Method and apparatus for data rate control in network slicing

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method and device for controlling the data rate in a network slice of a wireless communication system. A method for controlling the bit rate of a network slice by a session management function (SMF) device of a wireless communication system is provided. The method includes receiving slice control policy information from a policy and charging function (PCF) device, sending parameters for controlling each slice to a user plane function (UPF) device based on the received slice control information, and receiving a response signal from the UPF device as to whether the sent parameters are acceptable.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for controlling a data rate in a wireless communication system. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for controlling a data rate in a network slice of a wireless communication system. Background Art

[0002] In order to meet the increased demand for wireless data traffic since the deployment of the fourth generation (4G) communication system, efforts have been made to develop improved fifth generation (5G) or pre-5G communication systems. Therefore, 5G or pre-5G communication systems are also referred to as "beyond 4G networks" or "post-long term evolution (LTE) systems".

[0003] 5G communication systems are considered to be implemented in higher frequency millimeter wave (mmWave) bands (e.g., 60 GHz 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 technologies are discussed in 5G communication systems.

[0004] In addition, in the 5G communication system, system network improvements are being developed based on advanced small cells, cloud radio access networks (RAN), ultra-dense networks, device-to-device (D2D) communication, wireless backhaul, mobile networks, collaborative communications, coordinated multi-point (CoMP), receiving-end interference cancellation, etc.

[0005] In the 5G system, hybrid frequency shift keying (FSK) and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) (FQAM) and sliding window superposition coding (SWSC) are also developed as advanced coding modulation (ACM), and filter bank multi-carrier (FBMC), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) and sparse code multiple access (SCMA) are used as advanced access technologies.

[0006] Due to the development of various IT technologies, by applying virtualization technology, communication devices (network devices) have evolved into virtualized network functions (NF, hereinafter, "network elements" can be used interchangeably), and virtualized NFs can be implemented in the form of software without physical limitations so as to be installed / run in various types of clouds or data centers (DCs). More specifically, NFs can be freely expanded, reduced (scaled), installed, or terminated according to service requirements, system capacity, and network load. It should be noted that even if NFs are implemented in the form of software, NFs should operate on physical elements, such as predetermined devices, and thus physical elements are not excluded. NFs can also be implemented with only simple physical elements (i.e., hardware).

[0007] In order to support multiple services in such a variety of network structures, network slicing technology has been introduced. Network slicing is a technology that logically builds a network with a set of network functions (NFs) to support specific services and separates one slice from other slices. When receiving multiple services, a terminal can access two or more slices.

[0008] The above information is presented as background information only to assist in understanding the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion has been made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art to the present disclosure. Summary of the invention

[0009]

Technical issues

[0010] However, no appropriate method has been proposed for controlling the data rate sent from a network slice to a UE.

[0011]

Technical solution

[0012] Aspects of the present disclosure at least solve the above-mentioned problems and / or disadvantages and provide at least the following advantages. Therefore, one aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a method and apparatus that can adjust a transmission rate in a network slice when the network slice includes multiple network functions.

[0013] Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the presented embodiments.

[0014] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for controlling the bit rate of a network slice by a session management function (SMF) device of a wireless communication system is provided. The method includes receiving slice control policy information from a policy and charging function (PCF) device, sending parameters for controlling each slice to a user plane function (UPF) device based on the received slice control information, and receiving a response signal from the UPF device as to whether the sent parameters are acceptable.

[0015] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a SMF device for controlling the bit rate of a network slice in wireless communication is provided. The SMF device includes: a network interface capable of communicating with at least one network function of a wireless communication system; a memory configured to store information for rate control of a network slice; and at least one processor, wherein the processor receives slice control policy information from a PCF device via the network interface, sends parameters for controlling each slice to a UPF device based on the received slice control information, and receives a response signal from the UPF device via the network interface as to whether the sent parameters are acceptable.

[0016]

Beneficial Effects

[0017] According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, when a network slice includes multiple network functions, the transmission rate can be effectively adjusted in the corresponding network slice. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] The above and other aspects, features and advantages of certain embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0019] Figure 1 A wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0020] Figure 2 shows a configuration of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0021] Figure 3 is a signal flow chart of rate control of a network slice according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0022] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating a rate control operation of a slice according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0023] Figure 5 is a diagram showing an operation of applying rate control in units of slices according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0024] Figure 6 is a flowchart of performing bit rate control in units of network slices by a session management function (SMF) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0025] Figure 7 is a diagram showing a connection between user plane functions (UPFs) or between a UPF and a next generation (NG)-radio access network (RAN) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0026] Figure 8 is a diagram for describing a method for controlling capacity per network slice in a shared RAN environment according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0027] Fig. 9 is a diagram for describing a method for controlling capacity per network slice in a shared RAN environment according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0028] Fig.10 is a diagram showing a process for controlling a bit rate in units of slices according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0029] Fig.11 is a diagram showing a process of selecting a network function (NF) for network slice control according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0030] Fig.12is an internal functional block diagram of a NF according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0031] Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals will be understood to refer to like parts, components and structures. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses various embodiments of the disclosure.

[0033] The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided 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 considered to be merely exemplary. 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 well-known functions and structures may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

[0034] The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the present disclosure. Therefore, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of various embodiments of the present disclosure is provided for illustrative purposes only and not for limiting the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0035] 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.

[0036] Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described based on a hardware approach. However, various embodiments of the present disclosure include techniques using both hardware and software, and therefore various embodiments of the present disclosure may not exclude the perspective of software.

[0037] Hereinafter, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for supporting multiple services in a wireless communication system. Specifically, the present disclosure describes a technology for supporting multiple services by supporting mobility of a terminal in a wireless communication system.

[0038] In the following description, for the sake of convenience, terms used to identify access nodes, terms related to network entities, terms related to messages, terms related to interfaces between network entities, terms related to various identification information, etc. are illustratively used. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the terms used below, and other terms related to subjects with equivalent technical meanings may be used.

[0039] In the following description, for convenience of description, the present disclosure will be described using terms and names defined in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution (3GPP LTE) standard. However, the present disclosure is not limited to these terms and names, and can be applied to systems conforming to other standards in the same manner.

[0040] For ease of description, objects that exchange information for access control and state management will be collectively referred to as NFs. NFs may be, for example, at least one of an access and mobility management function (AMF) device, a session management function (SMF) device, and a network slice selection function (NSSF) device. However, even when NF is actually implemented as an instance (each of an AMF instance, an SMF instance, an NSSF instance, etc.), the embodiments are also applicable.

[0041] In the present disclosure, a specific NF exists in the form of software code in an instance, and the instance may involve a state in which, in order to perform NF functions in a physical computing system (e.g., a specific computing system present on a core network), physical and / or logical resources are allocated from the computing system, and thus the NF functions can be run. Therefore, each of the AMF instance, the SMF instance, and the NSSF instance may indicate that physical and / or logical resources can be allocated from a specific computing system present on the core network for use in AMF, SMF, and NSSF operations. As a result, the same operations may be performed when there are physical AMF, SMF, NSSF devices and in the case of AMF instances, SMF instances, and NSSF instances in which physical and / or logical resources are allocated from a specific computing system present in the core network for use in performing AMF, SMF, NSSF operations.

