Connection aggregation between related devices for edge computing

Abstract

This application relates to connection aggregation among related devices for edge computing. This application relates to devices and components including apparatuses, systems, and methods for connection aggregation among related devices for edge computing. Such techniques can include grouping related devices into edge groups, and assigning a proxy device to distribute edge server discovery information among the edge groups.

Description

[0001] Cross-reference to related applications

[0002] This application claims the benefit and priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 265,831, filed December 21, 2021, entitled “CONNECTIONS AGGREGATION AMONG RELATED DEVICES FOR EDGE COMPUTING”, and U.S. Patent Application No. 17 / 991,551, filed November 21, 2022, entitled “CONNECTIONS AGGREGATION AMONG RELATED DEVICES FOR EDGE COMPUTING”. The entire contents of each of these applications are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. Background Technology

[0003] Despite the rapid technological advancements in personal devices such as mobile user equipment (UE), applications with computational demands on such devices remain constrained by battery capacity, thermal limitations, and device cost considerations. Given these issues and to minimize latency, it may be desirable to offload computationally complex processing to servers located at the "network edge" (e.g., physically closer to the end-user device than a centralized server in a remote cloud computing facility). Attached Figure Description

[0004] Figure 1 A network environment according to some implementation schemes is shown.

[0005] Figure 2 Examples of connectivity scenarios within a wireless distributed system according to some implementation schemes are shown.

[0006] Figure 3 An example of a framework based on some implementation schemes is shown.

[0007] Figure 4 An example of signaling flow between entities in the framework is shown according to some implementation schemes.

[0008] Figure 5 Examples of several different types of edge groups according to some implementation schemes are shown.

[0009] Figure 6 An example of an active public edge group is shown according to some implementation schemes.

[0010] Figure 7 Specific implementation examples of virtual replication edge groups according to some implementation schemes are shown.

[0011] Figure 8The operational flow / algorithm structure according to some implementation schemes is shown.

[0012] Figure 9 The operational flow / algorithm structure according to some implementation schemes is shown.

[0013] Figure 10 The operational flow / algorithm structure according to some implementation schemes is shown.

[0014] Figure 11 The operational flow / algorithm structure according to some implementation schemes is shown.

[0015] Figure 12 User equipment according to some implementation schemes is shown.

[0016] Figure 13 A base station according to some implementation schemes is shown.

[0017] Figure 14 The diagram shows a component capable of reading and executing instructions according to some implementation schemes. Detailed Implementation

[0018] The following detailed description relates to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals may be used in different drawings to identify the same or similar elements. In the following description, specific details, such as particular structures, architectures, interfaces, technologies, etc., are set forth for illustrative and non-limiting purposes to provide a thorough understanding of various aspects of the embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various aspects of the embodiments may be practiced in other examples departing from these specific details. In some cases, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods have been omitted so as not to obscure the description of the various embodiments with unnecessary detail. For the purposes of this document, the phrase "A or B" means (A), (B), or (A and B). For the purposes of this document, the phrase "A based on B" means "A is at least based on B".

[0019] The following is a glossary of terms that may be used in this disclosure.

[0020] As used herein, the term "circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes the following: hardware components such as electronic circuits, logic circuits, processors (shared, dedicated, or grouped) or memories (shared, dedicated, or grouped), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable devices (FPDs) (e.g., field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), structured ASICs, or programmable system-on-a-chip (SoCs)), digital signal processors (DSPs), etc. In some embodiments, a circuit may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the said functions. The term "circuit" may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements and program code for performing the functions (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system). In these embodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a particular type of circuit.

[0021] As used herein, the term "processor circuit" means, is part of, or includes the following: a circuit capable of sequentially and automatically performing a series of arithmetic or logical operations or recording, storing, or transmitting digital data. The term "processor circuit" may also refer to an application processor, baseband processor, central processing unit (CPU), graphics processing unit, single-core processor, dual-core processor, triple-core processor, quad-core processor, or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computer-executable instructions (such as program code, software modules, and / or functional procedures).

[0022] As used herein, the term "interface circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes a circuit that enables the exchange of information between two or more components or devices. The term "interface circuit" can refer to one or more hardware interfaces, such as buses, I / O interfaces, peripheral component interfaces, network interface cards, etc.

[0023] As used herein, the term "user equipment" or "UE" refers to equipment of a remote user that has radio communication capabilities and can describe network resources in a communication network. Furthermore, the term "user equipment" or "UE" may be considered synonymous and may refer to a client, mobile phone, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurable radio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Additionally, the term "user equipment" or "UE" can include any type of wireless / wired equipment or any computing device that includes a wireless communication interface.

[0024] As used herein, the term "computer system" means any type of interconnected electronic device, computer device, or component thereof. Additionally, the term "computer system" or "system" may refer to the various components of a computer that are communicatively coupled to each other. Furthermore, the term "computer system" or "system" may refer to multiple computer devices or multiple computing systems that are communicatively coupled to each other and configured to share computing resources or network resources.

[0025] As used herein, the term "resource" refers to physical or virtual devices, physical or virtual components within a computing environment, or physical or virtual components within a specific device, such as computer equipment, mechanical equipment, memory space, processor / CPU time, processor / CPU utilization, processor and accelerator load, hardware time or utilization, power supply, input / output operations, port or network sockets, channel / link allocation, throughput, memory utilization, storage, network, databases and applications, units of workload, etc. "Hardware resource" can refer to computing, storage, or networking resources provided by physical hardware components. "Virtualized resource" can refer to computing, storage, or networking resources provided by virtualization infrastructure to applications, devices, systems, etc. The terms "network resource" or "communication resource" can refer to resources that computer equipment / systems can access via a communication network. The term "system resource" can refer to any kind of shared entity providing services and can include computing or network resources. System resources can be considered as a coherent set of functions, network data objects, or services accessible through a server, wherein such system resources reside on a single host or multiple hosts and are clearly identifiable.

[0026] As used herein, the term "channel" refers to any tangible or intangible transmission medium used for transmitting data or data streams. The term "channel" may be synonymous or equivalent with "communication channel," "data communication channel," "transmission channel," "data transmission channel," "access channel," "data access channel," "link," "data link," "carrier," "radio frequency carrier," or any other similar term indicating a path or medium through which data is transmitted. Additionally, as used herein, the term "link" refers to a connection between two devices used for transmitting and receiving information.

[0027] As used in this article, the terms "instantiate" and "instantiate" refer to the creation of an instance. "Instance" also refers to the concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of program code.

[0028] The term “connection” can mean that two or more elements at a common communication protocol layer have an established signaling relationship with each other through a communication channel, link, interface, or reference point. The term “obtain” is used to indicate any of its common meanings, such as calculation, derivation, (e.g., from another element or device) receiving, and / or (e.g., from a memory / storage device as described below) retrieval.

[0029] As used herein, the term "network element" refers to physical or virtualized equipment or infrastructure used to provide wired or wireless communication network services. The term "network element" may be considered synonymous with or referred to as networked computers, network hardware, network equipment, network nodes, virtualized network functions, etc.

[0030] The term "information element" (IE) refers to a structural element that contains one or more fields. The term "field" refers to the individual content of an information element, or the data element that contains that content. An information element may include one or more additional information elements.

