Method for using terminal device in telecommunications network wherein telecommunications network initializes or provides logical user equipment entities or functionalities with respect to specific user equipment functionalities, system for using terminal device in telecommunications network, terminal device, program and computer-readable medium

Abstract

A method for using a terminal device in a telecommunications network, where the telecommunications network comprises an access network and a core network, where the telecommunications network initializes or provides logical user equipment entities or functionalities with respect to specific user equipment functionalities, the method comprises the following steps:-in a first step, logical user equipment identifier information is assigned to the terminal device,-in a second step, subsequent to the first step, logical user equipment identifier information is assigned to the terminal device,-in a third step, the logical user equipment identifier information is assigned to the terminal device, and-in a fourth step, the logical user equipment identifier information is assigned to the terminal device. The logical user equipment identifier information is communicated to the terminal device.

Description

Background Art

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for using a terminal device in a telecommunication network, wherein the telecommunication network comprises an access network and a core network, wherein the telecommunication network initializes or provides logical user equipment entities or functionalities with respect to specific user equipment functionalities.

[0002] Furthermore, the invention relates to a system for using a terminal device in a telecommunication network, wherein the telecommunication network comprises an access network and a core network, wherein the telecommunication network initializes or provides logical user equipment entities or functionalities with respect to specific user equipment functionalities.

[0003] Additionally, the present invention relates to a terminal device for use in a telecommunications network, wherein the telecommunications network is configured such that a logical user equipment entity or functionality is initialized or provided with respect to a specific user equipment functionality.

[0004] Furthermore, the invention relates to a program and a computer-readable medium for using a terminal device in a telecommunication network according to the method according to the invention.

[0005] The present invention relates to the field of telecommunication networks, in particular wireless telecommunication networks or mobile communication networks. Such telecommunication networks or mobile communication networks usually include a plurality of different user equipment or terminal devices. Such conventionally used user equipment is usually relatively complex and expensive due to the always high requirements on hardware and software. Likewise, such relatively complex and expensive user equipment devices often have a short life cycle, high battery consumption, and therefore have a relatively high footprint in terms of resource requirements. Summary of the invention

[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide an effective and simple method so that user equipment and / or terminal devices are potentially cheaper and less complex in terms of hardware and software by means of distributed deployment of user equipment functionality across telecommunication networks. In the following, such distributed deployment of user equipment functionality is also referred to as decomposed services (or decomposed functionality), i.e., decomposed with the terminal device and capable of being deployed, in particular dynamically, at the core network level and / or edge level and / or access network level of the telecommunication network under consideration, including cloud deployment—i.e., as an instance, functionality or service in the telecommunication network of an operator. Configuration and customization are possible in the context of the present invention, in particular with respect to or depending on user equipment suppliers, network operators, user profiles and / or third parties; this enables terminal devices to be used in telecommunication networks to be implemented very resource-saving and flexibly.

[0007] The object of the present invention is achieved by a method for using a terminal device in a telecommunication network, wherein the telecommunication network comprises an access network and a core network,

[0008] wherein, with respect to the specific user equipment functionality, the telecommunications network initializes or provides a logical user equipment entity or functionality such that the terminal device together with the logical user equipment entity or functionality provides or implements or is capable of providing or implementing the specific user equipment functionality,

[0009] The method comprises the following steps:

[0010] -- In a first step, logical user equipment identifier information is assigned to the terminal device,

[0011] - In a second step following the first step, the logical user equipment identifier information is transmitted to the terminal device.

[0012] It is thus advantageously possible that, according to the invention, user equipment or terminal devices (typically mobile devices with a user interface to a user) can be provided with a less complex hardware and / or software configuration and can therefore be provided more cheaply and / or based on a longer update and / or replacement cycle. The new approach according to the invention - in which certain functionalities (or services) (conventionally provided by user equipment or mobile devices) are realized or implemented by means of a distributed or disaggregated deployment of user equipment functionalities or services across a telecommunication network - advantageously enables operators of telecommunication networks to deploy user equipment and / or terminal devices in a more efficient, potentially cheaper and less complex manner with respect to hardware and / or software, thereby at least potentially also leading to less frequent update and / or replacement cycles for such user equipment or terminal devices, thereby enabling resource savings and / or a reduced environmental footprint when such user equipment or terminal devices are used in such telecommunication networks, as well as potentially enabling an increase in battery life and / or a reduction in data transmission requirements, in particular with respect to interfaces (in particular radio air interfaces) between user equipment or terminal devices towards access networks (in particular due to less frequent software update requirements).

[0013] According to the present invention, the functionality of a conventionally known user equipment (or mobile equipment) (in particular the services provided by it) is at least partially provided or executed not inside the user equipment (or mobile equipment device or terminal device) but outside the user equipment (mobile equipment device) or terminal device, i.e., at the core network level and / or edge level and / or access network level of the considered telecommunication network (to which the user equipment or terminal device is connected) and / or at another user equipment, or even at the core network level and / or edge level and / or access network level of another telecommunication network (i.e., a telecommunication network to which the user equipment or terminal device is not directly connected) or at another user equipment of another telecommunication network. It will be understood that according to the present invention, such a distributed or decomposed deployment of user equipment functionality (in particular user equipment services) across the respective telecommunication networks does not typically extend to all user equipment (or mobile equipment or terminal device) functionality (or services), but typically only to a subset thereof, i.e., to a specific user equipment functionality or multiple specific user equipment functionalities (or services), i.e., to at least one specific user equipment functionality (or service).

[0014] With regard to such (or at least one) specific user equipment functionality (or service), according to the present invention, a distributed or disaggregated deployment is achieved by means of initializing or providing a logical user equipment entity or functionality (in particular as an instance or functionality provided by the telecommunication network, in particular its network node) with the help of a telecommunication network, so that a terminal device (or user equipment or mobile equipment device) together with the logical user equipment entity or functionality (logical user equipment entity or functionality of (network node) of the telecommunication network or logical user equipment entity or functionality located in (network node) of the telecommunication network) provides or implements or is capable of providing or implementing the (or at least one) specific user equipment functionality (or service).

[0015] According to the present invention, providing or implementing the (or at least one) specific user equipment functionality (or service) requires at least assigning logical user equipment identifier information to the terminal device (or user equipment) and transmitting the logical user equipment identifier information to the terminal device (or user equipment). According to the present invention, with the help of the logical user equipment identifier information, it is preferably and advantageously possible to identify and / or reference (i.e., access) a logical user equipment entity or functionality, which is used together with the terminal device (or user equipment) to provide or implement (at least one) specific user equipment functionality. Therefore, the logical user equipment identifier information is in particular not only assigned to the terminal device (or user equipment), but also to the logical user equipment functionality.

[0016] A telecommunication network (usually a mobile communication network) typically comprises an access network (usually a radio access network) and a core network, wherein the radio access network typically comprises a plurality of base station entities and corresponding radio cells to provide radio access to the telecommunication network for a certain number of devices or mobile devices (i.e. user equipment or terminal devices).

[0017] According to the present invention, by implementing a distributed deployment of user equipment functionality (or decomposed services or functionality), data consumption and computing resources can be saved, as well as user equipment complexity can be reduced, thereby improving energy efficiency, and the radio quality or radio resources of the user equipment or terminal device can be decoupled from its application requirements. This results in the user equipment or terminal device having a longer service life with less hardware capability requirements, less battery consumption, and therefore a reduced footprint in terms of resource requirements, energy usage and complexity.