[0042] Figure 1 A wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0043] refer to Figure 1 , a base station (radio access node (RAN)) 110 and a terminal (user equipment (UE)) 120 are shown as some nodes using a wireless channel in a wireless communication system. Figure 1 Only one base station 110 and one UE 120 are shown, but another base station that is the same as or similar to the base station 110 may be further included. Figure 1 , there is shown a case in which only one UE 120 performs communication in one base station 110. However, it is apparent that a plurality of terminals can actually perform communication in one base station 110.

[0044] Base station 110 is a network infrastructure that provides wireless access to UE 120. The coverage of base station 110 ( Figure 1The base station 110 may be referred to as an "access point (AP)", "eNodeB (eNB)", "fifth generation (5G) node", "radio point", "transmission / reception point (TRP)" or other terms having equivalent technical meanings, in addition to a base station.

[0045] UE 120 is a device used by a user and performs communication with base station 110 via a wireless channel. In some cases, UE 120 may operate without user participation. For example, UE 120 is a device that performs machine type communication (MTC) and may not be carried by a user. Figure 1 The illustrated UE 120 may include at least one user portable device and may include at least one MTC. Figure 1 The UE 120 may be referred to as a “terminal,” “mobile station,” “subscriber station,” “remote terminal,” “wireless terminal,” “user equipment,” or other terms having equivalent technical meanings.

[0046] The AMF device 131 may be a network entity that performs wireless network access and mobility management for the UE 120. The SMF device 132 may be a network entity that manages a connection to a packet data network for providing packet data to the UE 120. The connection between the UE 120 and the SMF device 132 may be a protocol data unit (PDU) session.

[0047] The user plane function (UPF) device 133 may be a gateway via which packets transmitted or received by the UE 120 are transmitted, or may be a network entity serving as a gateway. The UPF 133 may be connected to a data network (DN) 140 connected via the Internet so as to provide a path for data transmission / reception between the UE 120 and the DN 140. Therefore, the UPF 133 may route data that should be transmitted via the Internet among packets transmitted by the UE 120 to the Internet data network.

[0048] The network slice selection function (NSSF) device 134 may be a network entity that performs the network selection operation (e.g., the operation of selecting a network slice) described in the present disclosure. The operation of the NSSF device 134 will be described in the figures described later.

[0049] The authentication server function (AUSF) device 151 may be an apparatus (network entity) that provides services for a subscriber authentication process.

[0050] The network open function (NEF) device 152 can be a network entity capable of accessing information for management of UE 120 in a 5G network, subscribing to mobility management events of the UE, subscribing to session management events of the UE, requesting session-related information, configuring billing information for the UE, requesting a PDU session policy change for the UE, and sending small data on the UE.

[0051] The network repository function (NRF) device 153 may be a network entity (NF) having a function of storing state information of NFs and processing a request to find a NF accessible by other NFs.

[0052] The policy and charging function (PCF) device 154 may be a network entity that applies a service policy, a charging policy, and a PDU session policy of a mobile communication service provider to the UE 120 .

[0053] A unified data management (UDM) device 155 may be a network entity that stores information about subscribers and / or UEs 120 .

[0054] The application function (AF) device 156 may be a network entity (NF) having a function associated with a mobile communication network in order to provide services to users.

[0055] The service communication proxy (SCP) device 157 may be a network entity (NF) having functions such as NF discovery for communication between NFs, message transmission between NFs, etc. Depending on the choice of the traffic provider, the SCP 157 may operate in a form integrated with the NRF 153, and in this case, the SCP 157 may include the functions of the NRF 153, or conversely, the NRF 153 may include the functions of the SCP 157.

[0056] Hereinafter, for the convenience of description, the objects for exchanging information for access control and state management will be collectively referred to as NF. NF may be, for example, at least one of an access and mobility management function (AMF) device, a session management function (SMF) device, and a network slice selection function (NSSF) device. However, even when NF is actually implemented as an instance (each of an AMF instance, an SMF instance, an NSSF instance, etc.), the embodiments may be equally applied.

[0057] In the present disclosure, a specific NF exists in the form of software code in an instance, and the instance may refer to a state in which, in order to perform NF functions in a physical computing system (e.g., a specific computing system present on a core network), physical and / or logical resources are allocated from the computing system, and thus the NF functions can be run. Therefore, each of the AMF instance, the SMF instance, and the NSSF instance may indicate that physical and / or logical resources can be allocated from a specific computing system present on the core network for use in AMF, SMF, and NSSF operations. As a result, the same operation can be performed when there are physical AMF, SMF, NSSF devices and in the case of AMF instances, SMF instances, and NSSF instances in which physical and / or logical resources are allocated from a specific computing system present in the core network for use in performing AMF, SMF, and NSSF operations. Therefore, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the items described as NFs (AMF, SMF, UPF, NSSF, NRF, SCP, etc.) may be replaced with NF instances, or conversely, the items described as NF instances may be replaced with NFs. Similarly, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, items described as NW slices may be replaced with NW slice instances, or conversely, items described as NW slice instances may be replaced with NW slices.

[0058] In various embodiments of the present disclosure, the data rate may be applied to the downlink or uplink. If separate bit rate values ​​are applied to the uplink / downlink, the signaling may also be transmitted separately. The bit rate for the network slice in the downlink case (NW slice aggregate maximum bit rate for the downlink) and the bit rate for the network in the uplink case (NW slice aggregate maximum bit rate for the uplink) may be configured separately.

[0059] Figure 2 A configuration of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0060] refer to Figure 2 , showing a network slice 200 located between the base station 110 and the DN 140. Figure 2 The network (NW) slice 200 shown only shows the SMF 132 and UPFs 210, 220. Figure 2 In the example, the network slice 200 does not show other NFs, but may further include other NFs in the network slice (e.g., AMF 131). Figure 2 As shown, one or more SMFs may be included. Figure 2 Configuration.

[0061] According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the network slice 200 may be configured to have Figure 2The slice anchor UPF 210 shown may include a UPF instance 220. First, the slice anchor UPF 210 is an anchor UPF for a network slice and may be referred to as a network slice anchor UPF, a slice anchor UPF, or an anchor UPF, all of which may be interpreted as having the same meaning. The slice anchor UPF 210 may control the UPF instance 220 operating for each network slice. In this way, the UPF may be configured to have a hierarchical structure of two or more layers in the network slice 200.

[0062] In addition, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, N UPF instances 221, 222, 223, ... 22N may form a data path for sending / receiving data via the base station 110 and the interface N3. The N UPF instances 221, 222, 223, ... 22N may form a control path 232 via the SMF 132 and the interface N4. The N UPF instances 221, 222, 223, ... 22N may also form a control path via the slice anchor UPF 210 and the interface N4. In addition, the slice anchor UPF 210 may form a control path via the SMF 132 and the interface N4. The SMF 132 may provide information for controlling the data rate 233 per network slice by using the interface N4.

