Improvements on dynamic path selection

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to communication methods and systems for integrating fifth generation (5G) communication systems with Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to support higher data rates beyond fourth generation (4G) systems. The present disclosure can be applied to smart services based on 5G communication technologies and IoT-related technologies, such as smart homes, smart buildings, smart cities, smart cars, connected cars, healthcare, digital education, smart retail, security and safety services. A path selection method in a system is disclosed, wherein a first user equipment UE is operable to communicate with a second UE via a first direct path or via a second path of a telecommunications network, and wherein an active path is selected as a first path or a second path in response to a trigger derived from: a) one of a first and a second UE; b) a telecommunications network; or c) an application function in a network that operates in conjunction with one of the first or second UEs.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to dynamic selection of a preferred communication path in the context of a mobile device or user equipment (UE) operable with a telecommunications network. Background Art

[0002] In order to meet the demand for wireless data services that has increased since the deployment of 4G communication systems, efforts have been made to develop improved 5G or pre-5G communication systems. Therefore, 5G or pre-5G communication systems are also referred to as "beyond 4G networks" or "post-LTE systems". 5G communication systems are considered to be implemented in higher frequency (mmWave) bands (e.g., 60GHz bands) in order to achieve higher data rates. In order to reduce the propagation loss of radio waves and increase the transmission distance, beamforming, massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), full-dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas, analog beamforming, and massive antenna technology in 5G communication systems are discussed. In addition, in 5G communication systems, system network improvement development based on advanced small cells, cloud radio access networks (RAN), ultra-dense networks, device-to-device (D2D) communications, wireless backhaul, mobile networks, collaborative communications, coordinated multi-point (CoMP), receiving-end interference elimination, etc. is underway. In 5G systems, hybrid frequency shift keying (FSK) and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) modulation (FQAM) and sliding window superposition coding (SWSC) as advanced coding modulation (ACM) have been developed, and filter bank multi carrier (FBMC), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) and sparse code multiple access (SCMA) as advanced access technologies have been developed.

[0003] The Internet is a human-centered connection network in which humans generate and consume information. Now the Internet is evolving to the Internet of Things (IoT), in which distributed entities (such as things) can exchange and process information without human intervention. The Internet of Everything (IoE) has also emerged, which is a combination of IoT technology and big data processing technology through connection with cloud servers. As IoT realizes the demand for technical elements such as "sensing technology", "wired / wireless communication and network infrastructure", "service interface technology", and "security technology", sensor networks, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, machine type communication (MTC), etc. have been studied recently. Such an IoT environment can provide intelligent Internet technology services that create new value for human life by collecting and analyzing data generated between connected things. In this case, IoT can be applied to various fields, including smart homes, smart buildings, smart cities, smart cars or connected cars, smart grids, health care, smart appliances, and advanced medical services, through the convergence and combination between existing information technology (IT) and various industrial applications.

[0004] In light of this, various attempts have been made to apply 5G communication systems to IoT networks. For example, technologies such as sensor networks, MTC, and M2M communications can be implemented through beamforming, MIMO, and array antennas. The application of cloud RAN as the above-mentioned big data processing technology can also be considered as an example of convergence between 5G technology and IoT technology.

[0005] The present disclosure is complementary to a dynamic path switching scheme, wherein a path (already established) is switched from one communication mode to another.Such a scheme is described in co-pending application GB1914327.0 filed in the name of the same applicant.

[0006] Proximity Services (ProSe), especially direct communications, have been enhanced to support V2X services on LTE. For the Fifth Generation System (5GS), Proximity Services are expected to become an important system-wide enabler to support a variety of applications and services.

[0007] Another class of commercial services has recently emerged, called Network-controlled Interactive services (NCIS), which share some common requirements with public safety services and applications. NCIS refers to a service that requires at least 2 UEs to connect and share data, such as interactive gaming or data sharing. UEs in the same NCIS session are grouped together into an NCIS group, which is determined by the application layer (i.e., the NCIS application server).

