRU. Each CA uses only one EEC.

[087] The EES provides necessary support functions for the EAS and EEC. In the context of a mobility / relocation use case, a Source EES (SEES) is the EES used before the mobility / relocation occurs. A Destination EES (T-EES) is the EES used after the mobility / relocation occurs. There can be one or more EES instances per EDN (or per Data Network Name (DNN)). There can be multiple EDN instances in the network.

[088] The ECS can provide support functions for an EEC or EES to discover EES instances that provide a given EAS. There may be one or more ECSs for the network.

[089] The NMC can provide support functions for an EEC to create a notification channel between the NMC and the NMS to receive notifications from the ECS or EES. Each EEC uses only one NMC.

[090] The NMS can provide support functions for an ECS or EES send Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, p. 34 / 86 28 / 54 notifications to an EEC via a notification channel created between the NMC and the NMS. There may be one or more NMSs for the network.

[091] Service continuity procedures for transferring an application context from an S-EAS to a T-EAS can be defined in the Edge Enablement Layer (EEL). For example, context transfer can be triggered by WTRU movement and / or non-mobility events, such as EAS server maintenance, overload, etc. Service continuity can be used to minimize edge service disruption for ACs running on the WTRU.

[092] Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating a high-level overview of an Application Context Relocation (ACR) 300. Service continuity for applications requiring context relocation can be specified by the EEL in five different Application Context Relocation (ACR) scenarios. Each scenario can consist of one or more (e.g., 4) different phases, including detection, decision, execution, and post-execution. ACR scenarios can specify different EEL entities (e.g., EEC, EES, EAS) for the detection and decision phases (e.g., a detection entity and a decision-making entity). Different sets of interactions between EEL entities can be defined for the execution phase.

[093] The detection entity can monitor the location and movement of the WTRU and can inform the decision-making entity. The decision-making entity then determines if an ACR is needed and commands the execution entity to execute the ACR. The execution entity then executes the ACR procedures defined in the service continuity scenarios to transfer the application context from the S-EAS to the T-EAS. When the ACR execution is complete, the ACR cleanup is performed.

[094] Information sharing resources and settings Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, p. 35 / 86 29 / 54 of EAS are described here. Sharing EAS information between EES instances within an EDN requires that the participants in the EAS information sharing provide EAS information sharing capabilities. This can allow the determination of the EAS information sharing configuration that should be applied. The participants in the EAS information sharing are EESs.

[095] EAS information sharing capabilities may include an indication that the EES is capable of supporting EAS information sharing, a list of supported sharing methods, an indication that the EES can be a repository for EAS information, a notification URL to receive updates to the EAS information sharing configuration, and an EAS information sharing configuration.

[096] The EAS information sharing configuration can include a selected sharing method, one or more repository addresses (e.g., IP address, URI, FQDN) and endpoints, and a list of EAS instances to share registered EAS information.

[097] In a centralized EAS information sharing configuration, when supported, EES instances deployed in an EDN can share registered EAS information. A centralized approach can be used to share EAS information between EES instances. A repository role can be added to one or more EESs so that, during registration with the EES, the registering EES instances can receive information about the EES repository to use in sharing EAS information. EES instances can publish EAS information to the EES repository and obtain updated EAS information from the EES repository. If multiple EES repositories are configured in an EDN, they can synchronize data to Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 36 / 86 30 / 54 provide consistent EAS information.

[098] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating the sharing of EAS 400 information using an EES repository according to one embodiment. As shown in Figure 4, the EES-1 404 can perform the repository function, for example, to support the sharing of EAS information.

[099] In 410, EES-1 404 can send an EES registration request to ECS 402. The EES registration request can include EAS information sharing capabilities. For example, EES-1 404 can indicate that it supports centralized EAS information sharing and / or can provide an indication that it can be an EAS information repository for EDN.

[0100] On 412, ECS 402 can send an EES registration response to EES-1 404. The EES registration response can include the EAS information sharing configuration to be applied on the EES. ECS 402 can use the EAS information sharing capabilities of the registered and registrar EES instances to determine which EAS information sharing configuration to return. ECS 402 can determine that one or more EES repositories are available and can decide to configure one or more EES repositories in the EAS information sharing configuration. When multiple EES repositories are configured within an EDN, the EES repositories can synchronize data to ensure data consistency within the EDN.

[0101] For example, ECS 402 can determine that EES-1 404 is the only EES in the EDN and that EES-1 404 supports the repository function. ECS 402 can select EES-1 404 as the repository of EAS information for the EDN and can include the EES-1 repository connectivity information in the configuration of Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 37 / 86 31 / 54 EAS information sharing. Alternatively, ECS 402 can determine that multiple EES instances support the repository role and can select multiple EES instances as EAS information repositories.

[0102] In 414, EES-2406 can send an EES registration request to ECS 402. The EES registration request can include EAS information sharing capabilities. For example, EES-2 406 can indicate that it supports centralized EAS information sharing.

[0103] On 416, ECS 402 can send an EES registration response to EES-2 406. The EES registration response can include the EAS information sharing configuration to be applied on the EES. ECS 402 can utilize the EAS information sharing capabilities of the registering and registered EES instances to determine the EAS information sharing configuration.