[0018] Thus, according to the present invention, advantageously different user equipment functionalities can be offloaded depending on the application or use case used. In telecommunication networks, such (offloaded) functionality can be deployed more efficiently (regarding the use of hardware and / or the required power), and it is also advantageously possible that several capabilities can be shared by more than one user, potentially by all users. Thus, service decomposition with flexible and customized deployment will result in overall reduced hardware capabilities, longer hardware lifecycles and less battery consumption due to optimized resource usage in the core (or access or edge) network instance of the telecommunication network. Additionally, the currently huge user equipment or terminal device data consumption caused by software updates (e.g., software updates of operating systems and / or applications and / or firmware) can be minimized; the remaining user equipment (or terminal device) functionality depends on the use and application scenario (e.g., optimized user interface transmitted via the control plane, mobility management).

[0019] Typically, conventionally known user equipment or mobile devices include not only functionality related to providing a user interface and providing data transmission capabilities (i.e., components and / or circuit systems related to display elements, radio components (such as antennas), etc.), but also functionality and processing capabilities related to other functionality, applications and / or services.

[0020] Such conventionally known user equipment is becoming increasingly complex and expensive physically, but especially with respect to software components installed or stored on such mobile devices. The processing performance of conventional user equipment is often required due to the multiple different functionalities of the operating system and / or multiple different software applications.

[0021] Due to the increased software and hardware complexity of such conventionally known user equipment, it becomes increasingly difficult and time consuming (and, in the case of insecure configuration settings, dangerous) for end users of such devices to correctly and / or securely configure, update and / or manage the complex ecosystem of different software components (which are native parts of the device's corresponding operating system or firmware, and / or include additional software components that have been provided by the device's original equipment manufacturer, and / or installed by the end user of the mobile device).

[0022] According to the present invention, it is advantageous to realize the functionality of conventional user equipment or mobile device by means of realizing at least (one or more) specific user equipment functionality by both logical user equipment entity or functionality and terminal device. The logical user equipment entity or functionality is realized by means of a network node of a telecommunication network that is usually hosted or provides an instance, especially a virtual instance, related to the corresponding terminal device, and realizes the corresponding specific user equipment functionality together with the terminal device under consideration. For example, such logical user equipment entity or functionality can be flexibly created and customized depending on customer profile or requirements, terminal equipment supplier profile or requirements, network operator profile or requirements and / or third-party profile or requirements. Additionally, it is advantageous to add (and / or store and / or back up) user configuration or application data, which means that (potentially sensitive) user data can be (separately) stored in the telecommunication network (for example, in a cloud environment of the telecommunication network), so that in the case of theft and loss of the terminal device, the user data is protected.

[0023] According to the invention, a telecommunication network (i.e. in particular its access network) is accessed in a classical manner in particular by terminal devices (or user equipment or mobile devices); however, what actually acts as user equipment (from the perspective of the telecommunication network or a third party instance) is a combination of a terminal device and a logical user equipment entity or functionality, which combination is also referred to as logical user equipment hereinafter.

[0024] Furthermore, according to the invention, it is also advantageously possible and preferred that, in particular in a step preceding the first step, the terminal equipment transmits a decomposition request message to the telecommunication network, the decomposition request message being related in particular to specific user equipment functionality and / or requirements of specific user equipment functionality (e.g. processing, latency, storage, connectivity to other services such as the Internet),

[0025] Therein, the logical user equipment identifier information is assigned to the terminal device and transmitted to the terminal device, in particular by a network node of the telecommunication network, in particular a network node of a core network of the telecommunication network, in particular depending on at least one of the following:

[0026] -- profile information related to the terminal device and / or to the corresponding subscription,

[0027] -- the requested decomposition of specific user equipment functionality,

[0028] and wherein the telecommunication network, in particular the core network of the telecommunication network, assigns or defines locations or resources for implementing or realizing the decomposition of the requested specific user equipment functionality,

[0029] In particular, the telecommunications network notifies the terminal device of the decomposed service and pushes this information to the upper application layer.

[0030] Therein, in particular a temporary identity is assigned to the decomposed specific user equipment functionality, the temporary identity being associated or combined with the logical user equipment identifier information.

[0031] By means of the terminal device transmitting a decomposition request message, it is advantageously possible according to the invention to implement or provide a specific user equipment functionality (using the terminal device together with the logical user equipment entity or functionality) in a flexible manner, i.e., it is not necessary to uninstall (or decompose) every user equipment functionality of the terminal device, but only a part thereof; furthermore, the telecommunication network grants or allows such a request (made by the terminal device) depending on profile information related to the terminal device and / or to the specific user equipment functionality requested to be decomposed; the telecommunication network in particular assigns a location for the decomposed service (or the logical user equipment entity or functionality), informs the terminal device of the decomposed service and pushes this information to the upper application layer. With respect to the decomposed service, a new, in particular temporary identity (i.e., the logical user equipment identifier information) is assigned and combined with the original terminal device identity.

[0032] Furthermore (alternatively or cumulatively to the previously mentioned advantageous embodiments), according to the invention it is also advantageously possible and preferred that, with respect to specific user equipment functionality, a logical user equipment entity or functionality is initialized or provided in view of being able to provide or implement the requested specific user equipment functionality together with the terminal device,

[0033] wherein in a third step subsequent to the second step, the logical user equipment entity or functionality enters a functional state corresponding to the specific context information about the requested specific user equipment functionality,

[0034] wherein in a fourth step following the third step and in particular upon re-registration of the terminal device, the specific context information is used to establish a functional state of the requested specific user equipment functionality, so that the terminal device together with the logical user equipment entity or functionality provides or implements the specific user equipment functionality,

[0035] The specific context information is in particular stored in a context database of the telecommunication network or associated with the telecommunication network.

[0036] According to the invention, with the help of the functional status of logical user equipment entities or functionalities and / or with the help of specific context information related to the requested specific user equipment functionality, the telecommunications network can advantageously handle the functional status of the terminal device well, even if the terminal device may be temporarily disconnected from the telecommunications network.

[0037] Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is also advantageously possible and preferred that the logical user equipment identifier information includes:

[0038] - network identifier information, in particular a public land mobile network identifier and / or a network identifier,

[0039] -- information on the permanent equipment identifier associated with the terminal device, in particular the International Mobile Equipment Identity, and

[0040] -- identifier information associated with a logical user equipment entity or functionality (i.e., its corresponding instance),

[0041] In particular, a logical user equipment entity or functionality is identified by means of functional instance identifier information, the functional instance identifier information comprises logical user equipment identifier information and functional identifier information, the functional identifier information particularly refers to a specific user equipment functionality.

[0042] Therefore, according to the invention, it is advantageously possible that the logical user equipment identifier information comprises a reference to a respective telecommunication network, in particular a telecommunication network providing the logical user equipment entity or functionality, in particular a home network of the terminal device. Furthermore, it is advantageously possible that the logical user equipment identifier information comprises a reference to the terminal device (by means of the permanent equipment identifier information) and to the logical user equipment entity or functionality.