[0063] The slice anchor UPF 210 may form a path with the DN 140 via the interface N6.

[0064] Then, an operation of controlling the data rate in units of network slices will be described based on the above configuration. According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, as described above, the UPF 133 is configured to have a hierarchical structure of two or more layers. Therefore, the slice anchor UPF 210 can control the UPF slice 220 of the lower layer. For example, it can be assumed that UPF instance #1 221 is a UPF instance corresponding to the first network slice, UPF instance #2 222 is a UPF instance corresponding to the second network slice, UPF instance #3 223 is a UPF instance corresponding to the third network slice, and UPF #N 22N is a UPF instance corresponding to the Nth network slice. According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, it can be assumed that the user device is able to send or receive data via one or more network slices.

[0065] If the UPF has a hierarchical structure of two or more layers, the SMF 132 may provide the slice anchor UPF 210 with parameters for the maximum bit rate (W slice aggregate maximum bit rate) or the bit rate for each UPF instance 221, 222, 223, ... 22N via interface N4. If the SMF 132 provides the bit rate for each UPF instance 221, 222, 223, ... 22N to the slice anchor UPF 210, information (parameters) about the maximum bit rate of each UPF instance may be provided to the anchor UPF 210.

[0066] In this case, for example, in the case of a downlink, the user traffic generated in the DN 140 may be first received by the slice anchor UPF 210. The slice anchor UPF 210, which has received the user data from the DN 140, may determine via which network slice the user data will be sent. For example, the slice anchor UPF 210 may determine whether the user data is to be sent via only one network slice or via two or more network slices. Alternatively, the slice anchor UPF 210, which has received the user data from the DN 140, may determine to which UPF instance the user data will be sent. In this case, the anchor UPF 210 may perform allocation based on the maximum bit rate per UPF instance received from the SMF in order to prevent overload or traffic congestion in a specific UPF instance.

[0067] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the slice anchor UPF 210 may allocate user data received from the DN 140 to a UPF instance responsible for at least one network slice based on the bit rate information received from the SMF 132. As described above, when user data is allocated to a specific UPF instance, the corresponding UPF instance may send the user data to the base station 110.

[0068] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, if additional processing operations on the user data received from the DN 140 are unnecessary, the slice anchor UPF 210 may directly send the user data to the base station 110 instead of the UPF instance.

[0069] Figure 3 It is a signal flow chart of rate control of network slice according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0070] refer to Figure 3 , an additional element may be provided, namely a network slice manager 301. The network slice manager 301 may be referred to as a "slice manager" and may include one NF. Figure 3 As shown, the slice manager 301 can also be implemented as an Operation & Maintenance (OAM) device.

[0071] In operation 311, the SMF 132 may receive SMF configuration information via a slice manager (e.g., OAM or PCF / UDM, which is an NF that manages network slices). The SMF configuration information may include an identifier of the slice to which the SMF 132 belongs (Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI)), a data network name (DNN) mapped to the slice, and a maximum bit rate to be applied to each network slice (NW Slice Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate (NS-AMBR)). The information may include information about the anchor UPF 210 for network slice rate control, such as a network function name (NF name), an access address, etc.

[0072] In operation 313, in order to control the slice anchor UPF 210 among the UPFs belonging to the network slice, the SMF 132 may request the establishment of the N4 association from the slice anchor UPF 210. The request message may include an identifier (S-NSSAI) of the network slice as a target, a DNN mapped to the network slice, a maximum bit rate in units of network slices to be applied by the UPF (requested NS-AMBR), and a guaranteed bit rate in units of network slices to be applied by the UPF (requested NS-GBR). Here, AMBR refers to the aggregate maximum bit rate, and GBR may refer to the guaranteed bit rate.

[0073] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an indicator may be included, indicating that the corresponding UPF (i.e., the slice anchor UPF 210) should operate as an anchor for other UPFs for rate control of the network slice. According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, information about other UPFs (e.g., Figure 2 , the information of the UPF instances 221, 222, 223, ... 22N) shown in the figure (NF name, IP address, bit rate in slices used for each UPF, etc.).

[0074] In operation 315, based on the maximum capacity of the slice anchor UPF 210 itself, the current load status, the status of the associated UPF (e.g., UPF instances (221, 222, 223, ... 22N)), configuration, etc., the slice anchor UPF 210 may identify whether the rate in units of network slices requested by the SMF 132 can be provided. If it is difficult to provide the rate in units of network slices requested by the SMF 132, the anchor UPF 210 may calculate the maximum rate that it can provide.

[0075] In operation 317, the slice anchor UPF 210 may send an association response message in response to the N4 association request of the SMF 132. Via the association response message, the anchor UPF 210 may send a bit rate in units of network slices that can be supported by the anchor UPF 210 itself as a response to the SMF 132. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the association response message may include an identifier (S-NSSAI) of a network slice to be targeted, a DNN mapped to the network slice, a maximum bit rate in units of network slices that can be supported by the slice anchor UPF 210 (requested NS-AMBR), and a guaranteed bit rate in units of network slices that can be supported by the slice anchor UPF 210 (requested NS-GBR).

[0076] In operation 319, if an additional UPF that supports traffic processing, routing, etc. between the slice anchor UPF 210 and the NG-RAN 110 is necessary, the SMF 132 may select the additional UPF and may establish an N4 association if necessary. Figure 2 , an N4 association can be established with at least one of the other UPF instances 221, 222, 223, ...22N.

[0077] When a PDU session is generated between the UE 120, the NG-RAN 110, and the core network 5G core (5GC) in operation 320, the SMF 132 may perform access control based on the network slice information. If it is determined that the current load state of the slice anchor UPF 133 exceeds or is likely to exceed the maximum bit rate in units of network slices, the request of the SMF 132 to generate a session may be rejected.

[0078] If a downlink (DL) packet is received in operation 331, for a PDU session belonging to a network slice, the slice anchor UPF 210 may identify in operation 333 whether a bit rate (aggregate bit rate per slice) of a packet processed by the slice anchor UPF 210 itself for a specific network slice exceeds a pre-configured maximum bit rate in units of network slices. If the bit rate of the packet does not exceed the maximum bit rate configured in units of network slices, the slice anchor UPF 210 may transfer the packet to the next hop in operation 335. For example, if Figure 3 As shown, when the UPF has a hierarchical structure of more than two levels, the next hop may be UPF instance #1 221. According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, even if the UPF has a hierarchical structure of more than two levels, if the slice anchor UPF 210 is able to directly perform processing without separate processing, the packet may be transmitted to the NG-RAN 110. According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, if the bit rate of the packet exceeds the maximum bit rate configured in units of network slices, the slice anchor UPF 210 may discard the downlink packet.

[0079] In operation 337, UPF instance #1 221, which is the second UPF, may process a downlink (DL) packet according to the UE-AMBR and the session-AMBR. Then, the processed downlink packet may be transmitted to the UE 120 via the base station 110.