[0031] This document describes techniques for connectivity aggregation between relevant devices for edge computing, relating to devices (e.g., user equipment) that can be configured to access edge computing resources via access networks (e.g., RAN and / or WiFi networks). Figure 1 A network environment 100 according to some embodiments is illustrated. Network environment 100 may include one or more UEs 104 and an access node (or “base station”) 108. Base station 108 may provide one or more radio serving cells (e.g., 3GPP New Radio “NR” cells), through which UE 104 may communicate with base station 108 (e.g., via an NR-Uu interface). In some aspects, base station 108 is a next-generation node B (gNB) providing one or more 3GPP NR cells.

[0032] Base station node 108 can communicate with core network 112 (e.g., via a 5G N2 (control plane) interface). Base station 108 can also communicate with edge network 116 (e.g., via a 5G N3 (user plane) interface).

[0033] Over the past decade, the total average number of devices linked to the same user has increased significantly. It is estimated that the current global density of networked devices exceeds six per person. This estimate means that, with a total world population of over 7.5 billion, nearly 50 billion networked devices are already in service. The explosive growth of networked devices (e.g., Internet of Things (IoT), smartphones, wearables, etc.) continues to drive edge computing systems, along with new applications demanding real-time computing capabilities.

[0034] Mobile edge computing (MEC) is a network architecture concept for providing information technology (IT) services and cloud computing capabilities at the edge of a mobile network, within a radio access network (RAN), and close to mobile subscribers. Within this architecture, specific user requests can be managed locally (e.g., directly at the network edge) instead of forwarding all traffic to a remote internet service. MEC promises to significantly reduce latency and mobile energy consumption while providing highly reliable and complex services.

[0035] Edge server and edge service discovery (e.g., discovery of edge application servers) is a key challenge for devices using edge computing. When many devices attempt to connect to an edge server or use an edge service, a large number of connections can be generated and a significant amount of data can be exchanged to establish links between devices and the edge. This can lead to higher latency and therefore higher energy consumption in the system. Universal behavior may be desired for such devices, especially those all belonging to the same person. Additionally, keeping latency and energy consumption low may be desirable. Another challenge in such complex systems is how to optimally utilize the amount of existing connections for individual users or groups of users.

[0036] To address these challenges, the framework described in this paper can reduce the number of connection attempts between a single user and the edge network; provide seamless service and server discovery for devices belonging to a single person in the edge network regardless of device capabilities; and / or optimize the number of existing and efficient connections based on application requirements if link aggregation is not feasible under certain conditions (e.g., user preferences).

[0037] Figure 2 An example of a connectivity scenario is illustrated within a wirelessly distributed system comprising an edge network (e.g., a virtualized MEC including one or more servers 216a, 216b, and 224 and one or more content caches 212a, 212b, and 220) and a data network (e.g., a data center including one or more servers 232a, 232b, and 232c and one or more content caches 228a, 228b, and 228c). A user may be equipped with a single device attempting to connect to the edge server. Alternatively, a user may be equipped with multiple devices that may simultaneously or asynchronously attempt to connect to the edge server (e.g., for data offloading (e.g., compute offloading) and / or to use edge network services). Figure 2As illustrated in the example, such multiple devices may include one or more user equipments (UEs) that access an edge network via a cellular connection to the RAN (e.g., via base stations 208a and / or 208b). Such devices may include one or more tablets (e.g., tablet 204a); smartphones (e.g., smartphones 204b and 204d); and / or wearable devices (e.g., smart glasses 204c, smartwatch 204e). The multiple devices may also include one or more devices with potentially fixed locations and wired (e.g., fiber optic) connections (e.g., high-speed internet terrestrial lines) to the edge network and / or to a data network, such as a streaming set-top box 204f (shown with an associated remote control). One or more of the multiple devices may also be wirelessly (e.g., peer-to-peer) connected via technologies such as WiFi or Bluetooth. TM Or another short-range protocol to communicate with each other.

[0038] like Figure 2 The key bottlenecks of the described system are likely increased latency, a higher number of connections (or connection attempts), and / or unnecessary computations across the network originating from a single user. In addition to these issues, the system fails to take advantage of the diversity of good connections, whether to a single person's device or to a large group of individual devices.

[0039] Frameworks based on one or more examples described herein can reduce bandwidth usage at a user's home network and / or reduce signaling flow / connection attempts between user devices and edge networks / services. For example, the techniques disclosed herein include frameworks in which the number of connection attempts to edge servers can be significantly reduced and / or optimized while still enabling seamless service discovery and execution. Multiple devices that are related in some way (e.g., all belonging to a single user, or physically close to each other) are grouped to form "edge groups." Within each edge group, devices are selected (e.g., based on predefined criteria and / or the current user environment) to act as proxy devices. Proxy services may include participating in edge server and service discovery and / or distributing basic discovery information, in the form of metadata (e.g., metadata files or "metafiles"), to other devices in the edge group. After receiving metadata from the proxy devices, other devices in the edge group may connect to the edge server or edge service when needed; otherwise, they may remain in silent mode.

[0040] Grouping devices into edge groups, selecting (and potentially reselecting) proxy devices, and link optimization and adaptation (when needed) can be managed through a dedicated edge entity (referred to as the "edge group service entity"). This dedicated edge entity can be part of either the core network or the edge network. Following the approach described in this example, connections from multiple devices toward both the edge and core networks can be aggregated, significantly reducing overload and / or network congestion. In this way, the number of discovery and connection attempts toward the edge network can be reduced within a seamless edge server and service discovery framework. In another example, proxy devices can be configured to switch to their virtual replicas located in the edge group when computing power and memory are limited.

[0041] Figure 3 An example of the framework described herein is shown, comprising three main entities: a) an edge group service entity 326 (which may execute on one or more of edge network servers 316a, 316b, and 324), b) a proxy device (in this example, a smartphone 304b), and c) an edge group 332, which includes the proxy device 304b and other devices (in this example, smart glasses 304c, a smartphone 304d, and a smartwatch 304e). The edge group service entity 326 is responsible for managing and controlling one or more edge groups and their corresponding proxy devices (e.g., edge group 332 and its proxy device 304b). The edge group service entity 326 provides a secure service environment in which edge computing-aware devices (e.g., several or all of a user's devices, such as one or more of devices 304b, 304c, 304d, and 304e) can be registered and authenticated. The edge group service entity 326 may collect and proactively utilize information about expected throughput, latency, user behavior, and / or available edge services to select the best proxy device available at runtime.

[0042] Edge group service entity 326 may include an Information Control Function (ICF) that controls information to be shared with other devices; interacts with one or more access networks (e.g., RAN, home network, and / or WiFi network) to obtain information about link quality; and / or interacts with the edge network to monitor the local service and availability of the edge network.

[0043] Edge group service entities can be implemented in any of several different ways. In one example, an edge group service entity may be implemented as part of the core network (CN). In this case, the edge group service entity may interact with gNBs (e.g., base stations 308a and / or 308b) via User Plane Functions (UPF). In another example, the edge group service entity may be part of an edge network development and may interact with the CN via Application Functions (AF) and / or Network Exposure Functions (NEF). In yet another example, the edge group service entity may be part of a local network (e.g., a WiFi network) and may interact with one or more access points (APs) (e.g., via a dedicated interface).

