Dynamic network slice resource reselection

Abstract

Systems and methods are described that provide dynamic network slice resource reselection for wireless communications. A user equipment (UE) can determine that network slice resources utilized for one or more applications are to be changed in runtime, such as to operate more efficiently according to changes in power mode, throughput mode, latency mode, etc. A message indicating a reason for reselection associated with a current packet data unit (PDU) session of an application can be provided to a UE route selection policy (URSP) manager. The URSP manager can reevaluate the association with the current PDU session of the application to determine whether it best matches the reason. If not, a switch to a new PDU session association with the application can be made. If so, the current PDU session association with the application can be maintained. Other aspects and features are also claimed and described.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure generally relates to wireless communication systems, and more specifically, to network slicing. Certain embodiments of the techniques discussed below can implement and provide dynamic network slice resource reselection. Background Technology

[0002] Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services, such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, and broadcasting. These wireless networks can be multiple access networks capable of supporting multiple users by sharing available network resources. Such networks are typically multi-access networks, supporting communication for multiple users by sharing available network resources.

[0003] A wireless communication network may include multiple base stations or nodes B that can support communication for multiple user equipments (UEs). UEs can communicate with base stations via downlinks and uplinks. A downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the base station to the UE, while an uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the UE to the base station. Base stations can send data and control information to UEs on the downlink and / or receive data and control information from UEs on the uplink.

[0004] On the downlink, transmissions from the base station may encounter interference from neighboring base stations or from other radio frequency (RF) transmitters. On the uplink, transmissions from the UE may encounter interference from uplink transmissions from other UEs communicating with neighboring base stations or from other RF transmitters. This interference can degrade performance on both the downlink and uplink. As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, the likelihood of interference and network congestion grows with more UEs accessing long-range wireless communication networks and more short-range wireless systems being deployed in communities.

[0005] Network architectures have been developed to support a wide variety of services with very different Service Level Requirements (SLRs). For example, network slicing is a network architecture that allows the reuse of virtual and independent logical networks on the same physical network infrastructure. Each network slice is an isolated end-to-end network that is configured or selected to meet the needs of a specific application. Network operators deploying Independent Access (SA) networks employing network slicing can manage each network slice, for example, by using a UE Routing Policy (URSP). When implementing network slicing, the UE invokes a procedure to associate an application with a Packet Data Unit (PDU) session based on the URSP policy. The UE then routes the application to the appropriate slice resource pool (e.g., the PDU session) based on the URSP policy. In routing the application to the slice resource pool, the UE selects a higher-priority Routing Descriptor (RSD) for the PDU session association. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The following summarizes certain aspects of this disclosure to provide a basic understanding of the techniques discussed. This summary is not a comprehensive overview of all the intended features of this disclosure, and is neither intended to identify key or essential elements of all aspects of this disclosure, nor to depict the scope of any or all aspects of this disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of this disclosure in summary form as a prelude to the more detailed description that follows.

[0007] In one aspect of this disclosure, a wireless communication method is provided. The method may include operating according to a User Equipment (UE) Routing Policy (URSP) configuration to associate one or more applications with a Packet Data Unit (PDU) session of network slicing operation. The method may also include providing a message to a URSP manager indicating a reason for dynamically re-associating the current PDU session with a first application among the one or more applications. The method may further include, based on the reason for dynamic re-associating, switching to association with a new PDU session with the first application in response to an instruction from the URSP manager to re-associate a new PDU session; or, based on the reason for dynamic re-associating, maintaining association with the current PDU session with the first application in response to the absence of an instruction from the URSP manager to re-associate a new PDU session.

[0008] In an additional aspect of this disclosure, an apparatus for conducting wireless communication is provided. The apparatus may include components for operating according to a URSP configuration to associate one or more applications with a PDU session of network slicing operations. The apparatus may also include providing a message to a URSP manager indicating a reason for dynamically re-associating the current PDU session with a first application among the one or more applications. The apparatus may further include, based on the reason for dynamic re-associating, switching to association with a new PDU session with the first application in response to an instruction from the URSP manager to re-associate a new PDU session; or, based on the reason for dynamic re-associating, maintaining association with the current PDU session with the first application in response to the absence of an instruction from the URSP manager to re-associate a new PDU session.

[0009] In an additional aspect of this disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium for wireless communication is provided having program code recorded thereon. The program code may include code that operates according to a URSP configuration to associate one or more applications with a PDU session for network slicing operations. The program code may also include code that provides a message to a URSP manager indicating a reason for dynamically re-associating the current PDU session with a first application among the one or more applications. The program code may further include code that performs the following actions: based on the reason for dynamic re-associating, in response to an instruction from the URSP manager to re-associate a new PDU session with the first application; or based on the reason for dynamic re-associating, in response to the absence of an instruction from the URSP manager to re-associate a new PDU session, maintaining association with the current PDU session with the first application.

[0010] In an additional aspect of this disclosure, an apparatus for configuring wireless communication is provided. The apparatus includes at least one processor and memory coupled to the processor. The processor may be configured to operate according to a URSP configuration to associate one or more applications with a PDU session of network slicing operations. The processor may also be configured to provide a message to a URSP manager indicating a reason for dynamically re-associating with the current PDU session of a first application among the one or more applications. The processor may also be configured to, based on the reason for dynamic re-associating, switch to associating with a new PDU session of the first application in response to an instruction from the URSP manager to re-associate with a new PDU session; or, based on the reason for dynamic re-associating, maintain association with the current PDU session of the first application in response to the absence of an instruction from the URSP manager to re-associate with a new PDU session.

[0011] According to various aspects of this disclosure, the aforementioned systems, methods, and apparatuses may be implemented in conjunction with one or more additional features (such as the individual or combined features listed below). For example, the systems, methods, and apparatuses may include an indication that a first application provides a reason for dynamically re-associating with the current PDU session of the first application. The systems, methods, and apparatuses may include obtaining performance dimension information for a slice used for URSP configuration; and extending the routing policy information of the URSP configuration to include performance dimension criteria based on the performance dimension information. The systems, methods, and apparatuses may include performance dimension information including information selected from the group consisting of: bandwidth information, latency information, power consumption information, and economy mode information relative to the slice of the URSP configuration. The systems, methods, and apparatuses may include applying URSP configuration at UE startup to associate one or more applications with a PDU session, and applying the extended URSP configuration after extending the URSP configuration to dynamically re-associate with the PDU session of the first application. The above systems, methods, and apparatus may include a message indicating to the URSP manager that the reason for dynamic reselection associated with the current PDU session of the first application corresponds to a performance dimension and is selected from the group consisting of: low-power mode operation relative to the first application, high-power mode operation relative to the first application, low-latency mode operation relative to the first application, high-latency mode operation relative to the first application, low-throughput mode operation relative to the first application, high-throughput mode operation relative to the first application, low-economy mode operation relative to the first application, and high-economy mode operation relative to the first application. The above systems, methods, and apparatus may include an instruction from the URSP manager to reselect a new PDU session, the instruction including Single Network Slice Selection Aid Information (S-NSSAI) for a perfect match for the first application. The above systems, methods, and apparatus may include an instruction from the URSP manager to reselect a new PDU session based on the URSP manager re-evaluating the association with the current PDU session of the first application relative to the new PDU session associated with the first application, given the dynamic reselection reason.

[0012] In one aspect of this disclosure, a wireless communication method is provided. The method may include a URSP manager receiving a message indicating a reason for dynamically re-associating with a current PDU session of a first application among one or more applications. The method may also include, based on the reason for the dynamic re-associating, the URSP manager determining whether to provide an indication of associating with a new PDU session of the first application, based on a re-evaluation of the association with the current PDU session of the first application and the association with a new PDU session of the first application.