[0008] Many interactive services appear in local areas, for example, entertainment at family gatherings or bars, educational services in offices, interactive games in entertainment centers, or the new generation of augmented reality / virtual reality (AR / VR) services, which improve the user experience in different places such as shopping malls, stadiums or other social events.

[0009] It is desirable to enhance 5G systems to support proximity-based services with one common architecture to exploit economies of scale, i.e., such an architecture could be used for both public safety and commercial proximity services where applicable.

[0010] For either form of service (public safety vs. commercial services), in addition to the exchange scheme of direct communication with other users in the vicinity (ProSe) in the user plane (UP) (referred to as the ProSe communication path), the requirements for throughput, latency, reliability, and resource / power utilization can be enhanced by adopting dynamic path selection, so that the experienced service quality can be maintained in another degree of freedom in addition to the conventional path through the core network (i.e., the 5GC path between users). Summary of the invention

[0011] Technical issues

[0012] The present disclosure relates in particular to selection between a first and a second communication mode between two UEs, one of which involves direct communication between the devices and the other of which involves a telecommunications network relaying all messages and signals.

[0013] Technical Solution

[0014] According to the present disclosure, the following apparatus and method are provided. Other features of the present disclosure will be apparent from the following description.

[0015] According to the present disclosure, there is provided a path selection method in a system, wherein a first user equipment UE is operable to communicate with a second UE via a first direct path or via a second path of a telecommunication network, and wherein an active path is selected as the first path or the second path in response to a trigger derived from:

[0016] a) one of the first and second UEs;

[0017] b) telecommunications networks; or

[0018] c) An application function in the network operating in cooperation with one of the first or second UE.

[0019] In a preferred embodiment, one or more of: enhanced signaling procedures, novel control notifications and triggers for path selection based on QoS target implementation, congestion status or other changes observed by the radio access network (network assisted), or group topology formation or changes observed by the application function (AF assisted) over the location area where the path selection policy rules apply (for one of the public safety applications or network controlled interactive services).

[0020] In a preferred embodiment, the path selection strategy may indicate the following different options or a combination of one or more of the following options:

[0021] - (a) Only the ProSe path (via PC5) should be used;

[0022] -(b) Only the 5GC path (via Uu) should be used;

[0023] - (c) Prefer the ProSe path (via PC5), where the UE can choose between the PC5 path or the Uu path.

[0024] -(d) Prefer 5GC path (via Uu), where the UE can choose between PC5 path or Uu path.

[0025] The first two options (a) and (b) indicate scenarios where the UE can only use a single path based on operator-level policy or service-level agreement. On the other hand, options (c) and (d) above show situations where the network (e.g., via a policy control function) indicates a preferred path. However, as described below, the UE may select other paths based on QoS implementation, congestion indications, or group topology formation / changes. Policy control regarding the network's preferred path can be influenced via QoS / congestion indications from the RAN, via group topology changes from the NWDAF, or any other relevant network data analysis notifications.

[0026] In one embodiment, the following steps are involved: the policy control function PCF composes a policy indicating actions to be taken in case of QoS implementation or congestion status by comparing the first and second paths; the PCF sends the policy applicable to the first UE and the RAN to the access and mobility management function AMF, and the AMF forwards the policy to the first UE and the RAN; and the RAN stores the information in the policy in the UE context and uses it to determine the notification trigger.

[0027] In one embodiment, the trigger is assisted by an application function AF, and includes the following steps: during direct group discovery of the first UE, identifying a server of the second UE within a proximity range; a network exposure function NEF or AF, storing information provided by the direct group discovery in a unified data repository UDR; a policy control function PCF, receiving notification of data changes from the UDR; the PCF prepares a path selection policy for the first UE; the PCF sends a policy for the first UE to an access and mobility management function AMF; the AMF forwards the policy to the first UE; the first UE checks the rules in the policy and selects the first or second path.