[0080] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating a rate control operation of a slice according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0081] refer to Figure 4 , when Figure 2 Specifically, multiple UPF instances 411, 412, 413, ... 41N may be included between the base station 110 and the DN 140. As described above, in Figure 4 In describing the network slice, only multiple UPF instances 411, 412, 413, ... 41N and SMF 132 are shown. Figure 4 In, different from Figure 2 The reference numerals are used for multiple UPF instances 411, 412, 413, ... 41N, but this is to distinguish them from the case with anchors. Therefore, multiple UPF instances 411, 412, 413, ... 41N can actually perform the same Figure 2 The same operations of multiple UPF instances 211, 212, 213, ... 21N described in.

[0082] according to Figure 4 In the example of, the base station 110 can use the interface N3 to configure the data path 231 for data transmission / reception with each of the multiple UPF instances 411, 412, 413, ... 41N. The SMF 132 can be configured by the multiple UPF instances 411, 412, 413, ... 41N and the aforementioned interface N4. The SMF 132 can notify the maximum bit rate (S-AMBR) 421 per network slice for each UPF by using the multiple UPF instances 411, 412, 413, ... 41N and the configured interface N4.

[0083] When generating downlink data to be provided to the UE, the DN 140 may send the downlink data to a corresponding UPF instance among the plurality of UPF instances 411, 412, 413, ... 41 N. The DN 140 may receive uplink user data from at least one UPF instance among the plurality of UPF instances 411, 412, 413, ... 41 N.

[0084] As provided above Figure 2 As in the description of Figure 4In the , SMF and UPF can be included in the network (NW) slice, and although in Figure 4 Not shown, but other NFs such as AMF may be included.

[0085] Then, describe Figure 4 According to the operation. Figure 4 In the embodiment, in order to control the data rate in units of NW slices, SMF 132 can send a parameter of the maximum bit rate in units of network slices (NW slice aggregate maximum bit rate) via interface N4, which will be applied by the UPF belonging to the network slice to each UPF instance 411, 412, 413, ... 41N. Based on this, each UPF instance 411, 412, 413, ... 41N can adjust the data bit rate.

[0086] For example, it can be assumed that N (N is a natural number of 2 or greater) UPFs belong to one network slice, and the average load or maximum capacity between the UPFs is similar or equal. In this case, if the maximum bit rate of one network slice is M, the maximum bit rate in units of network slices (NW slice aggregate maximum bit rate per UPF) configured by SMF 132 for each UPF or each UPF instance included in one network slice can be calculated as a value obtained by dividing M by N. For example, if the maximum bit rate of one network slice is M, two UPFs or two UPF instances are included in one network slice, and the bit rate of each UPF or UPF instance is configured to be the same, the bit rate of each UPF or UPF instance can be M / 2.

[0087] For another example, if the capacity / load status is different for each UPF or requires separate configuration, SMF132 can calculate and configure the sum of the maximum bit rates in units of network slices distributed (allocated) to each UPF to be M.

[0088] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an operation of applying rate control in units of slices according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0089] refer to Figure 5 , as previously Figure 3 described in Figure 5 In addition, an element is provided, namely, a network slice manager 301. The network slice manager 301 may be referred to as a "slice manager" and may include one NF. Figure 3 As shown, the slice manager 301 can also be implemented as an operation & maintenance (OAM) device. In the following description, as mentioned above, UPF and UPF instance can be interchangeable. Therefore, in the following, Figure 4 The UPF instance described in is provided as an example for description.

[0090] In operation 500, the SMF 132 may receive SMF configuration information via the UDM 155 and / or the PCF 133 or the slice manager 301 of the NF managing the network slice. The SMF configuration information may include an identifier (S-NSSAI) of the network slice to which the SMF belongs, a data network name (DNN) mapped to the slice, and a maximum bit rate (NW Slice Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate (NS-AMBR)) to be applied to each network slice.

[0091] In operation 502, in order to control one of the UPF instances belonging to the network slice (e.g., the first UPF instance (UPF instance #1) 411), the SMF 132 may request the establishment of an N4 association. To this end, the N4 association establishment request message may include an identifier (S-NSSAI) of the network slice as a target, a DNN mapped to the network slice, a maximum bit rate (requested NS-AMBR) in units of network slices to be applied by the first UPF instance 411, and a guaranteed bit rate (requested NS-GBR) in units of network slices to be applied by the first UPF instance 411.

[0092] In operation 504, based on the maximum capacity, current load status, configuration, etc. of the first UPF 411 itself, the first UPF 411 may identify whether the bit rate in units of network slices requested by the SMF 132 can be provided. If the bit rate in units of network slices requested by the SMF 132 cannot be provided, the first UPF 411 may calculate the maximum rate that the first UPF 411 itself can provide.

[0093] In operation 506, the first UPF 411 may send an N4 association response message in response to the N4 association request of the SMF 132. Via the N4 association response message, the first UPF 411 may send a bit rate in units of network slices that can be supported by the first UPF 411 itself as a response to the SMF 132. In addition, the N4 association response message may include an identifier (S-NSSAI) of a target network, a DNN mapped to a network slice, a maximum bit rate in units of network slices that can be supported by the first UPF 411 (requested NS-AMBR), and a guaranteed bit rate in units of network slices that can be supported by the first UPF 411 (requested NS-GBR).

[0094] Operations 508, 510, and 512 may be the same as operations 502 to 506 described above. However, the difference is that operations 508, 510, and 512 are performed by the SMF 132 having the Nth UPF 41N. If the first UPF 411 and the Nth UPF 41N are included in the same network slice, that is, if a plurality of UPFs are included in the network slice, the same content may be obtained. However, parameters used according to the characteristics of the first UPF 411 and the Nth UPF 41N may be different for the corresponding UPFs.

[0095] In operation 514, SMF 132 may aggregate bit rates that can be supported in units of network slices, which are received from two or more UPFs belonging to one network slice. Thereafter, SMF 132 may identify whether the aggregated bit rate is different from the bit rate distributed and requested by SMF 132 itself, or whether additional changes are required.

[0096] If additional configuration changes or updates in units of slices are necessary for a specific UPF, the SMF 132 may perform a process for updating the N4 association in operations 516 and 518. The parameters to be changed may include the guaranteed bit rate in units of network slices (requested NS-GBR) that the UPF should support and the maximum bit rate in units of network slices (requested NS-AMBR) that the UPF should support and calculated in operation 514, and the mapped DNN and the identifier of the corresponding network slice may be sent together.

[0097] Figure 6 It is a flowchart of performing bit rate control by SMF in units of network slices according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0098] Reference Figure 6 In operation 600, SMF 132 may calculate a bit rate (NS-AMBR or NS-GBR) in units of network slices for each UPF included in a network slice.

[0099] In operation 602, SMF 132 may configure network slice control information for each UPF via N4 association establishment and / or update. Figure 5As shown, if two or more UPFs are included in one network slice, the operation may be an operation that takes into account the bit rate required by each network slice and the current load state of each UPF. SMF 132 may receive information including a load state from a specific UPF, or may receive information indicating that an overload has occurred. During the UPF selection process for processing a session belonging to a network slice, SMF 132 may temporarily exclude an overloaded state or a state close to an overload from the target. If a specific UPF is in an overloaded state or a state close to an overloaded state, and is then changed back to a normal state, the UPF restored to a normal state may be included in the candidate set again so as to become a candidate for the UPF selection process for processing data in the network slice.