[0013] In an additional aspect of this disclosure, an apparatus for conducting wireless communication is provided. The apparatus may include components for receiving a message from a URSP manager indicating a reason for dynamically re-associating with a current PDU session of a first application among one or more applications. The apparatus may also include components for performing the following operation: based on the reason for dynamic re-associating, and based on a re-evaluation of the association with the current PDU session of the first application and a new PDU session of the first application, the URSP manager determines whether to provide an indication for associating with a new PDU session of the first application.

[0014] In an additional aspect of this disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium for wireless communication is provided having program code recorded thereon. The program code may include code for a URSP manager to obtain a message indicating a reason for dynamically re-associating with a current PDU session of a first application among one or more applications. The program code may also include code for performing the following: based on the reason for dynamic re-associating, and based on a re-evaluation of the association with the current PDU session of the first application and a new PDU session of the first application, the URSP manager determines whether to provide an indication for associating with a new PDU session of the first application.

[0015] In an additional aspect of this disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication is provided. The apparatus includes at least one processor and memory coupled to the processor. The processor may be configured to receive a message from a URSP manager indicating a reason for dynamically re-associating a PDU session with a first application among one or more applications. The processor may also be configured to, based on the reason for dynamic re-associating, and based on a re-evaluation of the current PDU session association with the first application and the new PDU session association with the first application, determine whether to provide an indication for associating a new PDU session with the first application.

[0016] According to various aspects of this disclosure, the foregoing systems, methods, and apparatuses can be implemented by combining one or more additional features (such as the individual or combined features below). For example, the foregoing systems, methods, and apparatuses may include an indication that a first application provides a reason for dynamically reselecting and associating with the current PDU session of the first application. The foregoing systems, methods, and apparatuses may include: configuring URSP to extend routing policy information to include performance dimension criteria corresponding to the reason for dynamically reselecting the current PDU session, and determining that the indication for providing an association with a new PDU session of the first application is based at least in part on the matching of the reason for dynamic reselection with the performance dimension criteria of the routing policy information. The foregoing systems, methods, and apparatuses may include performance dimension criteria corresponding to information selected from the group consisting of: bandwidth information, latency information, power consumption information, and economy mode information relative to the slice configured by the URSP. The above systems, methods, and apparatus may include a dynamic reselection of the association between the current PDU session of the first application and the reason indicated in the message obtained by the URSP manager, corresponding to a performance dimension criterion and selected from the group consisting of: low-power mode operation relative to the first application, high-power mode operation relative to the first application, low-latency mode operation relative to the first application, high-latency mode operation relative to the first application, low-throughput mode operation relative to the first application, high-throughput mode operation relative to the first application, low-economy mode operation relative to the first application, and high-economy mode operation relative to the first application. The above systems, methods, and apparatus may include an instruction from the URSP manager to reselect a new PDU session, the instruction including a fully matching S-NSSAI for the first application. The above systems, methods, and apparatus may include an instruction from the URSP manager to reselect a new PDU session based on the URSP manager re-evaluating the association with the current PDU session of the first application relative to the new PDU session of the first application, given the reason for dynamic reselection.

[0017] Other aspects, features, and embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following description of specific exemplary embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. While features may be discussed with respect to certain aspects and the drawings below, all embodiments may include one or more advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, while one or more aspects may be discussed as having certain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also be used depending on various aspects. Similarly, while exemplary aspects may be discussed below as aspects of an apparatus, system, or method, these exemplary aspects may be implemented in a variety of apparatuses, systems, and methods. Attached Figure Description

[0018] A further understanding of the nature and advantages of this disclosure can be achieved by referring to the following figures. In the figures, similar components or features may have the same reference numerals. Furthermore, various components of the same type can be distinguished by adding a dash after the reference numerals and a second label for differentiation from other similar components. If only the first reference numeral is used in the specification, the description applies to any similar component having the same first reference numeral, and is unrelated to the second reference numerals.

[0019] Figure 1 This is a block diagram illustrating details of a wireless communication system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 2 This is a block diagram conceptually illustrating the design of a base station and a UE configured according to some embodiments of this disclosure.

[0021] Figure 3 Different scenarios with different Service Level Requirements (SLRs) are illustrated according to some embodiments of this disclosure.

[0022] Figure 4 These are examples of User Equipment Routing Policy (URSP) structures according to some embodiments of this disclosure.

[0023] Figure 5 This is a block diagram of a process for associating an application with a PDU session based on URSP, according to some embodiments of this disclosure.

[0024] Figure 6 This is a block diagram of a process for configuring URSP to dynamically change the slice pool associated with an application, according to some embodiments of this disclosure.

[0025] Figure 7 This is a block diagram of a process for dynamically changing a slice pool associated with a UE and / or one or more applications, according to some embodiments of this disclosure.

[0026] Figure 8 This is a block diagram of a process for re-evaluating the association with the current PDU session of an application to dynamically change the slice pool, according to some embodiments of this disclosure.

[0027] Figure 9 This is a block diagram conceptually illustrating the design of a UE configured for dynamic network slice resource reselection according to some embodiments of this disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0028] The detailed description set forth below with reference to the accompanying drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Rather, for a thorough understanding of the subject matter of the invention, the detailed description includes specific details. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these specific details are not necessary in every case, and in some cases, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form for clarity.

[0029] This disclosure generally relates to providing or participating in licensed shared access between two or more wireless devices in one or more wireless communication systems (also referred to as wireless communication networks). In various implementations, these technologies and apparatuses can be used in wireless communication networks such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) networks, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) networks, Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, Single Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, 5G or New Radio (NR) networks (sometimes referred to as "5G NR" networks / systems / devices), and other communication networks. As described herein, the terms "network" and "system" are used interchangeably. For example, a CDMA network can implement radio technologies such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includes Wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA) and Low Chip Rate (LCR). CDMA2000 encompasses the IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards.

[0030] For example, TDMA networks can implement radio technologies such as the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) defines the standard for the GSM EDGE (Enhanced Data Rate for GSM Evolution) Radio Access Network (RAN), also known as GERAN. GERAN is the radio component of GSM / EDGE, along with the network connecting base stations (e.g., Ater and Abis interfaces) and base station controllers (interfaces, etc.). A radio access network represents a component of a GSM network through which telephone calls and packet data travel from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and the Internet to the subscriber's mobile phone (also called the user terminal or user equipment (UE)) and from the subscriber's mobile phone to the PSTN and the Internet. A mobile phone operator's network may include one or more GERANs; in the case of UMTS / GSM networks, the GERAN may be coupled to the Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). Additionally, an operator's network may also include one or more LTE networks, and / or one or more other networks. Various network types may use different Radio Access Technologies (RATs) and Radio Access Networks (RANs).

[0031] OFDMA networks can implement radio technologies such as evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, and Flash OFDM. UTRA, E-UTRA, and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). Specifically, Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a UMTS version using E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS, and LTE are described in documents from an organization called the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), and cdma2000 is described in documents from an organization called the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2). These various radio technologies and standards are either known or under development. For example, 3GPP is a collaboration between telecommunications associations to define globally applicable third-generation (3G) mobile phone specifications. 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a 3GPP project aimed at improving the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile phone standard. 3GPP defines specifications for next-generation mobile networks, mobile systems, and mobile devices. This disclosure may describe certain aspects with reference to LTE, 4G, or 5G NR technologies; however, the description is not intended to be limited to any particular technology or application, and one or more aspects described with reference to one technology may be understood to be applicable to another technology. In fact, one or more aspects of this disclosure relate to shared access to radio spectrum between networks using different radio access technologies or radio air interfaces.