[0028] In one embodiment, wherein the trigger is assisted by an application function AF, the steps include: a policy control function PCF, writing a policy for a first UE, and writing a policy for a radio access network RAN ​​of a telecommunications network; the PCF sends two policies to an access and mobility management function AMF, and the AMF forwards the respective policies to the first UE and the RAN accordingly; the AF subscribes to the QoS notification control QNC status information from the PCF to receive notifications about QoS implementation information of QoS flows associated with specific flows; the AF forwards the QNC status information to the PCF, so that the PCF can use the QNC status information to update the rules in the policy of the first UE; the AF subscribes to the network data analysis function NWDAF to receive analysis notifications; the PCF triggers a UE configuration update process for the first UE based on one or more of the notifications about the QoS implementation information and the analysis notifications to update the policy for the first UE; and the first UE checks the rules in the policy and selects the first or second path.

[0029] In one embodiment, the AF combines multiple QNC notifications from multiple UEs within the region of interest or with similar AF identifiers before generating a QNC status update to the PCF.

[0030] In one embodiment, the AF forwards the analysis notification to the PCF, and the PCF uses the notification information to update the UE policy rules for all relevant UEs.

[0031] In one embodiment, the path is preferably affected indirectly by the PCF subscribing to the UDR.

[0032] In one embodiment, the first path is a ProSe path and the second path includes a Uu connection in a 5GC network.

[0033] According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus comprising a telecommunications network arranged to perform the method of the first aspect.

[0034] While certain preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined in the appended claims.

[0035] Beneficial Effects

[0036] According to the present disclosure, service requirements such as user data rate and delay requirements of different proximity applications may be guaranteed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] For a better understanding of the present disclosure, and in order to show how embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented, reference will now be made, by way of example only, to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0038] Figure 1 An example of a ProSe path and a 5GC path between two UEs according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0039] Figure 2 shows a representation of a call flow according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0040] Figure 3 shows a representation of a call flow according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0041] Figure 4 shows a representation of a call flow according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0042] Figure 5 shows a representation of a call flow according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0043] Figure 6 A fifth scenario according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0044] Figure 7 A block diagram of a UE according to various embodiments of the present disclosure is shown, and

[0045] Figure 8 A block diagram of a network entity according to various embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0046] The following description is provided with reference to the accompanying drawings to assist in a comprehensive understanding of the various embodiments of the present disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in understanding, but these are to be regarded as exemplary only. Therefore, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes and modifications may be made to the various embodiments described herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. In addition, descriptions of known functions and configurations may be omitted for clarity and brevity.

[0047] The terms and words used in the following specification and claims are not limited to the bibliographic meanings, but are used only by the inventor to make the understanding of the present disclosure clear and consistent. Therefore, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that the following description of various embodiments of the present disclosure is provided only for illustration, and not for limiting the present disclosure defined by the attached claims and their equivalents.

[0048] It should be understood that the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to "a component surface" includes reference to one or more of such surfaces.

[0049] The term "substantially" means that the features, parameters or values ​​described need not be achieved precisely, but deviations or variations, including, for example, tolerances, measurement errors, measurement precision limitations and other factors known to those skilled in the art, may occur in amounts that do not preclude the desired effect of the characteristic.

[0050] It is known to those skilled in the art that the blocks of a flowchart (or sequence diagram) and the combination of the flowchart can be represented and executed by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be loaded on a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or a programmable data processing device. When the loaded program instructions are executed by the processor, they create a method for performing the functions described in the flowchart. Since the computer program instructions can be stored in a computer-readable memory available in a special-purpose computer or a programmable data processing device, an article of manufacture that performs the functions described in the flowchart can also be created. Since the computer program instructions can be loaded on a computer or a programmable data processing device, when executed as a process, they can perform the operations of the functions described in the flowchart.

[0051] The blocks of the flowchart may correspond to a module, segment or code containing one or more executable instructions that implement one or more logical functions, or may correspond to a portion thereof. In some cases, the functions described by the blocks may be performed in an order different from the order listed. For example, two blocks listed in order may be executed simultaneously or in reverse order.