[0044] Based on instructions and rules that can be defined, for example, at the edge service, several devices can be grouped together as edge groups. Edge groups can be organized by the edge group service based on information provided by, for example, users (e.g., relationships, capabilities, distance, etc.). Different types of edge groups can be organized (depending on, for example, the relationships and / or distances between devices within the edge group), and are described below. Figure 5 Examples of four different types of edge groups are discussed. For instance, devices in one edge group might all belong to a single person, devices in another edge group might belong to people already associated as a group (e.g., family and / or friends), and devices in yet another edge group might be associated based on physical proximity. Edge groups can be limited to a specific proximity to each other (e.g., short-range protocols such as Bluetooth). TM Equipment within the scope of ( ).

[0045] A proxy device may be the only device within its edge group that participates in edge server and / or service discovery. For example, a proxy device may be the only device within the edge group that interacts with edge services. The proxy device serves as the primary link to edge services and applications, and any other links from other devices within the edge group toward the edge can be interrupted or put into sleep mode (e.g., unless actively involved in offloading to the edge network). An edge group may include a single proxy device at a time, but different devices within the edge group may act as proxy devices for that edge group at different times (e.g., depending on changes in link quality conditions).

[0046] In one example, a proxy device is a device with high connectivity and / or computing power (e.g., the highest computing power among devices in an edge group). In another example, a proxy device is a single device with less computing power and battery life (e.g., a smartwatch or other wearable device, a low-cost phone, etc.). In this case, the proxy device could be a device that can benefit from edge computing, such as a streamlined device or other device with limited computing power.

[0047] In another example, the proxy device can be selected based on application criteria. For instance, the proxy device can be dynamically selected by the edge group service among other devices in the edge group based on factors such as the current link and application requirements (e.g., application data rate and latency requirements) and / or the channel quality toward the edge server (e.g., Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) level). In yet another example, the proxy device can be pre-selected among devices in the edge group (e.g., by the user, parent, or VIP) and pre-registered with the edge group service. The proxy device can be directly selected by the user and / or selected through user behavior. For example, the proxy device could be a preferred device, such as a device most frequently used by the user (e.g., a smartphone always selected as the proxy device via a streaming set-top box or a tablet within the same edge group).

[0048] The agent device can provide desired requests to the edge group service entity to achieve optimal offloading. For example, the agent device can be configured to signal requests under current channel conditions to successfully offload the application's desired modulation, rate, and / or transmit power. Finally, the edge group service entity can negotiate those requests with the network provider.

[0049] Figure 4 An example of signaling flow between entities within a framework including RAN 404, edge server (e.g., edge application server) 408, edge service 412, ICF 416, agent device 420, and edge group 424 is illustrated. Within this framework, agent device 420 may perform edge server discovery and share information obtained from the edge server to its linked devices. In another example, agent device 420 may perform edge service discovery and share information from the edge service provider to its linked devices. In yet another example, an edge group service entity (e.g., ICF 416) may perform edge server discovery and provide the resulting connectivity information to agent device 420 (e.g., in the form of edge group metadata as described below). In yet another example, the edge group may operate at an assigned network slice.

[0050] like Figure 4As shown, ICF 416 can receive information from RAN 404 related to links to devices in the edge group, such as Quality of Service (QoS), channel link quality, and / or power level. ICF 416 can also receive information from the edge network related to edge server 408 (e.g., IP address, port number, connection status, and / or capability (offload)) and / or information related to edge service 412 (e.g., resource type, location, owner, and / or data distribution type). For example, ICF 416 can send one or more edge server and / or edge service discovery requests. ICF 416 can also receive device capability information and / or edge group configuration information from one or more devices in edge group 424.

[0051] Based on information received from one or more devices in RAN 404, the edge network, and / or the edge group, ICF 416 may select a device to serve as agent device 420 for edge group 424. Alternatively or additionally, ICF 416 may select agent device 420 based on user selection, and the agent device may be pre-registered. ICF 416 may send a request for agent services to the selected device 420. Agent services may include participating in edge server and service discovery and / or distributing basic discovery information in the form of metadata (e.g., metadata files) to other devices in the edge group. In response to the request, the selected device 420 may send an acknowledgment of agent service to ICF 416.

[0052] Information about edge servers and / or edge services is distributed to devices in the edge group in the form of edge group metadata (e.g., metadata files). Edge group metadata may contain information about one or more edge servers, such as IP address, port number, connection status, and / or capabilities (offload). Edge group metadata may contain information about available edge services, such as resource type, location, owner, and / or data distribution type. Sharing only certain core information about functionality and its attributes in this way helps keep data flow as small as possible.

[0053] In one example, after confirmation of the proxy service, proxy device 420 participates in edge server and service discovery to collect such edge server and / or service information for distribution as edge group metadata to other devices in the edge group. In another example, proxy device 420 receives such edge server and / or service information (e.g., in the form of edge group metadata or another form) from ICF 416 for distribution as edge group metadata to other devices in the edge group. In this case, the information (e.g., metadata) may be sent along with a request for the proxy service (e.g., in a message that also includes a request for the proxy service) or may be sent by the ICF after it receives confirmation of the proxy service. ICF 416 may also issue periodic updates of edge group metadata to proxy device 420 (e.g., at intervals ranging from a few seconds, ten seconds, or thirty seconds to a minute or several minutes) for subsequent distribution among devices in its edge group.

[0054] In one example, edge group metadata is shared between agent device 420 and other devices in its edge group 424 via peer-to-peer communication, which can be implemented within the user device. In another example, edge group metadata is distributed among devices in edge group 424 by utilizing network coding (e.g., multiple copies of metadata are simultaneously shared with devices in the edge group). In yet another example, devices outside the scope of agent devices in an edge group that are restricted to devices belonging to the same person (e.g., a tablet located at home, while the agent device is far from home) receive edge group metadata from the agent device only if it is relevant to that typical device; otherwise, the agent device does not share edge group metadata with that device at that time.

[0055] Devices that are members of an active edge group can briefly (e.g., for periods ranging from a few milliseconds or tens of milliseconds to twenty or fifty milliseconds) and periodically (e.g., at intervals ranging from a few seconds to a few minutes) resume from sleep mode to update link quality status. Based on the most recent link status, the information control function may (or may not) reassign the agent device's role to another device in the same edge group.

[0056] Devices in edge group 424 can use information from edge group metadata to access computing resources and / or services of the edge network. For example, edge group metadata may include the IP address of edge server 408 or another edge server, and devices in the edge group can use this IP address to transmit messages to edge server 408 or other edge servers to initiate edge computing connections (e.g., for compute offloading to the edge server and / or for communication with applications running on the edge server). Edge computing connections between devices in the edge network and the edge group can use dual connectivity, where devices maintain wireless connections to two base stations (or one base station and one access point). Those base stations may run different radio access technologies (e.g., 4G LTE and 5G NR), or control and data planes may be shared between the two base stations. Data packets are distributed across two links, and reordering of packets received from the two different links may be performed by a higher layer (e.g., a packet data convergence protocol or "PDCP").

[0057] Figure 5 The depiction of several different types of edge groups is shown overlaid on Figure 2 The system example above. (In) Figure 5 In this example, labels 508a to 532c respectively indicate elements of the same type as their corresponding labels 208a to 232c as described above, and labels 504a to 504e respectively indicate devices of the same type as their corresponding labels 204a to 204e as described above. This example illustrates four different types of edge groups, but additional edge groups of different types can be organized (e.g., depending on the purpose and / or the relationship between devices within the edge group). The first type of edge group (referred to as a “personal edge group” or “personal device edge group”) may include only personal devices (e.g., devices all linked to the same user). In one example, the link between a device and a person may be indicated by an account identity used to authenticate access to the device (e.g., Apple ID). TM ).exist Figure 5 In the diagram, the personal edge group 536, including smart glasses 504c, smartphones 504d, and smartwatches 504e, is indicated by a dashed circle. Individually, these devices may potentially attempt to connect to the network simultaneously and may be optimized for edge groups using only one cellular connection. For example... Figure 5 The personal edge group 536 shown may expect to select the smartphone 504d as the proxy device so that its cellular connectivity will be used; for example, the smartwatch 504e with cellular connectivity may already be configured this way by default.