[0104] For example, ECS 402 may indicate that a repository should be used for sharing EAS information and may include EES-1 repository connectivity information in the EAS information sharing configuration.

[0105] In 418, EES-2406 can send an EAS information retrieval request to the provided EES-1 repository (e.g., EES-1 404) to obtain the most recent EAS information. The EAS information retrieval request can be triggered by EES-2 406 receiving connectivity information from the EES-1 repository.

[0106] Although not shown in Figure 4, EES-2406 can, for example, subscribe to notifications from the EES-1 repository (e.g., EES-1 404) when EAS information is updated in the repository. The subscription operation can be triggered by EES-2 receiving connectivity information from the EES-1 repository. Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 38 / 86 32 / 54

[0107] In 420, the EES-1 repository (e.g., EES-1 404) can send an EAS information retrieval response to EES-2 406. The EAS information retrieval response can include a list of EAS information and EES registrar information for each EAS instance.

[0108] For example, if the repository includes EAS information about EAS instances registered in EES-1 404, the EAS information retrieval response may include the EAS profiles of the registered EAS instances and the EES Profile of EES-1 404.

[0109] In 422, an EAS 408 can perform EAS registration procedures with the EES-2406.

[0110] In 424, EES-2406 can send an EAS information update request to the provided EES-1 repository (e.g., EES-1 404). The EAS information update request can include a list of EAS information for the EAS instances registered in EES-2 406 and can include EES registrar information for EES-2406.

[0111] In 426, the EES-1 repository (e.g., EES-1 404) can send an EAS information update response to EES-2 406. The EAS information update response can include a list of EAS information and EES registrar information for each EAS instance.

[0112] For example, if the repository contains updated EAS information from any of the EES instances in the EDN, the EES-1 repository (e.g., EES-1 404) may include the updated EAS information and the registrar EES information in the EAS information update response.

[0113] Although not shown in Figure 4, the EES-1 repository (e.g., EES-1 404) can notify EES instances subscribed from the same EDN about changes in the EAS information repository.

[0114] In an EAS information sharing configuration Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 39 / 86 33 / 54 distributed, when supported, EES instances deployed in an EDN can share registered EAS information. A distributed approach can be used to share EAS information between EES instances. EES instances obtain a list of EES within the same EDN and publish EAS information updates to one or more EES from that list.

[0115] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example associated with distributed EAS information sharing 500. In 512, EES-1 504 can send an EES registration request to ECS 502. The EES registration request can include EAS information sharing capabilities.

[0116] For example, EES-1 504 may indicate that it supports distributed EAS information sharing and may provide a URL and endpoint for receiving EAS information updates.

[0117] On 514, ECS 502 can send an EES registration response to EES-1 504. The EES registration response can include the EAS information sharing configuration to be applied on the EES. ECS 502 can use the EAS information sharing capabilities of the registered and registrar EES instances to determine the EAS information sharing configuration to be returned.

[0118] For example, ECS 502 can determine that distributed EAS information sharing should be used and can add EES-1 504 to the list of EES instances that should share EAS information within the EDN.

[0119] In 516, an EAS (for example, EAS-1 506) can perform EAS registration procedures with EES-1 504. EES-1 504 can use the provided EAS information sharing configuration to determine if an EAS information update is needed.

[0120] For example, EES-1 504 may be the only EES instance in the EDN in the configured EAS information sharing list and may not need Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 40 / 86 34 / 54 send EAS information to other EES instances.

[0121] In 518, EES-2 508 can send an EES registration request to ECS 502. The EES registration request can include EAS information sharing capabilities.

[0122] For example, EES-2 508 may indicate that it supports distributed EAS information sharing and may provide a URL and endpoint for receiving EAS information updates.

[0123] In 520, ECS 502 can send an EES registration response to EES-2 508. The EES registration response can include an EAS information sharing configuration to be applied to the EES (e.g., EES2 508). ECS 502 can utilize the EAS information sharing capabilities of the registering and registered EES instances to determine the EAS information sharing configuration.

[0124] For example, ECS 502 may indicate that distributed EAS information sharing should be used and may add EES-2 508 to the list of EES instances that should share EAS information within the EDN.

[0125] Although not shown in Figure 5, the registered EES can, for example, use the provided EAS information sharing configuration to determine whether an EAS information update is needed.

[0126] For example, EES-2 508 can verify that EES-1 504 is on the list of EES instances with which to share EAS information. However, EES-2 508 may not have any registered EAS instance information to share and may not need to send an EAS information update.

[0127] In 522, ECS 502 can send an EAS information sharing configuration update notification to EES-1 504. The information sharing configuration update notification of Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, p. 41 / 86 35 / 54 EAS may include an updated EAS information sharing configuration to be applied to EES-1 504.

[0128] For example, ECS 502 can notify EES-1 504 that EES-2 508 is now available for sharing EAS information.

[0129] In 524, EES-1 504 can send an EAS information update notification to EES-2 508. The EAS information update notification can include a list of EAS information for EAS instances registered in EES-1 504.

[0130] In 526, an EAS (e.g., EAS-2 510) can perform EAS registration procedures with the EES-2 508. The EES-2 508 can use the provided EAS information sharing configuration to determine if an EAS information update is needed.