[0052] In this description, the words "unit", "module", etc. may refer to software components or hardware components, such as, for example, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) that can perform a function or operation. However, "unit", etc. are not limited to hardware or software. Units, etc. may be configured to reside in an addressable storage medium or drive one or more processors. Units, etc. may refer to software components, object-oriented software components, class components, task components, processes, functions, attributes, processes, subroutines, program code segments, drivers, firmware, microcodes, circuits, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, or variables. The functions provided by components and units may be combinations of smaller components and units, and may be combined with other components and units to form larger components and units. Components and units may be configured to drive devices or one or more processors in a secure multimedia card.

[0053] Before the detailed description, terms or definitions necessary for understanding the present disclosure are described. However, these terms should be interpreted in a non-limiting manner.

[0054] A "base station (BS)" is an entity that communicates with user equipment (UE) and may be referred to as a BS, base transceiver station (BTS), node B (NB), evolved NB (eNB), access point (AP), fifth generation (5G) NB (5gNB) or next generation NB (gNB).

[0055] “UE” is an entity that communicates with a BS and may be referred to as UE, device, mobile station (MS), mobile equipment (ME), or terminal.

[0056] In order to guarantee the service requirements such as user data rate and latency requirements of different adjacent applications, it is ideal that the 5G system can dynamically determine and select the appropriate UP path to exchange interactive service data via the ProSe communication path (direct) or via the 5GC path, such as Figure 1 shown.

[0057] Figure 1 A first UE 10 is shown communicating with a second UE 20. The communication between the two UEs may be performed via a ProSe path 30 or via a 5G Core 40.

[0058] In the following embodiments of the present disclosure, it is assumed that two example users, referred to as UE A (10) and UE F / G (20), wish to establish a Public Safety / NCIS session together over a preferred path, e.g., a ProSe (PC5) path (30), but based on some trigger conditions and control notifications described below, they decide to select, e.g., a 5GC (Uu) path (40) for their joint session.

[0059] Figure 2 The following figures show various network functions / entities, whose functions and definitions are known in the art, in at least the standards 3GPP TS 23.501, 3GPP TS 23.502 and 3GPP TS 23.503. Various known functions of these network functions / entities are changed / enhanced as described in the following paragraphs.

[0060] For completeness, the various functions / entities shown are:

[0061] User Equipment: UE,

[0062] (Radio) Access Network: (R)AN,

[0063] Access and mobility management function: AMF,

[0064] Policy Control Function: PCF,

[0065] Unified Data Repository: UDR,

[0066] Network exposure function: NEF,

[0067] Application functions: AF,

[0068] Network data analysis function: NWDAF.

[0069] Figure 2 A scenario according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. The scenario represents path selection on the UE side, assisted by the network to select between a 5GC path and a ProSe path.

[0070] In this scenario, it is assumed that the RAN provides control notification to the UE to establish / modify the path selection policy based on the QoS implementation or congestion status on the PC5 (ProSe) path and the Uu (5GC) path.

[0071] Unless explicitly stated, PCF refers to the policy control function for UE policy and AM policy association. Otherwise, when stated, (SM policy) PCF refers to the policy control function for SM policy association.

[0072] The service flow steps of the second scenario are as follows Figure 2 The details of each step are as follows:

[0073] S11. PCF writes ProSe policy for UE. PCF also writes ProSe policy for NG-RAN. Policy may include actions (to be taken) based on QoS implementation or congestion status on PC5 (ProSe) path and Uu (5GC) path. This is particularly applicable to the mode of operation of network scheduling for ProSe services.

[0074] S12. PCF sends the UE's ProSe policy and NG-RAN's ProSe policy to AMF. AMF transparently forwards this information to the UE (as N1 message in N2 message) and NG-RAN (as N2 message) accordingly.

[0075] S13.NG-RAN stores this information as part of the UE context and uses it to determine notification triggers. During handover, the source NG-RAN forwards this information to the target NG-RAN. Alternatively, when there is a change of NG-RAN, the PCF provides the ProSe policy to the target NG-RAN.

[0076] S14.NG-RAN detects a congestion event (on the PC5 or Uu path) or identifies that one of the paths cannot meet the QoS requirements.NG-RAN notifies the UE (via Radio Resource Control RRC) so that, for example, the congested path is avoided and the UE's path selection strategy is not affected by the event detection.