[0043] According to the invention, it is also advantageously possible and preferred that the specific user equipment functionality is located in an access network or a core network of a telecommunication network,

[0044] wherein, in the case where the specific user equipment functionality is located in an access network, in particular in a base station entity of the access network and in particular using an N3 interface, the protocol data unit session is terminated at the access network,

[0045] wherein, in the case where the specific user equipment functionality is located in the core network, no protocol data unit session is required,

[0046] Therein, the specific user equipment functionality is in particular or corresponds to session management functionality, in particular user plane related functionality.

[0047] According to the invention, it is thereby advantageously possible that the method according to the invention can be carried out in a flexible and efficient manner.

[0048] Furthermore, according to the invention, it is also advantageously possible and preferred to implement specific user equipment functionality by means of aggregating logical user equipment entities or functionalities for the terminal device and at least one further terminal device.

[0049] By being able to aggregate logical user equipment entities or functionalities such that specific user equipment functionality can be implemented not only for or in relation to the terminal device but also for another terminal device (or even for multiple other terminal devices), flexibility and efficiency can be even further enhanced by implementing the method of the present invention according to the present invention.

[0050] Furthermore, according to the invention it is also advantageously possible and preferred to implement certain user equipment functionality by means of using a further telecommunication network or at least a further core network of a further telecommunication network in addition to using the telecommunication network.

[0051] According to the invention, it is thereby advantageously possible that the method according to the invention can be carried out in a flexible and efficient manner.

[0052] Furthermore, according to the invention, it is also advantageously possible and preferred that a logical user equipment entity or functionality is associated with the terminal device and the further terminal device,

[0053] Therein, the logical user equipment entity or functionality together with the terminal device provides or implements the specific user equipment functionality, and together with the further terminal device provides or implements the further specific user equipment functionality.

[0054] According to the invention, it is thereby advantageously possible that the method according to the invention can be carried out in a flexible and efficient manner.

[0055] Furthermore, according to the invention, it is also advantageously possible and preferred that the specific user equipment functionality corresponds to functionality that the terminal device cannot provide or implement without the logical user equipment entity or functionality.

[0056] Furthermore, the present invention also relates to a system for using a terminal device in a telecommunication network, wherein the telecommunication network comprises an access network and a core network,

[0057] wherein, with respect to the specific user equipment functionality, the telecommunications network initializes or provides a logical user equipment entity or functionality such that the terminal device together with the logical user equipment entity or functionality provides or implements or is capable of providing or implementing the specific user equipment functionality,

[0058] The system is configured such that:

[0059] -- Logical user equipment identifier information is assigned to the terminal device,

[0060] -- Logical User Equipment Identifier information is transmitted to the terminal device.

[0061] Advantageously, a system can thereby be provided which can be used flexibly, so that user equipment or terminal devices (ie mobile devices with a user interface to a user) can be provided more cheaply and are also less complex in terms of hardware and software.

[0062] Furthermore, the invention also relates to a telecommunication network for using a terminal device as part of the system of the invention.

[0063] Additionally, the present invention also relates to a terminal device for use in a telecommunication network, wherein the telecommunication network comprises an access network and a core network.

[0064] wherein, with respect to specific user equipment functionality, the terminal device is configured such that the specific user equipment functionality is provided or implemented together with a logical user equipment entity or functionality, the logical user equipment entity or functionality being initialized or provided by the telecommunications network,

[0065] The terminal device is configured such that:

[0066] -- Logical user equipment identifier information is triggered to be assigned to the terminal device,

[0067] --The logical user equipment identifier information is received by the terminal device.

[0068] Hence, the terminal device and the telecommunication network are in particular configured such that a logical user equipment entity or functionality is initialized or provided so that the terminal device provides or implements a specific user equipment functionality together with the logical user equipment entity or functionality.

[0069] Additionally, the present invention also relates to a program comprising a computer-readable program code, which, when executed on a computer, or on a network node of a telecommunications network, or on a logical user equipment entity or functionality, or on a terminal device, or partly on the network node of the telecommunications network, and / or partly on the logical user equipment entity or functionality, and / or partly on the terminal device, causes the computer or the network node of the telecommunications network, and / or the logical user equipment entity or functionality, and / or the terminal device to perform the method of the present invention.

[0070] Additionally, the present invention also relates to a computer-readable medium comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, or on a network node of a telecommunications network, or on a logical user equipment entity or functionality, or on a terminal device, or partly on the network node of the telecommunications network, and / or partly on the logical user equipment entity or functionality, and / or partly on the terminal device, causes the computer or the network node of the telecommunications network, and / or the logical user equipment entity or functionality, and / or the terminal device to perform the method of the present invention.

[0071] These and other characteristics, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which the principles of the present invention are illustrated in an exemplary manner. This description is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. The reference figures cited below are referenced to the accompanying drawings.

[0072] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0073] Figure 1 Schematically illustrated is a telecommunication network comprising an access network, a core network and a terminal device user equipment, wherein the core network typically comprises several network functions or services, such as a policy and charging function, which is typically configured to transmit user equipment routing policy information to the user equipment.

[0074] Figure 2 A communication diagram showing a registration process with decomposed functionality is schematically illustrated.

[0075] Figure 3 and Figure 4 A communication diagram showing a registration process involving a further telecommunication network is respectively schematically illustrated.

[0076] Figure 5 A communication diagram showing context storage for decomposed functionality is schematically illustrated. Specific implementation plan

[0077] The present invention will be described with respect to specific embodiments and with reference to certain drawings, but the invention is not limited thereto but only by the claims. The drawings described are merely schematic and non-limiting. In the drawings, the size of some of the elements may be exaggerated and not drawn to scale for illustrative purposes.

[0078] When referring to a singular noun an indefinite or definite article is used, for example "a", "an", "the" include plural forms of that noun unless something else is stated.

[0079] In addition, the terms first, second, third, etc. in the specification and claims are used to distinguish between similar elements and not necessarily to describe a sequential or chronological order. It should be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances, and that the embodiments of the invention described herein are capable of operating in a sequence different from that described or illustrated herein.

[0080] exist Figure 1 In FIG. 1 , a telecommunication network 100 is schematically shown, comprising an access network 110 and a core network 120. The telecommunication network 100, and in particular the core network 120, typically comprises several network functions or services, such as a policy and charging function 130. The access network 110 comprises a plurality of radio cells 11, 12. Figure 1 In the exemplary situation or scenario shown, a first base station entity 111 generates or is associated with or spans a first radio cell 11, and a second base station entity 112 generates or is associated with or spans a second radio cell 12. The telecommunication network 100 is typically connected to a plurality of user equipments 20, one of which is located at Figure 1 It is schematically shown in FIG.

[0081] In addition to the user equipment 20, Figure 1 A terminal device 21 is also shown. The terminal device 21 may be a user equipment that is the same or similar to the user equipment 20; however, according to the present invention, with respect to a specific user equipment functionality (of the terminal device 21), a logical user equipment entity or functionality is called so that the terminal device 21 provides or implements or is capable of providing or implementing the specific user equipment functionality together with the logical user equipment entity or functionality, i.e. in a decomposed manner. That is why throughout this disclosure the term terminal device 21 is mainly used to designate the possibility of such decomposed functionality according to the present invention. The logical user equipment entity or functionality (or logical user equipment entity or functionality instance) is initialized or provided by the telecommunication network 100 and is designated by means of the reference numeral 101; Figure 1 Arrows between the terminal device 21 and the logical user equipment entity or functionality (instance) 101 are schematically shown in order to illustrate the relationship between the (specific) terminal device 21 and the (specific) logical user equipment entity or functionality (instance) 101.

