IP routing and forwarding operations and IP router node management

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention relates to equipment, a method and a device for IP routing and forwarding operation and IP router node management, and a computer readable storage medium. The core network entity obtains a first set of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one IP interface in the first IP router node from at least one of: at least one user plane entity in the first IP router node, at least one control plane entity in the first IP router node, or an IP router controller. Furthermore, the core network entity determines a second set of IP routing or forwarding information about the first IP router based on at least one of the first set of IP routing or forwarding information and first static routing information pre-configured on the core network entity, the at least one IP interface connecting the first IP router node to a second group of IP entities and / or a third group of IP entities. Each of the IP entities includes an IP node or an IP host.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunications, and in particular, to apparatus, methods, devices, and computer-readable storage media for Internet Protocol (IP) routing and forwarding operations and IP router node management. Background Art

[0002] Since the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 16, 3GPP has been considering how to define technology building blocks in cellular networks to deliver reliable and predictable network services defined by other standardization organizations, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Time Sensitive Networking (TSN).

[0003] The integration of Layer 2 (L2) Ethernet TSN functionality into the fifth generation system (5GS) was introduced as an important component of ultra-reliable and low-latency communication (URLLC) in 3GPP Release 16. The 5GS Bridge uses a fully centralized configuration model specified in the IEEE 802.1 standard.

[0004] In 3GPP Release 17, generic Time Sensitive Communication (TSC) support was introduced to provide deterministic transport capabilities without relying on TSN specific features. Since then, 5GS has defined generic enablers for TSC and native TSC. A new network function (NF) called Time Sensitive Communication and Time Synchronization Function (TSCTSF) is introduced to focus on time synchronization, individual Quality of Service (QoS) parameters and TSC Assistance Container (TSCAC) determination. TSCTSF discovers ingress / egress port capabilities, configures them and gets notifications about configuration updates from them.

[0005] The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is another standardization organization that is working on delivering deterministic services over layer 3 (L3) networks (i.e., IP routers) and wireless networks in the corresponding Deterministic Networking (DetNet) working group. A DetNet network includes a DetNet controller and IP router nodes. The DetNet controller can collect topology and capability and resource availability information from the IP router nodes. Using this information and the ability to configure explicit routing and reserve routing resources, the DetNet controller can calculate and establish end-to-end (E2E) deterministic paths for DetNet traffic based on the application's request, thereby controlling the IP routers.

[0006] For 3GPP Release 18, a new study project FS_DetNet "Extending the TSC framework to support DetNet" was approved. The goal of this study project is to study whether and how 3GPP can support DetNet to provide mapping between DetNet controller and 5GS. The study considers 5GS as one of the IP router nodes in the DetNet domain. Hereinafter, 5GS acting as an IP router node is also referred to as 5GSDetNet node.

[0007] 5GSDetNet nodes need to open their routing information to the DetNet controller. Inside the 5GSDetNet node, TSCTSF is responsible for interacting with the DetNet controller. Therefore, TSCTSF needs to report information about the 5GSDetNet node to the DetNet controller, including its current routing and topology information. However, TSCTSF has no way to learn the IP routing information of all interfaces of the 5GSDetNet node. Summary of the invention

[0008] Example embodiments of the present disclosure provide an improved solution for IP routing and forwarding operations and IP router node management.

[0009] In a first aspect, a core network entity is provided. The core network entity includes at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, enable a core network entity in a first entity set acting as a first IP router node: obtain a first set of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one IP interface in the first IP router node from at least one of the following: at least one user plane entity in the first IP router node, at least one control plane entity in the first IP router node, or an IP router controller; and determine a second set of IP routing or forwarding information about the first IP router based on the first set of IP routing or forwarding information and at least one of the first static routing information pre-configured on the core network entity, at least one IP interface connecting the first IP router node to a second IP entity set and / or a third IP entity set, each of the IP entities including an IP node or an IP host.

[0010] In a second aspect, a device is provided. The device includes at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause a device in a first set of entities acting as a first IP router node to: send a first subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one first IP interface associated with the device to a core network entity in the first IP router node; receive a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one first IP interface from the core network entity; and process an IP data packet to or from at least one first IP interface based on the third subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0011] In a third aspect, a device is provided. The device includes at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause a device in a first set of entities acting as a first Internet Protocol IP router node to: send a second subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one second IP interface associated with the device to a core network entity in the first IP router node; receive a fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one second IP interface from the core network entity; and process IP packets to or from at least one second IP interface based on the fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0012] In a fourth aspect, a method is provided. The method includes: obtaining, at a core network entity in a first set of entities acting as a first Internet Protocol IP router node, a first set of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one IP interface in the first IP router node from at least one of: at least one user plane entity in the first IP router node, at least one control plane entity in the first IP router node, or an IP router controller; and determining a second set of IP routing or forwarding information about the first IP router based on the first set of IP routing or forwarding information and at least one of first static routing information pre-configured on the core network entity, the at least one IP interface connecting the first IP router node to a second set of IP entities and / or a third set of IP entities, each of the IP entities comprising an IP node or an IP host.

[0013] In a fifth aspect, a method is provided. The method includes: sending a first subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one first IP interface associated with the device from a device in a first set of entities acting as a first Internet Protocol IP router node to a core network entity in the first IP router node; receiving a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information about the at least one first IP interface from the core network entity; and processing an IP data packet to or from the at least one first IP interface based on the third subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0014] In a sixth aspect, a method is provided. The method includes: sending a second subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one second IP interface associated with the device from a device in a first set of entities acting as a first Internet Protocol IP router node to a core network entity in the first IP router node; receiving a fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information about the at least one second IP interface from the core network entity; and processing an IP data packet to or from the at least one second IP interface based on the fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0015] In a seventh aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus comprises: a component for obtaining, at a core network entity in a first set of entities acting as a first Internet Protocol IP router node, a first set of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one IP interface in the first IP router node from at least one of: at least one user plane entity in the first IP router node, at least one control plane entity in the first IP router node, or an IP router controller; and a component for determining a second set of IP routing or forwarding information about the first IP router based on at least one of the first set of IP routing or forwarding information and first static routing information pre-configured on the core network entity, the at least one IP interface connecting the first IP router node to a second set of IP entities and / or a third set of IP entities, each of the IP entities comprising an IP node or an IP host.

[0016] In an eighth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes: a component for sending a first subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one first IP interface associated with the device from a device in a first set of entities acting as a first Internet Protocol (IP) router node to a core network entity in the first IP router node; a component for receiving a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information about the at least one first IP interface from the core network entity; and a component for processing an IP data packet to or from the at least one first IP interface based on the third subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0017] In a ninth aspect, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes: a component for sending a second subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one second IP interface associated with the device from a device in a first set of entities acting as a first Internet Protocol (IP) router node to a core network entity in the first IP router node; a component for receiving a fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one second IP interface from the core network entity; and a component for processing an IP data packet to or from the at least one second IP interface based on the fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0018] In a tenth aspect, a computer readable medium is provided. The non-transitory computer readable medium includes program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform a method according to any one of the fourth, fifth and sixth aspects.

[0019] It should be understood that the invention summary section is not intended to necessarily identify the key or essential features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become readily understood through the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0021] Figure 1 An example communication environment in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented is shown;

[0022] Figure 2 A flowchart showing an example method implemented at a core network entity according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0023] Figures 3 to 6 respectively illustrate signaling diagrams of processes for IP routing and forwarding operations and IP router node management according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0024] Figure 7 Another example communication environment in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented is shown;

[0025] Figure 8 An example of determining an IP routing state repository for a first IP router node according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0026] Fig. 9 A flowchart illustrating an example method implemented at a device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0027] Fig.10 A flowchart illustrating an example method implemented at a device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0028] Fig.11shows a simplified block diagram of an apparatus suitable for implementing an example embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0029] Fig.12 A block diagram of an example computer-readable medium is shown according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0030] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numbers refer to the same or similar elements unless otherwise specified. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described only for illustrative purposes and to help those skilled in the art understand and implement the present disclosure without implying any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various ways except for the ways described below.

[0032] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0033] References in this disclosure to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," "an example embodiment," etc., indicate that the embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment necessarily includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Furthermore, these phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in conjunction with an embodiment, it should be understood that one skilled in the art may affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in conjunction with other embodiments, whether or not explicitly described.