[0077] S15. The UE checks the policy rules and selects an appropriate path.

[0078] Figure 3 A second scenario according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. In this scenario, it is assumed that the RAN provides a control notification to the AMF based on the QoS implementation or congestion status on the PC5 (ProSe) path and the Uu (5GC) path to modify the UE policy association (and modify the path selection policy accordingly).

[0079] The service flow steps of the second scenario are as follows Figure 3 Steps S21-S23 are similar to Figure 2 Steps S11-S13 in the first scenario are shown. Details of the remaining steps are as follows:

[0080] S24.NG-RAN detects a path congestion event (on PC5 or Uu) or identifies that one of the paths cannot meet the QoS requirements. NG-RAN notifies AMF (based on the policy set by PCF for NG-RAN). AMF then sends Npcf_UEPolicyControl Update Request to PCF. PCF sends Npcf_UEPolicyControl Update Response to AMF.

[0081] S25. The PCF triggers the UE configuration update procedure based on the notification received in step S24 (similar to step S22).

[0082] S26. The UE checks the policy rules and selects an appropriate path.

[0083] Figure 4 A third scenario according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. In this scenario, it is assumed that the RAN provides a control notification to the AMF based on a new proposed AMF event to which the PCF subscribes. This new event notifies the PCF of the QoS implementation or congestion status on the PC5 (ProSe) path and the Uu (5GC) path.

[0084] Figure 4 The service flow steps of the third scenario shown are as follows. Steps S31-S33 are similar to Figure 2 and Figure 3 The details of steps S11-S13 and steps S21-S23 in the first and second scenarios are as follows:

[0085] S34. PCF subscribes to AMF (new proposed path status event) using Namf_EventExposure.

[0086] S35a and S35b. The AMF then sets notification control about the PC5 path and Uu path status to NG-RAN. NG-RAN notifies the status to the AMF (S35a), and then the AMF sends Namf_EventExposure_Notify to the PCF (S35b).

[0087] S36. The PCF triggers the UE configuration update procedure (similar to step S32) based on the notifications received in steps S35a and S35b.

[0088] S37. The UE checks the policy rules and selects an appropriate path.

[0089] Figure 5A fourth scenario according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. This scenario represents application-assisted path selection between a 5GC path and a ProSe path.

[0090] In this scenario, it is assumed that the application server (at the application function AF level) decides to initiate path selection (where path selection policy rules are applicable) based on the observed network topology formation / arrangement. Furthermore, it is assumed that the PCF (or any newly added NF playing its role) has subscribed to the UDR to receive notifications about any service parameter updates from the application server.

[0091] like Figure 5 The service flow steps for the third scenario are shown as follows.

[0092] The details of each step are as follows:

[0093] S41. The ProSe application server identifies that UE F is in the current serving proximity during direct group discovery of UE A (via PC5-D). It is assumed that direct group discovery is either run periodically or can be triggered based on a proximity "notification alert" from the PF (or any other new NF that plays this role within the 5GC), as already reflected in TS 23.303. The NEF or AF stores the information provided by the application server in the UDR.

[0094] S42. PCF receives notification of data changes from the UDR (to which the PCF has subscribed).

[0095] S43. PCF writes ProSe policy for the UE.

[0096] S44. PCF sends the UE's ProSe policy to AMF. AMF transparently forwards this information to the UE (as an N1 message in an N2 message).

[0097] S45. The UE checks the policy rules and selects an appropriate path.

[0098] Figure 6 A fifth scenario according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. This scenario represents an application function (AF) assisted path selection between a 5GC path and a ProSe path, where the QoS Notification Control (QNC) state from the NWDAF or any notification supporting analysis (as statistics or predictions) is provided to the PCF (e.g., via the ProSe AF).

[0099] like Figure 6 The service flow steps for the fifth scenario shown are as follows.