[0032] 5G networks are expected to be able to utilize a variety of deployments, spectrums, services, and devices using a unified OFDM-based air interface. To achieve these goals, in addition to developing new radio technologies for 5G NR networks, further enhancements to LTE and LTE-A are also considered. 5G NR will be able to extend to (1) ultra-high densities (e.g., ~1M nodes / km). 2 (1) Provides coverage for large-scale Internet of Things (IoT) with ultra-low complexity (e.g., ~10 s bits / second), ultra-low energy (e.g., ~10+ years of battery life) and deep coverage to reach challenging locations; (2) Includes mission-critical controls with robust security to protect sensitive personal, financial, or confidential information, ultra-high reliability (e.g., ~99.9999% reliability), ultra-low latency (e.g., ~1 ms), and users with wide mobility or lack thereof; and (3) Has enhanced mobile broadband, including ultra-high capacity (e.g., ~10 Tbps / km). 2 ), extremely high data rates (e.g., multi-Gbps rates, 100+Mbps user experience rates), and deep awareness with advanced discovery and optimization.

[0033] 5G NR devices, networks, and systems can utilize optimized OFDM-based waveform characteristics. These characteristics can include scalable parameter sets (numerology) and transmission time intervals (TTI); a general, flexible framework for effectively multiplexing services and characteristics through dynamic, low-latency Time Division Duplex (TDD) / Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) designs; and advanced wireless technologies such as massive MIMO, robust millimeter-wave (mmWave) transmission, advanced channel decoding, and device-centric mobility. The scalability of parameter sets in 5G NR, with its extended subcarrier spacing, effectively addresses operational challenges across different spectrums and deployments for various services. For example, in various outdoor and macro coverage deployments using FDD / TDD implementations below 3 GHz, subcarrier spacing can occur at 15 kHz over bandwidths such as 1, 5, 10, and 20 MHz. For other various outdoor and small-cell coverage deployments using TDD above 3 GHz, subcarrier spacing can occur at 30 kHz over 80 / 100 MHz bandwidths. For various other indoor broadband implementations using TDD in the unlicensed portion of the 5 GHz band, subcarrier spacing can occur at 60 kHz over a 160 MHz bandwidth. Finally, for various deployments using millimeter-wave components for transmission under 28 GHz TDD, subcarrier spacing can occur at 120 kHz over a 500 MHz bandwidth.

[0034] 5G NR's scalable parameter set facilitates scalable TTIs for various latency and Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. For example, shorter TTIs can be used for low latency and high reliability, while longer TTIs can be used for higher spectral efficiency. Efficient multiplexing of long and short TTIs allows transmission to begin at symbol boundaries. 5G NR also considers a self-contained integrated subframe design with uplink / downlink scheduling information, data, and acknowledgments within the same subframe. This self-contained integrated subframe supports communication in unlicensed or contention-based shared spectrum, and adaptive uplink / downlink that can be flexibly configured on a per-cell basis to dynamically switch between uplink and downlink to meet current service demands.

[0035] For clarity, certain aspects of the apparatus and technology may be described below with reference to example 5G NR implementations or in a 5G-centric manner, and 5G terminology may be used as illustrative examples in the sections described below; however, the description is not intended to be limited to 5G applications.

[0036] Furthermore, it should be understood that in operation, wireless communication networks adapted according to the concepts herein can operate with any combination of licensed or unlicensed spectrum, depending on load and availability. Therefore, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the systems, apparatuses, and methods described herein can be applied to other communication systems and applications besides the specific examples provided.

[0037] Although aspects and implementations are described herein by way of example, those skilled in the art will understand that additional implementations and use cases may arise in many different arrangements and scenarios. The innovations described herein can be implemented across many different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and package arrangements. For example, embodiments and / or uses may be via integrated chip embodiments and / or other devices based on non-modular components (e.g., end-user equipment, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail / purchasing devices, medical devices, AI-enabled devices, etc.). While some examples may or may not be specific to a particular use case or application, a wide range of applicability to the described innovations can emerge. Implementations can range from chip-level or modular components to non-modular, non-chip-level implementations, and further to aggregated, distributed, or OEM devices or systems incorporating one or more of the described aspects. In some practical settings, devices incorporating the described aspects and features may also have to include additional components and features for implementing and practicing the claimed and described embodiments. The aim is to enable the innovations described herein to be implemented in a variety of ways, including large / small devices of different sizes, shapes and structures, chip-level components, multi-component systems (e.g., RF chains, communication interfaces, processors), distributed deployments, end-user devices, etc.

[0038] Figure 1 This is a block diagram illustrating details of an example wireless communication system. The wireless communication system may include a wireless network 100. For example, wireless network 100 may include a 5G wireless network. As those skilled in the art will understand, [the following appears to be a separate, unrelated sentence:] Figure 1 The components in this may have corresponding counterparts in other network arrangements, including, for example, cellular network arrangements and non-cellular network arrangements (e.g., device-to-device or point-to-point or self-organizing network arrangements, etc.).

[0039] Figure 1The illustrated wireless network 100 includes multiple base stations 105 and other network entities. A base station can be a station communicating with a UE and can also be referred to as an evolved Node B (eNB), a next-generation eNB (gNB), an access point, etc. Each base station 105 can provide communication coverage to a specific geographic area. In 3GPP, depending on the context of terminology, the term "cell" can refer to the specific geographic coverage area of ​​a base station and / or a base station subsystem serving that coverage area. In the implementation of the wireless network 100 herein, base stations 105 can be associated with the same operator or different operators (e.g., the wireless network 100 may include multiple operator wireless networks). Additionally, in the implementation of the wireless network 100 herein, base station 105 can use one or more of the same frequencies as neighboring cells (e.g., one or more bands of licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or combinations thereof) to provide wireless communication. In some examples, a single base station 105 or UE 115 can be operated by more than one network operating entity. In some other examples, each base station 105 and UE 115 can be operated by a single network operating entity.

[0040] Base stations can provide communication coverage to macro cells or small cells, such as pico cells, femtocells, and / or other types of cells. Macro cells typically cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and can allow unrestricted access for UEs with service subscriptions to a network provider. Small cells, such as pico cells, typically cover a relatively small geographic area and can allow unrestricted access for UEs with service subscriptions to a network provider. Small cells, such as femtocells, also typically cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and, in addition to unrestricted access, can provide restricted access for UEs associated with the femtocell (e.g., UEs in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG), UEs of users in a home, etc.). Base stations used for macro cells can be referred to as macro base stations. Base stations used for small cells can be referred to as small cell base stations, pico base stations, femtocells, or home base stations. Figure 1 In the example shown, base stations 105d and 105e are conventional macro base stations, while base stations 105a-105c are macro base stations enabling one of 3D, full-dimensional (FD), or massive MIMO. Base stations 105a-105c utilize their higher-dimensional MIMO capabilities to develop 3D beamforming, either elevation or azimuth beamforming, to increase coverage and capacity. Base station 105f is a small cell base station, which can be a home node or a portable access point. A base station can support one or more (e.g., two, three, four, etc.) cells.

[0041] Wireless Network 100 can support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, base stations can have similar frame timings, and transmissions from different base stations can be roughly aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, base stations can have different frame timings, and transmissions from different base stations can be misaligned in time. In some scenarios, the network can be enabled or configured to handle dynamic switching between synchronous and asynchronous operations.