[0100] In operation 604, the SMF 132 may receive a session establishment request or a session update request for the UE. The session for which the SMF 132 receives the request for session establishment and session update may be included in the network slice.

[0101] In operation 606, SMF 132 may identify whether there is a UPF in an overload state or close to an overload state among the UPFs belonging to a network slice. In this way, the UPF in an overload state or close to an overload state among the UPFs may use a preconfigured threshold. For example, the data bit rate that can be processed by one UPF is L, where the threshold may be configured as, for example, 90% of L or 95% of L. The threshold of each UPF may be stored in SMF 132, in the corresponding UPF, or in both. If the UPF has a threshold, SMF 132 may receive a report of an overload state or a close to an overload state from at least one specific UPF. For another example, if the UPF does not have a threshold, a load status update message may be generated to report to SMF 132. Therefore, by using the threshold of the corresponding UPF, SMF 132 may identify that the UPF is close to an overload state or that the UPF is in an overload state.

[0102] In order to release the overload state, a separate second threshold for releasing the overload can be configured, or an overload state threshold can be used. If the overload threshold is used, the overload state can be identified by identifying whether the overload threshold is exceeded. For overload release, if the load state has a value equal to or lower than the overload state threshold, the load state can be identified as an overload state release. In this way, when one threshold is used, if the load amount moves in the overload state, the overload state and the normal state (overload release state) can be repeated. Therefore, when the overload threshold is the first threshold, a second threshold for returning to the normal state can be configured separately. In this case, the second threshold can generally be configured as a value lower than the first threshold.

[0103] For example, if the first threshold for identifying an overload state is configured as 95% of the throughput in a particular UPF, the second threshold for identifying a normal state may be configured as 90% of the throughput. It should be noted that the above thresholds and their examples are provided to help understand the present disclosure, rather than to limit the present disclosure.

[0104] As a result of the identification in operation 606, if one or more UPFs are in an overloaded state or a close to overloaded state (yes in operation 606), then in operation 608, SMF 132 may select a UPF excluding the one or more UPFs from all UPFs belonging to the network slice to handle the session.

[0105] As a result of the identification in operation 606, if there is no UPF that is in an overload state or close to an overload state (No in operation 606), in operation 610, SMF 132 may select a UPF from among all UPFs belonging to the network slice to handle the session.

[0106] Thereafter, the SMF 132 may send a request message for N4 session generation to the UPF selected in operation 612.

[0107] If user traffic (user plane packets) is transmitted between UPFs or between UPF and NG-RAN 110, the user traffic may have to pass through multiple transmission devices (switches or routers) in the intermediate path. For example, NFs defined in the 3GPP standard, devices (or instances) such as UPF 133, NG-RAN 110, SMF 132, and AMF 151, can know information about UE 120 and information about the network slice to which the PDU session belongs. However, the above-mentioned devices (i.e., switches or routers through which packets flow) do not actually comply with the 3GPP standard, making it impossible to know the information on the network slice. A method for applying packet processing for each network slice is needed, such as processing packets with high priority belonging to a specific network slice, or performing emergency processing.

[0108] Figure 7 2 is a diagram showing the connection between UPFs or between UPF and NG-RAN according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0109] As mentioned earlier, also in Figure 7 In the description of, UPF or UPF instance may be NF or NF device that performs the same operation. In the following description, for ease of description, as described above, the UPF instance is described as an example. However, even in the case of configuring UPF, the content described below is equally applicable.

[0110] refer to Figure 7As described above, UPF instance #1 211, 411 and UPF instance #2 212, 412 may be connected via interface N9. Thus, interface N9 may be used to connect between UPFs, between UPF instances, or between UPFs and UPF instances. Figure 7 As shown, the NG-RAN 110 and UPF instance #1 211, 411 may be connected via interface N3. Figure 7 The case of UPF instance #1 is shown, but the NG-RAN 110 and all UPFs or the NG-RAN 110 and all UPF instances may be connected via interface N3.

[0111] exist Figure 7 In the description, UPF instance #1 211, 411 and UPF instance #2 212, 412 are directly connected, and NG-RAN 110 and UPF instance #1 211, 411 are directly connected. However, each interface between UPF instance #1 211, 411 and UPF instance #2 212, 412 and between NG-RAN 110 and UPF instance #1 211, 411 may include multiple transport networks (switches or routers), and the protocol defined by 3GPP (typically, the General Packet Radio Traffic (GPRS) Tunneling Protocol (GTP-U) is used in N3 / N9) may not be applicable to these interfaces.

[0112] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, when a packet is transmitted between UPF and UPF or between UPF and NG-RAN, an IP header can be used to include information of the network slice to which the packet belongs, so that a switch or router is notified of the information.

[0113] The information of the network slice to which the packet belongs (slice information) can be part of the network identifier or the identifier of the network slice or one of the values ​​mapped by the network slice identifier. To illustrate this, one of the following values ​​can be used.

[0114] ■All S-NSSAI values

[0115] ■SST (Slice / Service Type)

[0116] ■SD (Slice Differentiator)

[0117] ■Mapping value

[0118] When the above-mentioned UPF 221, 411, etc. or NG-RAN 110 sends a packet to the next hop (e.g., UPF or NG-RAN), the network slice information can be notified by using the IP header method.

[0119] IPv4: Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) marking with slice information

[0120] ●IPv6: Flow label with slice information

[0121] The protocol to be used in IPv4 and IPv6 may be determined by the network configuration. A switch (not shown in the figure) or a router (not shown in the figure) that has received an IP packet including network slice information may identify the network slice to which the packet belongs by using the information included in the IP header, and may perform packet transmission control (rate control, priority control, path control, etc.) according to the packet processing policy for each slice configured for the switch or router.

[0122] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the GTP-U header of segment N3 / N9 can be used to notify information about the network slice to which the packet belongs. The GTP-U header may include a service class indicator (SCI) field. When the UPF or NG-RAN sends a packet to the next hop (e.g., UPF or NG-RAN), the SCI field of the GTP-U header may include the network slice information (slice information or network slice information) of the present embodiment. Typically, switches or routers in the intermediate path do not process the GTP-U header. According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, when packet processing is required for each slice, the SCI field included in the GTP-U header should be detected in the intermediate switch / router, and therefore when the GTP-U header includes slice information, the UPF or NG-RAN should process the SCI field of the GTP-U header in the IP packet header including the GTP-U packet, or may include information indicating that a packet processing function is required for each slice, as described below.

[0123] IPv4: DSCP marking with "per-slice packet processing required" or "SCI in GTP-U header" indication

[0124] ●IPv6: Flow label with "per-packet processing required" or "SCI in GTP-U header" indication

[0125] When the switch or router of the transmission path N3 / N9 receives an IP packet and this information is configured in the IP header, by reading the SCI field of the GTP-U header, the network slice to which the packet belongs can be identified, and packet transmission control (rate control, priority control, path control, etc.) can be performed according to the packet processing policy for each slice configured for the switch or router.