[0082] The user equipment 20 and the terminal device 21 are typically, but not necessarily, mobile, ie are able to move relative to the (typically, but not necessarily, static) radio cells 11, 12 or corresponding base station entities 111, 112 of the access network 110. Figure 1 In the exemplary illustration of , the core network 120 includes or is connected to a data network 131 (or an edge system or a third party entity or a server). The core network 120 provides data connectivity toward the data network 131 to the terminal device 21 (and the user equipment 20).

[0083] Figure 1 Mainly shows a simple situation where the terminal device 21 is connected to its home network 100, in particular its home public land mobile network, that is, Figure 1 The telecommunications network 100 represented in corresponds to the home network of the user equipment 20. In any case, the terminal equipment 21 connects using an access network 120, typically a radio access network.

[0084] In the case where the access network 120 does not correspond to (or belong to) the home network or the home public land mobile network of the terminal device 21 (that is, in the case where the telecommunication network 100 is not the home network of the terminal device 21), the access network 120 to which the terminal device 21 is connected is called the visited network or the visited public land mobile network of the terminal device 21; and in this case, the terminal device 21 is typically also connected to its home network 100', or to the core network of its home network 100'.

[0085] Logical user equipment entity or functionality (instance) 101 is composed in particular of a network node ( Figure 1 (not specifically shown) (as part of the access network 110 or as part of the core network 120 of the telecommunications network, or alternatively (but Figure 1 The terminal device 21 and the logical user equipment entity or functionality (instance) 101 together implement specific user equipment functionality.

[0086] According to the invention, the combination of the terminal device 21 and the logical user equipment entity or functionality (instance) 101 enables specific user equipment functionality of the terminal device to be decomposed (especially upon request of the terminal device 21).

[0087] In the following, such distributed or decomposed deployment of user equipment functionality (of the terminal device 21) is also referred to as decomposed service (or decomposed functionality), i.e. decomposed from the terminal device 21 and capable of being deployed, in particular dynamically, at the core network 120 level and / or edge level and / or access network 110 level of the telecommunication network under consideration.

[0088] Conventionally known fixed or especially mobile user equipment usually has a high investment in hardware and software. Due to the various use scenarios and various applications and functionalities that typical user equipment must support, this almost incredible demand for hardware and software resources is needed. Since such user equipment includes everything for service termination, it must be frequently adopted or updated (software and hardware updates) to the rapidly developing world of software and Internet services. Therefore, resource requirements and energy consumption are very high. In addition, the use period is short and the ecological footprint is therefore relatively high.

[0089] According to the present invention, different user equipment capabilities (of the terminal device 21) are provided to the telecommunication network 100 as part of a registration request of the terminal device 21 towards the telecommunication network 100 (typically towards the core network 120). Such identifiers (or such information) convey information about the capabilities of the terminal device 21 (i.e. what features / functionalities the terminal device 21 is able to implement) to the telecommunication network 100; examples include user equipment radio capabilities, user equipment mobility management core capabilities, closed access group (CAG) support, S1 network capabilities. The user equipment capabilities (of the terminal device 21) are stored in the context across the core network 120 depending on the type of information, for example, CAG related information is related to access and mobility management functionality.

[0090] An identifier called PEI (Permanent Equipment Identifier, see 3GPP TS23.501), which in pre-5G systems is called IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identifier), allows unique identification of user equipment (ie, terminal device 21).

[0091] According to the invention, the terminal device 21 or its functionality can be decomposed into several functionalities; thus, these functionalities can be deployed across the network, ie decomposed. (Specific) user equipment functionality deployed in this way may also be referred to by the term logical user equipment.

[0092] Such logical user equipment functionality (ie specific user equipment functionality provided or implemented by both the terminal device 21 and the logical user equipment entity or functionality 101) may therefore be spread across the network.

[0093] With regard to the distribution of multiple user equipment functionalities among the terminal device 21 and their implementation by the telecommunications network (i.e. by means of one or more logical user equipment entities or functionalities (instance(s) 101)), a decomposition can be achieved so that only basic functionality (with reduced complexity) will remain at the terminal device 21, i.e. such basic functionality is in principle all that is required by the terminal device 21 (or the physical user equipment) (necessarily required due to the interaction of the user equipment with the terminal device 21), although according to other embodiments or examples of such distribution of user equipment functionality, specific functionality (or parts thereof) may be retained at the terminal device 21 (i.e. the physical user equipment).

[0094] In particular, according to the invention, well-defined parts of the (physical user equipment) functionality, ie specific user equipment functionality, are explicitly placed outside the terminal device 21 .

[0095] Furthermore, according to the present invention, the specific user equipment functionality is implemented or provided by at least the following means: logical user equipment identifier information is assigned to the terminal device 21 (by the telecommunications network 100 or by the decomposition control entity or its functionality) and the logical user equipment identifier information is transmitted to the terminal device 21; by using the logical user equipment identifier information according to the present invention, it is advantageously possible according to the present invention not only to offload (or decompose) (specific user equipment) functionality, but also in particular to address each offloaded functionality separately (and / or to route traffic about each offloaded functionality separately), and in particular to provide or implement a “normal UE” (such as Figure 1 The user equipment 20 shown is compared to a "decomposed UE" with offloaded functionality (such as Figure 1 The terminal devices 21 shown are distinguished from each other (eg, regarding identifiers).

[0096] Therefore, according to the present invention, user equipment functionality or parts thereof can be located (or provided at) the physical user equipment itself (i.e., the terminal device 21), at the access network and / or the core network of the telecommunications network 100, and the logical user equipment can therefore be "spread" (or at least partially decomposed) between these entities or parts of the telecommunications network (e.g., a 5G system).

[0097] Such a distribution of user equipment functionality may be provided in particular in the following manner:

[0098] -- functionality having or requiring higher complexity (especially functionality that is more computationally demanding) may preferably be located in (or decomposed towards) the core network 120,

[0099] - functionality with or requiring medium complexity may preferably be located in (or decomposed towards) the (radio) access network 110, and

[0100] - Functionality with or requiring lower complexity (basic functionality, especially functionality requiring extensive or frequent or more precisely instantaneous (or low latency) user involvement or user interaction) may preferably remain located in the physical user equipment or terminal device 21.

[0101] Therefore, it can be assumed that the terminal device 21 (or physical user equipment) provides the basic functionality (or at least the basic functionality), and the remaining user equipment functionality can be deployed in full or in part at the (radio) access network 110 and / or the core network 120, or even at another (or additional) physical user equipment (i.e., by means of Figure 1 The second physical user equipment or terminal device designated by reference numeral 22 in the figure, or deployed at a location accessible via the data network 130 (e.g., an edge application server).

[0102] From outside the telecommunications network 100 (particularly a 5G system), “legacy user equipment” (user equipment 20) and logical user equipment (comprising the terminal device 21 and the logical user equipment entity or functionality 101) are indistinguishable.