[0100] S51. Triggered by the ProSe AF, the PCF writes the ProSe policy for the UE. The PCF also writes the ProSe policy for the NG-RAN. The policy may include actions (to be taken) based on the QoS implementation or congestion status (e.g., using QNC from the NG-RAN) on the PC5 (ProSe) path and the Uu (5GC) path. This is particularly applicable to the mode of operation for network scheduling for ProSe services. The PCF sends the UE's ProSe policy and the NG-RAN's ProSe policy to the AMF. The AMF transparently forwards this information to the UE (as an N1 message in an N2 message) and the NG-RAN (as an N2 message) accordingly.

[0101] S52(a). ProSe AF may subscribe to QNC from (SM policy) PCF to receive notifications about the QoS implementation status of QoS flows related to specific ProSe AF level flows. If NG RAN detects that all QoS requirements cannot be achieved for one or more QoS flows when SMF requests such notification, it may generate a notification. Based on the subscription of (SM policy) PCF, ProSe AF will also be notified.

[0102] S52(b). The ProSe AF may forward the QNC status update to the PCF. The PCF may use the notification information to update the UE policy rules (including path selection policies / parameters) written for all relevant UEs in step S51.

[0103] Note that the ProSe AF may combine QNC notifications from multiple UEs (e.g., within a region of interest or with similar AF identifiers) before generating a QNC status update to the PCF. Alternatively, as part of the ProSe policy for the NG-RAN, the NG-RAN may be instructed to generate such a combined RAN-level QNC notification instead of notifying the QNC on a per-UE basis.

[0104] Note that if the (SM policy) PCF and the (UE policy / AM policy) PCF are co-located or the same, steps S52(a) and S52(b) may be changed and the PCF may directly receive the QNC notification related to the SM policy association control. The PCF may combine QNC notifications for multiple UEs (e.g., in an area of ​​interest or with similar AF identifiers) before inferring how to update the ProSe policy for each UE.

[0105] S52(c). The ProSe AF may subscribe to the NWDAF to receive analysis notifications (e.g., related to QoS sustainability of all UEs in the area of ​​interest). The ProSe AF may forward such analysis notifications to the PCF. The PCF may utilize the notification information to update the UE policy rules (including path selection policies / parameters) written in step 51 for all relevant UEs.

[0106] Note that step 52(c) may be altered when the PCF may directly subscribe to receive analytics related to the UE (Policy Association Control). The PCF may combine multiple sets of analytics notifications (eg, for different analytics types) before deducing how to update the ProSe policy for each UE.

[0107] S53. The PCF triggers a UE configuration update procedure (similar to step S51) based on the notification received in step S52(b) or S52(c) or a combination of both, to update the path selection policy.

[0108] S54. The UE checks the policy rules and selects an appropriate path.

[0109] Note that the network topology is formed / arranged based on, for example, the network topology from AF (see Figure 5 ) or NWDAF analysis notification forwarded by AF or QNC update forwarded by AF (see Figure 6 ), path preference can be indirectly affected by the PCF subscribed to the UDR.

[0110] By means of one of the above embodiments, a path may be selected (in either direction) from a choice between a ProSe path and a 5GC path. The embodiments described above list possible triggers for such a selection and the steps required to activate the selection.

[0111] Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating a user equipment (UE) according to various embodiments.

[0112] like Figure 7 As shown, the UE 700 according to various embodiments may include a transceiver 710, a controller 720, and a memory 730. In the present disclosure, the controller 720 may be defined as a circuit, an application specific integrated circuit, or at least one processor.

[0113] The transceiver 710 according to various embodiments may transmit and receive signals, information, and data according to various embodiments to and from other network entities.

[0114] The controller 720 according to various embodiments may control overall operations of the UE according to various embodiments provided in the present disclosure.

[0115] The memory 730 according to various embodiments may store at least one piece of information transmitted and received by the transceiver 710 and information generated by the controller 720 .