[0058] The second type of edge group (referred to as "family edge group," "friends edge group," or "family and friends edge group") may consist only of trusted devices, such as wearable and / or portable devices belonging to family members and friends. Figure 5 In this context, the family and friends edge group 540, as indicated by the dashed ellipse, includes devices for individual edge groups and also includes a streaming set-top box 504f (which can be connected to a server 524 of the data network via a high-speed Internet terrestrial cable).

[0059] The third type of edge group (called "proximity-based edge group" or "proximity edge group") may only include devices that are closely adjacent to each other. Figure 5 In this example, the proximity edge group 544, as indicated by the dashed ellipse, includes a tablet 504a and a streaming set-top box 504f. In one example, the proximity edge group may include devices from neighboring homes that have already collaborated to create the group (e.g., a shared connection for video streaming or other edge group services that are not considered privacy-critical).

[0060] The fourth type of edge group (referred to as "open edge group" or "public edge group") can include any device capable of content sharing. Figure 5 In this context, public edge groups 548, as indicated by the dashed ellipse, include smartphones 504b and 504d. Public edge groups can be more volatile than any of the other three types of edge groups described above. Due to device mobility, public edge groups may require more frequent reassignment of agent device roles among their member devices than other types of edge groups.

[0061] Figure 6 An example of an active public edge group 648 (indicated by a thick dashed ellipse and including smartphones 604b and 604d) and a currently assigned agent device 604b within that edge group is shown. Figure 6In this context, labels 604a to 604e respectively indicate devices of the same type as their corresponding labels 204a to 204e as described above; labels 608a, 608b, and 628a to 632c respectively indicate elements of the same type as their corresponding labels 208a, 208b, and 228a to 232c as described above; labels 612a to 624 respectively indicate elements of the same type as their corresponding labels 312a to 324 as described above; and label 626 indicates an element of the same type as its corresponding label 326 as described above. In this case, an interesting aspect is the overlap of different types of edge groups. One or more other devices in personal edge group 636 may benefit from public edge group 648. Additionally or alternatively, one or more other devices in personal edge group 636 may intentionally not benefit from public edge group 648, at least for non-privacy or non-security-critical services. In one example, the configuration supporting the propagation of benefits across overlapping edge groups may be marked in the edge group metadata (e.g., in the service metafile).

[0062] The fifth type of edge group may include a single device (e.g., a thin device) whose virtual replication is available at the edge server. In this example, the agent device is the only device in its edge group, and it can be fully mirrored on the edge server (e.g., as a virtual replication device). The agent device may be selected for this type of virtual replication due to capacity limitations (such as, for example, limited storage, limited computing resources, and / or rapidly depleting or otherwise limited battery power).

[0063] Figure 7 A concrete implementation example of this type of edge group is shown. The edge group service can define offloading terms and conditions to the agent device 704g (e.g., a smartwatch, a smartphone with limited computing power, or other streamlined device). A virtual copy 714 of the agent device 704g can be uploaded to the edge server 716a, enabling, for example, complete offloading of all applications and associated software and hardware (e.g., virtualization layers) at the edge. In this example, only the application output is shown on the user interface of the agent device 704g (e.g., the opposite of on-device computation performed by the same device without such offloading, as shown at label 748g). It may be desirable to configure the agent device 704g to log in to the virtual copy device only on demand (e.g., via secure authentication and through base station 708a), which may result in less use of computing resources and slower battery consumption at the agent device 704g. The agent device 704g may also consider wireless channel conditions before accessing the virtual copy device 714.

[0064] The framework based on one or more examples described herein can reduce the number of connections per person, avoid control plane congestion, and / or provide means for device and network power savings. For scenarios where link reduction is not feasible (e.g., all devices are active and using edge services), the proposed architecture can be tailored to maximize one or more system key performance indicators (KPIs), such as total throughput, security aspects, etc. In this case, instead of restricting active connections to proxy devices within the proxy group, all link activity in the edge group can be maintained, and the diversity of a large number of links can be utilized. For example, information control functions can collect information about application requirements and link conditions, and optimize service KPIs (e.g., regarding data rate, latency, and / or security) by using multiple (potentially all) paths available across the edge group to reach the service endpoint devices.

[0065] In one example, the ICF distributes compute power across devices within an edge group (e.g., within a home and friends edge group). Compute tasks that can be distributed across devices within an edge group may include, for example, large analytics tasks or media rendering tasks. Edge group metadata (e.g., service metadata) may indicate the potential compute distribution type. For example, metadata may include flags indicating (a) offloading to an MEC server (which may be configured as the default) or (b) local compute distribution within the edge group.

[0066] Figure 8 An operational flow / algorithm structure 800 according to some implementation schemes is illustrated. The operational flow / algorithm structure 800 can be executed or implemented by a UE, such as, for example, either UE 104 or UE 1200. Figure 2 Any equipment in equipment 204a to 204e Figure 3 Any device in equipment 304b to 304e Figure 4 Either the agent device 420 or the device in the edge group 424 Figure 5 Any device in equipment 504a to 504e Figure 6 Any device in equipment 604a to 604e or Figure 7 Devices 704g; or their components, such as baseband processor 1204A.

[0067] The operational flow / algorithm structure 800 may include receiving a request for a proxy service from an edge group service entity at 804. Receiving a request for a proxy service may include receiving the request for a proxy service within at least one transmission from the radio access network.

[0068] The operation process / algorithm structure 800 may include sending an acknowledgment of the proxy service to the edge group service entity at 808 based on the request.

[0069] The operation flow / algorithm structure 800 may include, at 812, distributing edge group metadata to at least one device in the edge group based on the request. The edge group metadata may indicate at least one of the following: the IP address of the edge server, the port number of the edge server, the connection status of the edge server, and the offloading capability of the edge server. The edge group metadata may indicate the IP address of the edge application server. Distributing the edge group metadata to at least one device in the edge group may include sending the edge group metadata to at least one device in the edge group via a peer-to-peer connection. Network coding may be used to perform the distribution of edge group metadata to at least one device in the edge group.

[0070] The operation flow / algorithm structure 800 may further include receiving edge group metadata from the edge group service entity and receiving edge group metadata after sending an acknowledgment of the proxy service. In this case, receiving edge group metadata may include receiving edge group metadata within at least one transmission from the radio access network. Alternatively, the operation flow / algorithm structure 800 may include receiving a message from the edge group service entity that includes a request for the proxy service and edge group metadata.

[0071] Figure 9 An operational flow / algorithm structure 900 according to some implementation schemes is illustrated. The operational flow / algorithm structure 900 can be executed or implemented by a UE, such as, for example, either UE 104 or UE 1200. Figure 2 Any equipment in equipment 204a to 204e Figure 3 Any device in equipment 304b to 304e Figure 4 Either the agent device 420 or the device in the edge group 424 Figure 5 Any device in equipment 504a to 504e Figure 6 Any device in equipment 604a to 604e or Figure 7 Devices 704g; or their components, such as baseband processor 1204A.