[0034] It should be understood that although the terms "first" and "second" etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. For example, a first element may be referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element may be referred to as a first element without departing from the scope of the example embodiments. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0035] The terms used herein are only used for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are also intended to include the plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the terms "include", "comprise", "include", "have", "include", and / or "comprises" when used herein specify the presence of the features, elements, and / or components, etc., but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0036] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following:

[0037] (a) pure hardware circuit implementation (e.g., implementation using only analog and / or digital circuits) and

[0038] (b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (where applicable):

[0039] (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuits and software / firmware and

[0040] (ii) any portion of a hardware processor together with software (including a digital signal processor), software and memory, which work together to enable a device, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and

[0041] (c) A hardware circuit and / or processor, such as a microprocessor or a portion of a microprocessor, requires software (eg, firmware) for operation, but when software is not required for operation, the software may not be present.

[0042] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term "circuitry" also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its accompanying software and / or firmware. The term "circuitry" also covers, for example, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network device, or other computing or network device, if applicable to the particular claim element.

[0043] As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that complies with any suitable communication standard, such as but not limited to 5G systems, long term evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), high speed packet access (HSPA), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), Wi-Fi, etc. In addition, the communication between the terminal device and the network device in the communication network can be carried out according to any suitable generation communication protocol, including but not limited to the first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, 5G new radio (NR) communication protocol, and / or any other protocol currently known or developed in the future. The embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to various communication systems. In view of the rapid development of communication, there will certainly be future types of communication technologies and systems that can embody the present disclosure. It should not be regarded as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to the above-mentioned systems.

[0044] As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node in a communication network through which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. A network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP), for example, a NodeB (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also known as a gNB), a remote radio unit (RRU), a radio head (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, a low-power node such as a femto node, a micro node, etc., depending on the terminology and technology applied. The RAN separation architecture includes a gNB-CU (centralized unit, carrying RRC, SDAP and PDCP) that controls multiple gNB-DUs (distributed units, carrying RLC, MAC and PHY). A relay node may correspond to the DU portion of an IAB node. Although the description and drawings refer to UE and DS-TT connected to the rest of the 5GS using NR and RAN, the mechanisms described in the present invention may be applicable to other types of access networks, such as an untrusted non-3GPP AN (using N3IWF instead of RAN), a trusted non-3GPP AN (using TNGF instead of RAN), or wired access (using W-AGF instead of RAN).

[0045] The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device capable of wireless communication. As an example and not limitation, the terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), user station (SS), portable user station, mobile station (MS) or access terminal (AT). The terminal device may include, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a tablet computer, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable computer, a desktop computer, an image capture terminal device such as a digital camera, a game terminal device, a music storage and playback appliance, a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a notebook embedded equipment (LEE), a notebook mounted equipment (LME), a USB dongle, a smart device, a wireless client equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable device, a head mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, medical equipment and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial equipment and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices running in industrial and / or automated processing chain environments), consumer electronic devices, equipment running on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, etc. The terminal device may also correspond to the mobile terminal (MT) part of an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node (also known as a relay node). In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "communication device", "terminal", "user equipment" and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

[0046] Figure 1An example communication environment 100 is shown in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented.

[0047] like Figure 1 As shown, the communication environment 100 includes an IP router controller 110, a first entity set 120, a second IP entity set 130, and a third IP entity set 140. The first entity set 120 acts as a first IP router node. Therefore, the first entity set 120 may be referred to as the first IP router node 120 hereinafter.

[0048] In some embodiments, the first entity set 120 can be implemented as a 5GS. In such an embodiment, the 5GS can act as the first IP router node 120.

[0049] Each IP entity in the second set and the third set includes an IP node or an IP host. In other words, the second IP entity set 130 includes at least one IP node and / or at least one IP host, and the third IP entity set 140 includes at least one IP node and / or at least one IP host.

[0050] In some embodiments, the communication environment 100 may be implemented as a DetNet. In such an embodiment, the first entity set 120 may be implemented as a DetNet node, each IP entity in the second IP entity set 130 and the third IP entity set 140 may be implemented as a DetNet node or a DetNet end system (ES), and the IP router controller 110 may be implemented as a DetNet controller. In such an embodiment, the first entity set 120 may be referred to as a first IP router node 120, the second IP entity set 130 and the third IP entity set 140 may be referred to as a DetNet node 130 and a DetNet node 140, respectively, and the IP router controller 110 may be implemented as a DetNet controller 110.

[0051] In an embodiment where the 5GS acts as the first DetNet node 120 , the first DetNet node 120 may be referred to as a 5GS logical DetNet node 120 .

[0052] In the following, some embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in the context of a 5GS logical DetNet node. However, the scheme of the present disclosure can be applied to other communication environments besides DetNet.

[0053] The IP router controller 110 may collect topology, capability, and resource availability information from the first IP router node 120, the second IP entity set 130, and the third IP entity set 140. Using this information and the ability to configure explicit routes and reserved resources along the routes, the IP router controller 110 may calculate and establish an E2E deterministic path for a DetNet traffic flow based on a request from an application.

[0054] The second IP entity set 130 may include devices 131 and 132 .

[0055] In some embodiments, the granularity of the 5GS logical DetNet node may be that there is one UPF for each network instance. Thus, the first IP router node 120 may include a single UPF 127-1 and one or more terminal devices. Figure 1 It is shown that the first IP router node 120 includes a terminal device 121-1 only as an example. In addition, the first IP router node 120 may include a unified data management (UDM) entity 122, an access and mobility management function (AMF) entity 123, a radio access network (RAN) 124, a TSCTSF 125, a session management function (SMF) entity 126, a network open function (NEF) entity 128, and a policy control function (PCF) entity 129.

[0056] In some embodiments, terminal device 121-1 may provide at least one first IP interface to first IP router node 120, and the at least one first IP interface connects first IP router node 120 to second IP entity set 130 or to IP devices 131 and 132. Each of IP devices 131 and 132 may be an IP router or an IP host.

[0057] In some embodiments, the second IP entity set 130 may include multiple IP entities, and the at least one first IP interface may include multiple first IP interfaces. In such an embodiment, each of the first IP interfaces connects the first IP router node 120 to one of the IP entities in the second IP entity set 130.

[0058] In some embodiments, the terminal device 121-1 may be associated with or accompanied by one or more device-side TSN converter (DS-TT) devices. Each of the DS-TT devices may provide one of the at least one first IP interface. Figure 1In the example shown, terminal device 121-1 can be associated with DS-TT device 121-2, and DS-TT device 121-2 provides IP interface #2. In this way, first IP router node 120 can communicate with second IP entity set 130 or IP devices 131 and 132 via IP interface #2 through local network 150.

[0059] In some embodiments, the UPF entity 127 - 1 may provide at least one second IP interface to the first IP router node 120 , which connects the first IP router node 120 to the third IP entity set 140 .

[0060] In some embodiments, the third IP entity set 140 may include multiple IP entities, and at least one second IP interface may include multiple second IP interfaces. In such an embodiment, each of the second IP interfaces connects the first IP router node 120 to one of the IP entities in the third IP entity set 140.

[0061] In some embodiments, the UPF entity 127-1 may be associated with or accompanied by a network-side TSN converter (NW-TT) device. The DS-TT device may provide at least one second IP interface. Figure 1 In the example shown, UPF entity 127-1 is associated with NW-TT 127-2, and NW-TT 127-2 provides IP interface #3. In this way, first IP router node 120 can communicate with third IP entity set 140 through L3 network 160 via IP interface #3.

[0062] In the following, for simplicity, each IP interface in at least one first IP interface (e.g., IP interface #2) is also referred to as a UE / DS-TT DetNet interface, and each IP interface in at least one second IP interface (e.g., IP interface #3) is also referred to as a UPF / NW-TT DetNet interface.

[0063] It should be understood that Figure 1 The number of IP router nodes in the communication environment 100 and the number of terminal devices and network elements in the first IP router node 120 are shown for illustration purposes only and do not imply any limitation. The communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of IP router nodes, terminal devices, and network elements to implement the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0064] The first IP router node 120 may need to open its routing information to the IP router controller 110. Inside the first IP router node 120, the TSCTSF 125 may be responsible for the interaction with the IP router controller 110. Therefore, the TSCTSF 125 may need to report information about the first IP router node 120 to the IP router controller 110. For example, the information about the first IP router node 120 may include its current routing and topology information.