[0042] UE 115 can be distributed throughout the entire wireless network 100, and each UE can be stationary or mobile. It should be understood that although mobile devices are generally referred to as User Equipment (UE) in the standards and specifications issued by 3GPP, those skilled in the art may additionally or otherwise refer to such devices as mobile station (MS), subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, radio unit, remote unit, mobile device, radio device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal (AT), mobile terminal, radio terminal, remote terminal, handheld device, terminal, user agent, mobile client, client, gaming device, extended reality device, vehicle component device / module, or certain other suitable terms. In this document, a “mobile” device or UE does not necessarily have the ability to move and can be stationary. Certain non-limiting examples of mobile devices, such as implementations that may include one or more of UE 115, include mobile devices, cellular phones, smartphones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, laptops, personal computers (PCs), notebooks, netbooks, smartbooks, tablets, and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Additionally, the mobile device can be an "Internet of Things" (IoT) or "Internet of Everything" (IoE) device, such as automobiles or other vehicles, satellite radios, Global Positioning System (GPS) devices, logistics controllers, drones, multi-rotor aircraft, quadcopters, smart energy or security devices, solar panels or solar arrays, municipal lighting, water or other infrastructure; industrial automation and enterprise equipment; consumer and wearable devices, such as glasses, wearable cameras, smartwatches, health or fitness trackers, mammalian implantable devices, gesture tracking devices, medical devices, digital audio players (e.g., MP3 players), cameras, game consoles, etc.; and digital home or smart home devices, such as home audio, video and multimedia equipment, appliances, sensors, vending machines, smart lighting, home security systems, smart meters, etc. In one aspect, the UE can be a device that includes a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC). In another aspect, the UE can be a device that does not include a UICC. In some aspects, a UE that does not include a UICC can also be referred to as an IoE device. Figure 1The UEs 115a-115d shown in the illustration are examples of mobile smartphone-type devices accessing the wireless network 100. The UE can also be a machine specifically configured for connectivity and communication, including Machine Type Communication (MTC), Enhanced MTC (eMTC), Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), etc. Figure 1 The UE 115e-115k shown is an example of various machines configured for accessing communications of the wireless network 100.

[0043] Mobile devices such as the UE 115 can communicate with any type of base station, whether it's a macro base station, pico base station, femto base station, relay station, etc. Figure 1 In this context, a communication link (represented by a lightning bolt) indicates a wireless transmission between a UE and a serving base station, where the base station is designated to serve the UE on the downlink and / or uplink, or a desired transmission between base stations, and a backhaul transmission between base stations. In some scenarios, the UE may operate as a base station or other network node. Backhaul communication between base stations of wireless network 100 can occur using wired and / or wireless communication links.

[0044] In operation at wireless network 100, base stations 105a-105c use 3D beamforming and cooperative spatial technologies such as Cooperative Multipoint (CoMP) or multi-connectivity to serve UEs 115a and 115b. Macro base station 105d performs backhaul communication with base stations 105a-105c, as well as small cell base station 105f. Macro base station 105d also transmits multicast services subscribed to and received by UEs 115c and 115d. Such multicast services may include mobile TV or streaming video, or may include other services for providing community information, such as weather emergencies or alerts, such as Amber Alerts or Grey Alerts.

[0045] The wireless network 100 supports mission-critical communication with highly reliable and redundant links for mission-critical devices such as UE 115e, which is a drone. Redundant communication links with UE 115e include links from macro base stations 105d and 105e, and links from small cell base station 105f. Other machine-type devices such as UE 115f (thermometer), UE 115g (smart meter), and UE 115h (wearable device) can communicate via the wireless network 100 or directly with base stations such as small cell base station 105f and macro base station 105e, or in a multi-hop configuration by communicating with another user equipment that relays its information to the network; for example, UE 115f transmits temperature measurement information to smart meter UE 115g, and then that information is reported to the network via small cell base station 105f. Wireless network 100 can also provide additional network efficiency through dynamic, low-latency TDD / FDD communication, such as in vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) mesh networks between UEs 115i-115k communicating with macro base station 105e.

[0046] Figure 2 A block diagram conceptually illustrates an example design for base station 105 and UE 115, which can be... Figure 1 One of the base stations and one of the UEs. For restricted association scenarios (as described above), base station 105 can be... Figure 1 In the small cell base station 105f, UE 115 can be UE 115c or 115d operating within the service area of ​​base station 105f. To access small cell base station 105f, UE 115c or 115d will be included in the list of accessible UEs of small cell base station 105f. Base station 105 can also be some other type of base station. For example... Figure 2 As shown, base station 105 may be equipped with antennas 234a to 234t, and UE 115 may be equipped with antennas 252a to 252r for facilitating wireless communication.

[0047] At base station 105, transmitting processor 220 can receive data from data source 212 and control information from controller / processor 240. The control information can be used for the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), Physical Hybrid ARQ (Automatic Repeat Request) Indicator Channel (PHICH), Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (EPDCCH), MTC Physical Downlink Control Channel (MPDCCH), etc. Data can be used for PDSCH, etc. Additionally, transmitting processor 220 can process (e.g., encode and symbol map) data and control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols respectively. Transmitting processor 220 can also generate reference symbols, such as those used for the Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) and Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), as well as cell-specific reference signals. The transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 can perform spatial processing (e.g., pre-decoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, and / or reference symbols (if applicable), and can provide output symbol streams to modulators (MODs) 232a to 232t. For example, spatial processing performed on data symbols, control symbols, or reference symbols may include pre-decoding. Each modulator 232 can process (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) its respective output symbol stream to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 232 can additionally or alternatively process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and up-convert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. The downlink signal from modulators 232a to 232t can be transmitted via antennas 234a to 234t, respectively.

[0048] At UE 115, antennas 252a to 252r can receive downlink signals from base station 105 and can respectively provide the received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) 254a to 254r. Each demodulator 254 can adjust (e.g., filter, amplify, down-convert, and digitize) its respective received signal to obtain an input sample. Each demodulator 254 can further process the input sample (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain the received symbols. MIMO detector 256 can obtain the received symbols from demodulators 254a to 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols (if applicable), and provide the detected symbols. Receiver processor 258 can process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide the data for decoding for UE 115 to data sink 260, and provide the decoding control information to controller / processor 280.

[0049] On the uplink, at UE 115, the transmitting processor 264 can receive and process data from data source 262 (e.g., for the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)) and control information from controller / processor 280 (e.g., for the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)). Additionally, the transmitting processor 264 can also generate reference symbols for reference signals. Symbols from the transmitting processor 264 can be pre-decoded (if applicable) by the TX MIMO processor 266, then further processed by modulators 254a to 254r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), and transmitted to base station 105. At base station 105, the uplink signal from UE 115 can be received by antenna 234, processed by demodulator 232, detected by MIMO detector 236 (if applicable), and further processed by receiving processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information transmitted by UE 115. The processor 238 can provide the decoded data to the data sink 239 and the decoded control information to the controller / processor 240.

[0050] Controllers / processors 240 and 280 can respectively direct operations at base station 105 and UE 115. Controllers / processors 240 and / or other processors and modules at base station 105 and / or controllers / processors 280 and / or other processors and modules at UE 115 can implement or direct the execution of various processes of the techniques described herein, such as implementing or directing... Figure 5-8 The execution and / or other processes of the techniques described herein are shown in the diagram. Memory 242 and 282 may store data and program code for base station 105 and UE 115, respectively. Scheduler 244 may schedule the UE to transmit data on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0051] According to various aspects of this disclosure, the devices of the wireless network 100 can implement network slicing to provide isolated resources for different scenarios, such as IoT applications, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) applications, and applications relying on ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC). Figure 3 As shown, different scenarios can have different Service Level Requirements (SLRs). For example, applications executed by different devices may have different requirements for bandwidth, latency, power consumption, and cost. Additionally or alternatively, individual devices can execute applications with different requirements for bandwidth, latency, power consumption, and cost. Network slicing implemented by base station 105 and UE 115 can multiplex virtual and independent logical networks on the same physical network infrastructure to support services with different SLRs. Using network slicing, different devices can subscribe to different network slice instances, and / or the same device can subscribe to different network slice instances for different applications.