[0131] For example, EES-2 508 may determine that new EAS instance information should be provided to EES-1 504.

[0132] EES-2 508 can send an EAS information update notification to EES-1 504. The EAS information update notification can include a list of EAS information for EAS instances registered on EES-2 508.

[0133] A solution resolves the problem of a WTRU being unable to discover edge services registered on EES instances other than the one handling the request. The solution also resolves the problem that, when a WTRU is allowed to discover edge services registered on other EES instances, the WTRU cannot determine on which EES instance the discovered EAS instances are registered. The WTRU may not be able to indicate the selected EAS and ACR scenarios for the EES where the selected EAS is registered, which can cause service continuity procedures to fail. This solution allows a WTRU to obtain the EES registrar information. Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, p. 42 / 86 36 / 54 required to indicate the EAS and ACR scenario information in the EES where the selected EAS is registered.

[0134] A WTRU can perform the following actions to discover and select edge services within an EDN. The WTRU can send a service provisioning request to an ECS. The WTRU can receive a service provisioning response from the ECS; where the service provisioning response may include EDN configuration information; in which the EDN configuration information may include a list of EES instances and the ability to share EAS information from the EAS instances;where the EAS information sharing capability may indicate that the EES is capable of supporting EAS information sharing. The WTRU may select an EES instance based on the EES's EAS information sharing capability. Provided that the EES's EAS information sharing capability indicates that the EES is capable of obtaining EAS information from other EES instances within an EDN, the WTRU may send an EAS discovery request to a selected EES; where the EAS discovery request may include a list of one or more EES instances from which EAS information is obtained or may include an indication of what EAS information can be obtained from other EES instances in the EDN, and may receive an EAS discovery response from the selected EES;wherein the EAS discovery response may include a list of EAS instance information and may include information from an EES registrar for each EAS instance discovered; wherein an EES registrar is the EES instance where an EAS is registered; wherein the EES registrar information may include a unique EES identifier, an EES Profile, and any information specific to the EES registrar instance, and select an EAS instance based on the EAS instance information and / or the EES information; Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 43 / 86 37 / 54 registrar. Provided that the EES registrar of the selected EAS instance is different from the EES instance selected in the EAS discovery response, WTRU can obtain the EES registrar profile using the EES registrar information; wherein the EES registrar profile can be obtained from a local cache, from the EAS discovery response, or by performing service provisioning procedures with ECS, and can select ACR scenario(s) according to the EAS instance information and the EES registrar information and profile. WTRU can send an EAS information provisioning request to the EES registrar; wherein the EAS information provisioning request can include the selected EAS and ACR scenario(s).WTRU may receive an EAS information provision response from the registrar EES; wherein the EAS information provision response may include an indication that the selected EAS and ACR scenarios were accepted or rejected; wherein an indication of rejection may include EAS instance information and registrar EES information for a different EAS instance; wherein the returned EAS instance may be required or preferred by the EES.Provided that the EES registrar of the EAS instance returned in the EAS provisioning response is different from the EES instance that sent the EAS provisioning response, WTRU may send an EAS provisioning request to the EES registrar of the EAS instance returned in the EAS provisioning response, and may receive an EAS provisioning response from the EES registrar; where the EAS provisioning response may include an indication that the selected EAS and ACR scenarios have been accepted.

[0135] One or more techniques associated with the discovery and selection of edge services with EES registrar information are described here. A WTRU can determine edge services within an EDN without needing to query each EES in the EDN. When supported by EES, a WTRU can send a Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, p. 44 / 86 38 / 54 discovery request for an EES in the EDN, for example, to obtain EAS information and EES registrar information from one or more EES instances within the EDN. WTRU can use the discovered EAS information and EES registrar information to select an EAS and communicate with the EES registrar of the selected EAS for the selection and provision of ACR scenarios.

[0136] Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example associated with the discovery and selection of 600 edge services with EES registrar information. In 614, EES instances (e.g., EES 608, EES registrar 610) within an EDN can register with an ECS 606. EAS instances (e.g., EAS 612) within an EDN can register with an EES (e.g., EES registrar 610). EES 608 can receive EAS information from EAS information update notifications sent by other EESs (e.g., EES registrar 610).

[0137] EES registration requests may include EAS information sharing features from EES instances. ECS 606 can use EAS information sharing features to determine an EAS information sharing configuration for each EES instance. An EAS (e.g., EAS 612) can register with one of the EES instances (e.g., EES registrar 610). EES registrar 610 can share the registered EAS information with other EES instances within the same EDN.

[0138] Additionally or alternatively, AC 602 can register, in 616, with EEC 604 and can request edge services.

[0139] In 618, EEC 604 can send a service provision request to ECS 606.

[0140] In 620, ECS 606 can send a response providing Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, p. 45 / 86 39 / 54 service for EEC 604. The service delivery response may include the ability to share EAS information from EES instances.

[0141] For example, EAS information resources can inform EEC 604 which EES instances can be used to obtain EAS information from all EES instances within an EDN.

[0142] In 624, EEC 604 can select an EES to use in edge service discovery. EEC 604 can consider the EAS information sharing capability of EES instances when making a selection.