[0065] To ensure that IP packet forwarding is performed correctly within a 5GSDetNet node, IP routing or forwarding information needs to be managed in three locations so that the configuration of these three locations matches the routing view that TSCTSF has for the 5GSDetNet node.

[0066] First, the UPF device may need to be configured to forward packets expected to be sent via a given UE / DS-TT interface to the packet data unit (PDU) session associated with the UE / DS-TT. This can be done using UPF packet inspection rules / forwarding action rules. However, these rules must be managed correctly so that the configuration in the UPF device matches the 5GSDetNet node routing state seen by the TSC TSF.

[0067] Second, the end device or DS-TT itself may need to know the next-hop IP address of any packet it forwards from the UE / DS-TT interface if the packet's destination has a different prefix than the one the UE / DS-TT interface has. Such a forwarding table may also need to exist in the end device acting as a normal standalone IP router. However, since in the context of a 5G DetNet node, the end device or DS-TT does not act as a standalone router but merely as an interface, it is expected that the 5G Core (5GC) should provide it with such a forwarding table. This may cover static routes configured manually (via OAM) on the 5GS IP router node as well as explicit routes provided by the IP router controller (DetNet controller) or any other IP software defined network (SDN) controller.

[0068] Third, the UPF / NW-TT has IP routing or forwarding information associated with the N6 interface of the UPF device and the NW-TT DetNet interface. This IP routing or forwarding information can be statically configured at the UPF device / NW-TT, or learned by the UPF device / NW-TT through an IP routing protocol or algorithm, in which case the TSCTSF needs to learn it. It can also be managed by the TSCTSF, in which case the TSCTSF needs a way to do this.

[0069] The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for IP routing and forwarding operations and IP router node management to solve the above-mentioned problems and one or more other potential problems. According to the solution, the core network entity obtains a first set of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one IP interface in a first IP router node from at least one of the following: at least one user plane entity in the first IP router node, at least one control plane entity in the first IP router node, or an IP router controller. Furthermore, the core network entity determines a second set of IP routing or forwarding information about the first IP router based on the first set of IP routing or forwarding information and at least one of the first static routing information pre-configured on the core network entity, and at least one IP interface connects the first IP router node to a second set of IP entities and / or a third set of IP entities.

[0070] With this solution, the core network entity can know the IP routing or forwarding information of all interfaces in the first IP router node. In addition, if the core network entity itself has static routing information to be added to the first IP router node based on the local configuration on the first IP router node, the core network entity can affect the IP routing or forwarding information of the interface in the first IP router node.

[0071] Figure 2 FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an example method 200 implemented at a core network entity according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, reference will be made to Figure 2 The method 200 is described from the perspective of the TSCTSF 125. It should be understood that the method 200 may be implemented at other core network entities besides the TSCTSF 125.

[0072] At block 210, TSCTSF 125 obtains a first set of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one IP interface in a first IP router node from at least one of: at least one user plane entity in the first IP router node, at least one control plane entity in the first IP router node, or an IP router controller.

[0073] In block 220, TSCTSF 125 determines a second set of IP routing or forwarding information about a first IP router based on the first set of IP routing or forwarding information and at least one of the first static routing information preconfigured on the core network entity, at least one IP interface connecting the first IP router node to a second set of IP entities and / or a third set of IP entities.

[0074] In some embodiments, the first set of IP routing or forwarding information may be referred to as interface-level IP routing or forwarding information, and the second set of IP routing or forwarding information may be referred to as node-level IP routing or forwarding information. Interface-level IP routing or forwarding information may mean that it has been configured or acquired at the interface level (e.g., by a single UE / DS-TT or UPF / NW-TT). Node-level IP routing or forwarding information may mean that it has been acquired at the level of the first IP router node, e.g., configured or acquired by the TSCTSF.

[0075] In some embodiments, the first set of IP routing or forwarding information may include a first subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one first IP interface associated with the terminal device 121-1 or the DS-TT device 121-2. For example, the at least one first IP interface may include the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information about the at least one first IP interface associated with the terminal device 121-1 or the DS-TT device 121-2. Figure 1 Described IP interface #2.

[0076] In some embodiments, alternatively or additionally, the first set of IP routing or forwarding information may include a second subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one second IP interface associated with the UPF entity 127-1 or the NF-TT device 127-2. For example, the at least one second IP interface may include the information described in reference Figure 1 Described IP interface #3.

[0077] In some embodiments, the at least one control plane entity may include a UDM entity 122 in the first IP router node 120. The TSCTSF 125 may obtain a first subset of IP routing or forwarding information by obtaining framed routing information associated with the terminal device 121-1 from the UDM entity 122. For example, the TSCTSF 125 may obtain the frame routing information directly from the UDM entity 122. Alternatively, the TSCTSF 125 may obtain the frame routing information from the UDM entity 122 through at least one of the SMF entity 126 or the PCF entity 129. In such an embodiment, the frame routing information may include at least one of the following: a set of IP addresses reachable through at least one first IP interface, a next hop IP address associated with the at least one first IP interface, or an identifier of the at least one first IP interface.

[0078] In some embodiments, TSCTSF 125 may generate a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one first IP interface associated with terminal device 121-1 or DS-TT device 121-2 based on at least one of the first set of IP routing or forwarding information and the first static routing information.

[0079] In some embodiments, alternatively or additionally, the TSCTSF 125 may generate a fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information regarding at least one second IP interface associated with the UPF entity 127-1 or the NF-TT device 127-2 based on the first set of IP routing or forwarding information and at least one of the first static routing information.

[0080] In some embodiments, the at least one user plane entity includes a DS-TT device 121 - 2 , and the TSCTSF 125 may obtain a first subset of IP routing or forwarding information from the DS-TT device 121 - 2 .

[0081] In some embodiments, alternatively or additionally, the at least one user plane entity may include the terminal device 121 - 1 , and the TSCTSF 125 may obtain the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information from the terminal device 121 - 1 .

[0082] In some embodiments, alternatively or additionally, the at least one user plane entity may include the NW-TT device 127 - 2 , and the TSCTSF 125 may obtain the second subset of IP routing or forwarding information from the NW-TT device 127 - 2 .

[0083] In some embodiments, alternatively or additionally, the at least one user plane entity may include a UPF entity 127 - 1 , and the TSCTSF 125 may obtain the second subset of IP routing or forwarding information from the UPF entity 127 - 1 via the SMF entity 126 .

[0084] In the following, reference will be made to Figures 3 to 8 To describe some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0085] Figure 3 A signaling diagram of a process 300 for IP routing and forwarding operations and IP router node management according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The process 300 may involve Figure 1 121-2, SMF entity 126, PCF entity 129, UDM entity 122, and TSCTSF 125. Figure 1 The process 300 is described in the communication environment 100 of FIG. 1 , but the process can also be applied to other communication scenarios.

[0086] In process 300, at least one first IP interface is associated with DS-TT device 121-2. Each of the first and third subsets of IP routing or forwarding information includes static IP routing or forwarding information about the at least one first IP interface.

[0087] like Figure 3As shown, the UDM entity 122 is pre-configured with frame routing information associated with the terminal device 121-1, and the TSCTSF 125 is pre-configured with the first static routing information. When the terminal device 121-1 establishes a PDU session for each UE / DS-TT DetNet interface (i.e., the first IP interface), the SMF entity 126 can obtain 310 the frame routing information associated with the terminal device 121-1 from the UDM entity 122, and provide the frame routing information to the TSCTSF 125 together with the interface number provided by the UPF entity 127-1 via the PCF entity 129.

[0088] In some embodiments, the first static routing information includes a next hop IP address for at least one first IP interface associated with the DS-TT device 121-2. Based on the frame routing information and the first static routing information pre-configured on the TSCTSF 125, the TSCTSF 125 may determine 320 a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information regarding the at least one first IP interface associated with the DS-TT device 121-2.

[0089] In turn, TSCTSF 125 may configure 330 at least one first IP interface using a third subset of the IP routing or forwarding information.

[0090] In some embodiments, to configure at least one first IP interface, TSCTSF 125 may send a port management information container (PMIC) 330 to DS-TT device 121-2. The PMIC includes a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information. The information 330 from TSCTSF 125 to DS-TT 121-2 may be transmitted via PCF 129, SMF 126, and NAS signaling.