[0052] A UE can associate an application with a Packet Data Unit (PDU) session based on a UE Routing Policy (URSP). A URSP is a set of one or more URSP rules, wherein a URSP rule consists of a priority value of the URSP rule that identifies the priority of the URSP rule among all existing URSP rules, one or more service descriptors, and one or more routing descriptors (RSDs) for each of the one or more service descriptors. Figure 4 An example of a URSP structure is shown. The UE can associate an application executed by the UE (e.g., an application that can be executed in an operating system (OS) such as a game, media player, communication, health monitoring, IoT operation, autonomous vehicle control, etc.) with a PDU session using a URSP manager (e.g., URSP manager logic stored in memory 282 and executed by controller / processor 280) based on the URSP.

[0053] Using network slicing, the UE routes applications to different slice resource pools based on the URSP. An application may have several matching RSDs. In this case, the UE will select the highest priority RSD for PDU session association (e.g., the first or highest-level RSD in the list of RSDs for the service description matching the application in the URSP). When the network provides different types of Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI) for applications or Data Network Names (DNNs), associating an application with a PDU session with the highest priority RSD is not a flexible process when there are multiple matching RSDs for an application. That is, the UE does not have the option to select the desired slice, but instead follows the URSP, which always provides the higher-priority slice.

[0054] Figure 5 The diagram shows process 500, which illustrates an example procedure by which a UE associates an application with a PDU session based on a URSP. Process 500 can be implemented, for example, by the URSP manager of UE 115 using a URSP configured for the UE.

[0055] At box 501, the UE analyzes the non-default service descriptors in the URSP service descriptor list, and at box 502, determines whether the non-default service descriptor is a matching service descriptor for an application to implement network slicing. For example, a service descriptor may include one or more application identifiers, one or more IP 3-tuples (e.g., destination IP address, destination port number, and protocol used over IP), one or more non-IP descriptors (e.g., destination information for non-IP services), one or more DNNs, one or more connectivity capabilities, and / or one or more domain descriptors (e.g., destination fully qualified domain name (FQDN)). The matching of the application identifier with this information to the service descriptor identifies the service descriptor as a match for the application. If the non-default service descriptor is not determined to be a matching service descriptor for the application at box 502, the process proceeds to box 503 according to the example shown in process 500 to determine whether the URSP service descriptor list has been exhausted. If the service descriptor list is not exhausted (e.g., all non-default service descriptors in the service descriptor list have not yet been analyzed relative to the application), the process returns to box 501 according to procedure 500 to continue analyzing non-default service descriptors (e.g., analyzing the next non-default service descriptor in the service descriptor list). However, if it is determined at box 503 that the service descriptor list is exhausted (e.g., all non-default service descriptors in the service descriptor list have been analyzed relative to the application), the process proceeds to box 504 according to the example of procedure 500, where a PDU session is established for the application using "Match All" service descriptors. Without a matching URSP rule and without a default "Match All" service descriptor configured, the UE cannot request a network slice connection associated with the application.

[0056] If it is determined at box 502 that the non-default service descriptor is a matching service descriptor for the application, the process proceeds to box 505 according to the example of process 500, where the UE analyzes the RSDs in the RSD list of the matching non-default service descriptors and determines at box 506 whether the RSD is a matching RSD for the application. For example, the RSD may include Session and Service Continuity (SSC) mode, one or more S-NSSAIs, one or more DNNs, preferred access type, multiple access preferences, time window, and / or location criteria, whereby the application's matching of this information with the RSD can identify the RSD as a matching application. If no matching RSD for the application is identified at box 506, the process proceeds to box 507 according to the example of process 500 to determine if the RSD list of matching non-default service descriptors has been exhausted. If the RSD list is not exhausted (e.g., not all RSDs in the RSD list have been analyzed relative to the application), the process returns to box 505 according to process 500 to continue analyzing the RSDs (e.g., analyzing the next RSD in the RSD list). However, if it is determined at box 507 that the RSD list has been exhausted (e.g., all RSDs in the RSD list have been analyzed relative to the application), the process returns to box 501 according to the example of process 500 to continue analyzing non-default service descriptors (e.g., analyzing the next non-default service descriptor in the service descriptor list). That is, if the RSD list is exhausted, the UE will attempt to identify the next matching service descriptor for the application.

[0057] If it is determined at box 506 that the RSD is a matching RSD for the application, the process proceeds to box 508 according to the example of procedure 500, where the UE determines whether the PDU session matching the RSD is a matching PDU session for the application. For example, the RSD may include a PDU session type, whereby matching the application with the PDU session type can identify the PDU session as matching the application. If a matching PDU session is identified at box 508, the process proceeds to box 509 according to the example of procedure 500, where application services detected relative to the application are routed on the matching PDU conversation. However, if no matching PDU session is identified at box 508, the process proceeds to box 510 according to the example of procedure 500, where a new PDU session is established using the value specified by the matching RSD.

[0058] According to various aspects of this disclosure, applications (e.g., various applications executing in the UE OS) can dynamically or on demand change their slice pool at runtime (e.g., reselect PDU sessions). It may be necessary to reselect slices used relative to the application to accommodate various operational or state changes in the UE and / or the application, such as changes in low / high power mode operation, low / high latency mode operation, low / high throughput mode operation, low / high economy mode operation, etc. For example, the UE may determine that it (e.g., the UE is transitioning from a wake-up state to a sleep state) and / or an application executed by the UE (e.g., the application transitions from an active interface state to a minimized state) will switch from a high power mode to a low power mode, thus potentially requiring low-power slices (e.g., using lower bandwidth configurations, less frequent scheduling, longer connection mode discontinuous reception (cDRX) cycles, etc.). As another example, the UE may determine that it needs to switch from a high throughput slice to a low throughput but low latency slice (e.g., using wider subcarrier spacing (SCS), more frequent scheduling, lower bandwidth, etc.) (e.g., the application switches from video communication operation to voice communication operation). As another example, a UE may determine that it needs to switch from a high-cost slice to a low-cost slice (e.g., to use lower-cost network resources) (e.g., the UE and / or applications switch from daytime mode to nighttime mode). From the foregoing, it can be understood that, under specific circumstances, a UE may determine, for a specific purpose, to switch from a first slice (e.g., one or more applications associated with the current slice resource pool or the current PDU session) to a second slice (e.g., one or more applications associated with a new slice resource pool or a new PDU session).

[0059] The UE can be configured with a URSP, which is used for network slices of the operators to which the UE is subscribed. Therefore, the UE 115 can utilize this pre-configured URSP in the initial network slice configuration to associate one or more applications with a PDU session, such as at UE startup. Thus, the network slices provided by this pre-configured URSP can be understood and studied relative to various performance dimensions (e.g., bandwidth, latency, power consumption, economics, etc.).