[0116] For example, the memory 730 may store data such as basic programs, applications, and configuration information for the operation of the UE according to various embodiments. In addition, the memory may include a flash memory type, a hard disk type, a multimedia card micro type, a card type memory (e.g., SD memory, XD memory, etc.), a magnetic memory, a disk, an optical disk, a random access memory (RandomAccess Memory, RAM), a static RAM (Static RAM, SRAM), a read-only memory (Read-Only Memory, ROM), a programmable read-only memory (Programmable Read-Only Memory, PROM) and an electrically erasable programmable ROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM, EEPROM) at least one type of storage medium. The processor may use various programs, contents, and data stored in the memory to perform various operations.

[0117] Figure 8 is a block diagram illustrating network entities such as RAN, AMF, and PCF entities according to various embodiments.

[0118] like Figure 8 As shown, the network entity 800 according to various embodiments may include a transceiver 810, a controller 820, and a memory 830. In the present disclosure, the controller 820 may be defined as a circuit, an application specific integrated circuit, or at least one processor.

[0119] The transceiver 810 according to various embodiments may transmit and receive signals, information, and data according to various embodiments to and from other network entities.The transceiver 810 supports at least one of wired and wireless communications.

[0120] The controller 820 according to various embodiments may control overall operations of the UE according to various embodiments provided in the present disclosure.

[0121] The memory 830 according to various embodiments may store at least one piece of information transmitted and received by the transceiver 810 and information generated by the controller 820 .

[0122] For example, the memory 830 may store data such as basic programs, applications, and configuration information for the operation of the network entity according to various embodiments. In addition, the memory may include a flash memory type, a hard disk type, a multimedia card micro type, a card type memory (e.g., SD memory, XD memory, etc.), a magnetic memory, a disk, an optical disk, a random access memory (RandomAccess Memory, RAM), a static RAM (Static RAM, SRAM), a read-only memory (Read-Only Memory, ROM), a programmable read-only memory (Programmable Read-Only Memory, PROM) and an electrically erasable programmable ROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM, EEPROM) at least one type of storage medium. The processor may use various programs, contents, and data stored in the memory to perform various operations.

[0123] Although presented in the form of ProSe and 5GC, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that other network topologies and / or protocols that rely on direct communication between UEs and network-assisted communication between the same devices will benefit from the embodiments of the present disclosure. Therefore, ProSe and 5GC are merely exemplary and are not intended to be limiting examples.

[0124] At least some of the exemplary embodiments described herein can be constructed using dedicated special hardware in part or in whole. Terms such as "component", "module" or "unit" used herein can include but are not limited to hardware devices, such as circuits in discrete or integrated component form, field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or application specific integrated circuits (ASIC) that perform specific tasks or provide related functions. In some embodiments, the described element can be configured to reside on a tangible, persistent, addressable storage medium, and can be configured to execute on one or more processors. In some embodiments, these functional elements can, for example, include components, such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components and task components, processes, functions, attributes, processes, subroutines, program code segments, drivers, firmware, microcodes, circuits, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays and variables. Although exemplary embodiments have been described with reference to components, modules and units discussed herein, such functional elements can be combined into fewer elements or separated into additional elements. Various combinations of optional features have been described herein, and it should be understood that the described features can be combined in any suitable combination. Specifically, the features of any one exemplary embodiment may be appropriately combined with the features of any other embodiment, unless such combinations are mutually exclusive. In this specification, the term "comprising" or "comprises" means including the specified components, but does not exclude the existence of other components.

[0125] Attention is paid to all documents filed concurrently with this application or prior to this specification that are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such documents are incorporated herein by reference.

[0126] All features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) and / or all steps of any method or process so disclosed may be combined in any combination, except combinations in which at least some of such features and / or steps are mutually exclusive.

[0127] Unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose. Therefore, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is only an example of a general series of equivalent or similar features.

[0128] The present disclosure is not limited to the details of the above-described embodiments. The present disclosure extends to any novel one or any novel combination of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one or any novel combination of the steps of any method or process disclosed in this manner.