[0091] In some embodiments, the PMIC may include at least one of the following:

[0092] IP address,

[0093] The range of IP addresses,

[0094] The length of the IP prefix,

[0095] The next hop IP address, or

[0096] The type of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0097] In some embodiments, the PMIC may not include a next-hop IP address if the IP prefix is ​​the same as the prefix of the interface itself.

[0098] In some embodiments, the type of IP routing or forwarding information can indicate whether the IP routing or forwarding information is static or dynamic IP routing or forwarding information. It should be understood that static IP routing or forwarding information can be manually configured. Dynamic IP routing or forwarding information can be determined based on an IP routing protocol or algorithm.

[0099] In some embodiments, to configure a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information to one of the at least one first IP interface, the TSCTSF 125 may map an interface number associated with the first IP interface to a PDU session to which an application function (AF) session is bound, and the TSCTSF 125 may update the SMF entity 126 (possibly through the PCF 129) such that a set / prefix of IP addresses should be associated with the PDU session for UPF forwarding. The TSCTSF 125 may update the DS-TT associated with the PDU session with the IP prefix and the next hop IP address.

[0100] In some embodiments, to configure a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information to one of the at least one second IP interface, TSCTSF 125 may update NW-TT 127-2 via UMIC or PMIC with the IP prefix, IP interface, and next hop IP address. Using UMIC, all interfaces may be carried in the same container, rather than putting each interface into PMIC.

[0101] Figure 4 4 is a signaling diagram of a process 400 for IP routing and forwarding operations and IP router node management according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The process 400 may involve the following: Figure 1 The terminal device 121-1, SMF entity 126, PCF entity 129 and TSCTSF 125 are shown. Figure 1 The process 400 is described in the communication environment 100 of FIG. 1 , but the process can also be applied to other communication scenarios.

[0102] In process 400, DS-TT 121-2 is not provided and at least one first IP interface is associated with terminal device 121-1. Each of the first and third subsets of IP routing or forwarding information includes static IP routing or forwarding information about the at least one first IP interface.

[0103] like Figure 4As shown, TSCTSF 125 is preconfigured with first static routing information. When terminal device 121-1 establishes a PDU session for each UE / DS-TT DetNet interface (i.e., first IP interface), terminal device 121-1 may indicate support for IP routing entry exchange. Terminal device 121-1 may provide information about at least one first IP interface it has, including at least a certain identifier of each first IP interface used locally by terminal device 121-1.

[0104] The terminal device 121-1 may send 410 a first subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one first IP interface to the SMF entity 126 during the PDU session establishment or modification process. In some embodiments, the terminal device 121-1 may send non-access stratum session management (NAS SM) signaling to the SMF entity 126. The NAS SM signaling includes the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information. In turn, the SMF entity 126 opens 420 the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information to the TSCTSF 125 directly or via the PCF entity 129.

[0105] Based on the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information and first static routing information preconfigured on TSCTSF 125, TSCTSF 125 may determine 430 a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information regarding at least one first IP interface associated with terminal device 121-1.

[0106] In some embodiments, the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information may include frame routing information and IP routing or forwarding information received from terminal device 121-1. In such an embodiment, TSCTSF 125 may determine a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one first IP interface based on the frame routing information, the IP routing or forwarding information received from terminal device 121-1, and the first static routing information pre-configured on TSCTSF 125.

[0107] In turn, the TSCTSF 125 may send 440 a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information to the SMF entity 126. In other words, the TSCTSF 125 may update these routes (their IP prefixes) into the SMF entity 126 so that the SMF entity 126 updates the UPF N3 forwarding for these routes to the correct PDU session.

[0108] Furthermore, the SMF entity 126 may send 450 a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information to the terminal device 121-1 to configure the third subset of IP routing or forwarding information to at least one first IP interface. In some embodiments, the SMF entity 126 may send NAS SM signaling to the terminal device 121-1. The NAS SM signaling includes the third subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0109] Using process 400, at least in some cases, especially when DS-TT device 121-2 and / or NW-TT 127-2 are omitted, TSCTSF 125 (or some other NF) still has a way to learn external routing information and configure the external routing information to 5GS.

[0110] In an embodiment in which at least one first IP interface is associated with the terminal device 121-1 and each of the first subset and the third subset of IP routing or forwarding information includes static IP routing or forwarding information about the at least one first IP interface, alternatively, the SMF entity 126 may obtain frame routing information from the UDM entity 122 and provide the frame routing information to the terminal device 121-1. For example, the SMF entity 126 may provide the frame routing information to the terminal device 121-1 during a PDU session establishment or modification process.

[0111] Figure 5 A signaling diagram of a process 500 for IP routing and forwarding operations and IP router node management according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The process 500 may involve Figure 1 DS-TT device 121-2, NW-TT 127-2, TSCTSF 125 and router controller 110 are shown. Figure 1 The process 500 is described in the communication environment 100 of FIG. 1 , but the process is also applicable to other communication scenarios.

[0112] In process 500, at least one first IP interface is associated with DS-TT device 121-2, and at least one second IP interface is associated with NW-TT device 127-2. Each of the first subset, the second subset, the third subset, and the fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information includes dynamic IP routing or forwarding information about the at least one first IP interface.

[0113] like Figure 5As shown, DS-TT 121-2 receives 510 an IP routing protocol message, for example, from second set of IP entities 130. After DS-TT 121-2 receives the IP routing protocol or algorithm message, DS-TT 121-2 processes 520 the IP routing protocol or algorithm message to determine a first subset of IP routing or forwarding information associated with at least one first IP interface.

[0114] In some embodiments, DS-TT 121-2 may establish or maintain a local IP routing information base to store a first subset of IP routing or forwarding information. Further, DS-TT 121-2 sends 530 the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information to TSCTSF 125 via PMIC. In some embodiments, PMIC may be carried by UE 121-1, SMF 126, and PCF 129.

[0115] The NW-TT 127-2 receives 540 an IP routing protocol or algorithm message, for example, from the third entity set 140. The NW-TT 127-2 then processes 550 the IP routing protocol or algorithm message to determine a second subset of IP routing or forwarding information associated with at least one second IP interface. In some embodiments, the NW-TT 127-2 may establish or maintain a local IP routing information base to store the second subset of IP routing or forwarding information. Furthermore, the NW-TT 127-2 sends 560 the second subset of IP routing or forwarding information to the TSCTSF 125 via the PMIC or UMIC. With the UMIC, all interfaces may be carried in the same container, rather than putting them into the PMIC one by one. In some embodiments, the PMIC / UMIC may be carried via the N4, SMF 126, and PCF 129, but other kinds of transmissions are also possible, such as direct transmission between the UPF 127-1 and the TSCTSF 125.

[0116] After receiving at least one of the first and second subsets of IP routing or forwarding information, TSCTSF 125 determines 570 a second set of IP routing or forwarding information, the IP routing or forwarding information in at least one of the first and second subsets being dynamic IP routing or forwarding information.

[0117] In some embodiments, TSCTSF 125 may merge the dynamic IP routing or forwarding information received in process 500 with the static IP routing or forwarding information received in process 300 or 400. Further, TSCTSF 125 may determine the merged IP routing or forwarding information as a second set of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0118] In some embodiments, TSCTSF 125 may determine an IP routing state repository for first IP router node 120 based on the second set of IP routing or forwarding information. Details of how TSCTSF 125 determines the IP routing state repository will be referred to later. Figure 7 and Figure 8 Give a description.

[0119] After determining the second set of IP routing or forwarding information, TSCTSF 125 may send 580 the second set of IP routing or forwarding information to IP router controller 110. In some embodiments, TSCTSF 125 may optionally send 580 the second set of IP routing or forwarding information to NEF entity 128 ( Figure 5 (not shown) sends the determined IP routing state library for the first IP router node 120 to the IP router controller 110. In some embodiments, the format of the IP routing state library may comply with IETF RFC 8349.

[0120] Figure 6 FIG. 6 is a signaling diagram of a process 600 for IP routing and forwarding operations and IP router node management according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The process 600 may involve the following: Figure 1 The terminal device 121-1, UPF entity 127-1, SMF 126, TSCTSF 125 and router controller 110 are shown. Figure 1 The process 600 is described in the communication environment 100 of FIG. 1 , but the process is also applicable to other communication scenarios.

[0121] In process 600, at least one first IP interface is associated with terminal device 121-1, and at least one second IP interface is associated with UPF entity 127-1. Each of the first subset, the second subset, the third subset, and the fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information includes dynamic IP routing or forwarding information about the at least one first IP interface.