[0060] According to some aspects of this disclosure, UE 115 can be configured with information regarding the capacity or ranking of each slice of the URSP relative to a performance dimension (e.g., capacity / ranking information regarding bandwidth, latency, power consumption, economy, etc.). For example, the UE can utilize a slice reselection manager (e.g., slice reselection manager logic stored in memory 282 and executed by controller / processor 280) to analyze the capacity and / or other operational aspects of each slice to determine the performance dimension of the slice. Additionally or alternatively, the network operator managing the network slices can provide the UE with information regarding the capacity or ranking of each slice of the URSP relative to a performance dimension. The UE can utilize a slice reselection manager (e.g., slice reselection manager logic stored in memory 282 and executed by controller / processor 280) to augment the RSD of the URSP to include performance dimension criteria based on the capacity or ranking information regarding each slice of the URSP relative to a performance dimension provided to the UE. As an example, Figure 4 The RSD shown in the example can be expanded using performance metric standards for bandwidth, latency, power consumption, and economic performance, as shown below:

[0061] RSD1:S-NSSAI=eMBB; LATENCY=LOW; TPUT=HIGH;

[0062] PWR_CON = HIGH; ECON = HIGH

[0063] RSD2:S-NSSAI=URLLC;LATENCY=U-LOW;TPUT=HIGH;

[0064] PWR_CON = HIGH; ECON = HIGH

[0065] RSD3:S-NSSAI=IOT; LATENCY=HIGH; TPUT=LOW;

[0066] PWR_CON = LOW; ECON = LOW

[0067] RSD4:S-NSSAI=XXX;LATENCY=LLL;TPUT=TTT;

[0068] PWR_CON = PPP; ECON = EEE

[0069] Using an RSD with extended performance dimension criteria, the URSP manager can analyze (e.g., re-evaluate) the current PDU session associated with one or more applications using information about the reason for reselecting the PDU session relative to one or more applications to determine whether it is an optimal match based on the reason for reselection, or whether the new PDU session is a better match based on the reason for reselection. For example, information about the reason for reselecting the PDU session may indicate that one or more applications are transitioning to low or high power mode operation, low or high latency mode operation, low or high throughput mode operation, low or high economy mode operation, or a combination thereof. Such information about one or more applications may be provided to the URSP manager in the form of performance dimension criteria corresponding to the extended RSD for analyzing the RSD to determine whether the RSD is a matching RSD for the application based on the performance dimension criteria. For example, the logic of the slice reselection manager in various aspects of this disclosure may provide a message to the URSP manager indicating the reason for dynamically reselecting the current PDU session associated with one or more applications, such as after determining that an operation or state change related to the network slice is being or will be implemented in the UE and / or one or more applications. Upon receiving an instruction, the URSP Manager can re-evaluate the current PDU session (e.g., executing the function of process 500) to determine whether a new PDU session should be selected based on the reasons for dynamic reselection. For example, when the URSP's extended RSD matching a non-default business descriptor fully matches an application (e.g., at box 506 of process 500), a new PDU session can be selected, including reasons including one or more of the dynamic reselection extended RSD's matching performance dimension criteria. That is, the URSP Manager can operate to change the association of a PDU session with one or more applications to a new PDU session with an RSD that fully matches the S-NSSAI. Otherwise, the PDU session association may not change based on the URSP Manager's re-evaluation.

[0070] Dynamic network slice resource reselection, as exemplified by the foregoing examples, facilitates the flexibility of the UE in selecting network slice resources based on one or more reasons related to the operation of the UE and / or (one or more) applications. Furthermore, according to some aspects of this disclosure, dynamic network slice resource reselection promotes UE operation in economic modes.

[0071] Figure 6Process 600 is shown, illustrating an example procedure for configuring a URSP to dynamically change the slice pool associated with an application. According to various aspects of this disclosure, the functionality of process 600 can be implemented, for example, through the slice reselection manager logic of UE 115. The URSP initially provided to the UE, such as the URSP provided by the operator to which the UE is subscribed, can be extended to include performance dimension criteria corresponding to various reasons for dynamically reselecting PDU sessions according to the operation of process 600.

[0072] At block 601 of the example flow 600 shown, performance dimension information for the slice in the initial URSP configuration is obtained. For example, the UE can obtain performance dimension information from the MVNO of a network slice within the managed wireless network 100. The performance dimension information may include information about the capacity or rank of multiple slices (e.g., each slice) in the URSP. For example, the performance dimension information may include capacity or rank information relative to the RSD of the initial URSP configuration. The performance dimension information obtained by the UE may be provided to or otherwise made available (e.g., stored in memory 282) to slice reselection manager logic executed by the UE.

[0073] At block 602 of example flow 600, the routing policy information of the initial URSP configuration is expanded to include performance dimension criteria based on performance dimension information. For example, the slice reselection manager logic of UE 115 can provide performance dimension criteria to expand the RSD (e.g., each RSD) of the initial URSP configuration to include performance dimension criteria. Performance dimension criteria may include bandwidth, latency, power consumption, economic performance dimension criteria, etc., such as various reasons that may correspond to dynamic reselection associated with an application's PDU session. Therefore, according to some aspects of this disclosure, in response to an indication of a reason for dynamic reselection associated with a current PDU session of one or more applications, the expanded URSP is used to switch to a new PDU session associated with one or more applications.

[0074] Figure 7 Procedure 700 is shown, illustrating an example process by which a UE and / or one or more applications can dynamically change their associated slice pool at runtime. According to various aspects of this disclosure, the functionality of procedure 700 can be implemented, for example, through the slice reselection manager logic of UE 115. According to procedure 700, based on one or more reasons for dynamically reselecting a PDU session, the current PDU session associated with one or more applications can be switched to a new PDU session association.

[0075] At block 701 of the illustrated example flow 700, operations are performed according to the URSP configuration to associate one or more applications with a PDU session for network slicing operations. For example, the UE's slice reselection manager logic may cooperate with the UE's URSP manager logic to provide operations based on an initial URSP provided to the UE (such as an URSP provided by an operator subscribed to by the UE) to associate an application with a PDU session. According to certain aspects of this disclosure, at startup, the UE may utilize an initial URSP provided by the operator to associate an application with a PDU session. In another example, the UE's slice reselection manager logic may cooperate with the UE's URSP manager logic to provide operations based on an extended URSP to include performance dimension criteria corresponding to various reasons for dynamic PDU session reselection to associate an application with a PDU session. For example, after extending the RSD of the initial URSP to include performance dimension criteria, the UE may utilize the extended URSP to associate an application with a PDU session.

[0076] exist Figure 7 At block 702 of the example flow 700 shown, a message is provided to the URSP manager indicating the reason for dynamic reselection associated with the current PDU session of a first application among one or more applications. For example, the UE's slice reselection manager logic may provide a message to the UE's URSP manager logic indicating the reason for dynamic reselection associated with the current PDU session of one or more applications. Additionally or alternatively, the application providing the network slice may provide a message to the UE's URSP manager logic indicating the reason for dynamic reselection associated with the current PDU session of one or more applications. According to some aspects of this disclosure, the UE, one or more applications, etc., may provide an indication of the reason for dynamic reselection associated with the current PDU session, such as being associated with an operation or state change in the UE and / or applications (e.g., switching between low / high power operation, low / high latency operation, low / high throughput operation, low / high economy mode, etc.). The reason for the dynamic reselection indicated to the URSP manager in the message and associated with the current PDU session of the application can correspond to the performance dimension, and can indicate low / high power mode operation, low / high latency mode operation, low / high throughput mode operation, low / high economy mode operation, etc. relative to the UE and / or one or more applications.