[0126] Figure 8 is a diagram for describing a method for controlling the capacity of each network slice in a shared RAN environment according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0127] Reference Figure 8In operation 810, the AMF 131 may send an AMF configuration update message (NG-AP) to the NG-RAN 110 in order to transmit configuration information of the AMF 131 to the NG-RAN 110. The AMF configuration update message may include a public land mobile network (PLMN) support list supported by the AMF 131. The PLMN support list may include identifiers of network slices supported for each PLMN identifier (ID) and a list of maximum bit rates to be applied for each network slice.

[0128] The NG-RAN 110 may receive the message and may send an AMF configuration confirmation (ACK) message indicating that the update request from the AMF 131 has been processed. If an uplink packet is received from the UE or a downlink packet is received from at least one UPF included in the network slice, the NG-RAN 110 may perform control so that the maximum bit rate to be applied for each network slice is not exceeded.

[0129] Fig. 9 is a diagram for describing a method of controlling the capacity of each network slice in a shared RAN environment according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0130] Reference Fig. 9 In operation 910, the NG-RAN 110 may send an NG SETUP REQUEST message (NG-AP) to the AMF 131 in order to transmit its own configuration information to the AMF 131. The NG SETUP REQUEST message may include a PLMN support list for each tracking area code (TAC) supported by the NG-RAN 110, and the PLMN support list may include identifiers of network slices supported for each PLMN ID, and a maximum bit rate list to be applied for the corresponding network slice.

[0131] The AMF 131 may store the configuration information of the NG-RAN 110, and in order to transmit the configuration information of the AMF 131 to the NG-RAN 110, an NG setup response message (NG-AP) may be sent to the NG-RAN 110 in operation 920. The NG setup request message may include a PLMN support list supported by the AMF 131. The PLMN support list may include identifiers of network slices supported for each PLMN ID, and a list of maximum bit rates to be applied for the corresponding network slices. If the maximum bit rates of the corresponding network slices stored in the NG-RAN 110 show a difference, an update may be performed using the value received from the AMF 131. If an uplink packet is received from the UE or a downlink packet is received from the UPF, the NG-RAN 110 may perform control so that the maximum bit rate to be applied for each network slice is not exceeded.

[0132] Fig.10 is a diagram illustrating a process for controlling a bit rate in units of slices according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0133] Reference Fig.10 In operation 1000, the SMF 132 may receive a policy or information for controlling a slice unit from the PCF 154. The policy received by the SMF 132 from the PCF 154 may be referred to as a "slice control policy", for which the SMF 132 and the PCF 154 may enter into an association for controlling the policy in slice units or in NF units. Optionally, the SMF 132 and the PCF 154 may exchange policies in network slice units or in NF units, while exchanging messages for policy control of a specific subscriber / session. The corresponding policy and / or information may include an identifier of a slice as a target (S-NSSAI or a combination of S-NSSAI and DNN), a maximum bit rate to be applied to the slice (slice aggregate total bit rate (slice ATBR)), a maximum bit rate to be applied to a non-GBR stream of the slice (slice aggregate non-GBR (slice ANGBR)), a maximum bit rate to be applied to a GBR stream of the slice (slice AGBR), a maximum number of PDU sessions that can be provided in the slice, and the like. The bit rate parameters of each of the uplink and downlink may be configured separately for different bit rates. This information may be considered as a quota per slice, and upon receiving this information, the SMF 132 may perform access control and bit rate control so as not to exceed the quota for that slice. Similar to the previous embodiments of the present disclosure, this information may be configured for the SMF 132 via OAM, or may be configured to be received from the UDM 155 as part of subscription information.

[0134] In operation 1002, the SMF 132 transmits parameters for control per slice to the UPF 133 by using a message N4 transmitted to the UPF 133. For example, the SMF 132 may add an identifier of a targeted slice (S-NSSAI or a combination of S-NSSAI and DNN), a maximum bit rate to be applied to the slice (slice aggregate total bit rate (slice ATBR)), a maximum bit rate of a non-GBR stream to be applied to the slice (slice ANGBR: slice aggregate non-GBR), a maximum bit rate of a GBR stream to be applied to the slice (slice AGBR), a maximum number of PDU sessions that can be provided in the slice, and the like to the message N4 to be transmitted to the UPF 133. As described above, even at this time, the bit rate parameters may be configured separately for each of the uplink and the downlink.

[0135] In operation 1004, the UPF 133 may perform traffic enforcement by using the per-slice parameters received from the SMF 132. The UPF 133 may identify whether the per-slice parameters sent by the SMF 132 can be satisfied by considering the current situation of the UPF 133 itself, for example, at least one piece of information such as the traffic load amount, the number of sessions, and the maximum capacity configured for the UPF 133.

[0136] In operation 1006, in response to the request of SMF 132, UPF 133 may perform transmission using message N4, in which it may be notified whether the parameter requested by SMF 132 is available (accepted) or unavailable. Alternatively, if UPF 133 cannot provide a service having at least one parameter requested by SMF 132 under the condition of the parameter, the parameter that can be supported by UPF 133 may be added to message N4 together with the available parameters among the parameters requested by SMF 132 so as to be provided to SMF 132. The parameter that can be supported by UPF 133 may include at least one of the parameter sets for each slice received in operation 1002, and the value of the parameter may be configured to be less than or equal to the requested value.

[0137] In operation 1008, SMF 132 can identify (determine / calculate) whether the parameters requested by SMF 132 itself (i.e., the bit rate required for the corresponding network slice) are accepted based on the message N4 received in operation 1006.

[0138] As a result of the identification in operation 1008, if at least one of the parameters requested by SMF 132 is not accepted by UPF 133, or the newly adjusted value needs to be configured based on the parameters suggested by UPF 133, SMF 132 may be required to send a request to UPF 133 again. Similarly, if the new SMF 132 needs to adjust at least one parameter again because UPF 133, SMF 132 may send message N4 including the parameters that need to be adjusted to UPF 133 again, and may perform message exchange for receiving a response. Therefore, SMF 132, together with UPF 133, may finally configure the parameters of the bit rate for the corresponding network slice.

[0139] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, when SMF 132 calculates or determines a bit rate for transmission to UPF 133 via message N4, or when UPF 133 determines a bit rate for actual enforcement by using a received transmission rate, both data sent on a GBR Quality of Service (QoS) flow and data sent on a non-GBR QoS flow may be included.