[0143] For example, EEC 604 may prefer to select an EES instance from an EDN where EAS information sharing is supported.

[0144] In 626, EEC 604 can send a discovery request (e.g., an EAS discovery request) to the selected EES (e.g., EES 608), for example, to obtain EAS information and registrar EES information for a plurality of EES instances. The discovery request can include a list of one or more EES instances from which EAS information is requested, or it can include an indication that EAS information is requested from the plurality of (e.g., all) EES instances within the EDN. The discovery request can include an indication that EAS information is requested from the plurality of EES instances.EEC 604 can send the discovery request in 626 on the condition that the EAS information sharing capability of the selected EES (e.g., EES 608) indicates that the selected EES (e.g., EES 608) is capable of obtaining EAS information from other EES instances within the EDN.

[0145] EES 608 can determine EAS information and EES registrar information for EAS instances registered on other EES instances. For example, EES 608 can determine EAS information and EES registrar information. Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 46 / 86 40 / 54 EES registrar based on an EAS information sharing configuration associated with EES 608. The EAS information sharing configuration associated with EES 608 may include a selected sharing method, one or more repository addresses, one or more repository endpoints, and / or a list of EES instances with which to share EAS information. Upon receiving a discovery request (e.g., an EAS discovery request), EES 608 can retrieve EAS information and EES registrar information for the requested EES instances. EES 608 can obtain EAS information and EES registrar information from a local cache of EAS information sharing results or by sending an EAS information retrieval request to the EES repository.The EES 608 can store EAS information and registrar EES information for EAS instances registered on other EES instances. Registrar EES information may include a unique EES identifier, an EES profile, and / or other information specific to the registrar EES instance.

[0146] In 628, the selected EES (e.g., EES 608) can send a discovery response (e.g., an EAS discovery response) to EEC 604. The discovery response can include a list of EAS information (e.g., EAS instance information) and can include EES registrar information for one or more EAS instances (e.g., when EES registrar 610 differs from the selected EES 608). The discovery response can indicate one or more ACR scenarios supported by one or more EAS instances in the EAS information list.

[0147] For example, if the EES 608 that manages the EAS discovery request has no registered EAS instances, but has received EAS instance information from another EES instance, the EES 608 that processes the Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, p. 47 / 86 Request 41 / 54 may provide the EAS Profile of the EAS instance, as well as the EAS registrar information, in the EAS discovery response.

[0148] In 630, EEC 604 can select an EAS instance (e.g., EAS 612) and / or ACR scenario(s) for provisioning. EEC 604 can consider EAS information and EAS registrar information for each discovered EAS when making a selection. This information will allow EEC 604 to make a more informed selection within an EDN. For example, EEC 604 can select, in 630, the EAS instance based on the list of EAS information and / or registrar information for one or more EAS instances. EEC 604 can select, in 630, an EAS instance that has a different EES registrar 610 than the EES instance (e.g., EES 608) selected, in 624. EEC 604 can select, in 630, one or more ACR scenarios based on one or more of the EAS information list or EES registrar information for each discovered EAS instance.For example, EEC 604 can select, in 630, one or more ACR scenarios according to EAS information, EES registrar information and / or the EES registrar profile.

[0149] For example, with a single EAS discovery procedure, EEC 604 may have obtained EAS information from all EAS instances within an EDN, and EEC 604 may compare Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) or service continuity capabilities from all EAS instances and EES registrar while performing an EAS and ACR scenario selection(s) on 630.

[0150] If the selected EAS instance is registered with EES 608 used for edge service discovery, the selection of EAS and ACR scenario(s) can continue using existing procedures. If the selected EAS instance is registered with a different EES, then EEC 604 can use the registrar EES information to determine where the service provisioning request should be sent. Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 48 / 86 42 / 54

[0151] Although not shown in Figure 6, EEC 604 may need to obtain the EES registrar profile from locally cached service provisioning results, or EEC 604 may need to re-execute service provisioning procedures. For example, EEC 604 may obtain the EES registrar profile using EES registrar information. The EES registrar profile may be obtained from a local cache, from the discovery response, or by executing edge service provisioning procedures with ECS 606. Edge service provisioning procedures may include the provisioning of EAS information, as described here. The ACR scenario selection may need to be re-evaluated using the EES registrar's service continuity capabilities. Finally, EEC 604 may need to register with the selected EES registrar (e.g., EES registrar 610) if EES registrar 610 requires EEC registration.

[0152] On 632, EEC 604 can execute one or more edge service provisioning procedures (e.g., EAS information provisioning) with EES registrar 610 of the selected EAS instance (e.g., EAS 612). For example, EEC 604 can send, on 632, an EAS information provisioning request to EES registrar 610. The EAS information provisioning request can indicate the selected EAS instance (e.g., EAS 612) and one or more ACR scenarios. EEC 604 can receive, on 632, an EAS information provisioning response that indicates EES registrar information on the condition that the selected EAS instance (e.g., EAS 612) and / or one or more selected ACR scenarios have been rejected.Additionally or alternatively, the EES 608 can send an EAS information request to a repository, for example, when the EAS information sharing configuration indicates that the EES 608 supports sharing EAS information with the repository. Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 49 / 86 43 / 54 can receive an EAS information response from the repository. The EAS information response may include EAS information and EES registrar information for EAS instances registered in other EES instances from the plurality of EES instances.