[0122] like Figure 6 As shown, after the terminal device 121-1 receives 610 the IP routing protocol or algorithm message, the terminal device 121-1 processes 620 the IP routing protocol or algorithm message to determine a first subset of IP routing or forwarding information associated with at least one first IP interface. In some embodiments, the terminal device 121-1 may establish or maintain a local IP routing information base to store the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information. Further, the terminal device 121-1 sends 630 the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information to the SMF 126 via NAS SM signaling. Then, the SMF 126 sends 635 the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information to the TSCTSF 125 via the PCF service.

[0123] When UPF entity 127-1 and SMF entity 126 establish their Packet Control Forwarding Protocol (PCFP) association, UPF entity 127-1 can indicate to SMF entity 126 that it supports IP routing entry exchange. UPF entity 127-1 can provide information about the N6 interfaces it has, at least some identifier for each interface it uses locally.

[0124] After the UPF entity 127-1 receives 640 the IP routing protocol or algorithm message, the UPF entity 127-1 processes 650 the IP routing protocol or algorithm message to determine a second subset of IP routing or forwarding information associated with at least one second IP interface. In some embodiments, the UPF entity 127-1 may establish or maintain a local IP routing information base to store the second subset of IP routing or forwarding information. Furthermore, the UPF entity 127-1 sends 660 the second subset of IP routing or forwarding information to the SMF 126 via PCFP signaling. Then, the SMF 126 sends 665 the second subset of IP routing or forwarding information to the TSCTSF 125 via the NPCF service.

[0125] It should be understood that although reference Figure 6 The second subset of dynamic IP routing or forwarding information is described, but in other embodiments, the UPF entity 127-1 may send the second subset of static IP routing or forwarding information to the SMF 126 via PCFP signaling. In turn, the SMF 126 may send the second subset of static IP routing or forwarding information to the TSCTSF 125 via the NPCF service.

[0126] After receiving at least one of the first and second subsets of IP routing or forwarding information as dynamic IP routing or forwarding information, TSCTSF 125 determines 670 a second set of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0127] In some embodiments, TSCTSF 125 may merge the dynamic IP routing or forwarding information received in process 600 with the static IP routing or forwarding information received in process 300 or 400. Further, TSCTSF 125 may determine the merged IP routing or forwarding information as a second set of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0128] In some embodiments, TSCTSF 125 may determine an IP routing state repository for first IP router node 120 based on the second set of IP routing or forwarding information. Details of how TSCTSF 125 determines the IP routing state repository will be referred to later. Figure 7 and 8 Give a description.

[0129] After determining the second set of IP routing or forwarding information, TSCTSF 125 may send 680 the second set of IP routing or forwarding information to IP router controller 110. In some embodiments, TSCTSF 125 may optionally send 680 the second set of IP routing or forwarding information to NEF entity 128 ( Figure 6 (not shown) sends the determined IP routing state library for the first IP router node 120 to the IP router controller 110. In some embodiments, the format of the IP routing state library may comply with IETF RFC 8349.

[0130] In an embodiment where TSCTSF 125 obtains a first set of IP routing or forwarding information from IP router controller 110, TSCTSF 125 may configure at least one IP interface by performing the following operations.

[0131] If TSCTSF 125 determines that the IP interface indicated by the first set of IP routing or forwarding information is one of the at least one first IP interface, TSCTSF 125 may send a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information to DS-TT device 121-2 associated with the IP interface of the at least one first IP interface.

[0132] If TSCTSF 125 determines that the IP interface indicated by the first set of IP routing or forwarding information is one of the at least one second IP interface, TSCTSF 125 may send a fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information to NW-TT device 127-2 associated with the IP interface of the at least one second IP interface.

[0133] In an embodiment in which TSCTSF 125 obtains a first set of IP routing or forwarding information from the IP router controller 110, alternatively, TSCTSF 125 may configure at least one of the following for at least one IP interface: sending a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one first IP interface to terminal device 121-1 via SMF entity 126; or sending a fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one second IP interface to UPF entity 127-1 via SMF entity 126.

[0134] As described above, TSCTSF 125 may determine the IP routing state repository for first IP router node 120 based on the second set of IP routing or forwarding information. Figure 7 and 8 Give a description.

[0135] Figure 7Another example communication environment 700 is shown in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Figure 7 As shown, the communication environment 700 includes the reference Figure 1 The IP router controller 110 and the first entity set 120 are described. In addition, the communication environment 700 includes a fourth IP entity set 710, a second IP entity set 720 and a third IP entity set 730.

[0136] The first entity set 120 is connected to the IP router node X in the second IP entity set 720 via the UE 121-1 or the DS-TT device 121-2. After the IP router node X, there is a host A in the fourth IP entity set 710. The host A can act as a DetNet terminal system (ES). The host C in the third IP entity set 730 acts as a DetNet ES and is connected to the UPF entity 127-1 or the NW-TT device 127-2 via the L3 network 160.

[0137] Figure 8 FIG. 2 shows an example of determining an IP routing state repository for the first IP router node 120 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 8 As shown, TSCTSF 125 may obtain the IP routing information base in UE 121-1 and the IP routing information base in UPF entity 127-1. For example, TSCTSF 125 may obtain the IP routing information base in UE 121-1 and the IP routing information base in UPF entity 127-1 from DS-TT device 121-2 and NW-TT 127-2, respectively, as shown in FIG. Figure 5 As another example, TSCTSF 125 may obtain IP routing information base from UE 121-1 and UPF entity 127-1, respectively, as shown in FIG. Figure 6 Each of the acquired IP routing information bases may include static or dynamic IP routes.

[0138] In this example, dynamic routing is used as an example. TSCTSF 125 can merge Figure 5 Alternatively, TSCTSF 125 may incorporate the IP routing state database table rows from actions 530 and 560. Figure 6 Actions 635 and 665 in the IP routing state library construct table rows.

[0139] For table rows with the same destination address, TSCTSF 125 may delete the internal interface parameters of the obtained IP routing information base and replace them with the corresponding egress interfaces of the first entity set 120. For example, TSCTSF 125 may replace the internal interface "5G-AN" with the egress interface 3, and replace the internal interface UPF N3 interface with the DS-TT DetNet interface 2.

[0140] It should be understood that, in general, IP address information may include at least one of the following: an IP address and a subnet mask (for IPv4); one or more IP prefixes and an interface identifier (ID) (for IPv6). The complete IP address of an IP interface may be a concatenation of a prefix and an interface ID. Figure 8 The examples have been described taking IPv6 as an example.

[0141] In a preferred embodiment, if different routes exist for the same target IP address, static routes have a higher priority than dynamic routes ( Figure 8 not shown).

[0142] In some embodiments, TSCTSF 125 may generate at least one of a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information and a fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information based on at least one of the first set of IP routing or forwarding information and the first static routing information. The third subset of IP routing or forwarding information is about at least one first IP interface associated with terminal device 121-1 or DS-TT device 121-2. The fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information is about at least one second IP interface associated with UPF entity 127-1 or NW-TT device 127-2. For example, TSCTSF 125 may generate at least one of a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information and a fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information based on at least one of the first set of IP routing or forwarding information and the first static routing information. Figure 7 and Figure 8 At least one of the third and fourth subsets of IP routing or forwarding information is generated in a similar manner as described.

[0143] As described above, the TSCTSF 125 may acquire or configure routing or forwarding on the DS-TT device 121 - 2 and the NW-TT device 127 - 2 by using the PMIC or the UMIC.

[0144] In some embodiments, the TSCTSF 125 may use PMIC or UMIC procedures to read the IP routing information base and / or write static IP routing table entries and obtain updates (notifications) when they change. The TSCTSF 125 may read and obtain updates about IP routes configured directly on the DS-TT device 121-2 and / or NW-TT device 127-2 or obtained through dynamic routing protocols or algorithms. The TSCTSF 125 may write the IP routing entries it has in its own routing configuration (static routes for the first IP router node 120) and / or in explicit routes provided by an IP router controller or any other IP soft defined network (SDN) controller.

[0145] For DS-TT device 121-2, PMIC can be used in the context of a single DS-TT / UE interface. For NW-TT device 127-2, one approach is to use UMIC so that it includes a forwarding table for all NW-TT interfaces. In this approach, the forwarding table format must explicitly state what the output interface for each prefix is.