[0077] At block 703 of example flow 700, based on a dynamic reselection reason, in response to an instruction from the URSP manager to reselect a new PDU session, the association with a new PDU session of the first application is switched; or based on a dynamic reselection reason, in response to the absence of an instruction from the URSP manager to reselect a new PDU session, the association with the current PDU session of the first application is maintained. For example, the UE's slice reselection manager logic may cooperate with the UE's URSP manager logic to control or not control the reselection associated with PDU sessions of one or more applications based on a dynamic reselection reason. According to some aspects of this disclosure, the URSP manager logic may provide an instruction to reselect a new PDU session based on the URSP manager re-evaluating the association with the current PDU session of the first application relative to the association with the new PDU session of the first application in view of a dynamic reselection reason. The slice reselection manager logic of each aspect may switch from association with the current PDU session of the first application to association with a new PDU session of the first application, or maintain association with the current PDU session of the first application, based on whether the URSP manager logic provides an instruction for reselecting a new PDU session. According to some aspects of this disclosure, the instruction from the URSP manager for reselecting a new PDU session may include a fully matching S-NSSAI for the first application.

[0078] Figure 8 Procedure 800 is shown, illustrating an example process by which the UE re-evaluates the current PDU session association with an application for dynamically changing the slice pool. According to various aspects of this disclosure, the functionality of procedure 800 can be implemented, for example, through the URSP manager logic of UE 115. According to procedure 800, based on one or more reasons for dynamically reselecting the PDU session, the current PDU session association with one or more applications can be switched to a new PDU session association based on a determination result implemented by the URSP manager logic. According to procedure 800, the current PDU session association with one or more applications can be switched to a new PDU session association using an indication of a new PDU session association with one or more applications provided by the URSP manager logic.

[0079] exist Figure 8At block 801 of the example flow 800 shown, a message is obtained indicating the reason for dynamic reselection associated with the current PDU session of a first application among one or more applications. For example, the UE's URSP manager logic may obtain the message from the UE's slice reselection manager logic, indicating the reason for dynamic reselection associated with the current PDU session of one or more applications. Additionally or alternatively, the UE's URSP manager logic may obtain the message from the application providing it with network slices, indicating the reason for dynamic reselection associated with the current PDU session of one or more applications. The message may, for example, indicate the reason for dynamic reselection associated with the current PDU session of an application, such as indicating low / high power mode operation, low / high latency mode operation, low / high throughput mode operation, low / high economy mode operation, etc., relative to the UE and / or one or more applications.

[0080] At block 802 of example flow 800, a determination is made regarding whether to provide an indication of association with a new PDU session of the first application, based on the dynamic reselection reason and a reassessment of the association with the current PDU session of the first application and the association with a new PDU session of the first application. For example, the UE's URSP manager logic may analyze the routing policy information of the URSP configuration to determine, at least in part, the reason for dynamic reselection matching performance dimension criteria based on the routing policy information, whether to provide an indication of association with a new PDU session of one or more applications. For example, the URSP configuration may include an extended URSP configuration that expands the routing policy information to include performance dimension criteria corresponding to the dynamic reselection reason of the current PDU session. According to some aspects of this disclosure, the performance dimension criteria may correspond to bandwidth information, latency information, power consumption information, economy mode information, etc., relative to the slice of the URSP configuration. Therefore, the indication from the URSP manager logic for reselecting a new PDU session may be based on the URSP manager logic reassessing the association with the current PDU session of the first application relative to the association with a new PDU session of the first application, given the reason for dynamic reselection. Instructions from the URSP manager for reselecting a new PDU session may include a fully matching S-NSSAI for the first application.

[0081] Figure 9 This is a block diagram illustrating a UE 115 configured according to one aspect of this disclosure. UE 115 includes, as follows: Figure 2The UE 115 illustrates the structure, hardware, and components. For example, UE 115 includes a controller / processor 280 that operates to execute logical or computer instructions stored in memory 282, and components that control UE 115 to provide the features and functions of UE 115. Under the control of the controller / processor 280, UE 115 transmits and receives signals via wireless radio 901a-r and antenna 252a-r. Radio 901a-r includes various components and hardware for UE 115, such as... Figure 2 As shown, it includes a modulator / demodulator 254a-r, a MIMO detector 256, a receiver processor 258, a transmitter processor 264, and a TX MIMO processor 266.

[0082] exist Figure 9 In the example, UE 115 includes URSP manager logic 902, which may include logic for associating applications with PDU sessions based on URSP configurations available to the UE, as mentioned above. Figure 5 Process 500 and Figure 8 As described in process 800. The URSP database 903 may, for example, store one or more URSP configuration instances used by the URSP manager logic 902, such as the initial URSP configuration, extended URSP configurations, etc. Figure 9 The example UE 115 also includes slice reselection manager logic 904, which may include logic for expanding URSP configuration, dynamically changing slice pools associated with the UE and / or one or more applications, as described above regarding... Figure 6 Process 600 and Figure 7 The process described in 700.

[0083] Those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the foregoing specification can be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, light fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0084] The components, functional blocks, and modules described in this article (e.g., Figure 2 The components, functional blocks, and modules (in this context) may include processors, electronic devices, hardware devices, electronic components, logic circuits, memory, software code, firmware code, etc., or any combination thereof. Furthermore, the features related to dynamic network slice resource reselection discussed herein can be implemented via dedicated processor circuitry, via executable instructions, and / or combinations thereof.

[0085] Those skilled in the art should also understand that, in conjunction with the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps disclosed herein (e.g., Figure 5-8 All logic blocks (as described herein) can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability between hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been generally described above in terms of their functionality. Whether this functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the system as a whole. Those skilled in the art can implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be construed as departing from the scope of this disclosure. Those skilled in the art will also readily recognize that the order or combination of components, methods, or interactions described herein is merely illustrative, and that components, methods, or interactions of various aspects of this disclosure can be combined or performed in ways other than those described herein.

[0086] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in this disclosure may be implemented or executed using a general-purpose processor, digital signal processor (DSP), application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof, designed to perform the functions described herein. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors integrated with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0087] The steps of the methods or algorithms described herein can be directly embodied in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or a combination of both. The software module can reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor, enabling the processor to read information from and write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium can be integrated with the processor. The processor and storage medium can reside in an ASIC. The ASIC can reside in a user terminal. Alternatively, the processor and storage medium can reside as discrete components in the user terminal.

[0088] In one or more exemplary designs, the described functionality can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functionality can be stored as one or more instructions or code on or transmitted via a computer-readable medium. A computer-readable medium includes both computer storage media and communication media, with communication media including any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disc storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the required program code in the form of instructions or data structures and is accessible by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. Furthermore, a connection can be appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, or digital subscriber line (DSL), the definition of medium includes coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, or DSL. The disks and optical discs used in this article include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), hard disks, solid-state drives (SSDs), and Blu-ray discs. Disks typically copy data magnetically, while optical discs copy data optically using lasers. Combinations of these should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0089] As used herein, including in the claims, the term “and / or”, when used in a list of two or more items, means that any one of the listed items may be used alone, or may be any combination of two or more of the listed items. For example, if a combination is described as containing components A, B, and / or C, the combination may contain A alone; contain B alone; contain C alone; contain a combination of A and B; contain a combination of A and C; contain a combination of B and C; or contain a combination of A, B, and C. Furthermore, as used herein, the “or” used in a list of items ending with “at least one of” in the claims indicates a separate list, such that a list such as “at least one of A, B, or C” means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A, B, and C) or any combination thereof.