[0153] In 634, AC 602 can establish a service session with the selected EAS instance (for example, EAS 612).

[0154] The provisioning of edge services with EES registrar information is described here. A WTRU may wish to discover edge services within an EDN without needing to query each EES in the EDN. When supported by the EES, a WTRU can send a discovery request to an EES in the EDN to obtain EAS information and EES registrar information from one or more EES instances within the EDN. The WTRU can use the discovered EAS information and EES registrar information to select an EAS and communicate with the EES registrar of the selected EAS for the selection and provisioning of ACR scenarios.

[0155] A solution addresses the issue that EAS information is only available on the EES where the EAS is registered. The solution also addresses the issue that an EES can only provide EAS information to EAS instances registered on the EES. An EES can perform the following actions to enable the discovery and selection of edge services within an EDN. The EES can send an EES registration request to an ECS; wherein the EES registration request may include EAS information sharing capabilities; wherein the EAS information sharing capabilities may include an indication that the EES is capable of supporting EAS information sharing, a list of supported sharing methods, a list of EES instances with which to share EAS information, a notification URL to receive EAS information sharing configuration updates, Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 50 / 86 44 / 54 an address (e.g., IP address, URI, FQDN) and an endpoint to receive EAS information updates, and an indication that the EES can be an EAS information repository. The EES can receive an EES registration response with the EAS information sharing configuration; wherein the EAS information sharing configuration may include the selected sharing method, one or more repository addresses (e.g., IP address, URI, FQDN), and a list of EES instances to share registered EAS information.

[0156] Provided that the EAS information sharing configuration includes a repository, the EES may send an EAS information retrieval request to a repository; receive an EAS information retrieval response from the repository; wherein the EAS information retrieval response may include a list of EAS information, and EES registrar information for each EAS instance; wherein the EES registrar is the EES instance where an EAS is registered; wherein the EES registrar information may include a unique EES identifier, an EES Profile, and any information specific to the EES registrar instance.

[0157] Under the condition that an EAS registration is performed in the EES, the EES may send an EAS information update request to the repository; wherein the EAS information update request may include a list of EAS information for EAS instances registered in the EES; and receive an EAS information update response from the repository; wherein the EAS information update response may include a list of EAS information and EES registrar information for each EAS instance.

[0158] Provided that the EAS information sharing configuration provides a list of EAS instances with which to share EAS information, and provided that a notification of Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 51 / 86 45 / 54 If an EAS information sharing configuration update is received with an updated list of EES instances with which to share EAS information, or on the condition that an EAS registration is performed with the EES, the EES may send an EAS information update notification to one or more EES instances; wherein the EAS information notification may include a list of EAS information and EES registrar information; wherein the EES registrar is the EES instance where an EAS is registered; wherein the EES registrar information may include a unique EES identifier, an EES Profile, and any information specific to the EES registrar instance.

[0159] The EES may store EAS information received through EAS information sharing; wherein the received EAS information may have been obtained through querying the repository, or may have been obtained from EAS information update notifications sent by other EES instances within the EDN. The EES may receive an EAS discovery request from the UE / EEC; wherein the EAS discovery request may include a list of one or more EES instances from which to obtain EAS information and may include an indication that EAS information should be obtained from all EES instances in the EDN.The EES may send an EAS discovery response to the EU / EEC; where the EAS discovery response may include a list of EAS information and may include EES registrar information for each discovered EAS instance; wherein the EAS information may have been obtained from EAS information sharing. The EES may receive a request for EAS information provision from the WTRU; wherein the request for EAS information provision includes the selected EAS and ACR scenario(s). The EES may evaluate the selected EAS and ACR scenario(s); wherein the evaluation may verify whether the selected EAS is... Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, p. 52 / 86 46 / 54 registered in another EES, can validate whether the selected ACR scenario(s) can be configured and can check if there is an EAS (e.g., preferred or mandatory) already configured for that WTRU. The EES can send an EAS information provision response to the WTRU; wherein the EAS information provision response may include an indication that the selected EAS and ACR scenarios were accepted or rejected; wherein an indication of rejection may include EAS instance information and EES registration information for a different EAS instance; wherein the returned EAS instance may be required or preferred by the EES.

[0160] Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example associated with providing 700 edge services with EES registrar information. In 716, one or more EES instances (e.g., such as EES-1 708 and EES-2 712) within an EDN can register with an ECS 706. EES registration requests can include EAS information sharing capabilities from the EES instance(s) (e.g., such as EES-1 708 and EES-2 712). The ECS 706 can use the EAS information sharing capabilities to determine the EAS information sharing configuration for each EES instance. One or more EAS instances (for example, such as EAS-1 710 and EAS-2 714) can register with EES instances (for example, such as EES-1 708 and EES-2 712) and trigger the sharing of EAS information between the EES instances (for example, such as EES-1 708 and EES-2 712) on the EDN.

[0161] Additionally or alternatively, an AC 702 can register, on 718, with an EEC 704 and can request edge services. The EEC 704 can obtain EDN configuration information and EES information using service provisioning procedures. The EEC 704 can select an EES and can use the selected EES to discover EAS instances.