[0146] The same extension applies to information carried between UE 121-1 and SMF entity 126 via NASSM signaling and between UPF entity 127-1 and SMF entity 126 using the PCFP protocol.

[0147] Fig. 9 A flowchart of an example method 900 implemented at a device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 1 Method 900 is implemented at the terminal device 121-1 or DS-TT121-2 in.

[0148] At block 910, a device in a first set of entities acting as a first IP router node sends a first subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one first IP interface associated with the device to a core network entity in the first IP router node.

[0149] At block 920, the device receives a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one first IP interface from a core network entity.

[0150] In some embodiments, the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information may be a static subset of IP routing or forwarding information. The third subset of IP routing or forwarding information may be determined based on at least one of the first set of IP routing or forwarding information and first static routing information pre-configured on a first core network entity within the IP router.

[0151] At block 930, the device processes IP data packets to or from the at least one first IP interface based on the third subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0152] In some embodiments, the device is a DS-TT device.

[0153] In some embodiments, the device may send the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information by sending a first port management information container PMIC, the first PMIC including the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0154] In some embodiments, the device may receive the third subset of the IP routing or forwarding information by receiving a second port management information container PMIC, the second PMIC including the third subset of the IP routing or forwarding information.

[0155] In some embodiments, each of the first PMIC and the second PMIC includes at least one of an IP address, a range of IP addresses, a length of an IP prefix, a next-hop IP address, or a type of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0156] In some embodiments, the device is a terminal device. In such an embodiment, the device may send the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information by sending a non-access layer session management NAS SM signaling to the SMF, the NAS SM signaling including the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0157] Fig.10 FIG. 1 is a flowchart of an example method 1000 implemented at a device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 1 Method 1000 is implemented at the UPF entity 127-1 or NW-TT 127-2 in.

[0158] At block 1010, a device in the first set of entities acting as a first IP router node sends a second subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one second IP interface associated with the device to a core network entity in the first IP router node.

[0159] At block 1020, the device receives a fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one second IP interface from a core network entity.

[0160] In some embodiments, the second subset of IP routing or forwarding information may be a static subset of IP routing or forwarding information. The fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information may be determined based on at least one of the first set of IP routing or forwarding information and the first static routing information pre-configured on the core network entity.

[0161] At block 1030, the device processes IP data packets to or from the at least one second IP interface based on a fourth subset of the IP routing or forwarding information.

[0162] In some embodiments, the device is a NW-TT device.

[0163] In some embodiments, the device may send the second subset of the IP routing or forwarding information by sending a third PMIC or the first UMIC that includes the second subset of the IP routing or forwarding information.

[0164] In some embodiments, the device may receive the fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information by receiving a fourth PMIC or a second UMIC that includes the fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0165] In some embodiments, each of the third and fourth PMICs and the first and second UMICs includes at least one of an IP address, a range of IP addresses, a length of an IP prefix, a next-hop IP address, or a type of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0166] In some embodiments, the device is a UPF entity.

[0167] In some embodiments, the device may send the second subset of IP routing or forwarding information by sending PCFP signaling to the SMF entity in the first IP router node, the PCFP signaling including the second subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0168] In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing any of the methods 200 may include a component for performing the corresponding steps of the method 200. The component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the component may be implemented in the form of a circuit or a software module.

[0169] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes: a component for obtaining, at a core network entity in a first set of entities acting as a first IP router node, a first set of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one IP interface in the first IP router node from at least one of: at least one user plane entity in the first IP router node, at least one control plane entity in the first IP router node, or an IP router controller; and a component for determining a second set of IP routing or forwarding information about the first IP router based on the first set of IP routing or forwarding information and at least one of first static routing information pre-configured on the core network entity, the at least one IP interface connecting the first IP router node to a second set of IP entities and / or a third set of IP entities, each of the IP entities comprising an IP node or an IP host.

[0170] In some embodiments, the first set of IP routing or forwarding information includes at least one of the following: a first subset of IP routing or forwarding information regarding at least one first IP interface, the at least one first IP interface being associated with a terminal device in the first IP router node or being associated with a device-side time-sensitive networking converter DS-TT device associated with the terminal device; or a second subset of IP routing or forwarding information regarding at least one second IP interface, the at least one second IP interface being associated with a user plane function UPF entity in the first IP router node or being associated with a network-side time-sensitive networking converter NF-TT device associated with the UPF entity.

[0171] In some embodiments, at least one control plane entity comprises a UDM entity; and the means for obtaining a first subset of IP routing or forwarding information comprises means for obtaining frame routing information associated with the terminal device from a unified data management (UDM) entity in the first IP router node.

[0172] In some embodiments, means for obtaining frame routing information from a UDM entity via at least one of an SMF entity or a policy control function in a first IP router node.

[0173] In some embodiments, the frame routing information includes at least one of: a set of IP addresses reachable through at least one first IP interface, a next hop IP address associated with the at least one first IP interface, and an identifier of the at least one first IP interface.

[0174] In some embodiments, at least one user plane entity includes a DS-TT device and a component for obtaining a first subset of IP routing or forwarding information from the DS-TT device; or at least one user plane entity includes a terminal device and a component for obtaining a first subset of IP routing or forwarding information from the terminal device.

[0175] In some embodiments, means for obtaining the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information includes means for receiving a PMIC including the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information from a DS-TT device.

[0176] In some embodiments, at least one user plane entity includes a NW-TT device and a component for obtaining a second subset of IP routing or forwarding information from the NW-TT device; or at least one user plane entity includes a UPF entity and a component for obtaining a second subset of IP routing or forwarding information from the UPF entity via an SMF entity in a first IP router node.

[0177] In some embodiments, the means for obtaining the second subset of the IP routing or forwarding information includes means for receiving a PMIC or a UMIC from the NW-TT device, the PMIC or the UMIC including the second subset of the IP routing or forwarding information.

[0178] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for configuring at least one IP interface based on the second set of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0179] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises a component for generating a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information and at least one of a fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information based on the first set of IP routing or forwarding information and at least one of the first static routing information; wherein the third subset of IP routing or forwarding information is about at least one first IP interface associated with a terminal device in the first IP router or associated with a DS-TT device associated with the terminal device; and the fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information is about at least one second IP interface associated with a UPF entity in the first IP router node or associated with a NW-TT device associated with the UPF entity.

[0180] In some embodiments, the means for configuring the at least one IP interface includes means for sending a PMIC to the IP interface of the DS-TT device, the PMIC including the third subset of the IP routing or forwarding information.

[0181] In some embodiments, the means for configuring includes: means for sending a PMIC or a UMIC to the NW-TT device, the PMIC or the UMIC including the fourth subset of the IP routing or forwarding information.

[0182] In some embodiments, the PMIC or UMIC includes at least one of: an IP address, a range of IP addresses, a length of an IP prefix, a next-hop IP address, or a type of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0183] In some embodiments, the component for obtaining a first set of IP routing or forwarding information from an IP router controller; and the component for configuring at least one IP interface includes: a component for sending a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information to a DS-TT device associated with the IP interface in at least one first IP interface based on determining that the IP interface indicated by the first set of IP routing or forwarding information is one of the IP interfaces in at least one first IP interface; and / or a component for sending a fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information to a NW-TT device associated with the IP interface in at least one second IP interface based on determining that the IP interface indicated by the first set of IP routing or forwarding information is one of the IP interfaces in at least one second IP interface.

[0184] In some embodiments, the component for obtaining a first set of IP routing or forwarding information from an IP router controller; and the component for configuring at least one IP interface includes at least one of the following: a component for sending a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one first IP interface to a terminal device via an SMF entity; or a component for sending a fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one second IP interface to a UPF entity via an SMF entity.

[0185] In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for sending a second set of IP routing or forwarding information to the IP router controller.

[0186] In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing any of the methods 900 may include a component for performing the corresponding steps of the method 900. The component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the component may be implemented in the form of a circuit or a software module.

[0187] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes: means for sending a first subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one first IP interface associated with the device from a device in a first set of entities acting as a first IP router node to a core network entity in the first IP router node; means for receiving a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information about the at least one first IP interface from the core network entity; and means for processing an IP data packet to or from the at least one first IP interface based on the third subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0188] In some embodiments, the apparatus may be a DS-TT device.