[0140] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, when SMF 132 adds at least one of the described parameters to message N4 in order to request a mandatory bit rate for providing a bit rate per network to UPF 133, or when UPF 133 determines the bit rate per network slice by using the N4 message received from SMF 132, the maximum data bit rate per slice may not include data sent on the GBR QoS flow, and may only include data sent on the non-GBR QoS flow. According to another embodiment, when UPF 133 determines the bit rate per network slice by using the message N4 received from SMF 132, data sent on the GBR QoS flow and data sent on the non-GBR QoS flow may be included. For example, the data rate per network slice may include at least one of a guaranteed bit rate (GBR), a guaranteed flow bit rate (GFBR), a maximum bit rate (MBR), and a maximum flow bit rate (MFBR) for (multiple) GBR QoS flows. The data bit rate of each network slice may include an aggregate maximum bit rate (AMBR) of a non-GBR QoS flow. GBR, GFBR, MBR, MFBR, and AMBR can be values ​​defined for a session or values ​​defined for each network slice.

[0141] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, for example, the data bit rate of each network slice may be implemented such that the data bit rate for (multiple) GBR QoS flows is different from the data bit rate for (multiple) non-GBR QoS flows. For example, a total maximum bit rate (TMBR) including both the data bit rate for (multiple) GBR QoS flows and the data bit rate for (multiple) non-GBR QoS flows may be included.

[0142] The total slice data bit rate determined by SMF 132 or UPF 133 according to the above scheme may include data sent on the GBR QoS flow and data sent on the non-GBR QoS flow. UPF 133 may use a value obtained by excluding the bit rate of the data sent on the GBR QoS flow from the total network slice data bit rate as the bit rate of the data sent on the non-GBR QoS flow. For example, if the total network slice data bit rate is 5000Mbps and the bit rate of the data sent on the GBR QoS flow is 3500Mbps, the bit rate of the data sent on the non-GBR QoS flow may be configured to be 1500Mbps. Due to the data bit rate quota of the GBR QoS flow in the received (and / or determined) network slice data bit rate of 5000Mbps, SMF 132 or UPF 133 may be forced to 3500Mbps, and due to the data bit rate quota of the non-GBR QoS flow, it may be forced to the remaining 1500Mbps.

[0143] If it is necessary to reduce the total network slice data bit rate, SMF 132 or UPF 133 may prioritize reducing the bit rate of data sent on non-GBR QoS flows. For example, if the total network slice data bit rate of 5000Mbps needs to be reduced to 4000Mbps, UPF 133 may change the bit rate of data sent on non-GBR QoS flows from 1500Mbps to 500Mbps without changing the bit rate of data sent on GBR QoS flows of 3500Mbps. Due to the data bit rate quota of the GBR QoS flow in the received (and / or determined) network slice data bit rate of 4000Mbps, SMF 132 or UPF133 may be forced to 3500Mbps, and due to the data bit rate quota of the non-GBR QoS flow, it may be forced to the remaining 500Mbps.

[0144] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the bit rate parameters per network slice received by UPF 133 from SMF 132 according to the method provided in the aforementioned embodiment of the present disclosure may not include data sent on the GBR QoS flow, and may only include data sent on the non-GBR QoS flow.

[0145] For example, the network slice data bit rate may include GBR, GFBR, MBR, or MFBR for (multiple) GBR QoS flows. The network slice data bit rate may include AMBR for (multiple) non-GBR QoS flows. GBR, GFBR, MBR, MFBR, or AMBR may be a value defined for a session or a value defined for a network slice.

[0146] For another example, in the network slice data bit rate, the data bit rate for (multiple) GBR QoS flows is no different from the data bit rate for (multiple) non-GBR QoS flows. For example, a total maximum bit rate (TMBR) including both the data bit rate for (multiple) GBR QoS flows and the data bit rate for (multiple) non-GBR QoS flows may be included.

[0147] According to the above method, SMF 132 or UPF can use the data bit rate by considering only the data sent on the non-GBR QoS flow, wherein the data bit rate is obtained by excluding the bit rate of the data sent on the GBR QoS flow from the network slice data bit rate including the data sent on the GBR QoS flow and the data sent on the non-GBR QoS flow.

[0148] To this end, if the total network slice data bit rate is 5000Mbps and the bit rate of data sent on the GBR QoS flow is 3500Mbps, the SMF 132 or UPF may configure the bit rate of data sent on the non-GBR QoS flow to be 1500Mbps. In this case, the network slice data bit rate used by the SMF 132 or UPF 133 may be 1500Mbps. The UPF 133 may enforce the data bit rate quota for the non-GBR QoS flow to be the received (and / or determined) 1500Mbps.

[0149] If it is necessary to reduce the total network slice data bit rate, SMF 132 or UPF 133 may prioritize reducing the bit rate of data sent on non-GBR QoS flows. For example, if the total network slice data bit rate of 5000Mbps needs to be reduced to 4000Mbps, SMF 132 or UPF 133 may change the bit rate of data sent on non-GBR QoS flows from 1500Mbps to 500Mbps without changing the bit rate of data sent on GBR QoS flows of 3500Mbps. In this case, SMF 132 or UPF 133 may send a changed data bit rate value of 500Mbps to the base station. The base station may enforce the data bit rate quota for non-GBR QoS flows to the received / determined 500Mbps.

[0150] In the above description, each data bit rate may be divided into uplink and downlink so as to be expressed as a separate parameter, and using the same enforcement may be performed separately for each of the uplink and the downlink.

[0151] Fig.11 is a diagram showing a process of selecting an NF for network slice control according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0152] Reference Fig.11 In operation 1100, information about NFs that can support control for each network slice may be stored in the NSSF 134 or the NRF 153. Control for each network slice may be performed by storing an upper limit value of a quota configured for each network slice (S-NSSAI or a combination of S-NSSAI and DNN) and comparing a value obtained by calculating information about each network slice collected from NFs belonging to the network slice. NFs belonging to the network slice may include other types of NFs in addition to AMF, SMF, and UPF, and NFs that can support control for each slice may include PCF, NRF, NSSF, UDM, or other types of NFs.

[0153] The quota configured for each network slice (S-NSSAI or a combination of S-NSSAI and DNN) may include, for example, at least one of the maximum number of simultaneously connected UEs, the maximum number of simultaneously supported sessions, and the bit rate described in the previous embodiment. The status information of each network slice may be collected from the NF to which the corresponding network slice belongs. When the collected information is described as an example, the collected information may be the number of currently connected UEs and / or the number of PDU sessions.

[0154] Therefore, when performing control for each network slice, the NF capable of supporting control for each network slice can determine the state of the slice based on the quota (i.e., pre-stored information) and the information of each network slice collected from each NF. For example, if the quota configured for a particular network slice is the maximum number of sessions supported simultaneously, the NF capable of supporting control for each network slice can perform a comparison by using the total number of currently connected sessions for the corresponding network slice collected from other NFs. Based on the comparison, the NF capable of supporting control for each network slice can identify whether the information collected for the particular network slice has reached the upper limit of the quota (whether the configured threshold has been reached). The configured threshold may be a value less than or equal to the quota.

[0155] Here, the NF capable of supporting control for each network slice may be an NF capable of sending the collected information to another NF. The NF may include, for example, NFs such as NRF 153 (used during the NF selection process based on the quota in units of network slices), PCF 153 (during the policy configuration process based on the quota in units of network slices), and UDM 155.