[0162] In 720, EEC 704 can select one or more EAS and / or ACR scenarios. Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, pp. 53 / 86 47 / 54

[0163] In 722, EEC 704 can send a request for EAS information to the selected EES (e.g., EES-1 708).

[0164] In 724, EES 708 can send an EAS information provision response to EEC 704. The EAS information provision response can include EAS instance information and EES registrar information for a different (e.g., preferred or required) EAS instance. If the selected EAS instance is registered in a different EES, EEC 704 can use the EES registrar information to determine where the EAS information provision request should be sent.

[0165] In 726, EEC 704 can reselect ACR scenarios according to the service continuity capabilities of the EES registrar. EEC 704 can obtain the EES registrar profile from locally cached service provisioning results, or it can re-execute service provisioning procedures. The ACR scenario selection can be re-evaluated using the service continuity capabilities of the EES registrar. EEC 704 may need to register with the selected EES registrar if it requires EEC registration.

[0166] In 728, EEC 704 can execute edge service provisioning procedures (e.g., EAS information provisioning procedures) with the EES registrar (e.g., EES-2 712) of the selected EAS instance (e.g., EAS-2 714).

[0167] In 730, AC 702 can establish a service session with the selected EAS instance (e.g., EAS-2 714).

[0168] Edge service discovery using an anchor EES is described here. A WTRU may wish to discover edge services within an EDN without needing to query every EES in the EDN. When supported by the EES, a WTRU can select an EES to act as an anchor EES. The WTRU can communicate with Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, pp. 54 / 86 48 / 54 the EES anchor to obtain EAS information from other EES instances within the EDN.

[0169] Figure 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example associated with the discovery of 800 edge services using an anchor EES. In 814, an EES (e.g., anchor EES 808) can send an EES registration request to the ECS 806. The EES registration request can include anchor EES capabilities. Anchor EES capabilities can include an indication that the EES (e.g., anchor EES 808) supports anchor EES functions.

[0170] In 816, ECS 806 can send an EES record response to the EES (e.g., anchor EES 808).

[0171] In 818, an EAS 812 can register with one of the EES instances (for example, the EES registrar 810). The EES registrar 810 can share the registered EAS information with other EES instances within the same EDN.

[0172] In 820, AC 802 can register with EEC 804 and request edge services.

[0173] In 822, EEC 804 can send a service provision request to ECS 806.

[0174] In 824, ECS 806 can send a service provisioning response to EEC 804. The service provisioning response can include anchor EES capabilities of the EES instances.

[0175] For example, anchor EES capabilities can inform EEC 804 which EES instances can be used as an anchor EES within an EDN.

[0176] In 826, EEC 804 can select an EES for use in edge service discovery. EEC 804 can consider the anchor EES capabilities of the EES instances when making a selection.

[0177] For example, EEC 804 can select an EES instance that Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, pp. 55 / 86 49 / 54 support for EES anchor functionality.

[0178] In 828, EEC 804 may send an EEC registration request for the selected EES (e.g., anchor EES 808). The EEC registration request may include an indication that the EES (e.g., anchor EES 808) has been selected as the anchor EES by the requesting EEC 804.

[0179] In 830, the selected EES (e.g., anchor EES 808) can send an EEC registration response to EEC 804. The EEC registration response can include an indication that the EES (e.g., anchor EES 808) accepts being the anchor EES for the requesting EEC 804. Anchor EES 808 can create and maintain an EEC context and an EAS mapping to properly manage future requests from EEC 804.

[0180] In 832, EEC 804 can send an EAS discovery request to anchor EES 808. The EAS discovery request can include an indication that the EES (e.g., anchor EES 808) has been selected as the anchor EES for the requesting EEC 804. The indication that the EES (e.g., anchor EES 808) has been selected as the anchor EES can be omitted if EEC 804 has already provided this indication during EEC registration.

[0181] On 834, the anchor EES 808 can send an EAS discovery response to EEC 804. The EAS discovery response can include a list of EAS instance information obtained from all EES instances in the EDN.

[0182] For example, an anchor EES (e.g., anchor EES 808) can return discovered EAS instances obtained from sharing EAS information.

[0183] A solution resolves the problem that an EES can only provide EAS information to EAS instances registered in the EES. The solution also resolves the problem that, when an EES is allowed to provide information Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, pp. 56 / 86 With a 50 / 54 EAS configuration for EAS instances registered on other EES instances, WTRU can provide the selected EAS and ACR scenarios on an EES where the selected EAS is not registered, which can lead to service continuity failures. This solution allows an EES to properly manage the provision of service continuity for an EAS registered on another EES.

[0184] An EES can perform the following actions to enable edge service discovery and selection on an EDN. The EES can send an EES registration request to an ECS; where the EES registration request can include an indication that the EES is capable of performing anchor EES functions; where an anchor EES is an EES instance that can be used by a WTRU as a gateway to perform edge service discovery, selection, and provisioning procedures on an EDN.

[0185] The EES may receive an EEC registration request from a WTRU; where the EEC registration request may include an indication that the EES has been selected as an anchor EES.

[0186] The EES may send an EEC registration response to the WTRU; wherein the EEC registration response may include an indication that the EES accepts being the anchor EES for the WTRU.