[0103] In particular, according to the present invention, it is advantageously possible (in particular using a decomposition request message by the terminal device 21) that the terminal device 21 can request (e.g. at / when registering at the network registry) the deployment (or decomposition) of (one or more) specific (user equipment) functionalities. In turn, the telecommunication network 100 is advantageously able to use operator-specific logic (e.g., optimized mobility procedures) for the terminal device 21, and the (user equipment) functionalities deployed in the telecommunication network 100 can be upgraded by the telecommunication network 100.

[0104] According to the present invention, it is also advantageously possible that, for a given (user equipment) functionality, the deployment of a part of the functionality is performed in the user equipment, while the rest of the (user equipment) functionality (e.g. the computationally intensive parts, such as artificial intelligence / machine learning) is executed within the network.

[0105] In order to enable the network to route incoming traffic and / or generated signaling to the corresponding destination actually hosting or locating the specific user equipment functionality under consideration, the logical user equipment identifier information is used for identification purposes (e.g. at a network registry), i.e. a given terminal device 21 (or user equipment 20) supports being deployed as a logical user equipment and / or knowledge about the placement location of each component (of the logical user equipment) (particularly at the core network 120) (the precise location of the functionality or at the granularity of which part the corresponding component is placed, i.e. at the physical user equipment, and / or at the (radio) access network and / or core network, and / or at the data network) being deployed.

[0106] According to the present invention, when registering with the telecommunications network 100, the terminal device 21 (capable of logical user equipment operation) can be registered as a logical user equipment. Most importantly, the user equipment includes one (some) of the following:

[0107] - logical user equipment capabilities (ie specific user equipment functionality) that can be offloaded (or decomposed) at the network (eg to save resources in the physical user equipment or terminal device 21);

[0108] -- logical user equipment capabilities that are forced to be offloaded at the network (e.g. the physical user equipment (or terminal device 21) requires the functionality but is not capable of running it itself);

[0109] - Information or pieces of information about its own computing capabilities (e.g. to help the network decide how much user equipment functionality can be deployed at a physical user equipment or terminal device 21). Thus, the (radio) access network 110 and the core network 120 know which user equipment 20 or terminal devices 21 are "normal UEs" (user equipment 20) and which are logical user equipment (terminal devices 21).

[0110] According to the present invention (and in contrast to conventionally known user equipment such as user equipment 20), a logical user equipment is primarily related to the telecommunication network 100 to which it is attached (i.e. together with its associated (decomposed) user equipment functionality); therefore, according to the present invention, a physical user equipment or terminal device 21 is assigned logical user equipment identifier information (also referred to as LUI) by the telecommunication network 100; the logical user equipment identifier information is used to identify the logical user equipment.

[0111] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention (and as a replacement for other disclosed embodiments or as an accumulation of one or more other disclosed embodiments), multiple logical user equipment identifier information can be mapped to a general public subscription identifier GPSI (i.e., an external identifier outside the network) so that it is transparent from outside the network whether the user equipment is a logical user equipment.

[0112] According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention (and as an alternative to other disclosed embodiments or as an accumulation of one or more other disclosed embodiments), not all subscriptions may be allowed to deploy user equipment functionality in the network. The network allows registration as a logical user equipment only if (for a given subscriber) the network contains subscriber information that allows the use of this capability.

[0113] According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention (and as an alternative to other disclosed embodiments or as an accumulation of one or more other disclosed embodiments), in order to address incoming / outgoing messages to a given functionality (e.g. session management signaling, user plane data packets), an association is provided between logical user equipment and its functionality, the association including the placement location of each functionality; in this regard: while the granularity of the stored information may vary (e.g. for CN it is sufficient to know that the functionality resides in the RAN, while for RAN a specific RAN element, e.g. gNB ID, will be required), the mapping is considered across all possible functional locations: physical UE, (radio) access network, core network, edge locations.

[0114] Particularly advantageously, the logical user equipment identifier information can be associated with the subscriber identifier information, thereby linking existing service authorization mechanisms to the logical user equipment in the same way as for normal user equipment.

[0115] exist Figure 2 In FIG. 1 , a communication diagram showing a registration process with decomposed functionality is schematically shown. The communication diagram schematically shows the communication between a terminal device 21 , a further terminal device 22 , a (radio) access network 110 , a core network 120 and a data network / third party network 131 .

[0116] In a first processing step 201, at a registration step (UE registration) of a terminal device 21 or physical user equipment, the terminal device 21 may request (in particular by means of a decomposition request message) functionality to be provided by the network; the registration / authorization is handled by the core network 120, as is the distribution of decomposed specific user equipment functionality.

[0117] In a second processing step 202, the core network 120 evaluates based on the subscription information whether the subscriber (of the terminal device 21) is allowed to deploy such functionality, and if so, to what extent (e.g., only some subscribers may be allowed to be deployed in the low latency access network 110). The core network 120 may decide to deploy all / not all requested functionality, only a portion thereof, or functionality that is additional to functionality explicitly requested by the terminal device 21 (e.g., default functionality that all user equipment receives, such as specific security-related functionality).

[0118] In the third processing step 203, the core network assigns logical user equipment identifier information (LUI) to the registered party terminal device 21. This identifier information represents a "functional UE" (or logical user equipment), that is, a combination of functionality residing in and outside the physical user equipment (terminal device 21), which as a whole comprises a "complete UE" (or logical user equipment).

[0119] Based on the information provided by the terminal device 21 (e.g. what functionality is needed and the latency requirements for a given functionality), the functionality may be deployed (or assigned to logical user equipment if already available) alternatively or cumulatively in a fourth processing step 204 at:

[0120] - within the core network 120: for example, in a user plane function for a data processing function, in a session management function for a session management function - see the first alternative schematically shown in block 204A relating to the fourth processing step 204;

[0121] - within the (radio) access network 110: e.g. in a gNB-DU for low latency mobility management functionality - see the second alternative schematically shown in block 204B relating to the fourth processing step 204;

[0122] - within another user equipment (other terminal device 22): for example, for functionality (such as related to proximity services) that can be served in a mesh topology using direct UE-to-UE communication (e.g. PC 5) - see the third alternative schematically shown in block 204C in relation to the fourth processing step 204;

[0123] - Within the third party server entity 131 : eg for functionality related to a cloud provider - see the fourth alternative related to the fourth processing step 204 schematically shown in box 204D.

[0124] In each scenario shown as part of the fourth step 204, the available deployed user equipment functionality is associated with a functional endpoint / identifier (e.g., an API endpoint for that particular functionality, such as {logical_UE} / sm_service or {logical_UE_ID} / {SMF_ID) / sm_service, or {logical_UE_ID} / {service_instance_ID}) so that messages towards the deployed UE functionality can be routed through the telecommunications network 100, in particular the 5G system.

[0125] In a fifth processing step 205, the core network then includes (or transmits to the terminal device 21) the assigned logical user equipment identifier information and a reference to the deployed functionality, which can then be used to access the available functionality (eg, API).

[0126] In a sixth processing step 206, the terminal device 21 stores the logical user equipment identifier information and the corresponding endpoint information.