[0189] In some embodiments, means for transmitting the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information comprises means for transmitting a first PMIC comprising the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0190] In some embodiments, means for receiving a third subset of the IP routing or forwarding information comprises means for receiving a second PMIC comprising the third subset of the IP routing or forwarding information.

[0191] In some embodiments, each of the first PMIC and the second PMIC includes at least one of an IP address, a range of IP addresses, a length of an IP prefix, a next-hop IP address, or a type of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0192] In some embodiments, the apparatus may be a terminal device. In such an embodiment, the means for sending the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information includes means for sending non-access stratum session management NAS SM signaling to the SMF, the NAS SM signaling including the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0193] In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing any of the methods 1000 may include a component for performing the corresponding steps of the method 1000. The component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the component may be implemented in the form of a circuit or a software module.

[0194] In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes: means for sending, from a device in a first set of entities acting as a first IP router node, a second subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one second IP interface associated with the device to a core network entity in the first IP router node; means for receiving, from the core network entity, a fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information about the at least one second IP interface; and means for processing an IP data packet to or from the at least one second IP interface based on the fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0195] In some embodiments, the apparatus may be a NW-TT device.

[0196] In some embodiments, the means for sending the second subset of the IP routing or forwarding information includes means for sending a third PMIC or the first UMIC, the third PMIC or the first UMIC including the second subset of the IP routing or forwarding information.

[0197] In some embodiments, means for receiving a fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information includes means for receiving a fourth PMIC or a second UMIC, the fourth PMIC or the second UMIC including the fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0198] In some embodiments, each of the third and fourth PMICs and the first and second UMICs includes at least one of an IP address, a range of IP addresses, a length of an IP prefix, a next-hop IP address, or a type of IP routing or forwarding information.

[0199] In some embodiments, the device may be a UPF entity.

[0200] In some embodiments, the means for sending the second subset of IP routing or forwarding information includes means for sending PCFP signaling including the second subset of IP routing or forwarding information to the SMF entity in the first IP router node.

[0201] Fig.11 1 is a simplified block diagram of a device 1100 suitable for implementing an embodiment of the present disclosure. The device 1100 may be provided to implement a communication device, such as Figure 1 The TSCTSF 125, terminal device 121-1, DS-TT device 121-2, UPF entity 127-1 or NW-TT device 127-2 are shown. As shown in the figure, the device 1100 includes one or more processors 1110, one or more memories 1120 coupled to the processor 1110, and one or more communication modules 1140 coupled to the processor 1110.

[0202] The communication module 1140 is used for two-way communication. The communication module 1140 has at least one antenna for communication. The communication interface may represent any interface required for communication with other network elements.

[0203] Processor 1110 may be of any type suitable for the local technology network, and may include one or more of the following: a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. Device 1100 may have multiple processors, such as application specific integrated circuit chips, which are time-slaved to a clock synchronized with a main processor.

[0204] The memory 1120 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 1124, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disk, compact disk (CD), digital video disk (DVD), and other magnetic and / or optical memories. Examples of volatile memories include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 1122, and other volatile memories that do not persist during the duration of a power outage.

[0205] The computer program 1130 includes computer executable instructions executed by the associated processor 1110. The program 1130 may be stored in the ROM 1124. The processor 1110 may perform any suitable actions and processes by loading the program 1130 into the RAM 1122.

[0206] The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented through the program 1130 so that the device 1100 may execute the following steps: Figures 1 to 10 Any process of the present disclosure discussed. The embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0207] In some example embodiments, the program 1130 may be tangibly included in a computer-readable medium, which may be included in the device 1100 (e.g., in the memory 1120), or in other storage devices accessible to the device 1100. The device 1100 may load the program 1130 from the computer-readable medium into the RAM 1122 for execution. The computer-readable medium may include any type of tangible non-volatile memory, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. Fig.12 An example of a computer readable medium 1200 in the form of a CD or DVD is shown. The computer readable medium has a program 1130 stored thereon.

[0208] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software, which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. Although various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are shown and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other graphical representations, it should be understood that, as non-limiting examples, the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuits or logic, general hardware or controllers or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0209] The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer executable instructions, such as instructions included in program modules, which are executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform the process described in the reference. Figure 2 , 9and 10 in the methods 200, 900 and 1000 described above. Typically, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform specific tasks or implement specific abstract data types. The functions of program modules can be combined or split between program modules as needed in various embodiments. The machine executable instructions of program modules can be executed in local or distributed devices. In distributed devices, program modules can be located in local and remote storage media.

[0210] The program code for executing the disclosed method can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes can be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer or other programmable data processing device, so that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, enables the function / operation specified in the flow chart and / or block diagram to be realized. The program code can be executed completely on the machine, partially on the machine, as an independent software package, partially on the machine, partially on a remote machine, or completely on a remote machine or server.

[0211] In the context of the present disclosure, computer program codes or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer readable media, etc.

[0212] The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. The computer readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared or semiconductor system, device or apparatus, or any suitable combination thereof. More specific examples of computer readable storage media include an electrical connection with one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof.

[0213] In addition, although the operations are described in a specific order, it should not be understood that such operations need to be performed in the specific order shown or in a sequential order, or that all the operations shown need to be performed to achieve the desired result. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, although several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these details should not be interpreted as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but should be interpreted as descriptions of the features of specific embodiments. Certain features described in the context of a separate embodiment may also be combined in a single embodiment. On the contrary, the various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented individually or in any suitable sub-combination in multiple embodiments.

[0214] Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological actions, it should be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or actions described above. Instead, the specific features and actions described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A core network entity, comprising: at least one processor; as well as at least one memory including computer program code; wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the core network entity in the first set of entities acting as a first Internet Protocol (IP) router node: Obtaining a first set of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one IP interface in the first IP router node from at least one of the following: at least one user plane entity in the first IP router node, at least one control plane entity in the first IP router node, or IP router controller; as well as Based on the first set of IP routing or forwarding information and at least one of the first static routing information pre-configured on the core network entity, a second set of IP routing or forwarding information about the first IP router is determined, and the at least one IP interface connects the first IP router node to a second IP entity set and / or a third IP entity set, each of the IP entities including an IP node or an IP host.

2. The core network entity according to claim 1, wherein the core network entity is further configured to: The second set of IP routing or forwarding information is sent to the IP router controller.

3. The core network entity according to claim 1, wherein the core network entity is further configured to: The second set of IP routing or forwarding information is updated based on the updated first set of IP routing or forwarding information.

4. The core network entity according to claim 1, wherein the first set of IP routing or forwarding information includes at least one of the following: a first subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one first IP interface associated with a terminal device in the first IP router node or associated with a device-side Time-Sensitive Networking Translator (DS-TT) device associated with the terminal device; or A second subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one second IP interface, wherein the at least one second IP interface is associated with a user plane function UPF entity in the first IP router node, or is associated with a network-side time-sensitive networking converter NF-TT device associated with the UPF entity.

5. The core network entity according to claim 4, wherein: The at least one control plane entity comprises a unified data management (UDM) entity; and The core network entity is caused to obtain the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information by: Frame routing information associated with the terminal device is obtained from a unified data management (UDM) entity in the first IP router node.

6. The core network entity according to claim 5, wherein the core network entity is enabled to obtain the frame routing information from the UDM entity via at least one of: a session management function SMF entity or a policy control function entity in the first IP router node.

7. The core network entity according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the frame routing information comprises at least one of the following: a set of IP addresses reachable via the at least one first IP interface, a next hop IP address associated with the at least one first IP interface, and An identifier of the at least one first IP interface.

8. The core network entity according to claim 5 or 6, wherein: The first static routing information includes: a next hop IP address associated with the at least one first IP interface; and The core network entity is also caused to update the frame routing information using the next hop IP address.

9. The core network entity according to claim 4, wherein: The at least one user plane entity comprises the DS-TT device, and the core network entity is caused to obtain the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information from the DS-TT device; or The at least one user plane entity comprises a terminal device, and the core network entity is caused to obtain the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information from the terminal device.

10. The core network entity of claim 9, wherein the core network entity is caused to obtain the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information by: A port management information container PMIC is received from the DS-TT device, the PMIC including the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

11. The core network entity according to claim 4, wherein: The at least one user plane entity comprises the NW-TT device, and the core network entity is caused to obtain the second subset of IP routing or forwarding information from the NW-TT device; or The at least one user plane entity includes the UPF entity, and the core network entity is caused to obtain the second subset of IP routing or forwarding information from the UPF entity via a session management function SMF entity in the first IP router node.