[0187] The EES may receive an EAS discovery request from a WTRU; where the EAS discovery request may include an indication that the EES has been selected as the anchor EES.

[0188] The EES may send an EAS discovery response to the WTRU; wherein the EAS discovery response may include an indication that the EES accepts being the anchor EES for the WTRU and may include a list of EAS information obtained from one or more EES instances within the EDN.

[0189] On the condition that an anchor EES receives a request for the provision of EAS information from the WTRU, and on the condition that the Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, pp. 57 / 86 51 / 54 If the selected EAS provided in the EAS information provision request is registered in another EES instance, an anchor EES can send an EAS proxy configuration request to the registrar EES; where the registrar EES is the EES instance where an EAS is registered; where the EAS proxy establishment request can include EAS proxy configuration information; where the EAS proxy configuration information can include the selected EAS profile, and the anchor EES address (e.g., IP address, URI, FQDN) and endpoint, can receive an EAS proxy configuration response from the registrar EES; where the EAS proxy establishment response can include an indication that the EAS proxy was successfully established and configured, and can send an EAS proxy request to the EAS proxy in the registrar EES; where the EAS proxy request can include the message to be sent to the selected EAS;where the message may be an ACR management event notification of the type "ACR selection".

[0190] The selection and provisioning of edge services using an anchor EES are described here. After discovering edge services in an EDN, a WTRU can select an EAS and select and provide ACR scenarios using an anchor EES. The anchor EES can determine that the selected EAS is registered in a different EES and can use the registrar EES as a proxy to communicate with the selected EAS.

[0191] Figure 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example associated with the selection and provisioning of edge services 900 using an anchor EES. In 914, EES instances in an EDN can register with an ECS 906. EES registration requests can include anchor EES capabilities of the EES instances. An EAS 912 can register with one of the EES instances (e.g., the EES registrar 910). The EES registrar 910 can share the registered EAS information with other EES instances within the same EDN. Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, pp. 58 / 86 52 / 54

[0192] Additionally or alternatively, an AC 902 can register, in 916, with an EEC 904 and can request edge services. The EEC 904 can obtain EDN configuration information and EES information using service provisioning procedures. The EEC 904 can select an anchor EES 908 and can use it to discover EAS instances.

[0193] Additionally or alternatively, EEC 904 may select, in 918, an EAS instance and / or ACR scenario(s) for provisioning. EEC 904 may consider the continuity of service capabilities of the anchor EAS 908 when selecting ACR scenario(s).

[0194] In 920, EEC 904 can send a request for EAS information to anchor EES 908.

[0195] Anchor EES 908 can use EAS information and EES registrar information obtained from EAS information sharing to verify if the selected EAS (e.g., EAS 912) is registered with another EES instance. If the selected EAS instance is registered with a different EES instance, anchor EES 908 can send, on 922, an EAS proxy configuration request to the selected EAS registrar EES 910 to establish and configure an EAS proxy. The EAS proxy configuration request can include EAS proxy configuration information. The EAS proxy configuration information can include the selected EAS profile and the anchor EES address (e.g., IP address, URI, FQDN) and / or the endpoint to handle proxy requests from EAS 912.

[0196] For example, EES registrar 910 may have published EAS information for EAS instances registered with EES registrar 910 to an EES repository. EES anchor 908 may have obtained EAS information and EES registrar information from the EES repository. EES anchor 908 can use this information to determine if the selected EAS (e.g., EAS 912) is not... Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, page 59 / 86 53 / 54 registered in the anchor EES 908 and to trigger the establishment of an EAS proxy in the registrar EES 910.

[0197] In 924, EES registrar 910 can send an EAS proxy configuration response to EES anchor 908. The EAS proxy configuration response can indicate whether the EAS proxy has been successfully established and configured.

[0198] In 926, the anchor EES 908 can send an EAS proxy request to the EAS proxy in the EES registrar 910. The EAS proxy request can include the message to be sent to the selected EAS (e.g., EAS 912).

[0199] For example, during the provision of EAS and ACR scenario information, anchor EAS 908 may indicate that an “ACR selection” ACR management event notification should be sent to the selected EAS (e.g., EAS 912).

[0200] The EAS proxy on EAS registrar 910 can send the requested message to EAS 912.

[0201] For example, the EAS proxy in EES registrar 910 can send, on 928, an ACR management event notification to the selected EAS (e.g., EAS 912) to provide the ACR selection information to EAS 912.

[0202] The EAS proxy on EES registrar 910 can send, on 930, an EAS proxy response to the EES anchor 908. The EAS proxy response can indicate whether the request was successfully processed by the EAS proxy.

[0203] Anchor EES 908 can send, in 932, an EAS information provision response to EEC 904. The EAS information provision response may include an indication that the selected EAS (e.g., EAS 912) and the ACR scenario(s) have been accepted.

[0204] In 934, AC 902 can establish a service session with the Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, pp. 60 / 86 54 / 54 instance of EAS selected (e.g., EAS 912).

[0205] The following abbreviations and acronyms have been included.