[0127] In order to enable the core network 120 to determine the functional profile of the user equipment or terminal device 21 that is requesting (in particular in the first above-mentioned processing step 201) the functionality to be provided by the network by means of decomposition (i.e. how the user equipment functionality is obtained before deployment), one of the following options or a combination of more than one of the following options can be implemented according to the present invention, in particular as part of or before the above-mentioned fourth processing step 204:

[0128] the user equipment or terminal device 21 comprises an identifier and / or a description of the functionality to be deployed (i.e. the specific user equipment functionality), and the core network 120 is capable of retrieving said functionality from a repository, in particular a functionality repository (e.g. a container repository) that is part of or at least accessible to the telecommunication network 100;

[0129] --The user equipment or terminal device 21 communicates the actual functionality to be deployed (i.e., specific user equipment functionality) to the core network 120; this use case is contemplated for user equipment or terminal devices that may contain the necessary storage but will not be able to run the actual logic (e.g., pre-trained machine learning algorithms that require significant computing power and / or dedicated hardware to run).

[0130] According to the present invention, it is assumed in particular that user equipment functionalities communicate with each other. This means in particular that, for example, the access and mobility management function (implemented as part of the core network 120) communicates with the mobility function as part of the user equipment or terminal device 21; the session management function (implemented as part of the core network 120) communicates with the session management (functionality) as part of the user equipment or terminal device 21; the mobility function and the session management (functionality) (both of which are part of the user equipment terminal device 21) communicate with each other; the policy and charging function (implemented as part of the core network 120) communicates with the policy function as part of the user equipment or terminal device 21; the user plane function as part of the user equipment or terminal device 21 communicates with both the session management (functionality) as part of the user equipment or terminal device 21 and the machine learning (ML-based) based traffic shaping functionality. In this example, the user plane functionality (implemented as part of the core network 120) is supplemented by the ML-based traffic shaping functionality trained with incoming / outgoing traffic. Session management functionality is for example used for augmented reality applications (i.e. requiring low latency towards the network), and ML-based applications can be deployed in the user plane functionality so that the user equipment or terminal device 21 does not need to contain dedicated hardware for (re)training the ML-based algorithms, or the algorithms are not constrained by the processing power available at the physical user equipment or terminal device 21.

[0131] In the registration step, the logical user equipment identifier information is assigned by the (home) network, since the user equipment or terminal device 21 as a whole can only be associated with the network in which its functionality is deployed.

[0132] However, a common scenario where interaction between networks is desired is roaming.For this scenario and others, such as deploying user equipment functionality across multiple networks, network registration using existing logical user equipment identifier information is possible according to the present invention.

[0133] This is Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown in the example, Figure 3 and Figure 4 A communication diagram showing a registration process involving a further telecommunication network, ie the user equipment or terminal device 21, the telecommunication network 100 and the further or home telecommunication network 100', respectively, is schematically illustrated.

[0134] Figure 3The network registration using the existing logical user equipment identifier information is exemplarily shown: the (logical) user equipment is associated with the home network 100' of the terminal device 21; in a first processing step 211, the terminal device 21 registers with the telecommunications network 100 and provides the telecommunications network 100 with the existing logical user equipment identifier information and its association with its home network 100'. According to the present invention, preferably, the logical user equipment identifier information includes a reference to the home network of the terminal device 21, such as a network identifier (e.g., PLMN ID); in a second processing step 212, the telecommunication network 100 communicates with the home network 100' and authenticates / authorizes the logical user equipment identifier information; in a third processing step 213, the home telecommunication network 100' decides to move / re-deploy the existing (decomposed) functionality in the telecommunication network 100 (if the telecommunication network 100 allows); in this case, if the functionality is deployed in the telecommunication network 100, lower latency can be achieved; additional functionality (e.g., roaming-related functionality) can also be deployed; in a fourth processing step 214, the user equipment or terminal device 21 receives a registration accept message with an updated functionality list including endpoints.

[0135] A possible variation of such an embodiment is that new logical user equipment identifier information is negotiated between the telecommunications network 100 and the home network 100' and returned, resulting in the logical user equipment identifier information now residing in more than one network. Such logical user equipment identifier information may then contain more than one network identifier. Figure 4 The corresponding examples are schematically shown:

[0136] Again, the (logical) user equipment is associated with the home network 100' of the terminal device 21; in a first processing step 221, the terminal device 21 registers with the telecommunications network 100 and provides the telecommunications network 100 with existing logical user equipment identifier information and its association with its home network 100'. According to the present invention, preferably, the logical user equipment identifier information includes a reference to the home network of the terminal device 21, such as a network identifier (e.g., PLMN ID); in a second processing step 222, the telecommunication network 100 communicates with the home network 100' and authenticates / authorizes the logical user equipment identifier information; further, as part of the second processing step, in a processing step 222B, a reassignment of the logical user equipment identifier information is performed; in a third processing step 223, the home telecommunication network 100' decides to move / re-deploy the existing (decomposed) functionality in the telecommunication network 100 (if the telecommunication network 100 allows); in this case, lower latency can be achieved if the functionality is deployed in the telecommunication network 100; additional functionality (e.g., roaming-related functionality) can also be deployed; in a fourth processing step 214, the user equipment or terminal device 21 receives an updated functionality list including endpoints.

[0137] According to the present invention, several options are considered for identifying and addressing logical user equipment and / or decomposed user equipment functionality:

[0138] In particular, the logical user equipment identifier information is "bound" to a given network, and as such the logical user equipment identifier information is considered to contain a network identifier associated with that network (typically the "home network" of the user equipment or terminal device 21). In particular, the logical user equipment identifier information includes:

[0139] - network identifier information, in particular a public land mobile network identifier and / or a network identifier,

[0140] -- permanent equipment identifier information associated with the terminal device (21), in particular an International Mobile Equipment Identity, and / or

[0141] - Identifier information related to a logical user equipment entity or functionality (101), in particular an instance identifier related to the logical user equipment entity or functionality (instance) 101. In particular, the logical user equipment identifier information can comprise more than one network identifier, ie network identifiers relating to more than one telecommunication network.

[0142] Likewise, a functional identifier that is in turn bound to a given logical user equipment is considered to contain the logical user equipment identifier information.

[0143] As an endpoint for addressing a given logical user equipment functionality (instance) 101, the present invention proposes to use a functional ID or an application programming interface:

[0144] {LUI} / {service_name}, {LUI} / {deployment_location} / {service_name}, {LUI} / {service_ID}.

[0145] Figure 5 A communication diagram showing context storage for decomposed functionality is schematically illustrated. Figure 5 Corresponding to the communication diagram between the user equipment or terminal device 21 , the access network 110 , the core network 120 and the context storage entity or functionality (or context database) 125 .

[0146] In a first processing step 231, a network registration request is transmitted by the user equipment or terminal device 21 to the access network 110 and / or the core network 120. In a second processing step 232, a registration accept message (including storage identifiers and / or endpoints) is transmitted to the user equipment or terminal device 21. In a third processing step 233, context synchronization is performed between the context storage entity or functionality 125 and the user equipment or terminal device 21. In a further part 233B of the third processing step, context synchronization is performed between the context storage entity or functionality 125 and the access network 110. In a fourth processing step 234, a protocol data unit session establishment is performed, typically including deployment of user equipment routing policy information at the user equipment or terminal device 21, and configuration changes, wherein all state changes are synchronized with the telecommunication network 100. In a fifth processing step 235, the user equipment or terminal device 21 is deregistered from the telecommunication network 100 by means of corresponding messages towards the access network 110 and the core network 120. In a sixth processing step 236, the user equipment or terminal device 21 re-registers at the telecommunication network 100 again by means of corresponding messages towards the access network 110 and the core network 120. In a seventh processing step 237, a context retrieval is performed from the context storage entity or functionality 125 and the core network 120. In an eighth processing step 238, a registration acceptance is transmitted to the user equipment or terminal device 21 and in a processing step 238B to the access network 110 (in particular including the context storage identifier and / or the endpoint of the existing context). In a ninth processing step 239, the user equipment or terminal device 21 is able to communicate without the need to re-establish the previous protocol data unit session to resend the user equipment routing policy information.