[0072] The operational process / algorithm structure 900 may include obtaining edge group metadata provided by the agent device at 904. Edge group metadata can be obtained via a peer-to-peer connection. Edge group metadata can be obtained via network encoding. The operational process / algorithm structure 900 may include periodic updates to the edge group metadata. The edge group metadata may indicate at least one of the following: the edge server's Internet Protocol (IP) address, the edge server's port number, the edge server's connection status, and the edge server's offloading capability.

[0073] The operation flow / algorithm structure 900 may include information based on the edge group metadata at 908, enabling the device to transmit messages to the edge server. The edge group metadata may indicate the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the edge application server, and the edge server may be an edge application server.

[0074] The operation flow / algorithm structure 900 may include at least one of performing computation offloading to an edge server or communicating with an application running on that edge server at 912. The operation flow / algorithm structure 900 may also include an instruction to provide the computing power of the device to an edge group service entity. Additionally or alternatively, the operation flow / algorithm structure 900 may also include interrupting the link to the second edge server and / or periodically waking up the link to the second edge server.

[0075] Figure 10 An operational flow / algorithm structure 1000 according to some implementation schemes is shown. The operational flow / algorithm structure 1000 may be executed or implemented by a server such as, for example, any of servers 216a, 216b, 224, 232a to 232c, 316a, 316b, 324, 408, 516a, 516b, 524, 532a to 532c, 616a, 616b, 624, 632a to 632c or 716a; or component 1400; or one or more processors thereof, such as processor 1414 or 1416.

[0076] The operation flow / algorithm structure 1000 may include, at 1004, sending a request for proxy services to the first device based on an indication that the first device is acting as a proxy device. The operation flow / algorithm structure 1000 may also include receiving link quality information from a radio access network (RAN) for each of a plurality of devices in an edge group, the first device being among those devices; and generating an indication that the first device is acting as a proxy device based on the link quality information. The link quality information may be received from the RAN via a user plane function (UPF).

[0077] The operation flow / algorithm structure 1000 may include receiving an acknowledgment of the proxy service from the first device at point 1008. The operation flow / algorithm structure 1000 may also include sending edge group metadata to the first device after receiving the acknowledgment of the proxy service.

[0078] Operational flow / algorithm structure 1000 may include sending edge group metadata of multiple devices in an edge group to a first device at point 1012. The edge group metadata may indicate at least one of the following: the Internet Protocol (IP) address of an edge server, the port number of an edge server, the connection status of an edge server, and the offloading capability of an edge server. The edge group metadata may indicate the Internet Protocol (IP) address of an edge application server, and operational flow / algorithm structure 1000 may include receiving the IP address of the edge application server from the core network (CN) via an Application Function (AF) or Network Exposure Function (NEF). Operational flow / algorithm structure 1000 may include receiving an indication from the CN that multiple devices in the edge group are jointly owned. Operational flow / algorithm structure 1000 may include sending a message to the first device including a request for a proxy service and edge group metadata.

[0079] The operation process / algorithm structure 1000 may further include receiving second link quality information from at least one of the multiple devices in the edge group from the RAN; and sending a request for a proxy service to a second device in the multiple devices in the edge group based on the second link quality information, the second device being different from the first device.

[0080] Figure 11 An operational flow / algorithm structure 1100 according to some implementation schemes is illustrated. The operational flow / algorithm structure 1100 can be executed or implemented by a UE, such as, for example, either UE 104 or UE 1200. Figure 2 Any equipment in equipment 204a to 204e Figure 3 Any device in equipment 304b to 304e Figure 4 Either the agent device 420 or the device in the edge group 424 Figure 5 Any device in equipment 504a to 504e Figure 6 Any device in equipment 604a to 604e or Figure 7 Devices 704g; or their components, such as baseband processor 1204A.

[0081] Operational flow / algorithm structure 1100 may include receiving edge group metadata at 1104. The edge group metadata may indicate at least one of the following: the IP address of the edge server, the port number of the edge server, the connection status of the edge server, and the offloading capability of the edge server. In a specific example, the edge group metadata may indicate the IP address of the edge application server. Operational flow / algorithm structure 1100 may include receiving edge group metadata within at least one transmission from a radio access network.

[0082] The operation flow / algorithm structure 1100 may include logging into the virtual replication device executed on the edge application server at 1108 based on edge group metadata. The operation flow / algorithm structure 1100 may also include sending a request for compute offloading to the edge application server before logging into the virtual replication device.

[0083] The operation process / algorithm structure 1100 may include sending first data to the corresponding application on the virtual copy device based on user interaction with the application on the device at 1112.

[0084] The operation process / algorithm structure 1100 may include receiving second data from the corresponding application at 1116 after sending the first data.

[0085] The operation process / algorithm structure 1100 may include updating the device's user interface based on the second data at 1120.

[0086] Figure 12 A UE 1200 according to some implementation schemes is shown. The UE 1200 may be similar to... Figure 1 Any UE in UE 104, Figure 2 Any equipment in equipment 204a to 204e Figure 3 Any device in equipment 304b to 304e Figure 4 Either the agent device 420 or the device in the edge group 424 Figure 5 Any device in equipment 504a to 504e Figure 6 Any device in equipment 604a to 604e or Figure 7 The device weighs 704g and is basically interchangeable with it.

[0087] UE 1200 can be any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as mobile phones, computers, tablets, glasses, XR devices, industrial wireless sensors (e.g., microphones, carbon dioxide sensors, pressure sensors, humidity sensors, thermometers, motion sensors, accelerometers, laser scanners, fluid level sensors, stock sensors, voltmeters / ammeters, actuators, etc.), video surveillance / monitoring devices (e.g., cameras, camcorders, etc.), wearable devices (e.g., smartwatches), and loosely coupled IoT devices.

[0088] UE 1200 may include a processor 1204, RF interface circuitry 1208, memory / storage device 1212, user interface 1216, sensor 1220, drive circuitry 1222, power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 1224, antenna structure 1226, and battery 1228. Components of UE 1200 may be implemented as integrated circuits (ICs), portions of integrated circuits, discrete electronic devices or other modules, logic components, hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof. Figure 12 The block diagram is intended to show a high-level view of some of the components of the UE 1200. However, some of the components shown may be omitted, additional components may be present, and different arrangements of the components shown may occur in other specific implementations.

[0089] The components of UE 1200 can be coupled to various other components via one or more interconnects 1232, which can represent any type of interface, input / output, bus (local, system, or extended), transmission line, trace, optical connector, etc., that allows various circuit components (on common or different chips or chipsets) to interact with each other.

[0090] Processor 1204 may include processor circuitry, such as, for example, baseband processor circuitry (BB) 1204A, central processing unit circuitry (CPU) 1204B, and graphics processing unit circuitry (GPU) 1204f. Processor 1204 may include any type of circuitry or processor circuitry that executes or otherwise operates computer-executable instructions (such as program code, software modules, or functional processes from memory / storage device 1212) to cause UE 1200 to perform the operations described herein.

[0091] In some implementations, the baseband processor circuit 1204A can access the communication protocol stack 1236 in the memory / storage device 1212 to communicate over a 3GPP-compliant network. Generally, the baseband processor circuit 1204A can access the communication protocol stack to perform user plane functions at the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, SDAP, and PDU layers; and control plane functions at the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC, and non-access layers. In some implementations, PHY layer operation may additionally / optionally be performed by components of the RF interface circuit 1208.