[0090] The preceding description of this disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use this disclosure. Various modifications to this disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of this disclosure. Therefore, this disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein, but should be given the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication, comprising: operating in accordance with a user equipment (UE) route selection policy (URSP) configuration to associate one or more applications with a packet data unit (PDU) session of a network slice operation; providing a message to a URSP manager, the message indicating a cause for a dynamic reselection associated with a current PDU session of a first application of the one or more applications; and based on the cause for the dynamic reselection, switching to an association with a new PDU session of the first application in response to an indication from the URSP manager to reselect the new PDU session, or based on the cause for the dynamic reselection, remaining associated with the current PDU session of the first application in response to an absence of an indication from the URSP manager to reselect the new PDU session.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, the first application provides an indication of the cause for the dynamic reselection associated with the current PDU session of the first application.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: obtaining performance dimension information for a slice of the URSP configuration; and augmenting route selection policy information of the URSP configuration to include a performance dimension criterion based on the performance dimension information. the performance dimension information includes information selected from a group consisting of: bandwidth information, latency information, power consumption information, and economic mode information relative to a slice of the URSP configuration.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, 5. The method of claim 3, further comprising: applying the URSP configuration to associate the one or more applications with the PDU session at a startup of the UE; and after augmenting the URSP configuration, applying the augmented URSP configuration to dynamically reselect a PDU session association of the first application. the cause for the dynamic reselection associated with the current PDU session of the first application indicated in the message to the URSP manager corresponds to a performance dimension, and is selected from a group consisting of: a low power mode operation relative to the first application; 6. The method of claim 3, wherein, a high power mode operation relative to the first application; a low latency mode operation relative to the first application; a high latency mode operation relative to the first application; a low throughput mode operation relative to the first application; a high throughput mode operation relative to the first application; a low economic mode operation relative to the first application; and a high economic mode operation relative to the first application. the indication from the URSP manager to reselect the new PDU session includes a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) that is a perfect match for the first application. the indication from the URSP manager to reselect the new PDU session is based on the URSP manager reevaluating an association with the current PDU session of the first application in view of the cause for the dynamic reselection relative to the new PDU session of the first application.

9. An apparatus configured for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising:

7. The method of claim 1, wherein, ​ 8. The method of claim 1, wherein, ​ ​ at least one memory including instructions; and at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to: operate in accordance with a user equipment (UE) route selection policy (URSP) configuration to associate one or more applications with a packet data unit (PDU) session of a network slice operation; provide a message to a URSP manager indicating a cause for a dynamic reselection associated with a current PDU session of a first application of the one or more applications; and based on the cause for the dynamic reselection, switch to an association with a new PDU session of the first application in response to an indication from the URSP manager to reselect the new PDU session, or based on the cause for the dynamic reselection, remain associated with the current PDU session of the first application in response to an absence of an indication from the URSP manager to reselect the new PDU session.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein, the first application provides an indication of the cause for the dynamic reselection associated with the current PDU session of the first application.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein, the at least one processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to: obtain performance dimension information for a slice of the URSP configuration; and augment routing policy information of the URSP configuration to include a performance dimension criterion based on the performance dimension information.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein, the performance dimension information includes information selected from a group consisting of: bandwidth information, latency information, power consumption information, and economic mode information relative to a slice of the URSP configuration.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein, the at least one processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to: apply the URSP configuration to associate the one or more applications with the PDU session at a startup of the UE; and after augmenting the URSP configuration, apply the augmented URSP configuration to dynamically reselect a PDU session association for the first application.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein, the cause for the dynamic reselection associated with the current PDU session of the first application indicated in the message to the URSP manager corresponds to a performance dimension, and is selected from a group consisting of: a low power mode operation relative to the first application; a high power mode operation relative to the first application; a low latency mode operation relative to the first application; a high latency mode operation relative to the first application; a low throughput mode operation relative to the first application; a high throughput mode operation relative to the first application; a low economic mode operation relative to the first application; and a high economic mode operation relative to the first application. the indication from the URSP manager to reselect the new PDU session includes a single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) that is a perfect match for the first application.

15. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein, ​ 16. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein, The indication from the URSP manager to reselect the new PDU session is based on the URSP manager reevaluating the association with the current PDU session of the first application relative to the association with the new PDU session of the first application in view of the cause of the dynamic reselection.

17. A method of wireless communication, comprising: a user equipment route selection policy (URSP) manager obtaining a message indicating a cause of a dynamic reselection associated with a current packet data unit (PDU) session of a first application of one or more applications; and based on reevaluating the association with the current PDU session of the first application and the association with a new PDU session of the first application in accordance with the cause of the dynamic reselection, the URSP manager determining whether to provide an indication associated with the new PDU session of the first application.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, the first application providing an indication of the cause of the dynamic reselection associated with the current PDU session of the first application.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein, the URSP configuration extends route selection policy information to include a performance dimension criterion corresponding to the cause of the dynamic reselection of the current PDU session, and wherein the determination to provide the indication associated with the new PDU session of the first application is based at least in part on the cause of the dynamic reselection matching the performance dimension criterion of the route selection policy information.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein, the performance dimension criterion corresponds to information selected from the group consisting of: bandwidth information, latency information, power consumption information, and economic mode information relative to a slice of the URSP configuration.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein, the cause of the dynamic reselection associated with the current PDU session of the first application indicated in the message obtained by the URSP manager corresponds to a performance dimension criterion selected from the group consisting of: a low power mode operation relative to the first application; a high power mode operation relative to the first application; a low latency mode operation relative to the first application; a high latency mode operation relative to the first application; a low throughput mode operation relative to the first application; a high throughput mode operation relative to the first application; a low economic mode operation relative to the first application; and a high economic mode operation relative to the first application. the indication from the URSP manager to reselect the new PDU session includes a full match single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) for the first application.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein, the indication from the URSP manager to reselect the new PDU session is based on the URSP manager reevaluating the association with the current PDU session of the first application relative to the association with the new PDU session of the first application in view of the cause of the dynamic reselection.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein, 24. An apparatus configured for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: at least one memory including instructions; and at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to: ​ A user equipment route selection policy (URSP) manager obtains a message indicating a cause for a dynamic reselection associated with a current packet data unit (PDU) session of a first application of one or more applications; and Based on the cause for the dynamic reselection, the URSP manager determines whether to provide an indication associated with a new PDU session of the first application based on a reevaluation of the current PDU session associated with the first application and the new PDU session associated with the first application.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein, The first application provides an indication of the cause for the dynamic reselection associated with the current PDU session of the first application.

26. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein, The URSP configuration augments route selection policy information to include a performance dimension criterion corresponding to the cause for the dynamic reselection of the current PDU session, and wherein the determination to provide the indication associated with the new PDU session of the first application is based at least in part on the cause for the dynamic reselection matching the performance dimension criterion of the route selection policy information.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein, The performance dimension criterion corresponds to information selected from the group consisting of: bandwidth information, latency information, power consumption information, and economic mode information relative to a slice of the URSP configuration.

28. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein, The cause for the dynamic reselection associated with the current PDU session of the first application indicated in the message obtained by the URSP manager corresponds to a performance dimension criterion, and is selected from the group consisting of: a low power mode operation relative to the first application; a high power mode operation relative to the first application; a low latency mode operation relative to the first application; a high latency mode operation relative to the first application; a low throughput mode operation relative to the first application; a high throughput mode operation relative to the first application; a low economic mode operation relative to the first application; and a high economic mode operation relative to the first application. The indication from the URSP manager to reselect the new PDU session includes a fully matching single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) for the first application.

29. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein, The indication from the URSP manager to reselect the new PDU session is based on the URSP manager reevaluating the current PDU session associated with the first application relative to the new PDU session associated with the first application in view of the cause for the dynamic reselection.

30. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein, 31. An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising means for performing a method of any of claims 1-8 or 17-23.

32. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon for wireless communication, wherein the program code is executable by one or more processors to cause the one or more processors to perform a method of any of claims 1-8 or 17-23. ​ 33. A computer program product comprising computer readable instructions, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1-8 or 17-23.

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