[0147] Therefore, it is advantageously possible and preferred according to the invention that external storage of the user equipment state (or terminal device state) and / or functionality state is in a separate functionality, such as a context storage entity or functionality 125. Therefore, a state storage function for user equipment state information is proposed, whose task is to maintain the current state of the user equipment (or terminal device 21). In order to support typical functionalities such as PDU session establishment, user equipment context recovery is performed not only at the user equipment or terminal device 21 but also at the access network 110.

[0148] In the following, several use cases according to the present invention are exemplarily shown or mentioned, which can be advantageously implemented using the proposed architecture (ie based on the logical user equipment according to the present invention):

[0149] Distributed deployment of user equipment functionality related to the user plane:

[0150] According to the invention, a decomposition of session management can advantageously be provided; this offloading advantageously leads to a flexible deployment and termination of the user plane in the network (core, edge, RAN). As a result, applications with very high demands on computing, software and power resources can be handled in the network. Furthermore, software updates and data consumption can be limited; examples of such applications are: VR / AR (Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality) applications, 3D holograms, 3D renderings.

[0151] When user plane related functionality is placed within the network (i.e. offloaded from the user equipment or terminal device 21), the network components (of the access network 110 and / or the core network 120) will have to route data packets to the location of such offloaded functionality rather than to the user equipment or terminal device 21 via the normal path (i.e. in particular the air interface), thereby saving capacity not only at the user equipment or terminal device 21 but also on the air interface.

[0152] In particular, for a protocol data unit session established using logical user equipment functionality that is not located at the physical user equipment (or terminal device 21), this means:

[0153] -- For functionality placed at the access network or radio access network 110, the core network 120 forwards traffic to the access network (in a normal manner, for example, via the N3 interface, which is the data plane interface between the user plane functionality (e.g., UPF) and the base station entity (e.g., gNB)); however, the receiving gNB will have to forward the traffic towards the decomposed functionality, rather than forwarding the traffic towards the user equipment or terminal device 21 via the Uu interface. In this case, the PDU session terminates at the radio access network transparently to the core network.

[0154] -- For functionality placed at the core network 120, the protocol data unit session anchor (PSA) that receives data from the data network 131 needs to reroute the traffic within the core network (or, if the decomposed user equipment functionality resides within the user plane function, within the user plane function itself) instead of towards the radio access network. For this traffic, even a protocol data unit session (e.g., PDU session) over the radio access network (e.g., Uu and related N3 interfaces) is not required.

[0155] Collection of similar user equipment functionality:

[0156] Furthermore, according to the present invention, a decomposition of the control plane and / or the user plane of devices with limited hardware resources can also be advantageously provided; this can be particularly beneficial since there are a large number of such devices with similar functionality, e.g., IoT devices, residential gateway fixed network devices. In particular, resources can advantageously be shared between several users of the control plane and the user plane:

[0157] Given functionality A can be aggregated for all logical user equipment in the core network 120 (eg, closer to the data network 131, resulting in a more energy-efficient deployment),

[0158] Alternatively, a given functionality B can be aggregated differently for a given logical user equipment; in this case, a logical user equipment has that functionality B deployed at the radio access network 110 (e.g., a strategy requiring low latency between the physical user equipment and that functionality), while for another logical user equipment, that functionality B is placed in the core network 120 (e.g., given concerns about low footprint deployment).

[0159] Deployment of user equipment functionality across networks:

[0160] Furthermore, according to the present invention, applications with physical, network operator or legal geographical restrictions, such as broadcast, slicing, virtual private networks, satellite networks, which have a particular tendency to benefit from flexible user plane deployment, can also be advantageously provided.

[0161] In this case, although the logical user equipment is within the 5G system as seen from outside the 5G system, certain user equipment functionality may be located at a different operator, ie typically within a different telecommunication network.

[0162] A direct connection between two operators or telecommunication networks (implementing similar concepts as in roaming) is possible, however, a data network between the two (eg, a connection via the Internet) is also possible and preferred.

[0163] Deploy or decompose user equipment functionality using other physical user equipment:

[0164] Furthermore, according to the present invention, the logical user equipment identifier information may also advantageously be used for deploying user equipment functionality using more than one physical user equipment.

[0165] Simply using the identifier of the physical user equipment (e.g. IMEI / PEI) to identify the logical user equipment will not allow this. According to the present invention, the following options are proposed:

[0166] -- "primary physical user equipment": according to such embodiments, using the address of one of the physical user equipments (pUE), the other physical user equipment is set as a secondary physical user equipment;

[0167] -- New identifier for identifying logical user equipment: Since a logical user equipment is only meaningful when considered together with the network to which it is attached, it is more advantageous if the logical user equipment identifier information can contain a network identifier (eg, for inter-network signaling).

[0168] Regarding logical user equipment identifier information: In order to be able to route messages and / or data traffic to user equipment functionality, the radio access network and the core network require an association between the user equipment functionality and the given logical user equipment identifier information and where the functionality is located (e.g., which physical user equipment, network part, addressable server and / or network function).

[0169] User equipment exposes functionality that is not implemented within the user equipment:

[0170] According to the invention, it is also advantageously possible that the user equipment exposes functionality that can or is forced to be offloaded at the network (radio access network, edge, core network, third-party entity) depending on the configuration (supplier, operator, user profile, third party) that dynamically creates the services; the user equipment needs to establish and use connections to these services, which are also related to application usage; by forwarding via an application or user interface of the control plane, the user is able to utilize the services via the logical user equipment.

[0171] Offload non-access layer and session management services:

[0172] Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is advantageously possible to provide a possibility to offload non-access layer and session management services, in particular by performing the following processing steps:

[0173] --The user equipment (or terminal device 21) is registering with the network;

[0174] --Service decomposition is occurring based on network and / or user device configuration, e.g., session management functionality for augmented reality applications;

[0175] -- Logical user equipment identifier information is assigned to the offloaded non-access stratum service; the new LUI includes, among other things, the original user equipment identifier information and the new associated offloaded traffic identifier information:

[0176] --State information must be stored in the network and synchronized with the user equipment;

[0177] --Service execution: This may include single or multiple services and may also trigger user plane interactions, such as performing session management in the network to establish a data connection to an augmented reality or virtual reality service (AR / VR) that also terminates directly in the network;

[0178] -- The user equipment is notified (especially via state synchronization) and can provide this information to the upper application layer (e.g., this can trigger another part, such as a data collector or data exchange via other channels such as SMS, NAS, etc.);

[0179] --Terminate the service; this can be triggered by the network or the application; all parties are notified by synchronization of the state databases and the unique service ID will be deleted.