[0092] The baseband processor circuit 1204A can generate or process baseband signals or waveforms carrying information in a 3GPP-compliant network. In some implementations, the waveforms used for NR may be based on cyclic prefix OFDM (“CP-OFDM”) in the uplink or downlink, and Discrete Fourier Transform Extended OFDM (“DFT-S-OFDM”) in the uplink.

[0093] Memory / storage device 1212 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, including instructions (e.g., communication protocol stack 1236) that can be executed by one or more processors in processor 1204 to cause UE 1200 to perform the various operations described herein. Memory / storage device 1212 includes any type of volatile or non-volatile memory that can be distributed throughout UE 1200. In some embodiments, some memory / storage devices in memory / storage device 1212 may be located on processor 1204 itself (e.g., L1 cache and L2 cache), while other memory / storage devices 1212 may be located external to processor 1204 but accessible via a memory interface. Memory / storage device 1212 may include any suitable volatile or non-volatile memory, such as, but not limited to, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state memory, or any other type of memory device technology.

[0094] The RF interface circuit 1208 may include transceiver circuitry and a radio frequency front-end module (RFEM), which allows the UE 1200 to communicate with other devices via a radio access network. The RF interface circuit 1208 may include various components arranged in the transmission or reception path. These components may include, for example, switches, mixers, amplifiers, filters, synthesizer circuitry, control circuitry, etc.

[0095] In the receiving path, the RFEM can receive the radiated signal from the air interface via antenna structure 1226 and continue to filter and amplify the signal (using a low-noise amplifier). This signal can be provided to the receiver of the transceiver, which downconverts the RF signal into a baseband signal that is provided to the baseband processor of processor 1204.

[0096] In the transmission path, the transceiver's transmitter upconverts the baseband signal received from the baseband processor and provides the RF signal to the RFEM. The RFEM amplifies the RF signal using a power amplifier before it is radiated across the air interface via antenna 1226.

[0097] In various implementations, the RF interface circuit 1208 can be configured to transmit / receive signals in a manner compatible with NR access technology.

[0098] Antenna 1226 may include antenna elements to convert electrical signals into radio waves for propagation through the air and to convert received radio waves back into electrical signals. These antenna elements may be arranged in one or more antenna panels. Antenna 1226 may have omnidirectional, directional, or combinations thereof antenna panels to enable beamforming and multiple-input / multiple-output communication. Antenna 1226 may include microstrip antennas, printed antennas fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuit boards, patch antennas, phased array antennas, etc. Antenna 1226 may have one or more panels designed for a specific frequency band included in FR1 or FR2.

[0099] User interface circuitry 1216 includes various input / output (I / O) devices designed to enable users to interact with UE 1200. User interface circuitry 1216 includes input device circuitry and output device circuitry. Input device circuitry includes any physical or virtual means for accepting input, particularly including one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touchscreen, a microphone, a scanner, a headset, etc. Output device circuitry includes any physical or virtual means for displaying information or otherwise conveying information (such as sensor readings, actuator positions, or other similar information). Output device circuitry may include any number or combination of audio or visual displays, particularly including one or more simple visual outputs / indicators (e.g., binary status indicators, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs)) and multi-character visual outputs, or more complex outputs, such as display devices or touchscreens (e.g., liquid crystal displays, LED displays, quantum dot displays, projectors, etc.), wherein the output of characters, graphics, multimedia objects, etc., is generated or produced by the operation of UE 1200.

[0100] Sensor 1220 may include devices, modules, or subsystems intended to detect events or changes in their environment and transmit information about the detected events (sensor data) to other devices, modules, subsystems, etc. Examples of such sensors include, in particular: inertial measurement units including accelerometers, gyroscopes, or magnetometers; microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) or nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) including triaxial accelerometers, triaxial gyroscopes, or magnetometers; level sensors; flow sensors; temperature sensors (e.g., thermistors); pressure sensors; barometric pressure sensors; gravimeters; altimeters; image capture devices (e.g., cameras or lensless aperture sensors); light detection and ranging sensors; proximity sensors (e.g., infrared radiation detectors, etc.); depth sensors; ambient light sensors; ultrasonic transceivers; microphones or other similar audio capture devices; etc.

[0101] The driving circuit 1222 may include software and hardware elements for controlling specific devices embedded in, attached to, or otherwise communicatively coupled to the UE 1200. The driving circuit 1222 may include various drivers that allow other components to interact with or control various input / output (I / O) devices that may exist within or be connected to the UE 1200. For example, the driving circuit 1222 may include: a display driver for controlling and allowing access to a display device; a touchscreen driver for controlling and allowing access to a touchscreen interface; a sensor driver for acquiring sensor readings of the sensor circuit 1220 and controlling and allowing access to the sensor circuit 1220; a driver for acquiring actuator positions of electromechanical components or controlling and allowing access to electromechanical components; a camera driver for controlling and allowing access to an embedded image capture device; and an audio driver for controlling and allowing access to one or more audio devices.

[0102] The PMIC 1224 manages the power supplied to various components of the UE 1200. Specifically, relative to the processor 1204, the PMIC 1224 controls power selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion.

[0103] In some implementations, the PMIC 1224 may control or otherwise incorporate various power-saving mechanisms of the UE 1200, including DRX, as discussed herein.

[0104] Battery 1228 can power UE 1200, but in some examples, UE 1200 may be mounted in a fixed location and may have a power source coupled to the mains. Battery 1228 may be a lithium-ion battery, a metal-air battery, such as a zinc-air battery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, etc. In some specific implementations, such as in vehicle-based applications, battery 1228 may be a typical lead-acid automotive battery.

[0105] Figure 13 An access node 1300 (e.g., a base station such as an eNB or gNB) is shown according to some implementation schemes. The access node 1300 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with any of base stations 108, 208a, 208b, 308a, 308b, 508a, 508b, 608a, 608a, or 708a or a base station of RAN 404.

[0106] Access node 1300 may include processor 1304, RF interface circuit 1308, core network (CN) interface circuit 1312, memory / storage circuit 1316 and antenna structure 1326.

[0107] The components of access node 1300 can be coupled to various other components via one or more interconnectors 1328.

[0108] The processor 1304, RF interface circuit 1308, memory / storage circuit 1316 (including communication protocol stack 1310), antenna structure 1326, and interconnect 1328 can be similar to those described above. Figure 12 Similar named elements are shown and described.

[0109] The CN interface circuit 1312 may provide connectivity to a core network (e.g., a 5th generation core network (5GC) using a 5GC-compatible network interface protocol, such as Carrier Ethernet, or some other suitable protocol) or a 4th generation core network (Evolved Packet Core or “EPC”; e.g., in an E-UTRAN NR-Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) deployment). Network connectivity may be provided to / from access node 1300 via fiber optic or wireless backhaul. The CN interface circuit 1312 may include one or more dedicated processors or FPGAs for communicating using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the CN interface circuit 1312 may include multiple controllers for providing connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0110] Figure 14 This is a block diagram illustrating component 1400 of one or more of the methods discussed herein (e.g., referencing an edge group service entity) according to some exemplary embodiments, capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and executing them. Specifically, Figure 14 A schematic representation of hardware resources 1402 is shown, including one or more processors 1412 (or processor cores), one or more memory / storage devices 1418, and one or more communication resources 1420, each of which is communicatively coupled via bus 1422. For implementations utilizing node virtualization (e.g., NFV), a hypervisor 1404 can be executed to provide an execution environment for enabling one or more network slices / subslices to utilize hardware resources 1402. Component 1400 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with any of servers 216a, 216b, 224, 232a to 232c, 316a, 316b, 324, 408, 516a, 516b, 524, 532a to 532c, 616a, 616b, 624, 632a to 632c, or 716a.