[0206] Application Client (AC);

[0207] Application context relocation (ACR);

[0208] Data network (DN);

[0209] Data network name (DNN);

[0210] Edge application server (EAS);

[0211] Edge Configuration Server (ECS);

[0212] Edge data network (EDN);

[0213] Edge Enabler Client (EEC);

[0214] Edge enablement layer (EEL);

[0215] Edge Enabler Server (EES);

[0216] Fully qualified domain name (FQDN);

[0217] Key Performance Indicator (KPI);

[0218] Notification Management Client (NMC);

[0219] Notification Management Server (NMS);

[0220] Quality of service (QoS);

[0221] Origin Edge Application Server (S-EAS);

[0222] Origin Border Enabler Server (S-EES);

[0223] Technical Specification (TS);

[0224] Target Edge Application Server (T-EAS);

[0225] Target Edge Enabling Server (T-EES); and

[0226] Universal Resource Identifier (URI). Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, pp. 61 / 86

Claims

1 / 4 CLAIMS 1. Wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), CHARACTERIZED in that it comprises: a processor configured to: send a discovery request to a first edge enabler server (EES) to obtain edge application server (EAS) information; receive a discovery response from the first EES, wherein the discovery response comprises a list of discovered EASs, wherein the list comprises EAS information for each of the discovered EASs in the list, and wherein the EAS information for a discovered EAS comprises EAS registrar information based on the discovered EAS being registered in a second EES, and wherein the EAS information for the discovered EAS further comprises an EAS profile under a condition that the discovered EAS is instantiated; and select an EAS from the list of discovered EASs.

2. WTRU, according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED in that the processor is additionally configured to send an EAS information provision request, wherein an EAS information provision request indicates a selected EAS and one or more application context relocation (ACR) scenarios.

3. WTRU, according to claim 2, CHARACTERIZED in that the processor is additionally configured to receive an EAS information supply response from the second EES.

4. WTRU, according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED in that the discovery response indicates an ACR scenario supported by one or more EASs in the list of discovered EASs.

5. WTRU, according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED in that the discovery request comprises an indication that the information Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, pp. 81 / 86 2 / 4 of EAS is requested from a plurality of EESs.

6. WTRU, according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED in that the selected EAS is selected based on EAS information.

7. WTRU, according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED in that the selected EAS is registered in a third EES that is different from the first EES.

8. WTRU, according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED in that the discovery request is sent under a condition that the EAS information sharing capability of a first EES indicates that the first EES is capable of obtaining EAS information from other EESs within an edge data network (EDN).

9. WTRU, according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED in that the processor is further configured to select one or more ACR scenarios based on one or more of the EAS information or the EES register information for each discovered EAS.

10. A WTRU, according to claim 9, CHARACTERIZED in that the processor is additionally configured to obtain an EES register profile using EES register information; wherein the EES register profile is obtained from a local cache, from the discovery response, or by executing service provisioning procedures with an edge configuration server (ECS), and wherein one or more ACR scenarios are selected according to the EAS information, the EES register information, and the EES register profile.

11. A method executed by a wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), CHARACTERIZED in that it comprises: sending a discovery request to a first edge enabler server (EES) to obtain edge application server (EAS) information; receiving a discovery response from a first EES, wherein the discovery response comprises a list of discovered EASs, wherein the list comprises EAS information for each of the discovered EASs in the list, and wherein the EAS information for a discovered EAS comprises EAS registrar information based on the discovered EAS being registered in a second EES, and wherein the EAS information for the discovered EAS further comprises an EAS profile under a condition that the discovered EAS is instantiated; and selecting an EAS from the list of discovered EASs.

12. Method, according to claim 11, CHARACTERIZED in that it further comprises sending a request for EAS information, wherein the request for EAS information indicates the selected EAS and one or more application context relocation (ACR) scenarios.

13. Method, according to claim 12, CHARACTERIZED in that it further comprises receiving an EAS information supply response from the second EES.

14. Method, according to claim 11, CHARACTERIZED in that the discovery response indicates ACR scenarios supported by one or more EASs in the list of discovered EASs.

15. Method, according to claim 11, CHARACTERIZED in that a discovery request comprises an indication that EAS information is requested from a plurality of EESs.

16. Method, according to claim 11, CHARACTERIZED in that a selected EAS is chosen based on EAS information.

17. Method, according to claim 11, CHARACTERIZED in that a selected EAS is registered in a third EES that is different from the first EES. Petition 870250088231, dated 09 / 29 / 2025, pp. 83 / 86 4 / 4 18. Method according to claim 11, CHARACTERIZED in that a discovery request is sent under the condition that the EAS information sharing capability of the first EES indicates that the first EES is capable of obtaining EAS information from other EESs within an edge data network (EDN).

19. Method, according to claim 11, CHARACTERIZED in that it further comprises selecting one or more ACR scenarios based on one or more of the EAS information or the EES recorder information for each discovered EAS.

20. Method according to claim 19, CHARACTERIZED in that it further comprises obtaining an EES registrar profile using EES registrar information; wherein the EES registrar profile is obtained from a local cache, from a discovery response, or by executing service provisioning procedures with an edge configuration server (ECS), and wherein one or more ACR scenarios are selected according to the EAS information, the EES registrar information, and the EES registrar profile. Petition 870250088231, dated September 29, 2025, pp. 84-86

Images