[0180] Functional applications for existing 5G user equipment:

[0181] Furthermore, according to the present invention, the inventive concept can also be advantageously applied to non-access stratum procedures: In order to communicate with the core network, current 5G user equipment includes different control plane functions for 5G access. These are non-access stratum procedures, which are grouped into two categories and are potential candidates for service decomposition according to the present invention:

[0182] -- Mobility Management (MM): These procedures are related to mobility in terms of access, authentication and security:

[0183] --GUTI (Globally Unique Temporary ID) reallocation

[0184] --Authentication

[0185] --Security mode control

[0186] --Identification

[0187] --Service request: Initiated by the user equipment to start the establishment of a non-access layer signaling connection

[0188] --Paging: initiated by the network

[0189] --Transmission of non-access layer messages: used for SMS

[0190] --Generic transmission of non-access layer messages: various other applications

[0191] --Session Management (SM): The Session Management Protocol provides support for establishing and handling user data in the non-access layer:

[0192] --Requests for connection establishment and disconnection of packet data networks,

[0193] --Requests for resource allocation and modification,

[0194] --Publish the request.

[0195] Session management for some services can be used as an example to offload from the user equipment into the network. This requires the following prerequisites:

[0196] --Configuration settings from the network and / or user equipment for which services and in which applications content will be offloaded.

[0197] --Service description and configuration including quality of service, authentication and / or authorization.

[0198] --A new unique ID used to identify the offload service in the network and connected to the original user equipment identity.

[0199] -- Locations that store status information and can be synchronized with user equipment status (ie, user equipment must be notified and / or updated of service status changes).

Claims

1. A method for using a terminal device (21) in a telecommunication network (100), wherein the telecommunication network (100) comprises an access network (110) and a core network (120), in, With respect to specific user equipment functionality, the telecommunications network (100) initializes or provides a logical user equipment entity or functionality (101) such that the terminal device (21) together with the logical user equipment entity or functionality (101) provides or implements or is capable of providing or implementing the specific user equipment functionality, The method comprises the following steps: - In a first step, logical user equipment identifier information is assigned to the terminal device (21), - In a second step following said first step, said logical user equipment identifier information is transmitted to said terminal device (21).

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: In particular, in a step preceding said first step, said terminal device (21) transmits a decomposition request message to said telecommunication network (100), said decomposition request message being particularly related to said specific user equipment functionality and / or requirements of said specific user equipment functionality, The logical user equipment identifier information is assigned to the terminal device (21) and transmitted to the terminal device (21), in particular by a network node of the telecommunication network (100), in particular a network node of the core network (120) of the telecommunication network (100), in particular depending on at least one of the following: - profile information related to the terminal device (21) and / or to the corresponding subscription, - the requested decomposition of the functionality of the particular user equipment, and wherein the telecommunication network (100), in particular the core network (120) of the telecommunication network (100), assigns or defines locations or resources for implementing or achieving the decomposition of the requested specific user equipment functionality, In particular, the telecommunication network (100) notifies the terminal device (21) of the decomposed service and pushes the information to the upper application layer, Therein, in particular a temporary identity is assigned to a resolved specific user equipment functionality, said temporary identity being associated or combined with said logical user equipment identifier information.

3. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: With respect to the specific user equipment functionality, the logical user equipment entity or functionality (101) is initialized or provided with a view to being able to provide or implement the requested specific user equipment functionality together with the terminal device (21), wherein in a third step following said second step, said logical user equipment entity or functionality (101) enters a functional state corresponding to specific context information about the requested specific user equipment functionality, wherein in a fourth step following the third step and in particular upon re-registration of the terminal device (21), the specific context information is used to establish a functional state of the requested specific user equipment functionality, so that the terminal device (21) together with the logical user equipment entity or functionality (101) provides or implements the specific user equipment functionality, The specific context information is in particular stored in a context database of the telecommunication network (100) or associated with the telecommunication network (100).

4. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The logical user equipment identifier information includes - network identifier information, in particular a public land mobile network identifier and / or a network identifier, - permanent equipment identifier information associated with the terminal device (21), in particular an International Mobile Equipment Identity, and / or - identifier information associated with said logical user equipment entity or functionality (101), In particular, the logical user equipment entity or functionality (101) is identified by means of functional instance identifier information, the functional instance identifier information comprises the logical user equipment identifier information and functional identifier information, the functional identifier information particularly refers to the specific user equipment functionality.

5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The specific user equipment functionality is located in the access network (110) or the core network (120) of the telecommunication network (100), wherein, in the case where the specific user equipment functionality is located in the access network (110), in particular in a base station entity of the access network (110), and in particular using an N3 interface, a protocol data unit session is terminated at the access network (110), wherein in the case where the specific user equipment functionality is located in the core network (120), no protocol data unit session is required, Therein, the specific user equipment functionality is in particular or corresponds to session management functionality, in particular user plane related functionality.

6. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The specific user equipment functionality is implemented by aggregating the logical user equipment entity or functionality (101) for the terminal device (21) and at least one further terminal device (22).

7. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: In addition to using the telecommunication network (100), the specific user equipment functionality is also implemented by using a further telecommunication network (200) or at least a further core network (220) of the further telecommunication network (200), in particular wherein the logical user equipment identifier information comprises network identifier information of the further telecommunication network (200).

8. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The logical user equipment entity or functionality (101) is associated with the terminal device (21) and a further terminal device (22), The logical user equipment entity or functionality (101) provides or implements the specific user equipment functionality together with the terminal device (21), and provides or implements another specific user equipment functionality together with the other terminal device (22).

9. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The specific user equipment functionality corresponds to functionality that the terminal device (21) cannot provide or implement without the logical user equipment entity or functionality (101).

10. A system for using a terminal device (21) in a telecommunication network (100), wherein the telecommunication network (100) comprises an access network (110) and a core network (120), in, With respect to specific user equipment functionality, the telecommunications network (100) initializes or provides a logical user equipment entity or functionality (101) such that the terminal device (21) together with the logical user equipment entity or functionality (101) provides or implements or is capable of providing or implementing the specific user equipment functionality, The system is configured such that: -- Logical user equipment identifier information is assigned to the terminal device (21), --The logical user equipment identifier information is transmitted to the terminal device (21).

11. A terminal device (21) for use in a telecommunication network (100), wherein the telecommunication network (100) comprises an access network (110) and a core network (120), in, With respect to specific user equipment functionality, the terminal device (21) is configured such that the specific user equipment functionality is provided or implemented together with a logical user equipment entity or functionality (101), the logical user equipment entity or functionality (101) being initialized or provided by the telecommunications network (100), The terminal device (21) is configured such that: -- Logical user equipment identifier information is triggered to be assigned to the terminal device (21), --The logical user equipment identifier information is received by the terminal device (21).

12. A program comprising a computer-readable program code, which, when executed on a computer, or on a network node of a telecommunications network (100), or on a logical user equipment entity or functionality (101), or on a terminal device (21), or partly on the network node of the telecommunications network (100), and / or partly on the logical user equipment entity or functionality (101), and / or partly on the terminal device (21), causes the computer or the network node of the telecommunications network (100), and / or the logical user equipment entity or functionality (101), and / or the terminal device (21) to perform a method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

13. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, or on a network node of a telecommunications network (100), or on a logical user equipment entity or functionality (101), or on a terminal device (21), or partly on the network node of the telecommunications network (100), and / or partly on the logical user equipment entity or functionality (101), and / or partly on the terminal device (21), cause the computer or the network node of the telecommunications network (100), and / or the logical user equipment entity or functionality (101), and / or the terminal device (21) to perform a method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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