[0156] Whether a specific NF supports control for a specific network slice can be configured via OAM, and whether control for a specific network slice (S-NSSAI or NSSAI) is supported can be registered in the configuration file of the NF, or whether control for a specific slice is supported and network slice availability information supported by the NF can be registered. It should be noted that in Fig.11 In the embodiment of the present invention, the storage operation performed by the NF (NRF 153 / NSSF 134) and the sending of the response message to the above message are omitted.

[0157] In operation 1102, a user NF (e.g., AMF 131, SMF 132, etc.) may send a request for receiving information for selection of a network slice (or NFs included in a slice) to NSSF 134 or NRF 153. The message may include an identifier (S-NSSAI or NSSAI) of a target network slice.

[0158] In operation 1104, when the information necessary to respond to the request message received in operation 1102 is stored, the NSSF 134 or the NRF 153 may transmit a response message including information for selection of a network slice (or NF included in the slice). If the NSSF 134 or the NRF 153 needs to control the requested slice by using the described quota and use a specific NF for control, information related thereto may be included in the response message so as to be transmitted. For example, the response message may include information (at least one of a name, an address, an identifier, and a NF type) of an NF (e.g., NRF 153, PCF 154, etc.) supporting network slice unit control (per slice control).

[0159] In operation 1106, the user NF may store the information received via the response message in operation 1104, and thereafter, by using the stored information, the user NF may select a network slice, may perform NF selection and UE registration, may perform PDU session processing, and / or may control a data bit rate. As described above, a user NF in the present disclosure may refer to an NF that uses a service provided by another NF. For example, in a relationship between two NFs, generally, a user NF may refer to an NF that sends a request for a service.

[0160] Fig.12 1 is an internal functional block diagram of a NF to which the present disclosure can be applied according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0161] In the description Fig.12 Previously, as described above, the NF may correspond to one of AMF 131, SMF 132, UPF 133, NSSF 134, NRF 135, PCF 154, and UDM 155, may include a form in which at least one of them is combined, or may correspond to a NF capable of performing the above functions.

[0162] refer to Fig.12, the network interface 1210 may communicate with another network entity of the core network. For example, if the NF is AMF 131, the network interface 1210 may provide an interface for communicating with SMF 132, UPF 133, NSSF 134, NFR 153, and / or SCP 157. For another example, if the NF is SMF 132, the network interface 1210 may provide an interface for communicating with AMF 131, UPF 133, NSSF 134, NFR 153, and / or SCP 157. In another case, if the NF is UPF 133, 210, 221, 222, 223, 22N, 411, 412, 413, or 41N, the network interface 1210 may provide an interface for communicating with AMF 131, another UPF, SMF 132, NFR 153, and / or SCP 157. Such interfaces may include the aforementioned interface N3 and interface N4. Similarly, if NF is a specific network entity, an interface for communicating with other entities in the core network may be provided.

[0163] The controller 1211 may be implemented as at least one processor and / or program for performing NF operations. For example, if the NF is AMF 131, the controller 1211 may perform the operations of the above-mentioned AMF 131. For another example, if the NF is SMF 132, the controller 1211 may perform the operations of the above-mentioned SMF 132. In the case of other network entities, the control required for the above-mentioned operations may be performed in the same manner.

[0164] The memory 1212 may store programs and various types of control information required by the controller 1211, and may also store corresponding information described in the present disclosure. For example, if the NF is AMF 131, the memory 1212 may store information received from AMF 131 or information received from an external entity. For another example, if the NF is SMF 132, the memory 1212 may store received information and / or control information required by SMF 132. In the case of other network entities, the information required for the above operations may be stored in the same manner.

[0165] The methods disclosed in the claims and / or the methods according to the various embodiments described in the present disclosure may be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

[0166] When these methods are implemented by software, a computer-readable storage medium for storing one or more programs (software modules) may be provided. One or more programs stored in the computer-readable storage medium may be configured to be run by one or more processors in an electronic device. The at least one program may include instructions for causing an electronic device to perform methods according to the various embodiments of the present disclosure as defined by the attached claims and / or disclosed herein.

[0167] The program (software module or software) can be stored in a non-volatile memory, which includes random access memory and flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disk storage device, compact disk-ROM (CD-ROM), digital versatile disk (DVD) or other type of optical storage device, or cassette tape. Optionally, any combination of some or all of them can form a memory in which the program is stored. In addition, multiple such memories may be included in the electronic device.

[0168] In addition, the program can be stored in an attachable storage device, which can access the electronic device through a communication network (such as the Internet, an intranet, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WLAN), and a storage area network (SAN) or a combination thereof). Such a storage device can access the electronic device via an external port. In addition, a separate storage device on a communication network can access a portable electronic device.

[0169] In the above detailed embodiments of the present disclosure, the elements according to the presented embodiments included in the present disclosure are expressed in the singular or plural. However, for ease of description, the singular form or plural form is appropriately selected as presented, and the present disclosure is not limited to elements expressed in the singular or plural. Therefore, an element expressed in the plural may also include a single element, or an element expressed in the singular may also include multiple elements.

[0170] While the present disclosure has been shown and described with reference to various embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0171]

Industrial Applicability

[0172] The present disclosure can be used when two or more entities of a wireless core network are configured with at least one network slice.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a bit rate of a network slice by a first network function NF of a wireless communication system, the method comprising: identifying whether a data rate associated with a network slice exceeds an allowed maximum data rate for the network slice; as well as Based on the identification, sending a response to the second NF, The allowed maximum data rate includes a maximum bit rate for a non-guaranteed bit rate GBR stream for the slice and a maximum bit rate for a GBR stream for the slice.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The allowed maximum data rate is set separately for the downlink and uplink to the user equipment UE.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Single network slice selection auxiliary information S-NSSAI is obtained, wherein the network slice is identified by S-NSSAI.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: In the event that the data rate does not exceed the allowed maximum data rate, the response indicates acceptance, and in the event that the data rate exceeds the allowed maximum data rate, the response indicates rejection.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The response also includes an acceptable data rate.

6. A first network function NF for controlling a bit rate of a network slice in a wireless communication system, the first NF comprising: a network interface for communicating with at least one of the network functions of the wireless communication system; a memory configured to store information for bit rate control of the network slice; as well as At least one processor configured to: identifying whether a data rate associated with a network slice exceeds an allowed maximum data rate for the network slice; and Based on the identification, sending a response to the second NF, The allowed maximum data rate includes a maximum bit rate for a non-guaranteed bit rate GBR stream for the slice and a maximum bit rate for a GBR stream for the slice.

7. The first NF according to claim 6, wherein: The allowed maximum data rate is set separately for the downlink and uplink to the UE.

8. According to the first NF of claim 6, the processor is further configured to: obtain single network slice selection assistance information S-NSSAI, wherein The network slice is identified by S-NSSAI.

9. The first NF according to claim 6, wherein: In the event that the data rate does not exceed the allowed maximum data rate, the response indicates acceptance, and in the event that the data rate exceeds the allowed maximum data rate, the response indicates rejection.

10. The first NF according to claim 6, in, The response also includes an acceptable data rate.

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