12. The core network entity of claim 11, wherein the core network entity is caused to obtain the second subset of IP routing or forwarding information by: A port management information container PMIC or a user plane node management information container UMIC is received from the NW-TT device, wherein the PMIC or the UMIC includes the second subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

13. The core network entity according to claim 1, wherein the core network entity is further configured to: The at least one IP interface is configured based on the second set of IP routing or forwarding information.

14. The core network entity of claim 13, wherein the core network entity is further caused to generate at least one of the third subset of IP routing or forwarding information and the fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information based on at least one of the first set of IP routing or forwarding information and the first static routing information; The third subset of IP routing or forwarding information is about at least one first IP interface associated with a terminal device in the first IP router or associated with a device-side Time-Sensitive Networking Translator DS-TT device associated with the terminal device; and The fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information is about at least one second IP interface, and the at least one second IP interface is associated with a user plane function UPF entity in the first IP router node, or is associated with a network-side time-sensitive networking converter NW-TT device associated with the UPF entity.

15. The core network entity of claim 14, wherein the core network entity is caused to configure the at least one IP interface by: A port management information container PMIC is sent to the IP interface of the DS-TT device, the PMIC including the third subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

16. The core network entity of claim 14, wherein the core network entity is caused to configure the at least one IP interface by: A port management information container PMIC or a user plane node management information container UMIC is sent to the NW-TT device, where the PMIC or the UMIC includes the fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

17. The core network entity according to claim 10, 12, 15 or 15, wherein the PMIC or UMIC comprises at least one of the following: IP address, The range of IP addresses, The length of the IP prefix, The next hop IP address, or The type of IP routing or forwarding information.

18. The core network entity according to claim 14, wherein: The core network entity is caused to obtain the first set of IP routing or forwarding information from the IP router controller; and The core network entity is caused to configure the at least one IP interface by: sending the third subset of IP routing or forwarding information to the DS-TT device associated with the one IP interface of the at least one first IP interface in response to determining that the IP interface indicated by the first set of IP routing or forwarding information is one IP interface of the at least one first IP interface; and / or Based on determining that the IP interface indicated by the first set of IP routing or forwarding information is one of the at least one second IP interface, the fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information is sent to the NW-TT device associated with the one of the at least one second IP interface.

19. The core network entity according to claim 14, wherein: The core network entity is caused to obtain the first set of IP routing or forwarding information from the IP router controller; and The core network entity is caused to configure the at least one IP interface by at least one of: sending, via a session management function (SMF) entity in the first IP router node, the third subset of IP routing or forwarding information about the at least one first IP interface to the terminal device; or The fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information about the at least one second IP interface is sent to the UPF entity via the SMF entity.

20. A device comprising: at least one processor; as well as at least one memory including computer program code; wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus in the first set of entities acting as a first Internet Protocol (IP) router node: sending a first subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one first IP interface associated with the device to a core network entity in the first IP router node; receiving, from the core network entity, a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information regarding the at least one first IP interface; as well as IP data packets to or from the at least one first IP interface are processed based on the third subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

21. The device according to claim 20, wherein the device is a device-side time-sensitive network converter (DS-TT) device.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the apparatus is caused to send the first subset of first IP routing or forwarding information by: A first port management information container PMIC is sent, wherein the first PMIC includes the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the apparatus is caused to receive the third subset of IP routing or forwarding information by: A second port management information container PMIC is received, the second PMIC comprising the third subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

24. The apparatus of claim 22 or 23, wherein each of the first PMIC and the second PMIC comprises at least one of: IP address, The range of IP addresses, The length of the IP prefix, The next hop IP address, or The type of IP routing or forwarding information.

25. The device of claim 20, wherein the device is a terminal device.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the apparatus is caused to send the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information by: Send non-access layer session management NAS SM signaling to the SMF, where the NAS SM signaling includes the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

27. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the apparatus is caused to send the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information in response to receiving an IP routing message from at least one of the entities in the second set of IP entities and the third set of IP entities.

28. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the first subset of IP routing or forwarding information is updated based on the third subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

29. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; as well as at least one memory including computer program code; wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus in the first set of entities acting as a first Internet Protocol (IP) router node: sending, to a core network entity in the first IP router node, a second subset of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one second IP interface associated with the device; receiving, from the core network entity, a fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information regarding the at least one second IP interface; as well as IP data packets to or from the at least one second IP interface are processed based on the fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

30. The device according to claim 29, wherein the device is a network-side time-sensitive network converter (NW-TT) device.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the apparatus is caused to send the second subset of IP routing or forwarding information by: A third port management information container PMIC or a first user plane node management information container UMIC is sent, wherein the third PMIC or the first UMIC includes the second subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

32. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the apparatus is caused to receive the fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information by: A fourth port management information container PMIC or a second user plane node management information container UMIC is received, wherein the fourth PMIC or the second UMIC includes the fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

33. The apparatus of claim 31 or 32, wherein each of the third PMIC and the fourth PMIC and the first UMIC and the second UMIC comprises at least one of: IP address, The range of IP addresses, The length of the IP prefix, The next hop IP address, or The type of IP routing or forwarding information.

34. The device according to claim 29, wherein the device is a User Plane Function (UPF) entity.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the apparatus is caused to send the second subset of IP routing or forwarding information by: Sending a Packet Control Forwarding Protocol (PCFP) signaling to a Session Management Function (SMF) entity in the first IP router node, wherein the PCFP signaling includes the second subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

36. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the second subset of IP routing or forwarding information is updated based on the fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

37. A method comprising: At a core network entity in a first set of entities acting as a first Internet Protocol IP router node, a first set of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one IP interface in the first IP router node is obtained from at least one of the following: at least one user plane entity in the first IP router node, at least one control plane entity in the first IP router node, or IP router controller; as well as Based on the first set of IP routing or forwarding information and at least one of the first static routing information pre-configured on the core network entity, a second set of IP routing or forwarding information about the first IP router is determined, and the at least one IP interface connects the first IP router node to a second IP entity set and / or a third IP entity set, each of the IP entities including an IP node or an IP host.

38. A method comprising: sending, from a device in a first set of entities acting as a first Internet Protocol (IP) router node, to a core network entity in the first IP router node, a first subset of IP routing or forwarding information regarding at least one first IP interface associated with the device; receiving, from the core network entity, a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information regarding the at least one first IP interface; as well as IP data packets to or from the at least one first IP interface are processed based on the third subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

39. A method comprising: sending, from a device in the first set of entities acting as a first Internet Protocol (IP) router node, to a core network entity in the first IP router node, a second subset of IP routing or forwarding information regarding at least one second IP interface associated with the device; receiving, from the core network entity, a fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information regarding the at least one second IP interface; as well as IP data packets to or from the at least one second IP interface are processed based on the fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

40. An apparatus comprising: means for obtaining, at a core network entity of a first set of entities acting as first Internet Protocol (IP) router nodes, a first set of IP routing or forwarding information about at least one IP interface in the first IP router node from at least one of: at least one user plane entity in the first IP router node, at least one control plane entity in the first IP router node, or IP router controller; as well as A component for determining a second set of IP routing or forwarding information about the first IP router based on the first set of IP routing or forwarding information and at least one of the first static routing information pre-configured on the core network entity, wherein the at least one IP interface connects the first IP router node to a second set of IP entities and / or a third set of IP entities, each of the IP entities comprising an IP node or an IP host.

41. An apparatus comprising: means for sending, from a device in a first set of entities acting as a first Internet Protocol (IP) router node, to a core network entity in the first IP router node, a first subset of IP routing or forwarding information regarding at least one first IP interface associated with the device; means for receiving, from the core network entity, a third subset of IP routing or forwarding information regarding the at least one first IP interface; as well as Means for processing IP data packets to or from said at least one first IP interface based on said third subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

42. An apparatus comprising: means for sending, from a device in a first set of entities acting as a first Internet Protocol (IP) router node, to a core network entity in the first IP router node, a second subset of IP routing or forwarding information regarding at least one second IP interface associated with the device; means for receiving, from the core network entity, a fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information regarding the at least one second IP interface; as well as Means for processing IP data packets to or from said at least one second IP interface based on said fourth subset of IP routing or forwarding information.

43. A computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform the method according to any one of claims 37 to 39.

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