[0111] Processor 1412 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP) (such as a baseband processor), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, processor 1414 and processor 1416.

[0112] The memory / storage device 1418 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage device 1418 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state storage devices, etc.

[0113] Communication resource 1420 may include interconnect or network interface components or other suitable devices for communicating with one or more peripheral devices 1406 or one or more databases 1408 via network 1410. For example, communication resource 1420 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via Universal Serial Bus (USB), cellular communication components, NFC components, etc. Components (e.g.) (low power consumption) Components and other communication components.

[0114] Instructions 1424 may include software, programs, applications, applets, or other executable code for causing at least any one of the processors 1412 to perform any or more of the methods discussed herein. Instructions 1424 may reside wholly or partially within at least one of the processor 1412 (e.g., within the processor's cache), memory / storage device 1418, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of instructions 1424 may be transferred to hardware resource 1402 from any combination of peripheral device 1406 or database 1408. Thus, the memory of processor 1412, memory / storage device 1418, peripheral device 1406, and database 1408 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0115] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and / or methods as described in the Examples section below. For example, the baseband circuitry described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples below. As another example, circuitry associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc., described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples shown in the Examples section below.

[0116] As is widely recognized, the use of personally identifiable information should comply with privacy policies and practices that are generally accepted to meet or exceed industry or governmental requirements for protecting user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly explained to users.

[0117] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, or methods as described in the Examples section below. For example, the baseband circuitry described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples below. Similarly, circuitry associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc., described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples shown in the Examples section below.

[0118] Example

[0119] Further exemplary implementations are provided in the following sections.

[0120] Example 1 includes a method for operating a device (e.g., a proxy device), the method comprising: receiving a request for a proxy service from an edge group service entity; sending an acknowledgment of the proxy service to the edge group service entity and based on the request; and distributing edge group metadata to at least one device in the edge group based on the request.

[0121] Example 2 includes the method of Example 1 or some other embodiment of this document, wherein receiving the request for the proxy service includes receiving the request for the proxy service within at least one transmission from a radio access network.

[0122] Example 3 includes the method of Example 1 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the request for the proxy service identifies multiple devices of the edge group.

[0123] Example 4 includes a method of Example 1 or some other embodiment of this document, wherein the method includes receiving a message from the edge group service entity including the request for the proxy service and the edge group metadata.

[0124] Example 5 includes the method of Example 1 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the method further includes receiving edge group metadata from the edge group service entity and after the confirmation of sending the proxy service.

[0125] Example 6 includes the method of Example 5 or some other embodiment of this document, wherein receiving the edge group metadata includes receiving the edge group metadata within at least one transmission from the radio access network.

[0126] Example 7 includes the method of Example 1 or some other embodiment of this document, wherein the edge group metadata indicates at least one of the edge server's IP address, edge server's port number, edge server's connection status, and edge server's offloading capability.

[0127] Example 8 includes the method of Example 1 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the edge group metadata indicates the IP address of the edge application server.

[0128] Example 9 includes the method of Example 1 or some other embodiment of this document, wherein distributing the edge group metadata to the at least one device in the edge group includes sending the edge group metadata to the at least one device in the edge group via a peer-to-peer connection.

[0129] Example 10 includes the method of Example 1 or some other embodiment of this document, wherein network coding is used to perform the distribution of edge group metadata to at least one device in the edge group.

[0130] Example 11 includes a method of operating a device (e.g., a device in an edge group), the method comprising: obtaining edge group metadata provided by a proxy device; causing the device to transmit a message to an edge server based on information within the edge group metadata; and performing at least one of computing offloading to the edge server or communicating with an application running on the edge server.

[0131] Example 12 includes the method of Example 11 or some other embodiment of this document, wherein the method further includes providing an indication of the computing power of the device to an edge group service entity.

[0132] Example 13 includes the method of Example 11 or some other embodiment of this document, wherein the method further includes interrupting the link to the second edge server.

[0133] Example 14 includes the method of Example 11 or some other embodiment of this document, wherein the method further includes periodically waking up the link to a second edge server.

[0134] Example 15 includes the method of Example 11 or some other embodiment of this document, wherein the method includes obtaining the edge group metadata via a peer-to-peer connection.

[0135] Example 16 includes the method of Example 11 or some other embodiment of this document, wherein the method includes obtaining the edge group metadata via network encoding.

[0136] Example 17 includes the method of Example 11 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the method includes obtaining periodic updates of the edge group metadata.

[0137] Example 18 includes the method of Example 11 or some other embodiment of this document, wherein the edge group metadata indicates at least one of the edge server's IP address, edge server's port number, edge server's connection status, and edge server's offloading capability.

[0138] Example 19 includes the method of Example 11 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the edge group metadata indicates the IP address of the edge application server.

[0139] Example 20 includes the method of Example 19 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the edge server is the edge application server.

[0140] Example 21 includes a method (e.g., a method of operating a network entity) comprising: sending a request for a proxy service to a first device based on an indication that the first device is a proxy device; receiving an acknowledgment of the proxy service from the first device; and sending edge group metadata of a plurality of devices of an edge group to the first device.

[0141] Example 22 includes the method of Example 21 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the method further includes receiving link quality information of each of the plurality of devices in the edge group from a radio access network (RAN), the first device being among the plurality of devices; and generating an indication that the first device is a proxy device based on the link quality information.

[0142] Example 23 includes the method of Example 22 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the method includes receiving the link quality information from the RAN via a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0143] Example 24 includes the method of Example 21 or some other embodiment of this document, wherein the method further includes sending a message to the first device including the request for the proxy service and the edge group metadata.

[0144] Example 25 includes the method of Example 21 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the method includes sending the edge group metadata to the first device after receiving the confirmation from the proxy service.

[0145] Example 26 includes the method of Example 21 or some other embodiment of this document, wherein the edge group metadata indicates at least one of the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the edge server, the port number of the edge server, the connection status of the edge server, and the offloading capability of the edge server.

[0146] Example 27 includes the method of Example 21 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the edge group metadata indicates the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the edge application server.

[0147] Example 28 includes the method of Example 27 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the method includes receiving the IP address of the edge application server from the core network (CN) via an application function (AF) or a network exposure function (NEF).

[0148] Example 29 includes the method of Example 21 or some other embodiment of this document, wherein the method further includes receiving from the core network (CN) an indication that the plurality of devices of the edge group are jointly owned.

[0149] Example 30 includes the method of Example 21 or some other embodiment of this document, wherein the method further includes receiving second link quality information from the RAN for at least one of the plurality of devices in the edge group; and sending a request for a proxy service to a second device in the plurality of devices in the edge group, the second device being different from the first device, based on the second link quality information.

[0150] Example 31 includes a method of operating a device (e.g., a streamlined device), the method comprising: receiving edge group metadata; logging into a virtual replica device running on an edge application server based on the edge group metadata; sending first data to a corresponding application on the virtual replica device based on user interaction with an application on the device; receiving second data from the corresponding application after sending the first data; and updating the user interface of the device based on the second data.