Claims

1. A method performed by a policy control function (PCF) entity for a proximity service (ProSe) in a wireless communication system, comprising: receiving a notification of a data change from a unified data repository UDR, wherein the notification is based on a change in a service parameter associated with path selection; determining, based on the notification, a path selection policy for the terminal indicating a preferred path for the ProSe service in the direct communication, wherein the preferred path for the ProSe service comprises a PC5 path or a Uu path; and The path selection policy is sent to the terminal via the access and mobility management function AMF entity. The path used for the ProSe service is selected by the terminal based on the path preference indicated in the path selection policy before the connection with other terminals or networks is established. wherein the quality of service QoS analysis for determining the path optimization for the ProSe service is provided from the network data analysis function NWDAF to the AF based on a subscription between the application server AF and the NWDAF, and The QoS analysis includes QoS sustainability of at least one terminal in the area of ​​interest.

2. The method according to claim 1, in, In case the path selection policy indicates a PC5 path for the ProSe service, the PC5 path is selected by the terminal, and In which case, when the path selection policy indicates a Uu path for the ProSe service, the terminal selects the Uu path.

3. A method performed by a terminal for ProSe in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: receiving, from a policy control function PCF entity via an access and mobility management function AMF entity, a path selection policy for a terminal indicating a path preference for a ProSe service in direct communication, wherein the path preference for the ProSe service is determined based on a quality of service QoS analysis, and wherein the preferred path for the ProSe service comprises a PC5 path or a Uu path; selecting a path for the ProSe service based on the path preference indicated in the path selection policy; and Establish connections with other terminals or networks based on the selected path, The QoS analysis includes QoS sustainability of at least one terminal in the area of ​​interest, and The path selection of the terminal is provided to the terminal based on a notification of data change transmitted from a unified data repository UDR to a PCF entity, and the notification is based on a change of a service parameter associated with the path selection.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein: Selecting a path also includes: In case the path selection policy indicates a PC5 path for the ProSe service, selecting the PC5 path; and In case the path selection policy indicates a Uu path for the ProSe service, the Uu path is selected.

5. A policy control function (PCF) entity for a proximity service (ProSe) in a wireless communication system, the PCF entity comprising: Transceiver; and The controller is configured as: Controlling the transceiver to receive a notification of a data change from a unified data repository UDR, wherein the notification is based on a change in a service parameter associated with path selection; determining, based on the notification, a path selection policy indicating a preferred path for a ProSe service in direct communication for the terminal, wherein the preferred path for the ProSe service comprises a PC5 path or a Uu path, and Control the transceiver to send the path selection policy to the terminal via the access and mobility management function AMF entity, The path used for the ProSe service is selected by the terminal based on the path preference indicated in the path selection policy before the connection with other terminals or networks is established. The quality of service QoS analysis for determining the path optimization for the ProSe service is provided to the AF from the network data analysis function NWDAF based on the subscription between the application server AF and the NWDAF.

6. The PCF entity according to claim 5, in, In case the path selection policy indicates a PC5 path for the ProSe service, the PC5 path is selected by the terminal, and In which case, when the path selection policy indicates a Uu path for the ProSe service, the terminal selects the Uu path.

7. A terminal for Proximity Service (ProSe) in a wireless communication system, the terminal comprising: Transceiver; and The controller is configured as: controlling the transceiver to receive, from a policy control function PCF entity via an access and mobility management function AMF entity, a path selection policy for the terminal indicating a path preference for a ProSe service in direct communication, wherein the path preference for the ProSe service is determined based on a quality of service QoS analysis, and wherein the preferred path for the ProSe service comprises a PC5 path or a Uu path, selecting a path for the ProSe service based on the path preference indicated in the path selection policy; and Establish connections with other terminals or networks based on the selected path, The QoS analysis includes QoS sustainability of at least one terminal in the area of ​​interest, and The path selection of the terminal is provided to the terminal based on a notification of data change transmitted from a unified data repository UDR to a PCF entity, and the notification is based on a change of a service parameter associated with the path selection.

8. The terminal according to claim 7, wherein: The controller is further configured to, if the path selection policy indicates a PC5 path for the ProSe service, select the PC5 path, and if the path selection policy indicates a Uu path for the ProSe service, select the Uu path.

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