[0151] Example 32 includes the method of Example 31 or some other embodiment of this document, wherein the edge group metadata indicates at least one of the edge server's IP address, edge server's port number, edge server's connection status, and edge server's offloading capability.

[0152] Example 33 includes the method of Example 31 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the edge group metadata indicates the IP address of the edge application server.

[0153] Example 34 includes the method of Example 31 or some other embodiment of this document, wherein the method further includes sending a request for computation offloading to the edge application server before logging into the virtual replication device.

[0154] Example 35 includes the method of Example 31 or some other embodiment of this document, wherein receiving the edge group metadata includes receiving the edge group metadata within at least one transmission from the radio access network.

[0155] Example 36 includes a system (e.g., a framework) comprising: an edge group including a plurality of devices; a proxy device for providing edge group metadata to one or more devices in the edge group; and an edge group service entity for providing the edge group metadata to the proxy device, the edge group service entity including an information control function for receiving first information related to channel link quality from a radio access network; receiving second information related to expected throughput, latency, user behavior, or available edge services from an edge server; and selecting the proxy device based on the first and second information.

[0156] Example 37 includes a system of Example 36 or another embodiment of this document, wherein the information control function is used to monitor the local services and availability of the edge network.

[0157] Example 38 includes a system of Example 36 or another embodiment of this document, wherein the information control function is used to detect changes in the first information or the second information over time and to select different proxy devices based on the changes.

[0158] Example 39 includes a system of Example 36 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the information control function is used to select the agent device based on application criteria.

[0159] Example 40 includes a system of Example 36 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the information control function is used to select the proxy device based on the reference signal received power (RSRP) level.

[0160] Example 41 includes a system of Example 36 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the information control function is used to select the agent device based on user behavior.

[0161] Example 42 includes the system of Example 36 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the agent device registers with the edge group service entity in advance.

[0162] Example 43 includes a system of Example 36 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the proxy device is used to provide the desired request to the edge group service entity to achieve offloading.

[0163] Example 44 includes a system of Example 36 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the proxy device is used to signal the desired modulation, rate, or transmit power to the edge group service entity based on current channel conditions to successfully unload the application.

[0164] Example 45 may include an apparatus comprising means for performing one or more elements of the method described or associated with any of Examples 1 to 44 or any other method or process described herein.

[0165] Example 46 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, the one or more non-transitory computer-readable media including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of the method or any other method or process described herein, as described or associated with any of Examples 1 to 44.

[0166] Example 47 may include an apparatus comprising logic components, modules, or circuitry for performing one or more elements of the method described or associated with any of Examples 1 to 44 or any other method or process described herein.

[0167] Example 48 may include the methods, techniques, or processes described or associated with any of Examples 1 to 44, or parts or components thereof.

[0168] Example 49 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors; and one or more computer-readable media including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform, or a portion thereof, the methods, techniques, or processes described or associated with any of Examples 1 to 44.

[0169] Example 50 may include the signals described or associated with any of Examples 1 to 44, or parts or components thereof.

[0170] Example 51 may include datagrams, information elements, packets, frames, segments, PDUs or messages described or associated with any of Examples 1 to 44, or parts or components thereof, or otherwise described in this disclosure.

[0171] Example 52 may include data-encoded signals, or portions or components thereof, as described or otherwise in this disclosure, as described in any of Examples 1 to 44.

[0172] Example 53 may include signals encoded as datagrams, IEs, packets, frames, segments, PDUs, or messages, or portions or components thereof, as described or otherwise in this disclosure, as described or associated with any of Examples 1 to 44.

[0173] Example 54 may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein one or more processors execute the computer-readable instructions to cause the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process, or a portion thereof, as described or associated with any of Examples 1 to 44.

[0174] Embodiment 55 may include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein the program is executed by a processing element to cause the processing element to perform, or a portion thereof, a method, technique, or process described or associated with any one of Embodiments 1 to 44.

[0175] Example 56 may include signals in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0176] Example 57 may include methods for communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0177] Example 58 may include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0178] Example 59 may include a device for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0179] Unless otherwise expressly stated, any of the examples above may be combined with any other example (or combination of examples). The foregoing description of one or more specific embodiments provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. In light of the teachings above, modifications and variations are possible, or modifications and variations may be derived from practice of various embodiments.

[0180] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, many variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the disclosure is fully understood. This disclosure is intended to render the following claims as encompassing all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. A method of operating a device, the method comprising: receiving a request for proxy service from an edge group service entity; sending, to the edge group service entity, a confirmation of proxy service based on the request; and distributing, to at least one device of an edge group, edge group metadata based on the request, wherein the edge group is formed by a plurality of devices, and wherein the edge group metadata comprises information about an edge server.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the request for proxy service comprises receiving the request for proxy service via a radio access network.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the request for proxy service identifies the plurality of devices of the edge group.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the method comprises receiving, from the edge group service entity, a message comprising the request for proxy service and the edge group metadata.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises receiving the edge group metadata from the edge group service entity after sending the confirmation of proxy service.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein receiving the edge group metadata comprises receiving the edge group metadata via a radio access network.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the edge group metadata indicates at least one of an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the edge server, a port number of the edge server, a connection status of the edge server, and an offload capability of the edge server.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the edge group metadata indicates an Internet Protocol (IP) address of an edge application server.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein distributing the edge group metadata to the at least one device of the edge group comprises sending the edge group metadata to the at least one device of the edge group over a peer-to-peer connection.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein distributing the edge group metadata to the at least one device of the edge group is performed using network coding.

11. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause an apparatus to: send, to a first device, a request for proxy service based on an indication that the first device is a proxy device; receive, from the first device, a confirmation of proxy service; and send, to the first device, edge group metadata for a plurality of devices of an edge group, wherein the edge group is formed by the plurality of devices, and wherein the edge group metadata comprises information about an edge server.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions comprise instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to: receive, from a radio access network (RAN), link quality information for each device of the plurality of devices of the edge group, the first device being in the plurality of devices; and determine, based on the link quality information, whether to use the first device as the proxy device. ​ Based on the link quality information, generate the indication of the first device as a proxy device.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions comprise instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to transmit, to the first device, a message comprising the request for proxy service and the edge group metadata.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions cause the apparatus to transmit the edge group metadata to the first device after receiving the confirmation of proxy service.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the edge group metadata indicates an Internet Protocol (IP) address of an edge application server.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions comprise instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to receive, from a core network (CN), an indication that the plurality of devices of the edge group are collectively owned by a single user.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions comprise instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to: receive, from a radio access network (RAN), second link quality information for at least one device of the plurality of devices of the edge group; and based on the second link quality information, transmit, to a second device of the plurality of devices of the edge group, a request for proxy service, the second device being different from the first device.

18. An apparatus for distributing edge group metadata, the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry to: receive, from an edge group service entity, edge group metadata and a request for proxy service; based on the request, transmit, to the edge group service entity, a confirmation of proxy service; and based on the request, distribute the edge group metadata to at least one device of an edge group, wherein the edge group is formed by a plurality of devices, and wherein the edge group metadata comprises information about an edge server; and a memory coupled to the processing circuitry, the memory to store the edge group metadata.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the request for proxy service identifies the plurality of devices of the edge group.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processing circuitry is to receive the edge group metadata after transmitting the confirmation of proxy service to the edge group service entity.

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